Paul Taylor Dance Company returns to the Mahaiwe for another season featuring a New England premiere of their latest piece, Perpetual Dawn.

Performance Schedule:
Friday, May 24th at 8pm: Kith and Kin; Lost, Found and Lost; Offenbach Overtures

Saturday, May 25th at 8pm: Perpetual Dawn; Last Look; Cascade

Sunday, May 26th at 3pm (Family matinee with $10 youth price and special $65 price for Preferred Seating) : Kith and Kin; Lost, Found and Lost; Offenbach Overtures

Sunday, May 26th at 7pm: Perpetual Dawn; Last Look; Cascade

PERPETUAL DAWN: Music by Baroque composer Johann David Heinichen -
Perpetual Dawn depicts young people experiencing the awakening of love, perhaps for the very first time.

LAST LOOK: Music by Donald York -
Whether triggered by nuclear devastation or biological catastrophe, Armageddon has arrived, and the doomed protagonists in this relentless work find no escape. A frightening vision of urban apocalypse.

CASCADE: Music by Johann Sebastian Bach -
The unlikely collaboration between a German composer from musics Baroque era, JS Bach, and an American modern dance pioneer resulted in this elegant work in which men are reverential to women. The dance features highly energetic, free and open movement with complex patterns.

KITH AND KIN: Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -
A mature couple takes younger friends and relations through their paces. Set to a Mozart Serenade, the buoyant choreography suggests Taylors take on 18th Century court dances with a scotch-hopping, leap-frogging and heel-clicking joie de vivre.

LOST, FOUND AND LOST: Elevator music arranged by Donald York -
A study in natural posture, gesture and ennui, in which the simple, frustrating act of standing in line becomes rich comic fodder. The dance had its genesis in Taylors legendary 1957 work, Seven New Dances.

OFFENBACH OVERTURES: Music by Jacques Offenbach -
In this comedy of French manners, dueling officers realize that discretion is the better part of valor, leaving their seconds to slug it out.

TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM and Q&A with Darlene Love
Millions know their voices, but no one knows their names. In his compelling new film TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM, award-winning director Morgan Neville shines a spotlight on the untold true story of the backup singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century. Triumphant and heartbreaking in equal measure, the film is both a tribute to the unsung voices who brought shape and style to popular music and a reflection on the conflicts, sacrifices and rewards of a career spent harmonizing with others.
Director: Morgan Neville
Cast: Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill

Screening will be preceded by a short film:
FOOD FOR THOUGHT starring Minnie Driver and Tony Shalhoub. Written and directed by Joe Cacaci.

THE IRAN JOB - documentary
When American basketball player Kevin Sheppard accepts a job to play in one of the world's most feared countries -- Iran -- he expects the worst. But what he finds is a country brimming with generosity, acceptance, and sensuality.

Screening will be preceded by a short film:
HALFTIME starring Treat Williams.

Special Event Screening co-presented with the Interdependence Movement

GIRL RISING is a groundbreaking film, directed by Academy Award nominee Richard Robbins, which tells the stories of 9 extraordinary girls from 9 countries, written by 9 celebrated writers and narrated by 9 renowned actresses, including Meryl Streep, Kerry Washington, Anne Hathaway, and Freida Pinto.

Panel discussion to follow

Enjoy a colorful collection of short films from around the world, hand-picked as audience and jury favorites from the 2012 New York International Children's Film Festival
(60 minutes)
for ages 4 - 8

THE MOO MAN - documentary
Stephen Hook's dairy farm in rural England produces organic, non-pasteurized milk. Each of his 200 cows has a name and is lovingly cared for, particularly his "cover girl" cow Ida. While his stewardship for the land and his bovine companions is remarkable, his business model is not sustainable, and he is forced to rely heavily on government subsidies that may not one day be there.

Screening will be preceded by a short film:
LONGING FOR A LOCAL LUNCH - a documentary about Great Barrington high school students concerned about climate change who introduce local fare to improve student health through better school lunches. Followed by Q&A

FRANCES HA
Frances lives in New York, but she doesn't really have an apartment. Frances is an apprentice for a dance company, but she's not really a dancer. Frances has a best friend named Sophie, but they aren't really speaking anymore. Frances throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. Frances wants to much more than she has but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness. FRANCES HA is a modern comic fable that explores New York, friendship, class, ambition, failure, and redemption.

