Wednesday, November 27 saw the 6th edition continuation of a wonderful annual community gathering of like-minded good-hearted folks celebrating music, poetry, the giving/thankful spirit, and just plain all the nicer things in life. Thanksgiving Eve was the calendaric backdrop for beautiful synergy with “The 6th Annual Festival of American Music and Poetry” taking joyous place at the First Church of Christ Park Square. A benefit for the Pittsfield Area Council of Congregations’ Emergency Fuel Fund, this year the event brought together twenty five top area performers in song, spoken word, and flat out hard-working enthusiasm to help out neighbors and to strengthen the common good in our area.
After an intense, multi-functional/hatted day with arts indie tasks and with a fresh, cold, windy swirl accented above by lights and a nemesising below under untractioned foot, I made my way after Gallery W hours through snow strewn, flake flying back alleys, across the pedestrian right away east of Park Square, to the entrance of the church, and down the center aisle to a front row press coverage vantage point.
My arrival was well-timed so the wait was short and with no pretensions the start began, a simple ease-in/buildup with the stalwart Grateful Dead perennial cover “Good Love.” The band’s hard work shone easily and graciously right out of the gate and they fluently moved the heart through poignant stretches that sorted and illuminated emotions impossible to leave at the door.
With dedications to recently departed stars and to stars that are still valiantly with us, but no longer perform, the program volleyed and made peace with bittersweet endings, while placarded sound effects guided through sing-song beginnings. Poems were pulpitted, beards were playfully brandished, candles were lit in the rain, and it all came home for real with “The Weight” by The Band.
This is my second year running attending this now traditional Thanksgiving Eve celebration and with all things willing, I look to make it again and again. If you missed the show and wish to be supportive and donate to the Emergency Fuel Fund, you may do so at any time by mailing a check made out to “First Church” with “PACC Fuel” in the memo to:
First Church of Christ on Park Square
27 East Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Or mail a check made out to “PACC Fuel Assistance Fund” and mail directly to:
PACC Treasurer, Quentin Chinn
c/o First Baptist Church
88 South Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
After a period of thankful reflection and recharging real and metaphorical devices, arts indie travels found me to the Whitney Center for the Arts for another spirited, pretty much literarily, staged reading performance by the Town Players of Pittsfield. This event featured an often other-wordly take on the popular holiday classic “A Christmas Carol”, but from Jacob Marley’s viewpoint.
The piece, “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” by Tom Mula, was narrated by Kevin Paul Wixom and featured fine, vibrantly animated voice characterizations performed by Joshua Carty, Meredith Carty, Tom Gardner, and Peter Podol.
After the requisite venue and actor introductions, the play began in explanatory and scene setting fashion with the rules of the game of the great beyond laid out for newly arrived Jacob Marley. Tasked with the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge, via a contracted 24 hour period beginning on December 24th, Marley is guided and put through his paces by a decidedly impish assigned mentor and works under the all at stake to bring Scrooge back around to the joy of the good path.
The former Women’s Club at 42 Wendell Avenue is the ideal venue for such a performance reading as the look and feel of the building certainly is conducive to pull the right tone in for the atmosphere; steam fed pipes were particularly effective in punctuating now and again.
Needless to say, Marley’s perspective did hold true to the outcomes of the original story line, kind of like looking out through the other side of the looking glass, but it was more than a little touch and go for a while there.
A quick reiteration here, the next evening the Town Players of Pittsfield had their annual membership meeting, right back in the same building, which is where they now hold tenancy, and a key item on the agenda was the current membership drive. If you or someone you know is interested in being a part of this wonderful organization 93 years running, please feel free to make the leap. 413-443-9279. No experience is necessary. Just bring a love of theater.
The following evening, I turned the wheel left leaving my drive in New Ashford and steered towards the Branch Gallery on Holden Street in North Adams. An intriguing bit of theatre of another genre awaited its audience there.
On the first pass down Holden Street, my colleague and I sauntered past the venue understandably not recognizing the storefront. On return walk, it became clear that we were in for a special treat since the front glass had all been black paper sheeted over to darken the space and to keep the interior composition free of extraneous light.
