#Best New Performance Dublin Fringe Festival

[pier-carlo-universe]

"Coniglio Bianco Coniglio Rosso" – Un’esperienza teatrale unica e irripetibile

Uno spettacolo senza prove, senza regia, tutto in diretta sul palco!

Uno spettacolo senza prove, senza regia, tutto in diretta sul palco! 📅 Sabato 8 febbraio 2025 – ore 21:00📍 Teatro Comunale Franco Vasconi di Spigno Monferrato (AL) La stagione Teatro nelle Valli Bormida porta in scena uno degli eventi più attesi della stagione teatrale: “Coniglio Bianco Coniglio Rosso” di Nassim Soleimanpour, uno spettacolo fuori dagli schemi, capace di sorprendere, emozionare…

[its-bound-to-get-loud]

Michael Clifford hair timeline

As some of you might know, this blog started from the frustration of missing certain things in the 5SOS fandom. I’m a 1D fan, I’m used to seeing masterposts about anything and everything. That’s very much not the case in the 5SOS fandom. So I figured, if it’s not here, I might as well go and do it myself. A while back I came to the conclusion there doesn’t seem to be a proper detailed timeline of Michael’s hair journey. So of course, I decided to make one. I heavily underestimated the amount of time this would cost, but I (mostly) had fun making this. So, now I would like to present you with the finished result. It should have every hair color ever in here, but if I somehow missed something or got something wrong, please let me know. I’ve tried my best to be as thorough as possible, but I only became a fan in 2020 and basically had to work my way through 5SOS history for this.

I used Michael’s instagram as a guide and filled in the gaps with interviews, tour diaries, etc. Thankfully he documented most of his hair changes on instagram, which made my job a little easier. So let’s get going!

I have combined 4 pictures into a collage, to prevent having to post close to 50 pictures below each other. The order of every collage is left to right, top to bottom.

So we start with Michael’s natural hair color,. This is a picture I found on Google, I have no idea about the exact date. But this is his natural hair before he started dying it. The next picture is the very first time he dyed his hair, this was a red-ish brown. This picture was posted on January 2 2013. Then later on in the same month he decided to dye his hair darker, to a chocolate brown, which he posted a picture of on January 27. His first bold color happens about a month later. On March 30 2013 he posted this picture of himself with dark blue hair and some lighter blue highlights in his fringe.

The next change comes June 19 2013. When the blue has been mostly removed, you can tell there’s some blue left in the fringe from the highlights, and the rest of his hair still has a blue-green tinge to it. This picture is a screenshot from the 5SOS vs. food video, Michael did post a picture of it on instagram captioned: “when I went blonde for a day”, but the color of that one is quite saturated. So is a better representation. After that, we move on to galaxy hair! The first picture with this hair was posted on instagram on June 19 2013. I thought this was a separate color from the 3rd picture in this collage, but it’s possible it’s the light playing tricks. Picture 3 was posted on June 26, exactly a week after the previous one. On July 6 we move on to the next change, bleach blonde! I think this is the first time he bleached his whole hair. Since the previous color’s were all darker than his own hair, he wouldn’t necessarily have needed bleach. As seen in the first picture of this collage, his hair wasn’t bleached yet. Except for the highlighted fringe. I assume a color removing product was used to get most of the blue dye out, because he said he went blonde “for a day”, which doesn’t indicate fading to me.

The bleach blonde seem to stay for a while, because the next change is almost 3 months later. September 28 2013 brings the reveal of the smurf blue hair. This obviously fades over time, leaving a light, almost pastel blue color as seen in the screenshot I included from their Australia/New Zealand tour diary, opening for One Direction. As October 21 comes around we get a brand new color, bright pink! This faded into a pastel pink as can be seen in the screenshot from this thank you video, posted on November 24.

Up next is reverse skunk, as posted on instagram on November 26 2013. This seems to last a good while, because the next change doesn’t come until 2014, judging by this twitcam from January 18 where the reverse skunk hair is still present. February 10, is when this picture of the purple hair was posted. Moving on to March 21, we get dark red, or maybe dark brown with red highlights, it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly this color is. There is no instagram picture for this one, so I’ve used a screenshot from the 5SOS Livestream to show this one. While writing this I discovered in this video, posted on March 13. where his hair was also this color already. The 4th screenshot from the Don’t Stop video, to demonstrate how long their hair lasted. The video was released May 18 2014. So I’m assuming it was filmed somewhere in (late) April.

The next hair color in line is brown, the picture in this collage was posted to on May 18. However, going back through Michael’s instagram it seems like he already had this color at the start of the There’s No Place Like Home tour in Sydney, on April 30 2014. It’s likely he dyed it right before the start of  tour. The next change comes a little quicker, the earliest I could pinpoint this brown/blonde combo is May 18 at the Billboard music awards 2014. I can’t pinpoint, when exactly he got it done, but I’m assuming it was close before the BBMA’s. Moving on, we’re getting to the iconic green hair era. Again it’s hard to pinpoint when he exactly got it. There’s only 1 picture of it on his instagram, which was uploaded in July. The picture I used is from the Capital Summertime Ball 2014, held on June 21. The website describes it as “his new green hair”. So I’m assuming this is where he debuted it. After green we get this mystery lilac type color. I only found it in this Target Prank video on the 5SOS Youtube channel. Since they are promoting 5SOS1, which was released June 27, 2014, the video can be narrowed down to late June, early July of 2014. That’s as close as I could get it. I even went back to check if maybe they pre-filmed this in february/march and this was the faded purple hair, but the timeline still holds up.

September 1 2014 is when we see a new hair color appear on instagram. For (what appears to be) the video of Good Girls Michael bleached his hair to a white blonde. A better picture is the screenshot from the Good Girls video I included. The next change we see is on September 4 at the 5SOS performance for the iTunes festival 2014. This means that either he bleached his hair a while before September 1 or it was just a transition before the red with the orange undertone. This color fades throughout September judging by the pictures on instagram. I probably should have included one in here, but you can easily find them if you look for them. However on September 29 it seems the color got a refresh, looking nice and bright again.

The first picture in this collage, posted December 17 2014, shows the hair fading again. Then on December 18, at the People Magazine Awards the hair seems refreshed again. It looks to me as if the color has a slightly less orange undertone as well. But that’s hard to determine from 1 picture. The next picture, posted February 4 2015 shows the red has once again faded.  After the red he moves on to this purple color. The first time we see it on instagram is February 18 in a video from the studio. The picture used for illustration was posted on February 27. 

A better view of the violet/purple hair can be seen in the screenshot from the Japan Tour Diaries part 1. In part 2 you can already see the color fading again. The next picture, posted February 28 2015 shows and even more drastic fade, where his hair has turned almost blonde again. Then around March 15 his hair goes fully white blonde again. At the start of the ROWYSO tour in Portugal, May 4, Michael’s hair is still blonde. However 2 days later in Spain, on May 6, he seems to be back to a violet/blue color, like he had previously. 

Then May 24 2015 we move to the next change, (jet) black hair (sorry, it had to be done). On July 16 a touch of color is brought into the hair, with addition of a few colorful streaks in his fringe. right on time for the start of the next leg of the ROWYSO tour that starts in Las Vegas. On July 23 he seems to have added a feather extension in the mix. This may have just been a temporary thing, because I can’t find any further evidence of this beyond the 1 instagram picture. Then August 29 brings a drastic change. From black we move back to blonde.

The blonde seems to last for quite some time. Judging by this performance of Hey Everybody, his hair was still blonde on November 11 2015 (the video was uploaded on the day of the performance, I checked). But then November 22 brings us red hair at the American Music Awards. Judging by other pictures on his instagram this seems to be a more true (less orange) red than in 2014. The red slowly fades, first to a more orange toned color in Bali (picture posted January 2 2016). And eventually it fades all the way to blonde wint a soft hint of red/pink in the 3rd picture, posted January 25 2016. Shortly after he premieres a teal hair color at the G’day USA red carpet on January 28. 

The teal color sticks around for a while, even during the first leg of the SLFL tour. The last I saw of it was on March 12 2016, at the Philippines show. Then in between the Asian and Euopean leg the color changes from teal to brown, as seen at the Sheffield SLFL show on April 5. Then in the break between their last Dublin show (April 27) and their Vienna show (May 12) he bleaches his hair again. After this the era of Michael frequently coloring his hair seems to be done. He stays blonde, at some point he grows it out until only the long parts of his hair are still blonde. As can be seen in this picture posted on October 16 2017. Then at the start of the Meet You There Tour in Japan (August 2 2018) the colored hair makes a brief return with this pink moment. It doesn’t seem to last long however, since I can’t find a lot about it after Japan. So it may have been a temporary thing.

October 9 2018 he posts the first picture in this collage. It’s very possible this is faded pink from the previous picture. Or maybe he dyed it a lighter shade later on. After this the colored hair stops, but we do occasionally get various shades of blonde. The second picture, from November 16 2018, shows a caramel tone to his hair. In the third picture, posted on October 21 2018, we see sort of a dirty blonde. We end this timeline the way we started, back to natural hair. because of quarantine the bleached blonde grew out and eventually disappeared once he cut it. So we have come full circle. We started with natural hair and we are ending it with natural hair. If we get any more changes in the future I will be sure to add them to the timeline.

Finally, a few facts, for fun. 

In total, Michael has had 29 color changes in a span of roughly 8 years.* 

He’s had the most colors in 2013 and 2014 (both years he’s had 8 different colors)

The orange red was the color he had the longest, 150 days to be precise (based on the information available).

* Not counting fades or the “blonde for a day. Since they are part of 1 color or were just used to transition to another color. Also not counting the various shades of bleached blonde in the last collage, since it’s hard to tell if they are actually different, or if it’s light. I did count the transition from blonde to natural.

[corkcitylibraries]

Cork in Verse | Ana Spehar interviews Jim Crickard

Cork in Verse is a series of interviews by Ana Spehar with Cork Poets. This week Ana interviews Jim Crickard.

Jim Crickard’s poetry is camp, entertaining work that explores culture, sexuality and identity with a hint of colour. In 2020 he was invited to represent Cork in the Cork-Coventry Twin City Exchange, which was moved online due to pandemic. In 2019 he was selected by Poetry Ireland for the inaugural Versify series and performed to a sold out show at Dublin Fringe Festival. He came second in the 2019 All Ireland Poetry Slam Final (and is working through his feelings about it with a therapist). In 2018, he won the Cuirt Spoken Word Platform and was awarded a slot to perform at Electric Picnic. In 2020 his poetry was broadcasted on RTE Arena. A poem he wrote was shortlisted in the 2018 O'Bheal International Five Words Competition, and his work has been published in Automatic Pilot, A New Ulster, and Contemporary Poetry.  

When did you start writing?

I started writing when was 16. I had just come out of the closet, my older brother Shane (20) died the same year in a road traffic accident. Looking back, I think I needed space for expression. I started out with a journal before sleep. It was playful, private, and helped organise my thoughts. I’d draw a little picture at the end of each entry. I acted a bit like Virginia Woolf, with a high-neck collar, writing solemnly by candle light. When people write diaries, I think they secretly fantasise them being found and read by the masses.  

When I was introduced to poetry in my Leaving Cert, I found it to be a bit stiff and flowery with poets like Keats, which had some appeal, but when we moved on to Adrienne Rich and Eavan Boland I was a lot more inspired. It was seeing people use the art form to represent women and give voice to minorities, and how they both textured their work with the confessional. I started writing my own poetry at the end of my journal entries but kept it secret. After a few years, and my first break-up, I started sharing online on a site called AllPoetry. It was great because there were little competitions between users and when I won a few of them I felt brave enough to share my work on Facebook. A few people were kind, but most were indifferent. 

When I started going to O’Bheal in Cork, though, I really felt like writing could have a future for me. Writing and performing alongside other writers really makes it a lot more gratifying and instils the self-belief you need to keep going.  

Could you tell us more about your creative process?

I’m always on the lookout for something to play with and tease out until it’s a poem. I write with the intention of making people laugh when they hear me perform. Unfortunately, ideas rarely happen when I’m walking around day-dreaming. I mostly need to sit down and write to find the idea or follow whatever I’ve got on my mind. One of my favourite poems that I’ve written takes a hen party in a gay bar and expands it into a series of images and scenarios that delight me and make me laugh. If it makes me laugh, then I trust that it’ll make a crowd of people laugh. I didn’t start out with that idea of the hen party though, I was trying to write a rather embarrassing romantic poem set in a gay bar, it was for a guy I was briefly dating. Suddenly there was a hen party in the corner. They abducted me with their willy-straws and novelty-glasses, and I followed their embarrassing moments and social faux-pas as they ran around, interloping and ruining the sacred queer-space. I was much more interested in them than the romantic poem I set out to write. I suppose it’s important to trust where the poem is going and let it reveal itself. If I ignored them and focused on the poem I was trying to write then I’d have missed out. 

