Listings, April 25-May 1

readings

MICHAEL ALBERT. Albert reads from and discusses his new book PARECON: Life After Capitaliasm at Harvard Bookstore’s Friday Forum. The book suggests that an alternative economic system, “Participatory Economics,” which purportedly gives the average citzen more control over his own life, might be the solution to world poverty. Friday, April 25 at 3 p.m. Free. Harvard Bookstore, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue. (617) 222-3200. (MSH)

JILL McCORKLE. McCorkle, whose writing has been compared to the best of Truman Capote and Flannery O’Connor, will read from her new book Creatures of Habit, a collection of 12 interconnected short stories set in North Carolina. Taken together, the stories mimic the arc of a single person’s life. The title refers to two types of characters: animals with human qualities and humans with animal qualities, which McCorkle uses to expose subtle human failures and victories. Monday, April 28 at 7 p.m. Free. Wordsworth Books, 30 Brattle Street. (617) 354-5201. (MSH)

culture

SOUTHEAST ASIAN NIGHT. Hosted by The Harvard Vietnamese Association, Philipine Forum, Thai Society, Indonesian Association, and The Singaporean and Malaysian Student Association, SEA night promises a fifteen-course meal representing all nationalities involved and a slew of performaces including a Dragon Dance, Filipino Tinikling, and “Romantic Serenades.” Special to this year’s event is an exhibition of works by photographer Jacques de Roquancourt depicting the landscapes and people of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Friday, April 25, exhibition at 7:30, dinner and performances beginning at 8:30. $8. Exhibition in Leverett House Junior Common Room, dinner and performaces in Leverett House Dining Hall. (MSH)

PRESENCIA LATINA. Harvard’s First Annual Latino and Latin American cultural show will bring dance, musical acts and short skits to demonstrate the complexity and influence of Latin American artistic culture. Both celebrating traditional dance, and questioning its accepted formulas, the show will attempt to deconstruct popular stereotypes of Latino culture, providing an entertaining and educational experience for viewers. Friday, April 25 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets $10 regular, $7 student, available at the Harvard Box Office or by phone (617) 496-2222. Lowell Lecture Hall, 17 Kirkland Street. (LAA)

visuals

GONESVILLE, or THE DISAPPEARING CITY. This exhibit in the Three Columns Gallery features photography by Martin Berenstein and sculpture by Christopher Frost. The collaborative installation explores the Boston neighborhood of Fort Point, which is rapidly changing due to gentrification and development, in two media photographs and wood. There will be an opening on Friday, April 11 at 6 p.m, followed by a talk and dinner at 6:30 p.m. Through April 27. Free. Three Columns Gallery, Mather House, 10 Cowperthwaite St., Cambridge. (ABM)

ALPHABETICS. This exhibit at the Amy Lowell Room in the Houghton Library features various historical artistic representations of different alphabets throughout the world. Works include a Medieval illustrated Bible, an early 18th century Russian alphabetic book and an early Latin translation of the Qu’ran. Through April 30. Amy Lowell Room, Houghton Library. For details, call Hope Mayo at (617) 495-2444. (MC)

THE COLOR YELLOW: BEAUFORD DELANEY. The exhibit, which is the first retrospective of an African-American artist at a Harvard University museum, is also Delaney’s first retrospective since he passed away in 1979. It features 26 highly textured, vibrant paintings by the underappreciated 20th-century African-American expatriate artist, most of which are dominated by warm, vivid shades of yellow See full story in the Feb. 28 Arts section. Through May 4. Hours: Mondays through Saturdays, 10 to 5 p.m.; Sundays 1 to 5 p.m. Free. Sert Gallery, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., (617) 495-9400. (CWP)

