Booksigning tonight at Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi, by Holley Bishop for her book, Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey, the Sweet Gold That Seduced the World. The Memphis Grizzlies play the San Antonio Spurs at the FedExForum, 7 p.m.
The Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association holds matches in which participants, dressed in 1800s cowboy style, ride horses around barrels while shooting at balloon targets. Just like in the real Old West. Today is the last day of the association’s National Shootout at the Tunica Arena & Expo Center in Tunica, Mississippi. There’s a bluegrass concert by Eric Lewis and Friends at the new performing center at Auburndale High School (8250 Varnavas, Cordova) at 7 p.m.
You animal! Today from 1 to 3 p.m. the Central Library is hosting “Paws for Reading,” part of a national program that uses therapy dogs to encourage literacy. At the David Mah Studio, starting at 7 p.m., “Furry Friends” is holding a fund-raiser for its no-kill shelter for dogs and cats. The Crystal Ball is a Junior League of Memphis fund-raiser, featuring an “Old Hollywood” theme, tonight at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. Tickets are don’t choke on your cruditÇs $1,500 per couple.
Art openings: Works by Pam and John Wagner at Then & Again; “This Is Serious Business,” senior thesis projects from Rhodes College students at Clough-Hanson Gallery; a BFA Exhibition by University of Memphis students at 387 S. Main; and “Form and Function,” African art at Jay Etkin Gallery. German playwright Heiner Mueller’s vivid takes on Hamlet and Medea addressed topics such as Communism and Nazism; the New Moon Company is retrofitting Mueller’s Hamletmachine, Despoiled Shore Madeamaterial Landscape with Argonauts for the Iraq war and will be showing tonight and tomorrow night as well as next Friday and Saturday at TheatreWorks. The FedExForum hosts the Gaither Homecoming Concert, four hours of gospel music and comedy. Stop by Burke’s Book Store this evening, 7 p.m., for artist Dolph Smith‘s signing of The Penland Book of Handmade Books, a study of works by bookbinders and papermakers.
Plante: How It Looks
Eons-old Greek tales, a 4,000-gallon pool of water, and director Cookie Ewing’s decades of experience combine for Metamorphoses, a modern interpretation of Ovid’s myths, opening tonight at the University of Memphis Mainstage, $15 adults, $10 students. Also at the U of M, in the Harris Concert Hall, is the ensemble Sound Fuzion at 8 p.m. Author Janis Kearney will be at the Civil Rights Museum 5:30-7:30 p.m. tonight to discuss Cotton Field of Dreams, her memoir about growing up a sharecropper’s child in the Arkansas delta. The Memphis Redbirds play the New Orleans Zephyrs at AutoZone Park tonight at 7:05 p.m.
“Drama and Activism: Revisiting the Legacy of Black Theatre” is the theme of this year’s Dramatic and Speech Arts Conference, which begins today at LeMoyne-Owen College. The conference runs through Sunday.
Rhodes College hosts The Masters of Kathakali, a troupe practicing an ancient form of Indian theater expressed through music and intricate makeup and movement. Speaking of moves, The Grizzlies play the Denver Nuggets at the FedExForum, 7 p.m.
There will be an April 4th Commemorative Ceremony and Candlelight Vigil for the 37th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in the courtyard of the National Civil Rights Museum, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Kids and parents can find out about the college-admission process at today’s National College Fair at the Mid-South Coliseum, 1-4 p.m. The Grizzlies take on the L.A. Lakers at the FedExForum, 7 p.m. U of M musicologist and musician David Evans will perform at the Old Millington Winery.
The Buckman Center Dance Series presents the contemporary dance of Ron K. Brown/Evidence at the Buckman Performing and Fine Arts Center tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. The April 4th Foundation, formed to create programs and events in memory of the day Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, is recognizing the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, beginning with workshops today at 1:30 p.m. at LeMoyne-Owen College; a symposium will be held Sunday at the downtown Marriott, and an awards banquet follows Sunday at the Cook Convention Center (April4thFoundation.org). Local rockers This Is Goodbye play the Skate Park of Memphis. Soul Enforcers are at Precious Cargo.