Will Call

Berkshire Cultural Resource Center Program Manager Michelle Daly joins us for our first show after our Winter hiatus. And somehow she’s the perfect guest to have on this episode in which we celebrate Spring while we look forward to the Summer-long extravaganza that is DownStreet Art! She’ll be at MCLA Gallery 51 on Monday March 28 from 6-8pm to meet artists, answer your questions and introduce the THREE opportunities available this year. Here’s your chance to network, ask questions and learn about opportunities for artists and creative entrepreneurs or to sign up to volunteer. Full details and requirements for each

Deirdre Flynn Sullivan joins us again for a Young Adult and Children’s Literature episode of “Will Call,” and she chooses the “Hero’s Journey” as our topic, which seems an appropriate, if less than obvious, direction to take this holiday season.

The hero’s journey, or monomyth, is a common pattern followed by tales from all manner of genre, whether epic fantasy, science fiction, or drama. A hero sets off on an adventure, and, during a decisive crisis, wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed. Learn more by reading the complete explanation at Wikipedia, or a slightly pared down version at The Writer’s Journey.

Deirdre Flynn Sullivan: Our Resident expert on Children’s Literature

 

Deirdre, an artist and longtime advocate for the arts, shares insightful observations about young adult and children’s literature that she’s gained through both concentrated study and practice.

Be sure to check out Deirdre’s extremely happening Facebook groups, which can provide an unmatched source of information and inspiration throughout your day!

Deirdre of the Arts

ARTSPEAK: Artists Networking in the Berkshires and Beyond

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AND YOUNG ADULT FICTION

Define Your Terms: Americana Music From Roots to Punk

The Scene: From the Renaissance to Hollywood

Deirdre of the Arts

ARTSPEAK: Artists Networking in the Berkshires and Beyond

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AND YOUNG ADULT FICTION

Define Your Terms: Americana Music From Roots to Punk

The Scene: From the Renaissance to Hollywood

 

 

 

 

“We will need writers who can remember freedom.”

—Ursula Le Guin

We can’t guarantee that ALL the titles we mentioned appear here in the show notes, but we’ll add them below if we’ve missed any!

Two places online that we encourage you to check out:

LibriVox—Free Public Domain Audiobooks. Visit the site to learn how to hear great works read aloud or to volunteer your time and voice to their mission of making as many public domain works as possible available as audiobooks.

 

Young Children

Harold and the Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson

Poky Little Puppy,  Janette Sebring Lowrey and Gustaf Tenggren (Illustrator)

Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, Maurice Sendak Caldecot

Skippy John Jones, Judy Schachner

Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter

 

Chapter Books

Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll

Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster

Catwings, by Ursula Le Guin

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A special “Home for the Holidays”concert on Friday, December 18 at 6 pm at The Williams Inn will benefit Higher Ground of Northern Berkshire, the non-profit that supports community members displaced by Tropical Storm Irene and advocates for affordable housing.

Home for the Holidays

December 18, 6:00 p.m.

The Williams Inn

1090 Main St, Williamstown, MA 01267

Admission $15-$20 on a sliding scale

Gail talks with Deb Burns and Karl Mullen about the concert and Higher Ground’s work, which is culminating in the soon to be completed Highland Woods complex at the corner of Southworth and Church Streets. Donating their talents to the cause are local favorites Long Journey, Good Good, Duo Eamon, Gordon Holey, Jeb Barry, Rosin the Beaux, Singing School, and Northern Spy presenting acoustic and traditional music including Irish, Appalachian, Quebecois, South African, and seasonal offerings.

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Proceeds will benefit Higher Ground of Northern Berkshire and their Home Stretch Campaign to fund items that will truly make Highland Woods a lovely place to call home. Funds are needed for paved accessible walkways, an accessible community garden, a garden shed, landscaping for this 4-acre site, and interior furnishings for the community room, lobby, health suite, and sunrooms at the ends of each hallway where residents can enjoy the views.

 

 

Williamstown Songcircle

Wednesday, December 16, 7:00 p.m.

The Williams Inn

1090 Main Street, Williamstown, MA

Don’t miss the last Songcircle of 2015!

The Williamstown Songwriters Circle is a monthly opportunity to share and explore the process of Songwriting, Singing, and Songs. Discover musical ideas being developed, original songs being payed for the first time, seasoned performers alongside new songwriters. Come to listen, to sing ,share a song and take part in Williamstown’s exciting emerging new music community.

We start at 7 PM in The Tavern in The Williams Inn, 1090 Main Street, Williamstown, MA

It’s a Free acoustic event in a cosy Bar with a big roaring fire. It will warm your heart in the coming Winter months. Bring your Voice.

