Jersey boys Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi head line-up for tonight's "Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together" benefit concert

From the New York Daily News:

Forty years ago, Bruce Springsteen serenaded a loving girl named Sandy in “Fourth of July, Asbury Park."

Now he’s joining forces with other artists to raise money for the victims of a vicious storm with the same name. 

Christina Aguilera, Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel and Sting will join the Boss in a benefit concert Friday at 8 p.m. at the NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Center. 

Jimmy Fallon and Brain Williams will emcee the event.

The show, titled “Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together,” will be shown across the entire NBC Universal Network, viewable on NBC, Bravo, CNBC, E!, G4, MSNBC, Style, Syfy and USA. 

Money raised will be donated to the American Red Cross to provide shelter, food, emotional support, and other assistance to the millions affected by the disaster. 

The personal connection among stars like Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Sting and Joel to the storm-ravaged areas couldn’t be more obvious. Both the Boss and Bon Jovi hail from New Jersey, which has endured some of the greatest hardships in the catastrophe.

And Springsteen has always chronicled disaster, from decline ("Atlantic City") to terror (the post-9/11 song, "My City of Ruins").

Joel grew up on Long Island, also hard hit by the storm, which is something of a coda to his song, "The Downeaster Alexa" about the hard life on Long Island's waterfront.

To donate, visit www.redcross.org or call 800-RED-CROSS.

Donations of $10 will also be added to your cellphone bill by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999. 

Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day and ballet

Roman Baca, on the shoulder of the standing male dancer, during a performance of Baca 's "Homecoming". Baca is a USMC Veteran of Iraq: choreographer & ballet dancer and co-founder of Exit 12 Dance Company of New York City. Photo Courtesy of Roman Baca. Read about Baca's lifelong devotion to ballet at American Homecomings at the Denver Post. 



Wyoming Jazz Ensemble performs with Eric Reed Trio in Laramie and in New York City

From a UW press release:

The Wyoming Jazz Ensemble, the University of Wyoming's premiere jazz group, will perform a public concert during the Festival of Winds Thursday, Feb. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in the College of Arts & Sciences auditorium.

Tickets cost $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for students and senior citizens. Tickets are available at http://www.uwyo.edu/finearts/ or by calling (307) 766-6666.

Directed by Associate Professor of Music Scott Turpen, the concert will feature the acclaimed jazz group, the Eric Reed Trio. Following the UW concert, the Wyoming Jazz Ensemble will travel to New York City for another performance with the Eric Reed Trio at the Jazz at Lincoln Center. The performances will take place at "Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola" Monday, Feb. 20. For more information, go to http://www.jalc.org/

Reed, who has taught at Juilliard School of Music, has performed with such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Quincy Jones and Patti Labelle. Reed, credited with more than 20 recordings, is now in residence with the Ebony Repertory Theatre of Los Angeles. Reed is musical director of Regina Taylor's Crowns.

"This is a great opportunity for our UW students to perform in a landmark venue with some of the genre's finest artists," Turpen says.

This is the second year the ensemble has been invited to perform in the "Big Apple." Last year, the group performed with trombonist Steve Turre at the jazz club "Smoke."  

Photo: Eric Reed will perform with the Wyoming Jazz Ensemble, Thursday, Feb. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in the Arts & Sciences auditorium.

Clay Paper Scissors marks 9/11 anniversary with New York City photos by Karen Cotton

New York City murals. Photo by Karen Cotton, 2005.

In honor of the 10^th anniversary of 9/11, Clay Paper Scissors Gallery & Studio is delighted to present “New York City: Rising from the Ashes.” This exhibit features photographs by Cheyenne artist Karen Cotton taken four years after the attack on New York City’s Twin Towers. The mix of images combines the vibrant resiliency of New York with haunting images of ground zero, and memorials.

An opening reception will be held on Thursday, Sept. 8, 5-8 p.m., as part of the monthly Art Design and Dine art walk in Cheyenne. A second reception will be held October 13, 5-8 PM. The exhibit continues through Oct. 23.

Clay Paper Scissors is located at 1506 Thomes Ave., Suite B, Cheyenne. The gallery is located in an historic warehouse off of 15^th Street across from the rail yards. Open 1-5 p.m. on Saturdays or by appointment.

