Winning playwrights announced for festival
Lee Street Theatre is proud to present its fifth Annual 10-Minute Play Festival of New Plays. This year’s theme is ‘Hotel 6’. Over 25 submissions from four states were received and the panel chose six fantastic plays to be a part of this year’s festival. Also included this year is a welcome new addition: playwright development, where the winning playwrights may participate in a one-day playwriting workshop with Denise Laughlin Stewart. Denise is the author of Dirty Barbie and Other Girlhood Tales, which debuted at Lee Street Theatre in 2010 and was named a Top 5 pick at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.
This year’s festival will hold auditions April 15-16 and performances are May 15-18. The festival will be directed by Lee Street Theatre Managing Artistic Director, Justin Dionne.
The plays chosen for this year’s festival are:
• Dante Six by Andy AA Rassler (Concord)
• An Old Trick in a New Way by George Freek (Belvidere, Ill)
• Darcy in Alabama by Jenny Hubbard (Salisbury)
• Break Room by Katie Scarvey (Salisbury)
• Hotel Maid Team 6 by Bill Greene (Salisbury)
• Drag Strip by Teresa Hollar Teresa Hollar (Salisbury)
Submissions came from North Carolina, Illinois, South Carolina and Virginia.
Lee Street Theatre, 704-798-7768, www.leestreet.org
Family planetarium show – ‘Starry Winter Nights’
This Saturday, Jan. 19, at 5 and 6:30 p.m., find out just who is Orion … and if there really is a great bear in the sky.
There are 88 official constellations but most people can only spot the more prominent ones such as Orion and the Big Dipper. What about the others? At the Margaret C. Woodson Planetarium families can enjoy this seasonal “walk” through the stars, identifying constellations and bright stars while listening to stories from various cultures. The story of Orion, the hunter, will be portrayed with the laser light system.
Tickets go on sale 30 minutes prior to each show time. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for those 12 and under. The planetarium is located at 1636 Parkview Circle. Park and enter in the back of the building accessible from Lilly Avenue, 704-639-3004.
Christian Hip Hop Rap night
Saturday, Jan. 19 is Christian Hip Hop Rap night at? The Inn, with Big Boi Hurt and Tha Rain. Jericho will also be performing. The Inn is located at 1012 Mooresville Hwy 150, across from Food Lion. Call 704-213-1467 for more information.
Citywide MLK celebration
The 27th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. citywide series of events begin on Friday, Jan. 18 at 1 p.m. with a program at the VA Medical Center, Building 6.
• On Sunday, Jan. 20, at 3 p.m. is the Dr. MLK Jr. umanitarian Awards Program to be held at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1920 Shirley Ave.
• Events on Monday, Jan. 21, begin with the 7 a.m. Dr. MLK Jr. Breakfast at the JF Hurley YMCA. Tickets for this event are $8. For ticket outlet information, call 704-638-5217.
• At 9:30 a.m. is the Dr. MLK Jr. Memorial Ceremony at the Freedman Cemetery, Soliders Memorial AME Zion Church. At 11 a.m. is the annual Dr. MLK Jr. holiday parade.
• The Dr. MLK Jr. Civic Center Celebration will be held at the Civic Center, 315 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. South.
For more information contact the Salisbury-Rowan Human Relations Council at www.srhrc.org or call 704-638-5217.
Salisbury Ghost Walk
Salisbury Ghost Walk is sponsoring an investigation and wine tasting on Friday, Jan. 25 from 9-11 p.m. at the Salisbury Wine Shop. Cost is $30 which includes a full investigation of the building followed by a wine tasting. Reservations are required as this event is limited to the first 30 paying participants and it will fill up quickly. Make your reservation by email to salisburyghostwalk@yahoo.com
Piano concert begins Catawba Artist Series
A free piano concert by Catawba College adjunct faculty member, Wei Jiao, at 3 p.m. Sunday Jan. 20, in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel kicks off a Catawba Artist Series for spring semester. Jiao will perform works of Scarlatti, Mozart, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and modern Chinese composer Zhou Long.
