Harmony Wheeler - Page 27

Tuesday, May 8th, at Gild Hall, a Thompson Hotel (15 Gold Street), Pen Parentis presents three authors who have won coveted prizes in short fiction: Josh Rolnick, whose collection PULP AND PAPER won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award, Christine Schutt, whose short fiction won the O. Henry, Pushcart and Mississippi Review prizes, and whose novels have been shortlisted for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer, and a return appearance by Pen Parentis favorite Anna Solomon, whose short fiction has won the Pushcart Prize twice.

With the fourth show of the 2011-12 season, American Repertory Theater of WNY presents the Americana psycho-drama, KILLER JOE at the Buffalo East, 1410 Main Street from April 13th to May 5th. This story of destain, desperation, murder and Texas is written by Tracy Letts, who is best recognized for his 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. Check out the production photos below!

Boston College alumnus and accomplished theater director Tony Taccone-artistic director of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California, one of the most prominent regional theaters in the country-returns to campus this month as the special guest and alumni honoree at the University's 14th annual Arts Festival, which will be held April 26-28, 2012. Taccone will make a number of public appearances while on campus.

CM Performing Arts Center presents PINKALICIOUS - The Musical. The musical plays March 31 and April 7, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. CM Performing Arts Center also presents HOW I BECAME A PIRATE. Performances are on May 5, 12 and 19. For more information or to order tickets please contact the Box Office at (631) 218-2810 or visit www.cmpac.com.

Talk-It Hennepin, the free series about city design and the re-invention of Hennepin Avenue that pairs public conversations with follow-up workshops, continues May 7-12 and June 7 and 9, 2012. The talks feature some of today's foremost visionaries in urban planning including Charles Landry in May, considered the world's leading authority on creative, intercultural cities. June brings Chanchanit Martorell, a City of Los Angeles' planning commissioner who formed and leads Thai Town and specializes in urban economic development, Don Mitchell, cultural geography professor and MacArthur "Genius" Fellow who researches "contested" urban spaces and Minnesota native Seitu Jones, an award winning environmental artist who creates large scale public artworks and was the City of Minneapolis' first Artist-in-Residence. Attendance is free, please RSVP (accepted until space is filled). To respond and for more information, visit hennepintheatretrust.org/Plan-It.

Theatre IV announces the return of Seussical the musical, to the Sara Belle and Neil November Theatre, running Friday, April 27 through Sunday, May 20, 2012. Based on the work of Dr. Seuss with music and lyrics by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, this production offers a new generation of kids the timeless story of friendship and community. Director, Chase Kniffen, calls Seussical, "the perfect family musical that will both touch and entertain all ages, from four to four hundred." Seussical is one of several Theatre IV offerings in the Minds Wide Open: Virginia Celebrates Children and the Arts initiative.

Rep Stage, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC), concludes its 19th season with "Las Meninas," playwright Lynn Nottage's account of the seduction of Louis the XIV's queen, Marie-Therese, and the consequences of her scandalous relationship with Nabo, her African servant. Nottage weaves an imaginative tale based on a fascinating but forgotten time in history that examines truths about women and race. Eve Muson, who helmed last season's "Speech & Debate," directs a large cast in this rarely produced play. "Las Meninas" opens April 18 with a limited run through May 6, 2012, in the Studio Theatre of the Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center (HVPA) on the campus of HCC.

Betty Buckley and pianist Christian Jacob will bring Buckley's show, "Ah, Men! The Boys of Broadway," to Fort Worth, Texas at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Wednesday, April 18 at 7:30p, Thursday, April 19 at 7:30pm, and Saturday, April 21 at 8:00pm, with a Q & A with Betty after the show on April 19.

Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) presents "Ballerina Assoluta: A Tribute to Natalia Makarova" on Saturday, April 28 at 7:00 PM at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. This evening of dance will illustrate Natalia Makarova's contribution to the art of ballet by presenting some of her most iconic roles performed by today's leading dancers. Performers include Marcelo Gomes (American Ballet Theatre), Natalia Osipova (American Ballet Theatre/Mikhailovsky Theatre St. Petersburg), Sergei Polunin (formally of The Royal Ballet), Tamara Rojo (The Royal Ballet), Yuan Yuan Tan (San Francisco Ballet), Ivan Vasiliev (American Ballet Theatre/Mikhailovsky Theatre St. Petersburg) and Diana Vishneva (American Ballet Theatre/Mariinsky Ballet). Ms. Makarova will narrate the program, reflecting on her experiences as a dancer. In addition, rare photos and archival footage will be shared. Tickets for the performance are $20, $37, $45, $75, $100, $150.

Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) presents "Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow" on Friday, April 27 at 7:00 PM at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. This annual event has become synonymous with the discovery of new dancers, choreographers, and companies, featuring the performances of international ballet stars and introducing the world's brightest young dance talent -- finalists from the 2012 competition. The evening's program includes world premieres choreographed by Ji?i Buben??ek, Marcelo Gomes, and Justin Peck, and NYC debuts by Yonah Acosta and Friedemann Vogel, and performances by a select group of 2012 YAGP finalists, plus celebrity masters of ceremonies Ana Gasteyer (SNL) and Brian d'Arcy James (Shrek the Musical, Next to Normal, Smash). Tickets for the performance are $45, $75, $100, $150.

Center Theatre Group has announced updated information for three productions in CTG's 2011-2012 season.

Walnut Street Theatre's 2011-2012 Independence Studio on 3 season concludes with an all-new production, Rodgers and Hammerstein's A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING. Directed by Bruce Lumpkin, the production begins with previews on May 1st, opens May 3rd and continues through June 24th in the Walnut's Independence Studio on 3.

Bob Costas, a 22-time Emmy Award-winning journalist and one of America's preeminent interviewers, tackles the state of college athletics in a live town hall setting with Costas Tonight: Live from 30 Rock, premiering Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Emmy(R) winner for 'Seinfeld' and 'The New Adventures of Old Christine') stars as Selina Meyer in VEEP, the story of a woman who becomes vice president, only to discover the job is nothing like she expected, but everything she was warned about. Created by Armando Iannucci (Oscar(R) nominee for co-writing 'In the Loop'), the new comedy series kicks off its eight-episode season SUNDAY, APRIL 22 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

MTV Spring Break 2012 took over the Las Vegas strip once again and is now ready to unpack a week full of performances and programming. Starting today, MTV, mtvU and MTV2 will be the ultimate destinations to watch all of the musical performances by artist The Wanted, Young Jeezy, B.o.B, Dev, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Carly Rae Jepsen and super producer araabMUZIK creating an eclectic soundtrack to start the party. Additionally, every night the 10Spot will feature screening parties hosted by Ronnie, Sammi and Deena from 'Jersey Shore,' Chanel and Drama of 'Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory,' from 'The Challenge: Battle of the Exes' Leroy and Naomi and Lauren Hutchinson from 'Savage U' will drop in to host screening parties throughout the week. mtvU VJ's Erinn Westbrook and Carly Henderson will be on hand interacting with spring breakers and providing coverage of all the activities and events happening at the Palms Casino Resort.

Following the announcement that Sell a Door Theatre Company's well established London home, The Greenwich Playhouse, is to shut its doors in April they were left without a venue for their up coming production of The History Boys.

Billy Jonas and His Band will perform at Symphony Space on Saturday, April 21st at 11 am in celebration of Earth Day. Ticket prices range from $11 to $20. Watch a video of the musician perform with Alison Krauss below!

The Blue Man Group made an appearance on the April 1 episode of The Celebrity Apprentice, helping the men's group raise money for its charity. The men's group includes Clay Aiken, Penn Jillette, Dee Snider and Arsenio Hall. Watch the video below to see how Aiken and others reacted when the blue men blew up cash-filled balloons!

The drama and mystery of THE GLADES Season 2 continues on DVD July 10th from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Join Kevin McDonald of the Kids in the Hall for a two day, 14 hour workshop to improve your acting and writing skills. In a group of twenty to thirty actors you will learn how to write comedy through performance, and use improv as a writing tool, press notes state. The workshop will warm up with improv games to help sharpen storytelling skills, and evolve until students are doing their own improvised scenes in small groups. Kevin will go from group to group, helping and guiding with the 'writing' of each scene. Each group will then have the opportunity to present their sketch. After getting notes, revising and presenting the scenes again, the workshop will end with the groups going away and actually finalizing their scenes. The now fully written scenes will be performed one last time for everyone. This workshop will improve your acting and writing skills, and will teach you how both skills work in unison to create great scenes and hilarious comedy.