Welcome to The Ticket, our guide highlighting the top things to do in and around Boston each weekend, as curated by Globe critics, editors, and writers.
On tap this weekend: the Boston Bhangra Competition returns, plus the Boston Comedy Festival brings the laughs.
THINGS TO DO IN AND AROUND BOSTON THIS WEEKEND
PHOEBE ROBINSON: FERAL & FIRED UP! The author and “2 Dope Queens” podcast alum finds herself making changes as she gets older. “The 40s are great,” she says. “I’m just taking a lot of vitamins and cutting friends out of my life. That’s it, that’s the 40s.” Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m. $43-$60. The Wilbur, 246 Tremont St. thewilbur.com — Nick A. Zaino III
VICTORIA MONÉT The singer-songwriter wants you to tune in to the Boston stop of her “Frequency of Love” tour. Known for smooth vocals and soulful beats, the 2024 best new artist Grammy winner is likely to hit that awards stage several more times in upcoming years. Nov. 13, doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m. Tickets from $53.05. MGM Music Hall at Fenway, 2 Lansdowne St. crossroadspresents.com — Megan Johnson
MIT FESTIVAL JAZZ ENSEMBLE: GIANT STEPS IN JAZZ Featuring special guest trombonist Elliot Mason, the 19th annual Herb Pomeroy Memorial Concert, which honors “the father of jazz at MIT,” will include music of greats like Ellington, Coltrane, and Chick Corea. You can also livestream it. Nov. 13, 8 p.m. $20 general admission or free with an MIT ID. Thomas Tull Concert Hall, 201 Amherst St., Cambridge. music.mit.edu/event/festival-jazz-ensemble-fall-concert — MJ
THE BOSTON COMEDY FESTIVAL The last two nights of the festival feature the semifinal rounds of the stand-up competition at The Rockwell and City Winery on Friday, then Emo Philips headlining at the Rockwell and the competition finals and Steven Wright receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Somerville Theatre on Saturday. Nov. 13-14, various times. Check bostoncomedyfest.com for tickets and info. — NZ
A CELEBRATION OF CATS ART EXHIBIT Browse over 120 cat-themed pieces of art at the event, which is filled with the work of local artists in all sorts of mediums. Don’t miss the two sculptures by Nancy Schön, the artist behind Boston’s beloved “Make Way for Ducklings.” The event benefits MSPCA-Angell. Nov. 13, 6-8 p.m. opening reception. Nov. 14, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Nov. 15, noon-4 p.m. Tickets are free, but registration is encouraged. M Fine Arts Galerie, B1 Thayer St., between Harrison Avenue and Albany Street. catvocates-celebrationofcats.netlify.app — MJ
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH CELEBRATION 2026 Native American Heritage Month comes alive with a day welcoming indigenous scientists, STEM professionals, artists, performers, and community members to share their work through conversations, performances, hands-on experiences, and special programs that are ideal for all ages. Nov. 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Ticket price is included in general museum admission. Museum of Science, Boston, 1 Science Park. mos.org/events/native-american-heritage-month-celebration-2026 — MJ
MFA ARTISAN MARKET If mass market gifts aren’t your holiday giving vibe, head to the MFA to find one-of-a-kind items ranging from jewelry and fashion to ceramics and stationery. There are also two book signings: “The Wreck of the Mentor: A True Story of Death, Despair, and Deliverance in the Age of Sail” author Eric Jay Dolin, and Flour culinary queen Joanne Chang, who has a new cookbook. Nov. 14, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Book signings are 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Entry included with general admission. Museum of Fine Arts, Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Family Courtyard, 465 Huntington Ave. mfa.org/event/special-event/artisan-market — MJ
BOSTON BHANGRA COMPETITION 2026 Some of the best teams from across North America come together to celebrate Bhangra, a highly energetic folk dance from the Punjab region of India/Pakistan. The live music and dancing will likely push you to your feet in celebration. Nov. 14, doors at 5 p.m., event starts at 6 p.m. Tickets from $15. Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Road, Dorchester. bostonbhangra.com/bbc2026/ — MJ
