Compiled by Arts Fuse Editor
Our expert critics supply a guide to film, visual art, theater, author readings, television, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Boston area theaters have decided to pretty much ignore what is happening in america and beyond – mounting threats to democracy, the slide toward authoritarianism, the climate crisis, growing economic inequality, ICE’s savage round-up of immigrants, the expansion of internment camps, ongoing genocide in Gaza, transphobia, the grueling war in Ukraine, etc. I have decided in Coming Attractions to point out a production,staged in America or elsewhere,that grapples with today’s alarming realities. Sometimes the stagings will be available via Zoom, sometimes not. It is indeed significant to present evidence that theater artists are reflecting, and reflecting on, the world around us.
Crowd of Trump supporters marching on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, ultimately leading the building being breached and several deaths. photo: WikiMedia
JANUARY 6: A DAY FOREVER A new play by James Carroll and Rachel DeWoskin drawn from the Congressional Record of THE SECOND IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. A free staged reading at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Wellfleet, on January 6 at 7 p.m.Tickets Livestream
This presentation draws on the venerable stage tradition of dramatizing transcriptions of volatile political proceedings, often of a legal or legislative nature. Why has it taken so long for a company to confront “the horror of the riot on January 6, 2021 and the failure of our electeds to throw the bum out when they had the chance?” The evening’s co-writer, Jim Carroll, suggests why it needs to be done: “I believe that returning to that grim episode is more important than ever… My sense is that Americans did not fully take in the gravity of that near-outcome back then, and have lost any clear sense of it in the years since. By looking more directly than usual at that horror, we can re-energize resistance to what it portended.”
Time to see that theater can be used as a place where “we can still celebrate our unity and gleefully reaffirm our opposition.” The case includes Dennis Cunningham, carryl Lynn, Nathaniel Hall Taylor, Zeff zinn, and Sallie Tighe.
– Bill Marx
Film
Still from “reflection.”
Reflection – A haunting and beautifully shot short film directed by Benjamin P. Lancaster. It follows a man grappling with grief and memory after the loss of his wife. The film’s strength lies in its atmospheric visuals and the nuanced performance of lead actor Michael Knowles. Available to stream on Brattle & Harvard Film Schedules: January 16-19
Table of Contents Flesh for Frankenstein (1974) Flesh for Frankenstein’s campy plot involves a Baron Frankenstein who spends most of his time in his laboratory. He has already created a female human – he now needs to construct a male companion. His aim is to mate his two creations and to create a whole new race of perfect human beings who will only obey his orders.The only thing he still needs to complete his work – a head for his newly-minted male. blood for Dracula 9 p.m. Count Dracula, gravely ill, and his grotesque assistant Anton, journey to Italy seeking a virgin’s blood. They are received at the decrepit Di Fiore estate, where the desperate Marchese is doing what he can to marry his daughters to wealthy suitors. The Count ends up spending most of his time with incest‑loving lesbians with tainted blood, and a Marxist servant, Mario, who is skeptical of an aristocratic vampire. Viridiana January 16 – 19 Director Luis Buñuel takes a scathingly critical look at religion, charity, false generosity, and moral hypocrisy.Viridiana, the embodiment of Catholic principles and Christian purity, is a novice nun undertaking her formal training period preparing for her profession. Before accepting her vows, she is encouraged to visit her wealthy and reclusive uncle Don Jaime (Buñuel regular Fernando rey). On his estate, she is subjected to his unwarranted romantic advances – he is projecting onto her his desire for his late wife. The film was controversial – it was banned in Franco’s Spain and denounced by the Vatican, which notably disliked a scene that mimicked The Last Supper – populated by beggars and scoundrels.The screenplay is loosely based on Pérez Galdós’s 1895 novel Halma. Bunuel’s 1961 masterpiece is being shown in a 4K restoration. Il Posto January 17 at 7 p.m. in a career that spans more than five decades, Ermanno Olmi crafted some of the best character studies in Italian Neo-Realism, exploring lives filled with q January often brings a lull in new television releases, but this year offers a mix of franchise continuations and fresh series. on the TV front,keep an eye out for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (premiering January 15 on Paramount +) and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (January 18,HBO),a half-hour series expanding on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire universe. Industry, Season 4 (premiering January 11 on HBO) returns quickly with a new season set in the high-stakes world of London banking, featuring additions to the cast like Kiernan Shipka, Charlie Heaton, and Max Minghella. Ponies (January 15 on Peacock) stars haley Lu Richardson and Emilia Clarke as secretaries working undercover for the CIA in 1977 Moscow. While period dramas can sometimes falter with dialog, this series has potential, though initial previews raise concerns about past accuracy in speech patterns. It joins a list of shows that have successfully captured a specific era, including mad Men, Fargo, Minx, White House Plumbers, Daisy Jones and the Six, and A Very English Scandal. – Peg aloi
