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

WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL 2018

Brian Greene will moderate a discussion on black holes at World Science Festival

Multiple venues
May 29 – June 3
Most events free – $100
www.worldsciencefestival.com

The eleventh annual World Science Festival is another foray into the future, an inner exploration of the mind as well as an outer adventure into space. There will be lectures, panel discussions, workshops, labs, film screenings, readings, and more, at such locations as NYU, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Ace Hotel. Below are only some of the highlights.

Tuesday, May 29
Gala celebrating Marie Curie, Alice Ball, Rosalind Franklin, Vera Rubin, and Maryam Mirzakhani, with performances by Carolee Carmello, Hannah Elless, Rosemary Loar, Ingrid Michaelson, Alice Ripley, Michelle Wilson, and others, Jazz at Lincoln Center, $1,000+, 6:00 – 10:30

Wednesday, May 30
Cheers to Science: The Absence of Absinthe, Distilling the Science of the “Green Fairy,” with Kevin Herson and others, moderated by Shannon Odell, Liberty Hall at Ace Hotel, $40 (twenty-one and older only), 7:00

Bump: The Magic, Mystery, and Mechanics of Pregnancy, new play (Bump) by Chiara Atik, directed by Claudia Weil, performance followed by talkback, with Catherine Birndorf, Linsay Firman, and others, moderated by Lynn Sherr, Ensemble Studio Theatre, $25-$40, 7:00

Thursday, May 31
Planting the Seeds, Seeding the Plants: Can CRISPR Save the World?, with Dave Jackson, Carolyn Neuhaus, Yiping Qi, Friedrich Soltau, and Matthew R. Willmann, moderated by Brooke Borel, NYU Global Center, Grand Hall, $15-$25, 4:00

A Merger in Space: Black Holes and Neutron Stars, with Duncan Brown, Vicky Kalogera, Frans Pretorius, and Jocelyn Read, moderated by Mario Livio, NYU Global Center, Grand Hall, $15-$25, 6:00

World Science Festival includes special Lab Tours for Girls

Deep Dive Live: Trivia Night at the American Museum of Natural History, hosted by Faith Salie, $45-$100, 6:00 (includes special exhibition access)

Friday, June 1
World Science U, with Andrea Ghez, Sara Walker, and others, NYU Global Center, Grand Hall, free with advance registration, 10:30

Carl Zimmer: She Has Her Mother’s Laugh, with Carl Zimmer, moderated by Maria Konnikova, NYU Global Center, Grand Hall, $15-$25, 6:00

The Matter of Antimatter: Answering the Cosmic Riddle of Existence, with Marcela Carena, Janet Conrad, Michael Doser, Hitoshi Murayama, and Neil Turok, moderated by Brian Greene, Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, $20-$100, 8:00

Saturday, June 2
Great Fish Count: 1 Fish, 2 Fish, I Fish, You Fish, Great Fish Count Sites, free (advance registration suggested), 9:00 am – 6:30 pm

Cook-off will pit human against machine at World Science Festival

Science and Story Cafe: The Story of Science, One Book at a Time, with Lisa Barrett, Michael Benson, Susana Martinez-Conde, Oren Harman, Janice Kaplan, Stephen Macknik, Barnaby Marsh, Ken Miller, and Andrew Revkin, moderated by Budd Mishkin and Richard Panek, NYU Kimmel Center, free (advance registration suggested), 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Notes on the Folds: Why Music Makes Us Shiver, with Meagan Curtis, Mari Kimura, Edward Large, Psyche Loui, and others, moderated by John Schaefer, NYU Global Center, Grand Hall, $15-$25, 11:00

Backyard Wilderness, 3D film and postscreening BioBlitz,Lefrak Theater, the American Museum of Natural History, 2:30

To Be or Not to Be Bionic: On Immortality and Superhumanism, with Jessica Brillhart, S. Matthew Liao, Hod Lipson, and Max Tegmark, moderated by Mariette DiChristina, NYU Global Center, Grand Hall, $15-$25, 4:00