How does the creative process of writing affect your mood?

I’m elated when it comes together. I love when I get into a flow and my fingers are typing as fast as they can and what I’m writing is surprising me. That doesn’t always happen though, it can be slow and boring and the cursor can be blinking in front of me waiting for me to write something. 

How often do you write? Do you write every day?

I wish I wrote every day. I’ve heard multiple sources say that that’s the best way to approach it, and I would definitely believe it. I have had periods where I wrote a new poem every week, possibly more than one. I have also had long periods of not expressing anything on the page. The latter feels depressing and I feel my life passing me by. It is this dread I feel that I’m losing precious time to grow and improve as a writer. I rationalise it by reminding myself that I need to work full-time, clean my apartment, cook dinner, which is all true. I also excuse myself by saying that I need to relax and watch some TV or listen to a podcast. I think that writing is the purest of me-time and I’d like to transform my relationship with it.  

Can you tell us more about Venus Envy?  

I have been known to dress in drag from time to time... I performed as Venus for Pride in O’Bheal. Afterwards I went to The Crane Lane with all of the poets. It was interesting being a drag queen out of context in another bar... People wanted to talk to me, some random stranger touched me as they passed by, and someone confided in me with something they had not mentioned before. There’s a strange power to being in drag. It’s like being a shaman, a eunuch, a jester, who is on the outside looking in. You can say things that you daren’t dream of otherwise, and people love you for it. If I had the time and money to do it more often I would. Drag will always have a special place in my heart, and on my right arm is a tattoo-portrait of Panti Bliss, the Queen of Ireland. I’ve thought about putting more drag queens beside her, but it would be like Mount Rushmore of Drag on my arm. Who knows, maybe I will.  

‘Hen Party in The George’  

Be careful around the corners, don’t make eye-contact at the bar, 

watch out for the mom, she’s on safari, in search of exotic birds. 

For a parrot to echo her punchlines, 

or maybe a cockatoo, 

she’s prowling around the cocktail lounge, 

she’s looking for me and you. 

The mother of the bride uses her lazy-eye  

to her advantage,

she edges into a group of faces with meandering conversation. 

Now blocking their exit, unsure 

who she’s addressing, 

on about her gay hairdresser, how great 

he is with the scissors. 

“I’ve never had a problem with the gays now myself” she says, 

pausing to sip from a pink plastic penis, 

pausing for praise.

And one by one, the gays fly south, 

migrating to the bar, 

to the dance floor, to South-Africa if necessary. 

“Snobs” she calls em -

“them gays can be awful touchy.” 

All her Christmases at once 

when the black crow drag queen

stalking her long legs across the stage, 

seven foot tall, in a silver crown of feathers refracting light off the disco-ball.

“Jesus” she says, stealing the

microphone:  “you’re looking better than me” 

“I should feckin hope so” the drag queen says “you’re twice me bleedin’ age!” 

Slowly, slowly, the hen party has pissed off all of the George... 

Abandoning punctured plastic husbands all over the stage. 

Flashing so many cameras it feels like E.T.’s family has landed.

A gathering parliament of lesbians  encircles the hens,

a murder of goth gays come down from their perch 

I wonder if they’ve seen Hitchcock’s movie, ‘The Birds…’ 

by Jim Crickard

Sex in the Housing Crisis  

We are the generation of born-again virgins 

headboards disturb housemates on shift work,

Air-traffic controllers should be included in rent  

to coordinate times to get the ride

Landlords can afford to support our sex-lives 

and change carpets once in a while 

We are the generation of born-again virgins  

Like ships in the night, we work to survive,

but we are no thirty year old cargo boats…

anchored in the harbour, waiting for labour,

we are Ferrari red speed boats    

with miles to go before we sleep,   

miles to go before we sleep.  

We are the generation of born again virgins 

Nothing kills the mood like mildew 

home-sense is built on the backs of millennials 

fumigating probate houses 

converted into one-beds 

with constellations of mould 

and half their salary paid  

to make out on an old couch  

facing a microwave

We are the generation of born again virgins 

If you’re living with parents you can forget it 

unless you can face breaking their trust   

and explain condoms in the toilet-drain. 

We must not forget about our parents sex-lives 

afraid their carefully considered bed springs

will be heard by their thirty somethings 

Let’s give the government hell for 

this inter-generational dry spell! 

by Jim Crickard

[comedians2know]

Comedy Of The Month for May:

Michelle Wolf has quickly established herself as a major voice in the comedy world and is poised for a breakout year in 2018.  Netflix recently announced that she will topline a new weekly half-hour comedy show later this year.  Late last year, Michelle’s first hour-long stand-up special Michelle Wolf: Nice Lady, premiered on HBO.  The well-reviewed special, tackled a wide range of topics from her surprising thoughts on feminism, the environment and how nature is sexist to the mystery surrounding public bathrooms, why Hilary Clinton could not be a “nice lady” and more of life’s everyday absurdities.

Wolf most recently worked as an on-air contributor and writer for Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Prior to joining The Daily Show, Michelle was a writing supervisor and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers, where she also made her late-night television debut as a comic in July 2014.  Michelle appeared regularly on the show in various bits and as the popular reoccurring character she created, “Grown-Up Annie.”

Wolf also created and starred in two digital series, Now Hiring and Used People for Comedy Central and wrote for the 88th Academy Awards hosted by Chris Rock.  Wolf was named to Vulture’s list of “50 Comedians You Should Know in 2015” and one of “The Top 10 Funniest Women in NYC” by TimeOut New York. She was also named to Rolling Stone’s list of the 25 funniest people on Twitter right now (@michelleisawolf) and selected as one of the “New Faces of Comedy” for the 2014 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal.

Wolf headlines comedy clubs and colleges all over the United States and has performed at a number of festivals including the Riot LA Comedy Festival, San Francisco Sketchfest, Moontower, Bonnaroo, Just For Laughs Montreal, JFL 42 and the Dublin Comedy Festival.  In 2016 she completed an incredibly successful first appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with a sold out run of her debut hour-long stand-up show Michelle Wolf: So Brave.  The critically acclaimed show, which earned her a nomination for the Best Newcomer Prize from the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, garnered numerous four-star reviews from top publications such as the Guardian, Herald and Scotsman.

When not crisscrossing the nation on tour, Wolf lives in NY.  She is an avid long-distance runner in her limited free time.

Website

Twitter

Video

[janikbesendorf-blog]

The UK and Ireland have no shortage of long-standing events and exciting festivals. While many are steeped in centuries of tradition, others are new additions that reflect their contemporary cultures.

Traditional British Festivals and Events

Britain has a plethora of great traditional events. Get involved with a centuries old convention by joining the hundreds of people who converge on prehistoric Stonehenge during the Summer and Winter Solstices. If Vikings are more your area, a day trip to York during its Jorvik Viking Festival in February is a must.

If Wales is on your agenda, make some time for the country’s National Eisteddfod music and poetry festival that was first founded in 1861. Alternatively, soak up Northern Irish culture – from dancing to gastronomy – at Dalriada Festival at the glorious Glenarm Castle.

Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve) is one of the biggest events in Scotland. Journey to Edinburgh to join in with the street parties and watch the city’s historic torch procession down the Royal Mile. Inverness also hosts Red Hot Highland Fling, a free Hogmanay celebration with live music. 

Other Scottish festivals include Burn’s Night in January, which celebrates the famous poet Rabbie Burns, and St. Andrew’s Day in November. You’ll discover events for both in most cities and towns, including Glasgow’s St. Andrew’s Torchlight Parade. And if you’re keen to sample authentic Scottish cuisine, don’t miss the Loch Lomond Food and Drink Festival in early September.

British Arts and Music Festivals

Summer music festivals are popular in Britain. Glastonbury Festival offers up something for everyone, while smaller options like WOMAD in Wiltshire celebrate musicians and artists from around the globe. Many London parks also host day festivals, plus classical music aficionados can enjoy performances at the BBC Proms.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the ideal city to visit if you’re a festival lover as it organizes over ten events every year, including the Edinburgh Fringe. Book a trip to the Scottish capital in August and take your pick of thousands of drama, comedy and experimental performances.

British Sporting Events

Wimbledon

As the birthplace of many of the world’s best-loved sports, Britain unsurprisingly hosts multiple events which celebrate them. See tennis champions compete on Centre Court at Wimbledon in early July, dress up for the Royal Ascot horse racing in June, or cheer on the rowers at Henley Regatta. 

Irish Festivals

St. Patrick’s Day on March 17 is one of the most important Irish festivals. Travel to Dublin to see the city’s buildings illuminated green and enjoy four days of exciting festivities. Cork also celebrates with performances and food markets, while Northern Ireland’s cities commemorate the saint with street parades. 

Bagpipes at an Irish celebration

In June, you can join in with the Bloomsday Festival in Dublin which celebrates James Joyce’s masterpiece, Ulysses. Attendees dress up as key characters, enjoy readings and visit locations mentioned in the book.

Galway on Ireland’s west coast is famed for its multiple festivals, including the Galway International Arts Festival and Galway Oyster Festival. If you’re a fan of the Gothic, make a trip to Derry at the end of October for the largest Halloween celebration in Europe.

British and Irish Public Holidays 

You’ll want to make a note of the UK and Ireland’s major public holidays (also known as bank holidays) as many businesses close and public transport may run on a reduced timetable. Easter and Christmas are the main ones, however, there are other public holidays throughout the year, including the first and last Monday of May. 

St. Patrick’s Day parade in Ireland

Ireland additionally has a national holiday for St. Patrick’s Day in March and a bank holiday on the last Monday of October. While most public holidays are the same across the UK, Northern Ireland has an extra one on July 12. 

Make your vacation extra memorable by booking your visit to coincide with a wonderful British event or Irish festival.

plan your vacation

The post Must-see Festivals and Events in the UK and Ireland appeared first on Enchanting Travels.

[colourupuniforms]

Top 3 famous dancers in Australia

Adam Gabriel Garcia

Adam Gabriel Garcia (born 1 June 1973) is an Australian stage, television and film actor who is best known for lead roles in musicals such as Saturday Night Fever and Kiss Me, Kate. He is also a trained tap dancer and singer. Garcia has been nominated twice at the Laurence Olivier Awards in 1999 and 2013 respectively.

Garcia was born in 1973 to Jean Balharry and Fabio Garcia in Wahroonga, New South Wales. His mother Jean is Australian and his father Fabio is of Colombian descent. Garcia's mother is a retired physiotherapist. Garcia attended Knox Grammar School where he completed his high school education. He also received formal training in tap dancing at Capital Dance Studio in Sydney, Australia. Garcia attended Sydney University but did not complete his education as he left the university to take the role of Slide in the production of the musical Hot Shoe Shuffle, which toured Australia for two years before transferring to London, England. On 26 March 2015, Garcia married his long time girlfriend Nathalia Chubin in London. Chubin worked as a senior marketing executive for PlayStation previously.

Garcia began his film career in 1997, playing the role of Jones in Brian Gilbert's Wilde. Garcia played Tony Manero in the stage version of Saturday Night Fever, which premiered on 5 May 1998 at the London Palladium, and closed on 26 February 2000. He was nominated for his work in the play at the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical category in 1999 but lost to the cast of Kat and the Kings. Garcia also reached number 15 in the UK Singles Chart in 1998, with his cover version of the Bee Gees song "Night Fever", taken from the film version of Saturday Night Fever (1977). In 2000, he played a major role in his second feature-film, Coyote Ugly. Later that year, Garcia also appeared in Dein Perry's Bootmen, playing the lead role. In 2003, he voiced the title character in the film Kangaroo Jack, but was not credited for that role. In 2004, he also played alongside Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, as the character Stu Wolff, a drunk rock star, who is part of the band Sidarthur and is, in Lola's words, "a greater poet than Shakespeare". Between 2006 and 2007, Garcia played the character of Fiyero in the original West End production of Wicked alongside Idina Menzel, Kerry Ellis and Helen Dallimore. He previously played the same role during the show's early Broadway theatre workshops in 2000. Garcia appeared in two ITV dramas, Britannia High and Mr Eleven, in 2008. In January 2010, Garcia appeared with Ashley Banjo and Kimberly Wyatt as a judge on the British reality show, Got To Dance. He was a judge in the four seasons of the competition from 2010 to 2012 and then in 2014. In 2011, Garcia co-starred with Mischa Barton in The Hen Do, but the film never left the cutting room floor. In 2012, he appeared in Cole Porter's musical Kiss Me, Kate at the Chichester Festival Theatre, directed by Trevor Nunn and choreographed by Stephen Meare. Garcia was nominated for his role at the 2013 Laurence Olivier Awards in the category Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical.

