Tucson Weekly: City Week (March 18

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Thursday 18

HUMAN WEAVE. Besides a ruthless disease, the one thing AIDS victims share is the AIDS Memorial Quilt, an enormous patchwork remembrance of more than 78,000 people who've died.
City Week The Tucson High Magnet School pays homage to their memory when it hosts Quilt: A Musical Celebration. Accompanied by a 32-panel block of the quilt, the musical theater production traces individual tragedy with each cast member constructing panels for loved ones lost to AIDS.
Quilt takes center stage at 7 tonight, Friday and Saturday in the Tucson High auditorium, 400 N. Second Ave. Tickets are $7, $5 for seniors and students, available at How Sweet It Was, the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, the door, or by calling 617-7549.
PERILOUS PAPA. The perils of paternity take on a different meaning when Quintessential Productions presents The Father, by August Strindberg.
This tale charts an army captain's increasingly strained sense of reality as he begins to question who the father of his sons might actually be. His growing paranoia is further tweaked by the machinations of a family conspiring against him.
And if that isn't enough to draw you to the theatre, take note: This dark drama marks the acting debut of Al Perry, local musical bon vivant and hardcore Strindberg fan. He plays the part of Corporal Nojd.
Tonight's preview performance is at 8 p.m. on the Quintessential stage, 118 S. Fifth Ave. Preview tickets are $8, $6 for seniors, students and military, available in advance by calling 798-0708. Performances continue at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 4 p.m. Sunday, through April 10. Tickets are $10, $8 for seniors, students and military.

Friday 19

CELTIC BLAST. Hike up your britches, click your heels, and take your turn on the green with tonight's performance by internationally acclaimed Celtic band Solas. Seamus Egan, Winifred Horan, John Doyle, Mick McAuley and Karan Casey make up this powerful vocal and instrumental ensemble, which you may recall from appearances on A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, and NPR's Morning Edition.
The 3-year-old Irish-American group returns to Tucson for one performance only, at 8 p.m. in the Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway. Tickets are $17, $15 for In Concert! members, available at Hear's Music, Piney Hollow, the Harp and Shamrock, or by calling 327-4809.
LYRIC LOVE. Nurture your fondness for the lyric arts when Make a Date with a Poet hosts acclaimed writer Pamela Ushuk. Besides having her work published in numerous collections, journals and anthologies, Ushuk also teaches at the UA Extended University, and is program director for ArtsReach, a writing program for Native American students.
She'll read from her work at 6 p.m. in the New Life Café, 4841 E. Speedway Blvd. Admission is free. For details, call 881-5180.
MUY FRESCO. Check out both fresh and familiar musical faces at the Hispanic Cultural Showcase's Outstanding New Talent Show.
The tasty international menu includes Latin master Sérgio Armindariz; Filipino and contemporary tunes by vocalist Yonie Murray; Latin jazz and traditional world music by the David Muñiz Quartet; steamy Argentine gaucho dancing by Julio Abraham and Gladis; and hot bossa nova and samba classics by the Brazil & Co. Sextet. If that musical smorgasbord still leaves you hungry, your ticket includes a dinner buffet.
Show time is 5 p.m. in the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, 350 S. Freeway. Advance tickets are $9 for table seating, $5 for general admission, available by calling 888-8816. Tickets are $1 more at the door.

Saturday 20

DIVA-DO. Catch volumes of fine music when the Reveille Gay Men's Chorus presents Viva la Diva Book II, a melodic romp featuring opera choruses and songs immortalized by contemporary divas, as interpreted by Tucson sopranos Elena Todd and Korby Myrick. The Grand Canyon Men's Chorale trek down from Phoenix for a special guest appearance.
Show time is 8 p.m. in the PCC Proscenium Theatre, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Advance tickets are $10, $8.50 for children under age 12, available by calling 617-3100. Tickets are $12 at the door.
POTTERY PILGRIMAGE. Stunning pottery takes center stage today at the Spring Arts and Mata Ortiz Pottery Show.
These potters hail from the little Chihuahuan village of Mata Ortiz, a remarkable hub which has reclaimed its ancient craft and now bursts at the seams with a population of fine potters. Several of those artists will demonstrate the hand-shaping, painting and traditional firing methods used to create their beautiful work.
The show runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and tomorrow in the Arizona Gallery and Event Center, 5101 N. Oracle Road. For details, call 888-8788.

Sunday 21

ARACHNID ROCK. Catch a "hypnotic, absolutely kick-ass band" when Zia Records hosts a short set by Tito Larriva and his Tarantulas. Aside from the aforementioned adjectives, this ensemble can be summed up in a word: magical. The free set is at 3 p.m. in Zia Records, 3655 N. Oracle Road. For information, call 887-6898.
RUSSIAN REVEILLE. They're coming to the United States with Moscow's famous Osipov Balalaika Orchestra, and arriving in Tucson thanks to the Arizona Balalaikas. Tonight's rare performance features Alexander Tsygankov and Inna Shevchenko.
Known as the "Russian Paganini," Tsygankov has mastered an ancient instrument called the domra, and is renowned for combining virtuoso techniques with sensitive textural effects. Shevchenko is a pianist trained at the Russian Academy of Music. Together, they'll give local audiences a unique glimpse of the timeless Russian tradition of the domra-piano duet. The concert will feature classical works, Russian folk tunes, and some ragtime and jazz.
Show time is 3:30 p.m. in the PCC Proscenium Theatre, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Tickets are $8, $5 for students, available at the door or by calling 206-6988.