Saturday Night Lights: Stargazing in Brooklyn Bridge Park, with Ken Blackburn, Steve Howell, Kent Kirshenbaum, Steve Liddell, Hod Lipson, Scott M. Smith, Nicole Stott, Jennifer Swanson, and Bill Yosses, Pier 1, free (advance registration suggested), 7:00 – 11:00

World Science Festival features free stargazing in Brooklyn Bridge Park

Sunday, June 3
Science and Storytime: Science Books Come to Life, with Helaine Becker, Ken Blackburn, Lynn Brunelle, “Science Bob” Pflugfelder, Jennifer Swanson, and Mike Vago, moderated by Jana Grcevich and Olivia Koski, NYU Kimmel Center, free (advance registration suggested), 11:00 am – 5:00 pm

Alien Contact: What Happens Next?, with Kathryn Denning, David Kipping, Karen Lewis, and Marcelo Magnasco, moderated by Wendy Zukerman, NYU Global Center, Grand Hall, $15-$25, 11:00

Flame Challenge: “What Is Climate?,” with Michael Bronski, Cyndy Desjardins, Soumyadeep Mukherjee, and Bernadette Woods Placky, moderated by Alan Alda, NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, $15-$100, 1:30

VULTURE FESTIVAL 2018

Maggie Gyllenhaal will be at the Vulture Festival to discuss The Deuce and four other projects

A POP CULTURE EXTRAVAGANZA
Milk Studios (and other venues)
450 West Fifteenth St. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
Saturday, May 18, and Sunday, May 19, free – $160
vulturefestival.com/ny

New York magazine’s fifth annual Vulture Festival takes place this weekend at Milk Studios and other locations, celebrating pop culture. Below are only some of the nearly three dozen events that encompass film, music, comedy, art, podcasts, books, and more; all tickets include complimentary access to the Vulture Lounge following the event. Among the other participants are Julianna Margulies, Rachel Bloom, Adam Pally, Sutton Foster, Hilary Duff, Debi Mazar, Darren Star, Wendy Williams, Johnny Knoxville, Cameron Esposito, Marti Noxon, Rachael Ray, Adam Platt, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Groff, Liev Schreiber, David Edelstein, Bo Burnham, and Wyatt Cenac.

Saturday, May 19
John Leguizamo: In Conversation, moderated by Matt Zoller Seitz, followed by a book signing, Milk Studios — Penthouse, $30, 11:30 am

One Book, One New York, One Event: Jennifer Egan in conversation with Adam Moss, Milk Studios — Studio 1, free with advance registration, 2:30

Maggie Gyllenhaal in Five Acts, conversation focusing on five of her projects, Milk Studios — Penthouse, $30, 4:00

Roxane Gay and Amber Tamblyn Present Feminist AF, with special guests Jennine Capó Crucet, Sharon Olds, and Morgan Parker, Milk Studios — Studio 1, $30, 6:45

Tracy Morgan in Hilarious Conversation, moderated by Matt Zoller Seitz, Milk Studios — AT&T Studio, $30, 8:00

Claire Danes and Jim Parsons will be at Milk Studios on May 20 to discuss their new film, A Kid Like Jake

Sunday, May 20
Jerry Saltz’s Masterly Tour of the Met Breuer, tour of the Met exhibit “Like Life” led by Jerry Saltz, Met Breuer, $150, 9:00 am

Boozy Brunch with Your Best Friends Gillian Jacobs, Vanessa Bayer, and Phoebe Robinson, conversation with stars of new Netflix film Ibiza, moderated by Michelle Buteau, Milk Studios — Studio 4, $30, 12 noon

Claire Danes and Jim Parsons’s A Kid Like Jake, discussion of new movie with actors Claire Danes and Jim Parsons, director Silas Howard, and writer Daniel Pearle, Milk Studios — Studio 1, $30, 2:15

