Lindbergh baby abduction-tour organized

In a reversal of his usual role as host, Lehman College Professor William M. Hoffman will be the featured guest on an upcoming taping of his “Conversations” series. He will discuss his latest play “Cornbury: The Queen’s Governor” with show producer Jerold Barnard during the May 4 taping, beginning at 2 pm in Room C-14 of Carman Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

“Cornbury” takes a look at the life of Edward Hyde, or Lord Cornbury, the third Earl of Clarendon and cousin to Queen Anne of England. He was not only the colonial governor of what is now New York and New Jersey for eight years ending in 1708, but he was also, as the story goes, a cross-dresser. His portrait at the New-York Historical Society shows a man with five o’clock shadow on his round face, wearing a blue gown.

Prof. Hoffman, a member of Lehman’s Department of Journalism, Communication, and Theatre, originally conceived of the play back in 974, along with his collaborator, the late actor Anthony Holland. In the aftermath of Watergate, the country was preparing for the American Bicentennial in 1976. “

Now in its sixth season, “Conversations” won a 2008 Telly Award for cultural programming for its interview with Kent Nagano, musical director of the Bavarian State Opera. The program airs over BronxNet and CUNY-TV. For more information about the series call (718) 960-2558.

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Experience the power, beauty and genius of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Join the Bronx Concert Singers, with music director Robert Rene Galvan, for their 28th Annual Spring Concert, Mad About Mozart, on Sun., May 17 at 4:30 pm at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1891 McGraw Avenue in Parkchester. This all-Mozart program features sacred and secular choral, solo and instrumental works accompanied by professional soloists and chamber orchestra. General admission tickets are $20 each, or two for $35. Tickets for seniors and students with valid ID are $15, and children through high school are only $5. For more information call (917) 743-4641.

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On Sat., May 16, a luxury tour bus will transport 23 passengers back in time to relive the hunt for the Lindbergh baby and his kidnapper.

The 1931 Crime of the Century stole all the headlines, since the little boy’s father was Charles Lindbergh, who was then America’s beloved hero.

Fifteen related Bronx sites will be visited during the six and a half hour tour. These include the exact spot in St. Raymond’s Cemetery where Dr. John Condon, Lindbergh’s enigmatic and colorful go-between, handed over $50,000 in ransom money; Condon’s house, which Lindbergh secretly visited twice; convicted kidnapper Bruno Hauptman’s house; and the bakery where he claimed he had been on the night of the kidnapping. The story of the crime and some of the controversial evidence in the case will be discussed throughout the day.

The tour bus is bathroom-equipped and air conditioned. The VCR system enables participants to view old newsreels of some of the sites just before they see them. An exclusive videotape enables participants to view the inside of Hauptmann’s house as it appears today, revealing a kitchen pantry and a bedroom closet that played important roles in the case. Tour participants will received old pictures of the sites, enabling them to make comparisons with the way they appear today. They will also receive reproductions of the ransom notes that deal with some of the sites. Participants can bring their own lunches and beverages, which will be stored in a cooler to keep them fresh until lunch time. Lunch will take place (weather permitting) in Van Cortlandt Park at one of the historic sits – a shack across from Woodlawn Cemetery where, according to Condon, he had a rendezvous with Hauptmann.

The price of the tour is $52 per person. The tour bus leaves at 10:15 a.m. from the northwest corner of E. 149th Street and the Grand concourse (directly opposite the Post Office building). For those traveling by car to the bus, an attended parking garage is located one short block away. The bus returns to this same intersection, at approximately 4:45 p.m.

To make reservations and for additional details, write to Richard Sloan, 141 Saint Marks Place, Massapequa, NY 11758 or email emma1231@optonline.net.

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Lehman Center for the Performing Arts presents American Idol veterans Ruben Studdard and Frenchie Davis in the 30th anniversary national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical revue Ain’t Misbehavin’. Director and co-writer of the original Broadway production, Richard Maltby, Jr., recreates his original hit celebrating the music of Fats Waller. This one night only stop on the national tour takes place on Sat., May 16, at 8 pm at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West on the campus of Lehman College. The tickets are priced at $45, $35, $25 and $20.

Call (718) 960-8833 for tickets.

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The Riverdale Choral Society will present its spring concert titled Music of Spain and the Americas. It features Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s exciting Romancero Gitano, a setting of the poetry of Spain’s Federico Garcia-Lorca. Under the direction of John Lettieri, the chorus will perform the Romancero accompanied by well-known guitarist Oren Fader. They will also perform works in Latin and Spanish by Argentine, Mexican and United States composers, both acappella and accompanied by pianists Mavis Pan and Indah Hertanto.

The concert will take place at Christ Church Riverdale on Sat., May 9 at 8 pm. Christ Church is located at W. 252nd Street and Henry Hudson Parkway East where parking is available.

Admission to both concerts is $15. With the Bronx Cultural Card, admission is $13. For further information call (718) 543-2219.

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Travel with The Bronx Opera to other worlds as a company of singers from around the world including Puerto Rico, Singapore, Iran, and Russia, present Mozart’s timeless classic, The Magic Flute. Updated and translated into English and sporting a full chorus and orchestra, this surreal singspiel takes Prince Tamino on a quest to save Princess Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night, from the vile Sarastro and his macabre slave Monostatos. Tamino is assisted by the comedic Papageno, the bird catcher, and by a great weapon given to him by the Three Spirits… a Magic Flute. The company features members from the famed Bronx children’s choir, Highbridge Voices. Fri., May 8 and Sat., May 9 at 7:30 pm at the Lovinger Theatre at Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West. Call for reserved seats: (718) 960-8833.

Lindbergh baby