Lubbock entertainment in brief

LCT hosts 'Black Book' by Ashford

Lubbock Community Theater will host "Black Book", written and performed by Austin Dean Ashford, at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, on the theater's main stage, 3101 35th St.

Welcome to Melvin Tolson High School — it's summer school, it's hot, the barbwire fence is fixed, and a young African American boy has been shot, leaving his group of friends reeling from the loss and wondering if their voices can ever be heard. Enter a former Great Debater to teach a master class on public speaking and challenge this group of boys to speak out and give voice to their hopes and fears.

Filled with pressing issues, inspiring characters, and graced with comic flourishes, this one-person dramedy debates what happens to young minds when our educational spaces begin to resemble a prison more than school and a place to learn and grow.

Ashford has shared his work and received top honors at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, the United Solo Festival in New York City, the San Diego International Fringe Festival, and the Dunedin and New Zealand Fringe Festivals.

Recently, he was nominated for a Latin a Grammy and became a Hip Hop Cultural Ambassador for the US Embassy. He is pursuing a PhD in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts from Texas Tech University.

Tickets for this special show are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students/children (plus taxes and fees).

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.lubbockcommunitytheatre.org/current-productions

Alamo hosting 'Singin' in the Rain' brunch

What a glorious feeling to experience this dazzling musical on the big screen.

Alamo Drafthouse Lubbock is hosting a special brunch screening of "Singin' in the Rain" at 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 29.

Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen's "Singin' in the Rain" is, quite simply, the greatest movie musical of all time - a kaleidoscope of gorgeous colors, flawlessly-choreographed dance sequences, and top-tier, toe-tapping songs.

Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O'Connor are a trio of Hollywood stars struggling to make the transition into the era of "talkies." Complications (some romantic, some professional, all hilarious) ensue, as do no small amount of eye-poppingly impressive musical numbers as the actors sing and dance their way out of the silent-movie era.

It will truly be a glorious feeling to witness this wonderous display of movie magic on the big screen when "Singin' in the Rain" leaps back into theaters for a special encore presentation.

Order from a special brunch menu or off of the regular menu while you enjoy the film.

Tickets for the movie are $10 and available online at https://drafthouse.com/lubbock/event/special-menu-singin-in-the-rain-brunch

'Left Behind' installment to be screened by Cinemark

Cinemark Movies 16 and XD, 5721 58th St., and Cinemark Tinseltown Lubbock and XD 2535 82nd St., will both host a special screening of "Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist" at 7 p.m. Sunday.

After millions of people vanish and the world falls into chaos, the only light is a charismatic leader who rises to become head of the U.N. But does he bring hope for a better future? Or is it the end of the world?

Tickets for this special screening are $12.45 and available in advance online at https://www.fathomevents.com/

'Fiddler on the Roof' at Holly Hall

The American Theatre Guild and Broadway at The Buddy Holly Hall present "Fiddler on the Roof" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 30, Tuesday, Jan. 31, and Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Tony® Award-winning director Bartlett Sher and the team behind "South Pacific", "The King and I" and 2017 Tony® Award-winning Best Play "Oslo", bring a fresh and authentic vision to this beloved theatrical masterpiece from Tony Award® winner Joseph Stein and Pulitzer Prize Winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.

The original production won 10 Tony Awards®, including a special Tony Award® for becoming the longest-running Broadway musical of all time. You’ll be there when the sun rises on this new production, with stunning movement and dance from acclaimed Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter, based on the original staging by Jerome Robbins.

A wonderful cast and a lavish orchestra tell this heartwarming story of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and the timeless traditions that define faith and family. Featuring the Broadway classics “Tradition,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and “To Life,” "Fiddler on the Roof" will introduce a new generation to this uplifting celebration that raises its cup to joy! To love! To life!

Reserved seat tickets range from $35 to $80 (plus taxes and fees), depending on seating.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit buddyhollyhall.com

Alamo to screen classic 'Wild Bunch'

Alamo Drafthouse Lubbock is hosting a special screening of the classic western "The Wild Bunch" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31.

William Holden leads a band of aging robbers through the hard world of the Old West as they try to outrun the bounty hunter (the legendary Robert Ryan) who is hot on their trail.

The balletic violence and weary fatalism that director Sam Peckinpah brings to his vision of the American West is underscored by some of the dirtiest and bloodiest performances from some of the toughest, ugliest actors of all time.

Ernest Borgnine, Ben Johnson, and Warren Oates shoot, screw, drink, and ride horses, all while imbuing the film’s harsh, empty world with a sense of real poetry.

This is a film about the mantle of violence passing from old professionals who live by a code to even more chaotic and deadly future generations. And what is the code these old men live by? Stand by your friends and against the world, take what you can get, and don’t kill civilians…unless they get in the way.

Tickets to this special screening are $7 and available online at drafthouse.com/lubbock/show/the-wild-bunch

TTU series presents Dirty Dozen Brass Band

The Texas Tech University Presidential Lecture and Performance Series presents Dirty Dozen Brass Band at 7 p.m. Feb. 1, at the Allen Theatre.

