 This week, April 15 - 21, marks National Volunteer Week. The theme for National Volunteer Week is “Celebrate Service.” Volunteerism empowers individuals to find their purpose, to take their personal passion and turn it into meaningful change for their communities. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our volunteers who helped us & our project partner, the Charles River Conservancy, restore the Herter Park Amphitheater over the past two years, spending countless hours raking, pruning, weeding, sanding & painting. We also thank those who helped out at our shows last year - greeting guests, handing out programs, taking photos, & selling concessions.
We had a small, but very successful mini-season last year, with only a half-dozen or so performances. We are planning for so much more this season, and thus need more volunteers than ever. If you are interested in helping out in any way, or even if you want to stay informed for upcoming events, please head on over to our GET INVOLVED page to sign-up. And if you would like to participate in our Volunteer Clean-Up Day on May 5, from 9 AM -12 PM, email Sasha at svallieres@thecharles.org to register.  Howdy folks! Are you an awesome, outgoing individual with some knowledge of theater tech & a flexible schedule? If so, we are looking for you! We are looking for 1-3 people to help us coordinate & manage the amphitheater space, from cleaning, event set up, volunteer coordination, working the lights, interfacing with patrons/vendors/performers to clean up & lights out. Our season runs from May to October, with 2-4 events per week. Access to a car is helpful but not mandatory. DEADLINE is FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2018 AT 5:00 PM. For full job description & further information, visit: http://bit.ly/FOHP-job18
And save the date! Our first volunteer clean-up day will be May 5! This will be our only open-call clean-up event this spring. Visit the SCHEDULE page for more info. Oh, wait... we just did! Phase I of the Herter Park Amphitheater Electrical Project is now complete! We have stage lights to wash the performers in colorful glows, house lights to get patrons in & out safely, and path lights all repaired & activated. There are plenty of outlets around the stage and side utility poles for equipment & what-all. Huge thanks to the Harvard-Allston Public Realm Flex Fund (HAPRFF) for the initial grant award for the electrical project & to Ray Ciccolo & the Ciccolo Family Foundation for donating funds when unforeseen issues put us over budget. HAPRFF Chair, Gerald Autler, and Ray Ciccolo joined us for an intimate Lights Up! party last night to test the lighting out. It was great for them to be able to see their funds at work.  Thank you to the many contractors & consultants who helped us refine our project along the way & bring us to fruition - Ken Holman Electric, Mark Shore of High Output, Inc., Keith Yancy of Lam Partners Architectural Lighting Design, Larry Farrer of Engineering Advantage, Inc., & Michael Chabot of Boston Light Source. Super-duper thanks to Tim McHale, FoHP board member & president of McHale & Company Construction Management Services for putting the scope of work together and managing the entire process.
Thanks to Victoria Rowe, stage lighting designer extraordinaire, for learning the system on the fly & setting some quick lighting cues for us last night. We look forward to working with you in the future. Check out our Facebook page for more photos & videos of last night & stay tuned for a more formal celebration in spring 2018!  What a great time we had at the Friends of Herter Park booth at the 53rd annual Head of the Charles! Thanks to the amazing HoC staff & to all of you who stopped by to say "Hi!" We even got a little entertainment outta FoHP Board member Tim McHale!
