Calendar for the week

thursday
april 3
"It's Only Rock and Roll: Rock and Roll Currents in Contemporary Art": David Rubin, Phoenix Art Museum's curator of 20th-century art, organized this exhibit, billed as an exploration of "rock as a social force in [contemporary] art" and including pieces by Annie Leibovitz, Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Nam June Paik, Robert Rauschenberg, William Wegman, Laurie Anderson and others. The installation continues through Sunday, June 15, in the Steele Gallery at PAM, 1625 North Central; viewing hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays (to 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays). A related film festival continues at 7 p.m. Friday, April 4 (see the Repertory Film listing). Conceptual artist Christian Marclay inaugurates the "Raised on Rock and Roll" series in the Whiteman Lecture Hall with a program titled "The Sounds of Silence" at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 6. Exhibit admission: $5, $4 for seniors, $2 for students and children age 6 and up, free for younger kids and members; entry is free to all from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursdays. For details call 257-1880 or 257-1222.

The Illusion: Tony Kushner penned the near-great, Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels in America, and the playwright loosely adapted this update of L'Illusion Comique by 17th-century French scribe Pierre Corneille. The work centers on a father's search for his estranged son and, on a metaphorical level, the meaning of love--a quest that leads to the mountain lair of the sorcerer Alcandre; see the review on page 65. Arizona Theatre Company continues its 30th-anniversary season with performances at 2 and 8 p.m. Thursday, April 3; 8 p.m. Friday, April 4; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, April 5; 1 and 7 p.m. Sunday, April 6; and 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, in Center Stage at Herberger Theater Center, 222 East Monroe. Wednesday's show is interpreted in American Sign Language. The production continues through Sunday, April 13. Tickets range from $19 to $32, available at Herberger and Dillard's; call 252-8497 or 503-5555.

The Tradition at Desert Mountain: The ninth annual Senior PGA Tour stop, featuring a field that includes defending champ Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Weiskopf, Ray Floyd and Hale Irwin, is scheduled Thursday, April 3; Friday, April 4; Saturday, April 5; and Sunday, April 6, on the Nicklaus-designed Cochise Course at Desert Mountain, Pima and Cave Creek roads in Scottsdale. Badges start at $100; they're available at Dillard's. For details call 595-4070 or 503-5555.

"David Levinthal: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls": "Toys are not benign. They are forms of socialization," says Levinthal, a photographer who studied at MIT and Yale and Stanford universities and whose jaded, informed eye lends an ominous tone to his Polaroids of the trinkets of youth. "Dolls" opens with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 3, and continues through Saturday, April 26, in the "through the arch" room at Lisa Sette Gallery, 4142 North Marshall Way in Scottsdale. Viewing is free; hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays (and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursdays), noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays. For details call 990-7342.

friday
april 4
The Presidents of the United States of America, and Redd Kross: Seattle's Presidents are idiot-savant pop stars who specialize in bursting the bubble of '90s-pop pretension; California's Kross is a whip-smart debunker and defender of '70s-pop excess. Custard shares the stage. The all-ages show starts at 9 p.m. Friday, April 4, at Electric Ballroom, 1216 East Apache in Tempe. Tickets are $15, available at Ticketmaster. For details call 894-0707 or 784-4444.

Kenzaburo Oe: The Nobel Prize-winning Japanese author (Hiroshima Notes; Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness) speaks about "The Literary Imagination at the Close of the 20th Century" at 4 p.m. Friday, April 4, at Neeb Hall, located at the intersection of Forest and Tyler malls on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe. Admission is free. Call 965-7184.

Five Guys Named Moe: Reggie Kelly, a member of Moe's post-Broadway touring company, directed and choreographed Black Theatre Troupe's production of Clarke Peters' tribute to the late, great Louis Jordan, jumpin' jive cat and bandleader deluxe. Opening performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, April 4; 8 p.m. Saturday, April 5; and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 6, at Helen K. Mason Center for the Performing Arts, 333 East Portland. The run continues through Sunday, April 20. Tickets range from $10 to $16. For details call 258-8128.

Ellen Bromberg and Several Dancers Core: The troupe performs Aria for an Endangered Species, a dance/theater piece featuring a score by Yoko Ono and based on the Ono installation "Endangered Species 2319-2322," which was itself derived from Yoko's visit to Pompeii. Showtime is 8 p.m. Friday, April 4, in Second Stage West, located in the University Center Building on the Arizona State University West campus, 4701 West Thunderbird in Glendale. Tickets are $10, $8 for seniors, $5 for students. For details call 543-2787.

Having Our Say: Micki Grant and Lizan Mitchell portray Sadie and Bessie Delany, respectively, in this touring adaptation of the book Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years--a view of the American century from the prairie schooner to the space shuttle as seen through the eyes of the long-lived African-American siblings. Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, April 4; and the same time Saturday, April 5, at Gammage Auditorium, Mill and Apache in Tempe. Tickets range from $26 to $38, available at Gammage and Dillard's; call 965-3434 or 503-5555.