FMI: 307-631-6039 and on Facebook

Good reviews for "The Magdalene" as it opens Off Broadway

Lindsie Van Winkle (left) plays The Magdalene and Shad Olsen is Yeshua in "The Magdalene"

The Casper Star-Tribune today wrapped up its five-part series by Margaret Matray called "Making It," which follows Casper College theatre professor Jim Olm in his quest to produce his show "The Magdalene" Off Broadway. Wyomingarts hates to ruin the suspense, but the show did open and has received favorable reviews. Its continued run into September depends on ticket sales, so if you're heading to Broadway to see blockbusters such as "Spider Man" and "Book of Mormon," take the four-block walk to the Theatre of St. Clements at West 46th Street and see "The Magdalene." 

The CST series dug deep into the amount of dedication and work it takes to put on a play. Very instructional for any aspiring playwright or actor or director. 

Casper Star-Tribune's "Making It" series follows Jim Olm's road to the Off Broadway stage

Anyone interested in a career in musical theatre should read the "Making It" series by Margaret Matray in the Casper Star-Tribune. The series follows Casper College theatre professor Jim Olm in his quest to produce his show "The Magdalene" Off Broadway. Olm has invested many years and a lot of money in the pursuit of his dream.

Jim Olm

The musical is inspired by the Gnostic Gospels, discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945. It follows the story of Mary Magdelene as told in the Gospels of Mary and Thomas which were not included in the Christian Bible. "The Magdelene" is scheduled to run at the Theatre of St. Clement's in New York through Sept. 4. Olm co-wrote the script with J.C. Hanley. The play is directed by Casper College professor Rich Burk with Tony Award-winner Richard Maltby Jr. as creative consultant.

Olm's saga from the germ of an idea to the Off Broadway stage continues through Thursday in the CST.  

Deborah Brevoort wins University of Wyoming's 2011 "Essays on Theatre" competition

From a UW press release:

New York playwright and librettist Deborah Brevoort is the winner of the University of Wyoming's national 2011 Amy and Eric Burger Essays on Theatre competition.

The winning essay, "On Literary Activism," has been selected for the $2,500 annual prize. The head of the national adjudicating team, Jim Volz, president of Consultants for the Arts, says, "This engaging essay discusses the complicated relationship between political activism and playwriting and the persuasive power of the pen."

"This nationally-advertised competition sparked entries from throughout America and it's great that Ms. Brevoort continues to impact the American theatre with her plays and writings about the theatre," says Gracie Lawson-Borders, UW College of Arts and Sciences associate dean.

Brevoort is an alumna of New Dramatists and is best known for "The Women of Lockerbie," which won the Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays Award and the silver medal in the Onassis International Playwriting Competition. Her other plays include "The Poetry of Pizza, The Blue-Sky Boys" and "The Velvet Weapon."  Her new play "The Comfort Team" will premiere at the Virginia Stage Company in 2012.

Brevoort has an MFA in playwriting from Brown University and an MFA in musical theatre writing from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she currently teaches. Brevoort also teaches in the MFA creative writing program at Goddard College in Vermont and in the graduate playwriting program at Columbia University in New York.

"The high profile University of Wyoming arts competition is intended to inspire students, faculty and theatre and drama professionals to pursue their literary talents and reward talented authors who write on any aspect of drama or theatre," says Lawson-Borders.

Unpublished essays may range from 1,800-7,500 words.

The program is offered through a special endowment to UW's College of Arts and Sciences to honor Amy and Eric Burger. For more information, email Lawson-Borders at glawsonb@uwyo.edu .

Fractured Atlas visits the Wyoming Arts Council

Adam J. Natale from Fractured Atlas in NYC dropped by the Wyoming Arts Council this week. After a weekend on the road working with arts groups in Denver and Fort Collins, he decided to make the short drive up I-25 to Cheyenne.

As is the case with many artists, Adam found himself working in arts administration. After a five-year stint at the National Endowment for the Arts, he joined Fractured Atlas. It's a non-profit organization that helps artists and arts organizations with fund-raising, insurance, advocacy, technology and education, among other services.

