THEATER
AMAZING PLACE, THIS NEW ORLEANS. True Brew Theatre, 200 Julia St., 945-6798. Roberts Batson's solo performance that brings to life the history and characters that helped shape the story of New Orleans based on his Scandal Tours. Tickets $20. Performances 5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
CHILDREN OF EDEN. Jefferson Performing Arts Center, 400 Phlox St., Metairie, 885-2000. Jefferson Performing Arts Society Children's Summer Theater production examining the ageless conflict between parents and children, with Biblical references to Adam, Eve and Noah. Michelle Pietri directs an all-children cast. Tickets $12 adults, $10 seniors and $8 students. Performances 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday.
CINDERELLA. Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré, 616 St. Peter St., 522-2081. Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical version of the fairy tale classic. Brandt Blocker directs Jaune Buisson, Bryan Wagar, Yolanda Ratcliff and Kathy Taaffe. Tickets $8. Performances 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, through Aug. 4.
DEAR EDWINA. Southern Repertory Theatre, 333 Canal St., Canal Place, third floor, 598-3800. Summer Stages Children's Theater presents the New Orleans premiere of this musical about a young teen putting on a show in her parents' garage. Perry Martin directs an all-kids cast of 8- to-13- year-olds. Tickets $12 adults, $10 children 10 and younger. Performances 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, through Aug. 4.
DIRTY BLONDE. Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré, Directors Studio, 616 St. Peter St., 522-2081. Broadway comedy-drama set in present-day New York City covering the unique and unlikely relationship of two die-hard Mae West fans. Carl Walker directs Becky Allen, Bob Edes Jr. and Charlie Owens. Tickets $26. Performances 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; through Aug. 4.
GROWN-UPS. Anthony Bean Community Theater & Acting School, 1333 Carrollton St., 862-PLAY. Bean's inaugural Youth Theater program presents the original musical from Lloyd Watts, with musical direction by Ronald Julian and starring Malisha Randolph and Cerrido Aries. Tickets $10. Performances 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday.
J.B. University of New Orleans Performing Arts Center, 280-SHOW. The UNO Theatre Workshop recreates Archibald MacLeish's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1959 play, examining in poetic verse the Biblical story of Job, set in a run-down circus tent. J Hammons directs Jane Catalenello, Scott Theriot, Jim Winter and Leonard Zanders. Tickets $8 general, $5 students and seniors. Performance 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS. Carlone's Dinner Theater, 100 N. Labarre Road, Metairie, 838-9906. Sandy Roads Productions presents Neil Simon's comedy. Dane Rhodes directs Jerry Lee Leighton, Jennifer Pagan, Ann Casey and Stacey Talliancich. Tickets $37 with dinner, $26.50 with coffee/dessert. Performances 8:15 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through July 28 (meals precede performance).
LATE NIGHT CATECHISM. Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré, Directors Studio, 616 St. Peter St., 522-2081. The "Sister" teaches an adult catechism class and alternately rewards and chastises her students. Amanda Hebert stars. Tickets $21 Thursday and Sunday, $26 Friday and Saturday. Performances 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday. Open run.
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST. Tulane University, Lupin Theater, 865-5105. Shakespeare's comedy examining the games of love resulting from the King of Navarre's ban of women from his court. Part of The Shakespeare Festival at Tulane. Aimee Michel and Clare Moncrief direct. Tickets $25 adults, $22 students and $12.50 children. Performances 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, through July 28.
MEASURE FOR MEASURE. Lupin Theatre, Tulane University, 865-5105. The Shakespeare Festival at Tulane presents lesser-known dark comedy by Shakespeare that serves as commentary on religion, sexuality and government, a feat that had it banned by the Catholic Church in the 19th century. Tickets $25 general admission, $22 students and $12.50 children. Performances 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Sunday; through Aug. 10.
MONOLOGUES AND MUSIC FOR THE MONEY, HONEY. Le Chat Noir, 715 St. Charles Ave., 581-5812. Nell Nolan Young returns to the stage to present five original monologues and five different characters. Carl Walker directs. Musical interludes and performances by Michael Harold and Dr. Quinn Peeper. Tickets $19. Performances 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
POP TARTS. The Shim Sham Club, 615 Toulouse St., 606-9903. Running with Scissors' musical parody of contemporary pop music, following the rise and fall of fictional boy band A La Mode. Written by Richard Read, Flynn De Marco and Dorian Rush and starring De Marco, Rush and Debbie Davis. Tickets $12-$15. Performances 8 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; through Aug. 4. (Reviewed in this issue.)
SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM. Times Square Center, 1320 N. Morrison Blvd., Hammond, (985) 542-6745. Columbia Players' musical review of songs by Stephen Sondheim. Directed by Carlo Giacone and Patsy Kay Turner with musical director Chuck Effler. Tickets $10 adults, $8 seniors and children. Performances 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; through Aug. 10.
SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE. Le Chat Noir, 715 St. Charles Ave., 581-5812. Storer Boone Award winner by John Grimsley and Dog and Pony Theater interprets the Stevie Wonder album. Directed by Grimsley and Natascha C. Bolden. Tickets $16. Performances 11 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday.
THE CASE OF MACBETH. Le Chat Noir, 715 St. Charles Ave., 581-5812. The Shakespeare on Trial series continues, this time with the audience as jury weighing a case for crimes committed in Macbeth. Featuring actors, Loyola Law School students and district court judges. Produced by Kara Hadigan, Dane Rhodes and Michael Sullivan. Tickets $11, law students with ID $8. Performance 8 p.m. Tuesday.
THE WONDER BREAD YEARS. North Star Theatre, 347 Gerard St., Mandeville, (985) 626-1500. Seinfeld writer Pat Hazell's one-man show looking back to the simpler times and thoughts of childhood. Tickets $24, $22 on Thursdays. Performances 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; through Aug. 10.
WHITE CLOUDS, BLACK DREAMS. St. Mark's Street Academy, 3911 Gen. Pershing St., 891-6191. Ethiopian Theater Company presents work detailing the struggles of a prominent African-American family in Washington, D.C., torn apart in the face of racial strife and awareness. Stars Lloyd J. Martin Jr., Nicole Learson, Kile Emery and Edwin King. Tickets $10 adults, $8 seniors and students, $5 groups of 10 or more. Performances 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday; through Aug. 14.
ART
Venues preceded by an asterisk are celebrating opening receptions this week. Call each space for information.
A GALLERY FOR FINE PHOTOGRAPHY 322 Royal St., 568-1313 -- Photos by Edward Curtis, through Aug. 30; photos by Jan Saudek, through Aug. 15; photos by Marion Post Wolcott, through Sept. 15.
ABITA ART GALLERY 72078 Maple St., Abita Springs, (985) 867-3323 -- Water, paintings of swamps, lakes, oceans, etc., by gallery artists, through July.
ARIODANTE 535 Julia St., 524-3233 -- Furniture by Darrin Butler; works by Haitian artist Marithou, through July.
AXELLE FINE ARTS GALERIE ROYALE 709 Royal St., 299-1666 -- New paintings by Gretchen Dow Simpson, Edgar Saillen and Jacques Godin, through Aug. 5.
BARRISTER'S GALLERY 1724 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., 525-2767 -- Displaced, group show of documentary photographs of New Orleans housing projects; group show of work by the visual arts faculty at Country Day, through July.
BREWER LANDRY GALLERY 2022 Magazine St., 522-2022 -- Paintings by Jacques Murphy; group show of folk art, through July.
BRUNNER GALLERY 215 N. Columbia St., Covington, (985) 893-0444 -- Visiting Familiar Places, paintings by Jerry Greenberg, through Aug. 3.
CAMERON JONES 2127 Magazine St., 524-3119 -- Group show by 12 local artists including George Ufford, Marcel Flisiuk, Ruth Marie Wright and Chris Clark, through July.
CAROL ROBINSON GALLERY 840 Napoleon Ave., 895-6130 -- Group show of gallery artists including Karen Jacobs and Sonia Kouyoumdjian, through July.
COLE PRATT GALLERY 3800 Magazine St., 891-6789 -- Black-and-white show of paintings, photographs, prints and sculpture, through July.
CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER 900 Camp St., 523-1216 -- When Time Stands Still, photos by David Halliday; Southern Contemporary, group show of works from the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.
DELGADO FINE ARTS GALLERY 615 City Park Ave., 483-4048 -- Wardell Picquet: Works on Paper, through Aug. 29.
D.O.C.S. 709 Camp St., 524-3936 -- Annual group exhibition, through July.
ENOCH'S FRAMING AND GALLERY 4001 Baronne St., 897-2603 -- Watercolors by Walter Anderson, oil paintings by Gustavo Trujillo, through July.
EVANS GALLERY 3815 Magazine St., 897-2688 -- Paintings by Janet McGreal, sculpture by Jason Kimes, through July.
GALERIE LAFITTE 533 St. Louis St., 524-0105 -- Paintings by Gustavo Duque, Christina Juran, and Jordan Ivanov; sculptures by Karen Cauvin Eustis; metal furniture by Herman Kron, through July.
GALERIE SIMONNE STERN 518 Julia St., 529-1118 -- Sculpture by Kevin Kennedy, new work by Nat Lakin, Mitchell Long and Emily Sartor, through July.
HANSON GALLERY 229 Royal St., 524-8211 -- Group show of gallery artists including Edward Povey and Steve Taylor, through July.
HERIARD-CIMINO GALLERY 440 Julia St., 525-7300 -- Daylight Is Dangerous, photographs by Mick Vovers; group show by gallery artists, through July.
HUBER HOUSE GALLERY 1522 St. Charles Ave., 561-0628 -- Beautiful Angels, works by Glenn Dieterich, through July.
JOHN PRODUCT GALLERY 2027 Magazine St., 581-5280 -- First Annual Going Out of Business Sale, works by Lisa C. Soto and John Product, through July.