IMAGE AND EMPIRE: PICTURING INDIA DURING THE COLONIAL ERA. The exhibit features about 50 different works of art that capture different views of colonial India. The paintings, decorative objects, figurines, photographs and sketches not only document the colonial era (17th-20th centuries) in India, but also demonstrate the cross-pollination between British and Indian artistic traditions. See full story in the Feb. 7 Arts section. Through May 25. Hours: Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. $6.50, $5 students/seniors, free for Harvard ID holders, Cambridge Public Library card holders and to people under 18. Group rates available. Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway, (617) 495-9400 (CWP)

BUDDHIST ART: THE LATER TRADITION. This comprehensive exhibit at the Sackler of Buddhist art from China, Korea, Japan, Tibet and India spans more than a thousand years. Surveying the transmission of Buddhism throughout East Asia from the 10th through the 18th centuries, the exhibit feature 72 pieces, including scroll paintings, Buddhist “sutras” or sacred texts, Chinese censers and Tibetan bell handles. See full story in the Feb. 14 Arts section. Through Sept. 7. Hours: Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. $6.50, $5 students/seniors, free for Harvard ID holders, Cambridge Public Library card holders and to people under 18. Group rates available. Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway, (617) 495-9400. (CWP)

theater

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. “Something for everyone, a comedy tonight!” Cabot House Musical Theatre presents Stephen Sondheim’s irreverant farce, widely regarded as one of the funniest musicals of all time. Inspired by Plautus’s “The Menaechmi,” which was presented by the Harvard Classical Club last month, “Forum” goes back to the very start of drama to utterly disparage it. The plot is simple: a slave seeking his freedom helps his young master get the girl of his dreams. Then a courtesan house, a bloodthirsty tyrant, Rome’s version of Mr. Magoo and a slew of other characters get thrown into the mix, resulting in a laugh-fest with hints of vaudeville that would probably make Ovid roll in his grave. But modern-day audiences have adored it. Through Saturday, April 26, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8.pm. Tickets $5 are available through the Harvard Box Office (617) 496-2222. Cabot House Junior Common Room, 100 Walker St. (JJH)

FARCE OF HABIT. The Adams House Drama Society presents “Farce of Habit: The Boor Hug” and “The Castrata.” In the former, Casimir’s attempts to dump his mistress are blocked at every turn by his well-meaning but dimwitted German servant who manages to keep the “lovebirds” together, thus innocently making a mess of his employer’s love life. “The Castrata” plunges the conceited composer Pizzicato into the Roman world of intriguing cardinals Di Gorgonzola and Manicotti, with a handsome prince and a cross-dressing, would-be castrato thrown in, to thoroughly complicate matters both musical and romantic. Friday, April 25 through Sunday, April 27. 8 p.m. Tickets $5, $4 students, $4 seniors, $3 Adams House residents, available through the Harvard Box Office (617) 496-2222. Adams House Pool Theater, 13 Bow St. (TIH)

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. Hyperion Shakespeare Company presents Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s charming comedy about the complexities of relationships and the power of words. Promises to be a witty and exuberant open-air production. Thursday, May 1, 2 p.m. Free and open to the public. Memorial Church, Harvard Yard. (TIH)

DAY STANDING ON ITS HEAD. Reality mixes with the past to arouse and comfort a man confronting the crises of middle age. The Asian American Association Players presents Philip K. Gotanda’s play about Harry Kitamura, a successful law professor, who finds his life and marriage unraveling when he researches a paper on his involvement in the 1970’s campus strike. Odd characters with violent and sexual impulses begin to invade his dreams, spilling over into his waking life so that he can no longer tell the two worlds apart. A wildly fantastic ride into obsession and revelation. Thursday, May 1, 8 p.m. Tickets $5, $4 students, $4 seniors, $3 Adams House residents, available through the Harvard Box Office (617) 496-2222. Adams House Pool Theater, 13 Bow St. (TIH)

