🩰 The hardest job around Boston

🏡 Pop quiz! Mass. was just ranked the third most expensive state to rent a home (surprise). How much money does someone have to make per hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment? You can find the answer here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first...

Boston is home to some of the world’s best athletes. But probably not the ones you're thinking of. The Cambridge Symphony Orchestra let me crash a rehearsal of their semi-staged performance of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. And by the end of the night, it was clear that ballerinas and basketball players belong in the same category.

Here’s what it was like:

😅 I was winded after three minutes. And I literally ran the Boston Marathon less than two months ago. According to choreographer Gianni Gino Di Marco, a former principal dancer of the Boston Ballet, it’s because in additional to moving your arms and legs, “you’re also moving your soul [and] your brain.” And your fingers, toes, breath, facial expressions, etc. When artists and athletes make things look easy, we forget just how hard they are.

🩰 And while I gave my best effort, I was assigned to dance with the student ballerinas. Who were also light-years ahead of me. The students were from Tony Williams’ Boston City Youth Ballet and treated rehearsal like a job. “The symphony is very proactive about bringing in the youth to understand what it’s like to be in this kind of musical environment,” Di Marco said. “It’s a good place to start grooming the future generations.”

🎻 But this performance isn’t all about the dancers. In fact, the show’s semi-staged nature allows the musicians to shine. In a typical ballet, the orchestra is hidden in the pit, but given space constraints, the CSO will be on stage with the dancers. “This is a gig for the symphony,” Di Marco said. “The dancers are just a token of movement in their production of music.” Semi-staged also means more simplified costumes and sets, and a smaller ensemble (which is stacked with Boston Ballet alums).

🎶 I even got to try my hand at conducting the symphony, which was another beast. Because you’re responsible for both the musicians and the dancers. “Finding the right tempos is the hardest part,” said CSO music director Cynthia Woods, as this piece is technically demanding for both groups. For example, there’s a fight scene where if you go too fast, the strings can’t keep up, but if you go too slow, “the dancers can't get enough momentum for the jumps and lifts.”

🥺 Being immersed in the music was incredibly moving. The way the orchestra swells and shrinks and the dancers leap and bound can take your breath away. Given this performance was supposed to happen pre-COVID, its return feels extra special for Woods. “Prokofiev's work is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written,” Woods said, “and I'm delighted we can bring this unforgettable evening to people at an affordable ticket price.” Adult admission is $25.

👀 Curious how my dancing lesson went? You can watch how it unfolded here.

🐳 If you’re down on Martha’s Vineyard this summer, if you’re lucky, you may spot a critically endangered (and majestic) North Atlantic right whale on its migratory path. The bad news: the species is on the brink of extinction, and there are only 340 left in our oceans due to vessel strikes and entanglements in fishing gear. But it’s not too late to turn the tides — the International Fund for Animal Welfare, better known as IFAW, is working hard to ensure the species’ survival, with dedicated experts, resources, and programs to help these creatures thrive again in our oceans. If you feel like lending a helping hand this summer and making a positive impact, get involved.

🚓 Boston City Councilors voted to cut the police department by $31 million. Now the $4.2 billion operating budget is off to Mayor Wu who will have the opportunity to veto some, all, or none of the council’s amendments. If Wu decides to poo poo this cut to the police, councilors would need a two-thirds majority to override her veto (this version passed 7-5, so they’d need one more yay to be veto-proof). This comes after last week’s drama when the council’s plan to originally slash $42 million from the police department was killed after a last-minute change of heart from two councilors.

🚘 Officials want you to ditch your car during the Sumner Tunnel closure. Nearly 40,000 cars use the tunnel each day, according to MassDOT. Now officials are warning drivers that the impacts of this two-month headache could add an hour or more to some commutes (most traffic will be diverted to the Ted Williams Tunnel and the Tobin Bridge). So if you don’t have to drive, be sure to utilize the Commuter Rail, Blue Line, or ferries (which will be discounted or free). But if you must drive, the Mass 511 website will give you a sense of just how bad traffic is.

🏡 Mass.’ new climate bank will help make affordable housing greener. This may sound a little wonky, but it’s actually pretty neat. The Mass. Community Climate Bank will be the first green bank in the nation dedicated solely to affordable housing (think retrofitting old homes and decarbonizing new ones). The idea is that the state puts some initial funding in the bank, starting at $50 million, which will hopefully attract private investors. And making our buildings more eco-friendly is important, as they are responsible for over one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in Mass.

🍔 This local restaurant is calling itself the Boston Market for Gen Z. Nan’s Kitchen and Market in Stow doesn’t have any indoor seating but it’s become so popular that its parking lot has traffic attendants on the weekend. Known for its fried chicken and vegetable-centric menu, this inn, turned gift shop, turned restaurant/market is buzzing from opening to night with online orders (you can order in person, but you’ll have to wait). So if you’re looking for lunch in MetroWest, you know where to find them.

Not really sure how to say this one, but … Some locals have been indicted for allegedly stealing human remains from the Harvard Medical School morgue. Yes, you read that correctly.

Cedric Lodge, the morgue manager, is accused of letting people come into the morgue to pick out the body parts they wanted, then stealing and shipping off things like brains, skins, and bones to buyers from his New Hampshire home. And Salem’s Katrina MacLean allegedly sold the body parts to people in multiple states, including at her own Peabody shop, Kat’s Creepy Creations.

Her shop is filled with dolls and other horror-themed oddities, and several posts on the store’s Instagram page supposedly depict human skulls. One post from 2020 says, "If you’re in the market for human bones hit me up!"

☠️ Thanks for reading! Didn't expect this story to come out of Harvard.

💸 The results are in: While most respondents were down for another tax free weekend, one naysayer reminded us that we “can just go to New Hampshire.” Pass.