Brazen Faced Varlets presents WORDS OF CHOICE. 
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." - Thomas Jefferson. 
Brazen-Faced Varlets, a Buffalo-based feminist thespian troupe which promotes artistic growth, announced the receipt of a Pro-Choice Foundation grant to produce and present WORDS OF CHOICE!
WORDS OF CHOICE, arranged by Cindy Cooper, includes excerpts from the works of many advocates of reproductive freedom. The production has been showcased all around the country, creating a venue

By Jessica Edwards:
The ASID (American Society of Interior Design) Student Chapter at Buffalo State College will be hosting an art installation this Saturday (8:00pm to 11:00pm), at the Big Orbit Gallery on Essex Street. 
The interactive exhibit is based on the concept of sustainable design. The artwork being showcased is created from all recycled materials. The students selected their materials from various places... estate sale purchases, garbage picked objects, items from their homes, and even old art pieces were used to create new

THE BASICS: This long one act by Buffalo native A. R. Gurney is making its WNY debut this month at the Kavinoky Theatre. Directed by Chris Kelly, and starring Peter Palmisano and Saul Elkin, BLACK TIE runs weekends through January 29th. It runs approximately 90 minutes.
SIDEBAR: "Pete" Gurney is a naturalist of sorts. He has spent the lion's share of his creative life studying the life cycle, preferences and habits of a single species: the Great Dinner-Dressed (read: Tuxedoed), Silver Spooned WASP. Here, as in THE DINING ROOM and many others, Gurney

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, is a rock musical written by John Cameron Mitchell, with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask. The musical premiered in 1998 off Broadway, where it ran for a couple years and racked up both Obie and Outer Circle Critics awards. It has since been performed all over and has finally come to Buffalo in this excellent ALT production. 
Mr. Mitchell starred in the 2001 film version of HEDWIG, which I recall as a somewhat muddled and confused affair, a result which could well be derived from the sometimes confusing material. The stage version

Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Staff Review by Michelle Snyder:
The first line of Daughter of Smoke and Bone grabs you and doesn't let go: "Once upon a time an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well."  
Laini Taylor has an imagination that knows no bounds and the world she created is rich and beautiful. Daughter of Smoke and Bone opens in the mysterious and beautiful city of Prague, following the life of Karou, an art student with natural blue hair, unexplained eye tattoos on her

It's 2012 and and with the new year comes a couple of homeless cats that we are featuring who would make great companions for anyone who's feeling down with the blues. There's nothing like a feline pick-me-up when you're feeling a little lonely. Also, when the snow is falling, and there's a chill in the air, you always know that there's a warm furry friend waiting for you when you return home. 
Ms. Haley is a 6 year old, DECLAWED, bundle of love who is a bi-product of a move to a new apartment where they can't have pets (see lead photo).  Wouldn't you think

If you're like me and you enjoy a really, really bad movie, then you need to attend the next installment of Sugar City's upcoming Free Classic Films Series - The Return of Trailer Trash: Trailers from the Golden Age of Grindhouse*. You've seen the best... now it's time to see (trailers) from the rest. If you've ever watched a Something Weird video, then no doubt you've seen the hilarious trailer that screens before the title feature starts? Well, if you're a fan of that sort of trailer than just wait to see what your schlock-loving friends at Sugar City have compiled.
On

The Cornell University Glee Club will be performing at St. Louis Roman Catholic Church (Main @ Edward) on Sunday, January 15th at 4:30 PM as part of their 2012 Midwest Tour. The concert will feature selections relating to this year's theme of "conflict and reconciliation," including Lee Hoiby's "Last Letter Home" , the title piece of their latest CD release.  While on tour, the Glee Club will also be premiering their commissioned work: "Sonnet 73", by University of Chicago composer Shulamit Ran. 

Tickets for this concert are now

The Ice Ball promises to be one of the year's signature events.  It will also allow thousands to see the work that Mark Croce has completed since buying the shuttered landmark just nine months ago.  New Year's Eve revelers will have access to nine different venues in the Statler that will feature five different bands, two DJs, a five hour long buffet by Buffalo Chophouse and five hours of premium open bar starting at 9 PM.  Over 3,000 guests are expected.

For months, work crews have been focusing on the Statler's public areas and banquet rooms to allow weddings, meetings

There's an artist out there for everyone. Some people like artwork that features frilly flowers, while others are drawn to works of art that portrays the more surreal and bizarre. In-between there are countless creations that lead us to discovering painted worlds the likes that only artists can conceptualize and deliver. 
Whether you're visiting an exhibit at the Burchfield-Penney or standing in front of a mural in Black Rock, artists manage to find a way to deliver messages to us in a way that is both intended and unintended. That's because art is subjective.

