this week in music

TONY BENNETT IN CONVERSATION WITH SCOTT SIMON

just-getting-started

Who: Tony Bennett, Scott Simon
What: Author event
When: Monday, November 14, free, 7:00
Where: Barnes & Noble Union Square, 33 East Seventeenth St. at Union Square North, 212-253-0810
Why: Anthony Dominick Benedetto from Astoria, better known as Tony Bennett, may have turned ninety in August, but according to the title of his latest book, he’s Just Getting Started (HarperCollins, November 15, $27.99). In this follow-up to 2012’s Life Is a Gift, the ever-positive painter and crooner pays tribute to a wide range of people who have had an impact on him, including Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Cole Porter, Amy Winehouse, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Lady Gaga, and Charlie Chaplin. On November 14, Bennett will be at the Union Square Barnes & Noble, in conversation with his cowriter, NPR host Scott Simon, author of such memoirs as Home and Away and Unforgettable: A Son, a Mother, and the Lessons of a Lifetime and the novel Pretty Birds. Wristbands will be given out beginning at 9:00 am for the 7:00 pm event, for those who purchase the book at that store; Mr. Benedetto will not be personalizing books, posing for photos, or signing any memorabilia. But just to be in the same room as that voice and smile. . . .

STANDING WAVES: AN AFTERNOON OF EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC AND SOUND PERFORMANCES

standing-waves

Who: Bob Bellerue & Marcia Bassett, Lea Bertucci, Roarke Menzies, Kamron Saniee, Jenn Grossman
What: Inaugural event of series featuring experimental sound and music
Where: Knockdown Center, 52-19 Flushing Ave., 347-915-5615
When: Saturday, November 5, $10, 2:00 – 7:00
Why: On November 5, the Knockdown Center in Queens is hosting the first Standing Waves event, a new series that brings together experimental composers and performers to explore sound through listening, reading, and live concerts. The inaugural event features New Yorkers Bob Bellerue & Marcia Bassett, Lea Bertucci, Roarke Menzies, Kamron Saniee, and Jenn Grossman; tickets are $10, and the show goes from 2:00 to 7:00. To get a taste of what you’re in for, you can check out some mixes here.

BROOKLYN MUSEUM FIRST SATURDAY: ELECTION SEASON

First Saturday workshop participants can make their own “I want a president” speech based on Zoe Leonard’s original 1992 text

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

There’s no escaping the election, so the Brooklyn Museum has given in as well and is dedicating its free November First Saturday program to the upcoming vote. There will be live performances by Slavic Soul Party!, DJ Chela, and Brown Girls Burlesque (the adult Strip the Polls); the curator tour “I See Myself in You,” led by assistant curator of contemporary art Rujeko Hockley, focusing on the use of the body in art; a hands-on workshop in which participants will make their own campaign buttons; presidential pop-art talks in the American Art galleries; a workshop updating the text of Zoe Leonard’s 1992 text “I want a president,” which can currently be seen on the High Line; and Laugh the Vote comedy with Baratunde Thurston, Sherrod Small, and Christian Finnegan. In addition, you can check out such exhibits as “Beverly Buchanan — Ruins and Rituals,” “The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago,” “Life, Death, and Transformation in the Americas,” “I See Myself in You: Selections from the Collection,” and “Philippe Parreno: My Room Is Another Fish Bowl”; the fourth- and fifth-floor galleries will close at eight o’clock except for “Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present,” which will be open all night and requires a discounted admission fee of $10.

PARIS!

Company XIV shows off its can-can-cans in latest immersive Baroque burlesque production (photo by Mark Shelby Perry)

The Irondale Center
85 South Oxford St. between Fulton St. & Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn
Monday to Saturday through November 12, $25 to $525
866-811-4111
companyxiv.com
www.irondale.org

It takes a while for Company XIV’s latest decadent Baroque burlesque extravaganza, Paris!, to get cooking, but once it does, it quickly goes from hot, hot, hot to sizzling. Troupe founder and director Austin McCormick, who has previously reimagined such fairy-tales as Cinderella, Pinocchio, and Snow White, revisits the myth of Paris and the golden apple, which Company XIV first tackled in its streamlined 2012 dance-theater-opera, Judge Me Paris. The company goes all out this time in its temporary new space, the Irondale Center in Fort Greene, which they have outfitted in Louis XIV grandeur, with ornate red velvet couches and chairs, numerous chandeliers, and costumed greeters welcoming you to the festivities. Before the show starts, you can walk around the main floor and the balcony, where some of the performers are getting ready and the heady enticements begin. The first act is surprisingly ordinary for Company XIV, offering little that is new as the emcee, the half-man, half-woman Zeus/Fifi (Charlotte Bydwell), introduces the story, in which the mortal shepherd Paris (Jakob Karr) must decide which of three goddesses — Venus (Storm Marrero), Pallas Athena (Marcy Richardson), or Juno (Randall Scotting) — deserves the golden apple. “My lovely goddesses! Your time has come,” Zeus announces. “Tighten your corsets, stuff your bustiers, dot your moles, and present your most delicious selves to our virginal judge. His ears are half-open, his eyes are half-closed, and his skin is untouched. . . . This young man wants much and it’s yours to give.” There’s a beautiful duet by Paris and Mercury (Todd Hanebrink) and a rather naughty sheep orgy, but things really start to hit their stride in the second act, as soprano Richardson dazzles the audience with unique versions of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and Adele’s “Skyfall” and performing breathtaking feats on the pole. Countertenor Scotting scores big with two songs by Handel and Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man,” a very funny gender-twisting spoof. In the short third act, Marrero brings the house down with stirring renditions of Daughter’s “Youth” and Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain” as Paris makes his choice.

