Some weekends in Wilmington are special, with a slate of entertainment that's more than just run-of-the-mill concerts and festivals.
This is one of those weekends, with an uncommon mix of events that includes an original song cycle inspired by a bygone form of 19th century entertainment, and a pair of Southern indie rock bands who've been around for decades but are just now getting their due. Read on for details.
For more ideas of things to do this weekend, as well as in the coming weeks, check out our lists of fall festivals in Wilmington and fall concerts coming to the area.
ALL WEEKEND
'Chemical Imbalance: A Jekyll & Hyde Play'
Oct. 15-25 at Thalian Hall (studio theater): Wilmington's Big Dawg Theatre Co. presents Lauren Wilson’s farcical reimagining of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson
novella. Chad Hsu directs, with Jamie Lane in the role of Jekyll/Hyde. 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15-17 and 22-24, 3 p.m. Oct. 18 and 25. 910-632-2285.
Jason Cheny
Oct. 16-17 at Dead Crow Comedy Room: L.A. comic has a half-hour special produced by Kevin Hart coming to Hulu in January 2027. 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, tickets are $30 and $42.
Autumn with Topsail
Oct. 16-18 at Topsail Beach: Annual Pender County festival features arts and crafts, live tunes, food vendors, a beer and wine tent, children's games and more. 6 p.m. Friday, 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. $7 per day, $12 two-day admission, $17 three-day admission, $5 daily for active military and veterans with ID, free for children under 12.
N.C. Oyster Festival
Oct. 16-18 at Ocean Isle Beach: Longtime Brunswick County festival features kids' activities, arts and crafts, live music and contests that include oyster shucking, oyster eating and oyster cooking. 4:30-8 p.m. Friday (community night), 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. $5 at the gate Saturday and Sunday, free for children 12 and under. Community night Friday is free.
FRIDAY
'Alluvial River'
Oct. 16 at Thalian Hall: Longtime Wilmington musician Justin Lacy has played in bands (Charlie the Horse, Justin Lacy & The Swimming Machine), musicals and created otherworldly, stop-motion-animated films. So far this year he's written original music for two plays at Thalian Hall ("To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Men On Boats"). But this weekend's performance at Thalian might mark his most ambitious project yet. "Alluvial River: A Musical Voyage Down the Mississippi" is an original, hour-long song cycle written to accompany a replica of a 19th-century panorama recently acquired by Thalian Hall. Panoramic paintings unscrolled on stage were popular entertainment in the 1800s, and Lacy has assembled a period-appropriate band to perform his score as the panorama scrolls through scenes of the antebellum Mississippi River. 7:30 p.m. Friday, 910-632-2285.
Coverlip
Oct. 16 at Ocean Grill & Tiki Bar: Last show of the season at this Carolina Beach hotspot is from a Wilmington supergroup that puts fun spins on popular pop and rock hits from the 1970s and '80s. 7 p.m. Friday, free.
Lee Bains
Oct. 16 at The Fuzzy Needle: The Fuzzy Review — an occasional literature/live music/interview series hosted by Wilmington author and critic John Jeremiah Sullivan — returns to this Cargo District hotspot. Alabama poet and musician Bains dropped a new book of poetry, "Work Lunch," on Oct. 13 that gets at the nexus of food, work and what it means to be Southern. Bains will also play some original tunes, and do a Q&A with Sullivan. 6:30 p.m. Friday, tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
SATURDAY
On Set Cinema: 'Trick or Treat'
Oct. 17 at Hanover Hall (University of North Carolina Wilmington): The On Set Cinema series returns to Wilmington to screen a locally shot movie for its 40th anniversary. "Trick or Treat," which was released on Oct. 24, 1986, stars actor and comic Marc Price (TV's "Family Ties") as a high school student who plays a record by his favorite dead heavy metal singer, the fictional Sammi Curr (Tony Fields), backwards. Naturally, it causes the singer to return to life in a most evil way. The movie will screen in Hanover Hall Gymnasium on the campus of UNCW, which in the film portrays the fictional Lakeridge High School. Price will be in attendance, and he'll do a stand-up set before, and live commentary during, the evening screening of the movie, which features cameos by Ozzy Osbourne (as a TV preacher) and Gene Simmons (as a radio DJ), as well as many Wilmington locations. 2:45 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. Saturday, ticket packages start at $35.
Beggar Weeds & The Cadets
Oct. 17 at The Fuzzy Needle: Wilmington's Fort Lowell Records presents a pair of veteran Jacksonville, Florida, indie rock bands, both with recent retrospective album releases. (Fort Lowell Records owners James Tritten and Tracy Shedd hail from Jacksonville.) Beggar Weeds, whose jangly "college music" sound produced just one EP, 1988's "Sure Pants Alot," counted R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe among their fans. Stipe produced a few recording sessions with Beggar Weeds, but those tracks remained unreleased until February of this year, when they appeared on the retrospective album "Tragedy in U.S. History" (Strolling Bones Records). The Cadets, who've been playing their early-rock-influenced sound since 1995, also released a career retrospective album this year: "Exile In Marginalia Vol 4" (Bar/None Records). 7 p.m. Saturday, tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door.
'Elmo's Got the Moves'
Oct. 17 CFCC at Wilson Center: Touring family show starring everyone's favorite "Sesame Street" Muppet includes such classic songs as "Sunny Days." 2 p.m. Saturday, tickets start at $20.
Keith Washington and Howard Hewett
Oct. 17 at Kenan Auditorium: Grammy nominated R&B singer Washington teams up with vocalist Hewett of the band Shalamar. 8 p.m. Saturday, tickets start at $55.
SUNDAY
Zombie Run
Oct. 18 at Long Leaf Park: Annual event that features runners chased by costumed "zombies" starts with a family-friendly "Monster Mile" run/walk. Things get a bit more serious during the Zombie Run, with a "survivor medal" going to the first 100 to finish the race. Proceeds benefit Lyceum Academy, an honors program at New Hanover High School. 3:30 p.m. check-in, 5 p.m. Monster Mile ($20), 5:30 p.m. Zombie Run ($40).
John Staton is the arts and culture reporter for the StarNews. You can reach him at jstaton@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: A dozen things to do during a very special Wilmington weekend
