fb-pixelThe week ahead: music, theater, art, and more - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

The week ahead: music, theater, art, and more

Bent Knee will perform at Great Scott on Friday.Ben Stas for The Boston Globe/Globe Freelance

MUSIC

Pop & Rock

BLACK SABBATH They say this is our last chance to see three-quarters of the quintessential English heavy-metal band, and you get the sense they’re telling the truth this time. The set list offers no surprises, but think of this as paying your last respects. Aug. 25, 7:30 p.m. $29.50-$150. Xfinity Center, Mansfield. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com

BENT KNEE Newly returned from a successful European tour, bearing a string of glowing press reports, and soon to embark on a stateside jaunt with Dillinger Escape Plan, this artfully emotive/emotively artful sextet shares stirring tunes from its newest album, “Say So.” Aug. 26, 10 p.m. $10. Great Scott. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com

Advertisement



XENIA RUBINOS This dependably vital, consistently inventive singer and rapper continues to twist her Afro-Caribbean cultural and musical roots into unexpected and instantly appealing new branches, the likes of which can be heard on her powerful new album, “Black Cat.” Aug. 31, 9 p.m. $12, advance $10. Great Scott. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com

STEVE SMITH

Folk & World

TUELO Tuelo Minah is a South African singer based in New York who has worked with the likes of Hugh Maskela and AngeliqueKidjo since beginning her professional career. With a band that bears her name, she melds sounds of her homeland with rock and soul, singing mostly in English but also in her nativeSetswana. Aug. 25, 10 p.m. $8. Atwood’s Tavern, Cambridge. 800-838-3006. www.brownpapertickets.com

KENNY CHESNEY Mainstream country’s leading purveyor of escape to sun-drenched beaches and bathetic nostalgia returns to his Foxborough home away from home. The weekend’s pair of shows will bring his count at Gillette Stadium to 15. Miranda Lambert, Sam Hunt, and Old Dominion also perform. Aug. 26, 27, 5 p.m. $59.50-$265. Gillette Stadium, Foxborough. 800-745-3000. www.ticketmaster.com

ADAM EZRA GROUP Meanwhile, the Boston-based folk rockers will be on a real beach Saturday, putting on their seventh annual Ramble. The daylong event offers two stages of music, games, an artisan market, and fireworks, and raises money for veterans’ causes. Aug. 27, 2 p.m. Free. Salisbury Beach, Salisbury. 617- 519-1073. www.getrambled.com

Advertisement



STUART MUNRO

Jazz & Blues

EN ROUTE TRIO French drummer Jean-Marie Corrois, a student of world percussion traditions, closes out Mandorla Music’s summer series with his international trio — rounded out by Brazilian bassist Flavio Lira and American guitarist Nick Grondin — playing originals and pieces by Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny, and more. Aug. 26, 8 p.m. $12-$15. Third Life Studio, Somerville. www.thirdlifestudio.com

GRAY SARGENT QUINTET Testifying to the marvelous acoustic guitarist’s taste and facility are the two decades he’s spent discreetly accompanying the legendary Tony Bennett.Here he’ll stretch out with fellow swingers Jeff Stout (trumpet),Arnie Krakowsky (tenor saxophone), bassist Marshall Wood (also in Bennett’s band), andBoston Pops drummer Jim Gwinn. Aug. 27, 6 p.m. $25. Spire Center, Plymouth. www.spirecenter.org. Aug. 28, 8 p.m. $20. Chan’s, Woonsocket, R.I. 401-765-1900, www.chanseggrollsandjazz.com

SUGAR BLUE You’ve heard the Harlem-born blues harmonica virtuoso even if you don’t know it; that’s him playing the signature riff and slithering solo on the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You.” A seasoned showman and singer raised in the shadow of the Apollo Theater, he’s currently touring in support of his fine new album, “Voyage.” Aug. 27, 8 p.m. $15. Chan’s, Woonsocket, R.I. 401-765-1900, www.chanseggrollsandjazz.com

KEVIN LOWENTHAL

Classical

TANGLEWOOD On Thursday night, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra returns to Ozawa Hall with Scarlatti’s “La Gloria di Primavera.” On Friday, Keith Lockhart leads the Boston Pops in a performance of John Williams’s score to “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” together with a screening of the film. On Saturday Yo-Yo Ma performs more works by Williams, as well as a Haydn concerto under the baton of Michael Stern. And on Sunday, Andris Nelsons leads the traditional season-closing performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Lenox, 617-266-1200, www.tanglewood.org

Advertisement



CAPE COD CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL The Escher String Quartet and other festival participants join forces for the festival’s final concert of the summer, featuring arrangements of orchestral works by Strauss, Beethoven, and Chopin. Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m., Wellfleet Congregational Church. 508-247-9400, www.capecodchambermusic.org

