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Wednesday, October 31, 2018, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
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Wednesday, October 31, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2018
8:00 PM
13th Annual NY Night Train Haunted Hop feat. Roky Erickson
Knockdown Center
52-19 Flushing Avenue, Maspeth, Queens
$25 advance; $30 door
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/13th-annual-ny-night-train-haunted-hop-tickets-47790438488
Yes, you read that right: former 13th Floor Elevators frontman Roky Erickson, one of the most (literally) insane performers in the history of psychedelic punk, is playing here. Add to that a warren of cob-webbed rooms with cover-band music, performance, horror movies, art, food, and drink, and you've got yourself a Halloween.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This goes on till 4 in the morning -- and I'm not sharing after-hours places. Beforehand, I'm pretty sure Roky himself would go to Los Hermanos for tacos.
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Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 8:00 PM – Thu, Nov 1, 2018, 9:00 PM
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 1, 2018
8:00 PM
For / With
Issue Project Room
22 Boerum Place, Downtown, Brooklyn
$15 each night
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/works-wadada-leo-smith-annea-lockwood-catherine-lamb
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/works-annea-lockwood-ashley-fure-felipe-lara-wadada-leo-smith
Trumpeter Nate Wooley, whose playing and composing skirt jazz and classical, performs and curates a mini-festival focusing (if I understand this correctly) on new music for trumpet and new music not for trumpet by composers who have otherwise written new music for trumpet. Conceptual complication notwithstanding, these two shows present quite a list of composers, including New Music It Girl Ashley Fure; avant-garde legend Annea Lockwood;Catherine Lamb, whose serene, transporting music is informed by just intonation, Hindustani classical music, and -- she says so herself -- an openness to blandness; lyrical Brazilian Modernist Felipe Lara; and the great avant-jazz trumpeter/composer (he's also playing) Wadada Leo Smith. Aside from Wooley and Smith, a constellation of New York New Music regulars performs.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm going to keep suggesting the red-hot seafood restaurant Saint Julivert Fisherie (run by the people behind the great La Vara -- New York's best Spanish restaurant -- next door), even though it's extremely hard to get a table there.
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Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 8:00 PM – Sun, Nov 4, 2018, 4:00 PM
DANCE
WEDNESDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 4, 2018
8:00 PM WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
Balanchine: The City Center Years
American Ballet Theater / The Joffrey Ballet / The Mariinsky Ballet / Miami City Ballet / New York City Ballet / Paris Opera Ballet / The Royal Ballet / San Francisco Ballet
New York City Center
131 West 55th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$28-$275
https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/2018-2019/Balanchine/
Why do I find this festival paying tribute to the great ballet neoclassicist, in a hall with which he had rich associations, so uninviting? Is it because I live the City with the ballet company with the strongest Balanchine tradition anywhere (it's participating in this festival), and it programs his work all the time? Is it because, rather than viewing the agglomeration of different ballet companies on each bill as providing a fascinating opportunity to compare different approaches to the Balanchine style, I find it somewhat bewildering, even off-putting: an incoherent potpourri? Or is it just that there's so much else going on this week? Anyway, people with more sense than me will flock to these shows.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: (Or a brunch.) Up the block and across the street to Benoit for very good bistro.
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Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sun, Nov 4, 2018, 9:00 PM
Nico Muhly: Marnie
OPERA
WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31 & NOVEMBER 3, 2018 (also NOVEMBER 7 & 10)
7:30 PM WEDNESDAY
8:00 PM SATURDAY
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$30-$300
INFO + TICKETS
You never can tell. Missy Mazzoli, whose (excellent) instrumental writing gave no particular indication of any innate dramatic instinct, has turned out to be a born musical dramatist. Nico Muhly, on the basis of three operas now, hasn't. Which is not to say that his new grand opera, his second for the Met, isn't worth seeing. Based on the chiller novel that was made into what might beAlfred Hitchcock's most perverse film, it has a compelling plot (even if that plot could have been better dramatized). The production -- especially the costuming -- is a knockout. And the cast of young (a relative term: this is opera) stars is very strong, with Isabel Leonard (who, with her natural froideur, couldn't be more perfect to play a part played on screen by Tippi Hedren -- and who gives what must, so far, be the performance of her lifetime), Iestyn Davies, Christopher Maltman, and Denyce Graves (now playing the mom role -- yikes!) (well, there are flashbacks). Former Young Conductor Robert Spano makes his long-overdue Met debut -- and absolutely aces it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: One feels that Marnie and her husband Mark would go to Bar Boulud for a post-show drink and snack. (Actually, now that I think of it, really they'd go to P.J. Clarke's for Martinis, oysters, and burgers. Your choice.)
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Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Nov 3, 2018, 8:30 PM
DANCE
WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 3, 2018
7:30 PM
Kimberly Bartosik / daela: I hunger for you
Next Wave Festival
BAM Fisher
321 Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$25
https://www.bam.org/dance/2018/i-hunger-for-you
Former Cunningham dancer Kimberly Bartosik presents a exploration/representation/reflection of the experience of charismatic spirituality. This is the kind of thing that will probably be either great or terrible. Worth a $25 bet.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Stunning Persian food -- and a really great cocktail program -- at Sofreh.
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Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sun, Nov 4, 2018, 4:00 PM
Philip Glass: Satyagraha
OPERA
WEDNESDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 4, 2018
7:30 PM WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
Folkoperan / Cirkus Cirkör
Next Wave Festival
BAM Harvey Theater
651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$35-$100
https://www.bam.org/opera/2018/satyagraha
A major event. Philip Glass's most melodically approachable opera -- the one about Gandhi -- performed by . . . Nouveau Cirque performers? Well, I guess the Met used puppets. (This is sold out -- how could it not be? -- but last-minute cancellations may occur and would be made available stand-by at the box office.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Fun Modern Israeli at Miss Ada.
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Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 7:30 PM – Thu, Nov 1, 2018, 8:30 PM
DANCE
WEDNESDAY - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 1, 2018
7:30 PM
Akram Khan: XENOS
White Light Festival
Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center
10 Columbus Circle, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$25-$95
http://www.lincolncenter.org/white-light-festival/show/xenos
Akram Khan, the great Bangladeshi/English contemporary dancer/choreographer, is making his farewell performances as a full-length dancer in this solo piece. You can bet he's contrived to go out with a bang.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Frankly, the menu at the new NYC outpost of London smash Bluebird looks boring. BUT: the bar is gorgeous, a great place to be. And the cocktails are quite fine. Have a couple, and you won't care if the food looks boring anymore.
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Wednesday, October 31, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
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Wednesday, October 31, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2018
7:00 PM
Village Halloween Parade
6th Avenue (from Spring Street to 16th Street), Soho to Greenwich Village to Chelsea, Manhattan
Free
http://halloween-nyc.com/
You need me to tell you about the Halloween Parade????????
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It is hard to recommend anywhere in the neighborhood during the clusterfuck that is Halloween in the Village. I'd give you my default recommendation of Existing Conditions -- great cocktails, good food: just what you'd want this night -- but seriously, it'll be a mob scene. I hate to say it, but just go home.
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Tuesday, October 30, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
MUSIC
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018
8:00 PM
Tulipa Ruiz
National Sawdust
80 North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$20
https://nationalsawdust.org/event/tulipa-ruiz/
I know I must seem like I'm good for a nod to every Brazilian pop musician who passes through New York, but Tulipa Ruiz is really good. Her music radiates cheer. (Actually, I have no Portuguese whatsoever: for all I know, what she's singing about is positively morose.) (Sure doesn't sound that way, though.) And boy was her last video great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Cheerful too is the Mod Georgian / cocktails double-header of Cheeseboat and Hotel Delmano, right across the street from each other.
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Tuesday, October 30, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
OPERA
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018
7:30 PM
Jommelli: Cerere Placata
Opera Lafayette
The Times Center
242 West 41st Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$25-$120
http://operalafayette.org/20182019-season/
Opera Lafayette, Washington, DC's period-instruments company devoted to historic French opera, returns with a piece by a composer who wasn't French, but was certainly French-influenced and -influencing. Along with Gluck,Jommelli championed the reform of opera after the Baroque, urging it into the more streamlined and dramatically coherent form we know now. But perhaps because he sprang from the Neapolitan School, Jommelli had a greater melodic gift than Gluck (not hard, many would remark). Worth checking out.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Is it too lazy to note that The Times Center is right next door to a branch of Wolfgang's Steakhouse? That'd be for before the show. After, maybe Southern-style drinks and pub grub at Printers Alley.
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Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sun, Nov 4, 2018, 6:00 PM
Rodgers & Hammerstein: Oklahoma!
THEATER
TUESDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 4, 2018 (continuing through NOVEMBER 11)
7:30 PM THURSDAY - SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
Rodgers & Hammerstein: Oklahoma!
St. Ann's Warehouse
45 Water Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn
$26-$100
https://stannswarehouse.org/show/oklahoma/
Daniel Fish's stripped-down version of Oklahoma! was rapturously received when it played at Bard a few summers ago. I personally can't imagine not being nauseated by Oscar Hammerstein II's smug mid-century coyness -- but, hey, I came out of punk. If anything can make a case for it, this production should. Try to snag a table seat, so you can get access to chili, cornbread, and lemonade.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Henry's End has started its annual Fall/Winter Game Festival.
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Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sun, Nov 4, 2018, 8:30 PM
Kate Tarker: THUNDERBODIES
THEATER
TUESDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 4, 2018
7:30 PM TUESDAY - SUNDAY
3:00 PM SATURDAY
Kate Tarker: THUDERBODIES
Soho Rep.
46 Walker Street, Tribeca, Manhattan
$35-$65 Tuesday-Saturday; $99 Sunday
http://sohorep.org/thunderbodies
People who've seen Kate Tarker's wicked satire of war and marriage keep namechecking Jarry. That's a very good sign.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Frenchette. Duh.
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Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 7:00 PM – Sun, Nov 4, 2018, 3:00 PM
THEATER
TUESDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 4, 2018 (continuing through DECEMBER 22)
7:00 PM TUESDAY - THURSDAY
8:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
2:00 PM SUNDAY
Brecht: The Resistable Rise of Arturo UI
Classic Stage Company
136 East 13th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$53-$127
http://classicstage.org/shows/2018/11/the-resistible-rise-of-arturo-ui-2/
Bertolt Brecht's scathing satire of Adolph Hitler. I'm getting tired of making coy remarks like, "this couldn't have any contemporary relevance, could it?" I'm also beginning to wonder if we shouldn't all be spending our money on passage out instead of theater tickets.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: People tell me that Momofuku Ssäm Bar is back, great once more. I wish you didn't have to wait an hour and a half to get in to find out.
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Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 7:00 PM – Sat, Nov 3, 2018, 6:00 PM
THEATER
TUESDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 3, 2018 (continuing through NOVEMBER 10)
7:00 PM TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY
8:00 PM THURSDAY - SATURDAY
5:00 PM SATURDAY
Andrew R. Butler: Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
Ars Nova
511 West 54th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$37-$67
https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/996876
So I'm sitting in this bar talking to this composer/performer I like named Rick Burkhardt. And I'm like, "So what do you have coming up?" And he's like, "I'm in this show that's going to be at Ars Nova." And I'm like, "You're in that? I wasn't going to recommend it: it looks too folkie." And he's like, "It is folkie. But it's great." Well, if Andrew R. Butler's representation of a folk concert 250 years in the future is good enough for Rick, it's good enough for me.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Very good wine, doable food at Ardesia Wine Bar.
