October is the month when you’re pretty much required to Howl at the Moon. Happily, you’ve got a designated venue: Riverside Theatre, going all out with Oktoberfest Nights, especially designed for singing, dancing, laughing, eating, drinking and – howling. The Howl at the Moon experience centers on a pair of terrific pianists – this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 12-13, Amy Keith and Ken Gustafson – facing off on stage across a pair of baby grands. Then you, the audience, get to pick the songs. You’re always challenged to find one that these entertainers don’t know, but lots of luck with that. Their repertoires are vast. You can choose tickets for either the 7:30 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. seatings. Pre-show, there’s always free music and lots of food and bevs (full bar) outside On the Loop. It’s there, starting at 6:30 p.m., that you’ll get a free, live concert. This Friday it’ll be the Bob Houston Quartet, an “authentic Oom-Pah-Pah German Oktoberfest Band.” Saturday’s Live in the Loop band Nightfly will bring “classic rock and roll and more.” Tickets for the Howl Experience: $12 to $22. 772-231-6990.
All it takes is one: Reader’s Theatre Productions at Vero Beach Theatre Guild will present the classic courtroom drama “12 Angry Men” this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Audiences will find themselves engrossed as the compelling story unfolds on stage in front of the Grand Drape: the fate of a 19-year-old man who has just stood trial for murder – the fatal stabbing of his father – is now in the hands of the jury, and, observes a guard, “He doesn’t stand a chance,” he’s going down in what is seen as an “open and shut” case. Then, as the clocks ticks inside the bleak jury room, one of the 12 begins opening the eyes of his fellow jurors to the facts of the case. Show times: Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Tickets: $12.50. 772-562-8300.
In conjunction with its powerful and compelling current exhibition “Made in Germany: Art Since 1980,” the Vero Beach Museum of Art presents a trio of provocative films, the first, “Wings of Desire” (1987), this coming Thursday, Oct. 18. The film, explains the promo, “explores German social consciousness through imagery and elements drawn from the real world.” There will be a short intro by the museum’s film studies coordinator, Diane Thelen, who will highlight “broad connections to be made with the art exhibition’s major themes: artists and artworks.” The film will be screened in the Leonhardt Auditorium. Time: 4:30 p.m. Admission: free with museum admission: adults, $12; seniors, $10; under 17, free. 772- 231-0707.
Spend a relaxing, low-key weekend enjoying art and nature this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 12-14. Sound appealing? If you’re not yet familiar with North County’s rich artistic presence, this would be a wonderful time to remedy that. The Pelican Island Preservation Society is hosting the fourth annual Indian River Bird and Nature Art Show at the Sebastian Art Club, adjacent to the beautiful North Sebastian Conservation Area, hosted by the Pelican Island Preservation Society. On Friday’s schedule: see the pigments fly during a fascinating, fun-to-watch Plein Air Paint Out, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by an artists’ reception, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Then, for you early-birds, rise and shine and be ready by 8 a.m. to join nature activist an scrub jay advocate/expert Jane Schnee on a Florida Scrub Jay tour. The wonderful artworks will be on display (and for sale) Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. You’ll have another opportunity to commune with the area’s precious, truly unique, natural environment at Capt. Hiram’s on Saturday, 5 p.m., when you join the sunset wine-and-cheese pontoon boat cruise to the Pelican Island Willdlife Refuge. Also at Capt. Hiram’s, at 3 p.m., Missi Hatfield will provide some historical back story with “National Wildlife Refuges and the Migratory Bird Treaty – 100 Years of Conservation.” Sunset cruise: $45. 772-202-0697 or 772-494-6306.