Copious Notes

MSNBC Political analyst Chris Matthews, left, political consultant Stephanie Cutter and Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear prepare for an interview after a commercial break during a taping of the show “Hardball with Chris Matthews” on Thursday. Debate Festival area outside the 2012 Vice Presidential Debate,Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 at Centre College in Danville. © Herald-Leader photo by Jonathan Palmer.

Today is the day for Danville’s major media closeup as all the networks and many other media outlets present live coverage from Centre College, site of the 2012 vice-presidential debate between incumbent Joe Biden and challenger U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). We’ll be keeping an eye on television coverage and noting any funny, meaningful, cool or otherwise noteworthy moments from the coverage.

Midnight

Big shocker, on Fox News the feeling is Paul Ryan was the adult in the room rising about Joe Bidens smirky rudeness and on MSNBC the general feeling is Biden put the Obama campaign back on track with a feisty performance that helped put the Obama-Biden ticket back on track.

It looks like Chris Matthews is going to be the one to turn out the lights with a final Hardball from in front of the Centre Library. The crowd is dying down – just a few dozen folks hanging on the rail. By 1 a.m., it might just be him and Lincoln, and I don’t think Matthews would mind.

Good night.

11:20 p.m.

Fox News’ Sean Hannity told U.S. Sen. Mich McConnell (R-Ky.) he noticed debate organizers were giving away Bourbon. McConnell replied that Kentucky loves Bourbon and Hannity said he wondered if Vice-president Joe Biden had some before the debate.

8:50 p.m. 

Martha Raddatz on stage now at the Norton Center on CNN. She offers the cell phone warning and says that having worked in war zones she is not used to having her back to the audience and she is also not used to all the fuss prepping for the debate. “Usually I just roll out,” she says.

Props to CNN. It has not had as much of an on-air Kentucky presence as its cable news brethren, but in the final hour before the debate, CNN has been the network to convey the sense of an impending event from footage inside the hall to spin room interviews to moments others have not shown.

8:37 p.m.

Very cool that CNN is showing in a spilt screen the audience seated and the preliminary program before the debate. Really didn’t know there was a preliminary program.

8:07 p.m.

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell is doing a standup in front of a banner that says NCAA 2012 Basketball Champions. Wonder how that slipped in to Centre College. Have to say that when we contacted MSNBC to ask who was coming to Danville, they named three: Chris Mattews, Chuck Todd and Andrea Mitchell. But they actually have a good compliment of people in Danville including Tamryn Hall, Krystal Ball and O’Donnell, plus a number of their regular contributors like Mark Halperin and Eugene Robinson, who both have day jobs with print publications, on site.

Still, the left-leaning network’s coverage is anchored from New York with Rachel Maddow leading a long table of talking heads.

While Fox has Bill O’Reilly on now, they will be the only network actually anchoring from Kentucky.

CNN’s correspondent says that the Norton Center for the Arts’ Newlin Hall is freezing and notes that most people in the hall are looking through the official program.

7:50 p.m.

Fox News live shot of Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) shows an increasingly busy spin alley as debate time draws closer.

Coverage across the board is decidedly turning toward the main event at this point. Enough chat about bourbon and shopping runs to Walmart. The chatter is focused on R’s and D’s and last-minute prognostication about how the debate will go. Well, not all the chatter feels like it’s lasting minutes.

7:45 p.m.

I have to wonder what it’s like watching this fight between Chris Matthews, Michael Steele and Joy Ann Reid on Hardball with one of three fighters (Reid) not at the table.

7:05 p.m. 

Lots of blue Obama signs have flooded the background of Chris Matthews’ Hardball, though he has a pretty ardent heckler in the background. It seemed to be tripping up his opening monologue.

Fox and Shepard Smith  are once again inside the Norton Center with throws outside.

6:50 p.m.

Kind of a quiet hour Kentucky-wise. The network news shows threw to correspondents in Danville, but with short time, they were very focused on the event at hand. Looking to see how much the rowdiness has ratcheted up when MSNBC goes back to Hardball at sunset.

6:18 p.m.

Bret Baier of Fox News gives a tour of the Norton Center stage calling Newlin Hall an “intimate space.” He then takes a fast-forward walk over to the gym-turned-media center and Spin Room. A photographer in the background of Baier’s interview with Obama spokesperson Stephanie Cutter can’t seem to get out of the Fox shot.

