Arts and Humanities Reports; Arts and Humanities Report #17

The Norman Parks and Recreation Department summer program has begun offering a variety of activities in classes to area residents. Artists Adrian Day will teach art classes for all ages at the William Recreation Center, 2000 West Brooks. I'll be teaching classes in drawing and painting for children, mid-high and high school age and also for adults. There is a class that'll be a lot of fun for parents and preschoolers. Adrian is an artist with a growing reputation both locally and nationally. She taught college-level drawing for several years and has recently been teaching art to all age levels as an artist in residence.

I did my undergraduate work at OU and I got an MFA at Arizona State University and then I moved back to Norman and I've been here for two and a half years working as an artist in residence with the State Arts Council. In the last couple of years I've been involved in shows in the Oklahoma City area that include the Oklahoma Painting Biennial II. I had a two-person show at the Cropatric Center Gallery and also a two-person show at Artsplace. This fall I'm preparing for an upcoming solo exhibition at the individual artists of Oklahoma Gallery and my work is going to be included in an exhibition entitled Chroma at the Florida State University Museum of Art. I asked Adrian what she will be teaching in her summer art classes. There are two adult

classes that meet in the evenings. One is a drawing class and one of the methods will be using a scratch board which is a lot like pen and ink except you work in reverse making white marks on a dark ink-covered ground that creates some pretty exciting results. The other class for adults is pastel drawing. We'll create artworks using different methods and approaches to chalk and oil pastels. In the drawing and painting class for mid-high and high school age we'll learn to draw an interpret what you see primarily using ink and watercolor. We'll work on developing subject matter that each person is interested in. The subject matter could range from comic book art to landscapes in this class. There are two children's classes for ages 6 through 9 and 10 through 13. We'll work with a

variety of drawing, painting and printmaking media in this class. There's a class for parents and preschoolers and parents will make art with their children. This is a class that's going to be a lot of fun and we'll work with several different materials doing drawings, paintings, and some prints too. Anyone interested in these classes can call the Wittier Recreation Center for more information at 321-291 from 9am to 8.30pm Monday through Thursday and from 9am to 5pm on Friday. That number again is 321-291. For the art report, this is Randy Scott. The ancient art of wood turning is coming into vogue in the 90s. The warmth of

forest elements and the natural flow of the grain colors give a quiet elegance to hand-tooled shapes. The works of Alan Lacer, woodturner, and craftsman are featured at Norman's Firehouse Art Center beginning this weekend. Alan shared his insights about wood turning. That just means it's on woodlai. Woodlai is very much like a potter's wheel except that it's a horizontal versus being vertical. It's still basically a hand process. Don't view this as machining. The length is one of the oldest tools. It's almost as old probably as a potter's wheel. It's a process of wood carving really where the wood is

moving. You're using hand tools. The tools manufacture a lot like the carvers tools except the wood is spinning. About the only thing technology is added has been the electric motor but there's still some excellent turning being done in the United States and the world that's all foot pattern. Most the woods I use are from Oklahoma. I use some exotic woods imported from out of the country but there is a lot of concern about the use of those woods now, the the police and really there's woods here in Oklahoma. They're just as beautiful as anything from Brazil or Mexico or the Orient if you know what to look for. I don't use the normal woods like people would think of walnut, oak, or pines. I use woods that you'd have to be able to identify your trees like Osage Orange, Vodark, or Horse Amphol. A lot of people grew up in Oklahoma

familiar with Horse Amphol. That's a beautiful wood. It's probably one of my favorite. Sycamore, Catalpa, Locus, Buckeye, Persimmon, Lacer described how a solid block of wood is turned into a hollow carved work of art. The forms that I do and have for a number of years are kind of a low flat form. Almost saucer like they have a small opening. They are boulders or vessels. They've been hollowed and it's a process called blind turning. You go into a small opening and you hollow out the piece and there's actually nothing to see. You do it by feel and at times you even close your eyes and you get a very nice effect. Often it looks like someone's taken two bowls and stuck together and it's an insult to the turner. It is one block of wood. There is a high failure rate usually around thirty-fourty percent you'll destroy. I used to get upset about that but

anymore that's just part of the process of the hand. A hand work is not fixed like a jig or some mechanical process. I guess I would say most of my work is dexterity. It's very hard to compete with automated lays and imported bowls from other countries for people. I imagine just a few cents an hour. Most of woodturners in the United States try to make things that are not readily duplicated. That's what most of my work here is. It's dexterity. Lacer began woodturning as a diversion from graduate studies at the University of Oklahoma. I got started while I was here at OVU. As a student I'm not studying woodturning. Although they had some of the most wonderful ways right here at the school they used to teach woodworking. I'm the president of the American Woodturns Association. It's the largest woodturning organization of its kind in

