Sam's Best Bets for upcoming entertainment

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, TV shows or specials, musical events and reviews.

Sam Bauman, entertainment editor

- U.S. audiences will be able to watch performances of one of the most prominent American opera companies, the San Francisco Opera, at local movie theaters. The Bigger Picture will release San Francisco Opera performances beginning Saturday March 29.

All performances are recorded live at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco and include a 10-minute intermission and English subtitles. For a complete list of venues, ticket information and show times visit sfopera.com. The venue list will continue to be updated as theaters are added to the schedule. Operas are:

Camille Saint-Saëns' "Samson and Delilah," Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30, Monday, March 31 and Tuesday, April 1.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Don Giovanni," Saturday and Sunday, April 12-13, Monda and Tuesday, April 14-15.

Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly, "Saturday and Sunday, April 19-20; Monday and Tuesday, April 21-22.

- Ani DiFranco appears a the Lawlor Events Center in Reno Thursday April 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $235 in advance, $37 a the door. Call 784-4444 or see Tickets.com.

- George Winston, he of the romantic piano, appears at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts in Reno July 20 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $32 in advance, $35 on show date. Tickets are the Pioneer Center.

- America's most beloved musical, "Annie," is back in 30th anniversary tour, giving a whole new generation the chance to experience this classic musical about never giving up hope. The timeless tale of Little Orphan Annie will be coming to the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts in Reno for five performances from April 18-20.

Performance schedule is Friday April 18, 8 p.m.; Saturday April 19, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday April 20, 1 and 6 p.m.

Tickets at the Pioneer Center box office, online at www.pioneercenter.com or by phone at (877) 840-0457. Ticket prices range from $40 to $80 and are subject to service charges. Groups of 20 or more should call 686-6600.

- Slot Machines: The Fey Collection from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Nevada State Museum, 600 N. Carson St. In the South Changing Gallery, held over by popular demand. Call 687-4810, ext. 239 or 245.

- The CCAI Courthoue Gallery, 885 E. Musser St., will show artist Galen Brown's free show, "Waves: Line and Rhyhm." The show will continue through May 23. See www.rts-initive.org. The gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

- The Carson Chamber Singers, directed by Judy Monson, will present their annual spring concert Saturday April 5 a 7:30 p.m., at the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall, 511 W. King St.

This year's concert features "Dona Nobis Pacem" by Ralph Vaughn Williams, a cantata in five sections based on the poetry of Walt Whitman. Guest soloists are Jennifer Tibben-Lembke, soprano, and Stuart Alan Duke, baritone. Nancy Mielke will accompany the Chamber Singers.

The Carson Chamber Singers, a group of more than 30 singers, formed in 1985 as an affiliate of the Carson City Symphony.

Soprano soloist Jennifer Tibben-Lembke teaches voice at the University of Nevada, Reno, and is artistic director and conductor of Bella Voce women's choral ensemble. Baritone soloist Stuart Alan Duke is noted for his appearances with orchestras and opera in the United States and in Europe.

Admission is $12 for general admission; $10 for seniors, students, and Carson City Symphony Association members; and $1 for ages 16 and under. Tickets are available in advance at the Brewery Arts Center office, 449 W. King St. and online at www.breweryarts.org.

Call the Carson City Symphony at 883-4154.

- Starz Entertainment's Weekly Hot Items List March 31- April 6:

Saturday, April 5, Starz Saturday Premiere:

"Next" (Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel) 9 p.m.

A man who can see into his own future has to avoid capture by a government organization and win the love of a woman who will be the mother of his child.

"Hip Hop: Raw & Uncut" - Episode 5, 1 a.m. on Starz In Black

A 60-minute, monthly live concert series. This episode is hosted by Larry Dog (BET Comic View, Def Comedy Jams) and features Lyfe Jennings, Young Berg, Jibbs and Blood Raw.

Sunday, April 6, Queens of the Screen

A double-feature of films featuring the favorite actresses of yesterday and today airs on RetroPlex each Sunday night through May.

8 p.m. "Charade" (Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, Walter Matthau)

10 p.m. "The Children's Hour" (Audrey Hepburn, Shirley Maclaine, James Garner)

Click here for information about what's airing on Starz On Demand and Vongo.

starz.mediaroom.com/file.php/687/April+2008+Highlights.pdf.

- CNN Presents: "Black in America" April 3-April 7

Thursday, April 3: 9 to 11:00 p.m. "Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination"

Repeats Saturday, April 5: 8 to10 p.m., Sunday, April 6, 2 to 4a.m. 8 to10 p.m., 11 to 1 a.m., Monday, April 7, 2 to 4a.m.

- CNN Presents: Black in America - Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination

Forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this first installment of CNN's groundbreaking documentary series Black in America, is reported by anchor and special correspondent Soledad O'Brien. O'Brien describes how escaped convict and armed robber James Earl Ray had already spent an uncommon year on the run that included plastic surgery the month before his path collided with that of the civil rights leader in Memphis, Tenn. Through interviews with first-person witnesses and investigators, O'Brien retraces the steps of King, Ray and investigators and explores alternative scenarios of what may have happened that fateful day on April 4, 1968. O'Brien asks who was ultimately responsible for the murder that, for some, may have meant the end to the U.S. Civil Rights Era. The Black in America series is filmed in high definition. More information, including images, can be found at www.cnn.com/blackinamericaopk.

