Items tagged with 'Proctors'
The Collaborative
The new local arts magazine from Proctors -- The Collaborative -- is now online.
The publication is an outgrowth of the remains of The Alt, and its staff includes former Alt editors David Howard King and Katie Cusack.
Among the first group of stories: talking with choreographer Nadine Medina (from the Troy Dance Factory) about working with Capital Region music acts, a visit to The Lumberyard in Catskill, a bit about the opening of the Electric City Barn, and a look around local photographer Sarah Pezdek's home.
There's also this piece by David Howard King following along as Samson Contompasis painted that new mural of Henry Johnson along Henry Johnson Boulevard. A clip:
Tonight, though, he's drawing even more attention than usual. With the sun long disappeared behind the autumn night sky, Samson pulls up in his light blue minivan and affixes a projector to a utility box on one side of Henry Johnson, connects that to a MacBook, then carries his buckets of black paint and assorted brushes across the street to a lot littered with condom wrappers and discarded snack-food bags. He takes a long painter's pole and attaches a relatively tiny brush to its end.
A man with a sign declaring that he is homeless hobbles back and forth down the opposite side of the boulevard, sometimes answering queries from passersby about why there's a MacBook on the street corner late at night, and why no one's taken it.
Here's a list of spots where you'll be able to pick up a physical copy of the mag.
"On the Trail of Big Cats: Tigers, Cougars and Snow Leopards" at Proctors
A talk / presentation called National Geographic Live On the Trail of Big Cats: Tigers, Cougars and Snow Leopards will be at Proctors next Wednesday, November 14. Blurbage:
Join award-winning National Geographic photographer Steve Winter for a thrilling journey into the world of big cats. From trekking high in India's Himalaya in search of rare snow leopards and stalking the elusive jaguar through Latin American jungles to chronicling the nocturnal activities of the "American lion" or cougar, this determined explorer ventures far and wide to come face-to-face with his subjects. This is no easy task. Since many big cat species are in danger of extinction, they have good reason to avoid humans.
While these felines may be endangered, they're still wild, unpredictable creatures?and caution is required in their presence. Negotiating their habitats can be more dangerous still. Winter has been attacked by rhinos and gotten stuck in quicksand while working in the field. There have been lighter moments as well: mishaps with remote-control cameras, and waiting on a southern California hillside to catch a shot of a cougar under the famous "Hollywood" sign. Throughout it all, Winter's mission is to share the beauty of big cats while reinvigorating efforts to save them.
That's Winter's photo of a snow leopard above.
The show's at 7:30 pm on the Proctors main stage. Tickets are $30.
By the way: If you've never seen the Planet Earth episode with the snow leopard, it's worth checking out.
Steve Martin + Martin Short at Proctors
Humorous people Steve Martin and Martin Short will be at Proctors February 17 for a show together. Tickets go on sale this Friday, October 19 -- they're $75.50 and up.
Show blurbage:
In Now You See Them, Soon You Won't, comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short present new material in a variety of musical sketches and conversations about their iconic careers, most memorable encounters, and, of course, their legendary lives in show business. Grammy Award®-winning bluegrass band The Steep Canyon Rangers will join the duo on stage. The tour also features renowned pianist and Jimmy Kimmel Live band member Jeff Babko.
Martin and Short also teamed up for a Netflix special earlier this year, and also performed at Tanglewood in September.
Presumably Steve Martin's banjo will also be making an appearance.
photo: Anna Webber
Double Dare Live at Proctors
Slime is eternal.
The game show Double Dare -- yep, that Double Dare -- returned to Nickelodeon this past summer, and now a touring stage version of the revived show will be at Proctors November 17. Blurbage:
On your mark, get set, GO! The messiest game show on TV is now the messiest game show on the road. Double Dare Live is coming to your town and will bring all the action and excitement of Nickelodeon's hugely popular TV show to the stage. All the Slime soaking, pie plastering, and booger busting will be hosted by the Double Dare legend himself Marc Summers! Bring your whole family to the show you loved as a child. You might even get chosen to compete to win by answering brain-bending trivia questions, complete messy physical stunts and even run the legendary obstacle course!
Yes, the pick-the-giant-nose challenge is back. Nostalgia is a booger.
The show is on the main stage at Proctors. Tickets are $30 and up. (And here's info on potentially becoming a contestant.)
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Chris Lamberth
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series is bringing Chris Lamberth back to Proctors August 25. Tickets are $15 ahead / $20 at the door and available now.
Lamberth was a previously a headliner for the series back in 2016. Bio blurbage:
[Lamberth] has toured nationally with Chris Hardwick and shared the stage with notable comedians Maria Bamford, Bill Burr, D.L. Hughley, Marc Maron, Trevor Noah and Craig Robinson. He has been featured on AXS TV's Gotham Comedy Live, the webseries Co-Operation, MTV's prank show Bugging Out and the critically acclaimed podcast 2 Dope Queens. ...
His other television and film credits include High Maintenance (HBO), Jessica Jones (Netflix), The Last O.G. (TBS), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) and the upcoming film Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Fox Searchlight) starring Melissa McCarthy. He also serves as host of The Mundane Festival--a weekly podcast...
The show's at 8 pm. And with all Pretty Much shows, there will be a host and opener.
Four years of Pretty Much The Best Comedy Show
The show this August will mark the fourth-year anniversary of the Pretty Much The Best Comedy Show series, which has consistently brought interesting, rising comics through town, among them Aparna Nancherla and Josh Gondelman.
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Abbi Crutchfield + Luke Thayer
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series will be back at Proctors this Saturday, July 28 with two headliners on the bill: Abbi Crutchfield and Luke Thayer.
Show blurbage:
Abbi Crutchfield - As seen on Comedy Central's "Broad City," NBC's "The Mysteries of Laura," and current co-host of TruTV's "You Can Do Better", Abbi Crutchfield is a comedian named one of the 18 Funny Women You Should Be Following on Twitter by Huffington Post Comedy. She is a UCB alum and is a longtime producer of the acclaimed live comedy show The Living Room Show.
Luke Thayer - luke was just names Sirius XM's "Comedian Of The Month"! Luke has appeared at comedy festivals, clubs, and colleges across the country and internationally. His TV appearances include Fox's "Laughs," "Brain Games" on Nat Geo, Tyra, Food Network, and "All Night with Joey Reynolds" on NBC. Luke's also been a guest in Funny Or Die Originals and College Humor videos and listed in the NY Post's Comics' Favorite Jokes.
And, as it happens, they're married. (To each other.)
Show's at 8 pm. Tickets are $15 ahead / $20 at the door.
photos: Abbi Crutchfield via her Twitter account | Luke Thayer via his Facebook
Screening of The Place Beyond the Pines at Proctors with director Derek Cianfrance
Proctors is hosting a screening of The Place Beyond The Pines May 5 -- and the movie's director, Derek Cianfrance, will be there to talk about the experience of making the film.
As you know, The Place Beyond The Pines -- starring Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, and many other notable actors -- was largely shot in and around Schenectady. The production used a bunch of local homes and businesses for scenes. And the film was written by Schenectady native Ben Coccio.
The screening at Proctors is at 3 pm on Saturday, May 5. Tickets are $20. There's a VIP mixer at 1:30 pm (extra $50). There will be raffles of autographed The Place Beyond the Pines DVDs and movie posters to benefit the Northeast Filmmakers Lab.
William Shatner at Proctors
William Shatner. Will be at Proctors. For a screening of The Wrath of Khan. April 4. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 23 -- they're $35.50 and up.
The event is another classic film* and post-screening Q&A events. Blurbage:
William Shatner will be sharing fascinating and humorous stories from portraying the original Captain Kirk in the Star Trek television series and movies, and from his career spanning over 50 years as an award-winning actor, producer, director and writer. Fans will also have a chance to ask Mr. Shatner their question during the audience-led Q&A.
* Wrath of Khan is the best Star Trek film, right? Either that or IV.
2018-2019 lineups for Proctors Broadway shows and plays at The Rep
Local theater to host production of stage musical about Founding Father.
Yep, next year will be the year when Hamilton arrives at Proctors for a run during August 2019.
