Review & Talk-back: Ballet Hispanico New York

August 23, 2026

Jacob’s Pillow, Becket, MA

www.jacobspillow.org

by Shera Cohen

We are so fortunate that one of the premiere dance festivals in this country is located in Berkshire County, just an hour from Springfield, MA; where In the Spotlight “lives”.

In all honesty, dance is the performing art form of which I am the least knowledgeable. That is probably one of the reasons that I can sit back and simply enjoy without tasking myself to write a bona fide review. As I have written often in the past, my dance critiques are commentaries by a layperson to others like me; somewhat educated on the subject matter but by no means an authority.

 

Over the years, including this summer, I purposely choose to see at least one Latin dance troupe – my favorite ethnic style. Ballet Hispanico New York last week had been exactly what I expected. The group is the nation’s leading American Latino dance company and the largest cultural institution of its kind in the U.S. For over five decades, it has commissioned over 100 original works and performed on the world’s most prestigious stages.

 

The beauty and precision of the female and male dancers working solo or as a group was exemplary. These dances were not simply cassinettes clipping to Latin music. I picture black & white movies of the 1940’s and 50’s. What I saw was ballet from other cultures – emphasizing the troupe’s title, Ballet Hispanico. The dancers’ homes were Mexico, Guatemala, Bermuda, Cuba, and Brazil. The costumes’ colors, the young faces, and the live music all played into the presentation of what was a wonderful program.

 

Their hand-out states that Ballet Hispanico “inspires generations through performances, education, and community engagement”. This topic was the focus of the dance’s talk-back immediately following the concert. We were fortunate to attend on one of the dates when the weekly Pillow Talk took place. These are free discussions held in Blake's Barn on campus.

The speakers were four dance professionals conducting a casual conversation followed by Q&A; they included Ballet Hispanico's Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro. The others on the panel were from the company as well as the Pillow. 

The audience at Blake’s Barn was mixed – people from Latino cultures and those having many different backgrounds. Some in attendance were seniors, yet there were families with youngsters. Every seat was taken. Why? We wanted to understand, to appreciate, and to learn. Dance was, of course, the core interest of each person on the panel. They spoke quite eloquently about their own backgrounds and dance studies, the importance of the troupe’s evolving history, and Latino societies and how one description does not fit all.

Jacob’s Pillow’s 2026 season is almost over. A consolation is that here is always next year. Watch for the Pillow’s schedule which usually comes out in the spring to plan your summer of culture.

REVIEW: “Lucia di Lammermoor”

Mahaiwe Theatre, Great Barrington, MA

https://www.berkshireoperafestival.org/

Photo by Matt Madison-Clark

August 25 & 28, 2026

by Michael J. Moran

As the mainstage production of its 2026 season, the Berkshire Opera Festival presents Gaetano Donizetti’s 1835 tragic masterpiece “Lucia di Lammermoor,” its second Donizetti opera (after the comedy “Don Pasquale” in 2019). Conducted and directed by BOF co-founders Brian Garman and Jonathon Loy and often considered the crown jewel of “bel canto” opera, it turns out to be a “Lucia” for the ages.  

Loosely based on Sir Walter Scott’s 1819 novel The Bride of Lammermoor and set in 1703 Scotland, the libretto by Salvadore Cammarano centers around Lucia’s love for Edgardo, an enemy of her family. Her brother, Enrico, convinces her that Edgardo has been unfaithful and forces her into a loveless marriage with his political ally, Arturo. Going mad on her wedding night, she kills her new husband, appears in perhaps the most famous mad scene in all opera, and dies of a broken heart. Edgardo kills himself to join Lucia in death.

Soprano Christine Lyons inhabits Lucia in a career-making performance, combining raw passion with the beauty of tone demanded by the “bel canto” style (literally, “beautiful singing”) of early 19th-century Italian opera. Tenor Terrence Chin-Loy is almost equally intense as Edgardo. Baritone Dean Murphy is a commanding Enrico. Bass Stefan Egerstrom as Lammermoor’s chaplain, Raimondo, and tenor Luke Norvell as Arturo make strong impressions in smaller roles.   

