Will Call

Breaking the Glass Grid: Gender and Transgender Bias Across the Performing Arts Industry This is Episode #56 of Will Call, here at the Greylock Glass, released Tuesday, February 28, 2017.  I’m your host, Jason Velazquez, and I hope you’ve been enjoying our opening music, “Dark Sky Day,” by pianist and composer Lisa Hilton. We’ll play more from Ms. Hilton later in the show. Well, we had a gran...

This episode is number 55.10, which means that it concludes our special coverage of the 10 X 10 Upstreet Arts Festival going on in Pittsfield lo these many days. We have had such a wonderful time, talking with great artists of all stripes. From Kate Abbott’s insightful and at times emotion-filled conversations to images we’ve been able to share to music contributed by performers in the festival, o...

The 10×10 Upstreet Arts Festival returns to Dottie’s in 2017! You’re listening to micro-episode 55.9, in which I have speak with very special guest Tom Attila Lewis about the 10X10 Comedy Show. Are you anxious to find out if I managed to keep this episode to ten minutes? Spoiler alert: I missed it by 200 percent. Oh well. Tom was such an awesome guest with so many great insights on the...

We speak in this micro-cast with Danielle Steinmann, president of the Berkshire Art Association , and Sara Clement , a photographer who is one of the many artists who have contributed to this much anticipated tradition of the 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival. “Stained Glass Windows,” by Sara Clement; image courtesy Berkshire Art Association. “Winter’s Wings,” by Julie Str...

This is a special bonus episode connected with our coverage of the 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival taking place in Pittsfield now through February 26. We’ll be airing 10 episodes running 10 minutes each throughout the duration of the Festival. To hear Kate Abbott’s overview of the events and interviews with a selection of this year’s participants, listen to Episode #55 of Will Call, which you can fin...

This is a special bonus episode connected with our coverage of the 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival taking place in Pittsfield now through February 26. We’ll be airing 10 episodes running 10 minutes each throughout the duration of the Festival. To hear Kate Abbott’s overview of the events and interviews with a selection of this year’s participants, listen to Episode #55 of Will Call, which you can fin...

Running In Stillness Boston-based Danza Orgánica, a Boston-based Contemporary Dance Theater Company directed by choreographer Marsha Parrilla, will stage a free performance based on their project, “Running in Stillness,” on February 24 at the Boys and Girls Club; photo courtesy Jacob’s Pillow. On February 24, Danza Orgánica, a Boston-based Contemporary Dance Theater Company, will lead a free Dance...

Hend Ayoub and Donnetta Lavinia Grays in “Veils, written by Tom Coash and directed by Leah C. Gardiner,” at Barrington Stage Company, October 2015; photo by Kevin Sprague Tom Coash’s full-length play, “Veils,” set in Cairo at the beginning of the Arab Spring, played at Barrington Stage in the fall of 2015. He says an experience from “Veils” inspired him to write the shorter work that appears in th...

WordXWord presents “Ten New Voices,” a curated evening of poetry, as their entry into the 10X10 Festival. This is a special bonus episode connected with our coverage of the 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival taking place in Pittsfield now through February 26. We’ll be airing 10 episodes running 10 minutes each throughout the duration of the Festival. 10 New Voices February 20, at 7:00 p.m. B...

“ Joe’s Violin ,” directed by Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen, with music composed by Gary Meister, earned a 2017 Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Short Subject, will be screened by the Berkshire International Film Festival along with nine other shorts during the 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival at the Beacon Cinema on February, 19th. “ Tattoo You ,”...

The 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival Explodes into Its 6th Year. The 6th Annual 10×10 Festival is February 16-26, 2017. Participants and locations include Barrington Stage Company, the Beacon Cinema, Berkshire Athenaeum & Berkshire Historical Society, Berkshire Art Association, Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF), Berkshire Museum, Berkshire Running Center, Berkshire Yoga Dance & Fitn...

We speak with artist and activist Diane Firtell about the “CHAIRity” exhibition and silent auction taking place at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge as part of the 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival. Proceeds will benefit the Pittsfield Education Foundation . From CHAIRity release “This year we invited 17 local artists and 2 organizations, to use their creative genius and recycle chairs no...

In the wake of the November election, people across the country have seen fear and anger and exclusion become part of a national public conversation. Many people are sharing the experience of feeling that they do not belong in their familiar places. It’s called othering — making someone feel pushed to the edges, unwanted or different. It can happen in daily meetings and conversations,&n...

