New Orleans Burlesque Festival gets the spotlight in September

The first annual New Orleans Burlesque Festival will be Sept. 11 to 13 at Harrah's New Orleans on Canal Street.

Rick Delaup, producer and founder of festival, announced the dates during a session of the Tales of the Cocktail session called "Jazz, Cocktails and Storyville" on July 10. He recently released more details about the three-night festival of striptease, jazz and variety acts.

Delaup is known around town as a documentary filmmaker and as the creator of "Bustout Burlesque," a retro striptease that began in March 2005 at One Eyed Jack's in the French Quarter and has gone on to play engagements at Tipitina's in the Quarter, Le Chat Noir, the Royal Sonesta and the House of Blues.

More here.

'Forest Gump' Author Winston Groom Highlights New Orleans Area Visits This Week

Winston Groom
What: The novelist and historian, author of 'Forest Gump,' 'Conversations With the Enemy' and, most recently, 'Vicksburg, 1863,' appears with artist William Dunlap and Ogden Museum of Art director J. Richard Gruber as part of the Southern Storytellers series.
When: Sunday, 2 p.m.
Where: Ogden Museum of Art. For information and to reserve a spot, contact Stephanie Spicer, 504.539.9618.

Jeff L. Rosenheim, curator of photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, presents a lecture, 'In the Spirit: The Achievement and Legacy of Michael P. Smith,' today, 6:30 p.m., the Historic New Orleans Collection, 533 Royal St. Free, but seating is limited. Call 504.523.4662 for reservations.

Martha Hall Foose signs 'Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales From a Southern Cook,' Thursday, 6-8 p.m., during Ogden After Hours, featuring Larry Sieberth & Friends, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Book-signing is free; concert is free to museum members, $10 general admission.

Bill Dixon signs 'Last Days of Last Island: The Hurricane of 1856, Louisiana's First Great Storm,' Friday, 6 p.m., Octavia Books, and again Saturday, 11 a.m., Barnes & Noble/Metairie.

Sherry Lee Alexander interviews Travis Bradberry, author of 'Emotional Intelligence 2.0,' Saturday, 8:30 a.m., on Writers' Forum, WRBH-FM radio. Program repeats Sunday at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Douglas Brinkley signs 'The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America,' Saturday, 1-3 p.m., at Garden District Book shop.


Poets Chris Champagne, Danny Kerwick, Martha McFerren and Laura Mattingly present a reading, Saturday, 2-3:30 p.m., Latter Library.

Poets Julie Kane ('Jazz Funeral') and Robin Kemp ('This Pagan Heaven') read from and sign their books, Sunday, 3 p.m., Maple Leaf Bar.

Robin Kemp reads from and signs 'This Pagan Heaven,' Monday, 6 p.m., Octavia Books.

Brooklyn cemetery commissions new sculpture to honor New Orleans composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk

From The Times-Picayune

by Chris Waddington
One of New Orleans' greatest musicians got a boost in New York this month, but he couldn't join in the celebratory announcement. That's because Louis Moreau Gottschalk was laid to rest in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery in 1869.

On July 6, the historic cemetery announced another step in its $200,000 campaign to restore the marble Angel of Music marker atop the world-touring pianist and composer's gravesite, which disappeared under hazy circumstances a half-century ago.

Green-Wood has selected four sculptors to submit models of their designs: Myra C. Weisgold of University Park, Fla.; Kirsten Kokkin of Loveland, Colo.; Tuck Langland of Granger, Ind.; and the team of Jill Burkee and Giancarlo Biagi of New York City.

For more, click here.

ATNO holding open auditions in Metairie

From The Times-Picayune

ATNO holding open auditions in Metairie
by Ann Maloney

The Actor's Theatre of New Orleans is holding open auditions for its fall season on Saturday, Aug. 1, from noon to 3 p.m. at ATNO, 4539 N. I-10 Service Road, Suite 200, in Metairie.

The season includes:
Beth Henley's "The Miss Firecracker Contest," Sept. 10-26;
Rene J.F. Piazza's "Camp Chaos," Oct. 8-14;
John Patrick Shanley "Four Dogs and a Bone," Nov. 5-21;
Rene J.F. Piazza's "A Christmas Carols: The Whole Story, The Movie," Dec. 3-20;
and
David Sedaris' "The Santaland Diaries," Dec. 4-19.

Neil LaBute "Some Girls," directed by: Rene' J.F. Piazza, is the opening show of the 2009-2010 season. It opens Aug. 13 and continues through Aug. 29. The play tells the story of a single's man odyssey through four hotel rooms as he flies across the country in search of the perfect woman. It is for mature audiences only.

A season brochure is available by calling 504.456.4111.


For more, click here.

Southern Rep Theatre Announces Their Seven Upcoming Productions For 2009-2010 Season

Artistic Director Aimée Hayes has announced the seven productions that make up Southern Rep Theatre's provocative new 2009/2010 Season - a mix of bold story-telling and innovative musical works, and the return of Southern Rep's new play festival, reborn as the SOUTHERN REP NEW PLAY BACCHANAL. As the Gulf Coast South's premiere professional theatre, Southern Rep's 23rd season includes two world premieres and five regional premieres. Following the critically acclaimed 2008/2009 season, it will focus on community partnerships with fellow arts organizations to embrace NOLA's own performing arts community.