Musical highlights include: the orchestra’s brooding, scene-setting overture; Murphy’s powerful Act I aria, “Cruel, Baneful Torment;” a perfectly balanced “Who Restrains Me,” the sextet that ends Act II; and Lyons’ note-perfect and emotionally shattering Act III mad scene, accompanied by the eerie sound of the rarely heard glass harmonica, invented in 1761 by Benjamin Franklin and skillfully played by Dennis James.

Loy’s resourceful direction highlights how Lucia’s ability to see ghosts empowers her, with a brilliant final coup de theatre, and elicits stylish singing and acting from a consistently strong cast. Scenic design by Cameron Anderson, costumes by Brooke Stanton, and lighting by Alex Jainchill contrast mostly dark colors with brighter ones for Lucia. Sensitive performances under Garman by the BOF orchestra and chorus (prepared by Chorus Master Luca Antonucci) bring Donizetti’s compelling score to vibrant life.

This revelatory “Lucia” is unmissable for Italian opera lovers.

Review: Martha Graham Dance Company

Jacob’s Pillow, Becket, MA

https://www.jacobspillow.org/

August 12-16, 2026

By Melissa Roti

 

This summer, Jacob’s Pillow is celebrating the centennial of the groundbreaking Martha Graham Dance Company as well as offering a salute to pioneering women in dance for the nation’s 250th Anniversary.

Martha Graham had a long history with Jacob’s Pillow and its founders, Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis, as she enrolled in the Denishawn School and later joined the dance company. In 1926, Graham founded what is now the oldest continuous American dance companies.

Even after the death of its founder in 1991, the troupe honored Graham’s legacy as a fearless innovator. Artistic director, Janet Eilber, a former dancer with the company, offered praise to both Graham's choreography and her spirit of collaboration in creating new works that included Graham technique with unique choreography. Eilber directed a conversation between two classic choreographies and two contemporary commissions; alternating between them juxtaposed where the company came from and where it is today.

The first Graham work was a stunning performance of Night Journey (1947), an example of her creative collaborations with composer William Schuman and sculptor Isamu Noguchi (set design). This piece was part of Graham’s Greek cycle where she used the female point of view in her storytelling. Queen Jocasta (Anne Souder) and Oedipus (Lloyd Knight) were so beautifully portrayed, as well as the Seer and Greek Chorus.

The company’s artistry was particularly evident in En Masse (2025), choreographed by former Alvin Ailey American Dance dancer Hope Boykin with input from the Graham company dancers. There were clear Graham influences, but Boykin brought her own language and movement vocabulary creating a work that was more fluid and contemporary. She incorporated music from Leonard Bernstein which added a rediscovered score originally composed for Graham. 

After an intermission, the dramatic solo Immediate Tragedy (1937) was performed flawlessly by dancer Xin Ying. Graham regularly explored the intersections of art and politics, and this work was her response to the suffering of women during the Spanish Civil War. Like the piece mentioned above, Immediate Tragedy was thought to have been lost, yet ultimately recreated through an intensive reconstruction process involving Graham’s notes, her letters to composers about the “despair” each has within us, staging maps, and photographs. This was a triumph for preserving Graham’s history which highlights the sad fact that many pre-video choreographies have been lost.

The show concluded with We The People (2024), choreographed by former Ailey dancer-choreographer Jamar Roberts, with a commissioned score by Rhiannon Giddens. The dancers expressed their own joyous physicality yet incorporated familiar gestures and techniques of Graham. Roberts followed in Graham’s footsteps using new music and choreography to express a spirit of collective change. Denim costumes, a quintessentially American fabric, by designer Karen Young also aligned with Graham’s purposeful use of costume in the storytelling process.

