MUSIC
Pop & Rock
ROBYN “Honey,” last year’s stunner from this Swedish disco queen, is a gorgeous love letter to the transcendental possibilities of the dancefloor, from losing yourself in the grooves of Lil Louis to beachside chats about the night before’s antics with pals. Be sure to wear clothes that you can move around in. March 11, 6 p.m. $65 and up. House of Blues. 888-693-2583, www.houseofblues.com/boston
DAUGHTERS This Providence band’s 2018 album “You Won’t Get What You Want” is jagged and churning, with vocalist Alexis S.F. Marshall acting as its nightmare circus’s yelping, strutting ringmaster. March 12, 8 p.m. $20 and up. The Sinclair, Cambridge. 617-547-5200, www.sinclaircambridge.com
Advertisement
MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk & World
DRAKE WHITE If Anderson East was just a little bit more, you know, country, he’d probably sound like the Southern-fried, Muscle Shoals-inflected take on the music that Drake White offers. That take, as represented by a single album, 2016’s “Spark,” didn’t do enough by the expectations of a mainstream country label to keep it from dropping White, but he’s still playing out while he looks for another partner. March 16, 8 p.m. $20. Paradise Rock Club. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
BERKLEE AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC PROGRAM 10TH ANNIVERSARY This program has been incubating roots music talent for a decade, and some of that talent, including Sierra Hull, Molly Tuttle, Lonely Heartstring Band, and Twisted Pine, will be onstage this Tuesday, joining other alumni, current students, and faculty in a collaborative performance to celebrate that milestone. March 12, 7:30 p.m. $15-$20. Berklee Performance Center. 617-747-2261, www.berklee.edu/BPC
Les Poules à Colin This Quebecois group may be young, but they have the chops that come from playing together for almost a decade. They offer a new spin on tradition, wedding old ballads and dance music from their home province (and Brittany and Louisiana as well) to modern strains to beautiful effect. March 14, 8 p.m. $19. Spire Center for the Performing Arts, Plymouth. 508-746-4488, www.spirecenter.org
Advertisement
STUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
JOE MORRIS/DO YEON KIM DUO The spring season of the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation’s “Boiler House Jazz Series” commences with the cross-cultural collaboration of American avant-guitarist Morris and Seoul native Kim, who plays gayageum (a Korean silk-stringed zither), with which she explores everything from traditional Korean music to jazz-inspired improvisation. March 14, 8 p.m. $15. Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation, 154 Moody St., Waltham. 781-893-5410, www.charlesrivermuseum.org
MASTERS OF TELECASTER: JIM WEIDER, G.E. SMITH, AND DUKE LEVINE Three of today’s finest blues and roots guitarists — G.E. Smith (“SNL” house band), Jim Weider (Levon Helm), and Duke Levine (Peter Wolf, Rosanne Cash) — perform a panoply of numbers by Roy Buchanan, Little Richard, Lee Dorsey, Sam Cooke, and many more. March 15, 8 p.m. $28-$40. City Winery. 617-933-8047, www.citywinery.com
T.S. MONK The son and namesake of jazz titan Thelonious Sphere Monk is a powerhouse drummer whose swinging hard bop group upholds his famous father’s legacy with fidelity and fire. March 16, 8 p.m. $35. Scullers. 617-562-4111, www.scullersjazz.com
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA Britten’s shattering “The Rape of Lucretia,” directed by Broadway veteran Sarna Lapine, confronts paradigms of power and abuse that resound through time. Kelley O’Connor, Duncan Rock, Jesse Darden, and Antonia Tamer head up the cast. March 11-17. Artists for Humanity EpiCenter, Fort Point. 617-542-6772, www.blo.org
Advertisement
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Andris Nelsons conducts an all-Strauss program dedicated to the memory of André Previn, featuring soprano extraordinaire Renée Fleming in the final scene from “Capriccio.” March 14-19. Symphony Hall. 888-266-1200, www.bso.org
KIRILL GERSTEIN & THOMAS ADÈS In a concert co-presented by Celebrity Series of Boston and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, longtime friends and collaborators Gerstein and Adès roll out a panoply of music for two pianos by a slate of composers including Debussy, Stravinsky (in transcription by Shostakovich), Lutoslawski, and Adès himself. March 15, 8 p.m., Jordan Hall. 617-482-2595, www.celebrityseries.org