THE DYBBUK. The Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club presents Julia Pascal’s “The Dybbuk,” a Yiddish folktale adapted to take place in the Holocaust. The play, directed by Graham A. Sack ’03, follows five prisoners in a ghetto while waiting for Nazi death camps, and their reclamation of Jewish culture through folklore at the brink of their destruction. Plays through Friday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m., with special performances on Tuesday, April 29 (Holocaust Remembrance Day). Tickets free, available at the Loeb Box Office (617) 547-8300. Loeb Experimental Theater, 64 Brattle Street. (LAA)

RICHARD III. This production sets Shakespeare’s classic drama of English royalty in the Aztec Empire, at the brink of its fall. Set against the backdrop of Diego Rivera murals, live music and dance, the play follows the rise and fall of Richard as he manipulates superstition to gain power in a deeply religious society. This original interpretation promises to make the old play new again. Friday, April 24 through Saturday, May 3 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets available for $12/$8 at the Loeb Box Office (617) 547-8300. Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street. (LAA)

music

LAST CHANCE JAM. The “Last Chance Jam” with the Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones will start your evening off with a talent show featuring a motley collection of Harvard’s premiere performing artists. Then enjoy a full set of the Veritones, featuring notoriously tight harmonies, infamously amazing soloists and a stupendously bizarre sense of humor. Friday, April 25,  8 p.m. Tickets $10, $7 students, available at the Harvard Box Office (617) 496-2222. Sanders Theatre. (TIH)

BOSTON PHILHARMONIC. The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra returns to Sanders to play pieces by Debussy, Chausson, Harbison, Saint-Saëns and Ravel. Just prior to the concert, a lecture by conductor Benjamin Zander, a former pupil of Benjamin Britten, a music commentator, and the author of The Art of Possibility: Transforming Personal and Professional Life, will offer a prefatory note on the music to follow. His lecture promises to be lively and passionate (it is said that two-thirds of the concert audience attends the lecture—a loyal following). Sunday, April 27. Lecture 1:45 p.m. Concert 3:00 p.m. Admission $22-$66, $4 discount for seniors and students (2 per ID). Tickets available from the Harvard Box Office, (617) 496-2222 . Sanders Theatre. Open to the public. JPC

BRAHMS, BARTOK AND SAINT-SAENS. The Boston Chamber Music Society, which dates from 1983, is at its core an eight-person ensemble. Guest musicians enhance the orchestration as needed—this time for Brahms’s Piano Quintet in F minor, Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion and Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals. Since the Society is also celebrating its 20th anniversary year, it has promised for this performance a surprise mystery guest. Who could it be? Sunday, April 27, 7:30 p.m. Admission $16-$42; $4 discount for seniors and WGBH or WUMB members, Tickets available from the Harvard Box Office, (617) 496-2222. Sanders Theatre. (JPC)

THE SPIRIT OF SONG. Kuumba, Harvard’s largest multicultural organization, returns to Sanders once again for its 33rd annual spring concert named for former Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III. A mix of Stevie Wonder, contemporary gospel and African folk songs will supplement five original, never-before-performed pieces all written by Harvard-affiliated composers: four alumni, Derrick Ashong ’97, Theodore Maynard ’97, Sheldon Reid ’97, and Shu Nyatta ’02, and one Harvard parent, Celeste Wortes. Also, a Native American piece will be sung by Sisters, an a capella subset of Kuumba. Saturday, April 26, 8:00 p.m. Admission $12 regular, $8 seniors and students (2 per ID). Tickets available from the Harvard Box Office, (617) 496-2222. Sanders Theatre. (JPC)

THE NOTEABLES. The Noteables, Harvard’s Broadway Beat, present an evening of singing and dancing featuring songs from Broadway and musical cinema. This concert will feature a mix of show tunes from both contemporary and older musicals and movies, including: “Company” from the musical “Company,” “People Will Say We’re In Love,” from the musical “Oklahoma,” “Roxie” from the musical (and Academy Award winning motion picture) “Chicago,” “Heart and Music” from the musical “A New Brain,” and many more. Sunday, April 27, 6 p.m. Tickets $5, available at the Harvard Box Office (617) 496-2222. Lowell Lecture Hall, 17 Kirkland St. (TIH)

