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NEWS OF THE WEIRD > BY CHUCK SHEPHERD

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barrel-adjusted $41. As recently as June 2014, the Lube Crude Index was near 1. (Gawker reported ■ Longtime National Symphony cellist David Teie that only two actual barrels of Passion Natural announced in November that his crowdfunding could be found and that the price would likely project was hugely successful, freeing �� him to rise further if one of them were sold.) produce an album of music meaningful to cats. �� UNCLEAR ON THE�� CONCEPT (Cats, for example, relax in response to the �� earliest sound of their mother’s purring, which ■ (1) Angel Rivera, 49, was arrested in December �� Teie clocked at 23 harp notes a second.) Teie’s in Orlando, Florida, on allegations that he �� work, according to an October Washington Post punched a child in the face because the boy was feature, includes examining waveforms of realnot getting dressed for church fast enough. (The �� time purrs and creating an organ sound to mimic boy was wearing an ankle brace, which slowed �� the opening and closing of a cat’s vocal chords. him down.) (2) Ryan Dailey, 28, was arrested in �� His KickStarter pitch raised so much money that Las �� Cruces, New in February on several �� Mexico, �� he might also try creating music for bored zoo charges after, police said, he beat his mother by �� elephants or stressed-out whales. In tests, cats �� pounding her with a Bible. His explanation, police responded well to Teie’s music, according to a �� said, was that�� when he asked her who her soul �� declined �� 2015 journal article (but with less curiosity�� at the �� belonged to,�� she repeatedly to answer. Washington cat cafe Crumbs & Whiskers).�� WHO��KNEW? LEADING ECONOMIC �� ■ The much-maligned pigeon was recently found INDICATORS �� by researchers to be as skilled as humans at �� ■ Amazon.com has riled up Buddhist temples in �� distinguishing �� between slides of benign versus Japan, according to a January Associated Press �� malignant human breast tissue. Writing in the dispatch, by offering traveling monks rentable �� journal PLOS ONE, specialists from the University online to conduct funerals and other rituals. of Iowa and University of California, Davis lauded The monk would go to a home, grave or ■ funeral �� the birds’ processing of color, contrast, brightness ■ �� home, at fees and upgrades ranging from the and image compression, marveling that pigeons ■ �� equivalent of $300 to about $8,500. (Many of see more wavelengths of light than humans, even Japan’s 75,000 Buddhist temples are struggling though their brains are one-thousandth the size. �� ■�� financially and destined to close. Complained a (Birds are already known to distinguish “hostile” spokesman for the Japan Buddhist Association, ■�� humans in celebrated dive-pecking incidents.) what Amazon is facilitating “is allowed in no other POLICE REPORT country in the world.”)

CAT CULTURE

�� ■ A near-certain robbery of the PNC Bank In February, Gawker.com introduced the semi�� in Zebulon, North Carolina, on Jan. 28 was serious Lube Crude Index as a poignant indicator prevented, with employees treated to an almostof how far the price of oil has fallen. Comparing �� slapstick scene in which the bank manager kept the world price of a standard 42-gallon barrel of the suspect outside by winning a tug-of-war crude (about $31) with that of a 55-gallon barrel of �� for control of the front door. The manager had Passion Natural Water-Based Lubricant (retailing �� grabbed the door after noticing an armed, as, when packaged in smaller quantities, a�� sexual masked �� man approaching from the parking lot aid) shows that “sex lube” is more valuable than �� just after the bank opened. crude oil by a factor of 28—a barrel’s worth of �� (The �� frustrated perp fled empty-handed, but was at large.) the lube recently priced at $1,175 versus �� crude’s �� ■

march 3 - 9, 2016 | artvoice.com

Awkward Moments Ahead in Lockup: (1) Joel

deputy in Birmingham, Alabama, in February. Sloan was dressed head-to-toe as a clown. (No explanation was offered.) (2) Vaughn Tucker, 23, was booked into jail in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in February on drug charges. He was wearing a Tshirt with large lettering on the front: “I Would Cuddle You So Hard.” ■

Didn’t Think It Through: The robbers of the

electronics store Compucell in Springfield, Massachusetts, in December came up empty, but are still at large. A man with a gun jumped the counter and demanded that the employee give him money from the locked cash register. The gunman moved to the back door to let in his accomplice, but that merely allowed the employee and two customers to run out the front door, and the accomplice fled, too, sensing that, with no one to unlock the register, the “robbery” was going nowhere.

PERSPECTIVE ■

American hunters are so trophy-kill-obsessed

that, in the decade ending in 2014 (according to Humane Society figures), they averaged nine imported carcasses a day among the “Big Five” African species (lions, elephants, leopards, rhinos and African buffalo)—most of which require special U.S. and foreign permits, with “conservation” conditions. Some countries endanger their own dwindling herds just to sell the lucrative permits, and South Africa even offers 150 captive lions a year to make trophy kills easier. (Total hunting imports of all animal trophies averaged 345 a day, mostly from Canada and Mexico. READ THE FULL NEWS OF THE WEIRD DAILY AT WWW.WEIRDUNIVERSE.NET. OR SEND ITEMS TO WEIRDNEWS@EARTHLINK.NET

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EDITORIAL publisher jamie moses editor-in-chief frank parlato managing editor buck quigley theater editor anthony chase film editor jordan canahai calendar editor moose jr.

GENERAL�� MANAGER

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dr. chitra selvaraj

COLUMNISTS javier bustillos, jan jezioro, andrew kulyk, george sax, heather cook, chuck shepherd, rob brezsny

�� PRODUCTION �� art director & sysadmin greg mach

AD REPS

graphic designer seth hughes

greg ipolito, jamie moses sheligh love

CONTRIBUTORS

CIRCULATION

james hufnagel, kevin wise

SALES ad coordinator vanessa harris

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■

Sloan, 51, was booked into jail for DUI by a sheriff’s

circulation director sharon kaiser

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SEE YOU WHERE? FRI 3/4

TOMMY Z Dinosaur BBQ, 4pm Veteran Buffalo blues rocker Tommy Z’s current album “Blizzard of Blues” rose to #6 on I-Tunes Top Blues Albums. A driven bluesman who has played on stages large and small, Z has a large repertoire of traditional blues and jazz styles. In 2007, Tommy was elected in the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame.

FRI 3/4

DEON COLE

LOS LOBOS

Tralf Music Hall, 7pm Based out of Chicago, Deon Cole is an actor, comedian and comedy writer. For the last seven years, he has been a part of Conan O’ Brien’s writing staff. That writing team has garnered two Emmy nominations. He is currently a cast member on the sitcom Angie Tribeca.

JOHN WITHERSPOON THU-SAT

THU

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BANNERS

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3-5

FRI

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FRI 3/4

THE ART OF BEER Niagara Arts and Culture Center, 6pm, $35 The largest fundraiser for the Niagara Arts and Culture Center is a wonderful showcase for our local breweries and restaurants. The tickets include: food and beer sampling from over twenty restaurants and breweries. Performances by Billy Draws Two, Turning Virtue, Bobby Skyzypek and the Pedestrians, Fonia Corrine.

SAT 3/5

THE MOTH AND THE FLAME W/ FEVERBOX

MARIA DOYLE KENNEDY FRI

Tralf Music Hall, 8pm, $7/$10 LA rock band the Moth and the Flame have been touring the U.S. and Europe since 2011 backing up such bands as Imagine Dragon, Parlor Hawk, Neon Trees, Placebo and Big Data. In 2013, the Moth and The Flame was credited in the British daily paper “the Guardian” as the “new band of the day

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CZECH PORTRAITS

14TH ANNUAL LADIES FIRST JAZZ BIG BAND

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4-5

FRI-SAT

SAT

SUN 3/6

BELL CANTO QUARTET Daily Planet Coffee Shop, 2pm The Bell Canto Quartet, formerly known as the String Sisters, is a Buffalo based string quartet. They are playing fun songs that range from Schumann’s Manfred Overture to Pirates of the Caribbean.

SUN 3/6

BUFFALO CHORAL ARTS SOCIETY Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3pm, $10 Buffalo Choral Society pays tribute to those we’ve lost in an afternoon of musical reﬂection called “In Remembrance.” Experience the healing power of music as it lifts our souls and spirits to a higher place. Guest artists include director of music and church organist Garrett F. Martin with the Westminster Presbyterian Choir.

TUE 3/8

PETER CASE Sportsmens Tavern, 7pm, $15 advance / $20 door Hamburg born Peter Case left Buffalo at 15 and headed west to launch his career as an inﬂuential American singer/songwriter. Expect acoustic guitar delivered in a soulful folk-rock style. Case’s secret weapon is his powerhouse voice and visionary songwriting.

FULL LIST OF VENUES Page 25 >> artvoice.com | march 3 - 9, 2016

�� THE VERY YEAST How various yeasts make a difference in�� brewing BEER | TAP THIS

��

> BY KEVIN WISE ager and ale. Two words that are used quite a bit in the brewing industry. But besides tasting different, these beers are made in two fundamentally distinct ways and with two different species of yeast.

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march 3 - 9, 2016 | artvoice.com To inquire about enrollment

Of the 1500 or so species of yeast, only about 300 of these are species that can ferment sugar. However, very few of these 300 are able to produce reliable concentrations of alcohol. Because alcohol is �� toxic to cells, yeast will die as they ferment and the �� concentration of alcohol increases. Only a handful of strains have discovered that can sustain �� been �� alcohol concentrations greater than 8�� percent. �� of ��

�� that ��lager �� Recent genetic evidence suggests yeast is quite a bit more different than previously thought. ��

Advances in modern technology have allowed researchers the ability to accomplish a world-wide • message to advertiser • diverse screen of yeast species, obtained from �� habitats and climates. Researchers capture yeasts �� in the wild and then transport them back to the �� for ��sequencing �� of �� laboratory the �� genetic material �� residing�� in the chromosomes. �� Ale vs. Lager Yeast �� today �� The yeasts used in brewing come in�� two broad �� ale �� main �� categories: and�� lager. The difference between ale�� and lager�� yeast is�� the�� temperature �� at � which the yeasts�� are able �� to ferment in wort �� sugars �� (the precursor of beer minus the alcohol). �� Ale yeasts are also known as “top cropping yeasts” �� because they�� settle�� on the top of the fermentation �� vessel. �� Lager��yeasts are�� also known as “bottom �� cropping” yeasts because they ferment on the bottom of the fermentation vessel. Ale yeasts are ■ Check General Copy Content ■ Check Pertinent Dates ■ Check Name, Address & Phone #

■ �� to produce the majority of beers in breweries ■ used �� today, for many reasons. ■ �� First, ale yeasts are much faster at fermenting. ■�� Lager yeasts can be�� harvested, or cropped, from the bottom of the fermentation vessel, whereas ale yeasts ■�� are cropped from the top of the vessel. Lager yeasts can take months to ﬁnish fermentation. Time in a brewery is of utmost importance, where the object �� is to create vast amounts of beer in a short time �� span. Beer that sits in a fermentation vessel takes up space and time. And time is, of course, money. This �� is one reason why breweries use ale yeasts for most beer production.

