BOOKS & TALKS

Welcome to Night Vale: Ghost Stories
8 p.m. Thursday, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
The popular podcast—a Lovecraftian radio drama about a desert town experiencing some uncanny business—goes onstage, with live tunes from folk rocker Erin McKeown.

Jessi Klein
7:30 p.m. Friday, Powell's City of Books, FREE
The stand-up comedian and head writer for Inside Amy Schumer has a new collection of essays, You'll Grow Out of It, ranging from never quite growing out of her tomboyishness and envying “effortlessly feminine” women to dealing with “fuckability” as she ages. For more, check out our Q&A with Klein.

Bob Mehr
4 p.m. Sunday, Powell's City of Books, FREE
Longtime music writer Mehr got extensive access to the Replacements for his new book, Trouble Boys, about the pioneering, often-disorderly punk band. Vulture called it a “rare, honest, tragicomic music biography.”

DANCE

Death and Delight
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, BodyVox
For the sixth year, the ever-inventive BodyVox leaps into the Chamber Music Northwest Summer Festival with dance set to live classical compositions. Up this time: original choreography set to a double bill of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, played by pianist Melvin Chen, and Mendelssohn’s spirited Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Chen joined by fellow pianist Hilda Huang.

FILM

Top Down Rooftop Cinema
9 p.m. Thursday, Hotel deLuxe
As far as parking garages go, Hotel deLuxe’s rooftop lot is pretty swish, and the panoramic views pair well with the NW Film Center’s eclectic alfresco selections. Tonight is Raising Arizona, with Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter as baby-nappers, and the Coen Brothers at their most garrulous.

Flicks on the Bricks
7 p.m. Friday, Pioneer Courthouse Square, FREE
Portland’s living room gets extra cozy every summer, with Friday-night flicks played on a gargantuan inflatable screen. Tonight: Tom Hanks classic Big. Bring a pillow and snacks for maximum chill vibes.

MUSIC

Crystal Castles
8:30 p.m. Thursday, Wonder Ballroom
Aggressively lo-res, high-energy duo Crystal Castles is back. The last time they came through town, singer Alice Glass sang, punched, and danced her way through their set—all while on crutches.

PDX Pop Now
6 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday–Sunday, AudioCinema, FREE
The long-running, all-ages, always-free fest is one of Portland’s absolute best. The monster lineup includes dreamy, lo-fi pop experimentalists the Lavender Flu, instrumental troupe 1939 Ensemble, fuzz-pop outfit Tender Age, punk-meets-country band Jenny Don’t & The Spurs, and rapper Maze Koroma. Want more recommendations? We asked five PDX Pop Now performers for their must-see acts.

Laura Gibson
8 p.m. Saturday, Mississippi Studios
Though we lost Gibson to the city that never sleeps in 2014, her sound is true-blue Oregonian—and Empire Builder might just be her best record yet. She’ll play tracks from the full-bodied, warm record with a full band this time ’round.

Pure Bathing Culture
7 p.m. Sunday, Revolution Hall
The Portland duo, who put out sophomore album Pray for Rain last October, bring their lush dream-pop to the Revolution Hall rooftop. 

THEATER

OPENING The Italian Girl in Algiers
7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Newmark Theatre
New scenery and costumes dress up Rossini’s madcap comedy of shipwreck, puffed-up chieftains, and nimble-witted women.

CLOSING Coriolanus, or The Roman Matron
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, Tom Hughes Civic Plaza, Hillsboro
Political dodgery and deception reign in Thomas Sheridan’s 18th-century adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy, given an outdoor showing by convention-busting Hillsboro theater company Bag & Baggage.

CLOSING West Side Story
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Deb Fennell Auditorium
Tigard’s Broadway Rose continues its 25th anniversary season with Stephen Sondheim’s epic Romeo and Juliet riff.

CLOSING Coriolanus
7 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, Pettygrove Park
Current political climate not acrimonious enough for you? Turn to the Bard’s late, little-loved tragedy for a triple shot of manipulation, arrogance, and ineptitude.

Original Practice Shakespeare Festival
7 p.m. Thursday, 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday, and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Laurelhurst Park
OPS claims to produce Shakespeare the way it was done in the Bard’s day: with minimal rehearsal, an onstage prompter, and plentiful audience interaction. The company has 13 plays in its repertoire this summer, with showings at parks across the city.

VISUAL ART

OPENING Freedom
10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturday–Sunday, Portland Art Museum
Josh Kline’s multipart installation, hailed by the New Yorker as “galvanic,” takes on corporate greed and the erosion of civil rights via riot gear-clad Teletubbies and reimagined Obama speeches. For more, check out our Q&A with Kline.

CLOSING Reactive Matters
10 a.m.–10:30 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Friday–Saturday, Newspace Center for Photography, FREE
Photographers Jeremy Bolen, Abbey Hepner, and Shimpei Takeda dig into all things nuclear: nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, nuclear disasters.

CLOSING Josh DeWeese
10 a.m.–6 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, Eutectic Gallery
The Montana ceramics artist uses local materials to craft expressive, painterly pots and jars.

Recent Grads
11 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, Blackfish Gallery, FREE
For the 21st year, Blackfish offers a glimpse into the future of our art scene, showcasing work by 30 just-minted BFA and MFA graduates of Oregon art schools.

SPECIAL EVENTS

The Culture Series
8 p.m. Friday, 2319 NE Glisan
As racial violence continues to roil the US, how are local artists of color making sense of it all? That's the focus of this new series organized by Jeredon O'Connor, who works in video production at Wieden & Kennedy. O'Connor says the showcase will include poetry, dance, song, and hip-hop. (Can't make it on Friday? Some of the visual and video work will remain up through Saturday—and O'Connor hopes this is just the first installment.)