By PAM HARBAUGH
Get your psychedelic groove on at an original play this weekend. Or get your laughs on at stand up comedy at Riverside and the King Center. And enjoy the art all around.
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Theater:
FENCES DOWN, NO ONE TAKING TICKETS, a new play by Nancy Andrews, runs this weekend at Surfside Playhouse. This is the winner of Surfside’s 17th Annual Full Length Play Competition. Directed by Chris Tsocanos, the play concerns an old pair of hippie sunglasses, which magically transport a disillusioned plastic surgeon back to the world of Woodstock. Tickets are $10. Curtain is 8 p.m. today and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Surfside Playhouse is at 301 Ramp Road (5th Street South), Cocoa Beach. Call 321-783-3127, visit SurfsidePlayers.com or click on their ad.
NUNSENSE II: THE SECOND COMING opens tonight and runs through July 2 at Cocoa Village Playhouse. For those who cracked up at last season’s production of the first “Nunsense” play, you’ll love this as it has most of the same cast members. To read a story about the show, click here. Tickets are $16 to $24. Cocoa Village Playhouse is at 300 Brevard Ave., Cocoa. Call 321-636-5050, visit CocoaVillagePlayhouse.com or click on their ad.
SUPERIOR DONUTS runs through July 9 at Theater on the Edge in Orlando. The play features three Brevard actors — NELIA LAKE, ZACK ROUNDY and ALLAN WHITEHEAD. To read more about it, click here. In addition to conventional Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows, there are some 7 p.m. Wednesday industry performances as well. For those who have never been there, Theater on the Edge is a 30-seat theater with a penchant for hyper-realism. It is at 5542 Hansel Ave., Orlando. $19 to $24. Email info@theaterontheedge.org or visit TheaterOnTheEdge.org or click on their ad.ANIMAL CRACKERS runs through Sunday at Mad Cow Theatre in Orlando. What makes this especially appealing for Brevard audiences is that our very own Margaret Cross is in the cast. This Marx Brothers “wacky romp” turns a dignified weekend party into lunacy filled with visual gags, puns and more Marx Bros. mayhem. Mad Cow Theatre is at 54 W. Church Street (second floor) in downtown Orlando. Tickets start at $33. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and at 2:30 p.m. Sundays, with additional performances Saturday, June 2 at 2:30 p.m. and Mondays, June 12 and 19 at 7:30 p.m. Visit MadCowTheatre.com.
Concerts:
BSO FOURTH OF JULY CONCERT is the big deal on the Independence Day docket. This annual free event includes fireworks and a big pops concert with big salutes to the men and women who have served in our military. It begins 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Cocoa Riverfront Park. Read more about it by clicking here. In the meantime, for more information, visit BrevardSymphony.com or call 321-242-2024.MELBOURNE MUNICIPAL BAND has two patriotic concerts upcoming: 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Suntree United Methodist Church; and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Eastminster Presbyterian Church, where guests will also get some free ice cream along with their free music PLUS a good view of the Melbourne fireworks over the nearby causeway.
Nightlife:
A NIGHT OF ROMANCE WITH AMBROSIA, FIREFALL & AL STEWART begins 7:30 p.m. tonight, June 30, at the King Center, 3865 N. Wickham Rd., Melbourne. Tickets start at $70.50. Call 321-242-2219 or visit KingCenter.com.
COMEDY ZONE features stand up comics Janet Williams and Amy Dingler Friday and Saturday evenings at Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach. Shows begin at 7:30 and 9:30 tonight and Saturday. Patrons to the Comedy Zone can also enjoy free music before the shows and casino games in the lobby. Riverside Theatre is at 3250 Riverside Drive, Vero Beach. Get there early and buy a burger and a beer if you like. Tickets begin at $16. Call 772-231-6990, visit RiversideTheatre.com or click onto their ad.THE PINK COLLAR COMEDY SHOW begins 7 p.m. Saturday in the Studio Theatre of the King Center, 3865 N. Wickham Rd., Melbourne. The show mixes stand-up comedy with drag and features Orlando stand up comic Jeff Jones, Miss Carol Lee, Queen Alumnist, Addisn Taylor and Trixie Deluxxe. This is an official Space Coast Pride event. Tickets start at $30.75. Call 321-242-2219 or visit KingCenter.com.
Exhibits:
FLORA & FIBER runs through Aug. 26 at the Ruth Funk Center for the Arts. The exhibit, culled from the Textile Center’s permanent collection, is designed to show how plants inspire hand-weaving and dyeing and how they also inspire both the design and adornment in textile art especially in Asia and later in Europe and America. Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. The center is located next to Evans Library on the Florida Tech campus, 150 W. University Blvd. in Melbourne. Admission is free. More information click here or click on their ad.
PAN AMERICAN MODERNISM runs through July 29 at the Foosaner Art Museum. Organized by the University of Miami’s wonderful Lowe Museum, the exhibition comprises work by artists from 13 countries in North, South and Central American plus those living in the Caribbean between 1919 and 1979. The Foosaner Art Museum is at 1463 Highland Ave. in the Eau Gallie Arts District of Melbourne. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Free admission. Call 321-674-8916, visit FoosanerArtMuseum.org or click on their ad.
Call for Art:
12th ANNUAL 100% PURE FLORIDA Juried Show at The Fifth Avenue Art Gallery, 1470 Highland Avenue, Melbourne, FL. Call for art is open to all Florida artists. Entries must be postmarked by July 8. The show runs Aug. 29 to Sept. 30, 2017. Entry form available online at FifthAvenueArtGallery.com.
Plan Ahead:
THE STRIPES RUN THROUGH US exhibition opens July 5 at Fifth Avenue Art Gallery in Melbourne.
SURFSIDE FILM SOCIETY gathers 7 p.m. July 8. The theater presents THE CASE OF GHOSTLY HALL, a murder mystery event, July 15.
28TH SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT PARTY for Cocoa Village Playhouse begins 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 8 at the King Center. $25.
THE LION KING will be performed July 13 to 15 by the Henegar Center’s youth musical theater program.
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN will be performed July 27 to 29 by the Henegar’s youth musical theater program.