We’ve got your weekend: Farmers markets, exhibits, music, and more

Wednesday, January 9/Rusty Rainbow: Starting January 9th, you can now find the Crescent City Farmers Market at The Rusty Rainbow in by Bywater. Yes, we are excited about this! The historic French Market location will soon be located at the Rusty Rainbow – the footbridge to Crescent Park – located at Chartres and Piety. With expanded offerings, they’ll have a full selection of produce, proteins, bread and value added goods. The market will run from 3:00 PM until 7:00 PM.  For more information and a list of vendors, check out their event page here. 

Wednesday, January 9 – Sunday, January 13/Saenger Theater (1111 Canal Street): Something about sitting under the starry skies of the Saenger and listening to people sing their emotions and vulnerabilities is so intoxicating. Add to that the fact that the cast and orchestra of Les Misérables, which is  the Broadway production currently at the Saenger Theater, will move you to tears (seriously, everyone around me in the theater was crying) with their profound voices and stellar performances, and I’d say you have a must-see performance. The play, based off the novel by Victor Hugo, takes on the timeless tale of freedom, love, and philosophical ponderings (Is it really ethically right to have a prisoner branded for life and then always judged for his past crimes?).  Oh, and the entire play is sung. There are comedic breaks, there are heart-wrenching deaths, and there are explosions. Everything you could want in a Broadway production. Tickets vary in price and so do the show times. You can find both on Saenger’s website. 

Thursday, January 10/Orpheum Theater (129 Roosevelt Way): Forget Downton Abbey, you can get one step closer to sharing sound waves with true royals. Featured in the Royal Wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, BBC Young Musician of the Year, Sheku Kanneh-Mason brings his talents to Louisiana for the first time! Hailed as “technically superb and eloquent in his expressivity”, Kanneh-Mason’s artistry will be on display as he performs Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, a cornerstone of cello repertoire. This program also features the world the permiere of a newly commissioned work by Andrea Reinkemeyer, ‘Water Sings Fire’ for Orchestra, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s dazzling ‘Scheherazade’. In other words, let’s get fancy, New Orleans. Tickets will run you $20 (general) or $10 (students). The concert begins at 7:30 PM, and you can find out full details here. 

Thursday, January 10/Gasa Gasa (4920 Freret): Sometimes Thursday nights are for whimsical melodies that transport you into the back doors of your minds. No, we aren’t talking about drugs. We are talking about The Light Set, a band that formed in New Orleans in 2016. They are known for their dreamy, harmony-driven indie-folk that quite simply soothes the soul. Including songs about “disaffected farmwives, professional runners, and almost-maybe-one-night-stands,” their  live set can be chilling, uplifting, and somehow incredibly human, oftentimes all at once. What we’re saying is that your Thursday night can go from snore to soaring if you get to Gasa Gasa at 8:00 PM (show starts at 9:00 PM) until 12:00 AM. Tickets will run you $5, and you can find out full details here. 

Saturday, January 12/New Orleans School of Ballet (717 Adams Street): It is almost time to take loads of dancers to the streets for Mardi Gras parades, and you can be part of the action. The 6th Annual 2019 Mardi Gras Mambo flash mob dance classes start this Saturday. This is your chance to learn the choreography in order to perform in the flash mob on Mardi Gras. The seven-week session is open to the public and will be held Jan. 12 through Feb. 23 on Saturdays from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Flashmob New Orleans founder and artistic director, Loyola Ballet alumnus, local actor, dancer, choreographer and performer Kenneth “Kynt” Bryan, will lead classes. The cost is $70 for the entire session or $10 per individual class. To register, you can email kyntbryan@hotmail.com, and you can also visit the event page or website.

Saturday, January 12/Suis Generis (3219 Burgundy): You may know Suis Generis as the adventurous restaurant with the best bathrooms in town, but they are also supporting the Nola art scene however they can. They will be exhibiting the debut solo show of artist Leslie O’Malley (Wanderlust Art Studio), which offers an eclectic mix of ethereal abstract landscapes and colorful, whimsical creature paintings paired in both realism and surrealism. The opening is Saturday night from 6:00 PM until 11:30 PM, and the exhibit will be up through the month of January. For more information on the exhibit and the artist, you can check out their event page here. 

Saturday, January 12/Second Story Gallery (2372 St. Claude Avenue): With this beautiful sunshine that makes it feel like winter is over, it’s time to get out and explore some art. Second Saturday will be happening on St. Claude this Saturday, and the Second Story Gallery has the exhibits Michael Alford: Another Given Day In The Big Easy, and Charles Lovell: New Orleans Second Line Traditions. The exhibitions continues through Feb. 2, and Gallery hours are 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM daily with free admission. The opening on Saturday will take place from 6:00 PM until 9:30 PM. 

Tuesday, January 15/Neighborhood Story Project (2202 Lapeyrouse Street): In celebration of their book, Fire in the Hole: the Spirit Work of Fi Yi Yi and the Mandingo Warriors, and an exhibit of Big Chief Victor Harris and master designer Jack Robertson’s masks on display with Haitian sequins art at the Neighborhood Story Project’s building, they are hosting another sewing workshop. You can learn about the beading arts that have evolved out of Mardi Gras Indian sewing traditions, but are found in many parading arts around New Orleans. Sequins, beads, and rhinestones will be covered. They will supply the beads, needles, and threads. There is no experience necessary, but the workshop is not designed for young children. Registration is $20, and space is limited to 25. You can register through their event page here.