Mavis Staples will bring her unique blend of gospel, soul, folk, pop, R&B, blues, rock, and hip-hop to Guild Hall on Saturday at 8 p.m. For more than 60 years, with both the Staple Singers and as a solo artist, she has entertained audiences and performed with such artists as Prince, Ray Charles, Curtis Mayfield, the Band, and Bob Dylan, who once said of her voice, “It was like the fog rolling in.” Tickets are $55 to $150, $53 to $145 for members.

A staged reading of “Only a Kingdom,” Judith Shubow Steir’s musical about the romance of King Edward VIII of Great Britain and the American Wallis Simpson, will take place on Sunday at 8 p.m. The music portrays the public and private struggles of the controversial couple, who will be played by Ben Davis and Carmen Cusack, with Betty Buckley in the role of the gossip columnist Elsa Maxwell. Tickets are $30 to $60, $28 to $58 for members.

Imagine if the king and Ms. Simpson had lived in today’s celebrity-obsessed, social media-drenched culture. The 2017 edition of “Celebrity Autobiography,” which will be performed Friday, Aug. 25, at 7 and 9:30 p.m., will dine out on that culture, with celebrities such as Christie Brinkley, Susan Lucci, Brooke Shields, and Mario Cantone acting out other celebrities’ memoirs, including those of Oprah, Elvis, Celine Dion, and Madonna. Tickets to the award-winning comedy range from $40 to $75, $38 to $70 for members.

The Hip to Hip Theatre Company will bring its 2017 season of Free Shakespeare in the Parks to Agawam Park in Southampton tomorrow and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Tomorrow’s program will feature “Measure for Measure,” Shakespeare’s dark comedy in which human nature and the law are often at odds in Vienna. “Henry IV, Part I: The Prince and the Rebel,” the story of the king’s troubled reign, his carousing son and heir Hal, and the rebellious Hotspur, will be performed on Saturday.

The Montauk Library will present “Songs and Sounds of Michigan,” a free concert celebrating the bicentennial of the founding of the University of Michigan, on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Jordan Shapiro on piano and James Kerr on classical guitar and banjo, both alumni of the university’s music school, will perform pieces by William Bolcom and other notable faculty composers as well as works by Castinuovo-Tedesco, Leslie Bassett, Ralph Towner, and Frank Zappa, among others.

Literary scholars often disagree on the merits of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” Many see the play as a trifle, a sharp if innocuous comedy lacking the genius of the Bard’s greatest work. Others, such as the scholar Harold Bloom, view it as a major work, citing the play’s heroine Rosalind as Shakespeare’s most fully realized female character. 

What fans and critics generally agree on is that, from a performance standpoint, “As You Like It” is a genuine crowd-pleaser. Fulfilling this promise is an enjoyable and inventive new production now running through Sept. 3 at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor.

A perennial favorite of summer Shakespeare revivals, “As You Like It” is a pastorale set in the imaginary woods of Arden, dramatized as a kind of sylvan paradise of eros. The plot will be familiar enough to fans of the Bard’s plays. Fleeing persecution by her uncle’s court, Rosalind and her cousin Celia escape to the forest, where they encounter a number of memorable characters, including the amorous young gentleman Orlando (himself at odds with his family over an inheritance). 

Naturally, this being Arden (an allusion to Eden), a number of romances begin to flourish, allowing the playwright to riff on the many vagaries of romance (“Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love”). Music, love poems carved into trees, and a bit of cross-dressing complete the libertine atmosphere.

The director, John Doyle, bends gender and race here in various ways. In this production, black and white cast members are not only cousins (Rosalind and Celia), but also brothers “by birth” (Oliver and Orlando). Adam, Orlando’s faithful servant, is played by a woman (Cass Morgan, in a memorable performance), and Jaques, a melancholic lord, is portrayed by the venerable Ellen Burstyn. Though initially distracting, none of these casting decisions subtract from the production. Men, after all, often played women in early productions of Shakespeare’s plays, and the playwright’s universal understanding of humanity is nimble enough for the most counterintuitive casting.

