MUSIC
Pop & Rock
ELLE KING The blues-pop belter, who had a pop smash last summer with the boisterous last-call Miranda Lambert collab “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home),” brings her smooth blend of outlaw country, stomping blues-punk, and good-time rock to town. March 5, 7:30 p.m. Orpheum Theatre. 617-482-0106, crossroadspresents.com
WET LEG Last year, this duo from the Isle of Wight debuted with the elliptical “Chaise Longue,” which combined deadpan delivery with a thudding bass line and ferocious guitars in a way that added up to a deliriously fun repeat listen. They’ve followed it up with four delightful singles — including the disaffected fever dream “Too Late Now” and their latest, the amorphous “Angelica” — that have borne out the “Chaise Longue” buzz and turned this show, as well as their self-titled debut set for an April release, into a destination event. March 7, 7 p.m. Paradise Rock Club. 617-562-8800, crossroadspresents.com
ALL AWAY LOU Philadelphia-via-UK punk vet Lou Hanman, who fronts the feisty act Caves and has played with a daylong festival’s worth of other acts, steps out with a bright, terse solo project. Brainy janglers Me In Capris and spirited riffers The Furnitures, both locals, open this inaugural “loud” show at the Malden brewpub Faces Brewing Co. March 10, 8 p.m. Faces on Pleasant, Malden. 781-851-4672, facesbrewing.com
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MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk, World & Country
DAVID WAX MUSEUM This husband-and-wife duo released two albums of their sui generis “Mexo-Americana” in 2021. They released “Euphoric Ouroboric” last spring, followed by “Remember My Future” on Dec. 31, the perfect release date for slamming the door on a generally miserable year. Sunday, they’ll be joined by clarinetist Alec Spiegelman, who produced both of those albums. March 6, 8 p.m. $18-$24. City Winery, 80 Beverly St. 617-933-8047, www.citywinery.com
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DERVISH The Belleville Roots Music Series emerges from pandemic dormancy with a bang, tapping the vocal and instrumental prowess of Irish trad titans Dervish for a Sunday afternoon performance. March 6, 4 p.m. $35. Belleville Congregational Church, 300 High St., Newburyport. 978-503-7668, www.bellevillechurch.org/roots
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO The prolific South African a cappella group suffered the loss of its founder and leader, Joseph Shabalala, when he retired a few years before his death in 2020, but his sons have continued to carry forward what has become an institution in international folk music. March 6, 8 p.m. $28-$58. Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave. 617-867-4275. www.globalartslive.org
STUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
14th ANNUAL HERB POMEROY MEMORIAL CONCERT In 1963, the beloved Boston trumpeter, bandleader, and educator (1930-2007) founded MIT’s Festival Jazz Ensemble, still going strong. This concert features renowned saxophonist/composer Miguel Zenón, the Ensemble performing Pomeroy-associated music, and the MIT Alumni Jazz Band playing pieces by Monk, Mingus, Zenón, and more. March 5, 8 p.m. Free, registration required. MIT’s Kresge Auditorium. www.mta.mit.edu/events
ATHENE WILSON The versatile R&B, jazz, and gospel vocalist began singing at the age of 7 in a small Pentecostal church in Jamaica and brings to every performance the power and conviction heralded by that beginning. March 9, 7 p.m. No cover. The Porch Southern Fare & Juke Joint, 175 Rivers Edge Drive, Medford. 781-874-9357, www.theporchsouthern.com
MICK GOODRICK LEGACY CONCERT The influential guitarist and educator helped mold generations of guitarists during decades at Berklee. This concert will feature live performances by former students Julian Lage and Wolfgang Muthspiel, plus current guitar faculty. In addition, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, John Scofield, and more will pay tribute via video. March 10, 8 p.m. Berklee Performance Center. 617-747-2261, www.berklee.edu/BPC
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KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA This week at Symphony Hall, Leonidas Kavakos joins music director Andris Nelsons for the world premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Violin Concerto No. 2 on a program that also includes music by Ives and Berlioz (March 5). Next week, it’s one of the most hotly anticipated events of the season, as opera stars including soprano Christine Goerke descend on Symphony Hall for a concert performance of Berg’s modernist masterpiece “Wozzeck” (March 10 and 12). Symphony Hall. 617-266-1200, www.bso.org
A FAR CRY Shake off the winter chill with a change of hemisphere in “Amazonia,” a South American program including the Boston premiere of Brazilian guitarist and composer João Luiz Rezende’s Harp Concerto “Recife” as well as music by Gabriela Lena Frank, Mozart Camargo Guarnieri, and more. Livestream also available. March 4, 8 p.m. Jordan Hall. 617-553-4887, www.afarcry.org
