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Volume 16
Issue 5
May 2016
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Brandeis
Broadway in Waltham: The Reagle Theatre
by Na’ama Ansell - “What’s Up in Waltham?”
The Reagle Theatre? Named after some minor
royal figure who was vacationing in Waltham?
No! If you were a kid in a Waltham elementary
school in the 1960’s, you would have seen the
signature R.Eagle on slips permitting you to leave
the classroom. Some years later, that signature
morphed into the Reagle Music Theatre, Waltham’s
professional, Broadway caliber, theatrical venue
with Robert Eagle as its artistic producer-director.
Robert Eagle, a Waltham native and a graduate of
Boston College, was a boy genius. “The first time I
saw a stage and curtain, I was hooked.” At age 11,
he began putting on stage shows in his basement,
making sets out of balsa wood, and charging a
nickel for admission. Among his projects was a
complete model of Radio City Music Hall, which
earned him a write-up in Popular Mechanics.
After graduating from BC in 1956, Eagle started
teaching in the Waltham school system and wound
up heading the English and Drama departments
where he began directing plays, casting his
students as the actors. The first was Cheaper by the
Dozen followed by Arsenic and Old Lace. A 1968
production of The Music Man convinced Eagle,
Waltham high school students, and alumni to begin
a summer theater. With the support of then-Mayor
Richard Dacey, the Waltham Cultural Council
appropriated funds for a theater program. The first
production, Carousel, was a smash hit, and so the
Reagle Players were off and running.
By the mid 1970s, talented young people from
In This Issue >
other communities began to join the Players in new
productions. School Committee and City Council
appropriations, along with city wide fund-raising
drives, provided the necessary improvements to
make the high school theater a professional venue.
The theater now has 1,000 seats and is fully airconditioned and handicap accessible.
Once considered a community theater, the
Reagle was accepted into the National Alliance
for Musical Theatre as a professional theater
in 1991. Its summer musicals feature many
Actors Equity performers from Broadway, a full
orchestra, original Broadway choreography, and
original Broadway or touring sets and costumes.
Fourteen trailers in Billerica house dozens of sets
and costumes, all awaiting their turn on the stage.
(Continued on page 8)
Kiss Me Kate, 2015 (photo courtesy of Herb Philpott,
Reagle Theatre photographer)
The Rosebud Gallery - Harry Truman Course - French Conversation Group
A Note from the Managing Editor
By Phil Radoff
A New Series. Jack Curley’s article on George
Model‘s Harry Truman course is the first in a series
of articles that examine how prospective SGLs
undertake to develop their courses. More such
articles are planned for future issues.
The new BOLLI Communications and Publications
Working Group (CAPWG) was formed to address
these and similar issues for all four publications.
This group, which meets monthly, includes
representatives from each publication as well as
members of the BOLLI administration responsible
for the website and Facebook page. The Working
Group’s goal is to structure and organize our
publications so as to make them both useful and
enjoyable for BOLLI members.
Color! The Banner’s online edition has long been
available in color, but, with our landmark April
issue, we were very pleased to be able to bring you
our first print edition in living color. Look for more
print editions in color in Volume 17, beginning in the
fall of this year.
If you, our readers, have thoughts about the
direction that The Banner--or, indeed, any of the
other publications--should take, you are welcome
to share them with any CAPWG member: Phil
Radoff (Banner), Maxine Weintraub (Journal),
Naomi Schmidt (Bulletin), Sue Wurster (BOLLI
Matters), Matt Medeiros (website), or Megan
Curtis (Facebook page). Enjoy the summer!
Whither the Banner? In the beginning, there was
The Banner. Over the years, however, three other
BOLLI publications have appeared that also provide
a variety of creative and informational content
to BOLLI members. Two of these are currently
available only in web-based editions (the Bulletin
and the new blog, BOLLI Matters), and two come in
both web-based and print editions (The Banner and
The Journal). It will not have escaped notice that
there is the potential for overlap in content among
the four.
Given the availability of the Bulletin, the BOLLI
Matters blog, and the Journal, we on The Banner
staff have asked ourselves where we go from here.
Should The Banner continue more or less as it has
for the past 16 years, or should we introduce changes
to our format and content in light of what the other
publications provide?
The 2016 issue of BOLLI’s
literary journal is now in print.
It is available at $10 per copy
from Matt Medeiros. Come
to celebrate its publication at
lunch time on May 18.
