Next Week Today is a selection of our picks from the upcoming week’s events. We’ll give you juuuuuust enough detail to whet your whistle, and then let you do the digging. In other words, these are the events we recommend giving a second, perhaps even third glance as you wend your way along the path to entertainment.

Happy Pride Month, y’all! This week’s picks include a number of pride events, culminating in the Pride Parade on Saturday, June 4 and PRIDEFEST on Sunday, June 5. We’ve also got a heck-ton of theatre openings this week, so if the stage is your jam, make sure to check those out.

TUESDAYJune 7

Kingdom Tour: Maverick City Music X Kirk Franklin / Jonathan McReynolds / Housefires (BJCC), 6:45 p.m., $14.99 – $86.50) — This tour featuring 5-time Grammy-nominated contemporary Christian/gospel artists Maverick City Music and 16-time Grammy award-winner Kirk Franklin will be followed by the release of a collaborative album also named Kingdom. They’ve currently released two singles together, “Bless Me” and the eponymous “Kingdom.” Both wrap a traditional gospel sound with layers of diverse influence until you feel less like you are facing a choir and more like you are in the mix, part of the creative crowd.

WEDNESDAYJune 8

Alabama Bound (2017) (Sidewalk film Center and Cinema, 7 p.m., $12.01) — Inspired by the artistic work of Alabama native and Alabama Bound Co-Director and Co-Producer Carolyn Sherer, this documentary film follows the struggle of Southern gay families as they fight to maintain control of their children in a conservative state where religion and government intertwine.

THURSDAYJune 9

Magic City Fashion Week SZN IV – Day 1 (Birmingham Museum of Art, 5 p.m., Free) — Magic City Fashion Week is back after a prolonged Covid hiatus. Opening day features an “immersive art + fashion experience” including cocktails, panel discussions, dance performances, a DJ and concluding with a bevy of runway and drag shows.

The Sound of Music (Virginia Samford Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $23-$43) — The hills are alive with the opening night at Virginia Samford Theatre’s production of The Sound of Music, one of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most celebrated works. Come sing along to a few of your favorite things.

FRIDAYJune 10

Magic City Fashion Week SZN IV – Day 2 (Birmingham Museum of Art, 5 p.m., Free) — Day two of Magic City Fashion Week centers around their fourth annual Emerging Designer Runway Competition. The night will be full of drinks, a drag show, “pride-related art activities” and then the main event, in which six up-and-coming designers will compete for a prize package valued at $10,000.

Oracle Blue (Tin Roof, 6 p.m., Free) — Playing with a heady concoction of neo-soul, jazz and electronic music, Nashville-based Oracle Blue make moody music that still makes you want to snap your fingers.

The Rhythm/Da Blues (Red Mountain Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $25) — The first of two performances of the critically acclaimed solo show The Rhythm/Da Blues starring Birmingham native Erika E. Wade. Originally produced at NYC’s 13th Street Repertory Theater, this show follows the life of a young woman growing up Black in the Magic City.

Clue (Birmingham Festival Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $17-$27) — It’s Colonel Mustard in the study with the revolver! Get ready for opening night of the Birmingham Festival Theater production of Sandy Rustin’s adaptation of the whodunit board-game turned cult movie sensation.

Bad Movie Night (Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema, 8:15 p.m., Free) — A terrible movie can be just as much fun as a great one, and in the spirit of that truth Sidewalk has brought us another iteration of their Bad Movie Night series. They’re not saying what it is, but if their track record is anything to go by, it’ll be awfully fantastic.

SATURDAYJune 11

Pride Parade (7th Ave S & 32nd St. S → 22nd St. S. , 7:30 p.m., Free) — Come strut your pride around town! This Mardi-Gras style parade will make its way down Seventh Avenue South and end at Our Place. Make sure to head to the official after-party at Saturn (it’s next on the list).

Loud & Proud | LaLa Ri, Faith Taylor, Sharon Cocx, Addison Vontrell, Genesis (Saturn, 10:30 p.m., $15-$125) — Finish out the night with your Pride Parade compatriots at the official after-party, featuring LaLa Ri from season 13 of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

SUNDAYJune 12

PRIDEFEST (Linn Park, 11:00 a.m., Free/$100-$150 VIP) — There’s so much going on at PRIDEFEST, it’s nearly impossible to give a short synopsis. There are 67 separate events listed on their schedule for the day, with something new happening every 5-10 minutes. What seems like non-stop drag shows will be accompanied by the SHOUT LGBTQ+ Film Festival, Steel City Men’s Chorus, Magic City Fashion Week and more. If you’ve got an ounce of pride in your body, this should be a no-brainer stop for you.