2/24/19 O&A NYC WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK: February 25 – March 3, 2019

February is almost over!!! That means spring is less than four weeks away but, New York City isn’t waiting for springtime to create fun time. This week we have dance from Lincoln Center to DUMBO. Art from Museum Mile to the East Village; and cutting edge theatre in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Here are a few of the many events happening in the city that never sleeps, guaranteed to keep you Out and About.

Nedjemankh and His Gilded Coffin at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Ever since Howard Carter uncovered the tomb of King Tut in 1922, people have been fascinated by Ancient Egyptian treasures. The Met recently acquired one such object—a gold-leafed covered coffin for a High Priest from Egypt’s Ptolemaic period. It’s on display, along with 70 other Egyptian artifacts from the Met’s collection.

In the Dugout with Jackie Robinson: An Intimate Portrait of a Baseball Legend -at the Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103 Street open daily 10am-6pm. In 1947 Jackie Robinson made history when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and became the first African American in Major League Baseball. In honor of the centennial of Robinson’s birth, In the Dugout with Jackie Robinson features some 30 images of Robinson and the Dodgers taken for Look magazine. Along with these stunning black-and-white images from the Museum’s collection, many never before seen, the exhibition features memorabilia and rare footage of the Robinson family, as well as the published magazines, which provide a window into the media’s portrayal of this groundbreaking figure through the lens of the day’s popular picture press.

In the Dugout with Jackie Robinson: An Intimate Portrait of a Baseball Legend

“Implicit Tensions: Robert Mapplethorpe Now”, Guggenheim Museum, Fifth Ave. at 89th St. The photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who died in 1989, at the age of forty-two, cast a classicizing eye on subjects both conventional (calla lilies) and controversial (the underground S & M scene). As his muse and friend Patti Smith has written, “He will be condemned and adored. His excesses damned or romanticized. In the end, truth will be found in his work, the corporeal body of the artist.” On Jan. 25, the Guggenheim opens its yearlong two-part exhibition “Implicit Tensions: Robert Mapplethorpe Now.”

Jean-Michel Basquiat Solo Exhibition: The Brant Foundation announced this week that it will present a solo exhibition of works by the late artist Jean- Michel Basquiat as the inaugural show on March 6 in its new East Village space in New York City. Located at 421 East 6th Street in a century-old, 16,000 square-foot building originally designed as a Con Ed substation, the show is free to the public, but you’ll need a ticket to get in. Tickets can be reserved through May 12, but available dates and times could run out before the show closes on May 15.

Harkness Dance Festival at the 92Y marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of dance innovator Merce Cunningham with a month of performance and visual arts. The opening weekend (performances on Friday and Saturday) is devoted to Cunningham dances performed by New York Theatre Ballet, New World School of the Arts, Melissa Toogood and Calvin Royal III. Subsequent weeks offer world premieres by companies founded by erstwhile Cunningham dancers: Douglas Dunn, Dylan Crossman, Jonah Bokaer and Ellen Cornfield. (James Klosty’s photographs of the Cunningham company are on view at 92Y through April 2.)

New York City Ballet ends its six week winter season on March 3. Among the offerings this week: three collections of dances by George Balanchine and one of Jerome Robbins; a program of new work by 21st-century choreographers Justin Peck, Kyle Abraham and William Forsythe.

New York City Ballet

Celebrating its 25th anniversary season, Complexions Contemporary Ballet starts the second week at the Joyce Theater February 26 through March 3. Complexions distinctive brand of passion revealed in three dynamic programs, including the New York premiere of WOKE, set to a remix of music by Kendrick Lamar, Logic, Drake, Diplo, and more. Also featured is the New York premiere of Bach 25 and audience favorite Star Dust, with music by David Bowie.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet

Gibney: Work Up 5.0: Gibney presents the fifth annual edition of its performance series, dedicated to emerging artists. A different three-piece program is presented each weekend. Participating artists include Catie Leasca, Hollis Bartlett + Nattie Trogdon and Proteo Media (March 1, 2); Aye Eckerson, Emily Winkler-Morey and Javier Padilla (Mar 8, 9); and Laurel Snyder, Nana Chinara and Zachary Tye Richardson (Mar 15, 16)

A Madea Family Funeral: A joyous family reunion turns into a hilarious nightmare as Madea and the crew travel to backwoods Georgia and unexpectedly plan a funeral, which threatens to reveal sordid family secrets. Opens February 28.

Madea Family Funeral

Mapplethorpe: Robert Mapplethorpe’s portraits, images of calla lilies, and chronicles of New York City’s underground BDSM scene remain touchstones of 20th-century photography even now, nearly three decades after his death from complications of HIV/AIDS in 1989. Mapplethorpe revisits the titular photographer’s legacy, beginning at the moment just before he takes up residence in the Chelsea Hotel. There, Mapplethorpe begins to amass a portfolio of images-and, at the same time, to explore his formerly suppressed attraction to men. But Mapplethorpe’s relentless ambition-as he says in one early scene, “I can’t just be Mapplethorpe the photographer,” fancying himself a “modern Michelangelo”-threatens to tear apart the relationships he cherishes the most. From the early ’70s until his untimely death at age 42, the film explores the intersection of his art and his sexuality, his struggle for mainstream recognition, and, looming above it all, the specter of the emerging AIDS crisis. Featuring Matt Smith (Doctor Who, The Crown) and Marianne Rendón, the biopic offers a nuanced portrait of an artist at the height of his craft and of the self-destructive impulses that threaten to undermine it all. Opens March 1.  