It keeps overhead low with a heavy Internet presence. But Adam said that it's expanding its presence outside of the East Coast arts corridor, working with South Arts in Atlanta, the Utah Arts Council in Salt Lake City and Colorado Creative Industries in Denver. Organization staffers also work with individual artists all over the U.S.

Fractured Atlas provides helpful "pocket guides," such as "Insurance for Film Makers" and "Insurance for Dancers and Dance Companies." The user-friendly 12-page guides address insurance issues relating to liability, health care, disability, etc.

Wyomingarts thanked Adam for dropping by, and invited him to return to Wyoming for a presentation about his organization.

Meanwhile, check out the org's web site at www.fracturedatlas.org

Hole Dance Films travels to New York

From filmmaker Carrie Noel Richer in Jackson:

Please come see Hole Dance Films new work, "Elusive Stranger," in New York! Hole Dance Films was founded by Kate Kosharek & Carrie Noel about 3 years ago to make Dance Film work.)

We have been working hard here in Jackson, Wyoming to take New York by Storm and we can't believe the time to premiere our piece is finally here! We will be presenting a piece which has both film and Live dance at Spoke the Hub Theater in Brooklyn on March 25th & 26th.

This piece will be shown with four other artists' choreography as part of the Gowanus Guest Room, curated by Erin Gottwald.

Other presenting companies are, Spank Dance Company from Austin TX; Nina Haft & Company from Oakland CA;  and Caitlin Corbett Dance Company, Boston. Please join us!

Buy your tickets early as the theater fills quickly and the show will sell out. Please see link for additional information: http://www.spokethehub.org/perform/gowanus-guest-room/

Carrie Noel Richer & Kate W. Kosharek Hole Dance Films www.HoleDanceFilms.wordpress.com

Friday, March 25 & Saturday, March 26, 2011, Doors 7:30, Show 8 p.m.

The Gowanus Arts Building, 295 Douglass Street (btn 3rd /4th Aves)

Tickets online available through Brown Paper Tickets:

https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/156516*

Metropolitan Opera simulcasts come to Lander

New York’s Metropolitan Opera comes to Lander this month by HD satellite television, thanks to the efforts of local opera fans calling themselves Lander Met Opera and staffers at the Fremont County Library. Lander and Jackson are now the only two locations in Wyoming to receive these broadcasts. The first performance will be Gluck’s masterpiece “Iphigénie en Tauride” featuring acclaimed tenor Placido Domingo, broadcast beginning at 10:30AM, February 26, 2011, with curtain-up at 11AM.  Five more operas will be presented this season: March 19, Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti); April 9, Le Comte Ory (Rossini); April 23, Capriccio (R Strauss); April 30, Il Trovatore (Verdi); May 21, Die Walküre (Wagner). Because the Metropolitan Opera requires that each attendee pay a fee of $10 per performance, single tickets will be offered for a $10 donation, the entire amount going to the Metropolitan Opera. Lander Met Opera will also accept additional donations to help cover its own printing costs and other expenses.

Performances will be shown on a large screen in the Library’s second floor conference room until the remodeling of the Carnegie Room is completed. Lunch on the day of each performance can be pre-ordered before the performance begins at 11 AM, from the Breadboard and enjoyed during intermission (usually 30 minutes). Tickets and more information will be available shortly at Main Street Books, Cabin Fever Books and at the Library.

If you wish to receive e-mail reminders for the broadcasts, contact Marvin Brown at marvjobrown@wyoming.com. Include your name, address, phone number, and email address.

Funding for this project covering equipment purchase and installation was provided by a grant from the Wyoming Arts Council through funding from the Wyoming State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.  Local donors, the Fremont County Library System and the Fremont County Library Foundation matched the WAC grant.

Photo: Fremont County Library Technology Coordinator Jonmikel Pardo stands on the Library's roof with special satellite antennas he helped install to receive the Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts.

Call for applications: Omi International Arts Center

Omi International Arts Center, a residency program and sculpture park in the Hudson River Valley town of Omi, NY, is currently accepting applications for its Art Omi International Artists Residency, which invites 30 artists from around the world for three weeks every July. The Center provides room and board, and fellowships are available to cover the cost of travel and materials. To apply, submit a completed application form, a résumé, documentation of work (either a CD with six JPEGS or a DVD with three one-minute video excerpts), and an accompanying artist statement and image list or video script. Click here for full guidelines.