�� Some of the basic differences between lager and ale �� yeasts are shown in the table below: �� A�� Yeast: Brief History �� In fact, Yeast has been used for many centuries. �� hieroglyphics suggest that yeast was used by Egyptians to produce alcoholic beverages and �� leaven bread over 5,000 years ago. Fast-forward a few thousand years. Lager yeasts were being used in Germany around the 1500’s. By 1860-1870, lager yeasts were used to produce nearly all beer in Euope. So the question is: what is so different in �� these species of yeast?�� The answer, of course, resides in the genetic �� makeup � of the yeast. ��

Yeasts possess very interesting and complicated genetics. Two species can exchange genetic material and make a genetic “hybrid.” Yeasts can share, swap, duplicate or lose entire chunks of genetic material. Sometimes one strain ends up donating large stretches of DNA to another species, thus making a hybrid strain. Researchers have proven that the origins of lager yeast most certainly involve genetic mixing of strains. Lager yeasts are now believed to be a genetic mix (or hybrid) of three different strains: S. cerevisiae, S. uvarum and S. bayanus. S. cerevisiae may sound familiar, because this is the yeast used to make ales. What this means is that ale yeast mixed with the original lager progenitor, presumably due to contamination and mixing of species, in the brewery.

The First Lager Yeast Researchers have sampled and sequenced yeasts from across the globe in an attempt to locate the original lager yeast. There are two locations hypothesized to be the birthplace of the original lager ancestor: Patagonia and Tibet. Patagonia lager yeast was isolated from galls on beech trees in the forest and results were reported in 2011. This Patagonia yeast species is called S. eubayanus, or “true bayanus.” And in 2014, Chinese researchers claim that the original lager yeast resided in Tibetan forests. It’s difﬁcult to imagine how exactly Patagonian or Tibetan yeast made it to Bavarian brewing vessels. It’s quite possible that there are more wild and as-of-yet undiscovered species living in Europe or elsewhere. Finding and identifying wild yeasts in Europe would eliminate the need to invoke a means of intercontinental sea voyage for lager species of yeast.

Summary The genealogy of lager yeast is an interesting story. Modern day lager yeast is a hybrid of many different yeast species, including the ale yeast S.cerevisiae. Current data suggest that lager yeast may have originated in Patagonia or Tibet. Over the years lager yeasts have been artiﬁcially selected to ferment at lower temperatures and create a crisp beer. Beer coverage done in partnership with Buffalo Niagara Brewers Association. Visit www.BuffaloNiagaraBrewersAssociation.org.

NEWS | OPINION

DELAWARE NORTH LOSES YOSEMITE CONTRACT Can Niagara Falls State Park be next?

Delaware North concessions at Cave of the Winds plaza in the Niagara Falls State Park, soon to be serving eight million tourists. accrue directly to their personal fortunes. > BY JAMES HUFNAGEL

Delaware North food shanty near Top-of-the-Falls features graphic of falls—view while you chew.

ews of potential import to the city of Niagara Falls broke late last year when details of an epic legal showdown at Yosemite National Park became public. Subsequent to losing a $2 billion, 15-year contract extension for hospitality (food, hotel) services to competitor Aramark at Yosemite, Buffalo-based Delaware North ﬁled a lawsuit demanding $51 million compensation for trademarks it had secured for historic place names in the national park. Some of those trademarks were secured after the company knew they were leaving (see Jan. 28 Niagara Falls Reporter, “Landmark Delaware North Trademark Battle Hearkens Back to Maid of the Mist” for in-depth analysis).

According to Forbes Magazine’s top 400 Richest Americans list, Jeremy Jacobs’ net worth is $4 billion as of this month. He lives on a sprawling East Aurora estate, once owned by tire magnate Goodyear. The grounds of Jacobs’ opulent private residence were designed by the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the same 19th-century visionary icon who produced the master plan for Niagara Falls State Park.

Modern-day translation: Get the Delaware North food service out of the Niagara Falls State Park. It mucks up the place. Top of the Falls restaurant, Cave of the Winds plaza and scattered food booths serve to feed the eight million tourists who visit here every year, ensuring that they have little reason to patronize establishments in the city of Niagara Falls, which suffers from one of the highest rates of per capita poverty in the state.

Olmsted forbade the sale of food in what the New York State Legislature designated the “Niagara Reservation.” He believed that catering to the needs of tourists is something that should take place in the surrounding community, beneﬁting local businesses.

The supreme irony of all this, of course, is that while Jacobs and his family enjoy life in an Olmsted-inspired paradise far from the common folk, their rareﬁed existence is subsidized, in part, by their trashing of the Olmsted plan for Niagara Falls State Park.

“If it were a commercial undertaking into which the State was entering, in competition with the people of the village of Niagara, it cannot be questioned that the restaurant could be made a proﬁtable branch of it,” he wrote, “But... it is to be considered that no (restaurant or food booth) can be built upon the island that will not in some degree dispossess, obscure and disturb elements of its distinctive natural scenery.

On the heels of their Yosemite comeuppance out west, Delaware North announced last week that they’re going to offer local businesspeople an opportunity to audition their wares for sale in the three gift shops they operate in Niagara Falls State Park.

Delaware North owns the rights to operate food, beverage and souvenir concessions in the Niagara Falls State Park. The company’s loss of the lucrative Yosemite contract has been compared to Maid of the Mist’s involuntary relinquishing of the Canadian side of its tourist boat excursion business, resulting in considerable negative impacts on their bottom lines. Both Maid and Delaware North shareholders absorbed huge losses, the companies’ stock prices plummeting on the news. Just kidding. Delaware North and Maid of the Mist are privately-held concerns, exclusively owned by two men, Jeremy Jacobs and James Glynn, respectively. There aren’t any stock prices or shareholders. All the proﬁts from their operations in the Niagara Falls State Park

“The question, then, is, will the absence of places of refreshment cause such hardship to visitors, with the general enjoyment by the public of the scenery? It is a sufﬁcient answer to say that there is no point in the Reservation at which a (restaurant or food booth) can be placed that is more than ten minutes walk or ﬁve minutes drive from hotels and restaurants

standing on land of private ownership.”

They have their own thing going on there and it doesn’t involve us, that’s for sure.” Turns out, Delaware North was listening. But wait, there’s more. Delaware North’s $10.2 million, 20-year agreement with State Parks to operate food, beverage and gift shop concessions in the Niagara Falls State Park has a contract end date of Dec. 31, 2121. How prescient to plan for a contingent of local craftspeople coming to their defense ﬁve years from now when the contract is up, advocating for Delaware North’s generosity and inclusiveness, towards the end of avoiding another Yosemite.

No reason was offered in either daily about why the sudden turnabout on Delaware North’s part—but we know why. It’s courtesy of a public complaint by businesswoman Mary Ann Hess at a well-attended Pints for Progress event on Old Falls Street that the Niagara Falls Reporter reported on back in our June 23 issue. “We’ve been trying to get in at the gift shop on Goat Island (Niagara Falls State Park),” Hess told the crowd, as we recounted in our article, “but those people just don’t seem interested.

Ice Cream booth in front of Delaware North Gift Shop mere yards from brink of American Falls. Park designer Frederick Law Olmsted directed that such commerce take place in the city. artvoice.com | march 3 - 9, 2016

FILM | COVER STORY

GREED, CORRUPTION & COVER-UP AT THE NSA Burning Books to screen documentary about whistleblower Bill Binney

earn a reputation as the greatest codebreaker in U.S. history, going on to accurately predict the Soviet invasions of Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan and eventually rising to become technical director of the NSA.

Bill Binney in A Good American > BY JORDAN CANAHAI

uesday 9:47am: Hi baby, you have to listen to me carefully—I’m on a plane that’s been hijacked. I’m on the plane; I’m calling from the plane. I want to tell you I love you and tell my children that I love them very much, and I’m so sorry babe. I don’t know what to say—there are three guys and they’ve hijacked the plane. I’m trying to be calm but it’s turned around and I’ve heard there are planes that have flown into the World Trade Center. I hope to be able to see your face again, baby. I love you. Goodbye... A Good American opens with this cell phone recording of a frightened woman tearfully speaking these words on September 11, 2001. The film cuts to a profile shot of a sullen Bill Binney as he wearily but pointedly recalls horrific images from the World Trade Center on that fateful day. “The one’s that affected me the most were the people diving off the building when it was burning. To be put in such a desperate state shows you the human reaction to those kinds of conditions. It was just revolting, and disgusting basically that we allowed it to happen.” Binney is a former highly placed intelligence official for the National Security Agencyturned-whistleblower, as well as the subject of director Friedrich Moser’s fascinating, provocative documentary A Good American. If what Binney and Moser’s documentary suggests is true, then not only should the NSA leadership have been able to prevent the terrorist attacks of 9/11, but their failure to do so was caused by arrogance, corruption,

march 3 - 9, 2016 | artvoice.com

and greed of the highest order, all of which the agency has attempted to cover-up in the following years. In documenting Binney’s and others dealings with Military and National Security higherups, Moser unfolds one shocking revelation after another. Binney’s NSA colleague Thomas Drake at one point recalls how a Senior Military Officer dismissed Osama bin Laden as “a raghead spouting off about a fatwa in the desert” in response to their intelligence reports on Al Qaeda in the late 90s. After the events of 9/11, Drake quotes his former NSA boss Maureen Baginski who reportedly said “9/11 was a gift to the NSA, we’re gonna get all the money we need and then some.” Utilizing recent footage of Binney, straightto-camera talking head interviews with him and his colleagues, and various news media excerpts, Moser’s documentary recalls the work of Errol Morris in both style and subject matter. But while A Good American focuses largely on conspiracy theorizing and the specifics of Binney’s claims, Moser also explores the life and career of his subject using the man’s own words as well as those close to him. The proud son of a WWII veteran, Binney grew up in Pennsylvania and studied Mathematics, his lifelong passion, at Penn State University. He volunteered for the Army during the Vietnam War, where his skills as a mathematician made him a proficient analyst and code breaker. Binney and Moser frequently return to the subject of Vietnam to

reﬂect on how the Army’s failure to predict and prepare for the Tet Offensive would foreshadow other mistakes made by U.S. Military leadership down the line. Binney joined the NSA in 1970 as a Russia Specialist during the Cold War and it was through his pioneering work monitoring Soviet activity that he would learn the virtue of interpreting patterns between data (or “metadata”). Binney’s methods placed emphasis not on attempting to understand the actual content of (largely encrypted) data, but rather analyzing patterns of who is talking to whom, how often, and when. It was during this time that Binney would eventually

