SARATOGA SPRINGS — One year after battening down the hatches in response to the oncoming 2020 pandemic, area performance venues are starting to piece together their plans for reopening. 

“The one-year anniversary of shuttering the venue, with no clear end in sight – but then came the sudden news that performing arts venues in New York State are allowed to re-open at 33% capacity on April 2,” said Caffè Lena Executive Director Sarah Craig, in a posting on the venue’s website. “It means we can stop treading water and we can start swimming toward a goal.” 

The café plan is to reopen April 2 with safety protocols in place. While guidance would allow 35 people at the venue, the capacity will be limited to an audience of 24. 

“We won’t serve food and drink yet. That means masks can (must) stay on from entry to exit,” Craig said. “We’re getting the air filter systems that we didn’t think we’d need ’til September. Even so, we’ll keep the windows open a little. Wear a sweater.”

 Caffè Lena first opened in May 1960 as a small beatnik coffeehouse, Bob Dylan first visited the club in 1961 and played a full weekend of shows for which he was paid a total of $50. Appearances by Rosalie Sorrels brought admirers like Hunter S. Thompson and William Kennedy to the venue, and in the fall of 1965, Don McLean made his first of his many appearances at the café.

In the 12 months since everything shut down, the café counts 209 livestreams it had broadcast and $100,000 raised for musicians.    

In the meantime, Lenas continues to broadcast a slew of productions via its online platforms. For more information, go to: caffelena.org. 

“We’re at the beginning of the end,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, during his March 9 presser. “The end is the vaccine. The vaccine is the weapon that wins the war. It’s going to still be an annoying few months, but we’re getting there.”   

Plans are also underway at the 700-seat theater-in-the-round space at Universal Preservation Hall (UPH).

“We will open the hall in July for the School of the Performing Arts for Kids – a rock music camp for middle-schoolers, and our goal is to become an exhibit hall in the summer,” says Teddy Foster, campaign director at UPH. 

“I don’t know what April will bring, so right now we are holding tight, but we will be doing another exhibit this summer – which was our plan all along, to become an exhibit hall in the summer and put on really cool, family-friendly exhibits which will also help draw people downtown.”

Last year’s interactive summerlong exhibition featured music-themed pinball machines and memorabilia from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame that featured artifacts used by everyone from Dolly Parton to Alice Cooper.   

“Even in the middle of the pandemic last summer our pinball exhibit brought in 2,000 people,” Foster says. In “normal” times, UPH anticipates it will serve an estimated 65,000 visitors per year, with a $3.5 million annual economic impact as a year-round venue space, according to a statement issued in 2018, 

The building was erected in 1871 and served as a Methodist church for its first 100 years, as well as playing a role in the city’s civic life by providing a venue for visiting statesmen including Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, William Jennings Bryan and Frederick Douglass. But by the 1960s, it had fallen on hard times. Local preservationists organized a nonprofit group and helped save the structure. More recently, Foster oversaw an operating alliance created with Proctors, and a $13.5 million renovation project that followed was celebrated with a fabulous opening night performance featuring Rosanne Cash last Feb. 29 to re-christen the grand hall.

This coming summer’s exhibition, which Foster didn’t identify by name, is currently being negotiated and anticipated to open in late July for a display that will be active for a number of months. When the venue does reopen to the public, everything will be staged in a safe manner, Foster says. “One of the things that makes UPH so safe to be in is we have an extremely high-tech HVAC system and we clean like maniacs, so people will be able to come into our building with confidence because it’s safe.”    

For more information about UPH, go to universalpreservationhall.org. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — An online town hall style discussion with arts leaders will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9. The topic will be Performing Arts, and the conversation will address community impact, accessibility, and new ideas for Saratoga. Free and open for community participation. The Zoom link is: skidmore.zoom.us/j/97421919818.

BOLTON LANDING — The Sembrich has announced the schedule for “Nature & Music,” its all-outdoor 2021 Summer Festival. 

This year, visitors will gather under a performance tent on The Sembrich’s beautiful lakeside property to explore the enchanting mix of nature and music in an all-outdoor series. Events include a variety of musical and artistic traditions, including opera, chamber music, folk music, and Shakespearean theater, all performed against the backdrop of Lake George and the Adirondack Mountains. 

“A year without live music – this past year has been like no other,” says Suzanna M. Bernd, The Sembrich’s Executive Director, in a statement. “The Sembrich is looking forward to hosting the return of live music to Bolton Landing.  Audience members’ and performers’ safety is paramount in our hearts and minds, so we will have social distancing and other protections in place.” 

Concertgoers are welcome to bring their own portable folding chairs or use those provided by The Sembrich. Health and safety regulations prescribed by the CDC and the State of New York will be strictly enforced. 

Highlights of the outdoor 2021 Summer Festival include: The Alfred Z. Solomon Masterwork Series, The Touba Family Foundation World Music Wednesday Concerts, A Beethoven Gala, Music for the Great Outdoors, and Rowing by Moonlight, among others. 

 The Sembrich is located at 4800 Lake Shore Drive, Bolton Landing. For more information, visit www.TheSembrich.org call 518-644-2431 or email: Office@TheSembrich.org.

