Arts Briefs: ‘Shrek’ checks in at Super Summer
Theater
‘SHREK’ CHECKS IN
AT SUPER SUMMER
Everyone’s favorite ogre returns as “Shrek the Musical” begins a 12-performance run Wednesday at Super Summer Theatre at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park.
Produced by Feral Tale Theatricals, the musical — with a witty Tony-nominated musical score from Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire — recounts the same fractured fairy tale as the 2001 animated movie “Shrek,” which was inspired by William Steig’s original 1990 tale.
For those who’ve been locked away in a tower, “Shrek” focuses on the lone title ogre (played by Ayler Evans), who must rescue a princess (Amanda Kaiser) from a dragon-guarded tower — that is, if he wants to rid his swampy home of fairy tale characters who’ve been exiled from the suddenly conformist realm of Duloc.
The musical begins its Super Summer Theatre run at 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, 10 miles west of Charleston Boulevard and the 215 Beltway; additional performances will be at 8 p.m. Aug. 8-9, Aug. 13-16 and Aug. 20-23. Tickets are $12.95 in advance (866-967-8167, supersummertheatre.org) or $20 at the gate (subject to availability).
Music
HOLMES DUETS
AT CABARET JAZZ
As the resident headliner at The Smith Center’s Cabaret Jazz, Clint Holmes is used to having his solo in the spotlight — if Cabaret Jazz had a spotlight, that is.
But he’s sharing it this weekend with a “Duets”-themed show featuring other Las Vegas-based singers. (Somehow, we have a sneaking suspicion one of them might be Holmes’ singing spouse, Kelly Clinton.)
Holmes and his vocalist colleagues will perform at 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 361 Symphony Park Ave. For tickets ($36-$46), call 702-749-2000 or visit www.thesmithcenter.com.
Family fun
SING ALONG
WITH ‘MUSIC’
There might not be any hills, but the Las Vegas Little Theatre definitely will be alive with the sound of music — on and off screen — as a sing-along version of the Oscar-winning “The Sound of Music” opens a six-performance run Friday.
It’s the same 1965 cinematic favorite, starring Julie Andrews as a plucky nun-in-training who captivates the family of the widowed Capt. Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) — not to mention the captain himself — with a little help from such classic Rodgers and Hammerstein numbers as “Do Re Mi,” “Edelweiss,” “My Favorite Things” and the title song.
Subtitles on the screen enable audience members to warble along with Andrews and her singing charges. (There’s also a costume contest for those so inclined.)
The sing-along “Sound of Music” will play at Las Vegas Little Theatre, 3920 Schiff Drive, at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday; additional performances are 7 p.m. Aug. 8-9 and 2 p.m. Aug. 10. For tickets ($25 for adults and seniors, $20 for LVLT season ticket holders, $12 for students under 18), call 702-362-7996 or visit www.LVLT.org.
Art
NEW GALLERY OPENS
IN GATEWAY DISTRICT
Spectral Gallery, a new exhibit and studio space in the Gateway District’s Downtown Spaces, celebrates its grand opening Friday, spotlighting new work by artist owners Jska Priebe and Mike and Dasha Biggs, along with live painting by Priebe.
Art and music will be featured Friday throughout Downtown Spaces from 6 to 10 p.m.
Urizen Gallery, which opened in July, will feature the art of its artist-owners Benito and Kortnie Colon-Contreras. Ortego’s Juniper Gallery presents artwork by (among others) Matt Ortego, Erika Allison and Alejandro Aranda. Skin City Body Painting will host an art show by Norma Jean, live gold leaf body painting by Liz Goplani on model Alissa Michelle and music by David Oliveri. Wasteland Gallery hosts a new art show by The 80s Kids, while We Become Monsters creator Chris Moore will display creepy, handmade resin toys.
Downtown Spaces is located in the Gateway District at 1800 Industrial Road. For more information, visit dtspaces.com.
Art
MUSEUM HOSTS
‘ART OF WOMEN’
“The Art of Women,” a free exhibit spotlighting works by established and emerging artists, continues at the Hispanic Museum of Nevada in the Boulevard Mall.
Produced by Art Shifts, the show lives up to the group’s name, according to founder Leah Young, a mixed media artist whose work is part of the show. “Literally, art shifts people, awareness, emotions and situations,” she says. “We view art as a universal language, and art making, creative expression as a means to effect lasting change and social evolution.”
Other artists participating include photographer Gaile Ferguson; painting shaman Havi Brysk Mandell; mixed media and performance artist Nja One; poet and visual artist Nina G. Piodela; pen and ink graphic artist Ida Spurlin; and intuitive artist Mercedes Warrick In Spirit.
“The Art of Women” continues through Aug. 9 at the museum, located in the Boulevard Mall at 3680 S. Maryland Parkway. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. For more information, call 702-482-9181 or email show@artshifts.com.
— By CAROL CLING