6:07 p.m.

CNN’s Jim Acosta, in Danville, reports the Ryan camp is upset Time magazine released new photos of the vice-presidential candidate today. The photos, including Ryan in workout mode, have created a bit of a buzz in the political echo chamber. Wolf Blitzer says Time editor Rick Stengel says they thought it was a good time to put the images out.

6 p.m. 

Sign over Chris Matthews shoulder during the “Let me finish” segment on Hardball: Coach Cal for President.

Rev. Al Sharpton did not make the trip to Kentucky, so MSNBC is originating from New York the next hour.

Bret Baier’s Special Report is originating from inside the Norton Center for the Arts, which Baier fully name tagged in his intro.

5:50 p.m.

Kimberly Guilfoyle is on Fox News out in front of the Norton Center showing a nice display of Kentucky Beverages. “Don’t drink that!” co-host Eric Bolling shouts, but she does anyway. They and the other three hosts — it’s called The Five for a reason — then go into a quick discussion about how Ryan will win tonight and Guilfoyle signs off with, “Kisses from Kentucky.”

5:25 p.m.

Wolf Blitzer! You couldn’t move the Situation Room to Kentucky?

5:20 p.m.

Back from a drive-time errand. Heard NPR’s Don Gonyea talking about the beautiful drive from Lexington to Danville – y’all are here at the perfect time. He also talked about seeing a gas station with a big “Thrill in the ‘Ville sign.”

On MSNBC, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear is on Hardball with host Chris Matthews and Stephanie Cutter, spokesperson for President Barack Obama’s campaign. Matthews asked Beshear, a Democrat, how he got elected in such as red state that has sent Republican Senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell to congress. Beshear said Kentucky is a “schizophrenic state” that voted for Jimmy Carter, then Ronald Reagan, then Bill Clinton, then George W. Bush in Presidential elections.

3:25 p.m.

CNN has not originated a show from Danville since we have been watching, but they are doing a lot of live shots from in front of the Norton Center. Right now U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) is in a spirited interview with anchor Brooke Baldwin.

3:05 p.m.

MSNBC’s Krystal Ball is live from Danville, opening The Cycle noting Kentucky is the home state of Muhammad Ali and invoking fight metaphors for tonight’s fight: Joey “Deleware” Bide vs. Paul “The Kid” Ryan. BTW, yes, that is Krystal’s real name.

Also, Centre’s Dead Fred is getting its moment in the spotlight, periodically being held aloft in the background on MSNBC. The portrait is of Fred Vinson, a Centre alum from Louisa who went on to become Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The portrait goes everywhere, including to all Centre home football games. According to the Centre website, Dead Fred was the first to be seated at the 2000 VP debate.

Chase Ely, left, Nick Hiller, Alyson Partain, Miranda Willis and Preetha Suresh attempt to be seen by MSNBC cameras outside Crounse Hall on Thursday. Debate Festival area outside the 2012 Vice Presidential Debate,Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 at Centre College in Danville. © Herald-Leader photo by Jonathan Palmer.

2:04 p.m.

Fun moment: On Fox, Kelly did a throw to Ed Henry, who appeared to be standing about 10 feet from Kelly judging by the backdrops in the shot of her and the shot of him. Turned out, when Kelly outed the shot, it was even less than that. Henry stepped over and complimented Kelly’s Walmart wardrobe. Wonder if Bret Baier’s stuff made it to Kentucky?

Tamryn Hall’s show is now on MSNBC live from Danville with guest Chris Matthews, host of Hardball. Sign being held behind Matthews: “Chris Matthews listens to Nickleback.” Insult? I’d take it that way. The network’s promo for the veep debate is “Wingman Showdown.”

1:50 p.m. 

Delta Airlines is getting no love from Fox News’  Megyn Kelly. She says they lost her luggage, including the choice outfit she had for tonight’s broadcast,  and she had to go to the Danville Walmart for clothes to wear on the air today.

1:15 p.m. 

As we start at 1 p.m., both MSNBC and Fox News have gone live from the Centre campus. Andrea Mitchell is on the air with a sea of observers behind her hoisting “Centre Debate 2012″ signs behind her. Supporters of Republican nominee Mitt Romney and Ryan also are flooding the backdrop for the Democratic-leaning network with their signs.

