Listings, Dec. 12-18

fri, dec. 12

THEATER | The Gondoliers

Performed by the Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert & Sullivan players, this lively and comedic operetta by the company’s namesake is about two Venetian gondoliers who wed brides who later find out one of them is the King of Barataria. Which one? You’ll have to see this chaotic, colorful and musical tale to find out who, and how the newlyweds take the news. Friday at 8 pm. and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets $10, $8 regular; $8, $6 students and seniors. Agassiz Theater.

THEATER | Ajax

The Adams House Drama Society presents Sophocles’ Ajax, directed by Brian Fairley. Come see the story of one man’s quest for freedom. Filled with the unexpected, this show promises audiences a thrilling night in its innovative retelling of the Greek play. Friday and Satu rday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $5, $3 students, $2 Adams House residents. Adams Kronauer Space, 13 Bow Street. (DME)

DANCE | Christmas Revels

Patrick Swanson and George Emlen transport audiences to Scotland as directors of this annual performance. With amazing performances from The Auld Reekie Singers, The Laird’s Consort, The Revels Bairns, soloists David Coffin and Jayne Tankersley, Emerald Forman, Highland Dance Boston, The Pinewoods Morris Men and The Cambridge Symphonic Brass this promises to be a breathtaking event. Be prepared to sing and dance as audience participation is more than encouraged. 8:00 pm. Tickets $40, $30, $20 for Adult, children under age 12 $32, $22, $12. Sanders Theater. (DME)

MUSIC | Bach Society Orchestra

Violinist Stefan Jackiw ’07 plays Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto with the Bach Society Orchestra. Come witness this young talent who has already been recognized as a remarkable musician. 8:00 pm. Tickets $8, $6 students and seniors. Paine Hall. (DME)

sat, dec. 13

THEATER | Amen Corner

BlackCAST produces this poignant and provocative tale of the all-or-nothing fiery preacher Margaret Alexander with a heart and hand of iron. She rules her black Pentecostal congregation with conviction and unwavering certainty, until her ex-husband returns, penitent, with sorrowing news. The Reverend’s hard ideas of right and wrong soften with his appearance, as she begins to question the nature of her previous stubbornness. A VES production. 2 p.m., 8 p.m. Tickets $8; students $5; seniors $5. Adams House Pool Theater. (JLD)

sun, dec. 14

MUSIC | A Festival of Light

Longy Chamber Singers, with the Longy Chamber Orchestra, perform Bach’s Cantata No. 1, Pinkham’s Advent Cantata, and Rachmaninoff’s “Oh Gladsom Light” along with Christmas carols and Hanukkah songs. 7 p.m. Free. Edward M. Pickham Concert Hall, 27 Garden St. (ADH)

THEATER | Mansaku-no-kai-kyogen Company

The company presents a comedy from the traditional Japanese genre of Noh, highly stylized theater containing music, masks, and dance. Tickets $35. Copley Theatre, 505 Boylston St., Boston. (ADH)

MISC | Anniversary Reenactment of the Boston Tea Party

Watch the patriots foment the Revolutionary War all over again. 5:30 pm. Tickets $5; free for those in colonial attire. Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington St., Boston. (ADH)

MUSIC | Mozart: Requiem

The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, the Harvard Glee Club, and the Radcliffe Choral Society join forces to present Mozart’s Requiem. Musical accompaniment is provided by the Orchestra of Emmanuel Music, and soloists include Carole Haber (soprano), Paula Murrihy (mezzo-soprano), William Hite (tenor), and Mark McSweeney (baritone). Sanders Theatre. 8 p.m. Tickets $18-$28, students $9-$14. (MPL)

MUSIC | The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players

Self-described as an “indie-vaudeville conceptual art-rock pop band,” the Players toy with the might-have-been lives of people seen in vintage slide shows. Made up of Jason (Dad), Tina (Mom), and Rachel Trachtenburg (daughter), the Players play pop music with guitars and drums over the backdrop of slide shows acquired from estate sales, garage sales, thrift stores, and the like. Tickets $10 in advance; 18+. 8 p.m. The Middle East Downstairs, 472 Mass. Ave. (MPL)

FILM | Hard Goodbyes: My Father

Part of Harvard Film Archive’s annual festival “New Films from Europe,” Hard Goodbyes tells the story of Elias, a young boy living in Athens, who makes a pact with his father to watch the telecast of man leaving this earth and landing on the moon. Their collective imagination and their shared stories about adventures and explorations help Elias deal with the unimaginable: when his father takes leave of this earth as well. Greek with English subtitles. Harvard Film Archive, 7 p.m. Tickets $8/$6 students. (MPL)

FILM | This Little Life

This Little Life won the Dennis Potter Screenwriting Award with a simple story based around the diary a new mother kept on the days that her premature baby was kept in the neonatal intensive care unit. Director Sarah Gavron uses the visual and textual aspects of the movie to examine the experiences of the mother and the relationship she imagines having with her child, as well as the challenges facing a young, delicate life. Harvard Film Archive, 9 p.m. Tickets $8/$6 students. (MPL)

FILM | The Blue-Veiled

Presented as part of Boston Festival of Films from Iran, The Blue-Veiled is a film about a relationship between a widowed plantation owner and a strong-willed woman who lives in poverty, supports her mother and two younger siblings, and works on his plantation as a field hand. The relationship, however, is faced with numerous obstacles, like age and social class. The film is directed by Rakhshan Bani Etemad, whose research into the lives of working-class women in Iran informed the film. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 4 p.m. Tickets $10/$8 students. (MPL)

