<HOLIDAY>
Friday, Feb. 24
Mardi Gras Louisville
Fat Friday is looking a little different this month. For the nearly 200 New Orleans families living in Louisville due to Hurricane Katrina, this one’s for you: We’re putting on our own version of a Mardi Gras party and parade with floats, costumes, street musicians and … beads, we hope. Granted, it’s not the Big Easy, but the thought is sincere.
The parade will be on Frankfort Avenue from Mellwood to Stilz. Café Lou Lou and Gumbo A Go-Go will have great things to eat, as well as Eyedia, with food by former New Orleans chef Allen Heintzman. There’ll be art as well, such as Fred DiGiovanni’s photographs at Kaviar Forge & Gallery, a group show at 1435-B Story Ave., and drawings by Lewis Walker at Creative Diversity Studio.
To top off the night, there’s a free Krewe of Louisville Ball starting at 9 p.m. at the Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center, 1860 Mellwood Ave. Take the free trolley and save your legs for dancing. —Jo Anne Triplett
FAT Friday route along Frankfort Ave.
228-1401
www.mardigraslouisville.com
Free; 6-11 p.m.
<OPERA>
Friday, Feb. 24 & Sunday, Feb. 26
‘The Barber of Seville’
Nearly two centuries after its debut in 1816, Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” remains the standard for all comic opera. And right away you’re probably thinking: Isn’t comic opera the kind where everybody runs around pretending to be somebody else, and the plots are just totally absurd? Yes! But who cares? The music is wonderful, and poking fun at the foibles of the aristocracy never goes out of style.
Ian Greenlaw debuts with the Kentucky Opera as Figaro, the crafty barber who is full of schemes to help his pal Count Almaviva hook up with Rosina, who is quite lovely — with the additional advantage of being rich. —Bill Doolittle
Whitney Hall, Kentucky Center
584-7777
www.kyopera.org
$16.75-$80.75; 8 p.m. (Fri.), 2 p.m. (Sun.)
<MUSIC>
Saturday, Feb. 25
Audrey Ryan
Singer-songwriter/indie-pop-goddess Audrey Ryan makes her triumphant return to Louisville this weekend, working out some new material at the Rudyard Kipling. Ryan is like Joni Mitchell and Radiohead playing some kind of hybrid jazz music that — and this is why her stuff is so good — just doesn’t exist anywhere else. —Stephen George
The Rudyard Kipling
422 W. Oak St.
636-1311
$TBD; 7:30 p.m.
21+
<DANCE>
Saturday, Feb. 25
DanceBrazil
DanceBrazil pounces upon the Brown Theatre on Saturday with its heralded form of capoeira (think: dance meets martial arts). Capoeira was created centuries ago by Africans brought into slavery in Brazil as a means of self-protection. They disguised the martial art as a dance, accompanied by music and song, in order to practice it openly. It was put to use in the 18th century when numerous slaves escaped from captivity and set up independent armies in the hills. Today, capoeira is widely known and played/performed all over the world — in Brazil, its popularity is second only to that of soccer. Enter DanceBrazil, the premiere capoeira troupe in the world. The production will be preceded by a cultural marketplace featuring a variety of entertainment and hands-on activities for all ages. —Kevin Gibson
Brown Theatre
315 W. Broadway
584-7777
$23-$38; 6:45 p.m.
<BENEFIT>
Saturday, Feb. 25
U of L Bowl
The smoke, lane oil and fried food aroma of bowling alleys has a strange power to revive old memories. During the annual BB&T Bowl for Kids’ Sake fundraiser, Big Brothers Big Sisters welcomes you to do a lot of reminiscing. Along with more than 150 U of L students and faculty, the public is welcome with an “admission ticket,” a pledge sheet with at least $80 in donations. All players bowl two games, enjoy Domino’s Pizza and free drinks, plus accommodations in luxurious Cancun. Well, just kidding about the Cancun part, but it’s a very worthy cause and a great excuse to have fun. After striking it up, help the U of L cheerleaders rally the U of L men’s basketball team in their tussle with West Virginia. The away game will be shown on the big screens. —Matt Mattingly
Rose Bowl Lanes
2217 Goldsmith Lane
587-0494
$80 (pledge sheet); 1-3 p.m.
<TRIBUTE>
Sunday, Feb. 26
‘Crossing Over’ Freedom Walk
On March 21, 1965, nearly 3,200 Civil Rights activists, led by Martin Luther King Jr., marched from Selma, Ala., to the state capitol in Montgomery to voice their support for equal voting rights. Four days later and now 25,000 strong, they not only made their point, they made history.
Less than five months later, in response to the march, the 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed by President Johnson. To celebrate this day of determination and achievement, a re-enactment of this particular Civil Rights march will be held in the West End — from 28th and Broadway to the West Broadway United Methodist Church, 3620 W. Broadway — on Sunday. All are welcome to participate (and encouraged to bring a side dish for a feast afterward). —Tytianna Wells
28th and Broadway
772-1198
Free; 1:30-5 p.m.
<FUNDRAISER>
Monday, Feb. 27
Chocolate Dreams
Mmmmm, chocolate. The only thing more delicious is chocolate for a good cause. And that’s a good enough segue to tell you that GuardiaCare Services, a 35-year-old social service agency that assists Louisville-area seniors who are at financial and physical risk, will host “Chocolate Dreams — An Evening of Decadent Bliss” Monday at the Clifton Center. The benefit will feature samplings of premiere chocolate creations prepared by local culinary professionals who will compete for awards in five categories: Chocolate Bluegrass, Chocolate Picasso, Chocolate Absurdity, Chocolate World Traveler and People’s Choice. Wine, light hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction are also on the bill. —Kevin Gibson
Clifton Center
2117 Payne St.
www.guardiacare.org
585-9949
$30 (single), $55 (couple); 6 p.m.
<MUSIC>
Monday, Feb. 27
Acoustic Love Series
Ah, this should be good. The Red Lounge will host regular Monday night shows where Louisville folks play acoustically. This one’s promising: Cathy Irwin (Freakwater) and Jon Ashley (The Shooting Gallery) will share the stage for a whisky-soaked evenin’ of country-ish tunes that are better than what most pass off as country nowadays. They’ll play from 10 p.m.-midnight. The three hours before will be DJ Clawdada spinning “mellow happy hour music”; DJ Jumbo Shrimp will close the bar with rock ’n’ roll. Word. —Stephen George
Red Lounge
2106 Frankfort Ave.
896-6116
Free; 7 p.m.
21+
<ART>
Through Feb. 28
New paintings by Carrie Neumayer
We look at faces every day, but it takes an artist like Carrie Neumayer to really see them. After searching through stacks of magazines and newspapers, she found 100 people who intrigued her. Recycled faces combined with recycled objects equal renewed life. Painting the people was just the beginning; she then detailed them with such items as fabric, Styrofoam and Jell-O molds, resulting in mixed media, three-dimensional portraits.
By the way, Neumayer’s day job is teaching art at Hite Elementary School. That’s a plug for keeping the visual arts, taught by artists, in the schools. —Jo Anne Triplett
Cinderblock Gallery
931 E. Main St.
589-0793
Free; 1-5 p.m. (Sat.-Sun.), 5-8 p.m. (Mon.)