Z贸calo Tucson arts and culture / ZOCALOMAGAZINE.COM / may 2013
index May 2013
06. Events 10. Arts 25. Community 30. Film 34. Food&Drink 40. Life in Tucson 42. Tunes
on the cover
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Zócalo Magazine is a hyper-local independent media organization, focusing on Tucson’s arts and culture.
PUBLISHER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR David Olsen COPY EDITOR Amanda Frame-Wawro CONTRIBUTORS Marisa Bernal, Andrew Brown, Jon D’Auria, Emily Gindlesparger, Jamie Manser, Phoenix Michael, misterpaulfisher, Miguel Ortega, CJ Shane, Monica Surfaro Spigelman, Herb Stratford, Teya Vitu. LISTINGS Marisa Bernal, listings@zocalotucson.com PRODUCTION ARTISTS Troy Martin, David Olsen
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may
Z events FRI 3- SUN 5 39TH ANNUAL RODDERS DAY
Tucson Street Rod Association showcases more than 250 hot rod cars, including gleaming examples of Detroit’s finest old cars with new engines. Casino del Sol, 5655 West Valencia Rd. 991-3600, TucsonStreetRodAssociation.com
SAT 4 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF CATALINA STATE PARK A daylong celebration .9am-4pm. Catalina State Park, 11570 N. Oracle Rd. 628-5798, AZStateParks.com
SAT 4- SUN 5
ONGOING TUCSON PADRES BASEBALL
The minor league team’s home games take place at 7:05pm; Sun 12, 6:05pm: See website for details. $7 general; $5 military, seniors, children ages 3-12. Kino Veteran’s Stadium, 2500 E. Ajo Way, TucsonPadres.com
TUCSON FOOD TOURS
Tucson’s only walking food tour. Combination of foods and a little history of downtown Tucson. Takes you through the historic downtown and 4th Avenue districts of Tucson. See website for dates. 477-7986, FoodToursTucson.com
TUCSON FOLK FESTIVAL 20 hours of free,
Mondays
live acoustic music featuring David Bromberg Quintet, Stefan George with Lavinia White & Friends. Sat, May 4, noon-10pm; Sun, May 5, 11am-9pm. Free. El Presidio Park, 160 W. Alameda St. TKMA.org
MEET ME AT MAYNARDS (@Hotel Congress)
SUN 5 33rd ANNUAL CINCO DE MAYO 10K DR. GANN’S DIET OF HOPE Run/Walk and 2 mile fun run/walk. 7am. Registration fees. Cholla High School, 2001 W. Starr Pass Blvd. AZRoadrunners.org/races
SAT 11 2nd SATURDAYS DOWNTOWN Street performers, food & art vendors, more. Line up includes Aztral Folk, Belly Dance Tucson, Kevin Pakulis & Coyote Supper Club, and Atom Heart Mother. Free. 6:30pm-10:30pm. 2ndSaturdaysDowntown.com
THE 11TH ANNUAL MUSIC AND MEMORIES CONCERT Featuring performances by Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Arizona Repertory Singers. Grace St. Pauls Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams Street.722-4581, CancerHealth.org
SUN 12 MOTHER’S DAY BRUNCH A special brunch at the Zoo with mom. 9:30am-11am. $30. Reid Park Zoo, 1100 S. Randolph Way. 881-4753 x 19, TucsonZoo.org
MOTHER’S DAY BRUNCH AT MAYNARDS Spring brunch. $45. 9am-3pm. Maynards Market, 400 N. Toole Ave. 545-0577, MaynardsMarket.com/Kitchen
Sat 25 END OF THE YEAR BEER TASTING Sample beers from two local breweries, live glassblowing, and live music. $20. 4pm-8pm. Sonoran Glass Art Academy, 633 W. 18th St. 884-7814, SonoranGlass.org
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Southern Arizona Roadrunners’ Monday evening, noncompetitive, social 3-mile run/walk, that begins and ends downtown at Hotel Congress, rain/shine/holidays included! 311 E. Congress St. 991-0733, MeetMeAtMaynards.com
tues 7 - tues 28 The El Con Club
New Tuesday Jazz Series, Randolph Golf Course complex, 600 S. Alvernon, May 7 - Hip originals and classic Jazz Standards by the Larry Redhouse Trio, with Larry Redhouse, piano, Elliot Kuykendal, bass, Lenny Redhouse, drums May 14 - Gypsy Jazz by the Hot Club of Tucson with Matt Mitchell on guitar, Nick Coventry, violin, and Evan Dain, bass. May 21 - Original Salsa and Charanga Jazz with Amilcar Guevara on piano, Mike Levy, bass, Onofre “Naffy” Escobar, percussion, Aaron Szabo on drums May 28 - Originals and newly arranged standards by the Collin Shook Trio, featuring Collin Shook, piano, Mike Moynihan sax, Dylan DeRobertus bass and Tim Rachbach drums Details at ElConClub.com
events Z FRI 3 5TH ANNUAL AGAVE FEST Features tastings of over 40 agave-derived spirits including tequilas and mezcals; sotols and more, plus samples of signature agave
photo Andrew Brown
cocktails from Tucson’s best bartenders, award-winning, authentic street tacos, mariachis and live music from Latin Funk Project. 7pm. Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress. HotelCongress.com
may sat 11 national train day Southern Arizona Transportation Museum. Model trains, steam engine #1673 on display, and more. 10:00am to 4:00pm, Historic Tucson Train Depot, 414 N Toole Ave. FREE. TucsonHistoricDepot.org
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may
sat 11
Aztral Folk
2nd Saturdays Celebrates 3 Years Since May 2010, 2nd Saturdays Downtown has consistently entertained event attendees with quality Tucson bands, street performers, acoustic acts and more. Local arts non-profits like Odaiko Sonora and Tucson Circus Arts have lent their talents over the years; Cinema La Placita has provided the free, outdoor film screenings since the event’s inception. While hiccups in Tucson’s normally temperate weather have affected the crowds, the populace always came back to the event upon clear climes. Summertime typically sees throngs of people coming out to take in what downtown has to offer. It has been about a year that Congress Street was off limits to vehicular traffic for the modern streetcar construction. Now that those days are (mostly) behind us, the travel paths are open to the masses to enjoy the local restaurants, bars, coffee shops, retail outlets and Downtown’s unique, historic performance venues. For its 3rd Anniversary, the free event is featuring wide-ranging genres on the Scott Avenue stage. Opening at 6:30 p.m. is ethno-psychedelic fusion band Aztral Folk; following is Kevin Pakulis and The Coyote Supper Club (8 p.m.-9:15 p.m.). In-between acts, is the alluring Belly Dance Tucson with Atom Heart Mother, a Pink Floyd tribute band, gracing the stage from 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The event is introducing a new venue, T.O.P., located on the roof of the Pennington Street Garage at 110 E. Pennington St. with classic rock band Five Way Street performing up there between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Borderlands Brewery will be selling beer on the roof. Get more information at 2ndSaturdays.com and follow the event at Facebook.com/2ndSaturdaysDowntown. 8 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | May 2013
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Laurel Hansen
Alec Laughlin
Citizens Warehouse Captured in Print photos by Alec Laughlin
Christopher Stevens 10 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | May 2013
by Teya Vitu
D
owntown historic warehouses teem with artists, though you likely wouldn’t guess it driving by the mostly century-old warehouses on Toole Avenue or the nearby Citizens Warehouse. Dozens and dozens of artists are hunkered away inside. Not much is happening streetside. And thus the entire artisan subculture goes largely unnoticed, other than during the pair of Open Studios Tours each year. But the artists are there year-round, pretty much anonymously. Alec Laughlin counts among that number. He’s had a studio at the Citizens Warehouse since only January 2011. Before then, the acrylic and charcoal painter was truly anonymous, working out of his home. In just a bit over two years encamped in the Historic Arts District, Laughlin has taken on the duties of president of the Warehouse Arts Management Organization (WAMO) and published “Citizens Warehouse,” a 140-page tome densely packed with select works by 24 artists that call the Citizens Warehouse their artistic home. “The book is my big neon sign and marquee for the building,” Laughlin said. “I just want to shine a spotlight on the Citizens Warehouse and the artists that work inside. I just realized so much was going on in there with so much creative energy, but nobody knew it. When you drive by, this building is just a huge hulk that looks empty. I just realized the artists needed exposure.” You can meet all the artists on May 9 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the book launch party at the Citizens Warehouse, 44 W. 6th St. Laughlin stresses there are “huge parking lots north and east” of the warehouse. Online promotional material, and Laughlin in conversation, make it a point to stress that the book launch party involves “beer and wine.” “It’s mostly come and meet the artists. It’s a party in my studio. If you ask, artists might show you their studios,” Laughlin said. Laughlin scheduled the party for a Thursday evening. “I didn’t want to compete with other events or people going out to dinner.” People who pre-ordered “Citizens Warehouse” can pick up the book at Book cover art by Titus Castanza, unfinished detail, oil on canvas. the party. The $40 book will also be for sale there. Otherwise, the book may be purchased online at citizensart.com, the website for the Citizens Artist Collective, which the warehouse artists established in 2010 to “manage the affairs and concerns of the artists in their relation to Citizens Warehouse management.” The Collective and Lauglin’s work on the book has altered the dynamic within the Citizens Warehouse. “The artists are interacting with each other more,” Laughlin observed. “That’s a big difference. It’s so nice to have this artistic camaraderie.” The book devotes four pages to each artist with five, six or seven artistic images and bio material. Julie Sasse, chief curator at the Tucson Museum of Art, wrote the forward. As much as the book is about the artists, the book does not ignore the building’s history. The Citizens Warehouse has stood at 6th Street and Stone Avenue since 1929, first as a one-story structure, and then a second story was added in 1951. Architect Roy Place designed the warehouse with cast-in-place
arts Z reinforced concrete that can support a five-story structure, something that has not yet happened. With taller buildings now rising around Downtown, who knows whether Place’s over-engineering will produce more levels. If the name Roy Place sounds familiar, he also was the architect of the iconic Pima County Courthouse and the historic Montgomery Ward building that now houses the University of Arizona Downtown. These buildings and the warehouse all became downtown fixtures in the same year: 1929. The warehouse was built for the Citizens Transfer & Storage Co., which was established in 1907 to deliver goods and merchandise from the railroad to merchants and individual. For the first two decades, Citizens operated on Congress Street before building the warehouse. The Arizona Department of Transportation bought the Citizens Warehouse in 1984 along with 36 more warehouses and other properties with the intention to demolish them all to build a bypass road to link the Barraza-Aviation Parkway to Interstate 10. Most of the warehouses where spared as the City of Tucson took on the bypass and realigned the route to preserve warehouses that had spawned an arts district in the 1980s. Artists have leased space inside the state-owned Citizens since 1994, sparked by arts space manager David Aguirre fielding requests for studio space and him observing a vacant Citizens Warehouse. The Warehouse Arts Management Organization is the warehouse’s master lease holder. “The building is safe. What’s tenuous about it is, when the state plans to unload it, it would go up for auction,” Laughlin said. Artists have one primary objective: “Whatever needs to be done to preserve the building as artists’ studios and affordable space.” Lease or own is a question floating around. Like with a home, leasing and owning each have their own advantages and drawbacks. Laughlin envisions the Collective, BICAS (a Citizens Warehouse tenant) and WAMO could own Citizens collectively. Or the City or some other entity could own it and the artist con“Tucson Citizens Artists,” tinue leasing. “We do talk about it, the challenge you’d face,” Laughlin said. “We’d like to see ownership by an arts organization.” The first run of “Citizens Warehouse” produced 500 copies with another 200 or 300 available. All the proceeds from the book will go to the Citizens Artist Collective for repairs and maintenance to the building and public programs. “We need a new roof. It leaks really badly,” Laughlin said. “We want to try to engage with the community more with classes and field trips. We want to set up some scholarships.” The Collective recently became a nonprofit and Laughlin established Eponymous Atelier as the publishing entity for the book and possible future books. The book was made possible in part through an initiative of the Tucson Pima Arts Council, in partnership with the Warehouse Arts Management Organization, and sponsored by a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant. May 2013 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 11
Z arts
Presagio Maya-Mayan Omen by Cristina Cardenas will be featured at Contreras Gallery from Sat, May 4- Sat, May 25. Art by Cristina Cardenas.
