Vocalist Cookie Coogan accompanied J.T. Hall for Jazz @ Sitrus on Friday.
Time seems to move faster as spring approaches. It’s hard to believe there are only four more Jazz @ Sitrus shows remaining for the season. The next band to keep the groove in place on the Hill, Michael & Angela Lynn.
Frosty Jr., Euclid Gate
Natalie Daise as Harriet Tubman (at the Community Folk Art Center).
Long before there was Sheryl Sandberg, Mayor Miner, County Executive Mahoney, or other female CEOs, we had Harriet Tubman. Remember the abolitionist/nurse/spy/Underground Railroad conductor spent her latter days in nearby Auburn, NY. We feel the leadership strategies that solidified her reputation deserve further examination.
Last night we watched actress Natalie Daise slowly transform into Harriet Tubman during a one-woman show at the Community Folk Art Center (CFAC). We learned several facts during the performance, including the fact that Tubman had a close relationship with John Brown, and was scheduled to be at Harper’s Ferry for the raid. Also Tubman’s original name was Araminta Ross.
Earlier in the week the show played at SUNY Oswego.
Daise, who originally got the theater bug while at Nottingham High School, perfectly captured Tubman in costume, idiom and song during the 1 hour-show.
It has been a while since we visited the Harriet Tubman Home, but we suggest that the newly designated National Park location capture Daise’s work in audio or video and preserve it as part of a permanent educational collection/display.
Happy Women’s History Month.
Beards to the Rescue
Here are some photos from the Friday night’s flirtation with hair-raising, also known as the Festival of the Fantastical Facial Follicle.
How many beards can you count?
We are not sure the color of this dress, but this lady made quite an impression with style and substance in the feminine category (lashes/brows).
Syracuse’s favorite impersario Mike Heagerty preps the judges. He is wearing an extension, or a beard weave or chin toupe crafted by Shannon Flemming.
These contestants know how to apply mustache wax like a couple of bosses.
Todd Yoder (right), a two-time beard champ, said he hasn’t shaved his tentacled facial sweater since last year. He is pictured here with a fellow winner.
Unusual Suspects: Judges
Yeti in Syracuse
Pennsylvania has that groundhog, NYC has Al Roker, and the Weather Channel has Sam Champion or Jim Cantore, but it got so cold and snowy in Syracuse this month we spotted an Abominable Snowman.
Here are two great moves by Syracuse Academy of Science (SAS) forward Jesse Murray in the team’s quarterfinal sectional win over The Institute of Technology Syracuse Central earlier this week. The game was played in the SAS gym, aka, the Lab.
The final score was 73-59, including a 29-point second quarter for SAS.
Murray finished with 24 points.
SAS will play Sherburne-Earlville on Sunday.
Last year’s Festival of the Fantastical Facial Follicle/aka Beard Fest
It’s going down again this year…there will be beards galore at the Landmark on Friday for the Festival of the Fantastical Facial Follicle.
Teyra Anderson, dance scene “Steady”
Alena Cerro (left) and Kamani Grate act out a semi-dream sequence scene in “Steady” (a play conceived by Ryan Hope Travis and inspired by the March from Selma to Montgomery). The show was held Saturday at Art Rage Gallery on Hawley Avenue.
As a director, Ryan Travis is prolific. He has conceived and directed numerous productions since we interviewed him a few years ago.
Ryan’s pace is frenetic, but the quality of the work never suffers. The actor/director/professor knows how to explore and present timely topics with the right dusting of theatrical polish. His latest offering is “Steady,” an hour-long, song-dialogue-dance-dramatization of the past, present and future of Civil Rights, with a particular emphasis on the 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery.
There were two shows for “Steady” over the weekend at The Art Rage Gallery. What made the Art Rage production unique was the poignant visual reminder of the Selma adorning the walls, thanks to the compelling documentary photographs of Matt Herron. Having photos of Dr. King, John Lewis, Doris Wilson, and others as part of the set design provided inspiration for the audience as well as the actors.
“Steady” has its next showing at Onondaga Community College on Monday.
Herron’s images will be on display at Art Rage until the end of March.
Ryan Hope Travis (left) and the multi-talented cast of “Steady” at The Art Rage Gallery.