Thursday, Dec. 4
Christmas tree lighting ceremony (rain date: Dec. 9) from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Somerville City Hall, 93 Highland Ave., Central Hill. Free. Mayor Katjana Ballantyne oversees the annual event.
Harvard Art Museums at Night from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. During this recurring event, wander exhibits, make art, catch spotlight tours, browse the shop, enjoy sounds from DJ C-Zone and buy refreshments from local breweries.
ArtsThursdays at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Ave., in the Baldwin neighborhood near Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. Explore “Castaway: The Afterlife of Plastic,” a new exhibition that documents debris collected and photographed that had washed up along the beaches of Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania from places as far away as China.
Rachel Slade reads from “Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (And How It Got That Way)” at 6 p.m. at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. RSVP. Cosmopolitan called “Making It in America” an “enlightening look at the history of manufacturing in America and how we got to where we are today.”
Collins Branch Book Club at 6 p.m. at the Cambridge Public Library Collins Branch, 64 Aberdeen Ave., West Cambridge. Free. This month’s title: “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo.
Cornhole mixer at 6 p.m. at CambridgeSide, 100 CambridgeSide Place, East Cambridge. $10. Four players at each set of boards (two men, two women) and every five minutes, men shift to the right. Cornhole portion lasts one hour; a mixer follows.
Donald Langosy: The Journey of Eduardo Gunkla opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge. Free, but RSVP. Langosy’s new series, depicting his journey to make sense of the loss of two friends, the poet Antonio Giarraputo and the artist Stephen Curtis, features a linked group of oil paintings and Photoshop compositions on canvas. The exhibit runs through Jan. 9.
Winter Wine-Up: Vins & Vibes from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at 575 Cambridge St., Cambridge. $35. East Cambridge Business Association hosts this event with French wines, live music, artisanal cheeses and local oysters to kick off the holiday season.
Rossini’s “Il Conte Ory” opera from 6 to 9 p.m. at Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge (continues Saturday). RSVP. Count Ory is at it again, with no disguise too ridiculous and no plot too audacious in his quest to seduce the women of Touraine while the townsmen are away at war. The fully staged production is performed in Italian with English titles, accompanied by pianist Andrew Wang.
Anthony M. Amore reads from “The Rembrandt Heist: The Story of a Criminal Genius, a Stolen Masterpiece and an Enigmatic Friendship” at 7 p.m. at the Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. Amore explores the life of Myles Connor, an art thief known for stealing “Portrait of Elsbeth van Rijn” from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, to find out his motives. Kelly Horan, deputy editor for the Ideas section in the Boston Globe, joins.
Jordan Thomas reads from “When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World” at 7 p.m. at Patagonia, 39 Brattle St., Cambridge. Free but RSVP. A firsthand account in a debut book about six months spent with an elite firefighting force called Los Padres Hotshots experiencing some of the most indescribable fires in California.
Mina Nystad performs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at The Mad Monkfish, 524 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge. Free, but $25 food-and-drink minimum. The Norwegian vocalist blends jazz and folk into heartfelt stories with Pavle Zvekic (piano). Nick Isherwood (acoustic bass), Cristian Acevedo (drums) and guest performer Coy Simmons (alto sax).
Blues Union dances from 7 to 11 p.m. at Dance Union, 16 Bow St., Union Square, Somerville. $10 to $25. A lesson in the first hour, then an hour to socialize, rest or practice with a partner before two hours of social dancing. Wear shoes that allow you to pivot; no need to bring a partner.
Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club presents “City of Peace” at 7:30 p.m. at Agassiz Theatre, 5 James St., Harvard Square, Cambridge (continuing through Dec. 7). $10. Khoma and Khaliava leave the Kyiv-Brotherhood Monastery and venture off into the Ukrainian countryside on this summer vacation gone wrong. What was supposed to be a peaceful journey turns into a harrowing adventure.
The Adventure Time Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square, Somerville. Free. Adventurous modern jazz drawing from Brooke Sofferman’s extensive original material and some jazz standards reimagined.
