Your Winter Bucket List

We get it. The weather is unpredictable, the days are shorter, winter can be a huge bummer. It doesn't have to be. From great concerts to film festivals to dance performances, here are the things that need to be on your winter bucket list. 

Must-See Concerts
1. Rock out to '80s-inspired band Rubblebucket at Fete Music Hall on January 19.
2. Indie hip hop legend Aesop Rock is back, and he's coming to The Met on January 24.
3. Groove to the sounds of Son Little at The Columbus Theatre on January 26.

4. Richard Marx will be right here waiting for you at The Stadium Theatre on February 3.
5. Disco legends Sha Na Na shake things up at The Greenwich Odeum on February 18.
6. Indie darlings Young the Giant play Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel on February 24.
7. Blue Oyster Cult bring more cowbell to The Stadium Theatre on February 24.
8. Hear the sounds of The Big Easy when The Dirty Dozen Brass Band play The Greenwich Odeum on February 25.
9. Keith Partridge himself, David Cassidy, is appearing at The Greenwich Odeum on March 3.
10. Kooky songbird Regina Spektor is coming to Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel on March 6.
11. Happy hippies Grouplove play Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel on March 18.

Gorgeous Galas 
1. The Matty Fund’s annual Snow Angel Ball is a Roaring Twenties Party this year, on January 28 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick.
2. The Winter Sparkle, hosted by the Junior League of Rhode Island, is a benefit to support the organization’s charity work. This year, the party is on February 11 at the Lippitt House Museum in Providence.  
3. The Herreshoff Museum’s Frostbiter’s Bash happens inside the sailing museum’s Hall of Boats on February 11, and serves up delicious bites from restaurants in Bristol and beyond.
4. Ocean House’s annual Black and White Masquerade Ball is on February 11 at the Watch Hill hotel. This year’s event is Gatsby-inspired, and promises a bit of mystery along with dinner and dessert buffets, cocktails and live music.
5. Providence Preservation Society hosts a Winter Bash fundraiser that’s not to be missed. It’s held every year in an endangered or preserved historic property. This year’s party is on February 25, at 47 Rathbone Street in Providence. 

Stand-up Comedy
1.  February 3, Lewis Black comes to PPAC with his Rant, White and Blue Tour, bringing the biting wit and self-described “pissed off optimism” that you’ve seen on The Daily Show and his HBO specials.
2. The Naked Magicians are coming to The Vets on February 25 for an adults-only evening of full frontal illusions, other naughty jokes, plus some magic thrown in.  
3. Billy Crystal is letting all of Rhode Island “Spend the Night with Billy Crystal” when he headlines the PPAC Annual Gala on March 23.
4. Ralphie May, who got his big break on Last Comic Standing and is now four times platinum, comes to the Greenwich Odeum on March 26.

See a Play
1. The Mountaintop, from January 12-February 12, reimagines one fateful day in Martin Luther King Jr.’s life at Trinity Rep.
2. A Midsummer Night’s Dream will bring Shakespeare’s most magical characters to life from February 9-March 24 at Trinity Rep.
3. Lillian Hellman’s groundbreaking The Children’s Hour will go up at Pawtucket’s Gamm Theatre from January 12-February 12, and the sci-fi fairy tale The Nether follows from March 2-26.
4. There’s a Romantic Comedy going on at Newport Playhouse from February 16-March 26, when a Broadway playwright gets his perfect life turned upside down by a Vermont schoolteacher.
5. Providence Performing Arts Center investigates The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime from February 7-12.
6. The Providence-based Players at Barker Playhouse are staging Wait Until Dark, a sinister tale of murder and deception, from January 20-29, and Romeo and Juliet from March 10-19.
7. Burbage Theatre offers up Don’t Be Evil, a dark comedy about government and technology, from January 27-February 25 at Aurora in Providence.
8. The Wilbury Group in Providence has Harold Pinter’s Betrayal from January 12-February 4, and Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play about what pop culture remains after the apocalypse.

See a Musical
1. The Stadium Theatre is showing a live musical production of The Wizard of Oz from February 10-19, High School Musical from March 3-4 and Annie, Jr. from March 24-25.
2. The unforgettable stage production of The Lion King comes back to PPAC for another run from February 28-March 19.

See a Classical Show 
1. The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra has formal concerts all winter at The Vets in Providence: Schubert’s Unfinished on January 21, Beethoven’s Eroica on February 18 and All Brahms on March 17.
2. Festival Ballet is staging a world premiere performance of Romeo and Juliet from February 10-12 at The Vets, featuring spoken word scenes directed by Tony Estrella from The Gamm Theatre. 
3. FirstWorks is bringing a noteworthy contemporary dance performance to The Vets on February 3, when the world-famous Paul Taylor Dance Company performs Esplanade to Bach’s Double Violin Concerto.
4. Shen Yun returns to PPAC on February 4, bringing with them 5,000 years of Chinese history through incredible feats of dance and storytelling.

See a Variety Show
1. Empire Revue, the monthly sketch and variety show is a ton of fun, and happens on the first Sunday of the month at AS220 in Providence. 
2. Sweet Little Variety Show takes place at mixed performance space Aurora in Providence on the second Thursday of the month – February 9 and March 9.
3. Every Friday night, Everett Company in Providence stages Friday Night Live, a family-friendly evening of sketch comedy, on-the-spot musicals, live music and dance.

Celebrate Writers and Words
1. Reading with Robin brings big name authors together for the monthly Point Street Reading Series at Point Street Dueling Pianos in Providence.
2. The Rogers Free Library in Bristol hosts a monthly Adult Reading Group, discussing Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling on January 25 and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez on February 22 in collaboration with Roger Williams University. 3. On the second Wednesday of the month, the Barrington Library hosts a Literary Pairings Book Discussion Group, which pairs a classic work with a contemporary, complementary one. The February 8 meeting will discuss Winter by Christopher Nicholson. 

See a Movie
1. The Jamestown Arts Center hosts Third Thursday, an evening of short films on the third Thursday of every month, in conjunction with the Rhode Island International Film Festival. 
2. The Providence Children’s Film Festival is happening February 17-26, and has kid-friendly films and workshops for aspiring young filmmakers all over the city. 
3. The Galactic Theatre in Warren shows vintage movies on the weekends: Thursdays are for classic ‘40s film noir and ‘50s B-movies. Fridays are for old school horror movies. Saturdays are Cult Movie Nights, and Sunday afternoons are for Cartoon Matinees, showing old cartoons and Three Stooges shorts.