After the fall of communism and the first World Trade Center attack of 1993, Binney realized that the NSA would need to adapt to new ways of communication offered by technological advances if they were to keep America safe from terrorism in the digital age. Operating with a small team made up of other NSA personnel (including interview subjects J. Kirk Wiebe, Ed Loomis, and Drake), Binney would begin work on Project Thin Thread, a cost effective, state-of-the-art surveillance system with built-in privacy protections that could monitor any electronic signal on Earth, filter it for targets, and render it in real time. “It was pretty clear that we were building the most powerful analysis tool that had been developed in history to monitor basically the entire world in near real-time,” explained Binney. By 2000, the potentially game-changing computer program was fully functional. Binney’s basis for his claims in regards to the attacks of 9/11, the NSA’s failures to prevent them, and their subsequent attempts to coverup any wrongdoing while profiting from the aftermath, are based largely on events that would soon follow. Unimpressed with Thin Thread and believing it to be too inexpensive to form the basis for a 21st century surveillance system model, NSA director General Michael Hayden pushed Binney and his team aside and

FILM | COVER STORY

A Modest Suggestion for Change of Emblem for the National Security Agency

commissioned an entirely different project dubbed Trail Blazer. The publicly funded billion dollar expenditure (eventually deemed inefficient and a complete failure) would be developed in the private sector by the SAIC corporation, whose owners, shareholders, and assorted personnel included various former high-ranking NSA officials. Moser’s documentary goes on to paint an all-too-predictable portrait of institutional corruption and bureaucratic failure culminating with the tragic events of 9/11, occurring just three weeks after Thin Thread was officially abandoned. Rather than face repercussions for proving completely inept at predicting the terrorist attacks, Hayden and other NSA higher-ups were rewarded with promotions, while increased funding from congress ensured their corporate backers would make even greater profits (“We can milk this cow for 15 years,” Binney recalls the vice president of SAIC telling a colleague at a board meeting.) Binney would resign in October of 2001 and become a prominent whistleblower and outspoken critic of the NSA in following years, his intellectual hunger for new data giving way to his moral outrage at the hypocrisy perceived. In a cruel twist of irony, the NSA would proceed to use a modified version of the Thin Thread program without the privacy protections to spy on U.S. citizens following Binney’s departure. At one point in the film a whistleblower attorney recalls her first meeting with Binney, who proceeded to explain to her that he would never deliberately commit suicide. At first she thought he was being overdramatic, but as he began to explain to her his knowledge of NSA activities, she began to understand why he would fear for his safety. While living at his private residence with his wife and son, Binney emerged from the shower one July morning in 2007 only to be greeted at gunpoint and arrested by heavily armed FBI agents who raided his home as part of an investigation against him. As a subject for this kind of documentary, Binney proves a fascinating protagonist, speaking with determination and authority in a straightforward manner. One senses he’s a man of unwavering conviction, a patriot and defender of truth and justice whose values aren’t bound to any political ideology or the public mood. Whether or not Thin Thread would have prevented the attacks of 9/11 no one will ever know, but if nothing else A Good American makes the strong case that the United States needs individuals like Binney in prominent positions of authority. Binney’s story is one of a gifted visionary and his small team of loyal experts who worked in obscurity to create something of great importance, only to be shut down by a selfish and self-serving power-hungry elite, and in telling that story

Moser is able to touch on a host of issues that are just as relevant in our current geopolitical climate as they were 15 years ago. A Good American is being screened in Buffalo thanks to the efforts of Burning Books and the Cultivate Cinema Circle (CCC), who have recently presented other criticallylauded documentaries of social and political significance such as How to Change the World and Almost Holy as part of their 2016 winter lineup. CCC founder and curator Jordan Smith first became aware of A Good American while serving as the social media coordinator for the DOC NYC Festival where the film made its North American Premiere. “I had previously been aware of Binney from the news and from Laura Poitras’ short about Binney and the NSA, The Program, which was published by The New York Times’ Op-Docs webseries, and her subsequent Oscar-winner Citizenfour, in which Binney makes an appearance. When I saw Moser’s powerful and revealing follow-up which dives further into Binney’s story and the NSA’s dealings, it seemed like an obvious programming choice,” says Smith. Smith is also particularly excited to be able to showcase films in collaboration with Burning Books. “When we started looking for culturally rich and community focused organizations to collaborate with and venues to utilize, Burning Books was near the top of our list. I’ve long admired the hard work and wonderful programming Burning Books has brought to Buffalo. They also have a history of showing not only politically oriented documentaries, but works of non-fiction that strive for cinematic artistry and invention,” says Smith. “Plus, Burning Books hosts the majority of their events for free. Who doesn’t respect that?” A Good American will have its Buffalo premiere as part of a special one-night free screening on March 16th at 8pm at Burning Books, 420 Connecticut St., Buffalo.

Before

After

good reason to be sanguine about, we plan to recommend changing the name of the National Security Agency to the National Spying Agency since this seems to be a more honest description of the agency’s purpose. No change in the acronym NSA will be needed.

Logos, as readers know, are important symbols which help identify an organization’s purpose and build brand recognition.

Finally, the NSA’s expanding role can be said to be fulﬁlling the will of a people who no longer desire freedom as their primary goal of life, something they would ﬁght to keep, and have substituted instead as a primary goal the craven desire for safety at any and all costs. The revised emblem of the NSA will aid people in recognizing their passivity to the loss of their freedom of privacy.

>BY FRANK PARLATO t Artvoice we seek to serve the interest of the people. And, as we reviewed our cover story this week, it occurred to us that we could serve both the people, and the government which purportedly is in existence to serve them, by offering a revised emblem [or logo] for the National Security Agency, known also as the NSA.

For years the NSA was assumed to be an intelligence organization of the United States government, responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes. We have lately seen that the NSA has also become responsible for monitoring US citizens with an intrepidity that Orwell only dreamed of. According to some, the NSA has become a spying, prying, constitutionally reckless agency whose aggressive and clandestine bugging of electronic systems, eavesdropping, surveillance, burglary, wiretapping, breaking and entering are just the tools that a police state needs to maintain its power over the people. This is said to be done to make us safe. Today the NSA intercepts the communications of over a billion people worldwide, many of whom are American citizens, and tracks the movement of hundreds of millions of people using cellphones. In the name of transparency, we submit this new NSA logo/emblem for our readers’ approval and hope soon to hear from an ofﬁcial from the NSA to see how receptive they are to our modest suggestion. If it goes over well, which perhaps we have no

To create the ultimate inversion - where the people need permission for everything and the government is free to do what it wishes - as opposed to the people being free and government needing permission to restrict any freedom - we need to surrender our liberties including all rights to privacy. As Benjamin Franklin observed, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” We now see a people well underway on the slippery path of giving up liberty. It remains to be seen whether their expanding government will provide that safe refuge for their servile desire for safety at all costs, or create a nation where the danger comes from the government itself and where there is little or no liberty. A nation where it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong. In any event, this new NSA emblem, if adopted, could provide a reminder to the traders of liberty for safety of what lies in store or perhaps has already been visited upon us. artvoice.com | march 3 - 9, 2016

FEATURE | MEDICAL MARIJUANA

UNKIND, BUD

New York’s Medical Marijuana Program is unfriendly to patients

diseases, and pain caused by cancer, but omits many conditions that have been relieved by use of medical cannabis in other states. Individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s, chronic pain, muscular dystrophy, dystonia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and rheumatoid arthritis do not qualify for use of medical cannabis under New York’s program. The DOH is requiring that intensive research studies support the use of medical cannabis for these conditions, while ignoring the fact that government policies over the last 50 years have hindered the performance of these very studies. It seems uncompassionate to deny patients who have no other option for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease—and veterans who are committing suicide at the alarming rate of 22 each day due to, among other reasons, the mind numbing pain killers they have been prescribed—from using medical cannabis to attempt to relieve their ailments. > BY MARC GROMIS fter waiting almost two years for the rollout of New York’s medical marijuana program, many people who have sought to use medical cannabis to treat their ailments are ﬁnding that the so called “Compassionate Care Act” is anything but compassionate.

have such doctor determine whether medical marijuana may be appropriate for the patient. According to the DOH, the patients must be hopeful that their treating doctors will agree to go online and refer them to a registered doctor.

Among the obstacles facing people who seek medical marijuana as a means to provide relief from illnesses are the very small number of medical conditions covered by New York’s program, difﬁculties in ﬁnding doctors who have taken the training to recommend medical cannabis, the small number of licensed dispensaries, the limited modes of administering the medication, and the high cost of the medicine.

The DOH’s procedure is not required by the laws or regulations concerning the program, and hinders patients who are concerned that expressing an interest in medical marijuana to their treating doctor (who does not have knowledge of and does not believe in such), because of fears that their treating doctors may threaten to drop them as patients if they wish to pursue the option of medical marijuana. This is not a hypothetical situation but is something that has been expressed to me by patients, and which has been experienced by some of them when they have approached their treating doctors on this topic.

