Archive for September, 2007

Starring Wakefield’s Leigh Barrett & Emily Sheeran There are plenty of good reasons to see the current production of Gypsy at Stoneham Theatre, especially if you’re from Wakefield. First, Gypsy is the quintessential American musical, an instant classic from the day the original production starring Ethel Merman opened on Broadway in 1959. Second, in an […]


She may be the most famous person in Wakefield, Massachusetts who never held elected office. She has probably helped more people, and has definitely helped more animals than any local politician. Twenty-five years ago, she founded the Protection of Animals in Wakefield Society (PAWS), which has rescued, provided medical care and found homes for countless […]


1983 WHS grad takes on role of ‘Mama Rose’ in Stoneham Leigh Barrett is arguably the First Lady of the Boston musical stage. The Wakefield native and 1983 Wakefield High School graduate has risen to the top of her profession performing in theaters all over the Boston area. She won the 2004 Elliot Norton Award […]


It’s not often that the town of Wakefield figures prominently in a work of art or literature. But in Israel Horovitz’s The Widow’s Blind Date, the playwright gives his hometown a strong supporting role in this taut drama about the reunion of three Wakefield High School classmates who share an unsavory past. My review of […]