Weekender: Nov. 7-8

Troubadours

Troubadours

•Harvest Hootenanny

Saturday, Nov. 7

Willow Park
www.mightykindness.org
Free; 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

When I asked Mighty Kindness co-founder Aim Me Smiley what her favorite part of autumn is, I got this: “… the collage of color on the canvas of this dream … a pumpkin patch, the crunch of leaves underfoot on a wooded trail, costumes, the smell of fireplaces, nature’s confetti of falling leaves … the beauty of autumn continues to surprise and amaze.” It is in this spirited joyousness that the Mighty Kindness presents its second annual Harvest Hootenanny, a free event geared toward Earth advocates, peace warriors, union members, social justice workers, eco-conscious business people, artists, healers, dreamers, heroes and heroines. If you fit the bill (who doesn’t fall under one of those? I’m definitely a hero and a healer), then make your way Saturday to Willow Park for food, music, children’s events, info booths and more. Bands include Cascade Hollow, Leigh Ann Yost, Justin Lewis, Alanna, Kathleen Hoye, The Sirens, Sarah Elizabeth Burkey and Troubadours of Divine Bliss. —Sara Havens

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Joyce Ogden next “Food for Thought” speaker

Sculptor Joyce Ogden is the next “Food for Thought” speaker on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Reservations are required by noon on Monday, Nov. 9. Louisville Visual Art Association, 896-2146 ext. 100. $20 LVAA members, $30 non-members.


Art business workshop

The Louisville Visual Art Association is hosting a five-hour workshop to help artists. Topics include starting your business, pricing your work, artist opportunities, developing your image (resume, business cards, artist statement), social media and copyright law.

The workshop is Sunday, Nov. 8 from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Louisville Visual Art Association, 3005 River Rd., 896-2146. $50 for LVAA members, $60 non-members.


Healthy Foods, Local Farms Harvest Party

Friday, Nov. 6

The Seelbach Hotel
www.healthyfoodslocalfarmsconference.org
$35; 6-9 p.m.

Benefits Slow Food Bluegrass and the Sierra Club. Bluegrass music by The Jawbones and Maiden Kentucky. Restaurants participating in this annual celebration of local food and farms include:

The Oakroom at the Seelbach Hotel, Proof on Main at 21c Hotel, 610 Magnolia, Restaurant Varanese, The English Grill at the Brown Hotel, 732 Social, Wiltshire on Market, Gelato Gilberto, JCTC Culinary Arts Program, Sullivan University Culinary Arts Program and more.



‘Oliver!’ @ Floyd Central

Nov. 6-8 & 13-15

Floyd Central High School
6575 Old Vincennes Road
Floyds Knobs, Ind.
812-923-8811  x3527
$12; 7:30 p.m. (w/ 2 p.m. matinees on Sun.)

The award-winning Floyd Central Theatre Department will present the Charles Dickens tale of Oliver Twist, in the classic musical theatre adaptation, “Oliver!” The renovated performing arts center of Floyd Central will be transformed into the London streets of the 1800’s as Dicken’s familiar characters including The Artful Dodger, Fagin, Nancy, Bill Sykes, Oliver and Mr. Bumble are brought to life along with all the other characters that have made this musical a perennial  favorite among theatre-goers.  Popular songs from the show include, “As Long As He Needs Me;” “Consider Yourself;” “Where Is Love?;” and “I’d Do Anything” among others.


The GRRAND Affair @ Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center

Friday, Nov. 6

Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center 
1860 Mellwood Ave.
www.grrand.org 
$50; 6:30 p.m. 

Golden Retrievers that were abandoned, abused, neglected or otherwise left homeless have gotten a “new leash on life” and found new homes thanks to the help of the Golden Retriever Rescue and Adoption of Needy Dogs (GRRAND). 

GRRAND’s eighth annual fundraiser, The GRRAND Affair, will be held, Friday at the Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center. Some of GRRAND’s rescued Goldens will mingle with guests, who will be treated to hors d’oeuvres, desserts, drinks and music.  Items will be available to bid on at live and silent auctions, including a Calvin Borel signed jockey’s helmet and bronze statue of horse and rider and other items.  


‘The Perfect Gift’ @ Village 8

Starts Friday, Nov. 6

Village 8 Theatres
4014 Dutchmans Lane
897-1870

“The Perfect Gift,” shot entirely in Louisville, comes from Kelly’s Filmworks LTD, a local production company known for such family films as “Clancy” and “The Perfect Stranger.” Thirteen-year-old Louisville native Christina Fougnie, who starred in “Clancy”  earlier this year, once again takes center stage as the main character.

