An Evening With Roddy Piper at DAYS OF THE DEAD

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper once again brings his one man show to DAYS OF THE DEAD in an event that promises to be a one of a kind convention experience as the convention invades the Atlanta area, March 9th-11th.

You've seen him wreck havok in the ring. You've seen him bring hell to Frogtown. You've seen him kick ass and not chew bubblegum. But come March 9th, genre fans will see "Rowdy" Roddy Piper do something they have likely not seen him do before:

Performing as a stand up comedian.

Yes, you read that correctly. Roddy Piper will once again be bringing his talents to DAYS OF THE DEAD for "An Evening With Roddy Piper," a one man entertainment show that will be part comedy act, part retrospective, and all "Rowdy," for a one of a kind night of laughs that you will ONLY see at DAYS OF THE DEAD

"An Evening With Roddy Piper," will be a very exclusive event with limited to 200 fans and held at the Caledonian Amphitheater inside the convention area of DAYS OF THE DEAD, Friday, March 9th at 11:30pm. TICKETS WILL BE SOLD AT THE DOOR FOR JUST $10 ($5 FOR VIP PASS HOLDERS), AN HOUR BEFORE THE EVENT ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERED BASIS. A LINE WILL BE FORMED OUTSIDE THE CALEDONIAN AMPHITHEATER FOR THIS PURPOSE. Comedian BRAD THACKER, who has opened up for such comedians as Dave Chapelle and Andrew Dice Clay, will serve as an opening act.

Aside from performing, Roddy will be available all weekend at DAYS OF THE DEAD II to meet fans and sign autographs. He will be joining other special celebrity guests such as Derek Mears, Gary Busey, PJ Soles, Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, and more!

For more info on DAYS OF THE DEAD II, happening March 9th-11th in Peachtree City, GA, visit the convention's official website at http://www.DaysoftheDead.net.

FREEDOM CALL Debut New Video

Land of the Crimson Dawn In Stores February 28th on SPV/Steamhammer

There can be no doubt that FREEDOM CALL, in addition to their many other irrefutable fortes, are also a first-rate live act. Their concerts see the melodic metal outfit from Southern Germany deliver a veritable a riot of musical zest, positive energy and personal optimism. So it's not surprising that vocalist/guitarist Chris Bay and his team have been wanting to add this dynamic flair to one of their studio productions without neglecting their familiar love of detail - which the band from Nuremberg have skilfully accomplished on Land Of The Crimson Dawn. Today FREEDOM CALL is pleased to debut their new video for the song "Hero On Video". Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Hub Noisecreep is hosting an exclusive premiere of the video HERE. Land of the Crimson Dawn is available for pre-order on AMAZON. "The new tracks simply have more of that rock'n'roll feel," says Bay, "everything sounds much rawer, there's more focus on the guitars than before, and the musicians had more freedom during the recordings than they used to have." This added independence has paid off for FREEDOM CALL: Land Of The Crimson Dawn is definitely one of the band's most dynamic productions since their 1999 debut Stairway To Fairyland, combining the passion of their live shows with carefully intricate arrangements and technical finesse. The new album will be available from SPV/Steamhammer February 28th in three versions: as a jewel case featuring 14 songs, as a limited double CD digipak including six additional bonus tracks - which have chums such as Powerworld, Secret Sphere, Downspirit, Manimal, Neonfly and Hannes Braun (Kissin' Dynamite) deliver their versions of popular Freedom Call numbers - and on double coloured vinyl LP. ________________________________________________________________ www.freedom-call.net    www.spv.de

ERNIE KOVACS: THE ABC SPECIALS

KOVACS’ MOST LAUDED BODY OF WORK IN STORES FROM SHOUT! FACTORY APRIL 17

ERNIE KOVACS RENAISSANCE CONTINUES AS iTUNES RELEASES EXCLUSIVE DIGITAL COLLECTION

On April 17 Shout! Factory will release a DVD featuring most of the prime time ABC Specials that helped cement Ernie Kovacs' legacy as a comic artist who broke the rules of television before they were made. Produced and distributed by Shout! Factory in association with Ediad Productions, Inc., The ABC Specials is a single-disc DVD broken out from the critically acclaimed 6-DVD box set Ernie Kovacs Collection, released by Shout! Factory in 2011. The new DVD is designed to appeal to a broader audience not already familiar with Kovacs' work.

Additionally, the renaissance of Kovacs makes its first foray into the digital realm today with the exclusive iTunes release Best of The Ernie Kovacs Collection, featuring 10 episodes from the Ernie Kovacs Collection.

