Entertainment blogging from The Oklahoman's Brandy McDonnell

Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s 2012 Omelette Party will serve up eggs and art

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art is planning its 28th Annual Omelette Party for 7 p.m. Saturday at the Coca-Cola Bricktown Events Center, 425 E California.

The theme for the fundraiser is “Eggs Royale,” inspired by the exhibition “Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800,” opening Feb. 15 at the museum.

The Omelette Party will include dancing to live music to the JetSet Kings, a DJ provided by Chameleon Entertainment, cocktails, an art raffle featuring work by more than 50 local artists, and, of course, gourmet omelettes prepared by area chefs and restaurants. T

Tickets will be sold online through Thursday.

For more information, call 236-3100 or go to www.okcmoa.com.

Participating restaurants and chefs are 61 Hundred Catering–Chef Darry Carter; Big Truck Tacos/Mutt’s Amazing Hot Dogs; Bin 73 Wine Bar/Chef Beau Stephenson; Chef Ken Bradford–Chef’s Requested Foods; Deep Fork Grill; EVOKE Mobile Coffee; Chef Chris Horn, Kaiser’s American Bistro; Tom Lienke–Lake Hefner Golf Club; Chef Jonathon Stranger, Ludivine Restaurant; The Melting Pot; Newcomb’s T-Shirts/Frank Newcomb; Park Avenue Grill; Paseo Grill; Rococo Restaurant/ Chef Don Duncan; VZD’s Restaurant & Club/ Chef Debbi Johnson; Museum Cafe; Stark Fine Dining–Chefs Mary Ann Hallock & Brett Friedline and Stella Artois of Oklahoma.

-BAM

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OKC Museum of Art to be only U.S. venue for “Princely Treasures” exhibit, opening Feb. 15

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art will present “Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the Victoria and Albert Museum” on Feb. 15 through May 13. This is the first partnership between the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, which is the only U.S. venue for this exhibit. Previous venues include the National Gallery of Korea, Seoul, and the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth.

“The Oklahoma City Museum of Art is pleased to partner with the Victoria and Albert Museum on this magnificent exhibition,” said Glen Gentele, president and CEO of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, in the announcement.

“’Princely Treasures’ offers a rare opportunity to view these historically significant works of art outside the V&A. The exhibition is filled with objects that represent the unique interests and tastes of 17th and 18th century Europe and gives visitors a feeling of the prominence of the arts during this period.”

The Victoria and Albert Museum has one of the greatest collections of European decorative art of the 17th and 18th centuries, from the miniature to the monumental. Eighty masterpieces from these magnificent collections have been selected for this exhibition, including paintings and sculptures, ceramics and glass, metalwork and furniture, textiles and dress, prints and drawings.

The objects in the exhibition were acquired and used by European men and women of power, wealth, and taste. Many were made by Europe’s finest artists and craftsmen, using precious materials from around the world. The objects come from all corners of the continent—from Austria, Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden.

“Princely Treasures” showcases highlights of the Victoria and Albert’s European collections, which will be redisplayed in an elegant and newly refurbished suite of galleries, opening after 2014. This exhibition presents these exceptional pieces through a series of themes encapsulating important aspects of courtly life in Europe.

* Princely Patronage presents key figures from the princely courts who were the great patrons of the arts in Europe between 1600 and 1800. This is seen in objects such as Fan Leaf, an image of the Marquise de Montespan surrounded by luxurious items painted on vellum from 1674, and François Boucher’s portrait painting of Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, 1758.

* Power and Glory explores how military power was celebrated and representations of war were used to decorate objects commissioned for courtly use, from armour and weapons to tapestries and paintings. Highlights include a tapestry woven in wool titled The March, 1718–19, which is from a series known as “The Art of War” and measures over twelve feet high, and pair of carved walnut and silver flintlock pistols by Jean Baptiste La Roche from 1760, which bear the royal arms of France and Louis XV’s monogram and portrait.

* Religious Splendor reveals the nature of objects made for worship, commissioned by secular or ecclesiastical patrons for public or private devotional use. Highlights include Charles Le Brun’s painting The Descent from the Cross, 1642–45, and a silver-gilt monstrance from 1705 by Johannes Zeckel.

* Display in the Interior presents furniture, textiles, and ceramics made for use in palaces and noble residences, either for decorative or social purposes. This is seen in objects such as a commode with gilt-bronze mounts by Charles Cressent of 1745–50, a cabinet on stand by Pierre Gole of 1661–65, and a cotton, dyed and quilted bedcover made in India, 1725–50.

* Fashion and Personal Adornment reveals the care and attention aristocratic men and women took to dress in fashionable style. This includes a 1760 silk and linen lined sackback gown from London, a silk satin waistcoat from 1730–39, and a gold, painted enamel, gilt-metal watch with brass and blued steel from 1636–1670.

