Listings, April 18-24

readings

DANIEL LEVITAS. The Du Bois Institute and the Harvard Coop co-sponsor a discussion and book signing by Pulitzer Prize nominee Levitas, who will discuss the extent of the terrorist threat posed by white supremacist groups in the United States as described in his most recent book, The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right, which provides a history of white supremacist groups from their post-Civil War roots to the present. Tuesday, April 22 at 7 p.m. Free. Harvard Coop, 1400 Mass Ave. (BDG)

WOLE SOYINKA. Soyinka, who won a Nobel Prize in 1986 and had a price placed on his head by Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha in the late 1990s, reads from his most recent work and discusses the amazing life he has led. The lecture, sponsored by the Department of African-American Studies, focuses on Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known, a book of poems written while the author was fleeing for his life. His latest effort meditates on his public and private lives, including a work in memory of Francois Mitterand and others dedicated to writers Josef Brodsky and Chinua Achebe. Monday, April 21 at 4 p.m. Free. Lower Level Auditorium at the Center for European Studies, 27 Kirkland St. (BDG)

POETRY@MIT. As part of the poetry@MIT series, the MIT Coop holds a reading in celebration of their own Joshua Weitz’ first book of poetry, Between the Stones. Weitz is currently a doctoral candidate in physics at MIT. Two other acclaimed local poets, Erica Funkhouser and William Corbett, will join Joshua Weitz in reading. Wednesday, April 23 at 5:30 p.m. Free. MIT Coop Book Department, First Floor. Kendall Square. (617) 499-2089. (ESH)

speakers

VANESSA BEECROFT. As the latest in the “Harvard Advocate Presents” series of lectures, the very fashionable Vanessa Beecroft discusses her work. Famous for her installations consisting of women of various body types in simple outfits or no clothing at all, Beecroft will touch upon the many issues that arise as one becomes a mega-star of contemporary art. She will also examine her artistic concerns, which include architectural space, fashion and gender perception. Sponsored by the Harvard Advocate and the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies. Wednesday, April 23 at 5 p.m. Free. Carpenter Center Lecture Hall, 24 Quincy St. (BDG)

LEE MINGWEI. The Office for the Arts Marshall Cogan Visiting Artist this year, Lee Mingwei will give a slide lecture before the launch of “The Harvard Seers Project,” set to take place in the transept of Memorial Hall over Arts First weekend. He will also discuss his other work, which seeks to link Western conceptual art with Eastern philosophy as he has dealt with issues as diverse as human interactions and male pregnancy. The Taiwanese representative at this summer’s Venice Biennale and the subject of an upcoming Museum of Modern Art artist’s project, Mingwei will be making his first public appearance at Harvard. Wednesday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m. Free. Room G-08, Larsen Hall, Harvard University Graduate School of Education, 14 Appian Way, Cambridge. (BDG)

theater

STOPOVER. Emily J. Carmichael ’04 is the writer and director of this new play about young women in Paris in love, set to be performed for the first time this weekened in the Loeb Experimental Theater. With just twenty-four hours in which to explore the fabled city, the four protagonists taste absinthe, play paintball, see the sights (both the art in the Louvre and those who have come to watch it), get robbed and undergo emotional upheavals. Through Saturday, April 19 at 8 p.m. Free tickets available at the Loeb Box Office. Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St. (ABM)

YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN. The Mather House Drama Society presents Clark Gesner’s short musical based on the characters from Charles Schultz’s timeless comic strip “Peanuts.” Loudmouth Lucy , her blanket-loving brother Linus, Beethoven guru Schroeder, the perpetually wishy-washy Charlie Brown, his precoscious sister Sally and of course Snoopy, a somewhat delusionary dog, traipse through a series of skits and interspersed musical numbers that address love, food, music, bad grades and everything else that life brings along. Thursday, April 17 through Saturday, April 19 at 8 p.m. and at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 19. Tickets $5, $4 for students and seniors, available through the Harvard Box Office, (617) 496-2222. Mather House Dining Hall, 45 Flagg St. (JJH)

