WED4.6
APR4.7-4.10
4.13
The fairytale characters Tom Thumb and Jack the Giant Killer team up in this nightmarish stop-motion masterpiece. The 1993 dystopian adventure/horror film by Dave Borthwick, follows the travails of fetuslike thumb-sized Tom, who is abducted from his loving parents and carted off to an experimental laboratory. With limited dialog and a visual sense in sync with the Quay Brothers’ shambling doll-parts puppets and Jan Švankmajer’s reanimated taxidermy animal cyborgs, Tom Thumb is a queasy and creepy masterpiece. More: $10; April 6, 8 p.m.; VisArt Video, 3104 Eastway Drive; visartvideo.org
Presented by contemporary arts organization Moving Spirits, Charlotte’s first LAVAGEM! Festival is a celebration of indigenous, African-Brazilian and African diaspora arts and culture. Held throughout the city, events will include free dance and music performances, workshops and the community Lavagem ritual, or “cleansing of the city.” The festival brings master teachers from Salvador (the capital city of Bahia, Brazil) to Charlotte locations including Goodyear Arts, Mint Museum Uptown and Nine Eighteen Nine. More: Free; April 7-10, times and locations vary; charlottecultureguide.com
FRI4.8
APR4.8-4.9
SAT4.9
As part of Charlotte SHOUT!, The Charlotte Film Festival and Independent Picture House present eight awardwining films including Jessica Linn’s documentary Beyond the Model, which spotlights the plight of a “model minority”in an increasingly anti-Asian America. Charlotte filmmaker Kent Smith weighs in with the unsettling comedy Little Package, and fellow Queen City director John Austin provides the documentary Almost Normal–Through the Eyes of Autism, which examines the world through a new perspective. More: Free; April 8, 7:30 p.m.; SHOUT! Lounge, 401 S. Tryon St.; charlotteshout.com
Jazz seems to be a tug-of-war. At one end are the curators, who act as if “real” jazz ended with hard bop in the mid-1950s. At the other end of the spectrum is anybody who has incorporated postEisenhower era developments — rock, hip-hop, psychedelia, etc. Donald Harrison embraces the entire continuum. The saxophonist and New Orleans cultural torchbearer has mastered every era of jazz, soul and funk, and is a composer of orchestral classical music as well. His original creation, called Nouveau Swing, is an exhilarating collision of jazz with R&B, hip-hop, rock and soul. More: $25; April 8-9; Stage Door Theater, 155 N. College St.; blumenthalarts.org
This immersive art exhibit asks the question, “Can an art form address the social challenges we face and offer paths to heal our various traumas?” Internationally exhibited ambient media artist and curator Brett Phares uses projected light to express unconscious, perhaps genetic, solutions to our psycho-social maladies. Meditation instructor Angela Gala brings together Charlotte therapist Justin Perry and physicist Joel Bonasera to address these questions, facilitating a lively conversation. It sounds to us like plumbing Jungian depths to go into the light, and that seems certainly worth a shot. More: Free; April 9, 7:30 p.m.; Bechtler Museum, 420 S. Tryon St.; bechtler.org
ROTHKO BECOMING ROTHKO
CHARLOTTE STREATS FESTIVAL
‘THE SECRET ADVENTURES OF TOM THUMB’
MARK ROTHKO Photo by Consuelo Kanaga
2021 CHARLOTTE FILM FESTIVAL AWARD-WINNING SHORT FILMS
APR4.12-4.17
Pg. 8 APR 6 - APR 19, 2022 - QCNERVE.COM
‘PRETTY WOMAN’
Despite an adult premise — heartless corporate raider hooks up with a prostitute — Pretty Woman doesn’t have much to do with reality. Both the musical and the 1990 romantic comedy on which it’s based tell a chaste Cinderella story in which the hooker has a heart of gold and the vulture capitalist is not such a bad guy after all. The 1990s-set musical acknowledges the complexity of Just Say No and the rise of Onlyfans by giving its sex worker heroine far more agency than she had in the movie. The songs, co-written by Bryan Adams, unerringly recall that era’s radio hits. More: $25 and up; April 12-17; Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org
BIG CHIEF DONALD HARRISON
WED4.13
A pivotal figure in the move from figural painting to Abstract Expressionism, Mark Rothko is known for his abstract “color field paintings,” which feature large rectangular swaths of color. Galvanized by World War II, Rothko strove to capture the essence of basic human emotions on canvas, and to evoke those emotions in viewers. The Mint has two Rothkos, “No. 17 [or] No. 15” and “Untitled 1951.” Harry Cooper, head of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., talks about the life and works of the artist. More: Free; April 13, 5 p.m.; Mint Museum Uptown, 500 S. Tryon St.; mintmuseum.org
LAVAGEM! FESTIVAL
IN THE LIGHT AND UNDER THE SKIN
APR4.15-4.16
Foodies rejoice! Unpretentious Palate and Carben Events host this celebration of Charlotte chefs and the city’s burgeoning food scene. The epicurean event kicks off April 15 with cooking demonstrations from local culinary students, food trucks, vendors, and kid activities. The gastronomic gig allows patrons to taste their way through the city’s iconic neighborhoods without leaving Gateway Village. The fest spotlights appearances by celebrity chefs and chef demos. Live music features singer-songwriter Justin Elliot, former frontman of Chicago indie rock band Honeystone. More: Free-$140; April 15-16; Gateway Village, 900 W. Trade St.; charlotteshout.com/events
SUN4.10
DONALD HARRISON Courtesy photo
4.8-4.9
CLASSIC BLACK CINEMA SERIES: ‘BRIGHT ROAD’
A low budget 1953 production, Bright Road is a rarity today. Audiences in the 1950s must have been surprised by the film’s primarily Black cast and its positive portrayal of Black life. Today it seems an outlier for its glowing picture of the currently much maligned profession of teaching. Dorothy Dandridge shines as a teacher who overcomes fear and hesitation to care for a troubled student. It’s clear Dandridge’s talent was squandered due to overt racism. In his first film role, Harry Belafonte is compelling as a tough but fair principal. More: $9; April 10, 2 p.m.; Gantt Center, 551 S. Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org
SAT4.16
MILESTONE PROM
What better location to celebrate this and every prom season then the venerable Charlotte rock club that has hosted a who’s who of punk, indie and metal bands over the course of its 52-year run? The class of 2022 gig features indie-rock foursome Modern Moxie, who earned Queen City Nerve’s Best in the Nest Critics’ Pick for Best Album in 2019 with Claw Your Way Out. Yes Chef!, our critics’ pick for Best New Band in 2020, shares the bill with chaperone Principal Red Jesse Kimmel and DJ Justin Aswell (Mr. Invisible, Ogres, Hectagons!). More: $10; April 16, 8 p.m.; The Milestone, 400 Tuckaseegee Road.; themilestone.club
