Monday, October 28, 2019

Boot Camp for Artists Seminar this Saturday

The Artists’ Boot Camp

Saturday, November 2nd, 10am-4pm , in the John Addison Concert Hall of Harmony Hall
Harmony Hall Arts Center presents Mr. Lenny Campello’s seminar, “The Artists’s Boot Camp”, open to all Prince George’s County artists, 16 and up.  Mr. Campello is the Greater Washington D.C. area’s pre-eminent art dealer, critic, consultant and blogger as well as artist. He designed his seminar to deliver information, data and proven tactics to artists, and to allow them to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts. Some of the topics that he will cover are, creating a resume, creating a body of work, selling your art, juried shows and news releases, just to name a few. 
The seminar is free and lunch is included. Seating is limited so please call 301.446.3251 or email stuart.diekmeyer@pgparks.com to register and provide lunch preference.

This seminar usually books very quickly, so I'd recommend that you RSVP as soon as possible! It is open to ALL artists - not just PG County residents!

We'll discuss:

As many of you know, for over a decade or so I have been teaching a course for artists and arts professional, that course, for the last few years has been known as “Boot Camp for Artists.”

That seven hour seminar, which has been taken by over 2,000 artists and arts professionals from all over the Mid Atlantic is designed to deliver information, data and proven tactics to allow artists to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts.

In the past, I’ve discussed the importance of artists having their work at the various art fairs held around the world, most notably during Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) week in the Greater Miami area.

Presentation is a huge part of an artist’s professional life, and more often than it should be, presentation is a detractor and takes away from the artwork.

Why am I discussing that here? Because before you start exploring the various ways to get your artwork invited to the “big dance” during ABMB week, as an artist you should be ready to play with the big dogs when it comes to all the tools of the trade needed to set foot in a world-class art fair.

It is not unusual for me to step foot in a gallery and see artwork which (at least from a presentation point of view) is “not ready” for primetime… this is getting to be rarer and rarer as galleries struggle to survive, but still there.

In its four hour format, the seminar covers a wide range of structured issues, including the below list, but essentially artists should at least be aware and explore:

1. Materials – Buying materials and strategies for lowering your costs, where and how to get it, etc.

2. Presentation – How to properly present your artwork including Conservation issues, Archival Matting and Framing, Longevity of materials, a discussion on Limited editions, signing and numbering, Prints vs. Reproduction, discussion on Iris Prints (Pros and Cons).

3. Creating a resume – Strategy for building your art resume, including how to write one, what should be in it, presentation, etc.

4. Juried Shows – An Insider’s view and strategy to get in the competitions.

5. How to take images of your artwork

6. Selling your art – A variety of avenues to actually selling your artwork, including fine arts festivals, corporate acquisitions, galleries, public arts, etc.

7. Creating a Body of Works

8. How to write a news release

9. Publicity – How to get in newspapers, magazines, etc. Plus handouts on email and addresses of newspaper critics, writers, etc.

10. Galleries – Discussion on area galleries including Vanity Galleries, Co-Operatives, Commercial Galleries, Non-profit Art spaces, etc.

11. How to approach a gallery – Realities of the business, Contracts, Gallery/Artist Relationship, Agents.

12. Fine Art Fairs – Discussion and advice on how to sell outwork at fine arts festivals, which to do, which to avoid, etc.

13. Resources – Display systems and tents, best juried shows and ones to avoid.

14. Accepting Credit cards – How to set up your art business.

15. Grants – Discussion on how to get grants in DC, Regional and National, including handouts on who and where and when.

16. Alternative Marketing – Cable TV, Local media


17. Internet – How to build your website at no cost, how to establish a wide and diverse Internet presence.

Harmony Hall
10701 Livingston Road 
Fort Washington, MD 20744

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

11th Annual International Drawing Discourse Exhibition

Deadline: December 1, 2019. 

The University of North Carolina Asheville announces a call to artists for a juried art exhibition, January 17 - February 21, 2020 at the Holden Gallery at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC. $2,000 in awards. 