HOLIDAY BAZAAR AT ARSENAL YARDS Snag the perfect holiday gift at the first-ever Arsenal Bazaar, which will bring more than 50 small local businesses to Arsenal Yards with collections of art, vinyl, vintage, and more. The many stores and restaurants on-site will also be participating. Nov. 14-15, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bond Square at Arsenal Yards, 130 Arsenal Yards Blvd., Watertown. facebook.com/events/1438500367676495 — MJ
IAN EDWARDS “This war is breaking me financially,” says Edwards. “It’s making the price of everything go up. I went to my dry cleaners — five shirts, three pants. They charged me $107. I was like, ‘Are you selling my [stuff] back to me? This is more than I paid for them originally. So this is a store now, huh? I bought these at Ross. These are Nordstrom prices.’” Nov. 15, 6 p.m. $20.95. The Comedy Studio, 5 John F. Kennedy St., Cambridge. thecomedystudio.com — NZ
CRITICS’ PICKS FOR THIS WEEKEND AND BEYOND
Don Aucoin’s picks
1972 Inspired by the real-life story of the Janes, an underground collective in Chicago whose members helped thousands of women obtain safe abortions, this superb new rock opera by Chadwick Stokes follows the journey of 19-year-old Hannah (Gracie McGraw, excellent). Fleeing an abusive relationship, Hannah hops a freight train and seeks an abortion in the year before the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision made it legal. Stokes composed more than two dozen songs that traverse a spectrum from despair to defiance to exuberance while bringing a laid-back demeanor and soulful vocals to his portrayal of a freighthopper who emerges as an avuncular guide for Hannah. Directed by Jessie Nelson. Through Dec. 6. Production by American Repertory Theater. At Farkas Hall, Harvard University, 12 Holyoke St., Cambridge. 617-547-8300, amrep.org/1972
THE WASH One of the Front Porch Arts Collective’s hallmarks since its founding a decade ago is strong ensemble work. A stellar cast of six — Lindsey McWhorter, MaConnia Chesser, MarHadoo Effeh, Kiera Prusmack, Jada Saintlouis, and Eliza Fichter — continues that tradition under the direction of Tasia A. Jones. Kelundra Smith’s play, inspired by the Atlanta Washerwomen Strike of 1881, chronicles the courageous effort by Black laundresses to take a stand against the systematic exploitation of their labor by going on strike — an action that simultaneously delivers a challenge to the racism undergirding that exploitation. Through Nov. 22. Front Porch Arts Collective. At Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. 617-933-8600, frontporcharts.org
THE GETAWAY DRIVER Directed by Curt Columbus and based on an extraordinary true story, “The Getaway Driver” features Rebecca Gibel as Katherine Ann Power, who, as a Brandeis student fiercely opposed to the Vietnam War, drove the getaway car after a Brighton bank robbery in 1970 during which Boston police officer Walter A. Schroeder was murdered, then remained a fugitive for 23 years. The only other figure onstage is Schroeder’s daughter, Clare, played by Rachael Warren, who delivers a tightly disciplined performance that smartly does not overdo the daughter’s grim fixity of purpose. In their admirably tough-minded play, Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thurston summon the chaos and fury of a nation at war with a foreign country and with itself more than half a century ago. Through Nov. 22. Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. 617-576-9278, centralsquaretheater.org
A.Z. Madonna’s picks
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA A genre-expansive host of guests including jazz vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant, operatic bass-baritone Davone Tines, and Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista descends on Symphony Hall to join the BSO, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and conductor Eric Jacobsen for the world premiere performances of Osvaldo Golijov’s “Creation” (Nov. 13-14). Next week, former BSO assistant conductor Samy Rachid returns to the podium for a program of Weber, Mendelssohn, and Schumann featuring pianist Jan Lisiecki (Nov. 19-21). Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave. 617-266-1200, bso.org
