Articles
by Gina Beavers | Jul 31, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter, Stage
TUESDAY 7/31 MUSIC Alceste: 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. 12 Senior/$14 General. Opera based on heartbreaking story narrated by Euripides: King Admetus is dying and his wife, Alceste offers Apollo her own life in exchange for that of her beloved. $South Hadley’s Tower...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 30, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
Okay, I have a funny feeling and a sneaking suspicion that there are going be some serious laugh out loud moments in Sorry to Bother You, a new movie about race, money, politics, and morals. This is what the Amherst Cinema site says: “In an alternate reality...
by Chris Rohmann | Jul 29, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Nowadays, Stratford-upon-Avon feels not so much like a town as a gift shop. The once-sleepy hamlet where William Shakespeare was born some 450 years ago, which he abandoned for a life on the London stage, has become a mercantile monument to Stratford’s most famous son...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 27, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Riley Duggan is a poetic folk singer-songwriter with heartfelt melodies. Interview with Riley Duggan:
by Chris Rohmann | Jul 26, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Review, Stagestruck
When I was in England earlier this month, I saw four plays at the two venues most closely associated with William Shakespeare – his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon and the Globe playhouse on London’s South Bank. At the Globe, there was a gender-switching Hamlet and a...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 26, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
If you’re in Brattleboro, Elliot Street is the place to be on Friday. Celebrate food, the arts, and the shops with your green mountain neighbors. Get your grub on at the international food crawl, take your little ones to a concert for kids, and do your grown up thing...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 26, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Film, Music, Newsletter, Stage
THURSDAY 7/26 MUSIC A Little Night Music: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Trinity United Methodist Church will present “A Little Night Music” every Thursday during the month of July at 6:00pm. Free, donations accepted for all food items. Trinity United Methodist Church, 361...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 26, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Ready to heat things up? Check out Corazon de Granada tonight as they bring their impeccable Flamenco music and dance to New City Brewery in Easthampton. You can expect “a passionate evening … steeped in tradition,” the event hosts promise. Corazon...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 25, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage
In this time of political chaos and division, it makes sense to go back to the beginning to determine exactly what the Great Experiment was all about. But We the People can’t be put in a box; not only because it’s outside on the farm in Ashfield Double...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 25, 2018 | Articles, Music, Newsletter, Valley Advocate Sessions
Riley Duggan is a poetic folk singer-songwriter with heartfelt melodies. Check out a teaser for Duggan’s upcoming Advocate Sessions performance, which will be released this Friday.
by Gina Beavers | Jul 24, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Sometimes you just want to mellow out, right? So why not scoot up (or down) I-91 and check out an outdoor concert by After the Rain at the Whately Library. After The Rain performs acoustic and a cappella arrangements of everything from traditional Appalachian to...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 23, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
Amherst Cinema is just a gold mine. No, really, their film curation is the bee’s knees. And my pick, once again, can only be found in the dark. Leave No Trace is the story of a father and his daughter who have lived off the grid for some time. They make their...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 23, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Music, Newsletter
MONDAY 7/23 MUSIC Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival 2018: MASS MoCa, 1040 MASS MoCA WAY, North Adams. Kitchen Jam – Local Music Rocks! Concert: 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. 2nd performance of our Local Music Rocks! Concert Series. Happening rain or...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 20, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage
The Southern Vermont Dance Festival 2018 is all day today! From 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Take your pick of over “113 dance classes, two Galas at the Latchis, an outdoor Promenade Performance and picnic, two Informal Showings, and lots of free community...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 20, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage
Williamstown is definitely one of the places to be this summer if you love the stage! And one of my favorite artists is the inspiration for Lempicka, a world premiere musical. Tamara de Lempicka was a war time painter who created beautiful (and frosty) portraits of...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 20, 2018 | Articles, Music, Uncategorized, Valley Advocate Sessions
Christa Joy is a local singer-songwriter who writes bittersweet country folk songs about everyday life and impermanence. Watch her Valley Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Christa Joy:
by Advocate Staff | Jul 19, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Newsletter
THURSDAY 7/19 MUSIC A Little Night Music: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Trinity United Methodist Church will present “A Little Night Music” every Thursday during the month of July at 6:00pm. Free. Free, donations accepted for all food items. Trinity United Methodist Church,...
