Movies, plays, music and sports - Worcester's colleges and universities may be tax exempt but what they're offering us in culture and entertainment is priceless 

If you ventured onto the College of the Holy Cross campus last Thursday night, you had a swath of cultural events to choose from. Storyteller Elisa Pearmain was presenting "Day of the Dead," while the Hogan Campus Center lobby featured an altar honoring the Mexican holiday; with all eyes on Mitt Romney's presidential run, Dan Wotherspoon's lecture "Of Golden Plates and Global Warming: Translating Mormonism in the Twenty-first Century" couldn't have been timelier; the Holy Cross Men's Basketball Team was kicking off its season against Rhode Island College; and it was opening night for the Holy Cross Theatre Department's production of My Life With Albertine.

It seems as if we have spent decades trying to come up with ways to encourage area college students to immerse themselves into Worcester's economy while forgetting — or not even realizing - that the campuses have just as much to offer us as we felt we had to offer them. What about our residents turning the tables around and visiting Clark University for a Cinema 320 movie or an engaging social discussion on a major issue of the day? Or taking in a theatrical production at Worcester State College or hearing a world-famous poet at Assumption College? Or a folk performer touring the country who stops off at WPI for a Tuesday night coffeehouse performance? Here's a look — and by no way does it claim to be a comprehensive one — at the great cultural opportunities available on local campuses and the ways our city colleges strive to give students and citizens alike the chance to experience and partake in engaging social talk and performing and visual arts adventures.

Theatre

A night out with all the drama

One of the highlights of Nat Needle's cultural year was seeing Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Mikado presented recently by WPI's Department of Humanities and Arts and the university's musical theatre production company, Vox, at Alden Memorial Hall. The East Highland Area Neighborhood Association Outreach coordinator went to see it with his son, Asa, 12.

Cast members (from left) Lauren Doucette, Jimmy D'Amico, Emily Rast, Kate Elysia Hultgren and Joey Puleo before the opening performance of 'My Life with Albertine.'

"Watching it, I thought how wonderful it would be if there was a clearer cultural path between the community and the colleges — not just for overwhelming events, but what they might think of as ‘run-of-the-mill' events but would be world-opening and affordable for the community," says Needle.

That's certainly the case with the Holy Cross Theatre Department's presentation of Marcel Proust's musical My Life with Albertine. With wonderful costumes intended to replicate the excitement and feel of the Impressionist art era of the late 1800s and early 20th century, and great singing performance by its cast, the $7 general-public ticket may be the best deal in town. Director Lynn Kremer says the play, a portion of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, "is like a small jewel box, both intimate and flamboyant," in the program notes. In the theater's intimate setting, truer words couldn't be said. You can catch the show this Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. in Fenwick Theater inside Holy Cross's beautiful O'Kane Hall.

"It's a magnificent, beautiful piece of work," says Holy Cross Theatre Department Chairman Edward Isser. "There's nothing commercial about the music but it's very appealing to general audiences. For us, a play like this is not a risk. It's part of our academic program and our cultural offering to the community."

Many of these student actors and actresses perform with the Redfeather Theatre Company, a professional acting troupe in residence at Holy Cross. The brainchild of local acting and directing phenom Tim Smith, it also presents plays in Green Hill Park during the summertime.

"This is a professional training program," Isser said. It has three goals: prepare students for graduate studies in theatre or getting a PhD in literary studies and making them well-rounded and trained for any career they make choose to pursue.

One of the hardest tickets to get on the Holy Cross campus is to performances by Gamelan Gita Sari.

"It's a complete zoo," Isser says of the Holy Cross Music Department-presented show that combines Indonesian music, dance and mask work. "There seem to be these underground Balinese aficionados from around New England who always turn out."

They return on Nov. 30 for an 8 p.m. performance at the Brooks Concert Hall.

"It's first-come, first-served. We literally have people hanging from the rafters," Isser says.

If you can't make it, they'll be back on April 25.

