-
Tue, Nov 30, 2021, 8:30 PM – Sat, Dec 4, 2021, 9:29 PM
Hillary Miller: Preparedness
THEATER
TUESDAY – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30 – DECEMBER 4, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 11)
8:30 PM
SubletSeries: Bushwick Starr Copresentation
HERE
145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Hudson Square, Manhattan
$25
https://here.org/shows/preparedness/
A sort of faux-thriller taking place in a moribund (duh) college arts department.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Basic (but good) Tuscan (and pizza) at Coco Pazzo Trattoria.
-
Tue, Nov 30, 2021, 7:30 PM – Sat, Dec 4, 2021, 8:29 PM
Kiki & Herb: SLEIGHT at BAM
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30 – DECEMBER 4, 2021
7:30 PM
Harvey Theater, BAM Strong
641 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$35-$155
https://www.bam.org/kiki
Justin Vivian Bond and Kenny Mellman don Kiki and Herb garb and personae for a Holiday camp spectacular. You will be very sorry if you miss this.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bit of a stroll, but Chef Fidel Caballero's residency at Rhodora Wine Bar looks tempting.
-
Tue, Nov 30, 2021, 7:30 PM – Thu, Dec 2, 2021, 8:30 PM
-
Tue, Nov 30, 2021, 7:00 PM – Wed, Dec 1, 2021, 8:00 PM
Jeremy O. Harris: Slave Play
THEATER
TUESDAY – WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30 – DECEMBER 1 & DECEMBER 3 – 5, 2021 (continuing through JANUARY 23)
7:00 PM TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY
2:00 PM WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
8:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
August Wilson Theatre
245 West 52nd Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$29-$35
https://slaveplaybroadway.com/
It would be silly to claim that Jeremy O. Harris's is the smartest, most audacious, most piercing play ever to be staged on Broadway. But that's what you'll think as you walk out, and as you continue to think about the play in the following days. (It would be safer to say it's the smartest, most audacious, most piercing treatment of race — but let's face it, that category is neither huge nor, up to now, very distinguished.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I've never had a bad time at Russian Samovar (even if, owing to overindulgence in their infused vodkas, I've had bad times the following mornings).
-
Tuesday, November 30, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Matthew Aucoin: Eurydice
OPERA
TUESDAY & SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30 & DECEMBER 4, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 16)
7:00 PM TUESDAY
1:00 PM SATURDAY
Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$37-$460
https://www.metopera.org/season/2021-22-season/eurydice/
Sarah Ruhl's play Eurydice — telling the familiar Orpheus myth from the viewpoint of the deceased wife (and concluding that she might be better off in the Underworld with her beloved father than in the World married to a singing star) — was a stone delight. If in the past the appeal of lauded opera composer Matthew Aucoin has eluded me — Britten without the endless stream of invention, it seems to me — maybe THIS time I'll get it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Distinctive Italian at The Leopard at des Artistes.
-
Tuesday, November 30, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Tuesday, November 30, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Musical Reminiscences: The 80th Anniversary or Bohuslav Martinu's Arrival in New York
MUSIC
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2021
7:00 PM
Mannes Sounds Festival
Bohemian National Hall
321 East 73rd Street, Upper East Side, Manhattan
Free (by registration)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/musical-reminiscences-the-80th-anniversary-of-bohuslav-martinu-in-new-york-tickets-166846106195
Why isn't Martinu more popular? At its best, his Bohemian Neoclassical music is delightful. One problem is that he was too prolific for his own good: there's a lot of chaff to separate out from the wheat. But the real problem is the usual one: the mainstream classical audience doesn't want to hear anything it hasn't already heard millions of time before. So too bad for them if they miss this delightful chamber music recital, focusing on works Martinu wrote after he arrived in the United States (for the usual reasons Europeans arrived here in the 1940s).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I've made fun of the Bohemian Spirit Restaurant in the Bohemian National Hall for having a sideline in tamales. Then I remembered about Czech/Texan kolaches. I'm not laughing any more.
-
Tue, Nov 30, 2021, 4:30 PM – Sun, Dec 5, 2021, 8:30 PM
Lightscape
PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30 – DECEMBER 5, 2021 (continuing through JANUARY 9)
4:30 – 8:30 PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
990 Washington Avenue, across the street from Crown Heights, Brooklyn
$34 adults; $18 children 3-12; free babies 0-2
https://www.bbg.org/lightscape#tickets
Illuminated trails, site-specific lightworks by local artists, a soundtrack — in the one of the best places in New York City!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You don't see Burmese restaurants coming and going, let alone ones as nice as Rangoon.
-
Tuesday, November 30, 2021, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Big Dance Theater: The Mood Room
DANCE / THEATER
TUESDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30 – DECEMBER 5, 2021
7:30 PM TUESDAY – SATURDAY
3:00 PM & 7:00 PM SUNDAY
BAM Fisher
321 Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$35-$55
https://www.bam.org/the-mood-room
Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar's freewheeling dance/theater company takes on the Reagan years, when things started to south (remember how we thought then that it couldn't get any worse?).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Truly excellent Persian at Sofreh — if you can get in.
-
Tue, Nov 30, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Dec 5, 2021, 5:00 PM
-
Mon, Nov 29, 2021, 8:00 PM – Wed, Dec 1, 2021, 9:00 PM
LCD Soundsystem
MUSIC
MONDAY – WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29 – DECEMBER 1 & DECEMBER 3 – 5, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 21)
8:00 PM
Brooklyn Steel
319 Frost Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$79.50 advance; $85 day of
MONDAY: https://www.axs.com/events/413983/lcd-soundsystem-tickets
TUESDAY: https://www.axs.com/events/413959/lcd-soundsystem-tickets
WEDNESDAY: https://www.axs.com/events/413960/lcd-soundsystem-tickets
FRIDAY: https://www.axs.com/events/413905/lcd-soundsystem-tickets
SATURDAY: https://www.axs.com/events/413961/lcd-soundsystem-tickets
SUNDAY: https://www.axs.com/events/413962/lcd-soundsystem-tickets
It shows you what a huge deal this is that it's a month-long stand. James Murphy's art-dance-rock project captured the moment when it emerged in the early Aughts, and it still sounds of the moment ("Losing My Edge" has been my own personal theme song for almost 20 years now). Is Murphy the cleverest person in Brooklyn, if not America? He just might be.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's make it an all-James Murphy night. Before the show, go to his great wine bar, The Four Horsemen (where, aside from the exceptionally well-selected range of Natural wines, the food is MUCH better than it needs to be). After, go back to his no-longer-secret club next door to Four Horsemen, Daymoves/Nightmoves.
-
Monday, November 29, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Mon, Nov 29, 2021, 5:00 PM – Sun, Dec 5, 2021, 8:00 PM
Assemble
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29 – DECEMBER 5, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 31)
5:00, 5:20, 5:40, 6:00, 6:20, 6:40 & 7:00 THURSDAY & FRIDAY
4:00, 4:20, 4:40, 5:00, 5:20, 5:40, 6:00, 6:20, 6:40 & 7:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Secret Location (disclosed upon ticket purchase), Brooklyn
$40; $30 students/artists/unemployed
https://www.projectassemble.org/
A return of the immersive theatrical experience in which audience members, having downloaded an app that will guide them and provide content, wander around a disused Brooklyn store experiencing an early middle age reconsideration of life choices (the creators of this piece couldn't have anticipated how reflective of the zeitgeist it would turn out to be).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: How would I know? The location's a SECRET!
