Arts & Culture Bars & Nightlife Music & Events Spotlight Fara Illich April 19, 2010

Everyone has their own favorite interests and hobbies for passing the time or stimulating their minds–movies, sports, exercise, and many other areas of pursuit.
I personally love performance art and the theater, in all of its forms: ballet, opera, plays, comedy and, of course, music. Theater is one of the main reasons I used to justify moving to Downtown Phoenix.
I have not been disappointed. This week is a perfect example and for me it’s like being a kid in a candy store. I cannot choose.
Broadway is always fun, and this week we have the opportunity to relive one of the most influential musical groups of all time, The Beatles. It may not be the real thing, but Rain, playing all week at the Orpheum Theater, can get you as close to it as humanly possible. With great reviews and a venue like that, it makes it tough to decide. Speaking of old school, The Barber of Seville will be performed by the Arizona Opera Company at Symphony Hall. It is an operatic comedy so famous even Bugs Bunny refers to its most famous of songs, “Figaro.” [Editor’s Note: Tom & Jerry also paid tribute.]
I mentioned comedy. Cheech & Chong at the Dodge Theatre can’t be anything but hilarious. They’ve been making us laugh since the 70s and I grew up laughing at them. That’s Saturday night, but if funds won’t allow, I know that the new comedy night at Ghost Lounge at Hotel San Carlos, with Ashley and her crew at 9 p.m., will give me laughs for free.
Sunday won’t leave me hanging either with National Poetry Month being celebrated at the Herberger Theater, with American Voices, at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. I can watch modern dance in the afternoon and then finish out the night with Norah Jones at the Dodge. It’s a double-header of a different sort.
Can you see my dilemma?
Now the real question is, how do I pay for it?