GREENWICH — Owl Pen Books will host Owloween at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28.
The event celebrates the book store’s last weekend of the season with ghost stories and spooky readings from four award-winning literary horror writers, Glen Hirshberg, John Langan, Julia Rust, and David Surface. The authors will share original stories and be available for a Q&A and signings afterward. Seasonally appropriate refreshments like cider, donuts, and wine will be served.
Glen Hirshberg’s novels include The Snowman’s Children, Infinity Dreams, The Book of Bunk, and the Motherless Children trilogy; John Langan is the author of two novels and five collections of short stories. Julia Rust is a writer and teaching artist living in the Hudson Highlands. David Surface is the author of Terrible Things, a collection of thirteen stories published by Black Shuck Books.
Owl Pen Books is a used and antiquarian bookstore in a barn on a dirt road in rural Greenwich. Founded in 1960 by Barbara Probst, it was purchased in 2022 by Sydney Nichols and Eric Kufs, who uprooted their lives in Los Angeles to move across the country to take over the regionally beloved institution.
Owl Pen Books is open seasonally from April 29 through Oct.29, Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The bookstore can be found online at www.OwlPenBooks.com and on Instagram and Facebook @owlpenbooks. It is located at 166 Riddle Rd, Greenwich.
Tenzin Choegyal, live in Saratoga Springs this weekend.
SARATOGA SPRINGS —Tibetan artist, composer, activist, musical director, and cultural ambassador Tenzin Choegyal performs with Attacca Quartet in a free concert 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14.
The event takes place at the Zankel Music Center, on the campus of Skidmore College.
Choegyal plays lingbu (bamboo flute) and dranyen (3-stringed Tibetan lute) and is best known for his extraordinary vocal ability and performance of droklu, the nomadic music of his parents. As a child, Tenzin would listen to his mother singing in the nomadic lineage, often noting her as an early influence of his passion for singing.
Recent events include the Tibet House Annual Benefit Concert – billed as Philip Glass and Friends, and GRAMMY nominated album “Songs from the Bardo” with Laurie Anderson, and Jesse Paris Smith – daughter of Patti Smith.
As a son of Tibetan nomads, Choegyal holds a particular connection to the music of the high Himalayan plateau. Forced into exile in India as his family fled the repression in Tibet, he now resides in Australia.
Yvette Molina, Elements of Care (Earth), 2023, fabric, machine-stitched and hand-embroidered thread, fabric adhesive, 45 x 24 inches, collection of the artist.
SARATOGA SPRINGS —A new exhibition, Yvette Molina: A Promise to the Leaves, opens at The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College Oct. 21.
Molina, an artist who works across media and disciplines with an emphasis on care and social justice, will make all new work for the exhibition, including a rug, a bench, textile artworks, papier mâché sculpture, and papier mâché furniture to be created in collaboration with Skidmore College students.
Molina is the fifth artist to transform the Tang Mezzanine into a community hangout space, breaking down traditional barriers between visitors and museums by inviting tactile engagement with the art and the use of the gallery for conversation and contemplation.
Over the course of the display for two years, Molina’s site-specific installation will evolve while remaining centered around the four elements—earth, air, water, fire—and a fifth constituent, the cosmos.
Molina’s exhibition will also include work by invited artists, bringing together multiple perspectives.
The exhibition will open on Saturday, October 21, at 10:30 a.m., with One Only Earth: A Grounding Ritual. The public event will include a ritual ceremony in the exhibition before moving outside to welcome the elements and create a sacred space.
Admission to the Tang is free. For more information, contact the Visitors Services Desk at 518-580-8080 or visit https://tang.skidmore.edu.
Lonesome Ace String Band. Live at Caffe Lena Friday, Oct. 20. Photo: Joel Varjassy.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Lonesome Ace Stringband bring their old-time bluegrass and folk traditions blended into original material to the Caffe Lena stage Friday, Oct. 20.
The Toronto-based trio – consisting of fiddle (John Showman), clawhammer banjo (Chris Coole), and upright bass (Max Heineman) – are on tour in conjunction with the release of their fifth album, “Try To Make It Fly.”
For more information and tickets, go to: caffelena.org
E Street planning return to South Pearl Street next April.
