WBFO Arts & Culture Desk

Buffalo high school students brought to life the words of a playwright who was described in his obituary as “theater’s poet of Black America” earlier this month.

March will bring a raft of openings, but madness and more signs of the times are on stages this weekend, at both ends of The Alleyway Theatre complex and in the suburbs as well (see listings). This week's conversation was about SCOTCH AND MADNESS and THE END: AMEN and two closings: GLORIOUS and WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW. Theater Talk notes the passing of Mary Haney who graced the stages of Shawfest for 30 years and over 60 productions.

Anthony remembers Zoe (say "Zo") Caldwell, winner of four Tony Awards (the last for portraying the opera star Maria Callas in MASTER CLASS) who passed away Tuesday at 86, at home, due to complications from Parkinson's. On a recent trip to NYC, he saw Jane Alexander (age 80) in GRAND HORIZONS, Charles Busch (only 65) in THE LEGEND OF LILY DARE, and very much enjoyed the new, more true to life book for THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN.  SCOTCH AND MADNESS opened at the Alleyway did last night while many more plays are about to (see listings).

Mary Magdalene along with Jesus, Judas, Caiaphas, Pilate and Herod et. al. sing in the 50th anniversary tour of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at Shea's, while Josie DiVincenzo plays 40 different roles in the one-woman WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW about late-in-life pregnancy at Jewish Repertory. And two singers, one glorious, Alberta Hunter, is portrayed by Zoe Scruggs and Ember Tate in COOKIN' AT THE COOKERY at MusicalFare, while the worse singer in the world, Florence Foster Jenkins, is portrayed by Mary Kate O'Connell at her new theater in Kenmore.

Alexis Oltmer recalls how her current exhibition at CEPA Gallery originated three years ago on a visit to Emerald Beach on Lake Erie. "I started to notice tiny, little  (plastic) particles that were every single color in the rainbow. I was just really overwhelmed by them," Oltmer recalled. "When I got home I felt really bad about the fact that I hadn't done anything about that." For Oltmer, it's been angst turned into art.

History is being made at the Oscars this weekend. The first ever woman conductor, Eimear Noone, will lead the orchestra. Her instrument of choice to lead the group? A baton made by Buffalo’s Phil Aguglia. WBFO’s Nick Lippa visited Aguglia in his workshop where he put on the finishing touches of a baton now on its way to Los Angeles and explained how making a baton for Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra music director JoAnn Falletta played a major role in developing his craft.

Agnes Bain spent 41 of her 78 years overseeing the growth of Buffalo's African American Cultural Center on Masten Avenue, the home of the Paul Robeson Theatre (the play JUMP is wrapping there this Sunday afternoon) where she was beloved and is sadly missed. Meanwhile a celebration of blues singer Alberta Hunter in COOKIN' AT THE COOKERY is on stage at MusicalFare, FACTORY FOR MURDERERS is back on stage, and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR is coming to Shea's.

It's so "meta" and hilarious when Buffalo's radical feminist troupe, The Brazen-Faced Varlets, puts on a very funny play by Carolyn Gage, THE ANASTASIA TRIALS IN THE COURT OF WOMEN, about a radical feminist troupe putting on a play. The young cast and director of MERCURY FUR also present great ensemble work in an "in yer face" production. While the  flu got the better of FACTORY FOR MURDERERS (think Jack The Ripper), but they're back at the Alleyway. And we remember Buffalo's Mary Loftus (click here for a detailed bio by Anthony).

Michelle Gigante’s heart belongs to the West Side of Buffalo. For years she owned and operated yoga studios in different Buffalo neighborhoods and the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Celtic influenced blues guitarist Davy Knowles is playing Iron Works Sunday night in Buffalo. In the past, he’s toured with Jeff Beck and Joe Satriani. He’s performing new solo album material and spoke with WBFO’s Nick Lippa about what blues lovers can expect next from the Isle of Man native.

A dozen different shows now into February give present a wide variety of genres, from exposing our hidden motivations in THE ANASTASIA TRIALS, THE ANTIPODES, and JUMP to "detective shows" MISS NELSON IS MISSING or THE MOUSETRAP to plays that portend violence such as COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS, FACTORY FOR MURDERERS, and MERCURY FUR.

Dipson Amherst Theatre's monthly cult-horror movie series is back for its eighth season starting with John Carpenter's 1987 film Prince of Darkness. Thursday Night Terrors, created by local horror fanatic Peter Vullo, has been going strong for almost four years now. He spoke with WBFO about the future of Terrors and shared his favorite horror films of 2019.

Billed as a "play-within-a-play," the Brazen-Faced Varlets' production of THE ANATASIA TRIALS IN THE COURT OF WOMEN continues through February 2 at Alleyway's Caberet Theater. The play was written by Carolyn Gage. "She's very close to her plays," said Lara Haberberger, Artistic/Executive Director. So close, in fact, that Gage connected via Skype for a recent rehearsal to offer her insights.

Less than a mile separates two of Buffalo’s premier spots to hear live jazz. The Historic Colored Musicians Club and Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center on Tuesday announced a partnership to bring top level international talent to the region.

After an early start for both THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY and COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS, over half a dozen other productions are up this weekend, including A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (Irish Classical with the Buffalo Philharmonic at Kleinhans) and on Monday the second free reading of GOD OF VENGEANCE which is the basis for a Paula Vogel play (INDECENT) coming in March. Take some time to peruse the listings below.

Some things might be worse than you'd think (perhaps the movie version of CATS) and some will be much better than you'd suspect from the title (the gorgeous musical THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY which opens this weekend at the Kavinoky) and one limited run should be greater than the sum of its parts - Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM with the complete incidental music by Mendelsssohn.

On Saturday night, Nusantara Arts, formerly known as the Buffalo Gamelan Club, will be performing a show at the Buffalo Museum of Science in front of Indonesian artifacts and artwork. The one-night exhibit is a product of a growing gamelan scene in Buffalo and desire on the museum’s behalf to work with more local organizations.

In 2019, as every year, the theater community lost beloved people, including Diahann Carroll, who sang "The Perfect Year" in her role as Norma Desmond in Webber's SUNSET BOULEVARD. And there was Carol Channing and Hal Prince and, in a bit of delicious irony, both despised critic John Simon of New York Magazine and actress Sylvia Miles who once dumped a plate of lasagna on his head.

A chorus in Amherst is putting on rock concerts multiple times a year as part of a nationally growing group. Rock Voices currently has choirs ranging from Vermont to Oregon and offers people who both can and can't read music the chance to sing. A Buffalo chapter of Rock Voices started earlier last year.

In just over a half-year, Devin Chevanne has captured a wide variety of subjects in his role as Director of Photography at Buffalo Rising. He says he's enjoyed shooting most of the 120 video productions he's assembled in 2019, but a few stand out, like the passionate mushroom farmer or the Buffalo cobbler. The common theme Chevanne has found among his subjects, "They all love Buffalo."  He shared his observations during WBFO's Press Pass.

From finding investors to auditioning actors to securing an available theater stage, Bob Rusch has been busy getting First Look Buffalo Stage Productions off the ground. Now, his group is ready to open COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS, a play written by Ron Klier, on January 10 at the Elmwood Theatre Lofts.