LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Theater Co. is continuing rehearsals for “The Cemetery Club,” a comedy by Ivan Menchell.  

The production is a benefit for the Lakeport Senior Activity Center “Meals-On-Wheels” program, which provides food to home bound seniors throughout Lake County.  

With more than 60,000 meals being provided each year, the expenses are huge, and cuts in funding have made it necessary to do fundraisers to supplement the costs. Seeing a great show is a fun way to help out.

There is nothing more satisfying for a director than to have a strong cast a well as a competent crew when putting on a play.  

The cast consists of Cindy Strong (Lucille), Kathleen Escude (Doris) and Cathy O’Connell (Ida). They portray three Jewish widows who have been friends for years.  

After the respective deaths of their husbands, they get together once a month for tea and to go clean up their husband’s cemetery plots.  

Their interaction with each other as they go about their daily lives is the stuff that makes life interesting with many quirky and humorous scenes.

Doug Burns (Sam the Butcher) brings a sense of adventure and maybe romance to the story and Michele Chapman (Mildred), surprises everyone when she arrives on the scene.  

These five performers make a perfect ensemble for this funny and poignant play.

Marg Brooks is the director, with Maheanani Phillips as her able assistant director. Cindy Strong is producer and Wink Winkler does his magic with the sets, lights and sound. Winkler will be assisted in painting the sets by Mike Ernst, a very talented artist. Josh Blair is stage manager.

Performances will take place at the Lakeport Senior Activity Center with a dinner show opening night.  

Production dates are Friday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. (doors open at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m.); Saturday, Sept. 22, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 28, at 7 p.m.; and Saturday, September 29, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Tickets for the dinner show are $20 and all other performances are $12, and can be purchased at the Lakeport Senior activity Center, 527 Konocti Ave. from 9 a.m to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, telephone 707-263-4218; The Salon at High Street Village, 1847 North High St., Lakeport, telephone 707-413-7250; and Cheese’s Main Street Pizza, 145 N. Main St., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-0777.

PREMIUM RUSH (Rated PG-13)

The results of a full employment act for stuntmen are on display for the extreme risks of riding bikes at breakneck speed during peak New York City traffic in “Premium Rush.”

One could become exhausted watching primo bike messenger Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) dodging speeding cars and crazed cabbies while trekking practically the entire length of Manhattan.

Befitting the film’s fast pace, the action is set entirely in one day, late in the afternoon, when Wilee is summoned to pick up and deliver an envelope for a seemingly routine “premium rush.”

But there’s nothing routine about the ticking clock, which literally appears at crucial moments, that requires Wilee to deliver a package from Columbia University to a shop in Chinatown.

Immediately after picking up the envelope from a Chinese student (Jamie Chung), Wilee is confronted by the mysterious Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon), who attempts subterfuge to falsely intercept the envelope.

The stranger did not count on Wilee’s credo of delivering a package, no questions asked, with great speed and dispatch, especially when a deadline is at stake.

A great chase ensues, which pretty much eats up the clock for the duration of the film. It turns out that Monday is a bad cop bent on stealing a marker worth about $50,000.

Det. Monday is up to his eyeballs in debt to a bunch of Chinese gangsters. Playing Pai Gow with reckless abandon, the cop has an obvious gambling problem. He owes big bucks in a hurry.

Monday pursues Wilee by car, but he’s no match for the wily bike messenger who has the uncanny ability to strategize every move to avoid accidents.

We are treated to insights in Wilee’s mind as he figures the odds of one false move versus another. Oddly enough, the choices avoided, charted on screen, often lead to some comic relief.

Aside from a lot of fast peddling, there is some time for character development, though we don’t find out much. Wilee apparently went to Columbia Law School, but didn’t want to take the bar exam and end up wearing a suit.

Although a smart guy, Wilee chooses to work for low wages in a dangerous job. He loves the thrill of riding a bike with only one gear and no stopping.

Riding a bike with no brakes is a good metaphor for who Wilee is and how he operates. The persistent Detective Monday and a NYPD bike cop annoyed by Wilee’s traffic infractions are consistently outwitted by him.

Other than his bike, Wilee also cares for fellow bike messenger Vanessa (Dania Ramirez), his on-again, off-again girlfriend who fails to appreciate that Wilee only lives for the moment.

For additional obligatory dramatic conflict, Wilee contends with extremely competitive co-worker Manny (Wole Parks), a cocky, arrogant rival with an expensive bike who’s always putting moves on Vanessa.

While Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s daredevil bike rider is an appealing character, the biggest scene stealer is Michael Shannon’s corrupt cop. Flailing away in Chinese gambling dens, Shannon is a marvel to watch in his progressive meltdown.

The essence of “Premium Rush” is basically very simple. At a compact running time of 91 minutes, the film’s focus rests mostly with the fast-paced two wheel thrill rides.

Bonded in a tight-knit group, bike messengers in the Big Apple have formed their own subculture, part of it on display but not fully explored. Their real stories would likely be very interesting.

To heighten the bracing experience of daredevil biking, “Premium Rush” relies on actual high-action activity with intense, physical stunts. The element of realism is stimulating for any action junkie.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

I never would have imagined that a good thriller, with plenty of adrenaline rush, would have come from a Norwegian film, but “Headhunters” is the proof.

When released theatrically, “Headhunters” generated a lot of good buzz, but in limited release it wasn’t able to attract a wide audience.

Your good fortune is that “Headhunters” is being released on DVD, with the added bonus that the film may be watched in English without annoying subtitles.

Aksel Hennie’s Roger is a charming scoundrel and Norway’s most accomplished headhunter. He is living far beyond his means and has taken to stealing art to subsidize his lavish lifestyle.

