Thomas Jefferson News

For writers and literary enthusiasts alike, the upcoming Readers & Writers Retreat at Castle Hill will take place on Monday May 20th until Thursday May 23rd in Charlottesville, Virginia. This three and a half day luxury retreat is an exclusive opportunity to spend a weekend with ten significant authors and learn the story and craft of their work. Headlining the event are renowned authors John Grisham and Sissy Spacek, along with a slew of published writers including Virginia favorite Jan Karon and Emmy award-winning writer, director and producer Hugh Wilson. The retreat itself will take place at the grand estate of Castle Hill, one of the most historically significant homes in Virginia. Over the course of the retreat, guests will participate in wine tastings, picnics, and elegant meals out in Charlottesville alongside numerous other relaxing activities.

In conjunction with its exhibition "Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine: Two Kids from Brooklyn," the Library of Congress will present events on Saturday, March 23, focusing on the versatile entertainers.

Sheep live a quiet existence, they work as self-propelled lawn mowers and weed eaters, eating away invasive flora without the need of costly herbicides or machinery. Of course, they are also handy sources of wool, an essential material for clothing. Carmela Snelbaker's Thank You For Your Service, Sheep! is a delightfully illustrated picture book that uses rhymes and images to portray the dutiful service of these faithful creatures, and how national icons put their abilities to good use in pivotal moments of history.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Timberlake Wertenbaker's Olivier Award-winning play, Our Country's Good, Out of Joint will present a series of staged readings of Timberlake's work. This will include the acclaimed play Three Birds Alighting on a Field, which will be directed by Max Stafford-Clark, and The Grace of Mary Traverse directed by Blanche McIntyre. Out of Joint will also present the world premiere of Timberlake's new play - Jefferson's Garden.

The Cyrus Cylinder, sometimes referred to as the first 'bill of human rights,' traces its origins to the Persian king Cyrus the Great's conquest of Babylon in the sixth century B.C. Almost 2,600 years later, its remarkable legacy continues to shape contemporary political debates, cultural rhetoric and philosophy.

Artist Melissa Oppenheim will be unveiling her exhibit ,"Cityscapes & Wasted Space' , at Baked and Wired's cupcake and coffee shop in Washington, D.C. later this month.

Edward Watts will star as Superman in the New York City Center Encores! production of It's a Bird…It's a Plane…It's Superman, runningMarch 20- 24 at City Center. Stay tuned for the identities of the actors portraying Lois Lane, the evil Dr. Sedgwick and other inhabitants of the city of Metropolis.

A team of researchers has uncovered what may be the earliest known portrait of Thomas Jefferson. If the picture proves to be Jefferson, it would give historians new insights into Jefferson's thinking and appearance soon after he became the American minister to France-less than ten years after he wrote the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Liberty survives and flourishes in the United States thanks, in part, to the decisions of six presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. That's the belief of a historian in his compelling new book. The author notes that the vision, character and life experiences of the men led to decisions vital to the cause of liberty at home and abroad.

Below, BroadwayWorld tributes the men behind the mask- the many who have taken on the title role at the Majestic Theatre since it opened in 1988. Check it out below!

Pittsburgh Public Theater's MADE IN AMERICA season reaches its highpoint with 1776, the biggest production in Public Theater history. This Tony-winning Best Musical features book by Peter Stone and music & lyrics by Sherman Edwards. Directed by Ted Pappas, 1776 runs tonight, Jan. 24 - Feb. 24, 2013 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District.

Historical hijinks abound in PLEASURES AND PALACES, the unknown masterpiece from the composer of GUYS AND DOLLS. Lyric Stage presents Frank Loesser's PLEASURES AND PALACES in concert tonight, January 24-27, 2013.

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts today announces additional local, national and international performers, adding to the 35 partners listed below already announced in September 2013, as part of the program line-up for Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) 2013, March 28 to April 27, sponsored by TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank. With more than 50 festival performances and events taking place throughout Philadelphia, 50 regional arts and cultural partners, and 32 new works, PIFA 2013's If You Had a Time Machine….now includes the star talents of tap dance sensation and choreographer Savion Glover, jazz pianist and record producer Robert Glasper and Special Guests, Panamanian global jazz artist Danilo Pérez and Panama 500 Band, Instrumentalist and composer DJ Dan Deacon, Choir of King's College Cambridge, and more. Tickets go on sale to the public for all PIFA 2013 performances and events beginning Wednesday, January 23 at 10 a.m.

A total of 35 established and emerging writers, composers and lyricists will converge on the Goodspeed campus this month to participate in the first-ever Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing more than twenty new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

Boundless -- the free alternative to traditional textbooks -- has released a free textbook on the US Constitution and an infographicwith important (and fun) facts about presidential inaugurations in honor of the upcoming inauguration.

Montblanc announced it will open its first U.S. pop-up shop during the Presidential Inauguration week in Washington, today, Jan. 18 to 22. Montblanc is partnering with the St. Regis hotel in Washington D.C., as well as publisher Thornwillow Press, to create an boutique. The in-lobby shop will offer a variety of leather goods, cuff links, signature pens and more. To celebrate President Obama's second inauguration, Montblanc is offering a bound book of Obama's first inaugural address.

Asolo Repertory Theatre challenges its audiences to answer questions both women and men have been asking themselves since the second wave of feminism emerged in the 1960's: is it possible for women to balance a career and a family at the same time? If yes, then does 'having it all' equate fulfillment in life? The Heidi Chronicles, Wendy Wasserstein's 1989 Pulitzer and Tony Award winning play, maps the coming of age of Heidi Holland, a member of the baby boomer generation and a successful art historian, during the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's.