August ambles in with a host of Hudson Valley-area happenings.
Norwegian Film Festival at the Clark | August 5-31
In conjunction with the exhibition “Nikolai Astrup: Visions of Norway,” the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and Images Cinema have partnered to present a four-week series of recent Norwegian films. The series kicks off with Astrup: Catching the Flame (Flammen Over Jølster) (2019), directed by Pål Øie. The film tells the life story of Nikolai Astrup, one of Norway’s greatest and most original painters. This free virtual film series is presented in conjunction with Images Cinema Online and can be viewed through their platform.
“The Tempest” at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival | August 5-September 4
“The Tempest,” Shakespeare’s late masterpiece, is a meditation on magic, love, betrayal, and forgiveness—and parenthood, according to Ryan Quinn, who’s directing Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival’s upcoming production (August 5-September 4), the final play to be staged at Boscobel, the festival’s home for the past 35 years. HVSF will be moving a few miles down the road to the former Garrison golf course, a 98-acre property donated by philanthropist Christopher Davis which will become its permanent home.
Zac Brown Band at Bethel Woods | August 6
August 6. What better spot to revel in the recent return of live music than the site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts? Grammy-winning country rock kingpins the Zac Brown Band—who topped the Billboard Hot Country chart with 2006’s “Chicken Fried”—hits the outdoor concert site for this stop on their appropriately named, post-COVID-cancellation “Comeback Tour.” Teddy Swims and Ashland Craf open. When attending the show, consider making time to check out the historical exhibits at the Museum at Bethel Woods. (Lynyrd Skynyrd and Kansas whoop it up August 20; James Taylor croons August 21.) 7pm. $56-$60. Season lawn passes are available.
“Sweet Charity” at the Woodstock Playhouse | through August 15
Turn back the clock with “Sweet Charity,” an award-winning musical comedy about the persistently optimistic Charity Hope Valentine as she navigates love as a New York City dance hall hostess in the 1960s. The two-act show (book by Neil Simon), performed at the Woodstock Playhouse, is punctuated with a groovy score by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and features showstoppers like “Big Spender,” “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” and the titular “Sweet Charity.” Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30pm, while Sunday matinees start at 2pm. July 30-August 15 in Woodstock.
“Dead and Buried” at Denizen Theater | August 6-7
In “Dead and Buried,” a dark comedy set in a small New England town at Halloween, 18-year-old Perdue finds a job in a place most people wouldn’t even consider: the local graveyard. Written by James McLindon, the spooky/funny play is the second in Denizen Theater’s summer reading series in the courtyard of the Water Street Market. The outdoor series marks Denizen’s first live performances since the pandemic began. Tickets are free to the public, but available seats are limited. August 6-7 in New Paltz.
Cecily Strong at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center | August 7
On August 7, “Saturday Night Live” cast members Cecily Strong and Heidi Gardner (4pm) and Bowen Yang (7pm) will appear at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, for an exclusive first look at Strong’s memoir, This Will All Be Over Soon. At the heart of the book is Owen, Strong’s 30-year-old cousin who died from brain cancer weeks before the coronavirus pandemic changed our lives forever. Inspired by his unshakable positivity and the valuable lessons he taught her, she spent the months in lockdown chronicling his memory as a moving reminder: whatever challenges life might throw one’s way, they will be over soon. Tickets for each of the day’s two appearances are $33-$50 and include a signed copy of the book.
Nelson Riveros Quintet at the Jazz Forum | August 8
In celebration of his new album, The Latin Side of Wes Montgomery, New York guitarist Nelson Riveros will bring his quintet to the Jazz Forum in Tarrytown for sets at 4pm and 6pm. A few years ago, after playing a gig that involved performing songs in Montgomery’s vaunted repertoire, Riveros had the idea of reimaging the guitar legend’s music in a Latin American style. “I started to hear all kind of rhythms, bass lines, and melodic variations to some of his tunes,” he explains. “The next day, I started writing arrangements, and this very project began to take shape.” Riveros’s group for the album and for the performances also include Hector Martignon (piano), a two-time Grammy nominee; Mark Walker (drums); Andy McKee (bass); Jonathan Gomez (percussion). Tickets are $15.
“Where Winds May Blow” at Lockwood Gallery | Through August 22
Curated by Alan Goolman and featuring artists Susan Mastrangelo, Garry Nichols, and Kevin Paulsen, “Where Winds May Blow” is an exhibit at the Lockwood Gallery in Kingston (winner of the 2021 Arts/Entertainment Chronogrammies Readers Choice award). The exhibition was conceived to represent “a rare and extraordinary adventure on a grand sailing ship, the Francis Drake.” After being introduced to the show in the front gallery by a magnificent, seven-and-a-half-foot, functional weathervane created by Garry Nichols, viewers will walk “the decks” of the gallery, letting their imaginations sail on a wondrous journey through diverse expressions and approaches to landscape, figurative, and wildlife painting.
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This article appears in August 2021.
