Artists Talk with LVA: February 15, 2024

Paul Lenzi & Geraldine Ann Snyder will be honored with the Kathi E.B. Ellis Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Arts-Louisville Theatre Awards and they were in the WXOX studios to talk about their work. Tune into Artists Talk with LVA every Thursday at 10 am on 97.1 WXOX-FM or stream on Artxfm.com

Paul Lenzi and Geraldine Ann Snyder returned to Louisville where they were hired by the Louisville Children’s Theater (now Stage One) to develop new musical programming for pre-schoolers while Paul ultimately became executive director. In 1976, the couple broke away to form the Blue Apple Players, continuing for a time a weekly children’s program on WAVE-TV. Blue Apple, for the first decade, operated on a “for profit” business model, performing locally and regionally for children sometimes in large halls or occasionally developing a didactic performance for a corporation. After becoming a non-profit, the theater company focused exclusively on creating musicals on cutting-edge social topics for Kentucky school groups. Blue Apple merged in 2015 with the Walden Theatre to form the Commonwealth Theatre Center.

Artists Talk With LVA: February 9, 2023

Will Oldham is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music). After briefly publishing music under his own name, in 1998 he adopted Bonnie "Prince" Billy as the name for most of his work.

Will grew up in Louisville and trained as an actor for several years at Walden Theatre before turning his creative energies to music and songwriting.

Will has been involved with WXOX as a DJ and guest, performing at the Voix de Ville fundraiser and working with Kentucky INTENTIONAL Sounds who helped build WXOX’s sister station, WXND 100.9.

Artebella On The Radio: April 22

Hallie Dizdarevic is the Director of Creative Engagement has a long history with Commonwealth Theatre Center.  She began working with Walden Theatre in 2006 and Blue Apple Players in 2008. She is proud to have taught at every level of the Conservatory over the years, especially at the Imagination level which she developed and launched in 2013.  Hallie has also been responsible for developing many successful Outreach programs such as Connecting Cultures, Spanish Movement for Stories, and Resiliency; a drama curriculum intended to destigmatize trauma and introduce an arsenal of positive coping mechanisms to children who have experienced high levels of Adverse Childhood Experiences. Hallie is currently heading up a three year project funded by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art and the NEA that is intended to increase tolerance and understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim members of the Louisville community 

Denmo Ibrahim is a first-generation Egyptian-American playwright, actor, and entrepreneur who the San Francisco Chronicle called  “a tower of strength in the Bay Area theatre scene.” Denmo was one of 25 theatre artists nominated for the Rainin Fellowship (2020) and was a Sundance Theatre Lab Finalist.

Denmo joins the Connecting Cultures team as the playwright and lead actor in “Zaynab’s Night of Destiny”, an audio immersive play premiering later this year.

Artebella On The Radio: October 15

Brian Hinds plays the title character and Jennifer Pennington Lady M in the new Kentucky Shakespeare drive-in production of Macbeth that runs through October 31. They are also both teachers so they came in to talk about the first live theatre with an audience since March and how teaching online or in a hybrid model is working right now. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM, or stream on ARTXFM.com this and every Thursday at 10 am to hear Keith Waits speak with artists on LVA's Artebella on the Radio.

Originally from Maine, Brian Hinds spent ten years with The Children's Theatre of Maine where he served as an actor, instructor, and director. He was also a member of Mad Horse Theater Company. Since moving to Louisville Brian has worked as an outreach artist with Kentucky Shakespeare before joining the faculty at YPAS (Youth Performing Arts School). He is also a member of the Louisville Improvisors and has worked as an actor and director with several local companies, including Kentucky Shakespeare, Savage Rose Classical Theatre Company and The Liminal Playhouse.

Jennifer Pennington is currently Manager of Student and Alumni Engagement at Commonwealth Theatre Center. She holds a BFA in Acting from University of Michigan and an MFA in Theatre from the University of Tennessee’s International Actor Training Academy. In Scotland she studied Voice/Speech with Kristin Linklater and Louis Colaianni. Jen, having transplanted from Los Angeles, has worked with companies all over the country including: South Coast Rep., P.S.Arts, EastLA Classic Theatre, Idyllwild Arts Academy, Michigan Theatre Festival, Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival, Tennessee’s Clarence Brown Theatre, Arizona Shakespeare Festival and many local companies. Currently, Jen is an actor with The Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, serves on the board for PAL Coalition (Federal Drug Free Communities Support Grant) and is a member of VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainers Association.)

Artebella On The Radio: April 16, 2020

Today’s broadcast features and interview with Alison Huff (Commonwealth Theatre Center) and Jackie Pallesen (Kertis Creative) talking about Elevator Artist Resource’s Artist Relief Trust initiative, which has quickly raised the money to fund emergency relief for Kentucky artists. The interview is the first 20 minutes of the show and was remotely pre-recorded the night before because of the pandemic. In fact the entire broadcast was executed remotely as a part of WXOX station management’s efforts to reduce risk to the health and safety of all of it’s on-air personalities.

The Artist Relief Trust is a coalition-led initiative to provide emergency assistance to artists who have lost work due to Coronavirus / COVID-19 and related closures and cancellations. Though applicants must demonstrate that they are working artists, there is no review of their artwork — awards are based on need.

Artist Relief Trust can help. If you’re an artist who is struggling to meet basic needs because of COVID-19, go to

 http://elevatorarts.org/artist-relief-trust/ and apply

Other support resources:

Metro Louisville's official DAILY arts commissioning program: the Louisville Arts Network! Submit your idea in ANY artistic medium - music, literary arts, visual art, etc! You'll have three days to complete the project and you'll get either $150 or $200 (the extra is if you agree to present your work on Lift Up Lou's Facebook page). This is Louisville's own micro-WPA, our own mini-New Deal. Artists and creatives, let's go to work to build a better world right now!!

www.louisvilleartsnetwork.org

APRON, Inc. was founded in 2011 by a group of individuals with ties to the local restaurant community. Apron supporters include owners, servers, chefs and others concerned about our local independent food and beverage service workers. They realize that independent restaurant employees may be susceptible to financial distress in times of crisis.

http://www.aproninc.org/application-for-assistance/