Quinn Sullivan showcasing his talent during New Bedford Guide live stream at The Nook in Fairhaven. Photo by Josh Souza.

A young man who was once known for his appearances alongside Buddy Guy and Ellen DeGeneres, 17-year-old Quinn Sullivan is looking to showcase his own sound with the release of his newest album, Midnight Highway.

The New Bedford High School senior stepped into the spotlight quickly following an onstage performance with blues legend Buddy Guy at the Zeiterion Theater at the age of eight. Soon after, millions saw him perform on Ellen. Ever since, Quinn has become known as a blues prodigy under the guide of his mentor, Guy.

“What I’ve gotten to learn so much from Buddy that’s been so important has been what the road is like, what going on tour is like,” Quinn said during a special acoustic performance at The Nook in Fairhaven earlier this month. “He’s showed me the world and you can’t really ask for anything more.”

Quinn said while it’s important to maintain the relationships he’s built with other artists, it’s just as important to focus on separating himself from them with his own sound.

“I think the next step for me as an artist is to not really escape…but mature as an artist, grow and develop my own sound and what I think is my own thing,” he said.

Midnight Highway, dropping January 27th, is Quinn’s third full-length album. It was produced at Blackbird Studio in Nashville, TN by Tom Hambridge, who has also produced a number of Guy’s records and plays drums behind Quinn. Quinn would visit the studio in cycles for a few days at a time and record about four or five songs during each visit. Unlike previous albums, there are no guest artists on Midnight Highway.

Lots of musical influence went into the new record, from classics such as The Beatles and The Grateful Dead to contemporary artists like Bruno Mars and James Bay. Quinn said he listens to a wide variety of music and hopes to tie in even more life experiences into future records as he gets older.

For now, he’s still essentially a student by day and rock star by night. Though with constant performances and some lengthy period of travel, Quinn said it’s all about keeping a level head and enjoying the experience without letting any of it get to him.

“Whenever I’ve done something huge, something cool, and then a day later fly home and go back to school, I don’t think about it too much,” he said. “That’s really what I think is the secret to it.”

As Quinn gears up for his final stretch as a high school student, his eyes are focused on taking full advantage of what his music career has to offer before changing course.

“Right now, the way I’m going, I think college will always be there and I don’t know if this will always be there,” Quinn said. “I think the opportunities I have right now are pretty priceless and I think I have to take them when they come.”

“What I’ve gotten to learn so much from Buddy that’s been so important has been what the road is like, what going on tour is like.” “He’s showed me the world and you can’t really ask for anything more.”

All photos courtesy of Josh Souza.

The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center aims to beat the winter blues with six shows that focus on song and story this February, starting with the nearly sold-out The Moth Mainstage on Feb. 2. The roster of performances continues with Elvis Lives on Feb. 3, Drug Story Theater on Feb. 9, Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers on Feb. 10, MOMIX on Feb. 11 and NBSO’s Strings Attached on Feb. 18. Tickets can be purchased by calling 508-994-2900, online at www.zeiterion.org, or at the Zeiterion at 684 Purchase Street in New Bedford. Group sales are available to select shows for groups of 10 or more and can be purchased by calling 508-997-5664 x123. More information is available at zeiterion.org.

The Moth Mainstage
Thursday, February 2, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $29 / $35 / $45
After a captivating debut last season, the acclaimed not-for-profit series returns to The Z with a new batch of stories. Since its inception, The Moth has presented more than 17,000 stories – told live, without notes – to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. The simple, old-fashioned storytelling by five wildly divergent raconteurs develop and shape their stories with the assistance from The Moth’s directors. The stories unfold in unexpected ways, each distinctly different, that will reel in the audience and leave them wanting more.

Elvis Lives – “The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Event”
Friday, February 3, 8:00 p.m.
Tickets: $37 / $45 / $55
Elvis Lives is an unforgettable multi-media and live musical journey across Elvis’ life featuring winners from Elvis Presley Enterprises’ annual worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest. Each singer represents Elvis during different stages in his career. The Elvis tribute artists will be joined by a live band, back-up singers and dancers, along with an Ann-Margret tribute artist, as well as iconic imagery made available from the Graceland archives.

