“It was a dark and stormy night. A wolf howled as the heavy door creaked open slowly …” Well, that show promo lead got my attention. The Spooktacular Space Coast Symphony Orchestra was referring to the creepy musical afternoon it has conjured – “Chills & Thrills: A Haunting Family Concert” – this Sunday, Oct. 20, at Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center. Kids and adults are invited to come in costume (I hear whispers there’ll be a costume parade). The chilling musical lineup will be led by musical sorcerer (aka principal guest conductor) Michael Hall, and includes some creepy classics: Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” (my personal favorite), Gounod’s “Funeral March of a Marionette” and Saint-Saens’ “Danse Macabre”; as well as frightening film scores from “Jaws,” “Beetlejuice,” “Mars Attacks!” and others. Then, says the show promo, a special spooky Halloween treat: Artistic Director and Conductor Aaron Collins will debut his new work “Dracula Reimagined,” based on his award-winning 1999 composition “The Dracula Suite.” To top off the evening is, as the SCSO describes it, a hilarious whodunit for the whole family, “The Composer Is Dead,” with music by Nathaniel Stookey and text by Lemony Snicket. Just so you know, “No one leaves the Concert Hall until this mystery is solved.” Central Florida actor Eric Pinder narrates. Time: 3 p.m. Tickets: under 18 and college students with student ID, free; advance through website, $25; at the door, $30. 855-252-7276 or www.SpaceCoastSymphony.org.
Perhaps you’ve been to the Moulin Rouge cabaret, the one at 82 Boulevard de Clichy, Paris, and seen one of the City of Lights’ most enduring icons – the cancan. Perhaps not. Either way, the Vero Beach Museum of Art’s Oct. 24 screening of the 1955 film “French Cancan” will be a delightful glimpse into romantic fin de siècle France. One in the “French Films at the Museum” series, “French Cancan” is, according to Wikipedia, an homage to the Parisian café-concert scene of the 19th century, and the enormously popular singers and dancers who populated it. The wonderful visuals “evoke the paintings of Edgar Degas and the Impressionists, including Degas’ own father, Pierre-Auguste Renoir.” The film takes place in the Paris of the 1890s. As Wikipedia tells the story, Henri Danglard owns a cafe featuring his mistress, Lola, as a belly dancer, and it’s losing money. Finding himself in Montmartre one day, Henri discovers the old-fashioned cancan – France’s most notorious dance – is still being performed there. In a stroke of inspiration, Henri devises a new plan for his floundering café: he revives the cancan and brings in a new dancer, Nini, a humble washerwoman whom he has met by chance and whom, says the Museum promo, “he turns into a star.” Time: 2 p.m. Admission: Free with paid museum admission – adults, $12; seniors, $10; museum members, those 17 and under, and active military with ID, free. It is a good idea to pre-register, the museum suggests. 772-231-0707, ext. 116.
Lighten up this weekend, Oct. 18 and 19, with an evening of food, bevs, live music and lots of laughs at Riverside Theatre’s Comedy Zone and Live in the Loop. Bringing the funny will be a diverse pair – comedians Kevin Lee and Tiffany Barbee. Says the show promo, Lee melds comedy, magic and juggling, the latter including “bowling balls, frying pans, machetes.” Oh, and, there’s also his “fire and sword-swallowing.” Whoa. Barbee is billed as “a sweet and quirky retired pageant kid turned national touring stand-up comedian, fifth-degree black belt, Bible student, actress, and model.” Did you know Riverside’s weekend of fun now has special guest emcees? This Friday’s Comedy Zone emcee will be Val Zudans who is, according to the Riverside promo, “mayor (of Vero Beach) and an eye surgeon.” In the emcee spotlight on Saturday will be Joshua Armenteros, who “comes from a BIG Cuban family, and growing up around them gives enough stories to keep you guys laughing all night.” Arrive early (6:30-ish) to enjoy the really great full bar and grill (under the oaks Live in The Loop) and the free live music. Friday’s band is Radio Days, who’ll keep the oak leaves shaking with rock and pop hits from the ’50s through today. Saturday, it’ll be “Cyndi Rapp and Rappture” with soft rock hits from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. Times: Comedy Zone: 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Live on the Loop – 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tickets: Comedy Zone – side seats $12; table seating $14-$18 (you can pick where you want to sit). Live on the Loop – free. 772-231-6990 or www.riversidetheatre.com.
