-
Tuesday, August 31, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Third Rail Projects: Return the Moon
THEATER
TUESDAY & FRIDAY, AUGUST 31 & SEPTEMBER 3, 2021 (continuing through SEPTEMBER 30)
8:00 PM
Zoom
$15-$67
https://thirdrailprojects.com/return-the-moon#returnthemoon
Third Rail Projects, specialists in immersive theater presentations, goes Zoom. This piece recounts the old legend of how the Moon was lost and found (you've seen theatrical treatments before).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Moon Dance: pour 2 oz. Corn Whisky, 1/2 oz. each of Cocchi Americano and dry Vermouth, and 1/4 oz. each of Green Chartreuse and Maraschino liqueur, with 1 dash of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
-
Tuesday, August 31, 2021, 5:30 PM – 11:00 PM
Liminality
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2021
5:30, 7:00 & 10:00 PM
Museum of Future Experiences
148 Grand Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$75
https://mofe.co/products/liminality
An evening of immersive, sometimes VR, Future Theater. The visual VR effects are stunning. Too bad the content is lame New Age twaddle. Lap See Lam and Laurie Anderson/Hsin Chien-Huang (among others) are less clichéd thinkers who have done this kind of thing better.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to the new French/Italian brasserietoria Francie. Be sure to have an order of duck mortadella with your cocktail. After that, it's every diner for him or herself.
-
Tue, Aug 31, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Sep 5, 2021, 4:30 PM
-
Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sat, Sep 4, 2021, 9:00 PM
MUTEK Festival
MUSIC
MONDAY – SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 – SEPTEMBER 4, 2021
8:00 PM
Live Stream
Free
https://montreal.mutek.org/en/schedule/festival-en-ligne?date=24.08&offset=0
The great Montreal festival of pop-leaning electronic music and associated arts maintains its online component.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Montreal: pour 3/4 oz. each of Rye (Canadian if you have any), Gin, Aperol, and Suze into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Nick and Nora glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
-
Monday, August 30, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Bushwick Improvised Music Series
MUSIC
MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2021 (weekly)
7:00 PM
Bushwick Public House
1288 Myrtle Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$15
https://gaucimusic.com/bushwick-series
Every Monday night, a galaxy of different agglomerations of improvising (mostly jazz-based) musicians assemble for a series of sets at the Bushwick Public House, and the unexpected occurs.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You'll obviously be drinking at the Bushwick Public House (if you have any sense of citizenship AT ALL). Before the show, grab some delicious if somewhat improbable Colombian-Italian fusion at the entirely delightful Maite (even if this is yet another place whose menu got simplified during Lockdown).
-
Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 6:00 PM – Thu, Sep 2, 2021, 7:00 PM
On Site Opera: What Lies Beneath
OPERA
MONDAY – THURSDAY, AUGUST 30 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2021
6:00 PM
Tall Ship Wavertree
Pier 16, South Street Seaport, Manhattan
$40 suggested donation
https://osopera.org/productions/what-lies-beneath/
A pastiche featuring new stuff, arias from Anthony Davis's Amistad and Britten's Billy Budd and other nautically themed things. But the big deal is that it's staged in various different areas on this tall ship!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: There's every reason to expect Jean-Georges Vongerichten's seafood-house-with-a-view The Fulton to suck. It doesn't. No one knows why.
-
Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 10:00 AM – Tue, Aug 31, 2021, 11:00 PM
International Puppet Fringe Festival
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY & TUESDAY, AUGUST 30 & 31, 2021
Various Times
Stream
Facebook
Free
http://puppetfringenyc.com/
Puppets!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Here's a cocktail developed by a master bartender who also makes puppets, Don Lee. The Sawyer: pour 2 oz. Gin and 1/2 oz. each of lime juice and Simple Syrup, with 14 dashes of Angostura bitters and 7 dashes each of Peychaud's and orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
-
Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 7:00 AM – Sun, Sep 5, 2021, 7:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 – SEPTEMBER 5, 2021 (ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
One of the first shows you could 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 (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White. The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
-
Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Sep 5, 2021, 1:00 AM
Ellen Reid: SOUNDWALK
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 – SEPTEMBER 5, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park
59th Street – 110th Street/Central Park West – 5th Avenue, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://www.ellenreidsoundwalk.com/new-york-philharmonic
The New York Phil hops aboard the walk-around-the-landscaped-space-with-soundtrack train (see below). The highly allusive soundtrack was put together by Ellen Reid, who is one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
-
Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Sep 5, 2021, 10:00 PM
Stephanie Fleischmann, Christina Campanella & Mallory Catlett: The Visitation
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 – SEPTEMBER 5, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 10:00 PM
HERE Arts Center Presentation
Jackie Robinson Park
Between Edgecombe & Bradhurst Aves. & 145 – 155 Sts., Sugar Hill, Manhattan
Pay what you wish
https://here.org/shows/the-visitation/
Another sound walk (I LOVE these!), this one set to avant-pop you access through Soundcloud.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good beer, epic burgers at Harlem Public.
-
Sunday, August 29, 2021, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
-
Sunday, August 29, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
ETHEL
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 29, 2021
8:00 PM
Lot of Strings Music Festival
Morris Museum
6 Normandy Heights Road, Morris, New Jersey
$50 for up to 2 people
https://morrismuseum.org/events/ethel/
Now it's the populist New Music quartet ETHEL's turn to commandeer the Morris Museum's outdoor stage, in what I think may be their first in-person concert since The Quarantine.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: South and Pine has the kind of boring, played-out New American menu we're all sick of. But you've gotta love their attitude (which is not unlike ETHEL's, actually).
-
Sunday, August 29, 2021, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
-
Sunday, August 29, 2021, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
-
Saturday, August 28, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Saturday, August 28, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Saturday, August 28, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Sat, Aug 28, 2021, 7:00 PM – Sun, Aug 29, 2021, 8:00 PM
-
Sat, Aug 28, 2021, 3:00 PM – Sun, Aug 29, 2021, 4:00 PM
Outline: Summer
MUSIC
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, AUGUST 28 & 29, 2021
3:00 PM
Knockdown Center
52-19 Flushing Avenue, Maspeth, Queens
$30 per day advance; $35 per day door; $50 both days advance
https://knockdown.center/event/outline-summer/
Bronx postfunk legends ESG and Canadian neo-disco/dance (lately going more pop) star Jessy Lanza each heads a great bill of electronic and dance-oriented artists in this two-day festival.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before the show, have beer and sausages and such at Gottscheer Hall. Afterwards, The Windjammer is, let's say, plausible.
-
Saturday, August 28, 2021, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
-
Friday, August 27, 2021, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
-
Friday, August 27, 2021, 9:15 PM – 10:15 PM
-
Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sun, Aug 29, 2021, 9:00 PM
Ende Tymes 11v2
MUSIC
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 27 – 29, 2021
8:00 PM
H0L0
1090 Wyckoff Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
$20 per night; $50 festival pass
https://halfnormal.com/endetymes/
Three nights of noise in various forms.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Wood-fired American Rolo's is worth the slight trek for food before the show. And you can return for a drink afterwards!
-
Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sat, Aug 28, 2021, 9:00 PM
Third Rail Projects: Return the Moon
THEATER
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, AUGUST 27 & 28, 2021 (continuing through SEPTEMBER 30)
8:00 PM
Zoom
$15-$67
https://thirdrailprojects.com/return-the-moon#returnthemoon
Third Rail Projects, specialists in immersive theater presentations, goes Zoom. This piece recounts the old legend of how the Moon was lost and found (you've seen theatrical treatments before).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Moon Dance: pour 2 oz. Corn Whisky, 1/2 oz. each of Cocchi Americano and dry Vermouth, and 1/4 oz. each of Green Chartreuse and Maraschino liqueur, with 1 dash of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
-
Friday, August 27, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Friday, August 27, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Friday, August 27, 2021, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2021 (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: Amber Negroni: pour 1/2 oz. each of Gin and Braulio Amaro, and 1 oz. each of Lillet Blanc (with the usual preferred substitutions, especially Tempus Fugit Kino l'Áero d'Or) and lemon juice, with 3 dashes of Bitterman's Burlesque Bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a rosemary sprig.
