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I’m feeling a tiny bit under the weather at the moment so you will have to forgive the brevity of this post. I’ve had several adventures worth relating this week.
On Monday I went to the Purim comedy act at the 92Y Tribeca, which I told you about in a previous post. I particularly liked the sketch modeled on ‘High School Musical.’ At the end the boy goes off with the girl against the wishes of his friends…
Girl: Oh no, you are going to leave those lousy friends of yours and go and do your school work. AND you are going to Medical School!
Boy: I have to go guys, I’ve been searching for a woman to replace my mother for my whole life!
You can watch clips of Shushan Channel’s sketches on their website.
On Wednesday I finally got around to seeing a film that was part of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Series, which I mentioned some time ago. I saw ‘The Joy of Singing’ at the IFC and it was truly French in every sense you can imagine. My friend L was not a big fan but she’s not nearly as much of a francophile as I am. If you missed the series check your Netflix- some of them will probably come out on DVD sometime soon-ish.
I also saw B spin at Hugs that night (I told you about this in advance as well); he was fantastic as always and while we couldn’t get much dancing going I have high hopes for next time since it’ll be warmer and more people will be willing to move from their warm apartments.
Friday night my friend M was having a ‘Blue Velvet‘ party so I wasn’t able to attend any other events. Afterall, I wouldn’t want to miss blue velvet cupcakes and crazy sadistic sex scenes (oh David Lynch!)!
Kyle MacLachlan and Isabella Rossellini in 'Blue Velvet'
Saturday afternoon my grandmother and I saw ‘Happiness’- a new musical now playing at Lincoln Center. It was adorable and heartwarming and altogether lovely, certainly not ground-breaking, but lovely.
HAPPINESS unfolds the stories of a dozen or so New Yorkers stuck in the morning rush of a stalled subway car and required by the spectral trainman to recall and re-enact the happiest moment in their lives before they can continue their travels… and travails.
HAPPINESS celebrates those fleeting moments in everyday lives — typically unanticipated, largely overlooked, always ephemeral — that upon reflection become people’s fondest memories
Saturday night I saw the Young New Yorkers Chorus perform (mentioned this to you earlier). They were fantastic and I found the melodies, which are apparently based on ‘ancient chants’ to be very similar to some of the chants Jewish prayers are set to. I would be interested to look into the correlation further.
I’m off for the moment but I promise to get back to you with this week’s events shortly.
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I have a few additions to make to this weekend’s plethora of absurd and fabulous events.
Tonight join the audience at The Old Stone House to watch Dzieci’s constantly evolving production- Makbet. The setting is quaint:
Old Stone House in Brooklyn
and the theater is out there:
Dzieci performing Fool's Mass @ La Mama
Saturday you have one more chance to embrace your inner Jew:
JFREJ and Workmen’s Circle present Lower East Shushan: A Purim of Vacant Lots: A giant spectacular Purim masquerade ball. Spectacle house band led by Avi Fox-Rosen with Judith Berkson, Lee Free, Mary Feaster Special appearances by pianist Ray Santiago and master congero and singer Abran Rodriguez, Adrienne Cooper, the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, Crosmopolitan, Gary Z, Xavier, and more. In partnership with the Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES) and CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, and thanks to Great Small Works and the New Yiddish Repertory Theater. Star studded performing devising ensemble: Ariel Federow, Katy Rubin, Killer Sideburns, Abigail Miller, Michelle Malka Miller, Seltzer and Salt, Tamar Elster, Ora Fruchter, Abigail Levine, Aleza Summitt, Avi Rose, Rachel Yucht, Sam Wilson, Tine Kindermann, CAAAV Youth Group, WCKinder Shula, Copper Henningfield (the world’s greatest Magician) and mysterious multitudes of others called Avi, Abi or something like that….
On Sunday my favorite circus troupe, The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, will be performing at Dixon Place:
The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus Winter Cabaret brings together elements of circus, sideshow, vaudeville, burlesque, and cabaret to provide a stage for some of the most talented performing artists in the world. Jugglers, clowns, acrobats, and trapeze artists share the stage with musicians, magicians, dancers, daredevils, and more. Each show features a unique combination of acts, but all promise a legendary lineup of circus feats, sideshow marvels, and world-class entertainers. March 15 cirkus cabaret line-up: Philomena, Mr. Pennygaff, Kinko the Clown, Liberty Sisters from Circus Amok, Carla Rhodes, Paradizo Dance, Nicholas Flair, and musical maestro Francisco Monroy. This performance is recommended for adults.
Also on Sunday the Sepia Gallery will be hosting ‘An Engendered Salon Event,’ involving screenings & conversations on the changing visual landscape of South Asian intimacies and sexualities in film, media, image & contemporary art.
Once again- enjoy and stay tuned!