Standout performances include the aforementioned Ms. Morgan, who finds empathy in the elderly Adam: The scene of Orlando carrying his hunger-weakened servant is the play’s most moving moment. Quincy Tyler Bernstine, as Celia, seems the performer most in touch with the humor in “As You Like It.” In fact, there probably should be more laughs in this production, though Ms. Bernstine delivers the majority of the mirth when it appears. 

David Samuel, as both the wrestler Charles and the love-struck Silvius, speaks his lines with a disarming naturalness; he is the most relaxed actor on the stage. And the charismatic Andre De Shields brings a wise irony that is perfectly in line with the character of Touchstone. With his impish clothing and gentle tauntings, Mr. De Shields’s performance reminds one of the immortal M.C. in “Cabaret.” 

Audience members may be looking for fireworks from the veteran Ms. Burstyn as the acid-tongued Jaques. They will be disappointed. Instead, the actress plays her character with a weary, almost fragile resignation. It is she who is in charge of the play’s signature “All the world’s a stage” speech, and Ms. Burstyn delivers these lines — some of the greatest in the English language — in a laconic voice one register above a whisper, as if melancholy were somehow akin to lethargy.

As Rosalind, Hannah Cabell effortlessly moves from the feminine to the androgynous and manages to find what chemistry she can with Kyle Scatliffe’s Orlando. But as an actress she is less comfortable with Shakespeare’s humor. Her Rosalind is bright, sassy, and smart, but rarely witty.

Livening things is the stage design, dominated by a series of glowing orbs that hang from the ceiling and perform multiple functions as trees, perhaps stars, and most certainly romantic talismans, heightening the amorous aura. And those cast members obliged to play instruments — including violin and piano — do so capably, helping to cast a spell of pastoral summertime bliss. 

This is, after all, what you hope for from one of Shakespeare’s summer frolics: to leave the everyday and have a dreamy lover’s spell cast over you, if only for a time. You know, of course, that it is a ruse and will end shortly. But you submit anyway. It can’t be helped. It’s how we like it, and you will too.

Midway through its summer season, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival gave an outstanding concert that exemplified what it has come to be known for: a well-chosen selection of sublime classics offering entertainment of the highest order, along with a refreshing sampling of the best of the newest additions to the repertoire. A full house of devotees gathered at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church on Aug. 6 for a “Bunch of Mozart and Mendelssohn,” aptly named for the music of the two greats and the contemporary American composer Kenji Bunch.

The evening opened with Mozart’s Divertimento for Strings in F, and, as the name of the genre suggests, elements of amusement and diversion were abundant; these works typically were made-to-order for the aristocracy for parties, weddings, or other festivities. The playing was precise, spirited, and joyful, with a beautiful ensemble blend. The cellist Edward Arron had especially animated and delighted facial expressions as he engaged with the others — Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu and Kristin Lee on violin, and Dimitri Murrath on viola — bringing out the conversational nature of chamber music.

In the slower middle movement, the players brought a delicate, charming intensity to each note, and the resulting attentiveness of the audience was apparent.

In “Ralph’s Old Records,” Mr. Bunch cleverly recalls his father’s collection of 78 r.p.m. records from the 1930s and ’40s, which he listened to as a child on cassette tapes. He has written that the five short vignettes are “an homage to this influence, as well as to these fond childhood memories and to my dad himself.”

Ms. Wu came onstage carrying both a violin and a viola, and switched from one to the other in the course of the work with great skill and seeming ease. In addition, the work is scored for flute played by the festival’s founder and artistic director, Marya Martin); clarinet (Romie de Guise-Langlois), cello (Mr. Arron), and piano (Orion Weiss).

The first movement, “Chi-Chi-Hotcha-Watchee Stomp,” set the tone for this very clever and inventive retrospective, with its contemporary classical angle on revisiting the sounds of the big band era. While a few in the audience may have been perplexed, the ending brought delighted chuckles from some. Next, “Celestial Debris” was an ethereal reverie with just hints of “Stardust.” Its otherworldly qualities had some talking about it fondly afterward.

