MUSIC
Pop & Rock
GIRL IN RED A few years ago, Norwegian singer-songwriter Marie Ulven began self-releasing forthright, fuzzed-out songs that she’d crafted in her bedroom studio; the zinging hooks and to-the-bone lyrics of cuts like the glimmering “we fell in love in october” and the propulsive “I wanna be your girlfriend” quickly turned her into a modern indiepop sensation. March 18, 7 p.m. Paradise Rock Club. 617-562-8800, crossroadspresents.com
RICK MAGUIRE (FROM PILE) The leader of Boston’s DIY heroes Pile performs a solo show where he strips down his band’s gloriously chaotic songs, similar to the reworks featured on last year’s full-length “Songs Known Together, Alone.” March 19, 7:30 p.m. Church of the Covenant, 67 Newbury St. brownpapertickets.com; also streaming live (with a 48-hour replay window) at pile.bandcamp.com
Advertisement
BAD BUNNY: EL ULTIMO TOUR DEL MUNDO 2022 The San Juan singer, songwriter, and multi-hyphenate has ascended to global stardom quickly yet methodically since releasing his first single in 2016, blending reggaeton with sounds borrowed from all over pop’s map while pairing his undeniable swagger with an appealing vulnerability. March 22, 8 p.m. TD Garden. 617-624-1000, tdgarden.com
MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk, World & Country
VINCENT PEIRANI AND EMILE PARISIEN French accordion virtuoso Peirani makes his first trip to the United States along with musical partner, saxophonist Emile Parisien. They’re highlighting their 2020 release, “Abrazo,” which rubs tango giants such as Piazzolla and Cugat up against Kate Bush and Jelly Roll Morton. An interesting combination, whatever country you’re from. March 18, 8 p.m. $24-$29. Shalin Liu Performance Center, 37 Main St., Rockport. 978-546-7391, www.rockportmusic.org; March 19, 8 p.m. $30. The Center for Arts, 14 Summer St., Natick. 508-647-0097, www.natickarts.org
SEAN TRISCHKA POWER TRIO This is the local debut of a new project combining the talents of Trischka, Charlie Muench from the Stray Birds, and Joseph Terrell from Mipso. I’m not sure exactly what they’re going to play, but I’m certain they’ll be turning it up to 11. Ethnomusicologist and folk singer Tim Eriksen also performs. March 23, 8 p.m. Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. $20. 617-492-7679, www.passim.org
Advertisement
WESTERN CENTURIES This show has been rescheduled and rescheduled again, but this time it looks like it’s really going to happen, assuming these genuine honky-tonkers, who are coming all the way from the West Coast to play, don’t get lost along the way. March 24, 7 p.m. $15. The Burren, 247 Elm St., Somerville. 617-776-6896, www.burren.com
STUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
ANAT COHEN QUARTETINHO Celebrity Series of Boston’s inaugural Jazz Festival kicks off with the acclaimed clarinetist, composer, and bandleader’s scintillating international ensemble. (Over the following week, the series also presents keyboardist Matthew Whitaker, pianist Christian Sands, vocalist Veronica Swift, and violinist Regina Carter.) March 19, 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. $19-$75. Artists for Humanity EpiCenter, 100 W. 2nd St. www.celebrityseries.org/live-performances/jazzfestival
NALEDI MASILO Dot Jazz presents the engaging Johannesburg-born vocalist exploring the intersection of her South African roots and the jazz tradition, with pianist Kevin Harris and saxophonist/flutist Shahar Amdor. March 19, 8 p.m. $10-$20. Peabody Hall at the Parish of All Saints, 209 Ashmont St., Dorchester. www.greaterashmont.org/dotjazz
TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAINKILLERS The soulful singer and searing guitarist’s current tour celebrates 30 years on the road delivering rocking blues with power and panache. March 24, 8 p.m. $33-$38. Narrows Center for the Arts, 16 Anawan St., Fall River. 508-324-1926, www.narrowscenter.org; March 25, 8 p.m. $32-$38. The Center for Arts in Natick, 14 Summer St., Natick. 508-647-0097, www.natickarts.org
Advertisement
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
LORELEI ENSEMBLE Seventeenth-century madrigals and David Lang’s meditation on the ancient legend of Tristan and Iseult meet songs by Caroline Shaw, Laura Mvula, and Bjork as the sterling Lorelei Ensemble returns to live performance for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. March 18, 8 p.m. Longy School of Music at Bard College. www.loreleiensemble.com
