Lady Antebellum to perform at 'mini-prom' for students in tornado-ravaged Indiana town

INDIANAPOLIS ? Tornadoes battered their school and their homes. Their spring break was filled with cleanup and recovery work that has only just begun. But for one night, students at a southern Indiana high school hope to put all that aside to enjoy an evening that one of country music?s biggest acts planned just for them.

Henryville, Ind., will share the spotlight with Grammy-winning Lady Antebellum on Wednesday night at the KFC Yum Center in nearby Louisville, Ky., where the trio will stage a ?mini-prom? bash for students at Henryville Junior-Senior High School, followed by a benefit for the devastated community.

?With everything?s that?s happened ? the tornado and the destruction ? now we?ll have something else to remember for the rest of our lives,? said Henryville junior class vice president Kaitlyn Maloney, 17, who rode out the March 2 storm with her parents in the basement of their Henryville home. ?This will give us something to remember that?s happy.?

The battered high school landed both events in late March by winning Lady Antebellum?s online ?Own the Night? contest offering one school a concert at its prom. Schools as far away as northern Wisconsin submitted YouTube videos on behalf of Henryville, an unincorporated town hit by two tornadoes ? one packing 175 mph winds ? on a day when storms killed 13 people in Indiana and 24 in Kentucky.

Singer Hillary Scott said the band was moved by what she called the ?selfless? entries from other schools, including rival Silver Creek High School in nearby Sellersburg, Ind.

?That was just such, honestly, an encouraging thing to think that those high schoolers, that generation ... they want to help each other that much,? she said. ?It was definitely an easy decision.?

Lady Antebellum wasn?t able to perform at Henryville?s prom in late April due to a conflict with the band?s schedule. Instead, it opted for the mini-prom open to the 188 junior and seniors and their dates who attended the school?s formal prom, followed by a concert to benefit the town.

Each of Henryville?s juniors and seniors received five tickets for floor seating at the show. The juniors and seniors at Silver Creek, the rival Clark County school that nominated Henryville, each received one ticket, said Tahnee Brown of concert promoter National Shows 2.

Lady A?s Charles Kelley said the band hopes to lift the Henryville community?s spirits by putting on a special show.

?We want to just go there and hopefully bring a little joy, meet them, shake their hands, encourage them to try to get through it as best as they can,? the singer said.

The sold-out benefit includes an online fund drive that will go to disaster relief, Brown said. Online donations had generated more than $119,000 by Tuesday evening.

Henryville senior Austin Albert, whose father, Troy Albert, is the high school?s principal, said the show will be a huge boost to the hard-hit community.

?It?s given us something to look forward to ? something big for a small-town like we?re in, that?s pretty cool,? he said.

The show also could be a sort of homecoming for many town residents, said Monroe Township Trustee Allen Bottorff, a lifelong Henryville resident whose home was damaged in the storms and lost a second one he and his wife were remodeling. He planned to attend the show with his family, including his 18-year-old twins, son Tanner and daughter Drew.

?It?s going to be quite a bit of a reunion for a lot of people who have been scattered about,? Bottorff said.

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'Terminator' Actor Nick Stahl Reported Missing

Star of 'Terminator: Rise of the Machines' has not been heard from since May 9, his wife told L.A. officials.
By Kara Warner


Nick Stahl
Photo: Barry King/FilmMagic

"Terminator: Rise of the Machines" actor Nick Stahl has been reported missing. Los Angeles law enforcement officials confirmed to TMZ that Stahl's wife, Rose Murphy, reported her husband missing on Monday, saying that the last time she saw the 32-year-old was on May 9.

Sources told the website that Stahl had been displaying some erratic behavior recently and was allegedly spending time in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. The source also expressed concern that the actor might have become involved in some questionable activities.

This is not the first time, however, that those close to the actor have expressed concern over his well-being. Stahl's wife filed papers with the LA County Superior Court back in February asking a judge to limit her husband's access to their 2-year-old daughter Marlo due to his alleged drug and alcohol abuse. She also claimed that she and Stahl were no longer living together.

There has been no word from Stahl's reps regarding his whereabouts, but Stahl's wife has been relatively active on her Twitter account, posting a general thank you for support early Wednesday (May 16). "Thank you for kind words," she tweeted.

A quick look at Stahl's Twitter account shows that the actor has been inactive since May 1, but that he and Murphy might have been working through their problems since the actor tweeted on April 26 that they were not actually separated.

"Not sure where it got started but @TheMrsStahl and I are not separated. Far from it," he wrote.

