Tim’s Picks: To Do or Not to Do Edition
Your guide to five choice picks for your Greater Lafayette week.
Support for Based in Lafayette comes from Purdue Convocations, presenting Hamlet Feb. 28-March 1. Actors From The London Stage return to Purdue for an encore week-long residency, deftly combining minimal staging with essential props and simple costumes. Five actors share the responsibility for the direction of the play and perform two or three major roles (as well as several minor ones). Through imagination and collaboration, the cast conjures Shakespeare’s immortal words and worlds into being. Buy Tickets
By Tim Brouk / For Based in Lafayette
XWorks Dance Concert, 6 and 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, and 4 and 6 p.m. Saturday, March 1, Dance Studio Theatre, Pao Hall, Room 1179, Purdue University — The annual Purdue student-produced modern dance concert, XWorks, returns loaded with 17 pieces of physical expression in an intimate, black box theater setting. Among the works will be civil engineering major Anna Leighty’s modern dance experimentation with a rope prop to symbolize the tension between restriction and freedom. Psychological sciences senior Kendal Clay explores the personification of trash through experimental movement while depicting how pieces of garbage interact with each other in outdoor environments, and Vivian Kim’s fusion of modern and hip hop dance challenges feminine and masculine perspectives. XWorks is supported by the Purdue Dance Program, which is part of the Department of Theatre and Dance in the Rueff School of Design, Art and Performance in the College of Liberal Arts. Along with student choreographers and performers, students serve as lighting and sound technicians, stage managers and house managers, which fulfills the Dance Program’s goals of training its dancers in all facets of performance with opportunities to experience firsthand the elements involved in producing a dance concert. $10, $5 for students.
Christopher Gipson, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, Lafayette Brewing Company, 622 Main St., Lafayette — About 20 years ago, the top spot to experience live music in Lafayette was the Lafayette Brewing Company’s upstairs space. You’ve maybe been there in more recent times as part of the annual Winter Warmer craft beer festival or for a private event. But in the ’00s and some of the ’10s, the space could hold hundreds of live music fans in a warm environment with good acoustics and sound system. They even had a pizza kitchen up there. Things started with a weekly open mic night and then expanded to local live music showcases and eventually national acts like Rev. Horton Heat, Wanda Jackson, The Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Billy Joe Shaver, Jonathan Richman, Nick Lowe, Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers and even a Talking Heads tribute band, just to name a few. This weekend, the LBC will dip a pinkie toe back into presenting live music with a set from Christopher Gipson, a longtime singer-songwriter who attended many of those early open mic nights. Gipson’s music blends rock, folk and blues and will hopefully help usher in more local live music opportunities in what could still be a viable and even spectacular venue once again. $5.
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“Hamlet,” 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, and 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 1, Loeb Playhouse, Stewart Center, Purdue — The Actors from the London Stage are in the middle of its weeklong residency at Purdue in preparation of the company’s presentation of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” The classic work is one of The Bard’s best and no wonder with all the murder, scandal and supernatural. The staging is minimal, and the cast will take on multiple roles each to properly showcase their performance chops. $29-$34.
“Veronica’s Drag Race” Drag Show, 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, Rat Pak Venue, 102 N. Third St., Lafayette — Move over Mama Ru, it’s Veronica’s turn to race. Lafayette’s queen Veronica Fox will host a drag event in the vein of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” reality show that will feature area queens and kings Binxxx, Kelso, Magnus, Maya, Celeste, Adam and AC competing against each other to see who is the fiercest — and who is most ratchet. Which shantay will stay? Who will be the first to sashay away? How many death drops will there be? Only one way to find out. $10, $15 for ages 18-20. Tickets.
Chloe Kimes, 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 4, People’s Brewing Company, 2006 N. Ninth St., Lafayette — Nashville, Tennessee, singer-songwriter Chloe Kimes and her band will return to Lafayette to help make Fat Tuesday a tuneful one. With an alt country style, Kimes’ single “Coors Light” may ruffle some People’s brewers’ feathers, but a good song is a good song, even if it’s titular beer cannot compare to a cold pint of Boiler Gold Ale. People’s will provide a special food menu to get you lubed up for Lent. $10. Tickets.
Tim Brouk is a longtime arts and entertainment reporter. He writes here (almost) weekly, tracking things to do for Based in Lafayette.
Support for this edition of Based in Lafayette comes from Purdue Convocations, presenting Hamlet Feb. 28-March 1. Actors From The London Stage return to Purdue for an encore week-long residency, deftly combining minimal staging with essential props and simple costumes. Buy Tickets Here.
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