Fashion Maniac: Keeping tabs on Buffalo's fashion industry, including models, catwalks, retailers, designers, stylists, visual merchandisers and jewelers. 
The Dos and Don'ts of Holiday 2011 - Dressing by Phillip D. Johnson: 
If you are a society dame or a Junior League socialite, dressing for the upcoming holiday parties is a no-brainer. You are simply wearing more of the same clothing you wore to the Fire & Ice Ball in November, the three cancer benefits you attended in October, the Metropolitan Opera's Grand Opening

By Joseph M. Verrastro:
Blues that have been cooking in the mind of Boyd Lee Dunlop for seventy plus years were uncorked to a packed house at Asbury Church last evening.  Boyd is a musician discovered by chance by photographer Brendan Bannon at the Western New York nursing home where Boyd resides. The chain of events that followed that encounter resulted in Boyd's life long dream to record an album and lead a band in a performance of his work. Lucky for us!
A frail but raring Boyd was introduced and immediately got down to the

Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Staff Review by Peggy Errington:
Teen novel Divergent takes place in a dystopian future version of Chicago.  Here children are born into one of five factions, each of which is dedicated to a certain attribute - and each is equally certain that its opposite is the root of the breakdown of civilization:  Abnegation (service), Candor (truth), Dauntless (fearlessness), Amity (peacemaker) or Erudite (intellect).  Each resident is administered an aptitude test at the age of 16 identifying the

We all know how lonely the holidays can be lonely for some people. Fortunately there are friends right around the corner - furry friends who are in need of homes and good families to take care of them. Your care will come back in the form of purrs!
This beautiful 5 year old, orange tiger male is a real sweetheart.  He was a by product of another home foreclosure where his owners took all their property and left him behind to fend for himself.  A kind neighbor saw him sitting on the steps, waiting for his owners to come back and let him in, unfortunately they

Everyone needs to take a relaxing Robot Holiday at least once a year. The stress of human life can be oh so taxing. This Sunday consider retiring to the Sportsmens Tavern on Amherst Street to take in the clicks, buzzes and zaps of Robot Holiday music as performed by Buffalo's most eccentric and nostalgic musicians. Not only will you get to experience the incredible transformation of The Sportsmen Tavern into a genuine roadhouse venue (see photos), you will also be able to sing along to electro-synth

THE BASICS: The National Tour of this new musical, based upon celebrated creations of cartoonist Charles Addams, plays nightly at the Shea's Buffalo through December 11th. The book, by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elise, and songs by Andrew Lippa have both seen extensive revision. Jerry Zaks is now supervising the operation. THE ADDAMS FAMILY runs approximately 2 ½ hours with its one intermission.
THUMBNAIL SKETCH: NYC, present day. All seems to be well with the Biggle Apple's weirdest nuclear family until daughter Wednesday, now grown up, falls for the

James Joyce's The Dead, A Christmas Play With Music reprised at The Irish Classical Theatre Company.
Only the Irish could come up with a Christmas Play entitled  "THE DEAD".  And so they have, James Joyce's THE DEAD , A Christmas Play With Music, with the book by Richard Nelson and music by Shaun Davey, has returned to The Irish Classical Theatre Company, directed by ICTC Associate Director Derek Campbell. 
Do not fear, these are not the morbid dead, these are rather visions of warm and lively friends and family, those

Saturday night I hopped on the 25 Delaware bus headed for downtown.  I got off at Niagara Square and took in the awesome view of our massive Art Deco City Hall.  While Occupy Buffalo was doing their "occupying," I strolled by them and started to hear the echo of their folk tunes bouncing off the facades on the square. The noticeably vacant streets of downtown started to fill up with people who all seemed to have one thing in common...BAD Holiday fashion!  The good news was that I wasn't going to be the only one fashionably late.

The Urban

We all know how lonely the holidays can be lonely for some people. Fortunately there are friends right around the corner - furry friends who are in need of homes and good families to take care of them. Your care will come back in the form of purrs!
Mama Hyacinth (1.5 year old grey tabby) was left behind when her owners moved.  She was VERY pregnant and had her babies under a neighbor's hyacinth bush.  The neighbor called Second Chance and we came out and scooped up mama and her 1 day old babies.  They are now 3 months old, loving, active and mama and babies are

The Christmas Music of Mannheim Steamroller by Chip Davis (a preview):       If you love holiday music, brace yourself, because Mannheim is a- rollin' into Shea's. Mannheim Steamroller, that is, the best-selling Christmas music artist in history with over 40 million albums sold.  (Take that, Bing!)  Even if you do not think you know the group, you have no doubt heard their catchy, irresistible sound. The unique mix of Renaissance instruments with rock & roll beats stands out in the sea of non-stop radio seasonal music.