December/January 2009

Films ° Performances ° Lectures
and other events in December and January 2009

December 5–21

Best-selling author and NPR humorist David Sedaris provides the perfect antidote to the sugary sweetness and commercialism of the holiday season: two irreverently witty one-act plays, The Santaland Diaries and Season's Greetings. This hilarious double-bill is adapted from two essays that highlight our desperate need to display holiday cheer, even if it kills us. Call for times. Playhouse on the Green, 177 State Street, Bridgeport, CT. (866) 811-4111, www.playhouseonthegreen.org

December 10–13

Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party tells the tale of two sinister strangers who arrive at a seaside boarding house to cart off the supposed birthday boy, turning the ensuing party into a nightmare. Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, this spine-chilling black comedy from the master of menace gets even better with age. Call for times. Boston University Theatre, Lane-Comley Studio 210, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA. (617) 933-8600, www.bostontheatrescene.com

January 10–February 1

In a garden by the lake, a family assembles to watch a play that will change their lives forever. Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull is a tragi-comedy of life and art that heralded the birth of modern drama, shocking the old century with its rich and tumultuous portrait of the human heart. Call for times. American Repertory Theatre, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA. (617) 547-8300, www.amrep.org

January 28–February 8

I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda, by Sonja Linden, is a poignant and heartfelt journey shared by Juliette, a young survivor of the Rwandan massacre, and the burned-out English poet who befriends her. As he works to help her write her story, she begins to heal and he re-discovers his creative spirit. Profoundly moving, surprisingly humorous, ultimately uplifting. Call for times. Vermont Stage Company, FlynnSpace, 153 Main Street, Burlington, VT. (802) 862-1497, www.flynncenter.org

Music

December 20

Andrew Clark leads the Providence Singers and the Rhode Island Philharmonic in The Messiah, Handel’s majestic favorite, presented for the second consecutive December. Listeners returning from last season’s sold-out Messiah will enjoy the subtle twists that Clark has in store for this year, culminating as ever in a grand “Hallelujah” to highlight the holidays. 8 p.m. Veterans Memorial Auditorium, 1 Avenue of the Arts, Providence, RI. (401) 751-5700, www.providencesingers.org

Sophie Shao. Photo: Christian Steiner. Mahaney Center for the Arts, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT.

January 10

Award-winning cellist Sophie Shao has garnered international acclaim for her brilliant,
mature interpretations of a diverse repertoire. She returns to Middlebury with stellar
young chamber musicians for three piano quartets: the Brahms Quartets in G minor
and C minor and the Mozart Quartet in E-flat Major. 8 p.m. Mahaney Center for the Arts,
Concert Hall, Middlebury College, Route 30 South, Middlebury, VT. (802) 433-6433,
www.middlebury.edu/arts

January 15

Teatro Lirico d’Europa presents Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpiece, Aida. War rages between
their two countries as Ethiopian slave Aida and Egyptian princess Amneris both fall in love
with the same war hero. The Sofia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus bring Verdi’s thundering
score to life, while one of Europe’s most respected touring opera companies sings the expansive, captivating libretto. Italian with English super-titles. 7:30 p.m. Merrill Auditorium, 239 Park Avenue, Portland, ME. (207) 874-8200, www.porttix.com

January 30

Fairfield University presents a concert by Grammy Award-winning guitarst Sharon Isbin. Acclaimed for her extraordinary lyricism, technique, and versatility, she has appeared with over one hundred and sixty orchestras, recorded over twenty albums, and has been praised for expanding the guitar repertoire with some of the finest new works of the century. 8 p.m. Quick Center for the Arts, Fairfield University, 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT. (203) 254-4010, www.quickcenter.com

