Greyson Chance to perform tonight on “NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly”
Edmond Internet music sensation Greyson Chance, 13, will be performing on “NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly.” Also joining the show will be the cast of “American Idiot,” My Chemical Romance, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and more.
The New Year’s Eve show will air from 9 to 10 p.m. Oklahoma time and continue from 10:30 to 11:30 CST tonight on NBC (KFOR-4 in Oklahoma City).
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Best Bets for Dec 31, 2010-Jan. 2, 2011
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey
Here are some events going on around Oklahoma during New Year’s weekend. For more events, click here or go to www.wimgo.com:
1. Take advantage of the final days of the Downtown in December festivities, including the Devon Ice Rink, Chesapeake Snow Tubing, OK Cityscape and more. Information: www.downtownindecember.com.
2. See “Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock & Roll Exhibit” before it closes today at Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zhudi Drive. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Information: 522-0765 or www.okhistorycenter.org.
3. Hear the Fortune Tellers at 9 tonight at VZD’s, 4200 N Western. Information: 524-4203 or www.vzds.com.
4. View the special exhibitions “La Serenissima: Eighteenth-Century Venetian Art from North American Collections” and “Jonathan Hils: Intersection” at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, before they close Sunday. Information: 236-3100 or www.okcmoa.com.
5. TULSA — Listen to Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey play covers of Beyonce, Madonna and Lady Gaga at 9:15 tonight at Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N Main. Doors open at 8 p.m. Information: (918) 584-2306 or www.cainsballroom.com.
6. Celebrate the end of 2010 and the start of 2011 at The Flaming Lips New Year’s Eve Freakout #4, featuring Stardeath and White Dwarfs, at 8:30 tonight at the Cox Convention Center in downtown. After the Lips perform their full set – costumed dancers, balloon drop, mirror ball and all – and count down to midnight, they will play live their seminal 1999 album “The Soft Bulletin.” To read The Oklahoman’s Gene Triplett’s recent interview with Coyne, click here. For more information, go to www.coxconventioncenter.com.
7. See the new exhibit “The Games We Play” by Michele Mikesell during a New Year’s Day opening reception from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday at JRB Art at the Elms, 2810 N Walker in the Paseo Arts District. Information: 528-6336 or www.jrbartgallery.com.
8. Celebrate New Year’s Eve with live music, improv, roller derby, magic shows, children’s area, strolling performers, fireworks display and lighted ball ascension at midnight at Opening Night 2011 from 7 to midnight tonight at nine venues in downtown Oklahoma City. To see the full Opening Night 2011 schedule, click here. Information: 270-4848 or www.artscouncilokc.com.
9. Watch the Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Atlanta Hawks at 7 tonight at the Oklahoma City Arena, 100 W Reno. Information: www.nba.com/thunder.
10. Hear the Randy Rogers Band and Cody Canada & The Departed play a New Year’s Eve show at 9:30 tonight at the Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E Sheridan. Doors open at 6 p.m. The Wormy Dog will host its New Year’s Day Hangover Ball, featuring Cody Canada, Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen, Stoney LaRue, Charlie Robison, Seth James, Brandon Jenkins and Bruce Robison, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Doors open at 6 p.m. Information: 601-6276 or www.wormydog.com.
11. TULSA — Listen to Ray D. Rowe, former GAP Band founder and OK Jazz Hall of Famer, and his band play at 8 tonight at the NINE18 Bar, Osage Million Dollar Elm, 951 W. 36 St. North. Information: www.milliondollarelm.com or (918) 699-7614.
12. THACKERVILLE — Hear the Goo Goo Dolls rock in the New Year at 9:30 tonight at Winstar World Casino, Exit 1 Interstate 35. Information: (800) 622-6317 or www.winstarworldcasino.com.
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BAM Column: Photographer M.J. Alexander showcases Oklahoma children in book “Portrait of a Generation”
This photo of my daughter, Brenna Faire McDonnell, is featured in acclaimed photographer M.J. Alexander's new art book “Portrait of a Generation — The Children of Oklahoma: Sons and Daughters of the Red Earth.”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Photographer captures Oklahoma children in new book
“Portrait of a Generation” features youngsters from across the Sooner State
Celebrated photographer M.J. Alexander grandly showcases our state’s promising future in her “Portrait of a Generation — The Children of Oklahoma: Sons and Daughters of the Red Earth.”
Or as I like to call it, Brenna’s book. After all, it is dedicated to my little girl.
While much of my 2010 was focused on bringing my daughter into the world, Alexander spent much of the year on a mission to share the children of the Sooner State with the world. Along with her images of more then 250 Oklahomans — primarily children from newborns to college freshmen — her limited edition art book includes family genealogies, state history and personal stories from the youngsters.
