twi-ny recommended events

ON STAGE WITH A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE

Sam Rockwell will discuss A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE with costars Anthony Mackie and Zoe Kazan at 92YTribeca

FEATURING SAM ROCKWELL, ANTHONY MACKIE, AND ZOE KAZAN
92YTribeca
200 Hudson St. at Canal St.
Sunday, April 25, $15, 6:30
212-415-5500
www.92y.org
www.behandinginspokane.com

Martin McDonagh’s new play, A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE, a wry black comedy about a crazy man’s search for his missing hand, features the stirring all-star cast of Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell, Anthony Mackie, and Zoe Kazan. The show is running at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater through June 6, with tickets ranging from $61.50 to $201.50, so it’s a lot cheaper ($15) to see Rockwell, Mackie, and Kazan up close and personal at 92YTribeca on April 25, when they’ll be discussing the controversial play. In the ninety-minute production, Mackie and Kazan appear as drug-dealing lovers looking to make a quick score, while Rockwell steals the show as a curious, very odd hotel night manager. The three will go behind the scenes of the play, moderated by the New York Observer’s Jesse Oxfeld.

WHAT MATTERS MOST?

Joe Berlinger’s CRUDE: THE REAL PRICE OF OIL is part of special ecoartspace Earth Day celebration on April 21

Joe Berlinger’s CRUDE: THE REAL PRICE OF OIL is part of special ecoartspace Earth Day celebration at Exit Art on April 21

Exit Underground
475 Tenth Ave. at 36th St.
Wednesday, April 21, 5:00-9:00
Gallery open Tuesday – Saturday through April 28
Suggested donation: $5
212-966-7745
www.ecoartspacewhatmattersmost2010.blogspot.com

Exit Art is currently hosting special ecoartspace programming through April 28 in its Underground gallery, focusing on the exhibit “What Matters Most?” which consists of earth-friendly art from more than 275 artists. On April 21, a trio of events will pay tribute to Earth Day, with eco-artist Jackie Brookner reading from URBAN RAIN at 7:00 and Elizabeth Thompson presenting information about the Buckminster Fuller Challenge Award finalists at 8:00, but things kick off at 5:00 with a screening of Joe Berlinger’s CRUDE: THE REAL PRICE OF OIL. The exhibit concludes on April 28 with a benefit auction and party ($35-$150).

CRUDE: THE REAL PRICE OF OIL (Joe Berlinger, 2009)
www.crudethemovie.com
Documentarian Joe Berlinger has a way of making a strong impact with his films — which include BROTHER’S KEEPER, PARADISE LOST, and METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER — and his latest is no exception. In CRUDE: THE REAL PRICE OF OIL, Berlinger heads to Ecuador to detail the “Amazon Chernobyl” case, centering on a 1993 class-action lawsuit brought by thirty thousand indigenous people who live in the rainforest and claim that their land and water are contaminated by years of illegal dumping by Texaco-Chevron, leading to severe illness and death for many in their community. Ecuadorian attorney Pablo Fajardo and American consulting attorney Steven Donziger go face-to-face with Chevron attorneys Diego Larrea and Adolfo Callejas, who argue that any wrongdoing was done by PetroEcuador’s takeover of the oil fields in 1992. As such high-profile people as Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa and Rainforest Foundation cofounder Trudie Styler get involved, the fight heats up, but there’s still no end in sight for the sixteen-year-old lawsuit. Berlinger does an excellent job of presenting both sides of the story, even though the bulk of the evidence continues to build for one side.

