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Tuesday, March 31, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Miho Hatori
MUSIC
TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020
6:00 PM
Kitchen Broadcast
Freehttps://thekitchen.org/event/broadcast-week-1
The Kitchen starts off a semi-weekly Tuesday and Thursday series of live streams with none other than Miho Hatori, ex of Cibo Matto and a habitué of the Venn overlap of avant-pop and avant-garde.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: We're going to now do a drink that might seem a tiny bit fiddy to make — but the slight extra effort creates an effect so wondrous that you can't believe you made the drink yourself: a Sazerac. Chill an Old Fashioned glass. While it's chilling, muddle a sugar cube in half a tablespoon of water with a few dashes each of Peychaud's and Angostura bitters in a cocktail shaker. Then, pour in 2-1/2 oz. of Rye (or, if you want a softer, rounder, more complex drink, make that half Rye and half Brandy), fill with ice, and stir. Now, take the chilled glass and coat it with Absinthe by swirling the Absinthe around in it, all the way up the sides. (Most recipes tell you to discard any remaining Absinthe from the glass, but I believe that any time time you discard liquor an angel dies.) Strain the drink from the cocktail shaker into the Absinthe-coated glass. What happens is, as you raise the glass to your mouth to drink it, this aroma of Absinthe wafts up at you — but you don't really taste it, you only detect it as an aromatic accent. That complex sensory sensation never fails to amaze me.
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Tuesday, March 31, 2020, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Edward Einhorn: Performance for One
THEATER
TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020
10-minute intervals from 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Untitled Theater Company #61
Skype
Free
http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/performance-for-one.html
This one-on-one theater piece, with one actor performing in an enclosed space for one audience member, involving close interaction between actor and audience member exploring memory and the performer-audience relationship, threatened to be a bit precious and potentially more than a bit intrusive when it played around the City last year. But as a one-on-one Skype experience, it seems perfect — just what we need right now. Each successive performance lasts 10 minutes; most of the slots are to be reserved in advance by email, but a few are to be left open for virtual walk-ins. If any additional dates are scheduled, I'll let you know. Bravo to Edward Einhorn and Untitled Theater Company #61 for a truly timely and thoughtful enterprise.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This early in the day, you'd want a Pimm's Cup: 2 oz. Pimm's No. 1 Cup (you have some, right?) and 3 oz. lemon soda, lemon/lime soda, or ginger ale (I have to say that I prefer lemon soda) in a tall glass over ice, garnished with two or more of a cucumber slice, a strawberry, a celery or rhubarb stalk, an orange or lemon wheel, or whatever you have on hand, really.
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Tuesday, March 31, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, MARCH 31 & APRIL 2, 2020
10:00 AM
Freehttps://metropolisensemble.org/house-music#house-music-home
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble will showcase ace musicians associated with its excellent self, or in any event friends of the ensemble, playing solo contemporary, classical, and newly commissioned pieces from home. I don't think this is live-streamed — I hope they're not making these musicians perform at 10 AM — but this is such a worthwhile initiative (everybody's getting paid) that it would wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Monday, March 30, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Happy Hour Hang: Aaron Parks
MUSIC
MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2020
5:00 PM
Jazz Gallery
Zoom
$15
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/aaron-parks-happy-hour
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday the Jazz Gallery is putting on early evening remote sessions where jazz musicians play and chat with the audience (limited to 10 people per show). Aaron Parks is an excellent pianist/composer: his conceptions are intricate and accessible at the same time — and he isn't afraid to let on that he has listened to rock music. Too bad this show is already sold out (and under these circumstances, cancellations seem unlikely). Look at the Jazz Gallery's calendar for the future shows (I'll be Listing them selectively).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's have an Affinity (no, you don't have to stop at "an"): equal parts (you know I love making it already) Scotch, sweet Vermouth, and dry Vermouth, with a couple of dashes of Angostura bitters, stirred in an ice-filled cocktail shaker and then strained into a chilled Martini glass or coupé. Garnish with a lemon peel.
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Sunday, March 29, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Sunday, March 29, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Anthony de Mare: Liaisons
MUSIC
SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2020 [CANCELLED]
3:00 PM
92nd Street Y Livestream
Freehttps://www.92y.org/archives/anthony-de-mare-piano
A few years ago, pianist Anthony de Mare commissioned a bunch of contemporary composers to create piano "re-imaginings" of songs by Stephen Sondheim. Now, in recognition of the master's 90th birthday (which actually falls on the day you're receiving this List — so raise a glass as you read this), de Mare has commissioned some more. He'll be playing pieces from both collections.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I am not going to recommend that anyone ever drink a Vodka Stinger, no matter how contextually appropriate. So how about a Martini? Two parts gin (don't listen to that paid assassin) and one part dry vermouth poured into an ice-filled cocktail shaker, stirred not shaken (don't listen to that paid assassin), strained into a Martini glass or coupé, garnished with a lemon twist. (I've never repeated so many hyperlinks in one post before!) (But they're good ones!)
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Saturday, March 28, 2020, 4:50 PM – 5:50 PM
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Friday, March 27, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Downtown Variety #2
THEATER / MUSIC / DANCE / PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020
8:00 PM
La MaMa Live Stream
Free (donation requested)http://lamama.org/downtown-variety-2/
Each week La MaMa assembles a bunch of experiment-oriented dancers, performers, actors, media artists, musicians, and what have you, to see what they can do with the live-stream medium.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Another easy-as-pie equal-parts cocktail. If a Boulevardier is a Negroni with Bourbon swapped in for Gin, then an Old Pal is a Boulevardier with Rye swapped in for Bourbon (I prefer it: it's lighter): equal parts Rye, dry Vermouth, and Campari stirred in an ice-filled cocktail shaker, then strained into a chilled coupé or Martini glass.
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Friday, March 27, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
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Fri, Mar 27, 2020, 6:00 PM – Sat, Mar 28, 2020, 7:00 PM
Music Never Sleeps NYC
MUSIC
FRIDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 27 – 28, 2020
6:00 PM
YouTube & other platforms
Freehttps://musicneversleepsnyc.com/
The excellent cellist Jan Vogler is undertaking a Herculean task in curating and presenting a 24-hour live stream cycle of performances by classical musicians based in New York (and, it appears, elsewhere). Here are just a few of the participants, in addition to Vogler himself (and the roster is growing): Timo Andres, Jeremy Denk, Anthony Roth Costanzo, The Knights, Bridget Kibbey, Michael Brown, Nico Muhly, Beatrice Rana, and Gil Shaham & Adele Anthony (I assume those two will be playing together: I mean, they live in the same apartment). Awesome. Amazing.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's a little early in the year for it, but it seems to me you're going to want a pitcher of Gin & Tonics. You don't need a recipe for THAT, do you?
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Friday, March 27, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Happy Hour Hang: Melissa Aldana
MUSIC
FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020
5:00 PM
Jazz Gallery
Zoom
$15
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/melissa-aldana-happy-hour
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday the Jazz Gallery is putting on these early evening sessions where jazz musicians play and chat with the remote audience (limited to 10 people per show). Melissa Aldana is certainly one of the more winning saxophonists on the local scene (and at the point in her career where she gets better and better), making this well worth checking out — except that it's already sold out (and under these circumstances, cancellations seem unlikely). Look at the Jazz Gallery's calendar for the future shows (I'll be Listing them selectively, as always).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: One of my personal favorites, a Tom Collins: stir 2 oz. Gin, 1 oz. lemon juice, and 3/4 oz. simple syrup (we made some earlier in the week, remember?) in an ice-filled cocktail shaker, and strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top with club soda, garnish with a orange slice and a cherry, if you have one.
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Friday, March 27, 2020, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
#stillHERE: Sara Farrington
THEATER
FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020
1:00 PM
HERE Live Stream
Freehttps://here.org/programs/online-programming/
Every Friday, HERE is presenting a live stream of a theater artist sharing a work in some stage of completion. I don't usually List works in progress (I've been burned too many times with semi-coherent semi-realized works in progress that then turned out to be great when completed) — but these are desperate times. And of course the artists on HERE's roster are fabulous. This week it's playwright Sara Farrington, whose theater pieces — often referencing classic movies — are antic, allusive, formally challenging, and enjoyable as all get out.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This early in the day, you don't want to work (or drink) too hard. So, that old brunch standby, the Mimosa: pour two parts orange juice into a Champagne flute and top with four parts Champagne. Add some Cointreau or Grand Marnier or Triple Sec if you're feeling fancy.
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Friday, March 27, 2020, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Edward Einhorn: Performance for One
THEATER
FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020 (also TUESDAY, MARCH 31)
10-minute intervals from 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Untitled Theater Company #61
Skype
Free (donations requested)
http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/performance-for-one.tml
More Skyped performances have been added of his one-on-one theater piece, which has probably gotten more positive List subscriber feedback than anything I've ever recommended. When this 10-minute piece, with one actor performing in an enclosed space for one audience member, involving close interaction between actor and audience member exploring memory and the performer-audience relationship, played live around the City last year, it threatened to be a bit precious and potentially more than a bit intrusive . But as a one-on-one Skype experience, it seems perfect — just what all we people ensconced alone in our apartments need right now. Most of the successive 10-minute slots are to be reserved in advance by email, but a few shall be left open for virtual walk-ins. I'll keep you posted as to any additional dates that are added. Bravo to Edward Einhorn and Untitled Theater Company #61 for a truly timely and extremely well-thought-out enterprise.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This early in the day, you'd want a Pimm's Cup: 2 oz. Pimm's No. 1 Cup (you have some, right?) and 3 oz. lemon soda, lemon/lime soda, or ginger ale (I have to say that I prefer lemon soda) in a tall glass over ice, garnished with two or more of a cucumber slice, a strawberry, a celery or rhubarb stalk, an orange or lemon wheel, or whatever you have on hand, really.
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Thursday, March 26, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Virtual Community Salon #1
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020
6:00 PM
Contemporaneous
Free (with registration)https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-community-salon-1-tickets-99999402906
A virtual salon. Artists and performers can share pieces in whatever stage of completion. Everyone else can comment and converse.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It may technically be Spring, but since March comes in like a lion and all that, Winter cocktails are making their last stand. A good way to make the transition is a Boulevardier, a Negroni with bourbon swapped in for gin. So, equal parts (there are no cocktails I like to make more than those with all the ingredients in equal parts: you don't even have to think) bourbon, Campari, and sweet red vermouth stirred in an ice-filled cocktail shaker, then strained into a glass you've already chilled by filling it with ice that you discarded before pouring the drink in. Garnish with an orange peel (or, if you want, a cherry).
