Opera/Columbus To Perform At Ohio State Marion March 9

River Valley High School graduate Josh Gilliam will play the canine villain in the Opera/Columbus performance of "Little Red Riding Hood," part of Five Nights on Campus cultural arts series at Ohio State University at Marion. The event will be March 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the Morrill Hall auditorium. The show offers children and adults the opportunity to learn about and enjoy opera, Gilliam said.

"Most people believe that opera is this dry, boring hard-to-understand form of entertainment," Gilliam said. "But it's not at all. It actually is a lot of fun and very enjoyable."

The story, familiar to all ages, also reinforces many valuable lessons to children, such as the importance of telling the truth, and the dangers of talking to strangers. "It's really a good story with a lot of moral lessons for children," Gilliam said.

The 1995 River Valley High School graduate earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theater at Otterbein College. Not only does Gilliam play the role of the bad "guy" in the opera, but he also serves as education associate with Opera/Columbus and manages the company's touring productions. He works three days for Opera/Columbus, and four days a week at the Center of Science and Industry, where he is a an actor with COSI's Spectrum Players.

The performance will conclude with refreshments provided by the Ohio State University Alumni Club of Marion County and served by Taft Middle School students.

Tickets are available at the door and are $7 for adults and $3 for students. Advanced ticket sales are available by calling Ohio State Marion Office of Community Relations at (740) 389-6786 extension 6279.

As part of Five Nights on Campus community outreach efforts, Opera/Columbus will be presenting theater workshops in four local elementary schools - Elgin West (10 a.m., Feb. 29), Oak Street ( 1:45 p.m., Feb. 29), Mark Street (10 a.m., Feb. 28), and Morral (1 p.m., Feb. 28). Students from those schools will be given complimentary tickets to the March 9 performance. The final Five Nights on Campus event will be April 27 with author Lee Abbott.

This year's Five Nights on Campus series has received financial support from the Ohio Arts Council, the Whirlpool Corp., Bun's Restaurant in downtown Delaware, GTE, Marion Steel Co. , Wyandot Inc., and WDIF Radio.

Kuhn Fine Arts Gallery To Feature Three-Dimensional Art By Isaac Bower

"Natural Selection" by Isaac Bower will be exhibited in the Wayne and Geraldine Kuhn Fine Arts Gallery on the campus of Ohio State University at Marion, 1465 Mt. Vernon Ave. The exhibit will run February 29 to March 24.

Bower holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (1989) from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, and a Master of Fine Arts degree (1996) from West Virginia University. A resident of Lehighton, Penn., Bower is the son of Delaware resident Anne Bower, associate professor of English at Ohio State Marion.

Bower's show involves the display of a collection of mixed media assemblages, each one suggesting an evolutionary process in which mass-produced items have become part of the natural world of flora and fauna. The images humorously underline man's complex symbiosis with such products as a remote control, a can of Pepsi, a pair of sunglasses, or Nike sneakers. In this symbiosis, products, consumers and the environment seem to adapt to each other, echoing Charles Darwin's concept of natural selection.

The public will have an opportunity to meet Bower, and discuss his work with him at a reception on March 1 at noon in the gallery.

The Kuhn Fine Arts Gallery serves the north central region of Ohio, and maintains exhibits throughout the year. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays. For more information, contact (740) 389-6786, extension 6279.

"Down By The Riverside" Rescheduled

The performance of "Down By the Riverside" at Ohio State Marion has been rescheduled for Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Morrill Hall Auditorium. The performance was postponed from the original Feb. 3 date due to inclement weather. Complete release to follow:

Advent Players of Columbus will visit Marion Feb. 17 as part of Ohio State University at Marion's Five Nights on Campus cultural arts series. The 9-member troupe will perform "Down by the Riverside," an original musical written by Advent Players founder, Helen G. Smith. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Morrill Hall auditorium.

Smith said she wrote the musical, which incorporates themes of slaves' quests for freedom and original spirituals, in 1976 at the time the nation was celebrating bicentennial. "I always liked to write and perform," said Smith a former educator. "I was living in the Washington D.C. - Baltimore area at the time and I kept hearing advertisements about the Bicentennial, but I didn't hear anything about spirituals. So, I wrote the play."

Advent Players is named for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, of which Smith and the other actors and actresses are members. Smith's husband is a clergyman of the Adventist church and has been assigned to churches and districts at several locations in the United States. As the Smiths moved from location to location, Mrs. Smith brought the play with her and assembled an acting troupe from local church volunteers and musicians.

The one-hour production is set at a slave gathering as a group awaits a trip to freedom guided by an Underground Railroad "conductor." The "slaves" tell the audience tales of their lives and sing spirituals reflecting their life stories. They are accompanied by a pianist.

The performance will conclude with refreshments served by Taft Middle School students and sponsored by the Black Heritage Council of Marion.

Tickets are available at the door and are $7 for adults and $3 for students. Advanced ticket sales are available by calling Ohio State Marion Office of Community Relations at (740) 389-6786 extension 6279.

Future Five Nights on Campus performances are:

• March 9 - Opera/Columbus performing "Little Red Riding Hood."
• April 27 - Author Lee Abbott

This year's Five Nights on Campus series has received financial support from the Ohio Arts Council, the Whirlpool Corp., Bun's Restaurant in downtown Delaware, GTE, Marion Steel Co. , Wyandot Inc., and WDIF Radio.

Children Needed For Ohio State Marion Music Research Project

Children ages 9 to 11 years are invited to participate in a research study at The Ohio State University at Marion which will examine how children express their understanding of music when they are thinking and working as listeners and composers. Children selected for the study will have opportunities to describe the music of others and create their own music using computers. At the end of each class, each child will be allowed to keep an audiotape of his or her compositions.

The classes will be held at Ohio State Marion, 1465 Mt. Vernon Ave., Marion. The sessions will be held 10 consecutive Saturdays, from April 1 to June 3. The class will meet from 9 to 10 a.m.

The class is free, however each participant and his or her parent or legal guardian must complete a brief survey and a letter of consent.

The study will be conducted by Thomas Priest, assistant professor of music at Ohio State Marion.

The class size is limited to 10. To enroll or to obtain more information, contact (740) 389-6786, extension 6279.

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