Formed in 1977, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band are the pioneers of the modern New Orleans brass band movement and are referred to as the brass band equivalent of Duke Ellington. Celebrating over 40 years Dirty Dozen Brass Band has taken the traditional foundation of brass band music and incorporated it into a blend of genres including Bebop Jazz, Funk and R&B/Soul.

This unique sound, described by the band as a ‘musical gumbo,’ has allowed the Dirty Dozen to tour across 5 continents and more than 30 countries, record 12 studio albums and collaborate with a range of artists from Modest Mouse to Widespread Panic to Norah Jones.

They have been featured guests both in the studio and on stage with artists including Elvis Costello, Dr. John, Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Band, The Black Crowes and many others.

Offbeat Magazine recognized the band with its Lifetime Achievement in Music Award in 2021, which was accepted by original members such as trumpeter and vocalist Gregory Davis, tenor saxophonist Kevin Harris, sousaphonist Kirk Joseph, baritone saxophonist Roger Lewis; and drummer Julian Addison, guitarist Takashi Shimmura and trombonist TJ Norris.

General admission tickets for this show are $17 and available online at selectaseatlubbock.com

Cinemark to screen 'Groundhog Day' for 30th anniversary

Cinemark Movies 16 and XD, 5721 58th St., is hosting a Fathom Big Screen Classics screening for the 30th anniversary of "Groundhog Day" at 7 p.m. Feb. 2 and at 4 and 7 p.m. Feb. 5.

Snowed in during a trip to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities, television weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) finds himself stuck in time, endlessly repeating Feb. 2. His world is inhabited by the same people every day, but they don't know Groundhog Day is repeating itself.

That gives him a certain advantage: He can find out what a woman is looking for in a man, and then the “next” day behave in exactly the right way to impress her. Luckily there is a woman close by to practice on. She's Rita (Andie MacDowell), Phil's long-suffering producer, who has had to put up with his tantrums, demands and surliness.

Gradually, Phil is able to see the error of his ways and improve his behavior until, finally, a Groundhog Day dawns when she finally likes him.

Tickets for this special screening are $12.45 and available online at fathomevents.com

Wolfe brings band to Cactus

Jon Wolfe brings his full band for a live performance at the Cactus Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 3.

To know Jon Wolfe is to hear him sing and share the stories in the songs he performs and writes. And to learn his life story — from small town Oklahoma to the bustling big city commodities trading floor to the dance halls and honky-tonks of Texas and Oklahoma to Music Row, to give the highlights — and witness his faith in the power of music and determination to touch the hearts of others with something that means so much to him.

It’s world-class country music from the American heartland, informed by the great singers that inspired Wolfe — like George Strait, Garth Brooks (a fellow Okie), Clint Black, Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson and Dwight Yoakam, to name a few — yet fired by his own contemporary energy and vision.

Tickets for this show are $20 in advance and $25 the day of the show for all floor and standard balcony seats; and $40 in advance and $50 day of the show for limited balcony box seats (includes concessions).

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit cactustheater.com

Lovett to take stage at Holly Hall

Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group will be in concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3 in the Helen Devitt Jones Theater of Buddy Holly Hall.

A singer, composer and actor, Lyle Lovett has broadened the definition of American music in a career that spans 14 albums. Coupled with his gift for storytelling, the Texas-based musician fuses elements of country, swing, jazz, folk, gospel and blues in a convention-defying manner that breaks down barriers.

Whether touring as a ‘Duo’ or with his ‘Acoustic Group’ or his ‘Large Band,’ Lovett’s live performances show not only the breadth of this Texas legend’s deep talents, but also the diversity of his influences, making him one of the most compelling and captivating musicians in popular music.

Among his many accolades, besides the four Grammy Awards, he was given the Americana Music Association’s inaugural Trailblazer Award, and was named Texas State Musician.

Reserved seating tickets for this show range from $39 to $129 (plus taxes and fees), depending on seating.For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.buddyhollyhall.com/

Buddy, Elvis to rock the Cactus

Caldwell Entertainment presents Buddy and Elvis Rock the House with Moses Snow at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4.

Moses Snow will join the Caldwell Collective band and singers to present a night of rock n’ roll magic with the music of Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. According to Dick Clark, Elvis and Buddy were two of America's rock n’ roll icons, so celebrating the music of these two legends together will take you on a nostalgic jukebox journey all night long.

There's nothing better than Lubbock’s Caldwell Collective singers performing the music of their hometown legend Buddy Holly - and Moses, who is critically acclaimed as America's best young Elvis tribute artist - performing on stage together.

Tickets for this show are $25 for floor and standard balcony; and $50 for balcony box seats (includes concessions).

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit cactustheater.com

Alamo hosting 'Phantom' movie party

Wear the mask and sing the songs at this interactive epic.

