City Week


Thursday 19

AN OFFER YOU CAN'T REFUSE. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton and Robert Duvall.

If you guessed The Godfather, give yourself a pat on the back and get down to La Placita Village, where the classic gangster flick is showing tonight.

The story about the son of a mafia boss and his ruthless rise to power is part of the weekly outdoor film series at the plaza.

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. There is no charge, but a $3 donation is suggested. The money goes to the restoration of the historic Fox Theatre. For more information, call 622-0077.

BATTER UP. Who needs to drive to Bank One Ballpark? We've got the future stars of the Arizona Diamondbacks right here in the Old Pueblo. The Tucson Sidewinders, our Triple-A D'backs affiliate, take on the New Orleans Zephyrs tonight. Besides some terrific baseball, it's also buck-beer night, so your brewskis and soft drinks will set you back one tiny dollar. The homestand continues through Monday, with a four-game series against Oklahoma beginning with tomorrow's game, which will be followed by a fireworks spectacular. First pitch tonight is 7:30 p.m. at Tucson Electric Park, 2500 E. Ajo Way. Admission ranges from $4 to $8. For more information, call 434-1021.


Friday 20

ENGLISH MUFFIN. It's a play about a newlywed couple, a bank inspector, a mother-in-law, a police superintendent, a muddled friend and a mail order gone very wrong.

Find out what No Sex Please, We're British is all about as Catalina Players proves itself again as a community theater with real staying power. The production promises to be a real rib-tickler.

Catalina Players, founded in 1983, has produced a number of great plays, including Our Town, The Foreigner and Arsenic and Old Lace.

No Sex Please, We're British opens tonight at 7:30 at 400 E. University Blvd., at Fourth Avenue and University in the Trinity Music and Arts Center. Come early for a 6 p.m. dinner catered by Tony's New York Deli. Tickets cost $20 for dinner and show, or $12 (students are $6) for the show. Other shows are scheduled for July 21, 22 (noon matinee), 27 and 28 and August 3 and 4. For more information or reservations, call 721-9640 or e-mail catplayers@aol.com.

PASSION SLAM. A sublime experience awaits at New Life Cafe, where a passionate poet will try to slam home his verse.

Zalman Berkowitz has converted his passions in life into a business venture he has named Three Blind Passions: Wine Art Word. His poetry, like his painting, is modern and free form, created from the movements of life. The poetic style of slam melded with a refined undercurrent of a universal outlook make listening to Zalman a sublime experience.

The event begins at 6 tonight at New Life, 4841 E. Speedway Blvd. For more information, call Christy at 323-0580.


Saturday 21

GOODBYE TO A GOOD MAN. An evening of performance and poetry will honor an author, teacher, activist and Arts Brigade supporter who is headed north.

Tucson Arts Brigade supporter Simon Ortiz is leaving Tucson this summer to assume a teaching position at the University of Toronto. He has made significant contributions to Tucson's cultural environment, and is a model for artists and writers who speak for social change.

He is author of Going for the Rain, Woven Stone and After and Before the Lightning. His work synthesizes his Native American heritage with images from the modern world.

"We must take responsibility for what's happening today," Ortiz said. "There must be a belief in continuance, and in this there is hope, knowing that the human population of the Southwest can work for something more than survival. Life will go on when we really take care of ourselves and take care of the land."

Maria Elena Wakamatsu, Joan De Marcos, David Mitchell and Leslie Silko are among the performers tonight.

The Tucson Arts Brigade, or TAB, is a membership-based, not-for-profit organization dedicated to honoring indigenous cultural renewal, promoting intergenerational empowerment, and inspiring the revival of communities through the public arts.

The free event is from 7 to 10 tonight at Zuzi Little Theater, in the Historic Y, 738 N. Fifth Ave. For more information, call 388-9553.

TOUCHY-FEELY. Get loosened up for a Feast for the Senses.

Trade massages and afterward enjoy a wonderful meal in an event at Body Works Studios and Pastiche Modern Eatery.

Learn easy and effective massage techniques you can use on family and friends. You'll discover touch sensitivity, get tips on body mechanics, and discover a great way to interact with the ones you love.

The workshop is from 5 to 7 p.m. today at Body Works, 3055 N. Campbell Ave. Cost is $50 per couple. Participants get 15 percent off dinner at Pastiche. For more information, call 323-7070.

NINETY-NINE WORKS ON THE WALL. An interesting collection of works--sculpture, drawings, oils, acrylics, pastels, handmade paper and bas relief--is on display in a juried exhibition.

An opening reception tonight at Dinnerware Contemporary Art Gallery celebrates the works of 49 artists being shown as part of Drawing from the Figure. In all, some 99 pieces are exhibited in the show that runs through August 18.

The work encompasses a mixture of styles, media and approach, with a central theme of "working from observation."

The reception at Dinnerware, 135 E. Congress St., is from 7 to 9 p.m. Regular gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 7 to 9 p.m. during Downtown Saturday Night. For more information, call 792-4503.

ONE OF A KIND. Gerard Rancourt Tsonakwa and wife Yalaikia Wapilaska have written a fourth book--and it's quite a first in many respects.

Seven Eyes, Seven Legs: Supernatural Stories of the Abenaki, a collection of about 25 stories, is the first creative writing done in Abenaki since the 1920s.

The illustrated book is divided into three sections--spiritual stories, children's stories and spooky tales--and each story is accompanied by a paragraph of the original Abenaki verse.

A map shows the Abenaki homeland in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. A seven-page history of the people is the first written by a tribal member, and the book also boasts a first-ever Abenaki-English glossary.

