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Studio Theatre Worcester unwraps adaptation of ‘The Gift of the Magi’
Richard Duckett
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Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
WORCESTER – Studio Theatre Worcester debuted in 2019 with the hilarious madcap “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)” and later that year put on the timeless musical fable “The Fantasticks.” The reviewers agreed it was a fantastic start for the new theater company, which has a self-stated vision to be “the professional theater of choice for artists, designers, educators and theatergoers in Central Massachusetts.” Next up was the drama “Doubt: A Parable,” scheduled to open March 13, 2020. The show was so near but so far, as an announcement was made that the production would have to be postponed because of the rapid onset of COVID-19 almost right before curtain-up. However, “Doubt” was staged more than 18 months later from Sept. 24 to Oct. 2 this year, and now Studio Theatre Worcester is getting ready for its fourth production, an adaptation of O. Henry’s short story “The Gift of the Magi” that will be put on at Gordon Hall at First Baptist Church of Worcester, 111 Park Ave., Nov. 12-21. Asked if there’s been any doubt during the pandemic as to whether Studio Theatre Worcester would keep going, John Wayland Somers, STW founder, president of the board and artistic director, had a forthright reply. “Never,” he said. ”To be honest, that never entered my mind. We knew from day one that this was going to be a long game. We know Worcester is ready for an organization like ours. I think now is the time to see the arts culture grow and more organizations like ours popping up,” Somers said. “We did not panic. We took our time. We took a breath. We listened to other theater companies.” An actor and director with a day job background in retail and corporate management, Somers has assembled a team of like-minded people with varying theater backgrounds in the area who want to establish a full-time professional theater along the lines of the former Foothills Theatre. But as the tumultuous events of 2020 unfolded, STW also took the time to pledge, despite its youth, to “do better” in terms of equity, diversity and inclusion. On its website (www.studiotheatreworcester.org), the theater company said, “We know that actions speak louder than words. Studio Theatre Worcester has taken this opportunity to look within ourselves as an organization. While we are relatively young, we realize we can do more in this fight. STW CAN and WILL do better.” Somers said during an interview last week that, “We decided to take a step back and further establish our foundation. We brought on Kim (Dexter). We brought on Michael (Walker), and Liz (Lizbeth Perez Rodriguez). We took anti-racist theater training. We really wanted to create that foundation to make sure we had the right direction coming out of COVID.” Kim Dexter joined the STW team as director of diversity and inclusion. She has been at Framingham State University since 2005, where she currently serves as executive director of Equal Opportunity. Lizbeth Perez Rodriguez is STW’s director of community engagement and outreach and holds teaching licenses in special education, English, and English as a Second Language. Michael Walker, dramaturg and literary manager, will be familiar to longtime Worcester theater-goers as the former artistic director of the former Foothills Theatre. STW’s team also includes executive director Robert Klimeczko, associate artistic director Todd Vickstrom and clerk Nicole Lian. Still, if not “doubts” per se, there might have been some curiosity about how audiences would respond to the return of STW with “Doubt” starting last month. STW had staged its first two shows at Greendale People’s Church, 25 Francis St., where the original production of
A scene from the Studio Theatre Worcester production of “The Complete Works of William
Shakespeare (abridged).” PHOTO PROVIDED BY ANIKA NYMAN
Magi
Continued from Page 4
“Doubt” was also scheduled.
Instead last month, “Doubt” was put on at Salem Covennt Church, 215 East Mountain St. STW also instituted a “PayWhat-You-Can” ticket policy for all of the shows.
“It went fantastic. With theater reopening you never really know who’s ready to come back and engage,” Somers said. There were post-show conversations following some performances. “Our attendance was outstanding. Those who stayed were engaged.”
With Pay-What-You-Can, “we’re about breaking down barriers and, as you know, one of the barriers was cost,” Somers said.
But with some people in attendance choosing to pay more than what a regular ticket price would have been, “it all evened out. It was a win-win,” Somers said.
Walker has adapted “The Gift of the Magi” for STW and is directing the production.
The O. Henry story written in 1905 is about a poor young married couple in New York City, Jim and Della, who buy Christmas presents for each other in acts of selfless giving.
In Walker’s adaptation, the couple are Hispanic newlyweds in 1905 — Carlos, played by Cristiano Lourenço Jr., and Carmen, played by Marta Rymer. The cast also includes Jim Douglas, Regina Stillings, Trish Aponte and Jordan Greeley.
Walker said STW was “looking for a holiday show people had not seen a dozen times.”
“The Gift of the Magi” is “a lovely story of loving, giving and sacrifice,” he said. STW thought, “It’s an evening of theater that would be well received and still give a powerful message.”
In keeping with STW’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, the casting “opens up again more relevance to the communities in Worcester that aren’t at the table in theater,” Somers said.
Walker said, “One of our tenets is to be part of Worcester.”
STW is partnering with the Latino Education Institute (L.E.I.) for the production. Anyone who attends a show and brings a board game (or other family-time activity) to donate to the L.E.I. will receive $5 off a future Studio Theatre Worcester production.
