Sarah Laduke

Tomorrow, March 21, is World Puppetry Day and Arts Mid-Hudson will mark the occasion with a Day of Puppetry at Keepsake at the Academy in Poughkeepsie, New York. The Day of Puppetry opens the 3rd annual Hudson Valley Puppetry Festival which runs through April 25 and includes puppet theatre performances and exhibitions throughout the region.

For over 40 years, New York Stage & Film (S&F) has developed over 1,000 stories that have won every major entertainment award up to and including the Pulitzer Prize. At S&F’s Summer Season presentations, audiences experience stories in their earliest stages before they go to a broader audience. The incubator period these pieces have can be make-or-break for the artists and their vision for their work. Artistic Director of New York Stage & Film Ian Belknap joins us to preview the season.

Tonight at 7:30, BEATrio is playing at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, New York. BEATrio is a super-group partnership between banjoist and multi-genre impresario Béla Fleck, virtuoso Colombian harpist Edmar Castañeda and sensational Mexican jazz drummer Antonio Sánchez released an album last year, also called ‘BEATrio’ that was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. In advance of the show at the music hall tonight, Béla joined me to talk about BEATrio and his upcoming album with Renée Fleming.

Since 2003, Capital Region Language Center has been bridging cultures and connecting communities through language. It serves all ages and language levels with about 25 part-time teachers offering in-person classes at their location just off Wolf Road in Albany, New York; offsite at schools, organizations, or businesses; or online. Learning options include one-on-one or group classes so that everyone can access language learning in a way that works for them.Our guests to today are Founder and Director of Capital Region Language Center Kim Andersen, Korean teacher Sonya Kim, Japanese teacher Yoko Segerstrom, and Spanish teacher Miriam Rogers.

Juliette Lewis, Brad Durand, Stephanie Chu, and Amber Gray in the Roundabout Theatre Company 2026 revival of Richard O'Brien's'The Rocky Horror Show'

Woodstock Fringe in collaboration with the Phoenicia Playhouse presents a new cabaret show performed by our pal, Wallace Norman, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. With music direction and arrangements by Paul Duffy and stage direction by Hank Neimark, ‘Songs Mostly of the Theatre: A Stroll Down a Dusty Musical Road’ is a personal show for Wallace. In it, he revisits his most important musical influences and mentors.Music performed will include songs from the musical theatre, traditional songs, and a set of songs written for Wallace from his Off-Off Broadway days, and a set of songs by the great Jacques Brel.The performances will happen at Phoenicia Playhouse in Phoenicia, NY this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

This Sunday, May 3 at 3pm, Albany Pro Musica and Orchestra Pro Musica will fill the Troy Savings Banks Music Hall with a special season-ending presentation of ‘This Luminous Earth.’ The performance will include Jake Runestad’s EMMY®-Award winning ‘Earth Symphony,’ and Morten Lauridsen’s sublime ‘Lux Aeterna’.

Tig Notaro is an Emmy and Grammy nominated stand-up comedian, actor, writer, podcaster, and producer – ‘Rolling Stone’ named her one of the “50 best stand-up comics of all time.” But you don’t have to take Rolling Stone’s word for it – I’m telling you: Tig is the best. Put her on stand-up Mount Rushmore where she’s all 4 faces but with slightly different haircuts.She’s bringing her new stand-up tour to The Egg in Albany, New York for two shows on June 4 - tickets to the 9:30 show are available.

Fresh Cuts Friday! Here we are. Cindy’s picks. Cindy hosts. We have the ED of FA, Sarah LaDuke, writing about some of the songs for the Fresh Cuts blog pos

We often hear the refrain, “why doesn’t anyone write protest songs anymore?” Those folks haven’t been listening to Chris Pierce. His new album, ‘Songs for the Heavy Hearted,’ needs to be played on repeat, for not only does it call out the injustices tearing at the fabric of our society, but it also testifies to the enduring hope and love living in the shadows that can guide us through these fraught times.