David Becker/Las Vegas Review-Journal
Chefs Rosemary Gresham, from left, Bobby Neese, Fredrick Pittman and Donovan Campbell work in the kitchen at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. The center has a partnership with the catering division of the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas to provide patrons with an array of food during performances and private events.
This item was written by Johanna Jainchill, who covers the travel industry for Travel Weekly. Jainchill is serving as Guest Editor of The Cruise Log while USA TODAY Cruise Editor Gene Sloan is away.
The river ship building boom continues, with Avalon Waterways today saying it has ordered two more suite ships to debut in spring 2013.
The 166-passenger Avalon Expression and 128-passenger Avalon Artistry II will join two other similar Avalon ships already on order for delivery in the coming months in sailing on Europes waterways.
Avalons suite ships feature extra-wide cabins, called Panorama Suites, which offer 200 square feet of living space, or about 30% more than the standard river ship cabin.
RELATED: Avalon Waterways launches new style of river ship
PHOTO TOUR: Look inside Avalon Waterways first suite ship
The Avalon suite ships are unique in the industry not only for their large size but their floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall panoramic windows that open seven feet wide, creating what the line calls an indoor-outdoor space.
The first Avalon suite ship, the 166-passenger Avalon Panorama, debuted last May in Germany.
This May, Avalon will unveil two new suite ships, the Vista and the Visionary. The vessels announced today are scheduled to enter service in April and May 2013.
Avalon already has nine ships in Europe, and by 2013, after the retirement of one of its older vessels, will operate 12 ships on the Continent.
The award-winning movie Hugo is based on the unique novel by Brian Selznick. If you havent seen it yet, you may wonder why the film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 5. Ill tell you why — Author/illustrator Brian Selznick and director Martin Scorcese have two things in common: they are both great storytellers and great artists.
Before I go into the obvious reasons why that statement is true, let me relate this: my just-barely-turned-four-year-old, just like most kids her age, usually gets fidgety watching movie. Shes pretty good in the theater now if the movie holds kids attention well, but at home, she often jumps of the couch and plays a little or goes to get a drink during movies. When we saw Hugo in theaters as a family, were were stunned that she sat through the entire 127 minute live-action film without a peep. But, we chalked it up to the fact that she was really tired, as we had been traveling.
Last weekend for family movie night, we watched Hugo again. I kid you not, she sat on the couch for the entire movie staring, chin jutted out, half open-mouthed at the screen with her blankie clutched in her hands. Her two older sisters, whove both read the book, were of course mesmerized as well.
Reading the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, is a new experience. The story is told through both words and illustrations in a unique and suspenseful way. Kids and adults are captivated by the story and the characteristic drawings that help set the tone and mood of the tale. A truly excellent piece of literature by any standard, the book also offers a great opportunity for parents to help kids analyze what makes a good story and how the illustrations can move a story along.
Translating this novel to the big screen must have been a challenge. How to capture the elements of historical mystery and immersive suspense? Somehow, Scorcese accomplished the feat.
Casting a fabulous bunch of actors who really look the part is helpful. The music definitely serves to give the movie a page-turner quality. And, the sepia tones and soft lighting lend an old-time feel to the picture. These are some of the many elements of artistry that move together like clockwork to bring the viewer into the story. But, the actual storytelling is what really makes it tick. Meaningful dialogue and intense action involving the main characters, sprinkled with little glimpses of the people who frequent and work in the train station and the shops inside, bring the people and places of 1930s Paris to life.
We watched the 2D Blu-ray version of the film, although this is one of those titles that makes me wish we had our 3D set-up. Not that the movie isnt just as fabulous in high-def 2D, but I remember some of the scenes at the theater had really great 3D shots within the walls of the trains station.
The kids loved the idea that the film was based on a few real people in history, so we enjoyed watching the bonus features that told a little more about Georges Méliès. Unfortunately, there are no audio commentary or pop-up trivia versions of the film included in the bonus features, but there is some great info in the few features that are included.
For fans who want to learn even more about the making of the award-winning movie based on an award-winning novel, check out the fascinating book The Hugo Movie Companion: A Behind the Scenes Look at How a Beloved Book Became a Major Motion Picture, which includes additional insight into both the book and the movie.
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(Photo Paramount Home Entertainment)
Nick Jonas is deeply inspired by New York City.
