Staffpicks

MARCH 4 & 6 Botanica, ?the Waterfront Botanical Gardens Zephyr Gallery 610 E. Market St., 812-786-0026 ideaslouisville.com Botanica, the Waterfront Botanical Gardens, is a few years away from opening (it’s scheduled for 2019), but it has all the makings of a great addition to our city. The people behind the scenes, in association with IDEAS and their “Who’s Louisville?” project, are conducting a presentation to help us understand how the 23-acre park will affect local lives. “Health, Education and Sustainability – The Real Need for the Waterfront Botanical Gardens” lecture is on Wednesday, March 4 at 6 p.m. During the March 6 First Friday Trolley Hop from 6-9 p.m., the Botanica folks will again be on hand. And what fun: There will be an aerial drone tour of the park as it looks now provided by Willie MacLean/Birds Eye Foto.z —Jo Anne Triplett

March 4 - April 12 ‘The Roommate’ Actors Theatre Bingham Theatre 316 W. Main St., 584-1205 actorstheatre.org $25-$45; times vary It’s that time of year when the theater world turns its attention to Louisville, where the Humana Festival of New American Plays will premiere six plays selected from some 2,000 submissions. Jen Silverman’s “The Roommate” kicks off the prestigious festival. Directed by Mike Donahue, the play puts mismatched sensibilities onstage when thoroughly Midwestern Sharon rents out half of her Iowa home to Robyn, a vegan from the Bronx. Theater lovers, critics, playwrights, agents and academics will travel from some 90 countries for the festival, but only locals are eligible to purchase a $75 festival pass for five plays. Single tickets and student discounts are also available. —Laura Snyder

MARCH 4-7 Choreographers’ Showcase Louisville Ballet Studios 315 E. Main St., 583-2623 louisvilleballet.org $20-$25; 8 p.m. It’s time again for the Louisville Ballet to host its latest creativity-in-motion ideas. The concept behind their Choreographers’ Showcase is to promote new works created by the Louisville Ballet dancers as well as outside choreographers designing dances for the ballet to perform. And instead of viewing the performance on a stage far away, the showcase is performed in a much smaller space at the Louisville Ballet Studios. The Louisville Ballet dancers debuting new works this year are Roger Creel (“Sonnets in Blue”), Sanjay Saverimuttu (“Sea Change”), Elizabeth Smith (“Threads of the Human Cloth”), Ryan Stokes (“Behind Open Doors”) and Benjamin Wetzel (“Flying Dutchman”). The company will also be dancing “Sacred Shifts” by guest choreographer Daniel Riley. —Jo Anne Triplett

March 5-8 Bourbon Babes of the Bluegrass The Bard’s Town 1801 Bardstown Road $15-$22; 7 p.m. bourbon tasting, 7:30 p.m. show Like countless women in history who’ve played a huge role in a masculine-charged industry, the brave broads of the bourbon industry are often overlooked and rarely celebrated. The Eve Theatre Company aims to change that perception and pay tribute to women who helped breathe life into our oak-charred bread and butter. Bourbon Babes of the Bluegrass will depict the stories of women who have impacted our dear spirits’ existence in such ways as recipes, bottling, and building a successful bootlegging business. “We hope that (it) will change the way people see bourbon, right down to how to sip a Mint Julep,” said writer Susan McNeese Lynch. Humor, trivia, music, and a pre-show bourbon tasting; The Bard’s Town is sure to host a sour mashed good time for all. —Kelsey Westbrook

Friday, March 6 Damaged Goods presents Casablanka The Bard’s Town 1801 Bardstown Road thebardstown.com $10; 8:30 p.m. Damaged Goods formed here in Louisville five years ago as a troupe of like-minded improvisers with collective goal of putting a smile on the face of any audience member that would have them. Flash forward to 2015, and they are the premier improv troupe in Louisville, and they have performed their unique brand of improvisational theater in Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Nashville and throughout the Midwest. This weekend the Damaged Goods crew is going to be returning to their hometown with “Casablanka,” which they have proclaimed to be a “Damn Fine Comedy Show.” If you make it out this weekend to The Bard’s Town, you can watch the show, enjoy the show and, when it comes to a Damaged Goods show, you can actually be the show. —Brent Owen

March 6-8 Handmade Bicycle Show Kentucky International Convention Center 221 South Fourth St. kyconvention.org $8-$99; 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Louisville’s quickly evolving urban bike trails and newly opened underground bike park at Mega Cavern are among the reasons the city is quickly becoming a nationally renowned destination for cycling enthusiasts. Add to that our city’s cultural DIY spirit, and you have the perfect event in The North American Handmade Bicycle show set to run this weekend. Celebrating its 11th anniversary, the event picks one city every year to host a weekend of discovering bicycle building techniques, along with talks from the creators who engineered them. Beyond seminars on bike mechanics, expect talks on computer programs for the design of bicycles, historical lectures on bicycle parts, intellectual property and bicycles, decal mounting, cyclist fashion and even how to properly insure your bicycle. —Syd Bishop

