Names and Faces

Craig Robinson and his seven-piece band, The Nasty Delicious, perform at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Saturday, June 14, 2014, in Manchester, Tenn.
Craig Robinson and his seven-piece band, The Nasty Delicious, perform at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Saturday, June 14, 2014, in Manchester, Tenn.

• If the comedy thing doesn't work out, Craig Robinson has an easy second career lined up: musician. Robinson, a comedian and actor probably best known as Darryl on The Office, took his seven-piece band -- The Nasty Delicious -- to the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn., on Saturday evening, and turned the comedy tent into a dance hall. "It's my first love," Robinson said. "I used to play the piano as soon as I could reach it. My mother was first-chair cello in college. She was a singer, an organist. Our house, when we came up, you were going to piano lessons no matter what else you were doing, so it's a part of me." The 42-year-old Chicago resident isn't stopping at his stand-up comedy set. He's also incorporating music into his first starring role on television. He'll play a music teacher on his new sitcom Mr. Robinson, in development for NBC -- the network that first introduced Robinson to a larger audience as the lovably surly warehouse foreman on The Office. He also stars as Maceo in the James Brown bio-pic Get On Up, out in August.

• Star power is helping fuel a fundraiser for the public library in Nashville, Tenn. Actress Nicole Kidman is backing the effort by the Nashville Public Library Foundation to raise $2 million from everyday patrons. The Tennessean reports that Kidman recently spoke with author Ann Patchett on camera to help publicize efforts to raise the money over the next year. "I love libraries, in general, and I particularly like the Nashville library," Kidman said in the interview. Kidman said she supports the library's role in the community, and she visits regularly with her two daughters, who are ages 5 and 3. They check out books and attend storytime events. The nonprofit foundation works to enhance the number and types of books and programs offered by the library, which is funded by the city. According to the newspaper, the foundation provides about 10 percent of the library's annual operating budget. Kidman said her love of reading led her into acting. "I read because it relaxes me, and I read because I get lost in that place," she said. "I read for inspiration, and I read for protection, and I read for spiritual growth."

A Section on 06/16/2014

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