PET FOX This Boston trio, featuring former Palehound drummer Jesse Weiss alongside Morgan Luzzi and Theo Hartlett of fuzzed-out slackers Ovlov, releases its hook-packed new album, “A Face in Your Life,” on Friday. On Monday, they’ll be part of a stacked bill featuring mathy rockers Floatie and art-proggers Spirits Having Fun, as well as fellow locals Squitch and Kevin Wynd. June 20, 7:30 p.m. Midway Café, Jamaica Plain. 617-524-9038, midwaycafe.com
UMI The Seattle-based artist Tierra Umi Wilson’s latest release, “Forest In the City,” is a plush neo-soul collection full of loping beats and summertime-ready grooves topped by UMI’s wonder-filled vocals. June 23, 7:30 p.m. (doors). Royale. 617-338-7699, royaleboston.com
MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk, World & Country
ANNA TIVEL & JEFFREY MARTIN Singer-songwriters Tivel and Martin, who happen to be a couple, make their way from far-coast Portland to perform Tuesday. Presumably each will play a set (with Tivel likely previewing her fine upcoming album, “Outsiders”) and, perhaps, join each other for some songs as well. And there is this Facebook promise by Tivel: “songs dealing with but not limited to boating in the 1400s, big city voyeurism, contaminated well water, and trying to get dates on subway platforms.” June 21, 8 p.m. $22. Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. 617-492-7679, www.passim.org
HEATON, CASSEL & MURPHY At first glance, this might appear to be a trio performance, but no; it’s a co-bill of music and dance drawing on Scottish and Irish traditions and featuring local standouts Matt and Shannon Heaton, Hanneke Cassel and Keith Murphy, and Kieran Jordan. June 22, 7:30 p.m. $28. The Burren, 247 Elm St., Somerville. 617-776-6896, www.burren.com
PRATEEK KUHAD This singer-songwriter, who cites Elliot Smith as a major influence on his folk and pop iterations, is adding a new dimension to the usual conceptions of popular Indian music. He is touring in support of his new album, “The Way That Lovers Do.” June 22, 7 p.m. $25. Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. 888-929-7849, www.axs.com. (A June 23 show at Crystal Ballroom is sold out.)
STUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
GEORGE LERNIS: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS The marvelous Cyprus-born percussionist and composer celebrates the release of his new album, a musical meditation on immigration that merges eastern Mediterranean music and American jazz. With trumpeter Emiel de Jaegher, pianist Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, bassist Bruno Råberg, and vocalist Burcu Güleç. June 18, 7:30 p.m. $15-$25. St. Paul’s Parish, 26 Washington St., Malden. www.showtix4u.com/event-details/63642
ILLEGAL CROWNS Mandorla Music presents this adventurous, lyrical, and spellbinding ensemble featuring guitarist Mary Halvorson with frequent collaborators Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet, trumpet) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums), plus French pianist Benoît Delbecq. June 18, 8 p.m. $20-$25. Hope Central Church, 85 Seaverns Ave., Jamaica Plain. www.mandorlamusic.net
ROOMFUL OF BLUES The Home Grown Rock Veterans Benefit Concert Series presents the venerable, horn-fueled octet, currently led by guitarist Chris Vachon and featuring powerhouse vocalist Phil Pemberton. While their personnel has changed over the years, they remain among the world’s premier jump blues bands. June 19, 4 p.m. $37.50-$79. Kowloon Restaurant (outdoors), 948 Broadway, Saugus. 978-525-9093, www.gimmelive.com
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
X: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MALCOLM X Boston Modern Opera Project launches its “As Told By: History, Race and Justice on the Opera Stage” series with a semi-staged production of Anthony Davis’s Malcolm X bio-opera, starring Davóne Tines in the title role and staged just a mile from the Roxbury house where X spent his teenage years. June 17, 8 p.m. Strand Theatre, Dorchester. 617-635-1408, www.bmop.org
NEW ENGLAND PHILHARMONIC The New England Philharmonic ends its season with music director finalist Yoichi Udagawa on the podium, leading a program that includes a world premiere by composer Kathryn Salfelder, Boston premieres by Igor Santos, TJ Cole, and Eric Nathan, and Witold Lutoslawski’s Polish folklore-inspired Concerto for Orchestra. June 18, 8 p.m. Jordan Hall. https://nephilharmonic.org/
ROCKPORT MUSIC The 41st annual Rockport Chamber Music Festival is in full swing, with performances this weekend by the Pinchas Zukerman Trio (June 17), the Rolston Quartet with pianist Frederic Chiu (June 18), and a solo performance by double bassist and composer Xavier Foley, who will present the world premiere of a new Rockport Music commission alongside music by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Bottesini. Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport. 978-546-7391, www.rockportmusic.org
A.Z. MADONNA
ARTS
Theater
