Summer of Virtual Entertainment

By JOANNE BRIANA-GARTNER

As the Arts and Entertainment editor at the paper, I keep a calendar at my desk to track play openings, concerts and other local events. That calendar has been empty for the past three months, but I recently stopped by the office to pick it up and bring it back to my home office (i.e., kitchen table). Happily there are, once again, events to keep track of, albeit online.

Several of what many consider the staples of summer entertainment on the Upper Cape are offering virtual seasons this year, and while they might be different from what we’ve come to expect, if we’ve learned anything since March, it’s how to embrace change.

The Cape Cod Theatre Project

The Cape Cod Theatre Project, which has brought staged readings of new works to Falmouth for more than 25 years, will switch to an online format this year to bring audiences new works by Zora Howard, Michele Lowe, Edith Freni and Kevin Artigue. Each play will have two livestreamed readings using a Zoom-style format.

Their season gets underway July 3 with Michele Lowe’s “Moses,” the story of an Orthodox man who suffers a profound loss, leaves his community and seeks redemption. “Moses” will be performed July 3 and 5.

A finalist for the 2019 O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Edith Freni’s “The Hystericals” will be performed July 9 and 11. The play is a bittersweet comedy about a support group for women with autoimmune diseases. When a mysterious newcomer shows up unannounced, each woman must decide for herself whether to stay or go.

Harlem-bred writer and performer Zora Howard’s “Bust – An Afro-Currentist Play” will be performed July 16 and 18. In it, a couple enjoy an evening on the porch when a longtime neighbor is pulled over by the police. Everything goes as you might expect until the unexpected happens. When the incident is posted online, it’s not only hell that breaks loose.

Kevin Artigue’s “I, My Ruination” will close the season July 23 and 25. The play explores Elia Kazan’s decision to name names. Three months after appearing before the House Un-American Activities Committee and refusing to call out communists, Mr. Kazan is summoned back to Washington, DC. On the eve of his testimony, he is visited by Arthur Miller, who persuades him to face his accusers and call them out on the truth. Mr. Kazan and his wife, Molly, must decide between confronting his accusers and betraying his ideals.

All presentations of staged readings will take place at 7 PM. Each play will be livestreamed on the day of the performance only and will not be available on demand. All-access passes are available for donations above $100. Individual tickets for students and adults can be purchased online.

College Light Opera Company

The College Light Opera Company, which has brought summer stock theater to the Cape and provided a training ground for student performers for the past 50 years, has suspended its live summer programming but will offer a nine-week online series called Digital CLOC.

Mark Pearson, CLOC’s executive and artistic director, said that art and theater institutions can “create a sense of normalcy” by creating online seasons.

“Art can help you feel relaxed and to feel like it’s not the end of the world because things are still happening on a regular basis,” he said.

Digital CLOC will run for nine weeks, June 29 through August 30, and will have the following schedule.

• Tuesdays at 5:30 PM: “On The CLOC,” a lecture series featuring special guests to discuss history as well as contemporary topics related to music, theater and the performing arts

• Tuesdays at 8 PM: “Main Stage — Vocal Company,” a week-in-review of work being done by CLOC vocal company members including highlights from masterclasses as well as small individual performances

• Wednesdays at 10 AM: “Behind the Scenes with Kristin” in which CLOC’s production manager and technical director Kristin Knutsen take viewers backstage at Highfield Theatre to talk about technical theater and what goes on behind the proscenium

• Wednesdays at 8 PM: “Back Stage — Design and Production,” a week-in-review of work being done by CLOC’s design and production students; episodes include highlights from portfolio reviews, masterclasses and featured segments with individual students

• Thursdays at 10 AM: “Dance Around the CLOC” features the company’s choreographer for a weekly dance class that promises to teach new moves and help viewers work off any extra weight gained during quarantine

• Thursdays at 5:30 PM: “CLOC-Tails” is an opportunity for CLOC alumni to share songs and stories

• Fridays at 8 PM: “Off The CLOC” is the company’s behind-the-scenes talk series that has taken place for several seasons at Highfield Hall; viewers can join CLOC senior staff as they discuss their process and how they approach working in the fast-paced CLOC environment

• Saturdays at 8 PM: “CLOC-Werk” is a chance to view collaborative content created by company members through weekly assignments

• Sundays at 4 PM: “2nd Stage — Orchestra” is a reimagining of CLOC’s concert series usually held at the West Falmouth Library

Each episode of Digital CLOC will stream live on the company’s Facebook page and will be available on their website the day following the broadcast. Digital CLOC is free to watch, and donations can be made online.

Woods Hole Film Festival

According to MovieMaker Magazine, the Woods Hole Film Festival’s normally intimate environment contributes to “a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere that lends itself to creative inspiration.” Things not being normal, the folks who run the Woods Hole Film Festival made the ambitious decision to replicate the annual eight-day experience online on the same days that the in-person event would have taken place: July 25 though August 1. The virtual edition will feature nearly everything found at the in-person festival, including more than 40 feature-length and 150 short films, live Q&As with filmmakers, workshops and master classes with the filmmakers-in-residence, panel discussions, live music, and even a kids day.

“We’re trying to create a virtual event that comes as close to the live setting as it can be—in feel, in style and in engagement,” founder and executive director Judy Laster said. “We still see the festival as a community event, but the definition of community will just be larger.”

