From the Culture Vault Dept.: Forty years ago, our already loose delineation of the Capital Region (often erroneously monikered as the Capital District Region or the Capital Region Area, among other such variants) expanded in the summer to take in the Berkshires of Massachusetts and areas of the immediately southern counties of New York. That’s because the region exploded with happenings when the weather got warm. Here’s a listing I compiled for Metroland Magazine in 1986 of my disciplines of interest. I don’t expect you to read it, but I invite you to remember the impressive performers who stopped and marvel at the amount of dance.

                                                                                              

Summer Arts Preview: Theater

SUCH  IS THE BUSY state of the stage that we devoted a cover story all its own to summer theater (May 15, not posted here ), but there have been a few changes and announcements since that time, so let’s check in with the various groups and see what’s happening.

Lou Harrison

The Lakehouse, in Albany’s Washington Park. has announced a title for its city tricentennial revue: Nice TRI, Albany, to be directed by Michael J. Hume and Lloyd Waiwaiole (July 18-20, 23-26 at 8:30 PM). Also look for visits from the Lake George Opera Festival (August 5, 7 PM) and Kuperberg & Morris Movement Theatre (August 12,7 PM).

At New Lebanon’s Theater Barn, the season Is well underway with second production “On Golden Pond” running through, Sunday; next Thursday, the musical revue “Cole!” begins a 10-day run.

The Lake George Dinner Theater announced the title of its summer production: running from June 20 through October 12 at the Holiday Inn in Lake George will be Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs.”

The Lake George Opera’s American Lyric Theatre apprentice program has announced three titles that will be produced under the aegis of newly appointed director Rosalind Elias: “Gallantry” by Douglas Moore, Donizetti’s “Rita,” and “The Old Maid and the Thief” comprise a triple bill to be performed August 17 and 19.

The Mac-Haydn Theater, down in Chatham, already is  up to its third production: “Babes in Arms,” which opened yesterday (Wednesday).

Also, Cohoes Music Hall is going into a summer season with two very contrasting titles: “The Drunkard or The Fallen Saved” is  an old temperance-era show that was revamped in the 1960s with a score by Barry Manilow; it will run from June 20-July 12. Then the immensely popular and, despite a scare, still longest-running show in New York, “The Fantasticks,” will be performed from July 18-August 10. Remember: The air conditioning works in this house!

The schedule for the Woodstock Playhouse is  as follows: “South Pacific” is  currently under way, through Sunday; then “Brigadoon” comes in June 17-22. “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” runs June 24-29, and again July 22-27; “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” goes up July 1-6; “Carousel” will play July 8-13; “Funny Girl” July 15-20. Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs” is scheduled for three slots: July 29-August 3, August 26-31, and October 1-5. “Camelot” runs August 12-17, September 3-7, and September 24-28. “My One and Only” is set for September 10-14.

In Massachusetts, the schedule for Berkshire Public Theatre is as follows: Strindberg’s “Miss Julie” runs July 19-21, then enters the summer repertory, playing every Friday evening from July 4-August 29. “Twentieth Century” by Hecht and MacArthur opens July 27 and plays every Saturday and Sunday from June 28-August 30. Beginning July 7 it’s “The Threepenny Opera,” which then will play Monday evenings through September 1.

And the Williamstown Theatre Festival has leaked a couple of titles: “Barbarians” by Maxim Gorky runs June 26-July 5, followed by Pinter’s “The Homecoming” July 8-19. Opening July 22 is Tennessee Williams’s “Summer and Smoke”; more remains to be announced.

Note: Schenectady Resets Fest for Saturday: 

THE ONLY PART OF THE FESTIVAL that didn’t cooperate last Saturday was the weather, so Schenectady’s Food Festival people are going to try again this Saturday with a variety of items for your delectation.

The art show went off as planned, and filled the skating rink at Center City.

But to do justice to the kind of presentation that restaurateurs require, the whole of downtown State Street is needed. They tried cramming too many into the rink a couple of years ago, but it just isn’t the same.

So don’t be dismayed when you find the street blocked off this Saturday from noon to 5: some delicious food will be on the other side of those barriers.