art Galleries/exhibits ARTSEYE GALLERY
5th Annual Curious Camera Competition 2013.. 3550 E. Grant Rd. 327-7291. ArtsEye.com
ATLAS Fine arts
Required Reading an invitational exhibition presenting works that are inspired by a specific text, or a writer’s approach to the written word. Featuring works by David Adix, Chris Cunningham, Catherine Eyde, Valerie Galloway, Nick Gergiou, Mel Hombre, Jerry Jacobson, Rachael Rios, Chris Rush, Dave Sayre, James Schaub. through June 8. Wed-Thurs 11am-6:00pm, Fri-Sat, 11am-7pm. 41 S. 6th Ave. 622-2139
DECO “R is for Retro” continues through May with a reception on Sat, May 11 from 6pm-9pm. Tue-Wed, Sat, 11am-4pm; Thu-Fri, 11am-5pm. 2612 E. Broadway Blvd. 319-0888, DecoArtTucson.com
DEGRAZIA GALLERY IN THE SUN Way of the Cross continues through Wed, May 15. Daily, 10am-4pm. 6300 N. Swan Rd. 299-9191, DeGrazia.org
DINNERWARE ARTSPACE
119 E. Toole Ave. DinnerwareArts.com,
Facebook.com/dinnerware
BLUE RAVEN GALLERY Thu, noon-4pm; Fri, noon-5pm; Sat, 11am-5pm.
THE DRAWING STUDIO Impressions: Work from The Drawing Studio Print
3042 N. 1st Ave. 623-1003, BlueRavenGalleryandGifts.com
Lab opens Sat, May 4. Tue-Sat, noon-4pm. 33 S. 6th Ave. 620-0947, TheDrawingStudio.org
BOREALIS ARTS
Tue-Sat, 10am-5pm & by appointment. 150 S. Camino Seco # 108. 885-2157, www. BorealisArts.com
ETHERTON GALLERY
CENTER FOR CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY Lola Alvarez Bravo and the
Natural Selections by Jim Wald, Jane Abrams and Robert Cocke continues through June. Tue-Sat, 11am-5pm. 135 S. 6th Ave. 6247370, EthertonGallery.com
Photography of an Era continues through June. Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm; Sun, noon-5pm. 1030 N. Olive Rd. 621-7968, CreativePhotography.org
FLUXX STUDIO AND GALLERY Fluxx Studio and Gallery, 414 E. 9th St.
CONRAD WILDE GALLERY
Fluxxproductions.com Tue-Sat, 11am-5pm. 439 N. 6th Ave. #171.
622-8997, ConradWildeGallery.com
CONTRERAS GALLERY Presagio Maya—Mayan Omen by Cristina Cardenas shows Sat, May 4- Sat, May 25. Opening reception Sat, May 4 from 6pm-9pm. TuesFri 11am-5pm, Sat 11am-4pm. 110 E. 6th St. 398-6557, ContrerasHouseFineArt. com
DAVIS DOMINGUEZ GALLERY Paintings by Katherine Josten continues through Sat, May 4. Small Things Considered- 21st Small Works Invitational opens Thu, May 9. Tue-Fri, 11am-5pm; Sat, 11am-4pm. 154 E. 6th St. 629-9759, DavisDominguez.com
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GEORGE STRASBURGER STUDIO AND GALLERY Thu-Sat, 11am4pm and by appointment. 172 E. Toole St. 882-2160, GeorgeStrasburger.com
JOSEPH GROSS GALLERY Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition continues through Tue, May 14. Grandscapes by Claire Harlan opens Tue, May 21. Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm; Sat-Sun, 10am-4pm. 1031 N. Olive Rd. 626-4215, CFA.arizona.edu/galleries
LIONEL ROMBACH GALLERY
Heat Wave: Desert Photography Exhibition and Symposium continues through Wed, May 8. Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm; Sat-Sun, 10am-4pm. 1031 N. Olive Rd. 624-4215, CFA.arizona.edu/galleries
arts Z
LOUIS CARLOS BERNAL GALLERY Annual Student Juried Art Exhibit continues through Fri, May 3. Wed 10:30am-5pm; Tue, Thu 10am-5pm; Fri 10am3pm. 2202 W. Anklam Rd. 206-6942, Pima.Edu/cfa
MADARAS GALLERY
A Critical Thinker by Paula Wittner at Davis Dominguez
Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm; Sun, 11am-5pm. 3001 E. Skyline Dr, #101. 623-4000, Madaras.com
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART Wed-Sun, noon-5pm. $8, adults; free, children under 12, members, military; free to all second Wednesday of the month. 265 S. Church Ave. 624-5019, MOCA-Tucson.org
MONTEREY COURT CAFE GALLERY Monterey Court Cafe Gallery, 505 W. Miracle Mile. montereycourtaz.com
OBSIDIAN GALLERY It’s All In Your Head continues through Sun, May 12. Obsidian Gallery, 410 N. Toole Ave., #120. 577-3598, Obsidian-Gallery.com
PHILABAUM GLASS GALLERY & STUDIO Tue-Sat, 10am-5pm. 711 S. 6th Ave. 884-7404, PhilabaumGlass.com
Pioneer Building Exhibit
Simon Donovan and David Longwell: Action/Reaction at Temple Gallery
Textural Connections: An Exploration of Texture and Form through May, Pioneer Building Lobby and Suite 109, located at 100 N. Stone Ave., M-F from 9.30 AM to 4.30 PM. 520-624-0595
PORTER HALL GALLERY Vision/ Revision continues through Fri, May 31. $8, Adults; $4, Children 4-12; Free, Children 3 and younger. 2150 N. Alvernon Way. 326-9686, TucsonBotanical.org
RAICES TALLER 222 ART GALLERY Fri-Sat, 1pm-5pm & by appointHolly Swangstu, RecognizingNature, 36x36 at Pioneer Building Exhibit.
ment. 218 E. 6th St. 881-5335, RaicesTaller222.webs.com
SACRED MACHINE
Beyond the Sacred Music & Arts Festival continues through Sun, May 12. Wed-Fri, 5pm-8pm; Sat, 4pm-9pm. 245 E. Congress St. 7777403, SacredMachine.com
THE SOUTHERN ARIZONA WATERCOLOR GUILD
River Center Plaza, 5605 E. River Rd., #131. 299-7294, SouthernAZWaterColorGuild.com
STONE DRAGON STUDIO
Wed-Sat, 11am-4pm & by appointment, 4055800. 1122 N. Stone Ave. 624-7099, HolyJoeStudio.com
TEMPLE GALLERY Action/ Reaction by Simon Donovan and David Longwell continues through Tue, June 4. Mon–Fri, 10am-5pm. 330 S. Scott Ave. 624-7370, EthertonGallery.com
TUCSON MUSEUM OF ART Wed, Fri, Sat: 10am-5pm; Thu: 10am-8pm; Sun, noon-5pm. $10, adults; $8, seniors; $5, students 13+; free, children under 12. Free to all the first Sunday of the month. 140 N. Main Ave. 624-2333, TucsonMuseumofArt.org
Art by Jane Abrams shows through June as part of the exhibit “Natural Selections” at Etherton Gallery by Jim Wald, Jane Abrams and Robert Cocke.
UA ART MUSEUM 2013 MFA Exhibition continues through Tue, May 14. TueFri, 9am-5pm; Sat-Sun, noon-4pm. $5 adults; children/students/faculty, free. 1031 N. Olive Rd. ArtMuseum.arizona.edu
UA POETRY CENTER From What I Gather... works by Karen McAllister Shimoda continues through Wed, May 15. Mon/Thurs, 9am-8pm; Tues/Wed, 9am-6pm; Fri, 9am-5pm. 1508 E. Helen St. 626-3765, Poetry.Arizona.Edu
WEE GALLERY Pork Chop Press by Joe Marshall shows through May. Thu-Sat,
“Yellow Bowl” by Jaime Ellsworth shows at Wilde Meyer Gallery through Sat, June 1 as part of the exhibit “The Style of Style.”
