New York Times

Gaetano Donizetti’s tragic masterpiece, Lucia di Lammermoor, comes to the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute on Saturday, March 19 at 1 pm, live from the Metropolitan Opera as part of the Peabody- and Emmy Award-winning series The Met: Live in HD.

The Boston Athenaeum is currently exhibiting an exhibition of the elegant but somehow amusingly sinister works of writer/artist Edward Gorey. A deft draftsman of both line and word, Gorey's works are American originals created by an eccentric individual that gave both delight and dread with pen and ink.

The organization Broadway Across America is bringing the touring versions of a number of major musicals to Boston in a variety of venues for limited engagements. The schedule of shows is bound to appeal to a road segment of theatre goers. The schedule of shows extends into 2012.

Blogs and the social networks routinely scoop print media on news, previews and reviews. By the time newspapers cover arts stories they may be days old. Arts organizations continue to rely primarily on print reviews to sell tickets but that has changed dramatically in the past few years. Through blogs and tweets Broadway shows with long previews may be dead in the water by opening night. Through internet coverage audiences make up their minds on ticket sales before reviews appear in print.

During its initial seasons the 100-year-old former vaudeville house, the Colonial Theatre, renovated at a cost of some $23 million, seemed more like a white elephant than a tangible asset. Coming into its first season in a merger with the Berkshire Theatre Festival is proving to be a game changer for theatre and the performing arts in the Berkshires. Artistic director, Kate Maguire, is leading with an ace by headlining Randy Harrison in the rock musical Tommy. See me, feel me, touch me.

This year’s lineup includes three world premiere theatre performances produced by BTF, three separate BTF musical productions on the Colonial stage, a rare appearance by noted columnist Frank Rich and live performances of some of the leading artists in the worlds of theatre, jazz and comedy. Among the organizations that will be co-promoting events will be Lift Ev’ry Voice, the Pittsfield 250th anniversary committee, Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, Word x Word Festival, and ZipStohr Comedy.

It was a dark and windy night for the Shakespeare & Company dead of winter production of the Charles Ludlam camp classic The Mystery of Irma Vep. It was an evening of fact and furious costume and character changes for the brilliant actors Aaron McCabe and Ryan Winkles. But his oh so gay play was presented way too straight. Which was, indeed a drag.

In addition to writing about art for the Boston Phoenix and the new England Journal of Aesthetic Research Greg Cook is also a studio artist. In this final installment of a dialogue Cook describes how he attempts to avoid any perception of conflict of interest. As an artist, however, he feels solidarity with their struggles. In particular he resents the lack of national recognition for all but a few Boston artists.

TimeLine, the Wall Street Journal's pick as number one theatre company in the nation, has produced a riveting drama about rape and genocide in the Sudan. It is wonderful theatre and raises unanswerable questions about US policy.

The cameras of the Live at the Met broadcast of the John Adams opera Nixon in China provided stunning details of singers who proved to be skilled actors. While there is nothing that compares to being there this came rather close to the experience. We attended with just half a house at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown.

Images Cinema in Williamstown will host the Secrecy and Scandal in New French Film series on Mondays, February 7 – March 7 at 7pm. Admission is free; all films will be in French with English subtitles.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC) and Knesset Israel (KI) continue the “Live from NY’s 92nd Street Y” Simulcasts at Barrington Stage with seven programs for winter/spring 2011. The popular satellite broadcast series brings lectures, interviews and readings from nationally and internationally recognized political figures, entertainers, newsmakers and authors to communities across the U.S. and Canada.

The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (ICA) presents ambitious performing arts programming for Winter/Spring 2011, including world-premiere dance, revolutionary theater and a vaudevillian spectacular. The New Music Now series returns with three exciting concerts of adventurous music, and the ICA presents its first "live documentary," narrated by filmmaker Sam Green alongside live performances by sound artist David Cerf and band The Quavers (featuring special guest Brendan Canty of Fugazi).

