Generous Cape Cod Chronicle readers, many of whom are summer visitors or seasonal residents, dug deep and raised more than $149,000 for the Family Pantry of Cape Cod as part of the newspaper's first-ever summertime “Helping Neighbors” campaign. The campaign topped its $50,000 goal thanks to the support of a group of anonymous Chatham summer residents who issued a matching grant. While the summertime campaig...

The Monomoy Theater Company under Terry Layman's astute direction concludes a remarkable summer season of live theater with "Once In A Lifetime," Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman's comedic expose on the vice and folly of Hollywood's film industry on the eve of talking pictures (1928). In a cosmos of great pretenders, where stars align and misalign in a universe radiating energy, the show's beguiling theme crea...

When her book club read “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett, a novel set in Jackson, Miss. in the early 1960s, Jen Stello of Chatham was struck by a scene in which a woman’s front yard is filled with donated “commodes” instead of “coats.” Faced with the challenge of portraying “The Help” in flowers for the third annual Books in Bloom party and fundraiser sponsored by the Friends of the Eldredge Public Library, Stel...

Writers rule unequivocally, even when feigning writer's block this week at the Monomoy Theater when Neil Simon, Anton Chekhov, and Bernard Cornwell share the story-telling professions in the heart-warming comedy "The Good Doctor." The Monomoy Theater Company transports the audience to a 1910 theater in the Russian countryside where the cast re-enacts 11 of Chekhov's lyrical and laconic short stories. "The G...

 Sadly, the prolific American playwright A. R. Gurney died in June at the age of 86. Elements Theatre Company’s “Sylvia” is a fitting tribute to the man who liked to poke fun at the anxieties and foibles of the upper-middle class. “Sylvia” is an unusual love story. It centers around a stray dog named Sylvia (played by a younger adult female), who chooses her new owner Greg, as he dozes in a New York City park....

Everyone experiences the feeling. Wouldn’t it be nice to be a kid again? Attending the Cape Cod Theatre Company’s production of “Peter Pan and Wendy” brings out the child in all of us. By sheer osmosis, surrounded by that special sound of laughter and joy of children in the audience, you’ll feel the years just melt away. The power of live theater is alive and well at this home of the Harwich Junior Theatre. Pe...

Feminists unite! George Bernard Shaw, the Nobel Prize-winning playwright, heard your voices before your time had come. Is it a matter between two men to debate the passions of romantic love versus the complacency of a dignified marital relationship? Or might the woman in question learn to speak for herself? Is it her right to choose her own destiny? "Candida" at the Monomoy Theater formalizes the discussion of...

That first time you see your child shine it takes your breath away. It’s also the time you realize that this human being you brought into the world is a person, a person who can achieve incredible things. Billy Elliot’s father is drowning; drowning in grief over his wife’s death and drowning in worry because of the imminent coal miners’ strike. Jackie Elliot is trying so hard to give his sons, Tony and Billy, ...

There's something about the outside of a horse that's good for the inside of a person, as the variously attributed saying goes. A visit to Emerald Hollow Therapeutic Riding Center in Brewster goes a long way to proving exactly that. The mission of Emerald Hollow Therapeutic Riding Center is to enrich the lives of children and adults on Cape Cod with special needs through individualized equine assisted activities ...

Monomoy Theater Company under Francesca James' engaging direction sizzles in delightful, harmonious musicality retelling Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones' fetching tale, "110 in the Shade". Gonna be another hot day in a grassy, Western prairie town, home to the Curry family.  The drought has set in on the plains while impacting more than a few hearts.  H.C. Curry is deeply worried for his unmarried daughter Lizzie...

This year, the annual Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) will take place on Aug. 5 and 6, and local riders are getting in shape for the event. Cyclists from across the country will be participating in the bike-a-thon, which ranges from 25 to 192 miles, depending on the route. Among those riding this year are Chatham residents Paul Potash and Al Etre and Harwich residents Jennifer Hastings, Melissa Morse and Steven Conne...

“If I can fool a bug, I can certainly fool a man,” said the spider. Just as Mija is determined to save her pig from a slaughterhouse death in the new movie “Okja,” Charlotte the spider is resolute to save Wilbur, the Zuckerman pig, also from becoming a ham. By writing words in her web over Wilbur’s stall in the barn, “Charlotte’s Web” draws attention to Wilbur and makes him the talk of the county. Though my fa...