Thru Sunday, Nov. 4
Nothing cuts to the essence of election campaigning like a political cartoon, and those by Thomas Nast are considered by many to be the best. With less than a week to go before we decide who will sit in the White House for the next four years, consider a visit to Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S. Rockford Ave., this weekend. The exhibit Gladiator of the Political Pencil: The Cartoons of Thomas Nast concludes Sunday, Nov. 4. In the last half of the 19th century, Nast battled government corruption and elevated figures like Abraham Lincoln through his images that were widely printed. It’s his symbols, however, that have proved to be most influential on American culture – from the donkey and elephant representing the dominant political parties to his drawings of Santa and Uncle Sam. After a walk through of the cartoons of Thomas Nast, you’re likely to react to the fact that campaigns and their supporters have been sparring for decades in our country. It’s enough to make you laugh, cry or both. Museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. every Wednesday and Friday-Sunday. The museum is open until 8 p.m. every Thursday. Admission is $7-$9. For more, go to philbrook.org.
 

Friday, Oct. 26, at 7:30 p.m.

The Flaming Lips are throwing the “largest costume party in the Midwest,” and everyone’s invited to the fun that is Freak Night at the Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheatre. Oklahoma’s favorite rock band and Innervisions welcomes music acts New Fumes and Stardeath and White Dwarfs to play this free festival of howls and impish oddities that can only mean that things are going to be more or less outrageous. The concert is also the final show posted by Innervisions, which has managed the venue for more than a decade. Did we mention that it’s free? Tickets will be available on the day of the show on a first-come-first-served basis until the amphitheater has reached its capacity. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Now that you know where to go, the only thing left to decide is what to wear? Look for more information at www.zooamp.com.

Oct. 26-28

Tulsa Ballet is known for its exquisite beauty, remarkable art and athleticism, but on this month, on this very weekend, the ballet changes into a monster. Two year’s ago, Dracula opened to massive praise from critics and audiences who packed the theater for a look at the count and his mythic world. They loved it, from the gothic costumes and ghoulish make-up to the rigging that made His Fanginess fly across the stage and the Franz Liszt’s darkly dramatic score. Blood sucking was never so lovely. Dracula is back for three performances once again at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, Third Street and Cincinnati Avenue. Since this will be principal dancer Alfonso Martin’s final season with Tulsa Ballet before retiring from dancing, this will be the last time to see him in his dashing turn as the vampire’s vampire. Go to www.tulsaballet.org for more.
 

Saturday, Oct. 27, at 7 a.m.

The Tulsa Sports Commission takes T-Town’s big annual race – which includes a 15k, 5k and 2k Fun Run – through new turns in downtown Tulsa as well as the traditional route along the River Parks this year. One thing, however, remains true: The Tulsa Run remains one of the most fun sporting events around. Race day begins at 7 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 27, but most racers will have already picked up their race packets the day before at the Runner’s Expo, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, at the Hyatt Regency Downtown, 100 E. Second St., Tulsa. The expo will host vendors in running gear and athletic equipment while groups offer sound information on achieving health and getting in shape for next year’s event. A finish line festival with live music and an awards ceremony follow Saturday’s events with fun for runners and their supporters. Cheer on the racers or sign up to run (deadline is noon Thursday, Oct. 25). Registration run $15-$45, but it’s always free to watch. Go to www.tulsasports.org for the details.
 

Saturday, Oct. 27 at 8 p.m.

If anyone can upstage the 145-member Canterbury Choral Society, that person is surely Ron Raines, a Broadway musical veteran who prefers sharing the spotlight to stealing it. No wonder the society invited him to headline its first show of the 2012-13 season, Broadway to Bricktown at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave. Raines is an Oklahoma City University graduate who went on to attend the premiere school for arts, Juilliard. He was nominated for an Emmy Award three times for his role as Alan Spaulding on the soap opera Guiding Light, but it was his long-running musical theater career and recent run in Follies, which earned him a 2012 Tony Award nomination. Pick a famous musical, and Raines has played a lead role in it. That’s why Broadway to Bricktown is certain to be a real treat for theater lovers. Tickets are $40-$65, available at www.canterburyokc.com.
 

Saturday, Oct. 27

National Geographic magazine is famous for its stellar photography and startling images from around the world. Through its pages, we’ve seen fascinating creatures from the frigid ocean depths, the intimate details of nomadic existence on Tibet’s grassy plains and other snapshots of living from around the world both familiar and mysterious. Nothing against good reporting and writing, but a photo is worth a thousand blurbs, particularly a photo from a National Geographic assignment photographer.
Gilcrease Museum, 1400 N. Gilcrease Road, Tulsa, and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., Oklahoma City, are two of a handful of museums across the country opening an exhibit of pictures of the American West this Saturday. The photos are taken from across 125 years of the magazine’s publication and include a shot of the Oklahoma land grab at the opening of the Cherokee Outlet.
Go to the Gilcrease (gilcrease.utulsa.edu) and Hall of Fame (www.nationalcowboymuseum.org) for museum hours and admission information. National Geographic: Greatest Photographs of the American West continues in Oklahoma City through Jan. 6 and in Tulsa through Feb. 3.

Thru Jan. 13

Roy Lichtenstein painted giant works that looked like segments of old comic strips or ads to examine American popular culture and themes on romance, war, patriotism and consumerism. If you’re looking for fluid pastoral scenes, you’ve found the wrong artist.
In every frame, large, precisely painted and placed dots make up the tones similar to mass printing techniques of the past. Through this pop artists challenging work, America is bigger and more complex than any Sunday funny could convey. The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art is exhibiting 20 prints of his work, including a series of American Indian theme lithographs that have rarely been seen. The exhibit, which opened this month at the museum, continues through Jan. 13. Admission is $3.50-$6.50. The museum is open Sunday-Friday. Go to www.jewishmuseum.net for hours and other details.
 

Saturday, Oct. 27, at 8 p.m.

Kate Smith isn’t a name widely familiar to generations born after the Boomers, who grew up listening to their own parents hum to renditions of songs such as Last Time I Saw Paris, Seems Like Old Times, White Cliffs of Dover and others that resonated over the airwaves at the frontlines and home front during World War II. Opera star Stephanie Blythe pays homage to the icon and the songs like God Bless America that sustained the country with hope during those long solemn years with a special performance dedicated to U.S. veterans. Choregus Productions presents We’ll Meet Again: The Songs of Kate Smith with Stephanie Blythe at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at Cascia Hall Performing Arts Center, address. Tickets are free to WWII veterans and/or their spouses. Companions attending the event with a veteran or spouse pay $28. Regular admission is $35. For more, go to www.choregus.org.