Several exhibition-related events are planned at the museum:

* February 15, 5:30pm—Exhibition Preview Lecture by Beth McKillop, deputy director for the Victoria and Albert Museum

* March 10, 1-4pm—Teacher Workshop

* March 17, 10am-5pm—Family Day [10th Anniversary Celebration]

* May 10, 5-9pm—Last Call

For more information, go to www.okcmoa.com.

-BAM

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Oklahoma City Museum of Art ‘wraps’ buses in art to promote Chihuly collection, 10th anniversary

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art is celebrating some big milestones in 2012, and it’s getting the word out in a big way.

This week, Metro Transit unveiled a bus newly wrapped with images from the museum’s expansive collection of Dale Chihuly glass art, which celebrated its grand reopening New Year’s Eve. The bus also is dressed with a special museum logo.

“It is to kick off our yearlong celebration of our 10th anniversary,” said Leslie Spears, the museum’s communications manager. “It looks very good, very big and colorful. You can’t miss them.”

With support from Oklahoma City-based Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, the museum is dressing up two buses with the kaleidoscopic wraps, she said.

“The Love family has supported the Oklahoma City Museum of Art for several years. My family has been impressed with the rich history and exciting changes at the museum. We are happy to include the Oklahoma City Museum of Art as one of the nonprofit organizations that we continue to support,” said Jenny Love Meyer, vice president of communications of Love’s, in an email.

The museum will commemorate its 10^th anniversary in the Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center by offering free admission March 16-18, said museum President and CEO Glen Gentele.

“The Chihuly buses are symbols of the colorful and exciting programs the museum creates in service to the community, and they are simply illuminating images on wheels for people to enjoy,” he said in an email. “We are honored by the support of the Love family and Love’s Travel Stops, and we want people from throughout the community to join us on … our free weekend.”

The celebration started a little early with the New Year’s Eve opening of “Illuminations: Rediscovering the Art of Dale Chihuly.” The comprehensive glass art collection has been a mainstay at the museum since its downtown home opened in 2002 with “Dale Chihuly: An Inaugural Exhibition.” Through enthusiastic public support and community giving, the museum bought all 18 installations in 2004, and the collection remained on view continually until last spring.

The museum closed its Chihuly collection back in April to make way for the world premiere of the vast “Passages” exhibit of biblical artifacts and manuscripts. Every piece of glass was cleaned, inspected, photographed and documented in a new database before it was put into storage. The layout of the exhibit was completely redesigned, and each work was cleaned and analyzed again before it was reinstalled in December on the museum’s third floor.

“The way you move through the exhibition is a totally different experience so even though you may feel familiar with the pieces, you’ll see them differently, which means you have a new experience with the work,” said Alison Amick, the museum’s curator of collections.

About 2,200 people visited the Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center on New Year’s Eve, when the museum reopened the Chihuly collection, offered live entertainment as part of Opening Night 2012 and hosted a sold-out Museum Cafe dinner, said Spears.

The bus wraps picture three of the museum’s well-loved Chihuly installations: the pale purple “Reeds,” the exotic “Float Boat” and the graceful “Oklahoma Persian Ceiling.”

“Everyone really is glad it’s back,” Spears said. “The response has been really good.”

Through April 8, the museum also is hosting the traveling exhibit “Chihuly: Northwest,” featuring glass creations inspired by American Indian basketry, along with selections from the Chihuly’s large personal collections of Pendleton trade blankets and images by renowned Western photographer Edward S. Curtis.

For more information, call 236-3100 or go to www.okcmoa.com.

-BAM

 

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Movie review: ‘Margin Call’

Writer-director J.C. Chandor makes a sterling feature film debut with the Wall Street thriller “Margin Call,” a worthy fictional counterpart to the Charles Ferguson’s Oscar-winning documentary “Inside Job,” which also delves into the 2008 financial meltdown.

Chandor’s taut, compelling indie boasts an A-level cast, including Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany, Stanley Tucci and Zachary Quinto, who simply refuse to make the traders, risk analysts and executives at a nameless investment bank mustache-twirling villains. Instead, the film highlights the mindset of unbridled arrogance and avarice that led to the continuing economic crisis — and not all the bad guys are wearing Armani suits.

“Margin Call” is showing at 5:30 and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive. For more information, call 236-3100 or go to www.okcmoa.com.

The boardroom potboiler takes place in one grueling 36-hour period on the cusp of the fiscal calamity, and it starts with a bleak sign of the things to come: A human resources team sweeps through the bank (loosely based on Lehman Brothers) conducting mass layoffs. Keep in mind the crisis has not truly struck yet, hinting at the soullessness at play here.

Despite his 19-year tenure with the firm, risk manager Eric Dale (Tucci) is among the axed employees. His protests that he is working on something important fall on deaf ears, and he is unceremoniously escorted out the door, his company cell phone and email immediately switched off.

Before he leaves, Eric passes a flash drive containing the unfinished business to his protégé, rocket-scientist-turned-junior-risk-analyst Peter Sullivan (Quinto) with a warning to “be careful.”