Martha Graham was a pioneer as a dancer, choreographer, and collaborator. Her namesake company continues to be a beacon of innovation in modern dance.

Note: The Pillow hosts a summer-long exhibition in Blake’s Barn highlighting Graham’s use of her art to speak out for democracy, women’s rights, and freedom of expression.

Review: "Dear Alien," Chester Theatre

Chester Theatre, Chester, MA
www.chestertheatre.org
August 23, 2026
By Suzanne Wells

Chester Theatre Company presents “Dear Alien,” written by Liz Duffy Adams and directed by Michelle Ong Hendrick, as a vivid portrait of an advice columnist whose life has narrowed to one room and one relentless box of letters. At first, the play has a sparkle of a comic monologue but slowly darkens into a meditation on despair and survival.

The action unfolds in a shabby-chic one room apartment filled with velvet, satin, a hardwood writing desk, a faded, upholstered chaise lounge, and a well-stocked bar cart. Crumpled papers and letters litter every corner, suggesting a personal collapse.

As Dear Alien, Bill Kux is the center of the production. He begins flamboyantly, drawing the audience in with gossip and dry, sarcastic humor, then gradually reveals the disillusionment beneath the performance. He treats the audience as correspondents themselves, pulling them into the advice columnist’s world as he transitions to painful self-reflection. Kux’s range—witty, brittle, vulnerable, and finally exposed—makes the character deeply human.

David Keohane as Écrivain and Eliza Fichter as Scrittora function less as conventional supporting characters than as theatrical devices, embodiments of the many voices asking Dear Alien for help. They gracefully blend into the background, only to emerge with another letter, another crisis, another demand for wisdom from a man who is struggling to save himself. Their presence keeps the play moving while also emphasizing the pressure placed on Dear Alien.

The letters give the play its structure, and Dear Alien answers them with evocative imagery and sharp, sometimes brutal, truths. His counsel to trust one’s instincts, to be the hero of one’s own life, and to accept the world is full of “unnecessary unkindness” are themes which help him overcome his ultimate dilemma - a life-or-death reckoning.

Dear Alien recalls a morally complicated moment when he was faced with saving himself or someone else. Questioning if his actions were selfish, heroic, or some tangled mixture of both? In that uncertainty, the play finds its strongest tension. It asks whether survival and kindness can coexist, and whether saving someone else might also be a way of saving oneself.

“Dear Alien” proves thought-provoking and unexpectedly hopeful. 

REVIEW: TMCO (2)/Inheritances

Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, Lenox, MA 

https://www.bso.org/tanglewood

Photo Credit: Hilary Scott

August 3, 10, & 12, 2026 
by Michael J. Moran 

Three recent concerts in Tanglewood's smaller performance venues showcased the growing diversity of musical styles available to discerning listeners there.  


On August 3, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra played familiar symphonic music by three well-known composers under different conductors in Seiji Ozawa Hall. First, TMC conducting fellow and Louisiana native Lauren Smith led them in a sensitive reading of Ravel's 1917 "Le Tombeau de Couperin," a tribute to several friends killed in World War I. Using older French dance forms, it featured a swirling "Prelude," a poignant "Forlane," a graceful "Menuet," and an ebullient "Rigaudon." Polish TMC conducting fellow Julian Gilewski next led a buoyant account of Debussy's 1905 "La Mer, Three Symphonic Sketches," with a sparkling "From Dawn to Noon on the Sea," a joyous "Play of the Waves," and a powerful "Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea." 

Superstar Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen closed the program with a blazing rendition of Bartok's masterful 1945 "Concerto for Orchestra." A dramatic "Andante...Allegro vivace," a playful "Game of Pairs," showcasing woodwind duets, a haunting "Elegy," and a rollicking "Interrupted Intermezzo" all culminated in an exhilarating "Finale: Presto," in which Salonen pressed his young colleagues with a daringly fast tempo - they never faltered. 

