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Film exploring loss comes to Arlington’s Regent Theatre
Posted on August 21, 2008 by Margaret Smith
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A new film explores parents grieving the death of children — through war, disease, suicide, accidents and other tragedies — and what survivors do to remember loved ones and heal their own lives.
‘Space Between Breaths,’ a film by Children of the Dome and produced by Luther and Rosemary Smith, looks at both the deeply personal and private grief, which sometimes occurs in the scope of world events — including the Sept. 11 2001 terror attacks and the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School.
In heartbreaking contrast are the rolls of images at the film’s opening — victims as they were in life, in moments of happiness, achievement, and in the case of small children, bubbly bliss.
This alone quickly calls to mind other great works focusing on the loss of a child, including ‘41,’ about Nick O’Neill, a rock singer who perished in the Station Nightclub fire, and ‘And I Don’t Want To Live This Life,’ Debra Spungen’s book about the life and death of her daughter, Nancy Spungen, slain by Sid Vicious, and ”When Bad Things Happen to Good People,’ the seminal book by Rabbi Harold Kushner inspired by the death of his son, Ariel, to progeria, a disease of premature aging.
Joining their ranks is a film that may remind viewers of our culture’s cavalier attitude toward death (which masks our fear of it and inability to connect with families whom it visits prematurely.)
But anyone, anywhere can understand loss. That is what filmmakers — and the loved ones grieving for th film’s subjects — hope viewers can find within these shared threads of a universal sorrow.
‘Space Between Breaths’ Boston area premiere takes place Thursday, Aug. 21, at the Regent Theatre, 7 Medford St., Arlington. General admission tickets $10. For more information, call 781-646-4849 or visit www.regentheatre.com.
New publication is arts central
Posted on August 15, 2008 by Margaret Smith
Filed Under Museums, Music, Theater, Visual Arts | Leave a Comment
Music, drama, art exhibits, rowdy poetry readings, chess champions, blues, brews and barbecues.
Central Massachusetts may be the unguessed treasure of arts and entertainment. Well, no more guessing.
There’s a new publication, “This Week/Arts and Entertainment in Central Mass,” with feature articles, event listings and more, covering the scene, published every Thursday.
This week’s edition includes an article on ‘Chess Chat,’ live from Fitchburg to the universe; a women’s art caucus and more.
For me, as the editor, this is a homecoming of sorts. I started my journalism career in the central Mass. area and spent several years there covering everything from police to fire to fine arts. I got to know the amazing community of artists there doing of all kinds of cool, compelling, must-check-out things.
And it’s an area well deserving of its own publication. Big enough to cover the scene, small enough it won’t destroy your back pack.
And it’s free, so take it. There are hundreds of drop off sites, including convenience stores, coffee shops and cultural centers, in these communities:
Auburn, Ayer, Berlin, Bolton, Boylston, Clinton, Dunstable, Fitchburg, Groton, Harvard, Holden, Lancaster, Leicester, Leominster, Lunenburg, Maynard, Millbury, Paxton, Pepperell, Rutland, Princeton, Shirley, Sterling, Stow, Townsend, West Boylston Westminster and Worcester.
If you don’t see your copy, let us know. If you want this pub at your site, let us know that too.
And if you have an event you think should be listed, definitely let us know.
Where to send all this great information?
To thisweek@cnc.com.
I look forward to hearing from you — and seeing you in my travels.
This snake takes the cake
Posted on August 14, 2008 by Margaret Smith
Filed Under Science/Nature | Leave a Comment
The EcoTarium in Worcester is a veritable arc of creatures great, small, often scaly, sometimes crawly and always cool.
You can meet one, and learn about why it’s so cool — and how to save it, because it’s endangered — at a presentation Sunday, Aug. 24, at 1:30 p.m. at the EcoTarium. A wildlife biologist will introduce you to some actual black rat snakes and tell you all about their ways — and what we might be able to do to keep them around.
This event is free with regular admission. Members free; adults $10; children/youth ages 3-18 $8; seniors $8, college students $8, children under 3 free. For more information visit www.ecotarium.org.
When ‘Freedom’ isn’t free
Posted on August 12, 2008 by Margaret Smith
Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment
My mom used to say about window-shopping at stores: “There’s no charge for looking.”
Kind of like a lot of things these days. Take the Internet. I can look at all kinds of things on there, any time I want to, without charge, and so you can you — this blog, fr’instance.
But why stop there? I pick up free fliers and zines in music stores and coffee shops all the time.
I help myself to free food samples in the supermarket, partly because they’re free and partly because I feel sorry for the people who have to stand around with trays bearing little plastic cups filled with something that always looks like bread pudding, no matter what it actually is.
And so, I get something that approximates bread pudding and the person holding the tray enjoys a job filled with meaning and purpose (I hope, because I don’t usually inquire.)
