All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

It is now post time for the weekend.

The field is wide with plenty of things to do, from Opening Day at the Saratoga Race Course, to barbecue at the Troy Pig Out, to baseball games, and blueberry picking. You may even want to select a trifecta. We've helped handicap for you by listing a few possibilities after the jump.

If you're planning something we've missed in our list, share it with the rest of us in the comments.

And whatever you're up to, good luck and have a fantastic weekend.

And they're off...
Friday is opening day for the season at the Saratoga Race Course. And Sunday is the hat contest.

As you know, the Track is open Wednesday-Monday each week during the season (no racing on Tuesday). The season concludes on Labor Day.

Hats Off
Saratoga's annual opening weekend celebration is this weekend with music on street corners all around downtown on Friday and Saturday nights. 7p-11 pm - free

Pig Out
The Troy Pig Out is this Saturday and Sunday. This two-day professional barbecue competition brings BBQ teams from across the United States and Canada to the Collar City. It includes a people's choice St. Louis rib competition on Saturday, and the main competition on Sunday.

Tastings for the rib competition on Saturday are $1 a piece. There are a limited number of tickets, and in years past, they've gone quickly. The sampling starts at 5 pm.

There will be barbecue vendors and live music in Riverfront Park on Saturday and Sunday, and a fireworks show over the Hudson on Sunday.

Solomon Northup Day
Saturday: A commemoration of the 16th annual Solomon Northup Day will be at Skidmore, honoring the Saratoga Springs historical figure and his story. Among those appearing:
+ The keynote speaker is Yale professor David Blight, a historian and director of the university's Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition.
+ Actor Devyn Tyler, who played Northup's adult daughter in 12 Years a Slave.
+ Northup Day founder Renee Moore
+ Panel discussions with Northup researchers David Fiske, Clifford Brown, and Rachel Seligman -- who wrote Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave -- and Paul McCarty, director of Ft. Edward's Old Fort Museum.
+ Performances from jazz saxophonist T.K. Blue; violinist Henrique Prince of the Ebony Hillbillies, and local musician Dan Hubbs and friends.

Events start at noon Saturday in Filene Recital Hall.

Theater

Full frontal puppet nudity
A production of Avenue Q is at the GE theater at Proctors. Yes, there are puppets. No, you probably don't want to bring the kids. This coming-of-age musical comedy satirizes the challenges of becoming an adult. Friday and Saturday at 7:30, Sunday at 2pm - $15

Macbeth
Saratoga Shakespeare Company opens its season of free Shakespeare in Congress Park with Macbeth. Friday and Saturday at 6pm, Sunday at 3pm

Berkshire Theater Festival
The Berkshire Theater Festival has a production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music ("Send in the Clowns") and The Mystery of Irma Vep: A Penny Dreadful, a Gothic spoof in which two actors play eight characters. This is closing weekend for both shows.

42nd Street
A production of 42nd Street closes this weekend at the Mac Haydn. This dance-heavy musical based on the book and film tells a story of Broadway during the height of the Depression.

Hands on a Hard Body
The Park Playhouse in Albany's Washington Park continues its production of Hands on a Hardbody, a musical based on the documentary about people trying to win a truck by being the last person to stop touching it. (The show features a book by Doug Wright, and a score by Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green.) The production runs through July 26. Friday-Sunday at 8 pm - amphitheater seating is free / reserved seating starts at $16

Smokey Joe's Café
Capital Rep's production its production of Smokey Joe's Cafe is in its first week. The show is a "tribute to legendary rock and roll composers Leiber and Stoller that includes 39 of America's greatest hits, including On Broadway, Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, Fools Fall In Love, Love Potion #9, and Stand By Me." It runs through August 10. $20 and up

WTF
Now playing at the Williamstown Theatre Festival:
+ Living on Love, starring Renee Fleming, the world-famous soprano. The cast also includes Justin Long and Anna Chlumsky.
+ A Great Wilderness: The story of the leader of a Christian retreat who tries to "cure" gay teens who finds his moral compass wavering. It stars Jeffery DeMunn (The Walking Dead).

Film

The Solomon Northup Odyssey
Friday: Skidmore is screening The Solomon Northup Odyssey, a 1984 documentary directed by Gordon Parks, at the Filene Recital Hall, Friday 7 pm - free

"Bring out your dead..."
The Madison Theater is screening Monty Python and the Holy Grail this weekend. Also showing: Dr. Strangelove and The Swiss Family Robinson.

