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Springfield venue welcomes New England Center for Circus Arts & ’80s band BoDeans in one weekend.

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DOUBLE ACT at Springfield’s Hope Center for the Arts ‘Broken Open’

Circus arts show to transform Hope Center into Big Top

By Keith O’Connor Special to The Republican

BoDeans to celebrate 40th anniversary tour

By Keith O’Connor Special to The Republican

The BoDeans, known for their blended sound of heartland rock, folk and thoughtful pop, will bring their 40th anniversary tour, “40 Years of Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams .... and Good Things,” to Springfield’s Hope Center for the Arts on Sunday.

is Serenity Smith Forchion, co-founder of the New England Center for Circus Arts. At

a student at the center performs an aerial back balancing stunt. The New England Center for Circus Arts will bring its show “Broken Open” to the Hope Center for the Arts in Springfield this weekend.

Eight soon-tobe graduates of the New England Center for Circus Arts ProTrack program will put their newfound skills to the test in two performances on Saturday and Sunday at the Hope Center for the Arts in Springfield.

The show, titled “Broken Open,” will fill the stage with high-flying and daring feats on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

“The term that’s often used for this kind of circus that we do is theatrical circus, combining elements of circus and storytelling. You will see high-flying trapeze, you will

see acrobats standing on the shoulders of three acrobats and building a high stack of people. You will see juggling and funny things happening on stage, although we don’t have any red-nosed clowns,” said Serenity Smith Forchion, who co-founded the Center for Circus Arts with her twin sister, Elsie Smith, both international award-winning circus artists.

“The show is all wrapped up in a metaphorical story. So, there is more to it than you would see perhaps on a traditional circus age, like Ringling Bros. In this particular context, the story is about a group of people who are trying to hold things together as the important things in their lives fall apart. And by coming together, they help each other carry on,” she added.

Forchion noted she and her sister discovered circus when they were 16 years old, eventually ending up with a job at a summer camp that had

Charlie Marie lets go of the wheel and ends up in Turners Falls

CHARLIE MARIE SAYS that one of the main things she learned over the past few years is to let go of the steering wheel. It’s a bit odd that the Rhode Island-based singer-songwriter gained that perspective while driving across the country. Luckily, she was only speaking metaphorically.

Born Charlene Marie Cipollone, the country music artist will play the Shea Theater in Turners Falls on May 15 as part of the Twang Club show. Former Northampton-based artist Rosie Porter will open the show.

Cipollone took some time off from music in 2021 and wound up taking her cross-country trip. That expedition, which included a stint living and working in Nashville, ultimately led her back home and playing with the Boston-based country band, These Wild Plains.

NIGHTCLUBS

SPRINGFIELD

No stranger to Theodores’

Willie J. Laws and his blues band have been playing regularly at Theodores’ for several years. They return to the 201 Worthington St. stage Saturday night. (DOUGLAS HOOK / THE REPUBLICAN FILE)

THURSDAY

The Drake: Juice with Hush Club. 44 North Pleasant St., Amherst

Theodores’: Rockstar Karaoke. 201 Worthington St., Springfield

Uno Chicago Grill: Country Music. 820 West Columbus Ave., Springfield

FRIDAY

The Drake: Don’t Tell Comedy All Stars. 44 North Pleasant St., Amherst

Theodores’: Eric Ducoff Band. 201 Worthington St., Springfield

Uno Chicago Grill: Roots, Blues and Rock. 820 West Columbus

“Life forces you to do things, so I went on a journey and traveled around the country in my Yaris, and while I was on that journey, some of the band members reached out to me to see how I was doing,” she said in a recent interview with The Republican. “I had known them — we had played shows together and we were friends — and after that it all started to fall into place.”

Upon returning to Rhode Island, Cipollone got together with These Wild Plains in a garage and played a lot of the songs she had written on her excursion. Those songs ended up being part of her upcoming album, “Signs,” due out June 5.

“It just sounded so cool and so good,” she said of the garage session. “It made the songs sound multidimensional.”

‘Brahms & A Modern Voice’

Springfield Symphony Orchestra closes season with help of guest conductor, violinist

By K eith O ’C onnor

Special to

IThe Republican

t’s “in with the new” and even “in with the old” when the Springfield Symphony Orchestra ends its 2025-26 season on Saturday with “Brahms & A Modern Voice.”

The SSO’s 82nd season finale will feature the return of guest conductor Courtney Lewis and the Springfield debut of violinist Charles Yang, who has been described by The Boston Globe as a musician who “plays classical violin with the charisma of a rock star.”

Charles Yang will be special guest violinist for “Brahms & A Modern Voice.”

Showtime is 7:30 p.m. at Springfield Symphony Hall.

The performance begins with Ottorino Respighi’s first set of “Ancient Airs and Dances” from 1917 followed by modern-day composer Kris Bowers’ concerto, “For a Younger Self,” a piece Yang commissioned. Johannes Brahms’ bucolic “Symphony No. 2” from 1877 will close the concert.

“This season finale feels like more than a closing night, it feels like a marker of momentum. What’s been building inside Symphony Hall this year has been unmistakable. The energy, the turnout, the way this community has shown up and leaned in this season, it’s changed the conversation about what a symphony orchestra can be and who it’s for,” said Heather

“The energy, the turnout, the way this community has shown up and leaned in this season, it’s changed the conversation about what a symphony orchestra can be and who it’s for.”

Caisse-Roberts, president and CEO of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, in an interview with The Republican.

“Welcoming Grammy-winning Charles Yang alongside guest conductor Courtney Lewis brings a remarkable level of artistry and energy to this finale. They are artists who not only perform at the highest level, but truly connect with the music, the orchestra, and the audience,”

SPRINGFIELD Garden Club mixes children’s books with flowers for free family event

Vana

By Ashley P otter apotter@repub.com

“The Little Engine That Could.” It’s the name of a children’s book by Watty Piper and it’s also the theme of a floral arrangement that Vana Nespor, member of the Springfield Garden Club, is crafting for families to view during a free event at Forest Park this weekend.

