Arts & Engagement
Fall 2023 Community & Cultural Events
Categories
Community•Culture•Music•Theater/Dance•Exhibitions
BSU Senior College
Lifelong Learning for Curious Adults
Bridgewater State University’s Senior College offers intellectually stimulating courses for mature learners (50-plus). Six week courses are led by BSU emeritus faculty, full and part-time faculty and other distinguished educators in the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities.
Details available at bridgew.edu/ccs/seniorcollege
community
DEC
Bridgewater Community Dance Series
facebook.com/bridgewatercommunitydance
Fridays 7 - 9 pm
Bridgewater Senior Center 10 Wally Krueger Way Bridgewater, MA
$8 per dance, or $48 for the entire series of eight dances. (A portion of the proceeds are donated to the Bridgewater Council on Aging.)
| September | 8 AND 22 |
| October | 6 AND 20 |
| November | 3 AND 17 |
| December | 1 AND 15 |
Enjoying our thirteenth season! Join us for Circle Dances and Mixers, International Folk Dance, and New England Squares and Contras. Beginners and singles welcome, appropriate for ages 10 and up, gender neutral language. Led by Sam Baumgarten, a professor emeritus at Bridgewater State University with over 40 years of teaching experience.
culture
Ireland and the Global Gothic
Heritage Room, Maxwell Library, 10 Shaw Road, Bridgewater MA
12:30 pm
Dr. Mindi McMann, English professor at The College of New Jersey, will present a lecture on Ireland and the Global Gothic. Her research and teaching interests focus on the intersections of literature, politics, ethics, and nationalism, using contemporary British and Anglophone literature as the center point of her work.
Part of Irish Cultural Heritage Day, open to the public.
Murder, Poetry, and Rebellion: An Irish Literary and Music Evening
Heritage Room, Maxwell Library, 10 Shaw Road, Bridgewater MA
5 pm
Please join us for an evening of gothic spookiness done Irish style. Dr. Mindi McMann, English professor at The College of New Jersey, will perform a selection of readings from Patrick McCabe's book, The Butcher Boy. Professor John Mulrooney of Bridgewater State University will follow with a selection of poetry readings from his new publication, Spooky Action. The final portion of the event will feature a live musical performance by the band Kevin Kidd and Friends. Kidd, Dean of Library Services at Bridgewater State College, will perform a selection of Irish songs pertaining to Irish rebellion and will include a historical explanation for each song performed.
Part of Irish Cultural Heritage Day, open to the public.
music
BSU Alumni Chamber Choir Winter Concert
Central Square Congregational Church, 71 Central Square, Bridgewater MA
3 pm
$15 General Admission; $10 Seniors & Students; children under 10 free
Handicap Accessible
BSU Ensembles & Recitals
Free and open to the public.
Wind Ensemble Concert
Rondileau Student Union Auditorium, 19 Park Avenue, Bridgewater, MA
8 pm
Social Justice Choir Festival
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
4 pm
Student Recital – Elizabeth Shouse
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
8 pm
Student Recital – Daniel Doubenski
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
7 pm
Student Recital – Hana Bowker-Wickersham
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
8 pm
Jazz Band Concert
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
8 pm
Student Recital – Lora Coggins
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
8 pm
Student Recital – Hannah Sirard
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
7 pm
African Drumming Concert
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
8 pm
Chorale Concert
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
7 pm
Pop Vocal Concert
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
7 pm
Opera Ensemble Concert
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
8 pm
Flute Choir Concert
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
11 am
Student Recital – Grey Fanning
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
8 pm
String Ensemble Concert
Boyden Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA
9:05 am
Holiday Extravaganza
Rondileau Student Union Auditorium, 19 Park Avenue, Bridgewater, MA
7 pm
Plymouth Philharmonic
The Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, a professional orchestral ensemble located within the Plymouth Bay Cultural District, presents a wide range of live music and educational programs to people of all ages and backgrounds on the South Shore of Massachusetts.
More details and tickets are available on plymouthphil.org
Opening Night: Wanting More
Plymouth Memorial Hall 83 Court Street Plymouth, MA
7:30 pm
A season finale should leave you wanting more. So should the season opener. Our 108th season starts with a three-minute musical fireball and two heart-warming, heart-wrenching, hope-against-hope masterpieces that always leave us wanting more!
Simply the Best
Plymouth North High School, Performing Arts Center, 41 Obery Street, Plymouth, MA
7:30 pm
Appalachian Spring is Copland’s most famous composition; some call it his best. He wrote it for choreographer Martha Graham, who crafted it into a ballet about a frontier couple on their wedding day. Inside this musical tapestry, he wove variations of the Shaker hymn Simple Gifts, little presents for the newlywed pair, so full of youth, optimism, and hope.
Baroque & Beyond: America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration
Plymouth Memorial Hall 83 Court Street Plymouth, MA
7 pm
The Phil is honored to participate in America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration. The weekend of festivities has become a beloved holiday occasion as well as an important link to our nation’s history and heritage.
