Arts in Brief: Purim’s on the way

Purim’s on the way

Purim is kid’s time, with the little ones in costumes and activities geared toward them on offer everywhere.

The sixth Yaron Festival, in memory of Yaron Yerushalmi and sponsored by the Orna Porat Children and Youth Theater, takes place at Yerushalmi Hall in the Suzanne Dallal Dance Center from February 23-25. There are 13 plays, three of them premieres. These latter include In Bialik’s Garden, a musical based on our national poet’s best-loved songs and written and directed by the wonderful Daniella Michaeli, as well as a new version of the beloved classic, The Princess and the Pea.

Some of the other offerings are Moshe Kepten’s The King of Siam, based on the famous musical, The King and I; a legend in dance from the Inbal Theater, Rikadena’s Heart Flower; Aladdin, another dance piece, and Button Soup.

While most of the plays are for children aged 3-10, Teatron Pitzpon is aimed at children under three years old.

Each play is performed from two to four times and the hours are from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tickets cost from NS 40-90, and of course, there are plenty of free shows and activities on the SD plaza.

The theme of this year’s Adloyada, the annual Holon Purim parade that takes place from 12 noon on February 24, is toys and children’s games. As usual there’ll be gorgeous floats, marching bands, clowns, acrobats, pyrotechnics and all the exciting components of a parade. Taking part in the parade are some 4,500 people from all over the country.

Some of the attractions are: a toy train created from some 20,000 flowers, monster puppets featuring TV characters such as Dora, Spongebob Squarepants; a great big ‘Angry Bird’ that opens to reveal more inside it; Gepetto with Pinocchio, and many more.

Ah, and because politics are never far from our minds, a 12 sq.m. chessboard (pictured) whose pieces are Tzipi Livni, Yair Lapid, Avigdor Liberman and so on.

From 11 a.m. to noon, there’ll be street theater performances along the parade route, which is Sokolov and Weitzmann.

After the parade there’ll be a humongous party on the municipality plaza with Brazilian samba and a performance by an African circus.

There’ll also be workshops of all kinds on the Holon Mediatheque plaza that will extend to February 25 as well.

• Helen Kaye

A haunting experience comes to TA

Menacing ghosts shatter the peaceful harmony in a picturesque British manor where two children try to come to terms with growing up. Benjamin Britten’s mesmerizing opera The Turn of the Screw, based on a novella by Henry James, is the next production of the Israeli Opera, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Britten’s birth. Runs February 12-22 at the Opera House, 19 Shaul Hamelech St., Tel Aviv. The performance is in English. For tickets, call (03) 692-7777 or www.israel-opera.co.il. • Jerusalem Post staff Picasso fetches $45m. at Sotheby’s sale LONDON (Reuters) – A Pablo Picasso portrait of his mistress and “golden muse” Marie-Therese Walter sold for 28.6 million pounds ($45 million) on Tuesday, leading an important Sotheby’s auction of impressionist, modern and surrealist art.

The sale was the first of a series held in London this month by Sotheby’s, Christie’s and smaller auction houses in the latest barometer of the strength of the high-end art market.

Prices for the most sought-after works have soared in recent years despite broader economic concerns, with collectors in China, Russia and the Middle East joining more established patrons in Europe and the United States.

Subtracting the buyer’s premium of more than 10 percent, the amount realized for the 1932 Picasso was at the lower end of pre-sale estimates of 25-35 million pounds.

‘Wild Thing’ singer Reg Presley dies

LONDON  – Reg Presley, the lead singer of 1960s British rock band The Troggs, who scored a hit with the love anthem “Wild Thing,” was reported to have died at his home in England on Monday after a battle with cancer.

He was 71.

Presley announced in January 2012 that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer after falling ill during a performance in Germany. He began chemotherapy and announced his retirement from the band at the time.

The Troggs catapulted onto the rock ‘n’ roll scene with “Wild Thing” in 1966, making them one of Britain’s most successful garage rock acts of the era.

Presley penned hits “With a Girl Like You” in 1966 and the band’s final big hit, “Love Is All Around,” in 1967.

“Love Is All Around” was later covered by the Scottish band Wet Wet Wet in 1994 and lodged itself at the top of the British charts for some 15 weeks.