Thursday 28
Love America style. The spirit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness explodes onto the stage at Old Tucson Studios with the debut of American Anthem, a new high-energy musical-theater spectacle featuring some of our nation's best loved patriotic tunes.
American Anthem is a heartfelt salute to this country from sea to shining sea.
This musical extravaganza takes an incredible tour through nostalgia with song-and-dance numbers such as "By the Sea" and "Moonlight Bay." It races into the Roaring '20s, including tunes like "I Wanna Be Loved By You," "Charleston" and "Varsity Drag."
Remembrance of the '30s and '40s would not be complete without songs like "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "Night and Day," and "Begin the Beguine."
Next is a salute to each of the armed services, followed by a look into the country's future with today's representations of tomorrow's hopes and dreams.
David Girton wrote, produced and directed American Anthem. He is vice president of entertainment and park services at Old Tucson Studios and is a shining star in his own right.
"This show chronicles the great songs of America and is an expression of faith in God and country," he says. "It represents a reemergence of emotions for a younger generation struggling to understand today's conflicts."
Running through May 18, the show plays Tuesdays through Sundays in Old Tucson's Grand Palace Saloon.
Old Tucson Studios is located at 201 S. Kinney Road, in the Tucson Mountain Park. Take West Speedway past I-10 and head west over Gates Pass, following the signs. Recreational vehicles should travel west on West Ajo Way to Kinney Road. Passenger cars may find this route more convenient when approaching Tucson from south of the city. For more information, call 883-0100 or visit www.oldtucson.com.
Friday 29
Hopi treasures. Tohono Chul Park's spring exhibit lineup includes a pair of shows featuring fine Hopi arts.
Contemporary Fragments: Hopi Katsina Dolls and Paintings by Gerry Quotskuyva, which runs through May 13, showcases Quotskuyva's talents as artist and teacher.
His original paintings and kachina carvings are accompanied by descriptions in Quotskuyva's own words of the symbolic and artistic inspiration he uses in creating them. Included in the display are ceremonial objects from Quotskuyva's own collection that are given to Hopi children as part of the teachings and practices of their people.
The exhibit also features examples of the different styles and finishes that Quotskuyva uses when carving and painting his figures.
Quilting on the Hopi Mesas, which runs through May 27, is the second show--one that may raise a few eyebrows.
While most of us are aware of Hopi kachinas and pottery, many people don't know much about the art of Hopi quilt-making.
The Hopi people are members of a dynamic culture that co-exists in both the traditional Hopi world and in contemporary American society. Tension between the two worlds has yielded a highly creative body of artistic expression.
Quilting came to the mesas with Anglo contact during the 19th century, and Hopi quilt artists have carried on the practice ever since, integrating it into daily life and traditional practices. Today, more than 150 Hopi quilt-makers design innovative examples that often incorporate painted kachina images and pottery designs.
Quilting on the Hopi Mesas was curated by Tucsonan Carolyn O. Bagy Davis as an exhibit at the Museum of Northern Arizona in 1997. Now being traveled by the traveling Exhibitions Program of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the exhibit features quilts made by several contemporary Hopi quilt-makers living on the mesas today.
Enjoy both of these interesting shows at Tohono Chul Park, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte, one stoplight west of the intersection of West Ina and North Oracle roads. For more information, call 742-6455 or visit www.tohonochulpark.org. For more information about Quotskuyva, his artwork and awards, go to his web site at www.gquotskuyva.com.
Saturday 30
Whodunnit? Sometimes about the only thing better than curling up with a great murder mystery beside a cozy fire is watching an Agatha Christie classic come to life on stage.
The Hollow contains all the seeds of a tough case--family rivals, embittered spouses, scorned lovers--and everybody's got a motive for murder.
Plant the seeds in the quarters of an English country garden home for the weekend, shovel in a bemused butler, an incompetent maid and the glamorous movie star from down the lane and you've got the makings of an evening of intrigue and suspense.
The play opens at 7:30 p.m. tonight and runs through May 5 at Live Theatre Workshop, 5317 E. Speedway. Tickets are $13. For show times and reservations, please call 327-4242.
Grazing and gazing. Enjoy a sumptuous meal at Cañada del Oro Restaurant followed by a night of space travel.
Native American storyteller and amateur astronomer Gerard Tsonakwa, who blends sky lore with scientific observations, will lead Biosphere 2 visitors on a spiritual and astronomical ride.
Your evening of sky-gazing is scheduled to include:
· Jupiter, Saturn and globular clusters at the edges of the Milky Way. · Observing the four Galilean moons of Jupiter, the planet's largest.
· The Cassini Division, the gap in Saturn"s rings.
· The red spot of Jupiter (if visible), which is three times the size of Earth, the ultimate super storm and hurricane known that has been observed since the 1660s.
Visitors can combine Tsonakwa's presentation, The Galilean Moons of Jupiter and the Ultimate Super Storm, with dinner at Cañada del Oro Restaurant with Chef A.J. Voita. Dinner is from 5 to 7 p.m. and reservations are suggested.
The presentation is from 7 to 8 p.m. and stargazing is 8 to 10 p.m. Admission for stargazing is $10 adults and $5 children 6 to 10 years old, or free with dinner. Visitors also may want to spend the night. An overnight package--including hotel suite, dinner at the Cañada del Oro Restaurant, presentation and stargazing, plus a continental breakfast and the New World of Discovery, Under the Glass Biosphere 2 tour--costs $75.
