12 weekend options for Wilmington: from concerts and musicals to comedy and a dog show

If last weekend was any indication, the Wilmington area has turned some kind of corner when it comes to events. Two thousand people turned out for the Cape Fear Museum's "star party" at Carolina Beach state park (the previous record for the event was just over 1,000) and the sheer number of events both big and small was like nothing I've seen since I started covering arts and entertainment in this town 30 years ago.

This weekend isn't quite as nutty, but there's still plenty going on. Our weekly roundup can only hope to hit the highlights, so let's scratch the surface, shall we?

ALL WEEKEND

'The Last Five Years'

At Thalian Hall — Opera House Theatre Co. presents the beloved Jason Robert Brown musical that tells the story of a failed marriage in reverse chronological order, from its sad last days to its giddy beginnings. Paul Teal (Netflix's "Outer Banks" and "The Staircase") and Opera House vet Jordan Davis star in the two-person show. Justin Smith directs, with music direction by Brian Whitte. 7:30 p.m. April 28-29 and May 6-7, 2 p.m. April 30 and May 8.

'Our Leading Lady'

At CFCC's Wilson Center studio — Cape Fear Community College's Department of Fine and Performing Arts presents this comic melodrama by Charles Busch about Laura Keene, a British stage actress whose career was derailed after her company had the bad luck to perform the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on the night President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. 7 p.m. April 28-30. $5-$12.

THURSDAY

N.C. Symphony

At CFCC's Wilson Center — Our state symphony returns to Wilmington for a concert in which music by a Russian composer, Rimsky-Korsakov, gets top billing. "Scheherazade," a symphonic suite in four movements from the late 19th century, is as well known for its stunning orchestration and many featured solos as it is for its bizarre story, based on a Middle Eastern folk tale, of a sultan who marries (and then executes!) a new woman each day until he meets the woman of the title, who tames him. Also on the bill: Dvořák's "Polonaise from Rusalka" and Jennifer Higdon's "Percussion Concerto." 7:30 p.m. April 28, tickets start at $20.

Spoon

At Greenfield Lake Amphitheater — Longtime indie rock icons play their first show in Wilmington since a legendary gig at the old Firebelly Lounge in the 1990s. Touring in support of their latest album, "Lucifer on the Sofa." 6 p.m. April 28, $45-$99.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY

Jesus Trejo

At Dead Crow Comedy Room — California comic was in the Just For Laughs festival's New Faces of Comedy class of 2016. Trejo also had a special on Showtime in 2020 titled "Stay At Home Son," much of which was filled with material mined from his experiences growing up as the only child of immigrant parents. 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. April 29-30, $18-$28.

The Social Contract

Friday at Bottega, Saturday at Jimmy's — North Carolina hip-hop collective makes a trip to Wilmington for a pair of shows this weekend. Saturday's show at Jimmy's, which has been a hotbed of hip-hop recently, features appearances by Wilmington artists Sheme of Gold and Rizzy Beats.

SATURDAY

On One for the Puppies

At Barzarre — Eleven of Wilmington's best young bands, including Pleasure Island and Free Drinks, will perform on two stages during this day-long concert benefiting area animal shelters. 3-11 p.m. April 30, $8-$12.

The Perondi's Stunt Dog Experience

At Thalian Hall — Round up the kids and head to Thalian Hall for this show featuring acrobatic, athletic canines performing all manner of tricks and stunts. 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. April 30, 910-632-2285.

'South Pacific'

At CFCC Wilson Center — Broadway tour of the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical featuring such songs as “Some Enchanted Evening” and “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair." The 1949 show has been seen by some as racially problematic given its depiction of Pacific Islanders, but the show's song "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" was ahead of its time in decrying racism, so it's complicated. 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. April 30, $25 and up.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY

'Quilt Stories'

At DREAMS Garage — Wilmington's Mouths of Babes theater company presents this original play built from interviews with people who lost loved ones to AIDS, and who memorialized those who died by contributing to the famous, massive art project known as the AIDS Quilt. 7:30 p.m. April 30 and 2 p.m. May 1. $8-$15. 910-367-5416 for tickets or search "Quilt Stories." on Eventbrite.

SUNDAY

Houndmouth

At Greenfield Lake Amphitheater — Indiana rock and blues band brings its sound, which can range from poppy and upbeat to low-slung and somber, to Wilmington in support of its latest album, "Good For You." 6 p.m. May 1, $25.

The Grand Tour

Wilmington in general, and Thalian Hall in particular, is having a bit of a George Jones moment.

In early April, Wilmington production wrapped on the TV miniseries "George & Tammy," with Oscar nominee Michael Shannon playing country singing legend Jones and recent Oscar winner Jessica Chastain starring as his onetime wife and fellow country star Tammy Wynette. Some scenes were shot on the stage at Thalian Hall.

More: Production of country music miniseries 'George & Tammy' ramps up in Wilmington

On Thursday night, the songs of George Jones will be back on stage at Thalian, this time in the form of The Grand Tour, a George Jones tribute show fronted by the formerly Wilmington-based actor Larry Tobias, who played Jones in the national tour of "Stand By Your Man: The Tammy Wynette Story."

The show is being presented by Wilmington's Opera House Theatre Co., which had planned to bring in The Grand Tour last year but was thwarted, twice, by the pandemic.

Country singer "Vince Gill once said, 'If we're all being honest, we all just want to sound like George Jones,'" Tobias said during a phone interview. "The respect that all the country singers had for him, I think it says a lot. His gift for relating to people was so brilliant. He was called the greatest country singer ever in his own time, and he still is."

Jones was a master songwriter and storyteller who could get the crowd moving with wry, up-tempo jumpers like "The Race Is On" and then bring them to tears with any number of ballads, including "He Stopped Loving Her Today," generally recognized as one of the most beautifully sad songs ever written.

But don't go to The Grand Tour expecting to see a Myrtle Beach-style impersonation show.

"I don't want to do an impersonation. I would just set myself up for failure. No one can sing like him," Tobias said. "My job is a storyteller. These songs deserve to be performed in a big room around other people."

Tobias, who was active in Wilmington theater and film in the late '90s and early 2000s, brings a couple of personal stories to the show, and he said he can relate to Jones' hard-living reputation, which earned him the nickname No Show Jones early in his career before he sobered up later in life.

"I talk about myself being an ex-drinker," Tobias said, "But I take my lead from George. He never denied it, but he never advertised it."

Besides, Tobias said, "He's so much more than that," and Jones has a catalog of classic songs that few can match, many of them clear-eyed assessments of romantic triumph and tragedy bearing all the complex emotions that come with that territory.

Tobias said his band, which includes a couple of working New York musicians, will play "all the songs people expect" while digging deep for some unexpected numbers and throwing in a few covers from the likes of Johnny Cash and the artist who was Jones' biggest influence, Hank Williams.

Tobias has done dozens of performances with The Grand Tour, and "every time we do a show we get people coming up to us telling us how much song this song or that song means to them. It really connects with the crowd."

Details: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28, at Thalian Hall, 310 Chestnut St., Wilmington. 910-632-2285 or ThalianHall.org.

Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: George Jones tribute, plus Wilmington NC weekend picks April 28-May 1