Articles
by Chris Rohmann | Oct 5, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
In the past, Life in the (413), New Century Theatre’s live-on-stage roast of all things Valley, was aimed at boosting its upcoming summer program. The sixth iteration, at the Academy of Music on Sunday, is aimed at reviving the company after its sudden collapse a year...
by Chris Rohmann | Oct 26, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
In Shakespeare’s time, actors wore their own clothes with token costume pieces, they performed on a bare platform, and they were all male. Those facts are the springboard of Elizabeth Williamson’s vision for her production of Henry V, which plays at Hartford Stage...
by Chris Rohmann | Oct 3, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
A desperate young woman, Ersilia Drei, has attempted suicide. From her hospital bed, she spins a heartrending, headline-grabbing story for an opportunistic reporter. His article draws a circle of interested parties into her twisting orbit: The novelist who sees in her...
by Jack Brown | Oct 26, 2018 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
Few people could command a stage the way Freddie Mercury did. Frontman for legendary rock band Queen as well as a solo artist, Mercury always seemed bigger than his own body; his energy, his sexuality, and above all his voice — that incredible, glass-clear, voice,...
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 28, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Stage, Stagestruck
The live-capture stage-to-screen season at the Amherst Cinema has begun, with a lineup of adaptations of world classics from the London stage – a dance-happy movie musical, a steamy exploration of transgressive desire, a surreal whodunnit, a Gothic horror story – plus...
by Will Meyer | Oct 26, 2018 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Music
Self described “weak hardcore” band Landowner leaves few stones unturned in skewering today’s tattered state of affairs on their August album Blatant. Everything from consumerism and television to insecure men and elite self-congratulation gets a scathing treatment by...
by Jack Brown | Sep 28, 2018 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
In the world of filmmaking, the French New Wave is the Dylan-goes-electric moment. Rejecting the period dramas that had theretofore dominated screens, the group of European filmmakers who led the new artistic charge instead found inspiration in the modern world, and...
by Jack Brown | Oct 24, 2018 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
If you’re familiar with the name Dario Argento, it’s most likely through his stylishly supernatural horror film Suspiria. That 1977 film, about an American ballet student who gets caught up in an otherworldly conspiracy at a German dance academy, was like a...
by Chris Rohmann | Oct 24, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
“What am I bid for this fine specimen of white manhood?” The swaggering black auctioneer scans the audience of prospective buyers, who quickly bid the price up, until the white man on the auction block goes to the jubilant winner for a fat five-figure sum. This...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 28, 2018 | Articles, Music
Local singer-songwriter Anjali Rose Kumar performs a melange of indie folk-tinged looped vocals and guitar with a world music perspective. Interview with Anjali Rose:
by Chris Rohmann | Oct 22, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Barack Obama and Ann Richards both sprang to national prominence with sensational speeches at a Democratic National Convention. Richards’ came in 1988, and she used the opportunity to pitch her unique brand of tough-minded common-sense liberalism and kick sand on the...
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 26, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Even before the houselights dim, The Play That Goes Wrong is going wrong. On the uncurtained stage, a techie is still working on the floorboards and the stage manager is frantically trying to secure a part of the set. She recruits an audience member to help out while...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 19, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
John-Michael Field performs spiritually themed folk with a dose of humor. Check out his full Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with John-Michael Field:
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 26, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Playwright Taylor Mac has described Hir as “a kitchen-sink drama.” Which is fair, as long as you understand that the sink in question is full of filthy dishes and fresh vomit. The genre- and gender-bending play, at Shakespeare & Company through October 7, begins...
by Chris Rohmann | Oct 17, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Two moonlit pieces of music theater hit Valley stages this weekend. The Smith College Theatre Department premieres Moonlight on the Miskatonic, a musical based on the creepy tales of H. P. Lovecraft. And Pilgrim Theatre revives Moon Over Dark Street, a cabaret of...
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 24, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
This weekend and next, two theater companies demonstrate, once again, the breadth and variety of Valley stages. In Greenfield, Silverthorne Theater Company opens a two-week run of “six unruly comedies” by America’s cheekiest stage satirist, Christopher Durang. In...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 21, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Eva Cappelli is a local songwriting queen who plays everything from blues and country to jazz and rock. Check out her Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Eva Cappelli:
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 20, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Stage, Stagestruck
Before a play hits the stage, it goes through several other stages. The first is the opposite of public performance – the writing, solo and in private. Then, for the members of the Northampton Playwrights Lab, it’s shared with a small circle of fellow dramatists, who...
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 19, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Walk down Main Street in any small American town and look around. There are the unassuming shopfronts and placid homes, holding private, ordinary lives. But behind the doors lie extraordinary secrets and dreams. Three plays this weekend in our not-so-ordinary Valley...
by Jack Brown | Sep 17, 2018 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
In regional conflicts around the world, the use of child soldiers has become a sadly common phenomenon. Boys and girls — some still under ten — are pulled or forced into violent, dangerous situations far beyond anything they are prepared for physically or emotionally....
