A ring is a burdensome thing, ain't it? All one has to do is watch about 10 hours of Frodo lugging one all over Middle Earth -- and the equally long Academy Awards ceremony that follows -- to get an idea of the power, greed and the temptation that comes with possessing that not-so-perfect circle. But cycles and rings aren't limited to J.R.R. Tolkien. Indeed, Richard Wagner used the same approach to his operatic cycle, The Ring of Nibelungen. The prologue to that cycle, Das Rheingold, sets up Wagner's trilogy: Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung. DAS RHEINGOLD gets the local treatment as the New Orleans Opera Association presents the classic tale Thursday and Friday at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre of the Performing Arts. As Tolkien did with his trilogy, Wagner borrowed heavily from mythological elements gleaned from Norse and Icelandic cultures, with a fair share of dwarves, swords, gods and heroes. The story centers around the dwarf Alberich, who steals gold that belongs to a group of maidens and fashions it into a ring loaded with power. His desire to use the ring as a weapon against several of the gods starts a chain reaction of events that reveals jealousy and rivalry. The chief god, Wotan, eventually comes to the realization that the golden ring must be returned to its proper owners for peace to rule again. David Morelock directs this production, while Robert Lyall conducts. The cast features a combination of international and local performers: Peter Strummer, Clayton Brainard, Luretta Bybee, David Bedard, Herbert Eckhoff, Bryan Hymel, Alfred Walker III, Peter Kazaras, Anthony Laciura and others. Tickets range from $30 to $100 and are available online at www.neworleansopera.org or by calling 529-3000 or (800) 881-4459. Showtimes at 8 p.m. -- David Lee Simmons

Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 9 Prytania Theatre, 5339 Prytania St., 523-3818/891-ARTS Only rarely, through interviews, feature profiles or even reviews, do we ever get an accurate window into the world of an artist at work. So much is lost in translation it's a wonder we ever try. But Rivers and Tides, director Thomas Riedelsheimer's documentary about British environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy, appears to break all the rules in the best possible way. This 2003 release is so critically praised it's a surprise it didn't score an Oscar nomination (though it was a great year for docs). "Intoxicating and meditative by turns, helped by Fred Frith's minimalist score, this film opens a portal into a singular creative mind," gushed Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio critic Kenneth Turan. This special screening is the first of several upcoming offerings from the New Orleans Film Festival (NOFF), so stay tuned for more. Tickets $8 general admission, $7 NOFF members. -- Simmons

As You Like It 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, March 9-13; 2 p.m. Sunday, March 14 UNO Performing Arts Center, Thrust Theatre, 280-SHOW Penned roughly midway through the prolific brilliance of William Shakespeare's career, just after Merry Wives of Windsor and Much Ado About Nothing and shortly before masterpieces Henry V and Hamlet, the comedy As You Like It remains a mystery to many, but is recognized as light, positive and hilarious. In this production by the University of New Orleans' Department of Drama and Communications, director Rusty Tennant uses the original First Folio text, delivering four intermingled love stories and classic characters such as the cross-dressing Rosalind, depressed thinker Jacques and the foolish but quick Touchstone. Critics praise this work for being both simplistic -- achieved with joking skits and songs -- and serious as the characters ponder love, life, the natural world and aging. Tennant directs Mikko Macchione, Michael Sullivan, Martin Covert and Heather Surdukan. Tickets are $8 general admission, $5 students/seniors. -- Frank Etheridge

Gillian Welch 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 9 Tipitina's, 501 Napoleon Ave, 895-TIPS Gillian Welch was one of the earlier harbingers of the turn-of-the-millennium roots music resurgence. Releasing her first album, Revival, in 1996, Welch arrived right on time to latch onto the O Brother, Where Art Thou? wave of nouveau-twangers who made country cool again. The demand for back-to-basics Appalachian stomp found Welch on plenty of tributes and compilations while she continued to add to her own head-turning canon, peaking with 2001's Time (The Revelator). But even though the rock revival has turned the focus back to urban urgency, Welch, still writing with longtime partner David Rawlings, turned out a fresh crop of songs for her latest release, Soul Journey. With a few newly rendered traditional songs to ground it in authenticity, the not-so-well-received album features rock-tinged ramblers and austere ballads bolstered by full-band texture. Tickets $15. -- Cristina Diettinger

Southern Culture on the Skids 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 10 The Parish at the House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE North Carolina roots rocker Rick Miller is celebrating his 19th year at the helm of Southern Culture on the Skids. His catalog of white-trash parody is heartfelt -- his dad built mobile homes for a living -- which is probably why he can still write great songs on the subject this far into his career. The group has gone through several lineup changes over the years, but its current incarnation as a trio allows Miller to focus directly on his distinct social vision and the witty intelligence of his guitar playing. The band's latest album, Mojo Box, delivers the voodoo goods in spades, ripping it up with the foot-stomping groove of "Smiley Yeah Yeah Yeah" and shredding it down with the hard-rocking medicine of the title track. Miller sings the time-honored praises of dropping out on "Doublewide" and indulges his love for surf guitar on "'69 El Camino" and "The Wet Spot." Start your motors. Tickets $14. -- John Swenson

