Church renovates home
May Promenade in Dayton historic area
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May 2009
Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra ends season on a high note.
The spirit of Charles Wendelken-Wilson informed the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra’s final classical concert of its Colours season, A World of Change featuring the DPO and the DPO Chorus, Friday, May 29 at Schuster Center.
Wendelken-Wilson was the longtime conductor of the DPO who died Sunday, May 3. Music Director, Neal Gittleman praised Wendelken-Wilson saying without him “the DPO wouldn’t be the DPO and Dayton wouldn’t be Dayton.”
Wendelken-Wilson would have, no doubt, been proud of the orchestra’s opening reading of Richard Wagner’s “Rienzi Overture.” It began with a slow movement announced in trumpet calls, introducing after a few measures an impressive theme in the strings. This was repeated by woodwinds and brasses with accompaniment in violins and violas. During the piece, Gittleman squeezed every ounce of pathos out of the overture and the nimble DPO responded with typical eagerness and fervor.
Prior to the Ralph Vaughn Williams opus, Dona “Nobis Pacem” Gittleman paused to recognize musicians and vocalists who had been DPO members from five to forty years. Of special note was brass master Richard Chenoweth who is retiring after 33 years.
“Dona Nobis Pacem” is a plea for peace that featured the orchestra, chorus, baritone soloist James Cordes and the angelic voice of soprano Andrea Chenoweth. The different sections blended seamlessly and the austere theme of the piece seemed to lift and inspire the chorus to exalted heights.
The second half of the concert was devoted to Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony.” And why not? It’s one of Beethoven’s most complex and often-played classical compositions. At a pre-concert talk, Gittleman explained how you can either play the work too fast or too slow. The DPO found a comfortable space in the middle and the elegant rendering fully engaged the audience.
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TweetClay “The Cooker” Collins announces retirement
On Thursday, May 28, long-time radio personality Clay “The Cooker” Collins announced that he is retiring from his position as salesman/radio host at Clear Channel’s WDSJ-FM - the former Smooth Jazz station that recently converted to Country Music.
His retirement is effective Monday, June 1.
Collins — who began his radio career in 1964 — has been employed as salesman at Clear Channel since the company’s inception in 1987. But he will be remembered by most for his jazz program — Jazzistically Speaking — which has been broadcast on several different radio stations throughout his career.
Born and raised in Chicago, IL, Collins, 74, said his love of music was inspired by people in his neighborhood.
“Ramsey Lewis lived down the block,” Collins said. “I went to church with Lou Rawls. The Dells, saxophonist Eddie Harris and singer Sam Cook all hung around the South Side of Chicago.”
Since settling in Dayton in 1968, Collins has served as program and community relations director at WDAO-AM, salesman and on-air-personality at WING-AM and deejay at WCSU-FM.
In 2007 Collins was inducted into the Dayton Broadcasters Hall of Fame and is considered the dean of radio jazz programing in Dayton.
“I’ve been doing it the longest,” he said. “I always tried to play what people knew and understood but also teach them something at the same time. Mine was always a comfortable program because I made sure you were familiar with the music and familiar with the artists.”
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TweetVictoria wins non-profit honor
The Victoria Theatre Association has been certified with the “Standards of Excellence” award by the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations.
Announced at the fourth annual OANO luncheon in Columbus, the designation followed a peer review of operations, governance, human resources, financial management and fund-raising.
It makes the VTA one of three local organizations that have achieved the recognition. The others are the Dayton Foundation and Artemis.
Michael Roediger, vice president of development, said the VTA is “thrilled” to have earned “a reflection on our hard-working, dedicated staff’s commitment to providing excellent service to our patrons.”
The standards program was created nationally in 1995 with grants from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to improve nonprofit operations. OANO has 550 member organizations.
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TweetFairhaven Church hosts Musical Benches concert
Two talented musicians will take center stage on Sunday, May 31, 6 p.m. for a special concert, Musical Benches, sponsored by the music department of Centerville’s Fairhaven Church, 637 E. Whipp Rd.
