WEDNESDAY 3
Symphony on the Square takes place today at noon on the corner of Trade and Tryon St. The event is free and open to the public. Be sure to bring your lunch and enjoy the outdoors and the Symphony. For more information call 704-972-2000.
Rapper Snoop Dogg will bring his infamous bark to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at 8pm tonight. Tickets are $25, available by calling 704-522-6500.
Street Song, a fusion of dance, jazz and hip-hop with Langston Hughes’ poetry, begins today at UNC-Charlotte’s Rowe Theatre. The event runs through Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets cost $10, $5 for students with a school ID. For more information, call 704-687-2599.
The annual OutCharlotte Festival, a perennial event which celebrates the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, will be held today through next Tuesday at various local venues. The festivities begin this evening with a Potluck Dinner at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 1900 The Plaza. The evening will also feature author James T. Sears, the Don King Community Service Awards, and Karen Ripley’s version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? Events run from 6:30-8:30pm. The event is free and open to the public. For other activities, see Friday’s listing below; for a complete schedule of the festival’s events, contact OutCharlotte at 704-563-2699 or visit on the web at www.outcharlotte.org.
Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte opens its season today with Thumbs, a new comedy/thriller by Rupert Holmes. The show will run through October 21 in Spirit Square. Showtimes are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday October 21 at 2pm only. Tickets range from $14-$18, except on opening night when all seats are $9, and on October 9, which is pay what you can night. For more information call 704-372-1000 or visit online at www.actorstheatrecharlotte.org.
Moving Poets opens its season with Macbeth at the Booth Theatre. The show will run through October 6 at 8pm. Tickets range from $17.50-$22.50. Post-show discussions will immediately follow each performance. Audience members are invited to ask the artists questions pertaining to the performance or the company. For more information call 704-372-1000 or 704-527-MOVE.
THURSDAY 4
Tori Amos, the quirky piano chanteuse who is either brilliant or pretentious depending on who you ask, will appear along with opening act Rufus Wainwright at 7:30pm at Ovens Auditorium. See interview in this issue. Tickets are $35, available by calling 704-335-3100 or 704-522-6500.
The Charlotte Symphony’s male a cappella group Round Midnight will perform at 7pm at Borders Books & Music. The performance will include some informal highlights of the upcoming season, and light hors d’oeuvres. The event is free and open to the public. For more information call 704-972-2000 or visit online at www.charlottesymphony.org.
The Barebones Theatre production of Drift continues tonight at The Attic Theatre in the Afro-American Cultural Center. The production will run through October 6 at 8pm, and October 7 at 2pm. Tickets to the show are $12 for adults and $8 for students and seniors. For more information call 704-577-7274 or visit online at www.barebones.org.
The 12th Annual Harvest of the Arts Jubilee begins today in Rock Hill. Events include art exhibits, plays, musical presentations, and contemporary bands. Events run through October 6 with various events scheduled throughout the day across the area. For more information or a complete listing of events and locations call 803-328-2787 or visit www.rockhillarts.org.
Off-Tryon Theatre’s season continues with their second production, Corpus Christi by Terrance McNally, beginning tonight at the Off Tryon Theatre. The show will run through October 6, October 11-14, and October 18-20, with all shows at 8pm. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. For more information call 704-375-2826 or visit online at www.offtryon.org.
Tonight is Winston Pole Night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, featuring qualifying for the NASCAR UAW-GM Quality 500 Winston Cup race on Sunday, as well as the Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 100 REMAX/ARCA race. Gates open at 3pm, and qualifying begins at 7pm. Tickets are $12 in advance and $20 the day of ($15 and $20 for a commemorative ticket), $1 for children 6-12, and free for children under 6. For tickets or more information, call 1-800-455-FANS.
FRIDAY 5
It’s October, and as Halloween approaches the usual suspects are gearing up. Carowinds’ Scarowinds is now open every Friday and Saturday night from 7pm until Midnight. This year’s Scarowinds includes several different attractions including The Asylum, Circus of Horrors (3-D), Bloodbath Bayou, Dungeon of Doom, Elvira’s Superstition, Jay’s-Son’s Revenge
Part 2 — He Lives, Scarecrow Cornfield, Haunted Hollywood, Scooby Doo’s Haunted Mansion, and Fearfest. General admission is $29.99. For more information call 1-800-888-4FUN or visit on the web at www.carowinds.com.
Country pop singer Jo Dee Messina will headline the 96.9 Kat Country Showdown at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. Other performers include Aaron Tippin, Tracy Byrd, Cyndi Thomson, Jeff Carson, and Jameson Clark. Tickets are $15, $29, and $39. Tickets and showtimes are available by calling 704-522-6500.
Davidson College’s Dean Rusk Program in International Studies will present a workshop and performance by African musician Mamadou Diabate today in the C. Shaw Smith 900 Room of the Alvarez College Union. The workshop begins at 4:30pm and the performance at 8pm. Both events are free and open to the public. For more information call 704-894-2440.
