LAKEPORT, Calif. – “The Sound of Music” is the familiar tale of a young Austrian woman sent from the abbey to govern the seven children in the villa of Captain von Trapp.
Maria Rainer von Trapp not only teaches the children to sing, but how to live life joyfully. She also counsels the 16-year-old Liesl to “wait a year or two” to fall in love.
The “world’s most beloved musical,” by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, is presented by the drama club of Clear Lake High School.
“If you see only one live production this year,” says show producer C. Richard Smith, “be sure you catch this outstanding musical production by these very talented kids. They light up the stage and will have you singing, laughing and in tears.”
“The Sound of Music” is performed in the Marge Alakszay Center on the Lakeport school campus at 250 Lange St.
Performances take place at 7 p.m. Friday, March 22, and Saturday, March 23; and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 24.
Tickets cost $15 for reserved seating and $10 for general seating. Children 12 and under are $5.
Tickets are available through the CLHS office at 707-262-3010 or at the door.
FORT BRAGG, Calif. – Symphony of the Redwoods will present its spring concert Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7.
The concert begins at 8 p.m. April 6 and 2 p.m. April 7, at Cotton Auditorium, 500 N. Harold St., Fort Bragg.
A reception, celebrating the symphony’s 30 years of music on the Mendocino Coast, follows the April 7 concert at 4 p.m. at the senior center next to the auditorium.
Allan Pollack conducts Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with guest pianist Elena Casanova in the season’s final concert.
The program includes Brahms’ Serenade No. 1, and The Dance of the Buffoons by Rimsky-Korsakov; Allan Pollack conducting.
Tchaikovsky's well-loved Concerto No.1 is a favorite of virtuoso pianists. Casanova brings her wide breadth of musical experience, including her solo performances with the Ukiah Symphony Orchestra and her enthusiasm for her native Cuban music, to this powerful piece.
This kite-flying poem caught me right up and sent me flying as soon as Robert Gibb described those dimestore kites furled tighter than umbrellas, a perfect image. Gibb lives in Pennsylvania.
Kites
Come March we’d find them In the five-and-dimes, Furled tighter than umbrellas About their slats, the air
In an undertow above us Like weather on the maps. We’d play out lines Of kite string, tugging against
The bucking sideways flights. Readied for assembly, I’d arc the tensed keel of balsa Into place against the crosspiece,
Feeling the paper snap Tautly as a sheet, then lift The almost weightless body Up to where it hauled me
Trolling into the winds— Knotted bows like vertebrae Flashing among fields Of light. Why ruin it
By recalling the aftermaths? Kites gone down in tatters, Kites fraying like flotsam From the tops of the trees.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright 2012 by Robert Gibb from his most recent book of poems, Sheet Music, Autumn House Press, 2012. Poem reprinted by permission of Robert Gibb and Autumn House Press. Introduction copyright 2013 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
The director of the “Spider-Man” trilogy and “The Evil Dead,” among other titles in an eclectic resume, turned his sights to a cinematic prequel of L. Frank Baum’s book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
Sam Raimi also directed his baseball homage, “For Love of the Game,” starring Kevin Costner, and the supernatural thriller, “Drag Me to Hell.” His filmmaking talents are abundant and diverse.
If the grand Broadway musical “Wicked” can become a popular hit, why not tinker with “The Wizard of Oz” legend to be reinvented as the backstory of how the Wizard arrived in the Emerald City?
Raimi’s “Oz the Great and Powerful” is the story of how the wizard came to be the wizard. It’s the tale of a smalltime carnival magician, a charlatan and sly con artist, who arrived in a magical, fantastic world.
Based on an imaginative screenplay by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire, Raimi’s colorful invention follows Oscar Diggs (James Franco), an amoral circus huckster with dubious ethics.
The setting is the black-and-white world of 1905 Kansas, where Franco’s fast-talking Oscar fools gullible audiences with cheap tricks and low-grade sleight-of-hand, aided by his frantic assistant Frank (Zach Braff).
Oscar also employs his seductive wiles to woo beautiful young women, but his tryst with Annie (Michelle Williams) causes him to stir the wrath of a jealous circus strongman.
Fleeing in a hot air balloon, Oscar is soon caught up in a fierce tornado sweeping the dusty plains, and as a result, he’s whisked away to the Technicolor world of the Land of Oz.
Greeted like a conquering hero, Oscar is assumed to be the great wizard that is eagerly anticipated by the fearful inhabitants of the Land of Oz. For his part, Oscar thinks he’s hit the jackpot of fame and fortune.
Instead of meeting up with the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, Oscar finds his new companions are the talking winged monkey Finley (voiced by Zach Braff) and China Girl, the porcelain doll, (voiced by Joey King).