by Chris Goudreau | Jul 19, 2018 | Articles, Music, Newsletter
This Friday, the Valley Music Showcase will feature original local bands live onstage in a variety of genres as they compete for prizes such as recording time or a slot on our own Valley Advocate Sessions. The special guest for the evening is Advocate Sessions...
by Chris Goudreau | Jul 19, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Tonight at Eastworks in Easthampton is Gina Kaufmann’s intimate adaptation of a comedy from 1728. The production is a retelling of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera, which satirizes operatic conventions, gender, and class with a three-woman cast. The...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 19, 2018 | Articles, Music, Newsletter, Valley Advocate Sessions
Christa Joy is a singer-songwriter who writes bittersweet country folk music with songs about everyday life and impermanence. Check out a short video teaser of Christa Joy’s upcoming Valley Advocate Sessions performance available online this Friday.
by Gina Beavers | Jul 18, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage
Shakespeare’s Othello is a remarkable play that hinges upon (gulp) racist stereotypes. Othello is, after all black, and his wife Desdemona is white. Her father is none too happy and it doesn’t help that Othello’s standard bearer, Iago, is a master...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 17, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Printmaker and Smith College art professor Dwight Pogue is retiring and he’s having quite a send off. His opus, if you will, is called Flowering Stars and is on view at The Smith College Museum of Art. Pogue’s collection is a retrospective of his lithographs and...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 17, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage
Probably the best thing about summer is there are no school buses to ruin my commute to work. With that said, that means all the little minions are pulling at somebody’s pants legs lamenting the lack of activity on a steamy July day. I’m here to solve...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 16, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
Just in case you missed the memo: It’s going to be hot and humid. Surprise. The best way to beat the heat (besides a water park) is the movies. So let’s go indoors for our pick and immerse ourselves in some culture. Andy Goldsworthy is a British sculptor...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 16, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Film, Music, Newsletter, Stage
MONDAY 7/16 MUSIC AMHERST JAZZ ORCHESTRA: July 16, 7:30 p.m. – 10 p.m. With vocalist Ethel Lee. Great food. Union Station Grand Ballroom, 125A Pleasant St., Northampton. 413-253- 1607. info@amherstjazzorchestra.com. Bang on a Can Summer Festival 2018: July 16,...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 13, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
Oh boy, I’ve been waiting for this one! This doc is so scathing and mind boggling, you’ll be thinking about it for some time. And Tim Wardle’s documentary Three Identical Strangers is described “as the most amazing, incredible, remarkable true...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 13, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
The Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA is a week of innovative music making dedicated entirely to “adventurous” contemporary music. For three weeks composers will have their new works performed, and musicians will perform in ensembles sitting...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 13, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
House Sparrow is an indie pop duo from the Berkshires that combines sleigh-bells and synth. Check out the band’s complete Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with House Sparrow:
by Gina Beavers | Jul 12, 2018 | Articles, Music, Newsletter, Stage
My buddy Chris Goudreau made this his Staff Pick, so take heed: “Signature Sounds Recordings will continue its Next Wave Stage this year at the 2018 Green River Festival, highlighting up and coming teenage bands across the Pioneer Valley and northern Vermont....
by Gina Beavers | Jul 12, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage
Obie Award winning actor Ray Anthony Thomas brings life to the world premiere of Artney Jackson at the Williamstown Theater Festival through July 22. Artney Jackson is about an African American man who is a respected employee at the local cable company. After 25...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 12, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Music, Newsletter, Stage
THURSDAY 7/12 MUSIC Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival 2018: MASS MoCa, 1040 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams. David Krakauer’s Acoustic Klezmer Quartet: 8 p.m. Yiddish Book Center Members: $45, General Admission: $50. Delight in a performance emphasizing the beauty of...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 11, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage
Matthew Broderick was, of course, Ferris Bueller, but he’s done a lot more than that. He’s a Tony winner and he’s got nominations for Golden Globes and Emmys. He has some cred. So seeing him in The world premiere of The Closet is a HUGE...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 11, 2018 | Articles, Music, Newsletter, Valley Advocate Sessions
House Sparrow is an electronic indie pop duo with sleigh bells and synth. Check out a teaser of the group’s upcoming Advocate Sessions performance to be released on Friday.
