MUSIC
Pop & Rock
TATE MCRAE Canadian singer and dancer Tate McRae channels teen angst into gloomily anthemic cuts like the bruised “you broke me first” and the pulsing yet green-eyed “she’s all i wanna be.” She performs with GAYLE, who alchemized recent pop trends — festival-ready choruses, pop-punk attitude, sweeping synths — into the petulantly potty-mouthed chart-topper “abcdefu,” and Mimi Webb, whose latest single, “House on Fire,” has the gentle bounce of mid-’00s dancepop. April 1, 7 p.m. Royale. 617-338-7699, royaleboston.com
TONER This Oakland slacker-fuzz outfit, led by vocalist-guitarist Samuelito Cruz, pairs huge, feedback-heavy riffs with thundering drums and chilled-out vocals on its latest full-length, “White Buffalo Roam.” With Amherst sludge-poppers California X, who are playing their first show in more than two years. April 3, 8 p.m. (doors). O’Brien’s Pub. 617-782-6245, facebook.com/OBriensAllston
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SPOON Austin’s soul-rock stalwarts return in support of their 10th full-length, “Lucifer on the Sofa.” With the inventively sly singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy. April 6, 7 p.m. House of Blues Boston. 888-693-2583, houseofblues.com/boston
MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk, World & Country
PENNY & SPARROW The children’s game phrase “olly olly oxen free” bids players to come out of hiding without consequence. Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke named their new album “Olly Olly” with that sort of revealing in mind, a coming out of old ways of doing things that’s manifested by the new album’s sound and the way it was made. April 1, 8 p.m. $20. Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave. www.livenation.com
MOLLY TUTTLE Molly Tuttle was raised on bluegrass, playing it in a family band, but she went exploring in folk and American directions on her first two solo albums. On her latest, “Crooked Tree,” she comes back to her raisin’. She’s touring behind the record with her own bluegrass ensemble, Golden Highway. April 3, 7:30 p.m. $30. Bull Run Restaurant, 215 Great Road, Shirley. 978-425-4311. www.bullrunrestaurant.com
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SHOVELS & ROPE One of the reasons Shovels & Rope came into being is that its married components, Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst, realized that if they were in separate bands, they’d be spending a good deal of their lives apart. They’re now six albums in, and on their new one, “Manticore,” they turn their artistic eye to examinations and ruminations on their life together as couple, family, and musicians. April 6, 8 p.m. $30. Paradise Rock Club, 967 Commonwealth Ave. www.livenation.com
STUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
CATHERINE RUSSELL The soulful, swinging vocalist was born into jazz. Her father, Luis Russell, led his own big bands for decades, often backing Louis Armstrong, while her mother, Carline Ray, was a bassist, guitarist, and singer. Eight albums and one Grammy nomination on, she’s making her own mark in music. April 1, 8 p.m. $35-$50. Scullers, 400 Soldiers Field Road. 866-777-8932, www.scullersjazz.com
PAUL RISHELL & ANNIE RAINES The award-winning blues duo — finger-style guitar master Rishell and hot harmonica player Raines, both fine singers to boot — boast a wide-ranging repertoire of original, classic, and lesser-known numbers. The concert will be preceded by a masterclass at 5 p.m. April 2, 7 p.m. $20-$45. Concord Conservatory of Music, 1317 Main St. (within the West Concord Union Church). visitconcord.org/event/4955
THE VIJAY IYER TRIO The acclaimed pianist and composer helms his high-powered trio, featuring bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, in support of the group’s latest album, “Uneasy,” a musical reflection on the zeitgeist. April 7, 8 p.m. $25-$35. ICA, 25 Harbor Shore Drive. 617-478-3100, www.icaboston.org/events
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KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA This week, the orchestra and guest conductor Antonio Pappano perform Benjamin Britten’s devastating “War Requiem,” featuring the first appearance of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus since the pandemic. April 2, 8 p.m. Next week, BSO assistant conductor Anna Rakitina makes her long-awaited debut in front of a live Symphony Hall audience. April 7-9. Symphony Hall. 617-266-1200, bso.org