Before his untimely death at the age of 42, television pioneer Ernie Kovacs left us with a sublime body of comedy work whose influence can be seen on everything from Monty Python to SNL and David Letterman. He made eight TV specials for ABC in 1961, the final year of his life, and these show Kovacs at the peak of his creative experimentation with the medium, featuring many of his comic masterpieces and iconic set pieces. Five of these programs are presented here in complete uncut form, along with many of his celebrated — and delightfully offbeat — commercials for Dutch Masters cigars. 

With a gift for inventive comedy that was alternately cerebral, goofy and just plain absurd, Ernie Kovacs transformed television's early era into his own personal playground---and invited viewers to enjoy every sight gag and loony character.

Kovacs, whose offbeat humor graced the airwaves for just a decade in the 1950s and 60s, served healthy portions of the offbeat to his audiences, who had never seen anything quite like this cigar-wielding charmer. Wickedly funny but not offensive, Kovacs' unique humor and flair for improvisation would ripple across generations, influencing TV funnymen from Johnny Carson to Pee Wee Herman.

Ernie Kovacs: The ABC Specials

Kovacs Special #4 September 21, 1961

Kovacs Special #5 October 28, 1961

Kovacs Special #6 November 24, 1961

Kovacs Special #7 December 12, 1961

Kovacs Special #8 January 23, 1962

Bonus Feature:

Dutch Masters Commercials

Program Running Time: +/- 145 minutes

About Ediad Productions, Inc.

Formed by the late entertainer & Muriel Cigar girl Edie Adams and currently run by her son Joshua Mills, Ediad Productions is home to what is likely the largest independent archive of early American television in existence. With more than 150 half-hours of content from legendary comedian Ernie Kovacs as well as two seasons of Edie Adams' prime time variety show from the mid-1960's, Ediad Productions is a treasure trove of classic popular entertainment. Titles in the archive include, The Ernie Kovacs Show, Ernie in Kovacsland, Take A Good Look (clues), the Kovacs specials for ABC, The Edie Adams Show, Here's Edie! And much more. Ediad Productions is the go-to archive for television, digital & mobile entertainment content and is based in Los Angeles, California.

About Shout! Factory

Shout! Factory is a diversified entertainment company devoted to producing, uncovering and revitalizing the very best of pop culture. Founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their careers sharing their music, television and film faves with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory's DVD offerings serve up classic, contemporary and cult TV series, riveting sports programs, live music, animation and documentaries in lavish packages crammed with extras. The company's audio catalogue boasts GRAMMY^®-nominated box sets, new releases from storied artists, lovingly assembled album reissues and indispensable 'best of' compilations. These riches are the result of a creative acquisitions mandate that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and commercial reinvention. Shout! Factory is based in Santa Monica, California. For more on Shout! Factory, visit shoutfactory.com.

Celebrate Valentine's Day with The Miami Symphony Orchestra!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and what could be more romantic than the beautiful music of The Miami Symphony Orchestra!

Share a Valentine's Day gift of music with your special someone. Program includes Romeo & Juliet, West Side Story and other romantic favorites. 

Listen to the podcast hosted by MISO's composer-in-residence, Carlos Rafael Rivera

Please note: February 11th concert is sold out. Tickets for Sunday, February 12th show at the spectacular New World Center in Miami Beach are still available.  

For tickets and information, please visit: www.themiso.org

The Industry Presents The World Premiere Of Crescent City, A Hyperopera Set Within Cityscape Installations By Six LA-Based Contemporary Artists Thursday, May 10 – Sunday, May 27, 2012 At Atwater Crossing in Los Angeles

The Industry pre sents the world premiere of Crescent City, a hyperopera by composer Anne LeBaron and librettist Douglas Kearney, under the direction of Yuval Sharon, from Thursday, May 10 to Sunday, May 27, 2012 at Atwater Crossing in Los Angeles.  The massive new site-specific production, which audiences will experience in 360-degrees, is set in a mythical cityscape with abstract sets by an extraordinary group of six LA-based installation artists. The installations will be on view on select days for the run of the production, then transformed in the evening with performances of the opera.  For more information, www.TheIndustryLA.org.

