Coming Up: Space the music with Symphony’s NASA tribute

A pair of NASA legends whose voices (if not their names) you know will narrate “Cosmic Trilogy,” as the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra concludes its 10th Anniversary season by celebrating the achievements of NASA this Sunday, May 26, at the VBHS Performing Arts Center. Hugh Harris and George Diller share the title “the Voice of NASA,” and anyone who’s watched NASA launch astronauts aboard space shuttles, or planetary missions heading for the far reaches of our Solar System – and heard that iconic countdown to zero – knows those voices. The fabulous, multi-media presentation “Cosmic Trilogy” was created via the Orchestra’s seven-year partnership with NASA, with whom it created and performed “The Planets,” “Earth Odyssey” and most recently “The Cosmos.” Under the baton of Conductor/ Artistic Director Aaron T. Collins, the dynamic SCSO invites us to share the celebration and the program which, according to the orchestra promo, “reprises highlights from the aforementioned, innovative film trilogy.” As Harris and Diller narrate, you’ll thrill at NASA’s fabulous images of “distant galaxies, nebulae and other astronomical wonders, captured by cutting edge instruments on earth and in the heavens.” The orchestra accompanies the breathtaking visuals with selections from Holst’s epic “The Planets,” Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra” and Dvorak’s “New World Symphony,” as well as composer Christopher Marshall’s “The Cosmos,” which “conceptualizes the origins of the universe.” Time: 3 p.m. Tickets: $30 at the door; advance adult tickets, $25 on website; 18 and under or with student ID, free. 855-252-7276 or www.SpaceCoastSymphony.org.

So many talented kids auditioned for this Riverside Theatre for Kids show that the director, Kevin Quillinan, actually decided to totally double-cast it. Which hardly ever happens. Be sure to put the Riverside Theatre for Kids production of “Junie B. Jones, The Musical,” on your family must-see calendar for next Thursday, Friday or Saturday, May 30, May 31 or June 1. It’s the area premiere of the musical based on Barbara Park’s children’s book series, which made the New York Times No. 1 bestselling Chapter Book Series, and has kept kids laughing, says amazon.com, for more than 25 years (and sold more than 65 million copies). As Riverside’s promo tells it, “Junie B. Jones, The Musical” follows Junie on her first day of first grade and the new adventures that await including: making friends on the bus with the new kid; thinking she needs glasses when she can’t see the blackboard in class; meeting the friendly cafeteria lady; a kickball tournament; and the “Top-Secret Personal Beeswax Journal.” Quillinan calls the show “fun and silly,” adding “our students are having the time of their lives tackling Junie’s misadventures.” Curtain: Thursday and Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets: $10. 772-231-6990 or www.riversidetheatre.com.

This weekend: Although most of the great circuses have, literally, folded their tents, leaving only memories of exotic, caged animals, daring aerialists, cotton candy, clowns and sawdust, the timeless musical classics which accompanied them can still capture the essence of what made the circus of yesteryear “The Greatest Show on Earth.” May 24, 25 and 26, you can add music and performance to your three-ring memories at the Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse as the immersive musical experience “Music of the Big Top” takes the stage, through the Playhouse’s collaboration with Maybury Webb Creative Studios. According to the theatre promo, director/conductor William H. Yoh Jr. “has a long-time history playing in circus bands around the country” and has performed at the playhouse for almost 20 years. A year and a half ago, Yoh had an idea: “Bring to the playhouse a concert of the music that accompanied the circuses as they toured the world.” Working with Yoh is the show’s producer/director, U.K. native Karen Maybury Webb, who was raised in an entertainment family, including relatives who performed at the renowned, 123-year-old Blackpool Tower Circus, making the current project “very special and heartfelt” to her. “Music of the Big Top” will showcase the memorable circus music of the 1800s and 1900s, and feature “young local talent and international circus stars Rocco and Nova, aka ‘Duo Gravity.’” Showtimes: Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Tickets: adults: $26; seniors and students, $24; children, $18. 321-636-5050.

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