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YSU’s ‘Kate’ features best of Shakespeare, jazz-age musicals

Cole Porter wrote about 25 musicals for stage and screen in his lifetime, but only “Kiss Me, Kate” and “Anything Goes” are produced with any regularity in the 21st Century. “Some of the subject matters just aren’t relevant anymore,” said Adam Day Howard, who will direct “Kiss Me, Kate” for a four-performance run at Youngstown State University’s Ford Theater. What makes “Kiss Me, Kate” the exception. According to Howard, it’s the source material. “Like all great golden age musicals, it's a musical about another musical. The plot of ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ is, ...

YSU puts freshman art on display in Bliss Hall

YSU puts freshman art on display in Bliss Hall The work of freshmen art students at Youngstown State University will be on display on the fourth floor of Bliss Hall. The Freshman Seminar and Portfolio Review Showcase includes the work of Drew Bowles, Braylon Cole, Adele Colonna, Ryan Conley, Marc Crawford, Bridget Elliott, Tran Ho, JoAnna Ladd, Olivia Lehman, Jayden May, Nevaeh McBride, Darah McKinney, John Mosko, Sumara Myers, Joshua Rivera, Addison Rodenbaugh, Ellianna Volpini, Zane Weaver, Gavin Wheeler, Allison Young and Quintin Zagotti. An opening reception is scheduled from ...

‘Mean Girls’ musical means a lot to millennials

Millennial Theatre Company had a list of three musicals that, whenever they became available, the theater would drop whatever it had scheduled in order to do them. Two of those shows became part of its 2025-26 season. “Dear Evan Hanson” will be staged this summer, and the musical “Mean ...

Carbon Leaf took plenty of time to create its ‘Playground’

Carbon Leaf’s latest release, 2024’s “Time Is the Playground,” was its first studio album in a decade. The long layoff wasn’t planned, frontman Barry Privett said, and it’s not like they weren’t busy. The indie rock band re-recorded the three albums it released between 2004 and ...

Gray Areas: Youngstown Summer Movie Series lineup has been announced

Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment: • Eight films are scheduled for the Youngstown Summer Movie Series, which was announced this week. It includes a mix of recent box office hits, and a few titles that will have a nostalgic tug for kids of the ‘90s. The lineup is: June 22 – “Minecraft” (2025) June 29 – “Men in Black” (1997) July 6 – “Superman” (2025) July 13 – “Good Burger” (1997) July 20 – “How to Train Your Dragon” (2025 live action version) July 27 – “Free Willy” (1993) August 3 – “Frankenweenie” ...

Packard band hosts annual jazz appreciation concert

Ensembles from five area high schools will join the Big Band Sound of Packard for its annual Jazz Appreciation Month Big Band Jazz Festival. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History led the effort to establish April as Jazz Appreciation Month to draw attention to ...