This season, Southern Rep is proud to present the World Premiere of The NOLA Project actor and playwright Peter McElligott's WITH A BANG, a co-production with that young, fresh and ferocious theatre company, as well as the regional premiere of OPUS by Michael Hollinger. A co-presentation with JuneBug Productions, Ashé Cultural Arts Center, and Tulane University, Southern Rep is thrilled to bring the dynamic theatre group Universes' new project AMERIVILLE to New Orleans. Other regional debuts include Doug Wright's I AM MY OWN WIFE co-produced with All Kinds of Theatre and THE PIANO TEACHER by Julia Cho. THE PIANO TEACHER will open with the winner of Southern Rep's 10 Minute Play Riot, a part of SOUTHERN REP'S NEW PLAY BACCHANAL, a new amped-up version of the former SRT Fest of New Plays. Finishing out the season will be the regional premiere of the Tony winning musical, GREY GARDENS, in a co-production with Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré on Le Petit's stage.

For more, click here.

Royal Street artists, merchants announce 8th annual 'Dirty Linen Night'

From nola.com
by Keith I. Marszalek

Royal Street artists and merchants have announced that this year's 8th Annual Dirty Linen Night will be held on Saturday, August 8, 2009.

Join the celebration on Royal Street from the 200 block of Royal to the 1000 block ending at Ursulines Street, from 6 - 9 p.m

For more, click here.

New Orleans gets OK to enforce ban on selling art prints in Jackson Square

From The Times-Picayune

by Bruce Eggler, The Times-Picayune

A federal judge has cleared the way for New Orleans to enforce its law banning artists from selling prints on the sidewalks around Jackson Square.

U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle said the city is within its rights in permitting the display and sale only of works that "have been accomplished essentially by hand" and without the use of "any mechanical or duplicative process."

Although Lemelle had suggested three years ago that the city should adopt a "more narrowly tailored ordinance" than a total ban on prints, the City Council refused to go along with his idea.

Casting Calls, July 27th

According to a craigslist posting, the indie-comedy "A Hot Mess" is still looking for actors.

Casting Call:
Saturday, Aug. 1
11am-2pm
@ The Continental
2144 First Street
Slidell, La. 70458

If you are interested, email a head-shot and resume to ahotmessfilm@gmail.com.

Click here for more information.

_________________________

According to a craigslist ad, a new TV series is seeking Saints fans

A new television series on Coach Payton and the Saints is searching for the most die-hard, loyal, who dat fan(s) around.

Email iamasaintsfan@hotmail.com with your contact information, and a brief description of why you think you are the biggest Saints fan.

'Streets of Blood,' on DVD July 28, is a flimsy excuse to wallow in post-Katrina violence

From The Times-Picayune

by Michael H. Kleinschrodt, DVD columnist, The Times-Picayune

It's a bad week for police detectives on DVD shelves.
Not only is Harvey Keitel's "Bad Lieutenant" being re-released, July 28 also brings the direct-to-DVD debut of "Streets of Blood." Both hyperviolent films feature cops as crooked as the criminals, and neither has a compelling narrative.
"Streets of Blood," filmed predominantly in Shreveport in 2008, is set in New Orleans six months after Hurricane Katrina.

For more, click here.

Film includes Yes Men's post-Katrina pranks in New Orleans

From The Times-Picayune

by Dave Walker, TV columnist, The Times-Picayune

Anyone familiar with The Yes Men's act by now should know that "Oh, no!" is the only appropriate reaction to their arrival on any scene.
That, and running for the nearest exit.
Especially if you're a public figure. Extra-especially if you're a corporate chieftain or the underling charged with protecting him or her (but usually it's a him).

***

In the film, The Yes Men say that they make their entree into spoofy situations by posting fake Web sites and then waiting for conference organizers to invite them to speak.

That doesn't appear to be how they got to a 2006 conference in New Orleans, where their act fooled Mayor Ray Nagin, then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco and a big room full of rebuilding contractors.

They came then as subs for Alphonso Jackson, who was then secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and a key player in New Orleans' recovery.

The Yes Men's fake announcement at the gathering reversed HUD's actual policy at the time and reopened the city's public housing developments to residents. Also announced was a multibillion-dollar effort by oil companies to fund the rebuilding of Louisiana's coastal wetlands.

Reporters in the room -- WWL-radio's Dave Cohen is pictured as most forceful in debunking The Yes Men trickery -- weren't fooled, but the damage was done.

And kept getting done later at another Yes Men-staged event at one of the city's shuttered public housing developments.

OK, so the wetlands situation deserves all the attention it can get, and the film might be helpful to anyone in HBO's national audience who is new to the issue.

The debate over public housing in New Orleans is lot more complicated than it's depicted in this film, though, and satire, however sharply composed, doesn't ever really fix very much.

The Yes Men Fix the World Today, 8 p.m., HBO

For more, click here.

