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By Debbie Hall dhall@informermg.com Photo by Benjamin Balazs According to director Louie Schwartzberg, cinematography in movies can focus attention, create a visual story, and make "the invisible visible." His visually stunning film, Fantastic Fungi, has been remastered and re-released for fun and informative events. The 4k version of the award-winning documentary Fantastic Fungi will be screened at Galaxy Theaters Boulevard Mall on April 20, offering a unique opportunity afterward to engage in a Q&A session with the director. The movie delves into the awe-inspiring world of mycelium networks and their transformative impact on the environment. The film features renowned scientists and mycologists such as Paul Stamets and acclaimed authors like Michael Pollan, Eugenia Bone, and Andrew Weil. Through their expertise, the film offers profound insights into the mysteries of the Earth and how the underground mycelium network can heal and preserve the planet. Furthermore, the film illuminates the beauty, intelligence, and practical solutions offered by the fungi kingdom to address pressing medical, therapeutic, and environmental challenges. Louie helped pioneer time-lapse cinematography after graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles because it inspired a sense of wonder. “That led me to shoot things like flowers, which could take a month or more to shoot, like, a roll of film, 35-millimeter movie film. And then by getting entranced like watching a flower open, that opened me up to do the films I've done about nature, but more from a feminine perspective, looking at the foundation of life,” he explains. “So, for example, Wings of Life for Disney Nature, which is on Disney Plus now, is a story about how flowers seduce pollinators, bees, bats, hummingbirds, and butterflies, narrated by Meryl Streep. And then you think, what do plants need? Well, they need soil. Where does soil come from?” They come from fungi that break down organic matter into its component parts so that plants can have food. “That turned me on to making the film Fantastic Fungi. You find out that fungi not only break down things and recycle things for life to grow, but they can also sequester carbon for climate change. They can heal your body with Lion's Mane, for example, with Alzheimer's and Turkey Tail for immunity. Basically, I'm just trying to unveil life's mysteries.” The audience will experience many beautiful sequences in the movie, such as time-lapse mushrooms, which most people don't realize are like the largest organisms on the planet. The beauty and all that mushrooms can do will blow them away. “The mushrooms are a window into nature's intelligence, into nature's wisdom, and that's something we all want to reconnect,” says Louie. “One of the other benefits of having the film showing in theaters is that we want people to come together. After COVID, one of the biggest things we learned was that we were disconnected from each other, which was one of the most difficult things we had to encounter. So, having a live screening that has been remastered is gorgeous, with a beautiful soundtrack. It's going to be truly an immersive experience. People come out of the screening many times crying because the beauty of the film is so overwhelming.” Journalist Stacey Gualandi will moderate the Q&A with the director. Fantastic Fungi will be shown at Galaxy Theatres Boulevard Mall at 7 p.m. on April 20. For more information, visit www.fantasticfungi.com and click here to purchase tickets.

History in Dancing By Paul Atreides Author, playwright Theatre critic at EatMoreArtVegas.com paul-atreides.com How history repeats itself…or feels like it repeats. Brian Friel’s Tony Award winner, Dancing at Lughnasa, it’s 1936, around the time of the Lughnasa Harvest Festival. The Catholic has helped pass a law against dancing in public places. The Industrial Revolution was finding its way to the small villages of Ireland, and the Church supported Franco, a Nationalist, during the Spanish Civil War. The Mundy family is in disarray. Five spinster sisters are trying in vain to eke out an existence, fighting against religious repression, fighting against machinery taking over jobs, fighting to stay together and hold onto what little they have. Lest you think the play is all gloom and doom, director Barbara Brennan has deftly found lighthearted moments throughout, particularly in the scenic frivolity of dancing with complete freedom and abandon. Kate, the oldest sister and the most staid is played to the hilt by Tina Rice. Yet there are short moments when she allows herself to let go and join in the fun, only to turn in an instant. Though she has a tendency to soften her voice to the point where dialogue gets lost, Rice manages to bring those sudden changes to life with enough emotion to make