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Theater Review: Love Versus Broadway at the Barrington StageBy Nancy Salz, Special to iBerkshires
09:48AM / Friday, June 15, 2018 | |
 Three generations of Cavendish women face a conundrum: Should they marry and leave their stage careers behind? Or forsake love for a life on the Great White Way?
In song, dance and frequently hilarious performances, love and Broadway are the heart of their conflicts in the world premiere comedic musical "The Royal Family of Broadway" at Barrington Stage Company. While not always perfect, the production is huge, dazzling and great fun.
William Finn (music and lyrics) and Rachel Sheinkin (book) took on a daunting challenge when they decided to turn the Richard Greenberg adaptation of the 1930 play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber into a musical. There are 10 major characters:
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'Ocean's 8': What's Bad for the Gander is Bad for the GooseBy Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires film critic
03:42PM / Thursday, June 14, 2018 | |
 Watching director Gary Ross' "Ocean's 8," starring Sandra Bullock in a feminine spinoff of the "Ocean's 11" (1960) franchise, I couldn't help but get cynically philosophical. Did I somewhere along the way of reviewing movies fall into a Rip Van Winkle-like sleep, only to awake and find that stealing obscene amounts of valuables was now not only OK, but lauded? I'm not talking politicians who'd back up their trucks to Fort Knox if they could. I refer to our unelected criminals earning mass approval at the Bijou. Of course, there is a sliding scale of acceptability, with Robin Hood earning a 10. Shh! While a bit out of favor lately, he gave 0 Comments
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Popular Music Scene Awakens in the BerkshiresBy Grace Lichtenstein, Special to iBerkshires
02:01PM / Wednesday, June 13, 2018 | |
 Please allow me to introduce myself: My name is Grace and I will be your guide each week this summer to the best in pop concerts, jazz and musical theater throughout the Berkshires. I'm a lover and student of all genres of music and a Berkshires regular. My background is as a news and feature reporter for The New York Times. I've written and/or collaborated on six books and my work has appeared in numerous magazines. Most importantly, in recent years I have specialized in writing about music, books and culture.
You can look forward to this column as a tip sheet about upcoming shows. I won't review them; I will preview them, and I'll try to persuade you to attend a concert
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Musical Festival Season Appears on the HorizonBy Stephen Dankner, Special to iBerkshires
01:00PM / Wednesday, June 13, 2018 | |
 With the upcoming summer music festival season almost upon us, music lovers in droves will soon flock to the Berkshires, Franklin County and southern Vermont to immerse themselves in classical music. Call it a reward for enduring a long, hard winter, or a yearly renewal of the soul via the musical preachments of the great masters.
Whatever the reason, the classical canon, including a full summer's festival within a festival celebrating the wonderful music of Leonard Bernstein (it's his 100th birthday), will nurture and inspire us anew at this special time and in this magical place - the Berkshires and environs.
My goal, as your musical guide, will be to assist you in choosing
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'Adrift': Cast Away in an Inconvenient GenreBy Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires film critic
05:28PM / Friday, June 08, 2018 | |
 If your idea of a good time is anguishing aghast on tenterhooks as a couple of shipwrecked young lovers try to survive against all odds in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, director Baltasar Kormákur's "Adrift," loosely based on a true story, is for you. I, for one, don't really get the thrill, and have yet to receive a satisfactory response from either horror film or disaster flick aficionados when I question their inclination. Neither genre is my cup of tea. Just wondering what the morning mail will bode is more than enough suspense for me. Thus, I surprised myself. In service to my fellow moviegoers who enjoy the blood pressure rush that film-induced fright 0 Comments
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'Solo: A Star Wars Story': The Stuff of HeroesBy Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires Film Critic
04:27PM / Monday, June 04, 2018 | |
 I liked "Solo: A Star Wars Story" about as much as I could possibly like this genre of film, and recommend it as a starter movie for those who have avoided such techno-extravaganzas like the plague, but who now wish to experience one while still compos mentis. At worst, it is relatively harmless, your understanding of this outer space Western not dependent on a cognizance of the jargon and minutiae of George Lucas' cultural phenomenon. Plus, former Hippies who coordinate the viewing with a flashback might enjoy the light show. At the end of the day, after marveling at its vaunted, $250 million price tag, the immensity of the thing, and trying to wrap your 0 Comments
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New Adams Art Gallery Opens on Park StreetBy Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
03:55AM / Monday, June 04, 2018 | |
Bill and Francie AnneRiley have wanted to open a gallery for some time. ADAMS, Mass. — William "Bill" Riley has spent most of his career creating visually arresting scenery for theater productions. Now his backdrop is a spare white space, the better to accentuate his own works of art and those of other local artists. "I started studying art kind of seriously when I was 16," Riley said during the buzz of conversation at Saturday's opening reception for Real Eyes Gallery. "Eventually, in order to make a living, I became a scenic artist in the theater industry." But Riley said he wanted to do more than express other 5 Comments
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Local Authors Extend Their Boulder Hunt From Massachusetts To New England By Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
02:47AM / Monday, June 04, 2018 | |
 CHESHIRE, Mass. — With their new book "Erratic Wandering," local authors Christy and Jan Butler expand their boulder hiking guide from Massachusetts to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. "We are all living in New England and we all go to Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine," Butler said. "They are close and are destinations for people who like the outdoors…and there are some big rocks out there." Butler, a Cheshire resident and visual artist, published two waterfall guidebooks with co-author Russell Dunn, a licensed hiking guide. In 2016, the two came together to publish their first boulder book "Rockachusetts" that 2 Comments
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Neal Announces $348K in NEA Funding for Local Cultural ProgramsBy Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
04:29PM / Thursday, May 31, 2018 | |
Victoria Beaupre tells how her experience with the Fall Festival of Shakespeare changed her personally. LENOX, Mass. — State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli remembers when Lenox residents couldn't wait for the Tanglewood crowd to finally go home at the end of summer. That was back when General Electric in Pittsfield employed 12,000 to 13,000 and the cultural attractions were more a matter of pride than the economy. "Then General Electric and the papers mills started to cut back and go away," he said Thursday morning at Shakespeare & Company's Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre. "We transformed ourselves, we pulled in 0 Comments
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Free Fun Fridays Coming Back for 10th Season| 09:35AM / Wednesday, May 30, 2018 | |
 A record 100 cultural venues across Massachusetts will open their doors for free on Fridays this summer, marking the 10th anniversary of Free Fun Fridays, funded by the Highland Street Foundation to offer visitors no-cost access to museums, theaters, historic sites, archives and treasured collections.
Free Fun Fridays 2018 will take place for 10 consecutive Fridays — beginning June 29 and continuing through August 31 — with 100 venues welcoming visitors in a free-of-charge public celebration of culture and history that is unprecedented outside of the national museums in Washington, D.C.
Over the course of the past decade, the Newton-based Highland Street
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