Explore Spring 2014

SPRING 2014

A TIMES UNION PUBLICATION

THINGS TO DO. PLACES TO GO.

Berkshire Collects The Berkshire Museum illuminates the passionate pursuit of collecting

plus NYC behind the scenes 路 a fresh look at Pittsburgh 路 birding in the 518 and more!

What’s In Your Backyard?

Washington County, NewYork Described by some as the Tuscany of New York, Washington

County is the perfect place to spend the day touring and the night experiencing. Whether you’re looking for adventure, arts, culture or food – a visit to Washington County should be a part of your plans. Devote the day or spend a night or two at a lovely B & B, hotel, cottage or camping without the drive and traffic.

Come for a Visit, You’ll be Glad You Did.

Historic Sites and Museums Washington County’s Historic and Heritage Sites include a number of small, well-curated museums that document the often pivotal local events that influenced regional and national history; others highlight the people who have made a mark within the county. There also are dozens of historic homes, structures and sites to explore, including four noteworthy covered bridges.

Covered Bridges Washington County is home to more covered bridges than anywhere else in New England – concentrated in one county. We have a total of four; Shushan Covered Bridge, now a museum, Buskirk Covered Bridge, Eagleville Covered Bridge, Rexleigh Covered Bridge and Rice Seed Covered Foot Bridge.

Performing Arts The rural landscape of Washington County is home to a wide variety of accomplished performing art centers and presenting organizations. From Whitehall to Cambridge to Fort Edward, you will find world class chamber music, cabaret, musical theater and theatrical performances.

Hiking and Adventure

There are numerous hiking, biking, fishing and floating opportunities throughout Washington County.

Many trails follow streams with waterfalls, offering spectacular views of the Adirondack Mountains, Lake George, Lake Champlain and Vermont’s Green Mountains. Cast a line in the legendary Batten kill or Mettawee. Opportunities are endless for easy treks or serious climbs.

Agri-tourism

Shop our Local Foods Farmers’ Markets, local food festivals and agri-tourism opportunities including U-pick and farm stands. Experience our Wine trails, distilleries and breweries.

You’re sure to find something delicious during your visit. Bring your picnic basket.

www.washingtonnycounty.com

from our hands to yours more than a store more than a pottery — a vermont tradition

a destination home style store

come see it made A MINI VACATION IN VERMONT less than an hour away

pottery made locally for 65 years OPEN EVERY DAY 324 county street bennington, vermont 800.205.8033 benningtonpotters.com

Three ways to enjoy the Park!

Publisher George Hearst III Editorial Janet Reynolds, Executive Editor Brianna Snyder, Senior Editor Genevieve Scarano, Editorial Intern

Photo by Susan Bibeau

Design Tony Pallone, Design Director Colleen Ingerto, Emily Jahn, Designers

In print

7 issues a year packed with hikes, paddles, ski treks, climbs, birding, and wildlife plus all the information you need to stay on top of the issues that shape this great Park.

Digital edition The digital version of the Explorer delivers the same material you get in print—plus the vivid presentation and exclusive features of your iPad, desktop, and laptop.

Contributing Writers Alan Bisbort, Michael Hamad, Nick Keppler, Rachel Kleinman, Stacey Morris, Gillian Scott Contributing Photographers Colleen Ingerto Sales Kurt Vantosky, Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing Kathleen Hallion, Vice President, Advertising Tom Eason, Manager, Display Advertising Michael-Anne Piccolo, Retail Sales Manager Jeff Kiley, Magazine Sales Manager Circulation Todd Peterson, Vice President, Circulation Dan Denault, Home Delivery Manager Business Nick Gagliardo, Chief Financial Officer TimesUnion.com Paul Block, Executive Producer

Online

On AdirondackExplorer.org we still give you editor Phil Brown’s blog, Outtakes, and highlights from the magazine. Through our partnership with AdirondackAlmanack.com we bring you the work of Adirondack community journalists updated daily.

Subscribe now!

AdirondackExplorer.org 1-888-888-4970

Explore is published three times per year. If you are interested in receiving home delivery of Explore magazine, please call: 518.454.5454.

For advertising information, please call: 518.454.5358.

Explore is published by Capital Newspapers and Times Union 645 Albany Shaker Road, Albany, NY 12212 · 518.454.5694 The entire contents of this magazine are copyright 2014 by Capital Newspapers. No portion may be reproduced in any means without written permission of the publisher.

Capital Newspapers is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation.

CONTENTS

In Every Issue 6 Calendar of Events » What’s happening this spring 20 Off the Beaten Path » Discover these gems in NYC 23 Just the Two of Us » Pittsburgh is a great getaway 26 Last Call » Holly Brown: Why I love Seattle

Features

Pg. 17

ART

— PHOTO COURTESY THE CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY/LAURA ERICKSON

12 The Bug For Collecting » Art and artifacts in the Berkshires MUSIC

14 Substance in Every Song » Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ novel approach to music OUTDOORS

17 Smile at the Birdie » Spring is the perfect time to try birding

On the Cover

Pg. 20

Berkshire Collects. Read the story on page 12.

— PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR/LUDOVIC BERTRON

— FROG WATERCOLOR COURTESY OF PJ BISBORT. ALL OTHER PHOTOS BY ERIC KORENMAN/COURTESY BERKSHIRE MUSEUM

ONLINE EXTRAS

(Online only at timesunion.com/explore.)

Comedienne of Comedy » Maria Bamford is funny.

And sad. And funny-sad.

Our Backyard » 5 things to do in the Capital Region.

Pg. 23 — PHOTO COURTESY FLICKR/TOM HAMILTON

timesunion.com/explore 5

calendar spring 2014 Music Classical Calyton A. Bouton High School 432 New Salem Road, Voorheesville Sat, May 3: ESYO’s Repertory and Wind Orchestras Concert. 3 p.m. Repertory Orchestra will be conducted by David Beck. Wind Orchestra will be conducted by Dr. Robert Hansbrough.

College of Saint Rose Massry Center for the Arts 1002 Madison Ave,, Albany Sat, May 17: String Ensemble with City Strings Ensemble. 3 p.m. String Ensemble will be conducted by Joseph Gumpper City Strings Ensemble will be conducted by Monica Wilson-Roach.

The Hyde Collection 161 Warren St, Glens Falls hydecollection.org (518) 792-1761 Sun, Apr 27: de Blasiis Chamber Music Series at The Hyde. 2 p.m.

The Botkin/Bullard/Wachman Trio.

Maple Hill High School 1216 Maple Hill Road, Castleton-on-Hudson Mon, May 19: ESYO’s Youth, Repertory, and Junior Percussion Ensembles Concert. 7 p.m.

ESYO’s three percussion ensembles in concert.

Palace Theatre 19 Clinton Ave,, Albany palacealbany.com (518) 465-3334 Sat, Apr 12: Albany Symphony Orchestra: Scheherazade. 7:30 p.m.

Performing Rimsky-Korsakov’s masterpiece Scheherazade and Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, and a new work by composer Chen Yi. Sat, Apr 26: Albany Symphony Orchestra: Cirque De La Symphonie. 7:30 p.m. Artists include the veterans of exceptional cirque programs throughout the world — aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers, balancers, and strongmen. Each artist’s performance is professionally choreographed to classical masterpieces and popular contemporary music in collaboration with the maestro.

6 EXPLORE

Schenectady County Community College Taylor Auditorium 78 Washington Ave,, Schenectady sunysccc.edu Wed, Apr 16: Musicians Of Ma’alwyck, Membra Jesu Nostri.

11:20 a.m. One of the Holy Week compositions of the early Baroque period, Membra Jesu Nostre musically depicts the stations of the cross.

Wed, Apr 16: School of Music Chamber Series featuring Wery & Evans Duo. 7:30 p.m. Brett Wery, clarinet/saxophone, and Mark Evans, piano, present a program of French works for woodwinds and piano. Composers include Debussy, Ibert, Gaubert, Auric, and Tansman.

Wed, Apr 23: SCCC School of Music Artist-in-Residence Michael Burritt. 7:30 p.m. Burritt is one of the world’s leading percussion soloists.

Mon, Apr 28: Hyperion Plays Wery. 7:30 p.m. The Hyperion String Quartet will present a concert of music by composer and SCCC faculty member Brett L. Wery. The program includes Wery’s Letters from Cohoes along with premieres of three new pieces including his first string quartet.

Shaker Meeting House 25 Meeting House Road, Albany albanypromusica.org (518) 346-6204 Fri, Jun 6 - Sat Jun 7: Albany Pro Musica: Pops Goes the Chorus! 7:30 p.m. Singers take to the stage with show tunes, old standards and popular songs.

This cabaret-style evening showcases APM’s individual and ensemble talents.

Troy Savings Bank Music Hall 30 Second St, Troy troymusichall.org (518) 273-0038 Wed, Apr 16: Hilary Hahn. 7:30 p.m. Two-time Grammy winner Hilary Hahn performs regularly with the world’s elite orchestras and on the most prestigious recital series across four continents.

Sat, May 3: Albany Pro Musica: Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem.

7:30 p.m. Brahms composed Ein Deutsches Requiem to comfort mourners using verses from the

Lutheran Bible,. Orchestra Pro Musica and internationally renowned soloists Maureen O’Flynn (soprano) and John Cheek (baritone) will join the chorus and guest conductor Sara Jobin.

Union College Memorial Chapel 807 Union St, Schenectady (518) 388-6000 Thu, Apr 17: Emanuel Ax. 8 p.m.

The pianist performs as part of our 42nd International Festival of Chamber Music. Ax’s inventive program will intersperse works of Brahms with new commissions by two leading young composers.

Sun, Apr 27: Brentano String Quartet. 3 p.m. Closing Union College Concert Series’ 42nd International Festival of Chamber Music.

