Presented by the Tulsa Children’s Museum, this six-member band brings Brazil’s magical folklore music to life with infusions of American bluegrass at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, 110 E. 2nd St. In 2012, the Chicago Tribute called their music, “joyous and ebullient… with a seductively cross-cultural appeal,” and they continue to live up to that description today. Mutato has been coined “American Musical Ambassadors” by the U.S. State Department and has traveled the world with stops in Brazil, Ireland, the U.K., Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Turkey, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana and Senegal. And now we get to see them right here in Tulsa. Mutato will be playing two shows on Sunday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Don’t miss this world-renowned band before they leave Tulsa for another part of the world. For tickets: http://tulsapac.com/events.asp?id=92&eventid=2990&task=display
Courtesy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Society, inc.
Monday, Jan. 19.
Join others on Monday, Jan. 19 to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at the MLK parade in Tulsa, one of the largest in the United States. This year’s parade, “Celebrate Change – 2015,” begins at MLK Jr. Blvd and John Hope Franklin Blvd at 11 a.m., where Tulsa and surrounding areas, among countless other cities around the world, will come together to celebrate one man who did so much for the civil rights movement, something our country continues to work on today. With the recent tragedies in Ferguson, Staten Island and Brooklyn, there is no better time than now to unite as one community with the same goal. Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and all that he accomplished as a pastor, activist, humanitarian and leader. http://www.mlktulsa.org/parade/
Cain’s Ballroom welcomes rock band Clutch to its stage in the Brady Arts District. Best known for its album Blast Tyrant and such radio hits as “Immortal” and “Open Up the Border,” Clutch is touring for it’s latest rock chart-topper, the 2013 album Earth Rocker. Guest acts Torche and Lionize take open the stage, scheduled to begin at 8:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9. Doors open at 7 p.m. at Cain’s, located 423 N. Main St., in downtown Tulsa. Tickets, $20-$35, are available at www.cainsballroom.com.
Tulsa-based Theatre Pops presents its vision of Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama August: Osage County, opening Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. Filled with dark humor, family secrets and a mountain of conflict, the play centers on matriarch Violet and her family living near Pawhuska. Written by Letts, an Oklahoma native, the play debuted on Broadway in 2007. In 2010, a national tour starring Academy Award-winning actress Estelle Parsons (Bonnie and Clyde) stopped in Tulsa. Theatre Pops’ telling will feature several well-known Tulsa actors. It opens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and runs through Sunday, Jan. 11. The run resumes Jan. 15-18. The Tulsa PAC is located at 110 E. Second St. Tickets are $20-$25, available at www.myticketoffice.com. The play is for a mature audience only.
One minute, he’s talking about making his first new album in years. The next, he’s announcing the opening date for a huge world tour and topping the charts with a new single. For Garth Brooks, 2014 was an eventful year, but it may be nothing compared to 2015.
Country and American music’s dynamic Brooks is back on the arena stage, where many would say is right where he belongs. He rocked audiences to the hustle and twang of his hit recordings, including “Friends in Low Places,” “Shameless” and “The Thunder Rolls,” throughout the ‘90s. And even though time has rolled on, he remains, by all reports, the complete entertainment package.
Following shows in Little Rock, Ark., Minneapolis, Minn., and Atlanta, Ga., to name a few, the man and his music calls on home when Brooks plays the BOK Center, 200 S. Denver Ave., in Tulsa. His wife, country music star and TV cooking show host Trisha Yearwood, is also slated for some stage time during all his shows. Brooks will play seven performances, the first on Friday, Jan. 9.
Following his Tulsa shows, Brooks will set off for Boston, Buffalo, N.Y., and even farther reaches. It’s only the beginning.
Back in November, just days after the Tulsa shows were announced, Brooks’ ticket sales broke his previous Tulsa record, set back in 1997 at the old Drillers Stadium. Then, his five shows sold 79,855 tickets. On Nov. 14 – the day tickets went on sale for his first BOK Center concerts ever – more than 105,000 tickets were sold.
