“Captures the charm of A Prairie Home Companion
and its creator” – Variety
GARRISON KEILLOR:
THE MAN ON THE RADIO
IN THE RED SHOES
America’s foremost humorist and commentator, Garrison Keillor takes his skits and monologues across the country in America’s most popular radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. The acclaimed feature film GARRISON KEILLOR: THE MAN ON THE RADIO IN THE RED SHOES trails this yarn-smith and his crew of actors and musicians as they spin stories and song into American gold. Following a nationwide premiere on Thirteen’s American Masters on PBS on July 1, Docurama Films brings this candid look at the private man in the public spotlight to DVD—along with over an hour of exclusive bonus material—on July 7, 2009.
Filmed over the course of more than a year, this intimate portrait captures Keillor on- and off-stage as he mingles fact and fiction to create America’s collective hometown, Lake Wobegon, on his radio program. The result is a fascinating inside look at the enigmatic raconteur and how the imaginary world he created became a real place in America. Author of more than 20 books as well as a syndicated weekly column, Keillor is credited with reviving the lost art of live radio entertainment in America; his weekly radio show, celebrating its 35th anniversary this July, has more than 4 million listeners and is broadcast on 590 stations. Robert Altman’s 2006 film starring Meryl Streep, A Prairie Home Companion, brought Keillor and his characters to the big screen.
“His writing is never from an elevated space, so he connects with his audience,” said Peabody, DGA and Emmy® Award-winning filmmaker Peter Rosen (Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: Here to Make Music and Who Gets to Call It Art?). “But the production value of his show is highly elevated, and the novelty for viewers of this film will be to see how the magic happens.”
Keillor mixes storytelling and humor to give us a lighthearted but deeply felt reflection of ourselves. While he’s been compared to such legends as Mark Twain and Will Rogers, Garrison Keillor is unique. In this unusual biography, we begin to see how and why.
- over -
OVER AN HOUR OF EXCLUSIVE BONUS MATERIAL INCLUDES:
· Outtakes
· Garrison Keillor Talks to Students
· Interview with Robert Altman and Garrison Keillor
· Filmmaker Biography
To view the trailer: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/garrison-keillor/the-man-on-the-radio-in-the-red-shoes/1159/
Monday, June 29, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
MEG
Steve Alten
Variance Publishing
Review by Craig Harvey
We're all afraid of the dark. It's ingrained in our very being. Even after millions of years of evolution we still fear the unknown lurking in the blackness. In Steve Alten's world, the dark lies in the bone crushing depths of the black abyss miles below the ocean's surface where monstrous creatures long thought extinct still thrive. For Jonas Taylor and his family the stakes have been raised as they face not only these abominations, but the sixty foot megalodon Angel and her vicious new offspring still kept caged and bloodthirsty. For fans of the MEG series "Hell's Aquarium" brings us back once again to the world of Carcharodon Megalodon; the apex predator of all time. Or so we thought. Yes Dorothy, there are worse things lurking in the ocean besides prehistoric sharks. In the second book of the series "The Trench" giant Kronosaurs were discovered in the Mariana Trench, where Jonas Taylor had first glimpsed Angel's mother years before. That was just icing on the cake, because this time, the true monsters of the deep make their appearance and believe me, it's worse than anyone could have imagined.
The story begins with Angel and her two offspring still in captivity at the Tanaka Institute and Jonas seemingly having things under lock and key. But as fate would have it, this doesn't last long. Death and tragedy seem to surround Angel and her brood like a curse. Things begin to look up however, when a wealthy Dubai prince seeks to purchase the pups to be displayed in the largest aquarium in the world being built in his homeland. He even wants Jonas's son David to supervise the transition and care of the sharks in Dubai for the summer. However, the prince has another, far more dangerous objective for David; one that will test the entire Taylor family to their breaking points and beyond. A hidden and untouched world of prehistoric nightmares await beneath the Phillippine Sea Plate dubbed Panthalassa. For over 220 million years it has remained untouched and undiscovered by man, until now. The mission: to dive below into this pristine and deadly new world and lure some of these creatures up to be captured for the aquarium, and he wants David to lead the way.
I have to say of the Meg series this is my favorite. I have loved them all but "Hell's Aquarium" brings back the intensity I felt when Jonas first encountered the giant shark and faced his demons in the first book. But the greatest thing of the series is Alten's gift of making his fiction believable, his characters living, breathing, entities and not just words on paper. His best asset is the ability to blend a fantasy of what could possibly exist, yet stay firmly grounded in reality. He does his homework consulting the right people to get the science plausible without sacrificing what matters most; a great story. He crafts novels that will captivate you from the moment you start reading. Alten does that and more with "Hell's Aquarium." I guarantee fans of the series won't sleep a wink until they finish the last page of the best Meg novel yet.
