All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

April will start out with rain, and may give way to snow before the before the weekend is out. Nope, nobody is playing an April Fool's joke. Unless you count Mother Nature.

Whatever -- it's the weekend. And there's a list of stuff to do just waiting for you after the jump.

Doing something you don't see on our list? Tell us about it. And whatever you're up to, wear waterproof shoes, and have a fantastic weekend.

1st Friday
Friday: It's 1st Friday in Albany. Some of the events lined up:
+ Artists Ira Marcks and Caroline Corrigan will host Upstate Collage Night at the Opalka Gallery from 6 to 9. Drop in for a fun night of art making. Materials will be supplied. Listen to music, and socialize at this art party for grownups. free
+ Upstate Artists Guild hosts Rehab: Mixed Media/Found Objects with featured art by Robilee McIntyre and music from DJ Jason Clark.
+ Albany Center Gallery hosts the 2016 High School Regional, featuring more than 100 students from more than 20 high schools and a pop up show from UAlbany's Curatorial Studies department.
+ The Albany Institute of History and Art is open with free admission. You can check out the 50 Objects exhibit before it closes and visit the new Cafe Crisan.
+ Patti-O & the Hip Hooligans headline the 1st Friday Swing Dance at the Albany Elks club. 7pm -- $10-$15

Maple Weekend
Saturday-Sunday: It's the second Maple Weekend of the season at sugar houses around the region as they host sugaring demonstrations, tastings, and other events. There are a bunch of participating spots around the greater Capital Region

Grown Up Easter Egg Hunt
Update: The hunt has been moved to the Atrium in Troy due to the snowy forecast for Sunday.
Sunday: The annual Capital District Grown Up Easter Egg Hunt returns to Troy's Prospect Park will be held at the Atrium in Troy. Hundreds of plastic eggs will be hidden in the park. They're filled with prizes -- candy or a voucher for a local business. This year's event will include a hunt in downtown Troy as well. Egg hunters are being asked to sign up for one or the other, not both events. Sunday registration at 1pm, hunt starts at 2:30 pm -- $11.50 in advance, $12 at the event

Stage

The Lion King
Friday-Sunday: A touring production of The Lion King continues its month-long run at Proctors. It is, of course, the hugely-popular musical based on the Disney movie. Tuesday-Sunday various times -- $20 and up

The Blue-Sky Boys
Friday-Sunday: This is the last weekend for Capital Rep's production of The Blue-Sky Boys, about "the maverick engineers who stopped at nothing to get a man to the moon and back," continues this week. Tuesday-Sunday various times -- $20 and up

Twyla Tharp
Friday: Famed choreographer Twyla Tharp will be at the Sage Troy campus with dancers for a talk and demonstration. Friday 4 pm, Meader Little Theatre -- free

Pop! Shakespeare: Star Wars
Friday: Creative Place International presents Pop Shakespeare: Star Wars in the Riggi Theater at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs. "A unique presentation of Star Wars, Shakespearean style." Friday at 7:30pm -- free

Dancing In The Streets
Sunday: The Palace presents the national tour of Dancing in the Streets, a celebration of Motown's greatest hits. Sunday at 7pm -- $42-$58.

Living on Love
Friday-Sunday: Curtain Call opens a production of Joe DiPietro's Living on Love, a comedy about a demanding diva who discovers that her maestro husband has become enamored with the lovely young lady hired to ghostwrite his autobiography. Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm -- $24

Switched Up: A Miscast Broadway Cabaret
Saturday: Some of the Capital Region's most talented singers take on the songs they've never been allowed to perform in Switched Up: A Miscast Broadway Cabaret at Schenectady Light Opera Company. Singers perform the roles they'd never be cast in because of age, gender or ethnicity. (Bring your favorite music, there's an after cabaret where everyone gets to sing.) Saturday doors at 8 pm, show at 8:30 pm -- $10 suggested donation gets you the show plus desserts.

