Three Kaneland artists honored at Hometown Concert
On Jan. 7, the Kaneland Arts Initiative presented Lee Murdock's annual Hometown Concert in the Kaneland High School auditorium. Featured during the concert of folk music and storytelling was Wisconsin native Bill Camplin.
Camplin and folk singer and Kaneville resident Lee Murdock sang both independently as well as together during the event.
The evening's highlight was three students' artwork from art teacher Suzanne Farr's classrooms at Harter Middle School in Sugar Grove. Farr introduced eighth-graders Zoie Cooley, Sadie Edgar and Oriana Rosales to the audience and their work was showcased during the evening in the auditorium lobby.
The Kaneland Arts Initiative wishes to congratulate Suzanne Farr and her students for their beautiful work and thank Murdock and Camplin for their wonderful music and storytelling. More information on the art program and the musicians can be found at www.facebook.com/theartroombyrexford/, leemurdock.com or cafecarpe.com.
The next Kaneland Arts Initiative event is the fourth annual winter theater production of "Marvin's Room," directed by Diane McFarlin. The performances will be held at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20-21, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22, in the Kaneland High School Black Box Theatre, 47W326 Keslinger Road, Maple Park. Entrance to the Black Box Theatre is through Door 32 on the north and east side of the high school. Parking is free. Tickets are on sale now at www.kanelandartsinitiative.org.
Advance tickets are $10, $8 for senior citizens, or $5 for students. Tickets purchased at the door are $2 more.
"Marvin's Room," rated PG-13, will be presented with one 10-minute intermission. At the conclusion of the production, everyone is invited to remain for a brief talkback discussion facilitated by director Diane McFarlin.
Beloved for its mordant humor and unflinching wisdom, Scott McPherson's dark comedy shows a moving view of one woman's commitment to family and response to despair, according to www.dramatists.com. Bessie cares for her pain-ridden aunt and ailing father, Marvin, who is confined to his bed and unable to speak. When the Florida resident is diagnosed with leukemia, her only hope is to contact her long-estranged sister, Lee, to see if their bone marrow is compatible for a transplant. Lee reluctantly makes the trip from Ohio, bringing along her two sons, one of whom, Hank, has just been released from an institution after a wave of arson. The sisters' reunion is uneasy at best, with long buried recriminations coming to the surface even as love slowly overwhelms Lee's veneer of selfishness and glib denial. Bessie's challenge becomes reuniting Lee and Hank before he rejects her completely for her years of neglect.