Carolyn Brown

Cartoonist Hilary Price, who lives in Florence, won the 2023 Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year, the highest honor awarded by the National Cartoonists Society, in August of this year.

The Northampton location of Hometown Arcade is slated to open in November. STAFF PHOTO/CAROLYN BROWN

Lucie Pasche, one of the lead singers in the Friendship Band, with Brian Melanson, a longtime teacher and band member, during a rehearsal for The Bash, a 20th anniversary celebration of Whole Children. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

Director Matteo Pangallo, center, looks on as Lindsey Campbell and Jim Merlin rehearse Valley Players’ production of “Constellations” at Munson Memorial Library in Amherst. STAFF PHOTO/Carolyn Brown

Hazel Kleinman-Eddy, left, and Indë perform at a Queer Open Mic at the Parlor Room. COURTESY LEO HARRISON

A local chef is bringing a new meaning to the phrase “getting baked.”Chef Matthew Brehm is the owner of Upscale Cannabis Wine Dinners, which provides catered brunches and dinners with weed-infused dishes. He operates out of western Massachusetts, but...

An arcade near Boston will soon have a new location in Northampton.Hometown Arcade will open its third location in the basement of Thornes Marketplace this November, replacing what used to be Acme Surplus, though the exact opening date is yet to be...

Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic operetta “The Mikado” is coming to the Academy of Music — this time, with a Scottish twist.Amherst-based Valley Light Opera will present “The McAdo,” an adaptation of “The Mikado,” on the weekends of Nov. 1-3 and 8-10....

Goldenrod Country Inn, a B&B and tavern in Worthington, will host its original production “Project 2069: A Dragged-Out Political Satire” on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m in its Cabaret Room Theater. The drag/puppet show takes aim at Project 2025, a conservative guidebook for overhauling many aspects of federal U.S. government policy. CONTRIBUTED/ERIC FRARY

When director Kate Way, a current UMass Lowell assistant professor and former Northampton High School teacher, had just finished teaching a course on book banning in the fall of 2022, the very subject she was teaching became, to her surprise, the...