In the harsh light of summer, Florida’s cultural offerings mostly whither and dry up. Truth is, Florida is not alone. Cultural meccas like New York, LA, Chicago – they all slow down in the summer.
The action is in the hinterlands – the summer places – like the beautiful section of Western Massachusetts called the Berkshires.
Just before Labor Day, a group of friends descended on a rambling, summer house – built in the late 1700s before there even was a Florida – for an extra-long weekend of swimming, cooking and seeing shows.
The Berkshires in the summer brims with theater, orchestral music, folk, acoustic, and dance. We only had a few days but here’s a sampling of what we saw and heard:
SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY: This is always my favorite stop during a Berkshires visit. The company produces plays by the Bard along with more contemporary work in a farm-like setting near Lenox.
We were here for a one-man show called Satchmo at the Waldorf, starring John Douglas Thompson. Thompson was dubbed “the best stage actor of his generation” by the New York Times a few months ago.
He played a profane and funny Armstrong, in his dressing room after a late-career gig at the Waldorf. He also became Armstrong’s mob-connected manager, Joe Glaser, and at other times, Miles Davis, who had accused Armstrong of being an Uncle Tom.
Terry Teachout, who wrote the recent Armstrong bio – Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong – adapted the play from his book.
It was powerful stuff, with Armstrong looking back at a magical career, but finding himself shunned by black audiences and undercut by the manager he thought was a friend.
As Thompson moved effortlessly through the characters, the intimate stage was always filled with life and music.
THE GUTHRIE CENTER: This was a new find for us this summer. The Guthrie Center, named for it’s owner, Arlo, who made this former Trinity Church famous in the ‘60s as the place where Alice lived when she wasn’t running her namesake, Stockbridge restaurant.
Along with such ‘60s events as “A Global Sound Meditation,” and a Thursday night Hootennanny, the place is a haven for acoustic troubadours during the summer. The list included Christine Lavin, Tom Chapin, John Gorka and the Saturday night we stopped in – Lucy Kaplansky.
Kaplansky, who I first heard on WMNF, started slow but by her second set was owning the place, with beautiful versions of Springsteen’s Thunder Road and Loudon Wainwright’s Swimming Song.
The walls of the center, with pictures of the Guthrie Family and Woody’s lyrics on yellow legal pads, is worth the trip.
TANGLEWOOD: On a Labor Day Sunday afternoon at the lawn and the shed at this outdoor music mecca were filled for an American Songbook show, featuring Michael Feinstein, along with Broadway stars Betty Buckley and Christine Ebersole.
The show had two great surprises for this St. Pete guy.
The first, was the inaugural appearance at Tanglewood by Thomas Wilkins, the former resident conductor of the Florida Orchestra. He was leading the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra with his usual charm and style.
Then, after two sets that included riveting versions of Leonard Bernstein’s Somewhere from West Side Story and lots of Gershwin and Mercer, Feinstein brought out a surprise guest – Liza Minelli. She didn’t sing too much on a rousing version of New York, New York, but she tossed off a couple of signature Liza dance moves and drew a pair of standing ovations from the crowd.
That was all we could pack into a long weekend, since we also had to check out the great restaurants, do some hiking, and throw a house-party or two.
After that, it was up to the Adirondacks where you go for the nature, not the culture. Fall hiking up here is a beautiful as it gets – the leaves are turning, the bugs are gone and the wind is pushing through the tall trees.
Today, I’m looking out at a beautiful lake while wearing a sweater since the daytime temps are in the 50s. A neighbor girl stopped by to warn us – “It’s going to get down to freezing tonight!”
For a Florida boy in early September, those are very beautiful words.
I’ll be back later this week and hope to see you on Friday night for our season kickoff concert – Jazz Samba! It won’t feel like fall, but culturally, St. Pete is starting to heat up!
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