Garcia appeared in Threesome, a 2011 British television sitcom which began airing on 17 October 2011 on Comedy Central. Garcia became the fourth judge during the thirteenth season of the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars. In 2018 Garcia was cast in Dance Boss, an Australian reality television dance competition on the Seven Network presented by Dannii Minogue. He judged the competition alongside singer and dancer Timomatic and actress and performer Sharni Vinson. In 2019, he starred in a pantomime in Ipswich, England as Prince Charming. 

Caroline Ann O'Connor

Caroline Ann O'Connor AM (born 2 September 1962) is a Helpmann Award-winning, Olivier Award-nominated Anglo-Australian singer, dancer and actress (theatre, film, TV). For her theatre work she has won three Helpmann Awards: Best Female Actor in a Play for Edith Piaf in Piaf in 2001 and the same category for Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow in 2006, and Best Female Actor in a Musical for Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes in 2015.

O'Connor was born in Oldham, Lancashire, England, to Irish parents. After her family migrated to Australia she was brought up and educated in Sydney. She took Irish dance lessons, with Joy Ransley and Valerie McGrath. She joined a touring dance troupe by August 1974, which travelled to Ireland, Paris, London and the United States west coast. The troupe's members, including O'Connor, competed in the Irish Dancing World Championships held in Dublin. At the age of 15 she returned to Dublin to appear in a dance competition and finished third.

O'Connor later recalled, "When I was growing up in Rockdale as a little girl of Irish parents singing show tunes I didn't really fit in. Everyone was in their denim shorts and thongs and wanting to go down to Cronulla and I wanted to stay home and listen to Doris Day." At 17, she returned to London and trained as a dancer at the Royal Ballet School. She worked for one year at the Australian Opera Ballet. She became an Australian citizen in 2007.

O'Connor made her musical theatre debut in an Australian tour of Oklahoma! in 1982, she later reminisced, "I was about 20 and I got into the show [and] I thought, 'This is where I'm meant to be.' I feel so fortunate." In the following May she took the role of Consuelo in West Side Story at Sydney's Her Majesty's Theatre. Subsequently O'Connor worked both in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Upon return to London she was a member of the ensemble cast of Me and My Girl at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre in 1984 and then at the Adelphi Theatre Other British theatre credits include, A Chorus Line, Cabaret, Hot Stuff, Chicago, Damn Yankees, West Side Story and as Ellie May in Showboat for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Opera North in 1989. She understudied, and went on to perform, the role of Angel in the 1988 London production of The Rink by Kander and Ebb. She appeared in the UK premiere of the musical, Baby. Several of her successful early lead roles in the UK were in the town of Oldham, where she was born.

The entertainer returned to Australia by February 1994, where she took the role of Anita in a national tour of West Side Story, performing in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney and then Auckland in New Zealand. She won a Green Room Award. Back in London, her West End theatre performances included Mabel in Mack and Mabel for which she received an Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Musical in 1996.

In 1998 O'Connor was back in Australia as Velma Kelly in Chicago for which she won a Green Room Award and the Mo Award for Female Musical Theatre Performer of the Year. She followed with roles in Man of La Mancha, Oklahoma! and concert productions of Funny Girl and Mack & Mabel. Her portrayal of Édith Piaf in Pam Gems's play Piaf in 2000 gained her three Australian theatre awards.

O'Connor's musical film work includes the role of Nini Legs in the Air in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge! (2001), and Ethel Merman in the Cole Porter biopic De-Lovely (2004). She featured on the De-Lovely soundtrack, singing "Anything Goes". In 2003 she made her Broadway debut as Velma Kelly in Chicago. Thereafter she performed in Australia, UK and United States.

The one-woman play, Bombshells (2004), was written especially for O'Connor by playwright, Joanna Murray-Smith. The original production was filmed for a broadcast by ABC Television. Bombshells toured to the Edinburgh Festival (where she won the Fringe First Award), London's West End at the Arts Theatre (for which she received a second Laurence Olivier Award nomination), and at the World Stage Festival in Toronto, Ontario.

O'Connor starred as Judy Garland in the 2005 world premiere of Peter Quilter's play, End of the Rainbow, at the Sydney Opera House. Following its Sydney and Melbourne seasons, she recorded a tribute album, A Tribute to Judy Garland, and reprised her Helpmann Award winning role in Sydney at the Theatre Royal in 2006.

She starred in the premiere production of the musical The Hatpin, which opened in Sydney on 27 February 2008. In June of that year she played the title role, specifically written for her, in the premiere of David Williamson's play, Scarlett O'Hara at the Crimson Parrot, at the Melbourne Theatre Company.

In March 2009 O'Connor reprised her role as Kelly in the 2009 Australian production of Chicago where she starred alongside Craig McLachlan and Gina Riley. In May 2010 she appeared as Mrs Cooper in the TV series, Lowdown. Also in that year she performed at the BBC Proms celebration of Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday at the Royal Albert Hall. In May 2011 she starred as Mrs Lovett in the Théâtre du Châtelet production of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Paris, with David Charles Abell as musical director. Sondheim has said that O'Connor was "the best Mrs Lovett I have ever heard."

In 2012 O'Connor originated the role of Miss Shields in a limited run of A Christmas Story: The Musical. It ran for 51 performances in late 2012, and received a nomination for the 2013 Best Musical Tony Award, for its track "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out", featuring O'Connor, which was broadcast live on CBS during the 67th Tony Awards show on 9 June 2013.

As a recording artist O'Connor has released four solo CDs, What I Did for Love 1998), A Tribute to Piaf (2001), From Stage to Screen (2001) and A Tribute to Garland (2005). She has contributed to numerous cast recordings and compilations.

From April 2017 through to March 2018 O'Connor played Countess Lily in the musical, Anastasia, at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway, New York. From May to June 2018 she starred in a London production of The Rink and in mid-August she portrayed Garland in The Production Company's The Boy from Oz in Melbourne.

O’Connor began 2019 by starting in the critically acclaimed and sold out Darlinghurst theatre Co. production of ‘The Rise and Fall of Little Voice’ (directed by Shaun Rennie). She followed this with a staged concert of the rarely performed musical Applause, playing the leading role of Margo Channing.

Sharlene Marie Zeta Robinson

Sharlene Marie Zeta Robinson, known professionally as Charli Robinson and previously as Charli Delaney (born 8 March 1980) in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia), is an Australian television and radio presenter, most famously known as an original member of children's musical group Hi-5 and the television series of the same name. She left Hi-5 in February 2008 after ten years with the group. She is known now as a presenter on Nine Network travel program Getaway.

Robinson was born in Newcastle, New South Wales and she has an older sister named Cassandra. She attended Hunter School of the Performing Arts at Broadmeadow, Newcastle, before featuring in various TV shows and soap operas.

Robinson was the youngest original member of group Hi-5.

Robinson chose to leave Hi-5 in February 2008, officially announcing on 22 February 2008 that she would be leaving the group. She indicated that she would continue with the show until a suitable replacement was found. Robinson noted her plans for the future include other presenting work, and acting in television and films, to challenge herself. She served as a judge on Battle of the Choirs in 2008, and also appeared on the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars.

In 2009, Robinson co-hosted the celebrity singing show It Takes Two with Home and Away actor Paul O'Brien and signed a three-year contract with the show. She also appeared in the short film Tegan the Vegan

Robinson had a show on the Today Network's 2DayFM and Fox FM on late nights initially [Monday to Wednesday] with Chris Page and had co-hosted the Top 6 @ 6 with Danno on the Today Network for one hour. 21 August 25 July

In May 2011, Robinson filled in as the host on The Kyle & Jackie O Show while Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson were off on sick leave.

Costumes various over time but dance are common between people. Step up to aboriginal culture with Colourup Uniforms.

Categories:

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Design Your Own Custom Mens Dance Polos

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Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Garcia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_O%27Connor_(actress)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charli_Robinson

[newyorktheater]

October is always a busy month for theater in New York, but it’s gone up a notch this time. Below is a selection, organized chronologically by opening date.

On Broadway alone, eight shows are opening this month, an unusually high number, and they’re widely varied: two new plays by dramatists making their Broadway debuts (including one still in school) and two new plays by Pulitzer winning playwrights; a concert by David Byrnes; hip hop improv by the group co-founded by Lin-Manuel Miranda; a musical based on a young adult fantasy novel;  a Tennessee Williams revival starring Marisa Tomei. And that doesn’t even include the latest edition of “Forbidden Broadway,” which encompasses all of Broadway, but will be running (as usual) Off Broadway.

Also Off-Broadway Jonathan Groff, Tammy Blanchard, and Christian Borle are returning to New York — all in the same show, a revival of “Little Shop of Horrors.”  A new musical by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori is opening at the Public; Thomas Kail (the Hamilton director who is helming the improv show  on Broadway) is directing “The Wrong Man” starring Joshua Henry at MCC; Repertorio Espanol has adapted Junot Diaz’s Pulitzer winning novel for the stage.

Given what’s happening in the news, it shouldn’t be too surprising that there are two different versions of Macbeth opening this month, plus any number of plays about politics�� and politicians — Brian Cox as LBJ and Harvey Fierstein as Rep. Bella Abzug.

The New York International Fringe Festival, which moved last year from August to October,  is in this second go-round in the new month seriously pared down to 40 shows (from the usual 200), but that’s still intimidating.

The Fringe shows are not the only out-there shows running in October. There is an immersive version of Sondheim’s “Into The Woods” and a show at BAM with a cast of 100 that has a runtime of 24 hours.

Each title below is linked to a relevant website.

Color key: Broadway: Red. Off Broadway: Purple, blue or black. Off Off Broadway: Green.Theater festival: Orange.Puppetry: Brown. Immersive: Magenta.

October 1

The Great Society (Vivian Beaumont)

A follow-up to Robert Schenkkan’s play “All The Way, this one follows President Lyndon B. Johnson (this time starring Brian Cox) during his presidency from his election until his resignation.

Dublin Carol (Irish Rep)

In this play by Conor McPherson, John Plunkett is haunted by memories of a shameful past and shattered life. On Christmas Eve, an unexpected visit from his estranged daughter, Mary, forces John to confront his demons and grapple with his chance at redemption.

October 2

Freestyle Love Supreme (Booth)

The hip-hop improv show co-founded by Lin-Manuel Miranda comes to Broadway

The New Englanders (MTC)

In Jeff Augustin’s play, Eisa wants to be the next Lauryn Hill and is struggling to break free of her sleepy New England town where she feels hopelessly trapped. Her fathers are being pulled in different directions of their own.

October 3

Fringe BYOV

The New York International Fringe Festival has been pared down from its first two decades. That still leaves 40 shows, but, unlike previous years, none have been adjudicated. Following the Edinburgh model, any company could put on a show. The BYOV means Bring Your Own Venue; the idea was to present theater in all five boroughs,  but only one of the six venues this year is outside Manhattan. Irondale in Brooklyn features four shows, including  Savana Glacial (pictured above) a dark comedy about a love triangle written by the most celebrated living contemporary Brazilian playwrights, Jô Bilac;  The Four of Us, a revival of the 2007 play by Itamar Moses (The Band’s Visit); and Update, by MAD LAB, an immersive performance-ritual using music, dance, theater, creative technology, and installation art

October 6

Slave Play (Golden)

The Old South lives on at the MacGregor Plantation — or so it initially seems, with three interracial couples engaging in sexual gamesmanship. My review of the play Off-Broadway

October 7

Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Playwrights Horizons)

Set in Wyoming a week after the deadly 2017 Charlottesville riot, the new play sees four young conservatives reunite for a backyard barbecue in Wyoming. Written by Will Arbery (“Plano”)

October 9

The Wrong Man (MCC)

With book, music and lyrics by Ross Golan, direction by Thomas Kail (Hamilton), this musical is set in Reno, Nevada, and tells the story of Duran (Joshua Henry), a man just scraping by who is framed for a murder he didn’t commit,

October 10

Linda Vista (Second Stage’s Hayes)

In Tracy Letts’ play, Wheeler is a 50-year-old divorcee in the throes of a mid-life spiral. Just out of his ex-wife’s garage and into a place of his own, Wheeler starts on a path toward self-discovery—navigating blind dates, old friends, and new love.

