Everything Raven
Ketchikan artist Evon Zerbetz will be in Anchorage for several presentations at local libraries. Zerbetz' work often features entertaining images of Alaska's most prominent ink-colored corvid, often in book illustrations like the recent counting book "Ten Rowdy Ravens," done in collaboration with author Susan Ewing. Zerbetz will talk about the natural history of ravens and how she illustrates her books. The press release says the talks are aimed at children in kindergarten through sixth grade. We say you're never too old to appreciate a raven. Catch her at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Loussac Library's Marston Theatre, 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Muldoon Library, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Gerrish Library in Girdwood, 1 p.m. Thursday at the Chugiak-Eagle River Library and 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the Mountain View Library.
Climbing catastrophe
Author Andy Hall will kick off a multi-state tour to promote his new book "Denali's Howl" with a signing at 6 p.m. Monday at Barnes & Noble, 200 E. Northern Lights Blvd. The book recounts the harrowing and tragic attempt on the summit of Mount McKinley in 1967, when seven members of a twelve-group expedition lost their lives on the mountain. Hall, who lives in Chugiak, is the former editor of Alaska magazine. His father was the park superintendent and was involved in the futile rescue attempt and the more successful battle to keep the mountain open to future climbers. His travels will take him to Seattle, Oregon and California before he returns to Alaska for additional signings in August.
Verdi in Vegas
It's become something of a joke among opera fans as directors set classic works in alternate universes, moving Mozart's "Figaro" to the wild West or Wagner's "Lohengrin" to outer space. But last year's Met staging of Verdi's "Rigoletto" transposed into the gangster-ridden fast life of a garish Nevada casino turned out to be a hit. Widely regarded as one of the best-crafted operas ever composed, Verdi's original story of an oversexed and brutal nobleman, his nasty court jester and the jester's dumb-as-a-stick daughter fits right into the corrupt American update. The big-screen broadcast seen in Anchorage and around the world in February 2013 will be shown again at 7 p.m. Wednesday at both Century 16 and Regal Tikahtnu theaters. In Fairbanks, you can catch it at Goldstream 16, and in Homer they'll be carrying it at the Homer Center for the Arts.
Compiled by arts reporter Mike Dunham