“Hi, my name is Coco. I’ll be trying out for the role of Cosette today.”

Obviously we’re not as pop culturally savvy as we like to think we are over here at Alibi, because we were all shocked—shocked, I tells ya—while watching the “E! True Hollywood Story” of Ice-T and Coco this past Sunday. According to the documentary, rabid ass-Twitterer Coco actually cut her theatrical chops working at the Albuquerque Little Theatre as a child. We shudder to think what Coco (née Nicole Austin) might have done during some long-lost 1989 performance of Annie. (“Funny, I don’t remember so much booty clapping in ‘Hard Knock Life’.”) But it’s right there in her Wikipedia bio: Although she was born in Beverly Hills, “the family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, when she was 10. She grew up as a tomboy, riding quads and playing football. Austin began dancing (jazz, tap and ballet) at the age of six, and was introduced to the stage early by her mother. She was involved in many productions at the Albuquerque Little Theatre.” Weird. Anybody remember seeing her? Photographic proof would be awesome.

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Photo by Aaron Giombolini

 

Blackout Theatre’s adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic pits a group of strangers in a St. Louis train station, waiting to be whisked away for the holidays. Delays ensue, and the motley group turns a bad situation into theatrics. Writer Christie Chisholm reviewed it in this week’s arts section. “Blackout’s version is marvelous,” she writes, “whimsical yet dramatic with fine acting, haunting live music and some wonderfully creative puppetry. The kids will love it, but more importantly, you will probably love it, too.” Tonight’s show is at 8 p.m. There are also performances Saturday and Sunday.

The Reptilian Lounge’s Alex Knight

The Reptilian Lounge is an outrageous variety show started by Tricklock Company in 1996. These days it pops its head up a few times a year, including tonight at The Box Performance Space (100 Gold SW) at 10:30 p.m. Tractor Brewing will be on hand. Check out this week’s Culture Shock for a lineup and other details.

David Garver as Elvis

In this week’s arts section, writer Christie Chisholm previewed David Garver’s one-man show, The Age Between Sage and Fool. Searching for an identity amidst mid-life crisis, Garver penned the production in which he plays a handful of men with his predicament. Inlcuded are a baseball manager, a spiritual sex guru and an Elvis impersonator working in a retirement home. Garver has interspersed film clips into the production to give him time to transform from one character to the next. The show runs this weekend at The Filling Station (1024 Fourth Street SW), with the first of three performances kicking off this evening at 8 p.m.

Courtney Wilgus

Jacob Lewis (right) delivers a commanding performance.

Jacob Lewis has star power. In this week’s performance review, writer Christie Chisholm described his performance as the Emcee in ALT’s production of Cabaret: “He is commanding, tickling the audience with his monarch-sized fake eyelashes and exuberance and then carefully breaking its heart. Lewis also seems tailor-made for the role—wiry, whimsical and wonderfully flirtatious. It would be easy to spend the show’s run time (two and a half hours with intermission) watching him alone.” Cabaret’s last three shows run this weekend beginning tonight at 8 p.m. at Albuquerque Little Theatre (224 San Pasquale SW).

Frank Melcori

Scott Sharot (left) and Jeff Silverman in “The Dumb Waiter”

In our October 20th issue, we ran a preview of director Frank Melcori’s staging of Harold Pinter’s “The Dumb Waiter.” The show premiered last weekend at Bébé Café in Old Town, but has since been moved due to complications with a landlord and neighbors, Melcori tells the Alibi. This weekend’s shows will run at The Filling Station (1024 Fourth Street SW) on Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m. (as opposed to the previous listing of Friday and Saturday). The larger venue should help accomodate theatergoers who couldn’t get into last week’s sold-out shows. Admission is $10.

Image by Russell Maynor

A.J. Carian as Helen Damnation

“The Dolls bring something to Albuquerque that doesn’t exist on any other stage in this city,” writes Christie Chisholm in her review of the Albuquerque drag troupe’s latest production, running through Oct. 30 at Aux Dog Theatre (3011 Monte Vista NE). “They create a space where sex can be silly, gender is treated playfully and as the social construct it is, and everything—from hair to lip-synced dance routines—is gloriously over-the-top.” The first of this weekend’s three shows of Satan’s School for Girls: The Reunion takes place tonight at 8 p.m. Check out the full review for more.

Elsa Menéndez

Writer Christie Chisholm reviewed Elsa Menéndez’ one-person performance in this week’s Alibi. Described as “a collection of patches that ultimately—when pieced together—create a remarkable quilt,” Cloud Cover, or Conversations With Harry is a storytelling piece wherein Menéndez entertains patrons with heartfelt anecdotes from her past. All of this takes place in a theater setting that is constructed to feel more like someone’s kitchen. Tonight’s show takes place at The Tricklock Space (1705 Monte Vista) at 8 p.m. Seating is limited, but there are five more performances scheduled through Sunday.

Courtesy of the KiMo Theatre

The ’50s saw the KiMo with a larger marquee. It was later removed during rehabilitation.

KiMo Revival: The city set in motion what has now been a 30-year process, rehabilitating the KiMo in stages as funding has allowed. With the return of the its neon sign, which has been absent since somewhere between the late ’50s and early ’60s, the facade will look much as it did when it was new.

 

I’ve decided that Tuesdays are going to be train-blog day (because really, there’s only so much about my commute that’s entertaining).

However, today is a special day. It’s the day that the Associated Press (via my friends at KOB TV) announced the Rail Runner’s summer “Shakespeare on the Rail” series. Yes friends, your Saturday travel plans just got a lot more interesting.

“Hooray!” you’re probably thinking to yourself right now. “But how do I take part in this fantastic theatrical event?”

Easy. Just hop aboard the train. Performances – which are put on by UNM’s Department of Theatre Education and Outreach – are scheduled every Saturday, beginning in June on the Northbound train from Downtown Albuquerque (departs 2:38 p.m.) to Santa Fe Depot (arrives 4:10 p.m.) or Southbound from Santa Fe Depot (departs 4:32 p.m.) to Los Ranchos/JC (arrives 5:51 p.m.).

Performances will be held in the car right behind the locomotive, so make sure to hop the right car! Oh yeah, and it’s free with the cost of a train ticket.

We’ll be sure to catch a performance on this moving version of the Globe and fill you in asap!