A week of events in Cambridge and Somerville: Ren Faire, ‘La Bohème’ and Janeane Garofalo

Thursday, Nov. 6

The Norton Lectures with Steve McQueen: “Bass” at 6 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but RSVP. The third in six Cambridge lectures by Steve McQueen, artist and director of “12 Years a Slave” (2013), received the Golden Globe, Oscar and Bafta awards for best picture in 2014. “Bass” is an immersive installation made up of the structural elements of film – light and sound – that is meant to upend our perception of space, time and ourselves. The work features sound created by an intergenerational group of Afrodiasporic musicians who worked together to bring this low-end frequency of the bass, typically in the background, to the foreground. Renowned bassist, singer-songwriter and poet Meshell Ndegeocello, one of the five contributors to the soundtrack for “Bass,” performs.

The Radiant Sea: Color and Light in the Underwater World at 6 p.m. at the Museum of Natural History’s Haller Hall, 24 Oxford St., Baldwin neighborhood, Cambridge. Free, but register. Steven Haddock, senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, shares stories from the scientific expeditions on which he captured images of sea creatures that display transparency, vivid pigmentation, iridescence, bioluminescence and fluorescence.

Comedian Joe Fenti at 7 p.m. at Upstairs at McCarthy’s, 1920 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Free, but RSVP. The Boston comedian, who has opened for Alex Borstein, performs at the first After Work Thursdays: Millennials Social, a new weekly event geared toward the area’s 37 percent millennial population, made up of people that the restaurant says “don’t want to be out until 2 a.m.” – so the events allow them “to be sociable at a reasonable hour and unwind after a week’s work, all without having to suffer through work on a Friday morning! As the saying goes in Ireland, ‘Out early, home early.’”

Chloe Garcia Roberts and Brad Fox read from “Carne de Dios” and “Another Bone-Swapping Event” at 7 p.m. at the Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. Roberts, deputy editor of the Harvard Review, translates Homero Aridjis’ novel about a group of bohemians and researchers, real and imagined, who descend on the town of Huautla de Jiménez searching for salvation in the sacred mushrooms found there. Fox tells the story of a year spent stuck in the high jungles of Peru living with a family of Quechua-speaking curanderos, traditional medicine practitioners responsible for a 100-hectare stretch of jungle in the northeastern part of the country.

Harvard Ballet Co.’s “Nocturne” opening at 7 p.m. at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $15 (continues through Nov. 8). The production features a new work choreographed by San Francisco Ballet’s Pemberley Ann Olson as well as Christopher Wheeldon’s “An American In Paris” staged by Abigail Simon. A new collaboration with Candela, A Harvard Latin dance troupe, is included.

Montaño Big Band at 7 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $10 to $15. This 19-piece jazz ensemble led by pianist and composer Alan Montaño performs jazz, Latin music and a fusion of diverse cultural, musical influences.

Tom Piazza reads from “Living in the Present with John Prine” at 7 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square, Cambridge. $28 with book. Grammy-winning singer-songwriter John Prine, known for country folk songs, asked journalist Piazza to help write his memoirs. “For all of us who love and dearly miss John Prine, what a gift it is to be able to be with him again, both through his own words and in Tom Piazza’s wonderful recounting of their adventures forging their deep, late-life friendship,” singer Bonnie Raitt says of the book. Author Steve Yarbrough joins. 

Brewery Book Club from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Lamplighter Brewing, 284 Broadway, The Port, Cambridge. Free, but RSVP and 21-plus. A collaboration with the Cambridge Public Library that this month discusses “We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People” by Nemonte Nenquimo.

The Music of composer Annea Lockwood from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Harvard’s John Knowles Paine Concert Hall, 3 Oxford St., just north of Harvard Square, Cambridge, and Harvard Yard. Free. Lockwood, recently described by The New York Times as “a composer of insatiable curiosity and a singular ear for the music of the natural world,” brings a program of works from the past two decades with The Fromm Players at the Harvard, curated by flutist and professor Claire Chase.

Buffalo Tom presents “Please Come to Boston” mini festival from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville (and continuing Nov. 7 and 8). $40 to $45. A weekend of music, arts, comedy, readings and film showings. It begins with Bill Janovitz reading and signing “The Cars: Let the Stories be Told” at 7 p.m. At 8 p.m., Buffalo Tom takes the stage. 

