By Globe staffUpdated June 18, 2025, 1:46 p.m.

MUSIC
Pop, Etc.
SAVAK “SQUAWK!,” the sharp-elbowed new album from these post-punk all-stars, pairs punchy cuts like the biting “Casual Cruelty” with meditative, yet no less urgent offerings like “American Vernacular.” June 21, 7 p.m. O’Brien’s Pub. 617-782-6245, obrienspubboston.com
NATALIA LAFOURCADE: CANCIONERA TOUR The versatile Mexican singer and composer’s latest album, “Cancionera,” celebrates the Golden Age of Mexican cinema with surrealistic lyrics and a live-to-tape recording technique that highlights her strong, yet supple vocals and her 18-piece accompanying ensemble’s crisp playing. June 21 and 22, 8 p.m. Shubert Theatre. 866-348-9738, bochcenter.org
GIGI PEREZ Last year, this Jersey-born, Florida-raised singer-songwriter had a left-field hit with the dreamy cut “Sailor Song,” which expresses deep yearning in high-resolution imagery and haunting wails. She possesses a robust alto that will likely sound majestic at Fenway Park, where she, along with the modern Irish folk act Amble, will open for the brooding belter Hozier. June 23 and 24, 6:30 p.m. Fenway Park. 877-733-7699, redsox.com/concerts
MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk, World & Country
BLUE CACTUS North Carolina duo Steph Stewart and Mario Arnez perform as Blue Cactus and play what they characterize as “modern cosmic country music.” They’ve just released their third record, “Believer,” and come to the area in support of the new album. Lloyd Thayer will also perform. June 25, 7 p.m. $25. The Burren, 247 Elm St., Somerville. 617-776-6896. www.burren.com/music.html
FIREFALL Apparently it’s ’70s country-rock week at the Center for Arts in Natick. Richie Furay, cofounder of Buffalo Springfield and then Poco, visits on Friday, but his show is sold out. Firefall, the mellow, harmonizing epigone of the Flying Burrito Brothers, is still going strong (although the original iteration is long gone), and tickets are still available for that show. June 26, 8 p.m. $67. TCAN, 14 Summer St., Natick. 508-647-0097. https://tcan.org
BARBARA ZAMORA AND JUAN RUIZ It’s “a night of boleros”; singer Zamora, now residing in Boston but originally from Cuba, and Colombian clarinetist and saxophonist Ruiz are joined by some friends to present a selection of iconic Cuban boleros Thursday evening. June 26, 8 p.m. $35. The Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge. 617-955-7729. www.lilypadinman.com
STUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
4th ANNUAL MAYNARD JAZZ FEST This year’s free musical jamboree features, on its main stage, the dueling tenor saxophones of Tucker Antell and Mike Tucker, the quartet of compelling vocalist and trumpeter Christine Fawson, and eclectic, groove-oriented sextet Bluedog. Appearing on the educational stage will be the Maynard Jazz Bands and the Marlborough High School Jazz Band. June 21, 12:30-5 p.m. Free. Memorial Park, 35 Summer St., Maynard. facebook.com/maynardjazzfest
DIANE BLUE ALL-STARS The soulful singer and hot harmonica player, who’s currently a key member of Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters, also fronts her own powerhouse outfit — guitarist Chris Vitarello, organist Dave Limina, and drummer Chris Anzalone — this time with special guest guitar slinger Laura Chavez. June 21. 8 p.m. $20-$25. Chan’s Fine Oriental Dining, 267 Main St., Woonsocket, R.I. chanseggrollsjazz.com
THE RHYTHM FUTURE QUARTET Bringing Django Reinhardt’s gypsy jazz into the 21st century, the virtuosic string band welcomes special guest clarinetist, saxophonist, and singer Evan Arntzen to the fold. June 26, 7:30 p.m. $30.15-$41.79. Regattabar, Cambridge. regattabarjazz.com
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
FREDERICK DOUGLASS Black American composer Ulysses Kay considered his opera “Frederick Douglass” his greatest work; however, it has not been performed in full since its 1991 premiere. This changes this weekend, as local powerhouse conductor and impresario Gil Rose unites his two projects (Odyssey Opera and Boston Modern Orchestra Project) to bring the piece to the stage. Bass Kenneth Kellogg plays the title role in the semi-fictionalized chronicle of Douglass’s final years, when he refused to advance American territorial and financial claims as consul-general in Haiti. June 20, 7:30 p.m. NEC’s Jordan Hall. www.bmop.org
ROCKPORT CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL This weekend at Rockport puts the cello in the spotlight, starting with the brother-sister piano and cello Cheng² Duo — it’s pronounced Cheng Squared — on a program encompassing Debussy, Beethoven, and Sri Lankan-Canadian composer Dinuk Wijeratne (June 20). The next day brings the London-based Marmen Quartet with a special guest, Colombian cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia (June 21). Sunday offers an adventurous program by the Galvin Cello Quartet, including a Mozart four-hand sonata, some Paganini variations, and Boston Symphony Orchestra principal cellist Blaise Déjardin’s arrangement of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” (June 22). Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport. 978.546.7391, www.rockportmusic.org
