Monthly Archives: October 2011

October 18, 2011 · 2:19 pm

The Overture Awards announces Summerfair Cincinnati Visual Arts Scholarship

(CINCINNATI, OH) – The Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is pleased to announce that Summerfair Cincinnati has expanded its partnership with CAA to sponsor the entire visual art discipline of The Overture Awards. The scholarships associated with the visual art category of the competition will now be known as The Overture Awards Summerfair Cincinnati Visual Arts Scholarships.

The Overture Awards is the largest scholarship competition for high school students in the country. Last year more 500 students from a thirteen county region of the Tri-state competed for $24,000 in scholarships in six artistic disciplines – Vocal Music, Instrumental Music, Dance, Drama, Creative Writing and Visual Art. The Oveture Awards have achieved such a strong reputation with college admission officers that success in the competition is considered a noteworthy accomplishment.

“We are truly excited about Summerfair Cincinnati’s sponsorship of the visual arts scholarships,” said Steve Finn, CAA Director of Education and Community Relations. “Summerfair has been very supportive of our Overture Awards programs, and we look forward to exploring other ways we can work together to expand arts education opportunities in the Tri-state.”

Summerfair Cincinnati presents its primary fundraiser – the annual Summerfair Fine Art and Craft Fair – at Coney Island, is committed to supporting the development of young and emerging artists from our region, and sponsors an annual Emerging Artists exhibition featuring selected works by five area University schools of art Juniors and Seniors. In addition, Summerfair Cincinnati has been actively involved in supporting the regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Competition, which recognizes outstanding art work at the high school level.

“The Overture Awards was a natural expansion of our support for the arts in this area,” said Sharon Strubbe, Executive Director of Summerfair Cincinnati. “It is an outstanding program and fits with our goal of developing and encouraging the next generation of artists. We are delighted to be working with the Cincinnati Arts Association to continue the success of this program.”

The 2012 Overture Awards competition will occur in January. The registration deadline is November 15. Interested students should contact their school guidance counselor or Overture Program Coordinator, Carolyn Phillips, at (513) 977-4163.

For more information about The Overture awards, visit www.cincinnatiarts.org/overture_competition.

For more information about Summerfair Cincinnati, visit www.summerfair.org.

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October 18, 2011 · 2:19 pm

Pones Inc. and Performance Gallery Premiere Original Movement-Theatre Collaboration

CINCINNATI, OH – Pones Inc. Laboratory of Movement collaborates with Performance Gallery on a brand new movement-theatre piece titled, THROUGH THE EYES OF A CROW written by Sarah Mansfield. THROUGH THE EYES OF A CROW muses on the influence of memory in the creation of ourselves and received project support provided by a grant from ArtsWave. An early draft of the script inspired a successful collaboration between the two groups during the 2011 Cincy Fringe Festival on THE BODY SPEAKS, and the companies are excited to pursue another unique way to bring original and innovative work to Cincinnati with this joint production. Mixing the theatre-based backgrounds of Performance Gallery and the movement-based work of Pones Inc., performers from both companies will round out the cast of seven. Each of the six performances will occur in a different non-traditional space allowing the production to be available to patrons in a variety of neighborhoods. All shows are a suggested $12 donation at the door, expanding accessibility to a wider audience.

Regina Pugh of Performance Gallery who is performing in the piece says, “Creating theatre in this collaborative way is a special treat for actors. It is terrifying and exhilarating and I have found the subject matter of false memory to be especially interesting. I’m curious to learn how this piece will ‘land’ with our audiences, what questions they will have and what conversations might ensue about the elusive quality of memory.”

THROUGH THE EYES OF A CROW explores the subject of false memory and its corrosive effects on relationships. The value and fragility of memory are explored when two sisters confront each other, and their pasts, in order to discover their own versions of the truth. Fusing sound, text and movement, the experimental show promises to put each audience members’ own memory to the test. All performances of THROUGH THE EYES OF A CROW start at 7:30 P.M. and are under two hours allowing patrons to enjoy an ‘after party‘ with cast members each evening. Show dates and venues are as follows:

  • Friday, October 28th – Northside Tavern, 4163 Hamilton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45223
  • Saturday, October 29th – Leapin Lizard Gallery, 726 Main Street, Covington, KY 41011
  • Friday, November 4th – Essex Studios, 2511 Essex Ave., Walnut Hills, OH 45206
  • Saturday, November 5th – Below Zero Lounge, 1122 Walnut Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202
  • Friday, November 11th -The Mockbee, 2260 Central Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45214
  • Saturday, November 12th – TBA

Inspiration for the show was taken from research of real case studies on false memory. In typical Pones Inc. fashion, the cast paired performance with outreach and participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s on October 1st where they helped raise over $338,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association. Pones Inc. and Performance Gallery are working collaboratively to create the performance from the ground up with Ian Gullet of Diet Audio, who is composing and playing live music at each performance. Gullet’s added layer to the show utilizes spoken word recordings, instruments and electronic sound.

Kim Popa of Pones Inc. states, “The poetic quality of the script inspired me to think about the complicated connections between memory and movement. Our bodies ‘remember,’ hence the term muscle memory, and it is intriguing to think about how we retain our life experiences in our physical selves. The mind and body are not separate entities and through this piece we hope to tell the story of false memories in an abstracted, new way. I aspire to create a piece where audiences leave feeling that they have just had an experience, versus simply seeing a show. I hope that patrons question their own memory of the production details and ponder how susceptible we all are to memory distortion.”

About Pones Inc.
Pones Inc. Laboratory of Movement is a non-profit performance art group dedicated to creating original work that blends various disciplines and focuses on community, site-specific performance and educational outreach. The company explores theatre for social change through its combination of dance and theatre in its signature style of pedestrian-influenced movement. Founded in 2008 by Kim Popa and Lindsey Jones, Pones Inc. continually collaborates with a diverse range of artists and groups and performs in multiple locations. For more details visit www.ponesinc.com.

