Parties & Openings
June 20 - Sharon
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June 27 - Pittsfield |
June 28 - Pittsfield |
In the Swirl at the Williamstown Theatre Festival
The Williamstown Theatre Festival, which has been around for 55 summers, has managed the neat trick of upholding tradition while staying contemporary and relevant. Under the leadership of Nicholas Martin (left), WTF opened its season on July 2 with theatrical comfort food: A.R. Gurney’s Children (through July 12), which was first produced in 1974. The story of a WASP family confronting repressed truths at their shingled summer “cottage” on a New England island, the one-act play features a breathtaking performance by Judith Light, who plays the steely, blue-blooded matriarch with conviction and surprising pathos. She is well served by her co-stars: Mary Bacon, Katie Finneran, and James Waterston. Before the play, WTF supporters and benefactors gathered under a tent on the lawn of the 62 Center for a cocktail picnic with mini burgers and hot dogs cleverly served in concession-stand style cardboard containers by Mezze Catering. After the show, the entire audience was invited for dessert (which is an opening night tradition for every show at WTF). There was watermelon, scooter pies, Champagne, and a long line for the soft-serve cones served from an old-fashioned ice-cream truck parked just outside the theater.
WTF Artistic Associate Justin Waldman, who is directing What is the Cause of Thunder (July 22 - August 2), with Jessica Hecht, who is in The Torch-Bearers (July 29 - August 9); director Adam Bernstein with Stacy Cochran.
WTF board vice president Michelle Moeller Chandler with trustee Joseph Finnegan; Molly and A.R. (“Pete”) Gurney, the playwright, who was graduated from Williams College in 1952.
Wendie Malick, who will star in What is the Cause of Thunder? (July 22 - August 2) with Matt Harris, president of the WTF board of trustees, who was graduated from Williams College in 1994.
Kevin O’Rourke, who runs the Williams Summer Theater Lab, with his wife, Edith Thurber; Harold Wolpert and lighting designer Rui Rita.
Wendy Philbrick & Edward Baptiste; legendary actress Polly Bergen with director Gabriel Marantz and his grandmother, Marge Champion, a WTF trustee emeritus.
WTF general manager Gilbert Medina with Susan Pourfar who’s in the world premiere of Jonathan Marc Sherman’s Knickerbocker (July 8 - 19) and WTF trustee Chip Elitzer.
Sandra Thomas, executive director of Images Cinema in Williamstown, with Ellen Bernstein; What Is the Cause of Thunder? playwright Noah Haidle with WTF marketing manager Jane Mayer.
MASS MoCA’s John McAlister with his wife, Chris McAlister; Brooks Ashmanskas, who’s appearing in Knickerbocker (July 8 - 19), with Daniel Goldstein, who is directing True West (July 15 - 26).
Mezze Catering’s picnic fare was user-friendly and delicious.
Corrina Gitterman and Janine Hethering enjoying their post-show ice cream cones.
The legendary Broadway critic John Simon with his wife, Pat Simon, a professor of theater at Marymount College; WTF literary associate Sarah Slight with literary intern Clare Drobot.
WTF artistic & development intern Rachel Seklecki with audience services supervisor Corissa Bryant.
Jid Sprague, treasurer of the WTF board of trustees, and her husband, John Sprague.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 07/03/09 at 08:47 AM • Permalink
Shaker Shalom at Hancock Shaker Village
Cultural correspondent Bess Hochstein reports: The Shaker City of Peace is one of the few places to actually find peace in the frenzy of the Berkshire summer. All the hustle and bustle of running to make the curtain for this or that cultural event fade away as soon as you pause to take in that perfectly framed pastoral view of tidy rows of crops, lazily grazing cows, and the iconic Round Stone Barn from the entrance to Hancock Shaker Village. So it was on Sunday, June 28, when 160 peace-seekers converged on Hancock Shaker Village to explore the commonalities between Shaker and Jewish traditions. Members of Pittsfield’s Congregation Knesset Israel and sundry Shaker scholars enjoyed performance of songs from both traditions in the Brick Dwelling, the Shaker songs delivered by the heavenly unaccompanied voice of mezzo-soprano Deborah Rentz-Moore—an early music specialist – with Jewish liturgical music scholar Jeffrey Siegel, a lay cantor at Knesset Israel, belting out the Hebrew songs, thoughtfully providing handouts so the crowd could sing along. Fortunately the heavens ignored Siegel’s final offering, “Mayim, Mayim,” which he described as a Jewish rain song. The skies remained clear for the rest of the evening’s proceedings: a silent and live auction plus a splendid meal prepared by chef Michael Roller, served under the Village’s gala tent, illuminated by a rare-in-this-summer setting sun.
