The Rogovoy Report 8.7.23
From around the corner to around the globe...
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REQUIRED READING
Chaos in the Aisles: Has Cinema Etiquette Reached an All-Time Low?
(The Guardian) - An enormous amount has been made lately about Barbie and (to a lesser extent) Oppenheimer reversing the terminal decline of the theatrical cinema experience. The films have enmeshed themselves in the cultural conversation in ways that movies simply don’t do any more and, as a result, scores of people who don’t habitually go to the cinema are being dragged out to see them. This is a good thing. Anything that prolongs the life of cinema deserves to be celebrated. Which isn’t to say that it’s a perfect outcome, because all these newcomers have clearly forgotten how cinemas are supposed to work. The last few weeks have seen a rash of headlines about a number of regrettable blow-ups that have occurred because people just can’t seem to remember the basic rules of cinema etiquette any more.
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Jim Jarmusch will never watch ‘Star Wars’ films: He ‘resents’ their cultural impact (IndieWire)
In praise of the purpose-free, couch potato weekend (Boston Globe)
Dog parks are great for people. Too bad they’re terrible for dogs. (NYT)
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Dancers to Pay Tribute to David Bowie at Jacob's Pillow
(Boston Globe( BECKET, Mass. - Growing up in the 1970s, choreographer Dwight Rhoden was completely taken with rock star David Bowie, whose brilliant genre-bending, boundary-busting innovation made him arguably one of the most influential musical figures of the past century. “His music spanned every genre,” says Rhoden, the founding artistic director and resident choreographer of Complexions Contemporary Ballet. “Every album changed direction and he reinvented himself in his persona. He was a chameleon, courageous and unapologetic, no holds barred, just who he was, and that was empowering as a young person … I think there’s a little Bowie in all of us.” When Complexions Contemporary Ballet makes its Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival debut Aug. 9-13, the company presents Rhoden’s one-act tribute to the cultural legend called “Star Dust,” which features nine of Bowie’s most iconic hits.
Ralph Vaughan Williams in the Bard Music Festival’s Limelight
(WSJ) ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y. - Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) isn’t just one of the most important 20th-century British composers; he is one of the supreme figures of 20th-century music. Yet, though he wrote in almost every genre of composition—symphonies, operas, chamber music, choral music and songs—he is best known for a relative handful of works: the fantasias on “Greensleeves” and on “a Theme by Thomas Tallis”; “The Lark Ascending”; the “Serenade to Music”; and his uproarious Overture to Aristophanes’ “The Wasps” with its menacing, buzzing trill for the strings. Over the weekends of Aug. 4-6 and Aug. 10-13, the Bard Music Festival’s “Vaughan Williams and His World” will present his works in the context of British and European music written during his long life, especially by those composers who influenced him and whom he himself influenced.
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REVIEW: At the Clark Art Institute, nature and culture under pressure (Boston Globe)
PREVIEW: Devon Allman and Donavon Frankenreiter embark on the most bonkers tour ever: 50 shows in 50 states in 49 days - including Wed, Aug 9, at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington (Boston Globe)
PREVIEW: Alisa Weilerstein’s ‘FRAGMENTS’ reimagines what an instrumental recital can sound and look like: cellist brings her ambitious project to Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall on Wed, Aug 9 (Boston Globe)
REVIEW: Steven Careau’s sculptures at TurnPark Art Space in West Stockbridge are fields of vision (Boston Globe)
REVIEW: ‘Faith Healer’ a powerful meditation at Barrington Stage (ATU)
PREVIEW: Folk-rock singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards to play free outdoor concert at the Clark on Tuesday (iBerkshires.com)
PREVIEW: Stockbridge Sinfonia to premiere Lanesborough composer Alice Spatz’s complete ‘Berkshire Triptych’ (Berkshire Eagle)
‘Donor fatigue’ may imperil some arts groups and other nonprofits. Here’s a roadmap to salvation. (B Eagle)
PREVIEW: Carlos Santana to join Miles Davis tribute concert at UPAC in Kingston this Wed, Aug 9 (Daily Freeman)
The spirit of the 1969 Woodstock festival lives on in the thriving arts and music scene in Woodstock, N.Y. (Chronogram)
NEWS FROM THE BERKSHIRES
The Berkshire Outdoors — An Asset and an Opportunity
(Berkshire Edge) - Widely known for its vibrant tourism, arts and culture scene, and outdoor recreation, the Berkshires has a long history of enchanting visitors and seducing new residents. The Berkshires’ natural resources are some of our most valuable with the potential to spur economic activity and growth. A new plan emphasizes the ways “to maintain and expand existing outdoor recreation amenities and develop new assets which will further position our region as a true outdoor recreation destination.”
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After court defeat, activists opposed to Lee toxic waste dump pledge to continue fight (WAMC)
GB Selectboard kicks can down the road on implementation of Housatonic Water Works customer relief program (Berkshire Edge)
Stockbridge second-home owners sound off at public hearing (B Edge)
Dog tick population rising in Berkshires, greater region (Berkshire Eagle)
July rains set records across the Northeast (WAMC)
NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY
After 27 Years, Health Food Store Closing Its Doors
(HV360) GREENPORT, N.Y. — The Kaaterskill Farm Natural Storehouse at 173 Healy Blvd., which has served the Greenport and Hudson communities for 27 years, is set to close its doors for good at the end of the month. The last day of business will be Aug. 31. The store has six employees, some of whom will be transferred to Kaaterskill's Catskill operation. The store's owners say their landlord has been uncommunicative to the point that they believed they were no longer wanted as a tenant. More than merely a health-food store, the shop served as a small, independently-owned grocery, a friendly alternative to impersonal big-box supermarkets.
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Chatham’s historic Crandell Theatre to undergo major renovation (HV360)
The Hudson Development Corporation is exploring feasibility of creating work force/job training facility at vacant school complex (GoR)
Two Hudson housing complexes granted new 30-year PILOT agreements (HV360)
Members of far-right Proud Boys extremist white-supremacist group Proud Boys rally in Saratoga (ATU)
COVID hospitalizations rise in New York mirroring U.S. trend (ATU)
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Anne Fredericks
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Elisa Spungen and Rob Bildner/Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook
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