THE WOGGLES
Formed in Athens, Ga., in 1987, The Woggles are essentially a four-piece living-breathing-singing-jamming Nuggets box set impervious to the passing of time. From the matching outfits and preponderance of 7-inches to the stage-names — Professor Mighty Manfred, Flesh Hammer, Montague and Zorko — the mid-’60s are still the font of all things swinging. That also means there’s little difference in the garage-friendly blend of soul, big beat R&B, rock and surf from the band’s 1993 debut TeenDanceParty to its latest, this year’s The Big Beat. It’s all good fun, especially live in a packed sweaty club with a beverage or two under your belt. But, at least on record, it’s equally impossible not to sometimes wonder why you’re not listening instead to the early progenitors (“Maximum R&B”-era Who, Mitch Ryder, The Yardbirds, et al.) who did it first. So, you know, point being, see ’em live and quit thinking about it so much; better to just let the rock wash over you for the night and cleanse the bullshit away. With Temperance League, Modern Primitives and more as part of the 6th Annual Snug 600 which runs through Sunday; Vroom-Vroom!
Lovers of irreverence can rejoice greatly, for the potty-mouthed puppets of Avenue Q are bringing their song-and-angst routine to Theatre Charlotte, May 17–June 2. Recent college grad Princeton is the newest tenement tenant on this queer city block, wondering how he can parlay an English degree into a livelihood while instantly smitten — how could he not be? — by equally anxious and awkward Kate Monster. The song list is self-recommending to anyone who has ever suffered through the varnished truths of Sesame Street and Mister Rogers, including such hits as “It Sucks to Be Me,” “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist,” and the imperishable “The Internet Is for Porn.” Blue-chipper Billy Ensley is directing a formidable cast that stars Andy Faulkenberry as Princeton and KC Roberge as Kate. Genders be damned, the supporting cast includes Matt Kenyon as Lucy the Slut and Veda Covington as Gary Coleman. Yes, that Gary Coleman. $25-$27
Premiering at the Manhattan Theatre Club in May of 2000 and working its way up to Broadway just five months later, David Auburn’s Proof is ... well ... proof that starting small can lead to bigger and better things. In 2001, the play picked up a Pulitzer Prize for “Drama” and a Tony Award for “Best Play,” before going on a continuous run that came to a close in 2003. Afterwards, it was adapted into a film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins and Jake Gyllenhaal. Reemerging in the quarters of Carolina Actors Studio Theatre, this production doesn’t really need a plug, but for folks who struggle with finding good solutions for things to do, consider this your cheat sheet. But be forewarned: This isn’t the happiest of plays. It revolves around Catherine (played by the talented Karina Roberts-Caporino), who sacrificed her own dreams to care for her mentally ill father (George Gray), a former mathematical genius, while her sister ran off to New York. With his death, Catherine faces her estranged sibling and one of her father’s former students, who thinks that an undiscovered, breakthrough manuscript may be hidden in her father’s office. Add to all this a blossoming romance and some questionable sanity and you’ve got the general equation for Proof.
$18-$28