Stahl made his big-screen debut back in 1993 opposite Mel Gibson in "The Man Without a Face." Since then, he's appeared in several major studio films, inclduing "The Thin Red Line," "Disturbing Behavior" and "Sin City." His most recent role is in the VOD-released "388 Arletta Avenue" opposite Devon Sawa.

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'Newsies' choreographer draws on his background

NEW YORK (AP) ? Seventeen young dancers stop horsing around on the Nederlander Theatre stage as Christopher Gattelli approaches.

They've been practicing his high-energy moves in the empty house after a day off and Gattelli wants to make sure they're all feeling OK.

Is anything starting to hurt? If a jump is painful eight times a week, he reminds them, it can be changed. A transition can be adjusted. Don't forget to stretch, even between shows. Above all, stay safe.

The message is heard loud and clear. "We love you!" the 17 shout in unison.

Gattelli is not required to stop by the hit Broadway show "Newsies" these days, and he certainly isn't obligated to keep in touch with the dancers. But he was one and knows what they may be going through, especially as they add preparations for Tony Awards night.

"This is clearly a big month for them and I just want to say, 'Look, stay healthy,'" says Gattelli after the pep talk. "They're young and they think they're invincible. I've been there. I know that mentality."

Gattelli, 39, is a busy man these days ? in addition to "Newsies," he's choreographed "Godspell" on Broadway, directed and choreographed the goofy parody "Silence! The Musical" off-Broadway, and is preparing to choreograph "Dogfight" at Second Stage Theatre next month. Later this year, he is choreographing "The Great American Mousical" for the Goodspeed Opera House.

But it's "Newsies," the stage adaptation of a 1992 Disney film, that seems to make him smile the most. It is, he thinks, the purest expression of the kind of dance he most enjoys ? the thrilling combination of ballet spiced with bold athletic moves.

"This show means the most to me out of any project I've done because this is what I do. I trained as a ballet dancer and I trained as a modern dancer," he says. "I was these boys 20 years ago. This is exactly how I danced. So for me to tell a story in this way was the most comfortable and the most exciting for me."

The musical is based on the true story of scrappy child newspaper sellers in turn-of-the-century New York who go on strike when the price of papers goes up unfairly. They must battle scabs, crooked officials, business types like Joseph Pulitzer and fearsome strike breakers carrying metal pipes.

Alan Menken and lyricist Jack Feldman, who were responsible for the film's score, teamed up again to transform "Newsies" into a musical for the stage, reworking the songs and collaborating with a new story writer, Harvey Fierstein, known for his work in "Hairspray" and "La Cage aux Folles." There's a new romance added, but cult characters like Specs and Crutchie remain.

Some nifty touches have earned Gattelli a Tony nomination for best choreography, including a sequence of synchronized dancing on real newspapers and his carving out of a few moments for each young dancer to spotlight their talents.

"I had them show off in the audition room," he says. "I was like, 'Show me what you can do. I want to see everything you can do.' They each had to make sense in the story. But I wanted to see what they could do. At the end of the show, when they take their individual bow, you can literally go, boy by boy, that's who did that, that's who did that, that's who did that. I love being able to give that to them."

One of those performers is Ryan Steele, who plays Specs. "Newsies" is his third Broadway show, and he stuns the crowd by doing 20 turns on a newspaper, in addition to some lung-busting runs up and down three flights of stairs.

"I've never worked with a choreographer as wonderful and easy to work with as Chris. Those moments are real gifts," says Steele. "It's exhausting but it's so worth it. It's so much fun."

Next month, Gattelli faces off against fellow choreographers Rob Ashford of "Evita," Steven Hoggett from "Once" and Kathleen Marshall of "Nice Work If You Can Get It." It is Gattelli's second nomination, the previous one coming for his work in 2008 on "South Pacific."

Gattelli grew up outside Philadelphia in Bristol, Pa., and trained to be a dancer. Actually, make that really, really trained: He learned ballet from David Howard, modern dance from Alvin Ailey and also tackled jazz, hip-hop and tap.

At 15, he would take high-school classes until 11 a.m., be driven to Trenton, N.J., to hop on a train for New York, where he'd study Ailey, finishing at 6 p.m. Then he'd get on a bus at the Port Authority and start classes at Dance World Academy in New Jersey at 7:30 p.m. By 10 p.m., his father would pick him up for the drive home.

Though he loved all dance, Gattelli had intended to focus on ballet, but found his 5-foot-7 frame a major challenge. "In my head I thought, 'Well, I can take this technique and I can take this training and maybe I'll try Broadway,'" he recalls.

His first Broadway show was as a replacement in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" with Matthew Broderick, then parts in "Cats" and "Fosse." But he was already considering his future even before he sustained a back injury. "During 'Cats,' I started dabbling in choreography, thinking ahead: 'My body's not going to be able to do this forever. What will I do with my life?'"

