Bess Hochstein – Splash Magazines

Review: Blues for an Alabama Sky brings today’s hot topics to a steamy summer in Depression-era Harlem

July 30, 2023 Bess Hochstein 0

It’s the summer of 1930, and it’s hot and sultry uptown, with the Harlem Renaissance in full swing. The Depression is taking its toll, and everyone is dreaming of something big. Guy, a costume designer, […]

Review: Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart returns to Jacob’s Pillow with a powerful, winning program

July 27, 2023 Bess Hochstein 0

When I received the much-anticipated press release outlining this summer’s Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the program that most jumped out at me as a “must-see, don’t miss” was Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart. […]

Opening weekend at Tanglewood brings stellar, diverse performances from A to Z

July 11, 2023 Bess Hochstein 0

After a jam-packed schedule of performances by popular artists—including the Steve Miller Band, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello and the Imposters, and the perennially sold-out James Taylor shows on the third and fourth […]

Review: Dutch National Ballet shines in its Jacob’s Pillow debut

July 8, 2023 Bess Hochstein 0

This week, the Dutch National Ballet performed for the first time ever at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and from the Ted Shawn Theatre stage, high on a mountaintop at this fabled cultural mecca in Becket, […]

Review: Elvis Costello and The Imposters at Tanglewood with opener Nick Lowe

July 4, 2023 Bess Hochstein 3

The one and only time I had seen Elvis Costello live before his debut performance at Tanglewood’s Koussevitzky Shed on July 1 was during his debut performance on Saturday Night Live in 1977. I was […]

Review: At Jacob’s Pillow, Mark Morris pays homage to Burt Bacharach with “The Look of Love”

July 1, 2023 Bess Hochstein 0

The Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival’s 91st season opened on June 30 with the return of Mark Morris Dance Group. In her welcoming remarks, artistic and executive director Pamela Tagte noted that MMDG has appeared at […]

Wait Wait! NPR’s news quiz show opens Tanglewood with celebrity Karen Allen

June 27, 2023 Bess Hochstein 0

Summer is here in the Berkshires. But not because of the calendar, or even the steamy weather; it’s all about the culture. Local theaters and museums are now running on all cylinders, and finally Tanglewood, […]

Review: “Photograph 51” at Berkshire Theatre Group focuses on the obscured story of Rosalind Franklin

June 24, 2023 Bess Hochstein 0

Telling the stories of women overlooked by history has become a popular genre of literature, theater, and film. Photograph 51, a 2008 drama by award-winning playwright Anna Ziegler, falls within a subcategory of this genre: […]

Review: Barrington Stage Company’s “Cabaret” is a riveting spectacle and a cautionary tale

June 23, 2023 Bess Hochstein 0

In Barrington Stage Company’s stunning new production of Kander and Ebb’s beloved Tony Award-winning musical Cabaret, the audience gets its “willkommen” while filing into the lobby of the Boyd-Quinson Stage in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Atop the […]

Review: World Premiere of “The Happiest Man on Earth” at Barrington Stage Company

June 16, 2023 Bess Hochstein 0

On the verge of summer, the Berkshire cultural season is already off to a strong start, heavy on true stories and real people brought life on the stage. Barrington Stage Company’s entry into this category […]