The musician stars in hit Broadway play How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
Nick loves the city, as he feels the metropolis positively impacts his artistry.
I love just being here as a 19-year-old enjoying New York, Nick told People magazine. The vibe I get from the city each day inspires me to give the best show I can every night.
Nick feels liberated by the great activity in the city that never sleeps.
The thing I love most about New York is that everyone has somewhere to be and something to be doing, he explained. It gives you a real sense of freedom.
When Nick is not ambling around the streets of Manhattan, the star is pondering about how far hes come in his career.
Im feeling really good at this moment about life and everything, he gushed. Its a great time in my life.
Nicks run as star of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical will end in April.
Cover Media
Artist Beth Wells-Landry puts her artistry to work
Wild Cherry Tattoo business owner Beth Wells-Landry prepares to apply a tattoo for one of her customers. In addition, Landry is a hair stylist and photographer. She is excited to incorporate a full experience for her customers. She is available by appointment at 309-224-2775.
Serenata Italiana chamber music in the vast acoustic space of
Dunedins Regent Theatre might appear rather risky, but on
Thursday, international ensemble, I Musici (Rome) left their
large Dunedin audience totally satisfied, musically
intoxicated, and in awe of the virtuosity of 12 Italian
string players, particularly the lead violinist.
I Musici
Regent Theatre
Thursday, March 8
The varied programme of Italian string classics and
contemporary works opened with Rossinis Sonata a Quattro
No 1, demonstrating versatility and exceptional
interpretative skill, lovingly delivering music of one of
their countrys finest composers.
There followed another Rossini gem, Une Larme (A
Tear) – a haunting theme and variations for cello and
strings, accorded rich tonality and emotive enunciation from
solo cello.
Paganinis theme and variations for violin and strings Il
Carnevale de Venezia was outstanding. Ten musicians,
playing unconducted with the unfaltering precision of a
string quartet, providing ripieno with fullness of
tone, or subtle evocative textures as violinist Antonio
Anselmi conquered copious variations with unbelievable
daring, skillfully negotiating the greatest extremes of
fiendish stopping and harmonics.
A sparkling Allegro in C for Strings by Donizetti,
3 Intermezzi Goldoniani, Op.127 by Bossi, and
Respighis Aria for Strings continued to dazzle an
enthralled audience with technical and artistic quality.
Contemporary Concerto per archi, written for I
Musici by Nino Rota (renowned for film scores, particularly
The Godfather, was a colourful work for string
texture and showcasing solo instrumentalists, as was
Concerto Grosso, an exhilarating three movements
with hints of Latin America, recently composed for this
long-standing ensembles 60th anniversary, by Luis Bacalov.
Prolonged applause drew three short encores, including a
stunning arrangement of Lilburns Canzona.
I Musicis first visit to New Zealand has won them continuing
rave reviews and outstanding ovations throughout this tour
with Chamber Music New Zealand and this was a concert I will
long remember.
So, youve watched American Pickers and American Choppers a few times and you think you know a thing or two about knuckleheads. Maybe you spent hours searching your moms attic for your old Evel Knievel wind-up stunt-cycle toy. Or maybe youre an old anti-establishment hippie and your poison is Easy Rider. Fear not, you can get your fix at theEiteljorg Museum Of American Indians And Western Art. The museums newest exhibition, Steel Ponies, showcases the artistry, history, and culture of motorcycles in the American West and Native America. And we dont mean cute little bikes with sidecars (although there is one that you can sit on and snap a photo for Facebook), we mean badass custom-built choppers, original board track racers, and oh, yeah, the Captain America chopper from Easy Rider and one of Evel Knievels stunt bikes. Really.
How does a museum featuring Western and Native American art land a motorcycle exhibition? Steel Ponies is the brainchild of Eiteljorg curator, White Wolf James, who developed the idea with the curatorial team over a two-year period. Riding on the success of 2010s phenomenally popular Pistols: Dazzling Firearms exhibition, which showcased the intricate artistry of guns, Steel Ponies captures new audiences for the museum. We had a 40 percent boost in attendance during Pistols, James says, Exhibitions like this get people into the museum who might not have come otherwise.
Pop culture icons and towering black-and-white images of artists and their creations balance the dark orange walls in the exhibition. The Eiteljorg knows how to complement the artistry of the motorcycles with eye-catching imagery and solid information panels. Detailed histories of early production years and types of motorcycles outline past, present, and future.