Wouldn’t it be so cool if everything on the planet could be free?
I think we can all agree on that. Especially with the cost of food escalating and hurting people who could barely afford food at yesterday’s prices.
This brings me, by way of extreme circumlocution, to the Nashua River Valley Folk Festival in Lancaster, which took place Sunday at the Pierce Homestead, lasted the entire day, and wasn’t free.
(We interrupt this blog for a disclosure: Community Newspaper Company is a sponsor of this event. And now, back to the blog.)
Some people at the folk festival thought $40 was too much to pay for tickets. (Actually, they didn’t have to pay $40. They could have gotten them for less if they bought their tickets by the early deadline.)
The Nashua River Folk Festival is one of the great do-it-yourself enterprises, but it costs the organizers thousands of dollars to make the thing happen — and it happened, despite a late afternoon rain that drenched festival goers and forced headliner Richie Havens from the stage before his set was done. But not before he belted out a few great classics, including his signature “Freedom.”
But, to see a folk pioneer who played elegantly, proudly, and stayed on the stage until he almost had to be pulled from it — that was worth the cost of admission and more.
We are all in a curious dilemma in which all of us — okay, most of us — are feeling squeezed by the rising cost of everything, from basics such as food and gas to the occasional luxury item.
In our frustration, we cast about, hoping we will find free things to compensate. I know I do. I know you do, most likely. Failing to find free things, we look for things at what we feel is a reasonable price.
When this doesn’t happen, it’s tempting to lay blame. Until you realize that the person on the other side — in this case, the folk festival organizers — is in turn working to meet costs, which have also gone up.
Perhaps the low inflation rate of recent years has desensitized us all a bit. Suddenly, after all this time, it’s like a hideous resurgence of the 1970s (minus the great sitcoms on TV, because, wow, what’s on now is pretty wanting.)
But, it can force a person to take stock of what you value and what you are willing to invest or sacrifice.
It can make you think, what can I do to help keep this festival/art event/cultural organization I love going? Even if you are short on cash — and what are the odds that you are — you might channel the desire to help another way, such as signing up as a volunteer.
In flush times or tough times, there’s always a need to manage money wisely, and conserve resources — but it’s also important to know when something is a good investment, and what we can do to share the wealth.
Helping those in need — that’s how they ride
Posted on August 8, 2008 by Margaret Smith
Filed Under Fundraisers, Music | Leave a Comment
In his short life, Andrew Swenson touched many people, and in his passing has left a legacy of caring that goes for miles.
It’s all part of the charity motorcycle ride and barbecue bash set for Sunday, Aug. 10 at 11:30 a.m., departing from Red Streak Motors, 418 Maple St., Marlborough and ending in Milford — by way of a scenic trip through the Mount Wachusett area — and a barbecue dinner and concert by Tim LaRoche.
Proceeds will benefit Andrew’s Helpful Hands, a non profit organization set up in Andrew’s memory to help children suffering from leukemia.
Andrew died July 2002 at the age of 7, after battling with cancer for five years. He was the son of John and Zenaide Swenson of Hudson, and an avid sports fan who enjoyed soccer and hockey, said friends of his family.
He also accomplished some things adults living long, healthy lives never even get around to doing, such as being an Xtreme Rider.
Admission to the day’s events is $10. For more information, e-mail XtremeRider18@gmail.com, or contact Tracy DeLorey at 781-801-0534.
Nine Inch Nails singer a bit rusty; concert postponed
Posted on August 8, 2008 by Margaret Smith
Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment
Peace, love and pass the Ricola.
Nine Inch Nails fans got an 11th hour disappointment today.
Band creator, singer and everything guy Trent Reznor is suffering from strained vocal cords, prompting the postponement of the concert set for tonight, Friday, Aug. 8 at the DCU Center in Worcester, according to DCU Center staff and concert promoters.
The concert has been rescheduled to Sunday, Nov. 9, so for industrial music fans, it definitely won’t be a day of rest. All tickets purchased for the Aug. 8 concert will be honored on this date, staff and promoters said.
For more information, visit www.dcucenter.com.
And, come on, you can scream and yell and make your own noise. It won’t be the same but hey, even Trent Reznor had to start somewhere.
Art empowers at new exhibit in Concord
Posted on August 7, 2008 by Margaret Smith
Filed Under Greetings, Visual Arts | Leave a Comment
Ar
tists of many media and experiences are coming together at the Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts in Concord, bound together by a common thread — they are all disabled.
The exhibit, a showcase of work by members of the Massachusetts Artists with Disabilities Task Force, runs through Sept. 8, with an artist’s reception set for Aug. 24. at 4:30 p.m. The task force works in consortium with disabled artists and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission.
