A Yearly Ritual
The annual multi-day music and art festival, the Voodoo Experience, will be held Oct. 28-30 at New Orleans City Park, featuring a bevy of internationally acclaimed musicians including Soundgarden, The Raconteurs, The Original Meters, Snoop Dogg and others from a variety of genres. Concerts occur all day until well after the sun sets in a seemingly endless park-wide party. Several stages are set up around the grounds, and there is no shortage of food, art or creativity.
Information, VoodooExperience.com.
PUCCINI’S MASTERPIECE
The New Orleans Opera takes audiences back to legendary times with its performance of Turandot at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts on Oct. 15. Written by Giacomo Puccini and set in Peking, a Mandarin reads an edict that any prince seeking to marry the bloodthirsty Princess Turandot must answer three riddles; if he fails, he dies. The opera, in three acts, covers topics of love and class as royalty and servants alike fall victim to torture and forbidden love.
Information, NewOrleansOpera.org.
Silver Screenings
New Orleans has become a magnet for movie stars, directors and big names in show biz, and the New Orleans Film Society has expanded its reach in recent years to accommodate this phenomenon. Oct. 14-20 is the New Orleans Film Festival 2011, offering screenings, star-studded parties and galas that celebrate on-screen storytelling. (Ed. Note: See pg. 135 for more information).
Information, NewOrleansFilmFest.com.
A Season of Dance
On Oct. 22, the New Orleans Ballet Association kicks off its 2011-’12 season. NOBA’s executive director, Jenny Hamilton, gives us the scoop on the classical, avant garde and exhilarating performances that permeate the cultural season.
What is in store for the upcoming season? The Main Stage season includes six companies featuring significant and distinctive choreography, including three New Orleans debuts and several world premieres. On April 21, 2012, superstars Desmond Richardson, appearing in his last season with Complexions, and New York City Ballet Principal Wendy Whelan will dance together for the first time in their illustrious careers in a NOBA-commissioned work by choreographer Dwight Rhoden set to live New Orleans jazz music.
The Mark Norris Dance Group is coming to the Mahalia Jackson Theater on Oct. 22. What can audiences expect? This phenomenally gifted American dance icon will bring a lush program of his signature, intensely musical, endlessly inventive and joyously exuberant dances, all accompanied by a very gifted group of classical musicians.
NOBA does so much more than put on performances. What community outreach programs are offered this year? Through multiple partnerships, NOBA provides a year-round program of tuition-free dance classes after school, more than 3,000 annually, to ages 6 to 80-plus. Master classes with all of the Main Stage artists, scholarships to study at prestigious national summer programs, a renowned local summer intensive with international guest artists – these unique opportunities and many more are made available each and every year.
Information, NOBADance.com.
Oct. 1, 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, 26-31. Tours. House of Shock. Information: HouseOfShock.com.
Oct.1-2, 8-9, 13-16, 20-23, 26-31. Tours. Haunted Mortuary. Information: HauntedMortuary.com.
Oct. 2. tUnE-yArDs in concert. One Eyed Jacks. Information: OneEyedJacks.net.
Oct. 6. Louis CK. Mahalia Jackson Theater. Information: MahaliaJacksonTheater.com.
Oct. 6.7.9.13.14.16. NOLA Project presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream. New Orleans Museum of Art. Information: NolaProject.com.
Oct. 9. Fleur de Tease. One Eyed Jacks. Information: OneEyedJacks.net.
Oct. 11. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones in concert. House of Blues. Information: HouseOfBlues.com.
Oct .15. Big Easy Rollergirls home bout. UNO Human Performance Center. Information: BigEasyRollergirls.com.
Oct. 15. “O What a Night” gala. Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Information: OgdenMuseum.org.
Oct. 15. The American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. New Orleans City Park – Roosevelt Mall. Information: MakingStridesNewOrleans.org.
Oct. 17. Black ‘n’ Gold Kick-off Party Featuring Bonerama with special guests The Super Fans. Tipitina’s Uptown. Information: Tipitinas.com.
Oct. 19. So You Think You Can Dance? UNO Lakefront Arena. Information: ArenaNewOrleans.com.
Oct. 21, 22, 28 and 29. Boo at the Zoo. Audubon Zoo. Information: AudubonInstitute.org/boo-zoo.
Oct. 23. New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts. Louisiana Superdome. Information: NewOrleansSaints.com.
Oct. 22, 23, 29 & 30. JPAS presents Fiddler on the Roof. Jefferson Performing Arts Center, Metairie. Information: jpas.org.
