The following information was provided by the Mosesian Center for the Arts:
The Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown has announced a fall season of performances, exhibitions, and arts education programs. From theater, comedy, dance, and music to new exhibitions and arts education, from returning favorites to new partnerships, there’s plenty of variety in this season’s programming.
Performances
The Ivy League of Comedy brings Jon Fisch, Karen Bergreen, and Shaun Eli to Mosesian Arts on October 7. A native of Boston, Jon Fisch was chosen as a Comedy Central Fresh Face of Comedy early in his career and was named one of Backstage Magazine’s 10 Standout Stand-ups. Karen Bergreen is a comic and novelist who has appeared on Comedy Central, the Oxygen network, Nick Mom, The View, and The Joy Behar Show. Host and master storyteller Shaun Eli proves that there’s hilarity in the ordinary if you approach life with a comedic warp. The Ivy League of Comedy will return on December 16 with Kerri Louise, Tony Deyo, and host Shaun Eli.
The Afro-Semitic Experience plays Mosesian Arts on October 8. This six-piece group of Jewish American and African American musicians has been performing together for twenty-five years, and they describe themselves as “rooted in American jazz with a multicultural soul.” Together, they merge their musical roots, Jewish and Afro-diasporic melodies and grooves, combining the core concepts of ase and shalom — power, action, unity, and peace.
Jazz artist John Baboian returns to Mosesian Arts with The John Baboian Ensemble: A Jazzy Halloween on October 26. The ensemble consists of Baboian and other longtime faculty from Berklee College of Music. Together they’ll perform jazz standards plus original compositions to put audiences in the mood for the season with some “spooky” jazz.
In November, film will be the focus for a week. Unacceptable Risk: Dr. Margaret Kripke on Cancer and the Environment, to be screened on November 17, tells the story of a prominent cancer researcher who rethinks her assumptions about the causes of cancer and the true burden of environmentally induced cancers. Following the short film there will be a panel discussion with filmmaker Cynthia McKeown, Silent Spring Institute senior scientist Dr. Laurel Schaider, and childhood cancer survivor and community advocate Brian Dellascio. Mosesian Arts will also host the 10th Annual Boston International Kids Film Festival on November 18 and 19.
Multiverse Concert Series partners with Integral Steps, a musical education nonprofit, to present Reef Music on December 3. The concert will interweave coral science, live electro-symphonic music, and immersive activities for audience members. Musicians are joined by marine biologist Dr. Sarah Davies of Boston University. This event is suitable for children, adults, and families, and young musicians ages 5-12 are invited to bring their instruments for a pre-show music and science improvisation workshop.
Drag couple Briar Blush and Rusty Hammer perform for a second time at Mosesian Arts on December 15 with The Briar and Rusty Show: Viva Las Vegas. This Boston-based drag couple is known for retro-inspired variety combining drag, comedy, live music, burlesque, and more.
A one-of-a-kind production of A Christmas Carol plays Mosesian Arts on December 17 and 18. Nationally celebrated voiceover artist Dick Terhune plays over thirty roles, bringing to life Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, and of course, that crotchety old miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. With decades of experience, Terhune’s credits include national commercial campaigns, animation and games, and audiobooks and narrations.
Mosesian Arts’ own Watertown Children’s Theatre begins its 40th season with three fall productions: Nick Tickle, Fairy Tale Detective (October 21-23); Something Rotten! (November 11-13); and Once Upon a Time (December 2). In an effort that will continue over the next year, capital campaign contributions up to $100,000 will be matched by an anonymous donor to name the Mosesian Arts Black Box Theater in honor of WCT founder Dinah Lane.
New Repertory Theatre returns to the Mosesian Arts stages too. On September 30 and October 1, New Rep will present Reconsidering, a new dance and theater piece, with RootsUprising and Theatre for the People. Soul-funk jam band The GroovaLottos perform on October 1 and 2 as part of New Rep’s Saturday Stories/Sunday Celebration series. The Sunday performance will also feature Abilities Dance Boston.
Exhibitions and Arts Education
Mosesian Arts’ annual Members Exhibition, which gives current members of the arts center the opportunity to showcase their work, is on display through October 14. Notable in this in this year’s Members Exhibition of multimedia works is the number of artists who turned to nature for inspiration, comfort, and reflection.
The following exhibition, Flash Art, is a benefit event as well. One hundred artworks will be sold to one hundred patrons for $100 each. Exhibition dates are October 28 through November 16. A viewing reception will be held on November 3.
A call for art is open for Abstract Art: Contemporary Approaches through October 10. Mosesian Arts invites artists to submit work exploring ideas of what it means to work abstractly and/or non-objectively today. Artists exploring color, texture, organic and geometric shapes, and line in different media such as drawing, painting, printmaking, fiber, digital, sculpture, collage, and photography are all encouraged to apply. The exhibition will be on display from November 22 through January 13.
Arts Education
Mosesian Arts has begun a fall season of arts education programs offering thirty performing and visual arts classes for children, teens, and adults. New classes and workshops will continue to be announced through the season, and registration for the winter term will begin in late fall.
About Mosesian Center for the Arts
The Mosesian Center for the Arts is a multidisciplinary arts venue on the Charles River in Watertown, Massachusetts. The 30,000 square foot center, located in an historic 1894 manufacturing shop on a former U.S. Army arsenal, houses a 339-seat main stage theater, a 100-seat black box theater, exhibition galleries, art classrooms, and rehearsal studio. Mosesian Arts is located six miles from downtown Boston, borders Brighton and the Charles, and is easily accessible from surrounding suburbs and MetroWest.
Programs include professional theater and musical performances, comedy, gallery exhibitions, literary and art discussions, and performing and visual arts classes and workshops for all ages. Watertown Children’s Theatre, Mosesian Arts’ performing arts education program, provides exceptional classes and performances for youth and families. The venue also hosts celebrated and cutting-edge performing arts companies from throughout the Greater Boston region.