WHAT TO DO, WHERE TO GO

This week's theatre

I Love You - Off Broadway's longest running musical - I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change! - is playing at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. This hilarious musical comedy delves into dating, romance, marriage, lovers, husbands, wives and in-laws. The four person cast will perform over twenty characters in the tricky tango known as the modern-day mating dance. The universal themes of the frustrations and pleasures of dating, marriage and love have gained the show lasting popularity and have made it a hit across the country. As a "season opener special" all tickets are just $35 for dinner and show. For tickets call the box office at 278-4422. Visit www.broadwaypalm.com for information.

Sunday, Sept. 2

Music- Bluegrass - Come and enjoy the fabulous unplugged Bluegrass performers at the Basically Bluegrass Concert & Pick-In. Scheduled to play are: Calusa Valley, The Sawgrass Drifters, and Curt Dunn & Friends. Acoustic musicians are invited to bring their instruments and join in various jam sessions. This concert will take place indoors in an air-conditioned clubhouse at 2 p.m. at the Lee County Civic Center, 11831 Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers. For information call (941) 626-5399 or on the Web at www. palmgrass.com

Ongoing events

Art - The 2007 Alliance Member show- "One Foot Square"- runs through Sept. 1 at the The Alliance for the Arts. Each framed piece shown will measure "one-foot square," the rest is up to the artist. The Alliance for the Arts galleries are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 to 3 on Saturdays. It's located at 10091 McGregor Boulevard just south of Colonial Boulevard. Visit www.artinlee.org for more details.

Art - Fifty-three paintings by members of Sanibel-Captiva Art League are on view at the Sanibel Public Library through the end of September during regular library hours. Call the library, 472-2483, or BIG ARTS, 395-0900, for hours.

Art - The Friends of the Cape Coral Library have a new exhibit which runs through September 13. The Gallery, located at the Cape Coral Library, 921 SW 39th Terrace, off Mohawk Boulevard, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Featured artists are Kathy Logan and Paul David Adamick. Logan is an art instructor at Cape Elementary School and is a nationally accredited teacher. Adamick, an art instructor at Caloosa Elementary, is proficient in art forms including clay, airbrush and wire sculpture. He combines airbrushed canvases and bent wire to create tropical onland and below-the-sea scenes.

Art - 15th Annual Aquarium Exhibition is a popular event at the Cape Coral Arts Studio. The exhibit depicts life beneath the waves, either real or imaginary, with multi-media works created by area artists. Enhanced by special lighting and sound effects, the gallery is transformed into an underwater experience. The exhibit opens Friday, Aug. 31 and runs through Sept. 14. A reception will be held on Friday, Sept. 14 from 5 to 7 p.m. The Cape Coral Arts Studio is as 4533 Coronado Parkway in the Cape. For information call 574-0802.

Art - 3 Women of Merit: 45th Founders Award Winners features the work of Bettina Edwards, Pat Kumicich and Doris Ramos. The trio all won top awards in last fall's Founders show. They will exhibit new works in photography, paintings and contemporary quilts. At the von Liebig Art Center, Naples. For information call (239) 262-6517 or on the Web at www.naplesart.org. Upcoming events ¦ Percussion - The Naples Philharmonic Orchestra percussion section members with percussionists from the Atlanta Symphony, Florida Orchestra and Jacksonville Symphony will hold a Percussion Summit on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m at the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts. Some very special guest stars will join percussionists from four orchestras for this spectacular evening of percussion music. Featured will be acclaimed marimba soloist She-e Wu, who has performed as a recitalist and clinician throughout Europe and the United States, and the high energy Hip Pickles, voted No. 1 percussion group in the world for the past three years by Drum magazine. A special clinic for percussion students will be held at 3 p.m. in Daniels Pavilion, featuring the University of Miami Percussion Ensemble along with She-e Wu and Hip Pickles. Both programs are organized by John Evans, principal timpanist with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra. For information or tickets call (239) 597-1900 or online at www. thephil.org.

