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The morning papers

The Globe's Ed Siegel has a nice little critic-at-large piece on the Rockwellian nature of art and life in the Berkshires in the summer that at least counters the impression made by that brouhaha in Pittsfield. ... Thomas Garvey likes the dark fun of The Tribe's "Pterodactyls" at the Devanaughan. It's their first full-length play. ... Gina Perille was considerably less enthused about the "fresh and savvy" 11:11 Theatre Company's "Yellow Ribbons,"which she says has "tremendous conviction and depth" but "too many unwatchable moments." That's the kind of review that makes directors slit their wrists.

After reading Terry Byrne's feature in the Herald, I'm still not exactly sure what the mix of hip-hop poetry, music, drama and dance called "Slanguage," by the Universes ensemble, will look like when it opens at the BCA's Plaza Theatre tomorrow. But that may be a good thing -- it could be just what they're after.

In the Berkshire Eagle, Jeffrey Borak loves the "smart and oh, so richly entertaining" production of "Taming of the Shrew" at Shakespeare & Co.

Music: Hot topic to conduct in Tanglewood

Want to see the conductor at the center of the hottest controversy in classical music (this week)? Get tickets for Tanglewood on Aug. 20, when Marin Alsop is set to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Yo-Yo Ma as soloist. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra community is currently in a tizzy over the board's selection of  Alsop as its new conductor. She was the board's pick, but the orchestra's musicians made an unusually public stink, some complaining about process and some, more quietly, about Alsop. Today, the board went ahead and made her the first woman to lead an American orchestra of this size. Now the real fun begins.

Alsop - who won the Tanglewood Music Center's Koussevitzky Conducting Prize in 1989 - makes her BSO debut with the August program. Ma will be featured in Barber's Cello Concerto, and Christopher Rouse's Rapture and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 are also on the bill. Alsop is currently principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony in England and conductor laureate of the Colorado Symphony. And she looks like Laurie Anderson's sterner sister, no?

Music: It's a good cause - just send money

Passim Center members bought up all the tickets to Nanci Griffith's rare club gig at the venue on Aug. 1 before they were even available to the general public. Understandable. But it's a benefit for a good cause, so if you can get over that grumpy, out-of-the-loop feeling, you might want to send along a check anyway. Proceeds from Griffith's performance, billed as a continuation of the 47@47 anniversary series, will go to establish a Bob & Rae-Ann Donlin scholarship fund at the Passim School of Music. The Donlins took over the venerable former Club 47 in 1969, and it was reborn as Passim, remaining under their charge until 1995. A lot of performers like Griffith benefited from their stewardship. Donations can be made via the web site, 617-492-7679 or by mail to Passim Center, 26 Church St., Suite 300, Cambridge MA 02138. (Griffith is touring behind her new "Hearts In Mind" album, above, and will also be at Newport and in Maine around that time, so check for tix there.)

Theater: And you thought the Berkshires were sleepy

The juiciest story of the day: The Berkshire Eagle's Jack Dew reports on the soap opera at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. The theater's board is said to be considering the fate of Executive Director Susan Sperber, who just asked for a fat new contract following the revelation that she's romantically involved with the married former board president Howell Palmer. He stepped down from the board and from the presidency of Berkshire Life Insurance in June after the revelation of his relationship with Sperber, who is divorced. Whew!

There's a lot at stake, given that $3 million still has to be raised to complete a $21 million restoration of the theater, said to be the linchpin of a revival for downtown Pittsfield. (Been there? It needs help.) And Sperber's $80,000 a year  job was first thought to be safe after Palmer's resignation from the board. But Dew reports some board members apparently thought the scandal would hurt Sperber's ability to do the job. And so Friday, in what sure looks like a preemotive strike, she presented them with a letter demanding a fat new three-year contract or a consulting pact. They play hardball out there on Route 7 - what else have they got to do?

Music: Engage this!

The Globe and Herald both report this morning that just days after its triumphant Ozzfest aprearance at the Tweeter Center, red-hot Bay State metal band Killswitch Engage will play the Worcester Palladium on Monday night,  in a show to be filmed for a DVD. And get this: TIX ARE ONLY $5. On sale today at Strawberries, Tickets.com and 800-477-6849. As I Lay Dying and Once Beloved open.

The morning papers

The Globe also says a co-headlining tour of Foo Fighters and Weezer is coming to Worcester this October. ... The Globe's Sally Cragin liked the "sumtuous and sensitive" production of "Carousel" by the Reagle Players in Waltham. ... Coincidentally, in the Herald, Linda Laban has fun cruising around that town with the band named Waltham. ... Back to the Globe, Christina Linklater had a more benign take on the latest Boston Landmarks Orchestra concert than the Herald did yesterday. ... And the paper finally tells us that fire forced the cancellation of North Shore Music Theater's "Cinderella," which you read in HubArts last Friday afternoon. ... The Lowell Sun reports on artists moving into their new studio lofts in the former Joan Fabric factory on Western Avenue there.

Music: NEC starts global online job listing

The New England Conservatory is leaving its current Job Bulletin behind by starting a global database of music jobs, competitions, grants and scholarships, you name it. Bridge: Worldwide Music Connection is due to bow here on Aug. 1. NEC said it will include listings of national and international orchestra auditions, teaching jobs and grants for everything from studying abroad to making a record. Competitions and festivals will also be listed. And it's all open to anyone ... anyone willing to pay the $55 annual fee, that is, or $75 for institutions. You can even get career advice from NEC counselors via email. "We've enhanced our existing  service and created something that was not otherwise available on the Web," says administrator Josh Hoekwater. For subscription info, call 617-585-1118 or send an email.

Job of the week

Control room officer, midnight- 8 a.m. ... at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. ... An overnight security job, basically. A chance not to repeat history. ... If you see two guys outside in police uniforms, don't answer the door!

The morning papers

The weekend's great performance seems to have been in Lenox. The Globe's Richard Dyer was over the moon about James Levine and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra's performance of Wagner on Saturday night: "It was possible to believe that we were listening to one of the great opera orchestras of the world." And the Berkshire Eagles's Andrew Pincus concurs: " Wonder after wonder issued from the orchestra."

Sounds like a good time was had by all at Saturday night's Hot Stove, Cool Music benefit at Fenway that raised $300,000 for disadvantaged kids. Gossip column accounts are here and here. Reviews are here and here.

The Globe gives a thumbs-up to Dinosaur Jr.'s Friday night Avalon performance. In the Herald, Larry Katz talks to Frank Black about his new album. The Herald's David Cleary liked composer Nkeiru Okoye's ``The Journey of Phillis Wheatley" but found the Boston Landmarks Orchestra's performance "adequate" at best.

The Eagle's Allison Tracy gives a mixed review to Ben Munisteri and his troupe at Jacob's Pillow this weekend: not so sure about the hypermodern concepts, quite positive on the performances. ... The Lowell Sun's Andrew Ravens talked to Dave Bourne, the saloon piano player on HBO's "Deadwood," who'll be performing at the Lowell Folk Fest later this month. "I've never been to the East Coast" (!) he says.

I missed it last week, but the Worcester Telegram reported that Janice E. Seymour, a Boylston resident, has been named executive director of ARTSWorcester. Seymour has helped with fundraising for Boylston Public Library and Performing Arts School of Worcester, the Telegram says.

The Patriot-Ledger visits the Nantucket Whaling Museum and pronounces it "an island gem."