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 15, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
For two decades, Sandglass Theater, the justly world-renowned puppetry troupe headquartered in Putney, Vermont, has produced an international festival that serves as a gathering and showcase for masters of the form. The tenth biennial “Puppets in the Green Mountains”...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 14, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Riley Godleski is a local singer-songwriter who perfroms indie pop mixed with bittersweet melodies and melancholy alternative folk. Interview with Riley Godleski:
by Advocate Staff | Sep 12, 2018 | Articles, Valley Advocate Sessions
Check out a teaser video for Riley Godleski – indie pop mixed with bittersweet melodies and melancholy alternative folk.
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 12, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Hot on the heels of my recent rundown of women’s representation in the area’s summer theaters comes more encouraging evidence from some of the fall season’s first shows. The Majestic Theater is playing a cowboy musical in which the lead is not a boy. WAM Theater,...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 7, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Austin & Elliott are an acoustic folk duo who write ballads about love and death. Check out their complete Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Austin & Elliott:
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 6, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Two years ago I reviewed A Fiery and Still Voice, a living-history performance at the William Cullen Bryant Homestead in Cummington, Mass. The delightfully engaging show by Enchanted Circle Theater is back for four Saturdays this fall – Sept. 8th & 15th and Oct....
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 5, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Readers of this column will know my practice of periodically reporting on the progress (or not) in the representation of women and people of color in area theaters. The summer season has recently ended, so I’ve been making a tally of this summer’s shows. The news is...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 31, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Mike Spector is a local singer-songwriter who writes soulful folk ballads about love and heartache. Check out his complete Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Mike Spector:
by Jack Brown | Aug 31, 2018 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
For all his undeniable talent as a musician and songwriter, the late David Bowie was always an incredibly visual creature. His many guises onstage and off told the story of an artist completely comfortable with the process of reinventing himself, and while some might...
by Chris Goudreau | Aug 31, 2018 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News
If you suddenly came into possession of a bag of woolly mammoth hair, the first thing to come to mind likely wouldn’t be a hat. A man in Yakutsk, the capital of one of Russia’s eastern provinces, created a traditional style hat, usually reserved for horse hair, from...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 31, 2018 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our letters to the editor page. Here you’ll find reader comments on Advocate articles and other news. We collect readers’ opinions from emails, letters, Facebook comments, and comments to valleyadvocate.com. Vote for Eric Nakajima on Sept....
by Rob Brezsny | Aug 31, 2018 | Articles, Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” our heroine encounters a talking caterpillar as he smokes a hookah on top of a tall mushroom. “Who are you?” he asks her. Alice is honest: “I know who I was when I got up this...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 30, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Check out a teaser video of this week’s Advocate Sessions performer – soulful folk singer-songwriter Mike Spector. His full Valley Advocate Sessions video and interview will be released this Friday.
by Gina Beavers | Aug 29, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Music
Betty Davis was more than just Miles Davis’ wife; she was a funky musical force who was a head of her time when it came to demanding control over her image and her recordings. In the early 1980s Betty disappeared from public life. In 2012 filmmakers discovered...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 28, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Uncategorized
Minneapolis trio Mama Caught Fire heads a line up of girl power tonight! Kimaya Diggs and Emma June complete the trifecta. Iron Horse Music Hall, 10 Center St.,...
by Chris Rohmann | Aug 25, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
A few years ago, when I told my brother I was directing a production of As You Like It, he said, “That’s the one about Beatrice and Benedick, isn’t it?” Well, no, but the confusion is understandable. Several of Shakespeare’s comedies have interchangeable titles: As...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 25, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music
The great conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein would be 100 this year! Happy birthday, Maestro! Celebrate with the BSO at Tanglewood tonight. 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the Shed. 297 West St., Lenox.
by Gina Beavers | Aug 25, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Stage
Three days of metal, punk, and rock? Could it be? Yes! And it happening NOW!! RPM Fest is New England’s biggest heavy music and camping festival, featuring 50 bands including Black Tusk, Tombs, Whores, Acid Witch, Child Bite, INCITE, Against the Grain,...
