Before Salem, there was Springfield: New exhibit explores ‘Witch Panic’ in mid-1600s western Mass
By Emilee Klein Staff Writer Around 50 years before the infamous Salem witch trials, fear of witches first plagued the colonial people of western Massachusetts. In the enterprising settlement of Springfield, founder and fur trader William Pynchon and his colleague,...
‘Jazz without borders’: Multicultural theme defines Northampton Jazz Festival, Sept. 27-28
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer In a year of international strife, the Northampton Jazz Festival is aiming to bring people together with music that transcends borders. The Northampton Jazz Festival, which will return for its 12th year on Sept. 27 and 28, is celebrating...
Would you eat food off of a naked body?: Local event, Food & Form, has nothing – and everything – to do with nudity
By Melissa Karen Sances For the Valley Advocate To Coco Bustin, the body is a beautiful vessel. She first came to appreciate it in figure drawing classes at Tufts University, where she met every curve and contour with wonder. Nudity, she realized, was an artistic...
Mixtape: The doctor will see you now
By Jennifer Levesque For the Valley Advocate Michael Brady is a psychotherapist and songwriter based out of the Berkshires. His debut release, “Second Skin,” is a concept album written about fictional case studies Brady has concocted from inspirations from his...
Monte Belmonte Wines: Wine Snob Glossary, Part 1
By Monte Belmonte For the Valley Advocate While dining out with my lovely wife the other day, it occurred to me that I use a lot of extraordinarily snobby adjectives that are incomprehensible to the lay drinker. Then it occurred to me: maybe a wine glossary would be...
Theater Matters with Jarice Hanson: Exploring gender and body positivity on stage
By Jarice Hanson For the Valley Advocate This summer three outstanding shows in the Berkshires demonstrate that the performativity of gender has broken free from traditional gender-based casting in some places. In this edition of Theater Matters, we explore how some...
Messages from beyond?: Local psychics ‘channeling the truth’ and spirits of the dead
By ELISE LINSCOTT For the Advocate ‘The first thing I felt was cancer … she said ‘I was tired and there was no way back,’ which is pretty common for cancer,” South Hadley-based psychic medium and fiction writer Lisa Lanno said to a room of about 50 people one recent...
Curated for your viewing and listening pleasure: Amherst Cinema presents Sound & Vision series through Sept. 18
By SCOTT MERZBACH Staff Writer A documentary profiling Swing-era clarinetist Artie Shaw, a musical comedy featuring 1960s-pop band The Monkees and one of African cinema’s first musicals are among this year’s selections in an annual summer celebration of music culture...
The Gem from Easthampton: Gigantic bar manager’s recipe makes it across the pond to a speakeasy in Scotland
By CHRIS LARABEE Staff Writer With 3,100 miles and the Atlantic Ocean between them, what could Easthampton and Dundee, a city of approximately 148,000 people in Scotland, possibly have in common? Well, if you really do some digging, you might unearth a Gem of a...
Something for everyone: UMass Fine Arts Center announces robust 2024-2025 season lineup
By PAIGE HANSON For the Advocate Earlier this week, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Fine Arts Center announced its lineup of performances for its 2024-2025 season, which includes quite a few notable offerings, including “a one-time Grateful Dead keyboardist,...
Food, friends, music and beer: Food Truck Fridays is the place to be in Easthampton this summer
By ALEXA LEWIS Staff Writer Going out with friends can be challenging when clashing tastes in food make it impossible to choose a restaurant. But for Abandoned Building Brewery in Easthampton, the solution to this predicament is simple, and it comes rolling in on four...
Sessions
Check out our most recent performances in the playlist below, or click here to dig into interviews and related material!No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Lights, camera, action — and more: Black box theater at Holyoke Media becomes a forum for the arts and other events
By STEVE PFARRERStaff Writer Musicians are always looking for another venue to play. Actors and playwrights search for a new place to stage a show. Dancers want another floor to move on. At Holyoke Media, they all can find room. The independent, nonprofit...
The V-Spot: Help! I Resent My Metamour!
Pretty much no matter how you slice ‘em, non-monogamous relationships are flippin’ hard work.
Pick of the Day 3/24: Darlingside at the Academy of Music
f you like folk and bluegrass and haunting vocals you shouldn’t miss Darlingside’s tour stop at the Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Stagestruck: What I Did on My Summer Staycation
In the usual summer theater season, I’ll see dozens of plays and put hundreds of miles on the odometer. But in this most unusual summer, the car stayed mostly in the driveway and I stayed mostly in the house. I did get to over two dozen shows – or rather, they were...
