All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

On your mark. Get set. Weekend!

It's time to stop reading about politics for a few hours and do something fun. Everyone's opinions will still be on social media when you get back. We promise.

This weekend's list of stuff to do includes ballet, baseball, blueberries, and a whole bunch of other fun things that don't start with "b." You'll find a whole alphabet of fun after the jump.

Planning something that didn't make our list? Drop it in the comments so the rest of us can see it.

Now get out there and start weekend!

Go. Now. Good job.

Troy Night Out: Christmas in July
Friday: This month's Troy Night Out theme is Christmas in July. A few things happening:
+ The Tech Valley Center of Gravity is hosting a Pecha Kucha with talks on robots, pre-Civil War baseball, ecosystems, social justice and other topics.
+ There's a pop up art show at 33 2nd Street with music by DJ Jordan Taylor.
+The Arts Center of the Capital Region hosts three exhibit openings -- Fence Select 2016, Ray Felix: Interiors, and Andrea Hersh's Heavenly Body.
+ The Arts Center is also hosting a "writers' relay" with readings from writing instructors Olivia Dunn, Michael Welch, Susan Comninos, and Cara Benson. Readings at 7:15 and 8:15.
+ Capital Roots is hosting a community Potluck with tours.
+ Troy Cloth and Paper is releasing a Troy Night Out print off designed by Lunchboxbrain's Andrew Gregory.

Friday 5- 9 pm

The Track
Friday-Sunday: Weekend two of the season at the Saratoga Race Course is underway. Saturday is the Jim Dandy stakes race.

Schoharie County Sunshine Fair
Saturday-Sunday: The Schoharie County Sunshine Fair starts this weekend with tractors pulls, a demolition derby, a parade, music, fireworks, and more. Saturday-Sunday starting at 9 am -- $15 / $12 seniors / free children 12 and under / eight-day passes are $45

Austerliz Blueberry Festival
Sunday: The annual Austerlitz Blueberry Festival returns with animals, sheep shearing, craft demonstrations, kids activities, magic, a silent auction, and a blueberry pancake breakfast. Sunday 9 am-4 pm -- $17 / free 12 and under (additional charge for the pancake breakfast)

NYC Ballet
Friday-Saturday: The NYC Ballet wraps up its summer stay at SPAC. This weekend's performances include Fancy Free (with music by Bernstein and choreography by Jerome Robbins), Rhapsody in Blue, and Jewels. 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. (It closes August 7.) Friday-Sunday various times - $25 and up

Williamstown Theatre Festival
Friday-Sunday: The Williamstown Theatre Festival's season continues with the new comedy Romance Novels for Dummies on the main stage (it runs through July 31). The new musical Poster Boy is on the Nikos Stage (it runs through August 7). various times -- $40 and up

Much Ado About Nothing
Friday: The Adirondack Shakespeare Company will be presenting its rendition of Much Ado About Nothing at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs. Friday 7:30 pm - $20 / $17 students, seniors, and veterans / free children 12 and younger

Cyrano
Friday-Saturday: Saratoga Shakespeare will be holding a production of Cyrano at Congress Park. Friday and Saturday 6 pm -- free admission

Into the Woods
Friday-Sunday: The Mac-Haydn Theatre's production of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods opens this weekend. Friday-Saturday -- various times and prices

Love, Loss, and What I Wore
Friday-Sunday: Nora and Delia Ephron's play Love, Loss, and What I Wore opens this weekend at Curtain Call Theater. Friday-Sunday various times -- $24

Park Playhouse
Friday-Saturday: The Park Playhouse's production of Chicago in Washington Park closes on Saturday. Friday-Saturday 8 pm -- free on the lawn / reserve tickets $16 and up

Hiawatha
Sunday: The Adirondack Shakespeare Company performs its production of Hiawatha at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs. Sunday 3 pm - $20 / $17 students, seniors, and veterans / free children 12 and younger

