The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams has never been shy about showcasing the work of artists who happen to be gay, but they are about to go much further. Mass MoCA has announced that it is a judgement free zone, and has been planning a new after-school program for LGBTQ youth (ages 14-21), to be hosted & launched at MASS MoCA beginning in January of 2011. The program is open to any LGBTQ youth that are looking for a safe space to be who they are and make art! Allies are also encouraged to attend.
Also coming up on November 20 is the appearance of Paul Browde and Murray Nossel's in a show they call Two Men Talking. Put together by these two gay men, it has become an international phenomenon. In this unscripted production, the two men, who first met as school children in Johannesburg in 1974, weave their life stories - which includes taunting and homophobia - into a captivating work of live theater that bounces between South Africa and New York touching on issues of personal identity, HIV/AIDS, being Jewish in South Africa, and the creation of a lifetime friendship.
John Kelly is the 2010 Sundance Time Warner Storytelling fellow-in-residence at MASS MoCA. Along with the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, he will give a Work in Progress reading of his newest work, The Escape Artist, on Saturday, April 3, 2010 at the intimate Club B-10 at MOCA. It is but one work that is part of the unusual Sundance residency.
The Escape Artist is a collision of music, video and story. In a studio dubbing recording session for cinematic re-enactments of the paintings of Caravaggio, a singer hired to lay down the tracks channels the characters that populate the paintings, encounters unexpected technical difficulties, and reveals a turbulent personal history of his own.
Prior to arriving at Mass MOCA, John Kelly spent time in Rome recording video and taking photographs of the characters he takes on in The Escape Artist including Bacchus as painted in 1597 pictured above. As you can see, he has updated the "drug of choice."
His always fertile mind is ceaseless in its creativity, as evidenced by the oblique video he put together earlier today and which is embedded below for your fun and general puzzlement.
it's a promo filmed by Kelly on April Fools Day 2010. There are more photos and an informative update on Mass MOCA's blog. Brittany BIshop gives us a sneak peak at the mysterious Kelly piece and reminds us: "Although the showing at MASS MoCA is only a staged reading and will not include all of the final pieces of the show, from one theater nerd to another, this performance is going to be a night at the theater you don’t want to miss!"
Did you know there is a small Berkshire Gay Professionals Club which is having a mid-day Meet Up on Saturday, April 18 at Mass MoCA in North Adams. It welcomes a wide range of gay and lesbian people - maybe you? - from the greater Berkshires area. Participants include students from Williams, BCC and MCLA who are on a professional track, web designers, artists and business people - anyone who wants to meet and network both socially and professionally. It welcomes everyone from the diverse GLBTQ community.
You have to be pretty adventurous and open to new experiences to venture up to Mass MoCA to see their art. When it comes to their performing arts offerings, most of them are not household names. So we have to rely on their taste, advance stories and gut instinct to decide which might be worth the time, trip and ticket expense.
It only took the You Tube video that I have posted below to convince me that Sea of Birds might be a winner. It will be presented this Saturday, April 4 at 4 and 8 PM in Mass MoCA's Hunter Theater. The video clip is sufficiently detailed so that we can make an informed decision. (You can opt to watch it in HD if you have a high speed connection.) You may not know much about Sebastienne Mundheim and her new performance piece, Sea of Birds, but it certainly looks very promising.
There is also a splendid preview piece in the Valley Advocate, so I have little doubt that a lot of our neighbors will be heading over from Northampton to see this rising star's work. The performance piece has choreography by Philadelphia based Kate Watson-Wallace, who collaborated with the troupe. The music was composed by James Sugg, and the combined effect of all this artistry, along with that provided by Mike Riggs' lighting design, is intensely dream-like. Music, dance, sculpture, puppetry and lighting all combine into an evening that will be filled with memorable and indelible images.
So turn off that cellphone, stop multitasking and watch something that requires your full attention and concentration. It's this weekend's recommendation. Ticket information is available on the Mass Moca website.
If there is one things that gays share, it is a wicked sense of humor. And if there is one thing lacking in much of the Berkshire art scene, it is just that. Oh you can find tasteless ka-ka fuggayou topical homer - especially at the comedy clubs, or once in a blue moon we get lucky and an act like the Tiger Lillies or the glorious Ballets Trockadero will appear at the impenetrable Mass MoCA, but the down to earth creative stuff, that's hard to find. This example requires a little depth of knowledge into Jewish culture (the short pants) classical music (Kim-Ax-Ma), The Three Tenors, Spike Jones and above all, the goddess herself, Gloria Gaynor. Disco is not dead, it's just resting, dear.
A trip to the Igudesman & Joo website will open up a whole new world of A Little Nightmare Music and cleverness for you to enjoy.
First I was afraid I was petrified Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side But I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong I grew strong I learned how to carry on and so you're back from outer space I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face I should have changed my stupid lock I should have made you leave your key If I had known for just one second you'd be back to bother me
Go on now go walk out the door just turn around now 'cause you're not welcome anymore weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye you think I'd crumble you think I'd lay down and die Oh no, not I I will survive as long as i know how to love I know I will stay alive I've got all my life to live I've got all my love to give and I'll survive I will survive
It took all the strength I had not to fall apart kept trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart and I spent oh so many nights just feeling sorry for myself I used to cry Now I hold my head up high and you see me somebody new I'm not that chained up little person still in love with you and so you felt like dropping in and just expect me to be free now I'm saving all my loving for someone who's loving me
This blog is yours as much as mine. Working on an event of interest to the LGBTQ community? Let us know using the contact address below. Have something to add to one of our entries? Use the comment link that follows each item. We remove spam and hate comments before you see them, but otherwise moderation is minimal.
50 years in the arts and entertainment industry. A member of GLECA, the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association. Much to the chagrin of his late father, he has spent his life in the arts instead of the lifetime civil service job his parents wanted him to take.
Working for small theater companies taught him to be frugal, while time at larger institutions such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Ballet made him an expert on the inside workings of the nonprofit arts field.
During his long working life, he drew experience and paychecks from Warner Brothers, Universal International, Sweetheart Plastics, TDF, Arts Boston and many other companies.
He says: "Today I admire creative artists more than ever. They give meaning to life."
Everyone is familiar with Caravaggio and his paintings which come into play in 
