There are at least a hundred reasons arts and nature lovers head for the Berkshires each summer — here are six big ones. The first is in Great Barrington, Mass.: Just 2 ¹/₂ hours from Midtown, it’s close enough for a day trip, but we’re betting you’ll stay for more.
Fall in love with Carey Mulligan. She and Bill Nighy were magical this spring in the Tony-winning “Skylight” revival. Missed them on Broadway? Happily, they’ll reunite on the big screen at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, in the HD performance filmed at London’s National Theatre. For pre-dinner dining, the Castle Street Café’s next door, but it’s hard to beat the 20 craft beers and custom burgers at 20 Railroad Street, just around the corner. July 25 at 8 p.m., $17.
Picnic in Tanglewood. There’s no more bucolic spot for music lovers than the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s leafy summer retreat. Bring a blanket and splurge on a feast-to-go from Nejaime’s Wine Cellar ($55 for two). Coming up: “Tanglewood on Parade” (Aug. 4) in which the BSO and Boston Pops team up for Tchaikovsky, John Williams and more, followed by fireworks.
Catch Roz Chast’s cartoons. The New Yorker magazine’s high priestess of angst recently came out with a graphic memoir — “Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?” — bound to resonate with anyone with aging parents. Panels from that and more of her work are on view at the decidedly unneurotic Norman Rockwell Museum, where that artist’s studio is on the grounds and open to visitors.
Gorge on Van Gogh. His glorious nature paintings may make you forget that whole cutting-off-his-ear thing. Now they’re at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, whose recently revamped campus, ponds and all, is a picture in itself. Need more? “Whistler’s Mother” has left Paris’ Musée D’Orsay to summer here!
WTF! See Audra McDonald tackle O’Neill. The six-time Tony winner goes head-to-head with her hubby, Will Swenson in the Williamstown Theater Festival’s “A Moon for the Misbegotten” (Aug. 5-23). Prepare to swoon; $35 to $65.
Bond with the Bard. Granted, the play’s the thing, but at Shakespeare & Company, there’s much more: 30 woodland acres for hiking, picnicking and daydreaming, and pre-performance displays of Elizabethan dance and swordplay. One of the hot tickets this summer: OBIE winner John Douglas Thompson in “Red Velvet,” about the first black man to play Othello. $30 to $80.
WHERE TO STAY
The Holiday Inn Express in Great Barrington has an indoor pool, free breakfast buffet and easy access to Tanglewood. All that, and easy on the wallet: rooms from $189.
Or, if you’ve won the lottery or happen to be a hedgefund billionaire, there’s always Wheatleigh, the 19th-Century Gilded Age mansion modeled on a 16th-century Italian palazzo. Nestled on 22 acres of rolling hills and lakes, its rooms range from $715 to $2,100 per night.