Baseball

Dutchmen
+ Friday: The Albany Dutchmen take on the Oneonta Outlaws at Christian Plumier Sports Complex in Albany. Friday 5:05 pm - $5 / students and seniors $4 (with ID) / $3 for kids 12 and under / under 4 free
+ Saturday: The Dutchmen play the Saugerties Stallions at Christian Plumeri Sports Complex in Albany. Saturday 7:05 pm - $5 / students and seniors $4 (with ID) / $3 for kids 12 and under / under 4 free

ValleyCats
Sunday: The Tri-City ValleyCats take on the Lowell Spinners at The Joe. Sunday 5 pm - $5-10 ahead / $7-12 day of

Film

National Theatre Live presents The Audience
Sunday: The Spectrum is screening the West End production of The Audience, starring Helen Mirren in her Tony-winning turn as Queen Elizabeth II. Heads-up: multiple screenings of the performance last year were sold out. Sunday 11 am -- $15

An American in Paris
Saturday: Proctors celebrates National Dance Day with a screening of An American in Paris, the 1951 Gene Kelly / Leslie Carron classic, in the main stage theater. Saturday at 2 pm -- free

"Frankly, my dear..."
The Madison Theater is screening Gone with the Wind this weekend. Friday-Sunday -- $5

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

Comedy

Paul Bond
Friday-Saturday: MTV's Paul Bond will be at 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

John Morgan
Friday-Saturday: The "Ragin Cajun" John Morgan plays the Funny Bone ay Crossgates (21 & over).Friday-Saturday various times -- $12-$16

Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Shane Torres
Saturday: The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series at Proctors hosts Shane Torres. Torres has been seen on Conan, Last Comic Standing, and IFC's Comedy Bang Bang. Saturday 8 pm -- $15 advance / $20 at the door

Music

Friday: A-Boogie DOPE JAM 2 at Upstate Concert Hall
Rap. With: DJ Rookie, DJ Static, DJ King Bully, DJ Show. 9 pm -- $25 ahead / $35 day of

Friday: Two Cow Garage at The Low Beat
Alt-country. With: Hot Cousin. 8 pm -- $10

Friday: Way Down Wanderers at Caffe Lena at The Grove
Roots. 7 pm -- $18

Friday: Swamp Baby at Upbeat on the Roof
Chamber pop. 7 pm -- free

Saturday: The Lumineers show at Brewery Ommegang is sold out.

Saturday: Bang on a Can Marathon at MASS MoCA
Annual closing to the Bang on a Can festival. 4-10 pm -- $12 ahead / $18 day of

Saturday: Shush Packet + Odd Body at Pauly's Hotel
Alt rock + folk/punk. 8 pm -- $5

Sunday: Luke Bryan at SPAC
Country star. With: Little Big Town, Dustin Lynch. 7 pm -- $32.50 and up

Sunday: Best Coast at Upstate Concert Hall
Indie rock. With: The Stargazer Lillies. 8 pm -- $20 ahead / $22 day of

Sunday: Chick Corea Trio featuring Christian McBride and Brian Blade at Tanglewood
Jazz. 8 pm -- $19 and up

Sunday: Monty Alexander-Harlem Kingston Trio at Music Haven
Jazz pianist. With: Alfred St. John's Trinidad & Tobago Steelband. 7 pm -- free

Discosexual dance party
Saturday: Rocks Nightclub hosts Discosexual, a 70s disco-era chance party featuring DJs Isaiah Garrett and Don Stone along with drag and burlesque performances. Tickets online or at the door. Saturday 11 pm -- $10

Summer Writers Institute
Friday: The NYS Summer Writers Institute wraps up its series of public author readings at Skidmore on Friday with two Pulitzer Prize winners: Novelist Paul Harding (Tinkers, Enon) and Poet Carl Dennis (Unknown Friends, Practical Gods, New & Selected Poems). Friday 8 pm in the Davis Auditorium of Skidmore's Palamountain Hall -- free

Composer Michael Torke on the creative process
Sunday: Renowned composer Michael Torke will discuss the creative process in the Victoria Pool complex meeting room at Saratoga Spa State Park. The room is commonly referred to as the Ice Cream Parlor, and ice cream will be served with each paid admission. Sunday 3 pm -- $5

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 is in 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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