That was one of the details in the Proctors announcement Monday night of its upcoming Broadway lineup and the next season at Capital Repertory Theatre.
The Proctors lineup includes many shows that are currently playing on Broadway, so this will be an opportunity to see them while they're still hot. And The Rep season includes a world premiere and new spins on some old favorites.
Tickets for both series are now on sale as part of subscription packages. Individual show tickets will be available closer to the season starting. Some shows end up being very popular, so you might want to plan ahead a little bit for tickets if you're interested in going.
On with the lineups...
Andy Borowitz at Proctors
Writer/comedian Andy Borowitz will be at Proctors July 13. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 9.
Borowitz is most famous of late for his satirical pieces at The New Yorker. But back in the day he was chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool as one of the creators of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
The show is part of Borowitz's "Make America Less Embarrassing Again" tour. He'll be talking with WAMC's Joe Donahue on stage.
photo via Andy Borowitz Facebook
Bill Murray, Jan Vogler and Friends at Proctors
Bill Murray -- yep, that Bill Murray -- is set to appear at Proctors April 9 as part of a music and literature performance with cellist Jan Vogler. Tickets go on sale to the public this Thursday, February 8 -- they're $50 and up.
Show blurbage for New Worlds:
A program that showcases the core of the American values in literature and music. A show that communicates the bridges artists have built between America and Europe. Twain, Hemingway, Whitman, Cooper, Bernstein, Gershwin and Foster are some of the strongest voices that influenced generations of humans in America and gave the world a picture of the charm, energy and creative force of the New World.
The Hollywood star's love for classical music is young and his art of language boundless. All the more reason to look forward to a fascinating encounter between great music and great literature featuring two masters of their art.
Here's a trailer for the show that might give you a better sense of what it's like, along with a CBS Sunday Morning segment.
As the story goes, Murray and Vogler met in an airport (there was apparently a "cello in the overhead compartment" joke.) They're joined by violinist Mira Wang and pianist Vanessa Perez.
Death of A King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Final Year at Proctors
A multimedia stage show called Death of A King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Final Year will be at Proctors January 18. Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 3 -- they're $25.75 and up.
Death of King is based on the book of the same title by Tavis Smiley. Show blurbage:
Smiley narrates this joyful tribute that tells the little-known story of Dr. King's final year. Against all the odds and with his popularity in deep decline, King summoned the courage, conviction, commitment and character to bring a message of peace, equality and justice to a bitterly divided nation. Joining Smiley will be renowned jazz artist, Marcus Roberts, the genius of modern piano, who will perform stirring original compositions. Roberts' new album, Trio Crescent: Celebrating Coltrane, debuts later this month. Tony Award-winning Broadway and film director Kenny Leon (A Raisin in The Sun, The Mountaintop, August Wilson's Fences) serves as Creative Consultant.
That first link above includes a sample of the show.
Here's a USA Today article about the touring production, and a NYT review of the book from which it's adapted.
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Erik Bergstrom
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series at Proctors brings Erik Bergstrom back for a stand-up show Saturday, October 28. Tickets are $15 ahead / $20 day of.
Show blurbage:
Bergstrom's hilariously dark comedy is a fitting match for Halloween weekend, as an illustrator and author, he published his first book, "Grimmer Tales" (Penguin Books) in 2009 and has had his illustrations repeatedly appear in the New Yorker and other publications. Last year, after finessing his set right here at Pretty Much The Best Comedy Show, Comedy Central picked Bergstrom to record and produce his first Half-Hour on their network, which aired in September of 2016.
Bergstrom also survived a bout with cancer during the last few years. As he told Splitsider: "Cancer is the best agent I've ever had. When I got this special I got emails from agents wanting to know if I wanted to sign with them, but I was like, 'If I want another TV spot I'll just have more cancer.'"
The show starts at 8 pm.
photo via Erik Bergstrom Facebook
Nathan Lane + The Bird Cage at Proctors
The latest movie screening + famous person Q&A event: Proctors will be hosting a Q&A with actor Nathan Lane and a screening of The Bird Cage November 10. Tickets go on sale this Friday, October 6 -- they're $35 and up.
Event blurbage:
Hear behind-the-scenes stories from his life and the exemplary career which has earned him two Tony Awards, two Daytime Emmy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and numerous other accolades and nominations. The evening will begin with a showing of one of his most defining and hilarious films, The Birdcage, followed by a live moderated discussion with Nathan himself.
Also coming up at Proctors
+ An Evening with Alan Alda on November 9
+ Joe Biden on November 20
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Casey James Salengo
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series at Proctors has Casey James Salengo lined up for this Saturday. Tickets are $15 ahead / $20 day of.
Salengo was on Jimmy Kimmel earlier this month. And he has a half-hour Comedy Central special coming out this fall. And he's originally from Middleburgh. As he posted on Facebook this week: "My entire extended family and many childhood friends will be seeing me for the first time so come on out if you want to witness an actual nightmare I've had come to life."
The bill also includes Courtney Maginnis. Earlier this year she was on Studio 360 talking about balancing her stand-up comedy with her day job as a lingerie designer.
The show starts at 8 pm on Saturday, August 26 in the Proctors education center space.
Joe Biden at Proctors
Joe Biden will be at Proctors November 20 as part of tour for his new memoir. Tickets go on sale July 28 -- they're $75 (and up) and include a copy of the book. (It looks like there's also a presale.)
Event blurbage:
This fall, Vice President Joe Biden will travel the nation for his American Promise Tour, a series of conversations that will go beyond the 24-hour news cycle and 140-character arguments to connect friends and neighbors around the topics that matter most. Vice President Biden will reveal the big political moments of his career, the life-altering choices he made, and the key traits that have helped him persevere through challenges and live with purpose. "It's a lucky man who gets out of bed every morning, puts his feet on the ground, knows what he wants to do, and knows it still matters," says Vice President Biden. "I still count myself lucky."
Biden's memoir -- PROMISE ME, DAD: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose -- is about his life in 2015, serving as the vice president while his son was dying of brain cancer.
photo: David Lienemann
Proctors 2017-2018 season
Proctors has released a big list of shows and events for its 2017-2018 season -- some new, some already announced. Aforementioned big list is below.
A few that of the new ones that caught our eye:
+ September 17: "A Seat at the Table" with Beekman 1802
+ November 9: An Evening with Alan Alda
+ January 17: David Brooks (the NYT columnist)
+ January 24: Just Call Me God: A Dictator's Final Speech (featuring John Malkovich)
+ April 6: Jacques Pepin
+ April 27: Patti LuPone
Tickets for (most of) the new shows go on sale this Friday, May 5.
On to the big list...
2017-2018 lineups for Proctors Broadway shows and Capital Rep
A touring production of Hamilton will be coming to Proctors during the 2018-2019 season.
Yep, that's a big deal because it's a hugely popular show. But it's also a year and a half (or more) away. And don't overlook a very solid lineup of Broadway shows for the 2017-2018 season, including the excellent The Color Purple.
Proctors announced that lineup -- along with the next Capital Rep lineup -- Monday night.
Tickets for both series go on sale today (February 7) as part of subscription packages. Individual show tickets will be available closer to the season starting. People who buy subscription packages this year will have first crack at Hamilton tickets next year.
Some shows end up being very popular, so you might want to plan ahead a little bit for tickets if you're interested in going.
Without further ado...
One-Man Star Wars Trilogy at Proctors
The One-Man Star Wars Trilogy show is returning to Proctors January 28 for two performances. Tickets are $30 and currently on sale.
What is this show? Blurbage:
Created and brought to life on stage by Canadian actor Charles Ross, One-Man Star Wars Trilogy is just what it seems--a live solo performance of the original trilogy of Star Wars movies (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi)! The multi-talented Ross stuns audiences by singlehandedly playing all the characters, singing the music, flying the ships, fighting the battles and condensing the Star Wars plots into just over 60 minutes of live entertainment.
The show is in the GE Theater at Proctors. The performances are at 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm.
Found Footage Festival 2016 at Proctors
The Found Footage Festival tour returns to Proctors this Friday, December 16. Tickets are $15 / $10 for students.
