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Friday, July 31, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Downtown Variety
PERFORMANCE / MUSIC / DANCE / THEATER
FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2020
8:00 PM
La MaMa Live Stream
Free (donation requested)
http://lamama.org/downtown-variety-13/
I'm not the first to make this observation, but I prefer the immediacy of the homespun, technically unadept streams of the The Early Quarantine to the mediated experiences provided by the slicker ones we've been seeing lately with higher production values. No danger of that in these La MaMa shows, assembling experimentalist dancers, performers, actors, media artists, musicians, and what have you from all over. Always interesting and enjoyable.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Ladies and gentlemen, from New Orleans, one of the all-time greats, the Sazerac: mix 1 teaspoon of sugar and 4 dashes of Peychaud's bitters, with a few drops of water, in the bottom of a cocktail shaker, until the sugar is dissolved. Rinse a VERY chilled Old Fashioned glass with Absinthe. Strain the cocktail into the rinsed (VERY chilled) glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Friday, July 31, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Autumn Knight
PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2020 (concluding on AUGUST 7)
6:00 PM
The Kitchen
Twitch
Free
https://onscreen.thekitchen.org/autumn-knight
Multidisciplinary artist Autumn Knight takes a residency in The Kitchen's building, engaging in the building and its maintenance while addressing her current principal themes of inclusion and the ongoing gaslighting of America. This is the second of two durational live streams (to the uninitiated, "durational" means "really really long"), to be crafted next week into a video edit.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Zone Amarillo: pour 1 oz. each of Mezcal and Reposado Tequila, 3/4 oz. of Punt e Mes, and 1/4 oz. of yellow Chartreuse, with 2 dashes each of Angostura and Peychaud's bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist and a cocktail cherry.
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Friday, July 31, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2020 (Weekly)
5:00 PM
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Facebook
Free
https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/ethel-online
The fab alt string quartet ETHEL brings its weekly recitals in the Met Balcony Bar home (theirs and yours). Expect old and new music, and surprise guests (from still more homes).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Old Hickory: pour 1 oz. each of sweet and dry Vermouth, with 2 dashes of orange bitters and 1 dash of Peychaud's bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Friday, July 31, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Mahan Esfahani: Plays Bach
MUSIC
FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2020
2:00 PM
92nd Street Y Online
$10
https://www.92y.org/event/mahan-esfahani
Live from his home in Prague(!), harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani plays a selection of usual Bach harpsichord suspects: stuff than which there is nothing better to listen to in the world. Esfahani's rhythms are occasionally a bit on the clunky side, but his interpretations of pieces you might have heard hundreds of times never ever fail to provoke thought. Fans of this music know what to do.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Modern Lemonade: pour 1-1/2 oz. each of Fino or Manzanilla Sherry and Sloe Gin, and 2 oz. lemon juice, with 2 tablespoons of superfine sugar, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a Highball glass over ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 7:00 AM – Sun, Aug 2, 2020, 8:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 31 – AUGUST 2, 2020 (Ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
Free (soundtrack must be purchased)
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
Something you can actually Go Out to (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand. Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inestimable Joe White (who seemingly couldn't write an unenjoyable tune if he tried). The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (Bell insists you can also enjoy the soundtrack at home without going to the Cemetery, if you're not inclined to travel.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bring bottled water. As for afterward, 5th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets is designated for street dining, if you that's your thing. OTOH: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/07/23/reckless-driver-plows-into-sunset-park-outdoor-dining-area-injuring-patrons/
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Thursday, July 30, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Poncili Creación: Text-Based Performance
PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
9:00 PM
Pioneer Works Live Stream
Free (donation requested)
https://pioneerworks.org/programs/poncili-creacion/
Puppets! Creating, with the audience, an exquisite corpse!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Very few people ever get past the Corpse Reviver No. 2 to the Corpse Reviver No. 3, but they should: pour 1 oz. each of Cognac, Campari, and Cointreau, and 1/2 oz. lemon juice, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Thu, Jul 30, 2020, 8:00 PM – Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 11:00 PM
pssst...: Nearness Offering
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY & FRIDAY, JULY 30 & 31, 2020
8:00 & 10:00 PM
Beth Morrison Productions BMP:Limitless Live Stream
$20
https://www.bethmorrisonprojects.org/pssst
A New Opera speakeasy. The last one was just great. Go.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This is a night for what is perhaps the most purely delicious of all cocktails, the Corpse Reviver No. 2: pour 1 oz. each of Gin, Cointreau, Lillet blanc (or even better Kina L'Aero d'Or!), and lemon juice, with 1/4 teaspoon Absinthe, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Thursday, July 30, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Yuko Otomo & Matt Mottel feat. Andrew Lampert: The Steve Circuit: Anthology Film Archives
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
8:00 PM
ISSUE Project Room Stream
Free
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/steve-circuit-yuko-otomo-matt-mottel-anthology-film-archives-andrew-lampert
ISSUE Project Room continues its weekly video feature paying tribute to the late Downtown poet Steve Dalachinsky, created by Dalachinsky's widow, the painter and poet Yuko Otomo, and interdisciplinary artist Matt Mottel. The various episodes take you around Steve Dalinchinksy's New York (in a very suggestive, figurative way); this week we go to the Anthology Film Archives (certainly a key locus of many of our so-called esthetic awakenings). Assisting in this week's episode is filmmaker/writer Andrew Lampert (whose contribution to ISSUE's previous online Quarantine initiative was so totally wonderful).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Eastern Sour: pour 2 oz. Bourbon, 1-1/2 oz. orange juice, 1 oz. lime juice, and 1/4 oz. each of Orgeat and Simple Syrup into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with the spent lime shell.
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Thursday, July 30, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Livestream Concert: Johnathan Blake
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 30 2020
8:00 PM
Jazz Gallery
YouTube
$10
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/livestream-johnathan-blake
This Jazz Gallery initiative presents full-scale concerts (as opposed to solo recitals). Tonight's featured artist, Johnathan Blake, is a really good drummer. And he's he's got a pretty fancy band: Mark Turner on sax, Kris Davis on piano, and Ben Street on bass.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Strega Daiquiri: pour 1 oz. each of white Rum and Strega, 1/2 oz. each of orange juice and lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon of Orgeat into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
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Thursday, July 30, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Trav S.D.: Trav S.D.'s History of Drag in Vaudeville
PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
7:30 PM
Hot! Festival
Dixon Place DPTV
$15 suggested donation
http://dixonplace.org/performances/trav-s-d-s-history-of-drag-in-vaudeville/
Trav S.D., a genuine New York theater/performance god — and an expert on vaudeville history — walks us through (as the title says) the history of drag in vaudeville.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Mamie Taylor: fill a rocks glass with ice. Pour in 2 oz. blended Scotch, the juice of half a lime, and 6 oz. ginger ale or ginger beer. Stir. Garnish with a lime wedge.
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Thursday, July 30, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
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Thursday, July 30, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Sae Hashimoto
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free (artist donation requested)
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/sae-hashimoto
Whatever this terrific percussionist plays, you KNOW it'll be worth hearing.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: From the mind of the late gaz regan, The Reluctant Tabby Cat: pour 1/4 oz. peaty Islay Scotch. 1-1/4 oz. Dubonnet rouge, and 1/4 oz. Limoncello into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a wine glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Thursday, July 30, 2020, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Sam Zagnit: New and Existing Works for Solo Bass by Black Composers
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
2:30 PM
Portrait Series
Mise-En_Place #live
YouTube
Facebook
Free
https://place.mise-en.org/#live
I could be pedantic and point out that new works are as much in "existence" as old works. But bassist Sam Zagnit is too good a player to carp with like that.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I think my drink of the Summer might be this variation on the Bootstrap Rickey we tried a couple of days ago. First Post (yes it's named after the pub — one of several, of course — in The World's End): pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin, 1/2 oz. Suze, 1 oz. lime juice, 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup, and 1/4 teaspoon of Absinthe into a cocktail shaker with no ice (I actually have no idea why you're supposed to leave out the ice from the shaker — but you are). Shake. Pour into a Highball or a Collins glass over ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with a lime wedge.
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Thursday, July 30, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Concrete Temple Theater: Geppetto: Extraordinary Extremities
THEATER
THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
2:00 PM
La MaMa Kids Online
Free (donation requested)
http://lamama.org/gepetto/
More puppets! This time portraying a puppet show gone awry, which will somehow invoke the overcoming of disabilities.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Claret Cup: pour 3 oz. Red Wine, and 1/2 oz. each of Amontillado Sherry, Curaçao, and lemon juice, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a Highball glass over ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with cucumber slices, orange slices, and whatever seasonal treats you have hanging around (I don't about you guys, but I go to the Greenmarket this time of year and go absolutely CRAZY.)
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Thursday, July 30, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, JULY 28 & 30, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases 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 (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Thu, Jul 30, 2020, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 2, 2020, 3:00 PM
Beethoven: To My Distant Love
MUSIC
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 30 – AUGUST 2, 2020 (continuing through AUGUST 23)
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM THURSDAY
7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM FRIDAY
1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM SATURDAY
1:00, 1:30 & 2:00 PM SUNDAY
On Site Opera
Via Telephone
$40
https://osopera.org/productions/distantlove/
I didn't List this initially, because Beethoven isn't just mainstream, but the definition of mainstream: the progenitor of the Masterpiece Complex that has stultified classical music since the dark days of the early-mid 19th Century. To be sure, he's also unbelievably great — and this piece is, for what it's worth, the first song cycle in the Western classical tradition. But really this event gets Listed for its innovative form: a singer — you get to chose between soprano and baritone — will phone you (that's right: you have to remember how to answer a telephone call) and, after engaging in amorous chitchat, sing the cycle to you over the phone (after having sent you longing emails in the week before the performance). Now some of us view that kind of one-on-one interaction with performers with horror (especially when, as is the case with the splendid soprano Jennifer Zetlan, her husband will be sitting in the room with her accompanying her love songs to you on the piano!). Some of us also wonder whether it's really worth paying $40 to listen to music over the phone — perhaps the worst vehicle for sound transmission in current mass use — when we can listen to, say, Christian Gerhaher brilliantly reproduced on our stereos (yeah yeah, I know: having a stereo is even more paleolithic than answering a phone call). But On Site Opera has to get points for coming up with a really clever response to the obstacles facing live music-making under The Quarantine. And the basic thesis of this List is of course that live performance is an unmatchable experience. So it's your call. IF you can get a ticket, that is: they're scarce (I mean, every performance has an audience of one). There are still a few available for the end of the run.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Absinthe Drip: pour 5 oz. of water into an Absinthe Fountain. Pour 1 oz. Absinthe into an Absinthe Glass. Place an Absinthe Spoon holding a sugar cube across the top of the Absinthe Glass under a spigot of the Absinthe Fountain. Drip water from the Absinthe Fountain through the Absinthe Spoon into the Absinthe Glass. The sugar cube should dissolve and the Absinthe take on a louche (i.e., turn milky). Stir briefly before drinking (happily, you don't need a special Absinthe Stirrer). (PS: you can get perfectly acceptable results by simply pouring ice water slowly into any old glass holding Absinthe with a sugar cube you've muddled at the bottom.)
