this week in lectures, signings, panel discussions, workshops, and Q&As

SPACEFEST AT HOME

The American Museum of Natural History’s SpaceFest includes the live launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon

Who: Ruth Angus, Carter Emmart, Jackie Faherty, Neil deGrasse Tyson
What: Online celebration marking the first U.S. human mission to space in almost a decade
Where: American Museum of Natural History
When: Wednesday, May 27, free, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Why: On May 27, the SpaceX Crew Dragon will blast off from the Kennedy Space Center and head to the International Space Station. The American Museum of Natural History will celebrate the first U.S. human mission to space since the Atlantis in 2011 with SpaceFest, a trio of live family-friendly watch parties featuring special guests. Below is the schedule; attendance is free.

Wednesday, May 27
Scientists at Home: Imagining Space Exploration, with museum curator Ruth Angus and introducing the OLogy Challenge, 11:00 am

Field Trip: Spaceflight, virtual spaceflight with museum director of astrovisualization Carter Emmart and astrophysicist Jackie Faherty, 1:00

The Future of Space Exploration with Neil deGrasse Tyson, live launch with commentary from Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson and astrophysicist Jackie Faherty, 4:05

LAUGH LINES: ALAN ZWEIBEL WITH LEWIS BLACK, SUSIE ESSMAN, AND MARY KARR

Alan Zweibel will be joined by Lewis Black, Susie Essman, and Mary Karr for 92Y book launch event on May 25

Who: Alan Zweibel, Lewis Black, Susie Essman, Mary Karr
What: Online book launch with special guests
Where: 92nd St. Y online
When: Monday, May 25, $20, 7:30
Why: When television writer, playwright, screenwriter, and comic genius Alan Zweibel first announced his book launch for Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier (Abrams, April 2020, $27), it was going to be at the 92nd St. Y, titled “Alan Zweibel and Friends.” With the coronavirus pandemic shutting down public gatherings, the event is now taking place online, and the friends have been announced. On May 25 at 7:30, the Brooklyn-born, Long Island-raised Zweibel will be joined for a virtual reading and discussion with the inimitable Lewis Black, Susie Essman, and Mary Karr. In the book, Zweibel, who turned sixty-nine on May 20, takes a look back at his long career, working at Saturday Night Live, cocreating It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, collaborating with Billy Crystal on the Tony-winning 700 Sundays, and penning such novels as North and The Other Shulman. “I write. This is what I’m wired to do,” Zweibel notes in chapter eight, “Crashing and Burning in Another Genre.” He continues, “To awaken at 5:30 every morning, sit down with my vocabulary, choose words, and arrange them in an order that would not only hold a viewer or reader’s interest, but also afford them a laugh or two along the way. And if I succeed, well, mission accomplished. There’s no greater feeling. But if I fail, well, I’m sorry, but it’s not a war crime. I swear, I tried my best.” Crystal wrote the foreword for the book, which also includes interviews with Richard Lewis, Eric Idle, Bob Saget, Mike Birbiglia, Sarah Silverman, Judd Apatow, Dave Barry, and Carl Reiner. Tickets are $20, with proceeds benefiting 92Y.

DANCEAFRICA 2020

danceafrica

Who: Mikki Shepard, DJ YB, Mamma Normadien, Baba N’goma Woolbright, Charmaine Warren, Abdel R. Salaam, Karen Thornton Daniels, Sabine LaFortune, Coco Killingsworth, Farai Malianga, more
What: BAM’s DanceAfrica
Where: BAM online
When: Through May 29 (and beyond), free (some film screenings require small payment)
Why: One of our favorite ways of ushering in the summer season is by going to BAM’s annual DanceAfrica festival, a weekend of dance, films, a street bazaar, and more celebrating African culture. The forty-second annual event is taking place online, with livestreamed performances, film screenings, archival videos, interviews, classes, and a virtual bazaar. “The spirit of DanceAfrica has no boundaries, and will always find its way to the people,” Baba Abdel R. Salaam said in a statement. Below is the full schedule. And be prepared to shout “Ago!” “Amée!!” from the comfort of wherever you are sheltering in place.