“Summer, 1976” play at 7:30 p.m. at the Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge (and continuing through Nov. 30). $27 to $87. The second wave of feminism is cresting when two women form a friendship: Diana, a fiercely iconoclastic artist, and Alice, a free-spirited yet naive young housewife. Alice and Diana bring us directly into the small moments that change the course of their lives in this play The New York Times praises as “sharply observant … subtly, insistently feminist.”

The Adventure Time Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square, Somerville. Free. Modern jazz drawing from Brooke Sofferman’s extensive original material and some jazz standards reimagined.

Delaney Nolan reads from “Happy Bad” from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at All She Wrote Books, 75 Washington St., East Somerville. $28 with book. Beatrice works at Twin Bridge, a chronically underfunded residential treatment center in near-future East Texas, teeming with enraged teenage girls on either too many or not enough drugs. When a heat wave triggers a blackout, Beatrice and the other staff and residents must evacuate, leaving them to face police brutality, sweltering heat, panicked evacuees and the girls’ mounting withdrawal as they search for a route out of the blackout zone.

Country musician Kelsey Waldon at 8 p.m. at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $28 to $30. Waldon has earned wide praise for her “self-penned compositions [with] the patina of authenticity” (Rolling Stone). On her new album, “Every Ghost,” she confronts addiction, grief and generational trauma in her lyrics.

Friday, Nov. 7

Gallery Talk: Drawing Materials and Techniques in “Sketch, Shade, Smudge” from 2 to 2:30 p.m. at the Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., near Harvard  Square, Cambridge. Free. An exhibition curator discusses some of the drawing materials and techniques seen in works in the special exhibition celebrating the act of drawing using charcoal, chalk, crayon and graphite.

Black Roots: Grounded and Growing Toward Collective Futures from 4 to 10 p.m. at the Harvard University’s Gund Hall, 48 Quincy St., Mid-Cambridge near Harvard Square (continues Saturday). Free, but register. This conference explores the complex relationships between belief systems, environments and lands that shape Black communities across the diaspora.

“Failed seriousness” art reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Gallery 263, 263 Pearl St., Cambridgeport. Free. A national group exhibition celebrates the comical, satirical and subversive through 24 exhibiting artists. This show is juried by sculpture artist Libby Paloma.

Harvard Ballet presents “Nocturne” (continued) at 7 p.m. at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $15 (continues through Nov. 8).

Atash Yaghmaian reads from “My Name Means Fire” at 7 p.m. at the Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. In her debut memoir, the author describes her childhood during the Iranian Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime and the eight-year Iran-Iraq War in which she fought for her survival. 

Raging Women Collective with authors Lara Ehrlich and Kristin Bair at 7 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square, Cambridge. RSVP required. Women-identifying writers whose books explore rage, empowerment and transformation are the focus of this group where this month Ehrlich, author of “Bind Me Tighter Still,” and Bair, author of “Clementine Crane Prefers Not To,” are guests.

“Let Us Live” film showing at 7 p.m. at the Harvard Film Archive at The Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10. In this 1939 film starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O’Sullivan, Brick, on the eve of his marriage to Mary, is mistakenly identified as a murderer. 

Buffalo Tom presents “Please Come to Boston” minifestival (continued) from 7 to 10 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville (and continuing Saturday). $40 to $45. 

Sofar Boston Holiday Market from 7 to 10 p.m. at First Street Market, 59 First St., Cambridge. $29. Discover new music and shop for your holiday gifts from local vendors. 

Saxophonist George Coleman (continuing Saturday) at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. at Regattabar, 1 Bennett St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $41 to $54. The jazz musician has played with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Ray Charles and B.B. King.

Stile Antico at 8 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, 29 Mount Auburn St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $55 to $105. In the 20th season, composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, who died in 1594, is honored. Palestrina’s career was linked with the papacy and the great churches of Rome for which he composed, but his legend as “the prince and father of music” grew after his death. 

Beginner swing dance lesson from 8 to 9 p.m. at Boston Swing Central, 26 New St., Suite 3, Cambridge. $18 or $20. Learn the moves while enjoying the music of the Alex Owen Swingtet.