by Chris Rohmann | Jul 10, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
A new thriller, a boundary-breaking dance form, a classic tragedy, and a dramatic sequel, all on area stages this month, illustrate the creative urge to mold existing materials into new forms. In the Valley, Silverthorne Theater Company presents White, Black and Blue,...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 10, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Music, Newsletter
Okay, I know this the second movie in a row for picks, but this is special! Amherst Cinema is showing a free screening of Whisper and Shout, a 1988 documentary that explores the East German rock music scene in the late 1980s — on 35 mm! Well-established bands, like...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 9, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
If you love symphonic music and breathtaking visuals, you’ll love Mountain. Director Jennifer Peedom has combined the two; from Tibet to Australia, Peedom provides an astonishing look at mountaineers, ice climbers, free soloists, heliskiers, snowboarders,...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 9, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Music, Newsletter, Stage
MONDAY 7/9 MUSIC Monday Night Music – Robert Speth and Jay Letourneau: 7 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. Tilton Library, 75 N Main St., South Deerfield. STAGE/FILM/DANCE The Closet: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown. ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance. 1000 Main...
by Chris Rohmann | Jul 7, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
A poster hanging in the lobby at Chester Theater Company points out common roots and themes connecting Islam, Judaism and Christianity – for example, the Archangel Gabriel figures in all three religions’ core legends. It serves as prelude to the current production,...
by Chris Rohmann | Jul 6, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
What happens when your music goes out of style? – when the teenagers are swooning over Elvis Presley instead of Frank Sinatra? If you’re Irving Berlin, and it’s Christmas Eve 1956, and the song at the top of the Hit Parade isn’t “White Christmas” but “Hound Dog,” you...
by Gina Beavers, Chris Goudreau | Jul 6, 2018 | Articles, Featured, Newsletter
Lay your hands off my moon dust, NASA A woman from Tennessee is proactively suing NASA to keep what she says is a vial of moon dust that astronaut Neil Armstrong gave to her has a gift. Apparently, Armstrong was a family friend who gave her a piece of the moon when...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 6, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter, Stage
Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel is swinging through Northampton tonight! The Iron Horse is playing host to the Austin based band that’s been in existence in some form or another since 1970. In that time, they’ve won 9 Grammys. Check them out and...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 6, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter, Stage
You know her, you love her, and you want to support her! Jen Levesque, aka the Valley Show Girl aka the Valley Advocate graphics guru, hosts The Valley Show Girl premiere tonight at 13th Floor Music Lounge. Everybody who’s anybody will be there; she’s...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 5, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Emma June is a singer-songwriter who performs folk opera songs on guitar with lush vocal duo harmonies. Check out her full Valley Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Emma June:
by Gina Beavers | Jul 5, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Raven Books in Northampton is the quintessential New England used bookstore. Winding stacks of books create a delightful maze that loops in and out of corners. There doesn’t seem to be a square inch of wall that remains unoccupied, and tables of books, live plants,...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 5, 2018 | Articles, Newsletter
Our fearless leader Dave Eisenstadter went all high brow on his Staff Picks this week and I’m going to defer to him for today’s Pick of the Day. Shakespeare, the bard, is being celebrated in Amherst tonight until Sunday. Here’s what Dave had to say:...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 5, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Music, Newsletter, Stage
THURSDAY 7/5 MUSIC Drop-in Traditional Music Sessions: 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. $5. Friendly traditional music sessions. Moderate swingy pace. Adults and teens of all skill levels welcome – and not just fiddles. Northampton Senior Center, 67 Conz St., Northampton....
