We’ve got your weekend: Pop-ups, screenings, music, Big Wigs, and a symposium

French Market and Red Store; between 1841 and 1844; oil on canvas by Louis Dominique Grandjean Develle; The L. Kemper and Leila Moore Williams Founders Collection at The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1948.1. (Image courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection

Thursday, January 17/Pythian Market (234 Loyola Avenue): Even though it’s cold enough to call for holiday decorations of the Dickensian kind, we have something to warm your heart. King Cake. All kinds of King Cake. Now until Fat Tuesday New Orleans’ downtown food collective is hosting a King Cake Pop-Up – a one-stop shop featuring whole cakes and slices from various bakeries around the city. Whole cakes will be available for $20 or $25; or indulge in a slice for $3.50. Also available will be Just Delights Queen Cake ice cream pints for $9.  It’s King Cake mania, and we are so into it. Pythian Market is open Sunday-Thursday from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM and Friday-Saturday from 8:00AM to 10:00 PM.

Friday, January 18/Ashe Powerhouse Theater (1731 Baronne Street): The film When Young Men’s Voices Have Power will premiere on Saturday, and the four, local filmmakers who shot and edited the documentary will be proof that the words in the title are true. Caswick Naverro, Deante King, Steven Willford and Robert Pierce, all in their early 20s, said they entered the Young Men’s Voices Have Power (YMVP) internship program at Camp Restore to learn new skills, but they had no idea they would also learn how to be better men. For this film, each cohort interviewed family, friends and strangers as they taped more than 80 hours of video and shot more than 17,000 photographs. The men had to work together to edit the documentary: four distinct perspectives melded into a single piece. That perspective will be ready for your eyes at 7:00 PM, and the screening is free and open to the public. To learn more, check out the event page here. 

Friday, January 18/One Eyed Jacks (615 Toulouse): Every night at OEJ there is a change in music, feeling, and exploration. On Friday, Jon Spencer (Blues Explosion, Boss Hog, Pussy Galore, Baby Driver Soundtrack) will be playing in New Orleans to for his newest release,  Spencer Sings the Hits! which was released on In The Red Records. The new hits explore man’s modern condition with caustic guitars and some solid crooning. It’s  Jon Spencer rock n’ roll in every way and with a sly nod to the past, features the clanking metal percussion associated with former band Pussy Galore. The show begins at 8:00 PM. 

Friday, January 18/Opera Guild Home (2504 Prytania Street): It is time to get your big wigs out! Sylvain Society, the Young Professional organization of the New Orleans Opera Association, is hosting the third annual Big Wig Ball, chaired by Debby Hirsch Wood and Brian Monk. The theme this year? “Rocky HAIRror Picture Show”, the Big Wig Ball will kick off the Mardi Gras season in style. The festivities start at 7:00 PM and go until 10:00 PM. Big Wig Ball tickets are $50 in advance and $75 at the door; must be 21 to enter. You can purchase tickets online at www.nolabigiwg.com. 

Saturday, January 19/Hotel Monteleone (214 Royal Street): The Historic New Orleans Collection’s 23rd Williams Research Center Symposium will be taking place on Saturday. The event, entitled “The French Quarter,” will feature an array of scholars discussing the visual, social and commercial elements of the city’s original footprint. With presentations exploring both historical perspectives and current scholarship, the symposium will be moderated byDiane Mack, host of “Morning Edition” and “Inside the Arts.” The program will also feature the  speakers and topics ranging from Richard Campanella (neighborhood’s cultural geography in the 19th and 20th centuries) to Alecia P. Long (examine the changing character of nightlife in the French Quarter throughout the 20th century). Registration is required to attend the symposium, with rates ranging between $50 and $90, and registration will remain open as long as space is available.

Saturday, January 19-Sunday, January 20/Samuel Dubois Cook Fine Arts Center Theatre (Dillard University): Moscow Nights is coming back. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, think Russian and Pontius Pilate. Moscow Nights, is known for showcasing Russian culture through festivals, educational lectures, music concerts and theatrical productions, and they will present a full theatrical production of 24 Hours in the Life of Pontius Pilate. Natasha O. Ramer’s theatrical adaptation is extracted from chapters of Russian author and playwright Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel, The Master and Margarita, which was written between 1928 and 1940. Due to strict censorship in Soviet Russia, the novel remained hidden and unpublished until 1966, 26 years after the author’s death. And now, it will be brought to you, New Orleans. It begins at 7:00 PM; tickets are $25 per person, $20 for senior citizens and $15 for students. For more information, visit the Moscow Nights Web site at: www.moscownights.org.