(editor’s note:  The Strand is pleased to welcome guest writer Steve Talbert)

Once again, Three Sisters Books & Gifts will celebrate National Poetry Month at the Strand Theatre on Wednesday at 7 p.m.  Always a fun time, this year’s evening of verse features Dan Carpenter, columnist for The Indianapolis Star.

Dan has published poetry and fiction in Illuminations, Pearl, Poetry East, Southern Indiana, Review, Maize and other journals.  Dan’s writing has won dozens of awards. His first book, Hard Pieces, is a collection of his past columns. His latest book, More Than I Could See, is a collection of his poems, which was published by Restoration Press.

After the Indianapolis native reads some of his favorite poems, members of the audience will be invited to read two or three of their own poems.

Admission is free. Concessions will be sold. Poets of all ages are encouraged to attend.

Iconic   American music featured this weekend
 
In an unusual synergy the Strand Theatre will host dual shows this weekend highlighting the unique icons of musical expression that thrust America onto the creative global stage in the 20th century.
                 First on Saturday night at 8 p.m., the Blues and Rock n Roll will grace the historic boards of the theater as Smashed Productions presents “Pressed In Black” with special guest “Caffiene.”
                “Pressed in Black,” is a local three –piece band which concentrates on classic rock, blues and sprinkling of alternative, according to Joey Gaudin of Smashed Productions.
Comprised of bassist Jason Milbourn, lead singer and guitarist Kit Haymond and drummer and vocalist Matt Green, “Pressed in Black.” has been playing together for about a year and a half and currently has four original songs posted on the Web
                Hailing from Middletown, the trio sounds like “whatever it sets its mind to,” according to their My Space page. “We are currently recording in the studio and we are halfway done with an album.”
Musically, “Pressed in Black,” is influenced by everything from blues master Robert Johnson to contemporary punk-funk legends “The Red Hot Chili Peppers” and nearly all rock sandwiched in between these expressive poles.
 On Sunday afternoon at 2 another unique and influential American form of music (jazz) will echo resonantly from the Strand’s art deco walls as  pianist Dave Hepler brings his  smooth syncopations from Indianapolis to Shelbyville.
 A musician since the age of 8, Hepler has recorded 6 albums and been playing professionally across the Midwest since 1984. His Sunday show will feature guest bassist Frank Smith playing with Hepler in what promises to be an entertaining and satisfying venture into the coll sounds and history of this most American musical form.
“Music is the universal language,” Hepler said.  I cannot help but to share with you the way I see and feel the world around me. I hope you enjoy my musical conceptions and my interpretations of many of the great songwriters.
 Each of these engaging explorations of the distinct sounds and musical heritage of America are open to the public and ticket for each costs $10 and will be available at the door.

Friday night features a nostalgic musical feast

America’s nostalgic love affair with food, film, fun-filled music and frenzied dance will be fused into a fluent multi-sensory feast as The Strand Theatre presents its second “dinner and a movie” Friday night.

Fittingly for such a venue, this month’s movie offering is “Grease”, a 1978 film based on earlier Tony Award winning Broadway play of the same name and the dinner, catered by Grandma’s Pancake House, features a retro- cuisine revolving around 1950’s style diner food.

The dinner which cost $20 starts at seven and movie alone ($10) begins at 8:15. The culinary flashback menu consists of hamburgers, hotdogs, cole slaw, chips and an ice-cream sundae bar.  Strand volunteers encourage those attending to dress in 1950’s attire such as leather jackets, poodle skirts and the greased-back hair styles of the era. Singing along to the semi-classic songs is also highly encouraged.  Tickets for both events are still available.

Conceived as retro play and then film in the 1970’s “Grease,” the movie is still to this day the highest grossing movie musical ever made. Its appeal spread like grease into popular culture influencing music, television and in a strange, looping way its own  creators (Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey) who first rewrote the play for the silver-screen and ironically then had to rewrite the ongoing play to conform to the film version.

