Sam's Bes Entertainment Bets

Some suggestions for this weekend and next couple of weeks around Carson City and elsewhere. Check entries in the daily Nevada Appeal for more details, but this should be enough for planning this weekend and the next several. Also, see nevadaappeal.com for updates of video games, movie news, musical events and reviews.

Sam Bauman, entertainment editor

- The Eldorado Casino in Reno is playing "Forbidden Broadway," a fast-moving, spoof of musicials of the past and presemt. The Eldorado starts the New Year off out on Broadway " with the 25th Anniversary Tour of the 2006 Tony award winning show "Forbidden Broadway." A cast of just four, but they filll the stage with the help of Carson City native Catherine Stornetta, who does a fine job on the keyboards.

This comedy takes the stage through Feb. 17. Tickets are from $30.95 for adults, from $25.95 for seniors, from $35.95 for VIP seating and from $40.95 for producer seating. Call (800) 648-5966 or 786-5700 in Nevada.

- Carson High's Karen Chandler directs Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," the winner of both the Tony and New York Drama Critics Circle awards. The two extra characters from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" ponder the meaning of life and their own unavoidable death as they deal with the balance between reality and nothingness.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are college chums of Hamlet and their story is what happened behind the scenes in Shakespeare's play. The players come and go; Prince Hamlet comes through reading words, words, words; foul deeds are done; Hamlet is sent abroad, escapes death; and in turn Rosencrantz and Guildenstern find their "only exit is death."

"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" performs Jan. 18, 19, 25, and 26 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 20 and 27 at 2 p.m. at the Carson Community Center. Seating is limited as the audience and the set are all placed on the stage in an intimate setting.

Tickets are available at the door or at boxoffice@carson.K12.nv.us. Tickets are $8 for general admission, $6 for children and students (with a Student Body Card) and $7 for seniors and students.

This may not sound like the most exciting night at the theater, but the cast is fine (R&G are triple cast, Hamlet is double, just to keep the comnfusion level high). It all may sound like high-flung absurdity, and it may be, but it's a lot of fun as well. High school dramatics never used to be like this.

- The Brewery Arts Center and KOZZ present a revival of the classic rock band Sugarloaf in Jan. 26. Sugarloaf is best known for the No. 1 hit "Green Eyed Lady." Opening the event will KOZZ's Max Volume and his band.

This revival performance features hits like "Green Eyed Lady" and "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You," plus hits from Jerry Corbetta's tenure with Franki Valli and the 4 Seasons. The concert features Corbetta of Sugarloaf with special guests Dennis Noda of Cannibal and the HeadHunters, Omar Martinez of Paul Revere and the Raiders and Carson City's own Atlantic recording artist Michael Furlong.

The event will be recorded live to produce a performance video.

"This is a great teaming effort with ACCtv," says John Procaccini, director of the Brewery Arts Center. "I'm excited to shoot a rock video during the concert."

Sugarloaf appears at 7:30 pm in the Performance Hall, 511 W. King St. Tickets are $18 all seating. A $3 discount is available for BAC members, students and seniors. Call 883-1976 or visit www.breweryarts.org.

- Nevada's biggest party is back, bigger and better than ever, as Brew HaHa XIII returns Saturday Jan. 26 to the Rose Ballroom at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks.

Celebrating an effervescent fermentation of music and brews, this year's 13th annual benefit for Sierra Arts features the popular Shane Dwight Band as the evening's headline entertainer. And, once again, a single price includes responsibly unlimited tastings from more the 25 microbrewery selections. Hours for this year's Brew HaHa are 8 p.m. to midnight. Purchased in advance, tickets are $50 per person general admission, and $60 each for reserved seating with early entry. General admission tickets purchased the day of the event will be $60.

Guests can purchase tickets at John Ascuaga's Nugget or Sierra Arts. Call Sierra Arts at 329-2787 or the Nugget at 356-3300.

- The Brewery Arts Center and X-Ville South present Lydia Pense & Cold Blood in Carson City on Feb. 19. After entertaining audiences with their virtuosity in vocals and guitar riffs at the 2006 Jazz & Beyond festival, Lydia is now a local darling.

Formed in the late '60s, these San Franciscans sounded like Tower of Power with Janis Joplin on lead vocals. In their songs, punchy horns and organ jabs ride over some exceptionally tight funk drumming, with everything centered around the soulful wails of Lydia Pense.