-
Mon, Nov 29, 2021, 8:00 AM – Sun, Dec 5, 2021, 5:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29 – DECEMBER 5, 2021 (ongoing)
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
One of the first shows during Quarantine that you could actually Go Out! to (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White. The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
-
Mon, Nov 29, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Dec 5, 2021, 1:00 AM
Ellen Reid: SOUNDWALK
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29 – DECEMBER 5, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park
59th Street – 110th Street/Central Park West – 5th Avenue, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://www.ellenreidsoundwalk.com/new-york-philharmonic
The New York Phil hops aboard the walk-around-the-landscaped-space-with-soundtrack train (see below). The highly allusive soundtrack was put together by Ellen Reid, who is one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
-
Sat, Nov 27, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sun, Nov 28, 2021, 9:00 PM
-
Saturday, November 27, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Saturday, November 27, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Saturday, November 27, 2021, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Zeljko McMullen: 8 Hours
MUSIC
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2021
2:00 PM
Roulette In Person & Live Stream
509 Atlantic Avenue, Boerum HIll, Brooklyn
$20 advance in person; $25 door in person; free live stream
https://roulette.org/event/zeljko-mcmullen-8-hours/
Zeljko McMullen presents eight hours — the length of a work day, or sleep time — of études accompanied by abstract animations, creating a sort of guided psychic experience for what appears to a fundamental time division in our culture.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, before or after, have a burger and a beer at Threes Brewing. Streaming at home, drink successive glasses of Milk Punch: pour 2 oz. dark Rum and 6-8 oz. milk, with 1 teaspoon superfine sugar, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a Collins glass. You can sprinkle on some ground nutmeg if you want.
-
Saturday, November 27, 2021, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Aucoin: Eurydice
OPERA
TUESDAY & SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 & 27, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 16)
8:00 PM TUESDAY
1:00 PM SATURDAY
Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$37-$460
https://www.metopera.org/season/2021-22-season/eurydice/
Sarah Ruhl's play Eurydice — telling the familiar Orpheus myth from the viewpoint of the deceased wife (and concluding that she might be better off in the Underworld with her beloved father than in the World married to a singing star) — was a stone delight. If in the past the appeal of lauded opera composer Matthew Aucoin has eluded me — Britten without the endless stream of invention, it seems to me — maybe THIS time I'll get it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Distinctive Italian at The Leopard at des Artistes.
-
Friday, November 26, 2021, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
-
Fri, Nov 26, 2021, 8:30 PM – Sat, Nov 27, 2021, 9:30 PM
Hillary Miller: Preparedness
THEATER
TUESDAY & FRIDAY – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 & 26 – 27, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 11)
8:30 PM
SubletSeries: Bushwick Starr Copresentation
HERE
145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Hudson Square, Manhattan
$25
https://here.org/shows/preparedness/
A sort of faux-thriller taking place in a moribund (duh) college arts department.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Basic (but good) Tuscan (and pizza) at Coco Pazzo Trattoria.
-
Fri, Nov 26, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sun, Nov 28, 2021, 4:00 PM
David Byrne: American Utopia
THEATER / DANCE / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23 – 24 & 26 – 28, 2021 (ongoing)
8:00 PM TUESDAY & FRIDAY
5:00 & 9:00 PM WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
St. James Theater
246 West 44th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$59-$179
https://americanutopiabroadway.com/
If a collaboration between David Byrne and Annie-B Parson were put on at BAM, I wouldn't think twice about Listing it (although I'd still feel constrained to make a comment about Boomer Nostalgia moving on to the Pop Avant-Garde). So I'm not gonna demerit this cuz it's on Broadway. AM I? (BTW, Annie-B Parson has a piece coming up at BAM next month — be sure to make time for it!)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Maybe the sushi at Sushi Lab is overelaborate and tries too hard. But it's there.
-
Fri, Nov 26, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sun, Nov 28, 2021, 9:00 PM
-
Fri, Nov 26, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sat, Nov 27, 2021, 9:00 PM
-
Fri, Nov 26, 2021, 4:00 PM – Sun, Nov 28, 2021, 8:30 PM
Lightscape
PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23 – 24 & 26 – 28, 2021
4:30 – 8:30 PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
990 Washington Avenue, across the street from Crown Heights, Brooklyn
$34 adults; $18 children 3-12; free babies 0-2
https://www.bbg.org/lightscape#tickets
Illuminated trails, site-specific lightworks by local artists, a soundtrack — in the one of the best places in New York City!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You don't see Burmese restaurants coming and going, let alone ones as nice as Rangoon.
-
Fri, Nov 26, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Nov 28, 2021, 4:30 PM
Gelsey Bell & Joseph White: Meander
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23 – 24 & 26 – 28, 2021 (ongoing)
10:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
150 Eastern Parkway, across the street from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Advance ticket required: $18; $12 students and seniors; free children with attending adult; weekdays pay what you can
https://www.bbg.org/visit/event/gelsey_bell_and_joseph_white_meander
Having created a wonderful sound walk through Green-Wood Cemetery, the dream team of Gelsey Bell and Joe White do the same for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (one of my favorite places on earth, if you want to know). The soundtrack is available on the BBG website.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: New Orleans at Lowerline.
-
Tuesday, November 23, 2021, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Hillary Miller: Preparedness
THEATER
TUESDAY & FRIDAY – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 & 26 – 27, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 11)
8:30 PM
SubletSeries: Bushwick Starr Copresentation
HERE
145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Hudson Square, Manhattan
$25
https://here.org/shows/preparedness/
A sort of faux-thriller taking place in a moribund (duh) college arts department.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Basic (but good) Tuscan (and pizza) at Coco Pazzo Trattoria.
-
Tuesday, November 23, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Aucoin: Eurydice
OPERA
TUESDAY & SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 & 27, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 16)
8:00 PM TUESDAY
1:00 PM SATURDAY
Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan
$37-$460
https://www.metopera.org/season/2021-22-season/eurydice/
Sarah Ruhl's play Eurydice — telling the familiar Orpheus myth from the viewpoint of the deceased wife (and concluding that she might be better off in the Underworld with her beloved father than in the World married to a singing star) — was a stone delight. If in the past the appeal of lauded opera composer Matthew Aucoin has eluded me — Britten without the endless stream of invention, it seems to me — maybe THIS time I'll get it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Distinctive Italian at The Leopard at des Artistes.
-
Tue, Nov 23, 2021, 8:00 PM – Wed, Nov 24, 2021, 10:00 PM
David Byrne: American Utopia
THEATER / DANCE / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23 – 24 & 26 – 28, 2021 (ongoing)
8:00 PM TUESDAY & FRIDAY
5:00 & 9:00 PM WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
St. James Theater
246 West 44th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$59-$179
https://americanutopiabroadway.com/
If a collaboration between David Byrne and Annie-B Parson were put on at BAM, I wouldn't think twice about Listing it (although I'd still feel constrained to make a comment about Boomer Nostalgia moving on to the Pop Avant-Garde). So I'm not gonna demerit this cuz it's on Broadway. AM I? (BTW, Annie-B Parson has a piece coming up at BAM next month — be sure to make time for it!)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Maybe the sushi at Sushi Lab is overelaborate and tries too hard. But it's there.
-
Tue, Nov 23, 2021, 8:00 PM – Wed, Nov 24, 2021, 9:00 PM
LCD Soundsystem
MUSIC
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23 & 24, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 21)
8:00 PM
Brooklyn Steel
319 Frost Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$79.50 advance; $85 day of
TUESDAY: https://www.axs.com/events/412478/lcd-soundsystem-tickets?skin=brooklynsteel
WEDNESDAY: https://www.axs.com/events/413970/lcd-soundsystem-tickets?skin=brooklynsteel
It shows you what a huge deal this is that it's a month-long stand. James Murphy's art-dance-rock project captured the moment when it emerged in the early Aughts, and it still sounds of the moment ("Losing My Edge" has been my own personal theme song for almost 20 years now). Is Murphy the cleverest person in Brooklyn, if not America? He just might be.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's make it an all-James Murphy night. Before the show, go to his great wine bar, The Four Horsemen (where, aside from the exceptionally well-selected range of Natural wines, the food is MUCH better than it needs to be). After, go back to his no-longer-secret club next door to Four Horsemen, Daymoves/Nightmoves.
