Arts
by Chris Rohmann | Jun 12, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Stage, Stagestruck
It has been described as “theatrical mayhem” and “controlled madness,” “extreme theater” and “a mayfly” — the latter because it’s here and gone in a day. The popular annual event is simultaneously thrilling and terrifying for the dozens of theater folk who take part...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Jun 9, 2017 | Articles, Arts, News
The way Faith Manning Enuol tells it, she went to work one afternoon, and when she returned, the garden she was building with her husband Rich Enuol tripled in size. In actuality, Rich spent the day foraging for materials, finding everything they needed — including...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 12, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Current Bloomers Bloom is a loaded word. Stuffed with all the meaning we attach to it — hope for new beginnings, youth, mortality, inspiration — ‘bloom’ says more than its five letters. Gallery A3 is exploring this concept in their June exhibit: Bloom! Featuring two...
by Chris Rohmann | Jun 12, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck, Uncategorized
As it happens, two different productions of the same show open on area stages on the same day this week. On Wednesday, Million Dollar Quartet premieres in the Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, and the Majestic Theater in West Springield...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
An exhibit featuring Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol might seem like polar opposite artists sharing a space, but that’s selling both of these geniuses short. Rockwell is best known for a “wholesome” style that doesn’t have a hint of subversion. But a closer look at...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
In a new addition to the 30-plus -year-old Green River Fest, Signature Sounds has found the best local bands with musicians ages 18 and under to be featured performers Friday night on the Next Wave Stage. But wait there’s more! Friday night admission will be...
by Will Meyer | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Music, Newsletter
Editor’s note: Jaclyn Walsh uses they/them pronouns. Valley musician, student, and DIY booker Jaclyn Walsh wants you to dump your boyfriend so much that they named their band Dump Him. On the surface such a statement might charm the misandrists and queercore punks...
by Chance Viles and Kristin Palpini | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, News
Springfield, Massachusetts, was a big abolitionist hub during the days of the Underground Railroad — not that many people know this. When talking about Massachusetts history, Western Mass isn’t well represented in historical texts — they’re more focused on Boston. And...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 1, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music
Can’t wait for Friday to see more Sessions? Check out some local bands now.
by Advocate Staff | Jun 1, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter
The Valley is home to a wealth of arts and cultural events. So many, in fact, that the Advocate prints four seasonal arts preview editions every year — and really we could do one every month. This edition is all about what you can expect to see in the Valley, plus the...
by Chris Rohmann | May 30, 2017 | Arts, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
“We do on stage the things that are supposed to happen off. Which is a kind of integrity, if you look on every exit being an entrance somewhere else.” That line, spoken by a traveling player in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, could well be the elevator pitch...
by Chris Rohmann | May 28, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
In my column in last week’s Advocate, a preview of the Valley’s summer-theater season, I reported that many of the area’s upcoming shows reflect, indirectly or explicitly, “the political landscape we are all traversing these days.” Sure enough, the first two summer...
by Jack Brown | May 30, 2017 | Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured, Film, Newsletter
There has been a trend in Hollywood filmmaking that, for the last decade or so, has steadily changed the look of our blockbusters. It’s a pervasive change, but one that has happened gradually enough that many people aren’t even aware that it has been happening, quite...
by Advocate Staff | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Get Out With Staff Picks, Newsletter
Karaoke • Tuesday Singing karaoke with DJ Greg Reil sounds like a good way to belt out whatever is in my soul. I don’t take requests. Karaoke with Reil goes down on Tuesday nights, free, at the Platform Sports Grill and Bar, 125A Pleasant St., Northampton. — Dave...
by Jennifer Levesque | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
One of my all-time favorite venues to see local bands will always be Flywheel’s first location. The alternative performing arts space first opened in 1999 on Holyoke Street in downtown Easthampton. During the early 2000’s, it was my sanctuary. I met so many people in...
by Chris Goudreau | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Polka, doo-wop, jazz swing, and country western music — you wouldn’t think one band would cover these eclectic genres across six songs, but The Johnny Memphis Band, based out of Florence, does just that and more on its new record, Rarities. The sole songwriter for the...