-
Thursday, August 26, 2021, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
-
Thursday, August 26, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
SaaWee / J. Hoard
MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 2021
7:00 PM
Get Back! The Dock Street Concerts
Brooklyn Bridge Park at Dock Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn
Free
https://stannswarehouse.org/show/get-back-concerts/
SaaWee does ritualistic ritualistic Korean shaman music mixed with mod influences. J. Hoard is one of the best of the many really good Brooklyn Nu R&B performers around right now. Nice show.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Really, people are just loving Em Vietnamese Bistro.
-
Thursday, August 26, 2021, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
-
Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 1:00 PM – Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 2:00 PM
-
Wednesday, August 25, 2021, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
-
Wednesday, August 25, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Wednesday, August 25, 2021, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
-
Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sun, Aug 29, 2021, 9:00 PM
MUTEK Festival
MUSIC
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 24 – 29, 2021
8:00 PM
Live Stream
Free
https://montreal.mutek.org/en/schedule/festival-en-ligne?date=24.08&offset=0
The great Montreal festival of pop-leaning electronic music and associated arts maintains its online component.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Montreal: pour 3/4 oz. each of Rye (Canadian if you have any), Gin, Aperol, and Suze into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Nick and Nora glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
-
Tuesday, August 24, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 6:00 PM – Sat, Aug 28, 2021, 9:00 PM
Edward Einhorn: Alma Baya
THEATER
TUESDAY – SATURDAY, AUGUST 24 – 28, 2021
7:30 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
6:00 & 9:00 PM SATURDAY
Untitled Theater Company #61
Jeffrey & Paula Gural Theater, A.R.T./New York
502 West 53rd Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$25-$30
http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/alma-baya.html
The invaluable Edward Einhorn comes up with an absurdist (but presumably pointed) sci-fi piece. If Einhorn writes and directs it, it's worth going to see.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Israeli out of the big (and if you can stand the thought) hot oven at Taboon.
-
Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 5:30 PM – Sun, Aug 29, 2021, 9:30 PM
Liminality
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 24 – 29, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 31)
5:30, 7:00 & 10:00 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
5:00, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 PM FRIDAY
1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 PM SATURDAY
12:00, 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 8:00 & 9:30 PM SUNDAY
Museum of Future Experiences
148 Grand Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$75
https://mofe.co/products/liminality
An evening of immersive, sometimes VR, Future Theater. The visual VR effects are stunning. Too bad the content is lame New Age twaddle. Lap See Lam and Laurie Anderson/Hsin Chien-Huang (among others) are less clichéd thinkers who have done this kind of thing better.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to the new French/Italian brasserietoria Francie. Be sure to have an order of duck mortadella with your cocktail. After that, it's every diner for him or herself.
-
Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 29, 2021, 4:30 PM
-
Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 7:30 PM – Sun, Aug 29, 2021, 8:29 PM
Time:Spans Festival
MUSIC
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 – 29, 2021
7:30 PM
Mary Flagler Cary Hall, DiMenna Center for Classical Music
450 West 37th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$20; $10 students/seniors; $70 festival pass
https://timespans.org/
A really fabulous week of shows in this New Music festival, culminating with Alarm Will Sound playing a new Tyshawn Sorey piece called For George Lewis that at least notionally unites Sorey's Feldmanesque side with his avant-jazz side (although dedicatee George Lewis's music is truly beyond category).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's really got to be the cheerful hearty Central Asian at Farida, right?
-
Monday, August 23, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Bushwick Improvised Music Series
MUSIC
MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 2021 (weekly)
7:00 PM
Bushwick Public House
1288 Myrtle Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$15
https://gaucimusic.com/bushwick-series
Every Monday night, a galaxy of different agglomerations of improvising (mostly jazz-based) musicians assemble for a series of sets at the Bushwick Public House, and the unexpected occurs.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You'll obviously be drinking at the Bushwick Public House (if you have any sense of citizenship AT ALL). Before the show, grab some delicious if somewhat improbable Colombian-Italian fusion at the entirely delightful Maite (even if this is yet another place whose menu got simplified during Lockdown).
-
Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 29, 2021, 11:00 PM
International Puppet Fringe Festival
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 – 29, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 31)
Various Times
In Person & Stream
IN PERSON: The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center
107 Suffolk Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
STREAM: Facebook
Free
http://puppetfringenyc.com/
Puppets!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: For the in-person shows, sensational Indian at Dhamaka. Streaming at home, here's a cocktail developed by a master bartender who also makes puppets, Don Lee. The Sawyer: pour 2 oz. Gin and 1/2 oz. each of lime juice and Simple Syrup, with 14 dashes of Angostura bitters and 7 dashes each of Peychaud's and orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
-
Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 29, 2021, 10:59 PM
Charlie Parker Jazz Festival
MUSIC
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 – 29, 2021
Various Times
In Person & Live Stream
Marcus Garvey Park & various locations
18 Mount Morris Park West, Harlem, Manhattan
Free
https://cityparksfoundation.org/calendar/category/charlie-parker-jazz-festival/
This festival has become a little retro for this List. But how could we refrain from honoring this supreme American musician? The big deal is probably the Bird at 100 concert Thursday night, featuring among many other splendid players three of Charlie Parker's best current followers on the alto sax: Gary Bartz, Bobby Watson, and my former neighbor Vincent Herring.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: For Marcus Garvey Park concerts, best-in-City tacos al pastor at the OG East Harlem Taco Mix. For live streams at home, Kansas City Ice Tea: pour 3/4 oz. each of Gin and Vodka, 1/2 oz. dry Vermouth, and 1/4 oz. Fino Sherry into a Collins glass over ice. Squeeze in the juices from a lemon wedge and a lime wedge, and discard the rinds. Top with 1-1/2 oz. each of tonic and club soda. Garnish with a lemon wheel and a lime wheel or two.
-
Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 7:00 AM – Sun, Aug 29, 2021, 7:00 AM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 – 29, 2021 (ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
One of the first shows you could 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 (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White. The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
-
Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Aug 29, 2021, 10:00 PM
Stephanie Fleischmann, Christina Campanella & Mallory Catlett: The Visitation
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 – 29, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 10:00 PM
HERE Arts Center Presentation
Jackie Robinson Park
Between Edgecombe & Bradhurst Aves. & 145 – 155 Sts., Sugar Hill, Manhattan
Pay what you wish
https://here.org/shows/the-visitation/
Another sound walk (I LOVE these!), this one set to avant-pop you access through Soundcloud.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good beer, epic burgers at Harlem Public.
-
Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Aug 29, 2021, 1:00 AM
Ellen Reid: SOUNDWALK
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 – 29, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park
59th Street – 110th Street/Central Park West – 5th Avenue, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://www.ellenreidsoundwalk.com/new-york-philharmonic
The New York Phil hops aboard the walk-around-the-landscaped-space-with-soundtrack train (see below). The highly allusive soundtrack was put together by Ellen Reid, who is one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
-
Sunday, August 22, 2021, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
-
Sunday, August 22, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Sunday, August 22, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Sunday, August 22, 2021, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
-
Sunday, August 22, 2021, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
-
Saturday, August 21, 2021, 9:15 PM – 10:15 PM
-
Saturday, August 21, 2021, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
-
Saturday, August 21, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Majel Connery / Molly Joyce / Erosika
MUSIC
SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2021
7:00 PM
Oceanus Studios
125 Beach 91st Street, Rockaway Beach, Queens
Donation required
https://www.majelconnery.com/
Electronic music nestled between pop and classical by three List faves. I've heard a rumor that Connery's new band, Sky Creatures, will also be doing a set.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Casual but elegant Margie's has to be the Rockaway Beach restaurant of the summer.
-
Saturday, August 21, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Saturday, August 21, 2021, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
-
Saturday, August 21, 2021, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Warm Up 2021
MUSIC
SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2021
2:00 PM
MoMA PS1
20-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens
$20
https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/7184
Warm Up returns with its great long afternoons of dance music from here and elsewhere.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Speaking of great, gorge yourself on Quebecois at M Wells.
