Katherine Kiessling
@katkiessl.bsky.social
she/her • @timesunion.com arts & culture reporter • theater, film, tv & pop culture obsessive • Syracuse U alum 🍊 • all opinions are my own • www.katkiessl.com
The TU is asking the big questions because, apparently, The #Rapture is upon us: www.timesunion.com/food/article...
Tell us: What would you order for your Capital Region last meal?
If you could choose your last meal on Earth from a Capital Region restaurant, what would you choose?
www.timesunion.com
September 23, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The TU is asking the big questions because, apparently, The #Rapture is upon us: www.timesunion.com/food/article...
Reposted by Katherine Kiessling
The Arts Center of the Capital Region, concerned that a $50K federal grant to support a public art project in South Troy would come with anti-DEI-and-what-have-you strings attached, told the NEA to keep its money. @katkiessl.bsky.social reports.
Arts Center of Capital Region declines $50K NEA grant over DEI rules
The Arts Center of the Capital Region turned down a $50,000 federal grant from the NEA over fears of censorship and anti-DEI requirements.
www.timesunion.com
September 12, 2025 at 9:08 PM
The Arts Center of the Capital Region, concerned that a $50K federal grant to support a public art project in South Troy would come with anti-DEI-and-what-have-you strings attached, told the NEA to keep its money. @katkiessl.bsky.social reports.
What doth it mean to be an original practices traveling Shakespeare troupe in the year of Our Lord 2025? For Will Kempe's Players, it's embracing the basics of the Bard to best connect with audiences (and maybe a laugh-out-loud needle drop or two courtesy of some merry minstrels).
shorturl.at/Rg25o
shorturl.at/Rg25o
Will Kempe's Players embrace the basics of the Bard
The touring Shakespeare troupe prioritizes historic, Elizabethan practices to create theater magic for audiences across the Capital Region.
shorturl.at
August 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
What doth it mean to be an original practices traveling Shakespeare troupe in the year of Our Lord 2025? For Will Kempe's Players, it's embracing the basics of the Bard to best connect with audiences (and maybe a laugh-out-loud needle drop or two courtesy of some merry minstrels).
shorturl.at/Rg25o
shorturl.at/Rg25o
I was fascinated by how zines' aesthetics and themes transcended time. Things I read in the state library's massive archive could easily be in zine libraries today.
And as a physical media girly, the insights on how zines are a rebellion against the social media era were *chef's kiss*
And as a physical media girly, the insights on how zines are a rebellion against the social media era were *chef's kiss*
With the new Albany Zine Club, 518 Zine Fest and DIY publications lining local indie bookshelves and makers market tables, zines are having a moment.
Albany Zine Club, local artists fueling next era of zines
With the new Albany Zine Club, 518 Zine Fest and DIY publications lining local indie bookshelves and makers market tables, zines are having a moment.
bit.ly
August 20, 2025 at 3:22 PM
I was fascinated by how zines' aesthetics and themes transcended time. Things I read in the state library's massive archive could easily be in zine libraries today.
And as a physical media girly, the insights on how zines are a rebellion against the social media era were *chef's kiss*
And as a physical media girly, the insights on how zines are a rebellion against the social media era were *chef's kiss*
I'm kinda the worst at remembering to use social media, but I've worked on a couple of fun and fulfilling stories lately, so here's a little roundup.
July 28, 2025 at 2:56 PM
I'm kinda the worst at remembering to use social media, but I've worked on a couple of fun and fulfilling stories lately, so here's a little roundup.
And in more local theater news: Playhouse Stage is launching a new works program this weekend with a folk musical co-created and composed by Clifton Park's own Maria Isabella Andreoli and her longtime creative partner EmmaLee Kidwell.
Clifton Park native Maria Isabella Andreoli first stepped onstage with Playhouse Stage Company in 2011. It was an all-youth production of “Annie." Fast forward 14 years, and Andreoli is returning to Playhouse Stage for the debut of a brand-new musical. (📝 @katkiessl.bsky.social )
Clifton Park native debuts new musical with Playhouse Stage
“The Waiting” an original folk musical by Clifton Park native Maria Andreoli and EmmaLee Kidwell, is part of the theater’s new Playhouse Premieres program.
www.timesunion.com
June 12, 2025 at 6:18 PM
And in more local theater news: Playhouse Stage is launching a new works program this weekend with a folk musical co-created and composed by Clifton Park's own Maria Isabella Andreoli and her longtime creative partner EmmaLee Kidwell.