 Summer Arts Preview: Classical Music

WHEN LOU HARRISON comes to SPAC this summer, he’s bringing his garnelan. But that’s not the kind of thing you can slide onto the hand-baggage shell of an airplane. A gamelan is an orchestra, characteristic of Southeast Asia (in this case. Java, although the word itself is  Javanese for “percussion instrument.” And percussion is  featured. along with some winds and strings).

Sherrill Milnes

Gamelan Si Betty will perform in the Spa Little Theatre at 3 PM Monday, August 11, and the Philadelphia Orchestra is including music by Harrison as part of its regular August season.

Also in August, look for distinguished composers Virgil Thomson, George Crumb, and Otto Luening to visit Rensselaerville as part of the Catskill Conservatory summer festival that also includes performances in the Oneonta area

Music alfresco is catching on in the area: We now have full seasons at the Lakehouse in Albany’s Washington Park and at the Guilderland Performing Arts Center. Following are the listings.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs

The Philadelphia Orchestra, Dennis Russell Davis, conductor, unless noted otherwise. (All concerts at 8:15 PM.)

August 6: Tribute to Eugene Ormandy, includes Harrison’s Symphony No. 3.
August 7: Music of Puccini, Ravel, and Colin McPhee, soprano Martina Arroyo, tenor Jon Fredric West, and pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin soloists.
August 8: Franz Allers, conductor; Sherrill Milnes, baritone: opera favorites.
August 9: Davies as pianist and concertmaster Norman Carol play Harrison’s Suite; also music of Puccini and Haydn.
August 13: William Smith, conductor; David Bar-Illan, pianist; Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, Harrison’s “Marriage at the Eiffel Tower.”
August 14: Keith Jarrett plays Harrison’s Concerto with Selected Orchestra; also music of Satoh, Bartok, and Jarrett.
August 15: Erich Leinsdorf, conductor; music by Mussorgsky, Liszt, and Shostakovich.
August 16: Leinsdorf conducts Smetana, Stravinsky, and, with pianist Yefim Bronfman, Liszt’s Concerts No. 2.
August 20: Leinsdorf, conductor, in a concert featuring Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.
August 21: In honor of Virgil Thomson’s 90th birthday; guest artists: saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and bassist John Cheek.
August 22: Rudolf Nureyev with members of the Parts Opera Ballet.
August 23: A big good-bye with Beethoven’s "Ninth."
August 31: The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta, conductor, in one performance.

Weekend concerts by the New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra will be preceded by a free chamber music concert on the upper lawn.

Live at the Lakehouse, Washington Park, Albany (All concerts at 7PM.)

June 17: Northeast Symphonic Band.
June 24: Albany Big Band Jazz.
July 8: Bud Bryer Orchestra.
July 15: Lake George Opera Festival (Douglas Moore ‘s “Gallantry.”)
July 22: Jack Dugan & Company.
August 5: Lake George Opera Festival.
August 19: Skip Parsons’ Riverboat Jazz Band.

Guilderland Performing Arts Center, Tawasentha Park, Guilderland (All concerts at 7:30 PM.)

June 19: Mendelssohn’s Elijah, with the Octavo Singers, George G. Morass, directing.
July 3: Guilderland Town Band with a concert of golden oldies, featuring pianist Patty Keyes,
July 10: Lake George Opera Festival with Moore’s “Gallantry.”
July 24: Guilderland Town Band: Music of Faraway Places.
July 31: Don Nikolski: The Area Polka King.
August 7: Guilderland Town Band presents “A Night at the Theater.”
August 14: Catskill Chamber Players with an evening of chamber music.

Rensselaerville Institute, Rensselaerville 
July 13: Jazz on the Lawn, featuring the Greg Speck Trio and the Hal Miller Quintet (2 PM).
July 20: Folk on the Porch, with Fancy’s Train and Whippersnapper (2 PM).
August I7: Matthew Herskowitz, piano recital (4 PM). 
August 24: Catskill Conservatory, with guest composer Otto Luening (4 PM).
August 31: Catskill Conservatory, with guest composer George Crumb (4 PM).
September 7: Catskill Conservatory, with guest composer Virgil Thomson (4 PM).