ALBANY — Following the postponement of previously scheduled concerts at the MVP arena in March and again in September of 2023, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band announced they will perform at the venue on April 15, 2024.
All tickets purchased for Sept. 19, 2023 date will be honored. Additional tickets are available now through ticketmaster.com.
Agatha Christie mystery brought to the live stage at Saratoga Music Hall.
SARATOGA SPRINGS —iTheatre Saratoga stages an evening of mystery, bringing Agatha Christie’s classic novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, to life on stage at Saratoga Music Hall on Broadway for an engagement that begins in late October.
The intricate plot, complex characters and unexpected twists caused a sensation when first published and marked a pivotal point in Christie’s life and career.
Premiere adaptation by Mary Jane Hansen of Agatha Christie’s brilliant work live on stage.
Performances: Oct. 27, 28, Nov. 3, 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 29, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m.
Tickets available at: itheatresaratoga.ticketspice.com/agatha-christies-the-murder-of-roger-ackroyd.
Paw-varotti, Opera Saratoga’s fall fundraiser will take place Saturday, Oct. 28.
BALLSTON SPA — Opera Saratoga presents an opera-themed pet costume party for pets and their owners from 1:30 – 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28.
The fall fundraiser, titled Paw-varotti, will be held on the outside lawn at The Pampered Pooch and Pals, located at 2134 Doubleday Ave. in Ballston Spa.
The festivities will include a costume contest and runway judged by ‘celebrity’ judges who will award prizes for the Best Opera Costume, and best cute and scary costumes, among other.
A Howl-o-ween themed concert of classical music features opera singers Carla Fisk and Maximillian Jansen (the star of Opera Saratoga’s 2023, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder) accompanied by pianist Karen Becker. The event will include photo ops, raffle baskets, seasonal bites and drinks.
Each ticket includes an operatic photo op: humans can try on costumes from Opera Saratoga’s stock, and pets receive a special Halloween portrait. Ticketed pets and owners receive entrance into the costume contest and a special ‘red-carpet moment’, where they may strut their stuff on the runway.
All proceeds will go towards Opera Saratoga’s 2024 summer season, which will be announced after the runway, with a special musical presentation. At the announcement, Opera Saratoga will raffle off a “Golden Ticket,” an all-access pass to Opera Saratoga’s Summer Festival (with a value of $450.) Kids 16 & under party for free and tickets are available for adults with and without pets.
Tickets and ticket information, available at www.operasaratoga.org/pawvarotti.
Opera Saratoga, formerly known as Lake George Opera, began with a production of Die Fledermaus at the Diamond Point Theatre on July 5, 1962, playing to an audience of 230. The Company now calls Saratoga Springs home and performs for more than 25,000 people annually. Opera Saratoga celebrates its 60th Anniversary this season. To date, the company has performed 106 different fully staged works by 66 different composers, including 42 works by American composers and 14 premiere productions. In 2023, the company hired its 10th Artistic and General Director, Mary Birnbaum.
SCHENECTADY —Tickets for Cameron Mackintosh’s acclaimed production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, LES MISÉRABLES, will go on sale 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 5 for its engagement at the MainStage at Proctors, Schenectady.
Seen by over 130 million people worldwide in 53 countries, 438 cities and 22 languages, LES MISÉRABLES is undisputedly still one of the world’s most popular musicals. To date, LES MISÉRABLES remains the 6th longest-running Broadway production of all time.
The show will play Proctors in Schenectady March 19-24, 2024.
Tickets are available starting Thursday, Oct. 5 through the Box Office at Proctors in-person, via phone at 518-346-6204 Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. or online at proctors.org. Groups of 10 or more can get their tickets by calling 518-382-3884 ext. 139.
First English edition of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, published in 1954.
ALBANY — The UAlbany Performing Arts Center in collaboration with the New York State Writers Institute present multiple events in honor of the 70th anniversary of the publishing of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.
Taking place in October and spanning the disciplines of literature, theatre and film, the celebration includes movie screenings, a stage play and complimentary book giveaways.
Kicking things off and taking place at Page Hall on the downtown University at Albany campus will be screenings of both film adaptations of the book. Offered on consecutive Fridays, each showing is free with no reservations being required. The first 25 attendees at each of the following will receive a complimentary copy of the novel.
