I'm going to tell you a secret. Despite loving live theater, outdoor activities and free activities I've actually never been to a production of Shakespeare in Central Park. No need for public shaming because I'm already woefully ashamed of myself. I very much hope to correct my shortcoming in this area this summer.

Julius Caesar is what I'd really like to see but I don't think I'm going to be able to since I'm booked this weekend (celebrating my Mom's birthday, happy birthday Mama) and I'll be volunteering for the Southern Foodways Alliance the weekend of July 11-13. So that leaves Pericles which I know absolutely nothing about and 12th Night. Suggestions on which of those I should choose?

If you don't have plans this weekend go see Julius Caesar and tell me how it is.

First there was bar hopping, then there was trolley hopping, now there is theater hopping.

On Friday June 13, 2008 from 6PM-11PM four different theater companies will be performing in four venues, all within walking distance to one another. No cover at any venue, bar snacks at most venues and drink specials pretty much at all of them makes this sound like not a bad way to spend a Friday evening.

From the press release:
Join the excitement for Louisville's first ever Theatre Hop, featuring four LOCAL companies performing at four LOCAL venues all within walking distance! Enjoy live entertainment; great drink specials; and a few good bites of local eats.

Theatre Companies include: Catclaw Theatre performing-The Voraxium, a variety show presented similar to Burlesque and Vaudeville, The Indicators-are inter-active improv at its best! Plus surprise Troupes to appear

Local venues are: BBC Taproom (636 East Main) dips catered by Science Hill, Paul Paletti Gallery (713 East Market Street, Suite 100) dips catered by Science Hill and Jennica's (636 East Market).

Once you have enjoyed local talent in all local venues, walk on over to Primo's for the Meet and Greet Cast Party and Performance beginning @ 10:00pm. Primo will host with $5 Lemoncello Martini specials and the first 50 people to walk in the door will receive a swag bag of goodies! A raffle will take place and will involve some special surprises...

The Late Seating at Actors presents The Promiscuous Materials Project
Apr 25, 10:30 pm following performance of Doubt at 8 pm

An electric mixture of selected stories and songs by Jonathan Lethem, interpreted by local artists as part of The Promiscuous Materials Project.

TICKETS $10 (or $5 with Actors ticket stub)
CALL 502-584-1205 for reservation

PERFORMANCE
Necessary Theatre
Freewheelin Theatre Company
Riverrun Theatre Company

MUSIC
One Small Step

VISUAL ART
Lindsey Dobson
mperfect
Natasha Sud
Joe Welsh
Brad White
Matt Dobson

MUSIC VIDEO
Andy Garbe

Tomorrow night Pulitzer winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks will "perform from her works and lecture publicly at the University of Louisville. Her talk is the 2008 Minx Auerbach lecture in women's and gender studies and a feature of Women's History Month."

The Fort Knox-born writer won her Pulitzer for drama in 2002 for "Topdog/Underdog," the Broadway play that also was presented this year at Actors Theatre of Louisville. "In the Blood," a 2000 Pulitzer finalist, was performed at UofL in 2006.

She co-wrote the screenplay for "The Great Debaters" movie that debuted in December; also in 2007 her project "365 Days/365 Plays" was produced worldwide in more than 700 theaters, including Actors.

Suzan-Lori Parks
March 6, 2008 6 p.m.
Margaret Comstock Concert Hall, School of Music
Admission to the lecture is free and open to the public.
There will be a reception afterward.

Parking is available for $3 in the nearby Speed Art Museum garage, 2035 S. Third St.

Whoever is in charge of art direction for The Late Seating is doing a kick ass job. Last month they had the Matt Dobson poster that was super cool and this month it's the Made in Louisville design you see here. I don't know you are but I'm digging your art direction. Now, on to the details.

The Humana Festival might be a world famous event that attracts lots of visitors to from all over but it's a Louisville event and we need to claim it as such. So the folks at The Late Seating got the idea to do a "Made in Louisville" party to celebrate the festival's kickoff. This party is going to have food provided by local Louisville restaurants, a DJ will be spinning Louisville tunes, and festiveness will be oozing. The press released detais:

Louisville's Humana Festival Party
Mar 1, 2008 10:30 pm
A Made in Louisville party to kick-off the Humana Festival of New American Plays

TICKETS
Party is free,
but ticket required

Call 502-584-1205
for reservation

Enjoy DJ Matt Anthony (host of WFPK Sound Clash) playing music by area bands plus complimentary appetizers donated by Intermezzo Cafe, Artemisia, Bistro 301, Caviar and Proof on Main.

Meet and mingle with Actors Theatre artists and staff and learn more about their contribution to Louisville's own internationally acclaimed Humana Festival.

