Friday, May 2

THEATER

Joseph and his coat

It’s a weekend for theater lovers. South Pointe High School stages “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” the beloved Andrew Lloyd Webber musical that tells the Biblical story of Joseph, his coat of many colors and his jealous brothers, who sell him off as a slave. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Rock Hill school. The performance features a cast of 30 and nine children from the Rock Hill Honors Children’s Choir. Tickets are $5 students and children and $10 adults, available at the door.

A classic sound

The classic musical “The Sound of Music,” presented by the Westminster Catawba Christian School fine arts department, features a bonus. The school will stage its version of the show at 7 p.m. today and Saturday at the Catawba campus gym in Rock Hill. And here’s the treat: Remember Daniel Truhitte, who portrayed the young German officer Rolf, who sang “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” in the original film version? Truhitte, who lives in Concord, N.C., will attend tonight’s opening night. Seniors Rachel Sanders and Miller Perrill portray Maria, the high-spirited postulant, and Capt. Georg von Trapp, the widowed naval officer with seven children who falls in love with her. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door, with children 5 and younger free. Details, Brenda Fisher, (803) 328-5460.

They’re at it again

It’s a play within a play. The Merry Pranksters Theatrical Troupe serves up laughter once again, when it presents “Cartablanca” tonight through Sunday at Winthrop University’s Johnson Hall. Watch the residents of a fictitious Rocking Hill retirement home as they prepare to put on the play, “Cartablanca,” in the show written by Candy Clapp Randall for members of the acting troupe for the mentally disabled. Shows are at 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 general and $5 for Winthrop students, with tickets available at the Rock Hill PRT office, City Hall, and at the Boyd Hill Recreation Center. Details, Wendy Waddle, 329-5659 or www.rockhillrocks.com.

Drama with dessert

How sweet it is! Fort Mill Community Playhouse presents a drama and dessert production with its murder/mystery “The Mousetrap: A Play by Agatha Christie.” Shows continue tonight and Saturday night at the playhouse, 615 Banks St., Fort Mill. A young couple have started a new hotel in the converted Monkswell Manor and are snowed in with four guests and an additonal traveler who ran his car into a snowdrift. A detective arrives on skis to inform the group that he believes a murderer is on his way to the hotel after the death of Miss Maureen Lyon in London. When one of the guests is killed, they realize that the murderer is already there. The play is known for its twist ending. Details, call 548-8102 or visit fortmillplayhouse.org.

Violin and piano, anyone?

They go together like bread and butter. Violin-piano duo Opus Two will perform at 8 tonight at Barnes Recital Hall, Winthrop University, in a show presented by the Rock Hill Music Club and Lancaster Music Study Club. Pianist Andrew Cooperstock, formerly of Rock Hill, is chair of the keyboard department of the Universioty of Colorado, and violinist William Terwilliger teaches violin and chamber music at the University of South Carolina. The free show is part of the state convention of the South Carolina Federation of Music Clubs meeting in Rock Hill.

Dazzle in your denim

It’s a great night and a good cause. The Catawba Care Coalition hosts its fifth annual Dazzle ‘n’ Denim from 7 to 11 tonight at the Springs Dairy Barn, Fort Mill, with food, music, dancing, silent and live auctions. Admission is $50 per person. The coalition offers services for HIV and AIDS patients and community education. Details, 909-6363, Ext. 243, or visit www.catawbacare.org.

Saturday, May 3

EVENTs

Go for the green

Gotta green thumb? Learn how to grow one during the York County Master Gardener Association’s garden tour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The tour features seven gardens in the Tega Cay area. Tickets are $10, available at any of the gardens on the tour. The gardens are: Gretchen Barrett, 135 Shoreline Parkway; Jimmy and Wayne Hall, 16005 Molokai Drive; Paul and Daphne Thompson, 7569 Thorn Creek Lane; J.B. and Mackie Reeves, 16126 Tana Tea Circle; John and Suzanne Roxburgh, 7115 Topsail; Marie and Jake Jakiel, 1716 Colville Lane and Mary and Dan Stefano-Zanda, 1916 Chestnut Hill Drive. For details, call Marilyn at 981-5303.

King of Latin laughs

Referred to as the “Richard Pryor and George Carlin of original comedy” within the Hispanic community, Paul Rodriguez has been making audiences laugh for two decades. Rodriguez brings his “Latin Kings of Comedy” show to Charlotte’s Ovens Auditorium at 3 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $38.50.