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Tuesday, October 30, 2018, 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM
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Mon, Oct 29, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sun, Nov 4, 2018, 4:00 PM
OPERA
MONDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29 - NOVEMBER 4, 2018
7:30 PM MONDAY - SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
Matt Marks: Words on the Street
Rose Nagelburg Theater, Baruch Performing Arts Center
55 Lexington Avenue (entrance on East 25th Street), Rose Hill, Manhattan
$36-$51 (there are also $101 benefit tickets available for October 31 that get you into a reception afterwards)
https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/calendar/(S(xakh2h55n1kwiy55m5zaefmu))/EventList.aspx?fromdate=8/1/2018&todate=8/31/2018&display=Month&type=public&eventidn=58084&view=EventDetails&information_id=750338&print=print
It's an occasion for both cheer and depression to get a new piece by Matt Marks, the wonderful young Brooklyn composer who died this Spring, suddenly and much too soon. And this looks just great: Marks collaborated with Kristin Marting of HERE and video designer Lianne Arnold to fashion a fantastical Bulgakovesque narrative from a book of poetry by Anna Rabinowitz. And the cast includes Paul Pinto, John Kelly, and Lauren Flanigan!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: As far as I'm concerned, the upstairs bar at the celebrated Modern Korean Atomix, for great cocktails and bar snacks, simply overshadows everything else in the neighborhood (except Atomix's downstairs chef's counter).
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Monday, October 29, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
THEATER
MONDAY OCTOBER 29, 2018
7:30 PM
Pay No Attention to the Girl
Target Margin Theater
The Doxee
232 52nd Street, Sunset Park, Brooklyn
$30
http://www.targetmargin.org/our-season/show-1/
David Herskovits's wonderful Target Margin Theater revives their acclaimed retelling of tales from The Thousand and One Nights, with an emphasis on gender inequality when it comes to being believed. Theater magic.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: As usual with The Doxee, walk up 52nd Street to 8th Avenue and you're in the middle of Brooklyn Chinatown. You can make your own pick, but if you want a recommendation, right near the corner is Yun Nan Flavor Garden, where the Crossing the Bridge Noodles are just as good as everybody says they are. If, however, the women of the Genesis & Isaac Deli are making tacos out on the sidewalk in front when you emerge from the 53rd Street BMT stop, you'll be a better person than me if you can resist a snack.
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Mon, Oct 29, 2018, 10:00 AM – Sat, Nov 3, 2018, 11:00 AM
THEATER
MONDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29 - NOVEMBER 3, 2018
8:00 PM
David Greenspan: The Things that Were There
Bushwick Starr
207 Starr Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$25
https://www.thebushwickstarr.org/the-things-that-were-there-program
Actor David Greenspan is one of the treasures of the New York theater scene, doing consistently excellent Off-Off work, occasionally showing up On for laughs and a paycheck, a compelling and elegant presence wherever, whether in challenging work on the edge or the occasional mainstream comedy. He's also, as here, a playwright, this time with a family history play.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm going to keep pushing the wonderful Colombian-Italian-Basque fusion restaurant (I can hear you all asking: Colombian-Italian-Basque fusion AGAIN?) Maite until everybody goes there. (Monday, when Maite's closed, go to Santa Salsa for Venezuelan hot dogs and a general great time.)
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Sunday, October 28, 2018, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
MUSIC
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2018
4:00 PM
Aizuri Quartet
National Sawdust
80 North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$29
https://nationalsawdust.org/event/aizuri-quartet/
A program of new stuff for string quartet. I'm Listing this for the pieces by Caroline Shaw, Gabriella Smith, and Lembit Beecher -- but who knows what pleasant surprises await on the remainder of the program? (Well, people who've heard the Aizuris' new album, probably.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: There's just something about Sunday that makes Mid-Atlantic charmer Delaware & Hudson the place to be. The Tavern Room -- my favorite -- for great pub grub or items off the dining room menu; the dining room for the delicious (and high-value) prix fixe. It's all good.
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Saturday, October 27, 2018, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
MUSIC
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2018
10:00 PM
Doll Gang Massacre: Shadow of the Cat
Knockdown Center
52-19 Flushing Avenue, Maspeth, Queens
$25-$35
https://knockdown.center/event/doll-gang-massacre-the-sequel/
The headliner here is La Chat, but I'm too bougie for her gansta self. I'm Listing this for two of the supporting acts: psych/world/dance band Gang Gang Dance, and trans conceptual artist/performance artist/DJ Juliana Huxtable.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The show goes on until 4 AM, so you'll have to find an after-hours spot on your own. Beforehand, why not some good sea food at Sea Wolf?
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Saturday, October 27, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
OPERA
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2018
8:00 PM
Nico Muhly: Marnie
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$30-$300
https://www.metopera.org/season/2018-19-season/marnie/
This is something a lot of us have been waiting for. (Isn't it great to be anticipating new operas at the Met?) Nico Muhly's second Met opera, this one based on the chiller novel that was made into what might be Alfred Hitchcock's most perverse film. The cast of young (a relative term: this is opera) stars includes Isabel Leonard (who couldn't be more perfect to play a part played on screen by Tippi Hedren), Iestyn Davies, Christopher Maltman, and Denyce Graves (now playing the mom role -- yikes!). Former Young Conductor Robert Spano makes his Met debut.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: One feels that Marnie and her husband Mark would go to Bar Boulud for a post-show drink and snack. But, as they would, on Monday at least you'll have to hurry.
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Saturday, October 27, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
OPERA
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2018
8:00 PM
Kate Soper: Ipsa Dixit
Miller Theater at Columbia University
2960 Broadway, Morningside Heights, Manhattan
$20-$30
https://www.millertheatre.com/events/kate-soper
Creating astonishing music-theater pieces that meld music and literature and philosophy is all in day's work for Kate Soper; this one is stunning, engrossing, and unlike anything else -- except other similarly wonderful works in Soper'soeuvre. Here, Soper as vocalist gives an extended philosophy lecture with the assistance of three accompanying musicians. It's funny, it's inventive, it's funny, it's thought-provoking -- and, oh, it's funny. But don't listen to me: listen to Alex Ross.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Never been inside Flat Top, but from the outside it's always looked appealing, in a neighborhoody sort of way.
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Saturday, October 27, 2018, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
MUSIC
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2018
6:00 PM
Philip Glass Ensemble: Music in Twelve Parts
The Town Hall
123 West 43rd Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$55-$85
http://thetownhall.org/event/music-in-12-parts
Philip Glass and his ensemble return to the site of the 1974 premiere of this massive Bachian compendium of the techniques developed during the first phase of Glass's stark rigorous East Coast Minimalism, to which this work was something of a farewell. This hypnotic piece really is All That.
MAKE A NOTE OF IT: This long show gives the audience a dinner break, and your best bet is probably to cross the street to Burger & Lobster (you can guess what their menu focuses on). After the show, well, four hours of very loud arpeggios are going to put you in the mood for . . . Tiki!!!!!!!! So, The Polynesian.
MUSIC
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2018
6:00 PM
Philip Glass Ensemble: Music in Twelve Parts
The Town Hall
123 West 43rd Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$55-$85
http://thetownhall.org/event/music-in-12-parts
Philip Glass and his ensemble return to the site of the 1974 premiere of this massive Bachian compendium of the techniques developed during the first phase of Glass's stark rigorous East Coast Minimalism, to which this work was something of a farewell. This hypnotic piece really is All That.
MAKE A NOTE OF IT: This long show gives the audience a dinner break, and your best bet is probably to cross the street to Burger & Lobster (you can guess what their menu focuses on). After the show, well, four hours of very loud arpeggios are going to put you in the mood for . . . Tiki!!!!!!!! So, The Polynesian.
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Saturday, October 27, 2018, 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM
MUSIC
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2018
4:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Musical Oddities and Monstrosities: a strange symphony of unusual instruments
Areté Venue & Gallery
67 West Street #103, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
$35
https://www.atlasobscura.com/events/musical-oddities-and-monstrosities
Um wow. A program of music on instruments that truly are strange. Curator Nick Yulman will present an orchestra of robotic instruments. List fave Angélica Negrón will play vegetables. Such other entries as a "singing" saw seem ordinary in comparison.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Cash bar at the event. Then, keep the party going at red-hot festive Mexican Oxomoco.
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Friday, October 26, 2018, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
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Friday, October 26, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
MUSIC
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2018
8:00 PM
Yuja Wang & Martin Grubinger
Carnegie Hall
881 Seventh Avenue, Midtown, Manhattan
$22.50-$125
https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2018/10/26/Yuja-Wang-Piano-Martin-Grubinger-Percussion-0800PM
Stunning pianist/glamor girl Yuja Wang teams with a masterly percussionist and some of his colleagues for a recital. Each piece on the program is an arrangement by percussionist Gruber's father, a master percussionist himself who is also appearing (that must have been one noisy household when the younger Martin was growing up). We get Bartók's great Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion arranged for one piano and percussion -- although one would have thought Wang capable of playing the two piano parts by herself without any rearrangement. The Rite of Spring arranged for piano and percussion -- in these hands, that ought to be something to hear. There's more -- but you get the picture. These are very charismatic performers, and this should be quite a show.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good bistro food at Benoit.
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Friday, October 26, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Friday, October 26, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Friday, October 26, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
OPERA
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2018
7:00 PM
Piazzolla: Maria de Buenos Aires
New York City Opera
(Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$10-$50
https://nycopera.com/shows/maria-de-buenos-aires/
Astor Piazzolla's Nuevo Tango chamber opera is really good. I mean, reallygood. (Piazzolla didn't study with Nadia Boulanger for nothing.) You'll have two chances to see it this season: this well-received production, imported from Atlanta (where it was also performed in an alternative venue) by the foundering City Opera; and what should be a funkier, racier production by Bare Opera next Spring (although it shouldn't be ignored that this current production has the benefit of a renowned exponent of the title role and two first-rate tango dancers in the cast). I say, why choose? If you see it now, you'll want to see it again in the Spring.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Totally repetitious and unimaginative, but there is no way you won't be in the mood for cocktails after this. Hence, Existing Conditions (the food is good, too).
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Thursday, October 25, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Thursday, October 25, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Wed, Oct 24, 2018, 8:00 PM – Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 4:30 PM
DANCE
WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24 - 27, 2018
8:00 PM
Julie Mayo: Terrific Freight
Chocolate Factory Theater
5-49 49th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens
$20
https://chocolatefactorytheater.org/julie-mayo-terrific-freight/
Julie Mayo's dance pieces aren't abstract. They have content -- but it's mysterious, elusive. You get to sift through the information presented and make what sense of it you can. But don't worry: she's minding the formal stuff as well. Interesting, engrossing -- and don't forget frequently amusing -- stuff.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I still don't know anyone who's been to the potentially promising New American-Mediterranean Bellwether. If you go, let me know how it was.