A Small Family Business
The Spectrum is screening the National Theater production of Alan Ayckbourne's play, A Small Family Business, "a riotous exposure of entrepreneurial greed." Sunday at noon (also Monday at 7 pm)

Drive-ins:
+ Malta: Screen 1: Planes: Fire and Rescue / Earth to Echo | Screen 2: Planet of the Apes / Tammy
+ Jericho: Plant of the Apes / Tammy
+ Hollywood: Planet of the Apes / Tammy

Music

Friday: The Oh Hellos at Upstate Concert Hall
Folk rock. 8 pm - $12 ahead / $15 at the door

Friday: Hot Club of Saratoga at Upbeat on the Roof
Gypsy jazz. 7 pm - free

Friday: Lucky Jukebox Brigade at The Hollow
They have a new album. 9 pm

Friday: Jes Hudak at Caffe Lena
Around the world, on TV, and back where she got her start. 8 pm - $16

Saturday: James Taylor at SPAC
Back at SPAC for the first time in 11 years. (And a GE Kids-in-Free show.) 8 pm - $40 and up

Saturday: The Parlor at The Hollow
Raising money for a new album. With: Careers, Pony in the Pancake. 8 pm

Sunday: BSO with Joshua Bell at Tanglewood
The world-famous violinist joins the BSO for a program that includes works from Beethoven, Rouse, and Lalo. 2:30 pm - $21 and up

Sunday: Bruno Mars at the TU Center
Originally from Hawaii -- not Mars. 7:30 pm - $43 and up

Sunday: Conjunto Chappotin y Sus Estrellas at Music Haven
Renowned "Son" band from Cuba. With: Maria Zemantauski. 7 pm - free

Baseball
The Tri-City ValleyCats are at home this weekend with games on Friday and Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 5pm. Saturday is Star Wars Night, so if you see a lot of Ewoks running around, you know why.

Saratoga Polo
The season continues at Saratoga Polo. There are matches every Friday and Sunday through August 31. Gates open at 4pm and matches begin at 5:30 pm - $20-$50, 12 and under free.

American Craft Beer Cookbook
Sunday: Shmaltz Brewing is hosting a talk, tasting and food pairing with John Holl, author of The American Craft Beer Cookbook, on Sunday. The talk will be moderated by Jeremy Cowan, owner of Shmaltz Brewing Company. Sunday 2 pm, the talk and tasting will be followed by a brewery tour - beer tasting and food pairing $15, add a copy of the book and it's $35

Words

Writers Institute
Friday: The NYS Summer Writers Institute public reading series continues at Skidmore. Former US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky is reading on Friday. 7 pm in Skidmore's Palamountain Hall - free

Slam
Friday: The Nitty Gritty Poetry Slam will be at The Linda for an event featuring performances from members of the last three Nitty Gritty slam teams. Friday 8 pm - $10

Poets in the Park
Saturday: Poetry readings by local, regional, national, and international poets at the Robert Burns statue in Albany's Washington Park. This weekend's featured poets are Melody Davis and Brian Dorn. Saturday 7 pm

The Clark
The much-anticipated expansion of The Clark Art Institute -- designed by architect Tadao Ando -- is now open. The Clark is in Williamstown, about an hour's drive east of Albany. If you're headed that way, you might think about a combo ticket for The Clark, MASS MoCA, and the Williams College Museum of Art.

Berkshire Botanical Gardens
The Berkshire Botanical Gardens are a lovely place to to wander or have a picnic. Combine it with a dinner in Stockbridge or a trip to the Berkshire Theater Festival.

Swimming
A bunch of Capital Region pools and beaches are open for the season. Here's a collection of public pools around the area.

Blueberries
Blueberry season is well underway in the Capital Region. This is an old list, but it will give you some ideas about places to pick them. Blueberries are easy to pick, and ripe berries just off the blueberry bush are a treat.

Farmers' Markets
Outdoor farmers' markets should be flush with produce:
+ The Troy Waterfront Farmers Market will be on River Street in downtown Troy Saturday morning.
+ The Saratoga Farmers' Market is at the High Rock Park pavilions on Saturday.
+ The Delmar Farmers Market is at Bethlehem Central Middle School on Saturday.
+ The Schenectady Greenmarket is around Schenectady City on Sunday.
+ The Spa City Farmers' Market will be on the front lawn of the Lincoln Baths Sunday.

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