The 18TH ANNUAL BIG EASY ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS takes the notion of New Orleans' diverse cultural and entertainment landscape one step further; this year's ceremony honoring excellence in music and theatre also features performances of nominees in some surprising combinations. This year's match-making musical pairings include the Imagination Movers performing their brand of kid-friendly hip-hop, pop and rock with street-savvy brass band the Soul Rebels, as well as Theresa Andersson and Amanda Shaw ganging up on the Panorama Jazz Band. A guaranteed highlight will be the Ardoin family musical tribute to Music Heritage Aware honoree Bois Sec Ardoin (see A&E Feature in this issue), while on the other end of the spectrum, Quintron performs to help celebrate the launch of a new category: Best Electronica Artist. The musical theater nominees will also share the stage, with performances from Le Petit's production of Boobs! The Musical, Rivertown Rep's Little Shop of Horrors and JPAS' Smokey Joe's Cafe (pictured). Big Easy Award favorite Harry Shearer (The Simpsons, A Mighty Wind) returns once again as this year's master of ceremonies. Honorary Theatre Chairman Ryan Rilette of Southern Rep will help dole out the theatre awards, while Honorary Music Chairman George Porter Jr. will handle the other side. The Neville Brothers will be honored as Entertainer of the Year, Irma Thomas will receive the Lifetime Achievement in Music Award and Bob Bruce of the NORD Theater will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in Theatre. Mark Smith, director of entertainment industry development for the state of Louisiana, will receive the Ambassador of Entertainment Award, while Harrah's Casino New Orleans will be honored with a Business Recognition Award. The Big Easy Entertainment Awards will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, April 18, at the Municipal Auditorium in Armstrong Park, and will be followed by a Celebration Bash in the Coker room featuring Bonerama. VIP tickets are $125, with admission covering an open bar, buffet dinner, reserved seating for the ceremonies and the Celebration Bash. The event is sponsored by Southern Comfort, John Jay, Gambit Weekly, Mardi Gras Productions, Harrah's Casino New Orleans, and Coleman E. Adler & Sons. -- David Lee Simmons

Festival for the Imagination 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, April 12-14 Gold Mine Saloon, 701 Dauphine St., 586-0745; www.17poets.com The New Orleans School for the Imagination hosts its sixth festival celebrating local and national poetry, art, music and dance. The three-day festival begins on Tuesday with an art opening for more than 150 paintings by Joshua Walsh, Michael Fedor, Romano, Tasha Robbins, Herbert Kearney, Daniel Finnigan, Pati D'Amico and Bill Warren and a musical performance by songwriter Edmund Berrigan. Dave Brinks hosts a poetry reading called 'Sacred Practitioners in Tongues' on Wednesday featuring distinguished authors Niyi Osundare, Wang Ping, Brenda Coultas and Edmund Berrigan, dance from Sisters of Salome and a performance by flautist Eluard Burt. Contributors Rodger Kamenetz, Megan Burns, Bill Myers, Paul Chasse, Bill Lavender, James Nolan, Lee Meitzen Grue and others read from the second issue of Yawp Magazine edited by 17 Poets' host Dave Brinks during Thursday's magazine-release party featuring complimentary massages, red beans and rice, wine and beer. Free admission. -- Katie Walenter

Trio Apollon Tuesday, April 12, 8 p.m. Dixon Hall, Tulane University, 895-0690 The fall of the Berlin Wall led to many great and new things, including the Trio Apollon piano trio. West German pianist Wolfgang Kuehnl, East Berlin violist Felix Schwartz and East Berlin clarinetist Matthias Glander formed the trio in 1990, after being thrown together as replacements in another piano trio's gig. 'We play with a very deep and full sound, some people say the German sound,' says Schwartz. Stopping in New Orleans to close the Friends of Music 50th anniversary concert season, the group will tackle Mozart's Trio in E-Flat Major 'Kegelstatt' and Brahm's Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 40. Kuehnl will accompany Schwartz in Enescu's 'Konzertstuck' for viola and piano, and Glander in Poulenc's Sonata for Clarinet and Piano. Tickets $18 at the door, $10 for students, free for students with Tulane ID. -- Natalie Brown