Hometown Holiday
Plymouth Memorial Hall 83 Court Street Plymouth, MA
Saturday, Dec. 9 at 3 pm and 7:30 pm, Sunday, Dec. 10 at 3 PM
Deck the halls. Hang the mistletoe. Our Hometown Holiday will turn all the bah hum-bugs into the heartiest ho, ho, hos! It’s Mr. Scrooge’s (180th!) Anniversary so let’s party like the Dickens and unwrap the best gift ever—The Ghost of Christmas Present, a mini, magical, and oh-so very musical vignette from A Christmas Carol.
What The World Needs Now: Burt Bacharach & Friends
Plymouth Memorial Hall 83 Court Street Plymouth, MA
Saturday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, Jan. 21 at 3 pm
What the world needs now…is more Bacharach. The die-hard romantic put a high gloss on the ‘60’s with a string of love songs that we just can’t stop lovin’: The Look of Love. This Guy’s in Love with You. I’ll Never Fall in Love Again. These simply sublime songs made him the Hitmaker.
The Brockton Symphony Orchestra (BrSO)
We're excited to announce our 2023-2024 season, combining traditional masterworks by Beethoven, Dvořák, and Tchaikovsky alongside exciting contemporary music that expands the classical canon.
The schedule is subject to change. Please check the BrSO website at brocktonsymphony.org for updates and ticket information.
New Beginnings
Christ Congregational Church, 1350 Pleasant Street, Brockton, MA
3 pm
Giuseppe Verdi - Overture to La Forza del Destino; Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Ji Youn Lee, piano; Antonin Dvořák - Symphony No. 8 in G major
Holiday Pops Concert 2023
Brockton High School, 470 Forest Avenue, Brockton MA
3 pm
Celebrate the holidays together with your family and friends. John Masko has chosen your festive seasonal favorites, and much more.
Close Connections
Christ Congregational Church, 1350 Pleasant Street, Brockton, MA
3 pm
Our annual chamber music concert will celebrate intimate and dynamic spaces created by music with smaller groups.
theater/dance
The Fantasticks
First Parish Players
First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, 50 School Street, Bridgewater MA
November 9 - 12
$25 per person
The Fantasticks is a funny and romantic musical about a boy, a girl, and their two fathers who try to keep them apart. The narrator, El Gallo, asks the audience to use their imagination and follow him into a world of moonlight and magic. The boy and the girl fall in love, grow apart and finally find their way back to each other after realizing the truth in El Gallo's words that, "without a hurt, the heart is hollow."
More information at firstparishplayers.com
DRACULA
Rondileau Student Union Auditorium, 19 Park Avenue, Bridgewater, MA
October 20 - 22, 26 - 28
Bram Stoker's classic gothic horror rises to life on the BSU stage this October!
More information and tickets available at www.BSUtix.com
R.U.R. - Rossum's Universal Robots
Rondileau Student Union Auditorium, 19 Park Avenue, Bridgewater, MA
November 16 - 19
Millions of seemingly soulless mechanized workers rise up in revolt against their inhumane human masters!
More information and tickets available at www.BSUtix.com
WinterDance 2023
Rondileau Student Union Auditorium, 19 Park Avenue, Bridgewater, MA
December 8 - 10
BSU Dance showcases its motto, "Dance is for every body" in this concert featuring choreography from advanced students. Compelling solos, intricate small groups, and powerful ensembles will move across the stage in a spectacular celebration of art and life.
More information and tickets available at www.BSUtix.com
exhibitions
The Wallace L. Anderson Gallery
All exhibitions free and open to the public. Learn more at bsuarts.com
AUG
Retrospective
Mark Young
August 2023 - August 2024
Ground Floor, Moakley Center, 100 Burrill Avenue, Bridgewater, MA
This body of work represents a small portion of Mark Young’s work. He was a local Bridgewater self-taught craftsman and artist who worked outside the art world. A ceaseless explorer of medium and form and style, whose work encompassed everything from watercolor to copper welding in the pursuit of his artistic expression.
OCT
Our Struggle
Robert Freeman
August 18 - October 17
Wallace L. Anderson Gallery, 40 School Street, Bridgewater, MA
“As a visual artist releasing my anger, outrage and sadness has resulted in these canvases. “Struggle” is a creative eruption of deep and vast emotional frustration. The paintings can be seen as a visual metaphor of adults playing children’s games. These paintings represent the struggle for the soul of our country.”
JAN
Coco Berkman
August 25 - January 4
Third Floor, Mezzanine, Maxwell Library, 10 Shaw Road, Bridgewater MA
Gloucester artist and printmaker Coco Berkman utilizes her love of drawing and a literary inspired imagination along with Japanese carving tools, luxurious oil-based inks and beautiful cotton rag papers to create images that depict humorous and thoughtful social critiques.
JAN
Julie Rivera
Look Again
August 25 - January 8
Second Floor Lounge, Maxwell Library, 10 Shaw Road, Bridgewater MA
This ongoing portfolio of woodcut and collage portraits was originally inspired by the New York Times “Overlooked” series, which since March of 2018 has been sharing the stories of remarkable women and minorities who were overlooked by the NY Times obituaries in the past.
FEB
Zoomorphics
Shelby Meyerhoff
October 27 - February 21
Wallace L. Anderson Gallery, 40 School Street, Bridgewater, MA
“In Zoomorphics, I paint my face and body, and photograph myself as creatures inspired by the natural world. The resulting images draw attention to our interconnection with all living things.”