Impromp2, The Community Blog

WPBT2 with Masterpiece Classics premieres a new miniseries South Riding airing on Sundays at 9:00 pm beginning on May 1st.

A feisty schoolteacher returns to her north England home and is drawn to a man who despises everything she stands for on South Riding, Winifred Holtby’s 1936 novel of social consciousness and secret romance. MASTERPIECE Classic presents this Depression-era love story in a three-part miniseries, adapted by celebrated screenwriter Andrew Davies (Little Dorrit, Pride and Prejudice) and starring Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House) and David Morrissey (Sense and Sensibility).

Maxwell Martin plays Sarah Burton, a native of fictional South Riding  in Yorkshire, returning to apply for the job of headmistress at the local girls’ high school. Her goal is to bring  new energy, new ideas, and a new outlook to the institution, whose students face a bleak future in the hard economic times of the 1930s. Sarah’s nemesis is landowner Robert Carne, portrayed by David Morrissey. Robert is a tradition-bound gentleman farmer, deeply suspicious of Sarah’s social agenda and offended by her pacifist views, especially since he is a veteran of the Great War. But despite his opposition to her candidacy, she gets the job.

Masterpiece: South Riding is based of a modern classic, South Riding. It was the last novel by Winifred Holtby, who died at age 37 of Bright’s disease a month after completing the manuscript. Knowing that she did not have long to live, she threw herself into what became her most enduring book—a chronicle of her native Yorkshire on the brink of change, as the rigid class system was starting to crumble and outspoken feminists like Sarah were charting a new path for women, not least in matters of the heart.

The show airs on Sundays at 9:00 pm beginning on May 1st.

WPBT2 premieres American Experience: Road to Memphis on May 2nd at 10:00 pm.

"We were never concerned with who killed Martin Luther King, but what killed Martin Luther King," says former King aide Andrew Young in this film, which tells the wildly disparate yet fatefully entwined stories of an assassin, James Earl Ray, and his target, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., against the backdrop of the seething and turbulent forces in American society that led these two men to their violent and tragic collision in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. Based on the book by Hampton Sides (Ghost Soldiers), the program relies on eyewitness testimony from King's inner circle and the officials involved in Ray's capture and prosecution following an intense two-month international manhunt.

WPBT2 premieres Nature: Salmon Running the Gauntlet on May 1st at 8:00 pm.

Investigate the parallel stories of collapsing Pacific salmon populations and how biologists and engineers have become instruments in audacious experiments to replicate every stage of the fish’s life cycle in NATURE Salmon: Running the Gauntlet. Each desperate effort to save salmon has involved replacing their natural cycle of reproduction and death with a radically manipulated life history. Our once great runs of salmon are now conceived in laboratories, raised in tanks, driven in trucks and farmed in pens. NATURE goes beyond the ongoing debate over how to save an endangered species to expose a wildly creative, hopelessly complex and stunningly expensive approach to managing salmon.

Louisa May Alcott’s Life and Work Discussed at Broward County Libraries!

 

Louisa May Alcott is recognized around the world for her novel Little Women, but few know Alcott as the bold, compelling woman who grew up in the innermost circle of the Transcendentalist and antislavery movements, served as a Civil War army nurse, and led a secret literary life writing pulp fiction. Louisa May Alcott was her own best character and her life was her own best plot.

The Broward County Library’s public programs shed light on Louisa May Alcott by exploring her life and the historical and cultural context that inspired her remarkable body of work. Alcott’s childhood was characterized by chronic economic difficulties and frequent uprooting due to her father’s utopian experiments. Despite her family’s financial hardships, Alcott experienced a rich intellectual life influenced by family friends such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller. When slavery threatened the nation, the Alcott home was an Underground Railroad stop for fugitives; during the Civil War, Alcott wanted to fight, but as a woman she could enlist only as a nurse.

To support Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, a documentary film co-produced by Nancy Porter Productions, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET New York’s American Masters, Broward County Library will present six programs from May through September 2011. The six series program will re-introduce audiences to Louisa May Alcott’s story. Louisa May Alcott programs in libraries are sponsored by the American Library Association Public Programs Office with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional sponsors are the Florida Center for the Book, the Broward Public Library Foundation, the Friends of the Fort Lauderdale Libraries and WPBT2.

The six programs are located at the following libraries in Broward County:

Saturday, May 7th, 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center at Nova Southeastern University, 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Gallery 2nd Floor

Louisa May Alcott: Through Her Eyes. A community-wide library event focusing on the life, works, and times of Louisa may Alcott. View film clips from the documentary film, Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women with commentary by Nova Southeastern University Scholar Dr. Christine Jackson.

