Entertainment

Watertown Resident Brings Red Sox Mascot Wally to Life in Animated Tale

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Watertown’s Danielle Gillis was just getting her animation production company off the ground when she got the call from the Big Leagues, and received a challenge that thrilled the lifelong Red Sox fan – bring Wally the Green Monster to life in an animated special. 

Wally’s Opening Day premiered the day before opening season on NESN, and features the voices of many actors hailing from the Boston area (watch the video here). It features Wally, the Red Sox mascot, his sister Tessie, a fictional rookie player (voiced by Boston-raised Sedale Threatt Jr.) and the Boo Birds, a couple of smart-mouthed seagulls. The cartoon was the vision of Linda Pizzuti Henry, wife of Red Sox owner John Henry. “She wanted a create A Charlie Brown Christmas type of evergreen children’s special about Wally,” Gillis said. Gillis had met Pizzuti Henry when she was working at Soup2Nuts.

Entertainment

Revels Teams with Perkins School for Free Celebration of Spring Concert

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Revels will once again perform with Perkins School for the Blind for the Celebration of Spring Concert. The concert will be held Thursday, May 25, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. at Perkins School for the Blind’s Dwight Hall – 175 North Beacon St., Watertown. Admission is FREE. Revels sent out the following announcement:

Join us as Revels partners with Perkins School for an inspiring, music-filled Celebration of Spring. Enjoy traditional English songs, songs from the Islands, and from Early America performed by the talented Perkins School Secondary Program Chorus (Arnie Harris, director), aRevels chorus of adults and children, musician/song leader David Coffin, a youngrapper sword dance team, plus a great band of Revels musicians.  Last but not least, expect a wild visit from the ancient and venerable Padstow ‘Obby ‘Oss, all the way from Cornwall, England!

Entertainment

Watertown Resident Cast in Play Festival at Curry College

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Curry College is pleased to announce that Watertown resident Nicholas Anastasi was cast in the Spring 2017 New Plays Festival. Nicholas, a junior and son of Cheryl and Peter Anastasi, played the role of Larry in “Houston, We Have a Problem.” Last year, he appeared in “Into the Woods” and “The Laramie Project.” Nicholas also serves as the Publicity Manager and Stage Manager for Curry Theatre, and participated in the sixth annual Boston One Minute Play Festival. The seventh annual New Plays Festival showcased five new student-written one act plays directed by Gail Phaneuf and Marcy Holbrook. For more information on the Curry Theatre program, visit curry.edu/theatre. About Curry College

Founded in 1879, Curry College is a private, four-year, liberal arts-based institution located on 131 acres in Milton, Mass.

Entertainment

Mosesian Arts Earfull Series Includes Authors and Songwriters

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The Mosesian Center for the Arts is proud to announce the Earfull Spring 2017 Series – three evening events of literature and music with “Writers Reading and Songwriters Singing.”

Earfull events will take place May 23, June 6, and June 20 on our neighboring patio at Branch Line, 321 Arsenal Street in Watertown, and feature world renowned authors and musicians reading and performing some of their latest works. Tuesday, May 23 the Spring Series kicks off with:

Authors Jessica Shattuck and Andre Dubus III & Musicians Damon & Naomi and Patty Larkin

Tuesday, June 6 the series continues with:

Authors David Anthony Durham and Jayne Anne Phillips & Musicians Jen Trynin and Aaron Perrino

Tuesday, June 20 the final event of the Spring features:

Authors Annie Hartnett and Anita Shreve & Musicians Lyle Brewer and Dennis Brennan

The brainchild of Boston Musician and Author Jen Trynin and bookstore connoisseur Tim Huggins, Earfull first launched in the Fall of 2001 with the concept that, given a conducive environment, book people will appreciate being exposed to live music, and rock people will realize how cool it is to hear great authors reading their work aloud! EARFULL aimed to provide that environment, combining prominent author readings with established singer-songwriters in the hopes of broadening the appreciation of and audiences for both. After a brief hiatus from multiple sold-out seasons of the series, the Mosesian Center for the Arts brought the beloved programming back for a second season to a whole new audience. Tickets are on-sale now and are just $25 at MosesianArts.org.

Entertainment

Watertown Resident Part of Creating Interactive Sound Sculpture in Boston

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The New England Foundation for the Arts’ Creative City program announces Sound Sculpture, an interactive, physical, light and sound installation by Ryan Edwards, a Watertown resident, and Andrew Hlynsky, the artists announced. It will be on view for two nights only: April 28 and 29, 2017 from 7:30 to 11 p.m. at The Innovation & Design Building, located at 21 Drydock Avenue, Suite 110E, in Boston. The events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit https://www.soundsculpture.space/. There will also be special family programming on Saturday, April 29 from noon to 2 p.m.

Sound/Sculpture is a multi-media installation that meets at the intersection of sculpture, sound composition, and dance.

Entertainment

Movie About the Armenian Genocide Opens This Weekend

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The Promise, which chronicles the Armenian Genocide and stars Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac, opens this weekend in Boston area cinemas. 

The movie is set in the last days of the Ottoman Empire just before World War I. Bale is an American war correspondent and Isaac is an Armenian apothecary. The movie’s reviews on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes have not been great, but producers believe there is an organized effort by those who deny the Armenian Genocide to give the movie low marks, according to CBS News. Bale told CBS that efforts to make the film had been stopped due to influence from Turkey, but it was bankrolled by the late Armenian-American businessman Kirk Kerkorian invested $100 million before he died in 2015. The Promise is rated PG-13 and runs 2 hours 14 minutes. It is playing locally at the West Newtown Cinema, the Capitol Theatre in Arlington, Apple Cinemas in at Cambridge’s Fresh Pond, Showcase SuperLux at The Street in Chestnut Hill, Regal Fenway, AMC Loews Boston Common and AMC Assembly Row.

Entertainment

Grammy Winner Appearing at Tremedal Concert in Watertown

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This week’s Tremedal Concert features Grammy winning recording artist Bill Harley with Rachel Panich and Kirsten Lamb. The concert will be on Saturday, April 22 at 8 p.m. at First Parish Unitarian Church, 35 Church Street, Watertown, Mass. According to the concert organizers, Bill – the winner of two Grammy Awards – uses song and story to paint a vibrant and hilarious picture of American life. With over 35 award-winning recordings and a dozen books to his credit, Bills work honors the universal, the joys and hardships we all share. Also appearing with Bill are Rachel Panitch and Marty Ballou.

Entertainment

Mosesian Arts Center’s ‘Reclaimed’ Exhibit Features Trash Transformed into Art

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The Mosesian Center for the Arts announces “Reclaimed” art exhibition on view April 20 through July 7, 2017. Trash transformed. Urban waste and the imagination of artists intersect to create a large-scale exhibition that will leave viewers awe struck and inspired. This juried group exhibition promotes recycling and resource conservation by encouraging the reuse of a variety of materials in new, different, and creative forms. Featuring work by Lisa Barthelson, Peter Bradley Cohen, Thomas Deininger and over forty artists who work with reclaimed – recycled and repurposed – materials. “This ambitious exhibition is part of a series here at the Mosesian Center for the Arts designed to encourage visitors to engage with art, and the artists who create it, in unique and meaningful ways.” says Director of Exhibitions Kimberly Thompson Panay. Exhibiting artist Lisa Barthelson explains that “the concept for the ‘family debris’ series began to form in my mind, as I cleaned out, and purged boxes and bags of my children’s old toys and clothes.