Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Civic Ensemble will host free monthly gatherings on the First Monday of each month, beginning October 1, 2018 at the Lehman Alternative Community School. Titled Community Soup: Storytelling Toward the Beloved Community, the evening will consist of a free meal and time to chat informally, followed by structured story circles facilitated by Civic Ensemble artists.

"The idea for a regularly community sharing of stories has been brewing for some time," noted Artistic Director Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr., "but we knew we had to do it when, this summer, at a post-show discussion for Bee Trapped Inside The Window, part of the new Civic Acts Festival, we asked participants to identify what themes spoke to them most from the play. Many of the groups who discussed this came up with isolation as a theme, and proposed community gathering and storytelling as an antidote to that isolation."

As part of Cornell's Homecoming celebration, the Glee Club begins their sesquicentennial year on Saturday, September 22 at 7:00pm at Bailey Hall. Under the direction of Robert Isaacs, the program will take a look back at their 150 years of existence with music by alumni composers; music from notable collaborations over the years; a nod to their founding as the Glee, Banjo and Mandolin Club; and the piece most strongly associated with the group, Franz Biebl's Ave Maria (for which they were the first American performers and champions). The Chorus will also make an appearance, singing folk music from Scandinavia, contemporary pieces, and music of the renaissance composer Tomas Luis da Victoria.

Cayuga Radio has launched a brand-new station into the Ithaca market, 'Alt 95.9'.

"We are very excited to bring this station to Ithaca," said Mike 'McCabe' Kerr, Brand Manager at Cayuga Radio Group, "This is an excellent market for alternative music. It fits the dynamic collegiate environment we are located in, and the format has a deep history here. Our Alt 95.9 will be very popular with millennials. Two of their favorite activities are listening to music…followed closely by enjoying cooking and food. Our plan is to do some very creative associations of 'food' with 'audio'. Alt 95.9 is the first radio station to put these two drivers together."

Cornell Council for the Arts' (CCA) 2018 Biennial kicks off September 14–15 at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts with 'A Meditation on Tongues', conceived and directed by Ni'Ja Whitson, and performed by The NWA Project. The piece is a live-dance and multimedia adaptation of Marlon T. Riggs' iconic film 'Tongues Untied' (1989).

Part abstract, part performance ritual, part live and historical document, this rigorously layered interdisciplinary project (re)images Black and Queer masculinities. It struts. It snaps. It frames new questions about loss at the height of the AIDS pandemic, while challenging constructions of Black love of/as revolution. A bold deconstruction of Riggs' collectivist aesthetics and a raw invocation that shapeshifts gender, sexuality, and the body, "A Meditation on Tongues" remixes historic and embodied invisibilities, spilling between the spaces of mourning and celebration.

The Cornell Concert Series kicks off its 2018–19 season with Roomful of Teeth, a GRAMMY-winning vocal project dedicated to reimagining the expressive potential of the human voice. Through study with masters from vocal traditions the world over, the octet continually expands its vocabulary of singing techniques, and by an ongoing commissioning process, forges a new repertoire without borders. Their recording of “Partita for 8 Voices” won composer and ensemble member Caroline Shaw the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Music, making her the youngest ever recipient of the prize. Exploring a bold sonic palette of speech, sighs, whispers, throat singing, and more, Roomful of Teeth is one of the most impressive and in-demand vocal groups on the planet.

The Cornell Department of Music announced its fall semester slate of concerts Monday, and says opportunities are plentiful to hear a variety of musical styles.

Collaboration is a main theme this semester, with Cornell ensembles and guest artists joining forces in new ways. Select highlights include the Momenta Quartet teaming up with the Cornell Gamelan Ensemble to perform new works written by Cornell composers (Nov. 7). Additionally, the Wind Symphony, under the direction of James Spinazzola, will work together with dancers from Cornell's Performing and Media Arts Department and the U.S. Air Force Heritage of America Band (Nov. 17), and Spinazzola's new Chamber Winds ensemble presents a semi-staged performance of Mozart's comic opera Bastien und Bastienne (Nov. 29).

The Hangar Theatre Company completes their 44th Mainstage Summer Season with the time-shifting, campy and just plain FUN musical Xanadu, directed by Devanand Janki. The book was written by Douglas Carter Beane, with Music and Lyrics by Jeff Lynne & John Farrar. Performances will run from August 16 to September 1 with matinee and evening performances.

