Dave Read

The popular Inside/Out program at Jacob’s Pillow, which offers free performances on the outdoors Marcia & Seymour Simon Performance Space, will include a musicians Charles Neville, George Kaye, and Moonlight Davis, accompanying artist faculty Dianne Walker, Harold Kromer, and music director Paul Arslanian for The School at Jacob’s Pillow’s first ever Tap Program. Inside/Out showings with the dancers of the Tap Program take place Saturday, July 3 and July 10, at 6:15 pm.

Charles Neville, a former member of The Neville Brothers, has performed with the likes of Ray Charles, B.B. King, and James Brown. Neville and George Kaye, former bassist for Houston Person & Etta Jones, will participate in the first week of workshops culminating in a free showing with the Tap Program dancers on Inside/Out on July 3. Gospel singer Moonlight Davis will join Kaye for the second week and the free Inside/Out showing on July 10.

In addition to rigorous movement training, the dancers of the professional advancement Tap Program will also work with these acclaimed musicians and will offer two free public showings during their time at The School at Jacob’s Pillow. Both free public showings on July 3 and 10 will feature live music.

Jacob’s Pillow 2010 schedule details.

On view at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, through Oct. 31, 2010, is the exhibition, William Steig: Love and Laughter. First known for his New Yorker cartoons, William Steigg (1907-2003) also created children’s books, including Shrek!, which inspired the popular animated film series. The exhibition is built around works donated to the Norman Rockwell Museum by the artist’s widow, Jeanne Steig; it includes original drawings from Shrek! and Alpha Beta Chowder, a book illustrated by William Steig, and illustrated by his wife Jeanne, which are on loan from the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

William Steig: Love and Laughter. shines a light on several key stages in Steig’s artistic career: from his early gag cartoons for The New Yorker; the stream-of-consciousness symbolic artworks influenced by his ongoing fascination with psychology and Pablo Picasso; to his later works as a beloved author and with llustrator of children’s books and novels. The exhibition examines recurrent themes in both artists works– from the wonders of childhood to the intricacies of friendship and romance– with inspiration drawn from mythology and classic literature.

During his lifetime, William Steig created more than 1600 hundred drawings and one hundred seventeen covers for The New Yorker, and authored and illustrated more than twenty children’s picture books, often with an existential bent. “I think I feel a little differently than other people do. For some reason I’ve never felt grown up,” observed the artist. “Steig was a keen observer of the world around him,” notes Norman Rockwell Museum Deputy Director Stephanie Haboush Plunkett, who curated the exhibition with the assistance of curators Corry Kanzenberg and Joyce K. Schiller. “He was a gifted draftsman with an exceptional ability to communicate universally understood concepts in a single image.”

Exhibition-related events at the Norman Rockwell Museum

• • American Storyteller
    Uncommon Treasures: An Evening with Jeanne Steig
    Thursday, July 8, 5:30 p.m.

Spend an evening with Jeanne Steig, a self-taught visual artist working almost exclusively in street finds and other discarded materials. The author of several books of light verse and prose including Alpha Beta Chowder; A Handful of Beans, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book; and A Gift from Zeus: Sixteen Favorite Myths, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and New York Times Notable Book, Ms. Steig is the widow of noted illustrator William Steig, and her art is currently on view in William Steig: Love & Laughter. Free with Museum admission.

• • SuperSteig Day! Festivities for Families
    Saturday, July 24, 1 to 4 p.m.

Join us for an afternoon of family fun with Jeanne Steig, whose inspired creations assembled from found objects are sure to delight. Mrs. Steig, whose dimensional creations are on view, will help you turn trash into treasures during a lively art workshop for all ages. Storytelling with Ann Underland, music, interactive gallery adventures and more will celebrate William Steig: Love and Laughter and the art of the beloved illustrator. Kids free to age 18, adults free with Museum admission.

• • American Storyteller
    Comic Genius: An Evening with Cartoonist Liza Donnelly
    Thursday, August 12, 5:30 p.m.

Explore the art of The New Yorker through the eyes of its ingenious comic creators. A cartoonist for the magazine for more than 25 years, Liza Donnelley will share the best illustrated jokes, gag cartoons, and slice-of-life drawings, offering a rare first-hand glimpse of the creative process. Ms. Donnelley’s latest book, When Do They Serve the Wine, along with Funny Ladies, Sex and Sensibility, and Cartoon Marriage, will be available for signing at a reception with the artist following the program. Free with Museum admission.

