The Newton Voice 4/18/17

Newton VOL 2, NO 8

NEWTON’S VOICE

April 18 - May 2, 2017

$7,500 to $15,000 a month; upper middle class need not apply

By Alexander Culafi

The Voice Cleveland Circle is, just barely, part of Boston. Go a couple hundred feet in one direction, you’re in Brookline. Take a short walk in another direction, you’re in Chestnut Hill. Take a short drive, and you find yourself in Newton. Although Cleveland Circle is technically a part of our neighboring city, I’ve always looked at it as a cultural intersection between all of these communities.

But, at least aesthetically, this place has seen better days. The construction has been an eyesore for some time, as most major construction projects tend to be, and although Pino’s Pizza is right where it belongs on Beacon Street, other landmarks like Circle Cinema are no longer.

Although I generally will raise an eyebrow at luxury developments when I see them, I find myself cautiously optimistic about The Circle – the new project by National Development that aims to bring luxury housing (breaking new ground for the Chestnut Hill area) together with new retail and restaurant spaces when development finishes by this fall. And yes, The Circle is that huge piece of construction you see right by the Reservoir T stop.

It’s being developed right on the sites of where the Applebee’s and movie theater used to be, and will feature, according to The Circle’s website:

Continued on page 3

Photo | Alexander Culafi Development on The Circle seems to be going smoothly, which is no surprise considering how much money is probably getting put into this place.

ALEX REVIEWS 3 NEW GAMES

GAME CORNER

By Alexander Culafi

The Voice If you have ever read The Voice, you know video games are bound to make some kind of appearance every few issues. It’s something people do here, like me, and it’s something I like writing about because it’s a subject I know quite a bit about.

Photo | J.Resnek Looking through a big window on a gorgeous day early in the spring.

So after some positive feedback, we’ve decided to try something new. Some papers review movies, some review music, and in The Voice, I like to review games. How does this happen? Well every so often, I reach out to video game publishers and see if they are interested in offering early access to upcoming games in order to tell if you if

they’re any good or not.

Most of the games I like to review skew on the independent side, but I’ll review some larger games too. Last issue, I reviewed the new Zelda game (5 Stars!), and this issue, we’ve got a review of Persona 5 for you, along with two smaller games in the form of Yooka-Laylee and Mr. Shifty.

If there’s anything you want us to write about, give me a shout at aculafi@voicestaff.net

Continued on page 4

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Editorial

Newton

The Newton Voice

From the publisher THIS AND THAT

THE BROOKLINE VOICE THE NEWTON VOICE PUBLISHER AND PRESIDENT Joshua Resnek jresnek@voicestaff.net

The development of the former theater site at Cleveland Circle is going to be a resounding success – as long as the national economy doesn’t collapse.

Our front page story reveals that 1 bedroom apartments will go for $7,500 a month and that the penthouse units will go for $15,000, while smaller units will be somewhere in between.

Nearly everyone in Newton is doing relatively well, even those at the bottom of the salary divide.

EDITOR

Make no mistake, these units under construction are for people way over the median income, which for families living here is $115,000 a year.

SENIOR REPORTER

This means that if a median income Newton family heads into the rental office at Cleveland Circle and decided to move into a 1 bedroom, which is of course an impossibility, their entire median income – or nearly all of it – would have to be paid for the rent – and that wouldn’t include utilities of going to the store to buy groceries.

Joshua Resnek Alexander Culafi aculafi@voicestaff.net

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Lorenzo Recupero lrecupero@voicestaff.net David Stanford dstanford@voicestaff.net

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rick Ashley rashley@voicestaff.net Jared Charney jcharney@voicestaff.net

CALENDAR EDITOR

Sheila Barth sbarth@voicestaff.net

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING

Carolyn Lilley Resnek cresnek@voicestaff.net

DIRECTOR OF GRAPHIC DESIGN

It is not inconceivable, yet it is entirely probable and likely that someone making $115,000 a year would go broke and starve to death living in one of these 1 bedroom apartments just trying to pay the rent.

I’m terrible at math, but if I rented a two bedroom apartment, I’d have to pay something like $120,000 a year in rent – or a cool $10,000 a month. Even people making $10,000 a month in salary can not live here.

Bottom line, only the new rich or the foreign rich can afford to live in these new spaces, which prompted our story title: The Upper-Middle Class Need Not Apply.

It will be interesting to find out who occupies these new and exciting living spaces when they go up for rent.

April 18 - May 2, 2017

He’s one of the good guys.

However, he has called the following mistakes made during his youth before he served in the armed forces and learned what responsibility is all about.

According to the Globe, the IRS claims Warren “stiffed” the government for $6,512. Not exactly the $960 million loss President Trump claimed on his IRS tax return some years back. A lien was placed in the Middlesex Registry of Deeds in 1993 and was not removed until 2000 for that owe. From 1996-2000, Warren held various positions in the Clinton White House. This partially explains the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue address he used, is the assumption.

There were also unpaid speeding tickets issued on the Turnpike in Brighton. He lost his license for the failure to pay those tickets. That was 1993. In subsequent years he earned three speeding tickets – two in ten days – here in Massachusetts when he was working on John Kerry’s staff.

The oddity of all of this, as reported by the Globe, was an unpaid electrical bill that went to judgment in Washington DC superior court. The listed address – 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

What does all this mean?

Mayor Warren is human. He has made mistakes.

He has paid back what he owed. His excesses remain as part of a lifetime record trail until he dies.

Should we think any differently of Mayor Warren learning these bits and pieces about his life?

Not really.

Are these facts about his life detrimental enough to change how we feel about him or his abilities, or his chances to become the next governor of Massachusetts?

I don’t think so.

So then, what do these revelations mean beyond him being a human being, and therefore subject to making mistakes?

It means that Mayor Warren, like most of us, is vulnerable.

It implies that he can make mistakes from time to time.

The record shows he has cleared his good name of previous mistakes, but this doesn’t guarantee a pristine future free of error.

This I know – in order to pay a $10,000 a month rent for a two bedroom apartment and to have enough money left to buy bottled water and perhaps some food and to heat and electrify your unit and to run an automobile or two you would need to make approximately $300,000 a year at the very least. After taxes in Massachusetts, $300,000 would be cut down to about $170,000, which would leave the prospective renter about $50,000 after paying their rent.

Does being human, and therefore vulnerable, disqualify Mayor Warren for future public office?

Once again, upper middle class need not apply!

Fast forward to his years as mayor as a sign of what is to come.

Trevor Andreozzi tandreozzi@voicestaff.net

Absolutely not.

Every politician makes mistakes. No politician is invulnerable to the exigencies of political life.

In fact, by the method of measure we use today for our leaders in public life, making mistakes thoroughly qualifies them to serve in public office.

Mayor Warren is very liberal. In Newton, this persona is worn and earned as a badge of pride.

Of course, Newton’s voter base is as liberal as the mayor – and so there is synchronicity at city hall between the leader and the led.

PRINTING

Graphic Developments Inc.

Beacon Street

“He speaks with disdain about others receiving higher public salaries but then votes to accept a higher salary for himself. He claims to have an open door policy but often fails to keep the doors open, as is the case with Superintendent of Schools Fleischman, who was re-hired for an unprecedented four years in an unannounced closed door meeting. And he points with pride to Newton’s openness when in fact he refused to acknowledge the rabidly anti-Israel, even borderline anti-Semitic, content of several of the textbooks in the public schools regarding the Middle East, Israel, Jews and Muslims. Public disgust had the books removed. Setti Warren didn’t. This Mayor’s ambitions don’t bother me.

His hypocrisy does,” Pergament said.

Brookline ___________________

Pergament is a major league media savant. He isn’t about sour grapes. He is a longtime Newton resident and a critical observer of the local political scene.

Hanover, MA.

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Max’s Trucking Winthrop, MA.

