Speaking of the Arts

How do you do it? is the question that runs through this week's Speaking of the Arts. How do you perform an outdoor musical in the Missouri summer heat for a production where traditionally the actors are all wearing big furry animal costumes? How do you put together an art exhibit in just one gallery that represents 200 years of history? How do you wrap 2-sides of a 2-storey building in a mural that celebrates an icon? How do you play composer Fred Onovwerosuoke's Sonata No3 for two pianos? It's all answered in just one hour when host Diana Moxon chats with the University of Missouri Theatre Department's Joy Powell, curator Audrey Florey from the Boone History and Culture Center's Montminy Gallery, artist David Spear, Odyssey Chamber Music Series Director and pianist, Ayako Tsuruta, and Ghanaian-Nigerian-American contemporary composer, Fred Onovwerosuoke. Opening and closing music credits with thanks to Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com) (Pic courtesy of Mat Powers Matlock of David Spear original mural artwork)

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the June four: Springfield-based dancer, choreographer and educator, Azaria Rianne Hogans, who explores gender and racial equality through dance; wildlife photographer, Greg Holden, in Eureka; Pleasant Hills-located fused glass artist, Barb Byrnes, whose specialty is memorial glass; And professional classical guitarist, Patrick Rafferty, in Affton. You can see - and hear - the works of this week's artists on their websites: https://www.azariariannehogans.com/; https://www.gjholden.com/; https://barbbyrneglass.com/; http://www.patrickraffertyguitar.com/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

This week's Speaking of the Arts is an eclectic mix of film, classical music, and theatre. Host Diana Moxon gets a review of the recent True/False film fest from its Director of Marketing, Stacie Pottinger, plus a look ahead to a couple of outdoor summer Ragboat screenings; the Missouri Symphony Orchestra's Executive Director, Trent Rash, talks about the upcoming Hot Summer Nights program; Jill Womack gives an update on TRYPS kids theatre's move to their new old home at Columbia Mall; and actor Elizabeth Braaten Palmieri and director David Wilson talk about working together on Greenhouse Theatre Project's production of the George Brant one-woman play 'Grounded'. Thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams for the opening and closing music credits (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

Having mastered Guitar Hero as a young teen, Yasmin Williams picked up a guitar, sat it horizontally across her lap, and developed her style of lap-tapping guitar. This week her second album 'Urban Driftwood' is released on which she not only proves herself a master of the technique, but also her compositional maturity and her ability to seamlessly blend multiple musical heritages. On this week's show Diana Moxon spends the whole hour with Yasmin, talking about the influences in 'Urban Driftwood', her adventures with the kora, and the making of her first music video.

Speaking of the Arts founder, Monica Palmer, is back for this week's show and talks about her favorite subject: Theatre! with three leading lights from the Columbia theatre scene. In Act I Enola White, Executive Director of Columbia Entertainment Company talks about their upcoming show, 'Killer Party: A Murder Mystery Musical' (opens June 24th), and getting back into the theatre after so long away. In Act II, Monica chats with director, Christopher Gould, and actor, Morgan Dennehy, about their next show 'Fifth July' by Lanford Wilson, opening June 3rd at Maplewood Barn theatre.

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the May four: Warrensburg-based painter Gary Cadwallader and his extrovert paintings; Contemporary impressionist Regina Willard in West Plains; Byron von Rosenberg - poet, illustrator, storyteller and the poet laureate of Byrnes Mills; And award winning, international concert pianist, Hyejin Cho, a player and proponent of the music of Robert Schumann and collaborative pianist at Truman State University. You can see - and hear - the works of this week's artists on their websites: https://www.garypaints.com/; https://www.reginawillard.com/; https://idontwanttokissallama.com/; https://www.hyejinchopianist.com/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

In a time of endless cancelations, the True/False Film Fest pulled off the near impossible this week and moved their entire festival outdoors. And although only a few documentary directors were able to make the journey, two of those who were in town for the Fest stopped in to chat with Speaking of the Arts host, Diana Moxon. Peter Nicks returned to the Fest with the third in his Oakland trilogy, 'Homeroom', (the previous two also played at earlier Fests: The Waiting Room 2012, The Force 2017) and talked about the trilogy's exploration of the relationship between the education, criminal justice and health care systems in America. For director Aurora Brachman, True/False is the first festival she's been able to attend in person since starting her film career. Her short 'Club Quarantine' looks at the phenomenon of the nightly virtual queer dance party 'Club Quarantine', which launched as lockdown started last year. Plus there's music from Yasmin Williams' album 'Urban Driftwood'.

This week Diana Moxon chats with William Horner and Stacey Woelfel, the directors of a new documentary, "Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way", produced by a group of up and coming University of Missouri film makers; Drops in on Jefferson City's Capital City Productions where the musical 'tick, tick...boom!' opens in mid-May, and talks to its director Mike Azar and lead Gordon Knatcal about the composer's links with Stephen Sondheim; Visits the Boone History and Culture Center's Montminy Gallery to find out about the Earth Water Fire art exhibit with artists Kate Gray, Jo Stealey and Don Asbee; And finally stops by Talking Horse Productions' where its Original Monologue Contest is back for a Second Season and Artistic Director, Adam Brietzke spills some beans. Opening and closing musical credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com). And for anyone who would like to register to attend the test screening of "Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way" on Monday May 3rd at the Missouri Theatre, here is the registration link: https://missouri.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1Tjrse7mXEdtKjc

This week's show is a potpourri of arts events both IRL and virtual. Playwright and performer Andrew Black opens his new one-person, one-act show called 'What Same Sex Marriage Means to Me' and talks to host Diana Moxon about which of the 7 archetypal story plots he sees it as; Beth Pike from the State Historical Society of Missouri talks about some of Missouri's bicentennial events including the Missouri Art Now traveling art exhibit; Jabberwocky Studios' Linda Schust talks about this weekend's Africa Fest and how being virtual opened up some opportunities for them; and as the 2021 Unbound Book Festival comes to a close, festival director Alex George chats about its culminating keynote event with Pulitzer prize-winning poets, Tracy K Smith and Jericho Brown. Opening and closing musical credits thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the April four: photographer Jen Everett from St Louis, who uses photography and sculpture to document nuances of Blackness in America; artist Grant Kniffen from Dardenne Prairie, who explores the stories of the Midwest and West; multi-media artist Laura Bigger, Assistant Professor of Art at Truman Stat University, who uses her art to explore the relationships that exist among humans, animals, and ecosystems; and Springfield-based tuba player Ralph Hepola, who released his first tuba album - concisely titled 'Tuba' - last year. You can read more about the artists at https://www.missouriartscouncil.org/featured-artists/ as well as on their own websites: https://jeneverettart.com/home.html; https://kniffenart.com/; https://www.laurabigger.com/; https://ralphhepola.com/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.