LIFE IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE: A RADICAL COLLABORATION
This benefit show for Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment underlines environmental advocacy with a celebration of nature’s delicacy and beauty. Artists include Karen Lee Sobol and Constance Jacobson. Pictured: Amy Ross’s “Seascape #2.’’ Through May 13. Childs Gallery, 169 Newbury St., 617-266-1108, www.childsgallery.com CATE McQUAID
P!NK
Alecia Moore’s high-flying antics have made her awards-show appearances must-sees for aerialist aficionados and pop fans alike — but her music remains firmly tethered to earth, pairing radio-ready hooks with plainspoken lyrics that are made even more relatable by her powerful rasp. April 9-10, 7:30 p.m. $47.45 and up. TD Garden. 800-745-3000, www.tdgarden.com MAURA JOHNSTON
Pop & Rock
U.S. GIRLS “In A Poem Unlimited,’’ the latest album from Toronto-based producer and songwriter Meg Remy, is vibrant and defiant, its off-kilter, genre-spanning pop energized by its razor-sharp political poetry. April 12, 9 p.m. $12 and up. Great Scott. 617-566-0914, www.greatscottboston.com
’90S BLOCK PARTY Dial-flippers who have enjoyed the offerings of the New 97.7 — the “classic R&B’’ station that manages to sneak some worthy new tracks into its playlist — can throw down at this mini-festival featuring smoldering crooner Ginuwine, harmonizing smoothies Next, and other contributors to the past quarter-century’s soul canon. April 12, 7:30 p.m. $59.50 and up. Boch Center Wang Theatre. 800-982-2787, www.boch center.org MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk & World
TRIO DA KALI A Malian supergroup of sorts formed a few years ago for a collaborative project with the Kronos Quartet, Trio Da Kali brings together three musicians — singer Hawa Diabate, balafon player Fode Lansana Diabate, and bass ngoni player Mamadou Kouyate — each of whom represents griot lineage in their home country. This is the trio’s area debut. April 10, 7:30 p.m. $20. Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, Boston. www.people ofrhythm.org/live
LOW LILY American roots trio Low Lily celebrates the release of their debut full-length album, “10,000 Days Like These,’’ which finds them continuing to draw on bluegrass, old-time, Celtic, and other sources for a mix of originals, traditional fare, and covers of songs by Gillian Welch and Mark Knopfler. April 12, 8 p.m. $20. Club Passim, Cambridge. 617-492-7679, www.passim.org
THE TEXAS TROUBADOURS TOUR Three varieties of said troubadour are encompassed by this tour, with the blues-based roots music of Ruthie Foster, the Americana of singer-songwriter-fiddler Carrie Rodriguez, and the high-lonesome space-country/folk of Jimmie Dale Gilmore. The show is song-swap style, with the three pitching in on each other’s material. April 14, 8 p.m. $32-$45. City Winery. 617-933-8047, www.citywinery.com/ bostonSTUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
LEWIS PORTER & PHIL SCARFF Acclaimed pianist Porter and multi-saxophonist Scarff, with seasoned rhythm players Jon Funkhouser (bass) and Bertram Lehmann (drums), will play a program of jazz, ragas, and free improvisations to celebrate the release of their new, critically-acclaimed album “Three Minutes to Four.’’ April 13, 8 p.m. $10. Outpost 186, 186½ Hampshire St., Cambridge. www.outpost 186.com
THE MAKANDA PROJECT WITH CHICO FREEMAN Pianist John Kordalewski’s big band not only revives neglected compositions by the late, Boston-born Makanda Ken McIntyre, but also brings in musicians rarely heard in the area, such as veteran tenor saxophone master Freeman, making his first appearance with the group. April 14, 7 p.m. Free. Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building (second floor), 2300 Washington St., Roxbury. www.makandaproject.com
MAX RAABE & PALAST ORCHESTER This German 12-piece band transports audiences back to the Weimar era with their authentic performances of 1920s and ’30s cabaret music, taking on everything from American songs such as the Harold Arlen-Ted Koehler standard “Stormy Weather’’ (1933) to Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s “Bilbao Song’’ (1929). April 14, 8 p.m. $30-$65. Berklee Performance Center. 617-876-4275, www.worldmusic.org
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
VOCAL BOSTON Two of Boston’s most elequent vocal ensembles display their wares this week at First Church in Cambridge: On April 13 the Lorelei Ensemble brings a century-hopping program, ranging from Du Fay to David Lang, and on April 14 Blue Heron presents “The Iberian Songbook: Spanish Songs & Dances, 1450-1600.’’ www.loreleiensemble .com, www.blueheron.org