The BOLLI BANNER is published by The Banner Committee: Phil Radoff, Managing Editor/Articles Co-Editor
Nancy Alimansky, Archivist
Na’ama Ansell, Secretary Sam Ansell, Cartoonist
Jack Curley, Articles Co-Editor
Sue Wurster, Production Editor
BANNER ARCHIVE: www.brandeis.edu/bolli/publications/banner/index.html
Volume 16 Issue 5
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May 2016
The Rose Buds in Waltham
By Phil Radoff
In the four years since Chris Bedford’s appointment
as Director of Brandeis’s Rose Art Museum, the
reputation of the institution has grown substantially.
Perhaps most importantly, the concern that once
plagued the local arts community about the possible
closure of the museum or the sale of its prized
works has since vanished. New installations, both
temporary and permanent, have drawn favorable
comment from art critics. Certainly the most visible
of these installations is the “Light of Reason,” artist
Chris Burden’s three-branch array of Victorian
lamposts and concrete benches extending fanlike
from the steps of the museum to the larger campus.
According to Rose Art Museum Deputy Director
Kristin Parker, Rosebud presents “an exciting opportunity for us to foster creativity and collaboration between the Brandeis community and the residents and businesses in the city of Waltham.” City
officials, for their part, saw the establishment of
the satellite gallery as consistent with Waltham’s
long-term goals for economic growth and cultural
vibrancy. The gallery is also expected to afford
an opportunity for the Rose’s curatorial interns and
Brandeis students to design programs and activities for both their fellow students and the general
public.
Less flashy, perhaps, but no less innovative was
last September’s opening of Rosebud. No, not
the childhood sled consigned to the flames at
the end of Citizen Kane, but a satellite gallery
situated unobtrusively in downtown Waltham,
near the busy intersection of Main and Moody
Streets. The gallery’s location was once the site of
a video production company owned by television
personality Rex Trailer.
The gallery occupies a modest two-room suite facing Main Street. The front room houses the reception area, and the back room is darkened to permit
the viewing of the featured video. The current exhibit is FIELD_WORK by JJ PEET, who is the recipient of the university’s 2016 Perlmutter Artist in
Residence Award, which promotes emerging contemporary artists and creates opportunities for engagement with the Brandeis community. The video was created with the participation of Brandeis
students during the artist’s recent “performative
residency project” on campus, for which PEET
traded his hand-made PROXY_Cups for students’
participation in the video project. The exhibit, the
fifth to be displayed since the gallery’s opening
last September, will be on view until June, when
it will be replaced by a video from the Rose’s permanent collection.
The new gallery is devoted, appropriately enough, to
video art from the Rose’s collection. By selecting a
location in the heart of Waltham, the Rose sought to
activate public engagement with contemporary art
and to revive underutilized properties in Waltham.
Rosebud will be open through the summer but has
limited hours: Thursdays (1 p.m. to 4 p.m.), Fridays (5 p.m. to 8 p.m.), and Saturdays (10 a.m. to
1 p.m.). Stop by to meet Rosebud’s genial gallery
attendants, Scout Hutchinson and Shane Silverstein, who will be glad to show you around.
“The Neon Rosebud” sign was created for the space by a
Brandeis graduate. (Photo from Rose Gallery website)
Volume 16 Issue 5
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May 2016
The Development of a BOLLI Course
by Jack Curley
the time period 1917-48, which begins with Truman’s service in World War I, continues through
the rise of his political career, and culminates in
his inspiring and unexpected victory in the 1948
election.
George Model honed his speaking and facilitation skills delivering hundreds of presentations to
groups both large and small during his long career
as a health benefits consulting actuary. Upon retiring several years ago, he found that he missed the
stimulation and sharing of knowledge that came
from facilitated discussions. The Banner visited
with George to learn how he developed his popular course on President Truman.
George was comfortable with leading a class but
surmised that his “general knowledge of U.S.
George Model’s early interest in U.S.
history was rekindled about five years
ago when a friend gave him a copy of
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of
Rivals, which examines Lincoln’s
complex relationships with three members of his cabinet. He came away
from the book “hooked on history
once more.” It was not surprising then
that his introduction to BOLLI was
Fran
Feldman’s
“Remarkable
Roosevelts” course. George enjoyed (Photo courtesy of George Model)
the class but found that, based largely on a recent
reading of David McCullough’s Truman, he much
preferred Harry Truman to Franklin D. Roosevelt.
