Tucson Weekly: City Week (May 6

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Thursday 6

MOM-AND-POP PRODUCTION. The songs of Allan Sherman come to life in the Theater League's globe-trotting production of Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh.
City Week Critics rave about this show, and The New York Times praises the writing as "live-wire comic exuberance that crackles across the stage."
Allan Sherman was a television writer who also turned timeless standards like "Frère Jacques" and "Shine on Harvest Moon" into great spoofs. Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh followed that tradition, landing Sherman a Grammy in 1963.
Tonight's performance is at 8 p.m. in the TCC Leo Rich Theatre, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets are $20.50, available at the TCC box office (791-4266), and all Dillard's outlets. Production continues through May 9.
BROADWAY OR BUST. The hopes and dreams of "all musical comedy kids" spill across the stage this weekend with the UA Theatre Arts Department's All Aboard for Broadway.
Directed and choreographed by Richard Hanson, tonight's benefit performance will feature the show tunes of Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jule Styne, Harold Arlen, Jerry Herman and Stephen Sondheim, all passionately belted-out by graduating musical theater seniors.
Show time is 7:30 p.m. in the UA Marroney Theatre, on the southeast corner of Park Avenue and Speedway. Performances continue at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets range from $10 to $15, including discounts for students, seniors and UA employees. Call the UA Fine Arts box office (621-1162) for reservations and information. Tickets for the Saturday evening performance are $40 and include a dessert reception.

Friday 7

MYTH IN MOVEMENT. The Legends, a new ballet by Ballet Arizona Artistic Director Michael Uthoff, speaks to the broad spirit of our dramatic land, highlighted by a fantastic score from renowned Navajo-Ute composer and flutist R. Carlos Nakai. See this week's Arts section for a full preview.
Show time is 8 p.m. in the PCC Center for the Arts, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Performances continue at 4 and 8 p.m. tomorrow. Tickets range from $32 to $72, and are available at (888) 322-5538.
ALICE LIVES HERE. Enchanting sprites lead guided tours through their eccentric world--with a little help from Lewis Carroll--when Valley of the Moon presents A Walk Through Wonderland With Alice.
This fundraising event will help keep the late George Leglar's little fantasy park alive, with tours every 30 minutes from 7:30 to 9:30 tonight through Saturday at Valley of the Moon, 2544 E. Allen Road (north of Prince Road and east of Tucson Boulevard). Tours continue Friday through Sunday, through May 23. Admission is $5, $3 for children ages 7 to 12, and free for members and children under age 7. Call 323-1331 for details.
TALL TEXAN. This week Texas populist and hell-raiser Jim Hightower rolls into Tucson for a string of appearances, benefiting the Pima County Democratic Party and Southern Arizona Central Labor Council. He'll also attend a reception sponsored by the National Writer's Union.
Host of the syndicated Hightower Radio show (broadcast until recently on Tucson stations KTKT and KMRR). Hightower also writes a syndicated column appearing in the Tucson Weekly, edits The Hightower Lowdown newsletter, and has authored several books, including There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos, and his soon-to-be-published If the Gods Had Meant Us To Vote, They Would Have Given Us Candidates.
Meet the man nipping at the heels of The Man at a reception, forum and booksigning at 5:30 p.m. in the Viscount Hotel, 4855 E. Broadway. A $5 donation is requested.
Tomorrow, Hightower will attend a benefit dinner and reception at 6 p.m. in the St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 1145 E. Fort Lowell Road. The food will be provided by Jack's Original Barbeque, and cost is $60. For reservations and information, call 326-3716.

Saturday 8

HORSING AROUND. Bex Pasaadi is a horse with a mission. The gentle, 26-year-old Arabian gelding is among many therapy horses working at The Riding and Rehabilitation Center, an organization that provides therapeutic riding services for children and adults with physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral disabilities.
This weekend Bex and fellow steeds are the guests of honor at Beat the Heat, a benefit show hosted by the Tucson Dressage Club. The event will feature a brunch and day-long riding demonstrations.
Beat the Heat runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow at the Pima County Fairgrounds, 11300 S. Houghton Road (exit 275 off I-10). Today's brunch is served from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Advance brunch tickets are $15, $8 for children under age 12, available by calling 297-4771. Tickets will be $10 and $18 at the door. Admission to all demonstrations is free.
HIGH HOPS. Enjoy great chow and fine brews alongside America's time-honored flying machines at tonight's Flight Line Food and Beverage Tasting at the Pima Air and Space Museum.
The party gathers inside vintage World War II hangars, where docents will dish up plenty of juicy aviation history. Restaurants and breweries including Chuy's, Westin La Paloma, Thunder Canyon and Pusch Ridge will handle the accouterments. Music will be provided by the bluegrass band Degrees Plato and Celtic belters Morrighan.
Flight Line runs from 6 to 9 p.m. in the PASM, 6000 E. Valencia Road. Tickets are $30, available at the Rumrunner Wine and Cheese Co., Box Seats, The Shanty, Plaza Liquors, Magee Road Liquors, LeBuzz Caffé/Espresso, or by calling 618-4802.

