The ringing clangs of swashbuckling sword fights resounded loudly in Buchholz High School’s auditorium at a midweek evening rehearsal. In front of a white-columned set piece, two pajama-clad teens duel with careful choreography, jousting silver swords and dodging calculated swings.
At 8 p.m. Friday night, Lucas Zelnick, a 28-year-old stand-up comedian from New York City, took the stage at the High Dive, aiming to deliver a memorable stand-up routine to a diverse audience.
Gainesville’s local art scene is home to a diverse array of fashion designers, musicians, writers and artists. An important component of its culture is the Black creatives that have paved the way for many following in their tracks.
Sarah Hinds, the 47-year-old artist-in-residence at UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine, organized a free event for Gainesville residents to make their own mosaic hearts as part of a project to bring a rainbow mosaic mural to the city.
In partnership with the Moisturizer Gallery, a nonprofit art gallery in Gainesville, the Black Space Art Exhibition will open Feb. 16 at the Thomas Center and will feature printmaking, painting, oils and ceramics created by local and out-of-town Black artists.
Solana Williams couldn’t find any art that looked like her on the walls of the museums she explored. Her only course of action was making it.
The Melrose Center, a community nonprofit organization, opened Studios of Melrose in early December in Melrose, Florida. The new art gallery features local, vintage and fair trade art and works. The space also acts as a gift shop selling Haitian paintings, handmade pottery, woodblock prints, art supplies, greeting cards and more.
Family dynamics are only one of the issues the musical tackles, presenting a challenge for creative director Stephanie Lynge when the Hippodrome Theatre, located at Southeast Second Place, added the production to its 2024 lineup. Premiering Friday, “Next to Normal” will be shown through Feb. 25.
In honor of Afrofuturism week, the Center for Arts, Migration and Entrepreneurship and the School of Art and Art History invited audiences Jan. 17 for a nine-day celebration of Black diaspora expression.
The Hippodrome Theatre went from a humble post office in 1911 to one of Florida’s most successful historic preservation projects in just over 100 years. Work on it isn’t finished yet, and if the next 100 years are anything like the previous, it may never be.
To some people, Christmas begins when a shining star is placed on the peak of an ornamented fir tree. For others, it starts when the radio decides it’s time to air Christmas music. But for many people in Gainesville, the holiday season doesn’t kick off until they view a theatrical spin of a classic tale.
A decade ago, Mickey Bell, a 50-year-old comedian from Birmingham, Alabama, struggled to just get out of bed. Now, he tours all over the country cracking jokes and sharing stories from his past hoping to inspire his crowd with messages about mental health recovery.
The vibrant colors and sounds of the beaded jingle dresses and feathered headdresses and the beat of the drums gave a Harn Museum audience a dynamic show for all the senses. This was only the beginning of the festivities for the celebratory holiday of Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the Harn Museum of Art Thursday night.
The Bar-Crossed Drunkards debuted their performance of “Taming of the Shrew” at High Dive, a bar and concert venue located at 210 SW 2nd Ave. The group specializes in drunk, farcical performances of Shakespeare plays, a routine they call ‘Drunk Shakespeare.’
The Hippodrome Theatre — located at 25 SE 2nd Place — celebrated Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate its cinema’s reopening after its first major renovation since 1981.
The Hippodrome’s latest production subverts the idea of an orderly presidential office from the moment the play begins when a four-letter expletive reverberates through the theater’s halls, kicking off an unapologetically witty and feminist performance. The theater debuted the first show of its 51st season, “POTUS: Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” Sept. 6.
Gainesville’s three movie theaters — Regal Celebration Pointe, Royal Park and Butler Town Center — celebrated National Cinema Day Sunday with $4 tickets for all movies and showtimes and discounted snack prices. The theaters even brought back several classic films for the day, such as the award-winning “Lady Bird,” “Jurassic Park,” “Coraline” and “American Graffiti.”
Bachelor’s and master’s students alike, UF has produced prosperous performers credited for projects such as “Be More Chill,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “West Side Story,” “Hamilton” and “Hadestown.”
The sold-out crowd of more than 200 people laughed, cried and cheered during the opening night of “Kinky Boots” on Friday. The eclectic production will be running until Aug. 13 at the Gainesville Community Playhouse.
The High Springs community lined up for public comment at the City Commission meeting July 13. The item on the docket is the latest local love story: the bond between High Springs and the Priest Theatre. The theater closed down during the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained closed ever since, losing its structural integrity with each passing day. But its community refuses to let it die.
Solutions by The State News
