TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

March
The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts opens in downtown Worcester after eight years of fundraising, development and renovation. It just goes to show that if you love the arts and enjoy twisting arms and working hard for eight years, eight very long years, anything is possible in Worcester!

By Harsh V. Singh

Elizabeth �Liz� Murray (born September 23, 1980) is an American inspirational speaker who is best known as having been homeless in her youth, and as having overcome her hardship to achieve success. Murray was born in the Bronx, New York, to poor, drug-addicted, HIV-infected parents. She became homeless just after she turned 15, when her mother died of AIDS, and her father moved to a homeless shelter. Murray�s life turned around when she began attending theHumanities Preparatory Academy in Chelsea, Manhattan.

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts� production of �A Christmas Carol� hit some wonderfully sure and engaging notes as the show opened its seven-performance run Friday night.

Dramatically strong, often superbly acted, with eye-catching lighting effects and some glorious sounds, this is definitely a show for the season � not just the holiday season, but the 2009-2010 theater season.

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

�This year we�ve had more time to work on the details and polish things,� Siebels said.
However, is 13 a charm, or can even �A Christmas Carol� get old?
�I find it rejuvenating. I would think it would feel old, but somehow it doesn�t. I sort of do two jobs to get this done.�

By June Wulff GLOBE STAFF

Just when you think there�s nothing new under the Victorian sun to do with Dickens�s �A Christmas Carol,�� a Wurlitzer shows up to prove you wrong.

By Peter Landsdowne Telegram & Gazette

You know the winter holiday season is here when you can rock around the Christmas tree with Brenda Lee. More than 1,500 Brenda Lee fans did just that Saturday night at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on Southbridge Street as Ms. Lee brought her much-anticipated Christmas show to the city.

Good news for hot-blooded Foreigner fans: The superstar rock band is coming to Worcester. The band, which has released such hits �Feels Like the first Time,� �Urgent,� �I Want to Know What Love Is� and �Cold as Ice,� has seven multi-platinum albums, including �Double Vision,� �Foreigner 4� and �Head Games.�

Worcester, MA- Foreigner, one of the world�s most popular and enduring rock bands, is coming to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 8:00pm. Tickets are $45.75, $55.75 and $125.00 ($125 ticket includes a CD and meet and greet with the band) and go on sale Monday, December 14, 2009 at 10:00am. Tickets will be available in person at the Hanover Theatre box office located at 2 Southbridge Street in Worcester, by calling the box office at (877) 571-SHOW or online at www.thehanovertheatre.org.

The Vienna Boys� Choir, one of the planet�s most renowned singing groups, will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester.

Get ready to join your Celtic family for a happy, heartfelt Christmas celebration.

"Lynn" Singleton, Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) and Professional Facilities Management, Inc. (PFM) President, was honored last month with the 2009 Encore Award at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA.

It�s one of those honors that Marblehead Fire Capt. Dan Rice said, straining for the right word, �is bittersweet.�

Brenda Lee�s Christmas show comes to the Hanover Theatre


�Little Miss Dynamite� exploded onto the rock �n� roll scene at a very young age, but never blew herself up.

Brenda Lee maintained a level head when many in her situation before and since have lost theirs.

By Lisa Eckelbecker

A children's center, a university student center and a performing arts theater are this year's winners of the Silver Hammer Awards, honors presented annually by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce to recognize renovations of noteworthy properties.

Ryan Samuelson of Worcester, 16 months old, enjoys the sights and sounds during the Christmas tree-lighting ceremony last night on the Worcester Common.

By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

20TH ANNUAL FIREFIGHTER AWARDS

The house lights in the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts dimmed. Then suddenly everyone in the room was taken back 10 years to a time when this city suffered an unimaginable tragedy.

The 10th anniversary of the Cold Storage and Warehouse fire will be recognized with a memorial service at 6 p.m. today at the Franklin Street Fire Station, the site of the 1999 blaze that took the lives of six city firefighters.

The annual tree lighting on the Common will be held at 5 p.m. tomorrow. It will be a greatly scaled-down affair from years past. First of all, in an effort to save money, an artificial tree will replace the traditional live one customarily trucked in by the Forestry Department from the far corners of the city at considerable expense. The move also aims to free up forestry staff hours for the ongoing beetle battle. The artificial tree, which is about 31 feet tall, uses LED lights that will save more than 70 percent in energy costs, according to city officials.

By Ellie Oleson
A group of medical professionals who work to keep patients healthy pooled their resources to keep children happy this holiday season.

Worcester marks Dec. 3 with events at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, Union Station and Franklin Street Fire Station.

Cast members of the Ballet Arts Worcester will team up with the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra and the All Saints Choir next month to present a production of �The Nutcracker� at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester.

�Legally Blonde -- The Musical� may not be �My Fair Lady,� but it ended up shining rather nicely as the Broadway touring production of the show opened a six-performance run at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts last night.

The national tour of �Legally Blonde � The Musical,� starring Becky Gulsvig, opened in Providence in September 2008. It makes a stop in Worcester this week for six shows. D.B. Bonds plays the role of Emmett in the touring production of Legally Blonde The Musical. "I talk to guys after the show, and they say their girlfriends dragged them there, but they enjoyed it as much as they did."

The city�s cultural, business and political communities yesterday unveiled the WOO Card, a program offering discounts at various art and cultural organizations throughout Central Massachusetts.

Home sales soar taking advantage of a special tax credit gave sales of existing homes in October the biggest surge in a decade, raising hopes for a turnaround in the housing market and pleasing Wall Street.

Several Worcester firefighters and a Gardner firefighter will all receive awards Dec. 3 during the 20th annual Firefighter of the Year Awards, which will take place at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.

�Royalty of Doo Wopp and Stars of Motown,� the latest slate of acts from vintage rock producer Harvey Robbins, pulled into The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on Southbridge Street Saturday night for a concert that drew close to 500 music fans eager to hear doo wopp groups (The Flamingos, The Inspirations) and proponents of The Motown Sound (The Vandellas, The Contours) from the early days of rock.

If Taylor Swift is like a little kitty cat, then Miranda Lambert is like a tiger � a ferocious, gun-toting, straight-shooting, hell-raising, beer-guzzling tiger.

She�s three albums into her career, but Miranda Lambert�s only local visits to date have been brief, over-before-it-starts sets at the front end of an arena package tour. So her show Thursday night in the upscale confines of Worcester�s Hanover Theatre provided the first opportunity for a good look at the rising country singer.

The Merlin Award, presented by The International Magicians Society, is pretty much the Oscar Award for stage magicians.

A big country show will take place tonight and there is a good chance you don�t know about it.

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Now, don�t you worry yourself one little bit. It�s really quite safe to go to the Hanover Theatre to see country star Miranda Lambert Thursday night. A heart-stopping performance will be your biggest risk.

The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester held its first Franklin Square Society recognition event...

It is one thing to create pop-style instrumentals for the piano and come up with an album titled �No Words� that doesn�t have any words.