-
Saturday, August 21, 2021, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
-
Friday, August 20, 2021, 9:15 PM – 10:15 PM
-
Friday, August 20, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
PinWheel PinWheel, God Complex, Menthol Menthol & Esther: Unforgivable Emotional Carnivore
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2021
8:00 PM
the cell
338 West 23rd Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$15
https://www.thecelltheatre.org/box-office
At last someone has had the guts to create a drag show protesting pediatric orthodontistry.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Drown your rage with Bathtub Gin.
-
Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sat, Aug 21, 2021, 4:00 PM
Anne Carson: Antigonick
THEATER
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, AUGUST 20 & 21, 2021
8:00 PM FRIDAY
3:00 PM SATURDAY
Torn Out Theater
The Center at West Park
165 West 86th Street, Upper West Side, Manhatten
Free
https://www.tornouttheater.org/antigonick
I Brooklyn ISN'T The Cultural Center Of The Universe.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Moving this from a fairly interesting neighborhood to a terminally boring one hurts the pre- and post-show options. Friday, you'll have to eat before the show: nothing around there will be open after. The best you can do nearby is Tri Dim West, where pretty good Shanghainse dishes are (in typical neighborhood Chinese fashion) interspersed among pretty good SIchuan and Cantonese ones (and they have COCKTAILS!!!!!). After the show, you'll have to go to another neighborhood. Saturday, why not grab a sandwich at the new West Side Pastrami Queen and then walk it off to the theater?
-
Friday, August 20, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Friday, August 20, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Conrad Tao & Charmaine Lee
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2021
7:00 PM
The Amph, Little Island
Pier 55, Meatpacking District, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://littleisland.org/events/nyc-free:-conrad-tao-and-charmaine-lee/25002AGBGSTPRNSKSSPTMCNKSLHPJPMRR
The extraordinary New Music pianist/electronic musician Conrad Tao performs a long-form duet with the even more extraordinary experimental vocalist/electronic musician Charmaine Lee. This would be a solid recommendation if Little Island (and particularly its ticketed performance venue) weren't like Annabel's: it's theoretically there, but don't expect to get in.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's no use resisting the Georgian Wave: Chama Mama.
-
Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 6:30 PM – Sat, Aug 21, 2021, 7:30 PM
-
Friday, August 20, 2021, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2021 (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: Amber Negroni: pour 1/2 oz. each of Gin and Braulio Amaro, and 1 oz. each of Lillet Blanc (with the usual preferred substitutions, especially Tempus Fugit Kino l'Áero d'Or) and lemon juice, with 3 dashes of Bitterman's Burlesque Bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a rosemary sprig.
-
Friday, August 20, 2021, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
-
Thursday, August 19, 2021, 7:00 PM – 9:15 PM
-
Thursday, August 19, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Thu, Aug 19, 2021, 6:00 PM – Sun, Aug 22, 2021, 4:00 PM
Anne Carson: Antigonick
THEATER
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 19 – 22, 2021
6:00 PM THURSDAY & FRIDAY
3:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Torn Out Theater
Music Pagoda, Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Free
https://www.tornouttheater.org/antigonick
Anne Carson's cutting take on Sophocles's Antigone. Whenever I see the uncompromising genderbending theatrics of Torn Out Theater plopped in the middle of Prospect Park for all to see, I think Brooklyn really is The Cultural Center Of The Universe.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Snacky Guatemalen fusion at Ix.
-
Thursday, August 19, 2021, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
-
Wednesday, August 18, 2021, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Harlem String Quartet
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2021
5:00 PM
Carnegie Hall Citywide
Times Square
Between Broadway & 7th Avenue and 42rd & 44th Streets, Midtown, Manhattan
Free
https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2021/08/18/carnegie-hall-citywide-harlem-quartet-0500pm
Jessie Montgomery's bracing Strum is what mainly concerns us here. Also, some William Bolcom rags, Mozart, and jazz transcriptions (a terrible idea, if you ask me).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Maybe not the absolute best Sichuan, but certainly very excellent Sichuan, at Best Sichuan.
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Wednesday, August 18, 2021, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
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Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 7:30 PM – Sun, Aug 22, 2021, 3:00 PM
Edward Einhorn: Alma Baya
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 17 – 22, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 28)
7:30 PM TUESDAY — THURSDAY
6:00 & 9:00 PM SATURDAY
2:00 PM SUNDAY
Untitled Theater Company #61
Jeffrey & Paula Gural Theater, A.R.T./New York
502 West 53rd Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$25-$30
http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/alma-baya.html
The invaluable Edward Einhorn comes up with an absurdist (but presumably pointed) sci-fi piece. If Einhorn writes and directs it, it's worth going to see.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Israeli out of the big (and if you can stand the thought) hot oven at Taboon.
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Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 5:30 PM – Sun, Aug 22, 2021, 10:30 PM
Liminality
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 17 – 22, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 31)
5:30, 7:00 & 10:00 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
5:00, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 PM FRIDAY
1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 PM SATURDAY
12:00, 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 8:00 & 9:30 PM SUNDAY
Museum of Future Experiences
148 Grand Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$75
https://mofe.co/products/liminality
An evening of immersive, sometimes VR, Future Theater. The visual VR effects are stunning. Too bad the content is lame New Age twaddle. Lap See Lam and Laurie Anderson/Hsin Chien-Huang (among others) are less clichéd thinkers who have done this kind of thing better.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to the new French/Italian brasserietoria Francie. Be sure to have an order of duck mortadella with your cocktail. After that, it's every diner for him or herself.
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Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 22, 2021, 4:30 PM
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Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 7:00 PM – Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 7:59 PM
Battery Dance Festival
DANCE
MONDAY – FRIDAY, AUGUST 16 – 20, 2021
7:00 PM
In Person & Live Stream
Robert F. Wagner Park
20 Battery Place, Battery Park City, Manhattan
Free
https://batterydance.org/battery-dance-festival/
Assembling dance companies from around the world, the Battery Dance Festival has, over its 40 years of existence, maintained an astonishingly high level of quality (there's a lot of great dance out there in the world!).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: If you go (and I mean come on: this is dance), one of the great anomalies of New York dining is that the Southern Italian restaurant at Wagner Park is actually good: Gigino. (You'll have to go before the show, though.) If you insist on the greatly inferior experience (almost to the point of wasting your time) of watching at home, ameliorate things with a few Royal Bermuda Yacht Clubs: pour 2 oz. Rum, 1/4 oz. Cointreau, 1/2 oz. Velvet Falernum, and 3/4 oz. lime juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Monday, August 16, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Bushwick Improvised Music Series
MUSIC
MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 2021 (weekly)
7:00 PM
Bushwick Public House
1288 Myrtle Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$15
https://gaucimusic.com/bushwick-series
Every Monday night, a galaxy of different agglomerations of improvising (mostly jazz-based) musicians assemble for a series of sets at the Bushwick Public House, and the unexpected occurs.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You'll obviously be drinking at the Bushwick Public House (if you have any sense of citizenship AT ALL). Before the show, grab some delicious if somewhat improbable Colombian-Italian fusion at the entirely delightful Maite (even if this is yet another place whose menu got simplified during Lockdown).
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Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:00 AM – Sat, Aug 21, 2021, 8:00 PM
Time:Spans Festival
MUSIC
MONDAY – SATURDAY, AUGUST 16 – 21, 2021
11:00 AM & 2:30, 5:30 & 7:30 PM MONDAY
7:30 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
Mary Flagler Cary Hall, DiMenna Center for Classical Music
450 West 37th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$20 for "Wave Field Synthesis" on Monday; $10 all other shows; $70 festival pass
https://timespans.org/
Monday reprises the showcase for the Rensselaer mighty Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center's High-Resolution Modular Loudpeaker Array for Wave Field Synthesis, a rather remarkable technical achievement that is still, in the end, a bank of speakers — albeit playing excellent music. The rest of the week returns to live performance (remember that?) by the likes of the JACK Quartet and the Wet Ink Ensemble, playing a constellation of excellent contemporary composers.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's really got to be the cheerful hearty Central Asian at Farida, right?
