Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Caffe Cino, 1962. Photo by Brian Merlis. Courtesy of Magie Dominic. Acquired from the NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project website.
Considered the birthplace of Off-Off-Broadway—theatre that is more experimental and less commercial than mainstream staged productions—the Caffe Cino was a haven for budding playwrights and performers, as well as for the queer community, in New York's Greenwich Village from 1958–1968. From April 18–20, 2019, "An Evening at the Caffe Cino" pays homage to the historic venue in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts' Black Box Theatre.

Evolving from its start as an intimate coffeehouse and art gallery, the Caffe Cino became a launchpad for the early careers of playwrights such as Sam Shepard, John Guare, Doric Wilson, Lanford Wilson, Irene Fornes, Robert Patrick, Robert Heide, and William M. Hoffman. "An Evening at the Caffe Cino," conceived, curated, and directed by Cornell Department of Performing and Media Arts PhD student Samuel Blake, will feature four short plays that debuted at the Caffe Cino, including Patrick's Indecent Exposure and Heide's Moon, as well as snippets of archival material.

Next up at the Kitchen Theatre Company is Grounded by George Brant, a story that examines family, technology, war, and moral responsibility from a uniquely feminine perspective. Performances of Grounded begin at the Kitchen Theatre Company in the Percy Browning Performance Space on April 21st and run through May 5th. Opening night is Thursday, April 25th.

An unexpected pregnancy ends an ace fighter pilot's career in the sky. Reassigned to operate military drones from a windowless trailer outside Las Vegas, she hunts terrorists by day and returns to her family each night. As the pressure to track a high-profile target mounts, the boundaries begin to blur between the desert in which she lives and the one she patrols half a world away.

"It comes as a great shock, around the age of five, or six, or seven, to discover that the flag to which you have pledged allegiance, along with everybody else, has not pledged allegiance to you."

It was 1965, and early in the debate, when these mesmerizing words of prominent African-American novelist and essayist James Baldwin rang through the high-ceiling debating hall at England's Cambridge University, to a crowd of more than 700 students. At the invitation of the Cambridge Union Society, a "finishing school" for future British politicians, prelates and jurists, Baldwin and William F. Buckley, then-editor of the National Review, represented opposing sides in the debate motion, "Has the American Dream been achieved at the expense of the American Negro?".

On Thursday, April 18, 2019, Baldwin vs. Buckley: The Faith of Our Fathers, a remix of that famed debate, will be presented for one night only at 7:00 p.m. at the State Theatre of Ithaca in downtown Ithaca, New York. Conceived and arranged by Kyle Bass, The Faith of Our Fathers is directed by Cornell University Department of Performing and Media Arts senior lecturer Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. and will feature projections created by Dehanza Rogers, an assistant professor at Cornell's Department of Performing and Media Arts. A conversation with Bass will follow the show.

The Museum of the Earth is open 10 am to 5 pm every day during local school’s Spring Break week, April 15 – 19, with special activities highlighting our wonderful "Survivors: Up Close with Living Fossils" exhibit. On Saturday, April 20, the Museum will be hosting its annual “Dino EGGstravaganza”. All activities are included with the price of admission.

The "Survivors" exhibit touch tank, featuring horseshoe crabs and starfish, will be open Monday (4/15) 11 am - 12 noon, Thursday (4/18) 10 am - 12 noon, and Friday (4/18) 10 am - 12 noon & 3 pm - 4pm. In addition to the touch tank, the Museum’s current special exhibit, "Survivors: Up Close with Living Fossils", features other live examples of plants and animals considered “living fossils” and interactive and informative displays about species seemingly forgotten by time.

The spellbinding artistry and amazing athletics of The Golden Dragon Acrobats will thrill audiences and children alike at The State Theatre of Ithaca on April 13th at 7:00pm.

The Golden Dragon Acrobats represent the best of a time-honored tradition that began more than 25 centuries ago. The company's reputation is solidly rooted in a commitment to the highest of production values and an attention to artistic details that is unparalleled in the art form. World-renowned impresario Danny Chang and choreographer Angela Chang combine award-winning acrobatics, traditional dance, spectacular costumes, ancient and contemporary music and theatrical techniques to present a show of breathtaking skill and beauty.