When his wife, a beautiful art gallery owner, introduces him to a former mercenary (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) who possesses an extremely valuable painting, Roger decides to risk it all to get his hands on it.

Not surprisingly, things go horribly wrong, and Roger turns out to be the hunted man. “Headhunters” is clever, scary, thrilling and even funny. This is an independent film jewel not to be missed.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Angel Lights will be performing a comedy “Love is a Crime” based on the show “Chicago” on Friday, Aug. 31.

The show will take place beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Lakeport Senior Activity Center, 527 Konocti Ave.

Admission is $10 for the dinner and show.  

For more information call the Lakeport Senior Center at 707-263-4218.

Perhaps by the time this column appears, our economy will have improved and people who want to work can find good work.

Minnie Bruce Pratt, who lives in Syracuse, N.Y., has a new book, mentioned below, in which there are a number of poems about the difficulties of finding work and holding on to it. Here’s an example:

Temporary Job

Leaving again. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be
grieving. The particulars of place lodged in me,
like this room I lived in for eleven days,
how I learned the way the sun laid its palm
over the side window in the morning, heavy
light, how I’ll never be held in that hand again.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2011 by Minnie Bruce Pratt from her most recent book of poems, Inside the Money Machine, Carolina Wren Press, 2011. Reprinted by permission of Minnie Bruce Pratt and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2012 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – With several great sponsors, the stages at this year’s Lake County Fair will host improved talent, while also maintaining the fair’s unwritten policy of supporting local acts and attractions.

The fair runs through Sunday, Sept. 2.

Thanks to help from Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Mediacom and Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino, fair organizers have searched out and booked some of the best acts available in Lake County.

Nationally touring blues act Twice As Good will join other well known local bands like the Snake Alley Band, playing Friday, The Uncalled Four, playing Saturday afternoon, and the Mark Weston Band, playing Sunday afternoon, all on the Sutter Lakeside Hospital stage.
 
Twice as Good will perform Saturday at 8 p.m., immediately following the Lake County Talent Competition.

A fast-paced, rocking blues act, Twice As Good, is led by local father and son Richard and Paul Steward.

Twice As Good has toured all over the United States, including a gig at the 2009 Chicago Blues Festival.

In 2010, Twice As Good won the “Last Band Standing Competition,” and was named the “Best New Blues Band” by the West Coast Blues Society. Charlie Musselwhite called Twice As Good “the real deal.”

Besides being well known touring musicians, Richard and Paul Steward are members of the Elem Indian Colony in Clearlake Oaks.

Sunday’s major stage event, the Fiesta Latina, is presented by Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino on the Sutter Lakeside Hospital Stage.

Irma Lopez will open the fiesta at 3 p.m., followed by Los Amantes del Ritmo at 5:30 p.m. They will be followed by the return of Banda la Tequirera, which will close out the evening.

Other local musical acts will play the Mediacom Stage, including Travis Rinker, who has been called “the next Eric Clapton,” Short Stax, Village-Stone & Day, Barrish with Sommers.

The Mediacom Stage will also feature karaoke on Saturday afternoon, presided over by DJ Ken Steely.

Regular admission prices for the 2012 Lake County Fair are unchanged from 2012.

Prices are $10 for a regular ticket, $6 for a senior over age 60, and $6 for children ages 6 through 11. Children under 6 years old are admitted free every day. Children through age 11 are admitted for $3 on Thursday, August 30th only, for “Kid’s Day.”

LAKEPORT, Calif. – With several great sponsors, the stages at this year’s Lake County Fair will host improved talent, while also maintaining the fair’s unwritten policy of supporting local acts and attractions.

The fair runs Thursday, Aug. 30, through Sunday, Sept. 2.

Thanks to help from Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Mediacom, and Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino, fair organizers have searched out and booked some of the best acts available in Lake County.

Nationally touring blues act Twice As Good will join other well known local bands like the LC Diamonds, playing Thursday; the Snake Alley Band, playing Friday; The Uncalled Four, playing Saturday afternoon; and the Mark Weston Band, playing Sunday afternoon, all on the Sutter Lakeside Hospital stage.
 
Twice as Good will perform Saturday at 8 p.m. immediately following the Lake County Talent Competition.

A fast-paced, rocking blues act, Twice As Good, is led by local father and son Richard and Paul Steward.

Twice As Good has toured all over the United States, including a gig at the 2009 Chicago Blues Festival.

In 2010, Twice As Good won the “Last Band Standing Competition,” and was named the “Best New Blues Band” by the West Coast Blues Society. Charlie Musselwhite called Twice As Good “the real deal.”

Besides being well known touring musicians, Richard and Paul Steward are members of the Elem Indian Colony in Clearlake Oaks.

Sunday’s major stage event, the Fiesta Latina, is presented by Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino on the Sutter Lakeside Hospital Stage.

Irma Lopez will open the fiesta at 3 p.m., followed by Los Amantes del Ritmo at 5:30 p.m. They will be followed by the return of Banda la Tequirera, which will close out the evening.

Other local musical acts will play the Mediacom Stage, including Travis Rinker, who has been called “the next Eric Clapton,” Short Stax, Village-Stone & Day, Barrish with Sommers.

The Mediacom Stage also will feature karaoke on Saturday afternoon, presided over by DJ Ken Steely.

Regular admission prices for the 2012 Lake County Fair are unchanged from 2012. Prices are $10 for a regular ticket, $6 for a senior over age 60 and $6 for children ages 6 through 11.

Children under 6 years old are admitted free every day. Children through age 11 are admitted for $3 on Thursday, Aug. 30 only, for “Kid’s Day.”