A highlight of a free summer outdoor concert series this season will feature the music made famous by “Barbie, Ken and Taylor Swift” at the Antonio Gentile Bandstand at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester.
The special concert will be held this Saturday, Aug. 17, at 6:30 p.m. at the bandstand off Hough Avenue in Gloucester. Rain date is Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 6:30 p.m. at the bandstand.
The 40-piece Cape Ann Community Band will perform along with vocalist Alexandra Grace. Students of Grace’s Rockport music studio will sing Taylor Swift songs from the Eras tour and songs from the Barbie movie. The audience is encouraged to wear pink to celebrate Barbie; bring a Barbie doll and Taylor Swift friendship bracelets.
“Be prepared to sing along. The entire program is to be music from Taylor Swift and the Barbie movie,” David Benjamin, the band conductor, said. “This program drew almost 500 people at Salem Willows and we’re hoping for at least that many in Gloucester, the hometown of the young singers from the Alexandra Grace Music Studio who are featured in this fun concert.”
Also featured are the members of the Gloucester student band, directed by Jamie Klopotoski. They will perform a short program preceding the concert as well as join in on a couple of numbers with the full band.
The usual Sunday concert on Aug. 18 at 6:30 p.m. features The Continentals, a pop-rock show band.
The concerts are free, parking is free and the restrooms are handicap accessible. For more information, visit DavidLBenjamin.com or call 978-281-2286.
Fish Tales gala
The Gloucester Writers Center presents a special benefit event with its Fish Tales “Almost Famous Gala” this Friday, Aug. 16, at The Cut, 177 Main St. in Gloucester. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. show. Ticket proceeds from this fundraiser will help to ensure free and low-cost access to the Gloucester Writers Center’s year-round program of readings, open mics and workshops.
The storytellers-in-residence, Ann McArdle and Nicki Richon Schoel, have put together the cast of storytellers, featuring: Casey Breton, Eileen Fitzgerald, David Goudreau, Brenda Malloy, Phoebe Potts and Jud Wilson who will tell their stories about being “almost famous.” The gala also will feature a fashion revue with the Bananarettes, presented by Richard Leonard. For tickets, visit thecutlive.com.
Dennis Poirier solo show
The Rockport Art Association & Museum, at 12 Main St., presents a solo show of work by Dennis Poirier in the Martha Moore Room. There is an artist reception this Saturday, Aug. 17, from 1-3 p.m.; the show runs through Sept. 5. The artist lived in Gloucester from 1960 to 1980, and now lives in North Berwick, Maine. He recently painted a portrait of the Grandmaster Jim Maloney who is the chief of the Mi’kmaq people, and the artist learned that he has some Mi’kmaq heritage. That portrait is in this show of 60 works that also includes landscapes and other scenes.
Indian classical dance
Windhover Center for the Performing Arts in Rockport presents an evening of classical dance from India this Friday, Aug. 16 from 7:30-9 p.m.
Bharatanatyam is the most popular classical dance form of India, with sculptural evidence dating back nearly 2,000 years, according to a program statement. The performance will feature Bharatanatyam and Kathak and consist of four ensemble pieces and two solo pieces with Soumya Rajaram, Anjali Nath and ensemble. This double-bill Indian classical recital is performed at Windhover’s outdoor stage under a tent, rain or shine. For details and tickets, visit windhover.org and go to the “performances” tab.
Survival at sea
Cape Ann Community Cinema, at 37 Whistlestop Mall, in Rockport is bringing a tale of survival to it screen this week with “76 Days,” opening Friday, Aug. 16. The documentary chronicles the experience of Steven Callahan who attempted a trans-Atlantic crossing from Portugal to Rhode Island on his home-built, 21-foot sailboat Napoleon Solo. But a whale collided with the vessel and within minutes, the small craft was flooded. He escaped on a life raft with his emergency kit, and later ran out of water and food. He also faced shark attacks at night. Rescuers eventually presumed he was dead.
Callahan later wrote the best-selling “Adrift: 76 Days Lost At Sea.” The story was made into a film with executive-producer Ang Lee, who won the Oscar for Best Director for “Life Of Pi,” a film on which Callahan was hired to consult.