11am-6pm. Wee Gallery, 439 N. 6th Ave Suite #171. 360-6024, GalleryWee.com
WILDE MEYER GALLERY Chroma continues through Wed, May 1. Works at Play continues through Wed, May 1. Burros and Bovine opens Thu, May 2. Collector’s Choice opens Thu, May 2. The Style of Style opens Thu, May 2. Mon-Fri, 10am-5:30pm. Wilde Meyer Gallery, 3001 E. Skyline Dr. WildeMeyer.com
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by Herb Stratford
Museums & Exhibits ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM Sea of Cortez continues through June. Regularly: Desert flora and fauna, animal presentations, Raptor Free Flights, more. $14.50, adults; $5, children 6-12. Daily, 7:30am-5pm. 2021 N. Kinney Rd. 883-1380, DesertMuseum.org
JEWISH HISTORY MUSEUM Jewish Arizona 1950 continues through June. Wed-Sun, 1pm-5pm. Fri, 12pm3pm. $5 non-members. Free for members. 564 S. Stone Ave. 670-9073, JewishHistoryMuseum.org
MINI-TIME MACHINE MUSEUM Spring 2013 Kitbashing Contest: Corner Cabinet continues through Sun, May 26. 1st Tue-Sat, 9am-4pm. Sun, 12pm-4pm. $9, adults; $8, seniors/military; $6, 4-17. 4455 E. Camp Lowell. 881-0606, TheMiniTimeMachine.org
SOUTHERN ARIZONA TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM National Train Day takes place on Sat, May 11 from 10am-4pm. Free. Tue-Thu & Sun, 11am3pm; Fri-Sat, 10am-4pm. 414 N. Toole Ave. 623-2223, TucsonHistoricDepot.org
TOHONO CHUL PARK Artworks in Artist Robert D. Cocke at Etherton Gallery’s “Natural Seductions” show, through June 8.
Nature In Art The final show in Etherton Gallery’s 2012-2013 season presents three artistic takes on nature in a show entitled “Natural Seductions.” The show features the work of well-known artists Jim Waid, Robert D. Cocke and Jane Abrams, all of whom bring a unique perspective and interpretation of the natural environment to their work. The show is on display at Etherton Gallery, 135 South Sixth Avenue, through June 8. For a peek at the work, visit EthertonGallery.com.
Glass continues through June in the Entry Gallery. Daily events: Reptile Ramble, EcoStation Walks, more. See the website for other events. Daily, 8am-5pm. $8, 13+; $7, 62+ & military; $4 students and children. 7366 N. Paseo del Norte. 742-6455, TohonoChulPark.org
TUCSON BOTANICAL GARDENS Desert Dreams, celebrating five
Broadway In Tucson’s final show of their 2012-2013 season is the “Million Dollar Quartet,” which will be on stage at the Tucson Music Hall from May 7-12. The Tony award-winning musical is inspired by the true story of when Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins came together for a recording session in December of 1956. Filled with classic rock and roll songs, this musical will satisfy anyone who is a fan of these legendary performers. Visit BroadwayInTucson.com for more information and tickets.
seasons in the Sonoran Desert, shows at the Fox Theatre on Sun, May 19. 3pm. $8. Regular entry fees: $13, adults; $12 Student/ Military; $7.50, children 4-12. Children 3 and under and Members are always free! Daily, 8:30am-4:30pm (except holidays). 2150 N. Alvernon Way. 326-9686, TucsonBotanical.org
Music + Dance Event
UA POETRY CENTER From What I
Million Dollar Voices
A unique project that pairs the Artifact Dance Project and the musical group Reverie, will take place on Saturday, May 11, at the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre. The performance celebrates the release of the album “Souls of Castelmuzio.” A group of 10 dancers will perform in various configurations a new work which is inspired by the musical pieces of the album. Reverie is composed of musicians Lane Harmon, Roger King and Tom Dukesand this project also features guest musicians Ralph Gilmore, Gary Mackender, and Richie Cavanaugh. For more information and tickets visit ArtifactDanceProject.com. 14 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | May 2013
Gather... Works by Karen McAlister Shimoda continues through Wed, May 15. Social Justice Poets continues through June. Poetry Center, 1508 E. Helen St. 626-3765, PoetryCenter.Arizona.Edu
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"Dance Fusion II" takes place Fri, May 10- Sat, May 11 at at Pima Community College. Photo by Ed Flores.
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Joseph McGrath plays Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and Elijah Renteria plays Edward, the Prince of Wales, in The Rogue Theatre’s production of Richard III.
Photo courtesy of AtlantaJewishTimes.com
Photo by Tim Fuller.
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Million Dollar Quartet shows Tue, May 7- Sun, May 12 as part of Broadway In Tucson.
Performances
takes place Fri, May 17 and Sat, May 18. Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. 6241515, FoxTucsonTheatre.org
ARIZONA ONSTAGE PRODUCTIONS All In The Timing shows Tue, May
THE GASLIGHT THEATRE Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N’ Roll takes place Mon, Apr
2- Sun, May 19. Cabaret Space, Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. 2703332, ArizonaOnStage.org
ARIZONA THEATRE COMPANY
Café Bohemia, a play reading series, performs Intermezzo on Tue, May 7. Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. 884-8210, ArizonaTheatre.org
ART.if.ACT Souls of Castelmuzio, a one-night only concert, takes place Sat, May 11 at 7:30pm. Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, University of Arizona, 1737 E. Univeristy Blvd. ArtIfActDanceProject.com
BALLET TUCSON BT2 (Tucson’s Premier Youth Ballet) featuring Hansel and Gretel and Les Sylphides takes place Sat, May 18, 7:30pm, and Sun, May 19, 2pm. Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, University of Arizona, 1737 E. Univeristy Blvd. 9031445, BalletTucson.org
BLACK CHERRY BURLESQUE/ RAW
Tantalizing burlesque performance on Fri, May 3 and Fri, May 17 at 8pm and 10pm. Surly Wench Pub, 424 N. 4th Ave. 882-0009, TucsonBurlesque.com
BROADWAY IN TUCSON Million Dollar Quartet shows Tue, May 7- Sun, May 12. TCC’s Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. 903-2929, BroadwayInTucson.com
CARNIVAL OF ILLUSION Season ending shows on Fri, May 3 and Sat, May
8. Arizona Smith and the Relic of Doom continues through Sun, June 2. Gaslight Theatre, 7010 E. Broadway Blvd. 886-9428, TheGaslightTheatre.com
INVISIBLE THEATRE Olive and the Bitter Herbs continues through Sat, May 4. Invisible Theatre, 400 N. 1st Ave. 882-9721, InvisibleTheatre.com LIVE THEATRE WORKSHOP Two Into One premieres Thu, May 2. All Together Theatre presents Miss Nelson is Missing! starting Sun, May 26. Live Theatre Workshop, 5317 E. Speedway Blvd. 327-4242, LiveTheatreWorkshop.org
NOT BURNT OUT JUST UNSCREWED
The improv comedy troupe performs Fri, May 3; Fri, May 10; Fri, May 17, and Fri, May 24. See website for times and locations. 861-2986, UnscrewedComedy.com
ODYSSEY STORYTELLING SERIES Mommie Dearest, The Love of Family shows Thu, May 2 at 7pm. $7. Fluxx Studios and Gallery, 416 E. 9th St. 7304112, OdysseyStoryTelling.com
PCC ARTS Dance Fusion II takes place Fri, May 10 and Sat, May 11. Pima Community College Wind Ensemble take place Thu, May 2. Being Alive shows as part of the musical theatre workshop on Wed, May 1. Pima Community College Chorale & Chorale Singers Spring Concert on Sun, May 5. Mother’s Day Concert on Sun, May 12. Proscenium Theatre, 2202 W. Anklam Rd. Pima.edu/cfa
4. See website for times and locations. Double Tree Tucson Hotel, 445 S. Alvernon Way. 615-5299, CarnivalOfIllusion.com
THE ROGUE THEATRE
FLUXX PRODUCTIONS A Short Story About A Big Healing, a performance
TUCSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
by Joanna Frueh, takes place Thu, May 23 at 7pm. $5 suggested donation. Fluxx Studio and Gallery, 414 E. 9th Street. 882-0242, TucsonDragKings.com
FOX THEATRE Zoso: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience shows Fri, May 3. The Worlds Greatest Pink Floyd Show: Brit Pink Floyd takes place Tue, May 7. The Manhattan Transfer perform Wed, May 8. Tucson Young Professionals Presents The Four Elements Fashion Show on Fri, May 10. The List: A Musical by R. Clark Jewett
Richard III continues through Sun, May 12. The Rogue Theatre, 738 N. 5th Ave. 551-2053, TheRogueTheatre.org TSO String Quartet performs Fri, May 3. TSO Chamber Orchestra performs Sat, May 4. TCC’s Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. 882-8585, TucsonSymphony.org
WINDING ROAD THEATRE ENSEMBLE Row
After Row continues through Sun, May 5. Beowulf Alley Theater Company, 11 S. 6th Ave. 749-3800, WindingRoadTheater.org
May 2013 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 17
Z arts
Cool and Communal Artistic Haunts Courtyards inspire collaboration inside the lines of special spaces. by Monica Surfaro Spigelman
Many Hands Courtyard
One thing is abundantly clear in the weeks ahead – the sun will shock Tucson into a baked city, reprising a predictable May urge to scatter for cool cover. Lucky for us, history’s unbroken practice of gathering in shaded courtyards still thrives in Tucson. What sets courtyards apart, let’s say, from malls or parks, is the way they enclose you, encouraging you to think carefully about connections to the larger environment of time and place. Roofless and eclectic, courtyards are all around us for both artistic and social ends, extending our living space as semi-private “zócalos.” These odd desert zones also make you feel like you are further away from civilization than you actually are.
