An Unscripted Conversation With Arlo Guthrie at the Mahaiwe

The folk singer talks with Berkshire Magazine writer Laura Mars in a one-night fundraiser for the Great Barrington church he turned into an interfaith community center

Saturday, October 17, 7pm | Great Barrington, MA

Arlo Guthrie sits down with journalist Laura Mars, a regular writer for Berkshire Magazine, for an “unscripted conversation” at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on October 17. The Mahaiwe promises stories, memories, and “a candid look into the life of a national treasure in folk music history,” and says the evening is expected to sell out quickly. Doors open at 6:15pm, according to The Berkshire Eagle. Reserved seats are $40, preferred are $80, and premium are $150.

The evening is a fundraiser for The Guthrie Center, which Guthrie founded in 1991 in honor of his parents, Woody Guthrie and Marjorie Mazia Guthrie. It is based in the former Old Trinity Church at 2 Van Deusenville Road, in the Housatonic section of Great Barrington, and the proceeds support its community, cultural preservation, and educational programs. The center holds interfaith services, keeps a musical instrument library, and offers a free weekly lunch. It also hosts concerts.

The church is famous for “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” Guthrie’s 1967 song about a Thanksgiving in 1965. The building was erected as St. James Chapel in 1829 and enlarged in 1866 as Trinity Church. Alice and Ray Brock bought it in 1964 and made it their home, and that’s where the story in the song begins. Guthrie bought the church in 1991, and the 1969 film Alice’s Restaurant, directed by Arthur Penn, was shot there in 1968.

Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA. Tickets at mahaiwe.org or 413-528-0100.