New Year's Eve 1998
by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Dec. 25, 1998) -- If Berkshire Museum director Sharon Blume has her way, the museum will own New Year's Eve in this town well into the millennium.

The first step in Blume's campaign to claim New Year's Eve for her organization is next week's "Warehouse Ball." For the last four weeks, a crew has been hard at work transforming 10,000 square feet of raw warehouse space at 703 W. Housatonic St. into a kind of stage-set, upon which 500 amateur actors will enact the real-life roles of New Year's Eve partygoers on the night of Dec. 31.

A first-of-its-kind undertaking for the museum, the event -- which replaces the outfit's annual spring gala -- will boast "a very strong artistic dimension at the same time it explores the quirkiness of the institution," said Blume in a recent phone interview.

Under the leadership and direction of museum trustee Mitch Nash of Blue Q, a local gift design and manufacturing company, the non-descript warehouse space has been turned into "a fusion of art and industry."

"In typical Blue Q fashion, it will have a mix of industry and elegance, high concept and low concept," said Nash in a recent phone interview. "A whole interesting mishmash of things will be happening, creating a total environment that will feature this interesting juxtaposition of industry and elegance."

As an example, Nash's crew, directed by his brother Seth, the "official mad carpenter of Warehouse Ball Local No. 39," is constructing lounge areas that combine car seats ripped out of vehicles from Sayers' Auto Wrecking with drapery treatments by Pine Cone Hill, makers of fine decorative furnishings.

End tables are made out of windows and stop signs. Instead of the typical, upscale silent auction, the party will feature a flea market offering "decorative objects and irresistible upscale junk." A large bank of TV monitors will continuously run silent movies, and dance music, "from salsa to swing to Sinatra," will be provided by Peter Bochan, the host of "All Mixed Up," an eclectic music program that originates at New York City radio station WBAI. The buffet in the "factory food court" is being catered by the Market Place Kitchen of Great Barrington.

Even the unique, fold-out flyer/invitation is different, listing committee members that, in addition to the usual local names, includes such celebrities as Norman Bates, Charo, Henry Ford, Monty Hall, Maxwell Smart and Liberace. The community-wide effort includes support from such real-life local businesses as Berkshire Bank, GE Plastics, Petricca Industries, Dettinger Lumber and Quality Printing.

Ticket prices are $99.99 for museum members and $110 for non-members. Proceeds from the event will be used to match a challenge grant from the Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund to refurbish the museum's natural science galleries. For more information or reservations, call 443-7171, ext. 20.

"We wanted to create a fund raiser that doesn't really feel like a fund raiser," said Nash, who co-chairs the event with Judy Yvars and Amy Diamond.

"They're building a set, building the entire party," said Blume."It sort of feels like South Beach meets Soho. It has a very elegant, sophisticated, hip edge to it that is just going to be really unlike anything anyone has seen here."

Nash, who is a trustee of the museum, said that the unusual effort is in part an attempt to reach beyond the museum's base of 250 solid supporters to attract a new, younger constituency of about equal size.

"The museum's on a roll," he said. "I believe that the Berkshire Museum can serve as the creative hub of downtown Pittsfield. We're hoping for 500 people. It's a high-quality, fusion event that will work for all age groups."

Elsewhere in the county, the options for an entertaining New Year's Eve are myriad. They range from complete dinner, dance and lodging packages upwards of $400 at some of the area's finer resorts to a single-digit cover charge at some of the region's more populist establishments. The rule of thumb is to call ahead for complete details and reservations, which are required in most cases.

Sampling the live music offerings at area New Year's Eve parties, the Usual Suspects will be playing pop favorites at the Seven Hills Country Inn in Lenox, while the Castle Street Café in Great Barrington features jazz pianist Mike Schiffer in the Celestial Bar.

The Rev. Tor Band hosts a groovin' New Year's Eve party at La Cocina restaurant in Pittsfield, while Wishful Thinking rings out the old and rings in the new at the Quality Inn in Lenox. Raizin Kane performs at the Log Cabin Steakhouse in Lee, while the Walt Lehman Swing Band plays its usual free gig in the lounge at the Williams Inn in Williamstown.

The veteran entertainers in Shake 'n' Bake will be at Ozzie's Dalton Depot, while Fabulous Third Avenue renders its repertoire of classic-rock at the Brewery in downtown Pittsfield.

In Northampton, the Pioneer Valley's own soul-funk ensemble Stash headlines at Pearl Street Nightclub, while former Muddy Waters sideman Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson rings in the traditional blues new year at the Iron Horse Music Hall.

In the Capitol District, Jill Hughes and the Institute for Soul Research perform at the Van Dyck in Schenectady, while Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen are at the Palace Theater in Albany, sharing the bill with local bluesman Ernie Williams and the Wildcats. Out of Control steers the crowd into 1999 at Northern Lights in Clifton Park.

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[This article originally ran in the Berkshire Eagle on Dec. 26, 1998. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1998. All rights reserved.]