Rhode Island Spotlight (through July 4,2014)

These stories never fail to charm and touch the heart! A division of The Hummel Report, Rhode Island Spotlight features the unsung work being done all over the state to improve our community.

Rhode Island PBS is proud to present these short profiles produced by award-winning investigative journalist and new media entrepreneur Jim Hummel. Because these profiles are short, they fit perfectly between full-length programs.

Here are a few upcoming dates and times so you don't miss any of the special stories. Spotlights are also archived on the Rhode Island Spotlight Web site, in case you missed any.

Charitable Act - A struggling non-profit community theater relocated - and reinvented - itself four years ago with a simple mission: to give back to the community. This month Jim Hummel profiles the Academy Players, which has raised thousands of dollars for charities, other non-profit organizations and people in need. He finds they’re not only surviving - but thriving.

Rhode Island PBS
Wed 7/02 at 12:18 p.m.
Fri 7/04 at 12:18 p.m.

Tapping Into the Community - For the past three decades Tap In has been a mainstay for thousands of people in need of food, clothing, household items - and transportation to medical appointments. The all-volunteer organization is located in what some see as an unlikely place: the town of Barrington. But this week Jim Hummel finds there is a growing need throughout the East Bay communities it serves.

Rhode Island PBS
Mon 6/30 at 12:19 p.m.

True To Its Mission - The name certainly turns a lot of heads: The Providence Shelter for Colored Children. And though it has transitioned from a shelter building into a charitable foundation, the organization’s mission of helping minority children in the greater Providence area remains the same. Jim Hummel takes a look at the group’s 175-year history and finds out why some board members over the years have been the staunchest advocates for keeping the original name.

Learn
Thu 6/26 at 10:52 p.m.

Rhode Island PBS
Fri 6/27 at 12:19 p.m.
Sat 6/28 at 6:50 p.m.
Thu 7/03 at 12:19 p.m.

Worthy Goal - Two afternoons a week you can find close to 80 aspiring soccer players in classrooms well after school ends. They are there not because they have to be, but because they want to be. For the past decade Project Goal has offered more than 500 students the opportunity to improve academically, while receiving top-notch coaching from former soccer professionals and certified coaches. All at no cost to the kids. Jim Hummel finds it's a mix that is yielding impressive results.

Rhode Island PBS
Tue 7/01 at 12:19 p.m.

newportFILM and Rhode Island PBS Collaborate to Present Local Documentaries

Rhode Island PBS and newportFILM are pleased to announce a collaboration that will present local
documentary films both at the year-round film festival and on WSBE Rhode Island PBS.

The first film, Endless Abilities, will be shown by newportFILM on Thursday, June 26 at the Casino Theater, 9 Freebody Street in Newport (changed from Sweet Berry Farm in Middletown due to rain forecast) at 8:30 p.m., and kicks off the new newportFILM Homegrown project. Endless Abilities will air on Rhode Island PBS on Thursday, August 7 at 9:30 p.m. as part of the ongoing local documentary series, Rhode Island Stories.

“We are truly thrilled to launch this project with Rhode Island PBS,” said Andrea van Beuren, founder and artistic director of newportFILM. “There is such an incredible abundance of homegrown talent in Rhode Island, and this project is a great way to bring attention to these films on both the big screen and the little screen.”

“This collaboration is a creative extension of our plan to bring more local programming to our Rhode Island PBS audience,” said David W. Piccerelli, president of WSBE Rhode Island PBS. “Showcasing the quality work of local filmmakers is what our viewers demand, and what we do best as part of Rhode Island Stories. This collaboration benefits the filmmakers, too, as they share their stories to a much broader television audience.”

Endless Abilities, chronicles the cross country road trip adventure of Rhode Islanders Zachary Bastian, paralyzed nine years ago, and three of his best friends, Tripp Clemens, Will Humphrey, Harvey Burrell, as they search for adaptive sports for individuals with physical disabilities. The June 26 screening represents the film’s official US festival premiere. After the 90-minute screening, there will be a Q+A with filmmakers Tripp Clemens, Harvey Burrell, Will Humphrey, and Zach Bastian.

For more information about the film, visit endlessabilities.org. For more information about Thursday’s event visit newportfilm.com. For more information about Rhode Island Stories, visit Rhode Island PBS at ripbs.org.

From Forbidden Texts to Poetry and Song: Phoenix from the Ashes

Phoenix from the Ashes: A Film by Judith Lynn Stillman, has as its centerpiece the premiere of a song cycle for soprano and piano, based upon poems from Terezín Concentration Camp, celebrating the triumph of the human spirit over adversity.

Sidney Taussig and Judith Stillman at the premiere.

This Holocaust remembrance film, which was showcased at the Embassy of the Czech Republic's 2014 Holocaust Remembrance event, airs July 27 at 6 p.m. on Rhode Island Stories.

The documentary features the world premiere of Phoenix from the Ashes: Seven Songs for Soprano and Piano,composed by internationally-renowned musician, Judith Lynn Stillman. Dramatic soprano of the New York Metropolitan Opera Lori Phillips sings, with Stillman as collaborative pianist. Stillman is Artist-in-Residence and professor of music at Rhode Island College.

