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Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

LIVING ARTS

(Hannah Hughes / Beacon Staff)

Spring is here, and Spring is Queer at Fenway’s Time Out Market

By Hannah Hughes, Staff Writer / March 6, 2025

Time Out Market in Fenway was filled with more than just delicious food on Friday. The food hall hosted a Spring is Queer event, the first in a series...

Wendy Montero serves up a bread bowl on the dining hall's Mardi Gras night. (Max Ardrey / Beacon Staff)

Bourbon Street or Boylston Street? Mardi Gras makes its way to Emerson DH

By Max Ardrey, Dept. Living Arts Editor / March 6, 2025

Despite being 1,500 miles away from New Orleans, Emerson students could smell Mardi Gras on Boylston Street as the aroma from Cajun-inspired dishes wafted...

Kirsten Johnson sits next to an audience member during a post-screening Q&A of "Dick Johnson is Dead." (Fiona McMahon / Beacon Staff)

Documentarian Kirsten Johnson gets up close and personal with the VMA department

By Ryan Yau, Living Arts Editor / March 6, 2025

Documentary filmmaker and cinematographer Kirsten Johnson, whose 2016 documentary “Cameraperson” is widely shown in 100-level Emerson film courses,...

Jules Grace (center) and Berklee Valencia students jam out on a Spanish beach. (Courtesy Birdie Nelson)

Jules Grace bids farewell to adolescence with debut album ‘Diaries & Daydreams’

By Max Ardrey, Dept. Living Arts Editor / February 26, 2025

Before hitting the record button, there are a couple things Jules Grace has to do first.  “We have to turn the heater and the furnace off, so it’s...

Courtesy of Skylar Watkins.

The Revivalists frontman and new dad David Shaw reflects on his solo career

By Sam Shipman, Kasteel Well Staff Writer / February 26, 2025

As frontman for The Revivalists, David Shaw has been crushing live shows for over fifteen years, selling out large venues with their unforgettable indie...

Daniel Kish and Anna Stoianova perform Swan Lake at the Emerson Colonial Theatre. (Courtesy of Grand Kyiv Ballet)

Grand Kyiv Ballet dazzles the stage with Swan Lake

By Allison Po and Hannah Woods / February 26, 2025

The elegant and rhythmic performance of Swan Lake graced the stage of the Emerson Colonial Theatre with dancers of The Grand Kyiv Ballet, a Ukranian ballet...

Brighton brings creativity and fun with weekly ‘Drinking and Drawing’ event

Brighton brings creativity and fun with weekly ‘Drinking and Drawing’ event

By Hannah Hughes, Staff Writer / February 19, 2025

Inside from the cold, tables full of art supplies fill the wide, open space of Zone 3’s large studio space. Warm from the music, laughter, and people,...

A portrait of Paul Willis by Saoire Duffy. (Courtesy of Paul Willis)

Paul Willis brings hip hop to education, and education to hip hop

By Ryan Yau, Living Arts Editor / February 19, 2025

Jamaica Plain native Paul Willis was told to pick one career path—a hip hop artist or an educator: “‘Get your degree, but keep the two worlds separate,’”...

A vendor serves soup to customers. (McKenzie Cooper/ Beacon Staff)

Soup Fest is good for the soul, and small businesses too

By McKenzie Cooper, Beacon Staff / February 19, 2025

The Bow Market, a two-story outdoor marketplace in Somerville, is usually filled with small businesses and food vendors who sell homemade trinkets, used...

Boston’s newest bagel shop just popped up

Boston’s newest bagel shop just popped up

By Kristin Barrett, Beacon Correspondent / February 19, 2025

Viral bagel sensation PopUp Bagels, known for its “rip, grip, and dip” style recently opened a location in Boston’s Seaport District. Their official...

Nathalie Stutzmann conducts the BSO at Symphony Hall. (Courtesy Robert Torres/BSO)

Nathalie Stutzmann has her Boston Symphony Orchestra conducting debut with ‘The Firebird’

By Max Ardrey, Dept. Living Arts Editor / February 12, 2025

Pristine classical music seeped into the brisk air through the window creases of Symphony Hall last weekend, as the Boston Symphony Orchestra performed...

