STAGE
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| Photo by Donn Young |
Little Shop of Horrors
8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, June 14-18;
2 p.m. Thursday & Saturday-Sunday, June 17 & 18-19 Saenger Theatre, 143 N. Rampart St., 524-2490; www.saengertheatre.com
It's almost always heartening to see the young blossom into adulthood – almost. Just as audiences were horrified to watch Audrey II grow into Seymour's botanical nightmare in Little Shop of Horrors , music-theater fans were delighted to watch Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's 1982 off-Broadway parody of the 1960 Roger Corman film grow into a full Broadway production two years ago. The off-Broadway production won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, while the recent Broadway production earned star Hunter Foster a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. Mainstream audiences might be more familiar with Frank Oz's 1986 movie version, featuring the original stage Audrey (Ellen Greene) as well as Rick Moranis, Vincent Gardenia and former Four Top Levi Stubbs providing the baritone for Audrey II. Jerry Zaks directs this touring version, with choreography by Kathleen Marshall; the cast features Jonathan Rayson as Seymour (pictured), Tari Kelly as Audrey and Michael James Leslie providing the voice of Audrey II. Tickets range $20-$60. – David Lee Simmons
MUSIC
Old 97's and Bobby Bare Jr.
10 p.m. Wednesday, June 15
Tipitina's, 501 Napoleon Ave., 895-TIPS
In the mid-1990s, Dallas' Old 97's (pictured) were tops in the alt-country boom, mixing snide punk attitude with speeded-up twang and cutting, well-crafted turns of phrase. Frontman Rhett Miller's voice – as if Wilco's Jeff Tweedy sang a half a register lower and was a hell of a lot more bitter – twists literate, succinct lyrics like the jagged edge of a broken Lone Star bottle. Nashville's prodigal son and 97's labelmate Bobby Bare Jr. (Bare Sr., a running partner of Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, penned the classics ÔDetroit City' and ÔAll-American Boy') is a perfect touring partner; his genre-bending 2004 release, At the End of Your Leash (Bloodshot), mixes Stones-style country rock with pop hooks, Stax-style horns and wry wit. For all of both bands' command of sarcasm, though, the thread of emotion running through their songwriting is as purely country as tears at the Grand Ole Opry. Tickets $15. – Alison Fensterstock
STAGE
Candide
8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, June 16-18; 2 p.m. Sunday,
Tulane University, Dixon Hall, 865-5269; www.summerlyric.tulane.edu
This season's Summer Lyric Theatre at Tulane could be called the Summer of Leonard Bernstein. The lineup features three of the late master's greats: Candide , West Side Story and Wonderful Town . But Candide was a comparatively elusive 'hit' for Bernstein; the original production in 1956 based on Voltaire's classic comedy, with its book by New Orleans-born playwright Lillian Hellman, was a virtual flop despite praise for Bernstein's music. That score (and many of Hellman's contributions) was dramatically pared down and the comedy was amped up for what became a smashing 1974 revival; more recent productions are what could best be called a happy medium, with much of Bernstein's work back in, and is a favorite of opera and music-theater buffs alike. Michael Howard (pictured) directs the first two productions of the season, with Diane Lala taking over for Wonderful Town ; Edmond Kresley will be this season's choreographer. Candide 's cast features Kyle Malone, Liz Argus and Ricky Graham. Tickets $32 orchestra/first balcony, $25 second balcony. – Simmons
STAGE
A Confderacy of Dances 7
8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, June 17-18
Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 528-3800; www.cacno.org
The naughty-and-nice tug of war that seems to continually play out in the streets and back rooms of New Orleans is ripe for the artistic picking; one need look no further than ArtSpot Productions' recent work, New Orleans Suite . Now it seems to be a springtime obsession, as a similar exploration appears to be in the works for A Confederacy of Dances 7. One of the red-letter dance dates of the year, A Confederacy of Dances also features a murderer's row of this city's dance choreographers: Gabrielle Pickard, Nicole Boyd, Monique Moss, Anne Burr and Eddy Villalta will present their most recent works. Confederacy founder Pickard has studied under some of the more important dance instructors, including the late Xenia Kosorukov of the Bolshoi Ballet. Boyd, a frequent Pickard collaborator, has also danced and choreographed with the New Orleans Dance Collective and the more recently formed Tsunami Dance Company. NOCCA grad Moss (pictured, with Villalta) has gone from being one of the brightest young choreographers in town to being one of the most sought-after, period. Burr founded her own eponymous dance company a decade ago and has been working hard every since. Villalta has also danced and choreographed for the New Orleans Dance Collective as well as for productions in Costa Rica. One of Pickard's pieces, 'Atom and Eve,' features original music from Mike Mayfield (of Electrical Spectacle fame) with video footage by John Stockwell and the dancers Millicent Jhonnie, Jarina Carvalho and Chistopher Weiss. Additional musical accompaniment will be provided by Potpie and the Naked Orchestra. Tickets $15 general admission, $12.50 CAC members/students/seniors. – Simmons
