Arts & Lifestyle
Of Interest ...
Chris Brown is in demand
NEW YORK (AP) - Chris Brown is in demand
with on-demand viewers
The TV on-demand service Music Choice said
Monday the soul singer was its most requested artist
in a one-year period ending in September Fans
ordered free plays of Brown's videos or interviews 43
million times
Music Choice honored
Brown on its first "Most
bemanded" awards show that
was available ? logically
enough ? on-demand starting
Monday.
Network executive Damon
Williams said teenage girls
were primarily responsible for
Brown's win. He said fans
would invite friends over to
watch or show off the video on
Brown
their cell phones
The Jonas Brothers and Lil Wayne were big draws,
too Wayne's "Lollipop" video was seen 12 million
times.
Despite being available in less than one-third of
the nation's TV homes. Music Choice says it is behind
only YouTube as a popular place for people to seek
out music videos on demand.
Music Choice, perhaps better known for its suite
of channels that play different genres of music, sees
growth opportunity with its on-demand features,
Williams said. Surveys show fewer than 10 percent of
the people who have the capability of getting on
demand video actually use the service, he said.
The company just started offering music videos
on-demand 2 1/2 years ago.
Jim Vincent is named
honorary UNCSA board member
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
(UNCSA)alumnus Jim Vincent, artistic director of
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, has been appointed an
honorary member of the UNCSA Board of Trustees
His appointment, by Chancellor John Mauceri,
was ratified by the UNCSA Board of Trustees late last
month.
Vincent's is the second of seven honorary trustee
positions to be appointed to represent the areas of
dance, design and production, drama, film, music,
visual arts and academic programs As such, he will
provide a national perspective in the dance arena.
Maya Angelou was appointed by Chancellor
Mauceri earlier this year.
Vincent joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
(HSDC) in August 2000 following an extensive career
as a dancer, teacher, ballet master and choreographer.
On Nov. 2, Vincent was honored with an Alumni
Achievement Award from UNCSA. He is a 1978 grad
uate of the UNCSA School of Dance
Film documents Liberian .
women's role in ending war
(GIN/NNPA) - Amid overwhelming destruction
and despair, a group of Liberian women united to
form a Mass Action for Peace, with Christians and
Muslims taking to the streets in daily protest and
prayer to end violence .
The time was 2003 and
peace talks in that West
African country were stalled.
Barricading the conference
site, the Liberian women
refused to let representatives of
the waning factions out of the
building until they had reached
an agreement
Despite their courage and
perseverance, despite their role
in ending the war and toppling
dictator Charles Taylor - the
Libenan women's work went largely unnoticed by
major news organizations.
"It's just this incredible disappearing story." said
Abigail E Disney, producer of "Pray the Devil Back
to Hell "
The just-released film gathers new interviews and
archival footage from nearly three years of peace
demonstrations to illuminate an untold chapter of
recent history.
Leytnah Gbowee, one of the movement's leaders,
has taken her work beyond Liberia to co-found
Women Peace and Security Network Africa. She con
siders the film a "call to action" whose inspirational
message translates to any culture "I think women
have the ability to mobilize around every and any
issue, especially if that issue touches their heart."
August Wilson play
to return to Broadway
NEW YORK (AP) - "Joe Turner 's Come and
Gone, one of August
Wilson's 10 plays chronicling
the black experience in 20tti
century America, is returning
to Broadway.
Bartlett Sher. who direct
ed Lincoln Center Theater's
hit production of "South
Pacific," will direct the LCT
revival, which will open
April 16 at a theater to be
announced.
Casting for "Joe Turner"
? which Wilson's widow,
Constanza Romero, has sa?d was his favorite play
? also will he announoed
MM KTKHO
Dancers from Positive Image Performing Arts will be among the entertainers.
Parade, tree lighting are Saturday
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
The annual Tree Lighting
Celebration will take place
Saturday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m. in
Corpening Plaza at First and
Liberty streets in downtown
Winston-Salem.
The event will take place
immediately after the Winston
Salem Jaycees Holiday Parade,
which will feature music, danc
ing, costumed mascots and
treats for kids. The parade
begins at 5 p.m. at Fourth and
Poplar streets.
The Tree Lighting event will
also feature a full-slate of enter
tainment. The Greater
Cleveland Avenue Christian
Church Choir, the Academy of
Dance Arts, Positive Image
Performing Arts, the R J.
Reynolds High School jazz
band and a cappella chorus and
the North Carolina Black
Repertory Company are among
those expected to perform. Miss
Forsyth County, Santa Claus
and Mayor Allen Joines will be
among the special guests.
Joines is slated to light the
giant tree, which is erected each
year by the City Vegetation
Management Department. It
will be decked with more than
20,000 lights.
