World Cafe Live at the Queen has gone green. That means, if you’re looking for Celtic, this is your week, WCL is the place. It begins with a visit by the Irish Rovers, longtime ambassadors of Irish music, on March 13. Their rollicking show will have you singing and clapping like crazy. Contemporary band Carbon Leaf drops in March 15, delivering a unique mix of Southern, Celtic and bluegrass-tinged tunes. After more than 20 years of award-winning recording and touring, they’re hitting the road in support of their newest album, “Ghost Dragon Attacks Castle.” On March 16, see Burning Bridget Cleary, one of the hottest young acts on the Celtic and folk music circuits. You’ll be impressed by the band’s mix of high-energy and tightly-woven fiddle and vocal harmonies. Keep the party going when Burning Bridget Cleary plays World Cafe Live Philadelphia on March 17. queentickets.worldcafelive.com
A Superstar Visit
You know Ted Neeley as the star of the 1973 film and various Broadway touring versions of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” but he claims his first love as “a singer in a rock ‘n’ roll band.” See him front the Little Big Band when they visit the Delaware Theatre Company in Wilmington on March 17. The band includes guitarist Kim Norton, who played more than 1,000 performances of “Superstar,” and bassist James Webb, son of famed songwriter Jimmy Webb and co-founder of the popular Webb Brothers Band. Neeley will sing classic like “Gethsemane” form “Superstar,” tell stories about his long career on stage and screen, and lead the band on songs from its new album. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the artistic, educational and outreach programming of the Delaware Theatre Company. 594-1100, delawaretheatre.org
News Flash
Due to a power outage at the Rehoboth Art League’s main gallery and offices, the Young At Art opening that was scheduled for March 9 has been postponed until March 16. The hours will be the same: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with an award ceremony at 11 a.m. During this week’s storm a large tree fell on the league’s power lines, and the repairs will take several days. Make sure to get there when everything is back in order. The league and its campus are gems. 227-8408, rehobothartleague.org
Fabulous Films
“A Ninth Life” from Milton-based filmmaker Pamela Preston tells the short story of Jim and Paige, whose lives intersect over the course of two decades. Through their relationship, Jim comes to some realizations that send his belief system into a tailspin. The film’s 11 minutes pack a punch. “White Gold” is local filmmaker Michael Oates’ documentary about our changing coastal life. Leipsic, Little Creek and Bowers Beach were once flourishing aquaculture communities, relying on huge harvests of Delaware Bay oysters, called “white gold.” Schooners sailed the bay, dredging up to 900,000 bushels a year. Today’s annual harvest is less than 15,000 bushels, and all but one of the schooners is gone, yet the commercial watermen endure. Oates’ film captures this history alongside the story of one man’s struggle to bring the last wooden schooner back to its former glory. 645-9095, rehobothfilm.com
Beautiful Music
Simeone Tartaglione, director of the Newark Symphony Orchestra, and Paul D. Head, director of UD’s Schola Cantorum, lead a performance of Guiseppe Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Newark Symphony Orchestra on March 12. 369-3466, infor@newarksymphony.org
Best of Broadway
Clear Space Theatre Company visits the Schwartz Center for the Arts in Dover on March 15 to perform “Broadway Rocks,” an all-new revue of contemporary and pop-rock hits from the musical theater repertoire. From pop hits that populate jukebox musicals like “Smokey Joe’s Café,” “Rock of Ages” and “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” to showtunes that could easily be on the radio, like “Next to Normal” and “Spring Awakening,” every song has one irresistible element: great fun. 678-5152, schwartzcenter.com
Happy Anniversay
The First State Symphonic Band celebrates its 35th season with a special concert at Faith Baptist Church in Wilmington on March 15. Hear selections such as Shostakovich’s Festive Overture,” Tchaikowsky’s “Symphony in F Minor No. 4,” an original piece written by one of FSSB’s own musicians, a medley of Broadway tunes, including “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” and “That’s Entertainment,” a new contemporary piece, and a Sousa march. Nothing is ever as rousing as a good Sousa march. firststatesymphonicband.com
Chamber Made
The Delaware Chamber Music Festival presents its second annual Musical Brunch at Deerfield in Newark on March 17. Your ticket gains you a delicious meal, a silent auction and a performance by the festival quartet. Wear your St. Patty’s Day best. You may win a prize. dcmf.org
Truly Unique
