The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program is a great excuse to investigate gorgeous gardens in our region, both public and private. On the list for this Saturday, July 27, is Innisfree Garden in Millbrook.
Both Chef Linda Soper-Kolton and Chef Sara Boan graduated from the Natural Gourmet Institute in Manhattan before landing their dream jobs at the Catskill Animal Sanctuary, tucked away between Saugerties and Lake Katrine, where they teach the vegan way of compassionate cooking. Now the dynamic duo is making the rounds at bookstores and other venues to launch a cookbook, Compassionate Cuisine: 125 Plant-Based Recipes from Our Vegan Kitchen.
Aug. 3: In the fifth in a series of curious and heightened outings, attendees will meet trip leader Mathew Rymkiewicz at the Pond House, where lighting and other bait will be set up to attract the winged creatures of mention.
Through Aug. 18: Shear Madness has an interesting history. It’s essentially a food-free stage version of the now-ubiquitous participatory phenomenon known as murder mystery dinner theater, which itself is rooted in games that became popular in Great Britain beginning in the late 19th century, following a notorious 1860 child-killing known as the Road Hill Murder.
The Steve Miller Band, a mainstay of the ’60s San Francisco music scene will top a fine double bill beginning at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, July 28 at UPAC, 601 Broadway, Kingston. Also appearing will be Grammy winning country start Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives.
The shows combine art, food, music, storytelling, meditation, singing, performance, and community interaction in an artistic celebration that will take place this year from July 25 through July 28, at various locations in Woodstock.
Sunday, July 21: The Great Hack follows the inscrutable tracks of Brittany Kaiser, the ambiguous, complicated, brilliant and downright-Shakespearean figure whose actions at various times can be said to have both created and cracked the whole damn affair.
The Irish-born Jessie Buckley came in second on a BBC vocal talent show called I’d Do Anything, but she’s now one of the stars of this year’s HBO hit miniseries Chernobyl. Buckley plays a working-class 23-year-old unwed mother of two from Glasgow who’s obsessed with American country music.
Thursday-Sunday, July 11-28: Though dense with the rapid-fire witty banter for which the playwright is renowned, Blithe Spirit’s tone is as lightweight as ectoplasm, treating the subject of death so casually that British audiences demoralized by their losses in World War II found the play a welcome tonic. Its West End run ran for 1,997 performances, setting a record at the time for non-musicals, and it quickly moved on to Broadway.
Saturday, July 20: One of rock’s most identifiable interpreters, Southside turns everything he touches to Southside, whether it is “Walk Away Renee,” “The Fever” or his signature song, “We’re Having a Party.” This is the essence of New Jersey rock ‘n’ roll.