10 things to do in Boston this weekend

BosTen is your weekly guide to the best events and coolest things to do in Boston.

Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Handout

By Kevin Slane

April 25, 2024

Welcome to BosTen, your weekly guide to the coolest events and best things to do in Boston this weekend. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter here. Have an idea about what we should cover? Leave us a comment on this article or in the BosTen Facebook group, or email us at [email protected].

Go way down to ‘Hadestown’

Anaïs Mitchell’s road to Broadway began during “a long drive up the East Coast” in 2005. The then-24-year-old Vermonter/recent Middlebury College grad was hungry to make it as a singer/songwriter and driving to her next gig, when the very first lyrics to what would become “Hadestown” popped into her head. Soon, “Hadestown” was a scrappy DIY Vermont-based production. By 2010, it was a “folk-opera” studio album, featuring Ani DiFranco, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, and more. By 2019, “Hadestown” — intertwining two mythic tales, Orpheus and Eurydice, and Hades and his wife Persephone — was a bonafide Broadway hit, with music, lyrics, and book by Mitchell. This week, Mitchell is bringing it all back home: A tour of “Hadestown” runs at Boston’s Boch Center Wang Theatre now through April 28. Tickets for all six remaining shows are available now through the theater’s website. (Thursday, April 25 through Sunday, April 28 at various times; 270 Tremont St., Boston; $63 and up) — Lauren Daley

Get steamy at the Boston-filmed ‘Challengers’

In the new movie “Challengers,” director Luca Guadagnino pulls off the ultimate trick. The Italian filmmaker has made one of the most sensual, titillating, and downright erotic movies in recent memory — all without featuring a single sex scene. Instead, all of that lustful energy explodes on the tennis court, where Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor serve up two hours of over-the-top entertainment. Zendaya plays Tashi, a former tennis phenom whose gruesome injury relegates her to coaching duties for her husband, Art (Faist), who is in a slump. Tashi attempts to boost his confidence by putting him in a low-level “challengers” tournament — where he comes face to face with his former best friend, Patrick (O’Connor). Years before, the trio were all on the same path towards tennis stardom — and were tangled in a love triangle that pointed in all three directions. Though the film is set in New Rochelle, “Challengers” was filmed in Boston in 2022. The tennis courts of Wheaton College are pretty well-disguised, but eagle-eyed viewers should recognize the alleyways and luxury hotels of downtown Boston, the building facades of the South End, and more. (Opening the evening of Thursday, April 25 nationwide; Rated R) — Kevin Slane

Video: Kevin Slane discusses ‘Challengers’ review on ‘Boston Globe Today’

Smell the flowers at MFA’s Art in Bloom

The Museum of Fine Arts is ushering in spring with Art in Bloom, their annual flower and art festival. The museum pairs gardeners with artworks at the museum, asking them to create floral arrangements inspired by Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, and others. Visitors can see the floral arrangements just after New England garden clubs have freshly installed them during Thursday night’s preview, or Friday through Sunday. Enjoy free guided tours of the arrangements with museum admission, and visit the Garden Cart to take home your own flower arrangements or floral-themed gifts. (Friday, April 26 through Sunday, April 28 during museum hours; 20 Museum Rd., Boston; $10-$27) — Kevin Slane

Enjoy live music at the Town and the City Festival

It’s time to get on the road (pun intended) and head to The Town and The City Festival. The spirited music and arts festival returns to downtown Lowell on this Friday and Saturday to pay homage to the spirit and creativity of novelist and poet native son Jack Kerouac by booking diverse musical genres and artistic disciplines. Kicking things off Friday evening at The Overlook at Mill No. 5 is Earfull, a series featuring writers and musicians performing in an intimate setting that this year includes alt-rock musician Freda Love Smith and comedian and musician Dave Hill. In all, more than 50 acts will hit the stage at more than a dozen venues, including indie-singer/songwriters Syd Straw and Robyn Hitchcock, Everfiner, Bermuda Search Party (the band formerly known as Q-Tip Bandits), and Air Traffic Controller. (Friday, April 26 from 6 p.m.-12 a.m. and Saturday, April 27 from 2 p.m.-12 a.m. at various locations; $8-22 per show, $55 for two-day passes) — Cheryl Fenton