Over on Fox, Megyn Kelly has the Norton Centre for the Arts, site of the debate, behind her but not as much activity as the area in front of the Norton Center has restricted access. Fox has 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin on commenting on debating Biden, who she faced four years ago. The former Alaska Governor, interviewed from a location that appeared far west of here and south of Alaska, recalled the man who played Biden was “a real stinker,” who made her wonder if Biden would be that much of a “stinker” and she said she thinks Ryan needs to trip Biden up on his flip-flops.

Earlier in the day, MSNBC’s Chuck Todd hosted his Daily Rundown show from the networks Centre outpost and guests including analyst Michael Steele and U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) commented along with Todd that they could use a nip of bourbon to ward off the frosty morning chill.

Fox News’ Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier, shown anchoring Republican Primary coverage, will anchor coverage of the vice-presidential debate from Danville Thursday night. © Photo courtesy of Fox News.

Danville will be the place to be for political media junkies over the next few days for Thursday night’s vice-presidential debate between incumbent Joe Biden and his challenger, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Several network and cable news outlets have announced lineups that will put a who’s who of high-profile journalists on the ground in Kentucky, although a few talking heads will remain at anchor desks in New York and Washington.

Fox News has one of the larger contingents coming to Danville, including Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly, who will anchor the network’s debate coverage Thursday night and their own shows, Kelly’s America Live at 1 p.m. and Baier’s Special Report at 6 p.m. Also originating for Danville will be Studio B with Shepard Smith at 3 p.m., Your World with Neil Cavuto at 4 p.m. and The Five at – ha! – 5 p.m. Also reporting from Danville will be Fox News chief White House correspondent Ed Henry, chief political correspondent Carl Cameron and general assignment reporter Steve Brown.

ABC News correspondent Marth Raddatz will moderate Thursday’s vice-presidential debate. © ABC News photo by Randy Sager.

The NBC/MSNBC contingent will be led by Hardball host Chris Matthews, who will originate his Thursday broadcast from Danville, along with Andrea Mitchell and Chief White House correspondent and poll guru Chuck Todd, who has already tweeted, “Danville, KY, an hour from everywhere?”

CNN has not responded to requests for information or posted coverage information.

ABC News senior foreign affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz will moderate the debate. ABC News will have David Muir covering the Republican campaign of Mitt Romney and Ryan, and senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper covering the Barack Obama and  Biden campaign.

CBS News will have two correspondents in Danville: congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes covering the Obama-Biden ticket and chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford covering Romney-Ryan.

Those into the voices of NPR can listen for national desk correspondent Debbie Elliott and Washington desk correspondent Brian Naylor in Danville, and correspondent Don Gonyea, who will participate in a vice-presidential debate round table produced by WEKU-FM and broadcast at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday.

We’ll update as we hear about more news personalities in Danville.

Check out our Storify coverage of debate prep and media convergence on Danville.

Ben Sollee. Photo by Magnus Lindqvist.

Ben Sollee is five years into his career as a recording artist, having built a national following through persistent touring and earning high-profile gigs such as Jimmy Kimmel Live and features on CNN. But it still isn’t hard for Sollee to get home to Lexington.

“If anything, it gets easier because I have more ­resources at my disposal,” Sollee says. “Whether it’s working with West Sixth Brewery for an arts space in that place, producing another Kentucky artists’ record or something else, the resources are more plentiful. The ­biggest resource that’s hard is just time.”

Sollee is speaking from his Lexington home ­Tuesday morning, where he has just landed for a little more week. During that time, he’ll perform in Louisville Friday and Saturday and at the Centre College Debate ­Festival in Danville ­surrounding Thursday’s vice presidential debate in the Norton Center for the Arts.

Sollee’s music makes ­social statements about ­issues important to him, but he says playing the Debate Festival is simply about ­playing music, not taking stands.

After Thursday, he will go back on the road for a tour in support of his new album, Half Made Man.

It’s a record that finds Sollee expanding the folk-cello vibe he has created for a bigger, more electric feel.

“A huge part of the sound and the feel of this record is the musicians that were involved and how they played and their characters ­themselves, whether its Carl’s (Broemel) electric guitar or Alana Rocklin’s amazing bass playing, and of course Jordan Ellis, another ­Kentuckian, has a very signature ­drumming style,” Sollee says. ­“Everybody just pitched in with their own character, and that’s what makes the sound, rather than a specific artistic idea.

