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Monroe library to present 'Syncopated City' April 8
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MONROE - The 2004 Michael Kantor documentary film "Syncopated City" from the series "Broadway: The American Musical," will be presented at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 8 at the Monroe Public Library, 925 16th Ave. The film is the fifth in a series of seven film screenings being presented as a partnership between the Monroe Arts Center and the Monroe Public Library.

Each of the film screenings focus on a different genre of American music, with each genre represented in an upcoming Monroe Arts Center 2013-14 performance. The series uses documentary film and a brief post-film discussion to engage the public in a study of some of America's popular music. Films will be shown approximately one week prior to a corresponding MAC performance.

"Syncopated City" precedes the MAC performance of Two on Tap: A Tribute to Song and Dance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12.

Narrated by Julie Andrews, "Syncopated City" focuses on the 1920s, Broadway's most prolific era. It's the age of "Whoopee" and the "Charleston," Runnin' Wild and the George White Scandals. The Gershwin brothers, the minstrels of the Jazz Age, bring a "Fascinating Rhythm" to an entire nation. The episode features interviews and on-camera commentary by historians, performers, writers, musicians, and critics including actress Carol Channing, Gershwin sister Frances Gershwin Godowsky, critic Margo Jefferson, musician and composer Stephen Sondheim, writer Miles Krueger, and New Yorker theater critic John Lahr. Highlights include performance footage of composer Eubie Blake and a specially animated sequence of Rodgers and Hart's 1927 hit "Thou Swell" from "A Connecticut Yankee." The film is about 60 minutes long.

Following the film screening, a half-hour discussion, led by James Beaudry, will take place from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.. Beaudry serves as executive director, producer and choreographer at Timber Lake Playhouse in Mt. Carroll, Ill. In addition to over 50 productions for Timber Lake, he has appeared on stage in numerous productions across the U.S. He has served as a peer reviewer for Oxford University Press, Music and Dance Division, and has been featured in Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit Magazine, and Backstage. He holds a Master of Fine Arts, Mills College, and a Bachelor of Arts, The College of Wooster.

All film screenings and discussions are free and opening to the public.

Those who attend the film screening and discussion are eligible to win tickets to the Monroe Arts Center performance of "Two on Tap: A Tribute to Song and Dance."

For more information, contact MAC at 608-325-5700, 888-596-1249 or at www.monroeartscenter.com.