Elio Scaccio Performs in the Hamptons this Weekend!

Baltimore tenor favorite, Elio Scaccio will return to New York this weekend to perform at the San Gennaro Feast of the Hamptons on Saturday, October 4, 2014 at 5 pm.   The feast will be on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.  In it's 4th year, The San Gennaro Feast of the Hamptons will offer a fun mixture of new activities as well as old favorites that are sure to entertain the entire family. Originated as a festival designed to emphasize the vitality of The Hamptons and Hampton Bays beyond the summer months.  Thousands of visitors from all over the tri-state area visit the heart of the Hamptons - downtown Hampton Bays – drawn by live entertainment, top-notch artisans, midway rides, fireworks and delicious Italian delicacies. If you'll be visiting from the Washington, DC Metro Area cheer on and say, "ciao Elio!"  For tours and music on Elio Scaccio click here.

L'Italian Jazz Series

Two of my favorite things to do is to listen to live jazz music and anything Italian.  And the best place to listen to a live jazz show is at Georgetown's iconic Blues Alley.   So, CiaoDC is syced to bring you l'Italian Jazz Series, a perfect evening out on the town.  The Italian Embassy has organized l'Italian Jazz Series, which will be hosted by Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave NW - Georgetown) on the 22/23/24 of September.

Artists and Show Times are as Follows:

Fabrizio Sotti: 22 September

Daniela Schachter Trio: 23 September

The Marco Pignataro IQ: 24 September

Tickets are$15 on Recoup:
https://www.recoup.com/shop/biz/BluesAlley/ItaliansinDC

For each ticket purchased, $3 will benefit the local Washington organization, Italians in DC!

Elio Scaccio Performs Saturday: Two Gents and The Lady!

Powerful, passionate…. Breathtaking, funny….
Starring Elio Scaccio, Joseph Bellino, and Gina Ricci

Saturday, September 13, 7:30 pm
Dix Hill Performing Arts Center
Dix Hill, NY

Join the mesmerizing gent, Elio Scaccio, as he returns to The Center, joined by the electrifying, Joseph Bellino, while they serenade the lovely, lady, Gina Ricci on their memorable voyage from the piazzas of Italy to the theaters of the USA. This musical voyage will be accompanied by their live band who take the audience on a journey spanning the globe.

“Two Gents and the Lady” is an exciting new show featuring the super-duo Elio Scaccio and Joseph Bellino  and the beautiful songstress, Gina Ricci. These accomplished and amazing artists will thrill fans of Bocelli, Sarah Brightman, Celine Dion, Mario Lanza, Connie Francis, Tom Jones, Broadway, and modern crossover pop music. The audience will be astonished by this musical journey. They will cry with the beauty and sensitivity of “The Prayer”…. be mesmerized by the power and grandeur of “Phantom of the Opera”…… Fall in love again to the music of “West Side Story”……..Laugh when they probably should cry when they hear “Delilah”……. Be moved to tears by the emotionally moving rendition of “Mamma”……

Elio Scaccio is a classically trained veteran performer of the highest caliber. He performs music in genres ranging from the classical realm to topping the charts as the lead singer in a touring rock band. He released his debut album, “Lettere D’Amore,” in 2010, and showcases his warm,vibrant, style to sold-out shows across the United States.

Gina Ricci is no stranger to classical music and the American musical stage. She is a stunning, versatile, crossover, performer, exquisitely accomplished in all genres from opera to rock, and anywhere in between. She has been honored to perform at such notable venues as Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Wang Theater, Boston; St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome; to name a few. Some of her numerous theater performances include: “Fiddler,” “The King and I,” “Oliver,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” and “Sophia, A New Musical.”

Joseph Bellino is a multi-talented performer who captivates his audiences with a unique style blending vocal power with his sweetness. He brings his extensive theatrical experience to the musical concert stage. Some of his numerous previous roles include Javert in “Les Miserables,”  Bob Cratchit in “3 Ghosts,”  premiered at Theater Row, Rapunzle’s prince in “Into the Woods,” and Judge Turpin in, “Sweeney Todd.”  Joseph is an enormously talented artist, who wins hearts wherever he performs.