Juror: William Beckman. In effort to support the breadth in contemporary drawing, media is open to any traditional or experimental drawing media welcoming both two or three-dimensional works, video and/or installation. Size is open to works that can fit through a standard set of double doors, 10'3" ceiling height and up to 42' for both floor and wall space. 

Open to all artists who are 18 years of age or older. All work must be original, completed in the past two years and cannot have been exhibited at UNC Asheville before. It is at the Juror's discretion to choose single or multiple works from each artist's submission. $30 for one image, $5 each additional image up to 6 images max (total $55 for 6 images). 

For more more info., go to: https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=7143  Contact: tbeldue@unca.edu or call 828-252-6845. https://art.unca.edu/ 

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Join Nueva Vida in the fight against breast cancer

Tonight, Saturday, October 19th, local, national and international artists will join Nueva Vida in the fight against breast cancer through a silent art auction at the Art Museum of the Americas. Approximately 66 artists from 19 different nationalities will be exhibiting over 100 pieces of art with a variety of styles and mediums, such as sculpture, painting (abstract and figurative), photographs, installation and digital media. 
 
This is a wonderful opportunity to acquire quality pieces under the retail price while simultaneously benefiting a good cause. Proceeds will benefit Nueva Vida, a unique organization helping the underserved Latino community in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area. Nueva Vida’s free cancer programs ensure that, among other activities, 1,444 disadvantaged Latinas receive cancer screenings every year.

Below is a link to the online catalogue because art is the language of health and our artists have touched their souls in creating their work.

To view the catalogue please click on this picture.


Thursday, October 17, 2019

Call for artists

Chronicles of the African American Journey Through Fiber Arts

Deadline: October 31, 2019. 


The Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel, Maryland is accepting submissions for fiber-based artwork for an upcoming exhibition titled Chronicles of the African American Journey Through Fiber Arts. The theme revolves around the lives of African Americans and the journeys they have taken to arrive where they are today. Artwork may include processes related to quilting, felting, sewing, beading and more. The exhibition runs, January 11, 2020 - March 1, 2020. 

The exhibition is open to artists 18 and older who reside in the United States. Artists should include a bio and artist statement with current contact information to be considered and may submit up to three pieces of artwork. Please include title, date, materials, dimensions, price, and at least one detailed image of the artwork. There is no entry fee. Artists’ whose work is chosen for the exhibition are responsible for dropping off and picking up artwork and/or postage and handling of delivery and return of their work. Montpelier Arts Center retains a 25% commission for any sold artwork. 

Submissions can be made through the online Submittable platform at: https://montpelierartscenter.submittable.com/submit You can find more information about the Montpelier Arts Center at arts.pgparks.com.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Call for Prince George’s Artists

I am pleased to share with and encourage you to apply to PG's newest call for entries and exhibition opportunity for Prince George’s County artists. This call is for Perspective: Prince George’s, the 2020 Annual Prince George’s Exhibition in Annapolis.  

This call is open to all artists who are 18 years of age or older who live, work, study, or have a studio in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Due to the nature of the exhibition space, only two-dimensional artworks that can be safely installed on hanging cables will be accepted. However, new for this year's exhibition, artists working in 3-dimensions; such as free standing sculpture, ceramics, found objects or any other medium or material that is molded, cast, carved, or assembled are also encouraged to submit high quality photographs of their work for consideration in this exhibition. If selected, a high quality print of the main face of the 3-dimensional work will be displayed in place of the piece. It will be the artist’s responsibility to print and frame the piece for display.

The exhibit will be at the Lowe House Office Building in Annapolis, MD from January 6 to April 6, 2020. All works to be included in the exhibition will be selected by Arts and Cultural Heritage Division staff with a focus in showing a broad range of artwork.

Click here for the flier that contains information for the exhibition and the application process.

All works for consideration must be submitted online at: 
m-ncppc.submittable.com. Please send any questions to Stuart Diekmeyer at stuart.diekmeyer@pgparks.com or Sara Caporaletti at sara.caporaletti@pgparks.com.