One of our favorite pieces in the exhibition is a Harley-Davidson three-speed dubbed Effie. Harley-Davidson introduced the three-speed transmission in 1915, and Effie Hotchkiss became the first woman to ride this bike. She rode from Brooklyn to the Worlds Fair in San Francisco with her mother, Avis, in a sidecar. In 2010, Cristine Sommer-Simmons, co-founder of Harley Women magazine andMotorcycle Hall Of Fame member, recreated that historical ride, competing in the Cannonball Run (sans has-been kitschy Hollywood actors), beginning in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and ending 17 days later in Santa Monica, California. Sommer-Simmons named the bike Effie in honor of Hotchkiss. A small, clear plastic box that contains a scroll of the entire trips directions sits in the center of the handlebars. The rider scrolls through to see where to go next. Its a quirky little addition to the bike that museum employees have labeled scroll GPS. In July, Sommer-Simmons will make an appearance at the Eiteljorg to talk about her experiences riding cross-country.
With all of this glimmering steel and leather, we asked what the curatorschoice is. Oh, its the Captain America bike, James says. I was 13 when Easy Rider came out, and it made such an impact on me. As a matter of fact, I was so upset by the ending that I didnt watch it again for 30 years. I was thrilled when we got this bike. Its such a part of American Western culture.
The 1969 film Easy Riderthe counterculture gold standard in cinemabrought Harley-Davidson and motorcycling to the attention of young people all over the world. Starting with used Harleys, two bikes had their forks raked to almost 45 degrees to create the Captain America choppers. With its ape-hanger handlebars and heavy chrome, Captain America is the most widely recognized motorcycle ever made. The bike, loaned by the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa is the original from the last scene of the film. Without our lenders, we simply wouldnt have this exhibition, James says. Were so grateful.
Some of the coolest bikes are in a section of the exhibition called Native American Appropriation And Pride. Taking pride in his Lakota Sioux heritage, Troy Vargas of Lakota Choppers custom-built a chopper called Great Spirit, using materials such as hide, wood, and stone in his creation. Sharing his vision of the Great Spirit (Wankan Tanka), the most striking feature of the bike is the colorful headdress encircling the gas tank. Do you see the feathers? James asks. They look real, dont they? Theyre metal! Were stunned at the artistry in this chopperand the exhibition itself.
Steel Ponies is on exhibit at the Eiteljorg Museum through August 5. And they wont throw you out if you show up in leather chaps.
When performers with the Cirque de la Symphonie travel to a show, they pack light. There are no big tour buses filled with major equipment following the troupe – a company of acrobats, jugglers, dancers and contortionists – on the road.
”We try to keep the program self-contained,” said William Allen, executive director and producer of Cirque de la Symphonie. “We carry everything we can in baggage on an airplane.”
Allen said the minimalist approach helps the show be “more aesthetically pleasing.”
“The aerialist acts are done by raw manpower, by hand,” he said. “Backstage in the wings, we have four or five on strings literally pulling artists up and down.”
The company will add its visual effects to the next Orchestra Kentucky performance. “From Russia with Love,” a concert that celebrates the land of the tzars, will be at 7:30 pm Monday at the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center. Tickets range from $10 to $45.
Orchestra music director and conductor Jeff Reed said he always looks for a way to introduce classical music in a way that’s accessible to the audience. “We have a very visual society, so this is a way for people to be entertained while listening to some of the greatest music ever written,” he said.
Allen agreed.
“These classical pieces fit perfectly with cirque artistry,” he said. “Adding that element makes the concert a 3-D type of adventure. It’s meant to enhance the live symphony orchestra experience.”
After musicians who have performed with the group before recommended the show, Reed was convinced Cirque de la Symphonie would perfectly fit the bill.
“They perform with orchestras all over the country. Some of the act is suspended over the stage,” he said. “We’ll be playing live music on stage while they’re doing their acrobatics. The people who have seen it say it’s an amazing show. I’m looking forward to it.”
Cirque de la Symphonie is excited about its first Bowling Green performance and being part of SKyPAC’s opening week, Allen said.
“We didn’t know we’d be performing in SKyPAC,” he said. “We’re so happy to be a part of (the orchestra’s) induction into this new facility.”