  

A week later in Ozawa Hall, the TMCO and nine TMC vocal fellows presented a fascinating selection of music from ten American operas under the TMC conducting fellows. Highlights under Gilewski included: a yearning aria, "The world so wide," with soprano Diana Agasian, from Copland's "The Tender Land;" and a sensual "Waiting," with mezzo-soprano Ya Gao, and pensive "I remember long ago," with bass-baritone Raphael Laden-Guindon, from Harbison's "The Great Gatsby."  

  

Among highlights led by Smith were: a radiant "Magnificat," with soprano Eden Bartholomew, from Adams' "El Nino;" a shattering "El Mundo," with mezzo-soprano Danielle Casos, from Frank's "Frida and Diego's Last Dream;" and four numbers from Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress," including a transfixing "No word from Tom...I go to him," by soprano Zoe McCormick. 

  

Two nights later, in the Linde Center's intimate Studio E, American pianist Adam Tendler played all 16 short piano pieces he commissioned from composer friends in memory of his father. Most memorable were: Laurie Anderson's perky "Remember/I Created You," with playful snatches of J. S. Bach and Elvis Presley; Missy Mazzoli's "mechanical and heartbreaking" (her own instructions) "Forgiveness Machine;" inti figgis-vizueta's riotous "hushing" (with video of Tendler's youth); Marcos Balter's lyrical "False Memories;" Darian Donavan Thomas's hyperactive "We don't need to tend this garden. They're wildflowers" (with Tendler speak-singing a live monologue); Nico Muhly's gorgeous "Eiris, Sones;" and Devonte Hynes' sublime "Morning Piece," closing Tendler's "Inheritances" cycle on a note of quiet peace. Tendler performed throughout with deep affection and boundless virtuosity. 

 

Review: “Hamlet” Shakespeare & Company

Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, MA

www.shakespeare.org
August 13 – 30, 2026
by Shera Cohen

Photo Credit Maggie Hall

Don’t be fearful of Shakespeare’s plays. Yes, “Hamlet” is often a tough one to understand, perhaps the most dramatic in the Bard’s repertoire. Give it a chance to do what Hamlet asks his fellow characters, “What a piece of work is man?”He questions what is it that makes the human condition? These characters on stage represent all sorts of personalities, each possessing a different background and carrying their own joys and heartache.

It might be unfair to compare numerous theatres’ productions of “Hamlet”. Yet, it is easy to say that this version of the classic is extremely accessible, and no one within one hour’s distance of the Berkshires should hesitate to experience a brilliant play which would undoubtedly make William Shakespeare proud.

Not that director Ariel Bock can do no wrong because she is one of the longest permanent residents in the company, but it seems that way. She is a woman who knows the skills of her players and they know Bock’s expectations, perhaps because nearly all of the cast and crew members are already part of the S&Co. team.

The short version of the plot? Young Prince Hamlet of Denmark is summoned home upon the death of his father, to find that his mother, only two months a widow, has married her husband’s brother/husband’s murderer. This tortures Hamlet; he vows to the ghost of his deceased father that he will right this wrong. Simultaneously, the country is in the midst of a war, a minor storyline. Important, however, is the new king’s reconciliation with murder, the queen’s abandonment of her son, and Hamlet’s feigned repulsion of his true love.

“ranney,” (King Claudius) becoming a S&Co. regular, is at ease spouting the Elizabethan tongue as he is with a southern accent in numerous August Wilson dramas as of late. Kristin Wold (Queen Gertrude, another S&Co. stalwart), plays a confused yet powerful wife; at the same time the epitome of an uncaring mother.

David Gow is our Hamlet. He doesn’t just act as Hamlet but becomes (is) Hamlet. He’s young, handsome, trim, and sprite. His physical attributes show his ability to recoil in an embryo-like position as well as his agility swinging on high-beam bars. Gow portrays an infant, then a boy, because he is not yet a man ready to avenge his father. He takes his character of Hamlet to the core of his being, both in his mad and/or feigned mad scenes. Almost at the same time, he becomes scary and primitive, and in an instant gentle and juvenile. This is definitely an actor to watch.

