Archive: Arts & Entertainment

A unique play from Iran that the New York Times calls "irresistible," The Cherry Arts is bringing international sensation WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT back to Ithaca for one weekend only - June 4th and 5th - as part of the renowned Ithaca Festival of the Arts. This year's Ithaca Festival theme is "Mix It Up;" the Cherry will be mixing up the Festival's usual programming by adding innovative live theatre to the schedule!

WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT was written by young Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour. A conscientious objector forbidden to leave his country for refusing his military service, Soleimanpour responded to his situation by creating WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT to travel where he could not. The play's audacious gambit is that it is performed by a different actor for every performance — an actor who has not seen the text before s/he walks on the stage. No actor can do the play twice. There are no rehearsals, director, or set. A truly global phenomenon, the play been translated into over a dozen languages and performed hundreds of times in 17 countries across the globe.

Read more ...

The Ithaca Children and Youth Chorus (ICYC) will be taking the stage one last time under the beloved leadership of Dr. Janet Galván, who has announced she will be stepping down as Artistic Director after 30 years.  The ensemble will present its spring concert entitled "Passing the Torch – and the Light Shines On" on Tuesday, May 17 at 7:30 pm in Ford Hall, Ithaca College. This very special evening of music performed by young vocalists from the Ithaca area will mark the renowned group's final performance with Dr. Galván. Kathleen Ballantyne will accept the baton as the next Artistic Director.

"When I began the vision of the children's choir," states Dr. Galván, "I wanted to teach young people to sing well in a healthy way, to give them a place to sing with students from different schools and backgrounds, and to acquaint them with a diverse repertoire. I wanted to build bridges with music – teaching not just music, but cultural and historical context. Through music of many cultures, singers gain some understanding of the viewpoints of others."

Walt Disney's magic comes to Ithaca with Running to Places' (R2P) production of Little Mermaid, the perfect family musical, complete with dancing guppies and singing seagulls. R2P will provide some extra magic for the audience by transforming the former Sears store in the Shops at Ithaca Mall into a full-fledged theater for the performance (entrance through the food court). The show runs one weekend only, May 13-15.

Mermaid Ariel (Sierra Stallman) is fascinated with the world of humans, which her father, King Triton (Ari Cummings), has forbidden. As she and her friend Flounder (Nico Sawester) seek to learn more about humans from Scuttle the seagull (Emma Ellis), Triton sets Sebastian (Addy Whitener) to stop her. Meanwhile the evil Ursula (Alyssa Salerno) and her minions Flotsam (Riley Kwortnik) and Jetsam (Kayla Markwardt) want to use Ariel in a plot against Triton. When a storm sweeps the human Prince Eric (Jasper Fearon) into the sea, Ariel breaks Triton's law to save his life. But now she is even more determined to see the human world for herself, and strikes a bargain with Ursula that could lead to disaster – or true happiness.

Aurora -- The Wells College Art Department announced this year's Senior Thesis Exhibition. The show consists of the culminating works by Wells' senior Visual Arts: Studio Art majors Alaina Kelahan, Jasmine Milton, Rebecca Rodas, and Yakeima Simms. The public is invited to attend the opening reception in the String Room Gallery on Monday, May 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. where they will have the opportunity to meet and talk with the artists. As always, light refreshments will be served. For those interested who cannot attend the opening, the show will run through May 21st, open by appointment.

Alaina Kelahan (Cazenovia, N.Y.) has been working primarily in digital photography since the beginning of her college career. Her current work showcases her interest in small details and fine textures, and is presented specifically to reflect her passion for macro photography. Inspired by a number of contemporary fine-art photographers, she uses various food items to demonstrate the relationship between beauty and imperfection.

Ithaca artist Patrick J. O'Connor, has founded a unique and heartfelt project aimed at giving back to our military. O'Connor is hand painting cards featuring icons and landscapes from any city in the United States. His project is called 'Cards From Home' and these cards can be used for any occasion, but imagine the joy when you send one to loved ones in the military who are stationed overseas and are missing home. A percentage of the proceeds from the sales of the cards will go to the Navy Seal Foundation, which provides immediate and ongoing support and assistance to the Naval Special Warfare Community and its families.