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Tuesday, July 28, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Living Music with Nadia Sirota: Pirate Radio Edition
MUSIC
TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020 (Weekly)
9:00 PM
Facebook
Free (donation requested)
https://www.livingmusicshow.com/
Hostess with the mostess Nadia Sirota brings you exactly the kind of musicians this List focuses on.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Crux: pour 3/4 oz. each of Brandy, Dubonnet rouge, Cointreau, and lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2020, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM
The Hot! Festival Evening of Dance
DANCE
TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
8:30 PM
Dixon Place DPTV
Free ($15-$30 donation suggested)
http://dixonplace.org/performances/the-hot-festival-evening-of-dance-07-28-20/
Dance! With pride!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Pink Gin and Tonic: muddle 2 sage leaves at the bottom of a Highball glass. Fill the glass with ice. Pour in 1-1/2 oz. Gin, with 2 dashes of Peychaud's bitters, and 4 oz. tonic water. Stir.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Julian Lage
MUSIC
TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free (artist donation requested)
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/julian-lage
Jazz guitarist Julian Lage is a little rootsy/Americana for this List's taste. But his last album contained a Peter Ivers song, so this show gets a nod.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Old Pal, another of the scores of nice Negroni variations in this world: pour 2 oz. Rye, and 1 oz. each of dry Vermouth and Campari, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
David T. Little / Chen Yi
MUSIC
TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
6:00 PM
Mizzou Music Festival New Music Initiative
Facebook
Free
https://www.facebook.com/MizzouNewMusic/
Well this is really something. David T. Little composes (great) Alt Classical like someone who's listened to a lot rock-band music. Chen Yi's use of the sonorities of Chinese music gives her High Modernist compositions a sheen of seductiveness such music often lacks.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Joli Rajah: pour 2-1/2 oz. amber Rum and 1/2 oz. each of Absinthe, lemon juice, and Grenadine into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
CyberTank Variety Show: PrideFest
THEATER / PERFORMANCE / DANCE
TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020 (Weekly)
4:00 PM
The Tank
Twitch
Free
https://thetanknyc.org/cybertank-calendar/2020/7/28/cybertank-variety-show
Performing artists share what they've been working on.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bootstrap Rickey: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin, 1/2 oz. Fino Sherry, 1 oz. lime juice, 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup, and 1/4 teaspoon of Absinthe into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a Highball or a Collins glass. Top with club soda. Garnish with a lime wedge and a mint sprig.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, JULY 28 & 30, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases 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 (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Monday, July 27, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Words & Music: Jonathan Finlayson
MUSIC
MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020
6:00 PM
Zoom
$15
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/happy-hour-jonathan-finlayson
A Jazz Gallery initiative featuring remote sessions where jazz musicians play and chat with the audience (limited to 15 people per show). If tonight's musician, trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, has ever had an uninteresting musical thought or played a boring note, I wasn't there to hear it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Don't try the Rubicon at home. Oh wait. Put a sprig of rosemary at the bottom of a rocks glass. Cover it with 1/2 oz. green Chartreuse. Pour 2 oz. Gin and 1/2 oz. each of Maraschino liqueur and lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Light the Chartreuse in the glass on fire (and for God's sake be careful). Let it flame for a few seconds and then extinguish it by straining the liquid in the shaker over it (I swear this sometimes works). Put in some crushed ice. Quickly.
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Monday, July 27, 2020, 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Braxton 75: The Music of Anthony Braxton
MUSIC
MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020
5:30 PM
International Contemporary Ensemble/New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Youtube
Free
https://www.iceorg.org/events/braxton75-july27
Anthony Braxton is at the head of list of artists invoked to prove the racist perniciousness of genre distinctions between so-called "jazz" and so-called "classical" (much less the privileging of so-called "classical" over the so-called other). This program examines Braxton's work on the occasion of his 75th birthday year. There are panel discussions and performances by exciting young players of so-called "jazz" music, as well as rare videos of Braxton himself. Let's hope the performances predominate.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Fabiola: pour 3/4 oz. each of Vermouth Blanc (or in this case Bianco), Brandy, and Grand Marnier into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into an chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Sunday, July 26, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Out of an Abundance of Caution
THEATER / MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2020 (Weekly)
8:00 PM
The Brick
Twitch
Free (tips encouraged)
https://www.bricktheater.com/event/out-of-an-abundance-of-caution-volume-nineteen-long-form/
The Brick has taken over as sole curator of this weekly series of stuff from beyond the Brooklyn beyond, and moved to long-form format for the constituent pieces. It's probably even better — more substantive — this way.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Maurice: pour 2 oz. Gin, 1/4 oz. each of sweet and dry Vermouth, 1 oz. orange juice, and 1/4 teaspoon Absinthe into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Sunday, July 26, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Sunday, July 26, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Vox Effusis
MUSIC
SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2020
8:00 PM
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
Twitch
$5 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/tqc-voxeffusis3
To be honest, I don't know a single artist on this bill. But the last Vox Effusis program in this series — of advanced vocal music, doncha know — was so good that I'm willing to recommend this one blind.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: From the great state of Kansas, the Horsefeather: pour 1-1/2 oz. Rye, with 3 or 4 dashes of Angostura bitters, into a Collins glass over ice. Top with Ginger beer. Add a squeeze of lemon, and use the squeezed lemon as a garnish.
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Saturday, July 25, 2020, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Eschaton
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020 (Weekly through AUGUST 8)
10:00 PM
Zoom
$10
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/eschaton
An immersive experience in which viewers wander from room to virtual room seeing different variety acts and interacting with them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's late on a Saturday, so I'm going to recommend something strong. Don't blame me for how you feel Sunday morning. Nineteen-Twenty Pick-Me-Up: pour 2 oz. Absinthe, 1 oz. Gin, 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup, and 1 dash each of Angostura and orange bitters into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a wine glass, and fill the rest up with soda water.
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Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sun, Jul 26, 2020, 9:00 PM
Celebrate Brooklyn!
MUSIC
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, JULY 25 & 26, 2020
8:00 PM
BRIC
YouTube
Facebook
Free
https://www.bricartsmedia.org/events-performances/bric-celebrate-brooklyn-festival-live-everywhere
The great annual music festival goes online. A lot of water has passed under the Brooklyn Bridge since this festival started more than 40 years ago; now celebrating Brooklyn doesn't require so much (or any) special pleading. Details about this year's lineup remain scarce, but readers of this List will be happy to see Junglepussy, The Tallest Man on Earth, and Common (reuniting his August Greene team of Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins!).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's pretend we're out in Prospect Park and refresh ourselves with some Bulldog Highballs: pour 2 oz. Gin and 3/4 oz. orange juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a Highball glass over ice. Top with ginger ale. Stir (gingerly). Drink with a straw. (You can garnish it with an orange wedge if you like.)
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Saturday, July 25, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Grey 93 Showcase
MUSIC
SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
8:00 PM
Refraction Festival
Free (donation requested)
https://refractionfestival.com/Blackman-w-Social-Purposes
A showcase by the Toronto-based Grey 93 label — and what a show it is. My picks: the Mexican arts collective Social Purposes' Aisha the Robot project, exactly the kind of reflexive Art Pop that Your Compiler can't resist; Toronto's Blackman with his hard-edged hip-hop; and Ukrainian-in-NYC DJ/producer Ana B., who makes hard dance music in the European style.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This just seems like a Fernet and Coke show: pour 1 cup Coca-Cola and 1/2 cup Fernet-Branca into a Collins glass over ice. Stir (gently). Garnish with a lemon wedge.
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Saturday, July 25, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
The Handel and Haydn Society
MUSIC
SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
7:30 PM
Groupmuse Massivemuse Concert Stream
$10 (or more if you want)
https://www.groupmuse.com/events/10858-handel-and-haydn-old-masters-in-the-new-age
The Handel and Haydn Society started reviving earlier music in Boston in the early 19th Century. Now, this oldest continuously-performing arts organization in the U.S. has gone all Original Instruments (which essentially means playing similar instruments to the ones they used originally). This program, played by the orchestra's principal violinist and cellist, features solo string music from even before Handel (hey, wait, don't a couple of these pieces call for a harpsichord?).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's hard to believe that one of the best of all cocktails originated in Boston, of all places — but so it did. Ward Eight: pour 2 oz. Rye, 3/4 oz. each lemon and orange juice, and 1 teaspoon of Grenadine into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a Collins glass over ice and top with club soda.
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Saturday, July 25, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
COTFG Presents
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
7:00 PM
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
Twitch
$5 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/twc-cotfg
The Austin arts organization COTFG presents a night of multidisciplinary work springing from that city's fertile arts/music scene.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: An old old — and extremely good — cocktail revived with great success in Austin last decade, the Prescription Julep: muddle 6-8 mint leaves with 1 sugar cube and a scant 1/4 oz. of Simple Syrup in the bottom of a Julep cup (or Old Fashioned glass if you must). Pour in 1-1/2 oz. Cognac and 1/2 oz. Rye. Fill with crushed ice and stir. Garnish with a mint sprig and a dusting of powdered sugar.
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Saturday, July 25, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
TJG Online Lockdown Sessions: Arta Jekobsone / Rafiq Bhatia / Jason Palmer / Nasheet Waits
MUSIC
SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
7:00 PM
Jazz Gallery Live Stream
Zoom
$20
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/lockdown-session-15
Another Jazz Gallery initiative, this one featuring musical segments recorded by the participating artists during the week preceding the stream, and then live chat with the artists afterward. This week's show gets the nod for Rafiq Bhatia, who plays guitar and does electronics and is totally unconcerned with genre — and is one of the most consistently interesting musicians on the current scene.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm still sticking with a French Pearl, cuz it's so great and so underappreciated (and everyone who tries it loves it): muddle 1 mint sprig and 3/4 oz. each lime juice and Simple Syrup in a cocktail shaker. Pour in 2 oz. Gin and 1/4 oz. Absinthe. Add ice. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with another mint sprig and a lime wheel.
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Saturday, July 25, 2020, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Alkemie & Friends: Cantigas de Amigo
MUSIC
SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
1:00 PM
Home Brewed
5 Borough Music Festival
Facebook
Free
https://www.facebook.com/5iveBMF/videos/284817732582697/
Members of the good local early music vocal/instrumental ensemble Alkemie (and a friend) perform new arrangements of selections from Hispano-Portuguese joglar (and if you think that terms suggests that these medieval singer-songwriters performed tricks as well as singing and playing, you're exactly right) Martin Codax's wonderful Cantigas d'Amigo. You WILL feel better.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Whaley's #1: pour 1 oz. each of white Rum, St-Germain, and grapefruit juice, 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup,and 4 oz. sparking Rosé into a white wine glass. Stir. Add ice. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
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Saturday, July 25, 2020, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Yoshiko Chuma & The School of Hard Knocks: Zooma — Dead End
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
11:00 AM
Saturday Morning Live
La MaMa Live Stream
Zoom
Free (donation requested)
http://lamama.org/saturday-morning-live-berlin/
Downtown multidisciplinary performance stalwart Yoshiko Chuma brings her kaleidoscopic thing online in a periodic series. One can almost imagine being awake at 11 AM on a Saturday for this.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: At 11 AM on a Saturday, what are you going to drink but a Mimosa? Pour 2 oz. orange juice into a Champagne flute. Top with 4 oz. Brut Champagne. Take it to heaven with a teaspoon of Grand Marnier.
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Friday, July 24, 2020, 9:30 PM – 10:30 PM
Virtual Community Salon
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 (Biweekly)
9:30 PM
Contemporaneous
Zoom
Free (with registration)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-community-salon-tickets-109687016820
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: Journalist: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin, 1/4 oz. each of dry Vermouth and sweet Vermouth, and 1/2 teaspoon each of Triple Sec and lemon juice, with a dash of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Friday, July 24, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
A Sun Ra Celebration
MUSIC
FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020
7:00 PM
Sound American
Twitch
Free ($10 donation requested)
https://soundamerican.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d0aa4c44ddcd04410a49c609d&id=d84f041c81&e=554cc34c8e
Some people fixate on how (delightfully) weird Sun Ra was, which is a pretty silly and superficial way of listening to and appreciating him. What's important is how GREAT he was: an absolutely unique synthesis of big-band swing and the most avant of avant-jazz, tied to a spacey stage conception that anticipated (and must have inspired) P-Funk. So avant-gutbucket avant la lettre, and Afro-Futurist avant la lettre as well. This tribute features a cluster of young leaders of the frontiers-of-jazz nonstyle. This is SO worthwhile it's almost hard to express.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Gotta be a Cosmonaut, right? Pour 2 oz. Gin and 3/4 oz. lemon juice, with 1 teaspoon of raspberry preserves, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake (vigorously). Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Friday, July 24, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Out of Site Presents
PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020
6:00 PM
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
$5 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/tqc-outofsite2
Performance pieces from such exotic locales as Ghana, Spain, Switzerland, Canada, and Chicago.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Another good Negroni variation, the Agavoni: pour 3/4 each of silver Tequila, sweet Vermouth, and Campari, with 2 dashes of orange bitters, into a rocks or Highball glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
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Friday, July 24, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Autumn Knight
PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 (Weekly through AUGUST 7)
6:00 PM
The Kitchen
Twitch
Free
https://onscreen.thekitchen.org/autumn-knight
Multidisciplinary artist Autumn Knight takes a residency in The Kitchen's building, engaging in the building and its maintenance while addressing her current principal themes of inclusion and the ongoing gaslighting of America. There will be three weekly durational live streams, eventually to be crafted into a video edit to be shown subsequently.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Cloister: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin, 1/2 oz. each of yellow Chartreuse and grapefruit juice, and 1/4 oz. each of lemon juice and Simple Syrup into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
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Friday, July 24, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 (Weekly)
5:00 PM
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Facebook
Free
https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/ethel-online
The fab alt string quartet ETHEL brings its weekly recitals in the Met Balcony Bar home (theirs and yours). Expect old and new music, and surprise guests (from still more homes).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: We're going down to BA for a preprandial El Amargo: pour 1 oz. each of Vodka and Punt e Mes, and 1/4 oz. Fernet-Branca, with 1 teaspoon sugar, into a cocktail shaker WITHOUT ice. Stir. Add ice. Stir again. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a grapefruit peel.
