Correction: The next meeting of the Board of Directors will be at 10:00 on Friday, April 28, hybrid in TA‑1 at Tallwood and on Zoom. The Meetings & Clubs table in the April 7 E‑News showed it incorrectly for April 21.
Get ready to vote (for five) in the OLLI Board election! Click here to read candidate statements. Watch for events where you can meet the candidates (e.g., Annual Meeting May 5, 10:00). The election is May 5‑19.
The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published Friday, April 21; the regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, April 18, at 6:00.
By Brenda Bloch-Young and Doris Bloch, Co-Moderators
On Wednesday, April 19, at 4:00, Team Bloch will moderate a conversation on “What are you streaming now?”
During the pandemic, we all adapted to streaming movies and series at home. What streaming options do you favor? Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, or others? Do you opt in and out based on current offerings? Now that we are more comfortable interacting with the world, have you canceled any of these services? Has your content consumption changed? Please join us and share your thoughts.
Please join us and tell us what your favorites are. Meeting ID and password are on the OLLI daily schedule and are identical to the chat line logins; plan on some social time with Team Bloch.
By Darden Purcell, D.M.A., Mason Director of Jazz Studies, Jazz Voice
In the last issue of E-News, we noted two jazz offerings coming up next week (The Jazz Workshop on April 17 and The Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble at Blues Alley on April 19). Here are three more great events near the end of April to cap off the month!
MASON JAZZ VOCAL NIGHT
April 24, 2023, 8:00
Center for the Arts, Concert Hall Tickets:Click here.
Join Dr. Darden Purcell, the Mason Jazz Voice Studio, and Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble for an evening of swinging standards and classic hits from the Great American Songbook. Special guest choir is Forest Park High School Platinum Vocal Jazz Ensemble, directed by Lara Brittain!
JAZZ COMBOS
April 26, 2023, 8:00
De Laski Performing Arts Building, 3001
Free and Open to the Public
The Mason Jazz Combos, directed by Wade Beach, perform their spring 2023 concert!
International Jazz Day
April 30, 2023, 7:00
Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Share the vibrancy and vitality of jazz music with Mason Jazz students and faculty on April 30! International Jazz Day brings together communities, schools, artists, historians, academics, and jazz enthusiasts on all continents to celebrate and learn about jazz and its roots, future, and impact. School of Music ensembles performing will be the Mason Jazz Ensemble (director, Jim Carroll), Latin American Ensemble (director, Juan Megna), Mason Steel Pan Ensemble (director, Victor Provost), Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble (director, Darden Purcell) and very special guests, Positive Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra (directors, Khandeya Sheppard, Domenic Lewis and Ronald Lee Jr.).
By Norma Jean Reck, Theater Lovers’ Group Coordinator
Urinetown
Sunday, May 7, join Theater Lovers’ Group (TLG) to see the 2:00 matinee performance of Urinetown at Workhouse Arts Theater in Lorton. The play, a Tony award-winning comedy musical, is set in a Gotham-like city where only public toilets are available for everyone's use due to a 20-year drought that caused a severe shortage of water. A hero emerges to lead a revolution that exposes the shortcomings of the social, legal, and political systems that results in gales of raucous laughter.
Tickets: $33 plus $3 per person fee. Optional riverside dining in Occoquan immediately following the performance. For more information, email Norma at njreck@cs.com.
Audrey
Sunday, May 21, join TLG to see the 2:00 matinee performance of Audrey at Creative Cauldron in Falls Church. This regional premiere is a musical based on the life of Audrey Hepburn from her teenage years as a spy in Holland during WWII to her iconic star status as a leading lady in Hollywood. Who can forget her 'little black dress'?
Tickets: Group rate is $45 per person. Optional après-show dining at a sophisticated restaurant nearby. To sign up for the show and dinner, please email Norma at njreck@cs.com ASAP as tickets are going fast.