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Wed, Oct 24, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 8:30 PM
DANCE
WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24 - 27, 2018
7:30 PM
Jerome Robbins: Watermill
BAM Fisher
321 Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$25
https://www.bam.org/dance/2018/watermill
Jerome Robbins's rather ponderous and synthetic early-'70s Noh- and Kabuki- (and Robert Wilson-) influenced memory dance gets another shot, here as "re-imagined" by the Italian choreographer/director Luca Veggetti. That "re-imagination" might well do the trick. City Ballet fans will be delighted to get another chance to see Joaquin De Luz, fresh from his retirement. Such a starry show in such a tiny space couldn't help but sell out; there'll be a standby line each night.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Yes, I'm relentlessly literal, but of course I'm going to send you to the hidden izakaya Karasu (through the door at the back of Walter's) after this.
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Wednesday, October 24, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2018
7:30 PM
Ralph van Raat
Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall
154 West 57th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$38-$45
https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2018/10/24/Ralph-van-Raat-Piano-0730PM
Yet ANOTHER Louis Andriessen world premiere? The great madcap Minimalist-and-more's countryman, the excellent Dutch New Music piano specialist Ralph van Raat, brings it to us. Also on the program are two very rare posthumously recovered works by two very similar French composers: Debussy and Boulez (are we finally jettisoning the canard that Boulez's genuinely sensous music is unduly "difficult" and unpleasant?). And Alkan's Symphony for Solo Piano -- a work that has the reputation, deserved or not, of being nearly impossible to play.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I was recently talking to someone about the Russian Tea Room. She said she liked it. "How can you go there?" I asked. "The food is so expensive -- and it even good." "But the room is so kitschy, it's so much fun to be there," she replied. "And if you're at Carnegie Hall, it's right there." If you're at Weill Recital Hall, it's closer still. I'm not recommending it. But my friend would.
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Wed, Oct 24, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 8:30 PM
Seán Curran & Company / Third Coast Percussion: Everywhere All the Time
DANCE
WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24 - 27, 2018
7:30 PM
Seán Curran & Company / Third Coast Percussion: Everywhere All the Time
BAM Harvey Theater
651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$25-$45
https://www.bam.org/dance/2018/everywhere-all-the-time
Seán Curran -- who celebrates the 20th anniversary of his own company with these shows -- got famous dancing with Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane. But his initial training was in Irish step dancing, and he was in the original cast of STOMP. This program, with musical accompaniment by the fantastic Third Coast Percussion, presents what promises to be an explosive night of dance inspired by percussion. The brand-new title piece, set to Irish Postminimalist Donnacha Dennehy, features a bodhrán. Seánny got a boom boom!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's go to Fulton Street's other German beer hall, Die Stammkneipe.
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Tuesday, October 23, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
MUSIC
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2018
7:30 PM
Solera Quartet
Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall
154 West 57th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$30
http://ps://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2018/10/23/Solera-Quartet-0730PM
The reason I'm Listing this concert is the inclusion of Caroline Shaw's quite wonderful string quartet piece, Entr'acte (as I keep saying, if you think you're allergic to New Music, just listen to Caroline Shaw). But it sure doesn't hurt to have on the program one of the greatest pieces of music ever written,Beethoven's String Quartet No. 15 -- one of the late quartets, in which current listeners miraculously experience nearly 200-year-old music the same way as contemporary music, with no stylistic filters or allowances (I can't think of any other 19th Century music I'd say that about). Mozart's teenage String Quartet No. 13 is pleasant.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The great Neapolitan-style pizza we have in New York now tends to crowd out the merely very good ones. But Pizzarte is a worthy dining spot. The pasta's good, too.
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Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 7:30 PM – Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 8:30 PM
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Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sun, Oct 28, 2018, 6:00 PM
Rodgers & Hammerstein: Oklahoma!
THEATER
TUESDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 28, 2018 (continuing through NOVEMBER 11)
7:30 PM THURSDAY - SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
Rodgers & Hammerstein: Oklahoma!
St. Ann's Warehouse
45 Water Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn
$26-$100
https://stannswarehouse.org/show/oklahoma/
Daniel Fish's stripped-down version of Oklahoma! was rapturously received when it played at Bard a few summers ago. I personally can't imagine not being nauseated by Oscar Hammerstein II's smug mid-century coyness -- but, hey, I came out of punk. If anything can make a case for it, this production should. Try to snag a table seat, so you can get access to chili, cornbread, and lemonade.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Henry's End has started its annual Fall / Winter Game Festival.
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Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 7:00 PM – Sun, Oct 28, 2018, 3:00 PM
THEATER
TUESDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 28, 2018
7:00 PM TUESDAY & THURSDAY - SATURDAY
2:00 PM WEDNESDAY & SUNDAY
Bedlam: Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet
A.R.T./New York Theatres, Mezzanine Theater
502 West 53rd Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$59-$89
http://bedlam.org/whats-on/uncle-romeo-vanya-juliet/
Uncle Vanya is my very favorite play. Romeo and Juliet isn't. But maybe in a mash-up like this, Vanya -- a comedy of lives stretching on endlessly, with no passions requited -- will provide a corrective to Romeo -- a tragedy of young lives cut short, with passion all too requited. In any event, if Bedlam is going to try it, I sure intend to find out.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You can't say that the Swiss restaurant Mont Blanc 52-- the successor to Theater District staple Maria's Mont Blanc -- serves the greatest food you've ever had. But you can say it's good, reliable, always satisfying -- and loads of fun. It always seems like everybody there but me is a regular -- but they're a welcoming crowd, so it's like a very successful dinner party. And if Maria herself is in the house, are you in for a time!
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Monday, October 22, 2018, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM
MUSIC
MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2018
8:30 PM
Hanzhi Wang
Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall
881 Seventh Avenue, Midtown, Manhattan
$10-$45
https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2018/10/22/Hanzhi-Wang-Accordion-0830PM
Classical accordion recitals don't grow on trees. Hanzhi Wang is a very young, buzz-worthy player. This program -- in which she'll be assisted, on occasion, by the Zorá String Quartet -- contains the usual transcriptions and such. But what makes it worth attending is Sofia Gubaidulina's De Profundus, certainly the greatest composition for classical accordion of the last 50 years (no, the competition isn't fierce). It is, perhaps, obligatory for an accordionist to include some Piazzolla pieces on her program -- but his music is always welcome, especially in what is shaping up to be a Piazzolla Week in New York. There's also some stuff by Martin Lohse, a very listenable Danish composer whom this Danish-trained performer plays regularly.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I don't think anyone ever leaves Souvlaki GRdisappointed or unhappy -- nor with an emptied wallet.
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Monday, October 22, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2018
8:00 PM
Optipus: 8th Anniversary Party
Microscope Gallery
1328 Willoughby Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn
Free
https://microscopegallery.com/optipus-8-years/
The Optipus film and sound collective, presenting live visuals accompanied by electronic (and sometimes other) music, celebrates its eighth anniversary with live pieces and looks back at previous works.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good drinks and surprisingly good New Orleans-style food at Heavy Woods.
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Mon, Oct 22, 2018, 8:00 PM – Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 9:00 PM
THEATER
MONDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 - 27, 2018
8:00 PM
David Greenspan: The Things that Were There
Bushwick Starr
207 Starr Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$25
https://www.thebushwickstarr.org/the-things-that-were-there-program
Actor David Greenspan is one of the treasures of the New York theater scene, doing consistently excellent Off-Off work, occasionally showing up On for laughs and a paycheck, a compelling and elegant presence wherever, whether in challenging work on the edge or the occasional mainstream comedy. He's also, as here, a playwright, this time with a family history play. As you might have figured, I consider David Greenspan a pretty sure bet.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm going to keep pushing the wonderful Colombian-Italian-Basque fusion restaurant (I can hear you all asking: Colombian-Italian-Basque fusion AGAIN?) Maite until everybody goes there.
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Mon, Oct 22, 2018, 8:00 PM – Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 9:00 PM
MUSIC
MONDAY - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22 - 23, 2018
8:00 PM
Tyshawn Sorey
The Kitchen
512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$20
http://thekitchen.org/event/tyshawn-sorey
The final two nights of the Kitchen residency of drummer/composer Tyshawn Sorey, one of the keenest musical minds in jazz-bleeding-into-classical. The Monday show looks really good; the Tuesday show looks off-the-hook. Monday presents a set of new Sorey compositions for sextet. Tuesday presents the debut of a new improvisational ensemble featuring elements of freesytle, turntablism, and electronics, featuring no less than High Priest/HPrizm, Graham Haynes, Brandon Ross, and Val-Inc (that's Val Jeantyto me).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Tapas at Tía Pol.
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Monday, October 22, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Monday, October 22, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
OPERA
MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2018
7:30 PM
Nico Muhly: Marnie
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$30-$300
https://www.metopera.org/season/2018-19-season/marnie/
This is something a lot of us have been waiting for. (Isn't it great to be anticipating new operas at the Met?) Nico Muhly's second Met opera, this one based on the chiller novel that was made into what might be Alfred Hitchcock's most perverse film. The cast of young (a relative term: this is opera) stars includes Isabel Leonard (who couldn't be more perfect to play a part played on screen by Tippi Hedren), Iestyn Davies, Christopher Maltman, and Denyce Graves (now playing the mom role -- yikes!). Former Young Conductor Robert Spano makes his Met debut.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: One feels that Marnie and her husband Mark would go to Bar Boulud for a post-show drink and snack. But, as they would, on Monday at least you'll have to hurry.
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Monday, October 22, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
OPERA
MONDAY OCTOBER 22, 2018
7:00 PM
Piazzolla: Maria de Buenos Aires
New York City Opera
(Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$10-$50
https://nycopera.com/shows/maria-de-buenos-aires/
Astor Piazzolla's Nuevo Tango chamber opera is really good. I mean, reallygood. (Piazzolla didn't study with Nadia Boulanger for nothing.) You'll have two chances to see it this season: this well-received production, imported from Atlanta (where it was also performed in an alternative venue) by the foundering City Opera; and what should be a funkier, racier production by Bare Opera next Spring (although it shouldn't be ignored that this current production has the benefit of a renowned exponent of the title role and two first-rate tango dancers in the cast). I say, why choose? If you see it now, you'll want to see it again in the Spring.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Totally repetitious and unimaginative, but there is no way you won't be in the mood for cocktails after this. Hence, Existing Conditions (the food is good, too).
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Mon, Oct 22, 2018, 7:00 PM – Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 8:00 PM
THEATER
MONDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 - 27, 2018
7:00 PM MONDAY - WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
8:00 PM THURSDAY & FRIDAY
Andrew R. Butler: Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
Ars Nova
511 West 54th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$35-$65
https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/996876
So I'm sitting in this bar talking to this composer/performer I like named Rick Burkhardt. And I'm like, "So what do you have coming up?" And he's like, "I'm in this show that's going to be at Ars Nova." And I'm like, "You're in that? I wasn't going to recommend it: it looks too folkie." And he's like, "It is folkie. But it's great." Well, if Andrew R. Butler's representation of a folk concert 250 years in the future is good enough for Rick, it's good enough for me.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Very good wine, doable food at Ardesia Wine Bar.
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Sunday, October 21, 2018, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Dreampop: A Video Release Party
MUSIC
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2018
9:00 PM
Secret Project Robot
1186 Broadway, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
$10
https://www.secretprojectrobot.org/calendar/2018/10/21/mart-mart
A night of impure pop bliss. Bonnie Baxter, maybe the most melodic noise musician of all time. Trans-poptart Macy Rodman. And Tristy, whom I don't know, but who has Roddy Bottum playing along with her/him/them; if there's one thing I love, it's Imperial Teen.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You just know what I'm going to say, right? L'Antagoniste before, for their Sunday Canard à la Presse special (reserve a bird in advance). SPR sister bar Flowers for All Occasions after.
