Summer Festival of the Arts

Youngstown in the summer is such a blast. Block parties, pub crawls, parties on plazas, and sunsets and moonrises from Cedars patio are among the highlights...but YSU's Summer Festival of the Arts has to take the cake.

This year, the event will take place July 12 and 13 with tons of amazing events and artists littering YSU's campus. The Oakland will join forces with the Playhouse, Victorian Players, and YACTA as we share a tent and a stage throughout the weekend. We'll be hanging around the same general area we were last year (follow the blasted drum circle, thanks SMARTS!), but we'll be performing at noon both days on a small stage outside Kilcawley Center's Peaberry's. We'll be where the patio tables are, and you, the wonderful, uproarious, enthusiastic audience, will be perched under the overhang or perhaps ascending the steps.

We're super excited about our performance time as each theater gets 20 minutes to premiere their seasons and talk about their theater. We'll have a formal announcment of all our seasons, and YACTA will be doing a reading series as part of the promotion of the Marquee Awards. I think we'll be juuuuust shy of the official awards announcement (July 25), so the excitement will be palpable!

All this could never ever have happened without the grace and power of a certain Lori Factor, Festival Organizer. Here's a tidbit of info from here:

We're looking for a few good musicians! The Summer Festival of the Arts is proud to promote Youngstown area musicians with an Open Stage concept during the Summer Festival of the Arts, July 12 and 13.

Musicians are invited to apply for one of the eight (8) available slots at the Open Stage by completing the application found at the SFA website www.ysu.edu/sfa.

In order to be considered, band or musician(s) must provide bio, press photo, and a CD that is representative of the band’s work for promotional purposes. All materials must be received between May 27 and June 3 at 5:00 p.m.

The band or musician(s) will perform gratis but will be included in the overall Summer Festival of the Arts print and web performance schedule. Detailed information is found on the application.

Oooh, it's like a Stage but outside. Check it out! SFA is highly attended (especially this year, with the All YSU Alumni Reunion taking place the same weekend) and this is a great opportunity to get your band heard by some new peeps.

Speaking of outdoor Stages...after tonight's Stage, we'll be hitting the road for the Summer, performing at assorted outdoor venues. Look for us at JonesFest on May 31, Youngstown Rocks the Arts on July 26, and Rukus Fest in Warren on August 24. I'm sure we'll pop up a few more places as well....

NEW STAGE MAY 22!

NEW STAGE tomorrow, Thursday May 22!!!!

Located at 220 W. Boardman St. with plenty of free parking, on-site security, near the Draught House and plenty of other places to whet your whistle or grab a tasty morsel...why not spend Thursday night with some new friends?

You can always tivo The Office, but you can't tivo The Stage...yet...

Performances start around 8, but we're usually a little late as we await on arrivals. Registration and rehearsal starts at 7. You can register or get more info from www.myspace.com/oaklandcenter. 5 bucks to play or stay...performers who bring in 5 guests get admission fee waived.

This Stage will feature vocal stylings from Don Connors, a new (not yet but slated-to-be published) short story from award-winning author Chris Barzak, local musicians The Just Teasin Arounds, plus a few other acts.

I can still use performers, so get over your stage fright and email, message, call me, or just show up tomorrow before 8 and we'll get you up there!

Also, tomorrow is the first official round of competition for THE OAKLAND'S NEXT TOP DRAG QUEEN! That means that any interested contestants (4 confirmed so far) should show up to the O by 7 to get your assignment.

It will be "suicide drag competition" which means contestants will be assigned numbers corresponding to an unknown mix. You get props and 2-3 minutes to do your best with what you got. Audience members, you're the judges. Grab a ballot and drop off your vote on the way out!

Wanna participate in The Oakland's Next Top Drag Queen? It's still not too late to become a contestant! Starlet O'Hara will be at the Oakland from 5-7 to give makeup lessons. We'll help you pick out a drag name and you can rifle through our wigs. We have a few ratty old mother of-the-bride-from-hell dresses lying around, as well as some glitz-i-fied 80s gone bad prom dresses, so unless you wanna be stuck in ill-fitting, smelly formal wear, bring your own costume. ONTDQ will be held on June 14, with Drag Queen Bingo night June 7.

Lots of cool stuff happening, so stay tuned for updates!

Full Monty Reviews :)

Here are some reviews and press from the Full Monty at the Oakland. This Friday (8 pm) and Saturday (8 pm and 12 am) are your LAST CHANCES to see it, so please reserve your tickets today by calling 330.746.0404.

Usually, we're a very walk-in friendly theater. We don't typically encourage resevations but for one or two shows a year. This is one of them. We sold out Friday and Saturday and even had a decent crowd for the matinee (typically not well-attended at our quirky community theater ;)), and I expect to repeat sold out houses this weekend as lots of people are coming back with more friends or telling others about the show. Word of mouth is our saving grace, and the audience members are invaluable because they do SUCH a great job in sharing their experiences.

Yoments, a local blog, had wonderful things to say about the show. The Burgh Diaspora left its local show promo hiatus to plug our midnight show (bless their rusty hearts). Shout Youngstown has great posts up, plus a new entry touting out midnight show. Reviews at Vindy.com (most commented-on story!), valley24.com, and previews at vindy and trib-chronicle are also up if you need proof that this show is worth seeing. Youngstown Art also has a stellar peek at Jess Adkins' fabulously intriguing gallery. It doesn't look like a lot, but when you inspect each sculpture you get overwhelmed by details and imagination. This is a real treat of a gallery as Jess' work is starting to take off.

