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  • Cape Cod Times

    Like Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cape Cod has summer concert home. Get to know Tangletuit.

    By Gwenn Friss, Cape Cod Times,

    3 days ago

    COTUIT ― Tangletuit may have borrowed part of its name from Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home in the Berkshires , but the rest of this wooded outdoor venue is all about carving one more entertainment space out of the Cotuit Center for the Arts’ campus.

    “We said, this could be our Tanglewood. It started out as a joke, but the name stuck,” said David Kuehn, the center’s executive director .

    Officially named the John Weltman Outdoor Performance Pavilion, the open-air theater nestled in the woods next to the parking lot provides weekly performances by Cape Cod and regional musicians and, for the first time this year, a September dance festival.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3ibqZ3_0uipdoSv00

    Also new this year is The Backyard at Tangletuit, an outdoor lounge behind the stage that is open at no charge from 5 to 7 p.m. every Friday.

    “Every single thing in the backyard was donated in honor of a local supporter, Johnny Mak, who died of brain cancer. He always said it would be great to use that space and his family did a fundraising effort that covered everything,” Keuhn said.

    Only packaged snacks are served, he said, because Cotuit Center for the Arts has no food license and does not have enough volunteers with ServSafe food safety training, he said.

    “Occasionally we’ll have a food truck back there,” Kuehn said.

    How did Tangletuit get its start?

    “Tangletuit started during COVID when everyone was building outdoor stages. We spent the first summer with a stage in the parking lot and the heat was sweltering,” he said.

    Center officials found a solution that required taking down only two trees and using a stage on wheels instead of building one.

    “The stage you see now folds up into a trailer you can pull with a car,” Kuehn said.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2kNXqp_0uipdoSv00

    How much do outside shows cost at Cotuit center?

    Suggested ticket prices are $25, but the sliding scale of $10 to $50 makes live music accessible to people in more financial situations.

    “What we have found in the (Vivian and Morton Sigel) Black Box Theater is we are averaging a higher per show price than before we started pay-your-own-price ticketing,” Kuehn said.

    Next up at Tangletuit, on Aug. 3, is indigenous singer/songwriter Kim Moberg, who was born in Juneau, Alaska.

    “Her rich vocals ― influenced by singer/songwriters of the 1970s ― have been described as ‘a blend of honey and whiskey’ that gently guides listeners through her musical stories while her compositions tug at feelings of melancholy, heartbreak, healing, and social consciousness,” according to the Cotuit for the Center of the Arts website.

    On Aug. 4, The Cape Jazz Crew ― Joe Mongelli, Scott Avidon, Matt Hutchinson, Mike Ryle and Michael Dunford ― pay tribute to jazz pianist and composer Horace Silver. The show focuses on recreating Silver’s compositions as he originally played them.

    Aug. 5 kicks off the first of three Monday Night Balls when musicians normally singing and playing on other Cape Cod stages ― including Kate Pazakis, Sara Sneed and Ruth Condon ― come by Tangletuit to have some fun. The other two ball nights are Aug. 19 and Aug. 26. Malcolm Granger will be the musical director.

    “It’s a Pink Martini type of thing,” Kuehn said, referring to the 1994 touring band that plays a little from each of a half-dozen genres.

    On Aug. 6, the Grammy-winning Ying Quartet plays as part of the week-long Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival.

    In case of rain, ticket holders are notified individually of any rescheduling or cancellation. To slow down bugs, Kuehn said, the area is sprayed regularly with a non-toxic insecticide and a collection of bug sprays are offered at a comfort station in the venue.

    At 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, Tangletuit’s stage is used for family shows. “Dragons Love Tacos” is showing through Aug. 9.

    The only thing you won't find, Kuehn said, is inside and outside shows playing at the same time.

    "We don't have enough parking," he said.

    A complete list of Tangletuit performers and a daily schedule are available at artsonthecape.org /.

    Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans .

    This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Like Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cape Cod has summer concert home. Get to know Tangletuit.

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