24 Hour Play Festival
Saturday: The Capital Region Berkshires 24 Hour Play Festival will be held at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center this weekend. Five plays are written, rehearsed, and performed all within 24 hours. Playwrights will get a prompt and select from a pool of actors on Friday night. Then they get one night to write a play. Actors and directors get one day to rehearse the plays, and within 24 hours, they will be performed before an audience. performances are Saturday night at 7:30 pm -- $15 in advance, $20 at the door / students are $10 in advance, $15 at the door

Comedy

MopCo Improv
Friday: The Mop & Bucket Company performs an April Fools show in the underground at Proctors. Short form improvisational scenes and games based on audience suggestions Friday 8 pm -- $14

Sorry Not Sorry
Saturday: Dollars to Donuts joins house improv team Sorry Not Sorry at The Low Beat for an afternoon of improv comedy. Saturday 1 pm

Ted Rall - Bernie
Saturday: Ted Rail, award winning journalist, will be at Northshire Books in Saratoga to discuss his New York Times best-selling graphic novel, Bernie, based on conversations with Bernie Sanders. Saturday 7 pm

Star Party
Friday and Saturday: The Albany Area Amateur Astronomers are hosting a star party at the Landis Arboretum, with telescopes and astronomers to help you view nebulae, star clusters, planets, and more. Weather permitting. Friday and Saturday 8 pm -- free

Pop Culture: Dancing through the Zeitgeist
Saturday: The German-American Club of Albany hosts Pop Culture: Dancing through the Zeitgeist -- a belly dancing show featuring iconic pop music. Saturday 7 pm -- $15 for adults, $20 at the door, free for kids

Film

Festival Cinema Invisible
Friday-Sunday: Proctors hosts the Festival Cinema Invisible this weekend, "the only film festival in upstate New York that showcases films from Persian-speaking communities and beyond." This year's festival will feature 29 feature-length documentaries, animated, and short films directed by women -- most under 40 years of age. The films represent Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Syria, and the United States. events and screenings at various time through the weekend -- full festival passes $40 / single-day passes $25 / individual film $10 / Friday reception-only tickets $10

In Between Days/ The Immigrant
Friday: The New York State Writers Institute Classic Film Series continues with a screening of In Between Days, the story of a Korean immigrant girl making a new life in an unnamed North American city. The film will be preceded by a the Charlie Chaplin short film The Immigrant. Friday 7:30 pm at Page Hall on the UAlbany downtown campus -- free

Behemoth Short Film Festival
Saturday: The Saratoga Arts Center hosts the Behemoth Short Film Festival -- "showcasing the best in underground cinema from filmmakers across the country. Saturday 6 pm -- $8

Oompa Loompa doompaty doo...
This week's Movies and Mimosa film at the Saratoga Bow Tie is the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, with Gene Wilder. Saturday and Sunday at 11am

Hangmen
Sunday: The Spectrum is showing a National Theatre Live production of the new Martin McDonagh play Hangmen. (It got very strong reviews when it premiered last fall.) Sunday 11am -- $15

Music

Friday: Gogol Bordello at Upstate Concert Hall
Gypsy punk. 8 pm -- $25 ahead / $28 day of

Friday: Melissa Ferrick at The Linda
Singer/songwriter. 8 pm -- $20

Friday: Ethan Bortnick at Proctors
Teen pianist and composer. 7:30 pm -- $19 an dup

Friday: Kim Nazarian at The Egg
Jazz vocalist. 8 pm -- $25 / $20 students and seniors

Friday: Satisfaction at The Madison Theater -- International Rolling Stones tribute show. Friday at 8pm. $20 advance, $25 at the door.

