‘There’s no wrong way to play’: Immersive theater event at Quonk offers unique fantasy experience
By Carolyn Brown For the Valley Advocate Victor E. Everwin knew he might die at the Dark Magic School reunion — and he welcomed it. Fourteen years ago, he’d entered a time loop fueled by a "Dark Pact," and only winning the "Most Nefarious" superlative could...
A life in clay and laughter: Pelham potter Michael Cohen, 89, left a lasting legacy
By Carolyn Brown For the Valley Advocate Michael Cohen’s friends knew him for two things: making a life in pottery and being the life of the party. “He was very funny,” said Harriet Cohen, Michael’s ex-wife. “He could crack a joke … and he was much loved by everyone...
Finding a foothold: Folk singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Diana Daniels to headline The Parlor Room
By CAROLYN BROWN For the Valley Advocate Last month, local folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Diana Daniels performed at the Parlor Room as part of First Night Northampton, an event in which she was one of more than 100 performers playing throughout...
Pulsing with intimacy, urgency: Heartbeat Theater launches its inaugural season with ‘Proof’ in Easthampton
By Melissa Karen Sances For the Valley Advocate Actor Kimberly Gaughan remembers taking her first step onto the stage. Technically, it was her mother’s aerobic step — it was the early ‘90s, after all — and its neon-pink-and-teal-striped surface beckoned her to rise....
Finding ‘the wow of now’: Amid neurological health battles, Northampton clown instructor embraces the power of presence
By CAROLYN BROWN For the Valley Advocate Fifteen years ago, Gabriel "Gabe" Levey’s life took a drastic turn when he had a seizure — his first of many. But rather than letting the diagnosis silence his career as a performer, the Northampton-based clowning instructor...
Unmasking the monster: VFX Supervisor Dennis Berardi joins filmmaker Robert Krzykowski to reveal some of the magic of ‘Frankenstein’ at the Shea
By Melissa Karen Sances For the Valley Advocate If “Frankenstein” is ultimately about creation — and pulling back the curtain between marvel and manipulation — it’s only fitting that CinemaStorm’s upcoming screening of Guillermo del Toro’s movie will itself be an...
The Rockwell captures the riotous color, glamour and sophistication of the Jazz Age: More than 140 original works electrify the galleries
By DON STEWART For the Valley Advocate A century ago, when women could be arrested for smoking in public and the manufacturing and distribution of alcohol was illegal, there was an artistic and social revolution in this country. You can view a wealth of Jazz Age...
Grappling with how society responds to disability: Rock-and-roll musical comedy ‘Tallywacker’ filmed in Northampton, Easthampton and Greenfield
By Melissa Karen Sances For the Valley Advocate The black-and-white buddy comedy “Tallywacker” opens on Aleister, its star, a young man with brittle bone disease sitting in a wheelchair in downtown Northampton. Locals will recognize the actor as Jeremy Dubs, who is a...
The V-Spot with Yana Tallon-Hicks: My partners want to date each other
Hi Yana, I started dating my boyfriend Jules (they/them) in March of this year and we've been having a lovely time. They've been polyamorous for a while and we've agreed on a non-hierarchical relationship. It's been quite easy, and very dreamy to build a relationship...
Theater Matters with Jarice Hanson: What do kids learn when they study performing arts?
By Jarice Hanson For the Valley Advocate I recently noticed an article in a magazine for high school teachers titled: “The Last Real Thing: Why Theatre Might Be the Most Important Class of the 21st Century.” The author, Zach Dulli, claimed in his Nov. 22 article that...
Our pleasure-positive sex column, the ‘V-Spot,’ is back: Here’s a refresher on the author, Yana Tallon-Hicks
By Melissa Karen Sances For the Valley Advocate For Yana Tallon-Hicks, the “V-Spot” has been the epicenter of her career. The column she began for the Valley Advocate in 2010 has since spawned a sex therapy practice, her first book and a Tedx Talk in Vienna — not to...
Sessions
Check out our most recent performances in the playlist below, or click here to dig into interviews and related material!
Warren, Gardner introduce bipartisan bill to let states regulate marijuana for themselves
“This is not a legalization bill; I think that’s very important. This is an approach that allows states to move forward,” said Cory Gardner.
Revamped and revisited: Two older releases shine again in a brand new light
By Jennifer Levesque For the Valley Advocate Kaspar Hauser Live at Zone Art Center, Springfield, MA 4-24-1982 A few months ago I received a CD in the mail from Georgia. I ended up putting it aside for far too long. I already had a lineup of reviews to...
The V-Spot: What do I do with this dick pic?
A dick pic is not just a picture of a body part. It’s a larger culture of sexual domination, entitlement, and violation all wrapped up into one, easily-photographable object.
A song for the ages: Easthampton Theater Company presents ‘Torch Song,’ an iconic work of queer theater
By STEVE PFARRER Staff Writer Ever since the November 2022 elections, politicians in over a dozen Republican-controlled states have seemed to compete with each other in attacking parts of the LGBTQ community: banning or restricting gender-affirming medical care for...
The Beerhunter: The Proof is in the Pilsner
Although more craft brewers these days are leaning into lagers, styles like pilsner still feel a bit stranded in the corporate beer-osphere.
Stagestruck: Angela and Lefty
I went to college with Angela Davis, though I didn’t really know her. We moved in different circles. One of us was a campus radical, marching for peace and justice, the other was a serious student focused on getting good grades. The good student was Angela.