LA DONNA MUSICALE In partnership with Latin-Baroque ensemble Rumbarroco, La Donna Musicale assembles a formidable team of musicians for “I Am Black and Beautiful,” featuring vocal music from the Renaissance and Baroque eras on texts honoring dark-skinned Black women and African-influenced instrumental music of the period from the Americas and Spain. March 18, 7 p.m. Church of the Covenant. 617-461-6973, www.ladm.org
BOSTON BAROQUE It’s a choral music extravaganza as director Martin Pearlman leads Boston Baroque’s chorus and orchestra in two gems of the Baroque era, Vivaldi’s “Gloria” and Handel’s “Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day.” The latter features the Boston Baroque debuts of soprano Elena Villalón and tenor Rufus Müller. March 19, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m; March 20, 3 p.m. GBH Calderwood Studios. 617-987-8600, https://baroque.boston
A.Z. MADONNA
ARTS
Theater
ONCE ON THIS ISLAND A musical fable about an idealistic peasant girl in Haiti who sacrifices herself to save an aristocratic youth only to be betrayed by him, “Once on This Island” has issues of colonial exploitation and class inequities very much on its mind. Director Pascale Florestal, who is Haitian-American, does not shrink from them. Yet there’s an unquenchable exuberance to “Once on This Island,” and, frequently, enchantment. At the musical’s glowing center as Ti Moune is Peli Naomi Woods, a senior at Boston Conservatory at Berklee who seizes the lead role with absolute confidence. Through April 16. SpeakEasy Stage Company, Boston. At Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. 617-933-8600, www.SpeakEasyStage.com
Advertisement
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. Greater Boston Stage Company, Stoneham. In-person and digital performances through March 20. Tickets for both in-person and digital performances available at 781-279-2200 or www.greaterbostonstage.org
FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME Devised by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anthony Veneziale, and Thomas Kail back before “In the Heights” and “Hamilton” made Miranda famous, “Freestyle Love Supreme” is an improvisational comedy show in which performers take audience suggestions and transform them into hip-hop numbers. Directed by Kail, and featuring Veneziale, Andrew Bancroft, Jay C. Ellis, Aneesa Folds, Kaila Mullady, Morgan Reilly, and Chris Sullivan, along with musicians Richard Baskin Jr. and James Rushin. March 18-April 2. Emerson Colonial Theatre. 888-616-0272, emersoncolonialtheatre.com
Advertisement
DON AUCOIN
Dance
NEW ENGLAND NOW DANCE PLATFORM Part of National Dance Project’s Regional Dance Development Initiative (RDDI), this event gathers 18 dance artists from all around New England for three distinct programs unfurling over one jam-packed weekend. It promises to showcase the variety of forms and styles that enrich our region’s dance landscape, with participating artists to include Chavi Bansal, Ian Berg, Deborah Goffe, Heidi Henderson, and Ali Kenner Brodsky, among others. March 18-20. $10-$25, $50 festival pass. Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. www.globalartslive.org
MATRIARCH, A WOMAN’S IMMIGRATION STORY This new dance theater work by Ann-Marie Ciaraldi features dancers Jessica Rose Flynn, Katie Pustizzi, and Keegan Scesny in a portrayal of the life of Rosaria Docimo, who was born in 1921 in rural Italy and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1956. Using movement, spoken word, and film, the work uses a feminist lens to examine the experience of immigration through the story of one woman’s courage and resilience. March 18-19. $15. MAGMA, Gloucester. https://magma.center/
PROJECT 112: TEN SOLO DANCES Presented by José Mateo Ballet Theatre, NYC/Boston-based choreographer Pat Catterson shares 10 contemporary dance solos performed by 10 different artists. Five will be performed live and five will be films of Catterson’s work taped in cities around the world. The evening includes original music by Quentin Chiappetta and commentary by the choreographer about her creative process. March 19. $35-$125 (VIP). The Sanctuary Theatre, Cambridge. www.ballettheatre.org
CLOSING DISTANCE Natalie Johnson Dance celebrates its seventh anniversary with a program that highlights the company’s goal to create powerful original choreography that reflects heartfelt personal stories. The program includes the world premiere of “Cocoon,” the Rhode Island premiere of the pandemic-inspired “Imagined Warmth,” favorite excerpts from past repertory, and a preview of a current work in progress. March 19-20. $12-$100. TEN31, Pawtucket, R.I. www.nataliejohnsondance.com
KAREN CAMPBELL
Visual Arts
