Category — Events

Catch Main Street Stage’s popular Redroom series performing at Topia Arts Center in Adams, this Friday, October 16th at 6 pm!  And then see us throughout the day in galleries in North Adams during Open Studios on Saturday and Sunday!

Several great events in store for the evening at Topia:

Presentation: “A Jewel In Downtown Adams”:

Tour the green building design through 3D renderings on Topia’s enormous film screen. Find out what you can expect from Topia Arts Center in the years to come. Learn about exciting programs that will be coming to Adams. Find out how you can help!

Silent Auction: Celebration of Self Expression

Silent auction of donated items: quilts, gift certificates, paintings, drawings, jewelry, services, facials, pedicures, massages, sculptures, home-made crafts, landscaping, home improvement, etc.

Refreshments will be served, cash bar.

The Redroom was rated at 5 out of 5 by the Berkshire Eagle’s “Region After Dark.” It is an artist’s playground where genre lines don’t matter. One audience member called it something you’d see in someone’s basement in Greenwich Village during the 1960’s. Full of readings, original skits and plays, improvisational rap, dance, local musicians and anything else we can get our hands on.

If you are interested in performing or having your work featured in The Redroom, please contact Kelli Newby at theredroomna@gmail.com

Award-winning Minneapolis family entertainers Z Puppets Rosenschnoz present two performances at Main Street Stage, 57 Main Street, North Adams Oct. 3, 2009: “A La Carte: In a Fool’s Kitchen” for families at 7:00 pm and for adults, “The Comical Misadventures of Mr. Punch” at 10 pm.

“Zany, wacky, and for all ages…half Monty Python and half Sesame Street!” DeBlaze and Associates

Z Puppets Rosenschnoz delight children and their adults with feats of imagination through puppetry, physical comedy and live music. Based in Minneapolis, their family-friendly comedies have earned national recognition, including grants from the Jim Henson Foundation and Puppeteers of America.

Z Puppets has charmed audiences at theaters, festivals and special events across the country. They have been featured at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Walker Art Center and Minnesota Children’s Museum.

“Bursts at the seams with wild energy, creative genius and sheer fun!” Minnesota History Center

“A La Carte: In A Fool’s Kitchen”

Saturday, October 3rd at 7:00pm Tickets $10 adults, $6 children Recommended for ages 3 and up.

“A La Carte” is a comic battle between a faux French Chef and a wily lobster set to live accordion music. A family-friendly spectacle, “A La Carte” is a playfully interactive comedy featuring clowning, puppetry, music and a few unruly vegetables.

“A La Carte” begins as the Chef sets the table for the Grand Opening of his 2-seat café. Before the Chef can dazzle his very important guests, dinner’s main ingredient stages a rebellion — again and again and again. Who knew crustaceans could cook up such delicious mischief?

“The brilliance of its slapstick routines is on par with anything
from the glory days of Laurel and Hardy.” MN Daily

“The Comical Misadventures of Mr. Punch”

Saturday, October 3rd at 10:00 p.m. Tickets $10

When the Baby goes missing, Mr. Punch sets out to the rescue, unleashing mischief and mayhem all the way. Tangling with a crocodile, a policeman and the devil himself, Mr. Punch presents a travesty of manners in which the children must keep the puppets from misbehaving and the Baby triumphs in the end. The Comical Misadventures of Mr. Punch is a madcap call and response hand puppet romp.

“Ingenius!” City Pages

For more info about Z Puppets Rosenschnoz visit www.zpuppets.org

Attention Playwrights! Main Street is now accepting submissions for its Second Annual Short Play Festival. All plays must be original, unproduced works, 15 to 30 minutes in length. Playwrights may submit more than one play. Please e-mail submissions to spf@mainstreetstage.org or mail to Main Street Stage P.O. Box 137, North Adams, MA 01247 no later than October 31st, 2009. For any questions or concerns, contact Eric K. Auld at (518) 610-2574 or e-mail spf@mainstreetstage.org.

The First Annual Short Play Festival ran two weekends last January to sold out audiences and featured four original plays by writers from both Berkshire county and New York. This fall, Main Street Stage will celebrate its ten year anniversary by continuing to support new, original work by local writers, by creating community access to the classics and by being an artists’ playground.