About Performance Gallery
Performance Gallery is a collaborative performance environment existing to produce and promote challenging works of theatre which seldom find a home on mainstream stages. Founded in 2002, they produce a varying amount of works per year in a variety of spaces ranging in discipline from new plays generated from within the company, director experiments, existing but seldom produced scripts interpreted with an experimental vision, works in progress, or “stuff we’ve just been dying to do”.

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October 18, 2011 · 2:18 pm

GHOST-WRITER Review

Links to all reviews can be found on the BTC REVIEWS page. Blog postings, links and more are available on my FaceBook fan page. You can receive updates on Twitter from @BTCincyRob.

Dennis Parlato as Franklin Woolsey & Annie Fitzpatrick as Myra Babbage. Photo by Ryan Kurtz.

GHOST-WRITER presented by Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati through Oct 30. You can read the show description here.

If I had to give you one reason to go see GHOST-WRITER, the choice would be easy: Annie Fitzpatrick as Myra Babbage. But it’s the strength of the show as a whole that places GHOST-WRITER on my list of favorite productions of the 2011-2012 season.

Regarding Fitzpatrick as Babbage, it is my favorite performance by the actress to date. She makes it very easy to like and admire Myra Babbage, the devoted secretary to novelist, Franklin Woolsey. Her performance is finely-nuanced and I really enjoyed the society-restrained energy of the character. Since this is Babbage’s story, Fitzpatrick never leaves stage for the entire 90 minutes. Also impressive is the sheer volume of dialogue. And as a friend and I half-joked, it would have been much easier for Annie to highlight the lines that aren’t hers in her script.

Annie Fitzpatrick as Myra Babbage & Lourelene Snedeker as Vivian Woolsey. Photo by Ryan Kurtz.

Under the direction of D. Lynn Myers, Fitzpatrick also receives strong support from Dennis Parlato as novelist Franklin Woolsey and Lourelene Snedeker as his wife, Vivian. Parlato’s stoic performance works well for the character and allows him to easily be a presence, even if he is not present. Snedeker is outstanding as the wife threatened by a relationship that is, in ways, more intimate than her marriage.

I enjoyed the language of the script. How it evoked the time-period and the attitudes of that time. The structure of the play works well, allowing the audience to see the story…funny, the structure is similar to several biography television shows. A present day (in this case, Nov. 1919) interview inter-cut with flashback scenes of pivotal moments of the story. It adds a contemporary-influence to a show that begins over a century ago.

Annie Fitzpatrick as Myra Babbage, Lourelene Snedeker as Vivian Woolsey & Dennis Parlato as Franklin Woolsey. Photo by Ryan Kurtz.

Even though the set demands for the show are minimal, I really enjoyed the choices Brian c. Mehring made in his design. My favorite element was the “visible to the audience” room door. It opened up the space and gave some nice options for staging and lighting. Also on the technical side, excellent sound design work from Matthew Callahan.

The period setting of the play would not be complete without properties by Shannon Rae Lutz and costumes by Erin Amico.

Bottom line, don’t let the show title fool you. This wonderfully-done production of GHOST-WRITER is more love story than ghost story. One that I enjoyed hearing, and seeing.

Click here for a complete list of show times, articles and other reviews for GHOST-WRITER.

I would love to hear what you think about the show or my review. You can post your comments below.

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October 17, 2011 · 4:04 pm

Fox19 Casting Eight People for Promotional Videos

FOX 19 is casting eight people for promotional videos for the news (stipended, modestly).

They are looking for men & women from mid 20s to 40s.

Email pic and resume to chuebsch@fox19.com.

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October 17, 2011 · 1:04 pm

Cincinnati Shakespeare Announces GLBT Night for MACBETH

Second Annual GLBT Night to be celebrated November 4, 2011

Sara Clark as Lady Macbeth & Nick Rose as Macbeth. Photo by Jeanna Vella.

CINCINNATI, September 28, 2011 – Cincinnati Shakespeare Company will hold its second annual GLBT Night on Friday November 4, 2011. The evening begins with a pre-show reception at 6:00PM in CSC’s lobby, with refreshments provided by Roxy’s Restaurant & Lounge. Followed by a 7:30 pm performance of William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. The celebration culminates in a post show party at Below Zero Lounge.

“GLBT Night began as a special event during Season 17 in conjunction with ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’,” said Managing Director, Lettie Van Hemert. “It was so well received that we knew we had to do it again soon. It’s a great way for us to reinforce our mission of bringing the classics to life for all audiences.”

Admission for GLBT Night is $50 per person. This includes one ticket to the show and admission to both the pre-show and post-show receptions.

Sponsorships are also available. The Host/Hostess Package is $150 and includes two tickets to the performance, admission to both receptions, acknowledgement in the GLBT night program, and a group photo with the cast of “Macbeth”. Performance Sponsorship is available for $500 and includes four tickets to the show and admission to both receptions, a photo with the cast of “Macbeth”, a poster of the show signed by the cast, a ¼ page ad in the program, and two tickets to opening night of the next show in the season, “Love’s Labour’s Lost.”

Single tickets for the show are also available. These tickets do not include admission to the pre- or post-show receptions.

Performance individual Ticket Price (Performance Only)
$32 Adult
$28 Senior
$26 Student

Packages and tickets for GLBT Night are available online at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company website, http://www.cincyshakes.com, or tickets may be purchased by calling the CSC box office at (513) 381-2273 ext. 1.

For additional information on GLBT Night contact Della Riley by phone 513.381.2273 x. 1 or visit http://www.cincyshakes.com.

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