MARC SWANSON: A MEMORIAL TO ICE AT THE DEAD DEER DISCO Loss freights every inch of Swanson’s largest-ever installation — of his jubilant youth spent in queer dance clubs, of friends to AIDS, and, in the throes of a rapidly-worsening climate disaster, of the very planet itself. Inspired by the life-size dioramas favored by natural history museums, the work is an amalgam of sculpture, video, light, and taxidermy, conjuring an otherworldly lament for an imagined apocalyptic future rooted far too deeply in the here and now. Through Dec. 22. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, 1040 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams. 413-662-2111, www.massmoca.org
MAYA LIN: MAPPINGS Lin, the architect who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is renowned for bringing an uncanny degree of humanism to her often spare and minimal designs. An exhibition of her map-based works is now at Smith College. It has sharp focus: climate change, species extinction, and ecosystem devastation. Through Aug. 7. Smith College Museum of Art, 20 Elm St., Northampton. 413-585-2760, https://scma.smith.edu/
EACH/OTHER: MARIE WATT AND CANNUPA HANSKA LUGER Watt and Luger are two Indigenous artists whose work runs the gamut from sculpture to installation, performance to video, and across media including ceramic, wood, fabric, photography, and oil drums (to name a few). They nonetheless have a binding sensibility: collaboration and community. The 26 works in this exhibition will include a large-scale new work made in concert with people all over the world whom they asked to embroider messages on scraps of fabric that they built into an outsize patchwork coyote. Through May 8. Peabody Essex Museum. 161 Essex St., Salem. 978-745-9500, pem.org
MURRAY WHYTE
MORE OR LESS IN COMMON: ENVIRONMENT AND JUSTICE IN THE HUMAN LANDSCAPE Climate justice is social justice. Historically, urban design has afforded green space for wealthy communities. In the 1930s, redlining by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation graded the residential desirability of a neighborhood in part on its racial makeup. This exhibition examines inequity as a longtime environmental issue, with maps, posters, and new visual investigations. Through Dec. 28. Leventhal Map & Education Center, Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St. www.leventhalmap.org/exhibitions
CATE McQUAID
EVENTS
Comedy
BIG IRISH JAY AND FRIENDS “Big Irish” Jay Hollingsworth isn’t from Boston, but he started his stand-up career in the local clubs. He returns for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration with Carlos Rodriguez, Kane Holloway, Matt Walker, and Liz Stone. March 18 at 7:30 p.m. and March 19 at 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. $29. Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St. 617-725-2844, www.laughboston.com
FOIL ARMS AND HOG The Irish sketch comedy troupe, who have found success releasing new videos like “When Irish People Can’t Speak Irish” and “An Englishman Plays Risk” every Thursday on their website, bring the live show to the Shubert on their North American tour. March 19, 8 p.m. $41.50. Boch Center Shubert Theatre, 265 Tremont St. 866-348-9738, www.bochcenter.org
LUISA LANGE “I started seeing a therapist recently because my boyfriend just dumped me eight years ago,” says Lange, a Boston native now based in New York City who headlines Hideout Comedy on Thursday. “So I’m going through a breakup right now.” March 24, 8 p.m. $20. The White Bull Tavern, 1 Union St. 617-681-4600, www.thewhitebulltavern.com
NICK A. ZAINO III
Family
PARENTS’ SURVIVAL NIGHT It’s been years at this point, years of sleepless nights, of decoding temper tantrums, of baby-proofing every sharp surface in existence. The time has come for a night off. Enjoy this rare opportunity from the Little Gym to drop off your child so you can both have a night of fun, sweet, separate fun. March 19, 4:45-6:45 p.m. $35 for members, $45 for non-members. The Little Gym, 5 Cherry Drive, Danvers. thelittlegym.com
FAMILY ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATION A buffet breakfast? Live Irish music? Storytime with Princess Belle? That’s right, this family-friendly St. Patrick’s Day celebration has it all. March 19, 9:30 a.m. $10. Irish Cultural Centre of New England, 200 New Boston Drive, Canton. eventbrite.com
KNITTING FOR KIDS Add another skill to your child’s wheelhouse with this beginner knitting workshop from the Concord Free Public Library. In four weeks, Diane Johnson from knitsandthat.com will guide your child through the process of knitting their very own stuffed bunny rabbit. Every Monday from March 21 to April 11, 4 p.m. Free. Main Library, 129 Main St., Concord. concordlibrary.org
SAM TROTTENBERG