Hoffman Center Blog

Anthony Gilmore, Magician

Magician Anthony Gilmore will perform at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 5 at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita.  Admission will be $10.

Gilmore has been performing magic for 30 years, in Portland, Spokane, Upstate New York, and even in Germany where he met his wife.  Some people may remember when he opened for evening jazz performances at the Brasserie Montmartre in Portland for five years.  Now he mostly performs for private events. Gilmore is also currently working on a project with Senior Living Communities.

The show is aimed at adults, not that it’s ‘blue’, but it’s sophisticated and includes elements like audience participation and mind-reading, and a startling effect where he seems to swallow razor blades. “Rest assured,” said Gilmore via email,  “the magic I perform is for nothing more than entertainment purposes… If you like to be entertained, come and enjoy the show, it will be fun.”

Magic has been a lifelong obsession, starting when he was eight years old and a friend showed him how to perform a trick with nothing more than a coin and a handkerchief.  “I was pretty much hooked,” says Gilmore.

Gilmore’s performance is another offering in the Hoffman Center’s new “dell’Arte Series” program. The series features appearances by a wide variety of performers, including musicians, magicians, comedians, clowns, and just about anything else.

The Manzanita Film Series is proud to present the winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director – “The Hurt Locker” on May 22^nd at 7p.m. at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita.   Admission will be $6.  We will be offering Free admission to all Veterans.

“The Hurt Locker” is an intense portrayal of elite soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat. When a new sergeant, James, takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team, he surprises his two subordinates by recklessly plunging them into a deadly game of urban combat. As the men struggle to control their wild new leader, the city explodes into chaos and James’ true character reveals itself in a way that will change each man forever.

Ekahni Books will be on hand selling books about film and military history at a 20% discount.

The Manzanita Film Series is a program of the Hoffman Center in Manzanita, Oregon. Films are shown on the 4^th weekend of the month throughout the year.  Admission is $6 and theater concessions, as well as beer and wine, will be available for purchase.

Hoffman Center is an Oregon nonprofit 501(c)3 organization which supports and encourages artistic, cultural and educational activities in north Tillamook County by providing facilities, funding, promotion and other assistance.  Hoffman Center is located at 594 Laneda Ave in Manzanita. Call 503.368.3846, or visit www.hoffmanblog.org.  Please contact Franz Hasslacher for more info on film and film-making, and for volunteer opportunities.

Bryan Harnetiaux

Playwright Bryan Harnetiaux will read from a number of his plays at the Manzanita Writers’ Series at 7pm on Saturday, May 15, 2010, at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita.
 
He will also conduct a playwriting workshop during the day Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Hoffman Center. Harnetiaux’s play Vesta will be performed at the Hoffman Center on Friday, May 14, at 7:30 pm as a staged reading with local resident and national actor Liz Cole directing and acting in the title role.
 
Harnetiaux, playwright-in-residence at Spokane Civic Theatre, has written over 30 plays, 13 of which have been published, including commissioned adaptations for Dramatic Publishing Company of the stories of Ernest Hemingway (The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Killers) and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (Long Walk to Forever). 
 
Harnetiaux’s most recent published play, National Pastime (Playscripts, Inc., NYC) has received professional productions on the West and East coasts.  His cycle of plays on end-of-life (Vesta, Dusk and Holding On ~ Letting Go) are now specially licensed for productions in clinical settings by Duke University’s Institute on Care at the End-of-Life and have been performed throughout the country; these plays have also enjoyed mainstream theater productions. Harnetiaux is an associate member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
 
Following Harnetiaux’s reading and Q&A, the popular Open Mic session will provide opportunities for the audience to hear nine local writers read from their original work. Interested writers sign up at the door to read; first come, first to read.
Writers interested in reading should check out the Open Mic guidelines at hoffmanblog.org <http://hoffmanblog.org <http://hoffmanblog.org> > and come prepared to read your original piece of work in five minutes or less.

Local resident, Liz Cole, is directing and plays the title role in Vesta

The Hoffman Center will present a staged reading of Bryan Harnetiaux’s play VESTA, with local resident and national actor Liz Cole directing and acting in the title role. The play will be held at 7:30pm on Friday, May 14 at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita. Admission is $10.  Listen to an interview with Liz Cole on KTIL about Vesta and Hoffman Center, on KTIL May 12.

VESTA is an intimate 90-minute drama that examines with humor and warmth an ordinary family’s struggle with end-of-life issues. The title character, Vesta Pierson, is a grandmother confronting her inexorable loss of independence as her health declines. Together, Vesta, her daughter, and granddaughter face a series of complex medical, economic, and personal issues associated with this challenging time of life.

VESTA received its first professional production in 2008 at the Capitol Hill Arts Center (CHAC) in Seattle, where it received wide critical acclaim. Currently Duke University’s Institute on Care at the End of Life licenses the play in the clinical world.

The Friday night reading will be directed by Manzanita resident Liz Cole, who will also read the title role. Liz Cole, whose professional name is Megan, has enjoyed a career that has taken her to repertory theaters across the United States. Perhaps most famously, she created the role of Vivian Bearing in the original stage productions of WIT for which she was awarded the L.A. Drama Critics’ Circle Award and the DramaLogue Award. Television credits include Seinfeld, The Practice, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek:Deep Space Nine, L.A.Law and ER, among others. For more information and a link to a demo video, go to megancole.net.

On Saturday, May 15, Bryan Harnetiaux, the playwright of Vesta, will present both a playwriting workshop and reading as part of the Manzanita Writers’ Series May Event.