GROCER This Philly trio’s members switch off on vocalist duties, allowing them to nimbly shape-shift — “Arts & Lit,” the opener of their 2024 full-length, “Bless Me,” has the ragged strut and swagger of “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” while “Packrat,” a few tracks later, is an appealingly gnarly bubblegrunge jam. March 7, 8 p.m. Deep Cuts, Medford. 781-219-3815, deepcuts.rocks
JORJA SMITH: FALLING OR FLYING TOUR “Falling or Flying,” the 2023 album from this British soul singer, is guided by her strong instincts for potent vocal melodies and her open-eared approach to R&B. March 7, 8 p.m. Wang Theatre. 866-348-9738, bochcenter.org
KIM DEAL The Breeders guitarist-vocalist’s 2024 album, “Nobody Loves You More,” is a widescreen stunner, combining stylistic breadth with Deal’s knowing rasp on cuts like the slow-dancing “Are You Mine?” and the punchy “Crystal Breath.” March 10, 8 p.m. The Wilbur. 617-248-9700, thewilbur.com
MAURA JOHNSTON
CALEB KLAUDER AND REEB WILLMS COUNTRY BAND That band name delivers truth in advertising; the married couple it names play unalloyed honky-tonk, with some old-time and bluegrass variegation added for good measure. This time through, they’re playing with their “miniature country band,” promoting new record “Gold in Your Pocket.” March 7, 7p.m. $25. The Burren, 247 Elm St., Somerville. 617-776-6896. www.burren.com
RON POPE Now Nashville-based, this veteran roots-rocker is touring behind his latest release, “American Man, American Music,” in which he swirls together autobiography, social commentary, and storytelling to come up with a gem. March 7, 8 p.m. $35. The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Cambridge. 888-929-7849. www.axs.com
MC TAYLOR GOLDSMITH You take Hiss Golden Messenger’s MC Taylor, put him together with Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith, and what do you get? The clever titular portmanteau under which these longtime friends are hitting the road for a brief, one-off tour that will see them performing songs from their respective catalogs. March 13, 8 p.m. $76. Narrows Center for the Arts, 16 Anawan St., Fall River. 508-323-1926. www.narrowscenter.org
STUART MUNRO
ANTHONY GERACI & THE BOSTON BLUES ALL-STARS The veteran keyboardist and composer is a two-time winner of the Blues Foundation’s Pinetop Perkins Piano Award, and his group of Hub blues leading lights has been nominated for the same organization’s Best Band award for three out of the past four years! March 8, 8 p.m. $25.20-$28. Spire Center, 25½ Court St. Plymouth. spirecenter.org
JORGE PEREZ-ALBELA PRESENTS DONNA MCELROY Peruvian drummer Perez-Albela crafts a superb setting for McElroy, a jewel of a vocalist whose acclaim includes a Grammy nomination and much more. With local luminaries Bert Seager on piano and Sean Farías on bass. March 9, 8:30 p.m. $20. The Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge. lilypadinman.com
ALBINO MBIE GBH Jazz Nights presents the award-winning, Berklee-educated, Mozambican guitarist and vocalist, who at 16 built his first guitar from a 5-liter oil can, scrap wood, and electrical cord strings! His music melds Afro-pop and jazz for a unique and engaging sound. March 13, 6 p.m. Free, registration encouraged. GBH Studio at the Boston Public Library. wgbh.org/events
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA This weekend, South Korean conductor Eun Sun Kim makes her BSO debut with a program featuring music by Liadov and Rachmaninoff as well as pianist Inon Barnatan in Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3 (March 7 and 8). Next week brings another new face to the BSO podium, as Teddy Abrams conducts the orchestra and violinist Ray Chen in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto before an all-American second half. This includes Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story” by Leonard Bernstein, and “Whitman Songs” by Bernstein protégé Michael Tilson Thomas, who recently announced his imminent retirement from conducting as he continues to battle glioblastoma (March 13-16). Symphony Hall. 617-266-1200, www.bso.org
THE SEASONS Boston Lyric Opera presents the world premiere of “The Seasons,” an operatic and kinetic drama co-created by countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, playwright Sarah Ruhl, choreographer Pam Tanowitz, and director Zack Winokur. Featuring an ensemble of six singers and six dancers, the piece weaves together excerpts from Vivaldi’s beloved “The Four Seasons” with arias and ensemble pieces to tell a story of love amid climate chaos. Emerson Paramount Center. March 12-16. 617-542-6772, www.blo.org
