The Weekly Memphian is a partial guide to things happening in Memphis, recommended by Daily Memphian staff. This guide covers April 3-9.
Wednesday
"Wrestle" at Ridgeway Cinema Grill: This documentary about a high school wrestling team at a struggling high school in Huntsville, Alabama, was a double winner at last fall's annual Indie Memphis Film Festival, taking home the fest's audience award for best documentary feature and its Ron Tibbett Excellence in Filmmaking Award from fest organizers. Director Suzannah Herbert will be in attendance for this encore screening. – Chris Herrington
$10. 7 p.m., 5853 Ridgeway Center Pkwy. See here for ticketing info.
Thursday
Memphis Comedy Festival: The Memphis Comedy Festival is a four-day event featuring comics from around the country and Canada doing standup, improv, podcasts, open mics, informational seminars and featured shows. This year’s headliner is Dulcé Sloan, correspondent for Comedy Central’s "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah." (Sloan is performing at the Black Nerd Power Comedy Hour during the fest.) Generally, the event’s two-hour showcases take place at TheatreWorks and themed shows take place at the Hi-Tone Café. Ticket options include a pass for all ticketed shows, a pass for all ticketed shows minus Sloan’s headlining show, and individual showcases for $10 each. Local comics first began the festival in 2012. – Elle Perry
Various times. $10-$60.
Memphis Redbirds home opener at AutoZone Park: The ballpark by The Peabody got off to a bravura early start this spring as home to the Memphis 901 FC soccer team, but returns to its original purpose as your defending Triple-A champs take to their home field, the start of a season-opening five-game homestand with the Omaha Storm Chasers, an affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. This will be a "Throwback Thursday," with $1 hot dogs and $2 beers. (There will be fireworks after Saturday night's game.) – Herrington
First pitch at 7:05 p.m. Ticketing info here.
Friday
Lost in Found is transforming Midtown's Ashlar Hall into an immersive experience on April weekends during "Rites of Spring." (Courtesy of Bill Simmers)
"Rites of Spring" at Ashlar Hall: Imagine being guided through a Gothic “castle” in Midtown Memphis with vine-covered walls and starlit trees, dancing muses, music, lighting, art installations and food and drinks. You can do just that in Lost in Found’s "Rites of Spring" at Ashlar Hall April 5-7 and April 11-14. The new, local production company is temporarily transforming the storied mansion into a world of wonder during the weekend performances. Each room will have a different spring theme inviting guests to choose their own adventure. Those guests can choose to remain a wallflower and just take in the immersive experience or they can pick up their dancing shoes and join in the fun. Star and Micey are scheduled to perform on the opening night; TapBox will be selling drinks on Fridays and Saturdays. “Rites of Spring” featured artists and collaborators include Travis Bradley, Jamie Harmon, Freedom Clay, Annie Freres, Eileen Kuo, Wes Youngblood and Jeremy Fisher. – Perry
Various times. $30. 1397 Central Ave.
Paula Boggs Band at Century House: Paula Boggs, a former Starbucks executive, leads the six-member Paula Boggs Band, which plays what the band terms “Seattle-brewed soulgrass.” This Americana band has performed at more than 200 shows across the country and released three studio albums. (Boggs contributes vocals, guitar and ukulele.) Also of note is the venue: the Century House, a private social club in the former 20th Century Fox Pictures building Downtown. The club is owned by Anton Mack. Both Mack and Boggs share a legal background. Mack is a former law school dean and Boggs served as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of law and corporate affairs at Starbucks. Admission includes three drink tickets. – Perry
7:30-9:30 p.m. $35. 151 Vance Ave.
Rhodes Jazz Night feat. Joyce Cobb with the Rhodes Jazz Band & Faculty Players: As a part of the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library’s “5 Fridays of Jazz” music series, Joyce Cobb will join the incredibly groovy Rhodes Jazz Band and an ensemble of faculty players. Cobb, a songstress and educator, is a purveyor of jazz, blues, pop standards and country. Rooted in both class and decades of experience performing music with grace and class, Cobb is sure to dazzle and delight library guests. – Jared Boyd
6:30-8 p.m. Free. 3030 Poplar Avenue.
Saturday
Memphis Farmers Market opening: The crack of ball on bat at AutoZone Park is one sign of spring's arrival in Memphis. But another, just a mile south, is the opening of the Downtown Memphis Farmers Market. This year we'll see how it coexists – just fine, I'd imagine – with the new Malco Powerhouse Cinema adjacent to it, in the lot behind Central Station. Fresh fruits and veggies in the fresh air. Flowers and popsicles and food trucks and kids in strollers. One of Memphis' happiest places and a great way to start your weekend. – Herrington
8 a.m. to 1 p.m., G.E. Patterson & South Front St.
2019 MDA Muscle Walk of Memphis at Westminster Academy: A walk in the beautiful spring weather Saturday will help fund research for kids and adults living with muscular dystrophy, ALS and related muscle-debilitating diseases. The Muscular Dystrophy Association is raising funds and awareness this weekend with an event that includes the MDA Muscle Walk, food trucks, music and activities for kids. More than 140 Muscle Walk events are anticipated to take place across the country this year. Last year, participants raised $7.2 million. – Michelle Corbet
9:30 a.m. 2520 Ridgeway Road.
Midtown Opera Festival at Playhouse on the Square: The week-plus Midtown Opera Festival is built around three premiere performances of the opera "The Falling and the Rising," about a present-day U.S. soldier who "makes her way through a coma-induced dreamscape." Other events include an "Opera Goes Broadway" brunch and a "Cartoons & Cereal" event for kids of all ages. See a full schedule here. – Herrington
Saturday through Sunday, April 14.
Vette City Roller Derby vs Memphis Roller Derby: It’s a contact sport! It’s played on roller skates! And it’s played for the honor of Memphis! OK, you got me. I don’t really know what exactly the goal of roller derby is, but I’m curious. And, if you also have no clue, you should be curious, too. We could always use something constructive to root for. Maybe they’ll pass out a rulebook before the first jam begins rolling. Wishful thinking! – Boyd
6 p.m. $10 for adults. $5 for kids. 940 Early Maxwell Boulevard.
Sunday
Death Cab for Cutie at the Orpheum: Washington state's Death Cab for Cutie is an alt-rock success story in a period where conventional rock bands are on the wane. After first emerging as an indie act in the late 1990s, the pop hooks of bandleader Ben Gibbard helped the band build a big following that's proved enduring enough to still be headlining theaters more than two decades later. New York chamber pop band My Brightest Diamond opens. See here for more info. – Herrington
8 p.m. $35-$75.
Chalk The Courtyard in Overton Square: Have a little one at home who is showing signs of being the next Monet? Before they begin work on their first mural, bring them out to Overton Square to try their hands at beautifying the ground of the courtyard with chalk. Just imagine your kid collaborating with other children to create a master work for all the public to admire – that is, until it washes away. – Boyd
10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. 2092 Trimble Place
Tuesday
“Greetings from Austin” at Hattiloo Theatre: Italian writer, musician and filmmaker Vittorio Bongiorno is hosting a screening of his documentary “Greetings from Austin.” The film chronicles the experience of a Sicilian rockabilly band participating in part-time Memphis musician Dale Watson’s Ameripolitan Music Festival in 2017. The Don Diego Trio competed in the award’s “Best Rockabilly” category before the event moved to Memphis (hence the doc’s name). The film is billed as a “Sicilian-Texan rockabilly odyssey.” – Perry
6-8 p.m. Free. 37 S. Cooper St.