SARATOGA SPRINGS — Home Made Theater announces open registration for students ages 8-18 years old for the Home Made Theater Youth Conservatory production of The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition.
The program gives students an exciting, creative, and supportive environment in which to experience the thrill and exhilaration of performing live theater.
The SpongeBob Musical is based on the Nickelodeon animated series created by Stephen Hillenburg.
The Youth Conservatory team is led by Director/Choreographer Olivia Larson, a New York-based director and choreographer originally from Ballston Spa. She has participated in over 20 of Home Made Theater’s Youth Conservatory productions, including nine on the production team. The Musical Director for the program is Noah Unser, a Colonie native, who has recently returned to the capital region after completing his studies in Music Education at the Crane School of Music. He is currently doing his student teaching in Niskayuna and East Greenbush school districts. The Production Stage Manager/Scenic Designer is Susan Turner, who has been involved with the Home Made Theater Youth Conservatory program since its inception over 20 years ago.
Rehearsals will begin on March 16 and will be held at Home Made Theater’s Wilton Mall headquarters. Performances will be May 17-18 at the Saratoga Music Hall, on Broadway in Saratoga Springs.
For more information, including samples from the Broadway Cast recording, and/or to register, visit Home Made Theater’s website, homemadetheater.org/programs.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Khruangbin have announced they will make an appearance at Saratoga Performing Arts Center during this year’s major North American tour.
The show will be staged May 26, and includes special guest John Carroll Kirby.
In early April, Khruangbin will release their fourth studio album. “A La Sala” is the trio’s first LP in four years and is comprised of 12 songs constructed of jigsaw pieces found in Khruangbin’s creative past, the band says.
During the past two years Khruangbin has brought their psychedelic R&B to sold out shows from New York City’s Radio City Music Hall to London’s Alexandra Palace.
For tickets and more information, go to: livenation.com.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Mary Fahl first achieved fame as lead singer and co-founder of the mid-1990s NYC- based chamber-pop group October Project. She has since gone on to writing and recording songs for movies (including the theme for the Civil War epic Gods and Generals), singing arias and medieval Spanish songs for Sony Classical, and releasing a unique album-length take on Dark Side of the Moon.
Over the past few years, Fahl toured and recorded on her own label, Rimar Records. She will perform 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24 at Caffe Lena.
The Boston Globe described hers as “a voice for the gods that can transport listeners to other realms.”
With her latest release, “Can’t Get It Out of My Head,” Fahl looks back to some of the essential music that has brought her sustenance and clarity by reinterpreting songs from her greatest inspirations the Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday,” Neil Young’s “Don’t Let It Bring You Down,” and a stirring intense rendition of George Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness,” among them.
ALBANY — The performing arts centers at The Egg and the University at Albany, which jointly present Dance in Albany, present the next two offerings in the series in early February.
Monica Bill Barnes & Company will be in the Capital Region for a week-long residency leading up to a performance of The Running Show on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown University at Albany campus.
Italy’s NoGravity Theatre will make its Capital Region debut at The Egg at the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany on Friday, Feb. 9.
Founded in 1997, MBB&CO is a New York-based dance company that began with a suitcase of costumes and a collection of solos that could be performed anywhere. Since then, Barnes has worked with many artists and performers, including long-time collaborators/designers Jane Cox and Kelly Hanson and performer Anna Bass, in developing relatable work with a subversive sense of humor. Since 2013, MBB&CO has been co-led by Barnes in partnership with Robbie Saenz de Viteri where the mission evolved to “bringing dance where it doesn’t belong.” The Running Show is a live, physical documentary about the life of a dancer.
NoGravity is an Italian performing arts company directed by the multidisciplinary artist Emiliano Pellisari and dancer Mariana Porceddu who aim to push the boundaries between art forms. Its style is inspired by the extraordinary artistry of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque art with a focus on the theater of wonder. Beauty, dream, illusion and fun are the keys to NoGravity’s poetics. The company will present From Hell to Paradise. Pellisari depicts Dante’s journey through the three Christian realms: Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Prior to the performance, there will be a Prelude talk sponsored by the Dance Alliance that begins at 7:15 p.m. at The Egg.
Advance tickets for MBB&Co’s The Running Show are $15 for the general public at www.albany.edu/pac/tickets. Tickets for NoGravity Theatre are $28 and are available at The Egg Box Office on the Concourse Level of the Empire State Plaza in Albany, by phone at 518-473-1845 and online at theegg.org
SCHENECTADY — Michael Flatley once said, “Everyone in the world will tell you, ‘No, it can’t be done.’ Every time I hear that, I know I’m close to success.” This philosophy was a main driving factor in the journey to “
Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, which Flatley began developing in 1995 following his departure from Riverdance will be on the MainStage at Proctors March 5.
Since its premiere 25 years ago, it has become one the most successful touring productions in entertainment history, having been seen by over 60 million people.
For its 25th-anniversary tour, fans can expect new staging, new costumes, and choreography, plus cutting-edge technology and special effects.
Tickets are on sale through the Box Office at Proctors in-person, via phone at 518-346-6204 Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. or online at proctors.org. Groups of 10 or more can get their tickets by calling 518-382-3884 ext. 139.