A few one-night benefits got the attention of talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell, and she lured him to choreograph "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" for three seasons. He returned to choreograph "Bat Boy" off-Broadway and was soon hooked. "I would still audition for things every now and again, but I just love creating," he says. "The creation of it all ? I fell in love with that."

When "Newsies" director Jeff Calhoun was given a short list of 10 potential candidates to choreograph the show, he was thrilled to see Gattelli's name. "Not only was he a great dancer, but he's a great storyteller," says Calhoun. "I didn't entertain another name on that list."

Gattelli approached the work with characteristic care. The dancers don't really move in unison at the beginning, only doing so when they've formed a union toward the end, with their feet pointed and their arms straight. They seem to leap with their chests, conveying their sense of pride. And when they show off with their back flips or spins, a sense of individuality remains.

"I know that it's rare to be in a show that can let you express yourself in the way that makes you special," he says. "That was a really important thing to me to be able to do for this group, especially with their talents ? because they're insane."

That begs the question: Could Gattelli himself jump into the show if he had to? Could this former dancer do what he's choreographed?

"Not this one. Absolutely not," he says, laughing. "I'd be Crutchie."

___

Online:

http://newsiesthemusical.com

___

Follow Mark Kennedy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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Samsung Galaxy S III user manual appears in all its 181-page glory

Android Central

If you've been struggling to pass the time awaiting the moment when you can buy a Samsung Galaxy S III for yourselves, Samsung's got you covered. The full user manual for the international version of  the device is now out there on the interwebs for anyone interested in reading it. All 181 pages of it. Will it contain anything we haven't already covered? Most probably not, but it's there for those who want it. 

The only contentious point arising so far seems to surround the supported microSD card sizes. Page 20 of the manual states that the Galaxy S III will support sizes up to 32GB. We know from the keynote in London though, that the initial presentation of the S III's specs showed support for 64GB cards. Could be a mis-print. Or, there could be something more sinister behind it. For now though, we'll hedge our bets on the first one. In any case, hit the source link below if you're interested in taking a look. 

Source: SamMobile

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EU navy, helicopters strike pirate supply center

(AP) ? European Union naval forces in attack helicopters conducted their first onshore raid on a suspected pirate lair in Somalia. A pirate said the strike destroyed a supply center and set back operations.

No deaths were reported in the Tuesday morning attack on Handulle village, about 18 kilometers (11 miles) north of Haradhere town, a key pirate lair. EU officials said forces did not go on land during the attack in Somalia.

The EU Naval Force announced in March that it would expand its mission to include Somalia's coast and waterways inside the country for the first time.

Bile Hussein, a pirate commander, said the attack along Somalia's central coastline destroyed speed boats, fuel depots and an arms store.

"They destroyed our equipment to ashes. It was a key supplies center for us," Hussein said. "The fuel contributed to the flames and destruction. Nothing was spared."

He said nine speed boats were destroyed, and that three of them were on standby for hijackings.

Somali government spokesman Abdirahman Omar Osman said the raid was carried out with the full knowledge of Somalia's government and it serves as a message to the pirates that they'll neither be safe at sea or on land.

Attack helicopters were used in the early morning strike on the mainland, an EU spokesman said.

The EU is the main donor to the Somali transitional government. It also trains Somali army troops, and is reinforcing the navies of five neighboring countries to enable them to counter piracy themselves. The long coastline of war-ravaged Somalia provides a perfect haven for pirate gangs preying on shipping off the East African coast.

"This action against piracy is part of a comprehensive EU approach to the crisis in Somalia, where we support a lasting political solution on land," said Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Rear Adm. Duncan Potts, Operation Commander of the EU Naval Force, said the attack will increase the pressure and disrupt pirates' efforts to get out to sea to attack merchant shipping and dhows.

He said attacks against pirate supplies on the shoreline are an extension of disruptive actions carried out against pirate ships at sea.

Pirates have turned dangerously violent in the last few years, as spiraling ransoms attracted ruthless criminals to a trade once dominated by aggrieved local fishermen. Four Americans aboard a hijacked yacht were killed in February. It's still unclear why the hostages were shot.

As of the end of March, suspected Somali pirates still held 15 vessels and 253 crew members, with an additional 49 crew members hostage on land, according to a maritime watchdog.

In the first quarter of this year, attacks fell sharply in Somalia's waters, thanks to international naval patrols. There were 43 attacks, including nine vessel hijackings, compared with 97 attacks a year ago, the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur said in April.