“Washington Merry-Go-Round” film showing at 8:45 p.m. at the Harvard Film Archive at The Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10. A Georgia patriot is placed in Congress by corrupt forces but ultimately turns against his backers to serve the people he meets in the capital’s shantytowns.

Saturday, Nov. 8

Black Roots: Grounded and Growing Toward Collective Futures (continued) from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Harvard University’s Gund Hall, 48 Quincy St., Mid-Cambridge near Harvard Square. Free, but register.

Pumpkin Smash from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Growing Center, 22 Vinal Ave., near Union Square, Somerville (rain date: Sunday). Free. Bring and smash your Halloween pumpkins (or smash one provided) at this family-fun event with family friendly activities and a bake sale.

“Letters Rewoven” community installation inauguration at noon at Lou Ann David Park, 1060 Broadway, near Teele Square, Somerville. Free. This project gathers the voices of Somerville residents through writings. Participants reflected on themes of impermanence, transformation, renewal and resilience. Then the projects were transformed into paper pulp mixed with wildflower seeds and used to cover the sculpture’s panels.

Ren Faire at Bow Market at noon at Bow Market, 1 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville. Free. Bring your caravan of court jesters for a full day of events, performances, vendors, photo ops and revelry. Finish it out with the Enchanted Forest Ball starting at 7 p.m. at Upstairs at Bow.

Lift Every Voice from 1 to 3:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Main Library lecture hall, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free, but registration required. The Cambridge Black History Project presents an afternoon of oral history narrators, refreshments and conversation.

Cookbook author Maria Lawton at 2 p.m. at the Cambridge Library Valente Branch, 826 Cambridge St., Wellington-Harrington, Cambridge. Free, but registration required. The host of “Maria’s Portuguese Table” on PBS presents Portuguese cooking. Lawton, and raised in the United States, preserves and shares the culinary and cultural traditions of Portugal, where she was born.

“Miracle in Milan” and “Killer of Sheep” double feature at 2 p.m. at the Harvard Film Archive at The Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10. In “Miracle in Milan,” a 1951 Italian film with English subtitles, when Totò is denied a job after his release from the orphanage, he follows a thief to a shantytown outside Milan on magnate-owned property, revealing the absurdity of the system that marginalizes them. “Killer of Sheep,” a 1977 film about hope and despair among working-class Black families, was filmed in Watts, California, almost a decade after the city’s race riots.

Harvard Ballet presents “Nocturne” opening night (continued) at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $15.

Dressed to the Nines anniversary party from 5 p.m. to midnight at Lamplighter Brewing, 284 Broadway, The Port, Cambridge. Free. Celebrate nine years of Lamplighter Brewing at the original taproom. Anniversary beers and a photo booth available to try. 

“The Expedition” dance at 5:30 and 8 p.m. at the Harvard’s Lowell Lecture Hall, 17 Kirkland St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10. Student-operated Expressions Dance presents hip-hop dance and its variations, including house, jazz funk and contemporary jazz, with levels ranging from beginners to professionals.

“Address Unknown” film showing at 7 p.m. at the Harvard Film Archive at The Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10. In 1930s Germany, a gallery owner falls under the spell of Nazism. Based on a 1938 short story by Kathrine Kressmann, which originally unfolded through a series of letters exchanged between a Jewish art dealer living in San Francisco and his business partner. Released in 1944. 

“Divine Isolation” at 7 p.m. at the Longy School of Music, Pickman Hall, 27 Garden St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $20 to $25. This program matches visual art – this time by Neetu Singhal – with music by Aaron Trant, a U.S. premiere by Monthati Masebe, a world premiere by Lior Navok and a New Gallery-commissioned world premiere by Michael Begay. 

Buffalo Tom presents “Please Come to Boston” minifestival (continued) from 7 to 10 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. $40 to $45. 

Saxophonist George Coleman (continued) at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. at Regattabar, 1 Bennett St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $41 to $54.

Layne Staley Tribute East at 7:45 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square. $42. A tribute concert for vocalist Layne Staley and bassist Mike Starr, both of Alice in Chains, raises awareness and support for addiction recovery.

The Music Department 110 Orchestra fall concert at 8 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. $25. This final concert of the semester is conducted by music director Federico Cortese and features student violinist Ayaan Ahmad in performances of Stravinsky’s “Petrushka” and Sibelius’ Violin Concerto. 