In Conversation with Samantha Bee, the Full Frontal Team, and Rebecca Traister: discussion with Samantha Bee, Melinda Taub, Ashley Nicole Black, Allana Harkin, Mike Rubens, and Amy Hoggart, moderated by Rebecca Traister, Milk Studios — AT&T Studio, $40, 5:45

Ava DuVernay and the Cast of Queen Sugar, with Ava DuVernay, Rutina Wesley, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, and Kofi Siriboe, Milk Studios — Studio 4, $30, 6:45

HARLEM EatUp! FESTIVAL 2018

Chef Marcus Samuelsson is one of the hosts of the fourth annual Harlem EatUp! Festival (photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images for Harlem EatUp!)

CELEBRATION OF FOOD CULTURE AND SPIRIT
Multiple locations in Harlem
May 15-21, free – $1,500
harlemeatup.com

The fourth annual Harlem EatUp! Festival takes place May 15-21, with dozens of chefs, restaurants, culinary organizations, mixmasters, and artists participating in tastings, dinners, concerts, and more celebrating Harlem culture. Below are only some of the special events happening uptown.

Wednesday, May 16
Dine in Harlem: Clay, with host chef Gustavo Lopez and guest chef Leah Cohen of Pig & Khao, $135, 7:00

Dine in Harlem: Melba’s Restaurant, with owner Melba Wilson and guest chef Andrew Zimmern, $110, 7:00

Thursday, May 17
The Harlem EatUp! Annual Luminary Award Dinner, honoring Dapper Dan and Bevy Smith, hosted by chefs Marcus Samuelsson, Adrienne Cheatham, and Geoffrey Zakarian, Red Rooster Harlem, $250, 6:30

Dine in Harlem: Harlem Shake, with proprietor Jelena Pasic and guest chef Josh Capon of Mercer Street Hospitality and live music by Angel Rose, $85, 7:00

Saturday, May 19
The EatUp! Main Stage at the Harlem Stroll, with culinary demonstrations by Leticia “Skai” Young, Raymond Zamanta Mohan, Jose Garces, Marcus Samuelsson, Stephanie Izard, Melba Wilson, and Jacques Torres and live performances by the Peoples Band, Lorenzo Laroc, and the Rakiem Walker Project, Morningside Park, free, 12:30 – 5:30

Ultimate Grand Tasting at the Harlem Stroll, featuring dishes from Bo’s Bagels, Charles Country Pan Fried Chicken, Drunken Fruit, Ginny’s Supper Club, Harlem Haberdashery, Harlem Chocolate Factory, Harlem Shake, Harlem Tavern, Land Yoga, Lee Lee’s Bakery, LoLo’s Seafood Shake, Make My Cake, Melba’s Restaurant, Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread, Oso Harlem, Piatto D’Oro, Ponty Bistro, Row House, Settepani, Sisters Caribbean Cuisine, SpaHa Soul, Sugar Hill Creamery, Sugardale Inc., Tastings Social presents Gaudir, the Edge Harlem, and the Grange Bar & Eatery, adults only, Morningside Park, $85-$110, 12:30 – 5:30

Saturday, May 19
and
Sunday, May 20
The Marketplace at the Harlem Stroll, with more than two dozen food vendors, a kids’ zone, demonstrations, live performances, and more, Morningside Park, free, 12:30 – 5:30

Sunday, May 20
The EatUp! Main Stage at the Harlem Stroll, with culinary demonstrations by Melba Wilson, Lorenzo Boni, Jernard Wells, Marcus Samuelsson, Jarobi White, Adrienne Cheatham, and Laila Ali and live performances by Siya featuring Yacouba Sissoko, Vy Higginson’s Sing Harlem Choir, and Johnny Mambo & Friends, Morningside Park, free, 12:30 – 5:30