Since December 2008, the EU has kept five to 10 warships off the Horn of Africa in an operation known as Atalanta. NATO has a similar anti-piracy flotilla known as Ocean Shield, and other countries ? including the United States, India, China, Russia, and Malaysia ? also have dispatched naval vessels to patrol the region.

The EU Naval Force is responsible for the protection of World Food Program ships carrying humanitarian aid for Somalia, and the logistic support vessels of the African Union troops conducting operations there. It also monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia, which has been without a functioning government since 1991, when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown.

The EU's more robust mandate for its naval force allows it for the first time to mount strikes against pirate targets on Somalia's "coastal territory and internal waters." When the policy was announced, officials said the new tactics could include using warships or their helicopters to target pirate boats moored along the shoreline, as well as land vehicles or fuel tanks used by the pirates.

The EU did not say which member nation's forces carried out Tuesday's raid.

But two months ago, the Atalanta force was joined by French amphibious assault ship Dixmude. The 21,000-ton ship, the largest to serve with the EU mission, is capable of acting as a mobile operating base for 16 choppers ? including Tigre helicopter gunships ? significantly adding to the reach of the naval force.

"Today's action is ... in line with the new mandate," Mann said. "The EU will continue to remain active in this field."

Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, speaking at the United Nations in New York, said that piracy has "damaged the name of Somalia," but the country needs to build its own security institutions to combat it.

"We have to tackle it from the ground," he said. "Any operations that take place once or twice won't have a long-term effect on the issue."

_______

Lekic reported from Brussels, Belgium. Ron DePasquale contributed from the United Nations.

Associated Press

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National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Horry, Brunswick, and Colu...

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UFC Quick Quote: PED-free Junior dos Santos is the champion for real

UFC Heavyweight  champion Junior dos Santos' doesn't believe in taking performance enhancing drugs and that his heavyweight  body is all natural.

"I don't know exactly what happened with Alistair Overeem, but I don't care about that. It's between him and the athletic commission. I think he has to try to get that license to fight again. But, I always am going to be in favor to fight the clean fighters. I don't use anything to make me stronger or faster and I don't agree with people who use that you know. So, if he did, then it's a bad thing for him and I think that the athletic commission did very well to put him nine months waiting for the next fight. As a champion, though, I will fight whoever the UFC tells me to fight. I don't choose my opponents and I will fight anyone in the world. Everybody wants to know who the real champion, I am the real champion because I have never taken anything. When you see me, that is me for real, that is myself fighting and they see Junior dos Santos being the real champion in the fight. When they use drugs to get a better performance, that is not them fighting, it's very frustrating because it is not real and people want to know the champion for real, and I can tell you, I'm the champion for real."

-- Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos gives his thoughts on today's (May 14, 2012) edition of "The MMA Hour" on performance enhancing drugs (PED's) in mixed martial arts (MMA), which seems to be the hot topic over the past few months. "Cigano" was scheduled to fight Alistair Overeem at the upcoming UFC 146 event in Las Vegas, Nevada, but "The Reem's" now infamous high testosterone levels forced UFC officials to find a replacement for dos Santos just days before the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) denied Overeem a license to fight and suspended him for nine months -- even though Overeem has yet to test positive for a banned substance. Nevertheless, dos Santos assures fight fans that he has never, and will never, put anything illegal in his body to boost his performance. What's more, when people see him fighting it is all real, unlike the those who prefer to abuse PED's. "Cigano" will now face Frank Mir at the upcoming Memorial Day weekend card on May 26, 2012, in "Sin City" in what will be his first title defense since winning the title from Cain Velasquez last November.

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Must See HDTV (April 30th - May 6th)

Must See HDTV (April 30th - May 6th)

Mayweather/Cotto
While its not the Mayweather/Pacquiao boxing match fans want to see, this is the fight we have. Miguel Cotto believes he's in position to send Floyd Mayweather Jr. home with his first ever loss and surprisingly, some boxing experts agree with him. We'll see if Cotto's strength is enough to overcome Mayweather's speed and defensive prowess, but as usual, the story here is the fight that's not on the card.
(May 5th, 9PM, HBO PPV)

NBA Playoffs
A knee injury to Chicago's Derrick Rose has significantly shifted the balance of power in this year's NBA Playoffs. While the Bulls suddenly have to try and win without their superstar, the triumvirate down in Miami is suddenly under even more pressure to get the job done with two of the Eastern Conference's best players (Rose, Dwight Howard) out for the season. Out west the early games showed it will be a battle no matter what seeds are matching up, your guess is as good as ours as to who will come out of that conference and vie for the title in a few weeks.

Continue reading Must See HDTV (April 30th - May 6th)

Must See HDTV (April 30th - May 6th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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