About Town

A Healthy Community is a Happy Community

The Healthy Concord initiative plans its next survey, RTBC hosts another Cocoa House, and two plays grace town stages.

  Hello all, and happy Thursday! I know, it feels like it should be Friday, doesn’t it? But there’s still one more day to go in the week, and that’s a good thing, because Thanksgiving is one short week away. I don’t know how that happened – it just kind of snuck up on me. Thanksgiving’s early this year, which means more time to eat holiday food, which of course means more time to think about how NOT to eat all the goodies that will parade before you. Sigh. It’s so hard to be healthy. Which brings me to Jill Block and the initiative she’s currently running on keeping Concord healthy. I had heard whispers of this here and there, so I tracked her down to get the dirt, so to speak. I’m a strong supporter of regular exercise and healthy eating…

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Suburbia On Stage: 'Next to Normal' Opens at the Emerson Umbrella

A rock musical with a small cast, this slice of suburban struggle promises the audience a chance for introspection.

Less than a week after wrapping the Rocky Horror Show, a very different production is set to open at the Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts: Next to Normal. A Tony and Pulitzer-award winning musical that hit Broadway in 2009, Next to Normal features a small cast and tells the story of a suburban family struggling with a mother’s bipolar disorder. It is, in many ways, a polar opposite to Rocky Horror, but Director Brian Boruta hopes the audience will feel the same level of connection – albeit without the squirt guns, flashlights and other props that accompanied Rocky. “They’re definitely going to be in for an experience,” Boruta said, adding that instant connections to the story and characters produced a few tears during the cast’s first …

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About Town

Honoring Veterans, Kudos to CMLP and a Showing of Next to Normal

The lobby at 51 Walden shows off their patriotic spirit with WWII memorabilia; we give thanks to our electric company; and Emerson Umbrella has a show opening this weekend.

  Here we are, it’s Thursday, and we’re just days away from the big Veterans Day weekend. Got any plans? Even if it’s not a major holiday for you, you really should check out the display in the lobby of 51 Walden. It will not only get you in the spirit, but you’ll learn a whole lot. Jill Henderson and Carole Wayland have pulled together an impressive collection of World War II memorabilia, to coincide with the run of Mister Roberts, the current Concord Players show which of course takes place during that timeframe. They have lots of really cool stuff that will leave you breathless. There’s a vintage Red Cross uniform; propaganda posters like the Uncle Sam one that says “I Want YOU for U.S. Army,” and the one that admonishes you not to tell…

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