5 things

Way to make it hard to choose which of a million awesome events to go to this weekend, Richmond. Thanks. Thanks A LOT. After much hand wringing, I now present our picks of 5 things to keep you busy and happy over the next few days.

December 2, 2010; 6:00 AM • by Valerie Catrow

Way to make it hard to choose which of a million awesome events to go to this weekend, Richmond. Thanks. Thanks A LOT. After much hand wringing, I now present our picks of 5 things to keep you busy and happy over the next few days.

1. Grand Illumination

Watch as all of Downtown Richmond lights up AT THE SAME TIME. And just think: live music! free horse and carriage rides! a holiday market! Awwwww….

• Friday, December 3 (6pm to 9pm)
• 10th and E. Cary streets to the 17th Street Farmers Market
• Free!

2. A Chorus Line

While all of you probably spent your childhoods out riding bikes, my sister and I spent a good portion of ours inside watching the film adaptation of this play. Why on Earth my mother allowed this to happen I’ll never know, considering some of the song lyrics are not exactly appropriate for the elementary/middle school set. But that’s neither here nor there. What’s really important is that I could probably (sort of) still do this dance if called upon:

Seeing it live would be one of those “Oh I think I could die right now and it’d be fine” moments.

• Friday, December 3 and Saturday, December 4 (8pm; 2pm performance on Saturday)
• Landmark Theatre (6 N. Laurel Street)
• $40-$60

3. An Evening with Crispin Hellion Glover

This event makes me want to kiss the James River Film Society right on the face. The evening will start off with Mr. Glover (you might know him as George McFly) giving a one-hour dramatic narration of eight different “profusely illustrated” books. Then attendees will get a screening of “It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE.” part two of Glover’s “It” Trilogy. There will also be a Q&A session which is sure to be amazing. To learn more about Mr. Glover, check out this interview he did with RVAMag last week.

• Friday, December 3 (9pm)
• The Byrd Theatre (2908 W. Cary Street)
• $20 (advance tickets are available at Chop Suey Books and Video Fan)

4. Dominion Christmas Parade

Will it be the same without Ukrop’s running things? You’ll just have to go and find out. The Harlem Globetrotters are serving as Grand Marshalls, so there are sure to be some antics going on. For more on who to expect on Saturday, check out the full parade line-up.

• Saturday, December 4 (10am)
• Starts at the Science Museum of Virgina (2500 W. Broad Street) and ends at the Coliseum on 7th Street
• Free!

5. River City Rollergirls present: 5th Annual Season’s Beatings

I love a good pun. And a Christmas pun? I’ll be enjoying that for a while. Ahem, anyway. Themed scrimmages will be going on all day (like Glams vs Goths, Zombies vs Robots, and so on) with a final bout between Poe’s Punishers and Charlotte Rollergirls closing out the evening.

• Saturday, December 4 (1pm to 10pm)
• Greater Richmond Convention Center (403 N 3rd Street)
• $15

None of these to your liking? Fear not, there is more stuff going on in Richmond than you can shake a candy cane-shaped stick at. Be sure to check out our list of holiday events over at the RVANews Holiday Guide or scope out our standard (but beloved) Events Calendar.

As the editor of RVANews, Valerie Catrow spends most of her time wrangling people over email and muttering to herself about the content calendar. She also contributes to our parenting column while maintaining her own blog, Made in Richmond. It should be noted that she loves tots, both the potato and child varieties.

December 2, 2010 6:00 AM 7