On Saturday, September 26th, the Redroom, Main Street Stage’s popular cabaret series will take on American History. Doors open at 8 PM for life drawing and light refreshment. The locally written and produced show will start at 9. Every Redroom is a new show and a great deal. $10.00 covers an entire night’s worth of entertainment. Contact Kelli at 413-664-7745 for more information, or find us on Facebook. All Redrooms contain mature themes and language. Redroom is supported by a grant from the Mass Cultural Council.

The performance will include a dramatic reading of Charles Guiteau’s play written four days before he was hanged for assassinating President Garfiled in addition to company written skits (“The Writer’s Room for National Treasure 3”), songs and readings all giving Redroom’s take on American History, just in time for school to begin.

If you are interested in performing or having your work featured in The Redroom, please contact Kelli Newby attheredroomna@gmail.com.

Main Street Stage, in conjunction with Creatively Independent, will be offering two workshops Monday August 3 and Tuesday August 4 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Each workshop is $40.

Stage Combat, Unarmed Violence for Stage & Screen

Slaps, punches, kicks and more taught with the “safety first” technique used on stage & screen. Get on your feet and learn the illusion of violence and how to stage it in your next show. Participants will learn the primary safety aspects of combat and the core unarmed moves they will most likely come across in their scene work: identifying when combat is needed and how to be smart, safe actors when dealing with violence. Plus, the physical ensemble work will promote team building, listening skills and a heightened awareness of one’s surroundings. All skill levels and body types welcome.

Physical Comedy – Extreme Actor/Audience Techniques

Let them laugh at you… it’s your JOB! Learn a hybrid of straight comic acting, physical comedy and quick witted improv to engage and mesmerize your audience. Tune up your own comedic timing and inject that into your character work. Find out the magic of repetition, how to make the simple hilariously difficult, and much more. Participants will develop a stronger sense of the clown in their character work and how to incorporate the audience in everything they do. Focus is also put on being vulnerable in front of an audience and reaping the benefits from the honesty in your comic work. All skill levels welcome.

The instructor, Christopher Beaulieu, is an Actor/Director/Fight Choreographer/Teacher with over 15 years experience teaching and directing students in various areas of theater. Co-founder of the physical theatre company, Creatively Independent, LLC, Chris tours 250+ days/year performing and teaching the performing arts. He has taught internationally in Germany and Canada, as well as nationally. Chris has founded theater companies in Massachusetts and Germany. He has trained and taught with the internationally recognized Shakespeare & Co. education program. Chris is an accredited Advanced Actor/Combatant in 7 weapons with the Society of American Fight Directors. He recently finished the prestigious Physical Theatre Program at Dell Arte International School of Physical Theatre. This intensive training focuses on the actor-creator and the development of devised work for the theatre including stage movement, mask construction & performance, commedia, melodrama, clown and improv. Beyond the stage, Chris teaches at multiple conferences: Florida State Thespians, North Carolina State Thespians, Florida Assoc. of Theatre Educators and the prestigious Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (SE Region), as well as clown/performance skills under the Big Top for Circus Smirkus, a well established youth based circus school. Recently, Chris was asst. director to Dell’Arte’s Artistic Director, Michael Fields on the original production of The Hunting of the Snark. Chris is happy to announce his recent invitation to join the select list of teaching artists working for ISTA (International Schools Theatre Association). ISTA reaches students across the globe and is responsible for the IB Theatre curriculum. Recently, Chris directed Continental Theatre’s premiere of “The Diminticato Family Circus” at Montreal’s highly acclaimed Segal Centre.

To register for this class please call Main Street Stage at 413-663-3240 or reserve online here. Space is limited.

For more information on Creatively Independent visit: creativelyindependent.net

Thursday, July 16th, from 5:30-8:30 PM, come celebrate the summer with music, comedy and food! $10.00 in advance ($12 at the door) will get you into a show at the American Legion in North Adams (91 American Legion Drive) that features local musicians Michael Quinones and Gillian Jones playing tunes from Woodstock in addition to improv comedy by The Royal Berkshire Improv Troupe and sketch comedy by the cast of the Redroom. And there will be food! Entertainment will be family friendly. All proceeds will benefit the Main Street Stage’s summer production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, including the free performance at Windsor Lake on August 9th at 2 p.m.