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Thursday, March 26, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Louna Dekker-Vargas
MUSIC
THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020
4:00 PM
YouTube
Free
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC1WJErh7T1wOmC0KhA9nfw?view_as=subscriber
There's now a program for this week's installment of flautist and List cover girl Louna Dekker-Vargas's live-streamed solo recitals. Since Dekker-Vargas did the flute solo from Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe last week, it should come as no surprise that she's doing Debussy's related-subject Syrinx (as well as the extremely famous flute solo that begins the Prélude à l'Après-Midi d'un Faune) this week (nice for us that those two pieces are some of the most mesmerizing music there is). There'll also be a transcription of one of the delightful folk songs from Canteloube's enchanting Chants d'Auvergne. And, I guess to prove that all music doesn't come from France (much as we might sometimes wish it did), some Telemann.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This program obviously calls for a French 75: combine 1/2 oz. lemon juice, 1/2 oz. simple syrup, and 1 oz. Gin in an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake; strain into a Champagne flute and top with 3 oz. Champagne. Garnish with a lemon twist. (You may be wondering, what's simple syrup? You put equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. It's called "simple" for a reason. Make a bunch: it keeps in the refrigerator for a month.)
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Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 7:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Conrad Tao
MUSIC
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2020
7:30 PM
92nd Street Y Livestream
Free
https://www.92y.org/archives/conrad-tao-piano
The previously scheduled live-streamed Ives/Beethoven concert by the Junction Trio from an auditorium in the 92nd Street Y shall be replaced by a live-streamed solo set by the trio's pianist, the phenomenal Conrad Tao, from his apartment. Tao will play what I am hyperbolically going to call the greatest set of piano variations written in the 20th Century (but go ahead: prove me wrong): Frederic Rzewski's titanic The People United Will Never Be Defeated! But talking about how great this piece is obscures how much fun it is to listen to (as well as how stirring it is: surely Rzewski's agit-prop intention). The apparent reason for this change of program is sad. But, with all due respect to the Trio, it's hard not to be excited by this new program.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: "The People United Will Never Be Defeated!" is of course a Chilean revolutionary air. And the big news on the accompanying-cocktail front is that the version of the Pisco Sour that people drink in Chile is A LOT easier to make (albeit, if I may say, not as good) as the famous version from Peru. So let's go Chilean and put three parts Pisco (Chilean Pisco is a little different from Peruvian — but good luck finding any here in New York; I'm sticking with the Peruvian Pisco that's readily available here) into the ice-filled cocktail shaker, add one part lemon juice and some sugar, shake like your life depended on it, pour into a chilled glass, and Rober's your uncle.
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Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 1:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Junction Trio
MUSIC
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2020
7:30 PM
92nd Street Y Livestream
Freehttps://www.92y.org/archives/junction-trio
The Junction Trio comprises two players I know to be among the best, most exciting musicians in New York — pianist Conrad Tao and cellist Jay Campbell — and a violinist I don't know named Stefan Jackiw — but Tao and Campbell wouldn't have joined a trio with him if he weren't fantastic. The program consists of Ives's highly characteristic Piano Trio — a reminiscence of Ives's college days that sounds like nothing but Ives, America's wacky Mahler, through and through — together with that very picture of musical nobility, Beethoven's grand, deathless Archduke Trio.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You could say that all New Orleans cocktails taste about the same; you could also say that taste is pretty great. Like a Vieux Carré: pour 3/4 oz. each of rye, Cognac, and sweet vermouth into an ice-filled cocktail shaker, along with a teaspoon of Bénédictine and two dashes each of Agnostura and Peychaud's bitters. Stir and strain into an Old Fashioned glass; garnish with a lemon twist.
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Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Edward Einhorn: Performance for One
THEATER
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2020
10-minute intervals from 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Untitled Theater Company #61
Skype
Free
http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/performance-for-one.html
This one-on-one theater piece, with one actor performing in an enclosed space for one audience member, involving close interaction between actor and audience member exploring memory and the performer-audience relationship, threatened to be a bit precious and potentially more than a bit intrusive when it played around the City last year. But as a one-on-one Skype experience, it seems perfect — just what we need right now. Each successive performance lasts 10 minutes; most of the slots are to be reserved in advance by email, but a few shall be left open for virtual walk-ins. They're thinking of scheduling future dates; I'll keep you posted. Bravo to Edward Einhorn and Untitled Theater Company #61 for a truly timely enterprise.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This early in the day, you'd want a Pimm's Cup: 2 oz. Pimm's No. 1 Cup (you have some, right?) and 3 oz. lemon soda, lemon/lime soda, or ginger ale (I have to say that I prefer lemon soda) in a tall glass over ice, garnished with two or more of a cucumber slice, a strawberry, a celery or rhubarb stalk, an orange or lemon wheel, or whatever you have on hand, really.
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Sunday, March 22, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
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Saturday, March 21, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Schütz: Musikalische Exequien
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2020
7:00 PM
TENET Vocal Artists
Livestream
Available to previous ticketholders or donors to TENET in any amounthttps://tenet.nyc/
You'd hate to have to pick out one composer as the single most popularly underrated in all of Western music — but Heinrich Schütz is certainly a frontrunner. He occupied the same Renaissance-into-Baroque position in Germany that Monteverdi occupied in Italy — except Monteverdi led to Corelli and Vivaldi, whereas Schütz led to Bach. Musikalische Exequien is Schütz's masterpiece of funerary music (let's try not to think too hard about that), the first known requiem in the German language. This is fascinating, highly effective music.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Cocktails, wine, and dinner at home!
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Friday, March 20, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Opera on Tap
OPERA
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2020
8:00 PM
Emmie and Harry's Streaming Cabaret Club
Free (you have to join cabaret club)
https://operaontap.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99627bf7b22dc57f1f73eb797&id=b3f7461604&e=6275e048de
Opera on Tap are a bunch of singers, and the accompanists who love them, who sing and play opera, pop, contemporary classical, and whatever else pops into their collective head.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's pretend we're James Bond and make a Vesper (or five). The big issue when making a Vesper is what you swap in for Kina Lillet, a kind of Lillet specified in Bond's original recipe that was available in the '50s but is no longer in production. Unless you're lucky enough to have a bottle of Réserve Jean de Lillet Blanc, a limited edition release that somewhat approaches Kina but is no longer available in the U.S., I'd recommend Cocchi Americano, which is readily available and quite piquant.
Pour 3 parts gin, 1 part vodka, and 1/2 part Cocchi Americano into a cocktail shaker filled with ice and stir (no matter what Bond says, DO NOT SHAKE). Strain into a Martini glass or coupé and add a lemon twist. Best drunk when wearing a dinner jacket (a gender-neutral recommendation).
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Friday, March 20, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Virtually Nowadays: Aurora Halal / DJ Python
MUSIC
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2020
8:00 PM
Free
https://nowadays.nyc/
The great Ridgewood club/beer garden Nowadays is live-streaming every night from 8 PM till midnight until they reopen. I'm calling out the Friday, March 20, show because I'm so enamored of the spacey, euphoric approach of Aurora Halal, certainly one of my very favorites on the NYC electronic dance music scene. Dance with yourself!
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Friday, March 20, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Conrad Tao
MUSIC
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2020
7:00 PM
Instagram
Free
https://instagram.com/stories/conradtao/2268540110020543894?igshid=170yz0eh2qbaj
Conrad Tao isn't a composer who'd be a word-beating virtuoso pianist if only he focused on his piano-playing. He's a composer who is a world-beating virtuoso pianist. He'll be showing off both his compositional and his pianistic chops tonight. Am I understanding right that there'll be accompanying dancing (I mean, on the stream — what you do while watching is your own business)?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Ace bartender Phil Ward might have been forced by prevailing circumstances to delay the upcoming opening of his new Martini bar (perilously close to my apartment, so maybe it's for the best). But we can still enjoy his greatest creation at home: Oaxaca Old Fashioned.
1-1/2 oz. reposado tequila
1/2 oz. mezcal
1 teaspoon agave nectar (not as exotic as it sounds: I happen to have just gotten a bottle at Union Market I think it was)
1 or 2 (I vote 2) dashes Agnostora bitters or, if you have them, mole bitters
Strip of orange peel
Mix the liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain them into a rocks glass that's filled with ice. Now, the best part, flaming the peel — a trick that will never fail to impress yourself and any others who might be with you: hold a lighted match about an inch over the drink in one hand and the orange peel strip in the other, the rind side of the peel facing the match, with maybe an inch of good social distance between them. After the peel heats, bring it closer to the match (not from directly above, but at say a downward 45 degree angle) and squeeze it into the match until oil sparks fly down into the drink (this is SO cool). Extinguish the match and drop the peel into the drink. You can drink it now.
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Fri, Mar 20, 2020, 11:00 AM – Sun, Mar 22, 2020, 11:00 PM
Left Bank Live
MUSIC
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 20-22, 2020
11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Free
https://leftbankmag.com/leftbanklive/
Brooklyn underground music mag Left Bank has been streaming an all-day virtual music festival, featuring live performances of various kinds of alternative pop musics (and alt comedy and other stuff) from around the world — including Brooklyn and even other boroughs.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: (Don't start too early!) Suggested cocktail: The Last Word. The easiest great cocktail, or the greatest easy cocktail. Or both! Equal parts gin, Maraschino liqueur, green Chartreuse, and lime juice. Mix in cocktail shaker with ice, stir, strain, drink, repeat.
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Thursday, March 19, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Louna Dekker-Vargas
MUSIC
THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020
4:00 PM
YouTube
Free
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC1WJErh7T1wOmC0KhA9nfw?view_as=subscriber
Fabulous flautist and part-time Witch Louna Dekker-Vargas is making her live-streamed flute recitals a weekly event. No word on this week's repertoire yet, but really: what else do you have to be doing?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A good move-into-Spring cocktail, although one with a Wintry name: an Alaska. Here the big divisive issue is whether you use standard London Dry Gin as a base liquor or what the original recipe calls for, an old English style called Old Tom Gin (a slightly malted gin that's a bit more rounded and sweet than London Dry — part of the way between London Dry and Dutch Genever). Having drunk innumerable iterations of both versions — see what I do for you? — I can tell you that the original's still the greatest. (And it's that extra roundness and sweetness that makes this such a good transition-into-Spring cocktail.) So, into the ice-filled cocktail shaker go
2-1/4 oz. Old Tom Gin
3/4 oz. yellow Chartreuse
A dash of orange bitters
Stir, and strain into a Martini glass or coupé. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Thursday, March 19, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Louna Dekker-Vargas: Over the Moon
MUSIC
THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020
2:00 PM
YouTube
Free
https://youtu.be/wGxtwPjzNpE
Part-time Witch Louna Dekker-Vargas is a fabulous flautist and a charismatic live performer. She'll be playing the flute solo from Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe — Pan wooing Syrinx (who escapes Pan's advances by turning into a bunch of reeds, which Pan then fashions into the first pan-pipe) (not a very effective escape, you might say) — and Bach's magnificent Partita for solo flute (why don't we hear this absorbing piece more often, I'm wondering?) (well, not a problem this week!).
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Thursday, March 19, 2020, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Edward Einhorn: Performance for One
THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020 (also TUESDAY, MARCH 24)
10-minute intervals from 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Untitled Theater Company #61
Via Skype
Free
http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/performance-for-one.html
This one-on-one theater piece, with one performer performing in an enclosed space for one audience member, involving close interaction between performer and audience member exploring memory and the performer-audience relationship, threatened to be a bit precious and potentially more than a bit intrusive when it played around the City last year. But as a one-on-one Skype experience, it seems perfect — just what we need right now. Each successive performance lasts 10 minutes; most of the slots are to be reserved in advance by email, but a few shall be left open for virtual walk-ins. If demand warrants, additional dates shall be added. Bravo to Edward Einhorn and Untitled Theater Company #61 for a fantastic and timely enterprise.