The musical is based on the 1980 film of the same name. Although the film starring Olivia Newton John barely broke even at the box office and was considered a flop at the time, the soundtrack was a hit, and it became a beloved cult classic. Douglas Carter Beane wrote the book for the stage musical adaptation of Xanadu, and added new plot twists and humor parodying the film. According to Beane, he was influenced not only by the film, but also by the 1981 fantasy film Clash of the Titans, prompting him to focus more on the Greek mythology plotlines.

The Cherry Arts presents its first production of the 2018/19 season. The Missing Chapter, by Ithaca writers Katie Marks & Aoise Stratford, is a brand new, immersive headphone walking play based on Ithaca's silent film past. Produced in partnership with Wharton Studio Museum, the play runs Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from August 31–September 9 and begin at the Picnic Pavilion in Stewart Park every 15 minutes. The walk is approximately one hour in length, and ends near the park's Carousel.

The Missing Chapter introduces audiences to Wharton Studio heroine Beatrice Fairfax, a newspaper advice columnist for the lovelorn and amateur sleuth. The 10-episode Beatrice Fairfax silent film serial was based on the nationally-syndicated 'Dear Beatrice Fairfax' advice column and produced by the Wharton Studio in Ithaca starting in 1915. In The Missing Chapter, Beatrice and her sidekick Jimmy solve a crime in the heady days of the women's suffrage movement, an episode is filmed on the Wharton Studio lot, and the audience winds its way through Stewart Park and discovers some thrilling 'missing chapters' in the history of Ithaca.

Kitchen Theatre Company is beginning its 28th Season with a musical! Girlfriend, with book by Todd Almond and music & lyrics by Matthew Sweet, takes place in the summer of 1993 in small town Nebraska. Mike and Will have just graduated from high school and couldn't be more different: Mike is an athlete, headed off to college in the fall. Will is a quiet boy who doesn't know where he's headed next. But when they start to get to know each other that summer, everything changes for both of them. Based on the album of the same name by Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend captures the thrill of first love-and how we discover each other and ourselves through the mixtapes we make.

Moving Landscapes continues the Triphammer Arts/CRS Barn Studio tradition of bringing innovative dance and music partnerships to Ithaca audiences. Beginning with an outdoor prologue performed in the gardens, with a panoramic view of Cayuga Lake, the evening will include choreographed pieces in a wide range of dance styles, as well as music-and-dance improvisations that promise to be both unpredictable and entertaining.

Moving Landscapes 2018 features work by established professionals and emerging young choreographers, with a strong emphasis on live music, original music/sound compositions, and audience interaction. Choreographer and professional photographer Jari Poulin premiers In Again Out Again, a movement and soundscape exploration that travels back and forth between the external physical world and the internal experience of the mind and senses. New solos include On and Off the Mat by Bernadette Fiocca of Ithaca; Michelle Iklé's jazz-inflected Gems; Ithacan Julie Nathanielsz' Seed/Bed, a reflection on landscape, language, and the body; and Rochester choreographer Donna Davenport's Swap, in which the audience and the performer swap sounds and drive the action.

The Cayuga Chamber Orchestra announced Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport will be the new Season Sponsor, beginning with the 2018-2019 season.

As the flagship sponsor of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra's entire 2018-2019 Season, the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport (ITH) will play a key role in supporting the Orchestral Series, Chamber Music Series, Holiday Messiah performance, and educational and youth programs throughout the 42nd Season.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Wednesdayday announced the new National Comedy Center, the first non-profit cultural institution and visitor experience dedicated to comedy, is officially open in Jamestown, Chautauqua County. The $50 million state-of-the-art museum is dedicated to telling the vital story of comedy in America, and celebrates comedy's great minds and unique voices, from Charlie Chaplin to Dave Chappelle. The National Comedy Center is presenting a weeklong celebration of comedy performances and dialogues to commemorate the grand opening, which coincides with the annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, featuring more than 50 events including appearances by comedy greats such as Amy Schumer, Lewis Black, Lily Tomlin, Fran Drescher, W. Kamau Bell and original "Saturday Night Live" cast members Dan Aykroyd & Laraine Newman.

"The new National Comedy Center will serve as a tourist attraction and an economic game changer for Chautauqua County and the Western NY Region," Cuomo said. "The National Comedy Center highlights some of the most memorable comedic performers the world has known and will serve as a destination for visitors from across the country. New York is proud to invest in comedy and the arts, as we work to foster economic growth and create cultural hubs statewide."