IMANI WINDS & CATALYST QUARTET In a special collaboration, the wind ensemble and string quartet join forces for a program centering on music of migration, including the Boston premiere of a new work by Jessie Montgomery co-commissioned by the concert’s presenter, Celebrity Series of Boston. The program also includes Roberto Sierra’s “Concierto de Cámara,” a new arrangement of Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue,” and Florence Price’s “Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint.” Streaming option also available. March 5, 8 p.m. First Church in Cambridge. 617-482-2595, www.celebrityseries.org
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A.Z. MADONNA
ARTS
Theater
INCIDENT AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP In Katie Forgette’s comedy, 19-year-old Linda O’Shea guides the audience through four tempestuous days in the life of her middle-class Irish-Catholic family in 1973. It begins when Linda explains the birds and the bees to her younger sister, and their conversation is overheard by their parish priest, who indignantly confronts the family about “the corruption of their eldest daughter’s soul.” Featuring Barlow Adamson, Amy Barker, Autumn Blazon-Brown, Maureen Keiller, and Vin Vega. Directed by Weylin Symes. Through March 20. Greater Boston Stage Company, Stoneham. 781-279-2200, www.greaterbostonstage.org
PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS Marianna Bassham brings her trademark blend of technique, fearlessness, all-in commitment, and a gift for intensely individualized portraiture to the role of Emma, an actress battling herself as well as her addiction to drugs and alcohol. While the to-and-through-rehab trajectory of Duncan Macmillan’s play is a much-traveled one, there’s a trenchancy to Macmillan’s writing, and director David R. Gammons keeps the emotional temperature high and the coming-apart-at-the-seams vibe constant. Through March 5. SpeakEasy Stage Company. At Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. 617-933-8600, www.speakeasystage.com
THE BLUEST EYE This profoundly moving production of Lydia R. Diamond’s play, adapted from Toni Morrison’s debut novel and skillfully directed by Awoye Timpo, will stay with you long after you see it. The title refers to a young Black girl named Pecola Breedlove (Hadar Busia-Singleton) who believes her life would be wonderful if she only had blue eyes. Pecola feels lost in the world at the very moment she should be finding her place in it, and the ache of that coming-of-age quandary is legible on Busia-Singleton’s face. The rest of the cast is equally strong; they make the stakes for each character wrenchingly clear at all times. Through March 26. Huntington Theatre Company. At Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. Digital recording of performance available through April 9. Tickets for in-person and digital performances at 617-266-0800 or www.huntingtontheatre.org
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DON AUCOIN
Dance
MOTION STATE DANCE FESTIVAL Four nights of dance, three different programs, and a free art-making party bring together a wealth of contemporary dance makers in live performances and films. The headliner is New York choreographer Edisa Weeks, whose “3 RITES: Liberty” delves into our current reckoning with how America has pursued freedom, and a special “Roots Party” invites the community to join her in creating roots for the work out of paper and twine. Additional festival artists include Shura Baryshnikov, Olivier Besson, Assitan “Sita” Coulibaly, Heidi Henderson, and others. March 5-12. Free-$30. WaterFire Arts Center, Providence. www.motionstatearts.org
DARKNESS INTO LIGHT After Selmadanse artistic director Joanie Block lost her husband in November, she had a moment during his memorial of realizing how intertwined light and darkness are — not just visually, but emotionally and spiritually. In this special program, she and Selmadanse members Julie Leavitt and Melinda Rothstein use dance and collective stories to explore the power of darkness and light within and around us. March 6. Free, in person or livestream. Congregation Beth El, Sudbury. www.bethelsudbury.org
ISLAND MOVING COMPANY The contemporary ballet troupe celebrates its 40th anniversary with “MASTERFUL-Movers,” a gala evening of dance and live music. The Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra join the company in a choreographed performance of Carl Orff’s rousing “Carmina Burana” with special sets, film, and visual design. The company also commissioned international choreographer Nicolo Fonte to restage his seminal “Where We Left Off,” set to the music of Philip Glass. March 11. $49-$129. Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Providence. www.thevetsri.com
BEYOND BALLROOM José Mateo Ballet Theatre presents this performance of two-time US National Ballroom Showdance champions Mariko and Nazar. Ukrainian-born Nazar Batih and Cambridge native Mariko Cantley are celebrating the 10th anniversary of a professional partnership that has won them a number of ballroom dance awards and opportunities. The evening includes a cash bar and complimentary hors d’oeuvres. March 5. $35-$125 (VIP). Sanctuary Theatre, Cambridge. www.BalletTheatre.org