MIDORI The mononymous violinist returns to the Celebrity Series stage for the first time since 2012, with a program dedicated to songs of grief and mourning with collaborative pianist Özgür Aydin. Included on the bill are Poulenc’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, which was composed in memory of Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, and Ravel’s “Kaddish” and “Tzigane.” March 7, 8 p.m. Jordan Hall. 617-482-2595, www.celebrityseries.org
A.Z. MADONNA
THE GROVE The second play in Mfoniso Udofia’s Ufot Family Cycle, which follows three generations of a Nigerian-American family over a period of decades, proves to be a beautifully humane and deeply moving work in its premiere under the sensitive direction of Awoye Timpo. Set in 2009, “The Grove” focuses on Adiaha, an ambitious young writer played by Abigail C. Onwunali, whose impassioned performance nearly sets the stage on fire. Through March 9. Production by The Huntington at Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. 617-266-0800, www.huntingtontheatre.org
A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE In and of itself, this production of the Terrence McNally-Lynn Ahrens-Stephen Flaherty musical is a small gem, traversing an emotional range from buoyant high spirits to the depths of melancholy, expertly performed by a cast that is equally persuasive in either mode of expression, and helmed by Paul Daigneault with his trademark vigor and flair. Beyond that, the production registers as a vivid reminder of what Daigneault and the theater company he founded 34 years ago have meant to the cultural life of the city. Season after season, SpeakEasy Stage Company has had the best batting average of any theater company in town. “A Man of No Importance” is the last show Daigneault will direct while leader of SpeakEasy before stepping down June 30. Through March 22. At Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. 617-933-8600, www.SpeakEasyStage.com
HEDDA GABLER Parker Jennings shines and burns as the manipulative but thwarted Hedda, long considered among the choicest of stage roles for actresses. In this intense production of Ibsen’s 1890 drama, directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques, Cristhian Mancinas-Garcia is all suave menace as the ruthless Judge Brack. Strong performances are also delivered by Conall Sahler as George Tesman, Hedda’s hapless husband; Joshua Lee Robinson as Eilert Løvborg, who has a history with Hedda; and Kimberly Blaise MacCormack as Thea Elvsted, Hedda’s former school friend, who is enamored of Eilert. Through March 16. Apollinaire Theatre Company. At Chelsea Theatre Works, Chelsea. 617-887-2336, www.apollinairetheatre.com
DON AUCOIN
TRANSFIGURED GROUND In the Boston premiere of this work by Kelley Donovan & Dancers, the company explores the relationship between body and emotions during unexpected life changes. The dancers sourced movement from their individual experiences during COVID for the work’s creation, with the goal of encouraging viewers to contemplate their own responses and adaptations during the process of healing. March 7-8. $18-$25. The Hive, Somerville. www.kddcompany.wordpress.com
BALKAN MUSIC NIGHT 2025 Performances by area dance troupes Grachanitsa Serbian Folk Dancers and Boston Lykeion Ellinidon are integral to this celebratory live music and dance event presented by the Folk Arts Center of New England. But wear your dancing shoes, as part of the evening also includes opportunities to learn some new dances, drawing from cultural traditions of Bosnia, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, and beyond. March 8, 6 p.m.-midnight. $20-$40 (free for children under 11). Center for Arts at the Armory, Somerville. https://facone.org/balkan-music-night/index.html
WAMPANOAG NATION SINGERS & DANCERS Wampanoag culture dates back 12,000 years, with songs and dances often reflecting our relationships to the world around us. But preferring to dance “with” people rather than “for” them, the singers and dancers in this family-friendly Neighborhood Arts event welcome audience participation, so be prepared to join in however you feel able. March 8, 2 and 4 p.m. Free with registration. Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge. www.celebrityseries.org
KAREN CAMPBELL
EDVARD MUNCH: TECHNICALLY SPEAKING Just opened: I know, I know: “The Scream,” right? There’s no getting around the cultural oversaturation of Munch’s most famous work, but recent efforts have done much to broaden our understanding of Norway’s most-loved artist beyond his all-time smash hit. In the summer of 2023, “Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth,” the Clark Art Institute’s voluminous presentation of the artist’s deep affinities with — and anxieties for — the natural world opened a universe of difference for all but the most devoted Munch fan. “Technically Speaking,” at Harvard, takes a different tack, exploring the artist’s material genius and almost manic enthusiasm for media across painting, drawing, and every manner of printing. With it, a view of an artist too long seen as one-note broadens. Through July 27. Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-495-9400, harvardartmuseums.org
