Helena-area arts and entertainment news published Feb. 2

Lewis & Clark Tap Room has scheduled the following upcoming events:

For info on all shows: Lewis & Clark Tap Room, 1535 Dodge Ave., lctaproom.com/ or call 406-442-5960. 

Tantalize your spirit and warm your soul listening to the energized, flamenco and Moroccan-inspired music of Seffarine, performing 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, at The Myrna Loy.

The Portland-based ensemble features lead singer Lamiae Naki, who was born in Morocco, her husband flamenco guitarist and oud player Nat Hulskamp, acclaimed jazz bassist Damian Erskine and drummer and award-winning flamenco dancer Manuel Gutierrez.

The group’s debut album, “De Fez a Jerez,” was named one of the Top 13 African CDs of 2015 by Afribuku, an African digital magazine on arts and culture.

Tickets are $25 and are available online at themyrnaloy.com/, 15 N. Ewing, or call 406-443-0287.

On Saturday, Feb. 4 at 10 a.m. in St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, members of the Helena Symphony Orchestra continue this Season’s Education Concert Series with another Symphony Kids performance. Written specifically for children ages 5 to 10, Symphony Kids is a free 30-minute concert for Helena families.

As one of the symphony’s educational programs, Symphony Kids brings the power of live instrumental music into the hearts of children with specific concerts designed to introduce them to the world of music and instruments.

Performed in the setting of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, children get to enjoy up-close and personal performances meant to enrich and enhance music education in the Helena region. Symphony Kids receive an activity packet, and are welcomed to enjoy the Instrument Petting Zoo sponsored by Piccolo’s Music immediately following the concert in the lobby. Children of all ages are welcome!

Join Premiere Dance Company for a night of music, dancing, delicious food, and lots of fun featuring Reverend Slanky, Montana’s funkiest seven-piece band.

This family-friendly event will be held Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds. Doors open at 6 p.m.; the band will play 7-10 p.m.

The evening also includes an extensive silent auction and raffles.

Admission at the door is $15 for adults and free for ages 12 and younger, food not included. Snacks and beverages, including beer and wine, will all be available for purchase at the event.

For more information, visit premieredancecomplany.org.

Voltaire, the most famous man in Europe and also a prolific author, a beloved playwright and letter writer. He disrupted cruelty, tyranny and ignorance. Near the end of his amazingly long life, he wrote the hilarious, tragic, philosophical novel for which is best-known, Candide.

Enjoy romance, hilarity, tragedy and heart-stopping virtuoso music on viola da gamba on Friday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Holter Museum of Art.

Featured artists include Arwen Myers: Soprano, Aaron Shehan: Tenor, Carrie Krause: Baroque Violin, Sarah Stone: Viola da Gamba and John Lenti: Orbo.

Repertoire includes works by Rameau, Marais, Forqueray, Mozart, and Bach.

Admission: $30/general or $5/students.

Purchase tickets at: www.eventbrite.com/e/candides-voltaire-tickets-477569903437

Enjoy a captivating comedy as splendidly unpredictable as falling in love. On a cold, clear Friday night in the middle of winter (and in the middle of nowhere), the residents of Almost, Maine find themselves falling in and out of love in the strangest of ways.

Performance dates are Friday, Jan. 27 through Sunday, Feb. 12; Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. with  Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m.

Ticket prices: Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, $27. Wednesday evenings and Sunday matinees, $23.  Kids 18 and under, $17.

To order tickets, call the Grandstreet Box Office (afternoons): 406-447-1574, or order online: www.GrandstreetTheatre.com.

Meet ceramic artists from across the nation and the world, experience finished artwork, see works in progress, learn about the ceramic process and connect with other art appreciators during The Bray’s Open Studios. Resident Artist Studios are open the first Friday of each month from 5-7 p.m., and the following Saturday, noon until 2 p.m.

Free and open to the public

Corks and Canvas: Friday, Feb. 3, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Price: $45. Member: $35.

Join the Holter for a happy hour with paint. With a drink in one hand and a paintbrush in the other, create a masterpiece while enjoying a social evening of painting!

Figure Drawing Open Studio: Wednesdays, on-going from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Price: $17. Member: $12.

This ongoing figure drawing studio is open to all levels! Bring your own media.

Call 406-442-6400, or visit holtermuseum.org/ for more information.

The award-winning documentary, “Framing Agnes,” which gives an illuminating glimpse into the world of trans people in the 1950s and today, shows at The Myrna Loy 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb 9.

This special one-night screening is in collaboration with the Holter Museum of Art that is currently showing two exhibits featuring transgender, nonbinary and two-spirit artists.