Terra Firma (Baruch)

Years after a conflict known as the Big War,  a tiny kingdom wrestles with the problems of running a nation

October 12

The Pout Pout Fish (New Victory)

A new musical based on the best-selling children’s book series. After everyone’s favorite frowny fishie tries to glimpse his reflection in Ms. Clam’s mystical pearl, both Pout-Pout and the pearl are suddenly swept out to sea!

The Unbrunch

Explore Wonderland on five floors of a building in “a secret location in Chelsea”

  October 15

The Rose Tattoo (Roundabout’s American Airlines)

Marisa Tomei stars in a revival of Tennessee Williams’ play about Serafina, a widow, who rekindles her desire for love, lust, and life in the arms of a fiery suitor

Soft Power (Public)

An odd and hilarious fever dream imagining an American musical as created by theatermakers in a future dominant Chinese society, created by David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Yellow Face) and Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home; Violet; Caroline, or Change)

Scotland, PA (Roundabout’s Laura Pels)

A new musical adaptation of Billy Morrissette’s 2001 film riffing on Macbeth, set in a sleepy Pennsylvania town, involving the manager of a burger joint and his ambitious wife.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Repertorio Espanol)

Marco Antonio Rodríguez adapts the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Junot Diaz about Oscar, a naive “nerd” from New Jersey who has finally left the grips of his imposing Dominican mother and is attending his first semester of college at Rutgers with his rebellious sister.  He has big dreams, but feats he won’t get them because of the “fukú”—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations. In Spanish with English subtitles.

October 16

The Lightning Thief (Longacre)

Director Stephen Brackett (“A Strange Loop”) and book writer Joe Tracz bring Rick Riordan’s bestselling young-adult fantasy novel to Broadway. My review when it was Off-Broadway

  Forbidden Broadway The Next Generation (The Triad)

After a five year absence, Gerard Alessandrini is back, roasting everything you’ve seen on Broadway since the last edition of Forbidden Broadway.

Last Audience (New York Live Arts)

“A live laboratory for the communal work of conjuring…comprised of a set of unique scores written for each performance.” This is free with a RSVP, but you consent to being filmed. There is also a free public meal before each performance.

October 17

The Sound Inside (Studio 54)

Mary-Louise Parker stars in this play by Adam Rapp: A brilliant Ivy League professor, a mysterious student and a troubling favor.

Little Shop of Horrors (West Side Theater)

Seymour is a down-on-his-luck florist with a crush on his co-worker Audrey. When he discovers a mysterious – and voracious – plant, suddenly Seymour and Audrey are thrust into an epic battle that will determine the fate of the entire human race. A revival hard to argue with, given that its cast includes Jonathan Groff, Tammy Blanchard, Christian Borle

Into the Woods 

Rooftop Musical Society immersive version of Sondheim’s fractured fairytale, unfolding on two floors of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “Audience members might find themselves having a drink at the tavern with the witch (who raps!), buying some bread (or sweets) from the Baker and his wife, helping Jack sell his cow for magic beans, trying on Cinderella’s gold slipper, or flirting with royalty.”

October 18

All Hallows Eve (Connolly)

A new horror musical using puppetry about twins bored with Halloween who are confronted by a demoness. Comic, bloody and “definitely not for young children.”

The Second Woman (BAM)

An only-at-BAM kind of show. Over a period of 24 hours, one woman and 100 men repeat the same scene 100 times, with different results. It’s inspired by Cassavetes’ meta-theatrical 1977 film Opening Night. Stay as little or as long as you want.

October 20

David Byrne’s American Utopia (Hudson)

A stage adaptation of David Byrne’s 2018 album

Games (Soho Playhouse)

Based on a true story and set in 1936, Berlin, where Jewish athlete Helene Mayer is selected for the Nazis’ Olympic Squad.

The Independents (The Theater Center)

Playwright Christopher Ward imagines the stormy relationship between young American artist Mary Cassatt and great French master Edgar Degas.

October 21

Power Strip (Lincoln Center) 

In this new play by Sylvia Khoury, Yasmin, a young Syrian refugee, spends her days tethered to an electric power strip in a Greek refugee camp, discovering that she must forget everything she values in order to survive.

October 22

For Colored Girls….(Public)

A revival of Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow is Enough,” an unlikely Tony-nominated  hit on Broadway in 1976 that Shange (who died last October) called a “choreopoem.” It tells the stories of seven black women using poetry, song, and movement.

Bella Bella (Manhattan Theater Club)

Harvey Fierstein stars as Bella Abzug in a solo-play he’s written set in 1976, on the eve of her bid to become New York State’s first female Senator,

Is This A Room? (Vineyard)

A play based on verbatim FBI transcripts of the interrogation of 25-year-old former Air Force linguist named Reality Winner. She surprised at her home by the FBI, interrogated, and then charged with leaking evidence of Russian interference in U.S elections. Reality remains in jail with a record-breaking sentence.

October 23

What If They Went To Moscow (BAM)

Based on Chekhov’s Three Sisters,but experimental with audience reactions to two different media. Two audiences in different BAM theaters watch the live performance of the show — one on stage, the other as a film — and then switch at intermission.

October 26

Cole Porter at the York

Panama Hattie (York)

A revival of Cole Porter’s 1940’s hit, in which a brassy nightclub owner must bid for the approval of her fiancé’s family

October 27

Macbeth (CSC)

Corey Stoll and Nadia Bowers star in Shakespeare’s tragedy.

The Michaels (The Public)

Richard Nelson, best-known for his multi-part, low key, in real time family sagas The Apple Family plays and The Gabriels:Election Year in the Life of One Family, brings us another one. In the kitchen belonging Rose Michael, a celebrated choreographer, she and those around her cook dinner, rehearse modern dances, eat and talk — about art, death, family, dance, politics, and the state of America. The seven-member cast includes Nelson regulars Jay O. Sanders and Maryann Plunkett.

Monsoon Season (Rattlestick)

In this “brutally demented romantic comedy” by Lizzie Vieh, it’s monsoon season in Phoenix, Arizona, and recently separated couple Danny and Julia are spiraling into chaos.

October 28

Seared (MCC)

Theresa Rebeck’s play about a talented by temperamental chef who scores a big mention in the press for his signature scallops,  but, much to the frustration of his business partner, refuses to repeat himself for the masses. Cast includes Raul Esparza and Krysta Rodriguez

October 29

The Hope Hypothesis (Sheen)

A black comedy by Cat Miller about an immigrant from Syria and a law student who goes to get her green card and gets caught into the maze of immigration hysteria.

October 30

Hamnet (BAM)

Irish theater company Dead Centre, inspired by Shakespeare’s son Hamnet, who died at the age of 11, creates a play about a boy searching for his father

October 2019 New York Theater Openings October is always a busy month for theater in New York, but it's gone up a notch this time.

[weeklyhumorist]

Talkward w/ guest Jessica Delfino

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http://talkward.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/talkward-template-jessicadelfino.mp3

Today on Talkward is musical comedy extraordinaire Jessica Delfino! Jessica is a critically acclaimed and award winning comedic musician who has performed her quirky comedy songs all over the world. She launched the New York Comedy Music Festival (first called the Funny Songs festival) in 2012. We discuss her newest album ‘Songs To make War to (14 Anarchist Anthems for the Whole Family)’ Botnik Studios, Mom Comedy shows and she reads host Marty Dundics with her 40% accurate Psychic powers!

Called “Lower East Side’s Queen of Obscene” by The Village Voice and awarded a “Voice Choice” Award for “Best Guitar Slinging Comedian”, the “ECNY Best Comedic Musician” award, and a finalist in the Andy Kaufman Award, Jessica has appeared on Good Morning America, The Jim Gaffigan Show, CNN’s Stroumboulopoulos, at the infamous Reading and Leeds Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Fest, Dublin Comedy Festival, on stage with Weird Al Yankovic in the Apocalypse Tour and much more. Follow her on twiter and insta at @jessicadelfino and jessicadelfino.com 

Talkward w/ guest Jessica Delfino was originally published on Weekly Humorist

[recentnews18-blog]

New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/mum-was-and-still-is-a-very-funny-person-i-want-to-show-theres-another-side-to-dementia/

'Mum was and still is a very funny person. I want to show there's another side to dementia'

THE DYNAMICS OF my relationship with my mother have greatly changed over the last few years, as I’ve become one of her carers while she lives with dementia.

Our evolved bond has really opened my eyes into seeing how we as a society address our older generations and the illness. As a dancer, I’m well versed in supporting my fellow dancers in our movements – so I’ve created a show called Assisted Solo, where I want to explore and highlight how important it is that we all support each other to live our best ‘solo’. 

The theme of dementia and working with my mum was something that happened secondarily – it wasn’t the initial idea. When I make my work I like to go into the studio and see what happens. Work surprises you – your subconscious surprises you.

I’m one of five siblings. I was looking after my mum and I thought this is what it is, I am assisting her in her solo. At the same time it is not always clear who is assisting who, because I am learning a lot from this experience.

‘There’s space for humour’

Luca Truffarelli

Often when I talk to people about my mum’s dementia they go “that’s awful”. It is, but it’s something gradual and it’s been happening gradually over the years. There’s space for humour, space for laughter. It’s not all doom and gloom. In my work I use humour a lot. Mum was a funny person and still is a very funny person. I want to show there is another side to this situation.

It sounds really weird but one of the experiences that I have had from looking after my mother, and I’m sure my other brothers agree: once you accept what is going on and you learn to live with it, there are positives in it. It feels with my mum my relationship has now gone full circle – I have gone from being the child and being cared for to being the carer and I know her as a more childlike person. 

One of the beautiful things I notice is the essence of her is still exactly the same. 

She doesn’t always know my name. She’ll randomly say names, and sometimes she’ll get it. And sometimes I could be her father, sometimes I could be her son, maybe her husband or her lover. She might not always be able to pinpoint who it is but there’s love there. 

We filmed some footage for the show in my mum’s house. Suddenly we found we had all these hours of material and it became clear she was integral to the show. There was an overarching theme that connects what we’re doing in Assisted Solo. 

The thing I’m trying to do is show: this is life.

A lot of people suffer from dementia in this country, and I wanted to show it’s not all terrible. It’s difficult to explain, but I think among the changes in my mum and the tough situations there’s also space for laughter and personal growth.

[embedded content]

Source: Philip Connaughton/Vimeo

‘You have to find something beautiful in everything’

It seems like two or three years, but it’s actually six or seven years since my mum got sick. It starts in such a subtle way, there are so many ways of denying it. Oh, she’s just being like this, just being like that. 

I was ill and feeling sorry for myself and I went to see her, and she cheered me up. When I went to her again the next day she didn’t remember. I realised oh God, chunks of her memoryare disappearing. Like my father’s funeral, she initially forgot my father’s funeral.

And they’re the tough moments, but once you face things and accept the situation I think you can still find beauty in your relationship. I love her so much, she is so beautiful – and there is so much to learn from her still.

One of the things that I’ve really noticed is that her filter has been removed. It means she’s incredibly open and this really comes through in the video material. It’s incredibly beautiful to watch and that’s why we decided to use it.

There is a moral dilemma around that. She can’t make the decision – I have to make the decision for her . I am very protective of her, I want to show her in a very particular light but I want to get the message across as well.

My brothers are understanding about the show. It’s so important to tell this story, it’s one of the most important things I have done.

I think it’s too much to say that people will come away thinking ‘oh dementia is great’, because it isn’t. It’s very difficult. But as long as there is love you can get through all sorts of things. Love conquers all: it sounds like such a ridiculous cliche but it is true.

My dance show is about the idea of dependency and being independent. It explores the concept of ‘solo’ and what a solo really is. The reason I’ve called it Assisted Solo is because even in my work, when I’ve danced solos in the past, you’re never really alone. There are all these people making it happen and supporting you and this is true in life. 

Having someone dependent on you

Source: Luca Truffarelli

As a gay man, I don’t think I’ll have kids. The only thing I’m solely responsible for is my dog and the biggest question that arises from this situation is, ‘who will look after him while I’m away?’

