Carmike Cinemas Celebrates Upcoming Release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” with Harry Potter Movie Marathons

Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ: CKEC), a leading digital cinema and 3D motion picture exhibitor, announced today that in celebration of the highly anticipated July 15^th theatrical release of “Harry Potter and the Half–Blood Prince,” many (see attached list) of its entertainment complexes will host a marathon of the first five installments of the Harry Potter film franchise.

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” opens nationwide Wednesday, July 15^th, with special 12:01 am showings on Wednesday, July 15^th. In anticipation of the newest Harry Potter film, longtime fans can gear up and new fans can catch up on the previous adventures.

The marathon will take place on Tuesday, July 14 starting at 9:00 am and will include the following films:

										“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”
										“Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets”
										“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”
										“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
										“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”

Below is the listing of Carmike theatres that will be showing the Harry Potter marathon, followed by the July 15^th debut of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”:

Theatre

City

State

Theatre

City

State

WYNNSONG 16

AUBURN

AL

CROSSROADS 16

CONYERS

GA

CARMIKE 12

DOTHAN

AL

CARMIKE 12

CATERSVILLE

GA

WYNNSONG 16

MOBILE

AL

CARMIKE 12

DALTON

GA

PROMENADE 12

PRATTVILLE

AL

CARMIKE 15

COLUMBUS

GA

CARMIKE 14

FORT SMITH

AR

LAGRANGE 10

LAGRANGE

GA

CARMIKE 10

COLORADO SPRINGS

CO

CARMIKE 12

SNELLVILLE

GA

CHAPEL HILLS 15

COLORADO SPRINGS

CO

WYNNSONG 12

CEDAR RAPIDS

IA

CARMIKE 10

FORT COLLINS

CO

WYNNSONG 16

JOHNSTON (DES MOINES)

IA

CARMIKE 14

DOVER

DE

SOUTHERN HILLS 12

SIOUX CITY

IA

ROYAL PALM 20

BRADENTON

FL

PINE RIDGE 10

CHUBBUCK

ID

FLEMING ISLAND 12

FLEMING ISLAND

FL

PALACE 10

BLOOMINGTON

IL

CARMIKE 10

PANAMA CITY

FL

BEVERLY 18

CHAMPAIGN

IL

CARMIKE 12

ATHENS

GA

ENCORE PARK 14

ELKHART

IN

RIVERSTONE 15

CANTON

GA

CARMIKE 20

FORT WAYNE

IN

SETH CHILDS 12

MANHATTAN

KS

CARMIKE 10

KNOXVILLE

TN

GRAND TRAVERSE 9

TRAVERSE CITY

MI

FOOTHILLS 12

MARYVILLE

TN

CARMIKE 15

APPLEVALLEY

MN

CARMIKE 12

MORRISTOWN

TN

OAKDALE 20

OAKDALE

MN

WYNNSONG 16

MURFREESBORO

TN

CARMIKE 10

WARRENSBURG

MO

CARMIKE 16

EL PASO

TX

SHILOH 14

BILLINGS

MT

CARMIKE 10

LONGVIEW

TX

MARKET FAIR 15

FAYETTEVILLE

NC

CARMIKE 14

TYLER

TX

CARMIKE 18

GREENSBORO

NC

SIKES 10

WICHITA FALLS

TX

CARMIKE 12

GREENVILLE

NC

CARMIKE 6

CHARLOTTESVILLE

VA

CARMIKE 14

HICKORY

NC

CARMIKE 10

MIDLOTHIAN (RICHMOND)

VA

PARKPLACE 16

MORRISVILLE

NC

RIVER RIDGE 4

LYNCHBURG

VA

CARMIKE 16

JACKSONVILLE

NC

CARMIKE 10

ROANOKE

VA

WYNNSONG 12

WINSTON-SALEM

NC

OAKWOOD 12

EAU CLAIRE

WI

CARMIKE 16

WILMINGTON

NC

MALL 12

MORGANTOWN

WV

CARMIKE 12

FINDLAY

OH

FRONTIER 9

CHEYENNE

WY

MALL 11

ST. CLAIRSVILLE

OH

CARMIKE 12

CORVALIS

OR

CARMIKE 15

GREENSBURG

PA

GALLERIA 6

PITTSBURGH

PA

WYNNSONG 10

COLUMBIA

SC

BROADWAY 16

MYRTLE BEACH

SC

CARMIKE 9

ABERDEEN

SD

HIGHLAND 12

COOKEVILLE

TN

THOROUGHBRED 20

FRANKLIN

TN

NORTHGATE 14

HIXON

TN

JOHNSON CITY 14

JOHNSON CITY

TN

Visit www.carmike.com for the complete list of all theatres and ticket availability.