Variance Publishing
Review by Craig Harvey
We're all afraid of the dark. It's ingrained in our very being. Even after millions of years of evolution we still fear the unknown lurking in the blackness. In Steve Alten's world, the dark lies in the bone crushing depths of the black abyss miles below the ocean's surface where monstrous creatures long thought extinct still thrive. For Jonas Taylor and his family the stakes have been raised as they face not only these abominations, but the sixty foot megalodon Angel and her vicious new offspring still kept caged and bloodthirsty. For fans of the MEG series "Hell's Aquarium" brings us back once again to the world of Carcharodon Megalodon; the apex predator of all time. Or so we thought. Yes Dorothy, there are worse things lurking in the ocean besides prehistoric sharks. In the second book of the series "The Trench" giant Kronosaurs were discovered in the Mariana Trench, where Jonas Taylor had first glimpsed Angel's mother years before. That was just icing on the cake, because this time, the true monsters of the deep make their appearance and believe me, it's worse than anyone could have imagined.
The story begins with Angel and her two offspring still in captivity at the Tanaka Institute and Jonas seemingly having things under lock and key. But as fate would have it, this doesn't last long. Death and tragedy seem to surround Angel and her brood like a curse. Things begin to look up however, when a wealthy Dubai prince seeks to purchase the pups to be displayed in the largest aquarium in the world being built in his homeland. He even wants Jonas's son David to supervise the transition and care of the sharks in Dubai for the summer. However, the prince has another, far more dangerous objective for David; one that will test the entire Taylor family to their breaking points and beyond. A hidden and untouched world of prehistoric nightmares await beneath the Phillippine Sea Plate dubbed Panthalassa. For over 220 million years it has remained untouched and undiscovered by man, until now. The mission: to dive below into this pristine and deadly new world and lure some of these creatures up to be captured for the aquarium, and he wants David to lead the way.
I have to say of the Meg series this is my favorite. I have loved them all but "Hell's Aquarium" brings back the intensity I felt when Jonas first encountered the giant shark and faced his demons in the first book. But the greatest thing of the series is Alten's gift of making his fiction believable, his characters living, breathing, entities and not just words on paper. His best asset is the ability to blend a fantasy of what could possibly exist, yet stay firmly grounded in reality. He does his homework consulting the right people to get the science plausible without sacrificing what matters most; a great story. He crafts novels that will captivate you from the moment you start reading. Alten does that and more with "Hell's Aquarium." I guarantee fans of the series won't sleep a wink until they finish the last page of the best Meg novel yet.
GET THE LED OUT
THE AMERICAN LED ZEPPELIN
SATURDAY, JUNE 20TH 8:00 PM
TIMES UNION CENTER ● MORAN THEATER
ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY!!
JACKSONVILLE, FL – From the bombastic and epic, to the folky and mystical, Get The Led Out have captured the essence of the recorded music of Led Zeppelin and brought it to the big concert stage. The Philadelphia-based group consists of six accomplished musicians intent on delivering Led Zeppelin's studio recordings with all the bells and whistles. Utilizing the multi-instrumentalists at their disposal, Get The Led Out re-create the songs in all their depth and glory with the studio overdubs that Zeppelin themselves never performed live.
Get the Led Out: The American Led Zeppelin is coming to the Times Union Center’s Moran Theater on Saturday, June 20th at 8PM for one performance only.
Dubbed by the media as "The American Led Zeppelin," Get The Led Out present a two hour + set each night that spans the mythic career of the legendary British supergroup. With a strong focus on the early years, they also touch on the deeper cuts that were seldom, if ever heard in concert.
The group is achieving strong box office scores in the Mid-Atlantic. Not uncommon are return-visits and sell-outs at a number of the region's most prominent venues and PACs including House of Blues (Atlantic City), Pennsylvania’s Sovereign Center and Keswick Theatre, and Oswego New York's "Harborfest" (two years in a row) as well as countless other theaters and national concert venues.
Get The Led Out's approach to their performance of this hallowed catalog is not unlike a classical performance. "Led Zeppelin are sort of the classical composers of the rock era," says lead vocalist Paul Sinclair. "I believe 100 years from now they will be looked at as the Bach or Beethoven of our time. As cliché as it sounds, their music is timeless."
A Get The Led Out concert sort of mimics the "light and shade" that is the embodiment of "The Mighty Zep." Whether it's the passion and fury with which they deliver the blues-soaked, groove-driven rock anthems, or the delicate nature of their intimate, sit-down acoustic set (complete with special guest female vocalist for "The Battle of Evermore"), it's their attention to detail and nuance that makes a Get The Led Out performance a truly awe-inspiring event!
Paul Sinclair - Lead Vocals, Harmonica
Paul Hammond - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Mandolin, Theremin Jimmy Marchiano - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Vocals Paul Piccari - Bass Guitar, Vocals Andrew Lipke - Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals, Percussion Adam Ferraioli - Drums, Percussion
"An homage, beautifully performed with genuine respect for the oh-so familiar material... It sells tickets!" - Steve Krempasky - Whitaker Center
"More than just an exceptional recreation of Led Zeppelin, one of the best tribute bands on the planet!" - Bruce Ranes - Sellersville Theatre
"Great music! Great guys!" - Kacy Jenkins - Ram’s Head Live
GET THE LED OUT: THE AMERICAN LED ZEPPELIN will be performed at the TIMES UNION CENTER’S MORAN THEATER June 20, 2009 for one performance only. Tickets range in price from $30.50 to $80.50. Discounts are available for groups of 10+, or 20+ by calling (904) 632-3228.
To order by phone with Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover call the FCCJ Artist Series Box Office at (904) 632-3373 (toll-free outside of Jacksonville 1-888-860-BWAY.)
