Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Wharton Studio Museum will livestream the 10th Anniversary of Silent Movie Under the Stars on Saturday, August 29th, 2020 at 8pm. This year’s Livestream is being produced by State Theatre of Ithaca, and features The Freshman (1925) starring Harold Lloyd, with live music by Cloud Chamber Orchestra.

In this summer of the pandemic, WSM is partnering with State Theatre of Ithaca to bring the community Silent Movie Under the Stars as a virtual – online – experience. This popular end-of-summer event usually takes place under the night sky at Taughannock Falls State Park, but this year, in the interest of ensuring everyone’s health and safety, the screening with live music will stream live on The State's and the Wharton Museum's Facebook pages, as well as on YouTube, and Wharton Studio Museum and The State Theatre's websites.

At 7:30 PM EDT on Saturday August 15, the Hangar Theatre Company will host the Tom Niederkorn Memorial Celebration. This will be a virtual event that will be available for free on the Hangar’s YouTube page.

The memorial, featuring stories and words from many special guests, will celebrate the late Tom Niederkorn’s stewardship and advocacy of the Hangar Theatre. Niederkorn passed away in June 2020 at the age of 92. Niederkorn was the driving force behind establishing the Hangar Theatre as a local cultural asset and highly-regarded regional theatre. His passion and drive are largely what made the Hangar Theatre what it is today. Lisa Bushlow, the Hangar Theatre Managing Director from 2000-2012, describes Tom as “...the visionary, the birth parent of the Hangar Theatre.”

The Hangar Theatre Company continues its 46th season with a virtual reimagined take on the classic story, Sense and Sensibility. This adaptation by Kate Hamill runs virtually at 7:30 PM EDT on Saturday, August 8th. It will be directed by Hangar's Shirley Serotsky. Hamill is a Lansing native and Ithaca College/Hangar alumna, and is one of the top five most-produced playwrights in the nation. Hangar patrons will recognize her writing from past productions Pride and Prejudice (2018) and Little Women (2019).

Sense and Sensibility is Kate Hamill's bold, boisterous, and timely take on Jane Austen's classic novel. The satirical novel became a classic after being published anonymously in three volumes in 1811. It offered a vivid depiction of 19th-century middle-class life, following the romantic relationships of sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. The play is written through a modern lens, but stays true to the source material and original time period. In this loving and innovative adaptation, you'll find new life in these familiar characters.

The Community Arts Partnership staff will present the first event of its 2020-2021 Greater Ithaca Art Trail season! On Saturday, August 1st, 7pm to 8pm, eleven artists will be on zoom to talk about and show their work.

Registration is required for this free event. Participating Art Trail artists Gary Bercow, Celia Bowers, Sue Brightly, Brian Keeler, Barbara Mink, Kari Robertson, Robert Roemisch, Michael Sampson, Ivy Stevens-Gupta, Mark Tucker and Ethel Vrana.

Civic Ensemble welcomes Julia Taylor as the new Executive Director, and launches the new Artistic Ensemble, a group of actors, directors, educators, and administrators who will steer the artistic vision of the company into the next chapter.  This transition marks a significant moment at Civic Ensemble as leadership shifts from two of the company's co-founders, Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. and Sarah K. Chalmers, who have led the company since 2012.

Chalmers says, "It's an exciting time for Civic Ensemble. While I am going to miss the people, and the programs we've created here, I am looking forward to seeing how Civic grows under new leadership. The founding visions and values remain intact and are being carried forward and built on as Godfrey and I make way for what's next."

At 7:30 PM EDT on Saturday July 25, the Hangar Theatre Company will present a new virtual production, Honk Your Horn: Celebrate! Musical! Theatre!, directed by Gerry McIntyre and Michael Barakiva with music direction by Daniel M. Lincoln.

Honk Your Horn: Celebrate! Musical! Theatre! is a streaming variety show highlighting the rich history of musical theatre on Broadway and at the Hangar Theatre. The show features an all-star group of diverse performers, all of whom have appeared in past Hangar productions. The title of the show is inspired by Benny's Dispatch/Honk Your Horn, a duet that will be performed by Austin Scott and girlfriend Alexa Capeda, who met during the Hangar's 2016 production of In The Heights. After playing Benny in In The Heights, Scott starred as the lead in Hamilton on Broadway and National Tour.

At 7:30 pm. EDT on Saturday, July 11, the Hangar Theatre Company will perform a virtual production of Queens Girl in the World, directed by Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr.

Queens Girl In The World tells the Motown-infused story of Jacqueline Marie Butler, a Black teenager coming of age in the 1960s in New York City. Her joys, challenges, and heartbreak serve as a unique lens to the civil rights movement as she journeys from her neighborhood in Queens to an exclusive private school in Greenwich Village. A semi-autobiographical piece from playwright Caleen Sinnette Jennings, Queens Girl In The World is the first in a trilogy of works which also includes Queens Girl in Africa and Queens Girl: Black in the Green Mountains. The Hangar Theatre Company hopes to produce a live production of this play at the theatre in the summer of 2021.

Eight local writers and a songwriter/singer will read and sing via Zoom and YouTube live in a 'Spring Writes' virtual reading hosted by the Community Arts Partnership on Sunday, June 28th, 7:00pm to 8:30pm.

The Kitchen Theatre Company is celebrating the 20-year tenure of Associate Producing Director Lesley Greene as she departs the company on June 30. Many of the duties she performed will be taken on by a new team comprised of Artistic & Administrative Associate Tyler Struble and Connectivity Associate Marissa Accordino, whom she has been supervising and training since they joined the staff.

Greene originally came to the Kitchen Theatre as a volunteer, including serving on the Board of Directors. She was a part-time staff member for five years before joining full-time in 2003.

In an effort to break down socioeconomic barriers and support their peers, a talented group of local teens are raising their voices in song to raise scholarship money for performing arts training. Colors of Broadway: a Virtual Cabaret Fundraiser will be streamed online June 20 at 7 pm.

"Too often, those who want to pursue music, dance and acting professionally are unable to do so because of the high level of often expensive training required. Early training is essential in order to get into the top performing arts programs in colleges, but it is not offered in public schools," says Sharon Costianes, Director and Voice Faculty at Flight Performing Arts, which will administer the scholarship.

Hickey's Music Center joins the Make Music Day celebration by hosting several physically distanced live performances on Sunday, June 21, 2020. Make Music Day is a one-day event where free, live musical performances, opportunities to make music and other musical events take place around the world on the longest day of the year. Musical festivities in Ithaca, NY are part of a global celebration of music making in over 1,000 cities in an event inspired by France's Fête de la Musique.

Hickey's Music Center invites everyone to join in the global music celebration by making music any way you can. Join us in front of the store for Live at Hickey's, from noon to 5:00PM on June 21, 2020. Solo, duo, and small ensembles will be performing live outside on Hickey's front patio.

On June 20th at 7:30 p.m. the Hangar Theatre Company will perform Uncommon Excerpts and Others: The Wendy Chronicles directed by Hangar's Artistic Director Michael Barakiva and Associate Artistic Director/Education Director Shirley Serotsky.

This virtual production is a collection of scenes and excerpts by Tony and Pulitzer Award winner Wendy Wasserstein, ranging from her well-known comedies (The Heidi Chronicles, The Sisters Rosensweig) to her insightful lesser-known essays and esoterica. This piece was compiled by Hangar Artistic Director Michael Barakiva, who worked for Wasserstein for the last five years of her life. Former Hangar Theatre and Playwrights Horizons Artistic Director Bob Moss served as a mentor to Wass
ein.