Speaking of the Arts

The Negro Motorist Green Book was last published in 1966, but in the last 5 years the book has inspired a movie, a documentary and a funny, poignant, time-traveling play by Kansas City playwright, Michelle Tyrene Johnson. 'The Green Book Wine Club Train Trip' opens this week at Talking Horse Productions, and actor Carla Tigue and THP's Artistic Director, Adam Brietzke, drop by to talk about this first production in Talking Horse's 'Year of the Woman' season. In Act Two, True False film programmer Jeanelle Augustin, Music Director Martin Kamu, and Art Installation Director Duncan Bindbeutel give their predictions for the must-see films/musicians and artworks at the upcoming documentary film fest (March 5-8).

February brings with it a raft of openings. The sugar-sweet, pinkalicious musical comedy 'Legally Blonde' opens at Columbia Entertainment Company on February 13th, and this week Diana chats to its Director and Choreographer, Marvin Byas IV. In the Second Act of the show, Dr. Julia Gaines, Director of the University of Missouri's School of Music, waxes lyrical about their brand new Sinquefield Music Center and how one man's response to 9/11 led to the school's new $24 million facility. Plus Diana ends the show with her usual round-up of arts events coming up in mid-Missouri over the next 7 days.

Each February the University of Missouri holds its annual Visual Arts and Design Showcase (VADS) to celebrate the creative expression of undergraduates working across a range of artistic disciplines - photography, theatre set design, floral art, textile and apparel design, painting, sculpture, digital storytelling, architectural studies and more. As part of the two-week event the university flies in a keynote speaker who is a leader in their field and a visionary thinker in the arts. On this week's show Diana chats by Skype with the #MIZVAD20 keynote speaker, Dr. Craig Wilkins, architect, educator, and author who has spent two decades exploring how hip hop culture can be incorporated into architectural thinking. In the Second Act of the show Assistant Professor of Film Studies and Digital Storytelling, Christian Rozier, stops by the studio along with three of this years VADS showcase students, Jessica Tifase, Tyree Taylor, and Alex Sapaugh to talk about the event and the works that will be on display over the next two weeks.

There are not many people in the world who not only speak 6 languages fluently, but also can converse flawlessly in over 50 dialects, and can teach, say a Bosnian to pronounce words correctly in Yiddish, or an Indian to sound convincingly Arabic, but the one person who is capable of such linguistic feats is Paula Carter Cavanaugh Vanlandingham. Paula is a dialect coach to actors the world over, and returns to Speaking of the Arts this week to talk about recent projects and teaching a Latina actor to speak such great Scottish that even Peter Capaldi thought she was a Scot. And in the Second Act of the show Diana catches up with Capital City Productions founder, Rob Crouse, to find out what happened when their theatre home of 12 years was suddenly taken away from them - and the happy new beginning that is their next home.

Arts entrepreneurship links both Acts of this week's Speaking of the Arts. How do you turn your art into an income? Diana's First Act guests this week are all film-makers and are involved with the upcoming COMO Shorts Film Showcase: Matt Schacht, who is one of the showcase's founders, and film-makers Chase Thompson and Elizabeth Germann whose work will be featured. In the Second Act author/chef/arts entrepreneur, Nina Mukerjee Furstenau, drops in to talk about her book 'Biting Through the Skin: An Indian Kitchen in America's Heartland', her next book provisionally titled 'Green Chilis and Other Imposters' and helping Bengali artisan women weavers find a global audience through her new project artaweavers.com.

This year is the 20th anniversary for TRYPS Children's Theatre and on the first new Speaking of the Arts show of 2020, TRYPS founder and artistic director, Jill Womack, chats to Diana Moxon about working with Charles Nelson Reilly, teaching empathy through theatre and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. And in the Second Act of the show, Maples Repertory Theatre artistic director, Todd Davison, stops in to chat about their 2020 season and how he got his start in theatre by having his own puppet company - as a 4th grader.

Speaking of the Arts meets Open Mike Radio on this 2-hour year end review of music and the arts with Diana Moxon and Mike Hagen. Faced with the impossible task of choosing just a handful of interview clips and live Open Mike Radio music recordings from the past year, this is but a tiny collection of their faves. From Speaking of the Arts we revisit Diana's interviews with actor/singer Symonne Sparks, Greenhouse Theatre Project's Elizabeth Braaten-Palmieri and Jenny Hipscher, the Eurovision Song Contest, authors Crystal Wilkinson & Joanna Luloff, and MU Theatre costume designer, Marc Vital. And from Mike's in-studio concerts he chooses Justin Hickerson, Violence of the Violets, the Sweaters, Austin Jones and the Bootheel Boys, Bartholomew Bean, the January Lanterns, Blake Gardner and the Farmers and Dave Dearnley.

With another fabulous year of the arts coming to a close, Diana Moxon sits down with some of the non-profit arts directors who made 2019 such a stellar year: Director and Co-owner of the Roots n Blues festival, Tracy Lane; Executive Director of the Columbia Art League, Kelsey Hammond; Director of the Unbound Book Festival and Owner of Skylark Bookshop, Alex George; Ragtag Cinema Director, Barbie Banks; and Missouri Symphony Orchestra Development Director and actor/director/improvista, Monica Palmer. Plus there's the new single from Audra Sergel, 'This Life', and a composition by Viet Cuong from the 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival, released this summer, called 'Electric Aroma (A Most Disagreeable Noise).

Thriller writer Allen Eskens latest novel, 'Nothing More Dangerous' is a coming-of-age mystery, a suspense-filled page turner, which explores the darkness of small town secrets, blood loyalties and what happens to those who don't tow the line. In Act One of this week's show, Diana Moxon, chats to Allen about his book and how he became a novelist. And in Act Two, artist Greg Edmondson, stops by the Speaking of the Arts studio to talk about his four a half year artist residency in Belle, Missouri and the 5 bodies of work that he produced as a result of his time on the banks of the Gasconade River, some of which can be seen on display in the Larson Gallery at Columbia College.

The delectable Monica Palmer sits in for Diana Moxon on this week's Speaking of the Arts. Monica's First Act guests this week are actors Ed Hanson and Sarah Jost, who drop by to chat about Talking Horse Productions' 'An Antique Carol' - a one-act operetta written by founder of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra, Hugo Vianello. In the Second Act, Chuck Bay and Melissa Bohon-Webel stop in along with two of the Booneslick Chordbusters to talk about their Home for the Holidays Concert and to deliver some festive cheer with a short a cappella recital.