twi-ny recommended events

FIRST SATURDAYS: BROOKLYN FASHION

Christian Louboutin, “Printz,” Spring/Summer 2013 (courtesy of Christian Louboutin; photograph by Jay Zukerkorn)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, December 6, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum has fun with its new exhibit, “Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe,” in the December edition of its free First Saturdays program. “Brooklyn Fashion” will feature live performances by the Hot Sardines and TK Wonder; a shoe-making art workshop; a talk with Manufacture New York CEO Bob Bland; screenings of Julie Benasra’s 2011 documentary, God Save My Shoes, and Tom Kalin’s Alternate Endings, short films made in collaboration with artists Rhys Ernst, Glen Fogel, Lyle Ashton Harris, Derek Jackson, My Barbarian, and Julie Tolentino in honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Visual AIDS’ Day With(out) Art; a talk with “Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe” curator Lisa Small; an interactive story hour with Aunt Helen’s Closet; a “Killer Heels” photo booth; and a social club with dapperQ.com that includes pop-up shops, a Dapper Academy, and a fashion show. In addition, you can check out such exhibitions as “Revolution! Works from the Black Arts Movement,” “Judith Scott — Bound and Unbound,” and “Crossing Brooklyn: Art from Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, and Beyond.”

REUNION READING AND ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION: THE HASTY HEART

Keith Nobbs and Emily Donahoe will participate in special reading of THE HASTY HEART for Keen Company benefit celebration (photo © Josh Bradford)

The Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row
410 West 42nd St. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
Monday, December 8, $75-$100, 8:00
www.keencompany.org

In the fall of 2004, Keen Company presented a well-received revival of John Patrick’s 1945 play, The Hasty Heart, about soldiers in a temporary British hospital in South Asia near the end of WWII. In celebration of that production’s tenth anniversary and the troupe’s fifteenth — Keen was founded in 1999 with a mission to “create theater that provokes identification, reflection, and emotional connection . . . telling stories in which people strive to live with integrity” — they will be presenting a special reading of the play on December 8, reuniting most of the cast. Helmed by artistic director Jonathan Silverstein, the reading will take place at the Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row and will be performed by original cast members Stephen Bradbury, Emily Donahoe, Lucas Hall, Anthony Manna, Keith Nobbs, Brian Sgambati, and Paul Swinnerton along with newcomers Jimonn Cole and Bill Heck. Patrick went on to win a Pulitzer for his 1953 play, Teahouse of the August Moon, and wrote such screenplays as High Society, The World of Suzie Wong, and Some Came Running; The Hasty Heart was also made into a 1949 film starring Ronald Reagan, Patricia Neal, and Richard Todd.

ADGFEST 2014

AMERICAN DANCE GUILD PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL 2014
The Ailey Citigroup Theater
The Joan Weill Center for Dance
405 West 55th St. at Ninth Ave.
December 4-7, $20-$30
800-838-3006 ext1
www.americandanceguild.org

The American Dance Guild’s Annual Performance Festival is set for December 4-7 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, with thirty-three artists and companies performing, including special tributes to Philadanco founder Joan Myers Brown, Douglas Dunn, and Bill Evans. “The American Dance Guild annual festival now holds a unique position as both a promoter of the new and preserver of the living history of modern dance as an art form,” ADG president Gloria McLean said in a statement. The four-day event begins on December 4 with an awards ceremony and works presented by Brown with Hope Boykin, Dunn (Near Miss), Evans (the solo Three Preludes), John Pennington (the New York City premiere of Daniel Nagrin’s solo Man of Action), Sun Ock Lee, Sarah Skaggs, Jody Oberfelder, Chad Michael Hall, Catherine Gallant, and Eye on Dance/Celia Ipiotis, followed by a gala. Friday night brings together Brown (Ronald K. Brown’s Gatekeepers), Juri Nishio, Kyla Barkin, McLean, Dana Tai Burgess, Loretta Fois & Sabatino Verlezza, Aaron Atkins, Zach Ingram, and Sue Bernhard. Taking the stage Saturday night will be Dunn, Amy Pivar, Indah M. Walsh, Chien Ying Wang & Paul Ocampo, Gesel Mason (dancing Donald McKayle’s Saturday’s Child), Maxine Steinman, Mary Seidman, and Azul Dance Theater. ADGFEST 2014 concludes Sunday night with Bill Evans Dance Company (Colony), Tina Croll, Elizabeth Shea, Kanon Sapp, Janet Charleston performing a solo created for her by Dunn, Jin Ju Song-Begin, Ara Fitzgerald & Clare Byrne, and Nai Ni Chen Dance Company.

FILM SOCIETY FREE TALKS: LIV ULLMANN

The lovely Liv Ullmann will be at Lincoln Center for free talk about her adaptation of MISS JULIE

Film Society of Lincoln Center Amphitheater
144 West 65th St. between Eighth Ave. & Broadway
Tuesday, December 2, free, 6:30
212-875-5050
www.filmlinc.com
www.wildbunch.biz