Eatery opens in historic Old Salem building
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Old Salem can now claim another
piece of history. It is home to the first
ever Mayberry Restaurant housed in a
historic building. c
The restaurant, popular for its ice
cream, soups and sandwiches, opened
atop Winkler Bakery in Old Salem on
Nov. 15.
Because of rules governing historic
buildings, the new restaurant's signage
cannot be affixed to the Winkler building;
instead, a sign hangs on the back porch
facing Main Street, and has to be removed
nightly.
The restaurant has counter service as
well as seating for 22 in two cozy, rustic
dining areas. The menu follows that of
other Mayberry restaurants.
"We are extremely pleased to have
Mayberry providing food service in the
northern end of the historic district" said
Eric Hoyle, vice president of finance at
Old Salem Museums & Gardens. "This is
convenient to our visitors, staff and Salem
College."
The Mayberry Restaurant Group also
operates a deli-style Mayberry restaurant
in the Old Salem Visitor Center.
The restaurant has been busy serving
people visiting Old Salem, as well as
businesspeople and residents from the
surrounding area. It is open from 11 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday,
and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Counter
service and limited table service are avail
able.
Photo by Layla Farmer
The Mayberry sits atop the Winkler Building.
State
marker
honors
Strayhorn
CHRONICLE 3TAJT REDOUT
A marker was dedicated
Saturday to legendary compos
er Billy Strayhom in front of
the Hillsborough (N.C.) fire
station on Churton Street.
Although born in Dayton,
Ohio, on Nov. 29, 1915, as
William Thomas Strayhom. he
and his family frequently visit
ed his grandparents in
Hillsborough. In fact, David
Hajdu, Strayhorn 's biographer,
contends that North Carolina
became the
legendary
composer's
spiritual
home.
Strayhorn's
grandpar
ents owned
a piano and
introduced
him to
music
through
gospel
tunes. He attended nrsi graae
in Hillsborough, where he gave
his first musical performances,
and was described later by a
classmate as "small and
bright."
After his family moved to
Pittsburgh, Stray horn visited
Hillsborough during summers
through his teenage years. He
met Duke Ellington in
Pittsburgh and became
Ellington's primary collabora
tor for more than 25 years. The
versatile composer, arranger
and pianist also penned the jazz
standards "Lush Life," "Satin
Doll" and many other well
known pieces in the Duke
Ellington songbook.
Although long overshad
owed by Ellington, Strayhom
has been the subject of two
biographies and the 2007 docu
mentary "Lush Life" aired on
PBS. When Strayhorn died of
cancer in 1967, Ellington said
his friend "had no aspirations
to enter into any kind of com- #
petition, yet the legacy he
leaves, his oeuvre, will never
be less than the ultimate on the
highest plateau of culture."
Strayhom, who was openly
gay, was also a close friend of
Civil Rights Icon Martin
Luther King Jr.
The marker was erected
through the N.C. Highway
Historical Marker program,
which is administered by the
Office of Archives and History
and is part of the N.C.
Department of Cultural
Resources.
Art by local students will hang in gallery
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT '
Works of art created by
local students will be on display
at Reynolda House Museum of
American Art beginning tomor
; row (Dec. 5).
The collection - "Seeing
Our City Through Our
? Students" -was done as a col
' laborative with Reynolda
House's fall exhibition -
I "Seeing the City: Sloan's New
1 York," which will run through
Jan. 4. 2009.
The student art show
includes work from participants
in the Sawtooth School for
Visual Art's 2008 Summer
Honors Program; an exhibition
of middle and high school art
that was on display recently at
Delta Arts Center; and an exhi
' bition of elementary school art
? on view at the Children's
| Museum a few weeks ago.
Seeing Our City Through
Our Students" will be on view
at Reynolds House from Dec. 5
- Jan. 4.
According to Reynolds
House Assistant Curator
Allison Slaby, "The students
were so imaginative in their
treatment of the city. I love the
different media - collage, paint,
pencil, and crayon - and the
different styles, from realism to
abstraction. Most of all,
though. I love seeing the varied
Wrvnoidi Hcmr FW.
Some of the art was on display recently at the Children's Museum.
ways the students interpreted
the assignment. Some show the
city exactly as it appears before
them, while others present a
scene that captures their hopes
for the future of the city. Still
others concentrate on people -
our neighbors who make
Winston-Salem so dynamic
It's inspiring to have young
people participating in a dia
logue with us about the place
they call home."
The student exhibition is a
result of collaboration among
several community partners.
including the Winston
Salem/Forsyth County Schools'
art teachers and students. Arts
Education Program Manager
Lynn Foltz; and NBCT Lead
Teacher for Visual Art Heidi
Wicker
O 1