eInside Events

The Great War: Women and Fashion in a World at War, 1912-1922 Opens at Kent State University Museum

Pictured is a rust-colored silk suit. Label:
'The Linder Co., Cleveland', American,
1914, which will be featured in the Kent
State University Museum's exhibit, The
Great War: Women and Fashion in a
World at War, 1912-1922.

(Photo by Vanessa Port)

Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, the Kent State University Museum will launch an exhibit examining the war’s dramatic and lasting impact on women’s dress and societal roles. The Great War: Women and Fashion in a World at War, 1912-1922 opens in the museum’s Stager and Blum Galleries on Thursday, July 24, with an opening reception taking place the same day from 5 to 7 p.m.

The outbreak of war 100 years ago ushered in a period of immense social change, rapid technological evolution and the loss of millions of lives. At the same time, women’s workforce participation and social influence expanded considerably.

“Women directly served the war effort not just as nurses, but also in roles that had previously been reserved for men, including service in the Navy and Marines,” says Sara Hume, museum and exhibit curator. “Immediately following the war, women in the United States, Canada and several European countries received the right to vote.”

Against this backdrop, women’s clothing and fashion adjusted to suit lives increasingly lived outside the domestic sphere, precipitating a shift in women’s dress that would long outlast the war.

“Women adopted shorter skirts and a looser, less confining silhouette,” says Hume. “While many of women’s inroads into the workforce were quickly reversed once the war ended, the fundamental changes in how women dressed endured.”

The exhibit — which looks at women’s lives at work, at play and at home — includes nearly 30 ensembles ranging from evening wear to military uniforms to bathing suits. Also featured are a selection of contemporary propaganda posters, fashion plates, undergarments and accessories. The Great War will run through July 5, 2015.

The Kent State University Museum is located at 515 Hilltop Drive, at the corner of E. Main St. and S. Lincoln St. in Kent. The museum is open to the public on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. - 8:45 p.m.; and Sunday from noon - 4:45 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $3 for children under 18. The museum is free with a Kent State ID and free to the public on Sunday. Parking is free.

For more information, call 330-672-3450 or visit www.kent.edu/museum.

Porthouse Theatre Continues 2014 Season With Starmites

Critically acclaimed production features strong female leads and high-energy entertainment

Kent State University’s Porthouse Theatre, located on the
grounds of Blossom Music Center, continues its 46th
season with Starmites opening on July 4 with
performances running through July 19.

Porthouse Theatre, Kent State University’s outdoor, summer theatre located on the grounds of Blossom Music Center, continues its 46th season with Starmites opening on July 4. Performances run through July 19. A preview performance will take place on July 3.

Directed by Michael McIntosh, Starmites is a high-energy adventure fantasy in which humans and heroes discover love, loyalty, inner strength and a great doo-wop beat as they conquer the sinister inhabitants of Innerspace. Follow teenager Eleanor as she escapes into the world of her beloved comic books and discovers that the stories she loves may not just be stories after all. Critically acclaimed and nominated for six Tony Awards when it debuted on Broadway in 1989, Starmites was written by Barry Keating and Stuart Ross. Performances are July 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 at 8 p.m.; and July 6 and 13 at 2 p.m.

The production stars Actors Equity Association member Colleen Longshaw as Diva/Eleanor’s Mother. The cast is comprised of Porthouse Theatre’s Young Professional Company: Lucy Anders, Jessica Nicole Benson, Mackenzie Duan, Grace Falasco, Miriam Henkel-Moellmann, Daniel Lindenberger, Elliott Litherland, Darian Lunsford, Dylan Ratell, and Christopher D. Tuck.

Starmites is choreographed by Amy Fritsche and music directed by Jennifer Korecki. Costume design is by Susan Williams, lighting design is by Carly Shiner, scene design is by Steve Pauna, sound design is by Brian Chismar and technical direction is by Ryan T. Patterson. Stage manager is Joshua Brown. Actors Equity Production stage manager is Derric Nolte.

