DEPARTURE LOUNGE

From the desk of James Reel on Friday, October 19th 2007 at 7:11

After my morning shift on KUAT-FM and an afternoon of fund-raising on KUAZ, I’m going home for some last-minute packing, then departing tomorrow morning for two weeks in Switzerland. Yes, it’s a strange time to mingle with the Swiss; the weather won’t be especially good, but it ...

HOLD THE BUS

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, October 18th 2007 at 9:28

    My theater review in the current Tucson Weekly begins like this:

    Sometimes it pays to write yourself into a corner--or at least write your characters into one. Take a small group of flawed people who have little in common. Make them interact in unexpected ways by trapping them in a ...

LEFT VS RIGHT

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, October 15th 2007 at 7:33

    Via the blog oboeinsight, I happened upon this simple visual test to determine whether one primarily uses the left or right side of the brain. I distinctly see the dancer twirling clockwise, which supposedly makes me a righty, and that's a big surprise to me; the list of attributes ...

TRUMPET COMPETITION

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, October 11th 2007 at 7:59

    Here's a press release I just received about a competition named after Caruso, but not the Caruso you probably have in mind:

    What: The 2007 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition and Gala Concert, hosted by the School of Music at The University of Arizona
    When and Where ...

MEDIA MONOPOLY

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, October 11th 2007 at 7:49

    Seems like I wrote about half of the latest Tucson Weekly, and I’m not confined to the arts section. Oh, sure, there are two theater stories, including a review of a very good Borderlands show …

    Let's dispense right away with the silly question of whether an Anglo should ...

CELEBRITY UPDATE: ME

From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, October 10th 2007 at 7:40

    In case you’re tired of reading the latest turn-of-the-screw stories about unfit actress moms and drunken TV-star drivers,, here’s a piece of my exciting life:
    Yesterday I stayed home, sickish. My wife transferred her cold to me, and on Monday I was afraid I’d be in for ...

SPANISH VIOLA

From the desk of James Reel on Friday, October 5th 2007 at 7:39

    The latest issue of Strings magazine is online, at least parts of it are, including a couple of articles by yours truly. Unless you’re a string player, you probably won’t feel compelled to read my piece all about spiccato, but please do take a look at my interview ...

VIRTUAL PHILLY

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, October 4th 2007 at 14:42

    This press release just arrived; it sounds like an interesting experiment, although it's scheduled at a time that's convenient mainly for students and retirees:

    The UA School of Music will present The Philadelphia Orchestra in a live concert multicast at Crowder Hall, Friday October 12, 2007 at 10 ...

THE "GUYS & DOLLS" GUY

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, October 4th 2007 at 7:43

    In the newest Tucson Weekly I contribute a little preview of a new local production of an old standard:

    Putting on a musical is always some sort of a gamble, literally so when the show is Guys and Dolls, about professional gamblers and the women they love.
    Redondo Music Theatre ...

TENSE CASE

From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, October 3rd 2007 at 8:44

    Does the Arizona Daily Star employ copy editors anymore? Here’s the lede from a wire story in today’s edition:

An elderly man is struck by a hit-and-run driver and as he lie there dying, thieves were making off with his groceries.

"PYGMALION" AT TOP HAT

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, October 2nd 2007 at 6:55

    Top Hat Theatre Club doesn't invite critics to its performances, because when it was starting out its artistic director decided that the company's growing pains needn't be documented online for all to see, forever. So I haven't been keeping up with what Top Hat does, but ...

ALMS FOR THE CHORUS

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, October 2nd 2007 at 6:48

    A reader sent this addendum/correction to my review of last week's Tucson Symphony concert:

The Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus is NOT a paid group. There are approximately 4 people per voice part who receive $500 per season to serve as section leaders with almost a hundred contacts of ...

LEFTOVERS: HAL HUNDLEY

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, October 1st 2007 at 10:27

    I usually have to leave at least a couple of tidbits out of the articles I write. Here are interesting quotes without a home from Hal Hundley, who runs Redondo Music Theatre, and who directed a lot of shows in Tucson in the 1970s and ’80s; now, having returned to ...