The Arts Fuse

By Lauren Kaufmann Constantine Manos’s bicentennial-era photographs capture a city divided, resilient, and still recognizable half a century later. Where’s Boston? 50 Years Later at the Boston Athenaeum. On view through December 12. Constantine Manos, Crowd Gathered on Boston Common, [1976?]. Photo: courtesy of the Boston Athenaeum. The adage “Pictures don’t lie” speaks to the inherent truthfulness of photographs. They document our lives, and, when needed, they serve as critical evidence.

Compiled by Arts Fuse Editor Our expert critics supply a guide to film, visual art, theater, author readings, television, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.

By Michael Londra This documentary about poet Mary Oliver is a moving study of solitude, partnership, and the stubborn power of wonder. Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World, directed and produced by Sasha Waters. Limited theatrical release; broadcast premiere on PBS/American Masters premiere on August 25 Poet Mary Oliver in a scene from Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World.

By Sarah Osman The Legally Blonde prequel Elle spotlights a charming Lexi Minetree, but struggles to justify its place in the Blonde-verse. Lexi Minetree as Elle Woods in Elle. Photograph: Jessica Brooks/Prime Video The Legally Blonde universe, which consists of Legally Blonde, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, & Blonde, and the musical version of Legally Blonde (I object to the existence of Legally Blondes), has a new addition: Elle (Streaming on Prime Video).

By Debra Cash A sensor-driven dance work probes embodiment, data, and the limits of technological intimacy. Proxies by Ilya Vidrin at Jacob’s Pillow Doris Duke Theatre, Becket, through July 5. Ilya Vidrin in Proxies at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.

By David D’Arcy The Tribeca Film Festival is usually best represented by its outliers. This year, a few films earned that status. A scene featuring a whole roast goat in How to Feed a Dictator. Photo: Tribeca Film Festival Among the docs, How to Feed a Dictator led the way.

Goose’s blitz at Leader Bank Pavilion on night one dovetailed improvisation with irresistibly catchy rock. Goose in action at the Leader Bank Pavilion: Peter Anspach, Rick Mitarotonda, and Trevor Weekz. Photo: Sam McLennan Goose is still a band on the ascent. At least that was the impression left following the band’s June 30 concert at Leader Bank Pavilion, the first of a two-night stand in Boston as part of Goose’s summer tour touting the recently released Big Modern! album.

By Jonathan Blumhofer A thoughtfully curated program uncovers surprising connections between George Gershwin and Vienna’s early 20th-century avant-garde. On the face of it, George Gershwin and the Second Viennese School seem like odd bedfellows. But looks can be deceiving: the Brooklyn-born Gershwin, whose lack of formal training made him a less-than-ideal face for American music in some circles, was deeply invested in the work of his Modernist contemporaries.

By Peter Keough Carla Simón’s dreamlike family drama merges mother and daughter, past and present, in a moving search for identity. Romería. Directed by Carla Simón. At the Coolidge Corner Theatre, July 3  through 9. Llúcia Garcia Torras in a scene from Romera. Photo: MK2 Time travel, along with a melding of the identities of parent and child, has proven to be an unlikely but effective device in films ranging from Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman (2021) to Robert Zemeckis’s Back to the Future (1985).

By Michael Ullman A rich six-disc set documents a fiercely original voice at the height of its powers. Woody Shaw: The Complete Columbia Albums Collection (six discs, Columbia 86979- 18902) Born in North Carolina on Decenber 24, 1944, trumpeter Woody Shaw, who also played cornet and flugelhorn, was raised in Newark where his father (Woody I) was a member of the gospel group the Diamond Jubilee Singers.