Music and lectures highlight Fanfare's final act
Thursday, October 18, 2018
by: Tonya Lowentritt
HAMMOND – A music concert and lectures highlight the final days of Fanfare, Southeastern
Louisiana University’s annual fall arts festival.
Fanfare’s finale begins on Monday, Oct. 29, with the first of two final lectures
in the Louisiana Journeys: A Local History Series. James M. Perrin’s “James B. Clarke
and the Founding of Ponchatoula” is set for 6:30 p.m. in the Ponchatoula Library.
A native and long-term resident of Ponchatoula, Perrin has authored numerous
articles on local history and genealogy that have appeared in local newspapers over
the past 20 years.
On Oct. 31 at 1 p.m., Department Head of History and Political Science William
Robison will present the final Then and Now Lecture “Black Cats, Gold Bugs, Madmen
and Ravens: Edgar Allen Poe in Prose, Poetry, and Film.”
“The free, more-or-less annual Halloween lecture returns with the usual mix of
scholarship, silliness, surprises, and sweets as Bill Robison examines the strange,
sad life of Edgar Allen Poe, his macabre prose and poetry, his legacy in high art
and popular culture, and films based on his works, especially those directed by Roger
Corman and starring the inimitably creepy Vincent Price with guest appearances by
Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre,” said Columbia Theatre Fanfare Director Roy Blackwood.
“Weird things are bound to happen. Costumes, especially based on Poe’s characters,
are welcome.”
Sims Memorial Library and Friends of Sims Library will host Wine with Friends
on Friday, Nov. 2, at 6:30 p.m. in Sims Library on the second floor. The annual fund
raising event offers food and wine pairings and a silent auction with prizes ranging
from artworks, gift baskets, and wine to crafts, event tickets, and wine accessories.
Now in its 10th year, the tasting includes live music and door prizes and has become
a sell-out event, Blackwood said. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased online at southeastern.edu/library/about/friends/index.html or via check payable to Southeastern Foundation, SLU 10896, Hammond, LA 70402.
Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts will present Missoula Children’s Theatre
in Alice in Wonderland, an original adaptation based on Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures
in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass” on Saturday, Nov. 3, at 2 p.m.
“The story begins with Alice following a rabbit to a strange and wonderful place,”
Blackwood said. “In the course of her adventures, Alice meets the King and Queen of
Hearts, the Knave and the rest of the suit of cards, a giant caterpillar, the Chesire
Cat, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, and many other characters
form the classic story.”
Tickets for Alice in Wonderland are $17 adults and $12 children and are available
at the Columbia/Fanfare box office, 220 E. Thomas Street, 985-543-4371. The box office
is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. and one hour prior to Columbia
performances.
The last lecture in the Louisiana Journeys: A Local History Series is scheduled
Monday, Nov. 5. Antoinette Harrell will present “Images of America: African Americans
in Tangipahoa and St. Helena parishes at 6:30 p.m. in the Amite Branch Library. Harrell
celebrates and documents the priceless images of African American people in the two
Louisiana Florida Parishes, telling the undocumented history of a people who called
the Florida Parishes home.
The annual Veterans Day Lecture is scheduled Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 1 p.m. in
Pottle Auditorium. Assistant Professor of History and Political Science Samantha Cavell
will present “The Bonus Army: Tear Gas and Terror in Washington – A World War I Veteran
Experience.” The event is free and open to the public.
“In 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, 17,000 desperate WWI veterans
and their families came to Washington to demand bonuses promised when they enlisted
in 1917,” Cavell said. “President Herbert Hoover evicted them with troops led by General
Douglas MacArthur, leaving two dead and hundreds injured. This left deep scars but
helped prompt the 1944 G.I. Bill that aided veterans’ transition back to civilian
life after WWII. Treatment of veterans continues to be a major issue in America.”
Also, on Nov. 7, Fanfare’s final act will come in the form of a concert by Southeastern’s
Wind Symphony. Scheduled at the Columbia Theatre, tickets for the 7:30 p.m. concert
are $10 adults; $5 faculty, staff, seniors and non-Southeastern students. Southeastern
students are admitted free with their university IDs.
For a complete Fanfare schedule, contact the Columbia/Fanfare office at 985-543-4366
or visit columbiatheatre.org.