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Sunday, March 15, 2020, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Matteo Liberatore: Liberatore Fest 2020
MUSIC
SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2020
8:30 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
Matteo Liberatore is really good jazz+ guitarist, free but with strong melodic elements. Among his accompanists tonight is Ralph Allessi, one of the best trumpet players in New York, with his own distinctive melodic conception (his brother's a pretty good horn player, too).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: New American bistro Walter's will still be open even after this show. Local whiskey at the Kings County Distillery Gatehouses before.
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Sunday, March 15, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Sunday, March 15, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Bergamot Quartet
MUSIC
SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2020
7:00 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
Baltimore-based-but-moving-soon-to-NYC Bergamot Quartet, an excellent band, plays pieces by Caroline Shaw, Felipe Lara, Suzanne Farrin, and Paul Wiancko: excellent, enjoyable composers all (Shaw being not just excellent but transcendentally great). And a new piece for string quartet and drum kit by one of Bergamot's violinist, Ledah Finck, who is a Witch.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Sunday night? New American at the cozy Vinegar Hill House.
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Sunday, March 15, 2020, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
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Sunday, March 15, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Multimedia Matchmaking
MUSIC
SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2020
4:00 PM
Areté Venue & Gallery
67 West Street #103, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Free
https://www.aretevenue.com/events
Local classical/experimental musicians create live scores for animations by visual artists. To make it even more enticing, one of those musicians is the fabulous pianist Kathleen Supové.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: People are excited as hell about the new Japanese café Rule of Thirds — and I'm one.
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Sunday, March 15, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Daniel Gaisford: Works for 'Cello by Michael Hersch
MUSIC
SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2020
3:00 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
Michael Hersch is a Modern composer of the Old School: his amazing music is serious, knotty, dark, often harrowing, requiring and abundantly rewarding close attention. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon on the eve of Spring! These are his works for solo cello; Daniel Gaisford must be thinking about how daunting they are.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: More of the best appetizing in the entire world at Russ & Daughters Brooklyn.
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Saturday, March 14, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Saturday, March 14, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
C4: Babel
MUSIC
THURSDAY & SATURDAY, MARCH 12 & 14, 2020
8:00 PM
THURSDAY: Church of the Transfiguration (The Little Church around the Corner)
1 East 29th Street, NoMad, Manhattan
[CANCELLED]
SATURDAY: St. John's in the Village
218 West 11th Street, West Village, Manhattan
$20 advance; $25 door; $5 children aged 11-17; $4 cash at door for limited rush tickets
http://www.c4ensemble.org/babel-cycle-2.html
The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective presents a night of new or newish pieces about the Tower of Babel and (appropriately) not. One of the Babel pieces is by List bud Brian Mountford!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: THURSDAY, British meat at The Breslin. FRIDAY, counter-service baked Florentine pasta at P.F. Pasta al Forno.
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Saturday, March 14, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Alkemie & Friends: Blood, Booze & Betrayal: Music for an Extremely Broken Consort
MUSIC
SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2020
7:30 PM
[CANCELLED]
1 Rivington
1 Rivington Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$15; $10 students
https://metropolisensemble.org/all-events/blood-booze-betrayal
More of the new kind of Early Music, featuring exemplary performances but focusing on playful fun and almost pop sounds, and including new compositions that draw on ancient styles. Tonight, all that and . . . murder!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's go to Uncle Boon's for stylish Thai while we wait for their new Thai Diner to open for dinner.
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Saturday, March 14, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
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Saturday, March 14, 2020, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Wagner: Der Fliegende Holländer
OPERA
TUESDAY & SATURDAY, MARCH 6 & 10, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 27)
8:00 PM TUESDAY
1:00 PM SATURDAY
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
[CANCELLED]
$37-$495
https://www.metopera.org/season/2019-20-season/der-fliegende-hollander/
A fail. François Girard's production fails to do anything with the trivial and offensively sexist legend being told here, so we just get a very dark, stylized telling of an uninteresting and somewhat repellent tale — not, as in Girard's great Parsifal of last decade, a successful attempt to address the issues raised by a problematic (but unlike here fascinating) libretto. And the music in this early Wagner piece — from just before he got really good — is ill-served by Valery Gergiev's desultory (at least on opening night) conducting: overly slow, with no tension but no compensating sweep. Good performances by the Senta and the Erik. But, a fail.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Promenade up Broadway to Le Pif for French food and wine.
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Saturday, March 14, 2020, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
thingNY: Daytrip
MUSIC
SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2020
12:00 & 7:00 PM
12:00 PM: Gould Memorial Library Rotunda, Bronx Communnity College
2255 University Avenue, University Heights, Bronx
7:00 PM: Our Lady of the Cenacle Parish
136-06 87th Avenue, Richmond Hill, Queens
Free
http://www.thingny.com/events
My favorite band thingNY probably thinks I'm a pathetic fanboy who follows them around New York slavishly. Well, they’re wrong: I'm only going to ONE of these shows. On the bill (same for each show), two terrific pieces from thingNY's Alt Classical songbook: Gelsey Bell and Erin Rogers's Skylight for voice and sax, and Dave Ruder's You Must Read a Lot of Jung for the whole ensemble.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In the Bronx, Dominican snacks at Empanadas Monumental. (Be sure to leave yourself time to walk around BCC's fabulous campus.) In Queens, West Indies meet East Indies (and China!) at Singh's Roti Shop and Bar (thank me later).
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Friday, March 13, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Carl Stone & Ulrich Krieger
MUSIC
FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020
9:00 PM
Experimental Intermedia
224 Centre Street, Little Italy, Manhattan
Ticket price unavailable
https://www.facebook.com/events/585705365619615/
Electronic music legend Carl Stone in a duo with the highly exploratory saxophonist Ulrich Krieger.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before the show, delicious Egyptian street food at Zooba. After, Balthazar.
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Fri, Mar 13, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 9:00 PM
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Fri, Mar 13, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 9:00 PM
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Friday, March 13, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Friday, March 13, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Weston Olencki.toned / Aliya Ultan & Daniel Bruno
MUSIC
FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020
7:00 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
The invaluable Weston Olencki, a trombone/electronics/composition guy, programs a show that thankfully includes themselves. Also on the bill are Aliya Ultan and Daniel Bruno, coming out of Wesleyan, where at least one of them studies with Tyshawn Sorey.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Natural wine and conservas at Rhodora.
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Friday, March 13, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
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Thursday, March 12, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
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Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 8:00 PM – Fri, Mar 13, 2020, 9:00 PM
Base 12 Sonic Festival
MUSIC
THURSDAY & FRIDAY, MARCH 12 & 13, 2020
[POSTPONED]
8:00 PM
THURSDAY: Outpost Artists Resources
1665 Norman Street, Ridgewood, Queens
FRIDAY: Topfer Recital Hall, Brooklyn College
290 Campus Road, Flatbush, Brooklyn
Free
https://www.brooklyncollegepresents.org/buy-tickets/calendar-of-events/view/Sonic-Arts-Concert-Mar-2020/
Sonic explorers Tommy Martinez (Thursday) and Gryphon Rue (Friday) join the inmates, I mean participants, in the Brooklyn College Sonic Arts program for a night of music that traverses the boundaries of what's expected.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: THURSDAY, I'd like to be snarky and send you to the Myrtle Avenue White Castle. But in the spirit of actually being helpful, I'll mention the good pizza (in a mod room) at Houdini Kitchen Laboratory. FRIDAY, Trinidadian Island Burger is unprocessing (to say the least). But it's not every day you see a shark burger.
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Thursday, March 12, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Sudan Archives
MUSIC
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020
8:00 PM
Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$20
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sudan-archives-tickets-75765016203
As far as I'm concerned, one of the very best pop albums last year was Sudan Archives's Athena. Taking off from the unique and haunting violin-and-synth pop that emerged in Sudan in the late 20th Century, this LA-based singer/violinist/songwriter has created her own highly personal electro-R&B synthesis that combines great songs with great grooves with great playing. See her before she explodes.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before the show, stop by Russ & Daughters Cafe for the best appetizing in the world and — this is unexpected — great cocktails. Speaking of great cocktails, after the show, see if you can get into Attaboy.
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Thursday, March 12, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
C4: Babel
MUSIC
THURSDAY & SATURDAY, MARCH 12 & 14, 2020
8:00 PM
THURSDAY: Church of the Transfiguration (The Little Church around the Corner)
1 East 29th Street, NoMad, Manhattan
[CANCELLED]
SATURDAY: St. John's in the Village
218 West 11th Street, West Village, Manhattan
$20 advance; $25 door; $5 children aged 11-17; $4 cash at door for limited rush tickets
http://www.c4ensemble.org/babel-cycle-2.html
The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective presents a night of new or newish pieces about the Tower of Babel and (appropriately) not. One of the Babel pieces is by List bud Brian Mountford!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: THURSDAY, British meat at The Breslin. FRIDAY, counter-service baked Florentine pasta at P.F. Pasta al Forno.
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Thursday, March 12, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Thursday, March 12, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Rosehardt
MUSIC
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020
8:00 PM
National Sawdust
80 North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$18
https://nationalsawdust.org/event/rosehardt
If you love Frank Ocean, you'll like Rosehardt (especially if you tire of Ocean's falsetto). Good songs, good singing, good-enough rapping, and mood mood mood.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bolero is a very promising new Vietnamese restaurant on Bedford Avenue. Good luck getting in.
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Thursday, March 12, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Thursday, March 12, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Jamie Branch's FLY or DIE
MUSIC
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020
8:00 PM
Roulette
509 Atlantic Avenue (entrance on 3rd Avenue), Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
$18 advance; $25 door
https://roulette.org/event/jaimie-branchs-fly-or-die/
I've been listening to trumpeter Jamie Branch's FLY or DIE band's two albums fairly obsessively recently. The music is spunky, eclectic, and meaningful. And the band members are fabulous players: in addition to Branch, who's just great, a special shout-out to fab bassist Lester St. Louis. But what's best about it is that this a real band conception, with a unique band sound — the way rock bands are. You really should get to know them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bistro Bacchus: you could do a lot worse.
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Thursday, March 12, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
En Garde Arts: Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes)
THEATER
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020
7:00 PM
Lehman Stages
250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bedford Park, Bronx
$20
https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/10494200
A reprise of this musical (now traveling around the City) about a group of undocumented immigrants getting together for a night of story and song on the eve of an ICE raid.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You will not be unhappy with the homey if rather generic Mexican food at Las Maravillas de Mexico.