 “I Didn’t Hear Nobody Pray” recalls the composer’s experience of hearing the country singer and fiddler Roy Acuff on the radio as his father was in a military hospital in 1945, complete with the blips and bleeps of the medical equipment.

The fourth movement, “When I Grew Too Old to Dream, Dream, Dream, One More Dream Came True,” had punctuating moments of the pianist standing and using timpani mallets to strike the piano strings, the flutist playing a kazoo, the clarinetist playing a slide whistle, and a few other similar gadgets, but these added spice to the high artistry that it takes to carry off intricate music like this. Finally, “Off to the Foxes” was a tribute to the foxtrots in the vinyl collection, and ended riding off into the sunset.

Mr. Bunch is acclaimed for “combining vernacular American influences with techniques from his classical training to create a unique vocabulary of new American music,” according to his website, and this piece definitely fits the bill. “Ralph’s Old Records” was written in 2015, and while I haven’t heard it before, I think it was a definitive performance of a work that should be destined to become a standard.

By the way, at this writing two of these movements are on the festival’s YouTube channel, bcmfmusic, with the added benefit of delightful videography showing angles and closeups that the audience didn’t get.

After intermission there was a wonderful curiosity: a fragment of a work by Mozart. The tone of the clarinet was a favorite of Mozart’s since he was young, and he wrote for it often. After his death, a fragment of an Allegro in B-flat for clarinet and strings was found — four manuscript pages, merely 93 measures. The fact that the score is fully worked out and breaks off in the middle of a phrase in the development section suggests that it had been completed and the remaining pages were lost. What a delight to hear a snippet of this graceful, mature work, and what a touching moment to be left mid-phrase, wondering what might have been next.

The most substantial part of the evening was Mendelssohn’a Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in C Minor, superbly performed by Mr. Weiss, Ms. Lee, and Mr. Arron. In the 1844-45 season Mendelssohn managed to clear his very busy schedule so he could devote all his time to composing, and the oratorio “Elijah” and the present Trio were among the significant results. The Trio is considered among the two or three most important pieces of chamber music of his all-too-short 38 years. Its beauty and depth throughout the four movements were brought to life as the instrumentalists tossed magnificent melodic phrases back and forth, building on one another’s skill and creativity, and there was a remarkable amount of sound energy generated from the three instruments, enough to make one think there were many more.

The response of the audience was so great that enthusiastic applause began before the final chord was released, a gesture that does not often happen in chamber music. All in all, it was a concert of solid fare delivered with verve, panache, and incredibly passionate playing.

The festival continues with five concerts through Aug. 27, ranging from “Bach and Django‚” in the sculpture garden of the Channing Daughters Winery in Bridgehampton, to Schubert, the young Beethoven, and Dvorak. More information is at bcmf.org or 631-537-6368.

Art Barge to Moor at Ashawagh

In 1960, Victor D’Amico, the founding director of the Museum of Modern Art’s education department, anchored what became the Art Barge in Napeague Harbor. While the vessel underwent renovation, Ashawagh Hall in Springs was the site of Mr. D’Amico’s art classes on the East End.

“Return to Ashawagh Hall,” an open invitational exhibition of works by Art Barge artists and faculty, will be on view from today through Wednesday with a reception to held Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. Proceeds from sales will benefit the barge’s programs and maintenance.

Maud Bryt at T Gallery

A solo exhibition of paintings by Maud Bryt in on view through Sept. 21 at the T Gallery in Southampton, where a reception will be held today from 5 to 7 p.m.

The 16 paintings in the show represent a breakthrough for the artist into an abstract language she first developed in her sculpture. According to Ms. Bryt, who lives in New York City and Sag Harbor, “They are architectural and ethereal, with thin layers of color that build into a shimmering solid presence.”

The artist will discuss her work at the gallery next Thursday from 2 to 3 p.m.

