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

KING LEAR

Sir Antony Sher bids William Shakespeare adieu in final Bard role (photo by Ellie Kurttz)

Brooklyn Academy of Music
BAM Harvey Theater
651 Fulton St.
April 7-29, $35-$125, 7:30 (plus 1:30 and 3:00 weekend matinees)
718-636-4100
www.bam.org

The Brooklyn Academy of Music has a thing for King Lear. Since 2007, it has presented three major productions, starring Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Frank Langella. During that time period, New York has also seen the tragic ruler portrayed by John Lithgow at the Delacorte, Michael Pennington at TFANA, and Sam Waterston and Kevin Kline at the Public. Now comes sixty-eight-year-old South African-born English actor Sir Antony Sher, in what is being billed as his final Shakespeare role. The two-time Olivier Award winner, Tony nominee, and longtime Royal Shakespeare Company member has previously played the Fool in Lear, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Prospero in The Tempest, Falstaff in both parts of Henry IV at BAM, Leontes in The Winter’s Tale, and the title characters in Richard III, Titus Andronicus, and Macbeth. The RSC production runs at the BAM Harvey April 7-29, directed by Gregory Doran (Sher’s longtime partner), with sets by Niki Turner, lighting by Tim Mitchell, and music by Ilona Sekacz. The cast also features Nia Gwynne as Goneril, Kelly Williams as Regan, Mimi Ndiweni as Cordelia, and Graham Turner as the Fool. In conjunction with the show, RSC assistant director Anna Girvan and members of the company will give a class on April 24 at 1:00 ($25) at the Mark Morris Dance Center “for emerging professional actors,” and Girvan and company members will lead the open workshop “Inside the Storm” on April 26 at noon ($20) at Mark Morris “for curious adult (18+) theatergoers of all abilities.”

ANNUAL GATHERING OF REMEMBRANCE 5778

A candle-lighting ceremony is part of Yom HaShoah memorial service at Congregation Emanu-El (photo by Melanie Einzig)

Congregation Emanu-El
One East 65th St. at Fifth Ave.
Sunday, April 8, free with advance RSVP, 2:00
646-437-4227
www.emanuelnyc.org
mjhnyc.org

In an age of rising anti-Semitism, fascism, and Holocaust deniers, it is critical that the world never forgets what happened to the Jewish people during WWII. On Sunday, April 8, at 2:00, the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will cohost New York’s Annual Gathering of Remembrance at Congregation Emanu-El. Held in conjunction with the holy day known as Yom HaShoah, which begins Wednesday night, the memorial service is a “tribute to those who survived and have made a better world for us all,” with elected officials, Holocaust survivors and their families, and other members of the community coming together at the Upper East Side synagogue. On its website, the Museum of Jewish Heritage explains, “Every year, at New York’s Annual Gathering of Remembrance, we come together as a community to say: We will never forget. The Jewish people persist, and we will not allow the memory of millions to pass into stony silence. We owe it to our people, ourselves, and our children to insist that when we mourn those who were murdered and comfort those who suffered, we tell their stories with the utmost respect for their human dignity. It is a powerful answer to the Nazis’ thwarted ambition. New York’s Annual Gathering of Remembrance is the largest Holocaust commemoration event in the country.” Tickets are free but must be reserved in advance here; printouts must be presented at the door. Zachor. Gedenk. Remember.

A CHILLING MAKE BELIEVE: ALEXIS ROCKMAN ON GRANT WOOD

Grant Wood (1891–1942), Spring Turning, 1936. Oil on composition board, 18 1⁄4 x 40 1⁄8 in. (46.4 x 101.9 cm). Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; gift of Barbara B. Millhouse 1991.2.2. © Figge Art Museum, successors to the Estate of Nan Wood Graham/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Image courtesy Reynolda House Museum of American Art, affiliated with Wake Forest University

Grant Wood, Spring Turning, oil on composition board, 1936 (image courtesy Reynolda House Museum of American Art, affiliated with Wake Forest University)

Who: Alexis Rockman
What: Artists on artists talk
Where: Whitney Museum of American Art, Floor 3, Susan and John Hess Family Gallery and Theater, 99 Gansevoort St., 212-570-3600
When: Friday, April 6, $10, 6:30
Why: New York City native Alexis Rockman, who creates fantastical outdoor worlds in his paintings, will be at the Whitney on April 6 at 6:30 to discuss the landscapes of Grant Wood in conjunction with the exhibition “Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables,” which continues at the museum through June 10. The show reveals Wood to be more than just a portraitist who is most famous for “American Gothic”; among his landscapes at the Whitney are Young Corn, Stone City, The Birthplace of Herbert Hoover, and Spring in the Country. Rockman’s “The Great Lakes Cycle” is now on view at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Tickets for the talk, “A Chilling Make Believe: Alexis Rockman on Grant Wood,” are $10; if you can’t get to the Whitney or the event is sold out, it will be livestreamed on YouTube.

BROOKLYN MUSEUM FIRST SATURDAY: DAVID BOWIE!