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Friday, July 24, 2020, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Mariana Newhard & Dina Emerson: Queen of the Nile
MUSIC / THEATER
FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020
1:00 PM
#stillHERE
HERE Stream
Free
https://here.org/shows/queen-of-the-nile/
Taking off from the sexual assault of reporter Lara Logan while covering the Tahir Square uprising, this soundscape performance explores the sexualization of women and the everyday absorption of cataclysmic trauma. Music, spoken word, advanced vocal techniques, the works.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This early you'd want a Pamplemouse: pour 1 oz. Gin, 1/2 oz. St-Germain, 1 oz. grapefruit juice, and 1/2 oz. lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled white wine glass. Garnish with a basil leaf or two.
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Thursday, July 23, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Works for Acoustic Feedback
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020
8:00 PM
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
Twitch
$5 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/tqc-lukestewart
Speaking, as we were a minute ago, of advanced jazz bassist Luke Stewart — who also uses electronics — here's program of feedback music that he curated (and also plays in). Will be fascinating.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Strega Dacquiri: pour 1 oz. each of white Rum and Strega, 1/2 oz. each of orange and lemon juice (or 1 oz. of Meyer lemon juice if, like me, you're lazy), and 1 teaspoon of orgeat into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
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Thursday, July 23, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Yuko Otomo & Matt Mottel feat. Vito Ricci & Lise Vachon: The Steve Circuit: Spring Street
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020
8:00 PM
ISSUE Project Room Stream
Free
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/steve-circuit-yuko-otomo-matt-mottel-spring-street-vito-ricci-lise-vachon
ISSUE Project Room kicks off a weekly video feature paying tribute to the late Downtown poet Steve Dalachinsky, created by Dalachinsky's widow, the painter and poet Yuko Otomo, and interdisciplinary artist Matt Mottel. The various episodes take you around Steve Dalinchinksy's New York (in a very suggestive, figurative way), starting this week on Spring Street. Assisting in this week's episode are another Downtown power couple, 1980s music comeback king Vito Ricci and experimental/jazz vocalist Lise Vachon.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Scofflaw: pour 1 oz. each of Canadian Whiskey (you can use Rye if you have to) and dry Vermouth, 1/2 oz. lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon of Grenadine, with a dash of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Thursday, July 23, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Livestream Concert: Theo Bleckmann & Endless Field
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020
8:00 PM
Jazz Gallery
YouTube
$10
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/livestream-theo-bleckmann-endless-field
This Jazz Gallery initiative presents full-scale concerts (as opposed to solo recitals). Tonight, Theo Bleckmann, perhaps the avant-garde's most ethereal vocalist, is joined by the post-jazz guitar-bass duo Endless Fields, pretty ethereal themselves. I think we'd all like to disappear into the ether about now.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I don't know why, but I always think of the Aviation as being an ethereal cocktail (must be the pale purple tinge it gets from the Crème de Violette): pour 2 oz. Gin, 3/4 oz. lemon juice, 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup, and 1 teaspoon each of Maraschino liqueur and Crème de Violette into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
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Thursday, July 23, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Inon Barnatan: Time Traveler Suite
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020
7:30 PM
92nd Street Y Online
$10
https://www.92y.org/event/inon-barnatan-piano
One of those piano recitals so beloved by me mixing bits and pieces of works from ancient to modern to contemporary. And Inon Barnatan does this kind of thing splendidly.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bobo Parisian: pour 1-3/4 oz. Gin, 1/2 oz. each of Kina L'Avion d'Or (the cocktail ingredient of the year, as far as I'm concerned) and St-Germain, and a splash of club soda, with 1 egg white, into a cocktail shaker WITHOUT ice. Dry shake. Then, add ice and shake again. Strain into a large-sized teacup. If you have any star anise, you have the perfect garnish. If not, try a (piece of a ) fennel stalk.
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Thursday, July 23, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Musicians from the Knights
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020
7:00 PM
Caramoor Music Festival Live Stream
$10
https://www.caramoor.org/events/musicians-from-the-knights-livestream/
Members of Brooklyn's favorite chamber orchestra perform solo and chamber music by two good composers, Anna Clyne and Brahms.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A nice old cocktail, the Opera (for a concert featuring the work of two composers who haven't written one): pour 2 oz. Gin, 1/2 Dubonnet rouge, and 1/4 oz. Maraschino liqueur, with 1 dash of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Thursday, July 23, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Tyondai Braxton
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free (artist donation requested)
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/tyondai-braxton
You're not going to find a more interesting composer/musician around than onetime Math Rock star Tyondai Braxton. Complex structures, complex rhythms, compelling sonics. Also, great taste in fathers.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A Ruby Diamond: pour 1-1/2 oz. each of Gin and Mezcal, 3/4 oz. each of Cappelletti and orange juice, and 1/4 oz. of lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Champagne flute or Nick and Nora glass.
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Thursday, July 23, 2020, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Adam Tendler
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020
2:30 PM
Portrait Series
Mise-En_Place #live
YouTube
Facebook
Free
https://place.mise-en.org/#live
Adam Tendler, a pianist whose recent online performances have shown him to be on fire, plays Cage's marvelous Satie take-off, Cheap Imitation.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Satie makes you think of a Maudit Français, perfect for a mid-afternoon tipple: pour 1-1/2 oz. Armagnac 1/2 oz. each of Oloroso Sherry, orange juice, and maple syrup into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a Champagne flute. Top with 1-1/2 oz. Champagne. Add 1 dash of Boston Bittahs (or orange bitters if you don't have that admittedly obscure item). Garnish with an orange twist.
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Thursday, July 23, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
-
Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 10:00 AM – Sun, Jul 26, 2020, 3:00 PM
Beethoven: To My Distant Love
MUSIC
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 23 – 26, 2020 (continuing through AUGUST 23)
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM THURSDAY
7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM FRIDAY
1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM SATURDAY
1:00, 1:30 & 2:00 PM SUNDAY
On Site Opera
Via Telephone
$40
https://osopera.org/productions/distantlove/
I didn't List this initially, because Beethoven isn't just mainstream, but the definition of mainstream: the progenitor of the Masterpiece Complex that has stultified classical music since the dark days of the early-mid 19th Century. To be sure, he's also unbelievably great — and this piece is, for what it's worth, the first song cycle in the Western classical tradition. But really this event gets Listed for its innovative form: a singer — you get to chose between soprano and baritone — will phone you (that's right: you have to remember how to answer a telephone call) and, after engaging in amorous chitchat, sing the cycle to you over the phone (after having sent you longing emails in the week before the performance). Now some of us view that kind of one-on-one interaction with performers with horror (especially when, as is the case with the splendid soprano Jennifer Zetlan, her husband will be sitting in the room with her accompanying her love songs to you on the piano!). Some of us also wonder whether it's really worth paying $40 to listen to music over the phone — perhaps the worst vehicle for sound transmission in current mass use — when we can listen to, say, Christian Gerhaher brilliantly reproduced on our stereos (yeah yeah, I know: having a stereo is even more paleolithic than answering a phone call). But On Site Opera has to get points for coming up with a really clever response to the obstacles facing live music-making under The Quarantine. And the basic thesis of this List is of course that live performance is an unmatchable experience. So it's your call. IF you can get a ticket, that is: they're scarce (I mean, every performance has an audience of one). There are still a few available for the end of the run.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Absinthe Drip: pour 5 oz. of water into an Absinthe Fountain. Pour 1 oz. Absinthe into an Absinthe Glass. Place an Absinthe Spoon holding a sugar cube across the top of the Absinthe Glass under a spigot of the Absinthe Fountain. Drip water from the Absinthe Fountain through the Absinthe Spoon into the Absinthe Glass. The sugar cube should dissolve and the Absinthe take on a louche (i.e., turn milky). Stir briefly before drinking (happily, you don't need a special Absinthe Stirrer). (PS: you can get perfectly acceptable results by simply pouring ice water slowly into any old glass holding Absinthe with a sugar cube you've muddled at the bottom.)
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Thursday, July 23, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, JULY 21 & 23, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases 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 (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Wednesday, July 22, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Barbara Cassidy: Mrs. Loman
THEATER
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
8:00 PM
The Tank Live Stream
Free ($5 donation requested)
https://thetanknyc.org/cybertank-calendar/2020/7/22/mrs-loman
Is Barbara Cassidy doing to Death of a Salesman what Lucas Hnath did to A Doll's House? It couldn't happen to nicer victims.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Dandy: pour 1-1/2 oz. each of Rye and Dubonnet Rouge, and 1 teaspoon of Cointreau, with a 1 dash of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Express 1 piece each of an orange peel and a lemon peel into the shaker, and drop the peels in. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Wednesday, July 22, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
A Mottel_Media Broadcast
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
8:00 PM
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
Twitch
$5 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/tqc-matthewmottel
An axis of questing jazz+ musicians (genre must DIE) — trumpeter Achilles Navarro, drummer Tchesher Holmes, bassist Luke Stewart* — get together with two interdisciplinary sound-and-vision artists — Muyassar Kurdi and Chihiro Ito — for a night of performance from the frontiers of genre.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Tailspin (indeed): pour 1/4 oz. each of Gin and sweet Vermouth, 3/4 oz. green Chartreuse, and 1/4 teaspoon of Campari into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry and a lemon twist.
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Wednesday, July 22, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Akiko Nakayama
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
3:00 PM
Refraction Festival
Free (donation requested)
https://refractionfestival.com/Akiko-Nakayama
Akiko Nakayama creates electronic music with accompanying visuals that she calls "Alive Painting" and those of us of a certain age would call a light show.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Milan-Torino: pour 1 oz. Campari and 1 oz. sweet Vermouth into an Old Fashioned glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with an orange slice.
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Wednesday, July 22, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Amazondotcom
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
2:00 PM
Refraction Festival
Free (donation requested)
https://refractionfestival.com/Amazondotcom
I'm highlighting a few Refraction shows this week, but urge you check out the entire schedule of this great electronic dance music festival. In this program, LA's amazondotcom's glistening tracks are very good, as you'll find out if you log into this — and very LA.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A brunch favorite (not that I would know), the Wild Heart: pour 1-1/4 oz. each of Aperol and dry Vermouth, and 3/4 oz. lemon juice, with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass over ice. Top with bitter lemon soda. Garnish with an orange wheel.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Living Music with Nadia Sirota: Pirate Radio Edition
MUSIC
TUESDAY, JULY 21, 2020 (Weekly)
9:00 PM
Facebook
Free (donation requested)
https://www.livingmusicshow.com/
Hostess with the mostess Nadia Sirota brings you exactly the kind of musicians this List focuses on.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Tuxedo No. 2: rinse a chilled Martini glass or coupe with Absinthe. Pour 2-1/4 oz. Gin, 1/2 oz. dry Vermouth, and 1/4 oz. Maraschino liqueur, with 4 dashes of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into the rinsed glass. Garnish with an orange twist and a cocktail cherry.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Curated by Missy Mazzoli
MUSIC
TUESDAY, JULY 21, 2020
8:00 PM
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
Twitch
$5 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/tqc-missymazzoli?rq=missy
When generation-leading composer Missy Mazzoli programs, we listen. This show is predictably fantastic. The questing cellist Gabriel Cabezas, who's been on an online role this season; Shepherdess, a project of the fantabulous mezzo Kayleigh Butcher; Mario Diaz de Leon, an excellent composer and electronic musician; Elizabeth A. Baker, one of the best young composer/performers for the piano around, creator of music both rigorous and enthrallingly listenable; and sonic explorer (and bassoonist!) Warren Enström.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm repeating the Alaska, cuz I love it so: pour 2 oz. Old Tom Gin and 1 oz. yellow Chartreuse, with 2 dashes of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Café La MaMa
MUSIC / DANCE / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY, JULY 21, 2020 (Monthly)
7:00 PM
La MaMa Live Stream
Free (donation requested)
http://lamama.org/cafe-la-mama-july-month/
A monthly salon featuring performance and theater — now focusing on creators of color.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A Hasty Cocktail: pour 2 oz. Gin and 1 oz. dry Vermouth, with 1/4 teaspoon of Absinthe and 1 teaspoon of Grenadine, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker, stir, and strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2020, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Shakespeare: Coriolanus
THEATER
TUESDAY, JULY 21, 2020
6:30 PM
Bedlam Theater
Zoom
Facebook
Free (donation requested)
https://bedlam.org/benefit-reading/
If you're looking for straight narrative theater (which is NOT what this List is about), Bedlam's stripped-down approach has proved to be among the most consistently amenable to the Zoomed reading format. Coriolanus may not be the best play Shakespeare ever wrote — but its study of governmental abdication in the face of a huge public health threat is certainly timely.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Flash forward to modern Rome and have an Una Vita da Signori: pour 1-1/3 oz. each of Mezcal and sweet Vermouth, 2/3 oz. of a China Amaro (China Clementi by preference), and 1 teaspoon of a more strictly bitter Amaro of your choice, into an Old Fashioned glass. Add ice and stir. Garnish with a licorice root in the unlikely event you have one, or a fennel stalk if you don't.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Joel Ross
MUSIC
TUESDAY, JULY 21, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free (artist donation requested)
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/joel-ross
You read my effusive praise of jazz vibist Joel Ross last week (and before). So let's just incorporate it by reference. The guy's fantastic.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Now that we've all gotten some Mellow Corn Whiskey (you did get some, right?), let's enjoy it in a Mellow Corn Old Fashioned: muddle 1 sugar cube with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters (I'm thinking of subbing in orange bitters, if you care) in an Old Fashioned glass. Pour in 2 oz. Mellow Corn Whiskey. Add ice. Stir. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, JULY 21 & 23, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases 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 (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Monday, July 20, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
2020 Short New Play Festival: Private Lives
THEATER
MONDAY, JULY 20, 2020
7:30 PM
Red Bull Theater Live Stream
Free (with registration) (donation requested)
https://ci.ovationtix.com/2722/production/1030130?performanceId=10552167
A festival of short (10-minute) plays taking off from Noël Coward's Private Lives — as good a place to take off from as any. Six of the eight plays are by developing playwrights chosen through a competition. But seeding the festival are the other two, by . . . Jeremy O. Harris and Theresa Rebeck!!!!!!!!!!!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This is what Noël Coward liked to drink for breakfast: the Bullshot. Pour 1-1/2 oz. Vodka, 3 oz. chilled beef bouillon, 4 drops of Tobasco Sauce, and a squeeze of lemon, with shakes of salt, pepper, and celery salt to taste, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a glass of some sort.