So It Begins By their architectural framework, courtyards offer ventilated environments for commerce, art or well-being. By their history, courtyards have intensified mood and community conversation for more than a century. One of Tucson’s first was La Plaza de la Mesilla, erected by Mexican residents along the old El Camino Real at the site of the original San Agustín cathedral (nearby what is now the Broadway/Congress intersection). La Placita Village, opened in 1974, symbolically represents Tucson’s 18 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | May 2013
first communal gathering point, and the Placita courtyard today remains another gathering point for Tucsonans, via a Thursday evening outdoor film series during summers. Where there is community conversation there are artists, and in Tucson’s first and most colorful arts enclave, Ash Alley, there were many studios with back courtyards that set the scene for shows and artist gathering. The Contreras family silversmithing business, one of the original Ash Alley studios, identifies the Ash Alley heyday from the 1950s through the 1970s, when parties were hosted with live entertainment on these patios to entice prospective customers. A 1965 Arizona Daily Star article quotes one circa 1950s Ash Alley artist, Jack Petty, as saying, “We used to show paintings at those parties. We’d bring up Mexican gin from Nogales to try to lower visitors’ sales resistance.” Although Ash Alley is now dominated by parking lots, other courtyards have assumed roles as a center of community life. How could that not be so for a city that itself was one massive walled courtyard in the form of a Spanish Presidio? Courtyards remain a Tucson environment where unintentional encounters happen in intentional places. Why not sit for a spell in one of Zócalo’s choices? continued on next page
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FIELD TRIP: Nine Courtyards for Collaboration and Community.... 1) Metal Meet-Up:
Metal Arts Village
3230 North Dodge Blvd. / www.metalartsvillage.com In 2004, attorney-blacksmith Steve Kimble created this destination for all things metal in the Fort Lowell furniture district. Welders now work alongside glass blowers, woodworkers and metal artists in this specialized community, which includes an outdoor sculpture garden as well as a coffee shop, popular with dog lovers who frequent nearby dog parks. The Vibe: Kimble’s inspiration for the Village comes from the architecture of old rust belt manufacture and assembly plants. Each of the 11 studios has its own character and is built out of steel. The Coffee Loft, directly off the complex courtyard, serves as a gathering place for the artists who socialize there as well as meet with customers. Intriguing Times to Visit: Once a week sculptors and designers from across Tucson meet to discuss techniques or opportunities, and formal artist collaborations take place the first Monday of the month at 10am. The coffee shop is open Monday through Saturday, 7am-2pm. Next open studio under the full moon: Saturday, May 25, 6-9pm. Placita de La Luna
Metal Arts Village
2) Plein Air Plaza:
3) Crafts Collaboration:
Placita de La Luna
Many Hands Courtyard
In a 1934 adobe with arches and thick walls hand-formed by Pascua Yaqui artisans, an eclectic mix of oil painters, potters and tattoo artists thrive. There also are service and retail businesses to anchor the complex owned by Greg and Susan Alexander of Maggie Maye’s Tucson Tattoo Studio, which has operated in the complex since 1998. The Vibe: Native desert landscaping and passive solar elements complement artists, students, customers and visitors who use the courtyard for work and socializing. Often one of the painters will bring a class out to the patio to paint en plein air. Light comes through glass blocks softly while ocotillo metal gates and a gardening project embellish the courtyard surrounded by the original farmhouses. Intriguing Times to Visit: Check the website for classes offered by the studios. Individual visits to art studios or Susan’s Studio B tattoo salon also may be scheduled by appointment. Some painters have evening classes, and with Maggie Maye’s enclave of tattoo artists open Tuesday through Saturday until 10pm, there is regular access to the courtyard.
This home to traditional crafters and shopkeepers began life in the 1950s as the Sunshine Motel. Woodworker Cynthia Haas and partner Joseph Bruno purchased the complex in 1999, refurbishing the rundown adobes into the Many Hands Artist Cooperative, an art school, a furniture repair shop, as well as well as several retail businesses. The Vibe: Artists in the cooperative gather informally on Thursday mornings, to critique works and to plan activities. Classes for children and adults are often conducted in the landscaped courtyard, which is dotted with tables, chairs and vending machines. Visitors may browse the shops, watch a weaver spin, and also purchase a blended natural, fair trade tea and snacks from Tea and More. Intriguing Times to Visit: You will find shops and studios open Tuesdays through Saturdays. Third Saturday evening open studios and events are planned through July. Check the website for details about a June photo contest. Many Hands also offers a meeting space for community nonprofits.
3054 1st Ave. / www.manyhandscourtyard.com
2409 North Castro, off Grant. / www.placitadelaluna.com
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Z arts 4) Scribes & Poets:
5) Adobe Artisans:
Casa Libre en la Solana
Old Town Artisans
Tucked on the south end of Fourth Avenue, nearby the bars and the foam house, is a history-rich complex that’s also home to a creative and diverse literary salon where people meet for conversation, poetry readings, workshops, art-making and performance. Writer and Casa Libre founder Kristen Nelson purchased the property in 2003, renovating the 1898 property into library and meeting rooms up front, with writer/artist residencies in the back. What was once a dormitory for railroad workers and then a home for retired sex workers, is now the setting for hundreds of literary endeavors hosted each year by the non-profit. The Vibe: There’s a side breezeway and courtyard where youth and adult writers, interested onlookers and visual artists exchange creative energy and participate in diverse programming. Intriguing Times to Visit: Tucson’s first Trans and Genderqueer Poetry Symposium will be held May 9-12, bringing together contemporary poets from across the country. Edge, a reading series of emerging and younger writers, will host its 54th reading on May 15. Also check the website for workshops, including a June journaling and sketching class for writers of all skill levels.
This mid-1800s adobe complex has been a distillery, private residence, gasoline station and grocery through many iterations, and was owned by parking lot king Don Jones before being purchased by the Cele Peterson family. You can still see original saguaro cactus rib ceilings and odd signage in the complex’s nooks and crannies. The Vibe: Without question, the courtyard with its mature plantings draws you in, encircling you with history, culture and shopping. Because the La Cocina Restaurant, Cantina and Coffee Bar routinely hosts performances, visitors may visit the courtyard to relax, enjoy food and spirits, shop and have a total experience. Jewelry artist Eddie Gallego is the courtyard’s veteran artist, part of Old Town Artisans since 1991 He regularly hosts traditional Aztec performances and displays ofrendas honoring Día De Los Muertos observances. Intriguing Times to Visit: With the grill open till the wee hours and the performance venue hopping almost every night, Old Town Artisans can be your shopping, cultural and cuisine experience whenever you fancy one. The La Cocina stage also is Tucson Folk Festival venue on May 4-5. Tolteca Tlacuilo hosts fourth Saturday traditional art demonstrations; check the website for May or June programs.
201 North Court Ave. / www.oldtownartisans.com
228 North 4th Ave. / www.casalibre.org
Ben’s Bells Courtyard
Old Town Artisans
6) Kindness Collective:
Ben’s Bells Courtyard 40 West Broadway / www.bensbells.org
Kindness has swept through downtown’s Charles Brown House and activated the courtyard of this historic complex. Once the site of Territorial Arizona’s Congress Hall and saloon, it’s now the downtown headquarters of the Ben’s Bells organization. A photography studio, shops, and nonprofit offices also hum around the courtyard. A nano-brewery-specialty coffee bar should open in June. The Vibe: Ben’s Bells founder Jeannette Mare knows that courtyards are collaborative spaces for the curious and the creative. Interest grew for the original Ben’s Bells, she says, in part because of the outdoor visibility of its Geronimo Plaza, Main Gate location. The downtown courtyard is a welcoming space with outdoor kitchen, colorful tiles and historic plantings. Benches are shaded under historic arcades. Intriguing Times to Visit: Kindness seekers of the community may stop in to create a mosaic bell during open studios, held Tuesday through Saturday, 10am-5pm. Check the Ben’s Bells website for a fall party and the opening of a Kindness Shop in line with street car construction completion. 20 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | May 2013
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May 2013 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 21
Z arts 7) Cottage Community:
Main Street Arts: Kaitlin’s Cottage & Dry River Collective
740 North Main Avenue / www.kaitlinmeadows.com or thundermoonstudios. wordpress.com Around 1916, Wong Yu built his Sunnyside Grocery at the corner of North Main and University. Over the years this landmark has incubated many artist groups, through conservation efforts first by what was the John Spring Neighborhood preservationist team, and later by historian/developer Steve Leal, who purchased the structures for artist working spaces in 1986. The Vibe: This unique complex of adobes and tin roof buildings still contain historic touches from when railroad workers and Wong Yu’s mercantile operation were first housed there. The courtyard, with huge, 100-year-plus trees, also contains a garden cultivated by one anchor artisan, Kaitlin’s Creative Cottage and Thunder Moon Collective. Other tenants include
Read Between the Bars collective, a sound editor, bronze artist, weaver, as well as southwest impressionist artist Jack Bybee. Signs for the Dry River radical resource collective still front the adobe, although “Tucson’s only anarchist-run establishment” is officially closed. Intriguing Times to Visit: Kaitlin Meadows regularly hosts art classes and creative playdays for women as well as a number of all-inclusive community events. Check her website for news about Saturday open studios (also held by artist Bybee) and community programs to coincide with the full moon and El Día de San Juan day in June.
Monterey Court
9) Roundup Retro:
Monterey Court Studios & Cafe 505 West Miracle Mile / www.montereycourtaz.com
Mercado San Agustin
8) Mission & Market:
Mercado San Agustín
100 South Avenida del Convento / www. mercadosanagustin.com Melding agriculture history and the hip urban fabric of open air markets, the Mercado opened to the public in May 2011. With architecture inspired by best practices of Spanish colonial design and modern green building ethics, the Mercado highlights heritage in its diverse assortment of small businesses and restaurants. The Mercado’s central courtyard is regularly activated by events and its weekly farmer’s market. The Vibe: Wander around the arcade of small kiosks featuring traditional and locally-grown arts and eats. The Mercado offerings range from handcrafted moccasins to sno-cones and silver. Hang out, shop or enjoy an open air market that showcases a Mission heritage and locavore items processed in a shared commercial kitchen. Intriguing Times to Visit: The award-winning Santa Cruz River Farmers Market is held every Thursday, 4-7pm. A Gay Pride fundraiser will be held June 22. Get set for the traditional July 4 “A” Mountain fireworks blowout, and a food truck event for Hot August Nights. Check website for details. 22 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | May 2013
This 1938 motor court was the pride of Miracle Mile in its heyday, and after 18 months of renovation, partners Kelly McLear and Greg Haver opened the complex with 12 rental spaces for studios and shops, a café and parklike courtyard including performance stage. The Vibe: So many original features including beams and signage have been preserved, so a walk around the spaces is a retro visual experience. Courtyards are magnets for people to generate ideas and collectively produce art, says McLear, who recalls musicians jamming and talking by the fireplace in the south courtyard this past winter. Garden art, metal sculptures and native plantings offer creative interest and green overhead shade for guests, who are found sitting solo reading books or sharing conversation with artists. Intriguing Times to Visit: The Miracle Mile Neon Tour and Open House will be held May 10, with the free event starting and ending at the Monterey Court. Check the website for both a May 5 first anniversary celebration and a June 21 summer solstice party. During summers, Tucson’s desert courtyards have a cadence all their own, seducing us with unique conversation or diversions. “Creative energy feeds from one to the next,” says Monica Prillaman, whose Obsidian Gallery in The Historic Depot is the scene of evening exhibits that often open up onto another of Tucson’s more unique courtyards. Here, there’s nothing like an art show evolving into a night stroll set against a backdrop of freight trains and stars. Courtyards catering to every stripe are found all over this town. Go see how these mini-meccas will ignite your spirit, expand your expertise or find you in a new conversation.