The world-premiere adaptation of LYSISTRATA by the renowned puppet artist, writer and director Theodora Skipitares – which mixes Aristophanes’ ancient comic tale about a group of Greek women who withhold sex from their husbands and lovers with video and newsreel footage of actual modern-day international sex strikes – is being presented by La MaMa ETC in association with Skysaver Productions, with an opening set for Sunday, February 6 at the Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 E. 4 St.) in Manhattan.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival will present more than 160 ticketed and free dance performances by companies from Argentina, Cuba, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland, and across the United States. Executive Director Ella Baff has crafted an international festival of dance, music, and the visual arts spanning three months and including six world premieres, seven U.S. premieres, five engagements with live music, three U.S. company debuts, and more than 300 total ticketed and free events, talks, performances, classes, and tours.

On Monday, February 7th at 7pm, Harold Bloom, America's leading literary critic and author of the best-seller "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human," will join Classic Stage Company's Artistic Director Brian Kulick in a rare public appearance.

Starting February 3 with an opening night set for February 10, the playwright and filmmaker Zach Helm -- author of the play Good Canary directed by John Malkovich, and the films "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" which he also directed, and "Stranger than Fiction" -- will perform his new piece Interviewing theAudience at The Vineyard.

Playwrights Michael Lew (MICROCRISIS, STOCKTON) and Rehana Mirza (BARRIERS, THE GOOD MUSLIM) take the helm as co-directors of New York's Ma-Yi Theater Company’s Writers Lab. Additionally, the six year-old Ma-Yi Writers Lab welcomes five new playwrights into the Lab: affectionately known as “labbies” they are Samantha Chanse, Mia Chung, Edgar Mendoza, Don Nguyen and Susan Soon He Stanton.

An Off Broadway hit for Public Theatre in October Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson opened on Broadway to mostly rave reviews. Especially for hunky and charismatic, pistol packing, leading man Benjamin Walker. What many critics found fresh, innovative and irreverent proved to be loud, racist and obnoxious. This underground hit may have been edgy Off Broadway but doesn't hold up to the scrutiny of prime time.

For most of us right now its jingle bells. With the announcement of the 2011 Tanglewood schedule this week, however, Berkshire arts organizations are hard at work planning a fast launch to the season on the Fourth of July. But, like Abbott and Costello, come summer, let's hope they aren't wondering about "who's on first." There is desperate need for branding, pooled resources, and a marketing strategy for the Berkshires.

Bad Habit Productions presents an evening of Christopher Durang comedies in the hilarious theatrical mash-up DURANG/DURANG December 2 through 12. Performances will take place at the Durell Theatre, located at the Cambridge YMCA at 820 Massachusetts Avenue on Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm.

Our Boston arts and entertainment correspondent has been making a list and checking it twice. There is a lot of fun for the whole family on tap for the holiday season. Barbara Brilliant once again provides a cheat sheet to the best and brightest offerings and convenient links to the box office.

The Lyric Opera of Chicago has a way with casting. Like theater in Chicago, the company puts up a matchless ensemble that works together to bring life to operas old and new. This production of The Masked Ball (the Lyric prefers the English translation) is a bit of an exception, even though the mega wattage cast is superb throughout and alone worth hearing. Beware retired singers directing.

A growing number of influential critics regard John Douglas Thompson as one of the leading, clasically trained actors of his generation. We have engaged in an ongoing dialogue about his canonical roles. It started with Othello, three years ago, at Shakespeare & Company, continuing through Richard III this summer. Following a performance of Antony and Cleopatra, with Kate Mulgrew, we disussed the challening play.

WAM Theatre returns with Tony nominated Sarah Ruhl's 'Bold, Outward, Sassy, Sexy and Unashamed' contemporary farce, 'Melancholy Play'. This production will run from November 12-21, 2010 at the NEW STAGE Performing Arts Center in Pittsfield, Mass.