Lawrence Arts Center reschedules talk

The Committee on Imagination & Place has rescheduled a talk by artist and Lawrence Arts Center gallery director Rick Mitchell.

Mitchell will present “Place, Memory, Dreams and Story: An Evening of Discussion,” originally scheduled for Wednesday, at 7 p.m. Nov. 10 in the gallery at the arts center, 940 N.H. A discussion will follow the talk.

Lied Center unveils new Web feature

The Lied Center is launching a new feature on its Web site as part of its Studio Lied educational program: an online study guide that provides educational information about upcoming Lied Center events.

The study materials will offer teachers and students additional opportunities to take advantage of the onstage events at the Lied Center.

The first Studio Lied guide provides more in-depth information about the composers and music that the Cypress String Quartet will perform today at the Lied Center. This guide focuses on Beethoven, Haydn, Griffes and Dan Coleman, the composer of a new work commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Kansas-Nebraska Act that will have its world premiere at the Lied Center.

Although it is geared toward secondary students, the online resource is accessible to anyone by clicking on the Education & Outreach link on the Lied Center’s home page, www.lied.ku.edu.

Hollywood casting call seeks American Indians

United Artists is casting two lead roles for a major motion picture.

The studio is looking for Edgar, a 12-year-old American Indian boy who is sensitive, bright and innocent but wise beyond his years, and Cecil, a 16-year-old American Indian boy who is large, strong, protective, quiet and serious.

Filming begins in January; no acting experience is required.

Please send a snapshot or Polaroid with the following information: name, address, telephone number, height, weight, date of birth and name of referral organization. Mark the envelope Attn: EMILY, c/o EDGAR MINT Casting, United Artists, 10250 Constellation Blvd. T-9092, Los Angeles 90067. Information also can be e-mailed to edgarmintcasting@yahoo.com.

Arts center to offer theatrical frights

The Lawrence Arts Center’s Seem-To-Be Players will open their new Family Theatre Series with Ric Averill’s adaptation of the classic Russian fairy tale “Baba Yaga: The Bony-Legged Witch.”

The musical production, first presented by the Seem-To-Be Players in September 1973, is the haunting story of a little girl whose purity saves her from an evil witch.

The troupe will perform the play at 2 p.m. Oct. 16-17 and Oct. 23-24 in the theater at the arts center, 940 N.H. The show is recommended for ages 5 and up. Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for children and seniors. Season tickets are $15.

For more information, call 843-2787 or visit www.lawrenceartscenter.org.

KU alumni to sing at choral convention

Octarium, a Kansas-City-based vocal ensemble, has been selected to perform at the American Choral Directors Assn. National Convention Feb. 3-6 in Los Angeles.

The octet features five Kansas University alumni: Katey Lohmann Coakley, Andrew Graves, Renee Transue, Ashley Winters and Benjamin Winters. Krista Lang Blackwood, the ensemble’s artistic director, is also a KU alumna. Leah Hamilton, a senior at KU, is also a member of Octarium.

The American Choral Directors Assn. is a nonprofit music-education organization that promotes excellence in choral music. Its 18,000 members are choral directors who hold national conventions biannually.

For more information, visit www.octarium.org.

KU design student wins Best of Show

Shana Rossi, a graduate student in textile design at Kansas University, won Best of Show at the fourth annual Lawrence Own-Your-Own Art Exhibition and Sale, ept. 25-Oct 3.

The art-based charity fund-raiser, organized by the Lawrence Committee for the Advancement of the Visual Arts, donates 20 percent of the proceeds from art sales to Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center.

Rossi’s “Come In and Sit,” above, a mixed media work constructed of silk, wood, paper, wax and thread, was one of 150 artworks by 104 artists on view at the show. The title was meant to encourage patrons to view the massive work by entering it and sitting down on a pillow at the center.

Radio show picked up by satellite radio

Beginning Saturday, Kansas Public Radio’s award-winning sketch comedy show “Right Between the Ears” will be heard in a weekly series on Sirius Satellite Radio.

The series, featuring a mix of old and new “Right Between the Ears” episodes, will air at 7 p.m. Saturdays on the Raw Dog comedy channel. The series will kick off with the 2004-2005 season opener, which was recorded Saturday evening at Liberty Hall.

Sirius provides more than 120 channels of music, news, sports and entertainment programming to subscribers across the country.

‘Battle of Black Jack’ returns to stage

Baldwin — The 18th production of “The Ballad of Black Jack,” a musical stage production about Douglas County’s “Bleeding Kansas” history, will be performed next weekend during Baldwin’s Maple Leaf Festival.

Written by Baldwin playwright Don Mueller, the play tells the story of events that took place in the Baldwin and Lawrence area in 1855 and 1856. The musical features a cast of 49, including a children’s chorus, dancers and 15 original songs.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. Friday, 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Oct. 17 in Baker University’s Rice Auditorium. Tickets are $9 for adults and $6 for students. Tickets are available at the door and a sidewalk booth at the Maple Leaf Festival.

For more information, call (785) 640-0196.

KU alumnus places third in international competition

Robert Horton, a 2003 Kansas University doctoral graduate from the music and dance department, won third prize in the Internationaal Orgelconcours, an organ competition in Nijmegen, Netherlands.

Horton was the first American ever to quality for the competition, which drew an international field of nearly 30 applicants, eight of whom received invitations to compete in Nijmegen.

Participants played in the city’s historic St. Steven’s Church on an organ built in 1776, and performed selections from music dating from 1690 to 2004.

He received a cash prize of $1,200.

KU professor to perform in New York theaters

Joyce Castle, Kansas University voice professor, will be in New York City until after the first of the year to perform two different works in two different theaters.

During her partial leave from KU, Castle will perform in two operas in two Lincoln Center theaters.

Her performances begin with her role as Mme. de Croissy in Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites” at the New York City Opera. Her six performances will fall between Oct. 12 and Oct. 29.

Castle is also in final rehearsals for “Belle Epoch,” a new work created by Martha Clark, portraying the life and times of Toulouse Lautrec. “Belle Epoch” has its preview performance Oct. 28 at the Mitzi Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center. It opens Nov. 21 and runs eight shows a week through Jan. 9.

Unity Gallery issues call for artists

The Unity Gallery, Ninth Street and Madeline Lane, is accepting entries for a youth art show, which will feature mixed media and two-dimensional work by artists ages 12 to 21. Deadline for entries is Oct. 22. For more information, visit unityoflawrence.org/unityart.htm

Theater group to audition actors

Auditions for E.M.U. Theatre’s 24th stage production, “Talk Radio” by Eric Bogosian, continue from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. today and Monday at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave. No preparation material is required. Roles are available for 10 actors (five male, three female and two of either gender), plus several voice-over characters. Performances will be Dec. 4- 6 and Dec. 10-12.