Viola

I'm not that familiar with the ins and outs of Title IX, but if one minute I were on a girls' varsity soccer team and the next minute the team suddenly, male-chauvinistically didn't exist, I'd round up the other girls up for some sort of class-action suit. Viola, the miffed soccer heroine Amanda Bynes plays in her new movie, has a nuttier idea. She dumps her boyfriend and joins a rival school's team disguised as her twin brother. The ensuing shenanigans are cataloged in "She's the Man," a screwball comedy that made me wish I were 13 again, because this is precisely the kind of movie I...

Actress Viola Davis , an Oscar nominee for last year's "The Help," spoke to graduates at Central Falls High School on Thursday. Davis grew up in the Rhode Island city, and told the group, according to the Associated Press, "Central Falls makes up in heart what it lacks in size. Make your mark — whatever it is — you have it in you. " She also said, of living in the community, which has struggled with great financial problems: ‘‘I know the road ahead of you. I know all the obstacles that are placed in your path, living in Central Falls.

TWELFTH NIGHT Play by William Shakespeare Directed by Melia Bensussen. Set, Cristina Todesco. Lights, Jason Ries. Costumes, Molly Trainer. Presented by Actors" Shakespeare Project. At: Plaza Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, through Oct. 22. Tickets: $34-$41. 866-811-4111, www.actorsshakespeare project.org TWELFTH NIGHT Play by William Shakespeare Directed by Melia Bensussen. Set, Cristina Todesco. Lights, Jason Ries. Costumes, Molly Trainer. Presented by Actors" Shakespeare Project.

Viola Davis addressed graduating seniors Thursday at the high school in the struggling Rhode Island city where she grew up, urging them to treasure "hard times and joyous moments" and telling them that the "privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. " The Oscar-nominated actress from the film "The Help" spoke to Central Falls High School's class of 2012, student actors and members of student government and other alumni nearly 30 years after...

André Previn clearly loves his job. If he moved gingerly to the piano for Sunday's concert with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players - the one-time Hollywood wunderkind is now nearly 80 - once there, he was in his element, joking with oboist John Ferrillo, nonchalantly navigating the keyboard, basking in the camaraderie of applause. Even an intra-movement cellphone ring was a source of amusement, not irritation. Previn's geniality carried over into a concert that, by and large, took a similarly easygoing tack.

It wasn’t immediately obvious, but the eclectic program offered by the New England String Orchestra at Jordan Hall on Sunday afternoon did have a theme: do-overs. Given that this was also the inaugural Boston appearance of the group — formerly known as the New England String Ensemble — under its new name, the choice seemed appropriate. As the orchestra’s music director, Federico Cortese, explained in a pre-concert conversation, composers often revisit compositions. Maybe they want to hear a different instrumental combination, or expand something to a larger scale.

The following was submitted by Tufts University: MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MA — The Tufts University Department of Music presents a concert featuring performance faculty members Scott Woolweaver, viola, and Frank Glazer, piano, highlighting Johannes Brahms' Sonatas Op. 120, Nos. 1 and 2 for Viola and Piano in the Distler Performance Hall at the Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center on Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 3 p.m. as part of...

BOSTON CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY At: Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Sunday CAMBRIDGE - The Boston Chamber Music Society has a reputation, not undeserved, of being rather conservative in its programming. So it was heartening to see it tackle some unusual repertoire on Sunday, including works by Charles Martin Loeffler and Sofia Gubaidulina. But the concert was memorable for another reason: the presence of young Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, who recently won the gold medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Having so fruitfully focused its previous season on Kurt Weill, the Cantata Singers have embarked on a new yearlong exploration of the life and music of another 20th century composer: Benjamin Britten. It would be hard to overstate the virtues of this probing approach to programming. Rather than being bounced aimlessly from one concert to the next, the audience is guided on a sustained musical and intellectual journey, in this case, toward the heart of a profound yet elusive modern voice.