SEE GARDEN, PAGE D11

Nightclubs

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Ave., Springfield

West Springfield’s Irish House

Restaurant & Pub: Frank Caruso Band. 429 Morgan Road, West Springfield

SATURDAY

The Drake: Queercore Collaborative Live. 44 North Pleasant St., Amherst

Theodores’: Willie J. Laws Band. 201 Worthington St., Springfield

Uno Chicago Grill: Modern, Contemporary Rock. 820 West Columbus Ave., Springfield

On tap for Worthy

The Worthy Brewfest, returning to Springfield this year June 27 at its new home — the Landing at the MassMutual Center — has announced its brewery lineup (“so far”) for the 2026 festival. The lineup includes Vanished Valley Brewing Co., of Ludlow, shown above left; Progression Brewing Company, of Northampton, whose owner Drew Starkweather is shown above right; Two Weeks Notice Brewing Company, of West Springfield; Abandoned Building Brewery, of Easthampton; Seven Railroads Brewing Company, of Palmer; Bright Ideas Brewing, of Westfield; Back East Brewing, of Bloomfield, Conn.; Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, of Framingham; Citizen Cider, of Burlington, Vermont; Kismet Brewing Company, of Westfield; Skyline Beer Company, of Westfield; Rustic Brewing Company, of Indian Orchard; Great Awakening Brewing Company, of Westfield; Wormtown Brewery, of Worcester; Incandescent Brewing, of Bernardston; Sloop Brewing Company, of Hopewell Junction, New York; Fieldcrest Brewing Company, of Wilbraham; One Way Brewing, of Longmeadow; Arcpoint Brewing Company, of Belchertown; and Swing On Beer Company, of Suffield, Conn. Tickets to the June festival, priced at $55 ($20 for designated drivers), can be purchased online at springfielddowntown.com/ theworthy. Stay tuned for more updates — including any additional breweries joining the roster — on Facebook at www.facebook.com/events/2316954145459685/. (THE REPUBLICAN FILE)

West Springfield’s Irish House

Restaurant & Pub: Jimmy McArdle and Jerry Murphy. 429 Morgan Road, West Springfield

SUNDAY

Uno Chicago Grill: Jazz. 820 West Columbus Ave., Springfield

The Republican is not responsible for unannounced schedule changes. Listings must be received two weeks before the date of the event. Items should be mailed to: Entertainment Guide, The Republican, P.O. Box 1329, Springfield, MA 01102-1329, emailed to pmastriano@repub.com or submitted to www.masslive.com/myevent

TUESDAY

Chicopee Elks #1849

431 Granby Road, Chicopee

413-592-1849

Bingo Tuesday

Doors Open at 4PM

2 Progressive Jackpots

6:15PM Early Bird

6:20PM Start

Min. Entry Package $15

Open Seating

2 Halls for Players

Handicap Restroom 1st Floor

Polish American Citizens Club

355 East Street, Ludlow, 583-6385

Bingo Wednesdays 6:30-9:30pm

Doors Open at 4pm. Minimum Admission $50

1 - 1199 Progressive Betty Boop 50/50 Prize $900 2 - $500 Cover Alls 3 - $400 Special Games All regular games $100 with 80 people or More. All Cards are included with Admission. Prizes climb with additional attendence. Full Kitchen 4-6:30pm.

WEDNESDAY CALL TODAY 413-788-1250 TO LIST HERE

THURSDAY

Fairview Knights of Columbus

1599 Memorial Drive, Chicopee (413) 532-2011

DOORS OPEN 4:30PM

MASKS OPTIONAL Progressive Jackpot 6:15pm Early Bird 6:20pm Start

Electronic Bingo Aval. Snack Bar, Open Seating, Handicap Restrooms

Min. Entry Package $15

circus as a kid’s activity.

“We fell in love with the circus because it was natural for us physically to do with our bodies. We enjoyed doing it. But more importantly, we learned it was about using circus to empower youth and to teach them how to work together as a team, how to try things that they’ve never tried before and realize that they can do more than they thought,” Forchion said.

“So, we embarked on this career where we had two parts of circus that we really loved, performing it for ourselves and sharing it with other people as a tool to bring physical and community joy,” she added.

Before opening their own school, Forchion and Smith performed for Cirque du Soleil’s “Saltimbanco” for four years as duo trapezists and Forchion has also performed with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, to mention just a few of their circus experiences.

The New England Center for Circus Arts is considered a premier nonprofit circus arts training school in the United States, offering professional training, recreational classes and workshops for all ages levels and abilities in Brattleboro, Vermont.

The 9,000-square-foot facility, built in 2017, features 40-foot ceilings for high-flying trapeze and aerial arts.

It includes an in-ground trampoline, foam pit and hosts professional training, workshops and performances.

The school’s ProTrack is the longest running professional circus training program in the United States, where students spend three years immersed in the circus arts. Previous graduates have gone on to contracts with Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Bros, The 7 Fingers, Circa, as well as on Broadway, in cabarets around the world, and as part of rock concerts.

“For the eight students in the show who will be graduating after the tour, ‘Broken Open’ could be called their thesis, where they take all the

acts that they have learned and created as individuals to incorporate into the show,” Forchion said.

Each year, the Center for Circus Arts holds an open application for directors from around the world to oversee the students’ final show. This year’s chosen director is Marisol Rosa-Shapiro, a New York City and Philadelphia-based

deviser of original works, who was selected because her artmaking practice centers on play and community building. Her many collaborations include artist-in residency programming at the New Victory Theater in New York City as well as work with the international Clowns Without Borders bringing joy, laughter, and connection to children

“We

went to City Stage as kids before it closed to see several performances before the empty space was converted into the Hope Center for the Arts recently. So, to be able to come back there with a show from our circus school is a little bit of a full circle.”

also of Charlotte, and they climb up the pole and around each other in what Forchion explained as “a little sibling rivalry,” Forchion noted.