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Monday, July 20, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Maggie Haberman / Georgie Roxby Smith / Brent Watanabe: YES
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY, JULY 20, 2020
7:30 PM
Microscope Gallery Stream
$8
https://microscopegallery.com/yes-maggie-hazen-georgie-roxby-smith-brent-watanabe/
A program of video works that play with the formal conventions of action-adventure video games. And if that doesn't sound great, I don't know what does.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I don't know why, but this seems to call for a Tiki drink. And the Tiki most appealing to us non-Tike adherents is the Fog Cutter: pour 1-1/2 oz. white Rum, 1/2 oz. each of Gin and Brandy, 2 oz. orange juice, 1 oz. lemon juice, and 1/2 oz. each of Orgeat and Amontillado Sherry into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. (Shit, Tiki drinks are complicated.) Shake. Strain into a Highball glass over ice. Garnish with a mint sprig.
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Sunday, July 19, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Out of an Abundance of Caution
THEATER / MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
SUNDAY, JULY 19, 2020 (Weekly)
8:00 PM
The Brick
Twitch
Free (tips encouraged)
https://www.bricktheater.com/event/out-of-an-abundance-of-caution-volume-eighteen-long-form/
The Brick has taken over as sole curator of this weekly series of stuff from beyond the Brooklyn beyond, and moved to long-form format for the constituent pieces. It's probably even better — more substantive — this way.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Another new favorite, Jump the Gun: pour 3/4 oz. dark Rum (Jamaican by preference) and 1-1/2 oz. Cocchi Americano, with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, into an OId-Fashioned glass. Add ice. Stir. Garnish wiith a lemon twist.
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Sunday, July 19, 2020, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
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Saturday, July 18, 2020, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Eschaton
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020 (continuing through JULY 25)
10:00 PM
Zoom
$10
https://chorusproductions.ticketspice.com/eschaton
An immersive experience in which viewers wander from room to virtual room seeing different variety acts and interacting with them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's late on a Saturday, so I'm going to recommend something strong. Don't blame me for how you feel Sunday morning. Nineteen-Twenty Pick-Me-Up: pour 2 oz. Absinthe, 1 oz. Gin, 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup, and 1 dash each of Angostura and orange bitters into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a wine glass, and fill the rest up with soda water.
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Saturday, July 18, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Saturday, July 18, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Stockhausen: In the Sky I Am Walking / Raven Chacon: Asdzaa Nádleehé & Yoolgai Asdzaa
MUSIC
SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020
8:00 PM
Ekmeles
Free (donation requested)
http://ekmeles.com/wp/2020/07/in-the-sky-i-am-walking-online/
The two principal female vocalists of the Ekmeles vocal ensemble, Charlotte Mundy and Elisa Sutherland, are roommates Quarantining together. Which means they can perform together non-remotely! Tonight they'll do a live performance — with visual effects! — of Stockhausen's phantasmagorical In the Sky I Am Walking, setting Native American poetry. (I always wonder why Stockhausen's music is supposed by some to be so hard to listen to — if you like the trancier electronic dance music or psychedelic rock, it's like mother's milk.) Also on the program is a performance of the Native American composer Raven Chacon's operetta Asdzaa Nádleehé & Yoolgai Asdzaa taped last November.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Golden Derby: pour 1-1/2 oz. each of Mellow Corn Whiskey (you will thank me for inducing you to get some of this!) and ginger liqueur and 2 oz. of grapefruit juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Pour into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a grapefruit wedge.
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Saturday, July 18, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
TJG Online Lockdown Sessions: Biophilia Records Edition feat. Endless Field / Tropos / Sara Serpa / Justin Brown
MUSIC
SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020
7:00 PM
Jazz Gallery Live Stream
Zoom
$20
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/lockdown-session-14
Another Jazz Gallery initiative, this one featuring musical segments recorded by the participating artists during the week preceding the stream, and then live chat with the artists afterward. Speaking for myself, I am a huge fan of this week's subject, Biophilia Records, which specializes in music you might call jazz without borders (because if there's one thing we've all learned over the last few horrible years, it's that borders SUCK). Although, I should disclose, I'm just using the term "jazz" just to give you a pointer — I'm sure the artists would prefer "music without borders". Everyone on this bill is great, ranging from Tropos's Anthony Braxton-fans-go-wild to Sara Serpa's highly poetic Art Jazz.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm sticking with a French Pearl, cuz it's so great and so underappreciated: muddle 1 mint sprig and 3/4 oz. each lime juice and Simple Syrup in a cocktail shaker. Pour in 2 oz. Gin and 1/4 oz. Absinthe. Add ice. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with another mint sprig and a lime wheel.
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Saturday, July 18, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Mathew Jonson / Ciel feat. Sandro S. Petrillo
MUSIC
SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020
2:00 PM
Refraction Festival / MUTEK
Free (donations requested)
https://refractionfestival.com/
This is part of a two-week festival of electronic music and associated arts. I'm highlighting this show for now, but be sure to check out the entire schedule. This one is special, though, featuring two of Canada's finest. If Mathew Jonson had done nothing but "Marionette", he'd have had a major career. Ciel, meanwhile, rocks.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: We traverse Canada for a Vancouver: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin, 3/4 oz. Punt e Mes Vermouth, and 1/4 oz. Bénédictine, with 2 dashes of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Saturday, July 18, 2020, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Yoshiko Chuma & The School of Hard Knocks: Zooma — Dead End
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020
11:00 AM
Saturday Morning Live
La MaMa Live Stream
Zoom
Free (donation requested)
http://lamama.org/saturday-morning-live/
Downtown multidisciplinary performance stalwart Yoshiko Chuma brings her kaleidoscopic thing online in a periodic series. One can almost imagine being awake at 11 AM on a Saturday for this.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: At 11 AM on a Saturday, what are you going to drink but a Mimosa? Pour 2 oz. orange juice into a Champagne flute. Top with 4 oz. Brut Champagne. Take it to heaven with a teaspoon of Grand Marnier.
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Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 8:00 PM – Sun, Jul 19, 2020, 3:00 PM
Dreamstream: An ESS Fundraising Event
MUSIC
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 17 – 19, 2020
8:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
2:00 PM SUNDAY
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
Twitch
$20-$250
https://ess.org/dreamstream
A three-day fundraising festival for Chicago's Experimental Sound Studio, who've been doing yeoman work with their Quarantine Concerts. Among the performers are the great great flautist Claire Chase; the fabulous jazz pianist Craig Taborn, possessor of one of the sharpest minds in contemporary music; electronic music legend Paul DeMarinis; West Coast electronic music stalwart Laetitia Sonami; and that excellent cellist Katinka Kleijn, the only person to be a member of both the Chicago Symphony and ICE.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Here's a new (to me) discovery that I just love, the Blind Lemon Jefferson: muddle a lemon wedge in the bottom of cocktail shaker. Add ice. Pour in 2 oz. Rye and 3/4 oz. each of lemon juice and Simple Syrup, with four dashes of Fee's Whiskey Barrel Bitters. Shake. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. Drink a few of these and you won't care how clean your grave is kept.
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Friday, July 17, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2020 (Weekly)
5:00 PM
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Facebook
Free
https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/ethel-online
The fab alt string quartet ETHEL brings its weekly recitals in the Met Balcony Bar home (theirs and yours). Expect old and new music, and surprise guests (from still more homes).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This wonderful drink requires an ingredient you probably don't have: Pimento Dram a/k/a Allspice Dram. GET SOME (especially for Summer)! Lion's Tale: pour 2 oz. Bourbon, 1/2 oz. each of Pimento Dram a/k/a Allspice Dram and lime juice, and 1 teaspoon of Simple Syrup, with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Thursday, July 16, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Jacob Cooper: "Terrain" Album Release Party
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020
8:00 PM
New Amsterdam Records
YouTube
Facebook
Free
https://www.facebook.com/events/1151840501863724/
Jacob Cooper composes Alt Classical music for the studio rather than live performance — like a pop musician or something. (Don't get me wrong, he also writes stuff for live performance.) Tonight he showcases his gorgeous new album. And I do mean gorgeous.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A classic that you must try if haven't already, the Jack Rose: pour 2 oz. Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy and 3/4 oz. each of lemon or lime juice (your call) and Grenadine into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Thursday, July 16, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Livestream Concert: Immanuel Wilkins
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020
8:00 PM
Jazz Gallery
YouTube
$10
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/livestream-immanuel-wilkins
This Jazz Gallery initiative presents full-scale concerts. Next month, sax player Immanuel Wilkins releases his debut album as a leader, on Blue Note no less (and produced by Jason Moran, no less). And he's gonna explode. He's an excellent, inventive composer as well as a superb player, in the mainstream tradition but not limited by it. (I hope I'm not cursing him if I call him a Tina Brooks for his generation — but only in the good ways.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Nothing could be more appropriate to this show than a Hearst, very much in the tradition but very much its own thing: pour 2 oz. Gin and 1 oz. sweet Vermouth, with 1 dash each of orange bitters and Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Thursday, July 16, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Molly Joyce
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/molly-joyce
Boy do I love Molly Joyce's music. It's mellifluous — but it's also interesting and cumulatively very powerful. She gets more out of a vintage toy organ than you could ever imagine.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Pink Gin (a British Military standby): rinse an Old Fashioned glass with Angostura bitters. Pour in 2 oz. Gin. Bet you can't drink more than one.
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Thursday, July 16, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Lisa Bielawa: Broadcast from Home
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 (Weekly)
3:00 PM
Free
https://www.lisabielawa.net/projects-1
The imaginative and empathetic composer Lisa Bielawa — certainly one of those who have their own sound world that you can recognize immediately — has a coronavirus project in which she's soliciting short testimonies from the public reflecting on coronavirus experiences, writing melodies for them, giving them to singers to record, and then composing backing tracks for them. She'll post a new "chapter" each Thursday at 3 PM (and leave them up), toward the eventual end of their all forming a big piece — which the participants can get together to perform live on The Other Side!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Abbey Cocktail: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin and 3/4 oz. each Cocchi Americano and orange juice, with 1 dash each of orange and Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
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Thursday, July 16, 2020, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Carrie Frey
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020
2:30 PM
Soloist Series
Mise-En_Place #live
Free
https://place.mise-en.org/#live
Carrie Frey is an able and adventurous violist, who will doubtlessly assemble an excellent program.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bicicleta: it's not just for old men anymore. Pour 2 oz. each of Campari and a dry white Italian wine into a Highball glass or a rocks glass. Add ice. Top with soda. Stir (gently). Garnish with an orange wheel.