1753 House Carol Sing

December 20, 2015 7:00–8:30 p.m.

Field Park

Williamstown, MA 01267

Free

The 1753 House Committee invites the community to the 42nd annual 1753 House Carol Sing at 7 pm on Sunday, December 20. (Rain/snow date is Tuesday, December 22.) The Carol Sing is a free, ecumenical event for all ages

Deborah Burns and members of her OK Chorale will lead the a cappella singing beside a roaring blaze in the fireplace. Carol books and hot mulled cider are provided. There is no heat or electricity in the 1753 House, so dress warmly and bring a candle to see by.

The 1753 House is an historical replica of a regulation settler’s home first constructed in 1953 in celebration of Williamstown’s Bicentennial by local volunteers.

Award-winning New York cabaret singer Elaine St. George talks about her new CD of songs by Steve Goodman – one of the best songwriters no one has ever heard of (although you know his music.)

Elaine St. George started singing as a teenager and has returned to pursue this early love professionally with great success. Her cabaret performances have earned her a 2013 MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs) Hanson Award for Continued Excellence in Cabaret and the 2014 Bistro Award for Outstanding Vocalist.

Now she has recorded a new CD of the songs by the late Steve Goodman (1948-1984) containing thirteen songs Goodman penned himself – including his best known song, City of New Orleans -and two covers, because Goodman loved singing covers. She took the time to share with Will Call listeners her love of music in general and Goodman in particular.

Click HERE to buy or download the CD.

 

“I don’t know if you’ve ever done anything creative—art, singing, whatever—but it takes courage to stand up there on stage or hang your picture on a wall and say, “This is who I am. This is what I care about.” Steve did that. He seized every opportunity he could to share his work with people. He inspires me as an artist every day. And I hope that by telling his story and singing his songs, I can inspire other people to do whatever seems hardest for them.” – Elaine St. George

 

It’s a grand celebration of the American West with the Festival of Trees 2015: Westward Ho Ho Ho! on view to the public from Saturday, November 14, 2015, through Sunday, January 3, 2016.

Berkshire Museum Director of Development Nina Garlington, and Director of Communications Lesley Ann Beck talk with Gail about this annual holiday event, which this year features more than 100 twinkling, tantalizing holiday trees decorated to evoke the adventure and romance of the American West.

Festival of Trees 2015: Westward Ho Ho Ho! is proudly sponsored by Hill Engineers, Architects, Planners Inc.; Pittsfield Cooperative Bank; RBC Wealth Management; and Berkshire Magazine.

The much-anticipated Festival of Trees features creative holiday trees sponsored by businesses, schools, and community organizations, inspired by this year’s theme of Westward Ho Ho Ho!Visitors can expect to see lots of wonderful trees with cowboy hats and boots, bright bandannas, horses, bison, stagecoaches, and all kinds of Western memorabilia. The Festival of Trees is a significant fundraiser for Berkshire Museum every year — the proceeds benefit the education programs that provide more than 17,000 educational experiences annually.

This year’s Western theme is inspired by the dual American West exhibitions, National Geographic Greatest Photographs of the American West and Go West, on view September 26-January 3. Experience the magnificent, intriguing, and ever-changing American West in compelling photographs and fascinating objects. The traveling exhibition National Geographic Greatest Photographs of the American West features stunning photography from the last 125 years. Go West, organized by the Museum’s staff, includes objects, artwork, and interactive stations pertaining to the grand adventure of the American West.

 

We speak again with our ever-generous guest Michelle Daly of the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Michelle discusses some of the exceptional events coming up in December, including Anais Mitchell, Unsilent Night, and Spectacle 99, and hints at what’s to come in 2016.

 

Definitely consider subscribing to the “North Adams Happenings” newsletter put out by the BCRC—a great resource for anyone looking to find out what’s going on around town.

Unsilent Night

Thursday, December 3, 2015; 5:15PM

Begins at MASS MoCA.

Free, reservations requested for head count and to plan for enough hot chocolate

Unsilent Night is an original composition by Phil Kline, written specifically to be heard outdoors in the month of December. It takes the form of a street promenade in which the audience becomes the performer. Each participant gets one of four tracks of music in the form of a cassette, CD, or Mp3. Together all four tracks comprise Unsilent Night. The fact that the participants play different “parts” simultaneously helps create the special sound of the piece. Participants carry boomboxes, or anything that amplifies music, and simultaneously start playing the music. They then walk a carefully chosen route through their city’s streets, creating a unique mobile sound sculpture which is different from every listener’s perspective.

 

Spectacle 99: the Annual Affordable Art Show

Opening Reception

Thursday, December 3, 5:00–8:00 p.m.