“It was an enormous problem when the movie came out,” Jacobs said, “because we were still running on Broadway and people realized, hey, it’s on stage, let’s bring the kids, and suddenly there’s some vulgar language and people got offended that there are teenagers portrayed onstage smoking.”

“Warren and I were both perturbed about it,” Jacobs said of the sanitized, suburbanized screen adaptation of what had begun as a somewhat raunchy send-up of juvenile-delinquent movies of the 1950s.  The original treatment was roughly based on Jacobs’ experiences at William Howard Taft High School in 1959 in northwest Chicago.

Continuous royalties, however, quickly assuaged his doubts, and today he begrudgingly endorses “newer incarnations which try to get away from the heavy issues such as the suspected pregnancy or whatever . . . but the original version was heavy stuff. . . . It dealt with some real issues of the blue-collar kids in America. They were basically the outcasts.”

In fact, the original rebel image fuelled by nostalgia spawned another highly successful, yet sanitized version of the Greaser subculture: the television hit “Happy Days,” and it’s comic, greaser “Fonzie,” was inspired by the Broadway play. In another irony, Henry Winkler turned down the male lead in the movie, fearing future typecasting as teen-age gang-banger.

It was however, the music of the movie which created a lasting cultural resonance, especially the title song written by Barry Gibb and sung by 1950’s musical legend, Frankie Valli. The movie version, in fact, is a veritable who’s who of 1950 pop-culture featuring cameos by Frankie Avalon, Shan-Na-Na and Sid Caesar, among others.

These retro-stars, however, were eclipsed by the movie’s female lead Olivia Newton –John who burst like a meteor across the pop charts after the movie. Previous to this role she was essentially a rather dowdy country singer, but the 29- year–old (cast as a teenager) became an overnight sensation, sex symbol and a very bankable artist in the new era of MTV videos.   Semi-ironically this leading role, turned down as “too sexy” by Marie Osmond, would physically and artistically transform Newton –John  into a sultry siren of song for newer generation of music lovers.  In particular, pay attention to the vocal satire of Sandra Dee in the movie and consider, in retrospect, Newton-John’s new (post Grease) image and style.

The soundtrack of “Grease,” in fact, produced two number one hits, three top five hits and the album itself stayed atop the Billboard charts for 12 consecutive weeks. In another twist of fate this musical success even convinced the male lead, John Travolta, to launch, a short, self-admittedly ill- advised career as a singer. It was Gibb (of the Bee Gees) and Valli, not Travolta, who walked away with 1979 Academy Award for Best Music: Original Song.”

All ironies aside, this musical movie is cultural relic which not only crosses several social cultures, but also transcends the nostalgic memories of several generations as it campily continues to entertain both movie and stage audiences across the country today.