With my mum I have come to understand what it is to have somebody completely dependent on you and the responsibility of having a person who needs you 100%. That’s one thing that has been really tough but beautiful.

It’s also broken an intimacy barrier. By keeping her in her own home, I need to deal with the everyday realities of caring for someone, like washing her and changing nappies.  This isn’t always easy but I know my family’s situation is a luxury, as there are five of us sharing the responsibility.

I also think about how caring for someone can have an impact on one’s own sexuality. How do you still manage to feel sexually attractive and in the mood for physical contact after caring for someone in this way? These are the things I also touch upon in the piece.

Caring for my mum has been a really beautiful experience. We can get so caught up in society worrying about intimacy and body contact, and thinking ‘oh that’s weird, that’s strange, I couldn’t do that with my own mum’. But why not? It’s just another human body and it’s a person who’s changed a lot of your nappies! I for one am very glad I’ve got to go on this journey.

Philip Connaughton is a contemporary dancer and creator of Assisted Solo, which will debut at the Dublin Fringe Festival from 7 – 15 September, followed by a performance at the Everyman Theatre on 22 September. For tickets, visit the Dublin Fringe Festival website.

Source: http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/phillip-connaughton-mother-dementia-assisted-solo-dance-4218154-Sep2018/

[harryandmeghan0-blog]

Theatre Royal Stratford East Announces Full Casting For THE WOLVES

New Post has been published on http://harryandmeghan.xyz/theatre-royal-stratford-east-announces-full-casting-for-the-wolves/

Theatre Royal Stratford East Announces Full Casting For THE WOLVES

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Theatre Royal Stratford East is pleased to announce the full cast for the European premiere of The Wolves, Sarah DeLappe‘s award-winning debut play directed by Ellen McDougall. The cast of The Wolves includes Annabel Baldwin, Seraphina Beh, Nina Bowers, Lauren Grace, Francesca Henry, Kristin Hutchinson, Shalisha James-Davis, Hannah Jarrett-Scott, Rosabell Laurenti Sellers and Rosie Sheehy.

Stretch, squat, lunge, kick, the girls are warming up, a pack of teenage warriors ready for battle and out to score some goals.

From their plot of astro turf in the heartland of middle America the girls gossip, joke and wrestle with the big and small questions of our times, whilst trying to remain unbeaten in their high school soccer league.

The Wolves had its world premiere off-Broadway in 2016.

Ellen McDougall said:

‘The Wolves is an exceptional new play by Sarah DeLappe that centres the experience of young women. Following its success in New York, I’m so excited to direct the European Premiere at Theatre Royal Stratford East and to be part of Nadia Fall‘s thrilling opening Season.’

To celebrate the opening of Nadia Fall‘s inaugural season and continuing Theatre Royal Stratford East’s commitment to accessibility and welcoming new audiences, during previews all seats for The Wolves will be priced at £10, and £5 for Newham residents.

Annabel Baldwin plays #46. Theatre credits include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace Theatre) and Captain Alan of Canary Wharf (Edinburgh Fringe/Camden Fringe). Her film credit is Servants’ Quarters.

Seraphina Beh plays #00. Theatre credits include Leave Taking and Black Attack (Bush Theatre); Parliament Square (Royal Exchange/Bush Theatre); Cosmic Jives (Albany); My Beautiful City (Arcola); Jack and the Beanstalk (Lyric Hammersmith); Ondisting; Romeo & Juliet Et Al and Skeen (Ovalhouse). Her television credits include EastEnders, Casualty, Game Face and Live at the Electric.

Nina Bowers plays #11. Theatre credits include The Magic Flute (Aix?en?Provence Festival, Complicité); Crave (The Pit, Barbican); Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 (Gate Theatre) and Tomorrow I’ll 2 Be Twenty (Tour, Complicité). She also wrote and co?devised Nina Talks About Her Values which was performed at Camden People’s Theatre as part of the Camden Fringe 2017.

Lauren Grace plays #7. Theatre credits include Charlie Sonata (Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh). Her film credits include Bird (nominated for a Scottish BAFTA New Talent Award for Best Actress in short film) and Zero.

Francesca Henry plays #2. This is Francesca’s professional debut. She has been working with OV12 director Hannah Bannister on a new play Water Wings written by Isley Lynn.

Kristin Hutchinson plays Soccer Mom. Her theatre credits include Judith (Arcola & UK Tour); Cell (Young Vic); Beyond Caring (UK & European Tour); Grey Man (Theatre 503); Howard Barker Double Bill (Arcola); Beyond Caring, Beauty and the Beast, Waves (National Theatre, UK & European Tour & Broadway), A Dream Play, Iphigenia at Aulis (National Theatre); The Empress, Creation, Passion, The Mysteries (Royal Shakespeare Company); Live Like Pigs (Royal Court); Worker’s Playtime/The Jewish Wife, Party Time/One For The Road (Battersea Arts Centre); Autumn and Winter (Orange Tree); How The Other Half Loves, Tons of Money (Bristol Old Vic); Top Girls, Dancing at Lughnasa, King David, The Europeans (Mercury Theatre, Colchester). Television credits include Measure for Measure, Pie in the Sky, Wycliffe and Doctors.

Shalisha James-Davis plays #8. Theatre credits include Our Country’s Good and Notre Dame (National Theatre). Television credits are Silent Witness, Next Of Kin, Vera and Class Student and film credit is Mary Queen of Scots.

Hannah Jarrett-Scott plays #25. Theatre credits include Pride & Prejudice (*Sort Of) (Tron Theatre); A Bottle of Wine and Patsy Cline (Gilded Balloon); Glory On Earth and Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (Royal Lyceum Edinburgh); Once This Is All Over We Still Have To Clear Up (Yellow Magpies/Edinburgh Festival Theatre); Janis Joplin: Full Tilt (Theatre Royal Stratford East & Assembly Rooms) and Midsummer Songs (New Wolsey Theatre). Television credit is Trust Me.

Rosabell Laurenti Sellers plays #14. Her television credits include Game of Thrones Series 5-7, Una Grande Famiglia, Paura D’Amare, Mia & Me and Cenerentola. Her film credits include Trading Paint and Maraviglioso.

Rosie Sheehy plays #13. Theatre credits include The Whale (Theatre Royal Bath); Uncle Vanya (Theatre Clwyd/Sheffield Theatres, for which she won the ‘Best Female Performance in the English Language’ award at the Wales Theatre Awards 2018); Escape the Scaffold (Theatre 503); Strife (Chichester Festival Theatre); Bird (Royal Exchange Manchester); The Hairy Ape (The Old Vic) and Chicken (Paines Plough). Her screen credits include Chernobyl and DCI Banks.

Sarah DeLappe‘s debut play The Wolves (The Playwrights Realm/NY Stage & Film/Lincoln Center Theater) was a co-winner of the Relentless Award and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and the Yale Drama Series Prize. It is currently slated for over 50 productions worldwide. She holds an MFA from Brooklyn College.

Ellen McDougall is Artistic Director at The Gate Theatre. Previous credits at the Gate include Effigies of Wickedness (2018); The Tale of the Unknown Island (2017) and Idomeneus (2014). Other credits include Othello (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at the Globe), the Lyric’s annual pantomime Aladdin (2016) and Cinderella (2015); The Rolling Stone (Orange Tree Theatre/Manchester Royal Exchange), The Remains of Maisie Duggan (Abbey Theatre, Dublin), The Glass Menagerie (Headlong), Anna Karenina (Manchester Royal Exchange), Henry the Fifth, (Unicorn Theatre), Glitterland (Secret 3 Theatre/Lyric Hammersmith) and Ivan and the Dogs (Actors Touring Company/Soho Theatre) which was nominated for an Olivier Award. McDougall was formerly part of the Secret Theatre Company at the Lyric Hammersmith. She trained as an assistant to Katie Mitchell and Marianne Elliott. She was awarded an International Artists‘ Development Award (ACE/British Council) in 2012. Ellen is directing Dear Elizabeth later this year at The Gate Theatre.

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Source: https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Theatre-Royal-Stratford-East-Announces-Full-Casting-For-THE-WOLVES-20180903

[samikanyanya]

Dan and Phil are very popular British Youtubers and former radio presenters. They are the best known for their YouTube channel Daniel Howell and AmazingPhil.

Dan was born in Wokingham, Berkshire and raised in Winnersh. He has a younger brother and has a close relationship with his grandmother.

Before starting his YouTube channel, he studied at school and worked at a supermarket. But his life changed in 2009 when he met Phil.

He was 4 years older than Dan and he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in English Language and Linguistics in 2008 and a Master of Arts in Video Postproduction with Visual Effects in 2009, both from the University of York.

He started filmed Youtube videos in 2006 and he is justly considered the dinosaur of YouTube.

Dan was a huge fan of YouTube in his 18 and one of his favorite blogger was Phil. He wrote him on Twitter, on YouTube comments, etc. And it happened. Phil noticed him, they started communicated a lot with quiet flirting messages in social media.

Howell uploaded his first YouTube video titled "HELLO INTERNET" on 16 October 2009. He was encouraged by Phil and then they met in real life on 19 of October, 2009.

They filmed legendary video “Phil is not on fire” that became the first one of the series. After that their YouTube channels started to grow quickly.

In January 2013, Howell and Lester became the presenters of BBC Radio 1's Sunday evening entertainment and request show. They had occasionally worked with the station before, producing videos for the station's YouTube channel for Edinburgh Festival Fringe and presenting two Christmas broadcasts.

Howell and Lester presented at the Teen Awards and at the Brits Awards as part of the BBC online coverage and their Radio 1 show.

On 26 March 2015, Lester and Howell announced via a trailer on Howell's channel that they had co-written a book titled The Amazing Book Is Not on Fire (TABINOF). The book topped the General Hardbacks Sunday Times Bestsellers list having sold 26,745 copies in the UK in the first week of its release. It also became a #1 New York Times Bestseller in the young adult hardcover list.

In the same trailer the pair announced their theatrical stage show The Amazing Tour Is Not on Fire (TATINOF) which travelled around the UK during October and November 2015. During the tour, they sung original song "The Internet Is Here", which they later released as a charity single for Stand Up To Cancer, earning them a gold record disc for the sales of the song.

In 2016, they took the tour to the US and Toronto. It was the largest tour ever achieved by YouTube creators. They later toured Australia in August 2016 and finished the tour with a European leg, performing in Stockholm, Berlin, and Dublin. In October 2016, The Amazing Tour Is Not on Fire was released as a YouTube Red Original film by the same name along with a documentary, Dan and Phil's Story of TATINOF.

Now they are in their second world tour Interactive Introverts.

Dan and Phil are incredibly talented creators. They films many videos on YouTube and in the same time, they have many projects in other spheres: tours, document films, BBC projects, charity projects and even their own board game. They are workaholic and live in every their project.

They are Best Friends Forever and they’ve lived together since August 2011, first in Manchester before moving to London together in July 2012. They have shared a total of three homes and frequently appear in each other's videos.

In October 2017, Dan posted a video, "Daniel and Depression", in which he revealed that he had suffered from clinical depression. He also spoke of his journey to recovery, which involved taking antidepressants, seeing a therapist, and focusing on "basic self-care". Howell uploaded this video the day after World Mental Health Day, in which he, as well as Phil, vocally supported #HelloYellow, a mental health campaign by UK-based organisation, YoungMinds, prompting the organisation to officially name Howell their newest ambassador.

[oliviarhee]

The Adventures of the Singing Acupuncturist 6: Big O makes it in New York... or does she?

Diamond Wave Productions and Laughing Horse Comedy are delighted to present a stand-up Comedy debut, Adventures of the Singing Acupuncturist 6: Big O makes it in New York, or does she?  Another world premiere, it will be presented at the Edinburgh Arts Festival in Scotland in August 2018. Written and Performed by Olivia Rhee.  Directed by Sophia Charalambous.

Adventures of the Singing Acupuncturist 6:  Big O makes it in New York, or does she?  is a new stand-up comedy show.