Tickets are also available online with Instant Seat Selection by visiting the
FCCJ Artist Series’ website, www.artistseries.fccj.org.
SATURDAY, JUNE 20TH 8:00 PM
TIMES UNION CENTER ● MORAN THEATER
ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY!!
JACKSONVILLE, FL – From the bombastic and epic, to the folky and mystical, Get The Led Out have captured the essence of the recorded music of Led Zeppelin and brought it to the big concert stage. The Philadelphia-based group consists of six accomplished musicians intent on delivering Led Zeppelin's studio recordings with all the bells and whistles. Utilizing the multi-instrumentalists at their disposal, Get The Led Out re-create the songs in all their depth and glory with the studio overdubs that Zeppelin themselves never performed live.
Get the Led Out: The American Led Zeppelin is coming to the Times Union Center’s Moran Theater on Saturday, June 20th at 8PM for one performance only.
Dubbed by the media as "The American Led Zeppelin," Get The Led Out present a two hour + set each night that spans the mythic career of the legendary British supergroup. With a strong focus on the early years, they also touch on the deeper cuts that were seldom, if ever heard in concert.
The group is achieving strong box office scores in the Mid-Atlantic. Not uncommon are return-visits and sell-outs at a number of the region's most prominent venues and PACs including House of Blues (Atlantic City), Pennsylvania’s Sovereign Center and Keswick Theatre, and Oswego New York's "Harborfest" (two years in a row) as well as countless other theaters and national concert venues.
Get The Led Out's approach to their performance of this hallowed catalog is not unlike a classical performance. "Led Zeppelin are sort of the classical composers of the rock era," says lead vocalist Paul Sinclair. "I believe 100 years from now they will be looked at as the Bach or Beethoven of our time. As cliché as it sounds, their music is timeless."
A Get The Led Out concert sort of mimics the "light and shade" that is the embodiment of "The Mighty Zep." Whether it's the passion and fury with which they deliver the blues-soaked, groove-driven rock anthems, or the delicate nature of their intimate, sit-down acoustic set (complete with special guest female vocalist for "The Battle of Evermore"), it's their attention to detail and nuance that makes a Get The Led Out performance a truly awe-inspiring event!
Paul Sinclair - Lead Vocals, Harmonica
Paul Hammond - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Mandolin, Theremin Jimmy Marchiano - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Vocals Paul Piccari - Bass Guitar, Vocals Andrew Lipke - Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals, Percussion Adam Ferraioli - Drums, Percussion
"An homage, beautifully performed with genuine respect for the oh-so familiar material... It sells tickets!" - Steve Krempasky - Whitaker Center
"More than just an exceptional recreation of Led Zeppelin, one of the best tribute bands on the planet!" - Bruce Ranes - Sellersville Theatre
"Great music! Great guys!" - Kacy Jenkins - Ram’s Head Live
GET THE LED OUT: THE AMERICAN LED ZEPPELIN will be performed at the TIMES UNION CENTER’S MORAN THEATER June 20, 2009 for one performance only. Tickets range in price from $30.50 to $80.50. Discounts are available for groups of 10+, or 20+ by calling (904) 632-3228.
To order by phone with Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover call the FCCJ Artist Series Box Office at (904) 632-3373 (toll-free outside of Jacksonville 1-888-860-BWAY.)
Tickets are also available online with Instant Seat Selection by visiting the
FCCJ Artist Series’ website, www.artistseries.fccj.org.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Savage in Limbo
NYC's The Bowery Electric to host a run of
John Patrick Shanley's Play
Savage in Limbo
June 12th-28th
Opening night performance by Ian Astbury with The Soft Revolt
Artists Band Together to Bring Creativity Back to The Bowery
May 28th - New York, NY - On June 12th, One of NYC's hottest nightspots, The Bowery Electric (327 Bowery @ 2nd Street, NYC) will host the Apollonia Players' production of SAVAGE IN LIMBO by John Patrick Shanley. Shanley is best known for his work Doubt, which was made into an Oscar-nominated film last year starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. On the opening night (June 12th), Ian Astbury will also be hitting the stage with his new project The Soft Revolt who also performed at the benefit party on April 9th at The Bowery Electric to raise money to help support the production. Astbury, who is best known as the singer for The Cult is a resident of New York City for the past two years. In his time there, has become a patron of the arts, being moved most by the raw emotion portrayed by the actors in a live staged production and has become dedicated to helping up and coming performers.
Set in a slightly seedy neighborhood bar in the Bronx, Savage in Limbo revolves around a group of regulars seeking relief from the disappointments and tedium of the outside world. “Savage in Limbo is the product of New York in its savage, untamed state,” says Astbury. “In the spirit of the play, we have turned to the original hunting grounds of that animal, The Bowery. Cultural revolt in this time of creative impotence!”
The Cast of Savage in Limbo
Backstage Magazine, in its review of the play, lauded: “John Patrick Shanley has written an often searing, existential and dramatically compelling work dealing with our search for roots and purpose in an often purposeless world.”
The Bowery Electric is run by local musicians Jesse Malin and Johnny T and has been a mainstay for local and touring musicians and artists alike so it is the prime spot to showcase Savage In Limbo which takes place in a bar.