While the virtual option will not replace salt air and sandy beaches, or the ability to regularly bump into filmmakers on the street and at nightly parties, it does offer some advantages. Filmmakers and audience members can participate from anywhere in the world, watching films during the eight days without having to wait in line or find parking. The live Q&As with filmmakers, master classes, workshops and panel discussions will be scheduled events, and there will be suggested watch times for the films that coincide with the live events.

The festival features both first-time and veteran filmmakers with a focus on films and filmmakers with ties to the region, as well as films about science. Between feature-length and short films there are 38 world premieres, 11 North American premieres, and six US premieres. Other stats: 52 films were made by women, 42 were made internationally—including one from Antarctica, a festival first—and 11 filmmakers are festival alums, who are returning to the festival for their second, third or more times.

Two of the festival’s feature-length world premieres have connections to New England. Paul Riccio’s “Give Or Take,” a narrative film about a disillusioned New Yorker played by Kevin Rayburn; and filmmaker and award-winning reporter David Abel’s “Entangled,” a documentary about the efforts to protect North Atlantic right whales from extinction, the impacts of those efforts on the lobster industry and how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has struggled to balance the two competing interests.

A number of short films with New England ties are also making their world premieres. Bostonian Mark Kiefer returns with the premiere of his new short comedy “Duel,” about two Colonial-era Massachusetts gentlemen who square off in a battle of weapons and wits. In “Milford” by Seth and Nathan Barnatt, a man dreams of pursuing a new life after many years of contemplating leaving the small Massachusetts town he grew up in. Shannon Shiklin’s “Stories from the Blue: Disentangling Extinction,” examines the work of Charles “Stormy” Mayo, who has spent his career studying and disentangling North Atlantic right whales in and around the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. “The Mountain Dogs” by Aynsley Floyd follows two elderly golden retrievers who have been climbing unaccompanied to the top of the Pinnacle Trail in Stowe, Vermont, every day for over a decade. “Beyond the Gulf Stream” by Kyle Maddux-Lawrence follows a group of oceanographers as they research the interaction between deep-ocean waters and coastal currents.

Woods Hole Film Festival co-founder Kate Davis and husband David Heilbroner will screen “Born into the Gig,” a music-driven documentary feature that follows five singer-songwriters hoping to carve out their own musical identity in the shadow of their parents’ iconic greatness. John Meyer’s narrative feature “Being Dead” stars Newton native Kathryn Erbe, British actor Linus Roach and Elizabeth Marvel. Adam Jones and Darby Duffin’s feature documentary “Fish and Men” explores the forces threatening commercial fishing communities and public health by focusing on America’s oldest fishing port—Gloucester, Massachusetts. Jenn Harris and Zachary Grady’s short film “Island Queen,” shot completely in Massachusetts, revolves around a teenage hockey player who secretly plans to try out for the figure skating team but gets trapped on a ferry boat by its captain whose only focus is to get to a festival for a famous film about a shark.

Nearly 20 feature length and short films fall under the auspices of the festival’s Bringing Science to the Screen program.

Three festival alums will conduct master classes and participate in panel discussions as part of this year’s filmmaker-in-residence program. Director, writer and producer Laura Nix will offer a master class on how to create a meaningful impact campaign. Animator Patrick Smith will offer a class on how to be a career animated-short-film filmmaker. Award-winning British producer, writer and director of documentary films John Edginton will offer two master classes: “When Documentary Visions Collide” with Filmmaking Realities,” which addresses the many challenges and pitfalls that can occur at every stage of the filmmaking process, and “Doc Doctor Surgeries,” individualized problem-solving sessions with filmmakers that includes private, confidential sessions over the course of six days.

The festival is supported in part by grants from the Mass Cultural Council, Mass Festivals, Falmouth Fund of the Cape Cod Foundation in support of Bringing Science to the Screen, the Cape Cod 5 Cent Savings Bank Charitable Foundation, Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank, the Woods Hole Foundation and the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.

Pass prices include $150 for VIP tickets ($125 for festival members); all films $120 ($100 for members); features only for $90 ($75 for members) and shorts only for $90 ($75 for members). Individual films are $14 ($12 for members). Workshop and master classes are $20 each ($18 for members). All passes are available in advance and during the festival. Individual tickets available during the festival only at www.woodsholefilmfestival.org. Call 508-495-3456 or email info@woodsholefilmfestival.org.

Hyannis Sound

Instead of lining up 30 minutes early outside the Congregational Church in Falmouth for prime seats to hear Hyannis Sound on Monday nights, this summer we can all have front row seats to the group’s popular a capella concerts, from our own living rooms on our laptops or other streaming devices. Formed in 1994, a Hyannis Sound summer usually consists of weekly performances in Falmouth, Chatham, Dennis and Hyannis, special community events, and performances at private parties and functions. The group has recorded 15 albums to date, and its repertoire is diverse and extensive. In a virtual Relay For Life fundraiser the group sang Earth, Wind and Fire’s “September,” Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love Today” and the “Irish Blessing Song (May The Road Rise Up To Meet You)”. Other recordings include a performance of “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley and “A Whole New World” from the Disney musical “Aladdin.” Hyannis Sound can be found in concert at 7 PM on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in July and August on their website or through their social media pages. The group is also developing digital content that will be released throughout the season.