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Nueva Vida Auction

During “Breast Cancer Awareness Month” local, national and international artists will join Nueva Vida (New Life) in a silent art auction and benefit cocktail reception (VIDART) honoring breast cancer survivors and caregivers. 

Nueva Vida is a 20-year-old support health network for Latinas with cancer. VIDART will be held at the renowned Museum of the Americas (AMA) in Washington, DC the evening of October 19th.

The below two pieces on broken bisque will be on the auction block. Bid for them here.

Eve Running Away from Eden

Frida Kahlo in Clouds
Curated by Irene Clouthier and Shanti Norris.

Monday, October 14, 2019

For 2015auodel


2015auodel: Please send me a note to lennycampello@hotmail.com

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Do this today!

Sunday, October 13, 2pm.

Lecture: Art with a Twist


Montpelier Art Center at 9652 Muirkirk Rd, Laurel, MD


Join me as I take a fun walk through art history that culminates in contemporary art where I will discuss the work of some DC area artists and our regional art scene, and answer questions.

Lecture is free and open to the public.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

31st National Drawing & Print Competitive Exhibition

Deadline: January 15, 2020. 

Juror: Doreen Bolger, Former Director of the Baltimore Museum of Art. 

Awards: A minimum of $1,500 available in purchase prize awards. 

Exhibition dates: March 23 through April 24, 2020. 

Eligibility and Media: Drawing and prints (not photography) in any medium up to 60" high, framed, are eligible with no limitations as to color, surface, or materials. All drawings and prints must be original works of art. Each artist may submit up to 3 works online only. No mailed or emailed entries will be accepted. 

Entry Fee: A nonrefundable entry fee of $36.00 entitles the artist to submit up to three entries. 

Selection process: Initial jury will be of online submissions received by January 15, 2020. Notification will be by email on January 31, 2020. Accepted drawings and prints received by March 2 will be juried for purchase prize awards at the value set by the artist. 

Works selected for purchase prize awards will become the property of Notre Dame of Maryland University. 

Submit online here: https://artndm.slideroom.com/#/permalink/program/52095

More information: ndm.edu/gormleygallery 

Friday, October 11, 2019

Texas Contemporary Art Fair

Texas Contemporary Art Fair Houston - Our awesome booth -- George R Brown Convention Center. Booth D27! Showcasing Jodi Walsh, Matthew Langley and yours truly!


Come to this free lecture tomorrow!

Lecture: Art with a Twist, Sunday, October 13, 2019, 2 pm
Montpelier Arts Center, 9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708

Join me as I take a fun walk through art history that culminates in contemporary art where I will discuss the work of some area artists (DMV, Baltimore, etc.). Lecture is free and open to the public. Please call Montpelier Arts Center at 301-377-7800 to register.

Earlier on I challenged my FB peeps to nominate an area artist for me to discuss at the lecture - some of the ones already on my list: Sam Gilliam, Tim Tate, Tim Vermeulen, Rik Freeman, Mark Jenkins, Shanthi Chandra-Sekar, Joey Manlapaz, Percy Martin, Sharon Moody, Judith Peck, Schroeder Cherry, and others...

Joey Manlapaz

Schroeder Cherry
Rik Freeman

Eighth season of MPT’s Artworks series premieres October 18

Maryland Public Television’s (MPT) popular original series Artworks returns for its eighth season on Friday, October 18 at 7:30 p.m. This fall, the 30-minute weekly series on MPT-HD will continue to feature a range of artistic themes from emerging and established creators in the region and across the country.

Throughout the 2019-2020 season, series host Rhea Feikin will be joined by a roster of co-hosts representing arts organizations from the greater Baltimore-Washington area. Guest hosts currently being scheduled include artistic directors and administrators from the Washington Opera Society; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Baltimore-based Strand Theatre; and Trade4Art, a bartering network that connects artists with tradespeople.