Blurbage:
The Found Footage Festival is a one-of-a-kind event showcasing videos found at garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and dumpsters throughout North America. Curators Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher take audiences on a guided tour of their latest and greatest VHS finds, providing live commentary and where-are-they-now updates on the people in these videotaped obscurities. From the curiously-produced industrial training video to the forsaken home movie donated to Goodwill, the Found Footage Festival resurrects these forgotten treasures and serves them up in a lively celebration of all things found.
The clip embedded above is a trailer for the show. It's one cringe moment after another. (Also, the audio at the end is maybe a little NSFW.)
Bryan Ferry at Proctors
Bryan Ferry is set to play a concert at Proctors March 30. Tickets go on sale this Friday, December 9 -- they're $30 and up.
Ferry was the frontman for the influential 70s art rock band Roxy Music. And he's had a winding solo career since the band's breakup in the early 80s. More recently a jazz take on one of his songs was included in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby and Ferry popped up at Coachella and Glastonberry. And in late 2014 he released a new album.
Also, the "personal life" section of his Wikipedia page is worth a read. All that's missing is an episode in which he records "Christmas Is All Around."
photo via Bryan Ferry website
Thomas Friedman at Proctors
Thomas Friedman will be at Proctors February 9 for a talk titled "The Big Trends Shaping the World Today: Economics, Technology and Geopolitics." Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 4 -- they're $35 and up.
Friedman is, of course, the New York Times columnist and three-time Pulitzer winner who's written a bunch of books about globalization and related issues, such as The World is Flat (which sold 2 million copies), That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back, and the upcoming Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations.
He occupies this weird position both as a standard bearer of the thinkfluencer industrial complex and someone who is frequently mocked for repackaging random anecdotes as wisdom, or for just being wrong.
Also, he visited the GE Global Research Center a few years back and somehow didn't end up sharing a Niskayuna cab driver story in his column about it.
Brain Candy Live at Proctors
The Brain Candy Live stage show -- starring Adam Savage (of Mythbusters fame) and Michael Stevens (of Vsauce Youtube fame) -- will be at Proctors February 24. Tickets go on sale this Friday (October 28) -- they're $25 and up.
Show blurbage:
By the way: Tickets for that Neil deGrasse Tyson event at Proctors April 24 announced earlier this fall are now sale.
Unelectable You at Proctors
A touring show from Second City an Slate (yep, the website) called Unelectable You will be at Proctors October 28. Tickets are $20 and up, and currently on sale.
Show blurbage:
Wouldn't you like to take this whole election process and rip it apart with your bare hands? Why not let Second City and Slate do it for you!
Yes, Second City and Slate present Unelectable You: The Second City's Completely Unbiased Political Revue, a fast-paced combination of sketch, improv, music and multi-media taking a hard-hitting look at our election process. We're stuck with two of the least popular candidates in election history, and many people will be using this election not to vote for someone, but against. From breaking down Hillary and Donald, to exploring the media circus, to looking at ourselves to see if we're the problem, this show will examine what it means to be electable - or not.
Given that the reality of this presidential election has already often played like a dark parody, spinning the thing for (good) laughs seems like it could be a challenge. But a few of the reviews were able to turn seemed to think the show pulls it off (though apparently the Slate segments have the mouthfeel of advertorial).
The show is Friday, October 28 at 8 pm on the Proctors main stage.
Neil deGrasse Tyson returning to Proctors
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is set to return to Proctors April 24, 2017. Tickets are not yet no sale -- the on-sale date is TBA -- but they'll $20 and up.
Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. But he's become a prominent pop culture figure as a communicator and advocate for science, hosting TV shows such as the rebooted Cosmos, appearing on The Daily Show, and accreting a huge following on Twitter.
This time around the event is being touted as "Neil deGrasse Tyson: The Cosmic Perspective."
Proctors says his last appearance there, this past April, sold out. So if you'd like to go, it's worth keeping an eye out for when tickets go on sale.
photo: Cutty McGill
Liz Miele at Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series is bringing Liz Miele to Proctors September 10. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $15 ahead, $20 day of.
Show blurbage: "Profiled in the New Yorker at the start of her career, Miele has become a focused observational comic with a unique voice and the ability to home in on the world's quirks."
Here are a couple of recent clips from her standup, about feminist sex positions and Tinder. (Yep, both of those are probably not OK to play with the sound up in a typical work setting.)
And here's a Paste profile of Miele from this summer, along with a Guardian article about how George Carlin became a mentor to her.
As with other Pretty Much shows, the night also includes an opener and a host. Show starts at 8 pm in the Proctors education center.
photo via Liz Miele website
John Cleese at Proctors for live Q&A following screening of Monty Python and The Holy Grail
The latest classic movie screening with live star Q&A set to make a stop here: John Cleese will be at Proctors January 19 for a conversation on stage following a screening of Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Tickets go on sale to the general public next Tuesday (August 9) -- they're $40 and up.
Event blurbage:
John will tell stories of his life and career and you just may finally find out the air-speed of an unladen swallow. Before John silly walks his way on to the stage, the excitement will build as the audience will get to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail in its entirety on the big screen.
Noted: "Absurd and/or ridiculous questions only, please."
These sorts of events have been popular lately -- Mel Brooks was at Proctors last fall for a Blazing Saddles screening, and Molly Ringwald was there this past winter for a screening of The Breakfast Club.
Noré Davis at Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series is bringing Noré Davis to Proctors August 20. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $15 ahead / $20 day of.
Davis has appeared on Comedy Central, MTV, Inside Amy Schumer, Last Week Tonight, and Boardwalk Empire. He also appeared in an interesting short video for The New Yorker a few years back about scraping to work his way up the comedy career ladder. As he said in that video of the vulnerability of performing in front of people: "I could say something that really upsets you -- or really make you laugh. That risk, I love."
The show at the Proctors Underground is Saturday, August 20 at 8 pm. It will also include a host and a guest comedian opener.
Also on the Pretty Much upcoming slate: Shane Torres on July 30. Tickets for that show are also $15 ahead / $20 day of.
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series has turned out to be a good opportunity to catch comedians on the rise. A few of the comedians gone on to much wider success not too long after appearing there, including Aparna Nancherla and Josh Gondelman.
photo: Mindy Tucker
Hannibal Buress at Proctors
Comedian Hannibal Buress will be at Proctors July 29 for a stand-up show. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $20 and up.
Buress has been popping up all sorts of places in recent years: his own comedy specials on Netflix, TV shows such as Broad City, movies, a bunch of late night show appearances. (He's also gotten attention for his 2014 bit about Bill Cosby and how it prompted increased attention on the accusations against Cosby.)
Buress was last in town this past fall for show at Skidmore. And in February of 2015 he played a sold-out show at The Egg.
photo via Hannibal Buress website
Proctors 2016-2017 season
This week Proctors released a big schedule of shows and events for its 2016-2017 season -- some new, some already announced. A big list is after the jump.
One of the new dates that caught our eye: Christopher Lloyd Goes Back to the Future on February 19 (yep, next year). Tickets $20 and up -- they're on sale now. Blurbage:
Great Scott! It's the event that will be generating 1.21 gigawatts of power as Christopher Lloyd ("Dr. Emmett Brown" from Back to the Future) takes the stage in this electrifying live event! "Doc Brown" himself will rev up the excitement to 88 MPH as he shares hilarious and revealing behind-the-scenes stories from the making of the film, his experience working with Michael J. Fox and Steven Spielberg, and much more.
The event will also include Q&A with the audience.
OK, on to that list...
The Puppet Dead at Proctors
This looks like... well, we're not really sure: A show called The Puppet Dead is set to be at Proctors October 26. It's a musical parody of The Walking Dead. With puppets. Blurbage:
Get ready to have your funny bone annihilated as your favorite apocalyptic show gets torn to shreds in this hilarious unauthorized parody ... None of your favorite Walking Dead characters are safe in this razor sharp comedy that delivers laughs and destruction--and did we mention puppets? ...