Ultimate Grand Tasting at the Harlem Stroll, featuring dishes from Bier International, Bierstrasse, BLVD Bistro, Cove Lounge, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Drunken Fruit, Ginny’s Supper Club, Harlem Chocolate Factory, Harlem Haberdashery, Harlem Tavern, Kingston Restaurant & Bar, Land Yoga, Lady Lexis Sweets, Lloyd’s Carrot Cake, Moffle Bar, Piatto D’Oro, Row House, Settepani, Shake Shack, Sisters Caribbean Cuisine, Spaha Soul, Sugardale Inc., Tastings Social presents Mountain Bird, the Kosher Kitchen, the Sylvia Center, and Uptown Veg & Juice Bar, adults only, Morningside Park, $85-$110, 12:30 – 5:30

REST IN PEACE, NEW YORK: THEATER, WOMEN, AND IMMIGRATION

Japan Society will host special reading on May 14 organized by artist Shirotama Hitsujiya (photo by Shirotama Hitsujiya)

Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Monday, May 14, $10, 7:30
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org

Tokyo-based performance artist and playwright Shirotama Hitsujiya will be at Japan Society on May 14 as part of her residency, leading the program “Rest in Peace, New York: Theater, Women, and Immigration.” Hitsujiya, the artistic director of YUBIWA Hotel and a founding member of AJOKAI (Asian Women Performing Arts Collective), has been collecting stories of Vietnamese women who have immigrated to New York City. Their interview-based words are being transcribed onto a makimono, a horizontal rice-paper handscroll, and will be read aloud Monday night by Catherine Filloux of Theatre Without Borders, Vietnam Heritage Center executive director Thùy Q. Phạm, Theatre Communications Group director of artistic and international programs Emilya Cachapero, Michi Barall of the Ma-Yi Theater Company, harunalee company director Kristine Haruna Lee, and Foundry Theatre artistic producer and founder Melanie Joseph, among others. The reading will be followed by an audience Q&A with the participants; tickets are only $10.

ONE OCTOBER

Clay Pigeon interviews construction worker Mark Paris in One October

ONE OCTOBER (Rachel Shuman, 2017)
Maysles Documentary Center
343 Lenox Ave./Malcolm X Blvd., between 127th & 128th Sts.
May 11-17, 7:30
212-537-6843
oneoctoberfilm.com
www.maysles.org

In October 2008, in the midst of the Barack Obama / John McCain presidential election and the mortgage crisis, filmmaker Rachel Shuman took to the streets of New York City with Clay Pigeon, host of The Dusty Show on WFMU, interviewing people as they made their way across Manhattan and other boroughs. The Boston-born, Beacon-based Shuman intended to capture a moment in time and not release the film until after Obama’s second term ended to see how life in the city changed. The result is One October, a kind of love letter to who we were, are, and will be. Inspired by Chris Marker’s 1963 film Le Joli Mai, in which the French director interviewed people on the streets of Paris, Shuman follows Pigeon, Radio Shack mini tape recorder in hand, as he wanders through Central Park, Harlem, Washington Square Park, the Lower East Side, Madison Square Park, the Financial District, the Brooklyn Bridge, Willets Point, Tompkins Square Park, and other locations, approaching a series of men and women who share fascinating details about their personal and professional lives; the Iowa-born Pigeon has an innate knack for quickly understanding his subjects, asking intuitive questions that often surprise them. He speaks with a former freelance photographer who now works construction to make more money for his family, an ambitious lawyer who wants to work at the UN, a mixed-race couple sitting on a bench, a woman railing against the gentrification of Harlem, and a homeless man who turns the tables on the soft-spoken Pigeon. “It’s always interesting to see how the random collection of souls falls together and how the next chapter bears fruit or lies fallow,” he says on his radio show.