The Oct. 18 season premiere episode features the stunning work of Cervilio Amador, a Cuban defector and principal dancer for the Cincinnati Ballet.  After training at the National Ballet School of Cuba and joining the National Ballet of Cuba, Amador escaped from his the brutal Communist tyranny of his home country in 2003 to become a member of the Cincinnati Ballet. He has performed numerous lead roles in full length ballets throughout his career including Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, King Arthur in King Arthur’s Camelot, Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Peter in Peter Pan. Also featured during the season premiere are Scott Patterson of Afro House and Abraham Burickson of Odyssey Works, both Baltimore-based visionaries who use artistic expression to celebrate the power of imagination.

Other new Artworks episodes airing during the upcoming season include a range of quirky, famous, and fringe artists. Harpist Calvin Arsenia, pyrotechnic artist Lisa Friedrich, sculptor John Cross, and Baltimore-based poets Gayle Danley and Leslie Harrison are showcased, among many others. In addition to feature profiles, the eighth season of Artworks includes segments covering pop-up exhibits with local visual artists and local music to close episodes. A virtual gallery and an Art Talk about improvisation are also in the planning stages.

Each Friday evening Artworks episode is rebroadcast on Saturday at 8 p.m. on MPT2/Create and on Sunday at 6:30 a.m. on MPT-HD. For more information, visit mpt.org/programs/artworks/.

Major Funding for Artworks is provided by the Citizens of Baltimore County. Additional funding is provided by the Ruth R. Marder Arts Endowment Fund; The Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker Endowment for the Arts; The E.T. Robert B. Rocklin Fund; and The Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation Arts Endowment in Memory of Ruth Marder.

Wednesday, October 09, 2019

Akemi Maegawa - Artist's Talk at MK Gallery

No photo description available.



Akemi Maegawa, “Strong in the Rain, Strong in the Wind.”
October 5-November 1, 2019
Artist Talk: Saturday, October 19, 1-2pm

MK Gallery
1952 Gallows Rd Ste 202
Vienna, Virginia 22182
(703) 734-7777

This coming Sunday!

Sunday, October 13, 2pm.

Lecture: Art with a Twist


Montpelier Art Center

9652 Muirkirk Rd


Join me as I take a fun walk through art history that culminates in contemporary art where I will discuss the work of some DC area artists and our regional art scene, and answer questions.

Lecture is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, October 08, 2019

Monday, October 07, 2019

Superfine! fair is back later this month!

More details later - meanwhile, read my review from last year's inaugural fair here.

Fair details here.

Friday, October 04, 2019

Later this month!

Sunday, October 13, 2pm.

Lecture: Art with a Twist


Montpelier Art Center

9652 Muirkirk Rd


Join me as I take a fun walk through art history that culminates in contemporary art where I will discuss the work of some DC area artists and our regional art scene, and answer questions.

Lecture is free and open to the public.

Thursday, October 03, 2019

Wanna go to an opening this Saturday?

No photo description available.



Akemi Maegawa, “Strong in the Rain, Strong in the Wind.”
October 5-November 1, 2019
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 5, 5-8pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, October 19, 1-2pm

MK Gallery
1952 Gallows Rd Ste 202
Vienna, Virginia 22182
(703) 734-7777

Wednesday, October 02, 2019

Arlington Arts Center Short Term Studio - Call for Artists

Arlington Arts Center is now accepting applications for short-term studio space! The 600 square feet studio will be available from November 2019 through May of 2020 with 24-hour access, 365 days a year. Contemporary visual artists working in all media are welcome to apply. Selection criteria will include artistic merit, potential for community engagement, and diversity of media and artistic representation. Information regarding application materials can be found at the link below. 