Palma Fleck and Eileen Young; Bill Mangiardi, director of farming & facilities at HSV, with Diane Vogt, whose husband, Bill Vogt, is the president of the HSV board of trustees.
HSV CEO Ellen Spear with Marty & Glenna Bloom; Joy Flint, whose husbandconducted the silent auction and runs Charles Flint Antiques in Lenox, with Elaine Baum of Stockbridge.
Robert & Silvia Schecter of Lenox & New York City; Arlene Mervis of Stockbridge and Judy Bergner of Lee.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 07/02/09 at 10:54 AM • Permalink
Barrington Stage Company’s 15th Anniversary Gala
What could be more unpretentious than a picnic dinner in a parochial school gym? Barrington Stage Company returned to St.Joseph High School for its 15th annual gala, which followed a late afternoon performance of Carousel (which runs through July 11). The party honored artistic director Julianne Boyd, who was serenaded by BSC alumni, including Debbie Boone, who sang her 1997 #1 hit song, “You Light Up My Life.” The party confirmed some definite trends emerging on the charity circuit: On the food front, meals are being served family style which creates a sense of conviviality at the table and allows you to help yourself to seconds—and everyone wanted more of the awesome fried chicken, sliced steak, corn-and-green bean and potato salads served by Max Ultimate Food. On the fashion front, men are feeling comfortable to wear flip-flops and shorts with sports jackets so they can be as cool as the ladies in their sleeveless dresses.
Lucy Holland, Molly Boxer and Annie Selke of Pine Cone Hill; Jonathan Ball of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Pittsfield and Barbara Schulman of Gabel Real Estate
BSC Musical Theater Lab producer William Finn, who is currently writing songs for a Broadway version of Little Miss Sunshine, with his partner, Arthur Salvatore, walking down North Street to the post-performance party; Bob and Karen Youdelman
Pittsfield gallery owner Leslie Ferrin and Mary Garnish of Berkshire Living; Jessie & Bernie Wolfson with Donna Weiss.
Tucker & Cindy Welch; David Rosenthal & Leslie Milton
BSC founder and artistic director Julianne Boyd flanked by her daughter Sarah Boyd, who flew in from Los Angeles, and her son, Dr. Norman “Ned” Boyd III, who donated a teeth whitening procedure for the evening’s silent auction.
Norman Boyd with Debbie Boone, who sang “You Light Up My Life,” her #1 hit song from 1977, to Julianne Boyd, who is standing with Mary Ann “Minkie” Quinson, who has been president of the BSC board since its founding.
Reid White, a former Barrington Stage trustee, and Andrew Volkoff, who is directing Underneath the Lintel, which runs at BSC’s Stage from July 8 - 26.
BSC trustee Reba Evenchik and Tom Potter; Lou Boxer and caterer Dan Mathieu.
