MCLA Presents! starts new season

NORTH ADAMS – The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) has announced the 2012-13 schedule for its annual performance series.

“MCLA Presents!” kicks off this Saturday at 3 p.m. at the MCLA Quad with Cuban percussionist
Pedrito Martinez and his Afro-Cuban/Afro-Beat band.

“MCLA Presents! brings artists and performers from around the world to North Adams, connecting MCLA to it surrounding community via some amazingly talented musicians, actors, dancers, poets and all those that fall in-between,” said Jonathan Secor, director of special programs and adjunct
arts management professor at MCLA.

“It’s great to go to an event like this in the quad, or in the gym during the winter, like our annual Blues and Funk Festival, and see hundreds of people dancing and having a great time – students, MCLA staff and faculty and MCLA’s neighbors,” he added. “Think of it as a great big ‘mixer’ for North Adams!”

October events expand to Pittsfield

On Oct. 4 at 8 p.m. in the MCLA Church Street Center and Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, MCLA Presents will feature internationally-renowned Irish actor Connor Lovett in a one-man performance of the novel Moby Dick.

BélO, a young, socially conscious singer-songwriter, and his band will deliver a high-energy mix of jazz, world beat, rock, reggae and Afro-Haitian traditional rhythm known as “Ragganga” to the Church Street Center on Oct. 30 at 8 p.m.

BélO will perform at MCLA thanks to Center StageSM, which brings international performing artists in dance, music and theater from Haiti, Pakistan and Indonesia to tour throughout the United States.

Two shows to wrap-up 2012

On Nov. 30, New York City’s original, award-winning comedy show “Broadway’s Next H!t Musical” comes to the Church Street Center at 8 p.m.

The only unscripted theatrical awards show of its kind, “Broadway’s Next H!t Musical” takes song suggestions from the audience, as improvisers create a spontaneous evening of music and humor. Then, the audience votes for their favorite song and watches as the cast turns it into a full-blown musical – complete with memorable characters, witty dialogue and plot twists.

On Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m., Gallery 51 will host “A Very Special Holiday Show” performed by acoustic pop duo Dala.

Multiple events return

In 2013, MCLA Presents will showcase four returning events.

The first is the eighth annual Blues and Funk Festival. On Feb. 1 and 2, MCLA’s Venable Gymnasium will be filled with the sounds of blues and funk from acts including Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Maya Azucena and New Orleans-based electronic saxophonist Khris Royal.

At the Church Street Center on March 2, the Margaret A. Hart Scholarship Concert will feature the Campbell Brothers, with guest openers Harold “Zion” Edwards and MCLA’s own Allegrettos.

Also returning is the “Sekou Sundiata Evening of Spoken Word and Poetry” on April 17; it will feature MCLA and Williams students performing their own contemporary poetry and spoken word in tribute to the late poet Sekou Sundiata.

On May 5, MCLA will present the fourth annual “PAM! Show,” an art show entirely programmed and produced by the spring 2013 performing arts management class, under the guidance of Prof. Secor.

Admission to the Seventh Annual MCLA Blues and Funk Festival are specially priced at $15 for both nights. All other ticket prices to MCLA Presents performances are $10 for general admission. Tickets for MCLA alumni are $8, $5 for staff and faculty and members and students are free.

Tickets may be reserved by calling (413) 662-5204. For more information, go to mcla.edu/presents.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on September 13, 2012. Filed under Arts and Entertainment,Community Events,Community News,Education News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry