All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Another midsummer weekend awaits.

Horses, ballet, baseball, swimming pools -- and that's just the beginning. After the jump, our list of stuff to do this weekend that we thought you might enjoy.

Got something planned that you don't see here? Drop it in the comments so we can all see.
And whatever you're up to, have a fantastic weekend.

The Track
Friday: It's opening day of the season at the Saratoga Race Course. The Track will have a bunch of events and promotions for opening weekend, including the annual hat contest on Sunday. admission $5 grandstand / $8 clubhouse / children 3 and under free with adult

Hats Off to Saratoga Festival
Friday-Saturday: To celebrate the beginning of the racing season, downtown Saratoga Springs will be hosting the Hats Off to Saratoga Festival with live music and hats. Friday-Saturday 7-11 pm -- free admission

Saratoga County Fair
Friday-Sunday: County fair season started this week with the Saratoga County Fair at the fairgrounds in Ballston Spa. This is the 175th year for the fair. Admission is $12 / season ticket is $40 / shorter than 52 inches is free / active military free with ID card / unlimited ride wristband is $20

NYC Ballet
Friday-Saturday: The NYC Ballet is back at SPAC, where it will be performing through July 30. Friday's program is George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Saturday is the annual ballet gala featuring the works of 21st century choreographers, including the world premiere of a new wok by Justin Peck. Friday-Saturday various times -- $35 and up

Stage

A Night with Janis Joplin
Friday-Sunday: Capital Rep continues its production of A Night with Janis Joplin. Blurbage: "A Night with Janis Joplin is a musical journey celebrating Janis and her biggest musical influences - trailblazers like Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Odetta, Nina Simone and Bessie Smith - who inspired one of Rock 'n' Roll's greatest legends." Friday-Sunday various times -- $25 and up

Williamstown Theatre Festival
Friday-Sunday: This is the last weekend for The Chinese Room on the Nikos Stage at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. And the new comedy Romance Novels for Dummies is now on the main stage (it runs through July 31). various times -- $40 and up

Cyrano
Friday-Sunday: Saratoga Shakespeare's season has begun with a production of Cyrano in Congress Park. Friday and Saturday 6 pm, Sunday 3 pm -- free

Eclipsed
Friday-Sunday: The Soul Rebel Performance Troupe presents Eclipsed, an award-winning play about the Liberian civil war and a woman who arrives in a community of captive wives of a rebel officer. Friday and Saturday 8 pm -- $15 / under age 17 $8

Damn Yankees
Friday-Sunday: The Not So Common Players close their production of the musical Damn Yankees. Based on Douglass Wallop's The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, the classic musical is about a coach who sells his soul to get "one long ball hitter." Friday-Saturday 8 pm -- free admission

Chicago at Park Playhouse
Friday-Saturday: The Park Playhouse in Albany's Washington Park continues its production of Chicago. (It runs through July 30). Tuesday-Saturday 8 pm -- free on the lawn / reserve tickets $16 and up

Chicago at the Mac-Haydn
Friday-Sunday: The Mac-Haydn Theatre's production of Chicago will continue this weekend as well. Friday-Sunday -- various times and prices

Comedy

Louis Ramey
Friday-Saturday: Last Comic Standing finalist Louis Ramey is playing The Comedy Works in Saratoga Springs. Friday 8 pm / Saturday 7:30 and 9:30 pm -- $15 advance / $20 at the door / dinner package $40 advance / $45 at the door

Luenell
Friday-Sunday: Actress and comedian Luenell brings her stand-up act to the Funny Bone at Crossgates. (She's appeared in Borat, The Middle, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.) Friday-Sunday various times -- $17

Robert Pinsky at the NYS Writers Institute
Friday: Robert Pinsky (former Poet Laureate of the United States; author Gulf Music, The Figured Wheel, The Want Bone, At The Foundling Hospital) will read at the NYS Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore's Palamountain Hall. 8 pm -- free

Music

Friday: Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band at The Egg
Singer/songwriter. With: Darlingside. 8 pm -- $28 and up

Friday: Bumper Jacksons at Caffe Lena at The Grove
"[H]ot and sweet, painting America's story from New Orleans' brothels to Appalachian hollers." 7 pm -- $18

Friday: Terry Gordon Quintet at Upbeat on the Roof
Jazz. 7 pm -- free

Friday: Triple Play at Universal Preservation Hall
"Delta Blues, Tin Pan Alley standards, New Orleans grooves, jazz gems and incisive originals." 7:30 pm -- $25 ahead / $30 at door

Saturday: White Denim at The Hollow
Rock. 9 pm -- $18 ahead / $20 day of

Saturday: Mamadou Kelly outdoors at Freedom Square in Troy
West African star, organized by the Sanctuary for Independent Media. With: Bankaina. 5 pm -- free

Saturday: Jack and Amanda Palmer at Basilica Hudson
Jack is Amanda's dad. With: Thor & Friends. 7 pm -- $15 ahead / $20 at the door