Thursday, April 3: 9 to 11:00 p.m. "Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination"

Repeats Saturday, April 5: 8 to10 p.m., Sunday, April 6, 2 to 4a.m. 8 to10 p.m., 11 to 1 a.m., Monday, April 7, 2 to 4a.m.

- Starz presents "Grindhouse," Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's homage to exploitation B-movie thrillers Monday, March 31 at 9 p.m. Over three hours, the two feature-length films, turned into a double-bill, complete with fake trailers, missing scenes and bad film stock will be shown in its entirety, the way it was originally screened in movie theaters. In Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror," a small-town deals with an outbreak of murderous, infected people called "sickos," and a gun-legged stripper named Cherry (Rose McGowan) and her martial arts-wielding boyfriend (Freddy Rodriguez) take on the zombie army. Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof" has a psycho named Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) stalking and killing beautiful women with his '70s muscle car.

- Get ready to laugh as Encore presents "Fools of April," a 24-hour movie marathon featuring 15 side-splitting films from such funny men as Will Ferrell, Chris Rock, Matthew McConaughey, David Spade, and Woody Harrelson, among many others. The marathon will be hosted by actor Kenan Thompson ("Saturday Night Live") and kicks off Tuesday, April 1 beginning at 12 a.m.

The "Fools of April" schedule is:

12 a.m. "Dazed and Confused" (Jason London, Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck)

1:45 a.m. "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" (Andrew Dice Clay, Wayne Newton,

Priscilla Presley)

3:30 a.m. "CB4" (Chris Rock, Allen Payne, Deezer D)

5:05 a.m. "Bio-Dome" (Pauly Shore, Stephen Baldwin, William Atherton)

6:45 a.m. "Kingpin" (Woody Harrelson, Bill Murray, Randy Quaid)

8:45 a.m. "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" (Cary Elwes, Richard Lewis, Roger Rees)

10:30 a.m. "The Great Outdoors" (Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Stephanie Faracy)

12:05 p.m. "Captain Ron" (Kurt Russell, Martin Short, Mary Kay Place)

1:50 p.m. "The Benchwarmers" (Rob Schneider, Jon Heder, David Spade)

3:20 p.m. "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" (Rob Schneider, Amy Poehler, Arija Bareikis)

4:50 p.m. "Scary Movie 4" (Anna Faris, Charlie Sheen, Leslie Nielsen)

6:15 p.m. "Uncle Buck" (John Candy, Amy Madigan, Jean Louisa Kelly)

8 p.m. "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" (Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, David Koechner)

9:50 p.m. "American Pie" (Jason Biggs, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari)

11:30 p.m. "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood"

(Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Tracey Cherelle Jones)

- At the casinos:

Friday and Saturday, DJ Leslie Perez from San Francisco's Wild 94.9 serenades the dance floor. Sunday it's Say When with special guest Days No Different. RSVP at allcitylive.pkreative.com. You must sign up before 6 p.m. on the day of the event. Then Sunday at 8 p.m. Travis Tritt appears, tickets are $38.50-$71.50. Call 789-2000.

At Harrah's Lake Tahoe, Queensryrche shows for $37.50 ((800) 786-8208). Rock 'n' roll, enough to shake the hills.

And "The Male Intellect" has closed at the Eldorado with a new dance show "Floor Play" opening April 1. No details on this show yet. Collin Raye hits the Nugget in Sparks Saturday at 8 p.m., tickets are $35, 3356-3000. Frank Caliendo appears at the Silver Legacy April 4, $45 to $55 tickets, 325-7401. Curtis Salgado offers a free concert April1-2 at the Crystal Bay Casino. Three Dog Night howls at MontBleu in Stateline Saturday, tickets are $33-$43, 588-3515.

FROM THE MOVIE VAULTS

A one-night stand by a TV producer results, as such encounters sometimes do, in "Knocked Up," a funny, contemporary comedy starring Katherine Heigel as Alison the knocked up, and Ben, Seth Rogen, the knocker-upper. Judd Apatow directed this very funny look at twentysomething Americans.

This could be written off as just another puerile comedy of wayward people, but Heigl is so open and honest that she lifts it above that. And Rogen is a very natural guy, enmeshed with his fellow layabouts, waiting for their Internet porn site ships to come in.

Lots of drug use, profanity (although today profanity seems to be a quaint word) and some graphic scenes of delivering the baby.

Some critics sneered at this movie, but it is better than many and addresses an important subject with care and sympathy. Faced with the choice or abortion or delivery, Heigl makes the pro choice and makes it make sense.

Co-starring are Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd, as a married couple having problems. Mann is Heigl's sister and turns in a fine performance. Music by Loudon Wainwright III nicely captures the mood and feeling of the times.

Through all their ups and downs the lovers keep a nice pace going, even when Heigl is wearing some kind of ugly fake stomach to offer proof of her pregnancy. Rogen got the big hype for the film, but Heigl steals it away from him.

DVD is unrated and runs 2 hours and 127 minutes. Worth watching.

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