From the dark creative minds that brought you Kids in the Hall Live, Mythbusters Live, and from the producers of Archer Live! comes The Puppet Dead, a twisted, and hysterical take on the hit series. This new musical parody features survivors (some human, some felt-based life forms) packing some serious comedy ammunition as they slay the undead and lay on the laughter in this infectiously funny farce. Comedy has a new sheriff in town...Will you survive The Puppet Dead?
You know, if the puppetpocalypse ever does come, it might be better to just go gently.
Tickets for The Puppet Dead at Proctors go on sale this Friday, April 1 -- they're $25 and up.
Weird Al at Proctors
"Weird Al" Yankovic is set to play a show at Proctors September 17. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 26 -- they're $30 and up.
The Proctors show will be part of a continuation of Weird Al's tour supporting his Mandatory Fun album. Press release blurbage:
According to Al: "I've decided to do the Mandatory World Tour for one more year, after learning that some people didn't make it out to the show this last time around. Apparently, they don't know the meaning of the word 'mandatory'!!
So, you've been notified.
Weird Al's accordion-fueled rampage across the nation brought him to the Palace last summer.
photo via Weird Al's website
The Triplets of Belleville with live score at Proctors
This could be fun: Proctors will be hosting a screening of the animated film The Triplets of Belleville with a live performance of the score in the GE Theater February 13.
The score will be played be a nine-piece jazz ensemble -- Le Terrible Orchestre de Belleville -- led by Benoît Charest, who wrote much of the music for the film. The clip embedded above is the ensemble playing along with the film in Montreal a few years back.
And if you've never seen the film -- it's a surreal blending o 1930s jazz, the Tour de France, the mob, and a mystery.
The performance at Proctors is Saturday, February 13 at 8 pm. Tickets are $20 and up.
2016-2017 lineups for Proctors Broadway shows and Capital Rep
The Broadway season at Proctors includes the Tony-winning play The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. / photo: Joan Marcus
Proctors and Capital Rep have jointly announced their lineups for the next season of Broadway shows and theater productions. The Broadway series at Proctors includes a bunch of prominent shows -- including a little musical called Wicked. And the Cap Rep lineup again includes a world-premiere play.
Tickets for both series go on sale today (February 2) as part of subscription packages. Individual show tickets will be available closer to the season starting.
Some shows end up being very popular, so you might want to plan ahead a little bit for tickets if you're interested in going.
Without further ado...
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Josh Gondelman
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series at Proctors brings Josh Gondelman to town for a stand-up show January 23. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $15 ahead / $20 day of.
You might not recognize Gondelman's name, but you've probably seen his work. He's co-creator of the Modern Seinfeld Twitter feed. And he's also a writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver -- he wrote the pumpkin spice latte bit for the show's web series.
Gondelman co-authored a book -- You Blew It!: An Awkward Look at the Many Ways in Which You've Already Ruined Your Life -- published last month. And he has a half-hour special set to run on Comedy Central later this year.
Here's a New York Observer profile of Gondelman from last fall.
The show at Proctors (in the Education Center) starts 8 pm on Saturday, January 23.
Neil deGrasse Tyson at Proctors
The Neil deGrasse Tyson will be at Proctors April 11. Tickets go on sale to the general public December 15 -- they're $25.75 and up.
Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. But he's become a prominent pop culture figure as a communicator and advocate for science, hosting TV shows such as the rebooted Cosmos, appearing on The Daily Show, and accreting a huge following on Twitter.
The Proctors event is billed as "An Evening with Neil deGrasse Tyson." Further blurbage: "Join America's favorite science communicator in an 'engaging conversation on science, exploration and the world as we know it.'" It also looks like there will be Q&A with the audience.
photo: Cutty McGill
It's a play. It's a ping pong game. It's both.
Something a bit different: A show at Proctors next week -- ChipandGus: A Comedy with Balls -- is both a play and... a ping pong game. Blurbage:
The action takes place during an actual 90-minute game, with two college town colleagues meeting for their monthly session. But this night is different; there is something else in the room, and the evening becomes something more than just another match.
As it happens, the play is set in Schenectady. Backstory blurbage:
[Writer/actor John] Ahlin discovered the city's curious name as a child, on family drives from Westchester to the Adirondacks, and he was held forever in thrall by its odd collection of consonants ("I became one of the fastest spellers of Schenectady around," he says, chuckling). As fate would have it, he married a woman from Schenectady, and his longtime fascination found fruition in ChipandGus.
"My character," he says, "in particular, is a champion of the city's great dynamic history, and its glorious denizens and visitors over the years."
Ahlin plays one side of the game, fellow writer/actor Christopher Patrick Mullen the other. And apparently they really are playing ping pong during the show.
ChipandGus is Friday, November 20 at 7:30 pm in the GE Theater at Proctors. Tickets are $20 and $30. Proceeds benefit the Schenectady Light Opera Company.
photo via ChipandGus FB page
PostSecret: The Show at Proctors
PostSecret: The Show -- a stage show based on the popular web project -- will be at Proctors for a multi-show run January 29-31 in the GE Theater. Tickets are now on sale -- they're $30 and up.
Blurbage:
With original music, recorded voices, projected images, and video, PostSecret: The Show becomes an immersive experience as three actors guide the audience through a crowd-sourced narrative of the stories behind some of the most sexual, sad, funny and controversial - many of which have never been seen before.
Various PostSecret exhibits and talks have come through the area in recent years, and they seem to be popular. So you might want to get tickets sooner rather than later if you'd like to go this show.
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Beth Stelling
Comedian Beth Stelling will be at Proctors this Friday for a stand-up show as part of the Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series. Tickets are $15.
Stelling appeared on Comedy Central last month in a half-hour feature of her stand-up. And she's been on a bunch of the late night shows. And she has a new comedy album out, Simply The Beth. Here's a recent interview with Splitsider.
The show this Friday (November 6) at Proctors is on the Fenimore Gallery stage. And a guest comedian will open. Show starts at 8 pm.
Molly Ringwald Revisits the Club at Proctors
Treasured old movie screening + live appearance by one of its stars has apparently become a bit of thing lately. And here's the latest lined up to come through town: Molly Ringwald will be at Proctors February 6 for a screening of The Breakfast Club followed by an on-state discussion and Q&A with her. Tickets go on sale November 2 -- they're $20 and up.
By the way: The Breakfast Club is now 30 years old.
This Breakfast Club/Molly Ringwald event follows the similar Blazing Saddles/Mel Brooks event that was at Proctors last weekend. And a year ago a similar sort of event with The Princess Bride and Cary Elwes sold out in Saratoga Springs (it was also pegged to a new memoir from Elwes). As it happens -- and probably not as some wish -- Elwes was scheduled for another similar event at Proctors earlier this month, but it was canceled (apparently the tour itself was canceled because of some sort of conflict with filming schedule).
Alton Brown returning to Proctors
Announced today: Alton Brown will be back at Proctors April 30 for another live show. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $20 and up.
Show blurbage:
With "Eat Your Science," fans can expect more comedy, talk show antics, multimedia presentations and music (yes, he sings) but Brown is adding a slew of fresh ingredients including new puppets, songs, bigger and potentially more dangerous experiments and what every cook needs in his kitchen: FIRE.
As you know, Alton Brown is a longtime Food Network personality/host. His Good Eats series is probably one of the best cooking shows of all time -- it explored the technique and science behind food in an accessible and fun (often goofy) way.
He was last at Proctors in 2014, all bundled up.
Lidia Bastianich, Garrison Keillor at Proctors
Proctors announced a handful of new shows today and two caught our eye:
Lidia Bastianich
Chef/restaurateur/cook book author/television host Lidia Bastianich will be at Proctors November 13 for An Intimate Conversation with Lidia Bastianich. It's billed as "an evening of conversation and storytelling celebrating our love of Italian food." $20 and up
Garrison Keillor
Radio personality/author Garrison Keillor will be at Proctors January 25 for An Evening with Garrison Keillor. Blurbage: "fans can expect a warm, funny and enlightening session of humorous conversation and hilarious anecdotes drawn from a life spent on the stage and on the page." $20 and up
(By the way: Keillor has said his last Prairie Home Companion show will be at Tanglewood in July of next summer.)