Badal Roy 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 13; 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Thursday, April 14 University of New Orleans Sandbar, 2000 Lakeshore Drive, 280-6039; www.uno.edu/~music/excursions.shtml Thirty-five years ago, Badal Roy transformed the tablas from Indian drums used in religious music into a medium for fusion and funk with John McLaughlin and Miles Davis. Today Roy's playing ranges from the microtonal fusion of Michael Wolff's Impure Thoughts group, which played at Snug Harbor over Thanksgiving, and the avant-garde world music of Franz Hackl's Outreach Orchestra, based in Schwaz, Austria. This time around, Roy will apply the improvisational skills he coined with Davis on sides like On the Corner and Live at the Fillmore West fronting a group of New Orleans-area funk players. The seminar at Sandbar is worth attending, especially for the layman who doesn't realize that every tablas line is a sentence that must be able to be spoken to be played. Sandbar cover $5; free for UNO students; Snug Harbor tickets $15. -- John Swenson

Fifteen Minutes at Midway 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, April 13-16; 2 p.m. Sunday, April 17; through April 24 Tulane University, Lupin Theater, 865-5106 Fifteen Minutes at Midway may prove to be perspective-oriented theater at its most compelling; four different playwrights provide a different take on the Battle of Midway, perhaps the most pivotal battle of World War II's Pacific theater. The four sections: 'A Cliff in the Dark,' by Matthew Maguire; 'Lost at Sea,' by Laura Harrington; 'A Match in the Loft,' by Jim Fitzmorris; and 'Four Bells,' by Sheila Bosworth. Tulane student Emily Brown also provides a monologue to the proceedings and will serve as dramaturge. This production, staged in collaboration with The National D-Day Museum, will be directed by Ron Gural and Fitzmorris and stars Shana Doyle, Sean Mellott, Courtney Pauroso, Dan Rubin and many others. Tickets $12 general admission, $9 Tulane faculty/staff, $7.50 students/seniors, $5 students/seniors in groups of five or more. -- Simmons

Classicism Subverted: Gay Art in the 21st Century reception/Webcast 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 14 New Orleans Museum of Art, 1 Collins Diboll Circle, City Park, 343-4285 Before his still-unsolved murder in 2002, J.B. 'Burt' Harter was an accomplished artist who worked for the Louisiana State Museum and the Historic New Orleans Collection. His work will help connect New Orleans with its spiritual sister city, Paris, with this reception timed to coincide with the exhibit, Classicism Subverted, which opens in the City of Light. The event not only offers a moment to remember the life and art of a favored New Orleans artist; it's a rare opportunity to see any work by Harter, who rarely enjoyed that luxury here. A videotape featuring several individual pieces at the Paris exhibit will be shown to guests, who will also be treated to French wines and food. The exhibit features works by nine different artists from four different countries. Free admission. -- Simmons

The Merry Widow 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14, and 8 p.m. Saturday, April 16 Mahalia Jackson Theatre for the Performing Arts, 801 N. Rampart St., 529-3000; www.neworleansopera.org Audiences haven't been able to get enough of Hungarian composer Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow since its 1905 Vienna debut. This week, for the first time in about 50 years, New Orleans'; buffs have a chance to experience live the operetta's enduring and effervescent charms. Love, political intrigue and a good dose of silliness take center stage in this tale of the fortunes of Hanna Glawari. The scene is Paris, but the politics are Pontevedrian. As eligible bachelors vie for the hand of the wealthy widow in the City of Light, her home country of Pontevedria finds itself in a financial bind. Diplomat Baron Zeta sets out to ensure that Hanna's heart (and money) go to a homeboy, preferably her old love, Danilo. Soon, however, it becomes clear that Baron Zeta should perhaps pay more attention to his own marriage (does wife Valencienne fancy young Camille?) than to any potential one of Hanna's. Dorothy Danner directs Dianne Alexander as Hanna, William Theisen as Baron Zeta, John Hancock as Danilo and Metairie native Sarah Jane McMahon as Valencienne. Members of the Komenka Ethnic Dance and Music Ensemble perform the whirling waltzes for which the operetta is known. Tickets range from $30-$100. -- Shala Carlson

