In a citywide conspiracy to turn theatergoers into barflies, Tavern Shakespeare is picking up where the Bar Project left off. You'll need to transport your drinking elbow uptown -- and upstairs at the RiRa Irish Pub -- to catch this new Collaborative Arts beer-and-Bard mixer. Although Elizabethan nobles knew nothing about dating, the Collaborative ensemble will demonstrate Shakespeare's savoir faire in relationships, pickup lines and courtship combat. OK, so maybe the asides on speed dating aren't exactly the lines written for Petruchio and Katherine. But a cast that includes Andrea King, Beth Yost and David Holland should bring fresh life to these and numerous other iambic paramours. Thursday evenings at 7pm through March 23 at 208 N. Tryon St. Admission is free, but donations and reservations are encouraged. Call 704-333-5554. (Tannenbaum)
What's with our continued obsession with 1980s hair metal? Seems every other week, Amos' Southend gives the spotlight over to a bunch of ex-members of Poison or Faster Pussycat or Great White or White Snake or White Lion or Warrant or Winger or ... whatever. From a strictly anthropological standpoint (we say, stroking our beard), this need for spandex and dyed-black, Aquanet-teased tresses suggests a deep-seated longing for -- um, what would Freud say? -- Mama. (As in "Mama, Weer All Crazee Now," no doubt.) At any rate, if you need to return to the hair-spray fragrance of your childhood, check out ex-Ratt man Stephen Pearcy (he of the fisted glove) and drag-alongs Bang Tango and Pretty Boy Floyd. Shoot, Amos' may as well just change its name to Gazarris on Tryon. Dude, get your glove stamped for $12 in advance; $15 at the door. Doors open at 8pm. For more info, call 704-377-6874. (Kemp)
Friday, March 032005 ASCAP Writer of the Year and Rock Hill native, Rudy Currence will be in town to help celebrate the CIAA's inaugural season in Charlotte. Currence started his career right out of high school and released his independent CD, More Than You'll Ever Know, in 2003. Along the way, he's written for Mya and had a song featured on The Bourne Identity soundtrack. His musicianship is reminiscent of classic entertainers from the days of Motown, and his vocal style has been compared to greats like Donnie Hathaway, Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke. Tonight, he'll open for Heather Headley at the free Ford CIAA Fan Experience and sing the National Anthem at tonight's Men's semi-final. Single-game ticket info is available at www.ciaatournament.org. (Calloway)
Good news for all who long to feel the beat, drive an anklebiter wild with delight or simply sit at the feet of a master crowd-pleaser: Billy Jonas and his re-tuned, recycled junkpile are back at Children's Theatre for a seventh consecutive season. Rimshot, crash-boom-bang, honk. With stories, charm and booties in motion, Jonas can turn a cool theater like Wachovia Playhouse into a warm family room. Performances are Friday at 7:30pm; Saturday at 11am and 1pm; and Sunday at 2pm and 4pm. Orchestra tickets are $12, with general seating at $10. Call 704-973-2828. (Tannenbaum)
The veteran New Orleans rockers in Cowboy Mouth are yet another group that have regained their bearings after the deluge of Katrina. The new disc, Voodoo Shoppe, was mostly recorded before the storm, but a couple of tunes written after that disaster are another example of the unbreakable spirit of Crescent City musicians. On "The Avenue" they sing, "the parades will ride again." Cowboy Mouth hasn't let up on the nuttiness, though, and the opening track, "Joe Strummer," is blistering proof of the group's musicality. They'll play the Visulite tonight beginning at 9pm. Tickets are $16. Details at www.visulite.com. (Shukla)
The Afro-American Cultural Center presents Quest for Equality: African-American Pioneers in the Sport of Basketball as its Gallery Talk in time for the CIAA Basketball Tournament. Charlotte Bobcat Sean May will participate in the discussion, returning from successful knee surgery. "Quest for Equality," organized by the National Civil Rights Museum in partnership with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Association, provides a historical timetable of the struggle, success, sacrifice and achievement that paved the way for today's players, coaches and owners. For more information call 704-374-1565 or visit www.aacc-charlotte.org. (Calloway)
While his Mill Village Rhapsody is still making the rounds with the Charlotte Symphony this weekend in Gastonia and Rock Hill, we can appreciate David Crowe as that rarest of artists -- a serious composer in demand. Instead of tagging along with CSO, Crowe will be unveiling another new composition in a pair of concerts with Carolina Voices. Crowe was commissioned to write his new choral piece to honor the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at Discovery Place. The result, based on Psalm 138 (a key component of the exhibit), will headline the Psalms & Songs of the Ages concert at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 115 W. 7th St. Crowe gives a preconcert talk at the 8pm premiere on Friday and at the 5pm encore on Saturday at Temple Beth El in Shalom Park, 5101 Providence Road. Tickets to the concerts are $20 for adults and $10 for students. Call 704-377-9124. (Tannenbaum)
Sunday, March 05Oscar Night America, an annual fundraising event sanctioned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, will be held this evening in the Omni Charlotte Hotel Ballroom. The Charlotte shindig is one of 46 official Oscar parties that will be held across the country; proceeds from the local event will benefit the Charlotte Symphony. Film critics Matt Brunson of Creative Loafing and Sean O'Connell of the Charlotte Weekly will be on hand to discuss the Oscar nominations, while local celebrities in attendance will include Carolina Panthers players Mike Minter and Mike Rucker, Reggie White's widow Sara White, WSOC-TV news co-anchor Kim Brattain, and actor and mime Hardin Minor. The night begins with red carpet limo arrivals at 6pm; the live Oscar show will be broadcast on giant TV screens at 8pm, with guests receiving official programs and posters, raffle opportunities, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and more. Tickets cost $50, $75 (35 and under), $100 and $200. For tickets or more info, call 704-972-2003, ext. 226, or visit www.charlottesymphony.org.
Historian John Hope Franklin, who positively reshaped the way African-American history is understood and taught in the United States, comes to the Levine Museum of the New South today. Franklin's numerous books include The Militant South, The Free Negro in North Carolina, Reconstruction After the Civil War, A Southern Odyssey: Travelers in the Ante-bellum North, and his best known work, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans. The recipient of more than 130 honorary degrees, Franklin will read from his recently published autobiography, Mirror to America. The program is free with museum admission. Call 704-333-1887 ext. 501 for reservations. (Calloway)
Tuesday, March 07St. Peter's Episcopal is serving up trout for lunch at its monthly First Tuesday Concert. Paul Nitsch, a Queens University faculty member, ventures off campus to preside over Schubert's transcendent "Trout Quintet" behind the keyboard at the 12:10 lunchtime concert and at the 5:30pm AfterWork reprise. Four Charlotte Symphony members comprise the string quartet, which conspires with Nitsch to hook you on the "Trout." Admission to both chamber music concerts is free, and the Transamerica Building off 7th Street offers a 90-minute grace period in its parking garage. Free reception at Hodges-Taylor Gallery after the 5:30pm concert. (Tannenbaum)