Some campus productions feature plays written by students. Assumption College sophomore Jim Thibeault based his score for The Big Game around four football fanatics who test their girlfriends' own devotion but are unable to separate the regular season from the off-season. Thibeault's own Super Bowl takes place this weekend when he's the director for AC Upstage and G-Man Company's performance of his play, which you can enjoy for free Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m. at the school's La Maison Francaise Auditorium. AC Upstage will also present Shakespeare's "warm" romantic comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream from Nov. 30 through Dec. 2; tickets cost $10 for the general public.

There are plenty of college theatre options in your neighborhood. Clark University students perform Kenneth Lonergan's This is Our Youth, the story of three early-1980s pot-smoking teenagers following in the steps of their parents, this Thursday and Friday and from Nov. 14 through 17 at the school's Little Center Theater for a mind-blowing $5.

The populace of Llareggub comes alive in Worcester State College's Theatre Up Close's presentation of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood on Nov. 15 through 18 in the Sullivan Auditorium; tickets are $12. WPI's Humanities and Arts Department teams up with student theater group Masque to present Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet on Nov. 15 through 18 in WPI's Little Theatre, which was formerly known as Gompei's Place, which will also host WPI's Alpha Psi Omega and Rho Kappa's Show in 24 Hours on Dec. 1.

Film

Screen gems you may have missed (or never had the chance to see)

Cinema 320 has been one of the city's true gems since 1982. Based in room 320 (hence its name) of Clark University's Jefferson Academic Center, if it wasn't for Cinema 320, most of these films would never be seen in the city. The rest of the fall season features Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, which is currently screening and will be followed by Summercamp!, a joyful look at Wisconsin's Swift Nature Camp; No End in Sight, a controversial look at the Iraq War; Manufactured Landscapes (Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky's take on China as it moves into the industrial age); and Into Great Silence (a documentary on a community of Carthusian monks in the French Alps).

Owner/Manager of Cinema 320, Stephen Sandburg, gives some Clark alumni tickets to a show.

"It's always been a carefully manufactured schedule," says Steve Sandburg, the series' overseer. "I get the best films into the city I can, based on critical consensus [his main source is metacritic.com] and I try to see all the films in Boston, Providence and Hartford during their premiere screenings so I can defend showing them if I have to. I've got a hard and fast rule that if a film has played in Worcester before, except in rare cases, I won't book it."

Where many of Cinema 320's offerings used to be foreign-language films, its primary focus has switched to documentaries.

"Even independent-made American films are independent in name only," Sandburg says. "It's as if that category has been extended to every film George Clooney makes that isn't an ‘Ocean' film."

He's seen a distinct change in audiences since Cinema 320 began.

"In the early 1980s, 40% of those attending were members of the public, 30% were Clark students and the rest were senior citizens," Sandburg said. "Now, it's 50%-55% seniors who are active and still interested in the world, 30% public, with the rest being the Clark community. Unfortunately, I don't see a lot of young people."

Most Cinema 320 screenings take place on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday; Sandberg's currently reviewing prospective films for the Spring 2008 schedule. Full details can be found at cinema320.com.

Holy Cross has long invited the public to attend its free, first-come, first-seated Kimball Film Series held at the Kimball Theater. Live Free or Die Hard screens this Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. while next Wednesday (Nov. 14) Sicko, Michael Moore's documentary that looks at the American health care system in comparison to the rest of the world, can be seen at 3 and 8 p.m. Hairspray, Rescue Dawn, Ratatouille and The Bourne Ultimatum finish out the 2007 Kimball schedule. Call 508-793-2455 for directions.

Assumption College continues its Foreign Language Film Fiesta Series with Tapas (which is presented in Spanish with English subtitles) tonight, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. in Kennedy Memorial Hall's Alden Trust Auditorium.

Art

Eye-catching gallery shows

Among the many surprises to be found on Worcester's college campuses are high-quality art galleries. The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross is blessed by the support of the Cantor Foundation, which helped establish the gallery back in 1983 with the donation of 53 world-class works. You can enjoy them, along with the second part of its Crossroads: Holy Cross's Visual Arts Faculty and Staff show that features two-dimensional drawings, paintings, prints, digital prints and digital animation through Dec. 19. Gallery talks will be presented by the participating artists throughout the exhibition's run; guided tours will be given on Nov. 12 and 26 at noon.