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Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 8:00 PM
Taylor Mac: The Fre
THEATER
THURSDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 12 – 14, 2020 (continuing through APRIL 12)
7:00 PM
The Bats
The Flea Theater
20 Thomas Street, Tribeca, Manhattan
$27-$102 Thursday; $37-$102 Friday & Saturday
http://theflea.org/shows/the-fre/
The divine Taylor Mac is back with a phantasmagoria pitting queers against fun-loving anti-intellectuals. Wait, do I read the promotional materials right in saying "the audience will literally and figuratively jump into the mud . . . to hash out the current cultural divide"? (I have no idea what the hyper-expensive "VIP Tickets" get you — but even if it's absolute freedom from mud exposure, it can't be worth it.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: After mucking about in the mud, nothing could be better than the fried bologna sandwich at Au Cheval.
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Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 3:00 PM
The Civilians: Whisper House
THEATER
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 12 – 15, 2020 (continuing through APRIL 19)
7:00 PM THURSDAY - SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
59E59
59 East 59th Street, Upper East Side, Manhattan
$35-$55
https://www.59e59.org/shows/show-detail/whisper-house/
You don't expect a ghost story from The Civilians, whose often documentary theater pieces usually have some sociopolitical point. But here it is (and who knows what the point will be?). So the question becomes whether your (by which I mean my) admiration of the previous work of the company overrides your (by which I mean my) dislike of Duncan Sheik (did I mention this was a musical)?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: First thing to note is that 59E59 has what might be the best theater bar in New York (specializing in scotch cocktails, so you know). Beyond that, the turkey club and the rice pudding at The Viand really are special.
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Wed, Mar 11, 2020, 8:30 PM – Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 5:00 PM
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Wed, Mar 11, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 9:00 PM
Jillian Walker: SKiNFoLK: An American Show
THEATER
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 11 – 14, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 21)
8:00 PM
The Bushwick Starr
207 Starr Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$20
https://www.thebushwickstarr.org/skinfolk
A concert/play exploring the African-American experience, female division especially — and boy does it look great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Depending on how you look at it, the Venezuelan loaded hot dogs and other street food at Santa Salsa are either kind of gross or incredibly delicious. Actually, why choose? The drinks are deceptively potent.
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Wed, Mar 11, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 5:00 PM
Daniil Kharms: LAPA
THEATER
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 11 – 15, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 22)
8:00 PM WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY
4:00 PM SUNDAY
The Million Underscores
The Brick
579 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$20
https://www.bricktheater.com/event/lapa/2020-03-11/
A multidisciplinary multi-media presentation of an early Soviet avant-absurdist piece exploring language and, well, the human project. This looks great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I just love the Roman pinsa at Montesacro so much.
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Wednesday, March 11, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Wed, Mar 11, 2020, 7:30 PM – Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 8:30 PM
Lynda Crawford: Night Shadows — Or, One Hundred Million Voices Shouting
THEATER
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 11 – 14, 2020
7:30 PM
On Women Festival
Irondale
85 South Oxford Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$25
http://irondale.org/on-women-festival/
An exploration of the life of Anna Akhmatova, a great poet if the 20th Century produced any, who, like all Soviet artists who died in bed, engaged in an uneasy dance with the authorities from which she did not emerge entirely uncompromised. One of the focuses of this play will be on Akhmatova's son, for whose benefit Akhmatova cozied up with Stalin after he was imprisoned for political deviance — only to have that same son eventually reject her philosophically for the authoritarians, possibly out of resentment of her putting her art before her family all her life.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The New American food at No. 7 is good — if perhaps not quite as good as this restaurant's many fans claim.
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Wed, Mar 11, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 8:00 PM
Christopher Chen: The Headlands
THEATER
MONDAY & WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 9 & 11 – 15, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 22)
7:00 WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
LCT 3
Claire Tow Theater, Lincoln Center Theater
150 West 65th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$30
https://www.lct.org/shows/headlands/
A neo-noir with all the usual hard-boiled-fiction stuff about labyrinthine family secrets — although in this case, it's the sleuth's own family. Being a neo-noir, this will explore self-delusion and the fallibility of memory: playwright Christopher Chen has a knack for drawing audiences down rabbit holes.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You're practically right at Lincoln Ristorante — mediocre as it now is.
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Wed, Mar 11, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 8:00 PM
Kalan Sherrard: KOSMOS INVERS: The Morphology of XOS
THEATER
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 11 – 14, 2020
7:00 PM
HERE
145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Hudson Square, Manhattan
$25-$50; $40 "Puppet Pairing" for this & another show "Anywhere"https://ci.ovationtix.com/219/production/1024802
A non-linear pyscho-ecological puppet show about inverse worlds coallescing into a utopian armageddon (whatever a utopian armageddon might be).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Neo-diner food at Soho Diner.
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Tuesday, March 10, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Sarah Weaver
MUSIC
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
9:00 PM
Experimental Intermedia
224 Centre Street, Little Italy, Manhattan
Ticket price unavailable
https://www.facebook.com/events/2927971623933078/
Absolutely fascinating electro-acoustic music from Sarah Weaver.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before, let me recommend the Winter-season cassoulet at Le Mercerie. After, you're probably going to have to go to late-night standby Great N.Y. Noodletown (not that there's anything wrong with going to Great N.Y. Noodletown).
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Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 8:30 PM – Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 9:30 PM
Lisa Bielawa
MUSIC
TUESDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 10 – 14, 2020
8:30 PM
THURSDAY MARCH 11, 2020 [CANCELLED]
The Stone Residencies
Glass Box Theater, The New School
55 West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$20
http://www.thestonenyc.com/calendar.php
This is pretty big. Lisa Bielawa is a really excellent composer/singer, a leading member of the contemporary school that makes music that is fresh and original but also fun to listen to. Go any night. Go all nights.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Victoria Blamey's revivification of the Gotham Bar & Grill remains the place to eat around here. I continue to prefer the simpler bar menu to the more complicated dishes on the dining room menu — and also continue to urge you look at the end of the wine list for the natural wines section instead of at the preceding pages of overpriced and underaged unnatural wines.
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Tuesday, March 10, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Wagner: Der Fliegende Holländer
OPERA
TUESDAY & SATURDAY, MARCH 6 & 10, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 27)
8:00 PM TUESDAY
1:00 PM SATURDAY
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$37-$495
https://www.metopera.org/season/2019-20-season/der-fliegende-hollander/
A fail. François Girard's production fails to do anything with the trivial and offensively sexist legend being told here, so we just get a very dark, stylized telling of an uninteresting and somewhat repellent tale — not, as in Girard's great Parsifal of last decade, a successful attempt to address the issues raised by a problematic (but unlike here fascinating) libretto. And the music in this early Wagner piece — from just before he got really good — is ill-served by Valery Gergiev's desultory (at least on opening night) conducting: overly slow, with no tension but no compensating sweep. Good performances by the Senta and the Erik. But, a fail.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Promenade up Broadway to Le Pif for French food and wine.
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Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 8:00 PM
Alice Birch: Anatomy of a Suicide
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 10 – 15, 2020
8:00 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
7:00 PM SUNDAY
Atlantic Theater
Linda Gross Theater
336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$71.50-$91.50
https://atlantictheater.org/production/anatomy-of-a-suicide/
A few years ago, playwright Alice Birch brought us Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again., a ferocious kaleidoscopic — and, if it isn't wrong to say so, tremendously entertaining — feminist howl. Now she's back (with the same great director), and it's hard not to be very excited. THIS is the future of theater.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Intersect by Lexus is now featuring the fantasy Goan food — a mash-up of Indian and Portuguese — of Mumbai restaurant O Pedro. Starting with the lamb's brain "guacamole", surely the best snack now available in New York, this stuff is a blast!
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Tuesday, March 10, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Tuesday, March 10, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 7:30 PM – Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 8:30 PM
Will Eno: GNIT
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 7 & 8, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 29)
7:30 PM TUESDAY – SUNDAY
2:00 PM SUNDAY
Theater for a New Audience
262 Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$90-$115
https://www.tfana.org/current-season/gnit/overview
The exceedingly droll Will Eno has his way with Ibsen's Peer Gynt — which itself has more drollery than many people credit. Putting the picturesque into the picaresque.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It is absolutely clear where Gynt/Gnit would go: Frank's Cocktail Lounge. Where it is impossible not to have a great time.
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Tuesday, March 10, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Ensemble Connect
MUSIC
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
7:30 PM
Paul Hall, Juilliard
155 West 65th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$10
https://www.juilliard.edu/event/140421/ensemble-connect
A really great program of contemporary classical from Ensemble Connect, featuring works by Kate Soper, Andy Akiho, John Zorn, and Reena Esmail — compelling, enjoyable composers all.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You just know I'm going to send you across the street to Indie Food & Wine in the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.
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Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 7:30 PM – Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 4:00 PM
Claudia Rankine: Help
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 10 – 15, 2020 (continuing through APRIL 5)
7:30 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
The Shed
545 West 30th Street, Hudson Yards, Manhattan
$35-$64
https://theshed.org/program/147-help-a-new-play-by-claudia-rankine
An exploration of white male privilege. You mean like building a big gated exclusionary mixed-use development for the very wealthy financed by tax revenues stolen from the lower classes, and then installing a "progressive" arts center in it to ameliorate the fury of the excluded? Ooops, no, that's class privilege. It's so hard to keep all these oppressions straight.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Watch white meal privilege chow down at the TAK Room.
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Tuesday, March 10, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Tuesday, March 10, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Adama Bilouru, Rufus Cappadocio & Pete Drungle
MUSIC
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
7:00 PM
Areté Venue & Gallery
67 West Street #103, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
$15
https://www.aretevenue.com/events
You don't see djembé-balofon/cello/piano trio every night. Especially with a pianist like Pete Drungle, escape artist from time and space.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm feeling the fresh, charming Vietnamese at Di An Di tonight.
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Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 6:00 PM
Haruna Lee: Suicide Forest
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 10 – 15, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 21)
7:00 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
Ma-Yi Theater Company
Mezzanine Theater, A.R.T./New York
502 West 53rd Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$50-$75
http://ma-yitheatre.org/shows/suicide-forest/
Haruna Lee's play about Japanese and Asian-American identity (Lee also gives a shattering performance), grappling with issues of sexuality, gender, and community (both its good side and its bad), proved to be amazingly affecting in its smash run at the Bushwick Starr last year. It's back — and if you missed it before, don't miss it now.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good wine, cocktails, and snacks at Ardesia Wine Bar.
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Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 4:00 PM
Bernstein: West Side Story
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 10 – 15, 2020 (indefinite run currently scheduled through SEPTEMBER 6)*
(suspension continuing through APRIL 12)
7:00 PM TUESDAY & THURSDAY
8:00 PM WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY
2:00 PM WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
Broadway Theater
1681 Broadway, Midtown, Manhattan
$39-$229
https://westsidestorybway.com/
When the world's leading avant-garde theater director, Ivo van Hove, teams up with the world's leading avant-garde choreographer, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, for a Broadway production of West Side Story, there are only two possible (and mutually consistent) responses: what the fuck?????????????, and "I need to see this!" And then you do see it, and you think: fail. As he did to much better effect with another slice of 1950s New York ethnic melodrama, A View from the Bridge, van Hove presents the Grim '90s version of a tale from ethnic '50s New York, ramping up the grit, sex, and violence. The problem is that in this case it's all set to catchy Jewish '50s showbiz music that won't go away (not that you'd ever want it to). So you keep thinking these menacing contemporary thugs would never be singing these tunes or those lyrics. Indeed, sometimes the presentation is contrary to the text. "Officer Krupke" is emblematic. The actors act menacing and are backed with ("backed" is the wrong word: overcome by) huge videos showing anti-black police violence and social-services depradations. But they're singing a (great) jokey showbiz song from the '50s that actually puts the blame on the juvenile delinquents, not the authorities. It doesn't scan. Yet there's no irony, no sense of any purposeful undercutting of the material. Nor is there any frisson of interrogation of the text — no exploration of why four gay men in the '50s would create a coded story of societally forbidden love. (Broadway producers would never permit either of those.) All there is, is a near-total disjunction between what you're seeing and what you're hearing. And finally, if "Officer Krupke" isn't funny, what is it?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Russian Samovar: more fun that a barrel full of matryoskas.
