Arts briefs: Theater and music

Theater

KNIGHT, CAMPBELL LEAD
'COLOR PURPLE' CAST

Play it again, Celie.

If you missed "The Color Purple" when it played The Smith Center in April, now's your chance to catch the musical version of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, adapted by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman.

Las Vegas-based A Source of Joy Theatricals continues a free presentation of the show today through Sunday at the West Las Vegas Library, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd.

Grammy winner Bubba Knight (of Gladys Knight and the Pips fame) and gospel singer Lecresia Campbell lead the cast.

Set in rural Georgia, "The Color Purple" follows Celie (played by Tianna "Falcon" Lewis) from 1909 to 1949 as she journeys from abuse and abandonment to self-acceptance and forgiveness. Rounding out the featured cast for director Torrey Russell: Anika Ellis as nightclub singer Shug Avery.

Free performances continue at 7 p.m. today and 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; tickets will be issued at the theater box office two hours before each performance. (Because of the show's mature subject matter, children younger than 13 will not be permitted in the theater.)

More information about the show is available online at www.thecolorpurple lasvegas.com.

Music/theater

STRIP PERFORMERS TEAM
FOR 'GOD LIVES IN GLASS'

Performers and musicians from "Jersey Boys," "Tony n' Tina's Wedding," "O," "Menopause the Musical" and "Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular" lend their talents to "God Lives in Glass," which returns this weekend to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

With a 50-voice choir, a 14-piece orchestra and a 12-member dance ensemble, "God Lives in Glass" features music composed by "Jersey Boys" conductor Keith Thompson and explores views of God expressed by children around the world. It also was presented at UNLV last year.

This weekend's performances - at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in UNLV's Judy Bayley Theatre - will benefit Family Promise of Las Vegas, which helps local homeless families, and UNLV's Nevada Conservatory Theatre.

For tickets ($25, with student and senior discounts available), call 895-2787.

Theater

'GLASS MENDACITY' SPOOFS CLASSICS

From "The Glass Menagerie" to "A Streetcar Named Desire," Tennessee Williams has created some of the American theater's most memorable dramas.

But that doesn't mean there's nothing to laugh about - especially when they're filtered through "The Glass Mendacity."

The tongue-in-cheek comedy opens a three-weekend run tonight in the Las Vegas Little Theatre's Fischer Blackbox.

Written by Maureen Morley and Tom Willmorth , "The Glass Mendacity" mixes elements of "Streetcar," "The Glass Menagerie" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" as various characters - including "Streetcar's" Stanley Kowalski (Dustin Sisney ), "Menagerie's" Laura (Bonnie Bell) and "Cat's" title character Maggie (Penni Paskett ) - gather to celebrate the birthday of "Cat's" Big Daddy (David Sankuer ) and maneuver to become his heir.

LVLT President Walter Niejadlik directs "The Glass Mendacity," which plays at 8 p.m. today and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday; additional performances are 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 9.

Tickets ($10-$15) are available by calling 362-7996 or online at www.lvlt.org.

Music

SPECTRUM AND RADIANCE
REVIVE MOTOWN SOUNDS

They called it "The Sound of Young America." And, direct from Hitsville, U.S.A., the singers on the Motown label - from the Supremes to the Temptations - lit up jukeboxes and turntables around the world.

Saturday at The Smith Center's Cabaret Jazz, the groups Spectrum and Radiance recall Motown's glory days with an avalanche of sweet soul music.

Radiance will perform hits by the Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Martha and the Vandellas, the Marvelettes and more, while Spectrum delivers tunes by the Temptations, Four Tops, Stevie Wonder and the Spinners, among others. Together, the two groups perform favorites by the likes of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and the Fifth Dimension.

You can catch their act(s) at 7 p.m. Saturday in Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 361 Symphony Park Ave. Tickets, priced at $33-$36, are available by telephone (749-2000) or online (www. thesmithcenter.com).

Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.