Archive: Arts & Entertainment

This summer Triphammer Arts, the Cayuga Waterfront Trail Initiative and the Friends of Stewart Park will once again host Watermusic/Dancing on the Trail at the Stewart Park section of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. On Friday, July 12, 2019 from 5:30 – 8:30PM, the park will come alive with a spontaneous festival of music and dance, featuring new bands, new songs, and new choreography along with long-time favorite Finger Lakes performers. The dances can be seen, and the music can be heard, from the trail or from the water.

Watermusic/Dancing on the Trail celebrates the natural beauty of Tompkins County's outdoor spaces as well as the wealth and diversity of artistic talent in the Finger Lakes region. Musicians will perform along the Waterfront Trail and the borders of Cayuga Lake and Fall Creek from 5:30 to 7:30 pm with a Grand Finale performance at the Picnic (Large) Pavilion from 7:30 – 8:30PM. Our successful move to the Stewart Park setting has brought the bands closer together for ease of walking and the enjoyment of multiple performances.

Left to Right Front Row: Megan Tomei (Ensemble), Akila Foreman (Princess Reason), Diana Truman (Queen Azaz), Natalie Myrick (Milo), Tucker Boggs (Tock), Gretchen Vosburg (Princess Rhyme), Ben Teitelbaum (Ensemble). Left to Right Back Row: Sara Cuozzo-Gonzalez (Ensemble), Conor Bryant (Ensemble), Jacob Entenmen (The Humbug), Laruen Grajewski (The Mathamagician), Erin Amlicke (Spelling Bee), Tessa Coleman (Ensemble), Sarina Freda (Ensemble). Photo by Rachel Philipson.Journey with Milo through the Land of Wisdom on her quest to help the exiled Princesses Rhyme and Reason from the Land of Ignorance in this adaptation of the beloved children's fantasy novel! In creating peace and balance amidst the conflict between Words and Numbers, Milo discovers a joy in learning that cures her bouts of boredom.

Directed by Amanda McRaven, this version of the classic story has a female-fronted cast full of "queens" instead of "kings" and a female Milo. "I wanted the kids in our audience to see a world where women are the protagonists, the rulers, the bad guys and the good guys, where they aren't rescued from towers by men, and where men and women share agency. As a storyteller, my wish is for all children to grow up knowing that adventure stories don't belong to any one gender," says McRaven, a member of the Hangar Drama League Directing Fellows.

A new exhibit focused around veterinary science is opening to the public at the Sciencenter this weekend, on Saturday, June 22 at 10 am. During this grand opening, attendees can explore the new exhibit, interact with live animals, and explore our Tidepool Touch Tank.

Modeled after a real veterinarian's office this new exhibit creates an immersive environment where children can role play as veterinarians. Children can examine real X-rays of animals, weigh stuffed animals on scales, clean stuffed animals in the grooming station, and more.

The Hangar Theatre Company will present its lively summer theatre series for young audiences, KIDDSTUFF, from June 20 to August 3. This year’s productions include:

The Phantom Tollbooth by Susan Nanus. Directed by Amanda McRaven. June 20-22
Journey with Milo through the Land of Wisdom on his quest to rescue the exiled Princesses Rhyme and Reason from the Land of Ignorance in this adaptation of the beloved children’s fantasy novel! In creating peace and balance amidst the conflict between Words and Numbers, Milo discovers a joy in learning that cures his bouts of boredom.

The Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) is adding a new Ithaca Children & Youth Chorus (ICYC) ensemble, Ancora, for singers ages five to adult. 'Ancora' is an Italian word that is used for multiple English language concepts including 'again', 'still' 'yet', and 'more': an idea that encapsulates the foundation and purpose of the Ancora choir. It is a place for singers of all ages and diverse cultures to come together and make music. A place for past ICYC members to return to the community. A place for current singers continue learning and growing. A place for parents and family members to engage their family and community in making music and forming connections.

Ancora, which will begin rehearsing in the fall of 2019, is a welcoming inter-generational choir that provides a place for anyone and everyone with a love of music to sing together. Emphasis will be placed on the group experience and creating community as well as musical literacy, exploring diverse repertoire, and healthy singing. New members, ICYC alumni, parents and other family members are all welcome.

