Broadway in South Africa’s 2nd Holiday Party

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Previews

Published on Saturday, 12 December 2009 22:52

Written by T. Terry Maloney

Shoshana Bean, the star of Wicked, will be featured along with other Broadway artists performing holiday tunes at Broadway in South Africa’s second annual holiday party on Monday, December 14th from 7 to 11 p.m. at New York’s Minskoff Theater (200 West 45th St.), home of The Lion King. Emmy Award nominee and Sirius XM Radio host Seth Rudetsky will host the live auction. The event chairperson is fashion designer Malan Breton. All proceeds help to fund the arts education programming of this fledgling not-for-profit organization.

Along with a spectacular view of Times Square, guests will enjoy open bar with cocktails provided by Marani Spirit Vodka and Amarula Cream, hor d’oeuvres in part provided by Madiba Restaurant and Cafeteria, live entertainment, a chance to mingle with some of Broadway’s top stars, and an opportunity to purchase exciting, tax-deductible live auction packages, just in time for the holidays.

There will be performances by singer/songwriter Jeremy Schonfeld and Broadway artists Uzo Aduba (Coram Boy), Shoshana Bean (Wicked), Sean Bradford (The Lion King), Todd Buonopane (Spelling Bee), Kristy Cates (Wicked), Lilli Cooper (Spring Awakening), Stephanie D’Abruzzo (Avenue Q ), Laura Marie Duncan (South Pacific), Asmeret Ghebremichael (Legally Blonde), Frankie James Grande (Mamma Mia!), Curt Hansen (Hairspray), Adam Kantor (Rent ), Lauren Kennedy (Side Show), Andrew Kober (Hair), Tracy McDowell (Rent ), Hayley Podschun (Pal Joey), Courtney Reed (In the Heights), Julie Reiber (Wicked), Rashidra Scott (Finian’s Rainbow), Laquet Sharnell (Memphis), Christopher Spaulding (Curtains), Lisa Nicole Wilkerson (The Lion King).

This holiday event is designed to raise funding and awareness for the work that Broadway in South Africa does to create cross-cultural exchange between youth in need and artists who seek to use their talents for change.  

Tickets are $30, $75 for VIP and $250 for sponsorships, and can be purchased at the door or by visiting www.broadwayinsouthafrica.org.

Broadway in South Africa
Monday, Dec. 14th
from 7 to 11 p.m
Minskoff Theater
200 West 45th Street
 

James Barbour Performs Concerts in NYC, LA

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Previews

Published on Saturday, 12 December 2009 22:21

Written by Jessica Gatdula

Actor/singer James Barbour has crooned his way through some of Broadway's biggest productions, including A Tale of Two Cities, Beauty and the Beast and Urinetown. For the month of December, he's taking a break from Broadway to celebrate the holidays with fans coast to coast.

Barbour's Holiday Concert kicks off in New York City with nine performances from Dec. 11 through Dec. 19, 2009, at 7:30 p.m., at Bill's Nineties. Then Barbour heads to Los Angeles to hold a on- night-only concert at 3 p.m. on Dec. 21, 2009, at the Colony Theatre.

The performances are expected to include guest appearances by Broadway stars and others. The New York performances will be under the musical direction of opera's revered Constantine Kitsopoulos. Grammy Award-nominated composer, producer, songwriter and arranger Peter Wolf will be in charge of the music direction in Los Angeles.

This is the second year Barbour has held his series of holiday concerts. Last season was sold out.

Tickets to the New York shows are $60 premium seating, $45 gold seating and $25 silver seating. There is a $25 food and drink minimum per person. However, concert go-ers can use the discount code "FRIEND" to receive 30 percent off of the original ticket price. The Los Angeles show is $40, as it includes a reception following Barbour's performance.