For additional questions please email exhibitions@arlingtonartscenter.org and submit an application via https://arlingtonartscenter.org/residents/apply

Tuesday, October 01, 2019

New Interim Director for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities

The search for a permanent Executive Director is active and underway...
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) Board of Commissioners announces the appointment of Heran Sereke-Brhan as Interim Director for CAH. The agency's previous Executive Director, Terrie Rouse-Rosario, officially ended her incumbency on September 30, 2019. "I am appreciative of the work that Terrie has done in preparing the agency as it transitions to new independent status," said DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Chair Kay Kendall. "The Board of Commissioners and I support and look forward to working with Heran to keep the agency moving forward until a permanent Executive Director is identified." Interim Director Sereke-Brhan has been Senior Grants Officer for CAH since July 2017. Prior to joining CAH, she served as Deputy Director for the Mayor's Office on African Affairs. Over the past two decades, Interim Director Sereke-Brhan has worked at a number of cultural and educational institutions, including the Harn Museum at the University of Florida, Addis Ababa University, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art. She holds a PhD in History with a minor in African Art History from Michigan State University. The CAH Board of Commissioners will nominate, and with the advice and consent of the Council of the District of Columbia, appoint the new Executive Director for the agency. CAH has engaged DC-based recruiting firm POLIHIRE to manage the search process for the position

Wanna help me out?

Lecture: Art with a Twist
Sunday, October 13, 2019, 2 pm
Montpelier Arts Center
9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708
Join me as I take a fun walk through art history that culminates in contemporary art where I will discuss the work of some DC area artists. Lecture is free and open to the public. Please call Montpelier Arts Center at 301-377-7800 to register.
Challenge to my reader peeps: Nominate an artist for me to discuss at the lecture - some of the ones already on my list: Sam Gilliam, Tim TateRik FreemanMark JenkinsShanthi Chandra-SekarTim VermeulenJoey Manlapaz, Percy Martin, Sharon MoodyJudith Peck, and others...
Send me a note or leave a comment if you wanna bring an artist up to my attention for me to discuss at the lecture.

Monday, September 30, 2019

What is going on at the DC Arts and Humanities Commission?

From the DC Cultural Forum:
Over the past few months, the Commission has been unfairly used as a political pawn by District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser. Here are the highlights (as listed from WAMU's most recent article):
  • Last fall, Mayor Bowser illegally appointed a director of the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities who slipped in an amendment to the grant agreement that recipients had to sign to receive funds. It would have banned “lewd, lascivious, vulgar, [or] overtly political” works, but it was scrapped within a week due to a backlash from the arts community.
  • In April, the city introduced its long-awaited Cultural Plan, an inter-agency effort that laid out ways the city would support DC’s cultural economy. Some artists and cultural leaders said the document lacked a clear rollout plan and overemphasized loans over grants.
  • Before yet another illegally appointed director resigned, she hired a number of senior positions with six-figure salaries, as the Washington City Paper reported.
  • Late last month, Bowser introduced a new Creative Affairs Office to serve as an intermediary between the executive office and the Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
  • At the same time, Bowser announced the return of the Mayor’s Arts Awards, which had previously been cancelled this year. In the past, the Arts Commission oversaw the awards and a panel would select the winners, but the program will now be under the purview of the Creative Affairs Office.
  • In early September, the City Paper reported that Bowser’s office locked Arts Commission staff out of the agency’s vault of public art.

It's time for our community to speak up.

Here are things you can do right now to take direct action, with just one click: HERE


Friday, September 27, 2019

Lectures, boot camp, free lunch!

You are invited! These book fast! So call now!

 Lecture: Art with a Twist
 Sunday, October 13, 2019, 2 pm
 Montpelier Arts Center
 9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708

Join Lenny Campello as he takes a fun walk through art history that culminates in contemporary art where he will discuss the work of some DC area artists. Lecture is free and open to the public. Please call Montpelier Arts Center at 301-377-7800 to register.    
.......

Boot Camp for Artists
Saturday, November 2, 2019, 10 am - 4 pm
Harmony Hall Arts Center, John Addison Concert Hall
10701 Livingston Road, Fort Washington, MD 20744
Harmony Hall Arts Center presents Mr. Lenny Campello’s seminar, “Boot Camp for Artists”, open to all Prince George’s County artists, 16 and up. Mr. Campello is the Greater Washington D.C. area’s pre-eminent art dealer, critic, consultant and blogger as well as artist. He designed his seminar to deliver information, data and proven tactics to artists, and to allow them to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts. Some of the topics that he will cover are, creating a resume, creating a body of work, selling your art, juried shows and news releases, just to name a few. The seminar is free and lunch is included. Seating is limited so please call 301-446-3251 or email stuart.diekmeyer@pgparks.com to register and provide lunch preference (vegetarian or non-vegetarian), by 5pm, October 25, 2019.