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THE BROOKLINE VOICE THE NEWTON VOICE Owned and operated by: THE CHELSEA PRESS LLC 1309 Beacon Street Suite 300 Hanover, MA Arnold Jarmak, President Joshua Resnek, Chairman of the Board

LET THE GAMES BEGIN For many Newton voters and admirers of Setti Warren, a Boston Globe news story several weeks ago detailed what it referred to as youthful indiscretions for our popular mayor who wants to be governor.

What was it, and how important was it to make a news story out of it 17 years after the fact? I’m not sure, except such a piece revealing a federal tax lien, a suspended license, and the mayor listing his address as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – where he worked at the time.

This digging up of stale news from the past is de rigueur for the folks at the Globe – who will go down to the end trying to destroy peoples’ lives in the passionate effort to expose all the bad guys operating in Massachusetts.

Mayor Warren is not a bad guy.

Now that he is running for governor, the mayor is finding out he will not get a free ride from the Boston Globe or the Herald, who would both love to find something untoward to publish about him.

My posture is that of the Tab, maybe just a bit more ambitious and edgy.

Mayor Warren is basically a good guy, an honest guy, a capable mayor who may have suffered a mild case of character flaw, as the Globe revelations arguably point to.

But he has done a reasonably good job of juggling during his time at Newton City Hall.

The reviews about Mayor Warren locally are mostly positive.

There are many folks who won’t agree with this.

In the words of our greatest president Abraham Lincoln: you can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all the time.

Joshua Resnek

The Newton Voice

April 18 - May 2, 2017

Voice

news

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$7,500 to $15,000 a month; upper middle class need not apply Continued from page 1 “An AC Hotel by Marriott and Waterstone at the Circle are currently under construction with completion planned for summer/fall 2017. AC will be a 162-room luxury boutique hotel. Waterstone at the Circle will feature 92 luxury active adult/ independent living apartments and superb amenities such as a fitness center, pool, restaurant-style dining room, theater and underground parking.�

spaces – a perspective I learned sitting in on a Newton City Hall meeting for a similar luxury development some months back.

It’s worth noting that a dozen of the apartments have been designated as affordable, and that although the housing is luxury, the apartments will be sold exclusively to older tenants, a move that eased concerns from residents that new developments would cause even more college students to move into the area.

And luxury is right. Look at what the website says about the Waterstone living spaces:

Don’t worry though, because I don’t know a single college student who can afford these prices.

“Residents will be pampered with services such as housekeeping, black car transportation, a robust cultural and recreational activities program, personal training, resident social events and more.

All apartments are available for a monthly fee with no purchase necessary.�

I talked to Jake from Waterstone at The Circle’s Welcome Center, and he gave me these approximate prices over the phone (note that this includes all of those crazy extra services listed above – he called it a bundle):

The development will include two retail spaces along Chestnut Hill Avenue that are available for lease.

Two bedroom: $10,000-$12,000/month

I see a lot of potential for a place like this. Bringing a few hundred new people (and new tourists) into the area should be great for existing businesses as well as potential businesses opening in the future.

The fact that this development comes with retail spaces gives me hope for a Coolidge Corner-type area within a few years of the development’s completion.

While I made a joke about housing in this area being unaffordable, affordable living is a very real concern in communities.

Brookline has a lot of great affordable housing, but this area, especially extended into Newton and Chestnut Hill, is desperate for more affordable living

One Bedroom: $7,500/month Penthouse: About $15,000/month Observation of the year right here, but wow. That’s a heck of a lot of money.

You may have the same question that I did. What in the world will the affordable housing cost? “We don’t have numbers right now,� Jake said. “Our corporate office is working with the City of Boston to come up with those numbers.�

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As someone who pays $825/month for a room about a mile away from there, I hope for the sake of elder tenants living here that they don’t have to pay $120,000 per year in order to have a home. They probably won’t, but man, it makes you think.

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KATZ BAGELS i Since 1938 i

Follow us on Facebook @katzbagelbakery

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Game Corner

The Newton Voice

GAME CORNER

April 18 - May 2, 2017

ALEX REVIEWS 3 NEW GAMES

Continued from page 1 Mr. Shifty Available on: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), PC Price: $14.99 Every so often, you’ll a play a game that carves its own path as much as it evokes others. Team Shifty’s new game Mr. Shifty is one such game, offering room-based topdown action gameplay that remains reminiscent of the very popular Hotline Miami (or, if you’re a little older, think of it as a more intelligent Smash TV), while simultaneously offering mechanics that allow it to carve out a path of its own.

Yet while Hotline Miami was a game about going from room to room and killing dudes with creative weaponry in simplistic, fast-paced gameplay, Mr. Shifty allows you to pull a Nightcrawler and teleport across the map in order to sneak behind and confuse your enemies. And, rather than using shotguns and baseball bats, most of your attack strategy revolves around killing fellas purely with your fists, though some weapons are used sparingly. You can also slow down time after achieving enough kills in a room, allowing for a second chance when a bullet gets to be two inches from your face.

Mechanically, the game absolutely succeeds. It’s fun to teleport, fun to slow down time, and fun to punch guys in the face over the game’s nearly-20 puzzle-y levels. It’s not as good as Hotline Miami, a near-perfect game, but it’s a challenging, enjoyable time in its own right… to an extent.

The game is marred, if not debilitated, by two aspects of its play experience: for one, Mr. Shifty is plagued by frequent slowdown in its second half, to the point that you will get killed several times as a result of the game running poorly on your system, instead of it being due to your own human error. In fact, my game crashed once on the final level, when I was already ten minutes into the hardest stage in the game. Thankfully, when it doesn’t crash, generous checkpoints alleviate most of the technical issues.

The story of the game is very much that of a 1980s movie. You climb a tower level-bylevel in order to kill an evil chairman and save the world from evil science. It’s very cheesy, and not in a well-done or especially funny way. Because of the story’s pacing, combined with the fact that there are too many rooms that are just “kill everyone” without a more engaging objective (especially in the final stages), Mr. Shifty has a tendency to drag and drag and drag. Despite being only four hours long, I found myself wanting this game to end by the two hour mark.

Mr. Shifty is a Hotline Miami-like with some rock solid mechanics and fun, fast, challenging gameplay. Unfortunately, technical issues and some frustratingly needless content prevents a full recommendation. Maybe pick it up on a sale.

Yooka-Laylee Available on: PlayStation 4 (reviewed), Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch (later this year) Price: $39.99 After earning £2,090,104 on Kickstarter in 2015, the crowdfunded Yooka-Laylee has finally been released into the world. Development was led by a number of ex-Rare developers at Playtonic Games, aiming to create a 3D platformer game that plays like these games used to play. Remember Banjo-Kazooie (made by Rare)? What about Donkey Kong 64? You’ve probably heard of Super Mario 64 at least; games where you would explore a big open world and grab a metric buttload of collectibles.

Playtonic promised that they were going to make another game like this, and boy, did they.

Yooka-Laylee hits all the notes. As a lizard and smack-talking bat, wander around open levels with classic design sensibilities and complete challenges in order to gather pages of a magical book and stop the big bad. Outside of the fact that it looks and sounds better than these games used to, Playtonic’s title plays like it was made in 1999. That’s not a compliment.

See, Shovel Knight is great because it plays the way you remember old platformers used to play, appealing to nostalgia while still being rock solid and modern, instead of actually playing like games from decades past. Like a lot of art, video games age, and it’s not always for the better.

but you know what it has? An atrocious camera that you’re constantly at war with, an awful sense of humor, annoying voice acting, and frustrating gameplay that stems from loose controls.

It’s true that Playtonic made the game that they promised to Kickstarter backers, but that doesn’t mean that Yooka-Laylee is immune to criticism. If anything, the most frustrating part is that I’m playing a modern title that has learned absolutely nothing from the past 20 years of game design.