“It stars the kids and it has their portraits; it stars Oklahoma because it has the environment. Even if you can’t see Oklahoma — some of the shots are more scenic than others — even if it’s a close-up of cowboy (belt) buckles, you see Oklahoma reflected back in that,” she said. “You have the kids’ words, what they think about life, what their philosophies are, like in your case, what are their families’ hopes for them, which is really heartening when you see these families already looking forward to the future.”
For the forward-looking follow-up to her 2007 book “Salt of the Red Earth,” which featured Oklahoma centenarians, the acclaimed photographer embarked on a quest to feature the youngsters who will determine Oklahoma’s future. Her mission took her more than 11,000 miles to 50 towns and cities, from Cimarron County to Beaver’s Bend and Mangum to Picher.
Even when she stayed in one city, Alexander often found youngsters living in vastly different worlds: She photographed Baylee Blain Henry, 13, who is youngest daughter of Brad and Kim Henry, at the Governor’s Mansion; bombing survivors Rebecca Ann Denny, 17, and Brandon James Denny, 19, at the Oklahoma City National Memorial; and solemn Sa’Nya Kathryn-Lovella Clark, 2, at Sister B.J.’s Food Pantry.
“It was a challenge to get a mix of people who have been here a long time and a short time, people of different ages, people of different life views, of different socioeconomic status, but not to be so concerned with the little parts that you miss the big picture,” she said. “The challenge at the beginning was to make it representative without being so concerned with demographics … and at the end it was ‘How can I cut any of these wonderful kids?’”
From American Indian dancers at the Red Earth Festival in Oklahoma City and intrepid fishermen at the Okie Noodling Festival in Pauls Valley to artists performing at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain and belt buckle-boasting champions at the International Finals Youth Rodeo in Shawnee, she tried to highlight the range of interests, ethnicities and philosophies of our state’s youth.
The project also took her to my hospital room at Integris Baptist Medical Center and my Del City front lawn.
A few weeks before I started maternity leave in June, Alexander sent me an e-mail about her “Portrait of a Generation” plans. She asked if I would do a column about the project in the hopes of finding interesting children for the book. One of her goals was to feature a newborn, and once the column ran, she asked if I would be interested in letting her take photos of my new baby when she arrived.
M.J. Alexander (Photo by Alexander Knight)
My husband, Patrick, and I agreed, and when we went into the hospital June 25 for my C-section, the photographer waited with my parents and sons. When Patrick introduced our family to Brenna Faire McDonnell, Alexander snapped away, capturing precious moments that happened while I was still in the operating room.
With her eye on taking a portrait against the Oklahoma landscape, Alexander came to our home the day after we were released from the hospital to take more pictures. As my husband held our 100-hour-old daughter aloft in our yard against a stormy, uncertain sky, the artist got the shot that made the book. Along with the portrait, Brenna’s two-page spread includes a brief genealogical history — she is a sixth-generation Oklahoman on my side — and my writings about my hopes for my children’s futures.
Alexander dedicated the book to Brenna and John James Ruffin, whom she photographed taking his first breath, and included a small picture of my then-3-year-old son Gabe holding his newborn sister on the dedication page. Photographing the two 2010 babies were the most indelible moments of her memorable year.
“To me, the most vulnerable anybody is, is when you’re giving birth, so to let somebody in on that moment is mindboggling,” she said. “Brenna will never remember this whole thing, but I will remember her my entire life.”
While the book may be dedicated to two babies, Alexander’s “Portrait” is a gorgeous gift to all Oklahomans. And I’m not just saying that because my girl is in it.
“Portrait of a Generation”
M.J. Alexander’s limited edition art book “Portrait of a Generation — The Children of Oklahoma: Sons and Daughters of the Red Earth” is for sale at Full Circle Bookstore, JRB Arts at the Elms, Painted Door and other independent shops. It is also available online at www.amazon.com and www.sliceok.com/portrait.
The book is priced at $65, and $10 from each book is donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County.
A celebration honoring the young stars of the book and unveiling large-scale portraits from the book is planned for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20 at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive.
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With Cross Canadian Ragweed done, Cody Canada starting New Year with new band The Departed
Cody Canada & The Departed
A version of this story appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Cody Canada & The Departed debuting to close 2010
Following this year’s split of Cross Canadian Ragweed, the singer/songwriter/guitarist and his new band are playing the Wormy Dog’s New Year’s Eve show tonight.
