Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Maternal Comedy Writing at the Kitchen

: By The Kitchen Theatre Company; Entertainment; | Mar 6, 2020 |

The Kitchen Theatre Company has partnered with Mama's Comfort Camp support network for Motherhood Is a Joke: maternal comedy writing workshops and performance. The program consists of four comedy writing workshops, followed by stage coaching and rehearsal process culminating in a showcase performance on Tuesday March 31, 2020 in the Kitchen Theatre Company's Percy Browning Performance Space.

In American culture, there is a script to motherhood that is all love and saccharine sunshine. But any mother will tell you that's not the reality; for too many, motherhood presents just the opposite. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 80 percent of new mothers struggle with some form of "baby blues," and 1 in 15 mothers experiences postpartum depression. These are upsetting statistics -- and yet, within this gap between script and reality, we find a rich artistic opportunity. Since the dawn of time, humans have been using stories to process challenges and heal from trauma. For mothers, life is often ironic and ripe with comedic tension. Motherhood is an endless stream of cliffhangers and stranger-than-fiction calamities that pepper our everyday existence which is often isolated, overwhelming, and mind-numbingly repetitive.

Horszowski Trio at Cornell

: By Laurel Gilmer; Entertainment; | Mar 6, 2020 |

Photo by Lisa Marie Mazzucco
The Cornell music department welcomes The Horszowski Trio for a concert at Barnes Hall on Saturday, March 14 at 3:00 pm. In honor of women's history month, the trio's program is entitled 'Celebrated Women', featuring the music of our time, including a set of bird-themed pieces from three living women composers, plus the characterful and refined piano trio by a great romantic, Clara Schumann.

kurt.riley+praxis Strike a Cinematic Chord

: By -; Entertainment; | Mar 6, 2020 |

New York-based metapop composer Kurt Riley amalgamates mid-century fashion with R&B synth and film noir lyricism for his newest single, Say You Love Me.

The first recording of 2020 by the artist and his group (known as kurt.riley+praxis), Say You Love Me is also the second in Riley's futuristic Chrome Empire phase - part of a colorful release schedule planned through 2021 with New Vine Records.

'Catch As Catch Can' Upends Traditional Family Drama

: By Lesley Greene; Entertainment; | Feb 28, 2020 |

The 2019-2020 season continues at Kitchen Theatre Company with Catch As Catch Can, an exciting reinvention of the American family drama by Mia Chung. Performances of Catch As Catch Can begin at the Kitchen Theatre Company in the Percy Browning Performance Space on Sunday, March 15 and will run through Saturday, April 4.

The LaVecchias and the Phelans are working class New England families and long-time neighbors. Their kids grew up together, and even though the kids are adults now themselves, everyone still gets together for the holidays-holidays filled with reminders of old wounds and a simmering discontent just below the surface. Sound like your typical family drama? It is, with one important difference. Just three actors play all six parts: two mothers, one father, a daughter, and two sons. The result is a generation- and gender-crossing tour de force that has to be experienced to be believed. Catch As Catch Can is an unpublished work by acclaimed young playwright Mia Chung, and she has created a new version of the script just off its hit NYC run, for the Kitchen Theatre production. After its run at the Kitchen, the play will be produced at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre.

Wells College Theatre Production Honored

: By Christopher Pollock; Entertainment; | Feb 28, 2020 |

Aurora, NY - A recent production by the Wells College Theatre Department has been recognized by the Theatre Association of New York State (TANYS). "Miss Valentine," a new original play by Nadine Bernard, was directed by theatre professor Siouxsie Easter and produced in partnership with Broadway producer/artist Ivy Austin and dramaturg Claudia Nolan '12.

'Locally Grown Dance' at Cornell

: By Lindsey White; Entertainment; | Feb 28, 2020 |

cornell MiniLGD 1367 Thomas Hoebbel Photography Video

Photo by Thomas Hoebbel Photography Video
The student dancers of the Cornell University Department of Performing and Media Arts' (PMA) annual Locally Grown Dance (March 5–7) are joined on stage this year by the work of guest artists in music, visual arts, and dance. Each of the four dance pieces incorporates the idea of transformation, literally, figuratively, or both.

PMA dance faculty Byron Suber, Nic Ceynowa, and Jumay Chu contribute choreography featuring student dancers. Through PMA's guest-artists-in-dance program, students have been mentored and guided by professional dancers Florian Lochner and Ayo Janeen Jackson, both of whom visited in the fall semester.

Digital Album Will Benefit Endeavor House

: By Everlasting Town; Entertainment; | Feb 28, 2020 |

Everlasting Town, an Ithaca-based musical project, has released Give Me A Way, a digital EP whose proceeds will go to support a promising local justice initiative. Endeavor House, a project of OAR of Tompkins County, provides a safe, sober, and affordable living space for individuals returning to the community from jail or prison.

Says Anita Peebles, OAR's Senior Client Service Worker, "We have been advocating for the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated population for over forty years. Endeavor House is currently home to five men, and we are helping them to become more self-reliant and integrate back into the community. We are so grateful for the support of these amazing musicians—the album is fantastic!"

