5 Things To Do Today: "A Brony Tale," book-to-movie chat, The Beatniks, Joan Baez ...

By Volcano Staff on July 22, 2014

TUESDAY, JULY 22 2014 >>>

1. A few years ago, Canadian filmmaker Brent Hodge was at dinner with friends when one of them, Ashleigh Ball, started talking about a curious side-effect of her job. Ball is the voice of Applejack, Rainbow Dash and other characters on the TV series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Her biggest fans? Little girls ... and grown men. "Bronies" are mostly men who are fans of the show. They get their day in the sun in A Brony Tale, a documentary screening at 2 and 7 p.m. at The Grand Cinema.

2. Join film critic Robert Horton for a conversation about some of the wildest book-to-movie adaptations and how they can show us something new at 6:30 p.m. in the Olympia Timberland Library. Horton will touch on some notably creative adaptations. How did The Tempest become Forbidden Planet? How did Jane Eyre turn into I Walked with a Zombie? And how on earth did the Coen Brothers take Homer's Odyssey and come up with O Brother, Where Art Thou? See how a wild adaptation cannot only illuminate the original, even when we barely recognize it, but also teach us about being open to the unexpected.

3. The Beatniks, Seattle's most famous cover band ('60s-'80s) will perform an outside concert at Skansie Brothers Park in Gig Harbor beginning at 6:30 p.m.

4. Every Tuesday night at Stonegate Pizza on South Tacoma Way Leanne Trevalyan hosts an acoustic open mic at 8 p.m.

5. The Washington Center hosts the legendary Joan Baez for an evening encompassing five decades of music. Baez, a fixture of the 1960s folk and protest movements as well as concert companion to Bob Dylan, remains a musical force of nature whose influence is incalculable. Her earliest recordings fed traditional ballads into the rock vernacular with appeal extending far beyond folk music. She takes the stage at 8 p.m.

LINK: Tuesday, July 22 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area