Listen Again. Pop critics showdown, throwdown, hoedown downtown. A different kind of theater. This evening at the Red Cat at Disney Hall.

This is what they have to say for themselves:

Ready, set, reinterpret! All pop music, past and present, is fair game on this night of live, rapid-fire music criticism as the members of a distinguished panel of writers, musicians and scholars have five minutes each to persuade the audience to reconsider a series of pop tracks -- and find in them hitherto undiscovered pleasures. This high-spirited confab celebrates the publication of Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop Music, a collection of writings drawn from the Experience Music Project Pop Conference.

Personal disclaimer: One of the participants, RJ Smith, is married to me.