By Richard Duckett

The three balloons Stephen Lynch sings about in the title track of his latest CD are not the festively festooned type most of us might associate with birthdays, holidays and other celebrations.

Hello, hello, hello ... is there anybody in there? OK. It�s almost impossible to resist making jokes about Pink Floyd�s �The Wall,� but there are reasons why the psychedelic experience that is the �Pink Floyd LaserSpectacular� has endured for more than 23 years. The laser-light show set to the music of Pink Floyd will play at 8 p.m. Friday at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester. (877) 571-7469 or www.thehanovertheatre.org. Tickets cost $24-$34. (Victor D. Infante)

The city is planning memorial events in recognition of the six firefighters who died a decade ago battling a fire at the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co.

Eight Randolph firefighters will be recognized for rescuing occupants of a Reed Street apartment building during a three-alarm fire last year.

Richard Duckett

Comedian Steve Solomon has some issues he�d like to discuss with his audience at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester, beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday.

�My Mother�s Italian, My Father�s Jewish, and I�m in Therapy� is the title of his new show. But that�s just the tip of the psychiatrist�s couch, so to speak. Solomon is renowned for weaving stories involving numerous characters � with pinpoint accents, and neuroses.

Dinner at 55 Pearl in Worcester, along with tickets to Hanover Theatre in Worcester, gourmet baskets brimming over with food and wine, gift certificates to fine dining spots, an overnight and brunch at the Beechwood Hotel in Worcester, sports tickets, vacation packages and a Sunset Cruise on Lake Quinsigamond with hors d�oeuvres and drinks � all are items that will go up for bid at the Cocktail Party and Silent Auction event sponsored by the Worcester County Fathers and Family Network.

Baby it's mine.

Maybe those weren't quite the words Barbara Lewis said when she heard one of her hit songs being played over the radio back around the winter of 1991. But she did call the radio station and say, “Thank you for playing my song.”

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The stage is set for musical feast at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Friday night. The Hartford Symphony Orchestra featuring the Mohegan Sun All-Stars is on the bill, which translates to something like “acclaimed regional orchestra meets mighty rhythm and blues juggernaut.”

BY Craig S. Semon Tracks TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Miranda Lambert � the 25-year-old country vixen and consummate �Crazy Ex-Girlfriend� who practices her right to bear arms and burn bridges, homes, you name it � is certainly packing plenty of heat and is licensed to carry.

BY Dan Sweeney TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

For a near-capacity audience Saturday night at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, the mournful opening notes of the trumpets probably tempted viewers to surmise that it was not going to turn out warm and fuzzy, and they were right.

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

When the dance performance work “McNally's Fate” is given its world premiere at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, people can expect to see a number of dance and related arts disciplines merging into a creative expression. And specially created for “All Hallows Eve.”

By Sandy Meindersma THE BANNER CORRESPONDENT

When the curtain goes up on the Ballet Arts Worcester’s production of “The Nutcracker,” all eyes will be on West Boylston resident Rachele Perla, who will play Clara.

The production, a joint collaboration with the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, will take the stage at the Hanover Theatre Dec. 4 through 7.

BY Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Revenge is served with deadly tragedy and breathtakingly beautiful music in Giuseppe Verdi’s brilliant opera “Rigoletto.”

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Please, sir. Can I be Oliver!

Well, let's see: If you've got some spark, a pleasing singing voice, you take direction well and are generally lacking in snarkitude, then you have a good shot at it.

About 130 boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 16 turned out recently to audition for a free, four-month intensive musical theater training camp at Assumption College. The program leads to participation in four performances of the musical “Oliver!” April 23 to 25 at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester. Originally, 40 kids were to be selected, but it now appears more will make the grade when training camp participants are announced later this week.

Davis Wade credits the refurbishment of the nearby Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts for the gradual re-urbanization of people who used to shun downtown. “The Hanover has definitely helped,” she said. “People come and park, and they're walking over to get to the Hanover, any activity like that is good for the area. It would be nice if some more restaurants could get going down on this end, but I see it changing. I think things are coming up.”

The Hanover Theatre's resplendent staging of "The Wizard of Oz" flew into town Friday night on a formidable broomstick and zapped an enchanted audience with its glorious sets, spectacular choreography, rousing music and, most of all, marvelous cast that grabbed one's heart and never let go.

Best Performance Venue: The Hanover Theatre

As a part of City Living's Best of Arts and Entertainment Three-Peat, The Hanover Theatre earns the "W" for Best Performance Venue for the second straight year. Now in its second year of hosting live performances, The Hanover has seen some memorable names grace the stage. Aretha Franklin, Dave Brubeck, CATS, and more have come out from behind the curtains at the Hanover, and this seasons line up promises just as much talent and excitement as ever. The Hanover Theatre also offers membership programs granting special seating, advance ticket notice, and a bevy of other perks for their season sponsors.

BY TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

A new tune will premiere at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts tonight, and it’s not from the “Wizard of Oz.” That famous play’s Worcester opening night tonight, however, will be the occasion for the debut of … the singing ushers!

Twelve local young dancers are off to see the wizard this week as the National Tour of The Wizard of Oz takes off from the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Pilobolus Dance Theatre is not necessarily an easy artistic troupe to define. The dance pieces it performs combine intimacy of movement, appreciation of the body and merging of bodies, acrobatics, athleticism, sensuality — and don’t forget wit and humor.

Worcester Cultural Coalition

Hanover Theatre in Worcester The principal goal of the Worcester Cultural Coalition neatly sums up its guiding philosophy: �Cultivate, nurture and reward creativity anytime, anywhere. Ensure that every Worcester resident has the opportunity to be creative and innovative.�

“Rigoletto” Opera performed by the National Lyric Opera of New York, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 24. $44-$54. The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester.

AUBURN – As the nights get colder, Keeping Auburn Warm volunteers are hoping for help... A raffle and silent auction will offer such prizes as tickets to “A Christmas Carol” at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester

Economic winners: In Central Massachusetts, IBM Corp. in Littleton took the gold award. Brookfield Renewable Power in Marlboro took the silver, and Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester was awarded the bronze.

Please, sir, I want some more!

If you can say that with feeling (and maybe a cute little Cockney accent) then you just might be Worcester’s next child star.

Ian Anderson embraces ‘first love' — acoustic music

The Hanover

The season is kicking into high gear over at the Hanover Theatre, with Celtic Crossroads on Friday, October 9. Critically acclaimed, this explosion of youthful energy and dazzling musicianship abounds with fusions of traditional Irish music, bluegrass, gypsy and jazz whilst pulsating with the rhythms of exciting Irish dance percussion. $29 - $49. 8-10 p.m. Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St. 877-571-7469, thehanovertheatre.org.

For those of you who were fortunate enough to experience Hal Holbrook’s decades-spanning incarnation of Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens) at Hanover Theatre on Friday evening, it’s hoped you read what follows with some degree of affirmation. The rest of you will have to rely on the word of a critic, and if you share Twain’s skeptical attitude toward journalists, good luck to you.

Music is the dominant denominator, but the accompaniments to the way the Worcester Music Festival has put it on display over the decades make for interesting sociology in addition to musicology.

