Silent film, theatre openings and Oscar festivities

You may not think of silent films when you think of Alfred Hitchcock, but Blackmail is not one to miss! This film was actually released as both a silent and a talkie, as it was produced during the time of transition. The silent version will play at the Lawrence Arts Center tonight, Feb 27, at 7pm. But the best part about this screening is that there will be live musical accompaniment from the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. If you haven't viewed a film with a live orchestra before, you're missing out on an experience!
Bonus points if you can spot Hitchcock's cameo.

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Two shows are opening this weekend in the LFK theatre scene. Theatre Lawrence is producing Other Desert Cities, a dramatic show dealing with family secrets. It opens on Friday, and shows are Feb 28 - Mar 2, and Mar 6-9. This show is also opening at the Unicorn Theatre in KC in March. We were thinking of catching both to compare!

KU Theatre is performing Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (they really don't put much into their posters over at the university). We really don't feel like we need to explain Shakespeare. It's one of his comedies (and it's not directed by Josh Whedon). This show also opens Friday and runs Feb 28 - Mar 2, and Mar 7-9.

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The Academy Awards are just around the corner, and Liberty Hall in on top of it! First of all, you can view all the Oscar-nominated short films on their screen for the next few days. The film world is dominated by features, but we're big fans of short films. The chance to see the best of the year on the big screen isn't something we want to miss!

And then, of course, Liberty Hall is hosting an Oscar party on Sunday, March 2. They'll be passing out ballots, giving away prizes, and definitely serving drinks while screening the awards in the large theater. The venue encourages attendees to dress up for the event. "It's the most fun you'll have listening to a bunch of actors talk!"

Chekhov, John Waters, puppet shows, and comedy!

KU has three more performances of their Black Box production "The Boor and Antic Disposition." The Boor is a one-act comedy by Anton Chekhov (we were sold at that part). Antic Disposition is three different interpretations of Hamlet. Feb 18, 19, & 20.  Here's a review from Lawrence.com.

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Only one Burroughs film this week? We're kind of relieved after Haxan and Naked Lunch last week! Tonight's screening is 1991's informal documentary "Commissioner of Sewers," which is an hour long interview with William Burroughs discussing culture, art, and morality. Feb 18, 7pm in the gallery at the Lawrence Arts Center. FREE.

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Writer/director John Waters makes his way into town on Thursday to help celebrate William Burroughs' birthday. The "Pope of Trash" will be speaking about "how to be insane and have a good life and embrace it." Tickets have been sold out for some time now, but we've heard rumors of the Arts Center selling tickets for a live video feed of his talk, so it might still be worth getting on the waiting list! Here's an article and interview with Waters from Lawrence.com.

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Card Table Theatre has a show, auditions, and a brand new website! This Friday the infamous Shitty Deal Puppets will come out of storage for a show called Big Joe Medicine Show, which is a benefit show for a Victor Continental alumnus. There'll be stand-up comedy, music, and, of course, foul-mouthed puppets! The event is in a space we've haven't experienced yet- the Hillcrest Comedy Shoppe (which is apparently the renovated back room of the Pool Room at 9th & Iowa). 9pm.

Card Table is also having auditions for a couple of their upcoming shows Feb 23rd, 2-5pm. Details here.

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We don't advise trying to take the kids to the above puppet show, but here is one you should take the kids to see. A puppet version of the Pied Piper is taking place at the Lawrence Arts Center this weekend, Feb 21 & 22nd. It appears to be an interactive performance with live music. KU graduate Spencer Lott, who is currently working as a puppeteer in New York, is returning to LFK for this show. There are 6 different performances to choose from. Details here.

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You used to have to wait a while in between comedy shows in Lawrence. That's not the case anymore, as stand-up comedy has quickly found some traction here in Larryville. Comedy Freakout returns this Saturday night at Frank's North Star. Featuring a cast of local stand-up comedians and headlined by two comedians from Oklahoma City. Jokelahoma starts at 10pm downstairs in the old cock fighting pit! FB event here.

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Witchcraft, Jazz, Broadway, and Lots of V-Day Film and Theatre Picks

You're not going to escape the Burroughs worship for quite a while in this town, even if it creeps you out. The Arts Center has two films related to the Burroughs exhibit this week. First up is Haxan, a 1922 Swedish silent film. According to Wikipedia, "Häxan is a study of how superstition and the misunderstanding of diseases and mental illness could lead to the hysteria of the witch-hunts. The film was made as a documentaty but contains dramatized sequences that are comparable to horror films."

