Business

Business Group Seeks Input on Creating Neighborhood Identities, Cultural District

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The Watertown Business Coalition has two upcoming virtual events to discuss promoting the different neighborhoods around Town, and creating a Cultural District. The group welcomes the ideas and input from businesses and residents. Neighborhood Identities

The effort to create stronger neighborhood identities emerged as an idea to boost local businesses during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic and moving forward. A virtual meeting will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 20 from 8:30-9:30 a.m.

The event announcement said: “We will discuss ways we can rally around the idea of creating neighborhood identities and promote businesses and the communities within those neighborhoods.

Entertainment

Dance Film & Photography Exhibit Showing at Watertown Art Studio

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A shot of the new art installation at Room 83 Spring, “up in the air,” by Margaret Wiss. Watertown art studio Room 83 Spring is hosting an exhibition featuring the work of one artist, who has produced a film featuring dance as well as a photography exhibit. The show, up in the air, features the work of Margaret Wiss, a young, bright, emerging star, according to Room 83 Spring founders and co-curators Ellen Wineberg and Cathleen Daley. The show can be seen by coming into the studio, or from outside. “The whole show can be seen through our  windows and is especially vivid in the deep dark winter nights,” Wineberg and Daley said in the show’s announcement.

Arts

New Rep Director Leaving to Head Mass. Cultural Council

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Michael Bobbitt will take over as New Repertory Theatre’s Artistic Director in August 2019. Michael Bobbitt, the artistic director of New Repertory Theatre, will be leaving the company to become the new executive director of the Mass. Cultural Council. Bobbitt took over New Rep in July of 2019, and left his mark in his time in Watertown — increasing audiences, revenues and leading company’s anti-racism efforts in the wake of the George Floyd’s killing. Prior to that, he had already started efforts to stress the importance of diversity, inclusion and equity at New Rep.

Even during COVID-19, New Rep brought theater to town with its Historical Moving Plays, which were performed on the streets of Watertown.

Arts

Watertown Arts Community Invited to Arts Town Hall

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The Watertown Business Coalition’s next Arts Town Hall will be held on Dec. 15. The group will be discussing ways to support and promote the local arts community. Organizers sent out the following information:

Artists, administrators, and educators of all disciplines are invited to join us in conversation about our artists’/organizations’ assets and needs, ways to support each other, and the future of the Watertown Arts Community. Please register at the Eventbrite link below so we can send you the Zoom info, and email Jaclyn Dentino with any questions (jaclyndentino@newrep.org)! 

WHAT: Arts Town Hall

WHEN: Tuesday, December 15 @ 4:00pm

WHERE: Zoom

COST: Free (Registration Required)

Around Town

New Rep Adds 10 New Members to Board of Directors

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The following information was provided by New Rep Theatre:

New Repertory Theatre is pleased to announce that it has added tenfantastic new members to its Board of Directors. Working alongside New Rep’s Anti-Racism Action Plan, which states that board will be comprised of 50 percent members of color by July 2023, members who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color now account for 33.3 percent of the board. Joining New Rep’s Board of Directors are Michelle Aguillon, Benny Sato Ambush, Nicole Dumas, Shannon Fairley-Pittman, Christopher Jones, Cheryl Price, Christopher Shearer, Natalie Stevenson, and Dr. Robert M. Turner. “One year ago, New Rep had only one person of color on our Board of Directors,” shares New Rep Artistic Director, Michael J. Bobbitt. “This was not at all conducive to our efforts in EDI and anti-racism, or to our goal to be a truly multi-cultural theatre.

Entertainment

Watertown Children’s Theater Building on Success of Online Plays

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Children’s Theatre:

Building on the successes of our fall online productions, Watertown Children’s Theatre/Mosesian Center for the Arts will be producing three more online productions this winter for Grades 3-12.  Registration is open now at mosesianarts.org for all winter productions, which begin in early December. For Grades 3-5, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by John Glore is a fun, irreverent look at fairy tales that includes comedy, music and a lot of fun. Based on the beloved book by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, this play includes fresh takes on stories like Chicken Little, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and more. Favorite fairy tales are hilariously remixed with comical music and quick-paced scenes to challenge actors and delight audiences. Orientation begins December 9.

Entertainment

Artist’s Exhibit Captures the Transformation of the Watertown Arsenal With Historic, Modern Images

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Watertown artist Chantal Zakari talks about some of the photos from the Watertown Arsenal in her exhibition at Kingston Gallery in Boston. What used to be the U.S. Army’s Watertown Arsenal teems with activity these days, as two major construction projects — transforming the place that used to make and develop military weapons into commercial and lab/office complexes. A Watertown artist has used the labors at the Arsenal, historic and current, as the inspiration for her new exhibit on display now in Boston. Chantal Zakari has assembled images of the Watertown Arsenal, ranging from the 1800s to the present, for her who called “A Work in Progress” at the Kingston Gallery in Boston’s SoWa neighborhood. The exhibition also includes a fictional newspaper with photos and stories created by Zakari, as well as a video installation featuring two screens on loops.

Entertainment

NewRep Presenting 2 Original Plays in Virtual Series

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The following information was provided by NewRep Theatre:

New Repertory Theatre has commissioned two short plays to be performed live and virtually as part of the first installment of the new Showstopper Virtual Play Series, an evening of live theatre with a two-play in one-night package from the comfort and safety of your home. The Showstopper Virtual Play Series features [keyp-ing], written by Miranda ADEkoje, directed by Dawn M. Simmons, and A Very Herrera Holiday, written by Alexis Scheer, directed by Sarah Shin. Tickets are $30, and will be available for sale on November 4. More information about the Showstopper Virtual Play Series can be found at https://www.newrep.org/productions/showstopper-virtual-plays. The Showstopper Virtual Play Series will run from Nov.