COVER STORY
First Night 2000: The program
Theater & spoken word
Les Barker
Comic poet performs in the English music hall tradition.
Sat. 6:45-7:30 p.m., 8-8:45 p.m., 9:15-10 p.m. John Hancock Hall: Dorothy Quincy Suite
Big Night in the Book House
Poetry, music, dance and light extravaganza. Features Stairway, a performance poem by Steven Ratiner, with dance by Dawn Kramer, Micki Taylor-Pinney and Dance Collective. Poets Martin Espada, Catherine A. Salmons, Charles Coe, Richard Cambridge, Li-Min Mo, and Elizabeth McKim perform to music by Patiño Vazquez and Vox Pop.
Fri. and Sat. 7-7:30 p.m., 8-8:30 p.m., 9-9:30 p.m., 10-10:30 p.m., 11-11:30 p.m. BPL: Deferrari Hall
Big Night in the Book House/Club Rabb
Poetry readings accompanied by jazz by the Jeff Robinson trio; poetry videos; and open mike poetry jam. Sunday, jazz musician Stan Strickland serves as jazz-and-blues-host for poetry readings. Part of 2000 Bridges Program.
Fri. and Sat. 7-7:30 p.m., 8-8:30 p.m., 9-9:30 p.m., 10-10:30 p.m., 11-11:30 p.m. BPL: Rabb Hall
Boston Interfaith Clergy Group
"Watch. Wait. Wonder." The service with celebrative music and ritual begins meditatively.
Fri. 11:15 p.m.-12:30 a.m. St. Paul's Cathedral
Boston Poetry Slam
Poets perform original work and the audience critiques it.
Fri. 6:15-7 p.m., 7:30-8:15 p.m., 8:45-9:30 p.m., 10-10:45 p.m. Boston Center for the Arts: Theatre
Citizen Schools
Showcase of theater, dance, and art created through this after-school apprenticeship program.
Fri. 7-7:40 p.m., 8-8:40 p.m., 9-9:40 p.m. Boston Center for the Arts: Black Box
First Night Youth Players
Boston teens perform their own work under the direction of playwright/director Gerry Speca (the inspiration for the Robin Williams character in "Good Will Hunting").
Fri. and Sat. 1-2:30 p.m., 3-4:30 p.m., 7:30-9 p.m., 9:30-11 p.m. Copley Theatre
ImprovBoston
Actors turn your ideas into scenes, songs, and stories.
Fri. 9-9:45 p.m. Walsh Theatre at Suffolk University
Tomas Kubinek
Comedy, invention, and magic by this "Certified Lunatic & Master of the Impossible."
Fri. 8-9 p.m., 9:45-10:45 p.m. John Hancock Hall
Lazer Vaudeville
Juggling, magic, acrobatics, and slapstick comedy with laser beams, black light illusion, and a fluorescent fire-breathing dragon.
Fri. 2-2:30 p.m., 3-3:30 p.m., 4-4:30 p.m. Sat. 1-1:30 p.m., 2-2:30 p.m., 3-3:30 p.m. John Hancock Hall
Millennium LabyrinTh/Bell the Minotaur
Performance artists Edgecomb/Novotny-Jones and Ean White enact the myth of the labyrinth. Since Thanksgiving, Ariadne and her Clone have been roaming the MBTA, telling how this modern-day underground maze was created and explaining the ancient Crete story of the half-man, half-beast Minotaur. The action culminates at Back Bay Station, where everyone is asked to help "bell" the Minotaur. For details, www.belltheminotaur.com.
Fri. 7-11 p.m. Back Bay T Station
Jay O'Callahan
At each session, he performs a different story about hardships and joys of family life. Aimed at adults.
Fri. 8-8:45 p.m., 9:15-10 p.m. John Hancock Hall: Dorothy Quincy Suite
Opera UnMet
"Hansel and Gretel," sung in English, accompanied by piano and incidental instruments. (Artist profile).
Fri. 8-8:50 p.m., 9:30-10:20 p.m. St. Paul's Cathedral
Dwayne Perkins
Edgy, street-wise comic, who has appeared on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." Adult-oriented material.
Sat. 7-7:45 p.m., 8:15-9 p.m. Wang
Pocket Full of Tales
Children, ages 3-10, can learn the elements of a play by creating and staging their own full-length fairytale.
Fri. 4-4:45 p.m. C. Walsh Theatre at Suffolk University
Puppet Cooperative Pageant
The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth is acted out against the backdrop of puppets and landscapes by the cooperative and the Back Alley Puppet Theatre. Open house Saturday to show puppet set-up; pageant Sunday.
Open House Sat. 1-6 p.m.; pageant Sun. 2:30-3:30 p.m., 4-5 p.m., 5:30-6:30 p.m. Emmanuel Church
"She Loves Me"
The first 50 First Night button holders get in free to the Lyric Stage's matinee of this holiday musical. Doors open at 2 p.m. for button holders.
Sun. 3-5:30 p.m. Lyric Stage
Sitcom!
You provide the situation, the cast provides the comedy in this improv spoof of prime-time TV.
Fri. 6:30-7:15 p.m. Walsh Theatre at Suffolk University
TheatreSports
Two teams of comedic athletes compete for laughs and points.
Fri. 7:45-8:30 p.m. Walsh Theatre at Suffolk University
Tony V
"Y2K? Why Not Too Kay?" a comic's riffs on the future. Aimed at adults. (Artist profile).
Sat. 9:30-10:15 p.m., 10:45-11:30 p.m. Wang Theatre
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