Through May 27
FilmAfrica: Aya of Yop City (Marguerite Abouet & Clément Oubrerie, 2012), Mother of George (Andrew Dosunmu, 2012), Rafiki (Wanuri Kahiu, 2018), Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2008), pay-what-you-wish to $4.99

Through May 29
“DanceAfrica Visual Art: Omar Victor Diop”

Through June 14
DanceAfrica Virtual Bazaar, with clothing, jewelry, home goods, food, and accessories

Monday, May 25
“DanceAfrica: The Early Years,” with Mikki Shepard, 11:00 am

DanceAfrica Dance Party, with DJ YB, 7:00

Tuesday, May 26
“DanceAfrica: Behind the Scenes,” with Abdel R. Salaam, Charmaine Warren, and Council of Elder members Mamma Normadien and Baba N’goma Woolbright, 6:00

Wednesday, May 27
“DanceAfrica: The Council of Elders,” with Stefanie Hughley and Council of Elder leaders Mamma Lynette White-Mathews and Baba Bill (William) Mathews, 6:00

Thursday, May 28
“Education and DanceAfrica,” with Karen Thornton Daniels, Sabine LaFortune, Coco Killingsworth, and Abdel R. Salaam, 6:00

Opens Thursday, May 28
FilmAfrica: A Screaming Man (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, 2010), Chez Jolie Coiffure (Rosine Mbakam, 2018), I Am Not a Witch (Rungano Nyoni, 2017), National Diploma (Dieudo Hamadi, 2014), prices TBD

Friday, May 29
“Bantaba West African Dance Class,” with Karen Thornton Daniels and Farai Malianga, RSVP required, 2:00

“DanceAfrica: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” with Coco Killingsworth, Charmaine Warren, and Abdel R. Salaam, 6:00

36 CINEMA: SHOGUN ASSASSIN WITH LIVE COMMENTARY BY RZA

shogun assassin

Who: RZA, Dan Halsted, Mustafa Shaikh
What: Live commentary during streaming of martial arts movie
Where: 36 Cinema
When: Sunday, May 24, $10, 9:15
Why: Rapper, writer, producer, actor, and director RZA has long displayed his admiration for martial arts movies. He is a cofounder of Wu-Tang Clan, which was named after the 1983 Hong Kong film Shaolin vs. Wu Tang, and he directed, cowrote, and starred in the 2012 movie The Man with the Iron Fists. In conjunction with 36 Chambers, the lifestyle company he cofounded in 2016 with Mustafa Shaikh — Wu-Tang Clan’s debut album was called Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) — he has now started 36 Cinema, an online site that will stream martial arts classics with live commentary. They kicked things off earlier this month with Shaolin vs. Wu Tang, and on May 24 they will head to Japan for the 1980 jidaigeki favorite Shogun Assassin, a crossover film directed by Kenji Misumi and Robert Houston, inspired by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima’s long-running manga series Lone Wolf & Cub. The film features Tomisaburo Wakayama, the brother of producer and Zatoichi star Shintaro Katsu, as Ogami Ittō, a former executioner who has become a righteous defender of the common people and who lives by a very specific code; the film was sampled in Wu-Tang member GZA’s 1995 album, Liquid Swords, which was produced by RZA. RZA will provide live commentary, joined by Shaikh, who will moderate viewer questions, and Hollywood Theatre head programmer Dan Halsted. Tickets are limited and cost ten dollars; you will receive a link an hour before showtime. “Meet the greatest team in the history of mass slaughter!” the film’s tagline declares. We can’t wait.

LOWER EAST SIDE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS: THE MT. OLYMPUS OF LES LOVE! and more

festival of the arts

Who: Charles Busch, Phoebe Legere, Penny Arcade, Austin Pendleton, David Amram, F. Murray Abraham, William Electric Black, more
What: Live concert and summit (and many other events)
Where: Theater for the New City
When: Saturday, May 23, free, 8:00 (festival runs May 22-24)
Why: Since 1996, Theater for the New City’s annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts has been a harbinger of summer, three days of multidisciplinary performances taking place in and around the organization’s East First St. home. But the twenty-fifth anniversary of the popular weekend event goes virtual because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but that doesn’t mean it’s slowed down in the least. From May 22 to 24, the festival, whose theme is “Renaissance: Arts Alive 25,” will feature 250 participants providing music, dance, theater, discussion, and more, all for free. The centerpiece occurs on May 23 at 8:00 with “The Mt. Olympus of LES Love!,” a concert with an amazing lineup consisting of Charles Busch, Phoebe Legere, Penny Arcade, Austin Pendleton, David Amram, F. Murray Abraham, and William Electric Black, followed by a summit that attempts to answer the question “Where do we go from here?”