The film was re-released in 1968 with a jazz score and narration by William S. Burroughs, which is what LAC will be showing tonight, Feb 10, at 7pm. FREE

 And then there's David Cronenberg's interpretation of Naked Lunch on Tuesday, Feb 11, at 7pm. The 1991 film has a lot of mixed reviews. We hear you need to have nerves of steel to watch it, which makes us curious (as long as the Arts Center still has Free State Beer on tap). And of course, it's FREE.

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If you like your theatre in the form of a Broadway musical, then the Lied Center has something for you on Wednesday. The Addams Family has been touring with great reviews. We're not usually ones to go for the big-budget shows, but we might make it out for this comedy.

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We're fans of jazz music, and we've caught wind that the KU Jazz performances at the Lawrence Arts Center aren't half bad, especially when you factor in the FREE factor. KU Jazz Ensemble I will be performing on Thursday at 7:30pm.

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And finally, we get to Friday. Regardless of how you feel about it, Valentine's Day brings about some interesting events. 

Liberty Hall has made what is probably the best choice for a Valentine's movie with The Princess Bride. The inconceivable comedy-adventure-romance-fairy tale will be screening on Friday at 8pm. Trust us, it's better than anything that's playing at the multiplex. Plus, you'll learn how true love is like a sandwich.

Over at the Lied Center, this is of course the big premiere of Kevin Willmott's Lawrence-based film Jayhawkers. (One of Willmott's other films recently stirred up controversy over at The Dalton School in NY. Read about it and Kevin's response here). Jayhawkers is the story of how KU basketball player Wilt Chamberlain and legendary coach Phog Allen changed not only the game of basketball, but the society around them in the 1950's. The film also includes jazz musician Nathan Davis and poet Langston Hughes. Jayhawkers has 8 screenings Feb 14-16. But does Willmott stay true to Chamberlain's sexual reputation??

If you wish to venture over to KC on V-Day, The Alamo Drafthouse theater is showing the 1942 timeless classic Casablanca at 8pm. You can also catch Pretty Woman at 10:30pm, but be aware it's part of a series called The Movie Interruption, where comedians sit in the front row with microphones and rip the film apart.

And in the theatre world, KU is opening a series of short plays in their Black Box. This includes The Boor by Anton Chekhov and Antic Disposition, which contains three different comedic takes on Hamlet. We're unclear on what to expect, but we committed to it after the name Chekhov came up. The show runs Feb 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20 in the Inge Theater.

Tonight: Foxy By Proxy Revue's Valentine's Day Cabaret

Foxy by Proxy Revue, Lawrence's own burlesque troupe, has a Valentines themed show tonight (Saturday) at Liberty Hall, and it's sure to be scandalous! The Foxy ladies are consistently hilarious and classy. They request that you dress up for the event. There is also table seating available that includes desert.

Since this event is tonight and not on V-Day, we'll have to find something else to do for Valentine's. Whatever we do, we may stop by Hobbs during the day, largely because we're not quite sure what it is that they're doing at this event. They're teaming up with Headmasters for "a moment of beauty with hair flirtation and makeup teases," and it has something to do with The Beatles. We're really just hoping for a free makeover. This and other Beatles-themed events on their site: http://hostofcool.com/host-love

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See our previous blog for The Nervous Set performance which is also happening tonight, although we heard it's sold out.

Excuse me while I whip this out

Liberty Hall is bringing us Mel Brooks' 1974 comedy classic "Blazing Saddles"! If you've never seen this film, or any Mel Brooks film, don't miss it! "To ruin a western town, a corrupt political boss appoints a black sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary." Thurs Feb 6, 7pm!

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Story Slam is this Friday at the Arts Center. Story Slam is a monthly event where the audience tells stories. So you should go participate, or just sit back and judge those who do! This month's theme is "Caught". We were thinking of flooding the place with stories of when we were 13 and our parents caught us...well...just come find out. Friday, Feb 7, 7pm (it's a week early this month due to Valentine's Day).

