A Wasserstein work
Gloucester Stage opens its summer season Thursday with ``The Heidi Chronicles," by the late playwright Wendy Wasserstein.
The play follows the journey of Heidi Holland through the idealism of the 1960s, feminism of the 1970s, and materialism of the 1980s. It has won many awards, including the 1989 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award. Wasserstein adapted the play for television, and the production won a 1996 Emmy Award for Best Television Movie.
Gloucester Stage's production is directed by Eric Engel, the company's producing director and associate artistic director.
Rachel Sullivan stars as Heidi Holland. Marianna Bassham appears as Susan Johnston. The men in Heidi's life are portrayed by Ben Lambert and Chris Sena. The ensemble cast also features Mason Sand, Rebecca Sigl, Julie Jirousek, and Anne Gottlieb.
Following the 5 p.m. performance June 25, the audience is invited to a free discussion with Engel and the cast. The show runs through July 2. Tickets are $30, $25 for students and senior citizens on Wednesdays and Thursdays; $35, $30 on Fridays through Sundays. For a performance schedule and reservations, call 978-281-4433 or visit www.gloucesterstage.org.
RIVERWIDE MUSIC SERIES: Local singer-songwriters Carl Cacho and Susan Levine perform in Newburyport on Friday as part of the Riverwide Music Series.
Cacho, of Amesbury, and Levine, of Newburyport, both balance active music careers, families, and day jobs as therapists working with children and families in a local early intervention program.
Cacho, who performs a mix of country-blues and storytelling songs, plays throughout the Northeast. He was a Boston Music Award nominee for outstanding new singer-songwriter in 2000, winner of the Rose Garden Coffeehouse Singer/Songwriter Competition in Mansfield , and a finalist in songwriting competitions at both the Telluride Troubadour and Sierra Songwriters' Festival.
Levine, a Harvard graduate, has been an actress in New York, a waitress in Santa Fe, and a music therapist. She was a finalist in the 2005 International Songwriting Competition, the 2004 Rocky Mountain Folk Fest, and the 2004 Rose Garden Coffeehouse Singer/Songwriter Competition.
The Riverwide Music Series, sponsored by Riverwide Records and Thomas Eaton Recording, takes place the third Friday of each month at the First Religious Society, Unitarian Universalist Church, 26 Pleasant St.
Performances begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10. Call 978-465-5102 or visit www.riverwiderecords.com. For more on the artists, visit www.carlcacho.com and www.susanjlevine.com.
SKIP TOLLS, SEE SUNSET: Visitors can view ``Sunset from the Tobin" and help support summer theater in Chelsea on Thursday.
The fund-raiser benefits TheatreZone's free performances in English and Spanish at Mary O'Malley Park in Chelsea.
The event begins with a gala reception in a tent by the Mystic River, at the foot of the Tobin Bridge. A private elevator nearby takes guests to the top of the bridge for guided tours. The event includes cocktails, live music, a silent auction, and more, from 6-10 p.m. Tickets are $125, $200 for couples, and $100 per person for groups of three or more.
Proceeds benefit TheatreZone, a small professional theater company in Chelsea. In addition to performances, it offers arts programming, cultural activities, theater training for adults and youths, and exhibition space for artists.
The fourth year of TheatreZone in the Park begins with a production of Eugene Ionesco's ``Rhinoceros" July 12-29.
Call 617-887-2336 or visit www.theatrezone.org.
AUTHOR'S CORNER: Sarah Phelan of Lynn celebrates the release of her novel ``Stay at Home" with a party at Red Rock Bistro in Swampscott Thursday at 8 p.m. The book is about what happens when a stay-at-home mom and day-care provider takes in the daughter of a Hollywood celebrity in town for a movie shoot. She also recently formed her own company, Blanket Fort Publishing. . . . John A. Curry of Saugus, president emeritus of Northeastern University, signs copies of his new collection of short stories, ``Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue" at the Saugus Public Library tomorrow at 7 p.m. The book includes crime fiction, a western, stories on the human condition, and an essay, ``The Decade Belongs to Lynn English," about the 1950s. Curry is the author of several crime novels and short-story collections. . . . Poet Jean Monahan of Salem presents a reading of her work in the Salem Athenaeum in Salem on Saturday. She is the author of three books of poetry, most recently ``Mauled Illusions." The title poem is based on the career-ending tiger attack on performer Roy Horn, of Siegfried and Roy.
IN LOCAL GALLERIES: Ellyn Epstein discusses ``Healing and Mandalas" at the Abbot Public Library in Marblehead on Tuesday. In Tibetan Buddhism, a mandala is an imaginary palace that is contemplated during meditation. As artwork, mandalas represent the microcosm of the universe from the human perspective, according to Epstein, whose work is on exhibit at the library through June. Epstein, of Marblehead, is a hospice social worker, massage therapist, and color practitioner and teacher. She has used color in medical centers and private practice to bring healing into people's lives. Pink Magazine, a publication for women with breast cancer, chose Epstein's ``Healthy Breasts" mandala as its editor's choice. It is part of the Paint-it-Pink Mandala Project, a worldwide initiative to provide financial aid to artists whose lives are directly affected by breast cancer and who need assistance to continue to work. . . . ``Flowers," a retrospective exhibit of paintings by Beverly Mitchell of West Newbury, is at the Ashwell Gallery in Newbury through June 30. An artist's reception and silent auction of paintings by local artists, to benefit the Cushing House Museum in Newburyport, is Friday from 6-9 p.m., with wine and cheese and live music by Brian Hallisey.
Items can be sent to wdkilleen@comcast.net. Photos can be sent, as jpeg attachments, to globenorth@globe.com. 
