Briefs: Theater and music

Music

EUBANKS, JORDAN

TEAM AT CABARET

Musically, one and one add up to “Just the Two of Us” as Kevin Eubanks and Stanley Jordan hold court at The Smith Center’s Cabaret Jazz tonight and Saturday.

Each guitarist will perform his own set before teaming up for a finale where collaboration’s the name of the game.

Eubanks and Jordan take the stage at 7 p.m. today and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday at Cabaret Jazz, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 361 Symphony Park Ave. Tickets ($36-$56) are available by calling 749-2000 or online at www.thesmithcenter.com.

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Theater

TOWN SQUARE

HOSTS MUSICAL

What’s in a name?

When the title of the show is “[title of show]” the answer is: an offbeat original musical about the genesis of an original musical.

The Tony-nominated show (featuring Actors’ Equity members from Strip productions of “Jersey Boys,” “Phantom — The Las Vegas Spectacular” and “Mamma Mia!”) begins a three-performance run tonight at Town Square.

The musical (which contains mature language) tracks the efforts of “Two Nobodies in New York” (“Mamma Mia!” veterans Greg Kata and Robert Jarrett ) and their talented friends (“Jersey Boys’ ” Sarah Lowe and Kristen Hertzenberg , who recently ended a six-year run as “Phantom’s” Christine) to create a Broadway show, testing their creativity and friendships in the process.

“[title of show]” will be presented at 8 tonight, 1 p.m. Saturday and 8 p.m. Monday at Town Square’s Baobab Stage (located next to the Town Square multiplex), 6611 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Tickets ($30 general admission, $40 premium seating) are available online at www.titleofshowlv.com.

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Theater

LITTLE THEATRE

GETS ‘CLOSER’

Playwright Patrick Marber’s “Closer” returns to local stages as the Las Vegas Little Theatre launches a three-weekend production.

Marber’s play (which inspired an Oscar-nominated 2004 movie adaptation featuring Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen and Jude Law) focuses on four intertwined lives. Over the course of more than four years, the characters (played by Stacia Zinkevich , Jamie Carvelli Pikrone , Brian Proffit and Timothy Burris ) experience love — and betrayal — in a play Time magazine described as “a bruising dissection of modern relationships, in which sex is the subject even when it’s not, honesty is frequently not the best policy, and people with choices almost always make the wrong one.”

“Closer” will be presented at 8 p.m. today and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the Fischer Black Box at Las Vegas Little Theatre, 3920 Schiff Drive; additional performances are 8 p.m. Feb. 28-March 2 and March 7-9 and 2 p.m. March 3 and 10. Tickets ($15 adults, $14 students and seniors) are available by phone at 362-7996 or online at www.lvlt.org.

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Music

PIPERS, NAVY BAND

PERFORM AT UNLV

Military musicians from both sides of the Atlantic converge on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas this weekend as the Pipes and Drums of Scotland and the United States Navy Concert Band play on-campus concerts.

First up: the Pipes and Drums of the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland — with a tradition stretching back almost three centuries — plus the Band of the Scots Guards.

They’ll perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at UNLV’s Artemus Ham Hall, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. For tickets ($30-55), call 895-2787 or go online to pac.unlv.edu.

And at 2 p.m. Sunday, the United States Navy Concert Band — the Navy’s premier wind ensemble — presents a free concert in Ham Hall.

The Navy band, which has been presenting concerts for more than 85 years, will perform marches, patriotic selections, orchestral transcriptions and modern wind ensemble repertoire.

Although admission to the concert is free, tickets are required and may be obtained at the UNLV Performing Arts Center box office on campus; call 895-2787 for more information.

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Music

CONCERT EXPLORES

HISTORY IN SONG

A free Saturday afternoon concert explores the roots of black music — from spirituals to gospel to jazz — at the West Las Vegas Library Theatre, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd.

“Why Do We Sing — The Evolution of African-American Music” is presented by community youth and the Jester Hairston Music Association, the Las Vegas branch of the National Association of Negro Musicians, which was founded in 1919.

The 3 p.m. Saturday concert is free, but tickets are required and may be picked up in advance at the West Las Vegas Arts Center, located next to the library at 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd. For more information and tickets, call 229-4800.

— By CAROL CLING