Archive: Arts & Entertainment

ITHACA, NY: On August 24, 2006, the Kitchen Theatre Company (KTC) will launch its 2005-06 / 16th Season with Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. The first of seven plays in the Kitchen's 06-07 Main Stage subscription season, underwritten by Tompkins Trust Company, this American classic begins with two previews on Thursday August 24th and Friday, August 25th at 7:30pm, and opens on August 26th running through September 17th 2006.

This dramatic masterwork of the 20th Century, awash in memories and secrets, is a perfect fit for the Kitchen, articulating big ideas of life and the finely etched details of the human heart and continuing the Kitchen's commitment to nurturing new plays while reinvestigating the great works of the past.

August 4, 2006 (ITHACA, NY) - The Hangar Theatre closes its 2006 season with a freewheeling parade through Yonkers. From August 10th through September 3rd, the Hangar presents the classic musical farce, Hello, Dolly! Based on the Thornton Wilder play, The Matchmaker, Dolly follows the antics of a flamboyant widow named Dolly Gallagher Levi and a full crew of lonely hearts that she’s determined to force back into a life of romance and adventure. Through a flurry of hidden identities, comedic chaos, and, of course, extravagant musical numbers, Dolly seeks out happiness for herself as well, as she pulls at the heartstrings—and purse strings—of miserly Horace Vandergelder, a well-known half-millionaire. Hello, Dolly! features direction by the Hangar’s Artistic Director, Kevin Moriarty and choreography by Dan Knechtges.

July 24, 2006 (ITHACA, NY) – The next generation of actors and actresses will strut their stuff on Saturday, August 12, as the Hangar Theatre presents KIDDSTARS! The Next Generation Elementary Showcase. This KIDDSTUFF production includes a collection of exercises and excerpts from classic plays, all acted out by students from the Theatre Camp program at the Hangar’s Next Generation School of Theatre. Since July 10th, the cast—which consists of kids who have completed grades 3 through 5—has had the opportunity to take group theatre classes with professional artists, attend Hangar KIDDSTUFF productions, and prepare and produce the pieces included in the KIDDSTARS showcase. Featuring direction by Hangar teaching artist Joey Steinhagen, KIDDSTARS! will be performed twice on the 12th—at 10 am and again at Noon.

Smart Talk SMART TALK
By  Sotto Voce, N.P.

RECLAIMED LAND: The Underbelly, Texas chapter of the Nature Conservancy meets monthly at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired. At our last gathering, we decided to campaign against use of reclaimed land. Just as “inner city” often disguises racial prejudice, reclaimed land is a sinister code.

The media ovinely use this term, invented by so-called developers. Reclaiming is taking back what was once yours. “Developers” usually don’t reclaim anything. They buy, destroy, and reshape. When they fill and pave a wetland, they’re claiming divine power, behaving as ruthlessly as the Europeans who decimated the Americas’ indigenous populations.

Our chapter fights land reclamation, both the name and the action. At the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired, we’re asking for suggestions for a more realistic term. Land manufacture? Habitat destruction? And we need accurate replacements for develop and developers. But nothing has the right ring and brevity. Can you help?

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July 28, 2006 (ITHACA, NY) - From August 3rd through the 5th, everyone's favorite car-driving, boat-sailing mouse scurries onto the Hangar Theatre stage. The Hangar's KIDDSTUFF season continues with E.B. White's timeless classic, The Adventures of Stuart Little, showing all three days at 10 am and Noon. Families can join Stuart, a mouse who runs away from home, as he searches for a lost friend and learns a lesson about what's important in life and that growing up doesn't always have to mean getting bigger. Adapted for the stage by Joseph Robinette, The Adventures of Stuart Little is made possible at the Hangar Theatre with the support of Buttermilk Falls Pediatrics.

It's six down and one to go in Lansing Recreation and Park's Concert in the Park series.  Last night Joe Salzano's band played Christian music with a band made up from his church's congregation.  "We're just going to play some of the old hymns and some of my new songs," Salzano said a few weeks ago.  "It will be a mix of contemporary Christian music and traditional hymns."

People turned out with lawn chairs and dinner to hear the group play.  Musicians included Salzano on saxaphone and keyboard, plus drums, conga, and guitar, among others.  Players included kids as well as adults.

July 24, 2006 (ITHACA, NY) - Another set of World Premiere plays open at the Hangar Theatre this weekend, this time on the Kiddstuff stage. On Saturday, July 29th, the Hangar presents KIDDPLAY! New Plays by Local Kids. The production includes a collection of short plays written by students at the Hangar’s summer program, the Next Generation School of Theatre. After working with playwright Kenny Finkle, each student at the summer camp wrote an original script for the stage. On Friday, July 21st, eight of those scripts were chosen by the Hangar’s artistic department to be part of the KIDDPLAY showcase. Featuring actors, directors, and designers from the Hangar’s Lab Company, the eight plays of KIDDPLAY will be performed twice on the 29th—at 10 am and again at Noon.

Playwright Kenny Finkle works with students at the
Hangar Theatre's Next Generation School of Theatre
in preparation for KIDDPLAY

July 21, 2006 (ITHACA, NY)- The Hangar Theatre continues its 2006 season with friendships hanging in the balance over an expensive painting that may—or may not—be a blank white canvas. From July 26th to August 5th the Hangar presents the Tony Award winning play Art. Yasmina Reza’s sophisticated comedy features three friends—Serge, Marc, and Yvan—and the turmoil that erupts when one of them purchases a high-priced piece of modern art. With barbed wit and frank discussions, Reza’s script (translated by Christopher Hampton) asks audiences the question, “Are we who we think we are, or are we who our friends think we are?” Robert Moss returns to the Hangar Theatre to direct this playful exploration of friendship and aesthetics.

Smart Talk SMART TALK
By  Dr. Parley Speake

ROUT 10: The misspelling is intentional. Many people say it this way, and it has all the class of ain’t. At the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired, we find that patients often don’t realize that rout, which rhymes with about, really is a word. It usually means a lopsided defeat, such as a 44-0 score.

But route should sound like root. Notice the spelling. Yes, it’s French. Saying Rout 10 sounds as if you have ten people on the run.

Bubba Johnson doesn’t get our joke when he asks for a rout to Austin. Anyone at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired instantly says, “Gol-lee, I don’t feel like chasing you that far.”

Rout also means to gouge, these days with a high-speed tool. When you buy a router, you’re buying that tool, not an electronic hub for your computer network.

But when you buy a router for your network, it should sound like rooter, even though it’s spelled the same as the other router, because it routes (pronounced “roots”) the signal to the proper component.

Yes, this language can confuse and confound. That’s why the Institute is here to help.

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Hildegard von Bingen's early medieval morality play, "Ordo Virtutum," will be presented Friday, August 11, in Barler Recital Hall.   "Ordo Virtutum," or "Play of Virtues," was written by Hildegard von Bingen, a 12th-century monastic leader, mystic, author and composer. Conceived hundreds of years before the advent of Italian opera, it is believed to be the first written musical play in existence.

 In the play, Queen Humility and her five Virtues are personified in a women's chorus. The Virtues confront the Devil (Robert De Luca) in an attempt to win back a wayward Soul (Cassie Burkhauser). But their battle is complicated by the double-crossing, fiddle-playing Mundus (Ruth Roland). Will Humility, Integrity, Love, Mercy, Fear of God, and Victory save the day?