Live!

What: PostSecret and Found: show, exhibit and book signing When: 6:30 and 9 p.m. tonight Where: The Old Town Theater, Alexandria

The Old Town Theater offers a cultural treat tonight with an exhibit showcasing local artist Frank Warren, creator of the PostSecret Project, and Michigan's Davy Rothbart of Found magazine, who is on a 15-state tour celebrating a second volume of his trash-to-treasure discoveries.

The two projects are united by an intriguing concept -- letting viewers indulge their voyeuristic instincts by peeking into the lives of nameless contributors. In the case of PostSecret, the items on display are postcards sent anonymously to Warren containing the senders' deep, dark secrets and confessions.

PostSecret ( http://www.postsecret.com ) originally appeared as a weekly item in the Washington City Paper and grew into a book ("PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives"), a gallery show and stories on "20/20" and "The Today Show." A selection of the postcards also became the focus of a music video for the All-American Rejects' song "Dirty Little Secret."

As for Found ( http://www.foundmagazine.com ), Rothbart created a simple, photocopied magazine to showcase love letters, to-do lists, ticket stubs, bar napkin poetry or, as the new book's subtitle states, "the best lost, tossed and forgotten items from around the world." The idea, too, struck a chord that led to TV and radio appearances and a book deal. The Found experience can be hilarious, poignant and disturbing, as readers are left to imagine the back stories of the lives glimpsed in these bits of personal revelation.

Tonight's showcase is an outgrowth of local comic Naomi Johnson's monthly variety/talk show, "Comedy Night Live," which she hosts at the Old Town Theater the second Saturday of the month. She usually features entertainers from the music and comedy scene and talks to a local celebrity, one of whom has been Warren. When she discovered that he was developing a DVD of PostSecret material for the big screen, the showcase was born.

PostSecret cards will be displayed in the lobby before the show, which will begin with introductory remarks from Johnson. Then Warren will show the new DVD postcard collection accompanied by a mix of recorded and live music from Yoko Kamitani and other area musicians.

Rothbart will tell stories from his Found collection, as he has become known for on radio shows such as "This American Life," with his brother Peter adding original songs based on the material.

The first show is a fundraiser; $9 of every ticket sold goes to the Kristin Brooks Hope Center, the program manager of the National Hopeline Network ( http://www.hopeline.com ).

-- MARIANNE MEYER

The Old Town Theater is at 815 King St. in Old Town Alexandria. Doors open for postcard viewing at 6 p.m. before the early show. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online athttp://www.oldtowntheater.com.

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