People are dancing in the kitchen of an old farmhouse. They are laughing, spilling from one room to another, negotiating the uneven wood floor. The tunes come from a fiddle, an accordion, a group of musicians playing by ear, moving from one tune to another with a nod. Growing up in North Bennington, Vermont, Matthew… Read More
Brett Parson considers himself a comic-book artist, even though he tossed that term out when he noticed the odd looks it elicited. “Like it was a joke,” he says as he rests both his forearms on a work in progress. In the village of Southfield where his studio is found in The Whip Shop (once… Read More
Julianne Boyd is following people out of a fairytale as the fairytale changes around them. They are refugees, hiding in the trees on the edge of battle, telling stories at night, questioning the story they are living in. Witches can be right. Giants can be good. Barrington Stage’s 25th season centers around Stephen Sondheim’s Into… Read More
He is a part of this community’s fabric: He has a second home in the Berkshires and performs every summer at Tanglewood. For those who have connected with him at the village post office, or in a coffee shop in West Stockbridge, a market in Great Barrington, a gala in Lenox, and for those who… Read More
The scene: Fenway Park, Boston, circa 1955. The Red Sox, featuring the incomparable Ted Williams, are playing an afternoon game. A fan, incensed by a call made by the home-plate umpire, begins to berate the man in blue. The verbal abuse includes words totally unfamiliar to a ten-year-old girl sitting a few box seats away.… Read More
Back in 1996 Emil Mattina and Jeffrey Lapham had a mission—to educate and inspire students, families, and theater professionals through the arts. Thus Shakesperience was born—an organization that reveres and encourages a love of William Shakespeare’s work by bringing it to schoolchildren of all ages. The couple provides innovative, thought-provoking live theater programs rooted in… Read More
Every year, my mother tells us the story of how I was her birthday present. What sounds like a sweet story could have been tragic, so I am glad she remembers my birth fondly. Her doctor insisted I was underweight, but my mother’s intuition told her otherwise. I was close to ten pounds when her… Read More
Cole Sommers is The Right Stuff-obsessed. He stars in “Space Dealers,” a series produced by WAG TV that’s had successful runs in Europe and Australia and is now available on Netflix. It’s a kind of “American Pickers” meets “Antiques Roadshow”—for space collectibles. The Katonah resident also runs Moon Space Suits, a company that sells high-end,… Read More
ART This year, museums are seeing a flowering of art by women and of women—and sometimes both. As MASS MoCA celebrates its 20th with a tribute to musician Annie Lennox, the museum will devote an expanse of its first floor to Cauleen Smith in “We Already Have What We Need.” Connecting with her exhibits at… Read More
As the prospect of summertime looms, life in the Berkshires begins to slow down to a pace that invites relaxation, exploration, and an influx in population. For many, venturing off the beaten path is mandatory, and retreating to the banks of a nearby river—to lie across a lounge chair or a blanket, to swim, and… Read More