Albuquerque Theatre Guild Announces Their April 2010 Performance Calendar

Albuquerque Theatre Guild releases their April 2010 Performance Calendar. More theatrical performances take place every weekend here in Albuquerque than in any other U.S. city of its size.

Thru April 18 | Fridays and Saturday at 8, Sundays at 6
The Lion in the Winter - by James Goldman. King Henry II of England has three sons by Eleanor of Aquitaine: Richard, Geoffrey, and John. He wants the kingdom to stay united after his death, but all three sons want to rule and it is likely to be torn apart by revolution. Henry favors the youngest John, while Eleanor favors the eldest, Richard. Middle son Geoffrey hopes to play both ends against each other and come out on top. Henry would like to have another heir by his mistress Alais, but that would only add to the confusion. Uneasy is the head on which the crown lies, and uneasy the truce between a matchless king and queen. Info: Adobe Theatre, 9813 Fourth St. NW, 898-9222, www.adobetheater.org. Price: $14, $12 Seniors/students.

Thru April 25 | Fridays and Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 6
Bless Me, Ultima - by Rudolfo Anaya. The New Mexico premiere of the stage version of the classic novel, dramatized by the author, it is the story of a young boy and the cuarandera who changes his life and is based on Anaya's own experiences as a boy growing up in Northern New Mexico. Info: Vortex Theatre, 2004 1/2 Central SE, 247-8600, http://www.vortexabq.org. Price: $15.00, pay what you will Sunday.

April 2 - 25 | Thursdays and Fridays at 8, Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 2
The Beauty Queen of Leenane - by Martin McDonagh, directed by Vic Browder. Set in the mountains of Connemara, County Galway, The Beauty Queen of Leenane tells the darkly comic tale of Maureen Folan, a plain and lonely woman in her early forties, and Mag, her manipulative aging mother, whose interference in Maureen's first and possibly final chance of a loving relationship sets in motion a train of events that leads inexorably towards the play's terrifying dénouement. Info: Mother Road Theatre Company at The Filling Station, 1024 Fourth Street SW, 243-0596, http://www.motherroad.org Price: $16

April 8 - 25 | Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8, Sundays at 6
QUALITY - by Elaine Avila, directed by Kathleen Weiss. Tricklock Company presents the critically-acclaimed Quality, a wickedly funny and modern story set in the fiercly competitive world of high fashion and shoes. On the surface, Quality is a play about shoes and delivers all the punch of a shopping trip to an expensive designer boutique. Yet, beneath its glossy surface, Quality is about the quality of life and the quality of the human character. Can self worth be established with the perfect pair of shoes? What if those shoes are a perfect work of art? Quality is a site-specific performance taking place in Terra Firma, one of Nob Hill's best boutique shoe stores. Info: Tricklock Company at Terra Firma, 113 Carlisle SE, 254-8393, http://www.tricklock.com Price: $15, $10 Students/seniors

April 9 - 25 | Fridays and Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 2
Three Days of Rain - by Richard Greenberg, directed by Gabrielle Johansen. A year after he disappeared on the day of his father's funeral, Walker Janeway returns to New York. He takes up temporary residence in the unused space where 35 years earlier, his father, Ned, and Ned's late partner, Theo, both architects, lived and designed the great house that would make them famous. Sleepless and emotionally jangled, Walker scours the old empty space for clues to the tortured family history. Discovering his father's journal, Walker forces the confrontation that his sister, Nan, and his childhood friend, Pip, need. In Act Two, we travel back to 1960, when Ned's journey begins and are offered all the information we need to devise an alternative reading of the sad, unexpectedly romantic family story. Info: Auxiliary Dog Theatre, 3011 Monte Vista Blvd NE, 254-7716, http://www.auxdog.org. Price: $15, April 11 is pay-what-you-can.

April 9 - May 2 | Fridays and Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 4
The Butcher of Baraboo - by Marisa Wegrzyn, directed by Rose Provan. Valerie is the butcher of Baraboo, Wisconsin. Her husband has gone missing and everyone suspects she played a hand, especially her nosy sister-in-law who just happens to be the town sheriff. And her daughter, a drug-pushing pharmacist, might know more than she lets on. The Butcher of Baraboo is a black comedy about a butcher, a secret, and one perfectly polished meat cleaver. Info: The Desert Rose Playhouse, 6921 E Montgomery NE, 881-0503, http://www.desertroseplayhouse.com/ Price: $12.