After hours, Peter crunches Eric’s unfinished numbers and makes a stunning discovery: The firm has taken on too many risks and too many toxic assets, particularly of the subprime mortgage variety, and it teeters on the brink of a full-blown collapse.

Peter quickly dials up fellow junior analyst Seth Bregman (Penn Badgley), a callow youth obsessed with how much money people make, and demands he retrieve their boss, slick Brit Will Emerson (Bettany), from a nearby bar.

Once Emerson arrives back at the office and checks Peter’s math, he begins to sound alarms, first calling in sardonic sales manager Sam Rogers (Spacey), who passes the bad news further up the chain of command.

By 2 a.m., smugly icy head of securities Jared Cohen (Simon Baker) and brittlely contained head of risk Sarah Robertson (Demi Moore) have grimly assessed the situation. By 4, charmingly reptilian CEO John Tuld (Irons) has literally swooped in to suss out the damage.

In keeping with the theme that those higher up the chain make more money but are less familiar with the firm’s complex trading strategies, Tuld asks Peter to “speak to me as you would a small boy or a golden retriever.”

But it’s clear that Tuld was already prepared for Peter’s discovery, as he swiftly reveals his coldblooded solution: a fire sale in which the firm will sell off its worthless toxic assets before anyone catches wind of its dilemma. The morally problematic move will betray the firm’s clients, force its traders to destroy their own jobs and tank the market in an effort to save the bank, or at least the upper managers’ fortunes.

Irons has made a career of playing shady characters with casual ease, and his Tuld is more utterly corrupt than wholly evil, arguing that he never cheats but showing a ruthless disregard for anyone’s affairs but his own.

Spacey’s Sam becomes the moral compass of the film. While he seems too distracted by his dog’s fatal illness to care much about the layoffs, he is appalled at Tuld’s fire sale idea and torn between his personal stake in the firm and the ethical implications of the scheme.

But Bettany gets the best speech as his callous but likeable trader scathingly predicts that “normal people” will crucify Wall Street for being too reckless after years of enjoying houses and cars they couldn’t really afford.

“Margin Call” will receive the Robert Altman Award, given to a film’s director, casting director and ensemble of actors, at next month’s Film Independent’s Spirit Awards.

Chandor, whose father worked for 30 years at Merrill Lynch, brings a savvy ability to keep even boardroom scenes interesting, a sharply written script and a well-placed faith in his cast to his first feature. He doesn’t even show the crisis-inducing numbers, instead depending on the actors’ horror-struck reactions to convey the direness of the situation. The auteur explains the financial scenario in plain but incomplete fashion; for instance, he never bothers to explain the film’s title for those who may be unfamiliar with the term.

Still, “Margin Call” ranks among the top dramas ever made about Wall Street.

— BAM

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BAM’s top 10 movies of 2011

Don’t let the numbers fool you: Movie attendance may have sunk to a 16-year low in 2011, but that doesn’t mean worthy films weren’t in the cineplexes.

Sure, Hollywood churned out mass quantities of its usual bombastic action flicks and insipid romantic comedies, but the year just past also brought an electric new version of Charlotte Bronte’s often-adapted Gothic novel “Jane Eyre,” a particularly smart and well-written underdog sports drama with “Moneyball” and a joyfully entertaining and tuneful comeback for the playful puppets known as “The Muppets.” And those were just the honorable mentions on my list of the best cinematic offerings of last year.

My top 10 picks of 2011 were even more diverse:

1. “The Artist”: Numerous critics lauded French writer-director Michel Hazanavicius’ powerfully charming tribute to cinema’s silent era as a love letter to moviemaking, and the name of the main character, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is surely no accident. But the black-and-white, largely soundless story of a silent film star coping with the emergence of talkies even as he falls for a vivacious ingenue (Bérénice Bejo) eagerly embracing the new format will resonate deeply with anyone who has ever faced or glimpsed the obsolescence of their livelihood.

2. “Drive”: Nicolas Winding Refn casts an unshakeable pall of dread over his sun-soaked slice of Los Angeles neo-noir, which was breathlessly adapted from crime writer James Sallis’ book. Ryan Gosling adds to his rapidly burgeoning leading man resume with his can’t-take-your-eyes-off-him turn as an enigmatic Hollywood stunt driver/getaway wheelman whose tentative friendship with his lovely neighbor (Carey Mulligan) and her young son entangles him with ruthless gangsters.

3. “War Horse”: Nobody does a war epic like Steve Spielberg (“Saving Private Ryan”), and the three-time Oscar winner latest literally takes viewers into the trenches of World War I with his unabashedly old-fashioned horse story. Again partnering with cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, Spielberg creates a visually stunning rendition of Michael Morpurgo’s acclaimed youth novel that balances horrifying battle sequences with earnest emotional payoffs.

4. “Buck”: Another heartfelt horse story, first-time filmmaker Cindy Meehl’s affecting documentary chronicles the life and work of celebrated horseman Buck Brannaman, the real-life inspiration of the best-selling book and movie “The Horse Whisperer.” Even folks who have never laid hands or eyes on actual horseflesh will be fascinated, moved and ultimately fulfilled by Brannaman’s soul-stirring story, gorgeously framed by Meehl and cinematographers Guy Mossman and Luke Geissbuhler.

5. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”: Director David Fincher followed up his lauded 2010 Facebook origin tale “The Social Network” with a big-budget Hollywood adaptation of the late Stieg Larsson’s international best-selling crime thriller, which already had been made into a stellar blockbuster in Larsson’s native Sweden, thanks to Nordic actress Noomi Rapace’s scorching, star-making turn as fierce cyberpunk Lisbeth Salander. Fincher brings his darkly stylish sensibility to the harrowing story, Academy Award-winning scribe Steven Zaillian streamlines Larrson’s twisty mystery and Oscar-honored composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross provide just the right sonic punctuation. But with her feral performance as the damaged and brilliant anti-heroine, Rooney Mara, who stole the show in her small part in “The Social Network,” is the force that ignites the American “Dragon Tattoo.”

6. “Project Nim”: Director James Marsh delves into a human story just as compelling as his Oscar-winning 2008 documentary, “Man on Wire,” even though the subject of his latest film happens to be chimpanzee whose complicated life began in Norman. Starting with his birth in 1973, the ape known as Nim Chimpsky endured quite a bit of monkey business ostensibly in the name of science, and Marsh uses his sharply honed interviewing and storytelling skills to turn Nim’s winding saga into a thought-provoking cautionary tale about the inherent folly of man trying to remake his fellow creatures in his own image.

7. “Hanna”: British helmer Joe Wright reunited with talented starlet Saoirse Ronan, whom he directed in her breakout in 2007’s “Atonement,” for an intelligent and visually arresting revenge thriller that has both adrenaline and emotion to spare.

8. “Hugo”: Between Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” and Steven Spielberg’s entertaining motion-capture rendition of “The Adventures of Tintin,” this past holiday season offered up two stellar opportunities to expand my 5-year-old son’s cinematic horizons as well as the two best 3-D films I had seen since “Avatar” two years earlier. Based on Brian Selznick’s much-admired 2007 junior novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” Scorsese’s first PG film in nearly two decades may run a trifle long for little ones, but children and adults alike will be captivated by the adventures of the resourceful orphan (Asa Butterfield) who lives in the walls of a Paris train station.

9. “Shame”: If there was any justice in Hollywood — no guarantees there — Michael Fassbender would win every major acting award this season for his daring star turn in director/co-writer Steve McQueen’s unforgettable and unflinching drama about Brandon Sullivan, an upper-class sex addict whose well-ordered life, which has become devoted to feeding his addiction, is disrupted when his equally damaged sister (Carey Mulligan in another incredible supporting performance) pays him a surprise visit. While the film’s NC-17 rating garnered much of the attention, “Shame” isn’t a sexy film, nor does it turn sexual addiction into a punch line. As Brandon, Fassbender exudes a palpable sense of desperation and danger, and Mulligan’s despairingly sad crooning of “New York, New York” became one of the most memorable cinematic moments of the year.

10. “The Way”: Respected star Martin Sheen and his writer/director/actor son Emilio Estevez take a visually lovely, spiritually satisfying and uplifting yet understated journey with this road movie about a disaffected L.A. eye doctor (Sheen) who travels to France to collect the remains of his grown son (Estevez), who died in an accident on his first day of attempting the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage also known as the Way of St. James. The grief-stricken father impulsively decides to make the arduous 500-mile pilgrimage in his son’s stead, and the people, places and happenings he encounters along the trek change his life in profound and relatable ways.

“The Way” is showing at 5:30 and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive. For more information, go to www.okcmoa.com.

-BAM

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OKC Museum of Art offers traffic, parking tips for New Year’s Eve in downtown Oklahoma City




For the first time, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art is a venue for Opening Night, downtown Oklahoma City’s annual family-friendly, alcohol-free New Year’s Eve celebration.

The museum will be busy tonight with the Opening Night festivities and several special events.

The museum is marking the close of the special exhibits “Faded Elegance: Photographs of Havana by Michael Eastman” and “Poodles & Pastries (and Other Important Matters): New Paintings by Franco Mondini-Ruiz,” along with the grand reopening of its vast collection of Dale Chihuly glass art.

Also, the museum will open Saturday night a new temporary exhibit titled “Chihuly: Northwest,” which will feature glass creations inspired by the American Indian basketry, along with selections from the Chihuly’s large collections of Pendleton trade blankets and images by renowned Western photographer Edward S. Curtis.

“It’s an exciting time to be involved with Opening Night for the first time in our 10-year history … in downtown,” said Leslie Spears, the museum’s communications manager. “We’re thrilled to partner with our colleagues at the Arts Council of Oklahoma City and at the beautiful new Myriad Gardens.”

Museum members will preview “Illuminations” from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, and the redesigned Chihuly exhibit will open to the public from 8 to 11 p.m. Admission will be free to those with Opening Night wristbands.

