All Over Albany

The week ahead

Here are a few things to keep in mind, look forward to, or keep busy with this week, from the weather (December?), to the stage, to Star Wars, to startups, to hoops, to holiday events, to all sorts of music...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast for this week:

Monday: Sunny and 45.

Tuesday: Rainy, mid 50s.

Wednesday: Some sun, mid 40s.

Thursday: Sun and upper 30s.

Friday: Sun and upper 30.

December?

Stage

Finding Neverland
Tuesday-Sunday: A touring production of the Broadway show Finding Neverland will be at Proctors. It's an adaptation of the film of the same name, about Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie. Tuesday-Sunday various times -- $20 and up

She Loves Me
Tuesday-Sunday: Capital Rep continues its production of She Loves Me. "This confection of a musical is based on the timeless story by Miklos Laszlo that also served as inspiration for the classic film The Shop Around the Corner and more recently You've Got Mail." Tuesday-Sunday various times -- $25 and up

Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker
Wednesday: The Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker is at The Palace. "Marking the 25th Anniversary Tour, Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker features over-the-top production and world class Russian artists. Larger than life Puppets, Nesting Dolls and gloriously hand-crafted costumes bring the Christmas spirit to life." 7 pm -- $31 and up

Arts and sciences

Alok Vaid-Menon
Monday: Performance artist Alok Vaid-Menon will be a Skidmore. "What feminine part of yourself did you have to destroy in order to survive in this world? At what point does femininity become synonymous with apology? Who hurt the people who hurt you? Gender Non-Conforming/Trans activist, educator and writer Alok Vaid-Menon is trying to figure it out." Monday 7 pm, Palamountain Hall -- free

Star Wars
Tuesday: Vox film critic -- and RPI alum -- Alissa Wilkinson will be at RPI's Chapel + Cultural Center for a talk "about the ways our engagement with Star Wars resembles religion in our culture, and what that means." Tuesday 7 pm -- free

From Idea to Game Studio
Tuesday: Rachel Presser will be at RPI to talk about starting up a video games studio. She's a consultant who specializes in strategy, accounting, and tax law for indie games. "Going from game idea to studio isn't as difficult as you'd think but it's got its share of pitfalls." Tuesday 4 pm -- free (registration required)

Nitty Gritty
Tuesday: The Nitty Gritty poetry slam series is back at The Low Beat. 7 pm

Nic Stone
Thursday: Novelist Nic Stone will be at the State Museum as part of the NYS Writers Institute visiting writer series. "Nic Stone's novel Dear Martin (2017) is loosely inspired by a series of true events involving the shooting deaths of unarmed African-American teens.New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds called Dear Martin, 'Raw and gripping... An undeniably real feast of fury and forgiveness.'" Thursday 7 pm, Huxley Theater -- free

Julia Jacquette
Thursday: Artist Julia Jacquette will be at the Opalka Gallery on the Sage Albany campus to talk about her work. Thursday 6:30 pm -- free

Hoops

Wednesday: The UAlbany men's basketball team faces Bryant at SEFCU Arena. Wednesday 7 pm -- $8 and up

Looking ahead to the weekend: The Siena-UAlbany games at the TU Center are this Saturday.

Startups

Wednesday: The Startup Tech Valley series is back at Revolution Hall. Presenting companies this month are focused on food review, books, energy, and mobile. Bring an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots and get a free drink ticket. Wednesday 5:30 pm -- free (registration required)

Music

Tuesday: Spoon at Upstate Concert Hall
That's the way we get by. With: White Reaper. 8 pm -- $27.50 ahead / $30 day of

Tuesday: FLY 92.3's Not So Silent Night at The Palace
All Time Low, Dua Lipa, Grace VanderWaal, Alex Aiono. Tuesday 8 pm -- $24 and up

Tuesday: The Messiah at The Cathedral of All Saints
The 146th year of the performance by The Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys. 7 pm -- $25 / $20 seniors / $15 students / $10 under 12

Wednesday: The Regrettes at The Low Beat
Garage rock with attitude. With: Mystery Girl. 6 pm -- $10

Wednesday: Wage War at Upstate Concert Hall
Metalcore. With: Oceans Ate Alaska, Gideon, Varials, Loathe. 6:30 pm -- $15 ahead / $17 day of

Wednesday: Jim Brickman at Troy Music Hall
"A Joyful Christmas." 7:30 pm -- $25 and up

