Thursday, February 1, 2018
Landry probably neither heard of that list nor gives a shit about it. (She might use more graphic language but wasn’t available for comment.) Still, it, and others similar, reflect a fairly recent surge in the number of women making a name in comedy.
Over the next three weeks, Laughing Stock will cover funny women exclusively, not to serve any agenda (not that we're above serving an agenda) but because women are legitimately the biggest comedy stories in town this month.
Landry will headline the weekend shows at venerable Laff’s Comedy Caffé, Friday and Saturday, February 9 and 10. She’ll return for a Valentine’s Day special, with roses for the ladies, on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Visit laffstucson.com for details, video and reservations. You should probably hurry.
Hurry faster for reservations for Landry’s headlining turn on Sunday, Feb. 11, in the Valentine’s Day edition of The Estrogen Hour, which almost always sells out. That (approximately) triennial event has launched almost every woman comic in Tucson. It’s hosted by arguably Tucson’s top woman comedian, Nancy Stanley. With Mary Steed, she invented the show a few years back to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Laff’s regularly hosts this show, but does not sell tickets. All reservations are handled via an LLS system at tinyurl.com/msmarylaffs. That site also includes all show details and a history of The Estrogen Hour.
Featured with Landry in the Feb. 11 lineup are Ben’s Bells founder Jeannette Maré, Surly Wench Comedy Open Mic host Roxy Merrari, photographer Nicci Radhe, FST!’s Mel Blumenthal and Tucson’s funniest cancer patient, Jennifer Finley.
Landry’s jokes are NSFW, but whip smart and real as pot smoke, motherhood and this morning’s continental breakfast at Rodeway Inn. As a single mom, she honed her craft in the overheated competition of New York City comedy clubs. Comedy Central gave her a solo special, and she won third place nationally on the network’s “Standup Showdown.” Craig Ferguson’s audience gave her a standing ovation. In Las Vegas, she has headlined nightly shows at The Stratosphere and Planet Hollywood, and on TV, she’s acted in a dozen series.
Tags: Lisa Landry , Nancy Stanley , Laff's Comedy Caffe , Jeannette Mare , Roxy Merrari , Nicci Radhe , FST , Mel Blumenthal , Jennifer Finley , Mary Steed , Leukemia and Lymphoma Society , Image
Art
Philabaum’s Furnace. Master glass artist Tom Philabaum is quenching the flames. For 47 years, Tucson's Mr. Glass has been working with molten glass, thrusting it into the dangerous "glory hole," the white-hot glass furnace at his studio. No more. Now dealing with Parkinson's, Philabaum is giving up the heat required for glassblowing, but he has no intention of giving up glass: he'll continue making painted and fused glass works. The artist's formidable command of glass styles will be showcased in The Flame: Tom Philabaum, a five-decade retrospective opening with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 3, and continuing through April at Philabaum Glass Gallery, 711 S. Sixth Ave., 884-7404; philabaumglass.com. The artist gives a talk at the gallery at 5 p.m. Saturday. It's free but seating is limited. If you miss it, you can catch his lecture at Tucson Museum of Art on March 31.
Art Safari. The Central Tucson Gallery Association is hosting this opportunity to visit seven different galleries in one night. At the Davis Dominguez Gallery, see abstract paintings by Josh Goldberg and color field woven linen by Claire Campbell Park. See a Trans-Atlantic Fusion exhibit at PCC’s Louis Carlos Bernal Gallery. And see a New Year’s resolution-themed exhibit at the Raices Taller 222 Gallery. Most will have special reception hours during the Art Safari, but exact times and, of course, locations vary. The Art Safari begins at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3.
Mid-Century Perspectives: Paintings by Andy Burgess & Objects of Modern Design. The stars have aligned this week at the Tucson Museum of Art: Their free first Thursday is falling on the same day of their newest exhibition’s opening night. Featured artist Andy Burgess is known for his colorful and precise work in photography, sketching and painting, which explore the relationship between architecture and the natural world—often in the American Southwest. The exhibit also includes designed objects and furniture with signature mid-century curves and geometric shapes, and by the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright, Harry Bertoia and Rose Cabat. 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1. Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block, 140 N. Main Ave. Free.
