Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Kitchen Theatre Company is pleased to announce its new young professional group, The Apéritifs. Geared for people ages 25 to 39, The Apéritifs gain inside access to Kitchen Theatre Company, with social and cultural events that bring together a community of bold supporters of the arts in Tompkins County. Each event is individually priced - The Apéritifs isn't membership-based - so participants can pick what they'd like to attend throughout the season.

"The Apéritifs events will be full evening experiences," says Kitchen Theatre Company Artistic Associate Emily Jackson, who is spearheading this new initiative. "There will be cocktails and mingling before the show, a great play, and behind-the-scenes, insider access to the theater after performances. What's better than hanging out with great friends, chatting over drinks, and enjoying the best live entertainment in town? Beyond the social scene, hanging out with The Apéritifs is a unique opportunity to connect with other like-minded people who support and celebrate the Tompkins County arts community."

The Sciencenter invites the community to join in a dedication celebration as the museum opens its completed science-themed mini-golf course on September 26th.

The 18-hole mini-golf course is an interactive exhibit that engages guests of all ages in a wide variety of science concepts. Built in two phases, the basic course was completed in 2014. This year, the Sciencenter Exhibits staff worked to develop and prototype science obstacles for each of the 18 holes. Made possible through a generous gift from Cargill to the Sciencenter’s current capital campaign, Curious. Confident. Inspired., the mini-golf course obstacles explore everything from the science of black holes to wind energy to simple machines and more. The course is outdoor fun that the whole family can enjoy with full wheelchair access, ADA approved clubs, and 9 recycled material benches throughout.

Kitchen Theatre Company announced last Friday the cast and creative team for The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, the second play of their 25th Anniversary Season. The Mountaintop brings director Nicole A. Watson back to Ithaca following the success of her collaboration with writer/performer Darian Dauchan, Black Sheep, which premiered at Kitchen Theatre Company last season. New to Kitchen Theatre Company are actors Landon G. Woodson and Angel Moore.

Woodson will be playing the role of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A graduate of Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, he has appeared at Medicine Show Theater, MileSquare Theatre Company and recently in Repairing a Nation by Nikkole Salter at Crossroads Theatre Company with performances in August at the renowned Black Theatre Festival in North Carolina.

The Hangar Theatre recently announced its current line-up of shows and events for the remainder of 2015 and is expecting to add to this extensive list in the next month.  The Hangar's CabarETC series features three musical performances you won't want to miss, including Women of Woodstock - a tribute concert to Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, Melanie, and Grace Slick, Joe Crookston's October Jubilee - concert and art show, and the Burns Sisters annual Home for the Holiday's Concert.  Aside from these melodic performances, the Hangar will be hosting a variety of other events including theatrical pieces, a comedy show, and events for other nonprofits in town, including hosting the Jewish High Holiday services for Ithaca's Temple Tikkun V'Or.

Woman of Woodstock is opening the Hangar's fall season September 25 & 26 at 8pm. This show is being coproduced by the Hangar in collaboration with Melissa Hammans, the creator of Back to the Garden. The all female ensemble will take the stage performing the powerful songs of love, heartache, and social injustice.  Joe Crookston's October Jubilee will take place on October 24 starting at 6:30pm for a preshow reception and art show. The October Jubilee is more than a concert; this event will be a moving evening of music, storytelling, and sheer entertainment.  Closing the 2015 calendar year at the Hangar is the Burns Sisters annual Home for the Holidays Concert.  Annie and Marie Burns will be performing fan favorite original songs as well as holiday songs from around the world. Tickets for all CabarETC shows start at just $18.

The Sciencenter is kicking off fall with a full lineup of exciting, family-friendly events including a special 2-hour Showtime! with local biologists, the opening of a new featured exhibition, and the unveiling of the museum's fully-finished science-themed mini-golf course.

On September 12, the Sciencenter will join eight other museums around the country in a special hands-on presentation, 'Building with Biology.' At this 2-hour Showtime! program, guests will meet local biologists and researchers from Dr. Julius Lucks' Lab at Cornell University and students from the Cornell iGem (International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition) team, to take part in activities and conversation around the science of synthetic biology. From 1 – 3 pm, guests at the museum can take part in activities that explore real-world research, from new food product development to designer cells that solve current environmental problems, and provide their feedback directly to the scientists involved.

Kitchen Theatre Company kicks off its 25th Anniversary Season with a wildly hilarious and delightful one-man show. Buyer & Cellar by Jonathan Tolins stars KTC veteran and favorite Karl Gregory.  It is a campy, outrageous and riotously funny tour de force production, directed by Wendy Dann. Performances run September 6 through September 27, 2015.
 
