I had the great pleasure last night of attending the opening night of Sam Shepard’s modern classic, “Fool for Love,” playing the Nikos Stage at Williamstown Theatre Festival for a limited run, only through next Saturday, August 2.
First and foremost, the play reminds us that Sam Shepard is one of the greatest living American playwrights, if not one of the greatest playwrights of all time. And “Fool for Love” is one of his best, a kind of post-1960s update of Tenneessee Williams, an American legend played out in an anonymous motel room somewhere in the West. Tony Award-winner Nina Arianda, who shocked Broadway in her stunning performance in “Venus in Furs,” practically steals the show, all lithe and long-limbed and with hidden powers in reserve, standing up to movie star Sam Rockwell. As always at WTF, the set, sound, and overall production is superb. With only one week left, you want to grab your tickets to “Fool for Love” now before it’s too late.
While you’re up in Williamstown, you may want to head over to North Adams, where the 13th annual Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival is taking place at MASS MoCA. This year Bang on a Can is going to great lengths to integrate the music and performance with the art in the galleries, and as such is staging Bang on a Can Plays Art, a week-long, new music extravaganza comprising 14 concerts in 8 days, from this Saturday through next Sunday, August 2, with music variously inspired by Anselm Kiefer, Sol LeWitt, Izhar Patkin, played on site in front of the art, by festival fellows, Bang on a Can All-Stars, and special guests Steve Reich and percussionist Glenn Kotche (of Wilco). This is obviously a unique, one-time experience, only at MASS MoCA.
“Euryanthe,” the 1823 opera by Carl Maria von Weber, gets its first American revival in 100 years at Bard SummerScape beginning tonight and running for five performances through August 3. Bard’s original staging features the festival’s resident American Symphony Orchestra under the leadership of music director Leon Botstein.
Two-time Tony Award-winning actor James Naughton stars in the world premiere of “Cedars,” a one-man comedy directed by Naughton's daughter, Keira Naughton, running at the Main Stage at Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, now through Sunday, August 9.
Singer-songwriter Patty Larkin, an avatar of the new-folk scene for over 25 years, performs at the new Seeds of Harmony Saturday Evening Concert Series at Bradley Farm in Lanesborough on Saturday at 6:30 pm. Larkin is equally known for her incisive songwriting, her mellifluous voice, her affable stage presence, and her virtuosic guitar-playing, connecting the dots between Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco.
Musical Humorist Peter Schickele, best known for his public radio program “Schickele Mix” and his alter ego, composer P.D.Q. Bach, will perform “50 Years of P.D.Q. Bach: A Triumph of Incompetence” at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield on Saturday, at 8 pm.
Nine-time Tony Award-winner Tommy Tune kicks off the 2014 Summer Concert Series at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield with his program, “Taps, Tunes, and Tall Tales” on Monday night at 8 pm.
If you only go to ONE concert this year, you should get over to Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday night to see Woodstock-based, soul-rock singer-songwriter Simi Stone play her signature brand of “Mountain Motown” music with her all-star super group comprised of musicians who play with David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, the B-52s, and Gang of Four. I caught this show last December, and it could well rank in my all-time top 10 – and I’ve been at this reviewing thing for nearly 30 years. Also at Helsinki this weekend are Magnetic Fields’ frontman Stephin Merritt tonight at 9, and Grammy Award singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, of “Walking in Memphis” fame, on Sunday at 8.
I’m Seth Rogovoy, and that’s the Rogovoy Report for this weekend.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY WAMC’S COMMENTATORS ARE SOLELY THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF WAMC OR ITS MANAGEMENT.