Mapplethorpe

 

Charles Busch: Native New Yorker at Feinstein’s/54 Below:Ever since 1984’s Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Charles Busch has been working toward the title of First Lady of the American Stage, delivering hilariously nuanced portraits of defiant yet vulnerable women, in the style of the great film stars of the 1940s. In his return to Feinstein’s/54 Below, he sets drag aside to continue his side career as a cabaret chanteur. This latest collection is devoted to pop and Broadway music from his formative professional years, including songs by the Jim Croce, Rupert Holmes, Michel Legrand and Stephen Sondheim. Show endsWednesday, February 27- 7:00 pm.

Frances Ruffelle Live(S) in New York: Ruffelle has a place of her own in the hearts of musical-theater fans for her performance as sacrificial waif Éponine in the original London and Broadway casts of Les Misérables. Having recently relocated to New York City, she returns to the nightclub stage with a charmingly game and gamine monthly set at the Green Room 42 at 7pm Saturday March 2.

In The B-Side: “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons”, at the St. Ann’s Warehouse in DUMBO. Three men—Eric Berryman, Philip Moore and Jasper McGruder—reconstruct a 1965 album compiled by the documentarian and folklorist Bruce Jackson. In his introduction, Berryman says he pitched the project to director Kate Valk after seeing the Woosters’ beautiful Early Shaker Spirituals (which returns to the stage later this month). Fourteen tracks ensue: sung fables, blues spirituals, work songs, poetic toasts, even a rousing parody of preaching. We never learn who wrote these masterpieces; their authorship has been lost along the fields and roadsides. Opens March 1 through March 24

Baad!Ass Women Festival: The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, 2474 Westchester Ave., presents its 19th annual celebration of women in dance, comedy, music, poetry and performance, including works by queer and trans women. The festival also offers a seminar on women’s safety and a zine fair for women of color and LGBTQ+ people. Weekends (Friday and Saturday) at 8pm. 

Choir Boy, the Broadway premiere of Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney’s acclaimed drama at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street, centers on the Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys, which for a half a century has been dedicated to the education of strong, ethical black men. One talented student has been waiting for years to take his rightful place as the leader of the school’s legendary gospel choir. But can he make his way through the hallowed halls of this institution if he sings in his own key?

Big Apple Circus: After declaring bankruptcy in 2016 to widespread lamentations, the family-friendly circus came bouncing back to life at Lincoln Center last year, and now returns for its 41st season with a show that aim to throw some spotlights on women. New ringmaster Stephanie Monseu presides over a spectacle that includes a trapeze routine by the Flying Tunizianis, a trampoline act created by Andréanne Quintal, and an acrobatic duet, performed by Virginia Tuells and Ihosvanys Perez, in which she does most of the heavy lifting.

FrankieFridays is Brooklyn’s best kept  house music secret! The party takes place every Friday at The Happiness Lounge, 1458 St. Johns Place (bet. Utica Avenue and Rochester Avenue).  The party rocks the best dance classics and soulful house music masterfully mixed by New York City’s own DJ Frankie Paradise. The predominantly mature gay crowd are there to get down, and create a warm inviting atmosphere for all. Reasonably prices drinks and a small admission price (feels more like a donation) of $5 before midnight and $10 after makes this the don’t miss Friday night dance party. 

YERISE by YEROC Holiday Clearance Sale on March 2, 10am to 5pm at 520 8th Avenue, 12th Floor, New York. Shop designer eyewear from YEROC by Corey Woods at this one day sample sale in NYC, where sunglasses will be just $20 per pair if you buy five pairs, or $40 each – down from their normal price of $178 to $560! Cash only.

 

Paul Stuart End of Season Sale February 24 through 27 at Soiffer Haskin, 317 West 33rd Street (Just West of 8th Avenue) New York, Tailored clothing, accessories and coats at a discount. Credit cards only (American Express, Visa or MasterCard). All sales final. Strollers not allowed. No children under 12 will be admitted.

Eileen Fisher Sample Sale coming March 9 and 10 at Eileen Fisher Boutique, 314 E 9th St, New York,.There’ll be samples of current Spring merchandise from just $49 to $399 at this Eileen Fisher sample sale in the East Village! Samples range from extra small to medium – and you can also shop other sale merchandise in a full size range, starting at 40% off! Cash and all major cards accepted.

We look forward to seeing you Out and About

About OutandAboutnycmag

Out & About NYC Magazine was founded to offer the arts and lifestyle enthusiast a fresh new look at New York City. We will showcase the established and the emerging, the traditional and the trendy. And we will do it with élan, and panache with a dash of fun.
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