Using a talk show format, ”Framing Agnes” features actors reenacting interviews with Agnes and five other trans people who are based on real-life case files at a UCLA gender clinic in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The roles are played by an all star cast of trans men and women.

The film won the Next Innovator and Audience awards at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

Tickets are $10 general admission (ages 16 plus) and are available online at themyrnaloy.com/, 15 N. Ewing, or call 406-443-0287.

“Rip-Wrapped: Breaking New Ground,” a new exhibit at The Myrna Loy Jailhouse Gallery, holds a free artists’ reception and talk Thursday, Feb. 9, followed by a reception.

Ceramic artists Robert Harrison and Danielle O’Malley joined forces to create this whimsical sculptural installation using local, sustainable materials from the Helena area.

They are eager to share information on how artists can use materials “within arms reach” to create art.

They will give an artist talk and slide show at 5 p.m. talking about their process, which will be followed by a reception.

The colorful installation is “sort of an immersive experience for the viewer,” says Harrison and includes more than three dozen pieces that are either floating in the air or resting on pedestals around the gallery.

Harrison is known internationally for his architectural sculptures and installations and is a former resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation and board president.

He also authored “Sustainable Ceramics: A Practical Approach,” published by Bloomsbury Publishing.

O’Malley earned an MFA from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, is executive director of Art Mobile of Montana and director of Montana Clay.

The Myrna Loy is located at 15 N. Ewing St., themyrnaloy.com, 406-443-0287.

Pat Seiler will be speaking at the Metropolitan Dinner Club on Thursday, Feb. 16, at Family Roots Restaurant 

Seiler was raised in Montana she earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Montana and a Masters Degree in Social Work from Eastern Washington University. Her successful business career includes many interests. She has been owner of Livery Travel, Trails West Tours, and Livery Square Development. In the late 1980’s and 90’s she planned and escorted dinosaur expeditions around the world for Spielberg’s Jurassic movie consultant Jack Horner.

With a passion for writing, Seiler was a newspaper travel columnist for 20 years and has authored two books.

No host cocktails at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6 and entertainment at 7. Non-members are welcome. Reservations are required by Feb. 8. Dinner for each member and their guest/s is $27. Non members are $35 each. Mail checks payable to Metropolitan Dinner Club by Feb. 8 to Patti Shearer, 3713 Adyson Dr., Helena, MT 59602. Call Patti at 406-202-1766 if you have questions.

Carroll College’s annual Faith & Reason public lecture will feature Dr. Jessica Coblentz from St. Mary’s University in South Bend, Indiana. The lecture, Depression as a Wilderness Experience: Some Theological Resources for Life with Depression, will be Feb. 2, 7 p.m., Wiegand Amphitheatre, Simperman Hall, Carroll College.

The lecture will focus on her research in her 2022 book Dust in the Blood: A Theology of Life with Depression, published by Liturgical Press.

Dust in the Blood considers the harrowing realities of life with depression from a Christian theological perspective. Weaving first-person narratives of depression, contemporary theologies of suffering, and ancient biblical tales of the wilderness, especially the story of Hagar, Coblentz argues for and contributes to an expansion of Christian ideas about what depression is, how God relates to it, and how Christians should understand and respond to depression in turn.

This lecture is open to the public.

Celebrate Love Your Library Month with the Lewis & Clark Library this February with kits and in-house movies. Love Your Library kits will be available for pickup at library locations starting Feb. 1 while supplies last. The celebration includes in-person movie showings at library locations. Snacks and drinks provided at movie events.

Helena: Friday, Feb. 3, 4 p.m. Youth Movie; Sunday, Feb. 12, 2 p.m. Movie for Adults

East Helena: Friday, Feb. 10, 3 p.m. Movie for Adults; Wednesday, Feb. 15, 3 p.m. Youth Movie

Augusta: Sunday, Feb. 12, 3 p.m. Movie for Adults; Sunday, Feb. 19, 3 p.m. Youth Movie

Lincoln: Friday, Feb. 3, 3 p.m. Youth Movie; Sunday, Feb. 12, 2 p.m. Movie for Adults

760 Great Northern, 406-442-4225, cinemark.com

• Missing, PG-13
• Avatar: The Way of Water, PG-13
• M3GAN, PG-13
• A Man Called Otto, PG-13
• Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, PG
• The Whale, R
• Plane, R

15 N. Ewing, 406-443-0287, themyrnaloy.com

• The Whale, R
• When You Finish Saving the World, R
• Living, PG-13