Mark Adamo photographed by Daniel Welch. (Courtesy of April Thilbeault)

This 2,400-year-old Ancient Greek comedy might be perfect for Valentine’s Day

By Ryan Yau, Living Arts Editor / February 12, 2025

When Aristophanes dropped “Lysistrata” in 411 BC, Ancient Greece didn’t know how to react. The play follows Lysistrata, a woman who comes up with...

Attendees playing Bầu Cua Cá Cọp, a traditional Vietnamese dice game at Pao Arts Center. (Marley Noiwan/ Beacon Correspondent)

Representation in celebration: Pao Arts Center hosts their annual Lunar New Year Festival

By Marley Noiwan, Beacon Correspondent / February 12, 2025

While the Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade commenced with joyful music and lion dancers throughout the neighborhood, the Pao Arts Center on Feb. 9 hosted...

Bobby MacLean and Alexandra Whisnant, who opened Zuzu's Petals in 2021.

Zuzu’s Petals is Cambridge’s sweetest escape, with no phones allowed

By Hannah Hughes, Staff Writer / February 12, 2025

In Cambridge, the smell of deep, rich chocolate fills the room on Hampshire Street, wafting through shelves of wine bottles, around walls full of polaroids,...

Søren Lind (left) and Larissa Sansour (middle) discuss “Entire Nations Are Built on Fairy Tales” with Dr. Leonie Bradbury (right). (Nick Peace/ Beacon Staff)

‘Entire Nations Are Built on Fairy Tales’: Emerson Contemporary’s newest exhibition gives a voice to Palestine

By Max Ardrey, Dept. Living Arts Editor / February 5, 2025

On Feb. 4, Emerson’s Media Art Gallery opened a new multi-media exhibition: “Entire Nations are Built on Fairy Tales.” The exhibition features two...

Senior Missionary Elder Butt and Assistant to the Bishop Stephen Patterson catch up over holiday fanfare in the Latter-day Saints' chapel gymnasium. (Bryan Liu/ For The Beacon)

Latter-day Saints celebrate Lunar New Year

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / February 5, 2025

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a Lunar New Year party celebrating Chinese culture in their Cambridge chapel last Friday night.  Latter-day...

Playwright Kate Hamill and Director Shana Cooper hug during a workshop of "The Odyssey." (Bryan Liu/ For The Beacon)

After 2000 years, Odysseus finally makes it to Boston

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / February 5, 2025

Actor and Playwright Kate Hamill’s latest production, “The Odyssey,” will have its world premiere on Feb. 9 at the American Repertory Theater in...

Max Kondziolka at a special screening of "The Brutalist" in L.A. (Courtesy of Max Kondziolka)

Max Kondziolka, ‘The Brutalist’ producer and archaeology student, seeks stories that break new ground

By Ryan Yau, Living Arts Editor / February 5, 2025

Max Kondziolka ‘16 has been working in international film production for almost a decade, and even co-founded a production company, Pierce Capital Entertainment....

Left to right: bassist Joey Sorkin, drummer Luke Tan, lead guitarist Charlie Silver, frontman Jack Silver, guitarist Kevin Mortenson. (Courtesy Ava Nagy)

Brothers to bandmates: ‘Cut The Kids In Half’ drops debut album

By Sam Shipman, Kasteel Well Staff Writer / January 29, 2025

Between their respective rooms, brothers Jack and Charlie Silver have been crafting and refining songs for years. Jack paces back and forth between Charlie’s...

(Courtesy Danny Lane)

Amanda Kramer talks Sundance, graduating from Emerson, and the woman-to-chair pipeline

By Ryan Yau, Living Arts Editor / January 29, 2025

Picture this: a woman, Camille, enters a furniture store and sees a chair she really wants, but cannot afford. Overcome by inexplicable feelings of desire...