Tags: The flame , Tom Phliabaum , furnace , glass art , art safari , Central Tucson Gallery Association , Andy Burgess , Tucson Museum of Art , The Flame Off , Kartchner Caverns , cave fest , caves , Tubac , Tubac festival of the arts , beer garden , Shen Yun , meteorite and laser gem show , meteorites , lasers dinosaurs , Geoff Notkin , t-rex , ballet Tucson , Stomp , dueling pianos , boogie woogie piano gals , the gaslight , centennial hall , first Fridays , Arizona history museum , Native American Village , build-a-gin workshop , Three Wells Distilling Company , Andy Warhol Museum , Jose Diaz , the art of planetary science , biocosmos , biosphere , biosphere 2 , working alongside thinking machines , UA science lecture series , Nirav Merchang , TAWN Imbolc Public Ritual , Pagans , Wiccan , Odyssey Storytelling , you don’t know me , Tucson death café , Onesie bar crawl , Day in the Desert , We Love Dinosaurs , Little Cardboard Rocket , Ned and the Dirt , nightcrawler , Mean Mary , Fetty Wap , Rezz , Image
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Music to Your Ears
John Kamfonas & Eric Edberg. The Sea of Glass Center for the Arts is hosting Award-winning pianist John Kamfonas, known for his talent with improvisation and Eric Edberg, a Julliard and Peabody Conservatory-trained cellist. Spend a weekday evening watching these two powerhouses make gorgeous music. The Beer & Wine Garden will be open before, during and after the show, so you can take the edge off of your Tuesday. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30. Sea of Glass Center for the Arts, 330 E. Seventh St. $15 advance, $20 day-of. For adults, $12/$17 for teens 12 to 17, $4 for kids 11 and under.Bernstein Mass! Mass, formally known as Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers, is a big deal. Leonard Bernstein composed it, and wrote the lyrics along with Stephen Schwartz (he’s the guy who wrote Wicked, and did music and lyrics for The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Prince of Egypt). It’s loosely based on a Catholic mass, but it explodes into Broadway, avant-garde and classical styles at different times to explore the versatility of humanity’s relationship with god. This performance features the Grammy-nominated group True Concord, Baritone Jubilant Sykes, UA Dance and the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus. 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 26 and 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 28. Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. $20 to $75.
Catalina Organ Festival. Maybe they call it organ music because you can feel it through your whole body—like it’s good for your own, internal organs. There’s just something striking about hearing grandiose chords echo throughout a room, like the chapel in the Catalina United Methodist Church. The church continues their 2017/2018 organ festival with a performance by Katelyn Emerson, first-prize winner of the American Guild of Organist’s 2016 National Young Artists’ Competition and associate organist and choirmaster at the Church of the Advent in Boston. She’ll be playing works by the likes of Reinberger, Bach, Escaich, Sowerby and Litaize. 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26. Catalina United Methodist Church, 2700 E. Speedway Blvd. $15 advance, $20 at the door.
