Culture worthy of your calendar

We can always count on the Winter Park Playhouse to present theatricals that are full of fun and filled with talent. Their new production — running from July 15 to Aug. 6 — is a high-energy, fast-paced, ‘history’ of the 100 years of filmmaking in America. It’s called “Completely Hollywood (Abridged)” and features the mad-cap antics of Mark Baratelli, Matt Horohoe and Joshua Siniscalco. This Hollywood send-up was created by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, and they take on America’s greatest cultural export in a seriously silly show-biz satire. Rummaging through our classic films, the play condenses Hollywood’s history to 186 of the greatest films ever produced in a compilation of cinema clichés. The Washington Post said, “(This) smart, timely satire sent a Kennedy Center audience into regular peals of near-hysterical laughter.” It’s “Hurray for Hollywood” and for the Winter Park Playhouse as they bring us yet another laugh-filled production. The Playhouse is at 711 Orange Ave. in Winter Park. Call 407-645-0145 or visit winterparkplayhouse.org

Florida sculptors at the Polasek

In a museum named for a famous American sculptor, the new sculpture show opening at the Polasek Museum “is the first juried sculpture exhibition to showcase high-quality works by Florida sculptors to be shown at the Museum in support of its mission to promote representational art.” The exhibit opens July 19 and features works by 17 artists. The exhibit runs through Sept.18, commemorating the museum’s 50th anniversary year while also honoring the legacy of Czech-born American sculptor Albin Polasek. The Museum is located at 633 Osceola Ave. in Winter Park. Call 407-647-6294 or visit www.polasek.org

Polasek Museum Part 2

Showing concurrently with the Polasek Sculpture Show (July 19 to Sept. 18) are photographs by 28 local artists as featured in The Red Chair Visits Orange County Public Art. Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs Director Terry Olson issued an invitation to Florida photographers to choose a piece of public art to incorporate into a photograph of their own interpretation (The photograph also had to include a red chair within the composition). The chair is symbolic of arts audiences and also represents the Red Chair Project, the area’s cultural information center. Visit redchairproject.com. The photography exhibit also supports the goal of Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs to bring awareness of the artistic treasures in our area to the public. The photographs may be viewed at www.ocfl.net/redchairpublicart. Call 407-647-6294 or visit polasek.org

A Kerouac manuscript

A new and not-to-be-missed exhibit at the Orange County History Center displays the original 1957 manuscript of “The Dharma Bums” by the “Bard of the Beat Generation,” Jack Kerouac. This unique piece of Florida’s literary history allows visitors a look at Kerouac’s original manuscript (including handwritten notes), as well as photographs taken while he lived and wrote in Orlando. For 11 days and nights, in the College Park neighborhood near downtown Orlando, Kerouac wrote “The Dharma Bums”, and it was during that time that Kerouac received word that his first book was a national sensation. “Dharma Bums” is often seen as the sequel to “On the Road”. Photographer Fred DeWitt took the photos in 1958 while Kerouac worked on the manuscript, but the photos were “lost” for 50 years until Orlando journalist Bob Kealing found DeWitt living in Orlando. Call 407-836-8500 or visit thehistorycenter.org

Josh Garrick is a writer, photographer, educator, and fine art curator. He is a member of the Curatorial Council for the Museum of Florida Art. Garrick can be reached at [email protected] or 407-522-3906.