51 Main Street, North Adams, Mass.

 

An annual affordable art show, Spectacle 99 celebrates the artwork of local and previously featured artists at MCLA Gallery 51, and includes functional ware, sculpture, ceramics, watercolors, jewelry, paintings, postcards, key chains, t-shirts, collages, photography and printmaking. Just in time for the holiday season, all art will be priced between 99 cents and $99.99, and can be taken to go to be given as gifts.

Featured artists will include Stephanie Boyd, Valerie Carrigan, Danielle Christensen, Michelle Daly, Zoe Doucette, John Etes, Sara Farrell-Okamura, Richard Harrington, Larry Lorusso, Jennifer Huberdeau, Ellen Joffe-Halpren, Amrita Lash, Jonas McCaffery, Julia Morgan-Leamon, Melanie Mowinski, Danny Oh, Hideyo Okamura, Jackie Sedlock, Sarah Sutro, Sarah Tefft, and Sandra Thomas.

 

 

MCLA Presents! Anais Mitchell

with  Ben Davis & Bridget Kearney

Friday, December 4, 7:30 p.m.

MCLA Church Street Center, North Adams, Mass.

Tickets:  – $2–$12

 

Independent on Sunday has called Vermont singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell “The most engaging, and in some ways, most original artist currently working in the field of new American ‘folk’ music” and we agree.

If there’s a common thread in Mitchell’s work — from her earliest acoustic records, to the Hadestown opera, to this new chapter– it’s that she’s as interested in the world around her as the one inside her. She has a way of tackling big themes with the same ...

 

We speak again with our ever-generous guest Michelle Daly of the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Michelle discusses some of the exceptional events coming up in December, including Anais Mitchell, Unsilent Night, and Spectacle 99, and hints at what’s to come in 2016.

 

Definitely consider subscribing to the “North Adams Happenings” newsletter put out by the BCRC—a great resource for anyone looking to find out what’s going on around town.

Unsilent Night

Thursday, December 3, 2015; 5:15PM

Begins at MASS MoCA.

Free, reservations requested for head count and to plan for enough hot chocolate

Unsilent Night is an original composition by Phil Kline, written specifically to be heard outdoors in the month of December. It takes the form of a street promenade in which the audience becomes the performer. Each participant gets one of four tracks of music in the form of a cassette, CD, or Mp3. Together all four tracks comprise Unsilent Night. The fact that the participants play different “parts” simultaneously helps create the special sound of the piece. Participants carry boomboxes, or anything that amplifies music, and simultaneously start playing the music. They then walk a carefully chosen route through their city’s streets, creating a unique mobile sound sculpture which is different from every listener’s perspective.

 

Spectacle 99: the Annual Affordable Art Show

Opening Reception

Thursday, December 3, 5:00–8:00 p.m.

51 Main Street, North Adams, Mass.

 

An annual affordable art show, Spectacle 99 celebrates the artwork of local and previously featured artists at MCLA Gallery 51, and includes functional ware, sculpture, ceramics, watercolors, jewelry, paintings, postcards, key chains, t-shirts, collages, photography and printmaking. Just in time for the holiday season, all art will be priced between 99 cents and $99.99, and can be taken to go to be given as gifts.

Featured artists will include Stephanie Boyd, Valerie Carrigan, Danielle Christensen, Michelle Daly, Zoe Doucette, John Etes, Sara Farrell-Okamura, Richard Harrington, Larry Lorusso, Jennifer Huberdeau, Ellen Joffe-Halpren, Amrita Lash, Jonas McCaffery, Julia Morgan-Leamon, Melanie Mowinski, Danny Oh, Hideyo Okamura, Jackie Sedlock, Sarah Sutro, Sarah Tefft, and Sandra Thomas.

 

 

MCLA Presents! Anais Mitchell

with  Ben Davis & Bridget Kearney

Friday, December 4, 7:30 p.m.

MCLA Church Street Center, North Adams, Mass.

Tickets:  – $2–$12

 

Independent on Sunday has called Vermont singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell “The most engaging, and in some ways, most original artist currently working in the field of new American ‘folk’ music” and we agree.

If there’s a common thread in Mitchell’s work — from her earliest acoustic records, to the Hadestown opera, to this new chapter– it’s that she’s as interested in the world around her as the one inside her. She has a way of tackling big themes with the same ...

Williamstown Artist Open Studios will be having a pre-holiday event, showcasing some of the most dazzling work from local artists of a variety of disciplines.

Williamstown Artist Open Studios

 

Stephanie Boyd:

November 28, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Terra Gallery

20 Spring St., Williamstown, Mass. (next to the Barber Shop)

Nov 29, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Home studio: 26 Waterman Place, Williamstown, Mass.

