Parties & Openings
 Pittsfield - March 6IS 183’s “Radioactive Bodega” Dance Party at the East Coast Refinishing warehouse. |
 Pittsfield - March 7The Berkshire International Film Festival threw an Oscar-watching party at the Beacon. |
Pittsfield - March 12 |
Home of the Brave: A Photographer Honors Berkshire Veterans
Cultural correspondent Bess J. M. Hochstein reports from Pittsfield: The stars aligned for photographer Bill Wright about six weeks ago, when he approached Megan Whilden, Director of Pittsfield’s Office of Cultural Development, about mounting an exhibition of portraits of local military veterans in the city’s Lichtenstein Center for the Arts. A previously scheduled show failed to materialize, and Wright’s proposal fit right in with Pittsfield’s Big Read community bookreading project, which is focused on Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam War novel, The Things They Carried. So the gallery made an exception to its group-show orientation and helped put out the call to local men and women who have served in all branches of the military to participate in Wright’s Berkshire Veterans Photography Project, including George Moran (left) who served in Navy during the Vietnam War. Twenty-one of Wright’s powerful, larger-than-life portraits hung on the gallery walls as subjects and their families gathered for the show’s opening on Friday, March 12. Among the guests was Wright’s oldest subject, Margaret Haggerty, who served in the Army during World War II; she turns 100 this month. Wright, who served in the Air Force during the Gulf War, continues to work on his Berkshire Veterans Photography Project, which he hopes to turn into a book. He asks that local veterans contact him for a free portrait sitting: brkvets@gmail.com.
World War II Army nurse Margaret Haggerty, who turns 100 later this month, surrounded by Pittsfield’s Veteran’s Services Director Rosanne Frieri of the Air National Guard; Melissa Mazzeo, At-Large City Councilor; and Navy veteran Terry Probst, who chauffered Haggerty to the opening; Vietnam veterans Henry Morris of the Army and John Harding of the Marines, a retired Pittsfield schoolteacher and deejay.
Graphic designer Joe Wilk, business partner of photographer Bill Wright, with Carly Beery, a surgical technologist at Fairview Hospital.
Laura Roudabush, Barrington Stage Company’s director of marketing, with Jess Conzo, program coordinator for MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Center; Jernee Edgerton, Youth Coordinator for the City of Pittsfield, with Ryan Weightman, Cultural Pittsfield Program Coordinator and Gallery Manager.
Bart Dery, who served in the Navy from 1987 - 1995, with his portrait.
Printmaker and art teacher Michael Bushy and Becca Bushy with Aaron Wood and artist Stephanie Gravalese-Wood, the new communication and education coordinator for The Colonial Theatre; Photographer Bill Wright, an Air Force Desert Storm veteran who pans to publish a book based on his Berkshire Veterans Photography Project, with friend and fellow photographer Adam Kurtz, who printed and framed Wright’s portraits in record time.
Cultural Pittsfield’s Megan Whilden with Shirley Edgerton, program director for the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services in Berkshire County and executive director of Youth Alive!
Teacher Jack Curletti with Carrie Wright, the photographer’s wife, who owns Emporium on North Street; artist Jazu Stine with Connecticut College senior Thomas Winstanley.