Scottish country dance from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at New England Science Fiction Association clubhouse at 504 Medford St., Magoun Square, Somerville. $5 to $20. Learn and practice in gender-neutral language. A warm-up and lesson in the first hour are followed by an hour of social dancing. Kat Dutton emcees and teaches.
Comedian Cristina Mariani at 8 p.m. at The Comedy Studio, 5 John F. Kennedy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $29 to $32. The stand-up comedian has toured with Theo Von and opened for big names including Tom Segura, Christina Pazsitzky, Ron White, Harland Williams, Brian Simpson, Ari Shaffir and Freddie Gibbs. She has made several appearances on “Kill Tony,” a live podcast stand-up comedy variety show created and hosted by Tony Hinchcliffe.
Adam Hersh Trio from 8 to 9:30 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge (and every Wednesday). $25. The trio includes Hersh on piano and Max Gerl on bass, accompanied by Corea and Holdsworth’s alum Gary Novak on drums.
Friday, Dec. 5
Solstice: “Reflections on Winter Light” experience from 5 to 9 p.m. during timed entries every half-hour at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge (and most days through Dec. 21). $5 to $85. Boston’s Masary Studios’ installation at the cemetery features an outdoor journey through large-scale light and sound artworks; a lantern walk; and an indoor experience with live music and candle lighting. It’s selling out quickly.
“Jam Packed” a cappella at 6 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10 to $20. Features performances from jazz to pop to R&B harmonies by The Radcliffe Pitches, Din and Tonics, Callbacks, Fallen Angels and LowKeys.
Janet Lewis Saidi reads from “Jane Austen: The Original Romance Novelist” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. Looking at the moments of Austen’s life that shaped her six published novels gives the reader insight into her social commentary and why her works still leave their mark on contemporary pop culture. Emerson College’s Alexandra Socarides and Harvard University’s Deidre Lynch join.
“Alice by Heart” opening at 7 p.m. at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School’s Fitzgerald Auditorium, 459 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge (through Sunday). $5 to $10. In 1941, after the London Blitz of World War II, teen Alice Spencer and her best friend, Alfred, are forced to take shelter in a London Underground tube station. The musical play, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” was presented by London’s Royal National Theatre in 2012.
Poets Shira Zohara Dickey, José Enrique Delmonte, Rhina P. Espaillat and Juan Matos from 7 to 8 p.m. at Grolier Poetry Book Shop on 6 Plympton St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $5 to $10, but register. With an introduction by Leonardo Nin.
Davey Davis reads from “Casanova 20: Or, Hot World” at 7:30 p.m. at All She Wrote Books, 75 Washington St., East Somerville. $20 with book. A modern-day Casanova grapples with losing his beauty while his best friend, a world-famous painter, realizes he’s dying from a mysterious disease. “A rare gem of a book,” Kirkus says, and Annie Lou Martin of The Whitney Review says it punches “through the well-charted terrains of sex, death, art, pleasure, and beauty with hedonistically lived-in details and incisive observations that rub the reader right up against the skin and the bedpan.” Horror author Gretchen Felker-Martin joins.
Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club presents “City of Peace” (continued) at 7:30 p.m. at Agassiz Theatre, 5 James St., Harvard Square, Cambridge (continuing through Dec. 7). $10.
“Solecism” dance at 7:30 p.m. at the Harvard Dance Center, 66 Garden St., in the Avon Hill neighborhood near Harvard Square, Cambridge (and continuing Saturday). $8. A Harvard Undergraduate Contemporary Collective performance highlights student choreography and the debut of a work by New York choreographer Yue Yin, “Somewhere Reimagined.”
11th Annual Prism Concert Spectacular from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. $15. An amalgam of music by the MIT Wind Ensemble and lighting by MIT’s E33 Productions. Includes music spanning the 16th to 21st centuries, including Holst’s “Moorside Suite,” Gregson’s “Festivo,” Nelson’s “Rocky Point Holiday,” Berlioz’s “Hungarian March” and music by Beethoven, Sibelius, John Williams and others. The Groton Hill Wind Ensemble joins.
