Joan Baez has been added to the 2013 Tanglewood popular artists schedule, on a June 23 Shed program that includes the Indigo Girls; they all performed most recently at Tanglewood in 1990. Ms. Baez hit the ground running with an un-billed set at the Newport Folk Festival in 1959. By the time she introduced the un-billed Bob Dylan to the Berkshires at the Boy’s Club in 1963, she’d had three gold records on the pop charts, and been on the cover of Time magazine.

Joan Baez, Bob Dylan in the Berkshires

Besides all that, Joan Baez was a central figure in the coolest event ever in the Berkshires, the Rolling Thunder Revue party at Mama Frasca’s Dream Away Lodge on Nov. 7, 1975. For Mama Frasca, Joan Baez was the big deal that day, not Bob Dylan, who detoured his troupe to the Berkshires between shows in Springfield and Burlington, VT. The episode is featured in “Renaldo and Clara,” the greatest movie you’ll never see.

Ms. Baez shined a spotlight on the Free Speech Movement, took to the fields with Cesar Chavez, organized resistance to the Vietnam War, then forty years later saluted the Dixie Chicks for their courage to protest the Iraq war. Her earliest recordings fed a host of traditional ballads into the rock vernacular, before she unselfconsciously introduced Bob Dylan to the world in 1963. Amongst the many honors bestowed upon her, she has most recently been the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, the greatest honor that the Recording Academy can bestow (2007). Day After Tomorrow, her 2008 studio album was praised by critics and nominated for a Grammy.

Indigo Girls return to Tanglewood

Decades into their career, the Indigo Girls still amaze conventional pundits with their ability to grow and thrive no matter what the state of the music industry, at any given point. Saliers and Ray began performing together in high school, transferred their honest, urgent performing style onto the stages of countless small clubs, then saw their public profile take off with the 1989 release of their self-titled breakthrough (an album that included the first hit, Closer To Fine, and went on to win Best Contemporary Folk Recording at the 1990 Grammy’s).

On their fourteenth studio album, Grammy-winning folk-rock duo, Indigo Girls deliver a beautifully crafted batch of songs that revel in spirited simplicity. Alternating richly textured storytelling with moody ruminations on modern-world worries, Beauty Queen Sister (IG Recordings) reveals a fierce longing for a more idyllic existence while still celebrating the extraordinary in everyday living. Thanks to its graceful mix of openhearted songwriting and lush, intricate arrangements – not to mention powerful performances by the band and their brigade of guest musicians – Beauty Queen Sister ultimately allows the listener to slip into the sort of dreamy serenity that Amy Ray and Emily Sailers sing of striving for throughout the record.

Joan Baez added to the 2013 Tanglewood schedule, along with the Indigo Girls, reprising a double bill at Tanglewood 23 years ago.

The Williamstown Theatre Festival 2013 season runs from June 26 – August 18, 2013 in Williamstown, MA. The Main Stage schedule features the World Premiere of Bridges of Madison County, a new musical by Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman; a revival of Animal Crackers; and George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, directed by Nicholas Martin.

Scheduled for WTF’s Nikos Stage are Tom Stoppard’s Hapgood; the World Premiere of Bess Wohl’s American Hero, and the new musical Johnny Baseball by Richard Dresser (book), Robert Reale (music) and Willie Reale (lyrics). The season will also see the return of many Williamstown veterans including Kate Burton in Hapgood, and Robert Sean Leonard in Pygmalion, plus first-time Festival directors Bartlett Sher, and Leigh Silverman.

Each year, WTF also presents a free outdoor production for family audiences at Poker Flats Fields, including Dracula, written by Bram Stoker and adapted by Steve Lawson, running July 10 – 19, 2013.

The last Nikos Stage production and additional casting for all 2013 WTF shows will be announced at a later date.