University at Albany UAlbany Performing Arts Center 1400 Washington Ave,, Albany albany.edu/pac (518) 442-3997 Sun, Apr 27: Amanda Boyd. 7 p.m. This soprano, accompanied

by Michael Clement, presents selections from her repertoire of art song and arias.

Mon, Apr 28: Victoria von Arx. 7 p.m. The pianist performs solo works by Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy.

Sun, May 4: University-Community Symphony Orchestra. 3 p.m.

A group of students, faculty and community musicians present symphonic favorites under the direction of conductor Christopher Neubert.

Mon, May 5: The Sound of the Trumpets, the Roll of the Drums.

7 p.m. The University-Community Symphonic Band and the University Percussion Ensemble present a shared concert.

Tue, May 6: The Choral Hour. 7 p.m. The University-Community Chorale and University Chamber Singers perform.

Pop, Rock, Folk, Country and Jazz College of Saint Rose Massry Center for the Arts 1002 Madison Ave,, Albany Fri, Apr 11: An Evening with Chick Corea. 7:30 p.m. A DownBeat Hall of Famer, 18-time

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN : The Boss is back at the Times Union Center on May 13.

— AP PHOTO/HENRIK MONTGOMERY

Grammy winner, brilliant American composer and undisputed keyboard virtuoso, Chick Corea has attained living legend status.

Fri, Apr 25: Youth Jazz Ensemble and Saint Rose Jazz Ensemble. 7:30 p.m. Directed by Paul Evoskevich.

Sun, May 11: Youth and Repertory Jazz Ensembles. 3 p.m.

Youth Jazz Ensemble will be directed by Paul Evoskevich Repertory Jazz Ensemble will be conducted by Matthew Cremisio.

The Colonial Theatre 111 South St, Pittsfield, Mass. thecolonialtheatre.org (413) 997-4444 Tue, May 13: Justin Hayward. 7 p.m. Justin Hayward is best known as the singer, composer and lead guitarist for the Moody Blues. The Hayward-penned singles “Tuesday Afternoon” and “Nights in White Satin” went on to sell over 2 million copies worldwide.

The Egg Empire State Plaza, Albany theegg.org Wed, Apr 9: Goo Goo Dolls. 8 p.m. The Otis Midnight Sessions Tour will be performed in a “Story Tellers” format that enables the multi-platinum, Grammynominated Goo Goo Dolls to dig

deep into their extensive song catalog spanning their nearly 30-year history.

Sat, Apr 12: Jon Anderson. 8 p.m. Best known as the lead singer/songwriter of the legendary supergroup Yes, Jon Anderson’s solo show includes many classic songs from all across the Yes songbook and his own eclectic solo work.

Sun, Apr 13. Jesse Cook. 7:30 p.m. Canadian guitarist Jesse Cook blends exotic Spanish rumba flamenco with elements of jazz and flawless technique to create a contemporary sound that has earned a Juno Award in the Best Instrumental Album, Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s Player’s Choice Award and his own PBS television special.

Fri, Apr 25: Martin Sexton. 8 p.m.

An evening with the soulful singer and songwriter Martin Sexton.

Sat, Apr 26. The Armenian Piano Concert. 4:30 p.m. Piano Duet: Susanna Kirakosyan and Marina Abrahamyan are Armenian pianists who are teachers of piano in the Komitas Yerevan State Conservatory and Tchaikovsky Music School in Yervan, Armenia.

Sat, Apr 26: Rodrigo y Gabriela.

8 p.m. Internationally acclaimed Mexican acoustic rock guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela bring their

unique instrumental blend of metal, jazz and world music to The Egg. Wed, May 7: Neko Case. 7:30 p.m. Case, known as much for her restless musical curiosity as her clarion voice performs music from her recent Grammynominated recording The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You. Tue, May 13: Paul Potts. 7:30 p.m. Paul Potts, a shy, bullied shop assistant by day and an amateur opera singer by night became a phenomenon after being chosen for — and ultimately winning — Britain’s Got Talent.

8th Step at Proctors 432 State St, Schenectady 8thstep.org (518) 434-1703 / (518) 346-6204 Sat, Apr 12: Lou & Peter Berryman with Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen. 7:30 p.m. A night of lyrical wordplay, whimsy, harmonies and hilarity.

Fri, Apr 25: John McCutcheon.

7:30 p.m. Folk singer, storyteller and multi-instrumentalist.

Thu, May 1: Roy Zimmerman. 7 p.m. The Blue Dot Tour features funny songs about ignorance, war and greed.

The Linda WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio 339 Central Ave., Albany wamcarts.org (518) 465-5233 Fri, Apr 25: Peter Bradley Adams.

8 p.m. Adams was formerly one half of the duo, Eastmountainsouth, signed by Robbie Robertson (of the Band) to DreamWorks Records in 2002. Since then, Peter has released four solo records as well as an EP with his side project, Down Like Silver.

Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center 14 Castle St, Great Barrington, Mass. mahaiwe.org (413) 528-6415 Sat, May 3: Ani DiFranco. 8 p.m.

After 20 years in the music biz, self-described “Little Folksinger” Ani DiFranco is still technically little, although her influence on fellow musicians, activists, and indie-minded people the world over has been huge.

Old Songs Community Arts Center 37 S. Main St, Voorheesville oldsongs.org (518) 765-2815 Fri, Apr 25: Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas. 8 p.m. Scotland’s premier fiddle ambassador and California cellist present infectious melodies of Celtic Music.

Sat, May 10: Finest Kind. 8 p.m.

Remarkable folk trio from Ottawa, Canada whose exquisite harmony singing and brilliant vocal arrangements bring a fresh sense of excitement and discovery to old songs.

Fri, May 16: Ustad Shafaat Khan.

8 p.m. World-renowned Indian classical/folk musician on sitar, tabla and vocal.

Palace Theatre 19 Clinton Ave,, Albany palacealbany.com (518) 465-3334 Thu, Apr 10: Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. 7:30 p.m. Valli was catapulted into rock and roll stardom after his iconic American Bandstand performance of “Sherry” with the Four Seasons.

Alone and with the Four Seasons, Valli has produced 19 top ten hits and sold over 100 million records worldwide and had his story immortalized in the

Broadway Hit Jersey Boys.

Thu, Apr 17: BB King. 7:30 p.m.

With over 50 albums, an astonishing 18 Grammy Awards and an induction into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, B.B. King is clearly one of the greatest performers of our time.

Tue, Jun 3: Celtic Woman. 7 p.m.

The all-new stage production will celebrate Ireland and the Emerald Isles’ spellbinding Celtic heritage through an extraordinary presentation of traditional Irish anthems, pop standards and original music by Emmy®-nominated music producer, David Downes.

A Place For Folk 1221 Wendell Ave., Schenectady aplaceforfolk.org (518) 377-0002 Fri, Apr 25: Dan Berggren. 8 p.m.

Troubadour Dan Berggren sings songs of the Adirondacks and helps us celebrate Earth Month.

Proctors 432 State St, Schenectady proctors.org (518) 346-6204 Thu, May 1: Lincoln Mayorga & Sheri Bauer-Mayorga: American Snapshots. 7 p.m. A program of piano solos and jazz trios representing a core sample of American music.

Fri, May 16: John Legend. 7 p.m. John Legend has revealed several personas during his award-winning career: singer/ songwriter, musician, producer, philanthropist, entrepreneur.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center 108 Ave of the Pines, Saratoga Springs spac.org (518) 584-9330 Sat, May 24: Jack Johnson. 7:30 p.m. The folk singer-songwriter with a surfer vibe performs with Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros opening the show.

Fri, May 30 - Sat May 31: Dave Matthews Band. 7 p.m. Dave Matthews Band will wind through numerous configurations — from electric to acoustic, from full-throttle numbers featuring the entire band to more intimate moments featuring small groups of band members — including a strippeddown acoustic pairing of Matthews with guitarist Tim Reynolds.

Schenectady County Community College Taylor Auditorium 78 Washington Ave., Schenectady sunysccc.edu Tue, Apr 8: The Empire Jazz Orchestra featuring Dave Holland. 8 p.m.

Over the course of a nearly five-decade career, bassist/composer Dave Holland has never stopped evolving.

Wed, Apr 30: Schenectady County Community College Percussion & Jazz Ensembles. 7 p.m.

Thu, May 1: Schenectady County Community College Chamber Ensembles & Jazz Combo. 7:30 p.m.

Times Union Center 51 S. Pearl St, Albany timesunioncenter-albany.com (518) 487-2000 Tue, May 13: Bruce Springsteen.

7:30 p.m. The Boss is back.

Fri, May 23: Rod Stewart and Carlos Santana. “The Voice, The Guitar, The Songs” merge with these two superstars.

Sat, May 31: The Charlie Daniels Band with Bret Michaels and the Marshall Tucker Band. 7 p.m. Proceeds from the show will help benefit the construction of a Campus for Veterans in Albany.

Troy Savings Bank Music Hall 30 Second St, Troy troymusichall.org (518) 273-0038 Sat, Apr 12: Sean Rowe At Rensselaer Land Trust Benefit. 8 p.m.

Sat, Apr 19: Great Guitars. 8 p.m. Bringing together four of the leading acoustic guitarists of their generation, the Great Guitars — featuring Martin Taylor, Frank Vignola, Vinnie Raniolo and Peppino D’Agostino — continues the guitar-supergroup tradition.

Thu, May 8: The Glenn Miller Orchestra. 8 p.m. Masters of such classics as “In the Mood,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “A String of Pearls,” “Moonlight Serenade,” and “Tuxedo Junction.”

Fri, May 16: Red Molly. 8 p.m.

This female trio, whose bluegrass and folk music is spiced with lush three-part harmonies, has quickly become a local favorite.