This is an evening at the Center that will appeal to all modern audiences young and old. Anyone who enjoys beautiful music well preformed by gifted, talented, and accomplished professionals will be enthralled by the performance of Two Gents and the Lady, a one of its kind performance. You won’t want to miss this!
Saturday, September 13th at 7:30 pm • $35, 30, 25 -  TICKET INFORMATON HERE

Once-in-a-lifetime works of Renaissance Master Piero di Cosimo at National Gallery of Art!

If you have not visited Florence, Italy (Firenze)- you must go! It is Italy's core of art, music, food and wine.  I lived in Florence for a summer just steps away from Piazzale Michelangelo.  For those that have frequented Firenze, you know the very long steps I speak of to that breathtaking panoramic view of the adorned city - the Duomo, the Uffizi, the Ponte Vecchio, the Arno and more captured in a breath.  With each view, I questioned if what I was seeing was real.  So Surreal.  I am overcome with nostalgia with each word I type. Craving that frothy cafe macchiato from the cozy corner cafe and the delightful Tuscan Reserve at that fabulously hip wine bar next door. Oh my beautiful Firenze, you make me fall in love with you every time I utter your name.

And so it is with much love that I bring you news of
the first major retrospective exhibition ever presented of paintings by the imaginative Florentine Renaissance master Piero di Cosimo (1462–1522) to premiere at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, from February 1 through May 3, 2015. Piero di Cosimo: The Poetry of Painting in Renaissance Florence will showcase some 40 of the artist's most compelling works. With themes ranging from the pagan to the divine, the works include loans from churches in Italy and one of his greatest masterpieces, Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Elizabeth of Hungary, Catherine of Alexandria, Peter, and John the Evangelist with Angels (completed by 1493), from the Museo degli Innocenti, Florence.

"We are delighted to share the brilliance of Piero di Cosimo—the Renaissance's most spellbinding storyteller—with our visitors," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art, Washington. "This is also the first time the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence has co-organized a paintings exhibition with another museum and we look forward to many more projects with our Italian partners."

After Washington, a different version of the exhibition, including work by Piero's contemporaries, will be on view at the Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence from June 23 through September 27, 2015, entitled Piero di Cosimo (1462–1522): Pittore fiorentino "eccentrico" fra Rinascimento e Maniera.

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Galleria degli Uffizi, Soprintendenza Speciale per il patrimonio storico, artistico, ed etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale della città di Firenze.

The exhibition is supported by Sally Engelhard Pingree and The Charles Engelhard Foundation. The Exhibition Circle of the National Gallery of Art provided additional funding.

Last Weekend for Bloody Good Fun by the Fools

Comedy is tragedy happening to someone else

What: Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare

Who: Faction of Fools Theatre Company

Where: Eastman Studio Theatre - Elstad Annex at Gallaudet University
800 Florida Ave NE WDC (Free Parking! Metro access: Red Line, NoMa/Gallaudet)

When:  Thursday, May 29 through Sunday, June 22, 2014
Thursday, Friday, & Saturday evenings at 8:00pm; Sunday matinee at 2:00pm
Special Monday Night Performance: Monday, June 16 at 7:30pm
Pay-What-You-Can Performance: Thursday, May 29 at 8:00pm
Select performances ASL Interpreted.
Open Captioning available upon request.

Tickets: Regular: $25; Students, Seniors, & Military: $15
Available at the door, 1-800-838-3006, and http://titusandronicus.brownpapertickets.com
Appropriate for ages 13 and up.
Running time is approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes with an intermission.

Bloody good fun!

Faction of Fools Theatre Company presents TITUS ANDRONICUS, the funniest version yet of Shakespeare's bloodiest play, adapted and directed by Helen Hayes Award-nominee Matthew R. Wilson.

TITUS ANDRONICUS ends Faction's fifth season with a shriek, in a gory spectacle merging bloody deaths, physical comedy, acrobatics, and Commedia dell'Arte. During the Renaissance, Seneca's grisly Roman tragedies came back into vogue, and Commedia dell'Arte players presented their own violent delights as part of their repertoire of traveling plays. These "tragic" Commedia pieces were known under the genre of opera reggia, the "royal works" featuring nobles behaving badly--very badly indeed...

