The 2010 Triad Jewish Film Festival will open this Saturday at the Carousel Grande Cinemas (1305 Battleground Ave., Greensboro), and organizers believe that this could be the best fest yet.

But this is no twisted joke, as Mama discovers to her horror. Jessie has mapped her death out down to the last detail, and as she expresses her reasons for her decision, both mother and daughter are forced to re-examine their lives and their relationship.

The Children's Theatre of Winston-Salem is opening 2010 with a landmark production: an adaptation of the award-winning novel Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan.

The critics have spoken. The members of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, more commonly known as SEFCA, have deliberated long and hard - and watched an awful lot of movies the last few weeks - and have once again determined their selections for the best films of 2009.

You know the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. That's the organization that presents the Golden Globe Awards every year, and this year the HFPA has also presented an award to the UNC School of the Arts: A $20,000 grant for fellowships.

During the early years of the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, it occupied a small office on the first floor of the Chatham Building on 4 th Street.

When Frank "retired" in 1971, my mother went to that concert. When Frank "un-retired" in 1973, she went to that concert, too. She blew my stepfather's mind in the early '80s when they went to Frank's show in Atlantic City and she got so excited during one of Frank's numbers that she stood up in jubilation and upset a table filled with drinks.

With the holiday season fast upon us, the Children's Theatre of Winston-Salem has a production pending for the whole family: The Theatre IV presentation of The Shoemaker & The Christmas Elves, which opens Friday, Dec. 4 at the Arts Council Theatre (610 Coliseum Drive, Winston-Salem).

The Carousel Luxury Cinemas (1305 Battleground Ave., Greensboro) has re-teamed with the Mixed Tape Film Series to offer a half-dozen martial-arts masterpieces (I use the term very loosely) during the month of September - exactly the sort of cinematic fortune cookie that movie mavens will eat up.

Twin City Stage (formerly known as The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem) will be holding auditions for its upcoming production of Michael Cristofer's acclaimed, award- by Mark Burger winning drama The contributing columnist Shadow Box Monday at 7 p.m. on Aug. 24 at the Arts Council Theatre (610 Coliseum Drive).