LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Saturday, March 29, at 7 p.m. the Lake County Arts Council presents an all-star Music Fest at the Soper Reese Theatre.
The show is comprised of the best talent from Lake County, including the Renaissance, a Capella, all female singing group, My Divas and the Mendo-Lake Singers, who specialize in barber shop harmony.
Also featured is versatile actor and performer, Bert Hutt, the a Capella group, EarReverence, K&J Music and Uncorked.
Soper Reese Executive Director Mike Adams emcees the event.
All seats for the Music Fest are $15.
Tickets are available online at www.SoperReeseTheatre.com ; at the theatre box office, 275 S. Main St., Lakeport on Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; or by phone at 707-263-0577.
Tickets also are available at The Travel Center, 1265 S. Main, Lakeport, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The love between parents can be wonderful and mysterious to their children. Robert Hedin, a Minnesota poet and the director of The Anderson Center at Tower View in Red Wing, does a fine job of capturing some of that wonder in this short poem.
My Mother's Hats
She kept them high on the top shelf, In boxes big as drums—
Bright, crescent-shaped boats With little fishnets dangling down—
And wore them with her best dress To teas, coffee parties, department stores.
What a lovely catch, my father used to say, Watching her sail off into the afternoon waters.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright 2013 by Robert Hedin from his most recent book of poems, The Light Under the Door, Red Dragonfly Press, 2013. Poem reprinted by permission of Robert Hedin and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2014 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Take 1 Jazz comes to the Soper Reese Theatre Friday, March 21.
The show will take place beginning at 7 p.m. at the theater, located at 275 S. Main St.
Take 1 Jazz features George Husaruk on flute and Christian Foley-Beining on guitar.
In a change-up from the usual country and rock music for which Third Friday Live is known, the March 21 show focuses on pure jazz, sometimes driving, sometimes relaxing, with Wes Montgomery, Cal Tjader, Will Siegel and Elena Casanova influences.
All seats for Third Friday Live are $10 each.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.SoperReeseTheatre.com ; at the Theatre Box Office, 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport on Fridays, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; or by phone at 707-263-0577.
Tickets also are available at The Travel Center, 1265 S. Main, Lakeport, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Soper Reese Theatre is a restored, historic, performing and motion picture arts venue established in 1949. It operates under the guidance of the nonprofit Lake County Arts Council.
The 300-seat theater brings dance, music, film, plays and poetry to all members of the Lake County community.
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Tallman Hotel in Upper Lake continues its 2014 series of “Concerts with Conversation” on Saturday, March 22, with an informal concert by Lakeport’s own Bob Culbertson, one of the world’s true masters of the unique Chapman Stick.
The event starts at 7:30 p.m. in the intimate Meeting House next to the Hotel.
Culbertson will be accompanied by percussion virtuoso Rick Alegria.
“If you know Bob and his music, this is a great opportunity to hear him interact with a world-class percussionist,” commented Tallman owner Bernie Butcher. “And if you haven’t been exposed to the truly unique Chapman Stick instrument, this will be an unforgettable experience.”
With well over 100,000 albums sold, and many students to his credit, Culbertson has become one of the most influential Stick soloists in the world today.
An early adaptor of the Chapman Stick, Culbertson is famous not only for his technique on the instrument but for his compositional talent. Inventor Emmett Chapman calls Bob Culbertson “the Segovia of the Stick.”
A native of San Jose, Alegria has performed and recorded with stars such as Bo Diddley, Maria Muldaur, Rosanne Cash and Elvis Costello, and he is currently working with singer-songwriter Paul Williams.
In May of last year, Alegria joined Culbertson for a CD release concert at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport that drew several standing ovations.
“This is the third time I’ve performed in the Tallman Concert Series,” said Culbertson, “first with cellist Clovice Lewis and then with bassist Michael Manring. I love the intimate nature of the venue, the great acoustics and the friendly audience interaction. I’m looking forward to the evening.”
Subject to limited availability, concert tickets at $25 plus tax may be purchased by calling the Tallman Hotel at 707-275-2244, Extension 0.
If the swords-and-sandals epic saga “300: Rise of an Empire” were to be considered a sequel to the blockbuster “300,” then maybe it should have been titled “300: Revenge of the Spartans.”
Unfortunately, the 300 Spartans, including beloved King Leonidas (Gerard Butler, appearing here only in snippets from the first film), were wiped out during a brave last stand against the invading Persian forces.
In essence, “300: Rise of an Empire” is not a sequel, because Leonidas perished, leaving behind his widow Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey), a tough cookie nevertheless skeptical about joining the Greeks against Persian God-King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro).
I don’t know how anyone takes Xerxes seriously. Decked out in gold briefs and pierced with lots of jewelry, Xerxes looks like he belongs in a Las Vegas floorshow surrounded by half-naked women with feather boas.
This could be why Persian naval commander Artemisia (Eva Green), a hardened, vicious warrior extremely motivated for bloodthirsty vengeance, eclipses the vain, strutting Xerxes as the story’s centerpiece villain.