Drug Story Theater – “The Price You Pay”
Thursday, February 9, 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: $5
Drug Story Theater’s “The Price You Pay” delivers powerful, real-life stories direct from teens struggling with drug and alcohol abuse in a unique and innovative approach to prevention. The improvisational theater-style production integrates teens in recovery, their parents and information about adolescent brain development to inform and educate audiences. The work the teens do with Drug Story Theater aids in their progress and encourages them to lead productive, healthy lives as young adults. Sharing their stories about the seduction and addiction to substances also helps them sow seeds of prevention, especially among peers.

Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers
Friday, February 10, 8:00 p.m.
Tickets: $27 / $32 / $39 / $45
Walnut Street Theatre’s all-new production of Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers transports us to the 1960s when people were free to choose who to love. But in this world filled with “Mad Men” and “Mod Women,” was it easier to choose a mate? True comedy ensues when a man looks for something new and different, but ends up finding himself in the same situation, again and again. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, come fall in love with what the New York Post calls, “Delightfully hilarious and witty…filled with wisdom about human nature…uproariously funny…a genuinely brilliant play.”

MOMIX – Opus Cactus
Saturday, February 11, 8:00 p.m.
Tickets: $27 / $35 / $42 / $49
The unconventional MOMIX brings the landscape of the American Southwest to life with their signature illusionistic style in Opus Cactus. The dynamic troupe journeys into the landscape of soaring cacti, slithering lizards and romping insects to uncover the danger, sensuality and humor hidden in the desert. The visually opulent MOMIX demonstrates the epitome of circus art, dance, theatre and music in one enchanting presentation The New York Times calls, “Two acts of fun and excitement.”

NBSO’s Strings Attached
Saturday, February 18, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $25 / $40 / $50 / $60
New Bedford Symphony Orchestra presents its fourth and final music director finalist in concert when Dirk Meyer conducts Strings Attached at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center. Meyer is currently Music Director of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra in Minnesota. The 2012 American Prize Winner in Orchestral Conducting, Meyer has guest conducted orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, South Africa, the Czech Republic, and Germany and has led many world and U.S. premieres. The NBSO concert program begins with Miguel del Aguila’s riveting The Giant Guitar. Next, award-winning pianist Sheng Cai joins the NBSO to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Completing the program is Rachmaninoff’s lush and mesmerizing Symphony No. 2, a highlight of the late Romantic repertoire.

The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide New Bedford and the region with performing arts programming of excellence that inspires, educates, engages and entertains. Tickets are available for purchase at www.zeiterion.org, by calling 508-994-2900, or in person at the box office at 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford, MA. Zeiterion Box Office hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Thursday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and two hours before each performance.

The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center invites performing art fans to ignite their passion for dance at an on-stage lecture series – Dance Barre at The Z – presenting “Magical Bodies: Art, Technology and Technique” on Wednesday, January 25 at 7:00 p.m. Guest speaker Heidi Henderson, choreographer and faculty at Connecticut College, will discuss how dancers, visual artists and technical designers combine their talent to create amazing performances. Wine bar available. Admission is free and a RSVP is encouraged. Information is available by calling 508-994-2900, online at www.zeiterion.org, or in person at the Zeiterion Box Office at 684 Purchase Street in New Bedford.

Dance Barre at The Z is lecture series created to encourage appreciation for dance. Experts in the field – academics, choreographers, and advocates – are invited to create a dialogue about the creation process, history and interpretation of dance through video and conversation. At “Magical Bodies: Art, Technology and Technique” Heidi Henderson will lead dance fans on a fascinating exploration about how dancer’s bodies are transformed by the technical wonders of lighting and costume, and how artistic collaborators work with dancers to bring the ideas to life. She’ll discuss the history of collaboration between visual artists and choreographers starting with Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe, including Cunningham/Cage/Rauschenberg, and the upcoming performance by the internationally-touring dance company, Momix.

Momix will bring the landscape of the American Southwest to life in “Opus Cactus” on Saturday, February 11 at 8:00 p.m. at The Zeiterion. Their dancers embody, quite literally, the concepts discussed at Dance Barre: Magical Bodies. In this performance, the dancers are transformed to resemble soaring cacti, slithering lizards and romping insect through the magic of costume, choreography and lighting. Called “a feast for the eyes” and a “sprawling luscious fantasy” by The New York Times, this performance is a series of 19 vignettes connected by theme of a celebration of the desert and its denizens.

Dance Barre speaker Heidi Henderson is a choreographer on the faculty at Connecticut College, and a New York City dancer with the companies of Bebe Miller, Nina Wiener, Peter Schmitz, and more. A four-time recipient of the Choreography Fellowship from the RI State Council for the Arts, she is a frequent contributing editor and writer for Contact Quarterly.