NEW MUSIC Boston Musica Viva caps its 49th season with a Melinda Wagner premiere (April 14, Longy’s Pickman Hall); Dinosaur Annex explores the science linking taste sensation and sound with a program pairing custom-curated culinary “bites’’ with specific works of contemporary music (April 14, Third Life Studio, Somerville); and Winsor Music has a premiere by Anna Weesner alongside works by Britten, Brahms, and Rebecca Clarke (April 15, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brookline). www.bmv.org, www.dinosaurannex.org, www.winsormusic.org
FIDELIO Martin Pearlman and Boston Baroque offer what’s being described as the city’s first-ever period-instrument performances of Beethoven’s iconic opera. With soprano Wendy Bryn Harmer as Leonore and tenor William Burden as Florestan. April 13 and 15, Jordan Hall. 617-987-8600, www.boston baroque.org JEREMY EICHLER
ARTS
Theater
FIRST LOVE IS THE REVOLUTION The US premiere of a fable by Australian playwright Rita Kalnejais, about the unlikely bond between a lonely, bullied 14-year-old boy and the female fox who gets caught in a trap he sets in the family garden. A reviewer for the Guardian described it as “Romeo and Juliet with fur.’’ Directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques. April 13-May 5. Apollinaire Theatre Company. At Chelsea Theatre Works, Chelsea. 617-887-2336, www.apollinaire theatre.com
TRUE WEST One of Sam Shepard’s specialties was dramatizing the power struggles and scorpions-in-a-bottle combat that can erupt within families at their most extreme. Eight months after the death of the great playwright-actor comes a local production of Shepard’s “True West.’’ A Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1983, it’s about the rivalry and role reversals that ensue when two brothers — Austin (Bob Mussett), a successful screenwriter, and Lee (Victor Shopov), a boozing drifter and thief — reenter each other’s lives after years apart. Directed by Daniel Bourque. April 13-28. Hub Theatre Company of Boston. At First Church Boston. 203-530-2343, www.hubtheatreboston.org
ANNA CHRISTIE Eugene O’Neill won the second of his four Pulitzer Prizes for this drama about a onetime prostitute, played by Lindsey McWhorter, who is reunited with her long-estranged father (Johnny Lee Davenport), the captain of a coal barge. Featuring Dan Whelton as the Irish shipman who falls in love with Anna and Nancy E. Carroll as a woman involved with Anna’s father. Directed by Scott Edmiston. Through May 6. Lyric Stage Company of Boston. 617-585-5678, www.lyricstage.com
DON AUCOIN
Dance
JEAN APPOLON EXPRESSIONS The Haitian-born choreographer weaves his own story into his troupe’s evening-length dance theater work ’’Vwayaj’’ (The Travel). The piece uses contemporary Haitian dance and personal reflections from a range of “voyagers’’ to portray the immigrant experience. April 11-14. $25-$35. Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. 617-933-8600, www.jeanappolon expressions.org
LALLA ROOKH Hip-hop dancer-choreographer Shailesh Bahoran and his Amsterdam-based troupe IRcompany use hip-hop, Indian dance, and funk to depict 19th-century Indian immigrants who boarded a ship thinking they were traveling to the land of God. But their ship, the Lalla Rookh, docked not in Paradise but in Suriname, where they were cast into indentured servitude. April 8, 6 p.m. Free. Wellesley College’s Alumnae Hall Auditorium, Wellesley. 781-283-1000, www.wellesley.edu/newhouse
BILL EVANS’ 78th BIRTHDAY DANCE CONCERT The Modern Movements Dance Festival helps the highly regarded choreographer-dancer celebrate turning 78 years old with a concert of his works, including a world-premiere rhythm tap piece performed to an original musical score by Greg Woodsbie. The concert features the indefatigable Evans himself and an array of guest collaborators. April 13-14. $20. AS220, Providence. 401-831-9327, www.as220.org
KAREN CAMPBELL
Galleries
TAYLOR DAVIS: SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED Curator Robert Moeller inaugurates his new project space with a pop-up exhibition by the estimable Boston sculptor best known for enigmatic wood works imbued with questions about place, space, and longing. April 13, 6 -9 p.m. The Cost Annex, 59 Wareham St., fifth floor. 617-669-1695, costannex@gmail.com