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 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. Friday, April 18 through Saturday, April 26. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets $5 are available through the Harvard Box Office (617) 496-2222. Cabot House Junior Common Room, 100 Walker St. (JJH)

GET SOME. “Something bold, something new, something spicy, something few,” boasts this year’s freshman musical. A searing social commentary on what it means to be a freshman at Harvard, Get Some follows three freshman boys in a desperate search of love one night, all of whom soon find themselves entwined in a dare with consequences that ensue to hilarity. The production is written, produced, directed, designed, coreographed and performed entirely by the class of 2006. Thursday, April 24 through Saturday April 26. Tickets $10, $5 students, seniors, pre-frosh, available through the Harvard Box Office, (617) 496-2222. Agassiz Theatre, 10 Garden St. (JJH)

music

RESPOND II CD RELEASE SHOW. Deb Talan, Jennifer Kimball, Merrie Amsterburg and Bourbon Princess with Monique Ortiz get together to perform at Club Passim on Thursday for the release of Respond II, a CD compilation benefiting families and victims of domestic violence. The CD is a follow up to the highly acclaimed Respond, and includes contributions from Deb Talan and Bourbon Princess. Thursday, April 24 at 8 p.m. Tickets $15 regular, $13 for members, available at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St. (617) 492-5300. (GPH)

THE POSTAL SERVICE, CEX AND CERTAINLY SIR. Featuring Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service plays their unique fusion of electronica and rock downstairs at the Middle East on Sunday. Also performing are acclaimed experimental electronic artist and rapper Cex, as well as Boston’s own Certainly Sir. Sunday, April 20 at 8 p.m. Advance tickets $9 available at the Middle East Box Office or from Ticketmaster, (617) 931-2000. $10 at the door, 18+. Middle East Club (downstairs), 472 Mass Ave., (617) 864-3278. (GPH)

THE PASSION ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. The Harvard University Choir and The Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra will perform Bach’s “The Passion According to St. John.” Bach’s rendering of Jesus’ final days and subsequent Easter Resurrection is a vivid and dramatic account of the well-known Gospel. Featured solists will include Thomas Gregg, Richard Benefield, Shannon Larkin, Suzanne Ehly and Donald Wiklinson. The evening will also include a brief address by the highly regarded Reverend Gomes. Free.Friday, April 18 at 8 p.m. The Memorial Church. (AAB)

BOSTON PHILHARMONIC. The Boston Philharmonic together with The Bose Discovery Series take an interesting slant on the traditional pre-concert talk in an upcoming concert featuring Debussy’s Nocturnes, Chausson’s Poeme, Harbison’s Concerto for Oboe, Saint-Saens’ Concerto for Cello and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe: Suite No. 2. Commentary, provided by prominent conducter Benjamin Zander, will be woven into the concert itself. Zander has been featured on the BBC and CBS for his outstanding contributions in the arts and international relations. Featured musicians are Oboist Peggy Pearson and Cellist Rafael Popper-Keizer. Thursday, April 24, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $12-$51, 20% off for Harvard ID holders. Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall, 45 Quincy St. (AAB)

CHANT WARS. Early music performers and scholars Benjamin Bagby and Katarina Livljanic will conduct a lecture-demonstration on April 21 co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard’s Department of Music and Learning From Performers at the Office for the Arts. In 1977, Bagby, a vocalist and harpist, co-founded Sequentia, an internationally acclaimed ensemble that combines vocal and instrumental virtuosity with innovative research and programming to reconstruct the living musical traditions of medieval Europe. Livljanic, a singer and musicologist, trained at the Zagreb Music Conservatory and directs Dialogos, a vocal ensemble specializing in medieval chant and liturgical theatre. The New Yorker proclaimed their concerts combine both “scholarly insight and dramatic verve.” Monday, April 21 at 7 p.m. Free. Harvard Divinity School, Andover Hall (second floor), 45 Francis Ave. (AAB)