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Sunday, October 21, 2018, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Tyshawn Sorey
MUSIC
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2018
6:00 PM
The Kitchen
512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$20
http://thekitchen.org/event/tyshawn-sorey
There are very few musical thinkers now before the public who are as interesting as jazz (or is it classical?) drummer/composer Tyshawn Sorey. But his duet partner for this show, the fascinating, angular pianist Marilyn Crispell, is up there.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Basque pintxos (that's tapas to you), raciones, and wine and cider (and let's not forget the cocktails!) at Txikito.
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Saturday, October 20, 2018, 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Julian Priester: The Unheard Herbie Nichols
MUSIC
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2018
8:00 & 10:00 PM
Jazz at Kitano, Kitano Hotel
66 Park Avenue, Murray Hill, Manhattan
$34 (plus $20 minimum)
http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/jazz-news/julian-priester-the-unheard-herbie-nichols-october-20th-jazz-at-kitano-shows-8-pm-10-pm-2/
Herbie Nichols is one of the Ones Who Got Away: a superb off-center jazz composer from the '50s who somehow never caught on. You listen to his music and you can't believe you don't hear this stuff like all the time. And who better to interpret Nichols than that superb off-center stylist, trombonist Julian Priester? (And what drummer would you rather hear in this than Andrew Cyrille?) This is truly special.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You're in a gorgeous venue -- 30-foot-high skylight ceiling! -- with good food and very nice drinks. And a non-trivial minimum. So you're going to venture out into the Murray Hill night before or after? I don't think so.
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Saturday, October 20, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Friday, October 19, 2018, 9:30 PM – 10:30 PM
Alexandre Brum Correa & Bya Braga: It Takes Two to Tangle
PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2018
9:30 PM
Dixon Place
160A Chrystie Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$15, $12 students/seniors advance; $18, $15 students seniors door
http://dixonplace.org/performances/it-takes-two-to-tangle/
A pair of sharp Brazilian physical theater artists riff on the many vicissitudes of relationships. When physical theater artists who are actually in a relationship explore such matters, you get the additional thrill of hoping nobody gets hurt.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This is pathetic. It's hard enough to find a place even in the Lower East Side or Nolita that's open decently late even on a Friday that I'm sending to you to Great NY Noodletown. Not that there could ever be anything bad about going to Noodletown.
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Fri, Oct 19, 2018, 8:30 PM – Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 11:00 PM
Fred Hersch Duos feat. Anat Cohen
MUSIC
FRIDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19 - 21, 2018
8:30 & 10:30 PM
Village Vanguard
178 Seventh Avenue, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$35
https://villagevanguard.com/calendar-index/
The elegant and tasteful Fred Hersch concludes his week-long duo residency at the Vanguard with the almost ridiculously charismatic Esperanza Spalding -- who, accomplished bassist though she is, will contribute only vocals.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before the shows, try red-hot Don Angie, whose Instagrammable take on Red-Sauce Italian is stupidly overrated but still pretty good. After the shows, 4 Charles Prime Rib might seem your only real bet -- unless you feel like walking down to Buvette (which, come to think of it, sounds like a pretty good idea).
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Fri, Oct 19, 2018, 8:00 PM – Sat, Oct 20, 2018, 9:00 PM
Nightfall
PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 & 20, 2018
8:00 PM
The Angel's Share
Green-Wood Cemetery
500 25th Street, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$80
https://www.green-wood.com/event/nightfall/2018-10-19/
https://www.green-wood.com/event/nightfall/2018-10-20/
How great does it sound to be let loose to wander the Cemetery (with candles guiding you along the appropriate paths) for three and a half hours, coming upon musical performances, films projected on trees and structures, storytellers, and circus performers? With a (purchased) beer or wine in your hand? (It would be better with a cocktail -- but I guess one of the messages of cemeteries is that you never get everything you want.) Films by Rooftop Films, storytelling by The Moth, circus by the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, who knows what by the Morbid Academy. This seems unbelievably awesome in its staggering awesomeness.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Forget about eating nearby after this shuts down at 11:30. For further drinking, go to Sea Witch (their kitchen will be closed). For dinner before, pre-warm yourself with Serbian meats and sausages (and a surprising amount of vegetarian fare: I guess they understand they're in Brooklyn and not Belgrade) at Korzo.
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Friday, October 19, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Nico Muhly: Marnie
OPERA
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2018 (also on OCTOBER 22, 27, 31 & NOVEMBER 3)
8:00 PM
Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$30-$300
https://www.metopera.org/season/2018-19-season/marnie/
This is something a lot of us have been waiting for. (Isn't it great to be anticipating new operas at the Met?) Nico Muhly's second Met opera, this one based on the chiller novel that was made into what might be Alfred Hitchcock's most perverse film. The cast of young (a relative term: this is opera) stars includes Isabel Leonard (who, despite her brunette hair, couldn't be more perfect to play a part played on screen by Tippi Hedren), Iestyn Davies, Christopher Maltman, and Denyce Graves (now playing the mom role -- yikes!). Former Young Conductor Robert Spano conducts.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: One feels that Marnie and her husband Mark would go to Bar Boulud for a post-show drink and snack. But, as they would, you'll have to hurry.
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Friday, October 19, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Fri, Oct 19, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Oct 20, 2018, 8:30 PM
Company Wang Ramirez: Borderline
DANCE
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 & 20, 2018
7:30 PM
White Light Festival
Gerald Lynch Theater, John Jay College
524 West 59th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$25-$45
http://www.lincolncenter.org/white-light-festival/show/borderline
This French import purports to blend contemporary dance, street dance, and aerial movement. It'll either be thrilling or contrived. Let's hope for thrilling.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I can't believe I'm getting to recommend Molyvos's out-of-the-way Modern Greek sister restaurant Ousia three weeks in a row. It closes at 11, so don't bet you'll be able to get there after (as opposed to before) the show.
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Friday, October 19, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Igor Levit
MUSIC
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2018
7:30 PM
Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall
881 Seventh Avenue, Midtown, Manhattan
$65
https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2018/10/19/Igor-Levit-Piano-0730PM
Igor Levit is the real thing, a pianist of unimpeachable, indeed staggering, technique -- but more important, of searching intellect and questing taste. His new album, Life -- exploring life from the standpoint of an early death -- is one of the very best piano recital discs to have been released in this century. Here, he plays material from that album: Bach/Busoni, Bach/Brahms, Schumann, Liszt/Wagner, Liszt Meyerbeer/Busoni (I can't believe he's leaving off the Rzewski!). This is unsurprisingly sold out -- but things happen.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It really is kind of remarkable that Greek standby Molyvos is still so good.
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Friday, October 19, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Momenta Festival IV: Points of Departure
MUSIC
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2018
7:00 PM
The Tenri Cultural Institute
43a West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
Free
http://www.momentaquartet.com/mf4/
Cellist Michael Haas gets his chance to program the concluding Momenta Festival concert. Normally I'd be going on about the contemporary piece on the program, Eric Nathan's fast-paced, kinetic Four in One. But fine as that piece is -- and it really does move -- we must pay our obsequies to Bartók's Fourth String Quartet, one of the peaks of the literature, as fresh and modern as the day it was written -- and one which always makes me think of a really nasty track by the early Stones. Also, a relatively rare chance to hear Enescu's Octet (the Argus Quartet joining in), a joyous youthful work where you can actually hear Modernism emerging from Romanticism. Tonight beer returns to the free-drinks table!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Gotham Bar & Grill has been chugging along as its good self for so long that people have stopped thinking about it. This may be a mistake.
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Fri, Oct 19, 2018, 6:30 PM – Sat, Oct 20, 2018, 7:30 PM
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Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 8:00 PM – Sat, Oct 20, 2018, 9:00 PM
Jill Sigman / Thinkdance: This Is Where We Are
DANCE
THURSDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 - 20, 2018
8:00 PM
The Black Box, Gibney
280 Broadway (entrance on Chambers Street), Tribeca, Manhattan
$20; $15 students/seniors
https://gibneydance.org/event/jill-sigman-this-is-where-we-are/2018-10-18/
Choregrapher Jill Sigman has a doctorate in Philosophy -- and she choreographs like she does, too. Her works explore ideas through movement. I hope that doesn't sound dry or analytical, because her work isn't like that at all. It invites the audience to think along with her and her dancers. This particular piece wrestles with this fraught moment in American politics. It could not be more apt to have music supplied by the excellent composer/vocalist Kristin Nordeval -- whose work is also highly exploratory.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: So you have one of the very best (if not the best) chefs in New York -- Paul Liebrandt -- and one of the very best (if not the best) sommeliers -- Pascaline Lepeltier. And you know what? While it's not cheap, it isn't stupid expensive. Why aren't you at Racines yet?
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Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Oct 20, 2018, 8:30 PM
BRIC JazzFest
MUSIC
THURSDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 - 20, 2018
7:30 PM
BRIC House
647 Fulton Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$30 advance per night; $35 door per night; $75 three-day pass (advance)
http:///www.bricartsmedia.org/events-performances/bric-jazzfest-marathon-night-1-1
https://www.bricartsmedia.org/events-performances/bric-jazzfest-marathon-night-2-1
https://www.bricartsmedia.org/events-performances/bric-jazzfest-marathon-night-2-1
A three-night jazz festival with a strong line-up, tending toward the left side of the mainstream. Friday night, featuring (among others) Meshell Ndegeocello,Xenia Rubinos, and the Jazz Passengers, seems the most fun. Thursday night, featuring (among others) Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah and Stefon Harris's Blackout project, seems the most serious. But any and all nights seem well worth it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's hard not to send you to Black Forest Brooklyn, which aside from the good beer and German pub grub will have the inestimable benefit of still being open however late these shows run.
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Thursday, October 18, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Bennardo-Larson Duo: Morton Feldman's "For John Cage"
MUSIC
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2018
7:00 PM
Areté Venue & Gallery
67 West Street #103, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
$15
https://www.aretevenue.com/events/
You must know by now that I'm good for a recommendation of just about any Morton Feldman performance -- and here's another one. The violin-and-piano duo For John Cage is typical Feldman: long and spare enough to be cut off from duration as an element, long and spare enough in fact to be cut off from development or even eventfullness as elements. (Hey, don't get scared: this one only lasts an hour and a quarter or so.) The music is there, that's all, and you're kind of led through it as a landscape. It's not that nothing happens; it's that things happen slowly and quietly -- but once you're tuned in they affect you greatly. If you've never tried Feldman, this is a good place to start; if you've tried him and liked it, you're already addicted.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Speaking of things that are overrated but still manage to be quite good, there's Oxomoco, one of the hottest restaurants in New York right now. This Mexican restaurant might not make you feel the earth move -- Mexico City residents might find that a relief -- but I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this stuff.