The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide New Bedford and the region with performing arts programming of excellence that inspires, educates, engages and entertains. Tickets are available for purchase at www.zeiterion.org, by calling 508-994-2900, or in person at the box office at 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford, Mass. Zeiterion Box Office hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Thursday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and two hours before each performance.

Innovative performance for parents and teens bolstered by science on adolescent brains.

The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center invites parents, teens and the community for the must-see performance of Drug Story Theater: The Price You Pay on Thursday, February 9, at 7:00 p.m. This powerful, unique and innovative approach to prevention integrates teens in recovery, their parents and information about adolescent brain development to clarify the myths and realities of teen drug use. Tickets can be purchased by calling 508-994-2900, online at www.zeiterion.org, or at the Zeiterion Box Office at 684 Purchase Street in New Bedford. More information is available at zeiterion.org.

“As a leader in New Bedford’s Arts community, it is part of The Z’s mission to bring to light issues of concern for our city,” Rosemary Gill, Executive Director, Programming & Development. “Our goal is for this honest look at teen drug use to continue the conversation and spark action in our community. No family is immune, and we hope you will join us for this compelling and timely production.”

The work the teens do with Drug Story Theater aids in their progress and encourages them to lead productive, healthy lives as young adults. Sharing their personal stories about the seduction and addiction to substances also helps them sow seeds of prevention, especially among peers. “They are addicts, recovering ones, taking their stories onstage in the hope others will shun the path they chose,” says Drug Story Theater founder Dr. Joseph Shrand.

To help digest and cope with the information that may arise from the performance, clinicians and resources will be on-hand for audience members. There will also be a community art component to engage participation outside the theatre. This support is aided in partnership with Behavioral Health Innovators, Inc. as well as local service organizations, schools, churches and community leaders. The Drug Story Theater performance is possible in part from a grant from the NEA and The Carney Foundation.

The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide New Bedford and the region with performing arts programming of excellence that inspires, educates, engages and entertains. Tickets are available for purchase at www.zeiterion.org, by calling 508-994-2900, or in person at the box office at 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford, Mass. Zeiterion Box Office hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Thursday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and two hours before each performance.

The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center celebrates the holidays with a roster of seasonal favorites, family-friendly programming and show-stopping singers. The festivities begin with Samantha Johnson’s farewell performance the day after Thanksgiving, followed by the roll-out of seasonal shows: crooners Erin Rubico and Matt Ban: “Home for the Holidays” at Stage Door Live on Dec. 1, the beloved A Christmas Carol on Dec. 10, The 14th Annual A Christmas Celtic Sojourn on Dec. 15, NBSO’s Family Holiday Pops on Dec. 17, and capped by the New Year’s Eve Bash at the Whaling Museum on Dec. 31.

For added convenience, tickets can purchased at the Zeiterion holiday box office at the North Dartmouth Mall (near Macy’s) during mall hours for a limited time, Nov. 25 through Dec. 31. Regular box offices hours at the Zeiterion remain, and tickets can be purchased by calling 508-994-2900, online at www.zeiterion.org, or at the Zeiterion at 684 Purchase Street in New Bedford. Group sales are available to select shows for groups of 10 or more and can be purchased by calling 508-997-5664 x123. More information is available at zeiterion.org.

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Samantha Johnson in Concert
Friday, November 25, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $25-$65*
*$65 tickets include a post-show meet and greet with Samantha Johnson. Limited quantity available.
America’s Got Talent Season 10 semi-finalist and New Bedford native Samantha Johnson departs her hometown after the holidays, and this performance is her good-bye to the city she loves. The concert will feature her debut solo project, 27UNDERGROUND, including the new single, “Jump High.” Join Samantha on a journey through the music of her deepest inspirations and influences that include both original songs and favorites that are sure to astound audiences once again.

Erin Rubico and Matt Ban “Home for the Holidays” at Stage Door Live!
Thursday, December 1, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $20
After two sold out engagements at the Zeiterion Stage Door Series, Erin Rubico and Matt Ban return for “Home for the Holidays.” The multi-talented duo will usher in the holiday spirit with classic favorites, brand new tunes, and, as always, a few surprises! Join us as we celebrate the season in style on The Z stage transformed into an intimate concert club. Remaining seats are general admission and a full bar is available.