Visit ‘Ethiopia at the Crossroads’ at the PEM

New this month at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem is “Ethiopia at the Crossroads,” an exhibit with over 200 artifacts that explores 2,000 years of Ethiopian art. Located in the Horn of Africa, the country has historically been an intersection of different cultures and religions. This exhibit, which will be at the PEM through July 7, dives into the arts and culture of the region, displaying ancient artifacts like manuscripts and metalwork alongside works from renowned contemporary Ethiopian artists. (Daily through July 7; 161 Essex St., Salem; $12-20) — Natalie Gale

See Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’

The history of Boston Baroque and the classic opera “Don Giovanni” is long and illustrious. In 1986, the group staged the U.S. premiere of the original Prague version of the opera using period instruments, introducing audiences to a classical take on the seminal 1788 opera with music by Mozart and a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Now, Boston Baroque is staging its first performance at the Huntington Theatre, which will allow the group to put its orchestra at the center of the action. Tickets for all three performances, featuring Sidney Outlaw in the title role, are available now. And for those who can’t attend in-person, livestream tickets are also available. (Thursday, April 25 through Sunday, April 28 at various times; 264 Huntington Ave., Boston; $25 and up) — Kevin Slane

Get spicy at the Boston Hot Sauce Party

Conan O’Brien’s recent tour de force appearance on “Hot Ones” proves that even Bostonians whose ancestors shunned spicy foods can embrace the heat when needed. To that end, spice-lovers and hot sauce novices alike are welcome to check out the Boston Sauce Party, a two-day celebration of hot sauces at Harpoon Brewery this Saturday and Sunday. Take part in spicy food classics with eating contests for hot wings or spiked pizza. Or if you’re really brave, join the “marshmallow from hell” challenge featuring hot sauce from the team behind Hell’s Kitchen Hot Sauce out of Manhattan. The late afternoon session on Saturday is sold out, but tickets for early Saturday and Sunday are still available via Eventbrite. (Saturday, April 27 from 12-8 p.m. and Sunday, April 28 from 12-6 p.m.; 306 Northern Ave., Boston; $10 and up) — Kevin Slane

Hike over to the Boston Outdoor Expo

For the rugged adventurers of the Boston area, your weekend plans may center around a trip to the White Mountains or an early-season kayak session on the Charles. Between those nature excursions, head to the Boston Outdoor Expo, which brings some of the world’s great explorers and your favorite outdoor brands to the BCEC for two days. Get inspired by speakers like Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the first man to cross Antarctica from one side to the other on foot. Learn a new outdoor activity during workshops for trail running, bushcraft, or the more mellow pickleball. After chilling out in a cold bath, you’ll be able to browse the newest merch from more than 150 exhibitors, including activewear companies like EMS, Arc’Teryx, and Marathon Sports. Best of all, Boston.com (which is a co-sponsor of the event) is offering free admission all weekend long for readers who use the code THISWEEKEND at checkout. (Saturday, April 27 from 10-6 p.m. and Sunday, April 28 from 10-4 p.m.; 415 Summer St., Boston; free admission with code THISWEEKEND) — Kevin Slane

Cure the blues with Beth Hart at Chevalier Theatre

Update: Beth Hart’s April 27 show at the Chevalier Theatre has been postponed. The subject of a 2023 documentary called “Bad Woman Blues,” Beth Hart is an inevitable presence at annual awards ceremonies in her genre. Since 2012, she has been honored with a dozen Blues Music Awards nominations (with one win), eight Blues Blast Awards nods (six of which she won), and a win for each of her three European Blues nominations. Moreover, her 2022 album, “A Tribute to Led Zeppelin” — on which she was unhesitant to tackle epics such as “Kashmir,” “Stairway to Heaven,” and “The Rain Song” — put her in contention for first Planet Rock Awards trophy. (Saturday, April 27 at 8 p.m.; 30 Forest St., Medford, $55-$75) — Blake Maddux

Find the remedy with the Black Crowes

Sometimes The Black Crowes are a bunch of straight-ahead rockers, sometimes they reveal their Georgian roots and turn into Southern rockers. They’ve also, over their on-and-off four-decade career, been known to toss in a ballad, offer up an anthemic piece of music, and border on being a jam band. These days, the brothers Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson — and their current lineup of bandmates — appear to be doing it all. The last big breakup was in 2015, the most recent reuniting was in 2020. Alas, COVID-19 got in the way of a comeback but, finally, they’re on the road again, energetically so. Their “Happiness Bastards” tour, which visits MGM Music Hall this Sunday, takes its name from their recent album, released on the Ides of March. (Sunday, April 28 at 8 p.m.; 2 Lansdowne St., Boston, $42-$122) — Ed Symkus