The 19th annual Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) will pay tribute to actor Brian Cox and screen 75 movies at the Mahaiwe and the Triplex in Great Barrington, Mass., today through Sunday. Cox, best known in recent years for his role as the patriarch in the streaming series Succession, will be feted at the Mahaiwe on Saturday, May 31, at 7pm. Among the many international films being screened are two Holocaust documentaries: Among Neighbors (Triplex, today at 3pm) and For the Living (Mahaiwe, today at 1pm). Among Neighbors is like a real-life version of the feature film A Real Pain, and For the Living about a communal effort to commemorate a Holocaust survivor. Also on tap is a fascinating documentary called The Invisible Doctrine (Triplex, Sat at 5pm), which makes the strong case that since the 1980s the best-kept secret in most of the world is neoliberalism, which is the determining if ambient ideology behind contemporary politics, geopolitics, economics, religion, culture, and environmentalism. (Thu, May 29-Sun, Jun 1)
South African choreographer Mamela Nyamza brings Hatched Ensemble, her latest work, to PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., tonight at 8pm, and Saturday at 8pm. The dance includes ten classically trained ballet dancers from different ethnic backgrounds, all confronting the deeply personal and challenging issues of tradition, sexual evolution, and racial and gender norms within the dance classics. Accompanied by an opera singer and a traditional African multi-instrumentalist, the piece juxtaposes disparate movement vocabularies, referencing African vocal scores, classical Western music, ballet, and beyond. (Fri, May 30; Sat, May 31)
Pianist-actor Hershey Felder portrays Sergei Rachmaninoff in Rachmaninoff and the Tsar, a new theatrical work about the Russian pianist-composer, at the Colonial in Pittsfield, Mass., on Saturday at 7pm, and Sunday at 2pm. Joining Felder is Jonathan Silvestri as Tsar Nicholas II. Set in 1940s Beverly Hills, the story follows the legendary Rachmaninoff as he grapples with exile and recollections of his homeland. (Sat, May 31; Sun, Jun 1)
Hello! My Name is Blotto, a new documentary about the Albany, N.Y.-based rock band that catapulted to fame in the early 1980s when the brand-new, music-video channel MTV put their single, “I Wanna Be a Lifeguard” into heavy rotation, will be screened at Upstate Films’ Orpheum Theatre in Saugerties, N.Y., on Sunday at 7pm. Band members Lee Harvey Blotto (aka Paul Rapp) and Bert Blotto (aka Rob Lichter, who directed the movie) will be on hand to discuss the unlikely story of Blotto with rock critic Seth Rogovoy – yes, that would be me. As MTV’s Martha Quinn so aptly puts it and as the film demonstrates, “They were funny, but they were not a joke.” (Sun, Jun 1)
Also of note:
Glori Wilder brings her band, the Moonflowers, and her unique blend of soul and contemporary folk, to the Dream Away Lodge in Becket, Mass., tonight at 8pm.
The Tony Award-winning drama The Elephant Man opens at Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, Mass., on tonight, running through Sunday, June 15.
Obie and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award-winning playwright Amy Herzog’s Mary Jane is running at Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, N.Y., today through Sunday. (Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30pm; Sundays at 2pm).
Singer-songwriter Sean Rowe brings his original folk-rock to the newly reopened Egremont Barn in South Egremont, Mass., on Saturday at 7:30pm. Jenna Nichols warms up the crowd for Rowe.
Folk-rock group 10,000 Maniacs brings its 40th anniversary tour to The Egg in Albany, N.Y., on Saturday at 8pm.
Annie & the Hedonists celebrate the release of their seventh album, Live at Caffè Lena, where else but at Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Saturday at 8pm. The Saratoga-based band blends the spirit of swing-era jazz with the storytelling traditions of folk and roots music.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.substack.com.
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