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Rogovoy Report 5/18/18

The cultural highlights in our region this weekend include silent movies, Baroque music, psychedelic hard-rock, jazz, chamber music, and a whole lot more.

Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and live piano music come together when New York City-based pianist and composer Jon Pohlmann will perform live accompaniment to screenings of silent film comedies starring Chaplin and Keaton at PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., on Saturday at 7 p.m. Films include Chaplin’s “The Immigrant” and Keaton’s “One Week” and “The Boat.”

A program of Baroque music featuring musicians from the famed Orchestra of St. Luke’s takes place at the First Congregational Church in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., as part of the Berkshire Bach concert series. Featuring Myron Lutzke, principal cellist of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, with his Ensemble of Eight, the program is specifically designed to give the audience an opportunity to compare the distinctive sounds of period and modern instruments -- including five strings, flute, trumpet and harpsichord -- side by side.  

Rock singer-songwriter Matthew Logan Vasquez brings his original brand of psychedelic folk-rock to Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday at 9 p.m. To my ears, Vasquez sounds like a cross between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with a bit of Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, and Beck thrown into the mix.

Israeli-born jazz vocalist Shiri Zorn brings her original take on jazz standards plus new compositions to the Athens Cultural Center in Athens, N.Y., on Saturday at 7 p.m. Joining Zorn are innovative guitarist George Muscatello and percussionist Brian Melick.

The life of Hitler filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl serves as the springboard for Sarah Greenman’s “Leni,” a shattering exploration of narcissism, denial, and artistic and moral responsibility, at Bridge Street Theatre, in Catskill, N.Y., running Thursdays through Sundays this weekend and next. Bridge Street Theatre’s production features Roxanne Fay as the older Leni Riefenstahl and Olivia Howell as the younger.

Playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner will reflect on his relationship to the music of Leonard Bernstein -- including his current work with Stephen Sondheim developing a screenplay of Bernstein’s West Side Story – in conversation with theater critic and scholar Alisa Solomon, at the Fisher Center at Bard College on Saturday, at 7:30 p.m.

The Polaris Piano Trio will play works by Franz Schubert, Louise Farrenc, Lili Boulanger, and Samuel Coleridge Taylor at the Roeliff-Jansen Community Library in Copake, N.Y., on Saturday at 5 p.m.

And looking ahead, the 13th annual Berkshire International Film Festival or the BIFF, will pay tribute to Academy Award-winning actor Rachel Weisz at its annual Tribute Night at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, on Friday, June 1 at 7 p.m. As part of the tribute, Weisz will be in conversation with David Edelstein, New York Magazine’s chief film critic, following a screening of her new film, “Disobedience.” Highlights of this year’s festival include Academy Award-winning director Cynthia Wade, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Charles Randolph, award-winning artist Gregory Crewdson, and a screenplay reading of the locally produced film, “Mumbet,” with special guests.

Seth Rogovoy is editor of Berkishire Daily and the Rogovoy Report, available online at rogovoyreport.com