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Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 9:00 PM
Lukas Hnath: Dana H.
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 10 – 15, 2020 (continuing through APRIL 11)
7:00 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
8:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
3:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Vineyard Theater
108 East 15th Street, Gramercy, Manhattan
$79-$120
https://www.vineyardtheatre.org/dana-h/
Dana Higginbotham was a chaplain in a psych ward. She got kidnapped by a patient. Her son, Lukas Hnath, happens to be one of the best playwrights in America. Hnath fashioned this play from taped interviews of Dana about the kidnapping conducted by Steve Cosson of the The Civilians, a local company specializing in documentary theater. Diedre O'Connell — an invaluable actor on the New York and LA stages, one of the best now working — lip-syncs the interview tapes. By all accounts, this is a gripping, fascinating, unique night of theater.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: People go absolutely apeshit over the burgers at Joe Jr. I don't see it myself.
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Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 4:00 PM
Young Jean Lee: We're Gonna Die
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 10 – 15, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 22)*
7:00 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
8:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
Second Stage Theater
Tony Kiser Theater
305 West 43rd Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$69-$125
https://2st.com/shows/were-gonna-die
Young Jean Lee's smash from last decade is back in a new expanded production. Music! Dancing! Death!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Theater District Italian seafood stalwart Esca – in a slightly new guise.
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Tuesday, March 10, 2020, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Heather Christian: Oratorio for Living Things
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 10 – 15, 2020 (continuing through APRIL 12)
7:00 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
Ars Nova
Greenwich House Theater
27 Barrow Street, West Village, Manhattan
$37-$67
https://arsnovanyc.com/Oratorio-For-Living-Things
Heather Christian goes full-out with an oratorio addressing nothing less than the human condition, working on a broader canvas — eighteen singers and instrumentalists — than she's used before. Christian's music is too rootsy — cute country and blues — for my taste. But you can't deny her craft and seriousness of purpose.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Buvette, a delightful (if tiny) French spot.
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Tuesday, March 10, 2020, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Ricardo Romaneiro / Metropolis Ensemble: Fritz Lang's "Metropolis"
MUSIC
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
8:00 PM
National Sawdust
80 North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$25
https://nationalsawdust.org/event/fritz-lang-metropolis-live-score
Ricardo Romaneiro did a bang-up job creating an electro-acoustic score for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari last year. Now he's tackling another towering (if anything even better) masterpiece of German Expressionist Cinema, Fritz Lang's dystopian Metropolis: a movie everyone must experience, over and over (it does seem like he's using a truncated version, though). And this time, he's augmenting his small electro-acoustic ensemble with (appropriately enough) no less than the Metropolis Ensemble chamber orchestra!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Now that the new brasserie Le Crocodile is having its close-up, it may not be so easy to get in. Remember: you read about it here first!
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Monday, March 9, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Monday, March 9, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Abasement 59
MUSIC
MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020
7:30 PM
Max Fish Basement
120 Orchard Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Admission price unavailable
https://www.facebook.com/events/2278549475581728/
Busy night for drummer Chris Corsano, who's supposed to be playing with different trios both here, underneath Max Fish on the Lower East Side, and at Pioneer Works in Red Hook. The LES trio also features clarinetist Patrick Holmes and cellist-plus Leila Bordreuil. Headlining, though, is Phill Niblock, longstanding minimalist/experimental dronemaster. Also on the bill (separately) are violinist/guitarist/songstress Samara Lubelski and rising jazz guitarist Jessica Ackerley.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to Cantonese heaven (well, if not heaven, at least purgatory) at Congee Village.
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Monday, March 9, 2020, 7:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Christopher Chen: The Headlands
THEATER
MONDAY & WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 9 & 11 – 15, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 22)
7:00 WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
LCT 3
Claire Tow Theater, Lincoln Center Theater
150 West 65th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$30
https://www.lct.org/shows/headlands/
A neo-noir with all the usual hard-boiled-fiction stuff about labyrinthine family secrets — although in this case, it's the sleuth's own family. Being a neo-noir, this will explore self-delusion and the fallibility of memory: playwright Christopher Chen has a knack for drawing audiences down rabbit holes.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You're practically right at Lincoln Ristorante — mediocre as it now is.
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Mon, Mar 9, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 9:00 PM
Ethan Lipton: Tumacho
THEATER
MONDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 9 – 15, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 21)
7:00 PM MONDAY – WEDNESDAY
8:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
3:00 PM SATURDAY
Clubbed Thumb
Connelly Theater
220 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$45-$60; students $30; $25 rush
https://www.clubbedthumb.org/tumacho/
When this musical western spoof played a few years ago, the general consensus was that it was hilarious. I doubt it's gotten less funny since.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Late shows, Vietnamese charmer Van Da is right next door. Matinée, go to my friends at Foxface before or after for amazing sandwiches.
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Monday, March 9, 2020, 7:00 PM – 7:00 PM
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Sunday, March 8, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Sun of Goldfinger Plus Size Model
MUSIC
SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2020
8:00 PM
The Sultan Room, The Turk's Inn
234 Starr Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$15
https://thesultanroom.com/events/#event=77544157663
An augmented version of the slanted jazz sax-guitar-drums trio that the ace players Tim Berne, David Torn, and Ches Smith have formed. These guys are great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It would be a pity to be at The Sultan Room and not eat in the associated Turk's Inn, for its stunning recreation of a Midwestern "Middle Eastern" supper club dining room (if not for the rather wan food).
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Sunday, March 8, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Sunday, March 8, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Go: Organic Chamber Ensemble
MUSIC
SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2020
8:00 PM
Roulette
509 Atlantic Avenue (entrance on 3rd Avenue), Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
$18; $25 door
https://roulette.org/event/go-organic-orchestra-presents-mu-wi/
It's Asian fusion week at Roulette. This free jazz/Japanese & Korean fusion is slightly more suspect than Tuesday's. But lots of good players here.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Grand Army Bar will still be serving when this concert is over.
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Sunday, March 8, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Kurt Schwerdtfeger: Reflektorische Farbrlichtspiele
PERFORMANCE
SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2020
7:30 PM
Lary 7, Bradley Eros, Rachel Guma & Joel Schlemowitz
Microscope Gallery
1329 Willoughby Avenue, Bushwich, Brooklyn
$12; $10 students
https://microscopegallery.com/reflektorische-farblichtspiele-performance-mar8/
It's back! Kurt Schwerdtfeger was a student at the Bauhaus. His Reflecting Color-Light-Play (as we call it in English) was a student work, performed in Kandinsky's house. But it nevertheless has emerged as one of the most radical works of the Bauhaus and, indeed, of the 20th Century. It uses a large hand-built cube projection apparatus in which performers activate stencil shapes and a switchboard of colored lights to form a complex, abstract light play appearing on its screen surface. This will be something.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You should be able to make it, after the show (and you could easily go before), to the new taco sensation Taqueria Al Pastor.
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Sunday, March 8, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Cawley / Goldfarb / Ueseka // Cawley / Kim // Aguilar / Goldfarb / Mattrey
MUSIC
SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2020
7:00 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
Every month, percussionist Caitlin Cawley puts together a show at Spectrum featuring great musicians and fascinating, enjoyable repertory. Last month's was a blast!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: New American bistro Walter's will still be open even after this show. Local whiskey at the Kings County Distillery Gatehouses before.
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Sunday, March 8, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
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Sunday, March 8, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
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Saturday, March 7, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Handel: Agrippina
OPERA
TUESDAY & SATURDAY, MARCH 3 & 7, 2020
7:30 PM TUESDAY
8:00 PM SATURDAY
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$30-$460
https://www.metopera.org/season/2019-20-season/agrippina/
Imagine a prequel to L'Incoronazione di Poppea, played for laughs, focusing on Nero's mother — and chockfull of some of the catchiest music that catchiest of composers, Handel, ever wrote. Wait, you don't have to imagine it: it's here. I can't think of anyone you'd rather hear perform the juicy, camped-up title role than Joyce DiDonato. This is the kind of thing — not regie (this is stupid conservative mainstream New York, for God's sake), but thoughtful and entertaining treatments of the material at hand — the Met should be doing all the time. But isn't.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Hope that P.J. Clarke's stays open as late as it claims to.
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Saturday, March 7, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Anat Cohen Quartetinho
MUSIC
SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2020
8:00 PM
Miller Theater at Columbia University
2960 Broadway, Morningside Heights, Manhattan
$25-$45; $21-$30 senior; $15-$25 students & under age 25
https://www.millertheatre.com/events/anat-cohen-quartet2
The noted jazz clarinetist Anat Cohen has a real feel for Brazilian music (and a real love for it — and why shouldn't she?). This show should be delightful.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It would be great if there were a really nice Brazilian place to send you to near there. But no. Lolo's Seafood Shack is appropriately festive, though.
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Saturday, March 7, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
MYTHOS: George Benjamin: Into the Little Hill / Toshio Hosokawa: Futari Shizuka
OPERA
SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2020
8:00 PM
92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan
$25-$50
https://www.92y.org/event/talea-ensemble
Before they became world-wide opera sensations with Written on Skin, composer George Benjamin and librettist Martin Crimp composed a hugely effective chamber opera about the Pied Piper legend, milking it for all the sociopolitcal allegory it could provide. This is it. Meanwhile, do you know Toshio Hosokawa? He's Takemitsu's natural successor (I'm sure he hates being called that) as Japan's leading mainstream classical composer, whose stringwriting in particular is sharp, clear, and bracing. Tonight's opera — a U.S. premiere — is a Noh ghost story, performed with Noh usages (in other words, it promises to be riveting). Oh, and the Benjamin is sung by Charlotte Mundy and Lucy Dhegrae. It is hard to conceive of that much awesomeness on one stage at the same time.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Might as well cross the street for seasonal Italian at Sfoglia, where it isn't a backhanded compliment to say that the sensational bread stands out.
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Saturday, March 7, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
JACK Quartet: Album Release
MUSIC
SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2020
7:30 PM
Ernst C. Stiefel Concert Hall, The New School
55 West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
Free (by registration)
https://event.newschool.edu/jackquartetnew
The JACK Quartet celebrates the release of a new album featuring the music of Cenk Ergün, whose compositions are often exciting, sometimes contemplative, and always microtonal (one of the new pieces uses trad Turkish tuning and just intonation!). (I'd call it Bartok taken further — but what do I know?) Other stuff as well. There is no string quartet focusing on New Music/contemporary classical that is better than JACK.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Next door to Da Andrea for good Emilia-Romagnan (it might not be Rezdôra — but you can get into Da Andrea).