“That’s really the best shot, to just make music with good musicians.”

Sollee says the ­largeness of the sound developed organically, due in part to ­having the ­musicians ­together. On previous ­records, he would have to layer tracks to develop a ­bigger sound.

“Here, it was so much easier to just say, ‘Let’s rock,’ and from our collective energy we got this big, big sound,” Sollee says.

To make Half Made Man, Sollee went to the well that many musicians have been dipping into to finance ­recordings, crowd sourcing.

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Shops on Main Street in Berea boast numerous arts and crafts offerings that help enhance the city's status as a cultural district. © Herald-Leader staff photo by Mark Cornelison.

The Central Kentucky cities of Danville and Berea were among the first five communities to receive Kentucky Cultural District Certification. The honor, administered by the Kentucky Arts Council and presented by First Lady Jane Beshear and Madeline Abramson, wife of Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson, is part of an effort to connect cultural assets to economic development.

The Great American Brass Band Festival is one of Danville's annual cultural events. © Herald-Leader photo by Chet White.

The other communities to receive the designation were Covington, Paducah and Horse Cave, all of which are well known for their cultural offerings.

According to a news release from the Kentucky Arts Council, “A cultural district is a well-recognized, labeled, mixed-use area of a community featuring a high concentration of cultural amenities that attract local residents and visitors alike. Cultural districts can be found in any type of community, from small and rural to large and urban. Kentucky’s program is designed to showcase each community’s unique character and assets.”

There were 26 applicants for the first round of designations. The honorees were selected by an independent panel, and the Arts Council says it will continue to work with prospective communities that hope to receive the designation.

Through the warm or semi-warm months, there are scads of foot races in Central Kentucky. But folks in Danville have come up with something a little different. Inspired by the movie Tron, the Trun is a two-mile night run through Danville that will involve various light-related challenges. Participants are encouraged to come dressed in lighted or glowing gear and they will be issued lighted discs for challenges along the course that will allow them to shave time off their runs. In addition to prizes for speed, there will also be prizes for best costumes and other awards.

The run takes place in association with the Lawnchair Theatre’s showing of Tron at 9 p.m. at Constitution Square. The entry fee is $20 in advance, $26 the day of the race. Visit Danville’s website for more information and registration forms.

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra rarely plays outside of New York in the United States. Copyrighted photo courtesy of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Norton Center for the Arts director George Foreman and director of programs and public relations Debra Hoskins were in the office of a powerful New York classical music manager with a big idea: They wanted to bring one of the world’s great orchestras to Danville for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

They were thinking about the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Impossible, the agent told them. It would never happen.

Walking down a long hall after the meeting, Foreman recalls looking back over his shoulder at Hoskins as she whispered, “I’m going to get Vienna.”

That agent, he said, had just said “No” to the wrong person.

Gustavo Dudamel.

A little over two years later, last Tuesday, Hoskins was in the Norton Center’s Newlin Hall as Centre College and Alltech officials announced the Vienna Philharmonic would indeed be coming to Danville with hotshot young conductor Gustavo Dudamel wielding the baton.

The deal came together with a combination of relationship building, working through non-traditional channels and raising a whole bunch of money.

“It was all Debbie’s work,” said Foreman, who left the Norton Center at the end of last year to take the helm of the University of Georgia’s performing arts center. “If I was still there, it certainly would be the biggest concert I ever presented. I can say with deep admiration, I wish I had done it.”

Foreman, who presented numerous huge acts including Yo-Yo Ma and the New York Philharmonic in little ol’ Danville (pop. 15,477) during his 26-year tenure there, ventures to call the Sept. 27 performance, “The biggest classical music concert ever in Kentucky.”

It certainly has to be near the top. Why?

It’s the freaking Vienna Philharmonic. This is a group you read about in history books, whose recordings you listen to on albums with black and white photos on the cover and golden yellow labels on the record. The Vienna Phil’s albums are benchmark editions of most pieces they’ve recorded, and they’ve pretty much recorded everything under batons of maestros such as Furtwängler, Böhm, von Karajan and Bernstein.

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Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in October 2009. Copyrighted photo by Jason Redmond | AP.

