January 23, 2024: Mobile Oblivion song

We’re well aware that the music is everywhere.

It’s in the slice of gay life in a lauded theater piece. The Easthampton Theater Company opens their production of Harvey' Fierstein’s Tony Award winning “Torch Song” this weekend at City Space’s Blue Room. The portrayal of the wants and growth of its main character Arnold Beckoff are an important snapshot of pre-AIDS era queer life in NYC and we chat with ETC president Michael Budnick and Wig/Costume/Makeup designer Jason Hayes (who has worked with Fierstein on other productions as well) about the importance of bringing this particular story back into the limelight now.

And it’s even more present in a locally written opera that explores the liminal. John Aylward’s “Oblivion” is a one act opera taking a look at the afterlife and archetypes within, and has been described as David Lynch meets Dante. The cast recording was recorded in Florence at Bombyx and will get it’s radio premiere this weekend on Classical NEPM. We speak with the librettist, as well as collaborator, maestro and baritone in the cast Cailin Marcel-Manson about creating the work, and the importance of reducing space in modern classical works.

And we head just across the road from the NEPM studios to Linden Towers, where Go Fresh Mobile Market makes a stop. There we chat with Manager Riley Gilroy and Assistant Manager Monica Hernandez about the importance of bringing local produce to the people at their 20+ stops over the course of the week, and how healing it can be to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to the people they see.