“Art is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.” — Stephen Sondheim
Order would be nice about now.
And there are plenty of performing arts in the Old Pueblo over the next three months that just might help us achieve it.
Sure, the season is winding down. But there are gems yet to be seen, including Arizona Theatre Company’s world premiere of a Sherlock Holmes play, the University of Arizona School of Dance’s annual performance, the classical music duo Black Violin — well, here, we’ll give you details on some of the events we are most looking forward to.
But keep in mind, these are just our picks. Check Caliente weekly and the Star’s online calendar, tucson.com/calendar, for more arts that may help bring a bit of order to our lives.
Theater
Tracie Morris is so multitalented that she’s hard to define. But it all boils down to theater. She is a poet, musician, performance artist, actor. And Kore Press is bringing her here April 6 for “An Evening With Tracie Morris” at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. Here’s how her appearance is described: “The artist performs a sonically rich variation of the well-known Stanley Kubrick film ‘Eyes Wide Shut,’ injecting a black female perspective into a story where it does not exist.” Morris “talks back” as if in conversation with the film as it screens, presenting other voices and an alternative storyline that opens with “The scariest people in the world are not black.” We’re willing to bet it will be one of the most engrossing, provocative performances of the year.
Arizona Theatre Company’s world premiere of Jeffrey Hatcher’s “Holmes and Watson” is April 15-May 6 at the Temple of Music and Art. Hatcher wrote “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club,” and “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” both staged by the ATC. In this new play, Holmes has died after a fierce battle with his foe Professor Moriarty. But has he? Men keep popping up to claim they are Holmes, and it’s up to Dr. Watson to learn the truth. Hatcher can write a good adventure story, and he infuses his works with wit.
The Rogue Theatre winds up its season April 27-May 14 with Shakespeare’s great tragedy “Macbeth.” The play reverberates today with its themes of greed, paranoia, manipulation and blind ambition. Directing is Matt Bowdren, who did an impressive job shaping the company’s sterling production of “Angels in America” in September.
If you are willing to have “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” stuck in your head — and who isn’t? — then you want to snag tickets to Arizona Repertory Theatre’s production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Evita.” The University of Arizona students are impressive talents, so you can’t go wrong. It’s April 9-30 at the Tornabene Theatre.
- Also: Broadway in Tucson brings the road show of “The Bodyguard” musical, based on the movie of the same name but loaded with many more Whitney Houston tunes — to Centennial Hall April 12-16. Arizona Onstage Productions’ “Stars of David,” a music revue about famous Jews featuring tunes by more than a dozen composers, is April 15-16 at Berger Performing Arts Center. Pima Community College stages Anton Chekhov’s classic “Three Sisters” April 20-30 at the PCC Center for the Arts. David Sedaris tells his stories at the Fox Tucson Theatre May 8.
Dance
The UA School of Dance is considered one of the best in the country. That’s impressive. And so are the performances by the dance students. Here’s a chance to see for yourself: The annual Spring Collection features the students, faculty and guest choreographers performing some of their best works. This year, the performance include the poetry of John Giorno, a piece celebrating Prince, and some Afrofunk. Spring Collection is often eclectic and exciting. It’s April 21-30 at the Stevie Eller Dance Theater.
Artifact Dance Project winds up its season with “Artifact + Katterwaul” May 5-7 at Artifact’s studio. Choreographer Logan Moon Penisten teams up with the band Katterwaul. Her movement will be set to 10 of the band’s songs, and the band will perform with the dancers.
Opera
Arizona Opera travels to the land of fairy tales with its production of Rossini’s “Cinderella.” It’s considered one of the composer’s funniest opera, but he didn’t avoid the dark side of the tale of the young woman whose life is ruled by a wicked stepmother and two wicked stepsisters. It’s April 1 and 2 p.m. at Tucson Music Hall.
UA Opera Theatre stages Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites” April 7 and 9. The French opera is the composer’s take on the Carmelite nuns who refused to renounce their vocation during the French Revolution, and lost their heads for it. It’s at Crowder Hall.
Classical concerts
John Milbauer bangs the ivories with an unbridled passion. The pianist and UA music prof will do just that at his “Which Side Are You On?” concert at Holsclaw Hall April 1. Inspired by current events, he’ll be playing Ives, Chopin, Bartók, Ponce and others.
Dove of Peace Lutheran Church brings True Concord and Tucson Symphony Orchestra musicians together to play Bach and support the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network. It’s April 2 at the church.
The Tucson Guitar Society teams up with the Grammy-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet to premiere a new composition. An all-guitar orchestra sounds sublime. It’s April 2 at Grace St. Paul’s Church.