From 11:30 p.m. to midnight, the museum’s Roof Terrace will host a champagne toast and viewing of the Opening Night fireworks. Tickets are $5 for guests and members, or free to patrons of the Museum Cafe’s annual New Year’s Eve Dinner.

In addition, two favorite jazz bands from the museum’s summer Roof Terrace concert series — Bruce Benson & Studio B and Maurice Johnson — will play in the museum lobby during Opening Night. OKC Improv will have improvisers performing throughout the event in the museum auditorium.

To help patrons take part in tonight’s festivities, the museum has issued a map, directions and parking tips to help people see the best routes around construction downtown due to Project180 and Opening Night.

On this map, red cross lines indicate road construction on one side of the street, and road construction where streets are closed:

And who better to advise on getting to the OKCMOA than the museum staff who drive it daily? Here are their recommended routes: Leslie (from the Village)  Hefner Parkway south becomes I-44 , to I-40 east. Take the Walker exit, north to Couch Drive, turn left. Walker is down to two lanes but passable. Couch is one lane.   Brittany (from Norman)  I-35 North to I-40 West, take the Classen exit on the right, turn right onto Robert S. Kerr by the Oklahoma County Jail. Park by the Civic Center. Nicole (from Edmond) Broadway Extension, take the 6th Street exit, head west. Turn left at Hudson or even further down at Shartel.  Parking is available along Robert S. Kerr. Matt (from downtown surrounding neighborhoods)  South on Classen Blvd from NW 23rd, turn left on Robert S. Kerr and head east to OKCMOA. South on Western or Classen to Robert S. Kerr, go left. Look for parking.   Whitney (from NW 10th & May Avenue area)  Go south on May Avenue then left on General Pershing Blvd. (which eventually turns into Main Street). Turn left on Shartel, then right on Robert S. Kerr.  There are various places to park on Robert S. Kerr and just north of it. Jack (from Yukon) I-40 west, take Walker exit. Walker north to Couch. For details of all street construction listings from the City of OKC, CLICK HERE.

PARKING OPTIONS

PARKING LOT A parking lot (Progressive Parking) is located directly north of the Museum on the northwest corner of Hudson and Robert S. Kerr. Parking rates for this lot are as follows: $3 for ½ hour; $6 for 1 hour; $8 for 2 hours; $10 for ALL DAY   PARKING GARAGE The multi-story City Center East parking garage is located on the corner of Park Avenue and Harvey, one block south of OKCMOA. This garage is available nights and weekends for use by the public. Hours for evening parking are Monday-Thursday, 6 p.m.-midnight. Weekend parking begins at 6 p.m. on Friday through Sunday at midnight. Parking is $7, and only credit cards are accepted.   METERS/STREET PARKING There are several available metered parking spaces down Robert S. Kerr between Walker and Shartel. Meters stop taking quarters after 6pm. REPUBLIC PARKING Broadway/Kerr Parking Garage, 1 Robert S. Kerr Century Center Garage, 100 W. Main Cox Convention Center,   1 Myriad Gardens Santa Fe Garage, 2 Santa Fe Plaza

Have a safe and happy New Year!

-BAM

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Oklahoma City’s Opening Night rings in New Year with an array of entertainment

“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” asks the old song by Oscar-winning composer Frank Loesser.

For downtown Oklahoma City party-goers who choose to ring in 2012 Saturday at Opening Night, the better question might be “what aren’t you doing New Year’s Eve?”

A world-famous magician, a local roller derby squad and musicians of practically every sonic preference are on the bill for the venerable year-end bash along with improv comedians, an Elvis impersonator and a hypnotist.

Presented by the Arts Council of Oklahoma City, the alcohol-free, family-friendly event will spread 40 performers across eight different downtown venues, with nonstop entertainment starting at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The children’s area inside the Cox Convention Center will feature live entertainment, hands-on art projects, face painting and an inflatable obstacle course, plus it will serve as headquarters for the event-wide scavenger hunt.

When it comes planning out the celebration, organizers aim to provide a wide variety of entertainment.

“We have performers all across downtown. With musicians and theater and dance, there’s really just a little bit of something for everyone,” said Opening Night Director Christina Foss.

About 60,000 people rang in 2011 at last year’s Opening Night.

Grand finale

The recent reopening of the renovated Myriad Botanical Gardens, coupled with ongoing downtown construction, prompted organizers to move this year’s finale from its traditional spot in Kerr Park to the new Myriad Gardens Grand Lawn.

“It’s just going to be beautiful for the fireworks and with the sightlines, and it’s a really good spot to gather thousands and thousands of people,” Foss said. “We’re very excited to have it there.”

At 11 p.m. Saturday, Smilin’ Vic and the Soul Monkeys will bring their high-energy fusion of rhythm, blues and soul to the finale stage. The year-end countdown will begin in earnest at 11:30 p.m. with a sound and light show involving police cars, fire trucks and a helicopter. To heighten the experience, lights will go out across downtown, including those in the Myriad Gardens, buildings and parking garages.