May 2013 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 23
Z community
A Bright Future for Soccer by Teya Vitu
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A
community Z
s professional baseball sunsets in Tucson, FC Tucson is FC Tucson is pioneering spring training for Major League Soccer. Noreached amazing heights even before a soccer-dedicated stadium is built. where else has a local soccer team assembled spring training packages FC Tucson starts its second season May 18 as a Premier Development for nine MLS teams that includes accommodations, meals, transportation, League team, essentially AA soccer minor league. Beyond its own games, training fields, weight training facilities and opponents. MLS spring training FC Tucson has made it a point to pair each of its games this season with has typically involved a team going somewhere and picking up a game. games involving champion teams from a half dozen local soccer leagues. The MLS team Sporting Kansas City was training in Phoenix and was The Chapman Tucson Champions League was just announced April 23. looking for competition. FC Tucson co-owner Rick Schantz’s friend Pe“We want to show what we’re building here is for the community, not ter Draksin, soccer coach at Grand Canyon University, suggested Schantz just for a set of professionals,” team co-owner Jonathan Pearlman said. give Sporting Kansas City a call. The 2010s are the decade for soccer at all levels in Tucson. Before Just before the Kansas City connection, City Councilman Paul Cun2010, exactly zero Major League Soccer teams had played in Tucson. Now ningham called Foster and Schantz, both deeply involved in the Fort Lowell 10 teams – half the league – have taken to the pitch in Tucson, as have two Soccer Club, to plant a seed to make more of soccer in Tucson. That paved national teams from Denmark and Canada, the first time Tucson hosted the way for them to be able to offer Hi Corbett Field to Sporting Kansas City, an international friendly soccer which rounded up the New York match. Red Bulls for an exhibition game In the past year, the long main 2010. “That was the birth of ligned Kino Sports Complex startFC Tucson,” Schantz said. ed transforming into Arizona’s Foster and Schantz expectpremiere soccer facility. What ed maybe 3,500 people for the used to be Arizona Diamondbacks game, which attracted more than practice fields north of Ajo Way 10,000 and forced them to shut were converted into soccer fields the gate with a long line of people in 2012. Right now, the field closnot able to get in. “It sent a mesest to the YMCA is FC Tucson’s sage to us and MLS that spring home field, known as the Kino training could be a spectator Sports Complex North Grandevent,” Foster said. stand (Field No. 5). Next year, FC FC Tucson has four owners, Tucson will play in what for now is who refer to themselves as manbeing called the Kino Sports Comaging members: Foster, an atplex North Stadium. torney, as the legal officer; Chris The $2.8 million stadium is Keeney, the chief business officer a collaboration between FC Tucbuilding ticket sales and sponson and Pima County to build a sorships; Pearlman, the general 1,800-seat stadium with a half manager; and Schantz serving roof where Field No. 1 is now. as the team’s head coach. They Additional bleachers behind the spent 2010 marketing Tucson as goals bring seating to 2,480, and a spring training venue to MLS the 850-seat bleachers can be and the league’s teams, several brought over from Field No. 5 of whom were sold on Kino even FC Tucson managing members Jonathan Pearlman, Rick Schantz, to take capacity to 3,330. “The when they saw only baseball Greg Foster, and Chris Keeney. stadium is expandable to 5,000 practice fields. seats. That has meaning at the The first Desert Diamond Cup next level,” said FC Tucson co-owner Greg Foster, referring to the United in March 2011 featured four MLS teams and the proceeds financed the Soccer League Pro level, the AAA minor league. He said, ultimately, a first season for FC Tucson, which joined the Premier Development League 15,000-20,000 soccer stadium is not impossible for the Kino Sports Comthe following year and was honored with Rookie Franchise of the Year acplex, and neither is FC Tucson graduating to the USL Pro level. colades. The ground breaking ceremony for the stadium was April 25 and Pima The four-team Desert Diamond Cup this year was preceded by FC TucCounty expects to have the stadium done by November. Some 150 soccer son Soccer Fest, which brought another six MLS teams to town. Half of the enthusiasts showed up, including FC Tucson’s boisterous supporter group, Major League Soccer teams played at Kino Sports Complex in one-month the Cactus Pricks, who got repeated prompts from Pima County Supervispan in January and February. The Desert Diamond Cup final was telecast sors Ramon Valadez and Richard Elias to give a soccer cheer. by NBC Sports. As recently as 2010, soccer in Tucson equaled the Fort Lowell Shootout Team owners see only a bright future for soccer in Tucson. Right now, and community soccer leagues. Today, FC Tucson has deep relationships FC Tucson is year-to-year with MLS spring training. “We would like to be with MLS and half of its teams. Without much publicity in 2012, FC Tucson in a multi-year deal with MLS to host pre-season games,” Foster said. “We had the 12th highest attendance in its rookie season among 73 PDL teams think, given the support for soccer in our region, Tucson might be an ex– and the only reason the club didn’t rank higher was the Kino Sports Comcellent candidate market for a USL Pro franchise. We’re reviewing that.” plex North Grandstand capacity topped out at less than 1,000. continued on next page May 2013 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 25
Z community
FC Tucson Stadium FC Tucson Season
Pima County came up to bat quickly and decisively for FC Tucson. First, the county permanently converted one baseball field into a soccer field and temporarily converted four others for soccer in fall 2011. Those conversions became permanent after four MLS teams did their spring training here in 2012. When talk came to a stadium dedicated to soccer last year, the Pima County Board of Supervisors moved swiftly to approve the $2.8 million project for a 1,800-seat stadium. “Pima County is willing to compete with anybody to bring sports amenities to our community,” Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias said. “We understood the need to act quickly.” FC Tucson drove home their mission to serve the community and that landed Elias and Pima County Supervisor Ramon Valadez hook, line and sinker. “They learned the meaning of the word ‘partnership,’ not just with Pima County but with the community,” Valadez said. Elias added: “They always talked to us about including youth soccer in the deal. That’s it.” AAA baseball tanked spectacularly at Kino for 15 years, the Tucson community never accepting a stadium far on the South Side. Why should that be any different for soccer? “We think Kino is very well located for soccer,” FC Tucson co-owner Greg Foster said. “It’s right off a freeway with very good access to the Northwest Side and Southeast and Green Valley and Sahuarita. What we’re seeing is soccer is being played all over the city. Kino really is surrounded by the soccer community.” More than 5,000 adults play organized soccer in Tucson. Let alone thousands of children. “Soccer has a much more interactive base than baseball,” co-owner and team coach Rick Schantz said. Plus a crowd of 2,000 is fantastic for an FC Tucson match, while 2,000 at a Tucson Padres games is a pretty empty house. The stadium should be done in November and FC Tucson expects to play its 2014 season there. Soccer is all about crowd noise. “With the half roof, you have captured sound,” Schantz said. “One thousand people will sound like five thousand. When a youth sees a stadium, that creates excitement.”
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So, what sort of soccer do you get at a FC Tucson match? Pretty damn good, the team owners insist. FC Tucson, after all, tied Sporting Kansas City this January at FC Tucson’s Tucson SoccerFest. FC Tucson is a semi-pro team composed of college players and former professionals who have regained their amateur status. None of the players is paid at this point, but team co-owner and general manager Jonathan Pearlman insists MLS caliber soccer takes place at Kino. “If you look at the top 11 players of an MLS team and you look at the next 11, the quality of our players would be comfortable on any MLS team,” said Pearlman, who recruits the team’s players. The FC Tucson season is equally about Tucson community soccer league. A community soccer match will precede each FC Tucson home game. These will involve the newly established Chapman Tucson Champions League (CTCL), a series of matches that involve the major adult leagues in Tucson and Southern Arizona: Arizona Soccer League, Guanajuato AZ Soccer League, Menlo Soccer League, Tucson Metro Soccer League, Tucson Women's Soccer League and the Tucson Adult Soccer League. “Tucson has the potential to be a big soccer town,” said Tucson Women's Soccer League president Doreen Koosmann. “If soccer players at every level work together, we could put Tucson on the soccer map. TWSL wants FC Tucson to succeed and we are taking every opportunity to assist them with this goal.” At other times of the year, the Kino Sports Complex will also feature the Fort Lowell Shootout, the Far West Regional League twice a year, and the Arizona Youth Soccer Association stages state league, state cup and president’s cup matches at Kino. “It’s a true community asset,” said FC Tucson co-owner Chris Keeney, who moved here from Houston to get in on the ground floor of a soccer emergence in Tucson after stints with the NFL Houston Texans and Major League Soccer teams D.C. United, Real Salt Lake and Columbus Crew.
