Trinity Rep to Host Annual RED, WHITE AND GROOVE, 1/25

Trinity Rep has announced the return of their annual wine tasting event - Red White & Groove - a casual evening featuring food, wine, and dancing to the music of Superchief Trio. Co-chaired by Gil MacLean and his wife Michelle Collie, the event is sponsored by Bottles Fine Wine. The benefit party will take place on Saturday January 25th from 7PM to 11PM at the Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire St., Providence. The evening features a wine tasting with culinary pairings from several local restaurants and the danceable rhythms Superchief Trio with opening act 3pile. Tickets are $75 and are available online at www.trinityrep.com, by phone at 401-351-4242 or in person at the Trinity Rep Box Office at 201 Washington St. in Providence.

"This annual event has been such a successful party; we couldn't wait to bring it back," says Curt Columbus, Trinity Rep's Richard L. Bready Artistic Director, "The incredible combination of our amazing area restaurateurs, Bottles Fine Wine, and the foot-stomping grooves of the Superchief Trio promise to heat up Downcity Providence this January."

Bottles Fine Wine will be curating the wine tasting and the exclusive food pairing menu will be provided by event partners Chez Pascal, Nick's on Broadway, Russell Morin Fine Catering, The Grange and Walrus and Carpenter Oysters.

Almost two hundred guests attended last year's annual wine tasting event, sampling wines and savory gourmet treats before dancing the night away at the Pell Chafee Performance Center. All proceeds go towards Trinity Rep's artistic and educational programming.

Recently named 2013's Best Blues Band by Motif magazine, Superchief Trio has rightly become known as the largest trio in Rhode Island - in more ways than one. Pianist Keith Munslow met trombonist Pam Murray at Providence arts incubator AS220 in the early 1990s, where they performed together in the Smoking Jackets and the Neo 90s Dance Band. Keith and drummer Johnny Cote played together in the Big Nazo band, and soon Johnny became the drummer for the Neo 90s. Having cut their teeth on rough-and-tumble dance blues with the Smoking Jackets, Keith and Pam began playing gigs at a dim and smoky basement bar (now defunct) called The East Bay Regatta Club. Owing to safety in numbers, Johnny Cote was recruited, and Superchief Trio was born circa 2000. The casual nature of the place and its heckling denizens encouraged recklessness and experimentation with new songs, new arrangements and inspired a higher level of daredevil musical abandon. Emerging from this subterranean honky-tonk, Superchief Trio continues the tradition of good-time music and barrelhouse hijinks. In 2008 Superchief Trio grew to five members when they added guitarist Tom Ferraro and bassist/vocalist Steve Bigelow. Tom has been a staple in many RI bands, including The High Rollers & Stormin' Norman & The Hurricanes. Steve has also been with numerous bands throughout New England including Sleepy LaBeef and Young Neal & the Vipers. With the addition of these great players, the band finds itself careening down new musical highways and back roads, amassing an ever-expanding repertoire of tasty original songs and cool cover tunes.

The band 3pile last brought their lively blend of original blues, folk, and county music to the stage in Trinity Rep's acclaimed production of The Grapes of Wrath. The seven member group is comprised oF Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Acting students Alex Curtis, Sherri Eldin, Ben Grills, Zdenko Martin, Nikki Massoud, Ted Moller, and Matt E. Russell.

The State Theater of Rhode Island, Trinity Repertory Company is now celebrating its 50th Anniversary Season. Since its founding in 1963, Trinity Repertory Company has been one of the most respected regional theaters in the country. Featuring the last permanent resident Acting Company in America, Trinity Rep presents a balance of world premiere, contemporary, and classic works for an estimated annual audience of approximately 145,000. In its 50-year history, the theater has produced 62 world premieres, mounted national and international tours, and, through its MFA program, trained hundreds of new actors and directors. This season marks the 46th year of Project Discovery, Trinity Rep's pioneering educational outreach program. Last season, Trinity Rep's educational programs reached over 16,000 Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut students through matinees as well as in-school residencies and workshops. Brown University/Trinity Rep offers professional training for actors and directors in a three-year MFA program. Trinity Rep's 50th Anniversary season continues with the New England premiere of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang, Intimate Apparel by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, Lionel Bart's family musical Oliver!, the world premiere of Veronica Meadows by Stephen Thorne and A Lie of the Mind by Sam Shepard. For more information, call the box office at (401) 351-4242 or visit Trinity Rep's website at www.trinityrep.com.

Photo: Superchief Trio, courtesy of the band