Arts & Entertainment

Friday, November 20, 2009

Fate of UI's Washington arts program up in air

URBANA – A University of Illinois arts program in Washington, D.C., supported by former Chancellor Richard Herman, is awaiting word on its fate after a review by a high-level campus committee.

"Illinois at the Phillips," the brainchild of art history Professor Jonathan Fineberg, offers UI art students courses and internships at Washington's Phillips Collection, the first museum of modern art in the United States. Fineberg is a trustee of the museum.

C-U native among 250 artists to meet pope

More than 250 artists including Champaign native John David Mooney will meet on Saturday with Pope Benedict XVI in the famed Sistine Chapel in the Vatican in Rome.

The gathering under Michelangelo's frescoes will bring together artists from all genres to renew friendship and dialogue between the church and artists, and to encourage new opportunities for collaboration, according to the Vatican.

Oprah Winfrey ending show after 25 years

CHICAGO (AP) – Oprah Winfrey was set to announce Friday that her powerhouse daytime television show, the foundation of a multibillion-dollar media empire with legions of fans, will end its run in 2011 after 25 seasons on the air.

Winfrey planned to announce the final date for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" during a live broadcast, according to her production company, Harpo Productions Inc. She said at the beginning of the show that she had some news to share and that she would discuss it at the end of the show.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

'Victoria's House' performances planned this weekend

DANVILLE – Danville Area Community College will host a student theater performance at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Bremer Conference Center theater, 2000 E. Main St.

"Victoria's House" by Fred Carmichael is a mystery that deals with murder and supernatural phenomena. It is suitable for all age groups, and admission is free.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Cirque du Soleil coming to the Assembly Hall

CHAMPAIGN – If you're looking for a taste of Las Vegas but don't want to travel, you'll be pleased to hear that Cirque du Soleil is planning seven performances in Champaign in March.

The touring production "Alegría" stops by the University of Illinois Assembly Hall between March 17 and March 21. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m next Monday. They range in price from $35 to $65 for adults, $28 to $52 for children age 12 and younger and $31.50 to $58.50 for those eligible for military, senior citizen and student discounts.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Cirque du Soleil coming to the Assembly Hall in March

CHAMPAIGN – If you're looking for a taste of Las Vegas but don't want to travel, you'll be pleased to hear that Cirque du Soleil is planning seven performances in Champaign in March.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Hometown shopping on tap at Fischer Theatre

DANVILLE – Going for the unique, but staying close to home, the Vermilion Heritage Foundation has opened its own gift shop.

Stage Presents – The Fischer Theatre Gift Shop opened Thursday in the south storefront of the theater at 158 N. Vermilion St. The space was last officially used as the foundation office.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

2009 Festival of Trees to feature some new twists

DANVILLE – What will catch your eye first at the Festival of Trees will probably depend on whether you are a child or an adult.

Ex-employee groups planning holiday events

DANVILLE – Two former employee groups are planning their annual Christmas parties.

Former GE-Valmont employees will hold a Christmas dinner at 1 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Harrison Park Clubhouse, 1300 W. Voorhees St.

Entries sought for upcoming parade in Rossville

ROSSVILLE – The Rossville Community Organization will hold its annual Christmas Parade of Lights at 6 p.m. Dec. 5 along Chicago Street (Illinois 1).

All entries must have Christmas lights. Prizes will be awarded for the top three entries in the categories of business/organization and families/individuals.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Late benefactor gives $1 million to Virginia Theatre

CHAMPAIGN – The late Michael Carragher would have loved the tribute to him on Tuesday evening – his 63rd birthday, no less – at the Virginia Theatre.

The Champaign Parks Foundation threw the glitzy party (black tie, optional) to announce that Mr. Carragher had given a gift of nearly $1 million for the renovation of the vintage theater he loved. A recent anonymous gift brought the amount to $1 million.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Free poetry, film on tap this weekend

URBANA – Two free events are taking place this weekend at the Urbana Free Library.

At 4 p.m. today the Teen Film Crew will present the "Twin City Horror Movie Premiere" in the Lewis Auditorium of the library at 210 W. Green St., U.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Jeff Dunham coming to the Assembly Hall

Stand-up comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham will be at the University of Illinois Assembly Hall in March.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Toolkit touts successes of micro-urban C-U

Mike Ross grew up in Jackson, Calif., west of Lake Tahoe in the beautiful Sierra Nevada. He later spent 15 years in one of the most exciting cities on Earth – New York.

He came here nearly a dozen years ago to run Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Then he would have agreed with the stereotype of Champaign-Urbana as a sleepy university town surrounded by corn and soy fields.

Studio Visit: Sarah Haas, 32, of Urbana

Q: Your site-specific "Raw" multimedia performance last weekend on the fourth floor of the Natural History Building was beautiful, with a lot of memorable images. How did you come up with it?

A: I'm really interested in architecture and spaces and in this blurring of a person, or body, and space. I'm especially drawn to buildings that are falling apart or decrepit in some ways.

'Small, Medium and Free' concert Thursday

URBANA – A world-class zither player will join local musicians at "Small, Medium and Free," a concert of new compositions and improvisations at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Krannert Art Museum, 500 E. Peabody Drive, C.

Zither player Yu-Chen Wang will perform with local musicians Dorothy Martirano on violin, Armand Beaudoin on bass, and Morgan Powell and Erik Lund on trombones. They will play new works for solo violin by Powell and Lund; an experimental work for multiple metronomes and performers by Beaudoin; a contemporary work for the ancient Gu-Zheng, or Chinese zither; and collective improvisations.

Lecture on abstract expressionism Friday

CHAMPAIGN – The chief curator from a California art museum will deliver a lecture about abstract expressionism at 3 p.m. Friday in Room 62 of the Krannert Art Museum, 500 E. Peabody Drive, C. Her topic: "West to East: Reconsidering the Exchange of Postwar Abstraction between San Francisco and New York."

Marcelle Polednik, chief curator at the Monterey Museum of Art, will focus on the dynamic decade of 1946-1956 by examining its four-part evolution: starting with the first definition of the abstract expressionist movement (1946); the emerging, formative period (1947-1949); the codification into an identifiable set of artistic concerns and practices (1950); maturation and then the subtle transformation into a figurative aesthetic (1951-1956).

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Today's trick-or-treat hours

Arcola, 6 to 8 p.m.

Belgium, 4 to 8 p.m.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Trick-or-treat hours in East Central Illinois

Here are trick-or-treat hours in East Central Illinois.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Trick-or-treat hours in area communities

Here are trick-or-treat hours in East Central Illinois.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Trick-or-treat hours for area communities

Here are trick-or-treat hours in East Central Illinois.

'Extreme Makeover' episode evokes cheers, tears

CHAMPAIGN – Nathan and Jenny Montgomery laughed and cried, smiled and cheered with several hundred of their new best friends Sunday evening for the airing of their story on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

"It's more than we could have imagined," Nathan Montgomery said. "I could not be more happy with how ABC did it."

The couple held hands as they watched as their children were introduced to their new robot-, army- and candy-themed bedrooms on three giant screens at a viewing party at the I Hotel and Convention Center in Champaign.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Tricks and treats for all ages: How ghoul is that?

Here's your guide to Halloween events and places. Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Screening of local film set

A feature-length film directed by Mike Boedicker of Danville will be shown Wednesday evening on the University of Illinois campus.

The sneak preview of "Revolting" will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Lucy Ellis Lounge, ground floor of the Foreign Language Building, 707 S. Mathews Ave., U, as part of the Champaign Movie Makers' monthly meeting.