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Boston Globe
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Providence native's short film will soon debut at the Tribeca Film Festival. Her mentor: Spike Lee.
It's called 'How I Learned to Die,' and it's a 20-minute comedy-drama based on her own life that she's hoping to turn into a feature. It's executive produced by legendary director Spike Lee. I asked Glassman to tell us more about the project and her career. Q: Your latest film, 'How I Learned to Die,' will be featured at the Tribeca Film Festival next month. Tell us more about the film. Glassman: 'How I Learned to Die' is a short comedy-drama about 16-year-old Iris who finds out she has a 60 percent chance of dying in four days, so she's gotta live it up. This is my NYU graduate thesis, which I'm turning into a feature film. This story emerges from my own experience when doctors discovered a tumor inside my third vertebrae. As a freshman at a new school, I had to navigate teenage life (trying to look pretty at prom with a neck brace!) while facing a life-threatening situation. Coming-of-age humor mixed with the exploration of mortality and profound awareness of the beauty of life. Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up Q: The film is executive produced by Spike Lee and was shot in Providence. What's your connection to Spike? Advertisement Glassman: I had the amazing opportunity to be Spike Lee's teaching assistant at NYU and worked with him on an upcoming Netflix documentary. He suggested I make 'How I Learned to Die' as a 'proof of concept' for a feature. I obviously took his advice! He read multiple drafts of my script, awarded me with a production grant, agreed to be executive producer, and reviewed the final cut. He is an incredible mentor. I shot all the scenes in Rhode Island (Moses Brown, East Side) and yes, the hospital scenes at Providence College's nursing facility; PC was incredibly supportive. I am extremely proud to be a Friar and from Rhode Island. Advertisement Q: Can you describe what your life looks like as a filmmaker? Are you always juggling multiple projects? Glassman: I love working on multiple projects. Along with writing and directing my own films, I've produced 11 shorts and a feature film. I like switching it up and being a producer, which helps me balance the imaginative with the achievable. I also like various genres beyond the narrative medium. For example, I just produced another Emeline Easton's (another Providence local) music video, shot on 16mm film, which was very fun. Q: What's next for Manya Glassman? Glassman: Well, first is to make the feature of 'How I Learned to Die!' We're in development on the feature version of the short (that's premiering at Tribeca), currently looking for financing and producing partners. The short takes you one place, and the feature goes even further. I'm really excited about the ways the story elaborates not only on my own personal experience, but in general about teenhood. Then after this film, I have at least 2 more feature scripts written and a TV pilot – so the plan is to keep making movies! Advertisement This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you'd like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, . Dan McGowan can be reached at
Boston Globe
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Senator Reed and Representative Amo sound the alarm
The event marks the 200th episode of the Rhode Island Report podcast and celebrates the ongoing partnership between Globe Rhode Island and Rhode Island PBS The full podcast show will go live tomorrow — listen to it on Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up A sold-out crowd listens to a live recording of the Rhode Island Report podcast with US Senator Jack Reed, US Representative Gabe Amo, and hosts Jim Hummel, host of "A Lively Experiment" on Rhode Island PBS, and Globe Rhode Island political reporter Edward Fitzpatrick on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at Rhode Island PBS studios in Providence, R.I. Carlos Muñoz Advertisement Here are a few highlights. A looming constitutional crisis At several points, Reed made it clear he has concerns about Trump's willingness to defy the US Supreme Court, and what it would mean for the country. He said he hopes that Republicans in Congress will realize that they have to intervene, but he acknowledged that Trump knows it's highly unlikely he will be impeached, and he is 'playing on that now.' The case of Abrego Garcia is the Advertisement Harsh words for Hegseth Reed pulled no punches about his feelings on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whose nomination he attempted to block. He said the latest reports that Hegseth shared sensitive information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 with family members proves he is not qualified for the job, and should resign. Reed said Hegseth's tendency to work 'in this circle of very close cronies' is especially concerning. Following a live recording of the Rhode Island Report podcast at Rhode Island PBS studios, US Senator Jack Reed chats with guests. Carlos Muñoz Concerns about higher education Amo pointed out that the Trump administration's attempts to cut and freeze funding to colleges and universities could have a much larger negative impact on the economy – especially in Rhode Island. Amo said the state's attempt to become a player in the life sciences space will be at risk if Brown University has to pause construction or hiring. Reed said that rather than attempting to build a knowledge economy, Trump's 'trying to build an ignorance economy' by cutting research grants. USAID cuts are devastating Amo is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, which has been digging into the gutting of USAID, said the 'heartlessness we've seen from President Trump, the weakness from Secretary [Marco] Rubio, the arbitrary cuts from Elon Musk, leave us in a position where around the world where our allies are saying, 'don't trust the US.'' He said Trump wants to force countries to come to the US and beg for help, 'and that's not OK.' Following a live recording of the Rhode Island Report