photographs by Barry Wisdom / Jerry Lee said his personal experience with romantic relationships wasn’t the most-likely reason that California Musical Theatre Artistic Director Glenn Casale cast him in CMT’s current production of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” The 1996 Jimmy Roberts-Joe DiPietro Off-Broadway hit, which plays the Cosmopolitan Cabaret Sept. 28 through Nov. 18, takes a look at the trials and tribulations of hooking up, from first dates to marriage vows, from in-law interference to home-buying via a series of musical vignettes. But like so many up-and-coming theater professionals, the Sacramento native’s days and nights have not been all about those meet-cutes,

Indie music ruled the night at the California State University, Sacramento Union Ballroom this past Monday. Both the opening and feature band gave the audience great performances and showed their eclectic sound. Opening the show was New Zealand group, Avalanche City, originally started as a solo project by Dave Baxter. The multi-instrumental band now includes musicians Ben Duncan, Strahan Cole, Romelei Rodriguez, Ben Tolich and Johnny Brock. From violin and accordion to banjo and ukulele, Avalanche City is anything but an ordinary band. Released in 2011, Avalanche City's debut album, “Our New Life Above The Ground,” had great success in both New Zealand and Australia. Avalanche City has

Sacramento Kings fans will have to keep holding their breath over a possible team move after a National Basketball Association official on Friday said the league needs time to learn more about the unfolding deal in Anaheim and the viability of keeping the team in the capital. The NBA Board of Governors agreed to extend the deadline for the Maloofs’ request to move until May 2. On Thursday, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and San Francisco investor Darius Anderson told NBA team owners that billionaire Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle is leading a plan to buy the Kings or help bring another pro basketball team here if the Kings leave. Johnson also said he and business leaders have r

You should be just about mended back to health from your New Year’s hangover, so come to Harlow’s on Jan. 2 for another night to party and stave off that post-holiday depression for a few more hours.   Call it ska, call it reggae, call it jazz, call it what you will: The Slackers are bringing it all to Harlow’s on J Street Sunday night. This year makes 20 that the Brooklyn-born sextet has been rocking-steady both the east and west coasts, and now we get a taste of the slackness here in Sacramento.  Tickets are $12 at the door. Show starts at 8 p.m http://www.theslackers.com/ http://www.myspace.com/theslackers  

Fifteen semi-trailers for sound stage, all bedecked in red and white, brought Radio City Music Hall's Rockettes to Sacramento. Wedensday, the Rockettes went out to dance in Sacramento for Christmas on a national 35-city tour. Right as the red curtains went up, the crowd started buzzing, and they were off, first the legs, then the whole row of dancers came out to give the crowd what it was waiting for. With a cheesy Santa cheering up the crowd and the dancers dressed as reindeer in glowing antlers, the show began. The sound stage and setup were two of the most spectacular parts about the show, from LED projection screens giving a history of the Rockettes and their time with Radio City Mu

Three hundred and forty three Sacramento area firefighters climbed 110 flights of stairs early Saturday morning in honor of the 343 firefighters who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. The second annual Sacramento 9/11 Memorial Climb was held at the 28-story Renaissance Tower on 8th and K. Fire departments representing cities including Sacramento, Davis, El Cerrito, Placerville and Vacaville participated. Climbers made four ascents: three from the basement to the 26th floor, and a final ascent from the basement to the roof, bringing the total number of floors climbed to 110, the same number of floors in each of the towers of the World Trade Center

        Think back to your freshman year of high school.  Imagine you just went through an especially excruciating day of what was surely an excruciating year.  You slept through first period, missed a quiz, got pantsed on the green (or a comparable humiliation), your crush pointed out that you had a "bat in the cave," and everybody laughed at you . . . you get the idea. Murphy saw your day, and was so moved, that he wrote a law to commemorate it.               Fourteen-year-old you somehow made it through this day from Hell.  You got home, got to your room, locked your door and laid on your bed, overwhelmed with a soul-crushing angst that only a 14-year-old can feel.                You

In the hot Sacramento summer, knowing how to make ice cream may come in handy when trying to cool off. Thankfully, that’s exactly what was on the agenda for Ginger Elizabeth Hahn’s summer class last Saturday. Thirty-five students gathered at Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates — Hahn’s boutique — which offers classes for $35 per person. The class was located at the 1818 L St. Lofts penthouse kitchen across the street. Hahn, a chocolatier, taught two sold-out classes that day. She first told the class of her training, which includes the Culinary Institute of America in New York. She has worked with world-renowned chocolatiers such as Jacques Torres and pastry chef En-Ming Hsu and had the chance

Sacramento Kings fans can buy a package for "Skater Night" on April 10, promoting the Maloof Money Cup. For $49, fans get two tickets worth $40.50 each to watch the Kings take on Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks, meet professional skaters Ryan Sheckler, Brandon Biebel and Steve Caballero, and the choice of a Biebel skteboard deck by GIRL or Maloof Money Cup hat by Neff. Fans are invited to bring their skateboards to the outdoor miniskate park before the game, starting at 4 p.m. Skater-themed prizes will be awarded throughout the evening, including a trip to the Maloof Money Cup in Costa Mesa in August. The Cup, created by Kings co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, is an annual skateboa

"Rent: The Broadway Tour" stopped in Sacramento Wednesday night, bringing a slice of New York to the Community Center Theatre. An audience of over 2,000 sang along, hollered and gave a standing ovation to the play, which featured the male leads from the original Broadway cast, Adam Pascal (as Roger Davis) and Anthony Rapp (as Mark Cohen). Led by poignant performances by Pascal and Rapp, the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama featured powerful acting, dancing and singing. Watching the play was like viewing a prototypical hip-hop song come to life, describing characters in an urban New York City neighborhood dealing with a mosaic of issues including AIDS, drugs and homelessness.

Mayor Kevin Johnson announced he would be travelling everywhere from Sacramento Elementary Schools to New York City in a press conference Tuesday. Johnson made it clear that education is on his long term agenda. Johnson visited Oak Ridge and Sequoia elementary schools for their first day of school Tuesday to participate in back-to-school rallies. He also announced his desire to take a more active role in schools, perhaps even creating an "education liaison" position. The position would help work on five issues of reform for city's schools announced in his recent White Paper Document: improving school accountability, increasing school choices, supporting educators, engaging and empowering