With his venerable red dirt band Cross Canadian Ragweed joining the ranks of the dearly departed back in May, Cody Canada is closing 2010 with the debut of his new Oklahoma-Texas band, The Departed.
“We’ve been bustin’ … and we’re ready to go, man,” said the singer/songwriter/guitarist in a phone interview last week from his home in New Braunfels, Texas, where he was getting ready for Christmas with his wife and two children. “I’m pretty high-strung. I gotta keep rolling, whether it’s going out and playing the two-man electric thing or practicing or recording or something. I don’t know, I was raised with the ‘rolling stone gathers no moss’ thing.”
Cody Canada & The Departed will play its second show tonight as part of the Wormy Dog Saloon’s New Year’s Eve celebration. The band was set to play its sold-out debut Wednesday at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, and the quintet already has recorded its first album, “This Is Indian Land,” which fans can expect to hear in its entirety tonight.
“It’s like starting all over again. With our first record with Ragweed, we did the covers we knew and every song on the record,” he said. “We have Seth (James) songs and a couple of Ragweed songs we’re gonna do, but the main focus is getting people ready for this record.”
“When any band goes its separate ways, I think you need to not be ashamed — definitely not be ashamed — or run from anything you’ve done in the past, but definitely don’t overdo it,” he added. “When bands … do a set of nothing but what used to be, it kind of cheats.”
Besides, the new band will put its own stamp on the red dirt sound: Along with Canada, The Departed includes Ragweed bassist Jeremy Plato, Texas guitarist Seth James, Tulsa keyboardist Steve Littleton and Yukon drummer David Bowen.
“We’re attacking it different and we’re approaching it different and it’s gonna sound different. But it’s not like we’re getting away from our roots,” Canada said. “Speaking for Jeremy and I — just because I’ve known him for so long — these are tunes that we wanted people to hear since the get-go. These are the songs that taught us how to do it, and we finally got ‘em nailed down. Jeremy’s singing and I’m singing and “We’re sharing the dirt with people.”
Ragweed is done
Formed in 1994 in Yukon, Cross Canadian Ragweed put down its musical roots in the fertile red dirt soil of Stillwater. The band forged a following playing college crowds around Oklahoma State and built its fan base with frequent touring. performing more than 220 dates a year. After 15 years, Ragweed had become one of the most influential groups on the red dirt scene.
In May, the band announced an indefinite hiatus. Drummer Randy Ragsdale, who lives in Yukon, needed to spend more time with his family, particularly his son, JC, who has autism. Although Ragsdale gave his blessing to Ragweed carrying on with a replacement drummer, Canada said they couldn’t.
“That’s one thing we always swore that no matter what happens, if we split our ways, nobody’s gonna continue on as Ragweed because that’s just cheating. And we just had so much together,” Canada said. “When it started really sinking in is when we started canceling shows. … Really, the last three shows up in Illinois (in October), that’s when it really started sinking in, like, man, this is done.”
Still, he hated to call it a “breakup” because of the negative connotations.
“We didn’t just want to say, hey, we’re done because, you know, when you say that, people automatically think that there’s lawyers involved and people are fighting and all that crap,” he said.
“If it was going to fall apart because we were angry at each other, it would have happened in our late teens and early 20s when we were full of testosterone and just drunk and ready to rock. We’re still ready to rock, we’re just a little more mature about it now.”
The Departed debuts
After the phone call hashing out the indefinite hiatus announcement and figuring out which shows to scrap, Canada sought solace at Plato’s New Braunfels home.
“I was scared (expletive). I didn’t know what to do; this was the only thing I’ve known for years. I asked him, ‘Are we still doing it?’ And he goes, ‘Hell yeah, we’re doing it. What kind of question is that?’ It was like, all right, well, let’s get on the phone with other musicians we know and get this second band rolling,” he said. “I didn’t want the last gig to happen and then go, ‘Well, now what?’”
He never imagined he would be in the position of starting over again with a new band.
“I was never looking into future going on, ‘One day I’m going to do this …’ Because there was just no doubt in four people’s minds in that band that this was gonna go on forever. When Randy came out and said, ‘I need to get home,’ I saw it building, but I still wasn’t ready for it. None of us were. I just thought that we would be playing with Ragweed ‘til the end of time. So I wasn’t planning on doing something, but the minute I hung that phone up, I was like ‘OK, now I gotta do something.’”
Rather, Canada plunged into the hectic business of playing two-man electric shows with James, rehearsing with their new band and figuring out their debut album. For “This Is Indian Land,” he turned back to his roots in Stillwater’s red dirt community. Ragweed had long discussed doing an Oklahoma songwriters tribute album, and that seemed an appropriate start for The Departed.
