Photo Finesse
The Scarab Club is an institution with an array of traditions and its annual showcase of excellence via the camera lens is one of the most eagerly anticipated shows of the year. Please make time then for the 2012 Photography Exhibition - an incredibly eclectic celebration of light, color and moments captured out of the fabric of time. Be impressed also by a roster of talented individuals. Among those returning to the Beetle (or showing up for the very first time) are Ralph Jones, Ron Teachworth, Clare Allenson, Daniel Seybold, Susan Lawless, Brooke Turner and Megan Thayer. 217 Farnsworth in Detroit.

The Phantoms at The Movie Palace
No movie theatre in the Detroit area does Halloween like The Redford. Having pleased trick-or-treaters of all ages with a priceless Frankenstein double feature last week, they're now giving us a trifecta of thrills starting 10/26. That's the night they screen Evil Dead, the Sam Raimi DIY flick that many audiences still regard as the ultimate supernatural slasher movie.This, of course, was the movie that spawned two sequels and made Bruce Campbell the A-List star he is today. The Redford returns to more traditional and classic fare on 10/27. A double feature, no less! Buster Keaton finds himself in The Haunted House, a 1921 thriller with just enough slapstick to keep you from leaping permanently out of your seat. After this comes The Cat and The Canary. Directed in 1927 by the criminally forgotten Paul Leni, this 1927 thriller concerns a dead uncle whose heirs must contend with an eerie mansion, a creeping menace and an escaped lunatic. Relax – there's a dash of comedy in this movie too. Both of these silent gems will have music provided by the talented Tony O'Brien. More info: redfordtheatre.com

Better Than The Book, The Debates ...
Go Comedy! in Ferndale has once again taken stock of the human condition (or in this case, the political animal) and created a mirthful program that just might give us the right amount of resolve to face the election precincts in a few days. 50 States of Grey is an acerbic, candid, non-partisan satire of what we're dealing with in 2012 – a slightly schizophrenic nation faced with a ballot that seems slightly more reassuring than a 50/50 prognosis of [insert least favorite malady here.] The debate sketch alone is worth the price of admission. Although flipping the race card struck us as contrived, Joe Hingelberg and Dez Walker shine with mutual brilliance as bizarro versions of Obama and Romney. 261 E. Nine Mile.

Gold Medal
A band known as Question Marky Mark picked up a major award at Planet Ant's 2012 Colony Fest and they followed that up by writing an original production called Champions. QMM productions must have impressed the Planeteers with this one too, because it's going to debut as the opening work for the theatre's late night series starting on 10/26. The plot concerns a valet company run by a wannabe rock star who decides to hit the road and nab some belated stardom. The laughs commence when his two hardworking employess start vying for the now vacant management position. Kudos to Lauren Bickers for giving just the right amount of spark to this surreal portrait of misplaced ambitions. 2357 Conant More: planetant.com

A Perfect Blendship
Admit it. If you had to choose between a show called Opera Meets Jazz and another one called Reggae Meets Klezmer, wouldn't you be a tad more inclined to see the former? Yeah, that's what we figured. Ergo, we are now extending an invitation for you to check out a musical delight at The Carr Center on 10/28 that has several talented people giving the right amount of syncopation to the stuff you usually associate with baritones, barbers and Bugs Bunny. Those gifted individuals, by the way, are Neill Eisenstein, Eva Evola, Dino Valle, Stephen Vaglica, Michele Ramo and Heidi Hepler. 311 E. Grand River in Detroit.

He Arrived Just In Time
James Johnson is a Philadelphia artist with an intriguing take on our relationship with the things we possess. No, he has no connection with the tv show Hoarders. He does, however, have a strong connection with the principal theme that supports I Come From a Serious Place. This solo exhibit that Johnson recently delivered to the Oakland University Art Gallery is imbued with a calculated mix of seriousness and bitter humor - the latter, in some respects, being a direct result of the former. Is the accumulated weight of our belongings a convincing or valid verdict on our self-worth and identity? And if it is, have we lost something irreplaceable in the process of "getting and spending?" Johnson posits that question in such a subtle way that it is virtually impossible not to answer it - even if the answer we give is an equally subtle lie. 208 Wilson Hall on the campus of Oakland University. | RDW