MON 11/30: Film, Theater, Music

I think I'd like to go to any and all of the events below. Have a good night!

--------------------------------------------------------------

MON 11/30

6pm
"McCabe and Mrs. Miller"
at Rabb Hall, Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St, Boston (Copley Sq)
FREE

Part of Robert Altman's genius is that every film is not a home run, but he usually keeps steady on his course either way. I haven't suggested several of the movies the "All About Altman" series, because you don't need to watch the singles and strikeouts.

Tonight's film is one of his best. "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" was made shortly after "M*A*S*H", and it was named one of the "Top 10 Westerns" by the American Film Institute a couple years ago. Unlike most westerns, the protagonist is not your typical hero -- Warren Beatty plays a turn-of-the-century rascal who sets up a brothel in a small WA mining town. Things go bad, and the ending is not the typical happy ending.

MON 11/30

7pm
Thornton Wilder’s "The Long Christmas Dinner" & "The Happy Journey": Dramatic Reading
at Calderwood Pavilion, Hall A, 527 Tremont St, Boston (South End)
FREE / "donations gratefully accepted"

From the people that bring us "Shakespeare in the Common" every summer, it's a "Script in Hand" reading of two one-act plays from the author of the classic play "Our Town". Both plays were written during the Great Depression, and they're going to be wry. Does a 'long christmas dinner' or a 'journey from Trenton to Camden' sound like a cheery, good time?

To add curiosity, actress Zuzanna Szadkowski will play parts in both plays; she may be known to people as Dorota on "Gossip Girl". (Thanks, Wikipedia!) The show is trash by most accounts, but Szadkowski must have serious talent since she previously performed with A.R.T.

MON 11/30

9pm
The Young Republic, Adrien & the Fine Print, The Seedy Seeds, Webb & the Wisenheimers
at Harpers Ferry, 158 Brighton Ave, Allston
$8 / 18+

I was just thinking about The Young Republic a couple months ago. They played a really fun, melodic, upbeat set that blended elements of indie-chamber-pop, folk, country and jazz at ArtBeat a couple years ago; and I haven't heard much from them in the last couple years. Apparently these former Berklee students have been touring around and making fans. It's cool to think that a band can go from playing in the park behind the Somerville Theatre to the Glastonbury Festival.

Most of the tonight's supporting bands are local folks that share the same aesthetic (who also went to Berklee). The Seedy Seeds are on a similar-yet-individual trajectory in their clash of synth-pop-alt-country, and it sounds pretty darn cool -- great party music for music geeks that always want to hear something new and fresh.

MON 11/30

9:30pm
"Here Come The Waves": "The Hazards Of Love" Visualized
at Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$5

If you dig The Decemberists, you really should listen to "The Hazards Of Love" from beginning to end. Let's call it a concept album instead of a rock opera, but there's a story that runs through the songs that each stand on their own quite well. The sum is a bit greater than the parts, and I enjoyed the snippet of the animated version that seems to elevate it to another level.

The 60-minute video is going to be available on iTunes tomorrow, but this would be really cool on the big screen -- especially if you can get your hands on something to "enhance your mood".


MON 11/30

10pm
Coyote Kolb, Bethany Dinsick, Teaadora
at ZuZu!, 474 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
FREE

Monday nights are usually a good bet on Monday nights for some interesting live music. Coyote Kolb fall on the 'city' side of alt-country to me; it's rock that dabbles with the fuzzed-out dirges that I loved from Neil Young. They do they're own thing to make it modern.

Bethany Dinsick and Teaadora sound like soft and quiet avant-folk.