Samantha Crain takes on Native water issues with 'When We Remain' video and more Oklahoma news

Samantha Crain raises awareness of Native water issues with animated 'When We Remain' video

Native American singer, songwriter and activist Samantha Crain, who is Choctaw, has released an animated video for her Choctaw-language song "When We Remain," from her acclaimed 2020 LP "A Small Death."

The video was a collaboration with the music discovery platform The Wild Honey Pie and plumbing product manufacturing company Kohler's Safe Water For All initiative. 

Directed and animated by Berlin-based artists Bela Unclecat and Yulia Drobova, the video is designed to raise awareness to the challenges many indigenous communities face in gaining access to clean water. It opens with the sobering statistics that Native American households are 19 times more likely than white households to lack indoor plumbing.

"When We Remain" is included on the Norman-based singer-songwriter's sixth studio LP, which she produced herself and recorded at her friend Brine Webb's Lunar Manor Studios in Oklahoma City.

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"I actually did a song in Choctaw on my last record, too, and that’s increasingly something that I’ve wanted to start doing. ... It's been kind of a slow process for me, because you’re learning the language, but you’re also, like, trying to figure out how to, like, write songs in a language," Crain told The Oklahoman in a 2020 interview. 

"There’s something really powerful about just the words being spoken that I really deeply feel. I think if it was being spoken more and if other people felt emboldened to write their new sort of traditional songs, then we could kind of, like, sing through our current hardships and into our victories and survival as a lasting tribe of people."

Oklahoma-made movie 'Alejandro' to premiere at Tulsa's Circle Cinema 

TULSA — The Oklahoma-made movie "Alejandro" will premiere Friday at the nonprofit Circle Cinema as part of the nonprofit Tulsa theater's Reel Indie series for movies without major distribution deals. 

The film, which lensed throughout Tulsa and surrounding communities last August, will screen at 2 p.m. Friday, followed by a sold-out 7 p.m. Friday showing. Additional screenings will be available every day through June 3. Each screening will include a special video introduction from producer, actor and writer Sam Ojo about his journey as a filmmaker and why it was important to him that "Alejandro" be made in Tulsa with local cast and crew.

Set in Tulsa and inspired by real-live events, "Alejandro" is a courtroom drama about Lucas (Ojo), a Nigerian-American lawyer. After a brief encounter with the daughter of Alejandro, a Mexican man wrongly accused of murder, Lucas interrupts the sentencing process and convinces the judge to grant a new trial. As Lucas uncovers the facts of the case, he discovers that sometimes your only hope is a stranger.

For showtimes and tickets, go to CircleCinema.org. For more information about the film, go to AlejandroMovie.com.

OKC stop for Riverdance officially canceled 

Initially postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oklahoma City tour stop for the Irish dance spectacle "Riverdance" at the Civic Center Music Hall officially has been canceled, OKC Broadway has announced. 

All ticketholders are advised check their email for more information. For any questions, email info@okcbroadway.com. 

For more information, go to www.okcbroadway.com.

OKC Museum of Art celebrating Chinese cinema with series

In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art is putting a spotlight on Chinese cinema this weekend. 

The series will launch with Cathy Yan's ("Birds of Prey") dazzling debut feature, "Dead Pigs," the winner of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival's Special Jury Prize. It will screen at 5:30 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Noble Theater, 415 Couch Drive. 

The showcase will continue with a new restoration of Hou Hsiao-hsien's 1998 chamber drama "Flowers of Shanghai," showing at 8 p.m. Friday and 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

Jia Zhangke's new documentary "Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue," which chronicles his literature festival in Shanxi, China, is screening at 2 p.m. Saturday.

For tickets and information, go to https://www.okcmoa.com/films.

Carrie Underwood's 'My Gift' wins Billboard Music Award

Checotah native Carrie Underwood added another Billboard Music Award to her trophy case Sunday night. 

Her first Christmas album, "My Gift," earned the Billboard Music Award for Top Christian Album.

Kelli O'Hara Awards to be handed out virtually Wednesday

OKC Broadway — a partnership between the Nederlander Organization and the Civic Center Foundation — will hand out its 2021 Kelli O’Hara Awards in a virtual ceremony streaming at 6 p.m. Wednesday at https://www.okcbroadway.com/kelliswatch.

The regional competition will select two central Oklahoma students to contend in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards. Also known as The Jimmy Awards, the national competition, hosted each year in New York, are scheduled for a virtual presentation July 15.

In addition to selecting the two winners, the awards committee also will honor the Best Musical, Best Ensemble and the Spotlight Awards, which are given to standout performers from each school.

O'Hara, an Oklahoma native and Tony Award winner, will co-host the awards ceremony.

Although the winners will not travel to New York City this year, they will compete virtually with other high school performers for the chance to win the illustrious Jimmy’s Best Actor and Best Actress awards.

Here are the finalists for the Kelli O'Hara Awards: 

Outstanding Actor: Brady McComas, Ada High School, "Newsies"; Carson Burton, Classen School of Advanced Studies, "Pippin"; Gabriel Osburn, Norman North High School, "Be More Chill"; Garrett Langley, Deer Creek High School, "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"; Jacob Mash, Crossings Christian, "Little Mermaid"; Jacob Townsend, Heritage Hall, "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"; Kaden Fitz, Southmoore High School, "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"; Kyle Zielinski, Bethany High School, "Footloose"; Noah Cochran, Edmond North High School, "Bright Star"; and Psalm Ambos, Norman North High School, "Be More Chill."

Outstanding Actress: Addison Bassemier, Southmoore High School, "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"; Brightynn Wigington, Deer Creek High School, "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"; Catie Leonard, Bishop McGuinness High School, "Chicago"; Gigi Spicer, Heritage Hall, "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"; Isabella Acuña, Classen SAS, "Pippin"; Katrina Gedmin, Norman North High School, "Be More Chill"; Lexi Sendall, Choctaw High School, "Into the Woods"; Nolia Sweatt, Bethany High School, "Footloose"; Rachael Mosshammer, Choctaw High School, "Into the Woods"; and Ryleigh Andrews, Choctaw High School, "Into the Woods."

Best Musical: Ada High School, "Newsies"; Deer Creek High School, "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"; Norman North High School, "Be More Chill."

The Jimmy Awards celebrate the brightest stars of high school musical theater from across the United States. In a typical year, regional winners are invited to New York for professional training and compete in a spectacular national awards program on a Broadway stage.

The Kelli O’Hara Awards are an officially recognized regional awards program of the Jimmy Awards, and OKC Broadway is committed to still recognizing the exceptional talent of our local schools and participants through this year virtual awards opportunity. 

For more information, go to www.okcbroadway.com/kellis.

— BAM