Where to go and what to do

Sarah Vowell reads from ‘The Wordy Shipmates’
Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Brookline Booksmith
279 Harvard St., Brookline
MBTA: Green C Line to Coolidge Corner
Free, 617-566-6660
www.brooklinebooksmith.com
“This American Life” contributor Sarah Vowell makes the medicine go down nice in “The Wordy Shipmates,” a survey of our Puritan roots delivered with her signature, pop culture-owed pith. Who knew the days of ye olde John Winthrop and Roger Williams could draw parallel to “The Godfather” and “The Brady Bunch”? Vowell also appears Saturday, 7 p.m., at the First Parish Church Meetinghouse, Cambridge.

Carrie Fisher’s ‘Wishful Drinking’
Through Oct. 26
Tuesday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m.
Boston University Theatre
264 Huntington Ave., Boston
MBTA: Green Line to Symphony
$20-$77.50, 617-266-0800
www.huntingtontheatre.org
She’s manic-depressive, she did a lot of drugs, she married a gay man and she made out with Harrison Ford. Carrie Fisher’s life is ripe for a comic monologue. Check out tomorrow’s Metro for Pat Healy’s interview with her. And no, she does not actually remember filming that video for “You're Sixteen,”with Ringo Starr, but she’s seen it on YouTube, and is just as creeped out by it as you will be when you watch it.

David Sedaris
Sunday, 7 p.m.
Symphony Hall
301 Mass. Ave., Boston
MBTA: Green E Line to Symphony
$30-$55, 617-482-6661
www.celebrityseries.org
Sedaris takes time out from penning his acerbic essays to, well, recite his acerbic essays.

‘The Compleat Lord Of The Rings’
Sunday, 11:30 a.m.
Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle St., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Harvard
$15, 617-876-6837
www.brattlefilm.org
The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy gets the big screen treatment once again. So unless you’ve scored one of those 100-inch Panasonic plasmas, this is the best way to see it — all 11 hours and 22 minutes of it. And for a heck of a lot cheaper than $50 grand. “The Fellowship of the Ring,” 11:30 a.m., “The Two Towers,” 3:15 p.m., and “Return of the King,” 7:15 p.m.
MASS. PRODUCTION  
Tara Donovan enjoys her first major solo exhibit starting tomorrow at the Institute of Contemporary Art (100 Northern Ave., Boston. MBTA: Silver Line to World Trade Center). The Brooklyn sculptor goes beyond multimedia and twists the likes of Styrofoam cups, Scotch tape, Mylar, buttons, straws, toothpicks and paper plates into room-sized biomorphic blasts of repetitive rapture. The exhibit — which collects 17 of Donovan’s previous works, including “Untitled (Styrofoam Cups)” (pictured), along with a new ICA-curated installation — runs through Jan. 4. Hours: Sat.-Sun. and Tues.-Wed. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Thurs.-Fri. 10 a.m.- 9 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults; $10 for students; free for children under 17 and Thursdays, 5-9 p.m., for all. Donovan also appears Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., for a discussion with “New Yorker” writer Lawrence Weschler.  Call 617-478-3100 or go to www.icaboston.org for more info.

Jamie Lidell
Sunday, 9 p.m.
The Paradise
967 Comm. Ave., Boston
MBTA: Green B Line to Pleasant St.
$20, 18+, 617-562-8800
www.thedise.com
U.K. blue-eyed soul singer Jamie Lidell channels Stevie Wonder and Hall and Oates on his well-spun discs. Janelle Monae opens.  

Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby
Sunday, 9 p.m.
T.T. the Bear’s Place
10 Brookline St., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Central
$10, 18+, 617-492-BEAR
www.ttthebears.com
Wreckless Eric enjoyed a blip on the revival radar when his best pop tune, “Whole Wide World,” was strummed out by Will Ferrell in “Stranger Than Fiction.” Now he’s back, with significant other Amy Rigby (The Shams/ “Diary of a Mod Housewife”), behind a new eponymous album. Mandolin man Jimmy Ryan and acoust-pop bender Jenny Riddle open.  

WITH THE GRAIN  
Lewiston, Maine native Ray LaMontagne returns with “Gossip in the Grain,” an Ethan Johns-helmed platter anchored by LaMontagne’s sepia-toned husk and rambling folk ’n’ roll. Highlights include the amped-up soul lead single, “You Are The Best Thing,” and a cheeky love letter to “Meg White.” He sets up for two nights, tonight and tomorrow, 7:30 p.m., at the Opera House (539 Washington St., Boston. MBTA: Red or Green Line to Park Street). Leona Naess opens behind her new disc, “Thirteens.” Tickets $32.50-$37, all ages; call 617-931-2000 or go to www.ticketmaster.com for more info.

The Revival Tour’
Tonight, 9 p.m.
Middle East Downstairs
480 Mass. Ave., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Central
$15, 18+, 617-864-EAST
www.mideastclub.com
Four musicians who mined from punk in previous band incarnations — Chuck Ragan (of Hot Water Music), Ben Nichols (of Lucero), Tim Barry (of Avail) and Jesse Malin — show their Bruce-and-Neil colors.

Night of Stars’ Boston Ballet Gala Benefit
Tomorrow, 8 p.m.
Citi Wang Center
270 Tremont St., Boston
MBTA: Green Line to Boylston
$30-$120, 866-348-9738
www.citicenter.org
In advance of its fall season bow, “Cinderella,” opening next week, the Boston Ballet hosts a company-spanning buffet of Balanchine, Tharp, Elo and Molina pieces.  

‘Siren Song’ Exhibit
Through Nov. 1
5 p.m.-1 a.m., Zuzu
472 Mass. Ave., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Central
Free, all ages till 10 p.m., 617-864-EAST
www.mideastclub.com
Sarah Hage has “sexy, joyful and fun” intentions She says “Carmen” (shown) “like the other mermaids, is a little bit Renaissance madonna/angel, a little bit Supremes and a little bit flamenco dancer.”

‘Gutenberg! The Musical’
Through Oct. 26
Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 4 and 8:30 p.m.; Sunday, 3 and 7:30 p.m.
New Repertory Theatre
321 Arsenal St., Watertown
$30, 617-923-8487
www.newrep.org
Musicals stuffed full of Broadway in-jokes are no new shakes, but a musical about the inventor of the printing press? And it’s funny? Where’s my exclamation mark?GIRLS, Pens and purses  
We’ve been known to wield a mean paint pen, but we reckon the girls of “Paint Pens in Purses” are about to put our sadly decorated champagne bottles to shame. An all-female lineup — Ali Horeanopolous, Ashley B. Clark, Jeanie B, Silver Oris, Shayna Shenanigans and somebody who calls herself tofusquirrel — will be giving the LAB windows a makeover. The urban art-bent exhibit is up through Nov. 13. Saturday’s fun includes artist meet-and-greet and dancefloor swipes by DJ Kares and goodie bags from 79:30 p.m. It’s at LAB (113 Brighton Ave.) Take Green B Line to Harvard Ave. And bring a $5 donation, if you don’t mind. Call 617-395-4330 for more info or visit www.lab-boston.com.