“We did 17 songs from all the Okie artists that we grew up listening to, the people that showed us how to be good people and good musicians and just the Oklahoma way of treating people and being people,” he said.
“This Is Indian Land” features songs by Kevin Welch, Bob Childers, Tom Skinner, J.J. Cale, Leon Russell, Medicine Show, Randy Crouch and more. It was recorded over the past two months at Yellow Dog Studios in Austin, Texas, and finished last week. He isn’t sure who will release the record — Ragweed had one album left on its deal with Universal South, but since he hasn’t heard from the label, he’s assuming no more band means no more deal — but he doesn’t mind going independent again as long as fans get to hear it.
Along with selling out its first show, the group has booked several dates through early March, including a Jan. 22 show at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa. With the fan support building, Canada is eagerly looking forward to tonight’s show, and to lunch with Ragsdale before it.
“We went to kindergarten through October together. It is family and it always will be,” he said.
“Who’s to say that 10 years from now, or less, or more, that we decide to do something for a couple of shows or whatever. But in a very nice way — nobody’s mad at each other — I’m proud of what we did, and it’s behind us now, and the sadness of Ragweed being over is behind me. And I’m ready to move on and do this next thing.”
In concert
Wormy Dog New Year’s Eve show
With: Randy Rogers Band and Cody Canada & The Departed
When: 9:30 tonight. Doors open at 6 p.m.
New Year’s Day Hangover Ball
Featuring: Cody Canada, Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen, Stoney LaRue, Charlie Robison, Seth James, Brandon Jenkins and Bruce Robison.
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Where: Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E Sheridan.
Information: 601-6276 or www.wormydog.com.
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Randy Rogers Band playing New Year’s Eve show in Oklahoma City
Randy Rogers Band
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Randy Rogers Band makes Oklahoma City home for New Year’s Eve
From a new album that topped the charts to the arrival of three babies, the Randy Rogers Band continued to celebrate big milestones in 2010.
The Texas country rockers will cap the year with another high point: playing the Wormy Dog Saloon’s New Year’s Eve show for the first time.
“I’m excited about that. I’ve been a big fan of the Wormy Dog for a long time, played there many times. We chose Oklahoma City to do our New Year’s Eve party in this year just ‘cause we love Bricktown down there and hanging out and got lots of friends there,” Rogers said in a phone interview following a grocery run in Austin, Texas, where he lives. “We just felt like it was a good spot to call home for that night.”
Home has taken on a larger meaning this year for Rogers, whose wife Brooke gave birth to their first child in June. The singer-songwriter was happily preparing last week for daughter Isabel’s first Christmas — the 6-month-old would be receiving many frilly outfits — but conceded that fatherhood has made the band’s notoriously busy tour schedule tougher to handle.
“I’m not gonna lie, it just really changes the game a little bit. It’s always been hard to be away from the wife. You know, just the amount of work that goes into being a mom, of course, when I’m here it’s easier. Yeah, it’s an adjustment, but I’ve had lots of friends have babies and stay on the road, including my own bandmates. So I’ve got a lot of advice and I think I know what I’m doing, hopefully,” he said, adding that RRB guitarist Geoffrey Hill and drummer Les Lawless each welcomed their second child in 2010.
“It’s great. I’m glad I’m home right now and getting to be with her. It’s very precious. She’s precious.”
Along with celebrating the arrival of three infants, the band also brought its third major-label album into the world in August. “Burning the Day” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart and No. 8 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
Fueled by the anthemic opener “Interstate,” heartbreaking ode “Too Late for Goodbye” and green-eyed ballad “Steal You Away,” “Burning the Day” also blazed to the top of the iTunes country albums chart and to No. 2 on iTunes’ all-genre album chart, behind pop star Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.”
“I think it’s the most mature record we’ve done. We definitely were more seasoned as musicians going into the making of this record. I wrote more songs than I’ve ever written in my life for a record,” Rogers said. “I just think it was a combination of a lot of things: Us taking being in the studio very seriously, not that we didn’t ever take it serious before. But I just felt like we all knew that this was going to be a big record for us.”
The band experienced breakout success with its 2008 self-titled album, which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard country charts and was named Playboy’s best country album of the year. The group made its Grand Ole Opry debut, played “The Late Show With David Letterman” and “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and earned two Academy of Country Music award nominations for top vocal group. He and his bandmates wanted to fan the flames of that hot streak with “Burning the Day.”