by Kristin Palpini | May 25, 2017 | Articles, Arts
We took this one on the road to the Log Cabin in Holyoke. For the full set come back Friday! We’re posting it around noon.
by Kristin Palpini | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Mark Guglielmo’s collages are the physical manifestation of memory. The murals seem fluid; Guglielmo play with size and scale to emphasize pieces of a scene over others. He adds details from nearby times and places into the work, much in the same way people blend...
by Lena Wilson | May 22, 2017 | Arts, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Stream Queen
Graduation season is upon us, as high schoolers gear up for the next vein of adulthood and university students steel themselves for the real world, whatever that is. Fresh from a weekend of back-to-back college graduations myself, I can’t help but contemplate the...
by Chris Rohmann | May 22, 2017 | Arts, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
Editor’s Note: Here’s the Summer Stage Preview Part I, about the Berkshires. These days, Sam Rush often finds himself using the punning phrase “Home is where the art is.” That’s because his company, New Century Theatre, having lost its longtime home at...
by Chris Goudreau | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Local singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Ellingsen smiles with an air of satisfaction. She’s wearing a leather jacket and flannel shirt, leaning against a rustic wooden backdrop on the front cover her new album, NoLa to NoHo. The photos were shot at the Florence Pie Bar,...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Arts, News
Liza King, 66, and Rick Neumann, 71, of Brattleboro, are about to fulfill what has felt like their lifelong ambition. On June 1, after nearly 20 years, they will move into their church sanctuary. “Their” church, by the way, doesn’t mean the church to which they...
by Chris Rohmann | May 15, 2017 | Arts, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
Most theaters in this region have only two seasons: summer and the rest of the year. None of the area’s professional companies are truly year-round. Some focus on intensive summer repertories of multiple shows with two- and three-week runs, while others produce only...
by Kristin Palpini | May 17, 2017 | Arts, Featured, Music
\/ \/ Scroll down for video. \/ \/ Recorded May 9, 2017, at the party for Best Of the Valley Readers’ Poll 2017 first place winners hosted by the Valley Advocate at the Log Cabin in Holyoke. Want more Sessions now? Go to sessions.valleyadvocate.com to...
by Jack Brown | May 15, 2017 | Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured, Film, Newsletter
Amherst Cinema is gearing up for the return of Special Agent Dale Cooper. Kyle MacLachlan returns to TV this week in his early role as Cooper, the FBI man who got tied up in the death of Laura Palmer and the mysteries of Twin Peaks when the show of the same name first...
by Kristin Palpini | May 15, 2017 | Arts, Featured, Newsletter
The first thing I notice walking into Historic Northampton’s gallery on Bridge Street (besides how interesting the 1800s home is) is that my interpretation of the show’s title is wrong. The exhibit, Laws Change. People Die. The Land Remains, is a collection of...
by Connolly Ryan | May 15, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
The mesmerizing reversal of icy lunacy from sitting in the long-absent sunshine is exactly what his fetus signed up for and intuited long ago in the bog of his mother’s biospheric love. The scent of soil; the touch of heat; the spectacle of black birds mirrored...
by Jennifer Levesque | May 15, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
A couple of weeks ago on The Still’s Instagram page they posted a beautiful picture of a mint julep. I’ve never had one, but always wanted to try the drink simply because that’s what they drank in The Great Gatsby. So, when I saw that The Greys were playing at The...
by Kristin Palpini | May 15, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Valley Music Showcase Genres clash in the most melodic way possible Friday night in Easthampton. The Valley Music Showcase at the New City Brewery is a “bi-monthly mini music fest” — or as I like to call it, the Bi-Mon Min-MuFest — and it pulls from all musical...
by Kristin Palpini | May 15, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter, Stage
You Had Me at Giant Killer Octopus Right now, in Trump’s post-truth America, is an excellent time to stage Shipwrecked! The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as told by himself). The play is based on the grandiose stories of a Victorian huckster who fills in...
by Jennifer Levesque | May 15, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Be Still (Life), My Heart Contemporary still life artist Larry Preston paints solely for himself and what he interprets as beautiful. Beauty is often lost in ordinary objects you see all the time. Preston’s art focuses on bringing out those details and you’ll surely...
