Arts Fuse critics select the best in film, theater, dance, music, visual arts, and author events for the coming week.

By The Arts Fuse Staff

Film

Crocodile Gennadiy
December 14 at 7 p.m.
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA

The DocYard Series presents Steve Hoover’s timely film, a vivid portrait of a controversial Ukrainian minister and activist who rescues young addicts and street people and campaigns for their rights.  His efforts are opposed by economic despair and brutal cynicism. “The film toys with notions of vigilantism (perhaps for fame), but the overall takeaway is complex. Galvanic, shaming and inspiring” (Time Out). The nightmarish synth score is co-composed by Atticus Ross (Gone Girl). Director Hoover will be in attendance for a Q&A.

Boston Area Film Schedules—What is Playing Today, Where, and When

Vertigo
December 16, 17, and 20
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

This Hitchcock masterpiece is just one entry in the museum’s Hitchcock retrospective, which is a perfect companion to the recently released documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut. Vertigo‘s reputation has  only increased through the years;  many now consider it one of the director’s greatest achievements. The Guardian: “Many agree it is Hitchcock’s most effective and personal commentary on his medium, the spell of cinema and his role in it. Scottie’s molding of Judy imitates Hitchcock’s own sadistic treatment of actors, directly mirroring his trademark production of fetishized cool blondes.” View the full series schedule.

Balagan Film Series with Paul Clipson
Sunday December 20 at 8 p.m.
Harvard’s Carpenter Center for Visual Arts Room, Cambridge, MA

San Francisco-based filmmaker Paul Clipson’s short films rely on chance, his patterns of densely layered imagery are multi-exposed and edited in-camera. He also collaborates live with musicians — without showing them the films beforehand. That same element of chance has landed him back on the East Coast for the second time this year to present his second ever show in Boston. The show consists of short films he’s made over the past five years, culled from performances with musicians such as Grouper, Barn Owl, Lawrence English, and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma.

—Tim Jackson

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Dance

Filament
December 17 at 7:30 p.m.
OBERON, Cambridge, MA

Filament celebrates Luminarium’s five years of innovative dance making in Boston. The evening will feature fan-favorites from Luminarium’s repertory (Fracture to Mythos:Pathos, Secrets & Motion to The Sleeprunner) danced by present and past company members. Join in the revelry with a night of incredible performance as the company sets its sights on the next five years. [Editor’s note: Guerra’s work will be presented in this production.]

Nut/Cracked
December 18–20
ICA, Boston, MA

For those looking to shake up their holiday rituals this season, Nut/Cracked is just the ticket. From tap to pointe, and bubble wrap to Chinese take-out noodles, this witty retelling of the beloved classic pushes tradition into the unexpected.

What the Dickens
December 18–20
Boston University Dance Theater, Boston, MA

Join Deborah Mason and the Cambridge Youth Dance Program for the 17th year of What the Dickens —  a version of A Christmas Carol told through dance. This year’s model features everything from tap to classical Indian dance to acrobatics.

—Merli V. Guerra

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Visual Art

Toothpick Town: Architectural Toothpick Wonders of Stan Munro
December 19, 2015–March 27, 2016
Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA

Although the title of this show might remind you of something you did in Cub Scouts, Stan Munro elevates the humble toothpick construction into something well beyond a simple craft exercise. Munro’s perfectly scaled versions of such architectural icons as the Empire State Building, the White House, the Eiffel Tower, and the Taj Mahal land somewhere between folk art and a miniaturized manic obsession. Viewers will delight in the show’s meticulous details, and in contemplating the mind-numbing hours of patient work that must have gone into Munro’s creations.

Diane Simpson
December 16, 2015–March 27, 2016

Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, and Hesam Rahmanian: The Birthday Party
December 16, 2015–March 27, 2016
ICA, Boston, MA

Three artists of the Iranian diaspora—brothers Ramin and Rokni and their childhood friend Hesam—now live and work communally in a shared house in Dubai. Their collective creations, beautiful and alien at the same time, typically combine the work of different artists in a variety of media, including sculpture, drawing, painting, and video. The Birthday Party is a new, site-specific installation the trio has created for an ICA gallery.

Meant to Be Shared: Selections from the Arthur Ross Collection of European Prints at the Yale University Art Gallery
December 18, 2015—April 24, 2016
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

Philanthropist Arthur Ross, who died in 2007 in his late 90s, was past 60 when he began to collect European prints. Despite the late start, his collection came to comprise more than 1,200 major examples by Italian, Spanish, and French artists who excelled in print media. Highlights of this selection include iconic and enigmatic images by Francisco Goya, Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s haunting views of 18th-century Rome and its towering Roman ruins, and Edouard Manet’s illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven.

