Most words beginning with "micro" aren't fun. Think about it: microeconomics (flunked the final), micromanaged (flunked that job), microorganisms (creepy things that live on your skin but you can't see), micromini (uh, enough said). But in recent years, a different, more pleasing microsomething has existed in St. Louis, and that something is Microfest (sponsored in part by the RFT).
This event, now in its tenth year, not only benefits Lift for Life Gym but also showcases a "micro" that everyone loves: the microbrewery. The folks at these joints love beer so much that they have to create the adult sodas themselves -- they can't just sit idly by drinking brew, like you. But don't feel bad. You may not be a microbrewer or an economist, but you are a tiny-bug-covered beer-drinker, and a damn good one at that.
So join your brethren from noon to 6 p.m. in the upper Muny parking lot in Forest Park to wash down food from Frazer's, Eleven Eleven Mississippi and other restaurants with a few (or more) of the event's 50-plus microbrews. And as beer and food fill your belly, Kim Massie & the Solid Senders, Hudson & the Hoo Doo Cats, and Mo and Dawn fill your ears with sweet music. Tickets for all this fun are $20 to $23; to make a purchase, visit www.liftforlife.org or call 314-436-2337. The kids helped by Lift for Life (and, less important, your stomach) will thank you. -- Alison Sieloff
Dance World, U.S.A.
The St. Louis Dance Festival Showcase is a veritable smorgasbord of the dance arts; the sixth annual event features perhaps every cultural combination of rhythmic movement. You like the classics? Saint Louis Ballet, Ballet Midwest and Alexandra Ballet (pictured) are all on the bill. Maybe something a little more percussive? Missouri River Cloggers and That Tap Group have you covered. Exotic movement more to your liking? Well, Viva Flamenco and Simone's Seventh Veil Dance Company might be for you. And, of course, the ancient and beautiful arts of India are represented by event sponsor Dances of India. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday (May 13 and 14) at Washington University's Edison Theatre (6445 Forsyth Boulevard; 314-997-0911). Tickets are $15 to $20 per show, or get in both nights with the $25 pass. -- Paul Friswold
Ado You Like Shakespeare?
THUR 5/12
In 1993 Keanu Reeves and the Moolah Temple (3821 Lindell Boulevard) had much in common. The former, pre-Matrix, lurked in the wasteland between Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Speed; the latter sat abandoned in the wasteland between SLU and the West End. But now both have blossomed -- well, the Moolah more than Reeves, anyway -- and we can look back on Reeves in the dark years from the opulence of the restored Moolah Theatre at "Much Ado at the Moolah" from 6 to 10:30 p.m. This $10 party, which screens the 1993 Kenneth Branagh version of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing at 8 p.m., is hosted by the Young Friends of the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis (314-361-0101), and it includes drink specials. Much ado, indeed. -- Alison Sieloff
Wine Aid
THUR 5/12
What's better than a soothing drink alone at home? (Some Scotch, a beer chaser and a Procol Harum CD -- chum, that's a hat trick.) Not much, exceptin' congenial conversation -- or, let's say, a wine tasting. And what better venue for said grape-y gathering than Lafayette Square's beautiful SqWires Restaurant & Market (1415 South 18th Street; 314-865-3522)? Drop by the restaurant's annex from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. for the Minds Eye Information Service's annual wine tasting. The $45 you pay to attend, plus the proceeds from the event's silent auction, benefit Minds Eye, a nonprofit radio station serving blind and print-disabled people in the greater St. Louis region. Call 314-241-3400, extension 6221 for further information. -- Alex Weir
