Archive: Arts & Entertainment

The 44th Summer Mainstage Season at the Hangar Theatre continues with gin, jazz, love and murder in this production of Chicago.

In 1920s Chicago, Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly discover the easiest way to achieve stardom is by committing crimes of passion. Based on the true stories of "The Merry Murderesses of Death Row," these two would-be stars compete to prove their innocence, become the nation's sweetheart, and most of all, show that corruption never goes out of fashion.

The new special exhibit at the Museum of the Earth 'Secrets of the Skull: From Titanoboa to Tuatara' opens Saturday, June 30, 2018. Over 100 skulls--from tiny bird skulls to giant Triceratops and whale skulls—are on display in this new exhibit, which runs through the end of the year. Learn how nature has shaped a complex structure to protect vertebrates' brain and sensory organs. Every vertebrate's skull is beautifully adapted for its unique role in the web of life. The exhibit focuses on both how skulls have evolved over the millennia, and how their unique forms are optimized for various functions including housing the sensory organs, diet, defense, and mating display.

With more than 20 years as a stand-up comedian, Tom Papa is one of the top comedic voices in the country finding success in film, TV, radio and podcasts as well as on the live stage.

Papa is the new Head Writer and regular performer on the nationally syndicated radio show, Live From Here, the newest incarnation of the legendary radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. Papa is featured on the show in his own regular segment, "Out. In. America. With Tom Papa," heard by the 2.6 million fans of the weekly radio show.

Defying musical theatre tradition, 'Songs for a New World' takes you on a moving journey through the human experience. The song cycle's mini one-act plays span the gamut from sweetly poignant to hysterically funny to gut-wrenching; the Running to Places (R2P) production runs July 5-14 at the Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca.

Each song in the show is its own self-contained story, connected to the other songs by an underlying theme: the moments of decision in our lives. Should I answer the call of the open road? Should I make a commitment, and what will I miss out on if I do commit? Fear, courage, love and hope intertwine in complex ways throughout the show.

"Some of the stories are familiar: should I end this relationship and move on? Some are more unexpected, like Mrs. Claus feeling that Santa is not attending to her needs. Zoe Klausner, who plays Mrs. Claus, has an incredible instinct for comic timing, and she gives a truly hilarious performance," says R2P artistic director Joey Steinhagen.

Triphammer Arts, the Cayuga Waterfront Trail Initiative and the Friends of Stewart Park will host Watermusic/Dancing on the Trail this year at the Stewart Park section of the Cayuga Waterfront. On Friday, July 13 from 5:30 – 9:00 PM, the park will come alive with a spontaneous festival of music and dance. New site, new songs, new choreography: the third annual collaboration between Watermusic and Dancing on the Trail takes a fresh outlook for 2018, with a move to Stewart Park.

Musicians will perform along the Waterfront Trail and the edge of Cayuga Lake and Fall Creek from 5:30 to 7:30 pm with a party and performances at the Picnic (Large) Pavilion from 8 - 9 pm. The new setting brings the bands closer together for ease of walking and the enjoyment of multiple performances – it’s more accessible for the whole family We have lined up a great group of performers (bluegrass, jazz, folk, Celtic, swing music) including The Catscratchers (Susan Waterbury and Dave Whiting), John Bunge & Friends, Arise & Go, Stan Stewart, Mike Ludgate & Friends, Jonathan and Jai, David Coester, Steve Stull and the Oklahoma! cast, Rick Manning & Friends. And it’s free!

Melissa Etheridge Brings her 'Yes I Am' 25th Anniversary Tour to Ithaca's State Theatre October 3rd. Etheridge stormed onto the American rock scene in 1988 with the release of her critically acclaimed self-titled debut album, which led to an appearance on the 1989 Grammy Awards show. For several years, her popularity grew around such memorable originals as 'Bring Me Some Water', 'No Souvenirs' and 'Ain't It Heavy', for which she won a Grammy® in 1992.

She hit her commercial and artistic stride with her fourth album, Yes I Am (1993). The collection featured the massive hits, "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window," a searing song of longing that brought Etheridge her second Grammy® Award for Best Female Rock Performance. In 1995, Etheridge issued her highest charting album, Your Little Secret, which was distinguished by the hit single, "I Want to Come Over." Her astounding success that year led to Etheridge receiving the Songwriter of the Year honor at the ASCAP Pop Awards in 1996.