Photograph from the cover shoot for Aladdin Sane, 1973. Photo by Brian Duffy. Photo Duffy (c) Duffy Archives & the David Bowie Archive

Photograph from the cover shoot for Aladdin Sane, 1973 (Photo by Brian Duffy. Photo Duffy © Duffy Archives & the David Bowie Archive)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, April 7, free (“David Bowie is” requires advance tickets of $25), 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The late, great David Bowie is the subject of the Brooklyn Museum’s free April First Saturday program, celebrating the major exhibition “David Bowie is.” There will be live performances by Bowie pianist Mike Garson and Bowie favorite Tamar-kali; a book club talk and signing with Simon Critchley, author of the 2014 book Bowie; a screening of D. A. Pennebaker’s concert film Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars; a hands-on art workshop in which participants can make Bowie-inspired watercolors; a photo booth where everyone is encouraged to pose as a Bowie persona; Drink and Draw sketching of live models dressed as Bowie; a Bowie-themed showcase by Bushwig, hosted by Horrorchata, Untitled Queen, and Tyler Ashley; and pop-up gallery talks by teen apprentices in the “American Art” galleries. In addition, the galleries will be open late so you can check out “William Trost Richards: Experiments in Watercolor,” “Arts of Korea,” “Infinite Blue,” “Ahmed Mater: Mecca Journeys,” “Rodin at the Brooklyn Museum: The Body in Bronze,” “A Woman’s Afterlife: Gender Transformation in Ancient Egypt,” and more. However, please note that advance tickets are required to see “David Bowie is,” at the regular admission price.

NYC PODFEST 2018

nyc podfest

Abrons Arts Center
466 Grand St. at Pitt St.
April 6-8, $10-$35
212-352-3101
www.nycpodfest.com
www.abronsartscenter.org

The sixth annual NYC PodFest takes place this weekend at Abrons Arts Center, with two dozen podcasts recording live in front of an audience, adding a visual element to what is usually just an aural experience. Among the special guests are Michael Ian Black, Judy Gold, Jordan Klepper, Wheatus, Kevin McDonald, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Touré, Matthew Broderick, Martha Plimpton, and Zach Braff. Below are only some of the highlights.

Friday, April 6
Pod Save the People, hosted by DeRay Mckesson, with guest Touré, $30-$40, 7:00

If I Were You with Jake Hurwitz & Amir Blumenfeld, $25-$45, 9:15

Saturday, April 7
Kill Me Now with Judy Gold, $10, 2:45

Employee of the Month, hosted by Catie Lazarus, with guests Masha Gessen, Martha Plimpton, and Anthony Atamanuik and musical guest Lucy Wainwright Roche and the Employee of the Month house band, $20, 3:00

Kevin McDonald’s Kevin McDonald Show, with guests Michael Ian Black and Jordan Klepper and musical guest Wheatus, $15-$25, 9:15

Sunday, April 8
A Discussion with Zach Braff and Gimlet Founder Alex Blumberg, plus an advance screening of Alex, Inc., free with advance RSVP, 7:15

Touré Show, hosted by Touré, $15, 1:00

Little Known Facts, hosted by Ilana Levine, with guest Matthew Broderick, $10, 6:30

CULTURE AND ITS DISCONTENTS: A PUBLIC CONVERSATION

culture

LECTURES AND SYMPOSIA
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Ave. at 89th St.
Friday, April 6, 6:30, and Saturday, April 7, 2:30
212-423-3587
www.guggenheim.org

This weekend the Guggenheim is hosting a two-day seminar focusing on the growing ideological divide across the United States, particularly looking at the protests held online and in person against certain art shows in museums amid fake news and digital swarming. “Culture and Its Discontents” begins April 6 at 6:30 with a keynote conversation featuring progressive political commentator Sally Kohn, former Obama White House deputy chief of staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, and artist Hank Willis Thomas. The symposium continues April 7 at 2:30 with two panel discussions moderated by Brian Lehrer, “Contemporary Culture Wars” with Kurt Bardella, Jehmu Greene, Angela Nagle, and Suzanne Nossel, followed by “Outrage Activism,” with Danielle Citron, Molly Crockett, and Melissa Ryan. On view currently at the museum are the politically charged “Danh Vo: Take My Breath Away,” “Josef Albers in Mexico,” and “Guggenheim Collection: Brancusi.”

ASCENSION: A LIFTING OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING’S LEGACY ON THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF HIS ASSASSINATION

The fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be honored at Harlem Gate on April 4

Who: Adepero Oduye, Amma Whatt, C. Kelly Wright, Kyle Marshall, Bertha Hope
What: An evening of live performances and tributes celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Where: Harlem Stage Gatehouse, 150 Convent Ave. at West 135th St., 212-281-9240 ext. 19
When: Wednesday, April 4, free with RSVP, 7:30 & 8:45
Why: On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, altering the course of America’s future. Harlem Stage is honoring Dr. King’s legacy with a special program on April 4, 2018, the fiftieth anniversary of his murder. At 7:30 and 8:45, singer-songwriter Amma Whatt, actress, singer, and dancer C. Kelly Wright, dancer and choreographer Kyle Marshall (a solo piece set to Dr. King’s “On the Mountaintop” speech), actress, writer, and director Adepero Oduye (an excerpt from “The Drum Major Instinct”), and jazz pianist Bertha Hope will perform a tribute to MLK and Harlem, built around one of MLK’s most famous quotes, putting it into contemporary context: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”