Becoming a parent is a joy and a lifelong responsibility. You want the best for your kids. Education is paramount. Good schools with excellent teachers are a prerequisite. Horace Greeley is such a school. It’s expensive, but worth it. But you need to listen and then learn from your child also; hopefully a good teacher knows how to do just that. I think one of the greatest joys of parenthood is witnessing when som...

What is the nature of the perhaps-mysterious bond between dogs and humans? After a showing of the film “The Way Home: A Century of Finding Loving Companions for Shelter Animals” on Aug. 18 at the Chatham Orpheum Theater, a six-member panel will explore that bond, each in his or her own way. “The Way Home” is a 50-minute documentary by Geoff Bassett and Kim Roderiques. Bassett manages the Orpheum, and for “T...

What do you think of when you remember summer camp? Swimming and archery? Toasting s'mores by the campfire with friends? Bug juice, mystery meat, mosquito bites? A fun exhibit called “Postcards from Summer Camp” at the Brewster Historical Society’s Cobb House Museum will make you wax nostalgic, no matter when you last checked into a rustic cabin in the woods. The exhibit came about after the recent...

This critic has been an American in some great cities: Budapest, Rome, Athens, Lisbon, Jerusalem come to mind. But she has never been an American in Paris. So what fun it was to spend a few August hours with the super-talented cast of “An American in Paris” at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, where the musical will be performed through the Aug. 13. These performers are genuine triple-threats: they act, they sing,...

Here it is, mid-summer on Cape Cod. July has given way to August, and beaches, roadways, and restaurants are full of families and visitors enjoying our prime season with relish, even reckless abandon in some instances. Although the first week of August is only close to being the half-way mark on our summer calendars, those of us who have weathered many Augusts here know that the season is already beginning to ...

E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web” always astounds me. I don’t really like spiders; I actually freak a little if one is on me. But every time I see or read White’s story I tear up when Charlotte explains how spiders don’t live very long. The story of this friendship between a pig and a spider, now on stage at the Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre, is touching and appealing, and filled with lessons of tr...

The barn is cold at night. The cows and the hen are frustrated that they can’t communicate with Farmer Brown about this situation. Their pleas for electric blankets sound like “moo, moo, moo” to the farmer. He has no idea they are unhappy. Cow #2 (Hannah Carrita) is angry and wants something done, now! Cow #1 (Holly Hansen) is trying to be more reasonable about the issue. Hen (Jess Andra) has another thought a...

“My Aunt is so big hearted, when anyone is in trouble, she comes to the rescue!” speaks young adult Patrick Dennis in the closing scenes of the musical “Mame,” now playing at the Chatham Drama Guild through Aug. 21. Bravo to Bridget Williams in fine voice and gorgeous costumes, for her beautiful, lively, lovely Mame, onstage for summer family audiences to enjoy. Mame and her loving nephew, eccentric friends, a...

It may be the middle of summer, but at Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre, it’s time to go back to school. Don’t worry – this is definitely one school that won’t make you want to cut class. From Aug. 5 to 28, “School of Rock” is in session at CCTC/HJT. Dewey Finn’s rock band has given him the boot, and things are looking grim. When Dewey finds a job posing as a substitute teacher at a private el...

It’s a jolly summer holiday with “Mary Poppins” at the Academy of Performing Arts Theater in the round. When Mary holds your hand, you will feel so grand! The endearing nanny whose mystical vision leads her to the George Banks residence in Edwardian London, where two adorable children, Jane and Michael, are in need of an adult’s loving attention. Mr. Banks is all business, demanding obedience and the proper na...

DENNIS – At Cape Playhouse through Saturday, “God of Carnage” employs a prestigious fight director. Given the incendiary title, perhaps that’s no surprise. But surprise you it does, a dark comedy about polite society peppered with self-deprecating hilarity and rapid-fire insights into parenting, marriage, and the human character. There are four protagonists – two married couples dealing with the aftermath o...

Even as a young girl I loved mysteries. Like many girls growing up in the 1960s, I was an unabashed fan of Nancy Drew. My love of mysteries continues today. I’m especially fond of British and cozy mysteries, not to be confused with suspense, international intrigue, or other more violent sorts. This penchant for carefully searching and teasing out the real clues from the multiple red herrings mystery writers de...