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I am limiting this post to Mon-Wed as I haven’t yet pulled together a sufficient selection of events for Thurs (please forgive me; I’m still a bit exhausted from the last week).
Tonight there are several fantastic events to consider. If you’ve never celebrated Purim properly this is the year to embrace your inner Jew. The 92Y Tribeca is having a Purim party worth converting for (or at least worth practicing your kvetching):
Battlestar Megilactica. Frost/Haman. Hebrew School Musical. Join The Shushan Channel for its seventh hit year. Featuring all-new pop-culture Purim takes by writers from The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The Simpsons, Frasier and more, this year’s extravaganza will be headlined by The Daily Show’s Wyatt Cenac, John Oliver and New York’s most-Purimtastic comic talent. Warm up for the show by entering our costume contest and you could win free tickets to 92YTribeca events. Get your grogger on and stuff yourself with Chef Russell’s gourmet hamantaschen. This is one party you won’t want to miss.
Now that sounds much more exciting than Lent.
If your inner art enthusiast is stronger than your inner Jew check out MOMA Monday Nights:
One Monday a month, MoMA stays open until 8:45 p.m. Drop in after hours on March 9 for an art hunt, exhibitions, films, entertainment, cash bar, and a bite to eat at Cafe 2—plus the first 600 ticket buyers after 5:30 p.m. will receive free admission on their next visit. On our Museum-wide art hunt (starts at 7:00 p.m.), rediscover the collection and compete for prizes including a private guided tour at MoMA, benefit party tickets, and exhibition catalogues.
Be sure not to miss the special exhibition Martin Kippenberger: The Problem Perspective (through May 11). A highlight is Kippenberger’s sculptural installation The Happy End of Franz Kafka’s “Amerika” (1994). Reimagining a scene toward the end of Kafka’s unfinished 1927 novel, it fills the Museum’s Marron Atrium with a vast, absurdist employment agency, in which the ritual of the job interview becomes a spectator sport.
Entry to Modern Mondays, the Museum’s weekly series of screenings with contemporary filmmakers that showcases innovation in film, is included in the cost of admission. On March 9, the Modern Mondays event will be An Evening with Jan Sikl and Ivan Passer, a film screening and conversation with two noted Czech directors, at 7:00 p.m. in the Roy and Niuta Titus 2 Theater.
Also tonight; Sarah Barron will be reading from her first book- People Are Unappealing at The Half King :
Unappealing people are everywhere. And they, like herpes, never ever go away. PEOPLE ARE UNAPPEALING, Sara Barron’s wickedly funny debut, spares no one—not even the author herself. Born the child of a hypochondriac mother and an effeminate father, Barron never stood a chance of being normal. At age eleven she started writing porn. At twelve she gets mistaken for a post-op trannie. By seventeen she’s appeared on the Jerry Springer Show.
On Tuesday you can demonstrate what you learned in your High School English Class at Union Hall. Mother Tongue: Spelling and Grammar for Grown-Ups is sure to become more and more absurd as the night (and the drinking) continues.
Also on Tuesday, SW has forwarded me a truly unique event- a performance of Balinese Shadow Puppetry and Masked Dance at Hunter College.
Balinese Shadow Puppetry and Masked Dance
If that’s not your thing later in the evening George Gee and the Jump, Jivin Wailers will be performing at SWING46 Jazz & Supper Club.
On Wednesday get down to a very different beat at Hugs, where my friends Excess Energy will be spinning; celebrate the gorgeous weather with some warm-blooded selections by guest DJ Eugene Tambourine (Solid) and resident DJ Brian Blackout.
Excess Energy at Hugs
Finally, some advance notice: Jeffrey Tastes has pulled together a great list of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations taking place in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned for more events this week!
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Just discovered a few more events to add to tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) roster:
Wit’s End Premier Party is the first of what will be a monthly event at Antik; this celebration of all things Jazz Age is sure to be a great addition to the vintage scene. Wear your best party attire and sip fancy cocktails in between dancing the Charleston and the Jitterbug. Grandpa Musselman & His Syncopators will play live jazz and Shien Lee from Dances of Vice will sing.
Jazz Age
Leading up to the actual celebration of Purim, the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre will perform its “The Historye of Queen Esther, of King Ahasverus & of the Haughty Haman”until March 7 at The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater of the West Side Y.
In this production of Queen Ester, downtown meets folk tradition. High and low, live performers and puppets of disparate sizes are blended for a startling comical and touching effect. The cast of puppets includes marionettes designed and constructed by Prague master carver Jakub Krejci, two marionettes composed from household and carpentry tools by Michelle Beshaw and Emily Wilson, and giant paper mache puppets made by CAMT’s Associate Director Theresa Linnihan.
The Historye of Queen Esther, of King Ahasverus & of the Haughty Haman
Haman puppet by Vaclav Krcal.
Have a great weekend!
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