Opening Thursday
Behind the Music
Perhaps best known for crooning “Santa Baby” and playing Catwoman on the 1960s TV show Batman, Eartha Kitt (1927-2008) was much, much more. Created and performed by Jade Wheeler, Who is Eartha Mae?: A One-Woman Show About Eartha Kitt tells her story, from Jim Crow-era South Carolina to international star. The Bridge Repertory Theater production plays the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge. Full price from $34. bridgerep.org
Friday
Looking Up
One of the most celebrated books of the past year is finally out in paperback. Steven Pinker discusses Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, which Bill Gates called “my new favorite book,” at Brookline Booksmith. In the best-selling follow-up to The Better Angels of Our Nature, the Harvard professor argues that on balance, modern life is actually pretty great. 7 p.m. Free. brooklinebooksmith.com
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Opening Friday
Medium and Message
Howardena Pindell: What Remains to Be Seen alights at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University. The groundbreaking multimedia artist, activist, curator, and academic will be on hand for the opening reception, from 2 to 5 p.m. On February 2 at 2 p.m., Pindell, a Boston University grad, discusses her five-decade-plus career with the co-curators of the touring retrospective. Through May 19. Free. brandeis.edu/rose
Saturday
Happy Year of the Pig!
Sunday
Sharing the Stage
Boston-based nonprofit From the Top stays near home to record its popular NPR show featuring classical performances by students and alumni from Natick’s Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Guest host Lawrence Gilliard Jr. — a classically trained clarinetist as well as an actor (The Walking Dead, The Wire) — will perform a solo. At Jordan Hall at 2 p.m. $15-$45; free for students of all ages. fromthetop.org
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