podcast at Rhode Island PBS studios, Congressman Gabe Amo chats with guests. Carlos Muñoz 'We're abandoning the Ukrainians' Reacting to reports that Secretary Rubio plans to skip the next stage of the Ukrainian cease-fire talks, Reed said he fears that it's another sign that 'we're abandoning the Ukrainians.' Reed warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be satisfied until he can pursue more former territories that were once controlled by Russia, and those countries are concerned that America won't be there to offer support. He also warned that China is watching the situation closely because it could become more aggressive with its neighbors if the US isn't in the picture. Advertisement Other quick hitters Reed does plan to seek reelection next year and is still backing Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer: When it comes to Democratic infighting, Reed said, 'the worst thing we can do as Democrats is spend the next year and a half fighting with each other.' Amo said he would be supportive of Congress passing legislation to offer more student visas to help the innovation economy continue to flow. This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you'd like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, . Dan McGowan can be reached at
Boston Globe
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘Fat Ham' is a frivolous but fearless re-conception of ‘Hamlet'
Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up Given the play's long and varied history, the question 'to be, or not to be' comes to mind regarding playwright James Ijames' 'Fat Ham,' which made its off-Broadway debut at The Public Theatre in 2022 and transferred to Broadway in 2023. Does the world need another play that walks in the shadow of Shakespeare's masterwork? Advertisement The answer is no, particularly since the Broadway production of 'Fat Ham' lost in all five Tony categories for which it was nominated. Still, Wilbury Theatre Co.'s thoroughly enjoyable Rhode Island premiere of the play is a welcome indulgence. Advertisement 'Hamlet' is set in Denmark in the late Middle Ages and finds its melancholic lead character and his level-headed friend Horatio visited by the ghost of Hamlet's dead father, the King, who asks his son to exact revenge against his uncle. Claudius had murdered him in order to seize the throne and marry Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, which has led Hamlet to grapple with emotional trauma and a sense of betrayal that has him questioning his identity, responsibility, and life itself. 'Fat Ham' transfers this story to a contemporary time and place — a backyard barbecue in North Carolina (realistically rendered by scenic designer Shanel LaShay Smith, lighting designer Andy Russ, and costumer Jaimy A. Escobedo) — over the course of one eventful afternoon. Juicy (a remote but endearing Dana Reid) isn't a Danish prince. He's a Black, queer, and sensitive heir to the family barbecue and butcher business, one that he has turned his back on for an online degree in human resources. The party is a celebration of the nuptials between his Mom, Tedra (a dynamic Maria Albertina, who fully embraces Ijames' depiction of 'Hamlet's' Gertrude as a sex-starved vixen) and his Uncle Rev (Jermaine L. Pearson, a particularly caustic Claudius equivalent). In attendance are Juicy's Horatio-adjacent friend Tio (an engaging Jeff Ararat, whose exaggerated stoner antics often go too far to be funny), childhood friend Opal (a flat-out terrific Autumn Mist Jefferson, who serves up an intriguing take on the insecurities of 'Hamlet's' Ophelia), her brother, Larry (an appropriately stoic, Laertes-like Mamadou Toure), and their Bible-toting Mom, Rabby (a delightful Michelle L. Walker). The act of revenge is an opportunity for Juicy to prove to the men in his family that he isn't soft and he isn't weak. Advertisement One has to squint hard to find other 'Hamlet' connections in this play, for 'Fat Ham' has reduced the epic five acts to a 90 minute one-act, and it is a full-fledged comedy rather than a dark tragedy. Missing is Shakespeare's poeticism, though director Don Mays and his cast find the lyric rhythms in Ijames' writing. A few short direct address soliloquies pop up as well, as does the pilfering of some of Hamlet's best lines, but those moments are few, forced, and slow to develop. There are also moments that just don't work. The brief game of charades, for example, which replaces the performance of a traveling troupe of actors in 'Hamlet' that is intended to gauge Claudius's reaction and potentially expose his guilt, goes nowhere. There's a karaoke scene that is fun but frivolous. And the play's ending, which fizzles out, is disappointing as well. Still, one can't overlook the reason why 'Fat Ham' received the 2022 Pulitzer Prize and admire the work accordingly. The play is a fearless portrayal of a sensitive and self-aware main character — purposefully cast as Black and gay — who chooses to break a cycle of trauma and deny a legacy of brutality in service of his own liberation. Unlike Hamlet, Juicy chooses pleasure over pain. Amidst the laughs and missteps, Ijames crafts a tender story. And that story is well rendered in this intimate Wilbury Theatre staging. FAT HAM Book by James Ijames. Directed by Don Mays. At Wilbury Theatre Group, WaterFire Arts Center, 475 Valley St., Providence. Through April 13. Tickets are $5-$55. 401-400-7100, Advertisement Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him
Boston Globe
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Burbage Theatre falls short in its staging of ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'