BOSTON LANDMARKS ORCHESTRA Wrapping up its summer of free concerts on the Esplanade, the Boston Landmarks Orchestra teams up with the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company to perform Rodgers and Hart’s musical “The Boys From Syracuse,” using rarely heard original orchestrations. Christopher Wilkins conducts and Steve Maler directs. With choreography by Yo-El Cassell. Aug. 31, 7 p.m., Hatch Shell at the Esplanade. 617-987-2000, www.landmarksorchestra.org

JEREMY EICHLER

ARTS

Theater

BROADWAY BOUNTY HUNTER Waves of raucous energy course through this gonzo new musical by Joe Iconis about a down-on-her-luck Broadway actress, played by Annie Golden, who transforms herself into a bounty hunter and goes searching for a fugitive drug lord in South America. Featuring excellent performances by Alan H. Green and Jeff McCarthy, plus a dynamic young ensemble that is absolutely essential to this show’s success. Directed by Julianne Boyd. Through Sept. 4. Barrington Stage Company at St. Germain Stage, Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, Pittsfield. 413-236-8888, www.barringtonstageco.org

Advertisement



SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN Against all odds and expectations, the classic 1952 movie is transposed to the stage with its droll wit and buoyant charm pretty much intact. Directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford, with a strong cast headed by Mark Evans in the Gene Kelly role, this “Singin’ in the Rain’’ is suffused with an affection for the original and an understanding of what made it special, but also with enough ingenuity and personality to bring it distinctly alive onstage. Through Aug. 28. North Shore Music Theatre, Beverly. 978-232-7200, www.nsmt.org

CONSTELLATIONS A small gem by the young British playwright Nick Payne about love, fate, parallel universes, and the infinite possibilities of any human life. Performed with piercing subtlety by Kate Baldwin, as a theoretical physicist, and Graham Rowat, as a beekeeper with whom she falls in love. Directed by Gregg Edelman. Through Aug. 27. Berkshire Theatre Group at Unicorn Theatre, Stockbridge. 413-997-4444, www.berkshiretheatregroup.org

SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD This 1995 theatrical song cycle demonstrates why composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown (“The Last Five Years,’’ “The Bridges of Madison County’’) began to attract a devoted following — and also why he got on some people’s nerves. Elegantly staged by Robert Walsh and ably performed by a talented cast of five led by Broadway veteran Barbara Walsh (the director’s cousin), the show is loosely structured around a series of defining moments faced by unnamed characters on circuitous journeys of self-discovery. Through Aug. 27. Gloucester Stage Company, Gloucester. 978-281-4433, www.gloucesterstage.com

Advertisement



DON AUCOIN

Dance

PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET This dynamic Seattle-based company gets place of honor in closing out this summer’s Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. The provocative program features a world premiere ballet by Jessica Lang, Benjamin Millepied's “3 Movements,” and Kiyon Gaines’s “Sum Stravinsky,” danced to the composer’s sparkling “Dumbarton Oaks.” Through Aug. 28, $45-$75. Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket. 413-243-0745, www.jacobspillow.org

SOULEYMANE BADOLO Born in Burkina Faso but educated in the United States and now based in Brooklyn, this deeply personal artist explores his roots in light of contemporary influences. He is joined by dancer Sylvestre Koffitse Akakpo-Adzaku and master drummer Mamoudou Konate. Through Aug. 28, $25-$45. Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket. 413-243-0745, www.jacobspillow.org

SUMMER CHOREOGRAPHY PROJECT 2016 The Cape Cod Dance Center presents its annual showcase, designed to provide area professional and semi-professional dancers a venue to develop and share new creative ideas. The performance embraces dance styles ranging from ballet to tap, and the audience will be invited to weigh in with thoughts and questions in a post-performance talkback. Aug. 27, $5. Cape Cod Dance Center, Cataumet. 508-564-6165, www.capecoddancecenter.com

KAREN CAMPBELL

Galleries

PAUL RAMIREZ JONAS: PUBLIC TRUST At three sites over 21 days, Ramirez Jonas asks passersby to consider what a promise means by posting pledges on an evolving billboard alongside those of politicians and scientists. First stop: Dudley Square. Aug. 27-Sept. 17. Dudley Branch, Boston Public Library, 65 Warren St., Roxbury. (No phone), www.nowandthere.org/events

CHAKAIA BOOKER: SPEAKEASY Booker famously transforms trashed tires into dark, lyrical sculptures embracing social and environmental issues. Here 3-D pieces converse with prints, which, like the tire works, are patterned, layered, and worked over. Through Nov. 4. Kniznick Gallery, Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, 515 South St., Waltham. 781-736-8102. www.brandeis.edu/wsrc/arts