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is the sixth installment of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Harry Potter film franchise based on the beloved novels by J.K. Rowling. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson reprise their roles as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The film is directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. David Heyman and David Baron are the producers with Lionel Wigram serving as executive producer and John Trehy co-producing.

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is being distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. Rated PG by MPAA for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality.

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Carmike Cinemas is Bringing the Royal Opera House to a Theater Near You

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ: CKEC) announced October 8, 2008, that The Royal Opera House in HD “Series of Five Masterworks” will be featured on 42 digital High-Definition screens through DigiScreen, at local Carmike theatres in 26 states.

The Royal Opera House is the home of three world-class performing companies – The Royal Ballet, The Royal Opera, and The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. It is a focal point for England’s national and international artistic excellence, where the evolving traditions of opera and ballet are taken to the highest levels. Excellence without compromise. This is the Royal Opera House.

Starting Thursday, October 16, 2008, Carmike Cinemas will feature a series of five masterworks - including two operas and three ballets. The five stellar productions exemplify the extraordinarily high levels of artistry and entertainment attained by one of the world’s foremost opera and ballet companies.

Carmen: Thursday, October 16, 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, October 19, 1:00 p.m.

Bizet’s Carmen is one of those rare operas in which every number seems to be a familiar, favorite melody. It is jam-packed with sexy solos, rousing choruses, impassioned arias and delightful Spanish dances. Tuneful, colorful, evocative and dramatic!

The Spanish heat and gypsy passion of Carmen comes to life in Francesca Zambello’s production, recreating the sun-drenched and sensual world of 19th century Spain, with its ranks of soldiers and crowds of peasants, gypsies and bullfighters, its spectacle and its deadly, white-hot emotions.

At the heart of the story of one woman’s tangled relationships with two men is Carmen herself, played by the fabulous singer-actor Anna Caterina Antonacci. The great Italian soprano is matched by two devilishly handsome men as her love interests; steamingly sexy German tenor, Jonas Kaufmann and the smouldering Italian baritone, Ildebrando D’Arcangelo.

The Sleeping Beauty: Thursday, October 23, 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, October 26, 1:00 p.m.

Britain’s Royal Ballet brings to the screen one of ballet’s most loved classics. The Sleeping Beauty combines, in a single work, all the charms and virtuosity that ballet has to offer. This famous staging was created for the Royal Ballet in 1946, from the original 1890 Marius Petipa production in St. Petersburg. It was revived for the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Royal Ballet in 2006.

The Sleeping Beauty is led by two of the Royal Ballet’s finest dancers; the beautiful Alina Cojocuru stars as Princess Aurora and the dark, handsome Federico Bonelli stars as Prince Florimud. Tchaikovsky’s glorious score for this beautiful ballet is played by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

This ballet is a great showcase of the Company’s many talents and a living milestone in its history. This Sleeping Beauty’s style and visual splendor are unique to The Royal Ballet.

Tales of Beatrix Potter: Thursday, October 30, 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 2, 1:00 p.m.

A special performance for children of all ages, and for those who are just young at heart! The London Royal Ballet’s production of Tales of Beatrix Potter brings the characters from her famous stories alive on-stage.

In 1971, Fredrick Ashtown choreographed Tales of Beatrix Potter for film. Two decades later, Anthony Dowell staged Ashton’s choreography for The Royal Ballet, giving the company one of its more charming offerings. The production’s ingenious use of scale when designing the sets and their spectacular costumes and masks quickly draws audiences in to the wondrous world of Peter Rabbit, Jeremy Fisher and Jemima Puddleduck.

