Barack Obama News

The New Black Fest, a theater organization celebrating provocative storytelling, music and discussion from the African Diaspora, is proud to announce The New Black Fest at The Lark.

For the first time, Girl Be Heard and Human Rights Watch, will bring together actors from across the globe (who are flying in for this show) to present BREAKING THE SILENCE WITH GIRL BE HEARD at the Soho Playhouse (15 Vandam Street). In an effort to break the cycle of silence around gender-based violence, this groundbreaking collaboration features selections from Breaking the Silence, written for Human Rights Watch, and Girl Be Heard's, Trafficked and disPLACEd. BREAKING THE SILENCE WITH GIRL BE HEARD runs for three performances only: Thursday, February 19, Friday, February 20, and Saturday, February 21 at 8:00PM. Tickets are $35 and are $20 for students and senior. Tickets are available by visiting http://girlbeheard.org/.

On View: 'Cracked-Plate' Photograph of Abraham Lincoln Thursday, Feb. 12, through Monday, Feb. 16 For just five days, the museum will display the original print of the 'cracked-plate' portrait of Abraham Lincoln. This photograph by Alexander Gardner is one of the most haunting portraits of any president. Created Feb. 5, 1865, it was the last formal portrait of Lincoln to be taken before his assassination. When the mammoth glass negative cracked, Gardner made only one print from the damaged negative before discarding it.

A new feature film, THE WAREHOUSE, will celebrate the Godfather of House Music, GRAMMY Award-winning Frankie Knuckles (1955-2014) and Chicago's legendary Warehouse afterhours club, where the internationally recognized House Music genre was born. The film will be produced by Bob Teitel (Men of Honor, Barber Shop), Billy Dec (Rockit Ranch/Elston Films), Randy Crumpton (The Truth) and Joe Shanahan (Metro/Smartbar/Double Door).

On View: 'Cracked-Plate' Photograph of Abraham Lincoln Thursday, Feb. 12, through Monday, Feb. 16 For just five days, the museum will display the original print of the 'cracked-plate' portrait of Abraham Lincoln. This photograph by Alexander Gardner is one of the most haunting portraits of any president. Created Feb. 5, 1865, it was the last formal portrait of Lincoln to be taken before his assassination. When the mammoth glass negative cracked, Gardner made only one print from the damaged negative before discarding it.

Sarasota, FL -- Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) hit the road for a 12-city tour which will make a stop at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, tonight, February 11.

Political strategist David Axelrod says he didn't “groove” with former client John Edwards in an interview with correspondent Jim Axelrod for CBS SUNDAY MORNING WITH CHARLES OSGOOD, to be broadcast today, Feb. 8 (9:00 AM, ET) on the CBS Television Network.

Presidential Family Fun Day Sunday, Feb. 15, 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard Celebrate Presidents Day weekend during a patriotic family day at the National Portrait Gallery. Enjoy a variety of crafts and performances dedicated to our nation's famous past leaders. Meet Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in person and enjoy several art activities like presidential Polaroids and making picture frames. See performances by local the a capella group Snowday, get your picture taken with the Washington Nationals Racing Presidents, and more.

The Board of Trustees and Artistic Director David Saint have chosen noted Actress, Producer, Best-Selling Author and Social Activist Marlo Thomas as the inaugural recipient of the Arthur Laurents Award for Distinguished Artistic Achievement. The award will be bestowed upon Ms. Thomas at the New Brunswick theatre's Annual Gala Benefit, to be held on Sunday, May 3. She joins fellow honoree Stephen Jones, CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Health System, who will be honored with the Thomas H. Kean Arts Advocacy Award.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE announced the ultimate 40th anniversary line up during a 30-second spot which aired during last night's Super Bowl on NBC. Check it out below!

In this week's Saturday Night Live, hosted by J.K. Simmons, the cast poked fun at the non-existent blizzard, Seahawks player Richard Sherman, and more. Check out the clip below!

J.K. Simmons hosted SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE this week and portrayed a variety of characters, including a curmudgeonly man just trying to figure out Microsoft Word. Watch as Simmons soon discovers that the simple program is not as easy as it seems, thanks to a new gadget called 'Pushie.' Check it out below!

