When you bring one of the most popular Beatles tribute acts – Classical Mystery Tour – together with the Oklahoma Philharmonic orchestra, you get a stage show sure to get the crowd singing along. A Salute to Sgt. Pepper gets two dates on the calendar. If you miss the show at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24, you can catch a second performance on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 8 p.m. Together, the band and orchestra play some of The Beatles best-known, best-loved songs. And with the band in costume, the experience is even magical. A Salute to Sgt. Pepper takes place at Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., and tickets – $25-$65 – are available at www.myticketoffice.com.
Hallow Marine at Oklahoma Aquarium. Courtesy Oklahoma Aquarium.
The Weekend
Families can make the most of Halloween at one of the many trick-or-treat-themed events happening in Tulsa and Oklahoma City this month. From Oct. 10-30, the Myriad Botanical Gardens turns its Children’s Garden into Pumpkinville, an attraction offering a hay-bale maze, crafts, cider pressing and more (www.myriadgardens.org). A short drive to the historic Harn Homestead & 1889ers Museum offers Haunt the Harn on Oct. 23 along with a hayride, pumpkin bowling and treats (www.harnhomestead.com). Nearby Edmond brings back its Storybook Forest, Oct. 23-30, and a walk through scenes from storybooks in the woods by Arcadia Lake (www.edmondok.com). BooHaHa in Brookside takes place on Oct. 24 and is one of Tulsa’s biggest Halloween events for children (www.brooksidetheplacetobe.com). On Oct. 26, the Guthrie Green Sunday Market goes Ghouls on the Green with fun activities (www.guthriegreen.com). Over in the Paseo District of OKC, the Magic Lantern Celebration on Paseo on Oct. 26, lets children make their costumes for the costume parade (www.thepaseo.com). Also on Oct. 26, Oklahoma City Zoo’s Haunt the Zoo for Halloween opens for spooky-good time through Oct. 31 (www.okczoo.com), while HallowZooeen (shown) offers a carnival-style atmosphere and a haunted train ride at the Tulsa Zoo from Oct. 27-31 (www.tulsazoo.org).
"Animal Regulation No. 4" by Liu Di. Image courtesy Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
“Animal Regulation No. 4” by Liu Di. Image courtesy Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Opens Saturday, Oct. 25
China’s Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, and the artists featured in Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s newest exhibition all were born after that chaotic, dangerous period. The country they would come to know and render would be different from the images of yesteryear’s party propaganda posters, but for these artists, the intrinsic social order and government continue to pervade art, culture and freedom in an increasingly liberalized China. My Generation: Young Chinese Artists presents paintings, video works, art installations, photography and mixed media works by a new generation of artists who work issues of identity, alienation and rebellion into their art. And they do it, often, under threat of reprisal. The exhibit runs from Oct. 25 to Jan. 18 at OKCMOA, 415 Couch Drive, in Oklahoma City. For more information, visit www.okcmoa.com.
A stegosaurus surveys the terrain in “Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular.” Photo by David Scheinmann.
Thursday, Oct. 23-Sunday, Oct. 26
They’re big with teeth to match, and these big lizards are ready to entertain families. Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular returns to the Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave., with seven shows using outstanding effects, craft and theatrical artistry. Praised around the world for the large-scale puppetry that makes dinosaurs from millions of years ago come to life, Walking With Dinosaurs takes spectators on a tour through the ages to show an Earth unlike anything experienced today. The touring production’s success, however, lies with performers making the “personas” of rambunctious baby t-rex and the rest of this surprising cast come to life with believable movement and reactions in an ever-changing environment created for the arena floor. The show opens at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, and continues through the weekend. The final performance is at 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26. Tickets are $25-$59.50, available at www.chesapeakearena.com.
Photo by Seth Kaye Photography. Courtesy R. Michelson Galleries.
Photo by Seth Kaye Photography. Courtesy R. Michelson Galleries.
Opens Sunday, Oct. 26
You only thought Leonard Nimoy was cool when he returned to the big screen for a meaningful cameo in the 2009 Star Trek film. Not only did he lend a gratifying credibility to the deserving re-boot of the grand sci-fi franchise, but Nimoy is a true artist with talents beside the moniker of film actor and director. Need proof? Visit the Sherwin Miller Museum of Art, 2021 E. 71st St., in Tulsa on Sunday, Oct. 26, for the opening of Leonard Nimoy: Secret Selves. The photography exhibit features portraits by Nimoy of individuals. Asked to reveal their hidden identities, these volunteers created a range of expression, attitude and composition – all captured by the accomplished artist, who has published books of poetry and photography in addition to screenplays. Secret Selves will continue through Jan. 31. For more about the museum and show, visit www.jewishmuseum.net.
