The Friends of Boca Grande Community Center plan seven benchmark performances over the next two months with one in December and six January events.
Marquee names at the Boca Grande Community Center will include legendary actor John Barrymore, larger-than-life author Ernest Hemingway, Jeff Rodgers on mysteries of the universe and Plcido Domingo's superlative performance at the Met.
The only remaining December event is the National Theatre Live performance of "Barrymore," at 7 p.m. Dec. 17 in the Boca Grande Community Center Auditorium. Tickets are $20.
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To Go
Who: Boca Grande Sleuths Book Club presents author Diane Gilbert Madsen
What: “Murder, Mystery, Mayhem & Ernest Hemingway”
When: 4 p.m. Jan. 8
Where: Boca Grande Community Center Auditorium
Cost: $25
You should know: wine and cheese reception and book signing in the Woman’s Club Room after the talk
Contact: 964-2564
Touted as one of the finest performances ever by Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer, the film Barrymore won the Jury Prize for Artistic Distinction at the 2012 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Plummer's portrayal of legendary actor John Barrymore, one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of all time, is set in the final year of his life in a Broadway theater where the actor struggles to recreate his performance as Richard III.
Up next: The first Boca Grande Sleuths Book Club event of the New Year involves "Murder, Mystery, Mayhem & Ernest Hemingway" at 4 p.m. Jan. 8. Author Diane Gilbert Madsen will discuss her recent book "Hunting for Hemingway." The $25 lecture will be followed by a wine-and-cheese reception and book signing in the Woman's Club Room.
Fact Box
To Go
Who: "Barrymore" starring Christopher Plummer
What: National Theatre Live
When: 7 p.m. Dec. 17
Where: Boca Grande Community Center Auditorium
Cost: $20
Contact: 964-2564
This is Madsen's second book in the fictional D.D. McGil sleuthing series based on a true event in the life of Hemingway - the disappearance of a valise containing unpublished manuscripts. What would happen if that valise were to resurface?
Up next: Insight into the mysteries of the universe with "Understanding Our Universe with Jeff Rodgers" at 3 p.m. Jan. 11 for $25.
2012 was a breakthrough year in U.S. space exploration. The Kepler Mission discovered hundreds of new planets, CERN discovered Higgs Boson, Voyager 1 reached the edge of interstellar space and the speed limit of light was challenged, then confirmed. This program takes place only if the world does not suffer cataclysmic destruction Dec. 21.
Rodgers, director of the Bishop Planetarium, will discuss how these milestones expand the understanding of our solar system, galaxy and universe.
Up next: The Film Forum will show the 2008 documentary "Food, Inc." at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17 and 10 a.m. Jan. 18 followed by a panel discussion on" Sustaining a Hungry World."
Robert Kenner's Oscar-nominated documentary Food, Inc. draws on Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation" and Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" in exploring the food industry's detrimental effects on health and environment.
Moderator Francis Jenkins and panelists Ken Moshenek and Stan Doer are confirmed for the $10 panel discussion. The movies are free.
Up next: Great Performances at the Met,"Simon Boccanegra" at 2 p.m. Jan. 26, $10.
This sumptuous production by Giancarlo del Monaco opened in 1995 with legendary tenor Plcido Domingo giving a riveting performance as the fiery revolutionary Gabriele Adorno.
In the 2010 revival, Domingo made history by taking on the baritone title role, one of Verdi's most fascinating characters. Conductor James Levine elicits all the color and surging emotion of Verdi's magnificent score. Introduced by Les Nash
Up next: "Health Care on the Trip To Mars: Columbus Had it Easy" with Jay McDonald, 3 p.m. Jan. 31, $25.
McDonald, emeritus professor of pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will discuss the effects of long-term space travel on the human body.
