Crafts, molas, handmade miniatures made of wood and other materials, folkloric items, jewelry, paintings and everything about art, both national and foreign, are being displayed from July 31 until August 4 at the National Crafts Fair of Panama in its thirty-sixth edition at the Atlapa Convention Center.

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Mici), the show brought together for the first three days 8,700 Panamanians and foreigners and collected a total of 20,491 dollars.

The secretary general of the MICI, Noriel Salerno, said they received a total of 458 visitors more on Friday than last year’s fair and therefore they received $1,169 more.

ATTRACTIONS

A parade of costumes will be held on Saturday as well as a fantasy costumes contest. The event will be entertained during the evening by Raul Aparicio.

For this Sunday the Holy Mass will be celebrated at the fair, and the lottery will also be aired from this event.

During the last day of the event the “Pollera” Lady Contest wil be held and finally, the winners of the National Crafts Competition will be awarded.

Tickets are sold at $3 for adults, $1.50 for students and $1 for senior citizens.

In the 2012 edition, the craft fair had an average of sales of $407,083 and box office takings of $62,757, according to official data.

This year they expect to exceed the 26,493 visitors from last year, according to MICI. (Prensa)

The Children of the Tangerine Educational Center will be performing “The Wiz Kids of Oz”, an eco adaptation of the Wizard of Oz, in Spanish and English, at La Gruta in the Barco Hundido, Thursday & Friday, June 14 & 15 @ 5pm.

Dorothy, who is Somewhere Over in Bocas, and her entourage, Toto the Tortuga, Sloth, Dolphin and the Jittery Parrot, ... are off to see the Wiz Kids, The Wonderful Wiz Kids of Oz, to ask their help to clean up the environment, the seas and beaches and help protect the animals that live in the Rainforest. The vibrantly costumed rainforest animals also have songs and messages to send to the Wiz Kids. The Wicked Witches of Waste attempt of course to thwart their valiant efforts. Their evil is effervescent.

A fabulous heartwarming show is guaranteed and is not to be missed!!!! Entrance is $3 for adults at the door, children are free (with adult supervision.)

With the unanimous vote of its members, the Education Committee of the National Assembly approved on the first reading Bill No. 416 which would raise the Director of the INAC to Ministerial rank and create a national fund for the promotion of cultural activities. With reference to the fund, the chairman of the Committee on Education, Deputy Jose I. Blandon said they would not be creating a new tax, but rather the would redirect the monies of cultural activities, such as the transfer tax for tangible personal property, to finance all those projects that are directed to encourage the entertainment industry, the arts, music, painting, etc.. Deputy Blandon said the document was widely consulted with representatives of the cultural sector (musicians, college, ethnicity, paleontologists) and includes many points of view embodied by these groups. The General Law on Culture bill received more than 20 modifications, and also new items were included to improve the bill, said the National Assembly in a statement. PRD opposition Deputy Francisco Vega said he welcomes the adoption of this bill, but he hopes the idea of raising the INAC to a Ministry level does not remain a chimera or an entity in processing. (TVN)

Editor's Comment: On legislative procedure - when a bill is first discussed at the committee level, that's called the "first debate." Once a bill is passed by the committee it then goes to the full body of the National Assembly where it is voted on twice, called the "second debate" and the "third debate." A bill that is approved in the "third debate" has passed, and will become a law once signed by the President and published in the Official Gazette. With that having been said it's strange that Jose Blandon still is in charge of anything. He must have gotten this Presidency of the Education Committee before the alliance broke up (yup, that checks.) So then what's the political angle on this bill? Remember that the Director of the INAC is a Panameñista who was originally fired by Martinelli in the Panameñista purge of 2011, but then she was reinstated. So, by boosting her to a Minister Level that would make her a voting member of the Cabinet Council, effectively getting one more Panameñista in the door. And the CD Deputies in the National Assembly won't want to vote against it, because who wants to be "anti culture" or whatever. You always have to look for the political angle in whatever these guys are doing. Especially when it's Blandon steering the boat. I expect the CD guys will either kill it, stall it, or let it die. But wait - they might approve it - and then Martinelli can appoint someone else (besides the current Panameñista Director of the INAC) to be the new Minister of Culture. Wouldn't that be a hoot...

Editor's Comment: Did you know a Panamanian had a hand in the creation of "off Broadway" theater in New York? I sure didn't...

By Robert Simonson - Theodore Mann, who, as the co-founder of Circle in the Square Theatre, was one of the foremost figures in the birth of the Off-Broadway theatre movement, died Feb. 24 following a brief illness. He was 87.