University at Albany

UAlbany Performing Arts Center 1400 Washington Ave,, Albany albany.edu/pac (518) 442-3997

Mon, Apr 7: University-Community Jazz Ensemble. 7 p.m. The mid-sized ensemble presents popular jazz standards.

Dance The Egg Empire State Plaza, Albany theegg.org (518) 473-1845 Sat, May 10: Paul Taylor Dance Company. 8 p.m. Celebrating 60 years of choreography, Paul Taylor continues to win acclaim for the vibrancy, relevance and power of his creations performed by the company that has set the global standard for contemporary dance excellence.

Proctors 432 State St, Schenectady proctors.org (518) 346-6204 Sun, Apr 27: Shen Yun Performing Arts. 7:30 p.m. For 5,000 years divine culture flourished in the land of China. Humanity’s treasure was nearly lost, but through breathtaking music and dance, Shen Yun is bringing back this glorious culture.

partner free are set in a structure of almost unbearable power.

Capital Repertory Theater 111 N. Pearl St, Albany capitalrep.org (518) 445-7469 Sun, Apr 6 - Sat Apr 12: Gypsy: A Musical Fable. Based on the memoirs of entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee, this great American musical follows Mama Rose’s efforts to make her children vaudeville stars, and the damaging fallout that those efforts leave behind on all her relationships.

C-R Productions at Cohoes Music Hall 58 Remsen St, Cohoes cohoesmusichall.com (518) 237-5858 Thu, Apr 10 - Sun Apr 13: Sweeney Todd: School Edition.

Featuring high school students

from around the Capital Region.

The rare instance of a musical thriller, chilling, suspenseful, heart-pounding masterpiece of murderous barber-ism and culinary crime tells the infamous tale of the unjustly exiled barber who returns to London seeking revenge against the lecherous judge who framed him.

Thu, May 8 - Sun May 18: Little Shop of Horrors. A down-andout Skid Row floral assistant becomes an overnight sensation when he discovers an exotic plant with a mysterious craving for fresh blood. Soon “Audrey II” grows into an ill-tempered, foulmouthed, R&B-singing carnivore who offers him fame and fortune in exchange for feeding its growing appetite, finally revealing itself to be an alien creature poised for global domination.

University at Albany UAlbany Performing Arts Center 1400 Washington Ave,, Albany albany.edu/pac (518) 442-3997 Fri, Apr 25: ChoreoPhysics: Seeing the Science, Envisioning the Invisible. 7:30 p.m. The Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company premieres a new work inspired by physics principles and created in collaboration with physicist Keith Earle.

Stage Albany Civic Theater 235 Second Ave,, Albany albanycivictheater.org Fri, May 2 - Sun May 18: All My Sons. During the war, Joe Keller and Herbert Deever ran a machine shop that made airplane parts.

Deever was sent to prison because the firm turned out defective parts, causing the deaths of many men. Keller went free and made a lot of money. The love affair of Chris Keller and Ann Deever and the bitterness of George Deever returned from the war to find his father in prison and his father’s

GYPSY: A MUSICAL FABLE tells the story of Mama Rose (played by Mary Callanan), the ultimate stage mother, during the waning days of Vaudeville. Running through April 13 at Capital Repertory Theatre.

— PHOTO BY JOE SCHUYLER

timesunion.com/explore 7

calendar spring 2014 Curtain Call Theatre

SLOC Musical Theatre

210 Old Loudon Road, Latham curtaincalltheatre.com (518) 877-7529 Sun, Apr 6 - Sat May 3: The Price. Two estranged middle-aged brothers reunite to battle over furniture and family memories when their father dies in Arthur Miller’s rarely staged 1968 drama.

(Schenectady Light Opera Company) 427 Franklin St., Schenectady sloctheater.org 1-877-350-7378 Sat, May 10 - Sun May 18: Young Frankenstein. The production is based on the 1974 comedy film of the same name written by Brooks and Gene Wilder and directed by Brooks, who has described it as his best film. It is a parody of the horror film genre, especially the 1931 Universal Pictures adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and its 1939 sequel, Son of Frankenstein.

Palace Theatre 19 Clinton Ave,, Albany palacealbany.com (518) 465-3334 Tue, Apr 8: Tyler Perry’s Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned. 7:30 p.m. Perry’s live stage play features Cheryl Pepsii Riley and Patrice Lovely from the hit tv sitcom Love Thy Neighbor.

Proctors 432 State St, Schenectady proctors.org (518) 346-6204 Fri, Apr 18 - Sat, Apr 19: Bring it On: The Musical. Based on the film, the stage play tells the story of the challenges and unexpected bonds formed through the thrill of extreme competition.

Tue, May 6 - Sun May 11: Flashdance. Based on the smash-hit film, Flashdance tells the inspiring and unforgettable story of Alex Owens, a Pittsburgh steel mill welder by day and a bar dancer by night with dreams of one day becoming a professional performer.

Wed, May 28 - Sun Jun 8: Phantom of the Opera. Cameron Mackintosh’s spectacular new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s phenomenal musical success, The Phantom of the Opera, will make its premiere in Schenectady as part of a brand new U.S. National Tour.

Shakespeare and Company 70 Kemble St, Lenox, Mass. shakespeare.org (413) 637-3353 Sat, May 24 - Sun Aug 24: Shakepeare’s Will. Filled with song, dance, and the poetry of language, Shakespeare’s Will, set in 1616 in Stratford-uponAvon, explores the uncharted and tumultuous life of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s enigmatic wife. The woman who spent 34 years married to a genius she rarely saw finally gets to tell us her tale.

8 EXPLORE

Spa Little Theater Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs Fri, Apr 18 - Sun May 4: Boeing Boeing. It’s the 1960s, and swinging bachelor Bernard couldn’t be happier: a flat in Paris and three gorgeous stewardesses all engaged to him without knowing about each other. But Bernard’s perfect life gets bumpy when a new and speedier Boeing jet throws off all of his careful planning.

Troy Savings Bank Music Hall 30 Second St, Troy troymusichall.org (518) 273-0038 Fri, Apr 25: Broadway’s Next Hit Musical. 8 p.m. In this hysterical, unscripted theatrical awards show, master improvisers gather song suggestions from the audience and create a spontaneous evening of music, humor, and laughter.

Comedy Palace Theatre 19 Clinton Ave,, Albany palacealbany.com (518) 465-3334 Sun, Apr 27: Bill Burr. 7 p.m.

Burr is a regular with Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon and recently released his third hour-long comedy special You People Are All The Same. Bill can be seen in the Paul Feig film, The Heat alongside Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.

Mon, May 12: Eddie Izzard. 8 p.m. The man the London Sunday Times calls “The Greatest British

Stand-Up Comedian of his Generation” returns to America with his World Tour “force majeure.”

Proctors 432 State St, Schenectady proctors.org (518) 346-6204 Sat, Apr 12: Kathy Griffin. 8 p.m. Two-time Emmy award winner, six-time Grammy nominee, NY Times bestselling author, Broadway darling, 2009’s GLAAD Vanguard recipient and 2011 Trevor Project Life Award honoree Kathy Griffin once again takes the stage for a night of take-noprisoners laughs.

Fri, May 2: Nobodies of Comedy.

8 p.m. Who are these hilarious people? Nobody knows yet, but they promise to make you laugh til you cry.

Words & Ideas Russell Sage College Bush Memorial Center 65 First St, Troy Thu, Apr 10: “Preserving Community Memory.” 7:30 p.m. A talk by historian Ruth Thomasian, founder and executive director of Project SAVE of the Armenian Photograph Archives, and Sage history professor Harvey Strum, Ph.D., who has researched and organized Capital Region public history programs on the local Jewish community.

Shaker Heritage Society Meeting House Road,, Albany shakerheritage.org (518) 456-7890 Wed, May 14: The Shakers in Revolutionary America. 5:30 p.m. When the Shakers landed in New York City on August 6, 1774, the stirrings of revolution were spreading throughout the colonies. Mother Ann Lee and her eight followers set out to build a religious community in one of the most uncertain and volatile periods in American history. Join Dr. Jennifer Dorsey in exploring what the Shakers were up against when they settled outside of Albany.

Sat, May 17: Haunted History: Tri-City Paranormal Ghost Investigation Public Reveal. 5

Students of the Spendwood School of Dance of Cohoes perform at the annual WATERFORD/RIVERSPARK CANAL FESTIVAL. This year’s festival will be held on Saturday, May 10.

— PHOTO BY JOHN CARL D’ANNIBALE/TIMES UNION p.m. From phantom footsteps on the stairs to things flying off shelves, the staff and volunteers at the Shaker Heritage Society have experienced some pretty creepy events at the museum.

The Shakers were avid spiritualists who believed it was possible to communicate with the dead.

This winter, the Tri-City NY Paranormal Society conducted an investigation of four Shaker buildings. Now, they’ll reveal their findings and share some of the fascinating history of America’s first Shaker settlement.

eral George S. Patton, is the author most recently of Hell Before Breakfast, a history of American war journalism 1860-1910, from the Civil and Spanish-American wars to conflicts abroad.

University at Albany

Henry Hudson Planetarium Quackenbush Square, Albany albany.org Wed, Apr 16: Stars of the Pharaoh. Journey back in time to explore astronomy and ancient Egypt. Program followed by an Egyptian craft project. Geared for children ages 8 and olderand their families.

Thu, Apr 17: Twinkle Time.

Young sky watchers discover twinkling stars, planets, constellation pictures and sky stories inside our planetarium dome.

Geared for children ages 3-7 and their families.

Assembly Hall, Campus Center 1400 Washington Ave., Albany albany.edu/writers-inst Tue, Apr 22: Akhil Sharma, NYS Writers Institute Reading. 8 p.m.