COMMON GROUND REVISITED Kirsten Greenidge’s adaptation of J. Anthony Lukas’s book about race, class, and busing in Boston in the mid-1970s. Co-conceived and directed by Melia Bensussen, the play’s ambitious scope sometimes comes at the cost of clarity, as a dozen actors play dozens of characters. But “Common Ground Revisited” makes us think about how Boston then shaped Boston now. It’s not often that a play sets out to foster the kind of dialogue that could — should — help a city better understand itself. Huntington Theatre Company. Through July 3 at Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. Digital access to the filmed performance available through July 17. Tickets to in-person and digital performances at 617-266-0800, www.huntingtontheatre.org
WICKED Not a moment of this outstanding production feels rote or phoned-in. Starring Lissa deGuzman as Elphaba and Jennafer Newberry as Glinda, this “Wicked” has a freshness, even urgency, about it, as if doing justice to the musical matters as much to this stellar road company as it does to the young spectators in the seats. Stephen Schwartz’s gem-laden score still glows and burns, still stirs and soars. Directed by Joe Mantello. Through July 24. Broadway In Boston. At Citizens Bank Opera House. www.BroadwayInBoston.com
A BEAUTIFUL NOISE A pre-Broadway premiere of a bio-musical about singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, featuring hits like “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “America,” and that Fenway Park standard, “Sweet Caroline.” Playing Diamond will be Will Swenson, a 2009 Tony Award nominee for his portrayal of Berger in “Hair.” Written by Anthony McCarten and directed by Michael Mayer, with a cast that includes Mark Jacoby, Robyn Hurder, and Linda Powell. June 21-July 31. Ambassador Theatre Group. At Emerson Colonial Theatre. 888-616-0272, www.emersoncolonialtheatre.com
THE SHOT Sharon Lawrence (”NYPD Blue,” “Shameless”) stars as legendary Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham in the world premiere of Robin Gerber’s solo play. Though drawn from Graham’s life, “The Shot” is described as a work of fiction in which Graham lays bare “her shadowed past to overcome adversity.” Based on Gerber’s book “Katharine Graham: The Leadership Journey of An American Icon.” Directed by Michelle Joyner. June 16-19. Great Barrington Public Theater. At Liebowitz Theater, Daniel Arts Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Great Barrington. 413-528-0684, www.GreatBarringtonPublicTheater.org
DON AUCOIN
Dance
AMERICA(NA) TO ME This world premiere Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival exclusive kicks off programming in the newly renovated Ted Shawn Theatre. In celebration of the festival’s 90th anniversary, choreographers were invited to present works that reflect their interpretation of American identity. Artists include Warwick Gombey Troupe, Jasmine Hearn, Nélida Tirado, Sara Mearns & Joshua Bergasse, Alexandra Tatarsky, with Pillow commissions performed by Dormeshia & Guests and Mythili Prakash. June 22-26. $55-$85. Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket. www.jacobspillow.org
AFTER DARK This new multimedia work by flamenco artist Laura Sanchez, part of the Boston Dancemakers Residency, takes over the Mills Gallery with live dance and music, film, spoken word, and visual art as it explores “the lights and shadows of motherhood.” The immersive work is designed to provide a healing opportunity for anyone who has experienced trauma. June 23-24. $25. (June 27, free virtual access.) Boston Center for the Arts. www.bostonarts.org
¡BORDES! BORDERS! ¡BORDES! These bi-cultural performances, the culmination of a yearlong online collaboration between artists 1,700 miles apart (three from Boston, four from San Juan), invite audiences into an imagined world. The hourlong journey explores where one person’s emotional, physical, and geographical borders end and another’s begin. Dancers are Emily Beattie, Jimena Bermejo, Callie Chapman, Beatriz Irizarry Gauthier, Cristina Lugo Candelas, and Marili Pizarro Latorre, plus composer Guarionex Morales-Matos. June 17-18. Free. Dance [email protected], Cambridge. https://bordersboston.com/
EIGHT FEEL TALL The Irish dance and music quartet (dancers Rebecca McGowan and Jackie O’Riley of From the Floor, plus instrumentalists Dan Accardi and Armand Aromin) welcome freestyle fiddler Jenna Moynihan for a program that combines intense respect for tradition with an adventurous spirit of testing boundaries. Rhythmic interplay’s the thing, with instruments, shoes, voices, and bodies all joining in the conversation. June 22. $20. First Church Cambridge. www.fromthefloordance.com
KAREN CAMPBELL
Visual Arts
SPOTLIGHT TALKS: TOUCHING ROOTS: BLACK ANCESTRAL LEGACIES IN THE AMERICAS As part of its free, open house Juneteenth programming, the Museum of Fine Arts is hosting a day of guided talks in this exhibition, which it describes as bringing together “artists from the African diaspora who took cultural motifs, customs and stories from their African heritage and repurposed them to portray Black experience in the colonial west.” The exhibition, part of the museum’s re-installation of its collection of American art, puts particular emphasis on artists working here in New England: Allan Rohan Crite, Napoleon Jones-Henderson, Ifé Franklin, Bryan McFarlane, Karen Hampton, and Stephen Hamilton. Talks are scheduled for June 20, the holiday Monday, at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. The exhibition continues through May 23, 2023. Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 465 Huntington Ave. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.org
