EASTHAMPTON — Viewpoint Theatre, a new company in the Valley, will present the musical “Blood & Water” at CitySpace’s Blue Room in Old Town Hall this Friday through Sunday, June 17-19, with performances continuing June 23-26.
“Blood & Water” is written, scored and directed by Francesca Hansen-DiBello, who has based the musical on her own experience growing up in a family with two mothers and another sister. When one of her mothers was diagnosed with cancer and later died of it, the experience tested her family in untold ways, Hansen-DiBello notes.
“Grief and love are inextricably intertwined, and I’m interested in the ways that these powerful emotions can pull us apart, or bring us closer together,” she writes on her website. “In ‘Blood & Water’ the family is unconventional, yet grounded in their love for each other.
“When the thread that ties them together is tugged away, it exposes insecurities and questions of belonging that are universal,” Hansen-DiBello adds. “As each character finds their way apart and back together again, we investigate what it means to be a family.”
All performances of “Blood & Water” take place at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at cityspaceeasthampton.org; read on for a list of coming events.
NORTHAMPTON — For the first time since 2019, Forbes Library is inviting exhibit proposals for Hosmer Gallery, after the arrival of COVID-19 in early 2020 threw a wrench into scheduling, postponing many exhibits that have only been put back on display in the last year.
Artists living and working in western Massachusetts (Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin and Berkshire counties) are eligible to apply for exhibits planned for December 2022 through December 2023. First-time exhibitors, individuals and groups are welcome. Criteria for review include technical and artistic quality, a coherent theme, and contribution to an interesting and varied program for the year.
Organizers say a new advisory committee will work with the head of the library’s Arts & Music Department to review applications and curate the series, which places a high value on diversity and inclusivity.
Applications can be found at forbeslibrary.org/gallery/info-for-artists. The deadline for applying is July 16.
In addition, Forbes Library will screen movies on its lawn this summer for the first time since 2019. The three original “Star Wars” films will be shown, starting June 29 at 8:45 p.m. with “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,” which was first screened in 1977 under the title “Star Wars.”
“Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” will be show July 27 at 8 p.m., and “Episode VI: Return of the Jedi” will screen Aug. 31 at 8 p.m.
AMHERST — In a nod to the diverse rhythms and improvisational nature of jazz, Gallery A3 this month is featuring “Syncopate: Homage to Jazz,” an exhibit of paintings, drawings, collage, photographs, prints, and sculptures that offer what organizers call “a bold and beautiful interplay of complex visual rhythms.”
The show includes work by artists Donald Boudreaux, Andres Chaparro, Bobby Davis, Terry Jenoure and Rodney Madison and is curated by Jenoure, a musician and artist who is also the former director of the Augusta Savage Gallery at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
As one example of the art, “Search of the New Land,” a collage by Chaparro, a mixed-media painter, features part of an image of a cornet player, eyes hidden behind sunglasses, whose “body” includes black and white images of protesters as well as a small Black Lives Matter sign. Chaparro’s work has been featured at the Montclair Jazz Festival, New York City’s Blue Note Jazz Club, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and other venues, according to his artist bio.
“The jazz ensemble is an iconic example of democracy because each musician contributes sounds that produce effects far more potent than its individual offerings,” Jenoure said a statement about the exhibit. “‘Syncopate,’ through its broad range of mediums, promises the same interplay and generously offers an invitation to experience some magic.”
The exhibit runs through July 2.
SPRINGFIELD — The Musicians of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (MOSSO) will celebrate the work of legendary composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim on June 23 at Springfield Symphony Hall, where the musicians will be joined by Broadway stars Hugh Panaro and Lisa Vroman and other special guests.
The 7:30 p.m. concert, to be conducted by Tim Stella, will feature compositions from productions such as “Sweeney Todd,” “A Little Night Music,” “Sunday in the Park with George” and other musicals for which Sondheim, who died last November at age 91, wrote the lyrics and music — and in doing so “raised and reset the artistic standard for the American stage musical,” as the New York Times put it.
MOSSO, which has staged a number of other concerts in the past year, formed last summer during a prolonged contract dispute between the players in the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and the organization’s leadership, part of which involved leadership not scheduling concerts in the wake of the pandemic.
Tickets for the June 23 concert, which range between $10 and $60, can be purchased at springfieldsymphonymusicians.com.
HOLYOKE — Nicholas Anderson, guest curator of “Attention! Translating Uniforms, Understanding Service” at Wistariahurst Museum, will talk about the origins of the show and answer questions on Wednesday, June 22 from 6 to 7 p.m.
Anderson, a military historian from California who’s working on a graduate degree in history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has worked with Holyoke Veterans Services to put together the exhibit, which focuses on the details of dress uniforms worn by veterans who served in three branches of the military in the 20th century and the early 21st century.
The exhibit also looks at the history of military service of people from Holyoke, as well as ideas of service and community and the interplay of American culture and the military.
You can register for the discussion at wistariahurst.org. In-person attendance is limited to the first 20 applicants; there will be a ZOOM link available link for online attendance for up to 80 registrants.
— Compiled by Steve Pfarrer