“When I read Truman, his story resonated with me,”
George recalls. “FDR was a patrician, predestined for
success, who was indirect in his dealings and made
decisions largely on his own. Truman, on the other
hand, had to overcome his modest background, was
extremely direct, and a consummate team player.”
George feels that these lines from Mary McGrory’s
eulogy best encapsulate the man: “He proved that
the ordinary American is capable of grandeur. And
that a President can be a human being.”
George decided to pursue becoming an SGL but
had to determine how best to proceed. It was
clear that Harry Truman would be the topic, with
McCullough’s book as the text. Given the book’s
1,000 pages, George decided to limit his course to
Volume 16 Issue 5
history was probably only about
average among those likely to
take the course.” He subsequently
read five other biographies to
broaden his knowledge and then
reread McCullough’s book,
taking notes and developing
study question as he proceeded.
To enhance class interest, he then
identified a number of potential
voluntary reports and discovered
the PBS Truman video, which
supports the McCullough text.
Based upon class feedback, George decided to
offer a sequel to his initial course this year. This
course covers Truman’s challenging second term,
which was undermined by political rancor, fears of
the “Red Menace,” and the outbreak of the Korean
War. Notwithstanding Truman’s low approval rating at the end of his second term, historians and the
American public have come to regard Truman as
one of our best presidents.
When asked how he feels about his first two years
as an SGL, George says, “I’ve really enjoyed delving into the life of an individual I admire so much
who was president at such a crucial time in our
history. It’s been a pleasure to lead classes whose
members have been so knowledgeable, engaged,
and supportive.” Finally, while he savors his time
as the classroom “conductor,” he always keeps in
mind that “class members are the orchestra, and
they provide the music.”
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May 2016
French Conversation Group
by Barbara Apstein
A group of BOLLI members who share an
interest in French language and culture have been
meeting bi-weekly since the fall of 2013. Our 10
participants have a range of backgrounds: a few of
us lived in France or other francophone countries,
others studied the language in college, and a few
have taught French.
To choose the books which serve as the focus
for our discussions, members of the group offer
recommendations. The options are then discussed,
cost and availability are considered, and a vote is
taken. As one might expect, some of our choices
have proved more successful than others, and,
of course, individual tastes differ. Some of our
choices are enjoyed by everyone, while in other
cases we share Samuel Johnson’s sentiment about
Milton’s Paradise Lost, that “none ever wished it
longer than it is.” Some of us are eager to explore
the stylistic intricacies of Proust while others prefer
lighter fare. We try to strike a balance.
For most sessions, one member of our group
composes questions based on the reading, which are
shared and discussed. Our conversations tend to be
lively and wide-ranging; in addition to discussing
our responses to the text, we examine questions of
grammar and translation.
Beginning with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s
charming classic Le Petit Prince (The Little
Prince), we have explored Flaubert’s short stories,
Jean Anouilh’s play L’Alouette (The Lark), and the
poems of Jacques Prévert. We’ve also tried some
less familiar authors, such as Roger Martin du
Gard, whose Les Thibaut (The Thibaut family), an
extended family saga, provides a vivid picture of
life in a Parisian bourgeois Catholic family during
the early years of the 20th century. We tackled
Marcel Proust’s Combray, the opening section of
his multivolume À la Recherche du Temps Perdu
(In Search of Lost Time), which both enchanted us
Volume 16 Issue 5
with its evocative descriptions and extraordinary
imagery and challenged us with its long, complex
sentences.
We’ve also explored contemporary French writing,
for example, Jean Echenoz’s witty and playful
quasi-mystery Je M’En Vais (I’m Off). On a lighter
note, we chose two of mystery writer Fred Vargas’s
bizarre, quirky tales, Debout les Morts (translated
as The Three Evangelists) and Un Lieu Incertain
(An Uncertain Place).
Our group is currently reading Les Années (The
Years) by contemporary feminist author Annie
Ernaux. Les Années chronicles one woman’s life
against the background of French political and
cultural history from the end of World II to our own
time. Since most of us are Ernaux’s contemporaries
(she was born in 1940), we found that there was
much for us to relate to in her account.
With the next two books on our agenda, we return to
the 19th century: Pierre Loti’s Mme. Chrysanthème
(one of the sources of Puccini’s opera Madama
Butterfly) will be followed by Bel-Ami (Fine
Friend), Guy de Maupassant’s tale of a provincial
young man who manipulates his way to the top of
Parisian society.
We invite BOLLI members who might be interested
in joining the group to attend one of our meetings.
Contact Barbara Apstein ([email protected]).