Q&A with director Noah Baumbach, moderated by Gregory Crewdson, following the film.

The Berkshire Playwrights Lab is the area's only theater dedicated exclusively to encouraging, developing, and presenting new plays. Join them as they celebrate their fifth season

DETAILS TBA

Helen Mirren reprises her Academy Award-winning role as Queen Elizabeth II in the highly anticipated West End production of The Audience, broadcast as part of National Theatre Live.

For sixty years Elizabeth II has met each of her twelve Prime Ministers in a weekly audience at Buckingham Palace - a meeting like no other in British public life - it is private. Both parties have an unspoken agreement never to repeat what is said. Not even to their spouses.
The Audience breaks this contract of silence - and imagines a series of pivotal meetings between the Downing Street incumbents and their Queen. From Churchill to Cameron, each Prime Minister has used these private conversations as a sounding board and a confessional - sometimes intimate, sometimes explosive.

From young mother to grandmother, these private audiences chart the arc of the second Elizabethan Age. Politicians come and go through the revolving door of electoral politics, while she remains constant, waiting to welcome her next Prime Minister.

The Audience reunites writer Peter Morgan and Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren following their collaboration on the critically-acclaimed movie sensation The Queen.

The Audience is directed by Academy Award-nominated director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) and presented in the West End by Matthew Byam Shaw for Playful Productions, Robert Fox and Andy Harries.

"★★★★★! Funny and truthful, goodhearted, spiky, full of suprises. I loved every minute." The Times

* Meet-the-Artist Reception at Castle Street Cafe
Friday, June 21 after the show
$50 (reception ticket does not include event seating, and must be purchased separately).

Boston Early Music Festival presents Almira, the first opera by the celebrated and beloved Baroque composer George Frideric Handel, in its first fully staged and historically-conceived production in modern times.

Written when Handel was only 19, Almira tells a story of intrigue and romance in the court of the Queen of Castile, in a dazzling parade of entertainment and delight, which Handel would often borrow from during his later career. One of the world's leading Handel scholars, Professor Ellen T. Harris of MIT, has said that BEMF is the "perfect and only" organization to take on Handel's earliest operatic masterpiece, as it requires BEMF's unique collection of artistic talents: the musical leadership, precision, and expertise of BEMF Artistic Directors Paul O'Dette and Stephen Stubbs; the stimulating and informed stage direction and magnificent production designs of BEMF Stage Director in Residence Gilbert Blin; "the world's finest continuo team"; the highly skilled BEMF Baroque Dance Ensemble to bring to life Almira's substantial dance sequences; the all-star BEMF Orchestra; and a wide range of superb voices.

Starring in the title role of Almira and making her Boston Early Music Festival debut, will be soprano Veronica Cangemi. The Argentinean singer began her musical career as the principal 'cellist of her hometown symphony before winning Argentina's National Singing Competition and the Francisco Vinas Contest in Barcelona. With Amanda Forsythe, Colin Balzer, Christian Immler, Zachary Wilder, Tyler Duncan, Ulrike Hofbauer, and Jason McStoots.

This lush, innovative and truly breathtaking production promises a rare glimpse at a very different Handel from the wealthy London virtuoso so familiar to modern audiences.

A global revolution bringing the world's greatest art exhibitions to downtown Great Barrington!

EXHIBITION will feature the world's foremost upcoming art exhibitions, creatively captured in HD. This major new cinema event series will capture and explore major world exhibitions bringing a wealth of artistic masterpieces to a broader audience than ever before via high-tech digital cinema technology. The event films won't just cover the exhibition's paintings: important questions will be also asked and answered.

What lies behind the exhibition creatively and technically?

What does this particular collection of paintings and objects reveal about the artist or the particular historical period?

What do we learn about the presenting institution?

These will be wonderful records of extraordinary exhibitions and first-rate biographies of artists. The event films will combine sensitively shot material about the artist and period, filmed both at the exhibition and on location.

Each one runs between 90 and 120 minutes.