SEVEN TIMES SALT BEMF’s marathon week may be over with Aston Magna’s month of programs still a ways away, but if you’re craving ancient music for modern times, tide yourself over with Seven Times Salt’s musical tour of early New England, featuring rounds, psalms, hymns, dance tunes, and musical indictments of tyranny. Presented by the Society for Historically Informed Performance. June 24, Lincoln; June 25, Andover; June 26, Boston. www.sohipboston.org
A.Z. MADONNA
ARTS
Theater
OUR CLASS Inspired by a real-life massacre in 1941, “Our Class” moves inexorably toward the moment when the Jewish residents of a small Polish village are rounded up by Catholic townspeople, forced into a barn, and burned alive. Polish playwright Tadeusz Slobodzianek tells this horrific story by focusing on the relationships among 10 Polish classmates — five Jewish, five Catholic — over time. Directed by Igor Golyak, “Our Class’’ is a haunting illustration of what Hannah Arendt called “the banality of evil.” Through June 23. (An additional performance has been scheduled for June 22.)Production by Arlekin Players Theatre. At Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. Recommended for ages 16 and up. www.bostontheatrescene.com
HELLO, DOLLY! Nobody goes to see this Jerry Herman-Michael Stewart musical in the expectation of a life-changing experience. They go to have some frivolous, escapist fun. (There’s a lot to escape from at the moment.) And that’s what director Maurice Emmanuel Parent delivers in his delightful production, with matchmaker and “marriage broker” Dolly Gallagher Levi winningly portrayed by Aimee Doherty, and an entertainingly stuffy Joshua Wolf Coleman as Horace Vandergelder, “the Yonkers half-a-millionaire” whom Dolly is trying to reel in for herself. Through June 22. Lyric Stage Company of Boston. 617-585-5678, lyricstage.com
BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY In this drama by Springfield, Mass.-born Pearl Cleage, five friends negotiate the cross-currents of the Harlem Renaissance and the Great Depression in the summer of 1930; Angel, a singer who’s just been fired by the Cotton Club; Leland, a widower newly arrived in New York from Alabama, who is smitten with Angel; Guy, a gay costume designer who harbors dreams of Paris; Delia, a staff member at Margaret Sanger’s new family planning clinic in Harlem; and Sam, a jazz-loving physician. Directed by Jackie Davis. Through June 29. Trinity Repertory Company, Providence. 401-351-4242, www.trinityrep.com/blues
DON AUCOIN
Dance
ASIAN AMERICAN BALLET PROJECT With a mission to present productions danced solely by Asian Americans, the company focuses on stories that illuminate their distinct cultural and personal perspectives. The six original ballets in the upcoming program “Receding and Reemerging” revive ancient Asian folktales, confront historical injustices, and explore the complexities of Asian American identity. June 21-22. $15-$35. Arrow Street Arts, Cambridge. https://asianamericanballetproject.org/
BOSTON DANCE THEATER The company continues its mission to use dance to call attention to environmental concerns with this special performance of excerpts at the Crane Estate. “SURGE” examines the human impact on our oceans and coastlines. “The PLANTS Project” uses movement to illuminate the complexity and resilience of plant life. Created in collaboration with Larry J. Pratt (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute) and Gloucester-based visual artist Kim Radochia, the works will unfold within the estate’s historic Italianate barn. June 26. $25. The Barn at Castle Hill, Ipswich. www.bostondancetheater.com
MY BODY MY DANCE: REIMAGINING DUNCAN FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Founded by Boston dance artists Kelli Edwards and Sandra Zarotney Keldsen, the New Duncan Dance Project makes its debut with this provocative program, which uses beauty, humor, and defiance to choreographically explore different perspectives on the pressing issue of women’s autonomy over their own bodies. The company pairs original choreography with reimagined works by ground-breaking feminist and modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan. June 21-22. $15-$50. (The June 22 performance is also available to stream.) Dance Complex, Cambridge. www.dancecomplex.org
SAVING GRACE DANCE ENSEMBLE Led by artistic director Robyn Movsessian, the company presents a collaborative evening of dance featuring Douglas Davis Ballet (New Hampshire), Maine Dance Company (Maine), NSquared Dance Company (N.H./New York City), Russian Ballet Academy (N.H.), Safe Haven Ballet (N.H.), Speaking in Taps (Greater New England), and others. Saving Grace Dance Ensemble will perform several new works on the program, including one dedicated to Movsessian’s nephew, who died of fentanyl poisoning in 2023. June 25. $25-$35. Windhover Center for the Performing Arts, Rockport. www.windhover.org
KAREN CAMPBELL
Visual art
