November 2022
Dear Members and Friends,
... and suddenly, it is the end of 2022, and the time to ask you to support our year-end Heart of the Community campaign!
Your steadfast support for Mechanics Hall makes our mission a reality — there is no Mechanics Hall without you.
After two and a half years of uncertainty, entertainment in the Hall this holiday season is as delightfully magical as ever. Our calendar is full with holiday sounds for you to enjoy with friends and family.
The fall has been no less exciting. Browse our calendar of events and you will find music for every ear, conferences and workshops, galas and awards recognitions, with a wedding or two sprinkled about. Our Brown Bag Concert Series has returned to Wednesdays in November and December and a new music series, Club 321 in Washburn Hall, is bringing adult contemporary music in an atmosphere half jazz club/half coffee house!
Apple+ TV recently announced that Spirited, the movie which completely took over Mechanics Hall in July 2021, starring Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell, and Octavia Spencer, was released for streaming on November 18th and in select movie theaters starting Veteran's Day.
(If you can recognize Mechanics Hall in the movie, there may be a special prize for you!)
Based on the classic Dickens' story about Ebeneezer Scrooge and his transformation at Christmastime, Spirited tells the story from the ghosts’ perspective in this hilarious musical twist on the classic tale.
Spirited marks at least the 4th time A Christmas Carol has been performed in Mechanics Hall. The first, by Charles Dickens himself in 1868, the second by WGBH icon, Robert J. Lurtsema, in the 1980s, the third by Charles' great-great grandson, Gerald Dickens, in 2012, and now Ryan Reynolds plays the Scrooge character in the newest version of the beloved story! I guarantee you won’t believe your eyes are seeing Mechanics Hall!
The movie rental revenue in COVID summer #2 was a life preserver for our darkened Hall.
I hope you find a way to watch and enjoy Spirited!
Adding to the return of performances and other events, 2022 has begun a truly transformational time in the Hall’s history. Reclaiming our Mechanics Association roots, our strategic plans include introducing new educational and culturally enriching opportunities for youth and adults.
We recently debuted Many Voices: Mechanics Hall Youth Singers — an exuberant group of 55 "regulars" and 20 more occasional participants. The MVYS are 5th and 6th graders who live in or attend school in Worcester. The students pay nothing to participate (we even provide transportation) so that every child who wants to sing, can. The children are thrilled to perform in Mechanics Hall and their parents beam with pride.
Your support will give life to the unforgettable joy these young people have singing on THEIR stage — which happens to be Worcester’s own world-famous concert hall!
The Modern Mechanics Guild of rising star professionals is reignited, and the Guild will be volunteering time and creativity to develop programs and support our outreach activities.
The Portraits Project is right now raising funds (more than half-way to our $50,000 goal!) and selecting artists from among a pool of 10 semi-finalists. A year from now we hope to be announcing a 2024 installation schedule for adding portraits of Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and William and Martha Brown to our Great Hall gallery. The project is a catalyst for educational and cultural programming related to social reform, public discourse, art, music, innovative technology, and all things historically associated with the purpose of the Mechanics Association.
Last month, we partnered with Worcester non-profit Guardians of Traditions to present a free open-house experience for guests to learn about the richness of African culture and its intersectionality with countries such as Haiti, United States, Mali, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Peru, Puerto Rico, Ghana, Colombia, and Trinidad & Tobago. The evening performances included a wide array of music, dance, and cultural traditions of the countries represented.
You are the reason we can provide such culturally rich programs and experiences!
Our resolve is stronger than ever to ensure Mechanics Hall is the community’s hall where our neighbors and friends and future generations come to celebrate and to be enriched.
New chapters of our extraordinary story are being written because you believe in our mission and financially support our operations and preservation efforts.
Allow us to continue serving the community we all love with your generous gift to the 2022 Heart of the Community campaign.
With deepest thanks, I wish for you a blessed and joyous season,
Kathleen M. Gagne
Executive Director
OUR MISSION
To serve the community by offering Mechanics Hall as the gathering place
for experiences that Inspire, Enrich and Enlighten generations.