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).

Entertainment

Budding Artist: 87-Year Old Painter’s First Exhibition Hosted by Watertown Library

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Seda MavetosianMargarita Avetian stands in front of some of the paintings in her exhibition at the Watertown Library. During the month of March, the paintings of an emerging Watertown artist have been displayed in the Library’s art gallery. Margarita Avetian has only been painting for two years, but her work has received rave reviews from other artists. Not bad for someone who never had any artistic training during any of her 87 years. Avetian’s daughter, Seda Matevosian said her mother got started by chance when she was putting on a fun artistic activity for some of her family and friends.

Entertainment

Moonbox Productions Presents The House of Roman Iglesia at the Mosesian Center for the Arts

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The following announcement was provided by Moonbox Productions:

Moonbox Productions is thrilled to present The House of Ramon Iglesia by Jose Rivera at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA. Directed by Arthur Gomez, The House of Ramon Iglesia opens on April 14th and runs through April 30th. Tickets are $55 general admission/$45 seniors and $20 student rush ½ hour prior to performance and are available at https://bit.ly/HouseofRamon. Pay-What-You-Can tickets are available at the door (Box Office fees may apply). It’s 1983, and the Iglesia family is caught between two worlds. Aging and ailing, parents Ramon and Dolores are eager to leave their rickety house in New Jersey and return to their native Puerto Rico – but their three sons, all raised in America, are deeply divided on whether or not to go.

Entertainment

Watertown Ballet School Wins Awards at Prestigious Competition

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Koltun Ballet Boston dancers won awards at the recent Youth America Grand Prix in Worcester. (Photo courtesy of KBB)

The following announcement was provided by Koltun Ballet Boston:

More than two dozen young Massachusetts dancers, most from the Greater Boston area, comprise a team from Koltun Ballet Boston (KBB) that won several Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) awards and accolades last month including the Outstanding School Award. This is the fourth time in five years the Watertown-based organization has been recognized as the region’s top school. The regional leg of this ongoing international competition was held last month in Worcester. Two KBB ensembles that participated last month have been invited to the YAGP Finals in Tampa, Florida from April 3-9, 2023.

Schools

Musicians Wanted for Friends of Watertown Music MusicFest

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Friends of Watertown Music is excited to announce the return of MusicFest! Come see local musicians and enjoy the musical instrument petting zoo on Friday April 28 from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm at the Watertown Middle School. All proceeds benefit music programs in Watertown schools. MUSICIANS! Please sign up to participate using the QR code or go to https://watertownmusic.org/ to sign up.

Entertainment

Watertown Gallery Features Paintings Focusing on Relationship Between Humans and Nature

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Watertown’s Storefront Art Projects will host a reception for the opening of its latest show, “On the Edge” featuring the artworks of Anne Sargent Walker, on March 4 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The gallery provided the following announcement:

Anne Sargent Walker’s luminous paintings are about nature and crisis and the fraught and fragile relationship between humans and the planet. There are birds and lush foliage and often the outline of a helpful or intervening human hand.  

She says, “My work is about the beauty, complexity, and fragility of nature and our complicated relationship with it. The surface of my paintings, with birds, flora or other creatures, often peels back, dissolves or drips to reveal layers underneath, suggesting the loss of habitats, species, the earth itself and of course us. “I want my paintings to be beautiful – to inspire the kind of love for nature that I feel.  And yet I want them to have some elements that are ugly, or out of place, or out of sync – something that makes people wonder- what is going on?

Entertainment

YardArt Returns in 2023, Two Upcoming Events to Help Inspire You

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YardArt Watertown”PaTRASHia” was one of the pieces made for Watertown’s YardArt. The following information was provided by YardArt Watertown:

YardArt Watertown, the popular outdoor public art exhibition featuring the work of residents, artists and art enthusiasts who live or work in Watertown, returns this year for the entire month of April. The town-wide exhibit begins Saturday, April 1st and runs through Sunday, April 30th, and features a variety of artful and whimsical projects displayed on residents’ front yards and porches. All Watertown residents, families, organizations, clubs, classes, artists, and businesses are invited to create something to be viewed from the street or sidewalk. It can be an assemblage, a sculpture, an art project, a lighting arrangement—let your imagination run free!

Entertainment

Mosesian Center Hosts Heart Truth: Mental Health Stories from the Deaf Community

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The following announcement was provided by DEAFinitely, Inc.:

The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts — DEAFinitely, Inc. and This Is My Brave (TIMB) present the groundbreaking show “This Is My Brave – Heart Truth: Mental Health Stories from the Deaf Community.” For one night only, 13 Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing storytellers will share their personal stories of mental illness and recovery to break down stigma, uncover access barriers in the mental health system and celebrate the resilience of the Deaf community using American Sign Language storytelling, art, and dance. Featuring storytellers not only from New England, but from across the US, Canada and Nigeria, this live stage production will center on the storytellers, their stories and the deep understanding that there is a significant need for an evening like this in the Deaf community. To achieve this production, the Heart Truth Production Team, led by DEAFinitely, Inc. Executive Director, Jamie Robinson and show Director, Shira Grabelsky, are working with The Mosesian Center for the Arts to design a theater experience for storytellers that is seamless in communication and accessibility. The show will be primarily in American Sign Language, with Deaf and Deafblind interpreting to ensure full access for the cast and audience members. Captioning and spoken language interpretation will also be available in English and Spanish.