The show will also have PayWhat-You-Can performances again on Nov. 14 and 18 during the show’s run.
Dexter said, “There are barriers to attend theater and barriers to being exposed and engaged in theater, and part of that is representation.”
“The Gift of the Magi” is “a story that can apply to all people, but still it’s an opportunity for Latino people in Worcester to see their identity represented on stage,” Dexter said.
The anti-racist training that the STW team went through will help develop anti-racist ethics for the theater company, Dexter said.
“We have to develop new tools. Question every story that we’re telling and not perpetuate ongoing harm,” Dexter said. “We need to be engaging the community. Looking at the youth in the area.”
In terms of play selection, “It certainly can affect what productions we choose,” Dexter said. “This does not mean that we will not tell difficult stories, but our objective will not be to cause harm or cause pain.” There will also be opportunities for new plays by new playwrights.
Somers said the attitude of the STW team has been, “All right. Let’s test it. What I love about the board we’re not afraid to learn, iterate and test again. We’re not afraid to try again.”
One move STW did not make during the pandemic was put on a live-streamed Zoom production.
“One thing we took away was that Zoom fatigue was a real thing. Even though they might love theater, eagerness (to watch a show on their screens) for two hours wasn’t there,” Somers said.
STW is now a nonprofit company. In keeping with its goal of being a professional theater company, actors have been paid for shows from day one, and directors and crew such as set designers have received stipends, Somers said.
No one is quitting day jobs, but pay is a sign of respect and more.
“We recognize that one of the things we can’t cling to is theater participation as a luxury hobby,” Dexter said. “One of
A scene from “Doubt: A Parable.” PHOTOS PROVIDED BY AMY MAE PHOTOGRAPHY
“Doubt: A Parable” was scheduled to open March 13, 2020, but opened 18 months later because of the pandemic.
When: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12, 13, 18, 19 and 20; 2 p.m. Nov. 14 and 21 Where: Gordon Hall, First Baptist Church of Worcester, 111 Park Ave., Worcester How much: $20; $15 youth 12 and under. “Pay-What-YouCan” Nov. 14 and 18. www.studiotheatreworcester.org.
Worcester warehouse on Suffolk St. to be converted to artist studios
Veer Mudambi
Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
“Artists don’t want to work next to a lawyer or an insurance guy, an artist wants to be in a community,” said Jonathan Davey, commercial real estate broker. ”It really is about a sense of community.” To make that happen, he is involved in the creation of an “artists only” building at 50 Suffolk St.
The former warehouse won’t be fully converted to artist studios until January at the earliest, but the project has already enjoyed an overwhelmingly positive reception from Worcester’s art scene. “Every artist in the city of Worcester and beyond has been waiting for this,” said local artist and painter Bryan Davagian. “On an innovation level, this entire project is major.” His confidence in the project is further bolstered because Davey has “experience developing creative spaces.”
The studios will range in size from 300 to 460 square feet with 12-foot ceilings. The large ones are 12 feet by 40 feet and will have slop sinks, showers, air conditioning and a common kitchen. A gallery space is planned for the first floor as well, but the work is starting from the top down, so the first floor will come last. Rents will likely range from $525 to $800 a month. While Davey admits they would have liked to keep them lower, the cost of real estate is sky high right now. That being said, Davey is committed to keeping rents as low as possible.
The Suffolk Street project was begun several months ago and was originally going to be a music rehearsal space. However, the deal fell apart after about a month. Serendipitously, an artist friend, Erica Femino who had seen the building, called a few days later and the new artist space idea was in motion.
Femino, a primary tenant who works with the owners, is a painter and knows the importance of artists having a space to work in on a permanent basis rather than an hourly basis or day to day.
“We are trying to make it as affordable as possible, with around 16 studios available, a private parking lot and each studio has a giant window for natural light,” explained Femino. “We need to construct drywalls for studios but there isn’t much structural work to be done.” They will add murals to the exterior to create a welcoming aura. She feels Worcester is a little bit easier and affordable for what they are trying to do than the Boston area, where “you’re either renting spaces that aren’t really working or you can’t afford the spaces that do work.”
Anthony Collaro, local musician who works with multiple artists and bands as a songwriter and producer under the label 339 Productions, was equally enthusiastic. The news is that four of the top floor studios are going to be soundproofed to create recording studios. “This is a dream — we’ve always talked about making this happen. It’s just so hard to be liquid for a million dollars to buy a property and convert it correctly into individual studios. You can’t pay contractors with passion unfortunately. We are all ecstatic that someone heard our calls for help.”
Collaro believes it is particularly timely because it is impossible to find a good practice space around these days, “especially one that’s clean and at least halfway serious to the craft and not just full of beer bottles and 22-year-olds throwing parties.”
The Suffolk Street location is a nicer location than most of the places that artists have had to either work or promote their art, said Cherie Platts, oil painter and longtime Worcester resident. “And often not in the greatest areas of the city and can frequently feel unsafe.” Unfortunately, the reality is that artist spaces end up in buildings that are the next thing to being condemned, and renting good studio space can be prohibitive. “Nobody can afford to pay $1,000 for studio space, so they end up in a lot of ramshackle places.”
