Music
‘Tonya and Nancy:
The Rock Opera’
Tonight, 7:30 and 10
Oberon, 2 Arrow St., Cambridge
$25-$45, 866-811-4111
The ’90s are back with a bang — or at least they are back with a whack of a police baton to the knee. If you grew up around these parts, you probably remember where you were when you heard about hometown Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan getting bruta-lized by some thug hired by Tonya Har-ding (her teammate on the U.S. Olympic Figure Skating team). Now, more than 15 years later, Michael Teoli and Elizabeth Searle have done what any smart writer does when dealing with truth that is stranger than fiction: write a rock opera about it.
‘The Italian Girl in Algiers’
Through July 31,
Tsai Performance Center, 685 Comm. Ave., Boston, $30-$50,
617-227-0442
This comic opera by Rossini is full of lighthearted romantic rom-ping and confusion; but it’s not without social criticism, either — at one point the North African king Mustafa is told that to honor the Italian noble order of “Pappataci,” “You must eat, drink and sleep all you like, and remain oblivious to anything around you.” We’ll take it!
Movies
‘The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu’
Sunday, 6:30 p.m.
Paramount Theatre
559 Washington St., Boston, $5-$10,
617-824-8400
This documentary is not the actual autobiography of the Romanian communist dic- tator, but in another, more ironic sense, it is: It’s a compilation of state propaganda foot-age featuring Ceausescu giving speeches schmoozing with Eastern Bloc power. Refrai-ning from narration, the director lets the footage speak for itself, painting a picture both ridiculous and haunting.
‘3000 Years and Life’
Tuesday, 6 p.m.
Fields Corner Branch Library, 1520 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester
Free, 617-436-2155
This documentary tells the remarkable story of a strike at Walpole State Prison in the early ’70s, which led to the inmates actually running the prison for several months. Some of the inmates who were there will share their stories in a discussion after the film. They are probably some very interesting stories, to say the least.
Theater
Fringe Wars
Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
BCA Plaza Theatre
527 Tremont St., Boston
$20, 617-292-7110
Think of it as “Boston Theater Idol” or something like that: Company One has challenged a bunch of local theater companies to write and perform a short play for a cash prize and bragging rights. This is the fourth and final night of presentations before the finals. Companies are judged by both a panel and the audience, so your vote counts! Unlike “American Idol,” there are no standard text-messaging rates that apply!
Circus
Circus Smirkus
Next Thursday
through July 31
Gore Place
52 Gore St., Waltham
$19-25, 877-764-7587
This Vermont-based traveling circus features performers between the ages of 10 and 18, but don’t let their ages fool you — this is a full-fledged circus show. Backed by adult professionals, they do it all; high-wire, trapeze, juggling, clowning and more — all at a hectic performance pace. This summer they’re performing more than 70 shows in seven weeks! Now that’s death-defying.
‘PSY’
Through Sunday
Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont St., Boston
$25-$79, 617-824-8000
The acrobatic troupe Les 7 doigts de la main presents this musical, theatrical showcase in which stunts of human kinetic wonderment are interspersed with dramatic vignettes on mental illness. If we can defy gravity with our bodies, can we do the same with our minds? You won’t see anything like this show in Boston this summer.
Art
‘Kodachrome:
Prints from Slides’
Saturdays through July 30
Washington Street
Art Center, 321
Washington St., Somerville
Free, 617-623-5315
Call us nostalgic, but we were upset to hear that Kodachrome slide film is no longer made. So was local photographer Lee Kilpatrick, so he made sure to get all his slides developed
before the deadline. These prints are highlights from those rolls. Nothing especially unites them thematically, but they all display the film’s trademark cinematic sharpness and bold colors.
