After a very long wait, the sixth season of "Project Runway" will arrive on television Thursday night and this season's lineup includes a contestant now based in San Diego.
The top-rated fashion reality series was tied up for more than a year in a long-running legal battle between producers and TV networks (Lifetime purchased the broadcast rights to the series from Bravo in April 2008 but NBC Universal sued for the rights to compete for the series). It will now air at 10 p.m. Thursdays on Lifetime (the episodes that will begin airing this week were filmed nearly a year ago).
Among this year's fashion designers is Gordana Gehlhausen, 45, a self-trained stylist who owns her own couture dress design business, GOGA, in San Diego. Born in the former Yugoslavia, she grew up in a small Serbian village in Bosnia and says on her Web site that she began knitting her own sweaters at the age of 7. To pursue her dream of being a fashion designer, she left home at 18 and ended up in Germany where she earned a college degree and then moved to the United States, first in Atlanta and then in Charleston, S.C., where she opened her first boutique, Goga, eight years ago. Although she lists Charleston as her "hometown" on the series, she has since moved to San Diego, where she runs a boutique/studio on Market Street.
Local singers who'd like a chance to sing onstage with five Broadway stars can enter a contest to win that opportunity Oct. 1.
Producers of Neil Berg's "102 Years of Broadway" will hold auditions for local performers who'd like to join the show's touring cast onstage at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.
To enter, singers (ages 15 and over) need to upload a 90- to 120-second video of themselves singing a Broadway show tune to Facebook, YouTube or MySpace. Then they must visit the producer's Web site (singingwithbroadwaystars.com) and fill out the audition form along with a link to the video. Audition deadline is 5 p.m. Sept. 21.
A panel of industry professionals will choose up to two winners and as many as 10 runners-up to participate in the show. Winners will be announced Sept. 25. Winners will have the opportunity to sing a solo in the show and runners-up will participate in a choral number. Winners will receive four free tickets for their family and friends. Runners-up receive two tickets.
Neil Berg's "102 Years of Broadway" will be presented at 8 p.m. Oct. 1. Tickets cost $23-$37.
Members of the Hutchins Consort, a violin octet based in Coastal North County, are mourning the recent death of Carleen Hutchins, the New Jersey luthier who created the unique set of eight scaled violins played by the members of the consort.
Hutchins Consort founder Joe McNalley was a close friend to Hutchins, who died Aug. 7 at the age of 98. She was renowned in the music world for creating the "new violin family," which have a range of seven octaves between them. She built the eight different-sized violins over four decades, and was thrilled with McNalley met with her in 1999 and asked for permission to borrow the instruments for the creation of a musical ensemble that would play the instruments exclusively. At the Hutchins Consort's debut performance in Irvine in 2000, Hutchins called the event "one of the most rewarding experiences in my life."
Consort managing director Drew Cady said members of the group will meet soon to discuss a proper way to memorialize the instrument-maker. Ideas include dedicating the group's 10th season, which opens in October, in her honor.
Carlsbad-based rock band Endoxi, which won the People's Choice Award in the San Diego County Fair's MusicPalooza contest, will present a rare acoustic set Thursday at the San Diego nightclub Anthology. Endoxi will share the stage with the two winners of MusicPalooza ---- soloist Katherine Ramirez and the Eric Macek Band. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m.
"We're excited to showcase our sound in the acoustic realm. People are going to see a whole new side of it," said bandleader Chris Wilson.
After the show, Endoxi will head a few blocks south to the Lyceum Theatre to perform at the Lifeswork Entertainment Awards Show, where its nominated for two awards ---- Best Rock Band and Best Song ("I'm BiPolar").
Fallbrook will soon have a third theater company to call its own.
The Curtain Call Company, organized by Fallbrook resident Mary Fry, will produce adult-cast comedies, dinner theater murder-mysteries and some small-cast musicals both for the public and for private parties and corporate events.
Curtain Call will complement Fallbrook's other troupes ---- C.A.S.T. Productions youth theater and the Fallbrook Players community theater organization.
The company is now recruiting talent for its first season, which will include a dinner theater murder-mystery, a comedy in spring 2010 and a third production next summer.
