In Brief: Theater and music
Music
CABARET JAZZ WELCOMES
TIERNEY SUTTON BAND
Betty Buckley sang the Tierney Sutton Band's praises when she played The Smith Center's Cabaret Jazz earlier this month.
This weekend, Cabaret Jazz audiences can hear for themselves as the acclaimed ensemble checks in for a two-night stay.
Buckley's such a fan of the Tierney Sutton Band that she tapped resident pianist Christian Jacob as her new arranger and accompanist; drummer Ray Brinker and bassists Kevin Axt and Trey Henry round out the group.
During their 18-year collaboration, the band has racked up multiple Grammy nominations for its jazz CDs - including their most recent recording, "American Road" - and earned praise for their wide-ranging repertoire and adventurous musical approaches.
The Tierney Sutton Band strikes up at 7 and 9:30 p.m. today and Saturday in Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 361 Symphony Park Ave. Tickets ($39-$49) are available by phone at 749-2000 or online at www.thesmithcenter.com.
Theater
'STUDENTS' REPORT
FOR COMIC 'CATECHISM'
The show's production company is called Nuns for Fun, providing a preview of coming comedic attractions as "Late Nite Catechism" reports to The Smith Center's Troesh Studio Theater tonight for a five-performance run.
The long-running interactive comedy - part catechism class, part stand-up routine - features an irrepressible nun who takes "students," alias audience members, on a remember-when blast to the Roman Catholic past, from Latin Mass to meatless Fridays.
In the show, by Vicki Quade and Maripat Donovan, good students may receive such nifty prizes as glow-in-the-dark rosaries. Naughty ones, meanwhile, may find themselves banished to a corner to ponder their misdeeds - or rapped on the knuckles with a sister's handy-dandy ruler.
"Late Nite Catechism" will be staged at 7 tonight, 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 3 and 6 p.m. Sunday in the Troesh Studio Theater at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 361 Symphony Park Ave. For tickets ($29-$39), call 749-2000 or visit www.thesmithcenter.com.
Music
PIANIST, VENTRILOQUIST
TEAM UP FOR CONCERT
Las Vegas-based pianist Danny Wright rings in the holidays with a little help from his friends - including Mirage headliner Terry Fator - during Sunday's "Home for the Holidays" concert at The Smith Center's Reynolds Hall.
Wright, who's been celebrating his 25th year as a recording artist all year, boasts a repertoire that includes traditional Christmas favorites, classical works and show tunes. He'll play them all Sunday on a 9-foot Steinway grand piano.
Fator, meanwhile, will show off the ventriloquism expertise that's taken him from the winner's circle on "America's Got Talent" to his own Strip showroom.
They'll perform at 2 p.m. Sunday at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 361 Symphony Park Ave. Tickets ($18-$79) are available by calling 749-2000 or visiting www.thesmithcenter.com.
Theater
'GUARDIAN ANGELS'
MARKS WORLD AIDS DAY
Local playwright Edward D. Padilla's "Fallen Guardian Angels" has been a World AIDS Day fixture every Dec. 1 since its 1985 debut.
The play, which is performed annually, returns to Las Vegas with a benefit staging Saturday.
A play-within-a-play set in 1985 (around the beginning of the AIDS crisis), "Fallen Guardian Angels" features a few actors goofing around, preparing for a show. That is, until their choreographer reveals he has AIDS, sparking sympathy and understanding from cast members who comment on how the disease has touched their lives.
"Fallen Guardian Angels," voted "Official Script of World AIDS Day" in 2010 by the World Health Organization, was produced more than 2,000 times last year and has helped to raise millions of dollars for various organizations.
This year's benefit production will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Center for Spiritual Living, 1420 E. Harmon Ave. Tickets are $15; for more information, visit www.facebook.com/fallenguardianangels.
Music
ARTS SOCIETY SHOWCASES
SOUNDS OF THE SEASON
It's "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - according to the Performing Arts Society of Nevada, which presents a holiday concert of the same name Sunday afternoon at Winchester Center.
From such familiar favorites as "White Christmas" and "Silver Bells" to undersung seasonal gems ("Baby It's Cold Outside") and sprightly comic songs ("I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas"), the program spotlights a variety of musical styles.
The program also features a variety of musical performers, led by pianist and singer Wes Winters, Las Vegas Academy students Tommy Ward and Christine Sidell , "Jubilee!" regulars James Allen and Laurie Caceres and Vegas-based vocalists Nellie Norris and Gabriella Versace.
The musical celebration begins at 2 p.m. Sunday at Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 McLeod Drive. For tickets ($15 in advance, $18 at the door), call 658-6741 or email PASNV@aol.com.
- By CAROL CLING
