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Arts & Entertainment

Momix – 'Botanica': A Spring Fertility Dance

Mozart's 'Requiem' in Vernon, 'Urinetown' at UConn, Battle of the A Cappella Groups in Rockville

Momix, Connecticut’s homegrown global talent in dance, will reveal the mystery of nature like none other in its sumptuous touring show Botanica this weekend, April 15 and 16, at 8 p.m. in Jorgensen’s Cabaret.

Contemporary dance wunderkind Moses Pendleton has created a lush testimony to fertility, using inventive props, magical lighting, athletic dance and a touch of humor, plus a wide-ranging score that runs from Delirium to Peter Gabriel to Vivaldi. 

In two parts, Winter Spring and Summer Fall, Momix dancers will reveal, as the program promises, nature’s “one single plan: to escape above ground from the fatality below.”

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Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts is located at 2132 Hillside Road on the UConn campus in Storrs. Doors open at 7 p.m. Sandwiches, dessert, alcohol and other beverages are available for cash purchase. For tickets, priced at $45, $38 and $34, call 860-486-4226 or visit jorgensen.uconn.edu.

Music to Die For in Vernon

Even non-classical music fans know Mozart’s Requiem, if only from the film “Amadeus.” The masterpiece is enigmatic, steeped in controversy over its creation on the composer’s deathbed. This weekend you can hear it in its glory.

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Ninety voices from the Vernon Chorale and guests from the UConn Concert Choir will perform an all-Mozart program, featuring the stunning Requiem, Saturday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Rockville. Vernon Chorale’s Ehren Brown will conduct the singers and 21-piece orchestra for the Requiem. The concert will include the Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, directed by UConn’s Michele Holt, and the first movement of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

Of course you could rent “Amadeus,” but you won’t hear the uncut Requiem, nor have 90 singers overpower you with the Dies irae (day of wrath) or soothe you with the Lacrimosa (day of tears).

Suggested donation will be $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. For information visit vernonchorale.org.

You Really Gotta Go to ‘Urinetown’

Can “Urinetown,” this decade-old, three-time Tony-winning play about the crude depths of corporate greed, have meaning today? Um. Yeah.

Plus, in a theatrical irony, it stars the super talented Andrea McArdle of “Annie” fame in this show that breaks all Broadway musical rules. The Connecticut Repertory Theatre production runs April 14-17 and 27-30 at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre on the UConn campus.

But, really, how elemental can the good v. bad story be than this: evil corporation controls the public pay toilets, those who insist on peeing for free are banished to Urinetown, and finally a hero emerges from the cesspool to lead a rebellion. Book and lyrics are by Greg Kotis, with music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann. Paul Mullins directs.

Don’t try to hold it. Get your tickets – $22 for tonight, $32 for weeknights and matinees, and $35 for Friday and Saturday nights – by calling 860-486-4226 or visiting Connecticut Repertory Theatre.

A Cappella Slam in Rockville

Four area contestants will compete in the battle of unaccompanied vocal groups at the 7th Annual Stephen C. Marcham A Cappella Slam this Saturday, April 16, at 7 p.m. at the Vernon Senior Center Performance Hall in downtown Rockville.

Defending its title is last year’s winner A Minor, the co-ed UConn group of singers that once included David Plamondon, a promising pre-med student who was struck and killed by a campus shuttle last month.

The three other competitors are Key of She, an all-female group from Eastern Connecticut State University; ConnChords, a group with a 60-year history from Connecticut College, and Harmonious Soul, with UConn roots and members from Manchester, Tolland, Vernon, Marlborough and Ledyard. First place winners will be awarded $500. For information, call Cliff Edwards, Rockville Downtown Association executive director at 860-875-7439 or visit rdact.com. 

Ira Joe Fisher Reads at UConn Co-op

Weatherman broadcaster poet Ira Joe Fisher will read from his works Thursday, April 14, at 6 p.m. at the UConn Co-op. Fisher, a radio, TV and theater (“The Fantasticks”) veteran for decades, was the weather reporter for CBS’s Early Show, where he was known for an ability to write backwards on plexiglass weather displays. But it’s his ability to write poetry, from left to right, that will be showcased at the Co-op. Fisher has two poetry collections, Some Holy Weight in the Village Air and Songs from an Earlier Century, and a chapbook. He is a UConn faculty adjunct and has taught at several other colleges.

Co-op appearances are free. For information, call 860-486-5027 or e-mail suzy.staubach@uconn.edu.

Ricky Martin Pops into Mohegan

Latin Pop kingpin Ricky Martin makes a tour stop at Mohegan Sun on Sunday, April 17, at 7 p.m. in support of his latest album Musica + Alma + Sexo. Martin’s latest single, “Lo Mejor De Mi Vida Eres Tu,” is at No. 1 on the Billboard Latin Pop charts, and its English version, “The Best Thing About Me Is You,” is just out in video.

For tickets ($45 or $55), call 1-888-777-7922 or visit Mohegan Sun.

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