Forget blue Monday. Start your week off with a “Pop” Monday, when the Indian River Symphonic Association brings Maestro Christopher Confessore and the terrific Brevard Symphony Orchestra to town with its high-energy 2017 pops concert “Hooray for Hollywood.” It’ll be wall-to-wall favorites from some of Hollywood’s greatest film scores, including Elmer Bernstein’s “The Magnificent Seven” and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” along with an 85th birthday salute to the incomparable John Williams, featuring music from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” As with all IRSA presentations, “Hooray for Hollywood” will be at the Community Church of Vero Beach at 7:30 p.m.
This Friday, the Vero Beach Museum of Art and Ballet Vero Beach continue their successful partnership, at the museum, with BVB’s Spring Interpretive Dance Series Performance, choreographed in collaboration with the Museum’s exhibitions. Attendees will have the opportunity to see original danceworks created by seven choreographers. Included in the program is a work by company dancers Kelsey Schwenker and Erin Alarcon, who lend classical and contemporary vocabulary to reflect the duality of Jeffery Becton’s stunning photographs. Ballet master Camilo Rodriguez has created a subtle and majestic solo to reflect the sculptures in “Deborah Butterfield: Horses.” Adding variety and nuance will be works by company dancers Rebecca Brenner, Jake Godek, Amaris Sharrat and Sasha York. A reception follows the 7 p.m. performance.
If you’re a wing nut, you’ll definitely want to join the fun- and brew-loving crowd Saturday at the Florida Craft Brew and Wing Fest on Royal Palm Pointe in Vero Beach, hosted by the Sunrise Rotary Club. With the purchase of a $35 tasting bracelet, you can sample from among 150 craft beers. Local restaurants and groups will sell beer’s BFF, chicken wings, as they compete for the coveted Best Vero Beach Wings designation. Wing-kicking tunes from the Jacks Band; Southern Exposure; Jeff Vitolo and the Quarter Mile Rebels; and Dave Scott and the Reckless Shots will keep the music flowing from two stages. Proceeds support Rotary projects.
The Sebastian Art Club’s annual juried show comes to Sebastian’s Riverview Park Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a Sunday rain date. Visitors can stroll the curving sidewalk beneath the park’s oaks, enjoying the considerable talents of North County artists in a variety of mediums, subjects and styles, encompassing oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, drawing, sculpture, woodworking, jewelry, art glass, photography, pottery and more. Barbara Hoffman, artist and director of the Indian River Cultural Council, will judge the show, and winning works will be on display at the Art Club’s Art Center Gallery on Main Street.
Get your Mardi on this Saturday at the Cocoa Village Mardi Gras Celebration, a 30-year tradition. This family-friendly take on the New Orleans blow-out typically welcomes some 50,000 celebrants, as the charming, historic village shifts into festival mode for a day. Musical headliner is singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Eddy Money, who rocked the 1970s and ’80s with a string of Top 40 hits and platinum albums, including “Take Me Home Tonight” “Build Me Up, Buttercup,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Good Lovin’.” There will also be entertainment for the kids, plenty of food and music, and handicapped access. A previous attendee raved, “a chance to wear a great mask, and great food. I have been to the best, New Orleans, but too many feathers in my face, less crowded in the Village, and just plain crazy enough.” The fun begins at 5 p.m. on Saturday with a New Orleans style parade.
If you’re in the mood for a bit of hocus pocus, invite your favorite white rabbit to join you at the Sunrise Theatre in Fort Pierce Sunday. After a sell-out at the Sunrise last year, “Masters of Illusion – Believe the Impossible” returns with its all-new show, based on the TV series “The Magicians.” Magic, apparently, has never been hotter, and this show promises grand illusions, levitating women, escapes, sleight-of-hand and, of course, beautiful dancers. There’s even a part where the whole audience joins in a mind-boggling illusion, and a few daring souls will be picked to participate on stage. Gulp.
Friday, The Molly Ringwalds perform at Orlando’s House of Blues. It’s not your average cover band. The quintet, from Sheffield, England, combine their considerable talents to bring the musical essence of the radical ’80s to venues all over the county. With costumes, sass and a real feel for the musical genre of the decade, they engage the audience and keep the energy level cranked up from start to finish.
