All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

By the end of this weekend things should be a little more comfortable. Until then, if you want to do something besides sit in an air conditioned room and eat popsicles, you'll find a few suggestions after the jump.

From hot race tracks to cool pools, we picked out a whole bunch of stuff we thought might appeal to you. Doing something you don't see here? Tell us about it. And whatever you're up to, have a great weekend!

Swimming
We'd be hard pressed to think of a better way to handle the heat than a good game of Marco Polo and an iced tea by the pool. What's that you say? You don't have a pool? Here's a list of public pools and beaches.

The Track
Friday is opening day for the season at the Saratoga Race Course. Opening day is also the first of the "Family Fridays" series at the Track. Another highlight from the opening weekend: the annual hat contest on Sunday.

Fun and free: You can wander over to the Track early in the morning (before 10 am) to watch the workouts and get a free tour of the backstretch. There's a breakfast buffet you can purchase, or just bring coffee and bagels and watch from the clubhouse boxes.

Hats Off
Opening weekend of the Track means it's time for the annual Hats Off Festival in downtown Saratoga Springs. Friday and Saturday nights there will be bands and all kinds of other entertainment along Broadway in the Spa City. 7-11 pm Friday and Saturday - free admission

Saratoga County Fair
The Saratoga County Fair continues today through Sunday at the county fairgrounds in Ballston Spa. Here are the daily fair schedules. general admission $10 / children smaller than 52 inches free / active military members with ID free / unlimited rides ticket $20

Schenectady Summer Night
There's all kinds of stuff going on in the Electric City on Friday night for the annual Schenectady Summer Night. Music, outdoor cartoons, puppets, circus performers sand sculptures and more. Here's the complete schedule. Most events kick off around 5 pm - free admission

Circus
Friday-Sunday: The Zoppé Italian Family Circus will be at Proctors under a big-top tent. Blurbage: "clowns Nino and Pepino return with a full cast of careening canines, hilarious horses, terrific trapeze artists and more daring feats than you'd ever think possible." multiple performances - $25 and up

Theater

Pygmallion
Williamstown Theatre Festival's production of Pygmalion, starring Robert Sean Leonard and Heather Lind continues this weekend. You probably know Leonard from House (and Dead Poet's Society). Lind has been a recurring character on Boardwalk Empire and she's been cast in a pilot for a new AMC series -- she's also from Guilderland. Pygmalion runs through July 27 at WTF.

Berkshire Theater Festival
Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic Oklahoma closes on Saturday at Berkeshire Theater Festival. Performances Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2 pm and 8 pm - $25 to $35

Also this weekend at BTF:
+ Just So Stories of Rudyard Kipling. Friday at 11 am and 2 pm, Saturday 11 am - $15, $10

+ And the Boston Globe critic's pick: Extremities. Friday 8 pm, Saturday at 2 pm and 8 pm - $35, $45

Merry Wives of Windsor
Saratoga Shakespeare Company presents the Shakespeare comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor, done in the style of a 1930s silent film, this weekend in Congress Park. Friday & Saturday 6:30 pm, Sunday 3 pm - free

Spring Awakening
This is the last weekend for Our Own Prodcutions' Spring Awakening at The Egg.

Spamalot
Spamalot at Park Playhouse in Albany is hysterical and very well done. In particular, Shawn Morgan's taunting Frenchman, Scottish King and Leader of the Knights Who Say Ni and Molly McGrath's Lady of the Lake are outstanding. Shows Friday - Sunday at 8 pm - You can see it for free if you bring your own picnic blankets or chairs and hang out on the risers, or you can splurge for seats up front for $14 - $22.

Et tu Wonka
Classic Theater Guild's Heldeberg Theater Festival opens this weekend at Indian Ladder Farms. This year they're doing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Julius Caesar.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Saturday and Sunday at 3 pm / Julius Caesar, Saturday and Sunday at 8 pm - free

The Sparkley Clean Funeral Singers
The Sparkley Clean Funeral Singers, a new work by country singer-songwriter Lori Fischer, continues at Capital Rep. Blurbage:

What's a girl to do? Daughter Junie inherits the job of taking over the family dry cleaning business, tending to Dad --who's having a hard time remembering things -- and keeping an eye on younger sister Lashley - who's fresh from rehab.