The booth was staffed by several Board members & FoHP staff over the course of both days. We were able to update folks on our restoration efforts thus far, signed some people up for email alerts & got input on what types of programming you want to see in the space. The Amphitheater offered many a nice quiet respite from the days activities. We couldn't have asked for better weather, either. Amazing isn't it? The climate trends toward warmer fall temps just means a longer programming season for 2018! Speaking of programming - we still have not scheduled our big programming meeting mentioned in the previous blog post. That is still on our plate & it is still happening, I promise. And for another update - we have begun Phase I of our electrical work. We are bringing electricity to the site, reconditioning & reactivating the walkway lights, and installing new stage lighting. We expect this work to be complete in the next six weeks or so, thanks to Ken Holman Electric & High Output. So no more generators! HIP HIP HOORAY! Even though it's not quite officially over, I would like to thank September for giving us two out of three great evenings of weather. Yes, September, you did give us one rain-out, but I will only give you two demerits & no detention, as I know you can do better next time. Our 9/12 Boston Hassle show was a blast. Folks flowed in & out throughout the evening, adding to the perfectly mellow, groovy vibe of the night. Even the baby snapping turtles came out to say, "Hi!" Unfortunately, we did have to cancel the second show on 9/19. Our apologies to those bands: Tory Silver, Ed Balloon & Above Ground Basement. Can't wait to get you in here next year! And Dance Day 2017 was amazing. We ended up with SIX amazing dance performances, and ended the night with a little sing-a-long. We have some great pics posted on Facebook & Instagram. Lastly, many thanks to Bev Armstrong & Brazo Fuerte Artisanal Beer for being our partner brewery for Dance Day. If you aren't familiar, Brazo Fuerte is Massachusetts' FIRST woman-owned brewery & Bev's cold crafty-goodness are available locally! We don't know what the rest of the fall will bring, or if we can get any more shows in. Do take comfort in the fact that we are progressing on the electrical front, & that we do hope to have a big programming planning meeting next month. We are interested in what the community wants to see, what you want to perform for the community, who wants to help out, who has what contacts, figure out some how-to's, some do's & don'ts, some wants & needs, and maybe a little pizza. (...Just kiddin' about that last part. I didn't mean little! I meant a LOT!)   Hey kids! Make sure you get your homework done right after school tomorrow 9/12 so you can come out & play with us at the #HerterAmp show, presented by Boston Hassle! There will be 3 great local bands, 7-10 pm. Check out some sample tunes - links are all on the Schedule page.
Also - another great dancer has been added to our Dance Day 2017! In Addition to Alexander Davis Dance & ParadiseMoves, we are pleased to announce the addition of Jimika Mehta, bringing traditional Bollywood to the #HerterAmp stage! See ya there Saturday 9/16, 6-7:30!
So, who's excited for summer to end & looking forward to cold, ice & snow? Whaaaaaat?! No one?! Well, let us enjoy the heck outta the fall then!
We have three GREAT events planned for September. Tues. 9/12 & Tues. 9/19 from 7-10 pm, we have evenings full of live, local music presented with Boston Hassle! Three different bands will perform each night. The band selections look amazing & represent a wide variety of Boston's indie-music scene. What else, you ask? Well, we have had music & Shakespeare... now DANCE! We have two fantastic, local dance companies joining us Sat. 9/16, 6-7:30 pm for DANCE DAY 2017! Showcasing everything from narrative dance to modern & contemporary, these dancers will blow you away. These are all FREE community performances & open to all ages. Thanks to all who came out for our first major event, Brown Box Theatre Project presents Hamlet. We had approximately 800 audience members over the three-night run. Can you believe it?! Thank you to everyone who donated on their way out. While we did win a substantial grant from the Harvard Allston Public Realm Flex Fund toward restoring electricity to the site, we are still short for the basest of scopes of work. So keep them donations coming! #NoMoreGenerators What's next? SAVE THE DATE: 9/12 & 9/19 will be filled with live local bands, presented with Boston Hassle! See our SCHEDULE page for details!  Sooo.... whatcha doin' this weekend? Come see the Bard under the stars! Brown Box Theatre Project premiere's its Massachusetts run of HAMLET, right here at our very own Herter Park Amphitheater! The production has been getting some great press, as is our restoration efforts for the amphitheater. Please see our PRESS page for a great article on the production from Broadway World Boston, as well some wonderful news coverage from Boston Neighborhood Network News, in which News Director Chris Lovett interviews Brown Box Theatre & discusses the revitalization of the venue at length. HAMLET runs Fri, Sat. & Sun, 8/11-13, 7:30 pm. The performance is FREE with plenty of FREE parking. No reservations are required. Pack a picnic & come on down!  So our next event is Shakespeare's preeminent work about murder, revenge and madness - HAMLET, presented by the Brown Box Theatre Project. Brown Box's Massachusetts run of this performance is PREMIERING right here at our own Herter Amphitheater! Running August 11, 12 & 13, 7:30-9:30 pm, these shows are FREE & open to the public. Pack a picnic (& a little bug spray) and come on down to enjoy the Bard under the stars!  |
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