Sharma, “a supernova in the galaxy of young, talented Indian writers” (Publishers Weekly), received the PEN/Hemingway and Whiting Writers’ Awards for his first novel, An Obedient Father.

Tue, Apr 29: Robert Patton, NYS Writers Institute Reading. 8 p.m.

Patton, historian, novelist and grandson of legendary WWII Gen-

Fairs, Festivals & Family Fun Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center

Albany Institute of History & Art 125 Washington Ave., Albany albanyinstitute.org (518) 463-4478 Sat, Apr 12 - Sat Apr 26: Art for All. 10 a.m. Bring your family to the Albany Institute and spend the day being creative.

Activities include mask making, jewelry making, coffin decoration, shabti sculpture, and linen cartouches. Crafts all take inspiration from the exhibition GE Presents: The Mystery of the Albany Mummies.

Erie Canal Lock 2 and Waterford Harbor One Tugboat Alley, Waterford facebook.com/CanalFest2013​ VillageOfWaterfordNy (518) 235-9898 Sat, May 10: 28th Annual Waterford/RiverSpark Canal Fest.

9 a.m. Held at Erie Canal Lock 2 and the Waterford Harbor. Free admission includes all-day live music, free pony rides, bouncers, face painters and more!

Vendors offer a wide variety of arts, handcrafts, and merchandise.

The Hyde Collection 161 Warren St, Glens Falls hydecollection.org (518) 792-1761 Sun, Apr 13: Discovery Day: Spring Thaw. 1 p.m. Tour and activity for all ages. See the exhibition Ansel Adams: Early Works and visit various works of art in the exhibition and collection that depict snow, ice, and water followed by a painting activity in the art studio.

Iroquois Indian Museum 324 Caverns Road, Howes Cave Sat, May 17: Early Technology Day. 10 a.m. Visitors can participate in the process of flint knapping (the ancient art of making chipped stone tools), primitive fire making. Displays of projectile points, tools and local archaeological finds. Have an artifact? Bring it with you.

Museum experts will try to identify it.

Main Street Cafe 159 N. Main St, Mechanicville (518) 664-4854 Sat, May 24: Mayfest Arts and Craft Festival. 10 a.m. Mayfest is a juried craft fair in its 29th year that features over 150 crafters and food vendors and consistently attracts over 10,000 attendees annually.

open to the public. Reservations are strongly suggested.

Times Union Center 51 S. Pearl St, Albany timesunioncenter-albany.com (518) 487-2000 Fri, Apr 18: Stars On Ice. 7:30 p.m. The greatest figures skaters in the game come together.

Washington Park Madison Avenue, Albany Sat, May 10 - Sun May 11: The 66th Annual Albany Tulip Festival. 11 a.m. Set among more than 100,000 tulip blossom, the weekend features historic re-enactments, and two days of music, arts, children’s activities, food vendors and more. Sunday’s events include the 16th Annual Mother of the Year Award. Saturday afternoon features the crowning of the Albany Tulip Queen.

Museums Albany Institute of History & Art

Meeting House Road,, Albany shakerheritage.org (518) 456-7890 Sat, May 17: Special Tour: Children in a Celibate Community. 1 p.m. You might be surprised to learn that children lived in celibate Shaker communities. Discover how children came to live with the Shakers and what life was like for the littlest members of the community. The tour will begin at the 1848 Meeting House.

125 Washington Ave,, Albany albanyinstitute.org (518) 463-4478 Thru Sun, Jun 8: The Mystery of the Albany Mummies. The largest exhibition on ancient Egypt ever presented in New York’s Capital Region. Art and artifacts from around the world and advanced medical technologies help unravel the mystery of the Albany Mummies.

Thru Wed, Apr 30: Big + Bold: Contemporary Paintings, Collage, and Sculpture from the Albany Institute’s Collection. Big size, bold color, and commanding presence characterize many works of contemporary art. Their imposing physical forms offer allurement and authority, and in some cases audacity.

Skidmore College

Berkshire Museum

Shaker Heritage Society

The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs Sat, Apr 12: Tang Museum Family Saturday. 2 p.m. Suitable for children ages 5 and up with their adult companions. The program includes a brief tour of a current Tang exhibition, followed by a hands-on art activity. Free and

39 South St, Pittsfield, Mass. berkshiremuseum.org (413) 443-7171 Thru Sun, May 11: Berkshire Collects. Berkshire Collects showcases more than 40 Berkshire County residents’ passionate pursuit of every imaginable kind of object from motorcycles to beetle specimens, antique toasters, guitars, Victorian purses,

wind-up toys, Pez dispensers, cartoons, and a host of other artifacts and memorabilia.

The Hyde Collection 161 Warren St, Glens Falls hydecollection.org (518) 792-1761 Thru Sun, Apr 20: Ansel Adams: Early Works. Forty early works by legendary master of American landscape photography, Ansel Adams, will offer a fresh look at key images by the artist from the 1920s through the 1950s.

Thru Sun, Apr 20: Photo Secession: Painterly Masterworks of Turn-of-the-Century-Photography.

Seventy-three masterworks from 1885–1936 by an international circle of painterly photographers including Steichen and Stieglitz.

Thru Sun, May 11: Winter Light: Selections from the Collection of Thomas Clark. A selection of approximately 20 winter landscape paintings from the collection of Thomas Clark. In the early twentieth century, winter scenes emerged as a major genre for American landscape painters.

Iroquois Indian Museum 324 Caverns Road, Howes Cave Sat, May 3: Opening Reception for Exhibit: Standing in Two Worlds: Iroquois in 2014.

Showcasing Iroquois art which explores contemporary issues including the environment, the digital/disposable age, the impact of national/international events and decisions and the role of tradition and community.

Mass MoCA 87 Marshall St, North Adams, Mass. massmoca.org (413) 662-2111 Thru Wed, May 26: Freedom: Just Another Word For... A visual exploration of how words and art can have multiple meanings. Featuring Xu Bing, Gonkar Gyatso, Ran Hwang, Ang Tsherin Sherpa, Long-Bin Chen, and Roger Shimomura with works gathered under the theme of freedom.

Thru Mon, Sep 1: Izhar Patkin: The Wandering Veil. This longawaited survey of works by the Israeli-born, New York-based artist Izhar Patkin takes over the museum’s largest gallery.

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tion includes painting, photography, sculpture, and installation by artists David Brooks, James Esber, Elger Esser, Anya Kielar, Julian LaVerdiere, Katy Schimert, Jonathan Seliger, and Beverly Semmes.

Thru Sun, Apr 13: Graphic Jews: Negotiating Identity in Sequential Art. A selection of graphic novels by contemporary Jewish artists that tell stories about Jews.

Thomas Cole National Historic Site

A work in progress view of Darren Waterston’s FILTHY LUCRE installation, on display through January 2015 at Mass MOCA. — PHOTO BY JANE BURNS Thru Jan, 2015: Darren Waterston: Uncertain Beauty. These luminous paintings, which seem to glow from within, transport viewers to other-worldly spaces, somewhat familiar but unhinged from a particular time or place.

Thru Jan 4, 2015: In Transit: Between Image and Object.

Artists Dike Blair, Hugh ScottDouglas, and collaborative duo Guyton/Walker paint, print, and project abstract images and patterns onto the surface of shipping crates.

Thru Feb 21, 2015: Mark Dion: The Octagon Room. Dion investigates into the blurred boundaries between art, society, and history, as well as the homogenized methods of their presentation and consumption.

New York State Museum Empire State Plaza, Albany www.nysm.nysed.gov (518) 474-5877 Thru Wed, Apr 30: Building a Collection: The E. Martin Wunsch New York State Decorative Arts Collection. The Wunsch Collection consists of over 700 pieces of furniture, paintings, silver, ceramics, and folk art crafted primarily between 1700 and 1900.

Thru Sun, May 4: New York and the First New Deal. The exhibition features two bronze busts of Franklin and Eleanor Roos-

evelt by sculptor Carolyn Palmer of Montgomery, New York.

Norman Rockwell Museum 9 Glendale Road, Stockbridge, Mass. nrm.org (413) 298-4100 Thru Sun, May 25: Wendell Minor’s America. Celebrate the artist’s extraordinary four-decade career, highlighting his 25th anniversary as a preeminent illustrator of children’s books, inspired by his love of history, art, science, and the natural world.

Thru Fri, May 9: Norman Rockwell: Humorous Tales and Little Known Facts. Celebrate Norman Rockwell’s unique brand of humor during this engaging, enlightening series exploring the artist’s adventures in illustration, with Curator of Education Tom Daly.

Thru Fri, May 2: Model Citizens.

Find out what it was like to pose for America’s favorite illustrator from Rockwell’s own models, who share their personal experiences.

The Rensselaer County Historical Society 57 Second St., Troy (518) 272-7232 Thru Sat, July 26: Hoarding History: Why the Museum Collects.

Visitors will view over 100 recent acquisitions and learn about the

process to bring new aspects of Rensselaer County’s history to the public’s attention.

Skidmore College The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs 518-580-8080 Thru Sun, Apr 13: Elevator Music 26-David Greenberger: one updown. Features over 100 short pieces by David Greenberger and his musical collaborators from over the past 20 years.

Thru Sun, Apr 13: David Greenberger: One Upon. Local artist David Greenberger explores the individuality, integrity and humanity of the elderly. Combining fragments of their conversations with music to transform the “rich language of personal poetics” into short sound pieces that give listeners a window into the minds of older people.

Thru Sun, Jun 15: Alumni Invitational 4. This exhibition celebrates the vibrant creative energy of four Skidmore graduates that span 50 years and a diverse range of mediums.

Thru Sun, Jun 1: One Work.