by Chris Rohmann | Aug 24, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Review, Stagestruck
Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield is ending its impressive summer season with a pair of productions, one celebrating a 50-year-old milestone, the other confronting our troubled present. On the mainstage, a lovingly rendered revival of West Side Story, running...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 24, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Wendy Eisenberg is a virtuoso guitarist who combines experimental songwriting with jazz and indie folk. Check out her full performance in the video below. Interview with Wendy Eisenberg:
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Aug 24, 2018 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, My boyfriend and I have been together for six years but only recently discovered that he can have multiple orgasms. If he puts his penis back inside me or if I stimulate just the tip a few seconds after he has orgasmed he can ejaculate a second time. At first...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 23, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music
“King of the Surf Guitar” Dick Dale is at the Iron Horse tonight. Dale “pretty much invented the style single-handedly.” Just think of Pulp Fiction’s reintroduction to “Misirlou.” He’s the precursor to Jimi Hendrix and...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 22, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music
Louis Dunphy’s Celtic Crossings began in 2005 as a LIVE radio program on WMUA 91.1fm Amherst and now airs every Sunday morning @ 7am on The River. The show focuses on Celtic music and often hosts nationally and internationally recognized performers with live...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 21, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Stage
Celebrate community and the arts with Transperformance 28: AmperBands! Featuring Colorway as Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Soul Magnets as Sly & the Family Stone, Fancy Trash as Paul McCartney & Wings, King Radio as Simon & Garfunkel, Eric Olsson and...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 21, 2018 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our letters to the editor page. Here you’ll find reader comments on Advocate articles and other news. We collect readers’ opinions from emails, letters, Facebook comments, and comments to valleyadvocate.com. Reactions to the Advocate’s...
by Gina Beavers and Chris Goudreau | Aug 21, 2018 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News
A usually calm herd of cows became vigilantes when they began chasing a fleeing suspect in Sanford, Florida. The Sanford Police Department said officers attempted to make a traffic stop on a stolen vehicle. The driver took off and crashed into a ditch. The passenger...
by Rob Brezsny | Aug 21, 2018 | Articles, Astrology, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “The prettier the garden, the dirtier the hands of the gardener,” writes aphorist B. E. Barnes. That’ll be especially applicable to you in the coming weeks. You’ll have extra potential to create and foster beauty, and...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 20, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter, Stage
The New York Times says Michelle Malone is “the kind of singer and songwriter who can jolt things into overdrive.” She’s been on the scene for decades and she’s collaborated with artists like Steve Earle Malone, the late Gregg Allman, ZZ Top,...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 19, 2018 | Articles, Music
The True Jacqueline are an art rock/ noise pop band from Northampton. Check out the band’s complete Advocate Sessions performance. Interview with the True Jacqueline:
by Gina Beavers | Aug 19, 2018 | Articles, Music
Quickly gaining recognition as one of Irish music’s new “super-groups,” Runa prides itself on pushing the boundaries of Irish folk music by merging it with the Americana and roots music formats. There’s a taste of Ireland and Scotland mixed with jazz,...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 18, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film
I, CLAUDE MONET is reveals the “heart and soul of arguably the world’s most loved artist.” Although Monet struggled with depression, loneliness, and thoughts of suicide, his love of art and gardening led to some of the finest works the world has known. ...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 17, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Stage
Tuvan throat singers to perform in Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro Museum & Art Center presents Alash Ensemble, a trio of Tuvan throat singers. The central Asian republic of Tuva is home to a style of throat singing whereby one singers produces two or more notes...
by Daily Hampshire Gazette Editorial Board | Aug 16, 2018 | Articles, News
Despite unprecedented attacks on the press by the president of the United States, journalists across the country — including here at the Daily Hampshire Gazette — continue our mission of informing a responsible citizenry and holding public officials and institutions...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 15, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
If you’re a fan of Americana, Western, Progressive and Jazz-influenced Swing, Country, and Texas-Style Fiddling, you’re a fan of the Quebe Sisters. Hailing from Dallas, between these three sibs, they’ve won a number of state, regional, and national fiddle...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 14, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film
He’s back…and better than ever. Spike Lee is putting an historical mirror up to our present day faces. A lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same. Black Klansman, winner of the 2018 Cannes Film Festiva lGrand Prix, is at Amherst Cinema tonight;...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 13, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film
If you’ve been through eighth grade, then you know how AWKWARD life can be. It’s no different for Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher), the subject of You Tube star Bo Burnham’s directorial debut, also called Eighth Grade. Kayla is the average kid who makes...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 12, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
If you have doubts about the beauty of all the different ethnic and cultural nooks and crannies in America, this act may well erase them. Sweet Crude is straight out of Louisiana and they proudly sing out in French and in English. As a matter of fact, one of their...
by Gina Beavers | Aug 11, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
It’s not an ordinary lame prom at the Flywheel. Western Mass punks unite wearing their best alternative formal wear as they jam to local favorites, pose in a photobooth, and stop by a temporary tattoo station. The musical lineup for the evening includes pop punk band...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 10, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
The frost heaves and hales perform as a psych folk duo with one-minute songs about birds and other animals on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage. Interview with The frost heaves and hales:
by Gina Beavers | Aug 10, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Stage
Colorway is awesome. They blew us away during their Advocate Sessions performance and I’ve gotten to see them here and there since then. Here’s a chance to catch them at a no cover, all ages show in Springfield. Luxe Burger Bar, 1200 West Columbus Ave., Springfield....