“Joy Comes in the Morning” song at 8 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge (continuing on Saturday). $10 to $15. The Kuumba Singers, who celebrate Black creativity and spirituality, centers on themes of perseverance at this winter concert.
Mother & Child: English music for the Virgin Mary at 8 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, 29 Mount Auburn St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $30 to $140. Director Peter Phillips leads singers The Tallis Scholars in a seasonal program of music from the English repertoire written about the Virgin Mary.
“Voces y Tradición” mariachi music at 8 p.m. at Harvard’s Lowell Lecture Hall, 17 Kirkland St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $5. Mariachi Véritas, established in 2001, plays a mix of traditional Mexican styles such as rancheras, boleros, corridos, sones and huapangos.
The Easy Winners Deluxe Holiday Edition from 8 to 9 p.m. at Boston Swing Central, 26 New St., Suite 3, Cambridge. $18 or $20. Learn swing moves while enjoying the music of The Easy Winners.
The Parker Quartet plays from 8 to 10 p.m. at Harvard’s John Knowles Paine Concert Hall, 3 Oxford St., just north of Harvard Square, Cambridge, and Harvard Yard. Free, but register. Founded and based in Boston, the Grammy-winning quartet of violinists Daniel Chong and Ken Hamao, violist Jessica Bodner and cellist Kee-Hyun Kim perform Schubert, String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810, “Death and the Maiden” as part of the Blodgett Chamber Music Series.
Saturday, Dec. 6
Davis Square Holidate at 10 a.m. at Davis Square, Somerville. Free. Shop, dine and delight in the holiday lights while enjoying holiday specials, sales, giveaways, a raffle and more throughout the Square.
Indoor holiday movie day: “The Polar Express” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at CambridgeSide, 100 CambridgeSide Place, East Cambridge. Free, but RSVP. This 2004 animated Christmas fantasy adventure set on Christmas Eve tells the story of a young boy who travels to the North Pole aboard a magical train guided by its conductor.
Crafts, Cocoa & Cheer from 1 to 3 p.m. at Great Lawn at Assembly Row, 399 Revolution Drive, Somerville (continues Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 21). Free entry. Gather the family for live holiday music, free kids’ crafts and cocoa. Today: Somerville High School Music & Theatre Department.
DJ Castaneda from 2 to 5 p.m. at CambridgeSide, 100 CambridgeSide Place, East Cambridge. Free. A seasoned DJ and emcee in on-air mixer for Rumba 97.7 Boston.
“Solecism” dance (continued) at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. at the Harvard Dance Center, 66 Garden St., in the Avon Hill neighborhood near Harvard Square, Cambridge. $8.
The Harvard Choruses present “A Christmas Carol” at 3 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. $5 to $50. The world premiere of Benedict Sheehan’s new orchestral setting of “A Christmas Carol,” a retelling of Charles Dickens’ story for chorus, orchestra and narrator Riley Vogel, a stage and voice artist.
Denise Lafer art exhibition and opening reception from 3 to 5 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Spring Hill, Somerville. Free. The abstract artist’s paintings are inspired by nature and major life events and are often layered to incorporate acrylic, oil stick, watercolor or pastel. Recently, she has worked with everyday materials such as teabag paper and coffee.
“Surrounding Impressions” art exhibition and opening reception from 3 to 5 p.m. at Brickbottom Artists Building, 1 Fitchburg St., Inner Belt, Somerville. Free. Urban art and its relationship to architecture is explored by Christine Beneman, Nancy Cahan, Diane Francis, Bess French, Cara Gonier and Robert Maloney. Curated by Cara Gonier, executive director of Rolling River Printmakers of New England.