For both Patrick O'Connor and his wife, Mary, this cause hits home. Their son is currently serving overseas and they wanted a way to not only give back to the silent warriors who are protecting our country but to also give them a piece of their home; the end result being "Cards From Home."  A portion of the proceeds go to the Navy SEAL Foundation.

Aurora -- The Wells College Department of Theatre & Dance will present a staged reading of Diane Samuels' play 'Kindertransport' (winner of the Meyer-Whitworth Award), directed by Associate Professor of Theatre Siouxsie Easter. Wells was selected as a participant in the 2016 Remembrance Readings coordinated by the National Jewish Theatre Foundation. 'Kindertransport' will be performed in the Recital Hall of Barler Hall on Monday, May 2, at 7:30 p.m.

From 1938 to 1940, nearly 10,000 Jewish children were evacuated without their parents from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia to England. Most were between the ages of 4 and 17. Some were babies carried by children. Raised in foster homes and group homes, many times these children were the only members of their families to survive the horrors of the Holocaust. 'Kindertransport' follows one of these refugees as she tries to come to terms with the past she thought she had buried. It is about the choices we make to keep our children safe and the repercussions of traumatic events through generations of the family.

Jim can feel the eyes of his classmates. He stays up nights reading his law books. He knows the information. None of that matters now. What matters is he's the only black man in a classroom of white eyes and it consumes him. He feels branded.

He starts to talk. His voice trembles. He stutters. His mind goes blank. He fails, again. He can't exactly explain why.

Irving Torres '18 knows what Jim, the African American protagonist in Eugene O'Neill's 1924 play All God's Chillun Got Wings was going through. Torres, who plays Jim in the Cornell University Department of Performing and Media Arts and Civic Ensemble production (April 29-May 7), is a first-generation Latino and has been in classes where he's felt those eyes.

Closing out Kitchen Theatre Company's successful 25th Anniversary Season is the regional premiere of a play about faith, love, and identity-PALOMA by Anne García-Romero. PALOMA runs from May 1 to May 22, with previews on May 1, 3, and 4 and Press Opening on May 5.

Ibrahim Ahmed and Paloma Flores are NYU grad students studying 11th Century Islamic writer Ibn Hazm's The Ring of the Dove, a book on literary art and the practice of love. Ibrahim is a devout Muslim and Paloma was raised Catholic, but their study group encounter reveals a shared curiosity about Ibn Hazm's text and ignites a powerful attraction to each other. Facing parental, societal and religious obstacles, Ibrahim and Paloma steep themselves in the world of Islamic Spain. Together, they embark on a journey to Granada to "walk the streets" in a place they believe Muslims, Christians and Jews once co-existed in peace. It is not an easy path for these lovers, and when tragedy strikes, their love and their families' beliefs are tested. Paloma is an intricate and complex journey through time that examines the challenges of this inter-faith relationship. Three actors play six characters.

On May 1, 2016, the Ithaca Gay Men's Chorus (IGMC) will perform their Spring Concert, "May Gay Day…Let's Sing" at 3:00 PM in the First Baptist Church, located in Ithaca's historic Dewitt Park at 309 North Cayuga Street.

IGMC will perform one of its most varied programs, bringing back a few old favorites and adding new and challenging pieces including: an a capella version of Dona nobis pacem by Joseph Gregorio, What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor (arranged by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw) and the premiere of a new piece written and arranged by Tom Peters (former accompanist for IGMC).  Proceeds from the concert will go towards the chorus' annual operating expenses, which include the purchase of music, rights to perform certain pieces, and compensation for their talented professional staff.

Brooktondale - Yann Falquet & Pascal Gemme double bill w/ Keith Murphy on Fri Apr 29 2016 at The Canaan Institute. House concert at 7:00 pm followed by an instrumental jam session after the concert. Don't miss these fantastic performers in this intimate setting!  RSVP Required.

Yann Falquet & Pascal Gemme

Pascal and Yann started their musical journey about fifteen years ago busking while playing traditional Quebecois tunes in downtown Montreal. Not too long after that, they formed the band Genticorum along with multi-instrumentalist Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand, with whom they toured the folk and world music festivals around the world. Rich from their experience with the trio, Yann and Pascal return to the duo format to explore a more intimate approach to their music, focusing on Pascal's large fiddle tune repertoire accumulated through the years and Yann's folk song collection.

Tweet