Welcome to the Big To-Do: Short Cuts, our guide highlighting the top things to do in and around Boston each weekend, as curated by Globe critics, editors, and writers.

As you might have noticed, we’ve given the round-up a bit of a refresh as we aim to provide readers with even more great ideas for what to see and do in the city, including last-chance suggestions for events and experiences to take advantage of before they end or leave town.

On tap this weekend: “Weird Al” Yankovic is in town, plus the Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival returns. — Matt Juul

Things to do in and around Boston this weekend

ICA’S VINYL NIGHTS The Institute of Contemporary Art hosts free vinyl nights throughout the summer. This Friday’s event will feature a launch party for Central On Air, Cambridge’s new internet radio station. Music selections will feature hip-hop/rap, R&B, freestyle, new wave, and indie-dance. July 17, 5-9 p.m. Free, but ticket required. Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Drive. icaboston.org — Daisy Levine

‘MALCOLM X’ The 1992 biopic from acclaimed director Spike Lee screens for free as part of the mayor’s movie nights series. Starring Denzel Washington, the film traces the life and legacy of the pivotal civil rights leader. Free popcorn will be provided while supplies last. July 17, 8 p.m. Free. Malcolm X Park, Dale St. at Regent St., Roxbury. boston.gov — Janira Skrbkova

BRIAN POSEHN It is strange times for Grandpa Metal, torch bearer for all things rock and nerd culture, and one of the stars of the upcoming “Big Bang Theory” spinoff “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” on HBO Max. “I like Metallica and ‘Star Wars’ again,” he says. “But ever since Disney bought Metallica it’s so good.” July 17-18, 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. $41.74. Off Cabot, 9 Wallis St., Beverly. thecabot.org  — Nick A. Zaino III

REVERE BEACH INTERNATIONAL SAND SCULPTING FESTIVAL World-class sand sculptors take over Revere Beach for the annual open-air festival this weekend. Beyond the sand art, visitors can enjoy amusement rides, fireworks, interactive activities, and more than 75 food vendors at this annual celebration. July 17-19. 350 Revere Beach Blvd., Revere. internationalsandsculptingfestival.com — JS

DUDLEY JAZZ FESTIVAL Jazz fans can enjoy an afternoon of free music, presented by Creative Cultural Arts, on Saturday. This year’s lineup includes the Fred Woodard Collective, Haneef Nelson Quintet, Kevin Harris Project, and Big Redd’s House, featuring Verna Hampton. July 18, noon-6 p.m. Shirley-Eustis House, 33 Shirley St. creativeculturalarts.org — JS

FESTIVAL BETANCES A cornerstone event for more than 50 years, Festival Betances is billed as New England’s longest-running Latino cultural festival. This year’s theme is “Boricua Legacy: Shaping America’s Story.” Stop by to enjoy a parade, food, music, and art. July 18, 12:30-9 p.m. RVSP for free on Eventbrite. Plaza Betances, 100 West Dedham St.  ibaboston.org/events/festival-betances — DL

CHRIS GETHARD A constant advocate for artists and creativity, and the host of “Beautiful Anonymous,” Gethard is the beating heart of indie comedy, and often proves comedy can be simultaneously soulful and funny. July 18, 7:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. $29.95. The Comedy Studio, 5 John F. Kennedy St., Cambridge. thecomedystudio.com — NZ

‘WEIRD AL’ YANKOVIC Al has been writing silly music and parodies for 50 years, stretching back to his high school days, and he’ll be pulling from all over his catalog for this set, backed by a five-piece band. July 18, 8 p.m. $40-$198.60. TD Garden, 100 Legends Way. tdgarden.com — NZ

LEVITATE MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL Featuring performances by Alanis Morisette, Caamp, and more, the Levitate Music and Arts Festival returns this weekend with plenty of music, plus food trucks, an artisan fair, and other fun activities. Read more about upcoming concerts and music events in this week’s Sound Check column. July 18-19, doors open at noon. Tickets start at $159. Marshfield Fairgrounds, 140 Main St., Marshfield.  levitatemusicfestival.com — DL

