Columns
StageStruck: Women’s Choices
Three plays on regional stages this week – two at Williamstown Theatre Festival and one at New Century Theatre – have at their center strong women confronted by life-changing choices. Coming from three different eras of American theater, they nevertheless address...
Cinemadope: Waste Not, Want Not, Hollywood’s recycling program
Remakes, reboots, and reinventions have a long history in the world of Hollywood. It’s one of those things, like dubbed foreign films, that film lovers love to complain about. But the truth is probably a bit more complicated than we like to think. To be sure, there...
Nightcrawler: KISS and Tell
Others can light up the skies this Independence Day weekend. Big E Talent Buyer John Juliano says he’s hoping to light up the ticket purchase phone lines when he announces a “major country act” who will join his 2015 roster “on or around” July 4. In the meantime,...
Cinemadope: English Channels, the life and death of Amy Winehouse
Director Asif Kapadia’s 2010 documentary Senna managed to do what many might have considered impossible: it got the art-house crowd interested in the life of a race car driver. Ayrton Senna, the Brazilian driver at the heart of the story, lived to push the envelope —...
Stagestruck: And Now for Something … The Ko Festival strives to be completely different
There are people in other parts of the country, reports Sabrina Hamilton, who still think New England is an all-white enclave of Mayflower descendants. “Not my Valley!” she cries, and to prove it, she cites hearing nine languages spoken in a recent visit to Puffer’s...
Nominations are in … See who’s moving on to the next round in the Grand Band Slam
Thank you to everyone who nominated a band for the 2015 Grand Band Slam. Below is a list of the top 25 vote-getters. The bands are a good mix of the Valley’s musical scene featuring rock, country, hip-hop, reggae, dub, heavy metal, folk, industrial, and “other.” The...
Berlin on Stage
Berlin is a city of cranes. Giant cantilevered arms hover over the skyline like H.G. Wells’ Martian war machines, still engaged in rebuilding what was bombed out in World War II or, in East Berlin, largely neglected until the Wall came down in 1989. I’d last seen...
The V-Spot: Am I a Creepy OKCupid Troll?
Hi Yana, It’s been a few years since I last got laid. Lately I’ve been trying to use OKCupid to look for a hookup. I also tried using Craigslist personals, but that didn’t go anywhere. While on OKCupid I email women asking if they want to chat, but I don’t get a reply...
The Pour Man: Acrobats that aren’t too sweet
StageStruck: Ghost Stories, part 1
Ghosts are stalking Western Mass. stages this week. Five productions I’ve seen recently are haunted – figuratively or, in a couple of cases, literally – by spectral presences that inform and impel the action. Two of them are reviewed below. The others, now playing at...
Cinemadope: Then and now, a look at how we used to watch movies
It can be hard to remember, in these days of shared links and 900-channel cable subscriptions, just how big a role the movie theater used to play in the American cultural landscape. It was especially so during Hollywood’s Golden Age, when television was still in its...
The V-Spot: My 12-year-old is watching porn. Now what?
Hi Yana, I’ve enjoyed hearing you speak on the sexpert panels at the Platinum Pony. Your name popped into my head today after learning my 12-year-old son has begun to dip his toes into the world of online porn. I knew it was going to happen. I just hoped it wouldn’t...
Madame Bar Fly: Springfield’s Cheers, Serving up charm, good company, and cheap booze at the Ale House
The Ale House on Worthington Street in Springfield is surrounded by boarded-up buildings that loom ominously up over the small, cozy one that the bar occupies. But inside, the vibe is warm and welcoming. “It’s somewhere you can go in Springfield where you don’t have...
Nightcrawler: For Penniless Parrotheads
From country to crooners, Wilbraham’s free Fountain Park concert series springs nocturnal, offering all of this and more on Thursdays 6:30-8 p.m. Kicking things off June 25 are Margaritaville-inspired Buffett mimics Changes In Latitudes. Country rockers Whiskey &...
Stagestruck: Quartering the Pie
Two Valley theaters open their summer seasons this week, hot on the heels of two others completing their initial runs this weekend. The performances showcase the wide variety of work we’ve come to expect from the region’s hot-weather troupes. This week’s shows...