.......

Boot Camp for Artists
Saturday, April 18, 2020, 10 am – 4 pm
Montpelier Arts Center
9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708
Montpelier Arts Center presents Mr. Lenny Campello’s seminar, “Boot Camp for Artists”, open to all Prince George’s County artists, 16 and up. Mr. Campello is the Greater Washington D.C. area’s pre-eminent art dealer, critic, consultant and blogger as well as artist. He designed his seminar to deliver information, data and proven tactics to artists, and to allow them to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts. Some of the topics that he will cover are, creating a resume, creating a body of work, selling your art, juried shows and news releases, just to name a few. The seminar is free and lunch is included. Seating is limited so please call Montpelier Arts Center at 301-377-7800 to register and provide lunch preference (vegetarian or non-vegetarian) by 5pm, April 13, 2020.

Wanna design a sock?

The competition is hosted by the Sock It to Me, a business that sells fun, funky socks. What do you draw inspiration from? Picture it on a sock! Win up to $2,000 and they'll make your sock design. 

They prefer 6 colors per design, because their socks cannot be created with more than 6 colors. 

No Entry Fee. 

Details here.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Hope Harrison's words

Adah Rose Gallery's former intern and now UVA student Hope Harrison wrote these very cool words about one of my pieces - from my Obsessive Drawings series...

“Suddenly She Wasn’t Afraid Any Longer” F. Lennox Campello, 2016 Charcoal on Paper In the Hope Harrison Collection
“Suddenly She Wasn’t Afraid Any Longer”
F. Lennox Campello, 2016 Charcoal on Paper
In the Hope Harrison Collection
A woman leaping in a white void, with arms up, legs outstretched, and a tan line on her butt fully exposed in a moment of glory. This individual may be part dancer and part warrior, but, surely, she is fearless. Indeed, the bronzed figure in mid-leap seems to distill all freedom and courage within her, as she dynamically flies on the paper. The space around this figure is left to the imagination of the viewer; the woman may be jumping off a cliff and into a lake, or she may be plunging into the depths of space, her mind, or a vast unknown. All space and time collapse into this one figure, a form that is faceless yet ubiquitous in the sense that we may all hope to feel a similar same sense of liberation, be it from mental, physical, or extraneous challenges that may limit us.


F. Lennox Campello’s 2016 piece, “Suddenly She Wasn’t Afraid Any Longer”, is a figurative drawing made with charcoal. In the presence of larger or more colorful works, this piece in theory could hang on a wall inconspicuously; however, the contrast and surprising sense of depth that Campello creates by placing such an active and expressive figure in a nonexistent, and therefore stagnant, background is striking. The stylistic decisions made for this piece, which is relatively simplistic for Campello’s work, emphasize line and form in a singular way.
Hope Harrison
UVA 2020

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Affordable Art Fair NYC

Affordable Art Fair NYC will return to the Metropolitan Pavilion in September for its Fall edition, welcoming over 70 local, national and international exhibitors, showcasing original contemporary work from over 300 contemporary artists.

Matthew Langley
We are in two separate booths on the ground floor, booths C3 and D20 - This fair showcases the work of New York City artists Macyn Bolt and Matthew Langley, Alexandria ceramicist Lori Katz, Texas artists Kathleen Hope, Seth Fairweather and Jodi Walsh.

