Arlington News

Synetic Theater Founding Artistic Director Paata Tsikurishvili unveils the 2017/18 Season, reviving Synetic Family Theater and producing a brand new series created through collaboration by theatre professionals. The Reawakening promises to bring back what audiences love about Synetic Theater, while introducing audiences to what Synetic Theater is passionate about.

SRO Theatre Company is proud to announce its plans to produce a documentary film on John Schmidt, a 95-year-old former member of the company whose life experiences include performing on Broadway, pole vaulting at OSU, WWII, frequent appearances on WOSU radio and television, being inducted into the OSU Sports Hall of Fame, and managing his Schmidt family tree farm in Bainbridge, Ohio. SRO is using the crowd-funding platform GoFundMe to finance My Name is Johnnie Schmidt, the working title of the project, which will include a wealth of information on John's life based on interviews with the still-vibrant senior and Upper Arlington native, as well as rarely-seen footage and photos of his notable life and career. Our goal is to premiere the finished work in the fall.

Close to You: The Music of The Carpenters is coming to Jacksonville's Times Union Center, Terry Theater, March 4, 2017 for two performances only!

Frozen Light theatre company are taking Home, their latest bold and exciting production, devised specifically for audiences with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD) on an extensive tour of England, Scotland and Wales.

Lewis University's Heritage Theatre Company (HTC) is proud to host their 4th Annual '24 Hour Theatre Festival, a.k.a. 'Black Box Blowout' on Friday and Saturday, March 17 and 18. The Studio Theatre is a type of flexible performance space known as a Black Box.

On April 1, 2017, R. Scott Williams will release 'An Odd Book: How the First Modern Pop Culture Reporter Conquered New York,' a biography of the life of Oscar Odd McIntyre, the first modern pop culture and entertainment reporter. It will be available on Amazon.com and through IngramSpark. As the highest-paid and most-read columnist of his era, Odd McIntyre achieved great fame and fortune in the early twentieth century. Raised in Gallipolis, Ohio, eventually he moved to New York and became close friends with many of the leading personalities of the day, including writers Edna Ferber, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald; entertainers Fred Astaire, Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Billie Burke, and Will Rogers; composers George Gershwin and Meredith Willson; actors Rudolph Valentino and Charlie Chaplin and many others. In his daily column, 'New York Day by Day,' and in national magazines like Cosmopolitan and Life, Odd captured a time and place undergoing great transition and innovation in communication, politics, art and entertainment. As the country shifted from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era and through the Great Depression, new technologies and methods of communication were being quickly adopted around the world, as were new ideas regarding journalism and the role of media in American politics and society. Odd, living and writing in New York, was at the epicenter of this new modern age. 'Odd documented the stories of what was happening backstage and behind the scenes with popular culture around the world,' said Williams, who is the chief operating officer of the Newseum in Washington, D.C. 'Odd was there as the telegraph changed the news business, and then as radio changed everything. He covered live entertainment as it shifted from vaudeville to something new and exciting on Broadway, and he had a literal front-row seat as moving pictures evolved first to nickelodeons, then to silent films, and finally to talkies.' As a young journalist and editor in Ohio, Odd was one of the very first reporters to interview the Wright brothers in Dayton, and he worked side by side with early muckrakers to fight government corruption in Cincinnati. After moving to New York and working briefly as an assistant editor for Hampton's Magazine, he got a job as a Park Row newspaper reporter. One of his first assignments was interviewing Titanic survivors as they stepped onto the pier in New York. Later, McIntyre began working for music publisher Leo Feist on Tin Pan Alley, promoting songwriters, vaudeville and Broadway performers, musicians, and 'song pluggers.' His success there led to many years as the press agent for Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., where he got to know many of the most popular performers of the day. In Paris, he became friends with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and others who came to be known as the 'Lost Generation,' while back in New York, he had a long-time feud with members of the group known as the 'Algonquin Round Table.' His experience and connections in New York allowed him and his biggest champion, his wife Maybelle McIntyre, to start a daily column that they mailed from their small New York apartment to newspapers around the country. Eventually, Odd's column grew to reach more than seven million readers each day, making him a media superstar. In his 1938 obituary, a reporter for The New York Times wrote, 'His greatest stock-in-trade was his incarnate rapture at the glories of a New York recognizable to none but himself. To him the towers of Manhattan were studded with minarets and the neon lights of Broadway flickered like jewels.' Only Odd's wife and closest friends knew his biggest secret. Throughout adulthood, he struggled with social anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and severe depression that were likely brought on by undiagnosed pernicious anemia. Despite the extroverted 'man-about-town' image he projected to the world, his disorder eventually drove him to a reclusive lifestyle. He left his home only at night, and observed New York's nightlife from the window of his chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce. A special launch event will take place on Saturday, April 22, 2017 at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in Odd's hometown of Gallipolis, Ohio where The Ohio Valley Symphony will perform Meredith Willson's 'O.O. McIntyre Suite.' In anticipation of the book, Williams has also launched several social media initiatives to help the public learn more about Odd McIntyre and his work. Photos of the people, places and pop culture icons that Odd covered in his daily column will be featured at Instagram.com/ anoddbook, and short excerpts from Odd's articles will be shared on Twitter.com/anoddbook. Williams noted, 'Because Odd's writing style frequently included short, cleverly written sentences, they still resonate remarkably well today in the 140-character Twitter format.' Additional content about Odd McIntyre and 'An Odd Book' will be shared on YouTube and at Facebook.com/anoddbook. Links to these social network accounts, along with much more information about Odd McIntyre and the book launch, can be found at AnOddBook.com. About R. Scott Williams R. Scott Williams is the author of 'An Odd Book: How the First Modern Pop Culture Reporter Conquered New York,' available April 1 on Amazon.com and through IngramSpark. Williams is the chief operating officer and senior vice president of sales and marketing at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Williams earned his degree in journalism from the University of Memphis. He then held positions at several advertising agencies and organizations, including Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. He currently serves on the board of the D.C. chapter of the American Advertising Federation and on the board of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. He lives with his wife and daughters in historic Arlington, Va. Passionate about discovering and sharing forgotten stories from the past, in his spare time he explores the history of the American South, especially around his home in West Tennessee. His first book was 'The Forgotten Adventures of Richard Halliburton: From Tennessee to Timbuktu.' High-resolution photos available on the book's press page at AnOddBook.com/press.