“You gotta strike when the iron’s hot, they say. We had a lot of really nice press and a lot of great opportunities there in Nashville and (on) TV that we wanted to make sure that we capitalized on,” he said. “This business is full of ups and downs, and I like to say that it’s kind of like different plateaus. You know, you get to one level and really sustaining that level is kind of more important than the next step. We’ve always kind of had that vision as a band as far just not taking opportunities for granted — not taking anything for granted — and just working as hard as we can work and doing our best out there on the stage.”
The band worked for the first time with Grammy-winning producer Paul Worley, who has made albums with Dixie Chicks, Lady Antebellum and Willie Nelson. Rogers called Worley a “band guy” who pushed the group to rehearse more, get better and work harder than ever.
“His track record is pretty unbelievable. He’s been a part of some of my favorite records,” Rogers said.
“The experience was great. We’ll make another record together,” he added. “I really feel like he took ownership in the Randy Rogers Band and not necessarily just this record.”
After his band plays tonight’s New Year’s Eve show along with Cody Canada’s new group The Departed, Rogers will kick off 2011 with Canada, Wade Bowen, Stoney LaRue and more at the Wormy Dog’s New Year’s Day Hangover Ball. The relaxed red dirt reunion has become one of his favorite traditions.
“I remember the first time they invited me to play it, I thought I was cool. I was like, ‘That’s where all the cool kids are,’” he said with a laugh.
“It’s probably the most laidback gig of the year. You see your friends, hang out with your buddies, it doesn’t get better than that.”
In concert
Wormy Dog New Year’s Eve show
With: Randy Rogers Band and Cody Canada & The Departed
When: 9:30 tonight. Doors open at 6 p.m.
New Year’s Day Hangover Ball
Featuring: Cody Canada, Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen, Stoney LaRue, Charlie Robison, Seth James, Brandon Jenkins and Bruce Robison.
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Where: Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E Sheridan.
Information: 601-6276 or www.wormydog.com.
-BAM
Dallas artist Michele Mikesell to open New Year’s Day exhibit at OKC’s JRB Art at the Elms
"The Puzzle" by Michele Mikesell
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Artistic “Games” planned for New Year’s Day
Painter Michele Mikesell will open a new exhibit Saturday at JRB Art at the Elms.
Art lovers are invited to celebrate the dawn of 2011 with fun and games at one Paseo art gallery.
JRB Art at the Elms is continuing its tradition of debuting a new exhibition on New Year’s Day with Saturday’s opening of “The Games We Play,” featuring oil paintings by Dallas artist Michele Mikesell. The gallery also will open Saturday an exhibit of works featured in its 2011 calendar.
The gallery’s eighth annual New Year’s Day exhibit and celebration will be from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday, and guests will be encouraged to feast on traditional black-eyed peas, ham, turkey, collard greens, assorted salads, dips and pastries while enjoying art.
Mikesell, who earned her bachelor of fine arts at Texas Women’s University in Denton and her master’s degree at the University of Oklahoma, often meshes human personalities and animal traits in her narrative paintings. In comparing and contrasting animals with the universal human experience, she explores themes like irony, humor and tragedy.
“I see animals in human nature all the time, as well as ‘human’ attributes in animals. This comparison is fascinating to me on so many levels. It’s sometimes humorous, sometimes dark, sometimes profound — but always interesting to me. I feel the most successful when I hear someone come to a painting of an animal and say, ‘Wow, I know that person,’” Mikesell said in an e-mail.
In “The Games We Play,” Mikesell depicts slyly satirical apes, birds, fish and other creatures engaged in favorite childhood games, from matching playing cards in pairs to solving the crime in the board game “Clue.” Mikesell discussed her goals for the show and the coming year this week in an e-mail interview:
Q: Why have you decided to showcase “The Games We Play”? What familiar games will people see represented in your artwork in the show, and what is the meaning behind our games?
A: Doing a show about games is something I’ve thought about for a while. It parallels so many other themes that I have worked with in the past like the circus, fairy tales, and idioms. It’s another universal experience that I think is very rich in tradition and meaning, and I’ve just barely tapped the potential of material that is there.
Some of the games loosely represented in this show are Duck, Duck, Goose, ‘Clue,’ matching cards and a crossword puzzle. There’s always an irony, though. The ducks are deer, and the goose is not, which gives the question, ‘What role is the goose is playing?’ ‘Clue’ has always been a pretty sinister game to me, and I’m presenting three characters as playing pieces. In the crossword puzzle, I’ve made the viewer a bird by presenting a bird’s eye view of three birds working a futile crossword puzzle. And in matching, a cat and a rat have been overturned. I’ve left it up to the viewer to decide if it’s a match or not.
Q: Please explain your distinctive artistic technique and why you prefer to paint with that method.