Forchion added that she is “really excited” about Cal Wicker’s performance, who came to train at the Center for Circus Arts when he was 15 years old.

“Cal will be doing a solo trapeze act and has also trained in clowning and acrobatics, which you will see mixed in. We call it dance trapeze. So, it actually spins on a swivel,” Forchion said.

and families in crisis zones.

“Marisol worked with the students to come up with the theme and connect that theme to their circus acts. In April, they worked for three weeks to create the show before taking it on a tour of New England theaters,” Forchion said.

Among the many acts in the show is one performed by Syd Wes from Charlotte, North Carolina, on a 20-foottall metal pole that will be installed on the Hope Center stage, performed in two parts.

The first part is a solo by Wes, whose act is a story where he is trying to escape youth and grow up into another way of being. He is then joined by a sister figure, performed by Edie Pryll,

“The final act includes one central character, Francesca Bonfiglio, who is performing in an act we call the Tippy Lyra, where she is on a metal circle that tips. So, it adds a little bit of drama as she moves around it as it rotates and spins,” she added about the student, who is also from Charlotte, noting all three from the city came to them from the same school.

Bringing “Broken Open” to the Hope Center for the Arts stage has special meaning for the sisters.

“We grew up in Huntington, not very far away. We went to City Stage as kids before it closed to see several performances before the empty space was converted into the Hope Center for the Arts recently. So, to be able to come back there with a show from our circus school is a little bit of a full circle,” Forchion said.

Tickets for “Broken Open” range in price from $15 to $35 and are available online at hopecenterforthearts.org.

BoDeans

Founded and led by original frontman, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Kurt Neumann, the BoDeans emerged out of Waukesha, Wisconsin, in 1986. With a much sought-after discography, their music landed hundreds of television and film placements, while at the same time becoming a live phenomenon, supporting the likes of U2, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Tom Petty, The Pretenders and David Bowie. As a tribute to their popularity and contributions to music, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame permanently entrenched the band in the Midwest Artists exhibit.

Showtime is 7 p.m. and tickets, ranging in price from $50 to $70 in advance, are available online at hopecenterfor thearts.org.

BoDeans leader and founder Neumann took time recently to look back with The Republican on the band’s 40-year history and current tour.

Q. Tell me about the tour, “BoDeans: 40 Years of Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams .... and Good Things” named after your first album and “Good Things” reflecting your catalog of hits such as “Good Things” and 1993’s “Closer to Free.” How does

this tour differ from other concerts and what has the reaction been like?

A. That’s just it, 40 years, that’s the real difference. We’re celebrating 40 years of being out there singing our songs for people who have showed up to see us over the years. That’s a long time, a rare thing in this industry to be able to stick around for that long. It seems like a lot of people are showing up and longtime fans are really feeling good about the music. It throws them back to when they were in college or raising kids. So, I think it’s kind of a great feeling for them to come out and still be able to enjoy the concert and hear the songs and relive parts of their lives. Fortunately, because the music has been passed on to younger generations, we’re getting some 25- and 30-year-olds in the audience, which is always nice.

Q. What influenced the band most as part of the ’80s rock era and along the way in the past 40 years?

A. I talk about this a lot during the show. AM radio was a big inspiration to me beginning when I was around the age of 8. The formats back then didn’t restrict you to just

time, I was inspired by artists who were more about rock and roll like Bruce Springsteen, who was writing from a blue-collar perspective, and The Rolling Stones and bands like that.

Q. How have those influences changed over the years?

Q. The band has recorded 19 albums — 15 studio and four live albums. Pick two of them which are very different and talk about them.

“I’m 65 years old this October, so I’m old, and it gets harder every year to be out there traveling and jumping around on stage and singing. What keeps me going is the fans showing up, and they’re inspiring.”

Kurt Neumann of BoDeans

one sound of music. They played all kinds of music, and it was really, I think, based on good songwriting and performance. And that is what I try to do with all our records, to just write strong songs and offer up a good performance. Early on I was inspired by Motown and soul music, and I also loved Elvis and The Everly Brothers. When I got out of high school, I didn’t really have any career opportunities, so I bought an electric guitar to learn how to write, realizing that if you want to get anywhere you must write your own material. As a guitar player, I was able to hear songs in a different way. When trying to write for myself for the first

A. I still really love good songs whenever I hear them. My kids will be playing something and if I hear good songwriting, good singing, I’ll go ‘Wow, that was great.’ I don’t listen to pop and rock music so much anymore after listening to it for so many years... my ears are ringing. So, I tend to listen more to other things, whether it’s classical or great jazz from the ’50s and stuff like that. For some reason, my brain doesn’t really analyze it or tear it apart, like it does with rock and pop music. So, I can just have it on, and it just inspires me.

Q. What has kept you and the band going all these years, and did you ever think of throwing in the towel?

A. It’s hard at my age. I’m 65 years old this October, so I’m old, and it gets harder every year to be out there traveling and jumping around on stage and singing. What keeps me going is the fans showing up, and they’re inspiring. Every night, you have these fresh people who are excited to hear the music and sing along, so that inspires me to want to play music. Music needs to be shared like that. I love music and I could stand in my living room and just play guitar, but it’s even better when you’re in a room full of people. But if I just get too tired or people stop showing up, then, I don’t have any problem with throwing in the towel, because I had a great run. Let’s face it, rock and roll and pop is a young person’s game. Young artists do so well because they’re brand new, and they’re fresh, and they’re young, and full of energy. To be an older artist and be able to maintain, you just really have got to have something going on that people can still relate to.

