Expect to see everything from Darth Vader’s menacing black mask to C-3PO’s gilded suit. The display includes the gowns of Queen Amidala and the iconic bikini worn by Princess Leia.
Lucas says the detailed precision of a design can be as bold a measure of storytelling as words on a page, leading to truths at the core of a character or scene. Featured costumes also include the monk-like robes of Jedi masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker, the complex breathing apparatus of Darth Vader; military-influenced uniforms of the Imperial Stormtrooper, Senate Guard and TIE Fighter Pilot. You’ll view Chewbacca’s Yak hair and mohair costume and the intergalactic outfits of Senators Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and Mas Amedda.
The exhibit includes short films that provide a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process and include interviews with artists, designers and actors. There will be digital interactives featuring sketches, photographs and notes that capture the creative team’s inspiration and vision.
“Costumes not only fill out the lush and captivating ‘Star Wars’ galaxy, they tell a story,” says Elizabeth Pierce, president and CEO of the Cincinnati Museum Center. “Whether they chart the evolution of a character or identify good and evil or that murky space in between, each costume is a thoughtful piece that drives the story forward. We’re excited to bring this exhibition to Cincinnati show the process behind costume development and to showcase the talents and inspiration of those involved in that process.”
Star Wars and the Power of Costume opens May 25 at Cincinnati Museum Center. Advance tickets will go on sale Feb. 6. For more information, visit www.cincymuseum.org/star-wars or call (513) 287-7001.
Artist sketches Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Neal Gittleman received an interesting prososal last month. It came from artist Ausra Jankauskaite. Originally from Lithuania, Ausra has also lived in France and Singapore, and now resides in Beavercreek.
“She’s done several projects in the past doing paintings of musicians and orchestras in rehearsal/performance and proposed coming to the DPO’s rehearsals of ‘Mahler’s Fifth Symphony’ and painting while we’re rehearsing,” Gittleman says. “I loved the idea and we’re gonna do it.”
Ausra says she has always loved classical music and jazz. “When I listen to music, I become emotional and when I started painting during concerts, it’s always a surprise,” she says of her watercolors on paper.
You can see the results at the DPO Masterworks Concert on Friday, Feb. 3 and Saturday, Feb. 4 when the paintings will be displayed in the Schuster Center’s Wintergarten lobby over the concert weekend. Tickets range from $16 to $65 and are available at Ticket Center Stage (937) 228-3630 or online at www.daytonperformingarts.org. Senior, teacher and student discounts are available at the box office.
Wright State grad stars in “Little Shop”
There’s great news about Ebony Blake, a Wright State University grad who is now starring in the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park production of “Little Shop of Horrors.”
The musical, on stage in Cincinnati through Feb. 19, is the story of a power-hungry plant that sends a nerdy florist down a murderous path. Ebony plays the role of Ronnette, one of a trio of 1960s street urchins.
Blake, who attended Middletown High School, said she was inspired by Sheila Ramsey and Greg Hellems at Wright State and later Scott Stoney and Kevin Moore of the Human Race Theatre Company. “They really opened my eyes to the business of good regional theater, and what it would require of me to do this for a living,” Blake says. She was also inspired by her grandfather, Arnold L. Blake, “who exposed to me to wonderful theatre, great books, and all types of music at an early age. He … was really a Renaissance man in terms of what he appreciated on an artistic level.”
Blake was in the first national tour of “The Book of Mormon” and was in “Jitney” at the Human Race. She has traveled throughout the world while working for Disney Cruise Lines and Universal Studios Japan.
Tickets for Little Shop of Horrors are available at 800-582-3208) or visit www.cincyplay.com.
Meet Quilliam!
When Rosie the groundhog passed away last fall at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, the museum decided to acquire an African pygmy hedgehog. Four-week-old Quilliam arrived in November and will assume the starring role on the museum’s Groundhog Day festivities at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2 in the museum lobby. Plans call for crafts and special activities, along with roaming animals on view in the museum throughout the day.
African pygmy hedgehogs are native to central Africa and are typically five to eight inches long. Domesticated hedgehogs like Quilliam prefer a warm climate, and do not hibernate. Although he is still growing, Quilliam weighs just under a pound, and dines primarily on insectivore chow, fruit, veggies and meal worms.
According to the museum, the European hedgehog was originally used in a forerunner of Groundhog Day, in a tradition called Candlemas Day, celebrated on Feb. 2 throughout Europe. The hedgehog was trusted to predict the coming of spring in Serbia, Germany, the United Kingdom and other European countries.
The Groundhog Day activities are included with museum admission.
Community art project planned
For the First Friday event slated for Friday, Feb. 3, the Dayton Visual Arts Center is planning a Community Artmaking Project from 6 to 8 p.m., in partnership with Sinclair Community College and EboNia Gallery.
This event at DVAC, 118 N. Jefferson St, ties in with the current exhibition, “The Secrets We Keep: New Work by Zoe Hawk, Ashley Jonas and Stephanie McGuinness.”
The project is part of Sinclair’s REACH Across Dayton exhibition and annual conference, which is on Feb. 24. For more information about REACH Across Dayton, visit www.sinclair.edu/reach.
Daniel Tiger will come to Cincinnati
Those of us who loved “Mister Rogers” know his legacy lives on with the hit television series, “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” from The Fred Rogers Co. The program airs daily on PBS KIDS. In February 2015, it was the No. 2 program across all TV networks for kids 2-5 and with moms of young children. It continues to be one of the highest-streamed shows, averaging over 40 million streams per month. One million Daniel Tiger books have been published to date, and downloads of the apps, music, and episodes continue to rank high on iTunes.
The series, which shares stories about the life of a preschooler using musical strategies grounded in Fred Rogers’ social-emotional curriculum, uses creativity and music as Daniel and his friends learn the key social skills necessary for school and for life.
“Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live!” will come to the Aronoff Center for an interactive musical adventure on Saturday, Feb. 18. The presentations are slated for 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $45, $35, and $25 and are on sale now at www.CincinnatiArts.org, (513) 621-ARTS (2787), and the Aronoff Center Ticket Office. Group discount tickets for 10 or more are available by calling (513) 977-4157. VIP tickets are available for $75 and include front orchestra seats and a meet-and-greet with the characters.
National Underground Railroad museum collecting women’s march materials
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati is collecting materials from the Women’s March on Washington. The museum is looking for signs, T-shirts, hats, videos and images from the Women’s March on Washington in Washington D.C., the Sister March in Cincinnati, and from Sister Marches around the globe.
“We are an institution dedicated to inclusive freedom – all people enjoying rights and privileges of equal number, equal kind, and equal quality,” says museum president Clarence G. Newsome.
To make a collections donation to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center contact Ashley Jordan, Curator, at ajordan@nurfc.org and Richard Cooper, Director of Museum Experiences, at rcooper@nurfc.org.
Encore Players will stage “Pinafore”
A theater company composed of current and former Beavercreek City Schools teachers will present its fifth annual production of the Beavercreek Faculty Gives Back Project. Encore Players will stage “HMS Pinafore”without intermission on Feb. 3-4 at Beavercreek High School’s Alumni Auditorium, 2660 Dayton-Xenia Road. Directors are David Blackburn and Jason Agpaoa.
All shows start at 7:30 p.m and admission is free with donations accepted for “4 Paws For Ability.” For more information, call (937) 429-7547, ext. 1648.
Arts writer Meredith Moss writes about the people and events making arts news in our region.
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