In between interviews, cinematographer David Sampliner beautifully photographs trees, buildings, storefronts, statues, the Halloween Parade, political rallies, the Columbus Day Parade, a housing protest, the Blessing of the Animals at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, birds flying across blue skies, Muslims praying at the end of Ramadan, and Jews performing the ritual of Tashlich, casting away their sins by throwing pieces of bread into the East River. The shots, which include classic New York restaurants as well as institutions that have since closed, are accompanied by a bittersweet score by Paul Brill, featuring cellist Dave Eggar. Director, editor, and producer Shuman (Negotiations) has created a loving warning about the future of a city that has been undergoing major changes since October 2008. Executive produced by three-time Oscar nominee Edward Norton, the hour-long One October runs May 11-17 at the Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem, where it will be shown with Angelo J. Guglielmo Jr.’s ten-minute short The Monolith, about artist Gwyneth Leech’s reaction when a new high-rise hotel threatens her view of the city skyline from her studio window. Most screenings will be followed by a special Q&A and/or panel discussion, including a behind-the-scenes interview with Pigeon and a Q&A with Shuman and Leech on May 11, a Q&A with Shuman and Pigeon on May 12, a Q&A with Shuman, Sampliner, and Monolith cinematographer Andy Bowley on May 13, an editing panel with Shuman and Monolith editor Rosie Walunas on May 15, and a hyper-gentrification panel with Michael Henry Adams and Nellie Hester Bailey on May 16.

FILMWORKER

Leon Vitali sits next to Stanley Kubrick doll while sharing stories of toiling for the master in Filmworker

FILMWORKER (Tony Zierra, 2017)
Metrograph
7 Ludlow St. between Canal & Hester Sts.
Opens Friday, May 11
212-660-0312
metrograph.com
filmworker.com

British actor Leon Vitali was already carving out a successful career for himself in the swinging London of the late 1960s and early ’70s when he landed a key role in Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 epic, Barry Lyndon. Vitali was doing such a good job as Lord Bullingdon that Kubrick wrote additional scenes for him. But it turns out that what Vitali really wanted to do — ever since he first saw A Clockwork Orange — was work for Kubrick behind the scenes, to learn the art of filmmaking at the foot of the master. So Vitali gave up acting in 1977 and spent the next two decades as Kubrick’s right-hand man, doing whatever he was asked, whatever was needed. Documentarian Tony Zierra details Vitali’s long, strange journey in Filmworker, which opens May 11 at Metrograph; on opening weekend Zierra and Vitali will participate in several Q&As with special guests such as Alec Baldwin and The Encyclopedia of Stanley Kubrick coauthor Dr. Rodney Hill. “When someone would say to Stanley, I’d give my right arm to work for you, he would kind of smile, because I actually think he thought, ‘Well, why are you lowballing me? What, just the right arm?’” Vitali, who refers to his occupation as “filmworker,” says in the film. Over the years, Vitali became involved in casting, cutting, sound mixing, marketing, shipping, sales, dubbing, trailers, licensing, video transfers, color correcting, inventory, frame-by-frame restoration, and archiving, among myriad other responsibilities. “Leon did for Stanley what half a dozen executive producers and associate producers and production managers and drivers and tailors do on other movies for directors,” says former Warner Bros. SVP Julian Senior. “You have to understand Stanley Kubrick before you can even begin to understand what Leon Vitali did, does, went through, what’s imprinted on his soul and mind. It’s only when you understand that this remarkable man, a genius, a nightmare, warm, caring, distant, cold, expansive, funny, hugely intelligent, totally driven man would do to make his movies.”

Stanley Kubrick, flanked by Leon Vitali and Jack Nicholson, appears to like what he sees on the set of The Shining