Rock all-stars to jam out The Strand
Four-score and few years ago the age of rock dawned as bands, singers and wanna-be’s from all-over and everywhere dreamed big and little dreams of fame and stardom, yet dreams and stars crash. The passions that fuel each usually burn hot, bright, quick and briefly before they implode, supernovae-like, in a singular flash.
Rock dreams, are indeed, littered with the smoking, stony shells of just such one-hit wonders who came crashing back down to earth after flashing in a distant sky.
On twin nights this weekend, a tribe of local musical all-stars will escort patrons of The Strand Theatre on a four–decade long tour of such one-hit wonders. It may be magical? But it won’t be a mystery! These are songs your ear will know, even if you don’t think your mind does. So pack your musical bags and spend a few raucous hours reveling in the melodious, but often, surreal side–roads of rock ‘n’ roll nostalgia.
After weeks of intense, often late -night learning curves thrashed out in a garage (naturally), the 15 members of Rockphoria are more than ready to guide crowds on a long strange, twisting trip into collective musical history. This pop-laced foray was organized by Smashed Productions and each evening’s journey begins at 8 and it will cost $10 to venture/adventure into a rather harmonious Twilight Zone-like extravaganza of songs of imaginative souls. Shirt and shoes required and fashionistas should arrive with passion.
If the hard day’s work involved in a month’s worth of nights spent in practice is any indication this should be one helluva musical jamboree, a heavy, but fluid concert, seasoned with diverse talents playing with and within the catchy riffs, rhymes and rhythms of tunes not soon to be forgotten. Memories promise to swirl like the sounds of this 15 member eclectic ensemble of driven, multi-talented musicians and singers.
In this the third incarnation of Rockphoria, a selective, sonorous song selection seamlessly meshes into a groove in the capable hands, throats and creative visions of each professional performer involved, be they singer or instrumental virtuoso. Significantly, each star who flashes onto Rockphoria’s stage at the Strand this weekend is a local phenom with multiple musical skills, talents and styles.
“They are going to turn one-hit wonders into today’s top-ten hits,” said Dean McNamara, a local rock icon, sound aficionado, music mogul-cum fanatic concert attendee.
In this all-star set the band members are also singers and the singers often usually strum, play, pound and sooth savage instrumental beasts. On this weekend, however, these local aficionados of sultry sounds will straight-jacket themselves within the sheer joy of music and their muses will be the flash-in-the-pan top of pop songs.
Instrumentally, the glittering, all-too-catchy sounds will be divided in sixths between lead guitarist Gary Shrader, rhythm guitarist Laura Harmon, keyboardist Dave Rasche, drummer Jim Whitacre, bassist Jim Wisker and percussionist Don Williams. Raucous leads, extended solos, rapacious rhythms and driving beats are to be expected; dancing and mayhem may ensue. A chance of instrumental improvisation is also possible.
Vocally, nine singers can, should and will weave onto and into harmonies, syncopations and serenades on the Strand’s grand stage. The fluid, rotating, ever flowing waves of crooning troubadours weaving into the musical mélange includes Amanda O’Connor, Aimee Yarwood, Bobby Toon , Bryanna Justice ,Glen Yarwood , Larry Brandt, Scott Shrader, Tre Dillman and Willandra Macklin. Passion, purity, pristine pipes and perfect pitch are possible and likely; screams and shrill to throaty cries and wails may be expected.
Surely, this will be a four-square multi-course meal filled with pop, rocks and rolls and to journey,, however briefly, with 15 musical mavens for ten bucks is a worthy adventure especially to see local rising stars playing the songs of once, bright, but now fallen, stars of yore. History, legends and the stuff of dreams are made of just such stardust.

Submitted by:  Terrance Aldridge

This independent preview does not express the opinion of the Strand Theatre.

As the holiday season approaches, movie fans, music aficionados or just ordinary citizens will have three chances this weekend to see, hear and enjoy an icon of Americana as The Strand Theatre presents Holiday Inn, a 1942 black and white movie –musical, which features the first version of Bing Crosby crooning  Irving Berlin’s timeless tune “White Christmas.”

The third person of this musical triumvirate starring in this film is legendary dancer Fred Astaire who also sings two Berlin tunes in this movie which revolves around the trials, tribulations and joys of team of night-club performers.

As a creative sidebar, the soundtrack to this musical masterpiece was recorded by the Bob Crosby Orchestra, the younger brother of Bing, and each tune should ring resplendent across the acoustically enticing confines of the Strand.

Getting back to the seasonal festivities, the first viewing of this movie about music is free and will begin at the Strand Theatre Friday night at eight, following Shelbyville’s “Holiday Celebration Parade.” Like the melodic reprise of the tune “White Christmas “throughout the movie, this film will be shown twice again during the weekend: Saturday afternoon at 1 and Sunday evening at 5. Each of these showings will cost $5.

For most people this movie is memorable for Bing Crosby’s rendition of “White Christmas,” which won Berlin an Academy Award for Best Original Song despite being only 13 lines long.

“My ambition is to reach the heart of the average American, not the highbrow nor the lowbrow but that vast intermediate crew which is the real soul of the country” Berlin said. “Usually I compose my tunes and then fit words to them, though sometimes it’s the other way about. It’s the lyric that makes a song a hit, although the tune, of course, is what makes it last.”