Glen Priest, Fairhaven’s executive pastor of worship and fine arts and Christopher Garven, music director of Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, Pa. will play a selection of classical and sacred numbers both as soloists and as a duet on piano and pipe organ.
“Fairhaven Church is made up of a diverse, inter generational population and we strive to offer a blended style of music that has something for everyone,” Priest said. “Musical Benches will especially appeal to those who enjoy religious and classical styles of music with some entertaining elements.”
Both Priest and Garvin are classically trained musicians. Priest made his major concert pianist debut with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1976 and performed three consecutive years as guest artist. He has appeared as concert pianist, choral conductor and speaker for both local and national organizations.
Garven is on the music faculty of Philadelphia Biblical University in Langhorne, Pa. where he serves as organ instructor and director of the PBU Community Chorus.
Musical Benches is free and open to the community although a free-will offering will be taken. For more information call 434-8627.
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TweetSMAG opts for smear tactics
DAYTON — Mike Elsass’ usual medium is acrylic on rusted steel. On Saturday, May 23, he strolled the stage of the Dayton Playhouse, drizzling paint on and around four dancers who lay motionless on the canvas beneath them.
Michael Bashaw, on flute, and Sandy Bashaw, on guitar, began to play at the side of the stage as the dancers stirred. They rolled, slid, stepped, jumped and landed in the globs and rivulets of color, dragging each other through them and smearing each other with pigment.
It was the semi-improvisational opening of SMAG Dance Collective’s well performed, but choppy spring concert, which also included a tightly choreographed fashion show, three more conventional pieces, and a cancellation by scheduled guest artist Anna Sullivan (stage name “Annadroid”) of Columbus.
“Painted Bodies,” the opener performed by Gretchen Hindson, Elena Rodrigues, Jamal Wallace and SMAG director Michael Groomes, was a throwback to the modern dance “happenings” of the early 1960s, when figures including choreographer Merce Cunningham and painter Robert Rauschenberg gained prominence.
Fourteen minutes long, it proved to be an interesting more than revolutionary exercise in front of a smallish matinee audience that waited 15 minutes beyond the scheduled start for the performance to begin.
“Seasons Change but Style is Eternal,” which came after intermission, featured the garments of designers L’Alour Ameer, Andrea Lyle and Richard Mosely II, who also did the choreography. The propulsive, eye-catching piece often divided the stage between dancers in high-energy motion and others posing for a photographer.
There were two solos: “I Am 1,” by Rodney Brown for the strong and expressive Mosley, and Shonna Hickman-Matlock’s fatalistic “Out of Nowhere” for Alexis Britford.
Mosley’s “Consequences of a Linear Existence (Part 2 and 3)” rounded out the show with dancers Christiana Coover, Hindson, Mosley, Rodriguez and Wallace.
Sections of the finished “painting” will be sold as a fund raiser for SMAG on June 5 during a reception at Elsass’ Color of Energy gallery at 6 Brown St. More information is available at 937-266-3491 or coegallery@yahoo.com.
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TweetFinal concert of the season for Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus
The Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus will kick-off Gay Pride Week (June 1 — 6) with BraviSEAmo — its final performance of the season — at 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 30 at Victoria Theatre.
Chorus board president, Allen Kimbrough, said the concert is one of several Gay Pride Week events his group is co-hosting with Dayton Pride Partnership.
“We have enhanced our relationship with Dayton Pride Partnership and are collaborating with them on these events,” he said. “Our annual dinner will be held at Sinclair Community College on Wednesday, June 3. On June 4, Dayton Pride Partnership will screen the film Saint of 9-11 at Neon Movies and our Pride Night on the Quad takes place Friday, June 5.”
The annual PrideFest and Parade takes place Saturday, June 6. Pride Breakfast will begin at 8 a.m. at MJ’s Cafe. Parade line-up starts at 11 a.m. at Cooper Park. PrideFest at Courthouse Square runs until 6 p.m.
BraviSEAmo will feature songs of the open seas and a staged version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “HMS Pinafore.” Kimbrough said the addition of artistic director Jason Schuler has raised the skill set of six year-old chorus.
