Around the Town: Helena-area arts and entertainment news published Feb. 17 | Local

Basin trombonist MJ Williams joins acclaimed jazz musicians for a night of music at The Montana Club, 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, on the second floor.

Joining her are Bob Bowman on bass, Loren Stillman on saxophone and David Morgenroth on piano, playing songs from the American songbook and originals.

Bowman has performed with a number of artists including Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Carmen McRae, Bobby Watson and others and has toured around the world and played on many Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning recordings.

Stillman has earned glowing reviews in The New York Times, Downbeat Magazine, Jazziz, Jazz Times, and on National Public Radio, marking him as an innovative voice of modern jazz.

He has performed and recorded alongside The Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, Carla Bley and many more.

Morgenroth is a solo and collaborative artist in classical, jazz and popular genres, holding graduate degrees in both classical piano and jazz studies from the University of North Texas. He has performed with such luminaries as Michael Brecker, Buddy DeFranco, Lionel Hampton and Freddie Hubbard.

For more info visit https://montanaclub.coop/.

The Intermission Band plays up-tempo rock and country music 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, at Lewis & Clark Tap Room.

The Sweet Lillies, known for their three-part harmony singing as part of their bluegrass- and soul-inflected sound, play 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18.

Montana Comedy Showcase is 5:30 to 6:45 Saturday, Feb. 19. Free tickets are available on eventbrite.com. 

Open Mic is 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22.

For information, contact Lewis & Clark Tap Room, 1535 Dodge Ave., https://lctaproom.com/ or call 406-442-5960. 

Zoso – The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience – performs the most accurate and captivating Led Zeppelin live show since the real thing 7 to 10 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 19, at the Lewis & Clark Tap Room. Tickets are available on eventbrite.com for $20 the day of the show. 

Their passion, musical ability, showmanship and precise attention to detail earned them critical acclaim, name recognition and a loyal national following.

The Los Angeles Times hailed the group as being “head and shoulders above all other Zeppelin tributes,” and the Chicago Sun-Times declared Zoso is “the closest to the original of any tribute.”

For information, contact Lewis & Clark Tap Room, 1535 Dodge Ave., https://lctaproom.com/ or call 406-442-5960.

Helena Symphony Orchestra performs “Romeo & Juliet” and “Symphonie fantastique” 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, at the Helena Civic Center.

Fall in love with the iconic, tragic story of Romeo and Juliet through the stunning and sorrowful music of Tchaikovsky.

Then soak in the soaring heights of romance and the depths of betrayal of Berlioz’s bombastic “Symphonie fantastique.”

Single concert tickets can be purchased ($55-$15 plus a $5 transaction fee) online at www.helenasymphony.org, by calling the Symphony Box Office (406-442-1860), or visiting the Symphony Box Office at the Placer Building (21 N. Last Chance Gulch, Suite 100) between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

HomeStream Your Helena Symphony presented by AARP Montana will again be offered. This is available on YouTube, the Helena Symphony’s website, and the Symphony’s Facebook page. Streaming is free, but donations are welcome.

The Carroll College Theatre Department presents a world premiere of “The Hijabis” by Chicago playwright Rohina Malik, opening Thursday, Feb. 17.

Performances are 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17, 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26 and 2:30 p.m. Feb 20 and 27. Talkbacks with the author are following the shows on Feb. 25, 26 and 27 at Carroll College’s FLEX Theatre, 1601 Benton Ave. (in the Campus Center).

Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for general admission at www.carroll.edu/theatre.

Live streaming is $15 for one person and $30 for a group. Masks are required for the audience.

Also showing is the critically-acclaimed solo show ‘Unveiled’ by Rohina Malik 7 p.m. Feb. 28, at Flex Theatre. Admission is free. 

Carroll College Mimeprov is back for the first time since the pandemic this year. See it at the FLEX Theatre for monthly performances of fast-paced, witty fun for everyone, led by none other than legend of stage and screen, Mokey McNeilly. The first show is 4:30 p.m. Feb. 19. Admission is free.

Errol Koch, director of the Heath in Helena, will be leading a two-hour stage production workshop, sponsored by Broadwater Community Theater, at The Lodge 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, in Townsend.

Koch, who has worked and acted with the Virginia City Players at the Opera House in Virginia City, will cover stage props, managing sets, lighting and sound effects.

The public is invited. Students 11-17 are especially encouraged to attend.