Playwright Jonathan Tolins had a flash of inspiration when he first got his hands on a copy of Barbra Streisand's coffee table book, My Passion for Design. Streisand's real-life obsession with the material world, including having an actual underground mall in her home, begged for a theatrical exploration. Who takes care of this floor-to-ceiling collection, with its rows of little 'shops' and Barbra the lone shopper?

The History Center in Tompkins County will host Samuel B. Lupowitz & The Ego Band for a performance of songs from their most recent album Ten Square Miles on Friday, September 4th, 2015 from 6:00 to 7:30 PM.

Recorded in Newfield's own Grammy-winning music studio Electric Wilburland, Ten Square Miles features songs about coming of age in Ithaca, New York, from songs inspired by the city's folklore and history ('Lucifer Falls,' 'Green Street Blues,' and 'The Haunt' to multi-movement epics about the town's unique culture and atmosphere ('Land of Peace and Love' and 'City on the Hill').

Yiddish theater grabs you by the kishkes (guts) and doesn't let go. Now the tradition that inspired Broadway is coming to Ithaca, with all the humor, pathos and meaning of its long history. The first-ever Yiddish Theater Festival in the Fingerlakes stars New York City's renowned New Yiddish Rep (NYR) and includes four events over three nights, Sept. 8-10, highlighted by a performance of NYR's internationally acclaimed "Waiting for Godot." (All Yiddish performances are accompanied by English supertitles.)

"Yiddish theater has a unique ability to both move an audience and make them laugh, even in the midst of sadness," says Jonathan Boyarin, director of Cornell's Jewish Studies Program and Festival organizer. "Yiddish continues to have a profound impact on American popular culture and the extraordinary New Yiddish Rep company performances show why."

Civic Ensemble presents Katrina: Ten YearsLater, a staged reading in response to the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  The series will feature The Storm Trilogy by Jason Maghanoy, and When the Sky Falls by Yvette Sirker.  The Storm Trilogy will be read on Sunday, August 23, and consists of K (or the girl with the plastic rose), performing at 2:30pm; Throat, performing at 5:00pm; and Heart, performing at 7:30pm.  When the Sky Falls will be read on Tuesday, August 25 at 7:00pm.

Ranked by the National Hurricane Center as one of the five deadliest hurricanes to strike the United States, Hurricane Katrina formed off the eastern coast of the United States on August 23, 2005.  Katrina made landfall first in southern Florida on August 25, and then in Louisiana on August 29.  After passing through Louisiana, where Katrina is estimated to have done the most damage, the hurricane continued north - affecting most of the eastern United States and reaching as far as southeast Quebec before dissipating on August 31.  Hurricane Katrina is estimated to be directly responsible for 1,200 deaths and at least $108 billion (USD 2005) in property damage.

Tompkins County Public Library has announced the August 27 opening of 'Rhino Toys' a thought-provoking exhibit featuring hand-crafted toys designed to highlight current events and social issues.

Created by Buffalo-based artist and public school art teacher, Rich Tomasello, 'Rhino Toys' examines—through specially-designed toys reflecting traditional stereotypes and common media-messaging—issues of war, school shootings and social injustice.

Following last year's successful 150 Events series, Cornell's Department of Performing and Media Arts will continue its new tradition of student-led theatre, film and dance performances, with students serving as directors, writers and choreographers, as well as artists, in its 2015-16 season shows.

The season begins with the traditional FESTIVAL24 Aug. 29, where students spend 24 hours writing and rehearsing a film, a dance and three plays, which will be performed the next night.

Kitchen Theatre Company's 2015-2016 Season begins next month! This season marks a major milestone for the theater: the 25th Anniversary Season and the sixth in its beautifully renovated, LEED-certified home at 417 W. State/MLK, Jr. St. in downtown Ithaca, NY. Led by Artistic Director Rachel Lampert and Managing Director Stephen Nunley, Kitchen Theatre Company is Central New York's Off-Broadway theater, a small professional Equity company producing new and modern plays. "Important conversations happen in the Kitchen" is the motto that has defined the work of this company for over two decades and motivated the play choices in this silver anniversary season. Subscriptions for the seven-play season are on sale now.
 
Opening the 2015-2016 Season is a play The New York Times called "irresistible, delicious and wickedly funny" - Buyer & Cellar by Jonathan Tolins. Kitchen Theatre Company favorite Karl Gregory plays Alex, an out-of-work LA-based actor, who finally gets a job - as a one-man shopping mall manager in Barbra Streisand's basement! And when Barbra descends the spiral stairs, watch out! A hilarious one-man show about celebrity and staying true to yourself. The play is directed by Ithaca College Department of Theatre Arts faculty member Wendy Dann. Previews are September 6, 8, and 9, opening night is September 10, and the play runs through September 27. Ages 14+