The Capital Region is a hidden theater paradise, thanks to roughly a zillion historic and brand-new companies.
To spotlight this, Patrick White created the Capital Region Theatre Fest (aka CRFT). Four days of workshops and performances kick off tonight.
www.timesunion.com/festivals/ar...
To spotlight this, Patrick White created the Capital Region Theatre Fest (aka CRFT). Four days of workshops and performances kick off tonight.
www.timesunion.com/festivals/ar...
Capital Region Theatre Festival debuts with 4 days of events
Stretching from Capital Repertory to Fort Salem Theater, the diverse range of workshops, panels and performances champions the local theater scene.
www.timesunion.com
June 12, 2025 at 5:30 PM
The Capital Region is a hidden theater paradise, thanks to roughly a zillion historic and brand-new companies.
To spotlight this, Patrick White created the Capital Region Theatre Fest (aka CRFT). Four days of workshops and performances kick off tonight.
www.timesunion.com/festivals/ar...
To spotlight this, Patrick White created the Capital Region Theatre Fest (aka CRFT). Four days of workshops and performances kick off tonight.
www.timesunion.com/festivals/ar...
Spent a day with some self-professed "boat nerds" and maybe became one myself?
Fifteen years ago, crews working on One World Trade Center unearthed a Revolutionary War gunboat. Now, it's being reassembled IRL at the New York State Museum.
www.timesunion.com/art/article/...
Fifteen years ago, crews working on One World Trade Center unearthed a Revolutionary War gunboat. Now, it's being reassembled IRL at the New York State Museum.
www.timesunion.com/art/article/...
Revolutionary War gunboat, found at Ground Zero, docks at the State Museum
Almost 15 years after its discovery during the construction of One World Trade Center, the gunboat is being reassembled at the New York State Museum.
www.timesunion.com
May 28, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Spent a day with some self-professed "boat nerds" and maybe became one myself?
Fifteen years ago, crews working on One World Trade Center unearthed a Revolutionary War gunboat. Now, it's being reassembled IRL at the New York State Museum.
www.timesunion.com/art/article/...
Fifteen years ago, crews working on One World Trade Center unearthed a Revolutionary War gunboat. Now, it's being reassembled IRL at the New York State Museum.
www.timesunion.com/art/article/...
Amidst all the federal arts and culture cuts that just keep coming, this was a ray of joy. Everyone should have the opportunity to try art just because they want to. I love that Shaker Pointe and resident Dick Holmes are making that happen. Creativity and community have no age limit.
John Pattison’s reason for auditioning for “The Importance of Being Earnest” was simple. “I figured it was time I did some theater,” he said. “I’m 94. I have to try it before it’s too late.” (📝 @katkiessl.bsky.social )
Residents at Shaker Pointe retirement community debut in new theater program
Shaker Pointe launched a new theater program created by resident and former high school teacher Dick Holmes and staffer Sarah Sheppeck.
www.timesunion.com
May 7, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Amidst all the federal arts and culture cuts that just keep coming, this was a ray of joy. Everyone should have the opportunity to try art just because they want to. I love that Shaker Pointe and resident Dick Holmes are making that happen. Creativity and community have no age limit.
This month's Creative Corners column takes on Live Nation, its 25-year relationship with SPAC and how the good and the baggage of that partnership are tightly woven with one of the biggest and most controversial mergers in live entertainment history.
www.timesunion.com/music/articl...
www.timesunion.com/music/articl...
Creative Corners: Live Nation and SPAC, explained
For 25 years, Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Live Nation have partnered — for better and for worse — on the amphitheater’s popular music series.
www.timesunion.com
April 17, 2025 at 1:55 PM
This month's Creative Corners column takes on Live Nation, its 25-year relationship with SPAC and how the good and the baggage of that partnership are tightly woven with one of the biggest and most controversial mergers in live entertainment history.
www.timesunion.com/music/articl...
www.timesunion.com/music/articl...
Even after reporting on this, I made the rookie mistake of not bringing tissues to today's concert.
