Vindicator theater critic receives state award

August 31, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

Milan Paurich, theater critic for The Vindicator, took second place in the Best Critic category in the 2008 Ohio Society of Professional Journalists Awards.

He will receive his award Oct. 18 in a banquet at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

The SPJ awards honor the best in Ohio’s print, television, radio, online, trade and college journalism. The Vindicator competes against other newspapers with a daily circulation under 100,000. Paurich also won the SPJ award for Best Film Critic in 2005.

‘The Uneasy Chair’ to open at Victorian

YOUNGSTOWN — “The Uneasy Chair” opens Friday at Victorian Players Theatre, 702 Mahoning Ave., for a three-weekend run.

The play, written by Evan Smith, is directed by Paula Ferguson, and the cast includes Jennifer Milligan, Caitlin Sacui, Amanda Lane, Charles F. Wilcox and Paul Angelucci.

Set in the 1800s, “The Uneasy Chair” begins when Amanda Pickles, a prim and proper spinster of modest means, rents a room in her London establishment to a retired military man, Josiah Wickett. The arrangement works until Wickett starts playing matchmaker with Miss Pickles’s prissy niece, Alexandrina, and his nephew, Darlington, an officer in the cavalry. Miss Pickles mistakenly believes she, not Alexandrina, is the object of Wickett’s, not Darlington’s, affections.

Show times are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Sept. 12, 13, 19 and 20; and 2 p.m. Sunday and Sept. 14 and 21.

Tickets are $10 ($8 for seniors and students). Call (330) 746-5455 for reservations.

‘Glass Menagerie’ at New Castle Playhouse

NEW CASTLE, Pa.— “The Glass Menagerie” opens Friday at the Annex of New Castle Playhouse, 202 E. Long Ave.

The show, directed by Erica Stickel, will run for nine performances over three weekends. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinees begin at 2 p.m. Opening night will feature a complimentary wine and cheese party for all ticket holders beginning at 6 p.m. in the Annex Theatre. The NCP Mini Stars will perform a show entitled “Rock the Jukebox” that will feature music from the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Reservations can be made by calling the NCP box office at (724) 654-3437. All tickets are $10.

“The Glass Menagerie” was Tennessee Williams’ first Broadway success. A poignant drama, it became one of the most famous plays in the American theatrical canon.Actors are sought for TV commercial

BOARDMAN — Actors (nonunion) are being sought for a regional television commercial that will be shot Sept. 7 in Cleveland.

Needed are a white male, age 15 to 20; and a Hispanic or black person, age 14 to 18.

Wardrobe is a T-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. Bring a recent photograph.

Auditions will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

For an appointment, call Linda Weaver, casting director, at Lemodeln Inc., 7536 Market St., at (330) 758-4417. Deadline is Tuesday.

For further information, go to Lemodeln.com.

‘Block 5’ is canceled

YOUNGSTOWN — J B Production Arts’ production of the play “Block 5,” which was scheduled to open Friday at Fairview Arts Center, has been canceled, according to J.E. Ballantyne of J B. “Block 5” tells the true story of a handful of Jewish prisoners in a Nazi death camp. The play was written by Ballantyne, who was also the director. “Block 5” premiered in 2005 at the Oakland Center for the Arfs, and won several Marquee Awards.

One-woman show depicts Molly Brown

YOUNGSTOWN — At noon Sept. 9, the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, 305 Wick Ave., will present actress Carol Starre-Kmiecik in a one-woman show as Molly Brown. This performance is free and open to the public and is part of the library’s lunch and learn at the library series. For more information call Carolyn Stellers at (330) 792-9852.