-
Tue, Nov 23, 2021, 4:00 PM – Wed, Nov 24, 2021, 8:30 PM
Lightscape
PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23 – 24 & 26 – 28, 2021
4:30 – 8:30 PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
990 Washington Avenue, across the street from Crown Heights, Brooklyn
$34 adults; $18 children 3-12; free babies 0-2
https://www.bbg.org/lightscape#tickets
Illuminated trails, site-specific lightworks by local artists, a soundtrack — in the one of the best places in New York City!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You don't see Burmese restaurants coming and going, let alone ones as nice as Rangoon.
-
Tue, Nov 23, 2021, 10:00 AM – Wed, Nov 24, 2021, 4:30 PM
Gelsey Bell & Joseph White: Meander
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23 – 24 & 26 – 28, 2021 (ongoing)
10:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
150 Eastern Parkway, across the street from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Advance ticket required: $18; $12 students and seniors; free children with attending adult; weekdays pay what you can
https://www.bbg.org/visit/event/gelsey_bell_and_joseph_white_meander
Having created a wonderful sound walk through Green-Wood Cemetery, the dream team of Gelsey Bell and Joe White do the same for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (one of my favorite places on earth, if you want to know). The soundtrack is available on the BBG website.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: New Orleans at Lowerline.
-
Monday, November 22, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Monday, November 22, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Monday, November 22, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Puppet BloK
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2021
7:30 PM
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$17 advance; $20 door; $15 advance students/seniors; $17 door students/seniors
http://dixonplace.org/performances/puppet-blok-11-22-21/
Puppets!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Exceedingly well-done Noviy Russian at Tzarevna. (Might I say that they serve the best Medovik [they call it "Russian Honey Cake"] I've ever had — by a lot?)
-
Monday, November 22, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 5:00 PM – Sun, Nov 28, 2021, 8:00 PM
Assemble
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22 – 28, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 31)
5:00, 5:20, 5:40, 6:00, 6:20, 6:40 & 7:00 THURSDAY & FRIDAY
4:00, 4:20, 4:40, 5:00, 5:20, 5:40, 6:00, 6:20, 6:40 & 7:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Secret Location (disclosed upon ticket purchase), Brooklyn
$40; $30 students/artists/unemployed
https://www.projectassemble.org/
A return of the immersive theatrical experience in which audience members, having downloaded an app that will guide them and provide content, wander around a disused Brooklyn store experiencing an early middle age reconsideration of life choices (the creators of this piece couldn't have anticipated how reflective of the zeitgeist it would turn out to be).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: How would I know? The location's a SECRET!
-
Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 8:00 AM – Sun, Nov 28, 2021, 5:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22 – 28, 2021 (ongoing)
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
One of the first shows during Quarantine that you could actually Go Out! to (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White. The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
-
Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Nov 28, 2021, 1:00 AM
Ellen Reid: SOUNDWALK
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22 – 28, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park
59th Street – 110th Street/Central Park West – 5th Avenue, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://www.ellenreidsoundwalk.com/new-york-philharmonic
The New York Phil hops aboard the walk-around-the-landscaped-space-with-soundtrack train (see below). The highly allusive soundtrack was put together by Ellen Reid, who is one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
-
Sunday, November 21, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Cramer Quartet: The Seven Last Words Project
MUSIC
THURSDAY & SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18 & 21, 2021
7:30 PM THURSDAY
7:00 PM SUNDAY
Five Bouroughs Music Festival
THURSDAY: The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture
18 Bleecker Street, NoHo, Manhattan
SUNDAY: Flushing Town Hall
137-35 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, Queens
THURSDAY: $30
SUNDAY: $25; $15 students
https://5bmf.org/events/cramer-quartet
The Cramer Quartet commissioned seven composers to write pieces to fit between the nine movements of Haydn's supernal series of adagios, The Seven Last Words of Christ, taking the place of the sermons that were intended to be inserted in those places. And those composers are Jessica Meyer, Colin Jacobsen, Nico Muhly, Tania León, Reena Esmail, Paola Prestini, and Caroline Shaw! Thursday night's performance will be accompanied by dedicated digital projections; Sunday's will put you in what has to be one of the two or three very best dining neighborhoods in New York City.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Thursday, cross the street to Bessou for delightful home-style Japanese. Sunday there's an embarrassment of riches; try Alley 41, which not only serves great Sichuan, but is a total blast.
-
Saturday, November 20, 2021, 10:30 PM – 11:30 PM
-
Saturday, November 20, 2021, 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Stephen Gauci / Matthew Shipp / William Parker / Francisco Melo
MUSIC
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2021
8:00 & 9:30 PM
Scholes Street Studio
375 Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$15
https://gaucimusic.com/#FSContact1
With all due respect to saxophonist Stephen Gauci, the big news here is the rather astonishing rhythm section he's assembled: pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist William Parker, percussionist Francisco Mela, each near the very top of the lists on their respective instruments.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Excellent Venezuelan at Casa Ora.
-
Saturday, November 20, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Outline: Fall
MUSIC
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2021
8:00 PM
Knockdown Center
52-19 Flushing Avenue, Maspeth, Queens
$40 advance; $45 day of
https://knockdown.center/event/outline-winter-2/
Knockdown's Outline shows are always well-programed and capacious. This one features Julia Holter, who melds singer-songwriter with electronica, as headliner. Among the many other worthies on the bill are Emily Sprague, doing solo ambient under her own name and folk-pop/rock with (or as) her band Florist, Bing & Ruth with their compelling minimalist-ambient, and Matthew E. White & Lonnie Holley, who have a genuinely unique take on art/folk-pop.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: ECB is really your best bet around Knockdown, for burgers and now, oddly, Red Sauce.
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Saturday, November 20, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Ekmeles: Primo Libro
MUSIC
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2021
7:30 PM
Our Saviour's Atonement Lutheran Church
178 Bennett Avenue, Washington Heights, Manhattan
$20; $15 students
http://ekmeles.com/wp/2021/10/primo-libro/
The ace vocal ensemble Ekmeles presents a world premiere by the (sometimes) folk-inflected (and even then very abstractly) Shawn Jaeger; the title piece in which James Weeks fucks with the madrigal forms; and one of Anthony Braxton's rigorous assemblages — and more!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Dominican seafood at Calle 191 Pescaderia.
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Saturday, November 20, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Saturday, November 20, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Friday, November 19, 2021, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
-
Friday, November 19, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Friday, November 19, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Jessica Pavone: "Lull" for String Octet and Soloists
MUSIC
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2021
8:00 PM
Roulette In Person & Live Stream
509 Atlantic Avenue (entrance on 3rd Avenue), Boerum HIll, Brooklyn
$20 advance; $25 door; free live stream
https://roulette.org/event/jessica-pavone-lull-for-string-octet-and-soloists/
Is it too early for 2020 nostalgia? What is probably the in-person premiere of a piece for strings developed during Quarantine by violist/composer Jessica Pavone. And Pavone is a perfect stylist for that time: her work has the time-suspending quality that characterized the best Quarantine music for many of us (I've never listened to such concentrated doses [that's a joke: these must be the least concentrated composers in all of Western music] of Feldman and Bruckner in my life). Pavone slides between consonance and dissonance, tone and microtone. This promises to be special.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: And then you can go drink (and eat surprisingly well) at Grand Army Bar.
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Fri, Nov 19, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sat, Nov 20, 2021, 9:00 PM
Rebecca Quinn Robertson: Sisters, Weywrd
THEATER
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19 & 20, 2021
8:00 PM
The Brick
579 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
$20
https://www.bricktheater.com/event/sisters-weywrd/2021-11-19/
Three old friends from theater camp have a reunion, except they're witches. Sisterhood is powerful.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Truly excellent udon at Hanon.
