Briefs: Music, theater and more
Music
RINGWALD SINGS
AT CABARET JAZZ
Don’t you forget about her.
Of course, there’s no chance of that — not if you’ve ever seen Molly Ringwald in such ’80s coming-of-age comedies as “Sixteen Candles,” “Pretty in Pink” and “The Breakfast Club.”
These days, however, Ringwald has joined a different club: the jazz club.
That explains why she’s headlining The Smith Center’s Cabaret Jazz this weekend.
She’ll be singing tunes she grew up hearing.
As the daughter of a traditional jazz musician (pianist Bob Ringwald), “as I got older, I veered toward the Great American Songbook,” she explains during a telephone interview. “I’ve loved these songs all my life.”
Many of them wound up on Ringwald’s hit debut album, “Except Sometimes,” which features such standards as “I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)” and “The Very Thought of You.”
Such songs are “so well-written. They’re witty — to me they’re just poetry,” Ringwald says. “They’re just a joy to sing.”
But Ringwald’s not immune to more recent songs. Stephen Sondheim’s “Dick Tracy” Oscar winner “Sooner or Later,” for example, which was introduced on screen by none other than Madonna.
Or that old “Breakfast Club” favorite “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” which she and her band (led by pianist Peter Smith) transform into “a kind of jazz cover.”
That link with her teen movie past extends beyond the song, however — and may draw audiences who “maybe wouldn’t necessarily be into jazz. That’s a good thing.”
Ringwald performs at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 361 Symphony Park Ave. For tickets ($35 to $45), call 749-2000 or visit www.thesmithcenter.com.
Music
THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO
AT SYMPHONY PARK
They’re “Tuff Enuff” to take it outside, as the Fabulous Thunderbirds perform at The Smith Center-adjacent Symphony Park on Friday night.
Mixing rock, blues, Cajun and R&B, the Thunderbirds show off their diverse musical influences with such hits as “Wrap It Up” and tunes from their new album, “On the Verge,” which was released in March.
The concert begins at 8 p.m. Friday in Symphony Park, 361 Symphony Park Drive, but doors open at 6:30 p.m. Beverages and grilled food are available for purchase on a cash-only basis. (No outside food or drink will be allowed.)
Reserved table seating is available for $40; general-admission lawn seating is $20 per adult and $5 per child younger than 12. (Additional fees apply.) Beach towel-size blankets and low-profile lawn chairs are allowed. For tickets or additional information, call 749-2000 or visit www.thesmithcenter.com.
Dramatic reading
OSCAR WINNER’S ‘8’
MAKES NEVADA BOW
A staged reading of a new play by Oscar-winning “Milk” screenwriter Dustin Lance Black makes its Nevada debut Friday at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Ave.
The play, titled “8,” chronicles the federal trial for marriage equality and is based on transcripts of the case centering on California’s controversial Proposition 8, now under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Community members, students and local actors will interpret the voices of participants in the San Francisco trial; a discussion about marriage equality will follow the free reading.
For more information, call 507-3459 or visit www.lvccld.org.
Music
WIND QUINTETS
TEAM FOR CONCERT
Two local quintets — the Las Vegas Wind Quintet and the Sierra Winds — join more musical friends for a Saturday afternoon performance of works by Anton Dvorak , Richard Strauss and Leos Janacek .
Taras Krysa conducts the ensemble, which includes flutists Jennifer Grim and Bonnie Buhler-Tanouye , oboists Steve Caplan and Matt Guschl , clarinetists Jennie Isles and Dave Hawley, horn players Bill Bernatis , Doug Beasley, Tom Frauenshuh and Jon Holloway, bassoonists Janis McKay and Brian Marsh and contrabassoonist Sam Pisciotta .
The concert will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 McLeod Drive. For tickets ($10 in advance, $12 on concert day), call 455-7340.
Music
‘BROADWAY’ REVIVES
ELLINGTON TUNES
It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing — which definitely won’t be a problem when “Tonight From Broadway” hits the West Las Vegas Arts Center Community Gallery on Saturday afternoon.
The music-and-dance program revisits those thrilling days of yesteryear, when the legendary Duke Ellington and his orchestra held court at New York’s Cotton Club, making the night spot the toast of the town.
The free concert begins at 3 p.m. Saturday at the West Las Vegas Arts Center Community Gallery, 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd.; call 229-4800 to reserve a seat.
Theater
WINNING PLAY
WRAPS LVLT RUN
“The Other Felix,” winner of Las Vegas Little Theatre’s 2013 New Works competition, concludes a three-weekend run this weekend in LVLT’s Fisher Black Box theater.
Reina Hardy’s modern noir tale of illusion versus reality follows professional gambler Felix Bettleman (Mario Mendez) and detective Marlow Sharpe (Ashley Patrice Bufkin ) as they track the title character, who’s ruining Felix’s not-so-good name — and credit rating. T.J. Larsen directs the play, which was chosen from more than 200 submissions.
Final performances of “The Other Felix” (which contains adult language and situations) will be staged at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Las Vegas Little Theatre, 3920 Schiff Drive. For tickets ($15 for adults, $14 for students and seniors), call 362-7996 or visit www.lvlt.org.
Music
CANTORS PERFORM
JAZZ, JEWISH TUNES
Cantors singing Jewish songs is hardly unusual. But Cantors Mariana Gindlin of Temple Sinai, Jack Mendelson of Temple Israel Center and Rob Menes of Temple Beth Sholom add Latin jazz to the repertoire Saturday.
Adult and youth choirs from Temple Sinai will join the synagogue’s spring concert, at 7 p.m. Saturday at 9001 Hillpointe Road. For tickets ($15 to $35), call 254-5110; more information is available online at www.templesinai.org.
Music
GUITAR ENSEMBLE
VISITS LIBRARY
It’s around the world on six strings Tuesday when the Vanguard University Guitar Ensemble visits the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road.
The Orange County, Calif.-based “orchestra of guitars” will present a varied program of duo, quartet, and ensemble compositions by Annette Kruisbrink of the Netherlands, Andrew York of the U.S., Switzerland’s Jurg Kindle and Brazil’s Celso Machado.
The free concert begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday; for more information, call 507-3459 or visit www.lvccld.org.
— By CAROL CLING