• • American Storyteller
    The Naked Cartoonist: An Evening with Robert Mankoff
    Thursday, August 19, 5:30 p.m.

Join New Yorker cartoon editor Robert Mankoff for an uproarious look at
the art of humor. One of the nation’s leading comic commentators, Mr. Mankoff originated The Cartoon Bank and the Cartoon Caption Contest, and is the creator of the magazine’s best-loved comic images. A regular guest on The Daily Show, he is also the author of The Naked Cartoonist: A New Way
to Enhance Your Creativity, The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker, and many other cartoon collections. A book-signing and reception with the artist will follow the program. Free with Museum admission.

• • Laugh Out Loud! Festivities for Families
    Saturday, August 14, 1 to 4 p.m.

Laugh along with your children in this Shrek-alicious family festival filled with music, storytelling, and art-making inspired by the art of William Steig. Kids free to age 18, adults free with Museum admission.

• Rotten Island! A Halloween Bash
  Sunday, October 31, 2 to 4 p.m.
  For ages 6 and up

All Berkshire Fringe performances, events and workshops take place at The Daniel Arts Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 84 Alford Road in Great Barrington, MA unless otherwise noted. Performances of Quake and IT or HER will take place at Mixed Company, 37 Rossetter Street in Great Barrington.

Tickets are $15 to all main events and $ Pick your Own Price for all opening night performances. Ask our box office about a Season’s Pass – See all eight shows for only $95 or choose any three shows for $39. All workshops, :30 Live! performances and EarlyStages readings are free. For directions, tickets, workshop registration, and all other information please call (413) 320-4175, e-mail us at info@berkshirefringe.org or visit Berkshire Fringe.

2010 Berkshire Fringe schedule.

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Tickets for the 2010 Williamstown Theatre Festival season can be purchased online at www.wtfestival.org starting May 29 at Noon and by phone at (413) 597-3400 starting Tuesday, June 1 at 10:00 a.m.

2010 Williamstown Theatre Festival schedule
Berkshires half-priced tickets booth locations.

ONLINE: Shakespeare and Co. tickets online. There is a $4.50 service fee for online ticketing.

PHONE: Call (413) 637-3353

FAX: Download an order form and send to (413) 637-4274 (credit card orders only).

E-MAIL: Send an email to boxoffice@shakespeare.org

IN PERSON: Visit our Box Office at 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, MA 01240 to buy tickets before the show or during Box Office hours.

Learn about all our discounts, including our Berkshire County Resident Discount.

2010 Shakespeare and Co. schedule details.

Berkshires half-priced tickets booth locations.
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Subscriptions: Jacob’s Pillow Subscribers receive early ordering and renewal privileges, free ticket exchange (up to 48 hours prior to performance) and the deepest discounts. Subscription options include: Full Season Subscriptions, in which subscribers purchase tickets to all ten Ted Shawn Theatre or Doris Duke Theatre performances, and Flex 5+ Subscriptions, in which subscribers create their own schedule choosing five or more performances, any day, any time. 2010 Jacob’s Pillow schedule.

Berkshires half-priced tickets booth locations.

Jacob’s Pillow Members receive earliest ordering privileges as Member subscription orders are processed before Non-Member subscription orders. Memberships are available at any time, starting at $60/year and $40 for students. All subscription orders are accepted online at jacobspillow.org and via mail or fax, beginning January 25.

Box Office phone ordering begins March 1, Monday-Friday, 10am – 5pm, with additional hours during the Festival. Box Office: 413.243.0745 (phone) or 413.243.0749 (fax). For complete ticket policies, visit jacobspillow.org.

Single Tickets: Jacob’s Pillow Member single ticketing begins Wednesday, March 10. Single ticket ordering opens to the public via phone, fax, mail, and online on Wednesday, April 7. Specially priced $10 youth tickets (sponsored by ALEX®, for children ages 8 – 16) are available for certain performances of Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble, Nina Ananiashvili and the State Ballet of Georgia, Shantala Shivalingappa, and The Vanaver Caravan.

Box Office phone ordering begins March 1, Monday-Friday, 10am – 5pm, with additional hours during the Festival. Box Office: 413.243.0745 (phone) or 413.243.0749 (fax).
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