Mashpee-based executive producer of the documentary, Robert F. Sennott, will attend the screening in Rockport on Monday, Aug. 19, at 7 p.m. and host a question session after the screening. For details on show times, visit www.CapeAnnCinema.com.
Culture splash
The Thursday Culture Splash continues Aug. 15 from 4-7 p.m. in Gloucester’s two cultural districts: in East Gloucester’s Rocky Neck Cultural District and downtown in the Harbortown Cultural District. There is a variety of events, live music, art shows, flash mob and more. Take a free water shuttle between the two districts from 4-8 p.m. Free live music at Cape Ann Museum with What Time is It Mr. Fox? at 5 p.m.; and the Harbor Loop series features Movie Night with “Captains Courageous” screened on the sails of schooner Adventure at 8:30 p.m.; seating area opens at 7:30 p.m.
Back by popular demand, Ocean Alliance holds its second “Blues, Bots, and Baleen!” during Culture Splash with live music, a SnotBot drone demonstration, beverages and a “whale of a time” learning about marine life at Ocean Alliance’s headquarters, located on the water at the historic Tarr and Wonson Paint Manufactory, 32 Horton St.
For details on all events, visit: discovergloucester.com.
Homecoming for Laila McQueen
Gloucester’s Laila McQueen and Tenderoni will star in a drag show this Saturday, Aug. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at The Cut, 177 Main St. in Gloucester. McQueen is the stage name of Emmy Award-winning Tyler Devlin who competed as Laila on the MTV reality competition show “RuPaul‘s Drag Race” in 2016. He went on to perform around the world including Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. In 2020, he became a make-up artist on HBO’s drag makeover series “We’re Here” for which he won the Emmy award. He also was nominated for an Emmy in 2024 for his work on “We’re Here.”
Tenderoni is nationally known drag king known for his throwback high-energy performances and rhinestoned looks. He has been featured in The New York Times, national campaigns for Youtube, and Vogue Brasil as well as pride campaigns with Skittles, Smirnoff and Taco Bell. For details and tickets — there is a VIP Meet and Greet upgrade — visit thecutlive.com.
Around the corner
Anne Rearick at Sargent House Museum: A free meet-the-artist event for Rearick’s current exhibit at the museum, at 49 Middle St., Gloucester, will be Thursday, Aug. 22, from 5-7 p.m. The Gloucester photographer’s exhibition is a smaller version of a show she had in Paris at Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière last winter. The photographs represent a selection of images from projects in Kazakhstan, the French Basque Country, and other rural areas of Europe. The show will be up through Oct. 13.
“Rearick’s work is documentary in nature but is also uniquely personal. Whether in rural France, her home state of Idaho, or a post-soviet Kazakh village, the artist’s approach to photography is based on a long-term perspective. Rearick works slowly, returning to a place repeatedly over time and in doing so, deepening her understanding of the cultures and communities she photographs,” according to an exhibit statement.
Culture Splash Spotlight on Aug. 22: “Fishermen’s Ballads and Songs of Sea 150 Years On” at Sawyer Free Library. The library, at 21 Main St., will host the event featuring Gloucester singer and “song-searcher” Michael O’Leary at 5 p.m. when he will share a performance based on pieces in the book “Fishermen’s Ballads and Songs of the Sea,” published in 1874 by the Procter Bros. of Gloucester. It is a collection of 120 pieces by diverse authors. It’s a literary, musical and folkloric time capsule of Gloucester, and 2024 is the 150th anniversary of its publication. Registration is required at sawyerfreelibrary.org, or call 978-325-5500.
‘Zombies’ wanted
Plans are underway for a New England premiere of “Night of the Living Dead: The Musical!,” based on the 1968 movie. The cast is almost complete, but the production is looking for more zombies and ensemble members, whether seasoned performers or those new to the stage.
“We’re on the hunt for bold, different, and dramatically incorrect talent to bring this production to life. Get ready to sing your heart out, dance like there’s no tomorrow, and unleash your inner zombie in a musical extravaganza,” according to a press release. Show dates are Oct. 11-13 and Oct. 18-20 at Chelmsford Center for the Arts. For more information, email ditgdc@gmail.com.
Around Cape Ann is a column devoted to events happening on Cape Ann and artists from Cape Ann performing elsewhere. If you would like to submit an item, contact reporter Gail McCarthy at 978-675-2706 or gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com at least two weeks in advance.