Amrita Lash

November 28–29, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

70 Baxter Road, Williamstown, Mass.

Home studio: 26 Waterman Place, Williamstown, Mass.

 

 

 

The following artists will open their studios on Saturday, November 28 and Sunday, November 29 from 10-5 PM : Stephanie Boyd, Marilyn Cavallari, Stephen Dankner, Ghetta Hirsh, Amrita Lash and Carol Ott, Among the featured items will be many smaller paintings, newer ceramic designs and more affordable items. Please mark your calendars and come to find that perfect holiday gift for those very special people in your life.

 

 

 

 

 

Amrita Lash and her husband Adrian St. John are alumni of Buxton School and Bennington College. They currently live and teach at Buxton where Amrita’s specialties are ceramics and folk singing. When she is not teaching, working in clay, or raising her two children, Amrita is the vocalist for the popular local roots folk group Long Journey. Her pottery is available on her Etsy shop and at Country Curtains at The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, MA

 

From Stephanie Boyd’s website:

I started my career as an engineer and I have worked and lived in several countries. These life experiences have led me to think about our sense of place, the impact of resources we consume in our daily lives, and to appreciate our local culture.

Through Stephanie Boyd Works, I strive to create beautiful, functional objects that support the joy in life’s simple pleasures: a serving platter for farm fresh vegetables, a vase for a handful of wild flowers, a cozy mug for hot tea.

I started working with clay in the 1990’s in Montreal. At that time, I was focusing on slab built sculptural work. I spent a year visiting and working in studios of ceramicists in the Czech Republic. While I was there, I had a wonderful opportunity to have a show in Brno, CR with some fellow Canadians. (I am a Canadian).

I then returned to more traditional ‘work’ as a management consultant in Czech Republic, Canada and USA. Most recently I founded and ran the sustainability office at Williams College. About 2 years ago, I made the decision to return to artistic endeavors.

Other Holiday Events:

Alchemy Initiative: Handmade Holiday Festival

December 5–6,

Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield, Mass.

Wrap It Up: Northern Berkshire Clay Collective

Hops and Vines, Williamstown, Mass.

December 16, 4:00–8:00 p.m.

We speak with Josh Aaron McCabe and Ally Allen of the Shakespeare & Company Education Department, as well as Luc Park, senior at Mt. Greylock Regional School, who will be playing one of three Macbeths in William Shakespeare’s eponymous tragedy.

 

Macbeth

by William Shakespeare

Fall Festival of Shakespeare

November 13 and 14, 2015; 7:00 p.m.

Williamstown Elementary School

115 Church Street Williamstown, MA

 

This production, part of the Fall Festival of Shakespeare, runs this weekend at Greylock School, and then next week at Shakepeare & Company at 70 Kemble Street, Lenox.

The Fall Festival of Shakespeare is supported, in part, by many individual and institutional supporters.

From the website of Shakespeare & Company:

The annual Fall Festival of Shakespeare is nine-week residency program at high schools throughout western Massachusetts and parts of neighboring New York State. Shakespeare & Company directors at each school lead nearly 500 students through a language-based exploration of a Shakespeare play, culminating in a full-scale production performed on Shakespeare & Company’s Tina Packer Playhouse for the public. The Fall Festival of Shakespeare is a crown jewel of our performance season. When these high-energy teenagers set loose the power of Shakespeare’s language in front of packed houses, the thrill is contagious.

You don’t have to defy the stars to enjoy a hot date with two of literature’s most unlucky lovers, Romeo and Juliet. The eponymous tragedy, staged by the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Fine and performing and Arts Department, will run for one weekend at the Venable Theatre.

 

“Romeo and Juliet”

by William Shakespeare

 

November 18–21; 8:00 p.m.

MCLA Venable Theatre

Buy tickets online or at the event

$12 general admission, $5 faculty staff, alumni, non MCLA, $2 MCLA

We spoke with a four student actors:

Crysta Cheverie, Senior FPA Theatre major, Juliet

Brittany Nicholson, Senior FPA Theatre major, Nurse

Brianna McDermott, Junior FPA Theatre, Arts Management major, Lady Capulet

Alexandra Sasso, Sophomore FPA Theatre major, Princess Escalus

as well as the play’s director, Laura E. Standley, Assistant Professor, Theatre, about the unique approach this production of Romeo and Juliet takes toward dealing with, and understanding the violence that seems to propel the actions of almost every character.

Prologue

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows

Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.

The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,

And the continuance of their parents’ rage,

Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,

Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;

The which if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

SPOILER ALERT: Some shall be pardon’d, and some punished.