THEATER
JERSEY BOYS Don't go expecting the thrill of the new. But do go to this hit musical, the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, for the rush of the familiar -- the songs, the jokes, the hardscrabble kids, the peaks and pitfalls of stardom -- done well. With four talented and immensely appealing performers leading us by our ears, evergreen hooks acquire a measure of pathos and joy. Through Sept. 26. City Shubert Theatre. 866-348-9738, www.citicenter.org. JOAN ANDERMAN
TWELFTH NIGHT Star turns by the entire ensemble, enhanced by ingenious sight gags, yield a classic that’s fresh and exhilarating. Through Sept. 5. Shakespeare & Company, Lenox. 413-637-3353, www.shakespeare.org SANDY MACDONALD
THE TORCH-BEARERS George Kelly’s 1922 light comedy is a charming period piece about middle-class amateur actors staging a play - disastrously - and serving Art. Directed by Dylan Baker with masterful comic timing and a cast that includes Andrea Martin and Edward Herrmann. Through Aug. 9. Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown. 413-597-3400, www.wtfestival.org DAVID PERKINS
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS Shakespeare on the Common returns, with Steven Maler directing this farcical tale of mistaken identity among two sets of twins. This year, Maler’s Commonwealth Shakespeare Company takes the stage unfettered from the Citi Performing Arts Center. Through Aug. 16. Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common. Free. 617-426-0863, www.commshakes.org
AFTER THE QUAKE Company One’s artistic director, Shawn LaCount, sensitively directs a fine young cast in this funny, touching tale, adapted by Frank Galati from two short stories by Haruki Murakami. Through Aug. 15. Boston Center for the Arts. 617-933-8600, www.bostontheatrescene.com
THE COMPLETE WOWS(A) Even the title is funnier shorter: “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)’’ gets its laughs from goofy gags, clever wordplay, and the high spirits and high jinks of the Orfeo Group cast. Through Aug. 22. Christian Herter Park. 617-824-4215, www.orfeogroup.org
HAMLET Shakespeare & Company reprises its electric, heady staging, with Jason Asprey leading as the melancholy one and Tina Packer playing (as well as being) his mother. Through Aug. 28. Shakespeare & Company, Lenox. 413-637-3353, www.shakespeare.org
LOUISE KENNEDY
DANCE
LOOKING FOR ANALOG LOVE IN A DIGITAL WORLD Bass-Line Motion’s Adrienne Hawkins and Larry Roland have assembled a top-notch cadre of performers for this event, including members of Impulse Dance and Unyted Stylz, as well as four live musicians. The 6:30 p.m. show is part of Neighborhood Nights, offering free evening admission to the museum after 5 p.m. Aug. 6. Free. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 617-566-1401, www.gardnermuseum.orgDANCE CALIENTE For those who don’t know their salsa from their merengue, Dance Caliente’s Eileen Herman-Haase and Raul Nieves perform several Latin dances, clueing us in on the geographical and historical origins as well. The 11 a.m. program also offers adventurous audience members a participatory lesson in the dances’ hot rhythms and cool moves. Aug. 11. Free. Dana Park, Cambridge. 617-349-4380, www.cambridgeartscouncil.org
TANGO BY MOONLIGHT Bring your dancing shoes or just watch as tangoing couples glide across a bridge by the light of the moon, music filling the air as the water of the Charles River shimmers below. This monthly tango happening gets underway around 7:30 p.m. and goes until 11 or so. Aug. 8 (rain date Aug. 9). Free. Weeks Memorial Footbridge (Memorial Drive and Dewolfe Street), Cambridge. 617-721-4872, www.bostontango.com
SOARING CLOUD LION DANCE In China, the lion symbolizes power and perseverance, royalty and prosperity. The lion dance, based on Indian stories brought to China via the Silk Road, incorporates dance with martial arts and is now practiced worldwide. Soaring Cloud Lion Dance Association’s 11 a.m. show is for all ages. Aug. 10. Free. Agassiz Baldwin Community Center, Cambridge. 617-349-4380, www.cambridgeartscouncil.org KAREN CAMPBELL
MUSEUMS
PRENDERGAST IN ITALY More than 60 oils, pastels, and watercolors of Italian scenes by the great Boston-based Post-Impressionist innovator, as well as personal sketchbooks, letters, and photographs from Prendergast’s Italian jaunts. Through Sept. 20. Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown. 413-597-2429, www.wcma.orgSU-MEI TSE: FLOATING MEMORIES Multimedia work, in collaboration with Jean-Lu Majerus, about change and loss at the Gardner by this Berlin-based artist who was an artist-in-residence at the museum in 2007. Through Oct. 18. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 617-566-1401, www.gardnermuseum.org
DOVE / O’KEEFFE: CIRCLES OF INFLUENCE An exploration of the mutual influence that these two popular giants of early American modernism exerted on each other. Through Sept. 7. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown. 413-458-2303, www.clarkart.edu
THE OLD, WEIRD AMERICA: FOLK THEMES IN CONTEMPORARY ART The first museum exhibition to explore the widespread resurgence of folk imagery and mythic history in recent American art, inspired by Greil Marcus’s book of the same name. Through Sept. 7. DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln. 781-259-8355, www.decordova.com SEBASTIAN SMEE
GALLERIES
HAMADA: THREE GENERATIONS Most Japanese lines of potters go back centuries. The Hamadas go back just one. Shoji Hamada made sturdy pots in the 20th-century folk-craft style. His son Shinsaku and grandson Tomoo build on that style with patterns and flourishes. Through Sept. 7. Pucker Gallery, 171 Newbury St. 617-267-9473, www.puckergallery.comIMAGES 2009 The Lowell Quilt Festival includes this juried exhibition featuring more than 300 quilts, plus special shows such as “Log Cabin Quilts: Remembering Abraham Lincoln’’ and “Sashiko Tradition,’’ featuring work by Miho Takeuchi. Aug. 6-9. Tsongas Arena, 300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Lowell. 978-452-4207, www.lowellquiltfestival.org
SOUND OFF: CONNECTING WITH PUBLIC ART IN CAMBRIDGE Sound artist Halsey Burgund and the Public Art Youth Council interviewed locals about public art. This show features audio collages of those interviews and Youth Council members’ visual interpretations of the experience. Through Sept. 15. CAC Gallery, 344 Broadway, Cambridge. 617-349-4380, www.cambridgema.gov/CAC CATE McQUAID 
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