Hub Arts blog has mentioned that Commonwealth Shakespeare Company will offer “Othello” as its 15th annual Shakespeare on the Common production in July and August 2010. I know that this is quite a ways off, but Othello is one of my all time favorite plays by Shakespeare and dreaming of a warm summer night out on the Common is a great way to escape the bitter reality that it is absolutely freezing in Boston just now.Exact dates and casting for the performances this summer have not been scheduled, but I’ll be certain to write more about this as the time approaches. Until then, I’ll use this trusty promo from the 1995 production which starred Lawrence Fishurne as Othello and Kenneth Branaugh as the despicable Iago.
Tom Cruise flick, “Wichita”, continues to film in the neighborhood and the parking lot across the street from my condo is filled with trailers again (although Tom’s super-deluxe black trailer bus is noticably absent). Should I happen to see the movie star or Cameron Diaz – the leading lady – I’ll be sure to comment or post a tweet on my twitter account, twitter.com/BosGuy.
Tagged Art and Film, BosGuy, Boston, South End, SOWA
Today’s Boston Globe has an article entitled, “Painting outside the box”. The article is about a city program that commissions street art. According to the article, two dozen local artists have been brought in by the Boston Arts Commission as part of its PaintBox program, which is being modeled after similar efforts in Cambridge and Somerville. The program started slowly last year with only 13 boxes painted, but it has quickly expanded to more than 40. I’m a huge fan of public art and hope it continues. A utility box has been decorated in my neighborhood on the corner of Dartmouth and Tremont Street. Click on the picture to make it larger and find out more about the artist by visiting their website.
The South End – a long-time enclave for many local artists – has recently seen more public art and sometimes residents get up in arms about such public displays. With very few exceptions, I am generally very excited and like to see such creative expressions. Earlier this year when the Shepard Fairey exhibit opened at the I.C.A., there was a lot of anger directed at Fairey because of some of his public works which the city labelled as ‘vandalism’. I believe that he actually had to appear in court and was formally charged for some of his work, which I think was a shame because I love seeing his murals. There remain at least 3 or 4 murals in my neighborhood and I would love to see more. The image below is in the South End on Shawmut Street.
Tagged Art and Film, BosGuy, Boston, Boston Guy, Pop Culture, South End
Last night I purchased tickets to see Pam Ann who opens her new world tour here in Boston at the Colonial Theatre on Saturday, October 10th. For those unfamiliar, Pam Ann is the alter ego of Australian comedian Caroline Reid who’s fictional character is a pun on the now defunct Pan Am Airlines. Her website claims Pam Ann to be “the funniest and busiest air hostess.” If you like what you see below and think you would enjoy seeing Pam Ann on her ‘lay over’ in Boston, you can purchase tickets by going to her tour website, Pam Ann Live.
The video clip for “Pam Ann – Global Alliance” showcases many of her fictional characters which all play off of humurous stereotypes. Many of these characters are woven into her one-woman show. I’ve listed each character below the video in their order of appearance.
Pam Ann Global Alliance
Pam Ann
Unnamed Indian Woman – Air India
Valerie – American Airlines
Mona – British Airways (shown repeatedly)
Heidi – Scandinavian Airlines System
Lilly – Singapore Airlines
Vespa – Alitalia (shown repeatedly)
Donna – EasyJet
Unnamed Arabic Woman – Emirates Airline
Chantal Jemeladonne – Air France
Marcia – Unspecified African airline
Conchita Rosa María González Gómez – Iberia Airlines (shown repeatedly)
Helga – Lufthansa
Gloria – Qantas
Vanity – Virgin Atlantic Airways
Tagged Art and Film, BosGuy, Boston, Boston Guy, Gay
Today is the final day of the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival, which culminates in a day of free performances outside in the South End. The outdoor stages have been set up along Columbus Avenue in the South End between Burke Street and Mass. Ave. and since the weather today is spectacular, I hope you’ll swing by not only to support the local arts scene, but to enjoy some great music. Today’s free outdoor festival starts at 12:00pm.
Thanks to Wicked Gay Blog (WGB) for sharing this latest video of Sam Tsui. I first wrote about Sam earlier this month in my entry, Don’t Stop Believing. Check out this MJ medley – it is my favorite video on YouTube at the moment.
I feel like a complete idiot! Just yesterday I was commenting to friends about a woman who’s trailer for, Wichita, is directly across from my apartment. I thought she looked familiar but could not quite place her. After reading LoadedGun Boston, I realized that woman in the yellow dress is Cameron Diaz. Cameron seems to be quite chatty – people are constantly visiting her trailer and she is in and out many times through out the day. I’m really digging the distraction and want to thank my partner in crime (a.k.a. Sergio) for snapping this video (see below) from his Sony camera earlier this morning. The 30-second clip shows Tom Cruise grabbing Cameron and shoving her into a car.
