Elwood P. Dowd is certifiably insane but not by happenstance. He is that way by choice. It’s the only way he can cope with an insane world. Sane people act insane in an insane world. Dowd did that for 40 years but gave it up for a sane world of his own creation. As he tells us, “…I wrestled with reality for forty years, and I am happy to state that I finally won out over it.” And in Dowd’s reality one must be “…so smart…or so pleasant. For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.” He is the most pleasant person imaginable.
From Wagner to Berg, from Gershwin to Glass, from Handel to Puccini – there is literally something for everyone this season. We ended last season with Verdi’s grandest spectacle opera, Aida; so what better way to begin the new season than with Puccini’s grandest spectacle opera, Turandot. That’s TEWR-ən-dot. With the T! Remember – Puccini was Italian – not French – hence most people agree on “dot” not “doh”! Actually, the name of the opera is based on a name in ancient Persian poetry for a Central Asian princess, Turan-Dokht (daughter of Turan). But I digress – since Puccini decided to make her Chinese, not Persian, there is a decidedly Chinese flavor to this particular spectacle, and a never ending debate on dot or doh!
Casey is a happy-go-lucky guy who is employed at Cleo’s, a bar in Florida’s Panama City Beach in the panhandle. He earns his living, such as it is, as an Elvis Impersonator. He wears Elvis garb and lip-syncs to Elvis music. His life is about to change. Cleo’s is going down the financial toilet, and so is Casey’s career. Bar owner Eddie, desperate for more revenue, brings in two female impersonators, Tracy and Rexy, to replace him. It looks like he’s out of work.
Reno Little Theater has taken on the monumental task of making some significant changes to the theater. Seats, Floor, Egress, and more.
Check out this video where Melissa Taylor takes us on a tour and tells us of what is to come.
That’s what the Restless Artists Theater is doing, and a tip of the hat to them for it. They have announced their 2019/20 season chock-full of new plays by young writers. These are fresh faces with fresh voices. They are the writers of our new century. When we look back at the 21st Century and ask who its great playwrights were, the names will be drawn from this group. Our playwright Josh Tobiessen could very well be one of them.
We all go through stages in life. Shakespeare knew it. So does our author Greg Burdick. We are born, go through youth, our teen years, young adulthood, and finally maturity. Hopefully, at that time, we have learned to exercise good judgment. That good judgment comes from wisdom, but wisdom comes from bad judgment. We make mistakes on the road to maturity and wisdom. Society forgives us our feckless years because we all go through them. It is natural just as it is to forgive the errors of youth.
Do you want a frolic through New York’s demi-monde of the 1930s? Do you want an evening that is just plain fun, one that is breezy and carefree? If so, Guys and Dolls is for you. The Sierra School of Performing Arts is currently performing this gem of a musical at the Robert Z. Hawkins Amphitheater at Bartley Ranch. Do not let the school name fool you. This big, splashy production is as professionally done as you will get this side of Broadway.
Nevada is most famous for being a last stop, before one ventures across a state filled with small towns with gas stations, casinos, and desert (lots of desert). When one hears the name the first thing that comes to mind is casinos, not the illustrious casinos of Las Vegas, but the rundown forgotten casinos whose best days are far, far, behind them. It’s a city which hides amongst the shadows of the Sierras, a victim of many predisposed stereotypes. As a tourist, you might find yourself staying in one of the hotel rooms on the strip. The strip lies on North Virginia Street. On weekend nights, North Virginia is bustling with tourists, they make their way up and down the street, booze-filled, hunting for their riches on the casino floor. For the lucky ones who stumble to the end of the strip, they’ll reach a small theater on the corner of 1st and North Virginia. Its name is Bruka, and the art it has produced has been a cornerstone of entertainment in the Reno area for 27 years.
Don’t miss your last chance this season to see some of the greatest opera productions ever staged – right here in Reno at your local cinema. The final Metropolitan Opera HD broadcast of the summer will be on Wednesday, July 17 at 1:00 pm. It is Verdi’s tragic story of love and loss set in ancient Egypt at the height of the Pharaohs’ wealth and power.