A. When we recorded our first record, “40 Years of Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams,” it was a fantastic experience, and I don’t have enough praise for T Bone Burnett. He is such a wonderful producer and great person to be around, and it was so wonderful for us. But the recording didn’t sound like I thought it should sound if it was going to compete with the likes of Bon Jovi and Guns N’ Roses — and our record sounded so stripped down and roots rock and stuff. That’s what we were, and I understood that. But I wasn’t sure about it, but people really liked it and I thought, ‘Well, this is great.’

By the time we got to our fourth record that’s called ‘Black and White,’ we let David Z entirely just take control of it and produce it the way he does. He took it to a more extreme modern sound. And I think people at first were disturbed by that because it was so different, but some of our fans’ most favorite songs are on that record – ‘Good Things,’ ‘Naked,’ and ‘Paradise.’

(David Z, known for his work with Prince, brought a more polished pop sound different from their earlier roots-rock that featured more synthesizers and processed sounds.)

Then, our fifth record, ‘Go Slow Down,’ produced by T Bone again, I just about recorded everything on the album. I started with the drums, and I would sing the song in my head while playing them and next put other stuff on top of the drums to build a record. I really felt like it was my favorite record. In many ways, thank goodness, fans really liked that record as well.

(‘Go Slow Down’ featured the song ‘Closer to You,’ which was used as the theme song for the popular Fox television series “Party of Five.” It became the band’s biggest hit.)

Those are some of my favorites. Then as a songwriter, each new record you put out, you want to feel really great about it as well. So, it’s hard to pick a favorite.

WHAT TO STREAM

Editor’s note: The following list is compiled weekly by the Associated Press.

New movies to stream this week

• Emerald Fennell’s loose adaptation of Emily Brontë’s“Wuthering Heights” is on its way to heat up the small screen, streaming on HBO Max on May 1. Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi play Catherine and Heathcliff in the hyper stylized film which lets its tortured characters do something about all that pent up lust. In my review for The Associated Press, I wrote “There are myriad pleasures to be had in the bold, absurd pageantry and devilish scheming. Yet for all the big swings, Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ amounts to something oddly shallow and blunt: garish and stylized fan fiction with the scope and budget of an old-school Hollywood epic.”

• Newly minted Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan

In ‘Michael’, the ‘King of Pop’ is resurrected — sans complications

By JAKE C OyLE

Associated Press

‘M

ichael” slides a sequin glove over the pop star’s tarnished legacy, shrouding Michael Jackson’s complications with a conventional biopic that, if you cover your ears, sounds great.

Antoine Fuqua’s movie is sanctioned by Jackson’s estate and its producers include the estate’s executors. So it is, by its nature, a narrow, authorized perspective on Jackson. The film ends before the flood of allegations of sexual abuse of children, or Jackson’s own acknowledgment of sleeping alongside kids. Jackson and his estate have long maintained his innocence. In his only criminal trial, in 2005, Jackson was acquitted.

“Michael” doesn’t even subtly nod to these facts. It moon-

SEE ‘MICHAEL’, PAGE D11

rebuild his life in New York, might not technically be a movie (OK, it’s a five-part docuseries), but it’s from the great Debra Granik (“Winter’s Bone” and “Leave No Trace”) and it’s debuting exclusive on the Criterion Channel on Friday, May 1. Filmed over eight years, Granik chronicles Coss Marte’s journey to building a New York gym that employs formerly incarcerated people.

voices a tiny woodland creature who switches bodies with his sworn enemy, a majestic bird (voiced by Juno Temple) in “Swapped,” streaming on Netflix on Friday, May 1. “Tangled” filmmaker Nathan Greno directs the movie, which also features the voices of Cedric the Entertainer and Tracy Morgan. If it sounds a bit like “Hoppers,” remember, that was an “Avatar” situation. This is “Freaky Friday.”

• The anime hit “Chain-

saw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” will be streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursday. Tatsuya Yoshihara directed the film, based on the manga series by Tatsuki Fujimoto about a teenager who was murdered by the Yakuza and reborn with a unique ability: transforming body parts into chainsaws, which he uses to help fight devils now. It’s also a romance! And rated R.

• “Conbody vs Everybody,” about an ex-con attempting to

• And finally, in the eerie “Hallow Road,” streaming on Hulu on Saturday, May 2, Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys play parents rushing to help their daughter after an accident late one night. I wrote in my review for The Associated Press that “it’s an effectively minimalistic thriller that leaves much room for interpretation and debate.”

— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

New music to stream

• Hold her beer, Sabrina Carpenter. It’s time. Kacey Musgraves has returned to corner the market on too-clever, comedic country-pop songs about arousal. Such is the case of Musgraves’

“Dry Spell,” the first single from her highly-anticipated seventh studio album, “Middle of Nowhere,” out Friday, May 1. But a one trick pony she is not. The release was inspired by her home state of Texas, as evidenced by a song she premiered at Coachella earlier this month: “Uncertain, TX,” which on the album features the patron saint of the Lone Star State, Willie Nelson. Yeehaw and carry on.

• Many might know the Irish-language, Belfast-based hip-hop trio Kneecap from the headlines they inspire: From criticism for their political statements, which previously saw them banned in Canada and Hungary — they’ve accused critics of trying to silence them because of their support for the Palestinian cause throughout the war in Gaza — to their BAFTA award-winning self-titled biopic. But Kneecap is a hip-hop group with a DIY ethos, and a hip-hop group with a DIY ethos they remain. On Friday, May 1, listeners will be able to form their own opinions:

THURSDAY

”Once Upon My Mother” — Pioneer Vallery Jewish Film Festival: Thu., 7 p.m. Basketball Hall of Fame, $14. 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue, Springfield.

Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival: Thu.-Sun., various venues across WMass. Tickets are sold at the door subject to availability; advance purchase is recommended as films do sell out. Screenings at Amherst Cinema, Greenfield Garden Cinemas, and South Hadley’s Tower Theaters are ticketed through their respective box offices. For more information, trailers, and show times, visit the festival online at springfieldjcc.org/pvjff or call 413-739-4715.