AUBURN — The Auburn Cultural Council is selling tickets to Cirque Dreams Illumination at the Hanover Theatre. The show is at 7 p.m. Feb. 18.

T&G Staff/TOM RETTIG

Actor Hal Holbrook receives a key to the city from Mayor Konstantina B. Lukes today at the Hilton Garden Inn. The mayor is hosting 100 city students at Mr. Holbrook 's performance as Mark Twain tomorrow at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.

It’s 1964, there are four of them, they have long hair (it is long, isn’t it?), they’re considered “fab” — but do they have a future?

What’s that you said? “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah?”

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The Worcester-based Hispania Dance Company, which has a vision of exploring new artistic horizons, returns to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., at 4 p.m. Sunday with a concert titled "Call of the Drums" featuring the work of three local choreographers along with original music.

AUBURN — The Auburn Cultural Council is selling tickets to Cirque Dreams Illumination at the Hanover Theatre. The show is at 7 p.m. Feb. 18.

The group rate for tickets is $43.40 per person for rear orchestra seats and $34.40 for mid-balcony seats. This is a 10 percent savings over single sale seats.

Boston Spirit Magazine October Issue

Don't blow Legally Blonde off as mere fluff. It's FABULOUS fluff. And
Becky Gulsvig is absolutely charming as Elle Woods. She may be the
most likable actress you see this year. Those that followed the MTV
hit, Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods will be pleased
to spot audience favorites Lauren Zakrin and Rhiannon Hanson in the cast...

By Tine Roycroft

Lindiana Flores, dancer, dance instructor and artistic director of the new Hispania Dance Company has done more in 25 years than most people do in a lifetime.
She has studied under some amazing artists: Denise Jefferson, Director at Alvin Ailey; A.C. Ciulla of Broadway’s “Footloose;” Brice Vick, choreographer of Ashanti’s “Only You” video.
But Flores does not need to name-drop in order to gain respect.
Her talent makes her a force to be reckoned with and led her to co-create, with Hilda Ramirez, the Hispania Dance Company ~ a gorgeous and passionate dance group who will be performing their latest show, “Call of the Drum,” at The Hanover Theater on October 4.

Tickets available on-line starting Monday, October 5, 2009. Call the office for more information 508-754-3231.

Join us for an evening of extraordinary music with trumpeter Chris Botti, his band, and vocalist. Since the release of his 2004 critically acclaimed CD When I Fall In Love, Chris Botti has become the largest selling American jazz instrumental artist. His success has crossed over to audiences usually reserved for pop music and his ongoing association with PBS has led to four #1 Jazz Albums, as well as multiple Gold, Platinum & Grammy Awards.Chris Botti

"Adult Contemporary's Darling...It's easy to like trumpeter Chris Botti. ...an image of pensive romance, achieving stardom in the realm of adult-contemporary pop...Mr. Botti's sumptuous, limpid instrumental voice was the focus of the show." - NY Times

How do you characterize a Bobby Collins performance?

Part of the answer is that Collins is renowned for his characterizations, as well as his inimitable storytelling.

The National Tour of THE WIZARD OF OZ announced that Team Toto from West Boylston, MA will perform the roles of “munchkins” while this beloved classic is live on stage at The Hanover Theatre!

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

On the one hand, you might say Holbrook has already had plenty of time to get acquainted with the great author and humorist Samuel Langhorne Clemens (pen name Mark Twain). Twain died in 1910 at 74, but Holbrook, a hale and hearty sounding 84, has been bringing him back to life on the stage on a remarkably regular basis in his one-man show since the 1950s. "Hal Holbrook: Mark Twain Tonight!"will be coming to The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Oct. 2.

Dash for the sash
By Colneth Smiley Jr.

The crown will be passed on tonight to a new Miss Massachusetts, with 16 young women set to compete for the distinction of representing the Bay State.

Seventies duo Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina, who delivered such hits as “Angry Eyes,” “Your Mama Don’t Dance” and “Watching the River Run,” have reunited for a summer concert tour.

Open Auditions for "A Christmas Carol" Sunday, September 20 from 1pm-8pm and Tuesday, September 22 from 5pm - 9pm.

THE NATIONAL TOUR OF THE WIZARD OF OZ ANNOUNCES LOCAL MUNCHKIN AUDITIONS FOR ITS WORCESTER ENGAGEMENT: 12 Local Children Will be Selected to Perform at The Hanover Theatre

By Danielle Williamson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

In the less than two years since its unveiling, about 3,500 college students have signed up for the Woo Card, according to Erin I. Williams, cultural development officer for the city. In June, the Woo Card started providing updates on Facebook and Twitter, and the group’s goal is to have 5,000 students enrolled by the end of this school year.

Stacey O’Dell, executive assistant at The Hanover Theatre, has been joining WOOers (Ms. Williams’ title for workers who promote the card) at college fairs like the one at Assumption. She and Ms. Ouyang had signed up a handful of Assumption freshmen last week.

What do The Wizard of Oz, Brenda Lee, Carol Burnett, Curious George, Sleeping Beauty, Mark Twain (aka Hal Holbrook) and the Vienna Boys Choir all have in common?

They will all be making their way to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester, during the course of the 2009-10 season.

The Hanover Theatre Announces Restaurant of the Month!

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Change is good.

At least according to “Menopause the Musical” it is. It’s just that the change process entails a few bumps like mood swings, sudden chocolate binges, insomnia, hot flashes and memory crashes, among other signs of the middle-aged times.

The show’s production schedule also has gone through some changes since it opened in a tiny theater in Orlando in 2001. Since then, “Menopause the Musical” has been seen by nearly 11 million in more than 250 cities, its producers say. After Tuesday night’s performance at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, we can ratchet that number up by about 1,700 or so, with still more to be added with performances scheduled through Thursday at the theater.

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The national choreographer for “Menopause the Musical,” which concludes a three-night run at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts tonight, is Daria Lynne Melendez. Worcester area audiences might know her better as Daria Atanian, who as a teenager ran Daria’s School of Dance in Worcester in the 1970s.

Singers, comedians, dancers make their way to finals in ‘Worcester’s Got Talent’

By Sandy Quadros Bowles TELEGRAM & GAZETTE CORRESPONDENT

They called the show “Worcester’s Got Talent.”

“Worcester’s Got Quite an Impressive Range of Talent” would have worked as well.

Twenty-nine of the city’s best entertainers performed on the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts stage Saturday to compete for the title of Worcester’s most talented in three categories: comedy, music and dance.

Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The Artane Band of Ireland has not been to the United States since 1998. That will change Thursday when the current 62-member band of young musicians ranging in age from 11 to 18 touches down stateside, with its first engagement Friday night at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.

By Peter Landsdowne Telegram & Gazette Reviewer

It was the King, the Killer, and the Thriller on stage at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Friday night as Elvis Presley impersonators Leo Days and Doug Church, Jerry Lee Lewis impersonator Lance Lipinsky, and Michael Jackson impersonator Kenny Wizz joined forces to pay tribute to three of rock and pop’s most beloved icons in a show titled “The Kings of Rock and the King of Pop Together.”