She indicated that 50 Suffolk is a historic spot, “Hasbro used to be over there and a feed and grain store back in the day.” After factories closed, the buildings were left in disrepair, and Platt thinks “it’s great to reuse buildings because if a building is structurally sound, that’s more important than what it looks like on the outside.”
Art isn’t always a huge money making enterprise and what happens to most artists is they end up practicing their art as a side job. “There’s no such thing as affordable apartments in Massachusetts anymore,” says Platts, “so having studio space would be a luxury to me when you can barely afford a place to live.”
When Davey posted on the Worcester Artist Group page on Facebook in early October, he was pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming support for the idea of an artists’ building in the city. The response to the Open Houses that he has held and the offers of help were very welcome. “Worcester’s really active with the arts. I had no idea, and the reception we’ve gotten has been wonderful.”
The building at 50 Suffolk St. in Worcester will be converted to studio space for artists.
PROVIDED PHOTO
Erica Femino artist
A scene from “The Fantasticks.” PROVIDED BY KARA EMILY KRANTZ
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the things we pay attention to is unpaid labor in theater disproportionately affects people of color and women.”
But there hasn’t been a fulltime professional theater company in Worcester since Foothills shut down in 2009. However, a new face is Hanover Theatre Repertory, which staged “Julius Caesar” at the Worcester Common Oval this summer. The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts hosts shows such as Broadway touring musicals and puts on its own production of “A Christmas Carol.”
There are also active community theater groups in the Worcester area, although right now not as many as there were before the pandemic.
With “The Gift of the Magi” being performed at First Baptist Church, Studio Theatre Worcester will have put on four productions in three locations.
“Right now we’re very nomadic. Thankfully, we’ve found three great partners for our different productions,” Somers said.
The BrickBox Theater at the JMAC, 20 Franklin St., had been anticipated by theater groups as a “black box” theater space that could be used by the community, and there have been such shows there. STW has inquired about renting the theater, but “the expense would have resulted in having to charge a lot higher ticket price,” Somers said.
Still, STW is pressing on — step by step.
“We know this is going to be a building process,” Somers said.
Since its inception, STW has “generated a lot of support from the Worcester community. A lot of organizations that provide support have seen the value of having us move forward,” Somers said.
The theater company is in the process of finalizing plans for two shows next year that would round out the 2021-22 season, Somers said, making it four productions altogether.
Next, “We’re already planning for our 2022-23 season,” he said.
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Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society coming to Palladium
Robert Duguay
Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
Zakk Wylde is one of the best guitarists on the planet and he has quite the resume to back this claim.
Every metal fan knows him as the guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne from the late ‘80s until the mid-2000s. He’s also collaborated with the likes of The Allman Brothers Band, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Gales and Chris Jericho’s band Fozzy, just to name a few.
Along with all this, he has his own band, Black Label Society, which will be releasing its 11th album, “Doom Crew Inc.” a couple of weeks before the record is unveiled, fittingly, on Black Friday. Wylde and the rest of the band — including John DeServio on bass, Dario Lorina on rhythm guitar and Jeff Fabb on drums — will take the stage with Obituary and Prong beginning at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 4 at The Palladium on 261 Main St.in Worcester.
Ahead of the album’s release, the band put out a music video for the single “Set You Free” back on Aug. 23. The video has a ‘50s horror movie vibe with the band dressed up like a rockabilly act with some guy putting liquid bath salts in the punch and all hell breaking loose.
“Justin Reich is the Stanley Kubrick of Black Label so he’s been making and directing our videos for a while now,” Wylde says. “I just told Justin that I wanted to recreate my high school prom from 1985 at Jackson Memorial High School in New Jersey, and that’s pretty much what happened. The bath salts, the band and the guy getting his arms ripped off and getting pummeled with his own arms. It all actually happened that night in 1985 and I think Justin captured it perfectly.”
With the amount of time off the road due to the COVID-19 pandemic, getting back on the road and performing in front of live audiences has taken some getting used to for most musicians. When it comes to Wylde’s view of things, he relates it to catching up with an old friend.
“Actually, it’s kind of weird,” he says. “A lot of folks have still been home for nearly 20 months now and it’s a bit strange because it doesn’t feel like it’s been nearly two years. I’ll be looking at the audience and they’re looking at me and it feels like we haven’t seen each other in a few weeks. I guess it’s kind of like you haven’t talked to one of your friends in a few years but then you pick up the phone and you pick up right where you left off.”
When it comes to what fans can expect from the album, Wylde doesn’t take it too seriously. He has a way of describing it that exudes his classic northeast brand of sarcasm.
“I think they can expect a lot more dancing, a lot more calorie burning and a lot more jazzercising than in the previous efforts we’ve put out before,” he jokingly says. “The whole thing is a combination of that also mixed in with the desired reaction of ‘Oh my God, I really hate these guys. I really hate these guys.’ Here’s the review: If you like good music, you’re going to hate this record. If you like music, pass on this.”
Zakk Wylde and the Black Label Society are set to play the Palladium Nov. 4. PROVIDED PHOTO
