Your 5-minute guide to the best things to do in Charlotte | Jan. 13-19
What is there to do in Charlotte this weekend? Here’s our experts’ picks on everything from entertainment – movies to music to theater – to food and wine, beer and restaurants. And shopping, of course...
Friday
The Charlotte Symphony’s Pops Series takes on the intergalactic scores of John Williams’ from the “Star Wars” franchise. With the death of Carrie Fisher and the release of the well-received “Rogue One,” “Star Wars: The Music” – set for 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Knight Theater – will be conducted by Christopher James Lees and is sure to draw cheers and tears as it takes fans through all seven films. – CD
Saturday
History buffs may relish the chance to learn about the bygone Twelfth Night traditions, when Ron Vinson, executive director of the Presbyterian Heritage Center in Montreat visits the James K. Polk House in Pineville. His talk, “The Vanishing Holiday – Twelfth Night: Origins and American Traditions” will explore the holiday’s medieval continental origins through Shakespeare’s 1602 play to observances in colonial Carolinas. Once the annual peak of parties, gift-giving and weddings, Twelfth Night was squeezed out during the 19th century. 11 a.m.-noon. Free. – CB
If you’ve never before had an excuse to visit Discovery Place Nature – the museum formerly known as Charlotte Nature Museum, next to Freedom Park at 1658 Sterling Road – we’ve got one for you: On Saturday, it’ll take the wraps off its new digital planetarium, with shows every hour on the hour from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. It’ll offer traditional star shows (although with more razzle-dazzle than you might remember from the elementary-school field trips of your youth) as well as full-blown multimedia shows that use CGI and animation to simulate moon landings and solar phenomena. – TJ
We can personally guarantee that any opportunities for face time with the unforgettable John W. Love Jr. are not to be missed. We recommend you attend his writing, meditative, and modular origami workshop, titled “Grinding Paper Diamonds: Book of Lists” from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at McColl Center for Art + Innovation. He promises that participants will employ their “unusable truths,” “beautiful lies,” and “untold myths” to construct a personal narrative worth living and creating into. Registration is required at mccollcenter.org ($30 members/$35 non-members). – GC
Firehouse – Charlotte’s lone entry into the pop-metal phenomenon of the late ’80s and early ’90s – plays its final hometown show at 8 p.m. Saturday at Amos’ Southend (1423 S. Tryon St.), a venue the now-L.A.-based band has called its local home for more than a decade. This kicks off a nostalgic run of “final shows” at Amos’, which is due to close on March 7. – CD
What’s better than an oyster roast? A free oyster roast. They’re opening and slurping from 4 p.m. until the shells are empty Saturday on the patio at the SouthPark location of Reid’s. You pay for your drinks (there are beer specials, too). – KP
Sunday
Katt Williams – the outrageously funny stand-up comedian and sometime actor who’s earned laughs in everything from stoner comedy “Friday After Next” to spoof-filled sequel “Scary Movie 5” – will bring a bundle of NSFW jokes to Bojangles’ Coliseum (2700 E. Independence Blvd.) at 7 p.m. Sunday. A caution: He doesn’t take kindly to hecklers, so if you go down that road, prepare to feel his wrath. – TJ
Sergei Rachmaninov wrote swooning symphonies and emotionally torrid piano concertos. He squeezed both of those qualities into his best-known chamber work, a half-hour cello sonata that will leave you wrung out. Cellist Mira Frisch and pianist Annie Brooks bring it to life Sunday in the free Providence Chamber Music Series at Providence United Methodist Church. (Donations are accepted, of course.) Also on the bill: Two songs by Brahms for alto, piano and cello. – LT
Your presence is requested for tea in honor of the Queen. That would be Queen Victoria, the subject of the Charlotte Museum of History’s Teas of the British Isles. You get tea and a lecture from 4-5:30 p.m.; $20 for members, $25 for mere commoners. Registration: http://www.charlottemuseum.org/. – KP
Tuesday
Even the chef is imported for the tapas dinner at Aria Tuscan Grill. Guest chef Ludovico De Vivo is coming from Sicily to work with chef Chris Bateman on a six-course dinner with Tasca d’Almerita wines. It’s $65 and limited to 65 seats. Reservations: 704-548-9463. – KP
Members strut their writerly stuff at the 7 p.m. meeting of of the Charlotte Writers Club at Providence United Methodist Church. Visitors welcome. – DP
The Queen’s Feast Restaurant Week doesn’t start in Charlotte until Jan. 20 (through 29). But if you can’t wait, head to Asheville for their restaurant week, through Jan. 26. You get a two-course lunch for $15, a $35 three-course dinner or a $30 each dinner for two. For the menus and restaurant list, go www.ashevillerestaurantweek.com. – KP
Passion8’s Luca Annunziata and Sylvain Rivet of Renaissance Patisserie are getting ready to cook at the James Beard House in New York. You can get a preview from 6-9 p.m. at Passion8. Dinner is $75 (not including tax and gratuity). Reservations: 704-910-3161 or thepassion8.com. – KP
Wednesday
There’s craft (whiskey) and there’s art from 6-9 p.m. at the Mint Museum’s “Creatively Crafted, Artfully Distilled.” Tastings feature Doc Porter’s vodka, gin and bourbon, with cocktails designed by Emily Elda and hors d’oeuvres by Evoke, along with the special exhibitions “Fired Up” and “Women of Abstract Expressionism.” It’s $45 for members, $60 for nonmembers. Details (including a special hotel deal at Le Meridien) at www.mintmuseum.org. – KP
Thursday
The French used to call it le jazz hot, this American import they made their own in small Parisian clubs before World War II. (It was also called gypsy jazz, partly because much-loved guitarist Django Reinhardt was of Romany descent.) Charlotte Concerts puts it back in our ears Jan. 19 at McGlohon Theater, as The Hot Club of San Francisco cooks on classic tunes adapted for stringed instruments and guitar. – LT
Coming up
Beth Henley’s “Crimes of the Heart” won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981, then earned an Oscar nomination for best screenplay when it became a movie five years later. It has more juice onstage, and Theatre Charlotte will revive it Jan. 20-Feb. 5. The title of this tragicomedy refers to emotional sins committed by the Magrath sisters -- Meg, Babe, and Lenny -- who reunite at Old Granddaddy’s home in Hazlehurst, Miss., after Babe shoots her abusive husband. – LT
This story was originally published January 12, 2017 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Your 5-minute guide to the best things to do in Charlotte | Jan. 13-19."