FRIDAY

“Les Misérables” presented by Starlight’s Youth Theatre: Fri.Sat., 7 p.m.; Sun., 1 p.m. Academy of Music Theatre. A talented cast of local youth in grades 7-12 will take the stage; set against the turbulent backdrop of 19th-century France, “Les Misérables” follows a passionate group of people who come together to fight for what is right for justice, for freedom, and for one another. Tickets range from $15-$25. 274 Main St., Northampton; 413-584-9032 or www. aomtheatre.com.

CMSS Spring Gala: Fri., 5:30 p.m. Community Music School of Springfield. The school’s spring gala is the single largest source of funding for its extensive financial aid and scholarship offerings.

‘Brahms’

CONTINUES FROM PAGE D4

she said.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Lewis is in his tenth season as music director of the Jacksonville Symphony. In recent seasons, Lewis has made debuts with many notable orchestras, including the Nürnberger Symphoniker, the San Diego Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic making his debut at the Hollywood Bowl, and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra last year.

Yang is the recipient of the 2018 Leonard Bernstein Award; a Julliard graduate; and a Grammy Award-winning artist as a member of Time for Three, an eclectic

CALENDAR

History of Mt. Tom

Author James M. Long will host a book launch event for his book

“Mt. Tom Ski Area: A Book of Photography & History” at Holyoke Heritage State Park in Holyoke on Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. The book, priced at $60, combines Long’s photography with file photos and excerpts from The Republican and other sources from 1895 to 2022. Long, who was born in Springfield, grew up not far from Mount Tom in Enfield and then in Ellington, Connecticut. He studied at the Art Institute of Boston and Vermont College of Norwich University, earning photography and fine arts degrees.

“Mt. Tom Ski Area: A Book of Photography & History” is his first book. Above is a file photo of the Mt. Tom reservation. (THE REPUBLICAN, FLIE PHOTO)

The evening features live music, auction, cocktails and appetizers, and CMSS Excellence Awards, $125. 127 State St., Springfield, 413-782-8428.

Gaga Dance Class: Fri., Arts and Industry Building-Florence, Gaga dance classes are predicated on a deep activation of the body and

physical sensations. Invitations are curated to increase awareness of and further amplify sensation, and rather than turning from one prompt to another, information is layered, building into a multisensory, physically enlightening experience. $16. 221 Pine St., Florence; 413-348-7503 or www.artsindus-

tryopenstudios.blogspot.com.

”Labors of Love” — PVJFF: Fri., 1:30 p.m. Springfield Jewish Community Center, $14. 1160 Dickinson St., Springfield; 413-739-4715 or www.springfieldjcc.org.

Massachusetts Quarter Horse Show: Fri.-Sun., Eastern States Exposition, Coliseum. Free. 1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. 413-737-2443 or www.thebige. com.

Opera House Players present “Merrily We Roll Along”: Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun, 2 p.m. Enfield Annex, Visit operahouseplayers.org/ tickets or get tickets at the door. Tickets are $25 general admission and $21 seniors 60+, children and students. 124 North Maple St., Enfield.

Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival: See Thursday listing Pioneer Valley Quilt Guild Presents “Pieces of Time” Quilt Show: Fri, 5-8 p.m.; Sat, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Springfield Lodge of the Elks #61, Featuring food, vendors, boutique, basket raffles, quilt appraisals, live demonstrations by guild members, and raffle of a large quilt. Admission is $10 adults and teens, free for children 12 and younger. 440 Tiffany St., Springfield.

SATURDAY

“Les Misérables” presented by Starlight’s Youth Theatre: See Friday listing Circus Springboard presents “Broken Open”: Sat., 7:30 p.m.;

Sun., 1 p.m., Hope Center for the Arts, from the New England Center for Circus Arts featuring the soon-to-be-graduates of the 3-year professional training program, held in collaboration with internationally known director Marisol Rosa-Shapiro, $15-$35. 150 Bridge St., Springfield.

CitySpace Bluegrass — Pickers, Singers, & Strummers: Sat., 4-7 p.m. Blue Room at CitySpace, Join bluegrass musician David Clark Carroll and CitySpace for a fun, open bluegrass jam. Held every first Saturday of the month during Art Walk Easthampton, this monthly jam brings the community together for music, connection, and good old-fashioned fun. All are welcome. Free to join. All ages welcome. 43 Main St., Easthampton.

CitySpace presents Tiny Pop-Up Market: Sat., Blue Room at CitySpace, 4-7 p.m. CitySpace hosts tiny Pop-Up Markets on the first Saturday of the month from 4-7 p.m. during CitySpace Bluegrass and Art Walk Easthampton. Free. 43 Main St., Easthampton.

EIMA 2026 Golf Tournament: Sat., 1 p.m. Grassmere Country Club, 9-hole scramble format. 1 p.m. shotgun start. $75 includes golf, cart and dinner, 75. 130 Townfarm Road, Enfield.

Friends of the Stone Church present Mackenzie Melemed Concert: Sat., 2 p.m. The Stone Church, All concerts at the Stone Church are free to those under 18. Holders of the Massachusetts Card to Culture may request up to two free tickets

string trio. He has collaborated onstage with artists such as Steve Miller, Jon Batiste, Gaby Moreno, Joshua Bell, and Misty Copeland.

In 2019, Yang premiered Kris Bowers’s concerto “For a Younger Self” at Walt Disney Hall, the piece he will be performing at this May 2 concert.

Yang is also a composer, arranger, and songwriter, and he co-wrote the original score to “Land,” a 2021 film directed by Robin Wright. Bowers, who is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker and an Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar-nominated composer and pianist, met Yang while attending The Juilliard School in New York City. His recent film scores include “Goat” and “The Wild Robot”

alongside “The Color Purple,” “King Richard,” “Space Jame: A New Legacy” and some 30 others. He has also scored several television series including “Bridgerton,” “Mrs. America,” “Dear White People,” “When They See Us,” “Secret Invasion,” and “Spider Noir.”