The programs tend to be flexible, Allen said. Monday’s concert will have performers from all over the world performing a wide variety of acts, including juggling, contortionists and spinning cubes.
“We try to provide a program which fits the part, needs and priority of the orchestra,” he said. “All the artists are true professionals. We only need one rehearsal with the orchestra.”
The concert for Cirque de la Symphonie started 20 years ago when Allen was visiting the Soviet Union.
“I got to be good friends with the director of the Moscow Circus. I was really amazed at the amount of training they did and how seriously they took their art form,” he said. “There is actually an institute in Moscow where you can get a master’s degree in circus artistry. I was impressed with how respected the art form was and with the athleticism and dedication to training.”
One day Allen was watching one of the artists warm up.
“She set down a boom box and out comes Tchaikovsky,” he said. “It started this thinking that maybe classical music was meant to be the background for this art form.”
It wasn’t long before Allen began helping the artists schedule performances. In 2005, he talked with Cirque de la Symphonie co-founder Alexander Streltsov about organizing a program in which cirque artists could perform with orchestras. Streltsov is a well-known Russian stage and circus artist and knows a lot of people in the circus business, Allen said.
“My whole goal from its inception was to raise cirque artistry to a fine arts level,” he said.
Allen remembers getting a call some time ago from Eric Kunzel, the now late Cincinnati Pops conductor, about an a theatrical production he had seen in which a circus artist flew out from over his head.
“He said, ‘I know you represent these artists. Do you think it’s possible to have something like this on-stage with the orchestra?’ ” Allen said. “We brought in some technical innovators from Moscow to Cincinnati.”
The result was a Valentine’s special called “Love is in the Air,” Allen said. Streltsov was one of the aerialists in the show.
“It was so stunning that PBS showed it every years for five years as a Valentine’s special,” Allen said.
Last season, Cirque de la Symphonie booked shows with 60 orchestras, Allen said. He is excited about the upcoming show with Orchestra Kentucky and believes the audience will be, too.
“I think the audience will love the melodies they hear,” he said.
“From Russia with Love” is sponsored by Dr. Robert and Pat Goodwin and US Bank. The VIP Series is sponsored by the Dorothy and Morris Haskins Foundation.
For more information about the concert, call 846-2726 or visit www.orchestrakentucky.com.
For more information about Cirque de la Symphonie, visit www.cirquedelasymphonie.com.
Photo by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Asa Butterfield stars in "Hugo," the Academy Award-nominated best picture film about a boy who lives behind the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris.
Photo by Warner Bos.
Warner Bros.
Hugo (Asa Butterfield, left) lives behind the walls of a Paris train station and meets an eccentric girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) who helps him unravel the mystery of an automaton in "Hugo."
Who knew Martin Scorsese could deliver such artistic decadence, gilded and lovely, breathtaking and magical. Wondrous.
Heck, who knew the word “lovely” and “Scorsese” could exist in the same sentence? But they do when it comes to “Hugo,” a recent best picture nominee, and much deserved at that.
Scorsese, known for grittier fare like “Mean Streets,” “Raging Bull” and “Taxi Driver,” chances his foray into family film with “Hugo.” He creates a dream world dipped in imagination — a train station in 1931 Paris, a giant clock of enormous girth acting as overlord from a tower as it churns and stirs time with its giant gears, Paris portrayed as a magical storybook city from afar, scenes from movie sets in glass houses, dragons, pirates and mermaids.
It’s here where dreams are made, sure enough. Chalk one up to Scorsese.
Still, the film, enchanting as it in its artistry, is a family film but not quite a children’s film. With its dark, near-tragic undertones — a lonely orphan pursued by an unrelenting station inspector — this movie is more clearly a fantastical film for adults that just happens to star children.
With no musical numbers, an often dull color palette, few lighthearted scenes, weighty themes and frankly, a slow, steady-as-she-goes pace, it’s doubtful young children will be very entertained.
Hugo (Asa Butterfield) is a 12-year-old orphan who lives behind the walls of a train station, where he keeps the station clocks going. His uncle taught him how to maintain the clocks after his father (Jude Law) dies in a fire, and it’s not long afterward that his uncle fails to return to the train station.
Hugo is on his own.
