Art/Theater

A local actress says her latest role has helped to transformed her life. 

Loraine O'Donnell is staring in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Alt theatre in Buffalo.  O'Donnell says she has found herself as she portrays  Hedwig -- a  transgender East German singer. 

O'Donnell talks with WBFO News contributor Christina Abt about how this role has changed her life.
 

WBFO salutes Theatre Talk co-host Anthony Chase.  He is being honored by the National Federation For Just Communities.  He is among more than 30 individuals and organizations to be honored at the 2012 Community Leader Awards Luncheon will be held on Thursday, January 19, 2012 at the Buffalo Convention Center. 

Friday means Theatre Talk on WBFO.  A weekly roundup of theatre around the region with Jim Santella and Anthony Chase.

This week they open their 2012 review with a preview chat about The Return of Alec Baldwin at Center for the Arts Mainstage Theatre on Friday,  January 27.

WBFO's Theatre Talk talk team of Jim Santella and Anthony Chase deliver their final 2011 review of the theatre world as they gear up for 2012.  

Listen as they talk about singer and Tony winner Barbara Cook, who was recently honored by the Kennedy Center. 

And Santella chats with Chase about the Buffalo United Artists January production of Jeffrey - a Staged Reading with the Original Cast as it celebrates its 20th year in 2012.    

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra has just released a new compact disc that celebrates the works of four Polish composers. 

WBFO's Michael Mroziak has listened to the CD and spoke with the BPO's conductor JoAnne Falleta  to find out more about the music.

A native of Western New York has been appointed one of the judges for the 2012 Tournament of Rose Parade.  

Bryan Wittman of Buffalo is Vice President of Global Special Events for Disney Park.  He visited our WBFO studios and met Jim Pastrick to talk about about this special event.

Wittman will be one of the three judges of the 2012 Rose Parade in Pasadena.   The parade will be held Monday, January 2nd. 

Theatre Critics Jim Santella and Anthony Chase take a trip to Broadway.  They also note the closing night of the acclaimed production of "Peter Pan" at the New Phoenix Theatre. 

Music has  the power to touch the heart, to move you, to make memories that can last a lifetime. Nobody knows that better than Gene Setel of Buffalo. As a teenager, he was an usher at Kleinhans Music Hall. That was a long time ago. He started at age 12, but he was 16 when he ushered for a concert event that he will never forget.  “Never seen anything like that night,” he says. “It was just overwhelming

It was may eighth, 1945. Hitler was dead. The Japanese had yet to surrender. But it was the beginning of the end of the Second World War. British Prime Minister Winston

Holiday music is practically inescapable and many songs commercialize the true meaning of Christmas.  

But one song  was actually written in England in 1780 as a catechism lesson to teach young Catholics about their faith.

WBFO'S Eileen Buckley talks with Father Czeslaw Krysa, director of Worship for the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo and rector of St. Casimir's Oratory.  He takes us through what Roman Catholics believe are the origins of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

With the  holiday season in full swing, many of the area theatres are featuring Christmas performances. 
This week Jim Santella and Anthony Chase offer reviews of few of the special holiday shows, including It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play wrapping up this weekend at the The Kavinoky Theatre in Buffalo. The Holiday Guys continues on stage at MusicalFare Theatre, starring Jeffry Denman and Marc Kudisch, and Eyewitness News weather man Mike Randall continues his holiday tradition as Charles Dickens Presents: A Christmas Carol.

A local theatre company is featuring a holiday celebration --  Once Upon a Celtic Christmas -- continues at the O'Connell and Company Theatre at ECC's North Campus through this Sunday. 

WBFO'S Eileen Buckley met in studio with the theatre's artistic and executive director Mary Kate O'Connell.  She says her holiday performances are a blend of music, song, dance and stories mixed with Irish traditions.

You can find out more about the holiday performance at O'Connell and Company's Website at http://www.oconnellandcompany.com/.

WBFO'S Theatre Talk guys discuss the Addam's Family, a comedy musical now on stage at Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo.

Check out Jim Santella and Anthony Chase as they chat about local theatre, exclusively on WBFO!