EXHIBITION is a new theatrical series of events, bringing the worlds greatest art exhibitions to cinema screens worldwide. EXHIBITION will feature the worlds foremost upcoming art exhibitions, creatively captured especially for the big screen. The EXHIBITION series begins with a career-encompassing collection of the works of Edouard Manet on exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in April.

This second event film is a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition of the greatest number of Edvard Munch's works ever, co-hosted by the National Museum and the Munch Museum in Oslo in June.

Each Event Film, hosted by art historian Tim Marlow, will go beyond the gallery with exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.

Aston Magna makes a special appearance at the Mahaiwe in this dynamic program with soprano extraordinaire Dominique Labelle and the combined forces of Laura Jeppesen, viola da gamba; Catherine Liddell, theorbo; and Josh Cohen, baroque trumpet; with an orchestra led by Daniel Stepner.

Two grand works of J.S. Bach - the second Brandenburg concerto and the cantata Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen - will be paired with the gamba music of Marin Marais, featured in the award-winning film Tous Les Matins du Monde.

We invite you to a free pre-concert lecture by Daniel Stepner at 7pm, and to "Meet the Artists" following the performance.

A fun and lively evening co-produced and hosted by Tony nominee Jayne Atkinson (Criminal Minds). A panel including Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under), Michel Gill (House of Cards), Marin Mazzie (Tony Nominee), Debra Jo Rupp (That 70's Show) and Linus Roache (Law & Order) will share their stories, observations and thoughts about the challenges women face in the entertainment industry. Plus a sneak peak of WAM's November Main Stage Production and, in keeping with WAM's double philanthropic mission, the announcement of the women's organization that will be the beneficiary for their November production.

WAM Theatre is a theatre company based in the Berkshires of Massachusetts and the Capital Region of New York State. Inspired by the book 'Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide' by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, WAM Theatre was founded in 2009 by professional theatre artists Kristen van Ginhoven and Leigh Strimbeck. WAM's philanthropic mission is two-fold; first, producing theatrical events for everyone, with a focus on women theatre artists and/or stories of women and girls; second, to donate a portion of the proceeds from those events to organizations that benefit women and girls. WAM has donated over $7000 to its beneficiaries by creating professional theatre for everyone that benefits women and girls.

* Panel participants subject to availability

Pink Martini draws on diverse influences to weave a seamless musical fabric that defies immediate classification, but has been lauded by critics throughout the world for its international flavor and ability to entertain.

The Boston Globe commented, "The recipe for a Pink Martini would read something like this: One part French chanson, one part Argentine tango, one part soft merengue beat, and a dash of gin-joint jazz. Combine ingredients and shake vigorously over old Hollywood glamour. Pour into a glass and garnish with a paper parasol."

First attaining recognition during the lounge music revival of the mid- and late-1990s as exemplified by such acts as the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and bands of that ilk, Pink Martini sought a wider variety of styles, from Japanese torch songs to Maurice Ravel's "Bolero." According to the group's musical leader, Thomas Lauderdale, "Pink Martini is like a romantic Hollywood musical of the 1940s or 50s - but with a global perspective which is modern," he wrote on the band's official Web site. "We bring melodies and rhythms from different parts of the world together." Describing themselves as a "pop orchestra" and as "music archaeologists," Pink Martini was described in the Washington Post as "digging up neglected treasures and styles from the past and reinventing them for the 21st century.

But there's nothing pedantic about the result: This is rich, hugely approachable music, utterly cosmopolitan yet utterly unpretentious."

BY POPULAR DEMAND!
The world-famous Sing-a-long-a format has been delighting audiences since 1999. The important thing about Sing-a-long-a is that it's completely inclusive - you join in as much or as little as you want. It's not compulsory to dress up but many people do and it really adds to the fun. There's a 30-minute pre-film show during which the host leads you through a vocal warm-up, prepares you for special moments throughout the film and judges the fancy dress competition. Everyone receives a free goody bag with special props for the "magic moments" that make the evening go with a bang.

2011 saw the addition of Sing-a-long-a Grease, to its successful Sing-a-Long Sound of Music - a film that audiences have been asking for since the very beginning. It has been running in London since May 2011 and will tour the UK from January 2012.

Come dressed up as your favorite character! Bring the kids! Bring your friends! Plan a sing-a-long party before the show and get ready to sing your hearts out!!

