Hampton Happenings

Downtown Hampton on Ice

November 23, 2011-March 3, 2012

Put on your skates and enjoy outdoor fun in downtown Hampton at the Virginia Air & Space Center rink. Admission is $6.00 and skate rental is $2.00 (or bring your own skates) for two-hour skate sessions.

Virginia Air & Space Center

$6.00 admission and $2.00 skate rental

757/727-0900

www.vasc.org

Arlo Guthrie—Boys Night Out with Abe and Krishna Guthrie

February 8, 2012

Longtime American Theatre favorite and legend of American folk music, Arlo returns in Boys Night Out—with son Abe and grandson Krishna. Folksinger, musician, songwriter and storyteller, Arlo brings tunes from more than 25 albums to his concerts. Though he is best remembered for hits like Alice’s Restaurant, City of New Orleans and the iconic counter culture song Coming into Los Angeles, he carries on the musical legacy of his renowned father, Woody Guthrie, while cultivating an entirely new generation of fans along the way. Playing the piano, guitar, harmonica and a dozen other instruments, Arlo entertains with hilarious tales and experiences woven seamlessly into each performance. The American Theatre. 7:30p.m. $27.50-$32.50. 757/722-2787, www.hamptonarts.net

Bettye LaVette

February 16, 2012

Often hailed as the Great Lady of Soul, Bettye LaVette is a song stylist par excellence. Her voice is one of richness and depth, naked, raw and visceral emotion and a voice filled with the wisdom and acumen acquired during the course of her more than four decade career. The winner of numerous awards and citations, Bettye returned to Carnegie Hall this year as a featured performer in the tribute event to Neil Young. She regularly appears on The Today Show, Late Night with David Letterman, the Tonight Show with Jay  Leno, Tavis Smiley and many others. She performed for President Obama’s inaugural at the Lincoln Memorial in January 2009. Legendary British rocker, Sir Elton John sums it up for us: “Bettye LaVette has always been a wonderful singer—I have been a huge fan for many years. To my delight and surprise, she recorded an amazing version of “Talking Old Soldiers” and made it her own.” The American Theatre. 7:30p.m. $27.50-$32.50. 757/722-2787, www.hamptonarts.net

Mad River Theatre Works in Freedom Bound

February 18, 2012

An original play with music, Freedom Bound tells the story of the most important incident in the history of the Underground Railroad in Ohio. This is the story of Addison White, a slave who escaped from Kentucky and ended up in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. There he was befriended by a farmer named Udney Hide. Addison worked for his meals by day and learned to read and write by night with the help of Hyde’s daughter, Amanda. It was not too long before Addison was discovered by his former master and Federal Marshall’s came to arrest him and return him to slavery. But, more than 100 citizens confronted the Marshalls and demanded they set Addison free. In this wonderful production, Mad River Theatre Works creates characters that literally emerge from the past to bring the Underground Railroad to life, right before your eyes. The American Theatre. 2p.m. $8, no discounts apply. 757/722-2787, www.hamptonarts.net

Mardi Gras with New Orleans’ Own Hot 8 Brass Band

February 21, 2012

Nothing epitomizes New Orleans street music more than New Orleans’ own Hot 8 Brass Band. Here they are back at The American to help us celebrate Mardi Gras in true French Quarter style. This is a band that infuses its performance with the funk and energy that make the Crescent City’s music loved around the world. All of the band members were born and raised in New Orleans and what makes them so special is their ability to coax and create such unique and memorable sounds from their well-worn and well-loved instruments, so that an evening with Hot 8 is simply like no other. They regularly tour Japan, Italy, France, Spain, Finland, and the United Kingdom and are a solid rock regular at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and many other leading festivals around the globe. Famed motion picture director Spike Lee featured members of Hot 8 in both of his recent documentaries and they were also featured in acclaimed HBO series Treme. Recently they shared the stage with Dr. John, Lou Reed and Nicholas Payton at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem and they are featured on the most recent Blind Boys of Alabama recording. The American Theatre. 7:30p.m. $27.50-$32.50. 757/722-2787, www.hamptonarts.net

An American Turning Point: The Civil War in Virginia

“Waging War”

February 25, 2012- January 24, 2012

From 1861 to 1865 Virginia stood at the center of a military and social revolution. How we define freedom, liberty, patriotism, and nation today is directly related to the diverse experiences of the individuals who participated in the war. Using more than 200 original objects and 17 state-of-the art audiovisual programs, this 3,000 square-foot exhibition encourages visitors to consider how a single event, separated by 150 years can influence and address the questions of today—what was gained, what was lost, what was undecided, and what was left for us to resolve? The Exhibition will be showcased at the Hampton History Museum in two parts: Surviving War and Waging War. In Waging War, the military experience and its impact on the home front is examined. Waging War asks: Why did people expect a ninety-day war? Was the Civil War the first modern war? Which is more important, speed or strength; offense or defense? An American Turning Point is a signature program of the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission and is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Hampton History Museum.

Gretchen Parlato
March 1, 2012

American jazz singer Gretchen Parlato (daughter of Frank Zappa’s bassist, Dave Parlato) has been creating waves throughout the international jazz community since her 2009 release, In a Dream, signaled the arrival of an incredibly inventive modern jazz singer. Her follow up album, The Lost and Found, was acclaimed by Billboard Magazine as “the most alluring jazz vocal album of 2009.” Creating a seamless, crystalline and, more importantly, personal voice, Gretchen says that the overall theme of The Lost and Found (and her music in general) is about accepting opposition and embracing the ebbs and flows of life. She graduated from the Thelonius Monk Institute where she won the 2005 International Vocal Competition; she has been turning heads (and ears) ever since. Come discover why this is one of the more promising and innovative voices of the 21^st century. Daring and delectable. The American Theatre. 7:30p.m. $27.50-$32.50. 757/722-2787, www.hamptonarts.net

Walnut Street Theatre in PROOF by David Auburn

March 3, 2012

This is the remarkable and luminous story of fathers and daughters, genius and insanity, legacy and truth. Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Play, (and turned into a major motion picture starring Anthony Hopkins and Gwyneth Paltrow) Proof tells the story of Catherine—a young woman who has given up college so that she can take care of her brilliant, yet mentally ill, father. One of his former students, Hal, comes to visit in search of more proof of his (former) math professor’s genius. He finds romance with the remote Catherine and, when her father dies, an astonishing mathematical “proof” is discovered. Is the proof real? Who is the author? Will Catherine find her way in life or will she continue to be haunted by her past and by the shadow of her own future? This graceful, funny and clever play is a delightful romance, a drama of splintered family dynamics and a mystery about the true nature of genius. Walnut Street Theatre, the oldest continuously running professional theatre in the U.S.), brings us a fantastic production—as they did last year in The Glass Menagerie). Members of the company will also lead a master class for the theatre students and actors. The American Theatre. 8p.m. $27.50-$32.50. 757/722-2787, www.hamptonarts.net