UPDATED, BELOW.

DANVILLE - The hottest star in classical music, 29-year-old Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel, will conduct the venerable Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at Centre College’s Norton Center for the Arts on Sept. 27, during the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

“This is the jewel in the crown of the Fortnight Festival,” Alltech founder and president Pearse Lyons said, referring to the arts and entertainment festival that will coincide with the games, Sept. 25 to Oct. 10 at the Kentucky Horse Park.

The Danville engagement will be a rare United States appearance outside of New York for the Vienna Philharmonic, considered by most observers to be among the best, if not the best, orchestra in the world.

The only other United States appearance by the Vienna orchestra with Dudamel will be Sept. 30 at New York’s Carnegie Hall, the final concert in a series of three Vienna Philharmonic performances that will open the legendary venue’s 2010-11 season.

But they come to Danville first.

Norton Center director of programs and public relations Debra Hoskins said the process of inviting the Philharmonic and Dudamel started in February 2008, with the intention of attracting the biggest name possible to play Danville during the games.

“At first, I was told it was impossible to get the Vienna Philharmonic to come to the Norton Center,” Hoskins said. But she contacted the orchestra through the Austrian embassy in Washington D.C. and, “they were intrigued by the idea of coming during the World Equestrian Games.”

Hoskins said it was the VPO that, at her suggestion, secured Dudamel for the concert, part of the Alltech Fortnight Festival presented in conjunction with the games.

At the time, Dudamel was a rising star in classical music, known for his work directing the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and high-profile guest conducting gigs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and around the world. His star has since shot across the music world’s sky having finished his first season as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The Los Angeles Times’ Mark Swed wrote Dudamel’s Los Angeles Philharmonic debut represented, “an embrace of a new generation and cultural point of view.”

In L.A., he is known as “The Dude,” and is celebrated by Hollywood glitteratti.  His L.A. Phil debut was broadcast by PBS, he has been profiled on shows like 60 Minutes and 20/20 and he has been named on numerous lists of influential people, not just in music.

The Vienna Philharmonic is among the most storied orchestras on the planet, having given world premier performances of symphonies by Johannes Brahms and counted conductors such as Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein as its artistic leaders, though the orchestra has had no principal conductor or music director since 1933.

Tickets to performances of the orchestra in is home base of Musikverein in Vienna are as difficult to get as University of Kentucky basketball tickets, with waiting lists the only available option for subscription concert seasons.

For the Danville concert, tickets are $100 to $375 by calling 1-877-448-7469 or visiting the Norton Center box office. (Click here for a breakdown of ticket prices and seating locations.) There will be no online sales. The top tier tickets include a pre-concert dinner cooked by chefs flown in from Paris. (Note: Due to a miscommunication with the Norton Center, we previously stated tickets would go on sale Thursday, May 27. They are on sale now.) Centre College students will be able to attend the orchestra’s rehearsal for free.

But the event will also be available to people outside the Norton Center’s Newlin Hall. Pat Dalbey, president and general manager of WLEX, said the NBC affiliate is planning a live broadcast of the concert and portions of it may be used in NBC’s coverage of the Games. NBC is a sponsor of the concert along with a half-dozen local sponsors.

“It’s a community event of exceeding importance,” Dalbey said. “We know a lot of people who can’t get inside the hall will still want to be part of it.”

The program will include Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” and music by Bernstein and Maurice Ravel. The Danville audience will have some glitter of its own, with Princess Haya of Jordan, president of FEI, having accepted an invitation to the event.

At Tuesday’s announcement, Lyons said additional Fortnight Festival acts will be announced on June 17, 100 days from the opening of the games.

In Bill Estep’s story about flood cleanup this morning, you may have noticed  this item:

In Danville, the Pioneer Playhouse was working to clean up after its backstage area was submerged, according to the Danville Advocate-Messenger. The playhouse’s season is slated to open June 11. A recording at the playhouse said a volunteer cleanup day is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

Holly Henson.

The theater’s director, Holly Henson, sent along a note with a little more detail last night:

Backstage is a mess, with the costume shop the hardest hit–with TONS of heavy, dirty, starting-to-mildew costumes…we’re getting humidfiers in there tomorrow, and we’ve got big fans. The city helped channel the water out, but it stood there for almost 3 days…

It’s not going to delay our opening–but it really is a challenge. We are very short staffed this time of year. So we’ve put out the cry for help … this is beyond our skeleton crew of one 80-year old, one person coming off 10 months of chemo, one handyman with a bad back and a grounds manager in a wheelchair.

