Going to Town

Thursday, August 25, 2005 | Upcoming music, visual arts and theater events:

MUSIC

New roots. There is one name in reggae, and that name is Marley. Bob wasn’t the first, but – judging from the name draw of other artists in this genre – popular decision has made him the biggest, and arguably the best.

That hasn’t been bad for his kids. Torch-holder and eldest son Ziggy has made a pretty decent career by looking, sounding and talking like his father. So, more or less, have three other Marley progeny.

Playing his father’s songs for a new generation has turned into a full-time gig for Ziggy. Let’s just hope he keeps the wispy synth strings and too-sunny metaphysical ruminations out of his performance at the Del Mar Racetrack Saturday. Let the rhythm work its own wonders, mon.

Reggae combo Common Sense will open for Ziggy’s show at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club’s Reggae and Beer Festival Aug. 27. Music begins about 6:45 p.m. at 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Free with $5 racetrack admission. (858) 793-5533. (IP)

Also this week:

– The New York Dolls may or may not have created punk back in the ’70s, when they reportedly influenced the Sex Pistols. They also donned ’80s style – big hair and male mascara – a decade early. See how they look now at House of Blues, 9 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29. 1055 Fifth Ave. (619) 299-BLUE. $25.

– Latin pop heartthrob and Jennifer Lopez beau Marc Anthony will do a little song and dance at 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28 at the ipayOne center @ The Sports Arena. 3500 Sports Arena Blvd. (619) 221-4171. Tickets start at $48.

– Jefferson Starship isn’t quite the improvement its name suggests over the original Airplane, but at least they’ve got two founding members – Paul Kantner and Marty Balin – still in the lineup. Get transported at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31 at Humphrey’s by the Bay, 2241 Shelter Island Drive (619) 220-8497. Tickets start at $35.

VISUAL ARTS

Toe-tapping. Hey, remember that time at the high school dance when you knocked over the punch bowl during a slow song and it landed on your date’s prom dress and she went home crying? You can redeem yourself this weekend at the 10th Annual Celebrate Dance Festival in Balboa Park, where workshops with dance professionals and three audition-free performance stages offer everyone – from cheerleaders to stiff-legged geeks – a chance to bust some funky moves.

If your two left feet refuse to leave the safety of the sidewalk, there’s still plenty to experience as 50 regional dance groups twist, twirl and tap out dances from around the globe. Afro-Cuban jazz, Bhumn Dance and Lord of the Flies dance theatre are a few of the off-beat offerings that will be keeping time with the festival’s spirit of inclusiveness and celebration.

The festival, put on by San Diego’s Eveoke Dance Theatre, will take place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Activities are located in the Casa del Prado Theater, the Copley Theater in the San Diego Museum of Art, the Lily Pond Stage and the Prado Stage in Balboa Park. For more information, visit www.eveoke.org/cdf.htm. (JH)

More art:

– (Correction: “INTER+SECTIONS: Photos and Stories by City Heights Refugee Youth” is already in the process of being taken down. It will not be up through Aug. 31, as previously stated. Voice apologizes for this error.)

– “Tower After Hours: Exotic India!” Take a detour to India on your way home from work tonight by way of the Museum of Man. On an occasional last Thursday of the month, the museum spotlights a different country in celebration of San Diego’s diverse communities. This Thursday, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., snack on Indian appetizers and drinks, while enjoying traditional music and dance. The event is 21-and-up, $20 for general admission and $15 for members and students; price includes food and drinks and proceeds benefit museum programs. Info: (619) 239-2001.

– “Last Hurrah.” The San Diego Computer Museum will be open to the public for one “last hurrah” on Saturday at Coleman College in La Mesa, after which the site is to be torn down to make way for a housing development. The museum is searching for funding and a new home for its collection of more than 1,000 computer relics. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 3830 Valley Centre Dr. #705, PMB 206. Info: (619) 889-8226.

THEATER

Rogues on a raft. Satirical novelist Mark Twain’s most famous novel has been the topic of over a century of literary discussion and a rare enduring memory or two from eighth-grade English class. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” can now be experienced on stage to a background of fiddle-infused country gospel music, the closing event of the “25th Anniversary Summer Season of Musicals Under the Stars” at Moonlight Stage in Vista.

While their boyish escapades have enjoyed decades of sustained popularity, Huck and his friends have also ridden a wave of controversy because of allegations that the novel has coarse and racist undertones. The book that was barred from the shelves of the Concord Public Library in 1885 maintains its “adult content” as a modern theater production – after all, Moonlight Stage warns, it was written by Mark Twain. It seems that a work of enormous literary influence and contentious themes may have kept its edge beneath the musical gloss.

Shows run at 8 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays, Aug. 31-Sept.11, at the Moonlight Amphitheatre stage, Brengle Terrace Park, 651 E. Vista Way in Vista. Seating begins at 6:30 p.m. and lawn chairs and jackets are recommended. Info: (760) 724-2110 or www.moonlightstage.com. (JH)

Other performances:

-“Fritz Blitz,” a festival featuring new works by playwrights from San Diego and San Francisco, is in its last week, finishing with “Munched” by Kim Porter (San Francisco). All shows run at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Lyceum Theatre, located in Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego. Info: (619) 233-7505 or www.fritztheatre.com.

– VOICE STAFF