He spends his days observing people — the station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) who loves the flower girl (Emily Mortimer), the man who can’t get close to the woman he loves because of her nippy dog, and the toy shop owner (Ben Kingsley) who he steals tools from so he can fix an automaton left behind by his father.
Hugo thinks if he can fix the automaton — a mechanical man seated at a writing table — he will receive a message from his father.
He gets help from Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz), the toymaker’s goddaughter. She loves to read and borrows books from Monsieur Labisse (Christopher Lee). She happens to have the key that will make the automaton work. When it does, it creates the message Hugo has been waiting for. Now the two must find out what the message means. What they uncover are stories about a magician and one of the first filmmakers who created fantastical worlds in his 500 movies.
I have heard tale told that Scorsese did wonderful things with this film in 3D for the big screen, but even in 2D, it’s clear Scorsese creates a dreamy world beautifully presented in perfectly framed shots.
Beyond that film artistry in a movie about an early film artist, Brian Selznick’s novel, adeptly converted to a screenplay by John Logan, explores that time in Paris when technology and machines were changing society at a dizzying pace. Not only does he delve into the early days of film and uses trains as symbols of technology, but machines play a big role in his commentary on humans.
The very observant Hugo tells Isabelle that machines do not have any extra parts and wonders where he, an orphan — an extra part — fits into this world. He also says machines are built to have a purpose; if they don’t, they’re broken. He says the same is true of humans. If we don’t have a purpose, we, too, are broken.
The cast is brilliant. Butterfield gives an emotionally compelling performance as the lonely Hugo, and Moretz is effervescent as Isabelle, the girl with a vivid imagination. Cohen dials it down, thankfully, to play the bad guy station inspector and gives the one really humorous performance. And Ben Kingsley is stellar as the sage toymaker with a broken spirit.
“Hugo,” as artistically pretty as it is with its deep themes, won’t be for everyone. It is a visual feast for sure but without much action or a lot of the typical family film humor. It also is odd how it melds machines, technology and Paris.
Still, it’s Scorsese and it’s definitely lovely.
© 2012 Times Record News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
If you were thrilled with the aerial artistry and jawdropping feats of tumbling and flying of the Cirque du Soleil performers at the 84th Annual Academy Awards, youre in luck. Cirque du Soleils newest show, Ovo, is all that and more.
Spiderman
Photo: Benoit Fontaine. Costumes by Liz Vandal
Just as the worlds most beloved circus sparked up the marathon three-hour award show, Ovo is a sensory bubble bath for a crisis-saturated world. Once you step into Ovos underworld of bugs, you will be seduced into the lighthearted motifs of romance, procreation and arachnophobia that underscore masterful and heart-stopping gymnastics.
Ants
Photo: OSA Images. Costumes by Liz Vandal
I asked my friend to pick her favorite act — which turned out to be the flying trapeze artists. But each time I added, What about the trampolines? or the contortionist, or the tumbling troupe, or the Chinese Dragon Dance or the juggler or the… she had more and more difficulty picking her favorite, as did I.
Finale
Photo: OSA Images. Costumes by Liz Vandal
This is not one of Cirque du Soleils most ambitious attempts at deeper meanings. Ovo simply embodies the essence of what made the world fall in love with this troupe in the first place. Artistry.
Spider
Photo: OSA Images. Costumes by Liz Vandal
Mastery. The unbearable lightness of being (as exhibited by men and women who can balance on one hand while doing an aerial backbend).
Fleas
Photo: OSA Images. Costumes by Liz Vandal
Cirque du Soleil virtuosos leaving us gasping, longing for more, thinking that maybe we too could don a skull cap, green hair, antennae and extra large shoes and run off with the circus.
Master Flipo, Ladybug Foreigner (Bottom to top)
Photo: OSA Images. Costumes by Liz Vandal
Ovo is an aesthetic escape into the superhuman strength and beauty of bugs. One that youll want to take, to escape an over-serious, soul-numbing world.
Ovo is playing now in Santa Monica, California. The show moves to Portland, Oregon on April 5, 2012 and then crosses the Pacific Ocean to Australia for a July 14, 2012 opening in Brisbane, followed by Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth.
Natalie Pace is the author of You Vs. Wall Street and Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is. She is the founder and CEO of the Womens Investment Network, LLC (a global financial news, information and education site), where she has been adding a splash of green to Wall Street and transforming lives on Main Street for more than a decade.