Only in the Royal Ballet’s Tales of Beatrix Potter will you behold the delightful dancing of naughty mice, see Pigling Bland and Pig-Wig perform a wonderful pig pas de deux, witness an overly excited Squirrel Nutkin leap, twirl and whirl around the stage and cheer as all of the much loved characters join in the glorious grand finale. John Lanchbery’s music, based mostly on forgotten Victorian melodies, is utterly captivating, inspiring spirited playing from the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, conducted by Paul Murphy.

Le Nozze Di Figaro: Thursday November 6, 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 9, 1:00 p.m.

Mozart’s music makes Le Nozze di Figaro one of the finest jewels in the opera repertory, with a wealth of famous melodies that commence with the familiar first notes of the energetic Overture.

A London highlight of the celebrations for the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, David McVicar’s spellbinding production illuminates Mozart’s masterpiece, shifting the action to a French chateau in the aftermath of the 1830 revolution. At the tragic heart of the opera, Gerald Finely’s suave, dashingly self-absorbed Count and Dorothea Roschmann’s passionately dignified Countess are deadlocked in a romantic contest that impacts dramatically on the court’s feisty valet Figar (Erwin Schrott) and his fianceé, the sassy Susanna (Miah Persson). The late-summer beauty of Paule Constable’s lighting and Tanya McCallin’s evocative sets provide the perfect backdrop for the invigorating wit and emotional depth of Antonio Pappano’s conducting of the Royal Opera House Orchestra.

Romeo and Juliet: Thursday, November 13, 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 16, 1:00 p.m.

The Royal Ballet’s production of Romeo and Juliet is a major event, featuring the much anticipated partnering of extraordinary prima ballerina Tamara Rojo and superstar Carlos Acosta in the title roles.

Kenneth MacMillian’s great interpretation of Shakespeare’s enduring tragedy is one of the most popular works in The Royal Ballet repertory and one of the greatest examples of 20th century choreography. The setting is Renaissance Verona, where a chance meeting ignites a profound love between Romeo and Juliet, bringing with it first hope of uniting their families in peace, followed by a misunderstanding, and finally tragedy and death. Prokofiev’s music is an instantly recognizable classic of the modern repertory, here complemented by choreography of beauty and touching fluidity.

Contact your local theatre for ticket prices and availability.

Georgia Albany Wynnsong 16
Georgia Columbus Carmike 15
Georgia Savannah Carmike 10

Visit www.carmike.com for the complete list of all theatres.

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National Endowment for the Arts Announces More Than $2,000,000 in Grants for The Big Read

GFP Note: Reading is a wonderful sport at any time, and at any age. For our readers in Georgia, the list of books and libraries who will receive a portion of this grant is listed below the article. Best start reading now!

This September The Big Read is giving even more of the nation's cities and towns something to talk about. Today the National Endowment for the Arts announced that 208 libraries, municipalities, and arts, culture, and science organizations will receive grants totaling $2,810,500 to host Big Read celebrations between September 2008 and June 2009. The Big Read gives communities the opportunity to come together to read, discuss, and celebrate one of 23 selections from American and world literature. The newest Big Read grantees represent 46 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. To date, the NEA has given more than 500 grants to support local Big Read projects.

See a complete listing of the grantees.

"Everything the NEA does we do in partnership. I am delighted to announce our 208 new partners in The Big Read. Some are new to the program, some are returning, but all of them have answered the call to action to get our country reading again," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia.

"With this latest round of grants, I am proud to say that The Big Read has supported more than 500 public library partnerships," said Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the NEA's lead federal partner for The Big Read. "Through this program, public libraries continue to demonstrate their value in communities as centers of engagement, literacy, and lifelong learning. I am particularly delighted by the innovative public programming born out of library and museum collaborations."

The selected organizations will receive Big Read grants ranging from $2,500 to $20,000 to promote and carry out community-based programs. Participating communities also receive high-quality, free-of-charge educational materials to supplement each title. Reader's Guides include features such as author biographies, historical context for the book, and discussion questions. Teacher's Guides adhere to National Council of Teachers of English standards and include lesson plans, essay topics, and reproducible handouts.

