The future.
That’s what the Mass Cultural Council s announcement earlier this month that a total of $842,000 in Cultural Facilities Fund grants will go to nine area Cape Cod and Islands organizations means to the groups struggling to figure out what’s next after the shutdowns and losses of the pandemic.
“I’ve said all along that if we got this grant, we can just keep going, said Janine Perry, producing artistic director at Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster, where work is due to wrap up next month on the restoration of the exterior of the century-old Crosby Barn.
That building will become the company’s second indoor performance space, but the inside of the barn is now empty. With the $190,000 facilities grant which must be matched through fundraising, so it becomes almost $400,000 Cape Rep officials can take a big step toward finishing the overall $2.3 million project. The restoration was also recently supported by $400,000 in town Community Development funds.
VOICExperience Foundation Announces Annual OPERA IDOL Competition
Four of the following aspiring classical singers will compete in front of an online audience for one full scholarship to attend the Milnes VOICE Studio.by BWW News Desk
For the 15th consecutive year, VOICExperience Foundation (VE) founded by acclaimed operatic baritone Sherrill Milnes and soprano Maria Zouves, will offer their annual Opera Idol master class competition. Traditionally taking place in the Chicago area, this annual event will take place virtually on Tuesday, June 1 at 7 p.m. EST, due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Four of the following aspiring classical singers will compete in front of an online audience for one full scholarship to attend the Milnes VOICE Studio.
David Currier was excited when he learned of Gov. Charlie Baker s announcement Monday that almost all COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted as of May 29. “It’s another step towards normalcy,” he said. “It can t not help business.”
Currier owns The Alley Bowling and BBQ in Orleans, where limited capacity, mask enforcement and social distancing requirements were challenges last summer at the 11,000-square-foot building on Route 6A.
“The less restrictions the better,” Currier said of Baker s new plan, though he and other business and restaurant owners, along with staffers at entertainment venues, know there are still challenges ahead. As Monday s announcement reverberated through the industries gearing up for a busy Cape Cod season, leaders were trying to figure out what changes to make, and how fast to make them, as the restrictions drop on Memorial Day weekend – the unofficial start of summer.
Murder mystery part of “radio hour” fundraiser
In an unusual mix of eras and technologies born out of pandemic necessity, the theatrical fundraiser for the West Falmouth Library this year will be a 1940s radio play that uses 2021 Zoom virtual capabilities.
The library and writer/director Lisa Jo Rudy’s Not My Monkeys company will present “The Music and Murder Radio Hour,” a nostalgic virtual variety show featuring “vintage” ads, musical acts and a murder mystery/comedy.
Not able to gather in person for the fundraising party this year, Rudy reached out to local actors and got more than two dozen to participate via Zoom and video for a one-hour online presentation with two showings.