The curator of the exhibit — which includes the work of about 20 artists — is artist and task force chairman Lisa Corfman of Acton, seen here with a sculpture she created. She has artistic roots at the Emerson Umbrella, having taken classes there.
Other artists in the exhibit include Lisa Fay and Carol Freitas of Boston, Jessica Vohs of Brooklin, Kathy Johnson of Cambridge, Gerald Rogers of Provincetown, and many more.
The Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts is located at 40 Stow St., Concord, and is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 978-371-0820 or visit www.emersonumbrella.org.
Your acting career can evolve at AFD auditions
Posted on July 24, 2008 by Margaret Smith
Filed Under Theater | Leave a Comment
Hey thespians — looking for a challenging new role?
The answer may be blowin’ in the ‘Wind.’
Arlington Friends of the Drama will soon hold auditions for ‘Inherit the Wind,’ the play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee and inspired by the 1925 trial of school teacher John Scopes — accused of violating Tennessee state law by teaching Darwin’s theory of the origins of life.
Auditions are set for Thursday, Aug. 7, at 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 14, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, Aug. 16 at 1 p.m. at AFD Theatre, 22 Academy St., Arlington.
Performances are set for Oct. 3, 4, 10, 11 and 12.
The play heralds the start of AFD’s 2008-2009 season, with a varied lineup that includes “Bat Boy: The Musical,” “Rabbit Hole,” “Aida” and “Brooklyn Boy.”
For more information, including an auditions form with complete information on play roles, visit www.afdtheatre.org.
Most folks are familiar with classic 1960 film version of the play, starring Spencer Tracy and perennially droll Harry Morgan.
But you may not be as familiar with the wonderfully incongruous film poster shown here. It was too great not to share. Says nothing at all about the true power of the play or for that matter, the film, but it may have been a premonition of another culture-changing drama — ‘Planet of the Apes.’
At the very least, it surely lent credence to the idea that a monkey, given the technology, budget and the proper eyewear, could go to outer space.
Middle Eastern dancer gives a fair shake at son’s benefit show
Posted on July 24, 2008 by Margaret Smith
Filed Under Dance, Fundraisers, Music | Leave a Comment
Zbeide, aka Helen Perry, the Tewksbury-based Middle Eastern dancer, has lent her talents and that of her troupe, Zbeide’s Harem, to many causes during her career, including a benefit last month to help a young father disabled in a motor vehicle crash.
Now she is trying to help her own son, George Perry, and his fiancee, Margie Marino, of Lowell, who suffered serious injuries in a May 26 motorcycle accident.
The couple’s family and friends are pitching in to hold a benefit to help offset the couple’s medical bills and other expenses incurred as a result of the accident.
And it’s mom to the rescue, taking the stage with her troupe with supplying part of the day’s talent with a showcase of Middle Eastern dance.
The benefit takes place Sunday, July 27, 2 to 6 p.m. at Dom Polski, 10 Coburn St., Lowell. Tickets are $15 per person and $30 per couple and are available in advance or at the door.
There will also be raffles and food. For more information, call 978-408-9318 or 978-459-4225.
Bookstore, fans on “Dawn” patrol for new Stephenie Meyer novel
Posted on July 18, 2008 by Margaret Smith
Filed Under Books, Children | Leave a Comment
Want to read the latest Stephenie Meyer book?
Wait Until Dark.
But, you can have a lot of fun whiling away the hours until midnight, the hour “Breaking Dawn,” the fourth novel in the “Twilight Saga” series, makes its nocturnal debut.
To celebrate, area bookstores are holding theme parties Friday, Aug. 1 for fans to dress up in costume, play games and perhaps take in a “Breaking Dawn” concert by Web cast.
Sound eerily familiar?
The theme event that worked its magic for the “Harry Potter” series might also be a boon for other books in the juvenile fantasy vein, so to speak — Stephenie Meyer, as millions of already know, is the creator of a series of novels about adolescent vampires.
“It seems like with Harry Potter, it worked so well, a lot of stores such as this one decided to try it again,” said Jillian Giordano, events coordinator at Willow Books & Cafe, an independently-owned book store in Acton, one of the stores holding such a masquerade of the macabre.
The series resonates particularly with female pre-teen and teen readers. At the epicenter is a handsome lad — vampirized at a young age and living in a permanent state of youthful sensitivity and gorgeousness — and the young, courageous, non-vampire girl he befriends.
Meyer is one of several leading authors of juvenile fantasy who have given the genre new energy with engaging tales that speak to adolescent emotions and experiences.
“They are trying to deal with the issues kids through,” Giordano said.
She observed, “It’s fun to be able to have so much feedback on a book. It just shows how much people love it.”
Perhaps that’s because, despite what you might hear, the art of reading — much like a vampire — may take a beating, a staking, or even a burning — but never dies.
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