Nature & Music Calendar of Events

Sunday, June 13 @ 3 p.m. Young Performers’ Showcase
Monday, June 21 @ 7:30 p.m. Film: Crescendo (2019)
Monday, July 5 @ 7:30 p.m. Film: Brasslands (2013)
Wednesday, July 7 @ 2 p.m. Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band
Saturday, July 10 @ 6 p.m. The Lark Ascending: Violin and Nature
Saturday, July 17 @ 2 p.m. Rowing by Moonlight with Composer Peter M Wyer
Monday, July 19 @ 7:30 p.m. The Cunning Little Vixen (2003) 
Wednesday, July 21 @ 10 a.m. & 2 p.m. Seagle Festival Children’s Opera: The Three Bears
Saturday, July 24 @ 6 p.m. Front Porch: The Living Earth
Wednesday, July 28 @ 2 p.m. Moscow Nights
Monday, Aug. 2 @ 7:30 p.m. Film: The Maestro (2018)
Wednesday, Aug. 4 @ 6 p.m. Under the Mulberry Tree
Saturday, Aug. 7 @ 6 p.m. Music for the Great Outdoors
Wednesday, Aug. 11 @ 2 p.m. Nature, Our Gentlest Mother
Sunday, Aug. 15 @ 6 p.m. Call of the Wild: Horns of The Philadelphia Orchestra
Monday, Aug. 16 @ 7:30 p.m. Film: Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles (2019)
Wednesday, Aug. 18 @ 2 p.m. The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc
Saturday. Aug. 21 @ 6 p.m. Songs to the Moon: Mad Scenes, Love Songs and Other Lunar Events

Wednesday, Aug. 25 @ 2 p.m. & 3 p.m. Under the Greenwood Tree: Shakespeare in Nature

Saturday, Aug. 28 @ 6 p.m. A Beethoven Gala

Monday, Aug. 30 @ 7:30 p.m. Film: Blinded by the Light (2019)

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College presents acclaimed artist Nick Cave – who will deliver the fourth annual Winter/Miller Lecture online – at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 11. The event is free and open to the public. Register via Zoom.

Cave, a Chicago-based artist, creates works that span the visual and performing arts, with sculpture, textiles, sounds, and movement. His well-known Soundsuits blend sculpture, fashion, and performance, evoking ceremonial garb while also concealing race, gender and class. Soundsuit performances have occurred at venues across around the world, including in Chicago, Detroit, Hong Kong, New York, Sydney, Australia, and at the Tang for the Museum’s grand opening celebration in fall 2000.

Last month, a controversy involving Cave’s “Truth Be Told” was resolved in the artist’s favor. His 25-foot banner that spells out “Truth Be Told” was on the façade of The School, an art space in Kinderhook, owned by New York City gallerist Jack Shainman, leading up to and after the 2020 election season. 

The village mayor had demanded the work be taken down, calling it a sign that violated village codes. The zoning board, however, voted unanimously that “Truth Be Told” is a work of art.

This online event is free and open to the public. You may register now for the Zoom event at skidmore.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UVLxxgz3R2KJ18nJXAGnxw. 

For more information, call the Tang Visitor Services Desk at 518-580-8080 or visit tang.skdimore.edu.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College invites the public to a stellar series of online talks, including the fourth annual Winter/Miller Lecture with acclaimed artist Nick Cave, who will be in conversation with the 2020-21 Eleanor Linder Winter ’43 Intern Nathan Bloom ’21.

• Monday, March 1, 12:30 p.m.: Artist talk, in collaboration with GW202: Lived Feminism, with Endia Beal, whose work from the Tang collection is featured in Never Done: 100 Years of Women in Politics and Beyond. More info: https://tang.skidmore.edu/calendar/1403-artist-conversation-with-endia-beal 

• Tuesday, March 9, 7 p.m.: Saratoga Springs Arts Commission Town Hall on Performing Arts with Lisa Kolosek, Independent Curator, and Jason Ohlberg, Professor of Dance, who will moderate a community discussion with arts leaders about the current state of performing arts in the city. More info: tang.skidmore.edu/calendar/1333-saratoga-springs-arts-commission-performing-arts 

• Thursday, March 11, at 7 p.m.: The fourth annual Winter/Miller Lecture features acclaimed artist Nick Cave. The Missouri-born artist and educator will be in dialogue with the 2020-21 Eleanor Linder Winter ’43 Intern Nathan Bloom ’21. More info: tang.skidmore.edu/calendar/1402-winter-miller-lecture-nick-cave 

• Friday, March 12, Noon: Dunkerley Dialogue on the exhibition Energy in All Directions with poet Forrest Gander, artist Kay Rosen, and Skidmore Professor April Bernard. More info: tang.skidmore.edu/calendar/1405-dunkerley-dialogue-with-kay-rosen-forrest-gander-and-april-bernard 

All events will be online and are free and open to the public. For more information, please visit the Tang website at tang.skidmore.edu.