Oh, Coward! 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, April 14-16; 2 p.m. Sunday, April 17; through May 15 Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré, 616 St. Peter St., 522-2081; www.lepetittheatre.com Was there a wittier, more charming, sophisticated or clever playwright than Noël Coward? He practically invented (or certainly helped define) the British comedy of manners in works such as The Vortex, Bitter Sweet, Private Lives, Cavalcade, Blithe Spirit and Hayfever. Roderick Cook conceived a tribute to Coward's words and music in 1986, fashioning the revue into Oh, Coward!, which earned Tony Award nominations including a performing nod to Cook. To put Coward's work in lesser hands is sheer folly, which is why it's so heartening to see the At the Club Toot Sweet on Bourbon Street team of director Ricky Graham, co-director/choreographer Karen Hebert and musical director Jefferson Turner reuniting and a cast featuring Sean Patterson and Lara Grice. A cavalcade, indeed. Tickets $26 adults, $21 students. -- Simmons

Women of the World: A Global Collection of Art 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, April 16; through June 19 Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 528-2800; www.cacno.org Call it the 'Rough Guide to Female Art of the World,' but this Women of the World exhibit offers a potentially fascinating look at a world';s feminine perception of itself. Artist Claudia DeMonte conceived the idea by asking one female in each country around the world to provide a work of art that best reflects the given culture's perception of womanhood. Thus began a three-year odyssey for DeMonte, whose exhibit has drawn critical praise from national publications over the past five years, and who will appear at the opening reception at the first-floor galleries of the CAC. An exquisitely packaged, fully illustrated color catalog will be available. Admission $5 general public, $4 students/seniors, free for CAC members and includes both introduction by DeMonte (6 p.m.) and the reception to follow (7 p.m.). -- Simmons

New Orleans Zephyrs home opener 7:05 p.m. Friday, April 15 Zephyrs Stadium, 6000 Airline Hwy., Metairie, 734-5118; www.zephyrsbaseball.com It's a brave new world for the Zephyrs: new affiliate (the Washington Nationals of D.C., formerly the Montreal Expos), new management (Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Ron Maestri and General Manager Mike Schline), new manager (Tim Foley), and a whole mess o' new players yearning to make the jump from Class AAA to the major leagues. But first they must prove their mettle with the Zephyrs, who host the Nashville Sounds in this weekend's home-opening series. (The Zephyrs opened the regular season last weekend at Nashville, an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.) The Zephyrs are an intriguing mix of young up-and-comers and crafty veterans (Jeffrey Hammonds, Baton Rouge's Ed Yarnell), so this should be an interesting season. Season tickets range from $400-$525, individual tickets $5-$9.50; group, corporate and combo rates available. Visit the Web site for this weekend's schedule. -- Simmons

Dizzee Rascal 10 p.m. Friday, April 15 The Parish at House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE; www.hob.com Urban Bush Women perform their Walking With Pearl dance piece on Saturday at the CAC. Dizzee Rascal is the current voice of the up-and-coming London-based hip-hop lovechild 'grime,' and he, with DJ Wonder, is touring the United States to show Americans how it's done. The history of grime goes something like this: Teenagers from the Chalk Hill public-housing project in London started making stripped-down, hip-hop and drum- and bass-inspired beats, rapping over them in unabashed English-ghetto accents, finally giving British rappers a voice of their own. Unlike the super-slick beats of producers such as Dr. Dre or the Neptunes, grime beats usually consist of a coarse drum and bass beat thumping underneath some form of schizophrenic electronic chatter. On Dizzee's newest album, Showtime (XL Recordings), he squawks his lightning-fast flow with more confidence than before, and though the album is grander and slicker than most grime albums, it's still dirtier and more jarring than anything stateside. Tickets $15. -- Rob Bryant

