Is Youngstown dying? TV show answers claim

Is Youngstown dying? TV show answers claim

KENT — Forbes.com recently released its list of the nation’s fastest-dying cities. Ohio topped the list, with four of the top 10 cities: Youngstown, Canton, Dayton and Cleveland.

Western Reserve PBS will give Youngstown, Canton and Cleveland a chance to respond to the Forbes rankings in a one-hour broadcast called “The Living Cities,” at 8 p.m. Friday.

The show will present segments on each of Northeast Ohio’s “dying cities,” with interviews with city officials and citizens; a review of the statistics used by Forbes to make its assessments; and a look beyond that data to offer a broader view of what is happening in the three cities. These segments will be used as a springboard for a live, studio-based conversation during which viewers will be invited to participate through live call-in, e-mail, Twitter and other instant-response technology. Participants include Mayor Jay Williams of Youngstown and T. Sharon Woodberry, director of Youngstown’s department of economic development.

YSU band, ensemble in Stambaugh concert

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown State University Concert Band, with conductor Christopher P. Heidenreich, and the YSU Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Stephen L. Gage, will perform in a joint concert titled “Swingin’ and Singin’” at 8 p.m. Monday at Stambaugh Auditorium. The concert will include music from the jazz and vocal genres. Tickets will be available at the door.

One highlight of the Concert Band portion will be an arrangement of songs from George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” The Wind Ensemble will be accompanied by vocalists Allan and Jennifer Jones Mosher and Craig Raymaley.

The Wind Ensemble recently issued its first CD and will make its sixth appearance since 1998 as a featured group at the Ohio Music Educators Association State Music Convention in Columbus in mid-January.

Lecture to focus on Victorian books

WARREN — Larry Rakow, owner of Wonderland Books in Cleveland Heights, a store specializing in old and rare children’s books, will talk on “Victorian Books: Literature, Illustrations and Penny Dreadfuls” at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Sutliff Museum.

His PowerPoint presentation will be enhanced by a display of actual books from his own collection. Members of the audience are invited to bring one or two old books for Rakow to examine and discuss.

The museum is located in the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, 444 Mahoning Ave., downtown. Reservations are required; call (330) 399-8807, Ext. 121, and leave your name and phone number.

Commedia Dell’Arte workshops at YSU

YOUNGSTOWN — Commedia Dell’Arte expert Gale McNeeley will present workshops at 4 p.m. Thursday and at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Friday in Bliss Hall’s Spotlight Arena Theater.

Commedia Dell’Arte, or Italian masked comedy, started in northern Italy in the 1500s and spread throughout Europe for the next 200 years. Originally called “Commedia Improviso,” the actors sing, dance, tumble, play an instrument and improvise in and out of any situation. All but the women and young lovers wore leather half-masks.

McNeeley is a graduate of John Carroll University, the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre and Antonio Fava’s Scuola Intenazionale Dell’Attore Comico in Italy. He has appeared on Broadway and has taught at dozens of colleges.

The free workshops are appropriate for middle and high school age students. No advance registration is necessary.