The Tony Award-winning "The Wiz" eases down the road to Ithaca, where Running to Places' (R2P) enthusiastic company goes all out in a collaboration with Circus Culture that will have audiences oohing and aahing and bopping in their seats. The show runs June 21-23 at the State Theatre of Ithaca.

The story is the familiar one: A tornado transports Dorothy (Ella Monroe) into the land of Oz, where she encounters good witches (Shyanne Lewis and Davina Barrett) and bad (Savannah Gonzalez) and acquires companions as confused about themselves as she is: the Scarecrow (Elsbeth O'Toole), the Tinman (Sirus Desnoes), and the Lion (Julianna Cuevas). The Wiz (Mwape Sokoni) – who is not what she seems – sends them on an impossible quest featuring flying monkeys, oppressed Winkies, and a well-aimed bucket of water.

Left to Right: Emily Kunkel as Aphra Behn, Austin Jones as William. Ashley Hildreth as Nell Gwynne, Photo by Rachel Philipson
The Hangar Theatre Company opens its 45th Mainstage summer season with the farce, Or, What She Will, a fast and witty play directed by Morgan Gould. This play by Liz Duffy Adams imagines Aphra Behn, the first recognized female playwright, during one raucous, racy night in the 1600s. Performances will run from June 13-22 with matinee and evening shows.

The play follows spy and female playwright Aphra Behn, played by Emily Kunkel. After escaping prison with the help of King Charles II, Aphra aspires for greatness on the London stage. With a pending opportuntiy from an eccentric producer, Aphra has only one night to complete her masterpiece, juggle lovers of both genders, avert a royal assassination, and secure her place in history- all before daybreak.

Using the fifth grade social studies standards and the lens of global connections, interactions and exchange, the Peace Cantata Project looks at the question, "How does my cultural experience with music and art intersect with the music and art of other cultures?"

This year, one hundred and eighty six fifth grade students from Beverly J. Martin, Enfield, Caroline and South Hill elementary schools analyzed this question through vocal performance, music making, interpretive dance, art and poetry.

The Arts Committee of Temple Beth El will host its annual Jewish film festival with a series of three entertaining films this summer. It will take place in the social hall of the temple, located at the corner of Court and Tioga Streets in Ithaca. The line up includes: Walk on Water on June 27th, Yoo Hoo Mrs. Goldberg on July 18th and The Last Suit on August 22nd. These are all Thursday evenings. Doors open at 6:30 PM for free refreshments and socializing. The films begin at 7 PM.

Walk on Water (Israel 2004) Starring Lior Ashkenazi and Knut Berger, this enthralling award-winning film by internationally-acclaimed director Eytan Fox explores the motives, strengths, and, ultimately, the humanity of an Israeli assassin sent to rectify a wrong committed five decades earlier. Several languages are spoken, as the plot moves from country to country. English subtitiles.

From Finger Lakes waterways, to urban public spaces, to rural homesteads, litter and other left-behind objects are ubiquitous in the landscape.

Local artists address discarded objects found outdoors (in other words, trash) through photography, painting, sculpture, maps, and mixed-media work, artists Alyssa Anderson, Leslie Brack, Caroline Byrne, Shera Delia, Nancy Malina, Chris Oliver, Michelle Plunkett, Marsha Taichman, Robin Tropper-Herbel, Magdalena Zink, and others consider and reinterpret discarded materials. Cartography by Michelle Henry.

The Inner Circle | 2012 | Acrylic | 40" X 30" by Mary A. RappazzoNow on exhibit in the Kitchen Theatre Company's Judith Holliday Lobby Gallery is the work of Los Angeles-based fine arts painter, digital artist, and graphic designer, Mary A. Rappazzo. Her paintings will be on display during the run of Tribes by Nina Raines, June 2-June 23.

Mary A. Rappazzo's work is paired with Tribes, a play about a family whose deaf son has been never been permitted to learn sign language and his unplanned introduction to the world of other *D/deaf people, because her work falls into three themes as described by the artist, who is also Deaf.

Brooktondale, NY - MAQ will present a house concert at The Canaan Institute on Fri June 7th 2019 beginning at 7:00 pm followed by a jam session.

MAQ is a musical ensemble based in Ithaca, NY comprised of some of the area’s best seasoned jazz and Brazilian-music musicians. Its members have individually toured throughout the United States and Europe, in venues from concert halls to clubs, performing everything from classic and modern jazz to Brazilian bossa and folk music.