Upstairs was the teeming Cambridge Common; outside, the usual smokers' conversations. "Dude, you spit on my nachos." "No, I spit next to your nachos." And downstairs, Opera Boston Underground had returned to the Lizard Lounge for another well-attended performance. Proximity has a way of making up for bar-basement acoustics. Lacking any substantial musical education, this particular Bostonist has always enjoyed hearing such oversized sounds coming from human mouths, and this was the first time......

Women ended up on tables, a lot: in rapture, in protest, in flagrante delicto, and asleep. As the Cutler Majestic's red velvet curtain rose last night, we saw the heroine in a heap of wedding dress on a dining table, an image that echoed throughout the opera. Semele, the reluctant bride, is the best-developed character in the work, foolish, but sympathetic, but so petulant, even before she leaves the groom at the altar and runs......

Music --Haven't you always wanted to go to an event called HARVAPALOOZA? Well, now you can. Local band The Franklin Kite bring a special combination of musical prowess and astrophysics knowledge to Tommy Doyle's, where they'll play alongside Maya and The Trolleys to commemorate the palooza that is Harvard. Or something like that? Anyway, the show starts at 9 and it's totally free. A dance party will follow, so put your best foot forward. Hopefully......

Birthdays The King's birthday is today! All hail Elvis! Dick's Last Resort, where they tend to celebrate everything Elvis, will be hosting a birthday bash including an Elvis Impersonator contest and a jelly-donut eating contest. Faneuil Hall. 6:00 pm. And keep looking for a post on what to eat tonight in honor of the king … Politics If you see some lost-looking drunk people in suits, it's either campaign workers or reporters who have gotten......

After a week full of intense competition, the finalists in this year's Boston Comedy Festival Contest took the stage last night at the Cutler Majestic. The pressure was already high because they would be judged by Lifetime Achievement Award honorees Shelley Berman and Bill Dana, Comic of the Year winner Lewis Black, and a range of industry bigwigs. The comics also faced an even bigger challenge--the Red Sox game. These comics had to distract the......

Boston Comedy Festival Finals (with Lewis Black! woo!) Saturday, October 13, 8:15 p.m., Cutler Majestic Theatre, $45-$65 [Tickets] Annnnnnd the second round of the funnyfest semi-finals was another all-male show about how hard women are to deal with. Are these guys winning because they're funny or because comedy is a male-dominated profession? We'd say it might be a combo of both--most of the semifinalists drew some laughs, but we do wish there had been a......

Boston Comedy Festival Semi-Finals Friday, October 12, 8:30 p.m. @ Nick's Comedy Stop (100 Warrenton), $15 [Tickets] Boston Comedy Festival Finals (with Lewis Black! woo!) Saturday, October 13, 8:15 p.m., Cutler Majestic Theatre, $45-$65 [Tickets] Look out, kids, the big guns are here--it’s the Boston Comedy Festival semi-finals! And wouldn’t you know, it’s an all-boys’ club (because women aren’t funny, except when they are). Besides a penis, something that everyone on stage shared was......

--Semi-Finals: Thursday, October 11, Nick's Comedy Stop (Upstairs), 8:30 pm --Semi-Finals: Friday, October 12, Nick's Comedy Stop (Upstairs), 8:30 pm --Finals: Saturday, October 13, Cutler Majestic, 8:15 pm During the last night of the preliminaries, many of the comics tore into their routines like it was the last show of their lives. Everyone is burning out after four days of endless stand-up shows, but the comics of the last preliminary round made it all worth......

--Preliminaries: Wednesday, October 10, Comedy Connection, Faneuil Hall, 7:00 and 9:00 pm --Semi-Finals: Thursday, October 11, Nick's Comedy Stop (Upstairs), 8:30 pm --Semi-Finals: Friday, October 12, Nick's Comedy Stop (Upstairs), 8:30 pm --Finals: Saturday, October 13, Cutler Majestic, 8:15 pm Here's last night's winners, and find out who Bostonist thinks got robbed after the jump. Preliminary Round Five The Winners: Paul D'Angelo and David Powell In the fifth round, the brainiacs represented. D'Angelo, a former......

This year's Boston Comedy Festival is about to start, and you won't be able to make up your mind about all the events happening around town. The following listings include just a few measly highlights, but the Boston Comedy Festival is sure to have something that suits your sense of humor, whether it be ironic, sarcastic, slapsticky, or potty. Check the official site and full schedule for all event details. Boston Comedy Festival Contest Preliminaries:......

Bostonist was invited to attend the return performance of Frogz! at the Cutler Majestic theatre this week, and we are here to tell you that this is the sort of show that you should not miss. As children (and adults,) Bostonist loved the Muppets and especially their occasional guests Mummenshanz. Frogz is reminiscent of both of these, with extremely talented dancer/puppeteers transforming their bodies into animals and anthropomorpic objects with grace and humor. The......

The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny will open at the Cutler Majestic Theatre tonight, February 23, 2007 7:30 pm. Other showtimes include Sunday, February 25, 2007, at 3:00 pm and Tuesday, February 27, 2007, 7:30 pm. For more information, visit Opera Boston's website. In the city of Mahagonny, you can do anything you want - but you better make sure you pay your bar tab! Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht unleashed The......

The state of the sidewalks around Boston kept us on our asses this weekend. Not so much of the figurative kind where we sat at home and skipped a show because it was too hard to get around. No, more the literal kind where we kept falling down because of that damn 2" layer of ice that was pretty much everywhere. This week they tell us that the temperature is rising by week's end.......