One of the most frustrating problems being reported by potential users of medical cannabis is the difficulty in finding registered doctors who can recommend the use of the medicine. Although the New York Department of Health’s website previously had indicated that there would be a listing of the names of doctors who had registered under the program and who had consented to the disclosure of their names, the Department now indicates that the list of registered doctors is only available to physicians. This position is not consistent with the desire of registered doctors to allow patients who need medical marijuana to be able to find and contact them. The Department of Health has denied Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests for this list, with a position that forces patients to go to their treating physicians—who have not been trained in medical school or by the DOH’s online program regarding medical marijuana—and 8

march 3 - 9, 2016 | artvoice.com

As one of the grounds for denying access to the list of registered doctors, the DOH has asserted that disclosure “could endanger the life or safety of any person.” This contention is ridiculous. The life or safety of any registered doctor or patient or any other person would not be endangered by the disclosure of the names of registered doctors, unless the DOH thinks that the offices of registered doctors would collapse due to the influx of patients seeking medical cannabis, or that some individual or corporation would target for harm the doctors who have offered to treat patients who can benefit from such medicine. Another disappointment and obstacle facing people who might benefit from medical cannabis is the small number of medical conditions that are covered by the New York program. The program covers some serious conditions such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s

More Complications An additional problem facing patients is ﬁnding a dispensary near their homes that has medicinal cannabis and has the type of medicine needed for their condition. Patients have had to drive up to eight hours round-trip to obtain the medicine, which presently only is available in some of the 20 authorized dispensaries for the entire state. When patients ﬁnally reach a dispensary, many have reported that because the medicine is so expensive, and is not covered by insurance, that they may have to obtain relief by turning to the black market. These patients do not want to

break the law, but many have no option if they are to obtain medical cannabis that can help their children or themselves. One of the reasons that medicinal cannabis is so expensive in New York is that—unlike almost every other program in the country—New York only permits the use of oils, capsules and tinctures that have been manufactured by an expensive extraction method that requires the use of a vast number of plants to obtain the oils. In most states, a patient can purchase much less expensive dried flowers or “buds” from a medical cannabis dispensary, or edible forms of cannabis that have been found to be easily ingested by elderly and other patients. Although the DOH claims that it seeks to deter citizens from smoking anything, their position ignores the fact that patients can obtain immediate and affordable relief from pain and other conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome by smoking cannabis. Smoking the buds is a simpler method of ingesting cannabis than the use of a vaporizer to ingest cannabis oils. In addition, studies that have been completed have found that smokers of cannabis have lower rates of lung cancer than people who have never smoked cannabis or tobacco. A further obstacle facing patients under New York’s program is that the five licensees are limited to each offering five “brands” of medical cannabis. Inasmuch as everyone reacts differently to cannabis (and prescription) medicine, this limitation, that is not present in other states, prevents patients from trying a variety of strains to determine which one works best for their condition. In other states, patients have the option of trying strains that work best for pain, others that provide relaxation and restful sleep, or other strains that provide energy or other types of relief for specific conditions. If New York’s program truly seeks to compassionately assist patients in need of relief, major revisions must be made to the program. Hopefully, these revisions will come sooner than later because many of these patients are running out of options and time. They deserve better after their long wait, and their beliefs that New York would have a viable medical cannabis program. Marc Gromis is a lawyer whose practice is limited to medical marijuana law. Previously, he was a federal prosecutor in Buffalo for more than 15 years, and an owner of Buffalo Hemp Outfitters on Elmwood Avenue from 2005-2009. Email: marcgromis@gromislaw.com.

MUSIC | CLASSICAL

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CZECH CENTRAL

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JoAnn Falletta and the BPO visit the heart of Europe

Nicolas Altstaedt > BY JAN JEZIORO his weekend, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra music director JoAnn Falletta will again be on the podium, to conduct an almost all-Czech program of music, with one signiﬁcant exception, on Friday March 4 at 10:30am and Saturday March 8 at 8pm. But, since the only non-Czech piece happens to be Sir Edward Elgar’s darkly elegiac Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, featuring the critically acclaimed young German/French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, who will be making his BPO debut, it’s not very likely that the even the most ardent fan of Czech music is likely to complain.

JoAnn Falletta is easily the most recorded music director in the BPO history. Besides a slew of self-produced, mainstream orchestral favorites on the BPO’s house Beau Fleuve label, Falletta has established a very fruitful relationship with the Naxos record label, the now dominant international classical record company, which has resulted in several award winning recordings, including a double Grammy Award winner. The BPO’s exploration of under-recorded repertoire from Eastern European countries has been especially welcome, with well-received individual CDs entirely devoted to the music of the Hungarian composers Béla Bartók and Ernst von Dohnányi, as well as that of the Czech composer Josef Suk. Building on that tradition, Falletta recently started to investigate the music of another Czech composer, Vítězslav Novák (1870-1949), whose music is little known outside his homeland, in preparation for the release of new Naxos CD, devoted to the composer. “I’ve done a lot of research into the compositions of Novák, a late-Romantic composer who wrote some truly beautiful music,” says Falletta, “and as I learned his music I started to live in it. Novak is able to create a truly evocative atmosphere in

his compositions, and you often feel a sense of space, a geographic expanse, as well as a sense of time. There is something of a long view of things in his works, like that of Bruckner, which can be a little daunting, but also equally rewarding for the listener. Novak’s symphonic poem In the Tatra Mountains, Op.26 particularly intrigued us, and we’ll be performing it on a later concert, in June.” The two works by Novak on this weekend’s program will be the first performances of any of his works by the BPO. To celebrate the opening of the new Prague Municipal Theatre in 1907, Novak was commissioned to write an overture for a new play by the Czech poet Jaroslav Vrchlicky. Amazingly, he composed his powerful Overture to Lady Godiva, Op. 41 for Vrchlicky’s darkly romantic version of the well known legendary tale in the short space of two days. Novak also turned to Vrchlicky’s version of stories by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen as inspiration for his tone poem Eternal Longing, Op.33. About this highly atmospheric work, the musicologist John Tyrell writes: “It is ravishing music, achieved by comparatively simple means. But like much of Novak’s music of the time, its simplicity and confidence is deceptive.” The other Czech work on the program is Bedrich Smetana’s The Moldau, the most popular of the six tone poems that make up his orchestral cycle Má vlast. Surprisingly, while this work was first performed under the baton of the orchestra’s first music director Lajos Shuk in 1935, as part of the second ever BPO concert, it has subsequently been performed only one other time by the orchestra, in 1991 under then music director Max Valdes.

�� after returning home from a hospital operation, and he began working on the work seriously in July of that year, the last year of World War I, completing it in August 1919. The first performance took place later that year with the London Symphony in Queens Hall, in October. The composer himself conducted the premiere of the work on a program that included performances of works by Borodin and Scriabin, under another conductor, who usurped much of Elgar’s rehearsal time. The resulting underrehearsed premiere was a near disaster, and the concerto only received its second performance in 1921. Elgar’s cello concerto never enjoyed the popularity of his other orchestral works until Jacqueline du Pré made a recording that became a classical best-seller in the 1960’s, but since that time it has become one of the most performed and recorded of all cello concertos. “Elgar was very much moved by the disasters of the first World War,” says Falletta, “and his reflections on that calamity, and the now lost kind of life that existed before the war, are evident in the music. Life for him did not make sense anymore.” Since his debut performance with the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich under Neville Marriner in 2007 cellist Nicolas Altstaedt has performed all over the world with the symphony orchestras of Berlin, Stuttgart, Bamberg, Helsinki, Melbourne, New Zealand, the Simon Bolivar Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. He became the artistic director of the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival in 2012, and next season he will tour with the Vienna Symphony, while also performing all the Beethoven Sonatas at the Beethoven festivals in Bonn, Warsaw, and Gstaad and all the Bach suites in Seoul, Korea and Grenoble, France. Altstaedt plays a Giulio Cesare Gigli cello, circa 1770, from Rome, and a 2012 cello by Robert König. Tickets and Information: 885-5000 or www.bpo. org

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English composer Edward Elgar wrote the ﬁrst theme for his Cello Concerto, his last signiﬁcant composition, in March of 1918, immediately artvoice.com | march 3 - 9, 2016

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march 3 - 9, 2016 | artvoice.com

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FEATURE | FUNDRAISING

CONGRATULATIONS TO LAWYERS FOR THE ARTS ��

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Photos by Glenn Murray > BY AV STAFF

ver $37,000 was raised at the 5th Anniversary of the Lawyers for the Arts. The musical performance by ten bands comprised entirely of lawyers and judges from WNY completely sold out the Tralf last Saturday and the standing room only crowd was dancing and clapping to music from rock to klezmer. This annual event, which also sells ﬁne art created by lawyers, is held the last week in February and is an extension of ASI/ Artvoice’s Give for Greatness campaign and is run through a committee composed

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of Sandra Cassidy; Ken Africano; Leroi Johnson; Joanna Dickinson; Amber Poulos; Les Greenbaum; Keri Callocchia; Jim Peterson; Dennis Bischof; Mike Scinta; David Block; Ann Rutland; Lucy Dadd and Connie Campanaro of ASI. Presenting Sponsors this year were Key Bank and Hodgson Russ LLP. Other sponsors included Artvoice; Dansa & D’Arta LLP; Harter Secrest & Emery LLP; Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria; Vacco Farms; Avalon Document Services; Joe Matteliano; Phillips Lytle LLP and Brown Chiari.

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artvoice.com | march 3 - 9, 2016

ENTERTAINMENT | THEATRICALLY SPEAKING

THEATER | ON THE BOARDS presented by

DIXIE RETURNS TO THE SMITH

Moss, David Lundy, Joel Fesmire, Tyler Eisenmann. Through Mar 20, Thu & Fri at 7:30, Sat at 3:30 & 7:30, Sun at 2.Kavinoky Theatre, 320 Porter Ave. (829-7668). www. kavinokytheatre.com LOAD MORE GUYS, world premiere of the play with music written and directed by Todd Warﬁeld, presented by Buffalo United Artists, starring Michael Seitz, Tyler Brown, Joey Bucheker, Sean Marciniak, Aaron Mrowka, Sean Murphy, David Spychalski, Bebe Bvlgari. Through Mar 12, Fri & Sat at 8. Alleyway Theatre, One Curtain Up Alley (886-9239). www.buffalobua.org THE SHIPMENT, play by Young Jean Lee presented by Torn Space, directed by Dan Shanahan, starring Dudney Joseph, Danica Riddick, Peter Johnson, Greg Howze, Roosevelt Tidwell. Through Mar 12, Thu-Sat at 7:30 (Feb 26 & Mar 4 at 7), plus Mar 13 at 7:30. Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle, 612 Fillmore Ave. (812-1733). www.tornspacetheater.com

CLOSING

Load More Guys

OPENING

Kris Andersson as Dixie Longate > BY ANTHONY CHASE s unlikely as it might seem, I must confess that I found a show called Never Wear A Tube Top While Riding A Mechanical Bull (And 16 Other Things I Learned While I Was Drinking Last Thursday) to be very engaging. The show stars “Dixie Longate,” the drag persona of gifted comedian, Kris Andersson, as an Alabama housewife, who shares her down home wisdom in a 90 minute show set in a honky-tonk saloon as we wait out a storm.