Additional concert information is available at http://www.jamesbarbour.com

James Barbour's Holiday Concert 2009
Dec. 11 to Dec. 19, 2009
Bill's Nineties
57 East 54th Street
New York, NY 10002
212-355-0243

Dec. 21, 2009
The Colony Theatre
555 North Third Street
Burbank, CA 91502
818-558-7000

BAMcinématek Honors Directors Gray, Kim

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Previews

Published on Friday, 11 December 2009 08:29

Written by Jessica Gatdula

Each year, BAMcinématek highlights emerging filmmakers who it believes are changing the cinematic landscape — those the organization has dubbed "The Next Director." Filmmakers who have received this honor in the past were Marc Recha, Marco Tullio Giordana and Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

American collaborators Bradley Rust Gray and So Yong Kim are this year's honorees, as they have garnered international acclaim for their minimalist films. As part of its "Next Director" series, BAMcinématek will screen both Gray and Kim's work-to-date from Dec. 8 through Dec. 17, 2009. In addition, BAMcinématek will screen three "Next Director Selects" — films that have been most influential on Gray and Kim.

Films to be screened as part of "The Next Director" schedule include:

Salt
directed by Bradley Rust Gray
Dec. 8 at 6:50 & 9:30 p.m.
For his first feature — a sincere, naturalistic character study — Gray headed to Iceland and assembled a team of non-professional actors. Brynja Thóra Gudnadóttir plays a young woman who,  during the course of a road trip, falls in love with her sister’s boyfriend. Gray’s lo-fi, improvisational aesthetic marked by handheld camerawork — some of it done by the actors themselves — and intimate close ups lends the material an uncommon emotional resonance. 

In Between Days
directed by So Yong Kim
Dec. 9 at 6:50 & 9:30 p.m.
Both a love story and a neo-realist depiction of assimilation, In Between Days is also an exploration of intimacy, communications, and human need that resonates with a quiet humanity and truth. Aimie, a recently arrived Korean immigrant teenager, has fallen in love with her best and only friend. Yearning to express her feelings for him, she is inhibited by the fear of losing their friendship. Their fragile relationship is challenged by the demands of living in a new country. With delicate but precise cinematography, every shot resonates with purpose.

The Exploding Girl
directed by Bradley Rust Gray
Dec. 10 at 6:50 & 9:30 p.m.
This moving new work is a delicate portrait of gestures, body language, and things left unsaid. Zoe Kazan is the cherubic Ivy, a young woman spending a college break at home in Brooklyn. Through the course of the week she struggles to connect with her boyfriend — a distance that widens through awkward cell phone conversations — while deepening her intimacy with childhood friend Al. Abetted by Eric Lin’s cinematography, Gray incisively details romantic awakening not by crafting a conventional love story, but by focusing on the richness of his characters and the subtleties of emotional communication.

Treeless Mountain
directed by So Yong Kim
Dec. 11 at 4:30, 6:50 & 9:40 p.m.
Kim’s minimalist, achingly poignant film features naturalistic performances from its young lead actresses. Abandoned by their mother, 6-year-old Jin and 4-year-old Bin are forced to fend for themselves while trying to find their way back to her. Kim allows intimate close-ups of the young girls’ heartbreakingly stoic faces to quietly convey the tragedy of a childhood taken too soon.

Question-and-answer sessions with either Kim or Gray will follow all of the 6:50 p.m. screenings.

The three "Next Director Selects" that will also screen include:
- Rosetta, directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, at 4:30, 6:50 and 9:15 p.m. on Dec. 15
- Rebels of the Neon God, directed by Tsai Ming-liang, at 6:50 and 9:15 p.m. on Dec. 16
- Happy Together, directed by Wong Kar-wai, at 4:30, 6:50 and 9:15 p.m.

Tickets are $7 per screening for BAM Cinema Club Members, $11 for adults, and $8 for seniors, children and students.

For more information, visit http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=1766

BAMcinématek presents The Next Director: So Yong Kim and Bradley Rust Gray
Dec. 8 to Dec. 17, 2009
BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718-636-4100