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Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
David Sweetser, owner of Providence's Superman building, dies at 70
Mr. Sweetser, the principal of Massachusetts-based High Rock Development, purchased the Superman building in 2008. He had plans to redevelop the empty office tower into 300 apartments with commercial space. Arrangements for services have not yet been scheduled. Alexa Gagosz can be reached at
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
How a chance meeting at a Providence market launched a friendship and an aspiring filmmaker's career
Advertisement 'We talked for a while. He said that he and his wife [actress and author Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up The two not only became fast friends, but Rockwell offered the 2019 Advertisement This film is about a flower delivery driver who, Osubor said, is trying to outrun the evils of his childhood. He's the success story of his town, because he's the only one of his friends who is not dead, in prison, or in rehab. 'On the contrary, he has a good, decent job and he stays out of trouble … but in life even though you might try to avoid trouble, trouble can still find you,' he said. The protagonist begins to suspect that the life he's been living isn't actually what he thought it was and, as Osubor explained, 'everything he knew and believed to be gospel was all just a facade. What happens when you have to choose not between 'good' and 'bad' options, but between the lesser of two evils?' The Hamilton, Ohio, native – an only child whose parents emigrated to the United States from Nigeria in 1997, a year before he was born – said he is 'very proud' of 'Big Daddy's Flowers,' which he made on a shoestring budget of just $2,000. Some of the cost-saving measures included starring as the lead – in addition to directing and producing – hiring non-actors, and working out a deal with Parsons to be in his film. 'Karyn is the author of children's books and runs a nonprofit that tells children stories about the achievements of African Americans. She needed help with her website, so I told her I would do that if she would be a part of this film, since I could never afford her,' said Osubor, who since 2020 has owned a multimedia consulting company that develops media narrative campaigns for clients, including Narragansett Brewing Company, Google, and the New England branch of the Environmental Protection Agency. Advertisement Osubor, who lives in Providence with roommates, said that filming in Rhode Island has been 'wonderful' not only because it is less expensive than elsewhere, but people have been 'so accommodating and supportive.' 'I've found the infrastructure/community more open to risk-taking and enterprising filmmaking,' he said. 'We had a lot of support rather than apprehension about what our intentions were.' Osubor didn't always want to be a filmmaker. His original plan was to go to law school after he graduated from Brown. But he changed his mind after an internship in a government legal office in Washington, D.C., where he witnessed behavior that 'went against much of what I stand for.' It was his disenchantment with politics and witnessing the polarization of people with different viewpoints – and the importance of compromise – that sparked Osubor's idea for his feature film, which he referred to as 'solid and vulnerable.' 'Films are accessible to people and often take up a fair amount of space in public discourse,' he said. 'I love literature [he majored in literary arts at Brown], but you don't hear people referencing [books] the way you hear them say, 'Hey, did you watch this series? Did you see this film?' ' Osubor is quick to point out that as much as he enjoyed making 'Big Daddy's Flowers,' it didn't come without challenges – mostly due to minimal funding. But he said obstacles led to the necessity to 'reorient your mind and look at things differently.' Advertisement 'Rejection should be viewed as a nudge … it had helped me to learn and grow,' he said. Rockwell, 68, a father of two who was raised in Cambridge, Mass., said he mentored and worked with many young filmmakers when he was at NYU, and he liked what he saw in Osubor and in his work. 'His way of seeing things, his voice, his narrative … it's unique. He's fun and interesting and kind of odd. Right away I liked his work,' Rockwell said. 'He's very talented and very eager and willing. He jumps right into a situation.' Osubor said he is grateful for Rockwell's support, mentorship, and now what has grown into a 'great friendship.' He said Rockwell has been very helpful and he's looking forward to working in tandem with him to navigate next steps and 'defy these norms, think differently and find solutions to whatever future roadblocks that might exist.' 'This industry is becoming more accessible for filmmakers like me to enter the arena,' Osubor said, 'and the sense of confidence I've gained from making this film has been a great takeaway.'
