Thursday 8
FUNKY MONKEY. Hip-hop, a funky vibe and a little Latin groove.
The wholly unique sounds of Ozomatli deliver contagious energy and enthusiasm. The Southern California-based group, recognized in recent tours with Santana, Lenny Kravitz and the Dave Matthews Band, is in Tucson for one concert only.
According to the band's Web site, "Ozomatli represents LA's cultural diversity and political struggles, and through their music, a global message of unity."
"Ozomatli" translates as "monkey" in the Aztec language. This monkey personifies dance and passion, and is the orchestrator of the sounds of the jungle. Formed five years ago, Ozomatli considers itself "undefinable by current music categories" and what it does, "the people's music."
Tonight's show, part of Ozomatli's current West Coast tour, is at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for students with ID. Tickets are available at Zia Records outlets and Hazy Dayz Lounge. For more information about the band, check out www.ozomatli.com.
Friday 9
PRIME TIME ARIAS. The Tucson Symphony Orchestra would have you believe that opera is in the air everywhere.
The TSO's musicians and visiting soprano Nancy Davis Booth will prove it in the fourth pops concert of the season. Opera Goes Prime Time promises an evening of opera arias recognizable in other uses in radio, TV and movies.
The audience will discover which radio and TV commercials use melodies from operas like Tosca, The Barber of Seville, Carmen and Don Giovanni in a program billed as "splendid, but slightly irreverent."
Booth, one of the country's most versatile sopranos, joins TSO conductor George Hanson for the concert. She appears all over the United States for concert engagements, oratorio and cabaret performances. Booth currently is on the music faculty of Concordia College in Minnesota.
Opera Goes Prime Time also includes performances from mezzo-soprano Hilary Nicholson, tenor Douglas Ahlstedt and baritone Paul Kreider.
The show will be interlaced with comedic narrative and gentle satire.
Concerts begin at 7:30 tonight and Saturday night, and 2 p.m. Sunday, at the Tucson Convention Center Music Hall. Tickets cost $13 to $32 and are available by calling 882-8585, or by visiting the box office at 2175 N. Sixth Ave., south of Grant Road. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster (321-1000), Robinsons-May stores and Wherehouse Music.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN HEROINES. Slave ship survivors to stars of the silver screen are included in the journey from bondage to the 21st century.
Daughters of Africa, a dance musical, features music made famous by Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson and Lena Horne in a celebration of famous and unheralded women of African ancestry.
The women portrayed in Daughters of Africa range from Harriet Tubman, who led hundreds to freedom via the Underground Railroad, to Elizabeth Freeman, whose legal struggle abolished slavery in Massachusetts, and Madame C.J. Walker, America's first black millionaire.
The production features the talents of artist Regina of Mixed Blood Theater of Minneapolis, and local dancer-choreographer Barbea Williams.
One of seven touring educational programs, Daughters of Africa is performed in schools to raise awareness of the contributions of African-American women.
Performances in Tucson are at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday. Also, a student matinee is planned for 10 a.m. today. All performances are at the Pima Community College Center for the Arts Proscenium Theatre, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Tickets are $8 to $16 and are available at the PCC box office; Antigone Books, 411 N. Fourth Ave.; and Borderlands Theater, 373 S. Meyer Ave. For more information, call 882-7406.
HURRY, HURRY, HURRY. It's a real circus all right, but Circus Chimera's mix of original music and choreography, special effects and theatrical lighting make it one of a kind.
A string of fast-paced, tightly orchestrated acts on the ground and in the air, Circus Chimera includes aerial contortion, juggling, tumbling and flying trapeze. The show's promoters say they've boiled down the best parts of the circus, leaving no time for boredom.
The Oklahoma-based circus is a one-ring show under a tent--the "world's tallest big top"--in which no seat is more than 60 feet from the ring. The ethereal music and theater-in-the-round setting are perfect for the theme, The Toy Box.
Dozens of acts, each related to a child's toy, make for an extraordinary journey into the world of make-believe.
The performers greet the audience after the show and pose for photographs.
The circus, sponsored by the Sabbar Shrine Temple, sets up shop at the Tucson Rodeo Ground. Performances are scheduled for 7:30 tonight; 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. tomorrow; and 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets, $6 to $14, are available by calling 1-888-663-7464.
Saturday 10
HAVE A HEART. You don't have know how to ride horses, or even like them much, to show your support for a program that serves up four-legged therapy to Tucsonans with special needs.
Hearts and Horses 2001 is a gala dinner, dance and silent auction to raise money for Therapeutic Riding of Tucson.
Therapeutic Riding, or TROT, provides riding lessons and physical therapy on horseback to people with special needs. One of the oldest programs of its kind in the country, TROT has been in Tucson since 1974, serving about 125 riders every week.
"The Hearts and Horses Gala is a big step forward for our organization in creating public awareness of the life-changing activities that happen at TROT every day," said Clark Miller, president of the organization's board of directors.
