WEDNESDAY 10
 

Check out my hat!: Cabaret comes to the Koger Center on Wednesday.

While the 1972 film version of Cabaret took great liberties with the original 1966 stage version — which, in turn, took great liberties with its source material, Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin — the story is largely the same: it focuses on nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub and revolves around the 19-year-old cabaret star Sally Bowles as the Nazis rise to power in Berlin during the twilight of the Weimar Republic. Betting money says the version of Cabaret opening tonight at the Koger Center, courtesy of Broadway in Columbia, most closely resembles the 1988 Broadway revival edition, which keeps the plot outline of the original stage play and adds some songs from the film. Curtain rises — well, there is no curtain in Cabaret, but you get our meaning — at 7:30 p.m., and tickets range from $46 to $56. Call 251-2222 or visit koger.sc.edu for more information.

Midlands HIV/AIDS aid organization Palmetto AIDS Life Support Services celebrates 25 years of serving those stricken with HIV this year; to kick off its silver anniversary, it hosts a special performance of Crowns at the Trustus Theatre at 7:30 p.m.; a reception precedes the performance at 6:30 p.m. Crowns officially kicks off its run at Trustus on Friday, but proceeds from this show’s $35 ticket benefit PALSS. A worthy cause, indeed. Call 779-7257 for tickets and more information.


THURSDAY 11

Just when Charles Wadsworth thought he was out, the music series bearing his name pulls him back in. Wadsworth is the guest of tonight’s installment of the Charles Wadsworth and Friends Concert Series at the Columbia Musuem of Art; the arts section has more — and more on new series director Edward Arron — on page 20.

Just when you were wondering when the University of South Carolina Dance Company would debut some new innovative works … well, it obliges. The USC Dance Company presents Innovative Works at 7:30 p.m. in Drayton Hall; the dance concert features new and, yes, innovative works choreographed by USC dance faculty. Tickets run from $10 to $16; call 777-5112 for more information.


FRIDAY 12

Tyler Perry is a man who wears many hats — he’s an actor, producer, director and writer — but he’s perhaps most famous for wearing a fat suit, sundress and wig as his bespectacled, pistol-toting black matriarch character Madea. (Eight Days wonders: Did Mr. Perry derive Madea’s name from Euripides’ Greek tragedy Medea? We digress.) Perry’s beloved character originated on the stage — as a tertiary character in I Can Do Bad All By Myself — and it’s on the stage that Perry returns as Madea in Madea’s Big Happy Family, his first stage production in five years, which opens today at the Colonial Life Arena. Doors open at 7 p.m., and tickets range from $52 to $62. Call 1-877-489-2849 or visit coloniallifearena.com for more information.
 

You know, darling, I simply adored you in What a Girl Wants!: A Single Man opens Friday at the Nickelodeon Theatre.

Kenny the Poet and Demetria McKinney are actors (and, in Kenny the Poet’s case, a poet) who’ve appeared in Tyler Perry vehicles; the two star together in Breaking Up is Hard to Do, which screens at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. at the Columbia Museum of Art. Tickets for the early show are $15, and the late show will run you $20. Call 678-561-7638 for advance tickets.

George Falconer is an English-born, Los Angeles college professor reeling from the recent death of his lover of 16 years; A Single Man, debuting at the Nickelodeon Theatre at 3 and 8 p.m., follows a day in his life. Check out the review on page 54 for more; the Nick also screens Best Picture Oscar nominee An Education at 6 p.m. Call 254-3433 or visit nickelodeon.org for more information.

Del McCoury is a bluegrass legend; he got his start as guitar player and lead singer in Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, but he really hit his stride when he put his sons to work in his own eponymous group. A nine-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year award, McCoury brings the Del McCoury Band to the Newberry Opera House at 8 p.m. Tickets are $37.50; call 803-276-6264 or visit newberryoperahouse.com for more information.

Jenny Sanford … well, we all know who Jenny Sanford is. The first lady emeritus will be signing copies of her new book, Staying True, at 7 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble bookstore at Midtown at Forest Acres. Call 787-2567 for more information.

The Vibrations Dance Company debuts its newest dance concert, Musicality, at 7:30 p.m. at the CMFA ArtSpace; the contemporary dance bonanza features new choreography from Terrance Henderson set to music from such popular artists as Beyonce, Jill Scott, Robin Thicke and Pussycat Dolls. Tickets range from $10 to $30; call 361-5262 for more information.


SATURDAY 13

Tina Turner asked, Columbia artists answer: What’s Love Fest 2010 comes to 701 Whaley tonight; the arts section has the story on page 22.

What’s love got to do with the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra? Well, given that this concert’s a day before V-Day proper and that the name appropriated to this Master Series concert is From Russia with Love, Eight Days’d imagine ... well, a lot. And, indeed, Russian masterworks are the centerpieces of the evening — including Tchaikovsky’s Fantasy Overture from Romeo and Juliet — but the evening also features a performance of Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand by special guest pianist Sean Yeh. Tickets to the show — at the Koger Center, natch — range from $16 to $50, and the 7:30 p.m. concert is preceded by a lectures by Music Director Morihiko Nakahara 6 p.m. Call 771-7937 or visit scphilharmonic.com for more information.

What’s love got to do with African-American art? Something, we’re sure, but Eight Days can’t say what, exactly. Regardless, the University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum opens Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art today; call 777-7251 for more information.


SUNDAY 14

The University of South Carolina School of Music presents the second concert in its Chamber Innovista Series at 3 p.m. at 300 Senate; the concert features the world premiere of Songs of Love (2010), a piece written by School of Music dean Tayloe Harding. The chamber ensemble assembled will play other works, too, including one piece by School of Music professor Bert Ligon. Tickets are $15; call 777-4280 for more information.

On Dec. 15, 1944, United States Air Force Major Glenn Miller disappeared over the English Channel, and the world lost one of its finest big band leaders. Those were the days, or so goes the theme to All In the Family. The Glenn Miller Orchestra pays tribute to the big-band jazz giant at the Newberry Opera House at 3 p.m. Tickets are $30; call 803-276-6264 or visit newberryoperahouse.com for more information.

Today is Valentine’s Day. Remember, as Oscar Wilde said, “Who, being loved, is poor?” So love someone today, damn it.


MONDAY 15

Another Monday, another mayoral forum, this one, held at 7 p.m. at the University of South Carolina Green Quad Learning Center and sponsored by the John Bachman Group of the South Carolina Sierra Club, fittingly finds mayoral candidates addressing environmental issues. As usual, admission is free, and, as usual, Eight Days encourages you to do your civic duty and find out what these candidates are really about. Call 779-1971 for more information.


TUESDAY 16

The University of South Carolina Symphony performs tonight at the Koger Center; the featured guest performer is acclaimed violinist Angelia Cho, a Columbia native who’s been described by The New York Times as a “dynamic violinist.” High praise, indeed. Cho and the symphony will perform pieces by Brahms and Dvorak starting at 7:30 p.m.; tickets range from $8 to $25. Call 251-2222 for more information.


WEDNESDAY 17

Have something to say about the state of the arts in Columbia? Then tell us about it, stud (or studette): The 701 Center for Contemporary Art hosts an open mic arts forum at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, and you, outspoken arts patron with clever ideas, will have the chance to tell city and county council members and candidates just what’s on your mind. Call 779-4571 or visit 701cca.org for more information.