Caisse-Roberts looked back on the current season and ahead to the future.

“We’re incredibly proud of what’s happening on stage. But, what matters just as much is what’s happening around it. Each performance is activating a network of artists, technicians, local businesses, and partners. It’s real economic impact, opportunity, and a sense of shared investment in this city,” she said.

“And we’ve been paying attention. We’ve spent this season listening closely, watching where the connection is strongest, where new audiences are finding us, where the work feels most alive. That awareness is shaping everything about what comes next,” she added.

Over the coming months, the orchestra will begin sharing its 2026–27 season, including dates, early program previews, and several major announcements. They will also host a free Juneteenth concert for the community on June 19 in downtown’s Tower Square.

“What you’ll see is a thoughtful balance — honoring tradition while expanding into new collaborations,

new voices, and new ways of engaging with our community. Because this orchestra isn’t standing still. It’s evolving in real time alongside the people it serves, reflects, and belongs to. This is more than music. It’s a living, breathing part of this city’s future and we’re just getting started,” Caisse-Roberts said.

The SSO’s nonprofit community partner for the May 2 performance is Glenmeadow, who will have a table with information about their organization set up prior to the concert and during intermission.

Tickets to the concert, starting at $25, are available online at SpringfieldSymphony. org, or by calling the SSO Box Office at 413-733-2291.

Calendar

at the box office for any ticketed concert on the concert day or may make a reservation by email to events@FriendsoftheStoneChurch. org, $35. 283 Main St., Gilbertville. Massachusetts Quarter Horse Show: See Friday listing Mountain Lions with O Ksenos: Sat, 7 p.m. Montague Common Hall, no one turned away for lack of funds. For tickets, visit www. weathervane-arts.org, Suggested donation is $20 concert, $25 workshop, $30 both. 34 Main St., Montague.

Opera House players present “Merrily We Roll Along”: See Friday listing

Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival: See Thursday listing

Pioneer Valley Quilt Guild presents “Pieces of Time” Quilt Show: See Friday listing

Springfield Symphony Orchestra Concert: Sat., 7:30 p.m. Springfield Symphony Hall, “Brahms & A Modern Voice.” For tickets, visit www.springfieldsymphony.org, $25-$80. 34 Court St., Springfield. Tour of Old Town Hall: Sat., Blue Room at CitySpace, 4-7 p.m. Join CitySpace for a tour of the second floor of Old Town Hall. Learn about the history of the historic municipal and learn about its current and upcoming restoration projects, Free. 43 Main St., Easthampton.

SUNDAY

“Les Misérables” presented by Starlight’s Youth Theatre: See Friday listing

”All I Had Was Nothingness” — PVJFF: Sun., 7 p.m. South Hadley’s Tower Theaters, $14. 19 College St. #1, South Hadley; 413-533-3456 or www.towertheaters.com.

Circus Springboard presents “Broken Open”: See Saturday listing CitySpace Volunteer Drop In: Sun.,

10 a.m.-1 p.m. Blue Room at CitySpace, join in for a volunteer drop-in session and learn about how you can tap into CitySpace’s events. Free. 43 Main St., Easthampton.

Massachusetts Quarter Horse Show: See Friday listing

Opera House Players present “Merrily We Roll Along”: See Friday listing

Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival: See Thursday listing

Pioneer Valley Quilt Guild presents “Pieces of Time” Quilt Show: See Friday listing

“Short Film Showcase” — PVJFF: Sun, 1 p.m. Greenfield Garden Cinema, $14. 361 Main St., Greenfield.

Quadrangle

George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum: Permanent exhibits include Asian decorative arts, Japanese arms and armor, Chinese cloisonné, American and European

paintings, antiquities, and rare decorative objects. Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History: Permanent exhibits include vintage automobiles, Indian motorcycles, historic firearms, Hasbro GameLand, and other industrial and cultural artifacts.

Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts: “One Foot in Two Places” by Olwen O’Herlihy Dowling, through Oct. 4. “Markets, Foodways, and the Essence of Place: Works from the Museo de Arte de Ponce,” through Sept. 6, on the first floor of the Alpert Galery. Museum a la Carte. “A Global Art Form, A Local Collector: Chinese Cloisonné and Asian Export Art at the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum.” April 30, 12:15–1:30 p.m. Cost is $4, free for members. Presented by Sarah Zhang, M.A. student in art history, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Sophie Combs, assistant Curator of Art, Springfield Museums. ”Please Touch! A Tactile Exploration of Sante Graziani’s

Mural,” through July 26.

Springfield Science Museum: “Dinosaurs Still Live: The Story of Archosaurs.” Uncover the surprising connections between dinosaurs, birds, crocodilians, and pterosaurs. “Math Alive! Exhibition,” through May 3. This special exhibit that reveals how real math powers sports, nature, robotics, music, dance, movie-making, and more. Free with museum admission. “Stars Over Springfield,” May 1, 7–8:30 p.m. Cost: $7, $5 for members. Program will include a beginner’s astronomy program and a short talk by a local expert. Recommended for ages 8 and older. This month’s topic is “Impact.”

Quadrangle admission - $25 for adults, $17.50 for seniors (60+), $16.50 college students with ID, $13 for children ages 3-17; free to children under age 3 and members, Springfield residents are free with proof of residency. Special exhibit fees may apply to all visitors. Welcome Center and Museum store.

Closed Mon, Tues.-Sat. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

They’ll release another new album, titled “FENIAN,” a reference to the 19th-century Irish revolutionaries dedicated to independence from British colonial rule. It opens with “Éire go Deo,” a rallying cry for the protection of the Irish language, and builds in intensity from there.