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Thursday, October 18, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
ROCO
MUSIC
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2018
7:00 PM
The Crypt Sessions
Crypt, Chapel of the Church of the Intercession
550 West 155th Street, Hamilton Heights, Manhattan
$80
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-crypt-sessions-roco-october-18-tickets-49110389497
Concerts in crypts, with wine and food tastings preceding them, are fun by definition. This one is given by ROCO (f/k/a River Oaks Chamber Ensemble), a Houston ensemble that has always sounded a little too conservative for my taste but which has generated amazing industry buzz in the "saving classical music with fresh presentations" category. Led, as always, by the estimable oboist/arts entrepenuer Alecia Lawyer, this show will entirely feature works created for the ensemble. And don't forget that wine and food tasting!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Harlem Public: good drinks, slightly outlandish food.
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Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 7:30 AM – Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 4:00 PM
Liz Gerring: Field
DANCE
THURSDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18 - 21, 2018
7:30 PM THURSDAY & FRIDAY
8:00 PM SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
Peak Performances
Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair State University
1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey
$30
https://www.peakperfs.org/event/field/2018-10-18/
Shall we call Liz Gerring a neo-Postmodern choreographer? Her work is clean, abstract, intellectual, athletic -- pure movement, Merce and Trisha brought forward. This another of those things that is so to my taste that I'm almost wary of recommending it to others. But I am, very highly.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Regular readers know what I'm going to say: For the Saturday show, the presenter charters a bus from and to Port Authority before and after the performance ($15). Otherwise, go to Pharmacie Liquor Bar in Montclair for good cocktails and food that won't interfere with them (but not on Sunday).
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Wednesday, October 17, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Lisa Moore
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2018
8:00 PM
DiMenna Center for Classical Music
450 West 37th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$25-$45 advance; $30-$50 door
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lisa-moore-live-the-dimenna-center-in-new-york-city-tickets-49520500149
Splendid New Music piano specialist Lisa Moore plays a program of Philip Glass (whom she plays beautifully) and some new preludes for piano and synthesizer by Brooklyn-Colombian composer Julián de la Chica, whose darktoned but lyrical work you just know would be popular if more people only heard it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Tavola arises from one of those classic New York restaurant feuds. Different members of the Manganaro family owned competing hero shops next door to each other on Ninth Avenue; of course they couldn't stand each other. But each of the places was really good. One of the competing family factions finally sold their shop (the other is still operating under family control -- but closes too early to be of use in this List), and it was replaced by a new unaffiliated trattoria called Tavola. Frankly, it's not as good as when it Manganaro's. But it's still more than worth a visit. And you can now mention the next-door hero shop in there without fear of reprisals.
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Wednesday, October 17, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Sontag Shogun / Christopher Tignor / Anastasia Clark + Rachel Austin Duo
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2018
8:00 PM
Areté Venue & Gallery
67 West Street #103, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
$15
https://www.aretevenue.com/events/
An evening of "abstract sentimental music"? Shouldn't they have held off till February? In any event, Sontag Shogun combines "nostalgic" piano tunes with any number of methods of analog sound treatment. Christopher Tignorcomposes compelling violin pieces that he manipulates electronically while he plays. Vocalist/electronic musicians Anastasia Clark and Rachel Austin will collaborate on vocal/electronic music (how'd you guess?) for the first time.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You ought to be just able to make it to Paulie Gee's OG non-slice whole-pie shop.
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Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 7:30 PM – Fri, Oct 19, 2018, 8:30 PM
David Bowie's Berlin Trilogy
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17 - 19, 2018
7:30 PM
Winter Garden
230 Vesey Street, Brookfield Place, Manhattan
Free
https://www.artsbrookfield.com/event/new-sounds-live-david-bowies-berlin-trilogy/
David Bowie was one of those figures who manage to be both somewhat overrated and pretty great. Take what may be Bowie's highest achievement, the trio of albums known as the Berlin Trilogy. They deserve every bit of their renown -- but still, the music made around the same time by Bowie's collaborator Brian Eno remains distinctly superior, if less well known. These three shows will explore that circumstance, each pairing arrangements of the songs from one of the three albums (in reverse chronological order: Lodger on Wednesday, "Heroes" [the best of the three, to my mind] on Thursday, Low on Friday) with arrangements of music by influences Eno and Berliner electronicist Klaus Schulze. What's more, the music will be played by such luminaries as former Bowie guitarist Carlos Alomar, composer/pianist Timo Andres, and members of Deerhoof, Dirty Projectors, Xiu Xiu, Battle Trance, and, leading the band, Shearwater -- as well as some NYC New Music regulars. We can be heroes, just for three days.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Brooklyn's Holy Ground barbecue pop-up has a rather fancy new brick-and-mortar flagship in Tribeca.
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Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Oct 20, 2018, 8:30 PM
Kaneza Shaal: JACK &
DANCE
WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17 - 20, 2018
7:30 PM
Kaneza Shaal: JACK &
BAM Fisher
321 Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$25
https://www.bam.org/theater/2018/jackand
Is Kaneza Schaal's piece about reentry into society after prison dance or theater? You'll have to see for yourself to decide. In any event, don't let the subject matter mislead you into thinking this is some kind of kitchen-sink piece: literal realism and straight narrative are not on the table in Schaal's work.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: There's never been a Persian restaurant in New York as good as Sofreh. The fragrant, floral food -- with a flavor profile that's really unlike anything else -- is cooked remarkably well, giving the best account of this seductive cuisine we've yet had here. The food is so good, in fact, that it makes you ignore the inept (but sweet) service and the horrible wine program. Which makes it even more of a shock that the cocktail program is excellent -- tweaks of classics perfectly calibrated to reflect the unique flavor profile of the cuisine.
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Wednesday, October 17, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Guy Livingston: Dada at the Movies
MUSIC/PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2018
7:30 PM
Rosalyn and Irwin Engelman Recital Hall, Baruch College
55 Lexington Avenue (entrance on East 25th Street), Rose Hill, Manhattan
$36
https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/calendar/(S(rdvzue45c1zemturp4rkharj))/EventList.aspx?fromdate=8/23/2018&todate=2/18/2019&display=Month&type=public&eventidn=58081&view=EventDetails&information_id=750332&print=print
In the July 1923, the Parisian Dadaists staged a performance event mingling film by such artists/filmmakers as Hans Richter and Man Ray, theater, and music by such Dadaist fellow travelers as Satie, Milhaud, and Antheil. It was one of those early 20th Century arts events in Paris that devolved into a legendary riot (indeed, a riot arising from the esthetic split that engendered the new Surrealist movement -- far inferior to dada, IMO) (but we're going way off topic here). Pianist Guy Livingston, who specializes in this repertoire, attempts a recreation of/tribute to that event, with some of those original films, Dadaist costumes, the works (although presumably not the riot). I can only speak for myself: this is some of my personal favorite music -- and a representation of an art movement that is central to my own personal esthetic (BFD).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let me let you in on a secret. Everybody is at least beginning to know that the Modern Korean tasting-menu place Atomix is one of the very best -- top two, if you ask me -- restaurants in New York City. But what people don't know is that, aside from its coveted dining counter, Atomix has an upstairs bar where you can get excellent Korean-inflected cocktails and Korean bar snacks from the same kitchen that produces their fabulous prix fixetasting-menu dinners. Which you can just walk into instead of having to work hard to get a reservation, which will not take you hours to enjoy, and which will not cost you hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Don't tell anybody.
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Wednesday, October 17, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Desdemona Quaret: Kinds of Strings
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2018
7:00 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
At these two shows -- I'm not sure if they feature identical programs or not -- the adventurous strings-and-piano Desdemona Quartet plays works by the new Kind of Kings composers collective -- which includes such List favorites as Gemma Peacocke, Shelley Washington, and Emma O'Halloran. Interesting, stimulating music, by composers who aren't afraid to mix it up.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Wednesday, good beer, no food at Cardiff Giant.
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Wednesday, October 17, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Momenta Festival IV: Points of Departure
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2018
7:00 PM
Americas Society
680 Park Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan
Free
http://www.momentaquartet.com/mf4/
This installment of the Momenta festival -- curated by violinist Emilie-Anne Gendron -- features in impressive lineup. Pride of place must go to Aaron Copland's Sextet. What happened was that Copland wrote an orchestral piece, the Short Symphony, that was too difficult in its shifting meters for extant orchestras to play. His reduction of the work to a chamber piece -- he claimed to have simplified the rhythms, but chamber musicians might beg to differ -- proved a success. Here, the excellent Momenta Quartet is joined in this bracing piece by pianist Stephen Gosling and clarinetist Benjamin Fingland. The rest of the program is full of interest, too, including as it does pieces by possible Greatest Living Composer Kaija Saariaho, criminally underplayed Canadian Ann Southam, exuberant Latin-inflected Roberto Sierra, famous conductor Jean Martinon (performances of his compositions are very rare) -- and Nicola Matteis the Younger (undergoing a minor revival these days) from the High Baroque. Free wine (and, if you must, soft drinks).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I have a friend whose mother insisted till the day she died that Le Veau d'Or was the best restaurant in New York. I hope it was better in her day than its rather dusty self is in ours. Still, you don't see classic French food on every streetcorner.
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Tuesday, October 16, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Joseph C. Phillips Jr. & Numinous: The Grey Land
OPERA
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018
8:00 PM
Roulette
509 Atlantic Avenue, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
$18 advance; $25 door
http://roulette.org/event/joseph-c-phillips-jr-numinous-the-grey-land/
Joseph C. Phillips Jr. is another composer about whom you wonder why he isn't fantastically popular among the general public instead of just widely respected by specialists. He infuses Postminimalist contemporary classical with shades of jazz and R&B; as you listen to his stuff you can't imagine anything else you'd rather be hearing. Numinous is the name he gives his consistently splendid ensembles. Here he premieres a new mono-opera dealing with police shootings and their societal consequences. Major.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A piece this exciting deserves an exciting lead in or follow-up, so let's take the walk to or from enchanting New American Freeks Mill.
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Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 6:00 PM
Rodgers & Hammerstein: Oklahoma!
THEATER
TUESDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16 - 21, 2018 (continuing through NOVEMBER 11)
7:30 PM THURSDAY - SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
St. Ann's Warehouse
45 Water Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn
$26-$100
https://stannswarehouse.org/show/oklahoma/
Daniel Fish's stripped-down version of Oklahoma! was rapturously received when it played at Bard a few summers ago. I personally can't imagine not being nauseated by Oscar Hammerstein II's smug mid-century coyness -- but, hey, I came out of punk. If anything can make a case for it, this production should. Try to snag a table seat, so you can get access to chili, cornbread, and lemonade.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Henry's End has started its annual Fall/Winter Game Festival.
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Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 7:30 PM – Fri, Oct 19, 2018, 11:00 PM
Fred Hersch Duos feat. Anat Cohen
MUSIC
TUESDAY - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16 - 19, 2018
7:30 & 10:30 PM
Village Vanguard
178 Seventh Avenue, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$35
https://villagevanguard.com/calendar-index/
Fred Hersch plays jazz piano in an elegant sort of post-Bill Evans style -- but unlike with Evans, there are never any lapses of taste, no creeping instances of lameness (he's almost like Teddy Wilson in his nearly faultless tastefulness). Here he duets with Anat Cohen, one of New York's more treasurable players, coaxing sounds of exceeding sweetness from her clarinet.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Somehow 4 Charles Prime Rib seems appropriate (and if you're not up to the roast beef, the burger really is all that).
