When you're out and about this summer (maybe at the beach?) and want interesting, affordable ways to experience family-friendly and fun "art stuff", why not check out the below?
Summer Film Reviews presented by the Rehoboth Beach Film Society
July 20 through August 17
Cape Wine & Spirits, 34164 Citizen Drive, Lewes
302-644-9463
The free public film screenings are used to assist selection process for Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival (November 2009). Reviewers are asked to complete a rating form and join in post-film discussion.
See http://www.rehobothfilm.com/.
Rehoboth Summer Children's Theatre presents "Anansi the Trickster"
Monday, July 20, 2:00pm
Millsboro Public Library, 217 W. State Street, Millsboro
302-934-8743
Based on African folklore, Anansi, the clever spider, must accomplish four tasks before Nyame, the Sky God will return all the stories he has taken from the earth. Library performances are free & open to the public. Some locations do require pre-registration, so check the website for future performances.
See http://www.rehobothchildrenstheatre.org/.
Delaware Humanities Forum & City Theater Company Books & Authors Series
Friday, August 14, 7:00pm
Presto!, Washington Street, Wilmington
This program features the book "The Language of Good-Bye" by Maribeth Fischer accompanied by dramatic readings from CTC actors James Kassees, Mary Catherine Kelley and Georgiana Staley. Free admission.
See http://www.dhf.org/ or http://www.city-theater.org/.
We offer suggestions for arts lovers to discover (and re-discover) established and emerging artists, musicians and performers in and around Delaware. Although we particularly like to celebrate smaller arts organizations and individuals, we cover nearly anything that strikes us or that we feel you should know about. Periodically, we welcome guest bloggers and artists to join us.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Book & Authors Series Continues to Wow Audiences
- A special combined review by Jessica Graae & Margaret Darby
Jessica:
The Delaware Humanities Forum couldn't possibly have anticipated such an overwhelming turnout at their second Books & Authors event for Christopher Castellani's The Saint of Lost Things on July 15. There was almost nowhere to sit as admirers, friends and family packed the room at the Union City Grill. Castellani's books, like the author himself, have tremendous appeal. His humor, warmth and compassion are evident in person as well as on the pages.
In The Saint of Lost Things, he paints a portrait of Wilmington's Little Italy during its heyday in the 1950s. With loving care, he creates interesting, vivid characters---each one with his own, often heartbreaking, story. Three talented young actors from project partner City Theater Company---Rachel Samples (Maddalena), Amanda Riveras-Parker (Carolina) and Matt Payne (Vito)---set the scene for us in the small, make-believe town of Santa Cecilia in the Lazio region of Italy.
Rita Truschel artfully carved a portion of dialogue from Castellani's first book, A Kiss from Maddelena. During this scene, we gained a glimpse into Maddelena's troubled relationship with her sister Carolina, and her lost love, Vito. Castellani reminded us, as he read from The Saint of Lost Things, that while he is writing of everyone's experience, he is also writing of no one's experience. We may be able to relate to his version of Little Italy, or small town life in Italy, but we all have our own perceptions and experiences. Castellani's psychological portrait of the immigrant Antonio, who thinks: 'Surrender even a little bit to your wife, he knows, and her voice gets louder and louder until it drowns yours out completely,' echoed my own experience with a Sicilian whose need for power and control dominated every aspect of his life and marriage.
Not only is Castellani a gifted observer and writer, he is very clearly a born mentor. In answering questions about his craft, he mentions, "the good news is: we are all qualified writers." The audience also got a taste of his manuscript in progress. Castellani told us it had been the most difficult one to write: Characters from his two previous novels make a pilgrimage back to Santa Cecilia looking for family, trying to "fill a hole" in their lives. Going home to find your roots can be a difficult process, but the author does it himself so fearlessly.
Margaret:
He was carried away by Vladimir Nabakov's Lolita and loves the 19th Century writers George Elliot and Thomas Hardy. He believes our lives are "made up of countless sensibilities" and that "[his] Italy is not your Italy."
Castellani's writing in The Saint of Lost Things gave me such a vivid picture of my 92-year-old friend Antoinetta's youth in Wilmington's Little Italy. I feel I know Nettie better because I was drawn in by his Maddalena character, peeking into her view of the United States and of her marriage to the man of her parents' choice. And how fun not only to meet the author, but also speak to his parents, his brother and sister afterward and discover that, yes, some of his writing is a spot-on description of his family and some comes from his prolific imagination.
Castellani brought me a new view of my friend Nettie's world and he and his family gave me an uncensored view of their own sensibilities. Hard to get closer than that to an author.