Junie's dream of being a country singer takes a hiatus until the town Pastor asks the sisters to write and perform personal send-offs for the dearly departed.

Singin' in the Rain
The Mac-Hayden Theater in Chatham closes its production of Singin' in the Rain on Sunday. Friday 8 pm, Saturday 4 pm & 8 pm, Sunday 2 pm & 7 pm - $28-$30 / under 12 $12 with adult

The Music Man
The Not So Common Players open a production of The Music Man this weekend at Clifton Commons in Clifton Park with CBS6 Anchor Jerry Gretzinger as Professor Harold Hill. Friday and Saturday 8 pm - free

Ballet
Ajkum Ballet Theatre presents a ballet version of Les Miserables at The Egg on Sunday night. 7:30 pm - $29 / $19 11 years and younger

ValleyCats Baseball
The Tri-City ValleyCats are playing at home all weekend. Saturday night is Comic-Con/Star Wars Night with fireworks. It's also a GE Kids Get In Free Night at The Joe. Friday and Saturday games start at 7 pm, Sunday afternoon's game is at 5 pm

Comedy

Improv
Saturday night weekly short form improv comedy show MopCo is back at The Comedy Works on Northern Blvd in Albany. Think Whose Line is it Anyway. 8 pm - $15-$20

Coffee & Comedy
Six local stand-up comedians perform their acts at Hudson River Coffee House at Coffee & Comedy, hosted by local comedian Vernon Payne. Friday 8:30 pm - $5 cover

Schoharie River Day Festival
The Schoharie River Day Festival is Saturday in Burtonsville. It's a day-long festival celebrating local art and the beauty of the Schoharie Valley. Music by Alex Torres, Kim and Reggie Harris and others. Workshops in kayaking and demonstrations in blacksmithing, fly fishing, timber frame building, nature walks along the Schoharie Creek, environmental programs and arts and craft vendors. Saturday 9 am-4 pm - Free admission but donations are encouraged, proceeds support The Schoharie River Center

William Kennedy
Pulitzer Prize winner William Kennedy is reading tonight at Skidmore College as part of the Writers Institute Summer Reading Series. Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall 8 pm - free

Solomon Northup Day
Saturday is Solomon Northup Day in Saratoga Springs. If you're not familiar with Northup's story, it's worth taking some time to read about him. An African-American man from Saratoga Springs born free in the 1800s, Northup was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Northup eventually regained his freedom, and his experiences were told in the famous memoir Twelve Years A Slave. A new film about Northup's story -- starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, and many other notable actors -- is set to be released later this year.

On Saturday there will be a celebration of Northup's life at Skidmore's Filene Hall from noon-4 pm. Historians will be talking about Northup and the times in which he lived, and more than 40 of his descendants are scheduled to be there. it's free and open to the public.

Grey Fox
The annual Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival continues through Sunday in northern Greene County. The festival includes a big lineup of acts, including the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Keller Williams with the Travelin' McCourys, Chris Thile and Michael Daves, and the Infamous Stringdusters. full festival tickets are $190 / Thursday, Friday, Saturday single day $65 / Sunday single day $30

Bob Dylan and Wilco
Sunday: The Americanarama Festival of Music will be at SPAC. The show's headliner is Bob Dylan, and also includes Wilco, My Morning Jacket, and Ryan Bingham. Sunday 5:30 pm - $40.50 and up. One free lawn ticket for a kid 12 and under, courtesy of GE.