Tags: John Kamfonas , Eric Edberg , cello , piano , Bernstein , Mass , Catalina Organ Festival , organs , Katelyn Emerson , Candide , Arizona Opera , Tucson Gem show , minerals , fossils , gems , crystals , rocks , Gem & Jam Festival , Calexico , album signing , Zia Records , Totally 80’s , board games , comics , Heroes and Villains , flea market , flea-less market , Tucson C.A.R.E.S. , ken Scoville , historic tour , Tucson presidio , calculus: the musical , curie me away , MaTheatre , math , theatre , the minds of machines , UA science lecture series , Tucson Mountain Park , star party , amateur astronomy , TAAA , sculpture fest , Christophe Szpajdel , Xpanded Universe , La Pilita , Stranger Things , Crooked Tooth , picnic for the homeless , Tucson Roadrunners , Chicago Wolves , Salute to the Olympics , Sundance Welcome , horses , The Pine Hill Haints , people who could fly , Exo Roast , Tucson Premium Outlets , Gaelynn Lea , Boys R Us , Karima Walker , 191 Toole , Club Congress , Image
Friday, January 19, 2018
One of 2017’s better love stories, this sumptuously filmed romance set in Italy is a thing of beauty to look at. Lush settings, stunning locations, and two admittedly quite adorable leads in Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet contribute to a sweet, and heartbreaking, story by Andre Aciman (who wrote the novel), with a screenplay by James Ivory. Chalamet plays Elio, an American living in Italy with his professor father (Michael Stuhlbarg). When father takes an assistant in the form of Oliver (Hammer), Elio is smitten, and so is Oliver. They wind up having a fling that carries deep meaning for them, and for those who know them. Chalamet (who was also terrific in 2017’s Lady Bird) makes Elio so much more than a confused teen in love; this guy is really in love in a way that will affect his entire life, and the viewer feels it. Hammer continues to evolve as an actor, and this is his best work yet; he also gets high scores for his stellar dance moves whenever somebody play the Psychedelic Furs. As good as the duo are, my vote for best scene in the film goes to the underrated Stuhlbarg, who has a speech relating to his son that is an absolute showstopper. An overall sweet movie that features an end credit sequence that, well, just says it all.
Tough luck kid makes comedy gold.
Whatever else Bill Cosby may have done, we owe him the unique, improbable and occasionally perilous career of Felipe Esparza. Based on a Cosby record he loved as a child, Esparza wanted to be a comedian. It was all he could think of when a rehab counselor asked him to list five goals for his future. At 18, he’d already had the kind of life that leads inevitably to rehab, if not to jail.
But Esparza cared enough about comedy to work the next 16 years in the salt mines of comedy oblivion, plying his craft in small clubs until he could open for the likes of Gabriel Iglesias and Paul Rodriguez. In 2010, he busted out of obscurity as a winner in Last Comic Standing. He went on to produce two, hour-long comedy specials, one on Netflix and one for HBO. He’s been the spokesperson for a national Honda campaign and a national campaign for Target Mobile.
Many fans know Esparza from his recurring TV roles on The Eric Andre Show; NBC's Superstore, TruTV's World's Dumbest and Russell Simmons Presents Stand-Up at the El Rey.He now hosts a popular podcast called What’s Up Fool, on the All Things Comedy Network.
Esparza performs at the Desert Diamond Casino’s Diamond Center in Sahuarita at 8 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 27. Tickets for the age-18-and-older show are $20 to $40, available at startickets.com.
Hi, ho, Steve!
A bone-hard progressive, I expected to rant about how a farcical shadow of the Lone Ranger’s sidekick, Tonto, misrepresents our Native American friends and neighbors in Gaslight Theatre’s production The Lone Stranger. But even the magnificent equine Silver is an articulated brown cardboard affair named Steve, so it’s complicated.I laughed, hard, with this seasoned company of fine melodramatic actors, who sing and dance with more finesse than we could expect. The word “Indian” never comes up. “Renegades” harry a wagon train with arrows for a minute, but the real villain is a greedy, rich white guy after Nell’s ranch.
"Tonka", played by the ever scene-stealing Joe Cooper, is the smartest and funniest of the bumbling cast of characters. His outfit is hardly more outlandish than others’, but I winced at his stereotypical broken English. It would be funnier if he’d learned perfect English with, say, a Swedish or Italian accent.
And if Tonka can’t have a horse, the production should at least give him a motorcycle.
