Brandeis University News

On Saturday, November 3rd, 2018 at 8pm in NEC's Jordan Hall, Cantata Singers begins the season with J.S. Bach's exquisite cantata BWV 140, "Wachet auf," alongside the first complete performance of John Harbison's Sacred Trilogy. Presented in honor of the composers' 80th birthday, the three cantatas that form the Trilogy are all works commissioned by, and composed for, Cantata Singers. The first cantata, The Flight Into Egypt (1986), winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize. It tells the story of the escape of Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus from Judea. The second cantata, But Mary Stood (2006), recounts Mary Magdalene's recognition of Jesus after the resurrection. The third and final cantata, The Supper at Emmaus (2014), co-commissioned with Emmanuel Music, presents the encounters of two disciplines with the resurrected Jesus. This will be the first time all three works will be presented together on one concert.

Abingdon Theatre Company (Tony Speciale, Artistic Director; Denise Dickens, Producing Director) continues its 2017-2018 Ghostlight Reading Series this month with a provocative new work inspired by the legacy of legendary comic Lenny Bruce: Buyer Beware, a new play by Michael Weller, will receive a reading presentation Monday March 26 at 7PM at The DR2 Theatre, 101 E. 15th Street. The event is free but reservations are required. Visit abingdontheatre.org for reservations and further information including casting updates.

The Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program announces the debut performance of the Class of 2020. Fifth of July, from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson, will run in the Helen Theatre at Playhouse Square.

The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), the nation's premier orchestra dedicated exclusively to commissioning, performing, and recording new orchestral music, ends its 22nd season with A Thousand Mountains, A Million Streams: a one-night only concert of Chinese-influenced orchestral music. BMOP presents four vibrant and inventive musical voices who combine Chinese heritage with Western avant-garde influences. Music by composers Yu-Hui Chang, Huang Ruo, Anthony Paul De Ritis, and Lei Liang fill out this dynamic program.

Rental Gallery is proud to present Space Never Moved, an exhibition of new paintings by Margaux Ogden opening with a public reception on March 17, and remaining on view until April 18. With these new works, Ogden continues her exploration of acrylic on raw canvas, parsing gesture and palette to create tightly patterned, self-referential works. Ogden's singular approach strips the paintings to their bare essentials: paint, canvas, gesture-and within that, time.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (Kelli Lynn Harrison & Lisa Rothe, Co-Presidents) will present the 2018 Theatre Women Awards at The TimesCenter (242 West 41st Streetbetween 7th and 8th Avenues) on Friday, March 16 beginning at 6:30pm. Tickets ($85-$250) are available for advance purchase at www.theatrewomen.org.

New Repertory Theatre presents The Bakelite Masterpiece, March 17-April 8, 2018 in the MainStage Theater at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA. Tickets are $37-$67 and may be purchased by calling the New Rep Box Office at 617-923-8487 or visiting newrep.org. Student, senior, and group discounts are available.

Leaders in entertainment, business, philanthropy, and the arts will gather at the 3rd Annual Big Sunday Gala on Thursday evening, March 8th to celebrate two distinguished honorees - Marta Kauffman and Kaiser Permanente.  Big Sunday, one of the USA's foremost organizations connecting people through helping and opportunities to volunteer, now in its 20th year, will host the Gala celebration at Candela, 831 South La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, California 90036 beginning at 6 PM.

As part of the New Jersey Theater Alliances Stages Festival, Centenary Stage Company will be offering two free workshop events in the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Avenue Hackettstown, NJ.  On Saturday, March 3 Centenary Stage Company will offer a 'Stage Combat' workshop and on Saturday, March 10 CSC will offer a 'Musical Theatre' workshop.  Both workshops begin at 10 am.

The Queen Esther's Dilemma, a musical by Samuel J. Bernstein, is inspired by the Biblical Book of Esther. This original musical play blends humor with anguish, tragedy with triumph, while exploring Jewish identity in all its complexities. This unique musical will open on March 1st at the Center for Jewish History, New York, for a total of 4 performances (March 1st, 4th, 13th and 18th).

New Repertory Theatre and Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP) present Ripe Frenzy, performed February 24-March 11, 2018 at the Boston University College of Fine Arts Studio ONE, 855 Commonwealth Ave, Boston. Tickets may be purchased by calling the New Rep Box Office at 617-923-8487 or visiting newrep.org.

The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University has announced its spring exhibitions–Jennifer Packer: Tenderheaded, Blueprint for Counter Education, and Praying for Time, selections from the Rose collection at the turn of the millennium–on view March 2 - July 8, 2018.  Remaining on view will be Tony Lewis' site-specific mural Plunder, and Mark Dion's permanent installation The Undisciplined Collector (2015). A free public opening reception to celebrate the museum's spring exhibition season will be held 7–9pm on Thursday, March 1. 

In conjunction with its current production of Bad Dates, Huntington Theatre Company will host several special events and post-show conversations. Admission to onsite post-show events is free with a ticket to Bad Dates, available at www.huntingtontheatre.org/season/2017-2018/bad-dates/, by phone at 617 266 0800, or in person at the Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue) and Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (527 Tremont Street) box offices. Tickets start at $25. Performances run from January 26 through February 25, 2018 at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre.

The Huntington Theatre Company presents the irresistible comedy, Bad Dates, featuring Haneefah Wood (Cassandra in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Huntington and Blanche in Fox TV's Grease Live! ), written by Theresa Rebeck (creator of NBC's Smash and the Elliot Norton and IRNE Award-winning play Mauritius, produced at the Huntington in 2006), and directed by Jessica Stone (director of Ripcord and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Huntington). Performances run from January 26 through February 25, 2018 at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre.

The Rose Art Museum has announced that work by B. Ingrid Olson has been selected for acquisition by the Sam Hunter Emerging Artists Acquisition Fund Committee. Inspired by the legacy of the Rose's founding director, Sam Hunter, the ?fund is generated annually and administered by a committee that aims to collect the work of promising artists on the cusp of recognition. Two works by Chicago-based Olson Arched fold, bent of another movement, 2017 and Firing distance, scission, 2017 have been acquired for the Rose Art Museum's collection.

New Repertory Theatre and Boston Center for American Performance present Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act, performed January 27-March 3, 2018 in the BlackBox Theater at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown. Tickets may be purchased by calling the New Rep Box Office at 617-923-8487 or visiting newrep.org. Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act will be performed in repertory with Lonely Planet by Steven Dietz as part of New Rep's Statements of Survival Series.

The Center for Jewish History has announced the launch of a robust series of public programs, mini-courses, and a new exhibition that re-introduces the Center as a major cultural institution in New York City. Under the leadership of the Center's recently appointed President and CEO Professor David N. Myers, these new initiatives will engage participants in some of today's most challenging issues, bringing critical knowledge of the past to current conversations. Together, the various series confirm the Center's role as a public leader and a pivotal forum for discussing some of the most vexing problems we face.

Windy City Playhouse announces an expansion in programming with a world-premiere immersive theatrical production, 'Southern Gothic,' premiering February 7, 2017 in an open-ended engagement.

Shakespeare & Company announced today the addition of six new Board members to the Company's Board of Trustees. The new members joining the Board are Sandra Bourgeois, George Camarda, Phoebe L. Giddon, Beverly Hyman, Maureen O'Hanlon, and Scott Rubinow.

Author Nina B. Lichtenstein will discuss her new book, Sephardic Women's Voices: Out of North Africa at her exclusive Los Angeles appearance presented in partnership by JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa) and Jewish Women's Theatre (JWT) at The Braid in Santa Monica on Tuesday, January 9 at 7 p.m.