A Christmas Carol
Saturday, December 10, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Tickets: $19-$37
The Southcoast Christmastime tradition continues when Nebraska Caravan Theatre returns to The Z with the treasured production of A Christmas Carol. This portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge captures the humorous and touching moments of Dickens’ classic story along with witty dialogue and festive musical numbers. What remains unchanged is the play’s original message that the holiday season should be a “kind, forgiving, charitable time.” Join us for a matinee or evening performance of the timeless tale enjoyed by generations of Zeiterion patrons year after year.

WGBH Presents the 14th Annual A Christmas Celtic Sojourn
Thursday, December 15, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $25-$55
Brian O’Donovan’s A Celtic Sojourn has thrilled radio audiences for 28 years. For the last 14, the Christmas-time live version of the show has drawn on Celtic, Pagan, and Christian traditions to celebrate the music of the season. First launched in 2003, A Christmas Celtic Sojourn reflects the compelling and diverse offerings of the weekly national radio program. With legends of music, song, and dance from the Celtic world and beyond poised to take the stage together, this year’s show again promises to build its reputation as one of the chestnuts of live holiday music in the region.

New Bedford Symphony Orchestra: Family Holiday Pops
David MacKenzie, Guest Conductor
Saturday, December 17, 3:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: $13-$34
Maestro MacKenzie returns to conduct the Family Holiday Pops Concerts, which feature all the holiday music you love, played by our great orchestra, as well as appearances by the New Bedford Symphony Youth Orchestra and Showstoppers. The family-friendly atmosphere and choice of performance times make this the perfect family holiday outing. The children’s matinee performance at 3:30 features fun surprises for the young at heart, while the 7:00 concert features a bit more music. Both performances are approximately one-hour long, with no intermission. Share the joy of the season with friends and family in the festively decorated theater and take part in a South Coast holiday tradition.

New Year’s Eve Bash at the New Bedford Whaling Museum
Saturday, December 31, 7 – 10 p.m.
Tickets: $15 Child/$50 Adult
The Zeiterion and the New Bedford Whaling Museum invite revelers of all ages to end the year with a bang! Guests bid goodbye to 2016 with an exciting evening of live music, delicious food and children’s entertainment. This family-friendly event takes place at the Whaling Museum, home to a flawless view of the city’s spectacular fireworks. Tickets include ample hors d’oeuvres, complimentary champagne toast for adults, cash bar, and fun activities for kids.

The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide New Bedford and the region with performing arts programming of excellence that inspires, educates, engages and entertains. Tickets are available for purchase at www.zeiterion.org, by calling 508-994-2900, or in person at the box office at 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford, MA. Zeiterion Box Office hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Thursday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and two hours before each performance.

One of the best aspects of the arts is that they whisk us away to a place where there is only the performance, performer(s), and ourselves. For a brief hour or two, we get a respite from our worries, concerns and woes. A much needed and desired distraction whereby we are delightfully taken on a journey of music, poetry, art, or theater performance.

We get to relax and enjoy ourselves, perhaps for the first time that day, week or even that month! This break from the daily grind is healing for the soul, a chance to recuperate. No price can be placed on the experience.

Problem is that often it is because of that daily grind, that we forget to stop and smell the proverbial roses. The Japanese have a great saying “Careful you don’t draw the bowstring too tightly.” Work is an integral aspect of the American life and we can truck along working long days and months can pass by and we forget how important it is to put some slack on that bowstring. Taken a break allows us to recharge and be able to freshly tackle our projects and careers.

One of most popular ways to do this is to engage your brain, eyes and ears with theater performance. An internet search for theater will turn up a lot of hits and there are a number of venues to choose from, all offering a mixture of original creations, classics, and popular contemporary shows. An astounding variety actually.

One that has been around for 50 years – yes, five decades – is the student run UMass Dartmouth Theatre Company which has been pleasing audiences with their University level shows. While anyone in the community can participate in the shows, the performers are typically UMass Dartmouth students. Almost every single one of them are non-music majors – they are studying engineering, medical laboratory science, history, art, English, business and so on.

Their mission is to provide professional theater to the local community and they are celebrating their 50th anniversary with a spectacular classic and perennial favorite: “Into The Woods,” a multi-Tony Award-winning 1987 musical by librettist/director James Lapine and composer Stephen Sondheim.

The musical is based upon the plots of four of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales’ characters: “Rapunzel,” “Cinderella, “Jack and the Beanstalk” and a baker and his wife. While there are other characters included, the main theme revolves around these four.

