Arts and Entertainment

Don't miss the Blanchette School of Irish Dance's Celtic Christmas on Dec. 13, 2014, 7 p.m. in the MHJ Black Box Theater at the Brewery Arts Center. Tickets are $8 for BAC members, $10 in advance, $15 at the door. You can purchase tickets online here.

Carson City sound system DJ Justin Thistle is now featuring a new interactive mobile event called “The Incredible Game Show” that he hopes will become all the rage at events and parties for his clients.

Thistle owns and operates the mobile company Justincredible DJ Entertainment covering Carson City, Lake Tahoe and Northern Nevada. His new technology follows the authentic stylings of popular television game shows such as “Jeopardy,” “Family Feud,” “Minute to Win It,” and “Who wants to be a Millionaire?”

Happy Holidays! It is wine walk time again. Held the first Saturday of every month from 1 to 5 p.m. this Carson City Downtown Business Association Wine Walk is the last one of 2014. New this month is a redesigned map highlighting various business stops and local shops participating throughout downtown Carson City.

Hello, Carson City! The holiday season is in full swing with tree lightings, craft fairs, Santa sightings all around the area. Every week, I create a list of the fun stuff and events going on around the Carson City area for my Facebook page, I love Carson City. I follow the pages of local businesses and organizations, search website calendars, keep my ear to the ground, and compile a list of anything and everything going on in this community.

The Mile High Jazz Band and vocalists Cindee LeVal, Jakki Ford, June Joplin, and Scott LeVal, will be joined by Rita Geil and other award-winning poets and readers for an evening of big-band jazz and poetry on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., at Comma Coffee. General admission is $5 at the door, and free for age 18 and under.

Comma Coffee, 312 S. Carson Street, is across the street from the state legislature building in Carson City.

With the holiday season now in full swing, it’s only appropriate that the Reno Jazz Orchestra (RJO) brings Jazz for the Holidays to northern Nevada for all to enjoy on December 20, 2014 at The Nightingale Hall - University of Nevada. Accompanying the 17 piece band of the RJO is award-winning jazz vocalist Madeline Eastman, international tap and ballet stars, the Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra, and other special guests who will all perform their holiday magic on Saturday night beginning at 7:30 pm.

All Jazz fans, Jazz musicians and past Plan:b supporters, please mark your calendars for Saturday, Dec. 6. Regular past PB hosts, Cherie and John Shipley and Neil Strocchio will reunite to present a fun Jazz Jam reunion at the Carson City Brewery Arts Center in the "Front Room" of the Black Box.

The Black Box is a hip intimate theater area in BAC. Cherie has helped create a "jazzy bar lounge", designed specifically for this event.

Since joining the Brewery Arts Center a month ago, I've had the pleasure of enjoying some memorable performances at the Maize Harris Jesse Black Box Theater. It left me wondering what took me so long to get on the BAC bandwagon.

First there were the haunting Celtic airs of kilted bagpipe player Sean Cummings, accompanied by harpist Anne Roos.

Tonight Bobby Parks Band, with special opening guest Stig and Nick, kicks off a month of giving with a free weekday concert at The Blue Bull, located at 107 East Telegraph Street in downtown Carson City. The show kicks off at 6:00 p.m. and ends at 9:00 p.m., enough time to party, sleep, and get to work in the morning.

Ring in the New Year early during a fun-filled New York New Year’s Eve Celebration at the Carson Plaza Event Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31 from 6 to 10 p.m.

Join the Friends of the Carson City Library and the Library Foundation for a delicious buffet dinner, dancing, no host cocktails, live and silent auctions, raffle, and a balloon drop with a champagne toast to bring in the new year on New York time.

It's a Holiday Treat for all: A feast of seasonal and holiday entertainment in many styles. The Carson City Symphony presents the 31st annual Holiday Treat concert on Sunday, December 14, 4 p.m., at the Bob Boldrick Theater in the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William Street.

Santa and elves, reindeer, See's Candies, Hickory Farms, handmade crafts and unique vendors. Over 200 pieces of framed western art including Bev Doolittle and Michael Goddard. You can find hand crafted items. Sweaters, animal hats, personalized wine glasses and ornaments, jewelry and more. Marilyn Monroe framed photographs, blankets and hoodies are available. Himalayan salt lamps and salt products. Craft fair hours Monday to Saturday 9am to 9pm. Sunday 10am to 6 pm. Now till Christmas Eve.

The region's finest Nevada-made art will be featured Saturday, Dec. 6 at St. Mary’s Art Center in Virginia City with its first Artists and Artisans Art Faire on the Comstock.

Not only will all galleries be filled with art, the entire building will be full of local artists and creative folk from all over the Comstock region, showing and selling their work. The faire will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The art works range in style, medium, size and price from $5 to $8,000, so there will be something for everyone’s holiday shopping budget.

Black Friday may be reserved for football games, leftovers and after Thanksgiving holiday shopping but in downtown Carson City, blades, hot chocolate and holiday music were the orders of the day for teens and families at the opening day of Arlington Square Skating Rink in Carson City.

Reno and Carson City-based Americana/roots band Notch 8 have released a live album recorded at Reno’s Midtown Wine Bar. The complete release can be downloaded free (or a donation) today, Black Friday. After today the release will be sold for $7.

Fans are encouraged download it today for free (or a donation) direct from the band’s Bandcamp page here.