WINSOR MUSIC The three musical Díaz siblings — Curtis Institute of Music president and violist Roberto, Naumburg Prize-winning cellist Andrés, and Boston violinist-about-town Gabriela — unite for a trio performance including Erno Dohnányi’s Serenade and Beethoven’s String Trio in G Major. The trio’s parents, also accomplished musicians, will join their children for the world premiere of Marti Epstein’s “New Song for the Spirit.” March 16, 8 p.m. First Church Boston. 781-863-2861, www.winsormusic.org
ARTS
Theater
BIRDY A bird-obsessed young man and his high school buddy are brought together again by the trauma of war in Naomi Wallace’s adaptation of William Wharton’s novel. Steven Maler’s intimate, poetic, and beautifully realized production reminds us that, as with love, there can be a mysterious chemistry to friendship, a force of attraction not comprehensible outside that circle of two. Through March 17. Production by Commonwealth Shakespeare Company presented by BabsonARTS at Carling-Sorenson Theater, Sorenson Center for the Arts, Babson College, Wellesley. 781-239-5880, www.commshakes.org/production/birdy
Advertisement
THE LITTLE FOXES Scott Edmiston’s sizzling production demonstrates how much voltage can still be generated by Lillian Hellman’s artfully-constructed 1939 melodrama about the scheming members of a wealthy Southern clan at the turn of the century. A strong cast is led by Anne Gottlieb, who delivers an outstanding performance as the steely, calculating Regina Giddens. As Regina’s malevolent brother, Benjamin Hubbard, longtime Boston theater stalwart Remo Airaldi performs the living daylights out of one of the best roles he’s had in years. Through March 17. Lyric Stage Company of Boston. 617-585-5678, www.lyricstage.com
SPAMILTON: AN AMERICAN PARODY “Forbidden Broadway’’ impresario Gerard Alessandrini, who has mercilessly skewered countless musical-theater eminentos over the years, clearly sees “Hamilton’’ creator Lin-Manuel Miranda as a kindred spirit in the quest to make Broadway better. But that didn’t stop Alessandrini from creating (and directing) an entertaining sendup of Miranda (played by Adrian Lopez) and his blockbuster musical. A cast standout is the blazingly talented Ani Djirdjirian, who portrays a gallery of characters including Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Barbra Streisand, and the Beggar Woman from “Sweeney Todd.’’ Through April 7. Huntington Theatre Company. At Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. 617-266-0800, www.huntingtontheatre.org
DON AUCOIN
Dance
MONICA BILL BARNES & COMPANY Two fabulously talented female dancers portray two clueless, overconfident guys at a happy-hour office party. As they go a little too far in the revelry department, the audience is totally in on the action, including access to munchies and libations. Celebrity Series of Boston is hosting Barnes’s clever “Happy Hour” at the Boston innovation space District Hall. Drop by after work. March 12-16. $35. District Hall. 617-482-6661, www.celebrityseries.org
Advertisement
CHINA NATIONAL OPERA & DANCE DRAMA THEATER In its Boston debut, the acclaimed company performs “Princess Zhaojun,” which tells the story of one of China’s most beloved heroines. During the first century BC, Wang Zhaojun sacrificed her own personal happiness and freedom to help promote peace along northern China’s border, and the company portrays her life with vivid pageantry and eye-catching choreography that enlivens traditional forms with contemporary elements. March 16-17. $70-$200. Boch Center Shubert Theatre, 866-348-9738, www.bochcenter.org
ALESSANDRO SCIARRONI The Italian choreographer and visual artist returns to the Institute of Contemporary Art with “UNTITLED_I will be there when you die.” This choreographed rumination on the passage of time uses the skills and concentrated focus of four professional jugglers to create a hypnotic display of tosses, catches, and ever-shifting patterns — perhaps a visual metaphor for time’s inevitable march. March 15-16. $15-$25. Institute of Contemporary Art. 617-478-3103, www.icaboston.org
KAREN CAMPBELL
Galleries
MAGNUS JOHNSTON: LARGER WORKS & MORE Johnstone, who died at 60 in 2013, was best known as a radio DJ who spun hip-hop, world music, and more on WZBC and WMBR from the late 1970s to the late 1990s. He was also a passionate painter, making works vibrating with color, pattern, and calligraphic gesture. Pictured: “Firewater.” Through March 17. Nave Gallery, 155 Powderhouse Blvd., Somerville. info@navegallery.org, www.navegallery.org
NEXT Video, sound, and installation works from three artists who relish oddball materials. Deb Todd Wheeler partnered with her brother, filmmaker Robert Todd, who died last year, on a series of video projections contemplating the heavens and our spinning earth. Joseph Fontinha’s animations consider time and creative process. Through March 31. Fountain Street Fine Art, 460 Harrison Ave. 617-292-4900, www.fsfaboston.com
