There’s something about spring that makes you want to slip out of that couch cocoon, dress up just a little, and go have an experience. Those in charge of local stages know this, and they’ve loaded up their spring schedules with plenty of performances for whatever experience you crave—a Greek or Renaissance classic, a modern-day musical, a beloved ballet or a brave new work.
Through May, Northern Nevada’s performing arts schedule is a hive of activity, so here’s your chance to see what all the buzz is about.
Reno
Ageless Repertory Theatre
On a spring weekday afternoon, why not take an afternoon off and catch a free show? Reno’s readers’ theater troupe offers free (donations encouraged) performances on select Tuesday and Friday afternoons at 1 p.m. all year long. This month, it’s Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite, a romantic comedy about three couples who stay in the same hotel suite, at different times, and the dramas that unfold there. Catch it on Friday, March 13.
In April, it’s Splitting Issues, a collection of nine comedic sketches by Sam Bobrick about relationships, on April 14 and 17.
Then on May 5 and 8, looks for James Yaffe’s Cliffhanger, a thriller about a mild-mannered professor of philosophy who’s driven to apparent murder to protect his reputation and career.
www.renolittletheater.org/art-at-rlt
A.V.A. Ballet Theatre
Tchaikovsky’s quintessential ballet, Swan Lake, returns to Reno’s Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday and Sunday, April 11 and 12, with all its romance, magic and remarkable 32 fouettés—the fast, whipping turns performed in succession that never fail to thrill audiences. Alexander Van Alstyne’s dancers will be backed by the Reno Philharmonic, led by conductor Laura Jackson, with professional dancers in lead roles. Tickets can be purchased on the Pioneer’s website (pioneercenter.com).
Brüka Theatre
We’re in the midst of Brüka’s 32nd, Wild Card-themed season, and the spring productions show it lives up to the name.
Currently running through March 21 is Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the Bard’s magical, mysterious story set on a remote island after a storm-tossed ship crashes there. It features a magician, a monster and a spirit, and this Brüka adaptation by longtime partner and friend Dave Anderson uses the original script, but with an otherworldly, psychedelic vibe reminiscent of ’60s and ’70s sci-fi. Brüka’s standard couches-on-risers proscenium-style seating are exchanged for a thrust in which the stage juts out, enabling viewers on three sides of the action.
Also kicking off this month is Brüka Theatre for Children’s touring original production (in collaboration with The Pioneer Center), The Sporkels League: A Hero’s Adventure, about a group of awkward superheroes—with superhero traits that root from values—who try to solve problems for kids. Though most performances will take place in schools and libraries, follow Brüka’s website and social media for a public performance date at Brüka.
Then, April 10-25, the Nevada premiere of Heidi Schreck’s award-winning play What the Constitution Means to Me hits the Brüka mainstage, timed just before America’s 250th birthday this summer. It centers on the playwright’s own 15-year-old self and the time she earned her college tuition by winning constitutional debate competitions around the country.
Hot on Constitution’s heels is The Lark, May 15-31. It’s the 1952 dramatization of the life and trial of Joan of Arc—a play within a play that explores key moments in Joan’s life, leading up to and following the siege of Orléans and the sentence of death that led her to be burned at the stake.
Amid all the show excitement, Brüka’s next-door space, Studio 44, is open to the public. It houses the theater’s box office, Brüka merchandise sales and an ever-growing library of theatrical books and plays that can be read on site, checked out or even purchased. The Brüka team also hosts receptions and readings there, and it’s open for community members to rent for events.
Firebird Light Opera
Reno’s only opera company will present Love? this Friday through Sunday, March 13-15, at the National Automobile Museum. The production will feature a showcase of romantic opera and Broadway songs that focus on various aspects of love, with scenes set in a 1940s lounge where people are meeting, mingling and, of course, gossiping.
Good Luck Macbeth
GLM’s partnership with Reno Little Theater is still in its infancy, but so far, being a dynamic duo packs a promotional punch that’s mutually beneficial. Still, GLM’s signature bold, individualistic style remains. Angelo “Lily” Perez’s original Murder Mystery at the Mother Regina now has a sequel, Murder Mystery at the Heebie Jeebie JuiceBox Company, running March 20-April 4. In this one, Det. Dela Cruz travels to the faraway land of Gunnison, Colo., where he encounters the suspicious employees of the Heebie Jeebie JuiceBox Company, each of whom has their own secrets. The GLM team promises this to be a meaner, bloodier installment in the campy mystery series.
On Saturday, May 30, GLM and RLT together present The 24 Hour Plays, which bring together creative communities to produce plays written, rehearsed and performed in 24 hours’ time. The performances take place at GLM.
