Entertainment

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

The arts can be a tricky business to break into, especially with theatre, and especially if you happen to be a woman. Recently, Chelsea Peretti (best known for her role on the show “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) attempted to bring that to life with her directorial debut, “First Time Female Director.”

In the film, aspiring writer Sam Clifford (Peretti) is thrust into the role of director when her theater's director is fired. Chosen by the theater's artistic director, Sheldon (Andy Richter), Sam is asked to direct the theater's upcoming play, with some ... interesting results, to put it politely.

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

Rex Havens has been entertaining audiences with his comedic stylings for the past three decades and next month, he will be bringing his show to Liberal as part of this year’s Chamber Bash festivities the evening of March 16.

As Havens tells it, comedy has been part of his life for a long time.

“I've been doing this for 30 years, and as a young person, I always had more comedy records than music records because I just loved whatever formula it was that made people laugh and make that wonderful sound. That wonderful, warm sound of a room full of laughter made me really, really happy, and it's kept me going,” Havens said. “I started going to open mic nights, I was in Chicago at that time, and you do that for the while just for the love of it, and eventually I met a bunch of people and made my way up the comedy ladder. I started in clubs, like many other comedians, and then after that, I started working for some agencies, and they started sending me out on gigs, and I also worked cruise ships for a number of years, and I would spend about 10 weeks a year doing those jobs. The cruise ships were really nice because I ultimately ended up visiting several places I might not otherwise have gone to, and there were even some times when my family got to come along.”

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

The American Theatre Guild wants audiences to get on their feet with its next production.

“On Your Feet! The Story Of Emilio & Gloria Estefan” will take the Century II Concert Hall stage March 15 through 17, with performances taking place at 8 p.m. Friday, March 15, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 16, and the final show at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 17. The show is a jukebox musical based on the lives and music of 26- time Grammy Award-winning husband-and-wife team Gloria and Emilio Estefan and features several of the Estefans' songs including 'Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,' 'Conga' and 'Get On Your Feet,' among others. As cast member Kristen Tarragó tells it, there is a lot of excitement surrounding taking the show to Wichita.

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

There are many young people interested in the performing arts in some capacity, and the American Theatre Guild has a program to help further that interest.

“The American Theater Guild is in 13 markets, including in Wichita, and our Broadway touring shows all take place at the Century II Concert Hall. We're a non-profit organization presenter for the Broadway in Wichita series. We started an education/outreach program called Staging The Future, and it's really about working to put our mission into practice and implemented across our different communities,” Elaine Stolze, senior director of development and community relations for the American Theatre Guild said. “This program, at least in the Wichita area, has been in place for about six years, and across all of our markets, we started out with providing opportunities for underserved students and organizations that support underserved community members so they can have access to our Broadway shows, these high-caliber productions, and learn about the performing arts. We also provide educational opportunities that include master classes and talks so these people can engage with the cast members and others associated with the shows. We are absolutely thrilled to have been able to grow that program to almost 13,000 students, and those students are from communities from all across our markets.”