Charmaine Neville playing at Olde Towne Alive

Internationally known singer-dancer-actress-comedienne Charmaine Neville will take the stage at Robert and First streets tonight at 6:15 p.m. for this month’s Olde Towne Alive block party.

A member of the famous New Orleans musical family that includes the Neville Brothers, she first sang before an audience when she was 3 years old. Her band, the Charmaine Neville Band, regularly plays a repertoire that includes jazz, funk and New Orleans music at music clubs and festivals throughout the area and around the country. They’ve also performed in Rome, Paris, Copenhagen, Germany, Japan and Barbados.

Neville and her band won’t be the only ones making music in Olde Towne tonight. The Slidell High School marching band will parade through the streets in celebration of the school’s 100th birthday. They’ll be followed by a performance of the SHS choir in front of the main stage, and all graduates are invited to bring memoirs and to reminisce at the event.

Tables and chairs will be set up on First Street for alumni to enjoy their time together. Bricks, centennial T-shirts, posters and memory books will also be sold. In addition, special exhibits and photo displays will commemorate the school’s history.

Cajun musician and storyteller Papillion will also perform in front of the Slidell Museum on First Street for the kids.

Other varieties of the arts will include the “Out of Our Element” exhibit in the Olde Towne Arts Center at 300 Robert St., with extended hours of 6 to 9 p.m. This exhibit, with juror George Dunbar, challenged artists to create works in media they had not previously utilized, and 15 artists rose to the challenge.

First Street will be closed to vehicular traffic between Fremaux Avenue and Robert Street for the event, as will Erlanger Street between Front and Second streets, and Robert between Carey and Second streets.