March 6 - 31 Amy Wiedl and Tremain Ferrar Block Party Handmade Boutique 560 S. Fourth St. 589-1133 Block Party Handmade Boutique has brought together two well-paired artists for a beautifully wild exhibit. Both Amy Wiedl and Tremain Ferrar’s work has a stroke of whimsy, using bold graphic styles that trip into the “no man’s land” between fine art and illustration. Wiedl’s series is called ‘Chimera Types,’ where she creates brilliant mythical hybrids. Her elegant lines and talent with color are mesmerizing and a pleasure to behold. Ferrar’s mixed-media work is striking and meticulous. Her narrative work displays admirable draftsmanship with her delicate lines and details, yet allows an element of controlled chaos with charcoal marks and patterns. The opening reception is Friday, March 6, 5-9 p.m. and will feature music and refreshments. —J. Cobb

SATURDAY, MARCH 7 White Reaper Zanzabar 2100 S. Preston St., 635-9227 zanzabarlouisville.com $10; 9 p.m. For all their freewheeling, punk-rock sensibilities, the members of White Reaper seem to be incredibly self-aware. They know what they do well. Catchy, barebones lyrics, slick hooks, straightforward attitude and the ability to get in and out of a song quickly. And I think that’s where a lot of their charm comes from: They’re not trying to posture or pretend; they’re content with what they are. And this is a time when we need more of that. A few months back they packed Headliners, so get there early. Anwar Sadat and Scuzzmaster open. —Scott Recker

SATURDAY, MARCH 7 The Lone Bellow Headliners 1386 Lexington Road, 502-584-8088 headlinerslouisville.com $15; 9 p.m. The Lone Bellow’s self-described “Brooklyn country music” is somehow both highly accurate and more interesting than it sounds. Their Southern roots are obvious, with their penchant for melancholy acoustic Americana, but the music is scattered with small doses of the quirky indie that New York is known for. They extract the strengths from each and keep them subtle, which allows the two different musical walks of life to blend together without much conflict. They’re not too much of anything, which gives them plenty of room for those hard-hitting, piercing vocals. —Scott Recker

Through March 25 ‘Elements of Human Nature’ by Adam Horton Revelry Boutique Gallery 742 E. Market St., 414-1278 revelrygallery.com The first solo by artist and master craftsman Adam Horton attacks your senses with a rapture of form and color. His abstract paintings wield moving forms with intense structure to express the ever-evolving human attempt to control our fate and inescapable experiences. It is not hard to see the builder and craftsman in Horton’s “Elements of Human Nature.” His abstracts have great construction. using color, contrast and clever textures. Yet the work invokes great emotion and natural morphology that pulls the viewer into the painting.  “This is about people and what makes us who we are,” says Horton. —J. Cobb

THROUGH MARCH 27 ‘Women of Movement and Other Textured Narratives’ Krantz Art Gallery Jefferson Community & Technical College 116 Chestnut Hall, First & Chestnut St’s. jefferson.kctcs.edu In a shared celebration of Black History and Women’s History Month, Krantz Art Gallery has opened the combined show “Women of Movement and Other Textured Narratives” featuring artists Julia Youngblood and T.B. Jackson-Williams. In “Women of Movement,” Jackson-Williams displays paper collage images of women whose purpose was, and is, to “fulfill the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” Surprisingly detailed and intimate, these pieces radiate strength and perseverance. In “The Shirt Off My Back and Other Textured Narratives,” Youngblood displays ghost-like mixed media pieces made from clothing symbolic of the wearer’s personality. The result is ethereal and poetic. –Chasson Higdon

THROUGH MARCH 31 ‘Cherchez La Femme’ Prophecy Ink 907 Baxter Ave., 690-7243 prophecyink.com “I think that a lot of people don’t necessarily view tattoo work as fine art,” states Juanita Mondragon, “but the fact is that art comes in many forms.” Mondragon and her husband Travis King own Prophecy Ink, a custom tattoo studio and gallery. Mondragon curated the exhibition “Cherchez La Femme” featuring 15 Louisville female artists, including Tiffany Ackerman, Teresa Waller and Sarah Tidwell. She decided to do it because she says, “As a woman, I really wanted to showcase the work of the many talented women who comprise a large part of our incredibly talented local art scene. Supporting local artists and hosting exhibits in the adjacent gallery space just makes sense; each medium supports the other.” The opening reception is Saturday, March 7 from 7-9 p.m. —Jo Anne Triplett