Tags: Felipe Esparza , Joe Cooper , The Lone Stranger , Hi Ho Silver , Tonto , The Lone Ranger. , Image
Thursday, January 18, 2018
See a Show
Bernstein: Kaddish. Leonard Bernstein, most famous for composing the music for West Side Story, did a lot more than compose the music for West Side Story. For example, his Symphony No. 3, “Kaddish,” is based on the Jewish Prayer and was dedicated to the memory of John F. Kennedy (who died just weeks after the first performance of the piece). At this performance, hosted by the Tucson Symphony and the Tucson Desert Song Festival, Bernstein’s daughter, Jamie Bernstein, will narrate. 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 19 and 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 21. Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. $15 to $86.Outside Mullingar at ATC. John Patrick Shanley, the author of Doubt and Moonstruck, also wrote this Tony-nominated play set in the farmlands of Ireland. It’s a light and lovely romantic comedy about two introverts—Anthony, the cattle farmer, and Rosemary, his next door neighbor who is determined they will be together. Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded about all of the love in the world. Shows Saturday, Jan. 20 to Saturday, Feb. 10. Dates and times vary, but this week, there’s an 8 p.m. preview show on Saturday, Jan 20, a 7 p.m. preview show with a post-show discussion on Sunday, Jan. 21, and 7:30 p.m. previews Tuesday, Jan 23 through Thursday, Jan. 25. Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Preview shows $25 to $45. Regular shows $41 to $63.
MOMIX: Opus Cactus. UA Presents is hosting MOMIX, the dancer-illusionist company that you pretty much have to see to understand. It’s a lot of art forms coming together—dance, music, gymnastics, light work, feats of strength—for a performance that the New York Times praised for its “ingenuity, theatricality and cunning imagination.” So it can’t be all that bad, right? And this show is all about the Sonoran Desert, depicting lizards, snakes, insects and our beloved saguaros with dynamism and humor. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18. Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. $20 to $65.
Shop Local
La Encantada Fine Art Festival. Let’s get this party art-ed! Dozens of visual fine artists are coming together in the foothills so that you can look at their gorgeous work against the backdrop of Tucson’s gorgeous mountains, and take your favorite pieces home with you! There will be metal and leather work glass designs, watercolor, silver jewelry, metal sculptures, ceramic, woodwork, photography, oil paintings and mixed media. Plus live entertainment and free parking! 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 21. La Encantada Shopping Center, 2905 E. Skyline Drive. Free.Tags: Bernstein , Kaddish , TSO , Outside Mullingar , John Patrick Shanley , MOMIX: Opus Cactus , MOMIX , La Encantada , fine art festival , art , fine art , citrus jubilee , we got a whole bowl of citrus! , pueblo gem and mineral show , citrus , the Tucson flea , rock , rock star , yard sale , Desert Diamond Casinos , Ua Science lecture series , algorithms , valley of the moon , historic , historical , blade runner , coloring , casa video , casa film bar , el conquistador , artist , art , pizza paint , pizza , paint , Dillinger days , outlaws , we stole a balloon , whiskey , Japanese festival , Japan , Japanese , Eleanor wilner , UA poetry center , poetry , pancakes , cat yoga , kitty , picnic in the park , atheism , atheists , nightcrawler , carrie newcomer , positive satan , negative god , the toasters , Image
Friday, January 12, 2018
The prodigal returns to celebrate Seven Years of Mayhem at 6 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 14, at Unscrewed Theatre. Tickets are $7 via squareup.com/store/musical-mayhem-cabaret; $10 at the door.
As director, Cianciotto brings fresh perspective to the anniversary show, based on his recent experience directing and acting in off-Broadway productions. Among other projects, he produces the popular Trans Voices Cabaret at the legendary Duplex Piano Bar and Cabaret Theater in Greenwich Village. That show spotlights transgender, non-binary, and genderqueer musical theater performers.
