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Bombeck show will come to Dayton

Here’s nice news: the one-woman show about beloved Dayton humorist Erma Bombeck is slated to be staged in Dayton by The Human Race Theatre Company in the spring of 2018.

Ohio State Fair announces entertainment lineup

Resident artist Jennifer Joplin will portray the literary icon whose candid commentary on life as a woman, spouse and mother made her the champion of suburban housewives everywhere and her newspaper columns a mainstay on kitchen refrigerators for over thirty years. Joplin is a Wright State University graduate who has appeared in dozens of productions at HRTC and throughout Cincinnati.

"Erma Bombeck: At Wit's End" was written by twins Allison and Margaret Engel and had its world premiere in Washington, D.C., in 2015. It was so successful at Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park this spring that the run was extended twice.

Those who attended the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop at the University of Dayton in 2016 were treated to a staged reading of the show. It will be repeated at this year’s Writers’ Workshop on Thursday, April 19 – Sunday, April 22. A public preview performance is scheduled for Thursday, April 26. Opening night is Friday, April 27 and the show will run through May 13. The venue will be the 54-seat performance space at the Human Race Theatre’s Caryl D. Philips Creativity Center. Heather Powell will direct this production.

Love old hankies?

I suspect I’m not the only one who appreciates and cherishes a grandmother’s lovely old handkerchiefs. A new exhibit at The Troy-Hayner Cultural Center brings a collection of historic and artistic hankies into focus. “Grandma’s Tissues: A Collection of Handkerchiefs” will be showcased in Troy through Sept. 24. An opening reception will be held from 5-6:45 p.m. on Friday, July 21. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

"At first, a handkerchief is just a handkerchief, but upon closer scrutiny I see not only fine needle art but also a study in history, travel and culture," says collector and historian Helen Smith. Historically handkerchiefs have had many purposes; their documented use dates as far back as the Greek and Roman empires, when they were not only used for hygienic purposes, but as a signal for gladiatorial games to begin. By the 18th-century, handkerchiefs were fashionably carried by both men and women, but had become so cumbersome that Marie Antoinette had her husband Louis XVI of France, declare that "handkerchiefs be of regular size."

PHOTOS: Summer 2017 concerts at Fraze Pavilion

This display is part of a large personal collection and is being exhibited in memory of Virginia and Fred Merch. The Hayner Center is located at 301 W. Main St. in Troy.

“Angels in America” at local movie theaters

Twenty five years after its debut at London’s National Theatre, the award winning Tony Kushner drama “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes,” has returned to the London stage and is currently being screened throughout the world. The two-part examination of AIDS and homosexuality in America in the 1980s is being shown at Huber Heights 16, Hollywood Stadium 20 @ Fairfield Commons with IMAX and Dayton South 16.

Part 1, “Millennium Approaches,” premiered on Thursday, July 20. Part 2, “Perestroika,” is scheduled for Thursday, July 27. The all-star cast — directed by Tony Award-winner Marianne Elliot — includes Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, Russell Tovey, James McArdle and Denise Gough. The plays are typically repeated in Encore Performances.

The shows are part of NT Live which currently screens to 2500 cinemas in 60 countries. For more information on NT Live — including participating cinemas and local exhibition dates — visit www.ntlive.com.

ArtFest Call for Entries

ArtFest, an outdoor event slated for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17, raises money for experiential art programs in the Miami Valley by Infusion Art, a nonprofit endowment in conjunction with Greene Giving. The event is held at Beavercreek Community Park. It’s a juried show of arts and crafts handmade by local artists from the Greater Miami Valley area.

Media of all genres are welcome. The event features art for sale, showcase performance art, installation art and collaborative works where artists and attendees create art together.

If you're interested, contact infusion-art.org/ArtFest, or call (937)306-7277. Online submissions are at infusion-art.org/ArtFest. Deadline for submissions is Aug. 15.

Each week, arts writer Meredith Moss shares news about the people and events making arts news in our region. If you have information you’d like to have included, contact Meredith: MMoss@coxohio.com

Please include a daytime phone number and a photo when available.