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SCPA offers freebie

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, in association with The Dramatists Guild of America’s Friday Night Footlights series, will present “An Evening of New Works” on Friday at Theater 4301 in Scottsdale.

The program will feature nine short plays, each no more than 10 to 15 minutes in length, by playwrights from Arizona, California and New Mexico, including six from the Phoenix area.

Some plays will be performed as staged readings, while others will be more rehearsed presentations with minimal production elements and actors off‑book.

The purpose of the evening is to help the playwrights develop these new works, and the audience will be given the opportunity to provide feedback through talk‑back sessions and comment cards.

Some performances include adult language and situations.

The Dramatists Guild of America was established more than 80 years ago and is the only professional association that advances the interests of playwrights, composers and lyricists writing for the living stage. The guild has more than 6,000 members nationwide, from emerging writers to the most prominent authors represented on Broadway, Off‑Broadway and in regional theaters.

There is no charge to attend the performance, but tickets are required due to limited seating. Patrons should call the SCPA box office at (480) 994‑2787 to reserve free tickets. Theater 4301 is located in the Galleria Corporate Centre at 4301 N. Scottsdale Rd. in Scottsdale.

Cool jazz at DBG

The Desert Botanical Garden continues its Jazz in the Garden 2007 Concert Series featuring Nazim Rashid with New Renaissance at 7:30 p.m., Friday, at 1201 N. Galvin Parkway in Phoenix.

The event offers a variety of jazz styles under starry skies on the Garden’s Ullman Terrace. Fabulous Food Catering provides gourmet picnic dinners for an additional charge and there is a cash bar along with wine tastings and sales available.

Tickets are $14 for members and $20 for non‑members. All attendees must be 21 or older to enter. For information, call (480) 941‑1225.

Darknight moves to Scottsdale

Darknight Productions is premiering its popular comedy “Murder at Savings and Loan Ballpark (SLoB)” at a new venue in Scottsdale.

The first performance will be at 7 p.m. on June 14 at Patsy Grimaldi’s Italian Buffet at 4000 N. Scottsdale Road in Old Town Scottsdale, says Diedre Kay, Darknight director.

“It’s a beautiful venue for us,” she says. “We’ve still got to work out a few details to see if we are going to have a permanent home.”

The Alexx Stewart written production is a satire about a hapless baseball team, the Arizona Piggybacks, based on a popular area major league team and its cast of leading characters.

Cost for the evening is $40 per person for a four‑course Italian dinner and the show, including tax and gratuities. Appetizers and a cash bar are also available. Reservations are required due to limited seating.

Call (480) 595‑7346 for more information.

Courtesy photo

“Sister” (Patti Hannon) will take a break from teaching “Late Night Catechism” in Scottsdale during the summer. Hannon will be back in the fall to keep the sinners in line.
(Click picture for full size image)

‘Late Night Catechism’ wrapping for summer

Tickets are now on sale for the final performances of the season of “Late Night Catechism” and “Late Night Catechism II: Sometimes We Feel Guilty Because We Are Guilty.” The shows will temporarily close for the summer while “Sister” (a.k.a. actress Patti Hannon) undergoes knee‑replacement surgery.

Both performances will take place in the Stage 2 Theater through June 23 and will resume in the fall.

Tickets are $36 from the SCPA box office at (480) 994‑2787 or online at scottsdaleperformingarts.org. SCPA is located at 7380 E. 2nd St. in Scottsdale.

Courtesy photos

Big Nick & the Gila Monsters, (top left) Mike Lewis, guitar; Big Nick Riviera, harmonica, vocals; James Mason, bass; and Ricky Lockhart, drums will rock Wickenburg on Friday.
(Click picture for full size image)

Big Nick in Wickenburg

The Desert Caballeros Western Museum will light up the night beginning at 7 p.m., Friday, with a new series called “Museum After Dark.”

To start the series, the museum plans to bring back the popular Phoenix rock and blues band Big Nick & the Gila Monsters for an evening it’s calling “Summer Monster Madness.”

During part of the evening the museum will offer “Death by Chocolate Two,” dessert tables loaded up with every possible kind of chocolate including a new chocolate fountain.

“Our ‘Museum after Dark’ series is new for us, but this will be our third evening of rock and blues with Big Nick and his lounge lizards,” says Royce Kardinal, the museum’s executive director. “They are extremely popular, so come do some dancin’ and celebrate summer–and chocolate.”

Also open to those who attend this first‑ever event will be the museum’s new summer exhibition, “Cool‑lection of Big Guns and Little Saddles.” It feature the museum’s permanent collection as well as an exhibit of miniature saddles created by Wickenburg’s Carson Thomas.

Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door and include a free drink ticket and all the chocolate you can eat. Admission is free for museum members and volunteers, and reservations are requested.

‘Space is the Place’ at SMoCA

SMoCA Nights is a tri‑annual nightlife event where the museum is transformed into a huge art party, complete with artists, fashion, disc jockeys, bands and performers, for an eclectic cultural evening.

The event will take place from 9 p.m.– midnight June 21 and launches the premiere of Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art’s new exhibition “Space is the Place” and will be complimented by a range of futuristic creations.

To accompany the time‑travel theme, the evening’s fashion show will feature a fusion of vintage and futurism.

Among the highlights will be a variety of live music, art and performances including ambience by the electronica twosome Alcoholiday, Seattle’s DJJD and Deeja Dance.

Guests will also witness on‑the‑spot urban art from the Alphamonster art collective, who will be painting outer space themes.

Guests can mingle in SMoCAs galleries to view four new summer exhibitions: “Space Is The Place,” Modern(ist) Love: the Dorothy Lincoln‑Smith and Harvey K. Smith Collection, Contemporary Scandinavian Art, and the southwestNET: drawing outside the lines exhibition. The innovative group show features regional artists.

SMoCA Nights features free appetizers, a cash bar, prizes and other rotating offerings.

Advance tickets are highly recommended to avoid long lines and a sold‑out event. Cost is $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers. To purchase tickets or for information, call (480) 994‑2787. SMoCA is located at 7374 E. 2nd St. in Scottsdale.

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