The Big Read Audio Guides, which also can be used as radio programming, feature readings from the novel along with commentary from renowned artists, educators, and public figures such as Robert Redford, Colin Powell, and Mary-Louise Parker, and Big Read authors such as Amy Tan and Ray Bradbury. With support from IMLS, the Audio Guides for 14 titles from The Big Read library also will be provided to more than 14,000 public libraries nationwide.
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Georgia Libraries

University of Georgia/UGA Libraries
Athens, GA
Bless Me, Ultima

Atlanta Historical Society for The Center for Southern Literature
Atlanta, GA
The Great Gatsby

Golden Isles Arts and Humanities Association
Brunswick, GA
To Kill a Mockingbird

Muscogee County Friends of Libraries
Columbus, GA
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Cultural Arts Council of Douglasville/Douglas County, Inc.
Douglasville , GA
To Kill a Mockingbird

Georgia College & State University
Milledgeville, GA
A Lesson Before Dying

Savannah State University
Savannah, GA
Fahrenheit 451

Towne Lake Arts Center
Woodstock, GA
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

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‘Carousel’ more than amusement park ride

ACG Note: The Springer Opera House is located in Columbus, GA. It is the State Theatre of Georgia and it is well worth visiting, regardless of what is showing! Be sure to head down early as you'll want to enjoy some of the side-walk restaurants just down the street and maybe take in a walk on the river. The Theater is gorgeous! The website is listed at the end of the info below, take a look!

Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein were the Midases of the Golden Age of Broadway and they considered “Carousel” the jewel in the crown they wore during the 1940s and 50s.

The Springer opens “Carousel” at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28, for a three-week run.

Rodgers and Hammerstein agreed that “Carousel” was their favorite of all their musical masterpieces. They appreciated the way in which they managed to integrate music with plot, tell a serious story and compose music that is unforgettable. “Time” magazine named “Carousel” the best musical of the 20th century.

The musical tells the story of the romance and marriage of an innocent girl (Tala Al-Khudhairi) and a carnival worker (Adam Clough), who finds easy pickings too hard to resist. Both of these actors were in Some Enchanted Evening, the Springer’s 2007 touring production that played all over the United States — and two dates in British Columbia.

Local audiences will remember Al-Khudhairi from this fall’s Enchanted April in which she played Costanza, the housekeeper at an Italian villa where four English women vacation.

“This is the musical that isn’t afraid to ask: Why is it that nice, intelligent girls will risk everything for a snarling rouge with a duck-tail haircut, leather jacket, tight jeans and several outstanding warrants, leaving the Boy Scout standing in the exhaust of a disappearing Harley,” said Springer artistic director Paul Pierce.

At a time when musicals were silly or vehicles to give some star a ride on the “Great White Way,” Rogers and Hammerstein had the foresight, fortitude and talent to tell meaningful romances with compelling tunes.

“Carousel” opened on Broadway on April 19, 1945, and ran for 890 performances.
Musical numbers such as “If I Loved You,” “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” immediately became classics of the American musical songbook. In fact, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” has assumed a life of its own; not only is it often sung at graduations and funeral, many English soccer clubs sing it at their games.

For all its light-hearted moments, “Carousel” has some difficult subject matter, including domestic violence. As a consequence, the Springer is producing this show in conjunction with Hope Harbour, the Columbus Alliance for Battered Women. Hope Harbour volunteers will be available at performances with literature and information about how people can use their services.

The Springer and Hope Harbour will also hold talkbacks after three of the performances of “Carousel” — the 7:30 p.m. performances for the first two Saturdays of the run (March 1 and 8) and the 2:30 Sunday matinee (March 9). The audience is invited to stay after these performances to talk about the issues of abuse raised by the musical and ways to deal with this problem.

Volunteers from Hope Harbour and other social service agencies and some of the members of the “Carousel” cast will be on hand for these talkbacks.

“Carousel” runs at the Springer at 7:30 Feb. 28 – March 1, March 6-8 and March 13-15 and at 2:30 Sunday, March 9. For tickets or information, call 706-327-3688 or visit www.springeroperahouse.org.

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