Monday, June 27 — Disney’s The Little Mermaid – 8 p.m. on July 1-2, 8-9, 22-23 and 2 p.m. on July 10 and 17 at the Actors Cabaret Theater (996 Willamette St.) Tickets are $16-$24 and $33-$43 for a meal and a show.
The popular Disney film, based on the fairy tale by Danish scribe Hans Christian Andersen, looks to a mermaid’s existential crisis as she considers the potential upside of living on dry land. The musical features an ensemble cast of aquatic characters, including Ariel (played by Jenny Parks), Prince Eric (Joel Ibanez), Flounder (Joely Hatcher) and King Triton (Donovan Seitzinger). Make a night out of it and enjoy a meal in the theater an hour and a half before the show begins. Tickets can be purchased at actorscabaret.org or by calling the box office at (541) 683-4368.
Tuesday, June 28 — Make It: Banana Pianos and More – 6 p.m. at the Eugene Library’s Sheldon Branch (1566 Coburg Rd.) Free.
Budding engineers of all ages: It’s about time you create a piano with a few bananas. Check out this unusual workshop and construct your own quasi-useful but nonetheless hilarious contraptions using the Makey Makey Kit, a novelty invention created by graduate students from MIT. A quick YouTube search will pull up a video of how the Makey Makey Kit works: You can conceive of your own pencil-drawn Pacman game pad, plug cables into bananas to create a make-shift computer keyboard, retrofit a staircase as a piano or turn buckets of water into the stomping pads for Dance Dance Revolution. Taken at face value, it doesn’t make much sense, but it’s hysterical to watch. Supplies will be provided during the event.
Wednesday, June 29 — Various funk music gigs around town.
This is likely the best night this week for funk music in Eugene; Alvin and the Chipfunks, a local six-piece jazz-funk fusion group, will play an 8 p.m. show at Luckey’s Club (933 Olive St, $3 cover). Later, HiFi Music Hall’s Free Funk Jam begins at 9 p.m. (44 East 7th Ave) and Agate Alley Bistro (1461 East 19th Ave) will host Lounge Jams with Bue Brown and Chilly Soup (9 p.m., no cover).
Thursday, June 30 — Leo “Bud” Welch at WOW Hall – Doors open at 7 p.m. Show starts at 8. (291 West 8th Ave.) Tickets are $20 in advance; $25 at the door.
Much like Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and B.B. King, Leo “Bud” Welch, who’s playing the WOW Hall this Thursday, is part of a generation of Delta blues musicians hailing from rural Mississippi in the early twentieth century. But unlike his coevals’ prolific recording careers, Welch’s didn’t start until 2014 with his first studio album Sabougla Voices, followed by 2015’s I Don’t Prefer No Blues, which was released two days after his 83rd birthday. Welch has planned for two forthcoming albums, including one with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. Eugene’s Cherry & the Lowboys will open for Welch.
Friday, July 1 — “Whose Life Is It Anyway?” – Thurs.-Sat. 7:30 p.m.; Sun. 2 p.m. At the Very Little Theatre (2350 Hilyard St.) Tickets are $12.
This drama focuses on Ken Harrison (played by local actor Blake Beardsley), a famous sculptor, who, after a car accident leaves him paralyzed and bedridden in a hospital room, fights for his right to die. British playwright Brian Clark was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play in 1979 when this production was brought to Broadway.
Saturday, July 2 — Carlos Mencia at Cozmic Pizza – Doors open at 8:30 p.m.; show starts at 9:30. (199 West 8th St.) Tickets are $18-$23. 21+.
If you were in grade school roughly a decade ago, you likely overheard other students cracking jokes they heard on the Comedy Central sketch-variety program Mind of Mencia. The show’s host Carlos Mencia will drop by Cozmic this Saturday as part of his “C 4 Urself” tour. Mencia, born in San Pedro Sula in Honduras as the 17th of 18 children, has released the stand-up specials “Not for the Easily Offended” in 2003 and “No Strings Attached” in 2006. Call Cozmic for more information: (541) 338-9333.
Sunday, July 3 — Eugene Emeralds vs. Salem-Keizer Volcanoes at PK Park Game begins at 7:35 p.m. (2760 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.) Tickets are $8-$14.
This Sunday, see the Emeralds (first in Northwest League South) play the Volcanoes (who are second in the league) on home turf. After the game, a special fireworks show will be scored by a quintet of musicians from the Oregon Bach Festival.