VIVO PERFORMING ARTS Vivo presents three back-to-back concerts this weekend; Friday brings Serbian-French violinist Nemanja Raduloviċ and chamber orchestra Double Sens to New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, as they offer fresh orchestrations of Bach and Beethoven on their American debut tour (Nov. 13). Sunday in the same room, the luminous Dover Quartet plays music by Brahms, and Native American composer Pura Fé as arranged by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate. (Nov. 15) Saturday, the 19-year-old soul and jazz phenom (and current Berklee College of Music student) Pelin Su Yavuz plays a noontime concert at the Shaw-Roxbury branch of the Boston Public Library. She likely won’t be playing in such small rooms for much longer (Nov. 14). Various venues. 617-482-2595, vivoperformingarts.org
REQUIEM FOR AMERICA Boston hosts the United States premiere of “Requiem for America,” a new evening-length piece by composer and flutist Brent Michael Davids, a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee band of the Mohican nation. The piece uses the Requiem Mass as foundation for its harrowing memorial to the thousands of indigenous people who lost their lives, livelihoods, and homelands during the colonization of the land that became the United States. Presented by White Snake Projects. Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m. New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St. whitesnakeprojects.org
Murray Whyte’s picks
THE BOOK OF ESTHER IN THE AGE OF REMBRANDT It’s a classic hero’s tale: An orphan rises to become queen, just in time to save her people. That’s the story of the biblical heroine Esther, whose beauty led to her being chosen from the masses as the bride of the Persian monarch Ahasuerus, giving her the power to keep the Jewish people from destruction. That ancient story has always been central to the Jewish faith, celebrated on the annual holiday of Purim; but in 17th-century Netherlands, it was a pop-culture phenomenon, celebrated far and wide and taken up by none other than Rembrandt and his peers as a tale worth painting over and over again. Why is a worthy guess: The Netherlands, under oppressive Spanish rule, might have felt some affinity for a heroic tale of liberation, and as a commercial crossroads of an expanding world, keen interest in faraway cultures, too. This show takes up the story’s mass appeal in that era, presenting works by Rembrandt, Jan Lievens, Jan Steen, and others, all of them rallying around the rebel courage of an ancient heroine. Through Jan. 18. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 25 Evans Way. 617-566-1401, gardnermuseum.org
PICASSO, MIRO, DALI: UNBOUND Three artists who shared an era and a passport (all three were Spanish) make up this exhibition, despite their otherwise wildly divergent styles and interests. They come together here in the pages of vibrant livres d’artiste, or artists books, a form to which all three applied their creative energies full force. Through Jan. 24. Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 465 Huntington Ave. 617-267-9300, mfa.org
THE WAY WE NEVER WERE: THE AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS COLLECTION In the 1970s, sociologist and curator Barbara P. Norfleet assembled a 200,000-strong collection of photographs that, taken together, depicted a version of America at mid-century that “staged and refined ... how Americans saw themselves and their nation.” Given the nature of the pictures — made by professional photographers hired by businesses, families, and civic organizations — there’s a deceptively one-note sunniness to the images not quite in tune with the upheaval of the era, and that’s exactly the point. The show examines “not only … what was included, but also what was left out of the photographic record.” Through May 9. Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-495-9400, harvardartmuseums.org
LAST CHANCE
WICKED The Broadway musical sensation that chronicles what happened in Oz “before Dorothy dropped in” is finishing up its Boston run. Head downtown to catch it before it rides away on its broomstick like Elphaba. Through Nov. 15. Tickets from $62.75. Citizens Opera House, 539 Washington St. boston.broadway.com/shows/wicked-2/ — MJ
Don Aucoin can be reached at donald.aucoin@globe.com. Follow him @GlobeAucoin. A.Z. Madonna can be reached at az.madonna@globe.com. Follow her @knitandlisten. Murray Whyte can be reached at murray.whyte@globe.com. Nick A. Zaino III can be reached at nick@nickzaino.com.