Wednesday, June 8th, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Main Library, 6th Floor, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Louisa May Alcott Wrote That?  Reading and Discussion of Louisa May Alcott’s lesser know works with Scholar Dr. Christine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University. The project scholar will facilitate a discussion exploring these short works, which together help display the range of Alcott’s writing and exemplify her strong and dynamic connections to the culture in which she lived. Copies of her stories will be available at the program.

Tuesday, August 9th, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

South Regional/ Broward College Library, 7300 Pines Blvd. Pembroke Pines

Louisa May Alcott: Literary Phenomenon and Social Reformer

Scholar led program with Dr. Chrisitine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University focusing on Louisa May Alcott as a self-trained and successful professional writer. The discussion will center on how Alcott used her writing to advance many of her era’s ideas for social reform, such as Abolitionism and women’s rights.

Thursday, September 15th, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Main Library, 6th Floor, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Reading and discussion of the biography – Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women.

A scholar-led discussion by Dr. Christine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University of the biography; documentary film clips will be presented during the discussion.

Wednesday, September 21st, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

West Regional Library Auditorium, 8601 West Broward Blvd, Plantation, Florida

Film Screening and Discussion – Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. Discussion led by scholar Dr. Christine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University.

Thursday, September 22nd, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Main Library, 6th Floor, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Make your personal Louisa May Alcott journal with writer and artist Susan Buzzi. Susan Buzzi will talk about Louisa May Alcott as a young writer and have teens decorate and design their own journals.

WPBT2 will broadcast the documentary Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women during the libraries program series. The first presentation of the 1-1/2 hour documentary is May 1st at 6:00 pm on WPBT2.2 Create (Comcast 202).

Join WPBT2 for An Evening with Dave Grusin on May 12th at 8:00 pm.

 
 
 

Dave Grusin, 10 time Grammy Award-winning and Academy Award-winning composer, conductor and pianist has scored some of the most entertaining and enduring films in the past half-century.  An Evening with Dave Grusin, (available on CD, Blu-ray Disc and ROBA iPad App), is a groundbreaking live program that captures him conducting and performing with a host of stars and backed by the University of Miami Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. 

The musical selections feature Dave’s award-winning film scores for On Golden Pond, Tootsie, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Goonies and more.  Additionally, Dave celebrates the music of great American composer George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Henry Mancini’s Moon River and Leonard Bernstein’s music for the Broadway hit, West Side Story.  Dave is joined by guest artists: Patti Austin, Jon Secada, Monica Mancini, Gary Burton, Arturo Sandoval, Nestor Torres and Sammy Figueroa. 

The concert was part of the 2009 JAZZ ROOTS: a Larry Rosen Jazz Series, conceived to be as much about education as it is about music.  As one of the Adrienne Arsht Center’s largest and most dynamic outreach efforts, the JAZZ ROOTS series provides an in-depth, behind-the-scenes performance and educational component to local jazz high school students during each show

Grusin’s album is, set for release on Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group, on April 26, 2011, is a collection of 12 songs from the performance. The groundbreaking ROBA Interactive iPad app for the project will also be available that day, and includes over 300 pages of photos, videos, audio options, artist interviews, “making of” footage, and more

 

Meet Award Winning Filmmaker, Ken Burns!

Join WPBT2 and award-winning filmmaker, Ken Burns for a night of gangsters, rumrunners, flappers and speakeasies as they host a screening for Ken Burn’s new film, Prohibition.  The screening will be held on Thursday, June 9 at 6:30pm at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Amaturo Theatre.  Admission is $5 and tickets are available at www.wpbt2.org/kenburns or by calling 305-424-4025.

 

Burns will lead a discussion on the film with local experts on the broader topics of civility and democracy, which he explores in this project.  He will also answer audience questions following the screening.  Come dressed in your best outfit from the 1920s and enjoy music from that era prior to the screening.

Burns has been making films for more than thirty years.  Named as one of the most influential documentary makers of all time, Burns has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made including The Civil War, Baseball, The Tenth Inning, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, Jazz, The War and many more.  

 

The new Ken Burns documentary, Prohibition, is scheduled to air on WPBT2 in fall 2011.  The three-part, documentary film series, directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, tells the story of the rise, rule and fall of the 18^th Amendment to the US Constitution and the entire era it encompassed.  The film raises vital questions that are as relevant today as they were 100 years ago – about means and ends, individual rights and responsibilities, and the proper role of government.