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Friday, November 19, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Friday, November 19, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Friday, November 19, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
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Fri, Nov 19, 2021, 4:30 PM – Sun, Nov 21, 2021, 8:30 PM
Lightscape
PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19 – 21, 2021 (continuing through JANUARY 9)
4:30 – 8:30 PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
990 Washington Avenue, across the street from Crown Heights, Brooklyn
$34 adults; $18 children 3-12; free babies 0-2
https://www.bbg.org/lightscape#tickets
Illuminated trails, site-specific lightworks by local artists, a soundtrack — in the one of the best places in New York City!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You don't see Burmese restaurants coming and going, let alone ones as nice as Rangoon.
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Thursday, November 18, 2021, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM
-
Thursday, November 18, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sun, Nov 21, 2021, 2:00 PM
Timothy White Eagle & The Violet Triangle: The Indigo Room
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18 – 21, 2021
8:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
1:00 PM SUNDAY
La MaMa
66 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$10-$60
https://www.lamama.org/shows/the-indigo-room-2021
An experience rooted in the universal myth of a hero's being swallowed alive and then returning.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Neighborhood Italian at Frank.
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Thursday, November 18, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Thursday, November 18, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Cramer Quartet: The Seven Last Words Project
MUSIC
THURSDAY & SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18 & 21, 2021
7:30 PM THURSDAY
7:00 PM SUNDAY
Five Bouroughs Music Festival
THURSDAY: The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture
18 Bleecker Street, NoHo, Manhattan
SUNDAY: Flushing Town Hall
137-35 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, Queens
THURSDAY: $30
SUNDAY: $25; $15 students
https://5bmf.org/events/cramer-quartet
The Cramer Quartet commissioned seven composers to write pieces to fit between the nine movements of Haydn's supernal series of adagios, The Seven Last Words of Christ, taking the place of the sermons that were intended to be inserted in those places. And those composers are Jessica Meyer, Colin Jacobsen, Nico Muhly, Tania León, Reena Esmail, Paola Prestini, and Caroline Shaw! Thursday night's performance will be accompanied by dedicated digital projections; Sunday's will put you in what has to be one of the two or three very best dining neighborhoods in New York City.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Thursday, cross the street to Bessou for delightful home-style Japanese. Sunday there's an embarrassment of riches; try Alley 41, which not only serves great Sichuan, but is a total blast.
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Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 7:30 PM – Sat, Nov 20, 2021, 10:00 PM
Dance Bloc
DANCE
THURSDAY – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18 – 20, 2021
7:30 PM THURSDAY
7:00 & 9:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
3:00 PM SATURDAY
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$18 per show advance; $20 per show door; $15 per show students/seniors advance; $17 per show students/seniors door; $28 two-show bundle; $60 six-show festival pass
http://dixonplace.org/performances/danceblocnyc-2021/
Emerging choreographers.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Thai Diner — if you can get in.
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Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 7:00 PM – Sun, Nov 21, 2021, 3:00 PM
Stephen Petronio Company: Petronio Punk Picks and Other Delights
DANCE
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18 – 21, 2021
7:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
2:00 PM SUNDAY
La MaMa
66 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$25 advance; $30 day of; $20 students/seniors advance; $25 students seniors day of
https://www.lamama.org/shows/petronio-punk-picks-2021
Stephen Petronio revives solos and duets extracted from his early work, which pops. Also, a new piece from Johnnie Cruise Mercer.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Continuing this List's Northern Chinese obsession, Jiang's Kitchen.
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Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 5:00 PM – Sun, Nov 21, 2021, 8:00 PM
Assemble
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18 – 21, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 31)
5:00, 5:20, 5:40, 6:00, 6:20, 6:40 & 7:00 THURSDAY & FRIDAY
4:00, 4:20, 4:40, 5:00, 5:20, 5:40, 6:00, 6:20, 6:40 & 7:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Secret Location (disclosed upon ticket purchase), Brooklyn
$40; $30 students/artists/unemployed
https://www.projectassemble.org/
A return of the immersive theatrical experience in which audience members, having downloaded an app that will guide them and provide content, wander around a disused Brooklyn store experiencing an early middle age reconsideration of life choices (the creators of this piece couldn't have anticipated how reflective of the zeitgeist it would turn out to be).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: How would I know? The location's a SECRET!
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Wednesday, November 17, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Bob Bellerue: Radioactive Desire
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2021
8:00 PM
Roulette In Person & Live Stream
509 Atlantic Avenue, Boerum HIll, Brooklyn
$20 advance in person; $25 door in person; free live stream
https://roulette.org/event/bob-bellerue-radioactive-desire/
Free chamber music played by an all-star sextet fed into a feedback system by master sonic manipulator Bob Bellerue.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, the eclectic As You Are, in the new Brooklyn Ace Hotel, is really pretty nice. Streaming at home, have an Atomic Cocktail: pour 1-1/2 oz. each of Vodka and Brandy (French or Spanish), and 1 teaspoon of Amontillado (if you use Spanish Brandy) or Oloroso (if you use French Brandy) Sherry, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe and top with 1-1/2 oz. Champagne.
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Wednesday, November 17, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Wed, Nov 17, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sun, Nov 21, 2021, 4:00 PM
David Byrne: American Utopia
THEATER / DANCE / PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17 – 21, 2021 (ongoing)
8:00 PM WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY
5:00 & 9:00 PM SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
St. James Theater
246 West 44th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$59-$179
https://americanutopiabroadway.com/
If a collaboration between David Byrne and Annie-B Parson were put on at BAM, I wouldn't think twice about Listing it (although I'd still feel constrained to make a comment about Boomer Nostalgia moving on to the Pop Avant-Garde). So I'm not gonna demerit this cuz it's on Broadway. AM I? (BTW, Annie-B Parson has a piece coming up at BAM next month — be sure to make time for it!)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Maybe the sushi at Sushi Lab is overelaborate and tries too hard. But it's there.
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Wed, Nov 17, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sun, Nov 21, 2021, 3:00 PM
Twyla Tharp: Twyla Now
DANCE
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17 – 21, 2021
8:00 PM WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY
2:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
New York City Center
131 West 55th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$35-$160
https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/2021-2022/twyla-now/
New and old Twyla Tharp performed by a cast of absolute stars of contemporary ballet and mainstream modern, including among others Tiler Peck, Robbie Fairchild (yes, on the same stage!), Sara Mearns, James Gilmer, Cassandra Trenary . . . well, you get the idea.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Forget about eating anywhere after the show in Midtown. Before, Pete Wells says La Bonne Soup is good again — which, if true, would be true for the first time since I was in Law School (a damning admission).
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Wed, Nov 17, 2021, 7:30 PM – Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 8:30 PM
-
Wednesday, November 17, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Wed, Nov 17, 2021, 7:00 PM – Fri, Nov 19, 2021, 8:00 PM
Melt Down
THEATER
WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17 – 19, 2021
7:00 PM
SubletSeries: Coop
HERE
145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Hudson Square, Manhattan
$15-$30
https://here.org/shows/melt-down/
Five playwrights each contribute a character and, without seeing the other writers' contributions, write a scene where their character interacts with the other playwrights'. It's all about Millennial friend groups through the years (no reason for Millennials not to be as self-obsessed as my own famously self-obsessed peer group).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good Italian at Altro Paradiso.
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Wednesday, November 17, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
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Tue, Nov 16, 2021, 8:30 PM – Sat, Nov 20, 2021, 9:30 PM
Hillary Miller: Preparedness
THEATER
TUESDAY – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16 – 20, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 11)
8:30 PM
Subletseries: Bushwick Starr Copresentation
HERE
145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Hudson Square, Manhattan
$25
https://here.org/shows/preparedness/
A sort of faux-thriller taking place in a moribund (duh) college arts department.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Basic (but good) Tuscan (and pizza) at Coco Pazzo Trattoria.