A House Not Meant to Stand 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, March 11-13; 3 p.m. Sunday, March 14; through March 28 Southern Repertory Theatre, The Shops at Canal Place, third floor, (866) 468-7630 In his review of last summer's presentation of A House Not Meant to Stand by The Shakespeare Festival at Tulane, Gambit Weekly theater critic Dalt Wonk noted that in Tennessee Williams' works, "nowhere does one find 'The Father' in the sense one feels one has met 'The Mother' in [The Glass] Menagerie." Now Williams fans will get to make the comparisons up close and personal, starting with this weekend's launch of the first sanctioned Tennessee Williams Festival production, A House Not Meant to Stand. (The Glass Menagerie opens March 26.) In House, Cornelius McCorkle seems like Big Daddy as a failure, so it will be interesting to see how director Lane Savadove (last fall's Swerve) works with veteran New Orleans actor J. Patrick McNamara (who's directed interesting stuff at both Loyola and Tulane) as McCorkle. The supporting cast includes Lauren Swinney, Andy English, Bob Edes, Janet Daley and Leah Loftin. Tickets $25. -- Simmons

When Ya Smilin' 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, March 12-14 Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré, 616 St. Peter St., 522-2081 While local theater stalwart Ricky Graham has entertained audiences with countless original works and performances, perhaps the truest connection was made in 2001's When Ya Smilin¹. A comedy with a touching sentiment, the Big Easy Entertainment Award-winning play looks back into lower-middle-class white New Orleans in the 1950s through the Dufour family, with the plot framed by the 10th and 11th birthdays of Paul Dufour. A pack of irresistible Yats, the Dufours take the audience on a stroll down memory lane that leads to Pontchartrain Beach, the Famous and Tiger movie theaters, the Centanni House for Christmas Eve and much more. The trip and plot are driven by eccentric Paul's love affair with movies and movie stars and his push to have his father take the Dufours on a family vacation to Hollywood. The original cast from the smashing six-month run at True Brew is back; Graham directs Sean Patterson, Becky Allen and Heidi P. Junius. Tickets are $21 adults, $16 students and seniors. -- Etheridge

Irish Channel St. Patrick's Day Club Mass and parade Mass 11:30 a.m., parade 12:30 p.m., Saturday, March 13 St. Mary's Assumption Church, 2030 Constance St., 522-6748 Formed in 1947 and still strong with 900 members, the Irish Channel St. Patrick's Day Club still celebrates its roots in Ireland and the Irish Channel. While the infamous St. Patrick's Day block party at the Annunciation Square Playground isn't until next Wednesday (duh, the 17th), this Saturday the green season kicks into gear with the group's annual Mass and parade. Father Scott Katzenberger will lead Mass in St. Mary's Assumption Church at 11:30 a.m., and the parade begins at the outside corner of Josephine and Constance streets at 12:30 p.m. The rollicking parade runs down Magazine Street to Jackson Avenue, down Jackson to St. Charles Avenue, then up Louisiana Avenue to Magazine Street, where it heads Uptown to its finish at Jackson Avenue. The Grand Marshal is Jerry Lowe, Man of the Year is Axel Stromboe and Queen is Courtney Burke; this year's medallion honors the late pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Monsignor John P. Reynolds. (Of course, if you're feeling a little friskier, there's always Parasol's.) -- Etheridge

"A Gathering of Friends: A Tribute to Moses G. Hogan" 7 p.m. Saturday, March 13 St. Peter Claver Church, 1923 St. Philip St., 828-8441 Irvin Mayfield (pictured) joins Clyde Kerr Jr., Carol Sutton, Harold Batiste and many others for "A Gathering of Friends: A Tribute to Moses G. Hogan" on Saturday at St. Peter Claver Church. The accomplishments of the late, great Moses George Hogan as a pianist, composer and arranger -- typically spirituals performed by chorale groups -- is the stuff of international renown. Hogan's efforts to promote the arts of varied genres and the scholarship of young artistic talents may be a lesser-known legacy, but perhaps is more sacred and enduring in the local community. Just over a year after his untimely death at age 45 last February, Lula Elzy New Orleans Dance Theatre and Father Michael P. Jacques are hosting "A Gathering of Friends" to celebrate Hogan's life and art through music, dance and poetry. The impressive roster of artists who will perform includes Clyde Kerr Jr., Irvin Mayfield, Carol Sutton, Monique Moss, Kent Jordan, Harold Batiste, Dolores Marsalis and Voices of St. Peter Claver. The Lula Elzy New Orleans Dance Theatre company will also present a scholarship named in honor of Hogan. Free admission. -- Etheridge

