Raleigh
Hamlet

Regal North Hills Stadium 14Think you know Hamlet, with those famous speeches, insane characters, the play within a play, the intimations of incest, parricide, regicide, fratricide, suicide and plain old homicide? And don’t forget that last scene, with dead bodies all over the place. What this tale needs is music, lots of it, and today you can catch the live HD simulcast of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Ambroise Thomas’ version, which premiered at the Paris Opera in 1868. It purportedly has a happy ending, although how on earth this is possible we have no idea. In this production, Simon Keenlyside sings Hamlet, Marlis Petersen is Ophélie and veteran Jennifer Larmore is Gertrude. Louis Langrée conducts. The performance begins at 1 p.m. and will last nearly four hours. For more information, visit www.metoperafamily.org or call 786-4511. Sarah Ewald

Chapel Hill
Death Came Down The Mountain

Local 506It’s tempting to reference that unnamed “she” who’ll will be coming ’round the mountain, not least because Carrboro’s Death Came Down The Mountain evokes the image of six white horses barreling down a cliff. The quartet’s thick cloud of stoner metal is muscular and graceful, and not something you’d like to challenge. Hoisting Electric Wizard blues and craggy AmRep noise over Sleep’s megaton stomp, Death Came Down The Mountain is a menacing Iron Man that crushes with power and precision. With Black Skies, Rural Swine and Skullbuckle at 9:30 p.m., for five bucks. See www.local506.com. Bryan Reed

Durham
Incognito

Carolina TheatreIn 1992, after 32 years of being raised as white, Michael Fossberg found out his biological father was black. Understandably, this did a number on him. His discovery and his efforts to connect with the African-American side of his family form the basis of his one-man show, Incognito, a look into the nature of how we define race and our very identities. In addition to performing the show, Fossberg will host a free interactive workshop from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Durham Arts Council’s PSI Theatre prior to the 8 p.m. performance of Incognito. To register for the workshop, e-mail betty@carolinatheatre.org. For more information, call 560-3030 or visit www.carolinatheatre.org or www.incognitotheplay.com. – Zack Smith

Durham
Nathan & The Zydeco Cha-Chas

Papa Mojo’sSouth Louisiana dance music defined by driving accordion and the shuffling sound of spoons on a rub board, Zydeco is a gumbo of rock, two-step and R&B. Nathan Williams pulls on his piano accordion like an acrobatic harmonica or beefy blues organ, while his older brother manages the band, another brother plays guitar, his cousin holds down the rub board and his son is often behind the keys. Raised in a Creole-speaking home, Williams sings with a smooth drawl that entices listeners to get up and move. Accordingly, Papa Mojo’s will clear its dinner tables to make a dance floor for the performance. Pay $25 at 9:30 p.m. See www.papamojosroadhouse.com. Andrew Ritchey