MUSIC
JOE VAL BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL Another serving of hot picking to warm up a February weekend by the usual fine mix of national, regional, and local acts, courtesy of the Boston Bluegrass Union. A don’t-miss this year: bluegrass supergroup the Earls of Leicester and their tribute to genre icons Flatt & Scruggs. Feb. 17, 6 p.m., Feb. 18-19, 10 a.m. $115 weekend pass, $45-$70 individual days. Sheraton Hotel, Framingham. 617-782-2251. www.bbu.org STUART MUNRO
Pop & Rock
LAURA MVULA This British soul singer’s 2016 full-length “The Dreaming Room” brings together funk, R&B, symphonic sweep (courtesy of the London Symphony Orchestra), and lyrics celebrating strength in the face of global and personal adversity. Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m. $29.50, $22 advance. The Sinclair, Cambridge. 617-547-5200, www.sinclaircambridge.com
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FRANK TURNER AND THE SLEEPING SOULS Tenacity is the name of the game for this British folk-punk lifer, whose plainspoken, politically charged poetry operates in the space where traditional British songs, closing-time anthems, feisty rally chants, and Bruce Springsteen come together. Feb. 18, 6:45 p.m. $23.50-$38. Agganis Arena, Boston. 617-358-7000, www.agganisarena.com
RICK ASTLEY The 1987 debut album by this Englishman blended blue-eyed soul with sparkling synth pop, and it spawned two besotted No. 1 singles. Three decades later, those songs still gleam, but on his new album, “50,” Astley has ditched the spangles for warm arrangements of soulful tracks that put his still-formidable baritone right up front. Feb. 18, 7 p.m. $26. House of Blues. 888-693-2583, www.houseofblues.com/boston
Folk & World
THE CADILLAC THREE The purveyors of a raucous mainstream Southern rock/outlaw country cross (with a bit of party-hearty bro-country seasoning thrown in for good measure) will be showcasing their sophomore long-player, “Bury Me in My Boots,” which came out late last summer. Be sure to arrive early enough to catch rising spitfire Aubrie Sellars, who opens. Feb. 16, 9 p.m. $18. The Paradise. 800-745-3000. www.ticketmaster.com
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SINKANE Sudanese-born Ahmed Gallab, a.k.a. Sinkane, arrives right around release day for “Life and Livin’ It.” At times (“Fire” and “The Way” are prime examples) his latest collection of Afro-soul-funk-reggae mashups wrapped around his sweet tenor suggests what Curtis Mayfield might have sounded like if he had hailed from Gallab’s native continent instead of this one. Feb. 16, 9:30 p.m. $12. Great Scott. 888-929-7849. www.axs.com
Jazz & Blues
FREDDY COLE Brother of Nat and uncle of Natalie, the vocalist-pianist has been delighting audiences for more than half a century. His suave, smoky, and swinging takes on standards should sit just right on Valentine’s night. Feb. 14, 7:30 and 10 p.m. $23-$35. Regattabar. 617-395-7757, www.regattabarjazz.com
JAN MARIE & THE MEAN REDS The sultry singer and her band play a soulful mixture of jazz, blues, and R&B that moves both listeners and dancers. Feb. 18, 9 p.m. $10. Ryles, 212 Hampshire St., Cambridge. 617-876-9330. www.rylesjazz.com
EITHER/ORCHESTRA TRIBUTE TO NERSES NALBANDIAN Russ Gershon’s 10-piece little big band ranks as one of the world’s finest interpreters of Ethiopian jazz. This concert features works by Ethiopian legend Nalbandian, born in Turkey in 1915, whose family escaped the genocide of Armenians. Settling in Syria, he served as an Armenian Orthodox Church choirmaster. Relocating to Ethiopia, he was music director of the Haile Selassie National Theater, becoming a seminal influence on the country’s musical life. Feb. 19, 7 p.m. $25-$35, Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown. 617-923-8487, www.arsenalarts.org
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Classical
CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF AND LARS VOGT The violinist and pianist form a masterly duo, always apt to create a fresh approach to anything on their music stands. For this visit they bring sonatas by Beethoven, Bartók, and Mozart, as well as Schubert’s dazzling Rondo in B minor. Feb. 12,3 p.m., Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport. 978-546-7391, www.rockportmusic.org
BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA Conductor Ivan Fischer has been on a mission to disrupt the classical music world, shaking up entrenched orchestra conventions and becoming a political force in his native Hungary. Don’t let the staid appearance of an all-Beethoven program — the first and fifth symphonies, and the Fourth Piano Concerto with soloist Richard Goode — fool you: Sparks are likely to fly. Feb. 12,3 p.m., Symphony Hall. 617-482-6661, www.celebrityseries.org
BLUE HERON The early music vocal ensemble continues its multiyear “Ockeghem@600” project with a concert featuring the Franco-Flemish master’s “Missa Caput,” as well as music by British composers Robert Morton and Walter Frye. Feb. 18, 8 p.m., First Church in Cambridge, Congregational. 617-960-7956, www.blueheron.org
ARTS
Theater
BRECHT ON BRECHT A trenchant collage of excerpts from works by German playwright-poet Bertolt Brecht, tweaked by director Jim Petosa to give it an anti-Trump thrust. The versatile cast includes Christine Hamel, Carla Martinez, Jake Murphy, and Brad Daniel Peloquin, with piano accompaniment by musical director Matthew Stern. Through March 5. Copresented by New Repertory Theatre and the Boston Center for American Performance. At Black Box Theater, Mosesian Center for the Arts,Watertown. 617-923-8487, www.newrep.org
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REALLY In this regional premiere of a quietly piercing if overly enigmatic drama by the gifted Jackie Sibblies Drury (“We Are Proud to Present . . .’’), a photographer has either died or disappeared, and now his mother and girlfriend are trying to get at the truth of who he was. Along the way, they start to figure out a few things about themselves. As the mother, Kippy Goldfarb delivers one of those indelible, can’t-take-your-eyes-off-her performances. Sensitively directed by Shawn LaCount. Through March 4. Company One Theatre with Matter & Light Fine Art. At Matter & Light Fine Art gallery, Boston. 617-292-7110, www.companyone.org
THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA James Earl Jones heads a heavy-hitting cast in Tennessee Williams’s 1961 drama about the convergence at a dingy Mexican hotel of a host of unusual characters, including a scandal-tarnished minister and a Nantucket portrait artist who is traveling with her dying grandfather. Featuring Amanda Plummer, Elizabeth Ashley, Dana Delany, Bill Heck, and Remo Airaldi. Directed by Michael Wilson. Feb. 18-March 18. American Repertory Theater. At Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge. 617-547-8300, www.americanrepertorytheater.org
Dance
ALESSANDRO SCIARRONI The Italian choreographer and theater director is known for productions that obscure the lines between dance, performance art, and ritual. In the playful, sometimes trancelike “FOLK-S,” he culturally decontextualizes the stomping/clapping Bavaria folk dance Schuhplattler. Feb. 17-18. $15-$25. Institute of Contemporary Art. 617-478-3103, www.icaboston.org
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TONY WILLIAMS BALLET COMPANY This spunky young troupe partners with Symphony Nova for an evening of live music and dance, choreographed by Gianni Di Marco, Adam Miller, and Colleen Edwards. The program includes music by Gershwin, Mozart, Beethoven, Schifrin, and Mark O’Connor. Feb. 17. $25-$45. Old South Church. 617-524-4381, www.tonywilliamsdancecenter.com
SOCIAL ANIMALS The group V5 Dance, which focuses on original, interactive dance in small performance spaces, presents its latest endeavor. This evening of dance examines social behavior within the animal kingdom, from familial interactions among elephants to the ever-changing structures of ant colonies. Prepare to join in! Feb. 18. $10-$12. First Church in Cambridge. 610-639-2662, www.V5dance.weebly.com
Galleries
FUTUREFARMERS: ERRATA–BRIEF INTERRUPTIONS This collective of artists, scientists, farmers, and more seeks to enlighten through disruption. They’ve quietly left traces at Harvard, such as erratum slips in library books, aiming to provoke curiosity and paradigm shifts. Through April 9. Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, 24 Quincy St. 617-496-5387, www.ccva.fas.harvard.edu/home
INTER-DIMENSIONAL PORTS OF WHATSOEVER Curator Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez explores the chaos and possibility of relocation in a show that looks at departures, landings, and the uncertain journey between, through such lenses as migration, science fiction, and dystopia. Through April 1. Atlantic Wharf Gallery, 290 Congress St. 617-423-4299, www.fortpointarts.org
LOVE/LUST