Paige Wright, 7, daughter of the photographer and star of “Manic Mondays with Paige,” with her aunt Christine “Murray” Duhancik; Eric, Liam, and Dana Michele Seddon, an optician and flight engineer with the Air Force whose portrait is in the show.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 03/14/10 at 08:14 PM • Permalink
Parties: BIFF Goes to the Oscars
Cultural correspondent Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Pittsfield: No one gushed about who they were wearing, and no one volunteered that they had to return their jewels to Harry Winston, but guests at the Berkshire International Film Festival’s Oscar night party at the Beacon Cinema had been asked to wear red-carpet-worthy attire, and, for the most part, they complied. There was indeed a red carpet leading to an interview/photo opportunity platform. After passing through that gauntlet, guests ascended an escalator to the second floor, where an Academy-Award-inspired buffet, prepared by clever caterer Kate Baldwin, awaited. Attendees sipped the evening’s special champagne cocktail, the Red Carpet Fizz, while nibbling on Vegetables Julienne & Julia, Jeff Bridges Mix, Steak Ava-Tartar, The Hurt Locker Habanero Hummus, The Blind Sliders, and The Lovely Boneless Buffalo Wings, plus desserts such as Inglorious Custerds and Coco Before Chanel cocoa-dusted beignets. The crowd filled out ballots with their best guesses for the top award winners, then filled the theaters broadcasting the 82nd Academy Awards Ceremony live via satellite, sneaking out for snacks during the commercial breaks. Next up for the BIFF is the announcement of the festival’s fifth anniversary program; the expanded schedule runs June 3 - 6 on screens in both Great Barrington and Pittsfield.
David Schecker, BIFF founder and director Kelley Vickery, and Vicki Bonnington; Lisa Newman on the red carpet with her mother, Leni Aronson.
Lisa Newman of Cookiehead Cookies with Jackie Gentile of the Provost’s Office at Simon’s Rock; Mary Parkman with artist and Berkshire Bank graphic designer Mark Tomasi.
Artist/designer Karen Beckwith and BIFF programmer Lillian Lennox; Matt Larkin and Aaron Dunn of Black Barn Farm.
Seven Salon & Spa’s Maurice Peterson and Mark Johnson flank BIFF administrative assistant Lauren Ferin.
Barbara Newman, who is presently working on a film about cowgirls, with Diane Pearlman, executive director of the Berkshire Film & Media Commission; BIFF designer Amanda Bettis and Carrie Saldo.
Lauren Zivyak and Lincoln Russell; Lou Boxer, Emily Cohen and Molly Boxer.
Albany attorneys Samuel and Molly Breslin with Phil and Emily Cohen.
Anthony James Madrid, who tended bar at the event, with his mother Fedlina Madrid, VP of marketing at Berkshire Bank, a sponsor of the BIFF; Doug Schufelt and Nancy Kalodner.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 03/09/10 at 08:14 AM • Permalink
Radioactive Bodega: IS 183’s Post-Apocolytpic Dance Party
Ever wonder what fashion look would rise from the ashes of a nuclear catastrophe? No? Actually, neither have we, but enthusiastic supporters of IS 183 clearly gave the matter a lot of serious thought when they assembled their costumes for the art school’s Radioactive Bodega fundraiser in Pittsfield on Saturday, March 6. They shopped. They pulled it together. They worked it in front of mirrors the length and breadth of Berkshire County and beyond. In the end, everyone glowed, especially when they smiled, except for the Mad Max manqués who preferred to glower. Best survival tip: the colander as the protective headgear. So handy.
Alice Keegan, Jim Armstrong, Jeanne Baccoli, and Patty Mangano; Arthur Cape, Didier Steven, Lauren Fitts, and David Slick
Ellen Kelly, Maggie Welch, Sheila Irvin, Shannon Nichols; Jay & Bill Tobin
John Thier; Alan Bauman, IS 183 board member Mary Garnish, Seth Rogovoy
Melissa Lillie, Danielle Steinmann and Mary Garnish; Ryan Weightman, Petria May, and Hilton Hollis
Michelle Quigley, Heather Pictrowski, Chris Connell, Dawn Connell, and Matthew Pictrowski
Nancy Fitzpatrick and Lincoln Russell; Tom Werman
Reid White; Lisa Cavender and Nick Kiersted
Mary Nash and Kelley Vickery; Matthew & Catherine Mendel
Kerry Wrenn; Eric & Carol Haythorne
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 03/07/10 at 07:12 AM • Permalink
Hudson Valley LGBTQ Center Toasts “Falsettos” in Rhinebeck
It’s the rare community theater company that has the chutzpah to put on William Finn’s landmark Tony-winning musical comedy about neurotic New York Jews at the dawn of the AIDS crisis. But the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck is a rarity—a gutsy community theater that does everything with the polish of a serious regional theater and its razor-sharp production of Falsettos (which runs through February 28) made me laugh and cry just as it did when I saw it on Broadway in 1992. The audience on Saturday, February 20, was especially enthusiastic because the performance was a benefit for the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, which hosted an after party in the lobby (where the guests included, above, AnnChris Warren with Victoria Howland, who plays the kosher caterer in Falsettos.) At the curtain—an inspired homage to the AIDS Memorial Quilt—actor Bill Ross, who played Marvin, told the audience that the Center had gotten some local criticism for staging this show, and he hoped that everyone would spread the word to help fill every seat for the final weekend and prove that there is community support for theater that tackles difficult subjects. In fact, the Center’s next production is another powerful exploration of the AIDS crisis: Rent, the 1996 rock musical, will run at the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck from March 12 - 28.
