Dave Read

Pianist Leon Fleisher, who will be performing an All-Mozart program with the B.S.O. at Tanglewood on Aug. 8, was one of those honored by the Kennedy Center this year.

(Photo Credit: Tony Esparza)

An extraordinary mix of renowned artists, their friends and peers converged in Washington, D. C. on Dec 2 to salute Leon Fleisher, Steve Martin, Diana Ross, Martin Scorsese and Brian Wilson – this year’s Honorees at ‘The 30th Annual Kennedy Center Honors.’

The star-studded gala of entertainment and heartfelt tributes will be broadcast Wednesday, Dec 26 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network with Caroline Kennedy as host for the fifth consecutive year.

Kennedy introduced Fleisher as “a piano prodigy from the Golden Gate who rose to the heights, embraced adversity and became a musician for all seasons.”. World-renowned Grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma paid homage to Leon Fleisher : “Mr. Fleisher has created work that is the gold standard of this generation” and, speaking of his legendary recording of the Brahms First Piano Concerto, “that music is still seared in my memory.”

As American pianist and conductor Leon Fleisher accepts the 2007 Kennedy Center Honor and prepares for a year of celebrations of his 80th birthday, Sony BMG Masterworks releases The Essential Leon Fleisher, a commemorative anthology that features highlights from his greatest recordings. A special digital-only edition, with exclusive bonus tracks, is available December 11 on iTunes, and the 2-CD set hits stores January 15, 2008.

Julieanne Boyd, Artistic Director of Pittsfield’s award-winning Barrington Stage Company, has announced Barrington Stage’s winter and spring schedule, including a MainStage production in February 2008, and a Stage II production for late May and early June 2008.

Trumbo: Red, White, and Blacklisted

Called “thrilling, ferocious, and hilarious” by The New York Times and “moving and evocative” by The New Yorker, this riveting Off-Broadway drama by playwright Christopher Trumbo is a homage to the playwright’s legendary screenwriter father, Dalton Trumbo, a spirited American who took on Congress, Hollywood, and a fearful nation…and won.

Legendary author of Spartacus, Roman Holiday, Exodus, Papillion, and Johnny Got his Gun, Dalton Trumbo was at the top of his game, when in 1947, he stood up to the House Un-American Activities Committee and was thrown into prison and blacklisted as one of the infamous “Hollywood Ten.”

In a script born from his brilliant and razor-sharp letters to family, friends and former friends, TRUMBO, is a fascinating, funny, yet chilling retelling of one man’s struggle to defend his freedom, his family and his livelihood during the McCarthy era.

Thursday, February 14, 7pm (preview)–$15;
Friday, February 15, 8pm (preview)–$15;
Saturday, February 16, 8pm–$25;
Sunday, February 17, 3pm–$25;
Thursday, February 21, 7pm–$25;
Friday, February 22, 8pm–$25;
Saturday, February 23, 8pm–$25;
Sunday, February 24, 3pm–$25.

$10 student (21 years and under) tickets available except Saturday performances.
20% senior discounts, Sundays.

I Am My Own Wife

Winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play, Doug Wright’s I Am My Own Wife will be presented on Barrington Stage Company’s Stage II, running May 21 – June 8, 2008.

Hailed as “Astonishing” by the New York Daily News, “Extraordinary” by Timeout New York, and “Mesmerizing” by The New York Times, Doug Wright’s play tells the true story of East German transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf who incredibly eluded both the Nazis and the Communists with a combination of cleverness and deceit.

A riveting examination of the importance – and the duplicity – of storytelling, the unique structure of I Am My Own Wife is further heightened as all forty characters are played by a single actor. Playwright Doug Wright, winner of an Obie Award for sustained achievement, authored the play and screenplay for Quills (the film, starring Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix and Michael Caine, was nominated for 3 Academy Awards) and the book for the award-winning musical Grey Gardens.

Wednesday, May 21 and Thursday, May 22, 7pm, previews–$15;
Tuesday through Saturday at 8pm;
Sunday at 3pm.
Tickets range $25-$35.
Student tickets (21 years and under) $15 except Saturday performance,
20% senior discounts Sunday.

• Barrington Stage Company
• 30 Union St.
• Pittsfield,MA 01201
• 413-443-7171
• barringtonstageco.org
• Berkshires venues- driving directions