KURT E. SCHON 510 St. Louis St., 524-5462; 523 Royal St., 523-5902 -- French Salon paintings by French artists such as Etienne-Philippe Martin, David Dellepiane, and others, through July.
LALLYBROCH 240 Pelican Ave., Old Algiers Point, 362-2226-- Paintings and shadow boxes by Jon Bright, through July.
LEMIEUX GALLERIES 332 Julia St., 522-5988 -- New paintings by Margaret Ross Tolbert, through July 27.
MARGUERITE OESTREICHER FINE ARTS 720 Julia St., 581-9253 -- Group show of 17th, 18th, and 19th century original drawings; works on paper by Austrian artist Gerhard Muller, through July.
MARIO VILLA GALLERY 3908 Magazine St., 895-8731 -- Group show of gallery artists, through August.
N.O. SCHOOL OF GLASSWORKS & PRINTMAKING STUDIO 727 Magazine St., 529-7277 -- Group show featuring work by William Gudenrath, Curtis Brock, Lauren Brown and Kerrie Partridge, through July.
POET'S GALLERY 3113 Magazine St., 899-4100 -- Photography and mixed-media retrospective by Lisa Conrad, through July.
*RHINO GALLERY 333 Canal St., Canal Place, third floor, 523-7945-- Blast from the Past, works by Sandra Blair and Lois Simbach, through Aug. 20.
RIVERBEND GALLERY 1000 S. Carrollton Ave., 862-0111 -- The art of Christian Jules LeBlanc, through July.
SOREN CHRISTENSEN 400 Julia St., 569-9501 -- Group show of gallery artists, through July.
SPACE GALLERY 4528 Magazine St., 897-9119 -- Artists and Models: Self Portraits with Collaborators, paintings by Spencer Livingston; paintings by Robyn Menzel, photographs by Jorge Quinonez, through July.
STELLA JONES GALLERY Bank One Center, 201 St. Charles Ave., 568-9050 -- Windows of the Soul, Series VI, new work by Phoebe Beasley and Helen Ramsaran, through Aug. 16.
STEVE MARTIN STUDIO/GALLERY 624 Julia St., 566-1390 -- New Abstractions, group show curated by Dan Teague, through July. (Reviewed in this issue.)
SYLVIA SCHMIDT GALLERY 400A Julia St., 522-2000 -- Works by Ken Hanning, Katherine Keller, Pamela Sun and Madeline Faust, through July.
WILLIAMS & JOSEPH GALLERY 713 Royal St., 566-7009 -- Photographs by Christopher Porche West, through August; recent work by Barrett Debusk, through October.
WYNDY MOREHEAD FINE ARTS 3926 Magazine St., 269-8333 -- Group show of gallery artists, through July.
spare spaces
1896 O'MALLEY HOUSE BED AND BREAKFAST 120 S. Pierce St., 488-5896 -- Past and current paintings by Ralph Chabaud, through August.
DANTE'S KITCHEN 736 Dante St., 861-3121-- Photography exhibit featuring work by Cheryl Gerber, Sarah Essex, Eugenie Uhl and David Spielan, through Sept. 28.
museums
HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION 533 Royal St., 523-4662; Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres St., 598-7171 -- A Visible Presence, a Legacy of Service: 275 Years of the Ursulines in New Orleans, through Dec. 14.
NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART 1 Collins Diboll Circle, City Park, 488-2631 -- A Brush With History: Portraits from the National Gallery, through Aug. 11; Eyes on the Road, group show of black-and-white photographs of highways, through August; Traditions in Elegance, rare teapots exhibit, through Aug. 11.
NEW ORLEANS PUBLIC LIBRARY 219 Loyola Ave., 596-2567 -- The Double Victory -- African Americans in World War II: Fighting on Two Fronts, through July.
OGDEN MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN ART 603 Julia St., 539-9600 -- Photos from Jack Kotz's new book, Ms. Booth's Garden, through July 26.
BOOKS
Wednesday 24
COLLECTIBLES SHOW AND TELL. Beaucoup Books, 5414 Magazine St., 895-2663. Peruse the new Miller's Collector's Guide and talk collectibles with Retroactive's Joe. (Bringing of collectibles welcome.) Vintage attire encouraged. 6:30 p.m.
Saturday 27
ALLEN SIMMS. Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 3721 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, 455-5135. Author presents the reissue of his mother's cookbook, Mrs. Simms' Fun Cooking Guide, filled with local recipes. 2 p.m.
CHARLOTTE MILLER. Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 3721 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, 455-5135. Author reads and signs Through a Glass, Darkly. 3:30 p.m.
Monday 29
CHERIE CLAIRE. East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie, 838-1100. New Orleans native and Los Angeles-based journalist Chere Dastugue Coen's pen name Cherie Claire, author of A Cajun Dream and novels in "The Acadians" series, gives lecture "Backyard Stories: Using Louisiana's Colorful History and Culture in Fiction." 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
