Dino Map Adventure
Here’s a brand-new local project that will delight any kid who loves dinosaurs. NEPM has partnered with Greenfield-based Tumble Media, the creators of the Tumble Science Podcast for Kids, to produce Dino Map, a place-based audio experience that highlights the rich history of dinosaurs in the Pioneer Valley. Your little dino explorer can learn about seven significant local sites with an interactive map at NEPM.org.
A Moon for the Misbegotten
The Majestic Theater, West Springfield
Thursday, Oct. 24 – Sunday, Dec. 1
An American classic, A Moon for the Misbegotten is Eugene O’Neill’s final and most personal play. Set on a dilapidated Connecticut farm, the play focuses on Josie, a woman commanding and tough outside, sensuous and sensitive inside, and Jim Tyrone, a dissipated former actor with an astonishing capacity for alcohol. Josie’s father, Phil Hogan, a tenant farmer, suspects that Jamie intends to sell the farm to a hated neighbor and sets a plan in motion to bring Jamie and Josie together.
Haunted Hancock
Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield
Thursday, Oct. 24 – Saturday, Oct. 26
There are two versions of this event — one for grown-ups happening Thursday through Saturday, and one for kids on Saturday only. The adult tour travels dark paths to explore some of the spookiest parts of the Village and learn about the Shakers’ role in the spiritualist movement. The kids event visits the Brick Dwelling and includes time outside. You are welcome to wear your costume. Advanced registration is required.
Human Agenda Theater: Within the Glow
CitySpace, Easthampton
Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.
Human Agenda Theater celebrates the collaborative process of creating and sharing stories of the human experience through interactive and weird forms of ensemble-based devised theater. Within the Glow was inspired in large part by the realization of how important it was for the company members to socialize in the years emerging from the COVID 19 lockdowns. They wanted to explore people’s natural instinct to gather and both interrogate and celebrate how we do so.
A Happening IV: Leviathan
The Shea Theater, Turners Falls
Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.
This innovative event immerses participants in a theatrical world of myth, magic and mystery inspired by Moby Dick, Jonah and other nautical tales of Great Whales. It brings together more than 30 local performance artists, actors, musicians, and dancers staging intimate theatrical interactions amidst large-scale installations throughout the Shea Theater Arts Center. Traditional lines of performance blur as players and audience members weave in and out of multiple timelines and narratives.
Ailey II
The Mahaiwe, Great Barrington
Friday, Oct. 25 at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 26 at 3 p.m.
This year, Ailey II marks its 50th anniversary of merging the spirit and energy of the country’s finest early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. Founded by Alvin Ailey in 1974, this renowned company embodies his pioneering mission to establish an extended cultural community that provides dance performances, training, and community programs for all people.
Max Roach Centennial Celebration Featuring Makaya McCraven
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall, UMass
Friday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m.
This is the premiere event of this week’s Max Roach Centennial Celebration at UMass. Max Roach was one of the first jazz musicians to teach full-time at the college level, joining the UMass W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies as a visiting professor in 1972. Makaya McCraven, is one of the finest and most innovative drummers, composers, and bandleaders working in jazz today. McCraven also has a lifelong association with Roach. McCraven grew up in Amherst, the son of jazz drummer Stephen McCraven. And Roach was a mentor to Stephen and a family friend. McCraven is also an alumnus of UMass and of Jazz In July, the Fine Arts Center’s summer jazz education program, which Roach helped found.
Spooky Safari
The Zoo in Forest Park, Springfield
Saturday, Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
This is one of the Zoo’s most popular events. Dress in costume and enjoy family-friendly Halloween fun complete with a trick-or-treat trail, on-site activities, crafts, read-alongs and appearances from some special friends. The event will also feature a virtual costume contest. Important: A pre-purchased, timed ticket is required to attend. No tickets will be sold at the gate on the day of the event.
Northampton Print and Book Fair 2024
33 Hawley Street, Northampton
Saturday, Oct. 26 from 12 – 5 p.m.
Over 30 artists will fill the Workroom space at 33 Hawley Street with self-published artists’ books and multiples — zines, comics, books of poetry, risograph prints, mini sculptures and ceramics, wearable art, stickers, and more. Visitors can purchase art directly from artists in a fun, approachable setting that combines the format of a flea market with an art show.
Smith College Department of Music
Montage: Sounds from the Silver Screen
John M. Greene Hall, Smith College
Saturday, Oct. 26 at 4 p.m.
A huge representation of Smith College performance groups come together to present a family program of favorite movie songs. The concert, featuring Glee Club, Chamber Singers, Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Wailing Banshees, Jazz Ensemble, Handbells, Groove, the Smiffenpoofs, the Smithereens, the Noteables, and the Vibes, is free and open to the public.
Arcadia Players
Concerti for a King: music from the Court of Frederick the Great
Wesley Methodist Church, Hadley
Saturday Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.
Back in 1732, eight years before he ascended to the Prussian throne, Frederick the Great formed a court orchestra of talented musicians at his estate in Rheinsberg. He recruited violinists Franz Benda and Johann Gottlieb Graun and, later, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, giving him one of the greatest keyboard players of the day and two of the best violinists. This concert will feature violin concerti by Graun and Benda alongside a keyboard concerto by Carl Philip Emanuel Bach. Julia Glenn will be the featured violin soloist and Arcadia Players Artistic Director Andrus Madsen will solo on the Bach concerto.
Letters Aloud
Thanks, But No Thanks; the greatest rejection letters of all time
Academy of Music, Northampton
Saturday, Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Now, this looks interesting! “Letters Aloud” is a performance group that shares letters of individuals who have left their mark on history. Their newest show focuses on rejection letters. Stephen King receives his first rejection letter from “Spacemen Magazine.” Andy Warhol is asked to pick up his painting at the front desk before it is hauled away. A young Sidney Poitier tries to borrow $100 from President Franklin Roosevelt (he said no). The show will include live musical accompaniment and a slideshow.
Avery Sharpe Double Quartet: I Am My Neighbor’s Keeper
The Drake, Amherst
Saturday, Oct. 26 at 8 p.m.
Local jazz legend — and NEPM Jazz à la Mode Friday host — Avery Sharpe has composed a new work which highlights our commitment to one another. Avery initiated the project as a response to political and racial division in the U.S. The movements in this multimedia piece describe the values Avery believes we should strive for to help one another.
Springfield Chamber Players Clarinet Quintet
52 Sumner, Springfield
Saturday, October 26 at 8 p.m.
The Springfield Chamber Players launches their 2024 – 2025 season in a wonderful new intimate and comfortable Springfield performance venue in Springfield — 52 Sumner. The concert features Bernard Herrmann, who won an Oscar for his film scores of Alfred Hitchcock thrillers. The program includes his Souvenirs de Voyage for Clarinet Quintet, as well as Paul Chihara’s Ellington Fantasy, and works by Vaughan Williams and Haydn.
UMass Department of Music and Dance
Gabriel Fauré Festival 2024
Bezanson Hall, UMass
Four Concerts Tuesday, Oct. 29 – Saturday Nov. 2
The UMass Department of Music and Dance is celebrating Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) and his students and contemporaries, 100 years after his death. The concerts feature chamber music and songs by Camille Saint-Saens, Lili Boulanger, Charles Massenet, Gabriel Fauré himself, and many others. This gives us a wonderful opportunity to immerse ourselves in the music of Fauré’s day, and appreciate the talents of the UMass faculty performers. The entire series is free and open to the public.