Spencertown Academy, Route 203, Spencertown (All concerts are at 8 PM)

June 14: Soprano Marvis Martin in recital.
June 28: Pianist Thomas Lorango plays music by Beethoven, Ravel and others.
July 26: The Canterbury Trio.
August 10: Boston Symphony cellist Jonathan Miller in recital.

Summer Arts Preview: Dance

ALTHOUGH THE WOODSTOCK PLAYHOUSE has gone co-op in its theater productions, the tradition of fine dance is not being neglected. To celebrate its 13th season of dance, 13 concerts will be presented on consecutive Monday nights.

Peter Martins

A similarly laudable series is on tap at Jacob’s Pillow again this summer, with a diversity that stretches from classical ballet to avant-garde mixed-media.

And, of course, the New York City Ballet celebrates Saratoga in July with the choreographic wizardry of Balanchine as a mainstay, alongside works by Peter Martins, Jerome Robbins, and others. Here’s how their schedule shapes up:

New York City Ballet at SPAC, Saratoga Springs. (Evening performances at 8:15; matinees at 2PM. Unless indicated, shows are evening performances.)

July 2: Serenade, Symphony in C, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.
July 3: Includes the Saratoga premiere of a new ballet. July 4: All Americana Balanchine, including Stars and Stripes.
July 5: Donizetti Variations, Who Cares? (Matinee)
July 5: Serenade, Prodigal Son, Stars and Stripes. 
July 6: All-Balanchine, includes Who Cares?
July 8: Saratoga premiere of Robbins’s in Memory of...
July 9: Saratoga premiere of Jean-Pierre Bonneloux’s Shadows.
July 10: Features Peter Martins’s Eight More.
July 11: The Gala, features Circus Polka.
July 12: Shadows, Eight Mere, Union Jack (Matinee). 
July 12: La Source, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2.
July 15: All-Balanchine, includes Allegro Brilliante. 
July 16: All-Robbins, includes Glass Pieces.
July 17: Dances at a Gathering. Glass Pieces. Divertimento No. 15.
July 18: Includes Episodes, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet.
July 19: Includes Interplay and Dances at a Gathering (matinee).
July 19: The season finishes. Includes Union Jack.

The Little Theatre at SPAC 

July 7-12: Twyla Tharp Dance, six evenings and a Friday matinee.
July 14-19: Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians (Saratoga premiere).
July 21-26: Alwyn Nikolai Dance Theatre, six evenings and a Friday matinee.
July 28-August 2: Hubbard Street Dance Company, similar schedule.

Jacob’s Pillow Festival ‘86, Lee, Massachusetts (Performances in the Ted Shawn Theatre at 8 PM Tuesday-Thursday; 8:30 PM Friday-Saturday, 2 PM Saturday.)

June 24-21: Paul Taylor Dance Company.
July 1-5: Stars of the Royal Danish Ballet
July 6-12: Moving Images – Pooh Kaye, Kathy Rose, and Victoria Marks.
July 15-19: Ballet and Ballroom, featuring American Ballroom Theatre.
July 22-25: The Mark Morris Dance Group.
July 29-August 2: Pilar Rioja and the Mandala Folk Dance Ensemble.
August 5-8: The Trisha Brown Company.
August 12-16: The New York City Ballet Choreography Project,
August 19-23: Jacob’s Pillow Jazz Parade. 
August 26-30: Avner the Eccentric

Woodstock Playhouse, Woodstock (Monday nights at 8)

June 16: Rebecca Kelley Dance Company.
June 23: May O’Donnell Dance Company.
June 30: Berkshire Ballet.
July 7: Empire State Ballet.
July 14: Balletfore (featuring the principal stars of three major companies).
July 21: Hartford Ballet.
July 28: “Gotta Dance.”
August 4: Daniel Duell and stars of the NYCB.
August 11: Spanish Dance Arts.
August 18: Vanaver Caravan.
August 25: Jazz Dance Company, with principal Danny Buraceski.
September 1: Ballet Today.
October 11: A special program with Martine van Hamel and stars of American Ballet Theater.

Guilderland Performing Arts Center, Tawasentha Park (All concerts at 7:30 PM)

June 26: An Evening of Dance and Music, with the Myers Dance Company and the Guilderland Ballet Workshop.
July 17: The Berkshire Ballet in concert.

– Metroland Magazine, 12 June 1986