We’ve got a couple of “field” parties on the schedule of weekend happenings.  Our first party is for a “field” and our second party is in one.  It will all make sense soon enough.

Kick off your weeknd on Friday, May 30 as the Field School of Charlottesville holds their 2nd annual Music Benefit and Auction at Saxx Jazz and Blues Club in the heart of Belmont.  Doors open at 6pm and they’ve got a pretty cool line-up.  Scheduled to perform are the Field School Boys Choir, Darrell Rose (of Afrikan Drum Festival fame), local food critic and rock n roller Ned Oldham, Sam Wilson, Jim Waive, Charlie Bell, and others.  Sounds pretty cool.

Then you can wrap up your weekend on Sunday, June 1 by playing in the field at Dorrier Park in Scottsville as the town kicks off its 10th season of Rhythm on the River with performances by Sons of Bill and the Hackensaw Boys.  Did I mention that it’s free?  Show time is 6pm.  For more details, check out our Rhythm on the River post here.

For the rest of your weekend events… »Read More

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Next month on June 17, Live Arts will be hosting a Volunteer Open House at 123 East Water Street. The fair will be held from 5pm-8pm. Light refreshments will be provided.

The first segment (5pm-6:30pm) will be a casual eat, meet-and-greet atmosphere. The Live Arts staff, local designers, and guild members will be on hand to talk about how they contribute to Live Arts’ productions. In the second segment (6:30pm-8pm), the directors for the 2008-2009 season will talk about the shows they will be directing in the upcoming year.

If you are curious about Live Arts - put this event on your calendar! It will be a great way to see all the dedicated volunteers who bring quality theatre to the Downtown Mall, and find out ways (big or small) you could help out!

For even more details about Live Arts’ upcoming season and the Volunteer Open House, visit their most recent newsletter.

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Live Arts just did a major redesign of their website.   They’ve incorporated a lot of new features such as a blog (with commentary!), an AJAX side bar (that’s fancy stuff for non-technical people), sharing features and a whole lot more.  Go check out their site and let us know what you think.

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Play On! Theatre is hosting a Volunteer Fair on May 20th at 7pm. The fair will be held in their space at The Ix Building (983 2nd St SE - off Elliott Avenue).

Meet other theatre-minded volunteers and find out how you can help out with Play On’s productions. You can also call for more information at 872-0184.

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Academic papers and classes are structured around this very question. Over the centuries, skeptical scholars have attempted to explain how an uneducated playwright with few royal connections could have concocted plays taking place all across Europe and in varying time periods. It has been suggested that perhaps Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, Edward de Vere the Earl of Oxford, or even Queen Elizabeth I, were either collectively or singularly responsible for the works of “William Shakespeare.”

Amy Freed takes on this conspiracy with poetry and comedy in The Beard of Avon, which opens at Live Arts next Friday, May 16th. It is directed by Betsy Rudelich Tucker, and runs from May 16 through June 7.

If you’re in the mood for a classic musical, don’t forget to check out the Play On! production of Guys and Dolls that opened May 8. It runs through May 24.

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Here are the basics: I was born in Illinois, grew up in Richmond, VA, and attended the University of Richmond. I started doing drama in high school, tried to quit a few times, but it kept sucking me back into the vortex. So, I’ve given up trying to fight it! My theatrical experience ranges from my beginnings in high school, to indigenous drama in East Africa, to university theatre, and an amazing internship at Williamstown Theatre Festival.

I love the theatre scene in Charlottesville, and am constantly amazed at how many varying opportunities exist here in Mr. Jefferson’s town. My favorite part of theatre is the historical background of plays, playwrights, the eras in which the plays were written, and the eras in which the plays are set to take place. Playwrights are more like poets than novelists, so every word and every name ends up taking significance in the structural composition of a play.

My nickname was given to me in college and somehow gravitated into the Charlottesville theatre scene, as well. For me, it will always be tied to my theatrical experiences, and that’s why it’s displayed when I post.

I think that’s everything most relevant to introducing me … thanks for reading my posts!

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One of Disney’s many theatrical productions is coming to Charlottesville this summer! No, it’s not The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Aida, Beauty and the Beast, or The Little Mermaid. It’s the stage version of Disney’s smash television musical about high school … that’s right, High School Musical.

Live Arts is taking on this behemoth of teenage talent for their summer musical, so mark your calendars. Performance dates are July 11 through August 2. Disney’s productions tend to be over-the-top excellent and earmarked for Broadway success when they’re adapted, well as long as you’re not counting their version of Tarzan or The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

And, no doubt Virginians are waiting with baited breath for Disney’s adaptation of their much-aligned Pocahontas, a movie whose historical and visual inconsistencies caused bile to rise in the mouth of everyone who visited Jamestown with their fourth grade class and knew the real age of Pocahontas when she met John Smith.

For those of you who don’t have a tween or a teen in the household, or for those who can resist the magical draw of Disney on their younger household residents, Play On! has Guys and Dolls on their May calendar. Performances run from May 8 until May 24, with a Sunday matinee on May 11. Frank Loesser’s music and lyrics, combined with a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, always provide a night of good entertainment and a nostalgic look back to classic Broadway of the mid-20th century.

So, just because it’s summer doesn’t mean Charlottesville’s theatre is taking a vacation. Enjoy the local talent on the stages of both theatres, while taking in a night on Charlottesville’s downtown mall.

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We just had someone send in us the announcement for Live Arts 2008-2009 and I wanted to share it with you.

The arts enthusiast adds:

Before I go on, more important than the specifics of this list are the surprisingly moving words delivered by Live Arts Artistic Director John Gibson. When I say “surprisingly moving”, I am not exaggerating. I don’t get moved, but by God that man made me cry. The theater community of central Virginia has lost some members to God this year, even just this week. I didn’t know all of these people, but I am certain from the audible gasps in the audience that they were loved in the community. Perhaps others in this forum would know who was spoken of by John.

John’s elegy and birth announcement were so impassioned and earnest that I could see why Charlottesville is such a uniquely theater-heavy area, and Live Arts is such a unique theater, not just in Virginia but in the entire theater world. Our area’s theatrical heart beats big; it contains multitudes of creative spirits who unite daily to create our region’s tears and laughter, from Four County Players to the Hamner to Blackfriars and every theater, classroom, bar and ruin in between.

I was too entranced to write while John spoke, so anyone else who was there, please correct anything I’ve missed.  Thank you very much!
The list is after the break..

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Attention Local Charlottesville artists!  In response to a question posed by one of our readers (who also happens to be a local musician) we here at the MUSE have decided to create a space where local artists from any field can post an annoucement about an upcoming show, exhibit, or performance that they’ve got coming up in the week ahead.

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Here’s your rundown on this weekend’s happenings around town (and slightly beyond).  We’ve got theater and tons of live music (including a taste of India!), but of course First things first… »Read More

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