A: I’ve always had a very sacrilegious approach to paint. I didn’t own a ‘real’ paint brush until long after I was out of college. My painting method was and still can be summed up by the phrase ‘by any means necessary.’ I’ve used everything from pH-balanced rust, boric acid, roofing tar and fire. in my paintings in the past. … Now I use sanding and implied damaged surfaces to form a dialogue with my subject, and create another dimension of irony and comparison and contrast. However, there is a certain rawness that gets lost in refinement; I’m always trying to get back to the rawness.
Q: How have you grown as an artist in the past year, and how do you think that growth is reflected in this show?
A: I’m always trying to find a different, better way to say the same things I’ve always said. This year instead of putting animals in human costume, I’ve concentrated on putting the human in the animal form. Compositionally there’s a lot to work with there. I’ve been looking at classical painters and a lot of the street art going on out on the West coast. I’m just kind of trying to figure out what one has to do with the other, and what the possibilities are of merging the two in a sort of visual paradox.
I think this past year I have grown by allowing myself to do what feels right and giving myself the freedom to move away from painting animals exclusively. This is the first body of work I’ve done that I feel confident animals as a subject and humans as a subject work together to form one congruent idea. I’m hoping the viewer will seamlessly be able to go from a painting of a monkey to a painting of a human face and not consciously make any distinctions between the two. I can’t really say how I’ve grown, I’m still working and as long as you’re moving your growing, right?
Q: What are your resolutions as an artist for 2011?
A: To find some balance and be more realistic about how much I can realistically accomplish, and I’m sure I’ll also make the annual resolution to be more organized.
On exhibit
“The Games We Play” by Michele Mikesell
When: Saturday-Jan. 28.
Where: JRB Art at the Elms, 2810 N Walker, Paseo Arts District.
Events: A New Year’s Day opening reception is set from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday. Another reception is planned from 6 to 10 p.m. Jan. 7 during the monthly Paseo Gallery Walk.
Information: 528-6336 or www.jrbartgallery.com.
-BAM
Oklahoma City to celebrate New Year with Opening Night 2011
Crowds watch as the lighted ball begin its ascent during Opening Night 2009 in downtow Oklahoma City. Opening Night 2011 will celebrate the end of 2010 and the start of the New Year from 7 to midnight tonight.
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Grand Opening Night planned for New Year’s Eve in downtown Oklahoma City
Downtown Oklahoma City will be transformed into the ultimate variety show tonight in celebration of New Year’s Eve.
Opening Night 2011 will feature rock bands, roller girls, clowns, improv comedians, magicians and more leading up to a sparkling finale at midnight. Organized by the Arts Council of Oklahoma City, the 24th annual Opening Night will bring together 40 performers in nine venues starting at 7 tonight.
“We’re showcasing the best talent in Oklahoma,” said Opening Night Director Rachel Findley. “We’ve got amazing entertainment lined up.”
The alcohol-free, family-friendly event will feature a broad variety of musical acts, including The Ambassador’s Concert Choir, Mountain Smoke bluegrass ensemble, Mariachi de Orgullo, rockers Scott Keeton Band, Edmond Jazz Orchestra and well-known guitarist Edgar Cruz. Alternative rocker Dustin Prinz and pop/electronica group Queen of Monroe will play TAP Architecture garage, a new venue added since the Myriad Gardens are closed for renovation.
The Brother Summit Band, which fuses old-school and contemporary jazz, R&B and blues, will play the event’s finale from 9 p.m. to midnight at Kerr Park, with their show leading up to the traditional ascension of the glittering ball and a grand fireworks display.
“They’re real high-energy. They play a lot of covers and R&B and old-school music, stuff that people like the dance to, so I’m sure they’ll get the crowd really excited for the countdown to midnight,” Findley said. “They have performed with us in the past at different venues, but this is their first year to be on the main stage, and they’re really pumped about it.”
Besides music, live entertainment will include Oklahoma City Roller Derby, jugglers Upside Down Artist, hypnotist Steve Crawford and longtime Opening Night favorite David Thomas, an illusionist who puts on a Las Vegas-style magic show.
In the children’s area, Science Museum Oklahoma will present its Science Wow! spectacle, DisneyMania will invite youngsters to sing along to their favorite Disney movie songs, and an instrument petting zoo will let them experiment with making music, too. Children also can take on inflatable obstacle courses, a scavenger hunt and a wide array of art projects. The Bricktown Clowns will delight children with their playful antics and more.
“The kids love them. They make the balloon animals, and they’ve got that airbrush face painting now that is such a huge hit with the kids. They’re kind of a staple of Opening Night,” Findley said.