Helen Mirren reprises her Academy Award-winning role as Queen Elizabeth II in the highly anticipated West End production of The Audience, broadcast as part of National Theatre Live.

For sixty years Elizabeth II has met each of her twelve Prime Ministers in a weekly audience at Buckingham Palace - a meeting like no other in British public life - it is private. Both parties have an unspoken agreement never to repeat what is said. Not even to their spouses.
The Audience breaks this contract of silence - and imagines a series of pivotal meetings between the Downing Street incumbents and their Queen. From Churchill to Cameron, each Prime Minister has used these private conversations as a sounding board and a confessional - sometimes intimate, sometimes explosive.

From young mother to grandmother, these private audiences chart the arc of the second Elizabethan Age. Politicians come and go through the revolving door of electoral politics, while she remains constant, waiting to welcome her next Prime Minister.

The Audience reunites writer Peter Morgan and Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren following their collaboration on the critically-acclaimed movie sensation The Queen.

The Audience is directed by Academy Award-nominated director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) and presented in the West End by Matthew Byam Shaw for Playful Productions, Robert Fox and Andy Harries.

"★★★★★! Funny and truthful, goodhearted, spiky, full of suprises. I loved every minute." The Times

A global revolution bringing the world's greatest art exhibitions to downtown Great Barrington!

EXHIBITION will feature the world's foremost upcoming art exhibitions, creatively captured in HD. This major new cinema event series will capture and explore major world exhibitions bringing a wealth of artistic masterpieces to a broader audience than ever before via high-tech digital cinema technology. The event films won't just cover the exhibition's paintings: important questions will be also asked and answered.

What lies behind the exhibition creatively and technically?

What does this particular collection of paintings and objects reveal about the artist or the particular historical period?

What do we learn about the presenting institution?

These will be wonderful records of extraordinary exhibitions and first-rate biographies of artists. The event films will combine sensitively shot material about the artist and period, filmed both at the exhibition and on location.

Each one runs between 90 and 120 minutes.

EXHIBITION is a new theatrical series of events, bringing the worlds greatest art exhibitions to cinema screens worldwide. EXHIBITION will feature the worlds foremost upcoming art exhibitions, creatively captured especially for the big screen. The EXHIBITION series begins with a career-encompassing collection of the works of Edouard Manet on exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in April.

This second event film is a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition of the greatest number of Edvard Munch's works ever, co-hosted by the National Museum and the Munch Museum in Oslo in June.

Each Event Film, hosted by art historian Tim Marlow, will go beyond the gallery with exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.

The Berkshire Playwrights Lab is the area's only theater dedicated exclusively to developing new plays. The Lab offers audiences the unique and provocative opportunity to share in the dramatic evolution of premiere works. This summer at the Mahaiwe the Lab will present one of its strongest seasons yet of plays in development.

Michael Cassin, director of the Clark's Center for Education in the Visual Arts, discusses Winslow Homer: Making Art, Making History, the museum's summer exhibition. Winslow Homer's work encompasses a wide variety of themes and techniques. His early designs for Harper's Weekly illustrations and his later watercolors, prints and oil paintings explore, in different ways, the lives of his contemporaries and the splendor -- and power -- of the natural world.

image: Winslow Homer, Undertow, 1886. Oil on canvas. The Clark

Copperhead is unlike any Civil War movie to date. It is a film of the war at home - of a family ripped apart by war, of fathers set against sons and daughters, of a community driven to an appalling act of vengeance against a man who insists on exercising his right to free speech during wartime. A story of the violent passions and burning feuds that set ablaze the home front during the Civil War, Copperhead the Movie is also a timeless and deeply moving examination of the price of dissent, the place of the individual amidst the hysteria of wartime, and the terrible price of war - a cost measured not in dollars but in fractured families, broken loves, and men dead before their time.

Based on the extraordinary novel by Harold Frederic, who witnessed these conflicts firsthand as a small child, Copperhead tells the story of Abner Beech, a stubborn and righteous farmer of Upstate New York, who defies his neighbors and his government in the bloody and contentious autumn of 1862. The great American critic Edmund Wilson praised Frederics creation as a brave and singular book that "differs fundamentally from any other Civil War fiction."