BACH SOC COMPETITION WINNER. The Bach Society Orchestra, directed by Sean H. Ryan ’03, presents Azura Rising, the winning submission in the 2003 Composition Competition, written by freshman Benjamin E. Green ’06. The Orchestra, Harvard’s only entirely student-run orchestra, will also play Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Ligeti’s Ramifications, Stravinsky’s Suite no. 1 for small orchestra, and Manuel de Falla’s El Amor Brujo. Friday, April 25 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets $8 regular, $6 students, available at the Harvard Box Office or by phone (617) 496-2222. Paine Hall, 3 Kirkland Street. (LAA)

dance

ELEGANZA. BlackCAST presents its annual benefit fashion show, featuring clothes from both student and professional designers. Scheduled performers include Expressions, Carribean Club Dance Troupe, and Harvard Breakers’ Organization. Saturday, April 26,  8 p.m. Tickets $10, Harvard ID only, available at the Harvard Box Office (617) 46-2222. Lowell Lecture Hall, 17 Kirkland St. (TIH)

HARVARD-RADCLIFFE DANCE COMPANY. The company’s spring concert includes original pieces by students as well as works by Boston choreographer Brenda Divelbliss, who leads weekly company-sponsored dance classes. The company draws on modern, hip-hop, jazz, ballet, and other styles for inspiration, and is the oldest student-controlled dance troop at Harvard. Friday and Saturday, April 24-25 at 8 p.m. $5. Rieman Center for the Performing Arts, Agassiz House, 10 Garden Street. (MSH)

TWO STREAMS OF RAGA MUSIC. Maestro Padmabhushan Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman, a legendary musician of the South Indian Carnatic and Hindustani styles of music, will lead this workshop on the acoustic method he revolutionized. Friday, April 25, 6:30 p.m. Tickets $25, $15 students. (781) 862-9648 or email vanita@merufoundation.org for more information. Sackler Museum, 465 Broadway. (AAB)

film

HARVARD SQUARE LOEWS

10 CHURCH ST., (617) 864-4580

BETTER LUCK TOMORROW. Justin Lin’s complex, exhilarating breakthrough film features an all Asian-American cast and packs some real punch. Four high school overachievers inevitably bound for prestigious Ivy League universities turn to cheating, drugs and crime to escape the terrible ennui of their privileged suburban lives. Critic Roger Ebert stood up on a chair at the Sundance Film Festival to defend Lin’s portrayal of Asian-Americans. See full story in the April 11 issue. Better Luck Tomorrow screens at 12:15, 1:15, 3, 4, 6:15, 7:15, 9 and 10 p.m. (TIH)

CONFIDENCE. Director James Foley, who explored the world of third-rate real estate scammers in Glengarry Glen Ross, explores a more ostentatious tier of criminality in this picture.  To up the fim’stension level, he’s stocked his cast with actors blessed with a talent for quiet rage—notably, Dustin Hoffman, Andy Garcia and Ed Burns.  Burns is the con man who runs afoul of Hoffman’s unsettlingly short crime boss.  Rachel Weisz also stars as “The Bait,” according to the film’s poster; Luis Guzman, Harvard alum Donal F. Logue ’88 and Yale alum Paul Giamatti take smaller roles. Confidence screens at 12:30, 3:15, 6:45 and 9:45 p.m. (BJS)

CHICAGO. The potential revival of the Hollywood musical is upon us with Chicago—for better or worse. Ignoring its politicized ramifications as a genre revival, Chicago on its own is a pretty wild ride, showcasing once and for all that the new school of glitzy film stars can sing better than Jennifer Lopez. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger and especially John C. Reilly are surprisingly watchable in this furiously edited, expensive adaptation of the murderous Broadway classic. Winner of this year’s Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Editing and Best Sound. Chicago screens at 12:45, 3:45, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. (CJF)

