'Miser packs a wallop of laughter
Photo by Stephen Adams
Marianne (left, Jessi May Stevenson) and Frosine (Lee Ann Manley) consider the marriage prospect of the rich but coldhearted Harpagon (Cecil Sutton). Come see the women hilariously try to wrangle their way out of their predicament in the Ojai Art Center Theater's production of Moliere's "The Miser" during its final weekend. Watch an old pontificating patriarch who feverishly, fervidly and lustfully hoards his money confound everyone by announcing that he wants to marry his son’s girlfriend, Marianne. This outrageously funny 17th-century classic gets an update that has much to say about today’s world regarding greed, humanity and sexual politics with a wallop of laughter. Tickets at OjaiACT.org or call 805-640-8797.
Chamber On The Mountain concert
Photo by Blake Ezra
Busch Trio Omri Epstein (piano), Mathieu van Bellen (violin) and Ori Epstein (cello) to perform May 5 in Upper Ojai.
Chamber On The Mountain presents the Busch Trio on May 5 at 3 p.m. at the Logan House in Upper Ojai, 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road.
Named after the legendary violinist Adolf Busch, this young piano trio has emerged as one of the leading piano trios among the new generation, receiving enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics across Europe.
Ojai Playwrights Conference Gala to be held May 4
The Ojai Playwrights Conference launches its 22nd season with a gala benefit farm-to-table celebration May 4 at 4 p.m. at Aspen Grove Ranch in Upper Ojai.
Festivities start with a cocktail reception featuring fine wines from Ojai Alisal Vineyard, craft cocktails and appetizers. Starting at 5 p.m., attendees gather under a big-top tent to enjoy the original show produced for the Gala with Broadway songs, original monologues and tributes to the evening’s honorees, Patrick J. Adams, Alan Mandell and The Helene Gordon Family/Twin Peaks Ranch.
Exhibitions open at Beato Center
Artist photo
Fantastical Imaginings Series Elephant Vessel by Ojai resident Maryann Cord, ceramic, copper agate and glass, 15 inches height by 10 inches wide and 13 inches in diameter.
The Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts announces an opening reception for two new exhibitions, on Saturday, May 11, from 2 to 5 pm. The public is invited to attend the reception. The exhibitions will continue through June 22.
In the Beato Gallery will be an exhibition of recent works by the American Ceramic Society of Southern California. In the Logan Gallery, there will be an exhibition of work by Allison Newsome, created in Beatrice Wood’s studio. Newsome has spent time working with students from the Besant Hill School of Happy Valley during her residency, which will end with a workshop for adults June 22 and 23.
The Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts is located at 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road in Upper Ojai. The phone number is 805-646-3381 and the website is: www.beatricewood.com.
LA String Kollecktiv performs at Ojai Art Center on May 19
The LA String Kollektiv is returning to the Ojai Art Center on May 19 at 2 pm. These internationally recognized musicians can trace their roots performing together back to the mid 1990s. This concert's talented piano quartet gathers together violinist Gulia Gurevich, violist Alexander Gurevich, cellist Virginia Kron and pianist Xiao Chen to perform works including Brahms and Dohnanyi.
The Ojai Art Center is located at 113 S. Montgomery St., Ojai. Tickets sold only at the door: $15 general admission, $12 Art Center members and students. For further information, call 640-1158.
Focus on the Masters features Erika Lizée
Photo submitted
Erika Lizée's artwork.
A conversation with Erika Lizée will be held April 28 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Museum of Ventura County, 100 E. Main St., Ventura.
The artist and professor at Moorpark College also serves as the director of that campus’s art gallery. As such, she arranges talks with exhibiting artists about their life histories and the way their art has progressed. This month, Donna Granata will interviews this young, perceptive artist whose work reflects, in her words, an ever-shifting and nebulous boundary between what is known and unknown.
Ojai Music Festival seeks housing hosts, volunteers
The Ojai Music Festival welcomes Ojai Valley residents to get involved in the Ojai Music Festival June 6 to 9, with Grammy-winning soprano Barbara Hannigan as music director.
The festival is seeking guest housing for musicians, production crew and interns that include guest cottages, private rooms and homes. The festival also includes opportunities for residents to volunteer in positions in the following areas: ushering, venue set-up, special events and merchandise sales. Volunteers receive perks for their donations of time and talent.
'Spice' girls flavor 'Miser'
Submitted photo
Women of ‘The Miser’ – Lee Ann Manley (Frosine), Kallie O’Connor (Elise) and Jessi May Stevenson (Marianne).
Being a woman in 19th century France came with its burdens, but you won’t feel that while watching “The Miser,” running two more weekends at the Art Center Theater. Covering a broad range of topics from greed, love and familial obligation, the play is all done in the light form of Commedia dell’arte, a physical comedy that loosens the grip of any seriousness that might come from the relationships between the characters.
Sooz Glazebrook and others open studios for tour
Image submitted
Sooz Glazebrook will open her studio to the public on May 11 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. as part of the Ojai Studio Artists Second Saturday Tour. “I will be displaying larger wall plates, ceramic jewelry, everyday ceramic ware and a painting or two,” she says. Also on the tour will be 10 other artists with studios in Meiners Oaks: Bert Collins and Jannene Behl, Andrea Haffner, Vera Long, Martha Moran, Mariana Peirano, Fanny Penny, James Petrucci, Myra Toth and Jules Weissman. The tour is free and self-guided. For a tour map and more information, including blogs by Ojai Studio Artists about their new work, visit http://www.ojaistudioartists.org.
Catch Danny McGaw and the 33 while you still can
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Danny McGaw and the 33 include Danny, Matt Cheadle (guitar), T.D. Lind (piano), Tim Hutton (bass) and Greg Wiser (drums) perform most Sunday evenings at The Vine in Ojai.
Notes from an Ojai millennial: First music video debuts April 19
Andra Belknap, Ojai Valley News columnist
The song is ending now, Danny McGaw is singing his final words. He strums an acoustic guitar, his eyes closed, the sound vibrating in our chests. Visible through The Vine’s front window are a pair of children, jumping in time with the sound.
Bennett is riding 'art board' wave
Photo submitted
Actor Dennis Quaid looks stoked after picking up a Bobbi Bennett “art board.”
Bobbi Bennett, a California-based photographer, is known for creating environments either in the studio or on location. Using live models, painted backgrounds, twigs, mud and various lighting techniques, she illustrates a thematic image. Her themes range from Native Americans, angels, superheroes, goddess icons and abstract landscapes.