 

April 9 - 11 | Friday and Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 2
Patty Disney Zarzuela Series: La Dolorosa - by José Serrano with libretto by Juan José Lorente, directed by Salomé Martínez-Lutz, conducted by Pablo Zinger. This dramatic zarzuela, La Dolorosa, was first performed at the Teatro Reina Victoria in Madrid in 1930. It deals with the struggle between faith and love. It's hard taking back your ex-lover after she's had another man's baby. It's even harder for a monk. Its combination of passion, monastic solemnity, and robust local color make it one of the composer José Serrano's strongest works. Dialogue in English, songs in Spanish with English supertitles. Info: Teatro Nuevo Mexico and the National Hispanic Cultural Center at Albuquerque Journal Theatre, National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 4th St. SW, 724-4771 or 724-4661 http://www.teatronm.com Price: $15, $20, and $25. $5 discount for NHCC members. Special discount to Albuquerque Theatre Guild individual members.

 

April 17 - 18 | Saturday and Sunday at 2
The Magic Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - by Betty McDonald. She's Mary Poppins, Auntie Mame and Professor McGonagall all rolled into one. She even lives in an upside-down house! Info: NM Young Actors at the KiMo Theatre, 423 Central Avenue NW, KiMo Theater box office 768-3544 or Ticketmaster 883-7800, http://www.nmyoungactors.org/Productions/Spring_Stage/spring_stage.html Price: $10

April 17 - May 2 | Saturdays at 7 and Sundays at 2
The Prisoner of Second Avenue - by Neil Simon. A timely show first presented in NY Nov. 11, 1971, this play revolves around a high paid exec caught in economic downsizing. His wife takes a job, only to lose it. The exec is fighting against pollution that is killing everything that he tries to grow on his terrace, the paper thin walls in his high rise allow him to hear the private lives of the stewardesses next door, his apartment is burgled and his psychiatrist dies with $23,000 of his money. The recovery from his nervous breakdown is a wonderful example of the resilience and grit to survive of the human race. Info: East Mountain Centre for Theatre, Vista Grande Community Center, 15 La Madera Road, Sandia Park, 286-1950, www.eastmountaintheatre.org/currentseason.html Price: Adults: $15, Seniors: $12 (65 and older), Students: $12, Kids: $8 (11 and younger)

April 23 - May 2 | various times.
2010 Words Afire Festival of New Plays - The University of New Mexico Department of Theatre and Dance is pleased to announce the 10th Annual Words Afire New Play Festival. A series of innovative new plays written by the talented MFA students in UNM's award winning Dramatic Writing Program. Info: Rodey Theatre and Theatre X on the UNM Main Campus, 277-4332, http://www4.unm.edu/theatre/waf/index.php Price: UNM Ticket Office.

April 23 - May 2 | Fridays at 7:30 and Saturdays and Sundays at 2
The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf (Family Theatre Series) - by Val Cheatham. A courtroom has never been more lively and fun! Smart and wickedly funny, the jury must decide the outcome of the biggest trial ever in the fairy-tale world! The notorious Big Bad Wolf is being slapped with a class-action lawsuit by storybooks of quirky characters who want to get even: Little Red Riding Hood, her Grandmother, the Three Little Pigs and the Shepherd in charge of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. With Sydney Grimm as the commentator on live court TV, the two greatest legal minds in the Enchanted Forest-the Evil Stepmother and the Fairy Godmother-clash in a trial that will be remembered forever after. As our wronged fairy tale characters testify, the wolf seems deserving of all that's coming. Yet, even though the infamous Evil Stepmother resents doing pro-bono work on such an obviously futile defense, Mr. Wolf makes a good case for himself. Was he born a criminal, or made one? Info: Albuquerque Little Theatre, 224 San Pasquale SW, 242-4750, www.albuquerquelittletheatre.org Price: $10

April 30 - May 23 | Fridays and Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 2
Hay Fever - by Noel Coward. The Bliss family is ultra Bohemian. Mother is a retired actress who makes a crisis out of every scene and father is a novelist. The daughter and son are handsome and ill mannered. One weekend all announce they are expecting a guest: mother has invited an athletic youth who is in love with her, Sorel has invited a diplomat, Simon an intense young woman, and David a flapper (a type he is studying for a novel). The guests receive an unusual and rude reception. Soon mother is paired off with the diplomat, Sorel with the athlete, Simon with the flapper, and father with his son's young woman. Dramatizing for all it is worth, Judith first fears she must tell her husband about her romance, then realizes her daughter is younger and more attractive to young men so she enacts a scene of noble sacrifice, and, noticing her husband's flirtation, she follows with a poor unhappy wife scene. The family is used to such displays, but the guests are bewildered. Info: Adobe, Theatre, 9813 Fourth St. NW, 898-9222, www.adobetheater.org. Price: $14, $12 Seniors and Students.