There are touches of Dame Edna, the drag creation of comic genius Barry Humphries. Like Edna, Dixie’s press release materials make no mention of Mr. Longate’s existence. The ﬁction is that Dixie is real. There are echoes of Joan Rivers. Consider Dixie’s joke about most people could try to have sex with two men in a porta-potty, but her foray into the activity ends with, “You’re causing a disturbance, ma’am; please leave the picnic area.” Compare that to Rivers’ “It’s a double standard. A man can sew his wild oats, but a woman makes 50 or 60 mistakes and automatically, she’s a tramp!” Dixie also shares some of Rivers’ repeated motifs. Compare Rivers’ “Men like ‘em 12

march 3 - 9, 2016 | artvoice.com

stupid, stupid, stupid,” to Dixie’s cleverly withering jokes about “People are stupid!” Compare Rivers jokes about being a severe and inept mother to Dixie’s unbridled hatred of children. There aren’t enough milk cartons in the world to accommodate all the children she’d like to see disappear. (Her joke. Not mine. But I’ve got to admit ... I laughed!) I did not see Dixie’s previous show at the Smith, Dixie’s Tupperware Party. As with all of the best stand up material, I expect that this current show will continue to evolve as it plays in front of audiences across the country. In its current incarnation, the show is about 12 minutes too long. I also found the pretense of being conﬁned to the saloon during a storm to be one unnecessary ﬁction too many. Nonetheless, the inspiration for this character is divine, its star is fabulously talented, and the jokes are original and truly funny. Performances are Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 4pm & 8pm and Sunday at 2pm & 6pm. Tickets are $35. For groups (10+), call 716-829-1153.

BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, comedy by Neil Simon presented by Aurora Players, directed by Patricia Hoeﬂer, starring Suzie Hibbard, Joel Murphy, Jessica K. Rasp, Michael Breen, Chris Cummins. Mar 4-20, Fri & Sat at 8, Sun at 2:30. Roycroft Pavilion in Hamlin Park, East Aurora (687-6727). www.auroraplayers.org THE HAPPIEST SONG PLAYS LAST, play by Quiara Alegría Hudes presented by Raíces Theatre Company, directed by Victoria Pérez, starring Anthony Alcocer, Marta Araceli, Monish Bhattacharyya, Rolando M. Gómez, Dewel Pérez, Ana Vafai. Mar 4-13, Fri & Sat at 8, Sun at 6. The Manny Fried Playhouse 255 Great Arrow Ave. third Floor (238-1522). www.raicestheatrecompany.com NOISES OFF, comedy by Michael Frayn presented by Casting Hall Productions, directed by Jennifer Toohey. Mar 3-12, Thu & Fri at 8, Sat at 2 & 8. Warren Enters Theatre, Upton Hall at Buffalo State College (878-3005). WHEN WE ARE MARRIED, comedy by J.B. Priestley presented by The Niagara Regional Theater Guild, directed by M. Joseph Fratello, starring Alaina Kulikowski, Gary Gaffney, Melanie Merrill, Chris Best, Dawn Marcolini Newton. Mar 4-20. Fri & Sat at 7:30, Sun at 3. Ellicott Creek Playhouse, 530 Ellicott Creek Rd, Tonawanda (260-2319). www.niagaratheatre.com.

ONGOING CHILDREN OF EDEN, musical by Stephen Schwartz presented by Rocking Horse Productions, directed by Leigha Eichhorn, starring Clarisse Birkby, Danielle Burning, Jackson DiGiacomo, Emily DiMartino, Tom Doyle, Ryan Kaminski, Marc Krzystek, Derrik Reynolds, Valerie Stevens. Through Mar 13, Fri & Sat at 7:30, Sun at 2:30. Lancaster Opera House, 21 Central Ave., Lancaster (6831776). www.lancopera.com THE CITY OF CONVERSATION, play by Anthony Giardina directed by Robert Waterhouse, starring Kristen Tripp Kelley, Adriano Gatto, Aleks Malejs, Debbie Pappas Sham, Steve Jakiel, Loraine O’Donnell, Aaron

EL HAJJ MALIK, play by N.R. Davidson presented by Ujima, directed by Lorna C. Hill, starring Brian Brown, Perris Fortson, Preach Freedom, Tuhran Gethers, Tanika Holmes, Daisy Medina, Shanntina Moore, Zoe Viola Scruggs. Through Mar 6, Fri & Sat at 8, Sun at 6. Alleyway’s Main Street Cabaret, 672 Main St. (281-0092). www.ujimacoinc.org NEVER WEAR A TUBE TOP WHILE RIDING A MECHANICAL BULL, comedy starring Dixie Longate presented by Shea’s and Albert Nocciolino. Through Mar 6, Thu at 7:30, Fri at 8, Sat at 4 & 8, Sun at 2 & 6. Shea’s Smith Theatre, 658 Main St. (1-800-745-3000). www.sheas.org

UPCOMING BEAUTIFUL, THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL, touring production of the Broadway musical presented by Shea’s and Albert Nocciolino. Mar 15-20, Tue-Thu at 7:30, Fri at 8, Sat at 2 & 8, Sun at 2 & 7. Shea’s Performing Arts Center, 646 Main St. (1-800-745-3000). www.sheas.org DEATH OF A SALESMAN, drama by Arthur Miller presented by Western Door Playhouse. Mar 11-20, Fri & Sat at 2:30, Sun at 2:30. Woodbox Theatre, Niagara Arts and Cultural Center, 1201 Pine Ave., Niagara Falls (297-5910). THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES, play by John Guare presented by American Repertory Theater of WNY, directed by Drew McCabe, starring Diane DiBernardo Blenk, Robert Ernie Insana, Scot A Kaitanowski, Maura Nolan, Mara Morris, Rick Lattimer, Virginia Brannon, Erica Lorenzetti, Lisa Semper. Mar 10-Apr 2, Thu-Sat at 8. 330 Amherst St. (697-0837) www.artofwny.org THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, adapted from the novel by C.S. Lewis, presented by Theatre of Youth, directed by Chris Kelly. Mar 11 at 7. Mar 12-Apr 3, Sat at 10 a.m. & 2, Sun at 2 (no 10 a.m. show on Mar 12). Allendale Theatre, 203 Allen St. (884-4400). www.theatreofyouth.org SAFE, world premiere of the play by Donna Hoke, directed by Kyle LoConti, starring Christopher Evans, Michele Benzin, Matthew Gilbert, Lisa Ludwig, Jesse Tiebor. Mar 11-Apr 3, Thu-Sat at 7:30, Sun at 2 (no performance Mar 27). Road Less Traveled Theater, 500 Pearl St. (6293069). www.roadlesstraveledproductions.org WIESENTHAL, play written by and starring Tom Dugan. Mar 17-20, Thu at 7:30, Fri at 8, Sat at 2 & 8, Sun at 2 & 7. 710 Main Theatre, 710 Main St. (1-800-745-3000). www. sheas.org/710main.

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artvoice.com | march 3 - 9, 2016

�� DEADSHOT: BULLETPROOF �� BOOKS | GRAPHIC TRAFFIC presented by

By Christos N. Gage (Author), Steve Cummings, Jimmy Palmiotti and Phil Winslade (Illustrators) D.C. Comics (Publisher) > REVIEW BY GABRIEL ALLANDRO

�� t’s a thin line between villainy and heroism, and Deadshot: Bulletproof walks �� that �� razor’s edge with a blend of sharp art, an edgy plot and dark wit. When is a villain actually a hero? Floyd Lawton’s answer to the question is simple: Who �� gives a *&%#, as long as you’ve got enough bullets to protect what’s yours? The �� Suicide Squad mainstay’s past comes back to inspire him when he discovers that �� he�� he has a daughter. After meeting her, is surprised by a sense of love, of family, that he’d only experienced while his son was alive. Given his son’s tragic death, Lawton is driven to make certain that the neighborhood ��

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in which his daughter and her mother lives will be safe. But with three rival crime syndicates operating in the region, that goal won’t be easy to achieve. Lawton’s answer? More bullets downrange. The art team pulls �� off a palette of gritty realism that perfectly complements the plot. The story will appeal to the blood-and�� while �� tugging �� as we see inside Lawton’s motivations. With Deadshot, the bullets crowd, at the heartstrings �� can’t drop him inside such a neat little box. Instead, we see line between heroism and villainy is blurred—you �� is �� why Deadshot such a beloved character, full of rich contradictions that make him as real as any person you �� might�� know (well, assuming�� they’re heavily armed and deadly enough to take down a small country, anyway...). �� This storyline acts�� as a turning point in Deadshot’s history, giving rise to the loyal, dependable and faintly sociopathic killer that fans of the Suicide Squad and Secret Six (pre-New 52) know and love. �� By Robert Kirkman (Author), Cory Walker (Artist) �� Image Comics (Publisher) � �� > REVIEW �� BY ��MAIA �� BANKHEAD �� hances are, you’ve experienced Robert Kirkman’s work (The Walking Dead, �� X-Men, �� Marvel Zombies). But when Kirkman wasn’t making one of the Ultimate ��most badass zombie apocalypses so far, he was writing about a quirky superhero teenager. Meet Mark Grayson, a teenage boy with a life as normal you can expect with a human mother and an alien superhero father…until he inherits his own superpowers. In■ �� vincible stands out due to its interpretation of someone knowingly living their life close to ■ �� that is always out fighting Lord-knows-what. Mark’s mother is a very realistic woman who has to deal with ■somebody �� the possibility of her husband dying every day. Mark’s father is there for him to help him understand how to use his new abilities, like a father would help his son transition into manhood. There is definitely a family theme not-so-subtly ■hidden �� underneath all�� the superpowers, fights, and alien attacks, highlighted by Cory Walker’s use of bright colors, which isn’t something�� commonly seen in superhero stories nowadays. The entire graphic novel, down to the cover art, ■ �� is done in a cartoonish style which manages to make any average statement hilarious when put in the right context, while also being just realistic enough that when someone gets down to business, they’re getting down to business. When reading, it’s a joyride that you can’t get off because you have no freaking clue what else is going to be thrown �� at you, whether it involves Mark taking on a bomber or trying to figure out whether a girl likes him. And I promise you: �� you’ll be laughing your butt off once you hit that last page.

