Eclectic run of events on tap for weekend
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Where can you find performing dogs, a wedding in front of strangers, a pair of operas, a Shakespeare comedy, a wind symphony, and a plate full of spaghetti and meatballs, all in one geographic region?
If you answered, “In eastern New Mexico this weekend,” then you win.
Actually, we all win, because a most eclectic collection of activities is lined for this leap day weekend.
Kick things off Thursday night when Eastern New Mexico University’s Department of Theater and Digital Filmmaking continues its run of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” for four final performances.
Director Patrick McCreary said this production is a good contemporary introduction to the Bard’s works.
“We have edited it down from five acts to two, from 21 actors to 11, and from three hours of running time to 90 minutes,” he said. It’s also set in a sci-fi world, with a nod to my late uncle Jack Williamson, I hear. I’m curious indeed.
“The Tempest” is on the main stage at the University Theater Center at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, and is “suitable for all ages with humor, whimsy, drama, romance, magic, and mayhem,” according to McCreary.
Across campus in Buchanan Hall on Friday and Saturday evenings, the ENMU Department of Music has a double bill of one-act operas: “Dido and Aeneas,” composed by Henry Purcell, and “Le Docteur Miracle,” composed by Georges Bizet.
“The first is very sad and the second very funny,” according to Stephanie Beinlich, one of the directors.
“The operas are so different and both short, an hour each,” Beinlich said. “We have updated ‘Dido and Aeneas’ to take place in a 2020 high school. Opera themes are still relevant today.”
In order to showcase the many fine voices in the music department, the production is double-cast. If you’re an aficionado, you may want to snag tickets for both nights, but don’t wait too long. Last year’s production sold out ahead of time.
Entertainment provided by our four-legged, tail-wagging friends is on tap Friday through Sunday at the Curry County Events Center at the annual Clovis Portales Kennel Club (CPKC) Stars and Stripes Agility Trial.
Rosemary Metcalf, one of the organizers, says we humans are invited to come out anytime to watch dogs of all experience levels run obstacle courses and perform on command, but she has one request: Leave your own dogs at home. It’s a Kennel Club requirement.
Spectators can look forward to seeing “a lot of dogs and owners having a lot of fun,” Metcalf said, with at least 100 dogs competing in up to 400 daily runs.
“The dogs are really pumped up about it and the owners are having fun,” she said. “We would love to see the public come out and learn more about agility trials.”
If wedding bells are in your future or in the future of someone you love, head to the Clovis Civic Center on Saturday afternoon for the second annual Clovis Wedding Expo.
Organizer Jeff Lynn said not only will you find everything you need to plan your own wedding, there will even be a wedding taking place that afternoon as part of the Expo — it was awarded recently as a contest prize.
Save some room for spaghetti and meatballs Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Memorial Building in Portales, as supporters of Portales Schools’ Destination Imagination teams will be dishing up platefuls of that family favorite as a fundraiser.
They promise a “new recipe that is sure to please.”
Finally, finish the weekend with the sweet sounds of the ENMU Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony concert at 3 p.m. Sunday in Buchanan Hall, where the dust will have just settled from two nights of opera.
Then join me in thanking our lucky stars that we live where we have weekends like this. All of the details like ticket prices and locations may be found in the events calendar in this edition of The News.
Enjoy!
Betty Williamson wonders how she will explain to her dog that she can’t attend the agility trials. Reach her at:
