Leonardo News

The Kennedy Center presents the world premiere production of OLIVERio: A Brazilian Twist in the Kennedy Center Family Theater from January 30-February 21, 2016. Part of the Kennedy Center's Theater for Young Audiences 2015-2016 season, the production is inspired by the literary classic, Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist, directed by Juliette Carillo, with book and lyrics by Karen Zacarias and music by Deborah Wicks La Puma. The press opening performance is Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. OLIVERio is most appropriate for patrons ages 9 and up and their families. 

Almost 80 students from The Dolores Mission School gathered for a wonderful opportunity to visit Hollywood and tour the recently decorated Hollywood Museum, enjoy the beautiful holiday decorations by Dr Christmas (Bob Pranga), as well as hear inspirational stories with interesting messages from local politicians and personalities. Scroll down for photos from the event!

Steppenwolf Theatre Company has announced acclaimed film and television star Claire Danes as the guest of honor at the annual Steppenwolf Salutes Women in the Arts fundraising luncheon on Thursday, February 4, 2016 at 12 noon (location TBD). The luncheon features an in-depth conversation with Claire Danes about her incredible career and impact as a leading woman in the arts.

On paper, Vivaldi's 1737 opera seria CATONE IN UTICA--involving a confrontation between Cato and Caesar--seems a big mess: The music from the first act is missing and musicologists can't agree what the third act should look and sound like, leaving Act II to make or break a performance of the opera. Opera Lafayette brought us a version that sometimes thrilled us, sometimes tantalized us, but always made us grateful for the performance, fluidly directed by Tazewell Thompson.

The Catholic Archdiocese of New York's new downtown cultural initiative, The Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, will present Canciones Mexicanas, the second installment of Latin America Sings!, a series of concerts curated by pianist and conductor Pablo Zinger. This Mexican program is presented in celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

When the dust settled and the votes werecounted, two very different films led the way as the Washington, D.C. Area FilmCritics Association (WAFCA) announced their honorees for 2015 this morning

Gallery Players continues its 49th season with the Holiday farce IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY by Ray Cooney, directed by Mark Harborth and running tonight, December 5 - 20, 2015.

China Doll, the new play by David Mamet starring Tony, Emmy and Academy Award-winner Al Pacino, officially opens tonight, December 4, after a two-week delay. Directed by Tony Award-winner Pam MacKinnon (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf) and co-starring Christopher Denham ('Master Harold'... and the Boys, Argo, 'Manhattan'), China Doll plays the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street) and marks the tenth presentation of a David Mamet work by Messrs Richards, Frankel and Treaxler on Broadway and in the West End.

Cartoon Network in Asia Pacific has cemented its ongoing relationship with Xilam by snapping up the new series of one of the hottest properties in slapstick animation, OGGY AND THE COCKROACHES.

'Well, hang on to your snap-brim fedora: Ms. Zimmerman's fetching revival is as good as any production I've ever seen of the greatest of all the golden-age musicals,' proclaimed the Wall Street Journal when Oregon Shakespeare Festival staged the Broadway musical classic Guys & Dolls earlier this year at its Ashland, Oregon-based theatre. Now, for a limited run, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts will present this production for the holidays in the Bram Goldsmith Theater for 24 performances beginning tonight, Dec 1 and running through Dec 20.

Fathom Events, in partnership with SpectiCast, presents the “Art & Architecture in Cinema” series in select U.S. cinemas from January through July 2016.

interACT Theater Productions will present Christopher Durang's darkly-hilarious Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, opening Dec. 4 at The Baird cultural center in South Orange.

Ann C. Pizzorusso, geologist and Italian Renaissance scholar will speak on Leonardo da Vinci at a conference entitled "Art, Law and Crises of Connoisseurship" organized by ArtWatch UK, Center for Art Law and the London School of Economics Cultural Heritage on Tuesday December 1, 2015 at The Society of Antiquaries of London, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London. She will present her geological analysis of the two versions of the "Virgin of the Rocks," one in London at the National Gallery and the other in Paris at the Louvre. She concludes that only one could have been painted by Leonardo. Her research supports the premise of the conference, that careful observation, attention to detail and an understanding of style are vital for the proper evaluation and attribution of a work of art. Pizzorusso's work is revolutionary in that it establishes geologic accuracy as a key for determining the authenticity of a work attributed to da Vinci. She presents her findings in a richly illustrated chapter in her multi-prize winning book, "Tweeting da Vinci." The conference lecturers include experts in the areas of art history, appraisal, restoration and law. About Art Watch UK: campaigns to protect the integrity of works of art and architecture from injurious physical treatments and hazardous, exploitative or demeaning actions. To these ends, it welcomes direct debate with restoration/conservation practitioners and seeks access to records of restoration or conservation treatments in all publicly or charitably supported museums, galleries and buildings. It works through its journal and elsewhere to establish an aesthetically informed an properly critical restoration literature and, where appropriate, to counter partisan or propagandistic accounts in the specialist press and in the public media.

As the grand finale to their spectacular 25th Anniversary 2015 Season, Theatre at the Center presents the beloved holiday classic, A CHRISTMAS STORY, running now through December 27, with a press opening this Sunday, November 22 at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Gallery Players continues its 49th season with the Holiday farce IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY by Ray Cooney, directed by Mark Harborth and running December 5 - 20, 2015.

'Well, hang on to your snap-brim fedora: Ms. Zimmerman's fetching revival is as good as any production I've ever seen of the greatest of all the golden-age musicals,' proclaimed the Wall Street Journal when Oregon Shakespeare Festival staged the Broadway musical classic Guys & Dolls earlier this year at its Ashland, Oregon-based theatre. Now, for a limited run, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts will present this production for the holidays in the Bram Goldsmith Theater for 24 performances beginning Dec 1 and running through Dec 20.

The Catholic Archdiocese of New York's new downtown cultural initiative, The Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, will present Canciones Mexicanas, the second installment of Latin America Sings!, a series of concerts curated by pianist and conductor Pablo Zinger. This Mexican program is presented in celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Art and Science will collide in the most spectacular way with the award-winning Collider exhibition arriving at Marina Bay Sands' ArtScience Museum today 14 November in its Asian debut.

The Casting Society of America (CSA) will honor the recipients of its three major annual special awards at the 31st Artios Awards gala on January 21, 2016. The recipients are director Danny Boyle (Steve Jobs, Slumdog Millionaire) for the Career Achievement Award, casting director Bernard Telsey (Into The Woods, 'Ricki and the Flash,' Wicked) with the Hoyt Bowers Award, and writer-producers Michelle and Robert King ('The Good Wife') with the New York Apple Award.

Authors Guy Scholz and Claudia Church believe there is a masterpiece as breath-taking as Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa' or Michelangelo's 'David' waiting to be discovered inside of everyone. Together, Scholz and Church want to inspire readers to become the hero of their own life story. They have come together to write their new book, 'The Masterpiece Within: Five Key Life Skills To Becoming A Living Work Of Art' (published by Balboa Press), which teaches readers how to create an intriguing and inspiring life story.