Happy Black Friday, Carson City! I hope you have all survived the gluttony and gratitude that is Thanksgiving and are ready for the weekend. I am once again pleased to bring you the event list that is featured on my Facebook page, I love Carson City. I follow the pages of local businesses and organizations, search website calendars, and compile a list of anything and everything going on in this community weekly.

Strings in the Schools, Carson City Symphony's after-school program, presents its fifth annual "This is Not a Christmas Concert" on Tuesday, December 2, 6:30 p.m. at the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St., Carson City.

Nearly 100 string players, including Carson City public, private, and home-schooled students, and students from surrounding areas, will perform several pieces, from classics to folk and fiddle tunes, from Baroque music by Arcangelo Corelli to jazz tunes by Duke Ellington. Admission is free.

Join the Carson City Classic Cinema Club on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at Red's Old 395 Grill for a screening of "Holiday Affair."
Just before Christmas, department store clerk Steve Mason meets big spending customer Connie Ennis, really a commercial spy. He unmasks her but lets her go, which gets him fired. They end up on a date, which doesn’t sit well with Connie’s steady suitor, Carl, but delights her son Timmy, who doesn’t want Carl for a step-dad. Starring Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh.

The Carson Chamber Singers, directed by Michael Langham, continues its 30th season with a pair of Christmas concerts in Reno and Sacramento. The first concert will be on Friday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 200 Island Ave. in Reno.

The program will be repeated in Sacramento on Sunday, December 7, at 7 p.m., at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, 2391 St. Marks Way. For the Sunday concert, the St. Mark's Chancel Choir and the St. Mark's Singers will join in performance with the Carson Chamber Singers.

Get in the holiday spirit with the Reno Philharmonic’s classic holiday celebration, Spirit of the Season, Dec. 6 and 7 at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts. An annual audience favorite for the whole family, Spirit of the Season features the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, northern Nevada’s largest performing arts organization, and special guests to create a variety show-style concert like no other.

Santa Claus is spending two weekends at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City aboard the train Dec. 13-14, 20-21 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. New for 2014, advance tickets are on sale to allow priority boarding on a scheduled day.

Seventy-five budding artists from kindergarten through grade 12 entered their art work into an annual contest recently as part of Carson City's annual Silver and Snowflake Festival of Lights.

Each year, the teen board of the Carson City Library chooses a theme to coincide with the Christmas holidays. This year’s theme was “A Novel Christmas,” asking children to draw what Christmas would look like in their favorite novels.

Perennial holiday favorite “The Nutcracker” returns to Carson City by the Pinkerton Ballet Theatre Thanksgiving weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 28-30. Featuring Erica Chipp of the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Maykel Solas as Cavalier, this 26th year of performances is not to be missed.

The Traditional American Music Project and The Brewery Arts Center present "Strange on the Range" Saturday, Nov. 29, 7 p.m. in the MHJ Black Box Theater in Carson City.

Hello Carson City! Time again for the weekend event update brought to you by I love Carson City. I Love Carson City is a Facebook page dedicated to all there is to get involved with and do in the Carson City area. Not everyone is on Facebook, or wants to be, but you do NOT need to sign up to see the information.

Western Nevada Musical Theatre Company’s production of “My Fair Lady” has been hugely successful playing to nearly sold out consecutive shows.
The Reno News and Review gives it five stars: "Fortunately, this production’s lush settings, gorgeous costumes, impressive choreography and talented performers all combine for a show that does everything right."
Three shows remain before the final curtain closes on Sunday, Nov. 23. The shows are in the Bob Boldrick Theater at the Carson City Community Center.

Looking to put some local arts and crafts into your Christmas giving list? Carson High’s 20th annual Holiday Craft Fair continues today, Saturday, Nov. 22 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will be the best one yet with lots of new vendors as well as all your favorites. Come spend some time – great food, entertainment, a raffle, Santa, book sale, and of course, amazing and unique gifts for everyone.

Madcap on-screen adventure films and non-stop, on-stage party action arrive at MontBleu Resort, Casino & Spa with the 13th annual Tahoe Adventure Film Festival, Saturday, Dec. 13.

Designed to capture the intensity and passion of free-spirited outdoor adventure, the cult event provides mountaintop cliffhangers and enough high-energy entertainment between showings to ignite fervor for the New Year.

Tickets are $20 and $25 in advance and $25 to $30 the night of the show, plus fees. Available at the Box Office and Ticketmaster.com.

The Sierra Nevada Ballet will present the popular “Peanutcracker – The Story in a Nut Shell” on Dec. 6 in the Bob Boldrick Theater in the Carson City Community Center at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Based on Lev Ivanov‘s original ballet “The Nutcracker,” Peanutcracker is a shorter, 45-minute narrated version that is “designed for families with younger children to introduce them to the wonderful world of ballet,” noted Rosine Bena, Artistic Director of the Sierra Nevada Ballet who wrote and choreographed this traditional holiday show.

Join us as we explore and enjoy the harvest of Churchill Vineyards of Fallon, Nevada.
Ashley Frey, Co-Founder, will be our guest as we dine on the special selections expertly prepared by Sierra Gourmet Grill & Wine Bar Chef and Owner Larry Rice.

Our Menu for this special evening includes:

• Local Artisan Cheeses
• Grilled Romaine Hearts with a warm Bacon Dressing
• Grilled Filet Mignon
• Grilled Lobster Tail
• Chef's Surprise for Dessert

RSVP (775) 392-2370 $45 per person