Copperhead is the great untold Civil War story. Far from the Virginia battlefields whose names etch our history, the war of Copperhead visits the devastation and unimaginable loss of a civil war upon a family and a community whose strength and very existence are tested by fire, rope, knife, and betrayal. This is the Civil War come home.

With Copperhead, director Ron Maxwell, who with Gettysburg and Gods and Generals established himself as our foremost cinematic interpreter of the American Civil War, takes on the War from a stunning and unexpected and richly, unforgettably humanist angle.

A wonderful event perfect for all movie buffs and food lovers!

Film buff, cultural historian and author of MOVIE MENUS dishes amusing tidbits on the meaning of food in our favorite films. Behind the scenes peeks at foodie film moments in such classics as Big Night, Babette's Feast, and Animal House. See hilarious film clips including Five Easy Pieces in which Jack Nicholson may be the first in celluloid history to have an order prepared "your way."

Big Night is a 1996 American motion picture drama with comedic overtones directed by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci. Produced by David Kirkpatrick and Jonathan Filley for the Samuel Goldwyn Company, the film met with much critical acclaim both in the United States and internationally. It was nominated for the "Grand Jury Prize" at the Sundance Film Festival and the "Grand Special Prize" at the Deauville Film Festival.

Scott and Tucci won the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best New Director. Tucci and Joseph Tropiano won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. Tucci also heads the cast, with Tony Shalhoub, Minnie Driver and Isabella Rossellini.

Presented by Sohn Fine Art as part of its Master Artist Series (MAS) program, master photographer Greg Gorman will present an inside look at his 40 year career as an analog and digital photographer in the world of celebrity. Accompanying this discussion, Gorman will present a visual presentation of his imagery. Included will be his award winning motion picture campaigns, a spanning look at his celebrity portraits and nudes, a commercial body of work called "We The People", as well as images from his two most recent books "Framed" and "In Their Youth". Each of Gorman's photographs portrays a picture of human nature in its infinite range. A true master with lighting and composition, Gorman's strength also lies in his charismatic ability to get his subjects to open up to him, thereby creating a rare opportunity for the viewer to see the unique qualities of that person, as well as share a special, and often private, moment that Gorman has captured. In closing, Gorman will discuss the pursuit of his current passions for wine and education. A book signing of his two most recent books will be held after the presentation.

Greg Gorman just received the 2013 Professional Photographers of America (PPA) Lifetime Achievement Award. His exceptional career is currently being highlighted in a 40 year retrospective exhibition touring museums throughout Europe. In conjunction with this presentation, an intimate selection of Gorman's works from his retrospective show will be on view at Sohn Fine Art Gallery (6 Elm Street, Stockbridge, MA) July 5 - September 30, 2013, with an opening reception on Saturday, July 20, 2013 from 4 - 8pm. Gorman will also be teaching two photography workshops through Sohn Fine Art, "Mastering Portraits" and "Nudes". All of these events are made possible through Sohn Fine Art's Master Artist Series Program, whose core mission is to contribute to the cultural vitality of the Berkshires by promoting broader understanding of and community engagement with photographic mediums through exhibitions, lectures and workshops by world class photographers.



photo credit: Greg Gorman; Andy Warhol, Los Angeles, 1986. (c) Greg Gorman.

With a commitment to the accurate reproduction of The Beatles' repertoire, The Fab Faux treat the seminal music with unwavering respect, and are known for their painstaking recreations of the songs (with emphasis on the later works never performed live by the Beatles).

Far beyond a cover band, they play the music of The Beatles so impeccably that one must experience it to believe it. Imagine hearing complex material like "Strawberry Fields Forever" or "I Am the Walrus" performed in complete part-perfect renditions; or such harmony-driven songs as "Because", "Nowhere Man", and "Paperback Writer", reproduced not only note-for-note, but with extra vocalists to achieve a double-tracked effect.

The musical virtuosity of The Fab Faux - in actuality five of the hardest working musicians in NYC - completely up-ends the concept of a Beatles tribute band. Far beyond being extended sets of cover versions, their astounding shows are an inspired re-discovery of the Beatles' musical magic, as The Fab Faux tackles the group's most demanding material live onstage in a way that has to be experienced to be believed.