—Peter Walsh

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Theater

A Confederacy of Dunces, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the novel by John Kennedy Toole. Directed by David Esbjornson. Staged by the Huntington Theater Company at the Boston University Theatre, Boston, MA, through December 20.

An exciting prospect—a stage version of Toole’s playfully Swiftian satire. “Nick Offerman (TV’s Parks and Recreation) stars as the larger-than-life character Ignatius J. Reilly: overweight, arrogant, eccentric, and still living with his mother in 1960s New Orleans. Called the Don Quixote of the French Quarter, Ignatius has a singular outlook on life. His farcical odyssey includes a riot in a department store and a raid on a strip club, and stints working at a pants factory and as a hot dog vendor.” Read the full reviews on The Arts Fuse here and here.

Arabian Nights, an adaption of One Thousand and One Nights by Dominic Cooke. Staged by the Nora Theatre Company and the Underground Railway Theater Company at the Central Square Theater, Cambridge, MA, through January 3, 2016.

A revival of an award-winning production: a stage version of “a collection of folk tales from the Middle East and Asia.” The presentation “is rich with suspense, romance and hilarity—stories irresistible for all ages, and at its heart, the power of the imagination to heal, inspire, and transform.”

peerless by Jiehae Park. Directed by Margo Bordelon. Staged by Yale Rep at the Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT, through December 19.

The world premiere of a new comedy that pits youth against academia: “In an ordinary Midwestern high school, twin sisters M and L are competitive with everyone—except each other. When the failsafe combination of perfect academics, killer extracurriculars, and calculated self-identification fails to impress The College’s early decision admissions board, they hatch a sinister Plan B to secure their future.”

The Snow Queen by Kirsten Brandt, Haddon Kime, and Rick Lombardo. Directed and choreographed by Lombardo. Staged by New Repertory Theatre in the Charles Mosesian Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA, through December 20.

A pop/rock musical “based on the same Hans Christian Andersen story as Disney’s Frozen.” The production features a cast of Boston favorites including Aimee Doherty, Maureen Keiller, Maurice Emmanuel Parent, and Nick Sulfaro. The production will mark the first time Rick Lombardo has returned to direct at New Rep since his departure in 2009. Arts Fuse review.

Return of the Winemaker: An Irish Christmas Comedy by Bernard McMullan. Directed by Carmel O’Reilly. Staged by Tir Na Productions at the Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm Street, Somerville, MA, through December 20.

Here’s the premise of what must be an evening of absolute whimsy. Or TV’s Fox News will condemn this show as an enemy of Xmas: “Instead of Bethlehem, Jesus was born in Ireland. Ballyhoura, County Galway, to be exact. He cured a few goats of liver fluke in his youth and there was talk of him being able walk across Walsh’s bog but nobody ever took him seriously until one day when he turned water into wine.” Besides the production’s expert director, there’s a strong cast: Nancy E. Carroll, Colin Hamell, Stephen Russell, and Derry Woodhouse.

Buyer & Cellar by Jonathan Tolins. Directed by Courtney O’Connor. Staged by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston at 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA, through January 3.

“When you’re an out-of-work L.A. actor, what better job could you imagine than being the sole employee of the ‘Great Mall of Malibu’—Barbra Streisand’s treasure-filled basement!” Stars Phil Tayler. Arts Fuse review.

Beowulf: A Feast of Story, translated by Seamus Heaney. Adapted for the stage by David Gullette. Directed by Benjamin Evett. Staged by the Poets’ Theatre at the Cambridge Arts Center, Cambridge, MA, through December 20.

“Celebrate the solstice with fun, frolic and ferocious adventure in a modern Medieval mead hall as we bring to life the immortal tale of Beowulf, who battles monsters (and their mothers!) to save the kingdom of the proud king Hrothgar. Feast on food, drink, music, dancing, juggling, viking combat, and most importantly the exuberant and intoxicating poetry of this magical story.” Arts Fuse review and feature.

Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!) by Michael Carelton, Jim FitzGerald and John K. Alvarez. Original music by Will Knapp. Directed by Allison Benko. At Gloucester Stage, 267 Main Street, Gloucester, MA, through December 20.

I am always on the look out for sharp parodies/spoofs/send-ups of Christmas shows. (A symptom of spending decades sitting through uninspired productions of A Christmas Carol.) This sounds promising: “The Grinch, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Charlie Brown, and George Bailey—and just about every other holiday character—make an appearance in this hilarious comedy when three actors decide to retell every Christmas story ever told in only 90 minutes rather than perform yet another rendition of A Christmas Carol.” Let’s hope that Scrooge doesn’t make an appearance.

