[CAJUN] Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, in various iterations, have been honing their sound—rooted in the French-speaking Cajun culture of south Louisiana—since 1988. Initially hailed as a fresh young player, bandleader/accordionist Riley has matured into an ambassador for this grassroots genre. He’s in several bands—in 2012 the “super-group” he’s part of, the Band Courtbouillon, won a Grammy; the Playboys have been nominated several times.
[WELLNESS] Cheryl Scheff and Jocelyn Ryann are two local yoga enthusiasts with their hearts firmly planted in Buffalo, and they’ve realized a vision that brings together many of their favorite things for a day.
People of New York, be happy today. Be proud and pleased that you so effectively and decidedly dodged the “Carl Paladino for Governor” bullet that was aimed right at your heart back in 2010.
You probably first heard the term in discussions of settlements made to the families of those killed in the September 11 attacks. “Human capital” refers to the assessment made by insurance companies of the value of a life when they have to make financial restitution for one that has been lost. The family of a victim who had high earning expectations would receive more than the family of, say, a janitor. It’s a controversial subject because it attempts to quantify something unquantifiable.
Adam Yellen is a naturalistic actor with boyish good looks who excels in character roles. The SUNY New Paltz theater graduate is currently playing Joel, the cynical and insightful brother of the main character in Beau Jest at Jewish Repertory Theatre of WNY. It’s a sweet comedy about a Jewish girl who hires an actor to pretend to be her boyfriend, so her parents won’t know she’s dating a gentile.
TOGETHER WE ARE by Valerie Kasinski
Valerie Kaskinski’s show continues at CEPA until February 28. Read more here.
PSYCHO LOVE by Buffalo artist Michael Mararian, part of an anti-Valentine’s show called Dream in Plastic in Beacon, New York.
Make sure to check out more of his work and like his Facebook page.
“It is putting it mildly to say that the first sight of ‘Pekin’ will cause thrills of amazement, admiration, and delight.” —Buffalo Courier, October 3, 1915
Fenton’s Pekin, 85 Broadway, was one of the great pre-Prohibition pleasure palaces of Buffalo. Opened in 1915 by Nathan Fernandez, better known as Nate Fenton (and pictured here), the American and Oriental cabaret was thronged nightly by patrons lured by chop suey, singing and dancing waiters, and jazz and vaudeville acts.
If Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, the veteran Belgian filmmaking brothers, thought that casting Marion Cotillard, the Oscar-winning French actress (for her portrayal of Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose), would enhance their prospects for a foreign-film Academy Award nomination of their latest, Two Days, One Night, they must have felt some disappointment when the nominees were announced this year. No such luck, the same as every year they’ve been eligible. And they’ve been working at this for over three and a half decades.