Lance Ringel, president of the board of the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center which hosted the after-show party, with Bill Ross, the actor, who plays Marvin in Falsettos; stage manager Donna Betts with Andrew Weintraub, the president of the board of the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck.
Thomas Netter, age 12, who plays Jason whose bar mitzvah is a major plot point in Falsettos, flanked by Anita & Faith Otey.
Stagehand Bryan Mechtly with director Kevin Archambault; Jim Nurre, who plays Whizzer, with Molly Parker-Myers, who plays Dr. Charlotte in Falsettos.
Maria Hickey, who plays Trina and sings the show-stopping number “I’m Breaking Down,” with Lisa Lynd, who runs The Center’s Kids on Stage Theater Program.
Actor Donald Corren and set designer Richard Prouse; writer Jay Blotcher and social work student Scott Jeune.
J.R. Cassidy, Chris Coad, Brian Lange, who’s on the board of nearby Wilderstein, and literary agent Matthew Carnicelli.
Sue Brooks and vocal coach Tony Regina; Cheryl DelVecchio with Frank Fasano.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 02/20/10 at 11:44 PM • Permalink
A Picture Perfect Opening for Boldini at The Clark
Cultural correspondent Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Williamstown:
To open its winter exhibition, Giovanni Boldini in Impressionist Paris, on February 13, The Clark threw a somewhat French-accented party—largely by dint of the food: fondue (both cheese and chocolate) served in the café; classic Gallic dishes, such as croque monsieur, coquilles St. Jacques, and saucisson-en-croute, passed as hors d’oeuvres; plus large framed-mirror platters of morbier, brie, and other fromages and patés. The party’s theme, “Picture Yourself at The Clark,” referenced Boldini’s renown for society portraiture. The theme was well integrated into party activities; guests queued up to have artists Julia Dixon and Michael Rousseau sketch their portraits and to slip into a photo booth, and photographs taken throughout the evening were projected on a lobby wall. Of course the Boldini show was the main event, and these romantic paintings surely helped guests get in the mood on the eve of Valentine’s Day.
Carol Palmer of Boston and Ghetta Hirsch of Williamstown.
Williamstown Theatre Festival trustee Jid Sprague with Dr. Keith Edwards and his wife, Judy Edwards.; artist Rebecca Weinmann & stilt walker Abigail Elwood.
The Clark’s executive director, Michael Conforti, with Kelly Pask, director of exhibitions and curator of decorative arts, Kathy Morris and Julie Chase, director of special projects for The Clark.
Peter Hansen and his wife, Petra Krauledat, chairman of the board of Hancock Shaker Village; Williams College student Sara Ahmed & Ayla Butt.
Artists Jeff & Jane Hudson, who run the Hudsons boutiques at MASS MoCA and on Spring Street in Williamstown.
Hancock Shaker Village CEO Ellen Spear and her husband, Brad Spear, the classical music radio commentator; Rus Peotter, general manager of WGBY, and his wife, Jennifer.
Tony Patterson of Iredale Mineral Cosmetics, and Carolann Patterson of Williamstown Theatre Festival; lovebirds N. Richard Gershon & Monique Gershon of Canaan, NY.