ISAAC JULIEN: LESSONS OF THE HOUR The British artist Isaac Julien’s lush video pieces achieve a level of production value equal to the most sumptuous Hollywood period dramas, or at least “Bridgerton.” But while Julien’s dramas play out at human scale, his elliptical, big-picture takes on the history of modernity, colonialism, and their long-tail effect on the present day plant them firmly in the realm of art. This piece takes as its departure point the tour of Great Britain undertaken in the 1840s by a young Frederick Douglass, portrayed movingly by the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Ray Fearon, during which he delivered hundreds of lectures on abolition, suffrage, and human rights. Julien imagines Douglass’s fierce orations back home as the years drag him from optimism to frustration, culminating in 1894 with “Lessons of the Hour,” his final speech, when, in the face of a lynching epidemic, he urged the country to adhere to its founding principles of equality. It’s eerily deflating how relevant, and urgent, it remains. Through July 10. Smith College Museum of Art, 20 Elm St., Northampton. 413-585-2760, smca.smith.edu
BARKLEY HENDRICKS: MY MECHANICAL SKETCHBOOK Best known for his graceful life-size portraiture ennobling Black American life, Hendricks had a less-seen parallel current to his artmaking that used photography in surprising and innovative ways. When Hendricks called it a “mechanical sketchbook,” he was barely exaggerating; this exhibition collects dozens of his photographs in concert with paintings and drawings that show an active, creative mind rarely at rest. It’s just one part of a Hendricks renaissance — the Brooklyn Museum is working on mounting a major career retrospective right now — that the artist, sadly, did not live to see; he died in 2017 at 72 just, it seemed, as his career was getting started. Through July 24. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, 415 South St., Waltham. 781-736-3434, brandeis.edu/rose
MURRAY WHYTE
TODD McKIE: LAST BUT NOT LEAST The beloved local artist, who died at 77 in January, posted potential titles for his bittersweet, existentially comic paintings on a wall in his Cambridge studio. The 16 paintings here, made in his last months, mostly didn’t receive the finishing touch of a title, but among the notes on the wall when he died was this one: “Title Memorial Show: Last but Not Least.” Through July 15. Gallery NAGA, 67 Newbury St. www.gallerynaga.com
CATE McQUAID
EVENTS
Comedy
JOHN BAGLIO ALBUM RELEASE On his new album, “Tag Me In,” Baglio explains why he likes to instigate bar fights on Halloween. “When you get to see drunk dudes in costumes fight each other, you get to see the movies that Hollywood would never make,” he says. “One year I saw a very fat Wolverine beat up Mario, Luigi, and a green M&M.” With Paul Cyphers, Rohan Padhye, Laura Severse, and Chris Post. June 17, 8 p.m. $20. Democracy Brewing, 35 Temple Place. www.comedy-party.com
STAND UP FOR PRIDE COMEDY NIGHT A strong triple bill of Val Kappa, Amy Tee, and Chloe Cunha perform stand-up to benefit the Wenham Museum and the Hamilton-Wenham Human Rights Coalition. June 18, 7 p.m. $20. Wenham Museum, 132 Main St., Wenham. www.hwhumanrights.org
THE BE A MAN EXPERIENCE The “wrecking ball of manliness,” the popular Instagram and TikTok star may not give the best advice — a recent spot says “Get a vasectomy and then go straight to the gym and deadlift, be a man” — but it is oddly self-aware and silly. With cohost John Fiore and stand-up from Dan Smith, Jimmy Cash, and Mike McCarthy. June 23, 7 p.m. $26-$55. The Chevalier Theatre, 30 Forest St., Medford. www.chevaliertheatre.com
NICK A. ZAINO III
Family
FREE DAYS AT THE ICA AND MFA Visit the Institute of Contemporary Art for free on June 19 and, if you’re a Massachusetts resident, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts on June 20, all for free. Plus, enjoy the slew of events the MFA has planned, such as Drop-In Art Marking Portraits of Leadership, where you’ll create a portrait of a leader in your life to be displayed during the Obama Portraits Tour in September. ICA: June 19, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Dr. icaboston.org MFA: June 20, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave. mfa.org
PIRATES & MERMAIDS DANCE PARTY Whether you aspire to a swashbuckling, seven-seas-sailing pirate, or a wise, tranquil mermaid, you’re sure to have a blast at this dance party. Create dastardly pirate flags and shiny mermaid scales, and hop on for the adventure of a lifetime. June 18, 3-4 p.m. Free. Move & Groove Watertown, 100 Parker St., Watertown. eventbrite.com
HANG IT UP DAD! Make this Father’s Day a memorable one by having your child create a custom wooden sign for Dad to hang up wherever feels right. With folks from the DIY studio Hammer & Stein Northshore to help out, you can’t go wrong. Finish the afternoon off right with some Father’s Day karaoke, which will enter you into a raffle with a chance to win gift cards or merchandise. June 19, 1-4 p.m. Free. East Regiment Beer Co., 30 Church St., Salem. eventbrite.com
SAM TROTTENBERG