Entertainment

Mosesian Center Benefit to Honor Armenian Dance Company & Longtime Supporter of the Arts

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The following announcement was provided by Mosesian Center for the Arts:

The Mosesian Center for the Arts will hold its annual fundraising benefit on Wednesday, May 24. Themed MOVING FORWARD, this year’s event will celebrate Mosesian Arts’ strides toward becoming a regional destination for the performing and visual arts. Honorees of the evening’s Mosesian Awards are internationally acclaimed Sayat Nova Dance Company, moving culture forward throughout the world, and local arts hero Barbara Epstein, who as first president of the Board of Directors helped put the wheels in motion for an arts center at the Arsenal. The ensembles of Sayat Nova Dance Company will perform, along with cast members of Mosesian Arts’ upcoming Watertown Children’s Theatre production of Singin’ in the Rain Jr. Tickets include international hors d’oeuvres, cash bar, awards and entertainment on the main stage, and a selection of desserts. Guests will also be among the first to see the accompanying gallery exhibition, Flow: Art Inspired by Movement & Sound. According to Executive Director Darren Farrington, the theme MOVING FORWARD represents a determination to emerge from the public health and social and economic challenges of the past three years. “The arts community spent the first couple of years of the pandemic waiting to return to operations as they were before March 2020.

Entertainment

Watertown Actress Starring in Production of “Something Rotten!”

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Watertown actress Jill Craig stars in the Walpole Footlighters production of “Something Rotten!” Photo credit: Dan Busler Photography

The following announcement was provided by The Walpole Footlighters:

Renaissance playwrights Nick and Nigel Bottom are having trouble drawing audiences to their shows because some other guy named William Shakespeare is suddenly the toast of the London theater community. Their friend Nostradamus tells them that the future of the theater is something called “a musical.” Despite thinking the idea is preposterous, the desperate brothers agree to try it. The Walpole Footlighters close their 99th season with Something Rotten!, the musical that tells the story of the creation of the first musical comedy.

Entertainment

Small Saves Greets His Public in This Week’s Cartoon

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James DeMarco grew up in Watertown and became a goaltender at age 5. It’s his life’s passion to stand between the pipes and keep the puck out of the net. Combining this with the love of cartooning Small Saves emerged in 1991 and took on a life of his own. “To play goal–then come home and draw Small Saves — is my ideal definition of a good day.”

Entertainment

Revels Hosting Auditions for 2023 Midwinter Performances

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The following information was provided by Watertown-based Revels:

Come sing with Revels! Audition sign-ups for the 2023 Midwinter Revels adult chorus are now open, and we are excited to hear performers of all ages (18+), backgrounds, and experience levels. Most important in our auditionees is a passion for singing – Revels cast members are people who love to sing, who sing vigorously and accurately with a good sense of rhythm, and who can hold their own part in a choral context. Sight-reading is not necessary, but a good ear and the ability to memorize music and text are. 

Auditions will take place on Friday, June 2, from 4 – 8 PM and Saturday, June 3, from 10 AM – 8 PM at the Belmont Methodist Church (421 Common St, Belmont, MA 02478) and on Sunday, June 4, from 10 AM – 5 PM at Central Square Theater (450 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA). Auditionees will be asked to prepare two short songs and learn a group number, and will be given the opportunity to learn choreography at the audition, should they be interested in dancing in the show.

Entertainment

Check Out This Week’s Small Saves Comic, See Artist on Hockey Podcast

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James DeMarco grew up in Watertown and became a goaltender at age 5. It’s his life’s passion to stand between the pipes and keep the puck out of the net. Combining this with the love of cartooning Small Saves emerged in 1991 and took on a life of his own. “To play goal–then come home and draw Small Saves — is my ideal definition of a good day.”

James DeMarco appeared as a guest on Katelynn Reiss’ podcast, Our Kids Play Hockey podcast, which Best Hockey Podcast by The Sports Podcast Group! To see the Small Saves episode, please visit: https://www.ourkidsplayhockey.com/post/our-kids-play-hockey-an-interview-with-jay-demarco-creator-of-small-saves

Entertainment

Revels Names Debra Wise as New Associate Artistic Director

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The following information was provided by Revels:

Watertown-based Revels, Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Debra Wise as its new Associate Artistic Director. Co-Founder and former Artistic Director of Cambridge’s Underground Railway Theater @ Central Square Theater and an artistic leader at Central Square Theater, Ms. Wise has established herself in the Boston area and nationally as a director, actor, educator, writer, and cultural organizer with a talent for engendering community collaborations and creating safe places to discuss challenging issues through art. She is also currently the Program Director of Catalyst Collaborative @ MIT, a partnership between MIT and Central Square Theater with a mission to foster interdisciplinary conversation at the intersection of art and science. Ms. Wise’s appointment as Associate Artistic Director comes in anticipation of the 2024 retirement of Revels Artistic Director Patrick Swanson, who leaves the position after over 30 years with Revels. She looks forward to transitioning into the role of Interim Artistic Director over the course of the next year and working with the Revels community to carry forward the legacies of its first two Artistic Directors, John Langstaff and Patrick Swanson, as the organization looks for its next permanent artistic leader.

Entertainment

Small Saves Gets a Dose of Good Luck in This Week’s Comic

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James DeMarco grew up in Watertown and became a goaltender at age 5. It’s his life’s passion to stand between the pipes and keep the puck out of the net. Combining this with the love of cartooning Small Saves emerged in 1991 and took on a life of his own. “To play goal–then come home and draw Small Saves — is my ideal definition of a good day.”

Entertainment

New Rep Theatre Announces Directors for 2023 Season

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The directors for New Rep Theatre’s 2023 season, clockwise from top left: Shira Helena Gitlin, Pascale Florestal, and Lois Roach. (photo by New Rep)

The following announcement was provided by New Repertory Theatre:

New Repertory Theatre is excited to announce the Directors for each of the plays of its 2023 Season, as the company continues to build on its nearly 40-year legacy of excellent, provocative theatrical productions that speak to the vital issues of our time. 

Shira Helena Gitlin will direct Larry Kramer’s Tony Award winning autobiographical drama, The Normal Heart, opening June 22 for a three-week run through July 9. Set in New York City in the early 1980’s, Larry Kramer’s powerful, passionate and controversial play was the first to treat seriously the poignant and devastating subject of AIDS. Shira is a trans nonbinary, Boston-based director, dramaturg, gender consultant, and musical theatre enthusiast. They have directed for the National Women’s Theatre Festival, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Moonbox Productions, Flat Earth Theatre, Sparkhaven Theatre, Playwrights’ Platform, the Boston Theatre Marathon and more. Shira is a graduate of the Arden Professional Apprentice Class 26, was an Artistic Fellow at SpeakEasy Stage, and is an alumni of Directors Lab North in Toronto, Canada. Says Shira: “The Normal Heart is a perfect example of a part of our history that is already being erased by the history books. It is vital that we remember and engage with the challenges that the LGBT+ community has faced in the past to help us move forward against the most recent attacks on our human rights.”  

Lorraine Hansberry’s masterpiece drama, A Raisin in the Sun, will be directed by Lois Roach. A searing and timeless portrait of a family on Chicago’s South Side, and an American classic, A Raisin in the Sun opens September 6 through October 1. Lois is a writer, award winning producer and stage director, and Resident Artist at New Rep. She received the IRNE Best Director Award for the Lyric Stage production of The Old Settler which also received the IRNE Award for Best Production and the Elliot Norton Award for Best Production (Small Theater).