Burn, baby, burn
Go! saw the fabulously Brando-esque Michael T. Weiss playing Pale (a.k.a Jimmy) in Lanford Wilson's "Burn This" at the Huntington Theatre last week and immediately thought: This is our new role model! Drunk, disheveled (yet stylish), overheated, packin' heat, violent, unwittingly funny, profane (in an Al Pacino in "Scarface" kind of way), cynically romantic, exploitative, arrogant, sardonic. Then Go!'s companion gently suggested that while she, too, loved the character and Weiss's portrayal, he was not a role model. Sometimes we get confused that way. It happened when we heard Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer," too, way back when. But, lordy, this is a good 'un -- dark and volatile and funny as all get-out. It starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $14-$69. (It runs through Dec. 12, but there's no show tomorrow because you're eating turkey, watching football, and napping all day. It's the American way.)
264 Huntington Ave., 617-266-0800.
Less squall,more melody
Thalia Zedek , who has played in loud guitar bands such as Uzi, Live Skull, and Come, is out playing under her own name with a much different kind of lineup. There's a pianist on her latest album, "Trust Not Those in Whom Without Some Touch of Madness," and backing from the guys who comprise her live band, viola player Dave Curry and Daniel Coughlin. What does she like about this approach? "I like it because there's a lot of space in there to do a lotta different things," Zedek says from a rest stop somewhere in Ohio. "There's sonic room to move around, and Dave also does stuff with tape loops. When you have more instruments it starts getting too thick. Me and Dave and Daniel can make a lot of noise if we want to, but it's also easy to be a little leaner sounding and more melodic." The band she led with Chris Brokaw, Come, lasted 10 years, ending because each had other projects and a degree of frustration with not moving ahead. As to her place in the music world, the Boston-based singer-guitarist says, "It's not always good to think of those things too much, it's so up and down." Success, Zedek says, "comes in waves, and you see it come and go. You can't let it affect you too deeply. But right now, I'm feeling pretty positive." Rest assured, the music still has bluesy undertones and a dark aura. Zedek plays T.T. the Bear's Place tonight, with support from Brother JT and Beautiful Weekend. The 18-plus show starts at 9; tickets are $10.
10 Brookline St., Cambridge, 617-492-0082.
From Hong Kong, with brains
Martin Scorsese is one of Go!'s favorite directors, so when he says he wants to remake a movie (and set it in Boston, even!) we snap to attention and think maybe we'd like to see this original movie, too. Such is the case with Hong Kong director Andrew Lau's "Infernal Affairs," a cops-and-criminals thriller made in 2002. (It has already spawned a sequel.) When the movie played locally in October at the Boston Fantastic Film Festival, it won the Audience Award. It's not a typical Hong Kong bang-bang movie, high on pyro and fight scenes. In fact, "Infernal Affairs" has been praised for its "stylized minimalism," and director Lau has been compared to Michael Mann, a guy who knows how to build layers of tension. This film concludes a limited run at the Brattle Theatre tomorrow. You can see it today at 5, 7:15, and 9:30 p.m. Tickets: $9.
40 Brattle St., Cambridge, 617-876-6837.
Old school
Many rappers have a short shelf life. Do a couple of guys whose heyday occurred in the last century matter today? The Roxy is betting it does when it comes to Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, who team up for a 9 o'clock show tonight. Go! remembers accompanying Fresh, one of the original human beat-box guys, to Madison Park High School for an inspirational talk in 1986. Born in the Virgin Islands but living in New York, Fresh said, "I feel like it's my duty as an entertainer to tell these kids what not to do to themselves . . . not to kick themselves in the head with garbage. I take good care of myself and advise other people to, too." Now, back in those days, Fresh's crew included a London-born rapper by the name of MC Ricky D., who later came to mega-fame as Slick Rick. Rick's debut disc, "The Great Adventures of Slick Rick," featured the tender tune "Treat Her Like a Prostitute." Rick also evidently took gangsta life pretty seriously, getting arrested on attempted murder charges and serving two years. He attempted a comeback in 1999 making "The Art of Storytelling" CD with help from OutKast and Snoop Dogg. In 2002, the Immigration and Naturalization Services tried to deport him. He ended up back in the clink. Finally, he won his case and was allowed to stay in the States. Tonight, see if Rick is still slick and Doug is still fresh, beginning at 9. Tickets: $35-$50.
279 Tremont St., 617-338-7699.
Events can always be canceled, rescheduled, or sold out; call to confirm. Go! can be reached at go@globe.com or by calling 617-929-8257.