Theater (Image of a theatrical production is included but lacks accompanying text for the theater section.) Penguin In My Pocket by Kurt hunter Marionettes. At the Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline, january 17 through 25. The lowdown from the Puppet Showplace Theater about this show: “What happens when a penguin scientist crash lands in the jungle? Stranded because of a failed experimental jetpack, our penguin protagonist has to work with an artistic monkey to find her way home – and encounters a sea monster along the way! This quirky tale highlights the importance of imagination in both art and science, and features a concertina and audience participation!” “Stay after the show to meet the artists and see the puppets up close! Plus, enjoy a dress-up station, coloring sheets, and a penguin puppet craft. These activities are available after every performance, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.. All ages welcome, especially enjoyed by ages 4 – 8. Library Lion by Eli Bijaoui. Music by Yoni Rechter. Based on the English translation by M. Rodgers and A. Berris. Directed by Ran Bechor.Staged by Adam Theater at The calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St., Boston, January 10 to 25. From the Arts Fuse review of the January 2025 production of this delightful children’s theater production. “There’s a new kid on the block and he’s got remarkably expressive blue eyes, a golden mane of hair, four paws, and a long tail that’s great for dusting off books. He’s a larger-than-life-sized puppet, and he’s very definitely the star of the children’s play Library Lion, which is being staged by Adam Theater, an equally new and welcome addition to the Boston theater scene.” Opening the same day in Cambridge is the MIT List Visual Arts Center‘s exhibition, List Projects 34: Brittany Nelson.Nelson,a New York-based photographer and video artist,adds science,science fiction,and daphne du Maurier’s 1938 classic thriller,Rebecca,along with its 1940 film version,into the mix in this show of new photographs and moving image work.Nelson’s varied images, moving and still, were made at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia, which is the site of one of the world’s largest radio telescopes and a hub for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) where astronomers scan the heavens for signs of advanced civilizations on other planets. Made legendary by the late science popularizer,Carl Sagan,SETI’s telescope is,for Lopez,a reminder of an ex-partner; on the sound track,its liquid helium pumps “throb like mechanical heartbeats.” The museum of Fine Arts invites you into part of its vast backstage world with the special program Conservation Up Close: Medieval Made Modern on January 8,starting at 4 p.m. Alice Limb, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow for Advanced Training,and Sophie Morris,graduate conservation intern,will show visitors the 15th-century Spanish work,Mass of Saint gregory by Nicolás Francés,currently undergoing treatment and scientific study. Originally painted on a wooden panel, the work was acquired by the MFA in 1936 and transferred to canvas in 1938. One of the earliest Spanish paintings in Boston, this small work has not been on public display as 1947. The tour will explore several intertwined narratives: the artistic life of medieval Spain, new facts about Francés’ working methods and materials, revealed in recent technical studies of his painting, and changes in professional conservation methods and guidelines since the work was first treated at the MFA nearly ninety years ago. The tour is free with general admission. No registration is required but space is limited (first come, first served). Meet at the Sharf Visitor Center. No one who has visited the isabella Stewart Gardner Museum even once would doubt that botany has played an important part in the institution’s history. For those thirsting to know more, A Botanical Talk and Tour on January 9, from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m., will start with a 30-minute talk on the interesting history of plants at the museum from its inception to the present. An hour-long tour follows, encompassing the Gardner’s celebrated Central Courtyard with its year-round, changing botanical displays, the Monks Garden, designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, and the… Barber’s Vanessa Andris Nelsons and the BSO open the New Year with Samuel Barber’s Pulitzer Prize-winning tragedy. Jennifer Holloway sings the title role, while Anne Sofie von Otter and Thomas Hampson fill out other key roles. American Spiritual Ensemble Music Worcester artist-in-residence Everett McCorvey leads the American Spiritual Ensemble in a program celebrating the legacy of Black spirituals and folksongs. Sarasa Ensemble in action. Photo: courtesy of the artist Patron Lobkowitz One of the 18th century’s most critically important art supporters gets a belated tribute from the Brattleboro-based collective. Familiar items by Haydn and Beethoven share a program with Emanuel Förster’s String Quintet in A minor. Telemann’s Ino H&H artistic director Jonathan Cohen leads his group in a rare performance of Telemann’s dramatic cantata with soprano Carolyn Sampson, who also sings Mozart’s Exsultate jubilate. Also on tap is Haydn’s Symphony No. 44.
7:30 p.m.
Brattle Theater, Cambridge
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
Harvard Film Archives, Cambridgejanuary’s New Offerings: TV and Theater
Family Fare: Puppet Penguins and a Library Lion
Boston Arts Calendar: January 4-10
Around Town: A January Burst of Classical and Spiritual Music
Presented by Boston Symphony Orchestra
January 8 at 7:30 p.m. and 10 at 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall
Presented by Music Worcester
January 9, 7 p.m.
Mechanics Hall
Presented by Sarasa Ensemble
January 9 at 7 p.m. and 11 at 3:30 p.m.
Friends Meeting House, Cambridge (Friday) and Follen Community church, Lexington (Sunday)
Presented by Handel & Haydn Society
January 9 at 7:30 p.m. and 11 at 3 p.m.