The three-day celebration will feature such speakers as Nii Gaani Aki, Michael Musto, Brad Hoylman, Carlina Rivera, and Candice Burridge; theater excerpts with Barbara Kahn, Anne Lucas, Eve Packer, Greg Mullavey, the Drilling Company, Folksbiene National Yiddish Theater, Nuyorican Poets Café, and others; comedy from Reno, Stan Baker, Trav S.D., Wise Guise, Izzy Church, Epstein and Hassan, and Ana-Maria Bandean with Gemma Forbes; dance with Ashley Liang Dance Company, Constellation Moving Co., Dixon Place, H.T. Chen & Dancers, Wendy Osserman Dance Company, Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, and Zullo/RawMovement; music by Donald Arrington, Allesandra Belloni, Michael David Gordon and the Pocket Band, Art Lillard, and Yip Harburg Rainbow Troupe; cabaret with KT Sullivan, Marissa Mulder, Eric Yves Garcia, Aziza, and Peter Zachari; and poetry readings by Coni Koepfinger, Tsaurah Litzky, Lola Rodriguez, Bob Rosenthal, Lissa Moira, and Brianna Bartenieff; along with puppetry, film screenings, children’s events, and visual art, all for free, although donations are gladly accepted.

THE MAKING OF AMARILLO RAMP (introduced by Lee Ranaldo)

©Holt/Smithson Foundation, Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York. Distributed by Electronic Arts Intermix.

Who: Lee Ranaldo
What: Online film screening and introduction
Where: Holt/Smithson Foundation Vimeo and Instagram Live
When: Friday, May 22, free, 2:00 (streams for twenty-four hours)
Why: The Holt/Smithson Foundation, which continues and expands the legacies of husband-and-wife artists Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson, have been livestreaming rare films by and about the couple on Friday afternoons at 2:00, leaving them up on Vimeo and IGTV for twenty-four hours. On May 22, the foundation will present Holt’s The Making of Amarillo Ramp, a documentary that goes behind the scenes of the creation of Smithson’s last earthwork, 1973’s Amarillo Ramp, consisting of rocks and dirt that was meant to emerge from an artificial lake in Amarillo but is now eroding in a dry basin. Holt shot the film in 1973, but it wasn’t edited and completed until 2013; Smithson died at the age of thirty-five in a plane crash while surveying the work, which was finished by Holt, Tony Shafrazi, and Richard Serra, while Holt passed away in 2014 at the age of seventy-five. The thirty-two-minute 16mm film will be introduced by musician, composer, visual artist, writer, producer, and Sonic Youth cofounder Lee Ranaldo, who in 1998 released the experimental album Amarillo Ramp (for Robert Smithson), which features the title track in addition to “Non-Site #3,” “Notebook,” “Here,” and a cover of John Lennon’s “Isolation,” which fits in all too well with the current pandemic; Smithson was a land artist working outside, amid large expanses of deserted areas, and Ranaldo has just released a new video for “Isolation,” with footage taken during the coronavirus crisis.

THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA: ANTISEMITISM RUN AMOK

NMAJH panel discussion uses The Plot Against America as a jumping-off point

NMAJH panel discussion uses The Plot Against America as jumping-off point to discuss modern-day anti-Semitism

Who: Michael Berenbaum, Pamela S. Nadell
What: Livestream panel discussion
Where: National Museum of American Jewish History Facebook page
When: Thursday, May 21, free with advance registration, 6:00
Why: We recently finished watching HBO’s six-part series The Plot Against America, based on Phillip Roth’s 2004 novel, and it scared the hell out of us. The story presents an alternate history in which Charles Lindbergh beats Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 to become president of the United States, but the famous aviator turns out to be a far-right America-first anti-Semite. Just as the main character’s wife begs him to leave New Jersey and head to Canada, my wife has been urging us to find safer environs, to escape Donald Trump and move to Portugal or another country, since anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise in the United States and around the world. On May 21 at 6:00, the Philadelphia-based National Museum of American Jewish History will host the timely panel discussion “The Plot Against America: Antisemitism Run Amok,” with independent consultant and Jewish Studies professor Michael Berenbaum and Women’s & Gender History professor Pamela S. Nadell. Admission is free with recommended RSVP; if you want to ask questions, you have to watch the program on Facebook and not on the NMAJH website.