Reno Dance Company
Experience a cultural infusion with RDC’s spring showcase on Tuesday, May 5, Rhythm of the Night at the Pioneer Center. The show will feature music from around the world—French, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin—as well as varieties here in the United States, from country to swing and pop. RDC is also excited to bring Reno-bred, Los Angeles-based vocalist Therese Curatolo, who has opened for the likes of Postmodern Jukebox and Benson Boone, to the stage as part of this show. Tickets should be available soon on the Pioneer’s website (pioneercenter.com).
Find Reno Dance Company on Facebook or Instagram.
Reno Little Theater
For those who would prefer a quieter, issue-driven play, check out Sarah Treem’s When We Were Young and Unafraid at RLT March 27-April 12. It’s a drama set in 1972 at a quiet bed and breakfast in Western Washington that’s intended to be a refuge for victims of domestic violence—until one of them begins to have an influence on the proprietor’s daughter.
The all-teenage cast made up of students from RLT’s Broadway Our Way program will perform in Urinetown, the Musical May 1-10. It’s a hilarious musical satire of … oh, well, pretty much everything: the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, environmental collapse, privatization of natural resources, bureaucracy, municipal politics and musical theater itself.
Rounding out the spring is RLT’s next mainstage show, Sweat, about a group of friends who work together on a factory floor by day and share drinks and laughs at night—until layoffs and picket lines pit them against each other. It runs May 29-June 14.
Northern Nevada Performing Arts Collective
This collective of performing arts companies—Steinway Piano Gallery, Sierra Nevada Ballet, and Sierra School of Performing Arts—will host an open house on Sunday, May 31, featuring performances from all three as a fundraiser for the collective. Attendees should RSVP ahead of time by calling 775-360-8663, as seating is limited.
Individually, look for SNB’s upcoming, ticketed production of Peter and the Wolf on Saturday, April 25, at the collective at 500 Moana Lane.
Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts
The Pioneer, Reno’s home for local, regional and national performing arts productions, has a jam-packed roster this spring, with shows every weekend.
It all starts with three performances of Paw Patrol Live on March 14 and 15, which brings the popular cartoon to life on stage.
That’s followed on March 21 and 22 with the Reno Phil’s Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, featuring Brazilian violin soloist Nathan Amaral, before pivoting quickly to the national tour of The Notebook, a musical adapted from the tear-jerker Nicholas Sparks’ novel and subsequent film, running March 24-29, featuring music by Ingrid Michaelson.
Spanish guitarist Benise takes the stage Saturday, April 4, just before AVA Ballet’s Swan Lake on the 11th and 12th. The following weekend, April 17-19, the Reno Phil concludes its Classix Series with three performances of Carmina Burana, an epic show that will also feature the Reno Philharmonic Chorus and guest soloists.
Did you know the Pioneer Center offers a free Family Series each year? The second and third shows for families will take place this spring, with Piano Heist coming Saturday, April 25. This duo, Nico Rhodes and Patrick Courtin, builds exhilarating shows that blend theatrical magic, humor, audience engagement and storytelling, all while performing piano masterpieces ranging from classics to boogie-woogie and ’80s synthesizer tunes.
The third in the series takes place Saturday, May 2, with Molodi Live!, a high-energy body percussion ensemble influenced by global rhythms that blends stepping, poetry and interactive storytelling.
Reno Phil brings its own freebie show to the Pioneer on Saturday, May 9. The Orchestra Moves is a fun family concert designed to get audiences up out of their seats with interactive moments and creative movement activities. Then the Reno Phil returns the following weekend, on Saturday, May 16, with Movies With the Maestro. Laura Jackson conducts this performance of some of the greatest film soundtracks of all time, from The Magnificent Seven to Titanic, The Avengers and more.
On Friday, May 22, the Pioneer will welcome Ballets Jazz Montreal’s Dance Me: The Music of Leonard Cohen to the stage, featuring choreography that puts movement to Cohen’s legendary songs and poetry.
Spring ends on a corny note: The national Broadway tour of Shucked will appear May 26-31. It’s the story of a girl who leaves her small hometown in search of love, only to find her way back home. But imagine it told as basically a series of dad jokes.
TheatreWorks of Northern Nevada
There’s nothing like a dose of nostalgia to make everything right. TWNN, Reno’s teaching theater, is providing the nostalgia you crave right now through Sunday, March 15, with The Boxcar Children. Based on the beloved American classic children’s book, it’s the story of four orphan siblings who decide to run away from the grandfather they feel is too cruel and build themselves a makeshift home in an old train boxcar.
Truckee Meadows Community College Performing Arts
TMCC Performing Arts has a head of steam as it looks ahead to a brand-new, 18,500-square-foot, 250-seat EastView Theater building, slated to open (fingers crossed) in late this year. In the meantime, theater students are taking on more ambitious works, like Vinecia Coleman’s Christiana Lysistrata, April 16-25, which will be presented at the TMCC Performance Lab. Set in Medieval times, it tells of how Lysistrata hopes to stop an upcoming Crusade battle that the men in her village want, so she uses the Bible to get the women in her village to stop having sex as a pressure tactic.