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Thursday, July 16, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, JULY 14 & 16, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases 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 (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Thu, Jul 16, 2020, 10:00 AM – Sun, Jul 19, 2020, 3:00 PM
Beethoven: To My Distant Love
MUSIC
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 16 – 19, 2020 (continuing through AUGUST 23)
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM THURSDAY
7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM FRIDAY
1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM SATURDAY
1:00, 1:30 & 2:00 PM SUNDAY
On Site Opera
Via Telephone
$40
https://osopera.org/productions/distantlove/
I didn't List this initially, because Beethoven isn't just mainstream, but the definition of mainstream: the progenitor of the Masterpiece Complex that has stultified classical music since the dark days of the early-mid 19th Century. To be sure, he's also unbelievably great — and this piece is, for what it's worth, the first song cycle in the Western classical tradition. But really this event gets Listed for its innovative form: a singer — you get to chose between soprano and baritone — will phone you (that's right: you have to remember how to answer a telephone call) and, after engaging in amorous chitchat, sing the cycle to you over the phone (after having sent you longing emails in the week before the performance). Now some of us view that kind of one-on-one interaction with performers with horror (especially when, as is the case with the splendid soprano Jennifer Zetlan, her husband will be sitting in the room with her accompanying her love songs to you on the piano!). Some of us also wonder whether it's really worth paying $40 to listen to music over the phone — perhaps the worst vehicle for sound transmission in current mass use — when we can listen to, say, Christian Gerhaher brilliantly reproduced on our stereos (yeah yeah, I know: having a stereo is even more paleolithic than answering a phone call). But On Site Opera has to get points for coming up with a really clever response to the obstacles facing live music-making under The Quarantine. And the basic thesis of this List is of course that live performance is an unmatchable experience. So it's your call. IF you can get a ticket, that is: they're scarce (I mean, every performance has an audience of one). There are still a few available for the end of the run.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Absinthe Drip: pour 5 oz. of water into an Absinthe Fountain. Pour 1 oz. Absinthe into an Absinthe Glass. Place an Absinthe Spoon holding a sugar cube across the top of the Absinthe Glass under a spigot of the Absinthe Fountain. Drip water from the Absinthe Fountain through the Absinthe Spoon into the Absinthe Glass. The sugar cube should dissolve and the Absinthe take on a louche (i.e., turn milky). Stir briefly before drinking (happily, you don't need a special Absinthe Stirrer). (PS: you can get perfectly acceptable results by simply pouring ice water slowly into any old glass holding Absinthe with a sugar cube you've muddled at the bottom.)
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Wednesday, July 15, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Aki Onda: Captured in the Air
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2020
8:00 PM
Isolated Field Recording Series
ISSUE Project Room Live Stream
Free (donation requested)
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/isolated-field-recording-series-aki-onda-captured-air
Aki Onda specializes in found-sound pieces. So his participation in this series of recordings from the field during Quarantine was as inevitable as it is welcome.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This is the day for an Income Tax Cocktail: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin and 3/4 oz. each of dry Vermouth, sweet Vermouth, and orange juice, with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. If you're due a refund and feeling extravagant, garnish with an orange wheel.
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Wednesday, July 15, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Aaron Diehl & Dan Tepfer: Two-Piano Livestream Concert
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2020
3:00 PM
$5
https://www.instantseats.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.event&eventID=4856F002-0F7D-5CF7-28014784F113A31B
Aaron Diehl and Dan Tepfer, two stylish pianists who engage with both the jazz and classical traditions (insert obligatory derogatory comment about genre), play together separately, by means of new low-latency technology. The composers being played represent the pianists' interests: Glass, Ligeti, the players themselves — and the American Songbook (they'll be taking requests).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A nice mid-afternoon Americano: pour 1-1/2 oz. each of sweet Vermouth and Campari into an Old Fashioned glass. Top with about 3 oz. club soda. Garnish with an orange wedge.
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Tuesday, July 14, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Living Music with Nadia Sirota: Pirate Radio Edition
MUSIC
TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020 (Weekly)
9:00 PM
Facebook
Free (donation requested)
https://www.facebook.com/LivingMusicwithNadiaSirota/
Hostess with the mostess Nadia Sirota brings you exactly the kind of musicians this List focuses on.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Scotch and Soda (as if you need a recipe): pour 3 oz. blended Scotch into a Collins glass over ice. Top with club soda.
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Tuesday, July 14, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Dan Tepfer
MUSIC
TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free (artist donation requested)
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/dan-tepfer
Dan Tepfer is an excellent classical pianist when he isn't busying himself being an excellent jazz pianist. (Do you think he views these endeavors separately? Of course not!)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Tierra Amarga: pour 2 oz. Blanco Tequila, 3/4 oz. Suze, and 1/4 oz. Crème de Cassis, with 3 dashes of Peychaud's bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Pour into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Tuesday, July 14, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
CyberTank Variety Show: PrideFest
THEATER / PERFORMANCE / DANCE
TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020 (Weekly)
4:00 PM
The Tank
Twitch
Free
https://thetanknyc.org/cybertank-calendar/vareityshowsjuly14
Performing artists share what they've been working on. This week, more PRIDE.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Brutus: Fill a tall glass with ice. Pour in 1.5 oz. Blanco Tequila, then soda water up to a quarter of the glass, then tonic water up to another quarter, then grapefruit juice up to a third quarter, then a squeeze of lime juice, and then a float of Mezcal on top. Garnish with the squeezed lime.
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Tuesday, July 14, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, JULY 14 & 16, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases 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 (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Monday, July 13, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Option: Joanna Mattrey
MUSIC
MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020
9:00 PM
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
Twitch
$5 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/option-joannamattrey
Joanna Mattrey plays improvised music and New Music (and she has great taste in composers). Along with the music, this show will feature interviews of Mattrey; I always find such things unilluminating, but your mileage may differ.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's have an Alaska, cuz they're so good: pour 2 oz. Old Tom Gin and 1 oz. yellow Chartreuse, with 2 dashes of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Monday, July 13, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Coleen Shirin McPherson: Erased
THEATER
MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020
8:00 PM
Open Heart Surgery Theater / Operation Fun Club
Experiments 20
La MaMa Live Stream
Free
http://lamama.org/erased/
Writers of greeting card messages in a dystopian but all too foreseeable future.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This production originated in Toronto, so we'll have that city's delicious eponymous cocktail: pour 2 oz. Canadian whiskey if you have it or Rye if, like me, you don't and 1/4 oz. each of Fernet Branca and Simple Syrup, with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist (Canadians wouldn't do anything so ostentatious as flame it!).
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Monday, July 13, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Words & Music: Joel Ross
MUSIC
MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020
6:00 PM
Zoom
$15
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/happy-hour-joel-ross
Several nights a week, the Jazz Gallery is putting on early evening remote sessions where jazz musicians play and chat with the audience (limited to 15 people per show). I'm recommending them selectively, but check out the website for a full listing. This evening's show features Joel Ross, the boss vibes player in all of jazz right now. Like Bobby Hutcherson before him, he plays beyond well in a variety of contexts, and is incapable of being anything approaching boring or predictable in any of them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Harvard Fizz: pour 1-1/2 oz. Brandy and 3/4 oz. sweet Vermouth, with 1 dash of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a Highball glass over ice. Top with soda water.
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Monday, July 13, 2020, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Sara Serpa / André Matos Duo
MUSIC
MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020
1:00 PM
Festival Robalo Jazz Antena 2 Live Stream
Free
https://www.rtp.pt/antena2/concertos-antena2/festival-robalo-jazz-antena-2-13-a-17-julho-18h00-19h30_4526
Singer/composer Sara Serpa is a huge favorite of this List. She creates jazz art songs, very much inflected by the music of her Portuguese homeland. They are acutely beautiful, involving, moving. Fitting for a music festival emanating from Lisbon, this duo plays perhaps New York resident Serpa's most purely Portuguese music. For those few List readers who aren't fluent in Portuguese, the way you access the live stream is by clicking on the blue button marked "Ouvir Rádio" toward the top of the page.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Of course you need to find some Licor Beirāo. Or maybe a nice white Port.
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Sunday, July 12, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Out of an Abundance of Caution
THEATER / MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020 (Weekly)
8:00 PM
The Brick
Twitch
Free (tips encouraged)
https://www.bricktheater.com/event/out-of-an-abundance-of-caution-volume-seventeen-long-form/
The Brick has taken over as sole curator of this weekly series of stuff from beyond the Brooklyn beyond, and moved to long-format for the constituent pieces. It's still great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I've known ace bartender Alex Day since he was about 12 (or at least looked like it), and the Smokescreen remains one of his most lasting creations: muddle 4 mint leaves, 1-1/2 oz. smoky Islay Scotch, 1/4 oz. green Chartreuse, and 3/4 oz. each of lime juice and Simple Syrup (make the Syrup scant) in a cocktail shaker, and then fill the shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into into a double Old Fashioned glass over ice. Garnish with a mint sprig.
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Sunday, July 12, 2020, 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
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Saturday, July 11, 2020, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Eschaton
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2020 (Weekly)
10:00 PM
Zoom
$10
https://chorusproductions.ticketspice.com/eschaton
An immersive experience in which viewers wander from room to virtual room seeing different variety acts and interacting with them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's late on a Saturday, so I'm going to recommend something strong. Don't blame me for how you feel Sunday morning. Nineteen-Twenty Pick-Me-Up: pour 2 oz. Absinthe, 1 oz. Gin, 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup, and 1 dash each of Angostura and orange bitters into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a wine glass, and fill the rest up with soda water.
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Saturday, July 11, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
TJG Online Lockdown Sessions: Julius Rodriguez / Kris Davis / Carmen Lundy / Kendrick Scott
MUSIC
SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2020
7:00 PM
Jazz Gallery Live Stream
Zoom
$20
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/lockdown-session-11
Another Jazz Gallery initiative, this one featuring musical segments recorded by the participating artists during the week preceding the stream, and then live chat with the artists afterward. I wouldn't fail to recommend any show that included such ace pianist-composers as Kris Davis and "Orange" Julius Rodriguez (he drums, too!). But the entirety of tonight's program showcases a nice range of styles.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I don't know anyone who's ever drunk a French Pearl and not loved it: muddle 1 mint sprig and 3/4 oz. each lime juice and Simple Syrup in a cocktail shaker. Pour in 2 oz. Gin and 1/4 oz. Absinthe. Add ice. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with another mint sprig and a lime wheel.
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Saturday, July 11, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Stephanie Cheng Smith / Liam Mooney / Sarah Hennies's Everything Else
MUSIC
SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2020
7:00 PM
Indexical Live Stream
Twitch
Free
https://www.indexical.org/events/2020-07-11-livestream-stephanie-cheng-smith-liam-mooney-sarah-hennies-s-everything-else
Sarah Hennies is well known to readers of this List; she writes music just like someone would who started as the drummer in a good Not-Quite-Post-Rock band who then extended her sonic palette into a kind of New Music in which seemingly static harmonies and rhythms eventually reveal themselves to be moving, but at their own paces according to their own logic. Stephanie Cheng Smith has also appeared here: she constructs acousticelectronic arrays and gets surprising sounds out of them. Liam Mooney is new to us; he makes sounds from objects even more unlikely than those Cheng Smith uses.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Do you feel like trying a room-temperature cocktail? Paradoxically, it's called the Black Rock Chiller: pour 3/4 oz. each of Reposado Tequila, Branca Menta, and Suze into a rocks glass WITHOUT ice. Stir.
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Friday, July 10, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Chris Harder: Fuck Off, Julia!
THEATER
FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020
9:00 PM
Hot! Festival
Dixon Place DP TV
$15 suggested donation (with registration)
http://dixonplace.org/performances/fuck-off-julia-07-10-20/
A comedy about sex work scripted by gay porn star/burlesque artist about town Chris Harder.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Vera Rush: pour 2 oz. dark Rum into an Old Fashioned glass over ice. Float 1/2 oz. pineapple juice on top.