For subscriptions and tickets, call 330-672-3884; purchase online at www.porthousetheatre.com; or in person at the Porthouse Box Office located in the Roe Green Center lobby of the Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Drive in Kent. The box office is open Monday – Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The box office accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, checks and cash.

Note: Gold Center tickets refer to the best seats, senior pricing applies to individuals age 60+ and student pricing applies to those 18 and under or with valid college ID. Flex Tix subscriptions, which allow guests to select one ticket per show for any performance to fit any schedule, are $90; Gift Flex Tix gift cards are $93.

Thursday Preview Performance Series prices are as follows: Gold Center $63, Left and Right Center $57. Opening Night performances (includes a free reception): Gold Center $90, adults and seniors $81, students $60. Saturday Weekend Series (choose one of three sets of Saturday show dates): Gold Center $87, adults $78, seniors $72 and students $51.

Sunday Weekend Series (choose one of two sets of Sunday show dates): Gold Center $75, adults $66, seniors $60, and students $48. Weekday Series (choose one of two sets of show dates on either Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday): Gold Center $78, adults $69, seniors $63 and students $48.

Special rates for groups of 20 or more are available, as are student rates. Single tickets, ranging from $28 - $37 for adults and seniors and $16 - $24 for students, are on sale now.

Concert at Kent State Features World-Renowned Violinist Ida Kavafian

Kavafin will be joined by internationally recognized pianist and special appearance by Glauser String Quartet

World-renowned violinist Ida Kavafian
will perform as part of the Kent/Blossom
Music Festival on Thursday, July 3, at
7:30 p.m. in Ludwig Recital Hall. Kavafian
will be joined by internationally recognized
pianist Yekwon Sunwoo and the Glauser
String Quartet.

Kent/Blossom Music Festival, the collaboration between Kent State University’s Hugh A. Glauser School of Music and the Cleveland Orchestra, is proud to present violinist Ida Kavafian as the Kulas Foundation Guest Artist on Thursday, July 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Ludwig Recital Hall. Ludwig Recital Hall is located in the Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Drive on the Kent Campus.

Kavafian enjoys an international reputation as one of the most versatile musicians performing today. With a repertoire as diverse as her talents, Kavafian has electrified stages as a recitalist, as well as a soloist with major orchestras across the globe. Kavafian continues her association with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center with a number of appearances in New York and on tour. For more than 25 years, she has been the artistic director of the highly successful festival, Music from Angel Fire, in New Mexico. In addition to serving on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Bard College Conservatory, Kavafian joined the faculty of the Juilliard School for the academic year 2012-13, and has served on numerous competition juries and boards, including Chamber Music America.

Joining Kavafian will be Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo, winner of the 2012 William Kapell International Piano Competition and recent soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Kavafian also will be joined by the Glauser String Quartet. This collaboration will bring to life rare gems of the violin repertoire including a “Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat major, Op. 18” by Richard Strauss and a “Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet in D major, Op. 21” by Ernest Chausson. A reception and meet and greet the artists will follow the performance.

Tickets for the performance are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, $5 for college students with a valid ID and FREE for students 18 and under.

Tickets are available weekdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Performing Arts Box Office, located in the lobby of the Roe Green Center in the Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Drive on the Kent Campus. The Performing Arts Box Office accepts Visa, MasterCard and Discover, in addition to cash and checks.

The Ludwig Recital Hall box office will open one hour prior to the performance for walk-up sales and will accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover. Tickets and more information are available by calling 330-672-ARTS (2787) or visiting www.kent.edu/blossom.

The Kulas Guest Artist Series brings an artist of stature to perform and work intensively with students of Kent/Blossom Music Festival. Founded in 1937, the Kulas Foundation’s annual grants go toward music education, institutions and performances in the Greater Cleveland area.

Glauser String Quartet

The accomplished members of this group are Yang Zeng, Jeff Millen, Haojian Wang and Samuel Huang.