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Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 22, 2021, 10:00 PM
International Puppet Fringe Festival
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 16 – 22, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 31)
Various Times
Stream
Facebook
Free
http://puppetfringenyc.com/
Puppets!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Here's a cocktail developed by someone who also makes puppets, Don Lee. The Sawyer: pour 2 oz. Gin and 1/2 oz. each of lime juice and Simple Syrup, with 14 dashes of Angostura bitters and 7 dashes each of Peychaud's and orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 7:00 AM – Sun, Aug 22, 2021, 7:59 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 16 – 22, 2021 (ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
One of the first shows you could 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 (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White. The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
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Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Aug 22, 2021, 11:00 PM
Stephanie Fleischmann, Christina Campanella & Mallory Catlett: The Visitation
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 16 – 22, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 10:00 PM
HERE Arts Center Presentation
Jackie Robinson Park
Between Edgecombe & Bradhurst Aves. & 145 – 155 Sts., Sugar Hill, Manhattan
Pay what you wish
https://here.org/shows/the-visitation/
Another sound walk (I LOVE these!), this one set to avant-pop you access through Soundcloud.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good beer, epic burgers at Harlem Public.
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Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Aug 22, 2021, 1:00 AM
Ellen Reid: SOUNDWALK
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 16 – 22, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park
59th Street – 110th Street/Central Park West – 5th Avenue, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://www.ellenreidsoundwalk.com/new-york-philharmonic
The New York Phil hops aboard the walk-around-the-landscaped-space-with-soundtrack train (see below). The highly allusive soundtrack was put together by Ellen Reid, who is one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
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Sunday, August 15, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Tesla Quartet
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2021
8:00 PM
Lot of Strings Music Festival
Morris Museum
6 Normandy Heights Road, Morris, New Jersey
$50 for up to 2 people
https://morrismuseum.org/events/publiquartet/
The Tesla plays Caroline Shaw, who I was thinking is part of something we hadn't had for a while: a bunch of contemporary American composers writing first-rate, wholly idiomatic string quartets because they like to, not because they get commissioned or think they ought to (the others I'm thinking of are Jessie Montgomery, Gabriella Smith, and Paul Wiancko). While Schubert's last quartet isn't the kind of thing we usually recommend around here, Your Compiler must admit he loves Schubert immoderately and that quartet is fucking great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: South and Pine has the kind of boring, played-out New American menu we're all sick of. But you've gotta love their attitude.
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Sunday, August 15, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
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Sunday, August 15, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Battery Dance Festival In Person & Live Stream
DANCE
SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 20)
7:00 PM
Robert F. Wagner Park
20 Battery Place, Battery Park City, Manhattan
Free
https://batterydance.org/battery-dance-festival/aug-15-2021/
Assembling dance companies from around the world, the Battery Dance Festival has, over its 40 years of existence, maintained an astonishingly high level of quality (there's a lot of great dance out there in the world!). Tonight's program, in celebration of India's Independence Day, features four companies from India. It will, I can promise, be stunning.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: If you go (and I mean come on: this is dance), one of the great anomalies of New York dining is that the Southern Italian restaurant at Wagner Park is actually good: Gigino. (You'll have to go before the show, though.) If you insist on the greatly inferior experience (almost to the point of wasting your time) of watching at home, ameliorate things with a few Masala Martinis: pour 2 oz. Gin and 1/2 oz. each of lime juice and Simple Syrup, with 1/8 teaspoon each of ground Cumin and salt, in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon slice.
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Sunday, August 15, 2021, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Armand Hammer & The Alchemist
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2021
6:00 PM
SummerStage
Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, Manhattan
Free
https://cityparksfoundation.org/events/armand-hammer/
If you missed Moor Mother in Brooklyn last night, you have another chance, this time to see her collaborating with NYC rap duo Armand Hammer and beatmaster The Alchemist.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm not sure there's anything open after the show up there (and it starts early enough you wouldn't want to eat beforehand). Go somewhere else.
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Sunday, August 15, 2021, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
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Sunday, August 15, 2021, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Midsummer Music: Music for a While
OPERA
SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2021
12:00 PM
Resonance Opera / Bare Opera Stream
Free (registration required) (donation requested)
https://resonanceworks.ticketspice.com/resworks-bare-midsummer-music-2021
Midsummer is long past, unfortunately. In any event, Indie Opera companies from Pittsburgh and here present mixed program of New and Old Opera extracts.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Wild Heart: pour 1-1/4 oz. each of Aperol and Vermouth Blanc, 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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Saturday, August 14, 2021, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Aurora Hala / Ron Like Hell
MUSIC
SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 2021
10:00 PM
Nowadays
56-06 Cooper Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
$20
https://ra.co/events/1453415
Psychedelic electronic music whiz Aurora Halal returns to Nowadays after a long hiatus (you know).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The venue itself has food and drink by The Izakaya.
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Saturday, August 14, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Lea Bertucci / Charmaine Lee
MUSIC
SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 2021
8:00 PM
DUMBO Archway
Water Street & Adams Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn
$10
https://ci.ovationtix.com/35022/production/1070887
Two list perennials in a double bill in the Archway! Lea Bertucci uses voice, reeds, and electronics to take you to other planets. Charmaine Lee can make her voice (with electronics) do anything she can think of — and she can think of things you never could have imagined (I took a non-New Music-oriented friend to see Lee one night, and she asked, "Is she doing that on purpose?????").
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before the show, catch the Vietnamese wave at Em Vietnamese Bistro. Afterwards, drink with the douches (and a view!) at Cecconi's.
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Saturday, August 14, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Vijay Iyer / Joel Ross / Melanie Charles / Mohagany L. Browne
MUSIC
SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 2021
7:00 PM
Celebrate Brooklyn!
Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Free
https://www.bricartsmedia.org/events-performances/bric-celebrate-brooklyn-festival/vijay-iyer-special-guests-moor-mother-arooj
New music commemorating COVID victims by, among others, the great jazz-into-classical pianist/thinker Vijay Iyer, backed by a truly astonishing assemblage of musicians including this List's beloved Afrofuturist-barely-starts-to-describe-her Moor Mother, Sufi-jazz-rock visionary Arooj Aftab, drummer-who-composes-like-Morton-Feldman Tyshawn Sorey, trumpet phenom Ambrose Akinmusire, and bassist Daryl Johns (who isn't Daryl Jones). And then there's vibes king Joel Ross doing his new piece . . . .
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Red Sauce with conviction at Giovanni's Brooklyn Eats.
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Saturday, August 14, 2021, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Warm Up 2021
MUSIC
SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 2021
2:00 PM
MoMA PS1
20-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens
$20
https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/7184
Warm Up returns with its great long afternoons of dance music from here and elsewhere.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Speaking of great, gorge yourself on Quebecois at M Wells.
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Sat, Aug 14, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 3:00 PM
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Friday, August 13, 2021, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Jenny Lin / Adam Tendler: Philip Glass Mixtape
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2021
9:00 PM
The Amph, Little Island
Pier 55, Meatpacking District, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://littleisland.org/events/nyc-free:-philip-glass-mixtape:-jenny-lin-and-adam-tendler/26202ACGMMQQPMLRTMJGDSSHKNCHJVBNT
While the provocative pianist Adam Tendler is on Little Island, he joins up with one of Philip Glass's leading interpreters, Jenny Lin, for a two-piano (or at least pianists) Glass recital. Looks great — but Little Island (and particularly its concert venues) is like Dame: it's theoretically there, but don't expect to get in.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Fresh, light, appealing pan-Chinese at Hao Noodle.
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Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 8:30 PM – Sat, Aug 14, 2021, 9:30 PM
Peter Clough: Odalisque
PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, AUGUST 13 & 14, 2021
8:30 PM
The Invisible Dog
51 Bergen Street, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
Free ($15 suggested donation)
https://www.theinvisibledog.org/all/2021/8/13/odalisque-peter-clough
Reimagining the classical reclining nude as a gender-nonconforming queer bondage submissive.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: American vernacular showcase The HiHi Room might not be the best value in town, and as at so many places its menu might have taken a hit during the Pandemic — but it's still loads of fun.
