What’s happening where… it’s all in HELEN MUSA’s weekly “Arts in the City” column.

CANBERRA Philharmonic Society has announced that its scheduled March production of The Who’s “Tommy” rock opera has been cancelled “due to the current extenuating and devastating circumstances that have impacted Canberra over the last few months”. Director Marty King and musical director Kat Tang had been hard at work on the famous musical about a deaf, dumb and blind pinball wizard, so the news came as a shock.

BARITONE Colin Milner, soprano Sarahlouise Owens and mezzo-soprano Eleanor Greenwood, accompanied by Colleen Rae-Gerrard, will perform arias from “La Traviata”, “The Marriage of Figaro”, “Der Fledermaus”, “The Merry Widow” and more. Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest, 12.40-1.20pm, Wednesday, February 19. Tickets at the door.

LISA Budin Price will be performing her tribute to The Carpenters, a walk-through the life and times of songwriters Karen and Richard Carpenter, featuring numbers like “Rainy Days and Mondays” and “We’ve Only Just Begun”. At The Bicentennial Hall, Queanbeyan (next door to The Q), 10.30am and 8pm, Tuesday, February 18, bookings to theq.net.au or 6285 6290. 

THE ever-resourceful Geoff Page has temporarily moved “Poetry at the House” from its home in University House after the venue suffered hail damage, to the Beyond Q Bookshop in Brierly Street, Weston, which owner Simon Maddox has turned into a lively performance hub. The program will run as usual from 7-9pm, on the second Wednesday of each month, with the next session on February 26. No bookings required.

VIOLINIST Dan Russell, now a Canberra resident, is kicking off his Phoenix Collective’s 2020 concert series with “Intricate Machines”, a concert inspired by mechanics, wheels, cogs, precision, construction and repetition, including works by Reich, Bach and Dvo?ák. ANU School of Music, 7pm, Friday, February 21 and Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, 3pm, Sunday, February 23. Bookings phoenixcollective.com.au

NATIONAL Capital Bootscooters are keen to have more participants in their “come and try” line dancing, with choreographed steps to all styles of music. Main Hall, Southern Cross Early Childhood School, Ross Smith Crescent, Scullin, every Friday morning from 9.30am. Inquiries 0402 235 825 or visit nationalcapitalbootscooters.webs.com