Best of the best: Fun things to do June 12-18
If the dad in your life was feeling his oats in the go-go early ’60s, he’ll love an outing at Greenfield Village’s MOTOR MUSTER this Father’s Day weekend. The annual dream event for car lovers, which will bring together 850 classic vehicles made between 1933 and 1977, is paying tribute this year to the Ford Mustang on the occasion of its 50th birthday. On display will be the Mustang I and II concept cars from 1962 and ’63 (they’re still stunners) as well as the first Mustang ever sold in the spring of ’64. (It now bears the distinguished title Mustang Serial Number One.) In keeping with the “Mad Men”-era theme, Motor Muster is hosting a retro dance party Saturday evening at 7. Record Hop USA! will re-create those teen dance shows that flourished during the heyday of Chubby Checker and the Ventures. Watusi, anyone?
Saturday-Sunday, Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford, 20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn. 313-982-6001. the henryford.org. $24s, $22 ages 62 and up, $17.50 ages 5-12, free to children under 4. Regular hours: 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Billed as “140-plus concerts and events to discover,” the annual Ann Arbor Summer Festival kicks off its 2014 edition with two big-name shows this weekend. First up on Saturday is LILY TOMLIN, the funny lady and Detroit native who made characters such as Ernestine, Edith Ann and the Tasteful Lady household names before moving on to a variety of film and TV roles. (She recently announced plans to do a Netflix sitcom with Jane Fonda.) On Sunday, Cali alternative rock band CAKE, known for dabbling in a jaw-dropping variety of musical genres, takes the stage at Hill Auditorium. Opening will be rockabilly legend WANDA JACKSON, whose career was jolted back to life in 2011 courtesy of “The Party Ain’t Over,” an album produced by Jack White.
Lily Tomlin: 8 p.m. Saturday, Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University, Ann Arbor. 734-764-2538. $35-$55.
Cake with Wanda Jackson, 8 p.m. Sunday, Hill Auditorium. $40-$60.
The titles of the film shorts alone (including “Meat Puppets,” “Christmas Eve Pet Massacre” and “Fresh Flesh”) suggest that this won’t exactly be an evening at the DFT. The indie film festival known as TROMADANCE DETROIT returns to Tangent Gallery on Friday and Saturday for a second year. Modeled on similar TromaDance events around the U.S., the fest, with a lineup heavy on shorts, horror and sci-fi, charges no entry fee for filmmakers and no audience admission. Among the feature-length offerings is local filmmaker Ryan Meade’s “Invaluable,” about the special effects maker in the “Evil Dead” movies.
Opens at 5 p.m. Friday with a filmmaker meet-and-greet; screenings start at 7 p.m.; afterparty starts at 11 p.m. Continues 1 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday. Tangent Gallery, 715 E. Milwaukee, Detroit. Full schedule at www.tromadancedetroit.com . Free.
Rejoice, shortcake lovers. If you found yourself despairing during the endless winter of 2013-14 that you’d never taste homegrown strawberries again, your fears are about to be proved unfounded. The BELLEVILLE NATIONAL STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL returns right on schedule this weekend with carnival rides, two midways, music, crafts and a big parade at 11 a.m. Saturday with more than 150 entrants. Needless to say, there will be an abundance of strawberry treats and baskets of berries ripe for the picking.
Noon-10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, noon-7 p.m. Sunday, downtown Belleville. 313-383-8920. www.nationalstrawberryfest.com . Free.
Ding-dong, the show is on! A touring version of the 2011 stage adaptation of “THE WIZARD OF OZ,” a hit in London’s West End, arrives Tuesday at the Detroit Opera House for a 12-day run. This staging of “Oz” sticks close to the beloved 1939 movie version and mixes the movie’s familiar Harold Arlen-E.Y. Harburg score with new tunes by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. (Lost Kansas waif Dorothy has a new musical moment called “Nobody Understands Me,” while the Wicked Witch of the West gets to belt “Red Shoes Blues.”) Windsor native Danielle Wade will don the iconic blue gingham jumper to play Dorothy, a role she won in 2012 via the CBC reality show “Over the Rainbow.”
7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 2 & 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 & 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway, Detroit. 313-961-3500. www.michiganopera.org. $24-$105. Through June 29.