Star-Phoenix from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada • 23

LIFESTYLE le perfect tanrnomiy JONES IN CONCERT Enduring country singer George Jones, famous for the song He World-renowned pianist able to combine playing, teaching and a home life Stopped Loving Her Today, returns to Saskatoon's TCU Place on Tuesday, March 25 on his Encore Canadian Tour. Tickets for the concert go on sale Nov. By Joanne Paulson SP Features Editor I Jones Angela Cheng describes a woman she deeply admires, Clara Schumann, as "superwoman," but that title could easily be applied to Cheng herself. Schumann, the pianist and composer, was the 17 at noon for $59.50 and $65 plus service charges, available through Ticketmaster, 938-7800 -or 1-800-970-7328 or www. overshadowed wife of the extremely famous Robert jkJ 1 Schumann.

She struggled to balance eight children, a difficult husband and her own career. Cheng's life, luckily, is much happier than Clara Schumann's, but just as busy. The acclaimed pianist is not overshadowed Angela Cheng, piano 7 but Saskatoon v- uith fnmilv Symphony Orchestra teaching. Saturday, 7:30 p.m. "I feel very TCU Place blessed," said Cheng in a recent interview from her home near Cleveland, Ohio.

"I wouldn't give one thing up for any JV thing. It the perfect combination tor me. All 1 need is more time." Cheng is teaching part-time instead of full-time at the Oberlin Conservatory, which she says makes her life more manageable, bhe doesn like being away trom home, but loves to play for people, so she and husband Alvin Chow work on balancing music careers and family. 1 not away so much that my children don recog nize me when I come back home," says Cheng with a laugh. She and Chow have two daughters, aged nine and CAPITOL THEATRE (654737): Michael Clayton, 7:05 p.m.

9:10 p.m. Garth Brooks Live in p.m. The Bourne Ultimatum, 9:20 p.m. Across the Universe, 7, 9:25 p.m. Superbad, 7:15 p.m.

CENTRE CINEMAS (955-1938): Fred p.m. Rendition, 9:35 p.m. Gone Baby Gone, 6:45 p.m. 3:10 to Yuma, 6:50, 9:30 p.m. The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, 7:30 p.m.

Bee Movie, 7:10,9:25 p.m. Into the Wild, 6:40,9:45 p.m. Saw 4, 7:20, 9:50 p.m. GALAXY CINEMAS (6646060): Lions for Lambs, 6:55, 9:35 p.m. Fred Claus, 6:50, 9:40 p.m.

American Gangster, 7, 9 p.m. Bee Movie, 6:40,7:15,9:15,9:50 p.m. Martian Child, 6:45,9:25 p.m. Dan in Real Life, 7:05,9:30 p.m. Saw 4, 7:25, 1 0:05 p.m.

30 Days of Night, 7:20, 10 p.m. We Own the Night, 6:30, 9:20 p.m. The Game Plan, 7:10,9:45 p.m. RAINBOW CINEMAS (9554642): Hairspray, 1:05,4:05,6:45,9:20 p.m. The SeekenThe Dark is Rising, 1:30,4:30,7:05 p.m.

Sydney White, 1:20,4:20,7 p.m. Eastern Promises, 9:35 p.m. Mr. Woodcock, 7:20, 9:45 p.m. 11.

She is in the middle of an intense round of concerts, during which she will play nine concertos a large repertoire for one season. The composers include, among others, Brahms, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Schumann. I happy and grateful tor these opportunities, and to be able to play such a variety of music," says Cheng. Among the concertos is Beethoven Third in minor, v. which she will perform with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra on Saturday.

Asked about its difficulty, Cheng laughs and says, "I haven't found any easy music yet." She enjoys this Beethoven concerto, with its personal Submitted Photo Angela Cheng will perform Beethoven's Concerto No. 3 with the SSO slow movement. Its first movement is "full of drama and mystery, and all the things one associates with Beethoven, the darkness and the struggle. Mr. Bean's Holiday, 1 :45, 4:45, 7: 1 5 p.m.

But she remembers all her performances. "I feel very lucky to be in a profession that I'm crazy about and being given these opportunities to play. It's a very competitive world out there. It's just a blessing." Cheng has lived in the U.S. first in Colorado, then in Ohio for several years, but she says home is still Edmonton.

"That's where my family is," says Cheng, who still has a Canadian passport. But her husband is a U.S. citizen, and figuring out where their mutual musical place is in Canada is difficult. Meanwhile, she's happy but misses the prairie sun. "I feel Canadian in my heart.