“Jason has added energy, leadership and taken us into uncharted territory,” Kinbrough said. “He is a master craftsman of blending tonality and musicianship and has catapulted us to another level.”
The Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus is a member of GALA Choruses, an organization of gay and lesbian choruses worldwide. The Chorus is also a local member of the Community Arts Network, a division of Culture Works.
HOW TO GO What: Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus, BraviSEAmo concert. Where: Victoria Theatre, 138 N. Main St. When: Saturday, May 30 8 p.m. How Much: $15 call (937) 228-3630
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TweetSundog student film winners named
YELLOW SPRINGS — Several students from the Miami Valley won cash prizes for their original short films during the sixth annual Sundog Film Festival and Competition.
Drew Phipps, a senior at Bellbrook High School, won $200 for his film “Ghosts,” which was judged best of festival. Yellow Springs High School sophomore Nicky Sontag won $100 as runner up with “Windstorm.”
Best documentary honors and $100 went to Yellow Springs senior Nindy Silvie for “Misspelled?” Yellow Springs senior Ashanta Robinson’s “Self-Portrait, Two-Sided” was people’s choice winner.
Other $100 winners were: Nicky Sontag, Yellow Springs, “Puzzles,” best self-portrait; Erika Gruner, Centerville, “Clue,” best narrative; Kelly Miller, Yellow Springs, “Sweet on You,” best animation; Kelly Miller and Amelia Shaw, Yellow Springs, “Moushtik,” best comedy; Prentiss Haney, Stivers School for the Arts, “Life Stepped in, Part 2,” best experimental, and Leon Reichert, Yellow Springs, “If I Had a Million Dollars,” best music video.
$30 winners included: Colin Hopkins, Grove City High School, “Parkour”; Leon Reichert, Yellow Springs “9 to 5”; Philip Mercurio, Stivers, “Lola”; Kelly Miller, Yellow Springs, “Self-Portrait”; Rainor Tangvald, Cincinnati Country Day High School, “Self-Introductory Video”; Veronica Easley, Stivers, “When a Snail Attacks!”; Andy, Ash, Cameron Dethy, Sam Kreps and Colin Walker, Kings High Schook, “Wakka, Wakka”; Lawrence Harmon, Yellow Springs, “Shadow”; Amelia Shaw, Yellow Springs, “Crossroads”; Sam Kreps, Kings High School, “Electric Avenue”; Ellie Brombaugh, Aaron Derr, Tyler Schmall and Christina Sherwood, Fairmont High School, “Prom Tips: An Instructional Video,” and Seth Wooten, Kings, “Blobs in Love.”
Participating schools were: Bellbrook, Centerville, Cincinnati Country Day, Fairborn, Grove City, Kettering Fairmont, Kings, Oakwood, Shawnee, Stivers, Wilmington and Yellow Springs high schools; the Miami Valley Career Technology Center and McKinney Middle School.
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TweetWSU’s ‘Titanic’ nails closing statements
Big boat. Big numbers.
Wright State University Theatre’s mid-sized production of the Tony Award-winning musical “Titanic” saves much of its best for the closing scenes in both acts.
Act 1 ends as the “floating city” collides with an iceberg, a cataclysmic event director W. Stuart McDowell stages simply, but compellingly with a wedge of passengers standing on deck. They bend backwards in unison at impact, hovering there for a moment, then pitch abruptly forward as the lights go out.
The closing scene, enacted to the reprise of the song “Godspeed Titanic,” centers on the lives lost rather than on trying to recreate the sinking. Chillingly, the names of those who died at sea in 1912 are projected on the walls of the theater.
Those two images sum up McDowell’s focus for a show by Peter Stone and Maury Yeston that is usually told by music director Rick Church’s chorus and by individuals — from the stoker Frederick Barrett, sung magnificently by Eric Byrd, to the mature couple Isidor and Ida Straus, whose love duet “Still,” late in Act 2, was done beautifully at the Saturday night, May 17, performance by Drew Helton and Beth Ann Wipprecht.
