Tag Archives: Oscar Stivala

A Little Art, A Little Music…

I have just returned from the Renaissance Pub in Little Falls, NY, where I attended a Meet the Artist event with Oscar Stivala.

Oscar Stivala is a jazz trumpeter as well as an artist.  The Renaissance is displaying some of his works, and he was playing music tonight.  Some friends joined him.

They were awesome!

I sat at the bar and ordered a glass of wine.  Oscar was already playing with a guy on guitar.  He was soon joined by a man on bongos and then a woman on trumpet.  The music was wonderful.  As I sipped, I looked at his paintings, which I foolishly did not get any pictures of.  It took me long enough to get pictures of the musicians, because different ones played at different times.

Here were two without Oscar.

I was joined by my friend Angela Harris, who wrote Strike Story, a play I had the honor of being in a few years ago.  She also wrote the cheese plays that were part of Little Falls Cheese Festival.  She is working on one for the next festival.  If there is a part for me, I assured her of my willingness to participate. We were soon joined by a couple other friends, and it was a very nice evening.

Here are Oscar and another musician whose name I did not ask.

I did not get the names of the other musicians playing.  My bad.  I hope to go to the Renaissance Pub again and write more blog posts about it.  I would also like to blog more about Oscar Stivala’s music and art.  However, for today, this will have to do.  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

Getting Ready for Cheese

I just got back from rehearsal for Where’s the Cheesecake?, the play LiFT Theatre Company is presenting tomorrow at Little Falls Cheese Festival. I brought along my Tablet to take some pictures for this post.

We do a lot in a small space!

The set is quite simple, because it is a radio play.  We sit in the chairs, then get up and say our lines into the microphones.  It’s actually a little awkward acting that way, but us actors are always up for a challenge.

There are always a lot of laughs at rehearsal

Here are two of my castmates.  Full Disclosure: I told them to act like they were consulting over something in the script.  Actors are really good at these posed candid shots.

I didn’t tell him to smile.

This is an actual candid shot of a cast member.

Can you tell Matt has a cheese and Angela has a microphone?

I also wanted a shot of our writer and director, so we did another posed candid.  Angela Harris wrote the script, and Matt Powers directed.  They, as well as the cast, are excellent to work with.

Alas, I did not get a shot of Oscar Stivala, The Man with the Horn.  He adds atmosphere and mood with his music.  He is also playing later in the day at the Cheese Festival.  I hope to stick around long enough to hear him.  A number of other musical acts are also featured.  You can check out the line-up on the Cheese Festival’s Facebook page.

The Cheese Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Main Street in Little Falls.  The play will be in The Shop at 11:30 a.m.  Come on out!  But in case you miss it, I’ll try to write a blog post and tell you how it was.