FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Great Barrington, Mass.—The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center will present two mainstage headliners, two Indigo Room programs, and three screened events this May: Michael Feinstein on May 1; Eugene Onegin from the Met Opera Live in HD on May 2; Indigo Comedy Night with Christian Finnegan on May 8; Railroad Earth on May 9; Bringing Up Baby (1938) on May 15; Pilobolust on May 16; and The Big Sleep (1946) on May 22.
Mainstage: Michael Feinstein
American Songbook favorite Michael Feinstein returns to the Mahaiwe with the Carnegie Hall Ensemble for a new show, Big Band Broadway, on Friday, May 1 at 8 p.m.
Featuring music from quintessential shows such as Cabaret, Hello Dolly, and Fiddler on the Roof to Into the Woods and Chicago, Big Band Broadway delivers modern and classic showtunes with the timeless tradition of Carnegie Hall in a way that only Michael Feinstein can do.
Michael Feinstein has built a dazzling career over the last three decades bringing the music of the Great American songbook to the world. From recordings that have earned him five Grammy Award nominations to his Emmy nominated PBS-TV specials, his acclaimed NPR series and concerts spanning the globe – in addition to his appearances at iconic venues such as The White House, Buckingham Palace, Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall and Sydney Opera House – his work as an educator and archivist defines Feinstein as one of the most important musical forces of our time.
Tickets are $69 to $124, with discounts for Mahaiwe Members and individuals ages 30 and under.
Screening: Met Opera Live in HD – Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin
The Mahaiwe will screen Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin from the Met Opera Live in HD on Saturday, May 2 at 1 p .m.
Following her acclaimed 2024 company debut in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, soprano Asmik Grigorian returns to the Met as Tatiana, the lovestruck young heroine in this ardent operatic adaptation of Pushkin. Baritone Iurii Samoilov is the urbane Onegin, who realizes his affection for her all too late. The Met’s evocative production, directed by Tony Award–winner Deborah Warner, “offers a beautifully detailed reading of … Tchaikovsky’s lyrical romance” (The Telegraph).
Tickets are $25 or $10 for ages 21 and under.
Indigo Comedy Night: Christian Finnegan
Stand-up comic Christian Finnegan will perform at the Indigo Room on Friday, May 8 at 8 p.m., as part of the new venue’s ongoing comedy series.
Christian Finnegan is perhaps best known as one of the original panelists on VH1’s Best Week Ever and as Chad, the only white roommate in Chappelle’s Show’s infamous “Mad Real World” sketch. He played Martin on the popular syndicated sitcom Are We There Yet? and politics junkies will recognize Christian from his many appearances on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
Most recently, Christian was the creator and co-host of A&E’s Black & White, which examined current events and social trends through the lens of Race. He can also be heard filling in as a regular guest host on Standup with Pete Dominick on SiriusXM Insight.
Indigo Comedy Night shows are hosted by Thomas Attila Lewis and feature supporting comedians before the headliner. This performance is for ages 18 and up.
Tickets are $30 general admission, café table seating. Indigo Comedy Night shows are sponsored by Fairfield Inn by Marriott.
Mainstage: Railroad Earth
Americana jam band Railroad Earth will make its Mahaiwe debut on Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m.
For over two decades, Railroad Earth has captivated audiences with gleefully unpredictable live shows and eloquent and elevated studio output. The group introduced its signature sound on 2001’s The Black Bear Sessions. Between selling out hallowed venues such as Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colo., they’ve been responsible for launching signature festivals Hangtown Music Festival in Placerville, Calif., and Hillberry: The Harvest Moon Festival in Eureka Springs, Ark. Sought after by legends, the John Denver Estate tapped them to put lyrics penned by the late John Denver to music on the 2019 vinyl EP, Railroad Earth: The John Denver Letters. Beyond tallying tens of millions of streams, the collective has earned widespread critical acclaim from David Fricke of Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, Glide Magazine, and NPR who assured, “Well-versed in rambling around, as you might expect from a band named after a Jack Kerouac poem, the New Jersey-built jam-grass engine Railroad Earth has let no moss grow under its rustic wheels.”