Saturday: Bang On a Can All-Stars play Brian Eno's Music for Airports at MASS MoCA
Part of the ongoing Bang On a Can Festival. 8 pm -- $12 ahead / $18 day of

Saturday: Haas Kowert Tice + Jean Rohe at Caffe Lena at The Grove
Bluegrass + singer/songwriter. 7 pm -- $20

Sunday: Alejandro Escovedo at Helsinki Hudson
Austin icon. 8 pm -- $25

Sunday: Gary Nuñez y Plena Libre at Music Haven
"Puerto Rico's foremost purveyors of plena and bomba..." With: Jose Conde Unplugged. 7 pm -- free

Baseball

Hall of Fame induction weekend
There will be events all weekend in Cooperstown for this year's inductions in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza are the new class. The induction ceremony is Sunday. (Cooperstown will be packed. So, if you'd like to go, be sure to check the details and plan ahead.)

Dutchmen
Saturday: The Albany Dutchmen will take on the Glens Falls Dragons at Christian Plumeri Sports Complex in Albany. Saturday 5:05 PM - $5 / students and seniors $4 (with ID) / $3 for kids 12 and under / under 4 free

ValleyCats
Sunday: The Tri-City ValleyCats will face off with the Vermont Lake Monsters on Southpaw's birthday. Sunday 5 pm -- $5-10 ahead / $7-12 at the door

Film

Werther
Sunday: The Spectrum is screening the Royal Opera House production of the French opera, Werther, which is based on the Goethe novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. Sunday 11 am -- $15

Drive-in
Here's what you can see this weekend:
+ Hollywood: Ice Age and Ghostbusters
+ Jericho Drive In: The Secret Life of Pets and Ghostbusters
+ Malta: Screen 1: Ice Age and The Secret Life of Pets | Screen 2: Star Trek Beyond and Ghostbusters

Art/museums
Wander through one of the Capital Region's museums or galleries:

Fence Select
The annual Fence Select show recently opened at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy. It'll be on display through August 27.

A More Perfect Union
The Tang presents: A More Perfect Union -- a new exhibit featuring Mel Ziegler's Multi-Year Project Flag Exchange. The installation includes 50 American flags collected by Ziegler, who traveled the country trading new flags for tattered ones flying at homes and public locations. (Runs through January.) free admission (suggested donations of $2 - $5)

Circus
The Arkell Museum has an exhibit of circus-themed art and vintage circus marketing materials.

Alexander Hamilton
The Albany Institute of History and Art recently opened a new exhibit on the life of Alexander Hamilton and his time in Albany. Hamilton, who has experienced a resurgence in popularity due to Lin Manuel Miranda's award-winning musical based on his life, married Elizabeth Schuyler at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany and visited the city often after that. The exhibit highlights objects related to Hamilton, including a portrait from the permanent collection of Union College. (On display through December 31.)

Ansel Adams
The Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown has an exhibit of early works by Ansel Adams on display through September 18.

MASS MoCA
+ Explode Every Day: An Inquiry into the Phenomena of Wonder
+ Alex Da Corte's Free Roses
+ Here Comes the Sun in the Kidspace

Splendor, Myth, and Vision
Now on display at The Clark: Splendor, Myth, and Vision: Nudes from the Prado. Blurbage: "The exhibition explores the role of the nude in European painting in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the collecting and display practices of the Spanish royalty. Twenty-four of the paintings have never before been shown in America." It's on display through October 10.

Best of SUNY Student Art
This year's Best of SUNY Student Art Exhibition is now on display at the State Museum. It's juried presentation of student work from across SUNY's many campuses. "The works on exhibit at the New York State Museum represent the wide range of media being studied by art students within SUNY and cover the traditional areas of drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, and sculpture, as well as digital imaging, photography, and mixed media installations." It's on display through October 23.

Sculpture parks
Maybe you'd like to explore some sculpture parks around the region.

Day trips
Explore some waterfalls, head for The Berkshires, The Catskills, or Columbia County. Or check out a state park.

Swimming
Capital Region community swimming pools and beaches are open. Here's a list of local pools, beaches and spray pads, complete with dates, pricing and other important details.

Blueberries
Blueberry season has arrived in the Capital Region -- here are a bunch of places you can pick your own.

Farmers' markets
+ Troy Waterfront Farmers Market makes a move to Riverfront Park for the rest of the summer because of construction on River Street. Saturday 9 am-2 pm
+ The Saratoga Farmers' Market is outdoors at High Rock Park. Saturday from 9 am-1 pm
+ The Delmar Farmers Market is at Bethlehem Central Middle School. Saturday 9 am-1 pm
+ The Schenectady Greenmarket is at its outdoor location around City Hall. Sunday from 10 am-2 pm.
+ The Spa City Farmers' Market is outdoors to the lawn at the Lincoln Baths. Sunday from 10 am-3 pm

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