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(Photo by Barbara Apstein)
May 2016
Brandeis 100 “Then and Now” Series Concludes
by Jack Curley
A panel of experts gathered in the Rapaporte
Treasure Hall in the Goldfarb Library on April
18 to discuss the topic “Speech and Participation
in a Democracy: What are the Rights and
Responsibilities of the Educated Citizen?” The
panelists, including Judge Jon D. Levy, U.S.
District Court for the District of Maine; Philippa
Strum, Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars; and Anita Hill, Brandeis Professor of
Social Policy, Law and Women’s Studies, were
introduced by Brandeis Interim Provost Irving R.
Epstein. The program was moderated by Stephen
Whitfield, who occupies the Max Richter Chair in
American Civilization.
Is democracy imperiled by big business invoking
First Amendment protection? Is a corporation
a person? Program participants offered their
thoughts on how the legacy of Louis Brandeis
might be invoked to help us deal with these and
other important issues of our time.
The panel discussion marked the final event in the
series of lectures and discussions titled “Brandeis
Then and Now,” commemorating the 100th
anniversary of the accession of Louis D. Brandeis
to the U.S. Supreme Court. The series examined
the relevance to contemporary issues of Justice
Brandeis’s reasoning on the conflicting issues
of freedom of speech, judicial restraint, and the
dangers of “bigness.”
Justice Brandeis was known as a disciplined judge
who believed in judicial restraint. But panelists
agreed that his loathing of big business and
corruption would have led him to vote with the
minority in opposing the Supreme Court’s 2010
Citizens United decision, which characterized
corporations as individuals entitled to First
Amendment protection. Judge Levy commented
that, “if one section of America had a larger
megaphone, it could drown out other opinions.”
Volume 16 Issue 5
While the Court asserted that corporations are
“associations of citizens,” Levy suggested that
they are, in fact, “artifices” without constitutional
rights. He added that a particular concern of the
Citizens United rationale for a democracy is the
potential for negative fallout among voters who
may become alienated as a result of free spending
by big business and wealthy individuals. Judge
Levy referred to a recent Bloomberg poll in which
78% of respondents felt that Citizens United should
be overturned.
Ms. Strum recalled that Justice Brandeis did vote
to limit free speech in instances of what Justice
Oliver Wendell Holmes famously called “clear and
present danger.” However, “the problem with the
‘clear and present danger test’,” Ms. Strum noted,
“was that Holmes did not define ‘clear’ or ‘present’
or ‘danger’.” On the other hand, Brandeis came
to believe that government censorship of speech
posed an even greater danger since citizens in a
democracy must be able to educate themselves in
the “free marketplace of ideas” in order to fulfill
their obligation to speak out on issues of importance.
Ms. Strum went on to refer to Justice Brandeis’s
stirring words in the 1927 case of Whitney v.
California: “If there be time to expose through
discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the
evil by the processes of education, the remedy to
be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.”
In Ms. Strum’s view, Justice Brandeis’s opinion in
that case remains “perhaps the most comprehensive
and eloquent discussion of the rationale for free
speech, and it makes today’s American speech
jurisprudence the most permissive in the world.”
There is, of course, the danger that a totally free
marketplace of ideas will not always produce the
truth. Ms. Hill questioned whether, in a society
without equal access to media, truth may become
a victim. Perhaps, she concluded, truth is merely a
sometimes unattainable goal.
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May 2016
BOLLI’s New Advancement Committee
by Sue Wurster
Ruth Bramson recently sat with Banner staff member
Sue Wurster to discuss the Advancement Committee and its goals. Here are some highlights of their
conversation.
After serving as a top executive at Shaw’s Supermarkets, as the Commonwealth’s chief human resources officer in the Romney administration, and
as CEO of the Girl Scouts, Ruth Bramson came to
BOLLI. “I’ve always loved learning,” she says,
“and retirement gave me an opportunity to take a fresh look at how I do
that. At BOLLI, I’ve been enriched
by a community of peers, a broad
selection of courses, lunchtime programs, lecture series, and more.”
the other three classrooms and the common space
as well.
Another need is the BOLLI lectureship program
that supports graduate and post-graduate scholars
like Craig Bruce Smith, David Razor, and Philip
Wight. These lecturers receive very modest stipends ($750) for their innovative lecture series or
courses that have been so popular with members.
The committee believes that establishing a dedicated fund and raising
$12,000 to cover those costs for a couple of years will ensure the future of
this outstanding program.