them understandable and believable. Annette Houlihan Verdolino plays Maggie, the sister who finds ways to support every sister in the needed time. The changes are never forced and Verdolino knows how to turn a phrase and get the laugh. She is also the best at interacting with Michael – a very young nephew we don’t see – because we never lose sight of where he is or what he’s doing. The use of dialects is always risky business. While the cast was consistent in them, there were times they delivered dialogue so rapidly the words were muddled. The result was losing the laugh and feeling left out. The male cast fared better in that regard because their dialects were deliberately different. Timothy Cummings is Jack, an older brother and a priest who is home after 25 years in Uganda and now battling malaria. His halting speech is tinged with an English accent. Through the character’s struggle and eventual recovery, Cummings is always on point, telegraphing it all in movement and voice. The spinster sisters haven’t always been without suitors, and Jacob Moore portrays Gerry, a Welshman who has pursued Christina and is, in fact, the father of her young (unseen) son, Michael. Moore brings a savoir-faire to the role that imbues the character with fun and the sense of always seeking adventure. It’s the adult Michael we see and hear as he narrates the memories of that summer in 1936. Though the dialect occasionally overpowers bits of dialogue, William Fleming Tarris brings the perfect balance of fact versus reflectiveness. Production values are high. Eric A. Koger’s set uses a representative style to bring the interior of the country cabin and still show the County Donegal vista. Johanna Caley’s lighting manages to alternate the focus from inside to action in the yard without being obtrusive. And Kendra Faith’s period costumes are a wonder, right down to the footwear. The play is a peek into the past and how humanity manages to struggle through hard times. It’s timely. You certainly won’t be sorry if you go and take a glimpse. Take note of the venue change to Vegas Theatre Company’s facility. What: Dancing at Lughnasa When:  7 p.m. Friday – Saturday – Monday; 2 p.m. Sunday through April 29 2 p.m. Saturday, April 27 Where: 1025 S. 1st Street Tickets: $35 - $40 (www.apublicfit.org) Grade:  ****1/2 Delicious Producer: A Public Fit; Artistic Director: Ann-Marie Pereth; Producing Director: Joseph D. Kucan; Director: Barbara Brennan; Choreography: Ann-Marie Pereth; Set Design: Eric A. Koger; Lighting Design: Johanna Caley; Sound Design: Constance Taschner; Costume Design: Kendra Faith; Production Stage Manager: Rebecca Sass

Forgiveness Has a Price By Debbie Hall dhall@informermg.com Paul Atreides, an author, playwright, and theatre critic at Eat More Art Vegas, will debut his original play, The Last Confession, as a reading at Vegas Theatre Company on April 17. The reading is free and open to the public. The plot of the story is intense, following a priest who was once an altar boy and was sexually abused by a bishop. The main character seeks to confront the bishop and obtain a confession from him. He has already obtained confessions from other priests, and this would be the last one he seeks to get. For those who saw the film, Spotlight, or the stage play or its movie adaptation, Doubt, they will appreciate The Last Confession. Paul has worked professionally and as a volunteer in the theater industry for over 30 years. Before moving to Las Vegas, he worked for two seasons in theater in Omaha. Paul also served as president of the Las Vegas Little Theater for several years. “When I was laid off in 2011, I was at that age that I was too old to hire and too young to retire, so I started writing,” explains Paul. For the play, he has been looking for a theater company to hold a public reading for over a year and connected with Daz Weller of the Vegas Theater Company. Daz agreed to cast the play and direct its reading. Daz is an accomplished actor and director who relocated from Australia to Las Vegas in 2010. He currently serves as the Executive Artistic Director of Vegas Theatre Company. Daz earned a Bachelor's degree in acting from the Queensland University of Technology and has performed extensively as an actor in Las Vegas and with many of Australia's leading theatre companies. In recognition of his directorial skills, Daz was awarded the Best Director prize at the Vegas Valley Theatre Awards in 2019 for his work on Lynn Nottage's play Sweat. “This play has been a long process, and I have been working on it for about five years,” says Paul. “I have worked with a New York City producer on this play, and this is our next step.” The Last Confession will be performed at the Vegas Theatre Company, 1025 S. 1st St., at 7 p.m. on April 17. For more info, visit paul-atreides.com and follow his Facebook @ PaulAtreidesAuthor.