In the Heights
Saturday, June 10, join TLG to see the 2:00 matinee performance of In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda at NextStop Theatre in Herndon. The award-winning musical tells the story of the sea change that occurred during a period of three days of sweltering heat to the Dominican immigrants living in New York City's Washington Heights area, through the eyes of the local bistro owner. It's the prequel to Westside Story. Group-rate tickets are $44 per person. Optional après-show dinner at a nearby restaurant. To sign up for the show and dinner, please email Norma at njreck@cs.com.
Guests are always welcome to join members of TLG at our outings. If you would like to join OLLI's TLG, go online to the member portal and register for it just like you do for a class, or you can email Susan Job, OLLI's registrar, at ollireg@gmu.edu, and ask Susan to help you sign up for Theater Lovers' Group.
By Norma Jean Reck, Theater Lovers' Group Coordinator
Did you know that about fifteen to twenty minutes from OLLI's Fairfax campus, just off Route 123, there is a 55‑acre campus that is home to a flourishing community center for the visual and performing arts? This year‑round venue offers opportunities to meet with working artists; browse art galleries; enjoy live music, stand-up comedy, and dinner and a movie; take health and wellness classes like Pilates, Yoga, art, and cooking classes; visit a museum on the history of the suffragettes, and so much more.
Want to know more about The Workhouse Arts Center? Be sure to join the class “Couch Tour of the Workhouse Arts Center” via Zoom on Wednesday, April 19, at 2:00 when Liz Colandene, the Performing Arts coordinator for Workhouse Arts Foundation, Inc., will meet virtually with OLLI members to discuss its history, educational and military art program offerings, and current theater offering – Urinetown – a laugh-out-loud show with a terrible title.
Mark your calendar: Wednesday, April 19, at 2:00. Everyone is invited to join Theater Lovers’ Group!
Start from the Nature Center parking lot,
the flyer said, take the mulched woodland path
and follow it through hardwoods, pines,
cross a small stream on logs—note the bluebells,
native plants—continue on.
And there, where the path curves, skirting
a low treeless mound, we saw them—outcropped
jutting stones—but low now and worn—and old—
old as continents, old as the Triassic Lowlands,
angular and still amid small mossy plants
and ferns.
Abrupt old stones, you who knew the
Pleistocene, tectonic lift, the folding and rift
and the long, unimaginable eons—the Miocene,
the Cambrian—you who have come to rest—
who tell us of deep time. Caroline McNeil
For tickets for either Center for the Arts Concert Hall (CFA) or HyltonCenter, call 1-888-945-2468, buy tickets online through the event calendar (see links below), or visit the venue's box office. For more information, see the CFAticket pageor the Hylton Center ticket purchase page.
Current vaccination policy for the Center for the Arts and Hylton Performing Arts Center is summarized as follows:
Audience members are not currently required to show proof of vaccination, or a negative COVID-19 test result for most events except when required by the event organizer or artist. If proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result is required for a specific event, it will be indicated on the webpage with event details.
Dr. Linda Apple Monson produces a periodic “Notes from the Director.” This email is full of interesting online performances by the students and faculty of the School of Music. If you would like to receive these bulletins, just sign up at this link to stay in touch. Also, the Center for the Arts has a website,Mason Arts at Home, which has a calendar of online events and access to many past performances. Information can also be found at CFA ticket purchase page, Center for the Arts YouTube Channel, or the Hylton ticket purchase page.
State Ballet of Georgia
Sat, Apr 15, 8:00
Concert Hall
A pre-performance discussion will take place in Monson Grand Tier, on the third level of the Center for the Arts Lobby, 45 minutes prior to curtain.
Admission: $60, $51, $36.
Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel: Mozart and Friends
Sun, Apr 16, 7:00
Concert Hall
A pre-performance “Young Artists Musicale,” featuring piano students of Northern Virginia Music Teachers Association members, will take place from 6:00-6:30 in the main lobby of the Center for the Arts.
An interactive question-and-answer session will conclude this program.
Admission: $50, $43, $29.
