Selections: Our picks of the week's best events, Nov.16-22

Don Pasquale

OPERA

Let's see. A wealthy blowhard decides he wants to grab himself a young, beautiful woman, and he breaks financial promises made to his impoverished nephew in order to get what he wants. What does this remind us of? Hmmm ... anyway, Donizetti's Don Trump, er, Pasquale is in the humorous, all's-well-that-ends-well opera buffa tradition – a style that Opera Orlando has proven it's mastered with its uproarious April mashup of Mozart's The Impresario and Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tiresias. Frankly, after the past week we are feeling more Don Giovanni – specifically, the Commendatore-drags-your-ass-to-hell part – than Don Pasquale, and oddly enough, the reborn opera company presents that very show in March. But in the meantime, let's yuk it up with this "most luscious of comedies," starring massively impressive basso buffo Peter Strummer as Pasquale. What the hell, fate has made beggars of us all. – Jessica Bryce Young

7:30 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Sunday (sold out) | Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. | 844-513-2014 | drphillipscenter.org | $29-$75

Pygmalion

THEATER

Mad Cow Theatre has been through some rough patches in the past month regarding its financial situation and paying its artists, but it has since tried to undergo a makeover by paying everyone it owes by Dec. 1. A lot of people don't feel comfortable supporting Mad Cow, which is understandable. But if you'd like to contribute to their efforts toward getting those checks out, come see their other makeover involving Eliza Doolittle, Henry Higgins and the cast of Pygmalion for a holiday classic this weekend. This timeless piece from George Bernard Shaw involves the metamorphosis of a Cockney flower girl into a fancy lady, not through the use of Sephora products, but by improving her pronunciation, if you can believe it. Here's to transformations we can get behind! – Monivette Cordeiro

7:30 p.m. | through Dec. 18 | Mad Cow Theatre, 54 W. Church St. | 407-297-8788 | madcowtheatre.com | $16-$40

Jingle Eve

EVENTS

For those of you already ironing out those ugly Christmas sweaters and eyeing that perfect spot in your house for the Christmas tree, look no further than Ivanhoe Village's iconic launch to the holiday season. The annual Jingle Eve festival and boat parade is back in perfect time to really jingle your bells and get you in the holiday spirit. Join the Ivanhood in the lighting of Orlando's Happy Holidays sign overlooking Lake Ivanhoe and the tree lighting in Gaston Edwards Park. Carolers will stroll along the streets singing your favorite tunes throughout Santa's village, and Santa himself will be in attendance, providing some prime photo opportunities for this year's Christmas cards. Pedi-cabs will be available throughout the evening, making it a breeze to see the entire festival, but don't forget to tip your drivers. Tim's Wine Market also sponsors an optional wine walk, with pours available at multiple stops throughout the neighborhood. – Aileen Perilla

5-10 p.m. | Ivanhoe Village Main Street District, Virginia Drive and Orange Avenue | ivanhoevillage.org | free-$25

Straight Arrows

MUSIC

Can we make punk gross again? Australia's Straight Arrows are sure as fuck giving it a try. Dispensing with any of the sonic signifiers of your usual pogo fodder, the Arrows have been trawling the same slimy furrows as bands like White Fence, the Sonics and Thee Headcoats since 2010, touring relentlessly and gaining the notice of go-to filth peddlers like Hozac and Total Punk in the process. They're currently risking life and limb here in the U.S., showing off songs from their new psyched-out album, Rising. There will be plenty of punk and hardcore bands in the coming weeks, months and (yeah) years who will have plenty to say about the state we're in, but this Saturday, the Arrows, along with Golden Pelicans, Gino and the Goons, and the Secret Tracers, are going to wallow in negative sickness and the accidental, glorious happiness that comes from hearing loud music in a room full of weirdos. – Matthew Moyer

with Golden Pelicans, Gino and the Goons, Secret Tracers | 8 p.m. | Will's Pub, 1042 N. Mills Ave. | willspub.org | $7

Sofas and Suds

EVENTS

Hop out of the lazy couch-potato state you normally lapse into on weekends and head to Sanford to see tricked-out couches in fast motion. Downtown Sanford's West End Trading Co. hosts this annual event where local workers race their asses off as they push their pimped-out rides to the finish line. Multiple rounds feature one couch against another as tipsy participants race for bragging rights and a sense of accomplishment. For spectators, there will be plenty of beer, wine, spirits and grub from West End. A local market will also be nearby full of goodies to help you remember this glorious event. If you want to go all out, VIP is an option with premium viewing areas, complimentary drinks and the chance to meet the racing teams. Oh, and bathrooms. Those are pretty important. – Marimar Toledo

2-6 p.m. | West End Trading Co., 202 Sanford Ave., Sanford | 407-322-7475 | drinkatwestend.com | free-$35

Tatsuya Nakatani and Kawabata Makoto

MUSIC

Psychedelic rock is not a Pink Floyd boxed set as big as a suitcase that retails for around $500, nor is it the pleasing-to-the-ear but still somewhat diluted pop hybrids created by the likes of Of Montreal and Flaming Lips. Psych rock, at its essence, should be underground, ritualistic, a mess of hair, sweat, strange sights and stranger sounds all merging into a LOUD and transcendent whole. If you think we're being needlessly difficult and cranky, please accept our cordial invitation to watch two modern masters of neu-avant-psych put on a rare collaborative show for free in an intimate gallery space. Actually, to call it just a "show" does somewhat of a disservice to the singular skills of Tatsuya Nakatani and Kawabata Makoto. Nakatani is a hard-touring experimental drummer par excellence, whose skills and jaw-dropping array of percussion instruments pretty much make him a one-man drumline (and then some). Kawabata Makoto is freak royalty: guitarist and guru for veteran Japanese psych lunatics Acid Mothers Temple. Separately, either of them playing Orlando would be an event. Together, this will be a sonic journey. – MM

7 p.m. | The Gallery at Avalon Island, 39 S. Magnolia Ave. | 407-317-8367 | avalongallery.org | donations encouraged

Bob Dylan and His Band

MUSIC

Official living legend and alleged Nobel Prize-shunner Bob Dylan plays the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts tonight, and amazingly, as of press time, tickets were still available. In his more than five decades of stardom, Dylan has explored styles ranging from folk to rock to electric blues to gospel (though lately he's also been thinkin' 'bout Alicia Keys). The singer-songwriter who contributed such classics as "The Times They Are a-Changin'," "Like a Rolling Stone," "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" to the American songbook has been named to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame; has won a Pulitzer, a Golden Globe, an Academy Award and 13 Grammys; and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (plus, after he finally called Sweden following a two-week silence, the Nobel Prize for literature). Backed by a constantly changing lineup, Dylan has toured steadily since the 1980s on what some have dubbed the "Never Ending Tour." It's probably not your absolute last chance to see him, but there can't be many left. – JBY

8 p.m. | Walt Disney Theater, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. | 844-513-2014 | drphillipscenter.org | $89.50-$455

Monday, 21

Music Mondays: A Fat Wreck