Film

December 3

As part of the film series Black Women’s Bodies in Africa, which is presented in conjunction with the exhibit Black Womanhood (ending December 14), there will be a screening of Julie Dash’s 1991 film, Daughters of the Dust. Following the story of three generations of Gullah women at the turn of the twentieth century, the movie garnered critical praise for its rich language, imagery, and music. In 2004 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, falling under the category of being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” 7 p.m. Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA. (781) 283-2051, www.wellesley.edu/davismuseum

December 3 & 10

In conjunction with their exhibit Paris Portraits: Artists, Friends, and Lovers (ending January 11), the Bruce Museum presents the final films of Artists in Paris, a series exploring several artists featured in the exhibition. Matisse and Picasso are featured on December 3; Chagall and Dali are featured on December 10. 10:30 a.m. Free with Museum admission and followed by coffee and discussion. Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich, CT. (203) 869-0376, www.brucemuseum.org

Dance

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company performing The Way of Five: Fire. Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA.

December 11

In a performance entitled The Way of Five, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company combines
tradition and innovation, bringing the power and elegance of this Chinese art form into
the free and dynamic world of contemporary dance. An award-winning choreographer,
Nai-Ni Chen is blazing a new path for Asian dance heritage in America. 7:30 p.m.
Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, University of Massachusetts, 151 Presidents Drive,
Amherst, MA. (413) 545-2511, www.fineartscenter.com

December 11–13

The State Ballet of Rhode Island presents Coppélia, a comic ballet about a high-spirited
flirt, Frantz, who falls for an enamel doll and is ultimately taught a lesson by his jealous
betrothed through a mischievous hoax that leads to their reconciliation. Call for times.
The Auditorium in Roberts Hall, Rhode Island College, 600 Mount Pleasant Avenue,
Providence, RI. (401) 456-8144, www.stateballet.com

December 6

Join Paul Katz, an assistant at the Harvard Art Museum, for a talk entitled American Art at Harvard. Themes will include portrait painting traditions, European influences on American landscape painting, American material culture, and collecting practices. 11 a.m. Arthur M. Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway, Cambridge, MA. (617) 384-5224, www.harvardartmusuem.org

December 7

The 2008 finalists for the James and Audrey Foster Prize will discuss their work and artistic process. Work by the finalists—Catherine D'Ignazio, Rania Matar, Andrew Witkin, and Joe Zane—is on view at the ICA from November 12 through March 1. 1 p.m. The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 100 Northern Avenue, Boston, MA. (617) 478-3100, www.icaboston.org

December 20

December 2

Clark/Centre Allemand Fellow Margaret Werth is the author of The Joy of Life: The Idyllic in French Art, circa 1900. Her lecture, Manifestations of the Face, will be based on her current project, a book focused on representations of the human face in painting, printmaking, photography, and film between 1880 and 1930. 5:30 p.m. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 225 South Street, Williamstown, MA. (413) 458-2303, www.clarkart.edu

December 6

Join curator Susan Danly as she speaks about the colorful life of Lynne Drexler and her time on Monhegan Island. Rich with scenery and artists, Monhegan was the inspiration for this painter, originally known in New York for her vibrant abstractions. 1 p.m. Portland Museum of Art, Seven Congress Square, Portland, ME. (207) 775-6148, www.portlandmuseum.org

December 11

Boston University’s Photographic Resource Center presents an interactive talk by internationally acclaimed photographer Larry Fink, whose work has been exhibited and collected by museums all over the world. His most recent project, The Democrats, covers the 2008 Democratic presidential campaign. 7 p.m. Auditorium 522, Boston University College of Arts and Sciences, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA. (617) 975-0600, www.prcboston.org

January 21

As part of Harvard Art Museum’s series Cities: Their Art & Architecture, Susanne Ebbinghaus, the George M. A. Hanfmann Curator of Ancient Arts, will give a lecture entitled Persepolis, highlighting the artistic and cultural history of the royal city of ancient Persia. 6:30 p.m Arthur M. Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway, Cambridge, MA. (617) 384-5224, www.harvardartmusuem.org