HubArts.com

Madonna brings innuendo-free tour to Garden

Kidding! It's called the Sticky & Sweet tour, after her new "Hard Candy" album, and she'll be rolling it into the TD Banknorth Garden on Oct. 15. Tickets are $57.50-$352.50, and they go on sale May 17 at 10 a.m. at the box office and Ticketmaster, which is 866-448-7849 or ticketmaster.com. There's all kind of presales and resales and crap. For details hit livenation.com or madonna.com.

"Young At Heart," live and in Somerville

I've been warily eyeing the poster for "Young@Heart" in the window of our beloved local moviehouse, the Screening Room, for some weeks now. Do I really want to see a flick about a bunch of oldsters rocking out? Or is too uncomfortably close to my own classic-rockin' heart? It's the tale of The Young at Heart Chorus, formed in 1982 in an elderly housing complex in Northampton, Massachusetts to sing songs by Coldplay, Sonic Youth, the Clash, Lou Reed, OutKast, Talking Heads and the Ramones. As the press release says, they're "infusing the lyrics with new meaning as they deal with questions of mortality with grace, humor and spirit." The group will play the Somerville Theatre on June 20. Tix: $30, on sale Friday, May 9 at noon at the box office or through Ticketmaster at (617/508) 931-2000, or ticketmaster.com. And here's a clip from the film...

Nicholas Martin's Greatest Hits: The Video

The Huntington Theatre Company's Join the Conversation blog posted this video, which was shown at this week's farewell for departing artistic director Nicholas Martin:

New Kids tix details. So, so proud.

Hot off the wire from Live Nation:

New Kids On The Block
At the TD Banknorth Garden
Friday, September 26, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Tickets are $37.50, $57.50 and $77.50
Tickets go on-sale Saturday, May 10, 2008 at NOON. Tickets are available at the TD Banknorth Garden Box Office and at Ticketmaster outlets, including Macy's, by calling 866-448-7849, or by logging on to www.livenation.com.

Of course, if you're an American Express cardholder, you can get your tix now...
 

Lyric Stage Announces Anniversary Season

Into my In Box drops the 2008-09 season announcement from the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, actually listing five of the seven main stage productions the company will deliver in its 35th anniversary season. These are: "Follies," with Leigh Barrett and other local faves; "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof," with Lyric Stage Artistic Director Spiro Veloudos as Big Daddy; the Boston premiere of the musical "Grey Gardens"; the Boston premiere of "Speech and Debate" by Stephen Karam; and Nancy E. Carroll in  the New England premiere of Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking," based on her bestselling memoir of a tragic year that included the death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne. Two more productions will be announced soon. Details and tickets are here.

Boston before Broadway

Some cool stuff (the touring company of "Spring Awakening," Chazz Palminteri in a solo version of his "A Bronx Tale") and some traditional show biz (musical versions of "Dirty Dancing" and "Legally Blond") top the '08-09 Broadway Across America - Boston season. And whoever gets tired of "A Chorus Line," right? Right? Also on tap are Harry Connick in a new Gershwin-based musical and a revival of "Brigadoon," both shows hitting Boston before Broadway, just like in the old days. I wouldn't get too jacked about that becoming the norm again, though. Tix here.

My neighbor's a Kerrville finalist

Out walking the dog yesterday, I ran into Susan Levine, a fine folksinger and songwriter who lives a couple of blocks from HubArts World Headquarters in Newburyport. She said she's gearing up for a trip to the legendary Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas at the end of this month. She's one of 32 finalists in the festival's New Folk competition. Chris O'Brien and Laura Bullock, both of Somerville, and Emily Elbert of Boston are also listed in the competition. But if you've heard Susan's album, "Atlas," recorded at (her husband) Tom Eaton's studios in Newburyport, then you know why my money's on her.

Read my Globe profile of Susan published last fall.

Sez the Wikipedia entry on the fest, "A win at Kerrville carries considerable prestige in the singer-songwriter community. This is in part due to the peer-professional judging and the festival’s long history of recognizing emerging artists who have later gone on to wider success." Two other Massachusetts names are among the most notable recent winners: Mark Erelli of Amherst in '99 and Ellis Paul of Wayland in '94. (Erelli contributes guitar on "Atlas.") Go back farther and names like Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle and my fave James McMurtry (a winner in '87) have appeared in the competition.  Michelle Shocked's first album, "The Texas Campfire Tapes," was famously recorded at one of the fest's informal, late-night gatherings.

Fiber Art Center closes: That's a little sad

It's not a good thing when a cultural institution closes due to lack of money. I learned from the Exhibitionist this week that the Fiber Art Center in Amherst is closing its doors May 9. I have to admit, I never went there. It seems I'm not alone. Finances are blamed for the demise of the insitution dedicated to weaving, textile making and related arts and crafts. But I couldn't help noticing this in their farewell statement (boldface is mine):

"For the past seven years we have had the great pleasure to celebrate and promote the work of over three hundred artists from the Pioneer Valley and beyond, offer over 250 classes, greet over one thousand visitors, and have a membership roster in the hundreds."

Round up to 1,100 and that's still an average of 157 visitors a year. Even if the classes are the main programming and exhibitions a sideline, that's not a number that's going to keep many art centers open.

Support Your Local Jam Band

My email informs me that our North Shore neighbors in The Brew, who I profiled for the Globe a couple of years ago, are up for a Jammy award next week at Madison Square Garden's WaMu Theater, just a couple of weeks after their big CD release party at Harper's Ferry. The awards are announced on Monday and the jamming is on Wednesday. The Brew is nominated for Best New Groove, a tie-dyed way of saying best new artist, and the winner will be chosen by online voting that closes tonight. All of which is my way of saying go here to sample the band if you haven't heard them, then go here to vote for them.