Have you never been able to fit into a box? Not a physical box… a mental box… a box in your mind.  As a Korean-American Olivia Rhee knows all too well about trying to fit in -when Kimchi, aka: "Fire-Breathing Garlic Dragon Breath", is your culture’s most famous export, how are you ever going to blend into a normal life in the land of burgers, fries & ketchup?  As an acupuncturist, who fixes people for a living, this is frustrating… why can’t she fix herself?  Adventures of the Singing Acupuncturist 6: Big O makes it in New York… Or, does she? is an hilarious hour of comedy where Olivia entertains you with her Korean-American wisdom, and you’ll leave with a transformed mind, bigger eyes, and an open heart… a heart that is open to explore new experiences…like French Fries with Kimchi (she calls it....Korean Ketchup).  Another world premiere, this marks as her 6th solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  The first musical show, Adventures of a Singing Acupuncturist: Olivia in Caledonia, was premiered in 2010.  

Olivia Rhee has been writing one-woman shows since studying at New York University.  Her professional debut, Who Knows? An Emotional Journey through the Eye of I, was well received by New York audiences in 2000.  And in her Cabaret performance, New York Times: The Best and the worst of It, before leaving New York in 2001, she brought her audience to happy tears.  She has also delighted audiences with her Cabaret show, An Evening of Songs with Olivia Rhee, in San Diego, California in 2003, which celebrated the release of her 2 CDs.

Now a working Acupuncturist in Las Vegas, Nevada and New York, NY (USA), she is excited to be performing her 11th new solo show, Adventures of the Singing Acupuncturist 6:  Big O makes it in New York, or does she?, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2018.

Sophia Charalambous (Director) is a qualified NQJ journalist, writing for regional and national UK publications including the Independent, Mirror, Mail Online and the Daily Star Online. Theatre, film and comedy feature writing was part of her role as Deputy Entertainment Editor at the Essex Chronicle newspaper. Prior to this, she was a writer and director at Nottingham's New Theatre from 2007 to 2010. Sophia began directing stand-up comedy in 2016, and her directorial debut show IlluminArchie was transferred to Soho Theatre after its run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.

Barry Lamm (Script Supervisor) originally hails from Nebraska, where he utilized his degree in theater and communications as a teacher and active member of the Omaha community and professional theater scene. He has lived in New York City for the past 19 years and now works as a professional development, training and process coordinator for an online software company. Barry is proud to be working with Ms. Rhee again after directing her in New York in her production of Who Knows? and the past 5 shows at Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Troy Sanford (Costume & Make-up Consultant) hails from Nebraska also and has worked in fashion for over 22 years (although with prolonged use of Botox retains his youthful look and presence).  He’s worked for companies like Ralph Lauren as a production manager overseeing blue label and the Wimbledon Launch of the Big Pony campaign as well as the uniforms for the Olympics in China for Ralph Lauren.  He also helped with the re-Launch of GAP with Patrick Robinson and the CFDA as well as the re-Launch of Ann Taylor several years back.  Not only has Troy helped other friends launch their own fashion labels, he also launched his own fashion line.  He has worked with Olivia on costume, hair and makeup for her past (5 shows).  Always ready with fashion advice and costume quick-change suggestions to help transform her from a mere mortal to a living goddess.  Modesty being one of his strong suits, he loves doing what he does and likes giving back to the community.  Just ask him how great he is and he’ll tell you himself.

Thanks go to Laughing Horse Comedy, director, Alex Petty and the Laughing Horse team.

And Special Thanks to:  Sem @ The Lantern and Tess Henry @ Under St. Mark’s Theatre for allowing me to Preview my show in New York City this July (see below for Preview show details).

And to: Chris O’Neill @ Jesters / Sin e Pub in Dublin, Ireland for allowing me to Preview my show in Dublin on 25 July (see below for Preview show details).

Olivia would like to thank the following for help with her project:  God, SAM, mom & dad, my brother Chris, my sister Sandy, Tamra M, Barry Lamm, Troy Sanford, Sophia Charalambous and all my aunts, uncles, and cousins.

My teachers: Tom Burke Voice Studio, including Jen DeRosa & Robert Sussuma, my comedy teachers Philip Peredo and Jerry Corley.

To all my comedy friends who have supported me in Dublin/Europe:  Chris O-N., Joe R., Tom W., Larry B., Vinny D., Martin A., Frank B., Brian O-T., Seamus S., Ted L., Gerard J., Margaret McH., Lizzy W., Christina McM., Seosamh P., Barry M., Duane D., Alan H., Kevin O-S., Spunkster., Apollo Sessions, Jay P. Hardy, Adam B @ Hardy Har Comedy club, Unhinged Comedy club, Battle of the Axe Comedy club, the International Comedy Club, Jonathan H., Thom E., & Chris D.

And my friends in the USA:  Joe DeSantis, Steve & Carla McInelly, Jonathan Smilowitz, Manfred Hein, Travis R., Kirk S., Adam S-W., Laughing Buddha Comedy Club, Dylan F., Sean F., Paul S., Kon., Matt S., Jordan H., Neil P., Barry B., Bobby S., Mike S., Don B., Joe F., Jerry K., Jeff R., Chris S, Mia A., Wanda & Brian M., Diane B., Emme L., Joey I., Mick M., Alex S., and other new friends I have met since this website went live…

My friends in England and Scotland:  Lucy G, Jenny L, Peter S, Gerard L, Colin H, Lynda P, Gill L, Johnny F, Paul H, Mark M., Tim R., Owen F., Clare H., Julia, Martyn H., David V-J., Tom S., Lucy F., & etc.

My production crew: Dave George (Graphic Designer: www.GeorgeCreative.uk), Christopher John-Stone (headshots/photography/flyers in NY), Abbie Glennie (lights/sound for 2016 show), Troy Sanford (costume/makeup), Woon-Sun J-C (make-up in NYC), Mary L. (video in NYC), Pegasus Sound and Light, And my past production crew: Nathan@completetours.co.uk and listed below in previous show info.

And everyone else who has helped me in one way or another.  

To everyone, I am grateful from my love of kimchi and comedy, as I could not have endured the struggles of writing a 60-minute comedy show without all of you…

“A tragedy is a tragedy, and at the bottom, all tragedies are stupid. Give me a choice and I'll take A Midsummer Night's Dream over Hamlet every time. Any fool with steady hands and a working set of lungs can build up a house of cards and then blow it down, but it takes a genius to make people laugh.”   ― Stephen King

“Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.”  ― Mel Brooks

“Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent.” ― Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

“Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke.”― Steve Martin

“What is in your way?  It’s not in your way… Get it out of the way.” – Marinda, dance teacher/choreographer

“Kimchi is not for sissies… it’s an acquired taste, but it is delicious and good for your health (i.e. improves your immune system like acupuncture / herbal medicine)”  – Olivia Rhee

4 Preview shows in New York, NY:

The Lantern

When: 17 July 2018 (Tuesday): Time:  4:30pm (16:30). Where: The Lantern, 167 Bleecker St., New York, NY  10012.  Tickets: purchase one item minimum (a drink or one food item)

Under St. Mark’s Theatre

When: 18 July 2018 (Wednesday) Time: 9:00pm (21:00) Where: Under St. Mark’s Theatre: 94 St. Mark’s Place, New York, NY  10009, Tickets:  $10.00 ($5.00 for students, seniors, and comedians) http://www.horsetrade.info/under-st-marks

When: 20 July 2018 (Friday) Time: 8:00pm (20:00) Where: Under St. Mark’s Theatre: 94 St. Mark’s Place, New York, NY 10009, , Tickets: $10.00 ($5.00 for students, seniors, and comedians)  http://www.horsetrade.info/under-st-marks

When: 21 July 2018 (Saturday) Time: 7:00pm (19:00) Where: Under St. Mark’s Theatre: 94 St. Mark’s Place, New York, NY 10009, , Tickets: $10.00 ($5.00 for students, seniors, and comedians) http://www.horsetrade.info/under-st-marks

1 Preview show in Dublin, Ireland:

Jesters EDge Comedy

When: 25 July 2018 (Wednesday) Where: Jesters EDge Comedy @ Sin E Pub, 15 Ormond Quay Upper, North City, Dublin Time: 7:40 pm (19:40) Tickets: please purchase a drink at the Pub to show support.

*Main Shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival*

Venue:  Laughing Horse @ Espionage (The Bunker) (Venue 185), 4 India Buildings (Entrances on Victoria Street and Cowgate), Edinburgh, EH1 2EX

Time: 0:00 am (Midnight:  24:00) (Duration: 50 mins)

Dates: August 15-26, 2018

For all press inquiries please contact: Olivia Rhee

email: Olivia.Rhee@gmail.com

Web: http://www.oliviarhee.tumblr.com

http://oliviarhee.weebly.com (for bio info)

Phone:  (619) 606-0496

(in UK in August 2018):  (07981) 010343

Social Media:  

Twitter:  @OliviaRhee1

Instagram: olirhee

Facebook Page:  Olivia Diamond Comedy

[vileart]

Skin Dramaturgy: Andrea Walker @ Edfringe 2017

As part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017, 

201 Dance Company presents

SKIN

This is not my body. This is not my body. This is not my body.

After a sell-out international tour of their production 'Smother', 201’s contemporary hip-hop style returns with SKIN: an intimate journey of self-discovery performed from Wednesday 2 - Monday 28 August, Pleasance Courtyard – Beyond at 8pm.

This dance/theatre piece explores one boy’s journey through gender transition. Blending urban and contemporary styles and original music, award winning choreographer Andrea Walker directs a cast of 7 dancers in a fast paced, emotionally driven story of identity and belonging.

  What was the inspiration for this performance?

“Skin” tells a boy’s intimate journey of gender transition to find a body that feels like home, all through the medium of hip-hop and contemporary dance. Kit Redstone and Cairo Nevitt’s personal stories hugely inspired me. Both are collaborators on the show. My own battle with anxiety was also a big inspiration in creating “Skin” and its central character. 

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? 

I think it’s the best place! I truly believe the stage is such a powerful tool that can awake thoughts and opinions you didn’t even know you had. 

How did you become interested in making performance?

Dancing has always been a huge passion of mine, but I never felt I quite fit within the hip-hop dance world, and likewise I didn’t feel I belonged to the contemporary world either. So I thought I’d start my own dance company, where I get to move the way I move and take elements from the dance styles I love the most to create an aesthetic unique to 201.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

I am very inspired by my dancers: sometimes we’ll get into rehearsals and I’ll teach a section that is very choreography heavy. Other times we’ll roll around the floor until I see something that inspires me. Narrative will always be key to my work: I want the audience to almost forget they’re watching dance and seamlessly follow the story that’s taking place. We do a lot of work to ensure the storyline is clear without using a single word.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

Most definitely! 201 Dance Company has built a reputation for using urban dance to tell stories that matter, especially within the LGBT community. With “Skin” we very much wanted to keep this alive.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

“Skin” follows a very emotional story, one that anyone who’s ever experienced anxiety or the feeling of not fitting in will be able to relate to. Expect to be moved, surprised, but also entertained by some full-out urban choreography.

201 Dance Company has created a buzz with their vibrant dance-theatre that crosses genres. They are driven to confront issues and challenge social prejudices. The company has performed to much acclaim in New York at the Manhattan Movement Center and New York Symphony Space, had 2 consecutive sell-out years at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and won an outstanding award for choreography developed at The Broadway Dance Center. 

Their sell-out show ‘Smother’ is currently touring the UK.. In August 2015 choreographer Andrea Walker was nominated for an Inspire: Change Maker Award by London Dance.

ANDREA WALKER – DIRECTOR / CHOREOGRAPHER Andrea Walker is the founder and artistic director of 201 Dance Company. London based, he began dancing aged 14 in Rome, Italy, and continued his study and exploration of dance at The Metropolitan Arts Institute in Phoenix, Arizona (USA), and at The Broadway Dance Center in New York City, from which he graduated with a Certificate of Excellence and winning the Outstanding Award for Concept Choreography. 

Most recently, he choreographed and danced Ebony Bones’ tour, and opened Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation Show in Miami with the band. Other credits include Coldplay, Aggro Santos, Kimberly Walsh (Girls Aloud), Impact Dance (Peackock Theatre), Xbox, T-Mobile, Martini and D&G.

