Auditions for upcoming spring performances will be held Monday Jan 7th at the Palace Theatre in Cape Charles, 4:45 to 7:00.
This includes and introduction to class schedules, productions as well as workshops in auditioning and voice.
Reflections on Cape Charles and the Eastern Shore
Auditions for upcoming spring performances will be held Monday Jan 7th at the Palace Theatre in Cape Charles, 4:45 to 7:00.
This includes and introduction to class schedules, productions as well as workshops in auditioning and voice.
Hansel and Gretel (German: Hänsel und Gretel) is an opera by nineteenth-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, who described it as a Märchenoper (fairy-tale opera). The libretto was written by Humperdinck’s sister, Adelheid Wette, based on the Grimm brothers’ fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel”. It is much admired for its folk music-inspired themes, one of the most famous being the “Abendsegen” (“Evening Benediction”) from act 2.
The idea for the opera was proposed to Humperdinck by his sister, who approached him about writing music for songs that she had written for her children for Christmas based on “Hansel and Gretel”. After several revisions, the musical sketches and the songs were turned into a full-scale opera.
Coming in January, Salt Works Opera will be bringing this show to Franktown Methodist Church, 7551 Bayside Road in Franktown.
Directed by Will Stanley, the shows will be presented on Friday the 11th at 7 PM, Saturday the 12th at 2 PM and Sunday the 13th at 2 PM.
Meet Jeannette Lee, who will be performing as Hansel.
A native of Hong Kong, mezzo-soprano Jeannette Lee graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor of Arts double majoring in Music and English (First Class Honors). Apart from obtaining her Licentiate Diploma in singing with Distinction from the Trinity College London, she has won top prizes in local competitions such as the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival’s prestigious Miss Barbara Fei Vocal Solo Prize twice and the Good Hope Singers Trophy.
Her operatic roles include Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Fox Golden-mane (The Cunning Little Vixen), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). This upcoming season, she is engaged to reprise her role as Hänsel with Saltworks Opera in January 2019.
As a concert soloist, Jeannette has performed with the internet sensation TwoSet Violin with Hong Kong Festival Orchestra Hong Kong, Handel’s Messiah with Masterworks Chorale (Boston), Monteverdi’s Marienvesper with Lautten Compagney (Berlin), Bach’s BWV 70 with the Hong Kong SingFest, Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with the CUHK New Music Ensemble as well as Rutter’s A Sprig of Thyme and Schumann’s Zigeunerleben with the Chung Chi College Choir.Jeannette is currently a second year Masters of Music student at New England Conservatory with the generous support of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund.–
Acclaimed Asheville, North Carolina band “Town Mountain” will be performing on the Eastern Shore, January 17 th from 5pm-9pm, a night before they kick off a tour run in Washington D.C. The popular bluegrass band that in recent years has expanded their popularity with folk, Americana, and alternative country audiences, will be in Melfa at Eastern Shore Community College as part of the ESCC Foundation’s “Eastern Shore Oyster Roast” to be held on campus at the Workforce Development Center’s Great Hall.
In addition to live music and Eastern Shore oysters, there will be clam chowder, shrimp, fried chicken, beer, wine, and soda available. Proceeds benefit the ESCC Foundation which supports the efforts of Shore students.
Town Mountain just released their latest album “New Freedom Blues” in late-2018 to critical and fan acclaim. It includes a collaboration with popular alternative country singer-songwriter Tyler Childers, who the band performs with frequently.
In August of this year, Rolling Stone Magazine proclaimed Town Mountain one of “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know.”
Since releasing their debut album Original Bluegrass and Roots Country in 2007, Town Mountain have made a name for themselves in bluegrass and roots circuits touring with a who’s who of like-minded artists, including Ralph Stanley and His Clinch Mountain Boys, the Del McCoury Band, Greensky Bluegrass, Yonder Mountain String Band, and many others. In addition to huge festivals and concert schedules, the band appeared at the Grand Ole Opry, performing both at the Opry House and at the famed Ryman Auditorium.
Limited tickets are $55 each/ $100 pair and available through the college during normal office hours and also online through EventBrite with links at es.vccs.edu and the ESCC Facebook page.
Sponsorships are also still available for this event.
For more information contact wlecato@es.vccs.edu or call 757-789-1797.
The Snow Queen and King from 6-8 PM.
Bring the kids by Lemon Tree for a Festive Friday treat. See what the Snow Queen has brought all the way from Bearland. Hot chocolate and cookies will be served. Join in for a festive holiday sing along with Dr. Sheppard at the piano.
301 Mason Ave., Cape Charles, VA 23310 * 757-331-4327 * team@lemontree.gallery * @lemontreecapecharles
Saturday, November 10 7:30 p.m., The Governor’s School for the Arts Department of Theatre & Film presents: Playing with Fire (After Frankenstein) by Barbara Field, directed by Steve J. Earle, with scenery and lighting by Sean C. Blue and costumes by Ricardo Melendez. Tickets: Adults:$15, Students:$10.