SARAH CWYNAR Using video, photography, and installation, Cwynar creates dizzying cascades of overlapping images that capture — and critique — the contemporary reality of an image-saturated consumer culture in hyperdrive. Art imitates life: Her work is as disorienting as it is seductive, a dark mirror to the smartphone-and-social media world that dominates contemporary society. Her show at the ICA features a brand-new two-part photo installation in collaboration with — how else to put it? — the whims of search-engine algorithms. Through Aug. 3. Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, 25 Harbor Shore Drive. 617-478-3100, icaboston.org
NATIVE PROSPECTS: INDIGENEITY AND LANDSCAPE PAINTING Thomas Cole, the de facto leader of the Hudson River School of painters, depicted the American landscape with both the deep affection he felt for its majestic beauty and the anxiety that gripped him as 19th-century industry advanced deeper into its unspoiled heart. This exhibition presents Cole’s visions alongside historic and contemporary works by Native American artists, bringing Indigenous perspective, and its vital import to the land and its preservation, to the fore. Through July 6. Farnsworth Art Museum, 16 Museum St., Rockland, Maine. 207-596-6457, farnsworthmuseum.org
MURRAY WHYTE
HECTOR RENÉ MEMBREÑO-CANALES | GOLDEN CARGO: CONQUEST OF THE TROPICS The United Fruit Company, a global banana exporter founded in 1899, was at one time the largest employer in Central America. In this show, part of “artfinity: The MIT Festival for the Arts,” Membreño-Canales, a Honduran-American artist whose family worked on banana plantations, uses historical artifacts and archival materials to examine United Fruit’s often dark history and significant ties to Boston and MIT. Through March 21. ACT Gallery, Wiesner Building, MIT E15-095, 20 Ames St., Cambridge. act.mit.edu/event/hector-rene-membreno-canales-golden-cargo-conquest-of-the-tropics/
CATE McQUAID
COURTNEY REYNOLDS Comedy Party at Democracy Brewing is introducing a new headliner series in March, starting with comedian and storyteller Courtney Reynolds, a transplant from Philly now based in Boston. Coming up the rest of the month: Ryan Shea, Tooky Kavanagh, and Chris Lamberth. March 8, 8 p.m. $17.85. Democracy Brewing, 35 Temple Place. www.eventbrite.com
JIM COLLITON “You ever play hide and seek with a 3-year-old?” says comedian and dad Colliton. “They tell you where they’re gonna go hide. ‘Dad, I’m gonna go hide in the kitchen.’ ‘OK. I’ll come find you at halftime.’” March 7, 8 p.m. $30. Off Cabot Comedy and Events, 9 Wallis St., Beverly. www.offcabot.org
ONE LINER MADNESS Sixty-four comedians will compete in a tournament of one-liners (which can technically be up to three sentences) to crown an ultimate One Liner Madness Boston Champion in just 100 minutes. Host and producer Emily Winter brings this show to Boston after touring the length and width of the country with it. March 8, 8 p.m. $15-$20. The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Somerville. www.therockwell.org
NICK A. ZAINO III
LITTLE LEPRECHAUNS’ BASH Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day a little early with a family-friendly bash at Time Out Market. Enjoy an afternoon of face painting, games, and activities for all ages, along with refreshments and live-music performances. Attendees wearing green will also get 15 percent off of their food purchases. March 9, 1 p.m. Free admission. Time Out Market Boston, 401 Park Drive. timeout.com
JEFF JAM SINGALONG Stop by Boston Public Market on Sunday mornings to enjoy family-friendly shows by Massachusetts native Jeff Jam. A certified music teacher, Jam has hosted sing-alongs worldwide, releasing five albums of acoustic, kid-friendly songs since the early 2000s. Jam will perform in the Nook, a spacious room at the market with a view of the city, where families can dance and sing along to the show. Sundays, 10:15 a.m. Free admission. Boston Public Market, 100 Hanover St. eventbrite.com
HALEY CLOUGH
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(941x574:943x576)/Sasha-Schreiber-and-Liev-Schreiber-030625-f6c8749d92764abb9186f2b2838a483c.jpg "Sasha Schreiber and Liev Schreiber Enjoy Father-Son Night Out (Exclusive)")
