Verda Mae Pugh
December 26, 2012
Three silent films, with live music
January 2, 2013
Houma gallery treats local youths to free art classes
Throughout January
Downtown Art Gallery 630 in Houma has an offer your artistic students can’t refuse: Free classes.
Students in grades 1 through 12 are welcome to participate.
Registration begins Jan. 2, and organizers say will continue until all of the sessions are filled.
Morning classes, offered between 10 a.m. and noon, are open to grades 1 through 4. Fifth graders through high school seniors will gather from 1 to 3 p.m.
All materials for the classes are provided free as well.
Subsequent sessions will meet Jan. 12, 19 and 26.
The program is being offered in conjunction with the Terrebonne Fine Arts Guild’s 50th anniversary (see story, page 20).
For more information or to register, call (985) 851-2198. The Downtown Art Gallery 630 is located at 630 Belanger St.
Post-holiday Blues will pick you up
Jan. 22-23
Theyyyyyy’re baaaack! And just in time to cure your post-holiday blues.
The Blue Man Group brings its high-octane theatrical experience to the Baton Rouge River Center Jan. 22-23. Tickets are $35-$62.50, and are available via Ticketmaster.
Those who’ve encountered the men in blue in New York, Boston, Las Vegas or Chicago – or even last year on tour in New Orleans – may recognize aspects of the latest theatrical tour. The Blue Man staples are included: comedy, music and video technology … on steroids.
It’s the first time Blue Man’s theatrical gig has traveled. Previous road shows were rock concerts centered around the group’s two CD releases – “The Complex” and “How to be a Megastar.”
A rollicking, non-stop powerhouse of discoveries, both the humor and innocence of the show is universal. Remarkably, the Blue Man Group communicates with the audience without ever uttering a word.
Be prepared for an evening of fun, music, streamers, confetti, lights, marshmallows and plenty of CVC pipe.
‘50s teen idol Ricky Nelson Remembered at NSU
Jan. 27
America’s original teen idol, Ricky Nelson, captured the hearts of young girls in the ‘50s.
The voice behind such hits as “Hello, Mary Lou,” “Travelin’ Man” and “Garden Party,” he is celebrated in Thibodaux Jan. 27 in “Ricky Nelson Remembered.”
Nelsons twin sons – Matthew and Gunnar – perform pop’s hits to a video backdrop of never-before-seen family photos and video and interviews with celebrities influenced by the late Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame singer.
The Nelson boys take the stage at 5 p.m. in Nicholls State University’s Peltier Auditorium. Seats are general admission and tickets are $35.
Baby boomers may remember Nelson from “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” the ABC sitcom that ran from October 1952 to March 1966. It starred real-life dad Ozzie, wife Harriet and brothers David and Ricky. The show was based, in large part, on the family’s life, chronicling their teen dating problems, marriages and careers.
Before his tragic death in an airplane crash in 1986, Ricky Nelson had accrued 53 hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and 19 other Top Ten hits. One of the biggest-selling artists of all time, he also earned a Golden Globe for his performance alongside John Wayne in “Rio Bravo” and entry in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
To their credit, Matthew and Gunnar have five Top 40 Billboard hits, four No. 1 MTV videos and more than 6.5 million sold albums. The twins’ self-penned No. 1 mega-hit “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love & Affection” earned the Nelsons a place in the Guiness Book of Worlds as the only family in entertainment history with three generations of No. 1 hitmakers.
For trivia buffs, the twins are also nephews of “NCIS” star Mark Harmon on their mother’s (Tracy Nelson) side of the family.
Tickets to “Ricky Nelson Remembered” are available at the Houma Regional Arts Council’s website, www.houmaterrebonne.org, or via phone at (985) 873-6367.
Ricky Nelson, ’50s teen idol, is celebrated by his twin sons in a production at Nicholls State University Jan. 27.