by Kristin Palpini | May 11, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music
Check out the full Appalachian Still Sessions concert Friday online at valleyadvocate.com. Can’t wait for Friday to hear more Sessions? Great! Head over to the archive and listen to sets by the likes of The Suitcase Junket, Ray Mason, Eavesdrop Trio, Hannah...
by Jack Brown | May 8, 2017 | Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured, Film, News, Newsletter
For such a rich subject, films about art and the people that make it all too often feel either forced and flat or ridiculously over the top. Better, usually, to take the documentary route, and let the art speak for itself. That’s the course taken by directors Timothy...
by Kristin Palpini | May 8, 2017 | Arts, Featured, Music, News, Newsletter
Got that Galaxy Grass A Kitchen Dwellers show is a true Montana bluegrass experience … that’s been strapped to a rocket, shot into space, and looped around Saturn a few times. Dubbed “galaxy grass,” the band’s sound is high-energy and exploratory jamming with...
by Will Meyer and Nellie Prior | May 8, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, News, Newsletter
You may know Amber Wolfe. She fronted the “speakeasy, post-apocalyptic band,” O You Villain, books shows at Amherst Coffee, and is a veteran of the Institute for Musical Arts, where she found “some of the foremothers of local music.” Despite strong roots here in the...
by Kristin Palpini | May 8, 2017 | Articles, Arts, News, Newsletter
Occupy. A joint art show by Eric Mandeville and McKenzie Stuetzel makes a powerful statement, but only for a short time — so be sure to see it. By utilizing imagery from street art in contrasting colors, their show explores the idea of living in society, but outside...
by Kristin Palpini | May 8, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Join the Herd Quintessential ’90s folk rock band Donna the Buffalo is coming to Holyoke as part of the group’s politically-active Stampede Tour. In addition to providing groove-heavy dance-able tunes, Donna the Buffalo seeks to bring attention to the inappropriate use...
by Kristin Palpini | May 8, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter, Stage
So, You Know They Can Dance An homage to Wes Anderson’s highly stylized films and a self-reflective, choreographed spoken-word piece called “Perception” were among the performances featured in Hatchery’s debut show this winter. The pre-professional dance troupe’s...
by Kristin Palpini | May 1, 2017 | Arts, Newsletter
Check back for the full mini concert and an interview with Lee Friday afternoon at sessions.valleyadvocate.com. Listen to past Sessions performers including Hannah & Maggie, Mammal Dap, The Suitcase Junket, Ray Mason, and The Eavesdrop Trio, head over to the...
by Kristin Palpini | May 1, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
The Thunder Down East If you hear rumblings coming from Easthampton Saturday, come running — it’s the Thunder in the Valley Festival. This all-ages event will feature rock and roll, food trucks, craft beer, wrestling — with students from Kevin Landry’s Pro Wrestling...
by Advocate Staff | May 1, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Art TRACK More than 50 artists from around New England will participate in this year’s TRACK Artisan Fair in Three Rivers. The day will feature live music and food vendors. TRACK Artisan Fair: Saturday, May 6, 10 a.m. Free. Rain or shine. Palmer Historical &...
by Advocate Staff | May 1, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Get Wit It Wit may be the smartest, funniest one-act play about a woman dying of ovarian cancer. Focusing on the final hours of Dr. Vivian Bearing’s life, the English professor reflects on the similarities between how the doctors view her — as a piece of work to be...
by Advocate Staff | May 1, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Forever Young@Heart Young@Heart, a chorus of people age 70 and older who love singing contemporary tunes, is celebrating 35 years of belting out the hits with a show this Saturday at the Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton. Hear new arrangements of songs by...
by Advocate Staff | May 1, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
No Cars Allowed The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge that connects Holyoke and South Hadley will be closed Sunday afternoon for the River Roll and Stroll open street festival. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. the bridge will be open to pedestrians, bicyclists, dog-walkers,...
by Chris Goudreau | Apr 24, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Nice Pot! Flowers are blooming on the trees, the sun is shining, and asparagus are being planted in the Valley, which means it’s time for the annual springtime Asparagus Valley Potter Trail. Every year the self-guided tour takes place across nine pottery studios in...