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Friday, August 13, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Third Rail Projects: Return the Moon
THEATER
WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY, AUGUST 11 & 13, 2021 (continuing through SEPTEMBER 30)
8:00 PM
Zoom
$15-$67
https://thirdrailprojects.com/return-the-moon#returnthemoon
Third Rail Projects, specialists in immersive theater presentations, goes Zoom. This piece recounts the old legend of how the Moon was lost and found (you've seen theatrical treatments before).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Moon Dance: pour 2 oz. Corn Whisky, 1/2 oz. each of Cocchi Americano and Dry Vermouth, and 1/4 oz. each of Green Chartreuse and Maraschino liqueur, with 1 dash 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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Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 7:30 PM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 8:30 PM
Edward Einhorn: Alma Baya
THEATER
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 13 – 15, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 28)
7:30 PM FRIDAY
6:00 & 9:00 PM SATURDAY
2:00 & 7:30 PM SUNDAY
Untitled Theater Company #61 In Person & Live Stream (AUGUST 14 & 15)
Jeffrey & Paula Gural Theater, A.R.T./New York
502 West 53rd Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$25-$30
http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/alma-baya.html
The invaluable Edward Einhorn comes up with an absurdist (but presumably pointed) sci-fi piece. If Einhorn writes and directs it, it's worth going to see.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, Israeli out of the big (and if you can stand the thought) hot oven at Taboon. At home, a Professional: pour 1-1/2 oz. Bourbon, 1/2 overproof Jamaican Rum, and 1 oz. Campari into an Old Fashioned glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Friday, August 13, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
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Friday, August 13, 2021, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
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Friday, August 13, 2021, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2021 (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: Amber Negroni: pour 1/2 oz. each of Gin and Braulio Amaro, and 1 oz. each of Lillet Blanc (with the usual preferred substitutions, especially Tempus Fugit Kino l'Áero d'Or) and lemon juice, with 3 dashes of Bitterman's Burlesque Bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a rosemary sprig.
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Thursday, August 12, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Grace Galu & Baba Israel: Cannabis! A Viper Vaudeville
THEATER / MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021
7:00 PM
The Amph, Little Island
Pier 55, Meatpacking District, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://littleisland.org/events/nyc-free:-cannabis!/23404ADSTVDMRTMLSLBNGNLCJHTBHSQMN
I have no use for cannabis myself – I'm self-conscious on life — but I have great use for Nu R&B (even if Grace Galu and Baba Israel's Soul Inscribed project is a little muso for my taste). Those of you who lack my reservations know what to do. Too bad Little Island (and particularly its performance venues) is like the Boom Boom Room 10 years ago: it's technically there, but you can't expect to get in.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Nice Middle Eastern at Balaboosta.
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Thu, Aug 12, 2021, 1:00 PM – Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 2:00 PM
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Thu, Aug 12, 2021, 11:00 AM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 8:00 PM
Wave Field Synthesis
MUSIC
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 12 – 15, 2021 (continuing on AUGUST 16, 2021)
11:00 AM & 2:30, 5:30 & 7:30 PM
Time:Spans Festival
Mary Flagler Cary Hall, DiMenna Center for Classical Music
450 West 37th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$20
https://timespans.org/concert/wave-field-synthesis/
Rennsalaer's mighty Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center wanted to show off its High-Resolution Modular Loudpeaker Array for Wave Field Synthesis, permitting exact placement of sound elements. So it commissioned no less than Pamela Z, Bora Yoon, Nina C. Young, and Miya Masaoka to write pieces for it. Go to this.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's really got to be the cheerful hearty Central Asian at Farida, right?
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Wednesday, August 11, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Wednesday, August 11, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Third Rail Projects: Return the Moon
THEATER
WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY, AUGUST 11 & 13, 2021 (continuing through SEPTEMBER 30)
8:00 PM
Zoom
$15-$67
https://thirdrailprojects.com/return-the-moon#returnthemoon
Third Rail Projects, specialists in immersive theater presentations, goes Zoom. This piece recounts the old legend of how the Moon was lost and found (you've seen theatrical treatments before).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Moon Dance: pour 2 oz. Corn Whisky, 1/2 oz. each of Cocchi Americano and Dry Vermouth, and 1/4 oz. each of Green Chartreuse and Maraschino liqueur, with 1 dash 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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Wednesday, August 11, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
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Wednesday, August 11, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
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Wednesday, August 11, 2021, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Ensemble Connect
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2021
6:00 PM
Carnegie Hall Citywide
Madison Square Park
Between Broadway & Madison Avenue and 23rd & 26th Streets, Madison Square, Manhattan
Free
https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2021/08/11/carnegie-hall-citywide-ensemble-connect-0600pm
This is a particularly appealing installment of Ensemble Connect's series of chamber recitals amidst Maya Lin's Ghost Forest installation. This week fields a wind ensemble (I am admitted partial to wind ensembles). But it's more what they're playing. A piece by the hypnotic Hans Abrahamsen, whom you should hear whenever he's played. Movements from underplayed wind quintets (in the case of Seeger, WAY underplayed) by Nielsen and Ruth Crawford Seeger. Excerpts from an extended wind piece by the marvelous Hannah Lash (which, as it happens, I was just listening to at home — the universe is pushing this piece on us). Piazzolla, Hindemith in his bad-boy fun period (a lot of people don't know he had one), William Grant Still, and more. This promises to be a piquant delight.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Try to walk into the red-hot new NYC branch of the legendary, centuries-old Tokyo soba restaurant Sarashina Horii; you certainly can't get a reservation. (Walk into Sharashina Horii: ho ho I crack myself up.)
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Wednesday, August 11, 2021, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
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Wednesday, August 11, 2021, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
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Wed, Aug 11, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 11:00 PM
International Puppet Fringe Festival
PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 11 – 15, 2021
Various Times
The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center
107 Suffolk Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Various Prices; $100 Festival Pass
http://puppetfringenyc.com/
Puppets! (You might want to pay especial attention to the Puppet Slam on Friday at 8 PM.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It might seem perverse for a diehard Brooklynite to recommend the Manhattan branch of a Brooklyn standby. But the new LES Peppa's is the only one in the chain to offer jerk pork in addition to jerk chicken!
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Tuesday, August 10, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
The Rhythm Method: Hidden Mothers
MUSIC
TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2021
8:00 PM
Virtual Groupmuse Live Stream
$13 (additional donation requested)
https://www.groupmuse.com/events/11785-the-rhythm-method-hidden-mothers?source=shortlink-generic
The vital and exciting string quartet The Rhythm Method does a program mainly of forgotten female composers — with a ringer by one of their members (all four of them compose), Leah Asher, whose music is just excellent. The deader composers on their roster prove that just because you're ignored and female, it doesn't mean you absolutely need to be heard. Florence Price's lingering-Late-Romantic music was outdated when she composed it — and while it's wildly unfair that similar composers get played and she hasn't until recently, that doesn't mean I personally want to spend time on her stuff. Elizabeth Maconchy, on the other hand, is a lost gem of Early and High Modernism, clearly denied her due place in music history because of her sex. I've never heard anything by the Late Romantic Amanda Röntgen-Maier, but her music can't be more boring than her husband's.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Old Pepper: pour 2-1/4 oz. Bourbon, 3/4 oz. lemon juice, and 1/2 oz. each of Simple Syrup and Cholula Hot Sauce, with 1 dash of Worcestershire Sauce, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tue, Aug 10, 2021, 6:30 PM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 9:00 PM
600 Highwaymen: A Thousand Ways (Part Two)
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 10 – 15, 2021
6:30 & 8:00 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
6:30, 8:00 & 9:30 PM FRIDAY
1:00, 2:30, 6:30, 8:00 & 9:30 PM SATURDAY
1:00, 2:30, 6:30 & 8:00 PM SUNDAY
Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street, NoHo, Manhattan
$35-$70
https://publictheater.org/productions/season/2021/a-thousands-ways2/
600 Highwaymen continue their exploration of connection, begun over the phone during the Quarantine. But this time, things being what they are, it's one-on-one in person. They encourage you to do the telephonic Part One first, if you haven't already.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Now that I've eaten there, I'm more excited than ever about the Shanghainese at CheLi: this is NOT the stuff you've had before.
