Week Ahead: Chorus auditions, museum block party, improv and stand-up comedy, exhibits

Week Ahead: Aug. 7-13, 2022

HAPPENING NOW

Casting Call: Voices Rising Community Chorus: 6-7 p.m. today, Oak Hall School, 1700 SW 75th St. (284-1107) New singer registration for fall term. This intergenerational chorus is open to adults and to youths ages 8 and older. The only requirement is the ability to carry a tune and match pitch.

The Savants of Soul and The Freecoasters: 7-9 p.m. today, High Dive, 210 SW Second Ave. Tickets: $10 in advance, $12 day of show. (highdivegville.veeps.com)

The Comedian Games: Improv vs. Stand-Up: 9 p.m. Wednesday, High Dive, 210 SW Second Ave. Tickets: $8 in advance, $10 day of show. (highdivegville.veeps.com)

Museum Nights: Block pARTy: 6-9 p.m. Thursday, inside and outside the Harn Museum of Art, the Phillips Center and the Florida Museum of Natural History, Southwest 34th Street and Hull Road. Visitors can pick up an event passport at the information tent, near the Big Max sculpture in the UF Cultural Plaza, for a chance to win prizes during the pop-up activities.

Metal Nights With DJ Kaps: 9 p.m. Thursday, High Dive, 210 SW Second Ave. Tickets: $8 in advance, $10 day of show. (highdivegville@gmail.com)

Don Dia Presents: 7-9 p.m. Friday, Bo Diddley Plaza, downtown Gainesville. Part of the "Free Fridays" concert series.

Soul Taxi and Aisle 14: 8 p.m. Friday, High Dive, 210 SW Second Ave. Tickets: $10 in advance, $12 day of show. (highdivegville.veeps.com)

LAST CHANCE

"Monty Python's Spamalot": 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, Gainesville Community Playhouse Vam York Theatre, 4039 NW 16th Blvd. (gcplayhouse.org) Musical comedy that raises silliness to an art form and features beautiful show girls, a cow and killer rabbits. Inspired by the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

UPCOMING

Daniel Champagne: 7-10 p.m. Aug. 21, Heartwood Soundstage, 619 S. Main St. Tickets: $20. (258-8557) The Australian guitarist has built a worldwide audience through his energetic performances and unique tapping and finger-style playing.

EXHIBITS

Inner Beauty Exhibit: Florida Museum of Natural History, 3215 Hull Road. Free admission. Colorful, high-resolution images showcase the artistic wonders of modern preservation science while real specimens from the museum’s collections showcase their true size.

Natural Beauty Exhibition: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. through Aug. 5, Santa Fe College Art Gallery, Northwest Campus, 3000 NW 83rd St. Featuring painting, printmaking, photography, ceramics and sculptures by local artists including John Moran, Wendy Free, Deb Lindberg, Vicki Santello, Veronica Villasenor and others. Exhibition is a partnership between SF Art Gallery and SF Teaching Zoo.

"Speechless: Text & Image in Global Culture": On display through Dec. 30, Harn Museum of Art, Southwest 34th Street and Hull Road. Fascinating look at how words, aesthetics and materials have supported religious, political and socio-cultural agendas for millennia.

"Elusive Spirits: African Masquerades": Ongoing exhibit, James G. and Caroline Julier Richardson Gallery, Harn Museum of Art, Southwest 34th Street and Hull Road. Masks from the mid-20th century to the early 21st century show the continuity of masking but also features new directions in masquerades. Although much of the exhibition focuses on the spiritual and religious foundations of masking, it also explores masking aesthetics looking at dazzling costumes, music and dance.

"At First Flush": Noon-4 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, Cade Museum, 811 S. Main St. (cademuseum.org) The permanent exhibit explores the history of the invention of toilets and how they made modern cities possible. It ponders the science of soap and introduces visitors to NASA’s Zero-G toilets, which help astronauts go boldly where no human has gone before.

"Science Up Close: Fantastic Fossils": Florida Museum of Natural History, 3215 Hull Road. Admission: $7 adults; $6.50 Florida residents, seniors and non-University of Florida college students; $4.50 ages 3-17; free to museum members, children ages 2 and younger and UF students with a valid Gator 1 Card. (floridamuseum.ufl.edu/visit/plan, floridamuseum.ufl.edu/exhibits/fantastic-fossils, 846-2000) The exhibition is a collaborative endeavor linking the museum’s exhibits and collections staff, giving people a look at never-before-seen specimens and real fossils. Researchers from the vertebrate paleontology, invertebrate paleontology and paleobotany collections will be in the exhibit as part of its working lab, providing a glimpse into the daily life of curators, collection managers, students and volunteers.

"She/Her/Hers: Women in the Arts of China": On display through March 24, 2024, David A. Cofrin Asian Wing. (harn.ufl.edu/exhibitions/current) Exhibition unravels the intersecting roles women played as subjects, artists and consumers of art in traditional, modern and contemporary China. Features a wide range of works -- paintings, calligraphy, textiles, ceramics, bronzes, photographs, and lacquer and silver wares, some of which have never been on view before. Organized around four themes -- "Representing Femininity," "Anonymous Beauty," "Female Artists" and "Beyond the Boudoir" -- this exhibition not only realizes a full spectrum but also provides a more nuanced view of women’s dynamic engagements with and contributions to the arts of China throughout history.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Week Ahead: Free entertainment, comedy, block party, renowned guitarist