Ashlee Simpson 7 p.m. Saturday, April 16 Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena, 6801 Franklin Ave., 280-7171; www.arena.uno.edu With hair dye and a new wardrobe, Ashlee Simpson went from the Christian-themed Seventh Heaven television show to rock 'n' roll star. How did she do it? Acting! Her self-titled MTV reality show has altered reality to such a degree that the struggle most bands face to get from nowhere to arena tours that often takes years -- if it ever happens -- took her just 13 episodes. Such is the power of celebrity that lip-syncing on Saturday Night Live and screaming off-key during the Orange Bowl didn't bury her. Everything feels false down to her honesty, and she suburbanizes all of the danger out of rock 'n' roll -- see the 'La La' video -- but the CD sounds like the best rock 'n' roll money can buy. Fellow young, cute faux-rockers Pepper's Ghost and the Click Five open. Tickets $33.50 -- Alex Rawls

Urban Bush Women 8 p.m. Saturday, April 16 Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 528-3800; www.cacno.org For the past 20 years, Brooklyn-based, all-female modern dance ensemble Urban Bush Women (UBW) has developed its unique style of 'bold and life-affirming' choreography to share stories of women's and African-American history and cultural influences within the African Diaspora. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, UBW is showcasing a new, original work created by UBW Artistic Director Jaole Willa Jo Zollar detailing the life of the woman dubbed 'the original bush woman' -- Dr. Pearl Primus. An African-American dance pioneer, Primus was known for a spirit of hope in her works and for using a dance as an instrument of change, performing poignant works such as her Hard Time Blues at union rallies and protests in the 1930s and '40s. Walking With Pearl is set to Mississippi Delta blues and looks at themes of how music and art provide hope in hard times. Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 students, seniors and CAC members. -- Frank Etheridge

Carlos Malta 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday- Sunday, April 16-17 Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro, 626 Frenchmen St., 949-0696; www.snugjazz.com Brazilian Carlos Malta is a virtuoso on many wind instruments including saxophone, flute, piccolo and some of his own invention. He spent his formative years with the great Brazilian musician and bandleader Hermeto Pascoal, and he has picked up on Pascoal's idea that music can be made from nature's sounds as well as from more organized ideas. Malta has also done sessions with American musicians whose interests lie south of our borders, including Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden and Gil Evans. Malta's form of jazz is earthy yet ethereal and joyful; it sings through its Brazilian rhythms but never pursues abstraction for its own ends. Tickets $20. -- David Kunian

Motley Crüe 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 18 Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena, 6801 Franklin Ave., 280-7171; www.arena.uno.edu With today's popular-music landscape teeming with gentle, sweater-clad indie rockers on the one hand and shiny pop princesses on the other, it's safe to say that the head-banger that drives a souped-up Camaro through the heart of many Americans dies a little bit every day. Take heart, though: This awesomely destructive '80s hair-metal legend is back, with all the hairspray, spandex trousers and gratuitous umlaut usage that implies. And the Crüe's February release, the two-CD hits, outtakes and alternate remixes collection Red, White and Crüe is only the beginning of the band's plans for the fresh century. Singer Vince Neil recently told the Boston Globe that the tour is expected to last up to three years, and earlier this month, bassist Nikki Sixx announced that songwriting has begun for a new studio album. Expect enough devil-horn sign language to give the whole city carpal tunnel. Tickets $46.50-$66.50. -- Alison Fensterstock

Andrew Jackson Pickett: Selected Photographs Through April New Orleans Museum of Art, City Park, 488-2631; www.noma.org His daddy was a rollin' stone. His mama was footloose, too. Born in Kansas and raised all over, Andrew Jackson "Jack" Pickett was a Fortier high school student when his mom rolled out of his life and left him to fend for himself. He learned photography in the Navy and became one of this city's best known photographers of the 1970s and '80s. No stranger to hardship himself, he became the photo-poet of Central City, documenting the earthy vitality and tumble-down neglect he found there. He eventually took up painting, but his compassion remained unchanged. He was 58 when he died last month of Lou Gehrig's disease. This selection of his photographs at the New Orleans Museum of Art is a tribute to an artist who never ceased to love his adopted city and its people. -- D. Eric Bookhardt