PHLASH Phil Spring, also known as Phil In Phlash, photographs celebrities. He got his start in Boston. His photos of the music scene here between 1978 and 1988 document idols — Joey Ramone, Steven Tyler, Kurt Cobain — and fans, such as one in midair over a mosh pit. Through April 6. Midway Gallery, 15 Channel Center St. 617-416-0718, www.midwaygallery.org
CATE McQUAID
Museums
HOWARDENA PINDELL: WHAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN: Over her 50-year career, Pindell’s work touched on nearly every major movement of the late 20th century, from abstraction to conceptualism and beyond, though a mid-career turn toward political activism infuses her work with a powerful urgency. Through May 19. Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, 415 South St., Waltham. 781-736-3434, www.brandeis.edu/rose
MATTHEW BARNEY: REDOUBT One of the most-celebrated artists of his generation, Barney checks back in to his Yale alma mater for the first time since graduation in the ’80s with a complex, meditative video work about nature, loss, and cosmic grand schemes. A far cry from his trademark viscerality? Maybe. But don’t be surprised to see entrails or ectoplasm somewhere along the way. Through June 16. Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven. 203-432-0601, artgallery.yale.edu
THE BAUHAUS AND HARVARD Among several exhibits marking the groundbreaking Modernist design school’s centenary, this is sure to be the meatiest, given the school’s history with Bauhaus cofounder Walter Gropius, the onetime chair of architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Consider it a vision of better living through design a century later, with all the caveats that come with that. Through July 28. Harvard Art Museums. 32 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-267-9300, www.harvardartmuseums.org
MURRAY WHYTE
EVENTS
Comedy
BRIAN REGAN His punch lines are so memorable and his delivery so distinctive, it can be hard to resist mimicking Regan’s gags on your way out of the theater. You can also catch him on “Loudermilk” on the Audience Network and on his new Netflix series, “Stand Up and Away! With Brian Regan.” The March 15 show is sold out. March 14-15, 7:30 p.m. $47-$69. Wilbur Theatre. 866-448-7849, www.thewilbur.com
A FEMINIST ROMANCE NOVEL, LIVE! TEMPTATIONS AT SWEETWATER CREEK A sendup of romance novels and romantic comedies, this new play tells the story of three women whose car breaks down at a ranch. Written by Sam Aguirre, Leah Berkenwald, and Benjamin Sandler. Fridays through March. 10 p.m. $18. ImprovBoston, 40 Prospect St, Cambridge. 617-576-1253, www.improvboston.com
VICKI BARBOLAK The “America’s Got Talent” finalist and winner of Nickelodeon’s “America’s Funniest Mom” brings her bawdy “trailer nasty” tips and stand-up to Laugh Boston for four shows. March 15-16, 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. $25. Laugh Boston. 617-725-2844, www.laughboston.com
NICK A. ZAINO III
Family
BOSTON MARATHON YOUTH JAMBOREE Kids can’t run the Boston Marathon, but they’re more than welcome to help Boston Athletic Association kick off the countdown to race day. At the jamboree, young athletes can partake in field day activities, meet Spike the Unicorn, and compete in races of their own. March 10, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Free. Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center, 1350 Tremont St., Roxbury Crossing. baa.org
LUCKY GREEN CRAFTS Don’t get pinched! Make yourself something green for St. Patrick’s Day at the library’s art club. March 12, 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Free. Adams Street Library, 690 Adams St., Dorchester. bpl.bibliocommons.com
CIRCUS UP BENEFIT Run away with the circus for a night. At Circus Up’s first-ever benefit, attendees can enjoy performances from local artists as well as a silent auction. March 16, 6 p.m. $30. Commonwealth Circus Center, 8 Brookley Road, Jamaica Plain. circusup.com
JENNI TODD
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
March 28 Jukebox the Ghost and the Mowgli’s at Royale royaleboston.com
March 29 Vundabar at Paradise Rock Club ticketmaster.com
April 1 Cradle of Filth at Paradise Rock Club paradiserock.club
April 2 Mariah Carey at Boch Center Wang Theatre bochcenter.org
April 7 Charlotte Gainsbourg at Royale royaleboston.com
April 14 Broods at Paradise Rock Club songkick.com
April 23 Girlpool at Royale royaleboston.com
April 28 Cher at TD Garden tdgarden.com
JENNI TODD