BY Nancy Sheehan, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Let us pause for a moment to have the time of our lives.

That's a main theme of “Menopause the Musical,” the hit comedic pop-music revue that openly celebrates what previously had been treated somewhat sheepishly as the Silent Passage. “It's just a nice celebration of women,” said Lisa Mack, a lead actor in the touring cast of the show, which will play the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Aug. 25 through 27. “We laugh at things we all can relate to and especially the symptoms of menopause. We actually make it funny and everybody has a good time,” she said.

Where were you the day the music died?

“I was 15, having dinner with my parents in Montpelier, Ohio. The news came on …,” recalled Doug Church. “It wasn’t really much of a shock to me. We knew he was in bad health, but it is one of those kinds of things that you will never forget where you were.”

No, Church wasn’t recalling this past June 25, the day some might say pop music died with the tragic passing of Michael Jackson. Rather, Church was casting his mind back to 32 years ago today — Aug. 16, 1977 — when Elvis Presley, the “King of Rock ’n’ Roll,” died.

WORCESTER - Blues legend Duke Robillard takes the stage with his band at 8 tonight in the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts as part of the Stageside at Burnside Court music series presented in conjunction with radio station WCUW.

"My show is to promote my new CD 'Stomp the Blues Tonight.' I will be augmenting my band with an additional horn and female vocalist Sunny Crownover (who guests on the new CD) for the show," Robillard said.

Out to Lunch concert series downtown
By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

We all need to multitask these days, so how about feeding your soul and your body at the same time with the city's new "Out to Lunch" noontime concert series on Worcester Common.

Preservation Worcester held a Las Vegas-style casino fundraiser in March at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester. Local celebrities and Preservation Worcester volunteers served as casino dealers before and after a performance of "The Rat Pack is Back," a nightclub quartet. Proceeds benefit Preservation Worcester, which works to preserve the buildings and sites that represent the culture, history and architecture of Worcester.

AUBURN � Pakachoag Music School of Greater Worcester (formerly Pakachoag Community Music School), 203 Pakachoag St., has a new name.

The school will formally celebrate the new name at its annual breakfast meeting at 7:30 a.m. Sept. 29. Troy Siebels, executive director of The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, will be the featured speaker.

WORCESTER� Persistence paid off for Amanda Lynn Teresa Kelly, a 23-year old Braintree native who finished as first runner-up last year and a Top 10 Finalist in 2007 before being selected as Miss Massachusetts 2009 Saturday at the Miss Massachusetts Scholarship Pageant. She will receive more than $7,500 in scholarships as well as a $7500 in-kind scholarship at Assumption College. The pageant, which was celebrating its 70th Anniversary, took place for the first time at the newly restored Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester. She will compete at the Miss America Pageant in January of 2010 in Las Vegas.

150 YEARS OF MUSIC
By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The Worcester Music Festival is the country�s longest continuous festival of its kind, but the 150th season, overseen by Music Worcester Inc., will see some firsts and surprises as well as high-level recognition when it gets under way Oct. 16 with a performance and world premiere by the Orquestra de Sao Paulo in Mechanics Hall.

BIZ LEADERS SWAP NOTES ON PROVIDING FUN

By Aaron Nicodemus TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER � Business can be fun, and fun can be serious business.

So often, the discussion on an economic development issue revolves around the number of jobs created. When discussing the value of improving or extending a rail line, its value is usually based on how many commuters it carries to Boston.

What about fun? What about recreation? What about tourism? What about festivals, concerts-on-the-Common, farmers markets, bicycle paths and other feel-good events that make a place unique and interesting?

At a conference yesterday at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts called �The Business of Fun!�, speakers discussed how their local recreational attractions � Wachusett Mountain ski resort in Princeton, CoCo Key Water Resort in Fitchburg, and the Hanover Theatre � can bring in serious economic activity.

My first attendance at the new Hanover Theatre was on June 20. Wow. To hear the choral groups (five) singing in their individual styles made this my first, not my last.

WORCESTER � A dozen volunteers, including Joyce Gully of Worcester, left, and Alexis Stevens of Shrewsbury spent yesterday morning installing cobblestones around the garden before planting flowers at Federal Place, in front of the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts. The volunteers were from the Hanover Gardening Club and the city Department of Public Works.

Blackstone woman third runner-up
CHOOSING MISS MASSACHUSETTS

By Bronislaus B. Kush TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER � The only thing missing was Bert Parks.

It certainly wasn't hard for a visitor to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts last night to look around the refurbished entertainment center and imagine being in old Atlantic City, when the East Coast's former gambling capital hosted, for the longest time, the Cadillac of all beauty contests � the Miss America Pageant.

Miss Shrewsbury Caitlyn Coates talks to 6-year-old Thomas McKiernan of Auburn during a meet-and-greet session with the 2009 Miss Massachusetts Scholarship Pageant contestants at the Auburn Mall yesterday morning.

By Peter Landsdowne TELEGRAM & GAZETTE REVIEWER

WORCESTER � Close to a thousand fans of big-band swing flocked to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Wednesday night for a concert by the latest incarnation of The Glenn Miller Orchestra.

Beverly, Mass. - ArtsBoston and 12 of its member organizations will offer free tickets to the 2009 subscriber's to North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly.

BY Cherie Ronanyne, THE PULSE MAGAZINE

Holy sashaying sashes! Worcester County has some hot chicks with talent who are ready to put their best up against other Massachusetts beauties.

On Fri., July 10 and Sat., July 11, the 2009 Miss Massachusetts Scholarship Pageant, the official preliminary to Miss USA, will take place at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester (For ticket information, go to www.thehanovertheatre.org.).

The Glenn Miller Orchestra swings into the city at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday for a performance at Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester. Tickets are $20 to $35. For more information, call (877) 571-7469 or visit www.thehanovertheatre.org.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20090702/NEWS/907020881

By Danielle Kahn SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

WORCESTER � The Miss Massachusetts Scholarship Pageant will be held at Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on July 10 and 11, a change of venue that organizers hope will make the pageant more accessible to Massachusetts residents.

TELEGRAM & GAZETTE "OPINION" SECTION

The Hanover Theatre has provided Worcester with a major attraction, something that Worcester lacked for decades.

By Martin Luttrell TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The Worcester Art Museum is an ideal place for educational programs, said Brian Barlow, but the second-largest art museum in New England does not have space. That will change with the awarding of a $310,000 grant by the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund, one of seven grants to six Worcester County nonprofit cultural institutions announced yesterday.

The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts will use $62,000 for renovations and to install a Wurlitzer organ.

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

This is a tale of two Troys.

They have more in common than just a name. Both are executive directors � one of a beautifully refurbished theater, the other of a local community radio station. And they both believe in music � and having fun, fun, fun in the summer sun.

Or actually, after the summer sun sets.

To that tuneful end, radio station WCUW and the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts have teamed up to present the Stageside at Burnside Court music series again this year.

