New Portrait Kicks Off Civic Center Centennial

23Aug12

On January 15, 2013, the Wakefield, Massachusetts building now known as the Americal Civic Center will turn 100 years old. Last night, it received an early birthday present. In ceremonies held last night in the Heritage Room, a new portrait of the historic building, painted by local artist Elizabeth O’Neill Lowry, was unveiled.

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Tags: Massachusetts, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield MA, artist, Art, painting, Americal Civic Center, State Armory, Armory, Massachusetts State Armory, Elizabeth Lowry, House Proud Portraits, centennial

Steel Magnolias at Next Door Theater

23Jul12

Performances July 26, 27 and 28 You might assume that a play set in a beauty salon and featuring all female characters would appeal mainly to women – the theatrical equivalent of a “chick flick.” But after seeing the Next Door Theatre’s production of “Steel Magnolias,” what sticks with you are the play’s universal themes, […]

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Tags: actor, actors, actress, actresses, Amelia Broome, Beth Gotha, diabetes, drama, Jackie Coco, Margaret McCarty, Mark Sardella, Melissa Marie Walker, Nancy Curran Willis, Next Door Theater, play, Robert Harling, Sarajane Mullins, stage, Steel Magnolias

Quannapowitt Players Present a Moving Diary of Anne Frank

24May12

With a cast of 15, the Quannapowitt Players‘ “The Diary of Anne Frank” captures the terror, tension and tenderness experienced by two Jewish families being hidden from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II, as told by Anne Frank in her diary of her family’s two years in hiding. The production is directed by […]

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Tags: Wakefield, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield MA, theater, Wakefield Daily Item, stage, theatre, play, Wakefield Item, Daily Item, drama, Quannapowitt Players, Quannapowitt Playhouse, Nancy Curran Willis, Reading Massachusetts, Reading MA, Reading, community theater, QP, Anne Frank, Diary of Anne Frank, Becky Klein

College, Cops & Computers

07Jan11

New Year’s Day is the day on which many people embark on self-improvement programs. Not me. On January 1, I subjected my self-esteem to a beating by going to see The Social Network, the 2010 movie about the founding of Facebook by a brilliant Harvard student, Mark Zuckerberg, who has gone on to become the […]

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Tags: Campus PD, COPS, Daily Item, Facebook, film, films, Fox, G4, Harvard, Item, Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Sardella, Mark Zuckerberg, movie, movies, police, Television, The Social Network, TV, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item

TRAD is an Irish Feast of Words

09Sep10

At Gloucester Stage Company through September 12 In the opening scene of TRAD, 100 year-old Thomas shuffles over to wake his improbably ancient father who is sleeping on a wooden cot. That absurd premise sets the tone for Mark Doherty’s hilarious fable set in the Irish countryside. TRAD is also a grand way for Gloucester […]

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Tags: acting, actor, actors, Billy Meleady, Carmel O’Reilly, cast, Colin Hamell, drama, Gloucester MA, Gloucester Mass, Gloucester Massachusetts, Gloucester Stage Company, Ireland, Irish, J Michael Griggs, Jayscott Crosley, John Malinowski, Mark Doherty, Nancy E. Carroll, play, playwright, playwrights, priest, Rachel Padula-Shufelt, stage, theater, theatre, theatres, TRAD, tradition

Gloucester Stage Company’s “An Ideal Husband” is a theatrical tour de force

18Aug10

When most people think of Oscar Wilde’s plays, the one that often leaps to mind is The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde’s lighthearted comedy of manners. So it’s refreshing to see the Gloucester Stage Company present one of Wilde’s darker, more complex works. Not that An Ideal Husband isn’t funny. It’s Oscar Wilde after all, […]

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Tags: Achilles, acting, actor, actors, actress, actresses, An Ideal Husband, Angie Jepson, Brendan Powers, Carrie Ann Quinn, comedy, Daniel Morris, David Remedios, drama, Fragonard, Gloucester, Gloucester MA, Gloucester Massachusetts, Gloucester Stage, Gloucester Stage Company, Julia Noulin-Merat, Karen MacDonald, Kenneth Helvig, Lewis D. Wheeler, Marsha Smith, Molly Trainer, olay, Oscar Wilde, plays, playwright, Reviews, stage, stages, The Swing, theater, theater review, theaters, theatre, theatre review, theatres

Stoneham’s ‘Christmas Carol’ True to Dickens

09Dec09

Leigh Barrett stars More than a century and a half after its original publication, the emotional power of Charles Dickens’ holiday fable, “A Christmas Carol,” remains undiminished, and the current stage adaptation at Stoneham Theatre is a testament to the classic tale’s influence and staying power. The current incarnation of Stoneham Theatre opened its doors […]

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Tags: Andrew Codispoti, Ann Marie Shea, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Carol, Daily Item, Diego Arciniegas, DJ Plunkett, Eric Hamel, Gabriel Kuttner, Gerard Slattery, ghost, ghosts, Grant MacDermott, Ilyse Robbins, Jakob Michaels, Janelle Mills, Jessica D. Turner, Leigh Barrett, Marie Polizzano, Mark Cartier, Mark Sardella, Michael Kreuntz, Michael Sticca, Nigel Gore, Rebecca Lerman, Sabrina Ponte, Scrooge, stage, Stoneham Theater, Stoneham Theatre, Susanne Nitter, theater, theatre, Toni Elliott, Veronica Barron, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Zoey Michaels

Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks a Hit in Harvard Square

22Nov09

Performance on Friday, November 21, 2009 in Cambridge, Massachusetts The line was already forming outside the First Parish Church as I cruised by at 7:15 p.m. in what I knew would be a vain attempt to find a parking space. I parked in a garage at the other end of Harvard Square and walked back. […]

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Tags: Boston, Cambridge, Cambridge MA, Cambridge Massachusetts, concert, Dan Hicks, Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks, Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, Daria, Dave Bell, First Parish Church Harvard Square, Harvard Square, music, Paul Smith, Richard Chon, Roberta

‘The Sparrow’ Soars at Stoneham Theatre

29Oct09

Play about a teenage girl with supernatural powers From the very start, you know that there’s something different about The Sparrow, and that goes for both the play currently on stage at Stoneham Theatre and the title character. The Sparrow is an inventive and original play that combines a comic book aesthetic and a cinematic […]

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Tags: Alycia Sacco, Ceit Zweil, Chris Mathews, Collette Pollard, Daily Item, Dillan Arrick, Elizabeth Erwin, Ilyse Robbins, Jamie Slatt, Joanna E. Murphy, Jonathan Popp, Josiah George, Kevin O'Donnell, Lucas Merino, Mark Lanks, Michael Griggs, Michael Ryan Buckley, Nathan Allen, Nicholas Cacciola, play, Russell Garrett, Samantha Cunha, Sparrow, stage, stage theater, Stephen LaMonica, Steve Gagliastro, Stoneham, Stoneham MA, Stoneham Massachusetts, Stoneham Theater, Stoneham Theatre, superhero, theatre, threater, Tommy Rapley, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item

Jack on Spring Street

08Oct09

My artist brother, Bob Sardella, painted this scene showing our chlidhood home on Spring Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts. In the foreground is Jack, the great dog we had for 15 years back in the days before leash laws, when dogs roamed free.

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Tags: Art, artist, Bob Sardella, dog, dogs, Family, Jack, painting, Sardella, Sardella Sign & Display, Sardella Signs, Spring St., Spring Street, Wakefield, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts