The (virtual) play is the thing
Most theaters around the region remain dark — and will stay that way for a while. But innovative programming abounds with new online options announced regularly.
Bos ton’s Huntington Theatre Company is launching seven new titles to its series of short audio plays entitled “Dream Boston” that started in July. They will be released over subsequent weeks all fall and are available at www.huntingtontheatre.org and on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Stitcher.
Conceived and commissioned by the Huntington artistic department, the series gives local playwrights a chance to imagine their favorite locations, landmarks and friends in a future, post-pandemic Boston, when people can once again meet and connect in the city. The plays are a vision of Boston that is somewhere between dream and reality.
Playwrights creating the new set of seven plays include John Oluwole, Adekoje, Miranda Adekoje, J. Sebastian Alberdi, Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro, Elle Borders, Patrick Gabridge and John Kuntz.
Each play is set at a specific local landmark with 1-3 characters and is about 6 minutes in length. The locales for this round of audio plays include Franklin Park, Harvard’s Memorial Church, the Harvard Art Museums, the Old State House, the Fenway nightclub Machine, Harrison Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard.
“Each of these new plays is a pleasure to listen to — a taste of art we all need — but they also advance a vision of the future of our city: what it is and what it could be,” said Charles Haugland, the Huntington’s director of new work.
Visit www.huntingtontheatre.org/dream-boston for lineup and details.
Elsewhere, music has returned to the Boch Center (formerly the Wang Center) with the launch last week of its Ghost Light Series on the Wang Theatre stage.
Set to air on New England’s Connection on NECN, the series will showcase critically acclaimed artists including Keb’ Mo’, Lori Mckenna, the Mammals, Tom Rush, Noel Paul Stookey, Jonathan Edwards and more. It premiered last Friday at 7:30 p.m., and will air every other week in the same time slot.
“We will not go dark,” said Joe Spaulding, president and CEO of the Boch Center. “We are still here, and as long as we are here, we will try our best to bring people live music. The Ghost Light Series allows us to give artists a voice in this uncertain time and show the incredible talent in New England and beyond.”
For info and lineup, visit www. bochcenter. org/discover/ghost-light-series.
In the wings
: FIREHOUSE FUN FOR A CAUSE: Newburyport’s Firehouse Center for the Arts hosts “Firehouse Ignites: A Really Big Virtual Show” on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. The virtual fundraiser, presented on YouTube, features Alex Anthony Band, comedian Steve Sweeney and the Firehouse All Stars from previous shows, hosted by executive director John Moynihan. Pay any amount you feel like donating, though $75 per person is suggested. There’s also a Vintage Auction to add to the fun and hopefully raise $20,000 to support operating expenses. Here’s a link to the fundraiser www.fireh o u s e . o r g /e v e n t / f i r e - house-ignites-a-really-bigvirtual-show. Firehouse also has several events planned for October, including the Fright Night Festival on Oct. 28 and “Spookley: The Square Pumpkin, The Musical,” Oct. 30-Nov. 1. Visit www.firehouse.org for info on signing up and full lineup.
: HOLIDAY JOY: Jim Brickman, the Grammynominated songwriter and piano sensation, takes the nation by storm this holiday season with the “Comfort & Joy at Home 2020 Virtual Tour” on Friday, Dec. 18, at 7 p.m. And a portion of each ticket purchased to this live event will benefit Worcester’s Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts. Enjoy the concert from your couch, bed or comfy chair, and support the Hanover to boot. Tickets are $40, $75 and $125 and feature interactive Zoom Room, meetand- greets and Christmas gifts delivered to your door. Tickets are now on sale exclusively at www.jimbrickman.com.
: YOUTH AT PLAY:
Greater Boston Stage Company — formerly the Stoneham Theatre — has revived its Young Company with virtual voice, dance, acting and theater classes for young people. “Young Company programming will be different than previously, but we are excited to see what amazing work, fun and education can happen in these new mediums,” said education director Tyler Rosati. Visit https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/dept/1431 to learn more and register.
: SPECTACLE UPDATE: Pete Lally, whose Spectacle Management Company manages and brings shows to Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Cary Memorial Hall in Lexington, Plymouth Memorial Hall on the South Shore and soon to the Colonial Theatre in Laconia, N.H., is adding another feather to his cap — the all new Nashua Performing Arts Center that hopefully will open in 2022. Lally recently wrote about the new affiliation in an op-ed piece in the Nashua Telegraph. He also predicts a post-pandemic bounce-back for the entertainment industry. Here’s a link to Lally’s piece that he posted on Facebook: w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / N H A r t s . o r g /p h o t o s / a.458439838306394/7935 72884793086.
: REAGLE FUNDRAISER: Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston, based in Waltham, recently announced that its Arts Feed Our Hearts grass-roots fundraising drive reached the $100,000 goal needed to earn an additional $50,000 match pledged by the 52-year-old theater company’s board of directors.
As the COVID-19 shutdown continues, the company will use the money to fund original online programming, virtual workshops for young people, help seed next season and implement new protocols for a safe return to live theatre. Visit www.reaglemusictheatre.com for info.