Macyn Bolt nstallation at the Grand Rapids Art Museum in Gand-Rapids, Michigan
Opening times
Wednesday September 25 2019
Private View*
6.00pm - 9.00pm

Thursday September 26 2019
Trade Hours 11.00am - 12.00pm
Public Hours 12.00pm – 6.00pm
Art After Dark 6.00pm – 9.00pm

Friday September 27 2019
11.00am - 12.00pm
12.00pm – 6.00pm
6.00pm – 8.00pm

Saturday September 28 2019
10.00am - 11.00am
11.00am – 8.00pm

Sunday September 29 2019
10.00am - 11.00am

11.00am – 5.00pm

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Review: ‘Cats’ at The Kennedy Center Opera House

I can hear it already: Lenny you're a visual art scribe, not a musical theatre critic! Don't be a Shmendrik!

Deal with it, because I went to see "Cats" at the Kennedy Center, and since this is my third viewing of this musical (I saw it in London decades ago, and in New York also decades ago), I feel like I have a different perspective on discussing this Andrew Lloyd Webber success story from your usual theater critic who always seems to start a discussion on the subject by talking about " Webber’s indefatigable anthropomorphic felines" or "the musical itself seems to be immortal."

“Cats” made its debut at the Kennedy Center Opera House last week and the family and I scored great seats up front for $59 - a lot less than I paid in London and NYC all those years ago. 


My son posing at the Kennedy Center "Cats" Background
The stage felines run through October 6, in what seems to me (in comparison to the earlier versions) to be a lot flashier and more athletic than ever in this Kennedy Center version of the 2016 Broadway revival of the musical.

The cast of this "Cats" version are not only talented singer,s but also powerful athletes and spectacular dancers, be it ballet, tap dancing, or running up and down the aisles of the KC Opera House.

At a group art show, I'd pick a Best of Show - for this "Cats" assembly of talent let me discuss who stood out to me.

One of my fave things to do when I go to the theatre, opera, musical, etc. is to pick a character who's not the focus of whatever is going on at the time and
Mariah Reives
follow him or her and see how much into the character they are when they're in the background somewhere.  Mariah Reives, who plays "Cassandra" in the production was perfect for the part.  Her sleek, almost impossible to believe cat-like figure is perfect for the sleek cat persona that she portrays; even when she's slinking away on all fours around the stage, it's a spectacle of sensuality that proves to me that this lady has some felis DNA in her family tree!

"Hey Dad", whispered my son at about minute twenty of the musical, "Are they gonna sing the whole time? Does anybody talk?"

They sing all the time, and soon Anderson was as mesmerized and hypnotized by the music, the dancing, the high-kicking, and the almost non-existent story-line as the rest of us.

When the singing itself brought up that "the Naming of Cats is a difficult matter, It isn't just one of your holiday games; You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter - When I tell you, a cat must have three different names..." he noted that "they ripped that off T.S. Eliot..." which made my jaw drop that a 10-year-old would recognize the poem (thank you to all his teachers, past and present at SFS).
Charlotte O'Dowd
Note to self: Discuss with him that Andrew Lloyd Webber's thin storyline is indeed based on Eliot's Cats poems.

Charlotte O'Dowd is one of the swings - and she also stands out for powerful stage athletism and superb character maintenance when in the background and this talented lady can jump and kick! No matter who was singing or doing pirouttes on center stage, she was always on the prowl in full character.

Alexa Racioppi and Emma Hearn also show their dancing and jazzy skills and their sinewy, strong lithe bodies are perfect for Demeter and Bombalurina, and the dancing skills associated with those parts.

Let's get to the singing.



Everybody knows the powerful and epic "Memory" and Keri Rene Fuller's revolutionary rendition of the song got her a well-deserved standing ovation, including from a very impressed 10-year-old sitting next to me, as Anderson was totally shaken by the power of Fuller's voice.

And yet - "Cats" (in my view) is more than just singing (and yes Anderson, it's all singing): it is about the projection of feline style, power... and in this version, a souped-up display of lights, effects, audience participation, and even a bit of pyrotechnics.

This new version is easily better than its ancestors - a lot has to do with technology, but a lot more has to do with the upgraded and breath taking spectacle of dance and movement. It is well-worth a visit, even if you've seen it before!