Other scenes were ordinary, whether due to the material, or the performances. Some audience members may be disappointed at the lack of scenic spectacle and spine-tingling reenactments that other productions of this show have had.
Rather than launch another WSU juggernaut, McDowell opted to keep the spotlight on the passengers and the crew.
The notable example featuring the crew was the gripping and almost violent number “The Blame” with Jason Collins in an excellent portrayal of overambitious ship’s owner Bruce Ismay, Matthew Kopec as the “unsinkable” Titanic’s guilt-wracked architect Thomas Andrews, and Jerome Doerger as Captain Smith. They try to pin the fault on each other; they all deserve a share.
Katie O’Neill was endearing social climber and busybody Alice Beane; Alex Sunderhaus, Yvette Williams and gifted dancer Lauren Morgan were the three Kates, Madeline Paul was Charlotte Cardoza and Brandon Michael Fleming was piano man Hartley.
“Titanic” the musical isn’t much like the far better known film, but it’s far more factual. WSU’s production tells the story effectively in big increments and small ones.
“Titanic” will continue through May 31 in the Creative Arts Center. Tickets are $19 and $17. Call (937) 775-2500.
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TweetArtist scheduled to play summer Fraze show dies after battle with cancer
NBA basketball star turned professional musician Wayman Tisdale has passed away after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 44.
Tisdale was scheduled to play this summer at the Fraze Pavilion as part of Boney James and Norman Brown’s Summer Storm show on Aug. 15.
According to Tisdale’s biography on his personal Web site, he was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2007 after he fell down a flight of steps and broke his leg at his home in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2007. Knee replacement surgery and months of chemotherapy followed. His right leg was amputated above the knee in 2008.
“It really showed me what’s important in life, man. It’s not getting as many houses as I can, not driving the biggest cars,” Tisdale said. “What’s important is family and being healthy.”
“Rebound,” the bass guitarist’s eighth album, released in 2008, was written with the message “if I can do it, you can do it,” according to Tisdale.
Tisdale, a three-time All-American at Oklahoma played 12 seasons in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 15.3 points for his career. He was on the U.S. team that won the gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.
After he retired from the court he became an award-winning jazz musician. Tisdale’s death was announced on the Oklahoma Senate floor Friday by Senate Majority Leader Todd Lamb, who led the chamber in prayer according to an Associated Press report.
Below I posted a video of Tisdale that was shot by ESPN. He obviously had a great smile and a contagious energy. Stay tuned for any news regarding any more changes with the Fraze show.
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TweetPerformance Tax threatens radio stations
Buried in the rubble of more high-profile congressional legislation such as H.R.1 — the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — and H.R. 15 — the National Health Insurance Act — is bill H.R.848, The Performance Rights Tax.
If passed it will result in a quantum shift in the eighty year-old relationship between the recording industry and commercial radio.
A performance tax is a fee that record labels want the government to impose on local radio stations for airing music free of charge for listeners. Critics argue that niche and minority stations, such as Dayton’s WDAO will fold if the bill is approved by congress.
“We can’t afford additional expenses,” said WDAO owner Jim Johnson. “Especially the way the economy is now. Passage of this bill also hurts up and coming artists. Radio stations will limit the number of new artists they promote in favor of the established artists with a successful track record.”
New Orleans radio DJ and music promoter George Williams said the Performance Tax has the potential to cause harm to smaller and independent radio stations.
“It’s no secret that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is on the warpath against radio, the medium that has driven more sales for them than any other,” Williams said. “After more than eight decades of radio promoting music for free, the RIAA is seeking to enhance their diminishing bottom line by creating a new revenue stream in a way that will injure radio, particularly minority and niche stations.”
In recent years, the record labels have seen sales of CD’s decline as more listeners opt for digital downloads. However, radio remains the number one promotional vehicle for music.
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) estimates that radio already provides up to $2.4 billion annually in music sales for artists and record labels. Critics claim that by pushing a tax on local radio, record labels are biting the hand that feeds them.
“If this bill passes it means another expense which takes away from our bottom line,” said WDAO’s Johnson. “That’s something we don’t need.”