There are plenty of other shows to choose from: DeCordova Museum curator Nick Capasso will select the First- and Second-Prize winners as well as three runner-up awards in the open-juried Smaller is Better exhibition that opens at Clark University's Shiltkamp Gallery at the Traina Center for the Arts on Nov. 29. Across campus, the Dana Commons second floor lounge is hosting War of the Walls: Rebellion and Graphic Art in Oaxaca, Mexico, photographs by Aaron Tukey, through Dec. 11.

Photographer Aaron Tukey, with his work from the War of the Walls exhibition – Dana Commons second floor gallery, Clark University. The show runs through mid-December. Meet the artist and learn about his work on Nov. 15 – www.clarku.edu/difficultdialogues.

The ARTSWorcester/Quinsigamond Community College Hall Gallery, located in QCC's administration building, presents photographs by Edward Bissell, who spent the past 22 years as E.B. Luce's master printer, in Points of View, from Nov. 13 through Feb. 1. The University of Massachusetts Medical School's ongoing artist-in-residence series is featuring photography by UMMS grad student Jessica Vasale. One if by Land, Two if by Sea — Topside and Underwater Images Capturing the Colorful Creations of Nature can be seen through Dec. 14 in The Lamar Soutter Library.

WPI's Third Floor Gallery at the George C. Gordon Library has consistently featured the works of local artists and photographers. However, its current exhibition, The Cutting Edge: Modern Metallography and the Ancient Secrets of Swordmaking, spans 5,000 years and includes a Chinese bronze blade circa 1000 BCE to one from the modern age. Further down Salisbury Street, the D'Alzon Arts Series presents Jackie Picard: Praise ‘n Paint through Nov. 23; it's followed by Assumption's Annual Student Art Show from Nov. 26 through Jan. 11 in The Emmanuel d'Alzon Library.

Sports

Events to show some neighborhood pride

Last weekend, WPI made 500 tickets available to residents of Elm Park area neighborhoods for the Engineers' football contest against the Susquehanna University Crusaders after an EHANA member suggested it would make for a good seasonal community event. 

The Worcester State College’s Mens Basketball Team opens its 2007-2008 season against Becker College on Nov. 16.

"I bet there are a lot of kids in the neighborhood who haven't seen a college football game," said Needle. After attending an EHANA meeting, Linda Carre Looft, WPI's assistant vice president for government and community relations, arranged for EHANA and the Elm Park-Lincoln Estate Neighborhood Association to distribute the tickets for the Free Fun Fall Football Fiesta throughout the surrounding area.

"We created a distribution outlet for the tickets so people who wouldn't normally be integrated into this kind of community event got integrated," Needle said. "I've made every effort to make sure every ticket we give out will be used."

With the fall's soccer, lacrosse and football seasons nearing their conclusion, the winter sports season is already under way. Attending college basketball and hockey games can easily become addictive (and fun) if you allow yourself the chance to catch your first game. It's an icebreaker for conversation with students in the neighborhood and a great way to get acquainted with other things the campus has to offer.

Talks

Engage your brain

Worcester has a long history of political and social activism; our area campuses offer plenty of opportunities to hear and participate in discussion on the pressing issues of the day.

"We see higher-educational venues as the optimal place to hold these discussions on the important issues of the world with regard to what our role is in them and what we can do to participate in processing them," said Sarah Buie, director of Clark's Higgins School of Humanities, and co-director of its Difficult Dialogues lecture series. "We explore the complexity of these issues through our lecturers and talk about these issues among each other."

A November 2006 event with panelists from both sides of the abortion issue discussed their 10 years of dialogue in front of 600 people in Atwood Hall; 150 community members turned out for a screening and discussion of Eugene Jarecki's film Why We Fight. On the other hand, Buie said, "We've had plenty of events you would have thought would have drawn bigger crowds." Next semester, Clark will be tackling the issue of climate change.

