Your 5-minute guide to the best things to do in Charlotte | June 29 – July 5
Friday
▪ Country music giant Luke Bryan echoes the question that gives his latest album its title on his “What Makes You Country” Tour. His latest single, “Most People Are Good,” has been embraced by the LGBTQ community — thanks to lines about being free to love who you choose to. It’s a progressive step for one of music’s more-conservative genres. With Jon Pardi and Morgan Wallen. 7 p.m. PNC Music Pavilion. $42.25-$128.25.
▪ Shakespeare Carolina continues its six-night performance of “The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus,” which finds the Rock Hill-based theater group and local rock band Mall Goth mining the pre-Shakespearean work of Christopher Marlowe in this interpretation of his poetic Elizabethan tragedy. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and additional performances July 5-7. Duke Energy Theater. $10-$20.
▪ With a smooth, tempered delivery more akin to a crooner or a pastor than a comedian, writer, actor and standup comic Rod Man (who won “Last Comic Standing” in 2014) continues a four-night stand at The Comedy Zone. 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, and 7 p.m. Sunday. $25-$27.50.
▪ If you enjoy religious history with a helping of humor, Fellowship for Performing Arts’ production of “Martin Luther On Trial” serves up plenty of absurdity in its imagining of the kind of fantastical courtroom drama that could only happen in the afterlife. Hitler, Martin Luther King Jr., Pope Francis, and Sigmund Freud serve as witnesses in this devilish story of history and hell. 8 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday. Knight Theater. $39-$89.
▪ The Tony-nominated 2016 Steve Martin and Edie Brickel-penned musical “Bright Star” continues its run with four performances. Set in the South during the 1920s and 1940s, it’s a story of love and redemption that resonates today. Directed by Tony winner Walter Bobbie. 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday. Belk Theater. $25-$109.50.
Saturday
▪ No doubt the city is filled with charismatic K-9s, and if yours loves attention and performing tricks, consider bringing him or her to the Strut Your Mutt Talent Show. (Pets should be friendly, leashed and spayed or neutered.) Rescue animals will be available for adoption. 1-4 p.m. Lucky Dog Bark and Brew. $10 entry fee benefits Saving Grace K9s.
▪ High school friends turned professional jokers, the comedy troupe of Joe Gatto, James Murray, Brian Quinn and Sal Vulcanno (aka the Tenderloins) takes its TruTV series “Impractical Jokers” on the road with a new tour: “Santiago Sent Us.” The Tenderloins’ hidden-camera antics have become a hit in the U.S., UK and India. Now fans worldwide can sample a roasting live. 7 p.m. Ovens Auditorium. $61.50.
▪ Southern rock’s pioneers Lynyrd Skynyrd managed to carry on long after the tragic plane crash that killed three band members in 1977. Forty-one years later, the band is bidding fans adieu on its “Last of the Street Survivors” Tour. The band — which has always stood at the intersection of country and rock — is joined by Hank Williams Jr., .38 Special and CJ Solar. 6 p.m. PNC Music Pavilion. $39.50-$143.50.
This story was originally published June 28, 2018 at 8:37 AM.