Adelaide French Festival

So Frenchy So Chic in the park at Pinky Flat will kick off the Adelaide Festival Centre’s French Festival tonight, with a music line-up including Féfé, Juniore, General Elektriks and L.E.J. The festival will continue throughout the weekend, encompassing live performance, film, fashion, visual art, crafts, and food and wine. Other music acts include French band Frànçois & the Atlas Mountains (read interview here), French chanteuse Caroline Nin with Songs and Stories of the Paris Lido, pianist Frédéric Vaysse-Knitter performing works by Debussy, and Adelaide’s Zephyr Quartet and The Baker Suite. Adelaide designers and makers will be selling their wares at the Gathered market on the Festival Centre’s Riverdeck, where there will also be bars and food. See the full festival program here.

Alice in Wonderland – Her Majesty’s Theatre

A cast of actors and puppeteers bring 20 characters to life on stage in this live adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The Australian production puts a few extra twists in the tale, with the Mad Hatter performed by a female actor and the Queen of Hearts by a male. It also promises “the maddest tea party of all”. There are two daytime performances and an evening show tonight at Her Majesty’s Theatre.

Tarnanthi Sunday Sessions – Art Gallery of SA

To celebrate the final weeks of the Tarnanthi exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, the gallery is holding a month of free Sunday sessions with live music from 2-4pm. This Sunday’s session will feature award-winning singer-songwriter Sue Ray and emerging talent Nathan May, with reggae-rock group No Fixed Address and Gunditjmara singer-songwriter Corey Theatre performing on January 21. See details of these and other gallery events here. Tarnanthi continues until January 28 and features more than 40 new commissions.

Bowie Unzipped / Gyroscope / Painters and Dockers – The Gov

Singer Jeff Duff (above) and his band are bringing their Bowie Unzipped show back to the Governor Hindmarsh tonight (Friday) as part of an Australian tour marking the second anniversary of the death of David Bowie. There will be two one-hour sets in which Duff gives his unique interpretation of songs such as “Space Oddity”, “China Girl” and “Life on Mars”. On Saturday, Perth band Gyroscope will be playing a gig at The Gov, and next Friday you can catch Painters and Dockers.

Pontoon Summer Series

The Pontoon on the River Torrens is hosting a range of entertainment this month, including acoustic music sessions, jazz nights, DJs and movie screenings. This weekend’s line-up includes DJs Luke Henry / DJ Dizz (tonight), Stephen J / DJ Marc B (Saturday) and Max Rivers / Ryley (Sunday). Tuesday is movie night, singer-songwriter Ben Ford Davies will play on Wednesday, and The Lauren Henderson Duo perform on Thursday. The Pontoon also has a bar and food offerings, with opening hours and more event details here.

Moonlight Cinema – Botanic Park

The Moonlight Cinema in Botanic Park will have an advance screening of new Australian film Swinging Safari, starring Guy Pearce and Kylie Minogue, on Saturday night. Also showing over the coming week are Murder on the Orient Express (tonight), Thor: Ragnorok (Sunday), ’80s classic The Breakfast Club (Tuesday), The Shape of Water (Wednesday) and Wonder (Thursday) Gates open at 7pm and films begin at sundown. Moonlight Cinema runs until February 18; full program here.

The Rocky Horror Show – Festival Theatre

The Rocky Horror Show. Photo: Jeff Busby

This new production of Richard O’Brien’s rock ’n’ roll musical The Rocky Horror Show has its final performances in Adelaide this weekend before heading on a national tour. Adam Rennie has stepped into the lead role of Frank N Furter following the controversy surrounding former lead Craig McLachlan. There are evening performances tonight and tomorrow at the Festival Theatre, plus a matinee show on Saturday.

Steel Magnolias – Bakehouse Theatre

Bakehouse Theatre opens its 2018 season with this American comedy-drama exploring themes of love and loss through the lives of six women all connected through a small-town beauty salon. Steel Magnolias is being presented by Ipskip Productions until Saturday.

Sunset Sessions – Adelaide Festival Centre

Singer-songwriter Kelly Menhennett. Photo: Kimberly McKenzie

This series of free live music sessions on the Adelaide Festival Centre Riverdeck and Northern Promenade continues until February 17. There are no performances this weekend because of the Adelaide French Festival, but next weekend you can catch soul/roots/alt-country singer-songwriter Kelly Menhennett (January 19) and soul/blues musician Eric “Tooch” Santucci (January 20), with both performances beginning at 6.20pm. Other musicians include Cosmo Thundercat (January 27), Ryan Martin John (February 9), Sitara (February 10), and Alison Coppe and David Mazzarelli; full line-up here.

On screen

See InDaily’s reviews of the latest films screening in Adelaide:

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Call Me By Your Name
Coco
Downsizing
Paddington 2
Goodbye Christopher Robin
Daddy’s Home 2