Thursday: Keller Williams at The Egg
An evening with. 7:30 pm -- $29.50

Thursday: Lespecial at Parish Public House
Multi-genre rock. With: Backup Planet. 9 pm -- $12 ahead / $15 at door

Friday: Action Bronson at Upstate Concert Hall
Rap. With: Meyhem Lauren. 8 pm -- $27.50 ahead / $30 day of

Friday: Darlingside at The Egg
Folk. With: Front Country. 8 pm -- $34

Friday: Savoy Brown at The Upper Room
Blues rock. 7 pm -- $22

Friday: Sam Green and Kronos Quartet at MASS MoCA
"Get a sneak peek at this wildly creative multimedia work-in-progress, which blends live music and narration with archival footage and filmed interviews with such prominent artists as Philip Glass, Tanya Tagaq, Steve Reich, Wu Man, and Terry Riley. As Green tells the multi-decade and continent-spanning story of the groundbreaking string quartet..." 8 pm -- $30 ahead / $40 day of / $20 students

Friday: Bendt at The Hangar
Vinyl album release show. With: Good Fiction, Girl Blue. 8 pm -- $12

Friday: Consider the Source at The Hollow
"Some kind of pan-dimensional booty-shaking engine." With: Teddy Midnight. 8 pm -- $12

Friday: The Ballroom Thieves at Helsinki Hudson
Roots. With: The Harmaleighs. 9 pm -- $18

Friday: Holiday Folk Show at Caffe Lena
"The time when festive folks across the region come to Caffe Lena to enjoy a sweet, sentimental and silly celebration of the season complete with swanky décor, audience participation, and loads of lovely songs." 8 pm - $20 / $10 kids and students

Friday: The Mohammad Reza Mortazavi show at EMPAC is cancelled because of a visa hold-up.

Saturday: Albany Syphony "1786: Mozart's Miraculous Year" at Troy Music Hall
Also playing Sunday at 3 pm. 7:30 pm -- $36 and up

Saturday: David Bromberg + Jerry Douglas at The Egg
Each performing solo. 8 pm -- $36

Saturday: Enter the Haggis at Putnam Den
Celtic rock. With: Black Mountain Symphony. 9 pm -- $15

Saturday: Ellis Paul at Caffe Lena
Folk. Also playing a free kids show at 2 pm. 8 pm -- $24

Saturday: Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas Show at Cohoes Music Hall
"The Blind Boys of Alabama will be performing songs from the Talkin' Christmas! album as well as the band's previous Grammy-winning Christmas recording, Go Tell It on the Mountain, along with Blind Boys' Gospel classics." 8 pm -- $37.50 and up

Saturday: Owel at The Low Beat
Indie rock. With: Perfect Score, Parallel, Imaginary Friends. 6:30 pm -- $10 ahead / $12 day of

Saturday: Garland Jeffreys at The Linda
Roots rock. 8 pm -- $18

Saturday: Big Mean Sound Machine at The Hollow
"Afrobeat-Dance-Experimental-Funk." With: Nautilus. 8 pm -- $12

Saturday: Lady Moon & The Eclipse at Helsinki Hudson
R&B/Afrobeat. 9 pm -- $12 ahead / $15 day of

Saturday: Mammal Dap at Parish Public House
Electronic. With: Haley Moley. 9 pm -- $7

Saturday: Albany Gay Men's Chorus: "Believe"
Annual chorus concert of holiday music at the First Congregational Church in Albany (on Quail near New Scotland). 4 pm -- $12 / $9 students

Saturday: In Praise of Christmas--Songs & Carols of Christmas & Mid-Winter Celebrations at Old Songs
"A program of songs and carols of the Christmas story and midwinter celebrations from England, Wales, and Spain, all in English translations." 7:30 pm -- $20 ahead / $22 at door

Saturday: Bill Kirchen's Honky Tonk Holiday at The Hangar
"Let Grammy nominated "Titan of the telecaster" Bill Kirchen add some honky-tonk to your holidays!" 8 pm -- $20

Sunday: Victor Wooten Trio at The Egg
Jazz/funk. 7:30 pm -- $36
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These are a just a few things for this week, not a comprehensive list. Look for out "Stuff to do this weekend" list for the upcoming weekend on Friday.

Know of something people should be looking forward to this week? Please share!

The Troy Music Hall advertises on AOA.

photo: Chade Kamenshine