thursday, april 21
Japan’s beckoning cats
The Mingei International Museum presents Maneki Neko, an exhibition of Japan’s beckoning cats. This exhibition includes selections from a collection of 155 cats given to the Museum by collector Billie Moffitt. Made in the 19th and 20th centuries, each cat is unique. Most are made of clay, but some are wood, metal, ceramic and papier mâché.
Since the Edo period (1603-1868) a fabricated cat with a paw upraised in the Japanese gesture of beckoning has been considered a good luck charm, drawing good fortune to individuals and businesses. Maneki Neko are common sights in local Japanese and Chinese restaurant windows, where they silently beckon to potential customers.
Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, in Balboa Park, open 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., adults $7, 619-239-0003, mingei.org.
friday, april 22
Fridays at the Fleet
Every Friday night starting at 6 p.m., visitors can experience exciting films in the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center’s Heikoff Dome Theater for a big discount. See one film for $8.50 and catch additional films for only $5 each.
Classic IMAX films from the archives are paired with current hits for a full night of entertainment. This Friday choose from Tornado Alley at 6 p.m., Under the Sea at 7 p.m. or Mysteries of Egypt at 8 p.m.
The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, 1875 El Prado, in Balboa Park, 6 p.m., tickets from $8.50, 619-238-1233, rhfleet.org.
saturday, april 23
The incomparable Julio Iglesias
Julio Iglesias is one of the Top 10 best-selling artists in history and the best-selling Latin artist ever. He is a smooth, romantic crooner and his appeal translates to many countries, in many languages. His popularity has not diminished at all in his fifth decade of recordings – he has sold more than 300 million albums during his 43-year career and he is still capable of selling millions of records and selling out concerts around the world.
Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84200 Indio Springs Parkway, in Indio, 8 p.m., tickets from $39, 760-827-2946, fantasyspringsresort.com.
sunday, april 24
A crowd-pleasing comic hit
The Coronado Playhouse presents the local theatre debut of The Great American Trailer Park Musical. This country-rock and blues Off-Broadway musical hit tells a tale of the women of the double-wides and their imperfect men. Narrated by a Greek chorus of trailer-park divas, this big-hearted show is bold, brash and sassy. Warning: This show contains strong language, adult situations, agoraphobia, adultery, bad perms, tacky outfits, road kill, strippers, flan, country rock, blues and disco. It’s everything a trash-talking Off-Broadway musical should be.
The Coronado Playhouse, 1835 Strand Way, in Coronado, 2 p.m., tickets from $20, 619-435-4856, coronadoplayhouse.com.
monday, april 25
Yodok Stories
The International Rescue Committee presents Yodok Stories, the first of a three-part film series. Yodok Stories portrays North Korean refugees who fled the Yodok Concentration Camp and started a new life in prosperous South Korea.
More than 200,000 men, women and children live in North Korea’s concentration camps. Few survive the atrocities, yet the camps’ population is kept stable by new persons considered to be “class enemies.” This film follows the extraordinary and controversial making of a musical based on Yodok stories.
Landmark Theater La Jolla Village Cinema, 8879 Villa La Jolla Drive, in La Jolla, 7 p.m., single film ticket $20, series pass $40, 619-641-7510 x249, IRCfilmseries.com.
tuesday, april 26
San Diego Opera presents Faust
Sell your soul to the Devil and there’ll be hell to pay. Old and disillusioned, Faust forfeits his soul to Méphistophélès in exchange for youth and pleasure. He seduces the virtuous Marguerite, then callously moves on, leaving her pregnant and ruined. In the end, taunted by Méphistophélès and threatened with damnation, Marguerite’s only hope is to call upon the angels. Will they save her soul or will she join Faust in the yawning abyss of Hell?
The Civic Theatre, Third Ave. and B Street, in San Diego, 7 p.m., tickets from $35, 619-533-7000, sdopera.com.
wednesday, april 27
French landscapes
The San Diego Museum of Art presents Life and Truth: French Landscapes from Corot to Monet. This exhibition brings together works from the Museum’s permanent collection and a group of loans from local collectors and includes paintings by artists such as Corot, Courbet, Théodore Rousseau, Narcisse Diaz, Charles-François Daubigny, and others, thus providing a context for the Museum’s own Haystacks at Chailly by Claude Monet, an important early work.
The San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, in Balboa Park, open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., adults $12, 619-696-1966, sdmart.org.