Tickets are on sale for both events.
photo: Diana DeLucia Photography
Mel Brooks at Proctors
Mel Brooks is set to appear at Proctors October 16 as part of a screening of his film Blazing Saddles. Tickets go on sale this Thursday (August 20) -- they're $40 and up.
The event will include a screening of Blazing Saddles on the Proctors main stage screen, followed by "a live conversation and audience Q&A" with Brooks.
It's been four decades since Blazing Saddles was first released. It's #6 on the AFI's list of "100 funniest American films of all time." Last year Brooks talked with Entertainment Weekly about the film -- touching on the conflicts with the studio, the contributions of Richard Pryor, and whether the movie would be made today.
Found Footage Festival 2015
The Found Footage Festival tour returns to Proctors June 17. Tickets are $9 and on sale now.
What is the Found Footage Festival. Well, look at this blurbage that we found in our inbox:
The Found Footage Festival is a one-of-a-kind event showcasing videos found at garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and dumpsters throughout North America. Curators Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher take audiences on a guided tour of their latest and greatest VHS finds, providing live commentary and where-are-they-now updates on the people in these videotaped obscurities. From the curiously-produced industrial training video to the forsaken home movie donated to Goodwill, the Found Footage Festival resurrects these forgotten treasures and serves them up in a lively celebration of all things found.
Among the clips featured in the Found Footage Festival's Salute to Weirdos:
+ An arts & crafts instructional video by a woman who is psychotically enthusiastic about sponge painting.
+ A montage of exercise video weirdos, including Angela Lansbury, Traci Lords and a bearded hippie named Zar.
+ Highlights from 24 years of public access TV weirdos, featuring a woman singing about hairdressers, a speedo-wearing man dancing for elderly people and a piano-playing rabbit.
+ Consummate weirdo Arnold Schwarzenegger in a 1983 travel video called "Carnival In Rio," seductively feeding a woman a carrot.
The show starts at 8 pm on Wednesday, June 17. Also: "For Mature Audiences Only."
Proctors 2015-2016 season
Proctors announced a bunch of new shows Monday for the next year -- some 60 in all. (We had to admit we didn't count.) And tickets are now on sale for them.
Here are a few that caught our eye on the first scan through the schedule...
Mythbusters at Proctors
The live show MythBusters Jamie & Adam UNLEASHED! will be at Proctors November 24. Tickets go on sale this Friday (May 8) -- they're $20 and up.
So, obviously, this show is based on the popular Mythbusters TV series, and Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage are the hosts. Show blurbage:
MythBusters Jamie & Adam UNLEASHED! presents a fantastical evening of on-stage experiments, audience participation, exciting videos, and behind-the-scenes stories. With this show, fans join Jamie and Adam onstage to assist in their mind-blowing and mind-twisting approaches to science. MythBusters Jamie & Adam UNLEASHED! brings you face-to-face with the curious world of Jamie and Adam as the duo matches wits on stage with each other and members of the audience. Jamie Hyneman has announced that he will end touring with the live show this year.
The Proctors show is at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, November 24.
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Giulia Rozzi
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series at Proctors is bringing Giuli Rozzi to town on Saturday for a standup show.
Rozzi has appeared on The Moth, a bunch of TV shows, and in print around the web. And he's had her own Upright Citizens Brigade show, "Bad Bride." Here's a clip from a recent Washington Post interview with her about her comedy:
Most of it is just really silly and stupid -- and probably some of it is self-serving. It's like: "Oh, I just want to tell this story about me." But I try to discuss issues that affect women -- in a funny way -- and issues about depression and anxiety and relationships. I think that just sharing a very open, self-aware style of comedy and storytelling, I think that . . . helps other people have permission to be more honest themselves.
The show at Proctors starts at 8 pm on Saturday. Tickets are $15.
Proctors Broadway series 2015-2016
Corrected.
Proctors has announced the lineup of Broadway-style shows that will be at the theater for the 2015-2016 season. As usual, the slate includes some very popular shows, including The Lion King and the return of The Book of Mormon.
A condensed version of the lineup is after the jump.
Tickets for the shows are currently only available through season-long subscriptions. Individual show tickets will be available closer to the season starting.
Some shows end up being very popular, so you might want to plan ahead a little bit for tickets if you're interested in going.
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Aparna Nancherla
Looking ahead to the weekend: The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series has Aparna Nancherla coming into town for a standup show Saturday.
Nancherla has been on TV a bunch of times, including appearances on Comedy Central and Conan. From her bio: "Aparna's comedic goggles are dry and observational, and her act is sprinkled with absurdist wit and a whimsical point-of-view." A clip of a Conan appearance is post jump.
The opener this month is the one and only Kevin Marshall.
The show starts at 8 pm Saturday in the Underground at Proctors. Tickets are $15. And we hear last month's show sold out, so getting tickets ahead of time isn't a bad idea.
photo: Mark Manning
"I have no idea what we're going to play. I won't be able to tell you until it's about to happen."
Jazz vibraphonist Stefon Harris -- an Albany High School grad -- is playing at Proctors this Thursday. And while doing a little bit of background on him, we came across this TED talk he did a few years back.
We enjoyed the clip because 1) Half of it is Harris and his improvisational jazz quartet doing their thing and the vibraphone is kind of this dreamy, magical instrument; 2) Harris talks a bit collaborating with others on the fly, and how mistakes are an opportunity.
The show at Proctors is at 7:30 pm Thursday in the GE Theater. It's a benefit for the Schenectady Ring of Hope Boxing Club. Tickets are $40 and up.
Oh, and here's one more fun clip, of Harris playing a short vibraphone solo.
Proctors advertises on AOA.
Found Footage Festival at Proctors
Could be (cringe-inducing) fun: The Found Footage Festival tour, a film and live comedy show, will be at Proctors this Wednesday. Blurbage:
The Found Footage Festival is a one-of-a-kind event showcasing videos found at garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and dumpsters throughout North America. Curators Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher take audiences on a guided tour of their latest and greatest VHS finds, providing live commentary and where-are-they-now updates on the people in these videotaped obscurities. From the curiously-produced industrial training video to the forsaken home movie donated to Goodwill, the Found Footage Festival resurrects these forgotten treasures and serves them up in a lively celebration of all things found.
Among the videos they'll be screening: a 1997 instructional video called "How to Have Cybersex on the Internet."
The Proctors show starts at 8 pm Wednesday. Tickets are $9 / $6 for students.
Earlier on AOA: The First (and Probably Last) Annual Capital Region Feline Film and Video Festival for Humans at The Spectrum
photo: Eric Llung
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show
A new monthly comedy series called "Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show" starts this Wednesday, August 27 at Proctors. The show's at 8 pm and tickets are $15.
The headliner for the first show is Ahmed Bharoocha, who has appeared on Comedy Central and starred in a popular YouTube sketch comedy series. His standup bit on same-sex marriage was upworthied* and shared millions of times.
The Pretty Much series is the creation of local humorous gentleman Ethan Ullman and fellow comic Thomas Attila Lewis. The series will return each month, though day of the month will shift around for the next handful of months. The second show is currently slated for October 2.
* This website's name was used as a verb and you'll totally guess what happened next.
Proctors AnimationFest 2014
The annual AnimationFest returns to Proctors next week -- it runs August 19-23.
As in years in past, the slate of approximately 20 films is wide ranging: from the recent popular (The LEGO Movie) to comic books (Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher) to the critically-acclaimed (Oscar-nominated short films) to anime classics (Akira).
Multiple films will be screened each day, and each film will get multiple screenings. The schedule includes some kid-friendly morning screenings, too.
Tickets for individual screenings are $5 for adults, $3 for kids. Festival passes are $25 for adults, $15 for kids.
Proctors 2014-2015 season
A few shows that caught our eye while skimming through the recently released Proctors schedule for the 2014-2015 season:
October 28: Evil Dead the Musical
Based on the Sam Raimi films. Because... why not.
November 7-8: Twin Infinity: Intergalactic Nemesis Book 3
The sort of live graphic novel/radio show returns again.
November 15: Cesar Milan
The Dog Whisperer himself.