The Winthrop University Theatre and Dance season opens tonight with The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux. Tonight’s performance is a preview performance, which will begin at 8pm. The show continues Thursday through Saturday, October 18. All performances are at 8pm in Johnson Theatre on the Winthrop University Campus. Tickets are $7 for general admission. For more information call 803-323-2287.
The Mint Museum Antiques Show & Sale returns to the Charlotte Merchandise Mart today through October 7. The show will showcase a collection of Sterling Silver from Mrs. George R. Scott. The show runs today from 10am-8pm, tomorrow from 10am-6pm, and Sunday from noon-5pm. Tickets are $15 at the door. All proceeds benefit the Mint Museum of Art. For more information or to make your reservations call 704-337-2095.
The OutCharlotte Festival continues over the next few days with a number of local events. Among them: Transsexual performance artist David Harrison’s FTM, at 7:30pm tonight at Theatre Charlotte ($10 advance, $12 at door); The ADODI Muse: A Gay Negro Ensemble at 7:30pm Saturday at Theatre Charlotte ($10 advance, $12 at door); a Festival Dance at 11pm Saturday at Velocity, 935 S. Summit Ave. ($6 members, $8 nonmembers and under 21); and screenings of the acclaimed film Hedwig and the Angry Inch at 7pm and 9pm Monday and Tuesday at the AMC Carolina Pavilion ($6 advance, $7 at door). For a complete schedule, call 563-2699 or go online to www.outcharlotte.org.
SATURDAY 6
Symphony Week culminates with the Perick/Hampson Fall Gala at 8:30pm in the Belk Theatre of the Performing Arts Center. The evening’s entertainment will include works by Verdi, Copland, Mahler, and Stravinsky. The performance will feature Grammy-winning baritone Thomas Hampson. Tickets range from $40-$75. For more information call 704-972-2000 or visit online at www.charlottesymphony.com.
NASCAR Busch Series drivers take to the oval today at noon for the Little Trees 300 (gates open at 8am). Tickets are available at the gate or by calling 1-800-455-FANS.
Put on your medieval attire and prepare to eat gigantic turkey legs and drink mead, as The Carolina Renaissance Festival and Artisan Marketplace will once again take over Metrolina beginning today (take Exit 25 on I-77, or exits 52 or 55 on I-85 and follow the signs). The festival, which features all sorts of shops, events, and food relating to the Middle Ages and Renaissance, runs every Saturday and Sunday from this weekend until the November 17-18 weekend from 10am-5:30pm, rain or shine. Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for kids 5-12, available at local Harris Teeter stores. Tickets purchased at the gate are $1 higher. For more information, call 704-896-5544.
Johnson C. Smith University will take on Virginia Union in their brand new on-campus stadium today at 6pm. For more information, call 704-378-1118.
The Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure takes place in uptown Charlotte, featuring a slew of running-related events raising money for the fight against breast cancer, including a one-mile run/walk, a 5K run/walk, a Komen Kids 50 yard dash, and more. Registration is $20-25 in person. For a list of locations, visit www.CharlotteRFTC.com, or call 704-442-RACE.
Art-metal favorites Tool, led by the irrepressible Maynard James Keenan, appear tonight along with support act Fantomas at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at 7:30pm. Tickets are $32.00 and $34.50, available by calling 704-522-6500.
Junior Brown, the world’s best guit-steel player (he may well be the world’s only guit-steel player), will stop into the Visulite Theatre tonight at 10pm (9pm doors). Tickets are $20, available by calling 704-358-9200.
SUNDAY 7
NASCAR’s stars will battle it out for 500 miles today in the culmination of race week, the UAW-GM Quality 500 (gates open at 8am). Tickets are available at the gate or by calling 1-800-455-FANS.
The 11th Annual Latin American Festival will be held today from noon-7pm on the grounds of the Mint Museum of Art. The event will feature Latin-American dancers, singers, actors, and tours in both English and Spanish of the current exhibition The Sport of Life & Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame. Continuous activities and games will be held throughout the day. Festival admission is $5, free for children 12 and under, and includes admission to the museum itself. For more information or a complete list of events and times call 704-337-2000 or visit online at www.mintmuseum.org.
Smooth jazzbos The Rippingtons, featuring Russ Freeman, will appear at 8pm tonight in the Belk Theater of the Performing Arts Center, along with Brian Culbertson and Ken Navarro. Tickets are $34.50, $39.50, and $49.50, available by calling 704-372-1000 or 704-522-6500.
TUESDAY 9
One of America’s leading pianists, Leon Bates, is set to perform at Wingate University’s George A. Batte Jr. Fine Arts Center tonight at 7:30pm. Tickets for the performance are $15. For more information call 704-233-8300.
This article appears in Oct 6-12, 2001.