Cinemadope: Cello and Goodbye, a portrait of Arthur Russell
If you go online to track down recordings of musician Arthur Russell, you’ll quickly realize that the late composer is a divisive figure. An avant-garde artist whose cello-and-voice works still seem like something from the near future (despite the fact that their...
The V-Spot: Masturbation, how much is too much?
Dear Yana, Is it normal for my husband to jerk off four times in a day? And then not want me? — XO Dear XO, Maintaining a certain amount of individualism while you’re in a relationship with someone is a completely healthy — and, in fact, recommended — thing to do,...
The Pour Man: Clever label masks a fine wine, Chateau La Paws
I’m generally turned off by cute wine labels. If I come across a bottle with say, a smiling, cartoon version of Ebenezer Scrooge and a name that borders on the scatological, I immediately assume the taste must resemble the appellation, and a clever label is required...
Nightcrawler: Presto-Chango, magicians come to CT
Magician Criss Angel recently appeared at a special press conference at Connecticut’s Foxwoods casino to reveal his latest trick. “My goal is to redefine magic touring like Cirque du Soleil did for the circus,” Angel said of his upcoming Supernaturalist show, an...
StageStruck: Impossible Dreams
Three early-season productions have at their hearts a quest — for a lofty ideal; for an escape from bondage; for a job, any job. All three quests are in some sense foolhardy — desperate pursuits of a shimmering grail. But all are, in their very different ways, utterly...
The Beerhunter Abroad! Perusing Peruvian Brews
Peru The American craft beer landscape is an ever-expanding picture, but if you want to call yourself a seasoned beerhunter, you need to wander off the map from time to time. So in late May I set off on vacation to Peru, primed to enjoy a break from routine — and to...
The V-Spot: Dating clichés that need to go
So many sex and dating clichés, so many hot-tub induced yeast-infections, accidental sex farts, and awkward threesomes. Here’s to half-a-dozen intimate “ideals” that gotta go: ∎ Subtly hit on your crush. No. Make that flirting obvious as hell. I don’t mean in a...
Stagestruck: The Rohmann Ratio
Following up on my latest rant about gender equity in area theaters — the lack of it, that is (see “The Distaff Side,” Sept. 24 and Oct. 15, 2014) — I’ve been looking at the upcoming summer season. While the push for gender parity in American theater has gained...
Nightcrawler: Kiddin’ Around and Getting Phishy
Noho’s And The Kids are more than allright. In fact, they’ve been called everything from “fearless and entertaining” to one of “Western Massachusetts’ indie scene’s brightest creative lights,” depending on whom you ask. The observations cited just happened to come...
Cinemadope: A Moving Picture, a film aims to help Nepal
It’s been almost two months since a devastating earthquake struck Nepal, and while the story of that terrible event — thousands dead, many more injured and homeless, and continuing damage done by some strong aftershocks — has slowly faded from the day-to-day...
The Arts: Nominations for the Advocate Grand Band Slam are Open
WEB TEXT FOR ARTS PAGE 1
The Pour Man: The Wine of the Summer Is Gavi
Last year, during a visit to Beaufort, S.C., a friend introduced me to his new favorite warm weather wine, Gavi, an Italian white wine from the Piedmont region. There’s nothing new about this crisp, dry wine — it’s been around since at least 1659 — but, it was unknown...
Nightcrawler: Cropping Up All Over
Two celebrations of area agriculture and audio sprout up on the local landscape this week. The first, Watermelon Wednesdays in Whately (watermelonwednesdays.com), began its 16th season May 28 with singer/songwriters Pat Alger, Jim Rooney, and Chris Brashear....
The V-Spot: At The End of My (Long-Distance) Rope
Hello Yana, I’ve been seeing a great guy for almost a year now who lives one and a half hours away. We’ve seen each other less than 15 times in the past year and I do 90 percent of the driving. We talk all the time through texts, but almost every weekend we make plans...
Cinemadope: ‘Love & Mercy’
We Americans have always seemed, to me, to be a nostalgic people. Maybe my thinking has something to do with the long line of Irish storytellers in my family — even today, the smallest of family events rarely passes without reference to the outlandish history of some...
Stagestruck: Prose from Pros: Two books by local academics who are also working artists
In this pause between the winter and summer theater seasons, I’ve had a chance to look into a couple of recent books by theater faculty at local colleges. Both authors are also working artists whose practice informs their teaching, and vice versa. Peter Lobdell, who...
