US – Friday, July 30

 

 GET A LEG UP

The Health and Fitness Expo features two days of free exercise classes, cooking demos, Reiki massage and health screenings, along with a slew of celebs shining the spotlight on their favorite cause, with scheduled appearances by Ray Allen, Tedy Bruschi, Jim Rice, Bill Rodgers, “America’s Next Top Model” winner Teyona and “Biggest Loser” finalists Mike, Ron and Helen. You’ll find us playing Whiffle ball with Spaceman Lee but we’ll be skipping the BMI analysis booth, thanks! That’s Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., at the Hynes Convention Center (900 Boylston St., Boston. MBTA: Green Line to Hynes). Call 617-725-0761 or go to www.bostonhealthexpo.com. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

 

 Entertainment

‘Classic Gangsters’ Film Series
Friday through July 2
Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle St., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Harvard
$9.50/$7.50, 617-876-6837
www.brattlefilm.org
With Johnny Depp’s new flick, “Public Enemies,” knocking at the door, the Brattle  serves up dames, dicks and droppers vis-a-vis “White Heat,” “Key Largo,” “The Public Enemy,” “The Roaring Twenties” and other hardboiled doubleheaders.

Jamie Kennedy
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Wilbur Theatre
246 Tremont St., Boston
MBTA: Green Line to Boylston
$23-$29, 617-931-2000
www.ticketmaster.com
If you read the rags, you know him as Jennifer Love Hewitt’s latest thang; if you’re into comedy, well, yeah, you probably don’t know him then either (entered into evidence: “Malibu’s Most Wanted.”)

New England Wild West Fest
Friday, 3-9:30 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Marshfield Fairgrounds
140 Main St., Marshfield
$15 adult/$5 kids
781-834-6629
www.cowboyspirit.org
From “True Grit” to “Deadwood” to that cultural juggernaut, “8 Seconds,” Americans are obsessed with cowboys and the old West. Experience the real deal at this ride ‘em festival, complete with professional rodeo.

Elijah Wald reads from ‘How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘N’ Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music’
Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Porter Square Books
25 White St., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Porter
Free, 617-491-2220
www.portersquarebooks.com
Don’t get baited by the title — or do — as local writer and musician Wald surveys early American music, shining a light on Delta greats, soul pioneers and jazz cats (and those who stole from them — coughcough).

Music
Lori McKenna
Tuesday, 9 p.m.
Lizard Lounge
1667 Mass. Ave., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Harvard
$15, 21+, 617-547-0759
www.lizardloungeclub.com
Years later, Lori McKenna’s story tends to take billing over her top-drawer talent (condensed version: mother of five, Faith Hill, CMT mega hits and Oprah) and Tuesday, the Stoughton singer-songwriter shows ‘em how she got there. New tunes, in advance of a planned fall/winter release, will make their debut at the intimate confines of the Lizard Lounge. It’s the only full-band show of the summer.

Local
Taste of Cambridge
Tonight, 5:30-8 p.m.
Charles Hotel
One Bennett St., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Harvard
$60 (includes drinks for 21+)
617-491-3434
www.tasteofcambridge.com
This year’s Taste of Cambridge, rescheduled from last week’s soggy Thursday, benefits the programs of Youth on Fire, which combat health and lifestyle issues of homeless youth, and Club Passim’s Culture for Kids/Music Speaks, an organization dedicated to enriching the lives of children through song. Craigie on Main, Hungry Mother, Ten Tables and Tory Row are among the top eateries sampling at the foodie fete.  

Cambridge Dance Party
Friday, 7-11 p.m.
Cambridge City Hall
795 Mass. Ave., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Central
Free, 617-349-4301
www.cambridgema.gov
We’re betting at least once in your klutzy days/drinky nights, you’ve taken a tumble/spin on Mass. Ave., but have you ever literally danced on the double-yellow line? Unless you’re that weirdo from the #1 who is always at the Hynes stop, probably not. The City of Cambridge provides the (legal, sober, no crutches required) opportunity with its annual boogie-down blowout outside City Hall. (Note: Mass. Ave. will be closed between Inman and Bigelow streets 6-11 p.m.)

Sew What?!
Saturday, 3-7 p.m.
Union Square
Central Plaza, Somerville
Free, 617-625-6600 x2985
www.swaporamarama.org
www.fusionethosfashions.com
Whether you’re into saving the environment, the DIY thang or are just a total cheapskate,
ArtsUnion hosts its annual crafts-n-fashion sale, complete with the clothing Swap-o-Rama-Rama, where your wearable crap becomes someone else’s wearable crap!

Culture
A Salute to John Updike
Sunday, 4 p.m.
Longfellow House, East Lawn
105 Brattle St., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Harvard
Free, 617-876-4491
www.nps.gov/long
The Rabbit gets remembered as Christopher Lydon, along with poets X. J. Kennedy and F. D. Reeve, turn the pages in tribute to New England heavyweight John Updike, who passed away in January.

Ndaje Festival
Friday, 4-10 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-midnight; Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
The Dance Complex
(and others)
536 Mass. Ave., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Central
$10+, 617-547-9363
www.dancecomplex.org
www.papendiaye.com/ndajefestival
A Zimbabwean proverb goes, “If you can talk, you can sing. If you can walk, you can dance.” Whoever that dude (or dude lady) was, he speaks the truth and at the Ndaje fest, you can dance, drum and sing your way through the weekend. Drum and dance workshops go all day and Saturday’s main event, “Les Enfants du Soleil,” at MIT’s Little Kresge Theatre, anchors the festivities.

Lucien Aigner’s ‘Glimpses of History’
Saturday and Sunday
11 a.m.- 6 p.m.
The ArtHouse Gallery
The Pinehills Village Green
33 Summerhouse Drive,
Plymouth
Free, 508-209-2000
www.pinehills.com
“Albert Einstein at Princeton,” “Mussolini at Stressa” and “Marlene with Family” are among the 50 works comprising this rare exhibit of famed photog Aigner’s staggering oeurve.     Selene Angier