His protean charm and evident reputation as a seducer of women is immediately put to the test in the Land of Oz, where no less than three beautiful witches compete for his attention.
Oscar’s first encounter is with the youngest of the trio, a beguiling but emotionally naïve Theodora (Mila Kunis), who bats her big brown eyes ever so seductively that Oscar is quickly smitten by her beauty.
Having doubts about Oscar’s intentions, Theodora’s older sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz) is a schemer who can play both sides of the moral divide with great ease.
At first, Evanora seems convincing as somebody just looking out for the welfare of the Emerald City and its citizens, but shifts into a dark wicked mode when she feels threatened by the roguish stranger.
Then there’s Glinda, the Good Witch (also Michelle Williams), a beautiful creature whose motives, at the outset, are cloaked in mystery.
Oscar is naturally drawn to Glinda because she’s the alter ego to Annie, his love interest that he left behind in Kansas when he made his desperate escape in the hot-air balloon.
The role of Oscar requires James Franco to come across as alternately slimy huckster and sincere savior of an oppressed people. Franco does not appear completely up to the task to play this duality.
This shortcoming is something of a problem for a story that focuses so intently on Oscar’s transformation from selfish con man to the gallant, altruistic Wizard of Oz.
A lot of effort was also put into generating suspense about the identity of the Wicked Witch of the West, but the savvy viewer may pick up the telltale signs long before the magical revelation.
In the end, with little surprise, Oscar summons the courage and will to organize a motley bunch of tinkerers, farmers and Munchkins to reclaim Emerald City from the evil machinations of the witches.
The ruby red slippers, iconic songs and even Toto are missing here because the 1939 original version “The Wizard of Oz” is copyrighted intellectual property to which Disney has no claim or legal right to use.
“Oz the Great and Powerful,” facing certain creative and artistic limitations, does the best that it can with the source material that is usable.
At the very least, this Disney version, which uses its 3D to great effect in limited but vital scenes, is a visual spectacle that is satisfying for the family audience.
“Oz the Great and Powerful,” though not the great film one would have hoped for, is still powerful enough in its wondrous beauty to deliver the goods in a satisfactory manner.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Guitarist Lindy Day and Native American flautist Kevin Village Stone will join Bob Culbertson on stage this Saturday, March 16, at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre in Lakeport.
Culbertson is a world-renowned Chapman stick player and recording artist with an international career that spans decades. “Possibly the world’s No. 1 touch guitarist!” says Inside San Diego ABC TV.
Stone and Day will join Culbertson with guitar and Native American flutes in addition to a couple of opening numbers.
Showtime starts at 7 p.m. All seats are $18.
Tickets are available at the Main Street Gallery and The Salon at High Street Village, both in Lakeport, at the Soper-Reese box office on Friday or online at www.soperreesetheatre.com (scroll down to “Bob Culbertson and Friends”), and The Travel Center, located at 1265 Main St., Lakeport.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-5) has announced the beginning of the 2013 Congressional Art Competition, and urged high school students in California’s 5th Congressional District to enter their artwork.
The annual competition showcases the artistic talents and abilities of students in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories.
The 2013 competition is open to all high school students in California’s Fifth District.
“The Congressional Art Competition is an excellent opportunity for our community to support our student artists, and I encourage all eligible students to apply,” said Thompson. “Every year our office receives outstanding submissions from talented artists all across our district. I look forward to seeing all of this year’s artwork.”
Since 1982, the Congressional Art Competition has given Members of Congress the opportunity to encourage the artistic talents of their young constituents.
Each member of Congress hosts a competition among high school students in his or her district. The winning artwork from each district is then displayed in the United States Capitol for one year.
In addition, the grand prize winner will be flown with a guest to Washington, D.C. to attend an awards ceremony in June.
An oil portrait on canvas titled “Erin,” painted by last year’s winner, Julian Gordon of McKinleyville, is currently on display in the Capitol.
A panel of judges will select the winning entry and their decision will be announced in early May.
All artwork must be submitted by April 22nd to Congressman Thompson’s district offices:
1040 Main St., Suite 101, Napa, CA 94559;
985 Walnut Ave., Vallejo, CA 94592;
2300 Country Center Dr. Suite A100, Santa Rosa, CA 95403.
Guidelines for the Congressional Art Competition include the following:
Artwork must be two-dimensional.
Each piece can be no larger than 28 inches high, 28 inches wide, and 4 inches deep, including the frame.
Students and teachers interested in the Congressional Art Competition may contact Melissa Rodezno in Congressman Thompson’s Napa office at 707-226-9898 for further guidelines and information.
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