Special Events Reviews

Aug 18, 2004 - Summer Artown 2004 helps make Reno the Biggest Little City of the Arts

By Jack Neal

Over 160 performances later, played out in over 20 locations before an estimated 141,000 fans, and in 26 visual arts spaces before countless patrons of paintings and sculptures, Reno's Artown 2004 disappeared like Lerner and Loewe's mythological "Brigadoon" at midnight July 31 under a nearly full moon. Happily, Artown will - also like "Brigadoon" - emerge again in July 2005 for the festival's tenth anniversary season.

Artown executive director Beth Macmillan and her staff put together another impressive lineup of visual and performing arts events showcasing Reno's emergence as one of the world's leading biggest little cities of the arts. The achievement of Macmillan and Company for this year's ninth annual July festival is extensive.

In addition to the aforementioned statistics, there were 47 visual arts receptions, 27 historic and cultural events, 16 multicultural events, 67 educational outreach programs for children and 36 educational outreach programs for adults. The largest audience award for Artown 2004 is somewhat up for grabs between huge Friday evening crowds of over 3000 for Rollin' On The River concerts at the Wingfield Park Amphitheater and the huge draw for the screening of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" at the Reno Hilton's outdoor amphitheater.

I saw and heard 11 and reviewed eight of Artown 2004"s 160 perfornming arts events. My individual reviews of Artown 2004 can be seen elsewhere on this website on its June and July 2004 listings of music, theater and dance.

The festival opened with the enchanting Lili Cai Chinese Dance Company and closed with the big-band sounds of Matt Catingub's Big Kahuna and the Copa Rat Pack with a superlative unplanned set with the band by vocalist Toni Tennille. Sporting such luminary presentations along the way as the sensational Joffrey Ballet and the Nevada Shakespeare Company's sensitive "A Single Woman," this year's festival was a splendid collection of remarkably special events.

Pops on the River conducted by Barry Jekowsky was the Reno Philharmonic's best outdoor concert under Jekowsky's baton. Featuring Broadway stars Jodi Benson and Sal Viviano, both singers captured hearts and minds in one spellbinding moment after another. The Joffrey Ballet continued to do what the company has done so beautifully for fifty years: provide luminous individual and collective performances that consistently radiated youthful vitality through the fresh inventions of thrilling choreography.

"The Guys," a play born out of the ashes of our nation's 9/11 tragedy, is part documentary, nearly always profound, sometimes funny. The exchange between Joan, a writer, and Nick, a firefighter, engaged viewers in a frightening moment frozen in time. The pre-curtain commentary by the play's author, Anne Nelson - Joan in the play is in reality Anne Nelson - about how "The Guys" came into being was Artown's most poignant moment. The Reno Chamber Orchestra conducted by Theodore Kuchar and featuring the superb Argenta Trio (violinist Phillip Ruder, cellist John Lenz, pianist James Winn) performing Beethoven's Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra in a vibrant, translucent reading was Artown's finest classical music moment.

Also providing notable Artown moments were Jeanmarie Simpson starring as Jeannette Rankin in "A Single Woman," America's first female member of Congress and an avid peace activist (Ms. Simpson also wrote the play), the Bruka Theater Company's gripping presentation of Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus," and the ponytailed, incomparable Arlo Guthrie who charmed all with his craggy magnetic presence, topical songs and witty commentary in a memorable performance under the stars at the Hawkins Amphitheater.

Who could ask for anything more? And yet there was more, much more, and even more to come in July 2005. Bravo to all involved for a superb Artown 2004.

Artown 2004 was sponsored by the City of Reno, Arrow Creek, Eldorado Hotel Casino, IGT, KOLO News Channel 8, Reno Gazette-Journal, Sierra Pacific Power and U.S. Bank. Friday "Rollin' on the River" concerts in Wingfield Park were sponsored by Reno News and Review.

For information about Artown 2005 events and how to get involved call 775-322-1538 or check out the internet at renoisartown.com