Then again, if you want a game like that, maybe you’ll like it.

Yes, Yooka-Laylee has a certain charm in playing like a fun collect-a-thon N64 platformer,

Persona 5 Available on: PlayStation 4 (reviewed), PlayStation 3 Price: $59.99 Persona 5 is enormous. Like, 100 hours enormous. One of the longest games I’ve ever played, by far. What’s surprising then, is that for a game that takes over four full days to complete, Persona 5 manages to maintain a high level of quality throughout its entirety.

The game is the latest in a series of spin-offs from the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, a very long-running Japanese role-playing franchise that tasks you to recruit evil demons to fight against other evil demons in a dark world often blending fantasy, religion, and a shocking sense of relatable realism.

Persona 5, as a spin-off, is like a lighter version of those mechanics. Instead of living in a post-apocalyptic world where death lurks at every corner and the final boss is YHVH himself, Persona 5 places you in the shoes of a Japanese high school student who steals hearts in supernatural dungeons as part of The Phantom Thieves, a group of rebel outcasts who hop into a world powered by a phone app with the intention of getting bad people to have a change of heart.

It will all make sense when you play it, but to put it succinctly: they’re teens who have the supernatural ability to turn bad people into good people by stealing the treasure of their heart. To do that, in classic fashion, you recruit demons, kill demons, and crawl across a number of JRPG dungeons. The combat plays like a more challenging take on Pokémon, which is very high praise.

caused some self-reflection as to why we want the things we want, and, silly as it may sound, how our own hearts can become warped and distorted by human desire. The characters are great too, though I might say Persona 4 had a slightly stronger cast.

The style and music are out of this world, combining funky jazz with a comic book-style look that is nothing short of downright gorgeous.

The hook of Persona 5 is that it’s not just fighting monsters in a video game. When you’re not doing that, you live, literally, day-to-day as a Japanese high school student in Tokyo.

You go to class six days a week, hang out with friends, go the movies, and even go on dates.

Doing activities in-game cause time to pass, which allows you to see, “real time,” the life of a student over the course of a year. It’s a role-playing game where you truly do play a role.

My one criticism is that Persona 5 sometimes feels less like a video game and more like a visual novel, as there are long stretches, especially early on, where you are just tapping a button to continue the dialogue and watching the story unfold. Now, there’s a time and place for VNs, but it was occasionally jarring to see so little gameplay in something that is undeniably a video game. Persona 4 did the same thing, but I would say it’s potentially more egregious here due to this game being twice as long as its predecessor.

And it’s all so, so, so good. The dungeon crawling is stronger than a Persona game has ever been, and the dungeon design is impeccable - and very easy for newcomers to grasp. The story manages to be genuinely emotionally affecting, and

Still, barring that, Persona 5 is masterful. Wonderful mechanics, writing, and gameplay (when the gameplay is consistent) make for a top-notch game that I can recommend to almost anyone.

Defining

your lifestyle.

D eborah Budd

Specializing in sophisticated living 617-281- 8181 Deborah.Budd@Raveis.com International Realtor/Luxury Properties Specialist Local and global expertise in five languages

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The Newton Voice

Calendar

April 18 - May 2, 2017

CALENDAR

COMEDY, THEATER, MUSIC, DANCE 17 BORDER CROSSINGS ArtsEmerson presents Thadddeus Phillips’ surreal one-man saga, traveling through Hungary, Serbia, Morocco, Colombia, Holland, Mexico and other global sites, through April 29, April 20, 26, 27, at 7:30 p.m.; April 22, at 2 and 8 p.m.; April 23, 2 p.m.; April 28, 29, 8 p.m. at Emerson/Paramount Center’s Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre, 559 Washington St, Boston. $10-$60. Package, group, senior, student discounts. Artsemerson.org.

CHILD’S PLAY The New England Conservatory Jazz Orchestra presents the music of Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan in “Child’s Play,” Thursday, April 20, Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St., Boston. Free, open to the public. necmusic.edu/event/16740.

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL The festival will present Rita Rudner with an award for excellence, Saturday, April 22, after her standup 8 p.m. performance at the historic Wilbur Theater in Boston. The festival, running through April 23, throughout Boston, features almost 80 live performances, workshops, panels and parties that are open to the public.WICF.com.

BARBECUE Summer L. Williams leads a Boston star-studded cast in Lyric Stage Company of Boston’s production of “Barbecue,” a searing comedy by Robert O’Hara, appearing through May 7. 140 Clarendon St., Boston.Lyricstage.com.

APRIL RED ROOM CAFE’ EVENTS Appearing at the Red Room Cafe are Marc Scibilia, Corey Harper and Brad Ray, April 19, 8 p.m., $15; BirnCORE live, featuring Kaki King and Cammy Enaharo, April 21, 7 and 9 p.m., $18; Black Violin, April 22, 7 and 9 p.m., $20/$25; and Overcoats and Yoke Lore, April 28, 8 p.m., $12/$14; and EMMARIE, with another act to be announced, April 29, 8 p.m., $10/$12, All show are for all ages.

Café 939 at 939 Boylston St., Boston. Cafe939. com.

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE Salem State University presents musical comedy hit, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” April 20, 21, 27-29, 7:30 p.m.;April 23, 30, 2 p.m., Sophia Gordon Center, Salem. $15; students, seniors, $10. Salemstatetickets.com.

PARADISE Underground Railway Theater presents the world premiere of Laura Maria Censabella’s two-act, two-hour play, “Paradise,” starring Barlow Adamson and Caitlin Nasema Cassidy, through May 7, Central Square Theater, 450 Mass.Ave., Cam-

bridge. Tickets start at $20; senior citizens, $5 discount, students with university ID tickets, $20; under 18 years old, $15; also group discount.

CentralSquareTheater.org.

IMPROVBOSTON NEW LINEUP The Cambridge comedy club features filthy fun, The Last Laugh, as its new late-night shows every Saturday at 11:30 p.m., including LaughterRisk, the first Saturday of the night; Late Night Longform, second Saturday; Terrible People, third Saturday, and Over the Line, fourth Saturday. ImprovBoston. com/last-laugh.

LIVE MUSIC BRUNCH Passim features Live Music Brunch Saturdays and Sundays, starting this weekend, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Featured music varies from blue grass, old time, blues, Celtic, classical, folk, jazz and more.

47 Palmer St., Cambridge. passim.org.

BARNUM Moonbox Production actors perform their own circus stunts in Mark Bramble, Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart’s dazzling musical play, “Barnum,” through April 30,: Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; matinees, Saturday, Sunday, 2 p.m., also Sunday, April 9, at 7 p.m., Boston Center for the Arts, Calderwood Pavilion, Robert Studio Theatre, 527 Tremont St., Boston. $50, under 25 years old just $25; student rush $20. Bostontheatrescene.com, 617-933-8600.

EVERYMAN Carol Ann Duffy’s stirring 80-minute, one-act adaptation of “Everyman” is performed through May 6: Friday, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, April 23, 30, at 3 p.m., Apollinaire Theatre, Chelsea Theatre Works, 189 Winnisimmet St., Chelsea. Post-performance reception after every show. Advance tickets, $20, at the door, $25; students, $15. 617-887-2336, apollinairetheatre.com.

CELEBRATION OF YEHUDI WYNER The Cantata Singers conclude their season Friday, May 12, 8 p.m. at Jordan Hall, featuring music by Arthir Honegger, Wyner and his father, Lazar Weiner, featuring Wyner’s “Torah Service”. Cantatasingers.org.

THE WHO AND THE WHAT Huntington Theatre presents Pulitzer Prize winning author Ayad Akhtar’s drama, running to extended date May 7, because of popular demand, at Boston Center for the Arts, Calderwood Pavilion,527 Tremont St., South End, Boston. Tickets start at $25.huntingtheatre.org.