Shakespeare knew of this genre both from Seneca's classical writings and from the contemporary performances of itinerant Italian players. He clearly had these in mind when penning Titus Andronicus, his own contribution to the genre of Renaissance horror story. The play is not meant to be silly, but it is too absurd to stomach as a straight drama. It is the sixteenth-century's version of Saw or Hostel.

In the Fools' darkly comic adaptation, something wicked becomes something wickedly delightful. The versatile ensemble includes Nello DeBlasio in the title role, Cori Dioquino, Daniel Flint (Faction's The Mandrake), Christina Marie Frank, Tyler Herman (Faction's A Commedia Christmas Carol, Romeo and Juliet, The Mandrake), Manu Kumasi, Toby Mulford (Faction's Pinocchio!, Christmas Carol, R&J, Hamlecchino, The House with Two Doors), Matthew Pauli (Faction's The Lady Becomes Him), and Chema Pineda-Fernández, along with Gallaudet University seniors Miranda Medugno and Charlie Ainsworth (both featured in Faction's The Mandrake).

Faction of Fools is DC's only theater company devoted to Commedia dell'Arte. The Fools are best known for their adaptations of Shakespeare, such as Hamlecchino and A Commedia Romeo and Juliet, and for new scripts based on old tales, two of which, A Commedia Christmas Carol and Don Juan, have received Helen Hayes nominations for the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play. They are also the Helen Hayes Awards recipient of the 2012 John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company.

To purchase tickets, visit http://titusandronicus.brownpapertickets.com
For more information on the event, visit www.factionoffools.org/titus
With questions about tickets please contact tix@factionoffools.org

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Celebrate Women's History Month with NOIAW!

Anita Botti with Model UN Students at a Roundtable Discussion 

The Greater Washington, DC Region of NOIAW (National Organization of Italian American Women) is hosting a

 presentation event to 

Celebrate Women's History Month 

at the NIAF Building on March 27, 2014 from 6:30 - 8:30 pm.  Anita Botti, One of this year's "Three Wise Women" at the DC Region's Epiphany Celebration, will speak to "U.S. Initiatives to Promote Women Globally."  Anita Botti will provide an overview of the United States' approach to enhance the empowerment for women and girls globally in the last five years.  She will focus on programs involving economic and political participation and decreasing violence against women and girls.  She will also discuss the US national action for women, peace, and security which specifically targets conflict countries around the world.  Anita has been Chief of Staff and Deputy in the State Department's Office of Global Women's Issues.  She has traveled extensively around the world, including Italy.  Tickets required, Members of NOIAW, $5.00;

Friends of NOIAW, $10.00.  RSVP by March 25, 2014.  Gentleman and friends of NOIAW always welcome!

Click here to register now

EVENT DETAILS:

Thursday, March 27, 2014

6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. 

The NIAF Building

1860 19th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20002

RSVP by March 25, 2014.

Pinocchio at Next Stop Theatre!

Vibrant, fun-loving and mysterious.  DC's Commedia dell'Arte Troupe, Faction of Fools brings the fantastical story of Pinocchio to life at Herndon's Next Stop Theater's Industrial Strength Theatre playing now through March 30, 2014.

Le Avventure di Pinocchio (The Adventures of Pinocchio) was written by Italian author, Carlo Collodi (Carlo Lorenzini) in Florence in 1881. Co-produced with NextStop Theatre Company, five actors portray Collodi's classic tale through energetic scene and mask changes during Pinocchio's wild adventures and meetings with colorful characters to include Blue Fairy, Candlewick, The Terrible Dogfish, Talking Cricket, The Coachman, The Green Fisherman, The Fox, The Cat and more! Life lessons and lively storytelling  will keep your little theatre-goer thoroughly entertained for the 50-minute production.

My daughter, Giuliana, anxiously waiting
for her scoop of Mango, Chocolate and
Peach gelato at Scoop of the Hill just blocks
 from Next Stop Theatre's Industrial Strength Theatre.  

Be sure to keep your souvenir poster-program readily available for a special post-performance meet and greet/autograph collection of Pinocchio and his character friends!  Sweeten up your outing with a stroll through Sunset Park Drive's road of eateries and stop for some delicious gelato at Scoops or a warm hot cocoa or latte at the fancy cafe and high-end bakery, Amphora.  Rumor has it that tours of the bakery may be available too! After all, what would an Italian story be with out food. Bravo Pinocchio e Buon Appetito!