Picasso News

My Name is Asher Lev, the long-running play adapted from the acclaimed novel by Chaim Potok at The Westside Theatre (407 W. 43rd Street) has extended its run three times and closes today, September 1, 2013, only. As of September 1st, My Name is Asher Lev will have played 24 previews and 317 performances. Performances began November 8th, 2012.

A fascinating organization, Houston Arts Partners, is on the rise in Houston. Ready to fling the doors wide open on their third annual conference, the group is going above and beyond to foster long lasting partnerships between the worlds of public education and arts administration. This year's conference, titled Arts Work, is co-chaired by Bob Bryant, Executive Director of Fine Arts for Katy ISD, and Shelly Power, Associate Director for the Houston Ballet. As the conference has grown over the years, each side has embraced its importance. Notably the first conference was held at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. For it's second year at it was held at both the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and at University of Houston. This year, it'll be held at the Houston Ballet Center for Dance. Many important and invaluable sponsors donate time, money, effort, and energy to ensure this event happens. Silver Sponsors for this year's conference are Houston Ballet, Boeing, Bank of America, and Jim Benton of Houston, the conference's caterer. There is a large number of Bronze and Booth sponsors as well. For a full list of sponsors please click here. [http://www.hapconference.org/#!sponsorships/c46c] To get the inside scoop on this years activities, I recently spoke with Troy Scheid, Arts Education Initiative Specialist for Houston Arts Partners, Shelly Power, and Bob Bryant about what attendees can expect from this year's event.

The Washington Stage Guild announces its 28th Season of our distinctive repertory, an array of eloquent plays of idea and argument, passion and wit - smart theatre for a smart town. The Washington Stage Guild's 2013-2014 season will focus on the fundamental basis of all art - the imagination. We will present four plays that examine the need to see beyond the mundane in order to create, to survive, to develop, to live. The Season of Dreams will travel from Vincent van Gogh's studio to Bernard Berenson's villa, and from the apartment of two fragile lives to as far as thought can reach. All four plays are Washington area premieres, and among the four is the first installment in a multi-year cycle leading up to our 30th anniversary, as we inaugurate our production of George Bernard Shaw's rarely seen Back to Methuselah.

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is accepting two-dimensional entries for the Ray and Nancy Loeschner Annual Art Competition.

Redtwist Theatre announces its complete line-up for 2013-2014 Season, which includes 15 productions, all at its black box, storefront location, in the Bryn Mawr Historic District of Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood. The complete season includes 7 Chicago premieres and 4 world premieres.

When it comes to whipping up comic delights, there's nothing quite like a delicious French farce: Take one lovely home in the French countryside. Add a philandering husband, his gorgeous mistress and a Cordon Bleu chef hired for a romantic weekend getaway. Add the husband's wife and the couple's best friend who have a few secrets of their own. Fold together with some mix ups and mishaps, and then turn up the heat. The result? Pure delight - SRT's tasty comedic treat Don't Dress for Dinner, next up at the Fallon House stage, September 6-29.

Don't let this summer end without seeing 'America's Favorite Original Boy Band'! Olney Theatre Institute presents a limited return engagement of Forever Plaid today, August 24 through September 15 on Olney Theatre Center's Historic Stage.

Diversity can be found all around Austin, Texas, including the art Lisa Russell brings to the Russell Collection Fine Art Gallery. From the serene realism of Mediterranean landscapes and abstract wisps of nature to the vibrancy of comic strip-inspired art and humor of the human form, the four new contemporary artists Russell has added to her collection show, once again, why the New York Times said she has 'Austin's most exclusive gallery.'

Multiple award winning television, film and Broadway actress, recording and nightclub/concert artist and producer, Lucie Arnaz, brings her powerful, heart-warming and emotive lecture to Unity Center for Practical Spirituality, 3 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Norwalk, CT 06851, tonight, August 23rd at 8:00 p.m.

The Spiral Theatre Studio and Cerveri Circus will present a cabaret concert A SATIE SOUVENIR created by and featuring pianist Michael Cerveris and his talented sons.

Art enthusiasts from all walks of life will find a wealth of information in 'The Art Lover's Pocket Guide: Where to View the World's Great Masterpieces' (published by iUniverse), the new nonfiction by Henry P. Traverso.

A contemporary theatrical dramatization of Homer's masterpiece, 'An Iliad' adapted by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare makes its Michigan Premiere on September 26 through October 27, 2013 with an all star cast and high-end designers at Performance Network Theatre, Michigan's most award winning professional theatre as their season opener. Single tickets will be on sale soon.

The Spiral Theatre Studio and Cerveri Circus will present a cabaret concert A SATIE SOUVENIR created by and featuring pianist Michael Cerveris and his talented sons.

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art will exhibit the artworks installed in the president's suite at the Hotel Texas during his visit to Fort Worth in 1963. On view from October 12, 2013, through January 12, 2014, Hotel Texas: An Art Exhibition for the President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy is presented in association with the Dallas Museum of Art, which organized the exhibition.

Tonight Only - August's Free Play Reading, Picasso At The Lapin Agile by Steve Martin and curated by Ariella McCown will be presented tonight, Monday, August 19, 2013 at 7pm.

Multiple award winning television, film and Broadway actress, recording and nightclub/concert artist and producer, Lucie Arnaz, brings her powerful, heart-warming and emotive lecture to Unity Center for Practical Spirituality, 3 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Norwalk, CT 06851, on Friday, August 23rd at 8:00 p.m. Ms. Arnaz has been touring the country for several years, both with her critically acclaimed 'Latin Roots' nightclub act, celebrating the release of her newest CD of the same name, and with 'Surviving Success' in which she draws from her own, unique experiences as a mother, world class performer in her own right, while being the daughter of arguably the most famous and innovate couple in the entertainment industry, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Lucie reveals how she has successfully balances family and career, offering a deep and evocative message, and graciously answers many questions the public has always wanted to ask.

artnet Auctions is pleased to announce the Summer Ephemera Sale, an extensive auction of scarce and unusual art collectibles. Featuring over 100 pieces, this sale presents an exciting opportunity to bid on and buy hard-to-find Pop Art posters and memorabilia, hand-painted clothing by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, and many other one-of-a-kind drawings and exciting multiples.

For sixty years since its inception, the Queens Symphony Orchestra (QSO) has been delighting local audiences with performances of symphonic music. Beginning in October, QSO will offer a family concert series open to all, and appropriate for all ages, at the LeFrak Concert Hall, located in Flushing on the campus of Queens College.

The Joffrey Ballet kicks off its 2013-14 "Masters of Dance" season with a special addition to its home engagement line-up, a one-weekend-only program titled "Russian Masters" celebrating the centennial of Vaslav Nijinsky's ground-breaking 1913 ballet Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), alongside George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante and two works byYuri Possokhov, the Chicago Premiere of Adagio and the return of his 2011 Joffrey commission, Bells. These four powerful works by Russian choreographers and composers are presented in four performances only in the Joffrey's home venue, the historic Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in downtown Chicago at 50 E. Congress Parkway, September 19 - 22.

The Joffrey Ballet kicks off its 2013-14 "Masters of Dance" season with a special addition to its home engagement line-up, a one-weekend-only program titled "Russian Masters" celebrating the centennial of Vaslav Nijinsky's ground-breaking 1913 ballet Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), alongside George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante and two works by Yuri Possokhov, the Chicago Premiere of Adagio and the return of his 2011 Joffrey commission, Bells. These four powerful works by Russian choreographers and composers are presented in four performances only in the Joffrey's home venue, the historic Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in downtown Chicago at 50 E. Congress Parkway, September 19 - 22.