The group recognizes that some members are already stretching to pay for
Ruth knows how important raising
courses and emphasizes participatfunds is to the life of an organization,
ing at whatever level is comfortable.
“so I was happy to take on the chal“It’s true that every little bit helps,”
lenge of chairing the Advancement
Ruth says. “A gift of $50, for example,
Committee.” As is the case every- (Photo courtesy of Ruth Bramson) will help cover the cost of printing a
where these days, our tuition dollars
full-color issue of The Banner.”
cover less each year. While these funds cover our
staffing and day-to-day operating costs, they do The committee is also exploring the possibility of
not provide enough to meet our long-term needs. securing corporate and foundation funding. The
The committee’s mission is to raise the funds we members are visiting Boston area enterprises that
need to meet those goals.
support lifelong learning and are crafting proposals and writing grant applications. As this can be a
So what are some of these needs? The members slow and uncertain process, the group is also purhave identified a particularly crucial one--a hearing suing ideas for BOLLI fund-raising events and acassistance system for our space. Last spring, tivities. “We’re teaming up with the Membership
the committee met with a group of experts who Committee,” Ruth states, “to celebrate the publicaoutlined various options for systems appropriate to tion of this year’s BOLLI Journal with an end-ofa space such as ours and invited the membership to term party and a raffle.”
attend information sessions with these consultants.
Members can contribute in other ways as well. “We
How much does something like that cost? According are always looking for additional funding sources
to Ruth, the most extensive, least invasive, and most that we might approach--individuals, groups, corcost-effective measure available would cost $6,500 porations, and foundations,” Ruth concludes. “We
per room. “Happily, a BOLLI donor has offered to are eager to hear everyone’s ideas about how we
pilot this venture by having one of our classrooms can advance the BOLLI cause and enrich all of our
outfitted with the system, but we want to upgrade
lives.”
Volume 16 Issue 5
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May 2016
Reagle Theatre, Continued...
Eagle has a knack for getting the best talent.
Personal, hand-written letters to stars have
generated positive responses from well-known
Broadway names such as Robert Goulet, Patti
LuPone, Patti Page, Mitzi Gaynor, the Lettermen,
Ann-Margret, Tommy Tune, and countless others,
all happy to star in Reagle productions. Because of
its reputation for excellence and ability to engage
well-known stars, auditions for summer musicals
bring anywhere from 60 to 150 actors to try out for
each show.
In addition to its year-round productions, the
Reagle continues to collaborate closely with the
Waltham Schools arts programs. “Actors in the
Classroom,” temporarily suspended for lack of
funds, featured professional actors coaching and
mentoring students, while the Junior High theater
is used for children’s winter and summer theater
camps. The National Endowment for the Arts has
noted that “no other professional theatre company
has such a close relationship with a public school
system.”
Since the inception of the Independent Reviewers
of New England Awards in 1997, Reagle Music
Theatre has won more than three dozen awards-six in the Large Theatre category that includes the
ART, Huntington Theater Company, North Shore
Music Theatre, Ogunquit Playhouse, and others.
Now in its 48th year, the Reagle’s 2016 summer
season includes Carousel in June, followed
by Thoroughly Modern Millie and Gershwin’s
Crazy for You. The Reagle continues to provide
“Broadway at Your Doorstep…at Prices Broadway
Hasn’t Seen in Years.”
Kiss Me Kate, 2015 and Singin’ in the Rain, 2014 (photos courtesy of Herb Philpott, Reagle photographer)
ASTON MAGNA AT SLOSBERG RECITAL HALL
Compiled by Nancy Alimansky
Tickets $35 per person per concert.
Love and Lamentation (Thurs. June 16 at 7 pm) 17th century Italian program featuring works by
Monteverdi, Marazzoli, Rossi, and Marini.
The Baroque Trio Sonata, Then and Now (Thurs. June 23 at 7 pm) Music of Handel, Corelli,
Purcell, Leclair, and a new work by Alex Burtzos.
Mozart’s Diversions (Thurs. June 30 at 7 pm) A Musical Joke, Horn Quintet, Divertimento K. 287.
Bach, Sacred and Secular (Thurs. July 7 at 7 pm) The program includes Orchestral Suite No.
3, BWV 1068; Cantata No 12: Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen; Cantata No. 201: The Singing Contest of
Phoebus and Pan.
Order tickets at www.mahaiwe.org or call Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 413-528-0100
May 2016
Volume 16 Issue 5
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