Arts - page 2

Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center will celebrate Earth Day by sponsoring an Eco-Fest celebration and Butterfly Release on Saturday, April 20, 2024, from 10:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Admission is free of charge.

Family friendly activities and games will take place on Saturday, April 20, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. -3:30 p.m. with multiple inspirational Butterfly Releases at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m.

Local and regional organizations and businesses will be on-site hosting booths that provide information about earth-friendly products, services and opportunities. Games, activities and engaging presentations provide entertainment for the whole family. Revel in the beauty of the garden and celebrate mother earth!

Participants are ask to consider bringing donations for the Pet Food and Supply Drive benefitting local animal shelters.

Animals will not be permitted into the gardens during this event.

Leapin’ Lizards—the Broadway musical Annie is coming to Orange, TX. The iconic Tony Award-winning production will be at the Lutcher Theater for one night only, Thursday, April 4, 2024, at 7:30 p.m.

Holding onto hope when times are tough can take an awful lot of determination, and sometimes, an awful lot of determination comes in a surprisingly small package. Little Orphan Annie has reminded generations of theatergoers that sunshine is always right around the corner, and now the best-loved musical of all time is set to return in this new production -just as you remember it and just when we need it most. This celebration of family, optimism, and the American spirit remains the ultimate cure for all the hard knocks life throws your way.

“This show, with its iconic title character, continues to delight generations of theatre lovers old and new by joyfully singing directly into the face of great adversity with perseverance, guts, and guile,” said Lynae Sanford, executive director of the Lutcher Theater. “I am constantly reminded of the biggest reason we love this show – it’s just plain happy and hopeful, and sometimes we just need a reminder to think about such things.”

The original production of Annie had its world premiere on August 10, 1976, at the Goodspeed Opera House (Michael J. Price, Executive Director) and opened on Broadway on April 21, 1977, at the Alvin Theatre (Neil Simon Theatre). It went on to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, seven Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical, the Grammy for Best Cast Show Album, and seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book (Thomas Meehan), and Best Score (Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin). It closed on Broadway after playing 2,377 performances. Annie was revived on Broadway in 1997 and again in 2014. It has been made into a film three times (1982, 1999, 2014) and was most recently featured as a live television production on NBC. The show remains one of the biggest Broadway musical hits ever; it has been performed in 28 languages and has been running somewhere around the world for 45 years.

The beloved score for Annie includes Maybe, It’s the Hard Knock Life, You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile, Easy Street, I Don’t Need Anything But You, and the eternal anthem of optimism, Tomorrow.

A limited amount of tickets for Annie are available and can be purchased online at lutcher.org or by calling the box office at (409) 886-5535.

The Lutcher Theater is located at 707 Main Avenue in Orange, Texas.

The Stark Museum of Art will host Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West Quilt Exhibition from March 2 -August 3, 2024. This exhibition, the first of its kind, explores the path of Black history in the West with a timeline of original pictorial quilts. The timeline begins in 1528, with Esteban’s dramatic story, which marks the arrival of Africans in the American West and continues through the Civil Rights Movement.

Dispelling the myth that Black people in the Old West were mostly cowboys, Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West shows rich diversity in their occupations and achievements in society, religion, education, and the arts.

Choosing quilts as the visual medium for this exhibition accentuates the intersections of African Americans in the Western Frontier while informing others about the art form and its important role in African American history.

This exhibition is organized by The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art and Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, curator, historian, and artist. The quilts have been created by the Women of Color Quilters Network, especially for this exhibition.

Admission to the Stark Museum of Art is free of charge. The museum is located at 712 Green Ave. in Orange.