The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers present “Stranger Thuds” at 4 and 8 p.m. at Harvard’s Lowell Lecture Hall, 17 Kirkland St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10. A percussion experience featuring characters from hit series “Stranger Things.” Instrumentations include plastic cups, Home Depot buckets and traditional symphonic percussion.
Rossini’s “Il Conte Ory” opera (continued) from 5 to 8 p.m. at Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge. RSVP.
Solstice: “Reflections on Winter Light” experience (continued) from 5 to 9 p.m. during timed entries every half-hour at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge (and most days through Dec. 21). $5 to $85.
“Alice by Heart” opening (continued) at 7 p.m. at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School’s Fitzgerald Auditorium, 459 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge (through Sunday). $5 to $10.
Will Woodson and Caitlin Finley perform from 7 to 9 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $15 to $20. Experience traditional Irish music by Woodson playing flute and uilleann pipes and Finley on fiddle, a Live at the Druid presentation.
Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club presents “City of Peace” (continued) at 7:30 p.m. at Agassiz Theatre, 5 James St., Harvard Square, Cambridge (continuing through Sunday). $10.
Honky Tonk Holiday with the Talking Hearts from 7:30 to 10 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Spring Hill, Somerville. $30 to $35. The six-piece ensemble features the spirit of country music icons Loretta Lynn, George Jones and Buck Owens. Ben Wetherbee Honky Tonk Band opens. With a 30-minute Blackout Country Dancing lesson before the show.
“Through Lines” dance at 8 p.m. at The Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge (continues Sunday). $25 to $35. Seán Curran Company and Decent Dance celebrate a web of creative connections that make the dance world simultaneously small and vast.
“Joy Comes in the Morning” song (continued) at 8 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10 to $15.
Sunday, Dec. 7
Somerville Flea Holiday Market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville (also Dec. 21). Free entry. Curated vintage wares and artisan creations on two floors, plus wine and beer.
Swing Boot Camp for beginners from noon to 2:30 p.m. at Epic Ballroom, 26 New St., Suite 3, Fresh Pond, Cambridge. $42 to $50. An introductory class covering a lot of the lead-follow swing basics and footwork.
Artist Studios Holiday Market from noon to 6 p.m. at Somerville Ave Artist Studios, 438 Somerville Ave., near Union Square, Somerville. Free entry. Wine, seltzer and snacks, live jazzy holiday music and an opportunity to wander around an artist studio complex next to Market Basket. Participating building tenants include Stodge Gallery, the Loft, Lexi’s Tree Fort, New Alliance Gallery, Studio 3, Charlie Warren Art, Stank Factory Recordings and Cambridge Hackspace.
Crafts, Cocoa & Cheer (continued) from 1 to 3 p.m. at Great Lawn at Assembly Row, 399 Revolution Drive, Somerville (continues Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 21). Free entry. Today: Somerville High School Music & Theatre Department.
The Union Square Jingle: Shop, Sip & Mingle from 1 to 6 p.m. at Union Square Plaza, Somerville. Free. The neighborhood tradition includes decorated storefronts, inflatables on the Festivus Trail, unique eats and retail shopping, plus challenges and prizes.
“Alice by Heart” opening (continued) at 2 p.m. at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School’s Fitzgerald Auditorium, 459 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. $5 to $10.
Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club presents “City of Peace” (continued) at 2 p.m. at Agassiz Theatre, 5 James St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10.
Green & Jolly Holiday Faire from 2 to 6 p.m. at Bow Market, 1 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville. Free entry. Handmade and upcycled ceramics, jewelry made from found pebbles, handcrafted kitchen tools from foraged woods, locally made perfumes and more – all small and eco-friendly businesses hosted by Green Tiger & Co. – with a DIY gift-wrapping bar with recycled papers, art supplies and stamps by Tiny Turn Paperie.
Vudu Sister performs at 2:30 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square in Ward 2, Somerville. Free. A Providence-based gothic folk ensemble is influenced by grunge, gothic rock, classical and archaic literature.
