Arts

Footlight Club’s ‘Clybourne Park’ Builds Off Famed ‘A Raisin in the Sun’

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The Footlight Club's current show is Clybourne Park , the Pulitzer Prize winning play that was spun out of Lorraine Hansberry's classic play A Raisin in the Sun. Bruce Norris' 2010 play was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2011, and Tony Award for Best Play in 2012. The play occurs during and after Hansberry's play, and is loosely based on historical events that took place in Chicago. In 1959 white community leaders anxiously try to stop the sale of a home to a black family. In the next act the play is set in the same house in the present day, as the now predominantly African-American neighborhood battles gentrification.

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Business

$1.9M in CPA Funds Recommended for Pine Street Inn Building, Footlight Club, Haffenreffer Brewery

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Three Jamaica Plain projects are among the 40 recommended by the city to receive more than $24 million in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds. The Community Preservation Committee met on Jan. 27 to vote on Mayor Marty Walsh's recommended slate of projects for funding. The Boston City Council will need to approve the use of the funds, and the council is expected to vote in the coming weeks. The three Jamaica Plain projects are:

$1,500,000 to the Pine Street Inn and the Community Builders to build a portion of 202 affordable rental units, including 156 for formerly homeless households, at 3368 Washington Street

$200,000 to the Haffenreffer Brewery complex to restore the roof and windows for a "Prosperity Center" providing small business services, job training, ESL classes, and other programs

$200,000 to the Footlight Club, the country's oldest community theatre, to remediate structural problems and stabilize Eliot Hall, a Greek Revival wood-frame structure built in 1831

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From the Community

JP Toastmasters Open House January 27

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Do you want to develop your communication and leadership skills to grow greater self-confidence and personal growth? Then you should checking out the JP Toastmasters Open House event on January 27. JP Toastmasters is known for providing a warm, welcoming environment where members help each other improve their public speaking and leadership skills. Click here to learn more about JP Toastmasters. The meeting will feature free food and drinks, introductions, and opportunities to practice speaking.

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Arts

And They Were Never Heard From Again: An Evening of Ghosting Stories

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Submissions are currently being accepted for a very unique Valentine's Day event about ghosting at The Footlight Club. Jamaica Plain resident Rebecca Glucklich, one of the co-creators of the event, explained the painful origin of …And he* was never to be heard from again: An evening of ghost stories:
"Men kept disappearing on me…. And not just after swiping right and going on one lousy date, but after eight whole months of dating; or once while in the process of shaving my legs to prep for a booty call. Each time I would share my ridiculous tales of being ghosted, I was never the only one in the room who had experienced this outrageous new social norm," said Glucklich to Jamaica Plain News. Glucklich points out that *he/she/they/xe are all invited — "because NO ONE is safe from ghosts!"

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Arts

Photos: The Footlight Club’s ‘Legally Blonde’ — Get Your Tix Now

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Sorry but it's highly unlikely that Reese Witherspoon will be making a guest appearance in The Footlight Club's production of Legally Blonde. But straight up -- like a bend and snap -- there are fantastic performers in our local show. Legally Blonde was first a smash hit movie with Witherspoon, and follows Elle Woods on her way from being labeled as a negative stereotype of a sorority sister to Harvard Law student. After hitting Broadway, the show had a national tour, and made it across the pond to London's West End. All photos courtesy of Liz Bean

The Footlight Club's cast is 20-plus deep, led by Amanda Casale as the bubbly, determined Woods.

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Arts

The Footlight Club is Wilde About ‘Being Earnest’

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The Footlight Club's is putting on Oscar Wilde's most well-known play "The Importance of Being Earnest," and you have two more weekends to catch the show. All photos courtesy of Liz Bean for The Footlight Club. The play brought Wilde to the peak of his career, only mere months before his reputation would come crashing down, forcing the show to close out its debut only months after opening. Written in 1894 and first produced in 1895, the play is a farcical comedy set in late Victorian era London, in which the leading characters maintain fictitious personas to escape frustrating social obligations. There are four more shows: June 7, 8, 14 and 15.

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Loring-Greenough House

Party, Promenade & Play: A Wilde Affair

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Two of Jamaica Plain's iconic historical sites join forces to bring you Party, Promenade & Play: A Wilde Affair! 

To celebrate the Footlight Club's opening night of Oscar Wilde's riotous farce, The Importance of Being Earnest, the Loring Greenough House is hosting an elegant Victorian-inspired garden party on its south lawn. Enjoy prosecco and cucumber sandwiches while you play croquet, then stroll over to the theater to watch your talented neighbors onstage. Costumes are highly encouraged! Purchase your tickets in advance through the Footlight Club website. (Be sure to buy the "Event + Show" ticket!)

Saturday, June 1st
Garden Party: 6:00 - 7:30pm at the Loring Greenough House
The Importance of Being Earnest: Curtain at 8:00pm at the Footlight Club

Art

Footlight Club Portable Painting Party

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The event costs $30, which includes instruction, materials, snacks and a great time. Complete a painting of a local landscape (Jamaica Pond) with award winning artist Denise Feeney in about two hours . There will be a cash bar with limited seating, make your reservation today! All at the beloved, beautiful and historic location of The Footlight Club of Jamaica Plain.

Arts

Photos: Two More Weekends to Catch The Footlight Club’s ‘Cabaret’

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The Footlight Club's current show is the classic musical "Cabaret" and there are two more weekends to catch it. All photos are courtesy of Sacred Harbor Photography. "Cabaret" is set in 1931 while the Nazis rise to power. A very popular movie version of the play starred Liza Minnelli. Alexander Boyle stars as a young American writer, Cliff Bradshaw, and his relationship with an English cabaret performer, Sally Bowles, being played by Perry Albert.

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Arts

Q&A: The Footlight Club’s President on Upcoming Shows, Volunteering, Auditions and More

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The Footlight Club is the longest running community theater in the entire country and it's home is right here in Jamaica Plain. Footlight's President Kristin MacDougall fielded questions about the club's history, upcoming shows and more. Q: Why is it called The Footlight Club? MacDougall: According to our Club historian, Paul Campbell, the founding members met on January 29, 1877 to vote on a name for their new theater club. It was between Footlight, Jamaica Plain or Jabberwocky (from a Lewis Carroll poem.) Footlight won out, with eight yeas and one nay.

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