New Family Summer Series of Outdoor Films and a Jazz Concert
Keene State College’s Redfern Arts Center launches a new and fun-filled Summer Family Series of free outdoor films and a jazz concert during July and August. The Redfern Arts Center Summer Series 2016 begins with the outdoor Family Film Series “Classics on the Quad” with three films shown every other Saturday evening and concludes with the United States Air Force (USAF) Heritage of America Rhythm in Blue Jazz Ensemble concert. All events are free and open to the public.
“We are very excited to launch our family film series this summer and to invite our community to experience the arts in a different setting – outdoors under the stars,” Redfern Director Shannon Mayers said. “
“Classics on the Quad” family films are shown outdoors on the Keene State College Quad off Main Street and Appian Way in Keene. People are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit before the big screen.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The film series begins with Steven Spielberg’s first Indiana Jones adventure Raiders of the Lost Ark on Saturday, July 9 at 8:30 p.m. Raiders of the Lost Ark, rated PG, stars Harrison Ford as the swash-buckling archeologist Indiana Jones. When we first see Indy, he is somewhere in the Peruvian jungle in 1936, running a booby-trapped gauntlet to fetch a solid-gold idol. He loses this artifact to his chief rival, a French archeologist named Belloq (Paul Freeman), who then prepares to kill our hero. In the first of many serial-like escapes, Indy eludes Belloq by hopping into a convenient plane that’s crawling with snakes. The next time we see Jones, he’s a bespectacled professor, summoned from his ivy-covered environs by Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott) to find the long-lost Ark of the Covenant coveted by the Nazis. But to find the Ark, Indy must secure a medallion kept under the protection of Indy’s old friend, whose daughter, Marion (Karen Allen), evidently has a “history” with Jones. Whatever their personal differences, Indy and Marion become partners in one action-packed adventure after another.
Mary Poppins
The Disney musical Mary Poppins is shown on Saturday, July 23 at 8:30 p.m. This G-rated 1964 classic is often considered the finest of Walt Disney’s personally supervised films. The story follows the Banks children who are desperate for their all-business father’s attention and figure they’ll get it by bedeviling every new nanny in the household. When Mr. Banks advertises conventionally for another nanny, the kids compose their own ad, asking for someone with a little kindness and imagination. Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews in her screen debut) answers the children’s ad by arriving at the Banks home from the skies, parachuting downward with her umbrella. She immediately endears herself to the children. The next day they meet Mary’s old chum Bert (Dick Van Dyke), currently employed as a sidewalk artist. Mary, Bert, and the children hop into one of Bert’s chalk drawings and frolic in a animated countryside. Mr. Banks is pleased that his children are behaving better, but he’s not happy with their fantastic stories. To show the children what the real world is like, he takes them to his bank and disaster follows and changes the Banks family for the better.
UP
The film series concludes with Disney’s hilarious animated comedy UP on Saturday, August 6 at 8 p.m. The computer animated adventure film, produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures in 2009, follows the fantastical trip of Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) who spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe. Now in his 78th year he launches his house into the sky via thousands of balloons. Right after liftoff he discovers he has a stowaway an over optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell (Jordan Nagai). This hilarious journey takes you into a lost world with the least likely duo on Earth. The pair lands in a jungle paradise where they meet a colorful flightless bird, a friendly dog named Dug (Bob Peterson), and an elderly mean-spirited explorer named Charles Muntz. (Christopher Plummer). Their interactions lead to more high-flying adventures.
Rhythm in Blue Jazz Ensemble
Redfern’s Summer Series concludes with a lively jazz concert by the USAF Heritage of America Rhythm in Blue Jazz Ensemble on Saturday, August 20, at 7 p.m. in the Main Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center. The Rhythm in Blue Jazz Ensemble concert features the diverse talents of 15 professional musicians whose commitment to excellence has earned worldwide acclaim and military distinction. The band incorporates a wide repertoire of jazz and fusion, from big band swing to cutting-edge contemporary music. Their fabulous vocalist radiates sounds of the great jazz standards and inspires with patriotic classics. The concert is free but tickets are required because seating is limited. Tickets can be reserved after August 1 when the Redfern Box Office opens for the season. Call 603-358-2168.
The Redfern Arts Center Summer Series is sponsored by Frazier and Son Furniture, The Peak Radio, and the Keene State College Continuing Education and Extended Studies Office.