With a gala opening of the opera on Thursday, May 10, 2012, Crescent City will run for three weeks, Thursdays through Sundays, closing on May 27, 2012.   All performances begin at 8:00pm.& nbsp; Ticket prices range from $25 to $100 and will be available via Brown Paper Tickets  starting April 1, 2012.  Performances are suitable for audience members 12-years-old or older.  Collaborating visual artists include Mason Cooley, Brianna Gorton, Katie Grinnan, Alice Konitz, Jeff Kopp and Olga Koumoundouros – all members of the vibrant Los Angeles art scene.  On Friday, May 11, 2012, The Industry will host an artists’ reception on set, inviting guests to see the installations up close.  Installations are on view to the public on Wednesdays and Saturdays from noon to 6:00pm, with guided tours hourly during the run of the production.  Atwater Crossing is located at 3245 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039 (www.atwatercrossing.com).

More About Crescent City –
In the wake of a devastating hurricane, Crescent City is a shell of its former self where the few remaining inhabitants struggle for survival.  The bad waters of an impending new storm wake up the notorious ghosts of the city’s past, including the legendary voodoo goddess Marie Laveau (played by Gwendolyn Brown).   Marie pleads with the awakened voodoo gods to save the city. They agree to come to her aid on one condition: they must be able to find one good person among the ragtag and desperate citizenry.  Crescent City becomes a travelogue in search of the one who will make the city worthy of salvation.

Anne LeBaron’s hybrid sound world encompasses an otherworldly brew of electronica, bluegrass, jazz, and improvisation. The production include s a live 16-piece orchestra (including Timur and the Dime Museum) with such diverse instrumentation as laptop, chromelodeon, and shakuhachi.

Audience members will be seated in and around the city, seeing and hearing the action in every other part of the city through live video streams and sophisticated sound technology.

"I’m excited by the different ways audiences will be able to experience the work,” says Director Yuval Sharon. “Letting imaginations run wild when the space is open during the day should increase people’s curiosity about how the opera plays out by night.”

To listen to “The Nurses’ Scene,” an excerpt from a Crescent City workshop performance at New York City Opera’s VOX in 2006, please click http://theindustryla.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Crescent-City-excerpt-nurses.mp3.

A detailed synopsis of Crescent City can be viewed at http://www.annelebaron.com/Crescent_City_synopsis.pdf

Hyperopera –
Hyperopera, a concept that has evolved in LeBaron’s work and teaching at California Institute of the Arts, is a mega collaboration bringing together artists from many different disciplines.  Crescent City unites not only the creative voices of the writers and producers, but also contemporary visual artists with the set, lighting, video, and sound designers.  Crescent City is LeBaron’s most ambitious experiment with this theory to-date.

Crescent City Credits –
 - Composer - Anne LeBaron - www.annelebaron.com
 - Librettist - Douglas Kearney - www.douglaskearney.com
 - Director - Yuval Sharon - www.yuvalsharon.com
 - Conductor – Marc Lowenstein
 - Producer - Laura Kay Swanson
 - Curator - Brianna Gorton - http://briannagorton.otherpeoplespixels.com/home.html
 - Set Designer - Sibyl Wickersheimer - www.sawgirl.com
 - Costume Designer – Ivy Chou
 - Lighting Designer - Elizabeth Harper - www.eharperdesign.com
 - Sound Designer - Martin Gimenez
 - Video Designer - Jason Thompson

Visual Installation Artists –
 - Mason Cooley - http://masoncooley.blogspot.com
 - Brianna Gorton - http://briannagorton.otherpeoplespixels.com/home.html
 - Katie Grinnan - http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/honigman/honigman8-4-04.asp
 - Alice Konitz - alicekonitz.com
 - Jeff Kopp - http://redlingfineart.com/artists/jeff-kopp
 - Olga Koumoundouros - www.vielmetter.com/artists/olga-koumoundouros.html

Timur & the Dime Museum (photo credit: Sand ra Powers)

Cast –
The cast of 18 includes:
 - Marie Laveau - Gwendolyn Brown - http://www.gwendolynbrown.com
 - The Good Man - Cedric Berry - http://www.cedricberry.com/Cedric_Berry/Home.html
 - Deadly Belle - Timur Bekbosunov - www.theoperaoftimur.com
 - Homesick Woman - Lillian Sengpiehl - http://tinyurl.com/Robert-Gilder-L-Sengpiehl
 - Jesse - Anthony Faatolia - http://www.ashleyfaatoalia.com
 - The Nurses - Maria Elena Altany and Ji Young Yang