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Tue, Nov 16, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sat, Nov 20, 2021, 9:00 PM
-
Tuesday, November 16, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Tuesday, November 16, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Tue, Nov 16, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Nov 21, 2021, 4:30 PM
-
Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 8:00 PM – Tue, Nov 16, 2021, 8:59 PM
-
Monday, November 15, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Monday, November 15, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Monday, November 15, 2021, 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
World Dance Festival: Dancing Across Cultural Borders
DANCE
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2021
4:00 PM
Dixon Place In Person & Live Stream
161A Chrystie Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$25-$100 in person; $15 students/seniors in person; $10 live stream
http://dixonplace.org/performances/world-dance-festival-2021/
Like world music, but dance.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, beers and the wurst that love them at Loreley Beer Garden. Streaming at home, have a Bamboo: pour 1-1/2 oz. each of dry Vermouth and Fino Sherry, with 2 dashes each of orange bitters and Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist or an olive.
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Monday, November 15, 2021, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
-
Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 8:00 AM – Sun, Nov 21, 2021, 5:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15 – 21, 2021 (ongoing)
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
One of the first shows during Quarantine that you could actually Go Out! to (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White. The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
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Mon, Nov 15, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Nov 21, 2021, 1:00 AM
Ellen Reid: SOUNDWALK
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15 – 21, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park
59th Street – 110th Street/Central Park West – 5th Avenue, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://www.ellenreidsoundwalk.com/new-york-philharmonic
The New York Phil hops aboard the walk-around-the-landscaped-space-with-soundtrack train (see below). The highly allusive soundtrack was put together by Ellen Reid, who is one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
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Sunday, November 14, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Sunday, November 14, 2021, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
-
Saturday, November 13, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Saturday, November 13, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Saturday, November 13, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Cantata Profana: Recitatives & Ariosos
MUSIC
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2021
7:00 PM
Brooklyn Music School
126 St. Felix Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
$35; $15 students
https://www.universe.com/events/cantata-profana-presents-recitatives-ariosos-tickets-L3JPR6
The best programmers in New York (and also the best program note writers — much as it pains me to praise anyone else's writing about music), the vocal-instrumental ensemble Cantata Profana, returns to live performance with a typically inviting program including Górecki, Fauré, Ives, Weill, Messiaen, and lots more.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Neighborhood Turkish at Deniz.
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Friday, November 12, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Laura Parnes: "Tour Without End" Screening feat. The Blow, Macy Rodman & CRICKETS
MUSIC
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
8:00 PM
Pioneer Works
159 Pioneer Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn
$10
https://pioneerworks.org/programs/tour-without-end-screening-and-performance
In connection with an ongoing multi-media exhibition of materials relating to the film, Laura Parnes screens Tour Without End, a fictionalized account of the NYC DIY music underground, featuring many luminaries of that scene, taking place in now-decimated venues. And during intermissions: live sets by electro-metapopsters The Blow (God I love them), sorta hyperpopster/sorta not Macy Rodman, and minimal-pop/rock supergroup CRICKETS. A big night.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Red Hook Tavern duh.
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Friday, November 12, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
JJJJJerome Ellis: The Clearing
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
8:00 PM
The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church
131 East 10th Street, East Village, Manhattan
Free ($10 donation recommended)
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/jjjjjerome-ellis-clearing
Being a black queer stutterer as an act of opposition and refusal. JJJJJerome Ellis is as engaging a musician/performance artist is there is in New York.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Go to Momofuku Noodle Bar and try to remember when they weren't corporate.
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Friday, November 12, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Black Dice
MUSIC
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
8:00 PM
Knockdown Center
52-19 Flushing Avenue, Maspeth, Queens
$25 advance; $30 day of
https://knockdown.center/event/black-dice-xiu-xiu/
You never know what to expect from once and future noise band Black Dice: at some points last decade, it amost seemed like they were going songform pop. What I've heard of their new album suggests they're not ditching the songform, but loosening things up. Fine with me.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: ECB is really your best bet around Knockdown, for burgers and now, oddly, Red Sauce.
-
Friday, November 12, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Friday, November 12, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Friday, November 12, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Fri, Nov 12, 2021, 1:00 PM – Sun, Nov 14, 2021, 2:00 PM
Transforma Theater: Science in Theater Festival
THEATER
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12 – 14, 2021
7:00 PM
the cell theatre In Person & Live Stream
338 West 23rd Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$25 per show in person; $100 festival pass
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/science-in-theatre-festival-tickets-111744264102
New theater pieces making use of developing technologies that could enhance (or not) the theatrical experience.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, I personally find the Middle Eastern food at Shukette a little too gimmicky and overthought. But everybody else in the world seems to love it, so who knows? Streaming at home, have the lowest-tech drink in the world, a Martini: pour 2 oz. Gin and 1 oz. dry Vermouth into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into an ice-filled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist or an olive.
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Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 9:00 PM
-
Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sun, Nov 14, 2021, 2:00 PM
Timothy White Eagle & The Violet Triangle: The Indigo Room
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11 – 14, 2021
8:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
1:00 PM SUNDAY
La MaMa
66 East 4th Street, East Village, Manhattan
$10-$60
https://www.lamama.org/shows/the-indigo-room-2021
An experience rooted in the universal myth of a hero'sd being swallowed alive and then returning.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Neighborhood Italian at Frank.
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Thursday, November 11, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Daymé Arocena
MUSIC
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2021
8:00 PM
(Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$25-$50 advance; $35-$50 day of
https://lpr.com/lpr_events/dayme/
I'm not gonna make any stupid unattainable claims for Cuban singer Daymé Arocena like calling her "Aretha level". But you get the idea.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Roman osteria Lupa is, unnacountably, still good.
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Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 9:00 PM
-
Thursday, November 11, 2021, 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM
Kevin Laskey: The Snow, Like Me
MUSIC
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2021
7:30 & 9:30 PM
Jazz Gallery In Person & Early Show Live Stream
1160 Broadway, NoHo, Manhattan
$15-$25 in person; $20 live stream
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/kevin-laskey-snow-like-me
A jazz deconstruction of English Baroque. Followers of the local Early Music scene will be interested to know that the vocalist for this song cycle is Molly Netter; Alt Classicists will want to know that Eleanore Oppenheim plays bass. Kevin Laskey composes and leads (and plays drums and electronics).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The biggest favor I'm ever going to do for any of you is to recommend the astonishing (if not quite as astonishing as it was pre-Lockdown) West African (with some Caribbean ringers) buffet at B&B Restaurant Corp., almost certainly the best food value in Manhattan. So I'ma keep repeating it.
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Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 7:30 PM – Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 8:30 PM
-
Thursday, November 11, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Nu Jazz / Sweater on Polo
MUSIC
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2021
7:30 PM
IRL
80 Franklin Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
$12-20
https://ra.co/events/1472210
It sounds like it'll be jazz, but really it's avant-EDM. What it is, is fun.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: People are getting excited about Nura, but to me it looks like more of the same watered-down "Mediterranean" that people mistakenly think is "healthier" than other food.
-
Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 7:00 PM – Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 8:00 PM
Jazz Libre!
MUSIC
THURSDAY – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11 – 13, 2021
7:00 PM THURSDAY
8:00 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
Arts for Art / BOROMIX Puerto Rico Fest In Person & Live Stream
Flamboyan Theater, The Clemente
107 Suffolk Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$25 in person Thursday; Free in person Friday & Saturday
$10 live stream Thursday; Free live stream Friday & Saturday
https://www.artsforart.org/jazz-libre.html
Free and mod jazz with more than a Latin Tinge.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, it's inappropriate, but Balaverna, with food from Argentina: the most European, last Afro-Indigenous country in Latin America. Streaming at home, a Cuba Libre: pour 1/2 oz. lime juice into a tall glass. Add ice. Pour in 2 oz. light Rum and 4 oz. Cola. Stir. I always toss in the spent lime — but hey I'm a pig.
