Art Beat - Wucf

The Blueman Group is a very popular multi-media show at Universal CityWalk. One of the Bluemen is a UCF alum - meet Richard Cravens on today's program. Special holiday shows have been added - see the calendar here.

Orlando Theatre Project presents It's a Wonderful Life - a Live Radio Play at the Garden Theatre in Winter Garden.

Kathy and Janet Lennon, of The Lennon Sisters, still perform, but also have a line of vintage rag dolls and CDs for kids called Best Pals. The products are available locally at Judy's Dolls in Longwood.

Dickens by Candlelight is an intimate telling of A Christmas Carol by 3 veteran actors - Robin & Terry Olson and Morgan Russell. Performances are at the new Athens Theatre in DeLand on December 17-20 (386-736-7456) and in downtown Orlando at CityArts Factory, December 21-23. Tickets for Orlando performances are at Red Chair Project.

Pianist Wayne Gratz has been a leading artist in the new age field for almost 20 years. He has a new Christmas CD out and you can hear him perform it live this Monday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 at the Plaza Theatre.

A Christmas Story is onstage at Orlando Repertory Theatre and the Plaza Theatre, where Ian Petrella of the original film is starring as grown-up Ralphie.  He talks about the making of the film.

A Gift for Music, funded by the Walt Disney World Co., teaches violin to 3rd, 4th & 5th graders in at-risk Orange County schools. Students in 5th-12th grade can participate in orchestra and those students are giving a concert this Saturday, Dec. 13 at 3pm at the Lowdnes Shakespeare Center. If you're interested in becoming an instructor, assistant or volunteer, contact Program Manager, Sally Carter.

Former Dean of the College of Education, retired UCF professor Mary Palmer is now a consultant for education and the arts. She is working with teachers at Grand Avenue Primary School on how to integrate the arts into their classroom, thanks to a partnership between the Orange County Arts Education Center and the Orlando Magic.

David McElroy stars in his 1-man adaptation of A Christmas Carol this weekend, taking on 37 characters in the beloved Dickens story. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 2 at Seminole Community College's Fine Arts Theatre.

ChinaVine is a film project that documents the ancient arts of China. UCF film professor Kristin Congdon and her students traveled across the country filming, but they also brought home photographs. Some of their striking images are in the Expressions of China exhibit on display through Jan. 5 at the Burnett Honors College.

Cellist Annie Sundquist will present another CELLO AND FRIENDS concert this Sunday, Nov. 30 as a benefit for the Huega Center for Multiple Sclerosis. It features two world premieres by UCF Music Professor Jay Batzner and some jazz arrangements for cellos by Moe Lowe. It's Sunday at 6pm at the Mennelo Museum of American Art in Loch Haven Park.

Singers from Sing Live UK and Sing Live USA have come together this week to perform at Epcot's Candlelight Christmas and on a Caribbean Cruise. In preparation for that cruise, the singers are giving an international concert Wednesday night, Nov. 24 at 8 at the Royal Palm Hotel near Downtown Disney. This is a rebroadcast from 10/1/08.

Professor Moshe Pelli talks about his latest book, The Shadow of Death - Letters in Flames. Pelli is the Director of UCF's Judaic Studies Program.

Want to get away from it all? Check out the Maitland Art Center - with gardens, outdoor structures and an art gallery where currently on display is WILLIAM E. ORR - MOMENTS OF LIGHT, WATER & AIR.Today's Calendar Events:  UCF Pottery Sale at VAB; Festival of Trees; UCF Music Concerts; Claire Lynch Band; Urban Think Reading; Light Up UCF

Meet UCF professor Ayako Yonetani - she opens her 4th annual chamber music series at the Polasek Museum in Winter Park this Sunday, Nov. 23 at 5pm. For tickets call 407-647-6294 or see the Red Chair Project website.

A rebroadcast of the story on legendary guitar-maker Manuel Velazquez.  (original broadcast - 9/26/08)

Thomas Potter, professor of voice at UCF, is starring in this weekend's season opening production for Orlando Opera. Potter talks about his career in Europe and the US.

Two UCF events this week -- 1 - UCF Symphony in an all-Beethoven concert featuring Laurent Boukobza. It's a free concert Saturday, Nov. 15 at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Oviedo. 2 - UCF Conservatory Theatre presents Marisol in the Black Box Theatre.  It runs Nov. 13-23; Box Office - 407-823-1500.

Melissa Simser, a UCF senior majoring in photography, is the 2008 winner of the annual Student Art Contest held by the UCF Women's Research Center. Her exhibit, After Dark, runs through December 1st; the Center is on the 3rd floor of the Foundation Building, 12424 Research Parkway.

John Adams' opera, Dr. Atomic, is the next in The Metropolitan Opera's Live in HD series, presented at movie theatres around the world. Locally, it can be seen at the Altamonte Mall AMC, AMC Pleasure Island, Pointe Orlando on I-Drive, and the Regal cinema at Waterford Square.