Since 1996, Lucille Ball’s hometown of Jamestown, NY has welcomed visitors to the Lucy-Desi Museum. The exhibit features “costumes, awards, photographs, and other vintage memorabilia on display from the estates of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.” On Friday, May 22nd, Jamestown kicks off Lucy-Desi Days, a three day celebration of TV’s most beloved couple. This year, their daughter, Lucie Arnaz, will make a special appearance at the event to discuss her parents legacy. Weekend Guest Passes start at $25 and can be purchased online.
It was announced this week that Colgate University will welcome Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in October for the next edition of the university’s Global Leaders Lecture Series.
SU is also welcoming a world leader this year. Vice President Joe Biden, a Syracuse University Grad, will deliver SU’s commencement address in May. Vice President Biden will also be presented with an honorary degree from the university during the commencement ceremony, which will be held Sunday, May 10th in the Carrier Dome.
The Late Night with Jimmy Fallon house band, The Roots, will be joining Etta James at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino on May 5th at 8 pm. Tickets for the event, taking place in the Showroom, begin at $55. Some people are criticizing Jimmy Fallon for taking too much time off. The show will be on hiatus again next week allowing The Roots Band to make an appearance upstate.
This year’s Syracuse International Film Festival starts Thursday and includes a line-up of over 100 films from around the world. Highlights of the fest include a screening of Appoloosa with one of the film’s stars, Tom Bower, and the closing night gala featuring World’s Greatest Dad, starring Robin Williams. The movie’s director Bobcat Goldthwait will be on hand to discuss the film as well. Tickets to most screenings are only $8 and are available at the SYRFILM website.
Yesterday, Syracuse University held an all-day event focusing on the current state of television and its future in the digital age. The symposium was dedicated to Fred Silverman, the only person ever to have run programming at all three original television networks — ABC, CBS and NBC.
In one session, Silverman was interviewed by Steve Kroft, a longtime correspondent for CBS news magazine “60 Minutes” and fellow SU alumni. The event kicked off with a montage of programming that Silverman helped develop that included MASH, Hill Street Blues, Roots, All in the Family, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Silverman obviously has a great deal of insight when it comes to network television and how it can survive against cable, the internet, and a new on-demand mentality that dominates media consumption today.
“I think the big problem is people keep picking the wrong shows; they keep developing the wrong shows. People aren’t taking a chance. If you want to make a hit, you have to take a chance,” he said.
When asked what he would do to remedy the problems the networks are facing, Silverman suggested, “There should be an active effort to put shows on that reflect the world we live in.”
Silverman also predicted that there would be more local programming on the networks and that within the next five years every home will have a new viewing device that integrates the internet and television flawlessly.
The Buffalo International Film Festival begins The Buffalo Movie Tour next month. The tour stops at locations used in, The Savages, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney, Niagara, starring Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotto, locations where Thomas Edison made movies in 1896, and more. There is also a stop for authentic Buffalo Chicken Wings along the way. Adult admission to the tour is 44.945 for 4 hours. Check out this year’s complete schedule on BIFF’s official site.
Tonight, The Cake Eaters premieres in Los Angeles but it will also be showcased in upstate New York. The film, directed by Mary Stuart Masterson, stars Twilight’s Kristen Stewart as a terminally teen who wants to experience love before dying. The Cake Eaterswas filmed in The Catskills and is headed back to it’s roots when Masterson presents the film in the Hudson Valley next week.
The Hudson Valley Programmers Group is thrilled to announce that film screenings of THE CAKE EATERS with appearances by director Mary Stuart Masterson will be presented in conjunction with 7-57 Releasing at The Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville (3/16/09), The Community Theatre in Catskill (3/22/09) Upstate Films in Rhinebeck (3/23/09) and The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio in Albany (4/4/09). The film opens on March 13 in Los Angeles and Manhattan.
For ticket information, contact the Hudson Valley Programmers Group.
Alec Baldwin will read the Tony-nominated play “Speed the Plow” by David Mamet as part of “An Evening at Rockwell Hall With Alec Baldwin” tomorrow night at Buffalo State College. Regular seating for the event, which will benefit Road Less Traveled Productions, costs $40-$55. There are also tickets available for a private reception with Baldwin for $175.
In a statement about the event, Baldwin said, “I mean, Buffalo’s a big town,” Baldwin said. “It’s not, you know, Utica. Buffalo is a big town, and it deserves to have an off-Broadway space.” Utica’s mayor, David Roefaro, called Baldwin’s comment offensive, adding “We already have the best theater in New York state [The Stanley Center for the Arts],” Roefaro said. “We’ll just have to shame Mr. Baldwin to coming to Utica so he can get his facts straight.”
An Evening with Alec Baldwin
Saturday, January 31, 8PM
Rockwell Hall @ Buffalo State College
www.ticketguys.com or 716.878.3005
-reception tickets by phone only-
www.roadlesstraveledproductions.org