A collective and creative endeavor by all, the bar, the actors and musicians have banded together to bring arts back to The Bowery and hope to raise money for the play and awareness for the Arts in New York City.
June 12th - 28th Tickets $18.00
Showtimes: Friday & Saturday 8pm (doors at 7pm) must be 21+ with photo ID
Sunday 3pm (doors at 2pm) All ages
Sunday 7pm (doors at 6pm) must be 21+ with photo ID
For more information, go to:
www.savageinlimbo.com
John Patrick Shanley's Play
Savage in Limbo
June 12th-28th
Opening night performance by Ian Astbury with The Soft Revolt
Artists Band Together to Bring Creativity Back to The Bowery
May 28th - New York, NY - On June 12th, One of NYC's hottest nightspots, The Bowery Electric (327 Bowery @ 2nd Street, NYC) will host the Apollonia Players' production of SAVAGE IN LIMBO by John Patrick Shanley. Shanley is best known for his work Doubt, which was made into an Oscar-nominated film last year starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. On the opening night (June 12th), Ian Astbury will also be hitting the stage with his new project The Soft Revolt who also performed at the benefit party on April 9th at The Bowery Electric to raise money to help support the production. Astbury, who is best known as the singer for The Cult is a resident of New York City for the past two years. In his time there, has become a patron of the arts, being moved most by the raw emotion portrayed by the actors in a live staged production and has become dedicated to helping up and coming performers.
Set in a slightly seedy neighborhood bar in the Bronx, Savage in Limbo revolves around a group of regulars seeking relief from the disappointments and tedium of the outside world. “Savage in Limbo is the product of New York in its savage, untamed state,” says Astbury. “In the spirit of the play, we have turned to the original hunting grounds of that animal, The Bowery. Cultural revolt in this time of creative impotence!”
The Cast of Savage in Limbo
Backstage Magazine, in its review of the play, lauded: “John Patrick Shanley has written an often searing, existential and dramatically compelling work dealing with our search for roots and purpose in an often purposeless world.”
The Bowery Electric is run by local musicians Jesse Malin and Johnny T and has been a mainstay for local and touring musicians and artists alike so it is the prime spot to showcase Savage In Limbo which takes place in a bar.
A collective and creative endeavor by all, the bar, the actors and musicians have banded together to bring arts back to The Bowery and hope to raise money for the play and awareness for the Arts in New York City.
June 12th - 28th Tickets $18.00
Showtimes: Friday & Saturday 8pm (doors at 7pm) must be 21+ with photo ID
Sunday 3pm (doors at 2pm) All ages
Sunday 7pm (doors at 6pm) must be 21+ with photo ID
For more information, go to:
www.savageinlimbo.com
Monday, April 20, 2009
WICKED ANNOUNCES LOTTERY FOR $25 SEATS
PERFORMANCES BEGIN
THURSDAY, APRIL 23RD – SUNDAY, MAY 10TH
AT THE TIMES UNION CENTER MORAN THEATER
JACKSONVILLE, FL – A day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held daily for WICKED, which will be performing from Thursday, April 23rd to Sunday, May 10th at the Times Union Center’s Moran Theater. Each day, 2½ hours prior to show time people who present themselves at the Artist Series box office at the Times Union Center will have their names placed in a lottery drum and then thirty minutes later, names will be drawn for a limited number of orchestra seats at $25 each, cash only. This lottery is available only in-person at the box office, with a limit of two tickets per person.
WICKED is a new musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Disney’s Enchanted, Academy Award winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman (“My So Called Life,” “Once And Again” and “thirtysomething”) based on the 1995 best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire. The musical is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Vagina Monologues, 9 to 5) and features musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who’s Tommy, How To Succeed…). WICKED, the untold story of the witches of Oz, is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.
Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the land of Oz. One – born with emerald green skin – is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. WICKED tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.
WICKED features set design by Tony Award winning Eugene Lee (Ragtime, Show Boat, Candide, Sweeney Todd), costume design by Tony winner Susan Hilferty (Spring Awakening, Into the Woods, Assassins), lighting design by Tony nominee Kenneth Posner (Tony Award winner for The Coast of Utopia, Hairspray) and sound design by Tony Meola (The Lion King, Man of La Mancha). Stephen Oremus is the show’s music director. Orchestrations are by William David Brohn, with dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.
WICKED has “cast quite a spell” (Washington Post) throughout North America, breaking box office records in every city that it has played, including Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston to name a few.
Called “one of the most successful shows in Broadway history” by The New York Times and “a phenomenon that keeps growing” by the Los Angeles Times, WICKED continues to thrill audiences around the world. There are currently eight productions of WICKED worldwide, including two North American tours, a Broadway production, San Francisco production, London production, a Japanese-language production, a German-language production and Australian production. A Dutch-language production of WICKED will open in 2011.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Thursday, April 23 7:30 PM
Friday, April 24 8:00 PM
Saturday, April 25 2:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Sunday, April 26 1:30 PM & 7:00 PM
Tuesday, April 28 7:30 PM
Wednesday, April 29 7:30 PM
Thursday, April 30 7:30 PM
Friday, May 1 8:00 PM
Saturday, May 2 2:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Sunday, May 3 1:30 PM & 7:00 PM
Tuesday, May 5 7:30 PM
Wednesday, May 6 7:30 PM
Thursday, May 7 7:30 PM
Friday, May 8 8:00 PM
Saturday, May 9 2:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Sunday, May 10 1:30 PM & 7:00 PM
WICKED will be performed at the TIMES UNION CENTER’S MORAN THEATER THURSDAY, APRIL 23 – SUNDAY, MAY 10 for twenty-two performances. Good seats are still available for all performances and can be purchased for as low as $30, plus applicable service charge and facility usage fee. Discounts are available for some performances for groups of 15 by calling (904) 632-3228.