SARAH SILVERMAN

thebedwetter

THE BEDWETTER: STORIES OF COURAGE, REDEMPTION, AND PEE (HarperCollins, April 20, 2010, $19.99)
Tuesday, April 20, Union Square Barnes & Noble, 333 East 17th St., 7:00
Wednesday, April 21, Urban Outfitters SoHo, 628 Broadway, 7:00
Admission: free
www.harpercollins.com
www.sarahblog.comedycentral.com

“What you’re about to read will take the place of every religion’s bible in terms of awesomeness,” Sarah Silverman writes in the midword to her very personal tale, the relentlessly funny THE BEDWETTER: STORIES OF COURAGE, REDEMPTION, AND PEE. She not only revolutionizes the state of literature with the first-ever midword but also writes her own foreword and gets God himself to write the afterword. In the breezy, free-flowing style she has displayed appearing on talk shows, performing stand-up, hosting awards shows, and starring in films (JESUS IS MAGIC) and her own hysterical cable series (THE SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM), Silverman delves into her life, from growing up in New Hampshire with a father who encouraged her to curse to her early days in New York City when she discovered the thrills and chills of sex. But it is her serious problem with bedwetting that is at the heart of her story, and she holds nothing back in describing the pain and shame she experienced, even including pages from her diary in which she entered the word “wet” or “dry” depending on how the night went; “I figured keeping the log with my diary might reveal patterns that would help me get to the bottom of this thing,” she writes. “It didn’t.” Silverman shares intimate stories of her family, the tragic loss of a baby brother, the surrender of her virginity, and e-mails between her and her editor discussing the difference between “pee” and “pee-pee.” It’s a terrific read, fast and fresh, like the childlike Silverman herself, with just the right amount of self-deprecating humor, personal reflection, sordid details, and Jewy-ness. Silverman will be holding two New York City events, at the Union Square Barnes & Noble on April 20 and Urban Outfitters in SoHo on April 21. Get there early, as both signings should be mobbed.

LOS CAMPESINOS!

Volcanic ash has forced Los Campesinos! to make changes to their tour schedule (photo by Jon Bergman)

Canceled: April 17 (21), Maxwell’s, 1039 Washington St., Hoboken, $20, 9:00
Rescheduled: April 26, Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Pl., $20, 9:00
www.myspace.com/loscampesinos
www.livenation.com
www.maxwellsnj.com

Los Campesinos! fully deserve the exclamation point at the end of their name, as they do everything in a big way. There’s plenty of big and nothing dull about their new album, ROMANCE IS BORING (Arts & Crafts, January 2010), fifteen blasts of loud, hip-shaking power pop that mixes in ’80s new wave, punk, funk, and blaring horns into its anthemic, aggressive party rock (and we mean that in a good way). Their follow-up to 2007’s STICKING FINGERS INTO SOCKETS, 2008’s HOLD ON NOW, YOUNGSTER, and last year’s WE ARE BEAUTIFUL, WE ARE DOOMED, their latest disc emits the endless glee of Matt & Kim and the deep, dark yearning of My Bloody Valentine. The seven-piece Cardiff band sings about vomit and physics (“In Media Res”), phallic cake and cauterized ventricles (“Romance Is Boring”), toilet walls and huffing a Sharpie (the driving “We’ve Got your Back [Documented Emotional Breakdown Number 2]”), erections and heat rash (the synth-heavy “A Heat Rash in the Shape of the Show Me State; or, Letters from Me to Charlotte”), plugholes and piss-soaked jeans (the relatively calm “Coda: A Burn Scar in the Shape of the Sooner State”), and petrol and dog shot (the orchestral “I Just Sighed, I Just Sighed, Just So You Know”) in songs that are as fanciful as their titles. Everything they are about is encapsulated in the epic-sounding “This Is a Flag. There Is No Wind,” a three-and-a-half-minute journey through indie music. Los Campesinos! was forced to cancel its April 17 (then April 21) gig at Maxwell’s because volcanic ash prevented them from getting out of Europe, and they have rescheduled their Irving Plaza for April 26 (originally set for April 22). “One thing I am certain of,” Gareth Campesinos! promised upon announcing the canceled and rescheduled concerts, “when we make it to you, these are going to be the most violently euphoric shows we have ever played.”