Monday 22

CREATIVE PASSAGE. Mona Esposito's silver gelatin and color photographs center on portals and doorways, many from the charming Barrio Historico. In her new exhibit, Le Porte, she expertly captures the quiet essences, rich textures and strong shapes permeating that neighborhood, as reflected in its passageways.
These color photographs resound with life, while the silver gelatin photos are equally vivid in their somber and stunning portraits. Esposito elevates the aesthetic nature of her "portals," treating them with a rare, symbolic respect. Through her lens they become more than simple entrances and exits, claiming a mysterious life force all their own.
Le Porte will be on display through May 2 in the Epic Café, 745 N. Fourth Ave. Hours are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Call 624-6844 for information.
INTO THE LOOKING GLASS. God himself could get a good shave with the gigantic telescope mirrors produced right here in Tucson. Long known as a top astronomical hub, the UA creates its enormous looking glasses for telescopes around the world, in a process that's both painstaking and remarkable.
Find out more about these reflectors and their makers when the UA Steward Observatory hosts Polishing Giant Mirrors to an Accuracy of One-Millionth of an Inch, presented by Dr. Buddy Martin. Following the lecture, you can check out the heavens through Steward's own 21-inch scope.
The free lecture and viewing are at 7:30 p.m. in the Steward Observatory, Room N210, on campus at Cherry Avenue and University Boulevard.

Tuesday 23

TOTAL RECALL. This year marks the late, great Duke Ellington's 100th birthday. To celebrate, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra visit Tucson as part of the America in Rhythm and Tune tour.
Formed in 1988, the orchestra is the official "house band" for Jazz at Lincoln Center activities, which include plenty of Ellington. Under the direction of Marsalis, the ensemble is also dedicated to preserving historic compositions and creating an inventory of new big-band pieces.
According to The New York Times, "There's nothing like the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra in all of jazz, and the ground it owns is essential to any understanding of what happened in America this century." See this week's Music section for more information.
Ellington was the most prolific composer of the 20th century, in both number and variety. Born in Washington, D.C., he began studying piano at age 7, and was influenced by ivory giants such as James P. Johnson and Fats Waller. He eventually founded the legendary Duke Ellington Orchestra, which by 1930 had achieved unprecedented national prominence.
His contribution will be recalled tonight with works spanning his career, including popular standards like "Satin Doll," "Sophisticated Lady," "Mood Indigo," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," and of course, "Take the A Train."
Show time is 7:30 p.m. in UA Centennial Hall, inside the main gate east of Park Avenue. Tickets range from $26 to $38, half-price for students and children under age 18, with discounts for faculty, staff and UApresents subscribers. Tickets are available at the Centennial Hall box office, or by calling 621-3341.
PERSONAL MISSION. Tourists and townies alike know it as the White Dove of the Desert. But to ethnologist Bernard Fontana, mission San Xavier del Bac is much more than that. After all, the former Arizona State Museum official spent a good chunk of the '50s and '60s knee-deep in extensive digs around the site. To top it off, he lives within hollering distance of the venerable landmark.
Today, this eminent Tucson expert shares his vast knowledge of the mission, ranging from its architectural aspects to the deep meaning the old church holds for the Tohono O'odham people.
His free lecture is sponsored by the Tucson-Pima Library and the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society, and begins at 7 p.m. in the Valencia Branch Library, 202 W. Valencia Road. For details, call 326-6709.

Wednesday 24

FEMALE TREATMENT. Dinnerware Contemporary Art Gallery taps into the multi-faceted female form with Treatment: Women's Bodies in Medical Science and Art.
Presented in conjunction with the Merged Realities Expo, which likewise explores the confluences of science and art, the Dinnerware show raises provocative artistic issues. Primary among them is the future of women's bodies in a world undergoing a barrage of medical breakthroughs and backlashes. Curated by Joanna Frueh--known nationally for her work focusing on the body and sexuality--this exhibit features artists who've also dealt throughout their careers with the female body as "skin, flesh, nude in rich and complex ways."
They include Bailey Doogan, Riva Lehrer, Frances Murray, Claire Prussian and Hannah Wilke, among others.
Treatment: Women's Bodies in Medical Science and Art runs through April 3 in the Dinnerware Gallery, 135 E. Congress St. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 7 p.m. Thursday. Call 792-4503 for information.

City Week includes events selected by Calendar Editor Tim Vanderpool. Event information is accurate as of press time. The Weekly recommends calling event organizers to check for last-minute changes in location, time, price, etc. To have material considered, please send complete information at least 11 days prior to the Thursday issue date to: Tucson Weekly, P.O. Box 2429, Tucson, Arizona 85702, or fax information to 792-2096, or email us at listings@tucsonweekly.com.

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