While the high-falutin’ Initiative to Develop and Engage Audiences in Syracuse (IDEAS) is talk, talk, talking about ways to put keisters in the seats at local cultural venues, two downtown arts organizations have gone ahead and done something about it.
Jazz Central is proud of its partnership with the new Orange Line Gallery.
The operators of the two venues hope they’ll form the heart of a vibrant new “Downtown East” arts district. Jazz Central is located at 441 E. Washington St., a few blocks east of City Hall, and Orange Line Gallery is in the old Firebarn building at 106 Montgomery St., adjacent to City Hall.
Jazz Central’s executive director, Larry Luttinger, sees the alliance already bearing fruit.
‘Curtain Call’ after-parties
“You’ll notice the evidence of our partnership immediately, “Luttinger said. “Our theater will be named the Orange Line Theater at Jazz Central in all future publications and publicity. CNY Jazz Central and Rarely Done Productions, our in-house theatrical company, will create cooperative and complementary events before and after shows at our theater — ‘Curtain Call’ after-parties, ‘Narrative Night’ discussion forums and other concepts to be formulated that will capitalize on the synergy that can be created from the wide variety of experiences our combined venues can offer in a single evening.”
Owner-operators of the Orange Line Gallery are artist Melissa Tiffany and former Coffee Pavilion manager Bill Harper.
Orange Line Gallery will officially open from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1 with an exhibit celebrating “the beauty of advocating, experimenting, exploring and appreciating art and artist,” Tiffany said. “Orange Line Gallery remains dedicated to art and the arts, and to artists earning a living in their chosen mediums. It is the mission and message of Orange Line that art is necessary to everyday good living. No one should live uninspired!” For info, visit theorangelinegallery.com.
Multi-media concert in March
The partnership will spill over into events presented outside the two venues, Luttinger said. “We’ll also be partnering on community-wide events held outside our facilities — the first of which is our co-creation of a multi-disciplinary concert experience, our March 19 Pictures at an Exhibition event.”
Composer and woodwind artist Charles Pillow will perform his jazz suite based on the original themes from the Moussorgsky/Ravel classical staple with select members of the CNY Jazz Orchestra, surrounded by video projections of digitally manipulated images produced by artists from Orange Line.
“And the legendary CNY Jazz Orchestra post-concert receptions?” Luttinger asked. “Also held at the gallery, just a short walk from the Civic Center.”
Postmodern musical
Meanwhile, the oddly titled [title of show] produced by Rarely Done Productions opens at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, at the newly named Orange Line Theatre at Jazz Central, 441 E. Washington St.
Written by Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell with musical direction by Jon Balcourt and directed by SALT Award-winner Dan Tursi, [title of show] is a musical about two nobodies named Hunter and Jeff who decide to write an original musical starring themselves and their lady friends, Susan and Heidi. Their musical, [title of show], gets into the New York Musical Theatre Festival, then becomes an off-Broadway production at the Vineyard Theatre and wins three Obie Awards. Finally the musical makes it way to Broadway.
The New York Times might or might not have praised the show as “A postmodern homage to the grand tradition of backstage musicals like Babes in Arms, Kiss Me, Kate and A Chorus Line.”
The Rarely Done cast includes Julia Berger, Shawn Forster, Aubrey Panek and Dana Sovocool.
The musical runs at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 16, and at 8 p.m. Thursday Oct. 7 and 14. Tickets cost $25 on opening night, $20 for all subsequent shows; 546-3224; rarelydone.org.
[title of show] is intended for mature audiences only.
Tenor guitars and tapas
Tenor Madness — four-string guitarists Hanna Richardson and Phil Flanigan and bassist Jared Mulcahy — perform from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, at L’Adour Restaurant Francais, 110 Montgomery St., downtown.
Be sure to catch Hanna’s devilish double entendres when she sings “Porter’s Love Song to a Chambermaid” by the ever-entertaining Fats Waller.
For reservations, call 475-7653, or simply find a spot at the bar; ladour-com.wildtex.net.