For the first time, the OKC Improv showcase will have its own stage at Opening Night. Four of its most popular improvisational comedy acts will play tonight in the fourth-floor auditorium of the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library.
“We just celebrated our first anniversary, so to cap that off by being part of Opening Night is really exciting for us. We’re happy to be able bring such a big variety of improv to the event,” said Eric Webb, OKC Improv co-producer and co-founder. “This is one of many steps we want to take to hopefully be part of the larger performing arts community in Oklahoma City.”
Tonight’s OKC Improv lineup will feature the long- and short-form stylings of Everybody and Their Dog, the state’s longest-running troupe; the themed comedy of The MiDolls, Oklahoma’s first all-female improv troupe; the antagonist’s ode “Villain: The Musical,” an improvised three-act play; and the musically inclined comedy duo Twinprov, which consists of brothers Buck and Clint Vrazel. Audience participation will be an integral part of the shows.
While most of the showcase’s regular shows at Ghostlight Theatre Club are geared to adult audiences, Webb said the performers also enjoy playing for family crowds like those at Opening Night.
“Improv is really about the imagination, so I think kids in particular can really appreciate the kind of skillful play that goes on in an improv scene,” Webb said. “It requires great imagination from the performers, but it also engages the imagination of the audience.”
About 75,000 people are expected to ring in 2011 at Opening Night, Findley said.
“It’s truly an event that families can come to, and there’s something for the kids but there’s also entertainment that the adults can enjoy,” she said.
OPENING NIGHT 2011
Activities: Celebrate New Year’s Eve with live music, improv, roller derby, magic shows, children’s area, strolling performers, fireworks display and lighted ball ascension at midnight. To see the full Opening Night 2011 schedule, click here.
When: 7 p.m. to midnight today.
Where: Nine venues downtown.
Admission: Wristbands are $8 in advance, $10 the day of the event. Children 5 and younger are admitted free. Wristbands are available at 7-11 Stores of Oklahoma, metro Homeland stores, MidFirst Bank locations, Science Museum Oklahoma or at the event.
Discounts: People who show their Opening Night wristbands can skate for $5 at the Devon Ice Rink and enter the OK Cityscape Lego display for $1. For more information, go to www.downtownindecember.com.
Information: 270-4848 or www.artscouncilokc.com.
-BAM
Opening Night 2011 schedule
Eboni Bernatd, 8, waits for a balloon during Opening Night 2010 New Year's Eve activities in downtown Oklahoma City. Opening Night 2011 is tonight. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman Archives
OPENING NIGHT 2011
Activities: Celebrate New Year’s Eve with live music, improv, roller derby, magic shows, children’s area, strolling performers, fireworks display and lighted ball ascension at midnight.
When: 7 p.m. to midnight today.
Where: Nine venues downtown.
Admission: Wristbands are $8 in advance, $10 the day of the event. Children 5 and younger are admitted free. Wristbands are available at 7-11 Stores of Oklahoma, metro Homeland stores, MidFirst Bank locations, Science Museum Oklahoma or at the event.
Discounts: People who show their Opening Night wristbands can skate for $5 at the Devon Ice Rink and enter the OK Cityscape Lego display for $1. For more information, go to www.downtownindecember.com.
Information: 270-4848 or www.artscouncilokc.com.
SCHEDULE
Cox Convention Center
Lobby: Hartel Dance Group, 7 p.m., 9 p.m., 10:45 p.m.; Total Equilibrium, 8 p.m., 10 p.m.; Upside Down Artist (juggling), 7 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m.; Jamie Bramble, 7 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m.
Exhibit Hall 1: Oklahoma City Roller Derby, 7 p.m., 8 p.m.; Steve Crawford (hypnosis), 9 p.m., 10:30 p.m.
Exhibit Hall 2: David Thomas (magician), 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m., 10:15 p.m.
Exhibit Hall 3 – Children’s Area: Bricktown Clowns and Face Painters, 7 to 11:30 p.m.; scavenger hunt 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.; instrument petting zoo, 7 p.m.; Robin’s Kids present DisneyMania, 8 p.m., 10 p.m.; The Science Wow! presented by Science Museum Oklahoma, 9 pm.
Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library
Lobby: Campari featuring Lacy Saunders, 7 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m.
Fourth-floor auditorium: OKC Improv: Everybody & Their Dog, 7 p.m.; OKC Improv: The MiDolls, 8 p.m.; OKC Improv: “Villain: The Musical,” 9 p.m.; OKC Improv: Twinprov, 10 p.m.
Leadership Square
Edmond Jazz Orchestra, 7 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m.