Sunday, Nov. 9

Queer Romance Book Club at 10:30 a.m. at All She Wrote Books, 75 Washington St., East Somerville. $7, $24 with book. This month’s title: “The Secret Crush Book Club” by Karmen Lee.

The Leftovers perform at 2:30 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square in Ward 2, Somerville. Free. The pop group draws inspiration from artists such as Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones and Leon Bridges.

Sidebody and SheBoom perform to benefit Luce at 3 p.m. at The Burren, 247 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. $15 to $25. Somerville’s pop-art-rock band Sidebody and SheBoom, a Brazilian-inspired percussion and vocal ensemble play to benefit the Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts and its mission to keep a watch on federal anti-immigrant raids.

Circus Up Arts Benefit at 3 p.m. at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. $20 to $45. The Boston-area circus troupe Kirkos is made up of young people from underserved communities and local artists and dancers. The benefit includes treats from Moonshine 152, refreshments, a scavenger hunt and a raffle.

Boston Chamber Music Society plays Mozart, Coleridge-Taylor, Dvořák at 3 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. $32 to $72. Performances include Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478 (1785); Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Clarinet Quintet in F-sharp minor, Op. 10 (1896); and Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Trio in F minor, Op. 65 (1883).

Anikka Bon from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $12. The pop-folk artist blends storytelling with cinematic sound.

“La Bohème” performance from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. $20 to $30. The Cambridge Symphony Orchestra welcomes the Boston City Singers Children’s Opera, New World Chorale and Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes & Drums in a semi-staged production of Puccini’s iconic opera.

Lady Ray and Her Jazz Birds at 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Spring Hill, Somerville. $15 donation. Raynel Shepard, aka Lady Ray, performs jazz standards with Ben Broder (piano), Mike Ball (bass), Mark Chenevert (sax and clarinet), Dave Hurst (percussion) and Mark Torgenson (guitar).

Adult Night at Science Park from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, Boston, on the Cambridge border. Free to $25. Experience the Museum after hours at this adults-only night that includes access to the planetarium and 4-D Theater.

High Velocity History and Elvis in Chaos at 7 p.m. at The Foundry, 101 Rogers St., East Cambridge. $10. Storytellers Daniel Berger-Jones and Michael Anderson team up for a night of jokes, chaos theory and history benefiting Luce and its mission to keep a watch on federal anti-immigrant raids.

Hannah Mohan performs from 7 to 9 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $15 to $18. Mohan’s “Time Is a Walnut” is the first solo release from the Western Massachusetts singer and songwriter, after nearly a decade fronting indie-pop band And the Kids.

Slow Blinding performs from 10 to 11:45 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $18. Sahn Cannon leads a musical quartet of Sequoyah Cisneros on tenor and soprano saxophone, Hector Guzman on drums and Chris Lee on upright bass.

Monday, Nov. 10

Museum tours led by Harvard students at 11 a.m. at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Ave., in the Baldwin neighborhood near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free with museum admission. Student guides connect visitors with the research, teaching and Indigenous engagement surrounding the cultural heritage in the museum’s care.

Niayesh Afshordi reads from “Battle of the Big Bang: The New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins” at 6 p.m. at the Harvard Science Center, 1 Oxford St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, $35 with book. By most popular accounts, the universe started with a bang some 13.8 billion years ago. But what happened before the Big Bang? And how do we know it happened at all? The author offers some possibilities. Harvard’s Lisa Randall joins. 

“From Revolution to Remembrance: Memory of the American Revolution” talk from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Main Library lecture hall, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free, but registration required. Explore how Americans have remembered, reinterpreted and reshaped the meaning of the American Revolution from 1776 to today, featuring Michael Hattem, author of “Past and Prologue: Politics and Memory in the American Revolution” and Nikki Stewart, executive director of Old North Illuminated. 

YA book club at 6:30 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square, Cambridge. RSVP and ages 13-plus. This time, discuss Kendall Kulper’s novel for young adults “A Time Traveler’s History of Tomorrow.”

James Geary reads from “The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism, Second Edition” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. Aphorisms are expressions that have a basis in truth, such as “Better safe than sorry.” The New York Times bestseller features 26 additional aphorists and explores the aphorism in the age of social media.