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Sat, Mar 7, 2020, 7:30 PM – Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 8:30 PM
Will Eno: GNIT
THEATER
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, MARCH 7 & 8, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 29)
7:30 PM
Theater for a New Audience
262 Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$90-$115
https://www.tfana.org/current-season/gnit/overview
The exceedingly droll Will Eno has his way with Ibsen's Peer Gynt — which itself has more drollery than many people credit. Putting the picturesque into the picaresque.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It is absolutely clear where Gynt/Gnit would go: Frank's Cocktail Lounge. Where it is impossible not to have a great time.
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Saturday, March 7, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Constellation Chor
MUSIC / DANCE
SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2020
7:00 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
Constellation Chor does its usual monthly immersive music/dance/performance thing (with an undisclosed opening act).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to Dosa Royale. I leave it to you to guess what they'll be serving.
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Friday, March 6, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Fri, Mar 6, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sat, Mar 7, 2020, 9:00 PM
Ellen Foley & Robert I Rubinsky: Club Dada (in difficult times)
THEATER
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, MARCH 6 & 7, 2020
8:00 PM
LaMama
66 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$25; $20 students/seniors
http://lamama.org/club-dada/
Meatloaf veteran (DO NOT click that last link if you know what's good for you) Ellen Foley and Hair veteran Robert I Rubinsky play ancient vaudevillians compelled by memories of past glory and by outside forces to continue to absurdly belt and hoof into eternity. Their resumes suggest it shouldn't be a stretch.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good hearty Italian at Il Buco Alimentari & Vinieri.
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Friday, March 6, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Wagner: Der Fliegende Holländer
OPERA
MONDAY & FRIDAY, MARCH 2 & 6, 2020 (continuing with this cast through MARCH 21)
8:00 PM
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$37-$495
https://www.metopera.org/season/2019-20-season/der-fliegende-hollander/
OK, so The Flying Dutchman is far from Wagner's best opera (and, of ones that remain in the repertoire, certainly the most conventional). And, OK, the star bass-baritone who was to sing the title role had to drop out owing to injury, to be replaced by a less starry bass-baritone. And yeah, conductor Valery Gergiev can phone performances in sometimes, and can sometimes be pretty ragged. But he can really whip up excitement — which is just what this score needs. And (now we get to why I'm recommending this) director François Girard's prior staging at the Met — Wagner's fascinating, engrossing, musically rich, but highly problematical Parsifal — was one of the absolute best things the Met has put on in recent times: so thoughtful, so considered, so engaged with the material in a critical way that you almost forgot you were at the reactionary old Met.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Promenade up Broadway to Le Pif for French food and wine.
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Friday, March 6, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Blackbox Ensemble: Artificial Life
MUSIC
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
7:00 PM
ShapeShifter Lab
18 Whitwell Place, Gowanus, Brooklyn
$10
https://www.facebook.com/events/178605246779032/
The contemporary classical chamber Blackbox Ensemble, which tries to integrate cultural discourse into its programming, often has substantively themed concerts. But the main theme on this compelling program seems to be "multi-media". The title comes from a piece by the great great George Lewis; among the other composers on the bill is the fascinating Bethany Younge.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Mod pierogies — and more! — at Baba's Pierogies (you'll thank me for this one).
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Friday, March 6, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Spectral Friday
MUSIC
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
7:00 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
No word what curator Gabriel Zucker has planned for this month's polystylistic (or should that be genre-blind) music salon. But I'll tell you what: last month's (including jazz-on-the-borderline-with-classical accompanied by movement, New Nordic classical, and electro-almost-pop) was great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Natural-wine-and-conservas bar Rhodora had actually run out of food after last month's Spectral Friday. We can only hope.
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Friday, March 6, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
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Thursday, March 5, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Alex Anwandter / Balún
MUSIC
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020
8:00 PM
BRIC House
647 Fulton Street (entrance on Rockwell Place), Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15 advance; $18 day of show
https://www.bricartsmedia.org/events-performances/alex-anwandter-balun
If Chilean club-popster Alex Andwandter's music is a little too much on the light side for me — maybe the purportedly cutting lyrics help, but not if you're an Anglophone and they're in Spanish — then Balún's tropical electro-dance music is just right (obligatory reminder that Balún's Angélica Negrón is also one of Brooklyn's best Alt Classical composers).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Excellent drinks and plausible snacks at The Rockwell Place.
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Thursday, March 5, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
of Montreal
MUSIC
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020
8:00 PM
Elsewhere
599 Johnson Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$30
https://www.elsewherebrooklyn.com/events/2020-03-05-of-montreal/
Is post-glam band of Montreal a '90s nostalgia act yet? Nah, they're still grinding it out and it's still really good. Multi-colored music, charmingly semi-ept stage extravaganzas. Sold out, unfortunately — but you know the drill.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You also know the drill about where to eat before Elsewhere shows.
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Thursday, March 5, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Adeline / Jypsy Jeyfree
MUSIC
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020
8:00 PM
The Sultan Room, The Turk's Inn
234 Starr Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$15
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/adeline-jypsy-jeyfree-tickets-91252949027
Adeline was great as the lead singer of the Brooklyn neo-disco band Escort, and she's great doing neo-Prince on her own. Jypsy Jeyfree's work is as much an art project as a succession of alt-pop/R&B tunes — but it's a real good art project and they're real good tunes. This show's a keeper.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It would be a pity to be at The Sultan Room and not eat in the associated Turk's Inn, for its stunning recreation of a Midwestern "Middle Eastern" supper club dining room (if not for the rather wan food).
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Thursday, March 5, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Dai Fujikura: Composer Portrait
MUSIC
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020
8:00 PM
Miller Theater at Columbia University
2960 Broadway, Morningside Heights, Manhattan
$20-$30; $17-$25 senior; $12-$18 students & under age 25
https://www.millertheatre.com/events/dai-fujikura
Composer Dai Fujikura is a multivalent guy. He was a protegé of Boulez. He works with pop musicians (one of the pieces on this program is a concerto for rock guitar). He has an upcoming piano concerto to be premiered by Martha Argerich. This will not be a boring show. Played by the International Contemporary Ensemble and including a world premiere, if you need any further encouragement.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before the show, Clay, a Nice Neighborhood Restaurant in excelsis. After, a beer at the Morningside Heights branch of Arts and Crafts Beer Parlor.
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Thursday, March 5, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Thursday, March 5, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
yMusic: "Ecstatic Science" Release Show
MUSIC
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020
7:00 PM
Rockwood Music Hall
196 Allen Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$20
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ymusic-ecstatic-science-release-show-tickets-91908756565
Alt Classical chamber ensemble yMusic celebrates the release of their excellent new album, featuring pieces by (among others) such List faves as Missy Mazzoli, Caroline Shaw, and Gabriella Smith.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: There's a one-drink minimum standing and two-drink minimum seated (and the drink selection is, IMO, grim). But go to Katz's, and you won't remember a thing about it.
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Thu, Mar 5, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 3:00 PM
Kalan Sherrard: KOSMOS INVERS: The Morphology of XOS
THEATER
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 5 – 8, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 14)
7:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
10:00 PM FRIDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
HERE
145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Hudson Square, Manhattan
$25-$50; $40 "Puppet Pairing" for this & another show "Anywhere" next week
https://ci.ovationtix.com/219/production/1024802
A non-linear pyscho-ecological puppet show about inverse worlds coallescing into a utopian armageddon (whatever a utopian armageddon might be).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Neo-diner food at Soho Diner.
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Wed, Mar 4, 2020, 8:30 PM – Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 5:00 PM
Saori Aoki / Kaso Jogi: After Ever Happily Ever After
THEATER
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 4 – 8, 2020
8:30 PM WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY
4:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
HERE
145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Hudson Square, Manhattan
Free (donation requested)
https://www.kasoujyougi.com/the-book-2
A musical asking what happens to fairy tale characters after "happily ever after"? Wait: is this the Japanese Into the Woods?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Raoul's: still there. Still good. Still kind of cool, even.
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Wed, Mar 4, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sat, Mar 7, 2020, 9:00 PM
cakeface: This Is Now, and Now, and Now.
THEATER
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 4 – 7, 2020
8:00 PM
JACK
18 Putnam Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$25
http://www.jackny.org/this-is-now-and-now-and-now.html
As the promotional materials say, "everyone wants to grow old, and no one wants to grow old." An international cadre of women confront the matter, with cakeface's usual combination of humor, fabulous stagecraft, and basic human understanding.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Piemontese food in a picturesque former pharmacy at Locanda Vini e Olii.
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Wed, Mar 4, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sat, Mar 7, 2020, 9:00 PM
Jillian Walker: SKiNFoLK: An American Show
THEATER
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 4 – 7, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 14)
8:00 PM
The Bushwick Starr
207 Starr Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$20
https://www.thebushwickstarr.org/skinfolk
A concert/play exploring the African-American experience, female division especially — and boy does it look great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Depending on how you look at it, the Venezuelan loaded hot dogs and other street food at Santa Salsa are either kind of gross or incredibly delicious. Actually, why choose? The drinks are deceptively potent.
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Wed, Mar 4, 2020, 7:30 PM – Sat, Mar 7, 2020, 9:00 PM
Nederlands Dans Theater
DANCE
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 4 – 7, 2020
7:30 PM WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY
8:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
New York City Center
131 West 55th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$35-$150
https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/2019-2020/nederlands-dans-theater/
Nederlands Dans Theater (this is NDT1, their primary company; they also have a junior company [NDT2] and at least in the past had a senior one [NDT3]) is the Cadillac of International Modern Dance, for all the good and bad that implies. The machine-tooled perfection of the dancing is astonishing; the machine-tooled perfection of the dancing verges on the inhuman. Like the similarly afflicted Berlin Philharmonic, though, you can't miss it, because there's nothing else like it. And of course they get great pieces. Anyone who saw Peeping Tom's 32 Rue Vandenbraden at BAM last year will be eager in the extreme to see that company's co-artistic director Gabriela Carizzo's The missing door, a violent "surreal thriller" with a mobile set. There's also a piece by Marco Goecke, whose fragmented style can be challenging — but not to these dancers. And a piece by NDT's artistic director and advisor, Sol León and Paul Lightfoot (no offense but I miss Jirí Kylián).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I guess if your slick restaurant group is going to open a big new place you bill as a brasserie in Midtown, of course you'd call it Quality Bistro, cuz after all words have no meaning (and since it's in Midtown, you assume your prospective clientele doesn't know anything about anything anyway). In any event, a very welcome addition to across the street from City Center.