As the final seconds of 2011 tick down, the 10-foot mirrored and light-festooned ball will be lifted at least 15 stories above the crowd — while the ball drops in New York’s Times Square, the Opening Night ball rises to start the New Year on a literal high point — and colorful fireworks will burst in the air at the stroke of midnight.

Artistic venue

“We did add a new venue — the Oklahoma City Museum of Art — this year, which will be fun,” Foss said. “I think that it’s going to be a very popular venue.”

Saturday night marks the museum’s first time to join in the Opening Night festivities, and it should be a bustling place.

The museum is marking the close of the special exhibits “Faded Elegance: Photographs of Havana by Michael Eastman” and “Poodles & Pastries (and Other Important Matters): New Paintings by Franco Mondini-Ruiz,” along with the grand reopening of its vast collection of Dale Chihuly glass art.

In conjunction with “Illuminations: Rediscovering the Art of Dale Chihuly,” a new temporary exhibit titled “Chihuly: Northwest,” which recreates the Northwest Room at Chihuly’s famed Seattle studio The Boathouse, also will open Saturday at the museum.

Museum members will preview “Illuminations” from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, and the redesigned Chihuly exhibit will open to the public from 8 to 11 p.m. Admission will be free to those with Opening Night wristbands.

Plus, jazz bands Bruce Benson & Studio B and Maurice Johnson will play in the museum’s lobby, while OKC Improv will bring live comedy to its theater.

“It’s an opening, last call and members’ preview all in one for the museum,” said Leslie Spears, the museum’s communications manager. “Bruce Benson and Maurice Johnson are seen often performing on our roof terrace in the summer months. Additionally, this is the first time OKC Improv has performed in our theater. We look forward to the fun.”

GOING ON

Opening Night 2012

When: 7 p.m. to midnight Saturday.

Where: Eight venues downtown.

Admission: Wristbands are $10 the day of the event. Children 5 and younger are admitted free. Wristbands are available at 7-Eleven stores, metro-area Homeland stores, MidFirst Bank locations, Science Museum Oklahoma or at the event.

Information: 270-4848 or www.artscouncilokc.com.

See the Opening Night 2012 schedule after the break.

(more…)

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Oklahoma venues ringing in 2012 with a variety of New Year’s Eve events

If you’re looking for something to do tonight for New Year’s Eve, you have a wide variety of entertainment options here in Oklahoma. Here are a few; find more at www.wimgo.com:

EVENTS

Opening Night 2012, 7 p.m., eight venues across downtown Oklahoma City, www.artscouncilokc.com.

Downtown in December, various times and locales in downtown Oklahoma City, including OK Cityscape, Chesapeake Snow Tubing at RedHawks Field and Devon Ice Rink, www.downtownindecember.com.

CONCERTS

New Year’s Freakout with The Flaming Lips and The Plastic Ono Band, 8 p.m., Coca-Cola Bricktown Events Center, 425 E California, www.ticketstorm.com. Tonight’s show is sold out, but tickets are still available for Sunday’s New Year’s Day show. NOTE: The after-party has been moved to the OKC Farmers Market, 311 S Klein; for more information, click here.

New Year’s Eve Party: Jason Boland and The Stragglers and Turnpike Troubadours, 8 p.m., Tumbleweed Dance Hall and Concert Arena, 5212 Lakeview Drive. www.calffry.com. (Stillwater)

Gregg Allman and Buddy Guy, 8 p.m., First Council Casino, 12875 N U.S. 77, (580) 448-3015. (Newkirk)

Maroon 5, 9 p.m., WinStar World Casino & Hotel, Exit 1, Interstate 35, www.winstarworldcasino.com. (Thackerville). Sold out.

Eli Young Band, 9 p.m., Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N Main, www.cainsballroom.com. (Tulsa)

Randy Rogers Band and Brison Bursey, 8 p.m., Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E Sheridan, 601-6276 or www.wormydog.com.

New Year’s Eve Party with The Temptations, 8 p.m., Choctaw Casino, 4418 U.S. 69/75, (800) 788-2464. (Durant)

Clay Walker, 8 p.m., Choctaw Casino, U.S. 271, (580) 326-8397. (Grant)

New Year’s Eve Party with JB And The Moonshine Band, 9 p.m., Arbuckle Ballroom, 12201 State Highway 7 W, (580) 369-3870. (Davis)

Pretty Black Chains and Student Film, 9 p.m., VZD’s, 4200 N Western. 524-4203 or www.vzds.com.

Pidgin Band and the Flatland Travelers, 9 p.m., Belle Isle Restaurant & Brewing Co. in 50 Penn Place, 1900 Northwest Expressway. 840-1911 or www.belleislerestaurant.com.

My So Called Band’s A Very ‘90s New Year’s Eve,” 9:30 p.m., Blue Note Lounge, 2408 N Robinson Ave. 600-1166 or www.thebluenotelounge.com.