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TweetBach Socitey of Dayton ‘s final concert of the season features an oratorio by Frideric Handel “Israel in Egypt.”
The ethos, suffering and triumph of the Jewish Exodus out of Egypt is the biblical backdrop for the final Bach Society of Dayton concert of the 2008-2009 season.
On Sunday, May 17 at 4 p.m. the Society wraps up its seventh year with “Israel in Egypt” by German-English Baroque composer Frideric Handel. The oratorio — which premiered in London in 1739 — will be held at Kettering Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 3939 Stonebridge Rd.
Bach Society chorus member and treasurer Dick Hattershire said the concert puts a bow on a year of diverse programing.
“We brought a mix of musical styles to the Dayton area this season,” Hattershire said. “We sang Bach and we sang baroque music but we also sang jazz and popular music. We bring that kind of variety as a choral organization to Dayton audiences.”
Hattershire said besides being a great choral work “Israel in Egypt” is the most unique of the nineteen oratorios Handel composed.
“We wanted to do a major piece of music and we wanted to sing some Handel so this piece came to mind,” Hattershire said. “It just seemed to fit in with the diversity of the rest of the year. One of the Society’s objectives was to offer different musical experiences. This is another component of that theme.”
HOW TO GO
What: “Israel in Egypt” Bach Society of Dayton’s final concert of the 2008-2009 season.
Where: Kettering Adventist Church, 3939 Stonebridge Rd.
When: Sunday, May 17 at 4 p.m. Rabbi Judy Chessin will give a pre-concert talk at 3 p.m. in the church’s Fellowship Hall.
How Much: Tickets are $15 adults, $10 students, Under 12 free. Available at the door or call (937) 294-2224 (BACH)
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TweetStudent films chosen for Sundog fest
More than 30 short films by students from the Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus areas have been chosen for the Sundog 6 Regional Film Festival and Competition on Saturday, May 16, in Yellow Springs.
Internationally recognized filmmaker and Sundance Festival judge Julia Reichert, commercial video producer David Markey and animator-media art teacher Paul Bohart viewed 81 entries from 13 schools before choosing those that will be screened.
Selected films were made by 39 students from Fairborn, Kettering Fairmont, Stivers, Yellow Springs, Kings, Grove City, Cincinnati Country Day, Centerville, Bellbrook and Wilmington high schools and McKinney Middle School in Yellow Springs.
Winners will be announced and $2,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded after the films are shown at 2 p.m. at the Little Art Theatre, 247 Xenia Ave. in Yellow Springs. Admission is free and open to the public.
Businesses, organizations or individuals interested in sponsorships should contact Sundog director Melina Elum at (937) 767-7224 or yshs_melum@k12server.mveca.org.
Students whose work was chosen for the festival are: Kylie Holmes of Wilmington High School, Chelsea Laberman of Fairborn High School; Mike Odgen, Trevor Sloan, Daniel Middlestetter, Christina Stoner, Joseph Craven, Ellie Brombaugh, Aaron Derr, Tyler Schmall and Christina Sherwood of Kettering Fairmont, Alexander Reynolds, Philip Mercurio, Veronia Easley and Prentiss Haney of Stivers High School for the Arts, Nicky Sontag, Kelly Miller, Lawrence Harmon, Leon Reichert, Amelia Shaw, Ashanta Robinson and Nindy Silvie of Yellow Springs High School, Katie Paddock, Brandon Lalli, Matt Koerbel, Andy Ash, Cameron Dethy, Sam Kreps, Colin Walker and Seth Wooten of Kings High School, Jacob Hardman, Roland Newsome and Emma Peifer of McKinney Middle School, Colin Hopkins of Grove City High School, Rainor Tangvald of Cincinnati Country Day High School, Erika Gruner of Centerville High School and Drew Phipps of Bellbrook High School.
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TweetHorne exits as Muse director
The Nat Horne era is coming to a close at the Muse Machine.
The veteran Broadway dancer, teacher, choreographer and director has announced his retirement as co-director of the arts education organization’s annual winter student musical at the Victoria Theatre.
He has taught and directed thousands of Miami Valley students in almost 20 years of extended annual visits from New York, where he lives.