The Southern Arizona Flute Orchestra will use five different sizes of the instrument for its spring concert, April 2 at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church.
Black Violin brings its Unity Tour to the Fox Tucson Theatre April 13 courtesy of UA Presents. The duo calls its music “freestyle classical.” We call it thrilling and infectious and wow-inducing. Which is probably why this tour has been selling out at venues across the country.
- Also on the horizon: The piano threesome Trio Solisti will play Haydn, Higdon and Brahms at the Leo Rich Theatre April 5, and cellist Anna Litvineko and pianist Luis Ortiz perform works by Golijov, Poulenc, de Falla and Rachmaninov on April 23. Both concerts, courtesy of the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, are at the Leo Rich Theatre. Pima Community College prof and tuba pro Mark Nelson gives a faculty concert April 13 at the PCC Center for the Arts.
Choral
The 3-year-old Helios Ensemble continues to grow in expertise and popularity. The chorus will perform Beethoven’s glorious Mass in C major at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church April 1. Erika Burkhart, Kristin Dauphinais, Hugo Vera and Andrew Stuckey take on the parts of the soloists.
The 67-year-old Tucson Masterworks Chorale will fill St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church with Mendelssohn and Brahms on April 22, and do the same for Catalina United Methodist Church April 23. The choir will perform with a full orchestra.
Arizona Repertory Singers’ “The Triumphs of Oriana” performance will feature a collection of madrigals that date to 1601, an Aaron Copland piece, and even a song in Welsh. The concerts are April 21 at Catalina United Methodist Church and April 28 at St. Thomas the Apostle Church.
If you missed the Sons of Orpheus singing at the Rodeo Parade or couldn’t get into its annual holiday concerts at Mission San Xavier, you have a few more chances to hear the male choir before the season ends. Its annual spring concerts are slated for April 9 at Ascension Lutheran Church; April 22 at Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church; April 23 at Episcopal Church of St. Matthew, and April 30 at the Clubhouse at The Highlands at Dove Mountain.
Pop, world, blues
It’s hard to resist this one: The Western Music Association and Old Tucson’s nonprofit arm, the Arizona Sonora Western Heritage Foundation, present the annual Cowboy Western Music Festival April 1-2 at Old Tucson. There will be three stages, and artists such as Bill Ganz, Teodoro “Ted” Ramirez and Belinda Gail will croon cowboy tunes and recite cowboy poetry.
Any chance we get to hear Nick Gallardo sing, we take it. He’ll be doing a concert, “From Valens to Valli,” at the Gaslight Theatre on April 3.
It’s hard to resist a strumming banjo; a bunch of them would be even harder. That’s what you get with the Arizona Banjo Blasters. The group will perform April 8 as part of the Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance’s Steam Pump Ranch Concert Series at Steam Pump Ranch in Oro Valley. Arizona Banjo Blasters. Bring a chair. 10:30 a.m.-noon. April 8. Free.
Casino del Sol’s AVA Amphitheater has a couple of biggies coming up: Snoop Dogg and Cypress Hill, with special guest Berner, take the stage with their Mount Kushmore tour on April 19, and Michael Salgado and Fito Olivares perform at the Tejano Shootout 2017 on April 22.
And there’s a killer combo coming to the Fox Tucson June 6: Taj Mahal and Keb Mo. ’Nuff said.
Young at art
Tucson Symphony Orchestra’s Just for Kids programs for children are a pure delight — for the kids as well as the adults. There’s always a story told through music, there’s always a chance to ask questions, and there’s always an easy interaction between the children and the musicians. The TSO Percussion Ensemble performs “Tom-Tom and Chillin’ Willie Go to the Zoo” at the Tucson Symphony Center April 1. “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” with the TSO Piano Trio and Friends, is April 23 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, and “Pip and the Pirate” with the TSO Flute Viola Harp Trio is May 6 at the Symphony Center, and May 21 at the Jewish Community Center.
Live Theatre Workshop’s Family Theatre is a hub of creativity — the company often stages plays for children with music and scripts written by the staff. But what’s most delicious about LTW’s family shows is kids are respected, never talked down to, and are immensely entertained while they fall in love with theater and storytelling. Coming up is “A Swashbuckling Adventure With the Itty-Bitty Buccaneer.” LTW’s Richard Gremel wrote the story, and Tucsonan David Ragland the music. It’s April 9-June 4 at LTW.
Christian Youth Theatre is staging the musical “James and the Giant Peach,” based on the wonderful Roald Dahl book. This is a coup for them: The youth theater is the first company to bring the musical to the Old Pueblo. Performances are May 19-28 at Crowder Hall.
