Arts Notes: Alhambra has it's Annies

Jacksonville resident Carly Juliana Barnes and Jena Simmons, who lives in Jupiter, have been cast in the title role for the Alhambra Theatre & Dining’s production of the musical “Annie,” which opens Wednesday.

This is the Alhambra debut for both girls. For Carly, this will be her first experience in live theater, although she has two film credits. Jena had performed in “Les Miserables” and “The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley Jr.” at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. She also has done various television commercials.

Shows will be nightly except Monday, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday, through August 13. Tickets, which include a meal, will be $38 Wednesday and Thursday, $62 Friday, and will range from $35 to $57 for the rest of the show’s run. They can be purchased at www.alhambrajax.com/ or by calling (904) 641-1212. The Alhambra is located at 12000 Beach Blvd.

YOUTH PHILHARMONIC INVITED TO LOS ANGELES FESTIVAL

The Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra’s Philharmonic, under the direction of principal conductor Deanna Tham, has been invited to participate in the 2018 Los Angeles International Music Festival. The Philharmonic will be one of the three high school ensembles accepted to the festival. The three high school orchestras and one college orchestra will perform in the Walt Disney Concert Hall and at Disneyland. In addition to the performances, which will be adjudicated by a panel of music professors, they will attend an educational workshop and visit area attractions. All the orchestras were accepted to the five-day program after auditioning. This is the first tour ever for a Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra group.

MOCA GETS $30,000 NEA GRANT

The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville has received a $30,000 Art Works grant in support of its Project Atrium series. The grant is part of $82 million approved by National Endowment for the Arts chairman Jane Chu to fund local art projects across the country in NEA’s second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2017.

Launched in July 2011, Project Atrium invites artists to create site-specific exhibits in the 40-foot-high Haskell Atrium Gallery, which is located on the museum’s first floor but can be viewed from its second and third floors. Project Atrium has previously received support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

The new season of Project Atrium begins with an exhibit of architecturally scaled weavings by Gabriel Dawe. It will occupy the gallery from July 15 to Oct. 29. A multilevel kinetic sculpture by Juan Fontanive will be on exhibit Nov. 18 through Feb. 18, 2018. A steel cut lantern casting light and shadow and evoking Islamic sacred spaces created by Anila Quayyum Agha will be on exhibit March 10 to June 24, 2018.

CUMMER GETS $10,000 NEA GRANT

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens has received a $10,000 Arts Works grant, part of $82 million being distributed by the National Endowment for the Arts to fund local art projects. The Cummer will use the funding to create and implement the exhibit “Augusta Savage: Artist-Community-Activist,” scheduled for 2018. Born in Green Cove Springs in 1892, Savage was a gifted sculptor who worked in West Palm Beach and Jacksonville before moving to New York City in 1921 and becoming a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance.

ANY GIVEN CHILD AWARDS $5,000

For the second year, Any Given Child Jacksonville has awarded a total of $5,000 to local individuals and organizations which make outstanding contribution to arts education. Karen Bouton, a music teacher at Merrill Road Elementary School, received $2,500. Mai Dinh Keisling, who teaches visual arts at Paxon School for Advance Studies, received $1,000. Awards of $500 went to Cooper Morgan Dance for its work with programming for the Ritz Theatre & Museum’s exhibit “Dance Theatre of Harlem;” to Hope at Hand for its work teaching poetry and art to at-risk children; and to the Jax Kids Mural Festival, which had four kids’ mural festivals downtown in its first year.

THRASHER-HORNE ANNOUNCES ITS BROADWAY SEASON

The Thrasher-Horne Center in Orange Park has announced that it will present four touring musicals next season. The season will begin Jan. 5 with “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder,” which won the 2014 Tony as best musical. On Feb. 1 the center will present “Cabaret,” which won the 1967 Tony as best musical. “The Wizard of Oz” will be presented on March 10 with two showings, a matinee and an evening performance. The season’s final show will be an April 15 production of “Jersey Boys,” which won the 2006 Tony as best musical.

FSCJ’S DIRECTOR OF CHORAL STUDIES LEAVING

Timothy J. Workman, director of choral studies at Florida State College at Jacksonville and artistic director of the Orange Park Chorale, is leaving Jacksonville after six years. He has accepted the position of director of choral activities at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith.

LIMELIGHT’S GUILD MAKES DONATION

The Limelight Theatre Guild recently donated $550 to the theater’s Emma Lee Carpenter Scholarship during its annual meeting. This season the Guild has donated almost $7,000 to the non-profit community theater. The Guild, made up of 130 men and women, also raised $3,253 for the theater through ticket sales for its annual gala. In addition to fund-raising, Guild members volunteer for ushering, mailings, set making and helping with costumes.

Lightner to close briefly

St. Augustine’s Lightner Museum will be closed from Friday through July 4. It is being tented for termites. The museum, which will reopen July 5, undergoes this process every decade to preserve the strength of the historic building. The museum is contained within the historic Hotel Alcazar building in downtown St. Augustine. Commissioned by railroad magnate Henry Flager, the 1887 Spanish Renaissance Revival style building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Send items for Arts Notes to charlie.patton@jacksonville.com.