Eight Things To Do In February


ne boat showPhoto via the New England Boat Show

 

 

Geek Chic
The Museum of Science hosts “Design Zone,” an interactive show that will teach you how to make the most addictive video game, how to manipulate beats per minutes to create the perfect DJ playlist, and how to assemble the most exciting roller coaster. In other words, this is an exhibit your kids will drag you to. 2/10–4/7

The Kings of Anti-Pop
One of the first and perhaps most unusual of cult-rock bands, the Residents have been around since the early ’70s and are now the kind of established avant-garde icons who perform at the ICA. Known for their anonymity, the group, clad in tuxes, top hats, and costumes featuring huge bloodshot eyeballs for heads, has made dozens of albums combining rock, jazz, electronics, and utter weirdness. 2/12

Physician, Heal Thy Shih Tzu
A staff surgeon at Angell Animal Medical Center, Nick Trout writes from experience in The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs about a Vermont vet who discovers that his patients’ illnesses are far less complex than their owners’ lives. Out 2/12, Hyperion, $15

The Bard Bows Out
American Repertory Theater founder Robert Brustein has completed a trilogy of plays about William Shakespeare with The Last Will, which concerns the Bard’s retirement and fatal illness. The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company brings it to the stage at Suffolk’s Modern Theatre. 2/13–2/24

Dynamite Drama
With this month’s inauguration of ArtsEmerson’s The Next Thing (TNT) Festival, at the Paramount Center, Boston gets one step closer to being a theater pioneer. Over 10 days, TNT will feature 17 performances—as well as workshops, screenings, and live music—highlighted by the monologist Mike Daisey’s look at “American Utopias,” from Disney to Occupy, and a dramatization of David Foster Wallace’s most colorful essays. 2/15–2/24

Salty-Dog Summit
The New England Boat Show comes to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Featuring more than 750 boats, 180 seminars, and even a remote-control-sailboat pond, this extravaganza should make even the most stubborn landlubbers yearn for open water. 2/16–2/24

Puerto Rican Portraits
The New England Conservatory’s Miguel Zenón—named a MacArthur “genius” in 2008—performs his multimedia piece Identities Are Changeable for the third time ever, at Jordan Hall. Combining video and music, the saxophonist and composer explores how Puerto Ricans here and on the home island view their lives and culture. 2/22

Little Monsters Inc.
Lady Gaga brings her live show, “Born This Way Ball”—which she calls an “electro-metal pop-opera”—to the TD Garden. We say it’s more a Broadway musical and electric dance-a-thon mash-up. Regardless, she’s awesome live. 2/27