the world and that takes me a lot of places. I get to know turners from all over the world and correspond and I do both teaching and presentations around the United States and I even got to go over to Ireland last year and do a presentation and some of demonstrate my work as well as discuss woodturning in the United States. The Sunday Lacer will demonstrate how woodturning can fit into busy schedules of the 90s. I think this is fairly new for the firehouse but they're going to try a lecture demonstration series and I'm excited about that because I'm going to bring a light and I'm actually going to turn a piece and I'm also going to show slide not just in my work but of contemporary woodturners. It's not for people who are already woodturners. It's for people who don't maybe understand it. Who'd like to see what it is and see how it works and so that'll be from two o'clock into approximately four o'clock on Sunday

to 29th. The Firehouse Art Center is located at 444 South of Florida. For information call 3294523. This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Norman Arts and Humanities Council funded by the Norman Hotel Modell Tax. For the Arts Report, I'm Mary Collins. What do the letters of an obscure American pioneer woman in Frontier Wyoming haven't common with the provocative recollections of world famous anthropologist

Margaret Mead. They both form a part of the journey inward. Women's autobiography, a reading and discussion series hosted by the Norman Public Library. As part of the statewide let's talk about an Oklahoma program, this five book series begins Monday, September 13th at 7 o'clock with a discussion of one writer's beginnings by Yador Welty. Dr. Laura Crouch, discussion leader, explains the several purposes of the evening. And so we celebrate in a way the differences of these women and their contributions to our culture and to our society and at the same time the inward journey part of it allows us to look for reflections of ourselves in their lives. For example, as Yador Welty talks about her childhood and how important books were to her her love for reading going to the library, there are lots of reverberations from other people who

read deeply and and meaningfully when they were children. Her descriptions of her father building kites for them to go out and build, you know, and to fly. Many women will remember similar experiences and so there's a connection there that I think is significant. Each participant is encouraged to read the book before the meeting and come prepared for a lively and lightening and surprising discussion. I think the greatest benefit from a series like this comes during the discussion period when you have an opportunity to share with other library patrons your thoughts about various themes that are in books. I think also almost everyone will start a series because there is one book in the series that particularly interests them and they may not have even encountered

other figures and often it is those other books that they read because they're involved in the series that open new doors for for other knowledge and for other reading. The series continues on September 27th with Dr. Shirley Jones leading the discussion of letters of a woman homesteader by Eleanor Pruitt Stewart. Dr. Jones describes her own experience in reading and discussing this book. Feeling that one gets sitting in a comfortable air-conditioned room reading this is a marvelous terribly terribly vivid impression of life for a woman who is on her own who has almost no quote skills. Who never the last through hard work and courage and determination and look makes a wonderful life

for herself and her children. Every woman had a chord that was struck by this one woman for example said you know I thought that my life was was hard because I'm a member of the sandwich generation. I have my parents on the one hand and I have my children on the other and I really been feeling sorry for myself and I read this I read this book and I read how this woman coped and dealt with things and I feel so much better about things and I can do it if she can do it I can do it copies of all five autobiographies are available for checkout at the Norman Public Library along with free bookmarks listing the dates and subjects of each discussion. The journey inward begins on Monday evening September 13th at 7 o'clock in the Norman Public Library with a discussion of one writer's beginnings by Adora Welty. For more information call 321-1481 extension 1-2-0. This program is made possible in part by a grant from the

Norman Arts and Humanities Council funded by the Norman Hotel Motel Tax. For the Arts Report I'm Chuck Diven. The Stone Soup Theatre presents the Harding and Timeless Drama Dark of the Moon beginning Friday September 24th in Historic Sooner Theatre in downtown Norman. The evening begins at 6.30 with a pre-show gala reception that is free and open to the public. Curtain time is 8 o'clock. Lema DeBerry, president of Stone Soup, describes the play its setting and very relevant themes. Well, Dark of the Moon has something for everybody. It's a romance. For those who want to come and see a romance we have

Barbara Allen, falls in love with the Witch Boy. Witch Boy falls in love with Barbara Allen. They want to get married. Of course, he must become human in order to do that. And there's a year's probationary period and that is the period that the play actually takes place. As from the time he encounters a conjure man and conjure a woman to change him into human and the end of the play is the very last day, the deadline. If they can make it past that day they have it made and that's the climax of the play. Setting his Appalachian Mountains I suppose somewhere mid-30s 1930 and we have people, a community struggling with their values, what they hold very firmly to family, community, and their religion. For the first time Stone Soup has included authentic music in