Mary McBride, the Iguanas 9 p.m. Saturday, March 13 Mid City Lanes Rock 'n' Bowl, 4133 S. Carrollton Ave, 482-3133 Opening for the Iguanas, Mary McBride comes from Lafayette but now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. This gives her songwriting the intriguing combination of heartland soul and city street grit exemplified in "Black-Eyed Strays," one of the outstanding songs featured in her live performances. McBride was a playwright and songwriter before she chose music full time, and her gifts for character development and storytelling are evident in the songs "Toll Girl" and "Semi-Star." (Her latest play, The Nitpicker, opened in New York City last fall.) McBride is also a keen collaborator, co-writing songs with Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate) and Dan Baird (Georgia Satellites, the Yayhoos), who also account for two of her favorite covers, Wynn's "One Eyed Dog" and Baird's "Bottle & A Bible." The band, with Baird on guitar and vocals supporting McBride, walks a crackling line between guitar-driven alt-rock and classic honky-tonk. Call club for cover. -- Swenson

Archie Shepp/Roswell Rudd Quartet 7 and 9 p.m. Saturday, March 13 Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 528-3800 Shepp and Rudd are titans of the jazz world. Shepp has been tearing it up since the 1960s, having recorded avant jazz classics such as "Hambone" and "Scag." Rudd was one of the few avant-garde trombonists in the 1960s, and recently Rudd's album, Malicool, recorded with musicians from Mali, has again expanded the boundaries of jazz and international music. Shepp and Rudd have been collaborating for decades, and their 2002 record Live in New York was nominated for a Grammy. Although they are not breathing the same kind of fire they did in the 1960s, they have taken the once-heretical tunings, timbres, and techniques of free jazz and turned them into a language that everyone can understand. When Shepp and Rudd speak this language with master musicians such as drummer Andrew Cyrille and bassist Reggie Workman, expect a musical conversation full of soul, humor, and intellect. Tickets $20 general admission, $15 for CAC members. -- David Kunian

Beyoncé, Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 14 New Orleans Arena, 1500 Poydras St., 410-0297/522-5555 Hip-hop goddess Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott joins Beyoncé and Alicia Keys for a rare triple shot of diva glory Sunday at the New Orleans Arena. It's surprising to see these three women on one bill, so it's hard to imagine them sharing a stage again. That alone makes this show news, but the concert's also intriguing because all three may be on the brink of becoming something unexpected and going in directions that would make future bills like this one unlikely. Beyoncé may be a pre-packaged diva with success as carefully planned as a hostile takeover, but if Beyoncés could be manufactured, wouldn't the charts be chock full of them? What label wouldn't want a Dangerously in Love and all its Grammies? As tempting as it is to dismiss her success as marketing, it would mean selling short the intangible that makes her a star, and her ascendance to divahood seems assured. Alicia Keys already has diva attitude, but envisioning her following a Prince-like path isn't hard. She's sufficiently versed in soul and jazz history to recall her roots, but her Essence Festival performance last year suggested an indulgent streak that could lead in very interesting, more personal directions. Finally, listening to Missy Elliot's This Is Not a Test (and "Work It," also a Grammy winner) next to other hip-hop highlights how different she is. The technological and musical tools may be the same, but she's not constrained by the genre's lyrical or conceptual conventions. If she isn't already creating a hybrid that's a whole new musical thing, it's not hard to see she will be. Tickets $54-$69. -- Alex Rawls

Alaska! 9 p.m. Sunday, March 14 The Parish at House of Blues, 229 Decatur St., 529-BLUE Expectations are low when two little-known sidemen in one indie-rock god's side-project circle form yet another side project. But bassist/drummer Russell Pollard and guitarist Imaad Wasif -- constituents of Dinosaur Jr. bassist Lou Barlow's bands Sebadoh and Folk Implosion, respectively -- hit well above the mark with Alaska!. The two are committing unapologetic musical incest by co-fronting another band while still bandmates in the New Folk Implosion, but the project and its 2003 album, Emotions, aren't merely derivative. The album takes a cue from Barlow's skilled songwriting, but its textures are notably smooth and its up-and-down mood stays true to the nature of its title. Plus, the duo's camaraderie translates to chemistry, especially in the vocal department, where Wasif and Pollard often lock into a single identity. Their lilting two-part harmonies drizzle melodic softness over original, loud rock epics. The Public opens. Tickets $7. -- Diettinger

William Spratling and Mexico's Silver Renaissance Through May 23 Tulane University, Newcomb Art Gallery, 865-5828 He went there to write. In 1928, author/architect William Spratling left New Orleans' vibrant literary scene, which at the time included Sherwood Anderson and William Faulkner, to ensconce himself in Taxco, Mexico, a sleepy, former silver-mining village. To earn a few extra bucks, he began making silver jewelry. Soon he was running a workshop, the Taller de las Delicias, devoted to reviving the Mexican silver jewelry tradition. He attracted a coterie of artisans dedicated to producing what were acclaimed as "powerful and original silver objects." On view at the Newcomb Gallery, they tell the story of William Spratling and his circle, artisans who eventually transformed Taxco from a sleepy village into the epicenter of the Mexican silver jewelry trade, with more than 200,000 inhabitants. All because a New Orleans writer moved there to get away from it all. -- D. Eric Bookhardt