Horne’s Muse Machine debut was working with teachers in the 1989 summer workshop. Founder Suzy Bassani asked him to return to direct the student show.
He choreographed the 1992 production of South Pacific alongside director Al Reyes and music director David Dusing. Reyes died in ‘93. Starting with “Oliver” that year, Horne and Dusing have done the annual musicals until now.
Horne, who will turn 80 in December and recently underwent a knee replacement surgery, announced his plans at a recent Muse Machine reception.
“I always wanted to put smiles on people’s faces. Through my dances and traveling, I have done that and I have enjoyed it so much,” he said.
“There’s no place in the world like the Muse Machine. It has produced so much talent and given me so much knowledge about myself.”
He plans to return to New York “and start the next chapter of my life.”
Lula Elzy of New Orleans, who has assisted Horne in Dayton since 2000, will return to work on the next show in January 2010.
“It’s impossible to express how much we will miss Nat’s daily presence. He is both friend and family, which will not change for the rest of our lives,” said Doug Merk, Muse Machine producer and director of student programs.
“David, Lula and I have varied backgrounds, but all of us were mentored by Nat. Muse shows will be influenced by Nat for years to come.”
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TweetClassical pianist Janina Fialkowska returns to Dayton.
When classical piano colossus Arthur Rubenstein sings your praises, you know you’ve got something special.
Rubenstein heard Canadian-born pianist Janina Fialkowska for the first time in 1974 at his Master Piano Competition in Israel. Fialkowska’s musicality left an impression on Rubenstein who later commented, “I cannot recommend enough an artist of such calibre. I do it only to provide my many faithful audiences with the same joy of hearing her as I felt myself.”
Local fine music lovers can experience that singular joy when Fialkowska returns to Dayton for a Soirees Musicales International Piano Series concert on Saturday, May 16, at 8 p.m. at Shiloh Church, 5300 Philadelphia Dr.
“She’s one of great ladies in the profession,” said Don Hageman, founder and artistic director of Soirees. “She performed for us ten years ago when we were based at the Dayton Art Institute. The place was a mess. It was cold, there was no dressing room and there was dust everywhere. She told me ‘as long as there is a place to hang my dress I will play.’”
Hageman said Fialkowska’s career was threatened when doctors were forced to remove a tumor from her left arm.
“She didn’t perform for more than a year,” he said. “To this day she can’t really raise her left arm very high but she’s never been a show-off pianist. She just sits there and produces phenomenal music.”
HOW TO GO What: Soirees Musicales International Piano Series featuring Janina Fialkowska. When: Saturday, May 16 at 8 p.m. Where: Shiloh Church, 5300 Philadelphia Dr. How Much: $22 adult, $20 seniors, $12 students 19-22, under 18 free. For more information: Call (937) 228-5802
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TweetVoices tell the story in Victoria’s ‘Dark’
Although it’s a thriller from another era, “Wait Until Dark” stands up to jaded contemporary scrutiny pretty well in an effectively staged and nicely detailed production by The Human Race Theatre Company that opened Tuesday, May 5, at the Victoria Theatre.
The Chase Broadway Series finale is about a blind woman who eventually sees through a con perpetrated by two harmless criminals and one truly menacing one. They hope to retrieve a drug-filled doll that has ended up in her apartment by chance, but can’t be found.
You may find yourself wondering at one point why she doesn’t just call the police. You may not believe she would send a young neighbor girl to the New York Port Authority bus station on her own with the instructions to stay there all night if that’s how long an errand takes.
But there aren’t many loose ends in Frederick Knott’s 47-year-old script that was made into a movie starring Audrey Hepburn. It’s talky, however. The characters go to great lengths to explain what they’re going to do until the climax in Act 2 when Annie Paul, as Susie Hendrix, battles to the finish with Rob Johansen as bad guy Harry Roat Jr.
Sometimes visible, but often not, things and people go bump in the night during that scene, which director Drew Fracher keeps fairly simple. That’s a good idea, because the outcome will not surprise most people even remotely familiar with the story. Camouflage and subterfuge wouldn’t make it scarier.
