'Alpocalypse' Now

'Weird Al' Yankovic to perform three times in Folsom

By Jessica Laskey

Prepare yourself—things are about to get weird. “Weird Al” Yankovic brings his Alpocalypse Tour to Three Stages at 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 10 and at 2 and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11.

The biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time will bring his sensationally strange stage antics and new material from his 2011 compilation “Alpocalypse,” his first full-length studio album in nearly five years.

Is a cool-voiced crooner more your style? Be sure to buy tickets to see Madeleine Peyroux with special guest Rebecca Pidgeon at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 23.
Dubbed a neo-Billie Holiday who “sings as elegantly as Peggy Lee and writes with the downbeat clarity of Leonard Cohen” (Mojo Magazine), Peyroux lends her sweet and velvety vocals to jazz songs off her latest CD, co-written with former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman. The concert will open with singer-songwriter Rebecca Pidgeon, who is also a recognizable actress (“The Spanish Prisoner,” “Heist”) and the wife of playwright David Mamet.

For tickets and more information on performances at Three Stages, call 608-6888 or go to threestages.net. Three Stages is at 10 College Parkway in Folsom.
California Cruisin’

Get ready to rev your engines for the fourth annual CAM Car Cruise, hosted by the California Automobile Museum on Saturday, Aug. 4.

Cars of all kinds will cruise down Fulton Avenue from 4 to 5 p.m. for everyone to admire, followed by a car show and family-friendly festivities from 5 to 8 p.m., including live band Todd Morgan and The Emblems, vendors, a beer garden and more. Fulton Avenue merchants will be open. General admission to the event is free.

To enter your car in the cruise or for more information, call the California Automobile Museum at 442-6802 or go to calautomuseum.org. The car show will culminate on Fulton Avenue between El Camino and Marconi avenues.
 

The More, the Merrier

Fairytales do come true—from 7 to 11 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 3, you get to dress up in your best Robin Hood-themed threads and dance the night away inside Fairytale Town for its annual Moonlight Costume Ball.

Men (and women) in tights—you must be 21 or older, so bring an ID—will be treated to live music by Celtic rock band Tempest, a no-host bar and food, a red carpet photo op, dance floor, DJ and costume contest, all to benefit the renovation of Fairytale Town’s Sherwood Forest play set. And there’s no need to steal from the rich to give to the poor—tickets are only $10 in advance, $15 at the door.

Hoping to entertain the kiddies during the final throes of summer? Don’t miss the Children’s Concert series at 2 p.m. on Aug. 4 and 5. It will feature performances on the Mother Goose Stage by Ericka Davis and Kiss N Tell on Aug. 4, followed by the Freebadge Serenaders, Musical Charis and Ricky Berger on Aug. 5.
The music on Aug. 5 will also be part of Fairytale Town’s celebration of National Kids Day in the park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring carnival games, crafts, chalk art (the event is co-sponsored by Chalk It Up) and more. The concerts and Kids Day are free with paid park admission.

If getting locked inside an amusement park is your kids’ idea of the best night ever, take them to the Family Campout from 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 10 through 7 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11. Overnighters will spend the night in Humpty Dumpty’s house after an evening of theater, arts and crafts, a scavenger hunt, bedtime stories and a sing-along. Soothe your sleepover exhaustion with a light continental breakfast the next morning.

To see a Cinderella story firsthand, check out Jackie Greene Live at Fairytale Town at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18. Greene started performing in Sacramento years ago as a young Bob Dylan look- and sound-alike, and now he travels worldwide to perform and his music has been featured in television and film scores. Greene will perform outdoors on the Mother Goose Stage to raise money for park improvement and its education programs. Tickets are $30 if purchased in July, $35 if purchased in August. Get a move on!

Whether you’re a teacher or a parent who takes bedtime story duty very seriously, you’ll love the Teacher Workshop from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 29. Francie Dillon, a professor of children’s literature at California State University, Sacramento, will present “Giving Voice to Children’s Literature,” a day of easy and effective techniques to make reading aloud to your tykes as fun and fearless as possible. The workshop is free, but you need to preregister at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Last but not least for Fairytale Town’s final month of summer programming is its Pop-Up Cinema screenings of “The Wizard of Oz” at 7 and 10 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31. The first showing will feature the film alongside arts and crafts for kids, and the second screening will include the Pink Floyd album “The Dark Side of the Moon” played in tandem. The movie and its accompanying activities will celebrate the completion of the Yellow Brick Road play set. Are you a member or a brick owner? Receive two-for-one admission to the festivities.

For tickets and more information on any Fairytale Town event, call 808-7462 or go to fairytaletown.org. Fairytale Town is at 3901 Land Park Drive.
 

Not-So-Lone Rangers

You know Steve Martin’s funny. But did you also know that he plays a mean banjo? Witness both at the same time when Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers perform at the Mondavi Center at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 25.

Funnyman Martin has toured with the Steep Canyon Rangers for the better part of three years, during which time they’ve completed four acclaimed tours and recorded the wildly popular album “Rare Bird Alert,” which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. Says The Orange County Register, “What’s so heartening and wonderful to see is Steve Martin back on stage, doing both things he does best—playing banjo and being funny.”