MR. JOY: THE NEIGHBORHOOD TOUR ArtsEmerson and the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Racial Equality present Daniel Beaty’s one-person play, starring Adobuere Ebiama, performed in Hyde Park, Allston, East Boston and Dorchester.

Free, open to the public. Reservations strongly encouraged. ArtsEnerson.org, 617-824-8400.

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The Newton Voice

April 18 - May 2, 2017

Calendar

7

IMPROVBOSTON NEW LINEUP The Cambridge comedy club features filthy fun, The Last Laugh,as its new late-night shows every Saturday at 11:30 p.m., including LaughterRisk, the first Saturday of the night; Late Night Longform, second Saturday; Terrible People, third Saturday, and Over the Line, fourth Saturday. ImprovBoston. com/last-laugh.

NO EXIT Exiled Theatre presents Jean-Paul Sartre’s play, adapted by Paul Bowles, weekends, through April 30, at Auspicious Phoenix, The Space Studio, 438 Somerville Ave., Somerville: Friday, Saturday,7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. $20; students with ID, $15.

Exiledtheatre.com.

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST Boston Children’s Theatre presents the stage adaption of Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel through April 29: April 20, 7:30 p.m.; April 21, 8 p.m.; April 22, 29, at 2, 8 p.m.; April 23, 2,5 p.m., Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St., Boston. Recommended for audiences over 14 years old because of strong language and adult themes. $10-$35; group rates also. bit.ly/BCTCuckoosnest, bostonchildrenstheatre.org.

KINETIC CRAFT Luminarium Dance presents its 2017community outreach project, Kinetic Craft, April 18-23, at the Fuller Craft Museum,455 Oak St., Brockton. The museum is open daily 10a.m.-5 p.m. Free with museum admission.luminariumdance.org/cultural-community-outreach-project.

HOMEBODY Underground Railway Theatre’s multi-award winning Debra Wise performs in Tony Kushner’s oneact, one-hour play, “Homebody,” April 20-May 7, directed by Nora Theater Company artistic director, Lee Mikeska Gardner, at Central Square Theater, 450 Mass. Ave.,Cambridge. Tickets start at $46, seniors, $5 discount, students with university ID, $20; under 18 years old, $15; group discounts also. CentralSquareTheater.org, 617-576-9278, Ext. 1.

CABARET AND CONVERSATION Jewish arts Collaborative presents Seth Rudetsky and Judy Kuhn performing an evening of songs and conversation at Natick’s Center for the Arts, 14 Summer St., Natick, Thursday, April 20, 7:30 p.m.$40.jartsboston.org.

DEL AND DAWG Spectacle Management presents legendary bluegrass performers Del McCoury and Dawg, a.k.a.

David Grisman,April 20, 7:30 p.m., at Lexington’s Cary Memorial Hall. $39-$79. Caryhalllextington. com.

THE CABOT MUSIC SHOWS Making merry and melodic music at the Cabot are Blind Boys of Alabama, April 21, 8 p.m.; a singing,dancing musical show, “In the Mood,” April 23, 6 p.m.; Kashmir, April 29, 8 p.m.; The Wailin’ Jennys, May 6, at 8 p.m., and the Naked Magicians from Australia, May 12, 8 p.m., 286 Cabot St., Beverly. Thecabot.org.

Photo | Alexander Culafi The shot I took from a suite I was invited to for the Red Sox game against the Orioles on April 11 (unrelated to journalism). Place looked like a hotel room on the inside – even had a TV in the bathroom.

There's a certain, magical feeling to watching a Red Sox game on a couch with broadcast delay and then walking outside to see the real thing. 10 out of 10. Also, the Sox won, 8-1 REMEMBERING THE ‘40S The Reagle Music Theatre presents this memorable, memorial musical salute to the war generation and home front, April 22, at 2 and 7 p.m.,and April 23, 2 p.m., 617 Lexington St., Waltham Tickets $35-$63; youths, $25. Veterans admitted free; student groups welcomed. Student rush tickets for college students with ID,an hour before the show, 50 percent off. Reaglemusictheatre.com. Group rates for 10 or more.Groups call 781-891-5600, Ext. 1201, or email groups@reaglemusictheatre. org.

WAISTWATCHERS THE MUSICAL

JEREMY PELT Scullers Jazz Club presents the iconic young trumpeter April 21, 400 Soldiers Field Road, Boston.

Scullersjazz.com.

THE GIFT HORSE Boston’s popular award-winning playwright Lydia R. Diamond presents the premiere of her sharp new comedy, featuring an all-star Boston cast, April 22-May 14, with New Repertory Theatre, Mainstage Theater, Mosesian Center for the Arts,

321 Arsenal St., Watertown. $30-$59; Student tickets, $20; student rush tickets, $15; senior, group discounts also. Newrep.org, 617-9238487.

THE GLOAMING The group presents an all-new Irish music sound at its Boson debut, April 22, 8 p.m., Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass.Ave, Boston. $42, $37, $32, $28. WorldMusic.org.

LIZ BORDEN BAND The lively rock band performs Saturday, April 22,

Playhouse Productions present Alan Jacobson’s musical play, April 21-June 25, at the historical Regent Theatre, 7 Medford St., Arlington: Thursdays, 7 p.m.; Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; matinees,Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, 2 p.m.$40-$65; group rates for 12 or more;waistwatchersthemusical.com,781-646-4849.

DIVAS LATINAS Berklee Performance Center welcomes the pop and pop-rock female Hispanic singers, Thursday, April 20, 8 p.m., 136 Mass. Ave., Boston. bpc@ berklee.edu.

DAVID FRANCEY me& thee coffeehouse welcomes the beloved award-winning Canadian troubadour performing Friday, April 21, at 8 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead, 28 Mugford St., Marblehead. Doors open 7:30 p.m. meandthee.org.

KAKI KING

Sunday, April 30, 2017 New York City for the

CAMERA ANNUAL GALA honoring The Right Honourable

Stephen Harper, P.C. Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister

The Red Room at Cafe 939 features birnCORE live, with Kaki King, Friday, April 21, 7 and 9 p.m., 939 Boylston St., Boston. Opening act for both shows is singer-songwriter Cammy Enaharo of Rochester, NY. $18; discounts available. Berklee.edu/red-

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in conversation with

Alan Dershowitz

Professor of Law, Emeritus Harvard Law School registration and information

cameragala.eventbrite.com 888.736.3672

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The Newton Voice

Calendar

7:30 p.m. at Midway Studios, 15 Channel Center St., Fort Point Boston.

April 18 - May 2, 2017

JCA ORCHESTRA

SOLI DEO GLORIA The First Church in Swampscott will hold its final Soli Deo Gloria concert April 23, 3 p.m., at the church located at 40 Monument Ave., Swampscott. The concert is free and doesn’t require reservations but audience donations are welcome.

PATRICE WILLIAMSON HONORS ELLA FITZGERALD The renowned vocalist celebrates the Ella Fitzgerald centennial with her new CD, “Come Love,” performing with guitarist Jon Wheatley, and accompanied by pianist Mark Shilansky, bassist Keala Kaumeheiwa and drummer Ron Savage, April 25, 7:30 p.m. at the Regattabar at the Charles Hotel, One Bennett St., Cambridge. $20; students, $15.

Getshowtix.com/regattabar/moreinfo. cgi?id=3807.

FAR AWAY The Theater, Dance and Media Concentration at Harvard University presents its spring production, Caryl Churchill’s “Far Away,” April 26-30: Wednesday,Thursday, Saturday. 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 7 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m., Farkas Hall, 12 Holyoke St., Cambridge. General admission, $10; students, seniors, $5. Boxoffice.harvard.du, 617-496-2222.

MY 80-YEAR-OLD BOYFRIEND Merrimack Repertory Theatre presents the musical comedy starring Broadway singer-actress Charissa Bertels, April 26-May 21, Nancy L. Donahue Theatre, 50 R. Merrimack St., Lowell. $26-$70. mrt. org, 978-654-4678.