A PJ party

Raven Symone was adorable on “The Cosby Show.” Now, she’s a cute and funny actress and a singer, too. Expect plenty of fans to put on their pajamas and come to her one big slumber party during Raven’s PJ Party Tour at 4 p.m. Saturday at Charlotte’s Cricket Arena. Tickets are $29.50 to $49.50.

Monday, May 5

EVENT

Dance, dance, dance

Forever Tango, an acclaimed dance spectacular, features an all-Argentine Broadway cast of 14 dancers and 11 on-stage musicians. They perform at 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at Belk Theater, N.C. Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Charlotte. Tickets are $19 to $49, available at (704) 379-1380 or www.blumethalcenter.org.

Tuesday, May 6

THEATER

A true tale

It’s the true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite who navigated the two most repressive regimes of the 20th century, the Nazis and the Communists. The story is told on stage in “I Am My Own Wife,” Tuesday to May 18 at Booth Playhouse, N.C. Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Charlotte. Hours are 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $26.55 to $34.50, available at (704) 379-1380 or www.blumethalcenter.org.

MUSIC

A picnic and a concert

Dinner music is the specialty and Ansel Couch is the performer. Bring a picnic and enjoy the sound at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Fewell Park Recreation Center, 1204 Alexander Road, Rock Hill. It’s part of the center’s summer concert series in the park. Couch is a singer, guitarist and songwriter who will share his specialty. Bring a chair and a picnic. Admisison is free. Details, call Rock Hill Parks, Recreation and Tourism, 329-5645.

Wednesday, May 7

EVENT

Wine, food and charity

Share your passion for wine, food and charity next week, during the Charlotte Wine and Food Weekend: Vintage 2008. The event, which begins Wednesday with a sold-out tapas dinner at Las Ramblas and continues through May 10, features a Vintner Dinner Series on Thursday at various locations, Big Bottle & Blues wine sampling at 7 p.m. May 9 at Gateway Village, and Connoisseur Tastings and wine seminars during the day on May 10 at various locations in Charlotte. It all ends with a grand live auction and gala on the evening of May 10 at The Westin. Details, www.charlottewineandfood.com.

The sound of strings

What do you get when you add up the top virtuoso violinists and fiddlers on the continent? You get Bowfire, a group made up of the leading names in each genre of modern string playing. They will perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Charlotte’s Ovens Auditorium. Tickets are $29 to $49.

Thursday, May 8

MUSIC

Choral in concert

The Rock Hill High School choral department presents its spring concert at 8 p.m. Thursday and May 9 in the school auditorium. Tickets are $5 from students or at the door. Featured will be the concert choir, which recently received a superior rating at the state choral festival and won first place in the Smoky Mountain Choral Festival in Gatlinburg, Tenn. They will perform festival music, classical pieces and a finale of popular music. Also featured will be Bella Voce, an auditioned female group, with music by Brahms, Holst and Kodaly. The program will begin with the Concert Choir singing “O Magnum Mysterium” by Carillo in the round and will end with Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife.”

High kings of Ireland

From the creators of the smash hit Celtic Woman comes a new Irish ballad group, The High Kings. Four performers create the unique ensemble that aims to re-energize great Irish ballads and introduce new songs from the Emerald Isle. Check out their show at 8 p.m. Thursday at Charlotte’s Ovens Auditorium. Tickets are $31 to $56.

Saturday, May 10

EVENT

A circus to combat cancer

It’s a great day for the circus! The Carson & Barnes Circus performs at 2 and 7 p.m. May 10 in the open space beside the Applied Technology Center on West Main Street in Rock Hill, just one block from Northwestern High School. Proceeds will support the Rock Hill Optimist Club program to combat childhood cancer. Advance admission is $6 ages 2 to 11 and $12 ages 12 and above. Order tickets at 366-5050, e-mail twebbretired@yahoo.com or check with Angel Insurance Agency, The Bookworm, Dr. Winslow Chiropractic Center, Old Town Bistro or O’Darby’s restaurant, all in Rock Hill, Leroy Springs Recreation Center or Baxter Village Community Center, both in Fort Mill, Clover Auto Parts in Clover or The Craft Connection in York.