A dozen years ago, we had the pleasure of attending the U.S. premiere of Arne Skouen’s 1969 film, An-Margritt, at Scandinavia House, which was followed by a wonderful discussion with Skouen and his ever-charming star, Liv Ullmann. The Japan-born Norwegian actress, who was raised partly in New York, will be back in town on December 2 to talk about her new cinematic adaptation of August Strindberg’s 1888 play, Miss Julie. Her fifth film as director — she previously helmed Sofie, Kristin Lavransdatter, Private Confessions, and Faithless — Miss Julie, which opens December 5, features Jessica Chastain as the title character, Colin Farrell as John, and Samantha Morton as Kathleen. “I feel the play has always been a part of me. I had hoped to have the chance to play the role on stage when I was younger but it never happened,” Ullmann, who also wrote the screenplay, says in the film’s press kit. “When the producers first contacted me, they asked me if I would be interested in making a film on the theme of a ‘femme fatale,’ a proposal they had also made to a French and a Spanish director. I thought of Miss Julie straightaway and they agreed it was a marvelous idea. As soon as I started to work on the adaptation, I fell in love with it, and not only because of Strindberg’s writing but also because of the themes that are important to me on a personal level: to be seen or to remain invisible, to present an image of oneself which does not correspond to whom one really is, to be loved for oneself and not for what others see in you, the relations between the sexes, and the crises that stem from them….” What should be a lovely, intimate discussion is part of the ongoing series “Film Society Free Talks” at Lincoln Center; free tickets will be given out beginning at 5:30, one per person.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: THE BOTH

After taking a break the past two holiday seasons, Aimee Mann is back with her annual noël celebration. “The Return of the Aimee Mann Christmas Show” comes to New York City on December 13 at the Town Hall, with Aimee joined by Ted Leo, her partner in the new band the Both. Special guests for the evening, which will feature a mix of original music, holiday classics, video, sketches, and more, include Bangles leader Susanna Hoffs, singer-songwriter Jonathan Coulton, and comedian Fred Armisen. In preparation for the tour, which will make stops in Tarrytown on December 10 and Westbury on December 12, the Both has released “Nothing Left to Do (Let’s Make This Christmas Blue).”

THE HILLS NYC PRESENTS CELEBRATING DON HILL — A NIGHT OF LIVE MUSIC IN SUPPORT OF ROADRECOVERY.ORG

Current Broadway Hedwig Michael C. Hall will be part of tribute show at the Hills NYC honoring Don Hill and benefiting Road Recovery

The Hills NYC
314 Spring St.
Sunday, December 7, general admission $75, VIP $250, 8:00
www.thehillsnyc.com
www.roadrecovery.org

In March 2011, popular nightlife impresario Don Hill passed away at the age of sixty-six, and his eponymous club, Don Hill’s, closed the next month, after a failed makeover attempt by Nur Khan and Paul Sevigny. This past June, it was announced that the SoHo club, located on Spring St., would reopen as the Hills NYC, with the new owners proclaiming, “Reset, rebuilt, and refocused, the Hills NYC is here to bring back Don’s original vision of a legendary venue which showcases Rock and Roll icons and NY talent.” On December 7, a diverse group of musicians will gather to pay tribute to Don Hill and the opening of the new club in a special show also honoring Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which was conceived in the original Don Hill’s by Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell. The lineup includes Hedwig composer, lyricist, and cocreator Trask; Dexter’s Michael C. Hall, who is currently playing Hedwig on Broadway; New York Dolls leader and Buster Poindexter alter-ego David Johansen; New Jersey band OURS, headed by Jimmy Gnecco; and Hedwig band Tits of Clay (Tim Mislock, Justin Craig, Matt Duncan, and Peter Yanowitz), who are putting together an EP via a PledgeMusic campaign. “The band and I couldn’t be more excited to play this show,” Trask said in a statement. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that without Don Hill’s, Hedwig probably wouldn’t exist.” The event will benefit the nonprofit organization Road Recovery, which was founded in 1998 by tour manager Gene Bowen in order to “help young people battle addiction and other adversities by harnessing the influence of entertainment industry professionals who have confronted similar crises and now wish to share their experience, knowledge, and resources.” General admission is $75, while $250 VIP tickets ($100 tax-deductible) earn you access to a special standing area near the front of the stage, a preshow meet-and-greet with the performers, and a swag bag. “Coming back to Don Hill’s with Tits of Clay to play a bunch of punk rock songs would in itself inspire nostalgic swooning for me,” Trask added. “But the fact that this show is a benefit for Road Recovery, which uses music to help at-risk youth battle off the threat of addiction, really hits home.”

THE 34th ANNUAL JOHN LENNON TRIBUTE

Photographer Bob Gruen will be honored at 34th annual John Lennon Tribute concert at Symphony Space (photo © 1974 by Bob Gruen)

Symphony Space, Peter Jay Sharp Theatre
2537 Broadway at 95th St.
Friday, December 5, $65-$105, 8:00
212-864-5400
www.symphonyspace.org
www.lennontribute.org

The life of John Lennon is currently being celebrated eight times a week at the Union Square Theatre with Lennon: Through a Glass Onion, in which John R. Waters portrays the Smart Beatle. The legacy of the longtime New Yorker will also be honored on December 5 at Symphony Space with the 34th annual John Lennon Tribute. Presented by Theatre Within and Music Without Borders, the evening will consist of Lennon songs performed by a fab lineup of special guests: Debbie Harry, Kate Pierson, David Johansen, Joan Osborne, Joe Raiola, Amy Helm, Marshall Crenshaw, Ben E. King, Rich Pagano, the Kennedys, and Chrissi Poland. In addition, legendary photographer Bob Gruen, who took the iconic photos of Lennon in his New York City T-shirt, will receive a special honor. The evening benefits Theatre Within’s John Lennon Real Love Project, which “offers children and young adults in medical care centers, schools, and communities in need the unique opportunity to compose their own songs.”