Nancy Macauly and Wendy Lauren; Carousel stars Patricia Noonan, who plays Julie Jordan, and Aaron Ramsey, who plays Billy Bigelow
BSC interns Russell Peck, Liz Dion, Joceyln Olson, and Michael Greehan
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/29/09 at 10:15 AM • Permalink
They Could Have Danced All Night at Jacob’s Pillow
Cultural correspondent Bess Hochstein reports: The best thing about the annual Jacob’s Pillow gala is the dancing–by students, professional artists, and almost everyone in attendance. Guests arriving at this year’s opening gala on June 20 were greeted with flutes of Champagne and fold-up umbrellas (which would come in handy later.) After previewing A Dance to Jules Feiffer in Blake’s Barn, they filed into the Ted Shawn Theatre, where student dancers presented a world premiere by Viktor Plotnikov with professional polish—even though they had only begun to work on the piece just four days earlier. Executive director Ella Baff presented the third annual Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award to the pioneering Merce Cunningham, who first danced at the Pillow in 1955; he was unable to attend but gave a taped acceptance speech. There were sneak previews of two hot young dance troupes appearing in July: Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and Gallim Dance, and then tap phenom Jason Samuel Smith, shorn of his signature flying dreadlocks, tapped in from the back of the theatre, down the aisle, and up a set of stairs to the stage where he put on a blazing display before tapping back through the aisles. He then returned to the stage with all the evening’s performers, who received a well deserved standing ovation. The crowd made use of their umbrellas walking across the soggy lawn to a massive party tent with an appropriately large dance floor. Smith had the first dance with Mercedes Ellington, granddaughter of Duke Ellington, and then it was the guests’ turn to share the dance floor. With a corps of lithe and limber students and company members leading the way, the urge to dance proved irresistible; the crowd leapt to its feet for the second time that evening and the band drowned out the intermittent torrential downpours.
Mark Johnson & Maurice Peterson of Seven Salon in Stockbridge; Amy Zuckerman with gala committee chair Hunter Kerr Runette.
Daniel Osman of the Dream Away Lodge with Hollywood legend and Pillow director emeritus, Marge Champion; Pillow stalwarts Helice & Steve Picheny.
Dance critic Deborah Jowitt and her husband, Murray Ralph, the namesake of WAMC president Alan Chartock’s beloved Westie; Pillow director of preservation Norton Owen with gala committee member Kathleen Chrisman.
Two generations of tap sensations: Ninety-year-old Miriam Nelson, who danced to fame in the 1940s, with Pillow posterboy Jason Samuels Smith, whose two week run at the Doris Duke Theatre begins July 22.
Ralph Lauren marketing executive Talbot Logan in Lily Pulitzer and Barnes & Noble merchandising executive Bill Miller in J. Crew, continuing a six-year tradition of wearing fanciful pants to the Pillow gala; potter and writer Daniel Bellow with Eugenie Sills, publisher of The Women’s Times.
The Governor and First Lady of Massachusetts, who have a weekend house in nearby Richmond.
Marsha Johnson with Arthur Collins; the Pillow’s general manager Connie Chin with Diane Wortis of Miss Hall’s School, who served on the gala committee.
Mika Santiago with Elka Samuels Smith, Jason Samuels Smith’s sister and manager; Jason’s niece, Kaia Samuels Viana, with her grand aunt (and Jason’s aunt) Flo Samuels.
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet dancers Jubal Battisti, Golan Yosef, & Matthew Rich, who will perform at the Pillow July 8 - 12
Gala committee members Barbara & Tonio Palmer of Tyringham; Nancy Kalodner and Doug Shufelt were pretty in pink.
Singer and artist Kent Drake with dancing partner Mercedes Ellington, dancer, choreographer, and granddaughter of Duke Ellington
Circus Arts Instructor Jill Fleming with trombone player Don Mikkelsen, who plays with Wanda Houston at Napa on Friday nights; Tom & Stephanie Hoadley of the Hoadley Gallery in Lenox.
