Boston stages light up for spring

The air is warm (well, warmer). Arts are hot (real, real hot). It’s time to get out and see something.

What? How about ballet or Beethoven, Broadway theater or loud rock ‘n’ roll.“Carousel”now through April 13, Emerson Colonial TheatreThe Boston Lyric Opera presents an 80th anniversary production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Carousel” at the theater it debuted at in 1945. And the BLO does it with help from director Anne Bogart — who helmed one of the company’s most-triumphant productions, 2019’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” set in a Harvard gymnasium.



blo.org“Crowns”now through May 4, Arrow Street ArtsHats offer a window into Black history and community in Regina Taylor’s “Crowns.” When a young Black woman’s brother is killed, she heads South to visit her aunt and finds hats everywhere from baptisms to funerals.

Northern and Southern, old and young, cultures clash in “Crowns” as the lead character investigates her identity. moonboxproductions.orgMitsuko Uchida plays Beethoven Piano Concerto No.

4April 17 – 19, Symphony HallMitsuko Uchida is one of the world’s great Beethoven interpreters. Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 is one of the world’s great concertos — it’s thought of as the composer’s first break with Mozart’s format.

If that isn’t an impressive enough pairing, after Beethoven, the program will jump into a performance of Shostakovich’s Fifteenth Symphony. bso.orgFranz FerdinandApril 12, Orpheum TheaterNow is a nice time for this Scottish band to invade the States.

Hopefully, Franz Ferdinad plays the song “Huck and Jim” where frontman Alex Kapranos manages to link universal health care and great American literature singing, “We’re going to America/We’re gonna tell them about the NHS (Britain’s National Health Service)/When we get there we’ll all hang out/Sipping 40’s with Huck and Jim.” franzferdinand.comGrateful ShredApril 30, the Sinclair, CambridgeAfter one of Grateful Shred gigs, an old-school, gray-bearded Deadhead gave bassist Dan Horne a strange complement.

“He told me, ‘I’ve seen the Grateful Dead 117 times and you’re not as good as the Grateful Dead but you’re pretty good,’” Horne told the Herald a few years ago. “I just loved that. It said so much about what we are trying to do.

” We agree with that old dude. sinclaircambridge.com“Kimberly Akimbo”May 6 – 18, Citizens Opera HouseTony-winner for best musical in 2023, “Kimberly Akimbo” follows the story of a teenage girl turning into an old woman.

Kimberly Levaco has a rare condition that accelerates aging but doesn’t stop her from navigating a funny, sad, complex, and surprisingly dynamic life. The hit is satirical, smart, and deeply human. Boston.

broadway.com“Spring Experience”May 15 – 25, Citizens Opera HouseLast year, Boston Ballet artistic director Mikko Nissinen reinvented Marius Petipa’s “Raymonda” by erasing outdated and offensive caricatures while retaining its classical choreography, wonderful score, and magical look. It was a hit and returns this year as part of a program rounded out by choreographer Jiří Kylián’s “Petite Mort” and “27’52.

” bostonballet.orgMusic of the CosmosMay 23 & 24, Symphony HallConductor Keith Lockhart and narrator George Takei go where no Boston Pops concert has gone before in this multimedia program put together with help from Boston’s Museum of Science and Center for Space Sciences. Ready yourself for a journey that explores music, space, and science fiction with two fitting captains in Lockhart and Takei.

bso.orgJi Young Chae and Jeffrey Cirio in Mikko Nissinen’s “Raymonda.” (Photo Rosalie O’Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet).