With so much going on culturally speaking in our region, this is my highly selective, curated snapshot of some of the most promising events happening this weekend …
Tony Award-winner John Cameron Mitchell – best known for his punk-goddess alter ego, Hedwig -- teams up with cabaret star Amber Martin for “Cassette Roulette: An Evening of Songs and Stories,” in the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA in North Adams on Saturday at 8 p.m. (July 16)
Aston Magna continues its summer season of weekly performances with its All Handel program featuring soprano Dominique Labelle, tonight at Hudson Hall in Hudson, N.Y., and Saturday night at St. James Place in Great Barrington, Mass. (July 15-16)
The Crescendo early music series presents music of the French Baroque, played on period instruments and showcasing flute solos and ensemble works, at St. Paul’s Church in Stockbridge, Mass., on Sunday at 4 p.m. (Sun, Jul 17) Compagnie Art Move Concept from France performs its evening-length dance, “Anopas,” tonight at PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., at 8 p.m. A fusion of hip-hop and contemporary dance with elements of silent comedy, mime, and circus arts, the dance features terrific ensemble work and is acrobatic, humorous, theatrical, very contemporary, and sure to please fans of everyone from Annie-B Parson to David Byrne. (Fri, July 15)
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham is in residence at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, Mass., this weekend, performing An Untitled Love in the Ted Shawn Theatre tonight through Sunday. Composed to the catalogue of R&B legend D’Angelo, the evening-length work is an ode to Abraham’s intense, personal connection with the Grammy Award-winning artist’s music. (July 15-17)
Great Barrington Public Theater’s 2022 mainstage opens this weekend at the Daniel Arts Center at Simon’s Rock College with “Public Speaking 101,” a fun, turn-the-tables comedy by Mark St. Germain, starring Rachel Burttram as a neurotic, amateur actress leading her community college class of terrified adults to compete in their county’s First Annual Public Speaking Competition. (July 14 - July 24)
Marion Spencer and collaborators present a new work entitled “to love the rise/pt.2” at Catskill’s Bridge Street Theatre on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (July 16)
Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan brings her intimate folk portraits, ballads, and love songs to the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., for a free concert on Tuesday, July 19, at 6 p.m., in an outdoor concert on the Clark’s South Lawn near the museum's gorgeous Reflecting Pool. (Tues, July 19)
Two emerging singer-songwriters – the bluesy Breanna Barbara and the soulful Glori Wilder, perform at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., on Saturday at 7. Barbara’s self-described “occult blues” suggests Patsy Cline as produced by David Lynch; Wilder’s jazzy soul sounds like a cross between Janis Joplin and Amy Winehouse. (Sat, July 16)
At Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., this weekend, Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart leads the orchestra in John Williams’s score to Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back accompanying a film screening tonight at 8; Andris Nelsons leads the BSO, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and a cast of soloists in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, on Saturday at 8 p.m.; and pianist Stephen Drury performs Frederic Rzewski’s signature piece, The People United Will Never Be Defeated! on Sunday at 8 p.m. in the Linde Center. (July 15-17)
The Grammy Award-winning Klezmatics, pioneers of modern klezmer and Yiddish music, perform at the Falcon in Marlboro, N.Y., on Saturday at 7 p.m. (Jul 16)
And quickly, self-described “mountain Motown” singer-songwriter Simi Stone performs at Maverick Concerts in her hometown of Woodstock, N.Y., on Saturday (July 16) at 8 p.m.; Parsons Dance is at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. (July 16-17); the Mammals are at the Egremont Barn in South Egremont, Mass., on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and again on Sunday at 3 p.m. (July 16-17); indie-rockers Death Cab for Cutie are at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie on Saturday at 8 p.m. (Jul 16); and musical visionary and hitmaker Todd Rundgren is at the Egg in Albany on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. (Jul 19).
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.com
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