The running world knows something about Tulsa that many of the city’s residents, perhaps, do not: The Tulsa Run isn’t just for racers. The annual sports event is scheduled this year for Oct. 25 and will include several 5k races, a 2k, a 15k race walk and the USA Master 15k Championship in addition to the main race. Competitors and their supporters are also welcome to the Tulsa Run Expo, open Oct. 23-24, at the Cox Business Center, 100 Civic Center, in downtown Tulsa. Gear and product exhibitors will be set up next to organizations with information about health and nutrition. The Finish Line Fest on race day also means plenty of live music, an awards ceremony and more for participants and spectators at the finish line. Go to www.tulsasports.org/tulsarun for a complete schedule of events, the changed racecourse and, if you do want to run, registration information.
Macy Gray may have been absent from the flash and pomp of today’s recording industry, but you just can’t make the question “Whatever happened to” stick to Her Rasp-ness. The singer best known for that distinctive voice, her song writing and film acting will be at Osage Casino’s Osage Event Center in Tulsa for a concert at 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26. The winner of almost every big music award out there, Gray is a multiplatinum-selling recording artist, who first made it big with the single “I Try” in 2000. Gray’s most recent work, the album The Way, was just released this month. Tickets are $20 and available at www.osagecasinos.com. The event center is located at 951 W. 36th St. North in Tulsa.
Whether she’s labeled “folk,” “alternative,” “feminist” or “righteous,” Ani DiFranco can always be counted on to entertaining. The iconic singer, songwriter, poet and multi-instrumentalist will release her 18th studio-recorded album, Allergic to Water, next month, and fans in Tulsa could get a sample of what’s to come. DiFranco will play the Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N. Main St., Tulsa, this weekend in a special concert benefiting the Woody Guthrie Center, also in Tulsa. The singer takes the stage at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26. Tickets are $30 for advance purchases and $33 purchased at the door or on the day of the concert. Other seating is $45, while VIP admission is $60. Also, the VIP access will get guests in at the catered meet-and-greet reception at 6 p.m. just before the concert. For more, visit www.cainsballroom.com.
Photo by Gabriel Bienczycki. Courtesy Koresh Dance Company.
Photo by Gabriel Bienczycki. Courtesy Koresh Dance Company.
Photo by Frank Bicking, courtesy Koresh Dance Company.
Photo by Frank Bicking, courtesy Koresh Dance Company.
Photo courtesy Koresh Dance Company.
Photo by Pete Checchia, courtesy Koresh Dance Company.
Tuesday, Oct. 28-Wednesday, Oct. 29
Philadelphia-based arts troupe the Koresh Dance Company returns to wow Tulsa with two performances this weekend. The group renowned for its stunning, athletic choreography and approach that combines multiple dance disciplines will be on stage at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, 110 E. Second St., in Tulsa at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28. Led by founder Ronen Koresh, the company performs again to everything from European classics to traditional Turkish rhythms on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40 each. The program is the second in a three-part, three-year series for the Koresh Dance Company, and Tulsa has a front seat for it. For more, visit www.myticketoffice.com.
Aaron Carapella creates maps showing the locations of indigenous peoples prior to European colonization. Photo by Brandon Scott.
While most cartographers today map our ever-changing world, Aaron Carapella maps history to change perspectives.
He searches for the truth of American Indian tribes, carefully placing their original names on a borderless map to identify lands each called home before European settlers arrived. “This was a pivotal moment in my life,” he says. [pullquote]“I learned from this experience that hands-on activism is appropriate at times, but I also believe that introducing curriculum to the educational system is also part of the puzzle.”[/pullquote]
“They are living maps, which means they are not set in a static year,” says Carapella. “I wanted these maps to convey what lands were held by whom at the time of contact with outsiders to show which lands each tribe fought to maintain and which ones many of them lost or were moved off of.”
Though he now lives in Stigler, Okla., Carapella’s map-making inspiration came during his childhood spent in California.
“I looked for a map of tribes to put in my room, but only came across ones that had a few dozen tribes on them,” says Carapella, who is of Cherokee descent, but is not enrolled with a tribe. “I already knew at that time that there were hundreds of tribes because I spent most of my free time reading books on Native American history.”
At age 18, he joined the American Indian Movement. As he worked to remove offensive mascots from local schools and protect sacred areas, Carapella says he unearthed a lack of understanding by many Americans.
“This was a pivotal moment in my life,” he says. “I learned from this experience that hands-on activism is appropriate at times, but I also believe that introducing curriculum to the educational system is also part of the puzzle.”
So, for the next 14 years, he intermittently worked on his first tribal map, looking for information wherever his travels took him – including around 250 tribal reservations.
“I have always made it a point to visit tribal museums and other historical locations, speaking with whoever I could find that would give me a sense of local tribal history and traditional names,” says Carapella.
As a self-taught cartographer, his drive to develop the skill came from a desire to resurrect the identities that were being lost in translation and time. According to Carapella, only three percent of commonly known tribal names are actually the traditional names.
“I have had many people say that these maps taught them the correct name of their people, and that might be one small step towards maintaining identity,” he says.
The maps have value for every citizen, though.
“They serve as a reminder to non-natives that these lands were homelands, occupied by tens of millions of people since the dawn of time, and also that these peoples still survive today,” Carapella says.