On May 7-9, the dance department will present its spring dance concert, Passage, which will feature new works created by TMCC faculty and guest choreographers.
Then the music department rounds out the season with two concerts. First, on Tuesday, May 12, is the Spring Concert Winds Performance, conducted by Rachael Cowell, at North Valleys High School. That’s followed on Saturday, May 13. with Echoes of Our Experience: A Journey Through American Folk, a choral concert that shares a tapestry of American folk music from regions around the country, at First Congregational Church.
www.tmcc.edu/visual-performing-arts/performance-schedule
University of Nevada, Reno, Department of Theatre and Dance
The UNR theater and music students are currently in production of Bat Boy: The Musical, a big, beautiful, batty musical inspired by a 1992 Weekly World News tabloid headline, which runs through this Sunday, March 15. (See my review here.)
Next month, UNR presents Taylor Mac’s Hir, directed by Sandy Neace. It’s a dysfunctional family dramedy (for ages 16+) about a young man who returns from war to help care for his ailing father, only to find a mother recently liberated from her oppressive marriage and a newly out transgender sibling. It runs April 10-19 at the Redfield Studio Theatre.
The spring season wraps up with the Spring Dance Concert, April 30-May 2, showcasing new choreography by faculty and guest artists with performances by UNR dance students.
Sparks
Kevin and Caruso
With almost a year under their belts at The Nugget’s Celebrity Showroom, Kevin and Caruso are continuing their magic/dance/acrobatic/musical extravaganza Magique most nights through 2028. The team continues shaking up the show with new acts, so it’s worth a second look.
www.cnty.com/nugget/entertainment/magique
Restless Artists Theatre
At press time, RAT’s schedule for spring was still in flux, but according to managing artistic Director Doug Mishler, audiences can look forward to one of Mishler’s celebrated Chautauqua performances as explorer William Clark in late March. Also slated for the last weekend of March is a performance by magician Tesia Jankowski as Mr. Ow, performing the signature, playful, semi-autobiographical magic show that she’s bringing to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer.
On April 10-20, RAT will present Qualities of Starlight, about a young cosmologist who brings his wife home to his tiny trailer in South Georgia to share news about an impending adoption, only to discover that his aging parents are addicted to meth.
Then, May 15-25, comes another dysfunctional family story—this one is Swing State, a play set in rural Wisconsin, where tensions are rising after an out-of-state power company starts accumulating local farmland.
Carson City/Carson Valley
Carson Valley Community Theatre
This little community theater company has big dreams. As company president and producer Cori Rosa explains, CVCT has built a small-but-loyal following doing “mom and pop shows” with successful runs. But last summer, when the composition of the company’s board changed, there was a desire to aim higher. Director Renee Kaldor pushed for Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd.
The news drew the company’s largest crop of auditioning actors, resulting in a cast of 17, including Rosa’s own daughter, Tully, who has frequently appeared in shows at RLT, GLM and Brüka, among others. The show runs through Sunday, March 22, at the CVIC Hall in Minden; and it may be the beginning of a new age for the company.
CVCT also has launched free, drop-in improv workshops that meet on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month in The Annex on Highway 395 in Minden at 6:30 p.m.
www.carsonvalleycommunitytheatre.org
Proscenium Players, Inc.
PPI is offering up a biting comedy this spring to end its 60th anniversary season with a bang. Little Shop of Horrors, runs May 22-June 7 at the Brewery Arts Center, continuing the Diamond Celebration season’s theme of repeating audience-choice productions. The company, which is frequently recognized for its impressive set designs, will opt for a handmade, giant plant for the role of Audrey II, as well as a transforming set that will spin to reveal new settings.
Also, talks are still ongoing, but follow PPI for a potential announcement about special performances in Virginia City sometime in May.
Carson City folks have another source of free improv training in PPI—Thursday evenings at 6 p.m. at the BAC, with opportunities coming for additional classes in theater specialties.
Western Nevada Musical Theatre Company
This year will mark the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, and programming throughout the arts world will be focusing on honoring the lives lost on that tragic day, including at WNMTC, which will bring Come From Away to Carson City for 10 performances, May 8-17.This moving musical inspired by real stories introduces us to the individual lives affected by the day’s events from the perspectives of residents in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland—the place where numerous flights were forced to land when U.S. airspace was closed. The play is presented without interruption, save for only two pauses for applause. Early tickets sales have been strong for this one, so plan to buy yours early.
Wild Horse Children’s Theater
Carson City’s children’s theater company will present Madagascar–A Musical Adventure JR. from April 17-26. The musical follows the same beloved creatures from the animated film who sneak out of the Central Park Zoo and wind up in a foreign land. Look for innovative costuming and set design as well as a DJ dance party to “I Like to Move It,” all in an abridged performance of about an hour, just right for little audiences.