ANN CRAVEN: PAINTED TIME (2020-24) Craven, a contemporary Maine-based painter, is enjoying statewide recognition this summer, honored with several showcases as celebration of her 2025 Maine in America Award for lifetime achievement. The hub of all this, though, is a significant exhibition at the Farnsworth Art Museum, where dozens of her vibrant, expressively-painted meditations on the state’s rich natural realm are on view. With their electric color palettes and exuberant brushwork, they might best be described as landscapes of the heart and mind. Through Jan. 4. Farnsworth Art Museum, 16 Museum St., Rockland, Maine. 207-596-6457, www.farnsworthmuseum.org
EDVARD MUNCH: TECHNICALLY SPEAKING I know, I know: “The Scream.” 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
CHRISTIAN MARCLAY: DOORS Marclay is likely best known for “The Clock,” his 2010 magnum opus: a 24-hour-long film that actually tells the time using 60-second clips from decades of movie history that track, minute by minute, real time in the real world. “Doors,” made in 2022, follows similar logic, though not so rigorous temporal demands. An amalgam of movie scenes of doors opening and closing, the piece leaves the viewer forever on the tortured edge of unknowing — an in-between world of what was and what’s next. Through Sept. 1. Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, 25 Harbor Shore Drive. 617-478-3100,www.icaboston.org
MURRAY WHYTE
BOSTON YOUNG CONTEMPORARIES 2025 More than 20 years ago, art students at Boston University, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, and Massachusetts College of Art and Design started organizing a summer show of their best work. The exhibition is more formal now, and slimmed down, with an official juror — Selby Nimrod, director of exhibitions and commons at MIT’s School of Architecture + Planning. Through July 26. Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery, Boston University, 855 Commonwealth Ave.www.bu.edu/cfa/featured-work/boston-young-contemporaries-2025/
CATE McQUAID

EVENTS
Comedy
DREW DUNN Dunn, a New England comic, is tired of people trying to scare him with the prospect of microplastics in his food. “I’m a product of the ’90s,” he says. “My favorite fruit flavor when I was a kid was blue.” June 20 at 7 p.m. and June 21 at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. $40.46. Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St. 617-725-2844, www.laughboston.com
LIZ GLAZER In her new YouTube special, “Do You Know Who I’m Not?,” the Boston Comedy Festival stand-up competition winner explains why she’s suspicious of the updates her day care gives her about her baby. “Because they’ll say, you know, ‘Violet can hold her bottle all by herself, Lulu rolled over, Harry wrote an op-ed,’” she says. “They’re busy.” June 20 at 7 p.m., June 21 at 7 p.m., 9 p.m., and 11 p.m., and June 22 at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. $25-$65. Goofs Comedy Club, 432 McGrath Highway, Somerville. 617-718-7200,www.goofscomedy.com
BIG GAY VARIETY EXTRAVAGANZA Zach Stewart hosts this stand-up and drag showcase featuring Candace Persuasion, Cam Ohh, Connor Doherty, Lizzie Sivitz, and Shruti Datari, plus some audience participation games and prizes like Off Cabot tickets. June 20, 7 p.m. $33. Off Cabot Comedy and Events, 9 Wallis St., Beverly. www.offcabot.org
NICK A. ZAINO III
Family
HARVARD SQUARE BOOKISH BALL Celebrate revolutionary reading at Harvard Square’s multiple bookstore locations. Browse books, munch on snacks, enjoy live music, and visit with special guest Elizabeth Glover, the first colonial printer, portrayed by Linda Peck. Featured bookstores include Lovestruck Books, Harvard Book Store, Harvard COOP, Grolier’s Poetry Book Shop, and Rodney’s Bookstore. Organized tours of the square led by American lawyer Richard Henry Dana Jr., portrayed by historian Daniel Berger Jones, are available at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. June 21, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free admission. Harvard Square, various locations. harvardsquare.com
ARLINGTON PORCHFEST Head to the annual Arlington Porchfest and trek across town to watch a slew of musical performances. From roots to rock, Scottish to soul, classical to hip-hop, and everything in between, the festivities will feature more than 300 porches, bands, and artists. Stop by the finale dance party, Garage Band, featuring Americana group the Squeezebox Stompers playing zydeco and Cajun beats at 6 p.m. at 334 Mass. Ave. June 21, noon-6 p.m. Free admission. Locations vary, print maps and event info available at 611 Mass. Ave., Arlington. arlingtonporchfest.org
BOSTON PIZZA FESTIVAL Try slices from more than 30 restaurants and vendors at this year’s Boston Pizza Festival. Highlights include Sally’s Apizza from New Haven, Eataly’s Rossopomodoro, and “Pizza a Vico” from Vico Equense, Italy. Attendees can also enjoy refreshments as well as boozier options for adults. June 21-22, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Admission is $10, and includes event entry and two pizza slice tickets. City Hall Plaza, 1 City Hall Square. bostonpizzafestival.com
HALEY CLOUGH