by Gina Beavers | Jul 5, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Hopefully the heat won’t keep you from enjoying some of the cool things happening this weekend. The Berkshire Arts Festival begins today and goes until Sunday. The festival brings together 175 jury selected artists from across the country and you’re...
by From our Readers | Jul 4, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
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. Want to get in on this? Email...
by Hunter Styles | Jul 4, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
Putting shake-ups behind them, two brewers plan for the future Massachusetts has more than 120 visitable breweries, 19 of which are in the Valley. That’s a lot of taprooms to keep a Beerhunter busy around Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties. Still, you can’t...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 4, 2018 | Articles, Newsletter
Happy Independence Day! My pick of the day? Yep, FIREWORKS!!!! Springfield – Star Spangled Springfield at Blunt Park: 6 – 10 PM Agawam – Six Flags: 9:30-10pm PM Amherst – McGuirk Stadium at UMASS Amherst: 9:30 PM North Adams – Joe Wolfe Field (Rain Date...
by Chris Rohmann | Jul 4, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Stage, Stagestruck
For your consideration – four shows playing in the region this weekend, two that hark back to the ’60s/’70s and forward to tomorrow, plus a Shakespearean comedy and a jungle adventure. The Ko Festival of Performance opens its five-weekend season with The...
by Chris Rohmann | Jul 3, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Stage, Stagestruck
These days, fiction can hardly keep up with real life. Take The Cake, playing at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield through July 15. It opened last month, just days after the Supreme Court upheld a Colorado baker’s refusal, on religious grounds, to make a wedding...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 3, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
Cool off with a little “Culture in the Cold War.” Amherst Cinema (yes, the movies are a great way to escape this hellish heat) is showing a FREE screening of The Naked Man on the Sports Field. It’s too hot to get bogged down in words, so I’ll...
by Gina Beavers, Dave Eisenstadter, and Chris Goudreau | Jul 3, 2018 | Articles, Newsletter, Staff Picks
Rocky Horror Picture Show // SATURDAY, July 7 In 1975 something amazing happened: Rocky Horror Picture Show burst on the scene and life would never be the same again – especially for college kids who want to throw toast and toilet paper. On top it all, The Come Again...
by Chris Rohmann | Jul 2, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
Two world premieres kick off the season at Williamstown Theatre Festival, one a raucous comedy, the other a brief, intimate tragedy. The Closet holds forth on WTF’s Main Stage through July 14th, while The Sound Inside plays through the 8th on the smaller Nikos...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 2, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter, Stage
MONDAY 7/2 STAGE/FILM/DANCE The Closet: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown. The Sound Inside: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown. TUESDAY 7/3 STAGE/FILM/DANCE The Closet: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown. Make It Funny Open Mic Comedy: 8...
by Gina Beavers | Jul 2, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Who doesn’t love Nick Offerman? The perennial curmudgeon, however, turns nice guy in the new film Hearts Beat Loud. Offerman plays Frank a single dad whose only child, a daughter named Sam (Kiersey Clemons), is going off to college. As if that wasn’t...
by Chris Rohmann | Jun 29, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
The dance companies that opened this year’s season at Jacob’s Pillow epitomize the festival’s enduring mission. This week the mainstage hosts Pilobolus, one of the pillars of modern dance and still innovating after 45 years. And in the Pillow’s intimate Doris Duke...
by Chris Goudreau | Jun 29, 2018 | Articles, Newsletter
Boston-based Klezperanto takes traditional klezmer music and adds its own twist, introducing a variety of genres to the mix such as Colombian big band music, funk, surf rock, and covers of TV theme songs from 1970s cop shows. I had the opportunity to speak with band...
by Chris Goudreau | Jun 29, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
The Root Cellar is hosting a cajun dance night this month featuring two local bands. The first is Les Taiusts from Western Mass and southern Vermont, an old school electric Cajun dance hall band, followed by fiddle due drive group Terrible Mountain String Band. The...
