Best Bets October 2007

Can’t Forget Her

The Charlotte Symphony Pops concert series has a big opening month. On October 5, it performs with the Manhattan Transfer. A week later, the daughter of a legend—and one in her own right—Natalie Cole takes the stage. Soulful, sultry, and sensual are often used to describe the voice of Cole, who will perform hits from her career, spanning more than thirty years. The eight-time Grammy Award winner released her twentieth studio album, Leavin’, in 2006, and in August re-released Inseparable, her debut record. And she’ll surely perform the hit “Unforgettable,” which she “recorded” with her father, Nat King Cole.
October 12, Ovens Auditorium

Star-crossed Beginning

Parting for the summer was such sweet sorrow, but Opera Carolina and General Director and Principal Conductor James Meena are back for the new season with the timeless tale of Roméo et Juliette. The five-act opera, based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, was composed by Frenchman Charles Gounod and debuted in Paris in 1867. For the Charlotte production 140 years later, playing the roles of the ill-fated lovers are Uruguayan-born tenor Gaston Rivera as Roméo and Julliard-trained soprano Sari Gruber as Juliette.
October 18-21, Belk Theater

Read October

Throughout October, award-winning writers will come to town to share their literary journeys as the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County presents the sixteenth annual Novello Festival of Reading. Featured in this year’s festival are Cold Mountain author and Asheville native Charles Frazier, former Sierra Leone child soldier-turned-writer Ishmael Beah (pictured), and Kevin Clash, best known as the voice of beloved Sesame Street resident Elmo. Also participating in the festival are Gail Z. Martin, Frank Luntz, Jane and Michael Stern, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Calvin Trillin, and Dave Eggers. October 11-27, various locations 

Family, Man

Grab your trombones and take part in a parade—River City style—as Matthews Playhouse gets the whole family involved in its production of The Music Man, featuring local talent. Artistic Director June Bayless says the theater group has hit its niche. “We’ve found over the last couple years that family shows are what draws our audience,” she says. But don’t expect quite the same Harold Hill tale that you’re accustomed to. “We hope to put some original spins on the production,” Bayless says. “But I don’t want to give them away.”
October 12-28, Matthews Community Center