Born in Shenyang, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China, Jiao started to play piano at the age of six. She holds a B.A. from the Shenyang Conservatory of Music. She came to the United States in 2003 as the recipient of a generous scholarship at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia, where she earned her B.M. in Piano Performance and was the recipient of the Woodruff Award from the Schwob School of Music there. She earned an M.M. in Piano Performance from Syracuse University and is now pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at UNCG.
Jiao teaches secondary private piano lessons, class piano, and aural skills classes. She is an active collaborative artist, and accompanies lessons and recitals for vocalists and instrumentalists.
Jiao’s piano concert will be followed this spring by five additional free concerts offered by other artists in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel. These include • 7 p.m., Feb. 22: piano concert by Patrick Behringer • 7 p.m., Mar. 15: piano performance by Renpeng “Peter” Dong • 7 p.m., March 22: piano trio performance from Anne Sellitti, Dr. Dan Skidmore and Jacob Hahn • 3 p.m., April 7: piano performance by Jacob Hahn • 3 p.m. April 21, piano concert by Steven Heyman.
For additional information about the Catawba Artist Series, contact Hahn at jahahn@catawba.edu or by phone at 336-456-4017.
PPT Box office opens
On Wednesday, Jan. 23, the Piedmont Players Theatre box office opens for Seat Namers for “To Kill a Mockingbird” 9 a.m.-5 p.m. The box office for season ticket holders opens Jan. 24. Other twickets go on sale Monday, Jan 28. Meroney Theater, 213 S. Main St., 704-633-5471, PiedmontPlayers.com
9th Annual Home & Landscape Show
CONCORD — Save Time, Money and Have Fun while learning about new ideas for your home and landscape, Jan. 25-27, at the Cabarrus Arena & Events Center, where experts will showcase the latest in decorating, remodeling, landscaping, and renovating resources. Special guest Ahmed Hassan of DIY Network’s “Yard Crashers, ” will discuss the wide world of residential landscaping and share funny stories about his own experiences in both business and on TV, then address the crowd’s questions.
Show dates are Friday, Jan. 25 through Sunday, Jan. 27. Visit www.cabarrusarena.com for times, ticket information and directions. Parking is free.
Free films in Concord
CONCORD — Modern Film Fest at the Davis is the series that brings free screenings of independent films to the Davis Theatre, 65 Union St. S. in Concord’s historic courthouse, 65 Union St. S, 704-920-2787. The next film in the Modern Film Fest at the Davis series is next Thursday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. “The Trial” is about capital case that turns a small-town lawyer’s life around in this movie filmed in the Charlotte-metro area. Features Matthew Modine and Rance Howard.
For information, call 704-920-2753 or visit www.CabarrusArtsCouncil.org
The Art-o-mat Experience
STATESVILLE — The Art-o-mat Experience exhibit is now at Court Street Gallery, 134 Court St., downtown. The exhibit created by Clarke Wittington of Winston-Salem consists of a number of repurposed, artistically redesigned, former-cigarette machines which contain miniature works of art. These small art pieces can be purchased for $5 just as you would insert money and pull a lever for a candy bar, making art accessible for everyone. Whittington has permanently placed Art-o-Mat machines in the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Reynolda HouseMuseum in Winston-Salem. This is the first exhibit of the Art-o-mat in Iredell County.
Exhibits include full size original art work of Art-o-mat artists, a video on the history of the Art-o-mat, and displays of how the art is put together.The first two weeks of the exhibit an artist will be at the museum setting up and redesigning a machine and will be available to interact with visitors on-site.
The public is invited to meet the artists at a free reception on Friday, Jan. 25 from 6-8 p.m. The Gallery is open Tuesda- Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The Art-o-mat exhibit will be open on extra days: Monday, Jan. 28, Saturday, Feb. 2 and March 2, and until 7p.m. on Tuesdays- Wednesdays in February-March. Info at 704-873-4734, www.iredellmuseums.org.
Christopher Cross at the Neighborhood Theatre
CHARLOTTE — Christopher Cross will be in concert on the main stage at the Neighborhood Theatre, 511 East 36th St. in Charlotte on Sunday, Jan. 20. Tickets start at $32. This is a seated show; general admission seating first come first serve through the door. Tickets at http://neighborhoodtheatre.inticketing.com/events/260486. Other info at www.neighborhoodtheatre.com . Seats were still available at presstime.