CATCHING UP

posted by James Reel

Hello again! I took nearly two weeks off, during which I avoided everything resembling work, including blogging. Now, the first thing I should do is catch you up on my recent contributions to the Tucson Weekly, which I wrote before sequestering myself.

First came a preview of two provocative plays; both opened this past weekend:

Two unrelated guys named Johnson—Kevin and Christopher—will soon open intimate musical-theater shows about very confused, conflicted individuals. One of the characters is a woman. The other is, well, something it would be natural to be confused and conflicted about.

The shows in question are Tell Me on a Sunday and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I’ll be posting the reviews later this week, but meanwhile you can find the preview here.

A review I do have for your perusal:

In a comedy propelled by Jewish stereotypes, the less ham, the better. James Sherman's Beau Jest is the sort of comedy that could quickly become tiresome if all its stereotypes came forth with full force. It's contrary to what you might expect, but Live Theatre Workshop's production of Beau Jest draws its brightness and energy not from fatiguing flailing and shouting, but from the cast and director's courage to underplay the goofiness and treat the characters like real people.

Read the whole thing here. And then check out my review of an eatery I would never have visited had it not been assigned, the buffet at Desert Diamond Casino:

Are you feeling lucky, punk? You've just blown your nest egg at the Desert Diamond slot machines, and your spouse is gunning for you, and rightly so. But before you skip town, you need one last meal, one that won't suck too many of your few remaining dollars from your pocket. So you thread your way through the aisles of slots and past the blackjack tables, and head to the buffet, to take your chances at coming away with a winning meal. OK, I know that a buffet is the antithesis of "winning meal" in most culinary circles: Leave the wrong kind of food in those trays too long, and it can turn dry or tough, and often, the dishes don't even start off well, because they're prepared to suit the blandest of tastes. But it is possible to get decent food at a buffet or cafeteria.

The details await you here.