Lunch will be provided. A $5 fee is suggested. To register, email [email protected] or call 406- 266-3710 or show up at The Lodge, 131 S. Spruce.

Enjoy an evening of entertainment by Helena’s youth as they showcase an array of talents at the 29th Annual Night to Shine, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, at the Helena Civic Center, 340 Neill Ave.

For tickets and info visit www.helenaciviccenter.com/home.html.

Tickets cost $15, $20 or $30 plus applicable fees. 

“Vignettes of Valor: African Americans in the Military” with Ellen Baumler is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17 at the Montana Historical Society. 

Explore the struggles and contributions of Montana’s African American soldiers with retired MHS historian Ellen Baumler. She traces the history of Black Montanans who served at Montana’s forts, fought with Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan Hill, and served in both world wars with honor.

“Secrets of the Jocko Lakes Fire, 2007” with Milo Mcleod is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24 at the Montana Historical Society.

In August 2007 the Jocko Lakes fire burned over 37,000 acres near the town of Seeley Lake. Join retired Lolo National Forest archeologist Milo Mcleod to learn what the fire revealed.

The Metropolitan Dinner Club features Vic Reiman, retired employee from the Montana Historical Society, speaking on the early Montana cattle industry.

Meet downstairs at Jorgenson’s Thursday, Feb. 24. No-host cocktails are at 5:30 p.m., dinner is at 6, and entertainment is at 7. All are welcome. Dinner and entertainment for nonmembers is $35. Reservations are required. Call Patti at 406-202-1766.

It’s time to dust off those items collected throughout the years for display in a few “pop-up” exhibits at the Montana Historical Society.

For a few hours on Saturdays this spring – March 12, April 9, and May 14 – MHS will offer space for those special collections to be shared with the community. The museum is searching for everything from telephones to toys, menus to matchboxes, or bonnets to bandannas.

Each collector will be provided a six-foot table on which to display their collection (or a portion of their collection), and each collector will be asked to write a short exhibit label, explaining what makes their collection special.

Collectors will have an opportunity to set up their displays before the pop-up exhibit opens to the public from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

“These days also are known as ‘Second Saturdays,’ where the Montana Historical Society waives entrance fees for visitors to the galleries,” noted Deb Mitchell, an MHS program specialist. “We look forward to seeing familiar and new faces at these events.”

Apply to share your collection at https://tinyurl.com/MHSpopup or contact Deb Mitchell at [email protected] or 406-444-4789 for more information.

Gallery and Museum Shop hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, go online to mhs.mt.gov.

Cohesion Dance Project’s Main Lobby is currently home to local photographer Liz Moore’s stunning work. CDP will be holding an artist reception on Sunday, Feb. 20 from 4-6 p.m., 1020 Argyle St.

Moore picked up her first Nikon in 1980, purchased in a shop just off Michigan Avenue in Chicago. She has been an avid amateur enthusiast since then, focused primarily on the outdoor beauty of her home state, Montana.

The Holter Museum of Art presents “Pop Cars,” an exhibition of characterful, mixed-media illustrations by Mack Schroer. The unique pop-culture-infused exhibition is on view from Friday, Feb. 18 through April 14 in the Nicholson Gallery.

“Pop Cars” started as a scribble of Homer Simpson on a daily-log sheet in February 2018 during a snow flurry in northwest North Dakota.

Those lines etched on the back of a trucker’s daily log sheet soon called for a portrait of Homer, and the seed for Pop Cars was planted. From there, the idea grew to encompass other pop culture figures who could get behind the “Pop Car” wheel. From a time-traveling Delorean to the Renaissance Man’s ornithopter gliding along the current of Fibonacci’s spiral, each of the characters that Schroer places in his artwork are defined by their choice of vehicle.

While growing up, Schroer loved comic books and animation and it evolved into illustration, 2D animation, and graphic design.

He graduated from Washburn University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Studio Art and Digital Design. He’s been awarded over 20 design and web awards by the Kansas Press Association for his work at the Osage County Herald-Chronicle newspaper, including the 2015 Kansas Advertisement Designer of the Year.

The Holter is open from Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., and Sunday from noon – 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information call 406-442-6400 or visit https://holtermuseum.org/.

760 Great Northern, 442-4225, cinemark.com

● Spider-Man: No Way Home, PG-13

● Death on the Nile, PG-13

● The Croods (2013), PG

15 N. Ewing, 443-0287, myrnaloycenter.com

● Worst Person in the World, R