Anne LeBaron –
Anne LeBaron’s compositions embrace an exotic array of subjects encompassing vast reaches of space and time, ranging from the mysterious Singing Dune of Kazakhstan, to probes into physical and cultural forms of extinction, to legendary figures such as Pope Joan, Eurydice, Marie Laveau, and the American Housewife.  Widely recognized for her work in instrumental, electronic, and performance realms, she has earned numerous awards and prizes, including a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the Alpert Award in the Arts, a Fulbright Full Fellowship, an award from the Rockefeller MAP Fund for her opera, Sucktion, and a 2009-2010 Cultural Exchange International Grant from the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs for The Silent Steppe Cantata.  Also an accomplished harpist, LeBaron is renowned for her pioneering methods of developing and implementing extended harp techniques, electronic enhancements, and notation in compositional and improvisational contexts.  She currently teaches composition and related subjects, such as Concert Theater and Hyperopera, at the California Institute of the Arts. http://www.annelebaron.com

Douglas Kearney –
Douglas Kearney’s work as a poet, performer and librettist has been featured in many fine publications and venues in print, in-the-flesh and in digital code.  His first full-length collection of poems,Fear, Some, was published in 2006 (Red Hen Press).  His second manuscript, The Black Automaton, was chosen by Catherine Wagner for the National Poetry Series and was published by Fence Books in December 2009.  In 2010, i t was named a finalist for the Pen Center USA Literary Award in poetry.  In 2008, he was honored with a Whiting Writers’ Award. He lives in the San Fernando Valley with his family and teaches courses in African American poetry, opera and myth at California Institute of the Arts. http://www.douglaskearney.com

Yuval Sharon –
Yuval Sharon’s directorial work has been described as "magical" (The Village Voice), "ingenious" (San Francisco Chronicle) and “a major event, where surprise sidesteps operatic convention” (Los Angeles Times).  He has worked both with international houses like the San Francisco Opera, the Mariinsky Theater, the Bregenzer Festspiele in Austria, and the Komische Oper Berlin, as well as experimental venues like Berkeley Opera, Le Poisson Rouge, and the Deitch Projects. He was A ssistant Director to Achim Freyer on the Los Angeles Ring Cycle. Sharon was Project Director for four years of New York City Opera’s VOX, an annual workshop of new American opera, which became the most important crucible for new opera in the country under his direction.  Sharon will also be directing Jessye Norman, Meredith Monk, and Joan LaBarbara in John Cage’s Song Books this March as part of San Francisco Symphony’s Mavericks Festival, which includes a Carnegie Hall performance.  The Los Angeles Times also just named Sharon a "Face to Watch" in 2012. More information is at http://www.yuvalsharon.com.

Marc Lowenstein –
Marc Lowenstein conducted the world premieres of several new operas including The Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth, Dice Thrown, WET, The Scarlet Letter,  and The Peach Blossom Fan, as well as the American premieres of R. Murray Schaefer’s Loving and Georges Aperghis’ Sextuor.  For four years, he conducted with the New York City Opera’s new music festival VOX and conducted on the Monday Evening Concert Series, with Jacaranda, the California Ear Unit, the Vinny Golia Ensemble, the Kadima Conservatory, the CalArts New Century Players, and Ensemble Green.  He was the founder and music director of the Berkeley Contemporary Opera, a company that produced four seasons of contemporary operas.  As a singer, he specializes in contemporary music and has performed over twenty-five opera roles including the premiere of What to Wear by Michael Gordon and Richard Foreman and he recently sang the American premiere of Frank Denyer’s Out of the Shattered Shadows.  Lowenstein has written a full-length opera based on the screenplay of The Fisher King and is working on two others.  He has written several shorter chamber works as well. He occasionally moonlights as a professional whistler and amateur Klezmer clarinetist. He teaches theory, conducting, composition and history at California Institute of the Arts.

Laura Kay Swanson –
Laura Kay Swanson brings a wide range of experience to The Industry. A recent graduate of the MFA Producing Program at California Institute of the Arts, she produced Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant and was musical director and assistant producer for Hellzapoppin’, a musical adaptation based on the 1941 film. She was the associate producer for the world premiere of the CalArts Center for New Performance production of Brewsie and Willie, winner of three 2011 LA Weekly Theater Awards.  She also produced and directed a music video of the aria, “Hymn to the Sun” from Akhnaten by Philip Glass, which premiered at REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) in Walt Disney Hall in 2011 as part of the CalArts Film/Video showcase. Other producing credits include Rain Coloring Forest at REDCAT, featuring Indonesian artist and choreographer Sardono Kusumo and lighting designer Jennifer Tipton, andThe Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth, a contemporary chamber opera by Veronika Krausas. Prior to becoming a producer, she was a professional opera singer and has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, REDCAT, Carnegie Hall, and New York City Opera.