See www.dhf.org.
See www.city-theater.org.
Jessica:
The Delaware Humanities Forum couldn't possibly have anticipated such an overwhelming turnout at their second Books & Authors event for Christopher Castellani's The Saint of Lost Things on July 15. There was almost nowhere to sit as admirers, friends and family packed the room at the Union City Grill. Castellani's books, like the author himself, have tremendous appeal. His humor, warmth and compassion are evident in person as well as on the pages.
In The Saint of Lost Things, he paints a portrait of Wilmington's Little Italy during its heyday in the 1950s. With loving care, he creates interesting, vivid characters---each one with his own, often heartbreaking, story. Three talented young actors from project partner City Theater Company---Rachel Samples (Maddalena), Amanda Riveras-Parker (Carolina) and Matt Payne (Vito)---set the scene for us in the small, make-believe town of Santa Cecilia in the Lazio region of Italy.
Rita Truschel artfully carved a portion of dialogue from Castellani's first book, A Kiss from Maddelena. During this scene, we gained a glimpse into Maddelena's troubled relationship with her sister Carolina, and her lost love, Vito. Castellani reminded us, as he read from The Saint of Lost Things, that while he is writing of everyone's experience, he is also writing of no one's experience. We may be able to relate to his version of Little Italy, or small town life in Italy, but we all have our own perceptions and experiences. Castellani's psychological portrait of the immigrant Antonio, who thinks: 'Surrender even a little bit to your wife, he knows, and her voice gets louder and louder until it drowns yours out completely,' echoed my own experience with a Sicilian whose need for power and control dominated every aspect of his life and marriage.
Not only is Castellani a gifted observer and writer, he is very clearly a born mentor. In answering questions about his craft, he mentions, "the good news is: we are all qualified writers." The audience also got a taste of his manuscript in progress. Castellani told us it had been the most difficult one to write: Characters from his two previous novels make a pilgrimage back to Santa Cecilia looking for family, trying to "fill a hole" in their lives. Going home to find your roots can be a difficult process, but the author does it himself so fearlessly.
Margaret:
He was carried away by Vladimir Nabakov's Lolita and loves the 19th Century writers George Elliot and Thomas Hardy. He believes our lives are "made up of countless sensibilities" and that "[his] Italy is not your Italy."
Castellani's writing in The Saint of Lost Things gave me such a vivid picture of my 92-year-old friend Antoinetta's youth in Wilmington's Little Italy. I feel I know Nettie better because I was drawn in by his Maddalena character, peeking into her view of the United States and of her marriage to the man of her parents' choice. And how fun not only to meet the author, but also speak to his parents, his brother and sister afterward and discover that, yes, some of his writing is a spot-on description of his family and some comes from his prolific imagination.
Castellani brought me a new view of my friend Nettie's world and he and his family gave me an uncensored view of their own sensibilities. Hard to get closer than that to an author.
See www.dhf.org.
See www.city-theater.org.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Arts money to save jobs
So with recession, shrinking audiences and fewer philanthropic donations as the backdrop, Delaware just put $290,400 to work to sustain 14 jobs at 11 arts organizations. The saved jobs include curators, artistic, production, business and education staff.
This is one-time federal grant money for one year. Gov. Jack Markell and his designated "stimulus czar" Lt. Gov. Matt Denn cited not only the jobs themselves, but the value of arts to improve public education, encourage youth and attract employers seeking quality of life.
The government money comes from Congress, passed through the National Endowment of the Arts from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act this winter to confront the economy. Overall, the NEA distributed $50 million in job aid nationwide.
Then the Delaware Division of the Arts evaluated applications and decided:
Christina Cultural Arts Center in Wilmington got $20,000.
Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington got $50,000.
Delaware by Hand got $10,000.
Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts in Wilmington got $40,000.
Delaware Division of Parks and Recreation got $35,000.
Delaware Institute for Arts in Education got $5,000.
Delaware Theatre Company in Wilmington got $40,000.
Newark Arts Alliance got $20,000.
New Candlelight Theatre in Ardentown got $22,500.
OperaDelaware in Wilmington got $27,900.
Wilmington Drama League got $20,000.
In addition, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra got $50,000 directly from the NEA.
And the Grand Opera House in Wilmington got $30,000 from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.
Lt. Gov. Denn said this arts money is the first chunk of federal stimulus to come to Delaware, and the "refreshingly drama-free" allocation process serves as a model for grantsmanship. Gov. Markell said, "This isn't the answer to everything but it helps," and is especially important to smaller organizations.
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