The direct playhouse office line: 859-236-0921

John Dilinger in an early wanted poster. Did he once sleep in Danville? Image from fbi.gov.

A world premier by Danville playwright Elizabeth Orndorff highlights the Pioneer Playhouse‘s 2010 season.

“The Dillinger Dilemma” is a comedy inspired by the local legend that gangster John Dillinger – who was just played on the big screen by Kentucky native Johnny Depp this summer in “Public Enemies” – spent a night in Danville’s Gilcher Hotel. According to the Pioneer Playhouse’s newsletter, Orndorff’s play, “explores old gossip in new and surprising ways.”

Orndorff had an award-winning hit that explored another local legend a few years ago with “Death by Darkness.” That play, which won top honors at Owensboro’s International Mystery Writers Festival and was subsequently presented by Pioneer Playhouse, keyed off the rumor that author Charles Dickens once visited Mammoth Cave.

“Dillinger” will play July 13 to 24.

The rest of the schedule is heavy on plays that look at the ups and downs and quirks of marriage.

June 11-26: “A Nice Family Gathering” by Phil Olson – A man decides to tell his wife he loves her, after he’s died. He plans his ghostly visit for a family gathering, but she’s invited a date.

June 29-July 10: “Miranda: The Catch of the Day” by Peter Blackmore – A doctor goes fishing and catches a mermaid. What will his wife say?

Holly Henson.

July 27-Aug. 7: “For Better” by Eric Coble – Here’s one for that couple on YouTube that took time out of their wedding ceremony to update their Facebook statuses to “Married.” This is a play about a texting, tweeting, e-mailing pair that, according to the newsletter, raises the question, do you have to be in the same room to exchange vows? Pioneer Playhouse artistic director Holly Henson stars in this one.

Aug 10-21: “Run for Your Wife” by Ray Cooney – A cab driver tries to maintain two wives on opposite sides of town, but his double life is in danger of being exposed.

Aug. 26-28: “Big Daddy’s Barbecue . . . (or: It’s Okay to be Married)” – A one-man show by Jeff Wayne in which he plays a guy at his barbecue grill contemplating life, marriage, kids and how to get out of going to the opera.

Showtimes are 8:30 p.m. with dinner served at 7:30. Tickets are $15 for shows only, $27 for dinner and the show. Call 1-866-597-5297 for reservations.

Holly Henson backstage at the Pioneer Playhouse in 2008. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

Danville’s Pioneer Playhouse has announced its 60th season, highlighted by a return — of sorts — of a Playhouse original and a few special events.

This is not only the 60th season of Pioneer Playhouse. It is also the 200th anniversary of Ephraim McDowell’s historic operation in which he removed a 22.5 pound ovarian tumor from Green County resident Jane Todd Crawford, thereby pioneering abdominal surgery. Playhouse founder Eben Henson wrote a play about McDowell and premiered it at the Playhouse decades ago. This summer, his daughter Holly is revisiting the topic. Holly Henson, the Playhouse’s artistic director, is updating the story in The Infamous Ephraim, June 23-July 4.

The season will open in a cinematic vein with Holly’s brother, film director Robby Henson, directing screen star Kim Darby in Jack Sharkey’s M is for the Million, June 5-20. Darby and Henson last collaborated in 2007 on Catherine Bush’s A Jarful of Fireflies, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the filming of Raintree County in Danville.

Rounding out the season will be:

• Lend Me a Tenor by Ken Ludwig — A comedy about an opera star replaced by a nobody after the star overdoses on tranquilizers, July 7-18.
• Girl Crazy by Guy Bolton & John McGowan — A stage adaptation of the 1943 Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland about a city slicker who falls in love with a cowgirl. July 21 – Aug. 1.
• Be My Baby by Ken Ludwig — An elderly couple loses their loathing for one another as they care for a newborn. Aug. 4-15.

The season caps off with two special productions:

Scott Hansen, five-time Minnesota comic of the year, will appear Aug. 20-22.

The Kentuckians Chorus barbershop group will perform a season-closing concert Aug. 29.