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Tue, Aug 10, 2021, 5:30 PM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 10:30 PM
Liminality
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 10 – 15, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 31)
5:30, 7:00 & 10:00 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
5:00, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 PM FRIDAY
1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 PM SATURDAY
12:00, 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 8:00 & 9:30 PM SUNDAY
Museum of Future Experiences
148 Grand Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$75
https://mofe.co/products/liminality
An evening of immersive, sometimes VR, Future Theater. The visual VR effects are stunning. Too bad the content is lame New Age twaddle. Lap See Lam and Laurie Anderson/Hsin Chien-Huang (among others) are less clichéd thinkers who have done this kind of thing better.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to the new French/Italian brasserietoria Francie. Be sure to have an order of duck mortadella with your cocktail. After that, it's every diner for him or herself.
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Tue, Aug 10, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 11:00 PM
Drive East 2021
DANCE / MUSIC
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 10 – 15, 2021
Various
In Person & Live Streamed
La MaMa
74 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$25-$55 per show
https://www.driveeast.org/concert-schedule-2021.html
A cornucopia of Indian dance and music.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You don't see Malaysian food everyday in Manhattan — but you do at Medan Pasar.
-
Tue, Aug 10, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 4:30 PM
-
Monday, August 9, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Jenn Grossman / Gryphon Rue
MUSIC
MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2021
7:30 PM
Microscope Gallery In Person & Live Stream
525 West 29th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$12
https://microscopegallery.com/jenn-grossman-gryphon-rue/
Jenn Grossman does electro-acoustic. Gryphon Rue does multimedia (tonight we'll have sound accompanied by video). Well worth your time.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, it's hard to avoid Spanish Diner. At home, have a Captain's Blood: pour 2 oz. Jamaican Rum, 1 oz. lime juice, and 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup, with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lime slice.
-
Monday, August 9, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
John Jesurun: Chang in a Void Moon
THEATER
MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2021
7:00 PM
La MaMa Stream
$5-$25
https://www.lamama.org/shows/chang2021
John Jesurun began this serialized theater piece about um international financial fraud — but really, just forget it — at the Pyramid Club in 1985, and he's still at it. Wild, allusive, FUN as all get-out.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Back to the '80s (I could swear I drank them in the '70s) (AND NOT SINCE) with a Long Island Iced Tea: pour 1/2 oz. each of Gin, light Rum, Vodka, Blanco Tequila, Triple Sec, and Simple Syrup, and 1/4 oz. each of lemon juice and lime juice, into an ice-filled Collins glass. Stir. Top with Coke. Garnish with a lemon wedge. (This isn't a case of Don't Try This At Home — this is a case of Only Try This At Home.)
-
Monday, August 9, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Bushwick Improvised Music Series
MUSIC
MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2021 (weekly)
7:00 PM
Bushwick Public House
1288 Myrtle Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$15
https://gaucimusic.com/bushwick-series
Every Monday night, a galaxy of different agglomerations of improvising (mostly jazz-based) musicians assemble for a series of sets at the Bushwick Public House, and the unexpected occurs.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You'll obviously be drinking at the Bushwick Public House (if you have any sense of citizenship AT ALL). Before the show, grab some delicious if somewhat improbable Colombian-Italian fusion at the entirely delightful Maite (even if this is yet another place whose menu got simplified during Lockdown).
-
Mon, Aug 9, 2021, 7:00 AM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 7:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 – 15, 2021 (ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
One of the first shows you could 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 (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White. The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
-
Mon, Aug 9, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 1:00 AM
Ellen Reid: SOUNDWALK
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 – 15, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park
59th Street – 110th Street/Central Park West – 5th Avenue, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://www.ellenreidsoundwalk.com/new-york-philharmonic
The New York Phil hops aboard the walk-around-the-landscaped-space-with-soundtrack train (see below). The highly allusive soundtrack was put together by Ellen Reid, who is one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
-
Mon, Aug 9, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 10:00 PM
Stephanie Fleischmann, Christina Campanella & Mallory Catlett: The Visitation
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 – 15, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 10:00 PM
HERE Arts Center Presentation
Jackie Robinson Park
Between Edgecombe & Bradhurst Aves. & 145 – 155 Sts., Sugar Hill, Manhattan
Pay what you wish
https://here.org/shows/the-visitation/
Another sound walk (I LOVE these!), this one set to avant-pop you access through Soundcloud.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good beer, epic burgers at Harlem Public.
-
Sunday, August 8, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
PUBLIQuartet
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 2021
8:00 PM
Lot of Strings Music Festival
Morris Museum
6 Normandy Heights Road, Morris, New Jersey
$50 for up to 2 people
https://morrismuseum.org/events/publiquartet/
Further furthering their combination of classical and vernacular (with group improvisation), the PUBLIQuartet closes out the week if you haven't seen them already in one of their multitude of local shows.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen is the place in Morristown that people outside Morristown have heard of.
-
Sunday, August 8, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Pickup Chamber Music
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 2021
7:00 PM
the cell
338 West 23rd Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
Free ($25 suggested donation)
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thecelltheatre/493229
Violinist Janey Choi and whomever she can get to show up sight-read some chamber music.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Try the pan-Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food at Shukette and contemplate why the the Palestinian at Qanoon is so much more satisfying
-
Sunday, August 8, 2021, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Juan Atkins
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 2021
5:00 PM
Backyard, H0l0
1090 Wyckoff Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens
$23.10 presale
$28.75 day of show
https://dice.fm/partner/meanred-productions/event/xbobl-juan-atkins-8th-aug-h0l0-new-york-tickets
A certain rearguard faction in Jazz likes to call that form "America's Classical Music" — as if being the greatest musical effloresence in the 20th Century (a period with A LOT of great music) weren't enough without invoking supposed European prestige. I'd like to put in a good word for Detroit Techno, though: a form that actually sounded like contemporary expressions of classical music — and that has influenced subsequent classical iterations. Juan Atkins was one of the pioneers of Detroit Techno back in the '80s.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Unbelievably good Danish/American beer at Evil Twin Brewing.
-
Sunday, August 8, 2021, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
-
Saturday, August 7, 2021, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
-
Saturday, August 7, 2021, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
-
Saturday, August 7, 2021, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
-
Saturday, August 7, 2021, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
-
Friday, August 6, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Friday, August 6, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Fri, Aug 6, 2021, 7:00 PM – Sun, Aug 8, 2021, 3:00 PM
Carl Hancock Rux: Vs.
THEATER
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 6 – 8, 2021
7:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
2:00 PM SUNDAY
Mabou Mines Live Stream
Zoom
Free (by registration) (suggested $10 donation)
https://www.maboumines.org/production/vs/
From the mind of Carl Hancock Rux (a very good place for things to emanate from), an audience-participation exploration of political philosophy.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I myself am currently quite taken with the Commando: pour 1-1/2 oz. Bourbon, 3/4 oz. each of Cointreau and lime juice, 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup, and 1/8 (or 1/4 if you feel like living dangerously) teaspoon Absinthe into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Fri, Aug 6, 2021, 6:00 PM – Sat, Aug 7, 2021, 8:30 PM
PUBLIQuartet: Freedom and Faith
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 6 & 7, 2021
6:00 & 7:30 PM
Death of Classical
The Catacombs, Green-Wood Cemetery
500 25th Street, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$80
https://www.deathofclassical.com/angelshare/freedom-and-faith
The PUBLIQuartet has been touring in support of its excellent Freedom and Faith album for a while now (with an obvious interruption), and all I can say is that it's a very good album and they're a very good quartet. The album features pieces by female composers or associated with female performers from both the classical (mainly Early Music or contemporary classical) and vernacular traditions, and so does this show (inaugurating PUBLIQuartet Week here on The List) — which promises to be excellent.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Summertime Slovakian at Korzo.
