Central Skagit Library District

Caustic comedian and best-selling author Jim Norton pulls no punches in this comedy special, going after jaw-dropping laughs not intended for the faint of heart. Among his targets: the national hypersensitivity epidemic - leading celebrities, talking heads and regular Joes alike to get offended by just about anything. Norton's got a message for those people, and it's in the title.

A deceptively simple tale: Dmitry Gurov, a comfortable, middle-aged husband, father and womanizer, has a casual affair with Anna Sergeyevna, an unhappy young wife, while vacationing in Yalta; to his amazement, the jaded Gurov falls in love for the first time in his life, just as Anna does with him.. Kama Ginkas has made a career of creating powerful theater based on the prose of classic Russian authors, including Fyoor Dostoevsky, Alexander Pushkin...

First staged in 1904 by Konstantin Stanislavsky in the very theater and on the very stage of this production, director Adolf Shapiro's interpretation asks the question, where would the characters of this play live today years after their cherry orchard has been cut down? The answer, which lies in the material world created by set designer David Borovsky, is, of course, on the stage. Russian star, Renata Litvinova, in her debut theatrical performance,...

A literary and dramatic analysis of the key elements in Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. ABOUT THE PROGRAM: This program is an enormously valuable historical, literary and dramatic analysis of the essence of Macbeth showing how the significant parts of the drama tie together with scenes from the play. Our expert hosts Rebecca Flynn and Gary Taylor introduce Macbeth The Tragic Pair using the stunning backdrop of the Scottish Highlands to lift the...

The film shows a recording of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the famous Balanchine choreography, which made the ballet such a popular staple with companies all over the world. Danced by three star-dancers in the main roles and a company that ranks among the best in the world, it guarantees first class entertainment. George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the summery counterpart to his Christmassy Nutcracker: Ist youthful charm and light...

Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni's incomparable partnership as Rodolfo and Mimi, the tragic lovers in Puccini's much-loved bittersweet opera, is captured for posterity in this live recording from the San Francisco opera. Francesca Zambello's production boasts a superlative cast with Gino Quilico as Marcello, Nicolai Ghiaurov as Colline, Stephen Dickson as Schaunard and Sandra Pacetti as Musetta. The Italian conductor Tiziano Severini drew critical...

Dance, documentary, and drama. All converge in Parables of War in a meditation exploring the timeless question: can civilization bind the wounds of war? Using MacArthur "Genius"choreographer Liz Lerman’s, theatrical performance piece Healing Wars as a point of departure, Parables witnesses the journey of three men who are, in one way or another, all casualties of war: Bill Pullman, the actor; Keith Thompson, the dancer; and Josh Bleill, the former...

Zubin Mehta conducts Aida, Verdi’s most spectacular and over-the-top opera, in a new production from the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Starring Marco Berti, Luciana D’Intino and Hui He. Verdi’s Aida is one of the most popular operas of all time. It premiered at the Cairo Opera House on Christmas Eve, 1871, and was an immediate commercial success. The plot of Aida is filled with political intrigue, love, betrayal, passion, and vengeance,...

The award winning PBS series VISIONES: LATINO ART & CULTURE, is a journey through the music, words, dance, painting and performance of rich Latino cultures made more complex and fascinating by their history in our country. The series explores how contemporary Latino artists continue to build on rich traditions that reflect a unique multi-ethnic experience, taking established art forms and reinventing them, constantly challenging themselves and the...

“I wanted to do something big and wild and different. Something with water!” said choreographer Alexander Ekman and filled the Main Stage at the Oslo Opera House with 5,000 litres of water. In A Swan Lake, his new full-length work created for the Norwegian National Ballet, the dancers are joined on stage by actors, a soprano, musicians and 1,000 rubber ducks. Alexander Ekman is an award-winning choreographer, whose work is internationally acclaimed...