Seven Can’t-Miss Events in Boston, August 2017

Karoly Grosz, The Mummy, 1932, produced by Universal Pictures, printed by Morgan Lithograph Company, Collection of Kirk Hammett, Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing, LLC.

MOVIES ’N’ METAL
“It’s Alive!”

This month, the Peabody Essex Museum unveils an exhibition of nearly 100 horror and sci-fi movie posters and lobby cards, as well as other creature-feature artifacts. Meanwhile, eight guitars on display reveal the telltale heart of the collection’s owner, Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett. “I just sit in front of my movie posters and play guitar,” says the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and author of the timeless “Enter Sandman” riff. “With every room of mine that has movie posters, you’ll find guitars and amps and a recording device.” Hammett’s affinity for horror films started in childhood; now, some 110 million albums sold later, he’s amassed one of the world’s finest creep-show memorabilia collections. And he’s thrilled to share it with the headbangers and aesthetes alike who make the trip up to America’s witchiest burg. “I think Salem is the perfect place—I love it,” Hammett says.

August 12–November 26, Peabody Essex Museum, 978-745-9500, pem.org.

Photograph by Allison White

BOOK
Mrs. Fletcher

Bestselling Belmont author Tom Perrotta (Little Children, The Leftovers) returns with another satire of New England suburbia, wherein the titular divorcée struggles with empty-nest syndrome when her only child goes off to college. Meanwhile, her son discovers that his bro-tastic high-school-jock persona doesn’t translate well to the halls of higher ed.

Out August 1, $26, Scribner.

THEATER
Hamlet

To see, or not to see, more free outdoor Shakespeare: that is the question, easily answered. The Brown Box Theatre Project stages the Bard’s most iconic play in al fresco spaces in and around the city. So hie thee hence to Allston’s Christian Herter Park, Atlantic Wharf downtown, Assembly Row in Somerville, and other locations.

August 11–27, brownboxtheatre.org.

Andy Warhol, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1978, Polacolor Type 108, Gift from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., The Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program

PHOTOGRAPHY
“Everybody, Everything”

For almost 30 years, up until the day he died, Andy Warhol documented his days with snapshots of megastars, counterculture heroes, and stray objects. Now MassArt’s President’s Gallery debuts a collection of these startling images in both black and white and in color, many taken with Cambridge’s own photographic wonder, the Polaroid.

August 14–October 21, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 617-879-7000, massart.edu.

MUSICAL
Burn All Night

This world-premiere immersive dance-club experience reveals modern life on edge, as hard-clubbing millennials navigate the big city when a global apocalypse threatens. Written by Smash actor Andy Mientus and featuring music by members of the synthpop band Teen Commandments, it’s already getting some Broadway buzz.

August 18–September 8, Oberon, 617-547-8300, americanrepertorytheater.org.

ICONS
Lionel Richie with Mariah Carey

It’s hard to dance on the ceiling when you’re having knee surgery, so back in March, Richie had to postpone his first-ever tour with über-diva Carey. Now they’re finally here, ready to belt out hits like “Hello” and “Dreamlover.”

August 22, TD Garden, 800-745-3000, tdgarden.com.

Photograph by Michael Dwyer

MUSIC/DANCE
Landmarks Dance Carnival

Mixing classical music and choreography, the Boston Landmarks Orchestra’s summer concert series includes Aaron Copland’s Rodeo, traditional Brazilian and Irish dance music, and even a new work by local composers Ryan Edwards and Apostolos Paraskevas, which features performers from the city’s Camp Harbor View and Boys and Girls Clubs.

August 23, Hatch Memorial Shell, 617-987-2000, landmarksorchestra.org.