Arts+Leisure
Natives NEWBIES Best Band Jim Gentleman There’s no better band in Las Vegas
Insurgo Theater Movement will startle and outrage you.
Theater You may be outraged and probably startled, but you’ll almost never be bored when you attend a performance by Insurgo Theater Movement. Mixing classics with original drama, Insurgo favors a no-holds-barred style that aims to make Sophocles and Shakespeare sound hot off the presses. Because it works in small spaces, Insurgo flings drama into your lap, and its stagings are marked by their extreme physicality. Actors literally climb the walls (and sometimes the rafters), engage in vigorous stage combat and in simulated — but no less steamy — sexual congress. Not for nothing did the Erotic Heritage Museum sign Insurgo to be its in-house theater troupe, giving rise to a randy reimagining of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” At its best, Insurgo achieves a total integration of insightful
direction, forceful acting and arresting design, interspersed with surprising touches of poetry. The apocalyptic robot rampage of dystopian “R.U.R.” exemplified Insurgo at its best, while grippingly detailed revivals of “Macbeth” and “The Crucible” also testified to the company’s ability to fire the imagination. — D.M. www.insurgotheater.org
Arts event Forgive my heresy, but sometimes First Friday feels more like a mosh pit than an art crawl. And when it does, I leave my mall mohawk at home the next month and hit Preview Thursday, First Friday’s more subdued sister. There, you’ll dose up on stimulating artist talks, bang brains with fellow arts aficionados and enjoy an atmosphere that’s less carnival, more curated. Best of all, fewer people means more wine for everybody. — A.K.
the valley’s best bike ride? Two cyclists Bonus What’s pedal their views at www.desertcompanion.com
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Max Plenke Two huge Hawaiian guys playing ukuleles is already the key to happiness. But if you test your endorphin capacity by adding a five-piece rhythm section, you end up with HaleAmano, the local island reggae band that’s recently been troubling the musical waters like Jaws does to skinny-dippers — and Las Vegas is the naked girl in the ocean. Frontmen Ryan Fleming and Israel Waahila Newbie cred: Max Plenke is have a back ‘n’ forth stage the arts and entertainment staff bromance that inspires a writer for Las Vegas CityLife. He’s community feeling in the been living in Las Vegas since June 2010. audience — which is perfect, since HaleAmano’s music has strong political unity undertones when it’s not delving into a sweet sea of R&B-inspired baby-making music (which you could still call unity undertones if you think about it). Though local, HaleAmano tends to catch residencies at casino pools and Hawaiian cultural events. But if they keep up their current M.O. — energetic stage vibe, impressive musicianship, sweet ukulele shredding — there’s little doubt they’ll be gracing stages for crowds beyond AARP card-carriers at The Pond. www.haleamano.com
Actor She’s played a man, a cat, a murderer, Iago’s wife, a robot, a witch, a wood nymph, a rocker and a drug addict who carries an aborted fetus in her purse … and that’s just a partial resumé of what actress Breon Jenay managed to
cram into 2010. A theatrical perpetual-motion machine, Jenay is most often seen onstage with Insurgo Theater Movement but has also graced the stages of Las Vegas Little Theatre (“Great Falls”) and the Erotic Heritage Museum. The 23-year-old Sierra Vista
I N S U R G O : R YA N R E A S O N ; B R E O N J E N AY : C H R I S TO P H E R S M I T H
than Santa Fe. Currently performing Mondays at the Palms as Sante Fe and the Fat City Horns, they’ve been playing Vegas for the better part of 25 years — and heck, we’re lucky to Native cred: SK+G have held onto them for that Advertising executive Jim Gentleman grew up in Las Vegas long. Led by lead guitarist and BUT HE CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER vocalist Jerry Lopez, Sante Fe THIS SWEET SAX SOLO. has probably played more Vegas casinos than any other band around, from blasts-from-the-past such as The Mint, Sands and Desert Inn to contemporary spots such as the Palms and Caesars Palace. There’s a reason they get around: They mix in originals and popular songs from all over the musical map — pop, R&B, funk, rock & roll and jazz — and infuse them with roaring, ferocious energy while keeping them tight as a dime. Santa Fe more than earns the superlatives that fans — newly minted nightly — heap on this stunning band. www.santafeandthefatcityhorns.com