.
photograph courtesy memphis symphony orchestra
Robert Moody Presents Orchestra Unplugged: Considering Matthew Shepard
Halloran Centre, 225 S. Main | Friday, May 6, 7:30 p.m.
First Baptist Church Memphis, 200 East Parkway | Saturday, May 7, 7:30 p.m.
This weekend, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra is performing Craig Hella Johnson’s powerful oratorio Considering Matthew Shepard. Shepard was 21 years old when he was tied to a Wyoming ranch’s fence post, beaten, and left to die. His 1998 death marks one of America’s most notorious anti-gay hate crimes, but it ultimately led to more LGBTQ advocacy and legislation that expanded the definition of hate crime to include sexual orientation. As such, this work is not about hate and death, but ultimately about unity and triumph over hate.
Tickets ($37.50) for Friday’s performance at the Halloran Centre can be purchased here. The performance at First Baptist Church is free, with encouraged donations going to OUTMemphis’ Metamorphosis Project. You can donate here.
photograph courtesy the memphis zoo
Baby Day
Memphis Zoo, 2000 Prentiss Place
Saturday, May 7, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
I don’t know about you, but come Mother’s Day, my dear mother likes to remind me of the nine months of pregnancy and hours of labor she had to go through just for me. Ah, the guilt. At least, I’m not the child who gave my mother her C-section scar and came a month early — that would be my sister. But imagine the guilt if either of us were a giraffe’s’ baby, though; those pregnancies last 15 months. If you don’t believe me, you can take it up with Angela Kate, who just birthed her fourth calf in mid-April at the Memphis Zoo. In fact, this Saturday, you can even meet these baby giraffes and learn all about them at Baby Day.
Baby Day celebrates all the zoo animal mothers with special baby keeper chats and educational activities throughout the day. See the full schedule of these chats here.
Puppy Palooza
South Plaza at Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse
Saturday, May 7, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention, and it’s true that necessity compelled the invention of the word Dog Mom to honor how much we love our canine pals. And since some might scoff at the idea of celebrating Mother’s Day as a Dog Mom, Crosstown Concourse is offering a solid alternative, where all you Dog Moms, Dog Dads, and Dog People can enjoy all things, you guessed it, dog.
The palooza will include a dog costume contest, caricature drawings, dog portraits, dog nail clippings, balloon animals, Dog Tale storytime, and a blessing of the animals by Church Health. And for those who are looking to adopt, local rescue organizations will be on site. Plus, attendees can look forward to a performance by the band MOTH MOTH MOTH.
photograph by Kris Keys/K. Belle Consulting
Memphis Inner Discovery Floral Painting Experience
Black Seeds Urban Farms, 580 N. Fourth St.
Saturday, May 7, noon-1:30 p.m.
The perfect Mother’s Day movie is Freaky Friday, a timeless tale of a mother and daughter switching bodies, and for me that means the Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis rendition. And, yes, I’ve seen the 1976 one with Jodie Foster, but it can’t compete with 2003’s opening credits. “Happy Together” plays as a slideshow of sorts flips through various, famous images of mothers and daughters — paintings, photographs, you’ve seen them — heck, you probably colored a stick-figure version of your own when you were a wee one, though I doubt the movie producers chose your drawing for the opening credits, no offense. But it’s never too late to improve your art skills and maybe even channel a different kind of mother for inspiration — Mother Nature.
And if you’re at a loss as to how you’re supposed to do that, don’t worry. For this Mother’s Day painting experience, artist Kris Keys will lead participants through utilizing the therapeutic qualities of florals while painting with watercolor. Additionally, the session will be paired with Mid-South Coffee and Tea’s floral teas, and Bobby Rich, founder and ethno-botanist of Black Seeds, will teach guests about the herbal benefits and historical context of each flower.
Participants can expect to leave the class with two finished paintings. All materials are provided. Tickets ($75) can be purchased online.
photograph by abigail morici
“Alice’s Adventures at the Garden” Opening
Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry
Sunday, May 8, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
While Disney’s Freaky Friday is the perfect Mother’s Day movie, I have to admit that a lot of Disney’s films are towards the bottom of the list when it comes to Mother’s Day screening, mostly because, uh, Disney likes to kill off the mothers. (Cough cough, Bambi.) But in one scene in one movie, Disney decides to kill off the children and keep the mother alive — and that’s in Alice in Wonderland where the baby oysters walk off to be eaten by the Walrus and the Carpenter while the mother oyster hangs back. Dark stuff, Disney, dark stuff. But, hey, Alice in Wonderland has some not-so-dark moments that are whimsical and fun, and if you’re more into that side of things, you’ll want to check out Memphis Botanic Garden, which has been overcome by larger-than-life Alice in Wonderland-themed topiary sculptures.
The special exhibition, complete with Alice, the Red Queen, the Cheshire Cat, and card guards and pawns, opens this weekend and will be on display through the end of the year. Check out membg.org/alice for more information and for a schedule of events.