December 23-28: Elf the Broadway Musical
Based on the film.
January 24: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Deconstructing the Early Beatles
Another in the very popular series from Beatles expert Scott Freiman.
March 10-11: Blue Man Group
Popular. And very blue.
February 28-March 1: Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles
Very popular Beatles tribute act. Shows have sold out on previous swings through the area.
Tickets are on sale now. And we suspect some of these will be popular, so if you're interested in going, you might think about getting tickets sooner rather than later.
And, of course, these are just a few shows that caught our eye. There are many others on the schedule.
Earlier on AOA: Proctors Broadway series 2014-2015
Proctors advertises on AOA.
Proctors Broadway series 2014-2015
Proctors has announced the lineup of Broadway-style shows that will be at the theater over the next season. The six-show slate includes some very popular shows, including Newsies and Jersey Boys.
A condensed version of the lineup is after the jump.
Tickets for the show are currently available to renewing subscribers. New subscriptions are open May 6. And individual show tickets will be available closer to the season starting. Some shows end up being very popular -- see The Book of Mormon this current season -- so you might want to plan ahead a little bit for tickets if you're interested in going.
Drawing: Jim Belushi and The Board of Comedy at Proctors
Drawing's closed! Winner's been emailed!
Jim Belushi's known for his many film and TV roles. But he got his start with the famous Chicago comedy group The Second City. And he's recently returned to his roots with a touring improv comedy show -- Jim Belushi and The Board of Comedy -- which will be at Proctors April 2. We have a pair of tickets for the show and we're giving them away -- maybe to you.
To enter the drawing, please answer this question in the comments:
What's a word that you find funny?
Yep, pretty simple. Just a word that you find funny -- maybe because of the way it sounds, or the way it's spelled, or what it means. Whatever. A quick line about why you find it funny won't help your odds, but it will earn your comment secret non-redeemable gold stars.
The show includes Belushi (of course), along with a group of about four other comedians and a musician. Belushi from the show blurbage:
"We are not stand-up comedians. Our show is not a passive, sit-back-and-watch experience. Most of the fun we have on stage comes from our inclusion of the audience - we get suggestions from them to begin each scene we perform, and in certain instances, bring them on-stage with us to add to our performance. It's less a 'show' and more a party. At least it feels like one to me. This group of actors brings me right back to how I started out in comedy - maybe that's why we have so much fun doing it."
The show starts at 8 pm on Wednesday, April 2 on the Proctors main stage. Tickets are $20 and up.
Important: All comments must be submitted by 11:59 pm on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 to be entered in the drawing. You must answer the question to be part of the drawing. (Normal commenting guidelines apply.) One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly) with your comment. The winner will be notified via email by noon on Thursday, March 27 and must respond by noon on Friday, March 28.
Proctors advertises on AOA.
John Legend at Proctors
Concert announcement season continues: Singer/songwriter/musician John Legend is set to play Proctors May 16. Tickets go on sale this Monday (February 17) -- the price range is $25-$85.
The show "will feature Legend in an intimate and acoustic setting, highlighted by guitar/vocal accompaniment as well as a string quartet."
By the way: Legend has won 9 Grammys -- so many that they have their own Wikipedia entry.
photo via John Legend website
Win tickets to Alton Brown at Proctors
Drawing's closed!
Food Network host Alton Brown is bringing his "Edible Inevitable Tour" To Proctors on Thursday, February 13th -- and we have four tickets that could be yours.
Brown is the host of Iron Chef America and appears on Next Food Network Star. But he first became popular for Good Eats -- where he used his own quirky sensibility to examine the science behind food and cooking.
From the blurbage about the tour:
With his upcoming tour, Alton Brown brings his brand of quirky humor and culinary-science antics to the stage. The ninety minute show is a unique blend of stand up comedy, food experimentation, talk show antics, multimedia lecture, and, for the first time...live music.
Audience interaction is strictly enforced throughout the evening though; if you're called upon as a culinary assistant, you'll definitely want to take the lab coat Brown offers as things tend to get messy. Brown has worked his weird magic on live audiences across the nation for over a decade but this is the first time he's actually hit the road with a live tour.
To enter the drawing, answer the following question in the comments:
On Good Eats, Alton Brown looked at the science and process of cooking, and it helped viewers see food in a new way. Who or what has helped you to see something in a new way?
We'll draw one winner at random.
Brown's show will be at Proctors on Thursday, February 13 at 8pm. Tickets range from $20 to $125.
Important: All comments must be submitted by 8pm on Tuesday, February 4, 2014 to be entered in the drawing. You must answer the question to be part of the drawing. (Normal commenting guidelines apply.) One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly) with your comment. The winner will be notified via email by 2 pm on Thursday, February 6 and must respond by noon on Friday, February 7.
Tickets for Book of Mormon at Proctors on sale -- everyone remain calm and we'll get through this (maybe)
Single tickets -- that is, non-subscriber, non-group tickets -- for the The Book of Mormon at Proctors went on sale today. This will be a popular show, so if you want tickets, it's probably to do so sooner rather than later. Like, right now, if you can fight your way through the web and phone traffic.
Need some evidence: There was a line at Proctors today. And as of this morning, Proctors reported that its website was "being overloaded" by requests. And there were multiple people on Twitter saying they couldn't get through on the phone. (There was much frustration being expressed on Twitter and the Proctors FB page.)
The Book of Mormon is set to run at Proctors March 11-16. The show -- from the South Park guys, Matt Parker and Trey Stone -- won 9 Tonys on Broadway.
Update 1:55 pm from Proctors:
We are experiencing extremely high volume. Our webstore is back up but you may still receive some errors. Please keep trying.
We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
Box Office: 518-346-6204
Proctors advertises on AOA.
Book of Mormon ticket sales announced
Proctors has announced it'll start selling individual tickets to the popular musical The Book of Mormon on January 24. The East Coast tour of the show, written by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, comes to Proctors March 11 through March 16 of 2014. Until January 24 tickets are only available as part of the Proctors Broadway package.
Also announced by Proctors this week, fifty new shows, including Kristin Chenoweth on February 9. And the touring company of the musical Newsies will hold its premiere in Schenectady in the 2014-15 season.
Proctors animation festival 2013
The annual animation festival at Proctors returns next week, running Monday-Saturday (August 26-31) in the GE Theater.
The festival slate includes more than 20 animated films. There's a broad range of material -- from old-school kids stuff (Lady and the Tramp) to new-school kids stuff (Frankenweenie) to adult fare (Cowboy Bebop) to modern classics (WALL-E).
And the festival really packs in the screenings -- films will be shown pretty much all day throughout the week, so each film gets multiple showings.
Individual-screening tickets are $5 (17 and under $3). A festival pass is $25.
still: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Space Beyond the Pines
It Came From Schenectady has another movie marathon at Proctors coming up: Space Beyond the Pines on August 24 (a Saturday).
The slate includes 6+ sci-fi movies:
Block 1
+ Logan's Run
+ Brazil
+ Starcrash
Block 2
+ A "surprise" short
+ Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
+ Serenity
+ Attack the Block
It looks like a strong lineup, ranging from the cheese-tastically bad (Starcrash) to the strangely brilliant (Brazil) to the under-appreciated (Serenity*, Attack the Block)
A whole-day pass is $25, or you can buy a ticket for one block of films for $15. (No single-movie tickets.)
* Firefly is better. Obviously. But... I am a leaf on the wind.
Proctors theater... and power plant, trash collection, and internet service
An old Vaudeville theater that hosts Broadway road shows like Wicked and Book of Mormon, plus films, comedy, and music is easy to write about. There's glitz, there's glamour, there's history. It's sexy.
A district energy plant that heats and cools businesses along a city block -- less sexy.
OK, but what if the same place also collects trash? And sells internet and phone service? And hosts Broadway touring companies, films, comedy and music performances.
Then it's Proctors.
When you pass by the Schenectady theater and arts hub, here are a few interesting things that you won't see on the surface.
Proctors Broadway series 2013-2014 includes The Book of Mormon
Proctors has announced the lineup for its 2013-2014 Broadway series -- it includes some very popular shows, a show made into a movie, and movies made into shows.