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, a musical adaptation of an excerpt from Leo Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace by Dave Malloy. Directed by Rachel Chavkin. Choreographed by Sam Pinkleton. Staged by the American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge, MA, through January 3.

“Natasha is young, Anatole is hot, and Andrey isn’t here…But what about Pierre?” What about Tolstoy? Hey, he didn’t write musicals, so he couldn’t see that War & Peace had a beat you could dance to. “This electropop opera is Tolstoy like you’ve never experienced him before. Step into a glamorous, romantic world of chandeliers, vodka and caviar in the salons and opera houses of 19th century Moscow, where passions ignite as Napoleon’s war rages outside the city.” Features “an immersive set designed by 2015 MacArthur ‘Genius Grant’ Winner, Mimi Lien.”

The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare. Directed by Melia Bensussen. Staged by the Actors’ Shakespeare Project in Wilet Hall at the United Parish, Brookline, MA, through January 3.

Steven Barkhimer, Marianna Bassham, Allyn Burrows, and Nigel Gore are in the cast for this staging of Shakespeare’s magical fable, where “forgiveness wins out over mistrust, keeping this sublime romance out of the clutches of tragedy!”

The Sailor Moon Shoujo Spectacular at Oberon, Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA, on December 13.

“For the THIRD year in a row, the Sailor Moon Shoujo Spectacular is back at Oberon Theater, filling a whole geeky night with joyful, kawaii revelry. The line-up includes “burlesque and circus tributes by New York City’s Crimson Kitty and Boston’s own Fonda Feeling; music by queer Sailor Moon-themed synth pop band The Outer Lips; dance by Wisterious Pearl; drag by Complete Destruction and Fem Bones; fanfic, fanfic, so much fanfic; live drawing and Sailor portraits by Zombie Romance; a costume contest with fabulous prizes; and more!”

All at Once Upon a Time (or Variations on the Theme of Disappearing), conceived and directed by Giselle Ty. Staged by the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM)’s Present Tense Initiative in the Gardner-Pingree House, Salem, MA, December 13. Reservations necessary; performance limited to 15 people.

The world premiere of what sounds like an intriguing “immersive and audience-driven theater experience takes place on three floors of the Gardner-Pingree House, a National Historic Landmark that is one of Salem architect Samuel McIntire’s finest and best-preserved Federal designs. Intimate and ephemeral, the performance offers a unique perspective into this architectural treasure, allowing participants to explore the elegant and storied home on foot, and come upon surprising and dreamlike happenings, while navigating an exploration into the way we see our environment, ourselves and each other.”

Exposed by Robert Brustein. Directed by Steven Bogart. Staged by the Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP) and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre (BPT) at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, Wimberly Theatre, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA, through December 18.

“A ribald satire on financial corruption and religious extremism,” this play by former A.R.T. Artistic Director Robert Brustein “is a penetrating glimpse into the broken American political system. Loosely based on Molière’s Tartuffe and written partly in verse, the play follows evangelical hypocrite Dick Cockburn and rich power broker Seymour Sackeroff, who—with the help of his mother Hortense—tries to pave the televangelist’s path to the White House.”

Rosmersholm by Henrik Ibsen. Translation by Rolf Fjelde. Directed by Bryn Boice. Staged by the Boston University College of Fine Arts at the Boston University Theater, Lane-Comley Studio 210, Boston, MA, on December 13.

An opportunity to see a production of a play by the great Ibsen should never be passed up. Even better, this Boston University CFA production takes on one of his later (and rarely staged) masterpieces.

The Christmas Revels: A Welsh Celebration of the Winter Solstice. Directed by Patrick Swanson. Music directed by George Emlen. At Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, MA, through December 27.

The venerable seasonal entertainment, “a joyous theatrical celebration filled with music, dance, comedy and carols,” celebrates its 45th year. This time around, the show takes on “an exhilarating journey to the ancient Celtic nation of Wales.” It is set in “a village not too different from the one described in Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales in order to “access the world of Celtic legend and song.”

