This summer, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) invites you to reimagine the world of maps and globes in an installation conceived by Argentinian artist Agustina Woodgate. In Ballroom, the gallery floor is filled with globes that have been meticulously sanded to remove all traces of information, transforming what were once vital sources of knowledge into mute objects.

Lu Dongbin, also known as Lü Dongbin or Lu Tung-Pin, is a towering figure in Chinese mythology and religion. As one of the Eight Immortals, a revered pantheon within Daoism, he transcends the boundaries of a mere historical figure. He embodies wisdom, benevolence, and mastery of the Dao (the Way), leaving behind a legacy that continues to inspire generations. This exploration delves into the life, legends, and significance of Lu Dongbin, the scholar-immortal who wields both sword and wisdom.

Reacting to the carnage of WWI Dada was spawned at the Cafe Voltaire in Zurich in 1916. The absurdist, anti-art movement was founded by sound and noise poet and performance artist Hugo Ball. He wrote its influential manifesto. The Cafe lasted several months but the spirit of Dada spread to Berlin, New York and Paris. Largely a literary movement its artifacts are rare. They survive as ransom note graphics and raw agit-prop collages, Dada perished in the mayhem of culture wars in Paris in 1922. Many of its artists were absorbed into surrealism which had two published manifestos in 1924.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival will bring the acclaimed Social Tango Project—an innovative dance company founded and based in Buenos Aires, Argentina— for an immersive week-long engagement during Week 4 of the Festival. Offering audiences a deep dive into the art of tango, Social Tango Project will showcase this social dance like never before in the historic Ted Shawn Theatre from Wednesday, July 17 to Sunday, July 21. 

The Ulysses Quartet performed Beethoven’s final work, his string quartet in A minor, in the Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. The classical spirit of Leonard Bernstein, who is buried here atop Battle Hill, pervades the place. Programs are various and always tasteful. The setting enhances the experience

Our lives are filled with memories. Lisa, the main character in 2.5 Minute Ride, wants to share memories of her father, his life, and her relationship with him. The autobiographical play by Lisa Kron is at Hartford Stage through Sunday, June 23.

Most people are unaware of the dedication and sacrifices that actors make to pursue their passion. In this brief insight, we learn of the struggles of one man to put bread on the table while seeking the limelight. We also learn of mental health issues that have plagued his family.

Sandra, the owner of a coffee house/café in New York City, can’t stop thinking about Ethan, her best friend after she receives a phone call: someone needs to get in touch with him, but can’t. She’s listed as his emergency contact.

For over-the-top camp hilarity and flat out fun nothing tops the outrageous musical, La Cage aux Folles, which is getting a swing for the rafters production at Barrington Stage Company through July 6. This is likely to be a boffo summer smash with a too-brief run.

The collaboration between "Astrid Hiemer and Michelle Wiley, Our Surreality" on view at the Eclipse Gallery in North Adams through July 7, is inspired by Dada and Surrealism. In creating this inventive exhibition they have torn up the conventional playbook. Expect the unexpected in this witty and inventive exhibition. The work is engaging, confounding and brimming with life spirit.

Southeast Florida-based New City Players mounted a production of "The Glass Menagerie" in 2016, the company's first year. Today, eight years later, the company will stage a production of another Williams masterwork -- "A Streetcar Named Desire."

The La Jolla Playhouse presents The Ballad of Johnny and June, a musical about the lives of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash.  Narrated by John Carter Cash, played by Von Hughes, the play begins with John trying to decide if he wants to get married.  John Carter Cash was the only child of the union of Johnny and June.  As John contemplates marriage, he tells the love story of his famous parents and their challenges with fame and addiction. 

In producing a play that is two years older than I am director, David Auburn, has been faithful to the text but made changes, the de rigeur legerdemain that contemporizes the production. There has been gender and race switching with mixed results. Those role changes range from muddled and gratuitous to truly brilliant and inspired. It’s a long evening in three acts that lags as well as has its brilliant and inspired moments.

Wu Wei is a lifelong journey, not a destination. It’s about cultivating a sense of ease and harmony in the face of life’s complexities. By embracing its principles, we can learn to flow with the current, navigate life’s rapids with greater grace, and find a deeper sense of peace and fulfillment along the way.

Toni Stone is a woman who loves to play baseball, and she is very good at it. She is recruited to join the barnstorming Indianapolis Clowns, who tour the region playing mainly white teams. They are expected not only to play baseball (and supposedly lose) but also to dance and sing during the fifth-inning break.  It was unclear if they played in what was considered the Major League of the Negro Leagues or were more like a minor league team.

A national equity touring production of "Clue: Live on Stage" delights. The production is just finishing a run at Ft. Lauderdale's Broward Center for the Performing Arts. The production will return to Florida in December at Sarasota's Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

The Houston Symphony presented Richard Strauss’ Salome. It was a perfect concert opera production.  All the singers were not only off book, but costumed to perfection (or unveiled when that critical moment arrives).

Sarah Ganz Blythe, a highly respected curator, educator, and scholar with more than 25 years of museum experience, will be the new Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director of the Harvard Art Museums, interim Provost John Manning announced Wednesday. Ganz Blythe is joining Harvard from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum, where she is currently deputy director, exhibitions, education, and programs.

How would the first woman and man on earth think about the world around them? Mark Twain, in two short novellas, imagined what Adam and Eve would write in their diaries as they experienced the Garden of Eden.

Now that Stephen Sondheim has passed, this poignant collection of 36 songs is the first revue to span his whole life of works, from towering anthems to obscure hidden gems. Performed by an ensemble of six as a run through followed by a dress rehearsal with little additional commentary, it lets the songs do the telling.

Plays of Wilton and Ronnie Larsen Presents are staging an impressive co-production of "Daniel's Husband." The play premiered at South Florida's Island City Stage and became a hit Off-Broadway.

Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas, in association with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, is presenting Dial M for Murder as a warmup to their annual Summer Chills programming.  Based on the original play by Frederick Knott that inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, the current version has been updated by Jeffrey Hatcher.

Kaija Saariaho's last opera leaves a lasting impression. An ominous score supports a nerve-wracking story told in two time frames. A teenage shooter in Finland murders a number of his schoolmates. Ten years on, the perpetrator's brother is marrying a bride from Romania who does not know the connection. However, the waitress at the wedding reception dinner, whose daughter was a victim, recognizes the groom.

In Marjorie Kaye's recent body of work, isolating shapes are inherent in her paintings, examining and delving further into their nature. She finds limitless potential in particular intuitive algorithms, with an infinite number of patterns that can be determined from the visual arrangement of mathematical suggestions. In this new series, space is broken down as it emerges from the center.

Seventy five years ago the artists Weldon Kees and Fritz Bultman organized the summer long event Forum '49. In weekly lectures and panels the issues of the day were debated from the fine arts and architectures to jazz, literature, psychoanalysis the face off of Paris vs New York and the threat of Stalinism. The exhibits were staged in a popup space in protest over the conservative programming of the Provincetown Art Association. The dissent moved to New York and a petition against the Met signed by the Irascibles including P'town artists.