SUN, 11/23
Jackie Kennedy is the subject of the play
Jacks.
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The image of the perfectly appointed dark-haired beauty in a pillbox hat and blood-spattered pink suit is the first picture that comes to mind at the mention of Jackie Kennedy, the princess of Camelot who sat by her husband when he was shot and killed in Dallas forty years ago yesterday. But about ten years ago, Boulder writer Lys Anzia decided to delve into the woman behind the picture and perhaps present a different, more intimate portrait. The result, a play called Jacks, will premiere today as a staged reading at six theaters nationwide, including one at 4 p.m. at the Boulder Public Library Auditorium, 1000 Canyon Boulevard in Boulder."She was actually very shy," Anzia says of her elusive subject. "Most people don't realize that she was really an artist/ writer/poet/introvert." Only 34 years old at the time of the assassination, Jackie was thrust into the limelight in a way that might have made her uncomfortable, and yet, notes Anzia, she handled it well. "It's hard to imagine the energy she had to come up with. When she was in the hospital covered in blood, she refused to change clothes; she refused to get help for herself, and she wanted everybody to see her. In a way, it was her time -- one of first times in her life that there was no pressure to be perfect."
Based on Jackie's famous interview with historian Theodore White four days after the funeral and Anzia's hypothesizing about what they actuallytalked about, Jacks looks as if it has a real future. Be one of the first to see it at tonight's free reading. For details, log on to www.lysanzia.com. -- Susan Froyd
Expect the Unexpected
Boulder ballet offers dance with a difference
FRI, 11/21
LoveCrimes, the latest project of the Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet, reinterprets classical-dance techniques by adding a modern twist. "It's a contemporary ballet, so there's no story," says Robert Sher-Machherndl, the company's choreographer and artistic director. "It's all about movement and expressing every feeling and emotion. It's about the whole aspect of life."
This time around, dancers groove to classical music by Avo Pärt, electronic sounds from Paris and soul music by Etta James. Sher-Machherndl says James's music was the inspiration for his new ballet, and three solos will be performed to her songs.
The hour-long show, at the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder, will run without a break.
LoveCrimes premieres tonight at 8 p.m. and continues through Sunday. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at the LSCCB Dance Center or the Dairy Center. Call 303-545-2298 or visit www.lemonspongecake.com for details. -- DeNesha Tellis
