April 15, 2003

MASS MoCA Announces Summer Season Yankee Remix: Artists Take On America

(North Adams, Mass.) Summer and Fall 2003 bring a unique look at the American experience to MASS MoCA's stage, screen, and galleries -- the American dream reimagined, reinvented, and respun by artists as diverse as Rosanne Cash, Francis Ford Coppola, DJ Mocean Worker, John Flansburgh, Thurston Moore, Rick Moody, and Joan Baez.

The summer starts with a celebration of the gallery opening on Sunday, May 25, of Yankee Remix: Artists Take on New England, MASS MoCA's exciting, if unlikely, collaboration with the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, sponsored by Altria Group, Inc. and The Porches Inn at MASS MoCA. That evening, a true American original, Rosanne Cash, takes the stage, playing her unique take on country music and treating fans to selections from the just released Rules of Travel, her first studio album in a decade. Cash in concert is co-presented by Iron Horse Entertainment Group and sponsored by radio station WRSI 93.9 in Northampton.

Summer's main stage productions feature the new rock musical People Are Wrong! on June 21. In the grand tradition of rock musicals, this hilariously clever fable written by John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants features an all-star lineup including Maggie Moore of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and David Driver of Rent. The Village Voice calls it "true musical theater, an exurban Oklahoma as much as an atheist Godspell." On August 16, DJ Mocean Worker (aka Adam Dorn) takes over the Cinema courtyard for a rave of music and psychedelic animation by maverick filmmaker Harry Smith. On Saturday and Sunday, October 11 and 12, in a co-presentation with Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, MASS MoCA hosts Philadanco. Hailing from Philadelphia, Dance Magazine says Philadanco's Dancers are "a miracle of skill and energy," while the New York Times says, "Sheer pleasure in dancing radiates from [Philadanco]." Main Stage events are sponsored by The Porches Inn at MASS MoCA and The Valley Advocate.

In addition to Cash on opening weekend, music lovers will find a vibrant array of live music at MASS MoCA this summer and fall. The Yankee Remix Festival on Saturday, July 5, is sure to be a highlight of the season with five distinctive and distinctly American bands: Jimmie Dale Gilmore, The Persuasions (doing their a cappella covers of Grateful Dead classics), The Reggae Cowboys, and Massachusetts-based Amusia and Melodrome. Tickets for the festival include daytime admission to the galleries for a look at Yankee Remix, and music starting at 6pm.

The Bang on a Can Summer Music Institute and Festival triumphantly returns from July 8 through July 26 with daily rehearsals and recitals in the galleries and across the MASS MoCA campus, and two concerts, first with Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore on Saturday, July 19, and then the festival culminating Bang On a Can Marathon on Saturday, July 26 from 4 – 10 PM where teachers, students and some of contemporary music's greats take the stage for 6 hours of exciting new music. Bang on a Can events are sponsored by The Berkshire Eagle and North Adams Transcript. Fall concerts include the legendary Joan Baez on Saturday, October 18 co-presented by Iron Horse Entertainment Group and co-sponsored by Comalli Electric, and an All Hallow's Eve revel with London's most macabre performers The Tiger Lillies on Friday, October 31.

MASS MoCA's very popular Alternative Cabaret series continues this summer -- gliding outdoors when the weather cooperates to MASS MoCA's Courtyard Café -- with intimate evenings of uniquely American stories. Polygraph Lounge kicks off the series (and the Bang on a Can Festival) on Saturday, July 12 as they lampoon all that is sacred in contemporary music to hysterical effect. Other performers include dancer Lawrence Goldhuber with When the World Smells Like Bacon and Other Works on Saturday, August 9; famed author Rick Moody on Friday, August 15; Latina American comedienne Marga Gomez on Saturday, August 23; and Boston satirist Jimmy Tingle on Friday, October 3. Club B-10 will also host one of MASS MoCA's popular work-in-progress showings, as Cynthia Hopkins of Gloria Deluxe stars in a new operetta titled Accidental Nostalgia about the pros and cons of amnesia. The Alternative Cabaret series is sponsored by Barrington Brewery and the Valley Advocate.

There's more live music to be found in MASS MoCA's live music/silent film series. First on Saturday, June 28, one of MASS MoCA's favorites, Alloy Orchestra, performs a live original score to 1928's Speedy starring Harold Lloyd. Then on Saturday, August 2, Jazz Passengers, led by sax impresario Roy Nathanson, take on 1954's Creature from the Black Lagoon performing it radio play style, taking out the sound and providing new music and dialogue while the film rolls. MASS MoCA provides retro hip specs for this 3D phenomenon. On Friday, September 26, in a co-presentation with Williams College, MASS MoCA brings Retour de Flamme with live music by pianist Serge Bromberg. On a rare visit to the U.S., Bromberg presents a collection of rescued American shorts and accompanies them on the piano. The live music/silent film series is sponsored by The Holiday Inn Berkshires.

The popular dance party series continues with two exciting bands, first a Western Swing Dance Party with Hot Club of Cowtown on Sunday, August 31, then a World Funk Dance Party with Atlas Soul on Saturday, October 4.

Classic films will light up the big screen all summer in an American outsider series which includes: Saturday Night Fever on Friday, June 27, Guys and Dolls on Friday, July 11, Rebel Without a Cause on Friday, August 1, Apocalypse Now Redux on Friday, August 8, and Gone with the Wind on Friday, August 22. Doors open one hour early for dinner and drinks before the film.

Last but not least, kids' events include Songs and Stories of Yankee Ingenuity with Steve Roslonek on Saturday June 28; Kids Can Too as part of the Bang on a Can Festival on Saturday, July 19; and New World Dance on Saturday, August 9 . Kids' events at MASS MoCA are sponsored by Berkshire Bank and radio stations WMNB/WNAW in North Adams and WSBS in Great Barrington.

Support for MASS MoCA's programming comes from The Mohawk Trail Association with funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Economic Development/Office of Travel and Tourism.

Lickety Split will open one hour before all shows, serving full dinners and snacks. Eleven, a full-service restaurant and bar on the MASS MoCA campus, is also open before and after shows. All events are rain or shine: in case of rain, events scheduled outdoors will move indoors.

Tickets to all events are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located on Marshall Street in North Adams from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M. (closed Tuesdays) through May 31. Starting June 1 the Box Office will be open from 10 A.M. until 6 P.M. daily. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or online at www.massmoca.org.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located off Marshall Street in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org