KATHRYN PARKER ALMANAS: THE INTIMATE COLLECTION Almanas provocatively delves into the nitty-gritty of the flesh, from sex to death. In these photos and sewn works made largely from skimpy undergarments, she conjures pleasure, dissolution, and healing. Through Sept. 24.Yellow Peril Gallery, 60 Valley St., Providence. 401-861-1535, www.yellowperilgallery.com

CATE McQUAID

Museums

DELLA ROBBIA: SCULPTING WITH COLOR IN RENAISSANCE FLORENCE Approximately 50 objects, mostly from US collections (but including a few choice loans from Italy), present the beautiful and moving work of the della Robbias, the Florentine family famous for inventing a glazing technique that produced durable whites and bright colors for their celebrated Renaissance sculptures. Through Dec. 4. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave. 617-267-9300. www.mfa.org

AMERICAN IMPRESSIONIST: CHILDE HASSAM AND THE ISLES OF SHOALS The great American Impressionist painted the rocky shoals of Appledore Island off the coast of Portsmouth, N.H., over three decades. The exhibition presents 40 oil paintings and related watercolors all made between the late 1880s and 1912. Through Nov. 6. Peabody Essex Museum, 161 East India Square, Salem. 978-745-9500. www.pem.org

SPLENDOR, MYTH, AND VISION: NUDES FROM THE PRADO Twenty-eight Old Master paintings, all representing the nude, on loan from Spain’s great museum. Includes work by Titian, Tintoretto, Rubens, Velazquez, Ribera, and Poussin. All but four have never previously been seen in the United States. The Clark is the show’s only venue. Through Oct. 10. Clark Art Institute, 225 South St., Williamstown. 413-458-2303. www.clarkart.edu

SEBASTIAN SMEE

EVENTS

Comedy

NETFLIX AND CHILL Comedians Scott Oddo and Shawn Carter cohost this hybrid show where couples play pop-culture-related games to test their compatibility. Plus stand-up from Austin McCloud and Erin Spencer. Aug. 25, 7 p.m. $10. Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm St., Somerville. 617-684-5335, www.davissquaretheatre.com

NICK OFFERMAN AND MEGAN MULLALLY Offerman and Mullally have a lot in common — they’re both funny, both have been on hit television shows, and they happen to be married to each other. They explore their relationship in their comedy/variety show, “Summer of 69: No Apostrophe.” Aug. 26, 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. $49.50-$65. Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St. 617-248-9700, www.thewilbur.com

EMILY RUSKOWSKI The up-and-coming Boston comedian is recording her first album over two nights at Great Scott’s regular comedy show, “The Gas,” with a little help from friends. Rob Crean hosts, with Kenice Mobley and Rohan Padhye. Jiayong Li plays Friday’s show, and Will Smalley plays Saturday. Aug. 26-27, 7 p.m. $5. Great Scott, 122 Commonwealth Ave., Allston. 617-566-9014, www.greatscottboston.com

NICK A. ZAINO III

Family

TreeTop Adventures Glow in The Park Get ready to glow at this high ropes course. There are zip lines, bridges, music, and laser shows designed to delight. This is some seriously fun ENTertainment. Aug. 26, 6-10 p.m. $35. TreeTop Adventures at the Irish Cultural Centre, 200 New Boston Drive, Canton. 781-708-3290. treetopcanton.com

MAGIC 106.7 Family Film Festival Shake out your blanket and pack your picnic, this family-friendly film festival is bringing the cinema outdoors. Activities and prizes start at 6 p.m. and the movie rolls at sundown. This week’s feature: “Mary Poppins.” Aug. 27, 6-10 p.m. Free. Prudential Center South Garden, 800 Boylston St. 617-236-3100. www.prudentialcenter.com

Under the Sea Don’t worry about getting in trouble for tapping on the tank, this interactive beach exploration is led by a Boston Harbor Ranger. Look for the critters in the tide pools and the citizens in the sand as you learn about marine life where the seaweed is always greener. Aug. 28, 1:30-2:30 p.m. Free. Peddocks Island, 66 Long Wharf. 617-223-8666. www.bostonharborislands.org

CARLY SITRIN

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Sept. 3 Kanye West at TD Garden www.ticketmaster.com

Sept. 6 Gallant at Sinclair www.ticketmaster.com

Sept. 7 Corinne Bailey Rae at Royale Boston www.ticketmaster.com

Sept. 7 The Lumineers at Blue Hills Bank Pavilion concerts.livenation.com

Sept. 9 Amos Lee at Boston Opera House www.ticketmaster.com

Sept. 14 Adele at TD Garden www.ticketmaster.com

Sept. 18 Young the Giant at House of Blues concerts.livenation.com

Sept. 24 Meghan Trainor at Blue Hills Bank Pavilion concerts.livenation.com

SONIA RAO