THELONIOUS MONKFISH ANNUAL JAZZ FESTIVAL NEA jazz master Sheila Jordan, Yoko Miwa Trio, Dominique Eade, the Italian Tenors, composed of Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone and Frank Tiberi, Eula Lawrence and others headline the an-

The JazzComposers Alliance Orchestra, featuring the Strings Theory Trio, welcomes Earth Day musically, Saturday, April 22, 8 p.m., at The Space, 128 Brookside Ave., Jamaica Plain. $15; students, seniors, $10. jazzcomposersalliance.org. nual jazz festival April 27-May 7, 524 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. No cover for shows excluding Sheila Jordan ($10) and master class ($35). Dinner reservations recommended. theloniousmonkfish. com, 617-441-2116.

BLUE HERON The acclaimed musical group performs glorious

Steven A. Rosenberg covered the suburbs for

the Boston Globe from 2002–2016.

Take a walk with him at the dawn of the millennium as he finds middle class heroes at work, in neighborhoods, on beaches, in houses of worship and sleeping on the streets.

Middle Class Heroes

Middle Class Heroes V O I C E S F R O M B O S TO N ’ S S U B U R B S

available at Amazon.com

music of Canterbury Cathedral from the Peterhouse Partbooks, (1540) Friday April 28, 8 p.m., and leads a public study day, “Taking Apart the Partbooks: Catholic Music on the Eve of Reformation,” Saturday, April 29, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., First Church in Cambridge, Congregational, 11 Garden St., Cambridge. Blueheron.org.

EILEEN IVERS Spectacle Management proudly presents fiddler Eileen Ivers, Saturday, April 29, 7:30 p.m., Larcom Performing Arts Theatre, 13 Wallis St., Beverly. $49-$59. Thelarcom.org, 617-531-1257.

LIVE MUSIC BRUNCH Passim is offering Live Music Brunch Saturdays and Sundays, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Featured music will vary from blue grass, old time, blues, Celtic, classical, folk, jazz and more. 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. passim.org.

THE KISS The Signature Series at Berklee presents the world premiere of musical “The Kiss,” book, lyrics

by Cheryl Coons and music by Peter Eldridge, April 26,27,at 7:30 p.m., Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass. Ave., Boston. $8/$12. Berklee.edu/ bpc.

THE DANCE CARTEL ON THE FLOOR Oberon welcomes guests 18+ years old to the Dance Carrel on the Floor, featuring Colby Drasher, April 27, DJ Begbeck, April 28, and live music from the Niki Luparelli Groovesity, 2 Arrow St., Cambridge. No dress code. Dance floor tickets from

$25. Americanrepertorytheater.org.

GABRIEL Stoneham Artistic Director Weylin Symes directs Moira Buffini’s intriguing play, “Gabriel,” April 27May 14, 395 Main St., Stoneham.$45-$50; seniors, $40-$45;students with valid ID, $20; other discounts. stonehamtheatre.org, 781-279-2200.

PEERLESS Company One Theater and the Boston Public Library present Jiehae Park’s caustic comedic play, “Peerless,” inspired by MacBeth, April 27-May 27, Rabb Hall, Central Library, Copley Square, Boston.

All tickets pay-what-you-want.

CONCIERTO: A LATIN AMERICAN VOYAGE The 45-member Cantemus chamber chorus presents a program of contemporary Latin American music from Argentina, Puerto Rico and Venuezula, performed in Spanish, featuring Boston’s special guests Rumbarroco, Latin-Baroque fusion ensemble, on April 29,7:30 p.m., Christ Church of Hamilton and Wenham, 149 Asbury St., South Hamilton; April 30, 4 p.m., Central Congregational Church, 14 Titcomb St., Newburyport, and May 7 at The Bridge at 211, Murray Hall, 211 Bridge St., Salem.cantemus.org, 888-CHORUS 1.

AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH KRISTIN CHENOWETH The petite star with the huge personality, talent and charisma performs Sunday, April 30, 7 p.m., Symphony Hall, 301 Mass. Ave.,Boston. celebrityseries.org/chenoweth.

STEVE N A. R O S E N B E R G

Steven A. Rosenberg

“It’s not only because I know scores of people in this book. It’s not only because I have walked the streets, and the beaches, and into some of the stores that are the setting for this book. Nor is it because I’ve stood and cheered at Thanksgiving Day football classics, and strolled through the Salem Willows, or even shared some of the mysteries that Steve Rosenberg explores. No, I like this book because it is a little jewel of a read about a little jewel of a place at a special time in Steve’s life, and in mine, and in so many others’. Our towns and our times — he captures them with a sharp eye, a clear ear and a warm heart.”

— DAVID M. SHRIBMAN, PULITZER PRIZE WINNER AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF THE PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

Photo | Alexander Culafi Chillin' by the Jean B. Waldstein Playground in Brookline on one of the first gorgeous days of the year.

The Newton Voice

April 18 - May 2, 2017 BECKET IN BRIEF

posher@lappinfoundation.org.

BABY AND ME CLASS

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9

MARBLEHEAD ARTS ASSOCIATION NEW ARTISANS SALE

Children ages 6 months to 3 years old join in the fun, baby-focused classes and parents meet other parents and caregivers while children play together, Fridays from 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Jewish Community Center,Community Road, Marblehead.

Jccns.org.

BCT WINTER CLASSES Boston Children’s Theatre is offering weekend and weekday classes for children, ages 4 - 19, in Boston and Beverly. info@bostonchildrenstheatre.org.

KIDS NEW JEWISH LEARNING PROGRAM

Photo | Evgenia Eliseeva/CSC Commonwealth Shakespeare Company presents Will Lyman, Ken Baltin and Ashley Risteen starring in Becket’s “Rough for Radio II,” “The Old Tune,” and “Krapp’s Last Tape April 27-30, May 3-7: WednesdaySaturday, 7:30 p.m.; matinees Saturday, Sunday 3 p.m.,excluding April 29. Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson College, 19 Babson College Drive, Wellesley. $40; pay-what-you-can, April 27 only.

‘THE RETURN OF THE VIOLIN’ The Boston Jewish Film Festival presents “The Return of the Violin,” Sunday, April 30, 5:30-9 p.m., Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, 77 Avenue Louise Pasteur, Boston. The event includes a remembrance of Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist Jules Eskin, wine, hors d’oeuves and a dessert finale. $200 per person. Bjff.org.

RETRO CIRCUS SPECTACLE Boston Circus Guild presents a new circus show, “Throwback Tales: A Retro Spectacle,” featuring the spectacle first and the dance party following, May 4-12, Thursdays, Fridays, when professional circus performers reveal stories of their youth through their spectacular skills, at Oberon 2 Arrow St., Cambridge. Thursday, 8 p.m.; Friday, 7, 10:30 p.m. for audiences 18+ years old. Cluboberon.com, 617-547-8300.

FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH The Dance Complex presents Tina Croll’s and James Cunningham’s celebration of the dance, May 5-7, at the Julie Ince Thompson Theatre 536 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. Performances are May 5,6, 8 p.m., and May 7, 7 p.m. Tickets, $50 (ArtWeek special includes artists’ talk and reception); VIP,cabaret and beverage tickets, $29;general admission, $21; BDA members, students, seniors and military $12. Dancecomplex.org.

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING STEPS FOR LIFE 5K OF BOSTON Gift of Life’s Steps for Life Run and Walk, a race that’s dedicated to raising awareness for bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants,occurs April 30, at Chestnut Hill Reservoir, Brighton. Registration, 8 a.m.; welcome ceremony, 9 a.m.; introduction of transplant recipient to donor, 9:15 a.m.; Kids Super Hero Sprint, 9:30 a.m.; 5K Run and Walk, 9:45 a.m., and post-run celebration awards ceremony. Giftoflife.org/boston.