One Work features a selection of large-scale artwork in the Tang collection. Showcasing a range of approaches to subject matter and media, the exhibi-

218 Spring St, Catskill thomascole.org (518) 943-7465 April 30-Nov. 2: Thomas Cole & Frederic Church: Master, Mentor, Master. Opening reception May 18 3-5pm. The exhibition will be accompanied by a printed catalogue with full-color illustrations of the artworks and an essay by Dr. John Wilmerding, Sarofim Professor of American Art, Emeritus, at Princeton University.

Williams College Williams College Museum of Art 15 Lawrence Hall Dr., Williamstown, Mass. wcma.williams.edu (413) 597-2429 Thru Sun, Apr 27: Zanele Muholi. South African visual activist Zanele Muholi’s photographs and videos are intimate portrayals of black lesbians, queers, and transmen. Muholi’s work celebrates members of LGBTI communities and sheds light on the implications of being black and queer in Africa.

Thru Sun, May 18: Monika Baer.

Monika Baer, the first U.S. museum exhibition of the Berlinbased artist’s paintings and drawings, includes works created between 1990 and 2013.

Thru Sun, Jun 15: Teaching with Art: Art and Identity in the Roman Near East. Associate Professor of Classics Ben Rubin’s

course, Roman Cities in the Near East, extends into WCMA’s galleries this spring. In this latest exhibition a range of objects from a date-shaped glass flask to a mummified hand are on view for Professor Rubin’s students and museum visitors alike.

Thru Sun, Jun 8: Senior Studio Art Majors Exhibition. As contemporary as it gets, this exhibition is designed and produced by this year’s senior studio art majors in the final semester of their college careers.

Galleries The Arts Center of the Capital Region 265 River St, Troy artscenteronline.org (518) 273-0552 Thru Fri, Apr 18: The Architecture Between Us. Through her installations, photographs and drawings, artist Kim Faler introduces shifts in context, materials and perspectives, which ultimately allow her to transform the functionality of familiar objects.

Center Gallery @ the Commons 6 Clifton Common Blvd., Clifton Park (518) 383-1343 Thru Tue, Apr 29: Plein Aire Water Colors of Albany. Center Gallery @ the Commons, 6 Clifton Common Blvd., Clifton Park.

383-1343. Kevin Kuhne, master of urban paintings in watercolor, features his “sense of place” as the heart of his art.

The Foundry for Art Design + Culture 119 Remsen St, Cohoes thefoundrysite.com Thru Sun, Apr 13: Visiting Artist Series: Outstanding Upstate.

Features the work of three artists working in collage, draw-

calendar

ing, painting and installation.

Brian Cirmo, Abraham Ferraro and Robert Gullie explore a range of topics such as abstracted and surreal historical contexts, connections, and physical environments.

Rensselaer Newman Foundation The Gallery at the Chapel + Cultural Center 2125 Burdett Ave,, Troy chapelandculturalcenter.org (518) 274-7793 Thru Wed, Apr 30: Emily Dickinson’s Garden — Works for the Artists of Brunswick Center Services. Inspiration includes poetry, photography and personally experiences of the blooms of the 2013 summer season within Brunswick Center Services’ lovely Sensory Garden.

Skidmore College Schick Art Gallery 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs Thru Fri, May 2: Graphic Advocacy: International Posters for the Digital Age, 2001-2012.

Curated by Elizabeth Resnick, Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Exhibit Spaces Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center 25 Quackenbush Square, Albany albany.org (518) 434-0405 Thru Fri, Apr 25: A Selection of Recent Works by Local Artist Joseph Quandt. An exhibit of recent works that represent the artist’s exercises in form and medium over the past four years. Mr. Quandt is known in the Capital District for his long association with the New York State Theatre Institute. E

Listings compiled by the News & Information Services Department staff: Shannon Fromma, CJ Lais, Jennifer Patterson, Azra Haqqie and Bebe Nyquist. Calendars are compiled about six weeks before delivery, which is the first Sunday of April, June, September and December. To view a complete list of events, or to submit a listing, go to events.timesunion.com. For more information, call 454-5420.

timesunion.com/explore 11

art

The Bug For

Collecting Art and artifacts in the Berkshires

By Alan Bisbort » Photos by Eric Korenman/courtesy Berkshire Museum

U

pon entering Berkshire Collects, an exhibition at Pittsfield’s Berkshire Museum that showcases the collections of 40 residents of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, you may think you have stumbled upon the coolest yard sale ever held.

Then, you may think, “Holy cow! People will collect anything!”

Finally, and most importantly, it will become clear to you that these 40 so-called “ordinary” people have preserved some extraordinary cultural artifacts that would otherwise be lost to the landfills.

This latter epiphany arrives about midway through the second gallery, perhaps while staring at shelves laden with unexpectedly beautiful glass and ceramic inkwells. Turning around you discover that another “ordinary” person has assembled an extraordinary collection of (yes) oil cans — nine shelves full of them! — followed by a display case of (yes) meat grinders, then another of box cameras and another of cheerfully-colored wooden fishing decoys and another of old rotary telephones, gleaming like eels freshly

12 EXPLORE

pulled from the modernist river bottom.

On and on, Berkshire Collects blossoms out like an eBay cornucopia: a wall filled with bows (but not arrows), looking like modern sculpture; a case of sublimely beautiful Ukrainian eggs, painted and sculpted and arranged by the collector; a mountain of vintage electric guitars that will have any rock fanatic drooling; a quilt-like display of old comic books, another of small recipe pamphlets, still another of international currency (most of which puts our bills to shame).

Some of the stuff borders on kitsch (Pez dispensers, Star Wars toys, Santa Claus figures, plastic figurines of gaudily painted mutants called Dunnys, etc.), but in all 40 collections, each item has been, in mindboggling abundance, collected, preserved and lovingly arranged by a different resident of the county.

None of these people are well-known (or even seeks fame), and in all likelihood they were unknown to each other until the Berkshire Museum got the bright idea to mount such a charming and engaging show.

In all likelihood, similar shows, producing still more varied assemblages of idiosyncratic objects, could be mounted in every county in the nation.

Seen within that context, Berkshire Collects offers a window on how and why Americans develop the bug to collect and organize things. It is also the answer to every time in your life you have muttered, “You know … I better hang on to this. It could be worth something someday.”

Each of the 40 participants offers a statement about their motivations for collecting. Some are simple (“I was born a collector”) and some elusive (“I don’t seek these things out. They find me”). It seems as if 40 different motives guide the 40 different collectors in the end.

As Linda Norris, one of the curators (with Maria Mingalone and Leanne Hayden), says, “People create collections for reasons as varied as the collections themselves.

Some collectors seek out beauty; others childhood memories; and others cherish the rare and unusual.”

Speaking of the unusual, you may be stopped in

Summer

Is Coming Fast! your tracks by some collections that defy you to disbelieve what you are seeing, such as the amazingly diverse assemblage of “condom tins” (who ever really took the time to examine these ornate packages?) and the plethora of glass telephone pole insulators (you’ve seen one, you pretty much have seen them all, but displayed all together by the hundreds, they are quite impressive).

Finally, the unusual meets the mundane in one collector’s 200-plus “bottoms of paper bags.” You read that correctly. Just the bottoms of paper bags, where the manufacturer stamps its name and address, next to the little recycle logo and the date of manufacture. This collector, a woman named Gillian, points your attention to one item that may have escaped your attention. (Of course it has escaped your attention! Nobody has ever examined the bottoms of paper bags as assiduously as Gillian!). There you find, stamped toward the bottom, the name of the assembly line worker who glued this otherwise throwaway item together. The display label reads, “People ask me, ‘Why, Gill?’” and yet her reason is a humane one: “So that those makers have in some small way recognition and appreciation.” And, of course, she has a point about the anonymity, thanklessness, drudgery and, in all likelihood, physical risks of working around machinery and conveyor belts and loud noise. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself, when you get home, going through the recycle bin to look for paper bags. And, sure enough, there they are, on the bottoms: The names. They haunt you. Why not, Gill?

To suggest that the collectors are hobbyists or eccentrics would be wrong. In fact, some individual collections warrant being singled out as world-class, such as the wall full

of lithographs by the 19th-century French satirist Honore Daumier; the contemporary art collections of two county residents that include brilliant works by Walton Ford and Marc Bell; and the brass artillery shell casings that were crafted into “trench art” by soldiers in World War I (second in line in photo at left). During the frightening hours between artillery bombardments or gas attacks or suicidal charges, soldiers tinkered with the spent casings. None of the pieces are signed, and the creators in all likelihood died anonymously in the trenches, but each piece has a strange timeless beauty.

Finally, Paul Banevicius collects cartoon illustrations and autographs. And his world-class assemblage here is the sort that would bring a comics convention to a halt: personally inscribed sketches to him from Mad Magazine’s Al Jaffee, Jack Kirby, Chester “Dick Tracey” Gould, Maurice Sendak, Art “Maus” Spiegelman, Jeff “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” Kinney, Garry Trudeau, Bill “Bullwinkle” Hurtz, Charles Addams and, the piece de la resistance, one from the elusive Herge, who created Tin Tin. Banevicius wrote to all these cartoonists and told him what he was collecting and they sent him these now priceless sketches.

Displaying the doggedness of the serious collector, Banevicius did not take no for an answer. For example, he just knocked on Edward Gorey’s front door, was invited in, served tea, played with Gorey’s nine cats and left with a sketch and an autograph. “I had tea in his kitchen, surrounded by his nine cats,” he said. E

» BERKSHIRE COLLECTS , on view until May 11, 2014, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Mass., (413) 443-7171, berkshiremuseum.org

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music

Substance in Every Song Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ novel approach to music

By Michael Hamad » Photo by Laure Vincent Bouleau

A

show by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, a 12-member ensemble from Los Angeles, is part revival, part circus, smidges of campy musical theater here and there and some street-corner vaudeville thrown in, sort of like Jesus Christ Superstar performed by the Brian Jonestown Massacre. (On a train platform.)

