As sure is there is a chill now in the evening air, the summer cultural season in our region is winding down. You still have a few chances to catch “His Girl Friday” at Barrington Stage in Pittsfield, and Shakespeare & Company in Lenox has a few shows in rotation this weekend. But the summer theater season is pretty much over with.
While the BSO is long gone from Tanglewood, there are a few pop concerts left, including Tony Award-winning vocalist IdinaMenzel on Saturday at 7 p.m. Menzel created the role of Maureen Johnson in “Rent,” and is perhaps best known for her role as Elphaba in “Wicked,” as well as for her work on the TV show “Glee.”
It’s the final weekend of the summer at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, and in honor of director Ella Baff’s final season after 17 years, on Saturday there will be a special festival finale including a choice of performance by the legendary Martha Graham Dance Company in the Ted Shawn Theatre or the young and innovative MADBOOTS DANCE in the Doris Duke Theatre, and an after-party where guests can mingle with dancers, pay tribute to Ella Baff, enjoy desserts by local restaurants and bakeries, and dance the night away with DJ BFG in the historic Bakalar Studio.
And also for dance fans, as part of a three-week long residency at PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., Parsons Dance Company will perform tonight and Saturday at 8pm. The residency marks the tenth season that Parsons Dance has been at PS21, where the ensemble is making use of PS21’s facilities to develop new dance works, teach dance classes, offer open rehearsals, and creating a community event.
Comedian Solomon Georgio brings his pungent brand of indignant irreverence to MASS MoCA in North Adams on Saturday at 8pm. Little known in the comedy world until his much-lauded debut on “Conan,” Georgio is making a name for himself with tongue-in-cheek humor that takes on race, colonialism, and sexuality. The self-described “well-spoken ethnic homosexual” tackles topics other comedians don’t dare touch, fashioning a comedic critique of the human race and all its follies.
Works on paper by a dozen regional artists will go on view in “Paper,” a witty and fun group exhibition that opens at Carrie Haddad Gallery in Hudson this weekend. There will be a reception for the artists on Sunday from 2 to 4pm. Artists represented in the exhibition include Ellen Nieves, David Dew Bruner, Mindy McDaniel, James Meyer, Louise Laplante, Matthew Hopkins, Edward Avedisian, William Bond Walker, Anne Francey, Mark Beard, and Gabriel de la Portilla.
Attention, all you young dudes: Mott the Hoople lead singer Ian Hunter brings his current group, the Rant Band, to Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday at 9pm. As leader of 1970s British rock legends Mott the Hoople and as a hugely influential solo artist who recorded with everyone from the Clash to the E Street Band, Hunter is widely revered as one of rock’s most compelling and influential performers, as well as one of its most articulate songwriters. Hunter penned such immortal rock anthems as “All the Way from Memphis,” “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” and “Cleveland Rocks,” and had a huge hit with the song David Bowie wrote for him, “All The Young Dudes,” which became a glam-rock anthem, or THE glam-rock anthem.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of Berkshire Daily and the Rogovoy Report, available online at rogovoyreport.com