the production. But it is not really possible to tell the story of the Appalachian people without including their music. You just can't do it. And we've got lots of music on stage. We have a hammer dulcimer. We have the little harpsichord, guitar, banjo. It's really fantastic. We found some really talented people to pull this off. You just, Norman is a community rich in talent. Everything is set up with music. And most scenes, it's not a musical because in a musical the music is telling the story. In this show music enhances the story. It doesn't tell the story but it gives you insight to what these people are dealing with and how deep these emotions run and how how scared this community becomes when they're

confronted with something alien to their religious beliefs. This underlying conflict between old beliefs and new ideas gives dark with the moon a special timeliness. At that time, and in that setting, people truly did believe there were witches, there were hates, there was the supernatural. And when confronted with it, they have to dig down really deep in order to deal with it. Which I think makes it relevant for today because no time have we had more things, more beliefs, more concepts confronting us than we do now. And all people individually as communities, as religious organizations, we're having to ask how do we deal with these issues today in the 90s. It's not a witch but

yet it is threatening to us as the witch boy was threatening to that community. And they all had to come face-to-face with what are we going to do about it, how are we going to stop it, how are we going to save our way of life. Dark of the Moon runs Friday and Saturday September 24th and 25th. Then again Tuesday through Saturday September 28th through October 2nd. All performances are 8 o'clock in the Sooner Theater downtown Norman. Tickets as well as money-saving season tickets can be purchased at the door. A special sneak preview will be part of the Norman City Arts Week Art in the Park Sunday September 26th in Andrew's Park. For more information call 329-3054. This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Norman Arts and Humanities Council funded by the Norman Hotel Motel Tax. For the Art Report, I'm Chuck

Devon. The sound of the unique rhythms played by drummer Joe Morello will be at Oklahoma City University at 1230 Saturday, September 11th. Morello has recorded with Dave Brubeck among the other jazz greats. Recently Joe was featured on Morning Edition and was available for an interview with K-G-O-U-K-R-O-U. We asked him how he began in music.

Originally I wanted to become a classical player and play legitimate symphonic work and all that. My teacher sort of discouraged me on that. I had a little problem with my vision and so so they said, well, you know, why don't you go on to the jazz thing because you couldn't, when you're playing with a symphony orchestra you have to see what your conductor 50 feet away and you're watching the music and so on, you know. So one of my teachers told me so what you want to do and provide music or jazz music and I was kind of upset at the time but it worked out okay I think. We asked Mr. Morello what a drum clinic would be. What it's going to be is sort of what your demonstration on modern percussion jazz. The word jazz people could confuse all jazz music that means it's improvising as it is basically what that really is. The jazz musician is

actually carrying on a classical tradition, you know, years ago, the days of Bach and so on, they made all the Bach concertos and things were all improvised. We hope that there will be some drummers there and we can talk about different techniques and so on like that and then at the end I asked me if I would have the group just play a couple of tunes and we'll do the take five and a couple of things and that's basically what that's going to be, you know. Joe Morello and his quartet are presenting a jazz drumming workshop at the Petri Auditorium on the Oklahoma City University campus at 1230 Saturday following the workshop will be a many concert at Morello hits. The workshop was brought to Oklahoma City by Samuel Gordon Jewelers. For information or tickets call 842-3663. For a perspective on Oklahoma City Arts,

I'm James Carlin's. City Arts 93 brings to Norman a kaleidoscope of art, music, drama and dance. From September 24 through October 3, Norman sparkles with a dazzling array of art experiences for every age and interest. An opening night, September 24, the Simran Circuit Opera Company presents a free

appreciation concert at 730 pm in the first Presbyterian Church, 555 South University. This free concert is their way of saying thank you to the community of Norman and a particular to the first Presbyterian Church for their invaluable support during the year. Sonia McCaskill of the Simran Circuit Opera describes the evening's program. This concert will feature favorites from Gilbert and Sullivan, particularly the Makado HMS Pinafore and Pirates of Pins Dance. We'll have a pre-show of classical and Broadway tunes. That's usually a favorite. Among the festivities planned for Saturday, September 25 is a special presentation by the Norman Dance Theatre. A child's day for dancing is hosted by the Norman Public Library at 10 o'clock Saturday morning. It will feature music, dance and audience participation geared especially for children. Julie Blackston, founder and director of the Norman Dance Company, describes one dance that

presents a creative and humorous look at a situation very familiar to many families. The ballet that is titled just can't win is the ballet that I choreographed so that children could have been watching a little story ballet. It's a short ballet about two sisters and older sister and a younger sister who fight over a skirt. The older sister has a skirt and of course the younger sister wants it too and all their friends are outside playing and they all join in in the fun and participation. The older girls gang up on the little girls and they have a turn competition to see who's going to win and who actually gets the skirt at the end of the dance. Another outstanding musical group, the Norman Community Coral Society, will be performing on Saturday September 25th. This concert entitled a salute to Oklahoma begins at 130 at Rivermont at the