2013 WTF Main Stage schedule

Animal Crackers at Williamstown, June 26 – July 14, 2013

Book by George S. Kaufman & Morrie Ryskind; Music and Lyrics by Bert Kalmar & Harry Ruby, Adapted and Directed by Henry Wishcamper

Hooray for Captain Spaulding! The intrepid African explorer, inveterate womanizer, and interminable jokester hobnobs with high society as the guest of honor at a swanky soiree. But when a priceless painting is pilfered, he and the guests are swept up in a screwball search for the thief. This new interpretation of the Marx Brothers’ hit Broadway musical and classic film overflows with mirthful melodies, dynamite dancing, and seriously silly slapstick.

Pygmalion at Williamstown, July 17 – 27, 2013

By George Bernard Shaw; Directed by Nicholas Martin, With Robert Sean Leonard

“You have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to take a human being and change her into a quite different human being.” With all the parallels of a modern reality-show makeover, an impoverished flower seller is taken in hand by a linguistics professor who attempts to change her accent and pass her off as the epitome of English society. For a wager. A sharp satire on class and women’s independence, Shaw’s century-old masterpiece features Robert Sean Leonard as Henry Higgins in an uproarious, poignant, and unforgettable battle of wits between two of theatre’s most iconic characters.

Leonard (“House,” Dead Poets Society) last appeared at the Festival in Dead End, directed by former WTF Artistic Director Nicholas Martin (She Stoops to Conquer, Our Town) who returns to Williamstown to helm Pygmalion.

The Bridges of Madison County at Williamstown, August 1 – 18, 2013

Book by Marsha Norman; Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, Directed by Bartlett Sher

In 1992, a rural American romance by an unknown author became a literary phenomenon. Millions of readers have been captivated by the simple story of Francesca, a beautiful Italian woman who marries an American soldier to flee war-ravaged Italy. Her new life in Iowa is common until she encounters Robert, a loner and artist, whose photography at National Geographic shields him from commitment and connection. Their three days of flirtation, memories of Naples, food, and laughter inspire a timeless love, and an impossible choice. Lushly transforming the best-selling novel into an intimate musical work for the stage, Marsha Norman and Jason Robert Brown have added new resonance to a lyrical portrait of true love, loss, sacrifice, and devotion.

Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher (South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza) directs, making his WTF debut.

Nikos Stage 2013 schedule

American Hero at Williamstown, June 26 – July 7, 2013

By Bess Wohl; Directed by Leigh Silverman

Three ounces of meat. Two ounces of cheese. Four ounces of lettuce. Seventeen-year-old Sheri and her co-workers at a new submarine sandwich franchise have honed their skills making everything from the Turkey Torpedo to the Big Kahuna Tuna exactly as specified in the corporate manual. But when the franchise owner mysteriously disappears, they are forced to improvise, and Sheri takes charge of the ragtag band of “sandwich artists.” See just how far they’ll go to keep their shop afloat in Bess Wohl’s hilarious, surreal tale of the struggle for optimism in tough times, the power of sandwiches, and the glorious, messy American Dream.

Wohl’s Touch(ed) received a 2011 World Premiere at Williamstown; this marks Leigh Silverman’s (Chinglish) WTF debut.

Hapgood at Williamstown, July 10 – 21, 2013

By Tom Stoppard; Directed by Evan Yionoulis, With Kate Burton

Treacherous twins and double (or triple?) agents abound in a twisty-turny look at the unlikely interrelation of quantum physics and international espionage. Simultaneously channeling John le Carré, Albert Einstein, and Mel Brooks, Tom Stoppard’s Cold-War thriller boasts equal shares of brains, guts, and sly humor. WTF mainstay Kate Burton takes on the tour-de-force title role, the brilliant but eccentric British intelligence chief working to expose a Soviet double agent while attempting to keep her personal life under wraps.

Burton returns to WTF after a five-year hiatus, having appeared in the Festival’s Beyond Therapy, The Corn Is Green, Hedda Gabler, and more.