And this song was an immediate hit, staying number one on the charts for 11 weeks after its 1942 debut. Significantly, it also reached number one for three weeks on the charts in Harlem and then returned to top the national charts in both 1945 and 1947.

Such success was nothing new to either Berlin or Crosby; as a point of fact, Crosby recorded 41 number one hits, 383 top 30 songs and had hits on the charts every year between1931 and 1954.  In the era before Elvis and the Beatles, Crosby fused popular music with artistry long before Warhol and proved that a pop star could be a true musician.

Equally famous was Berlin, and his rags-to-riches story. This son of an immigrant cantor went from a 14-year-old living on the streets of New York City to a Bowery singer and then became an international star at the age of 20 for his musical, ragtime tunes and scores for Tin Pan Alley musicals.  Yet, this legendary maestro instantaneously knew that “White Christmas” was and would become, even as he wrote it and called his secretary.

“Grab your pen and take down this song,” he said.” I’ve just wrote the best song I’ve ever written. Hell, I just wrote the best song that anybody has ever written.”

Crosby, however, was not so ecstatic when he first heard the tune laconically saying, “I don’t think we have any problems with that one, Irving.” Crosby and nearly everyone else involved in the movie thought the hit would be the Valentine’s Day song “Be careful, it’s my heart.”

Berlin considered Astaire the equal of any male interpreter of his song, as good as  Crosby, Al Jolson or Frank Sinatra.  Of the 15 songs in “Holiday Inn”, Astaire sings two by himself and the opening tune with Crosby and co-star Virginia Dale.  It was, however, the dancing of this inspired perfectionist that made him a super-star in his own right. In “Holiday Inn,” Astaire dances four times and practically steals the show with his virtuoso performance during ““Let’s Say it with Firecrackers.”

“Working out the steps is a very complicated process—something like writing music,” he said about his working methods.” You have to think of some step that flows into the next one, and the whole dance must have an integrated pattern. If the dance is right, there shouldn’t be a single superfluous movement. It should build to a climax and stop!”

After such a legendary cast performing iconic roles to the music of man described by George Gershwin as “America itself,” patrons of the Strand can walk out with these lines ringing with this classic refrain:

“I’m dreaming of a White Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten,

And children listen

To hear sleigh bells in the snow.”

Submitted by:  Terrance Aldridge

This preview does not express the opinion of the Strand Theatre.

What can the arts do to remember, celebrate, commemorate and preserve the memories of veterans who served their country and local communities in times of both war and peace? Can such efforts cherish traditions, build understanding and simultaneously teach and inspire creativity?

To both pose and answer such socially relevant questions and concerns, the Music Department of Shelbyville Central Schools, in conjunction with The Strand Theatre, will present a musical and narrative journey honoring those who served in the military Wednesday night at 7:30.  The artistically inspired tribute will also be shown at future events at Breck Auditorium in Shelbyville High School and before upcoming movies at the Strand.

This student- driven “Tribute to Shelby County Veterans,” will present 10-short, musically-themed, video interviews with local veterans and is free and open to the public. It is the artistic legacy of local students creatively committed to and dedicated to the arts and the community they know as home.

“This project shows how the art of music provides a natural way to give back to a community that has given so much to me,” said junior Bethany Alvarado, in one vignette. “The arts are a great deal more than a show .They allow me to put everything I’ve learned together so I too can make the world a better place.”

Roughly 120 students were involved in the year- long process of creating this creative, educational tribute, according to Russ Smith, SHS band director and teacher.

Each video vignette features four SHS music students, as historians, talking with past members of the Armed Services accompanied by musical scores written, performed and recorded by students of  the music department. The four musicians- turned -videographers are Jessica Cossairt, Hillary Smith, Lyndsey Pettit and Chris Davies. The original scores were composed by music theory students and the music was performed and recorded by a ninety-piece “Wind Ensemble,” comprised of SHS band members.

These students then did all the necessary creative grunt-work (both narrative and musical) to fuse art with history. Additionally, these inspired fusions will serve as archival material for aspiring artists and local historians of the future. This educational aspect of the narrative-musical vignettes will enable newer generations to understand, appreciate and reflect on the past service of the local veterans.