Trails, 800 Canadian Trails Drive. The Coral Society's director Judith Burns tells what musical delights the audience can expect. They would be hearing selections from Oklahoma including our state song. I suppose we'll all stand in clap. That's one way to get a standing ovation. We will be doing the centennial song of Oklahoma composer Beverly McLeary and we will be featuring our own solos from the choir singing selections that they have chosen. I think you will have a good time and a great salute to our state to start out to the art. In addition all three groups will be part of art in the park, Sunday September 26th from 2 to 7 p.m. at Andrews Park. For information on these or any other arts week events call the Norman Arts and Humanities Council at 3601162. This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Norman Arts and Humanities Council

funded by the Norman Hotel Motel Tax. For the art report, I am Chuck Diven. The Norman City Arts Week continues on Sunday September 26th with the exhibit trains at the Depot at the Santa Fe Depot Building, a reception, a lecture on American abstract drawing, and sculpture exhibits, and OU's Fred Jones Museum of Art, plus art in the park, a program of live entertainment, hands-on art activities, and Humanities Information Booths at Norman's Andrews Park. Beginning at 2 p.m., the atrical dance and musical groups will present stage performances. These groups include, in the Order of Appearance, the Norman Dance Theater,

Syllbus Fine Arts Explosion, the Shakespearean Players, the Semiron Circuit Opera Company, the Norman Community Coral Society, the Stage Door Theatrical Company, the Stone Soup Theatre, the Billy McIe, Billy Dancers, Poetry Readings, and the Norman Ballet Company. Okay, Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., September 26th, Art in the Park, the Syllbus Fine Art Explosion will be performing at Andrews Park. Paul, tell us what's happening. Well, we're going to bring out a bunch of our dancers. We have four groups who will be coming to perform, and these young people will be ranging from the ages of three through sixteen, and we're going to bring them out. They're going to do a little dance, have a little fun,

and enjoy an afternoon in the park. We'll have some twinklers, who'll be three and four years old, who'll be doing some cute little songs. We'll also be able to have some of our sparklers, who'll be doing sing, sing, sing, be doing some, one of the Michael Jackson favorites called Black and White. Our older girls will also be doing some jazz called Bazaar and the Little New Orleans Tap. We have a couple of vocalists who'll be out there too with Stupid Cupid and a song called A Piece of Sky from a Broadway show, so we hope we'll have a lot of people out there to watch. And there'll be four groups and then some Solas. We even have one cute little toddler who has just turned three and thinks she is a pro who's going to sing Anky Doodle Vandy. The Billy McKay-Belly dancers will perform at 4.45 pm. When I asked two of their members for

information about their routine, I got more than I bargained for. Joe Wines! Joe Wines, are you there? There you are, Mr. Wunderful. We've been looking all over for you. We've traveled from afar. The Billy McKay-Belly dancers want to honor you this day. Today is your very special day. We're looking for a Mr. Wunderful, but first, we must get you prepared to receive your gift. Here, if you'll just put your arm in this row, yeah, that's right, not the other one. Yes, and now for the final touching, let's add the turban. Oh, you make a good-looking Solas, Mr. Wunderful. Doesn't he, though? But first, now we have the gift. May I present to you your own very, very own belly dancers, the nubah. Now you're watching the eyes very carefully, aren't you, sir? The eyes are a little bit higher than that, Mr. Wunderful.

Now you're watching, you're watching very closely, because I have another thing for you, sir. If you'll just rise, Mr. Wunderful. Oh, yes, come on now. Get those hips to going. Shake them up a bit. That's right. Lift it up. Oh, you're doing it pretty good, Mr. Wunderful. I see you've done it before. Well, I can't guarantee everyone will get a personal lesson like that. We did get some routine information, though, from dancers Melody McCoy and Pamela Doty about the Billy McCoy belly dancer troop. The Billy McCoy dancers are a performing arts, Middle Eastern, folkloric dance troop. We've been performing for about 21 years. We're teaching currently at the Firehouse Art Center, and we perform in all the arts festivals throughout the year. We teach Arabic, Egyptian, Turkish, and all different forms of dancing from throughout the Middle East.

