Arts + Culture
Somerville arts scene gets vibe checked at community forum
At a community-led “state of the arts” forum in Union Square Monday, keeping Somerville a creative hub was top of mind. Read more Flaherty effort to save ShotSpotter misfires In the wake of this year’s dismissals and restructurings at city hall, the event gathered around 50 people to air their thoughts, concerns and wishes for […]
An unmissable dance thriller from the A.R.T.
“Black Swan” is billed as “a new dance thriller” by the American Repertory Theater. It is indeed both thriller — a tense and suspense-driven story — and thrilling in its bold use of lighting, choreography, sound, music and illusion. It’s an awe-inspiring work of creative power. Read more CRLS ultimate enjoys national tournament experience And […]
Immersive play at City Hall revives 1976 recombination debate
Coming to a city hall near us: the theater of today’s politics is pausing for the theater of the past. The new play “No Recombination Without Representation” will bring to life the 1976 public hearing that debated the safety of DNA recombination research at Harvard University. Throughout June, six performances will take place in Sullivan […]
Norton Award winner Ken Urban on bringing tough topics to the stage
Cambridge theater companies Central Square Theater and Moonbox Productions were recognized by the Boston Theater Critics Association (BTCA) at the 43rd Elliot Norton Awards June 1. Moonbox received the award for Outstanding Music Direction for “Crowns,” a musical celebrating the women of the traditional Black church, and Central Square Theater’s “The Moderate” received awards for […]
The undead can be funny, new production proves
Central Square Theater resuscitates queer playwright Charles Ludlam’s most produced play, his 1984 “The Mystery of Irma Vep: A Penny Dreadful,” bringing it back to life in a hilarious production directed by David R. Gammons. Like the many “undead” characters that haunt it, the play refuses to stay buried. Read more Massachusetts’s slow adoption of […]
CRLS baseball wins nail-biter
When Joel Rojas-Cruz stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth for Cambridge Rindge and Latin against Natick on Wednesday night, the score was tied, the bases were loaded and there were two outs. But he was calm, relaxed and ready to jump on anything he knew he could hit. He smacked the […]
Pan-Asian identity at CRLS: heritage, high energy
Inside the walls of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS), the energy was palpable on Friday as the school’s Pan-Asian Club kicked off its annual Asian-American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month assembly. The event, open to the entire school, filled the Fitzgerald Theater with students, faculty and community members for two 75-minute sessions. Read more […]
Boosters ‘R Us and a serviceable space opera
“I Love Boosters” ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3.5 out of 4. Rapper-turned-director Boots Riley burst onto the movie scene in 2018 with “Sorry to Bother You,” a dystopian comedy about a call-center drone who uncovers a Silicon Valley plot to create a race of “equisapiens” — horse-human hybrids to displace the labor force. The wildly inventive “I […]
Opening Harvard’s gates, if not its doors
As every reporter knows, good things — or, at least, good stories — don’t come to those who wait. They come to those who persist. And persist. It also helps to work with an editor who sprinkles magic dust on your labor of love. Read more Charles River Task Force in full feedback mode Such […]
$100K in state funding earmarked for Porter Square sculpture
For years, conversations about restoring “Gift of the Wind,” the red kinetic sculpture at Porter Square, have been hampered by budget deficits and personnel changes at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. But now, there’s some money behind the matter. State Representative Marjorie Decker announced in early May that she had earmarked $100,000 out of the […]