Returning former members will bulk up the current Mayhem cast for the anniversary special. They’ll appear in person and via video, both live and recorded. Alumni featured include Jillian Mitchell, China Young, Morgan Smith and other audience favorites. The full cast includes Veronica Conran, Kirsten Cummins, Abigail Dunscomb, Cinder Elliot, Lety Gonzalez, David Gunther, Melanie Kersey, Tristan Kluge, Melanie Kondziolka, Katie Popiel, Alyson Precie, Jessica Pryde, Cameron Rau, Nathalie Rodriguez, Mandy Ressler, Nicolette Shaffer, Morgan Smith, Brin Wassenberg, Lani Villanueva, Deborah Witchey.
The company creates new musical skits for every show. For the anniversary, they’ve re-imagined songs from Rent, Wicked, Reefer Madness, My Fair Lady, Side Show, Book of Mormon, Les Misérables, Oklahoma and animated favorites Hercules, The Little Mermaid, Frozen and others. Expect classic tunes to show up onstage as puns, send-ups, dress-ups and even new story lines, under-rehearsed and over-dramatic in the Musical Mayhem tradition.
Mayhem found its permanent home at Unscrewed Theatre after spending its formative years at the former Colors Food & Spirits, New Moon and Fluxx Theatres. The last time Cianciotto performed with Mayhem at Unscrewed Theater was in their five-year anniversary show, just before he returned to his New York City hometown to star in a critically acclaimed musical and New York Times Critic’s Pick, Southern Comfort.
“It was quite the jump to go from under rehearsed and over dramatic to adequately rehearsed and appropriately dramatic,” says Cianciotto, “but performing at the world-renowned Public Theater (A Chorus Line, Hamilton) was a dream come true for me.” Cianciotto now lives in the Bronx with his wife, former Mayhem cast member Rebecca Cianciotto.
Tags: Veronica Conran , Kirsten Cummins , Abigail Dunscomb , Cinder Elliot , Lety Gonzalez , David Gunther , Melanie Kersey , Tristan Kluge , Melanie Kondziolka , Katie Popiel , Alyson Precie , Jessica Pryde , Cameron Rau , Nathalie Rodriguez , Mandy Ressler , Nicolette Shaffer , Morgan Smith , Brin Wassenberg , Lani Villanueva , Deborah Witchey , Donnie Ciancotto , China Young , Morgan Smith , Musical Mayem , Rebecca Cianciotto , Public Theater , Unscrewed Theater , Trans Voices Cabaret at the legendary Duplex Piano Bar and Cabaret Theater , Image
Watch This!
Connect the Dots: TEDx Tucson. If you spend your spare time (and maybe sometimes working hours) watching Ted talks and doing and redoing the math to see if you’d ever be able to afford an actual TED conference, then this TEDx conference might be the perfect event for you. With 10 speakers, bands, dancers, art exhibits, snacks, catered lunch and parking all for under eight bucks, or under a hundred for the full VIP shebang, it’s a TEDx-cellent way to spend a Saturday. 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13. Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway Blvd. $75 GA, $65 students and 65+, $95 VIP.
The Zoppé Family Circus. Hardly anything is quite so magical as a circus. Everything is more colorful in a circus tent than in the outside world. The popcorn is saltier. The sounds are sharper and louder and more magnificent. And we’ve got a case of compounded magic at this event, as the Zoppé Family Circus is coming to Tucson for the seventh time, and everyone knows the number seven is lucky and magical. These guys have been doing their thing in the ring since 1842, so you know they know what they’re doing. Friday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. through Sunday, Jan. 21 at 1 and 4 p.m., with various days and times in between. MSA Annex, 267 S. Avenida Del Convento. $20 to $90.
2018 Cactus Classic Invitational. If you’re into 18U through 12U girls’ volleyball and 18 Club and 16 Club Boys volleyball, you’re in the right place. This three-day tournament will be bringing about 165 volleyball teams from all over the Arizona region to serve and spike amongst the saguaros in town. Well, not literally amongst the saguaros. The whole thing is held under the Tucson Convention Center’s roof (and at Sporting Chance Center and the UA, if needed). Saturday, Jan. 13 to Monday, Jan. 15. Tournaments begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and Monday’s start time depends on bracket placement. Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave. $10 for one day, $20 for all three days. Free for kids 10 and under.