Soundsuit by artist Nick Cave in the exhibition Affinity Atlas, Tang Teaching Museum, 2015, photo by Arthur Evans.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Caffe Lena presents Jocelyn & Chris in a live stream at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 28. Show is free, tip jar is available. For more information about all Caffe Lena events, go to: caffelena.org.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Congregation Shaara Tfille and The Jewish Community Center of Saratoga Springs will host a virtual reading of Shylock at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 7. 

Written by the Canadian playwright Mark Leiren-Young, the reading features Lary Opitz followed by a session of Question and Answers.

Shylock is a one character, one act play that has been produced at theatres and Shakespeare Festivals throughout the U.S. and Canada. It focuses on Jon Davies, a Jewish actor who had played Shylock in a production of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.  Jon addresses his audience at a “talk back” session after the play is closed abruptly due to controversy over the play’s alleged anti-Semitism.  This dramatic reading is presented with the permission of the playwright and through an arrangement with Actors’ Equity Association.

Open to the entire community, the production is complimentary, but donations are encouraged to benefit Congregation Shaara Tfille and The Jewish Community Center of Saratoga Springs. 

Congregation Shaara Tfille is an egalitarian Conservative congregation that welcomes all Jews, inter-faith families and the LGBTQ community. 

For reservations and more information, contact bopitz@skidmore.edu or call 518-428-2703 before to March 6. A link will be emailed prior to the performance.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Russell Banks, twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, will discuss his new novel, “Foregone,” in a Northshire Live event, 7 p.m. on Friday, March 5. 

Book blurb: “Foregone” is famed Canadian American leftist documentary filmmaker Leonard Fife, one of sixty thousand draft evaders and deserters who fled to Canada to avoid serving in Vietnam. Fife, now in his late seventies, is dying of cancer in Montreal and has agreed to a final interview in which he is determined to bare all his secrets at last, to demythologize his mythologized life.

Tickets are required and the event will be presented Live on Zoom. For more information, go to: northshire.com. 

Northshire Bookstore Saratoga is open 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily, and is located on Broadway in Saratoga Springs. 

Upcoming literary events include: Richard Alther in conversation with William Kennedy on Thursday, March 11, and a virtual event featuring Arianna Huffington on April 1.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College has received a gift of 24 contemporary artworks from the collection of Michael O. and Sirje Helder Gold. 

The gift includes works created in the 1990s and 2000s by a diverse group of leading and emerging artists, including Louise Bourgeois, Sean Duffy, Naomi Fisher, Iva Gueorguieva, Michelle Grabner, Carol Hepper, Steve Roden, Jonathan Seliger, Glen Seator, George Stoll, Beverly Semmes, and Barbara Takenaga.

The Golds are prominent art collectors who have lived in New York City and Los Angeles, and are known for championing the work of younger artists. Many of the paintings, photographs, and sculptures included in their gift are by artists from the West Coast and represent the Tang’s first acquisition from their oeuvre. Other works were created by artists who have been featured in exhibitions across the Tang’s twenty-year exhibition history. The gift will introduce many of these artists to new audiences, and the additions to the Tang’s growing collection will provide valuable opportunities for research and study by students and scholars from a variety of disciplines.

Now celebrating its 20th anniversary year, the Tang Teaching Museum has grown its collection to more than 16,000 objects. Numerous works from the Tang collection, including works from the Golds’ gift, are on view during its twentieth anniversary year. Energy in All Directions (through June 13) brings rarely seen artworks and new acquisitions from The Tang Teaching Museum collection together in dialogue with objects from the Shaker Museum’s extensive holdings to celebrate the life and legacy of artist and gallerist Hudson (1950–2014); Never Done: 100 Years of Women in Politics (though June 6) features work by 100 women and non-binary artists as a way of exploring the advances women have made, and still have to make, in the century since the ratification of the 19th Amendment; We’ve Only Just Begun: 100 Years of Skidmore Women in Politics (online through June 6), a companion exhibition to Never Done explores Skidmore archives to tell the stories of Skidmore women and their involvement in politics; and Nicole Cherubini: Shaking the Trees (through Sept. 11), an installation builds upon the artist’s longstanding exploration of the history of objects and space, and will juxtapose ceramic tiling, modular seating, sculpture, and works from the Tang Teaching Museum’s collection. 

The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College is a pioneer of interdisciplinary exploration and learning. The Tang building is closed to the public, due to the coronavirus, but is open online. For updates, please visit tang.skidmore.edu

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The second annual Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards – aka the Eddies Music Awards – will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. May 2 from Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga. 

The awards show has been twice rescheduled. It was originally planned to be held in front of an audience at the Proctors MainStage last spring and then was rescheduled due to the pandemic to be broadcast in December from UPH. A surge in COVID-19 cases late in 2020 resulted in further postponement. 

Scheduled performers and panelists will be announced in the coming weeks. 

The show will be broadcast live on Collaborative Studios’ Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV apps, its public access channels in Albany and Schenectady, and on YouTube and Facebook. It will be available on-demand for free after the event. 

Show highlights to include musical performances, and announcement of winners in 34 categories.  Broadcast and event details will be updated at theeddiesawards.com.