Saturday: Roots Music Festival 2016 at The Linda
Ryan Montbleau, James Edmund's Heavenly Echos, Ira Wolf, Red Haired Strangers and Dan Perrillo's Useless Cans. 8 pm -- $15

Saturday: The Cult at Upstate Concert Hall
Rock/metal. With: Holy White Hounds. 8 pm -- $38.50 ahead / $40 day of

Saturday: John Brown's Body at The Hollow
Reggae. 9:30 pm -- $14 ahead / 18 day of

Saturday: MAD CO at The Egg
Bad Company tribute. 8 pm -- $30

Saturday: Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited at Sanctuary for Independent Media
"Join us for a spectacular celebration of the first ten years of The Sanctuary for Independent Media featuring Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited, one of the world's most fearless dance bands!" 8 pm - $20

Sunday: A City of Immigrants at Troy Music Hall
"An homage to the rich cultural heritage of the Capital Region with The Musicians of Ma'alwyck, The Capital District Youth Chorale and Saratoga Springs Nacre Dance Company." 4 pm -- $25 and $35 / $15 students

Sunday: The David Bromberg show at The Egg is sold out.

Hockey
The Albany Devils are at home this weekend:
+ Saturday the Devils take on Springfield at 5 pm
+ Sunday they take on Binghamton at 3 pm

Syracuse basketball in the Final Four
Saturday: The Syracuse men take on North Carolina in the Final Four in Houston. The game is on TBS, and should start around 8:50 pm.
Sunday: The Syracuse women play the Washington Huskies in Indianapolis in the Final Four. The game should start around 8:30 pm and it's on ESPN2.

Road Trip
Spend a day in the Pioneer Valley or Saratoga Springs or Columbia County

Crailofest
Saturday: The Crailo State Historic Site in Rensselaer has the opening day of Crailofest -- "a celebration of African culture in the New World." The site's new exhibit, A Dishonorable Trade: Human Trafficking in the Dutch Atlantic World, will be open. And there will be music and food. Saturday 12:30-4:30 pm -- $6 for adults / $1 for kids under 12

The Influence of the Dutch on the American Kitchen
Sunday: Food historian Peter G. Rose will be at the State Museum for a talk about how the colonial Dutch influence American cooking. Sunday 1 pm, Huxley Theater -- free

Museums
Wander through one of the Capital Region's museums:

Albany Institute
The Albany Institute of History and Art wraps up the Capital Region in 50 Objects exhibit this weekend. See it while you still can. You can also catch the Masterworks: 225 Years of Collecting exhibit. The Institute is open on Friday night for free and the new Crisan Cafe is now open on the second floor.

Butterflies
The MiSci butterfly house is still open. "Discover hundreds of brilliantly colored native butterflies." The exhibit continues through April 19. free with museum admission.

Rockwell
The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls has its Norman Rockwell in the 1960s exhibit up for just a few more weeks. (And while you're there, here are some fun places to eat in Glens Falls.).

If you're interested in more Norman Rockwell, you can head over to Stockbridge for the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Arkell
The Arkell Museum is open with with two new exhibitions, one about Rembrandt's influence on printmakers and the other on the work of Edward Buyck.

Alma Thomas
The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College has is wrapping up its exhibit of the bright, colorful paintings of Alma Thomas. It's on display until June 5.

Eye for Excellence
The Clark has a good permanent collection, and there's currently an exhibit about how works have been added to it (it's on display until April 10).

Ice cream stand season
Seasonal ice cream stands around the Capital Region have been opening during the past few weeks.

Farmers' markets
Stop by a farmers market for something local and delicious:
+ Troy Waterfront Farmers Market is inside the Atrium. Saturday 9 am-2 pm
+ The Saratoga Farmers' Market is indoors at the Lincoln Baths. Saturday from 9 am-1 pm
+ The Schenectady Greenmarket is at its indoor location at Proctors. Sunday from 10 am-2 pm.
+ The Spa City Farmers' Market is inside at the Lincoln Baths Sunday from 10 am-3 pm

The Mop & Bucket Company,Capital Rep, Proctors, and Albany Institute advertise on AOA.