MUSIC
Shemekia Copeland
5 p.m., Wednesday, June 16
Lafayette Square
Vocalist Shemekia Copeland was born into the blues. Her father was legendary Texas guitarist Johnny Copeland, and she got her start opening up and sharing the stage with him before his untimely death in 1997. Since then she has recorded several albums, the last of which featured Dr. John as a producer and pianist, and taken home several W.C. Handy awards for Contemporary Female Artist of the Year. She also has a great scene in the blues movie Lightning in a Bottle with a powerful duet with Robert Cray on 'I Pity the Fool.' Onstage she has a friendly, open persona with a powerful voice that can belt as well as croon. She's young, talented, and fun, and her show in the fresh air of New Orleans' biggest music happy hour should be one of the series' best. Free admission. – David Kunian
STAGE
Ninth Annual New Orleans Dance Festival
Friday, June 17, through July 2
Tulane University, McWilliams Hall, 314-7742
For this year's New Orleans Dance Festival, the focus is definitely on what makes this city's cultural clock tick. This annual 16-day dance workshop will explore the roots of the area's dance culture, with classes in jazz, tap, hip-hop, modern and folkloric as well as ballet. For an added treat, there will be lessons in Afro-Carribean drumming. The festival is timed to coincide with the Newcomb College Dance Program of Tulane with its own classes. Instructors include Ron Wood, one of the key members of Rennie Harris Puremovement, and Millicent Johnnie, who is the resident choreographer for Urban Bush Women and winner of a First Place International Dance Title for her hip-hop work, 'Wrath.' Local instructors include Ausettua Amor Amenkum of New Orleans' Kumbuka African Drum and Dance Collective and J Hammons of Moving Humans. The festival will culminate in the New Orleans Dance Festival in Concert performance in Room 300 of McWilliams Hall on July 2, featuring the works developed in repertory. Call for more info. – Simmons
MUSIC
Six Flags Juneteenth Jazz Jubilee
Saturday, June 18
Six Flags New Orleans, 12301 Lake Forest Blvd. (I-10 at I-510), 253-8100; www.sixflags.com/parks/neworleans
This week marks the 140th anniversary of Juneteenth; more specifically, on June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas, word of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached the slaves, touching off a celebration marked by freedom and uncertainty. Six Flags New Orleans commemorates this historic event with a music offering spotlighting both local and national talent. In keeping with the climate, jazz-fusion vibraphonist Roy Ayers will celebrate last month's release of Virgin Ubiquity, Vol. 2 (Rapster/BBE), the sequel to last year's release of a collection of previously unreleased material – all refreshed and mixed by Jamey Staub. Also performing will be saxophonist Dave Koz, who performed on the Vibin' With Ayers CD. Local music will come from vocalist Stephanie Jordan and brother Marlon Jordan on trumpet performing works from their recent release, You Don't Know What Love Is ; flutist Kent Jordan, violinist Michael Ward, singer-trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, and the Hot 8 Brass Band. Call for ticket info. – Simmons
MUSIC
Doc Otis and the Junker Jazz All-Stars
10 p.m. Monday, June 20
Circle Bar, 1032 St. Charles Ave., 588-2616
Looking like a saloon pianist from central casting, the bowler-hatted Doc Otis has been banging keys solo around town for some time. Now joined by the Junker Jazz All-Stars, who include Gas Tank Orchestra's Kathleen Kraus on upright bass and frequent Greg Schatz sideman Warren Byron on trumpet, as well as sax and drums, Otis is peddling what he calls 'gritty old tunes about hard luck' with a gang to back him up. The All-Stars' formidable repertoire of originals and standards runs the gamut from Ô20s and Ô30s barrelhouse and boogie to Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon and Louis Jordan covers, all bearing a boozy, growly Ninth Ward stamp. If Tom Waits had slunk across the Press Street tracks to hold court in a Storyville parlor, it might have sounded like this. No cover. – Fensterstock