“The kids have learned a lot more than we’ve ever dreamed they would,” said Smith. “I think the best part of this project is to be able to honor those who have served their country and then returned to make this a special place to live.”

The project was funded by an Arts In Education Grant obtained in February from the Indiana Arts Commission and students received professional, technical guidance in video production, recording, and local history by several volunteers at the Strand, which also provided the physical facilities for the interviews.

The IAC grant was “created to help support curriculum needs, impact individual student engagement and performance, and develop a long term commitment to the arts in schools at the primary and secondary levels,” according to Indiana Arts Commission Web Page. “Schools are asked to develop a working partnership with an artist, organization, business or group to develop and implement a successful project.”

Submitted by:  Terrance Aldridge

This preview does not express the opinion of the Strand Theatre.

Bucket of Blood

As the witching hour approaches on Saturday night and the night-life begins to crawl the streets The Strand Theatre will feature an 11 p.m. movie that was made for and satirizes late night films.

This particular work, 1959’s “Bucket of Blood,” is a revolutionary film that virtually created an entirely new movie genre: a comedy of horrors. Produced and directed by legendary maverick Roger Corman in his trademark style of “guerrilla film-making” and shot in his customary black and white, the movie also embraces Corman’s low-budget aesthetics of aggressive camera work, atmospheric,moody  lighting and ceaselessly roving cinematic eye.

One of the original independent film-makers, Corman has trained a plethora of Hollywood legends like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron and Ron Howard , just to name a few. Equally, Corman’s stable of working talent includes such iconoclastic actors as Vincent Price, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Robert DeNiro Jr. and even William Shatner, among others. Ironically, Corman has become such a cinema icon that he was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2009, by the very Hollywood system he spent his life rebelling against.

“Bucket of Blood”, shot in five days and produced for $50,000, has become a cult-classic in the once underground world’s horror movies and Art- films. It was the first movie in a trilogy of comedic horrors Corman made with screenwriter Charles B. Griffith, the dean of black comedy. The trilogy’s second flick (1960 ), “Little a Shop of Horrors,” was shot practically on the same set and at the same time in a furious 2-day work schedule. This cinematic triple play ushered in a 1960’s revolt against the studio system of producing movies and led Corman to coin the catchphrase of low budget aesthetics. “Speed of production brings truth,” he said about his style.

It was, in fact, “Buckets of Blood” and its satires on art, beatniks and movies, along with Corman’s quirky, yet refined, film-making style  that caught the eye of Vincent Price, who went on to star in eight movies with Corman, based on the tales and poems of Edgar Allan Poe .

This movie could be subtitled “cast from life” as its twisted plot follows a young waiter- turned sculptor who climbs to fame through love, lust and murders for art in the beatnik subculture of Sunset Strip coffee-houses made famous in the 1950’s.

“I think there is always a political undercurrent in my films,” Corman once said, rejecting the title as king of the B-movies. “All my films have been concerned simply with man as a social animal.”

It was his aesthetics, working methods and teaching ethics, however, which catapulted him from outsider to insider in the world of film.  Corman is often praised and revered today for his unpolished raw, in-your-face style of filming and his “learn on the job method” of directing and producing quality cinema, whether they are low- budget classics or high -budget blockbusters. Ironically, it was these very working qualities and Corman’s insistence on independence that have elevated him into a rather reluctant iconoclastic icon of the silver screen, one who as “Bucket of Blood” demonstrates is not afraid of satirizing himself or his movie making methods in his prolific, creative life.

All in all, Corman has produced more than 300 films, directed over 50 movies and formed three separate independent production companies in his long, influential career.

“He is the father of redneck cinema,” said Quentin Tarentino, the most recent maven of independent movie magic.

If you have a burning passion for film, art, horror, or all or none of the above, but simply love to laugh in the face of death, then this movie is for you.

This preview does not express the opinion of the Strand Theatre.

Submitted by:  Terrance Aldridge