LECTURE | Before Expressionism: Art in Germany circa 1903

Kirsten Weiss, 2003-2005 Michalke Curatorial Intern, gives a talk to accompany the exhibit commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Busch-Reisinger Museum. Busch-Reisinger Museum, 2 p.m. Free. (MPL)

monday, dec. 15

MUSIC | Apollo Sunshine

Boston band Apollo Sunshine rocks in Cambridge. 8:30 p.m. Tickets $7. T.T.’s, 10 Brookline St. (ADH)

FILM | From Here to Eternity

Fifty years after its release, From Here to Eternity, based on the revolutionary war novel by James Jones, still has something to offer modern audiences. Go to see Frank Sinatra in the role that confirmed that the then up-and-coming actor’s star had arrived; or just go to see a young Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr make out in their notorious sex scene on the beach. Either way, From Here to Eternity will be certain sure to warm your ice-cold days. Through Dec. 18. 7:15 and 9:45 p.m. Tickets $12; Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street. (VMA)

FILM | No Place to Go

The Harvard Film Archives will show this 2000 German film (with English subtitles) two days before winter break. If the Christmas season has you overdosed with hopefulness, go see this decidedly less-than-optimistic film that provides a grim account of post-Cold War life, with a remarkable central performance by Hannelore Elsner. 7 p.m. Tickets $8; $6 students; Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 24 Quincy Street. (VMA)

FILM | Work in Progress

See the real world at work in this 2001 Spanish semi-documentary with English subtitles that follows the residents displaced when the upper class’s need for space and construction expands and collides with the inner-city. 9 p.m. Tickets $8; $6 students; Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 24 Quincy Street. (VMA)

VISUALS | Code Switcher

Mixing elements such as photo-silkscreens and bell jars, this unique installation by Rosalía Bermúdez manages to charm and stun viewers with its presentation of the immigrant experience. Visit the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies before Christmas break to get a last look at this exhibit. Through Jan. 15. David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, 61 Kirkland St. (VMA)

films

The Human Stain

In the midst of the 1998 Lewinsky sex scandal, Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins), a distinguished classics professor at a small Massachusetts liberal arts college, embroils himself in a microcosm of similar scandal and tragedy. One chance comment in class provokes an accusation of racism that culminates in his resignation and the death of his wife. Based on the novel by Philip Roth, The Human Stain follows Silk through four major stages of self-identification: anger, denial, acceptance and confession. A self-made man in every sense of the word, Silk’s success in life embodies a severely warped version of the American dream—a light-skinned black man passing himself off as a Jewish intellectual. Newcomer Wentworth Miller is startlingly good as the tormented young Silk, torn between the pulls of family and future. Hopkins is almost convincing as the tragic hero, and Nicole Kidman is less so as the battered Faunia, the cleaning woman who pulls Silk out of his shell. Much like Silk himself, the film is a prisoner of its own ambitions, falling victim to its literal devotion to Roth’s novel. The Human Stain is a story better left in print. (TIH)

Kill Bill: Volume I

Quentin Tarantino’s new film centers on a woman known only as The Bride (Uma Thurman), who awakens from a coma four years after she is nearly assassinated at her wedding party by the elite fighting force to which she once belonged. Once she’s up and about again, The Bride sets out on a mission of revenge against her former compatriots. On paper, Kill Bill: Volume I sounds dangerously close to Charlie’s Angels: There are many martial arts action sequences, all of the main characters are women and one of them is played by Lucy Liu. However, whereas Angels was mindless fun, Kill Bill is an intricate homage to classic themes and styles strung together for the most fun and exciting film of the year. Within the film, one can see hints of Tarantino’s influences and tastes—spaghetti westerns, Hong Kong kung fu, Japanese samurai, anime—all adapted to fit into his unique vision. (SNJ)

Lost in Translation

Fulfilling the boundless promise exhibited in her debut effort, The Virgin Suicides, director Sofia Coppola crafts a sublime love letter to Tokyo and transitory friendship with her newest film, Lost in Translation. Hollywood star Bob Harris (Bill Murray) has been shipped off to Japan to hawk Suntory whiskey to the natives. There he encounters Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), the beautiful wife of a photographer who spends much of her day staring out her window in hopes of somehow finding herself within the city’s skyline. The pair discover Tokyo culture and a profundity in their friendship that is lacking in their respective marriages. Johansson perfects the prolonged sulk, while Murray delivers his best performance yet, donning the hats of weary voyager, droll companion and cynical mentor with equal comfort. There are plenty of belly laughs to be had along the way, but what remains with the viewer is the significance of the fleeting connection that these two people share. (BYC)

Veronica Guerin

Director Joel Schumacher’s latest movie is based upon on the life of the Sunday Independent reporter of the same name. The film is the story of Guerin’s self-imposed mission to clear the streets of drugs and pushers, culminating in her brutal death at the hands of gang leaders fighting the momentum of her crusade. Most important, it is the story of Guerin herself: her character, her motivations, her fears and her doubts. Cate Blanchett’s resplendent performance as Guerin seethes with passion and intensity in every scene. It is her skillful work—as well as that of her supporting cast—that compensates for the film’s directorial inadequacies. (GPH)

—Happening was compiled by Dominique M. Elie, Alexandra D. Hoffer, M. Patricia Li, Vinita M. Alexander, Tiffany I. Hsieh, Steven N. Jacobs, Ben Y. Chung and Gary P. Ho.

To submit an event for inclusion in Happening, please e-mail details to happening@thecrimson.com. Listings must be received by the Monday prior to publication to be considered.