According to Loaded Gun Boston, “production is hashing out an elaborate crash scene where a commercial 727 airliner skids into a Cumberland Farms cornfield near Curve Street in Bridgewater. Scheduled to shoot Thursday, Sept. 24 and Friday, Sept. 25, the scene depicts the aftermath of a plane crash in a fictional Indiana locale.”
Tagged Art and Film, BosGuy, Boston, Boston Guy, Pop Culture, South End
Over the weekend notices were plastered through out the neighborhood that filming for Tom Cruise’s movie, Wichita, would be taking place. There has been a lot of filming in Massachusetts and Boston in particular since Gov. Patrick signed a bill last year that gave the industry a bunch of tax breaks. I first wrote about this back in my February post, Lights, Camera, Action.
Over the past year, Ben Affleck, Mel Gibson and Kate Hudson have all been filming on the streets surrounding my apartment. However, usually the filming crews are scattered through out the neighborhood or they just have a small crew on site to film a few scenes. However, that all changed today when I opened my curtains this morning and saw ta temporary trailer park outside my window.Today, everytime I walked by my window it seemed as if Tom Cruise, or his wife, Katie, and daughter, Suri, were walking around the make-shift film site. I am not a very good photographer so I apologize for the blurry images, but I still thought it was pretty cool to play “paparazzi”. I’ve included a few photographs of the Cruise family in their makeshift home for the week while they film outside my apartment. (If you click on the pictures they will enlarge.)
Tagged Art and Film, BosGuy, Boston, Boston Guy, Pop Culture, South End
This weekend was Open Studios. This event happens twice a year (once in May and September) and draws more than 250 local artists (many of whom live here in the South End). Thanks in part to the gorgeous weather, it appears as if the artists may have profited handsomely. The streets in the South End and specifically SoWa had heavy foot traffic all day long on Saturday and Sunday, and I saw many people carring objects d’art with them as they were leaving the neighborhood.Many of the artists who show during the Open Studios live in the South End and welcome you into their studios (which sometimes double as their homes). While I have a few personal favorites, I’m always impressed by the number of participating artists who make their living from their craft and the variety of mediums artists use to express their creativity.
If you did not get a chance to come into town to walk the streets, talk to the artists and enjoy the beautiful weather, I’m sorry for you because it really was a wonderful way to spend time. I wish I’d thought to write about this event earlier in the week and had the forethought to bring my camera when I walked around the neighborhood earlier today.
Check out Sam Tsui. Not only does he have a really great voice, but he’s quite creative cloning himself to sing lead and back up in this self-made video. I wonder if he puts a gold star after his name like Rachel Barry from Glee.
Tagged Art and Film, BosGuy, Boston Guy, Pop Culture
Do you recall the summer concert series that use to take place on the Boston Commons?
My very first concert was at the Concert on the Commons. It was Friday, June 29, 1984 and the headliner that night was the Go Go’s with a relatively new band from Australia named, INXS, as the opening act. The Go Go’s were promoting their new album, Talk Show, and INXS was promoting their album, “The Swing”. I was in 8th grade at the time and was accompanied by two of my closest friends, Brian Northridge and Tom Kane. We were driven into the city by Tom’s super cool aunt and her boyfriend at the time who were in college.
The concert would be the first of many live shows I would go see and indicative of the ‘new wave’ movement which I would be swept up in through the remainder of the 80s.
I’ve looked all over for images of and references to the Concerts on the Commons, and I wish I could find archived photographs that I could share but sadly I’ve not. Do you recall this summer concert series in the heart of the city? Did you go and see any shows on the Commons?
Here is a funny clip from a show I watched back when I was a kid. I don’t think I saw this episode of Cheers which was probably from the first season since it pre-dates Woody and still has Coach as the bartender.
Very funny to watch. Thanks to Gay Guy / Straight Guy for posting it on their blog.
Tagged Art and Film, BosGuy, Boston Guy, Gay, Pop Culture
With nearly 7.6 million views, I may very well be the last person to have watched this clip on YouTube. However, I wanted to add this to my blog if only for posterity sake. I’ve just finished watching SYTYCD because although I have no coordination and even less rhythm, I absolutely love this sort of thing. If you can, watch this in HD.
Thanks to my sister Elizabeth for forwarding me this clip.
Tagged Art and Film, BosGuy, Boston Guy
BosGuy 