BY Bonnie Russell TELEGRAM & GAZETTE CORRESPONDENT

Recently, 220 members from five community chorus groups representing 40 cities and towns in Central Massachusetts accepted an invitation to blend their alto, soprano, tenor and bass voices in a night of song.

Apple Tree Arts Community Chorus, Blackstone Valley Community Chorus, Greater Auburn Community Chorus, Greater Milford Community Chorus and the Westboro Community Chorus will take part in the New England Area Community Chorus Association 2009 Festival at 7 p.m. June 20 at Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester.

BY Doreen Manning, WORCESTER MAGAZINE

Salsa is many things. Dramatic. Sensual. Sexy. Powerful. Fun. Couldn�t get any better, right? The Hanover Theatre and Salsa Storm are kickin� it up a few sizzling steps on June 18 as Noches Calientes takes over the largest dance floor in New England � front and center on the Hanover stage � from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. And this time, you are the star.

The Worcester Historical Museum has announced that Mary C. (Streeter) DeFeudis will receive the Ninth Annual Harvey Ball Smile Award � and, we say, you would have to scour every nook in the city to find a more worthy choice.

Hanover teams up with city schools
By Sandy Quadros Bowles CORRESPONDENT

WORCESTER � Aspiring young critics gave rave reviews to a new program that invites them to view performances and then learn how to write critiques.

Then the reviewers, all juniors and seniors from Worcester high schools, offered constructive criticism about ways to make the second season even better.

How does comedian Brian Regan find out where to show up for his next gig?

�They told me to call you to find out my calendar,� he says to a T&G reporter, by phone from his home in Las Vegas recently. We told him he would be playing the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester on Friday. �Worcester? That sounds like fun!!� he says, in an over-ebullient �Hey, kids!� radio announcer voice.

He was, of course, being funny.

Recently, 220 members from five community chorus groups representing 40 cities and towns in Central Massachusetts accepted an invitation to blend their alto, soprano, tenor and bass voices in a night of song.

Apple Tree Arts Community Chorus, Blackstone Valley Community Chorus, Greater Auburn Community Chorus, Greater Milford Community Chorus and the Westboro Community Chorus will take part in the New England Area Community Chorus Association 2009 Festival at 7 p.m. June 20 at Hanover Theatre of the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester.

The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts will be transformed into a hot Latin nightclub when the theater presents Noches Calientes from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. June 18.

BY Nicole Luparelli, WORCESTER MAGAZINE

Brian Regan is one of the funniest comedians you will ever see. Period. And he�s totally clean. Without dropping any F-bombs or talking about banging chicks, he elicits howls from all ages. Not just �ha-ha, he�s kind of funny,� but the �Oh my god, cover my ears so I can finally breathe!� type of laughter. His CD Brian Regan Live was a dorm room favorite in 1997. I know because that�s when all my friends and I would listen to it repeatedly in my dorm room and annoy everyone around us by imitating him relentlessly. There�s just something magical about the inflection of his voice that makes anything he says instantly hilarious.

He appears at the Hanover Theatre on Friday, June 12, 8 p.m.

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Fine singing, a well-tuned orchestra, well-toned dancers in skimpy Cabaret costumes, a murder trial, a hanging, cat fights, back-stabbing, betrayal, duplicity. What more could you ask for in an evening out? What? A silvery shower of spotlight-snaring glitter raining down all over the stage, you want that thrown in too?

You got it.

Help from �Annie�
OUT AND ABOUT

Children�s Friend got some help from The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on a fundraising effort. Children�s Friend sold seats for the May 15 opening night show of �Annie,� keeping a portion of the proceeds from the tickets.

Grafton High
Ceremony at Hanover Center

GRAFTON � Grafton High School held graduation ceremonies last night.

BY TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Members of the class of 2009 of Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School received diplomas during commencement exercises last night at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester.

BY Nancy Sheehan, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Velma, Velma, Velma. It's always Velma.

But Terra C. MacLeod isn't complaining, even though she has played the role of merry murderess Velma Kelly in the musical "Chicago" with various theater companies since 2003. "It has been an amazing ride," she said in a recent phone interview. "It has been a huge part of my artistic career, and I'm very, very grateful for it."

"Chicago" was in Miami when we caught up with MacLeod, but the city shuffle continues when the tour comes to Worcester to play the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts June 5, 6 and 7.

Immigrants come from 86 countries
By Aaron Nicodemus TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER � Coming from all corners of the earth, nearly 500 immigrants stood in the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts yesterday and became U.S. citizens.

James O�Brien, 61, a partner with Worcester�s Mountain, Dearborn & Whiting law firm, has been involved in the city�s community life for more than 30 years. In 1977, he helped lead the campaign to create the Worcester Civic Center, which is now the DCU Center. With his help, a referendum on the issue passed by just 45 votes. Now, O�Brien has taken another leading role in an effort to boost local entertainment options. He recently became chair of the board of directors at the Worcester Center for Performing Arts, which runs the Hanover Theatre, taking over for H. Carter Hunt, the former commander of forces at Fort Devens, who stepped down after seven years in the position.

>> You�ve served on the board of directors of the Worcester Center for Performing Arts for seven years and vice chair for the past year. Did you plan on becoming chair?

Because of my efforts on behalf of the theater over the last several years [I have said] I would be happy to be chair. I didn�t expect it to be quite as soon as it turned out to be, but it�s a wonderful operation, a great challenge.

When I would be frustrated �not with any problems we had, but just with working so hard making it successful � and think �Gee, what am I doing this for?� � I�d walk into the theater and see people smiling and say �It�s all worthwhile. This is what we�re all doing this for, to get these smiles.�

BY TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The state will provide nearly $1 million to area cultural organizations for facility repairs and upgrades.

The Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund will disburse $972,000 for the following capital projects:

�$62,000 to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts for installation of a historic organ.

By Scott Zoback, Worcester Magazine

The night was heralded as one of the grandest in Worcester�s history. There was a red carpet, life-size Emmy award-evoking ice sculptures, a searchlight, and Bernadette Peters. A breathless account in the Telegram, mirrored by most other media outlets (including this one), highlighted the �celebrity� sightings, black-tie crowd, and ritzy feel of The Hanover Theatre�s opening night.

By Lisa D. Welsh TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF


WORCESTER � MTV�s newest reality show, �Taking the Stage,� about high school life at an arts magnet school in Cincinnati, ended its first season last week. But before the producers sign the students up for another run, they�d do well to visit the dance department at Burncoat High School first.

�We have the identical and, in my opinion, more-talented school right here in Worcester,� said Kellie Shea, assistant dance director at Burncoat. �Nick Lachey and Carmen Electra went to the school in Ohio, so it gets a lot of attention.�

THEATER REVIEW
By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER � When the now classic musical �Annie� opened in 1977, its Great Depression setting made it seem more of a harmless period piece, an almost nostalgic look back at an era whose depravations had lost their sting after decades of prosperity.