We'll be doing a variety of folkloric ethnic dances. We're going to do a Turkish kashlamah. We're going to do some solo dancing, which is specific to the Middle East. Our dancers Zanuba, Habiba, and other dancers will be performing at our show. I hope you'll come out and see us. It'll be lots of fun. Well, now I know in Hula dancing, you're supposed to watch the hands. In in belly dancing, where do you look? Well, one of the best places is to watch the eyes, and to watch the dancers smile. You can also watch her player'sills. You can watch the choreography and the footwork, or just enjoy the dancing as a whole. Well, that sounds like a challenge, then we'll look forward to seeing you on Sunday at Art in the Park. This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Norman Arts Humanities Council funded by the Norman Hotel Motel Tax. For the Arts Report, I'm Joe Wynes. Norman City Arts Week continues on Sunday, September 26 with the exhibit Trains of the Depot of the Santa Fe Depot. Our reception, a lecture on American

abstract drawing and sculpture exhibits at OU's Fred Jones Museum of Art plus Art in the Park, a program of live entertainment, hands-on art activities, and humanities information booths at Norman's Andrews Park. Beginning at 2 p.m., theatrical dance and musical groups will present stage performances. The groups include, in the order of appearance, the Norman Dance Theatre, Silva's Fine Arts Explosion, the Shakespearean Players, the Simoran Circuit Opera Company, the Norman Community Coral Society, the Stage Door Theatrical Company, the Stone Soup Theatre, the Billy McCoy, Belly dancers, poetry readings, and the Norman Belly Company. Scheduled appear on stage at 3.15 p.m. as the Simoran Circuit Opera Company. I ask Executive Secretary Sonja McCaskill, what music the opera company would perform? I'm Gilbert and Sullivan, primarily. We'd like to do some of this right amount to give people a little hint of what's happening this fall, and perhaps some

of the serpent, our new children's opera that premiered this summer at the Summer Wind Festival. Who are some of the folks that will be performing some of the personalities? Well Lisa Anderson is our musical director and she will be at the Kurzweil playing. Stephen Anderson is our assistant to the Executive Director and he will be singing as well as John Jenkins, Alan Parker, she'll be Andreas Kooner and Miriam Kooner. There will be a reception following the Appreciation Concert. It'll be an Alexander Hall of the First Presbyterian Church and we invite all of our guests to it. Another group performing on stage Sunday afternoon at 5.30 is the Norman Belly Company. We're visiting with Donna Navarra and her daughter Margo, a senior at Norman High School,

and a ballet enthusiast. Donna, what is your position with the Norman Belly Company? This year I'm serving in a capacity as president of the Board of Directors for Norman Bally Company. And Margo, how about you? I'm just a company member of the Bally Company. The program includes I got a rhythm by Gershwin, a number of Susan numbers with a grand finale of Stars and Stripes Forever. Now feature that. Bally to Stars and Stripes Forever. Donna, what can you tell us about the Norman Belly Company? How did they get started and what do they do here in town? Norman Bally Company was started 10 years ago in 1984. We were organized to give young dancers an opportunity to perform in a professional setting. We recruit dancers from all over the state of Oklahoma. Most of our dancers do come from the central portion of the state of Oklahoma.

They audition. We hold approximately two auditions a year. They audition for parts in the ballet company and then for parts in the major performances. We provide at least two opportunities a year with our spring performance and ballet into the stars for the girls to get public performance exposure. In our spring performance they actually work with a professional dancer that we hire to come in from another major ballet company. Okay Margot, your ballet enthusiast, how did you get started and how long have you been at this? Well I guess I've been at it for about 12 years now. Actually my mom is the one that made me start and I didn't really like it when I was a little kid but I've really grown to love it and I continue to take it as long as I can. Was this sort of thing you

think you could make a career out of? No. I don't think I'll be able to do that. So it's just fun for right now. Yeah. Fun once you get past the calluses and the blisters. Okay we'll look forward into seeing the Norman Ballet Company in performance on Sunday afternoon September 26th at Andrews Park beginning at 5.30. We would encourage everyone to come out to attend our performance and to attend other arts performances that will be at the park during the day. Well thank you Donna and Margot. Norman Area residents really are fortunate to have such a wide variety of excellent arts and humanities activities available for our enjoyment. This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Norman Arts and Humanities Council funded by the Norman Hotel Motel Tax. For the Arts Report, I'm Joe Wines.

The University of Oklahoma School of Music continues its acclaimed Sutton Music Series with a unique multimedia presentation, celebration of summer and Montana, experience the bear tooth mountains and oil and song. The concert begins at 8 o'clock and Monday November 8th in the Catholic Music Center Room 104. OU Baratone and Professor of Voice Sean Daniel presents his own original oil paintings accompanied by the songs of American composer Charles Ives. During a recent interview in his studio, Professor Daniel explained how his concept of the multimedia concert developed. That's exactly it. I did recording a French melody from the late 19th century called Fantasy Ecclar, the end of the century and I did concerts of

these songs with slides of Monet because Monet knew all the composers that were represented in the program and there were Suarez where Monet and various other impressionistic painters would be at the same table with singers and writers etc etc. So I thought of combining as they did in these Suarez music and also painting and after about a season of doing Monet I said well why Monet doesn't need me to help his paintings along. In fact, there may be a major detractor of what he's what he's already said for it. So why not do slides of my own paintings and why not put that together instead of with French music with American music and make kind of an American Suarez or an American festival really of a multimedia type of an event and that's how I got to through the whole impressionistic era into painting impressionistically and then combining both

