Mahaiwe Announces Additional Shows

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.—The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center has added four shows to its year-round schedule this fall: comedian Josh Blue on October 3, jazz guitarist Pat Metheny on October 4, satirist David Sedaris on October 5, and hip-hop dance company Rennie Harris Puremovement on October 18. 
 
Josh Blue 
Stand-up comedian Josh Blue will bring his Beserker Tour to the Mahaiwe on Friday, October 3 at 8 p.m. After his groundbreaking win on Last Comic Standing in 2006, Josh Blue has risen through the ranks to become a well-established headliner at venues throughout the world. In 2018, Josh crushed his set on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In the same year, he was honored with a performance at the William H. Macy Gala at the prestigious Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Canada. He wrapped up 2018 by recording his fifth hour special, Broccoli, at his home club, Comedy Works in Denver, Colo. In 2021, following his 3rd place finish on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, Josh Blue hit the road with his As NOT Seen on TV Tour. Josh does over 200 shows a year, continuing to spread laughter and break down stereotypes of people with disabilities. His stand-up routine is in a constant state of evolution, and his off-the-cuff improvisational skills guarantee that no two shows are alike.  
Tickets are $29 to $45 with discounts for Mahaiwe Members and individuals ages 30 and under.  
 
Pat Metheny 
Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny returns to the Mahaiwe on Saturday, October 4 at 8 p.m. A 20-time Grammy Award-winner in 10 different categories, Metheny will give an intimate concert like no other Metheny performance before. Playing over a dozen guitars, Metheny offers songs from his past and recent recordings, Dream Box and MoonDial, all given further dimension by the rare storytelling Pat shares with the audience.  
Over the years, Metheny has won countless polls as "Best Jazz Guitarist" and awards, including three gold records for (Still Life) Talking, Letter from Home, and Secret Story, in addition to his Grammys. In 2015 he was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame, becoming only the fourth guitarist to be included (along with Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery) and its youngest member. In 2018 he was named an NEA Jazz Master, the nation's highest honor in jazz, awarded to the recipients "for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz."  
 
Metheny has performed at the Mahaiwe three times before, most recently in 2022 to a sold-out audience.  
Tickets are $44 to $89 with discounts for Mahaiwe Members and individuals ages 30 and under.  
 
David Sedaris 
Author and satirist David Sedaris returns to the Mahaiwe on Sunday, October 5 at 4 p.m. David Sedaris is one of America’s pre-eminent humor writers. He is a master of satire and one of today’s most observant writers. Beloved for his personal essays and short stories, David Sedaris is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Barrel Fever, Holidays on Ice, Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, and Calypso.  
 
There are over 16 million copies of his books in print, and they have been translated into 32 languages. He has been awarded the Terry Southern Prize for Humor, Thurber Prize for American Humor, Jonathan Swift International Literature Prize for Satire and Humor, Time 2001 Humorist of the Year Award, as well as the Medal for Spoken Language from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In March 2019 he was elected as a member into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2020 the New York Public Library voted Me Talk Pretty One Day one of the 125 most important books of the last 125 years. 
 
Sedaris has performed at the Mahaiwe four times before, most recently to a sold-out audience in 2019.  
Tickets are $26 to $73, with discounts for Mahaiwe Members and individuals ages 30 and under. 
 
Rennie Harris Puremovement 
Dance company Rennie Harris Puremovement will bring its Nuttin’ but a Word program to the Mahaiwe on Saturday, October 18 at 1 p.m. Celebrated choreographer Rennie Harris returns to the Mahaiwe to lay down his three laws of hip-hop: individuality, creativity, innovation. Here to expose the essence of their art form with unmatched subtlety and surprise, the indefatigably disciplined dancers of Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater command the stage with a mixtape of moves from b-boying to Campbell locking to house. Every step tells a story in sync with the rhythm, honoring hip-hop’s roots while raising the bar to new heights. You can try to shout ’em down, but you ain’t said Nuttin’ but a Word. 
 
Rennis Harris Puremovement was founded in 1992. To date Harris has been awarded 3 Bessie Awards, 4 Alvin Ailey Black Choreographers Award for Rome & Jewels, an Ethnic Dance Award, and the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts for choreography. 
 
The dance company will also perform an educational program, The History of Hip Hop, to local students on Friday, October 17.  
 
Rennie Harris Puremovement last visited the Mahaiwe in 2011.  
Tickets to Nuttin’ but a Word are $25 to $59 with discounts for Mahaiwe Members and individuals ages 30 and under.  
 
Tickets 
Tickets go on sale to Mahaiwe Members on Wednesday, June 11 at noon, and to the public on Friday, June 13 at noon. Tickets can be purchased online at mahaiwe.org, or by calling or visiting the Box Office, 413-528-0100, on Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.   
 
To learn more about Mahaiwe Membership, contact Brenna Hull at 413-644-9040 x107 or brenna@mahaiwe.org, or visit mahaiwe.org/membership
 
Individuals ages 30 and under are eligible for $15 youth tickets. Visit the Box Office or call 413-528-0100 Wednesday through Saturday, from noon to 4 p.m.

 

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Reps. Leigh Davis, Bud Williams Filing Legislation Honoring Freeman

SHEFFIELD, Mass. — State Reps. Leigh Davis of the 3rd Berkshire District and Bud L. Williams, of the 11th Hampden District, are filing legislation establishing Aug. 22 as Elizabeth Freeman Day of Equality, Healing, and Remembrance in the commonwealth.
 
The legislation would direct the governor to annually issue a proclamation recognizing the courageous contributions of Elizabeth Freeman, an enslaved Black woman known as Mum Bett, whose landmark freedom suit helped spark the legal end of slavery in Massachusetts.
 
"Elizabeth Freeman's story began here in the Berkshires, but its impact reached every corner of the commonwealth," said Davis. "More than two centuries later, her legacy continues to inspire us. Establishing Elizabeth Freeman Day will ensure that future generations learn not only about her extraordinary bravery, but also about the power of one person to change the course of history."
 
In 1781, Freeman, of Sheffield at the time, challenged the institution of slavery by filing suit against her enslaver, Col. John Ashley. In the landmark case Brom and Bett v. Ashley, a Berkshire County jury ruled in favor of Freeman and her fellow plaintiff, Brom, granting them their freedom. The case demonstrated the power of the Massachusetts Constitution's declaration that all people are born free and equal and helped pave the way for the Quock Walker decisions that ultimately ended slavery in the commonwealth. 
 
"Freeman's courage changed the course of history in Massachusetts," said Williams. "At a time when the odds were stacked against her, she stood up and demanded that the promises of liberty and equality contained in our Constitution apply to her as well. She risked everything to challenge an unjust system, and her victory helped lay the foundation for the end of slavery in our commonwealth. Her legacy deserves to be recognized and remembered by every resident of Massachusetts."
 
Although unable to read or write, Freeman understood the meaning of freedom and equality and took extraordinary action to secure those rights for herself and others. Her story remains one of the most powerful examples of individual courage in the face of injustice. 
 
Elizabeth Freeman Day will provide an opportunity for reflection, education, healing, and remembrance, said Williams. 
 
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