This week, a bluesman with an old soul visits The National, a pop-up dinner benefits a human rights charity, and cats do tricks at the Dominion Energy Center. Plus, plan ahead to enjoy free admission to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden on Labor Day. Have a good week!
Feline Follies
Though they’re naturally acrobatic, cats might not be the first animals you think of when it comes to trained performers. The Amazing Acro-Cats, presented by Rock Cats Rescue, are coming to change your mind, with seven performances at the Dominion Energy Center’s Gottwald Playhouse from Sept. 2-6. (Tickets are $25 to $48.) Started by animal trainer Samantha Martin, the troupe executes various feats of feline derring-do before finishing up with a performance by an all-cat band (well, except for Cluck Norris, the chicken on tambourine). If you’d like to go behind the scenes, the Acro-Cats are seeking volunteers to help out before and after the show.
—Chad Anderson, Copy Editor-at-large
The Wild Frontier
The story of blues and Americana singer Charley Crockett sounds like a treatment for a modern western. He’s had brushes with the law, claims to be a distant relative of Davy Crockett and says he’s traveled around via freight train and hitchhiking. His music is almost as good as his story, a mix of blues and country over a soulful tone that implies the weight of 37 years of hard living, bad breaks and triumph. Bet that the Texas native, now on his 10th album, won’t arrive via boxcar at The National on Saturday, Sept. 4, at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $22.50.
—Craig Belcher, Arts & Entertainment Editor
Sunday Service
When the culinary world and community efforts join forces, it’s a beautiful thing. On Sunday, Sept. 5, from 5 to 8 p.m., Secco Wine Bar chefs Julie Heins, Wyatt Swaney and Hel Cooper, under the moniker Burnt Churches, will host a pop-up dinner at Hatch Cafe dubbed Sunday Service, with proceeds benefiting Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, a human rights group providing support, recovery and grief counseling to indigenous families affected by trauma. Dishes for the event range from deviled eggs with trout roe to arctic char gravlax; lamb and pork meatballs; and an ice cream sandwich with strawberry jam, white pepper shortbread and vanilla ice cream. The entire menu can be purchased for $65.
—Eileen Mellon, Food Editor
Garden Party
Labor Day (Sept. 6) brings free admission to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., courtesy of Genworth Financial. Check out art installations from Cristina Taphouse and artist-in-residence Alfonso Pérez Acosta. There’s an exhibit by another artist-in-residence, Unicia Buster, in the library.
—Tharon Giddens, Lifestyle Editor
Other Suggestions
- “The Civil War’s Largest Jail Break” is discussed at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture on Thursday, Sept. 2.
- “The Famous Duo,” artists Darryl Starr and Wolfgang Jasper, collaborate for the exhibition “Another Resurrection,” opening at the Black Iris Gallery on Friday, Sept. 3.
- Andrea Brook performs with a large-scale immersive musical instrument called the Sonic Butterfly, Sept. 3 at the Perkinson Center for the Arts & Education.
- “Tyrannosaurs: Meet the Family” continues at the Science Museum of Virginia through Oct. 3.
River City Roundup is Richmond magazine's weekly compilation of the best things to see, do and experience in the region, compiled by our editors. Get each week's installment directly in your inbox every Monday by subscribing to our e-newsletter.