“The Projectionist,” a nationally acclaimed exhibition, will be on view at the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover through June 23. “The Projectionist” is a documentary, book and multi-media exhibition that explores one man’s lifelong fascination with the golden age of film and, in particular, the grand movie palace. The exhibition features a fully operational 1920s-style movie theater that was created in the basement of Middletown native Gordon Brinckle. A documentary, created by Kendall Messick, provides a penetrating gaze into the life of this self-taught artist. The narrative follows the course of Brinckle’s life, revealing the profound desire, frustration and motivation that propelled him to create such a distinctive outsider art environment. Original works on paper by Brinkle such as blueprints and floor plans and fine art photographs by Messick of Brinkle operating the theater will also be on view. Visit March 10 for a members’ event, Discovering The Projectionist with Messick, whose documentary and photo stills provide a penetrating gaze into the life of a self-taught artist while revealing the influences that drove him to create such a distinctive art environment. Messick has an innate talent for documenting the multi-faceted lives of aging artists to reveal their remarkable artistic ability, passion and complexity. During this lecture, Messick will recount his six-year experience working with Brinckle. 674-2111, biggsmuseum.org
Imagine This
Straight from the Delaware College of Art and Design to the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, professor Alexi Natchev has his work exhibited in “Imagined Places: The Art of Alexi Natchev.” The illustrator was born and educated in Sofia, Bulgaria. Since moving to the United States in 1990, he has illustrated 17 children’s books, collaborating with major authors and publishers. His work has been shown in many international exhibitions and he has received several national awards. His illustrations conjure up an imaginary world of playful creatures, fairy-tale places, folktales and more. “Imagined Places” features over 60 works by Natchev, including paintings and prints representing the range of his career as an artist and illustrator. See how he researches the art and literature of a region for his illustrations in order to create a sensitive balance between fantasy and believability. “Alexi Natchev is deservedly celebrated for his colorful and imaginative children’s books and is an accomplished printmaker with impressive fluency in various techniques,” says Mary F. Holahan, curator of illustration. “We are thrilled to be able to display the whimsical and sometimes enigmatic illustrations of such a distinguished artist of our region.” 571-9590, delart.org
Blue Screen, Blank Canvas
What digital information floats in cyber space, and what of it is worth your time? Find out as The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts in Wilmington presents “This Space Is Intentionally Left Blank” by Texas artist Kerry Adams, on view through April 21. Adams’ installation integrates traditional installation art and technology through the use of tablets that display live Twitter feeds. The installation encourages the viewer to engage with the exhibition by posting comments to Twitter with the hashtag #leftblank while within the installation. The exercise creates a literal dialogue with visitors about the ubiquitous nature of technology and the role of individuality and community in daily life. Introducing text, electrical cords, and tablet computers as aesthetic, sculptural elements, the exhibit hinges upon social media and physical engagement. According to the artist, being able to tweet to her exhibition “will allow you to add to the dialogue about attempts to communicate, failed communication, and the moments we miss right in front of us as we search for what is out of reach.” Ironically, as viewers approach the tablets to read the messages, a motion sensor forces the Twitter streams to turn off, metaphorically enabling us to unplug from the screen-based chatter and to re-engage with our present surroundings. According to Pear Analytics, most tweeting includes spam, self-promotion and babble. Only 3.6 percent of tweets are considered newsworthy and 8.7 percent of pass-along value. In “This Space,” Adams’ work would seemingly suggest the gallery as a test site for face-to-face conversation. 656-6466, thedcca.org
A Picture of Today
The year 2012 might have been Delaware Art Museum’s 100th anniversary year, but the celebration continues with “State of the Art: Illustration 100 Years After Howard Pyle” through June 1. The exhibition features more than 60 works from eight of the most important contemporary illustrators. In 2011, the museum launched its centennial celebration with a major retrospective dedicated to illustrator Howard Pyle. “State of the Art” marks the celebration’s end and reflects on Pyle’s legacy. In the century since his death in 1911, American illustration has diversified into a wide range of art forms, including animated films, computer-generated images to graphic novels and conceptual art. “No single exhibition could possibly do justice to the noisy, rambunctious history of illustration over the past century,” says curator David Apatoff. “I’ve chosen instead to feature eight individuals whose diverse talents demonstrate that illustration is no longer the singular profession it was in Pyle’s day. It pervades our culture, reaching out to us from billboards, television, store windows, and computer screens.” This is one cool exhibition, with something for everyone in the family. 571-9590, delart.org