To order by phone with Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover call the FCCJ Artist Series Box Office at (904) 632-3373 (toll-free outside of Jacksonville 1-888-860-BWAY.)
Tickets are also available online with Instant Seat Selection by visiting the
FCCJ Artist Series’ website, www.artistseries.fccj.org.
THURSDAY, APRIL 23RD – SUNDAY, MAY 10TH
AT THE TIMES UNION CENTER MORAN THEATER
JACKSONVILLE, FL – A day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held daily for WICKED, which will be performing from Thursday, April 23rd to Sunday, May 10th at the Times Union Center’s Moran Theater. Each day, 2½ hours prior to show time people who present themselves at the Artist Series box office at the Times Union Center will have their names placed in a lottery drum and then thirty minutes later, names will be drawn for a limited number of orchestra seats at $25 each, cash only. This lottery is available only in-person at the box office, with a limit of two tickets per person.
WICKED is a new musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Disney’s Enchanted, Academy Award winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman (“My So Called Life,” “Once And Again” and “thirtysomething”) based on the 1995 best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire. The musical is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Vagina Monologues, 9 to 5) and features musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who’s Tommy, How To Succeed…). WICKED, the untold story of the witches of Oz, is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.
Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the land of Oz. One – born with emerald green skin – is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. WICKED tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.
WICKED features set design by Tony Award winning Eugene Lee (Ragtime, Show Boat, Candide, Sweeney Todd), costume design by Tony winner Susan Hilferty (Spring Awakening, Into the Woods, Assassins), lighting design by Tony nominee Kenneth Posner (Tony Award winner for The Coast of Utopia, Hairspray) and sound design by Tony Meola (The Lion King, Man of La Mancha). Stephen Oremus is the show’s music director. Orchestrations are by William David Brohn, with dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.
WICKED has “cast quite a spell” (Washington Post) throughout North America, breaking box office records in every city that it has played, including Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston to name a few.
Called “one of the most successful shows in Broadway history” by The New York Times and “a phenomenon that keeps growing” by the Los Angeles Times, WICKED continues to thrill audiences around the world. There are currently eight productions of WICKED worldwide, including two North American tours, a Broadway production, San Francisco production, London production, a Japanese-language production, a German-language production and Australian production. A Dutch-language production of WICKED will open in 2011.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Thursday, April 23 7:30 PM
Friday, April 24 8:00 PM
Saturday, April 25 2:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Sunday, April 26 1:30 PM & 7:00 PM
Tuesday, April 28 7:30 PM
Wednesday, April 29 7:30 PM
Thursday, April 30 7:30 PM
Friday, May 1 8:00 PM
Saturday, May 2 2:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Sunday, May 3 1:30 PM & 7:00 PM
Tuesday, May 5 7:30 PM
Wednesday, May 6 7:30 PM
Thursday, May 7 7:30 PM
Friday, May 8 8:00 PM
Saturday, May 9 2:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Sunday, May 10 1:30 PM & 7:00 PM
WICKED will be performed at the TIMES UNION CENTER’S MORAN THEATER THURSDAY, APRIL 23 – SUNDAY, MAY 10 for twenty-two performances. Good seats are still available for all performances and can be purchased for as low as $30, plus applicable service charge and facility usage fee. Discounts are available for some performances for groups of 15 by calling (904) 632-3228.
To order by phone with Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover call the FCCJ Artist Series Box Office at (904) 632-3373 (toll-free outside of Jacksonville 1-888-860-BWAY.)
Tickets are also available online with Instant Seat Selection by visiting the
FCCJ Artist Series’ website, www.artistseries.fccj.org.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
SUPER SCIENTIFIC CIRCUS
THE FCCJ ARTIST SERIES PRESENTS
IN JACKSONVILLE
APRIL 25, 2009 11:00 AM & 2:00 PM
WILSON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
JACKSONVILLE, FL – Step right up for this amazing show, creatively performed by a multi-talented circus clown and a mime extraordinaire. The Super Scientific Circus starring Mr. Fish and Trent the Mime, proves that science can be fun and funny. Alternately assisted and foiled by the comedic antics of Trent the Mime, Mr. Fish uses amazing circus skills that could involve everything from boomerangs, bubbles and beachballs, to bull whips, and magic to introduce the principles of friction, inertia, centripetal force, aerodynamics, sonic booms, air pressure, and ultraviolet light.
Super Scientific Circus comes to Jacksonville’s Wilson Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 11:00AM and 2:00PM.
-more-
The audience learns how to make and throw their own boomerangs, how to blow giant soap bubbles, and how to put a needle through a balloon. Whether you flunked high school chemistry or have a PhD in astrophysics, you will love this show!