JCC MASTERS SWIM PROGRAM The Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center at 333 Nahanton St., Newton, holds year-round Masters Swim training program on Sundays, 7:158:15 a.m., Tuesdays, Thursdays 6:15-7:15 a.m., geared to adults (age 19+) who want to improve their overall fitness and skills. Included are professional coaching, structured workouts, drills and speed sets. aquatics@jccgb.org.

PARKINSON’S WELLNESS PROGRAM The nine-week winter session of exercise and movement classes and support group for people with Parkinson’s disease and their caregivers continues at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, 333 Nahanton St., Newton. (Classes, $90) Support group meets Tuesdays, 2-3 p.m., ($45).

Registration required. 617-667-1276.

FITNESS CIASS North Suburban Jewish Community Center and Temple Ner Tamid sponsor Pilates, Sunday mornings, 10:30-11:30 a.m., and zumba, Monday nights, 6:15-7:15 p.m. at Temple Ner Tamid, 368 Lowell St., Peabody. RSVP to arlyneg@nsjcc.org.

BALANCE AND FALL PREVENTION CLINIC Amelia Nodell, PT, DPT, and Beth Israel Deaconess Health Care-Chestnut Hill physical therapist, will lead a free clinic on achieving better balance, demonstrating and encouraging active participation, Wednesday, April 19, 12-1:15 p.m., at the Leventhal-Sidman Center, 333 Nahanton St., Newton. The entire community is welcome to participate. RSVP wellness@jccgb.org.

MEN’S BASKETBALL LEAGUES The winter men’s basketballleagues at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center for men under 35, over 35 A and B,continue with the under 35 league playing Thursdays, 6:30-9:30 p.m.; over 35 A league, Wednesdays, also 6:30-9:30 p.m. and over 35 B league Sundays,7:30-10:30 a.m. Individual or team sign-ups allowed. Leagues open to the entire community, 333 Nahanton St., Newton. Basketball@jccgb.org.

FUN FOR KIDS JCC ADAPTIVE MUSIC PROGRAM Children with developmental and intellectual disabilities, ages 6-17, may participate in an educational music and performance-based program held in partnership with amplif-adaptive music programs for life Wednesdays, now through May 24,4-5 p.m. They will write songs and stage, choreograph and perform a show for family and friends. Open to all. Nine-week course, $315, scholarships available. Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, 333 Nahanton St., Newton. inclusion@jccgb.org, 617-558-6507.

As part of the center’s new program, Discovery Club Experiential skill-building classes connecting children to Jewish life are offered at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, 333 Nahanton St., Newton. They include Earth Adventurers, Early Astronomers, Spicing it Up, Spectacular Storytellers, and Growing Gardeners, for children ages 5-8. bostonjcc.org/discoveryclub, discoveryclub@ jccgb.

CHARLOTTE’S WEB Wheelock Family Theatre presents Joseph Robinette’s stage adaptation of EB White’s beloved children’s story, “Charlotte’s Web, “through May 14, 200 Riverway, Boston. Tickets@wheelock.du,wheelockfamilytheatre.org.

ART EXHIBITIONS LOUISE WINANT EXHIBITION The Firehouse Center for the arts will hold an artist’s reception for Lynn native-Sutton resident Louise Winant, April 30, 4-6 p.m., whose latest exhibition, “Seasons and Innocence,” is on display April 26-May 21, in the Institution for Savings Art Gallery, Market Square, Newburyport. firehouse. org.

WINTHROP ART ASSOCIATION SPRING ART FESTIVAL The association kicks off its weekend spring festival Friday, April 28, 7-9 p.m. with a reception, at EB Newton Cultural Center, 45 Pauline St., Winthrop. The festival continues April 29, 12-6 p.m., and April 30, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free, open to all. winthropartassociation.org,

MARBLEHEAD ARTS ASSOCIATION NEW ARTISANS SALE Artists Jennifer Casey, Alicia Cohen, Sandra Golbert, Jennifer Hakkarainen, Susan Kauder, Kathryn McKinnon, Susan Quateman and Jane Saunders offer a cornucopia of their unique artwork and craftsmanship for sale in the artisan shop, April 22-July 16, kicking of with an opening reception Thursday , April 27, 5-7 p.m., that’s free and open to all, 8 Hooper St., Marblehead. Marbleheadarts. org.

MEMORY UNEARTHED:THE LODZ GHETTO Jewish Arts Collaborative announces this Museum of Fine Arts exhibit, the photos of Polish Jewish photojournalist Henryk Ross, showing life inside the second largest ghetto in German-occupied Europe, that he secretly took, hid, and rescued.

Jarts is also offering a Memorial Day concert collaboration led by musician Frank London of the Klezmatics, May 29. Admission to the museum that day is free.

Artists Jennifer Casey, Alicia Cohen, Sandra Golbert, Jennifer Hakkarainen, Susan Kauder, Kathryn McKinnon, Susan Quateman and Jane Saunders offer a cornucopia of their unique artwork and craftsmanship for sale in the artisan shop, April 22-July 16, kicking of with an opening reception Thursday , April 27, 5-7 p.m., that’s free and open to all, 8 Hooper St., Marblehead.

Marbleheadarts.org.

MAA NEW EXHIBITS Marblehead Arts Association features six new exhibits on display through April 30, King Hooper Mansion, 8 Hooper St., Marblehead. Exhibits include works by Cheryl Dyment,Dimensions Invitational; Diane Bradgon, Joe Pulitano, National Art Honor Society students and Marblehead Schools art faculty.

MAA SPRING CLASSES Marblehead Arts Association holds a variety of art classes with Patti DiCarlo and Hestia Studio’s,Paint and Sip Pottery Night, 6-8 p.m. $35 members, $40 non-members; Andrew Anderson Bell’s pastel workshop, April 22,23, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., $175/$200; Ellen Grandpre’s portrait drawing workshop, April 29, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., $80/$95; and an acrylic painting, guided studio class with Marc Morin, May 4, 11, 18, 25, June 1, 8, 6-9 p.m. $165/$190. King Hooper Mansion, 8 Hooper St., Marblehead. Marbleheadarts.org, 781-631-2608.

MUSEUM OF RUSSIAN ICONS The museum features new exhibition, Pondering Mary: Her Story Through Icons, March 18-May 21, Two Imperial Icons is exhibited through May 14.

Also special holiday events. ($25, $30). Museum information, hours, fees, museumofrussianicons. org, Registration, 978-598-5000, Ext. 121.

IMPROVBOSTON REGISTRATION The Boston comedy improvisation theater of Cambridge is currently accepting registration for April vacation Comedy Clinics for ages 8-13, and Summer Clinics for ages 8-17. Registration, ImprovBoston,com/training, scholarships for season that started in March, ImprovBoston.com/training/scholarships.

PJ LIBRARY JUNIOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS Children 3-5 years old may participate in a Cohen Hillel faculty-led PJ Library’s Junior Scientists and Engineers “labs,” using Jewish values-based literature and hands-on experiments, Mondays, 3-4:30 p.m., at Cohen Hillel Academy, 6 Community Road, Marblehead. Lab coats, books provided. Walk-ins welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult. RSVP to Phyllis Osher, 978-740-4404, or

YOUR BUSINESS IS IN BROOKLINE. ADVERTISE IN BROOKLINE. ADVERTISING IN THE VOICE IS EASY, AND IT'S AFFORDABLE. EVERY BUSINESS DESERVES A VOICE! Affordable and flexible advertising opportunities.

Call 978-239-8860 or e-mail jresnek@voicestaff.net All ads in the Voice run in color at no additional cost.