Boston Globe
15-07-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
With Newport Hospital's birthing center at risk amid budget woes, the city council is fired up
Advertisement The Newport City Council is fired up about the potential closure of the birthing center, and it's holding a special meeting at 7 p.m. to discuss a resolution urging Brown Health and Newport Hospital to maintain all maternity services at the hospital. Get Rhode Island News Alerts Sign up to get breaking news and interesting stories from Rhode Island in your inbox each weekday. Enter Email Sign Up Tonight's council meeting also comes after my colleague Alexa Gagosz reported that at least 300 women has their annual OB-GYN appointments scheduled at the Newport Women's Health Services at Newport Hospital Related : The bigger picture: Council resolutions are nonbinding, but they can influence decision-making if enough residents voice their displeasure about a decision like this one. The resolution is sponsored by Councilman a Democrat who appears to have a bright future in Rhode Island politics. Leadership at Brown Health knows this, and might want to avoid a public fight with a future statewide officeholder if it can find cuts elsewhere. Advertisement Khamsyvoravong sent an email to constituents this week with a gloomy subject line: 'The Last Generation of Newporters?' 'Eliminating Newport's Birthing Center will immediately impact the bottom line of the city of Newport and will have devastating impacts on our community's ability to attract families and equitably serve those that are here,' Khamsyvoravong wrote. He urged Newport residents to send a message to Dr. Thomas. 'It's important that he understand, on day one, that access to women and family health is a priority for this community,' Khamsyvoravong wrote. This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you'd like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, . Dan McGowan can be reached at
Boston Globe
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Indigenous composer Cris Derksen highlights R.I.'s history with ‘First Light'
Advertisement 'I always come to my work with an Indigenous lens, as it is my perspective,' she said. Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up As Derksen dug deeper into Rhode Island's history, she came across a 1771 advertisement for 'What if John Anthony managed to escape and leave behind a life that was not his and create his own life, reclaim his own light?' Derksen wondered. The question became the heart of her commission for Newport Classical: 'First Light,' a hopeful, reimagined future in which the boy escapes bondage and claims his own destiny, with a central message of resilience and renewal. 'First Light' will premiere on July 13 Advertisement The Boston Globe spoke with Derksen about how she continues to reimagine the classical music landscape by celebrating the past as well as pushing the art form forward. The interview was edited for length and clarity. Q. You debuted a work at Carnegie Hall in New York City. What was that like for you? Derksen: Oh, gosh, that was kind of a humbling experience. Carnegie was always so high – I never even put it on my bucket list. It was to write a piece for Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, he's the conductor there, he first asked me to write a piece for the opening of their season, and I was so stoked because it's pretty impressive. And then even before I even had the concept, he was like, 'Hey, do you want to go on tour? You want to go to Philadelphia and Carnegie Hall?' So even before I wrote the piece, I knew it was going there, so there's a lot of pressure. That piece is called 'Controlled Burn,' and it's about the forest fires that we've been having. What's your process when you are commissioned for a piece? The concept takes the longest for me. And once I know the story that I'm going to tell, then it's so much easier to actually write the story. And I definitely think of my compositions as a journey. Sometimes they come with parameters, and sometimes they don't. And the parameter (for 'First Light') was it has to be about Rhode Island. And I'm Canadian. I'm originally from northern Alberta, so quite far away from Rhode Island. I didn't really know much about Rhode Island besides that's where the fancy people go live [laughs]. Diving into Rhode Island's history was really intense because that's the first place of colonization. Advertisement The rad thing as a composer is I get to shed light onto anything I want to. I get to just put a little flashlight and be like, 'Hey, look at this. Like, let's think about that.' That's what 'First Light' is about, it's thinking about slavery and racism, and all the dark and dirty things that happened with making North America what it is today. In this piece, I was like, 'Let's do a historical reimagining of an Indigenous slave boy who escapes and gets free. And let's recreate history, or let's reimagine history and put some light into such an adverse situation.' We're