The Tall Trio  from 7 to 8 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $10 to $15. Every Monday, the Lilypad’s Tall Trio warms up the stage for a night full of jazz legends. Usually led by Elan Mehler with Max Ridley and Dor Herskovits.

Jeopardy! quiz from 7 to 9 p.m. at Lamplighter CX, 110 N. First St., North Point, Cambridge. A new weekly team trivia game that follows the television game show version with two rounds plus a final Jeopardy!, Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy!, making for a lot of trademarked exclamation marks.

Patrick Wolf performs from 7 to 10 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Spring Hill, Somerville. $27. The English singer-songwriter tours with his seventh album, “Crying the Neck.”

Passim Monday Discovery Series at 8 p.m. at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free to $20. Singer-songwriters perform through a partnership with Club Passim and Nine Athens Music, to bring undiscovered folk music directly to the fans. 

Jerry Bergonzi Quartet from 8:30 to 10 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge (and continuing most Mondays). $10 to $15. Bergonzi brings his tenor sax mastery to this seated show with bandmates Phil Grenadier on trumpet, John Sullivan on bass and Luther Gray on drums.

Tuesday, Nov. 11

Mini holiday game day from noon to 6 p.m. at the New England Science Fiction Association clubhouse at 504 Medford St., Magoun Square, Somerville. Free, but you must request a seat by email to attend. A variety of games for all tastes and abilities are available for nonmembers twice a month. Or bring your own game and teach others how to play. Masks and proof of Covid vaccination are required.

Pottery with a Purpose clay mug making from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lamplighter Brewing, 284 Broadway, The Port. $75, and 21-plus. Learn hands-on techniques to shape a mug. Materials are provided.

“Have You Read This?” Book Moot at 6:30 p.m. at Pandemonium Books & Games, 4 Pleasant St., Central Square, Cambridge. $5, registration required. This time, discuss “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Felice Frankel reads from “Phenomenal Moments: Revealing the Hidden Science Around Us” at 7 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square, Cambridge. $22 with book. Frankel, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, uses photography as puzzle about nature and science that allows readers to guess what they’re observing – then get the answer when they flip the page. 

“Brigands & Breadknives” book launch party at 7 p.m. at Side Quest Books & Games, 1 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville. $10 and 21-plus. To celebrate the launch of Travis Baldree’s latest cozy fantasy novel – the next book in The New York Times bestselling “Legends & Lattes” series – participate in this potluck by bringing sweet or savory breads with no nuts and a card with the full list of ingredients.

Pocaster and video essayist Jacob Geller from 7 to 9 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Spring Hill, Somerville. $18. The writer and “Something Rotten” personality brings his unique look at the intersecting worlds of video games, politics, art and storytelling. Geller’s YouTube channel has more than 1.2 million subscribers to videos covering topics such as horror, art, frigophobia (fear of cold), thalassophobia (fear of deep bodies of water) and social justice. Presented by the Boston Jewish Film Festival.

Broadway Trivia night from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Lamplighter Brewing, 284 Broadway, The Port, Cambridge. Free and 21-plus. A weekly game for teams of two to six people in categories ranging from history and politics to sports and movies to pop culture and music. The top three teams get gift cards usable at Lamplighter or Pepita Coffee.

Point01 Percent contemporary series from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $15. A cross-pollination of area musical improvisers. At 7:30 p.m., Anthony Coleman (piano), Eric Rosenthal (drums) and Andrew Neumann (buchla analog electronics). At 8:30 p.m., Pandelis Karayorgis (piano), Nathan McBride (bass) and Nat Mugavero (drums).

Bluesy Tuesy Social Dance from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. at New England Science Fiction Association clubhouse at 504 Medford St., Magoun Square, Somerville (and every Tuesday). $5 to $25. DJs play at this weekly partner blues dance event that includes a lesson for beginners in the first hour.

Barnaby Bright performs at 8 p.m. at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $25 to $30. The alt-Americana trio features Nathan Bliss, Rebecca Bliss and Carmen Dieker. The group has opened for Norah Jones and The Lumineers. 

11:11 from 10:30 to 11:59 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $13 to $15. An energetic night of R&B, pop and alternative music from bee, an indie-pop singer-songwriter; SB Khi, a multi-instrumentalist artist who blends alternative R&B, hip-hop and indie music; and Aileena, an independent pop and R&B artist and songwriter. 