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Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 4:00 PM
Shakespeare: Measure for Measure
THEATER
TUESDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16 - 21, 2018
7:30 TUESDAY - SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
Pushkin Theater/Cheek by Jowl
Next Wave Festival
BAM Harvey Theater
651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$35-$105
https://www.bam.org/theater/2018/measure-for-measure
Shakespeare's "problem play" about authoritarianism and sexual hypocrisy in government gets done more and more these days. Wonder why? Cheek by Jowl does remarkably communicative and gripping stripped-down productions of classics. Moscow's Pushkin Theater knows something about authoritarianism themselves.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: No. 7 serves New American that seems like it's simple until you taste it.
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Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Oct 20, 2018, 8:30 PM
Juliana F. May: Folk Incest
DANCE
TUESDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16 - 20, 2018
7:30 PM
Abrons Arts Center
466 Grand Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$20
http://www.abronsartscenter.org/program/world-premiere-juliana-f-may-folk-incest/
Choreographer Juliana F. May's work is corrosive, topical -- but not didactic nor, God knows, sanctimonious. This work addresses such cheery matters as the Holocaust, sexual trauma, and the fetishization of young girls (you can't accuse May of being timid -- or thinking small). This stuff isn't easy on the audience. But with her biting humor and openness to pop culture, May makes sure to find ways to let the audience in. Another of those shows, then, that you'll walk out of feeling that you've been through something. And, as I always ask, isn't that we really want from a night out at the theater?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Now that I've been to Randall's Barbecue, I can say that it isn't bad at all. Maybe I ordered right. So get what I got (not necessarily what you'd expect to be good at a barbecue joint -- but this one expressly tries to evoke the Ashkenazic foodways of the old Lower East Side): the pastrami sandwich. The meat -- well-spiced and not at all dry -- was about a quarter of the way between New York pastrami and Montreal smoked meat: a good place to be.
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Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 7:00 PM – Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 3:00 PM
Bedlam: Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet
THEATER
TUESDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16 - 21, 2018 (continuing through OCTOBER 28)
7:00 PM TUESDAY & THURSDAY - SATURDAY
2:00 PM WEDNESDAY & SUNDAY
A.R.T./New York Theatres, Mezzanine Theater
502 West 53rd Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$59-$89
http://bedlam.org/whats-on/uncle-romeo-vanya-juliet/
Uncle Vanya is my very favorite play. Romeo and Juliet isn't. But maybe in a mash-up like this, Vanya -- a comedy of lives stretching on endlessly, with no passions requited -- will provide a corrective to Romeo -- a tragedy of young lives cut short, with passion all too requited. In any event, if Bedlam is going to try it, I sure intend to find out.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You can't say that the Swiss restaurant Mont Blanc 52-- the successor to Theater District staple Maria's Mont Blanc -- serves the greatest food you've ever had. But you can say it's good, reliable, always satisfying -- and loads of fun. It always seems like everybody there but me is a regular -- but they're a welcoming crowd, so it's like a very successful dinner party. And if Maria herself is in the house, are you in for a time!
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Tuesday, October 16, 2018, 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Will Lang's Tuesday Night Mega Power Concerts
MUSIC
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018
7:00 PM & 9:00 PM
Areté Venue and Gallery
67 West Street #103, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
$10 7:00 PM; $15 9:00 PM
https://www.aretevenue.com/events/
Two shows here. At 7:00 PM, violinist Shannon Steigerwald presents a solo recital centered on an immersive new piece by Anna Heflin (hmmmmm: she's a violinist, too; is she also playing here?) musically and visually representing the scene in Through the Looking Glass with the talking flowers. Also on that bill are two solo violin pieces that are musically immersive: Berio's Sequenza VIII and Bach's great Chaconne. Then, at 9:00 PM, a vocal recital by four redoubtable vocalist/composers familiar to followers of the local scene: Gelsey Bell, Amirtha Kidambi, Anais Marviel, and Megan Schubert.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Hipster bar and grill Achilles Heel will still be open after late show. Not sure if their kitchen will still be serving, though.
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Tuesday, October 16, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
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Mon, Oct 15, 2018, 8:00 PM – Sat, Oct 20, 2018, 9:00 PM
David Greenspan: The Things that Were There
THEATER
MONDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 - 20, 2018
8:00 PM
Bushwick Starr
207 Starr Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$25
https://www.thebushwickstarr.org/the-things-that-were-there-program
Actor David Greenspan is one of the treasures of the New York theater scene, doing consistently excellent Off-Off work, occasionally showing up On for laughs and a paycheck, a compelling and elegant presence wherever, whether in challenging work on the edge or the occasional mainstream comedy. He's also, as here, a playwright, this time with a family history play. As you might have figured, I consider David Greenspan a pretty sure bet.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm going to keep pushing the wonderful Colombian-Italian-Basque fusion restaurant (I can hear you all asking: Colombian-Italian-Basque fusion AGAIN?) Maite until everybody goes there.
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Mon, Oct 15, 2018, 8:00 PM – Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 9:00 PM
Meredith Monk: Cellular Songs
MUSIC
MONDAY & TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15 & 16, 2018
8:00 PM
(Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$25-$35
https://lpr.com/lpr_events/meredith-monk-night-2-october-15th-2018/
https://lpr.com/lpr_events/meredith-monk-night-3-october-16th-2018/
Meredith Monk had been doing pieces of Cellular Songs, as a work in progress, for a few years; it seemed like a bunch of pleasant miniatures. So Monk fans were blown away when she premiered Cellular Songs in the whole at BAM last Spring, and it turned out to be a major work indeed: her best composition in at least a decade. To be sure, those BAM performances were fully staged, with choreography and a stage set that added greatly to the total impact. I'm not going to claim that nothing will be lost in these unstaged concert performances. But they will permit you to focus more closely on the music, as sung by Monk and her wonderful singers -- and the music is extraordinary, in Monk's unique serene folk/world-inflected contemporary classical manner.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Celebrate the return of this extraordinary piece at Existing Conditions: New York's best new cocktail bar, with worthwhile food to boot.
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Monday, October 15, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
yMusic
MUSIC
MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
7:30 PM
Baryshnikov Arts Center
450 West 37th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$25
https://bacnyc.org/performances/performance/ymusic
yMusic is as accomplished and listener-friendly a New Music ensemble as you could hope for. Here the work they're plugging is a world premiere by accredited composer/rock star Bryce Dessner. I find his classical music uninspired -- but then I find his band boring as all get-out. But look what else is on the bill: pieces by Andrew Norman (another of the most talked about young composers out there), Nico Muhly (who of course has an opera premiering at the Met this week), Gabriel Kahane (who does manage to be good at both pop and classical), and up-and-comer Gabriella Smith!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You wouldn't expect a brewpub to have decent Greekish food. But Death Avenue does.
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Monday, October 15, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Monday, October 15, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Momenta Festival IV: Ocean Breakup
MUSIC
MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
7:00 PM
Americas Society
680 Park Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan
Free
http://www.momentaquartet.com/mf4/
The second installment in this annual festival featuring shows curated by each of the excellent Momenta Quartet's four members. The big news at this show -- curated by violist Stephanie Griffin -- is guest artist soprano Ariadne Greif, a true star in the NYC New Music firmament, who will sing in Griffin's chamber arrangement of that peak of Western music, Isolde's Liebestod (you may wonder how there could be a chamber arrangement of that refulgent piece -- but Liszt's piano transcription, which by some fantastic coincidence happens to be playing as I write this, works pretty fucking well). Beyond that, a collection of new or newish pieces by a bunch of composers I'm not familiar with -- but you can trust this curator (and this quartet). Anyway, Ariane is worth the trip. Regrettably, the free beverage at this show has been changed from beer to wine.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: My real advice is get the hell out of that neighborhood. But if you must stay, I'll note that you can order à la carte at the bar at Restaurant Daniel -- and the current menu features that most succulent of game birds, grouse. I just wish they didn't give it such an overelaborate ballotine-like treatment, when you really just want it roasted with bread sauce.
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Mon, Oct 15, 2018, 7:00 PM – Sat, Oct 20, 2018, 8:00 PM
Andrew R. Butler: Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
THEATER
MONDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 - 20, 2018 (continuing through OCTOBER 27)
7:00 PM MONDAY - WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
8:00 PM THURSDAY & FRIDAY
Ars Nova
511 West 54th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$35-$65
INFO + TICKETS
So I'm sitting in this bar talking to this composer/performer I like named Rick Burkhardt. And I'm like, "So what do you have coming up?" And he's like, "I'm in this show that's going to be at Ars Nova." And I'm like, "You're in that? I wasn't going to recommend it: it looks too folkie." And he's like, "It is folkie. But it's great." Well, if Andrew R. Butler's representation of a folk concert 250 years in the future is good enough for Rick, it's good enough for me.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Very good wine, doable food at Ardesia Wine Bar.
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Monday, October 15, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
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Sunday, October 14, 2018, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
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Saturday, October 13, 2018, 10:30 PM – 11:30 PM
Louis Andriessen: Nightcap
MUSIC
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2018
10:30 PM
Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, Juilliard School
165 West 65th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$25
https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/1819/nightcap-curated-by-louis-andriessen
Continuing the Phil's new New Music initiatives, current Philharmonic stealth festival subject Louis Andriessen -- certainly one of the better composers now active -- curates an intimate after-show following the Philharmonic concert featuring his work tonight, with a program of music that helped form him, from Miles Davis to Ravel to John Cage.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: P.J. Clarke's for a martini, some oysters, and a Cadillac burger.
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Saturday, October 13, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
C4: Premieres I
MUSIC
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2018
8:00 PM
Church of St. Luke in the Fields
487 Hudson Street, West Village, Manhattan
$15; $20 door
http://www.c4ensemble.org/premieres-concerts.html
New York's New Music composers-chorus collective presents the first of two programs this season devoted solely to world premieres. I haven't heard of a single composer on the program -- but these guys know what they're doing.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before the show (the place closes early), New York's leading Israeli chef, Einat Admony, tackles couscous (there are a lot of Moroccans in Israel) and other North African-Jewish dishes in her new Kish-Kash. The cous-cous is hand-rolled and hand-sieved in-house. After the show, something completely different: the hearty Czech meat at Doma na Rahu (cuz you want to eat heavy meat dishes late at night).
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Saturday, October 13, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Jelani Sei
MUSIC
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2018
8:00 PM
Alphaville
140 Wilson Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$10
https://www.facebook.com/events/672655723084649/
Jelani Sei is a terrific indie R&B-rock band. Great material, great playing. I certainly like them better than the headliners, the psych-dream-rock agglomeration Bat House -- and not just because Bat House is from Boston.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This show will probably stretch late into the night. But beforehand, Colombian-Italian-Basque fusion restaurant (yeah, you read that right) Maite is a solid new favorite. Distinctive delicious food, warm welcome, very good cocktails and very very good wine.
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Saturday, October 13, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Katie Procell / Bergamot Quartet: Music by Latin American Composers
MUSIC
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2018
7:00 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
This bright young American soprano, with her instrumental accomplices, performs extremely attractive music by Ginastera, Gabriela Lena Frank, and others.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Am I really going to send you to an Argentine-inflected restaurant after listening to Ginastera? Yes, I'm afraid I am: METTĀ.