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Friday, August 6, 2021, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 2021 (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: Amber Negroni: pour 1/2 oz. each of Gin and Braulio Amaro, and 1 oz. each of Lillet Blanc (with the usual preferred substitutions, especially Tempus Fugit Kino l'Áero d'Or) and lemon juice, with 3 dashes of Bitterman's Burlesque Bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a rosemary sprig.
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Thu, Aug 5, 2021, 7:00 PM – Fri, Aug 6, 2021, 8:00 PM
-
Thursday, August 5, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
SPOILED
THEATER
THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2021
7:00 PM
La MaMa Live Stream
Free (donation requested)
https://www.lamama.org/shows/spoiled-film-chapter-two
Stories of sexual violence against women viewed from the male perspective — but played by women.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It seems only appropriate to repeat the Suppressor #21: pour 1 oz. each of Cynar, Barolo Cinato, and Amontillado Sherry, with 2 dashes of orange bitters, into a rocks glass over ice. Stir. Express a grapefruit peel into the drink and discard the rind.
-
Thursday, August 5, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Ljova and the Kontraband
MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2021
7:00 PM
Friends Field, Caramoor Center for Music & Arts
149 Girdle Ridge Road, Katonah, Westchester
$55
https://caramoor.org/event/ljova-kontraband-summer-2021/
This List's love for Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin's amalgam of klezmer, classical, Gypsy, tango, whatever is a matter of record. And the Kontraband is the best way to hear it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Forget Katonah. What you should do is take Metro-North (I'm assuming you're going by train like a normal person) to Bronxville and try the new La Casa Bronxville for Mexican from Blue Hill (and in one case Cosme) alums.
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Wednesday, August 4, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Andy Statman Trio
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2021
8:00 PM
Barbès in Person & Live Stream
376 Ninth Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
$20-$50 in person
Free-$10 live stream (registration required)
https://www.viewcy.com/register/6187/2021-07-02
Andy Statman's clarinet fusion of free jazz and klezmer remains miraculous. Too bad about the mandolin folk music.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: If you go, you'll be drinking at the venue, obvs. Soak them up at local favorite Pasta Louise. Livestreaming at home, have a Whiskey Smash: muddle 5-8 mint leaves (should really be spearmint in particular) and 1/4 lemon cut into 3 pieces in the bottom of a cocktail shaker Add 2 oz. Bourbon and 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup. Fill with ice. Shake. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass over ice (crushed ice if you can manage it). Garnish with a mint sprig.
-
Wednesday, August 4, 2021, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
PUBLIQuartet: Freedom and Faith
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 6 & 7, 2021
6:00 & 7:30 PM
Death of Classical
The Catacombs, Green-Wood Cemetery
500 25th Street, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$80
https://www.deathofclassical.com/angelshare/freedom-and-faith
The PUBLIQuartet has been touring in support of its excellent Freedom and Faith album for a while now (with an obvious interruption), and all I can say is that it's a very good album and they're a very good quartet. The album features pieces by female composers or associated with female performers from both the classical (mainly Early Music or contemporary classical) and vernacular traditions, and so does this show (inaugurating PUBLIQuartet Week here on The List) — which promises to be excellent.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Summertime Slovakian at Korzo.
-
Wednesday, August 4, 2021, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
-
Wednesday, August 4, 2021, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
-
Wednesday, August 4, 2021, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Ensemble Pamplemousse: SHADOWS
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2021
4:00 PM
Darmstadt Summer Course Stream
Free
https://internationales-musikinstitut.de/en/ferienkurse/festival/programm/shadows/
The Darmstadt Summer Course commissioned an online concert from New York alt classical anything-can-happen faves Ensemble Pamplemousse — and they brought along another set of New York contemporary classical faves, the TAK Ensemble. Expect the unexpected — or as the Pamplemoussies put it, the absurd dancing with the divine.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bellissimo Aparetivo: pour 1-1/2 oz. Fino Sherry, 2 oz. sweet Vermouth (Carpano Antico by preference), 1/8 teaspoon Maraschino liqueur, and 2 teaspoons Fernet, with 1 dash of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
-
Wed, Aug 4, 2021, 1:00 PM – Sun, Aug 8, 2021, 8:00 PM
The Ride: Eyes on New York
PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 4 – 8, 2021 (continuing through SEPTEMBER 6)
1:00, 3:00, 5:00 & 7:00 PM
Empire Outlets, Level 4
55 Richmond Terrace, St. George, Staten Island
$19-$39
https://therideevents.com/
Circus! Interactive! On Staten Island!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's a bit of a hike (only a half-hour walk, really), but the Sri Lankan at Lakruwana is worth it. Especially if they're still offering their weekend all-you-can-eat buffet, which has been known to make grown men cry tears of joy and gratitude.
-
Tuesday, August 3, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
ECCO
MUSIC
TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2021
7:30 PM
Naumberg Orchestral Concerts
Naumberg Bandshell, Central Park, Manhattan
Free
https://naumburgconcerts.org/upcoming/2021-ecco
A piece by Hanna Benn, another composer who apparently hasn't been told there's a generic difference between classical and pop. And a Nuevo Tango-derived piece by Osvaldo Golijov, who apparently has been told that, but feels free to bridge the imaginary gap. Oh, and Shai Wosner playing Mozart piano concertos.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: No place Uptown seems to be open past 9. So you'll have to grab dinner before the show (uncivilized as some of us believe that to be) (that's Uptown: uncivilized). And there's no better spot than Bilao: Filipino nurses cooking expertly for other Filipino nurses — but they don't mind if you stop by and have a taste yourself. Afterwards, go somewhere in your own neighborhood for drinks.
-
Tue, Aug 3, 2021, 6:30 PM – Sun, Aug 8, 2021, 9:00 PM
600 Highwaymen: A Thousand Ways (Part Two)
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 – 8, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 15)
6:30 & 8:00 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
6:30, 8:00 & 9:30 PM FRIDAY
1:00, 2:30, 6:30, 8:00 & 9:30 PM SATURDAY
1:00, 2:30, 6:30 & 8:00 PM SUNDAY
Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street, NoHo, Manhattan
$35-$70
https://publictheater.org/productions/season/2021/a-thousands-ways2/
600 Highwaymen continue their exploration of connection, begun over the phone during the Quarantine. But this time, things being what they are, it's one-on-one in person. They encourage you to do the telephonic Part One first, if you haven't already.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Now that I've eaten there, I'm more excited than ever about the Shanghainese at CheLi: this is NOT the stuff you've had before.
-
Tue, Aug 3, 2021, 5:00 PM – Sun, Aug 8, 2021, 10:30 PM
Liminality
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 – 8, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 31)
5:30, 7:00 & 10:00 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
5:00, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 PM FRIDAY
1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 PM SATURDAY
12:00, 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 8:00 & 9:30 PM SUNDAY
Museum of Future Experiences
148 Grand Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$75
https://mofe.co/products/liminality
An evening of immersive, sometimes VR, Future Theater. The visual VR effects are stunning. Too bad the content is lame New Age twaddle. Lap See Lam and Laurie Anderson/Hsin Chien-Huang (among others) are less clichéd thinkers who have done this kind of thing better.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to the new French/Italian brasserietoria Francie. Be sure to have an order of duck mortadella with your cocktail. After that, it's every diner for him or herself.
-
Tue, Aug 3, 2021, 3:00 PM – Sun, Aug 8, 2021, 10:00 PM
Lynn Nottage & Miranda Haymon: The Watering Hole
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 – 8, 2021
TUESDAY – FRIDAY 3:00-5:00 & 7:00-9:00 PM (staggered times)
SATURDAY & SUNDAY 11:00 AM – 1:00, 3:00 – 5:00 & 7:00 – 9:00 PM (staggered times)
Signature Theatre
480 West 42nd Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$0-$45
https://signaturetheatre.org/shows-and-events/Featured-Events/The-Watering-Hole.aspx
Lynn Nottage completes her interrupted residency at the Signature with an unexpected departure: an installation piece that has you wandering throughout the Signature's extensive plant, having different experiences as you go. What this piece shows is that when trad theater people try to go all avant, the results are often LAME in the extreme.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I don't think I knew that the West Village Moroccan spot Mémé had opened a branch in Hell's Kitchen.