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Burroughs, Burroughs, Burroughs. Sick of all the Burroughs events yet? We're not. There's another film showing on Feb 6 at 7pm about William Burroughs' life. This one is called "Words of Advice: William S. Burroughs on the Road". FREE

Also in the Burroughs realm is another event at the Lawrence Arts Center that we're very interested in. A staged reading of The Nervous Set is happening on Sat Feb 8th. It's a jazz musical about the beat generation. Director Ric Averill will have a full jazz band and equity actors performing this reading. But there are two elements that always get our attention: it's FREE and they sell BOOZE. See you there!

Estrogen, Matt Pryor, and Trash Nite

This week in the Lawrence film and theatre (and music) scene!

"A comedic show for the heartbroken and horny."  That was enough to catch our interest. Echo Sunyata Sibley is bringing her one-woman show "Flippin' Channels In The Estrogen Zone" to Lawrence for two nights, and you get your choice of which atmosphere to watch it in! There's a performance at Frank's North Star on Friday night, and one in the Black Box at the Lawrence Arts Center on Saturday night. "The honest and graphic recollections and fantasies of one frustrated woman navigating sex and love in a world that commodifies her loneliness."

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On Tuesday, The Bottleneck is hosting Trash Nite, and it's FREE. We like bad films almost as much as we like good ones. Trash Nite screens condensed versions of bad movies. This time the theme is video games, and it looks quite promising.

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Ok, so it's not theatre or film, but we're fans of music too. The Lawrence Arts Center creates an interesting environment to experience a concert, due to the fact that it's a seated theater. Matt Pryor is putting on a show there this Friday night as part of the 940 Live Concert Series. Bonus selling point - servers will bring you beer right to your seat!

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Don't forget that tickets are on sale for local filmmaker Kevin Willmott's latest film "Jayhawkers".  It's a narrative film about KU basketball, Phog Allen, Wilt Chamberlain, and the civil rights movement in Lawrence. Tickets are on sale at the Lied Center for the weekend of Feb 14-16.

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In film production news, we've caught wind that a new local group called Women of Lawrence Film is actively creating a series of short films. These will be premiering in an upcoming Final Friday, as well as the Free State Film Festival this summer, so keep watch! Speaking of the film festival, it sounds like it's going to be much bigger this year!

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Final Friday is this week, and we're certainly ready for a new round of art openings! See all of the events here. We definitely recommend checking out the Arts Center's William Burroughs exhibit. It looks like Cider Gallery also has a nice Burroughs exhibit opening. Also, don't forget that there are several more Burroughs events coming up in the next month including films, discussions, a staged reading of The Nervous Set, and John Waters speaking.

Turkish film, Jayhawkers, and William Burroughs

Welcome to our blog! We'll be posting about local film, theatre, and performing arts events. But we also like our Lawrence music scene and drinking Free State Beer, so that will inevitably make it's way into the blog at times. Be sure to follow our twitter account, too!

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Tonight at Liberty Hall the award-winning Turkish film "Watchtower" is screening (presented by the Lied Center, but don't get confused and head there to see it). Filmmaker Pelin Esmer will be present to introduce the film and do a Q&A afterward. If that's not enough to get you there, consider that the event is free! Details here.

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Remember fall of 2012 when there was a lot of buzz about local filmmaker Kevin Willmott shooting his latest film "Jayhawkers"? Well, you finally get the chance to view the film on the big screen at the Lied Center. Tickets went on sale yesterday, and there appears to be 8 screenings over the weekend of Feb 14-16.

We had a chance to catch an advanced screening a couple weeks ago, and definitely recommend it to any Lawrencian or KU basketball fan. The film stars Kip Niven as Coach Phog Allen, and KU basketball player Justin Wesley as Wilt Chamberlain. But the film is about much more than basketball, as Willmott largely addresses the civil rights movement in Lawrence in the 1950's. You can see the trailer here.

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Theatre Lawrence has a second round of performances for "Wrong Window" this weekend. We haven't heard any reviews of the show yet, and we're still not sure how we'd feel about a Hitchcock spoof.  Let us know if you see it!

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Lawrence has Burroughs fever, and we hope this isn't the first you've heard of it! The Lawrence Arts Center has quite the exhibition going on in their galleries. We caught a screening of "A Man Within", a documentary about William Burroughs on Sunday. There are several more films coming up in the next month, and we're definitely planning to catch some of them as well. See all the Burroughs-related events at LAC here.