“The Perfect Gift”  is a re-imagining of the ‘MIracle on 34th Street’ story.  A spoiled schoolgirl (Christina Fougnie), her overworked executive mother, and a disillusioned young minister (Matt Wallace), each learns a valuable lesson about faith, tradition, and the truest meaning of Christmas from a friendly, but mysterious visitor named Jess (Jefferson Moore). It is a movie that will entertain people of all ages.


Dia de los Muertos @ KMAC

Friday, Nov. 6

Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft
715 W. Main St.
589-0102
www.kentuckyarts.org

We die, therefore we live. The Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead is becoming more prominent across America, and Louisville is no exception. The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, teaming up with U of L’s Latino Studies program, are just two of many organizations hosting special DOTD events. The public altar installation, on display through Nov. 11, is ever evolving as items are left to commemorate deceased loved ones. There are also special altars honoring the victims of YUMA 14 and the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, as well as American Indians in Kentucky.

KMAC will ignite during the First Friday Gallery Trolley Hop with food, music and fire dancing. There’s even a Frida Kahlo and skeleton costume contest. May the best unibrow win. —Jo Anne Triplett


‘The Screwtape Letters’ @ Brown Theatre

Nov. 6-7

Brown Theatre
315 W. Broadway
584-7777
$29-$49; 8 p.m. (Fri.), 4 & 8 p.m. (Sat.)

C.S. Lewis’s brilliant novel, “The Screwtape Letters,” has been adapted for the stage into a production that is “just about everything you want in a night at the theater,” says Daniel Kelly at NYTheatre.com. The play, like the novel, explores spiritual warfare from a demon’s point of view. Set in an office in hell, it follows a senior devil and his secretary as they train an apprentice demon how to “undermine faith and prevent the formation of virtues” in a young man who has just converted to Christianity. This play has been seen in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., and has now made its way here. —Laura Morton


Mike Ratterman workshop

Sculptor Mike Ratterman is conducting a wood relief carving workshop on Saturday, Nov. 7 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, 715 W. Main St., 589-0102. $55 members, $60 non-members.


Nov. 6 First Friday Trolley Hop

The First Friday Trolley Hop on the first Friday of the month, Nov. 6. Explore the art galleries, museums, shops and restaurants along East & West Main & Market Streets from 5-11 p.m. Hop on and off the free trolley.


G3 First Thursday Soiree @ Five Points St. Matthews

Thursday, Nov. 5

Five Points St. Matthews
3930 Chenoweth Square
Free; 8 p.m.

There will be $5 Special Martini cocktails: The Pomedora, The Renegade, The White Chocolate Martini and the Naughty Presbyterian! Plus $2 domestic beers, $3 well cocktails and $5 wine glasses with complimentary hors d’oeuvres provided by Five Points St. Matthews! AND with live music by OK Zombie!


Author Tom Kohler @ Louisville Presbyterian Seminary

Thursday, Nov. 5

Caldwell Chapel
Louisville Presbyterian Seminary
1044 Alta Vista Road
417-9585
Free; 6-9 p.m.

Waddie Welcome: Hear this amazing story of a remarkable man and the people who surrounded him to make their community stronger.


Violinist Ilya Kaler @ Whitney Hall

Thursday, Nov. 5

Whitney Hall
584-7777
www.louisvilleorchestra.org
$20-$75; 10:30 a.m. & 8 p.m.

No one had ever skittered across the strings as fast as violin virtuoso Niccolo Paganini, who mesmerized audiences at the turn of the 19th century with fantastic technique delivered at blistering speeds. Two hundred years later, top violinists have caught up to Paganini’s speed, but how many can do it as well? Only a handful, perhaps, and one such magician may be Ilya Kaler, who will perform Paganini’s own “Concerto No. 1” in two concerts with the Louisville Orchestra Thursday in Whitney Hall. Paganini was so secretive about his techniques and tricks that he did not allow this concerto, and other compositions, to be published until after his death. The concert also includes the popular “Mozart Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter).” Jorge Mester conducts. —Bill Doolittle


JIGU Thunder Drums of China @ Brown Theatre

Thursday, Nov. 5

Brown Theatre
315 W. Broadway
561-0100
$20-$38.50; 7 p.m.

In Chinese culture, the red drum is a symbol of a ruler’s power, and the instruments are historically common at festivals and weddings. Fitting, then, that JIGU (Chinese for “to beat or touch the drum”), the traveling troupe from the country’s Shanxi Province, will stack the stage in centipede-like fashion with its thundering cans.