Zierra (Carving Out Our Name, My Big Break) incorporates archival photographs, home movies, letters, notebooks, diaries, and original interviews with a vast array of men and women who have worked with Kubrick and Vitali, most of whom are in awe of what the latter did for the former. “What Leon did was a selfless act, a kind of crucifixion of himself,” Full Metal Jacket star Matthew Modine says. “This industry has been built on people like that,” technical services EVP Beverly Wood says of Vitali. Among the others singing Vitali’s praises are Barry Lyndon star Ryan O’Neal; Oscar-winning Full Metal Jacket gunnery sergeant R. Lee Ermey; Daniel Lloyd, who played Danny in The Shining; Stellan Skarsgård and Pernilla August, who worked with Vitali on Ingmar Bergman’s production of Hamlet; and Vitali’s siblings and three grown children. It took Zierra a year to convince Vitali, who also played Red Cloak in Eyes Wide Shut, to share his story, since he prefers being in the background. But once he opens up, there’s no stopping him as he describes the highs and lows of working for Kubrick while clarifying that he was not merely the master’s assistant or protector. “I never handled Stanley. I handled myself so I could exist in Stanley’s world,” he explains. The scenes of Vitali interacting with Kubrick, Lloyd, and others on sets make this a must-see for Kubrick fans as well as anyone who just loves the art of the movies. “I don’t have an obsession for creativity,” Vitali notes. “It just is a necessary requirement. You either love it so much you can’t help it, or you’re a fucking idiot, or you’re a mixture of both.” (In conjunction with Filmworker, Metrograph is presenting “Stanley Kubrick x 8” May 11-27, consisting of eight works by Kubrick, several of which are featured in the documentary.)

A PRELUDE TO THE SHED — TINO SEHGAL: THIS VARIATION / WILLIAM FORSYTHE: PAS DE DEUX CENT DOUZE

Tino Sehgal’s This variation goes from dark to light to dark again (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Daily through Sunday, May 13, free with advance tickets, 1:00 to early evening
Tenth Ave. at West Thirty-First Sts. (entrance on West Thirty-First)
theshed.org
shed slideshow

Next spring, the new arts center known as the Shed will open by Hudson Yards. Through May 13 of this spring, Shed chairman Dan Doctoroff and artistic director and CEO Alex Poots are presenting “A Prelude to the Shed,” a wide-ranging amuse-bouche consisting of live dance and music, panel discussions, an architecture exhibit, and an experimental course for students, all held in and around a transformable venue in an undeveloped lot at Tenth Ave. and West Thirty-First St., designed by architect Kunlé Adeyemi of NLÉ Works and Berlin-based conceptual artist Tino Sehgal. Around the structure are tall, comfortable seats built into all four sides. The centerpiece of “Prelude” is Sehgal’s This variation, which interacts with choreographer William Forsythe’s Pas de Deux Cent Douze, a reimagining of the main duet from his 1987 ballet In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated. The show begins every afternoon at one o’clock and continues into the early evening. You enter the space into almost complete darkness, but don’t let that stop you from moving forward. Just shuffle slowly, hands out, reacting to the movement and sounds of Sehgal’s performers, who will be able to see you and avoid any collisions. There are tiny slits of light, and your eyes will eventually adjust, first picking out silhouetted figures, then recognizing them as flesh-and-blood people.

Roderick George performs to a surprised audience at Prelude to the Shed (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Roderick George performs to a surprised audience as part of “Prelude to the Shed” (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The cast includes Margherita D’Adamo, Descha Daemgen, Sandhya Daemgen, Jule Flierl, Roderick George, Michael Helland, Louise Höjer, Nikima Jagudajev, Josh Johnson, Leah Katz, just in F. Kennedy, Stuart Meyers, Thomas Proksch, Claire Vivianne Sobottke, and Andros Zins-Brown, many of whom have performed This variation in one of its previous incarnations, dating back to Documenta 13 at Kassel in 2012. They sing familiar songs and emit various sounds and utterances as they jump and move across the room. The audience can sit on the floor, lean against a wall, or move about carefully. However, after a while, the east wall is pushed out and turned around, opening the area to the rest of the city, allowing light to come pouring in and giving prime views to the men, women, and children who had been seated on the big chairs outside (and who kept sitting on them as the walls were moved). George and Johnson then join together for the Forsythe duet on this new indoor-outdoor stage; however, the afternoon we were there, Johnson was absent, so George performed a lovely solo, improvising while maintaining Forsythe’s choreographic language for two dancers, followed by a gorgeous piece sung by D’Adamo as she and George interacted. The space is eventually closed up and it starts all over again, each performance unique. More free tickets have just been released, but walk-ins are welcome as long as there is room.