BOSTON CECILIA The storied local choir presents the world premiere of Minnesota composer Paul Rudoi’s concert-length “Our Transcendental Passion,” which weaves the words of New England Transcendentalists such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Margaret Fuller through American folk hymnody. April 2, 8 p.m. All Saints Church, Brookline; April 3, 7 p.m., Umbrella Arts Center, Concord. bostoncecilia.org
A.Z. MADONNA
ARTS
Theater
BEASTS Secrets rise to the surface with “magical-realistic and surreal intensity” when an artist named Judy pays a surprise visit to Fran, her pregnant sister in the suburbs. A new drama by Cayenne Douglass that is directed by Kelly Galvin, “Beasts” is the final production in a Boston Playwrights’ Theatre season in which all the plays were written by the Boston University MFA Playwriting Program class of 2021. April 7-17. Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. www.bostonplaywrights.org
THE WIZARD OF OZ There’s no place like . . . Well, you know. The cast of this musical classic includes Lily Park as Dorothy, Katie Anne Clark as the Wicked Witch of the West, Maxwell Seelig as the Scarecrow, David Jiles Jr. as the Tin Man, Krystal Hernandez as the Cowardly Lion, and Zachary McConnell as the Wizard. Directed by Nick Vargas, with choreography by Tiffany Lau. April 8-May 1. Wheelock Family Theatre. 617-353-3001, www.wheelockfamilytheatre.org
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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. Through April 2. Emerson Colonial Theatre. 888-616-0272, emersoncolonialtheatre.com
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel stars Richard Thomas as upright attorney Atticus Finch, who defends a Black man, Tom Robinson (Yaegel T. Welch), falsely accused of rape in Depression-era Alabama. With Melanie Moore as Scout Finch, Jacqueline Williams as Calpurnia, Justin Mark as Jem Finch, Steven Lee Johnson as Dill Harris, and Mary Badham, who earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Scout Finch in the 1962 film version, as Mrs. Dubose, Scout’s nasty neighbor. Directed by Bartlett Sher. April 5-17. Broadway In Boston. At Citizens Bank Opera House. www.BroadwayInBoston.com
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DON AUCOIN
Dance
THE JUST AND THE BLIND Fusing music, dance, and spoken word, Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s acclaimed work examines the impact of policing practices on black fatherhood. Presented by the Celebrity Series, the multidisciplinary piece features King Havoc, known for his eye-popping performances of the Brooklyn street dance style FlexN, with a score and songs by Massachusetts composer Daniel Bernard Roumain. April 1-2. $20-$60. Emerson Paramount Center. www.celebrityseries.org
NEW DANCES FOR GOETHE-INSTITUT BOSTON Originally commissioned to celebrate the opening of the institute’s newly restored building but postponed by renovation delays and COVID-19, this live world premiere finally gets its day. The new dance theater work pairs site-specific choreography by Boston Dance Theater co-director Jessie Jeanne Stinnett with musical selections from iconic German composers performed live by Sound Icon, led by artistic director Jeffrey Means. April 1-2. Free (reservation suggested). Goethe-Institut Boston. 617-610-9398, www.goethe.de/boston
SCHULHOFF As part of her ongoing series “Zachor,” which aims to preserve through dance the memories of those impacted by the Holocaust, choreographer Rachel Linsky honors the music of Jewish composer Erwin Schulhoff in this original dance performance. His trailblazing, jazz-influenced music was considered offensive by the Nazis and was nearly lost due to a ban modern art deemed a threat to ideology. Performed with live music played by Yukiko Takagi and Rick Stone. April 2. $15. The W Gallery, Wayland. https://artswayland.com/products/schulhoff
KAREN CAMPBELL
Visual Arts
