The cultural highlights for our region this weekend include world-pop, hip-hop, Broadway, roots music, dance … plus a whole lot more.
Tonight at MASS MoCA at 8pm in North Adams, Lido Pimienta brings her unique fusion of indigenous folk rhythms from Colombia with psychedelic electronic sounds and her alluring vocals. Lido's music has been aptly described as "[Connecting] the dots between reggaetón and Radiohead." Then on Sunday, The Roots, featuring Questlove on drums and Black Thought on vocals, bring their conscious hip-hop to Joe's Field at MASS MoCA at 8pm.
Tony Award-winner Stephanie J. Block, best known for her portrayal of Cher in “The Cher Show,” will sing Broadway favorites Outside Under The Big Tent at The Colonial Theatre Parking Lot in Pittsfield on Saturday, with two concerts at 2pm and 7pm.
“Tiny Beautiful Things,” a play adapted from the "Dear Sugar" column written by author Cheryl Strayed, opens this weekend in a production staged by the Chester Theater Company at Hancock Shaker Village in Hancock, Mass.
Rootsy singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile is at Tanglewood on Saturday night, when soul-gospel icon Mavis Staples will warm up the crowd starting at 7pm. Then on Sunday afternoon, legendary folk-pop singer Judy Collins headlines a mini-folk festival featuring critically acclaimed English singer/songwriter and guitarist Richard Thompson and American singer/songwriter Jesse Colin Young, who was founder and leader of 1960s group The Youngbloods, best known for their timeless hit anthem, “Get Together.”
STREB Extreme Action Company returns to Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, Mass., this weekend bringing their trademark bravery and sheer athleticism The company will revisit a number of its early works, including a collection of founder and artistic director Elizabeth Streb’s classic solos from the 1970s-80s and several of her early equipment experiments from the 1990s
My namesake Seth Glier celebrates the release of his terrific new album, The Coronation, to the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Mass., tonight at 8pm. The singer-songwriter tackles politics and the personal in a blend of musical styles that make him Western Massachusetts' answer to Beck.
Self-described goth-folk duo Charming Disaster brings their blend of dark narratives with a playful sensibility to The Foundry in West Stockbridge, Mass., for two outdoor concerts this weekend, tonight and Saturday at 7pm. Also in West Stockbridge, longtime Boston Symphony Orchestra member Victor Romanul performs on the electric violin as LUNAMOR on Saturday at 8 at TurnPark Art Space. Romanul’s music will be accompanied by original digital projections by Joe Wheaton.
PS21's House Blend Series of soloists and small ensembles concludes next Thursday at 8pm when Emily Daggett Smith, Andrea Casarrubios, Blair McMillen, and Charmaine Lee join forces to play works by Arvo Part, Paul Schoenfield, Maurice Ravel and others at the Chatham, N.Y. venue.
Berkshire Opera Festival presents Verdi’s most famous opera, “Falstaff " on Saturday at 1pm and again on Tuesday and next Saturday, both at 7:30pm, at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington. The fully staged opera includes live orchestra and chorus as well as projected English translations.
Roots-music musician Bruce Molsky performs at Dewey Hall in Sheffield, Mass., on Sunday for two concerts at 5 and 7pm. Molsky has been called "One of the world's premier Appalachian-style fiddlers"
And finally, UPAC in Kingston reopens with its first live show in a long, long time on Sunday at 7pm, featuring multi-instrumentalist Trombone Shorty and his powerful, brassy party band playing a blend of R&B, rock, rap, and New Orleans funk.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.com
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