That continued for nearly 30 years, over the play�s long Broadway run and countless road tours. Well, suddenly, there are slightly unsettling parallels with the economic vicissitudes of today that make the song �It�s a Hard Knock Life� newly relevant and not just about something your parents or grandparents went through seemingly at the dawn of prehistory.

BY TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Don�t cry, baby, but an upcoming tour of the Broadway musical �Cry-Baby� has been pulled, which means it won�t be making a planned stop in Worcester or anywhere else.

The Hanover will substitute �The Wizard of Oz� for �Cry-Baby,� she said. The show will be a new tour that features lavish special effects and is based on the Royal Shakespeare Company�s interpretation of the 1939 film classic. The show also will run in Boston, but will make its Worcester stop first, she said. (Cue the wild applause track.)

BY Doreen Manning, WORCESTER MAGAZINE

Worcester�s Burncoat High School Dance Department has taken its year-end show and fundraiser to a whole new level, as the students prepare to grace the stage at the Hanover Theatre on Wednesday, May 20, for �A Dance Tribute to Bob Fosse.�

BY Lisa D. Welsh TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Many famous people have graced the stage of the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, but none did so to louder or more exuberant applause than the group that crossed the stage yesterday.

There was a packed house for Anna Maria College�s 60th commencement, with family and friends clapping, cheering and giving standing ovations that would be the envy of any star.

BY Peter Landsdowne TELEGRAM & GAZETTE REVIEWER

More than 1,800 music fans boarded a Soul Train of sorts Friday night at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts for a musical trip back to the 1970s. Promoted as The Heart and Soul Mother�s Day �70s Soul Jam, the concert featured a triple bill of The Stylistics, The Chi-Lites, and Harold Melvin�s Blue Notes. To quote comedian and master of ceremonies Jimmy Walker (you remember him as JJ in the �70s TV sitcom �Good Times�), the concert was �dy-no-mite!�

BY Livia Gershon, Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer

The board of directors of the Worcester Center for Performing Arts, which runs The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, has elected Worcester attorney James D. O'Brien Jr. as its chairman.

BY Jorge Bannister TELEGRAM & GAZETTE reviewer

While he�s quirky, and a bit of an oddball, Louis C.K. is certainly one of the best stand-up comics.

The 41-year-old comedian performed at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Saturday and had all 1,250 people in the audience sitting on the edge of their seats laughing so hard.

BY Nicole Luparelli WORCESTER MAGAZINE

Louis CK is one of those comedians soon to be iconic and linked forever with a generation. His recent interview on Conan O�Brien became viral on Youtube. A former Massachusetts resident who grew up in Newton, he cut his teeth on the Boston Comedy Scene, and even at some clubs here in Worcester. His comedy has been compared to late legends such as George Carlin and Bill Hicks. With an incredible distinctive voice, he portrayed Brendan Small�s father on the cult cartoon hit Home Movies and appeared many times on Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. He will be appearing in the upcoming Ricky Gervais movie This Side of the Truth and recently filmed The Invention of Lying in Lowell.

He returns to tropical Worcester as part of his most recent tour, making a stop at the Hanover on Saturday May 2.

By Dan Sweeney TELEGRAM & GAZETTE REVIEWER

Having served up two delightful plates of Verismo Opera, Opera Worcester and the National Lyric Opera took a step back in time for a delectable taste of the Bel Canto era, with a presentation of Gioacchino Rossini�s �L�Italiana in Algeri,� at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Monday night.

Worcester Business Journal Staff

And speaking of customers, we�d like to extend our best wishes to 55 Pearl, the new restaurant at that address in Worcester, which has been home to two previously failed restaurants.

The new group running the place has a track record in the city that is beyond impressive: On the team are the same folks who restored what is today the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts. Paul Demoga and Ed Madaus, who resurrected the theater, are joined by William Giannopoulos and Mark Aaronson in the new restaurant venture at the historic Bull Mansion.

Broadway lineup
New season starts with �Cry-Baby�

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

You can be Broadway bound without leaving Worcester.

Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts yesterday announced the lineup for its 2009-2010 Broadway series. The string of strong shows, which includes Broadway classics as well as some newer offerings, kicks off Oct. 16 to 18 with the dance-infused musical �Cry-Baby.� That show, set in 1950s Baltimore, was written by John Waters. He also wrote �Hairspray,� which kicked off the Hanover�s initial and highly successful Broadway season last spring shortly after the newly refurbished theater reopened, ending a long period of dormancy and decay.

BY Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Brian T. Tivnan has a fantastic opportunity: the chance to stage a musical at the elegant Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts. The prospect makes Tivnan, lecturer of theater and television arts at Assumption College, a tad nervous, however. As the artistic director of the former Worcester Forum Theater Ensemble, he is not worried about the quality of this production of �The Fantasticks� with its talented college cast.

BY WORCESTER MAGAZINE STAFF

Move over Broadway � hip hop is taking over the stage at the Hanover Theatre on April 29 when Worcester�s own K.A. Promotions and Pride Productions bring Soulja Boy, Fabolous, Red Caf�, and local sensation NyneWest to the stage.

By Peter Landsdowne Telegram & Gazette REVIEWER

Late in 1960, music impresario Albert Grossman wanted to put together a folk music supergroup to compete with the growing number of rock bands popping up on the American musical landscape. According to Grossman, he hand-picked �a tall blonde (Mary Travers), a funny guy (Noel �Paul� Stokey), and a good-looking guy (Peter Yarrow).� He called the trio Peter, Paul and Mary and booked the group into The Bitter End, a coffeehouse in New York City�s Greenwich Village in 1961.

Except for a hiatus between 1970 and 1978, Peter, Paul and Mary have been performing together since that Bitter End gig. On Friday night at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on Southbridge Street, the trio gave more than 2,100 folk music fans ample evidence of why the group has remained popular for close to five decades.

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

If you like �American Idol� on TV, then you almost certainly would have liked the Idols alumni show at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Wednesday night. Even if you don�t watch the show and can�t tell this season�s frontrunner, Adam Lambert from, well, Adam, you still probably would have liked it.

The song list and vocal work were strong enough to engage even the uninitiated, which Wednesday night were mainly parents accompanying passels of school-age children who absolutely delighted in seeing beloved tele-types come to life.

By Kim Ring TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

When he was 17 years old, Peter Noone took the stage at the then-Loew�s Poli Palace Theatre in Worcester. Herman�s Hermits, with the teen idol as their lead singer, were at the beginning of their heyday, but the theater was not. The band was among the last major acts the theater hosted.

The theater went on to become Showcase Cinemas, which closed in 1998. And Mr. Noone went on to sing popular hits, including, �I�m Into Something Good,� �Mrs. Brown, You�ve Got a Lovely Daughter,� and �I�m Henry the VIII, I Am.� He also made appearances on many popular television shows and had a stint on Broadway in the 1980s.

BY Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Playing the Hanover Theatre will be practically a homecoming for Melinda Doolittle, never mind that she was raised in Tulsa and lives in Tennessee.

�This will be my third time in Worcester,� the Season 6 �American Idol� finalist said in a recent phone interview. It�s an impressive accounting considering that most hard-touring performers can�t even tell you where they are at the moment without consulting their managers. Forget keeping track of how many times they�ve passed through a former factory town tucked way up in the northeast corner of this vast country.