Shortly after taking our front row seats, the lights dimmed, and the mixed media performance began with mood setting audio and a laconic flashing light string. The music shifted and a “street light” came on stage left, as well as a balcony light on the dollhouse type dwelling stage right. “Snow” was somberly distributed from above with all the import of a memorable early season dusting and the star of the production made her entrance.
Photograph (c)Susan Sabino.
One of my earliest childhood memories is of playing in and around a low snow bank, so the scene that unfolded resonated intently with me, as I’m sure it did with all the audience members. During this pensive time outdoors, the heroine protagonist serendipitously began the bonding process with a stray/new pet/dog/cat/child/journey friend.
In a segue from the street scene to an interior, the metamorphosis was achieved through a fluid opening/revealing of the interior/inner sanctum by way of puppeteer Laura Bartolomei’s quiet grace opening the hinged-front panel of the dollhouse homestead.
Photograph (c)Susan Sabino.
Once in, the “we” becomes a collective one and we proceed through familiar bedtime rituals/checks and balances and inevitably transition/swim into a dreamscape that moves episodically through all the big and heavies that bring joy/angst and, more often than not, which lack solid resolution; something more akin to factors that contribute to the creation of the focal points of doubt.
Photograph (c)Susan Sabino.
Photograph (c)Susan Sabino.
But upon waking, after the oft repeated and perennial flight into the abyss loop, pet/dog/cat/child/journey friend is there for our intrepid heroine to bring it all home, stable, and grounded, or…
Another wonderful evening spent in the steeple city.
So some readers of this blog may have seen the below already as a Facebook event, but for those who have not, I just wanted to repeat a special December only offer that may be of interest to folks that are considering building up their web presence and are just kind of on the fence a bit in their consideration.
The text:
In this ever-expanding environment of fast dissemination of information it is increasingly important to have a solid, distinctive internet presence, one that holds attention in a clear and concise manner and acts as a focal point for professional endeavors.
It is also equally important that this presence clearly conveys and builds upon a focused brand identity that rings true and represents the entrepreneurs in a first-rate professional manner to their audience.
This is best achieved from a website that clearly states who or what the individual or organization is and does and has a spot on domain name. Social media, print campaigns, and word of mouth should all point to that all-important website.
Do you have a project ready to share with the world on a neat, clean, affordable website with your own domain name? Need just a little more incentive?
For the month of December, arts indie is offering a special, limited time offer to new clients ready to move forward and bring their dreams to the world-wide web. For all new clients committing to a new website build and paying a design retainer during December, arts indie is offering 10% off the already low price.
With basic sites starting at only $300, the time has never been riper to bring your project and ideas into the limelight!
For details and to start the conversation to get your project rolling, please contact Leo Mazzeo at info@artsindie.com.
For a look at some of the clients arts indie is currently working with, please visit the portfolio page on the arts indie website: Portfolio.
Thank you very much for considering and if the time isn’t right yet for your project, please pass the word on to friends and colleagues.
Hope you and yours are having a wonderful holiday season!
So if you’re ready to start work on a project, please feel free to give a holler. I’d love to help you out.
I think a lot of you also may know already, but Pittsfield was recently featured in a very nice article in the Boston Globe’s Travel section. Here’s a link to IT. The photo at the top of the page is an arts indie image that I photographed during a particularly memorable and awesome show at BCC’s Intermodal Gallery earlier in the year. Thomas Fahey, a super, super artist that rarely shows his work was doing an amazing solo show in the venue at the time and this was from his First Fridays Artswalk opening. Great stuff!
So, the end of the page and another arts indie blog piece. I hope you’ve enjoyed and if you are having a look on Thursday, 12/5 or the morning or early afternoon of Friday, 12/6, please take note that, yes, it’s an Artswalk Friday in Pittsfield, 5-8PM and yes, openings galore all over town, plus the tree lighting ceremony in Park Square at 5:30-6:30PM, plus the Artswalk After Party, 8-10PM at the Whitney Center for the Arts, 42 Wendell Avenue, so, hope to see you!