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Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 7:00 PM – Sun, Nov 14, 2021, 3:00 PM
Catalina Florescu: Mia (Four Installations)
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11 – 14, 2021
7:00 PM THURSDAY – SATURDAY
2:00 PM SUNDAY
Identity Crisis Theater
SubletSeries
HERE
145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Hudson Square, Manhattan
$15; $10 students
https://here.org/shows/mia/
A multifaceted piece that invites the audience to experience a breast cancer patient's reaction to having a mastectomy.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Palermo slice — technically a sfincione, but who's counting? — at Famous Ben's Pizza really is one of the glories of NYC eating.
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Thursday, November 11, 2021, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
-
Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 5:00 PM – Sun, Nov 14, 2021, 8:00 PM
Assemble
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11 – 14, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 31)
5:00, 5:20, 5:40, 6:00, 6:20, 6:40 & 7:00 THURSDAY & FRIDAY
4:00, 4:20, 4:40, 5:00, 5:20, 5:40, 6:00, 6:20, 6:40 & 7:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Secret Location (disclosed upon ticket purchase), Brooklyn
$40; $30 students/artists/unemployed
https://www.projectassemble.org/
A return of the immersive theatrical experience in which audience members, having downloaded an app that will guide them and provide content, wander around a disused Brooklyn store experiencing an early middle age reconsideration of life choices (the creators of this piece couldn't have anticipated how reflective of the zeitgeist it would turn out to be).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: How would I know? The location's a SECRET!
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Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 8:30 PM – Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 9:30 PM
Hillary Miller: Preparedness
THEATER
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10 – 13, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 11)
8:30 PM
Subletseries: Bushwick Starr Copresentation
HERE
145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Hudson Square, Manhattan
$18
https://here.org/shows/preparedness/
A sort of faux-thriller taking place in a moribund (duh) college arts department.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Basic (but good) Tuscan (and pizza) at Coco Pazzo Trattoria.
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Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sun, Nov 14, 2021, 4:00 PM
David Byrne: American Utopia
THEATER / DANCE / PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10 – 14, 2021 (ongoing)
8:00 PM WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY
5:00 & 9:00 PM SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
St. James Theater
246 West 44th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$59-$179
https://americanutopiabroadway.com/
If a collaboration between David Byrne and Annie-B Parson were put on at BAM, I wouldn't think twice about Listing it (although I'd still feel constrained to make a comment about Boomer Nostalgia moving on to the Pop Avant-Garde). So I'm not gonna demerit this cuz it's on Broadway. AM I? (BTW, Annie-B Parson has a piece coming up at BAM next month — be sure to make time for it!)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Maybe the sushi at Sushi Lab is overelaborate and tries too hard. But it's there.
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Wednesday, November 10, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 8:00 PM – Fri, Nov 12, 2021, 9:00 PM
Kinzel and Shick: Standing in a Doorway and Calling It a Dance
DANCE
WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10 – 12, 2021
8:00 PM
Roulette
509 Atlantic Avenue, Boerum HIll, Brooklyn
$20 advance; $25 door
https://roulette.org/event/kinzel-and-shick-standing-in-a-doorway-and-calling-it-a-dance/
If there's anyone on the New York dance scene this List adores, it's Vicky Shick, who abstracts the quotidian into something strange and revelatory. A collaboration with Jon Kinzel, whose work is as much installation as choreography, should only make the quotidian stranger.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The eclectic As You Are, in the new Brooklyn Ace Hotel, is really pretty nice.
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Wednesday, November 10, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Wednesday, November 10, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 7:00 PM – Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 8:00 PM
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Tuesday, November 9, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Tuesday, November 9, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Puppet BloK
PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2021 (also NOVEMBER 15, 17 & 22)
7:30 PM
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
$17 advance; $20 door; $15 advance students/seniors; $17 door students/seniors; $28 for 2 shows; $42 for all 4 shows
http://dixonplace.org/performances/puppet-blok-11-9-21/
Puppets!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: After I finish writing this, I'm going to dinner at Nu Russian Tzarevna — and boy am I excited.
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Tuesday, November 9, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Tue, Nov 9, 2021, 12:00 PM – Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 1:00 PM
-
Tue, Nov 9, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Nov 14, 2021, 4:30 PM
-
Mon, Nov 8, 2021, 8:00 PM – Tue, Nov 9, 2021, 9:00 PM
-
Monday, November 8, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
The Society of Fellows of the American Academy in Rome: Salone
MUSIC
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2021
7:00 PM
Roulette
509 Atlantic Avenue (entrance on 3rd Avenue), Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
$50-$5,000 in person; $15 live stream
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/salone-tickets-76100950993
I don't usually List benefits, but the $50 base ticket is pretty reasonable considering the line-up here. Among the Rome Prize winners performing (mostly live but sometimes on film/video) are Colin Gee (music by sister Erin), John Kelly, Molissa Fenley, Pat Olesko, Basil Twist, and . . . List darling Pamela Z. Might actually warrant the creepy air of self-congratulation that tends to pervade benefits.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Neighborhood Italian at Rucola.
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Mon, Nov 8, 2021, 8:00 AM – Sun, Nov 14, 2021, 5:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – 14, 2021 (ongoing)
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
One of the first shows during Quarantine that you could actually Go Out! to (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White. The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
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Mon, Nov 8, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Nov 14, 2021, 1:00 AM
Ellen Reid: SOUNDWALK
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – 14, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park
59th Street – 110th Street/Central Park West – 5th Avenue, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://www.ellenreidsoundwalk.com/new-york-philharmonic
The New York Phil hops aboard the walk-around-the-landscaped-space-with-soundtrack train (see below). The highly allusive soundtrack was put together by Ellen Reid, who is one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
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Mon, Nov 8, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Nov 14, 2021, 10:00 AM
Stephanie Fleischmann, Christina Campanella & Mallory Catlett: The Visitation
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – 14, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 10:00 PM
HERE Arts Center Presentation
Jackie Robinson Park
Between Edgecombe & Bradhurst Aves. & 145 – 155 Sts., Sugar Hill, Manhattan
Pay what you wish
https://here.org/shows/the-visitation/
Another sound walk (I LOVE these!), this one set to avant-pop you access through Soundcloud.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good beer, epic burgers at Harlem Public.
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Sunday, November 7, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
The Songs of Big Star
MUSIC
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2021
8:00 PM
St. Ann & The Holy Trinity Church
157 Montague Street, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
$45
https://wl.seetickets.us/event/The-Songs-of-Big-Star/438424?afflky=Murmrr
We don't usually List oldies shows here — pop or classical — but it's my birthday, so permit me my nostalgia. The songs of the greatest power pop band ever, a band I just LOVED, BIg Star — performed acoustically, with orchestrations, by a gaggle of genre luminaries, including one of my favorite pop-rock musicians, onetime protegé of (the late) Biggest Star Alex Chllton, Chris Stamey (now let's do a dBs tribute!).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Not much night-making on a Sunday night (or any night) in Brooklyn Heights. Maybe take the long walk over to The Long Island Bar?
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Sunday, November 7, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Sunday, November 7, 2021, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Pamela Z: A Sunday with Pamela Z
MUSIC
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2021
4:00 PM
Commend
172 Forsyth Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Free
http://www.pamelaz.com/jpgs/PZ-inStore270.jpg
Voice/electronics explorer Pamela Z — one of the most sheerly entertaining artists in Alt Classical — celebrates the re-release of her New Wavey '80s album Echolation by performing some songs from it — as well as from her totally excellent new album, A Secret Code. There'll also be a Q&A with the highly personable Ms. Z.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: After the show, repair to Bar Goto for excellent Japanese-inflected cocktails and similarly excellent Japanese bar snacks.