This is a big group we’re talking about, with lots of moving parts. “Edward Sharpe” does not actually exist; the band gets its name from a fictional messianic figure, conjured up and adopted as a persona by singer-songwriter Alex Ebert some years back when he was working on a novel. It’s not quite a revolvingdoor band (as some have suggested) but members have certainly come and gone over the years. Others play a role in the Zeros rivalling Ebert’s (singer Jade Castrinos, for example, who sings lead on some songs, is Ebert’s foil). Their music is both tightly ar-

14 EXPLORE

ranged and improvisational, if that’s possible. Some songs, such as the six-minute “Let’s Get High!” (on love, people), are multi-part epics, and some — the Phil Spector-worthy “Life is Hard,” or the fingersnapping, bass-and-organ driven “In the Summer” — are comparative miniatures. Ebert’s husky voice and minstrel/preacher charisma waste little time grabbing your attention, while the band — a small army, really — backs him with a heady mix of retro soul, gospel and indie folk.

The Magnetic Zeros will open for Jack Johnson when he kicks off the rock concert season at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Saturday, May 24. Not surprisingly, they’ve found kindred spirits in newer Americana acts, including Grammy winners Mumford and Sons and Old Crow Medicine Show. The three groups joined forces in 2011 for the Railroad Revival Tour, captured by director Emmett Malloy in the

documentary Big Easy Express. The Zeros also hosted their own multi-day, Flaming Lips-worthy music festival called Big Top last October at Los Angeles State Historic Park, holding court under a circus tent along with a dozen same-spirited bands. For fans, it was a chance to get freaky, and maybe regain some lost sense of community. The band, meanwhile, got to see how their music would hold up in an extended-residency situation, to measure subtle variations from show to show, the vibe of different crowds in the same venue from night to night, to witness the unique energy of a moment in time without running from city to city.

“That was an unforgettable experience,” says band member Christopher “Crash” Richard, who spoke to EXPLORE by phone from Los Angeles. Crash joined the group three years ago as a singer and percussionist.

Big Top reminded him of rodeos he attended as a kid.

» EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS (opening for Jack Johnson), May 25, $34.50-$64.50, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, 800-745-3000, spac.org “It was a chance to really get your fingers in the ground,” he says, “to throw a big show.”

Edward Sharpe’s music, Crash says, will sometimes arrive all at once, fully formed. Other times, arrangements are fleshed out when the band plays through Ebert’s bare bones. Sometimes — often, actually — the process is chaotic, “like the sea, and it’s rough seas, sometimes. It’s ever-changing, unpredictable. In some ways, you have to put your feelings [about a song] aside, because you never know where it’s going to end up. … I think it reflects the complexity of human emotions.”

Last summer, the band released Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, their third full-length album. Its haunting centerpiece is “Life is Hard,” a last-minute addition conjured up when Ebert and the others felt they didn’t have enough material of substance. “It’s easily one of my favorite songs in a long while,” Crash says. “[Ebert] was hammering away on the piano — dah, dah, dah — and thinking about these lyrics he’d pulled out of a shoebox or something.”

Bouncing at his seat at the piano, Ebert started adding his words to simple piano chords. The studio engineer’s ears perked up. “The song took off from there,” Crash says. “Each process is so different and so organic. … It’s hard to control, it’s unpredictable, but man, when you can get the reins on it and go, you can have something massive and colorful.”

“If I Were Free,” another song off the album, existed in a much different form when Ebert first presented it to the group. “There were actually a bunch of toys that we played [on the song],” Crash says. “That’s actually what I play during the live shows, those toy parts. … The evolution of

these songs: I wish we could release all of these demos, just so people could see what they go through.”

Crash was a member of the L.A.based indie rock band the Deadly Syndrome from 2006 until 2013. He originally met Ebert during the recording of “Up From Below,” Ed Sharpe’s 2009 debut album, and quickly became wrapped up in the group’s complicated energy. “Alex started pulling in all these musicians for the recording, and I maybe jumped in for a session here or there.” Crash began travelling with Sharpe and eventually hopped on board full-time. “It’s only natural that there’s a story behind how each member [of Ed Sharpe] met and came on board… It’s so intricate. You take a step back at times and think, ‘Man, what a community, what a family.’”

The band’s objective, Crash says, generally speaking, is to ensure each song has substance, that there’s little (if any) filler. It’s easy to imagine an underlying connective tissue — if you can’t quite live with the word “concept” — grouping the songs into larger chunks, in the service of some greater narrative (or better: novel). It helps that Ebert and Castrinos sometimes sing to each other, like characters in a musical, or that there’s often a call-and-response between Ebert and the group.

“The idea of Edward Sharpe began as a novel, and the songs begin to come together,” Crash says. “It can almost be strung together like a movie, and that’s how [Ebert] wanted to approach the first record and the music videos.” That would have been a huge undertaking, though, a veritable “War and Peace,” and the band’s priorities shifted. “But you can see how Alex did that for the first album, and we as a group tried to do it for the next two records.” E

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outdoors

Smile at the Birdie

A male rose-breasted grosbeak.

— PHOTO BY LAURA ERICKSON

Spring is the perfect time to try birding

Where to Watch The Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club offers this list of local places to look for birds: ALBANY COUNTY

• Ann Lee Pond, Colonie

By Gillian Scott » Photos courtesy Cornell Lab of Ornithology

T

his spring, as the weather warms up and flowers start to bloom, turn your eyes skyward and enjoy the influx of feathered travelers from the south. Though migratory birds begin arriving in the Capital Region in mid-April, the peak of migration in New York is early to late May, says Jessie Barry, a project leader with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca.

“The birds that are going to spend the summer and nest and breed in our area are arriving,” says Barry.

“I think those are exciting moments for people, when they see birds arrive in their backyards and their local parks and some of them are there to stay.”

Though you may picture birders (serious birdwatchers) as just being attracted to rare birds or particularly beautiful ones, for Saratoga County resident Wally Elton, more common visitors are a welcome sight, too. “I’m always happy to see a variety of birds, anywhere,” says Elton. “And anytime I see something that is not an everyday bird, that’s great.”

Elton’s favorite bird to watch is the turkey vulture,

a scavenger with an unattractive face. “I just think they’re the neatest birds to watch, the way they can just soar so easily in the updrafts,” says Elton.

“They’re just tilting, moving around so easily, and effortlessly. I really enjoy watching them. And they’re not real popular because of their eating habits, so I feel bad for them.”

For Elton, a lifelong passion for birding was born in elementary school, when his fifth or sixth grade teacher put up a chart on the classroom wall and recorded the names of students who identified birds.

“I had paid no attention to birds up until then,” says Elton. “I think it was the idea of getting my name up on the wall that kind of pushed me.”

Now retired, and an active volunteer with Saratoga Preserving Land and Nature (PLAN), he makes ample time for his hobby. His “life list,” the list of birds that he has recorded seeing during his lifetime, has 551 birds on it and in 2013, Elton posted more checklists to the birding website ebird than any other Saratoga County resident. continued on page 19

• Black Creek Marsh Bird Conservation Area, New Scotland • Five Rivers Environmental Education Center, Delmar • Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve, Rensselaerville COLUMBIA COUNTY

• Lewis A. Swyer Preserve, Stuyvesant • Stockport Flats, Hudson RENSSELAER COUNTY

• Cherry Plain State Park, Cherry Plain • Schodack Island State Park, Schodack Landing SARATOGA COUNTY

• Peebles Island State Park, Waterford • Saratoga National Historical Park, Stillwater • Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve, Rexford SCHENECTADY COUNTY

• Collins Lake, Scotia • Reist Sanctuary, Niskayuna

timesunion.com/explore 17

WHO WILL BE CROWNED 2 0 14

Mother of the Year 16th Annual

PRESENTED BY

Come see the 5 finalists

Sunday, May 11 at the Tulip Festival

I N PA R T N E R S H I P W I T H

Washington Park, Albany

To nominate a mom you know, go to www.MotheroftheYearAlbany.com Nominations open March 20 - April 20, 2014

American Redstart



Baltimore Oriole





If you’re interested in becoming a birder, it doesn’t take much to get started — all you need is a guidebook and a pair of binoculars. “Binoculars completely change the experience,” says Cornell’s Barry. “You can really see things in such better detail and find more birds. It’s worth spending at least $100.”

Getting guidance from more experienced birders is also important, she says, and a local birding club is a great way to get started.

The Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club has roughly 400 members and averages about one outing a week — more during migration seasons — says club president Jory Langner. He adds that newcomers are always welcome and can get lots of good tips from other trip participants.

“There are experienced birders along who will point out birds that, as a newbie, you maybe wouldn’t see,” he says.

Langner says the Capital Region is

in a great spot for birding. “We are on a migration route, up the Hudson River, so we get migration going north and south — north in the springtime, south in the fall,” he says. The region’s diverse habitat — featuring rivers, lakes, fields, mountains, forests and farmland — is also friendly to birds.

If you want to try birding on your own, you can visit a local park or natural area. Barry says the key is to find “a little bit of habitat,” somewhere with some bushes, not just trees and benches. Websites and mobile apps are available to help you locate local “hot spots.”

You don’t even have to leave home if you don’t want to. You can attract birds to your backyard by putting up a feeder — Barry says sunflower seeds are a general favorite. A little bit of cover such as bushes and trees and maybe a water feature such as a bird bath will create a friendly habitat.

“There are pretty much always birds

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

There’s an app (or website) for that …

Like so many other hobbies, birding has gone high-tech. Here are a few options to check out.



• At the website ebird, users can record the birds they see, keep track of bird lists, find local “hot spots” and explore information submitted by other users from around the world. www.ebird.org.

