Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 20-21

Talk about making the most of every performance. Oklahoma City Ballet brings a collection of three pieces to the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall’s Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre stage. First up, choreographer Anthony Tudor’s austere and elegant Lilac Garden enjoys its Oklahoma premiere. Set in Edwardian society, a young woman dances around her betrothal to a man she doesn’t love. The ballet next leaps into Nicolo Fonte’s daringly original Left Unsaid followed by Cobras in the Moonlight, a rhythmic and stirring piece from Margo Sappington to end the performance on an exquisite and exciting note. Tickets to the show are $33-60. Shows are at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the music hall, 201 N. Walker Ave. For more about the ballet and to purchase tickets, go online www.okcballet.com.
 

Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 22-23

Nothing can keep the Red Hot Chili Peppers from total stage domination on their latest tour – nothing except maybe their own feet. The trifecta of rock, rap and funk is still as playfully wanton and loud as for its 1991 breakout album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, but shortly before the band was set to begin its winter tour in January, members announced they would postpone the dates (including March concerts in Oklahoma City and Tulsa) until after lead singer Anthony Kiedis fully recovered from surgery to fix his foot, specifically, a sesamoid bone and a detached flexor tendon. Now that October is here, fans who bought tickets for the original concert dates are itching to hand them over to mosh with the best of them. And although guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who blogged late last month from San Antonio, Texas, about his broken foot, may still be hobbling in a cast, it looks like the shows will go on. Until then, take it easy, guys. The Red Hot Chili Peppers play Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave. at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22. Tickets for the Oklahoma City show are $35-$55 (fees may apply). Go to www.chesapeakearena.com to purchase and find more information. The band moves to Tulsa’s BOK Center, 200 S. Denver Ave., for its 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, appointment. Tulsa show tickets are $37.50-$57.50, available online at www.bokcenter.com.

Tuesday, Oct. 23, from 4-5:30 p.m.

Searching for job security working for politicians is as futile as a moderator asking for clarity during a presidential debate (you’ve been watching, right?). Some people can achieve it, and Robert Gates is one of them. He’s served under eight presidents in various offices, most recently (2006-11) as President Barack Obama’s Secretary of Defense. Gates shares his insights and stories from his previous position as well as from his tenure on the staff of President George W. Bush, his time as director of the Central Intelligence Agency and his career in national security at the next Oklahoma State University Center for Executive and Professional Development Executive Management Briefings event on Oct. 23 at the Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, OKC. 

If you miss him there, you can also hear Gates at the Tulsa Business Forums events (also through OSU) from 10-11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24 at the Mabee Center, 7777 S. Lewis Ave., Tulsa. Space must be reserved for both days ($75 per person each event). Go to www.cepd.okstate.edu for sponsorship information and other series speakers scheduled for future dates.
 

Saturday, Oct. 20 at 4 and 8 p.m.

Jeff Foxworthy built a career on “redneck jokes,” a formula that starts with “if,” ends with “you might be a redneck” and bridged by something ridiculous enough to verge on the plausible if you’re familiar with rural and country living. Foxworthy has ventured into television with Blue Collar TV, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader and most recently The American Bible Challenge. He’s never left the stage and live audience, however, and Foxworthy is set to entertain Saturday at the Hard Rock Tulsa Hotel & Casino’s stage at the Joint, 777 W. Cherokee St., Catoosa. Catch his early show at 4 p.m. and the evening performance at 8 p.m. Tickets are $55 and $65. You must be at least 21 to enter. For more, go to www.hardrockcasinotulsa.com.
 

Thursday, Oct. 18

There’s no doubt about it: Oklahoma is horse country, and when there’s a horse show in town, just try keeping it a secret. The U.S. National Arabian and Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show opens Thursday at Expo Square, 4145 E. 21st St., Tulsa, with many of the competitions starting at 8 a.m. Friday. This line-up of the world's best Arabian, half-Arabian and Anglo-Arabian horses includes contests in all categories of riding, futurity and driving. The show also welcomes trainer Sylvia Zerbini (Cavalia) and her herd in special performances of Grand Liberte, Oct. 25-27, at Expo Square’s Ford Truck Arena. Want more? More than 100 vendors in all-things-equine will also be on hand at the Exchange Center from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. daily. There will also be show tours for families, workshops and riding classes. The horse show runs through Oct. 27. For more on this prestigious event, follow the links at www.exposquare.com.
 

Saturday, Oct. 20

Every parking space in a one-mile radius around the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and the University of Tulsa will be occupied Saturday as all three schools celebrate football homecoming weekends. 

Oklahoma State University Football v. Iowa State (time TBA) 
Boone Pickens Stadium, 422 Aquires, on the OSU Campus in Stillwater.  
www.okstate.com

University of Oklahoma Football v. Kansas at 6 p.m. 
Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, 180 W. Brooks on the OU campus in Norman. 
www.soonersports.com

University of Tulsa Football v. Rice at 2:30 p.m. 
H.A. Chapman Stadium, 3112 E. Eighth St., on the TU campus in Tulsa. 
www.tulsahurricane.com

Go to each school’s website for tickets and purchasing as well as current game time schedules.

Friday-Saturday, Oct. 19-20 at 8 p.m.

Not since the days of Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys has a band become as synonymous with Western swing music as Asleep at the Wheel. The band, based in Austin, Texas, has collaborated with dozens of musicians in its 40-plus years – the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Dixie Chicks, Lyle Lovett, Tim McGraw and Willie Nelson among them. This weekend, Ray Benson and the rest of the group lend their twang and step to the next Signature Symphony at Tulsa Community College Pops Series concert. Two shows are scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Oct. 19-20, at the college’s VanTrease Performing Arts Center at the Southeast Campus, 10300 E. 81st St., Tulsa. Tickets are $27.50-$59.50, available at www.signaturesymphonyattcc.org.

Sunday, Oct. 21 from 2:30-6 p.m.

It seems like only a few weeks ago that the Guthrie Green first welcomed all to its inviting gardens and outdoor features. Every week since its early September opening, the Guthrie stage has brought exciting artists to play in the open. This week is no exception with songwriter and singer Samantha Crain heading a trio of musicians booked for the afternoon. With a new album set for release Feb. 19, Crain continues to build momentum that began with the 2010 release of her second album You (Understood). Critics and music insiders couldn’t stop talking of her artistic maturity and that alto – instantly recognizable, defiantly different and undeniably special. To hear “Never Going Back,” one of the new songs from the forthcoming Kid Face, check out www.rollingstone.com’s Daily Download.

Did we mention that Crain is from Shawnee? Shannon McNally (country) and Shemekia Copeland (Chicago blues), well-known and established musicians in their own rights, also play Sunday. Look for all three at the green, 111 E. Brady St., in Tulsa’s Brady Arts District. Shows are free. For more, go to www.guthriegreen.com.
 

Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 13-14

One weekend in October stands out among those on the watch for American Indian art in Tulsa. For them, the Cherokee Art Market returns with two days of pottery, sculpture, paintings, textile art and more at the Hard Rock Tulsa Hotel & Casino’s Sequoyah Grand Ballroom. More than 150 elite Native American artists (attending by invitation only) from around the world will have their work on exhibit and sale, but also look for entertainment, storytelling, cultural demonstrations and more. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. each day, and admission is $5. Hard Rock Tulsa is located at 777 W. Cherokee St, Catoosa, north of Interstate 44. For more information, go to www.cherokeeeartmarket.com.