Arts

When Gene Krupa's orchestra was cast in 1941's Ball of Fire, trumpeter Roy Eldridge's presence was not negotiable.

How Musicians Helped Integrate The Silver Screen

12:28pm July 25, 2013

by John McDonough

America's first Freedom Riders may well have been the black musicians who, in the '30s and '40s, broke ground in Hollywood. Those could have been milestone moments, but the industry responded to provincial concerns and allowed Jim Crow markets to cut out integrated scenes.

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Arts

"Sounds of Summer: Exploring the Tones and Colors of Organs" Continues with Organist Ray Ebert

8:58am July 25, 2013

by David Ford

Sounds of the Summer: Exploring the Tones and Colors of Organs in Winston-Salem began June 9th, with a recital by Co-founder, award-winning organist Timothy Olsen. He performed on the 1971 Charles W. McManis Organ at the Gemeinhaus in Historic Bethabara Park. Sounds of the Summer continues through August 19th and along the way organ lovers sample from the Grooms and Payne instrument at First Baptist Church, the Skinner and Fisk organs at St. Paul's Episcopal, and many others, performed on by some of the Piedmont's finest keyboardists.

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Arts

EMF: The Human Spirit

3:11pm July 24, 2013

Our Summer 2013 local performance broadcast series begins Friday, July 26th, at 8:00 pm.

Producer, writer and director Orson Welles.

Books
Arts

'My Lunches With Orson' Puts You At The Table With Welles

2:53pm July 24, 2013

by John Powers

For years, there were rumors that filmmaker Henry Jaglom had taped hours of his conversations with Orson Welles but that the tapes had been lost. They weren't. Now the transcripts have been released in a new book, edited and introduced by Peter Biskind.

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Exorcistic, a rock parody inspired by a certain 1971 novel and the William Friedkin film made from it, showcases Merlin as a rapping priest inspired by Max von Sydow's Father Merrin. Above, the show poster for the musical's Los Angeles fringe production.

Arts

For Hannibal & Co., A Horrifying New Stage

2:26pm July 24, 2013

by Beth Accomando

One Los Angeles performer has played Dr. Hill in Re-Animator, Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, and now Father Merrin in The Exorcist. Did we mention he sings opera, too?

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'Left Alone,' Oliver Mtukudzi Sees Music As Therapy

12:00pm July 24, 2013

At 60, Zimbabwean musician Oliver Mtukudzi now has more albums to his name than birthdays. His latest album, Sarawoga — which means "left alone" — is a response to the death of his son. Mtukudzi joins Tell Me More for a special performance chat.

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Harold Lloyd (left) is the All-American Boy, a striver who'll brave nearly anything to get to the top and win The Girl. Noah Young is The Law (center) and Bill Strother is The Pal.

Arts

90 Years Later, 'Safety' Still The Last Word With Harold Lloyd

7:16pm July 23, 2013

by Bob Mondello

Arguably the greatest thrill comedy of the silent era, Harold Lloyd's classic Safety Last gets a pristine new release courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

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Daniel Breaker, a Juilliard-trained actor who's earned praise for roles as varied as Donkey in Shrek the Musical and the protagonist Youth in Passing Strange, gets to play a king in a new musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost.

Arts

'Love's Labours,' Tuned Up And Playing In The Park

7:14pm July 23, 2013

by Jeff Lunden

For the first time since the Tony Award-winning adaptation of Two Gentlemen of Verona in 1972, New York's Public Theater is presenting a brand-new musical as part of the Shakespeare in the Park series. The team behind the hit Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson have adapted Love's Labour's Lost.

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The Long Walk, Brian Castner's memoir of PTSD and a difficult homecoming, will soon be an opera.

A Veteran's Piercing True Story Leaps From Page To Stage

6:26pm July 23, 2013

by Quil Lawrence

Iraq vet Brian Castner wrote a memoir of post-traumatic stress disorder and a difficult homecoming. His book, The Long Walk, got good reviews. But Castner never expected that it would get turned into an opera in New York City.

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Books
Arts

Popes, Politics And Power: The Story Of The Borgia Family

6:16pm July 23, 2013

by Lizzie Skurnick

The Borgias are more than just a TV show. Reviewer Lizzie Skurnick says Blood & Beauty by Sarah Dunant shows readers the authentic people behind the pomp and circumstance.

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