Music

Friday: Alice Cooper at the Palace
Mark him down as not a fan of Mumford and Sons. 8 pm - $24.75 and up

Friday: Youngblood Hawke at Upstate Concert Hall
Alterna pop from LA. With: San Cisco (indie pop from Australia, covering Daft Punk above), Lunic, Small Pools. 8 pm - $10.27 ahead / $12 day of

Friday: Stellar Young at Upbeat on the Roof
Indie rock on the roof of the Tang. 7 pm - free

Friday: Luciano at Putnam Den
Reggae singer. 9:30 pm - $22 ahead / $27 day of

Saturday: Mayhem Festival at SPAC
Lineup features: Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Mastodon, and others. 1 pm - $35 and up

Saturday: Mac Miller at Upstate Concert Hall
Rapper, hip hop producer, Donald Trump antagonist. With: Vince Staples, Internet. 8 pm - $30 ahead / $32 day of

Saturday: Gabriel Kahane and Rob Moose at MASS MoCA.
Quirky, innovative composer, singer/songwriter Kahane is joined by Rob Moose of Bon Iver. 8 pm = $12 advance / $13 door / $10 students.

Saturday: SAWFest 2013 at Salem Arts Works
Annual festival in Washington County this year includes Rustic Overtones, Wild Adriatic, The Ballroom Thieves, and Elijah & The Moon. 5 pm - $20 / $5 kids under 12

Saturday: Lucy Kaplansky at Caffe Lena
Folk. With: Milton. 8 pm - $22

Sunday: Mona at Putnam Den
Rock, in part originally from Dayton, Ohio, USA. 1 pm - free thanks to WEQX

Sunday: Ana Egge Band at Music Haven in Schenectady
"A folk Nina Simone." 7 pm - free

Museums & Galleries
Get out of the heat and see some interesting stuff at one of the region's many museums and art galleries.

+ The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls has an exhibit of Georgia O'Keeffe's works from Lake George.

+ The Clark is featuring a Winslow Homer exhibit this summer.

+ The Albany Institute of History and Art's Hudson River School exhibit runs through August 18.

+ The New York State Museum is still featuring its Civil War exhibit.

+ MASS MoCA has a number of exhibits going right now, including Five Sets Five Reps, a solo exhibit by painter Joseph Montgomery.

+ The Fence Select show is up at The Arts Center for the Capital Region through next weekend.

+ The Tang at Skidmore College has a show featuring the photography of Yaddo alum Merideth S. Mooney, and an exhibit on Caffe Lena's history.

Go ice skating
Wait, what? In July? We were reminded this week that a number of indoor ice skating facilities in the Capital Region are open year round, including Albany County Hockey Facility, Schenectady County Rec, Knickerbacker Ice Rink in Troy, and the Saratoga Springs Ice Rink.

Air conditioned movie theaters
A heat wave is the perfect excuse to catch-up on summer movies. Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing is at The Spectrum. Also, since things cool off at night a bit, it's a great weekend to take kids to a drive-in. The Jericho has a Despicable Me 2/Monsters University double feature. The Hollywood is showing Monsters U with Turbo. And the Malta Drive-In is showing Turbo/Grown Ups 2 on one screen and Despicable Me 2/R.I.P.D. on the other.

Playland
Take your favorite kid on a retro-visit to Hoffman's Playland while you can.

Ice Cream
Check out the Tour de Soft Serve and the Tour de Hard Ice Cream and the Tour de Gelato before you make up your mind. There's also Moxie's vanilla tour.

Farmers' markets
The outdoor season for farmers' markets are in swing in Troy (Saturday), Delmar (Saturday), Saratoga (Saturday), Schenectady (Sunday), and the new Spa City Farmers Market -- at the Lincoln Baths in Saratoga Springs (Sunday).

Summering
The season won't last forever. Throw a summer barbecue, mix a cool cocktail, go camping, buy a bike. Looking for other ways to enjoy summer in the Capital Region? Here are a few ideas.

The Saratoga Race Course, Capital Rep, Live Nation, The Tri-City Valley Cats, and The Mop & Bucket Company advertise on AOA. And AOA is a media sponsor of Our Own Productions.

photo: Alberto Cabello (Flickr user Diario de un pixel) (cc)