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MEET OUR MEMBERS: RICHARD AVERBUCH — MAKING DRAMATIC CHANGES

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RICHARD AVERBUCH–MAKING DRAMATIC CHANGES

When Richard Averbuch arrived at BOLLI a year ago, shortly after his retirement, he joined CAST (Creative Acting, Storytelling, and Theatre) and quickly became a mainstay in this very special Special Interest Group.  With his background in theatre–and improvisation, in particular—he was soon leading exercises and workshops, eventually becoming, along with Sandy Clifford, the group’s co-leader.  This term, he and Becky Meyers (long time Scene-iors leader) have joined forces to lead BOLLI actors in an online production of A.R. Gurney’s “The Dining Room.”

BOLLI actors have certainly enjoyed getting to know Richard (pictured above in a recent BOLLI Play Reading group sbot) and so, it seems a fitting time to introduce him to our community as a whole. 

So, Richard, how did you get involved in theater?

 When I was in middle school, sometime in the late 1960s, our English teacher took us to see a series of three plays at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.  To his credit, he wanted to challenge us, so he selected Death of a Salesman, Under Milkwood, and Six Characters in Search of an Author.  I didn’t fully grasp either “Milkwood” or “Six Characters,” but I was totally mesmerized by the environment created by the actors, the language, and the production values of each.  And I was transported by “Salesman.”

When I was in high school, our drama teacher encouraged us to explore alternative theater.  He had a highly skilled mime performer come in to give workshops, culminating in the creation of a mime troupe at the school.  By way of audition, we were asked to perform an original mime, something I had never done before!  Mine was a sketch about a fisherman who baits a hook and casts it into the water. After a few minutes, he notices a tasty looking sandwich that has been left on the beach.  Curious, he decides to take a little bite and—you guessed it—he gets a hook in his mouth and is pulled into the sea by a very different “fisherman” from a watery world.  Much to my surprise, the audience laughed, and I was selected to be in the troupe.

That same drama teacher also brought a member of The Committee, a pioneering improvisation company in San Francisco known for their cutting-edge political satire (anti-war and social justice themes, in particular).  But most important, all the members had strong theater backgrounds—mostly trained in Viola Spolin’s improvisation techniques.  I absolutely loved the approach, and my mime experience fit very comfortably.  I took a variety of workshops with The Committee, which had a theater in North Beach, San Francisco.  One of the members of the company was an acting student at the College of Marin—Robin Williams.  It was clear, from the start, that he was gifted.  Soon, he was off to Julliard and beyond.  I ended up creating an directing an improvisation company at my high school, and we performed at various venues in San Francisco.  Our performance specialty was a long-form “Herald,” an extended piece for the entire ensemble.  After graduation, I ended up being a performer and education director at the Roundhouse Theater, still a very successful theater outside Washington D.C. in Bethesda, Maryland.

Richard in a group improvisation at Aretha Spolin’s 2019 workshop in Watertown.

                       What led you to make what seems like a.                            dramatic career change from theater to health care?

After 6-7 years in the professional theatre, I wanted a new intellectual challenge, so I enrolled in the Master of Public Administration program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.  After graduation, I ended up working on health policy—and eventually, I leveraged my knowledge of communications into marketing/communications positions at Beth Israel Deaconess and Mass General.  And my health care career came to a close working for the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care—i.e., working on improving care for those with serious illness also facing end-of-life.  Very inspiring!

And BOLLI?

 I became interested in BOLLI as a way to reconnect with my background in the humanities, literature, visual and performing arts.  Especially exciting for me has been connecting with other BOLLI members interested in the theater.  As part of the CAST special interest group, I’ve taught improvisation workshops, and we’re currently planning to perform The Dining Room as our major activity this term.

Richard and his Spolin workshop partner engage in a mirror exercise as fellow BOLLI member Sandy Clifford takes a observational pose.

But, in addition, it’s been great to see the broad selection of courses offered in my areas of interest as the study groups feed the intellectual life of the entire BOLLI community.

I’ve found BOLLI to be a welcoming community of continued learning.  Of course, we all look forward to the day when we can return to in-person classes; they enhance and enliven the experience, for sure!