COPLEY SQUARE VINTAGE FESTIVAL Courtesy of Select Markets and the Office of Youth Engagement & Advancement (OYEA), shop clothing, jewelry, temporary tattoos, and tooth gems at a vintage block party with offerings from more than 50 vendors. Visitors can enjoy free drinks, live music, and food trucks. July 19, noon-6 p.m. Copley Square. eventbrite.com — JS

Critics’ and editors’ picks

Don Aucoin's picks

BUYER & CELLAR Inspired by the strange-but-true fact that Barbra Streisand had a private shopping mall built in a basement on her Malibu estate, this comedy by Jonathan Tolins stars Victor L. Shopov as a struggling actor hired to work at the mall — which has only one customer. Directed by Daniel Bourque. July 18-Aug. 1. Hub Theatre Company. Club Café, 209 Columbus Ave. hubtheatreboston.org

A NEW ERA In Miranda Austen ADEkoje’s new drama about the Black suffragist movement in Boston, inspired by a real-life 1895 reform conference here of Black women from around the country, Patrice Jean-Baptiste plays Boston activist Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, leader of an effort to outlaw lynching. Playing her fellow activists are Regine Vital, MaConnia Chesser, Frances Domond, Tolu Asade, Aislinn Brophy, Sydney Jackson, and Aliyah Harris. Directed by Summer L. Williams. July 18-Aug. 8. Company One Theatre. Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Road.  companyone.org

Odie Henderson’s pick

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK  On Saturday, the Brattle continues its tribute to the late actor Harry Dean Stanton with three of his films, including “Escape from New York.” John Carpenter’s 1981 sci-fi actioner stars Kurt Russell as the iconic eyepatch wearing antihero, Snake Plisken. It’s 1997, and Manhattan is now an inescapable maximum security prison. Plisken’s job is to sneak across the Hudson and rescue the US president (Donald Pleasance). Along the way, he meets Stanton’s power broker, Ernie Borgnine’s cab driver, Adrienne Barbeau’s badass with a gun, and most importantly, Isaac Hayes’s villain, the Duke of New York. The Duke of New York (A-Number One!) has the one movie prop I covet: a magnificent 1977 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham with chandeliers on its hood and a disco ball on its rearview mirror. See the car, and hear composer Carpenter’s best theme. July 18, 4:45 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge. brattlefilm.org

A.Z. Madonna’s picks

TANGLEWOOD  BSO music director Andris Nelsons leads two programs this weekend in the Shed. Friday’s all-American program lines up a piece by BSO composer chair Carlos Simon, the Tanglewood debut of rising Boston-based violinist Keila Wakao in Barber’s Violin Concerto, and selections from Adams’s “Nixon in China” featuring baritone Thomas Hampson, soprano Renee Fleming, soprano Hye Jung Lee, and baritone John Brancy. Sunday afternoon promises early symphonies by Beethoven and Haydn alongside Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Daniil Trifonov. But heads up for the film music buffs — Saturday’s guest conductor is Joe Hisaishi, whose name is revered on the level of John Williams among fans of the work of Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli (“Spirited Away,” “My Neighbor Totoro”). His Saturday evening program includes two of his own concert pieces as well as a suite from his score to “Princess Mononoke” (see if you can catch the Shostakovich shout-out) and Ravel’s Piano Concerto with Jean-Yves Thibaudet. And also, there’s several chamber music concerts at Ozawa and a plethora of offerings from the Tanglewood Learning Institute besides. Pack a few picnics. July 17-19. Tanglewood, Lenox. 617-266-1200,  bso.org

BAROQUE SUMMER The Society for Historically Informed Performance (SoHIP) is winding up its summer season, while Aston Magna Music is just getting started. For its final concert of 2026, SoHIP presents the four-person Berry Collective, led by fortepianist Sylvia Berry, in a program of music from the final four decades of the 18th century. Aston Magna kicks off with an all-French program of sonatas and cantatas this weekend, and next week brings an assortment of Bach and Telemann. Aston Magna: July 16 and 23, Slosberg Music Center, Brandeis University, Waltham; July 18 and 25, Saint James Place, 352 Main St., Great Barrington. 888-492-1283,  astonmagna.org; SoHIP: July 21, St. Anne’s-in-the-Fields, 147 Concord Road, Lincoln; July 22, The Chapel at West Parish, 210 Lowell St., Andover; July 23, Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury St. sohipboston.org

