Opera
'Maria de Buenos Aires'
Astor Piazzolla's surreal "tango opera" has its Alaska premiere by Anchorage Opera with performances at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 21-23, and 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24, in Sydney Laurence Theatre. Anchorage Opera's production of this wildly passionate musical allegory for tango itself includes a cast with extensive experience in the work and local tango dancers adding to the color. In Spanish with English captions. Tickets are available at centertix.net.
Theater
'Lounge Lizards'
Last Gasp Productions, Ron Holmstrom's new dinner theater company, opens with the dark comedy "Lounge Lizards" on Friday, Jan. 22. The play concerns a struggling bar musician and an Anchorage bartender whose precincts are visited by a mother-daughter assassination team. Both are crack shots, but neither is exactly sure about the identity of the man they've been hired to kill. The show takes place at the Anchorage Lofts, 239 W. Fourth Ave. Fine dining and a full bar are available. The performance is a benefit for the Alaska Fine Arts Academy. Tickets are $57.50 (dinner included) and can be ordered at centertix.net. Minors ages 14 and older may attend with parent or legal guardian only.
Literature
'Blue Mind' author speaks
The author of the recent best-seller "Blue Mind," Wallace J. Nichols, will be the guest of the UAA Campus Bookstore at a reading and signing to be held at the Hotel Captain Cook at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24. Nichols' book concerns "the surprising science that shows how being near, in, on or under water can make you happier." The talk and reading is a prelude to the Alaska Marine Science Symposium, which will take place Jan. 25-29, with more presentations by Nichols. Sunday's event and all symposium presentations are free. More information is available at amss.nprb.org/program-schedule/workshops.