Some upcoming (out-of-doors) concerts:
The Springfield Earth Day Festival will take place Saturday, April 27. The annual event is a plastic-free, leave-no-trace music festival set to coincide with Earth Day, which was last Monday. Taking place at Jordan Valley Park, the lineup includes Langhorne Slim, Brandon Moore & Friends, Ha Ha Tonka, Rochara Knight and the Honey Doves and five other bands. The festival starts at noon. Tickets are $50 — $75 for VIP, and kids 12 and under get in free. More information here.
Gigs in the Garden is coming up. It’s a series of concerts happening at the Springfield Botanical Gardens, 2400 S. Scenic, sponsored by the Hatch Foundation and Springfield Sister Cities. They’re all on a Sunday at 2 p.m. The first one’s on May 5 featuring Eddie Gumucio, a singer-songwriter. KSMU listeners might know him as the host of Beneath the Surface on Wednesday nights on Ozarks Public Radio. May 12 will be Maddi Warren and Alli Butler, and the series will close on May 19 with the Republic Community Band. Admission’s free, with a $10 suggested donation. More information at the Sister Cities website.
Theatre news:
Springfield Contemporary Theatre opens The Other Place Friday night, April 26. Thursday, director Karen Sabo and lead actor Sarah Wiggin, both MSU faculty, talked about the show. Here is that interview:
The show runs April 26 through 28, May 2 through 5, and May 9 through 12. Evening performances are at 7:30, with a 2:30 show on Sundays. Tickets are $32 for adults and $10 for children. For more information, Springfield Contemporary Theatre.
Also this weekend in Springfield theatre, MSU’s Spring Dance Concert, Movement Mechanized, opened yesterday. It has pieces in a variety of styles choreographed by both students and faculty. It runs through Sunday, with performances in Coger Theater at 7:30 p.m. except for Sunday, when the show is at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors. More info here.
Friday night, April 26, at 7 p.m., Joplin’s arts org, Connect 2 Culture, will host the New York Gilbert and Sullivan players performing a one-act version of The Pirates of Penzance. That’s the classic comic opera from which the modern major general song is derived. That’ll be followed by a best-of Gilbert and Sullivan, including impromptu requests, if you want to hear something specific from, say, H.M.S. Pinafore. Tickets start at $40. The show will take place at the Beshore Performance Hall in the Harry M. Cornell Arts Complex. More information at connect2culture.org.
Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28, the Branson Regional Arts Council will hold their second annual Special Abilities Showcase. Each night will feature a different cast of folks with developmental disabilities showcasing their performance chops. The show’s at 7 p.m. in the Historic Owen Theatre both nights, with a $5 donation collected at the door. More information at BransonArts.org.
First Friday Art Walk
The First Friday Art Walk for the month of May is one week from now. There’s a lot going on, but here are some highlights:
Carl’s Bad Designs will open their fashion showroom at 314 S. Campbell Avenue. They’ll be showcasing runway pieces in their very campy, lacy style, as well as local artwork, vintage clothes and handmade jewelry.
BookMarx is hosting their 10 Year Anniversary Photographic Retrospective exhibiting photos of the store and, perhaps most importantly, cats that live in the store taken by staff and customers.
Interior design firm slash retail store slash art gallery, Obelisk Home, will host the opening reception for Soft Spoken Sunlight by J.D. Hull, who does really vibrant, thick oil paintings, as well as the opening reception for a Karen Schneider Retrospective exhibition. It will also be the last day to view the Glendale Alumni Exhibition and bid in their 18th Annual Birdhouse Auction.
More information on these and all the other things going on at First Friday Art Walk here.
ArtsFest will be right after First Friday, the weekend of May 4 and 5. Located on Historic Walnut Street, it’s got art, live entertainment and food. Tickets are $5, and children under five get in free. More information here.
The Springfield Art Museum:
Fundraising event, Art in Bloom, started Wednesday and continues through Sunday, April 28. There are both floral and fashion designers displaying their interpretations of works of art beside those works of art, with both jury prizes and people’s choice awards given out. In addition to local vendors and activities for families, there will be an embroidery workshop Friday afternoon, April 26, a basket weaving workshop Saturday, April 27, and a floral design workshop on Sunday. These all cost money, and the museum encourages people to purchase tickets in advance. More information at the art museum website.
Currently running at the art museum is Ancient Artifacts Abroad, closing in mid-June and Survey of Ceramic Art and Creating an American Identity, which close late June. Breath, Light, and Distance; Renaissance Works on Parchment and Paper; and the collection focus exhibitions Bradi Barth and Glenna Goodacre don’t close until the museum closes long-term for renovations on September 2. As always, museum admission is free.
Film events:
Some special screenings are coming up at the Moxie Cinema soon. This Tuesday, April 30, they’ll screen The Player, Robert Altman’s crime-thriller satire of Hollywood executives. It’s the second part of this month’s Two Tuesdays series; last Tuesday’s Two Tuesdays feature was Sunset Boulevard.
On Wednesday, May 1, they’ll show Who Can See Forever, a concert film-hyphen-documentary following indie folk icon Iron & Wine.
Then, on May 8, the Moxie will show Being John Malkovich, the 90s surreal comedy classic with a script by Charlie Kaufman, direction by Spike Jonze, and a performance by John Cusack, among others. Information on all these screenings at the Moxie's website.
In other film news, SATO48 kick-off is Friday night, April 26. The 48-hour film festival challenges teams to create a short film in, you guessed it, 48 hours, based on an ‘Inspiration Package’ provided to each group. If you want more information, go to SATO48.com.