Dinners, a dance class and other date-worthy doings

Those looking to plan a cute date night this weekend — whether with a significant other, a fresh face or a platonic best friend — have plenty of options to consider, including a four-course vegan dinner, a couples’ dance class, a comedy show, a new play at Riverwalk Theatre and a host of concerts. There’s also a fish fry, a poetry reading, a travelogue presentation, a handful of art exhibits and more.

For Friday evening’s live music, we have blues/classic-rock cover band Tad and the Fat Katz at UrbanBeat and the second round of Q106’s Homegrown Throwdown battle of the bands contest at Grewal Hall, both at 7; the Lansing Symphony Orchestra at the Wharton Center at 7:30; singer-songwriter Konstantin at the Peanut Barrel at 8; and variety cover band Geech at Mash Bar at 9. Saturday’s live music begins with Reverberator, an experimental music festival featuring performances by 10 local artists, at the Robin Theatre from 1 to 6 p.m. In the evening, we have Motown/‘60s cover band The Collective at UrbanBeat, blues/pop/rock group Sassiety at Sir Pizza in Old Town and the third round of Q106’s Homegrown Throwdown at Grewal Hall, all at 7; hyper-pop musicians Mirror Boy, Flower Trauma, Crystal Trench, Rinbossanova and Nicole Montego at the Avenue at 8; Geech at the Green Door at 8:30; and singer-songwriter Matthew Shannon at East Lansing’s Dublin Square at 9. Ending the weekend on Sunday is Michigan Emmy-winning folk musician Kitty Donohoe at East Lansing’s University Lutheran Church at 3 p.m. and Mac’s Bar’s weekly Harmony Sundays DJ show at 9 p.m.

Art displays on view this weekend include “Complex Dreams,” “Diasporic Collage: Puerto Rico and the Survival of a People,” “Freedom in the Automation Age” and “Seeing in 360 Degrees: The Zaha Hadid Design Collection” at the Broad Art Museum, which is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday, and “Light Through the Darkness” at the Art Williamston gallery, which is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

If you’d like to make some art of your own, the Charlotte Community Library will offer a messy canvas craft for adults 11 p.m. Saturday.

It’s the opening weekend of Riverwalk Theatre’s “Lustful Youth,” a comedy following a television statistician who’s forced to write an evening soap opera. Performances will be held 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Grand Ledge’s Wacousta-DeWitt Lodge will hold its monthly fundraiser fish fry 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday or until food runs out. Dinner is served takeout-style, with dine-in seating available. There will also be a bake sale.

For those celebrating “Veganuary,” Okemos pop-up restaurant Red Haven will offer a ticketed four-course vegan dinner 7 p.m. Friday. The menu includes a root vegetable terrine, a crispy polenta cake, a lion’s mane mushroom skewer and a citrus panna cotta.

Okemos’ Harris Nature Center will reduce the sounds and lighting on its exhibits for its Sensory-Friendly Night, running 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday. A quiet room and sensory kits will be available to attendees.

At the first presentation of Lansing Parks and Recreation’s annual Travelogue series, beginning 7 p.m. Friday at Foster Community Center, Fathi and Karen Saad will take attendees from Helsinki, Finland, to Barcelona, Spain, with a stop in Tallinn, Estonia.

The Michigan Athletic Club will kick off an eight-week salsa and West Coast swing dance class for couples 7 p.m. Friday. Couples don’t need to be MAC members but must pre-register by calling (517) 364-8880.

The Future of Comedy Show returns to Spare Time Entertainment Center 8 p.m. Friday, featuring performances by nationally touring headliner Mike Ball and regulars Dave Wellfare, Kate Brindle and Ronnie Rohrbeck.

MSU’s wrestling team will take on the University of Maryland 1 p.m. Sunday at Jenison Field House, while the women’s basketball team will face off against the University of Washington 2 p.m. Sunday at the Breslin Center.

The Ingham Festival Chorale invites interested members to attend its first rehearsal of the season 2 p.m. Sunday at University United Methodist Church. No auditions are necessary, and weekly rehearsals will continue on Sundays until the chorale’s April 13 concert.

Local poets Cindy Hunter Morgan and Anita Skeen will be the featured readers at the Lansing Poetry Club’s first Copper Chimney Lounge Poetry Series event of the year, beginning 4 p.m. Sunday at University United Methodist Church. Following their readings, the poets will sell and autograph copies of their books. There will also be an open mic, which attendees are invited to sign up for when they arrive at the event. 

Finally, the Peace Education Center will hold its annual Write for Rights event 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Edgewood United Church. Part of a global campaign by Amnesty International, attendees will sign cards of support and write letters to government leaders “calling for the release of prisoners of conscience, defending human rights activists and seeking justice for past abuses.”

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you the best of weekends.

(Have an event? Be sure to list it free at lansingcitypulse.com/calendar. Think it’s worth at least a short story? Send a news release to nicole@lansingcitypulse.com for consideration.)