A riveting ethical argument adapted by Minnesota playwright Barbara Field from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (celebrating its 200th anniversary this year), this captivating retelling of the classic tale imagines a meeting between a dying Frankenstein and his creation in the Arctic Circle. As Frankenstein prepares to right his greatest wrong by confronting the Creature, scenes from their past are replayed and the line between good and evil is debated, revealing a powerful and agonizing question that interrogates the ethical limits of science and human imagination.
The Historic Palace Theatre * 305 Mason Ave. in Cape Charles * 331-4327
Van Lewin is a local Eastern Shore musician, now residing in Norfolk. He has been playing music since he was a child and has been performing since the early 2000’s. His playing has been influenced by folk, rock, jazz and other musical styles and has a great emphasis on improvisation. With a goal to play music that’s good for the soul, Van’s performances include both original songs in addition to covers which he puts his own spin on. Van’s music is best enjoyed up close and personal and is complemented by ESO’s intimate venue. He is delighted to be back for another ESO Live!
Have you seen our new signage outside the Historic Palace Theatre? We have a new logo and new home for GEAR, the non profit that will continue to bring you Experimental Film Virginia, all the performance and education formerly under Arts Enter…and more!!!
Grand Gala “Celebrating the Arts” with the Virginia Opera and live music by Ghost Town Union
Saturday September 29, 2018 6:00 PM Tickets: $50 Call 757-331-4327 to make reservations or come to Lemon Tree Gallery at 301 Mason Avenue in Cape Charles
Arts Enter and GEAR invite you to join us in celebrating the arts and kicking off our 2018-19 Season of Performing Arts at the Historic Palace Theatre, now under the direction and management of GEAR.
This celebratory Gala launches GEAR as the new steward of arts programming, education and creative programs that will continue to thrive at the Historic Palace Theatre. We move forward with dance, theater, music and visual arts programs as well as educational opportunities for area schools.
During the evening, we announce the new theatre season, other program information and future changes to the organization and management of GEAR. The Gala will include a performance by the Virginia Opera, food by Gourmet Gang, champagne and live dancing music by Ghost Town Union. Surprise performances and guests will also add to the fun.
Put on your dancing shoes for this fun evening, find a cocktail or evening dress you haven’t had an excuse to put on in a while and find out more about the new vision, management and future for our beautiful theatre and arts programming at the Historic Palace Theatre, now home to GEAR, Global Exchange Arts Roundtable.
Schedule of Events: Saturday September 29, 2018
6-6:30 PM Champagne and elegant tastings
6:30 – 7 PM Virginia opera Arias and Duets
7:30 – 7:45 PM Announcements
8 – 11 PM Dancing & Bar
Historic Palace Theatre
305 Mason Ave. Cape Charles, VA 23310
757-331-4327
Boston’s Brown Box Theatre Project and artistic director Kyler Taustin set to stage classic romantic comedy in Exmore Town Park
EXMORE, VA —Exile. Banishment. Disguise. Chance encounters and romantic entanglements. Shakespeare’s As You Like It is a comedy that weaves many themes— including love and friendship in all its forms—into a series of merry events. This popular Shakespearian work has been selected for Exmore’s 2nd Annual Free Shakespeare in the Park production, set for Friday, September 21, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.
Presented in partnership with Boston’s Brown Box Theatre, Kyler Taustin, artistic director, Exmore’s Free Shakespeare in the Park series aims to make professionally staged theatre accessible to all ESVA residents, guests and visiting tourists by staging free events outdoors in the casual, family-friendly setting of the Exmore Town Park.
Much of the action in As You Like It takes place in the woods of the Forest of Arden and many directors, including Kyler Taustin, prefer staging this play outdoors. Exmore’s spacious, leafy Town Park is the ideal setting. The atmosphere with the backdrop of trees is informal and there are picnic spots, playground areas for children and plenty of space to accommodate large audiences. Exmore’s inaugural Free Shakespeare in the Park, a full-length production of Hamlet, drew over 300 people from all over the Eastern Shore, and beyond. An even larger turn-out is expected this year.
As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, and the source for one of the his most recognized lines: “All the world’s a stage, / and all the men and women merely players.” That line might serve as a summation of this comedy, which is rich with fantasy, roleplaying and gender-bending costumes. Throughout the five acts, many questions are raised and bantered about by the characters, but rather than establishing answers, Shakespeare presents several points of view, leaving it to the audience to formulate their own answers. In other words, life can be this or that depending on how you look at it—and how you look at it is your choice: As You Like It.