With a night off from opera, a host of Boston Early Music Festival stalwarts took to Jordan Hall on Thursday night in the form of the BEMF Chamber Ensemble, and a large audience followed them there. Led by festival codirector Paul O'Dette and violinist Robert Mealy, the group offered a status report on the ever-advancing level of period-instrument prowess. The concert was framed by overture suites featuring an extravagant complement of three oboes (Gonzalo Ruiz, Kathryn Montoya, and Debra Nagy)

Academy Award nominee and Rhode Island native Viola Davis is the star who keeps on giving back. Already slated to deliver the commencement address at Providence College on Sunday, Davis will take the stage May 23 for "An Evening With Viola Davis," a fund-raiser for Community Preparatory School in Providence. Tickets for the event, which will fund scholarships for students, start at $250. According to Dan Corley , founder of Community Prep, most of the students live at or below the poverty level, and 90 percent receive scholarships.

Viola Davis at PC graduation Viola Davis will deliver the commencement address for Providence College's class of 2012. The actress, who grew up in Central Falls, R.I., will speak May 20 and receive an honorary doctoral degree. Davis, a 1988 graduate of Rhode Island College, was the hometown favorite for best actress in last month's Academy Awards for her performance as a maid in "The Help," but she lost out to Meryl Streep. (AP) Winehouse's estate worth $4.6m Amy Winehouse left an estate worth $4.66 million after her death last year, records show.

Meryl Streep joked in her Academy Awards acceptance speech for Best Actress on Sunday that audiences were sick and tired of her receiving so many awards. In truth, she makes it hard for people to tire of her. Streep this week donated $10,000 to a bankrupt school in Central Falls, R.I., where Viola Davis, star of "The Help" and the actress many expected to win Best Actress, grew up. According to this Reuters report, Davis herself has donated cash to the local charter school, Segue Institute for Learning, to help keep the library open and now her friend,...

Actress Meryl Streep has donated $10,000 to a Rhode Island scholarship fund in honor of fellow Oscar nominee Viola Davis. Davis established the fund with her sister in 1988. Upward Bound Director Mariam Boyajian (boy-ah-JAHN') said Thursday that the check for the Upward Bound Scholarship Endowment Fund arrived Monday. Boyajian says Streep's donation is the largest single award the fund has received. The Segue Institute for Learning in Central Falls also received $10,000 from Streep on Monday in Davis' honor.

The following was submitted by Tufts University:  The Tufts University Department of Music presents performance faculty members Jane Hershey and Frances Conover Fitch presenting a recital featuring music for viola da gamba and harpsichord. This concert will include works by Marin Marais, J.S. Bach, and Francois Couperin. Musical collaborators for many years, Hershey and Fitch have delved deeply into French 17th century repertoire, and their program will include Fitch's arrangements of Marais' "Pieces de viole" for harpsichord solo, as well...

The following was submitted by Tufts University: MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MA — The Tufts University Department of Music presents a concert featuring performance faculty members Scott Woolweaver, viola, and Frank Glazer, piano, highlighting Johannes Brahms' Sonatas Op. 120, Nos. 1 and 2 for Viola and Piano in the Distler Performance Hall at the Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center on Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 3 p.m. as part of...

Violinist (and, later, violist) Pinchas Zukerman and pianist Yefim Bronfman gave a Celebrity Series recital on Sunday with an old-fashioned feel — and it was interesting to consider why it felt old-fashioned. It featured a solidly canonic program, for instance, with sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms; current practice would likely spice such a program with novelty or rarity, the better to cut through the marketplace’s noise. The mood was casual. Even Beethoven’s appearance — via the Opus 24 “Spring’’ Sonata — was comparatively placid.

KICKING UP THEIR HEELS - The dance musical "Footloose," based on the 1984 film about a city kid transplanted to a conservative rural town where rock 'n' roll and dancing are forbidden, is presented at North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly today and Tuesday through next Sunday. " ‘Footloose' is the perfect summer musical," said Bill Hanney , the theater's owner and producer. "It is packed with high-spirited dancing, eye-popping vintage '80s costumes, and a score full of the music that defined the '80s.

The public library in Central Falls that was temporarily closed because of the city's dire finances is expanding its hours again after receiving a donation from actress Viola Davis and a state grant. The Adams Memorial Library said Monday that it got a $1,000 check from Davis, who grew up in Central Falls. Davis appeared recently in the movie "The Help" and was nominated for an Oscar for her role in 2008's "Doubt. " The library also received a $3,500 grant with the help of state Sen. Elizabeth Crowley.