thursday March 30
Great Conversations
University of Memphis Holiday Inn, 5:30 p.m., $75
Fifth annual fund-raising dinner put on by the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Memphis. Designed to introduce the public to the brainpower at U of M, you’ll get to break bread with one of 30 experts who have ties to the school. Among the many fascinating topics are “Ask an Egyptologist,” “The Ingeniousness of Jokes and Other Twists of Language,” and “How Minds Work: Human Minds, Animal Minds, Artificial Minds.” Registration is required. Call 678-1332 or e-mail lellis2@memphis.edu.
friday March 31
Brooks Museum League and Artists Showcase 2006
Agricenter International, $10, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Juried show featuring art, furniture, jewelry, and accessories by the region’s top designers and artists. At 10:30 a.m., architectural historian and University of Memphis professor Jim Lutz will give a talk about the homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Cost of the lecture is $35.
Art Trolley Tour
South Main Arts Distric, 6-9 p.m.
Art openings galore tonight, including one for “Turn 2,” prints by Sheri Fleck Rieth at Memphis College of Art “On the Street” Gallery.
Ubu Roi
Rhodes College McCoy Theatre,
7:30 p.m., $2-$7
This ought to be interesting: Alfred Jarry’s absurdist drama that satirizes the foibles of the ruling class. Directed by Rhodes alum and Flyer staff writer Chris Davis.
Alison Brown Quartet
Bartlett Performing Arts and Conference Center, 8 p.m., $20
Innovative banjoist Alison Brown and her quartet bring their bluegrass/jazz hybrid to Bartlett. In addition to her own extensive recording and touring, Brown has been a member of Alison Kraus’ Union Station and the band leader for Michelle Shocked.
saturday April 1
Mid-South Cat Fanciers Show
Agricenter International,
10 a.m.-4 p.m., $4-$6
All sorts of cats will be at this 14th annual cat show and championship. In honor of its 100th anniversary, the Cat Fanciers Association has established its Centennial Celebration Challenge, in which regional show winners earn points toward competing in a national online event to choose the best cat in the world. The show ends Sunday.
“mFAC 001”
Medicine Factory, 85 W. Virginia, 6-9 p.m.
One-night-only show in this new downtown artspace near South Main. The exhibition features multimedia work by 15 local artists — David Dieckhoff, Anastasia Laurenzi, Erin Harmon, and Greely Myatt, among them. The works were created to be site-specific in a space that originally served as a medicine factory.
Rigoletto
The Orpheum, 8 p.m., $30-$73
Verdi opera about a court jester named Rigoletto, who gets a horrible taste of his own medicine after he helps a lascivious duke seduce women.
sunday April 2
Operation Art Relief
Dr. Bob’s Studio, 12 S. Main, 2-6 p.m.
Volunteer event for teens, during which they’ll create artworks under the supervision of recently relocated New Orleans artist Dr. Bob. The art will be displayed at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library and then auctioned off during Memphis In May. Proceeds go to New Orleans schools. Participants are asked to bring canned goods or nonperishable items and to wear clothes they don’t mind getting messy.
weDnesday April 5
Booksigning by Elizabeth Dewberry
Burke’s Book Store, 5-6:30 p.m.
Elizabeth Dewberry’s latest novel, His Lovely Wife, revolves around a woman named Ellen who is in Paris with her physicist husband. Ellen is mistaken for Princess Diana. Then Di dies and spiritually sets up house in Ellen’s body.