Fine Art Fair is this weekend

The 51st Annual Peoria Fine Art Fair, which recently was ranked among the top 100 art fairs in the United States, will be Saturday and Sunday on Peoria's Riverfront.

The fair will bring together the "eclectic artwork" of 150 national and international artists to the Midwest, with thousands expected to attend the event at The Gateway Building. The fair will...

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'Chubby, gruff singers from the UK'

Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney and Pete Townshend might still be rockin', but two new releases from often-overlooked peers may make you prefer chubby, gruff singers from the U.K. to the aforementioned slender senior statesmen of British pop.

Plus, both Eric Burdon, 71, and Van Morrison, 67, concede the influences of great African-Americans with well-known...

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Frizzi Toon: Adding Syria to the mix

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"Hedwig and the Angry Inch" opens at Corn Stock

Folks heading to Corn Stock Theatre this weekend are in for something different — considerably so — than the usual community theatre fare.

They'll be going to see a rock concert in which a play breaks out. Or something along those lines.

"Hedwig and the Angry Inch" opens a five-show run at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at the...

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Here's what really happened

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Jade Simmons will join Peoria Symphony in concert

Pianist Jade Simmons will grace the stage of the Peoria Civic Center Theatre at 8 p.m. Saturday when the Peoria Symphony Orchestra presents its Valentine's Day concert.

The orchestra and Simmons will celebrate the musical legacy of George Gershwin, which "crossed the boundaries between classical, jazz and Broadway,"...

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Symphony closes season with 'Visions of Beauty'

The Peoria Symphony Orchestra will close its 2012-13 season by celebrating spring and Mother's Day with a concert titled "Visions of Beauty."

The concert, which will feature soprano Kara Shay Thomson's return to a Peoria stage, will begin at 8 p.m. at Grace Presbyterian Church on Illinois Route 91 in Peoria.

A highlight of the concert will, said music director George Stelluto, will be "the dreamy, Freudian world of Mahler's Fourth...

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'Mame' ready to play at Peoria Players

Liz Landes Reed has been involved with community theatre long enough to know how important it is to do shows that will generate large audiences. That's why those theatres make sure their seasons include such old and popular musicals as "Mame."

But for Reed, her desire to direct the show that showcases a bigger-than-life leading character and her bigger-than-life friends had little to do with putting butts in the seats at Peoria Players...

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'Fiddler on the Roof' takes the Peoria Players stage

Laura Garfinkel hadn't directed a play for more than 20 years and musicals weren't her forte. Yet, when Peoria Players approached her about submitting "Fiddler on the Roof," one of the most beloved musicals in theatre history, she jumped at the opportunity.

"I knew I wanted to get back into directing since I retired (from Bradley University) but I wanted to have a chance at a show that was universally loved and was something people would...

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Movie review: "The Impossible" a better rental

(114 minutes. Rated PG-13 for intense disaster scenes, graphic visuals, brief nudity.)

(Six stars)

Making a disaster movie that is not really a disaster movie takes some doing, but director Juan Antonio Bayona has done a marginally satisfying job with "The Impossible."

Wrapped around the horrific tsunami that struck most of southern Asia and eastern Africa on Boxer Day, 2004 that cost over 250,000 their...

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Peoria Symphony to feature Andre Watts in concert

Billed as "the concert of the season," the Peoria Symphony Orchestra will host Andre Watts, the world-renowned pianist, as he performs Beethoven at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Peoria Civic Center Theatre.

Watts will play Beethoven's Piano Concerto 5, "Emperor," as part of the concert, the symphony's penultimate concert of...

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'Red' brings performing and visual arts together at CST

It is perhaps fitting that the actors asked to portray painters on stage are themselves painters, for they could better understand what such artists go through in their lives.

Well, that sounds good at least.

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'Godspell' opens Friday at Peoria Players

For Cheryl Dawn Koenig, the package can change as long as the contents remain the same.

That's the attitude she took into directing "Godspell" at Peoria Players Theatre for the second time.

Gone is the trademark Superman shirt worn by Jesus and some of the other characterizations...

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Movie review: "Les Miserables" is hit-and-miss

(158 minutes; rated PG-13 for violence, adult situations).

(6 out of 10 stars)

"All this over a loaf of bread."

There's much ado about a 1,500 page, 19th century French novel that spawned the most award-winning show in musical theater history. Now, some 27 years later, it has finally been turned into a major motion picture.

There is good reason for all this excitement. "Les Miserables" (the musical)...

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"Frost/Nixon" opens Friday at Corn Stock Theatre

Given the complex and challenging task "Frost/Nixon" director Ryan Campen has undertaken, he's nothing if not adventurous.

The young Bradley University graduate previously directed the romantic comedy "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change," for Peoria Players. It was his first stint...

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New Downstate Story available on web

The latest edition of Downstate Story, the yearly magazine that showcases writers from Illinois and the Midwest, is now available.

But for the first time in its 21-year history, Downstate Story — billed as Peoria's only literary magazine — has been published only electronically. It is available on the web at www.downstatestory.com.

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"Kaleidoscope" is the next Peoria Symphony offering

It is being billed as a concert with "Italian drama, French charm, German genius and Kyle — a fabulous Peoria Symphony Orchestra evening."

The next PSO concert, titled Kaleidoscope, will be presented Saturday, March 2 at 8 p.m. in the Peoria Civic Center Theatre. The featured performer will...

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Movie review: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

(170 minutes; rated "PG-13" for violence and intense action scenes.) 

(5 out of 10 stars)

Nothing is more exciting to us self-proclaimed sci-fi dorks than the thought of a return to Middle-Earth. I mean, it has been 10 years!

Peter Jackson's multiple award-winning and ground-breaking trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" from 2001-2003 was movie making at its finest. It had no deficiencies. It satiated...

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The Oscars: Who will win?

Any movie reviewer worth his salt will lay it out there, so to speak, and give his readers his predictions of the winners in the major categories of the Academy Awards. 

I have to admit it is risky doing so. I am trying to balance who I feel is the most deserving while attempting to predict how more than 6,000 Academy members...

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Movie review: "Life of Pi" is Oscar-worthy

(127 minutes; rated "PG" for intense drama)

(9 out of 10 stars)

By Tim Wyman

Given there has been some doubt, I am happy to report that the Oscar season is alive and well, and Ang Lee's new movie "The Life of Pi" has jumped to the head of its class.

Based upon the 2002 novel by Yann Martel of the same name, the plot is a fascinating and gripping...

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