Top 5 Weekend Picks February 28

Every week Connect2Mason will offer five entertainment picks for your weekend. Ranging from on-campus to off-campus events, Connect2Mason's Top 5 will give you a jump start on your weekend. Here are the Top 5 picks for this weekend:

1. Les Miserables OSI Premiere Event
When: Saturday, March 28 at 9 p.m.
Where: Johnson Center Cinema
Price: Free with a valid Mason ID

Missed this year’s biggest musical? Have no fear. Sing the songs of the famed Broadway musical with the songs “One Day More” and “I Dreamed a Dream” with the Office of Student Involvement for their premiere event of the on-campus screening of “Les Miserables.” Fresh off of last week’s Oscar win, see Anne Hathaway’s heartbreaking performance. Show off your skills beforehand with a 30-second performance of your favorite “Les Miserables” song. This is a do-not miss event for any musical theater fan.

Dont' forget to bring your tissues as you’ll surely be walking away in tears as you’re swept away in musical euphoria.

2. Streetcar Named Desire performed by the Virginia Opera
When: Friday, March 1 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 3 at 2 p.m.
Where: Mason's Center for the Arts
Price: Free with a valid Mason ID that can be picked up at the Center for the Arts box office.

Based off of the Tennessee Williams’ classic play, the “A Streetcar Named Desire” the Virginia Opera brings André Previn’s take on the classic play is not only filled with the drama of Williams', but with a souring musical score too. Blanche DuBois is the central focus of this operatic play as she attempts to leave her “shadowy past” as a Southern belle when  she moves in with her sister in New Orleans. Paralled by the violent clashes and sexual tensions that evolve  her brother-in-law, this work of art is sure to bring you a different look into this classic play. Sung in English, students can get one free student ticket at the Center for the Arts box office with a valid Mason ID.

3. PigPen Theatre Co. at Jammin’ Java
When: Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m.
Where: Jammin' Java
Price: Advanced tickets are sold at $10
Day of tickets are sold at $15

Graduates of Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama, these seven men have been reviewed by the New York Times and New York Magazine for their off-Broadway performances in New York City. PigPen Theatre Co. was  the first theater company in history to win New York City’s International Fridge Theater Festival’s highest honor for a play two years in a row.

The group has been ranked as one of the top 10 theatrical events in both 2011 and 2012. The group not only acts, but they are fleshed out musicians as well. Playing anything from the accordion to banjos, PigPen TheatreCo. audiences will be in for a musical and theatrical treat with PigPen Theatre Co. See them perform this weekend at Fairfax's Jammin' Java.

4.. Turtle Island Quartet
When: Saturday, March 2 at 8 p.m.
Where: Mason's Center for the Arts
Price: Free with a valid Mason ID that can be picked up at the Center for the Arts box office.

Grammy Award-winning artists, the Turtle Island Quartet, have spent over 25 years exploring the definition of classical music. Influences from jazz, folk, rock and ethnic music, the Turtle Island Quartet has no boundaries of what music the group will explore.

Premier fiddler Michael Doucet is influenced by Cajun music, which he has used with the Turtle Island Quartet when traveling the world.  His mastery fiddle skills have been named by the Washington Post as “brash and blazing.” For any lover of world music, the Turtle Island Quartet should be right up your alley

5. D.C.’s Funniest College Competition
When: Friday, March 1 from 8 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Where: Johnson Center Atrium
Price: Free

Think you’re funny? Why not try out your skills this weekend at  D.C.’s Funniest College Competition in collaboration with D.C. Improv. In its ninth run, this college comedy competition hopes to find the funniest college student in the D.C. area. Performing a five minute stand-up performance, winners of the Mason competition will go on to compete with other student comedians for a chance to win a paid gig at D.C. Improv’s main stage. George Mason University has won the competition two previous times, in 2007 and in 2011. Whether you’re competing yourself or if you just want to have a laugh, this night of comedy won’t let you down.

To compete, details can be found here.