Just Around The Corner: March 2, 2000

Just Around The Corner
Noteworthy Events in the Greater Harrisburg Area

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story
Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, Lancaster
Through March 18

Some forty years after the plane crash that claimed his life, Buddy Holly is back on stage again — as the acclaimed musical, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story comes to Lancaster’s Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre.

Recreating Holly’s life from his humble beginnings to his eventual superstar status, the musical ends with the “Winter Dance Party” at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa — Holly’s last performance before he, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper were killed on February 2, 1959. At the time of his death at age 21, Holly had been perceived as music’s rising star, garnering 10 hits in America and Britain in a two-year period with songs such as “Peggy Sue” and “Oh, Boy.” Holly’s untimely death and the subsequent loss on the music world has since been immortalized in Don McLean’s hit, “American Pie,” a tune which proclaims the day of the accident, as simply, “the day the music died.”

Called an, “… unabashed, rabble-rousing fiesta …” by the Sunday Times, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story is now in its eleventh year in London’s West End and has played to audiences in San Francisco, Toronto, Australia, and on Broadway.

Performing the role of Buddy Holly for his third run is Clayton Fletcher, who is coming to the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater under an Equity guest contract. In addition to numerous stage credits, Fletcher has been seen nationally on “As The World Turns,” “Law and Order,” Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam, and the newly released Down To You.

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story will be at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre in Lancaster at various times through March 18. For more information and to make reservations, call 898-1900.

Exhibit: Pulp and Print Sculptures
Rose Lehrman Arts Center Gallery, HACC
March 6 – March 31

Beginning March 6, the Rose Lehrman Arts Center Gallery at the Harrisburg Area Community College will play host to an exhibition of sculptures and digital prints on handmade paper by artist Janet Ruby-Baird. The exhibit, “Pulp and Print Structures” is comprised of creations that were formed as a result of Ruby-Baird’s love of both art and computers.

An associate professor of Art and Computer design at Shippensburg University, Ruby-Baird recently developed several techniques that combined computer imaging and the tactile feel of traditional art.

“My love of the computer for what it does so well and my frustration with the computer for what it lacks led me to develop a series of techniques for ‘texturizing computer art’.”

The resulting works — created from the combination of computer imaging with such mediums as handmade paper, fabric, and thread and such traditional techniques as printing and collage — will be on display at the Rose Lehrman Arts Center Gallery through the month of March.

On March 22 from 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., Ruby-Baird will conduct a hands-on papermaking workshop in Room 122 of the Arts Center. At 3:30 p.m. on the same afternoon, Ruby-Baird will present a slide show and lecture on her work in Whitaker Hall, Room 214. The lecture will be followed by a reception for the artist at the Rose Lehrman Arts Gallery.

For more information, call 231-ROSE.

Concert: Quartetto Gelato
Leffler Chapel,
Elizabethtown College
March 14

Four scoops of music are coming this way! On March 14, Quartetto Gelato (Ice Cream Quartet in Italian) will perform in the Leffler Chapel and Performance Center at Elizabethtown College.

Known for their “flavorful” and “eclectic” style of music, Quartetto Gelato are slated to perform classical favorites, traditional melodies, operatic arias — and ice cream during the intermission!

Named Debut Artist of the Year in 1996 by National Public Radio’s Performance Today, the quartet has developed quite a name for themselves in the past four years, and selling out countless shows around the world and adding their special touch of playfulness and charm to traditional classical music. With instruments ranging from the violin to the mandolin, the quartet prides themselves on their diverse style. “Eclecticism is an inescapable part of Quartetto Gelato’s approach … Our repertoire might be described as a collection of music that, while traveling to different destinations, finds itself staying overnight in the same hotel,” says the group.

Quartetto Gelato will be at the Leffler Chapel and Performance Center at Elizabethtown College on March 14 at 8 p.m. Ticket prices are $20 and $25, $1/children ages 12 and under; half-price tickets for students are available. For more information, call 361-1508.

Concert: Ani DiFranco, Gillian Welch, Greg Brown
Scottish Rite Auditorium,
Harrisburg
March 19

Billed by some as “Three Songwriters, Three Stools, One Stage,” the March 19 performance of Ani DiFranco, (pictured left) Gillian Welch, and Greg Brown is sure to be an evening to remember.

DiFranco — “a folkie in punk’s clothing” according to All Music Guide — comes to the area as part of her first solo tour in many years and will be sharing the stage with Gillian Welch and Greg Brown, two ‘folk’ musicians who have made an impact on the music industry in their own right.

“Greg Brown and Gillian Welch came up because I thought it would be so incredible to be on the road with a couple of my favorite acoustic musicians,” DiFranco says. “It’s gonna be real different for all of us.”

The spring tour, designed to be intimate and personal, with most venues averaging between only 1200-3000 seats, is slated to end March 20.

Ani DiFranco, Gillian Welch, and Greg Brown will be at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Harrisburg on March 19 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $29.50, available at Ticketmaster or charge-by-phone at 570-693-1400.