• Even if you haven’t heard of them, you’ve heard them — or the results of their legacy. American Football, like the cult classic film version of a rock band, have been undeniably influential in independent music circles for the last three decades. That’s namely for their role as progenitors of a very distinct guitar sound often referred to as “twinkly,” or with the genre term “Midwest emo.” It is an immediately recognizable sound, defined by it’s characteristics: An unusual, complex time signature, intricate fingerpicking and tapping but with a clean tone, no distortion, generous reverb and so on. If that’s too technical an explanation, just press play on their latest album, “LP4.” It’s not too late to become obsessed. And “No Feeling,” which features Brendan Yates of the Gram-

Bay,” premiering this week on Apple TV. The show is set in and was filmed in New England.

my-award winning Turnstile, is not a bad place to begin.

• A new high-concept album from Tori Amos? Why not! On Friday, May 1, she’ll release “In Times of Dragons,” a 17-track release that sees the singer performing an alternative universe version of herself as she “continues her flight from a dangerous and powerful billionaire husband,” according to the record’s official press materials. It’s allegorical and political, to be sure, and she’s not going it alone. She’s joined by the “Gasoline Girls” — there’s

power in numbers — which is also a jaunty piano number about not giving up the good fight.

— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

New series to stream

• Roku has a new program for younger first time home buyers. “This First House ” follows millennial and Gen Z families as they go through the daunting process of buying a home. They’re guided by renovation experts Zack and Camille Dettmore. The show is a spinoff of the PBS staple

“This Old House.” It hits The Roku Channel this week.

• The TV adaptation of Isabel Allende’ s beloved novel “The House of the Spirits” debuts on Prime Video this week. The Spanish-language series follows the trials and tribulations of a multi-generational Latin family. The cast includes Alfonso Herrera, Dolores Fonzi and Nicole Wallace with Allende and Eva Longoria among executive producers.

• Matthew Rhys plays the mayor of a small coastal town that’s more creepy than charming in a new horror comedy for Apple TV called “Widow’s Bay.” He wants to make the island a tourist destination but the locals aren’t on board. The reason? They think it’s haunted. The series launched yesterday.

• If you don’t scroll through real estate websites fantasizing about your dream home then what do you do with your downtime? HGTV’s “Zillow Gone Wild” is hosted by Jack McBrayer and takes you on a tour of some of these outrageous houses. A new season begins streaming Saturday, May 2 on HBO Max.

— Alicia Rancilio

New video games to play

• Artemis II made space

travel look fun, but things get scarier the farther you get from Earth. Take Carcosa, the setting of Sony’s Saros. Not only is it filled with hostile lifeforms, but the planet itself is a shape-shifter — meaning its geography changes with each new mission. Fortunately, you have an arsenal of high-tech weapons as well as a nifty shield that absorbs alien projectiles and sends them back as missiles. Housemarque, the Finnish studio that helped launch the PlayStation 5 with 2021’s Returnal, calls it “bullet ballet, evolved.” Start dancing today on PS5.

• Aphelion hits a little closer to home. It takes place on Persephone, a frozen planet on the edge of our solar system. Two astronauts are separated after their spacecraft crashes, and they have to use their exploratory skills and sharp observation to figure out what went wrong and find each other. French developer Don’t Nod says it collaborated with the European Space Agency to create “a realistic depiction of near-future space exploration” — but don’t relax too much, because there’s a hostile life form on your trail here too. Break the ice today on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S or PC.

— Lou Kesten

‘Michael’

walks right past them. The result is a kind of fantasy film, one that relives the extraordinary highs of Michael Jackson while turning a blind eye to the lows.

There’s something understandably hard to resist about that. Who wouldn’t love to forget all the bad that comes with Michael Jackson? “Billie Jean,” alone, is good enough to give you amnesia. We’re talking about one of the greatest songand-dance entertainers of the 20th century. The connection he forged with millions shouldn’t be taken for granted. And it can feel downright giddy to once again bask in Jackson’s former glory — or, at least, an uncanny approximation of it by Jaafar Jackson, his nephew. But that also makes “Michael” as much a fairy tale as Peter Pan’s Neverland.

“Michael” originally included scenes dealing with the sexual abuse allegations, but those were cut due to stipulations in an earlier settlement. The finished film, scripted by John Logan (“Gladiator,” “Aviator”), is largely structured as a father-son drama. In the film’s early Gary, Indiana-set scenes, Joe Jackson (a typically compelling Colman Domingo) forcefully drills his children into becoming the Jackson 5 and whips young Michael (an excellent Juliano Krue Valdi) with his belt.

Garden

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“I have a little cutout of a train, it’s about four feet high, it has flowers going up around it, and it has a place where kids can take a picture,” Nespor said in an interview with The Republican.

The Springfield Garden Club is hosting a free event for families — “Children’s Books in Bloom” — starting on Friday, May 1, at the Monkey House in Forest Park. The event will feature 32 designs by Garden Club members inspired by

early 20s. These and other developments (like the arrival of Bubbles the chimp) are mostly met with eye rolls by family members: the idiosyncrasies of a man-child genius.

At nearly every turn, you can feel the narrative being twisted, sometimes by those still alive. (Joe Jackson died in 2018, nine years after his son’s death at 50.) Katherine Jackson (Nia Long), Michael’s mother, is downright saintly. John Branca (Miles Teller), co-executor of Jackson’s estate and a producer of the film, is seen as a heroic ally to Michael.

Branca, perhaps, deserves

There is an undeniable thrill in being transported back to a more innocent America awakening to the power of pop spectacle, when arenas sang in unison to “Man in the Mirror” and “Human Nature.”