• An app called Birdseye uses ebird data to let users explore what birds

are being seen in their vicinity and to locate local hotspots on their mobile device. ($4.99) • The Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers a free app called Merlin to help beginning birders identify birds. “It’s kind of like a birding coach,” says Merlin project leader Jessie Barry. “It asks a few simple questions like your date and location, what the color and size of the bird are, and then comes up with a list of possible matches.”

The infamous turkey vulture.

— PHOTO BY LYNNE MARSHO

to be found anywhere you go, literally almost anywhere in the world,” says Barry. “I think that’s one of the things that’s so exciting and captivating. There’s always more to learn and more to see.” E

The lab also offers a host of resources, from an online bird guide with range maps and sound clips of songs and calls, to videos, webinars and distance learning courses. birds.cornell.edu • You can find the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club online at hmbc.net. The club also sponsors a yahoo group called Hudson-Mohawk Birds (https:// groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ hmbirds/info), which is used to report daily bird sightings in the region.

Killdeer

t What to look for 

Grey Catbird

outdoors

continued from page 17

Jessie Barry of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology says beginning birders can start branching out from their backyard feeders by keeping their eyes out for these birds: (1) AMERICAN REDSTART: This warbler is black and orange. “It’s fairly common in May but you kind of need to be looking for them,” says Barry.

(2) BALTIMORE ORIOLE: These black-and-orange birds sing from the treetops. “You’re likely to find them when you hear them singing.”

(3) ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK: Grosbeaks are black and white with a bright pinkish-red triangle on their breast. “They are a perfect one to watch for because they like to show up at your average bird feeder.”

(4) KILLDEER: This shorebird will sometimes nest in mall parking lots or next to schools. “They lay their eggs right on barren gravel and they’re not particularly wary of humans being nearby so they can nest pretty close to human activity.”

(5) GREY CATBIRD: These mimics who “borrow” the songs of other birds are fairly common in backyards. “Catbirds are kind of fun because they make a vocalization that sounds like a cat meowing.”

Photo credits: (1) and (3) photo by Laura Erickson; (2) photo by David Brezinski; (4) photo by Mary Jo Adams; (5) photo by Robert Elliot.

timesunion.com/explore 19

off the beaten path

New York City’s

Secrets Get off the tourist path and discover these gems

By Rachel Kleinman

E

very year, like a bad, perennial houseguest, winter overstays its welcome in New York City. And with its frigid polar vortex, 2014 was certainly no exception. But New York’s bitter cold has a bright side (literally!): It always eventually ends. And when it does, New Yorkers like me emerge from the cramped cocoons we call apartments and promptly recall our reasons for remaining in the overcrowded, overpriced, over-cold, filthy little island-town we call home.

So, where will you find New Yorkers re-falling in love with the Big Apple this spring? Chances are solid we’ll be drinking outdoors weeks, if not months, before it’s weather-appropriate, just because we’re so excited to see that the temperature outside has crept above freezing. But we definitely won’t be at the Top of the Rock with the tourists (though we’re told the view there is breathtaking). Find us instead sharing margarita pitchers at the 79th Street Boat Basin, a well-hidden oasis on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and filling up on beer, burgers and fries at the famed Frying Pan, an enormous dive bar on an actual, historic boat, or keeping it family-friendly at Queens’ Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden, where — that’s right — they actually allow kids.

We look forward to frequenting those open-air hotspots all winter long. But if you’re too chilly to chill outdoors just yet, get your drink on at Fat Cat, an awesome, indoor hub of New York City nightlife, where live jazz musicians set the soundtrack as ca-

20 EXPLORE

Clockwise from top: A scene from Sleep No More, courtesy Robin Roemer; Fanelli’s Café, courtesy Ludovic Bertron/Flickr; The Market NYC, courtesy Alex Pabon; Bierkraft, courtesy Bernt Rostad/Flickr; Tenement Museum, courtesy Kira Garcia.

sual competitors enjoy rounds of pool, ping pong and shuffleboard. Just one heads up: There’s a $3 cover, so be sure to bring some cash.

Of course, we’re not all boozehounds, and New Yorkers also see spring as an opportunity to brighten up our drab winter wardrobes with some fresh accessories. Sure, you could drop a pretty penny on the latest trends at the Four Bs: Barneys, Bloomie’s, Bergdorf’s or Bendel’s. But instead, why not head downtown to another B — Bleecker Street, where you’ll find Market NYC (formerly known as the Young Designer Market)?

There you’ll find up-and-coming artisans hawking their hand-crafted wares for just a fraction of what you’d pay at a department store or boutique.

For a classic, NYC cultural experience away from the hullabaloo of Broadway or Museum Mile, take a walking tour of the Lower East Side’s Tenement Museum, a restored tenement building that tells the story of the immigrant families who once resided at 97 Orchard St. Reserve tickets well in advance for

If You Go Do this...

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75 Christopher St. (212) 675-6056 fatcatmusic.org

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159 Bleecker St. (212) 580-8995 themarketnyc.com TENEMENT MUSEUM

103 Orchard St. (212) 982-8420 tenement.org SLEEP NO MORE

530 West 27th St. (212) 904-1883 sleepnomorenyc.com UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE

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191 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn (718) 230-7600 bierkraft.com

Sleep No More, a completely unique, interactive, adult-only theater experience that’s best enjoyed without explanation or expectations. For something a little more lighthearted, check out an improvised or sketch comedy show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, an improv theater and training center whose alums include comedy heavyweights Sarah Silverman (Wreck-It Ralph), Fred Armisen (Portlandia) and David Cross (Arrested Development). So, you never know what future stars you might see perform.

Now, every New Yorker has her own idea about where to find the best slice of pizza, but few would argue that one of the city’s best burgers goes for $28 at MacDougal Street’s own Minetta Tavern. Yes, it’s an expensive patty of ground beef, but the Black Label burger has earned its hefty price tag. The top-secret blend of prime grade beef sourced from Creekstone Farms, Kentucky, will leave even the most reluctant carnivore drooling for more.

For a less indulgent but equally authentic New York dining experience, try Fanelli’s Café in SoHo. One of the city’s oldest haunts, Fanelli’s serves standard pub fare in a completely unpretentious — if not slightly dingy — setting, right in the middle of one of Manhattan’s poshest neighborhoods. For something a little spicier, try Panna II in the East Village’s unofficial Little India. It might look like all the other Indian restaurants on East 6th Street, but real New Yorkers know that Panna II is the one to choose. Claustrophobes beware: Part of Panna II’s charm is that it’s tiny and cluttered with Christmas lights. Just don’t forget to grab a six-pack on the way; Panna II is BYOB. Now, how about a lovely place to rest your head after a long day of tourist-ing around NYC? If you’re on a budget, and happen to be between the ages of 18 and 35, you might want to try reserving a room at the International Student Center, an über-affordable youth hostel less than a block off of Central Park.

Otherwise, your best bet for finding a place to stay that won’t break the bank is probably on Airbnb. com, an online marketplace for apartment rentals.

If, however, you’re willing to splurge on an actual hotel room, avoid midtown madness and shack up downtown at the Bowery Hotel, a cool, East Village option whose rooms boast floor-to-ceiling windows.

Alternatively, a great uptown option is the Empire Hotel, whose rooftop pool deck opens Memorial Day weekend and offers incredible city views. E

timesunion.com/explore 21

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just the two of us

It’s a Beautiful in

Day

Pittsburgh

DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH from the Duquesne Incline overlook.

— PHOTO COURTESY TOM HAMILTON/FLICKR

The Steel City is a great getaway

“W

hen I say beautiful Pittsburgh, I mean beautiful Pittsburgh,” clarified Peter Sagal, host of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me after greeting a caller from “beautiful Pittsburgh.” “Nobody told me how gorgeous that city it,” he added. “It’s like you’re keeping it a secret.” Modern-day Pittsburgh, Sagal concluded, is “like Oz with a bad baseball team.”

Without stipulation or sarcasm, it can be said that Pittsburgh is a city of beauty. (Yes, we mean Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.) The one-time Steel City may be the only metropolis in the Rust Belt better off than it was 40 years ago (back when it was known for its steel mills, smog and rapid population shrinkage). Pittsburgh has reinvented itself as a hotbed for

By Nick Keppler

education, research and health care, and that has allowed it to reinvest in infrastructure and keep vacancy and decay at bay. Pittsburgh now has enough jewels hidden in its fabric to make it prime for a weekend getaway.

The best, most romantic thing to do when seeing Pittsburgh is to see Pittsburgh. The gorgeous skyline, a mishmash of buildings from several eras, reveals myriad bridges stretching out across the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers as they form the Ohio at the triangular downtown, the tip of which is marked by a gushing water fountain. The best view comes from Mt. Washington, a steep hill that looks down on downtown, as if it had been angled as a place where postcard photos would be taken. The two inclines

that travel up and down the hill are local icons and no visit is complete without a ride on one.

For a view that reveals some more details of the city, head to Kayak Pittsburgh. From May through October, this nonprofit rents boats (single seaters and tandems) and launches them from beneath the Roberto Clemente Bridge. You can paddle past Pittsburgh’s two state-of-the-art sports stadiums, Heinz Field and PNC Park, and alongside the World War IIera submarine stationed outside the Carnegie Science Center. It makes for a great afternoon, even if we’d prefer not to think of what lay in the long-neglected river bottoms (probably still debris from the Flood of 1936). continued on page 24 

timesunion.com/explore 23

just the two of us

continued from page 23 But downtown is only the fountainhead of Pittsburgh. Also worth a view are some of its neighborhoods. The South Side is the center of city nightlife, with an establishment for every taste (dance clubs, dives, sports dens, hipster bars with vegan appetizers, etc.) With its weekend buskers, it has a boardwalk feel, epitomized by Games ’N At, a ’90s-style video arcade, complete with air hockey and foosball.

