Arts

Artistic types from the “starving painter in the garret” to the Broadway hopeful who waits tables have traditionally learned to cope with financial problems by applying their gift of creativity.  Read more

With the 8th annual Dorchester Open Studios (DOS) fast approaching this weekend, ultra-stressed organizers are wrestling with how to maximize the local celebration of the arts in the face of declining involvement of artists and visitors.

Last year DOS advertised the involvement of 100 artists and actually had 86 participating; this time around, the projected number hovers around 65 and at fewer venues.  Read more

Shakespeare was so right about the brevity of the sunny season as well as about many matters of the heart. Those who love the Bard as well as those who’d like to get to know him better can hear the rest of Sonnet 18 and many more literary plums in the free upcoming “Shakespeare on Love.”

After an absence of a few years, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) returns to Dorchester with a Tour of the Parks production, a fast-paced 55-minute piece blending speeches, sonnets, scenes and songs inspired by Shakespeare on the subject of love.  Read more

Fifteen hundred square feet may seem like an ample amount of floor space, until you hear all that William Harris wants to do with it. Harris, who spent the first 28 years of his life living on Grant Street, has returned to his Columbia stomping grounds to open a brand- new gallery and arts center.

“I’m putting my heart, my soul, and my wallet behind this project,” says Harris, who has been repeatedly warned not to expect much of a return, monetarily at least, on his investment.  Read more

Sunshine, fresh air, socialization and custom refrigerator magnets? Sounds like the answer to the prayers of parents or caretakers with little ones on their hands this summer, but no money for camp and too crazy a schedule for regular commitments.  Read more

“I would go back again, and again, and again if I could!” exclaims Cindy Reed, one of scores of Dorchester residents who received free tickets for the June 16th Community Night performance of “The Color Purple,” the hit “musical about love,” currently running at the Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre.

“When I went, I was extremely tired and was hoping I wouldn’t fall asleep. When I left there, I wanted more,” she adds. “The singing was phenomenal, and oh my goodness, the African dancing piece!”  Read more

For the fourth year the Dorchester Community Center for the Arts (better known as Dot Art) will host its annual fund-raiser, the Snazzy Jazzy Arty Party. Next Saturday, June 20, the reunion/ charity celebration will be held in an elegant private home and garden at 11 Richview Street in Cedar Grove. Gary and Sarah Ciambrone will be welcome attendees from 6 to 10 p.m.

This year instead of a sit-down dinner there will be a tasty tapas-style buffet catered by local establishments like The Blarney Stone, Above and Beyond Catering, and Dot2Dot Café.  Read more

This week as we celebrate all things Dorchester, it’s appropriate to consider enterprising local artists who are displaying and selling their works in non-traditional venues at this time of year.  Read more

Nowadays you’d have to keelhaul most young playgoers to get them to see an “operetta.” But since a Gilbert and Sullivan classic has been repackaged as a rollicking musical, audiences are going overboard in praising the Huntington Theatre Company’s season-closer.  Read more

As they did last year, the Boston Children’s Chorus (BCC) will hold its end-of-the-year concert at the Strand Theater in Uphams Corner. Co-sponsored by the City of Boston, this special season-wrapping performance will take place Saturday, May 30 from 2 to 4 pm. It is free and open to the public.  Read more