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'Blinded by the Light': Guidance From Asbury ParkBy Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires Film Critic
04:31PM / Thursday, August 22, 2019 | |
 When, what and where was your coming-of-age episode, the epiphany that heralded your entrance into adulthood? You better know, just in case someone decides to film a biographical sketch detailing how you came to be you. I venture to guess that for many folks, at least in the Western World, it had to do with learning, y'know, the truth about Santa. Shh! I won't say what, just in case some readers haven't gotten the memo. And for many others, the game-changer was perhaps the controversy regarding Santa's boss. Thusly, I was prompted to scour my beleaguered memory bank for my particular turning point as I watched director Gurinder Chadha's "Blinded by the 0 Comments
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Gladys Knight, Roomful of Teeth, Gershwin Highlight Busy WeekBy Grace Lichtenstein, Guest Column
08:14PM / Wednesday, August 21, 2019 | |
 These may be the dog days of August, but pop and new music — and musical theater — abound throughout the Berkshires. Beginning with John Williams' music and Gladys Knight in separate concerts at Tanglewood, it's a full schedule as summer winds down. Tanglewood Regular concert-goers have a second chance (after "Star Wars”" last week) to enjoy the music of film score legend John Williams. The Shed hosts the Boston Pops at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24. "John Williams' Film Night" is a treasured evening at Tanglewood every year. The conductor is David Newman, with Williams introducing the evening. No films, just Williams' wonderful Hollywood
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Tanglewood, Tannery Pond Offer Concluding ConcertsBy Stephen Dankner, Guest Column
10:34AM / Tuesday, August 20, 2019 | |
 Tanglewood concludes its 2019 classical programming this week, culminating with two "heavy hitters": John Williams' Film Night, performed by the Boston Pops on Saturday, Aug. 24, and, of course, the traditional final concert featuring Beethoven's glorious and triumphant Ninth Symphony ("Choral"), performed on Sunday, Aug. 25, at 2:30 p.m. in the Shed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with stellar vocal soloists and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus – all under the direction of Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero.
For all that, the upcoming program at Concerts at Tannery Pond promises to be memorable: The phenomenal Miró String Quartet offers a program of
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Review: 'Fall Springs' is a Musical With a MessageBy Nancy Salz, Guest Column
11:49AM / Monday, August 19, 2019 | |
 Can a musical comedy convey a serious message?
"South Pacific" addresses race relations and WWII while also making us smile with "There's Nothing Like A Dame" and "Honey Bun."
Combining two approaches is the difficult goal of the promising new musical "Fall Springs," which is having its world premiere at the Barrington Stage. And they manage to pull it off. Not perfectly, but well enough to provide a very entertaining evening in the theater.
"Fall Springs" is best described as a serious farce – with the themes of fracking, science versus disbelief, and age versus youth. Confused? Perhaps this description of the
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'The Art of Racing in the Rain': Tearjerker & Tail-WaggerBy Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires Film Critic
09:19PM / Thursday, August 15, 2019 | |
 'Despite a plot-slowing traffic jam midway and the accumulation of saddening clouds in the later laps that almost turns matters into a dirge, director Simon Curtis's "The Art of Racing in the Rain" featured enough enthusiasm and albeit over-the-top sweetness to win me over. Hey, it's about auto racing and dogs. All that was needed to fully complete my world would be a healthy portion about food. Preferably unhealthy food. But alas, as this PG-rated tale about ambition, love and devotion unabashedly instructs, you can't have everything. Meet Enzo — his namesake being Enzo Ferrari, of course — the golden retriever pup who wins 1 Comment
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A Profusion of Music at Tanglewood, SevenarsBy Stephen Dankner, Guest Column
11:41AM / Wednesday, August 14, 2019 | |
 Come mid-August, classical aficionados are grateful for the cornucopia of extraordinary musical riches the Boston Symphony bestows to rapt audiences within the incomparably bucolic setting that is Tanglewood.
During this penultimate week of the Tanglewood Festival's classical programming, the spotlight will focus on a range of music in varied genres: from orchestral music by Brahms, Zoltan Kodály, György Ligeti and György Kurtág performed by The Knights chamber orchestra and featuring the superb violinist Gil Shaham, to more Brahms and some rare Schumann performed by the Boston Symphony, to favorite symphonic masterworks by Sibelius, Hindemith and Mahler
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Bring Your Light Sabers: Star Wars Returns, Plus Martha Graham Dancers, Chris SmitherBy Grace Lichtenstein, Guest Column
11:18AM / Wednesday, August 14, 2019 | |
 John Williams' music is a familiar sound in the Berkshires, and this season is no different. In addition, a legendary choreographer's company at the Pillow plus folkie Chris Smither at the Guthrie Center add up to a lively week. Tanglewood "Star Wars" returns to the Berkshires on Friday, Aug. 16, from a galaxy far, far … well, you know. This year it's the film "Star Wars: A New Hope," shown on the screen, as the Boston Pops Orchestra accompanies it with the live John Williams score. This is the fourth episode of the series, if you are keeping count. Keith Lockhart, an old hand at music/film projections, is the conductor. More info and tickets can be
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North Adams' Belltower Records to Host Summer Jam IIBy Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
03:59AM / Friday, August 09, 2019 | |
Belltower bought out the inventory of the former Toonerville Trolley. NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Belltower Records has settled into the community as a hub for music fans, musicians, and audiophiles alike. It is easy to lose a few hours on the third floor of the Norad Mill digging through the overflowing record crates at the independent music store. "We have just been longtime collectors, my wife and I, and we have been looking to do something for a while and we basically stumbled upon this," owner Wes Nelson said recently. With news that Hal March, owner of Toonerville Trolley Records in Williamstown, was looking to close and sell his business in 2017, a 0 Comments
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'The Farewell': And a Fond One at ThatBy Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires Film Critic
02:24PM / Thursday, August 08, 2019 | |
 Every so often, some philosophically inclined sort seeks a window into your soul by asking, "If you could spend time with anyone now deceased, who would it be, pray tell?" Akin in hypocrisy to first wishing for world peace or a cure for cancer before asking for a Ferrari whence blowing out my birthday candles, I perfunctorily answer, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Ben Franklin. However, after seeing the delightfully heartwarming, bittersweet and often hilarious "The Farewell," about a Chinese family who throws a wedding as pretense for gathering to say goodbye to their terminally ill matriarch, I thought of the grandmother I never knew. Anna 0 Comments
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Tanglewood, Sevenars Showcase Great MusicBy Stephen Dankner, Guest Column
09:02PM / Wednesday, August 07, 2019 | |
 Tanglewood this week will be very rewarding and diverse, with spectacular musical riches across the centuries, representing the progressive continuum of styles: music that’s both time-honored and new, and everything in-between. Tanglewood continues its classical programming with an all-Beethoven piano recital on Aug. 7 by the fabulous soloist Yefim Bronfman; more Beethoven awaits with the beloved "Pastoral" Symphony No. 6 and the lyrical Fourth Piano Concerto, featuring the magnificent pianist Inon Barnaton on Aug. 11 – the BSO led by composer/pianist/conductor Thomas Adès; also, a program of three of the Viennese master’s violin/piano sonatas, performed
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