Johansen looks like a bad guy and Paul is convincing as a sightless woman, but the most important quality for Fracher’s cast members is probably their voices.
Paul sounds young and sweet and kind, which makes her eventual courage a more effective contrast. Buz Davis’ delivery as con man Mike Talman is perfectly smooth and sympathetic. It’s easy to see why Susie would trust him so quickly.
The cast also includes Scott Stoney as “Sgt. Carlino,” Jamie Cordes as Susie’s photographer husband Sam and Sydney Elena Schultz as young upstairs neighbor Gloria.
“Wait Until Dark” will continue through May 17 at the Victoria Theatre, First and Main streets. Tickets are $41-$81 at Ticket Center Stage, (937) 228-3630, (888) 228-3630 or www.ticketcenterstage.com.
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TweetDayton Philharmonic Orchestra presents Cirque De La Symphonie
Daring young men and women on flying trapezes will soar above the Meade Theatre stage on Sunday, May 10 at 3 p.m. when the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra teams with Cirque De La Symphonie for the final DP&L Family Series concert of the year at Schuster Center.
Cirque De La Symphonie is a European-based production formed to bring the magic of the circus to the music hall. Can’t be done, you say?
Well, this ambitious production pairs aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers, balancers and strongmen with the live DPO led by Neal Gittleman. Each performance is choreographed to classical masterpieces and popular contemporary music with dead-on precision.
“This isn’t usually done,” said David Bukvic DPO director of marketing and public relations. “I haven’t seen the live show but I guess there is all manner of rigging and staging that has to be done. They will be using the airspace over the orchestra and to some extent over the audience.”
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TweetVictoria books added attractions
The Victoria Theatre Association has announced four “Star Attractions” for the 2009-10 season.
Presentations will include:
The return of magician David Copperfield for two shows on Oct. 4 at the Schuster Performing Arts Center; the comedy “Beauty Shop” for two performances on Nov. 14, presented by the “Godfather of Black Theater” Shelly Garrett; the musical “Annie,” Nov. 28 and 29 at the Schuster Center, and the Japanese drum company San Jose Taiko on April 24, 2010, at the Victoria.
Tickets for all of the non-subscription shows will go on sale Sept. 11 at Ticket Center Stage, www.ticketcenterstage.com or (937) 228-3630. More information is available at www.victoriatheatre.com. Click on Star Attractions.
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TweetSmooth jazz radio station changes format
After a five-year run as Dayton’s flagship smooth jazz radio station, Clear Channel’s WDSJ-FM (106.5) has changed its format from jazz to country music. The change was made official Friday, May 1. The new country station will be know as “The Bull.”
But for smooth jazz listener Ron McKinney of Kettering, the abrupt programing change was a bunch of bull.
“I couldn’t believe my ears,” McKinney said. “I called the station but got nothing but a busy signal. This is ridiculous. They don’t warn anybody. They don’t tell anyone. I am very disappointed.”
WDSJ salesman/radio personality Clay “The Cooker” Collins said staff learned about the change two days prior to the switch.
“We were shocked,” Collins said. “The on-air personalities will now all be national folks; none local. Clear Channel will still air four hours of smooth jazz on WLQT Lite 99.9 FM on Sunday’s from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Of the other seven Clear Channel stations in Dayton this is the only one to change format.”
Clear Channel vice president and marketing manager Bob Zuroweste said his e-mail has been flooded by listeners upset with the change.
“Just like any other business we need customers,” he said. “Smooth jazz was not achieving the customer goals to make the station viable. We never like to disappoint our listeners, however with the current economic state neither the station’s ratings nor revenue were at the point of continuing the smooth jazz format. It was a tough decision but we decided country music would be more popular.”
Zurwoeste said in addition the Sunday broadcast on WLQT-FM, smooth jazz programing can be streamed on the computer at www.yoursmoothjazz.com, downloaded onto I-phones, Blackberries and can be heard for free on WLQT-HD2.
For more information on the format switch visit Http://www.daytonjazz.com/pages/End.html
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