Zeng is a member of the Akron Symphony Orchestra, principle second violin of the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra, and concertmaster of the Kent State University Orchestra. He is the 2013 recipient of the Leopold Sipe Memorial Award for Excellence in Music Performance.

Millen began playing cello at 11 years old. He is pursuing a master’s degree in cello performance at Kent State.

Wang is from Yantai, China. Last fall, he played in the Canton Symphony Orchestra. He is a graduate student at Kent State studying viola and chamber music.

Huang is a graduate assistant at Kent State where he is studying violin performance. He is a concertmaster of the Kent State Orchestra and a member of the Akron Symphony Orchestra.

Participate in the 33rd Annual Black Squirrel Festival at Kent State

Students and other members of the Kent State University
community gather at the Student Green during last year's
Black Squirrel Festival. This year's event will take place on
Sept. 5.

Kent Student Center Programming cordially invites you to participate in this year’s 33rd Annual Black Squirrel Festival at Kent State University. The Black Squirrel Festival is one of the largest events held on campus each fall and will take place on Friday, Sept. 5, from noon to 6 p.m. on the Student Green and Risman Plaza in front of the Kent Student Center. The Black Squirrel Festival attracts more than 3,000 students, faculty and staff, as well as members of the Kent community.

In order to participate and reserve your table, university departments are required to fill out a contract form and return it by Aug. 29 to 226 Kent Student Center. Please note that if your organization is sponsoring a vendor, you also must have the vendor fill out a separate application (which can be obtained from the Kent Student Center Programming Office) and return the contract to us. Fees may apply for the vendor.

Please drop off or mail completed contract to:

Attn: John Camargo and Lindsay Wheeler
Kent Student Center Programming c/o CSI
226 Kent Student Center
Kent State University
P.O. Box 5190
Kent, Ohio 44242-0001

If you have any questions about the Black Squirrel Festival, please contact Kent Student Center Programming at 330-672-8188 or email kscprog@kent.edu.

Highly Anticipated Kent/Blossom Music Festival Concert Showcases Miami String Quartet Today

The Miami String Quartet will perform Tuesday, July 1, at
7:30 p.m. in Ludwig Recital Hall as part of the Kent/Blossom
Music Festival.

Kent/Blossom Music Festival presents the Miami String Quartet today, Tuesday, July 1, at 7:30 p.m. in Ludwig Recital Hall. Ludwig Recital Hall is located in the Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Drive on the Kent Campus. For tickets, call 330-672-2787 or visit www.kent.edu/blossom.

Praised by the New York Times as “Everything one wants in a quartet: a rich, precisely balanced sound, a broad coloristic palette, real unity of interpretive purpose and seemingly unflagging energy,” the Miami String Quartet will charm audience members with their interpretation of works including Dvořák's “Miniatures for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 75a/B 149,” Schulhoff’s “Five Pieces for String Quartet” and Mendelssohn’s “Quartet for Strings No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2.”

Members of the quartet include violinists Benny Kim, who has been described as having “titanium technique,” and Cathy Meng Robinson, a founding member who has performed extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe; violist Scott Lee, who was the youngest winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition’s 50 year history, as well as winning numerous other top prizes; and cellist and founding member Keith Robinson, who was voted P.A.C.E’s 1989 “Classical Artist of the Year.” For more than 20 years, their diversity in programming, poise in performance, keen sense of ensemble and impeccable musicality has made the Miami String Quartet one of the most sought after quartets in chamber music today. As an ensemble, the quartet has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award and Grand Prize at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

Tickets for the performance are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, $5 for college students with a valid ID and FREE for students 18 and under.

Tickets are available weekdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Performing Arts Box Office, located in the lobby of the Roe Green Center in the Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Drive on the Kent Campus. The Performing Arts Box Office accepts Visa, MasterCard and Discover, in addition to cash and checks.