Art
Mementos. Etherton Gallery’s new exhibit features work by Rodrigo Moya, Graciela Iturbide and Masao Yamamoto, and highlights the ways that photographs—particularly the black and white work of these artists—can not only capture memories, but become memories themselves. Animals, architecture, people, desert scenery: You’ll see them all at this exhibit, because they’re all woven into the tapestry of our memory. The exhibition runs through March 3, and the opening reception is from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13, at the Etherton Gallery, 135 S. Sixth Ave. Masao Yamamoto, whose small photographs of nature make you feel like you’re peeking into someone else’s memory, has traveled all the way from Japan to give a public lecture at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 12 at the Center for Creative Photography Auditorium, 1030 N. Olive Road.Tags: TED , TEDx , circus , Zoppe family circus , cactus classic , mementos , Etherton Gallery , The Helios Ensemble , Twelfth Night , Gil Shaham , Arturo Sandoval , Tucson Symphony Orchestra , TSO , The Grapes of Wrath , RAPunzel , Tucson Fringe Festival , Wings over Willcox , Mini Time Machine Museum , David Fischer , Mineral Madness , rock and roll , rocks , Arizona Clogging Festival , Tucson Presidio , living history , Landscapes of migration , migration , Beyond Tucson , MLK , Yume Japanese Gardens , Petroglyphs , Tortolitas , run with the saguaros , run next to the saguaros , saguaros don’t run , senior Olympic festival , Nightcrawler , Cesar Ruiz , Railgun , The Lasso , Miracle Mile Gateway Car Show , Barry Smith , Trever Ducote , Image
Friday, January 5, 2018
Festival organizers had hoped to lure Green and her Rincon/University High theater students to the American High School Theater Festival portion of their month-long, 300-venue event the following year. That trip never happened, but Green’s first taste of fringe gave her the vision that now drives the eighth Tucson Fringe Theatre Festival, Jan. 11-14. Details are at tucsonfringe.org. The festival pass is $3; each show is $10.
Twenty-one artists each will perform one to three shows, and most are comical, Green says. “A lot of fringe artists are solo performers. I think it's hard to sell somebody on an hour of one person's tragedy, although for a good third of the artists that's their show. Most of them are very high-energy onstage. Almost all (the shows) are autobiographical, or semi-autobiographical, but there’s a story arc, and they’re very scripted.”
Two crowd favorites from prior Tucson Fringe events make a triumphant return. Beloved for his The Gay Uncle Explains It All To You, which filled the chairs for his Club Congress shows last year, Jeffrey Robert introduces The Gay Uncle’s Journey Through The Valley Of The Dolls. The set uses Jaqueline Susann’s hit novel as a launchpad for connecting a constellation of pop culture icons.
Catfish Baruni, harvested, via slideshows, the comic potential of a Mark Twain story about beef contracts and a catalog of European fairy tales in prior fringe outings. He’s lately plying his fascinatingly distorted worldview in partnership with fellow nerd Natalia Storie. When the pair started a busking enterprise to raise money, the result was Nickels and Dimes, a duo show which, we are told, may have won fictional awards at other fests.
Young parents, and anyone considering parenthood, might want to check out Tucson’s first foray into a common fringe fest format: Bring Your Own Venue. Feces on-da Face, by San Diego Playwright Joe Udall, features new parents in an Airbnb, where their notions about gender identification, relationships and roles play out over a hiking vacation with their seven-month-old daughter. The venue is their guest room at Elysian Grove Market.
We also like Confessions of a Delinquent Cheerleader, from St. Paul, Minnesota; Abeyance, an all-pantomime show by UA theater student Tyler West; and Audra Bachera’s A Glorious Day for Mrs. Sissy Fiz.
