At Modesto Center Stage: Who is that lady on the iceberg?

Modesto’s Center Stage Conservatory presents a story of Titanic proportions.

The downtown theater company opens the play “Scotland Road” Friday. The story follows a woman found floating on an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic in early 20th century clothing who claims to be a survivor of the Titanic. An expert on the sinking of the doomed ship interrogates the woman and tries to trace the meaning of her one clue, an enigmatic reference to “Scotland Road.”

The piece by playwright Jeffrey Hatcher will be directed by Laura Dickinson-Turner. Shows will be at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 16 at the conservatory’s Lower Level Studio at 948 11th St. Tickets are $12 general, $6 students with ID. Call (209) 846-0179 or visit www.centerstagemodesto.com.

Prospect Theater Project

The Prospect Theater Project has made a change to its season lineup.

The downtown Modesto company announced the cancellation of a planned production of “The Whipping Man” by Matthew Lopez due to licensing restrictions. The play will be replaced on the schedule with “4000 Miles” by Amy Herzog and will run in the planned Nov. 21 to Dec. 7 slot.

“4000 Miles” centers on a 21-year-old man who has suffered a major loss during a cross-country bike trip and goes to live with his grandmother in her small apartment. The dramatic comedy was a 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama and the winner of the 2012 Obie Award for best new play. For more on the schedule change visit prospecttheaterproject.org.

Fiber Arts Exhibit

The Mistlin Gallery opened its new exhibit, “A Celebration of Fiber Arts,” this week.

The historic Modesto arch and its slogan of “Water, Wealth, Contentment, Health” serves as the theme for the quilts in the display. The exhibit will showcase 27 quilts by 14 local artists. Each piece is inspired by one of the words in the arch.

This year is the third biannual fiber arts exhibit at the Mistlin Gallery mounted by Country Crossroads Quilters of Modesto in conjunction with the Central California Art Association. The free exhibition will be on display through Nov. 22. Gallery hours are 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon-4 p.m. Saturday. The gallery also will be open for an artists reception during the Third Thursday Art Walk from 5-9 p.m. Nov. 20. For more visit www.ccartassn.org.

High School Orchestra Day

Modesto Junior College hosts High School Orchestra Day at its East Campus on Thursday.

The event will feature nine Stanislaus County high school orchestras performing works by composers including Brahms, Handel, Holst, Meyer, Mozart, Newbold and Ravel. Participating schools include Beyer, Downey, Davis, Turlock, Pitman, Enochs, Modesto, Gregori and Johansen highs. Each group will perform a 10-minute orchestral selection. The concert will close with more than 200 string musicians from the schools performing together.

The event will run from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Main Auditorium of the Performing and Media Arts Center on East Campus. Admission and parking are free.

State Theatre films

The State Theatre will play host to two special film screenings this week.

First will be a showing of the documentary “Girl Rising” on Tuesday sponsored by Charles Schwab. The film follows the stories of nine girls from Cambodia, Haiti, Nepal, Ethiopia, India, Peru, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan as they struggle for equality and a better life. The event continues the celebration of International Day of the Girl, which was Oct. 11, and highlights the movement for gender equality around the world. Showing starts at 6:30 p.m. and tickets are $5 general, free for children ages 16 and under.

Then, on Wednesday, the N.Y. Film Critics Series returns with a sneak preview of the film “Elsa & Fred.”

The film stars Shirley Maclaine and Christopher Plummer as the titular leads who discover each other and love late in life. The movie also stars Marcia Gay Harden, George Segal, James Brolin and Scott Bakula. As part of the critics series, Rolling Stone magazine film critic Peter Travers will narrate the event and conduct live and Skyped interviews with the films’ stars, producers and directors. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $12.

For more on either film, call (209) 527-4697 or visit www.thestate.org.

Columbia Jazz Series

The Columbia Jazz Series returns with guest artists Elaine Gibbs and Paul Contos performing with the 28-piece Columbia Big Band this weekend.

Gospel, blues and jazz singer Gibbs returns to the jazz series for the third year in a row. She appeared in the first season of Simon Cowell’s “The X Factor” and placed third on the show. The other featured performer will be Monterey Jazz Festival saxophone artist Contos. He has performed with jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughn and Wynton and Branford Marsalis. He is a faculty member at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Shows will be at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the College Dogwood Theater. Tickets are $20. Call (209) 588-5211.

Calaveras Community Band

The Calaveras Community Band presents its Fall Concert on Sunday in Angels Camp. The diverse show will feature jazz, Latin music, polka, Irish music and more under the direction of conductor Mic Harper. Admission is free. Show starts at 3 p.m. in the Dr. Elliot A. Smart Performing Arts Center at Bret Harte High School.

This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 3:00 AM with the headline "At Modesto Center Stage: Who is that lady on the iceberg?."