Super Scientific Circus has performed at Taipei National Theatre (Taiwan), Paper Mill Playhouse (New Jersey), University of Hawaii, Civic Arts Plaza (California), North Shore Music Theatre (Massachusetts), Hong Kong International Children's Festival, Detroit Youth Theatre, The Florida Theatre, and other venues around the world.
About the Performers:
John Lepairz
Mr. Fish, born John James Lepairz, spent seven years as featured clown with the Big Apple Circus in New York and on tour. He has appeared on HBO and on ABC's "Great Circus Performances of the World," and was awarded first place in clowning at the International Circus Festival in Sarasota, Florida. His two-man show, The Funny Stuff Circus, performed in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and all over the United States and Canada. A graduate of Oberlin College and the LeCoq School of Mime and Clown in Paris, he is the proud father of three children.
Trent Arterberry
Trent Arterberry has toured across North America and Europe, and appeared as a star attraction on the QE2 and S/S Norway. He has performed with symphony orchestras and opened for Julio Iglesias, B.B. King, and the Kinks. In New York he starred in the Christmas Revels. His television appearances include an Emmy-nominated news feature, and his awards include "Performing Artist of the Year" by the National Association of Campus Activities. His most unusual assignment was being filmed underwater with the sharks and eels in the Giant Ocean Tank of the New England Aquarium.
SUPER SCIENTIFIC CIRCUS will be performed at the WILSON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS April 25, 2009 for two performances only. Tickets cost $15.00.
To order by phone with Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover call the FCCJ Artist Series Box Office at (904) 632-3373 (toll-free outside of Jacksonville 1-888-860-BWAY.)
IN JACKSONVILLE
APRIL 25, 2009 11:00 AM & 2:00 PM
WILSON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
JACKSONVILLE, FL – Step right up for this amazing show, creatively performed by a multi-talented circus clown and a mime extraordinaire. The Super Scientific Circus starring Mr. Fish and Trent the Mime, proves that science can be fun and funny. Alternately assisted and foiled by the comedic antics of Trent the Mime, Mr. Fish uses amazing circus skills that could involve everything from boomerangs, bubbles and beachballs, to bull whips, and magic to introduce the principles of friction, inertia, centripetal force, aerodynamics, sonic booms, air pressure, and ultraviolet light.
Super Scientific Circus comes to Jacksonville’s Wilson Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 11:00AM and 2:00PM.
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The audience learns how to make and throw their own boomerangs, how to blow giant soap bubbles, and how to put a needle through a balloon. Whether you flunked high school chemistry or have a PhD in astrophysics, you will love this show!
Super Scientific Circus has performed at Taipei National Theatre (Taiwan), Paper Mill Playhouse (New Jersey), University of Hawaii, Civic Arts Plaza (California), North Shore Music Theatre (Massachusetts), Hong Kong International Children's Festival, Detroit Youth Theatre, The Florida Theatre, and other venues around the world.
About the Performers:
John Lepairz
Mr. Fish, born John James Lepairz, spent seven years as featured clown with the Big Apple Circus in New York and on tour. He has appeared on HBO and on ABC's "Great Circus Performances of the World," and was awarded first place in clowning at the International Circus Festival in Sarasota, Florida. His two-man show, The Funny Stuff Circus, performed in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and all over the United States and Canada. A graduate of Oberlin College and the LeCoq School of Mime and Clown in Paris, he is the proud father of three children.
Trent Arterberry
Trent Arterberry has toured across North America and Europe, and appeared as a star attraction on the QE2 and S/S Norway. He has performed with symphony orchestras and opened for Julio Iglesias, B.B. King, and the Kinks. In New York he starred in the Christmas Revels. His television appearances include an Emmy-nominated news feature, and his awards include "Performing Artist of the Year" by the National Association of Campus Activities. His most unusual assignment was being filmed underwater with the sharks and eels in the Giant Ocean Tank of the New England Aquarium.
SUPER SCIENTIFIC CIRCUS will be performed at the WILSON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS April 25, 2009 for two performances only. Tickets cost $15.00.
To order by phone with Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover call the FCCJ Artist Series Box Office at (904) 632-3373 (toll-free outside of Jacksonville 1-888-860-BWAY.)
Friday, March 20, 2009
FEATURED AUTHOR: Alastair Reynolds
By staff writer Craig Harvey
Alastair Reynolds hit the scene with the amazing Revelation Space. It was a dark, cold and gothic setting of mankind's future into the unforgiving blackness of interstellar space. This was hard science fiction at it's best. No faster than light travel, making trips between star systems very lengthy voyages spanning decades or centuries. Man himself adapting and evolving to colonize new and strange worlds, most of their enviorments hostile and desolate. We were not alone, but intelligence other than ourselves was scarce. Mostly dead civilizations were all that were found. There were alien forces at work however, that would give humanity it's greatest and most desperate challenge for survival. This series is still ongoing with five books and numerous short stories.