It’s the perfect place to recreate a piece of the mall dates of your adolescence. Lawrenceville, deemed “the Williamsburg of Pittsburgh” by the hipsters at the website Gawker, is home to Arsenal Lanes, one of the most ornate bowling allies in the country (with its purple-strewn interior design scheme and DJ nights). The Strip District makes an interesting shopping experience for its random spatterings of shops. An outlet for discount sneakers sits next to an espresso joint, which is alongside a place that sells a dozen or so varieties of popcorn because why not?

If glimpsing some art is more your and your companion’s idea of taking in the scenery, Pittsburgh’s top cultural institution is, hands down, the Andy Warhol Museum. Inside is several million dollars’ worth of work by Pittsburgh’s most famous native son — including, yes, those soup can paintings he did — and it also has a rotating repertoire of Warhol’s patience-demanding films. (The man didn’t like to edit his footage.) A few blocks away, the Mattress Factory features new work by living artists (at the site of an actual former mattress factory). Lastly, next to the University of Pittsburgh, sits a cluster of museums, including the Carnegie museums of art and natural history, the latter of which is known for its collection of dinosaur fossils.

Where to go in Pittsburgh at dinner time? Despite its reputation as a working-class, pizza-and-beer kind of town, some foodie-baiting restaurants have sprung up in the last few years. Avenue B is known for its seasonal menu and daily specials outlined on the chalkboard outside its cozy location. Cure is acclaimed for its preparation of meats, even less common ones. (These people know what to do with a duck carcass, apparently.) Tamuri attempts the bold trick of Latin-Asian fusion cuisine and is the perfect place to pass around small plates. In the summer months, the definitive can’t-miss of Pittsburgh’s dining scene is Pusadee’s Garden, for both its masterful Thai cuisine and its outdoor seating in an actual garden, one where the sunlight always seems to shine perfectly.

24 EXPLORE

KAYAK PITTSBURGH launches kayaks from beneath the Roberto Clemente Bridge — PHOTO COURTESY VISITPITTSBURGH.COM ANDY WARHOL’S Self-Portrait installation at the Andy Warhol Museum — PHOTO BY TERRY CLARK And Pittsburgh does love its more casual dining options. With its huge Polish population, pierogies are a favorite. Debating which place has the best is like debating which year’s Steelers had the best offense — it could go on indefinitely — but the top contenders are the S&D Polish Deli, Szmidt’s Old World Deli and the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern. In the last few years, the city has fallen in love with Franktuary, a joint where you can get a hot dog in dozens of different styles (Buffalo, with wing sauce and a side of blue cheese; Texas, with jalapenos and cheddar; Bang-

kok, with peanut sauce and shredded carrots, etc.) Of course, Pittsburgh’s signature meal is the sandwich of Primanti Brothers, the Strip District diner. In the ’30s, Joe Primanti got the idea to stick every component of a lunch — coleslaw, fries, your choice of meat — between the two pieces of bread that bookend a sandwich. Pittsburghers have been wolfing these things down ever since. As classy as the city has become, we will keep it real and admit that if Pittsburgh were a country, this deservedly would be served in its section of the It’s a Small World Restaurant at Disney. E

urtain Call

If You Go Eat Here

Go Here

AVENUE B

ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM

5501 Centre Avenue (412) 683-3663, avenueb-pgh.com Seasonal American restaurant with an ever-changing menu

117 Sandusky Street (412) 237-8300, warhol.org Hulking museum dedicated to the pop artist

CURE

5336 Butler Street (412) 252-2595, curepittsburgh.com Meat-centric menu in Lawrenceville FRANKTUARY

325 Oliver Avenue; (412) 288-0322 3810 Butler Street; (412) 586-7224, franktuary.com Hot dogs in a slew of unusual styles (Thai, Buffalo wing, Mexican, etc.), two locations PRIMANTI BROTHERS

46 18th Street (412) 263-2142; other locations, primantibros.com Serving the iconic sandwiches with fries and coleslaw on top PUSADEE’S GARDEN

5321 Butler Street (412) 781-8724, pusadeesgarden.com Thai cuisine with gorgeous outdoor setting TAMARI

3519 Butler Street (412) 325-3435, tamaripgh.com Asian-Latin fusion cuisine, great outdoor seating

ARSENAL LANES

212 44th Street (412) 683-5992, arsenalbowl.com Hip bowling alley CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART

4400 Forbes Avenue (412) 622-3131, cmoa.org Modern art museum with a global reach CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

4400 Forbes Avenue (412) 622-3131, carnegiemnh.org Known for dinosaur bones DUQUESNE INCLINE

1197 West Carson Street (412) 381-1665, duquesneincline.org Cable railway offering great views of downtown GAMES ’N AT

2010 Josephine Street (412) 481-2002 Vintage arcade with air hockey, foosball and all the ’80s/’90s mall classics KAYAK PITTSBURGH

Beneath the Roberto Clemente Bridge (412) 969-9090, kayakpittsburgh.org Rental paddle boats on the Allegheny River across from downtown

For more information, go to: visitpittsburgh.com

T H E A T R E

MATTRESS FACTORY ART MUSEUM

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500 Sampsonia Way (412) 231-3169, www.mattress.org Cutting-edge gallery space SENATOR JOHN HEINZ HISTORY CENTER

1212 Smallman Street (412) 454-6000, heinzhistorycenter.org Museum showcasing Pittsburgh’s past with, yes, an exhibit on ketchup and an entire floor devoted to Pittsburgh sports teams

Stay Here INN ON THE MEXICAN WAR STREETS

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614 Pressley Street (412) 231-3338, thepriory.com 42-room hotel on the North Shore with a more modern vibe

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last call

Holly Brown » Why I Love Seattle

By Stacey Morris » Photo by Colleen Ingerto

S

ince becoming The Palace Theatre’s director in 2013, Holly Brown’s mission has been to increase the downtown Albany landmark’s visibility, programming, and bottom line. “First on the list was increasing the number and types of shows and events,” she says. “When we bring more people into the Palace and give them a great experience, the better it is for everyone, including downtown Albany.”

Brown has helped bring in Broadway shows, stand-up comics, movie screenings, even a health fair, in the name of getting new faces through the door. Upcoming events this spring include everything from Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band to a Pulp Fiction screening, to a

performance by the Albany Symphony Orchestra and Cirque De La Symphonie.

When she’s not in a budget meeting or wrangling future bookings, Brown sometimes makes the cross-country journey to Seattle, where she lived for a time back in the ‘80s.

“The people are phenomenal there,” she says.

“There’s so much to do, and the natural beauty is amazing. If you love the outdoors and nature, the Seattle area is breathtaking.” Brown cites the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges that surround the city, ubiquitous coffee houses, and a pedestrian and cycling-friendly downtown that make Seattle a place she loves revisiting. E

BEST PLACE FOR FRESH-BAKED BREAD Grand Central Baking Pioneer Square 214 1st Ave. South (206) 622-3644 grandcentralbakery.com “All of their baking is great, but their breads are amazing,” says Brown of their Goldendale Whole Wheat and Sour Rye.

SENSORY OVERLOAD Pike Place Market 1st Ave. and Pike St. (206) 682-7453 pikeplacemarket.org “It has a huge farmers market, craft market, food vendors, and is a great place to get produce and food for cooking,” says Brown. “The best part is the fresh fish; it’s out of this world.”

26 EXPLORE

A DAZZLING OYSTER BAR

DELECTABLE ASIAN NOODLES

Emmett Watson’s Pike Place Market 1916 Pike Place (206) 448-7721 “Their raw oysters are just amazing,” says Brown. “And their soup is really good, too.”

Uptown China Restaurant 200 Queen Anne Ave. North (206) 285-7710 uptown-china.com “Seattle has so many great ethnic restaurants, but this is my favorite Asian,” says Brown of the Mandarin and Szechuanthemed restaurant. “I love their noodle dishes. And they serve really good hot and sour soup.”

A GOOD LATTE Cloud City Coffee 8801 Roosevelt Way NE (206) 527-5552 cloudcitycoffee.com “I’m definitely a coffee person, and there are Starbucks every 10 feet in Seattle, it seems,” says Brown. “Seattle’s coffee is amazing and there are some very good local places. The vanilla latte at Cloud City is fantastic.”

A SKY-HIGH VIEW OF THE CITY The Space Needle 400 Broad St. (206) 905-2100 spaceneedle.com “It may sound touristy, but the space needle is really the best way to see the lay of the

land,” says Brown. “And Sky City Restaurant at the top has fabulous clam chowder.”

SPORTING A PAIR OF JEWELED BINOCULARS The Pacific Northwest Ballet 301 Mercer St. (206) 441-9411 pnb.org “The arts community in Seattle is robust. People are very supportive of things like the opera and symphony. My favorite is the Pacific Northwest Ballet,” says Brown.

THE LIVE-THEATER EXPERIENCE The Paramount Theatre 901 Pine St. (206) 902-5500

seattle-theatre.com “The Paramount Theatre is a great venue for live shows,” says Brown. “It’s one of the city’s key arenas.”

ESCAPING FROM THE GRIND The Seattle Aquarium 1483 Alaskan Way (206) 386-4300 seattleaquarium.org “It’s one of my favorite places in Seattle,” says Brown. “I have a fondness for marine biology and could spend a couple

of days there watching the seals, walruses, and porpoises.”

A WALK IN THE WILD Mount Rainier National Park 39000 East State Rt. 706 Ashford, WA (360) 569-2211 nps.gov/mora/index.htm “Mount Rainier is a beautiful place for hiking,” says Brown. “When I lived there, I loved to crosscountry ski and snowshoe through the trails.”

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For a FREE Hampton Beach Vacation Guide and to View our Beach Cam, Visit www.hamptonbeach.org or call 1-800-GET-A-TAN.