NEW MIDNIGHT SHOW THIS SATURDAY

COME SEE THE FULL MONTY EXCLUSIVE MIDNIGHT SHOWING THIS SATURDAY NIGHT (technically Sunday morning) MAY 17.

Wanna see the show again? Dying to see it for the first time but can't make the 8 pm show? This is your chance to see The Full Monty like no one has seen it before...with an EXTENDED ENDING!!!! (wink).

Come check out THE FULL MONTY at the OAKLAND CENTER FOR THE ARTS for a special midnight show. If we don't sell out, we won't go on, so buy your tickets today!

330.746.0404 for reservations. PASS IT ON!!!!!

Next Now Logo Awards

Chris Barzak was nominated for ANOTHER award for his debut novel, One for Sorrow. This time, we get to vote for him.

Here's the link to cast your vote for Chris to win the LOGO award for best author:

http://www.logoonline.com/shows/newnownext_awards/vote.jhtml?qn=nnn_poll_14

You can vote as many times as you like, so click away! Until June 7, anyway ;)

Plus he just came back from his inivitation to the Governor's Mansion this weekend. What a swell guy! ;) Show him some love

Fug You

In honor of Thursday being the new Friday, and also because this particular Thursday is so particularly cruddy, please go read this HIlarious blog:



http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/go_fug_yourself/2008/05/met-ball-fug--8.html

An excerpt:

KARL: Like a swirl of pain. Agony on a cracker as painted by a drooling child. But SHINY. I would drink you if you came with a bendy straw.
KATE: Only a bendy straw?
KARL: Do not pester me. There are stupid questions, and tonight the answer is YOU. How is my jacket? Does it gleam like a gun-toting seal?
KATE: Actually, it kind of does.
KARL: LOOK ALIVE. I think he's got real bullets. Do you need your hair, or can the maid have it for a casserole?

Just the pick-me-up I needed....

May 12: Darfur Fundraiser at Bliss Hall

Probably not a lot of you know Darby O'Donnell. I sure didn't until a friend dropped her name on me during a meeting. "Hey Brooke," he said, "Do you know Darby?" "No," I replied. "Why?"

Darby is one of those rare exceptions to teenagerdom. Rather than waste away in front of the latest episode of The Hills or aimlessly wander around the mall, Darby has pushed hard to make big things happen. Her passion happens to be the genocide of Darfur, which is something many of us (myself included) choose to ignore becuase it's such a big problem that no on can figure out what to do about it. I don't like those kinds of problems. They scare me because they make me feel helpless. I'm sure Darby felt that way for about a milisecond, then decided to educate herself and others so we can start figuring out how to help.

Please join her and her cohorts from Liberty High as they welcome guest speaker (and truly, we should be honored to have him in our midst) Benjamin Ajak, one of the "lost boys" of Darfur who wrote They Poured Fire on Us From The Sky, which I've heard incredible things about.

The free, open to the public event will be held May 12 at Ford Auditorium at 7 pm.

Check out Darby's press release below. This girl's got it together! If you want any more info, feel free to comment here or email oaklandopenmic@gmail.com and I'll pass your inquiries on to her.

Also, check out Youngstown Metro Church. They do a mission to Sudan to help build wells, and they're hosting their second annual fundraiser, 10 Miles to Cure Thirst 10 mile run/5 mile walk in downtown Ytown Saturday May 17. Talk about not shoving one's head in the sand...the group they take to Africa is quite impressive due mostly to the quality people that go.

The Global Action and Awareness Club of Liberty High School Hosts Darfur Speaker at YSU

The Global Action and Awareness Club of Liberty High will be holding a fundraising event at Ford Auditorium in Bliss Hall, Youngstown State University. The event will be held on Monday, May 12th, 2008. Doors will open at 6:00pm, the program will begin at 7:00pm.

The program will feature Benjamin Ajak, author of They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, a personal account of his struggles as a “lost boy” of Darfur. He fled for his life during the genocide in Western Sudan. Mr. Ajak will address this subject during the program and will answer questions from the audience.

The current conflict in Darfur, which began in early 2003, has already left over 400,000 people dead and has displaced more than 2.5 million people, both within Sudan and throughout the neighboring countries. This mass atrocity, which is being supported by the government of Sudan, has gone on for far too long and must be stopped. Mr. Ajak will discuss the urgency of this issue and the many ways to help.

With so many displaced persons, clean, accessible water is a major issue. In a desert
African nation such as Sudan, there are very few water sources, and most of
those available have been deliberately polluted to make them unfit for human
consumption. The refugees must travel for miles on foot to reach clean water,
and are often brutally attacked by the Janjaweed, an armed militia supported by
the Sudanese government.

One organization, Water for Sudan, which is headed by a Darfur refugee, has provided a possible solution to the water crisis in Darfur. This organization drills wells in the Darfur region to obtain clean water, and eliminate bacterial infections.

This event, on Monday May 12th, will not only be informative, but will also encourage audience members to make a donation towards building new wells.
These wells cost about $7,000.00 each and can sustain an entire village in Darfur. Admission is open and free to the public.