33° One degree above freezing: The melting begins, and waters rise. In photomurals around the Brown University campus and photographs and a sound installation in the gallery, six international artists document the deliquescence of icebergs and glaciers. Through May 27. David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, 64 College St., Providence. 401-863-2932, www.brown.edu/bellgallery CATE McQUAID
Museums
FANTASTICAL, POLITICAL Five artists reach beyond today’s darkly fantastical political scene to explore policy, power, and identity through exaggeration and decoration. The largest piece, Dave Cole’s “The Music Box,’’ is a steamroller that plays the national anthem. Through June 3. Fitchburg Art Museum, 185 Elm St., Fitchburg. 978-345-4207, www.fitchburgartmuseum.org
BEFORE PROJECTION: VIDEO SCULPTURE, 1974-1995 One week left for this delightful show, which revisits the days when video artists inventively contended with boxy monitors. Many such early works — by Tony Oursler, Nam June Paik, and others — have been largely forgotten. Through April 15. MIT List Visual Arts Center, 20 Ames St., Cambridge. 617-253-4680, listart.mit.edu/
THE SCULPTURE OF AUGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS The artist helped shape the narrative of American history with works such as Boston Common’s Robert Gould Shaw Memorial. This show spotlights large-scale pieces, including “Diana,’’ and “Abraham Lincoln: The Man.’’ Through May 20. Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester, N.H. 603-669-6144, www.currier.org
CATE McQUAID
EVENTS
Comedy
JIMMY O. YANG The comedian and actor, one of the stars of HBO’s “Silicon Valley,’’ comes to town in support of his new memoir, “How to American: An Immigrant’s Guide to Disappointing Your Parents.’’ April 8, 8 p.m. $25. Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St. 617-725-2844, www.laugh boston.com
GIULIA ROZZI A Boston native, the inventive and personable Rozzi now does stand-up in New York City and cohosts the “Hopefully We Don’t Break Up’’ podcast with her boyfriend and fellow comedian, Will Miles. April 9, 8:30 p.m. Free. CitySide, 1960 Beacon St., Brighton. 617-566-1002, www.citysidebar.com
ROY WOOD JR. The “Daily Show’’ correspondent’s Comedy Central hour “Father Figure’’ was one of the funniest stand-up specials of 2017 and allowed him to stretch out on topics personal and political, firmly establishing his voice. April 13, 7:30 p.m. $24. The Wilbur, 246 Tremont St., Boston. 617-248-9700, www.the wilbur.comNICK A. ZAINO III
Family
Junot Díaz Presents: Islandborn Pulitzer Prize-winner Junot Díaz has had many accomplishments. Now he can add “children’s author’’ to the list with “Islandborn,’’ the story of a little girl learning about the island home that she is too young to remember. It’s a tale of discovery and a celebration of people of all backgrounds, one that kids should hear in this day and age. April 8, 3:30-5 p.m. Free. Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, 85 West Newton St., Boston. www.eventbrite.com
Big Apple CircusRingmasters! Acrobats! Clowns that aren’t Pennywise! Big Apple Circus is bringing the big top to Assembly Row for its 40th season, kicking off a monthlong run this weekend. Gaze in wonder as world-class aerialist Nik Wallenda and the Fabulous Wallendas perform their famous seven-man pyramid on the high wire, among many other unforgettable stunts and tricks. Through May 6. $25-$100. Assembly Row, 355 Artisan Way, Somerville. www.goldstar.com
826 Boston's Half Half Half Half Half MarathonThere’s nothing like a good cause to motivate you to run a marathon. Although, a marathon is awfully long. Half-marathon? No, 13.1 miles is still pretty ridiculous. If you want a run that’s under a mile but will still go a long way for charity, check out 826 Boston’s Half Half Half Half Half Marathon at Boston Common. The brisk run will be . . . 0.826 miles, with all funds going to 826’s mission of teaching, supporting, and publishing student writers in Boston. April 12, 6-7 :30 p.m. $25. Boston Common, 139 Tremont St. www.give.826boston.org Robert Steiner
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
April 19 The Weepies at Chevalier Theater www.ticket master.com
April 20 Banners at Cafe 939 www.boston-theater.com
April 25 Margo Price at Paradise Rock Club www.ticketmaster.com
April 26 Echosmith at Royale Boston www.royaleboston.com/event/echosmith/
April 26 They Might Be Giants at Academy of Musical Theatre www.ticketmaster.com
May 8 Trampled by Turtles at House of Blues Boston www.ticketmaster.com
May 10 Air Supply at Plymouth Memorial Hall bluefrog.show are.com
May 12 Kygo at TD Garden www.ticketmaster.com
Sophie Cannon