-
Sunday, November 7, 2021, 4:00 PM – 4:00 PM
-
Sunday, November 7, 2021, 3:30 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Saturday, November 6, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Saturday, November 6, 2021, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Lydia Mokdessi & Jason Bartel: DEVOTION DEVOTION
PERFORMANCE / DANCE
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2021
4:00 PM
The Brick
579 Metropolitan Avenue, Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn
$20
https://www.bricktheater.com/event/devotion-devotion-2/
A four-hour durational piece for dance, guitar, and voice that promises a pleasurable meditative experience within a harsh audiovisual environment: just the kind of thing List readers want, in other words.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A lot of highly touted food trucks, you go to them and you can't help but think everybody's deluding themselves. That is decidedly NOT the case with Birria-Landia, where the birria tacos are indeed transcendent.
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Friday, November 5, 2021, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Electric Gugak
MUSIC
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2021
9:00 PM
Culture Hub In-Person & Live Stream
47 Great Jones Street, NoHo, Manhattan
$10 in person; free live stream
https://www.culturehub.org/events/electric-gugak
Modernized performances of trad Korean music are given in New York, Seoul, and Davenport, Washington. If you go in person, you get to watch the New York performance live in the theater and remote live screenings of the other performances. Streaming at home, you obviously watch remote live streams of all of them. (I'm planning to cook some Korean food for dinner after I finish writing this portion of this newsletter, and this is making me very hungry.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: If you go live, I haven't heard particularly good things about the new iteration of Temple Bar — but we have to try it, right? At home, make a Soju Screwdriver: pour 1 oz. Soju and 3 oz. orange juice into a tall glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with an orange wedge.
-
Fri, Nov 5, 2021, 9:00 PM – Sat, Nov 6, 2021, 10:00 PM
-
Friday, November 5, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Friday, November 5, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Dan Weiss Trio feat. Jacob Sacks & Thomas Morgan
MUSIC
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2021
8:00 PM
Soapbox Gallery In Person & Live Stream
636 Dean Street, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
$25 in person
Pay What You Can live stream
https://www.soapboxgallery.org/events/dan-weiss-trio
What with his metal, prog, Indian, electronic, and other influences, Dan Weiss is one of the most interesting jazz drummers in town. This is his mainstream piano trio — but with Weiss, nothing is so mainstream.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, you can just make the last seating at eclectic sensation Olmsted — if you're lucky enough to get a table. Streaming at home, follow up your Paper Plane with its cousin, a Naked and Famous: pour 3/4 oz. each of Mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, Aperol, and lime juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Friday, November 5, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Tiresias: Hyperfantasia
PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2021
7:00 PM
The Brick
579 Metropolitan Avenue, Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn
$15
https://www.bricktheater.com/event/hyperfantasia/
I recommended this self-described "transdisciplinary sci-fi fantasy drag cabaret that begins at the Big Bang and culminates in a vision of queer utopia" when it played at HERE last week. And now it's at The Brick!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delectable Roman pinsa at Montesacro.
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Friday, November 5, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Friday, November 5, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Yarn / Wire
MUSIC
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2021
7:00 PM
Americas Society
680 Park Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan
Free (reservation required)
https://www.as-coa.org/events/yarnwire-hilos-de-viento
The unique piano/percussion quartet Yarn/Wire does brand new and new-enough music from various points in the Americas.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This show doesn't even end that late, but I am thrilled to pass on the great news given me by subscriber RR that there is now a restaurant in this part of town that stays open till a decent hour: the defiantly Old Skool haute French Majorelle (and its less preposessing [but still stupid expensive] adjacent Jacques Bar).
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Friday, November 5, 2021, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2021 (weekly)
5:00 PM
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Facebook
Free
https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/ethel-online
The fab alt string quartet ETHEL brings its weekly recitals in the Met Balcony Bar home (theirs and yours). Expect old and new music, and surprise guests (from still more homes).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Amber Negroni: pour 1/2 oz. each of Gin and Braulio Amaro, and 1 oz. each of Lillet Blanc (with the usual preferred substitutions, especially Tempus Fugit Kino l'Áero d'Or) and lemon juice, with 3 dashes of Bitterman's Burlesque Bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a rosemary sprig.
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Fri, Nov 5, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 11:00 PM
MAXLIVE 2021: The Neuroverse
PERFORMANCE / DANCE / MUSIC
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5 – 7, 2021
VARIOUS TIMES
New York Live Arts & Other Locations
NYLA: 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$20-$25 individual shows; $175-$300 10-show pass
https://newyorklivearts.org/event/maxlive2021-the-neuroverse/
Neuroscience and developing AI technology get together with live performance for a set of explorations of the limitations of intelligence (which one hopes for subscribers to this List are pretty remote).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: For NYLA shows, I'm sending you once more down the block to Socarrat for paella.
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Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 8:30 PM – Sat, Nov 6, 2021, 9:29 PM
Zenna Parkins Residency
MUSIC
THURSDAY – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4 – 6, 2021
8:30 PM
The Stone
Glass Box Theater, The New School
55 West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
$20
http://www.thestonenyc.com/calendar.php
Downtown harp goddess Zeena Parkins in a three-night stand, each night a different context for her hard-edged exploratory playing.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Steak beloved by some at Strip House.
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Thursday, November 4, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Joanna Mattrey: New Compositions for Improviser
MUSIC
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2021
8:00 PM
CPR (Center for Performance Research)/ISSUE Project Room In Person & Live Stream
CPR
361 Manhattan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Free in person (registration required)
Free live stream
https://www.cprnyc.org/events/joanna-mattrey
Questing experimental improvising violinist Joanna Mattrey plays compositions by herself and other notable improvisers. Wait, isn't that a contradiction? The contributing improvisors-cum-composers are all List regulars: Nick Dunston, Weasel Walter, Lucie Vítková, and Leila Bordreuil.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, classic Red Sauce (which is almost never as good as you hope it will be) at Frost. At home, time for a Paper Plane: pour 3/4 oz. each of Bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonio, and lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Thursday, November 4, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 7:30 PM – Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 3:30 PM
Sachiyo Takahashi: SHEEP #1
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4 – 7, 2021
THURSDAY – SATURDAY 7:30 PM
SUNDAY 2:30 PM
Japan Society
333 East 47th Street, Turtle Bay, Manhattan
$23
https://www.japansociety.org/arts-and-culture/performances/sheep-1
"Microscopic Live Cinema-Theater": Sachiyo Takahashi manipulates figurines that are then projected, in real time, onto a big screen — with live musical accompaniment (piano on Thursday and Saturday; bass guitar on Friday and Sunday). This takes off from Saint-Exupéry, following the adventures of a sheep in search for the meaning of life (I've often wondered if sheep thought about such things).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I've always thought Sparks Steak House oversalted their steaks — but you can't argue with success. On Sunday, when it's closed, West African that's perhaps a bit too assimilated at Lagos Restaurant & Lounge.
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Thursday, November 4, 2021, 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM
Webber / Morris Big Band
MUSIC
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2021
7:30 & 9:30 PM
Jazz Gallery
1160 Broadway, NoHo, Manhattan
$15-$25 in person
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/webber-morris-big-band-oct2021
Anna Webber and Angela Morris are two of the best musicians on the Brooklyn jazz scene, and their big band is a thing of beauty, and well conceived, consistently interesting update of the form for today.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The biggest favor I'm ever going to do for any of you is to recommend the astonishing (if not quite as astonishing as it was pre-Lockdown) West African (with some Caribbean ringers) buffet at B&B Restaurant Corp., almost certainly the best food value in Manhattan. So I'ma keep repeating it.
