Tucson Weekly: Cheap Thrills (December 18

Cheap Thrills CONTRASTING TRILOGY: Quicksilver Productions runs the theatrical gamut from comedy to tragedy with its presentation of Christopher Durang's Mrs. Sorken and Wanda's Visit, and Edward Albee's The Zoo Story.
In Mrs. Sorken, Marian Wald portrays a forgetful grandmotherly type. The hilarious one-person monologue leads into Wanda's Visit, when a ne'er-do-well high school acquaintance named Wanda suddenly appears on Jim's doorstep. Toting a nose job and promiscuous past, Wanda subsequently turns his happily married lifestyle topsy-turvy, even making a nighttime foray to his bedroom in this clever comedy.
The human condition turns serious in The Zoo Story, when a similarly contented guy enjoying his regular habit of reading in the sun is accosted by a homeless man. From wrestling over a park bench to matters of life and death, the play spirals towards a sadly tragic end.
Performances are 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, December 18 through 20, and 2 p.m. Sunday, December 21, in The Temple of Music and Art Cabaret Theatre, 330 S. Scott Ave. Production continues at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday, December 26 through 28. Tickets are $7, $6 for students and seniors, and available by calling 529-2687.
ARTISTIC SUBSTITUTE: Elizabeth Cherry Contemporary Art has made a habit of showing gutsy, strange, sometimes beautiful art, often with a sniping political or social edge. That practice continues with Olestra, featuring works by Brad Denbour, Angela Ellsworth, Robert Flynt and Valerie Galloway, among others.
Curated by Darren Clark, Olestra taps the infamous fat substitute as a metaphor for issues of "excess, glamour, consumption, waste, shame, accountability, substitution and leeching."
No small task there, but Olestra, with its "demand and emergence into our society," sufficiently drives the point home.
Exhibit runs through February 14 in Elizabeth Cherry Contemporary Art, 437 E. Grant Road. Hours are noon to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. For details, call 903-0577.
ACOUSTIC CHRISTMAS: Members of the Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association are warming their strings and stretching their fingers for another legendary Christmas party. And the roster of tunesmiths is a celebration in itself: Stefan George and Lavinia, Womensong, Elise Grecco, Linda Lou and The Drifters, The Lonesome Strangers, and a trio made up of Peter McLaughlin, Chris Brashear and Evan Dane.
Meant to thank volunteers and the community for their support, the gathering will include homemade chow and deserts.
Event is 7:30 p.m. Friday, December 19, in the Unitarian Universalist Church, 4831 E. 22nd St. Admission is $6, $5 for TKMA, KXCI, Tucson Blues Society, Tucson Friends of Traditional Music and Desert Bluegrass Society members. Call 770-1298 for information.
LITERARY LIAISON: The lyrically generous help share the season when another Make a Date With a Poet gathering gets underway in The Book Mark. Folks are invited to bring their own poetry about the gifts and miracles in their lives for this "a holiday-flavored open reading."
Free event is 7 p.m. Saturday, December 20, in The Book Mark, 5001 E. Speedway. For details, call 881-5180.

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