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Wed, Mar 4, 2020, 7:30 PM – Sat, Mar 7, 2020, 8:30 PM
Ada Luana & Gabriel F. / Companhia Setor de Áreas Isoladas: To Moscow! A Palimpsest
THEATER
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 4 – 7, 2020
7:30 PM
On Women Festival
Irondale
85 South Oxford Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$25; $40 for this and "Night Shadows" next week
http://irondale.org/on-women-festival/
Why not one more riff on Three Sisters? This one's different cuz it's from Brazil.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The New American food at No. 7 is good — if not quite as good as this restaurant's many fans claim.
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Wed, Mar 4, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 6:00 PM
Hideki Noda: One Green Bottle
THEATER
MONDAY & WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 2 & 4 – 8, 2020
7:00 PM MONDAY & WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
La MaMa
66 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$35; $30 students/seniors
http://lamama.org/one-green-bottle/
Absurdist gender-bending Japanese distillation of the relationship of tech and consumerism.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Ukrainian East Village Restaurant is pretty absurd itself.
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Wed, Mar 4, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 8:00 PM
Christopher Chen: The Headlands
THEATER
MONDAY & WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 2 & 4 – 8, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 22)
7:00 WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
LCT 3
Claire Tow Theater, Lincoln Center Theater
150 West 65th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$30
https://www.lct.org/shows/headlands/
A neo-noir with all the usual hard-boiled-fiction stuff about labyrinthine family secrets — although in this case, it's the sleuth's own family. Being a neo-noir, this will explore self-delusion and the fallibility of memory: playwright Christopher Chen has a knack for drawing audiences down rabbit holes.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You're practically right at Lincoln Ristorante — mediocre as it is.
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Wed, Mar 4, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 4:00 PM
Taylor Mac: The Fre
THEATER
MONDAY & WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 2 & 4 – 8, 2020 (continuing through APRIL 12)
7:00 PM MONDAY & WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
The Bats
The Flea Theater
20 Thomas Street, Tribeca, Manhattan
$37-$102 Friday & Saturday; $27-$102 Sunday
http://theflea.org/shows/the-fre/
The divine Taylor Mac is back with a phantasmagoria pitting queers against fun-loving anti-intellectuals. Wait, do I read the promotional materials right in saying "the audience will literally and figuratively jump into the mud . . . to hash out the current cultural divide"? (I have no idea what the hyper-expensive "VIP Tickets" get you — but even if it's absolute freedom from mud exposure, it can't be worth it.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: After mucking about in the mud, nothing could be better than the fried bologna sandwich at Au Cheval.
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Wednesday, March 4, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Sun Ra Arkestra / William Parker's Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield: Sounds of Justice
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2020
7:00 PM
The Town Hall
123 West 43rd Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$32-$64
https://thetownhall.org/event/sounds-of-justice-sun-ra-arkestra
Ace bassist William Parker's free jazz interpretations of the sublime Chicago soul music of Curtis Mayfield are something to hear (talk about surefire material!). The Sun Ra Arkestra's maintenance of Ra's avant–big band legacy under the leadership of the fabulous 95-year-old alto player Marshall Allen supports the idea that Ra was onto something with all that intergalactic Egyptian stuff. The music is certainly beyond fantastic (in all senses of that word). If the Arkestra should join in on the Curtis Mayfield stuff, that would be (literally) out of this world.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before the show, grab a taco or three at Los Tacos No. 1. Afterward, grab a cocktail or three at the more than a little douchey (hey, it's Midtown!) Blue.
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Tue, Mar 3, 2020, 8:30 PM – Sat, Mar 7, 2020, 9:30 PM
Miles Okazaki
MUSIC
TUESDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 3 – 7, 2020
8:30 PM
The Stone Residencies
Glass Box Theater, The New School
55 West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$20
http://www.thestonenyc.com/calendar.php
As this List never tires of pointing out, Miles Okazaki achieved the seemingly impossible when he recorded Thelonious Monk's entire corpus on solo guitar — and made it work. So at the least he deserves a week-long residence at The Stone, with varying ensembles.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Victoria Blamey's revivification of the Gotham Bar & Grill remains the place to eat around here. I continue to prefer the simpler bar menu to the more complicated dishes on the dining room menu — and also continue to urge you look at the end of the wine list for the natural wines section instead of at the preceding pages of overpriced and underaged unnatural wines.
-
Tuesday, March 3, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Tue, Mar 3, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 8:00 PM
Alice Birch: Anatomy of a Suicide
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 3 – 8, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 15)
8:00 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
7:00 PM SUNDAY
Atlantic Theater
Linda Gross Theater
336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$71.50-$91.50
https://atlantictheater.org/production/anatomy-of-a-suicide/
A few years ago, playwright Alice Birch brought us Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again., a ferocious kaleidoscopic — and, if it isn't wrong to say so, tremendously entertaining — feminist howl. Now she's back (with the same great director), and it's hard not to be very excited. THIS is the future of theater.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Intersect by Lexus is now featuring the fantasy Goan food — a mash-up of Indian and Portuguese — of Mumbai restaurant O Pedro. Starting with the lamb's brain "guacamole", surely the best snack now available in New York, this stuff is a blast!
-
Tue, Mar 3, 2020, 7:30 PM – Sat, Mar 7, 2020, 8:30 PM
-
Tue, Mar 3, 2020, 7:30 PM – Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 4:00 PM
Simon Stone aft. Euripides: Medea
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 3 – 8, 2020
7:30 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
BAM Strong Harvey Theater
651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$45-$195
https://www.bam.org/medea
Simon Stone made a big impression here with Yerma at the Armory last year. Having hit it with Lorca, now he goes back to one of the most intense Greek tragedies, Euripides's Medea. I guess Stone is attracted to depictions of fraught mother/children relationships — although in this case, unlike in Yerma, for most of the play the children actually exist. If you're the kind of person who needs stars to motivate him or herself to go to the theater, this one has Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale (partners with children IRL — but we're not gonna think about that).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm sure Jason and Medea liked to sit down for beers and sausage before things went south: Black Forest Brooklyn.
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Tuesday, March 3, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Handel: Agrippina
OPERA
TUESDAY & SATURDAY, MARCH 3 & 7, 2020
7:30 PM TUESDAY
8:00 PM SATURDAY
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$30-$460
https://www.metopera.org/season/2019-20-season/agrippina/
Imagine a prequel to L'Incoronazione di Poppea, played for laughs, focusing on Nero's mother — and chockfull of some of the catchiest music that catchiest of composers, Handel, ever wrote. Wait, you don't have to imagine it: it's here. I can't think of anyone you'd rather hear perform the juicy, camped-up title role than Joyce DiDonato. This is the kind of thing — not regie (this is stupid conservative mainstream New York, for God's sake), but thoughtful and entertaining treatments of the material at hand — the Met should be doing all the time. But isn't.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Hope that P.J. Clarke's stays open as late as it claims to.
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Tue, Mar 3, 2020, 7:30 PM – Sat, Mar 7, 2020, 9:00 PM
-
Tue, Mar 3, 2020, 7:30 PM – Sat, Mar 7, 2020, 6:00 PM
Fornés: Mud / Drowning
THEATER / OPERA
TUESDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 3 – 7, 2020
7:30 PM TUESDAY – FRIDAY
5:00 PM SATURDAY
Mabou Mines
150 First Avenue, East Village, Manhattan
$25; $20 students/seniors
https://www.maboumines.org/production/mud-drowning/
The María Irene Fornés revival continues apace. Here are two short pieces directed by Mabou veteran JoAnne Akalaitis. Mud, set in the Depression '30s, would be social realism if Fornés had any inclination toward realism — which, thank God, she doesn't. Drowning has some remote inspiration in Chekhov — although I'd call it Beckett (an old Akalaitis antagonist) crossed with early Albee, all through the unique lens of Fornés. (You've got to read this review by the unlamented John Simon: how is it possible to be wrong about so many things in so short a space?) Philip Glass (who was married to Akalaitis long ago) has written new incidental music for Mud, and has newly turned Drowning into a chamber opera. As you'd expect for a new Philip Glass opera in a tiny venue, the entire run is sold out; look for cancellations etc. (This would probably be a "Pick to Click" if it weren't so hard to get into.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: There's a lot of Mod Korean in New York these days. Thursday Kitchen is a particularly delightful example.
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Tue, Mar 3, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 6:00 PM
Haruna Lee: Suicide Forest
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 3 – 8, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 15)
7:00 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
Ma-Yi Theater Company
Mezzanine Theater, A.R.T./New York
502 West 53rd Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$50-$75
http://ma-yitheatre.org/shows/suicide-forest/
Haruna Lee's play about Japanese and Asian-American identity (Lee also gives a shattering performance), grappling with issues of sexuality, gender, and community (both its good side and its bad), proved to be amazingly affecting in its smash run at the Bushwick Starr last year. It's back — and if you missed it before, don't miss it now.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good wine, cocktails, and snacks at Ardesia Wine Bar.
-
Tuesday, March 3, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Tue, Mar 3, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 4:00 PM
Young Jean Lee: We're Gonna Die
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 3 – 8, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 22)
7:00 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
8:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
Second Stage Theater
Tony Kiser Theater
305 West 43rd Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$69-$125
https://2st.com/shows/were-gonna-die
Young Jean Lee's smash from last decade is back in a new expanded production. Music! Dancing! Death!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Theater District Italian seafood stalwart Esca – in a slightly new guise.
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Tue, Mar 3, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 4:00 PM
Lukas Hnath: Dana H.
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 3 – 8, 2020 (continuing through APRIL 11)
7:00 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
8:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
3:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Vineyard Theater
108 East 15th Street, Gramercy, Manhattan
$79-$120
https://www.vineyardtheatre.org/dana-h/
Dana Higginbotham was a chaplain in a psych ward. She got kidnapped by a patient. Her son, Lukas Hnath, happens to be one of the best playwrights in America. Hnath fashioned this play from interviews conducted with Dana about the kidnapping by Steve Cosson of the The Civilians, a local company specializing in documentary theater. Diedre O'Connell — an invaluable actor on the New York and LA stages, one of the best now working — lip-syncs the tapes. By all accounts, this is a gripping, fascinating, unique night of theater.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: People go absolutely apeshit over the burgers at Joe Jr. I don't see it myself.
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Monday, March 2, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Wagner: Der Fliegende Holländer
OPERA
MONDAY & FRIDAY, MARCH 2 & 6, 2020 (continuing with this cast through MARCH 21)
8:00 PM
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$37-$495
https://www.metopera.org/season/2019-20-season/der-fliegende-hollander/
OK, so The Flying Dutchman is far from Wagner's best opera (and, of ones that remain in the repertoire, certainly the most conventional). And, OK, the star bass-baritone who was to sing the title role had to drop out owing to injury, to be replaced by a less starry bass-baritone. And yeah, conductor Valery Gergiev can phone performances in sometimes, and can sometimes be pretty ragged. But he can really whip up excitement — which is just what this score needs. And (now we get to why I'm recommending this) director François Girard's prior staging at the Met — Wagner's fascinating, engrossing, musically rich, but highly problematical Parsifal — was one of the absolute best things the Met has put on in recent times: so thoughtful, so considered, so engaged with the material in a critical way that you almost forgot you were at the reactionary old Met.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Promenade up Broadway to Le Pif for French food and wine.
