Raleigh
Little House on the PrairieThe Musical
Memorial Auditorium, Progress Energy CenterWhen my sister and I were little, we wanted to be pioneer girls just like Laura Ingalls Wilder. We’d play outside and pretend we were roughing it. (Somehow, the possibility of freezing to death during the long winter or other hardships never entered our incredibly romanticized game.) America watched actress Melissa Gilbert grow up when she starred in Little House on the Prairie for 10 years, ending in 1984. Now Gilbert returns for the musical version, where she’ll be playing Ma Ingalls, Laura’s mother. Let’s hope Gilbert wears Ma’s sturdy shoes as well as she inhabited Laura’s. The show runs tonight through March 21, with matinees at 2 and evening performances at 8. Visit www.progressenergycenter.com. Sarah Ewald
Durham
The Self-Made Man
Perkins Library’s Rare Book Room, Duke CampusIs it up to us to decide when and where we are going to die? The Self-Made Man ponders that very question. At the age of 77, self-made man Bob is diagnosed with a possibly terminal illness. Not wanting to be a slave to fate, he decides to take his own life. His daughter Susan takes it upon herself to document his impressive life, as well as his bold choice, to demonstrate an “intimate exploration of nuclear family dynamics and a complex portrait of what is arguably a specifically American brand of hubris.” The film was an award winner at the Full Frame Documentary Festival and is now being screened by Duke’s Screen/Society as part of its Human Rights/ Kenan Ethics Series. This free screening is at 7 p.m.; a post-screening discussion with director Susan Stern follows. Visit fvd.aas.duke.edu/screensociety. Belem Destefani
Chapel Hill
Cantwell, Gomez & Jordan; Zevious
NightlightCantwell, Gomez & Jordan make math rock funand they’ve been at it for 10 years. With a starting point somewhere between John Zorn’s Naked City and a Hanna-Barbera theme tune, they lash athletic, ambitious anthems that are somehow noisy and neat. New York trio and CG&J stylistic cousins Zevious’ basement jazz speaks in rhapsodic, demented freakouts. Also aboard is Durham accordion hero Jay Cartwright, a man whose infectious respect for his instrument makes his haunting arrangements all the sweeter. Bring $5 at 9:30 p.m. See www.nightlightclub.com. Corbie Hill