The Ludwig Recital Hall box office will open one hour prior to the performance for walk-up sales, and will accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover. Tickets and more information are available by calling 330-672-ARTS (2787) or by visiting www.kent.edu/blossom.

11th Annual AMETEK Tree City 5K Set for July 5

Participants race along the course of the annual AMETEK
Tree City 5K, which benefits the United Way of Portage
County. This year's race will take place on Saturday,
July 5, beginning at Dix Stadium.

The 11th annual AMETEK Tree City 5K benefiting the United Way of Portage County will take place on Saturday, July 5, beginning at Dix Stadium. Again the race will be a part of the annual Kent Heritage Festival, and the money raised will benefit the United Way of Portage County. Kent State University is one of many sponsors.

The AMETEK Tree City 5K is a scenic point-to-point course, which will run from Kent State’s Dix Stadium through the Kent Campus and finish on the Lefton Esplanade. Last year, there were 258 runners who crossed the finish line in the Tree City 5K, and this year’s goal is 300 runners.

“The race has become a family affair for us,” says Phil Faluotico, director of engineering at AMETEK and chair of the race committee. “It’s the only race my two sons and I enter each year, and my wife Lisa volunteers day of the race and solicits sponsors.”

Faluotico acknowledges the contributions and support of race director Greg Dykes in making this year’s race happen.

Participants can pre-register online through July 2. The pre-registration fee is $25, and the fee for participants registering the day of the race is $30.

Check-in on race day will be from 6 to 6:45 p.m., rain or shine, at Dix Stadium. The race will begin at 7 p.m., and the race course closes at 8:30 p.m. Strollers are now permitted in the race. There are awards and cash prizes for qualifying participants. Awards are given for the top three male and female participants overall, top masters male and female participants, top grand-masters male and female participants and top three in age groups.

An after-party, which has become a tradition of the race, will be held for participants 21 and older. The party will take place at the 157 Lounge in downtown Kent immediately following the race.

Next year, the course will change from a "point-to-point" to a "loop" course. The race will begin and end at the downtown entrance to the Lefton Esplanade.

“We hope to increase business participation with a common kickoff area and finish line,” says Faluotico.

For more information, including parking and shuttle information, full schedule of events, course map, registration and more, visit www.treecityrace.com.

For more information about the United Way of Portage County, visit www.uwportage.org.

19th Annual Kent Heritage Festival Takes Place July 5

Visitors gather for the annual Kent Heritage Festival in
downtown Kent. This year's event will take place on
Saturday, July 5, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The 19th annual Kent Heritage Festival will take place on Saturday, July 5, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. in downtown Kent. More than 100 vendors and businesses will participate in the festival, with nearly 25,000 visitors expected.

“We saw a great increase in the number of people that attended last year’s festival,” says Lori Wemhoff, executive director of the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce and festival chairperson. “It may have had something to do with the less than 100-degree heat we experienced in 2012,” she jokes.

The festival will feature the annual Kent Heritage Festival NAPA Car Show, which will take place on West Erie Street and Franklin Street. The AMETEK Tree City 5K Race and Walk, which benefits the United Way of Portage County, begins at 7 p.m. in Dix Stadium, and fireworks in downtown Kent begin at 9:45 p.m.

Crafters and information booths will be located on East Main Street, East Erie Street and South Water Street. Food vendors will be located on North Water Street, and three stages will be set up throughout downtown to provide entertainment. A rock-climbing wall has been added this year and will be located on North Water Street in front of the Star of the West Mill next to the relocated children’s section.

“This is an amazing, one-day community event that so many people look forward to each summer,” Wemhoff says. “We appreciate the collaborative efforts of so many that help make it possible.”

The festival is organized by the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce and Kent United Services Organizations, which is composed of the City of Kent, Kent Jaycees, Kent Lions, Kent Junior Mothers, Kent Kiwanis, Kent Rotary, Knights of Columbus and Main Street Kent.