Pillow executive director Ella Baff gets down with Jason Samuels Smith.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/21/09 at 07:22 PM • Permalink
TriArts “Summer of Fun” Gala at the Sharon Playhouse
Summer stock is all about pouring enthusiasm, razmatazz and heart into the right material in the right proportions. From the elaborate season preview at Saturday night’s TriArts gala, it looks like it’s going to be a boffo summer at at the Sharon Playhouse, which opened on June 18 with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (through July 4). In the tradition of Zero Mostel and Nathan Lane, Omri Shein led the cast in a rousing rendition of “Comedy Tonight” that could make even a misanthrope smile. Regina Albertario and Bobby Gouse sang “You Are The Music in Me” from High School Musical 2 (July 10 - 26), which is bound to have tweens and teens lined up a the stage door. And Gavin Lodge made it clear that he will seduce every resident of River City in The Music Man (August 6 - 23) as he belted out “76 Trombones” like a one-man band. The Footlighters (above), a barber shop quartet from Poughkeepsie that has been cast for The Music Man, made their TriArts debut and later serenaded actress Allison Berry (who’ll play Marian the Librarian) at the post-performance cocktail party in the Bok Gallery.
Actors Gavin Lodge and Allison Berry. who will star in The Music Man this summer.
Actress Deann Halper and TriArts board president David Sims; Mary Fellows and TriArts board member Roxanne Bok, who owns Salisbury’s White Hart Inn.
Amy Smith, Lola White, gala co-chair Pat Best, and Scott Smith
Fran Roberts and Judy Barber; Michael Lynch and Anne Yoakam
TriArts executive director Alice Bemand and her husband, Steve Bemand; Ann Printon and TriArts artistic director Michael Berkeley
Norman Kapplan and artist Irene Blagden
Patricia Conlin and Ann Perse; Millerton floral designer Kamilla Najdek and David Najdek of EcoBuild
TriArts board vice president Mimi Estes and board member Deborah Reyelt; Audrey and Arnold Fisher
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/21/09 at 07:12 AM • Permalink
Gallery at Stonover Farm Opening and Barn Dance
Art jewelry lovers of all ages and persuasions, including 15-month-old Kestrel Miro Duke (left), gathered at Suky Werman’s Barn Gallery at Stonover Farm on Friday evening for the opening reception of a show of (mostly) jewelry by Israeli artists. Leslie Ferrin of the Ferrin Gallery in Pittsfield also has an installation in Werman’s commodious space of works by the potter Emmett Leader that include a small and enchanting garden room, filled with Judaica. Tom Werman, preoccupied with parking complications (wet ground having rendered their usual meadow/parking lot a swamp) never made it to the opening. Presumably, he showed up later for the rhythm extravaganza upstairs in the hay barn, featuring the Berkshire Batteria.
Jonathan Kramer, Dr. Maria Sirois, Carolann Patterson, Gloria Shusterman, and Naples Daily News healthy-eating columnist Lenore Greenstein
Cindy & Ollie Curme and Nancy Edman Feldman; Courtney Lewis and Martine Nash
Actress and knitwear designer Karen Allen and Herb Hale; Sienna Patti of the Sienna Gallery in Lenox, Karin Watkins, General Manager of The Mahaiwe Center for the Performing Arts, Donald Clark and Leslie Ferrin, both of the Ferrin Gallery.
Photographer Kevin Sprague playing the accordion his grandfather brought from Slovenia; furniture designer Ruby Metzner and her daughter Kestrel Miro Duke.
Suky Werman with “recovering attorneys” Orit Kadosh and Petria May; Reid White, John Butterworth, and J.P. Graham
Publisher Sunita Das and practicing attorney Divya Wallace; Sheri & Bruce Rubin
Hancock Shaker Village president Ellen Spear and Church Street Art Gallery owner Michael Ulick; Suky Werman, photographer Julie McCarthy, and Kate Gleason
Artist Michael Zelehoski, whose current show, (De)Constructions, is at the Ferrin Gallery, and Becky Gordon; Nancy Paver and Michael Salke
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 06/20/09 at 05:46 AM • Permalink
Marge Champion’s Birthday Party at Jacob’s Pillow
Cultural correspondent Bess Hochstein reports from Becket: Membership does have its privileges, at least at Jacob’s Pillow, where members were invited on June 14 to celebrate the 90th birthday of legendary Marge Champion, the part-time Berkshires resident and star, with her late husband, Gower, of classic films such as Show Boat, Lovely to Look At, and Three for the Show. Like the Champion she is, Marge still dances twice a week with Donald Saddler, the choreographer, actor, and original member of American Ballet Theatre who first performed at the Pillow in 1941. The still-spry dance partners sat side-by-side in the Ted Shawn Theatre during a rough-cut screening of the documentary Still Dancing, which chronicles their biweekly dance sessions. Afterwards, they addressed the appreciative audience, as did filmmakers Douglas Turnbaugh and Gregory Vander Veer, who are looking for funding to complete the film. Then everyone moved onto a reception in Blake’s Barn which Champion, a director emeritus of Jacob’s Pillow, donated to the Pillow in 1992 in memory of her son, Blake. No one seemed to mind that the birthday party was a bit premature; Champion actually turns 90 in September.