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INVINCIBLE, VOL. 1: FAMILY MATTERS

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march 3 - 9, 2016 | artvoice.com

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> BY JAVIER he fabulous Diane Lane (pictured above) recently announced that she will fund a grant for arts educators to honor director/ composer/writer Elizabeth Swados who died on January 5th. Buffalo born Swados wrote the music for Lane’s acting debut in a production of Medea at New York’s La MaMa back in 1972 when she was six years old. Then in 1978 Lane made her Broadway debut in Swados’s groundbreaking musical Runaways, which will be revived this summer at City Center. Best known for her work in ﬁlm (she was Oscar nominated for Unfaithful in 2002), Lane made her screen debut in 1979 in A Little Romance opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. She is reprising her role as Martha Kent in the upcoming ﬁlm Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. Lane returned to her theater roots starring in a production of Sweet Bird of Youth at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in 2013. Last year she starred in the Lincoln Theatre’s original production of The Mystery of Love & Sex co-starring with Tony Shalhoub. Debbie Pappas will portray legendary singer Rosemary Clooney in the two-person musical, Tenderly, which Musicalfare will present in November under the direction of Doug Weyand. In the meantime, Weyand is set to direct the remount of the company’s 2012 production of Avenue Q which opens April 7th at 710 Main Theatre. Fredonia graduate Dominique Kempf will play Gary Coleman, joining original cast members Jacob Albarella, Charmagne Chi, Jeffrey Coyle, Maria Droz, Amy Jakiel, and Marc Sacco. Next at the New Phoenix, a stage adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Directed by Kelli Bocock-Natale, the production will star John Fredo, Greg Natale, Jack Agugliaro, John F. Kennedy, Jamie O’Neill, Candice Kogut, Jonathan Foreman, John Profeta, and Justin Fiordaliso. The play will run March 25th-April 16th. Playwright Larry Gray (The Louisiana Trilogy) returns to the Alleyway to open the 2016-17 season with his play Dear Lydia, winner of the 2015 Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition. Directed by Neal Radice, this world premiere will star David Mitchell and Melissa Leventhal. The company’s season will also include the 26th annual Buffalo Quickies (January 19th-February 11th) and I’m Fine (March 23rd-April 15th), a new play by Radice starring Ray Boucher, Emily

Yancey, Bethany Sparacio, and James Chicocki who will also be joining the cast of A Christmas Carol in December. TOY will conclude its current season with the musical The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, based on the popular best-selling picture book by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Directed by Michael Walline with music direction by Keith Ersing, the production will star Jake Albarella, Kerrykate Abel, and Jennel Pruneda. The show opens on May 7th. Terrence McNally, four-time Tony Award winning playwright, will appear at a beneﬁt for BUA called An Evening with Terrence McNally on Friday April 1st, at 7 p.m. at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site. McNally will read excerpts from his book Selected Works, A Memoir in Plays, interspersed with readings of scenes from some of his plays. The event will include a reception with the playwright and a book signing. For tickets go to www.trsite. org under the “EVENTS” tab. The event is cosponsored by BUA, the TR site, the Dramatists Guild Fund, and Just Buffalo Literary Center. Coming in July, BUA will present McNally’s It’s Only a Play, starring Jimmy Janowski, Michael Seitz, Lisa Ludwig, Anthony Alcocer, Mary Kate O’Connell and Anthony Chase. Brian Cavanagh will direct the thriller Wait Until Dark which replaces the previously announced Quartet at the Kavinoky (April 29th–May 22nd). The 1966 play was revived on Broadway in 1998 starring Marisa Tomei. The local production will star Kathleen Macari, Adriano Gatto, Stan Klimecko, Patrick Moltane, Renee Landrigan, and Adam Rath. And save the date! The tenth annual Kavinoky Kavalcade will be held on April 23rd at the Saturn Club, beginning at 7 p.m. The much anticipated Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare in Delaware Park will star Bonnie Jean Taylor, Chris Hatch, Zev Steinberg, Marissa Puzutto, Norm Sham, and Adam Yellen. After almost ﬁfty years of reviewing, writing and performing in Buffalo, Doug Smith and his wife Polly (pictured below) will be leaving the area and moving to be closer to their daughter near Cortland. Smith has acted in numerous productions, most recently in Tuesdays with Morrie and The Sunshine Boys. On Saturday, March 12th the Smiths will be at Theodore’s, 1728 Grand Island Blvd., in Grand Island from 2 to 7 p.m. to say goodbye to their many friends. All the best wishes!

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NEWS || FEATURE FEATURE NEWS

STATE MONEY MONEYFLOWS FLOWSAGAIN, AGAIN, BUT QUESTION REMAINS: WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT HAPPENED?

SolarCity at Riverbend ...state money in pipeline again

>BY TONY FARINA

he carpenters, all 70 of them, are back on the job at SolarCity, but more than 120 plumbers were still out as of Tuesday as the state scrambled to make $82.5 million in late payments to contractors who hadn’t been paid since Oactober on the much-hyped Buffalo Billion program.

The news of the state falling months behind on paying contractors on the project that is supposed to create 3,000 jobs came on the heels of negative stock news on SolarCity earlier this month raising concerns in some investment circles about the solar installer’s financial picture.

Empire State Development and the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute said in a joint release Monday that the payments are being processed and were slated to be delivered as early as Tuesday, our press deadline.

SolarCity’s stock was once nearly $86 a share but has fallen nearly 30 percent and the New York Times noted that rooftop solar providers like SolarCity were once the darlings of Wall Street “but in two years, the landscape has drastically shifted,”: said the Times story on Feb. 10.

For some reason, the state fell behind paying its hand-picked project developer, LP Ciminelli, and other contractors working on the massive South Buffalo SolarCity project at Riverbend, causing some workers to be pinkslipped as contractors were running out of money. “We’re close to getting the money,” said an official for one of the contractors who declined to speak on the record. The official said he expected everything would be caught 16

march 3 - 9, 2016 | artvoice.com

up by the end of the week.

The story continued: “Nevada recently rolled back the generous support it gave rooftop solar systems; 20 other states are rethinking their policies as well. And despite the extension of an important federal tax credit last year, losses by rooftop solar companies have accelerated.” According to the Times analysis, SolarCity,

th th bu an ta es A cr pe ha

T $7 $9 co C ty to “t a ou

NEWS | FEATURE the largest provider of rooftop systems, is but the most visible of a cluster of companies, built with the aid of government subsidies and utility incentives, now facing deep uncertainties despite unflagging consumer interest and surging growth in renewable energy. And despite the extension of the federal tax credit, mounting losses and increasing competition led SolarCity to cut its growth rate in half last fall. There’s a lot riding on the Buffalo Billion’s $750 million investment at Riverbend on the $900 million SolarCity project, and despite concerns about the industry, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said earlier this month after SolarCity’s stock plunge that “solar is the right place to be.” He told editors of the Buffalo News “there is no undue concern.” But now, just a few weeks after the stock fell, word comes out that the state is behind several months in paying contractors. Perhaps Cuomo is right about “no undue concern,” but one has to believe he cannot be too happy that his bureaucracy fell behind more than four months in paying contractors on his signature project as news of the solar giant’s financial troubles came to the surface. There is little information from government agencies about what happened, only brief statements that everything is going to be fixed and the money will be flowing again soon. But how did it get to that point? If this project has so much support from the state, why wasn’t somebody watching? Unfortunately for the public, many of these agen-

cies do not operate in a transparent fashion and how they manage the public’s money is pretty much a well kept secret.

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artvoice.com | march 3 - 9, 2016

NEWS FEATURE NEWS || FEATURE

PANEPINTO READY TO TAKE ON ALL CHALLENGERS FOR 60TH DISTRICT SEAT ing Stocker in a GOP primary, whoever runs in the general election on the GOP line will have a tiger by the tail in Panepinto. A snapshot of Panepinto’s record in his first term reveals that he has co-sponsored paid family leave legislation, voted against raising taxes 75 times, and voted for a permanent tax cut and protecting all STAR property tax reductions from cuts.

State Sen. Marc Panepinto �� >By TONY FARINA

tate Sen. Marc Panepinto may face a Democratic primary in the 60th District this year and if he is victorious he will likely face a strong Republican challenge from the winner of an expected Republican primary between Erie County Clerk Chris Jacobs and Tonawanda attorney Kevin Stocker, but Panepinto is prepared to run on his record of voting against tax increases, increasing school aid for Western New York, and fighting to remove microbeads from New York’s waterways as part of his environmental agenda. Panepinto was a narrow winner in a four-way race in 2014, collecting 34 percent of the vote to Republican Stocker’s 30 percent. Stocker had defeated incumbent Mark Grisanti in a GOP primary but Grisanti ran on the Independent Party line and received 28 percent of the vote in the general election. Tim Gallagher collected eight percent on the Conservative line.

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march 3 - 9, 2016 | artvoice.com

Jacobs has reportedly told local Republican and Conservative Party leaders that he’s ready to run for the seat although he publicly said after our story last week that he is still considering whether to run, a tactic he used for months before he decided late in the game not to run for county executive against Mark Poloncarz even though he was the GOP’s first choice. Jacobs looks indecisive, at the least, although insiders say he has the backing of state Republicans because of his ability to raise money given his family connections (Delaware North). But whether he runs or not, or whether he can even beat the hard-work-

In a district that includes the Town and City of Tonawanda, Grand Island, Buffalo, Hamburg, Orchard Park, and Evans, Panepinto has been a strong supporter for fully funding public schools and according to his office, he has “secured $44 million in increased school aid for Western New York and successfully reduced the GEA (Gap Elimination Adjustment) in Buffalo by 98%, a $15.9 million restoration. The GEA was implemented in the 2010-11 fiscal year to help close the state’s $10 billion budget deficit with a portion of the state’s funding shortfall divided among all school districts based on a formula and each district’s aid is reduced accordingly. As an example of how the GEA has hurt local schools, Panepinto cites the 71 job losses, program cuts, and multi-million dollar deficits facing the Frontier School District. Panepinto, who received more than $1 million from the New York State United Teachers union in his 2014 run, has supported rallies against the GEA in the hardest hit districts like Ken-Ton and Lake Shore, hoping to continue to restore cuts made as a result of the GEA. The first-term senator also touts his environmental record, saying he introduced the Clean Water, Clean Air, Green Jobs Bond Act to fully fund and update New York’s clean water/clean air infrastructure. And he sponsored legislation to define the boundaries of the Niagara River Greenway to ensure proper project funding. Taken in total, it looks like Panepinto is ready for a possible Democratic primary against community activist Amber Small and also has his record ready to roll out against either Stocker, a former town prosecutor, or the county clerk, Jacobs, if he follows through on his plans to run.