Celebrate Valentine’s Day at this large group show featuring sculptures sparked by the many forms of passion for another — romance, friendship, obsession. On Feb. 12, 4 p.m.-6 p.m., the Boston Conservatory Honors String Quartet will enhance the art with music. Through Feb. 26. Boston Sculptors Gallery, 486 Harrison Ave. 617-482-7781, www.bostonsculptors.com
Museums
PAST IS PRESENT: REVIVAL JEWELRY This show follows the spiral of history in jewelry design, via jewelers such as Tiffany & Co. and Cartier. Objects from antiquity to the 21st century illustrate how jewelers revisit motifs of the past. Feb. 14-Aug. 19. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.org
PLAYA MADE: THE JEWELRY OF BURNING MAN The carefully crafted rings, coins, and pendants of Burning Man, the annual art festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, represent Burning Man’s creed of collaboration, connection, and creativity. Through June 4. Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St., Brockton. 508-588-6000, www.fullercraft.org
WALDEN: FOUR VIEWS/ABELARDO MORELL This year marks the bicentennial of Henry David Thoreau’s birth. Morell’s intricate and poetic panoramic photographs investigate Walden Pond, where Thoreau built a cabin in order “to live deliberately” and contemplate nature, life, and contentment. Through Aug. 20. Concord Museum, 200 Lexington Road, Concord. 978-369-9763, www.concordmuseum.org
EVENTS
Comedy
FOOL DESCENDING A STAIRCASE ImprovBoston presents this full-length play by Scott Kremer with an intriguing description about an impressionist painter hosting a variety show and falling in love with a waitress. Feb. 12, Feb. 19, and Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. $12. ImprovBoston, 40 Prospect St., Cambridge. 617-576-1253, www.improvboston.com
TOWNIE: A ONE MAN SHOW Steve Sweeney, one of the founding members of Boston’s stand-up scene, brings back his one-man show, which includes stories about Sweeney’s life and career. Keep an eye out for future dates of this show, too. Feb. 16, 7 p.m. $15. The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Somerville. 617-684-5335, www.therockwell.org
NICK DI PAOLO The abrasive Danvers native returns to Boston with his social and observational comedy a few months removed from facing a combative post-election crowd at last fall’s Comics Come Home. Feb. 16-17 at 8 p.m., Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. $29-$39. Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St., Boston. 617-725-2844, www.laughboston.com
Family
Bugs Bunny Film Festival If you’re one of those old coots who thinks, “They just don’t make cartoons like they used to,” you’re in luck. Bring your kids to this weeklong film festival where they’ll see Bugs, Daffy, and the rest of the crew in all their glory on the big screen. Feb. 17, first show at 4 p.m. $11. Brattle Theatre, 31 Brattle St., Cambridge. 617-876-6838. www.brattlefilm.org/category/calendar-2/special-engagements/bugs-bunny-film-festival-2017/
Disney on Ice Presents Follow Your Heart This event is a veritable kid heaven. “Finding Dory” makes its first on-ice appearance, and other favorites like “Frozen” and “Inside Out” will be carried out on skates as well. Just like the movies, except with the constant impending threat of wiping out. Feb. 17, 7 p.m. $25-$95. TD Garden,100 Legends Way. 800-745-3000. www.tdgarden.com/event-registration/?ee=734
Family Day at MassArt MassArt will provide the materials, the place, and the art experts. You just have to bring yourself, your kids, and some creativity. Come for the biannual event where the renowned art institute helps you break out your artistic side through guided interactive activities. Best part is, you don’t have to clean up the paint afterward. Feb. 18, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. Bakalar & Paine Galleries at MassArt, 621 Huntington Ave. 617-879-7000. massart.edu/Galleries/BakalarandPaine/Family_Day
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Feb. 25 Victor Wooten at The Sinclair www.axs.com
March 4 Dua Lipa at Paradise Rock Club www.ticketmaster.com
March 7-19 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Boston Opera House www.ticketmaster.com
March 8 Regina Spektor at Orpheum Theatre www.ticketmaster.com
March 10 Passenger at House of Blues concerts1.livenation.com
March 10-April 9 Topdog/Underdog at BU Theatre www.huntingtontheatre.org
March 18 Dropkick Murphys at Agganis Arena www.ticketmaster.com
LEXI PEERY