In 1951, along with Panama-born director Jose Quintero and a few others, the young Mr. Mann created Circle in the Square in a small arena space just off Greenwich Village's Sheridan Square (hence the troupe's curious name). One year later, they staged a revival of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke, intending it as a vehicle for their friend, actress Geraldine Page. The play had disappointed on Broadway. Quintero's heralded new interpretation caused critics to reappraise the work. Though it wasn't the first production below 14th Street to gain public interest after World War II, many theatre historians regard the show as a benchmark in the birth of Off-Broadway.

Brooks Atkinson, writing in The New York Times, said, "Nothing has happened for quite a long time as admirable as the new production at the Circle in the Square—in Sheridan Square, to be precise. Tennessee Williams's Summer and Smoke opened there last evening in a sensitive and highly personal performance."

Soon after, the theatre single-handedly resurrected the reputation of playwright Eugene O'Neill, which had been moldering since his death in 1953. With the approval of O'Neill's widow and agent, Quintero and Mr. Mann staged a revelatory rendition of The Iceman Cometh, starring an unknown named Jason Robards Jr. as Hickey, in 1956. "I saw the pictures of that first production and I have the feeling it was too stiff and distant," Mr. Mann said later. "Our audiences actually thought they were in a saloon with Hickey and his friends."

The success of this production convinced O'Neill's widow, Carlotta Monterney, to give the two men the American rights to Long Day's Journey Into Night, a searing autobiographical family play that the playwright has not wanted to be staged until 25 years following his death. "Carlotta was very much conscious of wanting to resurrect [O'Neill's] reputation," recalled Mr. Mann. "She thought he was a great playwright, and her whole life was dedicated to that -- to bringing her husband back to prominence. She was very angry about the Broadway producers who had ignored him for so many years."

Long Day's Journey bowed on Broadway in November 1956 with Robards, Fredric March and Florence Eldridge in the cast. It was hailed as a masterpiece, raising O'Neill's reputation to a height from which it has never since fallen, and permanently established Circle in the Square as a trailblazing creative force in the American theatre. Mr. Mann won a Tony Award as producer of the play. Decades later, in 1976, the theatre would receive a special Tony for its contributions to the theatre.

In 1959, the theatre moved to a larger space on Bleecker Street in the Village when the landlord of the Sheridan Square theatre decided to tear the building down to erect a high-rise apartment building. Soon after, Quintero and Mr. Mann had a falling out, and Quintero left the company. In 1963, Paul Libin, a former actor, joined as managing director. He stayed for the next 30 years. In 1961, Mr. Mann founded the Circle in the Square Theatre School to provide training for aspiring actors. It continues today.

By the mid-60s, the Off-Broadway scene had changed. Costs has risen and the actors that theatres like Circle had helped become successful were now too expensive to hire. "In the old days," Mr. Mann told the New York Times in 1966, "I would work in the box office, help paint scenery. We all worked on many things. As we developed professionalism we became more departmentalized. I became just a producer. The actors just acted."

Also, the nascent Off-Off-Broadway movement was beginning to nip at Off-Broadway's heels. "I go to the coffee houses in Greenwich Village two or three times a week," said Mr. Mann, "to see what Off-Off-Broadway is doing. When I go there, I feel I'm looking at myself 10 years ago." Mr. Mann toyed with the idea of retiring.

Then, in 1972, an invitation came from a New York real estate development company, the Uris Organization, to move into a theatre space that would be built into the base of a new office building on W. 50th Street in the theatre district. Mr. Mann jumped at the chance. Circle in the Square became a Broadway theatre.

Situated in the basement, below the 1,900-seat Uris Theatre (today's Gershwin Theatre), Mr. Mann and Libin re-created the in-the-round seating they had enjoyed downtown. Thereafter, the company was regularly nominated for Tony Awards, for productions such as The National Health, Tartuffe, Major Barbara, Present Laughter, Heartbreak House, A Streetcar Named Desire, Juno and the Paycock and The Miser. In an era when few commercial Broadway producers staged the classics, Circle regularly revived works by O'Neill, Chekhov, Miller, Williams, Shakespeare, Ibsen, Strindberg.

"Of all the revivals we've ever done, we've never seen the original Broadway productions," Mr. Mann once said. "We were never in a frame of mind that we would show them better. We just found a play that we liked, and that's the one we wanted to do."