Oh Glory II from 4 to 6 p.m. at St. Augustine African Orthodox Christian Church, 137 Allston St., Cambridgeport. Free, but RSVP. A continuation of composer and baritone James Dargan’s exploration of Black composers and the Black poets they set to music.
Solstice: “Reflections on Winter Light” experience (continued) from 5 to 9 p.m. during timed entries every half-hour at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge (and most days through Dec. 21). $5 to $85.
“Through Lines” (continued) at 7 p.m. at The Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge. $25 to $35.
Mike Block and Yacouba Sissoko music at 7:30 p.m. at Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square. $47. Block is a U.S. cellist, singer and Grammy-winning musician with the Silkroad Ensemble; kora player Sissoko hails from Mali. The musicians meld West African and American traditions with original compositions and adaptations of traditional folk repertoire.
Monday, Dec. 8
Europe in a Time of War: A Conversation with Fiona Hill from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Harvard University’s Center for Government & International Studies, Tsai Auditorium, 1730 Cambridge St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. A conversation with the former deputy assistant to the U.S. president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council from 2017 to 2019. Harvard’s Steven Solnick joins to talk about the Russia-Ukraine war.
Watercolor workshop from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Public library’s Boudreau Branch, 245 Concord Ave., Observatory Hill in Neighborhood 9. Free. Brooke Lambert introduces painting with watercolor, including techniques in color mixing, observational painting and composition. This class is for adults and suitable for all skill levels.
Somerville Ciné-Club from 6:30 to 8:15 p.m. at Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Ave., Central Hill. Free. This month’s film is “The Shop Around the Corner” (1940), a precursor to “You’ve Got Mail” (1998) in which two gift shop employees unknowingly become pen pals while their mutual contempt as co-workers grows.
Open mic night from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at The Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge. Free, and 21-plus. Singers, poets, comedians and storytellers are welcome to showcase their talents.
Tracy K. Smith reads from “Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. The former U.S. poet laureate says poetry is a great tool to connect because it is rooted in human qualities innate to our capacities to love, dream, question and cultivate community. Darius Atefat-Peckham, poetry fellow at the Michener Center for Writers, joins.
“None Shall Escape” film showing at 7 p.m. at Harvard Film Archive at The Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge (also Dec. 14). $10. Released in 1944 while Nazi atrocities were ongoing, this film is framed as a speculative postwar tribunal that revisits the actions of a German schoolteacher (Alexander Knox) turned Nazi and the horrors he inflicted on a Polish village.
The Tall Trio from 7 to 8 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $10 to $15. The Lilypad’s Tall Trio, usually led by Elan Mehler with Max Ridley and Dor Herskovits, warms up the stage every Monday for a night of jazz legends.
Blacksmith House Poetry Series: Henri Cole and William Logan at 8 p.m. at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 42 Brattle St., Harvard Square. $5. Cole reads from his new “The Other Love” with Logan, whose most recent collection is “Rift of Light.”
High Horse at 8 p.m. at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $33 to $35. The progressive-acoustic Boston band blends bluegrass, old-time and Celtic music with the energy of alternative rock. Tonight, Boston-based fiddle player Kat Wallace joins.
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 to this seated show with bandmates Phil Grenadier on trumpet, John Sullivan on bass and Luther Gray on drums.
Tuesday, Dec. 9
Gallery Talk: Drawing Materials and Techniques in “Sketch, Shade, Smudge” from 12:30 to 1 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.
Solstice: “Reflections on Winter Light” experience (continued) from 5 to 9 p.m. during timed entries every half-hour at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge (and most days through Dec. 21). $5 to $85.
Scott Kerman reads from “The Duke: Weekly Conversations With the Last Honest Politician. A Political Giant and a Comedian Walk Into a Kitchen …” at 6 p.m. at The Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $32 with book. The humor columnist for The Eagle Tribune newspaper recounts his relationship with former governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis. Dukakis joins.