Bank of Oklahoma
Scott Keeton Band, 7 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m.
TAP Architecture
Dustin Prinz, 7 p.m., 8 p.m.; Queen of Monroe, 9 p.m., 10 p.m.
Kerr Auditorium
Edgar Cruz and Stephanie Jackson, 7 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m.; scavenger hunt ends/prizes awarded, 10:30 p.m.
Kerr Park
Brother Summit Band, 9 p.m. to midnight (finale performer).
First National Center
Ambassador’s Concert Choir, 7 p.m.; Harrison Academy Symphonic Winds, 8 p.m.; Carl V. Moore, 9 p.m., 10 p.m.
Chase Tower
Mariachi de Orgullo, 7 p.m., 8 p.m.; Mountain Smoke, 9 p.m., 10 p.m.
Strolling Street Performers
Living statue Troy Scott and musicians Aaron Newman, Chad Slagle, Grayson Trice and Ross Plunkett.
-BAM
CD review: Brian Regan “All By Myself”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Comedy
Brian Regan “All By Myself” (BrianRegan.com exclusive)
Fans who appreciate comedian Brian Regan’s absurdly spot-on observations about language, aging and life’s little idiosyncrasies should avoid sipping beverages or driving in busy traffic while listening to his new live album “All By Myself.”
The popular standup comic’s first CD since 1997, “All By Myself” is consistently laugh-out-loud funny and captures the madcap hilarity of his live show surprisingly well. Regan is known for punctuating his jokes with screwball facial expressions and goofy posturing, and it’s a testament to the strength of his material and vocal delivery that he keeps the chuckles coming without the physical comedy.
From proper use of the word godspeed and premature endings in chess to his first forays into text messaging and the most dangerous aspect of football, the Miami, Fla., entertainer takes on a wide variety of relatable topics. Longtime fans who made his last CD, “Brian Regan Live,” a dorm room favorite and have grown older with him will relish his riffs on doctor’s visits, random body aches and parenting foibles. But people of all ages will find plenty of laughs in his clean routine.
Regan tackles more current events than he has in past shows, including the reemergence of pirates, airline pilot Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s heroics and the Balloon Boy hoax. It’s a risky move, considering the number of late-night-talk-show gags already written about these topics, but Regan puts his cockeyed, funny-because-it’s-true spin on them. For instance, Sullenberger’s Hudson River landing prompts a discussion on our unwritten rules for heroes, including the most vital: A hero can never, ever think he’s a hero.
Until Regan brings his standup tour back to Oklahoma, “All By Myself” will keep fans giggling.
— BAM
DVD review: “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” Blu-ray + DVD combo pack
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” Blu-ray + DVD two-disc combo pack
Its spell wears off quickly, but “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” bubbles with enough jaunty action sequences, dazzling special effects and unabashed dorkiness to entertain adventuresome families, fantasy fans and physics nerds.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Jon Turteltaub and star Nicolas Cage mixed history, myth and mysticism in the 2004 hit “National Treasure,” and the team reunites to blend science, art and magic in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Their new adventure is more amusing than truly enchanting and not nearly as captivating as the famed Mickey Mouse animated tale from “Fantasia” that inspired the film.
The movie gets off to a slow start with not one but two prologues to fog up the narrative. In Arthurian Britain, wizard Balthazar Blake (Cage), one of Merlin’s three apprentices, embarks on a mission to find the “Prime Merlinian,” a descendent of his mentor who can defeat the evil Morgana (Alice Krige) before she can escape the magical prison called the Grimhold, which resembles a giant nesting doll.
In 2000, fourth-grader Dave Stutler (Jake Cherry) wanders into Balthazar’s New York City magic shop. When Balthazar tests him with Merlin’s dragon ring, he realizes the boy is the chosen one. But Dave accidentally uses the magical ring to unlock the first layer of the Grimhold, releasing Balthazar’s nemesis Horvath (Alfred Molina). In the ensuing battle, Balthazar and Horvath get sucked into an enchanted urn that imprisons them for 10 years.
A decade later, Dave has grown into a neurotic, self-deprecating physics whiz (Jay Baruchel, of course) who has done his best to forget the encounter. But with the fate of the world in the balance, he agrees to become Balthazar’s apprentice, help him find the Grimhold and defeat Horvath, who gets his own protégé in narcissistic celebrity magician Drake Stone (Toby Kebbell).
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” has just enough bewitched NYC landmarks, shape-shifting vintage cars and, yes, out-of-control mops to conjure up Bruckheimer’s trademark brand of mindless popcorn fun.
Blu-ray features: Outtakes, deleted scenes and many making-of featurettes.
— BAM