seeing the story from his view, it's the journey of his perspective. It starts in the morning. I was thinking about first light: who is awake in the first light? It's farmers. And that's also like a really good time to escape, that kind of dark morning, and eventually, like a leitmotif, he escapes, and it's just hope. And that's it, it's a nice beam of hope. It's a cello quartet piece for the Galvan Cello players: Oh, man, they're so virtuosic. The Galvin Cello Quartet. © Todd Rosenberg Photography What's your feeling about the state of classical music today? I work with the Calgary Philharmonic as an artistic advisor, and I've sat on the Orchestras Canada Equity Board. And really, it's like, 'How do we make classical music look and sound more like Canada?' It's the same for the States. It is about diversity, it is about bringing in all perspectives. If you only have one perspective, it gets pretty mundane. But having a bunch of different perspectives, it gives a lot more color and a lot more history, you know? Advertisement As a composer, what kind of pressure is there to create music that's relevant for our time? What's rad about today's time is there's so much we can take from different genres, too, and it's still classical music. But I definitely add an element of the rhythm, in little bits it gets a little jazzy, almost, but it's still very much rooted in classical. My roots are totally romantic classical heavies. Like, give me Brahms, give me Rachmaninoff, give me the heavy, tonal stuff. I use that a lot, but we're making it relevant, too. I think music should be relevant. What inspired you to start with classical music in the first place? I feel like I've always been writing music, like even when I was a little kid. I started with piano at 5, and was writing my own things by 7. I'm better at getting my feelings out through music than I am with words. So it's always been a language for me. I just can't imagine not doing it. And what was it like for you as an Indigenous artist, to be in the classical music world? At first it was very lonely. When I was growing up, there was nobody like me. But I've started a classical Indigenous residency here in Canada. So now we have a network of folks, and there are folks that we are connected with down in the States. For me, it's about telling our stories, it's about getting our stories out there to all the people, and it doesn't really matter what medium it is. Advertisement How do you inspire other young people who are interested in the classical arts? What's your advice to them? Don't quit. Just don't quit. When I go to schools, I say, 'I got a secret for you, and that's the nerds win in the end.' If you like something now and you don't quit, and you just stick with it, and you just put the time into it, you are eventually going to get pretty good at it. And once you're pretty good at it, people are going to want it. And what's next for you after this? I'm currently writing this next ballet, and then I have a piece with the Toronto Symphony, where I live. So writing that in the fall, and then summer is the Vancouver Folk Fest and then Ottawa Chamber Fest. But really the summer is about writing this ballet.
Boston Globe
02-07-2025
- Boston Globe
10 weekend getaways you can do from Boston without a car
New York City New York City is the quintessential weekend getaway for a reason. It's just four hours from Boston (less on Amtrak's high-speed Acela trains) and offers an endless array of activities and arguably the best food scene in the country. The city is easy to reach from South Station, where you can catch Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up There's something in New York for everyone. Catch a Broadway show, bike through Central Park, stroll along the High Line, or shop downtown. Grab a banana pudding at Advertisement If you're on a budget, there are plenty of hostels downtown. Or, check out the Globe's Advertisement WaterFire in Providence. Erin Cuddigan Providence Just a 40-minute train ride from Boston, Providence makes for an easy weekend trip. You can get there via Amtrak or the If you're in the city at the right time, make sure to experience Aleppo Sweets is located in Providence's Fox Point neighborhood. Alexa Gagosz/Globe Staff Take a stroll through the city's College Hill neighborhood to admire its colorful 18th- and 19th-century mansions. This aptly named area is also home to Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. Brown's campus is lovely, and the Rhode Island is famous for its seafood. Enjoy local catches at New Haven-style pizza, like this one at the original Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, in New Haven. JOE BUGLEWICZ/NYT New Haven As a Harvard student, I have a healthy disdain for New Haven. But I'll admit that some of my favorite weekends in college have been spent there visiting friends at Yale. Take a round-trip train or bus to New Haven from South Station for about $50 — just make sure to book ahead on Amtrak. The journey takes a little