Calling them, "the greatest Beatles cover band - without the wigs," Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke wrote, "the Faux invigorate the artistry of even the Beatles' most intricate studio masterpieces with top chops and Beatlemaniac glee."

Approaching the songs with the intent of playing them live as accurately in musical reading and in spirit as possible, The Faux's breathtaking performances tend to dispel all concert goers' previous notions of a Beatles tribute act. "The Fab Faux have the hardest job in the history of R & R and they pull it off damn well. All rock bands want to be like the Beatles; these guys have the nerve to BE the Beatles. Amazingly, they're so good at it you learn new things about the originals" - Dave Marsh, legendary Rock Critic and Sirius Radio Host.

In conjunction with her next orchestral recording (release planned for this spring), Natalie Merchant will undertake an extensive touring project performing with symphony orchestras throughout the world, including a stop at the Mahaiwe to play with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. Over Natalie Merchant's 30-year career, she has earned a distinguished place among America's most respected recording artists. With her latest and highly acclaimed Nonesuch recording entitled, Leave Your Sleep, which debuted on the Billboard Top 200 at No. 17, Merchant embarks on a new artistic path, creating songs from literary inspiration which are composed for expanded musical ensembles and orchestra.

Merchant began her musical career as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the pop music band 10,000 Maniacs and released two platinum and four gold records with the group between 1981 and 1993 (The Wishing Chair, In My Tribe, Blind Man's Zoo, Hope Chest, Our Time in Eden, and MTV Unplugged). Together with artists like R.E.M., they defined college rock and created the first wave of alternative rock bands and what became known as the alternative rock format on FM radio.

In 1994, Merchant began her solo career with a self-produced debut album, Tigerlily. In the years following, she released Ophelia (1998), Natalie Merchant Live (1999) and Motherland (2001). In 2003, Merchant independently released an album of American and British folk music, The House Carpenter's Daughter, on her own label, Myth America Records.

Live performances of her new music have been enthusiastically received by her long-time fans and new audiences. Following her symphonic debut with the Boston Pops Orchestra, critics observed, "Merchant has found her medium . . . but Merchant's woody quaver has never sounded quite so right as it did framed by flutes, a weaving clarinet, and a gentleharp." (The Boston Globe).

"Quietly spellbinding... the music of Ms. Carpenter is an unclassifiable hybrid of pop, folk and country" - The New York Times

" Cohn has one of rock's most soulful croons?a rich immediately recognizable tenor that makes these songs his own. " Rolling Stone

Acclaimed songwriters Mary Chapin Carpenter and Marc Cohn will share the stage for a series of special shows this summer. The duo will perform material spanning their vast catalogues as well as some of their favorite songs at the Mahaiwe on July 25th.

2012 and 2013 have been landmark years for Mary Chapin Carpenter. In addition to releasing her latest album, Ashes and Roses, to widespread critical acclaim, she was recently inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and won an Emmy award for her work on Nashville Public Television's No Going Back: Women and the War. Over the course of her career, Carpenter has recorded 12 albums and has sold over 13 million records. With hits like Passionate Kisses and He Thinks He'll Keep Her, she has won five Grammy Awards (with 15 nominations) , two CMA awards and two Academy of Country Music awards for her vocals.

With his Grammy-award winning ballad Walking in Memphis, Marc Cohn is one of his generation's most compelling singer / songwriters. After taking a decade-long sabbatical, Cohn returned in 2007 with Join The Parade. Inspired by the events following Hurricane Katrina and his own near fatal shooting just weeks before, Parade is his most moving and critically acclaimed record to date. His most recent album, Listening Booth; 1970, was released in 2010.

The Mahaiwe proudly presents 10-time GRAMMY Award winning group THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER!

The group that just keeps on harmonizing is famous for mixing jazz and popular music styles. The Manhattan Transfer is Cheryl Bentyne, Tim Hauser, Alan Paul and Janis Siegel. The Manhattan Transfer will perform with their touring band in a concert that will feature many of their hit songs such as Birdland, Operator, Tuxedo Junction, Chanson d'Amour, The Boy from New York City and many more.

Four women at a lingerie sale with nothing in common but a black lace bra AND memory loss, hot flashes, night sweats, not enough sex, too much sex and more! This hilarious musical parody set to classic tunes from the '60s, '70s and '80s will have you cheering and dancing in the aisles! See what millions of women worldwide have been laughing about for over 10 years!