Now on its third tour of the United States, with many of the dates sold out, JIGU’s two-hour performance flexes in rhythmic prowess and spot-on syncopation, its selections emulating everything from mammals (think: parade of elephants) to thunderstorms, lightning and tidal waves. Leave those drummer jokes at home. —Mat Herron


Mount Eerie @ Skull Alley

Thursday, Nov. 5

Skull Alley
1017 E. Broadway
749-9541
www.pwelverumandsun.com
$8; 8 p.m., all ages

If ever there was a singer who could forego a Halloween costume, it’s Mount Eerie’s Phil Elverum. Wind’s Poem marinates in doom and gloom. It’s as if Elverum is the grown-up version of the little boy in all those “Omen” movies — sweet and innocent but ready to wreak bloody murderous havoc if he doesn’t get his way or his Cap’n Crunch. If you’re having a good day, Wind’s Poem will change your body temperature. If the sky is blue, Elverum could convince you it’s black. If you’re thinking about a healthy granola snack, this band compels you to reach for the bourbon and the shotgun, huddle in the corner and wait Ted Nugent-style for the end of the world in 2012. Joining the bill are No Kids and Tara Jane O’Neil, whose K Records debut A Ways Away is a beautiful ethereal wreck. —Mat Herron


Southern Historical Association @ Marriott Downtown

Anne Braden

Anne Braden

Nov. 5-8

Marriott Downtown
280 W. Jefferson St.
www.uga.edu/sha/

History buffs: Consider this your lucky week. The Southern Historical Association is bringing its multi-day annual meeting to Louisville. The public’s invited to come to any of the panel discussions on any day, without any need to register. So come on down, listen and bring your questions to the experts. Featured sessions for Saturday include a panel of Daniel Boone biographers, and a look at the epic bestseller “The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family” that will be attended by the author Annette Gordon-Reed. Other meeting topics include Political Conservatism in the South, Popular Music, Violence in Appalachia, and Emancipation and Reconstruction in Kentucky. The gathering of historians goes multimedia with two films with local topics shown Friday late afternoon: “Kentucky: An American Story” and “Anne Braden: Southern Patriot.” —T.E. Lyons


Don Reese @ Comedy Caravan

Nov. 4-8

Comedy Caravan
1250 Bardstown Road 
459-0022 
www.comedycaravan.com  

Looking like the illegitimate son of Uncle Fester and G. Gordon Liddy, Don Reese combines what the Cleveland Plain Dealer calls “friendly ghoulishness” mixed with “sparks-flying timing” to create comedy that is uniquely and utterly his. Don’s hilariously bizarre outlook takes him from Batman to the Amish, bikers to bus rides – all while hanging on the fine line between reality and the Twilight Zone
Don is a headliner in top clubs across the country. He is fast, funny and one-of-a-kind. He is also becoming one of the most sought-after performers today. Here is your chance to find out why performers today. Here is your chance to find out why.


Festival of Faiths @ Henry Clay Building

Nov. 4-13

Henry Clay Building (unless noted)
604 S. Third St.
www.interfaithrelations.org

Scientifically speaking, water is simple — two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. Spiritually, however, this basic but ubiquitous liquid is quite complex, a topic The Center for Interfaith Relations will explore during the 14th annual Festival of Faiths. Through a series of presentations, exhibits and panel discussions over the next 10 days, a wide range of spiritual leaders, environmentalists and religious scholars will weigh in on the role of water in various faiths, as well as the need to protect the Earth’s most invaluable resource.

Among the many guests slated to participate in the festival is the International Council of 13 Grandmothers, a collection of female tribal leaders from the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Arctic Circle. These women will share stories about the importance of water in their respective cultures. —Sarah Kelley


‘Under the Sea’ @ Flame Run

Through Nov. 20

Flame Run Glass Studio and Gallery
828 E. Market St.
584-5353
www.flamerun.com

Glass, water and sea life — it’s like scuba diving on land.

“Glass and water share a lot of similarities, like transparency, fluidity and reflection,” says Brook White, co-owner of Flame Run Glass Studio and Gallery. “That’s why the sea and the origins of life are such a common theme in glass art.”

All that hot glass at Flame Run is perfect to make art inspired by the sea. Many of Flame Run’s resident artists are in the exhibition, like Jonathan Capps, Tiffany Ackerman and co-owners White and Susie Slabaugh. They invited a few locals and out-of-towners to show as well: Louisvillians Bryan Holden and Tiffany Zink, plus Tommy Spake of Chattanooga and Jake Pfeifer from Gladstone, N.J. —Jo Anne Triplett