PATRICK COLLIER – PRODUCER Patrick is a London based theatre producer. Other recent work includes Graeae Theatre’s “Re:Imagine India” Project (part of the UK/India year of culture), Theatre Temoin’s ‘The Marked’ (Pleasance King Dome 2016), Access All Areas’ ‘The Misfit Analysis’ (VAULT Festival 2016, Pleasance and touring 2015), Sparkle and Dark’s ‘I Am Beast’ (Pleasance 2015), Fourth Monkey Ensemble’s ‘Elephant Man’ (touring 2014-15), Sparkle and Dark’s ‘Killing Roger’ (touring 2014), Theatre Témoin’s ‘The Fantasist’ (London, Edinburgh and touring 2011-2013), Access All Areas’ ‘Eye Queue Hear’ (touring 2013-15), Theatre Témoin’s ‘Nineveh’ (Riverside Studios London 2013), Theatre Re’s ‘The Little Soldiers’ (Pleasance Queen Dome 2013), Metta Theatre’s ‘Monkey & Crocodile’ (Touring 2013), ‘The Rub’ for the New York's Tremor Theatre Collective (New Orleans 2012), and Iris Theatre’s ‘As You Like It’ (Covent Garden Open Air Theatre 2012). Patrick trained at Trinity College Dublin and is a recipient of the Natwest Young Producer’s bursary.

LISTINGS INFORMATION: SKIN will be performed from Wednesday 2nd- Monday 28 August, 8pm, Pleasance Courtyard - Beyond, Tickets £7 - £12

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[noplacecalledhome]

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Explore all the parties and events from Irish Arts Center. Follow Irish Arts Center and get notified everything he/she creates a new events/party.

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Featuring Máirtín O’Connor, accordion Cathal Hayden, fiddle Patrick Doocey, guitar and vocals Legendary accordion player Máirtín O’Connor brings his remarkable trio to Irish Arts Center for a vibrant evening of tunes that will redefine your understanding of Irish traditional music. Drawing on elements of swing, bluegrass, and more, Máirtín’s fluid accordion style blends seamlessly with the fiddle playing of Cathal Hayden, an All-Ireland champion and member of Four Men and a Dog. Rising young guitarist Patrick Doocey rounds out the trio. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts and raised in County Mayo, Patrick is an All-Ireland multi-instrumentalist who has toured with such Irish stars as Lúnasa and Sharon Shannon.

The Máirtín O’Connor Trio

“We have a bit of a star on our hands.” —Hot Press Magazine “Her music has elements of soul, funk R&B and rock, and she’s also rightly proud of her roots” —John Oseid, Forbes One of Ireland’s most exciting young talents, Irish-Sierra Leonean singer-songwriter Sallay Garnett (aka Loah) has mesmerized audiences with her unique musical style that can only be described as art-soul. She has performed at Electric Picnic and the Dublin Fringe Festival; shared a stage with Glen Hansard and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra; and co-written the song “Someone New” from Hozier’s platinum-selling debut album. Following her U.S. debut at Irish Arts Center's Ireland Rising concert in April last year, Loah returns to IAC with her full band for a dedicated show. Media links: http://irishartscenter.org/music/loah/1.html http://irishartscenter.org/music/loah/3.html http://irishartscenter.org/music/loah/2.html

Loah

Celtic Appalachian Celebration pays tribute to the thriving Irish and Appalachian traditions and their shared musical lineage with a star-studded ensemble of musicians, singers, and dancers. The unmatched energy of Mick Moloney with the Green Fields of America and some very special guests will leave audiences in the St. Patrick's Day spirit! FEATURING Mick Moloney, Athena Tergis, and The Green Fields of America Billy McComiskey (button accordion) Liz Hanley (fiddle and vocals) Jerry O’Sullivan (uilleann pipes and whistle) Brendan Dolan (piano) Niall O'Leary (dancer) WITH SPECIAL GUESTS Erynn Marshall (fiddle) and Carl Jones (guitar, mandolin, banjo) Megan Downes and City Stompers (dancers) Haley Richardson (fiddle) Jake James (fiddler and dancer)

6th Annual Celtic Appalachian Celebration

Curated by Grammy Award-winner Susan McKeown Belfast-based songwriter Hannah McPhillimy’s "quietly captivating" (Culture NI) performances have earned her comparisons to the likes of Feist, Regina Spektor and Daughter, while Cat Dowling's magically dark pop songs have critics lauding her as a young Portishead. Their voices, celebrated as some of the most evocative in Irish contemporary music, come together on March 9 at Irish Arts Center's first SongLives of 2017. The SongLives series showcases Ireland and North America’s rising stars and brings Dublin's rich tradition of busking to New York City.

SongLives: Cat Dowling and Hannah McPhillimy

We're opening our doors to celebrate Ireland’s national holiday! Kick off St. Patrick’s week with us by taking a look at what we’re all about. The Center will be abuzz with authentic music and dance performances, and filled with chances to try out our 40+ adult and children’s classes on offer throughout the season. Learn the basics of Irish language or a new dance step, get your face painted, create art with children’s crafts, or simply relax with a cup of tea to experience a taste of Ireland’s rich culture. SCHEDULE IAC DONAGHY THEATER 12pm Irish Arts Center Ceili Band and Student Performances 2:30pm Queens Irish Oral History Project: hear stories of the Irish diaspora 3pm Celebration of Irish Animation: check out short films from Ireland’s best animators from and our Saturday Morning Cartoons series IAC GALLERY ALL DAY Tea, coffee, and soda bread samples from Amy’s Bread! 1pm & 2pm Cooking Demonstration: How to make Irish Soda Bread 1:15pm & 2:15pm Exhibit Tours: The history and folklore of Marie Connole’s, As Above, So Below 3pm Irish Arts Center Ceili Band POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE WILLIAM J. DUNCAN CENTER (Entrance right next door) ALL DAY St. Patrick’s Day Arts and Crafts 12:30pm A Spectacular Picture Show with Accordion 1pm Irish Step Dance performances and Lesson with Niall O’Leary School of Irish Dance 2pm FERABA performs the history of African and Irish dance fusion into American Tap 2:30-4:00pm Irish Dance and Music for all! Learn Ceili and Set Dances from IAC teachers and Ceili Band POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE PERFORMANCE SPACE (Walk through the gym) 12:30pm Intro to the Irish Language for Kids (Best for 5 and up) 1pm Intro to Irish Language for Adults 1:30pm Tin Whistle Workshop for Kids and Families (Best for ages 5 and up) Bring your own whistle or purchase in workshop for $10 2pm Tin Whistle Workshop for Adults - Bring your own whistle or purchase in workshop for $10 2:30pm Irish Drumming on the Bodhran for Kids (Best for Ages 5 and up) 3pm Irish Drumming on the Bodhran for Adults

18th Annual St. Patrick's Open Day

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[londontheatre]

FRANCIS TURNLY

With the annual Tricycle Takeover due to open next month, Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham today announces the company’s forthcoming work ahead of the reopening of the building in spring 2018.

This summer, Mikel Murfi returns with his production of The Man in The Woman’s Shoes, which was a sell-out success at the Tricycle last year, playing in rep with his brand new play, I Hear You and Rejoice in the Tricycle cinema space.

Rubasingham’s Olivier award-winning production of Moira Buffini’s hit play Handbagged will receive its US première at the Round House Theatre in Washington DC as part of the 2018 Women’s Voices Theater Festival – the world’s largest festival dedicated to new work by women.

In a first for the company, the Tricycle Theatre will partner with the National Theatre in a co-production of the world première of The Great Wave which won its playwright, Francis Turnly, the Catherine Johnson Award (2016). Rubasingham directs the production, which opens at the National Theatre in Spring 2018. Turnly was the Channel 4 Playwright in Residence at the Tricycle Theatre in 2015.

The Tricycle cinema space also plays hosts to Inua Ellams’ An Evening with an Immigrant; and comedy nights presented by Upfront as part of their 25th anniversary season.

TRICYCLE TAKEOVER Tricycle Takeover returns for its 4th year with its most ambitious programme to date. Six venues across the borough will host more than 25 free events, screenings, performances and masterclasses across a 13 day period in April. During the Takeover, young people from across London will be invited to get involved as audiences, workshop participants and performers.

Headlining Takeover 2017 are six new plays The Invisible Boy; 24 Hours; Almost, But Not Quite; We Too, Are Giants; Buried; and Mission Improbable, written for six new theatre companies exploring themes of community, the expectations of society and coming of age. Eleven professional playwrights and directors from across the industry have been leading the projects, including names such as Tinuke Craig, Chino Odimba and Somalia Seaton.

The programme of events and masterclasses include Film in a Day; Stage Combat; Podcast Drama Workshop; Puppetry; Mapping Futures Q&A – Creativity in Brent, with Andre Anderson, Dilan Dattani and Indhu Rubasingham; and a special talk with Mariah Idrissi, the first hijab wearing model to sign to a major agency from Wembley Park.

TRICYCLE CINEMA SPACE THE MAN IN THE WOMAN’S SHOES & I HEAR YOU AND REJOICE Written and performed by Mikel Murfi

Summer 2017 Mikel Murfi returns to the Tricycle following the sell-out success of The Man in The Woman’s Shoes in 2016 to present a further run of the production in rep with his new one man show I Hear You and Rejoice.

Late in life, Pat Farnon, a cobbler and all-round contented man, marries the redoubtable Kitsy Rainey. It’s a match made in heaven, in more ways than one.

Written and performed by Mikel Murfi, I Hear You and Rejoice is a tender and joy filled account of a most unlikely marriage.

This show is the second collaboration between Sligo County Council Arts Service, The Hawk’s Well Theatre Sligo, and Mikel Murfi. It was created for the Bealtaine Festival 2015.

Originally from Sligo, Mikel Murfi trained at Ecole Jacques Lecoq, Paris. As an actor and a director he has worked in all the major theatres in Ireland. He has won 5 fringe first awards in Edinburgh and the Irish Times award for Best Supporting actor. His film work includes The Commitments, The Butcher Boy, Intermission and Jimmy’s Hall. Following sell-out runs in Dublin and at the Galway International Arts Festival, he performed in 2014 at the National Theatre London in Enda Walsh’s acclaimed production of Ballyturk with Cillian Murphy and Stephen Rea. He performed in The Last Hotel – an opera by Enda Walsh in Covent Garden. He’ll appear once again at Sadler’s Wells in November 2017 in Michael Keegan-Dolan’s sell out show from last November – the dance theatre production of Swan Lake/Loch Na hEala.

ROUND HOUSE THEATRE, WASHINGTON DC US Première of HANDBAGGED By Moira Buffini 31 January – 25 February 2018 Directed by Indhu Rubasingham Part of the 2018 Women’s Voices Theater Festival Presented by arrangement with Tricycle Theatre and Eleanor Lloyd Productions

Indhu Rubasingham’s Olivier Award-winning production of Moira Buffini’s Handbagged makes its US première at the Round House Theatre in Washington DC as part of the 2018 Women’s Voices Theater Festival – the world’s largest festival of new work by female playwrights.

The monarch – Liz. Her most powerful subject – Maggie. Two enduring icons born six months apart. One destined to rule, the other elected to lead. But when the stiff upper lip softened and the gloves came off, which one had the upper hand?

Handbagged is the ‘wickedly funny’ (Evening Standard) new play that opens the clasp on the relationship between two giants of the 20th Century.

Moira Buffini’s ‘irresistibly mischievous’ (The Independent) comedy speculates on that most provocative of questions: What did the world’s most powerful women talk about behind closed palace doors?

  NATIONAL THEATRE A Tricycle Theatre and National Theatre co-production THE GREAT WAVE By Francis Turnly Spring 2018 Dorfman Theatre Directed by Indhu Rubasingham

An epic play set in Japan and North Korea. On a dark and stormy night two sisters, Hanako and Reiko, are swept away by a gigantic wave. Reiko survives while Hanako is, seemingly, lost to the sea. Their mother, however, can’t shake the feeling her daughter is still alive.

The Great Wave won the Catherine Johnson Award (2016), and renews Turnly’s collaboration with the Tricycle Theatre – in 2014 he was awarded the Channel 4 Playwright in Residence, joining the Tricycle Theatre for a residency throughout 2015.

Francis Turnly’s plays include Hiding for Watford Palace Theatre, Bogland for The Lyric Theatre, Belfast and Harajuku Girls for Finborough Theatre. He has written several plays for Radio 4 including the original detective drama, Hinterland.

TRICYCLE CINEMA SPACE AN EVENING WITH AN IMMIGRANT Presented by Inua Ellams and Fuel Written and performed by Inua Ellams Summer 2017 Award-winning poet and playwright Inua Ellams returns to the Tricycle with An Evening with an Immigrant.

Born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother in what is now considered by many to be Boko Haram territory, in 1996, Ellams left Nigeria for England aged 12, moved to Ireland for 3 years before returning to London and starting work as a writer and graphic designer.