—Bill Marx

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Rock, Pop, Folk

Todd Rundgren
December 16 at 8 p.m.
Wilbur Theatre, Boston, MA

In the 1960s and 1970s, Todd Rundgren was a member of the Anglophilic pop band Nazz and the prog-rock oriented Utopia. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, he was a solo artist who crafted sophisticated earworms such as “Hello It’s Me,” “I Saw the Light,” “Couldn’t I Just Tell You?,” “Can We Still Be Friends?,” and “Bang the Drum All Day” while conjuring up the dizzyingly ambitious double albums Something/Anything? and A Wizard, A True Star. “Whom in the world of popular music did he not produce a record for from 1970 onward?” is a more difficult question than “Whom did he produce records for from 1970 onward?” (Answers to the latter include artists that range alphabetically and stylistically from Bad Religion to XTC.)

In 2015, Rundgren released a new album (Global) and toured with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band. At The Wilbur on Wednesday, he could probably play for three hours without losing any of the audience’s attention.

When Particles Collide with The Rationales, The Static Dynamic, and Stars Like Ours
December 18 at 10 p.m.
Great Scott, Allston, MA

A quartet of Boston-based acts will converge on Great Scott on Saturday night. The third spot of this late show will be occupied by The Rationales. Fronted by singer, songwriter, and guitarist David Mirabella, this quintet’s energetic but laid-back pop-rock is as tight as the drums that are pounded by David’s brother Mike. The set is sure to include the band’s new single “Take a Ride With Me,” which officially premiers on Monday. Closing out the evening will be the drums-and-guitar duo (and married couple) When Particles Collide, who won the 2014 Boston Music Award for New Artist.

James McMurtry
December 19 at 7 p.m. (doors at 5:30)
Johnny D’s, Somerville, MA

Dean of American Rock Critics (East Coast) Robert Christgau named “We Can’t Make It Here” by James McMurtry the #1 song of the aughts. Stephen King, another high-profile admirer, says that McMurtry “may be the truest, fiercest songwriter of his generation.” The roots and folk-rock singer-songwriter/guitarist will belatedly celebrate the February release of Complicated Game—his first album of new material since 2008—on Saturday at Johnny D’s.

The Velvet Ants
December 20, doors at 8 p.m.
Thunder Road, Somerville, MA

I had not heard of this Boston alternative rock band until I started investigating this week’s upcoming shows. However, the trio allows curious listeners to download several songs for free on its website. Having availed myself of an album of songs previously recorded by other artists, I can (if you will pardon the expression) judge this band by its covers. The selections—including tunes by The Beach Boys, INXS, The Cars, Weezer, Juliana Hatfield, Deftones, The Lemonheads, and The Beatles—are as inspired as the group’s versions thereof. Therefore, I highly recommend that you take this chance to check out Union Square’s newest music venue next Sunday.

—Blake Maddux

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Jazz

Joe Morris’s ARCADE Cambridge
December 16 at 8 p.m.
Outpost 186, Cambridge, MA

Having invented his own language for jazz guitar, Joe Morris these days more and more often shows up playing acoustic bass. Tonight he’s joined by alto sax Jim Hobbs, tenor sax Abraham Mennen, trumpeter Jeffrey Cox, and drummer Luther Gray.

Eli & the Hot Six
December 17 at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston, MA

This is the hardcore of Boston’s jazz and swing scene. Tubist Eli Newberger, a founding member of the New Black Eagle Jazz Band, celebrates his 75th birthday with his Hot Six: pianist Bob Winter, trombonist Herb Gardner, trumpeter Bo Winiker, multi-reedman Ted Casher, banjoist and singer Jimmy Mazzy, drummer Jeff Gunther, plus singer Rebecca Sullivan. This one’s billed as a Gershwin tribute, so the tunes should be pretty solid.

Newpoli
December 17 at 9:30 p.m.
Lilypad, Cambridge, MA

The players in Newpoli have strong jazz backgrounds and various active jazz projects, so that’s my excuse for including their exuberant mix of ancient Italian folk and modern originals. In their music you can hear the Arabic influences in Southern Italian folkloric dance music (including any variety of tarantellas), and great singing and playing all around. They’ve done their homework. The band includes singers Carmen Marsico and Angela Rossi; Bjorn Wennas chitarra battente, mandola, and classical guitar; Roberto Cassan on accordion; Fabio Pirozzolo on tamburello and vocals; violinist, Karen Burciaga, and bassist Sean Farias.

Hal Galper
December 18 at 7 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.
Lilypad, Cambridge, MA

Pianist Hal Galper is probably best known as the longtime mainstay of the Phil Woods quartet, but he’s played with “everybody” (Cannonball Adderley, Chet Baker, Roy Eldridge, Sam Rivers, and on and on, including his own heavyweight band with Randy and Michael Brecker and Billy Hart). He returns to the Boston scene, where he has deep roots going back to his Berklee days in the ’50s. His impressive band of current Boston players includes saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, bassist Greg Loughman, and drummer Austin McMahon.

