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CBS News
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
"Utopian Hotline" brings unique live performance with voicemails to Boston's Museum of Science
A unique theatrical experience is now in performance in an unlikely location: the planetarium at Boston's Museum of Science. "Utopian Hotline" is part telephone hotline, part vinyl record, and part live performance. In the wake of the pandemic, a member of the Brooklyn-based theater called Theater Mitu decided to put up fliers, asking people to call a number and talk about how they imagine a more perfect future. Founding Artistic Director of Theater Mitu, Rubén Polendo says, "We sat as a company, looked at the flyer, thought, nobody's going to call, but we just want to hear people have hope, talk about hope. And in fact, hundreds of people called. Hundreds. They called and they told us stories. They put their children on the phone. They sang to us. They prayed for us. They passed it on to other people in their community. And we started amassing this archive of voicemails about hope." One-of-a-kind theater experience The voicemails, combined with music and images, created this one-of-a-kind experience. "We had known about the utopian hotline existing and thought we wanted to bring it to Boston," explains Susan Chinsen, the Associate Director of Programming Engagement at ArtsEmerson. "But where could we put it? It's not a typical theater type of production." James Monroe, the creative director of strategic programs and the Museum of Science says, "Theatre Mitu are using the space and the technology in ways that I've never seen before done in a Planetarium or in the industry." "Planetariums are really designed to be a place where a community comes together and sees that which is not visible with the naked eye. And we sit in the awe and the excitement and the inspiration of that," says Polendo. "And that's exactly what Utopian Hotline does." Four performers lead the audience through the messages left on the hotline, while original music plays and projections appear above. Monroe says, "This is definitely elevating what live performance in theatre can look like at a science museum and at the Museum of Science." Chinsen agrees, telling us, "I think it's such a beautiful thing. The idea of people being able to sort of record their thoughts and feelings about something so grand, really in many ways, feels like it makes it real." And the play is still evolving. "As folks here in Boston call the hotline, their voicemail also enters into the performance and into the production. So it's a really living piece that really holds the community's thoughts and hopes in mind," Polendo explains. "One of the greatest challenges we have is that when the piece is over, people don't want to leave. They sit there and they stay. And that to us is really special and means the world, that people want to stay in that space of community and in that space of engagement. "It just is really breathtaking, and it just sort of puts you in a different sense of being," says Chinsen. "And the fact that you're there communally with all these other people really feels like a special opportunity." You can check out "Utopian Hotline" at the Museum of Science Planetarium through Sunday, May 18th. If you want to participate in the piece call 1-646-694-8050.
Boston Globe
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
For the team behind ‘Utopian Hotline,' disagreement is ‘the space that's interesting to us'
Justin Nestor, co-artistic director of Theater Mitu, points at a projection on the Planetarium dome while fine-tuning "Utopian Hotline" at the Museum of Science Planetarium. He's joined by, from left, founding artistic director Rubén Polendo, guest artist Stivo Arnoczy, and company member Cinthia Chen. Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe The At the Planetarium, the group, led by Nestor and founding artistic director Rubén Polendo, adapts their original performance for a fitting — and much larger — venue. They spoke with the Globe during a residency at the museum in late March. Advertisement Where to find them: Ages: Polendo is 54. Nestor is 40. Originally from: Nestor's from Dorchester, and Polendo from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Live in: Brooklyn Rubén Polendo, founding artistic director of Theater Mitu, working on "Utopian Hotline" in the Museum of Science Planetarium. Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe Why Nestor says they're 'really annoying' to work with: When adapting a work for a new space — a more artistic than pragmatic process that he calls 'translating' — 'we're not good at ignoring anything.' How they started: Growing up in a 'very Mexican family,' Polendo said, he experienced 'a lot of gathering around a table to celebrate, to mourn, to be confused, to argue.' He went into science, and as a young biochemist, he missed that mealtime energy. It had 'a more emotional and impactful link into the questions that certainly were present in science,' he said. Polendo turned to theater. Four collaborators on Theater Mitu's "Utopian Hotline" pose for a portrait in the Museum of Science's Planetarium. From left, Rubén Polendo, company member Cinthia Chen, Justin Nestor, and guest artist Stivo Arnoczy. Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe For Nestor, an 'artist, maker and creative technologist,' per his Advertisement What they make : 'Communal experiences of shared time and space,' Nestor said. How they work : Collaboratively. Eighteen company members are crafting 'Utopian Hotline.' 'We begin with a large question that is both inspiring and at times burdening,' Polendo said, 'that brings us together not into a point of agreement but actually into a point of disagreement. That's the space that's interesting to us.' 'When we reach a level of conversation and argument that words no longer function,' he added, 'the only way we can continue the argument is to begin to make something.' Justin Nestor (right) with Theater Mitu company member Cinthia Chen and guest artist Stivo Arnoczy. Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe Advice for artists : 'The job of the artist is to stay in the attempt,' Polendo said. 'That's why artists have a practice. Because you're constantly attempting.' UTOPIAN HOTLINE By Theater Mitu, presented by ArtsEmerson and the Museum of Science. At Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, May 1-18. Tickets $25 general, $17.50 museum members. Rubén Polendo works on "Utopian Hotline" at the Museum of Science Planetarium. Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