GEORGIA O’KEEFFE: PHOTOGRAPHER The doyenne of American modernism had an aesthetic carefully crafted to be holistic, from her painting to her fashion sense to her home décor. This show is the first to closely consider O’Keeffe’s photography, a sideline to her artistic practice no less infused with her powerful sense of self. Through June 12. Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, 180 Main St., Andover. 978-749-4015, addisongallery.org
BEING MUHOLI: PORTRAITS AS RESISTANCE The intense, often-harrowing black-and-white photo self-portraiture for which the South African artist Zanele Muholi is known at times seems to take in all of the bleak tensions of their homeland’s racially charged history at once. Muholi says they are not an artist but a “visual activist,” and their work bears that out. Their pictures frequently tease out a litany of stereotypes with the intention of deflating and reclaiming them at heart. “Portraits as Resistance” is an apt name for their longstanding practice and features entirely new creative departures, such as colorful painting and bronze sculpture. Through May 8. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 25 Evans Way. 617-566-1401, gardnermuseum.org
BARKLEY L. 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
MURRAY WHYTE
ART AS SALVE Inspired by the Healing Justice movement, founded by activist Cara Page (https://carapage.co/about/) and the Kindred Southern Healing Justice Collective (http://kindredsouthernhjcollective.org/), curator Ashleigh Dior Coren orchestrates an exhibition in which artists embrace recent and generational traumas to create talismans and rituals of care and healing. The show is the fourth in New Art Center’s BIPOC Curatorial Program. Through May 31. New Art Center at the New Art Corridor, 245 Walnut St., Newton. www.newartcenter.org
CATE McQUAID
EVENTS
Comedy
KANAN GILL In his 2020 special, “Yours sincerely, Kanan Gill,” the Indian comedian makes fun of a friend who has an app that beeps throughout the day to remind him to drink water. “It’s a piece of software for people who are secretly plants, that they feel thirsty and they don’t know what the next step is.” April 1, 7:30 p.m. $38-$58. Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville. www.ticketmaster.com
RAANAN HERSHBERG “Once you turn 75 in America, you do not have a lot of options,” said Hershberg in his “Tonight Show” debut earlier this year. “You really don’t. You can either be put into a nursing home or run every aspect of government.” He headlines Hideout Comedy Friday and Saturday. April 1-2, 7:30 p.m. $20-$40. The White Bull Tavern, 1 Union St. 617-681-4600, www.thewhitebulltavern.com
ARTIE JANUARIO A working pharmacist by day, Januario says one of the hardest parts of the job is keeping a straight face when people ask him silly questions. “A lady the other day, she goes, ‘I got this ointment here, it says to apply locally to affected area.’ I said, ‘Well, what’s the problem?’ She goes, ‘We just moved to New Hampshire.’” April 1-2, 8:30 p.m. $30. Giggles Comedy Club, 517 Broadway, Saugus. 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. $75. 781-233-9950, www.princerestaurant.com
NICK A. ZAINO III
Family
AFTER-SCHOOL ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS: SUPER SKELETONS They say you can tell a lot about a person from their bones, but this applies to animals too. Join Harvard Museum of Natural History staffers as they walk you through what animal skeletons can reveal about a creature. April 6, 4-4:45 p.m. Free. Online. hmnh.harvard.edu
KID-CRAFTED BOOK DISPLAY FOR LIBRARY WEEK Do you have a child author on your hands? Until April 9, the Greenfield Public Library children’s department will accept books from kids under 12 to be displayed during National Library Week. April 4-9, Monday-Wednesday 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Thursday-Friday 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. Greenfield Public Library, 402 Main St, Greenfield. greenfieldpubliclibrary.org
WELCOME SPRING! PLANT SUNFLOWERS Spring is finally here, and so are the flowers. Enjoy a lovely Saturday at the Stay N Play Children’s Museum, and bring home a little something for your garden. April 2, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. $10, free for children under 2. Stay N Play Children’s Museum, 27 Perkins St. eventbrite.com
SAM TROTTENBERG