Nightcrawler: Blocked In, Janet Monheit, Tom Keifer, and FAT join the 2015 Cityblock Series; Mason and friends peddle their musical wares
We knew that the powers that be were reverting back to the old name. Then we found out that they were getting a new logo. In fact, until recently, the only thing we didn’t know about Springfield’s Cityblock-turned-Bike Nite-back-to-Cityblock was who would be gracing...
Madame Barfly: In Bloom, Easthampton’s Coco serves up some simple heaven
The fact that Coco and the Cellar Bar’s best-selling cocktail is their ginger margarita is a testament to why people pack this place: simple delights. This tasty cocktail is exactly what you’d expect it to be. Spicy fresh ginger is added to the classic margarita trio...
Cinemadope: Keys to Success, a piano prodigy takes lessons
Jazz and film have a great history together. In the early days, jazz was a boon to the young film industry, providing a seemingly endless collection of tunes for hit musicals. Indeed, in those days a great soundtrack was not merely something to sing; in many cases the...
The V-Spot: Something Borrowed, Something Lubed
Dear Yana, Hey! I have a lube question and I thought who better to ask? My friend is going to be losing her virginity on her wedding night and is wondering what the best lube out there is — especially considering she hasn’t used any before, is unsure of allergies, and...
Living By the Stars: Hey baby, what’s your sign?
Often when someone discovers I’m into astrology, they want to know what I think of her or his relationship: He’s a Virgo and I’m an Aries — what d’ya think? For me, attraction comes first, but I get right down to the important stuff quickly, baby: What’s your sign?...
Between the Lines: Advocate Grand Band Slam Is Back, now with more slam!
Back in the final year of the 1900s, I stood, guitar in hand, on the steps of Northampton’s old courthouse at the main intersection. The occasion was the (then new) Valley Advocate Grand Band Slam. My bandmates and I had won top honors in the...
Nightcrawler: Color-Coded, Colorway releases Black Sky Sequined at the Iron Horse
After the band’s successful East Coast mini-tour, Colorway’s May 14 Iron Horse engagement certainly has all the hallmarks of a homecoming show. It’s also a CD release party, celebrating the band’s recently completed sophomore studio effort, The Black Sky Sequined....
The V-Spot: Tying to Get Kinky
Hi Yana, My girlfriend and I are in college and we’ve done some like really, really basic BDSM: blindfolding, a little handcuffs, and some bondage stuff, but nothing serious. Now we want to do some tying down. What would you suggest? — Tie-Guy Dear Tie-Guy, Like a bad...
Cinemadope: Screen Time, breakfast with Curtis
Nobody in their right mind would suggest that making a movie is easy. There are so many levels to moviemaking — the writing, the casting, the shooting and editing and sound and music and so on — that it’s a wonder any of them ever come off decently, never mind...
Raise Your Glass: Zin Is In
Terra d’Oro Zinfandel Amador County, Calif. $9.99 to $15.99 In the early 1970s in Atlanta, you could be considered knowledgeable about wine if you knew that the rose from Lancers and Mateus came from Portugal. And there were ego-boosting bonus points given if you...
Cinemadope: Outside Chance, screenings under the summer stars
Even as they fade from our landscape, there is something quintessentially American about drive-in theaters. They seem, somehow, to contain all the great stages of our lives in one place; in one car, the reckless romance of youth; in another — probably a station wagon...
My Favorite Walk – We Want to Hear From You
A small stretch of land between Route 9 and I-91 might not sound like prime walking territory. But out here, you can disconnect. This is farmland — a quick and easy escape to Kansas from downtown Northampton’s Oz. At Sheldon Field, Old Ferry Road branches off from...
The V-Spot: Sweet (Sex-Positive) Sixteen, Is it ever okay for a dad to buy his daughter a vibrator?
Dear Yana, My eldest daughter is now 16. I’ve had to cover the sex talk basics as her mother (we’re divorced) is FAR more conservative (and shall we say repressed) than I. How do I, as a father, steer my daughter towards a more sex-positive outlook when it’s clear she...
Scene Here: Springfield Symphony Hall
It’s the final performance of the 2015 Springfield Symphony Orchestra season and the 71-year-old group has put together a timely show, The Rite of Spring with Spencer Myer on piano. Buses for retired living communities line the street outside. Inside Symphony Hall,...