by Kristin Palpini | Apr 24, 2017 | Articles, Arts, News, Newsletter
For writer Elinam Agbo, words are like air.“If I go too long without expressing my thoughts in one way or another, I begin to feel suffocated and distant from my memories as well as my lived moments,” said Agbo, this year’s winner of the Valley Advocate’s Juniper...
by Kristin Palpini | Apr 24, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
The first thing you need to know about Krakatoa Picnic is that the imagery in this book of poems, by James Heflin, will sear you to the side of the Indonesian volcano.The collection of sci-fi-influenced prose is vivid in its tactile descriptions of place, people, and...
by Connolly Ryan | Apr 24, 2017 | Articles, Arts, News, Newsletter
Earth First & LastLike children in summertime, our planet thrives on vivid evidence that there is always something to be. Unlike fools who amass acres by way of massacres, nature plants herself in one area and creates worlds around her. Earth itself...
by Lena Wilson | Apr 18, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Film, Newsletter, Stream Queen
It’s 4/20, and whether you consider today a national holiday or just a chance to gather some friends and smoke, you’ll probably end up watching something. Thankfully, now that it’s no longer the ’70s, stoners can open Netflix or YouTube and watch something unique and...
by Kristin Palpini | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured
I love the idea of art galleries everywhere — in empty downtown storefronts, in the halls of hospitals and the community rooms of nonprofit agencies — but it’s always a bit awkward, at first, to enjoy them. There’s a buzzer to hit, or a camera to stare into, or a...
by Will Meyer | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Music
On the road with The Sun Parade From the streets of Nashville I called Lynne Bertrand, who manages the Northampton band The Sun Parade. There was a problem.I had stopped by the venue earlier and noticed the sign outside said they were going first. This wasn’t going to...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Our Lady Laverne Laverne Cox grew up in Mobile, Alabama, raised by a single mother in a Christian family. Back then, it wasn’t at all clear that she would end up attending college in New York City and pursuing a career as an actress, let alone that she would become...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Stage
We’re still a few months out from July’s annual Green River Festival in Greenfield, but we’re right on time to share a special early announcement from producers Signature Sounds. This year, the festival will add a new stage called the Next Wave Stage, which will host...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Film
Strangers No More In the 1950s, Hampshire College professor Abraham Ravett relocated with his Polish Jewish family from Eastern Europe to the United States. Ravett was just three at the time of the move, but he carried with him a memory — and a single black-and-white...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Arts
Full Spectrum Painter Mary Witt (who composed the piece on the left) and multimedia artist Brianna Ashe (the piece on the right) are showing their new work in a playful exhibit called Colorplay, in the front room of Oxbow Gallery this month. They both love working and...
by Chris Rohmann | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Stage, Stagestruck
It seems that lately, every time I go to a play — or a movie, for that matter — it gets me thinking about Donald Trump. Ever since he and his goon squad have taken over in Washington, I’ve noticed that so much of what we see and create seems newly topical and timely....
by Jack Brown | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Film
Maine Course Like so many of my middle-aged compatriots, I seem to have adopted food as a new hobby. Not cooking, necessarily — quite a bit of this particular enterprise is taken up simply by watching other people cook, it turns out — but eating, at least. And what...
by Chris Rohmann | Apr 6, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck
Movies are not my beat, but I often go to the theater at the Amherst Cinema. The ongoing National Theatre Live series of big-screen, high-def broadcasts from the London stage is a staple of my playgoing schedule. This month and next, the cinema screens encores of five...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Film, Leisure, Music, Newsletter, Stage
Tweet Puppets for the People From its founding in New York’s Lower East Side in 1963 to its decades-long residence in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, Bread & Puppet Theater remains one of the country’s most inventive and internationally recognized performing...
by Lena Wilson | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Film, Newsletter, Stream Queen
In our world of studio filmmaking driven by franchises and sequels, creators looking to develop original ideas are often restricted to independent production. While indie filmmaking means working on a shoestring budget, it also often means the cast and crew are...