Lawyer Charles Mirotznik of Tyringham with not-quite birthday girl, Marge Champion.
Denise Ulrich of the Church Street Gallery in Lenox with Liz Thompson, who ran The Pillow from 1980 - 89; current executive director Ella Baff with filmmaker Gregory Vander Veer.
Mark Vanden Bosch, chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Medical Director of the Operating Rooms at Berkshire Health Systems, and Hunter Kerr Runnette, a Pillow board member and chairman of the opening night gala on June 20.
Jo Humphrey of New York City, and her sister Shirley Miller of Stockbridge, who introduced themselves as “The Franz Sisters,” daughters of Joseph Franz, the architect of the Ted Shawn Theatre; Norton Owen, the Pillow’s director of preservation and Dave Barrett, director of development
Donald Saddler, an original member of American Ballet Theatre, who first danced at Jacob’s Pillow in 1941, with Sharon MacDonald, director of the American Dance Institute, and former Broadway dancer & choreographer Antony De Vecchi, founder, artistic director, and ballet master of the Northeast American School of Dance.
Pillow board member Nancy Kalodner and Tom Jones, the co-creator of America’s longest-running musical, The Fantasticks, whose score is featured in Keep Dancing; the ever-dapper Arthur Collins with operatic couple Maureen O’Flynn and Claude Corbeil
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/15/09 at 05:01 PM • Permalink
A Tea Dance at Wilderstein
By the time Margaret “Daisy” Suckley died in her 100th year in 1991 at Wilderstein, her family’s Hudson River home, the place was derelict. Today it is well on its way to becoming what it had been in its (and Daisy’s) prime. So it was apt that the spirit of the young, fun-loving Daisy—not the friendly old lady many still remember, not even the mature confidante and possibly more (her intimate diaries! his tender letters!) to her sixth cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt—prevailed on Saturday, June 6, as friends and supporters of Wilderstein gathered for a benefit tea dance. Young Daisy would have felt right at home with the jazz band, the immaculate vintage cars parked in the drive, the men in boaters, the ladies with dance cards (left), and the delicious gin-laced punch that was served, prohibition-style, in delicate tea cups. Inside the house, there is fresh evidence that Daisy’s parents and grandparents were serious students of fashion. The tooled-leather wallcovering in the entry hall has been restored, and it is a knockout; the Frenchified formal reception room, despite its tatters, is flawless in every detail; and, now that a century of black cigar-soot has been removed from the library’s artfully painted walls, it reveals itself to be one of the great rooms anywhere.
Event chairman Brian Lange with Ted Reynolds and Joy Gross
Jack Myers and Norah Burden with Peter Rockefeller & Allison Rockefeller (best dressed, in her flapper dress and cloche); Rural Intelligence blogger Carey Maloney & Hermes Mallea
Also beautifully attired, June Blum; caterer Dera Lee and Andrea Clair
Lyell & Valerie Dampeer; Ward McCormack Stanley
Artists Linda Filley and Ramon Lascano, with Papertrail’s Maureen Missner; pianist Peter Tomlinson, vocalist Sal Maneri, and bassist Paul West of the Paul West Jazz Band
Jane Glucksman, Hilary Huntington, Ramon Lascano and Steven Connell; Bill Morris and the evening’s honorary chairman Sam Hall.