Two events today at the Arizona State Museum, just east of the UA main gate at Park and University, mark the book's release. Mask painting, children's stories and book signing from 3:30 to 5 p.m. will be followed by an art show, reception and storytelling from 6 to 8 p.m. For more information, call 626-8381.

SPANISH BLUES. Guitarist Frank Giordano calls flamenco "a likable, easily accessible form of music--the blues of Spain."

Giordano, along with guitarist Shane Gonzalez and percussionist John Martin, formed Cerro Negro to create gypsy-influenced rhythms of flamenco, rumba, contemporary jazz and worldbeat.

The group pulls it off blending Spanish guitar with the Latin percussion from congas, cajon, djembe, clave and palmas.

Cerro Negro's self-titled debut CD released in 1998 sold out its first pressing and got wide airplay on California's jazz radio stations. The group, which has opened for Poncho Sanchez, Craig Chaquico, Jesse Cook and Willie and Lobo, just finished its second CD.

Cerro Negro plays at 8 tonight at Plaza Palomino at Fort Lowell and Swan. The concert is part of Plaza Palomino's Courtyard Concert Series. Tickets cost $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Advance tickets are available at Antigone Books, Brew and Vine, City Grill, Hear's Music and Enchanted Earthworks. To charge tickets by phone or for more information, call 297-9133.


Sunday 22

SHOP AND BOOGIE. The Tucson Farmer's Market is offering something new this week--and if you like to boogie, you'll just eat it up.

Arthur Migliazza, the prodigy boogie-woogie pianist of Tucson, brings his big-fun act to the market at 10 a.m. today and next Sunday.

Migliazza has been playing piano since he was 9 and has been performing boogie and blues since he was 11. Now 20, Migliazza is a junior at the University of Arizona. He has played in university jazz bands and combos and teaches a blues piano class at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, W. Va.

The young standout has been a guest artist at the Cincinnati Blues Festival, Tucson Blues Festival and the Phoenix Blues Showdown, among others. He has performed with Erwin Helfer, Gary Primich and Ann Rabson.

Hear what this guy's all about at the market at St. Philip's Plaza at River and Campbell. Summer hours are 7 a.m. to noon. Twenty or more vendors sell fruits, vegetables, beef and European-style breads. For more information, call Erzsebet or Richard Bruner at 743-8063.


Monday 23

NEW BAND, NEW CD. You Should Know By Now is Barbara Manning as you have rarely heard her.

Backed by her punky new band, The Go-Luckys!, Manning cuts loose with a full album of new songs that combine the ethereal quality of her earlier recordings on Matador, Heyday, and Communion with a newfound energy and creative vibrancy.

Joining Barbara in The Go-Luckys! is the rhythm section of 20-something German identical twin brothers Flavio and Fabrizio Steinbach, drums and bass respectively, who lend a stripped-down rock edge to Manning's emotionally honest and evocative songs.

Tonight's show at Tucson's Solar Culture is part of a two-month national tour that will take Manning and her band across the continent and back again in support of their new Innerstate release.

BEEN AROUND AWHILE. The Rounce and Coffin book club show started in 1939 and, except for a few years during World War II, has been a continuous annual exhibition.

The 2001 exhibition features 34 of the most distinguished examples of the art and craft of book printing and publishing. This year's juried show includes two Arizona entries: For Love of Cool Water, by B.K. Skaggs, and Channel Islands National Park, by Susan Lamb.

"This show presents the finest titles being published in the United States," said Bonnie Travers, University of Arizona Special Collections librarian. "For years, the UA library has been the sole Southern Arizona venue for hosting this outstanding exhibition."

The display opens today and runs through August 20 on the third floor of the main library at Cherry and University on the UA campus. The library is open 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call 626-8717.


Tuesday 24

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE. An artist's reception today marks an exhibition of works that reflect a wide variety of talents.

Fine furniture and woodworking, painting and drawing, clay figures, stone sculpture and book arts are featured in a Steinfeld Warehouse Group Exhibition .

The Steinfeld Warehouse building has been a workplace for a diverse group of artists since 1986. It's located on the northern edge of the Downtown Arts District.

Today's reception from 2 to 5 p.m. takes place at 240 N. Stone Ave., one block north of the main library. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For more information, call Aimee Baker at 624-0595, ext. 26, or visit www.tucsonpimaartscouncil.org.

BACK FROM THE EDGE. In 1980, guitarist Esteban's dreams of stardom almost were shattered by a drunk driver in an accident that left him unable to play for 11 years.

But Esteban, who began playing at age 10 when his uncle sent him a Goya classical guitar, recovered and went on to watch as his 1999 Flamenco y Rosas topped the Billboard New Age chart. In fact, Esteban has climbed higher than any other classical guitarist in Billboard history.

Tune in for an unforgettable night of entertainment at 7 p.m. at Borders Books and Music, 4235 N. Oracle Road. Esteban will be available to sign CDs following the performance. For more information, call 292-1331.


Wednesday 25

LEARNING ABOUT OUR DESERT. Ever wonder what in the hell is being done to save our little part of the planet?

A lecture at the Tucson Botanical Gardens tonight will teach you all about what's being done.

Maeveen Behan, assistant to County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, will discuss origins of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, an innovative and far-reaching blueprint for growth in Pima County.

The talk, part of the conservation lecture series cosponsored by the Arizona Native Plant Society, is from 7 to 8 tonight. The gardens are located at 2150 N. Alvernon Way. For more information, call 326-9686 or visit www.tucsonbotanical.org.