Alastair has released several stand alone novels that are seperate from this Revelation Space series, "Century Rain", "Pushing Ice", and now his most recent work "House Of Suns." This novel is breathtaking in scope, spanning millions of years on a galactic scale, and has to be his boldest, most awe inspiring science fiction novel to date. It is the story of two humans (two clones actually) Purslane and Campion. They are the offspring of Abigail Gentian who cloned herself and sent her "shatterlings" into space to categorize and observe (as well as help) civilizations across the galaxy. With no faster than light travel, they observe the rise and fall of humanity across time. There other "lines" that do the same thing and they meet every 200,000 years to share information. However, someone wants to put an end to the Gentian line and this is where the action really takes off. Trust me when I say, that this is science fiction on a scope yet unheard of. Movement had the pleasure of an earlier interview with Alastair a few years back, and he was kind enough to answer some of my in depth questions once again. (At the time of this interview, House Of Suns has been out a while, Alastair was not able to do the interview when I originally sent it to him several months ago due to work related issues). He is now working on a new novel entitled "Terminal World."
1. First congratulations on your latest book House Of Suns. It's great. My brain kind of hurt a bit after reading it (in a good way) because of the vast scope of space and time that is experienced within the story. Does writing a novel that encompasses such a huge scale pose difficulties for you? The challenge of imagining what humanity will be like millions of years in the future seems like an extremely daunting task.
"There are challenges, certainly, but at the same time it's an area of SF that has always excited me, so it's as much about fun and freedom as anything else. You'll note that the foreground characters aren't really all that different to us; it's the background ones who are stranger. Really, though, I didn't find HOS to be any more or less hard to write than any of my other books. The real problems are never the ones you anticipate at the start, anyway - they're the ones that sneak up on you."
2. The ending of House Of Suns screams for a sequel (or series of sequels). Hopefully we will be seeing one in the future?
"No firm plans, but I wouldn't rule it out. I hope it doesn't scream for a sequel in the sense of being incomplete, as that was very much not my intention; to my mind it's a story unto itself, and while the ending is relatively open, there's also a sense of closure for Campion and Hesperus."
3. The Priors (in House Of Suns) were actually an alien race that came billions of years before us, but that was the only evidence of another intelligence arising in the Milky Way correct? Do you really envision the galaxy that empty or a more probable chance of life now that we are finding extra solar planets quite common?
"Correct. But that's just an assumption I settled on for HOS. As you're aware, the RS books take an entirely different tack. It's all about exploring the most interesting or appropriate angle for the work in question. I think the whole "how common is life" thing is still a very, very open question. We are indeed finding lots of extrasolar planets, but most of them are not in the orbits we were expecting. We'll get a better picture when we have the means to detect Earthlike planets in Earthlike orbits. At the moment the most fruitful technique is biassed to find massive planets in short-period orbits, so it's not surprising that we're turning up so many oddball planets."
4. I wanted to ask a bit about distance and time in House of Suns and Pushing Ice (which I will get to a bit later) mainly relativity as to the view of the space traveler. In House Of Suns Purslane and Campion traveled 62,000 light years real time at near light speed but you stated that around 3,000 years passed ship time correct? Granted both were in status so no time passed for them. Now in the novel Pushing Ice, the crew of the Rockhopper stranded on the Janus probe traveled near the speed of light to the alien artifact some 200 plus light years away, but was then accelerated even more from the artifact they thought they were heading towards originally to an even further destination. 1. The Janus probe never actually went superluminal correct? 2. If not, the relativistic effects were described as only decades even though they traveled, I assume thousands or millions of light years further? 3. But in House of Suns the 62,000 light year
trip took 3,000 years ship time. Did I miss something? How do you calculate the relativistic time scale for ship time?
"I calculate relativistic effects using the standard equations for time dilation (actually I don't; I've got a table of values for various fractions of c, but I have done the math in the past). You're right that there is no superluminal travel in PI, even though some readers seem to have misunderstood that aspect of the novel. In PI, we can assume that Janus was accelerated much closer to c than Purslane and Campion ever got, with a correspondingly higher time dilation ratio. The closer you get to c, the less time passes, so the ratio between shiptime and planetary time can become arbitrarily small."
5. Also, the wormhole left behind by the priors (In House Of Suns) enabled superluminal travel between galaxies, but what about between the stars in the milky way? If they could travel that far, why did they not use them to travel between star systems in the galaxy itself?
"I hope I covered this: they can deal with the relatively short timescale of galactic travel, but intergalactic travel was a step too far for them. And, although I didn't go into it, we could also speculate that the technology could only be practically applied on a galactic timescale, kind of analogous to the way that we don't use rockets for inter-city transport."
6. One more tech question. In House of Suns the ships used by the line were quite large, many kilometers to be exact. You mentioned that the ships could enter a planetary atmosphere even though they could not land. Is that possible for a ship so large? This might not be the best example but in the film Independence Day (again, not a great sci-fi flick by any means) they had similar type ships and I read on one astronomy site that ships so huge would set the atmosphere on fire because of the amount of friction it would cause. Unless your ships had some way around that? Maybe this site was incorrect? Sorry to bombard you with scientific issues!
"We're so far into the realms of super-science that I think the answer is that a ship could be as large as you like, provided it's equipped with the right kind of magic gravity nullifiers etc. And I've never heard of the setting-the-atmosphere on fire thing. The ships in HOS can generate fields, of course, so their hulls wouldn't necessarily be in contact with the air. And they wouldn't have to come in so fast that they caused catastrophic effects to the planet."