Four at Kramoris

Work by Liz Gribin, Lois Bender, Herbert August, and Lynn Matsuoka is on view at the Romany Kramoris Gallery in Sag Harbor through Sept. 7. 

Ms. Gribin’s paintings focus on human figures, which are emotionally loaded through their postures and positioning within the picture plane. The gardens and parks of Paris figure prominently in Ms. Bender’s work. 

Mr. August’s abstract paintings are often triggered by elements of the world around him that are enlarged and transformed. Birds in flight, horses galloping, and athletes in action are captured with poetic lyricism by Lynn Matsuoka.

Harland Miller at Surf Lodge

An exhibition of work by the English artist Harland Miller will be on view at the Surf Lodge in Montauk from Saturday through Sept. 4, with a reception set for Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m.

Mr. Miller, who was a member of the Young British Artists group in the early 1990s, will exhibit a selection of hand-finished artist’s proofs from his book covers series. His work is also on view in a solo show at the White Cube gallery in London.

Magic Realism at RJD

“Into the Wind,” a show of nine new paintings by Andrea Kowch, opens Saturday at the RJD Gallery in Bridgehampton with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. It will remain on view through Oct. 1.

Ms. Kowch’s attention to detail and her refined technique result in lifelike but otherworldly tableaux of figures in landscapes who are participants in mysterious and sometimes foreboding narratives. Paintings by Armando Valero, whom the gallery also characterizes as a “magic realist,” will be on view in a separate exhibition space.

Four at White Room

“Many a Muse,” an exhibition featuring the art of Scott Hewett, Lauren E. Loscialo, Ellyn Tucker, and John Chaney, can be seen from today through Sept. 10 at the White Room Gallery in Bridgehampton. A reception will take place Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m.

Mr. Hewett paints textural, often common objects, such as rusted trucks and old gas pumps, with a vivid realism. An architectural background informs Ms. Loscialo’s triptychs, which are constructed from photographs of natural and manmade objects printed on canvas.

Ms. Tucker combines fragments of text, patterns, and images into abstract collages in which each element sheds its identity. Mr. Chaney took up painting while living in Los Angeles, where he studied with the realist painter Martin Lubner before moving to the Bronx.

The next iteration of “Inter-Sections: The Architect in Conversation,” an ongoing series of panel discussions held at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, will focus on the revival of design publications as forums for critical dialogue on urban planning and architecture, with a specific focus on a proposal to redesign the Village of East Hampton.

Next Thursday at 5 p.m., Maziar Behrooz and Bruce Engel of MB Architecture will be joined by Levi Shaw-Faber, the editor of End, a new design magazine that is launching its first edition today throughout the East End and as an insert in The Star.

The program will begin with a presentation by the architects of their project “Restoring Forward: A Vision for East Hampton Village,” which is featured in the first issue of End. The project proposes to revitalize the village and restore its “original human character,” according to the Parrish. Working as “growth magnets,” key buildings anchored to the north end of Newtown Lane would shift activity and density away from Main Street and provide space for civic and community engagement.

New recreation and culture hubs, supported by new infill housing, would make the village the town center it was always meant to be. A safe and pleasant walking and bike path connects village amenities to new hydroponic block-farms and to the broader township.

End seeks to be a new public space for discussion about design and the environment. Mr. Shaw-Faber, who is the magazine’s publisher as well as its editor, was the founding associate editor of  The Star’s magazine EAST. End launched the first annual East End Design Awards, which received 70 submissions in 13 categories from 30 design firms. The winners and finalists are featured in the inaugural issue.

Tickets for the program are $12, free for museum members and students. Copies of End will be available at the presentation.

Having a musically talented mother or father doesn’t automatically ensure that an offspring will be equally as gifted. But when your mother is Diana Ross and your father happens to be Berry Gordy, the legendary producer, songwriter, and founder of the Motown record label, the odds are exponentially greater.

Rhonda Ross, the only child of the Supreme one and her then boss, Mr. Gordy, who will perform in Southampton on Saturday, is expected to delight audiences with a few inherited maternal traits: honeyed vocals, the trademark huge curls, and the famous megawatt smile. The concert, to be held outdoors at the Southampton Arts Center at 6:30 p.m., is free.