For advance tickets call 413-663-3240 or visit reserve online here.

Main Street Stage in conjunction with Nutshell Playhouse announces their summer dates for children’s theater at Main Street Stage:  57 Main Street, North Adams.

Saturday May 30th and Friday August 7, The Musical Hat.

Saturday June 6 and July 18, Pirates!

All shows are at 11 a.m. Tickets are $5 for children and $7 for Adults. No reservations, first come first serve.

The Musical Hat
Written and directed by Don Jordan

Shmurple and her fellow clowns sing songs from their Musical Hat, when suddenly they discover that their music has been stolen. Join them in their hilarious adventures as they try to get it back and in the process discover what music is made of. Meet the Snoof, a detective puppet made of eyes, ears, nose, a hand and a mouth. Learn new words from the Ductionary — the duck who knows every word in the English language. Feel what it’s like to dance with a clown!

The performances feature Berkshire County actors Wendy Walraven, Alexia Trainor and Matthew Coviello, with puppets by Clothespin Puppets.

Pirates!
Written and directed by Don Jordan

A swashbuckling adventure featuring bold buccaneers, a mysterious map with a riddle, cursed treasure, a visit to an island that you can’t see, a pirate ghost, and a magical journey to the bottom of the sea. This sea-faring tale features mime, music, masks, and delightful puppets created by Clothespin Puppets.

The performances feature Berkshire County actors Wendy Walraven, Mike Trainor and Matthew Coviello. Together they bring you a family performance brimming with excitement and theatrical innovation.

For more information visit their website at www.nutshellplayhouse.org

On Saturday, May 16th, The Redroom, Main Street Stage’s popular cabaret series will be presenting “The Most Offensive Show Ever”. Come to 57 Main Street, North Adams, for an evening of mingling, sketching, performance and surprises. Doors open at 8 PM for life drawing and light refreshment. The locally written and produced show will start at 9. Every Redroom is a new show and a great deal; $10.00 covers an entire night’s worth of entertainment. Contact Kelli at 413-664-7745 for more information, or find us on Facebook or the web (www.theredroomna.com). Warning: all Redrooms contain mature themes and language and this one more so than usual.

The Redroom was rated at 5 out of 5 by the Berkshire Eagle’s “Region After Dark.” It is an artist’s playground where genre lines don’t matter. One audience member called it something you’d see in someone’s basement in Greenwich Village during the 1960’s. From 8-9 enjoy a glass of wine, mingle with the cast and other guests while a live model poses in the window. Bring your own art supplies or use the ones we provided. At 9, the variety show begins, full of readings, original skits and plays, improvisational rap, dance, local musicians and anything else we can get our hands on.

If you are interested in performing or having your work featured in The Redroom, please contact Kelli Newby at theredroomna@gmail.com

Main Street Stage, located at 57 Main Street, North Adams, announces today an open casting call for their summer production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The auditions will be held on Saturday May 9th and Sunday May 10th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. A prepared classical monologue is encouraged, but not required. Actors will be asked to read sides from the script. The production is scheduled to open the last weekend into July and run for three weekends. For further information please call 413-663-3240 or email info@mainstreetstage.org.

Open to students ages 10-18, this program is an opportunity for true collaboration and creativity. The ensemble that participates in this camp will have an introductory day where they will experience various types of theatre from Shakespeare to radio theatre to contemporary plays and improvisation. At the end of the first day, the ensemble will collectively decide what their performance will be: a contemporary play, a classical piece, scenes & monologues, an improv performance or a play they write themselves!

Working alongside theatre professionals, these students will see what it takes to create a theatrical production. Their final performance will be held at the theatre and will be open to the public. Tuition is $100.

Monday – Friday, April 20-24th  1pm-4pm

Performance 4pm on Saturday, April 25th

For more information call 413-663-3240.