Ensemble of five proves that It’s a Wonderful Life (yes, still!) The cast of It’s a Wonderful LIfe — Jennie M. Jadow, Sarah Taylor, David Joseph, Jonathan Croy and Ryan Winkles (photo by Enrico Spada). Today is Tuesday, December 13, and this is Episode #53 of Will Call. I’m your host and pretender to the Will Call throne, Jason Velázquez, and I thank you for joining us! Sarah Jea...

A Talk with Beryl Jolly You’re listening to 52 of Will Call, released on a brilliant and beautiful Saturday, November 19, 2016. I’m your host, Jason Velázquez, and I thank you so much for joining us. We just heard a snippet of Ghost Town Girl from the eponymous new release from California-based Roots band, Echo Sparks. Not because we’re featuring them on this show, but because I recently rec...

Pittsfield, Mass.—The Board of Trustees of Hancock Shaker Village announced Wednesday, September 14 the appointment of Jennifer Trainer Thompson as president and chief executive officer. Ms. Thompson will assume her new role at the end of the year from her current post as senior vice president of partnerships and external affairs at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). The Boa...

LENOX, Mass. — If you’ve ever wanted to see Hillary Clinton belt a show tune, Donald Trump sing a rock song, or New Jersey Governor Chris Christie perform a classical ballet, The Capitol Steps might just be the show for you. No matter how quickly you’re burning out on politics this campaign season, you won’t mind seeing just a teensie bit more of “Bernie,” “Donald,&#8...

William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” brings together some very talented local flotsam. William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” will be presented on Pittsfield’s First Street Common Thursday–Sunday, 8:00 p.m., July 21–August 7; photo by Enrico Spada. In this episode, we were lucky enough to catch Enrico Spada, founder and artistic director of Pittsfield Shakespe...

Governor Baker’s veto hacks approximately fifty five percent from the FY2017 budget of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Governor Charlie Baker issued a budget veto on July 8 that would slash funding for the arts, humanities, and sciences through the Massachusetts Cultural Council ( MCC ) by more than half. The cut would exceed the value of MCC’s two largest grant programs, reducing state c...

Governor Baker’s veto hacks approximately fifty five percent from the FY2017 budget of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Governor Charlie Baker issued a budget veto on July 8 that would slash funding for the arts, humanities, and sciences through the Massachusetts Cultural Council ( MCC ) by more than half. The cut would exceed the value of MCC’s two largest grant programs, reducing state c...

The god of Nature, Pan (Seth Foster, center), with his entourage (left to right) Michelle Nicole Brady Davis, Dwaynne Walker-Dixon, Brandon Weber, Michael Judson Berry, Grace Fojtik, , Hannah Leigh, Ann Dang, Billy Luce Jr, Ginna Doyle (in back), Cody Henderson, Jeff Wittekiend (photo by Daniel Rader) Ellen Haun, as the muse, Calliope, in “Orpheus in the Berkshires.” (photo by Daniel R...

A Whimsical Fantasy Celebrating the Arts The Berkshire Mountain Faerie Festival makes its debut in Adams, June 25, with activities, music, arts, and magic for believers of all ages. Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing, by William Blake, 1786 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons aaa When: June 25th, 2016 10:00am to 10:00pm Where:Bowe Field, Adams, Mass. (Adams Aggie Fair Grounds) Cost:...

We celebrate the Summer Solstice with one of the Summery-est passages we know. Enjoy! Cover illustration for “The Wind in the Willows,” by E. H. Shepard; Novel by Kenneth Grahame, 1908   The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (Full text available at Project Gutenberg ) VII. THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN The Willow-Wren was twittering his thin little song, hidden himself in th...

FIGMENT, a free, family-friendly participatory arts event held in multiple cities and attracting tens of thousands of participants each year, has announced their inaugural North Adams event . Musical meandering at the 2015 FIGMENT event in Boston (photo/Drew Cook). FIGMENT is an explosion of creative energy, a celebration of participatory art and culture where everything is possible. For one day,...

Downstreet Art, now in its ninth year, begins againat the end of June; submitted photo. Berkshire Cultural Resource Center Program Manager Michelle Daly joins us for our first show after our Winter hiatus. And somehow she’s the perfect guest to have on this episode in which we celebrate Spring while we look forward to the Summer-long extravaganza that is DownStreet Art! She’ll be at MC...