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra with George Li, piano
Sat, Apr 22, 8:00
Concert Hall
A pre-performance discussion with pianist George Li and Fairfax Symphony Orchestra Conductor Christopher Zimmerman will take place in Monson Grand Tier, on the third level of the Center for the Arts lobby, 45 minutes prior to curtain.
Admission: $65, $55, $40.
Please note: Although some physical meetings for clubs and activities are canceled, some may be meeting in person or, in a hybrid mode, both in person and online. OLLI events and activities meeting online bear the identification "Z" in their course or event number (except clubs; you may need to check the OLLI calendar and daily schedule email for location and other event information). Refer to the university's coronavirus website for official university updates.
The following list covering the next two weeks is extracted for your convenience from the master online calendar maintained by the office. The list is accurate as of mid-week but for the most up-to-date information, please view the latest forecast of coming events on our website (News/OLLI Calendar). Note: All OLLI members are welcome at, and encouraged to attend, meetings of the Board of Directors, committees and resource groups, kick-off coffees, etc., bolded below. The OLLI office has sent (or will send) emails with links and meeting passwords to club members; you may also log in at the member portal and click on ZOOM CLASS LINKS.
Sat Apr 15
10:30 am
1:00 pm
Tai Chi Club
Personal Computer User Group
Mon Apr 17
9:30 am
What’s in the Daily News?
Tue Apr 18
4:00 pm
4:30 pm
Spanish Club
Tai Chi Club
Wed Apr 19
1:45 pm
1:45 pm
2:00 pm
Bridge Club
Mah Jongg Club
Memoir and More Writing Group
Thu Apr 20
2:00 pm
4:30 pm
Walk & Talk Club
Tai Chi Club
Fri Apr 21
9:30 am
11:00 am
11:00 am
Craft and Conversation
Classic Literature Club
Homer, etc.
Sat Apr 22
10:30 am
Tai Chi Club
Mon Apr 24
9:30 am
What’s in the Daily News?
Tue Apr 25
1:15 pm
4:30 pm
Humanities and Social Sciences/Current Events Program Planning Group Meeting
Tai Chi Club
Wed Apr 26
1:45 pm
1:45 pm
4:00 pm
4:00 pm
Bridge Club
Spanish Club
Mah Jongg Club
Theater Lovers’ Group
Thu Apr 27
4:00 pm
4:30 pm
Reston Book Club
Tai Chi Club
Fri Apr 28
9:30 am
10:00 am
11:00 am
11:00 am
12:00 noon
2:00 pm
Craft and Conversation Board of Directors Meeting
Classic Literature Club
Homer, etc.
Photography Club
Walk & Talk Club
OLLI E-News was created by Rod Zumbro, who served as its editor from 2005 to 2013.
Editorial Staff
Chief Editor: Paul Van Hemel
Associate Editor: David Gundry
Weekly Editor Team: David Gundry, John Nash, Sheri Siesseger,Paul Van Hemel Proofreaders: Rebecca Jann, Susan Van Hemel, Linda Randall, Tom Appich, Jane Hassell
Submissions: Members are encouraged to submit letters to the editor, letters to Ms. Ollie Ettakit (on etiquette matters), OLLI-related news items, articles, and photos. Submit material to: ollienewseditor@gmail.com. Deadline: Tuesday, 6:00, for that week's issue (Monday, 6:00, for letters to the editor); early submissions are greatly appreciated. Please limit articles to about 250 words. Note: You can view past issues of OLLI E-News on the DocStore. To search the content of issues, use Search Our Site or put your search term in Google followed by "site:olli.gmu.edu/" without the quotes.
Urinetown
Audrey
In the Heights
Want to know more about The Workhouse Arts Center? Be sure to join the class “Couch Tour of the Workhouse Arts Center” via Zoom on Wednesday, April 19, at 2:00 when Liz Colandene, the Performing Arts coordinator for Workhouse Arts Foundation, Inc., will meet virtually with OLLI members to discuss its history, educational and military art program offerings, and current theater offering – Urinetown – a laugh-out-loud show with a terrible title.