Good things to do for the week ahead
THEATER
In "The Outsider," Ned Newley, a total political unknown with a strong fear of speaking in public, ends up as governor after the sitting governor is forced to resign in disgrace after sleeping with a beauty pageant contestant. Newley, who is much happier behind the scenes, expects to fail. But his staff, advisers and counselors believe in him; they also desperately want to avoid a special election that would certainly unseat the political neophyte if Newley were to fail. Steve Fletcher directs the Paul Slade Smith play, which opens this week and runs through Nov. 9. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. $25. Curtain Call Theatre, 1 Jeanne Jugan Lane, Latham. 518-877-7529; curtaincalltheatre.com.
MUSIC
Honky tonk hero Dale Watson has his own name for the kind of music he plays: Ameripolitan.
Watson, who has won a strong cult following with his alt-country trucker songs, defiant attitude and big baritone, used to define his rocking country sound as country, but he's hard-pressed to continue using the term. "If you put the word country on it, you have to depend on that person's definition of country," Watson told the Richmond, Va.-based Style Weekly.com. "Anybody 35 and below, they think of traditional country as Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Blake Shelton. It doesn't do me any good. ... In Nashville they're in the business of making money. They want that pop audience." Watson brings his brash sound and his band, the Lonestars, to Troy this week. 8 p.m. Sunday. $25. Hangar on the Hudson, 765 River St., Troy. 272-9740; dalewatson.brownpapertickets.com