Mar 3 - Mar 11
by Buzzard
March 4, 2010

Joshua Tree Chamber of Commerce Relocates to Hallee Road. The Joshua Tree Chamber of Commerce opens the doors to its new home at 6448 Hallee Road, Ste. 9/10, in February. The new space, across the street from the Joshua Tree Post Office, offers easy access from Highway 62 and ample parking. A large, airy visitor reception area will soon be stocked with information on lodging, dining, shopping, art and music, local businesses and attractions, and Joshua Tree National Park. A conference room, private executive office and generous workspace for staff and volunteers assure that the new Chamber headquarters will be a hub of activity for the local business community.

Theatre 29 has announced auditions for “Aesop’s Oh So Slightly Updated Fables” by Kim Esop Wylie. Auditions for the cast and those interested in working backstage as the stage crew will be held on Monday, March 15th at 6:30 p.m. at the John Calveri Theater of Theatre 29 at 73637 Sullivan Road in Twentynine Palms, California. The Directors encourage all ages of both new and experienced talent to audition.

Readings and more information can be found online at Theatre29.com. In the production, Six of Aesop’s most famous fables are woven into a show that is fast paced, sometimes with slapstick, but still with wisdom. Fables including “The dog and the bone”, “The Lion and the Mouse”, “The hare and the tortoise” and other traditional family favorites. Some have been updated to refer to more modern life. These tales all have an important moral but are also full of comic undertones which will delight kids and adults of all ages.

The Wanless’ are looking for performers to be a butcher, some chickens, a donkey, narrators, news reporters, an athletic Hare, a more deliberate tortoise (with mace and a cattle prod) a dog, a pond, a mouse, some grapes (yes, the grapes are or is, a speaking part) a fox, a lounge singer, a girl, more girls, some women and... well, you probably get the idea by now. Show dates are May 7 through June 5th, playing weekends every Friday and Saturday. To make reservations, call the Theatre 29 box office at 760-361-4151 or order online at www.theatre29.com .

The Western Art Council invites you to attend the Yerxa Town Gold Rush, this year’s fundraiser to be held at the Yerxa Town Gold Camp at Bubbling Wells Ranch, on March 6, from 3 to 7pm. This 115-acre ranch estate, adjacent to Two-Bunch Palms Resort and Spa in Desert Hot Springs, will feature a silent auction, casino-style gaming, Western music and other entertainment and home-style grub and drinks. Tickets are $200 per person and all proceeds will benefit the museum. To attend this event, contact Western Art Council coordinator Nicolas P. Gaudreau at 760.322.4888 by February 26th.

Dezart One Gallery will host “Women In Contrast” with new works by J.Behman, Marian Moiseyev, Mary Rappazzo. There’s an Artist Reception on Saturday, March 20th from 7-9pm. The show runs from March 1 - 30, at 2688 Cherokee Way in the Palm Springs Backstreet Arts District, This is a group show featuring 3 extraordinary painters, manipulating different themes and thoughts. In this particular show, all three artists have different visions that intersect. From expressionism to abstraction & joined by contemporary figurative, this trio spans the artistic distance to create a visual contemporary feast for the eyes. Call (760) 328-1440 for information.

The play, Trying, will open at the Indian Wells Theater on Friday, March 5, and will run for two weekends. The play stars Peter Haig and Joanna Strapp. Trying is the story of Francis Biddle, attorney general under FDR and chief justice of the Nuremberg trials, who at 81, is trying to put his life together. Elegant, but sharply cantankerous, he struggles with the inevitability of his age and failing health. His wife forces upon him a new, young secretary, and the two struggle to find a way to communicate.

This richly scripted story illustrates how two strangers, at two dramatically different places in their lives, can unexpectedly and forever influence each other. Trying will run March 5-7 and 12-14. Show times are Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. The Indian Wells Theater is located on the Palm Desert Campus of Cal State San Bernardino -- 37-500 Cook Street, between Gerald Ford and Frank Sinatra Drives. Ticket prices range from $30 to $60 and can be purchased by calling the Indian Wells Theater Box Office at 760.341.2883, ext. 78154.

For more information about the Indian Wells Theater, visit www.IWTheater.com.