Deadline Oct. 15 for publishing seminar in NYC

The Center for Book Arts in New York City is now inviting applications for its upcoming Letterpress Printing & Fine Press Publishing Seminar for Emerging Writers (November 10-14). Deadline is Oct. 15.

Participants will attend lectures from printers, fine press publishers, book artists, and dealers to get a practical overview of letterpress printing and fine press publishing. They will learn the basics of letterpress printing, both traditional typesetting and options with new technology, by collaboratively printing a small edition of broadsides or other projects. This free workshop is most suitable for those with little or no previous letterpress experience.

Those selected must attend the entire five-day workshop. For further details and an application, click here.

Meet the Equality State Book Festival presenters: Jaimee Wriston Colbert

Jaimee Wriston Colbert is one of the presenters for the Equality State Book Festival Sept. 24-25 in Casper.

Here's some info about Jaimee:

Jaimee Wriston Colbert is the author of a new novel, Shark Girls, nominated for the ALA Notable Books of 2010 List and a finalist for the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Awards; a linked stories collection, Dream Lives of Butterflies, which won the gold medal in the 2008 Independent Publisher Awards; a novel in stories, Climbing the God Tree, winner of the Willa Cather Fiction Prize; and the story collection Sex, Salvation, and the Automobile, winner of the Zephyr Publishing Prize. Her stories have appeared in numerous journals, including TriQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, Tampa Review, Connecticut Review and New Letters, broadcast on “Selected Shorts,” archived in “New Letters on the Air,” and anthologized. Two recent stories won the Jane’s Stories National Short Story Award, 2008, and the Isotope Editors’ Fiction Prize, 2009. Originally from Hawai’i, she is a Professor of English and Creative Writing at SUNY, Binghamton University.

Jaimee will wrap up the festival with “Stories that Bite Back: A Reading from Shark Girls” from 8-9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25, in the Aley Fine Arts Center, Durham Hall, Casper College. The event is free and open to the public.

Shark Girls has been nominated for the ALA Notable Books of 2010 List and as a finalist for the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Awards. The novel takes place in Hawai’i and follows the lives of two sisters, from Hawai’i to Maine, in the aftermath of a shark attack in Oahu. Books will be available for purchase and signing at this event.

For a full schedule of bookfest events, go to http://www.equalitystatebookfest.com/

Cheyenne Artists' Guild announces art show winners

The Cheyenne Artists' Guild has announced the results of its 40th National Juried Art Show and Sale.

Liliane Francuz of Fort Collins, Colo., served as the juror for the competition. She announced the winners at the reception on Sunday, August 15. There was one winner in each category, one honorable mention and a best of show award given, along with cash prizes.

Landscape: "Sapphire Cliffs" by Sibyl Stork of Fort Collins, Colo.
Still Life: "Poppin’ Poppies" by Vanda Edington of Cheyenne
Wild Life: "Watchful" by Debra Mickelson of Laramie
Portrait: "Branching Out -- Indian" by Paige J. Money of Buffalo
Non-Traditional: "Weaving Community" by Win Ratz of Cheyenne
Honorable Mention: "Polecat Creek" by Rex Hoff of Casper
Best Of Show: "Little Drum" by Diana DeSantis of Whitestone N.Y.

The show will be exhibited through the end of August.

The Guild is open Tuesday through Friday from noon-4:30 p.m., and will be open Sunday, August 22, from 1-3 p.m.. It is located in the Van Tassell Carriage House on the west side of Holliday Park ion Cheyenne.

Legendary New York City Ballet comes to Jackson

This summer, New York City Ballet brings a group of 17 extraordinary dancers and musicians to Jackson Hole for the first time ever.

This specially selected roster of artists will perform four works from NYCB's unparalleled repertory: ballets by the company's legendary founding choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, a contemporary classic by Ulysses Dove, and the World Premiere of a new work by NYCB principal dancer and internationally acclaimed choreographer Benjamin Millepied, featuring a commissioned score by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang.

This is a rare opportunity for an intimate look at one of the world’s greatest ballet companies.