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Saturday, October 13, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Momenta Festival IV: Canciones
MUSIC
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2018
7:00 PM
The Tenri Cultural Institute
43a West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
Free
http://www.momentaquartet.com/mf4/
An annual festival put on by the excellent Momenta Quartet in which each of the four members gets to curate a show. In this opening one, violinist Alex Shiozaki concentrates on song form. So the titanic Lucy Shelton sings two folk-based works, a Villa-Lobos Suite for Voice and Violin and Cristóbal Halffter's very beautiful Andalusian song settings for voice and string quartet. And why not program some of the greatest music ever written, Beethoven's late String Quartet No. 13, with its glorious song-like Cavatina (music said to have made even Beethoven cry)? Not sure how Anna Clyne's Rest These Hands for solo violin, a memorial to the composer's mother, fits in here -- but if I were a violinist, I'd program this gorgeous, haunting, intensely moving piece for myself to play, too. Oh, did I mention there's FREE BEER?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Celebrate the Lazarus-like resurrection of Café Loup.
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Friday, October 12, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
MUSIC
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2018
8:00 PM
MATA
Project Q
1850 Amsterdam Avenue, Hamilton Heights, Manhattan
$15
https://matafestival.org/mata-presents/a-room-of-ones-own/
Come for Victoria Cheah's atmospheric voice-and-electronics soundscapes. Stay for the live-processed Barry Manilow covers.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Harlem Public is an excellent cocktail bar with bar food to tide you through the many drinks you'll feel compelled to have (I'm not having a burger with peanut butter on it, though -- even if they claim it as a house special).
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Friday, October 12, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
MUSIC
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2018
8:00 PM
Terminal 5
610 West 65th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$35 ($40 door) - $144
https://www.bowerypresents.com/new-york-metro/shows/detail/355630-kali-uchis
A real power Colombian-American mod-R&B double bill. Kali Uchis's debut album, Isolation, is just great: a real bright spot, slinky eclectic R&B with more than occasional tropical accents. Gabriel Garzón-Montano -- from Carroll Gardens! -- does sweet R&B pop not wholly unlike like his early supporter Mayer Hawthorne, but less self-conscious and certainly funkier. This show is good enough that it might even be worth braving the clusterfuck shitshow that is Terminal 5 for; the fainter of heart can see Garzón-Montano by himself at National Sawdust on Thursday, October 11.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I can't believe I'm getting to recommend out-of-the-way Modern Greek Ousia two weeks in a row. It closes at 11, so don't bet you'll be able to get there after (as opposed to before) the show.
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Friday, October 12, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
MUSIC
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2018
8:00 PM
National Sawdust
80 North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$20
https://nationalsawdust.org/event/j-hoard/
J. Hoard is a really really good modern R&B singer-songwriter whose groovy music would have been called Neo-Soul if he had emerged ten or fifteen years earlier. He's playing here with some opening acts handpicked by himself.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bulk up at Cheeseboat, where the Georgian food may be modernized -- but it isn't any less gutbusting (or DELICIOUS) than the strictly trad stuff.
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Fri, Oct 12, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 8:30 PM
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Friday, October 12, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
MUSIC
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2018
7:30 PM
Owl Music Parlor
497 Rogers Avenue, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn
$10 suggested donation
http://theowl.nyc
You can shoehorn psych-folkie-decades-before-there-was-such-a-thing Peter Stampfel into the esthetic of this List by observing that he was an original postmodernist, approaching the vernacular music and culture of the past as things to be playfully interrogated and consciously utilized rather than bronzed or set in amber. Or, as Stampfel puts it, "We stick our hands up the ass of American music, grab it by the throat, and pull it inside-out. It’s 21st century 19th century American music played in a vast variety of 20th century styles."
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Gladys Jerk Center.
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Friday, October 12, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
MUSIC
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2018
7:00 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; $10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
Nick Didkovsky has been making computer-assisted guitar-and-whatever noise music for decades (maybe you know his long-running Doctor Nerve project). This is a guitar/bass clarinet/electronics trio. It'll seem noisey -- even if it isn't very loud.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Miss Ada! Modern Israeli! Great! And fun on a stick!
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Fri, Oct 12, 2018, 11:00 AM – Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 9:00 PM
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12 & 13, 2018
11:00 AM FRIDAY
8:00 PM SATURDAY
New York Philharmonic
David Geffen Hall
10 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$31-$139
https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/1819/rachmaninoff-rhapsody-on-a-theme-of-paganini
The draw here is a major piece -- well, really the middle part of a big major piece -- by madcap Dutch Postmodernist Louis Andriessen: TAO, which involves a vocal quartet, a singing piano/koto player, and God knows what else. But let's make like the Phil and focus on the largely irrelevant rest of the program. There's the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, for my money the absolute best of the turgid overwrought sentimental slagheap that is Rachmaninoff's body of work. The music can almost be called tart at times -- and when it opens up into beeyootiful Romanticism, for once it feels earned rather than assumed. The piano soloist is Garrick Ohlsson, who will master the piece's many technical challenges but might not give it much sheen. Then there's Sibelius's Second Symphony, from that rather sorry early period when Sibelius still thought that what he really wanted was to be Tchaikovsky. Conducting is the excellent David Robertson. Go for the Andriessen. (Note that after the Saturday concert, there's a separately ticketed after-concert in the Kaplan Penthouse curated by Andriessen. That combo is definitely the way to go.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Lunch after that 11:00 AM show on Friday (who'd goto that?): Épicerie Boulud. Dinner before or after the Wednesday night show (or before the Saturday night): Boulud Sud. After the Saturday night double-header: P.J. Clarke's or Bar Boulud.
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Thu, Oct 11, 2018, 8:00 PM – Sun, Oct 14, 2018, 9:00 PM
PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11 - 14, 2018
8:00 PM THURSDAY - SUNDAY
10:00 PM FRIDAY
La Mama, Downstairs
66 East Fourth Street, East Village, Manhattan
$30; $25 students/seniors
http://lamama.org/kink_haus/
Philadelphia performance artist Gunnar Montana creates a representation of a Berlin underground sex club, and things proceed from there.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Am I going to send you to Momofuku Ko Bar again? Sorry, I am: that's how much I love it.
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Thursday, October 11, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
MUSIC
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2018
8:00 PM
Areté Venue & Gallery
67 West Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Ticket Price Unavailable
https://www.aretevenue.com/events/
Kicking off a new concert series curated by an avant-jazz musician and an avant-classical one, exploring the overlaps between those two forms. Tonight we have Liederkreis, a project in which Judith Berkson crosses experimental classical, electronic, and cantorial(!) musics (with, of course, Schumann somewhere in the background). Oscar Noriega, meanwhile, is simply one of the best jazz horn player/composers in Brooklyn.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: New chef at neighborhood bar-and-New-American-grill standby Achilles Heel. Let's see how she's doing.
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Thursday, October 11, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Thu, Oct 11, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 8:30 PM
DANCE
THURSDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11 - 13, 2018
7:30 PM
Baryshnikov Arts Center
450 West 37th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$25
https://bacnyc.org/performances/performance/lucy-guerin
Precise. Elegant in its way. But galvanic. That's the work of Melbourne choreographer Lucy Guerin -- and this is perhaps her most celebrated piece.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The most Old Skool antipasti, pastas, and sandwiches you could imagine, at Sergimmo Salumeria.
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Thu, Oct 11, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 8:30 PM
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Thu, Oct 11, 2018, 7:00 PM – Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 8:00 PM
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Thursday, October 11, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
MUSIC
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2018
7:00 PM
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$15; 10 students/seniors
http://www.spectrumnyc.com/site/calendar.php
David Rothenberg, the great composer/philosopher/clarinetist -- the quietest clarinetist you've ever (almost) heard -- teams with Berlin synthesist (and all-around scenemaker) Bernhard Wöstheinrich and Chung King Studios recording engineer (here present in his alter ego of bass player) Jay Nicholas. So don't expect anything noisy. Just expect something enthralling.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Gentleman Farmer's meaty French-inflected New American is especially apt for the fall. (Note that you can stay at Spectrum for the following separately ticketed Elijah Shiffer sets -- but Gentleman Farmer will be closed afterward.)
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Wednesday, October 10, 2018, 9:30 PM – 10:30 PM
MUSIC/PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018
9:30 PM
Joe's Pub, The Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street, Noho, Manhattan
$25
https://www.publictheater.org/Tickets/Calendar/PlayDetailsCollection/Joes-Pub/2018/J/John-Kelly/?SiteTheme=JoesPub
When John Kelly started doing this tribute to Joni Mitchell, he dressed up as her: flowing blonde hair, flowing dresses, the full Joni. Now, he does it dressed as himself. Which puts more of the focus on the astonishing interpretative acuity of this greatest of performance artists. Not to mention the astonishing songwriting abilities of that greatest of singer-songwriters.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Stylish but sweet Taiwanese eatery 886 will still be open after the show.
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Wednesday, October 10, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018
8:00 PM
BAM Opera House
30 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$24-$65
https://www.bam.org/music/2018/alice-coltrane
John Coltrane's widow Alice helped lead Coltrane into the cosmos in his last years. Then, after he died, she started an ashram and made expansive ecstatic music that ought to be horrible -- but isn't: go to it openly and odds are you'll be transported. Alice Coltrane died more than a decade ago; here, this music is performed by current inmates of her ashram. If you heard and responded to the Luaka Bop release of Alice Coltrane tapes from this phase that came out last year, you'll know you want to go to this.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: New chef at neighborhood Italian standby Roman's. Let's see how he's doing.
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Wed, Oct 10, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 3:00 PM
DANCE
WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10 - 13, 2018
7:30 PM WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY
BAM Fisher
321 Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$25
https://www.bam.org/dance/2018/trisha-brown-dance-company
The chance to see the Trisha Brown Dance Company in a space as intimate as the BAM Fisher is truly special. Brown was, of course, one of the creators of Postmodern dance at the Judson Dance Theater in the '60s (see the current retropsective at MoMA!), helping pull dance away from the ponderous pretensions of Modernism and foregrounding everyday movement in a way that changes how you look at both everyday movement and dance. Here we'll see some major pieces from various periods of Brown's career. Of course these shows are sold out -- but there may be some availability on standby.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: There's never been a Persian restaurant in New York as good as Sofreh. The fragrant, floral food -- with a flavor profile that's really unlike anything else -- is cooked remarkably well, giving the best account of this seductive cuisine we've yet had here. The food is so good, in fact, that it makes you ignore the inept (but sweet) service and the horrible wine program. Which makes it even more of a shock that the cocktail program is excellent -- tweaks of classics perfectly calibrated to reflect the unique flavor profile of the cuisine. Like these shows, Sofreh is really something special.
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Wed, Oct 10, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 8:30 PM
DANCE
WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10 - 13, 2018
7:30 PM WEDNESDAY
8:00 PM THURSDAY - SATURDAY
NY Quadrille
Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Avenue, Chelsea, Manhattan
$35
https://joyce.org/performances/beth-gill
Donna Uchizono is a little hard to pigeonhole: sometimes her dances are a bit jokey (in a good way); sometimes they're harrowing. They're almost always very interesting, though -- and she always has really great dancers. This piece is a world premiere.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm still boosting Aldea, Chef George Mendes's excellent Modern Portuguese restaurant that ought to be even more generally appreciated than it is.