PERFORMANCE
Marco Polo by Greg Romero
presented by Specific Gravity Ensemble
directed by Rand Harmon
Players: Lucas W. Adams, Sarah Feldman, Julia Leist, Corey Long, Randy D. Pease, Jennifer Poliskie

VIDEO
Show Me Your Louisville by Jason Tongen
Talk Derby to Me, Bat Birth Factory and Haunted Sanatorium by Thomas Green 

Theater director Kathi E.B. Ellis, will direct Edward Albee's The Zoo Story, presented at The Rudyard Kipling tonight, tomorrow and Saturday night.

The Zoo Story
February 21, 2008, 7:30PM, February 22nd and 23rd, 2008 at 6:30PM
Tickets: $10
Reservations for dinner and the show may be made at 502-636-1311, to make reservations for the show only, call 502-897-3314.

The Rudyard Kipling
411 West Oak Street
Louisville, KY

The Courier describes the Wau Wau sisters thusly:

Like overly affectionate twins in a wild girls' school video, the sprightly pair blends sexual tease with difficult acrobatic stunts and singing, dancing and comedy - one of the hottest performance art tickets in America.

Well ok then. If that's your thing then most likely you have tickets for their performance at the Kentucky Center tomorrow night.

Whether you make the actual performance or not you might be interested in the after show party at 21c.

After the performance of the Wau Wau Sisters at the Kentucky Center for the Arts Bomhard Theater, meet the Wau Wau Sisters at 21c for the reception, after party, and live entertainment by DJ Jesse Jamz.

Wau Wau Sisters Post-Show Party
Feb 16, 2008 9:30pm
Atrium Gallery
21c Museum Hotel
This event is free and open to the public
Cash bar with drink specials

Dr. Quinn's got nothing on Dr. Ephraim McDowell.

From the press release:

On Christmas Day 1809 in Danville, Kentucky, a thousand miles from the nearest hospital and thirty-five years before the deveopment of anesthesia, Dr. Ephraim McDowell (1771-1830) removed a huge ovarian tumor from the abdomen of a Kentucky woman.  It was the world's first ovariotomy, and it eventually brought McDowell worldwide acclaim as the Father of Abdominal Surgery.

L. Henry Dowell, Chautauqua performer, will perform as Dr. Ephraim McDowell, Frontier Surgeon and Father of Abdominal Surgery on February 6, at Historic Locust Grove as part of the Afternoon Lecture Series. Dessert & coffee are served at 1:00 p.m. and the program begins at 1:15 p.m.

Locust Grove
561 Blankenbaker Lane
Louisville, KY 40207

There's a lot of info related to The Late Seating at Actors on January 25, 2008 so I'm just going to dump it all from the press release I got. But first, isn't that a very cool poster by Matt Dobson? Yes, yes it is.

THE LATE SEATING AT ACTORS
Jan 25, 10:30 pm
Doors open at 10 pm
an electric mixture of new work by local artists
in performance, music, video and visual art

TICKETS
$10 (or $5 with Actors ticket stub)
Call 502-584-1205

MAKE IT A DOUBLE
See Topdog/Underdog at 7:30 pm
plus The Late Seating at 10 pm for as low as $32

PERFORMANCE
The Necessary Theatre presents Will Eno's
Thom Pain (based on nothing)
starring Gil D. Reyes
directed by Mike Brooks

Where We Are: Poets Responding
Spoken word, poetry and song
directed and co-written by Jardana Peacock
written and performed by
Adrienne Duke, Chanita Taylor, Juanita Scott, Kehontas Rowe,
Mary Mudd, Natasha Lindsey, Sarah Watkins, Tytianna Wells

MUSIC
Songs and poetry by Ron Whitehead and Sarah Elizabeth 

VIDEO
Stick It In
by Bart Galloway
starring Zach Brammel

Poor Fortunates Act 1
by Kathryn Wilson
with Puppeteers Bart Galloway, Jess Myers,
Nora Cristensen, Stella Christensen

VISUAL ART
new woodcuts by Shawna Khalily
sculpture and paintings by Brad White
artwork by Frankie Steele

I got an email about a free perfomance of 10 minute plays produced by the apprentice company at Actors Theatre January 14, 2008. I've never heard of the apprentice company before. A bit of digging at the Actors website turns up this description

The Acting Apprentice Company provides members with a total immersion into one of the nation's premiere regional theatres and the invaluable opportunity to develop their craft as actors, their skills as collaborators and their knowledge as theatre professionals. An ensemble of 22 actors, Apprentices attend regular classes that include movement, scene study, text analysis, audition technique and community-based theatre. Successful candidates have a unique combination of talent, work ethic, commitment to their art and an interest in actively engaging in the world both within the theatre and outside its walls.