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Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 7:30 PM – Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 3:30 PM
Stephanie Batten Bland/Company SBB: Look Who's Coming to Dinner
DANCE / THEATER
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4 – 7, 2021
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
$40
https://www.peakperfs.org/event/look-whos-coming-to-dinner/2021-11-04/
I for one have no desire to go anywhere near re-experiencing the smug, borderline dishonest '60s Liberalism of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. But one can only assume that the canny Stephanie Batten Bland is deconstructing it rather than reiterating it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: If there's a better restaurant within walking distance of Kasser Theater than Turtle + The Wolf, I hope someone tells me about it.
-
Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 7:00 PM – Fri, Nov 5, 2021, 8:00 PM
-
Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 7:00 PM – Sat, Nov 6, 2021, 8:00 PM
The Rogue Players: American Refugee
THEATER
THURSDAY – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4 – 6, 2021
7:00 PM
Subletseries: Co-op
HERE
145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick Street), Hudson Square, Manhattan
$15-$30
https://here.org/shows/american-refugee/
Here's the deal: a cerebral monster devoured the minds (or what passes for them) of White Supremacists; 30 years later, the monster returns: has the extermination of the White Supremacists meant the end of White Supremacy?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Ear Inn has seen it all.
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Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 5:00 PM – Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 7:00 PM
Assemble
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4 – 7, 2021 (continuing through DECEMBER 31)
5:00, 5:20, 5:40, 6:00, 6:20, 6:40 & 7:00 THURSDAY & FRIDAY
4:00, 4:20, 4:40, 5:00, 5:20, 5:40, 6:00, 6:20, 6:40 & 7:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Secret Location (disclosed upon ticket purchase), Brooklyn
$40; $30 students/artists/unemployed
https://www.projectassemble.org/
A return of the immersive theatrical experience in which audience members, having downloaded an app that will guide them and provide content, wander around a disused Brooklyn store experiencing an early middle age reconsideration of life choices (the creators of this piece couldn't have anticipated how reflective of the zeitgeist it would turn out to be).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: How would I know? The location's a SECRET!
-
Wednesday, November 3, 2021, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Wed, Nov 3, 2021, 8:00 PM – Fri, Nov 5, 2021, 9:00 PM
Laurie Berg & Karl Scholz: suppositions
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3 – 5, 2021
8:00 PM
Roulette In Person & Live Stream
509 Atlantic Avenue, Boerum HIll, Brooklyn
$20 advance; $25 door; free live stream
https://roulette.org/event/laurie-berg-and-karl-scholz-superposition/
Dancer+ Laurie Berg teams with interdisciplinary artist/sound designer Karl Scholz for what will undoubtedly be a provocative new piece.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The eclectic As You Are, in the new Brooklyn Ace Hotel, is really pretty nice.
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Wed, Nov 3, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 4:00 PM
David Byrne: American Utopia
THEATER / DANCE / PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3 – 7, 2021 (ongoing)
8:00 PM WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY
5:00 & 9:00 PM SATURDAY
3:00 PM SUNDAY
St. James Theater
246 West 44th Street, Midtown, Manhattan
$59-$179
https://americanutopiabroadway.com/
If a collaboration between David Byrne and Annie-B Parson were put on at BAM, I wouldn't think twice about Listing it (although I'd still feel constrained to make a comment about Boomer Nostalgia moving on to the Pop Avant-Garde). So I'm not gonna demerit this cuz it's on Broadway. AM I? (BTW, Annie-B Parson has a piece coming up at BAM next month — be sure to make time for it!)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Can you guess the specialty at E.A.K. Ramen?
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Wed, Nov 3, 2021, 7:30 PM – Sat, Nov 6, 2021, 8:29 PM
Melisa Tien: Best Life
THEATER
WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3 – 6, 2021
7:30 PM
JACK
20 Putnam Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$20
https://www.jackny.org/whats-on/best-life-flzfb-9rt4e-zkltk-dzb34
Can the races (as they used to rather racistly be called) interact with equity and forthrightness? Can it help if one of the interactors has the ability to manipulate time?
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Hartley's down the block is one of those places you walk by and you want to go in. I haven't been yet — but I can just tell the food is going to be better than neighborhood pub grub has any right to be.
-
Wednesday, November 3, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:29 PM
Fresh Squeezed Opera: 2021 Showcase
OPERA
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2021
7:30 PM
the cell theatre
338 West 23rd Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
$10
https://www.freshsqueezedopera.com/2021showcase
Fresh Squeezed Opera consistently finds enjoyable engaging New Operas. My fave composers on tonight's program are Molly Joyce (a BIG fave) and Brian Mark — but Fresh Squeezed is good at introducing us to new faves.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I personally find the Middle Eastern food at Shukette a little too gimmicky and overthought. But everybody else in the world seems to love it, so who knows?
-
Tue, Nov 2, 2021, 8:00 PM – Fri, Nov 5, 2021, 9:00 PM
-
Tue, Nov 2, 2021, 8:00 PM – Sat, Nov 6, 2021, 9:00 PM
-
Tuesday, November 2, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Tue, Nov 2, 2021, 10:00 AM – Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 4:30 PM
-
Monday, November 1, 2021, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
-
Monday, November 1, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Brigid Dawson & The Mothers Network
MUSIC
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021
7:00 PM
Mama Tried
787 3rd Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
Free but expect a hat to be passed around
https://mamatriedbk.com/upcoming-events/brigid-dawson-the-mothers-network
The Girl Singer (yeah, that's offensive — but guitar-based rock is kind of offensive) from garage-rockers The Oh Sees backed by the expansive eclectic world jazzy psychedelic Sunwatchers.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Subscriber AS points out that despite my remonstrations that you've got to buy food and drink at a place presenting free music, the food at Mama Tried might not be what you'd hope (he was a lot blunter than that). SO, drink there: you're morally obligated. For food, snag some tasty Ecuadorian at Reina de la Nuba.
-
Monday, November 1, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 8:00 AM – Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 6:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1 – 7, 2021 (ongoing)
8:00 AM – 6:00 PM MONDAY – SATURDAY
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM SUNDAY
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
$7 or more for soundtrack
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
One of the first shows during Quarantine that you could actually Go Out! to (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand (the Times complains about how hard it is to download from Bandcamp to an iPhone — trust me: if I can figure out how to do it, anyone can). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White. The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Sunset Park entrance is only a short walk from Hometown BBQ Industry City (if you go over the weekend, you can get the fabulous pastrami).
-
Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 10:00 PM
Stephanie Fleischmann, Christina Campanella & Mallory Catlett: The Visitation
PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1 – 7, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 10:00 PM
HERE Arts Center Presentation
Jackie Robinson Park
Between Edgecombe & Bradhurst Aves. & 145 – 155 Sts., Sugar Hill, Manhattan
Pay what you wish
https://here.org/shows/the-visitation/
Another sound walk (I LOVE these!), this one set to avant-pop you access through Soundcloud.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Good beer, epic burgers at Harlem Public.
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Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 6:00 AM – Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 1:00 AM
Ellen Reid: SOUNDWALK
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1 – 7, 2021 (ongoing)
6:00 AM – 1:00 AM
New York Philharmonic
Central Park
59th Street – 110th Street/Central Park West – 5th Avenue, Manhattan
Free (registration required)
https://www.ellenreidsoundwalk.com/new-york-philharmonic
The New York Phil hops aboard the walk-around-the-landscaped-space-with-soundtrack train (see below). The highly allusive soundtrack was put together by Ellen Reid, who is one of the more soundscapey (and certainly one of the best) of today's many excellent young composers. This walk isn't guided: you download an app that triggers sounds sent to your earphones from various cells around the Park as you wander. So you can do it over many times. (Speaking of wandering around Central Park, here's something that I, for one, never knew.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Delicious pan-African at Teranga.