KAREN CAMPBELL
Visual Arts
BARKLEY HENDRICKS: MY MECHANICAL SKETCHBOOK His graceful life-size painted portraits may be the work for which he’s known, but Hendricks had a less-seen parallel current to his art-making that used photography in surprising and innovative ways. When Hendricks called it a “mechanical sketchbook,” he was barely exaggerating; this exhibition collects dozens of his photographs in concert with paintings and drawings that show an active, creative mind rarely at rest. It’s just one part of a Hendricks renaissance — the Brooklyn Museum is working on mounting a major career retrospective right now — that the artist, sadly, did not live to see. He died in 2017 at 72 just, it seemed, as his career was getting started. Through July 24. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, 415 South St., Waltham. 781-736-3434, brandeis.edu/rose
JOEL MEYEROWITZ: PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION There’s no more Cape Cod-y photograph that Meyerowitz’s “Ballston Beach, Truro, 1976,” of a lifeguard slouching in his chair and seen from behind, the blousy red arms of his windbreaker billowing in the onshore breeze. Meyerowitz, one of the masters of American street photography, spent plenty of time on the Cape, and now his pictures of it will, too: The Provincetown Art Association and Museum was the recent recipient of a donated trove of 201 of those photographs, 80 of which it now has on view. They’re a tease and a promise, here in waning weeks of winter, of warm summer days soon to come. Through May 1. Provincetown Art Association and Museum, 460 Commercial St., Provincetown. 508-487-1750, paam.org
LOVE STORIES FROM THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON Don’t let the syrupy premise dissuade you from seeing this show, which imports dozens of works from one of the world’s premiere portrait collections. Spanning eras and media — from the Renaissance to present day, painting and photography both — the exhibition will bring in more than 100 important works by the likes of David Hockney, Lee Miller, George Romney, and Mary Beale. And yes, coupling predominates: from Mary Wollstonecraft and Percy Bysshe Shelley to Paul and Linda McCartney. Through March 13. Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury St., Worcester. 508-799-4406, www.worcesterart.org
MURRAY WHYTE
HOLDING THE CENTER STILL Debra Weisberg’s installations — made from drawings and prints layered on handmade paper, bound together with hot glue — at once bring to mind fractal expansion and organic decay. An adjoining exhibition, “Material Drawing Redux,” features artists who also create three-dimensional drawings: Audrey Goldstein, Julia Shepley, and Michelle Samour. Through March 27. Piano Craft Gallery, 793 Tremont St. www.pianocraftgallery.com/holding_the_center_still_material_redux_03-04-2022/
CATE McQUAID
EVENTS
Comedy
MICHAEL KOSTA The “Daily Show” correspondent says humans have never been dumber, and as proof, asks if we’ve tried to spell without using our phones. He couldn’t spell “silhouette” for a crossword puzzle he was doing on a plane. “Diarrhea?” he says. “I’d rather have it.” Rob Crean opens the show. March 4, 7:30 p.m. $27. Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville. 617-245-2900, www.crystalballroomboston.com
TIM DILLON The stand-up and host of “The Tim Dillon Show” podcast leans into his anger in his act, addressing everything from electoral politics to Breyers ice cream. He’s calling these last-minute surprise shows at the Wilbur his last live shows in Boston “for a while.” March 5, 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. $50-$60. The Wilbur, 246 Tremont St. 617-248-9700, www.thewilbur.com
EUGENE MIRMAN AND FRIENDS Mirman headlines this show, produced by The Comedy Studio, with stand-up sets from Tony V., Tooky Kavanagh, and Phoebe Angle. Hosted by the Studio’s Kathe Farris. March 9, 8 p.m. $15. The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Somerville. 617-661-6507, www.thecomedystudio.com
NICK A. ZAINO III
Family
RECYCLED SCULPTURES WORKSHOP Recycled food boxes and googly eyes offer endless creative possibilities for your child. March 4 and March 11, 4:30-5:45 p.m. $50. New Art Center, 61 Washington Park, Newton. newartcenter.org
JEFF JAM FAMILY DANCE PARTY Jeff Jam is a Massachusetts-born musician and educator who teaches music all over New England. But this Saturday, close up your notebooks and put on your dancing shoes for an event designed to get you and your child on your feet. March 5, 4 p.m. $8. The Burren, 247 Elm St., Somerville. 24hourconcerts.showare.com
LITTLE GROOVE This Tuesday, the Boston Public Library is offering the right-size groove for children as old as 5. March 8, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Free. Peter Looney Park, 34 Union St., Charlestown. bpl.bibliocommons.com
SAM TROTTENBERG