The Industry –
Founded by Artistic Director Yuval Sharon and Producing Director Laura Kay Swanson, The Industry produces new interdisciplinary work that merges music, visual arts, and performance to expand the traditional definition of opera. The Industry is a recipient of the MAP Grant from The Doris Duke Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.  http://theindustryla.org 

Atwater Crossing –
Spanning five industrial buildings across two city blocks, Atwater Crossing houses an array of creative offices and studios, artisanal manufacturing facilities, locations for photography and film shoots, theaters showcasing original productions, LEED platinum loft homes and Atwater Crossing Kitchen, serving wood-fired, Mediterranean-inspired fare. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner (atxkitchen.com).  Public programs, events, and workshops feed the evolving culture and community of ATX.  Learn more at http://www.atwatercrossing.com.

Links –
 - Website - www.TheIndustryLA.org
 - Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Industry/124606140952622
 - Twitter - TheIndustry_LA
 - YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/TheindustryArts

 - Tickets - http://www.brownpapertickets.com (sales start 4/1/12)

DAYS OF THE DEAD, the most talked about horror convention of 2011, is coming to the Atlanta, GA area!

ATLANTA'S FIRST EVER HORROR CONVENTION INVADES THE SOUTH EAST, MARCH 9th-11th!

After a very successful first outing in Indianapolis, IN over last year’s July 4th weekend, DAYS OF THE DEAD has set its sites towards expansion and is bringing its highly acclaimed show to the Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center in Peachtree City, GA, March 9th-11th, 2012, in what marks the first ever horror convention to come to the greater Atlanta area!

Fans will be treated to a full weekend of horror related festivities and events, including film screenings, celebrity autograph signings and Q&A panels, a costume contest, tattoo contest, seminars, a collectibles dealer room, and more!

Special celebrity guests scheduled to be present to meet and greet fans include GARY BUSEY (Silver Bullet, Point Break), "ROWDY" RODDY PIPER (They Live, WWF Legend), SID HAIG (Devil’s Rejects, Spiderbaby), BILL MOSELEY (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Devil’s Rejects), LINNEA QUIGLEY (Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Demons), DEREK MEARS (Friday the 13th), PJ SOLES (Halloween, Carrie), BARBARA CRAMPTON (Re-Animator, From Beyond), TYLER MANE (Rob Zombie’s Halloween), a WALKING DEAD reunion, and MUCH MUCH MORE!

Pre-sale discounted tickets - including Single Day, Weekend, and VIP Passes - are available now through March 1st.

For a full guest list, event schedule, and ticket and hotel information, visit the convention’s official website at http://www.DaysoftheDead.net/Atlanta.

Last chance to apply for Red Bull Candola, South Florida!

 

Applying is very easy, you just have to visit redbullusa.com/candola 

and fill out the online form and upload a sketch of your craft.   

Check out    to RSVP and for more info!

 

About Red Bull Candola

You're sure to be singing, "Mama Mia!" as Red Bull Candola (can- doh-la) returns to the Venice of America April 14, 2012. The city known for its scenic canals and Intracoastal Waterway will host an event that will have gondoliers racing their manmade, human-powered gondolas down the New River. Teams of three - two mates and a captain - will be challenged with the task of creating, building, and rowing their crafts down a .33 mile course between Huizenga Plaza and Esplanade Park in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Interested gondoliers can apply on-line at www.redbullusa.com/candola between now and January 31, 2012. A total of only 30 teams will be chosen to participate so make sure your gondola stands out above the rest. Rumor has it you can score some extra wings for including a certain 8.4 oz can in the design for your craft.

  

SET SAIL OR SINK

While your boat must float, there are a few other water safety regulations required before castoff. All boats must be entirely human-powered - in other words, no motors or stored energy - and cannot exceed 100 pounds (without passengers), must be between six and twelve feet long and must be at least 2 feet above water, with a maximum of 6 feet tall. Your vessel should also be made using light weight and environmentally safe materials. While in theory we want all of your gondolas to stay afloat, it's not very likely and we need to keep the water safe for its inhabitants. Oh, and strong swimming skills are required by all aboard.

Not too confident you can master the skill of making the fastest gondola on the planet? Don't worry. Your race time isn't the only criteria your team will be judged on - creativity and showmanship will also play a big part into which group gets crowned the Big Bambino. To win over the amoré of the crowd and the judges, each team will perform a 30 second skit before their race time.

MAN OVERBOARD

Does all of this sound familiar? That's because the event concept is inspired by one of the wackiest events around, Red Bull Flugtag. However, in Red Bull Candola teams are trying to keep their crafts on the water, not from crashing into it.

For more information on how to apply and to find a full list of rules about Red Bull Candola, check out www.redbullusa.com/candola.