Wednesday, Nov. 12

Boudreau Branch Book Group at noon at the Cambridge Public library’s Boudreau Branch, 245 Concord Ave., Observatory Hill in Neighborhood 9. Free. This month, the selection is “James” by Percival Everett.

Walter Russell Mead talks on U.S. foreign policy from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Harvard Faculty Club’s main dining room, 20 Quincy St., Cambridge. Free, but register. After World War II, the United States committed to building a liberal international order and doubled down after the fall of the Soviet Union – bit in the 21st century, it is being challenged abroad and at home. A discussion of why the United States must rethink its core international strategy comes from Mead of the University of Florida.

“Decoding the Pyramid Statues of King Menkaure” talk at 6 p.m. at the Museum of Natural History’s Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Baldwin neighborhood, Cambridge. Free. The symbolism, damage and relocation of King Menkaure’s Fourth Dynasty pyramid temples at Giza – and how much they still have to say, even after thousands of years – is discussed by Florence Dunn Friedman, visiting Egyptologist and Assyriologist at Brown University.

Nikolay Kukushkin reads from “One Hand Clapping: Unraveling the Mystery of the Human Mind” at 6 p.m. at the Harvard Science Center, 1 Oxford St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, $35 with book. Using analysis, cutting-edge science and whimsical doodles from the author and neuroscientist, this book examines how humans formed.

Alex Pentland reads from “Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI” at 6 p.m. at The MIT Museum, 314 Main St., Kendall Square, Cambridge. $5. The author examines the history of innovation, emphasizing the importance of understanding how technologies and cultural inventions affect human society.

Poets Elizabeth Robinson and Rosmarie Waldrop read from 6 to 7:45 p.m. in the Edison Newman Room of the Houghton Library, at Quincy and Harvard streets in Harvard Yard, Cambridge. Free. Poet and essayist Kate Colby provides the introduction at this first Fanny Howe Memorial Reading at the Harvard Vocarium Reading Series. 

Books and Brews from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square in Ward 2, Somerville. Free. Hosted by the Somerville Public Library, this month’s title is “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain” by George Saunders.

Joseph Luzzi reads from “The Innocents of Florence: The Renaissance Discovery of Childhood” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. The author examines a Florentine orphanage in the 15th century that rescued thousands of children and revolutionized childhood education.

Investing in Our Brains: The Hidden Story of Women’s Brain Health at 7 p.m. at the Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, Boston, on the Cambridge border. Free. A panel of leading experts discuss brain health across the lifespan from childhood and adolescence to postpartum and menopausal mental health, into aging-related conditions such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease. 

Sophia Saleh performs at 7 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square in Ward 2, Somerville. Free. The vocalist and songwriter blends R&B and pop and soul in a mix of original songs and select covers accompanied by jazz pianist and guitarist Louis Shriber. They are members of the Boston band Unmuted.

Hub Comics “Book Clhub” at 7 p.m. at Hub Comics, 19 Bow St., Union Square, Somerville. Free, but bring a copy of the book with you. November’s title: Guy Delisle’s “Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea.”

“Stories from the Dawnlands: Indigenous Histories and Living Legacies in New England” at 7 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square in Ward 2, Somerville. $14 to $18. The history and legacy of the Indigenous nations of “The Dawnlands” – the region we know as Boston and greater New England – is discussed by College of the Holy Cross professor Kristofer Ray.

Poets Anselm Berrigan and Marcella Durand from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Grolier Poetry Book Shop on 6 Plympton St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $5 to $10, but register. With an introduction by David Blair.

“The Pirates of Penzance” at 7:30 p.m. at the Agassiz Theatre, 5 James St., Cambridge (and continuing through Nov. 16). $15. Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera follows Frederic, a young man mistakenly apprenticed to a band of tender-hearted pirates, striving to do his duty while falling in love with a major-general’s spirited daughter, Mabel. Performed by the student Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players.

A Little Choctaw Music: Chamber Music of Charles Shadle at 8 p.m. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Thomas Tull Concert Hall, 201 Amherst St., Cambridge. $15. Choctaw guitarist Alexander Lassa presents the Boston premiere of a work he commissioned, “Wheelock Variations.”