Jordan Hall
Boston-Area Jazz & New Music Calendar: January 2024
Rempis came to the fore as part of the Chicago scene with the Vandermark Five. He makes one of his regular boston-area stops to play with like-minded improvisers in Construction Party: trumpeter Forbes Graham, pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, bassist Nate McBride, and drummer Luther Gray.
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Brazilian master of the 10-string Portuguese mandolin Hamilton de Holanda. Photo: courtesy of the artist
hamilton de Holanda
January 10 at 7 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, Mass.
Multiple Grammy winner Hamilton de Holanda, a Brazilian master of the 10-string Portuguese mandolin known as the bandolim, comes to the Regattabar with his regular working trio, featuring keyboardist Salomão Soares and drummer Thiago “Big” Rabello, and their unique fusion of Brazilian choro and jazz.
Tim Ray Trio
January 10 at 8 p.m.
Peabody Hall, Parish of All Saints, Dorchester, Mass.
Tim Ray’s sideman gigs up the value of any show he’s a part of. Here the pianist and composer gets to present a program of his original compositions, with bassist John Lockwood and drummer Austin McMahon, as part of Mandorla Music’s Dot Jazz series, co-produced with Greater Ashmont Main Street.
Miles Davis-John Coltrane centennial
January 16 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, boston
trumpeter Joe Magnarelli, tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, clarinetist Virginia macdonald pianist Jeb Patton, bassist John Lockwood, and drummer Bernd Reiter come together for this tribute to Coltrane (b. Sept. 23, 1926) and his one-time boss, Miles (b. May 26).
Arts Fuse: January 12-18, 2026
Music
Boston Celtic Music festival
Jan. 15-18
The annual winter salute to the wide world of Celtic sounds keeps getting bigger and better. This year, the scores of local Celtic talents are joined by legends like Scotland’s Old Blind Dogs and ireland’s Altan at sessions, concerts, and jams in Cambridge and Somerville venues, including Club Passim, the Burren, and the crystal Ballroom. The finale concert, at the Somerville Theatre, will include a tribute to the late radio host Brian O’Donovan. The fine local group Scottish Fish will be Passim’s Brian O’Donovan Fund Recipient for 2026.
The Sam Grisman Project featuring Tim O’Brien & Victor Furtado
Jan. 15
Bull Run Resturant, Shirley
Bassist sam Grisman has been touring around with a project that finds him changing collaborators on a regular basis. This multi-generational edition of his band includes the phenomenal banjo playing Victor Furtado and also Tim O’brien, one of the all-time greats of both bluegrass and Americana.
– Noah Schaffer
Author events
Roshani Chokshi: The Swan’s Daughter – Brookline Booksmith
january 5 at 7 p.m.
Free
“In this lush and romantic novel from New York Times bestselling author Roshani chokshi, a prince is only as good as his beating heart and a maiden is only as good as her honest word. But when love and the truth become impossibly tangled, the two must figure out how to survive together, or fall wholly apart.”
Caitlin Vincent at Harvard Book Store
Opera Wars: Inside the World of Opera and the Battles for Its Future
January 6 at 7 p.m.
Free
“Blunt, irreverent, and at times wittily subversive, Opera Wars spotlights opera’s colorful and sometimes…
Early 2026 promises exciting new releases in the graphic novel world and opportunities to meet authors. Here’s a look at two noteworthy events and books.
Mamo by Sas Milledge
Cartoonist Sas Milledge (The Lost Carnival: A dick Grayson Graphic Novel) makes her astonishing debut in her first original graphic novel. Mamo answers the question of how we reconcile our responsibilities with our dreams for the future. Orla O’reilly, the youngest in a long line of hedge witches, returns home after the death of her grandmother, Mamo. Following Mamo’s passing, the seas are unfishable, crops have soured, and even Jo Manalo’s attic is plagued by a poltergeist! the cause appears to be Mamo herself – or, more specifically, her mislaid bones. Can orla shoulder the obligation of quieting her grandmother’s spirit, saving her hometown, and stepping up as the new witch of Haresden, as Mamo always wanted? Mamo collects issues #1-5.
Celina Myers & C. L. Herman – Hollow
On January 12th at 6 p.m., Celina Myers will appear at Brookline Booksmith with C. L.Herman to discuss Hollow. This event is free to attend.
Hollow is a fresh, intriguing novel from TikTok sensation Celina Myers about a woman who discovers her destiny and family after becoming a vampire. Myers, known online as “Celina Spooky Boo,” is celebrated for her fast-paced storytelling and vivid imagery. She masterfully weaves horror into worlds that feel hauntingly real, creating stories that linger.
Key Takeaways
- Sas Milledge’s Mamo explores themes of responsibility, family, and destiny through a magical realism lens.
- Celina Myers, a popular tiktok creator, releases her debut novel Hollow, a vampire story with a focus on horror and vivid imagery.
- An author event with Celina Myers and C. L.Herman will be held at Brookline Booksmith on January 12, 2026.
Publication Date: 2026/01/04 18:24:59