Friday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m.: 1966 version. Directed by François Truffaut and starring Julie Christie, Oskar Werner and Cyril Cusack. The film is in color and runs 105 minutes. It is not rated.
Friday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m.: 2018 version. Directed and co-written by Ramin Bahrani and starring Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon. The film is in color and runs 100 minutes. It is rated TV-14.
The following week there will be multiple performances of the Literature to Life stage adaptation of the book. The public performance will take place on Thursday, Oct. 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown University at Albany campus. Adapted and directed by the late Wynn Handman, this verbatim stage production is performed by Rich Orlow who tells the story from the perspective of the protagonist and seamlessly transitions between the five other primary characters.
Advance tickets for the public performance are $15 for the general public and $10 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff. Tickets purchased on the day of the show are $20 for the general public and $15 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff. Individual tickets can be purchased on the UAlbany Performing Arts Center’s site at albany.edu/pac.
Unrecorded Tibetan artist, King Songtsen Gampo, 18th century, distemper on cloth, 58 ¼ x 32 ¾ inches, The Jack Shear Collection of Himalayan Art.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Tenzin Choegyal, YESH, Tenzin Phuntsog, and Palden Weinreb among artists, scholars, musicians, and poets coming to the Tang Teaching Museum in conjunction with the exhibition of Himalayan Art.
The series of talks, screenings, performances, and more are presented in conjunction with the exhibition Forms of Awakening: Selections from the Jack Shear Collection of Himalayan Art.
Forms of Awakening presents traditional Tibetan objects from the Jack Shear Collection alongside work by contemporary artists of Tibetan heritage. Together, the work reveals how such objects can transform our perceptions and awaken us to aspects of reality unnoticed in our daily lives. The exhibition is on view through Dec. 10 and is organized by Benjamin Bogin, Associate Professor of Asian Studies, Skidmore College; Rachel Seligman, Malloy Curator, Tang Teaching Museum; and Ariana Maki, Associate Director of the Tibet Center and Bhutan Initiative at the University of Virginia.
Among the highlights:
• Friday, Oct. 13, 3 p.m. Tenzin Choegyal Solo Acoustic Performance. A special solo acoustic performance by Tibetan artist, composer, activist, musical director, and cultural ambassador Tenzin Choegyal in the exhibition Forms of Awakening. This event precedes his performance with two-time Grammy Award winners the Attacca Quartet at the Arthur Zankel Music Center on Saturday, Oct. 14.
• Monday, Oct. 16, 6 p.m. Whole Grain Experiments in Film & Video: Four Films by Tenzin Phuntsog. Phuntsog is a Tibetan-American artist living and working between San Francisco and New York and working with film, installation, multi-media, and performance. The screening will feature four of his films made between 2010 and 2023. His work is also on view in Forms of Awakening.
• Thursday, Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m. Dunkerley Dialogue with Tenzin Phuntsog & Mary Kate Donovan. Artist Tenzin Phuntsog, whose work is on view in the exhibition Forms of Awakening, will be in conversation with Mary Kate Donovan, Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of Media and Film Studies.
• Saturday, Oct. 21, 4 p.m. Gallery Talk. Join Benjamin Bogin, Associate Professor of Asian Studies, Rachel Seligman, Assistant Director for Curatorial Affairs and Malloy Curator, and Ariana Maki, Associate Director of the Tibet Center and Bhutan Initiative at the University of Virginia, and exhibiting artist Palden Weinreb for a tour of the exhibition. The Fall Opening Reception take place at 5 p.m.
• Thursday, Nov. 16, Noon. Curators’ Tour.
• Saturday, Dec. 2, 6 p.m. Continuum: Solo Performances by Techung and YESH. Reflecting the pairing of traditional and contemporary visual art in Forms of Awakening, Continuum features solo performances of traditional Tibetan music by Techung and contemporary Tibetan music by YESH.
The exhibition, Forms of Awakening, celebrates a recent shared gift of over sixty Himalayan art works from Jack Shear to The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum, The Williams College Museum of Art, and the Frances Lehman Loeb Center at Vassar College.
For more information, call the Tang Visitors Services Desk at 518-580-8080 or email tang@skidmore.edu. For the latest information, visit https://tang.skidmore.edu.