BOLLI “Matters”  Sue Wurster

It’s been a while since posting a BOLLI member profile!  During this time, in particular, it is harder for us to get to know each other, so it seems fitting that we bring back this part of our blog activities.  Have someone you’d like to either profile yourself or have us profile?  Please send ideas!  (susanlwurster@gmail.com) 

Meet Our Members

MEET OUR MEMBERS: “ACCIDENTAL” ARTIST BETTY BRUDNICK

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“ACCIDENTAL” ARTIST BETTY BRUDNICK

By Betty  Brudnick and Sue Wurster

BOLLI member and fine artist Betty Brudnick

 

At BOLLI, our membership includes those from all proverbial walks of life, and yet, we all seem to be very much on the same path—the one leading to personal enrichment.  Betty Brudnick is no exception.  I asked Betty what brought her to BOLLI, and this is what she said.

“My husband Irv and I had been members at HILR (Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement), and at lunch one day, a friend said to us, ‘You know, there’s someone at Brandeis I think you two should meet.  His name is Bernie Reisman.  He is thinking of starting a similar program and would really benefit from any help you could give him.’  So, we met with Bernie, and it wasn’t long before BALI (Brandeis Adult Learning Institute as it was called then) was born.  With the help of other seekers, we built the foundation of BALI, reached out to other retired people, and attracted over 300 to our first informational meeting.  It was an exceedingly hot day, the air conditioning quit, and the power went out—and yet, our overflow audience stayed.  We began courses, twice a week, at the Gosman Athletic Facility taught by friends and other knowledgeable volunteers.  

Discovering that she is truly a BOLLI “original” was pretty exciting–particularly with our 20th anniversary approaching.  But what about your art work? I asked.

In addition to Betty’s career as a social worker, community activist, political junkie, and member of several boards, much of her time and energy has also revolved, of course, around being a wife, a mother, and a daughter to ailing parents.  Art had never really been part of the picture.

“Except for starting to study piano when I was 7 (which continued through my college years,” she says, “I would say that the left side of my brain was dominant.”  She goes on to add that, “My interest in the arts didn’t become apparent until middle age when an accident incapacitated me for several months.  At that point,  I began to examine my life.   And I had an epiphany.”

“I realized that I had spent my life focused on others’ needs, and now, it was time to focus on my own.”  She had always liked creating with her hands—knitting, doing macramé, weaving—but, other than doodling in her notebooks when bored at school, she had never considered drawing or painting.  So, she decided to see if she might have any artistic talent of that sort and enrolled in a drawing class at the MFA.  She loved it, and soon moved on to  a watercolor class, then art lessons in Gloucester, and, finally, working with a watercolor atelier at the Radcliffe Seminars.  “Those were such wonderful years,” she muses.  “Learning, painting, showing work with inspirational artists.”

While she did a good deal of watercolor painting over those years, she continued, of course, to focus on others.  After developing a job bank and doing other projects at the Council on Aging in Malden, Betty says she found herself wanting to explore other forms of creativity as well.

“It seems that nature hates a vacuum,” she indicates, “and so, while I was shopping at the farmers’ market in Sarasota, I stopped at a booth that had some interesting pieces of glass.”  Her conversation with the artist led to an invitation to try her hand at fusing glass herself, and “I found my new avocation.”  Her tutor was a young Greek minister who was also pursuing an advanced degree in theology which, she says, led to  “lots of interesting discussions  while I learned to cut, shape, and fuse glass.”  She soon discovered and joined the Southwest Florida Glass Alliance, a large community of ardent glass collectors in the area, and began to explore both the history of the glass art movement and its artists in this country.  “I was even invited to the homes of many collectors.  How could I resist?”  Ultimately, in addition to doing her own glass work, she began collecting pieces by Italian, Japanese, and American glass artists.

“As far as I know, there were no artists in my family,” Betty says.  “Architects and musicians, yes, but no painters.  My children’s talents lie in other directions—not visual art.  It’s too soon to tell, but one of my granddaughters is an art history major!”

Personally, I can add that, having taught two of those granddaughters, I know that one is a highly accomplished pianist herself.  So, clearly, the piano lessons Betty embarked on when she was 7 tapped into her artistic side–and remain firmly ensconced in the family gene pool.

Overall, Betty indicates, “It’s been rewarding to watch BOLLI’s growth to a year-round community.  Irv would have been so pleased.”  It’s been equally as rewarding to dive into painting and glass work, and she looks forward to whatever avocation comes next.

BOLL Matters editor Sue Wurster

There’s nothing I like more than getting to know the people around me even better!  I hope you’ll leave a comment for Betty in the box below.  It means a lot to each of our profiled members to hear from others.   And I’d love to hear from you about you or other BOLLI members we can all get to know better.