It's the Hilarious Celebration of Women and The Change! ¨

Explore the Berkshires most fabulous foodie destinations all without leaving the Mahaiwe Theater.

Discover restaurant hot spots and the best farmers markets and gourmet shops. Learn about the many fabulous artisan foods made locally including cheeses, sweets and breads. Meet the folks behind Barrington Coffee Roasting Co, Berkshire Bark, Biscotti Babies, Berkshire Blue, Berkshire Mountain Bakery and more.

Receive detailed maps with locations and list of must-try foods so you can explore on your own.

Free activities for the entire family on this Free Fun Friday event sponsored by Highland Street Foundation featuring Mary Pope Osbornes internationally beloved and bestselling Magic Tree House series coming to life in a long-awaited live character event, Read, Read, Read.

Brother-Sister duo Jack and Annie bring their time traveling adventures to life in a 25 minute tribute to the magic of reading involving a captivating performance by Jack and Annie with lively audience participation, and original songs. Performances of the 25 minute live production will be offered at 11am and 1pm where children will be inspired to read and travel the world just like Jack and Annie. The performances will conclude with book stampings and photo opportunities with Jack and Annie.

Throughout the day there will also be arts and crafts, movement explorations, and Spanish-language activities offered for the entire family!

Some interesting facts to know about the Magic Tree House Series:

Over 100 Million : the number of Magic Tree House books sold worldwide
#1 : The position of the Magic Tree House¨ series on the New York Times Bestseller lists with the release of virtually every title.
5.1 million: The number of Magic Tree House¨ Research Guides sold since the non-fiction series launch in 2000.
242: The number of weeks the Magic Tree House¨ series has spent on the New York Times Bestseller list -- longer than any other series besides the Harry Potter books.
55 : The number of published Magic Tree House¨ titles in the series (fiction and non-fiction separately).
33 : The number of countries around the world in which Magic Tree House¨ has been published.
25 : The number of languages into which Magic Tree House¨ titles have been translated.

Sponsored by Highland Street Foundation.

One of the country's top comedians and a New York Times bestselling author, Rita Rudner is also an award-winning television personality, screenwriter, playwright, Broadway dancer, and actress. A house-filling favorite in Las Vegas since she opened as one of the hottest tickets in town in June 2000, Rudner is known for her epigrammatic one-liners. Over the course of a 2,000-plus show run in Las Vegas, she has sold more than 1 million tickets and become the longest-running solo show in the history of Sin City. She was named Las Vegas Comedian Of The Year nine years in a row.

Besides learning why folks back in the 1500s clinked glasses to make a toast you'll discover the reasons they never put a vase of flowers or their elbows on the table, wouldn't eat with forks and why "4 and 20 blackbirds" really were baked in a pie.



The talk is sprinkled with tempting tidbits on the fanciful foods and aphrodisiacs, intriguing table manners, etiquette and unusual dining customs, like telling of the amusing jokes, puns, and riddles between courses.

Romeo and Juliet is a 1968 British-Italian romance film based on the tragic play of the same name by William Shakespeare. The film was directed and co-written by Franco Zeffirelli, and starred Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey. It won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design; it was also nominated for Best Director and Best Picture. Laurence Olivier spoke the film's prologue and epilogue and reportedly dubbed the voice of the Italian actor playing Lord Montague, but was not credited in the film. Being the most financially successful film of a Shakespeare play during that time, it was popular among teenagers partly because the film used actors who were close to the age of the characters from the original play for the first time. Several critics also welcomed the film enthusiastically.

The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center announces a unique summer event in the Berkshires:

The National Theatre presents a major new production of William Shakespeare's celebrated play about the destructive power of jealousy.

Olivier Award-winning actor Adrian Lester (Henry V at the National Theatre, BBC's Hustle) takes the title role.

Playing opposite him as the duplicitous Iago is fellow Olivier Award-winner Rory Kinnear (The Last of the Haussmans, James Bond: Skyfall), who is reunited with director Nicholas Hytner (Timon of Athens, One Man, Two Guvnors) following their acclaimed collaboration on the National Theatre's recent production of Hamlet.