New Orleans celebrates Louis Armstrong

From The Baton Rouge Advocate

By Judy Bergeron

For the ninth year, New Orleans is celebrating Satchmo.

The annual Satchmo SummerFest honoring native son and jazz great Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong will run Thursday, July 30, through Sunday, Aug. 2, at the Louisiana State Museum’s Old U.S. Mint in the French Quarter.

The free, family-friendly festival sponsored by French Quarter Festivals, Inc., celebrates Armstrong’s life, music and legacy.

The festival is multi-faceted, with music on one indoor and two outdoor stages, seminars, movies, exhibits and a swing “dance off” contest.

The keynote speaker will be Robert O’Meally, a professor at Columbia University, who will talk at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on the Mint’s second floor. While there, visitors can catch the photo exhibit Jam Session: America’s Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World.

Seminars are scheduled on Friday at the State Museum’s Presbytere, and move to the Mint on Saturday and Sunday. A “Happy Birthday, Satchmo!” birthday party is at 10:30 a.m. Friday in Armstrong Park.

The music stages have been renamed in honor of Armstrong and will be called “Back o’ Town,” “Red Beans and Ricely Yours” and “Cornet Chop Suey.” The stages will offer a mix of traditional/contemporary and brass band music on Saturday and Sunday.

The Lindy Hoppers swing dancers will host the “dance off” at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on Barracks Street, near the “Red Beans and Ricely Yours” stage. Swing dancers from eight states will perform.

The children’s area moves to the second floor of the Mint this year. Kids can watch an assortment of Armstrong cartoon and other historic, family-friendly shows and specials. Families can also create their own Armstrong-inspired collages noon- 5 p.m.

There will be no shortage of food choices at this year’s festival, from Vietnamese fare to traditional Louisiana dishes.

The festival is scheduled each year to coincide with Armstrong’s birthdate, Aug. 4, 1901. Armstrong died in 1971.

For more information, call (504) 522-5730 or go to http://www.fqfi.org.

New Orleans Opera refuses to sing the blues over tough economy

From The Times-Picayune

New Orleans Opera refuses to sing the blues over tough economy by Ted Mahne

As the New Orleans Opera Association prepares for its upcoming season, in which a concert of Verdi's Requiem Mass will replace the usual fourth full-scale opera production, the company assures patrons that the move does not signal an impending death knell for the company.

"It is an economic issue," said Robert Lyall, general director of the New Orleans Opera. "However, it also is an artistic decision."

Originally, "at the height of optimism," the new season was to include new productions of "Aida" and "Porgy and Bess," two operas demanding massive productions to stage successfully.

"Meanwhile, across the country, companies saw a real slowdown in ticket sales," Lyall said. "Contributions also have slowed."

While ticket sales have remained steady and strong in New Orleans, Lyall noted that the fiscal crystal ball was still cloudy, with significant state funding for all the arts placed on the chopping block by the governor earlier in the year.

"When faced with having to make financial cuts, I've always been in favor of tightening screws at every corner," Lyall said, rather than entirely slashing a particular program or merely shortening the season altogether.

The decision was made to present Verdi's Requiem instead of a fully staged opera.

"We could've gone with a smaller chamber opera that audiences would find too esoteric," Lyall said, or staged an inexpensive production such as "Hansel and Gretel" and gotten away with calling it a "family opera."

"But we still wanted to do something grand. The Requiem, in fact, has been called one of Verdi's greatest operas, it is so theatrical and dramatic," Lyall said.

Because the company will be saving significantly on production costs, it is able to bring in singers for the concert that the New Orleans Opera otherwise couldn't afford for a full-blown production and the required weeks of rehearsal time.

"Our principal singers for the Requiem are in demand by opera companies all over the world," Lyall said. The massive work demands a massive chorus. "We will have more than 200 voices in the chorus, including our own New Orleans Opera Chorus." Supplementing those ranks will be the New Orleans Vocal Arts Chorale and choirs from both Loyola and Tulane universities.

The alteration to the traditional season also is as much about the company's long-term future as it is the immediate season.

"I'm a risk-taker, but a prudent one," Lyall said. Indeed, having shepherded the company through its recovery and vibrant comeback after Hurricane Katrina, Lyall laughed at the notion that a national recession could do them in.

"This is the best accommodation for us now," he said. It is because of the company's prudent fiscal management that "we're now in the position to ensure that the artistic decisions remain the driving force."

One such decision was shifting from the previously scheduled "Aida," also by Verdi, to Puccini's "Tosca," which will open the season.

"We landed happily on our feet" through the schedule changes, Lyall said, noting for example that although the principal singers for "Tosca" originally were contracted for "Aida," the vocal types and ranges for each opera match up well, and the members of the cast include both operas in their various repertoires.

In addition, ticket sales and renewals for the season already are off to a strong start, at a time when the New Orleans Opera Association and all arts organizations are still measuring the depth of the performing arts audience.

"When we returned this spring to the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts, I didn't know if the audience would be there or not," Lyall said. Planning two large-scale but ever-popular operas -- "Carmen" and "La Traviata" -- worked. All performances sold out.

"I knew where they were on those nights," Lyall said.

http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2009/07/new_orleans_opera_refuses_to_s.html