Best bets: 'Head Over Heels,' gospel night, BEING Bash, 'We're Tired of Asking,' Plein Air

“HEAD OVER HEELS”: Watch the bold new musical comedy “Head Over Heels” from the visionaries that rocked Broadway with “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “Avenue Q” and “Spring Awakening.” This laugh-out-loud love story is set to the music of the iconic 1980s all-female rock band The Go-Go’s, including the hit songs “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” “Heaven is a Place on Earth” and “Mad About You.” If you enjoy music from the Go-Gos, then you will love this show! A hilarious, exuberant celebration of love, “Head Over Heels” follows the escapades of a royal family on an outrageous journey to save their beloved kingdom from extinction — only to discover the key to their realm’s survival lies within each of their own hearts. “Head Over Heels” hits the stage at 7 p.m. today and Saturday plus 2 p.m. Sunday at the Buchholz High School Auditorium, 5510 NW 27th Ave. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for students and seniors, and $10 for groups of 10 or more. Tickets can be purchased online at buchholzdrama.com/hoh.

GOSPEL NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: The annual gospel night event “Sing Unto the Lord a New Song” will be live at the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center, 837 SE Seventh Ave, beginning at 7 p.m. today. All are invited to this free, in-person presentation. Donations will be accepted and appreciated. Featured artists will include Joy Banks, Lanard Perry, Greater Love and Faith Male Chorus, Mt. Olive AME Church Gospel Choir, Showers of Blessings Men of Blessings Male Choir and more. All safety recommendations have been followed with masks required. Hand sanitizers and purified air will make this inside event both safe and enjoyable. The Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center is an organization dedicated to enriching the experiences of all who wish to grow in knowledge and appreciation of the history and culture of African-derived cultures, highlighting those in Gainesville and North Central Florida. For more information, visit cottonclubmuseum.com.

BEING BASH: The inaugural BEING Bash, set for 10 a.m. to noon April 30 at Magnolia Parke, 4989 NW 40th Place, will celebrate young women’s right to embrace their inner value. BEING, a youth organization, teaches adolescent girls to find balance in their lives rather than seeking external validation through unhealthy fixations on appearance, academic achievement or peer relationships. The group enhances young women’s ability to trust their intuition through seminars and communal activities. The BEING Bash 2022 will begin with yoga, followed by interactive art activities, journaling and introspection time as a group. Abigail Deal, founder of Curvy Confidence, and Morgan Ransom, founder of Finding Your Freedom Therapy LLC, will attend as guest speakers. This event is the kickoff of BEING’s monthly meetings, which will be held in person and are open to all female-identifying adolescents. BEING began as a service project in the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 reThink Service Fellowship. This fellowship fostered youth-led community improvement in honor of Global Youth Service Day. BEING’s founder, 17-year-old Sophia Vernon, was accepted into this innovative program as a Buchholz High School junior. BEING Bash 2022 is free to attend, but registration is requested at bit.ly/beingbash22.

“WE’RE TIRED OF ASKING”: Researched and curated by University of Florida graduate Alana Gomez, “We're Tired of Asking: Black Thursday and Civil Rights at the University of Florida” follows one slice of African American history in Gainesville, but certainly not all of Gainesville’s Black history. The goal of the Matheson History Museum in this particular exhibition is to show the civil rights movement in Gainesville from the 1960s until the early ’70s and how that affected the University of Florida’s racial atmosphere. The online exhibition is available at mathesonmuseum.org/current-exhibitions and the physical exhibition can be seen at the museum, located at 513 E. University Ave. It wasn’t until the desegregation of the University of Florida in 1957 that Black people began gaining access to public spaces with white people. The issue of civil rights was pushed even further with the partial integration of Alachua County’s public schools in 1964. Even with these seemingly large strides toward equality, however, social status and lifestyle remained largely unchanged for Black people in Gainesville. In a great show of strength on April 15, 1971, Black students decided to take a stand in a protest at Tigert Hall on the UF campus. Their interaction with President Stephen O’Connell would change the course of the University of Florida forever. Gomez is a recent graduate of the University of Florida with a double major in history and English. She first became interested in African American studies when she took a class on race and disability with her advisor, Dr. Steven Noll, during her sophomore year. She is an intern at the Matheson History Museum, where she worked on the “Black Thursday” exhibit. The Matheson History Museum is open 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, and admission is free.

FIFTH ANNUAL SANTA FE SPRINGS PLEIN AIR: The fifth annual Santa Fe Springs Plein Air Paintout exhibit is on display through May 21 at Lanza Gallery & Art Supplies, 23645 W. U.S. 27 in High Springs. The French term “plein air” means “out of doors” and refers to the practice of painting entire finished pictures outside. This year’s Plein Air artists included Cleetus Shaiju Antony Frank Barone, Nancy Betty, Eleanor Blair, Patrice Boyes, Steven Bradbury, Stacey Breheny, Diane Brody, Tina Corbett, Michèle Karahalios, Scott Lamp, Karen LeMonnier Tim Malles, Karen Ileta Miller, Robin Popp, Valarie Pothier-Forrester, Dana Queen, Angela Ransone Hyland, Peter Senesac, Jordan Shapot, Mary O Smith and Nika Zakharov. Information is available at Lanza Gallery & Art Supplies or by calling 474-1049.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Best bets: 'Head Over Heels,' gospel night, BEING Bash, more