There are plenty of subjects to choose from in selecting a lecture to take in. Becker College hosts a talk on Buddhist-Christian Dialogue and Meditation by Empty Bell founder and director Robert Jonas as part of its ongoing World Religion Series this afternoon, Nov. 8, at 4 p.m. in Room 317 of the Weller Academic Building on its Worcester campus.

Diana Eck of Harvard University spoke this semester at Clark University.

The Rev. Toussaint Murhula lectures on The Aftermath of the Rwanda Genocide in the Congo on Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. at Holy Cross's Rehm Library, which also hosts Boston University professor John Paul Riquelme's talk on the The Dark Modernity of Bram Stoker's Dracula" on Nov. 29 at 4:30 p.m.

Dr. Guy Rotella of Northeastern University presents Robert Frost: Slacker as part of Quinsigamond Community College's ongoing Distinguished Lecturer Series on Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. in its Harrington Learning Center.

Worcester State College holds many of its events during the day, when most of its students are on campus. Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Friends of Greater Washington co-president Nesse Goldin, who survived the Shaulai, the Lithuanian Ghetto, the Stutthof Concentration Camp, four labor camps and a death march, will speak on those experiences on Nov. 13 at 11:30 a.m. in the WSC Student Center.

With Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize reigniting discussion on global warming, MIT professor and atmospheric researcher Ronald Prinn's presentation on Climate Change: Science, Economics, and Policy as part of the Office of the President's University Lecture Series at WPI should draw a huge crowd from on and off campus to Alden Memorial Hall on Dec. 10 at 5 p.m.

Music

Coffeehouses, concert halls and choice acts

We've had a longstanding coffeehouse series at Riley Commons," said Jim McLaughlin, director of WPI's still-sparkling-new campus center and student activities office. "It's a popular series that's had a long tradition here of bringing in a variety of performers of different musical genres from folk to jazz to soft rock as well as open mics. This year, they added comedy."

Presented by Soccom, the student social committee, shows at the WPI Coffeehouse take place during the semester on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m.; normally there's a $5 admission fee for the public.

"We do see some people from the community at these shows," McLaughlin says, "but we see more at the classical music and theatre programs."

You might be surprised to know that city campuses host world-class jazz and classical ensembles, a fact verified by their frequent invitation to perform at events at Mechanics Hall and the Worcester Art Museum. The holiday season will give you plenty of opportunities to enjoy them in concert. The WPI Concert Band, directed by Douglas Weeks, and WPI Stage Jazz Band, directed by Richard Falco, performs with the WPI Ballroom Dancers this Saturday night, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. in Alden Memorial Hall. Tickets are $10.

A chamber concert featuring the college's woodwind quartet and honors string quartet will be performing at the Spaulding Recital Hall on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. The WPI Holiday Concert, featuring the WPI Festival Chorus and Orchestra, takes place on Nov. 29 at 2:30 p.m. at Alden Hall.

Great classical offerings can also be found on the campuses of Holy Cross, Clark University and Assumption College. Frank Corbin will be the organist for the Assumption College Chapel Choir's annual Service of Lessons and Carols on Dec. 5 at the school's Chapel of the Holy Spirit. Jane Shivick directs this free event.

Depending on student demand, WPI (and other area colleges) will sell tickets to the public for the more popular chart acts who perform on campus. WPI Soccom will present Zox on Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at Alden Hall; tickets are $15.

Poetry

The stuff that moves you

This author has been forever grateful that I got to hear poet Denise Levertov, who died in 1997, read her works and sign copies of my favorite books of hers at Assumption College in the late 1980s. Thankfully, the D'Alzon Arts Series continues to bring national poets to Worcester. harvey keitel, harvey keitel and Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw's Prayer author John Dorsey and Assumption's Assistant Director of Graduate Services Dan Provost, who released his fourth chapbook, The 21st Century Wrench, earlier this year, will be at the Emmanuel d'Alzon Library on the Assumption on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.

Once again, this isn't intended to be a complete list, by any means, of all the offerings you'll find on Worcester college campuses. For a complete rundown, visit each school's Web site; you'll also find details on most campus events at socialweb.net. o

Brian Goslow may be reached at
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