EVENTS | Book bash [Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.]

Mar. 19--The second annual Children's Book Festival will bring reading alive today through Sunday at Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center, 411 Third Ave. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown.

Festival hours are 5 to 8 p.m. today, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The Learning Lamp holds the festival in conjunction with Artworks of Johnstown.

Event highlights will include performances by Stage Right Theatre Company of Greensburg, who will present "Books Come Alive" at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company will perform at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Katherine Ayres, author of the popular children's book "Up, Down, and Around," will give presentations at 5 p.m. today and 11 a.m. Saturday.

The festival is free and open to the public.

Information: 262-0732.

Ethnic dances

Duquesne University Tamburitzans will present a musical journey to Eastern Europe at 3 p.m. Sunday at Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center, Richland Township.

Dances have been researched for authenticity, staying as true as possible to the dance style and musical forms of the countries and nationalities represented.

Tickets are $18 for adults, $15 for senior citizens and $10 for students.

Information: 269-7200 or (800) 846-2787.

Awake tonight

Christian artists TobyMac and Skillet will headline the "Awake Tonight Tour" at 7 p.m. Saturday at Cambria County War Memorial Arena, 326 Napoleon St., Johnstown.

Grammy winner TobyMac, who describes his music as a mixture of hip-hop, rock, funk, soul and reggae, expects to perform songs from his most recent release, "Tonight," along with personal and fan favorites.

Grammy-nominated Skillet is a hard rock band with a sizzling onstage presence, complete with fireworks.

Their newest release, "Awake," has spawned the hits "Hero" and "Monster."

House of Heroes, an alternative rock band from Columbus, Ohio, will be the special guest.

Tickets are $75, $39, $29 and $19.

Information: (724) 744-3524 or www.genexconcerts.com.

We will rock you

"One Night of Queen" will rock Johnstown at 8 p.m. Thursday at Cambria County War Memorial Arena, 326 Napoleon St.

The Queen tribute band, The Works, headed by Scottish-born singer Gary Mullen as Freddie Mercury, will perform Queen's hits, including "We Are the Champions," "Somebody to Love" and "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Tickets are $38, plus handling fees, and are available at the box office and Ticketmaster outlets.

Information: (800) 745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com.

Beach party

Jimmy Buffett impersonator Tom Watt will bring a tropical paradise when he performs for the Alternative Community Resource Program's Buffetman Beach Party at 6 p.m. Saturday at Ace's, 316 Chestnut St. in the Cambria City section of Johns-town.

There will be hot dogs, cheeseburgers, taco wraps and other snacks to eat, and prizes will be awarded for best-dressed tourist, best Parrot Head hat and best-decorated table.

Proceeds will be used for summer programs for at-risk children and teens at ACRP sites.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

Information: 535-2277, ext. 321.

Choral singing

University of Pittsburgh Men's Glee Club will be part of the Chamber Music Series of Greater Johnstown when they perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church, 309 Lincoln St., Johnstown.

The concert choir from Richland High School will perform for the preconcert event at 7, then join the glee club in singing "Battle Hymn of the Republic" during the concert.

Tickets are $15 or two for $25 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and $5 for students.

Information: 467-7943 or www.johnstownmusic.org.

Sweet time

The 63rd annual Pennsylvania Maple Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and March 24-28 at various sites in Meyersdale.

Guests can learn how to tap a tree, boil sap into syrup and observe a sugar off, then eat Somerset County maple syrup on homemade pancakes.

Admission is $4 for adults and $1 for children ages 6-12. Children ages 5 and younger will be admitted free.

Information: 634-0213 or www.pamaplefestival.com.

Prom finery

The Cinderella Project will be open for business from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and March 27 at the YWCA of Greater Johnstown, 526 Somerset St. in the Kernville section of Johnstown.

The program provides new or gently used prom gowns, shoes and accessories to girls not able to afford them.

Girls will be able to choose several gowns, try them on and have minor alterations made.

Information: 536-3519.

Dramatic spotlight

Several high school plays will be staged this week.

"Thoroughly Modern Millie" will be presented at 7 tonight and Saturday at Conemaugh Township Area High School, 300 W. Campus Ave., Davidsville.

Tickets are $7 in advance and $8 at the door. Tickets can be reserved at 479-4014.

"CSI: Neverland" will be presented at 7 tonight and Saturday at Shade High School, 203 McGregor Ave., Cairnbrook.

Tickets are $3 for adults and $1 for students.

"Annie" will be presented at 7 tonight and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at United Area High School, 10780 Route 56 Highway East, Armagh.

Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students.

"Seussical the Musical" will be presented at 7 tonight and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Glendale High School, 1466 Beaver Valley Road, Flinton.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children ages 10 and younger.

"Anything Goes" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and March 26 and 27 at Westmont Hilltop High School, 200 Fair Oaks Drive, Johnstown.

Tickets are $7.

"Footloose" will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday and March 26 and 27 and 3 p.m. March 28 at Greater Johnstown High School, 222 Central Ave., Johnstown.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students.

Acting school

An eight-week theater workshop for ages 16 and older will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays at Greater Johnstown Community YMCA, 100 Haynes St. in the Kernville section of Johnstown.

The workshops, which start Thursday and March 26 and continue through May 14, will be an introduction to theater for those who have never experienced it.

The cost is $50.

Information: 535-8381.

Bare necessities

Auditions for Cresson Lake Playhouse's production of Disney's "The Jungle Book" will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the theater's Ebensburg rehearsal hall at 526 W. Ogle St.

A cold reading will be provided from the script for actors, and dancers will be asked to dance.

Volunteers also are needed to work backstage on production crews.

"The Jungle Book" will be performed May 8-15 at the playhouse's barn theater.

Information: 472-4333.

Classic fairytale

"The Little Mermaid" will be presented at 2 p.m. Sunday at Arcadia Theater, 1418 Graham Ave., Windber.

The presentation is part of the Coal-ala Bear Series for Children.

Tickets are $6.

Information: 467-9070.

Artistic anniversary

Satori Gallery, an art awareness, education and appreciation venue dedicated to area artists, will celebrate its two-year anniversary with a group show featuring new works by Johns-town artists who have appeared at the gallery from 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday at 155 Village St. in the Moxham section of Johnstown.

All artists have been invited to create a new piece that would embody the word satori, a Japanese Buddhist term for enlightenment which literally means understanding. It translates as a flash of sudden awareness or individual enlightenment.

There also will be a few pieces by new artists.

While there will be no cover charge, donations are appreciated.

Information: 659-1180.

Poetry presentation

Mary Ann Samyn will be the featured poet at the Esther Goldhaber Jacovitz poetry event at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the J. Irving Whalley Memorial Chapel on the Pitt-Johnstown campus, Richland Township.

The event is sponsored by the university's creative and professional writing program and is free of charge and open to the public.

Samyn, an associate professor in the creative writing program at West Virginia University, has been awarded the Emily Dickinson Prize from the Poetry Society of America, the James Wright Prize and a Pushcart Prize.

A book signing will follow Samyn's presentation.

Dual exhibits

Munster resident and local artist Mary F. Lessard will have exhibits from her "What My Eyes Have Seen" collection on display through May 14 at two area venues.

Twenty-four watercolor paintings conceived in and around India, the Baltic Sea, Argentina and Uruguay will be on display at the Wolf-Kuhn Gallery at Mount Aloysius College, Cresson.

The show is sponsored by Mount Aloysius Art Alliance and can be viewed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

For weekend admission, call 886-6327.

Seventeen paintings featuring Tuscany and Italy as well as floral arrangements will be on display at Memorial Medical Center, 1086 Franklin St., Johnstown.

These paintings can be viewed at the third floor atrium, the fifth floor lobby and the fifth floor nursery.

Lessard plans to donate 10 percent of sales at the medical center to Conemaugh Health Foundation's Arts in Healing program.

Art of the future

"Artists of the 21st Century" will be on display through April 10 at Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Loretto and through April 17 at Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier.

The shows feature the works of more than 300 students from schools in Cambria, Somerset, Bedford, Westmoreland, Blair and Fayette counties.

Information: Loretto, 472-3920; Ligonier, (724) 238-6015.

Outdoor art

"Nature, It's in Our Hands," a colored-pencil exhibit by Bedford County artist Donna Whitford-Housel, will be on display through March 26 at Community Arts Center of Cambria County, 1217 Menoher Blvd., Westmont.

The exhibit contains 50 pieces.

Information: 255-6515.

Transitional art

"Kenneth Cotlar: Transcendental Transitions" will be on display through May 15 at Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Altoona, 1210 11th Ave.

The exhibition features more than 60 of the Ebensburg artist's abstract compositions, which have been created on a variety of surfaces.

Cotlar will speak during a Lunch a l'Art program at noon April 7.

The cost of the program is $13 for nonmembers or $12 for members, and reservations are required.

Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

Information: 946-4464.

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