San Diego's Top Weekend Events: Savages And Vengeful Barbers

This is KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. It's been a big Newsweek complied with today's said news in San Diego of the death and injury of two police officers. It would be nice to take a break this weekend and recharge. KPBS/Arts calendar editor Nina Garin is here. To tell us what's up. The ban Savages is in town and there is a lot of buzz around the show. They are a band from London, the singer is from Paris. It's for women they are always wearing black and heavy eyeliner and they are very intense. They play amazing music. It's very hard to describe. People call it post punk, it's very intense rock. May I share a personal story? For many years I like the new musician PJ Harvey, she was strong and powerful and I got a charge out of her. I saw Savages at Coachella and it came back . Let's hear a clip, [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] . You say that they show might be the last time to see Savages in a small venue. They did play a small show, they are now moving up to a bigger show. This might be your last chance to see them. Savages performs at The Observatory tonight in North Park. They Sweeney Todd Demon Barber. There's a lot of blood and murder in this show. All of the young actors handle that? That is a good question this is the first time that Junior Theatre is doing Sweeney Todd. They say they are not dumbing it down, they are going to be murder and blood, they will use ribbons instead of blood. It won't so be graphic. They're going to be doing mood lighting. The costumes will be steam punk. For those of us who have not seen Sweeney Todd can you give us a recap? It's the Stephen Sondheim musical about a barber who murders customers with the help of his landlady and they turn those bodies into meat pies. It was turned into a Johnny Depp movie and got 18 following that way. For those of us who don't know how skilled are the performers with the San Diego Junior Theatre? Can they handle this? They are very skilled. One of them was a finalist for the Ben Vereen Awards and went to the New York and trained professionally for a week. Sweeney Todd opens this weekend at San Diego Junior Theatre and runs through August 14. The 25th Annual Anthenaeum Juried Exhibit opens this weekend what is this? This is a look at art done by people who have lived or displayed their work in San Diego. It's a show that's curated by a prestigious group of experts. This year it's Mary Beebe director of the Stuart Collection and Hugh Davies from the Museum of them -- contemporary art and Mark Quint. Some of the artists are Dan Adams, he does great paintings of dogs. Neil Kendricks is a longtime artist in town. Echo Lew, Pia Stern. There are 30 in total. This focuses on people who have lived and worked in San Diego. Why is there a need for an exhibition like this? There are so many artists, this is a great chance for them to have their own spotlight and it's also a great way for -- it has up-and-coming artists and established artists. This is a way for them to connect and display their work together. It's a nice tradition. This is the 25th anniversary. The Anthony Ems juried expedition runs tonight through September 3. The gay men's chorus is celebrating Michael Jackson with the new show called "Thriller". What can audiences expect This will be Michael Jackson's greatest hits, you will get songs from the Jackson five to his later work. They are doing something special with "We are the World". It's very timely they are describing it as uplifting and powerful, there will be 150 singers and dancers for the show. The "We are the World" will be meaningful, especially after the news and they have their own controversies this should send a message Can you describe what a game ends performances like? They usually have a theme, they did Madonna and 2014 and it's not just singing, there is dancing and acting. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] San Diego Gay Men's Chorus Theater presents "Thriller" The Music of Michael Jackson on Saturday. I've been speaking with Nina Garin. I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. Thank you for listening. Have a very good weekend.