BOSTON LANDMARKS ORCHESTRA Boston’s outdoor orchestra launches its summer season at the Hatch Shell with a “Best of Boston” program celebrating the city’s musical heritage. Dances from “West Side Story” by Bernstein, a symphony by William Grant Still, several miniatures by Leroy Anderson, and more. As always, it’s free. July 22, 7 p.m. DCR Hatch Memorial Shell, 47 David G. Mugar Way. landmarksorchestra.org

Kate Tuttle’s pick

A HOT ROMANCE ABOUT SECOND CHANCES Julie Murphy’s latest novel, “Vera Stein Is Fine ‚" is set at Starlight Palms, a retirement community favored by aging actors. Vera, age 40, goes there seeking comfort from her grandmother and a respite from her life’s disappointments; she finds far more than she bargained for, including senior citizens acting out sexually, and the inconvenient reappearance of one of her own lost loves. Murphy reads Monday at First Parish in Cambridge via Lovestruck Books & Cafe. July 20, 7 p.m. Tickets are $6.24, $37.74 with copy of the book. First Parish, 3 Church St., Cambridge.  lovestruckbooks.com

Murray Whyte’s picks

BOTH SIDES OF THE LINE: CARMEN HERRERA & LEON POLK SMITH Closing soon: Friends, neighbors, and collaborators, Herrera and Smith, masters of crisp hard-edged abstraction, never quite got the recognition in life that they’re garnering posthumously. (Herrera, all but unnoticed much of her career, was a late life “discovery” for the cognoscenti. She enjoyed her first major museum show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2016, when she was 101.) This show puts them together for the first time, and conjures a little of the deserved glory that eluded them while they were alive. Through July 31 . Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, 3 Chapel Ave., Andover. 978-749-4015, addison.andover.edu

CELTIC ART ACROSS THE AGES Closing soon: Spanning almost three millennia, 800 BCE right up till now, this show takes a liberal approach to art made by Celtic people and their vast diaspora through the ages, stretching from Northern Europe to every corner of the globe. From the Iron Age through the Roman Empire to today, it attempts to weave connection across eras to both reveal lineage and unwind cliche. Through Aug. 2. Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-495-9400,  harvardartmuseums.org

YINKA SHONIBARE: SANCTUARY Shonibare, a celebrated British-Nigerian artist known for his heady formal engagements with the messy, often brutal entanglements of colonial history, debuted a new installation in the US with “Sanctuary City,” a suite of 18 tabletop architectural models of buildings with known histories as refuges for the vulnerable and persecuted. With inequity always buzzing in the background of the post-colonial world, the piece would never not be relevant; in the current roar of the American mass-deportation experience, it’s more resonant here and now than ever. Through Jan. 3, 2027 . Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, 415 South St., Waltham. 781-736-3434, brandeis.edu/rose

Last chance

MAYOR WU’S WORLD CUP WATCH PARTY As the World Cup wraps up, Boston hosts the last of its free, family-friendly watch parties this weekend. Head to Saturday’s festivities at City Hall Plaza to watch the third place match, with the finals set for Sunday. July 18 at 5 p.m. and July 19 at 3 p.m. City Hall Plaza, 1 City Hall Square. boston.gov — DL

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT Working in a decidedly lighter vein than they did on “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics) teamed up for a family-friendly musical retelling of the biblical story of Joseph, his 11 jealous brothers, and their father, Jacob. The score includes the bouncy “Any Dream Will Do.” A cast of 49 is led by Nikita Burshteyn as Joseph, Olivia Valli as the Narrator, Brent Thiessen as Pharaoh, and Eric Jordan Young as Jacob/Potiphar. Directed and choreographed by Gerry McIntyre. Through July 19. North Shore Music Theatre, 54 Dunham Road, Beverly. 978-232-7200,  nsmt.org — Don Aucoin

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