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Wednesday, October 10, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 10, 2018
7:30 PM
New York Philharmonic
David Geffen Hall
10 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$31-$139
https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/1819/rachmaninoff-rhapsody-on-a-theme-of-paganini
The draw here is a major piece -- well, really the middle part of a big major piece -- by madcap Dutch Postmodernist Louis Andriessen: TAO, which involves a vocal quartet, a singing piano/koto player, and God knows what else. But let's make like the Phil and focus on the largely irrelevant rest of the program. There's the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, for my money the absolute best of the turgid overwrought sentimental slagheap that is Rachmaninoff's body of work. The music can almost be called tart at times -- and when it opens up into beeyootiful Romanticism, for once it feels earned rather than assumed. The piano soloist is Garrick Ohlsson, who will master the piece's many technical challenges but might not give it much sheen. Then there's Sibelius's Second Symphony, from that rather sorry early period when Sibelius still thought that what he really wanted was to be Tchaikovsky. Conducting is the excellent David Robertson. Go for the Andriessen. (Note that after the Saturday concert, there's a separately ticketed after-concert in the Kaplan Penthouse curated by Andriessen. That combo is definitely the way to go.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Lunch after that 11:00 AM show on Friday (who'd goto that?): Épicerie Boulud. Dinner before or after the Wednesday night show (or before the Saturday night): Boulud Sud. After the Saturday night double-header: P.J. Clarke's or Bar Boulud.
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Wednesday, October 10, 2018, 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018
7:00 & 9:00 PM
Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue, Midtown, Manhattan
$45
http://www.armoryonpark.org/programs_events/detail/artists_studio_juliana_huxtable
Fashion/nightlife/performance/DJ/transgender icon Juliana Huxtable does a mixed-media performance piece in the Armory's gorgeous Veterans Room, no doubt dealing with her usual themes of race, gender, sexuality, and equality. You just know it'll be great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A subscriber recommends the vegan bowls at Le Botaniste. But in my heart of hearts, I know I'm going to go back for the Yankee Pot Roast or roast turkey or pork chop at Donahue's.
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Tuesday, October 9, 2018, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
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Tuesday, October 9, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Tue, Oct 9, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 8:30 PM
DANCE
TUESDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9 - 13, 2018
7:30 PM
Juliana F. May: Folk Incest
Abrons Arts Center
466 Grand Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$20
http://www.abronsartscenter.org/program/world-premiere-juliana-f-may-folk-incest/
Choreographer Juliana F. May's work is corrosive, topical -- but not didactic nor, God knows, sanctimonious. This work addresses such cheery matters as the Holocaust, sexual trauma, and the fetishization of young girls (you can't accuse May of being timid -- or thinking small). This stuff isn't easy on the audience. But with her biting humor and openness to pop culture, May makes sure to find ways to let the audience in. Another of those shows, then, that you'll walk out of feeling that you've been through something. And, as I always ask, isn't that we really want from a night out at the theater?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Now that I've been to Randall's Barbecue, I can say that it isn't bad at all. Maybe I ordered right. So get what I got (not necessarily what you'd expect to be good at a barbecue joint -- but this one expressly tries to evoke the Ashkenazic foodways of the old Lower East Side): the pastrami sandwich. The meat -- well-spiced and not at all dry -- was about a quarter of the way between New York pastrami and Montreal smoked meat: a good place to be.
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Tue, Oct 9, 2018, 7:30 PM – Sun, Oct 14, 2018, 10:30 PM
THEATER
TUESDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9 - 14, 2018 (continuing through NOVEMBER 11)
7:30 PM THURSDAY - SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY
5:00 PM SUNDAY
St. Ann's Warehouse
45 Water Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn
$26-$100
https://stannswarehouse.org/show/oklahoma/
Daniel Fish's stripped-down version of Oklahoma! was rapturously received when it played at Bard a few summers ago. I personally can't imagine not being nauseated by Oscar Hammerstein II's smug mid-century coyness -- but, hey, I came out of punk. If anything can make a case for it, this production should. Try to snag a table seat, so you can get access to chili, cornbread, and lemonade.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Henry's End has started its annual Fall/Winter Game Festival.
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Tue, Oct 9, 2018, 7:00 PM – Sun, Oct 14, 2018, 8:00 PM
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Monday, October 8, 2018, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
MUSIC
MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018
9:00 PM
Tropical Fuck Storm
Elsewhere
599 Johnson Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn
$10 advance; $12 door
https://www.elsewherebrooklyn.com/events/2018-10-08-tropical-fuck-storm/
It always happens: just when you're ready to finally write off guitar-band rock as living genre, some new guitar band comes out doing really good stuff with their own spin. Tropical Fuck Storm rose from the ashes of a good Australian group called the Drones, but now mainly manned by women and musically even better: concise well-constructed -- and sharply political -- art-blues-punk.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Stylish Nicaraguan -- yes, Nicaraguan -- at Chicha.
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Mon, Oct 8, 2018, 7:00 PM – Tue, Oct 9, 2018, 9:00 PM
MUSIC
MONDAY & TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8 & 9, 2018
7:00 & 9:00 PM
Louis Andriessen/Michael Gordon/David Lang/Julia Wolfe: MUTED
National Sawdust
80 North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$35
https://nationalsawdust.org/event/muted-monica-germino/
After the American-Dutch violinist Monica Germino was diagnosed with abnormally high sound sensitivity, Dutch master Louis Andriessen got together with the American Bang on a Can triumvirate to compose "the quietest violin piece ever written" for her. Here it is, with an accompanying light show.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Now that I've finally made it to D.O.C. Wine Bar, I can give my most enthusiastic neighborhood recommendation. It's not a place you'd travel to -- but it's the kind of place you're really really happy to find where you happen to be. I only wish the food went even further in the direction of Sardinia, instead of their only having a few (very nice) Sardinian dishes. The wine program I have no complaints about at all.
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Monday, October 8, 2018, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
OPERA
MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018
VARIOUS TIMES STARTING AT 7:00 PM
The High Line
Starts at Gansevoort St. & Washington Street entrance, Meatpacking District, Manhattan
Ends at West 34th Street between 11th Street & 12th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://milelongopera.com/
The list of creators of this outdoor site-specific "opera" (wanna bet it's more like an oratorio?) is almost comically high-powered: David Lang, Anne Carson,Claudia Rankine, Lynsey Peisinger, Diller's architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The work, to be performed along the entirety of the High Line (you start at at the south end and end up at the north) by a massive choir assembled from all five boroughs, purports to present a biography of the transitional time of 7 PM through stories gathered from various New Yorkers. Who cares what it's about, though? This is going to be spectacular, one of the big events of the season. Of course all available spots are taken; there'll be a standby line.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Before the show, pan-Chinese at the new Chelsea branch of Hao Noodle, which informants have told me is even better than the Greenwich Village original. After the show, drinks and Southern-inflected food and snacks at Porchlight.
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Mon, Oct 8, 2018, 1:30 PM – Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 7:00 PM
THEATER
MONDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8 - 13, 2018 (continuing through OCTOBER 27)
7:00 PM MONDAY - WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
8:00 PM THURSDAY & FRIDAY
Andrew R. Butler: Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
Ars Nova
511 West 54th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$35-$65
https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/996876
So I'm sitting in this bar talking to this composer/performer I like named Rick Burkhardt. And I'm like, "So what do you have coming up?" And he's like, "I'm in this show that's going to be at Ars Nova." And I'm like, "You're in that? I wasn't going to recommend it: it looks too folkie." And he's like, "It is folkie. But it's great." Well, if Andrew R. Butler's representation of a folk concert 250 years in the future is good enough for Rick, it's good enough for me.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Very good wine, doable food at Ardesia Wine Bar.
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Thursday, October 4, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Thursday, October 4, 2018, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
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Tuesday, October 2, 2018, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
The Mahler Question
MUSIC
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018
8:00 PM
Moving Sounds Festival 2018
Austrian Cultural Forum
11 East 52nd Street, Midtown, Manhattan
Free
INFO + TICKETS
A festival of music by Mahler (including Alma) and new Austrian music mostly inspired by Mahler.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Tuesday at the Austrian Cultural Forum, David Tanis's new(ish) menu at The Monkey Bar.
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Mon, Oct 1, 2018, 7:30 PM – Fri, Oct 5, 2018, 8:30 PM
THEATER
MONDAY - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1 - 5, 2018
7:30 PM
The Doxsee
232 52nd Street, Sunset Park, Brooklyn
$20
INFO + TICKETS
Little Lord is a queer theater troupe whose work is funny, surreal, on-target. If you don't know them, you'd be well advised to make their acquaintance. I'll let the presenting venue explain what this show is about:
Based on the deceptively simple yet rich language in “McGuffey’s Eclectic Readers,” a series of textbooks used from the 1830s to today, THE PEANUT BUTTER SHOW amplifies some of the awkward and often grotesque techniques used to teach generations of Americans how to read, think and behave. Little Lord delves into the moralistic underpinnings of these books to explore how education is used as a tool of social conditioning — along with other concerns such as the humiliating cult of puberty, the sadistic allure of shame, the awkwardness of children’s musical “edutainment,” and whether or not it’s ever okay to poop with the door open.
Their shows often involve the distribution of food and beverage. You can bet that this time peanut butter will be involved.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Walk up 52nd Street to 8th Avenue and you're smack dab in Brooklyn Chinatown. You can pretty much walk into any place that looks good to you and expect a treat. But if you want a specific recommendation, Lucky Eight -- right around the corner on 8th Avenue -- serves great Cantonese.
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Monday, October 1, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
DANCE
MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2018
7:30 PM
NY Quadrille
Joyce Theater
175 8th Avenue, Chelsea, Manhattan
$35
INFO + TICKETS
Fresh from his reportedly rather sensational choreographic debut with New York City Ballet (you can see that piece there this Thursday and Saturday), Kyle Abraham returns to the more usual precincts of his excellent modern-dance company, A.I.M. The flip side of the vividness of his work is that it can be overly blatant, sometimes even veering into sentimentality. What it never is, is boring. Or unaffecting.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The legendary Shorty Tang had a non-trivial claim to have introduced cold Sichuan sesame noodles to the United States. His grandson continues in the family business.
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Monday, October 1, 2018, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
MUSIC
MONDAY OCTOBER 1, 2018
7:30 PM
Moving Sounds Festival 2018
Advent Lutheran Church
2504 Broadway, Upper West Side, Manhattan
Free
INFO + TICKETS
A festival of music by Mahler (including Alma) and new Austrian music mostly inspired by Mahler.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Monday at Advent, Gabriela's.
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Mon, Oct 1, 2018, 7:00 PM – Sat, Oct 6, 2018, 8:00 PM
THEATER
MONDAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1 - 6
7:00 PM MONDAY - WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
8:00 PM THURSDAY & FRIDAY
Ars Nova
511 West 54th Street, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
$35-$65 ($25 with code)
https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/996876
So I'm sitting in this bar talking to this composer/performer I like named Rick Burkhardt. And I'm like, "So what do you have coming up?" And he's like, "I'm in this show that's going to be at Ars Nova." And I'm like, "You're in that? I wasn't going to recommend it: it looks too folkie." And he's like, "It is folkie. But it's great." Well, if Andrew R. Butler's representation of a folk concert 250 years in the future is good enough for Rick, it's good enough for me.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Very good wine, doable food at Ardesia Wine Bar.