Home is where your family is." Cheng has a long, long list of accomplishments, including performing with most Canadian symphony orchestras and many in the U.S. She was the 1986 Gold Medal winner at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition and the first Canadian to win the prestigious Montreal International Piano Competition in 1988. Cheng was also awarded the Canada Council for the Arts' coveted Career Development Grant, and in 1991 received the Medal of Excellence at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. The last movement is charming and playful and yet with the flavour of Beethoven; you wouldn't mistake it for Mozart. It's a fantastic piece." It will be Cheng's fourth appearance with the SSO, and while she can't remember exactly when she appeared here in the past, she remembers what she played: Rachmaninoff, Brahms, and Beethoven's Fourth.

Complimented on her memory, she laughs and says, "it's funny, you know, I don't remember names at all. I don't remember numbers very well, so years are hopeless." The Kingdom, 9:30 p.m. Resident Evil Extinction, 9:40 p.m. Stardust, 1,4 p.m. Ratatouille, 1:15,4:15,6:55 p.m.

Balls of Fury, 9:45 p.m. The Simpsons Movie, 1:50,4:50,7:10, 9:50 p.m. I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry, 6:50, 9:25 p.m. Shrek the Third, 1:35,4:35 p.m. ROXY THEATRE (955-8642): Closed Monday to Wednesday BROADWAY THEATRE (6524556): Once, 7, 9 p.m.

Dinner theatre has winning formula COMMENTARY JOANNE PAULSON Tonight Features Editor We get a lot of people who want an evening out and to be entertained in a different way." He says people seem to like the service, being greeted at the door, the light atmosphere, the good food and the happy-ending style of theatre. Clearly, he's right. The theatre's resounding success proves Kooy's entrepreneurial instincts were bang on when he founded the place. Meanwhile, he's also renting the building out for private occasions, and it's basically booked to the rafters. "It's a great problem to have." Mercer in Saskatoon Big fans of Rick Mercer's show have been waiting and waiting for him to take on the University of Saskatchewan.

Mercer seems to have made it a mission to visit most of the universities in Canada, judging by the last two years of The Mercer Report on CBC. They are invariably great segments. Last week, it was finally the of S's turn. It was odd timing, considering the CUPE strike; and good timing, considering the university's 100th birthday is this year. And it was very, very funny.

After emerging from a potash mine, Mercer visited with USSU president James Pepler, drove a silly vehicle in competition against much less silly vehicles produced by the engineering students, was flung to the mat by Huskie wrestlers, and visited an art class. (My only disappointment was that he was supposed to be at the PAC climbing wall, whence I tried to catch up with him, but that activity was cancelled. Sigh.) He's a brave guy, our Rick. He has plunged into icy water, been a target for police dogs, driven all kinds of large andor scary vehicles and jumped out of airplanes. But his stint in the art class took the prize.

There he was, naked but for boots, posing for the drawing class. They modestly fuzzed out the important parts for broadcast, but it seemed quite clear that Rick got naked for the sake of art. Some of these pieces have a bit of an odd edge to them, which seems appropriate to universities (including having a wrestler's arms wrapped around him while at the potter's wheel, a la Ghost, the movie.) They're funny and illuminating; and a little lighthearted publicity is always nice. Go Mercer Report. Nearly three weeks ago, I had the sense to check out Off Broadway Dinner Theatre's website for its next production.

The company's next show, Kitchen Witches, was slowly emerging on my event horizon and I had a minute to prudently check its opening date. I was shocked to learn the opening weekend's Friday and Saturday shows were already sold out. There were, thank goodness, a few seats left for Thursday. Since we review Off Broadway, I immediately got on the horn and called over to reserve tickets, weeks before I normally do. Whew.

Disaster averted. As I write this, 21 performances of Kitchen Witches are sold out. Two shows have fewer than 10 seats left. That leaves four more dates (not including the show-only nights.) While Off Broadway's Christmas season show has always done very well (indeed, it usually does sell out most performances), I certainly don't remember this many nights selling out two to three weeks ahead. Even a stuffed-up Peter Kooy was amazed.

In fact, "I'm ecstatic," he said. 6.00 Evening News 6.30 Entertainment Tonight 7.00 Back to You 7.30 'Tit Death 8.00 Kitchen Nightmares 10.00 Life 11.00 News Final Global) When Kooy started the theatre 1 1 years ago, he and then-partner Michael Neuert saw a niche they thought might make them some beer money. "We never realized the potential that was there because of the talent we have, and being able to fill a niche market in so many ways," says Kooy, referring to not just the dinner theatre, but also the murder mysteries, kids' shows and single events the dinner theatre hosts. 'Then again, I saw something that was there that nobody else saw. As the demand grew, we had to grow too." You'll never see Chekhov or Ibsen or Beckett at Off Broadway.

Dinner theatre is strictly a light-hearted venture. No one wants to weep openly with a belly full of turkey or roast beast. Kooy totally admits they're not trying to do Shakespeare "We look for stuff that's sometimes sitcom-ish. The customers we get aren't (all) regular theatre-goers. Daily TV listings are available at: www.canada.comnnd rttvlistingsresutts.

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