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Friday, July 10, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Virtual Community Salon
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020
7:30 PM
Contemporaneous
Zoom
Free (with registration)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-community-salon-tickets-109687016820
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: Bermuda Hundred: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin, 3/4 oz. Campari, 1-1/2 oz. pineapple juice, and 1/2 oz. each of lime juice and Orgeat into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a Old Fashioned glass over ice. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
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Friday, July 10, 2020, 5:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Parhessia
MUSIC
FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020
5:00 – 11:00 PM
H0l0 Live Stream
Free (donations requested)
https://www.h0l0.nyc/calendar
It's great to see H0l0 coming back (and, for the first time ever, with an almost functional website!). The live portion of this show features countertenor M. Lamar, who's taken to calling his work Negrogothic. I've called it Black metal (as distinct from black metal). But of course it's really Art Music, and makes a deserved joke of genre (I mean, he's written opera). Also live are The Quartet, four musicians on the frontiers of jazz (meaning they also make a deserved joke of genre).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You can watch this show on a big video monitor from an outdoor bar outside H0l0 at 1090 Wyckoff Ave. in Ridgewood. For those of us at home, some Batangas: stir 2 pinches of salt (the salt is crucial) with a scant 1/2 oz. lime juice in the bottom of a tall glass. Add ice. Pour in 2 oz. Blanco Tequila and 3-1/2 oz. Coca-Cola. Stir briefly.
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Friday, July 10, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020 (Weekly)
5:00 PM
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Facebook
Free
https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/ethel-online
The fab alt string quartet ETHEL brings its weekly recitals in the Met Balcony Bar home (theirs and yours). Expect old and new music, and surprise guests (from still more homes).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This wonderful drink requires an ingredient you probably don't have: Pimento Dram a/k/a Allspice Dram. GET SOME (especially for Summer)! Lion's Tale: pour 2 oz. Bourbon, 1/2 oz. each of Pimento Dram a/k/a Allspice Dram and lime juice, and 1 teaspoon of Simple Syrup, with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Fri, Jul 10, 2020, 1:00 PM – Sun, Jul 12, 2020, 10:00 PM
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Fri, Jul 10, 2020, 1:00 PM – Sat, Jul 11, 2020, 7:00 PM
thingNY: A Series of Landscapes
OPERA
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, JULY 10 & 11, 2020
1:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
6:00 PM SATURDAY
#stillHERE
HERE Arts Center Live Stream
Zoom
$5-$50 donation
http://www.thingny.com/
This List's favorite band continues its exploration of remote online communications services as both artistic and social media. Expect to be challenged, intrigued, moved, and entertained.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's let fly with an Aviation, the drink that introduced many of us to Lost Classic Cocktails: pour 2 oz. Gin, 3/4 oz. lemon juice, 1 teaspoon each of Maraschino liqueur and Crème de Violette, and 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
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Thursday, July 9, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Glowdark: Charlotte Mundy / Three Voices
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020
9:00 PM
Resonant Bodies Festival
Free
https://www.resonantbodiesfestival.org/glowdark-episode-1
This is the kind of talk-rather-than-performance thing that I generally don't List on principle. But I'm so crazy about ResBods in general and the extraordinary vocalist Charlotte Mundy in particular that I couldn't resist. In each of these programs, a ResBods-associated artist will delve in depth into a particular recording. For this first episode, guest artist Mundy has chosen a recording of Morton Feldman's Three Voices — a piece that takes you out of time, out of yourself, out of this world (it's no accident that Feldman has been one of my personal top Quarantine listens). Be sure to check out the program's web page: there's gobs of stuff there for before and after the show.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: An appropriately gorgeous drink, the Baroness Collins: muddle 6 mint leaves in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Pour in 1-1/2 oz. Gin, 1/2 oz. Campari, 1 oz. lime juice, and 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup. Fill with ice. Shake. Strain into a Collins glass over ice. Garnish with a mint sprig.
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Thursday, July 9, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Words & Music: Ravi Coltrane
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020
8:00 PM
Jazz Gallery
Zoom
$15
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/livestream-ravi-coltrane
Several nights a week, the Jazz Gallery is putting on early evening remote sessions where jazz musicians play and chat with the audience (limited to 15 people per show). I'm recommending them selectively, but check out the website for a full listing. This evening's show features saxophonist Ravi Coltrane and ensemble. Sure, Ravi is a little mainstream for this List. BUT: he does have that last name — and he is pretty fabulous player no matter who his parents might be. And his piano player is David Virelles!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Presbyterian: pour 2 oz. Rye and 1-1/2 oz. each of ginger ale and club soda into a Highball glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Thursday, July 9, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Mark Broschinsky
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020
8:00 PM
Soloist Series
Mise-En_Place #live
Free
https://place.mise-en.org/#live
Advanced works for solo trombone and electronics played by advanced trombonist Mark Broschinsky.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's been a while since we've enjoyed that great Ada Coleman creation, the Hanky Panky: pour 2 oz. Gin, 1-1/2 oz. sweet Vermouth, and 1/4 oz. Fernet-Branca into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Thursday, July 9, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Zero Boy: The COVID Cabaret
PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020 (Weekly)
8:00 PM
Metropolitan Virtual Playhouse
YouTube
Free
http://www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/virtualplayhouse
Submit a 4-5 word suggestion, and Zero Boy will turn into into . . . improv comedy!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm sure Zero Boy would be happy to be accompanied by a Napoleon: pour 2 oz. Gin and one teaspoon each of Curaçao, Dubonnet, and Fernet into an ice-filled cocktail shaker, stir, and strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Thu, Jul 9, 2020, 8:00 PM – Fri, Jul 10, 2020, 11:00 PM
Beth Morrison Projects: pssst... #1 a/k/a The Boot
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY & FRIDAY, JULY 9 & 10, 2020 (continuing through AUGUST 21)
8:00 & 10:00 PM
Some Secret Online Medium
$20
https://www.bethmorrisonprojects.org/pssst
Taking off from the astonishing fact that it is now 100 years since the Roaring Twenties, the shining light of New Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, takes us back to a time when existing regulations required the seat-of-the-pants creation of off-the-grid nightlife options . . . WAIT A MINUTE, that's the PAST we're talking about???????? Anyway, this production attempts to create a virtual speakeasy, where the jukebox plays Alt Classical, Alt Neo-Baroque, Alt Pop, Alt Whathaveyou. I have no idea what it'll be like — but the line-up of performers for this initial clutch of shows is fantastic!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The classic cocktail of the Prohibition era was the Sidecar: pour 1-1/2 oz. Cognac and 3/4 oz. each of Cointreau and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist. There's a big controversy raging as to whether you should follow traditional American practice and rim the glass with sugar. I usually find rimmed cocktail glasses a pain in the butt, to drink even more than to produce. But for this magnificent drink, the sugar rim seems to be part and parcel: I'd do it.
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Thursday, July 9, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Cello Quarantine Concert
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020
7:30 PM
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
Twitch
$5 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/tqc-norabarton-cello
Cellos! Avant-garde cellos! (I LOVE the cello!)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's been a while since I've enjoyed a Zuzu's Petals, as I've only ever had them at The Up & Up, and never thought to make one at home. Well, the Quarantine is pushing us all outside our boxes: pour 1-1/2 oz. Bison Grass Vodka (this Polish elixir is NOT ordinary Vodka), 1/2 oz. each of Suze, St-Germain, and lime juice, 1 teaspoon of Maraschino liqueur, and 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup, with 2 dashes of celery bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist (oh, come on, use instead a twist of the lime you've just juiced).
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Thursday, July 9, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Mozart & Friends
OPERA
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020
7:30 PM
The Little Opera Theater of New York
$5-$50
https://www.musae.me/lotny/experiences/779/mozart-%2526-friends
A bunch of stuff from Mozart's early (and, it must be said, slight) opera Il Re Pastore, plus more stuff from the supernal Rameau and the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a Black galant/early Classical composer we're happily going to be hearing a lot more of now. But that's not the big news. The big news is that this is AN IMMERSIVE 360º VR PRODUCTION. If you don't have a VR headset, though — I have a cardboard one The Times gave me ages ago; one comes with a $50 ticket to this show (although how it'll get to you by the time of the performance is anybody's guess) — you can watch it in boring old non-immersive 2D).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Jeunesse Cocktail: pour 1 oz. Suze, 2 oz. Cointreau, and 1 oz. lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Thursday, July 9, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Aine Griffiths: Checking In
THEATER
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020
7:30 PM
Hot! Festival
Dixon Place DP TV
Free (with registration) (donations requested)
http://dixonplace.org/performances/checking-in-07-09-2020/
Not sure what's specifically queer about death and soullessness, but this play about a guest at a hotel located in the afterlife who is found not to have a soul, leading to all sorts of practical problems for him and his hosts, looks interesting.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Old Delaware Fishing Punch: pour 2 oz. white or amber Rum, 1 oz. Brandy, and 1 teaspoon each of lemon juice, lime juice, and granulated sugar (or 2 teaspoons Simple Syrup) into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a Collins glass over ice. Top with club soda (not too much). Garnish with a lemon wheel. Bet you can't drink just one. (But careful, though: this has as much alcohol in it as a Martini!)
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Thursday, July 9, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Thursday, July 9, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Richard Kennedy
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020
6:00 PM
Kitchen Broadcast
Twitch
Free (donations requested)
https://thekitchen.org/event/broadcast-week-13
You want multidisciplinary? Richard Kennedy does (excellent) visual art. He does choreography. He makes operas. All from a strong Black queer perspective. What he'll do tonight is anyone's guess.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Hayes Fizz: pour 2 oz. Gin and 3/4 oz. each of lemon juice and Simple Syrup into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Rinse a chilled Collins glass with Absinthe. Strain the cocktail into the rinsed glass over ice. Garnish with an orange slice and cocktail cherry.
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Thursday, July 9, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Mireya Ramos
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/mireya-ramos
New York Mariachi star Mireya Ramos — of Flor de Taloache ame — previews her upcoming solo album. Gorgeous, enlivening stuff.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's have some more Rositas, since everybody likes them so much: pour 1-1/2 oz. Reposado Tequila and 1/2 oz. each of dry Vermouth, sweet Vermouth, and Campari into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass over ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Thursday, July 9, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Lisa Bielawa: Broadcast from Home
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020 (Weekly)
3:00 PM
Free
https://www.lisabielawa.net/projects-1
The imaginative and empathetic composer Lisa Bielawa — certainly one of those who have their own sound world that you can recognize immediately — has a coronavirus project in which she's soliciting short testimonies from the public reflecting on coronavirus experiences, writing melodies for them, giving them to singers to record, and then composing backing tracks for them. She'll post a new "chapter" each Thursday at 3 PM (and leave them up), toward the eventual end of their all forming a big piece — which the participants can get together to perform live on The Other Side!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Abbey Cocktail: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin and 3/4 oz. each Cocchi Americano and orange juice, with 1 dash each of orange and Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
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Thursday, July 9, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, JULY 7 & 9, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases 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 (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Wednesday, July 8, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Laura Ortman: Dust Dives Alive
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2020
8:00 PM
Isolated Field Recording Series
ISSUE Project Room
Free (donations requested)
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/isolated-field-recording-series-laura-ortman-dust-dives-alive
Laura Ortman's musical career grew out of her former visual arts career (although she had been trained as a musician since childhood). And her music sounds like it: it's clearly part of an esthetic gestalt, not a thing in itself. It's not musique concrète, but it's concrete music: the sounds she uses have a solidity, an almost corporeal existence. So she's almost perfectly situated to do a piece based on Quarantine-derived found sounds.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Algonquin (named after the hotel, not the indigenous people — so no, this is not some kind of tasteless reference to Laura Ortman's proud Native American background): pour 2 oz. Rye and 1 oz. each of dry Vermouth and pineapple juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Wednesday, July 8, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Pioneer Works Presents
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2020
7:30 PM
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
Twitch
$5 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/tqc-pioneerworks
https://ess.org/the-quarantine-concerts
We all miss going to Pioneer Works. But tonight we can, virtually! Among the personal faves on this bill are chamber-noise explorer Lea Bertucci, longtime Brooklyn avant-guitar stalwart HUBBLE (a/k/a Ben Greenberg), blues/techno/whatever purveyor YATTA (absolutely one of my favorite current performers), violin/harp/voices duo LEYA (is it Alt Pop? is it Alt Classical? do you Alt Care?), and Yuka C. Honda's post-Cibo project Eucademix.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Army and Navy: pour 2 oz. Gin, 1/2 oz. lemon juice, and a scant 1/2 oz. Orgeat, with a dash of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. If you want, garnish with a lemon twist.