While in residence in Jackson Hole, the NYCB will present three performances:

• A Fundraising Gala at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 6, with a Meet the Artists reception to follow, complete with appetizers, dessert, wine and champagne
• A matinee at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 7
• A final evening performance at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 7.

Registration Information:
• Tickets for Friday, Aug. 6, Fundraising Gala – $200 all seats
• Tickets for Saturday, Aug. 7, Matinee – $35 student, $45 balcony, $55 orchestra
• Tickets for Saturday, Aug. 7, Evening Performance – $65 balcony, $75 orchestra

Contact Dancers' Workshop for additional information about the New York City Ballet and its Jackson Hole residency at (307) 733-6398. For the latest ticket information, call the Center Box Office at (307) 733-4900.

New York Times education blog features Pat Frolander's "Denial" in "Poetry Pairing" series

The Learning Network, a New York Times blog, has a weekly “Poetry Pairing” series. In collaboration with the Poetry Foundation, TLN features a work from Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry project alongside content from The Times that somehow "echoes, extends or challenges the poem’s themes."

This week's poem is "Denial" by Pat Frolander of Sundance, Wyoming, long-time member of Wyoming Writers, Inc., WyoPoets and Bear Lodge Writers (see June 24 wyomingarts post).

To read Pat's poem, Ted Kooser's intro and the accompanying NYT story, "Getting on with life after a partner dies," go to http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/

One Story offers summer workshop

One Story magazine will be offering an intimate 6-day writers workshop to help emerging writers answer the question our editors get asked regularly: Should I get an Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree?

The workshop will be held in Brooklyn July 25-30.

The week will include morning workshops, afternoon craft lectures, and evening panels with writers and editors, agents, and MFA directors. All events are designed to give students the practical advice they need to either apply for an MFA or to launch their career outside of academia.

For complete details, click here.

Deadline June 1, 2010, for Cinereach grants

A listing in the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) e-mail newsletter:

Cinereach, a not-for-profit film foundation that funds and produces independent, feature-length nonfiction and fiction films, is now accepting letters of inquiry and sample work for the Summer 2010 grant cycle. Grants range from $5,000 to $50,000 per project and are awarded to films at any stage including development, production, and post-production. The granting priorities, guidelines, and online submission form can be found on the Cinereach website, along with detailed information on past recipients. Full proposals will be requested from select projects in July.

Lander native makes switch from carrying sandwich boards to professional "Cabaret" tour

Great article in the Casper Star-Tribune's WeekEnder section about the vagaries of the acting world:

When she got the call, she was strolling through New York City's Time Square dressed as Princess Leia and wearing a sandwich board to promote a Broadway show.

“Miss Oakley Boycott?” asked the voice on her cell phone. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to make your day.”

That's how the Lander woman found out she nailed the audition for the professional tour of the musical “Cabaret,” scheduled to play at the Casper Events Center next month. The voice on the line was the producer telling her she’d landed the lead of Sally Bowles.

Boycott, 20, was so excited that she squealed, jumping up and down so fast her Princess Leia hair buns nearly bounced off her ears.

Then the news hit her. She’d be playing the part made famous on the London stage by Dame Judi Dench and made legendary on film by Liza Minnelli.

"Cabaret" will be on stage at the Casper Events Center on Tuesday, June 1, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $35, $40, and $50. Purchase Tickets Now. 1-800-442-2256.

Afton offers opera in hi-def from the Met

The Star Valley Arts Council is presenting "The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD" at the Afton Civic Center in Afton.

Performances of live, professional, classic opera will come to the valley via satellite feed.

Audiences will experience a full-length production and a behind-the-scenes look during intermission.

Here's the schedule:

"Carmen" – Georges Bizet
January 16, 2010 at 11:00 am
Expected Running time: 3 hours, 30 minutes,1 intermission

"Simon Boccanegra" – Giuseppe Verdi
February 6, 2010 at 11:00 am
Expected Running time: 3 hours, 40 minutes, 2 intermissions

"Hamlet" – Ambroise Thomas
March 27, 2010 at 11:00 am
3 hours, 43 minutes, 2 intermissions

"Armida" – Gioachino Rossini
May 1, 2010 at11:00 am
Expected Running time: 4 hours, 19 minutes, 2 intermissions

FMI: http://www.starvalleyarts.org