Jazzing Up the Streets with Live Music!

This month, Pittsfield’s been filled with great music, as musicians took to the stage to jazz things up. The sixth annual CityJazz festival is concluding with a slew of jazz musicians on the final 3rd Thursday of 2010. Local favorites the Blue Light Trio perform on the City Stage, in front of St Joseph’s Church, from 6:30 – 8pm. At the Intermodal Education Center, BCC jazz teachers & students, imncluding Dan Broad, Bill Chapman, Allen Livermore, and Jon Suters will perform with the BCC Jazz Ensemble. Palace Park will feature the local jazz allstars of the Pittsfield Sister City Dixieland Jazz Ambassadors from 5pm to 6:45pm.  And 3rd.Thursdays favorites the Berkshire Bateria bring Brazilian rhythms to Dunham Mall on the first block of North Street.

Great Art on North Street
Gallery 25 hosts an artist’s reception Thursday night for Ellen Joffe-Halpern’s exhibit "Wanderings" – the final show of the season at Gallery 25. At Pittsfield Contemporary – put on those 3D shades for a 3D digital artwork show. Wild Bill “Firehands” will also light up the stage with his spoken word poetry. The OUT in the Berkshires exhibit is still on view at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, and in the storefront of the Onota Building at 70 North Street, artist Leslie Pelino will be creating a whimsical, colorful, intricate underwater world from her own characters, in collaboration with the Storefront Artist Project. The Intermodal Gallery hosts an opening reception for a BCC Student Show, and Ferrin Gallery showcases studio pottery. 

Performances Galore
At the City Stage, Moonshine Holler performs from 5-6pm. Moonshine Holler captures the essence of American music with a repertoire that includes Carter family classics, hillbilly blues and mountain ballads. St Joe’s lawn will glow bright this Third Thursday as fire spinners light up the night. Otha Day leads a drum circle at Park Square, and the great Stefanie Weber will be hula hooping with the bright & fantastical LED-lit hula hoops. Berkshire Pulse will pump up the crowd with a Thriller dance performance at Palace Park @ 6:45 (plus – they might pop up randomly all over North Street, so keep an eye out for those zombies!). Radio personality Megan Carlotta of Live 95.9 will be with 10 year old Danny LaPatin broadcasting live outside Central Block where they will be selling pink lemonade & raffle tickets to raise money for Alex's Lemonade Stand, to combat cancer.

WordXWord Poetry Slam & The Crucible
Poetry slammers – Shaun’s Barbershop needs you! WordXWord is hosting a Poetry Slam at 6pm, so if you think you’ve got what it takes to spit those rhymes and blow the competition out of the water – come out and sign up! To reserve a spot – email wordxwordfestival@gmail.com.

For a provocative and electric evening – come out to Barrington Stage for The Crucible at 7pm. It’s a performance Advocate Weekly is calling “...a gift to the Berkshires... Proctor himself is played to perfection by Christopher Innvar." And especially for YOU, $20 rush tickets are available to Thursday night's performance beginning at 6:30pm. Just mention 3rd.Thursdays to get the discount!

Holiday Shopping
For Pittsfield's last 3rd.Thursday of the year Emporium will be having a JemDrop Jewelry Trunk Show plus  "Halloween Surprise Bags" with goodies inside like rings, bracelets, and necklaces for $10, plus they have great costume accessories. At Carr Hardware, “make your own sale” and take 10% off any regularly priced item in stock IF you wear your costume into the store!  You can find Halloween-themed books at Chapters Book Store and at RJ Stohr Diamonds & Fine Jewelry almost everything in the store is 50% off. The West Side Clock Shop will keep you on time, the New Berry Place offers treats & gifts galore, and check out the gorgeous new beads for sale at Bisque, Beads & Beyond. There's always tons of great shopping on North Street.

The Fun Goes On After Eight!
At the Beacon Cinema, watch a live performance of A Prairie Home Companion on the big screen at 8pm – complete with all new skits, performances by The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band and special guests. Plus all the other great films on their lineup.
Inside the Micro Theatre, OUTSPOKEN – Pittsfield’s Monthly performance series & Open Mic Night – features Victoria Passier & Bob Balogh
The party doesn’t stop when the sun goes down – and there’s another great line up this month for 3rd Thursdays’ 8pm and Beyond. At 10pm put on your dancing shoes and travel to the Underground Pub for great dance music all night. Rakish Paddy and their traditional Celtic music is back at Patrick’s Pub this Third Thursday. Inside Mission, you can find Billy Keene & the Misdemeanor Outlaws, and for a $3 suggested donation, you can watch BOB at Flavours Restaurant. At Jae’s Spice, Gaia Roots will perform from 6:30pm on.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO MAKES 3rd. THURSDAYS POSSIBLE! 

We are grateful to the many businesses and cultural organizations who make 3^rd Thursdays possible each month, along with many of our city departments and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. 3^rd Thursdays are organized by the City of Pittsfield’s Office of Cultural Development, and our lead co-sponsors are Berkshire Living magazine, WUPE & Live 95.9 FM, Berkshire Bank, Greylock Federal Credit Union and Downtown Inc.  Our lead downtown partners include Baba Louie’s Organic Sourdough Woodfired Pizza, Barrington Stage Company, the Beacon Cinema, Berkshire Healing Arts, Carr Hardware, the Colonial Theatre,  the Pittsfield Colonials and Aaron’s. We look forward to helping celebrate Pittsfield's 250th birthday next year at 3rd.Thursdays 2011!