August Wilson's "Two Trains Running" has been one of the great playwright's less performed works but one of his most intimate.
Celebration Arts tonight opens its new production of the Pulitzer- and Tony Award-nominated 1992 drama.
The play is set in 1969 in a Pittsburgh diner that is about to be demolished. The characters who gather there show a general unease with the history happening to them and around them.
"Two Trains Running" is the seventh play in Wilson's 10-part series, The Pittsburgh Cycle, chronicling the experiences of African Americans decade by decade.
Rob Anthony Gray, William Ellerbee, Patrick Council, Tisha Hill-Smith, DeAngelo Mack and Romann Hodge make up the cast. James Wheatley directs.
At Celebration Arts, 4469 D St., Sacramento. 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 12. Tickets are $15 general and $13 for students and seniors. Thursday seats are $8. Tickets online at mycommunityevents.com. Call (916) 455-2787 for other information and reservations.
Final curtain
It's the last weekend for the "criss-cross" of Patricia Highsmith's suspenseful thriller, "Strangers on a Train."
Two men casually discuss how they might exchange murders, each killing someone for the other so there would be no motive involved for the police to investigate. Though it seems like a joke to one of them (very funny), the other one is – how do you say – deadly serious.
Alfred Hitchcock made one of his greatest films from the 1950 novel, and here it's transferred to the stage with Eason Donner as Bruno Anthony, who's not kidding around, and Dan Fagan as Guy Haines, who would rather do the right thing. Presented by Actor's Theatre of Sacramento with Nancy Martis, Anna Shah, Matt Moore and Sean Williams also in the cast. Elisabeth Nunziato directs.
8 p.m. today and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday (last show) at The Space in California Stage, 25th and R streets, Sacramento. Tickets are $15. Call (916) 501-6104 for more information.
Call it what you will
As much as anything the contemporary jazz movement pushed discussions about "what is jazz?"
Well, jazz is definitely an improvisational music based on the blues developed in the United States with African origins.
From there we can have a conceptual free-for-all about the various elements and what makes what authentic. The players in the longstanding contemporary jazz band Fourplay have likely heard it all.
Bob James, Nathan East, Harvey Mason and Chuck Loeb are all accomplished professional musicians who know exactly what they're doing when they hit the bandstand.
Keyboardist and producer James has played all types of jazz since beginning his career in the 1960s. Drummer Mason has played with Herbie Hancock's most popular bands and recorded with both Barbra Streisand and Notorious B.I.G (now there's a great duet concept album), bassist East has backed artists ranging from Barry White to Eric Clapton.
So, Fourplay, contemporary jazz? Discuss among yourselves. Fourplay performs at Radisson Hotel Sacramento Grove, 500 Leisure Lane, at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call (800) 595-4849 or go to www.huskyshows.com
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Call The Bee's Marcus Crowder at (916) 321-1120.
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