Briefs: Theater, art, photography and more

Art

TRIFECTA GALLERY

CLOSING — BUT OPEN

Trifecta Gallery may be closing, but that doesn’t mean it’s closed.

The downtown gallery, which opened in 1999, announced last week that it would shut its doors in January.

Until then, however, the gallery will continue with scheduled exhibits — including artist Su Limbert’s current “Forevermore,” on display through Aug. 29 in the main gallery. (John Stoelting’s “Going Places” is featured in the Attachment Room.)

Announcing the closure is “a two-edged thing,” acknowledges Trifecta owner Marty Walsh, who’s planning to return to Ireland with husband Peter after the gallery closes. “I am kind of scared we will be forgotten.”

But “the gallery is scheduled so aggressively,” she adds, there’s “no time to think” about closing while Trifecta’s still open in the Arts Factory at 107 E. Charleston Blvd., No. 135. Gallery hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends; for more information, call 702-366-7001.

Local history

PROGRAMS EXPLORE

VINTAGE LAS VEGAS

Las Vegas history buffs get a double dose of local lore with two free programs featuring area academics.

First up, the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, continues its “Vintage Vegas” series at 2 p.m. Sunday with “Welcome to the Neighborhood.” David G. Schwartz, director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research, will discuss how supermarkets, convenience stores and other unconventional venues got into gaming. For more information, call 702-507-3458.

And at 11 a.m. Wednesday, historian Michael Green — College of Southern Nevada professor and Mob Museum consultant — explores “How the Jewish Mob Built the Strip” at Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive. Call 702-455-7340 for more information.

Theater

CHICAGO ‘MAMMOTHS’

INVADE LAS VEGAS

Chicago’s Theater Wit comes to Las Vegas as the troupe restages “Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England” at downtown’s Art Square Theatre.

Madeleine George’s academic sex comedy — described by Chicago Sun-Times critic Hedy Weiss as “the smartest, funniest, most poignant play to arrive on a Chicago stage in a very long time” — focuses on a dean (played by Penelope Walker) at a small private college, where the proposed transformation of an old natural history museum into a new dorm meets local resistance. And the return of her ex (Laura T. Fisher) complicates her relationship with her new (and much younger) girlfriend (Kristen McGee), who loves “alternative kinship structures” — that is, until she finds herself living in one.

Local presenters Todd VonBastiaans and Bryan McCarthy saw the play in Chicago earlier this year “and by intermission were thinking about how to bring it to Vegas,” VonBastiaans says. “Not for the Strip, not to try to get it to the Strip, but because it was simply a wonderful evening of theater that felt fresh and fun and made for a great evening of live entertainment.”

Performances continue at 2 p.m. Friday (to be followed by a post-show discussion with playwright George and director Jeremy Wechsler), 2 p.m. Saturday (George will answer questions following this matinee) and at 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday and at 2 and 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Art Square Theatre, 1025 S. First St.

Tickets ($25) are available online at www.cockroachtheatre.com or toddandbryan.com; call 702-858-3817 for more information.

Theater

NO LIMITS STAGES

‘BUILDING BLOCKS’

Overcoming obstacles inspires not only “Building Blocks” but the performers presenting it: members of No Limits, children with hearing loss who learn to speak, build confidence and develop language skills as they work together to put on a show.

In “Building Blocks,” a boy becomes disheartened when he fails to make the basketball team, but learns he can overcome not only that obstacle but others he’ll face in life.

The show will be presented at 6 p.m. Sunday in the Phillip J. Cohen Theatre, inside UNLV’s Student Union at 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. For more information or tickets ($10 in advance, $15 at the door), call 310-280-0878 or visit building-blocks.eventbrite.com.

Photography

MITCHUM EXPOSES

‘RANGE OF LIGHT’

Landscape photographer Jeff Mitchum honors his mentor, the legendary Ansel Adams, with “Range of Light,” a color image of Yosemite recalling Adams’ “Monolith,” which was shot in black-and-white.

“Many years have passed since I started visualizing my own interpretation of his wonderful image ‘Monolith,’ ” Mitchum says, “so I am thrilled that my season to stand on the famous Diving Board at Yosemite and present ‘Range of Light’ has finally arrived.”

The image will be on display at Mitchum’s galleries at the MGM Grand, 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. South, and Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Bellagio gallery hours are from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily; call 702-693-4700. Mitchum’s MGM Grand gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; more information is available by calling 702-304-0007.

— By CAROL CLING