in a concert. It was during the summer of 1993 that John Daniel's interest in painting took him to the Rugged Baratooth Mountain region of Montana. When essentially all of the paintings were done in the Baratooth and Socky wilderness this summer I spent about three months there and I had never been in the Yellowstone area, the Montana area and I was interested in doing some on the spot painting on plain air they call it in French which I mean you have to have a French word to painting to with impressionistic painting to really kind of feel like you're you're doing it correctly. So I wanted to paint some things on the spot and I chose the Baratooth wilderness because it's so gorgeous. So you'll see about 15, 18 slides of original paintings from the Baratooth wilderness. But I enjoy painting outside. There was the only one that I saw outside in three months.

That tells you how you know it's called wilderness and that tells you how wild it was and also how cold it was the summer actually. Professor Daniel will also be singing the songs of Charles Ives which combine the familiar and the surprising in a distinctly American style. It's because he'll lay out a simple hint to him and all of a sudden you'll expect that to continue through the entire composition and then all of a sudden he so bends it in a way that it is surprising. He leads you to believe that he's going to be a regular in one form or another and he does that right exactly. A little like the Baratooth Mountains actually when you're painting there because just when you think you've had a sunny day to paint, it snows on you. Celebration of summer in Montana, a multimedia concert featuring Sean Daniel, Baratone and Samuel Porter Piano begins at 8 o'clock and Monday, November 8th in the Catlet Music

Center Room 104. For more information on this or any other concert in the Sutton Music Series, call 325-4101. This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Norman Arts and Humanities Council funded by the Norman Hotel Motel Tax. For the Arts Report, I'm Chuck Diven. The University of Oklahoma School of Music presents the Oklahoma Collegium Music Room in a concert of the Madrigals of Love and War by Claudio Monteverdi. The concert begins at 8 o'clock

and Saturday, November 20th in the Fred Jones Junior Museum of Art. Featuring authentic costumes, instruments and dance, the courtly music of 17th century Venice comes to Norman for one in chatting evening. Dr. Eugene Enrico, director, describes the concert's program. It's a selection of the Madrigals from Monteverdi's Book Eight, which were originally published in 1638 when Monteverdi was 71 years old. But in fact, it's an anthology of Madrigals that Monteverdi wrote throughout his life. Their Baroque Madrigals, that means that they have instrumental accompaniment and basso continuo, they're not unaccompanied Renaissance Madrigals. So they represent the late extension of the Italian Madrigal tradition. And nonetheless, they're wonderful pieces. They, at least some of them, seem to have been written for a visit of the new emperor Ferdinand,

the second. The first and last Madrigals even mention Ferdinand by name or by reference. The Venetians were trying to court the new emperor presumably and hired Monteverdi to help them in this process. Other of the Madrigals have great texts. Two of them are based on sonnets of Petrarch and are quite moving just in their poetry. The musical setting makes them all the more so. They're others by Guarini, the great court poet who was at Mantua where Monteverdi was as a younger man and who Monteverdi knew personally. They're also texts by Renucini who was a great librettist. He wrote the libretti for the earliest operas and we have two texts by Renucini among these Madrigals. As the title suggests, Madrigals of Love and War,

these texts deal with opposites at times they're tender, loving, at times they're driving, exciting, warlike and I think the audience will enjoy this variety. In addition to period instruments, performers themselves will be dressed in the style of 17th century Venice. Yes, in fact we'll be performing this concert in costume. We have a set of authentic costumes that were designed and made by Mike Buckwald of the Department of Drama and the School of Drama. Did research to make sure they were of the style of the early 17th century and they were made originally for a television program that we produced around 1980 which involved the finale of

this concert. It's a ballo, in other words a staged court ballet with singing of course, that involves even two dancers. Margarita Bunyosh Milton of the Department of Dance has done the choreography and she has worked with April Fetterkowski and Krista Bates dancers who will perform. I'd also like to mention our six solo singers in the entire concert, Jenny Olson, soprano, Suzanne Pue, also soprano, Jeannie Howerton, Metza soprano, James Hughes, Tanner, Tom Richards, Tanner and Bill Higgins bass. They're joined in the ballo by Cecil Crabtree and Patty Painter Wakefield of KJOU fame who are Alto's, also Stan Liveengood and Phil Theodoro who are Tanner's. Monteverdi's Mattergules of Love and War presented by the