The baker and his wife wish to start a family but find themselves infertile. They find out that this is because of their neighbor – a witch who placed a curse upon them because the baker’s father stole some vegetables, including six magical beans, from her garden. Magical beans sound familiar?

This witch really took offense with her beans being stolen and cursing the baker’s fathers entire line isn’t enough: she also stole the baker’s sister at birth – our Rapuznel. How to lift this curse so the baker and his wife can produce? Assist the old witch in finding four ingredients that she needs for a potion.

Of course, being a fairy tale, it can’t be as easy as making a shopping style list, not only does the offer come with an expiry of 3 days at the stroke of midnight, but the ingredients are vaguely described “…the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold.”

Anyone familiar with the Grimm Fairy Tales can see with these clues that the other characters will eventually be introduced. Red Riding Hood needs bread to bring to her grandmother’s house, to which she will go to the baker for, wearing, of course, her red cape. Jack of beanstalk “fame,” wants to sell his cow to appease his mother’s desire for gold and the baker offers 5 magical beans that he found in his father’s jacket. Rapunzel is trapped in the witch’s tower where she was raised by the witch and Cinderella comes into play when the baker’s wife spots her at a festival wearing gold slippers – but she flees the festival to get home before the stroke of midnight.

I don’t do the tale justice, but suffice it to say that these stories are woven together in a thoughtful, clever way over two acts. It is done is such a brilliant way that the musical has been shown since 1988 across America, England, Australia, Japan, Singapore, France, Spain and many other countries. It has played on Broadway, been turned into a movie, won multiple awards, nominated for ten Tony Awards, and won three: Best Score, Best Book and Best Actress in a Musical for the original 1988 production.

While the tale is an absolutely fun and engaging one, what breathes life into it is the performance of the players. When you combine total passion for what you are doing with work ethic, and experience, you get inspired performances that are sure to please. The sets are high production and no expense is spared. The elaborate costumes rival anything you’d see in a Hollywood production.

The performers have been working since the end of September and rehearse amidst course schedules, exams, and other extracurricular activities which makes the high level of production even more astounding.

You can help support the arts at UMass Dartmouth by patronizing the production of “Into The Woods.” To celebrate the 50th anniversary, organizers have paired with Buffalo Wild Wings – print out the image of the “Teammate Card” and bring it with you on your visit from now through December 25th and 10% of your check will benefit UMass Dartmouth Theatre Company. A win-win – you support the arts in the community and get a belly full of mouth watering food!

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Umass Dartmouth Theater Company: Into the Woods
285 Old Westport Rd
North Dartmouth, Massachusetts
November 10th-12th at 7pm, November 13th at 2pm.
Prices are $10 general admission and $5 student discount.
All performance will take place in the UMass Dartmouth Main Auditorium

Phone: (508) 999-8167
Email: umdtheatreco@gmail.com
Event Page: allevents.in/north%20dartmouth/into-the-woods
Facebook: facebook.com/UMassDartmouthTheatreCompany/

President: Fatima Fraga-Alvarez
Vice President: Lyndon Davis
Treasurer: Meghan Lynch
Secretary: Cheyanne Patterson

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We visited the Factory of Terror in Fall River to see what some of the victims … I mean visitors had to say about the indoor scare factory.

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, October 28, 29, and 30, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., you are dared to be scared at The Haunted Academy, a free Halloween event in Fairhaven. The Fairhaven Office of Tourism will be sponsoring this fun attraction with spooky scenes and costumed characters both outside and inside the Visitors Center/Academy Building, 141 Main Street, right next door to Fairhaven High School.

At The Haunted Academy, you’ll see witches, a mad scientist and his monster, Lizzie Borden, Mrs. Lovett in her meat pie shop, a graveyard, and a haunted toy shop, among other things. Free treats will be handed out to children. Some of the items on display were donated from Manny Souza’s Ole Oxford Haunt, and Manny himself will be here to haunt with us. (NOTE: Some of the scenes may be scary for pre-school aged children. Parents are asked to use their judgement.) Free admission. For more information, call 508-979-4085 or email FairhavenTours@aol.com.

