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Today’s Email Announcements

Paulette to Discuss “Free Like the Wind” Painting at Studio 140 Saturday

On Saturday, April 23rd from 6 to 10 p.m., artist Kent Paulette will be coming to Studio 140 to paint and to talk about the techniques he used on his painting, Free Like the Wind.

“I like to use different types of brushstrokes to capture the energy of a particular subject matter,” Paulette says.  “With these horses I used a lot of my Whispers and Windows brushstrokes and even one of my rare Jellyfish right there in the middle.”

Studio 140 is located at 140 Azalea Circle in downtown Banner Elk. More info can be found atwww.facebook.com/Studio140 or by calling (828) 352-8853.

Wilkes Playmakers Cabaret This Weekend

Wilkes Playmakers has a terrific new show at Benton Hall (300 D Street, North Wilkesboro) this weekend.

A fantastic and talented group of actors from Wilkes and surrounding counties is putting on Cabaret on this 50th anniversary of the show. The story takes place in a nightclub in Berlin Germany, in the 1930s. For more illuminating background history, see the recent articles in The Record of Wilkes newspaper. The explanation there is excellent.

Remaining performances are Friday and Saturday evenings April 22 & 23 at 7 PM, and  Sundaymatinee on April 24 at 2 PM.   Make it a date night or come with friends. This show is intended for an adult audience .  Tickets are available in advance on our website www.wilkesplaymakers.com or may be purchased at the box office one hour prior to each performance.  Seating is limited for this show.  All ticket prices for performances of this special musical are $10. ( We are not able to offer our regular military or senior citizen discount for this show).

This theatre version of the show is not as dark as the 1972 movie musical you may have seen starring Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey.  If you are familiar with the movie,  you will undoubtedly recognize the title song and the opening and closing numbers in the play, but you will find mostly different story-telling songs that help to build and support the plot. There are 2 love stories that take place as people struggle to find fun and carry on as normally as possible in a time of political turmoil. It’s a show you won’t forget!

” What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a cabaret old chum.  Come to the Cabaret.”

Open Auditions for “The Sessions”

“The Sessions” is an upcoming feature written by local actor/writer Phillip Lehn. The award winning Artivational will also be assisting with the production.The story follows the main character “Sammy Buford” who has a difficult time connecting with people on an emotional level. After several unsettling discoveries and events, he begins to feel what he has never felt before… what it truly means to be alive. The tagline is “Pain sucks, but at least it lets you know you’re alive”.

The movie will be filmed in parts of Western North Carolina and is looking for local talent. Auditions will be held at Western Piedmont Community College’s Leviton Auditorium on May 11, 2016 between 6pm and 8pm. Several roles will be cast for speaking and non-speaking roles. Auditions will be held for the following roles:

MAIN SPEAKING ROLES:

2 Male Actors — Must look between ages 25-30
4 Female Actors — Must look between ages 25-30
1 Male Actor — Must look between ages 45-65

LIMITED SPEAKING ROLES/NON-SPEAKING:

3 Male Actors — Must look between ages 45-65
1 Male Actor — Must look between ages 25-30
1 Male Actor — Must look between ages 30-35
3 Female Actors — Must look between ages 45-65
1 Female Actor — Must look between ages 25-30
1 Young Male Actor — Must look between ages 7-13
1 Young Female Actor — Must look between ages 7-13
1 Teen Male Actor — Must look between ages 15-20

For more information, you can visit the website at www.thesessionsfilm.com, facebook www.facebook.com/thesessionsfilm, or email thesessionsfilm@gmail.com

April 30 Author Visit: Eva Nell Mull Wike

Saturday, April 30, 11 am

Meeting Room, Watauga County Public Library

Author Visit: Eva Nell Mull Wike, author of Fiddler of the Mountains

Storyteller and author Eva Nell Mull Wike, PhD., travels to Watauga Library to present her book, Fiddler of the Mountains – Attuned to the Life and Times of Johnny Mull.

In the author’s own words:

“My book won the North Carolina Historical Society Award and it comes with a CD of my Uncle Johnny’s music. You may view it and read reviews on AMAZON.COM. The music was restored in the National Recording Studio in Rome, Georgia, from the old acetate records which were recorded in Canton, Ohio in the 1940s & 50s. It all seems like some kind of a miracle that I ‘accidentally’ got my Uncle Johnny’s personal photos from a dear friend who had worked with Johnny up in Canton, in the 1950’s. I no sooner got the photos from him, ‘til a few days later he upped and died during open-heart surgery in Atlanta!

About the same time, the Ohio landlady sent me the old acetate records which had been stored away in her closet for decades! Then just a few days later, her son called me to say that she had passed away. So in between sad times, I got down to business and wrote Johnny’s story. And dog-on if my book didn’t win the North Carolina Society of Historian’s AWARD!”

Copies of the book will be available for purchase, and each copy includes a CD of rare music performed by mountain fiddler Johnny Mull.

Persons with special needs please contact the Library five or more days before the event so that reasonable arrangements may be made. Thanks to the Friends of the Library for sponsoring our events.

LA Poet Laureate Luis J. Rodriguez to Speak April 28 at ASU

Luis J. Rodriguez, the official Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, will read from his work April 28 at Appalachian State University. His presentation is sponsored by the Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series.

Rodriguez will present a talk for area middle school youth April 28beginning at 3:30 p.m. in Blue Ridge Ballroom. The public also is invited to attend. His reading will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the student union’s Blue Ridge Ballroom. Books will be available for sale and signing.

His campus visit is co-sponsored by Appalachian’s Diversity Speakers Series, which is a part of the Office of Multicultural Student Development. Appalachian’s GEAR UP office has arranged for middle school groups from Wilkes, Ashe and Yadkin counties to attend the afternoon talk for youth. Western Youth Network will also bring students from its two Watauga County sites.

In addition to writing poetry, Rodriguez is also a novelist, memoirist, short story writer, and children’s book writer, as well as a community and urban peace activist, mentor, healer, youth and arts advocate.

He has published 15 books, including the best-selling memoir “Always Running, La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A.”  His latest book is the sequel “It Calls You Back: An Odyssey Through Love, Addiction, Revolutions, and Healing.” His poetry collections include “The Concrete River,” “Poems Across the Pavement,” and “Trochemoche.”

About the Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series 

The visiting writers series is named in honor of Hughlene Bostian Frank (class of 1968). Frank is a member of the Appalachian State University Foundation Board, a 2013 Appalachian Alumni Association Outstanding Service award recipient, past member of Appalachian’s Board of Trustees and generous supporter of the university.

The 2015-16 Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series is supported by the Appalachian State University Foundation, Appalachian’s Office of Academic Affairs, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of English, the Office of Multicultural Student Development, the university’s Common Reading Program, the University Bookstore, Belk Library and Information Commons and the Appalachian Journal.

Business sponsors are The Gideon Ridge Inn, the New Public House & Hotel and The Red Onion Restaurant. Community sponsors include John and the late Margie Idol, Paul and Judy Tobin, Alice Naylor and Thomas McLaughlin.

Parking is free on campus after 5 p.m. The Library Parking Deck on College Street, which opens to the general public after 5:30 p.m., is recommended. To reach Plemmons Student Union, cross College Street and follow the walkway between the chiller plant and the University Bookstore, passing the University Post Office and entering Plemmons Student Union on the second floor.

For further parking information or a map, see http://parking.appstate.eduor call the Parking and Traffic Office 828- 262-2878.

For further information on the spring season, call 828-262-2871 or seewww.visitingwriters.appstate.edu. To receive Appalachian’s “This Week in the Arts” announcements by email, contact arts-events@appstate.edu.