Arts/Culture

In 1967 Detroit, brother and sister Lank and Chelle find their lives upended by a mysterious woman and as their family falls apart, the '67 riots tear their city apart as well. DETROIT'67 opens tonight at the Bratton Theater at the Chautauqua Institution.

The documentary "A Diamond in the Buff" makes its world premiere Thursday night at 7 at Buffalo's North Park Theatre. Co-director Kevin Polowy says the film offers a complex look at the late local music legend Lance Diamond, an immensely talented figure who maintained a "love affair" with his hometown until his death in 2015.

For the Stratford Festival this year, veteran stage, big screen and small screen performer Laurie Murdoch is Sir Joseph Porter in "HMS Pinafore" and Arvide Abernathy in "Guys and Dolls," two-well known roles in classic stage musicals. WBFO's Mike Desmond interviewed Murdoch in Stratford, ON.

Buffalo will play host to the world's largest youth Gaelic Games this month. More than 3,000 youth athletes will compete in Gaelic football, hurling, and other Irish field events at the West Seneca Soccer Complex July 27-30. Visitors from across the U.S. and Canada are expected to attend and, for the occasion, a rare public exhibit is being mounted to honor one of Ireland’s most influential and celebrated writers and showcase one of Buffalo's literary treasures.

It's obvious that oodles of love and affection and time, that precious commodity, went into getting the new musical PRETTY FUNNY ready for its premiere.

A North Buffalo landmark is getting a new life, as the North Park Library is to be the new home of the Italian Cultural Center of Buffalo.

Tim O’Shei of The Buffalo News has been traveling around the country visiting Western New Yorkers who’ve had a big impact on pop culture. His latest feature in The Buffalo Connection series – which hit print yesterday – is a profile on world-class music manager and South Buffalo native Bill Diggins. Diggins’ tenacious drive helped take TLC, one of the biggest pop groups of the 90s, to the top of the charts. Now, he’s out to make history again.

New York City-based Equity actor John Seidman actually prefers acting "on the road" in regional theater, such as the summer program at the Chautauqua Institution, to much of what is happening "back home" in Manhattan. And that's why he keeps coming back to the Bratton Theater, this summer for his eighth season, appearing in a leading dual role as "Selsdon/Burglar" in a British farce by Michael Frayn called NOISES OFF.

"The show must go on!" If Shakespeare himself didn't say that, Shakespeare in Delaware Park did, and hours after having their sound equipment burgled by varlets, they were back up and running with an all-woman production of THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.

An experimental sound performance will be held at Artpark on Sunday, July 16. It's the second show of its kind. A similar performance was staged at Silo City last month. WBFO's senior reporter Eileen Buckley spoke with one of the creators, composer and sound artist Colin Tucker of Buffalo. Tucker is serving as curator of the Null Point music project.  

In the early hours yesterday, someone broke into a storage trailer holding the sound system for Shakespeare in Delaware Park and took the equipment. By nightfall, the company had somehow scrambled to piece together a borrowed and rented sound system which allowed The Merry Wives of Windsor to start at its scheduled time.

At the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, you can see works by some of the most influential modern and contemporary artists. There are priceless masterpieces and defining images that are known around the world. It might not sound like the kind of place a family with young children can go for an afternoon of fun, but that’s now the growing trend. WBFO Arts and Culture Desk reporter Scott Sackett recently visited the Albright-Knox on a Family Funday and shares what he discovered.

New public art designed to uplift is now on display in the MLK business district on Buffalo's East Side. A series of 31 banners highlight the contributions of African-American leaders.

The Buffalo Preservation Board wants the Albright-Knox Art Gallery to come to a board meeting and explain why the first draft of its plan for a major expansion potentially damages the landmark status of the Delaware Park cultural center.

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR is presented with whimsy and panache by an all-woman cast at Shakespeare in Delaware Park and is an opportunity to see some mighty fine Buffalo talent assembled on one stage.

This is an incredibly productive chapter in the comic career of Paula Poundstone. She continues to tour and will perform Friday night at 7 p.m. at Babeville. She continues to be a regular contributor for NPR's quiz show "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!" and has launched her own podcast "Live from the Poundstone Institute." In a conversation with WBFO, she also has taken to authoring a new book, which has been receiving some positive reviews despite a long and confounding title.

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery has formally introduced the latest entry in its Public Art Initiative. It's visible to neighbors who travel along a busy street in North Buffalo.

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, a comedy by William Shakespeare about the would-be womanizer Sir John Falstaff, presented by Shakespeare in Delaware Park, directed by Eileen Dugan, opened Thursday night starring Pamela Rose Mangus as "Sir John Falstaff." Mangus discussed the unusual role with Theater Talk co-host Peter Hall.

Anthony is back from the west coast having attended The American Theatre Critics Association annual conference where much of the cocktail conversation was about critic Hedy Weiss whose recent reviews in the Chicago Sun Times created controversy.

Comedian and avid car collector Jay Leno is headed to Buffalo Saturday to open this season’s lineup at the new Chautauqua Institution Amphitheatre. The long-time Tonight Show host took a little time to chat ahead of his visit to Western New York with WBFO’s Avery Schneider.

There are numerous books on the market that celebrate Western New York architecture. But one volume, by a local graphic artist, offers scenes of local landmarks through the lens of a drone.

The state's Board for Historic Preservation is recommending a series of additions to State and National Historic Registers of buildings and properties. Among those earning designations are Springville's First Baptist Church, Delaware Avenue Baptist Church and the Linde Air Products factory.

A documentary highlighting world-renowned ballerina Wendy Whelan is playing at the North Park Theatre in Buffalo. One of the co-directors/producers of the film is Buffalo native Linda Saffire. WBFO Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley says the film portrays the difficulty of an aging and injured ballet dancer.