Nearly three decades after his murder, what does it mean to consider Matthew Shepard? It is a question posed by Albany Pro Musica with its upcoming performance of Craig Hella Johnson’s oratorio “Considering Matthew Shepard” on March 9 at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. (📝 @katkiessl.bsky.social )
Albany Pro Musica concert connects Matthew Shepard to today
"Considering Matthew Shepard" arrives at a time when anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric is at a high and the community is grieving the death of Sam Nordquist.
www.timesunion.com
March 9, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Even after reporting on this, I made the rookie mistake of not bringing tissues to today's concert.
Reposted by Katherine Kiessling
Here is the pre-RFK vaccination schedule for your kids. Please download it before he is confirmed and changes/deletes it.
Give it to your pediatrician and say this is the schedule you want your kids on.
Making this my pinned post.
Give it to your pediatrician and say this is the schedule you want your kids on.
Making this my pinned post.
February 4, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Here is the pre-RFK vaccination schedule for your kids. Please download it before he is confirmed and changes/deletes it.
Give it to your pediatrician and say this is the schedule you want your kids on.
Making this my pinned post.
Give it to your pediatrician and say this is the schedule you want your kids on.
Making this my pinned post.
“Community is such a big part of how art is made and why it gets made.” -- Edie Fake
Two floors + over 150 queer artists = the biggest Tang exhibit to date. So many things stuck with me from Edie Fake's convo with Tang Director Ian Berry, most of which I managed to fit in here:
shorturl.at/1PDCj
Two floors + over 150 queer artists = the biggest Tang exhibit to date. So many things stuck with me from Edie Fake's convo with Tang Director Ian Berry, most of which I managed to fit in here:
shorturl.at/1PDCj
Tang's biggest exhibition puts queer art, community in focus
The Tang Teaching Museum's "a field of bloom and hum" features over 150 artists across two floors, including a new commission by Edie Fake.
www.timesunion.com
February 13, 2025 at 7:55 PM
“Community is such a big part of how art is made and why it gets made.” -- Edie Fake
Two floors + over 150 queer artists = the biggest Tang exhibit to date. So many things stuck with me from Edie Fake's convo with Tang Director Ian Berry, most of which I managed to fit in here:
shorturl.at/1PDCj
Two floors + over 150 queer artists = the biggest Tang exhibit to date. So many things stuck with me from Edie Fake's convo with Tang Director Ian Berry, most of which I managed to fit in here:
shorturl.at/1PDCj
me whenever brady is speaking
a woman in a black dress says it - it - the f - it - flam - flames
ALT: a woman in a black dress says it - it - the f - it - flam - flames
media.tenor.com
February 10, 2025 at 3:03 AM
me whenever brady is speaking
The CGI seal Seal might be my new paralysis demon.
February 10, 2025 at 12:24 AM
The CGI seal Seal might be my new paralysis demon.
If you have time over the next two days to see "Parade" at Proctors, go. The chilling modern-day parallels are impossible to ignore is this beautifully staged and performed production, which officially launched its national tour last night.
www.timesunion.com/theater/arti...
www.timesunion.com/theater/arti...
Review: 'Parade' an urgent musical tragedy at Proctors
The musical, which is based on the 1913 trial, two year imprisonment and eventual lynching of Leo Frank, serves poignant modern-day parallels.
www.timesunion.com
January 16, 2025 at 2:47 PM
If you have time over the next two days to see "Parade" at Proctors, go. The chilling modern-day parallels are impossible to ignore is this beautifully staged and performed production, which officially launched its national tour last night.
www.timesunion.com/theater/arti...
www.timesunion.com/theater/arti...
It's Saratoga Jazz Fest announcement szn (outside lawn chairs included). www.timesunion.com/music/articl...
Saratoga Jazz Festival announces Trombone Shorty, Gary Clark Jr. in 2025 lineup
The 48th annual two-day festival returns to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with Cory Wong, Gregory Porter, Cassandra Wilson and more this June.
www.timesunion.com
January 16, 2025 at 2:17 PM
It's Saratoga Jazz Fest announcement szn (outside lawn chairs included). www.timesunion.com/music/articl...
The City of Albany and the New York State Museum could get a combined $400 million facelift under the governor's latest proposal.
www.timesunion.com/news/article...
www.timesunion.com/news/article...
