Beloved 'Fiddler' opens in Carson

"Fiddler on the Roof" opens Saturday night at the Carson City Convention Center with the Nevada Musical Theatre Company's triple threat up on the stage, instead of down in the orchestra pit or scurrying around backstage.

Stephanie Arrigotti, who normally is hardly seen, this time plays Golde, as well as producing and directing the show.

"Fiddler" is, of course, one of the mainstays of the musical theater, with a version of it running on Broadway right now. It's been a movie as well as a stage show, and once you've seen it it's hard to forget such songs as "If I Were a Rich Man" or "Sunrise, Sunset."

The story is familiar, to be sure: Tevye (Jim DeZerga here) is a man with three daughters he needs to marry off in Czarist Russia. He's poor and beset with woes, all of which work out pretty well in the show. The three oldest daughters are played by Lynette Brown, Rachel Jackson and Jennifer Haddix. There's a cast of 70; someone there must be one of your friends.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. It continues through Nov. 20. There will also be a 2 p.m. showing Nov. 19.

Opera for all

I know, opera is for other folks. But if ever there was an opera that can grab even the most naive music buff, "Tosca" by Puccini is it.

Friday is opening night for "Tosca" and the 38th Nevada Opera season. A rousing tale of revolution and tyranny, Tosca is an appealing heroine. There will be supertitles for those of us who aren't all that fluent in Italian.

Tickets are $35 to $85. The performance begins at 8 p.m. opening night and at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Pioneer Center. Call (887) 840-0547.

Hail, Halle

If you've thought that actress Halle Berry was just getting by with good looks, you'll think again if you watch her in the misnamed film "Monster Ball" with Billy Bob Thornton.

In just one scene - the last - as she sits mulling her recent discovery that Thornton had been involved in the execution of her husband, she accepts a spoonful of ice cream from Thornton, and with the faintest of smiles acknowledges his role and their future. It's out on DVD.

n Contact reporter Sam Bauman at sbauman@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1236.