Even if the music industry has changed, the humble Brooks remains the undeniable king of the box office, entertainment and country music.
Tickets are $70 each, available at www.bokcenter.com.
The Oklahoma City Philharmonic welcomes back Jean-Yves Thibaudet for A Little Romance, a night of music to swoon to. The international concert pianist will play with the orchestra starting at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, in the Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre of Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., in Oklahoma City. The evening will include performances of such romantic selections as Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 5, Hanson’s Romantic Symphony No. 2 and Mozart’s Serenade in G major (otherwise know as Eine kleine Nachmusik). Tickets are $19-$65, available at www.okcphilharmonic.org
Serious quilt hobbyists will find everything they need, including ideas, for quilting in traditional styles and more at the Oklahoma City Winter Quilt Show, taking place Thursday, Jan. 8, to Saturday, Jan. 10. The annual event takes place at Oklahoma State Fair Park, 3001 General Pershing Blvd., in Oklahoma City and brings together quilting experts, appraisers and vendors of quilting materials, equipment and more. There will also be quilt displays and exhibits along with craft workshops on techniques and information on getting started. Admission is $10 (free for children under 12 years). For more, go online to www.qscexpos.com.
Egham Lock, 1859, Etching and drypoint, by Francis Seymour Haden. Courtesy of Philbrook.
Egham Lock, 1859, Etching and drypoint by Francis Seymour Haden. Courtesy of Philbrook.
Opens Sunday, Jan. 11
Prints by American artist James Whistler and his contemporaries in original etchings are the focus of a new exhibit opening Sunday, Jan. 11, at Philbrook Museum of Art. Whistler and the British Etching Revival looks at the art form, which experienced a resurgence of interest in the late 1800s because of work by Whistler, Francis Seymour Haden and others. Largely relegated to a subordinate process for the purpose of reproducing painted images, etching had lost favor with some artists and their patrons by the time Whistler came along. Interest in past etchings, however, brought Whistler and his contemporaries to a new understanding of the discipline, which translated into expressive compositions that gained artists an international reputation. The exhibit continues at 2727 S. Rockford Road, Tulsa, through April 5. Philbrook curator Sarah Lees is scheduled to hold a gallery talk on the exhibit on Jan. 14 at noon. For more, visit www.philbrook.org.
The Tony Award-winning musical Once continues its run at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. Based on the 2007 film Once, about a Dublin street musician and a Czech immigrant cleaning houses and finding friendship and inspiration through music, the musical includes some of the music from the film, including the Academy Award-winning song “Falling Slowly.” Once continues at 101 E. Third St., Tulsa, through Sunday, Jan. 4, before opening Tuesday, Jan. 13, at Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., in Oklahoma City. The play continues on through Jan. 18. Tickets for the Tulsa showing are $20-$75. Tickets for the OKC run are $20-$60. All tickets are available at www.myticketoffice.com.
There’s nothing small about midget car racing’s biggest event. The Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals is back for the 29th lap and another spectacular year of racing. The fun begins Tuesday, Jan. 13, in the RiverSpirit Expo at Expo Square, 4145 E. 21st St. Bringing thousands of drivers and fans to town, the Chili Bowl also draws professional race car drivers from other classes, including NASCAR, to the dirt track. Midget race cars may be little compared to the stock cars rounding the Sprint Cup, but with most packing at least a four-cylinder engine, midget cars get around fast. The event continues through Saturday, Jan. 17, and will include several other events – the Chili Bowl tradeshow, open throughout the nationals, and the National Midget Auto Racing Hal of Fame Induction Luncheon on Friday, Jan. 16. Fans can also check out the RC Chili Bowl, running concurrent with the nationals and featuring stout, remote-controlled cars in the Mustang Arena at Expo Square. For more, visit www.exposquare.com.