TECHNOLOGY-INFUSED TUNES. Classical music is intertwined with technology when the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) showcases its unique stylings. The performances is a continuation of the series “Who’s afraid of technology?” and is hosted by Gil Rose, the conductor of BMOP. Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. Ticekts $10. Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., (617) 492-7679. (ESH)

visuals

JUST STAND THERE! The fourth program in an ongoing exhibition of video art for the MIT List Visual Arts Center’s Media Test Wall, Just Stand There! explores the idea that in many different arenas of life one must learn how to stay still. The artists utilize the structural concept of stillness and reactions to it in order to reflect on concerns internal and external to ourselves and our minds. The topics of the videos range from Cyclone, Coney Island’s archetypal rollercoaster, to a “Sesame Street”-like approach to teaching political philosophy. Through April 21. Free. MIT List Visual Arts center, Wiesner Building, E15-109, 20 Ames St., (617) 253-4400. (ABM)

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 disappearing 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. (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 medival 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, (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, free for Harvard ID holders. 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, free for Harvard ID holders. Group rates available. Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway, (617) 495-9400. (CWP)

film

FIGHT CLUB. Film and Architecture, a student-run organization at the Graduate School of Design, screens Fight Club on Thursday as part of its series “Real/Reel: The Fashioning of Reality.” Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter star in this 1999 film based on the best-selling novel by Chuck Palahniuk that acts as a modern-day morality tale warning of the decay of society. It tells of one man’s (Norton) life full of single serving dinners, cheap furniture catalogs and self-help meetings for illnesses he doesn’t have. He finds salvation in his new friend Tyler Durden (Pitt) and the founding of a fight club that soon spins out of control. The screening is free, and popcorn and soda will be served. Thursday, April 24 at 7 p.m., Piper Auditorium, Graduate School of Design. (JJH)

For full descriptions of the movies listed below, please visit Happening online at www.thecrimson.com, under Arts.

HARVARD SQUARE LOEWS

10 CHURCH ST., (617) 864-4580

BETTER LUCK TOMORROW.  Better Luck Tomorrow screens at 12, 1:10, 3, 4:10, 6, 7:15, 9:30 and 10 p.m.

CHICAGO. Chicago screens at 12:45, 3:30, 6:15 and 9:15 p.m.

COWBOY BEBOP. Cowboy Bebop screens at 12:30, 3:45, 6:45 and 9:45 p.m.

THE GOOD THIEF. The Good Thief screens at 12:15, 3:15, 6:30 and 9 p.m.

KENDALL SQUARE CINEMA

ONE KENDALL SQ., (617) 494-9800

BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. Bend It Like Beckham screens at 1:30, 1:55, 4:05, 4:35, 6:40, 7:10, 9:15 and 9:45 p.m.

LAUREL CANYON. Laurel Canyon screens at 2, 4:25, 6:55 and 9:35 p.m.

A MIGHTY WIND. A Mighty Wind screens at 2:30, 4:50, 7:20 and 10 p.m.

MORVERN CALLAR. Morvern Callar screens at 2:15, 4:40, 7 and 9:40 p.m.

NOWHERE IN AFRICA. Nowhere in Africa screens at 3, 6:15 and 9:20 p.m.

THE PIANIST. The Pianist screens at 2:50, 6 and 9:10 p.m.

RAISING VICTOR VARGAS. Raising Victor Vargas screens at 2:20, 5, 7:30 and 9:55 p.m.

STEVIE. Stevie screens at 2:40, 6:25 and 9:25 p.m.

—Happening was edited by Ryan J. Kuo ’04 and compiled by Nathan K. Burstein ’04, Benjamin J. Soskin ’04, Jayme J. Herschkopf ’06, Emily S. High ’06, Christopher W. Platts ’06, Gary P. Ho ’04, Anais A. Borja ’05, Brian D. Goldstein ’06 and Alexandra B. Moss ’05.