Nightcrawler: Linking In, Music aplenty at Kielbasa Fest; Travelers’ golf tourney; Barlow & betrothed tie knot
Last year, local musician/promoter Thomas Kielbania Jr. believed there was enough interest to resurrect the fabled “Kielbasa Fest” in his hometown of Chicopee after it lay dormant for nearly two decades. Gate totals of nearly 20,000 meat-seekers at the city’s Szot...
Nightcrawler: Apple Jam festival pairs local notables with nationals
Just when you thought it was safe to put your wallet away, out trots another apple product. But with more than two dozen bands cranking out more than 32 hours of music Aug. 21-23, Gary Phelps’ Apple Jam Roots Music Festival is a relative bargain, with three-day...
Cinemadope: He Shoots, He Scores!
So often when we talk about film, we talk about the people on either side of the camera. We talk about the great actors and actresses whose performances touch some deep part of our secret selves, revealing surprising truths we didn’t know we knew. We talk about the...
Stagestruck: Play by Play by Playwrights
They call it a play, but it’s hard work. While staging a theater production is by definition a cooperative enterprise in a shared space, the script that provides its foundation is most often a solo undertaking created in a private room. Playwrights are the loners in...
Scene Here: Temple of the Mind
A cool breeze floods the mountainside, rustling the leaves and pine needles in the branches high above me. But as I walk up the path, I barely hear it. My brain is making too much noise of its own. My eyes are down, watching my sneakers crunching along the dirt trail,...
Raise Your Glass: Bargain Wine From South Africa
The Wolftrap Red Blend, 2013 Western Cape of Good Hope, South Africa $7.98 to $9.99 Last week, I heard a wine expert say that the best way for a regular wine drinker to become knowledgeable is to try something different every time. According to his plan, if you are...
The V-Spot: Feeling Rough
Ladies, when it comes to bangin’ banging, if you do the crime, you gotta do the time. Though this “time” can come in many forms, such as cramping, bruises, welts, and off-cycle vaginal bleeding, rarely will you get slapped with a life sentence. Sexual pleasure, much...
The Beerhunter: Black and White and Red All Over, jump on the beer color wheel
At the beginning of The Matrix, Morpheus gives Neo a choice: Swallow the blue pill and wake up to his old boring life, or take the red pill and discover everything he’s been missing. I felt like Neo the other day as I stood in the package store, gazing at an...
Madame Barfly: By the Light of the Night ‘True shine’ moonshine made right in our backyard
After getting laid off, 32-year printing press veteran Scott Santaniello decided to move into an industry that always seems to stand the test of time: booze, baby. Two years ago, Santaniello, a 51-year-old life-long resident of Springfield, got a distiller’s license,...
The Uncanny Valley: WTF? And Other Head-Scratchers, Road to Nowhere
“Curiouser and curiouser!” exclaimed Alice as she took her first steps into Wonderland. If she were making a trek through the Valley instead, we think she would say the same thing. Our little corner of the globe is chock full of odd people, secret places, and...
Scene Here: Spectacular, Spectacular
Lively organ music floated through the air, and I followed it in from the parking lot. Why, exactly, had I opted to spend Friday night at the circus? I wasn??t sure, other than the fact that I was drawn here to the Eastern States Expo in West Springfield by faint,...
The V-Spot: Problems in Poly Paradise
Hi Yana, I’m in a relatively recent relationship, eight months, and my girlfriend is bisexual — not a problem — and polyamorous. I’ve known this from the beginning and I decided that I was okay with it. But I’m getting so heartbroken at the idea of her with someone...
Cinemadope: Rise and Shine, undocumented workers unionize
When we talk about unions, the images that are usually called to mind are those of the Rust Belt —a ging steel mills and auto plants whose unionized workforces were long considered the backbone of American industry. And while the allure of collective bargaining may...
Tricky, Painful Negotiations – in HD
One is an expansive Shakespearean study of power and its fruits, another looks at an awkwardly intimate reunion of two ex-lovers sundered by moral choices. One is a heady duel between biology and spirit at the frontiers of science, and one is a philosophical comedy...E-Edition
Best Of 2024
Readers Choice 2024
