On the Scene Idaho Statesman arts calendar.
Idaho Statesman file
Looking for things to do this weekend? Here’s a few suggestions from the performing visual arts scene.
Highlight:
Opera Idaho opens “The Barber of Seville” for two performances at the Egyptian Theatre. Rossini’s frothy, funny, tuneful work is one of the best comic operas in the canon. Think of it as a rom-com before there really was such a thing. In it, Rossini adds another chapter to the adventures of the jack-of-all-trades Figaro, who Mozart celebrated in “The Marriage of Figaro” 30 years earlier. (Both operas are actually based on a trilogy by playwright Pierre Beaumarchais.)
Baritone Michael Adams performs the role of the savvy barber, who, although a servant, really runs the show. The young Count Almaviva (Patrick Starke) falls in love with beautiful Rosina (Camille Sherman), but he just can’t get her attention until Figaro steps in. This opera is filled with catchy melodies, wacky gags and fun ensemble performances.
Conducted by Carmine Aufiero and directed by Robert Neu, it’s sung in Italian with English supertitles.
7:30 p.m. Oct. 21, 2:30 p.m. Oct. 23, Egyptian Theatre, 700 W. Main St., Boise. Individual tickets: $30-$87 at OperaIdaho.org.
Elevator Pitch review:
Jodeen Revere in her one-woman-show “The Persistent Guest” plays through Oct. 29 at Boise Contemporary Theater, 854 Fulton St. Brooke Burton Provided by Boise Contemporary Theater
Don’t miss Jodeen Revere’s “The Persistent Guest” at Boise Contemporary Theater. This one-woman show is an emotional roller coaster that runs from laughter to tears. Revere, a well-known Boise actor — and now playwright — takes you through her three bouts with the Big C. It’s real. It’s raw and it’s heartfelt, and it’s an important conversation that, though deeply personal, pokes at universal themes and those big questions we tend to avoid: How do you find purpose in life? How do you love yourself? And what does it all mean when you realize there really is no plan?
The most captivating element of “Persistent Guest” is Revere herself. Energetic and wry, she takes you inside her journey from diagnosis to treatment to recovery in a compelling conversation with the audience that is part monologue, part steam-of-conscious reflection, and part heartfelt confession. In one sequence, she describes the experience of chemotherapy with expressive eloquence, against a backdrop of dark, swirling, lava lamp-like projections by Andy Lawless that actually are dizzying and queasy-making — hopefully the intended effect.
It all comes together under the careful guidance of BCT artistic director Benjamin Burdick, who shepherded this project from literary reading to stage. Spot-on sound by Peter Still and elegant lighting by Chaz Gentry finish off the production.
7 p.m. Wednesdays-Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, now through 29; 2 p.m. Saturdays Oct. 22 and 29, Boise Contemporary Theater, 854 Fulton St., 208-331-9224, BCTheater.org.
More theater
Boise Little Theater’s “Arsenic and Old Lace”: Joseph Kesselring’s “deadly” classic comedy about a nephew who doesn’t really know what his two eccentric aunts have been up to. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays now through Oct. 29. Boise Little Theater, 100 E. Fort St. 208-342-5104. BoiseLittleTheater.org.
Sun Valley Playwrights Residency: Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyana Majok will be in Idaho for a free public talk and staged reading of her play “Ironbound,” directed by Idaho native and MacArthur Fellow and playwright Samuel D. Hunter. Both events are free.
“A Conversation with Martyana Majok,” 6 p.m. Oct. 25, The Community Library, 415 Spruce Ave., Ketchum.
“Ironbound,” reading, 7 p.m. Oct. 28, The Argyros Performing Arts Center, 120 Main St., Ketchum.
Keep on your radar
Oct. 28-30: “Jesus Christ Superstar” hits the Morrison Center for a four-show run. Conceived and written by Tim Rice and Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber as a concept album in 1971, this musical became a classic film to beloved stage production. “J.C. Superstar” practically invented the rock opera genre. The musical tells the story of the final days of Jesus Christ through the eyes of his closest companion — and ultimate betrayer — Judas. This production originally was created for an open-air venue in London’s Regent’s Park and has been retooled for the proscenium stage. It features the hits “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and, of course, “Superstar.” 8 p.m. Oct. 28, 2 and 8 p.m. Oct. 29, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Oct. 30. at Ticketemaster.com.
Country music powerhouses Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss team up to open Caldwell Fine Arts at College of Idaho’s Jewett Auditorium. Provided by CFA
Oct. 29: Caldwell Fine Arts opens its season with Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss: Together at Last. Two country music powerhouses, who each have had their own successful careers, combine for one terrific show.
7 p.m. Oct. 29, Jewett Auditorium, $30, $35, $40 general, $20, $25, $30 children at 208-717-5368. Learn more about the season at CaldwellFineArts.org.
Visual arts
Montana-based artist Willem Volkersz’s wall-sized “Follow Your Bliss,” (1994/2015) neon, paint, wood, and found objects, 103 x 133 x 47½ inches is on display at the Boise Art Museum through Jan. 8, 2023. Collection of the artist Provided by the Boise Art Museum
Boise Art Museum: See work by Montana-based artist Willem Volkersz, a contemporary artist known for his neon and paint-by-number-style installations in “The View From Here: A 25 Year Retrospective” at the Boise Art Museum. Volkersz, who immigrated from Holland to the Northwest in 1953, pioneered the use of neon in art and developed an early love for photography, travel, U.S. roadside culture, Americana, Folk and Visionary Art.
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. 670 S. Julia Davis Drive. $6 general, $4 seniors and military, $3 grades 1-12 and full-time college. Free for ages 5 and younger and members. Donations on First Thursday. 208-345-8330, BoiseArtMuseum.org.
This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 11:31 AM.