-
Tue, Aug 3, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 8, 2021, 4:30 PM
-
Monday, August 2, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Monday, August 2, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Bushwick Improvised Music Series
MUSIC
MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 2021 (weekly)
7:00 PM
Bushwick Public House
1288 Myrtle Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$15
https://gaucimusic.com/bushwick-series
Every Monday night, a galaxy of different agglomerations of improvising (mostly jazz-based) musicians assemble for a series of sets at the Bushwick Public House, and the unexpected occurs.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You'll obviously be drinking at the Bushwick Public House (if you have any sense of citizenship AT ALL). Before the show, grab some delicious if somewhat improbable Colombian-Italian fusion at the entirely delightful Maite (even if this is yet another place whose menu got simplified during Lockdown).
-
Monday, August 2, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
John Jesurun: Chang in a Void Moon
THEATER
MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 2021 (new episodes each week through AUGUST 9)
7:00 PM
La Mama Stream
$5-$25
https://www.lamama.org/shows/chang2021
John Jesurun began this serialized theater piece about um international financial fraud — but really, just forget it — at the Pyramid Club in 1985, and he's still at it. Wild, allusive, FUN as all get-out.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Back to the '80s (I could swear I drank them in the '70s) (AND NOT SINCE) with a Long Island Iced Tea: pour 1/2 oz. each of Gin, light Rum, Vodka, Blanco Tequila, Triple Sec, and Simple Syrup, and 1/4 oz. each of lemon juice and lime juice, into an ice-filled Collins glass. Stir. Top with Coke. Garnish with a lemon wedge. (This isn't a case of Don't Try This At Home — this is a case of Only Try This At Home.)
-
Mon, Aug 2, 2021, 7:00 AM – Sun, Aug 8, 2021, 7:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 – 8, 2021 (ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
One of the first shows you could 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 (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White. The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
-
Mon, Aug 2, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Aug 8, 2021, 1:00 AM
Ellen Reid: SOUNDWALK
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 – 8, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park
59th Street – 110th Street/Central Park West – 5th Avenue, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://www.ellenreidsoundwalk.com/new-york-philharmonic
The New York Phil hops aboard the walk-around-the-landscaped-space-with-soundtrack train (see below). The highly allusive soundtrack was put together by Ellen Reid, who is one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
-
Mon, Aug 2, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Aug 8, 2021, 10:00 PM
Stephanie Fleischmann, Christina Campanella & Mallory Catlett: The Visitation
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 – 8, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 10:00 PM
HERE Arts Center Presentation
Jackie Robinson Park
Between Edgecombe & Bradhurst Aves. & 145 – 155 Sts., Sugar Hill, Manhattan
Pay what you wish
https://here.org/shows/the-visitation/
Another sound walk (I LOVE these!), this one set to avant-pop you access through Soundcloud.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good beer, epic burgers at Harlem Public.
-
Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 7:00 PM – Sun, Aug 1, 2021, 3:00 PM
Carl Hancock Rux: Vs.
THEATER
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 30 – AUGUST 1, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 8)
7:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
2:00 PM SUNDAY
Mabou Mines Live Stream
Zoom
Free (by registration) (suggested $10 donation)
https://www.maboumines.org/production/vs/
From the mind of Carl Hancock Rux (a very good place for things to emanate from), an audience-participation exploration of political philosophy.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I myself am currently quite taken with the Commando: pour 1-1/2 oz. Bourbon, 3/4 oz. each of Cointreau and lime juice, 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup, and 1/8 (or 1/4 if you feel like living dangerously) teaspoon Absinthe into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
-
Thu, Jul 29, 2021, 7:00 PM – Sun, Aug 1, 2021, 3:00 PM
Whitney White: Definition
PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 29 – AUGUST 1, 2021
7:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
2:00 PM SUNDAY
Bushwick Starr at the Mercury Store
131 8th Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn
$20
https://www.thebushwickstarr.org/definition
Pending a staging of her surrealist musical exploring Black female experience, Whitney White has assembled a multi-media installation, with the participation of a multitude of artists, exploring the same theme.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Fletcher's Brooklyn Barbecue attempts to create a local Brooklyn style of barbecue. And succeeds!
-
Tue, Jul 27, 2021, 6:30 PM – Sun, Aug 1, 2021, 9:00 PM
600 Highwaymen: A Thousand Ways (Part Two)
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 27 – AUGUST 1, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 15)
6:30 & 8:00 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
6:30, 8:00 & 9:30 PM FRIDAY
1:00, 2:30, 6:30, 8:00 & 9:30 PM SATURDAY
1:00, 2:30, 6:30 & 8:00 PM SUNDAY
Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street, NoHo, Manhattan
$35-$70
https://publictheater.org/productions/season/2021/a-thousands-ways2/
600 Highwaymen continue their exploration of connection, begun over the phone during the Quarantine. But this time, things being what they are, it's one-on-one in person. They encourage you to do the telephonic Part One first, if you haven't already.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Now that I've eaten there, I'm more excited than ever about the Shanghainese at CheLi: this is NOT the stuff you've had before.
-
Tue, Jul 27, 2021, 5:30 PM – Sun, Aug 1, 2021, 10:30 PM
Liminality
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 27 – AUGUST 1, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 31)
5:30, 7:00 & 10:00 PM TUESDAY – THURSDAY
5:00, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 PM FRIDAY
1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 PM SATURDAY
12:00, 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 8:00 & 9:30 PM SUNDAY
Museum of Future Experiences
148 Grand Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$75
https://mofe.co/products/liminality
An evening of immersive, sometimes VR, Future Theater. The visual VR effects are stunning. Too bad the content is lame New Age twaddle. Lap See Lam and Laurie Anderson/Hsin Chien-Huang (among others) are less clichéd thinkers who have done this kind of thing better.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to the new French/Italian brasserietoria Francie. Be sure to have an order of duck mortadella with your cocktail. After that, it's every diner for him or herself.
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Tue, Jul 27, 2021, 3:00 PM – Sun, Aug 1, 2021, 10:00 PM
Lynn Nottage & Miranda Haymon: The Watering Hole
THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 27 – AUGUST 1, 2021 (continuing through AUGUST 8)
TUESDAY – FRIDAY 3:00-5:00 & 7:00-9:00 PM (staggered times)
SATURDAY & SUNDAY 11:00 AM – 1:00, 3:00 – 5:00 & 7:00 – 9:00 PM (staggered times)
Signature Theatre
480 West 42nd Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$0-$45
https://signaturetheatre.org/shows-and-events/Featured-Events/The-Watering-Hole.aspx
Lynn Nottage completes her interrupted residency at the Signature with an unexpected departure: an installation piece that has you wandering throughout the Signature's extensive plant, having different experiences as you go.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I don't think I knew that the West Village Moroccan spot Mémé had opened a branch in Hell's Kitchen.
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Tue, Jul 27, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 1, 2021, 4:30 PM
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Mon, Jul 26, 2021, 7:00 AM – Sun, Aug 1, 2021, 7:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 26 – AUGUST 1, 2021 (ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
One of the first shows you could 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 (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White. The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
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Mon, Jul 26, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Aug 1, 2021, 1:00 AM
Ellen Reid: SOUNDWALK
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 26 – AUGUST 1, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park
59th Street – 110th Street/Central Park West – 5th Avenue, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://www.ellenreidsoundwalk.com/new-york-philharmonic
The New York Phil hops aboard the walk-around-the-landscaped-space-with-soundtrack train (see below). The highly allusive soundtrack was put together by Ellen Reid, who is one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
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Mon, Jul 26, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Aug 1, 2021, 10:00 PM
Stephanie Fleischmann, Christina Campanella & Mallory Catlett: The Visitation
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 26 – AUGUST 1, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 10:00 PM
HERE Arts Center Presentation
Jackie Robinson Park
Between Edgecombe & Bradhurst Aves. & 145 – 155 Sts., Sugar Hill, Manhattan
Pay what you wish
https://here.org/shows/the-visitation/
Another sound walk (I LOVE these!), this one set to avant-pop you access through Soundcloud.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good beer, epic burgers at Harlem Public.