Helen Sung
December 18 at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston, MA

Adventurous pianist and composer Helen Sung (a standout at this year’s Newport Jazz Festival) is calling this program “Sung with Words.” The band will feature distinguished jazz singers Carmen Lundy and Carolyn Leonhardt, as well as trumpeter Ingrid Jensen.

—Jon Garelick

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Classical Music

Holiday Concert
Presented by the New England Philharmonic
December 13 at 3 p.m.
Tsai Performance Center, Boston

The NEP’s second concert of the year offers a typically generous helping of the offbeat (George Antheil’s Tom Sawyer Overture and John Harbison’s classy Remembering Gatsby), the familiar (Liszt’s Piano Concerto no. 1), and the new (Rob Kapilow’s Elijah’s Angel). David Kravitz and Dana Whiteside are the vocal soloists, and Amir Siraj, winner of the NEP’s Young Artist’s Competition this year, performs the Liszt.

Bach Christmas
Presented by the Handel and Haydn Society
December 17 (at 7:30 p.m.) and 20 (at 3 p.m.)
Jordan Hall/New England Conservatory, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA

Laurence Cummings conducts this year’s Bach Christmas concerts, featuring three cantatas (including the much-loved Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme) and the motet Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf.

Old Friend: Franz Schubert & Gabriel Kahane
Presented by A Far Cry
December 18 at 8 p.m.
Jordan Hall/New England Conservatory, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA

Gabriel Kahane joins A Far Cry for a selection of songs from his album, The Ambassador, and lieder by Schubert. A new Kahane piece for string orchestra (commissioned by AFC) and the G major Quartet (D. 887) round out the program.

—Jonathan Blumhofer

Boston Camerata: A Mediterranean Christmas
December 18, 19, and 21 at 8 p.m.
Lexington, Newbury, Cambridge, MA

“The Christmas narrative retold through profoundly beautiful songs, chants, and instrumental pieces from the countries of the Mediterranean basin: Spain, Italy, southern France, North Africa and the Holy Land. Works are drawn from medieval manuscripts and more recent folklore and oral traditions. With voices, early instruments of Europe and the Middle East, and readings of the Christmas story. Camerata is joined by SHARQ Arabic Ensemble.”

Lorelei Ensemble: Of Such Virtue
December 18 and 19 at 8 p.m.
Marsh Chapel/Boston University, 735 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA

“Lorelei’s first Christmas series, including selections from early English sources, including the Selden Carol Book, and world premieres by Timothy Takach, Adam Jacob Simon, and Bryan Christian.”

—Susan Miron

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Author Events

Daniel Bouchard and Chris Warner
Filaments and Strokes (Mostly) in Silence
December 13 at 12:45 p.m. (doors at 11:30 a.m.)
Plymouth Center for The Arts, 11 North Street, Plymouth, MA
Free

Two acclaimed local poets read from their work at an event sponsored by The Plymouth Center for the Arts. Bouchard is a long time Cambridge-affiliated poet and Warner is a physical therapist who will be reading from her first chapbook. Music and refreshments will be available as well.

Melanne Verveer and Kim Azzarelli
In Conversation with Jill Abramson
Fast Forward: How Women Can Achieve Power and Purpose
December 16 from 6–7:30 p.m.
John F Kennedy Library, Columbia Point, Boston, MA
Free

With the unintended assistance of the right wing’s attack on women’s rights, issues related to the empowerment of women have become increasingly central to our political discourse. An accomplished panel will come to the JFK library to discuss the ways in which women of all walks of life can rise.

Hillary L. Chute
Disaster Drawn: Visual Witness, Comics, and Documentary Form
December 17 at 8 p.m.
Newtonville Books, Newton Centre, MA
Free

For years, comics have been able to depict the horrors of war in ways that other mediums can’t touch. Chute traces the history of artists from Goya to Joe Sacco bearing witness to the realities of war zones from Bosnia to Gaza to Hiroshima’s Ground Zero. Garnering praise from the likes of Greil Marcus and Chris Ware, Chute’s book gets the rollout in Newtonville.

Ross Gay and Abdul Ali
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude and Trouble Sleeping
December 20 at 2 p.m.
Brookline Public Library Main Branch, 361 Washington Street, Brookline, MA
Free

Gay and Ali are two widely published poets in town to read from their latest work. Gay is an editor of two chapbook presses, Q Avenue and Ledge Mule Press. Ali teaches at Towson University, and is the winner of the New Issues Prize for poetry, selected for the prize by Fanny Howe.

—Matt Hanson