Eliot Memorial Reading: Ocean Vuong at 6 p.m. at The Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. The poet and novelist released his second novel titled “The Emperor of Gladness” in May and received largely favorable reviews, with Maureen Corrigan calling it “a truly great novel about work.”
Jamie Madden reads from “Bittersweet Lane” at 6:30 p.m. at Connexion, 149 Broadway, East Somerville. $30 with book. A community development professional with expertise in housing development and public policy blends personal experience with policy insights to expose the brutal history of housing in the United States and the tools available to fix it. Somerville Ward 3 City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen joins.
John Fabian Witt reads from “The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. A young idealist named Charles Garland rejected a million-dollar inheritance in 1922. He decided instead to create the Garland Fund, invested in progressive projects for the next two decades. We wrote about it here. Harvard’s Noah Feldman joins.
“Wonder” theater at 7 p.m. at Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Harvard Square, Cambridge (continuing through Feb. 8). $35 to $129. An American Repertory Theater presentation from the novel by R.J. Palacio and the 2017 film: Auggie Pullman, a kid with facial deformities, has been homeschooled his entire life. He must navigate a world filled with kindness and cruelty when his family decides it’s time for him to start going to school.
Music by They Are Gutting a Body of Water at 7 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Spring Hill, Somerville. $30. This shoegaze band put out its first album “Lotto” in October.
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 musical improvisers. At 7:30 p.m., Stephen Marotto (solo cello). At 8:30 p.m., Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet), Pandelis Karayorgis (piano), Ken Filiano (bass) and Eric Rosenthal (percussion).
Indie trivia at 8 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square in Ward 2, Somerville. Free. Test your knowledge every Tuesday. Aeronaut opens the taproom to players and hosts for this independent game of knowledge.
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Holiday Maker Fair from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Building 10-250, Lobby 10, also known as the Maclaurin Buildings, at 222 Memorial Drive, Cambridge (continues on Thursday). Free entry. Jewelers, fiber artists, soap makers, woodworkers and more offer their crafts at a holiday event that has raised more than $20,000 to benefit women undergrads at MIT.
“Cambridge Mosaic” screening from 5 to 7 p.m. at The Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, donations encouraged. A documentary series celebrating longtime Cambridge residents, featuring Denise Jillson, Evelyn Riley, Mary Leno, Peter Johnson, Red Mitchell and Robert Skenderian.
Solstice: “Reflections on Winter Light” experience (continued) from 5 to 9 p.m. during timed entries every half-hour at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge (and most days through Dec. 21). $5 to $85.
Holiday Crafts & Filipino Food with Tiny Turns Paperie & Sinta Restaurant from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at Remnant Brewing, 2 Bow St., Union Square, Somerville. $30 to $43. Each ticket includes an order of lumpia from Sinta Restaurant, a drink from Remnant Brewing and the craft of your choice by Tiny Turns Paperie.
Lauren Sanders reads from “Kamikaze Lust” at 6:30 p.m. at All She Wrote Books, 75 Washington St., East Somerville. $22 with book. When her newspaper goes on strike, journalist Rachel Slivowitz is launched into a job as a porn star’s biographer and a relationship with her co-worker and pal Shade. A story she had been working on about a practitioner of physician-assisted suicide becomes personal when her aunt Lorraine, dying of cancer, begs to meet the doctor. Author Helen Fremont joins.
Natan Last reads from “Across the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. Last looks at the history of the crossword, which has gained new popularity in the age of Wordle and Spelling Bee. We wrote about it here. The New Yorker’s Louisa Thomas joins.
“Wonder” theater (continued) at 7 p.m. at Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Harvard Square, Cambridge (continuing through Feb. 8). $35 to $129.
Hub Comics “Book Clhub” at 7 p.m. at Hub Comics, 19 Bow St., Union Square, Somerville. Free; bring a copy of the book. December’s title: “Drome” by Jesse Lonergan.
Poet Martha Collins from 7 to 8 p.m. at Grolier Poetry Book Shop on 6 Plympton St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $5 to $10, but register. With an introduction by Fred Marchant.