Sunday 9

TEARS FOR MOM. Kids can join forces today to give an artistic nod to Mother's Day by crafting necklaces from lovely Apache tears. The small black stones were generously donated by a retired geologist; young museum patrons will donate the elbow grease necessary to assemble the materials into charming little tokens of affection.
The workshop runs from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the Tucson Children's Museum, 200 S. Sixth Ave. Admission is $5, $4 for seniors and $3 for children. Call 792-9985 for details.
BACH BLAST. The St. Andrew's Bach Society opens its summer concert series with The Blazer Quintet, featuring Sandy Schwoebel on flute, Julie Basset on oboe, John Snavely on clarinet, Scott Pool on bassoon, and Victor Valenzuela on French horn. The quintet performs the world premiere of Billy Cows, a fantasy piece in four parts by Edmond John Thomas III, at 3 p.m. in St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 545 S. Fifth Ave. Tickets are $8, $5 for seniors and students, and available by calling 628-8119.

Monday 10

SOUNDS OF SALVATION. The rafters will shake when a gaggle of gospel belters roll in for one "Big Concert" benefiting the Salvation Army.
This year's gathering will feature The Kingsmen Quartet. Billed as "a national treasure," the 40-year-old North Carolina bunch pumps out the best Southern gospel around. Other performers include The Stamps, who were part of the Elvis Presley road show in the '70s; mariachi-style gospel from Tucson's own Felix Sisters; country gospel by Jacquie and Bill Willcox; and the legendary James Blackwood. At age 79, he's the sole surviving member of the original Blackwood Brothers Quartet, and has won nine Grammy Awards.
The Tucson Messengers (winners of the 1998 King-Eagle Christian Album of the Year Award) and the Dusty River Gospel Band round out the show, which starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Christ Community Church, 7801 Kenyon Drive. Advance tickets are $10, available at the Salvation Army, the Arizona Family Restaurant and Christian bookstores citywide. Tickets are $12 at the door. For information, call 327-6807.
FOREST ROMP. Those tikes and teens of Bianco Theatre revive the spirit of Sherwood Forest with their performance of Robin Hood...the Musical. This classic tale, presented as a melodic comedy, includes various adventures of the Hood and his merry bunch in the hills and dells of Nottingham.
Show time is 7 p.m. in The Gaslight Theatre, 7010 E. Broadway Blvd. Performances continue at 11 a.m. Saturdays, May 15 and 22; 7 p.m. Mondays, May 17 and 24; and 11 a.m. Sunday, May 16. Tickets are $7, $5 for children and students, and will be available at the door or in advance. Call 886-0860 for reservations and information.

Tuesday 11

PARK ART. Traipse through charming, sun-drenched galleries with learned docents during a Tohono Chul Park "Art in the Park" tour. Shows now on display include Essential Elements, Works in Fiber and Clay; Milagro del Dia: Miracles and Daily Life in Rural Mexico; and opening May 20, Creepy, Crawly, Wild and Wooly, an exhibit of whimsical works exploring the desert's often misunderstood reptiles, mammals, birds of prey and other nefarious critters.
You can also spend your time wandering through the grounds and well-tended wildflower paths of this lush desert refuge tucked amidst the burgeoning suburbs on Tucson's northwest side.
Art in the Park tours begin at 11 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, at Tohono Chul Park, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte. Regular park hours are 7 a.m. to sunset daily. A $2 donation is requested. Call 797-1213 for details.

Wednesday 12

DIGITAL PILGRIMAGE. Irving and Ruth Olson constantly traipse around the globe with digital cameras, electronically documenting people and landscapes of endlessly exotic climes. A large body of their work is contained in Explorations, now on display in the UA Rotunda Gallery.
Irving first picked up a camera at age 11, and spent his tender years messing around with black-and-white formats before moving to color. By age 27, he'd set up a fully equipped darkroom and continued to snap away, even while building a booming electronics parts business.
When he retired, his career with a camera blossomed: in June, 1997, Popular Photography magazine called him an "American original," and a "free-ranging experimenter with a passion for things mechanical who succeeds at practically anything he puts his mind to."
Olson likewise cultivated her interest in photography via her husband, and has gained a reputation for dazzling, camera-enhanced travel talks.
Together, their work has captured moments in far-ranging places like China, India, Hong Kong and Yemen.
Explorations continues through May 27 in the UA Rotunda Gallery, on the third floor of the Student Union, north of the main mall on the UA campus. Hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. For information, call 621-6142.

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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