Hochul proposes massive state investment in downtown Albany, State Museum
The governor, as part of her State of the State address, wants to spend $400 million on projects designed to remake New York's capital city.
www.timesunion.com
January 13, 2025 at 8:18 PM
The City of Albany and the New York State Museum could get a combined $400 million facelift under the governor's latest proposal.
www.timesunion.com/news/article...
www.timesunion.com/news/article...
Reposted by Katherine Kiessling
Reposted by Katherine Kiessling
Shoutout to the Los Angeles Times reporters who are doing essential journalism under very difficult circumstances.
They’ve dropped their paywall, but their ongoing coverage is a good reminder of why local newsrooms need support — and what we lose when those outlets are hollowed out.
They’ve dropped their paywall, but their ongoing coverage is a good reminder of why local newsrooms need support — and what we lose when those outlets are hollowed out.
5 dead, more than 2,000 structures burned as new fire hits Hollywood Hills
More than 2,000 structures have burned and at least five people are dead in wildfires burning across L.A. County. Red flag warnings remained in effect for Los Angeles County and much of Ventura County...
www.latimes.com
January 9, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Shoutout to the Los Angeles Times reporters who are doing essential journalism under very difficult circumstances.
They’ve dropped their paywall, but their ongoing coverage is a good reminder of why local newsrooms need support — and what we lose when those outlets are hollowed out.
They’ve dropped their paywall, but their ongoing coverage is a good reminder of why local newsrooms need support — and what we lose when those outlets are hollowed out.
Is the fire inside babygirls actually Sonic the Hedgehog? Inquiring minds want to know.
January 6, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Is the fire inside babygirls actually Sonic the Hedgehog? Inquiring minds want to know.
Getting "rex appeal" and "Triassic tryst" into print was a pretty rad way to kick off 2025.
Being on set for "Books" would've been delightful even without inflated dinos. Market Block Books - and indie shops like it - are special, and the creators know it.
www.timesunion.com/movies/artic...
Being on set for "Books" would've been delightful even without inflated dinos. Market Block Books - and indie shops like it - are special, and the creators know it.
www.timesunion.com/movies/artic...
Market Block Books in Troy location of new TV sitcom pilot
A new workplace sitcom "Books," starring Spencer Grammer and Ajay Naidu, shot its pilot at Market Block Books.
www.timesunion.com
January 3, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Getting "rex appeal" and "Triassic tryst" into print was a pretty rad way to kick off 2025.
Being on set for "Books" would've been delightful even without inflated dinos. Market Block Books - and indie shops like it - are special, and the creators know it.
www.timesunion.com/movies/artic...
Being on set for "Books" would've been delightful even without inflated dinos. Market Block Books - and indie shops like it - are special, and the creators know it.
www.timesunion.com/movies/artic...
I think at least a third of my childhood was spent screlting "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and "That Don't Impress Me Much" with my mom in the car, so I am thrilled.
www.timesunion.com/music/articl...
www.timesunion.com/music/articl...
Shania Twain coming to SPAC in July
The country star behind "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" will play Saratoga Performing Arts Center this summer.
www.timesunion.com
December 16, 2024 at 6:12 PM
I think at least a third of my childhood was spent screlting "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and "That Don't Impress Me Much" with my mom in the car, so I am thrilled.
www.timesunion.com/music/articl...
www.timesunion.com/music/articl...
In honor of the Santa Speedo Sprint returning this weekend for its 19th annual half-naked run down Lark Street, I thought I would revive my story from last year unwrapping the charm (and insider tips!) of the second oldest festively Speedo'd dash in the country.
www.timesunion.com/preview/arti...
www.timesunion.com/preview/arti...
Unwrapping the charm of Albany's Santa Speedo Sprint
From the best speed to costume tips, Jim Larson, co-organizer and de facto face of the Santa Speedo Sprint, knows how to get the most out of the irreverent day.
www.timesunion.com
December 12, 2024 at 7:08 PM
In honor of the Santa Speedo Sprint returning this weekend for its 19th annual half-naked run down Lark Street, I thought I would revive my story from last year unwrapping the charm (and insider tips!) of the second oldest festively Speedo'd dash in the country.
www.timesunion.com/preview/arti...
www.timesunion.com/preview/arti...