Tags: Tucson Fringe Festival , Maryann Green , Catfish Baruni , Tyler West , Gay Uncle , Jeffrey Rogers , Fringe Theater , Image
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Shows
The House of Blue Leaves. Live Theatre Workshop is kicking off 2018 with a run of The House of Blue Leaves, by John Guare, a play filled with relatable sentiments, historical events and gloriously dark humor. We’ve got Pope Paul VI visiting New York, the Vietnam War threatening to begin, the birth of Robert Downey Jr., and all of the other wonders of 1965. But this play centers around a zookeeper in Queens who dreams of making it to Hollywood to write songs for the movies. 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday from Thursday, Jan. 4 through Saturday Jan. 10. Live Theatre Workshop, 5317 E. Speedway Blvd. $15 on Jan. 4 and 5, $18 to $20 other shows.Odyssey Storytelling Presents: Memory. Let’s talk about pasts, ba-by. Let’s talk about mem-o-ries. LET’S TALK ABOUT ALL THE GOOD THINGS AND THE BAD THINGS in our his-tor-ies. Odyssey Storytelling is bringing together six storytellers to share 10-minute stories centered around the theme of “memory.” You’ll hear from a playwright, a writer, a holistic health coach, a comedian and a storyteller who works in (fittingly enough) memory care facilities. It’s sure to get you thinking about some of your favorite memories, so that you can be sure to carry the best parts of life forward with you into the new year. 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 4. The Sea of Glass–Center for the Arts, 330 E. Seventh St. $10 regular, $7 students.
Murder in Paradise. Get ready to solve a mystery, because this show at the Gaslight is interactive as soon as you step in the door—every ticket comes with a new identity. Whodunnit? The weird wife? The sexy movie star? The wacky director? The straight-up bad son? Better bust out your old Encyclopedia Browns to get some practice in, because Detective Wes Chester is going to need your help to solve this heinous crime. First show is Monday, Jan. 8, and show runs through Monday, March. 26. 6 p.m. The Gaslight Music Hall, 13005 N. Oracle Road. $38.95 includes a three-course meal!
Music
Mozart Symphony No. 29. Start the new year off feeling classy by heading to the orchestra to hear one of Mozart’s finest early symphonies, composed for 20th century cello rockstar Mstislav Rostropovich. And, if your new year’s resolution involved productivity of any sort, then consider that Mozart composed this when he was only 17. Julian Schwarz will be making his TSO debut with the performance. 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 5. 2 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 6. 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 2. Catalina Foothills High School, 4300 E. Sunrise Drive. $22 to $55.Tags: The House of Blue Leaves , Live Theatre Workshop , Odyssey , Odyssey Storytelling , storytelling , memories , memory , Murder in Paradise , Clue , theater , Gaslight Music Hall , Mozart Symphony No. 29 , Mstislav Rostropovich , Julian Schwarz , Kata Hay , Dan O’Rourke , indie folk , indie , Everything Bird , bird is the word , Madaras Gallery , Subspace , Lehman Noviello , First Fridays at the Arizona History Museum , first Fridays , Arizona History Museum , indigenous women , Valley of the Moon , first Saturdays , Uniting the City , car hop , barbecue , Individuals Car Club , Rocks & Ropes , free climbing , yoga , meditation , mysticism , baksana , beer , Dragoon , mystic messengers , psychics , oracles , numerologists , numerology , angel readers , pet psychic , moving into stillness , TMC , Tucson Community Meditation Center , Adoption Day , dogs , cats , St. Philip’s Plaza Farmers’ Market , HOPE Animal Shelter , Tucson Interfaith Packathon , pack lunches , do good , Garden Talks , Master Gardener , fruit , Himmel Park Library , Arizona State Home Show , AZ State Home Show , HGTV , Home Depot , remodeling , Jae Tilt , rapper , rap , Tucson musicians , Strangelove , Bugg , Image