J.K. Simmons hosted Saturday Night Live this week and channeled his Oscar-nominated character from WHIPLASH, trash-talking famous drummers until a famous surprise guest arrives and throws him off. Check it out below!

Saturday Night Live has announced the ultimate 40th anniversary gift for true SNL fans.

Sati was a quarter-finalist on NBC's 2008 America's Got Talent, and he has been featured on The Late Show with David Letterman, CNN, ABC, CBS, and many other television channels in the U.S. and abroad. Sati has been written about in The Washington Post, USA Today, The Baltimore Sun, National Geographic World, Orlando Sentinel, Men's Health, The Economic Times, Hong Kong Standard, Saudi Gazette, India Today, Khaleej Times (UAE), and many other newspapers and magazines around the world. "12 Qualities of Highly Successful People" is an inspiring and captivating book. In this book Sati explains the winning qualities of 130 highly successful people, including Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Dr. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Steven Spielberg, Jim Carrey, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Sergey Brin & Larry Page (Google), Jack Dorsey (Twitter), and Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com) The author also shows the characteristics and traits of highly successful people under each of the twelve qualities and teaches readers how they too can learn and develop these valuable qualities. 'Common Traits' and 'You Too Can Develop' sections in each chapter are step-by-step blueprints that will help anyone learn these twelve great qualities which can unlock your potential and transform your life. "Twelve Qualities of Highly Successful People" is available in both print and ebook formats online at www.satiachath.com, Amazon.com, BN.com and other online retailers. Bookstores should contact Ingram and Baker & Taylor for whole sale orders. Book Details: Twelve Qualities of Highly Successful People And How YOU Can Develop These 12 Qualities By Sati Achath Publisher: CreateSpace Published: December 2014 ISBN: 978-1490534930 ASIN: B00S2XC5SM Pages: 224 Genre: Self-Help, Motivational About The Author: Sati Achath is a motivational speaker, author, cartoonist, caricaturist, hand shadow puppeteer, ventriloquist, and magician. He has been recognized by the U.S. Government as a 'Person of Extraordinary Ability'. Sati is the author of four other books: 18 Simple Steps for Efficient Time Management, Hollywood Celebrities: Basic Things You've Always Wanted to Know, Fun with Hand Shadows, and a children's book, Danny, Which Wheel Do You Like Best. Sati works as a Project Evaluation Specialist for the World Bank in Washington, D.C. He holds four master's degrees and speaks six languages. So far Sati has traveled to 57 countries. This international experience has given him a broad vision and perspective on life. Sati was the editorial cartoonist for 'Northern Star' newspaper in Dekalb, Illinois, and his cartoons and caricatures have been published in more than 25 US national newspapers.

Internationally celebrated violinist Itzhak Perlman will return to Houston to conduct and perform classical masterworks with the Houston Symphony on February 12-15, 2015, at 8:00 p.m.

Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) hit the road for a 12-city tour which will make a stop at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, February 11. In addition to Mayfield on trumpet, the 18-piece Orchestra includes such respected musicians as Victor Atkins on piano and Ed "Sweetbread" Petersen on saxophone.

HBO has greenlit LEWIS AND CLARK, with production on the six-hour miniseries to begin this summer, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. Casey Affleck ('Interstellar'; Oscar(R) nominee for 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford') stars as Meriwether Lewis and Matthias Schoenaerts (the upcoming 'Far from the Madding Crowd'; Cesar Award winner for 'Rust and Bone') stars as William Clark. The miniseries is executive produced by Tom Hanks (Emmy(R) winner for HBO's 'The Pacific'), Gary Goetzman (Emmy(R) winner for HBO's 'Game Change'), Edward Norton (HBO's 'By the People: The Election of Barack Obama'), Brad Pitt (Emmy(R) winner for HBO's 'The Normal Heart'), Dede Gardner (Emmy(R) winner for HBO's 'The Normal Heart'), Tim Kelly and Adam Leipzig.

President Barack Obama will speak exclusively with Savannah Guthrie on Super Bowl Sunday.

For the second year in a row, South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) has been selected by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts to host the New Jersey Region 5 preliminary rounds of competition of the Poetry Out Loud program on Wednesday, February 11 at 10am.