Arts Alerts: Check out cool comedy scene, new shows at Peoria Players, Cornstock and more

Richard Kirchgessner is a resident artist occupying a studio on the 3rd floor of the Contemporary Art Center.

ART

The Contemporary Art Center’s “1st Friday Studio Tour” March 1 is an open house showcasing 15 artists’ studios on the third floor, and works by Preston Jackson and Natalie Jackson on the second floor.

CINEMA

“Dune, Part 2” opens March 1, when director Denis Villeneuve again features Timothy Chalamet, Frank Herbert’s novel and gripping imagery.
Kristen Stewart stars as a shy gym manager attracted to bodybuilder Katy O’Brian in “Love Lies Bleeding,” a romance/thriller opening March 8.
Ed Harris co-stars as Stewart’s criminal father.
Opening March 15, the comedy/fantasy “The American Society of Magical Negroes” stars Justice Smith as a recruit to a group focusing on making white people’s lives easier. The satire co-stars David Alan Grier.

COMEDY

Hilarious Heywood Banks brings his zany genius to Jukebox Comedy Club on March 2.
After John Crist’s 2022 “What Are We Doing?” YouTube special and his book “Delete That” came Crist’s “Emotional Support Tour,” stopping March 10 at the Peoria Civic Center Theater.

DANCE

“Swan Lake” will be March 8 at the Civic Center Theater. The World Ballet Series production will feature the Lake County Symphony Orchestra live.

STREAMING

“The Apples Never Fall” is a 7-part series about a retiring couple (Annette Bening and Sam Neill), their four adult kids, and a stranger moving in. It’s set to launch March 14 on Peacock.
“3 Body Problem” is about time, space and the unraveling of Nature, if not reality, with first contact with extraterrestrials. Adapted from the trilogy by Chinese author Cixin Liu, it’s an 8-episode series starting March 21 on Netflix.

Cousin Eddie, is playing March 2 at Par-A-Dice’s Tin Lizard Bar & Grill and March 16 at Eureka’s Bowling Alley Bar.

MUSIC

An area favorite, Cousin Eddie, is playing March 2 at Par-A-Dice’s Tin Lizard Bar & Grill and March 16 at Eureka’s Bowling Alley Bar.
In “Erin’s Isle,” the Peoria Pops Orchestra will mix classical masterpieces and familiar Irish songs in an early St. Patrick’s Day celebration March 9 at ICC’s Performing Arts Center.
The Central Illinois Jazz Society presents John Miller & the Romaniacs on March 24 at Trailside Event Center.
Guitarist Steve Hackett’s “Genesis Revisited, ‘Foxtrot’ at Fifty, and Hackett Highlights” will be presented March 30 at the Civic Center Theater.

TELEVISION

Kate Winslet stars as an authoritarian leader witnessing the demise of her rule in “The Regime,” a 6-part series starting March 3 on HBO. The cast includes Martha Plimpton and Hugh Grant.
The 96th Academy Awards is scheduled to air March 10 on ABC.

THEATER

Peoria Players Theatre’s “The Play That Goes Wrong,” directed by Susan Hazzard, is scheduled for March 8-10 and 14-17.
“Tuesdays with Morrie,” based on Detroit sportswriter Mitch Albom’s bestseller about a man reconnecting with a professor stricken with ALS, will be staged at Corn Stock Theatre March 15-17 and 22-24. Tommy Rosecrans and Greg Blume star.

— Compiled by Bill Knight