Celebration of life for acclaimed singer Evelyn Harris
Friends and loved ones of singer Evelyn Harris will pay tribute to Harris’s life and legacy at Bombyx on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m.
Harris, who passed away unexpectedly in December at the age of 75, was a Grammy-nominated singer, composer and activist. Harris lived in Easthampton at the time of her passing, and she had been a longtime member of the Black women’s a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Locally, she was the director of the Ujima Singers, a BIPOC chorus at the Northampton Community Music Center; a member of the faculty at The Institute for the Musical Arts in Williamsburg; the frontwoman of the blues/rock/soul band StompBoxTrio; and a member of the Young@Heart Chorus.
Admission is free, but guests should register at bombyx.live. Guests also have the option to watch the event via a livestream, which is available via the same link.
Railroad Hobby Show returns
The Railroad Hobby Show, the largest railroad-themed trade show in the United States, will be at the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds in West Springfield on Saturday, Jan. 24, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The show, which takes places over 400,000 square feet of space, features model railroads, railroad art and photography, railroad books and videos, railroad history, railroad artifacts and more. Maggie the Railroad Clown will also be performing magic and juggling tricks both on stage and roaming.
Admission is $18 for adults or free for ages 15 and under. For more information or to buy tickets, visit railroadhobbyshow.com.
Easthampton theater company presents inaugural show
The new Heartbeat Theater will present the second weekend of its first ever production, “Proof,” at The Blue Room at CitySpace in Easthampton on Friday, Jan. 23 and Saturday, Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 25 at 2 p.m.
The Pulitzer-winning play, written by David Auburn, is about a woman named Catherine who has to contend with her mathematician father’s death.
In a press release, director Jason Rose-Langston said the show “confronts the burden of family legacy and how families can be torn apart by doubt and grief, only to discover deeper ties that bind. The play examines the struggle to know oneself and the need we all have to be truly known by others.”
The cast includes William Spademan as Robert, Kimberly Gaughan as Catherine, Anne Zager as Claire, and Shelton Windham as Hal.
Not including fees, tickets are $20 general admission or $18 for seniors, students, and military members via heartbeattheater.org/tickets.
Celebrating the Iron Horse anniversary
The Iron Horse will host “Positively Center Street,” an event in honor of its 47th anniversary, on Sunday, Feb. 1, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Founder Jordi Herold will sit down with Jim Olsen, president of the Northampton record label Signature Sounds, for an onstage conversation about the history of the Iron Horse, which was founded in 1979. They will discuss its growth from a coffeehouse on Center Street to the music venue is it now. Longtime staff and collaborators will also share their memories of the venue, and highlights from the Forbes Library Iron Horse archives will be featured.
Admission is free and open to the public, but RSVP at ironhorse.org.
Haven hosts Masquerade Ball
The monthly dance party Haven will host its 28th Anniversary Masquerade Ball at Abandoned Building Brewery in Easthampton on Friday, Jan. 30, from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The night will feature goth, industrial, EDM and dark alternative music spun by DJ Dirge. The organizers request that guests dress to impress and promise “spooky surprises!”
Admission is $10 at the door. This event is 21 and up. For more information about Haven, which was founded in 1996 by two Hampshire College students, visit thehavenclub.com.
Pink Floyd tribute act in Northampton
Pink Floyd tribute band, The Machine, will perform an act celebrating the legendary English rock band at the Academy of Music in Northampton on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m.
According to their show description, The Machine has “stellar musicianship and passionate delivery” and “explores collective improvisation rivaling that of an early 1970s Pink Floyd, while their use of expanded theatrical elements and elaborate stage displays and lighting continues The Floyd spirit of the 1980s. The band is also known for recreating entire albums as a part of their show, accepting requests from fans, and for taking an A-Z approach in which one song is played for every letter of the alphabet.”
Tickets are $36.66 to $58.13 after fees and are available at aomtheatre.com, by phone at 413-584-9032 ext. 105, or at the Academy of Music box office.
HCC art gallery exhibit imagines radical Valley future
A new exhibition at Holyoke Community College’s Taber Art Gallery asks visitors to imagine a future Valley 100 years after the fall of capitalism.
“River Valley Radical Futures” exhibit runs until Thursday, March 12. The gallery will host an opening reception on Thursday, Jan. 22, from 5-7 p.m. and a closing talk from project lead and curator Alix Gerber and a book launch on Thursday, March 12, from 5-7 p.m.
The show features the work of eight area artists and has its origins in the Making Radical Futures Lab at Smith College in Northampton.
The exhibition includes the work of artists Sunny Allis, David von Dufving, Andrea Hairston, Mary Kate Cleary, Bo Kim, Sharon Leshner (a.k.a. Sharona Color), Michael Madeiros, and Laura Torraco.
The Taber Art Gallery, located off the lobby of the HCC Library on the second floor of the HCC Donahue Building, is free and open to the public Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during regular school sessions.