FILM | MOVIELIST AMHERST THEATRE (DIPSON)

NOW PLAYING > > >

3500 Main St (834–7655) amherst.dipsontheatres.com •Son of Saul (R) •Spotlight (R) •Touched with Fire (R) •Where to Invade Next (R) •National Theatre: Les Liaisons Dangereuses Sun 12 Buffalo Film Seminars: •The French Connection (1971) Tue 7

ZOOTOPIA—Animated family comedy about a fugitive con artist fox (Jason Bateman) and a rookie bunny cop (Ginnifer Goodwin) who team in a city of anthropomorphic animals. Co-starring Idris Elba, and Shakira. Directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, and Jared Bush. Flix, Hamburg Palace, Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

ANGOLA SCREENING ROOM/ TJ’S THEATRE 97 N. Main St. Angola (712-7244) angolamoviezone.com •No screenings this week

AURORA THEATRE

Shakespeare in Love

EASTERN HILLS CINEMA (DIPSON)

OPENING

4545 Transit Rd, Williamsville (632–1080) easternhills.dipsontheatres.com •A War (R) •45 Years (R) •The Lady in the Van (PG-13) •Brooklyn (PG-13) •An American Tail (G) Sat 10am

LONDON HAS FALLEN—Action-thriller sequel to Olympus Has Fallen which concerns returning secret service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) and his attempts to protect the leaders of the free-world from an assassination plot while gathered in London for the Prime Minister’s funeral. Co-starring Morgan Freeman and Aaron Eckhart. Directed by Babak Najaﬁ. Flix, Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

FLIX STADIUM 10 (DIPSON)

4901 Transit Rd, Depew (668–1888) flix10.dipsontheatres.com •Zootopia (PG) •London Has Fallen (R) •Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (R) •Eddie the Eagle (PG-13) •Gods of Egypt (PG-13) •Triple Nine (R) •Risen (PG-13) •Deadpool (R) •Kung Fu Panda 3 (PG)

TOUCHED WITH FIRE—Romantic drama about two manic-depressive poets (Katie Holmes and Luke Kirby) who begin a romance while staying at a psychiatric hospital that continues to blossom after their release. Co-starring

FOUR SEASONS CINEMAS

HALLWALLS

341 Delaware Ave, Buffalo (854-1694) hallwalls.org •Eisenstein in Guanajuato (2015) Thu (3/3) & Tue 7:30

HAMBURG PALACE THEATER

31 Buffalo St., Hamburg (649–2295) hamburgpalace.com •Zootopia (PG)

LOCKPORT PALACE THEATER

2 East Ave., Lockport (438-1130) lockportpalacetheatre.org •Brooklyn (PG-13) Thu (3/3) 1 7 •Kung Fu Panda (PG)

MAPLE RIDGE (AMC)

4276 Maple Rd, Amherst (888-262-4386) amctheatres.com •Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (R) •London Has Fallen (R) •Zootopia (PG) •Gods of Egypt (PG-13) •How to Be Single (R) •Deadpool (R) •Kung Fu Panda 3 (PG) •The Revenant

MUYBRIDGE STUDIES: ERIC SOUTHER IN PERSON—Experimental presentation from the Indiana-based video artist. Squeaky Wheel Sat 7

ETC.

673 Main St, E. Aurora (652–1660) theauroratheatre.com •Zootopia (PG)

2429 Military Rd, Niagara Falls (297–1951) fourseasonscinema.com •Dirty Grandpa (R) •The Boy (PG-13) •Zoolander 2 (PG-13) •Ride Along 2 (PG13) •Daddy’s Home (PG-13) •The Good Dinosaur (PG) •Room (R) •Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (PG)

Italian ﬁlmmaker and the ﬁrst woman to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Director. Directed by Valerio Ruiz. The Screening Room Sat 5:30, Tue and Thu 7:30

(R)

MCKINLEY MALL CINEMA (DIPSON)

McKinley Mall, Blasdell (824–3479) mckinley.dipsontheatres.com •Concussion (PG-13) •Dirty Grandpa (R) •13 Hours (R) •The Finest Hours (PG-13) •Creed (PG-13) •Norm of the North (PG) •The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (PG-13) •Sisters (R) •Joy (PG-13) •Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (PG) •The Good Dinosaur (PG) •The Peanuts Movie (G) •Spectre (PG-13)

NEW ANGOLA THEATER 72 North Main St., Angola (549-4866) newangolatheater.com •Zootopia (PG)

NORTH PARK THEATRE

1428 Hertel Ave. (836-7411) northparktheatre.org •The Lady in the Van (PG-13) •Shakespeare in Love (R) Mon 7 •Wayne’s World (PG-13) (1992) Sat & Sun 11:30am

REGAL ELMWOOD CENTER 16

2001 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo

Christine Lahti and Grifﬁn Dunne. Directed by Paul Dalio. Dipson Amherst A WAR—Danish war drama about a commander (Pilou Asbaek) who faces a courtroom trial after a judgment call leads to the deaths of 11 civilians during the war in Afghanistan. Directed by Tobias Lindholm. Eastern Hills WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT—Wartime comedy about a cable news journalist (Tina Fey) recounting her experiences covering the U.S. conﬂicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Co-starring Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, and Alfred Molina. Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. Flix, Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

(871–0722) •Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (R) •London Has Fallen (R) •Zootopia (PG) •Eddie the Eagle (PG-13) •Gods of Egypt (PG-13) •Triple 9 (R) •Mei Ren Yu (R) •Race (PG-13) •Risen (PG-13) •The Witch (R) •How to Be Single (R) •Deadpool (R) •Kung Fu Panda (PG) •Room (R) •Ride Along 2 (PG-13) •The Revenant (R) •Star Wars: The Force Awakens (PG-13) •Spotlight (R)

REGAL NIAGARA FALLS STADIUM 12

720 Builders Way, Niagara Falls (236–0146) •Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (R) •London Has Fallen (R) •Zootopia (PG) •Eddie the Eagle (PG-13) •Gods of Egypt (PG-13) •Triple 9 (R) •Risen (PG-13) •Spotlight (R) •Deadpool (R) •How to Be Single (R) •Kung Fu Panda 3 (PG) •The Revenant (R) •Star Wars: The Force Awakens (PG-13)

REGAL QUAKER CROSSING 18

3450 Amelia Dr., Orchard Park (827–1109) •Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (R) •London Has Fallen (R) •The Other Side of the Door (R) •Zootopia (PG) •Eddie the Eagle (PG-13) •Gods of Egypt (PG-13) •Triple 9 (R) •Risen (PG-13) •The Witch (R) •How to Be Single (R) •Deadpool (R) •Zoolander 2 (PG-13)

LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES—Special presentation of the National Theatre. Dipson AM AMERICAN TAIL (1986)—Disney animated Amherst Sun 12 family adventure about a young Russian mouse who is separate from his family while emigrating THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)—Rob Reiner’s to the United States and must find them in the classic storybook adventure fantasy about a new country. Directed by Don Bluth. Eastern farmhand (Cary Elwes) who embarks on a quest Hills Sat 10am to rescue his beloved (Robin Wright) and live EISENSTEIN IN GUANAJATO (2015)— happily ever after. The Screening Room, Fri and International drama about legendary filmmaker Sat 7:30 Sergei Eisenstein (Elmer Back) who travels to SHAKEASPEARE IN LOVE (1998)—Oscar-winning Mexico to make a film after being shunned by romantic comedy which imagines the struggling Hollywood and has a sensual experience that young bard (Joseph Fiennes) finds love with a changes his life and career. Directed by Peter beautiful aspiring actress (Gwyneth Paltrow) Greenaway. Hallwalls Thu And Tue 7:30 who inspires him to write Romeo and Juliet. THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)—William Directed by John Madden. North Park Mon 7 Friedkin’s Oscar-winning crime drama about New York Detective “Popeye” Doyle (Gene WAYNE’S WORLD (1992)—Comedy spin-off Hackman) and his increasingly desperate pursuit inspired by the popular SNL sketch about of a French heroin smuggler. Presented as part two dim-witted 20-something rock and roll of the Buffalo Film Seminars. Dipson Amherst enthusiasts (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey) Tue 7 and their cable access TV show. Directed by LINDA WERTMULLER: BEHIND THE WHITE Penelope Spheeris. North Park Sat and Sun GLASSES—Documentary about the life of the 11:30am

•The Lady in the Van (PG-13) •Kung Fu Panda 3 (R) •Spotlight (R) •The Lady in the Van (PG-13) •Daddy’s Home (PG-13) •The Revenant (R) •Star Wars: The Force Awakens (PG-13)

REGAL TRANSIT CENTER 18

Transit and Wehrle, Lancaster (633–0859) •Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (R) •London Has Fallen (R) •The Other Side of the Door (R) •Zootopia (PG) •Eddie the Eagle (PG-13) •Gods of Egypt (PG-13) •Triple 9 (R) •Room (R) •Risen (PG-13) •The Witch (R) •How to Be Single (R) •Deadpool (R) •The Choice (PG-13) •Kung Fu Panda 3 (PG) •Dirty Grandpa (R) •Spotlight (R) •The Revenant (R) •Star Wars: The Force Awakens (PG-13) IMAX: •Zootopia (PG)

REGAL WALDEN GALLERIA STADIUM 16

One Walden Galleria Drive, Cheektowaga (681-9414) •Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (R) •London Has Fallen (R) •The Other Side of the Door (R) •Zootopia (PG) •Eddie the Eagle (PG-13) •Gods of Egypt (PG-13) •Triple 9 (R) •Risen (PG-13) •The Witch (R) •How to Be Single (R) •Deadpool (R) •Spotlight (R) •Kung Fu Panda 3 (PG) •The Boy (PG-13) •Ride

Along 2 (PG-13) •Star Wars: The Force Awakens (PG-13)

RIVIERA THEATRE

67 Webster St, N. Tonawanda (692-2413) rivieratheatre.org •No screenings this week

THE SCREENING ROOM

3131 Sheridan Dr., Amherst (837-0376) screeningroom.net •The Princess Bride (1987) Fri & Sat 7:30 •Kizumonogatari Part I: Tekketsu Fri 9:30; Sat 4; Tue & Thu 6 •Lina Wertmuller: Behind the White Glasses Sat 5:30; Tue & Thu 7:30

SQUEAKY WHEEL

617 Main Street (884-7172) squeaky.org •Muybridge Studies: Eric Souther in Person Sat 7

TRANSIT DRIVE-IN 6655 Transit Rd (625-8535) transitdrivein.com •Closed for the season

