It’s not often that you have the opportunity to be present when someone’s dream comes true. Maureen Condon wanted to write a play that made a difference. “Crude, The Climate Change Musical” is Condon’s dream, because she “believes in the power of the arts to shape the future.” She’s already seen her musical as an official selection of the New York Musical Festival, and now the world premiere has been held at the ...

Anyone who grew up with the Addams Family can recall the characters, music, costumes, and humor. This famous family has returned to the Chatham Drama Guild for several encore performances that are sure to bring laughter, fun, and families together this month. “It’s a true family affair because we spend so much time together,” said Rebecca Banas, who stars as the smart, classy and often funny Morticia Addams. T...

If pleas from our children, warnings from the UN, and daily evidence of increasing weather disruptions don't convince us of climate change, how about a musical? That's what inspired Cape Cod playwright Maureen Condon to write "Crude—the Climate Change Musical," which has its world premiere Thursday, Oct. 10 at the Cape Cod Theatre Company, home of the Harwich Junior Theater. With a background in science wri...

As the weather becomes colder, our attentions turn to seasonal treats like mulled cider, fall foliage, and spooky Halloween tales. A classic American ghost story is Washington Irving’s 1820 short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and the Academy of Performing Arts’ adaptation, by Vera Morris, is more fun than scary, making it ideal for the whole family. The Dutch-settled village of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., is i...

If there's one subject Cape Codders can relate to, it's water. Our lives cycle in and around local rivers, ponds, bays and sounds. How we connect to water is a subject as varied as the people. Next weekend the Blue Institute of Cape Cod will host two programs in Harwich that illuminate our connection to water. The first, on Friday evening Oct. 18, showcases the winners of the recent "Words on Water" writing co...

Just in time for Halloween comes the pleasurably creepy debut novel “In the Midst of the Sea: A Novel of Paranormal Horror” (Pace Press, 2019), set on off-season Martha’s Vineyard. “Both the Cape and the Islands are so full of history, culture and time, that I almost feel like you can’t help but feel the ghosts around you,” author Sean Padraic McCarthy of South Plymouth said in an email interview last week. Mc...

Is it surprising that to photograph ducks and shorebirds, you may well have to creep along ice-covered rocks or lie down on your belly in the sand or mud? These are commonplace activities of award-winning wildlife and nature photographer Sarah E. Devlin of Chatham, who will show her exquisite bird photographs at the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge from Oct. 4 to 14. “I lie in a prone position,” Devlin said...

Recent books by local writers examine life in New York City, Cape Cod and during Neanderthal days. Skip Rozin of Harwich, who made a career as a freelance writer in publications as diverse as Time Magazine, the Wall Street Journal and Audubon, has now turned his considerable talents to memoir in “The View from Apartment Four: On Loving and Leaving New York” (77 Street Press, 2019). At the heart of the memoi...

You better be careful what you name a group of young musicians because in a few years, when it releases its first CD, that name might not quite fit. Take the case of the Keltic Kids. When music instructor Clayton March of South Chatham assembled the group to play Irish music in 2012, he had no idea that the group would have to rebrand after a few years. None of the original talented young musicians in the Kelt...

“I was just speaking to someone I work with about the play I saw last night, and didn’t realize at first the hair on my arms was up, and I was chilled all over. I’m still thinking about it. So powerful,” texted my theater companion the day after we went to Cape Rep’s “Indecent.” Cape Rep sets the bar higher and higher for Cape theaters by producing quality shows over and over. Brewster’s theater in the woods hand...

Ten local bands will pitch in to raise money for Hurricane Dorian relief efforts in the Bahamas in a benefit concert slated for Friday, Sept. 27 from 6 to 10 p.m. at Cape Cod Beer in Hyannis. Bands for the Bahamas is being organized by Josh Stewart, who teaches at the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School and in Nassau; Steve and Sarah Swain—whose band Sarah Swain and the Oh Boys will play at the benefit—and Noel...

Think of a box. Any box will do: a beautiful jewel box, a commuter train, a cardboard moving crate, even the kind of box they use to bury people. Now think outside the box. That’s what a troupe of about two dozen dancers of all ages will be doing on the evenings of Sept. 19, 20, and 21 at the Cape Cod Theatre Company, home of the Harwich Junior Theatre. A statement from the Movimento Project promises that t...