THEATER

“A Christmas Carol,” 2 and 8 p.m., Lyric at the Plaza, 1725 NW 16, 524-9310.

SPORTS

OKC Thunder vs. the Phoenix Suns, 7 p.m., Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W Reno, www.chesapeakearena.com.

OKC Barons vs. the San Antonio Rampage, 7 p.m., Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, www.coxconventioncenter.com.

-BAM

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Oklahoma City will ring in New Year Saturday with Opening Night 2012

As the giant disco ball rises Saturday night at the culmination of Opening Night 2012, it will not only light the way to the New Year but also spotlight one of downtown Oklahoma City’s reinvigorated treasures.

“The big thing that is new is the change in the finale venue. For the past 25 years, we’ve had the finale at Kerr Park, and this year, we have moved it over to the Myriad Gardens,” said Opening Night Director Christina Foss. “The gardens are newly renovated and just look beautiful, and it’s really the perfect gathering space for people.”

As usual, Opening Night 2012 will transform downtown into a huge variety show, bringing together rock bands, roller girls, magicians and more to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Organized by the Arts Council of Oklahoma City, the alcohol-free, family-friendly event will assemble 40 performers in eight different venues, with the festivities starting at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Party-goers can enter every venue with an Opening Night wristband, which are $8 in advance or $10 at the event, while children younger than 5 are admitted free.

Gardens showcase

The Myriad Botanical Gardens reopened earlier this year after undergoing a $42 million makeover, and coupled with ongoing downtown construction, organizers decided to move this year’s Opening Night finale to the new Grand Lawn.

At 11 p.m. Saturday, Opening Night headliners Smilin’ Vic and the Soul Monkeys will bring their high-energy fusion of rhythm, blues and soul to the finale stage. The year-end countdown will begin in earnest at 11:30 p.m. with a sound and light show involving police cars, fire trucks and a helicopter. To heighten the anticipation and experience, lights will go out across downtown, including those in the Myriad Gardens, buildings and parking garages.

As the final seconds of 2011 tick down, the 10-foot mirrored and light-festooned ball will be lifted at least 15 stories above the crowd. When the clock strikes midnight, an extravagant fireworks show will herald the New Year.

Along with the finale events, Edmond acoustic rocker Jamie Bramble will perform throughout Opening Night at the illuminated Crystal Bridge, which received a facelift as part of the renovation.

“It’s going to be a blast,” Foss said. “We hope that everyone will go through the gardens and see them. … It’s a really good opportunity to see all the new stuff that’s there.”

Old and new

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art will be showcasing both familiar and new exhibits Saturday as it becomes an Opening Night venue for the first time.

The museum is marking the close of the special exhibits “Faded Elegance: Photographs of Havana by Michael Eastman” and “Poodles & Pastries (and Other Important Matters): New Paintings by Franco Mondini-Ruiz,” along with the grand reopening of its vast collection of Dale Chihuly glass art.

Also, the museum will open Saturday night a new temporary exhibit titled “Chihuly: Northwest,” which will feature glass creations inspired by the American Indian basketry, along with selections from the Chihuly’s large collections of Pendleton trade blankets and images by renowned Western photographer Edward S. Curtis.

“It’s an exciting time to be involved with Opening Night for the first time in our 10-year history … in downtown,” said Leslie Spears, the museum’s communications manager. “We’re thrilled to partner with our colleagues at the Arts Council of Oklahoma City and at the beautiful new Myriad Gardens.”

Museum members will preview “Illuminations” from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, and the redesigned Chihuly exhibit will open to the public from 8 to 11 p.m. Admission will be free to those with Opening Night wristbands.

From 11:30 p.m. to midnight, the museum’s Roof Terrace will host a champagne toast and viewing of the Opening Night fireworks. Tickets are $5 for guests and members, or free to patrons of the Museum Cafe’s annual New Year’s Eve Dinner.

In addition, two favorite jazz bands from the museum’s summer Roof Terrace concert series — Bruce Benson & Studio B and Maurice Johnson — will play in the museum lobby during Opening Night. OKC Improv will have improvisers performing throughout the event in the museum auditorium.

Nonstop entertainment

Once Opening Night starts Saturday night, the fun won’t stop until the next year rolls around. Famed musician David Thomas will conjure up his Vegas-style show World of Magic inside Cox Convention Center, the Ambassador’s Concert Choir will blend their voices at Leadership Square, and Tulsa band FM Pilots will rock Bank of Oklahoma.

The children’s area inside the Cox Center will offer art projects, face painting, an inflatable obstacle course and more.

“It’s always a lot of fun for families,” Foss said. “We have performers all across downtown. With musicians and theater and dance, there’s really just a little bit of something for everyone.”

GOING ON

Opening Night 2012

When: 7 p.m. to midnight Saturday.

Where: Eight 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-Eleven stores, metro-area Homeland stores, MidFirst Bank locations, Science Museum Oklahoma or at the event.

Information: 270-4848 or www.artscouncilokc.com.

