Here are a selection of brief news items pertaining to arts, entertainment, culture and other fun things to do in your spare time:

UW-L Screaming Eagles plan concert

The UW-La Crosse Screaming Eagles Marching Band will hold its annual marching band review concert Sunday, Nov. 9.

The band will play music from the 2008 season. The concert begins at 1:30 p.m. in the Mitchell Hall Field House. Admission is free and donations will be accepted.

The concert will feature music from the band’s halftime shows, including songs by the Who and Santana. The UW-L Pom Pon squad and Color guard will also be featured. This will be the band’s 17th performance this fall.

Nine Days to perform at UW-La Crosse

Indie/rock quintet Nine Days will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, in UW-La Crosse’s Valhalla, Cartwright Center-Gunning Addition.

The band is well known for its 2000 hit song, “Absolutely (Story of a Girl).” Although the group split, the band reunited in 2006 and went back to recording. “Slow Motion Life (Part 1)“ was released in 2007; “Slow Motion Life (Part 2)“ was released in 2008. The band has appeared on several retrospective albums and has had success on Internet charts.

Tickets are $5 for UW-L students, $10 for others. For tickets or more information, call 785-8898 or visit www.uwlax.edu/cab.

Cab Calloway Orchestra to play at Viterbo

The Cab Calloway Orchestra, directed by Cab’s grandson C. Calloway Brooks, will perform on the Viterbo University Main Theatre stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22.

The Cab Calloway Orchestra delivers both the authentic sound of a hot jazz orchestra and a snazzy stage style to bring out a jump, blues, and boogie experience.

This performance is part of Viterbo’s Bright Star Season and is sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio and La Crosse Graphics Inc. Tickets are $27 for upper balcony seating. For more information, contact the Viterbo box office at 796-3100 or www.viterbo.edu/finearts.aspx.

‘Little Mermaid’ show coming to Viterbo

The Missoula Children’s Theatre will present a production of “The Little Mermaid” starring local students at 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, in the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center Main Theatre, La Crosse.

The Missoula Children’s Theatre provides a week-long residency “starring” local students in a full-scale musical. The group’s mission is the “development of life skills in children through participation in the performing arts.”

This new version of “The Little Mermaid” features lots of music, plot surprises and humor.

Tickets are $9 for adult and $7 for child main floor seating and $7 for adult and $5 for child lower balcony seating. For more information, contact the Viterbo box office at 796-3100 or www.viterbo.edu/finearts1.aspx.

Student photography featured at UW-L

UW-La Crosse advanced photography students are showing their work in conjunction with a University Art Gallery exhibition featuring the artwork of New York artist Gabe Brown.

Photos by 21 students are featured in the Study Gallery, located adjacent to the main gallery. The photographic images selected give an overview of the diverse talent among the current students, said art department faculty member Ben Stern.

The main exhibit, “Dreaming But Not Sleeping: Paintings and Works on Paper,” features oil paintings and other paper works by Brown who lives and paints in the Hudson River Valley of New York.

Both exhibits run in the University Art Gallery, on the first floor of the Center for the Arts, through Nov. 15. Regular gallery hours are noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and during events in Toland Theatre. Exhibits are free.

Latin American expert to speak at VU

Latin American expert Ramon Daubon, a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow who is spending a week at Viterbo University, will discuss “Globalization and the Collapse of the Washington Consensus” on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m in the Fine Arts Center Recital Hall on campus.

“Daubon is one of the top experts on issues related to aid in Latin America,” said Jesús Jambrina, assistant professor of world languages at Viterbo University.

Daubon is the president of the Esquel Group in Washington, D.C., and an associate at the Charles Kettering Foundation.

A native of Puerto Rico, Daubon has published extensively on topics about Latin America and the Caribbean and the connection of economic and social development with democracy and the culture of civic engagement.

UW-L theater events feature student work

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Department of Theatre Arts will showcase the talents of theater students in a variety of upcoming productions.

In November and early December, UW-L will present a staged reading of a student’s original script, an acting recital, an illusionist show and a night of scenes. All performances are free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but seating is limited and is on a first-come basis for each event.

Ashley Lanphear will give her senior acting recital Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. in the Frederick Theatre. Seen in recent UW-L productions including “A Christmas Carol,” “As You Like It,” “bobrauschenbergamerica,” “Arabian Nights” and “The Diary of Anne Frank,” Lanphear’s performance, “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” will feature a wide selection of scenes and monologues highlighting a variety themes and stories.

John Staats is Robert Ruse, an illusionist performer who unlocks the mind and the imagination. “Might of Thought” features mind reading and mind control feats that are sure to leave the audience questioning the possibility of psychic ability and the supernatural. Mentalist Robert Ruse performs in the Frederick Theatre at 6 p.m. Nov. 14.

UW-La Crosse directing students will present their semester scene projects over the course of three performances in early December. Directing scenes will take place Sunday, Dec. 7, at 6:30 p.m.; Monday, Dec. 15, at 7 p.m.; and Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 10 a.m. The student directed and performed scenes will cover a variety of genres and motifs and scene selection will vary from performance to performance. All performances will be held in the Frederick Theatre.

Workshop looks at simpler holidays

The Southeast Minnesota chapter of the Holistic Moms Network will host a workshop on how to simplify the holidays and create an enjoyable celebration that reflects each participant’s values. It will take place on Nov. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Houston Nature Center, 215 W. Plum St. in Houston, Minn.

The workshop is based upon the New American Dream Web site brochure “Simplify the Holidays,” which can be found on www.newdream.org. As the brochure points out, “Too often, the holidays seem to exhaust rather than uplift us.”

Instead, the Holistic Moms Network’s workshop aims to help attendees “create holidays that instill more meaning into the season and encourage more sharing, laughter and personal renewal.”

The workshop will also present alternative gift ideas such as home-baked goods, tickets to an event or exhibit or even personal certificates for time with the children in your

The workshop is free, but an RVSP is required to reserve a seat. For more information or to reserve your space, contact Tricia Runningen at (507) 896-4752 or mtrunningen@acegroup.cc.

UW-L gallery features paintings, paper

Oil paintings and works on paper will be featured in an upcoming exhibit at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

“Dreaming But Not Sleeping: Paintings and Works on Paper” will feature the artwork of New York artist Gabe Brown. The exhibit opened Oct. 24.

During the exhibit, the adjacent Study Gallery will feature student photography.

The exhibit runs through Nov. 15. Regular gallery hours are noon-8 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, noon-5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and during events in Toland Theatre. Exhibits are free.

Women sought for ‘just for fun’ volleyball

Holmen area women age 30 and older are sought for a free “just for fun” women’s recreational volleyball program.

Games will be played from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays when school is in session at Viking Elementary, 500 E. Wall St. in Holmen.

For more information, call Sally at 788-3047.