Author: Bill DeLapp

Cable’s Nickelodeon channel will celebrate 20 years of its flagship cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants with an hour-long special slated for July 12. And cartoon voice specialist Tom Kenny, who has supplied the character’s childlike sound for two decades, is pretty excited about it. mirziamov.ru SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout features a live-action segment in which the animated characters meet their human voiceover partners, with Kenny working on the grill at the Trusty Slab restaurant. More about that later. But first, Kenny extended his sympathies regarding the passing of the Syracuse New Times after its 50-year run. “I know the alternative weeklies…

Longtime Hollywood married couple Joel McCrea and Frances Dee take the center spotlight during the upcoming 17th annual Capitolfest at Rome’s Capitol Theatre, 220 W. Dominick St. The fest will present 15 features and 11 short subjects, many presented in archival 35mm prints, from Friday, Aug. 9, through Sunday, Aug. 11. topbankinfo.ruThe 1,700-seat bijou, which opened Dec. 10, 1928, features 1950s-era carbon-arc, variable-speed film projectors that will thread the weekend’s 35mm schedule, along with a three-manual, 10-rank Moller pipe organ to provide the silents with musical accompaniment. Also in the booth is a 4K digital projector that will handle an increasing workload of oldies. It’s a bow to the reality…

Since 1937, thousands have made the trek to the town of Palmyra for a dose of old-time religion: the Hill Cumorah Pageant, which this year takes place July 12, 13 and 16 to 20. The 2018 event lured more than 25,000 to Palmyra, home of Joseph Smith (1805-1844), founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But those good times will soon be coming to a close: The church announced last autumn that the pageant will cease following the 2020 edition. According to an October 2018 press release, “Church leadership made the decision after an extensive review of all pageants. Leaders said they took under consideration how…

Some people just seem to like walking around in their birthday suits. Howe Caverns found that out last July when the Schoharie County tourist attraction launched its inaugural “Naked in a Cave” event. More than 280 naturalists chillaxed during International Nude Day as they spelunked au naturel 15 stories underground to witness impressive rock formations and other geological wonders. So success breeds sequels: A second “Naked in a Cave” journey will take place Saturday, Sept. 14, 6:30 p.m. The punny advertising tag line states, “Come celebrate the harvest moon with your full moon!” “It was such a positive event,” recalled general manager April Islip. “Everyone had a great time, so we’re really excited to host…

We might be known as the Salt City (and we’ve got the salt potatoes to prove it) yet Syracuse could very easily adopt a new nickname as Wienerama. After all, the Hofmann Sausage Company has been a mainstay since 1879, with their franks and coneys up for grabs at Heid’s of Liverpool and Salt City Dogs in North Syracuse. And who can forget the late Bob Luongo, aka Bob Barker, whose portable food stand was hot-doggin’ all over town at summertime events. That’s why it makes perfect sense that a qualifying round of the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest…

If you haven’t noticed lately that actor-director Jason Alexander is in our neck of the woods, then you haven’t been paying attention. First came his May 7 press conference at Syracuse Stage, where he is currently in rehearsals at the directorial helm for the Jason Robert Brown musical The Last Five Years, slated to begin its run Wednesday, May 29, through June 16. The next week he hobnobbed with Rebel Radio deejay Dave Frisina, followed by his May 17 opening pitch at the Syracuse Mets game at NBT Bank Stadium, where he got his fastball past home plate. Alexander’s latest pitch involves the new flourishes…

Oren Lyons has been an activist for indigenous and environmental justice for several decades. He has also been the subject of several Syracuse New Times profiles over its 50-year history, including the Feb. 10, 1972, article “A Society of Fences,” a question-answer session conducted by musician John Cadley. A dinner and gala celebrating the lifetime achievements of Six Nations Faithkeeper Oren Lyons will take place Sunday, May 19, at the Syracuse Marriott Downtown, 100 E. Onondaga St. The events are slated for the hotel’s 10th floor, starting with a VIP meet-and-greet session from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Presidential…

