Press release from the Governor's Office, March 4, 2010:

PHOENIX – Governor Jan Brewer today announced the appointments of Jodi Bain, Edwin Biggers, Carlotta Flores, David Jones, and Alan Willenbrock to the Rio Nuevo Board of Directors.

“I am very pleased to announce the appointment of these well qualified professionals to the Rio Nuevo Board of Directors,” said Governor Brewer.  “They are highly regarded citizens who understand the critical role of accountability, oversight, and the importance of strengthening greater Tucson’s economy.”

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The event title was “The Music of Broadway,” but it could easily have been called something like “New York City Cabaret Comes to Tucson,” straight out of the incomparable Café Carlyle in New York. That’s what it really was, and it’s unfortunate that the University’s Centennial Hall was less than two-thirds full Saturday night, because what was on offer was both extraordinary and rare. I can’t imagine that this particular configuration will ever again grace another Tucson (or any other city’s) stage. The trio of artists – Marin Mazzie, Cheyenne Jackson and Christine Ebersole – transformed the familiar space into an intimate, dynamic venue for polished and thoroughly professional, charming, – and in some cases, sexy -- entertainment of the highest order. And their accompanists could not have been any better, enhancing each and every note, commanding attention in their own right.

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Maurice Grossman really exemplified the cliché “a legend in his own time,” not to mention, “larger than life.” And for a variety of different communities in Tucson, he was not just ubiquitous but probably downright irreplaceable. And yet, the arts world, the GLBT world, liberal politics, the world of ideas and theater and culture in general will now have to get along without his megawatt smile and lovingkindness, his energy and ideas, his unfailing optimism and willingness to pitch in.

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The 75-year-old Firestone building that now houses Conrad Wilde Gallery has a rich history that doesn’t necessarily reflect its background.

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The dedicated art lovers who found their way to Tooley's Coffee Shop in the Lost Barrio (showing through November 30) for the rare, once-a-year opportunity to view and purchase the work of beloved Tucsonan Francisco Franklin were not typical of those who usually attend these kinds of events.

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Some of Tucson's favorite local musicians will take their Old Pueblo sound all the way to Europe this Fall. '

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Here are seventeen suggestions I have for the Tucson City Council, with respect to Downtown Tucson:

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With so many high-voltage entertainment options to choose from, going to a poetry reading at an independent bookstore might not seem very appealing, especially when just down the street in either direction on 4^th Avenue, music is resounding from various venues like — depending on ones’ taste and possibly age — either a cacophony of noise or sweet, inviting harmonies.

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In Centennial Hall last night, a large, enthusiastic crowd of more than a thousand became enraptured as ten black-clad student actors sat with microphones and music stands holding 3-ring binders that contained their scripts, and brought The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later to vivid and mesmerizing life. Without any fanfare, a set, fancy lighting or sound effects, with only projections of oversized photos of the town and the Wyoming landscape behind them as enhancement, this troupe joined their counterparts – all of them in communication with one another – playing in 150 cities worldwide, in every state of the U.S. and abroad in Hong Kong, Madrid and Melbourne, Australia, to name only a few.

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