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By Andy Hoffman

The musical, A Strange Loop, winner of both a 2019 Pulitzer and a 2022 Tony for Best Musical, takes the audience deep into the confused, proud, and self-loathing mind of Usher, an ambitious young man wrestling with a plague of Thoughts, personified and set to music. Overweight, black, and gay, Usher wonders if he can ever succeed in the creation of a musical.

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Every great while I put a poem of my own in the Lyrical. I read this at a recent gathering of Somerville poets at the Arts Armory. I think this is a subject we can all relate to.

Residents, community members invited to attend and share feedback to help select Somerville’s next Chief of Police

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and Somerville Police Chief Search Committee are inviting all community members to attend public interview sessions with candidates under consideration to be the next Chief of Police for the City of Somerville on Thursday, May 9, 2024. All interviews will take place in-person at Somerville City Hall (93 Highland Ave.) between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., with a final schedule to be shared with the community in the coming days. 

Join the Mystic Learning Center’s Casino Night for the 14^th Annual Spring for Children Fundraiser on Friday, May 10 from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Hosted at Somernova (8 Tyler St., Somerville), The Casino Night themed event will include Casino Gaming Tables (Black Jack, Craps, Roulette, and Poker), raffle baskets, live music, delicious food, and a limited open bar, all in support of Mystic Learning Center, Inc.’s mission to improve the lives of low-income children and families who live in the Mystic Public Housing Development and surrounding neighborhoods.

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Mayor Ballantyne and OSPCD’s Public Space and Urban Forestry Division host a ribbon cutting ceremony for the expansion of the Glen Park Community Gardens.

The Archivists by Daphne Kalotay has also been named to the 2024 Longlist in Fiction.

Massachusetts Center for the Book (MCB) is pleased to announce the long-listed titles in the 24th Annual Massachusetts Book Awards program. These titles, previously referred to as the “Must Reads,” represent achievements in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people’s literature by Massachusetts writers and illustrators published during 2023.

Festival will feature Q&A and cooking demonstrations with local chefs, live dance, family activities, and community cookbook exhibit.

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, and the Somerville Office of Immigrant Affairs (SOIA), is inviting community members to join the Cambridge-Somerville Asian Festival in celebration of Asian American Heritage Month. Somerville’s event will take place on Saturday, May 11, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Somerville High School (81 Highland Ave.). 

Mr. Jeremiah O’Leary passed away on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at the Cambridge Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Cambridge, he was 84. 

Spring Garden Day
Saturday, May 4, 12:00 – 2:00 p.m., Rain Date May 5
Celebrate spring with the annual Morris Dancing and participatory Maypole dance. Take home native seeds harvested at the Center. Bring and/ or take seeds or seedlings from a Seed Exchange Table. Learn about local pollinators and the related City Action Plan.