over two hours. Advertisement In New Haven, stroll through Yale's picturesque campus. If you're visiting during the academic year, catch a show by one of the university's performing arts groups, which are among the best in the country. Or, see a touring indie band at Yale's museums and libraries — the school has more than a dozen — feature everything from brontosaurus skeletons to Van Gogh paintings. The university's some oxygen, not enough to kill you.) New Haven's culinary scene is excellent. Visit the James Beard-winning The Washington Monument is seen in the distance as the cherry blossoms bloom along the Tidal Basin, March 31, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press Washington, D.C. The US capital is a long train ride from Boston, but if you book a few weeks in advance, you can find cheap, round-trip plane tickets to D.C. for $100 or less. Once you arrive, it's easy to navigate the city via metro. Advertisement The city has some of the world's best An exhibit about the Black Power movement at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., May 3, 2025. MAANSI SRIVASTAVA/NYT The Adams Morgan neighborhood — which is packed with bars, many offering live music — is great for a night out. If you're craving time in nature, Rock Creek Park and Theodore Roosevelt Island offer easy-to-reach hikes. D.C. has plenty of great food. For a more comprehensive guide to the city, including hotel recommendations, check out An American flag at Portland Head Light catches the light at sunrise, June 11, 2025, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press Coastal Towns Portland, Maine Portland is as much a New England summer classic as lobster rolls and blueberry pie — and the city offers plenty of both. It's just 2½ hours from Boston's North Station on the Advertisement Portland's downtown holds quaint bookshops, music stores, and boutiques. You can shop for locally crafted jewelry and art, browse vintage vinyl records, or enjoy a drink by the waterfront. A 20-minute Uber ride takes you to Freshly glazed lemon donuts at The Holy Donut. Elizabeth Bomze for The Boston Globe Portland is famous for its specialty coffee. Portland is well-known for its amazing food. The Woods End Lighthouse in Provincetown. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Provincetown Catch a ferry from Boston's Seaport or Waterfront for an easy trip to Cape Cod. Relax on the sand at Provincetown's Advertisement Provincetown remains a vibrant arts hub. On Friday evenings, the galleries along Commercial Street host open houses and ribbon-cuttings for new exhibitions. The While in Provincetown, be sure to try some seafood. Get a lobster roll at A young boy attends a Juneteenth celebration at the African Burying Ground Memorial Park, June 19, 2025, in Portsmouth, N.H. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press Portsmouth, N.H. Portsmouth is nicknamed Portland's younger sibling. But being the youngest has its perks. Portsmouth, which is smaller, is closer and less expensive than Portland, while still offering plenty of seaside fun. Portsmouth is surrounded by The Red Wine Braised Short Ribs is a popular dish at Cure restaurant in Portsmouth, N.H. Cure Downtown, visit Prescott Park to catch a performance at The Visit the original location of A three-mile portion of the Island Line Trail in Burlington, Vt., stretches over Lake Champlain. Christopher Muther/Globe Staff Outdoor recreation Burlington, Vt. The 4-plus-hour Burlington is located on the coast of Lake Champlain. Enjoy the water however you like — on a cruise, a sailboat, or a jet ski. Or, ride the During leaf-peeping season, don your lederhosen for Burlington's annual Church Street Marketplace in Burlington, Vt. Caleb Kenna for the Boston Globe Downtown, visit a classic Vermont market. The Two people posed atop Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. Ted Shaffrey/Associated Press Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, Maine Did you know it's possible to visit New England's only national park without a car? Take a 5½ -hour Amtrak (about $120 round trip) or a bus (about $70 round trip) to Bangor. From there, catch the $9 Renting a bike is a fantastic way to navigate Bar Harbor and Acadia. It's a short bike ride into the park, or you can take the free Because Bar Harbor is small, hotels can be pricey. However, the island also has plenty of campgrounds. The Geese and children enjoy the lawn at Fort Warren on Georges Island, one of the Boston Harbor Islands, in 2018. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Boston Harbor Islands If you don't want to travel all the way to Acadia to camp, there's a much closer option — the Boston Harbor Islands. From mid-June to mid-October, you can Walk along the island coast to enjoy the ocean breeze and see seabirds and other wildlife. Hike to the top of Spectacle Island, the highest point in the harbor, for a panoramic view of Boston. On Georges Island, visit On the Harbor Islands' Adelaide Parker can be reached at