McDaniel College theatre arts students direct and perform one-act plays at the college's Student-Directed Play Festival. Performances are Today, March 1-Saturday, March 4, 7:30 p.m., in WMC Alumni Hall at McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster, Md.

Artis-Naples, the multidisciplinary cultural organization in Naples, Florida, has engaged internationally renowned firm WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism to create a master plan for its Kimberly K. Querrey and Louis A. Simpson Cultural Campus.

59E59 Theaters presents a series of post-show talk backs following select performances of Jeffrey Sweet's KUNSTLER, directed by Meagen Fay and starring Jeff McCarthy with Nambi E. Kelley, scheduled for tonight, February 28, March 2, March 7 and March 9.

Signature Theatre's world premiere production of Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing, written and directed by Pulitzer Prize winner James Lapine (Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods), based on the real-life story of Elva Miller, a middle-aged housewife who gained notoriety as an unlikely pop phenomenon in the 1960s for her warbling renditions of chart topping hits 'Downtown,' 'Monday, Monday,' 'A Hard Day's Night,' and more, runs tonight, February 28, through March 26 in Signature Theatre's MAX Theatre.

Avant Bard theatre proudly presents the legendary African American musical The Gospel at Colonus, starring esteemed stage and film actor (and Arlington Circuit Court Chief Judge) William T. Newman Jr. as Oedipus. The production runs February 23 through March 26, 2017, at Gunston Arts Center in Arlington, VA.

Russian-born violin virtuoso Philippe Quint - lauded for his "fervidly expressive" playing (San Francisco Chronicle) and "bravura technique" (The Times of London) - will showcase his formidable endurance in performances of Antonio Vivaldi's timeless The Four Seasons and Astor Piazzolla's nuevo tango masterpiece The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires with the Santa Barbara Symphony on March 18 and 19. Conducted by Maestro Nir Kabaretti, and including Haydn's dramatic Symphony No. 101 ("The Clock"), the concerts will take place at 8 pm on Saturday, March 18, and at 3 pm on Sunday, March 19, in Santa Barbara's Granada Theatre. Tickets are now available.

Vineyard Theatre presents the New York premiere of Kid Victory, book and lyrics by Greg Pierce, music by John Kander with story by John Kander and Greg Pierce, and directed by Liesl Tommy. Kid Victory began previews on Wednesday, February 1 and opened last night, February 22 at the Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15 St. in New York City). 

Frostburg State University will host its second annual Summer Music Academy from Saturday, July 22, through Saturday, July 29, featuring guest instructors and artists from top musical ensembles.

Avant Bard theatre proudly presents the legendary African American musical The Gospel at Colonus, starring esteemed stage and film actor (and Arlington Circuit Court Chief Judge) William T. Newman Jr. as Oedipus. The production runs February 23 through March 26, 2017, at Gunston Arts Center in Arlington, VA.

Transport Group presents Picnic and Come Back, Little Sheba: William Inge in Repertory, directed by Artistic Director Jack Cummings III.

Those who have made significant contributions to the arts in a variety of categories will be recognized for their achievements in enriching the communities and citizens of Utah at the 12th Annual Star Awards held Saturday, March 11, 2017 at the SCERA Center for the Arts in Orem. 

Synetic's Teen Company is a year-round training program dedicated to developing the next generation of artistic performers.

Vineyard Theatre presents the New York premiere of Kid Victory, book and lyrics by Greg Pierce, music by John Kander with story by John Kander and Greg Pierce, and directed by Liesl Tommy. Kid Victory began previews on Wednesday, February 1 and opens tonight, February 22, at the Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15 St. in New York City). BroadwayWorld has a look at the cast in action below!