Bits & Pieces

#1.
New Route Theatre has announced another show in its One Shot Deal Series. On March 9 at 7 pm at the Eaton Gallery, New Route will present "I Too Sing America: The Poets of the Harlem Renaissance," focusing on the poetry of Harlem Renaissance writers such as Langston Hughes and James Weldon Johnson. "I Too Sing America" is co-directed by Don Shandrow and Phil Shaw and features performers Jennifer Rusk and Gregory Hicks, with a gospel ensemble under the direction of Georgia Brook.

Doors will open at 6:30 pm and admission is whatever you choose to donate.

#2.
The McLean County Museum of History continues its Lunch and Learn program on March 10 with "A perspective on the life of Irish Immigrants in 19th century Bloomington," presented by April Schultz, PhD, Associate Professor of History and Director of Women's Studies at IWU.

As always, this Lunch and Learn event is free and open to the public in the Governor Fifer Courtroom at the McLean County Museum of History. According to the museum, you are invited to "Relax and learn as this unique new collaboration brings you more interesting topics of discussion each second Thursday of the month from 12:10 to 12:40 pm at the McLean County Museum of History."

Remember to pack a lunch!

#3.
Illinois Voices Theatre is extending auditions for "The Affray; Lincoln's Last Murder Case," a collaboration between Jared Brown, former chair of the Department of Theatre at Illinois Wesleyan, and Robert Bray, R. Forest Colwell Professor of American Literature at IWU who has written extensively on Lincoln. Judy Brown, Artistic Director and founder of Illinois Voices Theatre, announced that the production needs several 20 to 30-year-old men for this original play scheduled for production mid-July, with rehearsals to begin mid-June.

This audition session will be held Tuesday, March 8th, between 6:30 and 8:45 pm, in the McLean County Museum of History in their second floor courtroom. Judy notes that this IS a paying gig. Contact Judy Brown by email -- j.judybrown@frontier.com -- if you have questions or need more information.

#4.
New York's Roundabout Theatre Company has announced that its current Broadway production of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest," starring Brian Bedford as Lady Bracknell, will be filmed live, in high definition, and then screened in June at movie theaters across the country.

No word yet on whether we will get this cool filmed version of the Broadway show here in Bloomington-Normal or anywhere near, but I have my fingers crossed. And while I'm talking about cinematic versions of live performances, I would like to exhort anybody reading this to bring Britain's "National Theatre Live" shows somewhere within 100 miles of me. "King Lear" with Derek Jacobi, "Frankenstein" with Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch switching roles between the monster and the scientist... This is amazingly good stuff, and we don't get it. So I'm begging here! Bring the National Theatre Live productions to Illinois!