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Mon, Mar 2, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sat, Mar 7, 2020, 9:00 PM
Bernstein: West Side Story
THEATER
MONDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 2 – 7, 2020 (indefinite run currently scheduled through SEPTEMBER 6)
8:00 PM MONDAY- SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY
Broadway Theater
1681 Broadway, Midtown, Manhattan
$39-$229
https://westsidestorybway.com/
When the world's leading avant-garde theater director, Ivo van Hove, teams up with the world's leading avant-garde choreographer, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, for a Broadway production of West Side Story, there are only two possible (and mutually consistent) responses: what the fuck?????????????, and "I need to see this!"
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Russian Samovar: more fun that a barrel full of matryoskas.
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Mon, Mar 2, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sat, Mar 7, 2020, 9:00 PM
Ethan Lipton: Tumacho
THEATER
MONDAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 2 – 7, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 21)*
7:00 PM MONDAY – WEDNESDAY
8:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
3:00 PM SATURDAY
Clubbed Thumb
Connelly Theater
220 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$45-$60; students $30; $25 rush
https://www.clubbedthumb.org/tumacho/
When this musical western spoof played a few years ago, the general consensus was that it was hilarious. I doubt it's gotten less funny since.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Late shows, Vietnamese charmer Van Da is right next door. Matinée, go to my friends at Foxface before or after for amazing sandwiches.
-
Monday, March 2, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Monday, March 2, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Taylor Mac: The Fre
THEATER
MONDAY & WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 2 & 4 – 8, 2020 (continuing through APRIL 12)
7:00 PM MONDAY & WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
The Bats
The Flea Theater
20 Thomas Street, Tribeca, Manhattan
$37-$102 Friday & Saturday; $27-$102 Sunday
http://theflea.org/shows/the-fre/
The divine Taylor Mac is back with a phantasmagoria pitting queers against fun-loving anti-intellectuals. Wait, do I read the promotional materials right in saying "the audience will literally and figuratively jump into the mud . . . to hash out the current cultural divide"? (I have no idea what the hyper-expensive "VIP Tickets" get you — but even if it's absolute freedom from mud exposure, it can't be worth it.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: After mucking about in the mud, nothing could be better than the fried bologna sandwich at Au Cheval.
-
Monday, March 2, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Christopher Chen: The Headlands
THEATER
MONDAY & WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 2 & 4 – 8, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 22)
7:00 WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
LCT 3
Claire Tow Theater, Lincoln Center Theater
150 West 65th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$30
https://www.lct.org/shows/headlands/
A neo-noir with all the usual hard-boiled-fiction stuff about labyrinthine family secrets — although in this case, it's the sleuth's own family. Being a neo-noir, this will explore self-delusion and the fallibility of memory: playwright Christopher Chen has a knack for drawing audiences down rabbit holes.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You're practically right at Lincoln Ristorante — mediocre as it is.
-
Monday, March 2, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Hideki Noda: One Green Bottle
THEATER
MONDAY & WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, MARCH 2 & 4 – 8, 2020
7:00 PM MONDAY & WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
La MaMa
66 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$35; $30 students/seniors
http://lamama.org/one-green-bottle/
Absurdist gender-bending Japanese distillation of the relationship of tech and consumerism.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Ukrainian East Village Restaurant is pretty absurd itself.
-
Sunday, March 1, 2020, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Angela Kim & Clara Kim: The Roommates
MUSIC
SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2020
8:30 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
Roommates Angela Kim (piano) and Clara Kim (violin) kick off a long-term exploration of sonata form (which they claim is the longest-surviving form in the history of music) (ummm, Western music, maybe) with a Bach sonata accompanied by an echoing work by Christopher Cerrone, certainly among the best composers now working in this borough (i.e., The Cultural Center Of The Universe).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: New American bistro Walter's will still be open even after this show. Local whiskey at the Kings County Distillery Gatehouses before.
-
Sunday, March 1, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Sunday, March 1, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
-
Sunday, March 1, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Pascal Charrier: Petite Montagne
MUSIC
SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2020
5:00 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
I have a good feeling about this. A French jazz guitarist plays a large-scale improvised piece on a Southern France folk guitar about Southern French Mountain animist fairy tales.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Afterward, I just don't have the strength not to send you to Café Paulette. Before, local whiskey at Kings County Distillery Gatehouses.
-
Sunday, March 1, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
-
Sunday, March 1, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Matt Forker's Mirror Image / Sonya Belaya / Wit & Daniel: A Salon of Creative Music
MUSIC
SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2020
2:00 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
An afternoon of music having at least one foot in jazz, but with an outgoing outlook. Perfect for an almost-Spring Sunday afternoon.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The best appetizing in the entire world at Russ & Daughters Brooklyn.
-
Sat, Feb 29, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 1, 2020, 6:00 PM
Hideki Noda: One Green Bottle
THEATER
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 29 & MARCH 1, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 8)
7:00 PM SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
La MaMa
66 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$35; $30 students/seniors
http://lamama.org/one-green-bottle/
Absurdist gender-bending Japanese distillation of the relationship of tech and consumerism.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Ukrainian East Village Restaurant is pretty absurd itself.
-
Fri, Feb 28, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 1, 2020, 4:00 PM
Taylor Mac: The Fre
THEATER
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28 – MARCH 1, 2020 (continuing through APRIL 12)
7:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
The Bats
The Flea Theater
20 Thomas Street, Tribeca, Manhattan
$37-$102 Friday & Saturday; $27-$102 Sunday
http://theflea.org/shows/the-fre/
The divine Taylor Mac is back with a phantasmagoria pitting queers against fun-loving anti-intellectuals. Wait, do I read the promotional materials right in saying "the audience will literally and figuratively jump into the mud . . . to hash out the current cultural divide"? (I have no idea what the hyper-expensive "VIP Tickets" get you — but even if it's absolute freedom from mud exposure, it can't be worth it.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: After mucking about in the mud, nothing could be better than the fried bologna sandwich at Au Cheval.
-
Thu, Feb 27, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sun, Mar 1, 2020, 4:00 PM
Jack Waters & Peter Cramer: Generator (Pestilence Part 1)
THEATER
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 1, 2020
8:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
LaMama
66 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$25; $20 students/seniors
http://lamama.org/generator/
The first installment of a three-part cycle that traces the development of life and then social organizations on Earth, all the while engaging in a metaphorical meditation on the AIDS epidemic. This is the kind of theater this List strongly favors: do NOT expect linear narrative or psychological realism; expect stylized imagery and spectacle.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good hearty Italian at Il Buco Alimentari & Vinieri.
-
Thu, Feb 27, 2020, 7:30 PM – Sun, Mar 1, 2020, 6:00 PM
Fornés: Mud / Drowning
THEATER / OPERA
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 1, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 7)
7:30 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
Mabou Mines
150 First Avenue, East Village, Manhattan
$25; $20 students/seniors
https://www.maboumines.org/production/mud-drowning/
The María Irene Fornés revival continues apace. Here are two short pieces directed by Mabou veteran JoAnne Akalaitis. Mud, set in the Depression '30s, would be social realism if Fornés had any inclination toward realism. Which, thank God, she doesn't. Drowning has some remote inspiration in Chekhov — although I'd call it Beckett (an old Akalaitis antagonist) crossed with early Albee, all through the unique lens of Fornés. (You've got to read this review by the unlamented John Simon: how is it possible to be wrong about so many things in so short a space?) Philip Glass (who was married to Akalaitis long ago) has written new incidental music for Mud, and has newly turned Drowning into a chamber opera. As you'd expect, the entire run is almost entirely sold out; look for cancellations etc.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: There's a lot of Mod Korean in New York these days. Thursday Kitchen is a particularly delightful example.
-
Wed, Feb 26, 2020, 7:30 PM – Sun, Mar 1, 2020, 4:00 PM
New York City Ballet: Classic NYCB II
DANCE
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 1, 2020
7:30 WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY
8:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
David H. Koch Theater
20 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$35-$200
https://www.nycballet.com/Ballets/N/New-Peck-Winter-2020.aspx
The big deal here is a brand-new Justin Peck piece called Rotunda. It's hard to believe Peck has never worked with Nico Muhly before — they seem sort of made for each other — but this is their first collaboration. Don't worry if you can't make it this week: Rotunda will be back in May on a program of entirely new or newish works.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Not that you don't already know about it, but Bar Boulud.
-
Wed, Feb 26, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 1, 2020, 8:00 PM
Christopher Chen: The Headlands
THEATER
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 1, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 22)
7:00 WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
LCT 3
Claire Tow Theater, Lincoln Center Theater
150 West 65th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$30
https://www.lct.org/shows/headlands/
A neo-noir with all the usual hard-boiled-fiction stuff about labyrinthine family secrets — although in this case, it's the sleuth's own family. Being a neo-noir, this will explore self-delusion and the fallibility of memory: playwright Christopher Chen has a knack for drawing audiences down rabbit holes.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You're practically right at Lincoln Ristorante — mediocre as it is.
-
Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 8:30 PM – Sun, Mar 1, 2020, 11:30 PM
Cécile McLorin Salvant
MUSIC
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25 – MARCH 1, 2020
8:30 & 10:30 PM
Village Vanguard
178 7th Avenue, West Village, Manhattan
$35
https://villagevanguard.com/
Jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant is a little more mainstream than what usually gets Listed here. But she's so damned good: the kind of unique stylist that comes around once a generation. See her before she settles into legendhood.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before or after the early shows and before the late shows, P.F. Pasta al Forno may be no more than a storefront, but their baked pasta is mighty good. After the late shows, you might just be able to book a table at 4 Charles Prime Rib.
-
Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sun, Mar 1, 2020, 8:00 PM
Alice Birch: Anatomy of a Suicide
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25 – MARCH 1, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 15)
8:00 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
7:00 PM SUNDAY
Atlantic Theater
Linda Gross Theater
336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$71.50-$91.50
https://atlantictheater.org/production/anatomy-of-a-suicide/
A few years ago, playwright Alice Birch brought us Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again., a ferocious kaleidoscopic — and, if it isn't wrong to say so, tremendously entertaining — feminist howl. Now she's back (with the same great director), and it's hard not to be very excited. THIS is the future of theater.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Intersect by Lexus is now featuring the fantasy Goan food — a mash-up of Indian and Portuguese — of Mumbai restaurant O Pedro. Starting with the lamb's brain "guacamole", surely the best snack now available in New York, this stuff is a blast!
-
Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 7:00 PM – Sun, Mar 1, 2020, 6:00 PM
Haruna Lee: Suicide Forest
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25 – MARCH 1, 2020 (continuing through MARCH 15)
7:00 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
Ma-Yi Theater Company
Mezzanine Theater, A.R.T./New York
502 West 53rd Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$30-$50
http://ma-yitheatre.org/shows/suicide-forest/
Haruna Lee's play about Japanese and Asian-American identity (Lee also gives a shattering performance), grappling with issues of sexuality, gender, and community (both its good side and its bad), proved to be amazingly affecting in its smash run at the Bushwick Starr last year. It's back — and if you missed it before, don't miss it now.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good wine, cocktails, and snacks at Ardesia Wine Bar.
