Franco-American Mandolin Festival.

The Providence Mandolin Orchestra welcomes the Ensemble à Plectre de Toulouse, one of the oldest and largest mandolin orchestras in France to Rhode Island.

In celebration of the Ensemble's visit to the U.S. the Providence Mandolin Orchestra has organized the Franco-American Mandolin Festival, a multi-dimensional festival combining cultural, educational and musical exchange.

On Saturday, November 3, at 8:00, the Providence Mandolin Orchestra and the Ensemble à Plectre will perform a joint program in the accoustically pristine St. Martin's Church 8:00 at 50 Orchard Avenue in Providence (tickets $20) . This concert will feature highlights of each orchestra's individual repertoire and joint performances of masterpieces for modern mandolin ensemble including Yasuo Kuwahara's romantic Song for Japanese Autumn and Claudio Mandonico's energetic Music for Play.

Sunday, November 4, 2:00 in the afternoon, the Toulouse Mandolin Orchestra will give a full concert at St. Ann's Arts and Cultural Center in Woonsocket (82 Cumberland Street, tickets $15/$10 seniors and students). This concert will feature a wide range of contemporary compositions for mandolin orchestra as well as arrangements of pieces from the classical repertoire including Debussey's well known Girl with the Flaxen Hair and Rossini's Il Signor Bruschino. This concert is a benefit for the Woonsocket Arts and Cultural Center.

Tickets for both events are available at http://www.mandolin-orchestra.org/tickets.htm.

In addition, as part of this cultural exchange, the Festival is organizing a series of in-school demonstrations for French language students and for music students featuring performances by the French group combined with individual instruction on the mandolin and a brief history of the mandolin in France. Participants in the demonstrations will have a unique opportunity to explore a new musical outlet and engage in conversation with members of the French orchestra in their native language.

For more information about the festival or the concerts, call Josh Bell at 401-273-6930, or visit the Providence Mandolin Orchestra website.

Halloween Happenings

Courtesy of the Mayor's office!

Spooky Zoo Sundays October 28, 11am - 3pm, Roger Williams Park Zoo, 1000 Elmwood Avenue, Free With Paid Zoo Admission. Ghosts and goblins of all ages will enjoy Trick-or-Treat stations, a costume parade, live music, roaming entertainers and other fun surprises around every corner. For more information please click here.	Family Fun Weekend October 27 - 28, Museum of Natural History & Planetarium, Roger Williams Park , 1000 Elmwood Avenue, $5 For Adults, $3 For Children Under 8, Free Admission With Costume. Spooky stories, creature features, mystery guests and a trick-or-treat bag full of Halloween fun! Visitors receive a complimentary treat bag and treats in exhibit halls. For more information please click here.	Ghost Tour October 25 - 31, 7pm, Prospect Terrace/Roger Williams Statue, 60 Congdon Street, $12 online, $15 Night Of. A walking haunted history tour of the East Side of Providence, RI. We have spent hundreds of hours researching both the haunted homes of this historic neighborhood as well as the many murders, suicides and accidental deaths that have occurred here over the years. For more information please click here.
Searching For The Spirits October 29, 6:30pm - 7:30pm, Providence Public Library, 150 Empire Street, Free And Open To The Public. What started as a prank by two young sisters soon grew into a worldwide controversy that attracted the attention of William James, Queen Victoria, Harry Houdini, and even Mae West. In this presentation, Rory Raven traces the history of talking to the dead and offers some re-creations of what happened in the Victorian séance room. For more information please click here.	Zombie Film Festival October 26 - 31, Times And Schedule Vary, Cable Car Cinema, 200 South Main Street, Free And Open To The Public. The Zombie Film Festival will screen recent zombie films alongside classics and rarities. Not just popular, zombie movies can squeeze explosive politics into tiny budgets, test limits with strikingly new camerawork and ideas, or brim with shiny Hollywood resources and an earnest commitment to shocks and gore. For more information please click here.	Boo Bash October 28, 1pm - 4pm, Providence Children's Museum, 100 South Street. A tiny bit spooky, a whole lot of fun! Come in costume to the biggest Halloween party of the season! Join the friendly witch for special treats in the Pumkin Patch Cafe, meet scorpions, snakes, lizards and other creepy creatures, play bewitching games, create Halloween crafts to take home and Much more! For more information please click here.
Halloween Iron Pour October 27, 7pm, The Steel Yard, 27 Sims Avenue, Free And Open To The Public. These punk rock foundry geeks have been known to pour molten iron inside pumpkins, off cliffs in deep quarries, and onto just about anything that will burn. Last year at the Steel Yard they hoisted a massive wooden skull with glowing iron wings up into the air. This year, witness the giant Iron Heart! Also featuring live music by Geoff Mullen Nicole DiMarco. For more information please click here.	Chris Moon's Halloween Madness October 30, 10pm, AS220, 115 Empire Street, Free And Open To The Public. Watch creepy movies with the creepiest guy in town! Local obscuro film guru, record label impresario and expensive beer connoisseur Chris Moon hosts another evening of lost film goodies for you. Grab a burrito at the Taqueria (before they close at 10pm) and, of course, the bar is open until 1am! Food and drink are welcome in the performance space for the free movie - yipee! For more information please click here.	Halloween Dance October 27, 7pm - 10pm, The Mediator, 50 Rounds Ave, $5 For Adults, Children Are Free. Bring your own drinks and enjoyThe Providence Wholebellies performing their energetic blend of wild folk music. For more information please click here.
Annual Halloween Collage Concert October 26, 8pm, Auditorium In Roberts Hall, RI College, 600 Mount Plesant Avenue, $7 General Admission, Free If In Costume. This popular fast-paced high-energy concert features a wide variety of performing ensembles within the Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance, including brass, vocal, woodwind, dance, and percussion groups. Performers appear in costume and audience members are encouraged to do likewise to enhance the ambiance of the Halloween atmosphere. This family-oriented concert is sponsored annually by the RIC chapter of the Music Educators National Conference. For more information please click here.	Third Dimension: Halloween Costumes and Activities October 27, 11am - 4pm, RISD Museum, 224 Benefit Street, Free And Open To The Public. Children are encouraged to come dressed in costume to this day of art making with a Halloween twist. Discover sculptures of all times and places in the galleries guided by a mysterious winged Viking god from the past. In workshops make special Egyptian-inspired protective amulets or imaginative creatures from wire. At 3pm, the RISD Auditorium is the scene for a special marionette performance of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by New York's award-winning company "The Puppet People." For more information please click here.	WaterFire October 27, 5:45pm, Downtown Rivers, Free And Open To The Public. At the last lighting of the season visitors are invited to meet Barnaby Evans, the creator of WaterFire, and to have him sign and inscribe a WaterFire poster for you. For more information please click here.

