Dancing, singing, eating on tap at cultural center

The Southern Cultural Heritage Center has announced plans for three November events.

On Nov. 9, the center’s monthly ballroom dance lessons will begin. November’s dance is the West Coast Swing and will be taught by James Frechette, owner of Applause Dance Factory.

Classes will meet from 5 until 7 p.m. Nov. 9 and Nov. 23. Cost is $20 per person per session.

On Nov. 14, Sentimental Journey Dance — a concert featuring the Capitol City Stage Band — will be at 7 p.m.

The free concert will feature songs made famous by Duke Wellington, William “Count” Basie and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.  It is sponsored by the Mississippi Arts Commission, City of Vicksburg, Vicksburg Senior Center and Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation.

From noon to 1 p.m. Nov. 21 will be the annual Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation meeting and luncheon. The speaker will be Lee Lampton, president of operations at Ergon. Admission is $10, and reservations must be made by Nov. 19.

For more information, call 601-631-2997 or email info@southernculture.org.

Vicksburg artist to be on TV show

“Southern Expressions,” a television series presenting some of the best visual artists in Mississippi, will premiere Nov. 6 on Mississippi Public Broadcasting. Among host Ron Brown’s first guests will be Vicksburg artist and gallery owner H.C. Porter.

The show will be broadcast at 8 p.m. on local cable Channel 7.

Each show features two artists. Along with Porter will be Dub Brock, a painter and performer from McComb.

Porter’s most notable project is “Backyards & Beyond: Mississippians and Their Stories,” a book and traveling exhibit of post-Hurricane Katrina-themed works. Porter, a native of Jackson, operates the H.C. Porter Gallery in downtown Vicksburg.

VTG announces plans for play, auditions

The Vickburg Theatre Guild will present two events in November and December.

“Stalag 17” will be performed Nov. 14-16 and Nov. 21-23. Friday and Saturday performances will be at 7:30 p.m., and on Sundays at 2. The play is a tense-yet-funny drama about Allied prisoners in a World-War-II German POW camp. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens 55 and older, $7 for students 13 and older, and $5 for children 12 and younger.

At 2 p.m. Nov. 15 and 7 p.m. Nov. 17, auditions for “Searching for Eden: The Diaries of Adam and Eve” will be held.

The cast will consist of one man and one woman playing characters who are not age-specific. The audience sees the first couple as they meet in the Garden of Eden, then in present time as Adam books a vacation package to present-day Eden — now an upscale resort. Production dates are Feb. 13-15 and Feb. 20-22.

Both events will be at Parkside Playhouse, 101 Iowa Ave. For information, call 601-636-0471 or visit www.e-vtg.com.