Lydia Pense & Cold Blood appear at 7:30 pm in the Performance Hall at the Brewery Arts Center at 511 W. King St. Tickets are $22 all seating. A $3 discount is available for BAC members, students and seniors. Call 883-1976 or visit www.breweryarts.org.

- RENO " Find yourself somewhere "Between Raising Hell And Amazing Grace" as the multi-platinum country duo Big & Rich takes the stage at the Reno Events Center along with opener Cowboy Troy Feb. 21 at 8 p.m. This country music phenom includes Big Kenny Alphin and John Rich. Both singer-songwriters are set to perform a show featuring their third studio release, "Between Raising Hell And Amazing Grace."

The duo has been nominated for several Grammy Awards. Big & Rich, known for their mixing of traditional country sounds with hip-hop, rock and the occasional Native American yell, will follow crowd pleasing opener, Cowboy Troy, one of the most prominent black country performer since Charley Pride.

Tickets are available for $85, $65 and $45. Tickets are at (888) 288-1833 at www.ticketmaster.com or at Circus Circus Reno, Eldorado Hotel Casino and Silver Legacy Resort Casino.

- It's the story of the quintessential stage mother, her dreams for herself and her daughters, and the daughter who dared live her own dream. One of the best musicals of all time, "Gypsy" entertains at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 29 - March 2.

The performance schedule is Friday, 8 p.m., Saturday 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m.

Tickets go on sale Jan. 14 at the Pioneer Center box office or at www.pioneercenter.com or at (877) 840-0457. Ticket prices range from $35 to $70 and are subject to service charges. Groups of 20 or more should call (775) 686-6600.

Based on the memoirs of entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee, "Gypsy" tells the story of Rose, an overbearing stage mother who is determined to make her girls the stars of vaudeville. Rose overwhelmingly favors her younger daughter, June, who headlines the act, while Louise is relegated to the chorus. Rose's attention eventually turns to her older daughter, but it is Louise herself who discovers her own talent, and becomes a bigger star than Rose ever dreamed possible.

- SPARKS " With a catalog of hits and chart-toppers rivaling The Beatles and Elvis, Boyz II Men has firmly cemented itself in the upper echelon of music history. Catch Boyz II Men in the intimate Celebrity Showroom Jan. 19-20 at John Ascuaga's Nugget.

Based on sales, Boyz II Men is the most successful R&B male vocal group of all time. It recorded five No. 1 R&B hits between 1992 and 1997 and has sold more than 60 million records.

Boyz II Men plays at 8 p.m. Tickets are $45 at (800) 648-1177 or (775) 356-3300 or by visiting janugget.com.

- RENO "The School of the Arts at the University of Nevada, Reno presents a University Faculty Bassoon Recital featuring Christin Schillinger Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in

Nightingale Concert Hall, Church Fine Arts Building.

Faculty bassoonist Christin Schillinger joins Chris Money, clarinet, and Rachael Ing, piano, as they perform works by Steinmetz, Dutilleux, Schumann, Mendelssohn and the "Variations on the 24th caprice" of Paganini by Marcel Farago. The program is free.

Free parking is available after 7 p.m. in the Brian Whalen Parking Complex north of the Church Fine Arts Building and in the Sierra Street Parking Complex one block west of North Virginia Street between 11th Street and College Drive. Call (800)25-2277.

- Liza Minnelli began performing at a very young age, and hasn't stopped since. She's the recipient of virtual every award, including three Tony's, an Oscar, two Golden Globes and an Emmy. Minnelli appears At Harrrah's Lake Tahoe in the South Shore Room on Saturday.

Minnelli continues her extraordinary music career with tours throughout the US and Europe and recently recorded a the album "Liza's Back.!" Witness a performing legend live on-stage. Tickets are $85 and $125. Show time is 7:30 p.m. Call 1-800-786-8208 or see t www.TotalRewardsTahoe.com.

- Jo Dee Messina appears for three nights in the Celebrity Showroom, Jan. 24-26, at John Ascuaga's Nugget. Multiple No. 1 hits and a series of popular albums, including some pop cross-over success, has propelled Messina in to the music-scene forefront.

Messina's self-titled debut album was released in 1996 and gave her two Top Ten hits in "Heads Carolina, Tails California" and "You're Not in Kansas Anymore."

Messina plays at 8 p.m. Tickets are $50 at (800) 648-1177 or 356-3300 or by visiting janugget.com.

- Contact Sam Bauman at 881-1236 or Sbauman@nevadaappeal.com.