Entertainment Digest | Week of Nov. 18
‘Mr. McFeely’ to Speak at Westminster
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – David Newell, the actor best known as Mr. McFeely from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” will be the guest speaker at the New Wilmington Community Thanksgiving Worship Service at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 24, in the Wallace Memorial Chapel at Westminster College.
After his long stint as delivery man Mr. McFeely on the PBS children’s television series starring the late Fred Rogers, Newell worked in the public relations department of the Fred Rogers Company before retiring.
Born and raised near Pittsburgh, Newell began his acting career at the Pittsburgh Playhouse theater school, which connected him to Rogers. Though he was originally hired onto Rogers’ show as a public relations manager, he was also cast as Mr. McFeely and quickly coined his “speedy delivery!” catchphrase. The pair were lifelong friends until Rogers’ death in 2003.
In addition to acting on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” Newell toured the country promoting the show as Mr. McFeely until 2015. He was the subject of a 2008 documentary feature, “Speedy Delivery,” which chronicles his travels around the world as the character. An animated version of Mr. McFeely regularly appears on “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” a series produced by the Fred Rogers Co.
Newell’s appearance at Westminster is free and open to the public. Canned goods, funds for local food banks and items for New Wilmington School District children in need will be collected at the service.
‘Tattoo’ Photographer Coming to Butler
YOUNGSTOWN – Renowned photographer Mark Perrott will return to The Butler Institute of American Art on Nov. 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. for a public talk and book signing.
Perrott’s most recent book, “Tattoo Witness,” is the culmination of his 40 years of documenting tattooed Americans.
His current exhibition, “Mark Perrott: Ancient Ink,” is on view in The Butler’s Flad Gallery on the first floor of the museum’s Beecher Center. It’s run has been extended through Dec. 29.
Admission to The Butler, the exhibit, and the book signing is free, as well as parking in the museum’s on-site lot.
“Tattoo Witness” comprises 140 black and white portraits along with excerpted interviews that introduce readers to Perrott’s tattooed subjects, and provide insight and perspective into the life events and choices that moved them to get their first tattoo. Copies will be available for purchase at the book signing and in the museum store.
For information about Perrott’s exhibit and to hear subject interviews, go to AncientInkStories.com.
A Pittsburgh native, Perrott has been a professional photographer for 50 years. In addition to his commercial work, he has made photographs that document Pittsburgh’s citizens, and its industrial landscape. For information, go to MarkPerrott.com.
Comedian Michael Carbonaro Coming to Packard hall
WARREN – Comedian Michael Carbonaro, who is known for his hidden camera magic series “The Carbonaro Effect” on truTV, will come to Packard Music Hall on Jan. 9 for a 7 p.m. performance.
Carbonaro has been seen on television in shows such as “Happily Divorced,” “30 Rock,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “CSI Miami.”
A performing magician since his youth, Carbonaro went on to study experimental theater at New York University with the aspirations of entertaining audiences through a variety of theatrical mediums, including hidden-camera magic, which he later showcased frequently on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
A trickster at heart, Carbonaro performs inventive tricks on unsuspecting members of the public who are unaware that he is a magician. Jaws drop when he causes a car to disappear from under a security guard’s nose or makes alien crabs transform into kittens in a science lab.
Whether posing as a coffee shop barista, museum curator or a seemingly unremarkable store clerk, Carbonaro’s illusions – along with his absurd, matter-of-fact explanations – leave people bewildered and viewers laughing.
Tickets for his Packard appearance range from $23 to $68 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Nov. 22 at Ticketmaster.com and the Packard box office, 1703 Mahoning Ave. NW.
NXT Live! Wrestling Coming to Packard
WARREN – WWE Presents NXT Live! Will come to Packard Music Hall on Jan. 11 for a 7:30 p.m. show.
The card will include NXT champion Adam Cole, NXT women’s champion Shayna Baszler, North American champion Roderick Strong, tag team champs Bobby Fish and Kyle O’ Reilly, Matt Riddle, Finn Balor, Tommaso Ciampa, Velveteen Dream, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Damian Priest and more (lineup is subject to change).
Tickets are $23, $43 asnd $78 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Nov. 22 at TicketMaster.com and the Packard box office, 1703 Mahoning Ave.
Janis Ian, Livingston Taylor Coming to E.J. Thomas Hall
AKRON – A double bill concert featuring Janis Ian and Livingston Taylor, two of folk music’s most enduring artists, will come to E.J. Thomas Hall on Feb. 28.
Now in her fifth decade of writing songs and performing, Ian received her 10th Grammy nomination in 2016 for the self-produced “Patience & Sarah,” an audio book she produced and co-narrated with actress Jean Smart.
Ian’s song “At Seventeen” has been featured in everything from anti-bullying commercials to television shows.
Taylor is a professor at Berklee College of Music, where he has taught a stage performance course since 1989.
Tickets for the 8 p.m. concert range from $58 to $68 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and by calling the E.J. Thomas box office at 330 253 2488.
John Waite, Music of Cream to play Kent Stage
KENT – The John Waite Band will play The Kent March 20, and the Music of Cream anniversary show will return on April 22.
Singer-songwriter John Waite has been a fixture of classic rock radio for nearly 40 years. His Kent Stage concert earlier this year was sold out. Waite first came to prominence as the vocalist and bassist of the English rock outfit The Babys, best known for the hits “Isn’t It Time?” and “Every Time I Think of You” in the late 1970s. That group disbanded in 1980 and Waite went on to a successful solo career, including No. 1 hit “Missing You.”
