Posts Tagged ‘Wakefield news’

About 10 minutes into Marilyn: Forever Blonde I caught myself thinking that I was watching the real thing. That’s how convincingly actress Sunny Thompson channels Marilyn Monroe in her one-woman show, at Stoneham Theatre through November 11, 2007. Thompson is no mere look-a-like or Marilyn impersonator, although in full makeup and costume she is a […]


East Coast premier stars Sunny Thompson “Who would want to be compared to Marilyn Monroe?” That was actress Sunny Thompson’s initial reaction when her husband, Greg Thompson, asked her to read for the one-woman show he had written about one of Hollywood’s most iconic figures. “Marilyn: Forever Blonde” is set to make its East Coast […]


I am nothing if not ahead of my time. On April 1, 1999, I wrote a column about filling in the Lake and building the “Quannapowitt Casino.” In spite of the date on the newspaper, some people in town actually thought it was a serious proposal. Back then, the state’s economy was booming, cities and […]


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 […]


Wakefield native’s play returns to Gloucester Stage Many critics consider The Widow’s Blind Date to be Israel Horovitz’s finest work. It has long been a favorite of mine (and not just because Horovitz set the play in his hometown of Wakefield, Massachusetts). The current revival at Gloucester Stage Company, where it premiered in 1983, has […]


Wakefield Park Some locals are aware of their significance, but how many people drive through or past them every day without ever wondering why they are there? In 2007, the stone pillars at Park Avenue and Chestnut Street, next to Temple Emmanuel, are among the least talked about historical landmarks in Wakefield, Massachusetts. But at […]


Joseph “Puck” Sardella was my uncle. He was my father’s kid brother. I was his first nephew and he was my godfather. In Italian families, especially of Puck’s generation, that meant something. As a kid, I knew him as Uncle Joe. But as I grew up and became an adult, I learned that to the […]


It’s been official for many years, but now it’s truer than ever: if you’re still not recycling, you’re costing yourself and your fellow taxpayers money. At one time, recycling may have been the exclusive province of aging hippies, environmentalists and assorted other tree-huggers. But that’s ancient history. Nowadays, recycling is an exercise in fiscal conservatism. […]