The show is part of a promotional tour for the younger Ms. Ross’s latest release, “In Case You Didn’t Know” an album of 14 original tracks showcasing the title song. The digital download version is available on iTunes and Amazon, as well as on the singer’s website: therhondaross.com.

A review of the title song on the music news website The Second Disc, touts, “The fresh sounds of ‘In Case You Didn’t Know,’ blur the lines between jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, and pop in persuasive fashion, proving that one can stretch the boundaries of traditional song forms and styles without sacrificing memorable melodies and universally accessible lyrics.”

Lyrically, Ms. Ross often seems to cross the lines from political to personal, the same way she seamlessly inhabits a multitude of musical genres, even expanding to spoken word, rap, and Latin beats in her new album. She describes her music as “Funky, neo-soul, with a pull towards jazz. But it’s not a genre,” she is quick to add.

It is true that unlike the musical soundscape of her parents’ heyday, when genre grooves seemed to be set in concrete, Ms. Ross belongs to those modern artists who are post-genre, or genre bending. So, yes, Rhonda Ross maybe the daughter of Diana Ross and Berry Gordy but, as she herself points out, she is very much on her own journey, with the freedom to be stylistically promiscuous and cross-pollinate a bit.

As such, she said she is a “social artist who allows the social environment to influence my music.” Given the current tumultuous socio-political environment, Ms. Ross said, “We need art and artists more than ever. We need music right now and we need music to start asking important questions.” Living in Harlem with her jazz pianist husband, Rodney Kendrick, and their young son, she tried to tackle some of today’s biggest questions of acceptance and tolerance through modern-day soulful and silky sounds.

Despite the many stories about her mother as a fearsome diva, backstabbing among the Supremes, tussles with airport security guards, a life of limousines, fur, and Lear jets, and that it was only revealed to her at age 13 that Barry Gordy was not a family uncle but really her father, the younger Ms. Ross insists that her mother always put mothering first and was hands-on in the household. After Ms. Ross discovered that Mr. Gordy was her real father, she said she became very close to him and remains so with both parents today.

“I was around people who loved doing what they did, and still do,” Ms. Ross said of her parents, who remain active in the industry. “What children witness growing up is often what they will do later in life.”

Outdoor events at the Southampton Arts Center, at 25 Job’s Lane, are held rain or shine, though in case of rain concerts are held in the theater. For outdoor concerts, the center suggests that attendees take chairs, blankets, and picnics. More information is available at 631-283-0967 or southamptonartscenter.org.

Beginning Sunday, the bluffs will be alive with the sound of music as Music for Montauk returns for a week of concerts under the direction of Lilah Gosman and Milos Repicky.

Since taking over the program a few years ago, the couple have brought world-class musicians to “the End” to perform creatively conceived programs in unconventional outdoor locales.

This year, the series will include four regular concerts and an “immersive musical experience” at a benefit event to be held at the Art Barge, on Friday, Aug. 25. The $150 Sunset Salon will include cocktails and light fare.

An evening of Mozart will be a highlight next Thursday with virtuoso soloists and a full-scale symphony near Third House at Montauk County Park. Mr. Repicky said in a press release that “Mozart’s music is perfect for Third House: It’s exciting, beautiful, playful, and dramatic all at once!” Annaliesa Place will play the Violin Concerto in A, with a lyrical tune and country-dance rhythms suited for the casual setting. Amanda Lynn Bottoms, a mezzo-soprano, will sing Mozart’s aria “Parto, ma tu ben mio.” Benjamin Fingland will perform Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. Music for Montauk’s chamber orchestra will accompany the soloists and will perform Symphony No. 25 in G minor. The free concert will begin at 6 p.m. 