10

Fiction

The haircut The Newton Voice

April 18 - May 2, 2017

By Marie Campagna Franklin It is my first visit to Louis’s shop and I am telling him why I left the overpriced stylist on Newbury Street in Boston because he never did my hair the way I wanted. He is paying close attention, seems to understand. Outside the storefront, a crisp autumn twilight illuminates Beacon Street, and in the distance, the clock tower on the S.S. Pierce Building in Coolidge Corner tells the time: 4:45 p.m. I am Louis’s last customer of the day and we are alone in the shop.

He lifts my shoulder-length hair, runs his fingers through it, twists and twirls the tresses, glances at me through the mirror. He studies its texture, lifts the dense mop, sweeps it into a ponytail.

camps. To me, the four million Jews murdered at Auschwitz were numbers, not faces.

“You were at Auschwitz?”

“Yes. Auschwitz. From the time I was 10 until the war ended. They let me go when I was 16. In 1945.”

“How terrible,” I say. My words sound hollow, and I hope Louis knows my empathy is real.

“I was the only one in my family to survive,” he says. “The only one.”

“How awful,” I say.

“That I survived?” he asks, surprising me with a smile.

“You’re a strong woman,” he says.

“Louis, that’s not funny.”

“You just met me. How do you know?” I ask.

His eyes are steady. “I never said it was funny. But a man has to go on.”

“Your hair,” he says, his words tinged with an odd sense of intimacy. “It’s thick, stubborn, forceful.”

A red comb in his left hand, Louis pinpoints the natural part in my brown hair, draws a line front to back with the comb, and then tosses my thick mane, half to one side, half to the other.

“How do you usually wear it – down, in a bun, in front, or behind your ears?”

“Straight to the shoulder, nothing trendy, up in a bun with formal wear,” I reply.

He uses the pedal under the seat to pump the chair higher. His hands maneuver the clip on the plastic bib I’m wearing, and then he fastens it tight. The mirror in front of us reflects his precise movements, reveals the salon’s far wall lined with chairs and hairdryer hoods, and exposes the numbers tattooed on Louis’s upper arm.

“What’s that?” I blurt out.

“My number,” he says, “from Auschwitz.”

Snip. Snip. Snip. He puts down the shears, grabs scissors from the plastic cart by his side. Again, I notice the numbers. 2-7-8-5-3. Digits. Drilled deep into the dermis.

Fleshed pierced many years ago, and yet still so easy to read. He was the only one to survive.

“Who else from your family was there?”

“My mother, my father, two aunts, an uncle, and a younger sister.”

Snip. Snip. Snip.

“Why were you saved?”

“One of the German soldiers liked me, told me I had beautiful hair. I’m balding now, but once, my hair was thick and black like yours.”

Suddenly, I remember the horror I felt in high school when my history teacher showed us a graphic documentary about the genocide of the Jews.

My face turns hot. My mother is right. I go too far.

“I thought they shaved the prisoners’ heads when they entered the camp,” I say.

“You’re strong like your hair,” he says, returning to the task. “What is your sign?”

“Yes, but my hair was spared.”

“Taurus,” I say.

“The bull,” he says. “May I thin your hair before I cut?”

I hesitate. My first memory of a hair thinning is unpleasant. I am five years old, and my mother’s cousin Mike had traveled from Queens to visit the Rhode Island clan. A barber, he’d won the right to thin my tangled, Pixie-styled mop. Mike’s sharp-edged cutting shears hurt as they shaved the covering of my scalp.

“So, the Nazi, he knew you were strong?”

“Perhaps,” Louis says, “but he was stronger than me.”

Snip. Snip. Snip.

“What happened to your parents?”

“One day they came for us. Put us in the truck. Stopped to pick up others along the way.”

“How old were you?”

“Be gentle,” I say to Louis, remembering the pain.

“Eight, maybe nine.”

“Of course.”

Snip. Snip. Snip.

“My hair has been hard to manage lately.”

“It’s so thick. It needs to be tamed,” he says.

“We rode together in the truck. Something was different that day. My mother and aunts looked scared. My baby sister wailed.”

He picks up the scissors and begins.

Snip. Snip. Snip.

Snip. Snip. Snip.

“But you survived because you were strong.”

“You have more hair than anyone I have ever cut,” he says. “Thick, headstrong locks.”

Snip. Snip. Snip.

Like a waterfall, hair cascades downward, brushing against my face, sliding down the length of the bib, then the arm of the salon chair, until it thickens into a dark pool on the floor. Louis reaches for the broom resting on the bare swivel chair beside us. His arms, and then his number, cross into my vision as he sweeps my severed strands.

Raised Catholic in a small New England town where Irish and Italian immigrants tried to fit in with WASPS, I knew few Jews as a child, and had never known a survivor of the

“Didn’t think I would. Not the way the soldier looked at me when they forced us off the truck.”

Snip. Snip. Snip.

“Your hair,” he says. “You would have survived.”

“How can you say that? How can you know? I’ve never been tested like you were.”

“The soldier. He wanted sexual favors from me and I obliged.”

Snip. Snip. Snip.

“What about the gas chamber?”

I hear my mother’s voice again. You Go Too Far! But Louis does not flinch.

“First, they pulled my father from the line. My uncle was next, then my aunts, then my mother and sister.”

“Oh, Louis, I cannot bear to know this happened, that they made you watch.”

For a moment, I am silenced, for Louis and for every little boy or girl who is forced to grow up before their time.

Snip. Snip. Snip.

“I was next. I saw the Nazi who fancied me, standing near the front of the line.”

I listen as Louis tells me how the Nazi said, ‘this boy, not today, bring him back to the bunk.’ And how another soldier came to get him, made Louis ride in back of the truck, sent him alone to the building where he had once slept, waiting for the end with his family.

“Later that night, the soldier came to visit me. Forced me to make room for him in my bed,” he says. “The next day, a new truckload of Jews arrived and I was moved to another bunk. Close to where the soldiers hung out and played cards.”

Snip. Snip. Snip.

Minutes later, Louis places a hand mirror before me. He turns the swivel chair around, gives me a view of my hair from behind.

“Do you like?” he asks. “Is this how you wanted your hair?”

“It’s perfect, Louis! Perfect!”

My eyes fix on Louis’s eyes for what seems like forever.

I look for his pain but it is not there. His face, like the 1960s baby-blue Formica countertop in the salon, is wellworn, not spiritless.

“How did you end up here?”

“After the war, I went to Switzerland. Then Paris. A barber in the French Quarter took me in as his apprentice.

That’s where I learned the trade. In 1953, I came to New York, to Queens, where I worked for several years under an Italian barber, and then to Boston in 1964 to open my own shop.”

For the next 10 years, Louis cuts my hair. Sometimes, Marion works on a client in the chair next to his, but usually we are alone. We talk about many things when we are together. We argue about politics and agree on the Red Sox. He thinks women under 40 should dye their hair when it begins to grey, and I tell him I am about to start coloring mine. I suggest he advertise in the local newspaper to attract more customers, but he says he has as much hair to cut as he needs. He does different things to my hairstyle during these years – French braids, bangs, body wave –but only when I ask him to. Once, he cut my hair an inch more than I wanted and when I scolded him, he said that even if I begged him, he would never give me a perm. Virgin hair, he had said, deserves better treatment than that.

In the summer, he wears short sleeves. In winter, worn cotton shirts fit like a glove over his forearm. We talk nonstop as he trims, his arms and hands flying around my head. We never again speak about his number, but I notice it every time the tattoo is exposed.

Marie C. Franklin is a journalism professor at Lasell College in Newton and a former staff member at The Boston Globe.

She lives in Newtonville.

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12

Interview

The Newton Voice

April 18 - May 2, 2017

Your Voice:

Amy Mah Sangiolo M

eet Newton City Councilor Amy Mah Sangiolo, a Councilor at Large in Ward 4 who has entered this year’s mayoral race against Ruthanne Fuller and Scott Lennon, two fellow city councilors. When Fuller and Lennon entered the race, we asked them a series of questions to get a feel for what they’re all about. For Councilor Sangiolo, who announced her candidacy more recently, we did the same! The answers to the following questions come right from Sangiolo herself, so you can decide for yourself what you think of her recent candidacy.