BY Donna Boynton TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Thomas McGauley is used to working in the background. He has staged performances for the likes of Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra, and handled thousands of spools of film. He�s spent his life working in Worcester theater, and now, after more than 70 years on the job, the most senior member of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees Local 96 is formally retiring at the age of 90.

This weekend, though, he took center stage at the site where his career began, the former Loews Poli�s Palace Theater where the Hanover Theatre now stands. Celebrated was a career that has spanned films from �Gone with the Wind� in 1939 to �Little Miss Sunshine� in 2007, vaudeville shows and performing legends, use of reel-to-reel projections and automated systems, and patrons flocking to one-screen theaters, then drive-ins and now multiplexes.

BY Matthew L. Brown, Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer

A group including the two men who oversaw the rebirth of the defunct Poli Place Theatre as the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts say they couldn't let another restaurant at the Bull Mansion go out of business.

Ed Madaus and Paul Demoga, who formed the nonprofit Worcester Center for the Performing Arts in 2002 in order to restore what would become the Hanover Theatre, plan to open a new restaurant, 55 Pearl, at the Bull Mansion Thursday.

BY Meghan Ennes PULSE MAGAZINE

Following a hiatus after its 42-year run at the Sullivan Street Theatre in New York, The Fantasticks is back! The Assumption Theatre Department will be putting on the classic production at the Hanover Theatre for one weekend only, April 24-26. Since it first ran in 1960, the romantic story of The Fantasticks has captured the hearts of over a million audiences worldwide. �It�s Romeo and Juliet with a twist,� says Director Brian Tivnan, �and the twist is that it�s not a tragedy.�

BY Janice Harvey, WORCESTER MAGAZINE

This past winter did me in, and I know I�m not alone when I say that it was truly the looongest one in recent memory. The ice storm in early December literally froze the season for us, turning the usual transition from autumn to winter into a bitter slap to the cheek that stung for months on end.

Slowly, I feel myself thawing, and I�m doing so by rediscovering Worcester.

MUSIC REVIEW BY Peter Landsdowne TELEGRAM & GAZETTE REVIEWER

It�s hard to believe that 40 years have passed since the vocal group Sha Na Na put itself on the musical map with a much-heralded appearance at Woodstock in 1969. On Saturday night at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on Southbridge Street the current incarnation of the group showed why Sha Na Na�s combination of vintage 1950s rock and showmanship remains popular to this day.

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

It was just their seventh gig. They had no record deal. They were not actually listed on the program for the concert. Although they performed second to last, they only sang for about 40 minutes. The outdoor venue was muddy. The check they were going to get was not a lot of money � $350, to be divided among the group�s 12 performers. Then the check bounced.

However, �That was the best bounced check,� said Jocko Marcellino.

Preservation Worcester gambles with local celebrities

BY Doreen Manning, WORCESTER MAGAZINE

Preservation Worcester hopes luck is on its side as Luck Be a Lady Casino Night comes to the Hanover Theater on Friday, March 27. Transforming the lobbies of the Hanover Theatre into a Las Vegas style casino, this fundraiser brings together local celebrities as they morph into dealers of Black Jack, Roulette, Casino War and Wheel of Fortune � all in harmony with the �Rat Pack is Back� show act starring Vegas� four favorite sons, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin and Joey Bishop.

BY Richard Duckett, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

With a change of presidency comes a change of � political jokes.

The musical political satire troupe The Capitol Steps has �a very new show � all the players have changed,� said Elaina Newport, co-founder and producer of the company.

You�ll be able to check out such new songs as �Obama-Mia!� (about the obsession of the White House press corps with the new president) tonight when The Capitol Steps come to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.

THEATRE REVIEW BY Richard Duckett, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

National Ballet Theatre of Moscow is still a relatively new company, having been formed just over 20 years ago. But the production of �Swan Lake� they brought to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Wednesday night under the auspices of Music Worcester Inc. was � with a twist at the end � traditional and classically correct in the very best sense.

No one in the basically sold-out 2,300-seat theater was complaining about a Russian troupe presenting this work and at the same time preserving it in the finest Russian ballet traditions. And despite the ending � about which more later � the company received an appreciative and well-deserved standing ovation at the end.

BY Nancy Sheehan, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Ah beautiful, beautiful Worcester.

What? The aging industrial city you call home is � well, homey, livable and gracefully tree-lined. Oops. We can�t even say that anymore in certain beetle-infested sections of town. But beautiful?

Providence-based artist Nick Paciorek had no trouble at all finding beauty all over town. �I went around Worcester and I was like, �What�s going on here?� There�s some great stuff here and some great buildings,� he said.

BY Nancy Sheehan, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

They�ve played beautiful music together for 30 years and they wanted a party to celebrate the occasion.

So Chuck Demers and Marie Anne Rocheleau-Demers, aka Chuck & Mud, went out and rented a nice hall (the Hanover Theatre) and rounded up their legion of musical friends (including guitar phenom Duke Levine and local favorites the Blackstone Valley Bluegrass Band). Now all they need to do is bake a very large cake for all of us who plan to show up Saturday night to celebrate with them.

Renowned duo celebrates 30 music-filled years

BY Jeremy Shulkin WORCESTER MAGAZINE

A glance at the Hanover Theatre�s upcoming schedule features shows that seem made for a glitzy setting with a 2,300-seat capacity � the Swan Lake ballet, American Idols In Concert, the Capitol Steps � but one show stands out as being charmingly out of place. �We�re not the size of an act that would be asked to play there,� says Marie Ann Rocheleau-Demers, otherwise known as Mud of the husband-and-wife duo Chuck and Mud. �Even though through the years we�ve all had great opportunities to play festivals and some big gigs, nothing is really like this and it is right here at home.�

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The Russian National Ballet Theatre came about in the 1980s as Perestroika saw artistic companies being formed in the spirit of a new freedom.

But as the Moscow-based company�s artistic director Elena Radchenko makes clear, upholding and safeguarding traditions is also an important goal.

Radchenko has been described as a �legendary Bolshoi principal dancer.� She was named the first permanent artistic director of the Russian National Ballet Theatre in 1994.

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

At the opening gala of the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on March 14, 2008, Bernadette Peters sang the very first song to be performed on the Hanover stage as a full house of 2,300 looked on.

For the record, the song was �Let Me Entertain You.�

Exactly one year later there will be an open house and birthday party at the theater from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today. The festivities will include a 10-foot birthday cake baked by students at Worcester Technical High School.

Happy Birthday, Hanover Theatre!

BY WORCESTER MAGAZINE STAFF

Can you believe that it�s already been a year since the Hanover Theatre opened its beautifully renovated doors? What better way to recall the highlights of this inaugural time than from the folks who lived and breathed the place in its first year?

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

�The Maiden Heist� is a charming and often clever comedy more than capable of stealing some hearts.