Biosphere 2 Center is Columbia University's 250-acre western campus devoted to deepening the understanding of earth systems vital to the policies and decisions that will affect Earth's future. The center offers academic programs in earth systems science for high school, undergraduate and graduate students as well as educational programs for 180,000 annual visitors and local school children.
From Tucson, take North Oracle Road through Oro Valley and Catalina. At Oracle Junction, stay right on Highway 77. Drive six miles to the Biosphere 2 Center entrance, located at Mile Marker 96.5. Turn right at the blue flag on the right side. For more information, please call (520) 825-1289 or (520) 896-6200. Also, visit www.bio2.columbia.edu.
FEMALE ENERGY! On the outskirts of Bangalore in south India lies perhaps the only dance village of its kind in the world--Nrityagram.
Founded in 1990, this unique, isolated institution is devoted entirely to the preservation of the seven classic Indian dance styles. With a curriculum that includes movement, poetry and ancient literature, Nrityagram ensures a complete dedication to dance.
Nrityagram was started by dancer and visionary Protima Gauri to preserve Indian classical dance. Honoring a belief that dance should be made available without any consideration of cost, Nrityagram provides free lodging, board and training to its dancers, musicians and choreographers. They live together, developing ideas, perfecting technique and complementing their learning of classic Indian dance with the knowledge of mythology, the epics, music, sculpture, poetry, yoga and meditation.
The school's performance ensemble, the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble of India, has thrilled critics through the dancers' glowing, nuanced style and sculpturesque expression. The New York Times hails it as "one of the most luminous dance events of the year."
Tonight, in a special event in the University of Arizona's Centennial Hall, the visiting group celebrates the energy and soul of women.
Sri, In Search of the Goddess is a full exploration of woman and the positive female energy that is the root of humanity's existence and growth. Sri is inspired by the epic poem Savitri by Shri Aurobindo about a mythological heroine who challenges the God of Death and through her intellect, wins back her husband.
The performance begins at 8 p.m. at Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. Tickets cost $16 to $28, with discounts available. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. Tickets also are available online at www.tickets.com. A free "Arts Encounter" will be held 45 minutes before the performance in the auditorium of the Social Sciences Building, just east of Centennial Hall. For more information, call 621-3341.
Sunday 31
Pulling some strings. Esteban and the Seven Cities of Cibola is the story of a black man who was the first non-Indian to enter what is now Arizona.
Oh, and he's a puppet in the show presented by New Kiva Motions Puppet Theatre. After the show, kids get to experience some up close and personal interaction with the puppets. Audience members also will get a chance to make a simple puppet to take home with them.
Better get down to see this unique performance, because today is your last chance.
The Esteban finale starts at 1:30 p.m. at the Red Barn Theatre, 948 N. Main. Tickets run $3 per person; $5 for two children; and $2 for those with AHCCCS card or low-income bus pass. For more information, call 887-5144.
Monday 1
Love and laughter. Lovers are driven to betray their friends, defy their parents and abandon general decorum in William Shakespeare's romantic comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Valentine, at the court of Milan, falls in love with the Duke's daughter, Silvia. The callow young Proteus follows his friend to Milan where his betrayal becomes twofold. Not only does Proteus abandon a lady to whom he has pledged undying love, but he also deceives Valentine when he becomes enamored with the irresistible Silvia and resolves to win her heart.
Both friendship and love are blind in this devilishly comic struggle between loyalty and love, presented by Arizona Repertory Theatre of the University of Arizona's theatre arts department.
Enjoy this funny tug-of-war in a preview at 7:30 p.m. today in the UA's Marroney Theatre, UA Campus, at the south end of the pedestrian underpass on East Speedway, just east of North Park Avenue. Tickets cost $11 for tonight's show and $12 to $19 for all other shows. They are available through the UA Fine Arts Box Office, 621-1162. The official production will be shown at 7:30 p.m. April 3-6 and 9-13, and at 1:30 p.m. April 7, 13 and 14. For more information, please visit www.arts.arizona.edu/theatre.
Tuesday 2
AN EYE FOR THINGS UNNOTICED. What are the artistic possibilities inherent in buildings, walls and other seemingly unartistic surfaces?
Thomas Sanders set out to finde out. The result is Things Overlooked, the Discovered, an exhibition of photos revealing an interesting side (or two or three) to subjects that at first glance are anything but interesting.
Sanders began to explore photography seriously several years ago and has successfully displayed his work in several exhibit spaces in southern Arizona.
Check out his latest efforts in the show at Borders Books and Music, 4235 N. Oracle Road. It runs through May 15. Hours are 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays. Call 292-1331 for more information.
Wednesday 3
Two for you. This week's poetry event at the University of Arizona features not one, but two poets.
David Foster Wallace, who received his MFA in creative writing from UA, is author of Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, Infinite Jest, The Broom of the System, and Girl With Curious Hair. He has also published a book of essays and arguments, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again.
Wallace's essays and stories have appeared in Harper's, The New Yorker, Playboy, Paris Review, Conjunctions, Premiere, Tennis, The Missouri Review, and The Review of Contemporary Fiction.
Wallace will be joined at the reading by Peter Rock, author of the novels The Ambidextrist, This Is the Place, and Carnival Wolves.
Wallace and Rock will read from their work as part of the UA Poetry Center's Visiting Poets and Writers Reading Series.
The free reading starts at 8 tonight in the UA Modern Languages Auditorium. An informal reception will follow, and some of the authors' work will be for sale. For more information, call 626-3765 or visit www.coh.arizona.edu/poetry.