TRIBECA DRIVE-IN

Mat Hoffman will take to the air onscreen and in person at special Tribeca Drive-In presentation

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
World Financial Center Plaza
April 22-24, free
Doors open at 6:00, activities at 6:30, films at approximately 8:15
www.tribecafilm.com

This year’s free Tribeca Drive-In features three films on successive nights outside at World Financial Center Plaza. On April 22, live performances by salsa bands, a dance contest, and salsa lessons will precede a screening of Francisco Bello and Tim Sternberg’s 2009 documentary, THE SPIRIT OF SALSA, about New Yorkers who take salsa classes at the Santo Rico Dance School. On April 23, a waterfront carnival accompanies Penny Marshall’s endearing comedy BIG, starring Robert Loggia, Elizabeth Perkins, and Tom Hanks about a boy inside a man’s body. And on April 24, Jeff Tremaine’s THE BIRTH OF BIG AIR, which looks at BMX competitor Mat Hoffman, will feature BMX demos before and after the movie, including a live stunt by Hoffman himself.

IMMIGRANT HERITAGE WEEK

immigration

Multiple locations
Most events free
Through April 21
www.nyc.gov/immigrants

The seventh annual Immigrant Heritage Week continues through April 21 with numerous, mostly free events across the city. Art exhibitions include “Our Heritage Through Fashion: A Showcase of NYC’s Russian-Speaking Designers” at the Russian American Foundation, “Photographs of the Mexican Immigrant Community of Staten Island” at Snug Harbor, “Art Without Borders” at El Taller Latino Americano, “Immigrant Women United in Art” at Centro Civico Cultural Dominicano, “Impractical Hats: Indie Crafts Reinvent Everyday Gear” at the Bronx Council on the Arts, “LibertyNeighborhoodStory” at the A.I.R. Gallery, “Immigrant Trail Painting” at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, and a photo exhibit of “Non-Native New Yorkers” at the Statue of Liberty. On April 20 at 6:00 at the International Center in New York, a group of Tibetan immigrants will discuss their work in “Ancient Art in a Modern City,” while on April 21 at 6:00, the Greek Museum will host “In Search of the American Dream: The Greeks of New York.” Also on Wednesday, “Voices of Liberty” at the Museum of Jewish Heritage invites visitors to share their own personal stories. In addition, there will be family programs at several branches of the New York Public Library.

At NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, the Havana Film Festival will feature New York and U.S. premieres (April 19-20), DCTV will present the Oscar-nominated documentary THE BETRAYAL (April 19), and the Turkish Cultural Center will celebrate “New York Sufi Night with Rumi” through film, performance, and poetry readings (April 20). There will also be film screenings and/or theatrical productions at the YMCA, the Maysles Cinema, the Alwan Foundation, and the CUNY Graduate Center and live dance and/or music at Michael Mao Dance, the American Composers Orchestra’s Langston Hughes Branch, and the Djoniba Dance and Drum Centre as well as a host of walking tours.

NY’s GREENEST

Rod Tryon and Anthony Cappetto will create one of their “Koi Pond” 3-D paintings as part of downtown Earth Day celebration Rod Tryon and Anthony Cappetto will create one of their “Koi Pond” 3-D paintings as part of downtown Earth Day celebration

BATTERY PARK CITY CELEBRATES THE 40th ANNIVERSARY OF EARTH DAY
Multiple locations
Through April 25
Most events free
www.batteryparkcity.org

Battery Park City is honoring the fortieth anniversary of Earth Day with a battery of special events at numerous downtown locations through April 25, with many of the events free. There will be climate change workshops at the Mercy Corps Action Center, bird watching and drawing at the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate Mary Ann Hoberman reading at Poets House, family programming at the Skyscraper Museum, and arts and crafts and more at the Battery Park City branch of the New York Public Library. The World Financial Center will be home to a pair of Earth Day-related exhibitions, Suzanne and Mathilde Husky’s “Forest” (through May 12) and Rod Tryon and Anthony Cappetto’s “Koi Pond” (April 20-25), in addition to daily 3-D drawing programs and open houses and workshops. The National Museum of the American Indian will feature daily film screenings and a “Native Views on Sustainable Foods” lecture on April 22, while on April 25 the Museum of Jewish Heritage will host “The Earth Day Worm Disco” children’s concert with ShirLaLa and a series of earth-friendly workshops.