Alamo Drafthouse Lubbock is hosting a "The Phantom of the Opera (2004)" movie party at 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5.

Take "Batman and Robin" director Joel Schumacher, add in "CATS" scribe Andrew Lloyd Webber, throw in a huge dose of opera (with just a dash of Minnie Driver), and you’ve got yourself some grand campy goodness.

Join us for "The Phantom of the Opera" Movie Party, a musical extravaganza that’ll throw its magical lasso around you and never let go. We’ll have lighters to illuminate the chandelier scene, roses to celebrate Christine, and, of course, your very own Phantom mask. All we ask of you is that you and your friends come ready to belt out some opera (we're sure you'll sound molto bene) as we revel in the music of the night.

Tickets for this special screening are $15.15 and available online at drafthouse.com/lubbock/event/the-phantom-of-the-opera-2004-movie-party

Alamo hosting 'Drafthouse' brunch

A celebration of love, passion, family and life for the ages.

Join Alamo Drafthouse Lubbock for a special brunch showing of "Moonstruck" at 11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 5.

John Patrick Shanley's tale of perfectly mismatched lovers deservedly won the 1987 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and it's a splendid piece of writing: uproarious yet touching, poignant yet playful.

Cher (who won the Best Actress Oscar) is fiercely funny as Loretta Castorini, a widowed bookkeeper who has given up on waiting for Mr. Right and agreed to marry kind, bland Johnny (Danny Aiello). However, when Loretta meets Johnny's wild-hearted brother, Ronny (the volcanic/vulnerable Nicolas Cage), her dull life suddenly spirals out of control and she is transformed from frumpy to ravishing.

Order from a special brunch menu or off the regular menu.

Tickets for the movie are $10 and available online at drafthouse.com/lubbock

Cinemark to screen Pearl biopic

Cinemark Movies 16 and XD, 5721 58th St., is hosting a screening of the biopic "Facing the Laughter: Minnie Pearl" at 4 and 6:30 p.m. Feb. 6.

"Facing the Laughter: Minnie Pearl" is a full-length documentary about the life and work of Sarah Cannon, aka Minnie Pearl.

Sarah was a serious, educated woman who had once dreamed of becoming a Shakespearean actress, but she found fame playing a simple country girl who often made herself the butt of her jokes. Instantly identifiable – even in silhouette – by her straw hat with a price tag dangling from its brim, Minnie Pearl became an icon of country music radio, stage and TV.

When she greeted audiences, they enthusiastically echoed her signature “Howdee” in a happy roar. While Sarah and Minnie were two sides of a coin, they share a legacy of compassion, empowerment and humor.

Tickets for the screening are $12.45 and available online at fathomevents.com

CATS Playhouse presents 'Nunsense'

CATS Playhouse, 2257 34th St., presents its first show of the 2023 season.

The group presents "Nunsense" Feb. 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 and 25. The theater opens at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 7:30 p.m.

"Nunsense"​ is the hilarious musical farce about a convent of Nuns staging a fundraiser to enable them to bury the last four nuns of their order who died of botulism in an unfortunate convent cooking accident (and who are temporarily being stored in the freezer!).

Tickets prices are $16 for adults and $10 for seniors (55 and older) and students (17 and younger).

Tickets may be purchased online at catsplayhouse.ludus.com.

Fleetwood Mac, Chicago music at the Cactus

Caldwell Entertainment presents the music of Fleetwood Mac and Chicago at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 11 at the Cactus Theater.

Caldwell Entertainment has presented both the music of Fleetwood Mac and Chicago in various shows over the years. For the first time, we have exclusively teamed the music of these groups together to create an exciting and nostalgic journey for our Cactus audience.

There is no question that the Caldwell Collective band and singers will once again present spellbinding performances of this incredible music. From the dynamic brass of Chicago to the earthy Fleetwood Mac soul, you are in for the evening of a lifetime.

Tickets for this show are $25 for reserved floor and standard balcony seats; and $50 for balcony box seats (includes concessions).

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit cactustheater.com

Johnny Lee to present pre-Valentine's concert

Johnny Lee will perform his Lookin' For Love pre-Valentine's Day show at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13, at the Cactus Theater.

Lee’s breakthrough hit, “Lookin’ for Love” helped usher in a historic era in country music - and four decades later, he remains one of the genre’s most beloved entertainers.

Possessing enviable comedic skills and a voice as warm and strong as sunshine on the Texas asphalt, Lee has enjoyed a successful career, but he isn’t ready to call it quits yet. The proof is in his new album "Everything’s Gonna Be Alright". The 14-song collection looks poised to be a landmark album in an already impressive career, spotlighting not only Lee’s signature vocals but also his talent as a songwriter. The Texas native wrote or co-wrote the bulk of the project.

Tickets for this show are $49 for the first four rows (A-D); $39 for the remaining floor seats (E-M); $29 for standard balcony; and $79 for balcony box seats (include concessions).

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit cactustheater.com

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock entertainment in brief