Circle in the Square was a nurturer of stage talent from its early days, when it vaulted the reputations of Robards and Page as singular theatre artists. Over the years, it gave priceless opportunities to Dustin Hoffman, James Earl Jones, Maureen Stapleton and Rip Torn. George C. Scott, Colleen Dewhurst, Philip Bosco and Al Pacino were regular guests at the theatre.

Mr. Mann also occasionally directed plays at his theatre, as well as elsewhere, though he never experienced as much success in that field as he did as a producer and behind-the-scenes force.

In 1990, Libin left Circle in the Square to join Jujamcyn Theaters. Circle struggled under a series of artistic directors and managing directors and eventually succumbed in 1997. The theatre became a rental space, though it was still called Circle in the Square.

Theodore Mann was born Theodore Goldman on May 13, 1924, in Brooklyn, to Martin Goldman and Gwen Artson Goldman. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, New York University and Brooklyn Law School, served in the U.S. Army Air Forces as a Sergeant in the Medical Corps from 1943 to 1945.

Mr. Mann's father had expected his son to enter the family law firm. But, while stationed in Carmel, CA, during the war, the young man began to read books, dabble in photography and got involved with a theatre group.

Mr. Mann met Jose Quintero in Woodstock, NY, in 1950. With their partners, they called themselves the Loft Players, and with a budget of $500 put on a series of shows.

Theodore Mann was predeceased by his wife Patricia A. Brook, whom he married in 1953. She died in 1993. Surviving him are sons Andrew and Jonathan (and wife Chandra) and grandchildren Jackson, Dakota, Samuel, Clementine and Benjamin Theodore.

Over the years, Circle was particularly successful in reviving the reputation of Shaw as a crowd-pleaser with New York audiences. Mr. Mann himself was very fond of the British playwright. "There's a lot of laughter in Shaw, a lot of wit. Audiences are starved for the language. We need drama. Musicals are wonderful, but they shouldn't dominate. You need drama to understand life."

Funeral services will be private, but a memorial service will be planned for a later date.

LAST WEEK! This dynamic drama should not be missed! Theatre Guild of Ancon Presents A RAISIN IN THE SUN! Can’t wait to see you on the front porch! Get your Membership today!!!!! The Theatre Guild of Ancon, 23rd, 24th, 25th of February 2012 at 8:00 P.M., Ticket Donation: $15.00, Reservations: tgapanama@gmail.com

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Tickets are selling out quickly. There are a few performances left. The English language performance for tonight, 19 January, is sold out. There is only one more English language performance remaining, on Thursday evening, 26 January, at 8:00 pm. There will be Spanish language performances until 29 January, with no performances on Monday. Therefore, the remaining schedule is this week Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm (Spanish), Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm, and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Remember - the only remaining English language performance is Thursday, 26 January, at 8:00 pm. For tickets visit the Teatro la Quadra in El Cangrejo, or the "Nostalgia" store in Paitilla. See related article: Win Tickets To See RED by John Logan in Panama City.

Copyright 2012 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

When Leo Wiznitzer first read the script for Red, he was smitten. In 2010 he wanted to see the play in New York, but became ill and had to settle for the text. When he showed the script to Bruce Quinn, the Director of the play, he also fell in love with it, Wiznitzer said. "I think what gives value to Red is not just how brilliantly it is written, but at the end you want to know more, investigate, discuss and think," said the co-producer and actor, who plays the part of Rothko.

The drama tells the story of the artist of abstract expressionism and one of the geniuses of the twentieth century. It occurs when Rothko hires a young assistant (Luigi Pezzotti) to help him create a series of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant in New York. The production process has not been easy, admits Wiznitzer, because they decided to present the play in both English and Spanish, and there as there was translation into Spanish he had to do it himself.

"Then we had to pay for the license by copyright, and to obtain the approval of the Spanish version by the author John Logan," he said. the presenting of the play first in English (on 12, 13, and 14 January at the Theatre Guild) and then in Spanish (from 17 to 29 January at the Teatro La Quadra) was "crazy", the first problem was the translation, then the memorization of the lines, because there is a lot of dialog. The total production took seven months. During the first five months they did one scene per month, and then they presented one night in Spanish and the next in English.

Does the fact that the work has been the best of Broadway in 2010 put pressure on the production? Wiznitzer says yes and no. "Yes, obviously it is an exceptional work and we respect that. But at the same time, the fact that it's an intelligent, well written and a fascinating subject makes our job easier," he says.

The play will be presented on weekdays at 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 3:00 pm.