Jazz Mandolin Project at Westcott
The Jazz Mandolin Project performs a multi-media show at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, at the Westcott Theater, 524 Westcott St., on Syracuse’s East Side.
Led by Jamie Masefield, the quartet performs its original soundtrack to “How Much Land does a Man Need?” — a film of a Russian story written 120 years ago but with a modern American twist. Tolstoy’s tale focuses on a man spurred by the Devil to acquire more and more land, before dying of exhaustion from pure greed. Admission costs $15; 424-4973.
‘The Parent Trap’
“Liars’ Club” author Mary Karr and her former Syracuse University colleague, “Boy’s Life” author Tobias Wolff, will share the stage at the New Yorker Festival, at Manhattan’s SVA Theatre, 333 W. 23rd St, at 9:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1. The title of their talk, moderated by Philip Gourevitch, is “The Parent Trap.”
Bertini blows in Homer Saturday
Trumpeter Charlie Bertini will lead an impressive quintet at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at the Homer the Center for the Arts, 72 S. Main St., in Homer. Admission costs $20, $16 for seniors age 60 and older, $10 for students, and free for those ages 17 and younger.
Bertini’s bandmates on this date will be trombonist John Allred, pianist Dave Solazzo, guitarist Tom Bronzetti and bassist Phil Flanigan.
“This is a unique, acoustic concert in a chamber setting,” Bertini said. “Take this opportunity to hear some of Central New York’s finest musicians in a rare ‘non-amplified’ event.”
The Beanstalk beckons
The pride of Syracuse’s North Side — Open Hand Theater — opens its World of Puppets Family Series at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, with “Jack and the Beanstalk” by Michael Graham’s Spring Valley Puppet Theatre.
On Oct. 9, the infectiously wild Jim Nappy presents Father Goose who is stuck telling the old stories, but can’t seem to get them right.
Returning also to perform in this fall’s World of Puppets series are Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers with The Legend of the Banana Kid on Nov. 6.
All performances are at 11 a.m. on the first two Saturdays of each month. The average performance time is 45 minutes to one hour. To reserve tickets, dial 476-0466.
Baker channels Ol’ Blue Eyes
Vocalist Dave Baker, who regularly sings with the Stan Colella Orchestra, pays tribute to Frank Sinatra with a free show at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3, at Liverpool Public Library, 310 Tulip St. in the village; 457-0310.
Music Mondays at Atillio’s
A new Monday-night tradition started in Little Italy on Sept. 20 at Atillio’s, 700 N. Salina St., when hotshot guitar picker Tom Bronzetti fronted a trio also featuring his vocalist sister, Alicia Bronzetti, and upbeat bass player Joey Arcuri.
The live jazz will continue at Atillio’s every from 7 to 11 p.m. every Monday through October. Admission is free and the food is fine! For info, dial 218-5085.
“It Came from Outer Space”
The Syracuse Cinephile Society, screens “It Came from Outer Space,” (1953), based on a story by Ray Bradbury, at 7:30 p.m. Monday Oct. 4, at the Spaghetti Warehouse, 689 N. Clinton St., near Syracuse’s Inner Harbor.
Admission to each Cinephile screening costs $3 or $2.50 for Cinephile members. For info, call Spaghetti Warehouse at 475-1807.
On Oct. 11, the Cinephile Society will show “Innocents in Paris,” (1953), starring Alistair Sims and Margaret Rutherford, and featuring an appearance by a young Christopher Lee. Visit syracusecinephile.com.
Five decades of fun!
Syracuse bandleader Mickey Vendetti is getting ready to celebrate his golden anniversary in the music biz on the night of Saturday, Oct. 23, at Le Moyne Manor in Liverpool. The celebration of rock’n’roll through the decades begins at 7 p.m. that night with an opening performance by TimeLine.
Tickets cost $10 and are available at Gilligan’s Pub, 3601 James St. in Eastwood, or call Mickey directly at 345-1002.
