Five Reasons to Leave the House This Weekend

Photo courtesy of Maike Schulz, Big Apple Circus

FAMILY
Big Apple Circus: The Grand Tour

Looks like the circus is in town! No, seriously, Big Apple Circle is landing in Boston for the area-premiere of their new show, The Grand Tour. The show is inspired by the rise of modern travel, when most adventures began with a step aboard a ship, plane, or train. Through each act the Grand Tour promises to transport audiences across the globe to regions such as Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. Viewers can enjoy high-flying acrobats, gravity-defying aerialists, and the famed Wheel of Wonder, which we assume is very different from the equally famed Wheel of Fortune. Of course, clowns and jugglers will be present too, as well as a live-animal portion with ponies and puppies. Each performance will be accompanied by the live, seven-piece Big Apple Circus Band. The Grand tour marks the company’s 38th season production and will be performed under the Big Top at City Hall Plaza.

Tickets starting at $25, March 24- May  8, showtimes vary, 1 City Hall Plaza, Boston, bigapplecircus.com.

Photo courtesy of Boston Underground Film Festival

FILM
Boston Underground Film Festival

The 18th annual Boston Underground Film Festival returns to Brattle Theatre this weekend with screenings of bizarre and engaging films from all around the world. Included in the lineup are various New England premieres for films such as caper comedy Chasing Banksy and the mysterious Curtain. The festival began as an all-night film marathon until it morphed into the all-weekend event it is today. Movies shown in the fest are known to go outside the box, offering a new kind of experience for movie-goers bored by mainstream flicks. Priding itself in showcasing the strange and wondrous, the Boston Underground Film Festival will be screening films all day from now until Sunday evening.

$12 per show, Thursday-Sunday, March 24-27, showtimes vary, Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, brattlefilm.org.

Photo by James Bartolozzi

MUSIC
Red Baraat’s Festival of Colors

In celebration of the Hindu holiday Holi, Brooklyn-based band Red Baraat is bringing the Festival of Colors to the Sinclair. Red Baraat’s Festival of Colors debuted in 2012 in New York City and has since expanded to multiple venues across the country. Each year bandleader Sunny Jain curates a unique set of South Asian performances for a night of vibrant music. This year, the show will feature the bands Madame Gandhi and RAJAS. Red Baraat’s Festival of Colors is a part of the band’s spring US tour, promoting their new EP Livewire. NPR dubbed Red Baraat “One of the best party bands in years.” Head to their show tonight to find out why.

$23, Thursday, March 24, 8 p.m., The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Cambridge, sinclaircambridge.com.

Photo courtesy of the ICA

DANCE
Trajal Harrell at the ICA

Award-winning choreographer Trajal Harrell takes his talents to the ICA this weekend in Antigone Sr./Twenty Looks or Paris is Burning at the Judson Church (L). Harrell has brought previous works to the ICA including (S) and (M)imosas. However, the contemporary dance artist’s latest show is an all-male adaptation of Sophocles’s Greek tragedy Antigone. In the performance, Harrell combines dance with strutting and voguing in order to fuse postmodern dance with the tragedies of ancient Greece. The show explores present day issues with race, gender, sexuality, culture, and more, to give mythology a modern twist. Antigone Sr. earned Harrell the 2012 Bessie, which is the New York Dance and Performance Award for Outstanding Production. Before curtain a free pre-performance talk with dance scholar and curator Noémie Solomon will take place in the ICA lobby.

$30, Friday-Saturday, March 25-26, 8 p.m., ICA Boston, 100 Northern Ave., Boston, icaboston.org.

COMEDY
David Cross: Making America Great Again

Perhaps you know him for his standup work or for his character Tobias Fünke in Netflix’s Arrested Development. Either way, we can all agree David Cross is a funny guy. In fact, Cross was named one of the top 100 stand-up comedians of all time by Comedy Central. The Emmy award winner and Grammy nominee is currently on the road for his stand-up tour, Making America Great Again. The last time he toured was in 2009 when he performed stand up in support of his New York Time Bestseller “I Drink for a Reason.” During that tour Cross’ show at the Wilbur was filmed for a EPIX special entitled “Bigger and Blackerer.” He’s headed back to the Wilbur on Sunday for two shows, with another on Tuesday evening.

$29-$39, Sunday-Tuesday, March 27-29, showtimes vary, The Wilbur, 246 Tremont St., Boston, thewilbur.com.