Cool. The 10 minute plays they'll be performing are:

Ready, Set, Go by Marc Bovino
In Paris You Will Find Many Baguettes but Only One True Love by Michael Lew
Two or a Carload by Robert McBroom
The Greekest of Tragedies by Kevin Del Aguila
You Can Radiate by Sharon Eberhardt
Laundry Service by Beth Novick
Suspension by William Orem
Montana Lovesong by Tim J. Lord
Otherwise Engaged by Ruth McKee
The Other Desk by Eric R. Pfeffinger

Admission is free, but tickets are required and are available at the Box Office, 502-584-1205.

Atherton High School's River City Players are producing William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream. For three performances only you can see this talented group of young actors present one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies.

The shows are next Thursday January 10, Friday January 11 and Saturday January 12, 2008 at 7PM. Tickets are $5.

Squallis Puppeteers will present Shadow Solstice, a celebration of the shortest night of the year. This show brings together Squallis collaborators, their memories, and experiments combining shadows and music. These shows range from commemorations of some dearly departed puppeteers to Shakespeare in Shadow where one woman animates her way through many texts. After the program, the audience is invited to make some of your own shadows. The event will take place at the Shark Tank Theater on the third floor of 414 Baxter Avenue, at the corner of Baxter Ave. and Lexington Road in Louisville.

Tickets are $5 for all ages and are available at the door.

Please call 502-540-4977, visit their website or email squallispuppeteers@yahoo.com for more information.

Dinner and the theater is the classic American night on the town, and Park Place on Main executive chef Jay Denham has created a menu designed specifically for theater-goers. The three-course menu is available from 5 until 7 p.m. so guests are able to enjoy dinner before any performance and have no worries about being late. The prix fixe costs $35 per person. Tax and gratuity are additional. Reservations are required.

“We want to make dining accessible to all of our guests,” said Denham. “The pre-theater menu is great for getting in and out quickly while still being able to enjoy really good food.”

Park Place on Main

401 East Main Street Louisville, KY (502) 515-0172 www.diningonmain.com

Park Place on Main’s pre-theater menu after the jump

If there has ever been a piece of theater more directly targeted toward my generation I have no idea what it would be. I mean come on, one guy performing every single scene from the original trilogy (it's a little wrong that I have to even say "original trilogy" isn't it?). He even "recreates the effects, sings the music, flies the ships, and fights both sides of the battles."

The show is coming to town for one night only (one man show, one night only!) on Friday December 7, 2007. Tickets are $23.50 and I suggest you get yours now before all the other children of the late 70s and 80s beat you to it.

A long time ago, in a galaxy… ah, forget about it! This isn’t your father’s Star Wars. Charles Ross performs every scene from the original Star Wars trilogy in a tour de force of farce. Luke, Han, Obi-Wan, Vader, even R2 get channeled through the twisted mind of this manic maniac. A Canadian actor who has followed his heart and his career from one side of the continent to the other, Ross has brought countless audiences, both large and small, to their feet with his surprisingly unique shows. And the Chicago Daily Herald raves, “A wild amusement park ride. My first impulse was to get in line and go again.”

Kentucky Center for the Arts
501 West Main Street
Louisville, KY 40202
(502) 562-0100

Photo credit: Jason Woodruff, copyright 2005

We got our tickets for The Santaland Diaries at Actors Theatre a couple months ago. November 17 was the closet Saturday night we could get tickets for since the show was to end November 18. Apparently the show has been such a success its run has been extended until December 30. That means you lucky late to the party people can actually go see the Christmas themed show much, much closer to Christmas.

I won't lie, the actor doesn't have perfect pitch when it comes to the bone dry wit of a Sedaris reading but the adaptation doesn't lean as heavily on that dryness so it works out just fine. If you're a fan of Sedaris Actors Theatre's presentation of The Santaland Diaries is worth the price of admission.

Feel free to copy our evening by bookending the play with dinner at The Mayan Cafe first and dessert at Sweet Surrender after. That itinerary makes a great date night.

Another weekend full of good things to do in Louisville.

Friday November 2
The First Friday Gallery Hop should be high on your list of things to do tonight. I particularly think the Day of the Dead stuff going on at the Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft sounds good.

While technically part of the First Friday Gallery Hop the Decked Out Opening Party at Derby City Espresso sounds like such a cool event it gets listed as its own separate event. Remember Derby City Espresso is serving beer now too.

Your Black Star, Follow The Train and The Fervor will be playing as part of the Louisville Home Grown Music Series at 4th Street Live.

