You’ll hear that familiar refrain and many more as former Credence Clearwater Revival frontman and rock n roll legend John Fogerty takes the stage at the Charlottesville Pavilion on Sunday.  And while Fogerty’s best known work comes from his years spent with CCR, his later solo albums are not to be overlooked.  Two of my favorites are the 1997 release Blue Moon Swamp which won a Grammy for Best Rock Album as well as his latest effort Revival, released in October of 2007, which also received a Grammy nomination.  Gates open at 6pm, show starts at 7pm.  Tickets are still available.  For info click here.

For the rest of your weekend events….

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Hey, we’re not the only ones in the Spicy Bear family covering the arts around Charlottesville.  Our big brother (and media partner in crime) cVillain has been known to drop some local arts and entertainment news on you from time to time as well.  As a matter of fact, the cvillewomenstheatreproject just posted details on an upcoming stage performance that may interest those of you looking for an outlet for your inner actor or actress:

Charlottesville Women’s Theatre Project is proud to announce that we will be holding auditions for our second project, a staged reading of “Bras and Beaters” by local playwright Sally Story, in just a few weeks.

What we need: 3 women and 3 men, college age or able to pass as such; anyone interested in helping to house manage, usher, concessions, etc.

For more details, read the rest of the article at cVillain

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Just a reminder that this is your last weekend to watch the Ash Lawn Opera.  In addition to the final shows, Bravo! will have their wine and cheese reception in the Boxwood Garden at Ash Lawn-Highland before the performance of My Fair Lady. Everyone is invited and it’s free!

Bravo! is a younger group of professionals who support local arts and would like to see you passionate MUSErs showup.

Make sure you get a chance to go!

The final schedule is after the break.. »Read More

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All right, so most likely everyone in Charlottesville now knows: as of 2010, the Ash Lawn Opera Festival will not be outside. It will be housed in the renovated Jefferson Theatre for at least the subsequent 30 years (that’s as long as their contract with Red Light Management is rumored to be).Good move for Ash Lawn? Bad move? This article in the Daily Progress debates some of the downsides, but seems to conclude it is a good move.Any other thoughts out there?

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This Thursday, July 17th, “House” (by Daniel MacIvor) is being presented by Corner of Clark & Vine Pegwarmers Productions at Live Arts. It’s a one-hour show, pay-what-you-can, and starts at 7:30pm in the Upstage Theater.

Daniel MacIvor is an award-winning Canadian playwright, fimmaker, and director. “House” comes from his comedy  “House/Humans”, which was first printed in 1994. The character in “House,” Victor, is noted as “a man on the edge” on the playwright’s website.

It sounds entertaining and unique, so be sure to stop by and support this one-night production. It’s your only chance to see this latest collaborative endeavor from Autumn Shiley and J Hernandez!

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Here in Charlottesville, we have the pleasure of being surrounded by several theatre venues: Paramount Theater, Live Arts, Play On!, and UVa’s Department of Drama. None of these theatrical venues have the designation of LORT (from the League of Resident Theatres), nor do they purport to be professional theatrical venues.

Now, the Paramount is a unique venue from the others, in that it is more likely to bring in an outside touring show or event, rather than produce a play in the traditional sense. For the others, however, when they obtain the rights to produce a play, they do not seek out actors, directors, and stage managers from the Actor’s Equity Association (AEA), nor technicians from IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists, and Allied Crafts of the United States, its Territories and Canada).

So, the question is what is “community theater” and why is it so important to Charlottesville? (If, in fact, it is significant). Mainly, why is Charlottesville’s community theater (in all of its iterations) important to you?

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Heritage Theatre Festival is about to bring its summer to a close. Currently playing is Forever Plaid by Stuart Ross. This show opened on July 16th and will run through August 2nd in the Helms Theater.

Their final summer show, The Light in the Piazza, opens next week, July 23rd. This show also closes on August 2nd. If you love musicals and summer stock theater, be sure to check out Heritage before their summer season ends!

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This is the word on the street: Live Arts‘ production of Disney’s High School Musical (the stage version) is good, not because it’s Disney, but because of the talented cast members who are putting their heart and soul into their performances. They are, of course, backed by an equally committed technical crew.

If you haven’t seen it, then check it out. Don’t go because it’s Disney, just go to support the amazing teenagers (and a few adults) who are rocking out the stage. Some of the local talent featured onstage is: Carly Amburn, Tiffany Ames, Isaih Anderson, Melanie Arthur, Robby Arthur, Katherine Baird, Nathalie Barton, Brandon Blake, Emma D’Antoni, Richard Drake, Gage Jenkins, Jeannie Jones, Pilar Marshall, Morgan Meadows, Ryan Murphy, Rachael Nidiffer, Sydney Pugh, Dana Pye, Ray Smith, Michael Strickland, Jordon Trader, Mark Valahovic, and Jeremy Weiss.

The show opened last week and is running every weekend until August 2nd. All shows are at 7:30pm, except for the matinee on Sunday, July 27th, which is at 2:00pm.

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Ash Lawn Opera is in the middle of an exciting 2008 season featuring two shows: the tragic and stormy tale of Bizet’s Carmen and the delightfully witty story of Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady. The Festival will also present two evenings of the world’s best loved music in its Music at Twilight Series.

All performances are sung in English in the Boxwood Gardens of Ash Lawn-Highland.  The best thing about Ash Lawn shows is you can picnic before everything starts.   If you already knew about Veritas Ash Lawn has a very classy, intimate atmosphere for your picnicking love.  It’s a great family and date destination.  If you are worried about what to bring, head over to Feast for your picnic basket. You won’t be disappointed.

Let us know if you’ve been!  Also, to let everyone know, this may be the last year for the summer series at Ash Lawn, so make sure you get there before they end the outdoor experience.

Upcoming Shows:

July 18 - Mozart & More, a night of arias, duets and ensembles from some of the world’s finest classical composers.

July 5th through August 9th - My Fair Lady

July 19th through August 10 - Carmen

…more pictures of “My Fair Lady” after the break…

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Live Arts is seeking volunteers to help build and paint the set for their upcoming production of Disney’s High School Musical! Build dates are as follows:

• Wed June 18: 6pm-10pm
• Sat June 21: 10am-2pm
• Tues June 24: 6pm-10pm
• Sat June 28: 10am-2pm
• Tues July 1: 6pm-10pm

Stop by, even if you can only help out for a couple hours!

Be ready to get dirty, play with power tools, and enjoy getting to know some of Charlottesville’s behind-the-scenes technical theater folk!

For more information, call Live Arts at 977-4177, extension 112.

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