FC Tucson Home Schedule Each event is a double header starting with a community soccer group game, which starts at 5:15 p.m. All FC Tucson games start at 7:30 p.m. Admission to both games is $10. All games are played at the Kino Sports Center North Grandstand May 18: Chapman Tucson Champions League Semifinal 1 May 18: FC Tucson vs. SoCal Seahorses June 6: CTCL Men's Semifinal 2 June 6: FC Tucson vs. OC Blues Strikers FC June 8: TSAFC Women vs. St. George United June 8: FC Tucson vs. Fresno Fuego June 15: TSAFC Women v. Utah Starzz June 15: FC Tucson vs. Real Phoenix June 28: TSAFC Women June 28: FC Tucson vs. Ventura County Fusion June 30: CTCL Men's Final June 30: FC Tucson vs. Ventura County Fusion July 6: TSAFC Women v. SC Del Sol July 6: FC Tucson vs. CTCL Men's Winner July 13: CTCL Coed Championship July 13: FC Tucson vs. Los Angeles Misioneros July 20: CTCL Over 45 Men's Championship July 20: FC Tucson vs. BYU Cougars
May 2013 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 27
Z community
Indie Wheel
Keeping the 'Oh My' Factor in Downtown Tucson Who should benefit from the progress being made Downtown and along 4th Avenue? There’s nothing wrong with making a buck, but should it only be made by those that just want to profit from a new Tucson? Or should beneficiaries include the artists, the small business owners, and the Tucsonans who not only invested many hours of their time but also thousands of dollars from their pockets back in the 80s and 90s when no one else would? When no one cared? Don’t we want to keep the people that truly care about our local economy here? Shouldn’t we fight for the very people who invested in our downtown to remain downtown? After all, there was no guaranteed return on their investments, yet they kept at it through thick and thin. Don’t get me wrong. Like most people, I’m giddy about our blossoming Downtown. Come on, you know you are, too. We like seeing all those people walking in the streets, in and out of locally owned restaurants and night clubs. It’s inspiring. We have been waiting a very long time for this. Yet I am also a little worried. For all of us. As Downtown Tucson rises, locally owned businesses continue to fall. We may be repeating history in Tucson by destroying some of our best assets and then regretting it 20 years from now, just as we did with the barrio that once stood where our lovely Tucson Convention Center now stands. We sure screwed that one up, didn’t we? It hurts to this day because every person with a little business sense or any sense at all - knows that what makes a downtown great is its locally owned businesses and historic neighborhoods. Locals and tourists alike crave authenticity. We want what is real with all the gritty, scruffy edges that come along with it. We don’t travel to Rome to eat at an Olive Garden or go to Puerto Rico and complain about a bumpy ride on the cobblestone streets of Old San Juan. Yes, we love the real stuff, don’t we? Yet, slowly, we may well blow it again if we don’t advocate for our locally owned businesses and artists. Several longtime businesses have already closed down or moved. More may do the same because they cannot sustain the hits from all the construction, delays and mistakes due to the Modern Streetcar. Some businesses may not even survive this summer. Whether you know it now or don’t realize it until 20 years from now, you want a downtown that is a little funky and perhaps even slightly uncomfortable. It’s what I call the Oh My factor. You know, it’s what tourists and locals alike say when they encounter something edgy and perhaps culturally very different from their own personal experience. They say, “Oh my!,” and then they proceed to enjoy that unique culinary or arts experience. Believe me,
by Miguel Ortega
businesses and local Tucsonans alike do not want the Old Pueblo to lose its Oh My factor! What we want is for Noël Chester, a longtime theater artist and owner of The District Tavern (I’m talking an artist from the A.K.A. Theater golden years) to stay put downtown. What we want is to honor the decades of contributions to the downtown performing arts scene donated by my friend, the late, great David “Bunga” Felix. Believe me, Noël and Bunga both inspired many gasps of “Oh my!” over several decades, and their presence and spirit should remain downtown. In essence, what we truly want is to keep the old with the new, side by side. You want your out-of-town, prudish aunt and your tatted, rebellious nephew alike to enjoy themselves downtown. What we must have in order for this thing to work is for new places like Hub to coexist with places like The District Tavern and for people like Noël to stick around. There is no doubt about it: we are in the midst of perhaps the biggest, fattest do-over opportunity in Tucson history. Will we get it right this time? I sure hope so.
PHOTO: Noël Chester, current owner of The District Tavern, performing at A.K.A. Theater, circa 1987. Photo by Susan K. Tiss.
COMMERCE
ART
POLITICS
Bentley’s House of Coffee and Tea on Speedway and Campbell has awesome restrooms. Yep, I dig the coffee and food, but the restrooms make a statement. I have always said that the baños say a lot about cafes and restaurants. And yet I want our beloved Epic Cafe on 4th Ave and University Blvd, funky restrooms and all, to stay exactly the same. Weird of me, huh?
Announcing the I Just Made This Up Tucson Arts Awards for April 2013: The Most Politically and Economically Awkward Yet Beautiful Art Award goes to Melody Peters for the bronze dancers at the 4th Ave underpass. And the He Has Stuck Around Forever and Should Stick Around Even Longer Award goes to Ned Schaper. Congratulations on my made up awards, Ned and Melody!
So I thought of a ‘walks into a bar’ joke, but I’m not sure it’s very funny. Here goes: A council aide, a former city manager, two school superintendents, a former college chancellor, a consultant, and a bunch of politicians walk into a locally owned bar in Tucson. Bartender says, “I’m sorry, we don’t serve-- wait, you know what? Just get out. Please. Get out now!” That’s it. Told ya it wasn’t that funny.
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Contact Miguel Ortega at miguel.riosonora@ gmail.com
May 2013 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 29
Z film
Dreaming Big.
Really Big.
In Widescreen Even. by Herb Stratford
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Help Wanted
film Z
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ilmmaking students often toil in obscurity with only their family, friends and fellow filmmakers for support while they work on a project. They rarely get a chance to see their work on the big screen, with all of the related hoopla and attention of their “professional” peers. Well, that’s not how it works at the University of Arizona’s School of Theatre, Film and Television. The annual showing of the final film projects by Bachelor of Fine Arts students again takes place at the Fox Tucson Theatre on Saturday, May 11 at 7pm. This year the program will feature the work of 17 different directors who are presenting the fruit of a yearlong legacy on film. As in years past, the mix of thesis films this year includes a variety of topics and genres including documentaries, rock operas, romantic comedies and music videos. The films are also vying for a significant prize, $5,000 in film services by FotoKem of L.A. This is the third time the company has supported the event, which represents a strong interest in the UA’s students from the Hollywood industry company. The competition will be judged by a panel of significant jurors including: Claudette Godfrey, the short film programmer for the South by Southwest film festival; Brenda Lhormer, director of the Napa Valley Film Festival; and Kathleen McInnis, film curator and director of industry programming for the Palm Springs ShortsFest. Lisanne Skyler, Associate Professor at the school of Theatre, Film and Television is hard pressed to nail down a theme of this year’s films. She did feel that all the films were “ambitious” and “pushing the student’s ideas out” but was also quick to state that the filmmakers are also very aware and “care about the audience for their work, and want to make sure they are communicating with the audience whatever it is that they are doing.” Skyler is also proud to mention that recent UA school film grads are making a splash in the festival world with recent films being accepted at the Aspen Shorts Film Festival and Palm Springs Shorts Film Festival. The wide range of films at this year’s iteration is a first according to Skyler in regards to having everything from animation to documentary along with sci-fi, drama, romance and comedy. The students also seem to be benefiting from the recent increase in hi-tech equipment, which is allowing for a greater range of styles and finishes thanks to Canon cameras and other advances in the industry. But as the old adage goes, it all comes down to story, and no new, fancy camera or technical skill can make a poor story good. A few films that were available at press time included a dark comedy set in a convenience store entitled “Help Wanted” which is both well done and a sad statement on the current economic climate, and “Ljosio,” which is a music video of sorts married to a dance performance with striking visuals and a haunting soundtrack. Also of note are the films “Allergic To Love” about a man who believes his romantic troubles are really an allergy; “Dad’s Space Mission” which is a mock-umentary about a quest to launch a loved one’s ashes into space; and the science fiction film “Grey State” about a future world where the psychic powers of citizens are exploited by the government.
Ljosio
I Dream In Widescreen, Saturday, May 11 at 7pm at the Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 West Congress Street. The screening is free and open to the public, and doors open at 6pm. Seating fills up, so arrive early. More info at http://tftv.arizona.edu May 2013 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 31
Z film Photo courtesy of AClockworkOrange.com
"A Clockwork Orange" plays at the Loft Cinema on Sat, May 18.
Cinema La Placita La Placita Village, 110 S. Church Ave. Thursdays at 7:30pm, $3 suggested donation. CinemaLaPlacita.com Thu 9: The Killing Thu 16: The Great Gatsby Thu 23: The Thrill of It All Thu 30: Some Like It Hot The Loft Cinema 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. 795-7777 (show times recording), 322-LOFT, LoftCinema.com Times and admissions vary. Dates indicate first date of movie run. Wed 1: Connected: An Autobiography About Love, Death and Technology Thu 2: The Killing Fri 3: Room 237, Starbuck, First Friday Shorts: The Golden Gong Year-End Showdown! Sat 4: Such Good Friends, The Shining Sun 5: Blood Wedding & Suite Flamenca Wed 8: Magic Hour: Short Fiction Films from The School of Film and Television at the University of Arizona Thu 9: Lolita Fri 10: Reality, Simon Killer, In the House Sat 11: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Thu 16: Barry Lyndon Fri 17: Wrong, It’s A Disaster, The Angels’ Share Sat 18: A Clockwork Orange Sun 19: The Tin Drum, Vegucated Thu 23: Full Metal Jacket Fri 24: Renoir, Come Out and Play, The Reluctant Fundamentalist Sat 25: 2001: A Space Odyssey Thu 30: Eyes Wide Shut Fox Theatre 17 W. Congress St. Admission is $6-$8. 624-1515, FoxTucsonTheatre.org Sat 11: 2013 BFA Thesis Films: I Dream In Widescreen Sun 19: Celebrating Five Seasons in the Sonoran Desert Pima County Public Libraries 594-5500, Library.Pima.Gov Wed 1: The Revolutionary Optimists (Sam Lena-South Tucson) Fri 3: The Revolutionary Optimists (Joyner-Green Valley) Thu 9: The Revolutionary Optimists (Oro Valley) Mon 20: The Revolutionary Optimists (Mission) Wed 22: The Revolutionary Optimists (Valencia) The Screening Room 127 E. Congress St. 882-0204, AZMac.org/Scroom See the website
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Z food&drink
Greens and garlic with steamed roots. Photo: Jamie Manser
Found at the Farmers’ Market by Jamie Manser
As recent transplants from downtown to mid-town, Dan and I were delighted to discover The Loft Cinema Saturday farmers’ market, just minutes away via vehicle or bike from our new Blenman-Elm ‘hood. In lateApril, we went on a morning harvesting expedition to cull together locally grown, organic produce. The goal was to create a tasty, seasonal lunch that was packed full of mouth-watering nutrition. This small but growing market features various offerings – Food Conspiracy Co-op baked goods, honey from Tucson Honey Company, fair trade/organic coffee from Café Aqui, Local Roots Aquaponics, dog treats from Ozzie’s Naturals, soap from Sun Grown Soaps, along with raw food, salsa, starter plants and more from area vendors. This day we were focused on fresh veggies and bought them from Breckenfeld Family Growers and River Road Gardens. Breckenfeld supplied us with bordeaux spinach, Ajo Rojo garlic, carrots and beets; we procured parsnips and kale from River Road Gardens. What to do with these beautiful purchases? We kept it simple. For the root vegetables – beets, carrots and parsnips – we peeled, chopped and steamed them. They were tossed with Smart Balance (insert buttery spread of your choice) along with salt, pepper and allspice. Nutmeg and/or allspice are very compatible with these sweet steamed roots. 34 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | May 2013
For cooking the kale, bordeaux spinach and beet greens, we pulled out the wok. Homemade vegetable broth, tamari soy sauce and diced Ajo Rojo garlic were simmered together with the greens’ chopped stalks for about five minutes. The greens’ chopped leaves were tossed in last and sauteed until wilted. All told – between cleaning, peeling, chopping, steaming, dressing and sautéing – this process took about 30 to 45 minutes. The haul cost around $14, but not all of the food was cooked and there were leftovers for an upcoming dinner. Both of these dishes are flavorful and satiating, complex on the palate, earthy, robust, and energizing. Dress ‘em up how you like, try different spices! Be flexible with the portions – always season to taste! Buy local produce and support farmers’ markets. Your body and your community will thank you. The Loft Cinema Farmers’ Market, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd., is open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. More information is at LoftCinema.com/ film/the-loft-cinema-farmers-market. The River Road Gardens website is RiverRoadGardens.com; find Breckenfeld Family Growers on Facebook.