The Late Seating at Actors "I [fleur-de-lis] the Holidays Party" and opening party for The Santaland Diaries. Eat, drink, listen to good music and buy cheap art. That sounds pretty close to a perfect evening.

Bach's Mass in B Minor The Choral Arts Society (with members of Bourbon Baroque) presents J.S. Bach Mass in B minor with period instruments.

Saturday November 3
Junior League of Louisville's 2007 Hollydays Art & Gift Market at the Kentucky International Convention Center. It kicks off Friday night but Friday is so full of good stuff I think you should hit Hollydays on Saturday or even Sunday. Hours on Saturday are 10am until 5pm and Sunday from 10am until 4pm.

The Brennan Photography Symposium will have tours, lectures and discussions on preserving photographs. Make sure to bring one old photograph to be analyzed by Bill Carner from the University of Louisville Photo Archives.

Harlem Nights, an Evening at the Speed Art Museum celebrate the Harlem Renaissance through song, dance, period costumes, food, drink and performances by the African American Theater Program at the University of Louisville and Actor's Theater of Louisville.

The Late Seating at Actors presents
I [fleur-de-lis] the Holidays Party
Friday November 2, 8:30 pm

Free, but ticketed—Call 502-584-1205 for tickets

Opening night party for The Santaland Diaries, featuring light nibbles, cash bar, music by HAY DJ, photo booth by Louisville Photo Booth Co. and the Under $25 Art Sale.

I was a little disappointed that The Santaland Diaries has such a short run and that it starts and ends so far before Christmas. Oh well, what can you do? We're going to see it the last Saturday of its run and if it's even half as good as a Sedaris NPR reading it will be fantastic.

Updated to Add: Consuming Louisville favorite Margaret Coble is one of the artists participating in the Under $25 Art Sale. Even more reason to go to this festive event.

This very special "A&S Life of the Mind" event will feature an interview and Q&A session with playwright Tony Kushner led by University of Louisville Department of Theatre Arts Chair Russell Vandenbroucke.

About Tony Kushner

In “After Angels,” a profile of Tony Kushner published in The New Yorker, John Lahr wrote: “[Kushner] is fond of quoting Melville’s heroic prayer from Mardi and Voyage Thither (“Better to sink in boundless deeps than float on vulgar shoals”), and takes an almost carnal glee in tackling the most difficult subjects in contemporary history – among them, AIDS and the conservative counter-revolution (Angels In America), Afghanistan and the West (Homebody/Kabul), German Fascism and Reaganism (A Bright Room Called Day), the rise of capitalism (Hydriotaphia, or the Death of Dr. Browne), and racism and the civil rights movement in the South (Caroline, or Change). But his plays, which are invariably political, are rarely polemical. Instead Kushner rejects ideology in favor of what he calls “a dialectically shaped truth,” which must be “outrageously funny” and “absolutely agonizing,” and must “move us forward.” He gives voice to characters who have been rendered powerless by the forces of circumstances – a drag queen dying of AIDS, an uneducated Southern maid, contemporary Afghans – and his attempt to see all sides of their predicament has a sly subversiveness. He forces the audience to identify with the marginalized – a humanizing act of the imagination.”

About the A&S Life of the Mind Series

During the Centennial Celebration, the College of Arts and Sciences is presenting "The Life of the Mind" Series, a special series of public lectures and programs by a fascinating group of guests, representing a wide range of intellectual and artistic interests. Events like these are one of the hallmarks of great universities as civic cultural institutions, and one of our goals during the Centennial is to raise the funds to endow "The Life of the Mind" on a permanent basis.

Thursday, October 11, 2007
6:00 p.m.
The Spectrum, 911 South Brook Street
For more information call (502)852-8977 or email AS100@louisville.edu

Actors Theater is offering Low-Price Previews Tonight & Wednesday--Aug 28 & 29 with tickets as low as $23 of Fire On The Mountain. Buy tickets online.

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN Now thru Sept 22 Kentucky roots musical from the creator of Love, Janis and Hank Williams: Lost Highway

Kentucky's the perfect home for this poignant, passionate musical about the lives of coal miners in the Appalachian Mountains.

Exuberant and soulful, joyous and gripping, this celebration of courage, culture, hardships and heroics is gloriously told through captivating bluegrass rhythms.

Brimming with authentic dancing, stunning fiddle and banjo licks and more than 30 songs, the spiritual triumph will stir your soul.

Pandora Productions is presenting Take Me Out at the Thurst Theatre at UofL. The play deals with a professional baseball player who comes out of the closet.

Now through June 24
Tickets $13 in advance, $15 at the door