Venus (Marcy Richardson) reaches new heights in Company XIV’s PARIS (photo by Mark Shelby Perry)

Over the last few years, while searching for a permanent home, Company XIV has performed at such venues as the Minetta Lane Theatre, 428 Lafayette St. across from the Public, and the 303 Bond Street Theatre in an abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn; they have found quite a treasure in the Irondale Center, formerly the auditorium of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, which they have outfitted in regal splendor. Throughout the tale, the ensemble of Nicole von Arx, Nicholas Katen, Mark Osmundsen, Cara Seymour, and Taner Van Kuren, wearing various body-revealing get-ups courtesy of the endlessly inventive Zane Pihlstrom, who also designed the set, dances in ever-changing configurations, mixing comic bits into their sexy numbers and occasionally making their way through the audience, where the patrons can order drinks and snacks all night long. (The actors also provide entertainment during the two intermissions, including a lovely flute and cello duet and a playful pregnancy vignette.) The relatively inconsequential text is by Jeff Takacs (with contributions from Bydwell), with fanciful lighting by Jeanette Yew. The emcee is repetitive and takes up too much time, but the rest of the characters excel as they go from group can-cans to intimate solos, duets, and trios. Director and choreographer McCormick limits the complex acrobatic elements of the troupe, focusing more on dance and song, like Martha Graham gone wild, and it works well here, after a slow start. Paris! runs through November 12 — tickets begin at $25 and go up to $525 for those VIPs who want to party like it’s 1699 — and will be followed by Company XIV’s annual holiday favorite, Nutcracker Rouge.

DICK GREGORY: WHAT’S GOING ON?

Dick Gregory will talk comedy and politics at the Black Spectrum Theatre on October 22

Who: Dick Gregory, Onaje Allan Gumbs
What: Comedy, music, political discussion
Where: Black Spectrum Theatre, Roy Wilkins Recreation Center, 177 St. & Baisley Blvd., Queens, 718-723-1800
When: Saturday, October 22, $35 in advance, $45 at the door, 8:00
Why: This past summer, Joe Morton played comedian and activist Dick Gregory in the excellent show Turn Me Loose. Now you can see the real thing, as Gregory, who just turned eighty-four on October 12, will be at the Black Spectrum Theatre in Queens on October 22, sharing his sociopolitical musings and conspiracy rants about the state of the world; he should be in extra-fine form with the election approaching. (You can get a taste of his thoughts on Donald Trump here.) The evening will also feature a performance by Harlem-born, Queens-raised pianist, composer, and bandleader Onaje Allan Gumbs, who has released such albums as That Special Part of Me, Remember Their Innocence, Sack Full of Dreams, and Just Like Yesterday.

THE FRIDAY PARTY AT BROOKLYN OUTPOST

housing-works-benefit

Who: Mutual Benefit, Shamir, Waxahatchee, Sadie Dupuis, Jazmine Hughes, Adam J. Kurtz, Dorothea Lasky, Mychal Denzel Smith, Doreen St. Felix, Brandon Stosuy
What: Housing Works Design on a Dime Benefit
Where: The Courtyard at Industry Park, Second Ave. between 36th & 37th Sts., Brooklyn
When: Friday, October 7, general admission $20, 6:00 – 11:00
Why: Housing Works Bookstore Cafe is holding its first-ever off-site event on October 7, teaming up with the Creative Independent for a benefit featuring live performances by musicians Shamir, Waxahatchee, and Mutual Benefit, book readings and signings by Sadie Dupuis, Dorothea Lasky, Mychal Denzel Smith, and Doreen St. Felix, a presentation by artist Adam J. Kurtz, and remarks from Brandon Stosuy; the event will be hosted by Jazmine Hughes. Complimentary refreshments include snacks from local Brooklyn vendors and potent potables courtesy of Greenport Brewing Company and Whispering Angel Wines; there is limited first-come, first-served seating. All proceeds will benefit Housing Works’ “health care, housing, job training, advocacy, and other services provided to homeless and at-risk New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS.” The benefit is part of a Design on a Dime weekend fair running October 6-9 at Industry City, with one-of-a-kind room vignettes by such interior designers as Akhira N. Ismail, Callidus Guild, CAVdesign, David Netto, House of Julien, LABLstudio, Leonora Mahle, Monica Hofstadter, Sheep + Stone, and others.

NEPAL BENEFIT — DEVOTIONAL MUSIC & CHANT: KRISHNA DAS, LAMA TENZIN & FRIENDS

nepal-benefit

Who: Krishna Das, Lama Tenzin, Richard Gere, Former Nuns of Nagi Gompa
What: Benefit concert for Shedrub Development Fund
When: Wednesday, October 5, $50 – $500, 7:30
Where: Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, 263 West 86th St. at West End Ave.
Why:Last November, we went to Boudha, Kathmandu, to study with Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche at his Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, which, like most of the city, was hit hard by the earthquakes of April and May 2015. On October 5, the second annual benefit for the Shedrub Development Fund will take place at the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew on the Upper West Side, once again headlined by Grammy-nominated singer Krishna Das, who specializes in the Hindu devotional chant music known as kirtan. Also returning is Lama Tenzin Sangpo, who escaped his native Tibet as a child and received his education and ordination from Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche at the shedra, becoming an accomplished chant master. The “concert of sacred music and chant,” which will be hosted by dedicated student of Tibetan Buddhism Richard Gere, will also feature a performance by the Former Nuns of Nagi Gompa, who are now based in Queens. Tickets for the concert begin at $50 for general admission and $150 for preferred seating. For $500, patrons also are invited to a catered preconcert reception with the artists. (You can watch a video of the rebuilding effort here.)