Joe Bob Briggs, the longtime champion of outlaw cinema, will visit Central New York this weekend as his “How Rednecks Saved Hollywood” tour makes a pit stop at Armory Square’s Museum of Science and Technology (MOST), 500 S. Franklin St. The venue’s Bristol Omnitheater will host Briggs on Saturday, May 11, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20; visit afterdarkpresents.com for information. For the uninitiated, Briggs is the puckish persona of John Bloom, who invented the cowboy-hatted drive-in movie critic in 1982 for the Dallas Times Herald. Readers immediately embraced the tongue-in-cheek Briggs column, which praised the often sleazy virtues of B-movies…

The animated TV series The Simpsons first introduced Comic Book Guy, the portly, ponytailed and pompous proprietor of The Android’s Dungeon and Baseball Card Shop, way back in 1991. But Central New York’s very first comic book guy, Mike Sagert, was in the business about a dozen years earlier, when he opened his Dream Days comic store on Montgomery Street, on the same 100 block as City Hall and the hallowed music tavern The Firebarn. Sagert passed away April 14, leaving behind many memories of four-color fantasies featuring caped crusaders and cartoon characters. The notion of starting a specialty outlet…

It’s been four long months since there has been a music show presented by WSEN’s The Dinosaur, with its FM frequencies 94.1, 95.3 and 103.9 broadcasting out of the longtime WOLF studios near the Inner Harbor. (The last shindig was a Jan. 13 birthday party at the Liverpool Holiday Inn.) But the hiatus comes to an end on Sunday, May 5, 5 p.m., as The Billionaires will provide the music for a soul music dance party at Barbagallo’s, 6344 E. Molloy Road, East Syracuse. It’s part of the radio station’s History of Syracuse Rock’n’Roll: Then and Now music series, an…

It’s springtime in Syracuse, meaning a wealth of seasonal goings-on are about to hit the city. You won’t want to be stuck inside as the temperature warms up. Check our Spring Times calendar for event highlights over the next few months. Want more events? Check our community calendar. April 12 Syracuse Fashion Week: The Underground Show. Fri. 8 p.m. The wildest event during the week will surely be this visual eyeful featuring lingerie and other extravagant fashions at Marisa’s Fortress of Beauty, 220 Walton St. $48. syracusefashionweek.com. April 12, 14 Threepenny Opera. Fri. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Syracuse…

From classic shockers to no-budget schlock, there’s something for everyone at the 14th annual Salt City Horror Fest. The menu of marathon mayhem runs from 10:30 a.m. to around 3 a.m. on Saturday, April 13, at Eastwood’s Palace Theatre, 2384 James St. Unlike previous fests that have featured performers and auteurs who have accompanied their movies, this year’s edition has no guests and no breaks, with a batch of demented features being unspooled in vintage 35mm prints. Admission is $30; visit afterdarkpresents.com or the Salt City Horror Fest Facebook page for information. The daylong blowout begins with a half-hour of…

This is the second consecutive year that actor Fred Grandy has celebrated spring in Syracuse. Grandy was in town in March 2018 to kick off the new  Redhouse at City Center complex on South Salina Street, as he starred with his daughter Marya in a production of On Golden Pond. Now Grandy is back with Pond director Vincent J. Cardinal for the comedy-drama I’m Not Rappaport, and they’ve corralled Grandy’s former Love Boat co-star Ted Lange to join the party. Grandy took a sabbatical from show business following Love Boat’s 1986 cancellation to serve four terms as an Iowa congressman…

Staffers from Cumulus FM rock radio station The Rebel 105.9 proudly marched down South Salina Street during last Saturday’s frigid edition of the annual St. Patrick’s Parade, with afternoon-drive deejay Dave Frisina cruising on his motorcycle to lead the pack. But the Rebel’s classic rock format will change soon when a Christian-music service will be plugging into the 105.9 frequency. The industry website InsideRadio reported on Feb. 13 that Cumulus Media will sell six of its nationwide stations — including Syracuse’s WXTL, aka Rebel, as well as stations in New York City, San Jose, Savannah, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. — to Educational Media Foundation as part of a $103.5 million cash deal. According to…

The daylong tribute to the Hammond B-3 organ at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is also a salute to rock, soul and rhythm ’n’ blues genres.