Oklahoma Collegiate Music Room begins at 8 o'clock in Saturday evening November 20th at the Fred Jones Junior Museum of Art on the OU campus. The concert is part of the Sut music series, but tickets may be purchased at the door. Prices are $4 for adults, $2 for students, faculty, staff and senior citizens. For more information call 325-41-01. This program is made possible in part by Grant from the Norman Arts and Humanities Council, funded by the Norman Hotel Motel Tax. For the art report, I'm Chuck Diven. Stone Soup Theater presents the regional premiere of the moving and memorable drama,

Marvin's Room. Now, through November 20th at the Sooner Theater in Norman, full of honest laughs and complex emotions, Marvin's Room tells a story of a family scattered and reunited, of love lost and found again in the struggle against death. Director Doug Brown tells why he thinks the approach to death in Marvin's Room is neither morbid nor trite, but ultimately life of firming. Well, I think for a lot of people, this is a common experience that facing death is in fact a life of firming experience. Once an individual or individuals has to face the reality of their own mortality, especially the reality of their own mortality, they come to appreciate their life so much more and those things that are in

their life. And in the case of Marvin's Room, the thing that's really emphasized, of course, is family and human connection, human touch. The cast of Marvin's Room combines veteran actors and fresh new talents and a powerful blend of individual and ensemble performances. As Doug Brown explains, the play provides a challenging and satisfying experience for both the mind and the heart. I know when I go see theater or movies, I go for an emotional experience, whether it be to laugh a lot, I enjoy crying a lot. I love to go to a movie and cry, but to a play and cry. If a movie can make me laugh and cry and also push me into an intellectual frame of mind and get me thinking about something important, something that has to do with life, I think it's a great experience. My desire for the play was that it would do exactly that,

that it would make people laugh, make people cry, and get people thinking about life and death. And I think reading the play definitely succeeds, and I think our production succeeds as well. Marvin's Room, presented by Stone Soup Theater, continues through November 20th at the Sooner Theater in downtown Norman. Performance has began at 7 o'clock, Tuesday through Thursday, and 8 o'clock on Saturday and Sunday. For reservations or ticket information, call 321-96-00. This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Norman Arts and Humanities Council, funded by the Norman Hotel Motel Tax. For the Art Report, I'm Chuck Diven. The Oklahoma Festival Ballet and the Modern Dance Repertory Theater present the world's

only full-length version of the Firebird, December 1st through the 5th at the Rupert Jones Theater on the OU campus. choreographed in 1979 by OU Professor Emeritus Miguel Tarakoff, the ballet combines the Russian fairy tale adventures of Prince Ivan with the dramatic music of Stravinsky, Prokofia, Cachitorian, and Glausanov. Graduate dance student Fernando Guterfroy briefly describes the story of the Firebird. It's about, it's a kind of fairy tale and it's about the triumph of the good over the evil. So there's a charming prince who's going to with the help of the Firebird, going to Jose Defeat, the master of the evil, which is the role

I'm going to perform. And in this way, this guy is going to be destroyed. The prince is going to be able to marry it to a beautiful princess. Featuring over 50 performers, the Firebird provides an exciting alternative to the usual holiday sugar plumb fare. Oh yes and this, I think it has a lot of sense to do with Christmas time. It's a kind of nice fairy tale. There's a lot of dancing, nice scenery, nice colorful costume design, yes, and a lot of changes on this stage. The Firebird, presented by the Oklahoma Festival ballet and the Modern Dance Repertory Theatre,

runs December 1 through the 5th at the Ruple Jones Theatre on the OU campus. Evening performances begin at 8 o'clock with a Sunday matinee at 2 o'clock. For reservations or ticket information call 325-4101. This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Norman Arts and Humanities Council funded by the Norman Hotel Motel Tax. For the Art Report, I'm Chuck Diven. The Firehouse Art Center in Norman is having a Christmas fair this weekend. Nancy McClellan, the director of the Firehouse, talked with me in the KGOU-KROU Studios

about this annual event. How many annual events have we had? Well, we've lost track. It's been going on for so long. This is when we haven't figured out. The Firehouse is 22 years old, so 20 years. It's been going on ever since the Firehouse was founded. A long time. Well, the Firehouse, if some of you are new to town, the Firehouse is on flood street. 444 South Florida. Just north of Boyd, and it was an old Firehouse at one time. Well, actually, it was a new Firehouse at one time. In 1946, it was a new Firehouse. And then we took over in 1970, and then in 1983 and 1984, the building was expanded to give us more than twice the space that the original Firehouse had. The Firehouse now, of course, is an art center and offers classes as well as a gallery. Nancy described this weekend's Christmas fair.