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Wednesday, July 8, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Margot Mejia: Hi Bi
THEATER
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2020
7:00 PM
Hot! Festival
Dixon Place DP TV
Free (with registration) (donations requested)
http://dixonplace.org/performances/hi-bi-07-08-20/
It's probably unfair to call this a bi rom-com. But oops, I just did.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Harpo's Special (yes he actually used to drink these): pour 2 oz. white Rum, 1/2 oz. Curaçao, 1/2 oz. lime juice, and 1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar (or 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup), with 1 dash Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Wednesday, July 8, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Olaiya Olayemi: ado (a remix of my name)
PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2020
7:00 PM
Hot! Festival
Dixon Place DP TV
Free (with registration) (donations requested)
http://dixonplace.org/performances/ado-remix-of-my-name-07-08-20/
An advance remote view of what will eventually be a part of performance/installation ritual piece about being Black, trans, and an artist.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Ward Eight might not be the most impressive cocktail in the world, but it exactly hits my sweet spot: pour 2 oz. Rye, 3/4 oz. each of orange juice and lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of Grenadine into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Living Music with Nadia Sirota: Pirate Radio Edition
MUSIC
TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2020 (Weekly)
9:00 PM
Facebook
Free (donation requested)
https://www.facebook.com/LivingMusicwithNadiaSirota/
Hostess with the mostess Nadia Sirota brings you exactly the kind of musicians this List focuses on.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bicycle Thief: pour 1 oz. each of Gin and Campari, 1-1/2 oz. grapefruit juice, and 1/2 oz. each of lemon juice and Simple Syrup into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a Highball glass over ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with an orange slice.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Acorn Series
MUSIC
TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2020
8:00 PM
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
Twitch
$5 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/tqc-acornseries
Accordion player/sonic and conceptual explorer/tap dancer Lucie Vitková leads a bill of questing, adventurous performers.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A personal fave, the Champs-Élysées: pour 2 oz. Cognac, 1/2 oz. green Chartreuse, 3/4 oz. lemon juice, and 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup, with 1 dash of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Phoebe Holden: Enter'acte
THEATER
TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2020
7:30 PM
Hot! Festival
Dixon Place DP TV
Free (with registration) (donations requested)
http://dixonplace.org/performances/entracte-07-07-20/
A play by Phoebe Holden about ballet, dreams, and repressed female queerness. Who know those three things had anything to with each other? [Facetiousness emoji]
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bolshoi Punch: pour 1 oz. Vodka, 1/4 oz. white Rum (this is a Russian-themed drink, so overproof if possible), 2-1/2 oz. lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon superfine sugar (or 2 teaspoons Simple Syrup) into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass over ice.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Kevin Williamson: Safe and Sound Project
DANCE
TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2020
7:30 PM
Hot! Festival
Dixon Place DP TV
Free
http://dixonplace.org/performances/safe-and-sound-a-meditation-07-07-20/
A dance piece meditating on queer solidarity and why it's necessary.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The possibly problematically named (unless it was named after a hotel) but delicious Oriental: pour 2 oz. Rye, 1 oz. sweet Vermouth, and 1/2 oz. each Cointreau and lime juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Joe Orton: Entertaining Mr. Sloane
THEATER
TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2020
7:30 PM
Bedlam Theater Live Stream
Zoom
Facebook
Free (donations requested)
https://bedlam.org/benefit-reading/
We need more Joe Orton. Sure, brutalizing bourgois values isn't as shocking now as it was in the early '60s. But this suburban takedown is as hilarious as ever.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Wembley: pour 1 oz. each of blended Scotch, dry Vermouth, and pineapple juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into an ice-filled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Cafe La MaMa: La MaMa Moves! Online
DANCE
TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2020
7:00 PM
LaMaMa Live Stream
Free
http://lamama.org/moves/
I for one am finding it fascinating how modern dance companies (ballet not so much) are finding ways to make creative use of remote performance media. You'd think dance couldn't translate — but especially post-Judson styles using quotidian motion practices are remarkably successful. So this online iteration of La MaMa's annual dance festival holds great promise. Among the performers are a puppet company moving into dance for the first time — and the wonderful Tamar Rogoff!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bolero: pour 1 oz. each of dark Rum, Brandy, and lime juice, and 1/2 oz. each of orange juice and Simple Syrup, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Edward Einhorn: Performance for One
THEATER
TUESDAY & SUNDAY, JULY 7 & 12, 2020
10-minute intervals from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM TUESDAY
10-minute intervals from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM SUNDAY
Untitled Theater Company #61
Skype
Free
http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/performance-for-one.html
Untitled Theater Company #61 finishes this run of Skyped performances of a one-on-one theater piece, which have probably gotten more positive List subscriber feedback than anything I've ever recommended. When this 10-minute-each-of-two-parts 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 reserved in advance by email, but a few are left open for virtual walk-ins. Bravo to Edward Einhorn and Untitled Theater Company #61 for a truly timely and extremely well-thought-out enterprise.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Since you're actually participating in the show, you shouldn't drink anything too heavy. Let's pretend we're in Spain on a Sunday and sip a sweet Vermouth (preferably Spanish) in a tumbler over ice with an olive and an orange slice.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Andrew Yee
MUSIC
TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/andrew-yee
Andrew Yee, cellist of the excellent Attacca Quartet, plays pieces by composers including Caroline Shaw and inti figgis-visueta (who, if you don't know them, certainly bears watching).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bin & Gitters (this is a good one) (I mean, they all are) (but): pour 2 oz. Gin, 1 oz. lime juice, and 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a double rocks glass over ice (crushed if possible). Add enough Angostura bitters to create a discernible layer of coloration at the top. If you're using crushed ice (as you really should), put more on top, forming a sort of cone. Also if you used crushed ice, drink with a straw.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
CyberTank Variety Show: PrideFest
THEATER / PERFORMANCE / DANCE
TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2020 (Weekly)
4:00 PM
The Tank
Twitch
Free
https://thetanknyc.org/cybertank-calendar/vareityshowsjuly7
Performing artists share what they've been working on. This week, more PRIDE.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I liked Grasshoppers in high school. Now, I let my prejudice against sweet drinks deter me. But really: chocolate mint, what's not to like? Once in my high-school Grasshopper-drinking days I ordered one in a glitter bar in Queens — which I guess turned out to be more Queens than glitter: the bartender sneered, "Are you sure you don't want a Pink Lady?!" No such gender-mongering at this show (especially if you're watching it by yourself from home). So: pour 1-1/2 oz. each green Crème de Menthe and white Crème de Cacao and 1 oz. cream into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a smile.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, JULY 7 & 9, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases 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 (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Monday, July 6, 2020, 1:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Beethoven: To My Distant Love
MUSIC
MONDAY, JULY 6, 2020 (continuing through AUGUST 9)
1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, 7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM THURSDAY
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM & 7:00, 7:30, & 8:00 PM
On Site Opera
Via Telephone
$40
https://osopera.org/productions/distantlove/
I didn't List this initially, because Beethoven isn't just mainstream, but the definition of mainstream: the progenitor of the Masterpiece Complex that has stultified classical music since the dark days of the early-mid 19th Century. To be sure, he's also unbelievably great — and this piece is, for what it's worth, the first song cycle in the Western classical tradition. But really this event gets listed for its innovative form: a singer — you get to chose between soprano and baritone — will phone you (that's right: you have to remember how to answer a telephone call) and sing the cycle to you over the phone (after having sent you longing emails in the week before the performance). Now some of us view that kind of one-on-one interaction with performers with horror (especially when, as is the case with the splendid soprano Jennifer Zetlan, her husband will be sitting in the room with her accompanying her love songs to you on the piano!). Some of us also wonder whether it's really worth paying $40 to listen to music over the phone — perhaps the worst vehicle for sound transmission in current mass use — when we can listen to, say, Christian Gerhaher brilliantly reproduced on our stereos (yeah yeah, I know: having a stereo is even more paleolithic than answering a phone call). But On Site Opera has to get points for coming up with a really clever response to the obstacles facing live music-making under The Quarantine. And the basic thesis of this List is of course that live performance is an unmatchable experience. So it's your call. IF you can get a ticket, that is: they're scarce (I mean, every performance has an audience of one). There are still a few available for the end of the run.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Absinthe Drip: pour 5 oz. of water into an Absinthe Fountain. Pour 1 oz. Absinthe into an Absinthe Glass. Place an Absinthe Spoon holding a sugar cube across the top of the Absinthe Glass under a spigot of the Absinthe Fountain. Drip water from the Absinthe Fountain through the Absinthe Spoon into the Absinthe Glass. The sugar cube should dissolve and the Absinthe take on a louche (i.e., turn milky). Stir briefly before drinking (happily, you don't need a special Absinthe Stirrer). (PS: you can get perfectly acceptable results by simply pouring ice water slowly into any old glass holding Absinthe with a sugar cube you've muddled at the bottom.)
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Sunday, July 5, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Out of an Abundance of Caution
THEATER / MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2020 (Weekly)
8:00 PM
The Brick
Twitch
Free (tips encouraged)
https://www.bricktheater.com/event/out-of-an-abundance-of-caution-volume-sixteen-long-form/
Some of the leading forces in Brooklyn experimental theater curate a weekly series of stuff from beyond the beyond: enormous fun! This week marks a move to long-form pieces, so longer fun.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: If they can change their flag, we can drink their Punch. Mississippi Punch: pour 2 oz. Brandy, 1 oz. each of Bourbon and dark Rum, and 1/2 oz. lemon juice, with 2 teaspoons of sugar (or 4 of Simple Syrup), into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a Collins glass over ice (cracked if possible). Garnish with fruit, say orange slices and the nice raspberries they now have at the Greenmarket.
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Sunday, July 5, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Joe Lovano: Trio Fascination
MUSIC
FRIDAY & SUNDAY, JULY 3 & 5, 2020
7:30 PM
Village Vanguard Live Stream
Some undisclosed amount
https://villagevanguard.com/
God knows we don't need any more fireworks, but here's the galvanic jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano to provide them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I take it this son of a saxman wouldn't take it amiss to be accompanied by a Junior: pour 2 oz. Rye and 1/2 oz. each Bénédictine and lime juice, with a dash of Whiskey Barrel bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Sunday, July 5, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Galactic Zoo & Singleman Affair: Million Tongues Festival
MUSIC
SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2020
3:00 PM
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
Twitch
Free (donations requested)
https://ess.org/esscalendar/million-tongues-day1
Now those of us outside Chicago can attend the legendary psychedelic jamboree, back after a long hiatus, the Million Tongues Festival — and in our bathrobes, if we want (well, I guess no one would have said anything if you went to one of the previous live shows in a bathrobe).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I scoffed at the National Cocktail Of Argentina — "what, are they all 17?", I sneered — until I had a few myself one typically late Buenos Aires night. Let's face it: they're on to something. Fernet and Coke: pour 1 cup of Coca-Cola and 1/2 cup of Fernet-Branca into a Collins glass over ice. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
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Sunday, July 5, 2020, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Beethoven: To My Distant Beloved
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY & SUNDAY, JULY 1 – 3 & 5, 2020 (continuing through AUGUST 9)
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM & 1:00, 1:30 & 2:00 PM WEDNESDAY
1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM THURSDAY
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM & 7:00, 7:30, 8:00 & 8:30 PM FRIDAY
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM & 1:00, 1:30, 2:00 & 2:30 PM SUNDAY
On-Site Opera
Via Telephone
$40
https://osopera.org/productions/distantlove/
I didn't List this initially, because Beethoven isn't just mainstream, but the definition of mainstream: the progenitor of the Masterpiece Complex that has stultified classical music since the dark days of the early-mid 19th Century. To be sure, he's also unbelievably great — and this piece is, for what it's worth, the first song cycle in the Western classical tradition. But really this event gets listed for its innovative form: a singer — you get to chose between soprano and baritone — will phone you (that's right: you have to remember how to answer a telephone call) and sing the cycle to you over the phone (after having sent you longing emails in the week before the performance). Now some of us view that kind of one-on-one interaction with performers with horror (especially when, as is the case with the splendid soprano Jennifer Zetlan, her husband will be sitting in the room with her accompanying her love songs to you on the piano!). Some of us also wonder whether it's really worth paying $40 to listen to music over the phone — perhaps the worst vehicle for sound transmission in current mass use — when we can listen to, say, Christian Gerhaher brilliantly reproduced on our stereos (yeah yeah, I know: having a stereo is even more paleolithic than answering a phone call). But On Site Opera has to get points for coming up with a really clever response to the obstacles facing live music-making under The Quarantine. And the basic thesis of this List is of course that live performance is an unmatchable experience. So it's your call. IF you can get a ticket, that is: they're scarce (I mean, every performance has an audience of one). There are still a few available for the end of the run.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Absinthe Drip: pour 5 oz. of water into an Absinthe Fountain. Pour 1 oz. Absinthe into an Absinthe Glass. Place an Absinthe Spoon holding a sugar cube across the top of the Absinthe Glass under a spigot of the Absinthe Fountain. Drip water from the Absinthe Fountain through the Absinthe Spoon into the Absinthe Glass. The sugar cube should dissolve and the Absinthe take on a louche (i.e., turn milky). Stir briefly before drinking (happily, you don't need a special Absinthe Stirrer). (PS: you can get perfectly acceptable results by simply pouring ice water slowly into any old glass holding Absinthe with a sugar cube you've muddled at the bottom.)