Ghost
September 14-20, 2013
A musical based on the movie.
Sleeping Beauty
October 15-20
A reworking of the Tchaikovsky ballet by choreographer Matthew Bourne. A recent NYT review of the London production called it "theatrically effective, sometimes even brilliant."
War Horse
January 15-19, 2014
It was a stage show that won five Tonys before Spielberg made it into a movie (and a children's book before that). The horse puppet is remarkable.
Sister Act
February 18-23, 2014
A musical based on the movie.
The Book of Mormon
March 11-16, 2014
The very popular -- and award winning (9 Tonys in 2011, including best musical) -- show from the Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the South Park guys.
The Phantom of the Opera
May 28-June 4, 2014
Tickets for the shows are currently on sale as part of Proctors subscription packages. Single show tickets will go on sale later this year.
Yep, Proctors advertises on AOA.
Two huge movie franchises, three people
Proctors has two shows coming up that are variations on the same theme: huge movie franchises... boiled down to performances by one or two people.
Potted Potter
This parody of the Harry Potter books -- "All seven Harry Potter books in seventy hilarious minutes" -- is performed by two guys. From the blurbage:
Potted Potter takes on the ultimate challenge of condensing all seven Harry Potter books (and a real life game of Quidditch) into seventy hilarious minutes. This fantastically funny show features all your favorite characters, a special appearance from a fire-breathing dragon, endless costumes, brilliant songs, ridiculous props and a generous helping of Hogwarts magic!
A NYT reviewer said the show's "flavor is Monty Python meets vaudeville." It's at Proctors from January 15-20. Tickets are $45 and up.
One Man Stars Wars Trilogy
This one-man show by Charlie Ross covers the original three Star Wars movies (perhaps because the second trio are self-parodies) and has been running for more than a decade. Blurbage:
Charlie Ross does it all--all the ships, planets, characters and music in one not-to-be-missed performance. The tour de force is with him!
It's at Proctors January 25-27. Tickets are $25.
Potter photo: Geraint Lewis | Star Wars photo: One Man Star Wars Trilogy
Zombie Film Feast/Walk/Prom 2012
The annual Zombie Film Feast/Walk/Prom is at Proctors this year. (It had been at The Linda. Maybe there are no brains left to eat in Albany.) Here's the schedule:
Zombie prom
The zombie prom -- "complete with booze and ooze and finger foods" -- is Friday, November 16 at 9 pm. Tickets are $10.
Zombie walk
This year's zombie walk -- in which people dress up as zombies for a parade -- will stagger from Proctors to Schenectady city hall on Saturday, November 17. The undead processional starts at 4:45 pm. It's free to participate.
Zombie Film Feast
The annual festival of zombie flicks is that same Saturday in the GE Theater at Proctors. There will be two blocks of films -- 11 am - 5:30 pm, and 5:45 pm - midnight. Tickets are $25 for the whole festival, or $15 for one block.
100 classic films at Proctors
This is kind of crazy (in the good way): Proctors is starting a series called "Film 100." On Mondays for the next two years it will be showing 100 classic films from the American Film Institute top 100 list (well, not the newest list -- the one that includes movies up to 1996). Films will be drawn from the 1997 and 2007 list, all of them produced between 1912 and 1996.
The first screening is September 17 -- 1942's Yankee Doodle Dandy. Among the films coming up soon: Ben-Hur, The Apartment, The Last Picture Show, Goodfellas, and Unforgiven. The slate for the rest of this year is after the jump.
Tickets for the screenings are $5. A series pass -- yep, for all 100 movies -- is $100.
American Idiot at Proctors
Proctors announced today that Green Day's American Idiot musical will be making a three-day stop at the theater in February. Tickets are $20 and up -- they're on sale now (here's a coupon code)
The show is an adaptation of Green Day's album of the same name. It had a year-long Broadway run between 2010 and 2011. Here's a NYT review from that run.
The show will be at Proctors February 5, 6, 7 in 2013.
Earlier on AOA: Proctors Broadway series 2012-2013
Yep, Proctors advertises on AOA.
Proctors Broadway series 2012-2013
Proctors has announced its slate of Broadway shows for the next season. Here's the lineup:
Mary Poppins
October 2-7, 2012
A Disney musical.
Wicked
November 7-25, 2012
It was last at Proctors at the end of 2009 and sold out. (The first week of the run is for subscribers.)
Million Dollar Quartet
January 22-27, 2013
About Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
Priscilla Queen of the Desert
February 12-17, 2013
Two drag queens, a transexual, and bus named Priscilla, on a trip through the Australian desert.
Les Misérables
April 30-May 5, 2013
The classic show.
Tickets for the shows are currently on sale as part of Proctors subscription packages, or as group sales. Single show tickets will go on sale later this year.
Yep, Proctors does advertise on AOA.
Bubbles and hugs in Schenectady
We happened upon what was, for a few minutes at least, easily the happiest place in the Capital Region Wednesday afternoon in Schenectady.
Why? Bubbles and hugs.
Muddy Cups no longer
Albany's unnamed coffee house has finally settled on a name.
The cafe, on Madison Avenue near Main, took down the Muddy Cup name last fall. After a brief flirtation with the name "Drama Cup," it's now Tierra Coffee Roasters.
The name echoes the fact that their coffee is from Tierra Farm, a Valatie operation that roasts Fair Trade coffees. It's catchier than "that place that used to be the Muddy Cup." Shorter, too.
The Muddy Cup had a dusty bohemian vibe. As Tierra, it's been spiffed up with a new coat of paint and art by Samson Contompasis.
And with Proctors Theatre taking over the Muddy Cup in Schenectady, the Hudson Valley chain's local presence is no more.
Muddy Cup opened the Proctors lobby cafe in 2006.
Proctors' plan is to run the Schenectady place itself. From their press release:
"At Proctors request, Muddy Cup transferred operations and all equipment back to Proctors. Proctors will rebrand the location for business with a fresh look and a new name before the start of next Sunday's Green Market in the lobby of Proctors State Street complex."
Update: The location at Proctors will be called the Apostrophe Cafe. [Marv Cermak]
Q-Fest at Proctors
Q-Fest, Proctors' LGBTQ film festival, begins tonight.
If you're thinking about going, but can't figure out which movie(s) you want to see, we've got the synopses and reviews below. There's a whole range of films -- from serious activist documentaries, to the campy ABBA-soundtracked films...
David Sedaris at Proctors
Author David Sedaris will talking/reading (we're guessing) at Proctors on April 9. Tickets are already on sale. They start at $20. His appearances in the this area have been very popular in the past (at least one sold out).
The blurbage doesn't say exactly what Sedaris will be doing at Proctors. The times we've seen him, he stands on stage and reads his work, then talks a little bit, reads some more, talks some more, the audience laughs in odd places (not sure exactly when they're supposed to laugh), and then he says goodnight. So, pretty much what you'd expect from David Sedaris.
Sedaris' most recent book is Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, a collection of short stories in which the characters are animals. For example: "Can a parrot and a pot-bellied pig find happiness in a world that only wants to pigeon-hole them?"
A clip from Sedaris' November appearance on the Daily Show is embedded after the jump.
Proctors and Capital Rep partnering
Proctors and Capital Repertory Theater announced today that they have teamed up to "sustain the state of the performing arts and to explore economies of scale and shared solutions." The full release is after the jump.
The orgs say that Proctors has taken over ticketing, finance, marketing, development, education programming and group sales for Capital Rep. The press release says Cap Rep will continue to operate independently with its own artist direction and at its downtown Albany location.
The release notes that Cap Rep has been dealing with declining support from municipal and private sources, and "recorded losses along the way." The theater had been getting $60k from the City of Albany, but that funding -- and the funding for other arts groups -- was cut in the last city budget. But the theater had already been scraping to get by -- and had a round of layoffs last summer. [TU Arts Talk]
Capital Rep expects to save $200k under the new partnership. [TU]
Talk of a potential partnership between the two arts organizations has been buzzing in the background for a while -- but as late as mid-December, the players were denying a plan was in the works. [Troy Record]
If this partnership helps shore up the finances of Capital Rep, it could be a good thing for theater fans (beyond simply keeping the theater afloat). It might give Capital Rep the freedom to program adventurously without having to depend on sure-fire hits to pay for more challenging programming.
