The ‘Land of Make Believe’ cast of fairy tale characters holds for the applause on April 5 at the end of their final performance. The children’s musical presented by Performing Arts of Churchill County performed four shows last week at the Churchill County High School auditorium.
Sara Dowling | NNG
CALEB CAGE’S STORIES OF IRAQ, NEVADA
Caleb Cage’s Selections from Desert Mementos: Stories of Iraq and Nevada will be presented Saturday from 5-7 p.m. at the Churchill Arts Council, 151 Park St. The event includes a reading and reception.
Cage is an Army veteran and a native of Reno. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, he served as a field artillery officer from 2002-7 and deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2006. He also served as the director of the Nevada Department of Veterans Services in 2010 and then as director of Military and Veterans Policy during former Gov. Brian Sandoval’s first term.
Desert Mementos: Stories of Iraq and Nevada is a collection of loosely connected short stories set during the early stages of the Iraq War (2004 and 2005). The stories rotate from battles with insurgents and the drudgery of the war machine in Iraq to Nevada, where characters are either preparing for war, escaping it during their leave, or returning home having seen what they’ve seen.
Cage captures similarities in the respective desert landscapes of both Iraq and Nevada, but it is not just a study in contrasting landscapes. The stories explore similarities and differences in human needs from the perspectives of vastly different cultures.
Specifically, the stories deftly capture the overlap in the respective desert landscapes of each region, the contrasting cultures and worldviews, and the common need for hope. Taken together, the stories represent the arc of a year-long deployment by young soldiers.
Cage’s stories are bound together by the soldier’s searing experiences in the desert, bookended by leaving and returning home to Nevada, which in many ways can be just as disorienting as patrolling the Iraq desert.
The Art Bar opens at p.m., and the literary reading begins at 5:30 p.m. with the reception to follow. The presentation is free. For information, call 775-423-1440 or go to info@churchillarts.org.
SPRING FILM SERIES
The Churchill Arts Council Spring Film Series continues Friday night with another Wes Anderson movie,
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) begins with the year 1965, and the residents of New Penzance, an island off the coast of New England, inhabit a community that seems untouched by some of the bad things going on in the rest of the world. Twelve-year-olds Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) have fallen in love and decide to run away. A violent storm is approaching the island, however, forcing a group of quirky adults (Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray) to mobilize a search party and find the youths before calamity strikes.
Moonrise Kingdom plays April 18. World-changing events spectacularly disrupt the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention in an American desert town circa 1955.
Each movie begins at 7 p.m. The box office, Art Bar and galleries open at 6 p.m.
Tickets are free for members and season ticket holders. For members, tickets are $5 each. Tickets are available at the box office on the night of screening or call the Churchill Arts Council at 775-423-1440.
The Barkley Theatre and Oats Park Art Center are located at 151 Park St. For Information, call 775-423-1440 or go to info@churchillarts.org.
PORTLAND CELLO PROJECT
The Portland Cello Project has quickly evolved into a nationally-recognized performing, recording and educational group touring everywhere in North American.
The musicians have performed in every type of venue imaginable, from punk rock clubs to symphony halls, to street parties, to TED Talks and exclusive private events.
The Portland Cello Project will perform in Fallon on April 19 at 7 p.m. The box officer, Arts Bar and galleries open at 6 p.m. Tickets are members $17 and nonmembers $20. Youth and students with valid student identification are $10. Tickets are available by calling 775-423-1440.
Under the artistic direction of Douglas Jenkins, the Portland Cello Project grew and evolved a repertoire of over 1,700 pieces of music, working with an all-star group of cellists in the Pacific Northwest.
LORD NELSON MASS
The Reno Phil Orchestra and Chorus perform Haydn’s awe-inspiring Lord Nelson Mass as the dramatic conclusion to the 56th Classix season on Saturday and Sunday.
Immerse yourself in the grandeur and magnificence of this stirring choral piece that showcases a powerful blend of orchestra and voice.
The “Mass for Troubled Times” captures both the solemnity and triumph of the human spirit through its majestic melodies and profound religious expression. Known for its dramatic intensity, rich orchestration and intricate vocal writing and blacklisted by the Nazi regime a month after its premiere, hear Hindemith’s robust symphony from his opera Mathis der Maler.
The program opens with the West Coast premiere of a new work commissioned by the Taki-Alsop Conducting Fellowship, written by Ukrainian composer Iryna Aleksiychuk. For tickets, go to renophil.com/lord-nelson-mass
Shows times are 7 p.m. on Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sunday.