GLENS FALLS — Adirondack Theatre Festival will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary with a peppy tribute to its hometown roots and its national reach.
Adirondack Theatre Festival’s fundraiser has become legendary in Glens Falls for creative themes including James Bond, the Olympics, and last year’s sold-out Beatles Bash. This year’s party is a hometown “Pep Rally” celebrating 30 years of innovative theatre that makes a difference at home and around the country.
The night will feature Emcee Billy Floyd of the Adirondack Thunder, songs from musicals developed at ATF that have captured national attention, the unveiling of ATF’s next summer season, a live auction hosted by former ATF Producing Artistic Director Mark Fleischer, and a very special surprise announcement.
The festivities will take place on Saturday, Feb. 10 at the Charles R. Wood Theater, 207 Glen St. in downtown Glens Falls. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $90 per person and include wine, beer, soda, appetizers, and entertainment.
Tickets are available at the Charles R. Wood Theater box office at 518-480-4878 or woodtheater.org/events.
Installation view, Isaac Julien, Lessons of The Hour, McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, San Francisco, 2020, photo by Henrik Kam. Photo provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College has announced the following upcoming exhibitions.
An opening reception will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10.
Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour: Feb. 3–May 19: London-based artist Isaac Julien’s film installation Lessons of the Hour features actor Ray Fearon as Frederick Douglass, the nineteenth-century abolitionist, writer, and freed slave. Open-ended narrative vignettes set in Washington, DC, London, and Edinburgh portray Douglass with influential women of his time—including Susan B. Anthony and Ottilie Assing—dramatizing ideas of racial and gender equality. Julien’s work reiterates Douglass’s belief in the importance and power of photography and picture-making in advocating for social justice. Lessons of the Hour features ten screens of varying dimensions hung salon-style. The vibrant colors of the film have a modern aesthetic that, in conjunction with the period set, costumes, and salon-style screens, unites past and present.
Studio/Archive: Feb. 3–June 9: Studio/Archive features contemporary art from the Tang collection that examines studio portraiture and archives as tools for agency, empathy, and justice. Among new acquisitions being shown for the first time at the Tang are work by Ja’Tovia Gary, Kahlil Robert Irving, and Annette Kelm. The exhibition also includes work by Mike Disfarmer, Elger Esser, Zanele Muholi, Vik Muniz, Alice O’Malley, Joachim Schmid, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Malick Sidibé, Sanlé Sory, Mickalene Thomas, and Huang Yan.
Abject Anatomy: February 9–April 21: The artistic transformation of the body into something unrecognizable, disturbing, or abject probes human anxieties about bodily behaviors and desires. Our mind races and our skin crawls as we contemplate the possibility of a grotesque and fantastical metamorphosis of our own. Is this what happens in the absence of control? Abject Anatomy features a selection of photographs, prints, drawings, and paintings from the Tang collection that ask us to reflect on deep-seated fears about our own bodily nonconformance and that of those around us.
Elevator Music 48: Alone, only in flesh: Feb. 10–May 5: Alone, only in flesh is a site-specific, collaborative meditation on diaspora combining spoken word poetry, experimental cello, traditional Vietnamese áo dài (garments), and Southeast Asian home goods. The installation melds the language of altars—spaces of presence, transcendence, and transmission—with the liminality of the shifting elevator. The artists Antonius-Tín Bui, MIZU, and Theresa-Xuan Bui thus create a space for all to commune with the unknown and untranslatable.
Coming in July: Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld. A voyage of discovery into the depths of our threatened natural world through large-scale painted and sculptural works.
The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College opened in fall 2000 with about 3,500 objects and the collection has since grown to more than 18,000 works, representing a wide variety of materials, subject matter, and time periods. The Museum is open to the public on Thursday from noon to 9 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. Go to: https://tang.skidmore.edu
BALLSTON SPA — Opening in 1792, the building that now houses Brookside Museum was a hotel that hosted guests in Ballston Spa. At 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15, Brookside Museum is hosting an immersive evening of food, music and stories.
The event, A Night at Aldridge House: An Evening Tavern Experience, will encourage participants to step back into the late 18th century.
Ticket holders will enjoy a night of hearty stew, crusty bread, refreshing cider and jaunty music.
Stories will be told about George Washington’s visits to the area by local author John Oliver, who will also discuss a secret real estate mission that led the first U.S. president to the region. Meals will be served by historical interpreters in 18th century clothing.
Tickets are $25 per person, $20 for Saratoga County History Center members. Tickets are limited and pre-registration is required at: brooksidemuseum.org. Friday, Feb. 16 is the snow date for this event.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Frederick Allen Elks Lodge #609 and Mary A. Carter Temple #302 will spotlight banned books on Sunday, Feb. 4, during its recognition of Black History Month.
The event will take place 2-4 p.m. at Frederick Allen Elks Lodge, 69 Beekman St.
Invited readers will share passages from banned books, either penned by Black authors or illuminating racism and Black American history, as well as share personal insight into why the book had been targeted. Attendees will also have the opportunity to read from chosen material. The vent is free and open to the public.