Tickets are $39 to $64, with discounts for Mahaiwe Members and individuals ages 30 and under.
Screening: 100 Years of Movies – Bringing Up Baby (1938)
The Mahaiwe’s 100 Years of Movies series returns for its third annual summer with Bringing Up Baby from 1938 launching the new season on Friday, May 15 at 7 p.m.
Bringing Up Baby is a classic screwball comedy starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. In pursuit of a major donation for his museum, paleontologist David Huxley (Grant) gets tangled up with an eccentric heiress, Susan Vance (Hepburn), and her pet leopard, Baby.
100 Years of Movies screenings feature introductions by director Deborah Reinisch.
Tickets are $8 or $5 for ages 12 and under.
Indigo Room: Pilobolust
Modern dance company Pilobolus will bring its new cabaret show Pilobolust back to the Indigo Room on Saturday, May 16 at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Pilobolus debuted this program at the Indigo Room with two sold-out performances last November 21. The program returns by popular demand.
Rebellious dance theater company Pilobolus turns up the heat with tantalizing talent, bawdy bewitchment, and scintillating scenarios in their full-bodied, censor-unfriendly Pilobolust. In this daringly disarming cabaret, unrestrained beauty and cheeky mischief refuse to stay onstage. If you are ready to surrender to immersive seduction as it unfolds all around you, we invite you to join us for an experience that is undone, uninhibited, and unforgettable.
This program contains partial nudity. Ages 21 and over.
Tickets are $100, with a discount for Mahaiwe Members.
Screening: 100 Years of Movies – The Big Sleep (1946)
The Mahaiwe will present The Big Sleep from 1946 on Friday, May 22 at 7 p.m., as part of its 100 Years of Movies program.
Iconic duo Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall star in The Big Sleep, a classic film noir by director Howard Hawks. Romance, murder and blackmail are all on the table in this timeless mystery. Nobel Prize-winning novelist William Faulkner contributed to the script.
100 Years of Movies screenings feature introductions by director Deborah Reinisch.
Tickets are $8 or $5 for ages 12 and under. (This title is not recommended for children younger than 12.)
Tickets
Tickets can be purchased online at mahaiwe.org, or by calling or visiting the Box Office, 413-528-0100, on Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.
To learn more about Mahaiwe Membership, contact Brenna Hull at 413-644-9040 x107 or brenna@mahaiwe.org, or visit mahaiwe.org/membership.
Individuals ages 30 and under are eligible for $15 youth tickets for live Mahaiwe Presents events on the mainstage. Visit or call the Box Office to redeem this offer.
The Mahaiwe accepts ConnectorCare/WIC/EBT cards — four free tickets to movies or HD broadcasts per individual. Learn more at mahaiwe.org/visit/ticketing-offers.
About the Mahaiwe
Located in downtown Great Barrington, Mass., the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center is the year-round presenter of world-class music, dance, theater, classic films, Live in HD broadcasts, and arts education programs for the southern Berkshires and neighboring regions. The intimate jewel box of a theater opened in 1905. Since 2005, the performing arts center has hosted over 2,500 events and welcomed over 600,000 people through its doors. More than 28,000 students from 77 different schools have benefited from the Mahaiwe’s school-time performances and residencies. In 2025, the Mahaiwe opened a second performance venue, the Indigo Room. For more information, see mahaiwe.org.
About the Indigo Room
The Indigo Room is a flexible performance venue in the former Great Barrington firehouse building at 20 Castle Street, next door to the historic Mahaiwe theater. Audience capacity ranges between 75 and 150 based on the floor plan for a given performance. Concessions include beer, wine, soft drinks, hot beverages, and snacks.
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