We have 22 or 23 of Lost Track. I think artists who will be throughout the building in the classrooms, we've decorated and cleaned and prepared for them. We'll have fiber artists and stereographs, stained glass artists, several pottery booths with beautiful pottery, wooden flutes, some bronze and wood sculpture, some wearable items that are tie-died and silk-screened, some wonderful sculpted wood, and herbal, there's one room that just smells heavenly with herbal gifts and some original cards in that room. So it's all handcrafted, high-quality, limited edition or one of the kind items that are for sale in the fair. One of the things I really like about this particular fair is that all of the items are handcrafted. They are all original. No craft kits allowed.

And you don't find the country craft sort of things. This is what you're calling find craft. Find crafts. Find arts and find crafts. And they really are. The artist will be on hand too at the fair to meet you and talk to you and maybe even sign a card that you've if you buy one of their items, they might autograph the card that goes with it. Mm-hmm. Or you can commission them to do something at a later time if you like their work and they don't have precisely what you like. So it's very nice to have the artists there to explain what they do and how they do it and to be able to meet them. Things are more special. I think if you've talked to the artist, the firehouse is a lovely setting too. It's a two-story building and very quaint. You can go through and of course it's been decorated for Christmas. And so it's a lot of fun to walk through this quaint building and see the items and hopefully to buy some items. This is your chance to do some one-stop Christmas shopping.

Right. Because we also have the gallery, the gift gallery. Our exhibition gallery has been turned into a gift shop and it too is packed with original one of a kind fine arts and fine crafts. And affordable price ranges, things run from one dollar on up. We have some tree ornaments for sale, beautiful original tree ornaments that started a dollar and go on up and the herbal gifts are very reasonable and wonderful things to give on up through the pottery and the turned wood and the stained glass and perfume bottles. Just anything you could want in a handcrafted item we have and we have in high quality. Christmas fair hours are Friday 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday 10 o'clock in the morning until 6 in the evening and Sunday 1 o'clock to 6 o'clock p.m. The firehouse is located at 444 South Flood in Norman. For more information you can call 329-4523. A premiere holiday shopping experience the mistletoe market is Thursday Friday in Saturday

October 21st 22nd and 23rd at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds. The market features retail merchants from across the nation and a consignment boutique. Valerie Dick co-promotions chairman for the event visited with me in the KGOU-KROU studios about the market. Mistletoe Market is an annual fundraiser that the Junior League of Oklahoma City is planning. This will be our first year and it will be at the State Fairgrounds in the International Building October 21st 22nd and 23rd. The market itself and the doors open at 11 a.m. on Thursday to the public and at 9 a.m. on Friday in Saturday and it's $4 to get in and once you get in you will find 64 booths with merchants from not only across Oklahoma but across the country and they will have retail type merchandise clothing jewelry food children's items toys all kinds of

fun things there's some furniture coming in and some really neat stuff that would make great gifts or would make great things to buy for yourself for the holidays or just for fun. We have a wide range of prices so that there'll be something for everyone there should be some real affordable items so don't think that it's going to be all out of reach for anyone and there also is going to be a consignment area that is called our boutique our prairie pantry and there'll be over a hundred people putting things on consignment in that area so it'll be paintings and needlework and all kinds of neat things. 17 community projects dealing with children's issues, creative education and health and metropolitan concerns will receive the funds raised at the market. Susan Drake public relations chairman for the junior league told how the group benefits the community. Mary the junior league of Oklahoma City provides over 260 train volunteers each year to the community and to our 17 community projects that we're currently involved in.

An example of one of our projects that we are doing is Christmas and April where we repair and improve the homes of the elderly with limited income and then also another project that we're involved in is infant crisis center where we provide emotional support and also basic needs as diapers food that kind of thing to families that are in a crisis need at that point for toddlers and babies. We not only provide just money to the community but we provide time and hands-on volunteers and another emphasis of our organization is that we provide trained volunteers so what we like to do is go in with a partnering community agency and also help them and provide them training and give them some hints and directions on how to maybe increase their workforce, how to get out and fund raise for more dollars and also for recruiting volunteers besides junior

league volunteers. Entertainment will be on hand throughout the three-day event. Opening night which the market won't be open on the 20th is that we have a preview party that evening and we're going to have live bandstone horse which some of you may have heard of and also that night there will be a drawing for or not that night but we'll be selling drawing tickets for a trip which primetime travel in American Airlines have donated eight days and seven nights in Hawaii so you can buy a chance to win a trip that night and the next day Thursday morning there's preferential shopping and a branch with informal modeling from 9 to 11. Friday there's a stachel mention at 11.30 which will also have modeling and Friday night there's family night buffet Saturday morning is a children's breakfast kind of a Halloween theme. Market doors open at 11 o'clock a.m. October 21st 22nd and 23rd at the International Building on the Oklahoma Stage Fairgrounds your holiday shopping can be complete before Halloween at the Missile Tom

Market for information call 843-3138 for the arts report I'm Mary Collins