Concert Inspired By The Grateful Dead At The State

: By Casey Martin; Entertainment; | Feb 28, 2020 |

"PINK TALKING FISH are DEAD" will perform live at The State Theatre of Ithaca on Friday May 8, 2020. The exceptional tribute jam band will perform the music of Pink Floyd, The Talking Heads and Phish…and Grateful Dead tunes inspired by the treasured concert on Cornell's campus, exactly 43 years to the day of the original show.

On a snowy Mothers' Day in 1977, The Grateful Dead performed one of the most significant concerts of their extensive career at Barton Hall in Ithaca, New York. The Grateful Dead played more than 2,000 concerts, but none continue to spark interest and provoke discussion quite like the band's performance at Cornell University's Barton Hall on May 8, 1977. The show, known by most Deadheads as simply "5/8/77" is one of the most collected, circulated and debated concerts by any band ever, has topped numerous fan polls through the years, and was a favorite of the group's longtime archivist Dick Latvala, who stated: "Enough can't be said about this superb show." Even Uncle Sam got into the act in 2011 when the recording was "deemed so important to the history and culture of the United States" that a copy was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.

Celebration of Robert Moog at Cornell

: By Laurel Gilmer; Entertainment; | Feb 28, 2020 |

From March 5 to 7, Cornell University presents a three-day celebration of Robert Moog PhD ’65 and his pioneering invention of the Moog synthesizer, which electrified music and sparked a revolution in sound.

When Machines Rock: A Celebration of Robert Moog and Electronic Music features panels and performances by a wide array of electronic music artists, including renowned synthpop and electro-industrial artist Gary Numan (March 6); singer-songwriter, beat-maker, and producer Suzi Analogue (March 7); and electronic music composers David Borden (March 5), Herb Deutsch (March 7), and Suzanne Ciani (March 7).

Jungle Jack Hanna at the State

: By Casey Martin; Entertainment; | Feb 28, 2020 |

America's most beloved animal expert, Jack Hanna, brings his three-time Emmy Award-winning television series to the live stage with Into the Wild Live! at The State Theatre of Ithaca on March 13th at 7pm.

In this live show, Hanna takes you into the wild with a spectacular array of incredible animals. Fans of all ages will enjoy Jack's stories, from brushing a hippo's teeth to eating with wombats, and see footage of his worldwide adventures, from the jungles of Rwanda to the savannas of Australia. He will also inspire with his passion and dedication to wildlife conservation.

ReEntry Theatre Program Remounts Streets Like This

: By Civic Ensemble; Entertainment; | Feb 21, 2020 |

civic Abdullah Khalil Bey and A.C. Sidle as Deon and Dennis

Abdullah Khalil Bey and A.C. Sidle as Deon and Dennis
Civic Ensemble's ReEntry Theatre Program brings back their 2018 production, Streets Like This, with a ten performance run opening Thursday, March 12 and running through March 22 at The Cherry Artspace, in Ithaca, NY. Streets Like This is a full-length play written collaboratively by Thom Dunn and A.C. Sidle with members of the ReEntry Theatre Program. Material comes from the real lives and imaginations of participants of the program.

Streets Like This introduces us to Deon and Denis. Deon is black, Dennis is white; both are worn out from past convictions, dysfunctional institutions, and the preventable deaths of loved ones. From their stoop, they watch Crystal, Abby, and Brian struggle with their diverse obstacles and mistakes while stuck in the United States' broken criminal justice system. Deon and Dennis narrate the stories of these three and other characters navigating the perils of real life and their own demons while dealing with the consequences of probation, incarceration, parole, and court-ordered rehabilitation. Streets Like This travels from the Meadow Street Mobil to Social Services offices and from the curb outside Day Reporting, to workplaces and homes.

Rick Recht to Present Family Concert

: By IAUJC; Entertainment; | Feb 21, 2020 |

Rick Recht, the most celebrated Jewish artist of our time and PJ Library National Celebrity Spokesperson, will perform a children's concert on Sunday, March 8th at 3 PM EDT. This fun, interactive concert featuring on-stage participation by local children will be held at Community School of Music and Arts, Hamblin Hall.

Recht will perform songs from his hit children's albums Look at Me! and Free to Be the Jew in Me. He will also focus on the upcoming holiday of Purim, which will occur on March 10th. This is a festive holiday celebrating freedom of religion, where children and adults dress up in costumes. Costumes are welcome at the concert. Admission at the door is $5 for folks ages twelve and over. Children are free.

Cornell Symphony Orchestra February 29

: By Laurel Gilmer; Entertainment; | Feb 21, 2020 |

On Saturday, February 29 at 3:00 pm at Bailey Hall, the Cornell Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Katherine Kilburn, performs a concert featuring Joy Zhang, winner of the 2019 concerto competition.

Zhang, a human biology, health and society major, studies flute with Elizabeth Shuhan and will play Georges Hüe's Fantasie for Flute and Orchestra. Zhang is a previous winner of the Hochstein School of Music Merit Scholarship Competition and the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition.

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