Shakespeare’s plays are part of our cultural heritage, yet they are rarely accessible to residents away from established urban centers. The Town of Exmore and the Brown Box Theatre Project are working to correct that; expanding the reach of professional performing arts to smaller, more rural communities by bringing the best in performance, design, and collaboration to communities that, like those here on the Eastern Shore, may be underserved or too far off the grid for most professional touring groups.
“These performances are intended for everyone on the Eastern Shore, and they are presented compliments of the Town of Exmore,” said Exmore Town Manager Robert Duer. “As You Like It is a follow-on to our 2017 premiere event, Hamlet. By continuing to bring the classics to life here in our Town Park, we are hoping to establish Exmore as a cultural and entertainment anchor for the Eastern Shore region.”
Prior to the play, the Broadwater Academy chorus, under the direction of Ms. Ally Tarwater will perform a free concert. These talented students will take the stage at 6:30 pm. To enjoy the evening, just bring a lawn chair or blanket, and picnic basket or cooler if you like. There’s ample free parking, but plan to arrive early. A large turn-out is anticipated.”
The Exmore Town Park is located at 3330 Main Street, and is within minutes of Exmore’s downtown, and three national hotel chains. For more information, email visitexmore@exmore.org or check the Town of Exmore’s Facebook Page, http://tinyurl.com/y8g6lkuq.
The Iceman is special to the Mirror by Michael C. Jordan
As the boy entered the massive icehouse door facing the Cabin Branch tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, the brutally cold air stunned him. The shock reminded him of how his skin felt last November, when on a dare, he dove into the frigid water of a swimming pool.
As his eyes became accustomed to the poorly lit chamber, he focused on the large cakes of ice stored there. Each one weighed at least three hundred and sixty pounds; three times his own weight. The task at hand was dangerous for a grown man, let alone a twelve-year-old boy. He had seen these massive cakes fall and break into chunks of ice capable of doing great bodily harm. If one of these whole cakes fell on him, it would kill him or cripple him for life. He was afraid… but he had something to prove.
He had the equipment he needed: heavy gloves, ice tongs and an ice pick that was sharp, straight, and true. He thought of wearing his steel-toed boots, but he knew that if a full cake of ice fell on those boots as he was lowering it to the floor, it could collapse the steel and sever the toes from his feet. Crushed toes could heal, but severed toes were… well… severed.
Earlier that morning he had asked for a pay raise. He had been working at the icehouse for several months, alongside men who made twenty times his rate of pay. He felt that if he did the same work as the men, he should receive the same pay. But his employer did not share his logic.
His employer, who also happened to be his father, shared very little of his son’s logic or few of his opinions on life in general. When the boy approached him, armed with what he thought to impeccable logic concerning the disparity of the current pay scale, he was rebuffed with an opposing impeccable logic. To wit, “Son, if you want to be paid like a full-fledge Iceman, you must be able to do all the work required of one”. He told the boy that when he could lay down a cake of ice and cut it into twelve equal pieces without breakage, then and only then, could he hope to be paid as a full-fledged Iceman.
Not long after their conversation, the boy stood alone in the frosty room, facing the great dangerous masses of frozen water. He had witnessed the procedure used to lower these heavy monoliths many times, but with varying results. Sometimes the cake was lowered with ease and grace, if the ice tongs bit sharply and deeply into the top section of the ice before it was lowered, and the Iceman was strong enough to gently place it on the floor. He had also seen those three-hundred-and-sixty-pound-giants slip from a man’s hands and crash to the floor as the man scrambled to avoid the ice from crushing a part of his body.
The boy blinked. . .then, with the aid of his tongs, he pried one of the cakes loose from the others. Each of the cakes of ice stood about four feet high, were two and one-half feet wide and ten inches deep. After securing the tongs to the top edge of the cake and placing his left foot at its base, he pulled. The cake tilted, its forward edge became a temporary fulcrum balancing its own massive weight for just an instant before the strain of hundreds of pounds of ice were transferred to the boy’s muscles. He took up the strain of the falling mass and lowered the ice gently and gracefully to the floor with no breakage. This was followed by the laying down of two other cakes with similar results. Finally, by multiple thrusts of his ice pick he completed the job of reducing the three cakes of ice into separate piles of twelve equal pieces. He had met, and then exceeded, his father’s challenge.
He attempted to a second time that day to secure an increase in pay. But again, he was refused based on his inability to perform all the duties required of an Iceman. At that point in the conversation, he led his employer to not one, but three successfully lowered and dissected cakes of ice, whereupon he was granted a pay raise. Not equal to the men, but a raise tripling the amount of is current salary. No longer would he receive one dollar per eight-hour workday; he would now receive three, in recognition of his ability to execute gently and gracefully the duties of a full-fledged Iceman.
Note: The boy in this story is, of course, me growing up in Baltimore. It is an account of my psychological passage to manhood. Additionally, my paternal grandfather was witness to this vignette, and only chuckled in delight at my achievement!