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BEST BETS: Nov. 19 to 25

The Strong unveils eGameRevolution

From the dawn of Pong to today's Xbox 360 and Guitar Hero, visitors can play their way through the history of video games at eGameRevolution, an original, 5,000-square-foot, highly interactive exhibit opening Saturday at the National Museum of Play at the Strong. The exhibit dominates half of the museum’s second floor, offering a sweeping panorama of the electronic game revolution and its impact on the way we play, learn and relate to each other. Experience electronic games—old and new. Visitors can join a video game dance party and meet the experts from the International Center for the History of Electronic Games—the CHEGheads. The Strong has re-created an old-fashioned video arcade featuring more than two dozen operating vintage video games. Among historical items on view are the notes and drawings of game inventors, including Ralph Baer, who developed the first home video game system. In addition, visitors can see the newly acquired Dan Bunten Papers, documenting the life and career of a leading video game developer. For details, visit museumofplay.org.

Pianist Olga Kern to perform with RPO

Internationally acclaimed Russian pianist Olga Kern is set to perform Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. today and 8 p.m. Saturday in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. At the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2001, Kern won the Gold Medal and became the first woman to achieve this distinction in more than 30 years. The program with the RPO also includes Music Director Christopher Seaman as he leads the RPO in Dvorak’s Carnival Overture and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1. Visit rpo.org.
 

On the big screen

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I," the latest installment in the franchise based on the bestselling books, opens Friday. As Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) races against time and evil to destroy the Horcruxes, he uncovers the existence of three most powerful objects in the wizarding world: the Deathly Hallows. Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks star in "The Next Three Days," in which a married couple's life is turned upside down when the wife is accused of a murder. Find movie times.

A cappella, rap shows at Auditorium Theatre

If the phrase "male a cappella group" conjures up an image of students in blue blazers, ties and khakis singing traditional college songs on ivied campuses—think again. Members of Straight No Chaser are neither strait-laced nor straight-faced, but neither are they vaudeville-style kitsch. They perform at 8 p.m. Friday at the Auditorium Theatre. Also this weekend, the Old School Funk Fest is coming to the Auditorium Theatre at 8 p.m. Saturday. The show transports you back to the days of early rap and pop featuring The Bar-Kays, Slave, Con Funk Shun, The Mary Jane Girls, Sugar Foot's Ohio Players and The Dazz Band. Visit rbtl.org.

MCC presents 'Ragtime'

Monroe Community College presents "Ragtime," the acclaimed musical based on E.L. Doctorow’s novel, this weekend. The musical intertwines the stories of three extraordinary families as they confront history’s timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and what it means to live in America. Directed by Heather Fox, it will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the college. Tickets are $10. Visit monroecc.edu.

40th anniversary of RMSC Holiday Bazaar

The Holiday Bazaar returns for its 40th anniversary at the Rochester Museum & Science Center. Handmade items will fill the galleries and Eisenhart Auditorium. Some 175 artists will be selling ceramics, jewelry, glass, woodwork, photography, paintings, prints, sculpture, fiber arts and floral crafts. The event is 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5; $7 for a two-day pass. Visit rmsc.org.

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