And hey, good luck to everyone in the mayoral race!

We don’t endorse candidates here at The Voice – we just support good governance and a thriving community. In other words, we support you and the people that benefit you – the good people of Newton.

The Voice (T.V.):. Why are you

running for mayor?

Amy: I am running for Mayor because I

believe there is so much more we can do to make our city government accessible, to make our community a leader in education and the environment, to create housing opportunities that work for all, and to make all residents feel welcome and safe.

T.V.: What can you do to improve the city of Newton?

Amy: Utilize my 20 years of experience, listening, responding and advocating for our residents, and working with our city departments to make Newton an accessible, safe, and healthy place to live and to work.

T.V.: What makes you especially qualified?

Amy: I have 20 years of experience serving

the residents as an at-large City Councilor, who has a proven commitment to open and transparent government, and who has been accessible, responsive and accountable.

I have a record of standing up and fighting for our neighborhoods – fines for violations of special permits, requiring funds from developers for peer review, temporary moratoriums on teardowns – and for programs and services that make our community great, like keeping branch libraries for our communities.

I have been a tireless advocate for our children and our seniors, like increasing funding for our schools – particularly music and art fees, fighting against student activity and bus fees, and advocating for more programming and transportation services for our seniors.

I am a Newton Public School parent and have firsthand knowledge of our school system.

As a parent, I understand the value arts, music, language and library programs have on providing a well-rounded education for our children; the importance of providing free recess; and the impact sleep deprivation has on our high schoolers. I also know about the importance of providing a safe, healthy and welcoming learning environment with staff that reflects the diversity of our community. The measurement of an excellent education is so much more than test scores; it’s about fostering creativity, offering a sustainable breadth of programs, and providing much needed resources for our teachers.

T.V.: When do you think you’re going to start ratcheting up your campaign?

Amy: I’ve already begun.

T.V.: How do you plan on building upon or

changing what Mayor Warren has done during his time as Mayor?

each neighborhood and village, and provides predictability for residents (so they know what to expect) and developers (so they know what they can build).

I will carry forward the transportation strategy by ensuring road reconstruction includes designs for complete streets to make the city safer for all.

I will work with the City Council and call upon our businesses and residents to make Newton a Zero Waste Community by moving our City fleet and school buses to electric and other fuel efficient vehicles, bring back city composting, encourage home composting and pilot a food waste diversion program, require businesses to recycle, mandate responsible disposal and reuse of building materials and debris, fund more city-wide tree planting and maintenance, and ensure all City Departments are implementing sound environmental policies, including reducing, reusing and recycling wherever possible.

Amy: I will work with the School Committee, T.V.: What is your management style? the School Department, parents, and students Amy: I treat everyone with respect, appreciate to build an excellent school system that offers students the programs they need to succeed and the teachers and staff the resources they require.

and reward hard work, and prioritize innovation and dedication to serving the residents of Newton.

T.V.: Anything else I should know?

I will work with the City Council to create a Housing Production Plan that COMMITS the City to creating and developing affordable housing opportunities – actual targets and requirements – while shielding us from Chapter 40B threats.

Amy: After 20 years of service and my deep love for the community, I know how special Newton is. I will work hard to provide Newton residents the highest quality of programs and services they deserve.

I will work with the City Council to move forward with Zoning Reform and be inclusive in creating a vision for this city that respects

Thank you for the interview, Councilor Sangiolo!

Expect more mayoral updates in the coming months!

April 18 - May 2, 2017

The Newton Voice

13

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14

Fiction

The Newton Voice

April 18 - May 2, 2017

CHAPTER 10 Falling in love, for some of us, implies being blinded and swept away by powerful, compelling, even delirious sensations pushing us inexorably toward a precipice off of which we will jump willingly.

The experience of falling in love, and being so consumed with the feeling allows us, or forces us, or leads to many of us acting as though we are jumping off the precipice of a cliff and falling freely, flailing our arms about, kicking our legs, screaming with joy that we are in love as we descend rolling about doing somersaults and sideways twists through the air while descending into an endless, bottomless pit.

If you have been there, then you understand. If you haven’t, perhaps you can consider yourself lucky that love didn’t happen this way for you.

Or maybe it is better this way – to be swept away by it all, to let yourself go to places you have never been before in terms of pleasure and good feeling, and to want someone, and for that someone to want you.

Bret and Emily met when they were in their early 20’s, right after finishing college. They met at a party in Brookline in an apartment off Beacon Street. A friend of Bret’s set them up on a blind date. It was January 1992 and their lives stretched before them like an endless dream.

Bret was all about being a gentleman then. He was too young to have soiled himself with the detritus of age and experience.

Emily, too, was acting out about who she wanted to be.

At the party they talked and drank, smoked a joint – looked around at the others there trying to hook up or just trying to enjoy themselves.

An immediate spark lit up between them.

All night, they talked about one another, their dreams, their hopes, their disappointments, their past girlfriends and boyfriends. The laughed a lot. Looked into one anothers eyes a lot. Discretely touched one another on the shoulder or the arm with no kissing.

They both shared a disdain for a long haired guy at the party so stoned he couldn’t stand. He crawled around on the floor, virtually everyone at the party ignoring him or pointing him out.

At the end of the evening, Emily asked Bret if he wanted to hang out longer – but he told her he had a job interview in the morning and would be leaving.

At the door to the apartment they came together.

“It was great meeting you. Can I see you again?” he asked Emily.

She looked into his eyes.

“Yes. I’d really like that,” she replied.

He came closer to her. She came closer to him.

They kissed for an instant – and then he was gone.

He turned his head back and watched as Emily waved to him as she closed the front door.

Bret thought about Emily probably every ten seconds, incessantly, for the next three days. His plan to call her to ask for another date was upended when she called him.

What a pleasant surprise, he thought.

She cried a bit as she tried to speak.

“I need to tell you what a nice time I had meeting you. I can’t stop thinking about you,” she said.

on the floor! Anyone but him would have been better.”

“Sure. Have a nice time.”

She cried. He listened.

“So why the tears? What’s wrong?”he asked her.

An eternity passed.

During the next two weeks Bret couldn’t get Emily out of his mind.

She hestitated before answering.

Emily spoke.

Emily thought of him throughout her two week trip.

“Do you remember that guy that was crawling on the floor?” she asked him.

The guy crawling around stoned on the floor she hooked up with didn’t mean as much as the potential they felt on their first meeting.

She hesitated again before answering.

“I’ve only done it with two people in my life. He gave me a pill. I got woosy. I didn’t know what I was doing.

It happened. I wanted to be honest with you. I had to tell you because I am wanting to be with you so much,” she said.

“After you left I hung out with that guy. One thing led to another and then… we.”

“Oh, God,” he repeated to her. “Why me? Why does this have to happen to me?”

Bret interrupted her before she could finish.

“I am going away with my parents to the Seychelle Islands for two weeks tomorrow,” Emily said.

“I feel the same way,” Bret replied.

“Yes, of course. What a degenerate,” he said.

“Oh no,” he cried out to her. “How could you do that?

Here I am trying to be a gentleman and you go and do that! God.” “How could you do it with him? He was crawling around

“Will you call me again when I get back?”

Somewhere between being defiled and wanting to love someone, he repled.

Amazing how these things tend to work, how so much can be overlooked when people want to fall in love.

When he knew she had arrived home, Bret called Emily.

“I am so happy to hear from you…” she said.

“I’ve wanted to hear your voice for two weeks,” he replied.

The relationship that would span 18 years began.

J.R.

The Newton Voice

Things I saw in

NEWTONCENTER

5 April 18 - May 2, 2017

The Walk

15

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