The song texts are based upon poems from Vedem: The Secret Magazine of The Boys of Terezín. From 1942 through 1944, a group of 140 teenage boys, aged 13-16, living in the barracks at Terezín, secretly documented their lives in a weekly magazine called Vedem (Czech for "In the Lead"), which included their art work, essays, reviews, and poetry. It was a huge risk to produce - they would have been sent to death camps if caught - but the magazine was never discovered.

Of the 140 boys who participated in the effort to produce Vedem, only about 15 survived, and only five are alive today. Only one of them, Zdeněk (Sidney) Taussig, remained in Terezín until its liberation in May 1945. He had the insight to save the nearly 800 pages of the manuscript in the hopes that it might survive the war. After he was liberated, he retrieved the manuscript and brought it back home with him to Prague.

Mr. Taussig -- the 82-year old survivor who showed such extraordinary bravery and foresight as a teen -- tells his compelling story in this documentary in interviews interspersed with the songs. Texts for the Phoenix song cycle come from the pages miraculously hidden and retrieved by Taussig, who was present at the debut to hear his boyhood friends' poems realized in Stillman's songs.

For more information about Judith Lynn Stillman, visit www.judithlynnstillman.com.

Celebrating the Lights and Sounds of Independence Day on Rhode Island PBS

Starting at 7:30 p.m. on the 4th of July, Rhode Island PBS commemorates Independence Day with a look at America's oldest parade and then the stirring music and magnificent pyrotechnics display in Washington, D.C.

7:30 p.m. - Bristol's 4th of July: A Celebration of History and Independence

The red, white, and blue lines in the middle of Hope Street are freshly repainted and the porches and doorways of the historic homes will soon be festooned with bunting, flags, and swags of stars and stripes. It's the spirit of Bristol, Rhode Island, "America's Most Patriotic Town," and home of the longest-running Independence Day celebration in the country.

A WSBE Rhode Island PBS film crew captured the behind-the-scenes preparations for the 2007 Fourth of July celebration, and traced the origins and evolution of more than 220 years of commemorative ceremonies and traditions.

Bristol's Fourth of July: A Celebration of History and Independence uses vintage photos and archival film to take viewers back in time to witness some of the early observances, as well as discover how the patriotic exercises, the historic parade, the Miss Fourth of July pageant, and other key events and ceremonies, got started and why the tradition is still going strong more than two centuries later.


8 p.m. Capitol Fourth 2014

It's a star spangled birthday party -- live from the US Capitol. This July Fourth, America's national Independence Day celebration honors our country's 239th birthday with an all-star salute led by two-time Emmy Award-winning television personality Tom Bergeron, along with a cast of legendary performers.

Broadcast live on PBS from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, this top-rated extravaganza features 20 cameras positioned around the city, ensuring viewers are front and center for the greatest display of fireworks in the nation.

In the three decades since the humble beginning of A Capitol Fourth, a parade of superstars has offered the best in American entertainment and helped set the tone for a spectacular American birthday party.

This year's line-up includes:

Frankie Valli
The original Jersey boy himself, Frankie Valli is a true American legend. His incredible career with the Four Seasons, as well as his solo success, has spawned countless hit singles.

John Williams
In a career spanning five decades, John Williams has become one of America's most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage, and he remains one of our nation's most distinguished and contributive musical voices.

Patti Labelle
"Beautiful" simply does not describe the incomparable force known to the world as Patti LaBelle. The soulful songbird's name has become synonymous with grace, style, elegance and class.

Jordin Sparks
Jordin Sparks is a Grammy nominated multi-platinum singer, songwriter and actress who originally garnered worldwide attention as winner of season six of American Idol, the show's highest rated season. Sparks was just 17 years old when she won the coveted title.

Michael McDonald
Two notes. That's all it takes to recognize the voice of Michael McDonald. Distinctive and soulful, it is one of the most yearningly emotive instruments of our times. To this, add formidable songwriting and keyboard skills, and you have an artist who has been a singular musical presence for four decades.

Sara Evans
Multi platinum-selling recording artist Sara Evans, one of the most compelling and authentic vocalists in country music, recently released her seventh studio album, Slow Me Down, to critical praise.

Kendall Schmidt
What began in 2008 as a passion project in a bedroom studio in Burbank, California has now become a whirlwind endeavor, with energetic and dedicated fans across the globe.

Kelli O'Hara
Kelli O'Hara recently received her fifth Tony Award nomination, along with Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics nominations, for her portrayal of Francesca in the musical adaptation of The Bridges of Madison County.

Jack Everly
Jack Everly is the principal pops conductor of the Baltimore and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa.

Plus, National Symphony Orchestra, Choral Arts Society of Washington, The U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own," The U.S. Army Herald Trumpets, The U.S. Army Presidential Salute Battery, The Joint Armed Forces Chorus, and Military District of Washington.