Local partners for the screening include: Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, City of Fort Lauderdale Centennial Committee and the Broward County Cultural Division, a service of Art Serve, Inc.

 

 

Miami-Dade Public Library System presents Art of Storytelling Festival on April 30, 2011 from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm.

Storytellers from around the world will take center stage in downtown Miami  
as Miami-Dade Public Library System celebrates its eleventh annual Art of Story Telling International Festival Day.

A magical adventure awaits as celebrity storytellers, from around the world join the cast of the Bit’s ‘N Pieces Puppet Theatre, Mother Goose on the Loose, Niall de Burca, magician Robert Hermens, the Bahamas Junkanoo Shakers, Geeta Dias: Bollywood Indian Dancers, School of Rock, the Hip Hop Kids and many others! Also back by popular demand is the teen zone-an area just for ‘tweens and teens which features anime, manga and video gaming competitions, plus activities around popular books and lots of cool surprises!

This FREE event is open to people of all ages and takes place at the Main Library - 101 W Flagler Street in downtown Miami. It begins at 10:30 am and ends at 4:00 pm.

WPBT2 Presents Earth Day Programming All Week Long!

Follow the Roberts family from Homestead during a weekend camping trip in the Everglades National Park in Into the Wild airing Monday, April 18 at 10:30 p.m.  Before their adventure begins, family members give their honest opinions about the planned activities, their fears and concerns with the idea of spending a night in the Everglades. Their stay is filmed in a reality-TV format in order to give the audience a feeling of what the family experiences.  The goal is to show an up close and personal look at the beauty and grandeur of what has been called “The River of Grass’ and to show local residents what’s in their backyard.

Follow Jeb Berrier, an average American guy who is admittedly not a "tree hugger," who makes a pledge to stop using plastic bags in Bag It! airing  Wednesday, April 20 at 11:00 p.m.  His girlfriend, Anne, joins him in the challenge to decrease their use of plastic at home. This small action gets Jeb thinking about plastic, not just about plastic bags, but other kinds of plastic. "What is plastic made of? Is it recyclable? Does it decompose when it ends up in the landfill? Does plastic have negative health effects?" Jeb wants to learn more, so he embarks on a global tour to unravel the complexities of our plastic world.

Discover the human and nonhuman interrelationships within the pine rockland natural community in Pine Rockland Composition airing Thursday, April 21 at 11:30 p.m.  The program begins at night during the wet season in the pine rock lands within Everglades National Park. The subtropical and globally imperiled pine rock lands occur exclusively on the Miami Rock Ridge limestone in South Florida and predominantly within Everglades National Park. The pine rock lands underwent rapid agricultural and urban development with the advent of the rock plow in the mid to late 20th century. Today, the pine rock lands consist of fragmented remnants as a result of habitat development and degradation, fire suppression, nonnative species, and alterations to hydrology.

 

WPBT2 premieres Independent Lens: Wasteland on Tuesday April 19th at 11:00 pm.

Filmed over nearly three years, Lucy Walker’s WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his home country of Brazil, and to Jardim Gramacho, the world’s largest garbage dump located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There Muniz photographs an eclectic band of catadores, pickers of recyclable materials, and works with them to “paint” their portraits using garbage. The resulting collaboration with these inspiring characters provides profoundly moving evidence of the transformative power of art and its impact on the human spirit.

WPBT2 premieres American Master: John Muir in the New World on April 18th at 9:00 pm.

 

Nearly a century after his death, John Muir is remembered and revered as the father of the environmental movement and the founder of the Sierra Club. It was this Scottish American who believed that it was our responsibility as citizens to protect our natural surroundings. And, by example and by passion, he taught us how to care for our wilderness treasures. Through his tireless advocacy and his writings, he almost single-handedly preserved the Yosemite Valley of California and was the force behind the creation of the National Park Service. Filmed throughout the majestic landscapes in which Muir traveled, this documentary places our nation’s most important wilderness assets in a cultural and social context. Muir’s story could not be a timelier reminder of America’s unique and, ultimately, threatened eco-systems.

The documentary also goes into Muir’s private affairs, as well. There is discussion on how he met his wife   Louie. Through his relationships one can see how Muir placed his studies on nature above everything else. He postponed his wedding and often would be on naturist adventures while married to Louie. His devotion to nature was shown through his daily actions and his perseverance to preserving the Yosemite Valley.