While “Michael” spans the Jackson 5 and “Off the Wall” and “Thriller,” its through line is Michael’s struggle for emancipation from his overbearing father and manager. In that way, it’s quite similar to 2022’s “Elvis,” which likewise turned on the dynamic between Presley and the controlling Colonel Tom Parker. Similarly, the broad-strokes, play-the-hits biopic approach is very much at work in “Michael,” produced by Graham King (“Bohemian Rhapsody”). Fuqua, best known for muscular thrillers like “Training Day” and “The Equalizer,” is maybe an unlikely pick for the task. But he cleverly stages some scenes, like when young Michael first lays down a track

in a recording studio. While his father looms outside and producers tell Michael not to shuffle his feet so much, Fuqua moves inside the booth. We hear nothing but Michael’s voice. The noise stops and there’s just his pure, not-yet-corrupted vocal power, singing “Who’s Lovin’ You.”

What happened to Jackson as he became an adult, many would consider both an astonishing success story and an American tragedy. “Michael” doesn’t try for that balance. It mainly follows the emergence of an icon, albeit a peculiar one who takes shelter in a room full of children’s toys and whose need to be “perfect” drives him to cosmetic surgery in his

“There will be books that maybe people don’t know or haven’t read because there’s such a huge age range in the club, and so what we grew

up with isn’t necessarily what someone else did.”

Vana Nespor

children’s books, as well as storytime readings and outdoor activities and games.

“The books range from older kids, like the ‘Harry Potter’ books, right down to ‘The Hungry Caterpillar,’” Nespor said. “There will be books that maybe people don’t know or

haven’t read because there’s such a huge age range in the club, and so what we grew up with isn’t necessarily what someone else did.”

The event is intended to kick off National Children’s Book Week, which this year runs from May 4 to 10, Ne-

the victory lap. Such a bigscreen revival for Jackson was once unthinkable. But “Michael” is the latest in a string of successes for the former King of Pop, including Cirque du Soleil shows and “MJ the Musical” on Broadway — all despite the evidence presented by the 2019 documentary “Leaving Neverland.” “Michael” isn’t really a rebuttal to that film. It’s pure pop shockand-awe. And turning up the volume on “Beat It” will win you some arguments.

What’s on screen is constantly running, in our minds, alongside what isn’t. Even the glossiest of biopics allow some negative characteristics to show, but Fuqua’s film sticks almost entirely to Michael,

spor explained.

“We let all of the libraries know that we’re promoting what they’re doing,” she said.

The “Children’s Books in Bloom” event will run for three days, from Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. All families are welcome to come and see the displays. Admission is free, but donations will help support a major project for Forest Park: installing a trolley that will take families around to all different parts of the park.

“The engine that could, this little train, a little electric train that goes around the

the myth. He visits kids in hospitals, makes Black history on MTV, writes the “Thriller” album in near solitude. (Kendrick Sampson plays a seldom-seen Quincy Jones.) As played by Jaafar Jackson, Michael is a wide-eyed innocent who bore the scars of abuse and yet nevertheless maintained a childlike belief in music: king and casualty of pop, at once. If there’s one thing that needs no embellishment here, it’s the fervor of audiences for Jackson at his astonishing peak. Fuqua lingers on the fans losing their minds for Michael, but that ardor was real. Jaafar Jackson’s performance is a remarkable, charming facsimile not just for the dance moves and singing voice but, more crucially, for channeling Jackson’s sweetness.

“Michael” concludes on an oddly and — considering where things would ultimately go for Jackson — completely false note of triumph. But when the movie sticks to the music, as it often does in copious concert performances, it’s hard not to be moved. There is an undeniable thrill in being transported back to a more innocent America awakening to the power of pop spectacle, when arenas sang in unison to “Man in the Mirror” and “Human Nature.” The nostalgia of “Michael” is for more than Michael Jackson. But blindly believing only in that celebrity, in that fantasy, is repeating a sad history all over again.

park and takes kids and families to see all parts of the park,” Nespor said. “They redid the trolley house, it’s right there as you enter, and so that’s where it would pick up people and it would take them all around and bring them back.”

And Nespor, who said she is a big fan of classic children’s literature, will have more than one display of her own at the event for visitors to enjoy. The second one, she said, will be inspired by “Little Women,” a coming-of-age novel written by Louisa May Alcott. “I can’t help it, I just love that book,” she said.

“I would not be who I am if I were not on this wild music ride.”

CHARLIE MARIE

Cipollone said her passion for music started when she was very young.

“I grew up with a lot of music. My father used to be a drummer, and my grandfather was a singer-songwriter who they called ‘the Italian cowboy,’” she said. “Then I remember in the fourth grade, there was a singer named Jerilyn Sawyer who I saw singing, and I just wanted to be like her. I remember thinking, ‘She is really cool, I want to be just like this girl.’”

This led to her taking vocal lessons, which in turn led to her vocal teacher saying she sounded like Patsy Cline. Her grandmother then took her to Strawberries and bought a Patsy Cline record. This was the genesis of her country music journey.

“It kind of just all began from there. And I met people along the way that were really into country music, and they helped me, and it continued to snowball,” she said.

Cipollone considers her rabid passion for music to be both a blessing and kind of a curse.

“It’s almost like a sickness, because if I don’t do music, I don’t feel like myself. And I feel like music is always

constantly pushing us to show up, and it’s constantly forcing me to grow,” she said. “I would not be who I am if I were not on this wild music ride.”

The upcoming album has a slightly different sound to it, she said, in that it doesn’t sound as close to classic country as her previous work and has a few more rock and folk influences.

“It kind of just unfolded that way,” she said. “But I’m happy that the record sounds the way it sounds, because it shows kind of an evolution. And sometimes you just got to let go of the damn steering wheel, which is something I tell myself every day.”

The shift might also have come from a new inspiration on her writing. Her early influences included legends like Hank Williams, but more recently she has found John Denver having a big effect on her writing.

“For me, I always found solace and safety in nature, so on my trip I found myself going out to these distant parks out west and getting lost in nature and feeling like I was free,” she said. “So, John Denver has recently inspired me to write about my connections with nature.”

For more information about Charlie Marie’s show at the Shea Theater, including tickets, go online to sheatheater.org.

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