On Sunday, the performances kick off at Fort Pond House at 5 p.m. with “The Opening of the Wells.” The program was inspired by “a Moravian custom to celebrate the fresh flow of spring water in the new season.” The songs and instrumental solos chosen “evoke water nymphs and the magic of the woods under the weeping birch tree in the evening light.” Raquel González, a soprano from the Washington National Opera, will perform “Song to the Moon” by Antonin Dvorák. Paul La Rosa, a baritone, will join Ms. González, a female vocal quartet, and instrumentalists.

Tuesday’s Sole East performance will feature the Pedro Giraudo Tango Trio with Sofia Tosello. Mr. Giraudo is a Grammy Award-winning bassist, and his group includes Rodolfo Zanetti on bandoneón and pianist Emilio Teubal. With cocktails and dancing, tickets for the 8 p.m. event are $20 at the door or on the Music for Montauk website.

The series returns to Third House on Aug. 26 with a concert centered around Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E flat major. The string quartet of Ms. Place, Joanna Maurer, Jessica Meyer, and Diego García will perform Giacomo Puccini’s “Crisamtemi” to open the program, which begins at 6:30 p.m.

Guests are encouraged to take picnics, chairs, and blankets to all of the free concerts, which are also family friendly. Tickets for the Sunset Salon at the Art Barge are available on the festival’s website.

The accelerating dotage of the ’60s generation is surely a fountainhead of comedic material, and as such, a triple dose of laughs should be in store next Thursday when comedy legends from the last 30 years of stand-up take the stage at Guild Hall. 

Carol Siskind, Jake Johanssen, and Dom Irrera, who were up-and-comers in the ’80s before becoming venue-packing headliners and regular fixtures on the late-night television talk show circuit, will reunite for the second leg of the Boomer Comedy Unlimited Tour. 

“We grew up together, and then we stopped working together,” said Ms. Siskind, who, together with the longtime producer and manager Pat Buckles, conceived the idea for a boomer comedy reunion after years of performing and writing for TV and film. “I wanted to get back to performing in theaters, where I most love to be, and I wanted to get the gang back.” The uniqueness of the shows, she explained, is the chance to catch three or four headliners in one night.

The tour will feature the best comedians from the baby boomer generation, including pioneers of the original comedy boom 35 years ago whose creative influences inspired and shaped today’s biggest funnyfolks.

In addition to the Guild Hall trio, other legendary performers on the tour include Judy Tenuta, Lenny Clarke, Mark Schiff, Ken Rogerson, John Caponera, Cathy Ladman, Bobby Slayton, and Rocky LaPorte, with more names being added for additional shows.

Among them, Ms. Siskind, Mr. Johanssen, and Mr. Irrera boast 100 credits on late-night shows, HBO, Showtime, and Netflix specials. Mr. Johanssen holds a record for having appeared 46 times on David Letterman’s show. “It’s only because David was a quitter that I didn’t make it to 50,” he said during a phone interview. 

Mr. Johanssen, who lives in Santa Monica, Calif., said that appearing onstage at Guild Hall “with Carol and Dom on the same night, is a big deal for me‚ A-plus. I haven’t been to the Hamptons in a very long time. So, it’s a win-win all around.”

Mr. Irrera has made guest appearances on “Seinfeld,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” and “King of Queens.” He has performed on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” “The Late Show With David Letterman,” “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” “The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson,” “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” “The View,” and made several appearances on “Oprah.” He currently stars in the Showtime hit “I’m Dyin’ Up Here.”

For Ms. Siskind, who said she grew up in “a very funny family” and realized at age 5 that she could make people laugh, the Boomer Comedy Unlimited Tour is a return to the basics of her craft: performing in front of an audience. Recalling a moment from her years of television performances, she said she had sat down once with a producer of “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson” to have all her jokes cleared. She suggested removing one joke in particular because she had noticed that when performed only half the audience found it funny. The producer said, “No, leave it in. Johnny will love it.” A few hours later, Ms. Siskind delivered her joke on air. Mr. Carson was the only one who laughed. 

The Boomer Comedy Unlimited Tour will take the Guild Hall stage next Thursday at 8 p.m. Tickets, $25 to $75, can be purchased online at guildhall.org or from the box office: 631-324-4050.