The trio known as '9 Horses' will present a house concert at The Canaan Institute on Friday April 12th 2019 beginning at 7:00 pm followed by a jam session. 9 Horses will also teach an improv workshop on Saturday from 11:00 am – 1:30 pm.

9 Horses is an improvising chamber ensemble featuring Joe Brent (formerly of Regina Spektor's band) on acoustic and electric mandolin, 2018 GRAMMY nominee Sara Caswell (Esperanza Spalding) on violin and Hardanger d'amore, and Andrew Ryan (Kaia Kater) on bass. Featuring Brent's original compositions and the incendiary, genre-hopping virtuosity of all three members, the trio at the core of 9 Horses represents Brent's dual vision of a musical future with no barrier between the old notions of 'folk art' and 'fine art', and an ensemble capable of communicating this idea through musical canvases both great and small.

Recipient of the highest honor our nation bestows on jazz artists, National Endowment for the Arts Master drummer Jack DeJohnette knows the multifaceted worlds of jazz and jazz-rock as thoroughly as anyone alive.
Hailed by The New York Times as “one of the greatest musicians in jazz history,” saxophone giant Joe Lovano has distinguished himself as a prescient and path-finding force in the arena of creative music.

Esperanza Spalding continually expands upon both her art and herself as a world-renowned, genre-defying composer, bassist, and vocalist.

On Sunday, April 28, 2019 the Ithaca Gay Men's Chorus (IGMC) will celebrate its 10th Anniversary with a concert at 3:00 PM in the First Baptist Church, located in Ithaca's historic Dewitt Park at 309 North Cayuga Street.

Sam Kwan continues as the Music Director of the group, an alumna of Ithaca College's Voice Performance and Music Education bachelor's program. She is completing her fourth season as IGMC Music Director. IGMC was founded in 2009 and first appeared as a guest of the VOICES Multi-Cultural Chorus.  VOICES and IGMC are members of Affiliated Choruses of Ithaca, a non-profit umbrella organization providing opportunities for Tompkins County residents to perform in professionally directed choral groups.  The chorus would like to thank the First Baptist Church of Ithaca for generously providing rehearsal and performance space IGMC's beginnings in since 2009.

'Innismore- A Walk to Town - An Act of Kindness', oil on linen 16"x18"
North Star Art Gallery presents a one-man show by artist Brian Keeler titled "Atlantic Arias: The Coastlines of Ireland and Maine. The show runs Fridays - Sundays noon to 4 pm through April 28th and by appointment

It features his recent depictions of these regions that face each other across the Atlantic Ocean. Inspired by their rugged beauty, Keeler captures the drama of light , sky, and water, implicitly suggesting how much they share in common - visually geologically, and culturally.

On Thursday, April 18, musicians from Ithaca College, Cornell University, and the Ithaca community, present Strings for Stewart Park, an evening of traditional, original and classical music. The unique town-gown collaboration benefits Stewart Park revitalization. La Tourelle hosts the event.

Strings for Stewart Park features an eclectic blend of fiddle and violin music with guitar, mandolin and bass accompaniment. Performers include Cornell's Ariana Kim, Ithaca College's Susan Waterbury, and Ithaca musicians Judy Hyman, Tim Ball, Dave Davies, and Rick Manning, with Will Russell doing the sound engineering.

Despite its name, Cornell University's Centrally Isolated Film Festival isn't so isolated anymore. Now in its sixth year, the annual celebration of cinema, hosted by the Department of Performing and Media Arts, continues to expand, with submissions from distant states such as California, Illinois, and Rhode Island. The festival will screen student work April 13 and 14 at Cornell University's Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, with a panel of industry judges awarding prizes across several categories.

"We had twice as many submissions this year, which bodes well for the growth of the festival," said faculty advisor Sabine Haenni.

Ithaca Reggae Fest, dedicated to the protection of Cayuga Lake through a conscious celebration of Ithaca's legendary reggae community and its history, announced the lineup for its third annual festival to take place June 28 and 29, 2019 in Ithaca, New York.

The main event will take place on Saturday June 29 from 11 AM to 10 PM in Ithaca's historic Stewart Park featuring performances from legendary Grammy award winning Jamaican recording artists Mykal Rose with Sly & Robbie alongside Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Kevin Kinsella, Double Tiger, Cha Cha & The Medicinals, Dub Apocalypse, E.N Young and The Analogue Sons.