The film�s central figures are three security guards (played by Christopher Walken, Morgan Freeman and William H. Macy) at an art museum whose own hearts have been stolen by respective objects d�art that they get to gaze at longingly every day at work. When they learn that the entire collection is going to Denmark, they decide the state of affairs at the museum is rotten and plot some thievery of their own.

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

It was a fabulous, red-carpet gala at the Hanover Theatre for Performing Arts last night as Hollywood moviemakers, local dignitaries and movie buffs dressed in their finest came out to see a special screening of �The Maiden Heist,� a movie partially filmed at the Worcester Art Museum.

Glittery and glitzy as it was, we can�t call it a star-studded night as actors Christopher Walken and William H. Macy failed to materialize as had been hoped, instead offering videotaped regrets to the sold-out audience. Director Peter Hewett and producer Rob Paris were among Hollywood types who did attend.

BY Hannah Brencher SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

The 1940s were the last time that the Loew�s Poli Palace Theatre, now the restored Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, offered the sounds of a pipe organ. But with the recent arrival of the console for the �Mighty Wurlitzer� pipe organ, the performance hall has come one step closer to reawakening the organ music of the past.

THEATER REVIEW
BY Peter Landsdowne, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

�Smokey Joe�s Caf�,� a musical revue based on the songs of early rock songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, spent five years on Broadway and racked up more than 2,000 performances before it closed in the year 2000, making it the longest running show of its kind in the history of the Great White Way. On Saturday at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, a traveling version of �Smokey Joe�s Caf� hit the stage and drew a crowd of more than 800 Leiber and Stoller fans.

By Steven H. Foskett Jr. TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

What better to accompany an award presentation to a self-described �full-time activist� than, well, some activism?

The Telegram & Gazette launched the Visions awards in 1991 to promote progressive change, encourage community involvement and recognize exceptional contributions by individuals and organizations.

BY Richard Duckett, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

�Smokey Joe�s Caf� is a musical revue built around the songs of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Their names may not immediately ring a bell, but the titles of their songs will likely strike chords of recognition � �Hound Dog� ... �Jailhouse Rock� ... �Spanish Harlem� ... �Stand By Me� ... �Kansas City� ... �On Broadway� ... �Love Potion No. 9� ... �There Goes My Baby� ... to name but a few.

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

We know it is a jungle out there these days. But that is actually a good thing when it comes to �Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy.�

The show wowed a sold-out crowd of 2,300 people at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Friday night with its acrobatic derring-do and the infectious nature of its spirit. This was the first of three performances � two were also scheduled for 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday.

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

"The Maiden Heist,� a movie starring Morgan Freeman and our own Worcester Art Museum, will be given a special showing March 7 at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts. It might be worth getting all gussied up for this Hollywood-type gala event, because it may be a while before you have a second chance to see it at a regular theater near you.

By Peter Landsdowne TELEGRAM & GAZETTE REVIEWER

It�s been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Saturday night at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, celebrity impersonators Brian Best, Ernie Valens and Scott Walker served up some very sincere flattery to honor early rockers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper in a concert titled �Buddy, Bopper, & Valens: Their Last Show � 50 Years Later!!�

By Stuart Munro TELEGRAM & GAZETTE REVIEWER

The latest Kenny Rogers tour, which stopped at the Hanover Theatre Wednesday night, is being billed as his 50th anniversary tour, a marker of the fact that Rogers has been in the business of entertaining for half a century. That�s a long time, long enough for him to have accumulated an awful lot of hits, even though they�ve stopped coming this decade; his last significant hit was �Buy Me a Rose� in 1999.

Rogers played that hit last night, along with a handful of others in a brisk, 70-minute show. He did not visit anything he�s released this century, not even his latest album of new material, 2006�s surprisingly engaging �Water & Bridges.�

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Edward P. Madaus likes to do a bit of people watching when he�s at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.

�It�s corny, but what I like is to look and see people enjoying themselves,� he said. �When you look at people in the lobby, you know the people that haven�t been there before.� They are the ones with marveled looks on their faces as they check out the gorgeous interiors, chandeliers, et al. �That�s a high for us, and will be forever,� said Mr. Madaus, co-founder of the theater with Paul J. Demoga.

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

After Neil Goldberg had been taken to see a Broadway production of �The Miracle Worker� when he was 6 years old, he precociously wrote a list of three goals.

First, Goldberg recalled, was to do scenic design. Second, was to be involved in a production of his own on Broadway.

Third?

�One day hopefully read the Tony Award speech I wrote when I was 6 years old.�

The dreams are coming true. Two out of three so far for Goldberg, who founded Cirque Productions in 1993 and will be bringing his show Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts for three performances Feb. 13 and 14.

By Kay Pierce WORCESTER MAGAZINE STAFF

Sipping a malbec under a glittering chandelier in the Hanover Theatre isn�t the worst way to spend a Monday night in February. Throw in a plate of stuffed grape leaves, melt-in-your-mouth tenderloin, followed by a lush chocolate cupcake and you�ve got yourself a fabulous night of nosh. It�s the Worcester Wine and Food Fest and it�s coming your way Feb. 9.

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Kenny Rogers isn�t folding �em just yet.

His current performance swing, which brings Rogers to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Wednesday, may be Rogers� �50th Anniversary Tour� of being in show business, but it is by no means a hail and farewell.

Indeed, it was a hale and hearty sounding Rogers who said that he doesn�t like the concept of retirement tours to begin with. He could announce a retirement tour, pack them in at shows and make good money, he acknowledged during a recent telephone interview. But then �you get bored and come back,� he said of what has been a frequent occurrence with performers. �It�s unfair.�

So no countdowns or farewells. As the narrator in the Rogers hit song �The Gambler� says � �There�ll be time enough for countin�, when the dealin�s/done.�

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Did you mambo away the 1950s like so many people who were swept up in the great Latin dance wave of that kinder, gentler and some would say more fun era?

What? You weren�t born yet? Your mother wasn�t even born yet?

Ahem. OK. Not a problem. You can pick right up where that wonderful wave left off without missing a single syncopated beat because mambo is back in a big way with a big band and it�s coming to a theater near you.

Very near.

The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts will host Puerto Rican percussionist Eguie Castrillo and his Orchestra Saturday night and there will be a whole lot of shakin� going on � as well as twirling, fast footwork, hip swinging, salsa-ing, singing and smiling.

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Does all this talk about Oscar nominations make you just want to sashay down a red carpet yourself?

Well, you can if you snag a ticket to �The Maiden Heist,� which will make its star-studded world premiere right here in Worcester at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on March 7.

By Noah Schaffer, WORCESTER MAGAZINE

For the past three decades, Roger Salloom�s connection to Worcester has largely been built around his sarcastic regional hit �Gotta Get Outta Worcester.� In the live version, he says committing suicide here would be �redundant� and suggests replacing Mechanics Hall with a roller rink.

But the song doesn�t seem to have survived the eight-track era. There�s no trace of it on YouTube, and only one blogger has posted the lyrics.

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Steve Connolly will make his annual January return journey to Worcester this week when he performs his Elvis Presley show �Spirit of the King� at 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.