Part of this story was documented in his hilarious autobiographical Edinburgh Fringe First award winning play, The 14th Tale, but most of it is untold. Littered with poems, stories and anecdotes, Inua will tell his ridiculous, fantastic, poignant immigrant story of escaping fundamentalist Islam, directing an arts festival at his college in Dublin, performing solo shows at the National Theatre, and drinking wine with the Queen of England, all the while without a country to belong to or place to call home. Age recommendation: 15+

TRICYCLE CINEMA SPACE UPFRONT COMEDY CELEBRATES ITS 25 BIRTHDAY WITH A NEW SEASON AT THE TRICYCLE The Upfront Comedy season continues with:

Sunday 2 April, 7.30pm John Simmit, Wil-E, Mr Cee and Thanyia Moore Upfront founder John Simmit introduces an international line up headlined by Washington’s Wil-E, and featuring circuit everyman Mr Cee and spiky, sassy south Londoner Thanyia Moore.

Sunday 7 May, 7.30pm Kane Brown, Rudi Lickwood, Kayleigh Lewis and Glazz Campbell Comedy’s alpha male Kane Brown introduces Harlesden’s own Rudi Lickwood, award-winning new girl Kayleigh Lewis and Sheffield’s affable ex-boxer Glazz Campbell Age recommendation: 16+

LISTINGS TRICYCLE THEATRE 269 Kilburn High Road, London NW6 7JR Box office: 020 7328 1000 www.tricycle.co.uk

http://ift.tt/2mwIfLs LondonTheatre1.com

[fadingfartconnoisseur]

Great LGBT Events to Visit (Other than Pride)

All travelers are different and I’ve included a LGBT column on the website to talk about issues that affect those members of our community. I want everyone to have the travel knowledge they need! In this semi-monthly column, we hear from voices in the LGBT community about their experiences on the road, safety tips, events, and overall advice for other LGBT travelers! Returning this month is our column leader, Adam from travelsofadam.com.

It was raining when I walked up to the park entrance, decked out in a brightly colored banner and a row of security staff checking bags. In front of me, a guy was wearing a pink tutu under a blue poncho and two girls to my right had faces painted with more colors than I could count. Ahead of me, I could hear the beats from a faraway stage. A little while later, the rain clouds disappeared and a rainbow lit up the sky. No, this wasn’t your typical music festival, nor was it a Gay Pride festival — it was Milkshake Festival in Amsterdam.

Milkshake Festival takes place the week before Amsterdam’s annual Gay Pride and is labeled as a festival “for all who love” (raises hand). Most major queer performers, from Peaches and Mykki Blanco to crossover indie acts like Hercules and the Love Affair, have performed here. There are bright colors, crazy costumes, incredible performances, half-naked dance parties, drugs, and people of all shapes and sizes. It’s wild and it’s wonderful! And it’s more than just a celebration of LGBT pride — it promotes and celebrates queer culture like only a multicultural, independent, and original festival can.

Gay Pride festivals in the West were once opportunities to be visible and publicly demand equal rights; as more and more of those rights have materialized (especially in the past few years), the political aspect of many Gay Prides has diminished. That’s not to say it’s totally gone (read on), but these days, a lot of our Gay Pride celebrations center around headline bands, parades, parties, and plenty of skin.

Gay Pride is a lot of fun — but the fun doesn’t have to stop there. All year long, there are dozens of festivals and events celebrating LGBT culture, sports, and arts, some specialized for different segments of our community or particular fields of interest. It’s a great way to experience a new destination, surrounded by like-minded travelers and locals. These are some of my other favorite events and festivals worth traveling for:

LGBT Film Festivals

Even if you’re not a film aficionado (spoiler alert: I am!), film festivals are a great way to experience LGBT or queer culture. There are literally hundreds of LGBT-specific film festivals taking place around the world. From small towns like Bloomington, Indiana (Bloomington PRIDE Film Festival) to less-than-expected cities like Fort Worth, Texas (Q Cinema), these are often fun events to meet other LGBT locals and see outstanding cinema. And the best part? They happen year-round!

At the Q Cinema Film Festival this winter in Fort Worth, local and regional filmmakers from Ohio to Louisiana premiered their works. It was a small and casual affair at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, catered by local businesses and an easy place to meet filmmakers, actors, and documentarians between screenings. “Professional lesbian” stand-up comic Vickie Shaw (who has performed on LOGO and Olivia Cruises and at HRC events) had the audience in tears from laughter. Featuring the best empanadas I’ve had in Texas, it was a fun weekend.

Bigger LGBT film festivals like the legendary OutFest in Los Angeles or BFI Flare in London are as popular for industry insiders as they are for local film fans and visitors. At these larger events, you generally need tickets in advance — especially for big-picture premieres. In February, the leading Berlinale International Film Festival presents the Teddy Awards for excellence in LGBT cinema; past Teddy winners — about murder, mystery, sexual desire, and everyday themes — have often been attended by A-list celebrities (cue James Franco, who seems to show up to every gay event).

Why visit an LGBT film festival? While more often than not big Hollywood productions don’t include LGBT characters (exception this Oscar season: Moonlight), at an LGBT film festival, you’ll find films touching on every aspect of queer identity and culture. (Check out my picks for independent gay cinema from 2016.) Besides, everyone loves to see a bit of themselves portrayed in the movies. Movies can also be the perfect kind of escapism, the chance to see different scenarios related to our own personal experiences or emotions.

Art, Music, and Theater Festivals

Sure, it’s a stereotype that a lot of those in the art, music, and theater industries might identify as LGBT, but that’s what makes these institutions so colorful. Around the world, there are many cultural festivals and events tailored specifically to LGBT artists and performers. Each May, the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival celebrates LGBT artists, writers, and performers in the hometown of celebrated gay writer Oscar Wilde. Theater companies from around the world get the chance to show their work — including but not limited to musicals, dramas, comedies, and cabaret — over two weeks throughout Dublin. With both free and paid events, it’s a fun way to experience Ireland’s LGBT culture and history.

Afterward, a lot of artists bring their successful submissions to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Though not explicitly gay, it always includes plenty of LGBT artists. And naturally, because of the large number of international performers and creatives in Edinburgh during the month — whether as spectators or performers — there’s just a great big gay vibe in the city.

Gay Sporting Events

While a lot of the biggest gay events occur in the summertime, there are plenty of gay festivals each winter, too. Gay ski weeks are a thing: imagine drag queens in hot tubs, daytime adventures from skiing to snowshoeing (or lounging by the fireplace with a hot cup of cocoa), and steamy, late-night parties. European Gay Ski Week takes place in Switzerland each winter, while North America’s largest ski area celebrates Whistler Pride & Ski Week each January. There’s a definite party vibe to these ski events, but in such a relaxing and peaceful setting, it’s easy to enjoy as a couple or a single.

Gay sports don’t just happen in winter, though; there’s also the annual World OutGames that rotates locations around the world (this year it’s in Miami). At the OutGames, you’ll find tens of thousands of athletes competing in everything from beach volleyball to wrestling (and even chess!), as well as cultural happenings and a human rights conference (see below). At the OutGames 2013 in Antwerp, the entire city turned into a festival, with fit men and women storming the city. Suddenly, gay bars and clubs were crowded with LGBT tourists and the whole city was decked out with rainbow flags. The other major LGBT sporting event is the quadrennial Gay Games, taking place next in Paris in 2018, with a similar goal to promote equality through sport.

And if cowboys and cowgirls are more your style, there are the many gay rodeos in the United States organized by the International Gay Rodeo Association.

Attending any gay sporting event as an athlete is always fun (plus there’s the prospect of trophies and prizes), but usually these are big events that overtake towns and cities, turning them into temporary queer meccas and creating a way for anyone to enjoy somewhere new safely and comfortably out.

Lesbian & Transgender Festivals

Some segments of the LGBT community are regularly sidelined in many events and festivals. Lesbians have a handful of events around the world to look forward to each year, however — from the annual ELLA International Lesbian Festival each summer in Spain to The Dinah in Palm Springs. Both are heavily attended by international visitors and include music acts, parties, and more — all with a very festive vibe and in summery locations, so expect bikinis, sunglasses, and lots of swimming (or poolside lounging).

Since 2006, the National Transgender Charity has hosted an annual transgender festival called Sparkle in the Park in Manchester (arguably the UK’s gayest city), at the Sackville Gardens (where a National Transgender Memorial stands) in the city’s gay village; last year there were over 12,000 attendees. There’s free music, entertainment, and educational workshops. Alongside the festival, a “fringe” event features plenty of cabaret, music, theater, and comedy.

Political, Human Rights, and Tech Events & Conferences

In addition to the many fun festivals and events described, many LGBT events are also still entrenched in serious political activism. Even the gay sporting events like OutGames run alongside LGBT conferences dealing with activism and politics. And many Gay Pride festivals are attended by local political action groups, political parties, and activist organizations.

But there are also many conferences year-round by national and global organizations dealing exclusively with human rights. In Fort Lauderdale each autumn, the city hosts the Southern Comfort Conference where transgender activists and educators gather for learning and networking. Other activists and allies meet each year at conferences organized by OutRight International, the National LGBTQ Task Force, and the ILGA — offering community leaders from around the world a chance to meet and plan LGBT equality initiatives around the world.

Gay Circuit Parties

There are mega-parties that take place annually around the world, catering to different segments. For example, Sitges Bear Week hosts thousands of bears on the Spanish beaches each September, while Provincetown attracts bears and their admirers for the annual Provincetown Bear Week each July. Then there are circuit parties, popular for a particular subset of gay men. While these mega dance-parties have been around for decades, it’s Barcelona’s annual Circuit Festival which has made the mega electronic-music parties popular again.

Barcelona’s Circuit Festival has become so big and so popular since starting up in 2007, the entire city seems to be overflowing with hunky gay men for weeks leading up to and following the festival. With beach and foam parties, all-day & night DJs, and (so it seems) a rule that requires men to go topless, similar gay circuit festivals are now popular around the world from Bangkok (GCircuit during Songkran) to Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and WE Party in Madrid.

Similar parties to the circuit festivals include Southern Decadence in New Orleans (friends swear by it being one of the best parties in Nola, the “gay Mardi Gras”) and White Party in Miami. And then there are the Gay Days Orlando — the first Saturday of June where tens of thousands of gays and lesbians descend upon the Magic Kingdom and at hotel pool parties throughout the city for sun and fun.

Other LGBT Events

Not all LGBT events are based around big parties, however. Just as the full LGBTQ spectrum includes so many varied sexualities and gender identities, it makes sense there’d be an equally wide range of events for every type of individual. In Sonoma each Spring there’s the Gay Wine Weekend for three days of tastings, dancing and food in a picturesque setting. In Slovenia, Pink Week is a week-long experience through the country including wine tastings, museum tours and culminating in a formal ball to benefit LGBT organizations in the country. Vienna’s annual Life Ball takes place in the Vienna City Hall and is one of the world’s biggest AIDS charity events, while Black Tie in Dallas, Texas similarly raises donations each year for both local and national LGBT organizations.

Events like the #UNIT Festival in Berlin or the Lesbians Who Tech summit (this year in San Francisco) promote LGBT technology and science for general audiences. In two of the world’s biggest tech hubs, these are events where technology and queer culture intersect, giving LGBT start-up employees and entrepreneurs the chance to network, brainstorm, and discuss ideas and innovations in related industries. Past presentation topics have included hackathons, feminism, and virtual reality — all from a queer perspective — and LGBTQ apps and queer history (or in some cases, both at once).

Family-friendly LGBT events are increasingly popular as well, including many zoos from Berlin to Washington, D.C. which open up for specific “gay days” to promote family equality. Check local LGBT community centers for the most up-to-date listings of similar events. Globally, Wikipedia has the most comprehensive list of LGBT events, while Travel Gay Europe and Travel Gay Asia both have up-to-date event, festival, and party listings for each respective continent. Sometimes events are canceled due to poor attendance, so always make sure to check with organizers when making travel plans.

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To be LGBTQ is to be a part of a really diverse community. Luckily for us, there are so many different LGBT events for so many different niches and interests, it’s easy to find a cool festival or event abroad or at home. Traveling to an event like this is a great way to meet other like-minded travelers — those that share the same passions and interests — or to experience a new place through a comfortable or familiar lens.

P.S. –  If you would like to help underprivileged students travel more and expand their world view, we’re currently fundraising for a group of students to go volunteer in Ecuador. Help us reach our goal, change someone’s life by exposing them to the world of travel, and get some travel swag in the process. 

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