See the Opening Night 2012 schedule after the break.

(more…)

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OKC Museum of Art to celebrate the New Year with the grand reopening of its Chihuly collection

An assistant with Chihuly Studio, he carefully studied the exotic, multihued artworks arrayed in front of him and finally slipped the champagne-colored cherub, or putti, under an orange, flowerlike form. The bright spotlight shining through the large citrus-shaded glass piece and the iridescent angel beneath immediately cast a golden reflection on the white walls under the partially reassembled “Oklahoma Persian Ceiling,” one of the highlights of the museum’s prized collection of Dale Chihuly glass art.

The collection of the famed Seattle artist’s glass works is considered one of the most comprehensive in the world, and for the past month, workers have been laboring busily to reinstall the 3,500 pieces by New Year’s Eve. On Saturday night, the museum will celebrate its grand reopening with “Illuminations: Rediscovering the Art of Dale Chihuly.”

“There are little changes and big changes. I think people will be thrilled about the familiarity and stunned at how much it seems to have changed even though it’s the same objects,” said museum President and CEO Glen Gentele.

Sparkling redesign

Considering the exhibit’s dramatic redesign, visitors may well see vibrant art forms that were hidden from view in the previous incarnation.

“Each person will install it differently, so it’s the same pieces … but each time, there’s something different about them. It looks really phenomenal,” said Alison Amick, the museum’s curator of collections, as she watched Holland work out the kaleidoscopic “Persian Ceiling” puzzle on a recent weekday.

“It’s great to have everything cleaned and looked at and put out in a fresh order. These installations are just enlivened,” she added. “They have a sparkling quality to them.”

Elsewhere in the exhibit, museum registrar Erika Katayama donned a headlamp and studied a little owl right down to each shimmering glass feather.

“Dale Chihuly: The Collection” was closed at the beginning of April to make way for the world premiere of the vast “Passages” exhibit of biblical artifacts and manuscripts. Before the glass art was put into storage, each piece was cleaned, inspected, photographed and documented in a new database. Each work was cleaned and analyzed again before it was installed for the third time on the museum’s third floor.

Three-dimensional drama

In 2002, the museum opened its downtown home with “Dale Chihuly: An Inaugural Exhibition.” Through enthusiastic public support and community giving, it bought all 18 installations in 2004.

Renamed “Dale Chihuly: The Collection,” the exhibit was reinstalled on April 1, 2004, after 32 days of extensive set building and preparation. Over the past several months, the museum’s staff has worked with Chihuly Studio to redesign the exhibit.

“We really wanted to create a few punctuations in addition to reorganizing how the show was done and trying to think of it little bit more three-dimensionally,” Gentele said.

Rather than placed against a wall as in the previous layout, the large “Float Boat” and “Ikebana Boat” now sit on a lake of reflective black glass in the middle of a gallery space. People can see the vessels overflowing with colorful glass orbs and forms from all sides.

Viewing portals cut into the gallery walls give a tantalizing sneak peek of the pale purple “Reeds” that jut up from massive logs in even bolder fashion.

“You’ll just be able to see so much more of them, and the experience is just so different and so dramatic. Though it’s an old, familiar work, you really do get a sense of it being something new,” Amick said.

“Illuminations” celebrations

The grand opening of “Illuminations” will be part of downtown Oklahoma City’s massive Opening Night 2012 festivities. The museum will celebrate from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday with live jazz from Bruce Benson & Studio B and Maurice Johnson, along with free admission to the galleries with an Opening Night wristband.

Museum members will preview “Illuminations” from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, and the redesigned Chihuly exhibit will open to the public from 8 to 11 p.m.

From 11:30 p.m. to midnight, the museum’s Roof Terrace will host a champagne toast and viewing of the Opening Night fireworks. Tickets are $5 for guests and members, or free to patrons of the Museum Cafe’s annual New Year’s Eve Dinner.

The Chihuly exhibit’s grand reopening also will herald the museum’s 10th anniversary in the Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center. Since the museum’s downtown home opened in 2002 with a special Chihuly show, “Illuminations” will be paired with the temporary exhibit “Chihuly: Northwest.”

“Chihuly: Northwest” will feature glass creations inspired by the American Indian basketry, along with selections from the Chihuly’s large collection of Pendleton trade blankets. On a recent day before Christmas, two Chihuly Studio workers were hanging the blankets from floor to ceiling so that they resembled a giant multi-patterned tapestry.

On view through April 8, “Chihuly: Northwest” will include photographs by Edward S. Curtis from “The North American Indian Portfolio” and samplings of Chihuly’s White series of glass art, too.

“These works haven’t been shown in Oklahoma before … and they’re very different from the type of works that you see in our permanent collection,” Amick said. “So we will have something new for people to see as well.”

ON EXHIBIT

“Illuminations: Rediscovering the Art of Dale Chihuly”

Members preview: 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday.

Public opening: 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday during Opening Night.

Where: Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive.

Information: 236-3100 or www.okcmoa.com.

-BAM

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