Advertisement ' Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up The productions at London's West End in 2013 and on Broadway in 2015, as well as What is clear from the current Burbage Theatre Co. staging of this play, under Karen Carpenter's direction, is that productions, too, fall on a spectrum. Here, designers Trevor Elliott (set/projections) and Audrey Visscher (lighting) operate with just enough technological bells and whistles to keep things interesting and operating in the same theatrical spirit as the original productions. But rear projections on the two wall-sized screens that surround the small performance space, coupled with uninspiring illumination and an imbalanced soundtrack, keep this staging from feeling immersive. Having a tilted mirror suspended above the stage so that audience members in the rear of the house can see what's taking place on the edge of the stage floor further undermines all that is artsy and tech-savvy in the production. Advertisement Without all the dazzling production pyrotechnics, attention automatically gravitates to the performers and their contributions to this enterprise. Elijah Russell's portrayal of Christopher, who is rarely off stage during the production's two-hour run, is authentic and always interesting. And because the stagecraft doesn't quite hold up its end of getting the audience to understand the agony of Christopher's existence, Russell's casual but risk-taking performance certainly does. He carries the show and is a pleasure to watch. Christopher's special-education teacher, Siobhan — a thoroughly delightful Allison Crews — provides Christopher's inner voice throughout the show by reading his journal aloud. This turns what we see and know of the parents, the neighbors, and others into an extension of Christopher's autism, which limits the range and depth with which they can be depicted. The wonderful Michael Thibeault and Amie Lytle, as the parents, do what they can to flesh out their characters and add a semblance of pathos to their portrayals, but the script offers little to work with. Members of the ensemble (H. Avery, Paula Faber, Mireya Hoffens, Philip Iredale, Omar Laguerre-Lewis, and Teddy Lytle), who portray assorted neighbors, passersby, and the occasional household appliance — all the while delivering and removing props and furnishings — are similarly handcuffed. But instead of finding a common stylistic approach to their characters and their execution of Philip Iredale's mob movement choreography, their work is as inconsistent as their British accents. Advertisement Carpenter, as director, finds humor and tenderness in this work. Just not a way to better elevate the efforts of the actors and the artisans. THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME Play by Simon Stephens, based on the novel by Mark Haddon. directed by Karen Carpenter. At the Burbage Theatre Co., 59 Blackstone Ave., Pawtucket. Through April 13. Tickets are $30, including fees. 401-484-0355, Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him .
Boston Globe
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A parable worth repeating: Teatro ECAS brings back ‘Yo Soy Minerva' (‘I am Minerva')
Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up A lawyer and the third of four Mirabal sisters, Minerva, played by Jahaira Suarez, became a pivotal figure in the history of the Dominican Republic when she led the courageous struggle against the brutal regime of Rafael Trujillo, played by José Luis Suazo. Together with her charismatic sisters, Patria (Betsy Montes) and María Teresa (Anna Delgado), she was part of the clandestine opposition movement. Their demise – recognized as the most outrageous of the crimes committed during the lengthy dictatorship – drew international censure of the Trujillo regime and helped to bring about its downfall. Advertisement The play is told from the perspective of the deceased Minerva (Noelia Parra), whose spirit has returned five decades after her murder in her hometown of Ojo de Agua, Salcedo. Her life, we learn, was selfless and heroic. Her death was tragic. And the play ends with the entire cast (including Yamel Castillo, Sylvia Bernal, Franklin Solano, Miosotis Ihelefeld, and Juan Carlos Parra), comprised largely of native Dominicans, taking the stage and asking, 'Was it worth it?' The answer, in light of the Dominican Republic's independence and the moral victory of thrashing a dictator hellbent on the dissolution of civil liberties, is a resounding 'yes.' Advertisement But if that question was aimed at this production, the answer would be different. Though staged with a strong sense of commitment and no shortage of good intentions, the retelling of Minerva's tale is hindered at every turn by an absence of poetry and virtuosity. The script itself is problematic, for it is laden from the get-go with lengthy monologues by Minerva and her surviving sister, Dedé (Sylvia Bernal), that are weighed down with historical and biographical backstory. In this production, these monologues and most of the Mirabals' story are told at us by stationary performers, rather than shown to us by way of engaging theatricality. And it is told in heightened, melodramatic Spanish that sounds like a telenovela and reads stiffly and awkwardly in the English supertitles on a screen centered above the small performance space. Much of the acting follows suit, though Suarez's tenacious and authentic performance as the living Minerva is a welcome exception. Production values are limited as well. Dramatic lighting, designed by Huascar Parra and David Ocampo, merely illuminates the stationary performers on a barren stage, and projections on three screens, designed by Miguel Bandres, serve as scenery but do little to complement or facilitate the storytelling. None of this makes for a particularly provocative evening of theater. With that said, there is the occasional arresting moment in Parra's staging – such as when the Mirabal sisters are beaten and murdered by Trujillo's thugs – that show this production's potential for creativity and poignancy. But such moments are few and far between, and call attention to many missed imaginative opportunities. So does the end of the play when the actors ask, 'Was it worth it?' Missed is the opportunity to turn a powerful historical reflection into a contemporary rallying cry, particularly for a theater that suffered from federal Related : Advertisement 'YO SOY MINERVA' Written by Mu-Kien Adriana Sang Ben and adapted/directed by Francis Parra. At Teatro ECAS, 679 Valley St., Providence, RI. Through March 16. Tickets $35-$55, plus fees. 401-421-3227, Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him .