The battle of Thermopylae, where Leonidas and his soldiers made a valiant last stand, was just one fight in a war with the Persians that lasted many years. So this non-sequel is more of a parallel story to the ongoing wars.
Absent the leadership of Leonidas, an Athenian soldier politician named Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) steps in to command a Greek naval force that is badly outnumbered by the Persian vessels under the command of the scheming Artemisia.
Themistocles, much like Leonidas, turns out to be a fierce and clever tactician and adversary. Though exuding a rough-hewn charisma, Sullivan Stapleton is no Gerard Butler, falling short of the brash, wild abandon with which the big guy in the sandals made his overtly physical mark.
Arguably, this hardcore action film, where swordplay is graphically realized with much spilling of blood and severing of body parts, belongs to the strong-willed Artemisia, the biggest, pardon the expression, badass, who would be a serious challenge even for Leonidas.
One of the many problems for Themistocles is the thorny political objective of uniting the various Greek city-states to volunteer their soldiers for a battle that looks pretty much like a suicide mission.
The Athenian general also ventures up to Sparta to try to enlist the naval support of the Spartan fleet, though Queen Gorgo is not easily persuaded to forge an alliance that could effectively engage the overwhelming Persian armada.
Fittingly, considering her towering presence, Artemisia, though Greek-born, has an interesting backstory to explain her hatred of her native land. As a child, she witnessed the brutal murder of her family by Greek soldiers, and she was saved by Xerxes’ father.
Cunning and ruthless, Artemisia is an exceptional military officer, which is why she is entrusted to command the entire Persian naval fleet. She also likes a superior challenge, which is what Themistocles represents.
Though she appears to have no use for diplomacy, one of the fascinating moments during the heat of battle is when Artemisia invites Themistocles to a summit meeting aboard her ship.
The shipboard encounter between two powerful enemies turns into a night of rough sex, with Themistocles eventually rejecting her entreaties for surrender. One cannot imagine this happening today, but to be safe, I’d be careful not to send a high-ranking female diplomat to meet with Vladimir Putin.
Unlike the Spartans, the Greeks are not career soldiers. The toll of war on fathers and sons is personified through two warriors, Scyllias and his son Calisto (Callan Mulvey and Jack O’Connell, respectively), who risk it all behind enemy lines, though both are loyal to a fault to Themistocles.
On a larger scale, the soldiers on both sides are merely anonymous fighters ending up in the meat grinder of countless battles on land and sea. On the Greek side, with their buffed torsos exposed, most soldiers look like regulars at Gold’s Gym.
One particular stunning naval battle occurs on the storm-tossed waters of the Aegean Sea, where Themistocles devises a clever battle plan to encircle the larger Persian armada so as to sink so many ships they are forced to an ignominious retreat.
The bottom line for “300: Rise of an Empire” is that if you enjoyed the original film, then this battleground festival of bloody carnage and destruction will not disappoint fans of the genre.
Even though Zack Snyder did not direct this time, his graphic novel style is clearly present. Even the slow-motion scenes of blood spurting from various body parts, skewered or severed, efficiently serve the Zack Snyder method.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A broad range of musical styles on the keyboard will be presented at the Soper Reese Theatre on Sunday, March 16, by seven well-known pianists from the region.
Musicians will combine their talent and years of experience to benefit fundraising efforts for the arts and education in Lake County.
The Lake County Friends of Mendocino College is partnering with the Soper Reese Theatre to sponsor the third annual Benefit Pianists Concert. The afternoon begins at 2 p.m. with a no-host reception, followed by the concert at 3 p.m.
Raffle tickets for baskets of Lake County products donated by businesses and individuals will be sold during the reception and intermission.
Lake County artists Tom Aiken, Tom Ganoung, and David Neft will be joined by performers Spencer Brewer, Elena Casanova, Elizabeth MacDougall and Ed Reinhart from Mendocino County.
The concert will feature all the pianists on stage throughout the afternoon as they converse about their life experiences and play a variety of musical selections.
Tickets are $25 for regular reserved and $30 for premium reserved and may be purchased at the box office on Fridays, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., or by phone to 707-263-0577.
The Soper Reese is located at 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport.
The Travel Center in the Shoreline Shopping Center, 1265 S. Main St., Lakeport, also sells tickets, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online at www.soperreesetheatre.com .
“The Lake County Friends, an affiliate of the Mendocino College Foundation, was created to benefit students and programs at the Lake Center. We are delighted that proceeds from this benefit concert will enable us to help equip the first Chemistry laboratory at the Lake Center campus in Lakeport,” said Wilda Shock, chairperson of Friends.
Proceeds from the past concerts have funded a $1,000 scholarship for a Lake County student and tutors at the Lake Center. More information about the Friends is available from Shock at 707-263-7575.
The Soper Reese Theatre is a restored performing arts venue operated by an all-volunteer management team under the auspices of the Lake County Arts Council.
“Concert proceeds will be dedicated to the next phases of renovation, including expansion of the lobby and new restrooms,” according to theater Executive Director Mike Adams.
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