Word Is Out
Open Mic on Zoom

The Word Is Out Open Mic, aka TWIO, will be 6:45-8:30 p.m. Aug. 25 on Zoom.

Joseph Mills, an author and professor at UNC School of the Arts, will be the featured poet. The optional theme will be “wonder.”

Lovers of poetry and spoken word may read three-four minutes of their own or another’s work, or just listen.

Networking starts at 6:45 p.m., and the program begins at 7.

The Zoom meeting is at https://tinyurl.com/y28berqo.

Piedmont Opera
Open planned

The Piedmont Opera Open, a golf tournament to benefit the company, will be Aug. 26 at Bermuda Run West.

The tourney will adhere to social distancing and other COVID-19 safety protocols and make many puns and jokes on the event’s initials — “POO.”

A breakfast from The Young Cardinal Cafe will precede the morning of golf.

For details, email info@piedmontopera.org or call 336-725-7101. 

RiverRun to screen
John Lewis film

RiverRun International Film Festival will screen the film “John Lewis: Good Trouble” in partnership with the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro on Aug. 27 at the Marketplace Drive-In, 2095 Peters Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem.

Using interviews and rare archival footage, “John Lewis: Good Trouble” chronicles Lewis’ 60-plus years of social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health-care reform and immigration. Using personal interviews with Lewis, who died in July at 80, Porter explores his childhood experiences, his inspiring family and his fateful meeting with Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957.

In addition to her interviews with Lewis and his family, Porter’s primarily cinéma verité film also includes interviews with political leaders, Congressional colleagues, and other people who figured prominently in Lewis’ life.

Gates will open at 7:30 pm with the screening beginning at dusk around 8:45 pm. Tickets are $20 per car, $30 per car for VIP parking, and are at  https://mpcwsdrivein.simpletix.com.

OUT at the Movies
presents ‘The Birdcage’ 

After two postponements, “The Birdcage” will be screened at dusk (about 8:20 p.m.) on Aug. 28 at the Marketplace Drive-In, 2095 Peters Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem. Gates open at 7:30 p.m.

The 1996 blockbuster, starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, tells the story of a gay cabaret owner and drag queen companion who agree to put up a false straight front so that their son can introduce them to his fiancée’s moralistic parents.

Those who have bought tickets but will be unable to attend may contact OUT at the Movies for a refund, future credit or to donate the ticket price to the nonprofit organization.

Tickets are at www.mpcws.com. For information, visit www.outatthemovies.org.

Martha Bassett Show
broadcast on WFDD

The Martha Bassett Show will be broadcast at 7 p.m. on Saturdays on radio station WFDD. The first offerings draw from the show’s 2018 season at the Reeves Theater in Elkin.

The show, which originated at the Reeves Theater, is a one-hour music program that blends national roots and Americana music with the artistry, history and flair of the North Carolina Piedmont.

The live show, in its third season, features national and local artists, and the music of Martha Bassett. Each show is a collaboration among Bassett, her band, and the guests.

The next three broadcasts from recordings made in 2018 will feature:

• Aug. 29: Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore, and Rex McGee
• Sept. 5: Jim White, and Presley Barker
• Sept. 12: Sam Reider & The Human Hands, and Bruce Piephoff

Bill and the Belles
at Blue Ridge 

The Blue Ridge Music Center will present Bill and the Belles and their old-time country vaudeville repertoire Aug. 29 in the outdoor amphitheater at the base of Fisher Peak, milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Dori Freeman will open the show at 7 p.m.

The band takes its name from Bill and Belle Reed, performers from the 1920s who recorded the songs “Old Lady and the Devil” and “You Shall Be Free” in Johnson City, Tennessee, and puts its own spin on a golden era of music, specifically the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.

Lead singer (tenor) and guitarist Kris Truelsen anchors the band that features trio harmonies. The other players are Kalia Yeagle (fiddle and vocals), Helena Hunt (banjo and vocals), and Andrew Small (bass).

Singer-songwriter and Galax, Virginia, native Dori Freeman grew up in a musical family. Following the release of her self-titled album produced by Teddy Thompson in 2016, Rolling Stone included her on the magazine’s list of “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know.” 

Tickets, $15, are sold at the door. Children 12 and younger admitted for free. For more information, visit BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org or call 866-308-2773, ext. 212. Parking is free. Sales by credit card are encouraged. Tickets bought in advance for any of the 2020 Blue Ridge Music Center concerts canceled earlier this year will be accepted.

The Galax Smokehouse will be on site serving its signature barbecue, down-home sides, drinks, and desserts.

Concert-goers are asked to observe COVID-19 safety guidelines: Wear a mask, socially distance and wash your hands. Stay home, if you don’t feel well.