The Dream Syndicate plays “The Medicine Show” at 8 p.m. at at the Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square. $42. On the 40th anniversary of this album, the 1980s-era band performs from the album in its entirety.
Thursday, Dec. 11
Holiday Maker Fair (continued) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Building 10-250, Lobby 10, also known as the Maclaurin Buildings, at 222 Memorial Drive, Cambridge. Free entry.
“Illuminate: Contextualizing Asian American Women’s Stories through the Archives” curator-led tour from noon to 12:45 p.m. at Poorvu Gallery in the Schlesinger Library in Radcliffe Yard, 3 James St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but register. A tour led by curator Victor Betts, this exhibit spotlights the stories of Asian American women whose collections are held in the Schlesinger Library. It examines how race, ethnicity, gender, citizenship and migration affect the collective memory of history.
AI and Us Town Hall: Your Voice Belongs in the Future of AI from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free, but register. A group of local nonprofits and the library bring together a discussion of what is at stake and what is possible for a more humane and equitable future in the age of AI.
Collage from the Collection from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Somerville Museum, 1 Westwood Road, in the Spring Hill neighborhood. $5. Dig through images of old Somerville, art magazines, books and programs from our collection and reinvent them in a collage! Then, take home a piece of the museum when you create a collage.
Ugly Sweater Crawl at 6 p.m. at Assembly Row, 355 Artisan Way, Somerville. $30 and 21-plus. Break out your most outrageous holiday attire – the uglier the better – for a night of food, drinks and cheer. Ugly sweaters are highly encouraged as you eat, sip, and stroll through Assembly Row’s best spots, plus enjoy festive caroling around The Row from Mystic Players Revival.
After Dark Series: Time Travel from 6 to 9 p.m. at The MIT Museum, 314 Main St., Kendall Square, Cambridge. $10 to $25 and 18-plus. Physicist Alan Guth and philosopher Agustín Rayo have a mind-bending conversation on the science (and paradoxes) of time travel. Dumplings from Mei Mei and drinks from Momma’s Grocery + Wine available for purchase.
The Big Easy Holiday Bash at 7 p.m. at Arrow Street Arts, 2 Arrow St., Harvard Square, Cambridge (continuing through Dec. 13). $59 to $111. An evening of holiday classics highlights New Orleans music and musicians, featuring jazz master Delfeayo Marsalis, the Uptown Jazz Orchestra and Grammy-winning vocalist Nicole Zuraitis.
William Rankin reads from “Radical Cartography: How Changing Our Maps Can Change Our World” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. The cartographer and historian of science at Yale University says maps are political in defining how the world is divided, what becomes visible and what stays hidden, and whose voices are heard. The book features more than 150 full-color maps.
Angela Rossi performs at 7 p.m. at The Mad Monkfish, 524 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge. Free, but $25 food-and-drink minimum. Rossi presents a selection of French and Italian classics as well as other favorites reimagined with a jazz twist. Featuring Maxim Lubarsky on piano, Plamen Karadonev on accordion, Tino D’Agostino on bass and Giuseppe Paradiso on drums.
“Howl”: An Evening of Music by Boston Based Composers at 7:30 p.m. at Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge. Free, but donations accepted. The Semiosis Quartet is joined by Brian Church for a concert of the beat-era poem “Howl” by the late Lee Hyla and Allen Ginsberg and selections by Cambridge composers Stefanie Lubkowski and Curtis Hughes, students of Hyla at New England Conservatory.
An Intimate Evening with the Ghost Hounds at 7:30 p.m. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Thomas Tull Concert Hall, 201 Amherst St., Cambridge. Free, but register. Blues-infused country rock with a band that has shared the stage with The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, Garth Brooks, Guns N’ Roses and Bob Seger.
The Gold Ounce from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge. $10. An instrumental funk-jazz group of drummer Chris Hughes, guitarist Phil Friedrich and bassist Ely Delman who enjoy reimagining, expanding and improvising over original tunes and standards.
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