Music - Chamber No. 1, Baroque Favorites will play at the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts on Sept. 16 at 3 and 8 p.m. Classic works from the Baroque era will be showcased in this opening concert, including Vivaldi's much-loved Violin Concerto in D and the "Goldfinch" Flute Concerto. Known for his innovative melodies and themes, Vivaldi wrote more than 600 concertos and was one of the first composers to write visually descriptive music - such as the vivid passages of birdsong in the flute concerto. Another famous chamber work is Boccherini's Cello Concerto, the most popular of his hundreds of chamber pieces. For information or tickets call (239) 597-1900 or online at www.thephil.org.

Comedy - Comedy Central's Brian Regan will perform at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall on Thursday, Sept. 20. Regan is one of the hottest comedians performing today. In sold-out theaters across the country, audiences keep coming back time and again to see what's new in the comedy world of Brian Regan. Known for his clean act that delves into the simple but comical aspects of human behavior, both adult and child, Regan the comedian almost never was.

The fourth of eight children, he majored in accounting at Heidelberg College in Ohio. His football coach, of all people, recommended Regan try the theater and an acting coach suggested he try standup comedy. It was Steve Martin's silly, but smart, comedic genius that truly inspired Regan. In the early 80's, Regan started performing at a small comedy club in Ft. Lauderdale an hour's drive from his hometown of Miami, and found plenty of work in the booming 80's comedy world.

By the early 90's, Regan had developed into one of the best stand-up comedians in the country and began nailing down national TV appearances: MTV Half Hour Comedy Hour, Pat Sajak, Arsenio Hall, and ... every comic's dream - The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Tickets are on sale at the Mann box office, by calling 481-4849 or online at www.bbmannpah.com or at www.livenation.com . 

Comedy - Comedian Ron White will perform at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall Thursday, Sept. 22. Tickets are available at the box office, by calling (239) 481-4849 or online at www.bbmannpah.com. Groups of twenty or more, please call (239) 489-3033 extension 3122.

Art - "Renditions," the next art exhibit at the Alliance for the Arts, opens Friday Sept. 7, with a special reception from 5 to 7 p.m. "Renditions" is a show by three artists from three different parts of the world whose work compliments each other in a powerful and revealing way. Independently, their interpretations breathe life into a broad range of subject matter and emotion, and each artist is making efforts to communicate universal understanding to various ideas with every stroke of the paintbrush. The artists are Ernesto Masis, Kellen Beck Mills, and Lily Hatchett. "Renditions" will be on display until Sept. 29. The galleries are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The Alliance is located at 10091 McGregor Boulevard just south of Colonial Boulevard. Visit www.artinlee. org for more details. ¦ Tori Amos - One of the most outspoken, creative singer/ songwriters of our time, Tori Amos, will return to Fort Myers on Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. Amos' first appearance was in 1996. Tickets are on sale at the box office, by calling 481-4849 or online at www.bbmannpah.com. Groups of twenty or more, please call (239) 489-3033 extension 3122. The Fort Myers engagement is sponsored by Chico's Charities.

Art - The Art Gallery at Florida Gulf Coast University will open a new exhibition at a public reception on Thursday, Sept. 6 from 5 p.m. until 8. inAppropriations: Contemporary Artists that Copy, Sample, Beg, Borrow and Steal will feature works by regional artist Vyd, Chicago-based video performance group Paul Harvey Oswald and internationally acclaimed artists, Negativland. The exhibition, which runs through Oct. 13 will feature video, audio and sculptural works by these thoughtprovoking artists. The artists represented in inAppropriations have the common bond of borrowing news clips, television, music and movie samples and reconfiguring the imagery and sound to achieve their own artistic vision. Many works in the exhibition have sociopolitical themes, commenting upon our information-bloated culture. Each work in the show has a very biting satire that will definitely grab the attention of the viewer.