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food&drink Z
Take Out by Jamie Manser
Friday Fun Day at the office means getting to leave at 4 p.m. and having the firm buy lunch, this day it is from Szechuan Omei. Any local cruising Speedway between Tucson Boulevard and Country Club Road recognizes the eatery’s iconic, temple-shaped sign advertising “Chinese Restaurant Eat In or Take Out Orders.” The Tucson staple was established in 1977, and continues to be successful due to great service and hit-the-spot dishes. The lunch menu features 14 plates at $5.95 each, three offered at $7.95, and includes egg flower soup, fried wontons and egg fried rice or steamed white rice. For a bit extra, diners can opt for hot and sour soup ($.75) or wonton soup ($1.50). Catering to omnivores and herbivores, meat dishes range from beef to poultry and pork, shrimp and lobster; plant-dishes include Northern Style Vegetables and a bean curd veggie medley. Those looking for fiery yum can find it in the General Tso’s Chicken, Mongolian Beef, Kung Pao Chicken and the Sesame Chicken. Don’t be shy about asking for any dish to be spiced up, the chef is likely to oblige. The portions are rather perfect for the mid-day meal and there’s just the right combination of textures and flavors to keep it interesting while not dropping into a food coma afterward. To keep it light, a few of us chose menu item 13: Northern Style Vegetables. One really can’t go wrong with this pick. There’s a commingling of delectable, correctly cooked crunch from the broccoli, carrots and baby corn combined with the tender – yet firm – celery, bamboo shoots and mushrooms. It is all sauteed in a light, translucent broth. Pile in some rice, mix it all around, pick up the chopsticks and let your taste buds celebrate whilst your teeth masticate. Szechuan Omei is located at 2601 E. Speedway Blvd., online at SzechuanOmei.com and reachable by phone at 325-7204. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday. The full menu is available on the website, which also offers coupons when ordering off of the dinner menu. May 2013 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 37
Found Puzzles by misterpaulfisher
A few examples of this month’s Found Puzzle #15 have been floating around the internet. So, I thought I would address how to solve them.
PUZZLE #15 7+7÷7+7x7-7 = ? The method to solve this is a mathematical concept known as “the order of operations”. The order is: Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, Addition and Subtraction. Always perform the operations inside a parenthesis first, then do exponents. After that, do all the multiplication and division from left to right, and lastly do all the addition and subtraction from left to right. The acronym for said task is: PEMDAS. Yikes! I know...
PUZZLE #16
Zócalo Delivered Anywhere. Subscribe to Zocalo and have it delivered to your home or office. Details at zocalomagazine.com/subscriptions 38 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | May 2013
During a visit to a mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director how she decides if a patient needs treatment. “Well,” the Director replied, “we fill up a bathtub. Then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to the patient and ask the patient to empty the tub.” “Oh. I understand,” replied the visitor. “A normal person would use the bucket because it is larger than the spoon or the teacup.” What was the Director’s reply?
ANSWERS to puzzles 15 and 16 are available at www.ZocaloMagazine.com/puzzles misterpaulfisher is a consultant-teacher-lecturer-artist who has been puzzling for many decades. Find out more about Paul, his work and puzzles at: www.misterpaulfisher.com
May 2013 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 39
Z lifeintucson by Andrew Brown
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Page 40, left to right top to bottom: Chris Black playing at “Beyond the Sacred” opening at Sacred Machine; Natural Seductions opening at Etherton Gallery; Dirk Arnold at Tucson Artists Open Studios; Art Phag 3 Year Anniversary; Spring 4th Ave Street Fair. Page 41, left to right top to bottom: Natural Seductions opening at Etherton Gallery; Good Friday Procession on “A” Mountain; Danny Martin Opening at BLX; Titus Castanza at Tucson Artists Open Studios; Spring 4th Ave Street Fair; Tucson Roller Derby Dust Devil Tournament.
May 2013 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 41
Z tunes
The Chords You Need by Jamie Manser
It’s a beautiful spring Saturday in the Sonoran Desert; birds are chirping, fruit blossoms are fragrantly blooming and “Electric Caribou” is dancing forth from the speakers. This is an afternoon with The Modeens; singer/guitarist/songwriter Jamie Laboz, bassist/singer/songwriter Cristina Williams and drummer Jeff Diday. Missing is keyboardist/harmonica/contributing singer/songwriter Dave Prival as the herpetologist is in Cali tracking a reptile. Prival’s genius is evoked throughout the album and the interview. Laboz describes Prival as a “reserved guy, a quiet scientist, but, you wouldn’t know that seeing him onstage. The first time I saw him play, he did a keyboard solo with his head!” The conversation bounces around from chatting about the desert’s biodiversity to the stylistic diversity of the band’s third release and second full length, “Electric Caribou.” Laboz and Williams laugh when asked about the album name, and the story goes like this: “I was playing in a blues band in LA, and this guy came in with cooked caribou on a platter,” Laboz starts, “he looked like a lumberjack.” Williams adds, “a Santa Claus lumberjack but huge!” The 42 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | May 2013
surreal experience had the couple saying caribou aloud over and over that night. “I was loading gear out of the car after the show,” Laboz remembers, “and in this stream-of-consciousness moment, I said ‘Electric Caribou!’ and Cristina laughed.” The words stuck with the couple, they knew they had to use it somehow, somewhere, and as Laboz says, “a good song or good title keeps coming back.” With this 10-track release the band has songs that were in its live repertoire for years but not recorded, others were recorded for previous projects; but the songs all come together seamlessly – even with the divergent styles (overall, a 60s vibe that channels classic rock sounds, punk, country and even a ballad). “Fen (Ikner, who mastered the album) helped us sequence the order of the songs,” Laboz explains, “and we realized he put it in order of a story, in order by key, and it drew a narrative.” As the album listening party progresses, Laboz, Williams and Diday give the inside scoop on the tracks. Track one, “Modeens Theme” is a groovy
tunes Z rock-romp party song, beginning with the sound of a beer can opening and Williams’ sultry, “Ah yeahhhh.” Prival’s mad genius keys are front and center, with hand clapping and the rhythm section rocking the beats. Then there’s a smattering of beer bottles clinking together, courtesy of Diday, “I do all the weird things besides playing drums. On the last album, I played pots and pans.” The rock continues with a Laboz penned tune, “Drinkin’ Is A Full Time Job.” He explains: “I wrote that song at Parkside Lounge in NYC, I was on unemployment and drinking.” As we listen, Laboz says, “Fen said this sounds like the Stones and Steve Miller. But, the bridge is Bob Seger.” Cristina seconds that, “Yeah, it is totally Bob Seger!” The conversation jumps around, as conversations customarily do, so not every song is talked about, but what is shared is songwriting contributions were split between Laboz, Williams and Prival, with Laboz crediting Prival as “the real rocker, he is always the jilted lover in his songs.” Prival’s tunes, “Caroline” and “Not About Me” definitely cull from punk sensibilities – hard driving, intense and fast. Beyond that, Laboz stresses, “Dave is such a sick harp player, he’s so crazy, and there’s so much harp on the record!” It is true, and Prival’s powerful harmonica parts add fantastic depth to the tunes. When track six starts, “Favorite Shoes,” Diday says, “I googled funtry, it’s not out there.” Funtry, as a music style described by Diday, is “a fun version of country, using all of the clichés of country…” Williams adds, “Yes, but delightfully so!” It’s no disrespect to country; it shares a light-hearted twist on this song, highlighted by Prival’s rag time/honky tonk piano and Aaron Gilmartin’s banjo. Fun is certainly what we need these days, with all of the craziness of the world torn apart by misunderstanding and fear-based hate. The Modeens offer an album to lose yourself in, a place to let the chords take your mind out of time, to relax and dance. As my husband says, “Baby, I need to get some chords,” and as my father once told me, “Jamie, never underestimate the power of entertainment.” Have rockin’ fun at The Modeens’ CD release on Saturday, May 18 at Barrio Brewing, 800 E. 16th St. Shrimp Chaperone opens, St. Maybe closes. More info at TheModeens.com.
KXCI’s 5
Tucson’s community radio station, at 91.3FM and KXCI.org, spins tracks from the following new albums in MAY.
Alice Russell, To Dust (Tru Thoughts) Not as famous as Adele or Amy Winehouse but just as good (or better), Alice is back with her first new solo release in five years.
Fitz and the Tantrums, More Than Just A Dream (Elektra) The energetic neo-soul group will have you up and dancing to their third studio album. They have a modern sound, but would not have been out of place at Stax or Motown.
Natalie Maines, Mother (Columbia) The Dixie Chick flies solo on this album that really brings out her rock side, including the cover of Pink Floyd that provides the title. Ben Harper produced the set, which also reveals covers of Eddie Vedder and Jeff Buckley.