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Friday, July 3, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Friday, July 3, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Downtown Variety
THEATER
FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2020
8:00 PM
La MaMa Live Stream
Free (donation requested)
http://lamama.org/downtown-variety-12/
Each week (except when they don't) La MaMa assembles a bunch of experimentalist dancers, performers, actors, media artists, musicians, and what have you, and sees what happens when they live stream. It's almost always at the very least interesting.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Blinker: pour 1 oz. Rye, 1-1/2 oz. grapefruit juice, and 1/2 oz. Grenadine into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
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Friday, July 3, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Joe Lovano: Trio Fascination
MUSIC
FRIDAY & SUNDAY, JULY 3 & 5, 2020
7:30 PM
Village Vanguard Live Stream
Some undisclosed amount
https://villagevanguard.com/
God knows we don't need any more fireworks, but here's the galvanic jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano to provide them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I take it this son of a saxman wouldn't take it amiss to be accompanied by a Junior: pour 2 oz. Rye and 1/2 oz. each Bénédictine and lime juice, with a dash of Whiskey Barrel bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Friday, July 3, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2020 (Weekly)
5:00 PM
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Facebook
Free
https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/ethel-online
The fab alt string quartet ETHEL brings its weekly recitals in the Met Balcony Bar home (theirs and yours). Expect old and new music, and surprise guests (from still more homes). This series is continuing!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A real pre-Prohibition classic, the Metropole: pour 1-1/2 oz. each of Brandy and dry Vermouth, with 2 dashes of Peychaud's bitters and 1 dash of orange bitters, into a rocks glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
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Thursday, July 2, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Puppet Playlist: Home
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020
8:00 PM
Sinking Ship Productions/The Tank Live Stream
Free ($10 donation requested) (registration required)
https://thetanknyc.org/cybertank-calendar/pp30
Sinking Ship Productions knows a thing or two about excellent puppet theater. So when they take their puppet-theater showcase online, you can expect something special.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Red Light Negroni: pour 1 oz. each of Genever, sweet Vermouth, and Campari into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Thursday, July 2, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Zero Boy: The COVID Cabaret
PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 (Weekly)
8:00 PM
Metropolitan Virtual Playhouse
YouTube
Free
http://www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/virtualplayhouse
Submit a 4-5 word suggestion, and Zero Boy will turn into into . . . improv comedy!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm sure Zero Boy would be happy to be accompanied by a Napoleon: pour 2 oz. Gin and one teaspoon each of Curaçao, Dubonnet, and Fernet into an ice-filled cocktail shaker, stir, and strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Thursday, July 2, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
James K: DJ and Vomit Archeologist Nude Volvo: (mutating repetitions) M.E.L.T. [Maybe Everyone Licks Truths] Welcome the Afterlife, Now. (Dub Mix)
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020
8:00 PM
Isolated Field Recording Series
ISSUE Project Room
Free (donations requested)
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/isolated-field-recording-series-james-k-dj-and-vomit-archeologist-nude-volvo-mutating
James K's multidisciplinary art dance pop is exactly what this List loves. Even if this List doesn't find vomit as humorous and interesting as she does.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Cosmopolitan (this is NOT a bad drink!): pour 2 oz. citrus Vodka (such as Absolut Citron) and 1 oz. each of Cointreau, cranberry juice, and lime juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. The recipe calls for you to garnish with a lemon twist, but the frugal thing is to make a twist from the rind of the lime you just juiced.
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Thu, Jul 2, 2020, 7:30 PM – Fri, Jul 3, 2020, 8:30 PM
Toshiki Okada: Zero Cost House
THEATER
THURSDAY & FRIDAY, JULY 2 & 3, 2020
7:30 PM
Pig Iron Theatre
Zoom
$1-$99
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4612629
It's always pretty iffy to call someone The Voice Of Their Generation, but Toshiki Okada (b. 1973), with his real-into-surreal depictions of the lives of urban young adults, has given every appearance over the last couple of decades of being The Voice Of His Generation in Japan. This piece explores what happens when an artist becomes political: although it was written for Pig Iron a decade ago, it seems particularly timely now.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Esquire: pour 2-1/4 oz. Bourbon, 3/4 oz. Grand Marnier, and 1 teaspoon orange juice, with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Thursday, July 2, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Patrick Higgins
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020
6:00 PM
Kitchen Broadcast
Twitch
Free (donations requested)
https://thekitchen.org/event/broadcast-week-12
Not only is Patrick Higgins a great composer and guitarist with the avant-post-rock band Zs (boy do I love them!), but he's a terrific composer of contemporary chamber music on the side.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Presidente Vincent: rim a Martini glass or coupe with sugar after rubbing it with lime. Pour 1-1/2 oz. dark Rum and 3/4 oz. each dry Vermouth and lime juice, with 1/2 teaspoon of superfiine sugar (or 1 teaspoon of Simple Syrup), into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into the rimmed glass. You're going to thank me for this one.
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Thursday, July 2, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Rafiq Bhatia
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/rafiq-bhatia
One of the more interesting stylists on the current scene, guitarist Rafiq Bhatia plays equal measures jazz, rock, and electronic.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: That greatest of variations on the already perfect Last Word, the Final Ward: pour 3/4 oz. each of Rye, green Chartreuse, Maraschino liqueur, and lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Thursday, July 2, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Lisa Bielawa: Broadcast from Home
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 (Weekly)
3:00 PM
Free
https://www.lisabielawa.net/projects-1
The imaginative and empathetic composer Lisa Bielawa — certainly one of those who have their own sound world that you can recognize immediately — has a coronavirus project in which she's soliciting short testimonies from the public reflecting on coronavirus experiences, writing melodies for them, giving them to singers to record, and then composing backing tracks for them. She'll post a new "chapter" each Thursday at 3 PM (and leave them up), toward the eventual end of their all forming a big piece — which the participants can get together to perform live on The Other Side!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Abbey Cocktail: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin and 3/4 oz. each Cocchi Americano and orange juice, with 1 dash each of orange and Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
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Thursday, July 2, 2020, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Ford Fourqurean: Acoustic+
MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020
2:30 PM
Mise-En_Place #live
Free
https://place.mise-en.org/#live
Advanced works for solo clarinet played by advanced clarinetist Ford Fourqurean.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Few cocktails are as obscure as the Cliquet — and fewer obscure cocktails deserve their obscurity less: pour 1-1/2 oz. Rye, 3/4 oz. orange juice, and 1 teaspoon dark Rum into an Old Fashioned glass. Add ice. Stir.
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Thursday, July 2, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, JUNE 30 & JULY 2, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases 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 (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Mitamine Lab: In Your Dirty Ears
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020
9:00 PM
Public Access TV
Public Records Live Stream
Free
https://publicrecords.tv/
Not sure what this Mexico City cultural curating project is going to present here. But I'ma be there, that's for sure.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Charro Negro: rub the rim of a Highball glass with a lemon wedge and rim it with salt. Fill the glass with ice. Pour in 2 oz. Blanco Tequila and squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. Top with about 4 oz. of Coca-Cola. Garnish with whatever's left of the lemon.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Adjua Gargi Nzinga Greaves: I Have Been Alive. And I Intend to Live
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020
8:00 PM
Isolated Field Recording Series
ISSUE Project Room
Free (donations requested)
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/isolated-field-recording-series-adjua-gargi-nzinga-greaves-i-have-been-alive-and-i-intend-live
A provocative poet/collagist presents a video text as she traces her previous 40 years of living and declares her intention to live decades longer — in case she die in custody of the State and the State claim she was a suicide.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Dawa: quarter a lime, and muddle the four pieces with a tablespoon of sugar in the bottom of a rocks glass. Fill the glass with ice. Pour in 2 oz. Vodka. Dip a swizzle stick or stirrer in honey and lightly stir.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Richard Nelson: And So We Come Forth
THEATER
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020
7:30 PM
The Apple Family Plays Live Stream
Free (donations requested)
https://theapplefamilyplays.com
Richard Nelson continues his Rhinebeck Panorama series with a play that has his prototypical Upper-Middle-Class White American Family communicating with each other via Zoom — portrayed by actors communicating with each other via Zoom!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Unfair as it might be to the wellmeaning-but-still-WASPy Apple Family, I can't help but recommend a Gin & Tonic with this: pour 3 oz. Gin into a Highball glass over ice. Squeeze in 3 lime wedges. Fill the glass with 4 oz. Tonic Water. Toss in as many of the squeezed wedges as will fit.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Theater of War: The Book of Job
THEATER
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020
4:00 PM
Exodus
Zoom
Free (with registration)
https://theaterofwar.com/schedule/book-of-job-project-at-exodus
What with The Pandemic, the fascist takeover of Amerika, the final indisputable public demonstration of the systemic and murderous racism that festers at the heart of our national enterprise, and Murder Hornets, the Book of Job starts to seem rather light-hearted. Without wanting to slight anyone in the excellent cast of this dramatized reading, it must be said that Jeffrey Wright and David Strathairn are two of the better actors on the face of the earth.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It somehow seems appropriate to accompany this with a cocktail the writer William Seabrook named after the kind of institution to which he committed himself on account of alcoholism, the Asylum: pour each of 1-1/2 Gin and Absinthe and 1/2 teaspoon of Grenadine into an Old Fashioned glass. Add ice. Let the ice melt for a minute or two so you can watch the louche develop in the Absinthe; then stir.
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Wed, Jul 1, 2020, 11:00 AM – Thu, Jul 2, 2020, 1:00 PM
Edward Einhorn: Performance for One
THEATER
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY, JULY 1 & 2, 2020 (continuing through JULY 12)
10-minute intervals from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Untitled Theater Company #61
Skype
Free
http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/performance-for-one.html
The Skyped performances of this one-on-one theater piece, which has probably gotten more positive List subscriber feedback than anything I've ever recommended, are continuing indefinitely. When this 10-minute-each-of-two-parts 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 reserved in advance by email, but a few are left open for virtual walk-ins. 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 my own preference is for 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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Wed, Jul 1, 2020, 10:00 AM – Fri, Jul 3, 2020, 9:00 PM
Beethoven: To My Distant Beloved
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY & SUNDAY, JULY 1 – 3 & 5, 2020 (continuing through AUGUST 9)
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM & 1:00, 1:30 & 2:00 PM WEDNESDAY
1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM THURSDAY
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM & 7:00, 7:30, 8:00 & 8:30 PM FRIDAY
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM & 1:00, 1:30, 2:00 & 2:30 PM SUNDAY
On-Site Opera
Via Telephone
$40
https://osopera.org/productions/distantlove/
I didn't List this initially, because Beethoven isn't just mainstream, but the definition of mainstream: the progenitor of the Masterpiece Complex that has stultified classical music since the dark days of the early-mid 19th Century. To be sure, he's also unbelievably great — and this piece is, for what it's worth, the first song cycle in the Western classical tradition. But really this event gets listed for its innovative form: a singer — you get to chose between soprano and baritone — will phone you (that's right: you have to remember how to answer a telephone call) and sing the cycle to you over the phone (after having sent you longing emails in the week before the performance). Now some of us view that kind of one-on-one interaction with performers with horror (especially when, as is the case with the splendid soprano Jennifer Zetlan, her husband will be sitting in the room with her accompanying her love songs to you on the piano!). Some of us also wonder whether it's really worth paying $40 to listen to music over the phone — perhaps the worst vehicle for sound transmission in current mass use — when we can listen to, say, Christian Gerhaher brilliantly reproduced on our stereos (yeah yeah, I know: having a stereo is even more paleolithic than answering a phone call). But On Site Opera has to get points for coming up with a really clever response to the obstacles facing live music-making under The Quarantine. And the basic thesis of this List is of course that live performance is an unmatchable experience. So it's your call. IF you can get a ticket, that is: they're scarce (I mean, every performance has an audience of one). There are still a few available for the end of the run.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Absinthe Drip: pour 5 oz. of water into an Absinthe Fountain. Pour 1 oz. Absinthe into an Absinthe Glass. Place an Absinthe Spoon holding a sugar cube across the top of the Absinthe Glass under a spigot of the Absinthe Fountain. Drip water from the Absinthe Fountain through the Absinthe Spoon into the Absinthe Glass. The sugar cube should dissolve and the Absinthe take on a louche (i.e., turn milky). Stir briefly before drinking (happily, you don't need a special Absinthe Stirrer). (PS: you can get perfectly acceptable results by simply pouring ice water slowly into any old glass holding Absinthe with a sugar cube you've muddled at the bottom.)