"We have a lot to do and can use all the help we can get. It's going to be great," Fry said.
To join Curtain Call, call Fry at 760-723-2724.
San Diego's Orchestra Nova is the subject of a behind-the-scenes documentary being shown this month on UCSD-TV cable station.
The 48-minute "Orchestra Nova: Celebrations" documentary, which premiered last week, follows the efforts of the ensemble to redefine itself (the 25-year-old group recently changed its name from San Diego Chamber Orchestra) and to develop as artists under the baton of artistic director Jung-Ho Pak.
The documentary, produced by John Menier of UCSD-TV, includes interviews with Pak and members and includes excerpts of several performances.
The Orchestra Nova documentary will air at 9 p.m. Sunday; 6 p.m. Monday; 5 p.m. Tuesday; 11 a.m. Wednesday; 2 a.m. Aug. 27 and 3 p.m. Aug. 28 and 30 (and several more dates in September) on UCSD-TV (which is carried on Cox and Time Warner cable channels 135, AT&T U-verse channel 99 and Del Mar Time Warner Channel 19). It can also be viewed online at www.ucsd.tv.
San Diego's Cygnet Theatre will offer free wine tastings at some of its performances during the 2009-10 season. The first one, hosted by Hacienda de las Rosas Winery, will be presented at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 27, before a performance of the company's "Noises Off" at the Old Town Theatre. Admission is free for showgoers, but tasters must be 21 and up. The Wine Series Night events will continue with one Thursday-night tasting event at each of its productions this season, including on Oct. 22 for "Man from Nebraska," Dec. 10 for "It's a Wonderful Life," Feb. 18 for "The Piano Lesson," April 15 for "Sweeney Todd," and June 24 for "Private Lives."
For subscription information, call 619-337-1525.
SeaWorld San Diego has announced plans for a spectacular new bottlenose dolphin show that will debut in May 2010.
"Blue Horizons" will replace the long-running "Dolphin Discovery" show and will feature many of the same dolphin behaviors/tricks, along with exotic birds and human aerialists who will fly overhead and ride on the backs of the dolphins. The show was created at SeaWorld Orlando in 2005 and features a set created by Broadway set designer Stanley Meyer.
Two San Diego-area men's choruses have announced plans to merge.
The Gay Men's Chorus of San Diego and the San Diego Men's Chorus will blend their forces in January, creating a gay men's 120-voice super-choir that has yet to be named.
The Gay Men's Chorus broke off 18 years ago from the San Diego Men's Chorus (which was started in 1985 by members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles). In October 1992, 11 members of the San Diego Men's Chorus decided to create a new choir that was "self-identified" as gay, so they created the Gay Men's Chorus of San Diego.
Kathryn Holt, a spokeswoman for the combined choirs, said the decision to rejoin wasn't recession-related.
"It comes from a position of success and opportunity, rather than economic factors necessitating change," she said. "They each knew anecdotally, and then more formally through a member survey we conducted in January, that the choruses held similar values and had a shared sense of purpose and commitment. By creating a new, larger chorus, there will be increased opportunity to positively impact the community."
Gary Holt, artistic director of the Gay Men's Chorus of San Diego, will lead the new ensemble.
The public is invited to enter a contest to choose a name for the new combined choir. Suggestions can be entered on either of the group's Web sites through Monday. The new choir will make its first appearance in a Dec. 12 holiday concert at San Diego's Balboa Theater.
Members of the national touring cast of "Wicked," now in residence at the San Diego Civic Theatre, will use their night off next week to present a benefit concert at the Birch North Park Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
"Defying Inequality" will feature a series of cabaret-style performances by cast members Donna Vivino (Elphaba), Nina West (2008 National Entertainer of the Year), Alison Arngrim (Nellie on "Little House on the Prairie") and San Diego's Judy Forman.
The event is a fundraiser for gay marriage task forces, including Equality California, Empire State Pride Agenda and other programs. The event will be preceded by a cocktail party and silent auction. Tickets cost $35-$450 for concert only or $100 to $150 including the 6 p.m. cocktail party and VIP seating. Call 888-937-8995 or visit www.eqca.org.
Pam Kragen is the arts editor of the North County Times.