7. Your previous novel Pushing Ice was said to be a stand alone novel. Again, with all the open-ended possibilities within the story, it also begs to have a sequel. Are you going to continue this story line or leave it as is?
"Again, there may be a sequel one day. My position is that I want to write one, but there are other books I want to write first."
8. You have many strong female lead characters in many of your books.. Do you find it easier or harder to write a female vs. male lead character?
"I just kind of go with the flow, in all honesty. I don't think one's harder than the other. The problems tend to arise when a character gets stuck in the wrong gender early on in the story, and I don't recognise it. Sometimes all kinds of problems can waft away as soon as I realise that he ought to be a she, or vice versa. That sounds like a very simplistic, haphazard approach, but no one hands these things down to you on a stone. It's the same with viewpoint."
9. Now the question I am most interested in. When is the next Revelation Space book coming out? The last book "The Prefect" was a wonderful detective story that really took some interesting turns and answered some major questions about the Glitter Band. You have a vast universe in which to play in with so many unique character types that the story possibilities seem endless.
"There'll certainly be another one, but again I wouldn't want to say exactly when it will happen, or exactly where in the future it will slot. I don't want to fall into the trap of explaining too much, but at the same time I'm mindful that there is still scope for new stories there. Thanks for liking The Prefect; I enjoyed that one and I'd like to do more with Dreyfus and his associates, but it might not be for a book or two (or three)."
10. Any chance of another mission to "the spire" from the novella Diamond Dogs? It would be interesting to see another team try to crack the mystery of what it is and who built it. How about Dr. Trintignant? Now there's an interesting fellow.
"I think I'm done with The Spire, and probably also done with Dr T - but who knows? I certainly don't..."
11. Your stories are what I would say are some of the hardest and best Sci-fi out there. You go to great lengths to keep it within what is possible while letting your imagination create amazing futuristic visions. Did you ever consider writing more of a space opera that was more light hearted? Full of superluminal starships, alien civilizations and epic stories? Kind of like you do now, just escape the laws of physics and have fun? Or would that difficult because of your background in physics and astronomy?
"I think House of Suns *was* that book, to be honest - it's very, very far from nuts and bolts hard SF. The new one, Terminal World, might even be further in that direction still. I don't think I could write a balls-to-the-wall Star Wars type space opera in which *everything* is possible, but that doesn't mean I won't do "fun" stuff in the future. But as it happens, the book (or rather sequence of books) that are firming up in my mind at the moment are much closer to pure hard SF than almost anything I've done to date, although I hope that they'll still have a fair measure of surprise and sense of wonder in them."
12. How do you feel about our current space program? Do you feel we are making any headway at all? We keep sending probes to Mars for signs of early life, do you think it's a dead end? Mars is a never ending fascination with Astronomers. They don't want to give up the search even if it seems to be futile.
"I'm still pretty excited about space and our exploring of it. I'd wish we were a bit further on with manned spaceflight, but there's no escaping the technological challenges, which are enormous - far more so, I think, than most people realise. Just building a rocket engine is astonishingly difficult. The fact that we did it 50 years ago doesn't take anything away from that for me.
Mars is anything but a dead end. I don't think we'll ever stop peeling back the layers of mystery there. It's going to be a fascinating few decades."
13. On the flip side as I mentioned earlier, the hunt for extra-solar planets seems to be a huge success. How long do you think it will be before we discover a terrestrial size planet such as Earth or Mars? Or better yet, one with Earth-like conditions?
"I think we'll find a terrestrial-sized planet in the next decade, and we'll have a low-res image of an Earthlike planet (with oceans, landmasses etc) within 25, if there are any out there, of course."
14. Speaking of Earth, not much is mentioned about it in the Revelation Space series. Any chance of a visit there in any part of the time-line? Perhaps during the golden age?
"No, I decided early on not to bring Earth on stage. It's pretty much iced over and under-populated for most of the sequence; the action has moved elsewhere in the solar system. I did this deliberately as I'd read far too many SF novels where the action shifts to Earth and all of a sudden the carefully engendered sense of disbelief crumbles away. I'd always end up wondering - have they still got Wales? Does it still rain? Are there still pubs and carparks and seaside pavilions? I didn't want to engage with any of that, so I didn't."
15. You seem very interested in detective stories as shown in "The Prefect" and the novel "Century Rain". Did you ever consider just writing a 1920's noir style detective novel void at all of science fiction? Or any other type of genre at all? You could do fantasy well I think, considering the Palatial virtual reality simulator that Abigail uses in House of Suns.
"I'm a big fan of detective and crime fiction, yes, but I certainly don't have the chops to do a non-SF crime novel. I can't see myself ever doing anything much resembling high-fantasy, either - the sequences in HOS are more of a piss-take than anything else. If I was going to do a fantasy, I'd try and carve out my own niche, getting as far away from wizards and dark lords as humanly possible. But I probably wouldn't bother, as I'm not terrifically excited by fantasy in the first place. I like some of the weirder stuff out there, but most of it doesn't rock my world. If I'm going to read about people hacking each other apart with swords, it might as well be a historical novel, I figure."
16. Well, that's about it other than what's currently playing in your cd player or Ipod?
"On a bit of an Arcade Fire kick at the moment, among other things."
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