Friday, April 1, 2016
The thunderous applause couldn't even drown out the tap-dancing explosion that is 42nd Street, Broadway in Tucson's road show in town through Sunday.
Yes, the storyline is cliché. It's really just an excuse for a huge contingent of some very fine dancers and singers to wow us with their tap shoes, show off an inexorable parade of outrageously flashy costumes and sing some of the iconic songs by Harry Warren and Al Dubin that remind us why America fell in love with Broadway: “I Only Have Eyes for You,” “We're in the Money,” “You're Beginning to Be a Habit With Me” and “Lullaby of Broadway.”
About half way through the evening, it dawned on me why this revival of the 1980 Tony-winning show seems so refreshing. It does what Broadway was born to do. There are no flying monkeys or chandeliers crashing or helicopters landing on stage. The special effects which Broadway shows have come to rely on in the past few decades, are absent, but they are not missed. The special effects, in this case, are the singers and dancers themselves. There are no gee-gaws to clog up the work of talented, well-trained and hardworking folks that don't skip a beat.
This is just the beginning for Broadway in Tucson, though, and more amazement is in store for the 2016-2017 season.
First up is the ever popular, and ever relevant Cabaret. This production originated at the Roundabout Theatre Company and won the Tony Award for producers Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall. The John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff musical gives us Sally Bowles, the raunchy emcee and the strange crew of the Kit-Kat Club that find themselves unable to avoid what is happening in pre-World War II Germany. Is life really a cabaret? It runs September 20-25, 2016.
Next up is The Sound of Music, November 29-December 4. Historically speaking its story happens around the same time as that of Cabaret. Directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien, the hills come alive for the Von Trapps as they try not only to break in a new nanny but to escape the encroaching Third Reich.
Dirty Dancing was a hit movie, so it makes perfect sense that it could be a Broadway musical, right? Dirty Dancing-The Classic Story on Stage, will try to out-do the movie on the Centennial Hall stage January 24-29, 2017. And yes, that's complete with “Hungry Eyes,” “Hey Baby,” “Do You Love Me?” and the unforgettable “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”
Tags: broadway in tucson , centennial hall , 42nd street , motown , kinky boots , cabaret , sound of music , mamma mia , live , theatre , musicals , new season
"The Tin Commandments" runs until May 1. Preview Carlson's tin masterpieces on his website and get more information regarding Wee Gallery's hours of operation here.
Tags: wee gallery , art , tin art , rand carlson , art exhibition , tucson life , the tin commandments
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Here's something different.
Imagine a fully staged production of the Shrek in musical form, complete with costumes and sets and lights. OK, that's easy enough. But when I say fully staged, I mean that the stage will be full of all kinds of students, including those from the deaf and blind community.
Not only will there be a full-voiced, full-sighted Shrek singing and dancing his way into our hearts, but shadowing that Shrek will be a hearing-impaired actor performing the same character in American Sign Language. This shadowing technique will be extended to most of the characters, and blind students will be in on the staging and singing as well.
This unique theater event will be given life by Arts Express, a nonprofit organization “dedicated to providing arts education and family entertainment,” says Karen F. Wiese, Executive Director. This is the third year they have done a musical. Last year it was Beauty and The Beast, and the first was Big River. These productions are a central feature of their Arts Express Building careACTOR program.
“We've seen some incredible things happen,” says Weise.
Tags: shrek the musical , arts express , tucson , theatre , arizona school for the deaf and blind , performances , live
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Today, Saguaro National Park put out a call for artists ages 18-25 to participate in their 1st Annual Centennial Youth Art Show.
The park hasn't released details about the actual event yet, but they did post some information to entice artists to get in touch:
Creative Tucson youth, ages 18-25Email [email protected] for submission instructions and details—the submission deadline is April 14.
Artists will be selected to exhibit & sell their work to the public June 3-4 at the Tucson Mountain District Visitor Center
1st & 2nd place prizes include:
- participation in the Friends of Saguaro professional art auction
- 1 year national park pass
Extended display time & recognition
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Cherish the Ladies, an all-woman Irish music band, rolls into town Friday, March 18, the day after St. Patrick’s.
“The show is spectacular,” crows Joanie Madden, the Ladies’ founder and its prizewinning flute and tin whistle player. “We’ve been getting standing ovations everywhere,”
The traveling extravaganza of Irish music, song and dance will fill the stage of the Fox Tucson Theatre with a bakers’ dozen of artists. The performers hail from all over the Irish diaspora, coming from the U.S., Canada and Scotland—and Ireland.
Fiddler extraordinaire Liz Carroll, born and bred in the Irish immigrant community in Chicago, is a superstar who played with Altan in Tucson last year. Bronx-born Madden is the daughter of Irish immigrants from Clare and Galway; her father, Joe Madden, was a noted accordionist. Guitarist Mary Coogan, likewise born into the New York immigrant community and to an accordionist father, has been with the Ladies since the band’s start 31 years ago.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Hitting up every single ones of these is pretty exhausting, so if you're not looking to really delve into all the Festival has to offer, but still want to stop by for a taste, be sure to check out these five events.