See for yourself by calling (530) 754-2787 or going to mondaviarts.org. The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts is at 9399 Old Davis Road in Davis.
 

Seeing ‘Red’

If history, biography, drama or art—or all of the above—gets your blood pumping, don’t miss the premiere of “Red,” a play by John Logan appearing at the B Street Theatre from Aug. 25 through Sept. 22.

Logan’s play, which won the Tony Award for Best New Play in 2010, paints a provocative portrait of Mark Rothko, abstract expressionist extraordinaire, in a struggle between artistic ambition and vulnerability as he tries to complete a historic mural commission at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City.
For tickets and more information, call 443-5300 or go to bstreettheatre.org. The B Street Theatre is at 2711 B St.
 

Send Me a Postcard?

If you’ve been putting off sifting through your attic accumulations, procrastinate no more—the Antique Paper and Postcard Show comes to the Scottish Rite Center on Aug. 25 and 26. It’s time to turn your treasure into cash.

The show will feature more than a million postcards for show and sale—ranging from 25 cents to hundreds of dollars—as well as posters, autographed movie memorabilia, historic photos, books and more. If you’re a collector, you’ll thrill to thumb through the offerings that may include postcards from vanished towns, elaborate holiday cards or ones signed by an artist. If you’re a seller, bring your boxes and let the management or a dealer appraise your items for free with paid admission.

Of particular interest to the buyers? Letters with historical content (from the California Gold Rush, Civil War and the like), autographed photos and letters from famous people can fetch a pretty penny.

The show is on from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 25 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 26. For more information, call Charlotte Wager at 316-1992 or Natalie Schafer at 971-1953, or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . The Scottish Rite Center is at 6151 H St.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Wondering how to get your green thumb even greener? Don’t miss Harvest Day at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 4.
During “Sacramento’s Ultimate Garden Event,” Master Gardeners will be on-hand in the Plant Clinic to answer your most vexing vegetation questions, you’ll be able to tour the horticulture center and its demonstration gardens, sample grapes and tomatoes, visit educational booths and enjoy presentations by local gardening experts—including “What’s in That Bag? Soil Amendments” by Chuck Ingels from the UC Cooperative Extension; “Gotta Have Them Tools for the Garden” by Quentyn Young, the manager of the Fair Oaks Boulevard Nursery; “Tried & True & Heirlooms Too—Ideas for Winter Herbs & Vegetables” by Rose Loveall of the Morningsun Herb Farm; and “Growing in Place: Small Space & Vertical Gardening” by Rosella Shapiro, a UC Master Gardener.

Admission is free. For more information, call the UC Cooperative Extension at 875-6913 or go to ucanr.org/sacmg. The Fair Oaks Horticulture Center is at 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd. in Fair Oaks.

The Jury’s In

If you’re looking for judicious amounts of art, be sure to check out the Axis Gallery’s seventh National Juried Exhibition, running Aug. 4 through 26.
This year’s exhibition will feature entries from all over the country—including paintings, prints, drawings, photography and digital images—all juried by Apsara DiQuinzio, assistant curator of painting and sculpture at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Do you want in on the decision-making? Cast a vote for your favorite piece in the People’s Choice Award, to be awarded at the end of the exhibition.

Want a sneak peek? Attend the preview reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 9. Or kibitz with the creatives at the Second Saturday reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 11. For more information, call 443-9900 or go to axisgallery.org. The Axis Gallery is at 1517 19th St.

Beating the Odds

Though you may not be aware, August is National Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month. Keep reading to find some fun ways you can donate to help fund and find a cure for this degenerative disease.

SMA is a condition that causes severe muscle weakness and typically leads to breathing and swallowing difficulties for infants and children—by age 2, SMA is often fatal. Not so for Kate Mathany and Mark Storm, parents of Getty, a 27-month-old girl who is wowing the doctors one day at a time.

“There is no stopping her,” Mathany says. “She is full of life and has the spirit of your typical 2-year-old. She is beating the odds and, as her parents, we are so proud of her strength and courage.”

Mathany and her husband have founded the Getty Owl Foundation to help raise much-needed funds for the Gene Therapy Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in partnership with Ohio State University. SMA is considered the closest to treatment of more than 600 neuromuscular disorders, and GOF is doing its part to help it along.

On Saturday, Aug. 11, join GOF at the second annual Hoot the Grid SMA Art Auction at AJF Salon (at 30th and J streets) from 7 to 9 p.m. Bid on art created by families and friends affected by SMA while enjoying food and drinks in a festive atmosphere. All proceeds will benefit GOF.
If baseball’s more your thing, GOF has teamed up with the Sacramento River Cats on Aug. 25 for SMA Awareness Night. A portion of the proceeds from the night’s game will benefit GOF. Buy tickets at gettyowl.org/events/river-cats/.

To learn more about SMA, coming events and GOF, call 476-3977 or go to gettyowl.org.

Jessica Laskey can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please e-mail items for consideration by the first of the month, at least one month in advance of the event.