OUT OF TOWN

TORONTO: BELL LIGHTBOX

King & John Streets

1-877-968-3456 | tiff.net/calendar •Chinatown (Roman Polanski, USA 1974) •Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks, USA 1939) •Fellow Citizen preceeded by Kiarostami’s Short Films (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran various) •Gate of Flesh (Seijun Suzuki, Japan 1964) •Looney Tunes Classic Cartoons (various) •Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, West Germany/France 1987) •L’Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy 1960) •Pina (Wim Wenders, Germany/France 2011) •Such a Long Journey (Sturla Gunnarsson, Canada/UK 1998) •Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR 1979) •Ping’an yueqing (Ai Weiwei, China 2011) •Tokyo Drifter (Seijun Suzuki, Japan 1966)

ROCHESTER

GEORGE EASTMAN HOUSE

900 East Avenue, Rochester (585) 271–4090 eastmanhouse.org •Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (Jafar Panahi, Iran 2015) Fri 8 •Jamaica Inn (Alfred Hitchcock, UK 1939) Sat 8 •The Black Swan (Henry King, USA 1942) Sun 2 •A Night at the Movies 100 Years Ago Mon 1:30 •Broadway Love (Ida May Park, USA 1918) Tue 8 •Seven Beauties (Lina Wertmüller, Italy 1975) Wed 8 •The Spy in Black (Michael Powell, UK 1939) Thu 8

artvoice.com | march 3 - 9, 2016

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Asbury Hall SAT 3/26

JOAN BAEZ $85 reserved seating, online and box ofﬁce only

THU 3/31

KURT VILE AND THE VIOLATORS

W/ PURLING HISS (SOLO) $25 GA Standing

9th Ward THU 3/3

MARIAN MCLAUGHLIN W/ TINY RHYMES $10 advance / $13 day of

WED 3/23

DAVID WAX MUSEUM W/ TWAIN

$12 advance / $15 day of

Doors 7 PM, Show Time 8 PM unless otherwise noted Go to babevillebuffalo.com/events for complete event listings Tickets available at: Ticketweb.com, Babeville Box Ofﬁce (M-F 11A-5P), Rust Belt Books (415 Grant St), & Terrapin Station (1172 Hertel Ave)

BABEVILLE: 341 DELAWARE AVE. (at W. Tupper)

(716) 852-3835 | BABEVILLEBUFFALO.COM ��

�� Stan Searle/Dave Lampe poetry reading Bflo State faculty alums play w/language Mon, 3/7, 7 pm, Main St store

Nancy Reisman, Trompe L’Oeil Wed, 3/9, 5:30 pm, Larkin Square Filling Stn

�� Brian Castner, Keith Buckley, Misha Shubaly Triple book launch for Bflo Books & Beer Wed, 3/9, 7 pm, Resurgence Brewing, $5 adm

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march 3 - 9, 2016 | artvoice.com

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Lawrence Brooks, Buffalo Niagara: Diagnosis & Prescription, convers. w/Mark Sommer, Bflo News Where now? Is it real? Where next? Let’s talk! Wed, 3/16, 7 pm, Main St store Amber Tamblyn, The Dark Sparkler, poems Actress/director is accomplished poet, too. Sat, 3/19, 5 pm, Main St store

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LBGTQ Section Sale at Main Street 40% off, hundreds of bargains! & we’re winnowing PHILOSOPHY, toostunning selection marked way down! (You Kant believe your Locke, Foucault!)

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the winter chill with a good book no better way to hibernate, & we’ve got plenty of choices to keep you warm— new fiction, great classics, history, politics, current events, cooking, gardening, poetry... myriad ways to warm body & soul

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SEE YOU THERE! MARIAN MCLAUGHLIN 8pm, The 9th Ward @ Babeville, 341 Delaware Ave (852-3835/babevillebuffalo.com)

nderground sensation Marian McLaughlin is pushing the boundaries of folk music. Along with her musical partner, bassist/composer Ethan Foote, McLaughlin’s innovative style is one of musical exploration and experimentation. Her second studio album,

“Spirit House” is an adventurous endeavor, which combines experimental folk-rock, chamber

EDITOR’S PICK

music and her lyrical vision. Marian McLaughlin’s superb guitar playing and singing combines with Ethan Foote’s arrangements to add a new dimension to modern folk music. She is an active

ﬁgure on the DC and Baltimore music scene. In 2014, McLaughlin collaborated with ﬁlmmaker Zambia to create a video for her song “Before You Leave” which was featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered. The 9th Ward provides an ideal intimate setting for this artist’s original and inventive style. >BY MOOSE JR.

THU

artvoice.com | march 3 - 9, 2016

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THU

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3-5

FIESTA MEXICO -

AMERICA INCLUDING LOS LOBOS

JOHN WITHERSPOON 7:30pm & 10pm, Helium Comedy Club,

7:30pm, UB Center for the Arts, $27-$47 (ubcfa.org)

30 Mississippi St (853-1211/heliumcomedy.com)

his concert is a celebration of the achievements and contributions of the Mexican-American community throughout United States history. The multiple Grammy Award winners Los Lobos highlight this new show, which includes a performance by dancers from the celebrated dance troupe Ballet Folklorico Mexicano. Originally from East Los Angeles, the members of Los Lobos got together in high school and after becoming disillusioned with Top 40 music they embraced their Latino heritage. Los Lobos has recorded twenty-one albums; the most celebrated was the soundtrack for the hit movie “La Bamba” depicting the tragic life of Rock n’ Roll Icon Richie Valens. The band re-worked and released the Richie Valens hit “La Bamba” and it rose to #1 on the charts driving the album to platinum. For over six decades, the Ballet Folklorico Mexicano has presented dances in costumes that reﬂect their traditional culture of Mexico. Both groups will demonstrate their love and dedication to Mexican Folklore and Culture.

eteran actor/comedian John Witherspoon has appeared in over 70 television and movie comedies. Witherspoon is probably best known for his role as Willie Jones on the television show Friday. He is also famous for appearing in the hit movie Boomerang starring Eddie Murphy. He portrays the ill mannered, foul-mouthed father of Eddie’s best friend. During the sixties and seventies, John began a successful career as a stand up comedian. He made many lifelong friends on the circuit including Robin Williams, Jay Leno, Richard Pryor and David Letterman. Letterman and Witherspoon became such good friends that Dave Letterman is the godfather of his two children. His critically acclaimed stand up appeared on cable television’s Showtime network. Enjoy John Witherspoon at the Helium Comedy Club where ther is no mistaking his ability to bring the house down with uproarious laughter.

> BY AV STAFF

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march 3 - 9, 2016 | artvoice.com

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BANNERS

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681 Main St, $12/$14 (852-3900/townballroom.com)

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7pm, The Leopard Lounge in the Town Ballroom,

he Town Ballroom is ﬁnally reopening the much-loved Leopard Lounge. The room’s been given a makeover worthy of a

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MARIA DOYLE KENNEDY

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Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1285 Elmwood Ave, $5

the room’s opening act, Michael Joseph Nelson, A.K.A. “Banners”

arrives from Liverpool, England. He grew up singing in the Liverpool

career spans over two decades and she has performed all over Eu-

Anglican Cathedral Choir. After singing in cathedrals and concert

rope, Canada, and the United States. Maria and her husband Kieran

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halls across Europe, Banners went to work on his own material.

Kennedy run a small independent record label, Mermaid Records,

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He signed with Island Records in 2015 and released his debut sin-

releasing seven albums under her name to date. Mrs. Kennedy is

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reality TV show–new stage, lights, ceiling, new ﬂoor, etc. For

gle “Ghosts” under the stage name Raines. His second hit “Shine A Light” was recorded under his current name “Banners.” The song

aria Doyle Kennedy is a Singer/Actress born in Dublin. the likes of John Prine, Paul Brady and Damien Rice. Her

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display in the Masterpiece Theatre mega hit “Downton Abbey.” In the series, she portrays the awful Vera Bates. Maria’s character on

star to rise. On January 27th of this year, Banners made his network

to prevent her estranged husband’s happiness. An old adage about

named it the Leopard Lounge.

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also a very accomplished actress. Her acting ability was best on

the show is a bitter and vindictive woman who will stop at nothing

song “Shine A Light.” Attend the concert and you will see why they

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She possesses a powerful voice and has performed with

rocketed up to #5 on the Canadian rock charts, causing Banners’ television debut on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show perfoming his hit

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/ free for members (882-8700/albrightknox.org)

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when this versatile performer at takes the stage at Albright-Knox

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Art Gallery’s intimate theatre.

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acting is if you can make an audience hate you, you have arrived as a actor. Come see friendlier side of this Masterpiece Theatre vixen

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> BY AV STAFF

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FRI

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artvoice.com | march 3 - 9, 2016

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SAT

FRI-SAT

4-5

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CZECH PORTRAITS 3pm & 8pm, Kleinhans Music Hall, 3 Symphony Circle (kleinhansbuffalo.org/885-5000)

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he music of Czech composers Novak, Elgar and Swetana take you on an evocative trip of their beloved Czech Republic, one of Eastern Europe’s most beautiful countries. Rising star Nico-

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las Altsetaedt performs Elgar’s Cello Concerto. Nicolas Altstaedt

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is the winner of several international competitions, the Credit Su-

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isse Young Artist Award and a Borletti Buitoni Fellowship. As a BBC

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New Generation Artist 2010-2012 he has performed with all BBC

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Orchestras. The German/French cellist is renowned worldwide for

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his creativity and versatility, delivering captivating performances on

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both modern and gut strings. He is collaborating with BPO conduc-

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tor Jo Ann Falletta to feature. He has appeared in concert halls

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around the globe including Vienna, Tokyo, Berlin, Zurich, Melbourne

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and New Zealand.

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12:30pm, Tralf Music Hall, 622 Main St (second ﬂoor), $20/$25 (852-2860/tralfmusichall.com)

ennifer May, Bassist and Bandleader, leads a sixteen piece all female jazz big band. The band originally was conceived in 1994 as the Ladies First Jazz Combo. Since then, the band celebrates Women’s History Month (March) annually with a new production of “Women of Jazz By Women of Jazz.” It’s a loving tribute to female jazz performers. The big band has performed to the delight of audiences everywhere from Jamestown to Rochester. Special guests for the Tralf performance are the Buffalo Dolls–an Andrews Sisters styled singing trio who swings the songs of the forties, ﬁfties and the sixties. Join the ladies for a wonderful afternoon of music and to support a local organization, The Zonta Club of Buffalo, empowering women through service and advocacy.

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march 3 - 9, 2016 | artvoice.com

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> BY AV STAFF

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> BY AV STAFF

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14TH ANNUAL LADIES FIRST JAZZ BIG BAND

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