Tags: tucson festival of books , books , community events , tucson events , tucson , university of arizona
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Mari laid it out in this week's Editor's Note, but in case you missed that, here's a day-by-day guide to where you can run into TW folks at this weekend's Tucson Festival of Books:
Saturday
- Arts contributor and former editor, Margaret Regan will be on the panel Women Journalists on the Border moderated by UA School of Journalism's Celeste Gonzalez de Bustamante. Social and Behavioral Sciences Tent, Saturday, March 12, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
- Editor Mari Herreras will be at the Politics of Poetry: Social Activism with a Fine Point Pen panel, Saturday, March 12 at 1 p.m., Pima County Public Library/Nuestras Raíces/Presentation Stage with Odilia Galván Rodríguez and Enrique Garcia Naranjo, and moderated by Tucson Poet Logan Phillips.
- Mari Herreras will moderate Bordertown and Other One-sided Arguments with Chicano author and illustrator Lalo Alcaraz, Pima County Public Library/Nuestras Raíces/Presentation Stage, Saturday, March 12, 4-5 p.m.
Sunday
- Mari Herreras will be at Poetry of Resistance: Voices for Social Justice, Sunday, 10-11 a.m., Student Union Kiva with Tucson writers Elena Díaz Bjorkquist, Andrea Hernandez Holm and Roberto Rodriguez. Moderated by poet Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
- In the Human Rights panel, Margaret Regan is joined by author Luis Alberto Urrea and attorney Teri Duncan. Student Union Gallagher Theater, Sunday, March 13, 10-11 a.m. Moderated by TW senior staff writer Jim Nintzel.
- In That's Border Life, She Said, Regan shares the stage with Kathryn Ferguson and Gayle Jandrey. Student Union Kachina, Sunday, March 13, 1-2 p.m. This forum will also be moderated by Jim Nintzel.
Monday, March 7, 2016
91.3 FM KXCI's Women's Day programming will feature the Old Pueblo's best female DJs, public affair programmers, and community creatives' voices and music to celebrate National Women's Day.
KXCI is teaming up with a menagerie of local organizations including the Marshal Foundation, the Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona Unidas, YWCA Southern Arizona, the UA of Journalism and more in order to put on Women's Day programming that will encompass all things feminism, KXCI's Amanda Shauger wrote in a press release.
Women's Day originally started in socialist and communist nations to illuminate the social and economic injustices women face on a daily basis, according to the press release. In 1977, the United States began to recognize the day as well. KCXI aims to preserve and celebrate the significance of Women's Day through its specialty programming, according to the press release.
Ladies from the Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona Unidas, a social justice group made up of high school girls, will talk about their International Women's Day research, feminism, inspirational women, and women's modern struggles.
Tags: KXCI , 91.3 KXCI , women's day , international women's day , feminism
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Something great is brewing between a crew of deep house and techno lovers and a Tucson artistic landmark.
Dazed and Confused are two DJ gents working hard to bring some much-needed live music diversity to this scene.
Although this is truly a collaboration between friends (photographers, DJs, designers, promoters, you name it)—Florence, Italy-native Elio Sottoscritti and Oregonian Ben Olayinka are the two hustlers at the forefront. They will talk your ear off, in a good way, about their aspirations and how they plan to get to the top of the mountain.
They are well on their way.
In just a few months since creating the Dazed and Confused brand, these two extremely friendly, humble and hard-working young guys are making waves all over town. From a permanent Wednesday night gig at Playground—known as Horseplay—to playing at La Cocina and DJing at Club Congress' Opti Club for the first time tonight for a beach-themed party they helped put together called Promised Land.
To top it all—and perhaps what'll take their passion to the next level—Dazed and Confused are dipping their toes into bringing internationally- celebrated DJs. The venue: Solar Culture.
Next week, Italian DJ duo SUPERNOVA is debuting what the Dazed and Confused dudes want to see become an ongoing, every month-or-so residency at the art studio and gallery.
Tags: SUPERNOVA , Elio Sottoscritti , Ben Olayinka , Steven Eye , dazed and confused , solar culture , house , italy , tucson , Video
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
The Plating the Desert exhibit, spearheaded by the Environmental Arts Committee’s Stephanie Choi, is a collaborative showing of 40 handmade ceramic plates that encourages its viewers to consider their connection to both food and art here in the Sonoran desert.
The plates will be on view from March 7 until March 25 at the Student Union Galleries (1303 E. University Blvd.) with an opening reception on Tuesday, March 8 from 6 until 8 p.m.
Tags: tucson , art , food , desert , ua , students for sustainability , environmental arts committee , plating the desert , ceramics , exhibit , Video