Ben Garnett: “Kite’s Keep” album release at 8 p.m. at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $28 to $30. A sophomore album with compositions brought to life by acoustic musicians including Brittany Haas (fiddle), Paul Kowert (bass) and Chris Eldridge (guitar).

Thursday, Nov. 13

Start Where We Are Earth Music Festival from 5 to 10 p.m. at Bow Market, 1 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville. Free, but register. Live music, food and courtyard fires in  support of organizations focused on the climate crisis.

Kelly Cervantes and Miguel Cervantes read from “The Luckiest: A Memoir of Love, Loss, Motherhood and the Pursuit of Self” at 6 p.m. at The Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $12, $38 with book. A memoir of navigating motherhood is presented by Kelly Cervantes with performances from husband Miguel Cervantes, who portrayed Alexander Hamilton in the Broadway and Chicago productions of “Hamilton: An American Musical” for eight years. Author Marianne Leone joins.

Morgan Talty reads from “Fire Exit” at 6 p.m. at the Cambridge Main Library lecture hall, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Register. Talty’s newest novel focuses on family secrets and how they inform the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and where we live. This event celebrates Native American Heritage Month. 

Indigenous Traditions: Stickball in the 21st Century at 6 p.m. at the Museum of Natural History’s Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Baldwin neighborhood, Cambridge. Free. A look at the Indigenous game of stickball – once outlawed and threatened, but still played, even by students and staff across Harvard – from the Peabody’s Audrey Jacob, a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma’s stickball team; Bailey Brown, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and Cherokee Nation; and Iysiahs Manny York, tribal member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, discuss stickball, moderated by James Walkingstick (Cherokee), a player and apprentice stick maker.

Works from the Film Study Center from 6 to 9 p.m. The Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge . Free. Short films followed by a conversation with their makers co-presented by the Film Study Center at the Harvard University and ArtsThursdays, a university-initiative.

After Dark Series: Sleep, Dream, Wake from 6 to 9 p.m. at The MIT Museum, 314 Main St., Kendall Square, Cambridge. $10 to $20 and 18-plus. Charles Czeisler examines how light shapes the way we sleep, wake and feel; the art installation “Hotel Room #2: Communal Dreams” lets three people at a time experience for five minutes how pulses of light, sound and motion have them drifting into a shared dream. Test your circadian smarts in a game that shows how signals from light can help you beat jet lag or wake up refreshed. Local craft beer from Aeronaut and Japanese eats from Pagu available for purchase.

F*ckup Nights Boston from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square in Ward 2, Somerville. $10 to $15. Come for the stories of professional failures, stay for the connections.

Serhii Plokhy reads from “The Nuclear Age: An Epic Race for Arms, Power and Survival” at 7 p.m. at the Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. The Cold War historian explores why governments have acquired and stockpiled nuclear weapons and reveals the global failure to reach meaningful nuclear arms treaties. International legal scholar Mykhailo Soldatenko joins. 

Poets Heather Christle, Martha Ronk and Rachel Trousdale from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Grolier Poetry Book Shop on 6 Plympton St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $5 to $10, but register. With an introduction by Catherine Rockwood.

“The Pirates of Penzance” (continued) at 7:30 p.m. at the Agassiz Theatre, 5 James St., Cambridge (and continuing through Nov. 16). $15.

Chris Rivelli Trio performs at 7:30 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square in Ward 2, Somerville. Free. Classic, swinging jazz featuring Gregory Groover Jr. on tenor saxophone.

John McNeil Tribute from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $15. Honoring the trumpeter, composer and educator with musicians Allan Chase (saxes); Mark Tipton (trumpet); Mark Shilansky (piano); Joe Fitzgerald (bass); Austin McMahon (drums); and special guest Jerry Bergonzi (tenor sax). 

Janeane Garofalo at 9:45 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Spring Hill, Somerville. $49. The stand-up comedian has starred in “The Truth About Cats and Dogs,” “Wet Hot American Summer,” and “Ratatouille,” among others. She was a cast member of the Emmy award-winning “Ben Stiller Show” and received an Emmy nomination as Paula on “The Larry Sanders Show.”

A stronger

Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.

We are now a 501(c)3 nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.

Please consider a recurring contribution.

Donate now