Laura Pensiero, Edris Nichols, Dr. Rosemarie Ingleton, David Rudd, Toni Weeks, David Souers
Howard Zar, chair of next week’s Bloomsday (June 13) celebration across the river in Athens, NY, Wilderstein Executive Director Greg Sokaris, and Geoff Howell; Chris Foreacre and Claire Longden
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 06/07/09 at 08:15 AM • Permalink
Sunset Supper and Moonlight Magic at The Clark
Cultural correspondent Bess Hochstein reports from Williamstown: The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’s gala dinner on June 6 had a quasi-Adirondack theme, which referenced Georgia O’Keeffe’s summers at Alfred Stieglitz’s estate on Lake George. The party marked the opening of the exhibition Dove/O’Keeffe: Circles of Influence, which explores the cross-pollination between Arthur Dove and Georgia O’Keefe with Stieglitz as the intersection. Guests could tour the exhibition or head up to the Stone Hill Center on a golf cart driven by an apple-cheeked youngster to see Through the Seasons: Japanese Art in Nature, a new exhibition of contemporary ceramics and Edo period painted scrolls and screens. As the sun began its descent, more than 450 celebrants gathered by the tent to take a chance on raffle prizes and dine in grand picnic style on local foods produced by The Clark’s in-house caterer, Steve Wilkinson. The rising of the full moon competed with dessert—Lakeside Farm’s strawberry rhubarb crumble a la mode with Berkshire Ice Cream’s French vanilla— for attention, but the chance to toast marshmallows and make s’mores around a roaring fire proved an irresistible draw.
Lewis and Margy Steinberg with Patricia Peters and her husband, Steve; Monique LeBlanc with Stuart Chase, Susan Baker, and Michael Lynch, a trustee of The Clark.
Mrs. John M. Kaiser (aka the artist Helga S. Orthofer), Christopher Owen, Clark docent Karen Carhart and Tjasa Sprague.
EPA contractor Wendy Skavlem and Laurie Morris of The Clark; photographer Keith Emmerling and data visualization professional Kipp Lynch.
Caitlin Allard, the Clark’s B-HIP intern who is a senior at Franklin Pierce College, and Anne Tiffany ; Art dealer and professor Geoffrey Young with artists Katia Santibanez and James Siena.
Gigi Douglas, Carolyn Umlauf, Barbara McLucas with Phil & Kathy McNight.
Christopher Madkour of the Southern Vermont Art Center with The Clark’s director Michael Conforti and Joan Hardy Clark; Kenneth & Suzanne Nash.
The evening ended with make-your-own s’mores led by Michael Conforti.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/07/09 at 07:03 AM • Permalink
“Contained Exuberance” Opens at Berkshire Botanical Garden
The trustees and other passionate supporters of the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge gathered on Saturday June 6 to toast blogger Margaret Roach of A Way To Garden and Bob Hyland of Loomis Creek Nursery, who designed and installed the exhibit “Contained Exuberance,” which features 11 different sets of cleverly planted containers. “They will look better in a few weeks after they have time to fill in,” said Roach who is known to be a perfectionist like her mentor, Martha Stewart. To judge from their canapes, the trustees of the garden are perfectionists too. They made all the hors d’oeuvres themselves and you’ve never seen so many trays of exquisite—and delicious—nibbles, which were passed by student volunteers from Monument Mountain High School.
BBG trustee Ian Hooper, Wendy Philbrick and Edward Baptiste; garden designer and writer Honey Sharp and her daughter Nadia Szold.
BBG intern Dave Mattern and senior gardener Serena Epstein; volunteer waitresses from Monument Mountain High School Anna Campetti and Annalena Barrett.
BBG director of horticulture Dorthe Hviid with guests of honor Bob Hyland and Margaret Roach.
Paul & Maureen Hickey; marketing consultant Allison Marchese and Madeline Hooper, vice-chair of the BBG board.
Maria Carls, chairman of the board David Carls, and trustee Jo Dare Mitchell; trustees Janet Laudenslager and Judie Owens.
