Monday, April 15, 2013

Paper Bag Players - 50-Year Tradition of Theater for Kids

There is nothing like an old-fashioned “Western Welcome” to get a show off to a rousing start! When The Paper Bag Players cowboys and cowgirls gallop onto the stage, singing and wishing a great big “Howdy!”in the all-new show, The Paper Bag Players Saddles and Sunshine,  audiences will be up on their  feet, clapping and singing along!

The Paper Bag Players are a company of adults who create and perform original musical theater based on a child's everyday experiences, dreams, and fantasies. Paper bags, bits of cardboard, and objects found in the attic or garage are transformed into the most fantastic sets, props, and costumes. The troupe, founded in 1958 by Judith Martin, performs in their native New York, and takes the show on the road for several months in a year. Targeting children 3 - 8 years old, the performances are usually on weekday mornings and, in large part, mostly for school children as a class trip.


The Paper Bag Players Saddles and Sunshine will tour for eight months throughout the Northeast with stops including Middleton, Hempstead, East Hampton and Port Washington, NY; all five boroughs of New York City; Englewood, NJ; Newark, DE; Rahway, NJ; Towanda and Lewisburg PA; Mamaroneck, NY; Annapolis, MD; Baltimore, MD; Morristown and West Long Branch, NJ; Tarrytown, NY; Trenton, NJ, Glenside, PA; Boston, Springfield, and Worcester MA; and Providence, RI. The Paper Bag Players perform three shows at Roberts Auditorium at Rhode Island College: 10 a.m. and noon on May 14, and 10 a.m. on May 15.


The performance group's latest show, The Paper Bag Players Saddles and Sunshine combines funny stories, charming characters, lively music, dancing, and lots of opportunities for the audience to be a part of the fun. Created especially for children ages 3 through 8 there is enough fun in this show to entertain the entire family.

Ted Brackett (who also directs), Laura Canty-Samuel, Amy Walsh, Kevin Richard Woodall, John Stone at the electric piano, and scenic artist Jon Peck all guarantee every moment is full of theatrical magic.

The Paper Bag Players touring has taken them to 37 states and to Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, Israel, Iran, Egypt, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. This year’s show will be seen by over 66,000 children in performances for the general public and for school children at 40 locations.

The Paper Bag Players have received The Award for Excellence in Theater and Education from The Broadway Theater Institute, and American Theater Wing Award, The New York State Artists Award, and The American Alliance for Theater and Education Award for meritorious achievement in the field of theater for young people.

For more information, visit their Web site at  thepaperbagplayers.org

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Uniquely Satisfying Experience: It's "An Evening Uncorked!"

Reserve Saturday, April 27 for a different and uniquely satisfying experience to benefit Rhode Island PBS. An Evening Uncorked! will be held at the historic Pawtucket Armory, 172 Exchange Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. 



Chefs from Southern New England's top restaurants will prepare tasting-sized portions of succulent dishes and desserts paired with complementary wines. The participating restaurants are Blaze RestaurantThe Capital GrilleCinderella RestaurantDavid Burke Prime SteakhouseEleven Forty Nine RestaurantFleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Just Ellen's, Inc., LaSalle BakeryPane e Vino RistorantePot Au Feu, and Trafford Restaurant. A wide selection of fine international and domestic wines will be provided by MS Walker,Rhode Island Distributing Company, LLC, and private donors; craft beer courtesy of McLaughlin & Moran, Inc.

In addition to the silent and live auctions of classic and cult wines, exclusive dining, entertaining, and travel experiences, there will be a special raffle. "The Taste of Napa" includes a private VIP tasting and tour for two at Chateau Montelena and Stags' Leap Wineries - an adventure not available to the public!
Stag's Leap Winery
Chateau MontelenaYou and your guest will also be treated like royalty during your two-night stay at the Westin Verasa Napa. Fair market value of this experience is $1,200, and is compliments of Chateau Montelena Winery, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, The Westin Verasa Napa. 



An Evening Uncorked! is under-written by Platinum Sponsor CVS | Caremark, and Gold Sponsors Gencorp Insurance Group, and Chafee Communications.  Benefactors are Centreville Savings Bank, Dimeo Construction Company, and Whole Person Health. Patron Sponsors are Arden Building Companies, LLC; Citizens Bank; Cox Communications; Endurance Wealth Management; J&J Diamond Jewelers; Navigant Credit Union; Piccerelli, Gilstein & Company, LLP; Rustigian Rugs; Tatutina; and Whelan, Kinder & Siket, LLP. 

For information and tickets, please visit our Web site.

Friday, April 12, 2013

The Central Park Five Author/CoDirector Sarah Burns at Salve Regina

In partnership with Salve Regina University in Newport, we are pleased to announce author and filmmaker Sarah Burns (daughter of the award-winning director, Ken Burns) will speak at the University on Thursday, April 25, about "Documenting Injustice: The Story Behind The Central Park Five and One of New York's Most Infamous Crimes."

The presentation - the Salve Regina Atwood Lecture for spring - will include a screening of parts of The Central Park Five, as well as a question and answer period after Ms. Burns's speaking presentation.

Details of this free event are:

Date of Event:  Thursday April 25, 2013
Time:               6:30 p.m.
Location:          Bazarsky Lecture Hall 
                        O’Hare Academic Center 
                        Salve Regina University


The Central Park Five tells the story of five minority teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly convicted of beating and raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park in 1989. They were later exonerated in 2002.

The film chronicles "The Central Park Jogger Case" (as it came to be known) from the perspective of these five teenagers, whose lives were upended by this miscarriage of justice.

Rhode Island PBS will air the full documentary, The Central Park Five, on Thursday, May 2 at 8 p.m., with rebroadcasts Saturday, May 4 at 12:30 a.m. and noon, and on Learn on Tuesday, May 7 at 8 p.m.

More information about the film can be found here.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

TimesTalks about The Central Park Five with Ken Burns, Sarah Burns

Justice and The Central Park Five 
Wednesday, April 17
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Ken Burns
Sarah Burns
Jim Dwyer

TimesTalks 
A conversation about the issues raised by The Central Park Five, the award-winning documentary about the horrific crime that occurred in Central Park in 1989, the rush to judgment and the lives of those wrongly convicted.

Don’t miss the chance to hear from the Emmy Award-winning producer/director/writer Ken Burns, co-director and author Sarah Burns, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Jim Dwyer, who covered the case and is interviewed in the film, and the exonerated, including Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, and Korey Wise, live at The TimesCenter, in collaboration with PBS.

Tune in to nytimes.com/cityroom April 17 at 6:30 PM ET to watch this event live on the Web.