Buddy The Movie DVD being released

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BUDDY, THE MOVIE DVD RELEASE PARTY –
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25TH
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EVENT HIGHLIGHTS:
* The last showing of this award-winning movie on the big screen, with a post-film party.
* Every ticket holder gets a special pre-release copy of the BUDDY DVD.
* Director, Cherry Arnold, will be doing a post-film Q&A, with special guests....
* Cherry Arnold will be presenting Buddy Cianci with the www.buddycianci.com
website address.
* Raffle prizes, movie posters and more!

LOCATION: The Providence Biltmore Grand Ballroom
11 Dorrance Street Providence, RI

TIME: Doors open at 6:30pm, film starts at 7pm sharp.
Q&A and Party directly follows.

TICKETS: $40 – Available exclusively at ArtTixRI
Buy Now: http://www.arttixri.com/find_tix.cfm?PDID=13502

Space is limited - get your tickets today!

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BUDDY, THE MOVIE OUT ON DVD – ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26TH
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The DVD is packed with extras and special features, including:
* Buddy Cianci's first post-prison interview
* 'A Promise for Change,' a documentary (1976) about Buddy Cianci's first run for Mayor in 1974
* Chapter Selections
* Film Out-Takes
* Special DVD packaging, featuring rare photos, campaign materials and press coverage of Buddy Cianci's 30-year political career.

WHERE TO BUY: The DVD will be available at ALL Rhode Island Blockbuster, Borders, and Barnes and Noble stores.

The DVD is also available at Amazon.com and can be Pre-Ordered Now By Clicking the link to the left:



FILM AWARDS AND ACCOLADES


WINNER: Best of Festival, Pacific Palisades Film Festival, Pacific Palisades, CA
WINNER: Best Documentary, Boston Film Festival
WINNER: Best Documentary, Audience Award, RI International Film Festival
WINNER: Best Emerging Documentary Filmmaker, Cherry Arnold for BUDDY, Woods Hole Film Festival, Woods Hole, MA

“RIVETING, EDUCATIONAL AND FUNNY!"
The Newport Mercury

****“ARNOLD CAPTURES CIANCI'S VIVID PERSONALITY.”
The Providence Journal

“DON’T MISS THIS FILM!”
The Boston Phoenix

****“FASCINATING!”
The Cape Cod Times

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ABOUT THE FILM
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BUDDY is a feature documentary about the often contradictory and always audacious public figure, Buddy Cianci, the former Mayor of Providence, RI. From his early promise prosecuting organized crime to his success overseeing Providence's "renaissance," the film tracks Cianci's entanglements with city council opposition, union skirmishes, personal scandals, and criminal indictments. The result is a fascinating study of American local politics and a surprising tale of a man who, in the words of one commentator, "has a city as his mistress."
Narrated by James Woods