Metropolis at Proctors
This could be cool: Proctors is showing the remastered version of Metropolis, the landmark 1926 film by Fritz Lang. The silent film will be accompanied by a new score written for -- and played live on -- Proctors' Wurlitzer organ.
Metropolis includes some striking imagery -- especially for its time. This new version of the film also features 25 minutes from the original that were thought to be lost -- until someone found the footage in archive in Argentina in 2008. The newly put-back-together version of the film debuted earlier this year.
There will be two screenings at Proctors -- this coming Sunday (at 2 pm) and Monday (7:30 pm). Tickets are $10 ahead of time, $12 at the door.
Proctors Broadway series tickets on sale Saturday
Tickets for Proctors' Broadway series go on sale Saturday. Here's the lineup:
Young Frankenstein - October 19-24, 2010
White Christmas - November 22-28, 2010
Fiddler on the Roof - January 4-9, 2011
HAIR - May 3-8, 2011
The Lion King is also coming to Proctors, February 22 - March 20 -- but the tickets for that don't go on sale until November 13th.
While we're at Proctors...
+ The stage version of Spamalot is playing there October 8 and 9.
+ And Victoria Stilwell -- the British dog trainer from the Animal Planet show It's Me or the Dog -- will be there solving "doggie dilemmas" onstage October 14 (no word on whether your dog can also attend -- maybe if they buy a ticket).
Proctors has advertised on AOA in the past
posters via Proctors
Proctors animation festival
If you're looking for something fun (and air conditioned) to do this week, you might want to stop by Proctors' animation festival, which started Sunday and continues through Friday.
The festival is showing a handful of animated flicks each day. The lineup includes 15 films -- among them a few old ones (1939's Gulliver's Travels) and a bunch of newer ones (Coraline). Among the highlights:
+ The Iron Giant (directed by Brad Bird, the guy directed The Incredibles and Ratatouille for Pixar) - Tuesday at noon, Wednesday at 4 pm
+ Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Cheese, Gromit!) - Thursday at 8pm
+ Persepolis (based on Marjane Satrapi's coming of age graphic novel set during the Iranian revolution) - Tuesday at 6 pm, Wednesday at 8 pm
Here's the full schedule.
Tickets are $3 for each film. A week-long pass is $15.
image: Sony Picture Classics
Thruway tolls increase, Albany schools to use lottery, the weekend in crime, the first baby of 2010
Thruway tolls went up five percent on Sunday, for both cash and EZ-Pass. State comptroller Tom DiNapoli criticized the increase, calling it "the last thing New Yorkers need now." [AP/Saratogian] [Fox23] [NYS OSC] [WNYT]
A 78-year-old woman was killed in Schenectady Saturday night after she was struck by a pick-up truck while crossing State Street near Proctors. The woman had been volunteering at the theater. The SPD says it's investigating the accident. [Daily Gazette $] [TU] [Fox23] [CapNews9]
Troy police say a man stole an idling SUV -- with two kids in it -- from outside a grocery store Friday morning. The TPD says the kids were found 45 minutes later, unharmed, along with the SUV. They say the suspect was arrested later that day. [Troy Record] [TU] [Troy Record]
Officials from the YMCA will be holding a meeting with the public this week to talk about what might be done to save the Washington Ave location in Albany. [Troy Record]
The Albany school district will be switching to a lottery system for filling slots in its pre-k programs. The old system was first-come-first-pick-wait-all-night. [TU]
Troy police find guns during raid, suit filed over landfill expansion, local company dumps chamber of commerce over climate change legislation, sole tenant leaving Kiernan Plaza
Troy police say they found a shotgun and an assault rifle during raid connected to the investigation of last week's fatal shooting in south Troy. They also arrested a man. But they say the guns weren't used in the crime nor is the man a suspect. [Fox23] [CapNews9] [TU]
Save the Pine Bush is suing the City of Albany and the DEC in attempt to block expansion of the city landfill. A volunteer for the environmental org says the city "needs to adopt a rational solid waste policy that does not include destroying 15 acres of rare Pine Bush ecosystem." [AP/CBS6] [TU]
The judge in Adrian Thomas case has ruled that the jury will not hear testimony from dueling expert witnesses about the possibility of a coerced confession. Closing arguments are scheduled to start today. [Troy Record] [TU]
David Paterson said yesterday that he will be including the soda tax in next year's proposed budget. The Paterson Administration also said same-sex marriage will be on the agenda for next week's planned special legislative session. [WNYC] [NYDN]
Raucci report won't be released, cool summer may be setting up cold winter, Tedisco hints at run for different office, alleged cold cut heist leads to pepper spraying
The Schenectady school district's internal investigation into Steven Raucci -- the former district employee who's been accused arson and intimidation -- will not be made public. The district says its lawyer "strongly advised" it to not release the report. [Daily Gazette] [TU]
The package of state incentives for the Luther Forest chip fab project is actually closer to $1.37 billion -- and could be more if GlobalFoundries expands at the site. [TU]
A guy who was forcibly sedated at the direction of Albany County law enforcement so they could search his body for drugs in 2006 has settled his lawsuit for $125k. The search included a camera being put up his rectum. [TU] [AP/CBS6]
There's some historical data that indicates we could be in for a cold, snowy winter. [TU]
The Capital Region's tick population -- and the incidence of Lyme disease -- appear to be on the rise. [Daily Gazette]
Anthony Bourdain at Proctors
The chef/author/traveler will be at Proctors November 15 -- which is a bit of a ways off. But tickets for the "No Reservations: An Evening with Anthony Bourdain" went on sale today. And judging from his last appearance in the Capital Region, this should be a popular event.
Bourdain, who was the chef at a French restaurant in NYC, originally rose to fame for his book Kitchen Confidential. More recently, he's been the host of a great travel TV show called No Reservations. And he's talked some smack about Rachael Ray (that didn't stop her from sending him a fruit basket, though).
Here's video of a Bourdain talk at Google, in which he said: "This celebrity chef scam is really working out."
Tickets for the Proctors event start at $20.
Yep, Proctors advertises on AOA. We're highlighting this because we think it'll be a good time
photo: Flickr user Neeta Lind
The revolution will take forever
If you ever wanted to see Steven Soderbergh's epic biopic Che in the theater, here's your chance. Or, rather, chances.
You see, Che is so long -- 4:17 to be exact -- that Proctors is showing it over two nights. Part one (The Argentine) is showing tonight. Part two (Guerilla) screens tomorrow. Tickets are $6 bucks a showing.
Is it worth the time? Well, Che has gotten "generally favorable" reviews -- though some people really liked it and others thought it was terrible. Maybe it helps to be wearing the t-shirt.
Also: Proctors has a bunch of movies on its slate for this month. Many of them are second-run pics (Curious Case of Benjamin Button, for example) that are only $3.
image: IFC Films
The Hitchcock Film Festival
Proctors is showing a bunch of Alfred Hitchcock films this week. The series, organized by It Came From Schenectady, will show three Hitchcock flicks a day -- at 3, 5:30 and 8 pm -- Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Tickets are $6 for individual screenings -- but you can also buy a $25 pass that will get you into all the showings.
It looks like the best slate might be Friday: Rear Window plays at 5:30 followed by Psycho at 8.
(Thanks, Kim!)
It Came From Schenectady!
One of the organizers of the first It Came from Schenectady film fest says the event "began as the musings of four dorks in tinfoil hats who happen to be in the right place with the right set of tools, toys and passions."
OK, stop. You had us at "four dorks in tinfoil hats."
The respect you deserve
One of the great things (we're guessing) about being a senator or governor or some other sort of muckety-muck is the respect people afford you. The downside is that you actually have to, you know, campaign and do all that other stuff.
But it turns out there's an easier way to get people to address you with the respect you so richly deserve. And it's all because of Proctor's. Yes, we said Proctor's. The theater. In Schenectady.
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?