She & Him, Volume 3 (Merge) Not unlike their first two collaborations, Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward combine for more light, folk-pop fun, although this time around it might have been called She & Him & Them, as guests pop in from favorites like NRBQ, Devotchka and Rilo Kiley.
Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City (XL) The city in the title is New York and this release, their third, is their love letter to it. Not surprisingly, though, not all love letters about the Big Apple have happy endings.
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Z tunes
Elizabeth Frankie Rollins Queen’s Ferry Press, 2013
“The Sin Eater & Other Stories” by Jamie Manser It’s a refreshing April morning at Café Passe. Elizabeth Frankie Rollins’ blonde hair is backlit by the springtime sun burning beautifully bright, creating a halo of golden-white. She glows with genuine happiness - it shines from her blue eyes. It is a time of celebration, the release of a book years in the making, the culmination of life experiences lovingly collected and turned into a graduate school manuscript (2001). Stories added to and subtracted from that grad school project, then, more years spent trying to get it published. “I had an agent for awhile, who didn’t have a clue about social media, so I fired her.” We laugh, acknowledging that social media is a super important marketing tool while admitting the fact that we are still learning about the nuances of the Twitterverse, we aren’t reading on Kindle or Nook but it is most certainly OK for people to purchase “The Sin Eater & Other Stories” on those platforms. Why limit distribution? But for some of us, there’s nothing like holding a book, the physicality of turning the pages, feeling the cover, dog-earing the corners. To devour stories as richly vibrant as these it seems better to grip onto the pages and crease that spine. Maybe it’s not logical, but it seems right because the characters in “The Sin Eater & Other Stories” aren’t logical yet their actions are understandable. We all have to find a method to and/or out of the madness, to reconcile life’s uncertainties, hope for the best and try to expunge our transgressions. In each of Rollins’ thirteen stories, her scribing ferries the reader to surreal lands of odd circumstances that somehow ring with unexpected normalcy. You are this character, you’ve lived this life. It’s a Vulcan mind meld, a body swap, you are the protagonist and you know what they know 44 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | May 2013
and feel what they feel and ache with their pain and rejoice with their unexpected wins. This is masterful storytelling. Rollins’ is perfectly honest about her muses: “I just steal from the world.” As they say, reality is oft times stranger than fiction, and her life has provided much fodder for these fantastical tales. This is what a writer does, gathers experiences and Rollins’ thirty-seven jobs helped create these characters. She explains the background for “I See Her,” a haunted story about a woman murdered on the beach: “I worked in a crumbling hotel that had bed bugs and barely working air conditioning and there was a murder there. I did get that porch furniture, and I did sand it, and I did cry.” The background may be personal, but the themes are universal. Like a great song, any story that is relatable to diverse individuals channels the waters of humanity’s collective unconscious. The ability to craft symbolism that speaks to unique viewpoints is a gift. “It has been an incredible experience,” Rollins says about the book’s publishing. “Every day, I get feedback about how it has touched someone. It is really magical.” “The Sin Eater & Other Stories” is available online at QueensFerryPress. com and locally at Antigone Books, 411 N. 4th Ave. Antigone also hosts Rollins reading from her book on May 17 at 7pm, Kimi Eisele also reads that evening from her work-in-progress, “The Lightest Object in the Universe.” Visit ElizabethFrankieRollins.com for more information.
tunes Z
“Brian Lopez” plays at Plush on Sat, May 11.
Photo courtesy of RialtoTheatre.com
Photo by Chris Summit.
Photo by Chris Duque.
"Juanes" plays at AVA Ampitheater on Thu, May 30.
“Primus” plays at the Rialto Theatre on Sat, May 18.
LIVE MUSIC 2ND SATURDAYS DOWNTOWN Congress Street, 2ndSaturdaysDowntown.com Sat 11: Aztral Folk, Belly Dance Tucson, Kevin Pakulis & Coyote Supper Club, and Atom Heart Mother.
AVA AMPHITHEATER at Casino Del Sol 5655 W. Valencia Rd. CasinoDelSol.com Sat 11: 22nd Annual Noche De Las Estrellas Fri 17: Il Divo Sun 19: Tony Bennett Thu 23: Kings of the Mic Tour Sat 25: Brew Ha Ha Sun 26: Cheech and Chong Thu 30: Juanes
BORDERLANDS BREWING 119 E. Toole Ave. 261-8773, BorderlandsBrewing.com Thu 2: Sparkplug Lighthouse Fri 3: Tortolita Gutpluckers Sat 4: Greyhound Soul Thu 9: Joe Novelli Fri 10: Hans Hutchison Sat 11: Leila Lopez Fri 17: Fairweather Friend Sat 18: Stefan George
Thu 23: Carlos Arzate Fri 24: The Determined Luddites Sat 25: Hey, Bucko! Thu 30: Hank Topless Fri 31: Michael P & Joel Ford
BOONDOCKS LOUNGE 3306 N. 1st Ave. 690-0991, BoondocksLounge.com Mondays: The Bryan Dean Trio Wednesdays: Titan Valley Warheads Tuesdays: Lonny’s Lucky Poker Night Fridays: Live Music with Neon Prophet Sat 4: Equinox Sat 11: Randy Prentice Band
CAFE PASSE 415 N. 4th Ave. 624-4411, CafePasse.com Wednesdays: Jazz Wednesday w/ Jazz Telephone Thursdays: Songwriter Thursdays w/ Al Foul Fridays: Blues Fridays with Tom Walbank & Roman Barten Sherman Saturdays: Country Saturdays
CLUB CONGRESS 311 E. Congress St. 622-8848, HotelCongress.com/club
Wed 1: Black Mountain Fri 3: 5th Annual Agave Fest, Jalph and G.A.G Present: ThreeInco De Mayo Sat 4: May the Fourth Be With You Tue 7: Devandra Banhart Sat 11: Charlie Faye w/ Billy Sedlmayr Wed 15: Sergio Mendoza y La Orkesta Thu 16: Damien Jurado Wed 22: The Black Angels Fri 24: Flobots Mon 27: !!! (Chk, Chk, Chk) Wed 29: The Lonely Wild
CUSHING STREET BAR & RESTAURANT 198 W. Cushing St. 622-7984, CushingStreet.com Saturdays: Jazz
LA COCINA 201 N. Court Ave. 622-0351, LaCocinaTucson.com Wed 1: Darkhorse Presents, Miss Lana Rebel w/ Kevin Michael Mayfield Thu 2: Deschtuco w/ La Cerca Fri 3: Liila Sat 4: The 28th Annual Tucson Folk Festival, Catfish and Weezie
Sun 5: The 28th Annual Tucson Folk Festival Wed 8: Miss Lana Rebel w/ Kevin Michael Mayfield Sat 11: Catfish and Weezie, The Sonoran Dogs Wed 15: Miss Lana Rebel w/ Kevin Michael Mayfield Sat 18: Catfish and Weezie, Cochise County Allstars Sun 19: Kristen Chandler Wed 22: Miss Lana Rebel w/ Kevin Michael Mayfield, Daniel Hart Thu 23: Carlos Arzate w/ Decker Fri 24: Vox Urbana Sat 25: Catfish and Weezie, Dash Pocket Wed 29: Miss Lana Rebel w/ Kevin Michael Mayfield, Blue-eyed Son
DELECTABLES RESTAURANT & CATERING 533 N. 4th Ave. 884-9289, Delectables.com Fri 3: Tommy Tucker
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Z tunes
!!! (Chk, Chk, Chk) at Club Congress, May 27.
A Hawk and A Hacksaw at Solar Culture, May 30
LIVE MUSIC FOX TUCSON THEATRE 17 W. Congress St. 624-1515, FoxTucsonTheatre.org Fri 3: Zoso: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience Tue 7: The World’s Greatest Pink Floyd Show: Brit Pink Floyd Wed 8: The Manhattan Transfer
HACIENDA DEL SOL 5501 N. Hacienda del Sol Rd. 299-1501, HaciendadelSol.com THE HUT 305 N. 4th Ave. 623-3200, HutTucson.com
MONTEREY COURT 505 W. Miracle Mile, MontereyCourtAZ.com Fri 7: Tommy Tucker
PLUSH 340 E. 6th St. 798-1298, PlushTucson.com Wed 1: Ashbury Thu 2: Altered Thursdays with
Kyle Bronsdon Fri 3: The Missing Parts, The Underscore Orkestra, Le Chat Lunatique Fri 10: Big Meridox, Jivin’ Scientists Sat 11: Brian Lopez, Carlos Azarte and The Kind Souls Tue 14: DJ Clackston Wed 15: Jerry Joseph, Walter Salas-Humara, Steve Drizos Thu 16: Altered Thursdays with Kyle Bronsdon Fri 17: Andrew See
RIALTO THEATRE 318 E. Congress St. 740-1000, RialtoTheatre.com Wed 1: Machine Gun Kelly Fri 3: Father John Misty Sat 4: The Electric Blankets EP Release Sun 5: R&B Cinco De Mayo Teddy Riley & Blackstreet Featuring
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Dave Hollister Mon 6: An Evening With Yo La Tengo Tue 7: Brit Pink Floyd Wed 8: The Manhattan Transfer @ Fox Sun 12: Tucson Rock Alliance & Miss CJ Promotions Presents “Tucson’s Best” Fri 17: One More Time (Tribute to Daft Punk) Sat 18: Primus Mon 20: Big Boi Shoes for Running 2013 World Tour with Killer Mike Thu 23: Opeth Fri 24: Devo Tue 28: Lamb of God Thu 30: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
SKY BAR 536 N. 4th Ave. 622-4300, SkyBarTucson.com
Mondays: Team Trivia Tuesdays: Jazz Wednesdays: Open Mic Thursdays: Live Music
SOLAR CULTURE 31 E. Toole Ave. 884-0874, SolarCulture.org Sat 4: Rising Appalachia Tue 7: Songs of the Abyss- Puppet Show Thu 30: A Hawk and A Hacksaw
SURLY WENCH PUB 424 N. 4th Ave., 882-0009, SurlyWenchPub.com Fri 3: Black Cherry Burlesque Sat 4: Cadaver Dogs Fri 10: Mission Creeps Sat 11: Fineline Revisited Fri 17: Black Cherry Raw Sat 18: Sanctuary Sat 25: Fineline Revisited