Whoever thought that there is laugh-out-loud humor in “Hamlet”? Probably no one. While the language is the same, whether performed in London in the 16th century or at S&Co. in Lenox in 2026, this production delves into the psyche of each character intensely. And, who knew, that without embellishment of the script, oftentimes it is quite funny. Of course, every drama has its own clowns; in this case Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Hamlet’s friends), and the ever-put-upon Polonius/Gravedigger, played by Jonathan Epstein. The former is a well-meaning but dim old man, the latter an undertaker with a sharp wit.

There are many tech staffers to congratulate. To single out one would be Kevin Coleman (another S&Co. leader), fight choreographer. Act II calls for a lengthy and tricky sword fight between Hamlet and Laertes. Never underestimate the seriousness of swordplay. There are too many horror stories. Coleman creates realistic choreography for those in battle.

The length of the production 500+ years ago was probably over 4-hours. Not to worry, S&Co. always makes judicious edits, sometimes omitting extraneous characters; nothing and no one of importance is cut. In fact, this method of trimming the fat helps make “Hamlet” and all the dramas and history plays much easier for today’s audiences to appreciate the stories.

Review: “The Legend of Georgia McBride,” Berkshire Theatre Group

Berkshire Theatre Group, Pittsfield, MA
www.berkshiretheatregroup.org
through August 16, 2026
by Shera Cohen

The songs of Edith Piaf are not nearly as popular as they were decades ago, except perhaps in gay bars. Indeed, that’s exactly the on stage location where the audiences of Colonial Theatre’s production of “The Legend of GeorgiaMcBride” frequent nightly (except Mondays) along with matiness.

Matthew Lopez, one of the most prolific and talented playwrights whose works are often staged in Hartford and the Berkshires, takes credit and laughs for “Georgia”. The comedy is broad, outlandish, and side-splitting. Yet, in Act II, sobering text offers a deep look at humanity. 

Straight guy Casey, down on his luck with an empty wallet, has two things going for him: a dream to be a successful musician and a caring wife. Michael Wartella as Casey, portrays a somewhat dimwitted young, sweet man who would take the shirt off his back to help a stranger. Metaphorically, this is his only shirt. In dire straits, Casey reluctantly agrees to work as a drag queen at a failing bar in a hick town in FL. Wartella’s credits include Broadway, Off Broadway, and several plays at BTG. Obviously, he is a favorite in the Berkshires. Somewhat short in stature, Wartella is a talented singer on guitar and physical comedian. 

Kyle Taylor Parker, who easily stands at 6’6’’ as transvestite extraordinaire whose comic timing, nuances, and asides steal the show portrays Miss Tracy Mills. Another Broadway and touring star, Parker’s lithe strides and dance moves bely his stature. Wartella and Parker make an odd couple fun to laugh at and laugh with. We like them both for their similarities and differences.

One sign of a skilled director and choreographer, in this case Isadora Wolfe takes on both, is when the audience doesn’t notice the work put into these jobs. Directors don’t just worry that actors might bump into each other (that should be a given), but every movement is purposeful for the characters.

Randall Parsons, scenic designer, has more to do than meets the eye. Casey and Jo’s apartment is bare because they have few funds to buy anything. The same for the rundown bar. However, a set mechanism turns one scene 180-degrees to create the other. Amy Avila, costume designer, must be in stitches (okay, bad pun) seeing her cheeky formal dresses worn by men.

Known primarily for his dramatic portrayals, BTG’s artistic regular of 40 years, David Adkins, takes an unusual role as the very funny on-stage MC and scripted bar owner. The small cast also includes Emilie Kouatchou (Casey’s wife), Shayne Haley (Tracy’s friend), and E. Gray Simons III (landlord).

“Georgia” is hoot. Some may hesitate to bring youngsters to this play. Don’t. Lots of kids on opening night obviously loved it!