Johnny Baseball at Williamstown, July 24 – August 4, 2013

Book by Richard Dresser; Music by Robert Reale; Lyrics by Willie Reale
Directed by Marc Bruni

The infamous Curse of the Boston Red Sox is brought to life through the changing fortunes of three orphaned souls: Johnny O’Brien, a hard-luck right-hander on the 1919 Sox; his idol, Babe Ruth; and Daisy Wyatt, a dazzling African-American blues singer and the love of Johnny’s life. The mystical intertwining of their fates reveals both the source of the Curse and the secret to its triumphant end off Big Papi’s bat in 2004. Packing a resonant commentary on social history into a quintessentially American musical, Johnny Baseball will bring cheers and tears to baseball fans and theatre lovers alike.

The fourth production on the Nikos Stage, which will run from August 7 – 18, 2013, is to be announced.

WTF Free theatre

Dracula: playing July 10 – 19, 2013
By Bram Stoker; adapted by Steve Lawson

Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel comes alive under the stars in a new adaptation by WTF veteran and Free Theatre co-founder Steve Lawson. One of the most haunting figures of our common imagination, “the Count” has stalked his nightmarish way through literature, art, theatre, and film, never failing to leave an impression, as well as the marks of his fangs. This dynamic new stage version of Stoker’s iconic tale is sure to hold audiences rapt. Leave your nerves at home…but bring the whole family and a picnic. (Garlic provided.)

Williamstown Theatre Festival contact info.

• 1000 Main St. – Rt. 2
• Williamstown, MA 01267
• Box office – 413-597-3400
• web: wtfestival.org

Williamstown Theatre Festival driving directions

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Snowstorm Nemo nudged up against the Berkshires on Feb. 8 & 9, 2013, while it was walloping coastal areas from Long Island to Maine. We got enough to transform, once again, the streetscape of Lenox village, where we made these images late Saturday afternoon.

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2/7/13 – CONCERT HAS BEEN POSTPONED

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band will perform in concert at The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA on Friday, February 8, at 8:00 pm. Named for a building located in New Orleans’s French Quarter, Preservation Hall Jazz Band was founded in 1961 by Allan and Sandra Jaffe. The band has traveled worldwide, spreading their mission to nurture and perpetuate the art form of New Orleans jazz — a mission strengthened by the devastation brought about by Hurricane Katrina in 2007. Advance tickets are $42 ($38 members and students); $45 at the door. To order tickets, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 0524.

Whether performing at Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center, for British royalty or the king of Thailand, this music embodies a joyful, timeless spirit. Under the auspices of current director Ben Jaffe, son of founders Allan and Sandra, Preservation Hall continues with a deep reverence and consciousness of its greatest attributes in the modern day as a venue, band, and record label.

PHJB began touring in 1963. Many of the band’s charter members performed with the pioneers who invented jazz in the early twentieth century, including Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, and Bunk Johnson. Band leaders over the PHJB’s history include the brothers Willie and Percy Humphrey, husband and wife Billie and De De Pierce, famed pianist Sweet Emma Barrett, and Wendall and John Brunious. These founding artists and dozens of others passed on the culture of their music to a younger generation, who now follows in their footsteps.

More about: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute

Tanglewood is the summer home in the Berkshires of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It is located on 250 acres in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The campus combines the former Tanglewood and Highwood estates, which originally served as summer cottages for the Tappan and Ward families of Boston. 

We have posted a brief overview of the 2014 Tanglewood schedule.

The name comes from Tappan family friend Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote Tanglewood Tales during his brief residence (1850-51) in a little red cottage overlooking Stockbridge Bowl on the Tappan estate. The 210 acre estate was given to the Boston Symphony Orchestra by the Tappan famiy in 1937; the BSO acquired the adjacent Highwood estate in 1986, where it built Seiji Ozawa Hall, and renamed the property after Leonard Bernstein.

• 297 West Street (Rt. 183)
• Lenox, MA 01240
• Box Office: 617-266-1200; 888-266-1200
• Website: tanglewood.org

2013 Tanglewood concert reviews

Map of the Tanglewood Music Center grounds