The black tie-optional event is in the Kiva Ballroom at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. The festivities begin at 7 tonight with a cocktail hour, followed by dinner at 8. Guests will have the choice of four entrées prepared by Ventana Canyon's award-winning chef, Jim Makinson. The auction will feature art, jewelry and service packages. Tickets cost $125, $75 of which is tax-deductible. Tables for 10 may be reserved for $1,000.
THEATER UNIQUE. Cultural myths and stereotypes that have separated the disabled from the mainstream may be blown away by a one-woman show that rolls into Tucson today.
Belle's on Wheels is Jaehn Clare's amusing and touching semi-autobiographical play about her journey through recovery and rehabilitation to a new perspective on life. Clare, a performer of international acclaim, has played to audiences across the country.
In 1989 the British Arts Council awarded the play its Commission Award. In 1999, Belle received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Santa Barbara Independent in the third annual Indie Award Celebration.
See this very personal piece of theater, presented by Arts for All, in a performance at 7:30 tonight at Zuzi's Little Theatre, 738 N. Fifth Ave. Tickets are $12 general admission; $10 seniors, students and children under 12. For more information, call 622-1212.
Sunday 11
SURVEY SAYS-LAUGH. The host of Family Feud is the headlining punchliner at an annual school fundraiser.
Louie Anderson, who got his big TV break in 1984 when he appeared on the Tonight Show, returns to his stand-up comedy roots for the fifth annual Laughter on the Sunnyside, an event to raise money for Sunnyside School District.
Exploiting the often hilarious experiences of growing up in a family of 11 children, Anderson took first place in the 1981 Midwest Comedy Competition. The competition's host, Henny Youngman, recognized Anderson as a diamond-in-the-rough genius and hired him as a writer.
Since then, Anderson has performed across the country and appeared in numerous films, including Coming to America and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In 1995, he created Life with Louie, an animated Saturday-morning TV show that won a pair of Emmy Awards.
Anderson is an author, too. His best-selling efforts include Dear Dad--Letters from an Adult Child and Good-Bye Jumbo ... Hello Cruel World.
Tonight's show is sponsored by the Sunnyside Unified School District Foundation, which was established in 1996 to support the district's children, staff and community.
The foundation's vision is to create a $1 million endowment to prepare Sunnyside students for the 21st century.
The event begins at 3 p.m. with a reception and silent auction at Westin La Paloma, 3800 E. Sunrise Drive. Dinner is at 6, followed by Louie Anderson's act at 7. Tickets are $125, $65 of which is tax-deductible. For more information, call 545-2093.
Monday 12
DR. SNAKE. Enter the mysterious world of herpetology and the radio telemetric studies of pit vipers.
In other words, learn about snakes and stuff.
This month's speaker for the Tucson Audubon Society's program is Dr. David L. Hardy, a retired Tucson physician whose medical career led him to the field of herpetology.
For the past 17 years, Hardy has worked with Harry W. Greene of Cornell University, studying pit vipers in Arizona, Costa Rica, Brazil and Vietnam. Using the same radio telemetric technology, Hardy and Greene are studying blacktailed rattlesnakes in the Chiricahua Mountains of Southeastern Arizona.
Since 1988, the team has studied 45 snakes for periods of a few weeks to more than 10 years. Hardy and Greene hope to assemble a detailed behavioral inventory for the species.
Hardy, whose primary research interests have been first-aid management of snake bites, founded the Tucson Herpetology Society in 1988. It is dedicated to conservation, education and research.
Tonight's program includes a slide-illustrated overview of the Hardy and Greene studies. The presentation begins at 7 p.m. in the Duval Auditorium at University Medical Center, 1501 N. Campbell Ave.
Tuesday 13
EARTH ART. The works of three artists offers pottery lovers a variety of clay creations.
John Dodero, Andy Iventosh and Martina Thies are featured artists in a clay-art display that runs through April 14 at the Old Town Pot Shop and Gallery in Tucson's El Presidio District.
Dodero works mainly with raku finishes and creates stunning decorative vessels and vases in bold primary colors.
Stoneware plates, platters and kitchenware are Iventosh's specialty.
Thies creates beautiful one-of-a-kind porcelain objects, decorative and functional, including plates, platters and cups.
Admission to the exhibit is free. The shop and gallery are located in historic Old Town Artisans, a city block of shopping and dining. The address is 201 N. Court Ave. Gallery hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. For more information, call 623-6024.
Wednesday 14
SEX IN THE '60S. Terri loves Frank. Frank loves Fiona. Fiona loves Bob. And they're having Bill and Mary to dinner.
Get the picture? See the play--How the Other Half Loves, the hilarious look at three British couples caught up in the sexual revolution.
It's 1969--the Beatles are on fire, fashion is mod, baby, and London is swinging--and the couples are unwittingly brought together by an illicit affair.
The lies and lust come to a head during a couple of dinner parties that take place on consecutive nights--but occur on stage at the same time.
Alan Ayckbourn's How the Other Half Loves plays through March 17 at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Tickets are $22-$35 For tickets and more information, call 622-2823. See "The Sly Who Shagged Me," page 40 for details.