Fresh off a triumphant tour of Europe, I'm With Her -- the band of Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O'Donovan - is announcing a new slate of tour dates for this fall, including a stop at The State Theatre in Ithaca, NY on Wednesday, November 7th.

This newest leg of touring, dubbed the Overland Tour, will kick off on the summer solstice at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, which is where they first came together in 2014. And on August 1, they will be among the featured performers at NPR Music's "Turning the Tables Live: 21st Century Edition," presented by Lincoln Center Out Of Doors in New York City.

"Tenebrae: The Passion of Dietrich Bonhoeffer" is a 1-hour theatrical performance in 12 scenes recalling the life of the German pastor who spoke out against the tyranny overtaking Germany when Adolph Hitler came to power. Composed by Hugh McElyea for baritone, mezzo soprano, chorus and chamber orchestra, "Tenebrae" relives the final 2-years of Bonhoeffer's life in Tegel prison Berlin, through his letters, manuscripts and poetry.   The piece was first performed at Union Theological Seminary April 9, 2001, on the anniversary of Bonhoeffer's execution in 1945.

Artist Jim Harper's Flora paintings, and unique photos of everyday objectswill be on display Museum of the Earth on Friday Art Night, June 8, 2018, from 5-8 pm. The Museum will be open for extended evening hours for this show in the Museum's Gift Shop.

An artist for over 40 years, Harper works in a variety of media including painting, photography, sculpture, and functional art. His focus has been in exploring the sculptural shapes and forms in everyday objects, as well as the textures that enrich their surfaces. His work looks to showcase the multi-curvilinear lines, volumes, and textures that transcends the simple definition of an object.

'Civic Acts: New Plays Toward The Beloved Community' is Civic Ensemble's new play festival in Ithaca featuring new political plays by nationally and internationally renowned playwrights whose work centers on women and people of color. These plays deal with the challenges our communities face in moving society toward what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called The Beloved Community. Civic Acts is one of the rare new play festivals in the United States devoted to socially-engaged theatre. The Beloved Community, first articulated by early 20th-century philosophers Josiah Royce and Randolph Bourne, is a vision where people of diverse racial, ethnic, educational, class, gender, sexual orientation backgrounds/identities seek to realize justice within the community and in the broader world.

Four-time Emmy Award-winner Judy Tate's play Fast Blood kicks off the festival. Fast Blood takes place in the antebellum South where a lynched slave, who has committed an unspeakable crime, mysteriously calls to a "married" slave couple, beginning a journey from vengeance to justice for the women and men, blacks and whites alike. Beth Milles directs Sarah K. Chalmers, Vernice P. Miller, Joshua Sedelmeyer, Godfrey L. Simmons Jr., Messeret Stroman Wheeler, Ryan Hope Travis, Saba Weatherspoon, and Jacob White. Fast Blood is produced in association with the American Slavery Project.

Kitchen Theatre Company concludes its 2017-2018 Season with a female-led production of Matt & Ben by Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers, a comedy about friendship, fame, and two well known public figures. Performances of Matt & Ben begin at the Kitchen Theatre Company in The Percy Browning Performance Space on May 27 and run through June 10.

Two guys, buddies since high school, eat junk food and work on their first screenplay: a film adaptation of Catcher in the Rye. "Adaptation is the highest form of flattery!" they say. They are getting nowhere fast when all of a sudden, a finished script falls from the ceiling. The script is "Good Will Hunting". What will Matt Damon and Ben Affleck do with their newfound luck? Matt & Ben starts with this ridiculous premise and adds another unexpected twist-Matt and Ben are both played by women. Writers Mindy Kaling (of TV's The Mindy Project and The Office) and Brenda Withers originated the roles and performed in the original hit Off-Broadway run of the play.

Savoyards Ithaca will perform Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers in Martha Hamblin Hall on the third floor of the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA): 8:00 PM Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5; and 2:00 PM Sunday, May 6. Tickets ($15 for general admission, $10 for students) are available at the door or online at www.savoyardsithaca.org.

Gilbert and Sullivan's most joyful work, The Gondoliers celebrates youth and renewal. Sullivan's score weds English comic opera and Neapolitan folk music, while Gilbert's book satirizes republicanism, capitalism, and tourism. Director Ellen Jackson examines the paradox of modernity: In the cultural and political clash between old and new worlds, can anything ever really become "modern"?