COWBOY BEBOP. This anime entertainment from Japan has marked time alongside The Powerpuff Girls on the Cartoon Network, but otherwise the two series don’t have much in common. Cowboy Bebop’s celluloid incarnation avoids Powerpuff’s sugar-and-spice conceit in favor of a complex plot involving Martians, killer macadamia nuts and pharmaceutical corporations. The film borrows copiously from a range of niche genres—action, romance, western and sci-fi, among others. It’s a shame that it isn’t a musical, too (“Bebop” is the name of the film’s spaceship), considering that it’s been decades since Paint Your Wagon wiped out the potentially entertaining future of the song-and-dance western, and it couldn’t hurt to try reviving the genre. Cowboy Bebop screens at 1, 4, 7:15 and 10 p.m. (BJS)

THE GOOD THIEF. Neil Jordan, who hasn’t directed a feature since 1999’s The End of the Affair, ends his absence with this heist film, based upon Jean-Pierre Melville’s jazzy 1955 noir Bob le Flambeur. Nick Nolte, who weathered a well-publicized DUI arrest last year, does nothing to rehabilitate his image by starring as a graying, heroin-addicted gambler who tries to rob a casino. Holding the film together are a passel of modern noir/heist elements—the prostitute, the chummy detective, the technology whiz, exotic locations and lush cinematography (in this case, by two-time Oscar winner Chris Menges, who did wonderfully evocative work on The Killing Fields). The Good Thief screens at 1, 4:15, 7 and 9:45 p.m. (BJS)

KENDALL SQUARE CINEMA

ONE KENDALL SQ., (617) 494-9800

RAISING VICTOR VARGAS. The summer heat parallels the rising passions of the characters in this teen romance that marks writer-director Peter Sollett’s feature film debut. Sollett plunks his camera down in Manhattan’s East Village and spends some time sketching out the area’s culture and values, particularly as they relate to the relationships budding between three pairs of lovebirds. The inexperienced cast is winning raves from critics; Sollett had used many of the same actors in a short film that he made while studying at NYU. Raising Victor Vargas screens at 2, 4:20, 7:30 and 9:55 p.m. (BJS)

A MIGHTY WIND. Anyone who sits through A Mighty Wind, writer/director Christopher Guest’s latest entry in the mockumentary subgenre, will be tempted to make comparisons to Guest’s earlier work, This Is Spinal Tap. While Tap focuses on the disaster-prone tour of a brainless metal band, Wind centers around a disaster-prone tribute concert in memory of a late, legendary folk music producer. The premise is just the sort of odd episode that Guest has mined so skillfully in the past, but this time around he maintains little of the comic consistency that he has previously captured, settling instead for ham-handed punch-lines and tonally confused subplots. Guest’s distinctive mockumentary technique is not yet stale, but this latest creation arrives disappointingly undercooked. A Mighty Wind screens at 1:45 , 2:45, 4:10, 5:05, 7, 7:40, 9:15 and 10:00 p.m. (BBC).

BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. This touching English comedy has won rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic for its humorous depiction of women’s soccer. Or, as the characters would say, football. The movie follows the trials and tribulations of an 18 year-old Sikh girl determined to pursue a career in professional football. Her incredible on-field talent, though, is not enough to convince her religiously orthodox parents to allow her to trade the kitchen for the football pitch. So, she runs away from her home in West London to move to Hamburg and follow her sporting dreams. A charming, light-hearted picture that will appeal to even those who are unfamiliar with papadums and penalty kicks. Bend It Like Beckham screens at 1:55, 4:35, 7:10 and 9:45 p.m. (ASAF)