Here is what people are saying about Christopher James Lees:

“Maestro Lees conducted with knowledge of [Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony] that reminded me of watching Bernstein conduct Mahler: he knew every corner and turn and approached each with an incredible amount of musicianship.”
— Jackson Cooper, Classical Voice of North Carolina

“Christopher James Lees, winner of the Aspen Conducting Prize for 2013, led the ensemble and got the tight rhythmic interjections to fit cleanly with the piano throughout…”
— Harvey Steiman, Aspen Times

“Christopher James Lees led a smoothly elegant performance that captured the comic, ironic, passionate, and sinister elements of the score [Don Giovanni], and the orchestra played with refinement and infectious energy.”
— Stephen Eddins, Ann Arbor Observer

“Maestro Lees is clearly in charge of his orchestra, which responds well to his ever-changing direction. The outstanding playing brought the entire audience to its feet for a well-deserved standing ovation.”
— Peter Perret, Classical Voice of North Carolina

“[Christopher James] Lees conducted from memory, setting up a rhythmically vital, clean, and vibrant performance from the very opening bars…the peppy minuet was followed by a superbly layered account of one of Mozart’s most complicated symphonic movements… Lees brought this well-paced “Jupiter” to a joyful conclusion.”
— Mike Telin, ClevelandClassical.com

Powerful Beauty
Saturday, October 15, 7:30pm
Zeiterion Performing Arts Center

There will be a free pre-concert talk on the evening’s program by Mr. Lees at 6:30pm in the Penler Space. Concertgoers are also invited to an after-concert reception with Mr. Lees in the Penler Space.
Concert sponsor: Robert B. Feingold & Associates, P.C. Reception sponsor: Russell Morin Catering & Events.

Individual concert tickets are available for $25-$60 (Holiday Pops $15-$38) through the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center box office: 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford, MA 02740, 508-994-2900, Tues-Fri 10:00am-5:00pm, Saturday 10:00am-3:00pm, or access 24/7 at: www.nbsymphony.org. Box office orders are subject to a $5.00 processing fee, and tickets purchased online or by phone are subject to a $3.50 per ticket convenience fee. Tickets for children and students under age 22 are always $10 (not available online, must call or visit the box office; can be added to subscription).

Season subscriptions are available by calling the NBSO at 508-999-6276. Save up to 20% when you subscribe to three or more NBSO concerts.

Your Theatre Inc. is hosting an evening of stories on October 22, 2016 at 7 P.M. The storytellers are from the local scene and include Edward Maguire, Gloria Clark, Cora Peirce, Janine da Silva and Mark Fuller. After a brief intermission, more storytellers take the stage with a Story Slam!

Cora Peirce will sparkle the evening with her telling of a Native American story, “Kathitha, the Center of the Heart is the Sweetest.” A mother, grandmother and graduate of UMass Dartmouth, Cora works at Coastline Elderly Services. Half Native American, Cora considers herself “a voice for those without.” As Territorial Land Historian for the Pocasset Wampanoag/Pokanoket tribe, she is bringing this legend to us.

Edward Maguire is well qualified to recount the history of Your Theatre in “YTI, Seventy Years and Counting.” For 55 years Ed has been a theater supporter. He first studied with Mary Smith, founder of YTI, and since has served as YTI’s business manager, artistic director, technical director and president. His greatest satisfaction came from founding YTI’s Playwright’s Original Works (POW) program.

Gloria Clark has a very important, timely and personal story to share — “Doing What Comes Next.” An Occupational Therapy Assistant Site Coordinator at Bristol Community College, Gloria is well-known as a community activist who advocates for the underserved. Many may not be familiar, however, with her participation in the 1964 Freedom Schools in Mississippi. After that life-changing experience, she returned to New Bedford to jump into ongoing social movements and finds that a guideline to life.

Are you curious what story Janine da Silva and Mark Fuller have to tell? Jan is an Architectural Historian and works for the New Bedford Historic National Park as a Cultural Resource Specialist and Mark is Assistant Treasurer for the City of New Bedford. What might they have to say together? Their mysterious story is entitled “Martyr to Freedom.”

After intermission, the competition will begin and judges will grade competing short stories based on creativeness, presentation and adherence to the theme “Histories and Mysteries” in a fast-paced Story Slam led by our Slam Master, Rich Berg.

Join us for a rollicking good-time. Coffee and desserts at 7 P.M. Stories at 7:30 P.M. Tickets available through Your Theatre Inc. 508-993-0772 or email boxoffice@yourtheatre.org. $10 adults, $5 students/seniors. Your Theatre Inc. is located in St Martin’s Church, 146 Rivet St. (corner of County) New Bedford. Entrance off County St. Handicapped accessible. Free parking lot off County St.