In 1988, Waite teamed up with former Babys members Jonathan Cain and Ricky Phillips, along with Neil Schon and drummer Deen Castronovo, to form the supergroup Bad English. At the time Cain and Schon were also members of Journey, which was on hiatus. Bad English went to the top of the charts with the ballad “When I See You Smile.”
The Kent Stage concert will feature songs from his solo career, The Babys and Bad English.
Tickets are $43 and $33 and are available at TheKentStage.com, by phone at 330 677 5005 and at the box office, which is open weekdays from noon to 6 p.m.
The late Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton comprised Cream, creating the blueprint for every supergroup to follow and the heavy blues precursor to Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.
Fifty years since their earth-shaking debut album, the pedigree of that trio have come together to pay tribute to Cream’s four-album reign in the late 1960s.
The Music of Cream includes Kofi Baker (son of Ginger) and Malcolm Bruce (son of Jack) unite with Will Johns (Eric’s nephew by marriage in recreating Cream songs such as “Spoonful,” “Strange Brew,” “Sunshine of Your Love,” “White Room,” “Crossroads” and “Badge.”
The members are shown interacting with their fathers on the big screen, and also share personal stories and insights with rare family footage and photographs.
Tickets are $45 and $35.
Jonny Lang coming to Robins Theatre
WARREN – Blues-rocker Jonny Lang will play the Robins Theatre on April 28.
Tickets for the 8 p.m. concert go on sale at 10 a.m. Nov. 22 at RobinsTheatre.com, by phone at 234 430 0005 and at the box office, 160 E. Market St., between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays.
A 24-hour online-only presale will begin at 10 am. Nov. 21. It is available only to Robins Theatre email list subscribers. To gain access, sign up for the newsletter
at Robinstheatre.com. An email with the ticket buying link and access code will be sent out Thursday morning before the pre-sale.
Meet and greet packages will also be available.
Lang was only 15 when he released his first platinum album, “Lie to Me.” Since then, he has built a reputation as one of the best live performers and guitarists of his generation. He has performed with The Rolling Stones, B.B. King, Aerosmith and Buddy Guy.
Throughout his career, Lang’s bluesy sound evolved into a modern R&B style closer to Stevie Wonder and contemporary gospel music. In 2007, Lang won a Grammy for Best Rock Gospel Album for his album “Turn Around.”
He has returned to those bluesy roots in his latest album, “Signs,” which features funk, rock and blues.
YSU Band-O-Rama at Stambaugh Auditorium
YOUNGSTOWN – The Youngstown State University Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble and Marching Pride will present Band-O-Rama at 7:30 p.m Nov. 21 at Stambaugh Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave.
Tickets are $7 ( $6 for senior citizens and students from other schools) and may be purchased the night of the show.
Band-O-Rama 2019 is a celebration of the Dana School of Music’s band program, and will mark one of the few times that the YSU Marching Band has performed on the Stambaugh stage.
The ensembles will perform in the first half of the concert.
Following intermission, the 170 -ember YSU Marching Pride perform selections from the 2019 season.
Free parking is available in adjacent lots.
Show Recreates Simon & Garfunkel Concert
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – “LIVE in Central Park [REVISITED]: Simon & Garfunkel” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 23 in Orr Auditorium on the Westminster College campus.
Award-winning recording artists Lee Lessack and Johnny Rodgers will recreate the 1981 night when more than 500,000 music fans gathered in New York’s Central Park to witness the reunion of folk duo Simon & Garfunkel.
The concert will include performances of “Mrs. Robinson,” “Homeward Bound,” “Scarborough Fair,” “Bridge over Troubled Waters” and “The Sound of Silence.”
For tickets, call the box office at 724 946 7354 or go to Westminster.edu.
‘Dead Man’s Cell Phone’ at KSU-Trumbull Theatre
WARREN – An incessantly ringing cell phone in a quiet café. A stranger at the next table who has had enough. And a dead man – with a lot of loose ends.
So begins “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” an imaginative comedy by Sarah Ruhl, that will open Nov. 22 at Kent State Trumbull Theatre.
The play is about how we memorialize the dead – and how that remembering changes us. It is the odyssey of a woman forced to confront her own assumptions about morality, redemption and the need to connect in a technologically obsessed world.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 22 and 23, and Dec. 6 and 7; and at 3 p.m. Nov. 24 and Dec. 8.
Tickets are $10 ($8 for students and senior citizens; $6 for children 12 and under) and will be sold at the door.
Artist Ron Moore Jr. at Generations Cafe
COLUMBIANA – Generations Café, 31 S. Main St., will host a Meet the Artist event with Ron Moore Jr., on Nov. 22 from noon to 9 p.m.
Moore will sell and sign his latest work, a painting of New Kids on the Block.
Known as the “Artist of Memories,” Moore creates portraits honoring individuals who have lost their lives tragically, including victims of recent mass shootings.
He was born and raised in Alliance and graduated from Alliance Commercial Art School. In 2004, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. After a severe bout of depression, he learned about a surgical procedure called deep brain stimulation that might allow him to regain his skills.
“When I was getting the deep brain stimulation, I promised myself that if I regained my artistic ability, I would use it to bless others,” explains Moore. “Now, I create these portraits, along with my other pieces, to help heal the world.”
Two Exhibitions at McDonough Museum of Art
YOUNGSTOWN –The McDonough Museum of Art, on the campus of Youngstown State University, will highlight work from two programs.
An opening reception for the shows will take place Nov. 22 from 5 to 7 p.m.The shows will remain on through Dec. 14.
The shows are the Fall Graduating BFA Exhibition and the MFA First Year and Collaborative Project.
Hours at the McDonough are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is free.
Pictured at top: David Newell, best known for playing Mr. McFeely on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” will be the featured speaker at the New Wilmington Community Thanksgiving Worship Service.
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