Michael Janairo

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  • Got jazz? You can open the 2012 Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival

    Saturday, Sept. 8, will also be the date of the free Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival, from noon to 9 p.m. at the city’s Riverfront Park.

    But, as with last year, the festivities really get started the night before. From 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, jazz bands will compete at various downtown venues for the chance to be opening act for the jazz festival. Attendees will vote for their favorite performance throughout the evening and the winner will be announced by midnight on the Downtown Albany BID’s website.

    If you have a jazz band, better hurry. Submissions by interested bands are due at 3 p.m. Aug. 9. Applications include a mp3 files of two songs and a promotional photo in JPEG format. They should be e-mailed to the Downtown Albany BID or received at the BID office on 40 N. Pearl Street, Albany, NY 12207. Call Marcie Bergan, director of operations at the BID at 465-2143, Ext. 13 for more information. Or visit http://www.downtownalbany.org.

    The lineup for the rest of the jazz festival includes:

    • 1:15 p.m.: Way Down
    • 2:30 p.m.: PEDRITO MARTINEZ GROUP    featuring Araicne Trujillo
    • 4 p.m. : Delfeayo Marsalis
    • 5:30 p.m.: Charlie Hunter
    • 7 p.m.: THE MOSAIC PROJECT featuring Terri Lyne Carrington, Nona Hendryx and Gretchen Parlato
    • 8:30 p.m. Fireworks

  • ‘The Elephant Man’ @ Williamstown Theatre Festival, 7/26/12

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    WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Can Bradley Cooper, aka the sexiest man alive, really pull off playing the hideously deformed title character in Williamstown Theatre Festival’s production of “The Elephant Man”?

    Yes, he can. His John Merrick — a man with hideous deformities who goes from being a sideshow freak to the toast of the town – succeeds with the right amount of intensity to maintain his contorted posture and the right amount of charm to reveal Merrick’s humor and humanity.

    Cooper’s transformation into Merrick is one of the strongest moments of theatricality in the production. Cooper stands onstage dressed only in shorts while a screen shows photographs of the actual John Merrick and Merrick’s caretaker Dr. Treves (ably played by Alessandro Nivola) describes the images. As Treves details Merrick’s deformities, Cooper undergoes a stunning transformation by twisting his fingers together, lifting his arm, turning in a leg, thrusting out a hip and sliding his lips to one side of his face. (more…)

  • Video: The Happy Painter remix, courtesy PBS

  • Sherman Hemsley, 74, dies

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    Sherman Hemsley, who is best known for his role in the TV sitcom “The Jefferson,” has died. He was 74 years old.

    Early reports from TMZ say the El Paso, Texas, resident died at home of natural causes.

    Hemsley’s character George Jefferson first came to prominence through the sitcom “All in the Family” in the early 1970s. “The Jefferson” spun off of “All of the Family” two years after the characters were introduced, and “The Jefferson” ran for 11 seasons.

    A 1999 Times Union article by Mark McGuire listed George Jefferson, the character Hemsley played as No. 80 on the list of 100 all-time best TV characters.

    Isabel Sanford, who played George Jefferson’s wife, Louise “Weezie” Jefferson,  had died in 2004.

    Here is a link to a more complete obituary: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/TVs-George-Jefferson-dies-in-El-Paso-3731858.php

  • Lunchtime video: Brown bears of Alaska’s Katmai National Park

    Hungry?

    These brown bears at Alaska’s Katmai National Park are. That’s why they are wading near Brooks Falls, waiting for salmon to swim toward them so they can eat.

    Watch the webcam here: http://explore.org/#!/live-cams/player/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls

    The Associated Press reports:

    A park official says it will provide an unparalleled opportunity for people to study bears at the park, which is difficult to reach and expensive for most tourists. Katmai is about 275 miles southwest of Anchorage, but no roads lead there, so a trip involves multiple airplanes and a lot of planning.

  • BSC’s ‘Dr. Ruth, All the Way’ returning this fall

    Barrington Stage Company has announced that the wildly popular production of “Dr Ruth, All the Way,” a one-woman show written by Mark St. Germain and starring Debra Jo Rupp, will return from Sept. 19 to Oct. 7 at the BSC’s St. Germain Stage in Pittsfield.

    Read the Times Union review of the show. For more information contact (413) 236-8888 or http://barringtonstageco.org.

  • What do you think of Troy Savings Bank Music Hall’s new logo?

    Do you love it? Hate it? Dig its retro feel?

  • Blue Man Group returns to Proctors for three shows

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    Blue Man Group is coming back to Proctors theater in Schenectady for three performances: 8 p.m. July 21, and 1 and 5 p.m. July 22.

    This is a return engagement of the show that played at Proctors last year, which critic Michael Eck called “wickedly subversive” and “hugely, satisfyingly fun.”

    Tickets (priced at $20, $30, $45, $60 & $75) are on sale at Proctors Box Office, (518) 346-6204 or online at proctors.org

  • Growing your social media reputation wrap-up via @Storify

    If you missed the Times Union panel discussion on social media at the Smalbany conference at the UAlbany Nanocollege, here is a wrap up, via storify:
    (more…)