LAUREL CANYON. Frances McDormand plays against type in Laurel Canyon, a well-crafted family dramedy by director Lisa Cholodenko. McDormand, the overbearing mom in Almost Famous, this time plays the type of fast-moving music producer scorned by her character in Cameron Crowe’s amusing 2000 cult favorite. Among her character’s transgressions: inviting Alex (Beckinsale), her future daughter-in-law, to join a three-way as part of an unconventional “getting to know you” exercise. Sam, her uber-straightlaced son (Christian Bale), would not approve. Sam and Alex are the best-looking Harvard grad school alums since Reese Witherspoon’s law school party girl in Legally Blonde. Family issues aside, one leaves the film wishing that life imitated art more often. Laurel Canyon screens at 2:05, 4:30, 6:55 and 9:30 p.m. (NKB)

NOWHERE IN AFRICA. This year’s Oscar winner for best foreign film sheds new light on the exodus of one small group German Jewish refugees in the late 1930s. It’s the tale of Walter Redlich, a Jewish lawyer who goes to Africa to live with the European expatriate community (which is now mostly Jewish) in and around Nairobi. After opening with scenes of his family’s comfortable home life back in Germany, the film depicts the Redlichs adapt to their new home on a desolate Kenyan farm and struggle with relationships between family members and other refugees from Nazi-controlled Europe. Particularly interesting is Walter’s daughter, Regina, who quickly transitions to life Kenya, embracing the country as her true home and being accepted by native Kenyans after learning their language. The story ultimately questions what a home is. Despite early misgivings, Jettel, Regina’s mother, is ultimately won over as well. They grudgingly accompany Walter “home” to Germany—the country which rejected them and butchered the rest of their family—so that he can help rebuild the judicial system. The poignant story is enhanced by the beautiful cinematography and evocative soundtrack. Winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Nowhere in Africa screens at 2:55, 6:15 and 9:20 p.m. (EC)

XX/XY. This decade-spanning tale of romance, which competed at Sundance last year, explores the three-way relationship that a trio of collegians enjoyed in the nineties before flashing forward to examine what the three have gone on to achieve—or not achieve—ten years later.  Mark Ruffalo, who has yet to capitalize on his wonderful three-year-old notices for playing Laura Linney’s layabout brother in You Can Count on Me, leads the cast. XX/XY screens at 2:25, 4:50, 7:45 and 10:05 p.m. (BJS)

THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST. By all accounts, this new offering from veteran Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki is a bizarre, eclectic offering, trafficking heavily in dark humor and kitschy music.  Kaurismaki focuses his story on an injured, amnesia-addled man who falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health.  The film won three awards at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, including Best Actress and the Grand Jury Prize, and in February became the first film from Finland to ever be nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The Man Without a Past screens at 2:20, 4:40, 7:15 and 9:35 p.m. (BJS)

DIVINE INTERVENTION. Palestinian director-writer Elia Suleiman addresses the strife between his homeland and Israel in this deliberately composed, frequently absurd comedy.  Suleiman also plays the film’s quiet protagonist, unimaginatively named E.S.  This is not to say that Suleiman does not let his imagination run wild elsewhere in the work; one much-dicussed dream sequence depicts a woman who suddenly rebels against the soldiers using her for target practice, taking the offensive in a blaze of martial arts fury.  The film won two awards at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. Divine Intervention screens at 2:35, 4:55, 7:25 and 9:50 p.m. (BJS)

—Happening was edited by Tiffany I. Hsieh ’04 and compiled by Michelle Chun ’05, Tiffany I. Hsieh ’04, Ryan J. Kuo ’04, Benjamin J. Soskin ’04, Nathan K. Burstein ’04, Clint J. Froehlich ’05, Ashley Aull ’06, Christopher W. Platts ’06, Ben B. Chung ’06, Emily Caplan ’06, Josiah P. Child ’05, Anthony S.A. Freinberg ’04, Alexandra B. Moss ’05, Michael S. Hoffman ’06 and Anais A. Borja ’05.