Theater and music abound in Carson City

It's a good weekend for theater-going, with two fine shows in town. At the Brewery Arts Center, it's the final weekend of the comedy "The Foreigner," and at the Community Center, it's also the last fling of "Crazy For You."

"Foreigner" is a fine comedy, with lots of mugging and sharp talking. "Crazy" is a collection of George and Ira Gershwin songs that will ring bells and prompt you to sing in the shower. But you won't do it as well as the cast does. Joshua Jessup and Michele Freeman star, and they glitter nicely.

"The Foreigner" runs 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Brewery Arts Center, 449 W. King St. Tickets are $10 PPI/BAC members, seniors and students; $12 general admission. Call 883-1976.

"Crazy For You" runs 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St. Call 445-4249.

SILVER SOUNDS

Despite the fact that the Silver Strings quartet has been playing around Carson City since 2000, the name did not trigger a reaction from me when I noticed it in The Agenda calendar. Somehow Silver Strings suggested a family pop group.

Wrong.

This is a string quartet, that most rigorous and demanding of musical groups. In a string quartet, there's no hiding miscues. With only four voices, there's no massed bank of strings to hide goofs.

The quartet - Ginny Tilton and Elinor Bugli, violins; Sue Kitts, viola; and Vicky Sweet, cello - presented a concert Sunday night at the Brewery's Performance Hall. Not very well attended (sadly), it was still a night of excellent music, from Vivaldi to Mozart, wonderfully performed. There was even some nice Gershwin, "Lullaby," not the most familiar of George's works.

The Strings were joined by classical guitarists Mischa Zawaski and Michah Dunn and clarinetist Tony Chieffo for the Mozart Quintet, a charming piece in which the clarinet seems to take command.

The four women all are involved in many musical matters around Carson. Keep an eye out for their next performance Oct. 16 at the Children's Museum. It's free, and if you don't know string quartet music, this is a painless way to learn about it.

MORE GOOD MUSIC

Saturday, pianist John Nilsen presents a concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Brewery Arts Performance Hall, 511 W. King St. Nilsen has built a reputation as a player of jazz, soft rock and a lot of other kinds of music. Tickets are $15 general, $12 BAC members, seniors and students. Optional early seating for additional $3. Call 883-1976.

BURNING MAN REDUX

I know, it's over for a year, but Appeal columnist Guy W. Farmer brought me a copy of a Rolling Stone magazine article about The Man, which was unintentionally funny. Author Matt Taibbi didn't think much of the event, but wrote about it at length.

Reminded me of my youth, when I kept trying to tell the world it had 24 hours to shape up. Anyhow, I have no quarrel with his opinions, although I didn't see the event he described early on about a woman and a mirror, but I think he did miss the point of the thing.

It was just supposed to be fun, not a great philosophical trip. "Stressed-out yuppies to get naked and take a lot of drugs"? Gee, I I didn't think those sharp New York types still used words like "yuppies." I know they don't use such words as "playa," since Taibbi seemed to think it was a Burning Man creation.