Prices are $15 (general admission) and $7.50 (seniors and students) at the Theatre Guild, and $25 general admission, $15 seniors and $10 for students in the Teatro La Quadra. (Prensa)

Editor's Comment: The play will be presented in English on Thursday, 19 January and Thursday, 26 January in the Teatro La Quadra in El Cangrejo. There are nine other dates in Spanish from the 17th through the 29th of January as well. Tickets are on sale at the La Quadra theater in El Cangrejo, as well as the "Nostalgia" store in Paitilla. For more information visit their Facebook Page RED by John Logan (Panama).

Win Two Free Tickets To See This Play: Post a comment below, and I'll select a winner based on your input in response to the question: "So, why should I give you these two free tickets, anyway..." Can you tell I put a whole lot of thought into this? Maybe you can be more original or insightful than I was. Have at it, nothing ventured, nothing gained...

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Received today via email: "Hi Don, I'm a theater producer from L.A. and am looking to connect with the arts community in Panama. is there an arts council of any sort? Who would you recommend I speak to, if you don't mind my asking? JMJ."

Start With The INAC: In Panama there is a government organization called the Instituto Nacional de Cultura (INAC) (National Institute of Culture.) They should be your "official portal" into the world of the community of fine arts in the Republic of Panama. However, since they are a governmental agency, chances are good you'll come away with some good information and leads, but you would also be well served to tag into the people who are involved in the arts as directors, producers, actors, and the like. Among the community of English speaking expatriates in Panama the clear leader is the Theater Guild of Ancon in Panama City. Many of the productions are based around the individual theaters themselves, and one of the most important and prolific is the Teatro en Circulo. Their website is not up to date (they still have their program for 2010 listed) but their contact information is there, and they can steer you towards making some contacts. You should also visit Teatro de Panama (Theater in Panama), which is much more up to date and current, and that website provides an overall view of the entire local industry. And as far as individuals is concerned, they have a listing of all of the active Actors and Actresses with their bios listed. And in getting away from Panama City, there's the Boquete Community Players, another active group of mostly expatriates. Anyway, that should be more than enough information to get started. Hope this helps.

Copyright 2011 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

BCP Theater & Events Center - Boquete, Chiriqui - The Boquete Community Players Theater announces a call of OPEN AUDITIONS for the November 18, 19 & 20 production of the Female version of THE ODD COUPLE. The cast consists of 2 adult female lead roles of Olive Madison and Florence Unger, as well as 4 adult female support roles and 2 adult male support roles. BCP is pleased to have a new Creative Director in the person of Leara Clausing, who has over 35 years in the theater, including acting, singing, directing, writing and teaching. Her background includes 2 years of study with famed New York acting coach Sanford Miesner, with study at San Francisco’s prestigious ACT and in Los Angeles both performing and teaching, as well as experience as a talent agent.

Ms. Clausing will be directing 4 plays throughout the year, with this Female version of THE ODD COUPLE as her debut directing effort at BCP. Ms. Clausing has been instructing an Actor’s Workshop for the last 2 months, honing the skills of the area’s actors. Future workshops may include a Director’s Workshop. Please come to the BCP Theater & Events Center to read for the 6 female and 2 male roles for the Female version of THE ODD COUPLE on either of the days of the Open Casting Call: Friday, October 1 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm and Saturday, October 2 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. The BCP Theater & Events Center is located in downtown Boquete, across the bridge on the right. For more information email: publicitybcp@gmail.com

[www.improv8.com]

The Improv8 improvisation troupe is returning for another round of comic escapades! After having had two years of sell-out performances, they are back for the third year running to entertain and wow you.

With Comedy & Laughter, Tears & Fear, Fights & Romance…

The troupe of actors will entertain and inspire you with their quick thinking, instant wit and spontaneous acting ability performed through tasks and games lead by a host as well as there being audience participation and a musical twist.

This diverse performance rarely seen in Panama comes but once a year and must not be missed!

For 6 nights only the cast will alternate show nights with a new performance every night. You can come and see them as many times as you like because each night will be different!

Reserve Now to avoid disappointment!

Dates: 3rd, 4th, 5th, June 2010
Dates: 10th, 11th, 12th June 2010
Place: Theatre Guild of Ancon [map]
Time: 7.45pm
Donation: $10.00

Reservations: 212-0060 (answering machine only)
Cell: 677 507 28 (Danielle Scott)
Email: reservations@improv8.com

Click here for map to the Theatre