Ella with a Brazilian beat

In one of only two North American performances, bossa nova queen Rosa Passos performs at the Berklee Performance Center tonight as part of the 2007-08 Sovereign Bank Music Series. The Brazilian singer and songwriter will perform a set showcasing 50 years of Brazilian popular music, performing her own music as well as selections from compatriots Gilberto Gil, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Djavan, and Joao Bosco. Berklee students, faculty, and alumni will provide the musical backing for the performance. This is the first opportunity since 2003 to see Passos, the voice the Los Angeles Times has said sounds "a bit like the legendary Elis Regina but with the rhythmic articulation of Ella Fitzgerald." 8:15 p.m. $30; 22.50, seniors. The Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston. 617-747-2261 berkleepc.com.

Juggling for cookies For two hours on Fridays through Dec. 14, the MIT Student Juggling Club opens its doors to juggling veterans and novices alike. The club provides equipment to juggle and expert guidance - if you see someone doing a trick you'd like to learn, ask for a lesson. Successful jugglers get a cookie (We have it on good authority it's chocolate chip). 4-6 p.m. Free. Lobby 10, Middle of the Infinite Corridor, 77 Mass Ave., Cambridge. juggleofficers@mit.edu

'Comics Come Home XIII' Laughter really is the best medicine when Denis Leary hosts "Comics Come Home XIII," a laugh riot to benefit The Cam Neely Foundation for Cancer Care and The Neeley Center Fund. 7:30 p.m. $35-$155. Boston University, Agganis Arena, 925 Commonwealth Ave., Boston. 617-931-2000. ticketmaster.com

'Spelling Love with an X' Boston College associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Clare Dunsford reads from "Spelling Love with an X," a literary memoir that chronicles her life raising a son with Fragile X syndrome, an inherited mental disability. Dunsford uses poetry and candor to document a condition the world knows little about by inviting the reader into snapshots of the disability that has been woven throughout the fabric of her life - from coming to terms with her role as a carrier to the poetic retelling of the roller coaster that is life with her son. The reading is part of Boston College's "Writer's Among Us" series. 7:30 p.m. Free. Boston College, Devlin Hall 101, Chestnut Hill. 617-552-6343. www.bc.edu

'Glory Box' This November, Salem State College will commemorate Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Awareness Month with a performance of Tim Miller's "Glory Box" (the Australian term for a hope chest). The memoir-style solo theater piece tackles the challenge Miller has faced trying to keep his Australian partner, Alistair McCartney, in the United States when American laws don't protect the immigration rights of gay and lesbian binational couples. 7:30 p.m. $10. Salem State College, Ellison Campus Center. Veterans Hall, Salem. 978-542-7701. hometown.aol.com/miller tale/timmiller.html

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