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

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2018: SPECIAL EVENTS AT THE BEACON

Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino should be more excited when they join Brian De Palma for the world premiere of the thirty-fifth anniversary restoration screening

Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino should be more excited when they join Brian De Palma at the Beacon Theatre for the world premiere of the thirty-fifth anniversary restoration screening of Scarface on April 19 as part of the Tribeca Film Festival

Beacon Theatre
2124 Broadway at 75th St.
Tribeca Film Festival runs April 18-29
212-465-6000
www.tribecafilm.com
www.msg.com/beacon-theatre

Tickets are now on sale for four special Tribeca Film Festival events taking place at the Beacon Theatre, a quartet of world premieres, three of which will be followed by discussions with some pretty serious characters.

Wednesday, April 18
Gala: Love, Gilda (Lisa D’Apolito, 2018), world premiere screening of documentary about Gilda Radner, $46-$156, 7:00

Thursday, April 19
Retrospective Special Screenings: Scarface (Brian De Palma, 1983), world premiere of thirty-fifth anniversary restoration of 170-minute version, followed by a discussion with stars Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer and director Brian De Palma, $71-$356, 7:00

Monday, April 23
Horses: Patti Smith and Her Band (Steven Sebring, 2018), followed by a live performance by Patti Smith with Lenny Kaye, Jay Dee Daugherty, Tony Shanahan, and Jackson Smith, including “Horses,” $55.50 – $85.50, 7:00

Thursday, April 26
Retrospective Special Screenings: Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg, 1993), twenty-fifth anniversary screening, followed by a discussion with stars Liam Neeson, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Embeth Davidtz and director Steven Spielberg, moderated by Janet Maslin, $71-$356, 6:30

Friday, April 27
Special Screenings: Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1 (Dexton Deboree, 2018), world premiere screening of documentary about the Air Jordan sneaker, followed by live performances by Kid Ink, Gizzle, and others, $61-$206, 8:00

JAPAN SOCIETY PLAY READING SERIES: MANHOOD

Japan Society Play Reading Series continues March 26 with Hideto Iwai’s Manhood

Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Monday, March 26, $15, 7:30
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org

Japan Society’s 110th anniversary season continues March 26 with the thirteenth installment of its popular Play Reading Series, which features staged readings of works by up-and-coming Japanese playwrights translated into English. The latest is Hideto Iwai’s Manhood, which follows four men facing the natural aging process. The play is directed by Sarah Hughes (Wood Calls Out to Wood, Afterward) with a gender-swapped cast of Kate Benson, Ugo Anyanwu, Zoë Geltman, Daniel K. Isaac, Kristine Haruna Lee, and Mia Katigbak. Playwright, actor, director, and Kishida Kunio Award winner Iwai (A Certain Woman, The Husband and Wife), a former hikikomori who spent four years as a recluse because of violence he suffered at the hands of his father and brother, and Hughes, who directs and produces theater and new media, will participate in a Q&A following the reading. Previous works in the Japan Society series include Ai Nagai’s Women in a Holy Mess, directed by Cynthia Croot, Suguru Yamamoto’s Girl X, directed by Charlotte Brathwaite, and Seiji Nozoe’s Dancing with the Bird, directed by James Yaegashi.

NYC TEEN AUTHOR FESTIVAL 2018

nyc teen author festival

Multiple locations
March 18-25, free
nyctaf.com

The tenth annual NYC Teen Author Festival starts today, kicking off a week of readings, signings, and panel discussions featuring more than one hundred authors at the New York Public Library, Barnes & Noble, the Strand, Books of Wonder, McNally Jackson, and Little City Books. Among the topics that will be discussed are “Areas of Expertise: YA Writers on YA Writing,” “Queer Voices in YA — The 2018 Edition,” and “Writing the Perils of Real Life.” Below is the complete lineup for this free festival, although attendees are strongly encouraged to purchase books at each event.

Sunday, March 18
Kick Off! with Arvin Ahmadi, Susane Colasanti, Sara Holland, Richard Lawson, Dana Mele, Krystal Sutherland, and Ashley Woodfolk, the Strand, 828 Broadway, 7:00

Monday, March 19
Areas of Expertise: YA Writers on YA Writing, with Jen Calonita, Holly Kowitt, Emmy Layborne, Sarah Darer Littman, E. Lockhart, Sam L. Miller, Jess Verdi, Katherine Webber, and Ibi Zoboi, New York Public Library, Mulberry Street Branch, 10 Jersey St., 6:00

Tuesday, March 20
The Complexity of Characters, with Corinne Duyvis, Michele Hodkin, Billy Merrell, Alyssa Sheinmel, Yvonne Ventresca, and Ismee Williams, Little City Books, Hoboken, 7:00

Wednesday, March 21
The Past Ten Years, the Next Ten Years, with Zoraida Cordova, Gayle Forman, Lexa Hillyer, Tiffany Jackson, Kody Keplinger, Justine Larbalestier, and Scott Westerfeld, New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Ave. at Forty-Second St., Berger Forum, 6:00

Friday March 23
Queer Voices in YA — The 2018 Edition, with Arvin Ahmadi, Kheryn Callender, Billy Merrell, Sam J. Miller, Sarah Moon, Mark Oshiro, and Will Walton, moderated by David Levithan, New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Ave. at Forty-Second St., South Court, 2:00

Evolution of a Writer, with Jen Calonita, Alison Cherry, Kody Keplinger, Sarah Darer Littman, Alexandra Monir, Matthue Roth, Leila Sales, and KM Walton, moderated by Aimee Friedman, New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Ave. at Forty-Second St., South Court, 2:50

Ambitious Girls, with Katie Bayerl, Kayla Cagan, Sharon Cameron, Maria Dahvana Headley, Tiffany Jackson, Lauren Spieller, and Amy Trueblood, moderated by Melissa Walker, New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Ave. at Forty-Second St., South Court, 3:50

Bookish Romance, with Jennifer Castle, Mia Garcia, Shani Petroff, Lindsay Ribar, Tiffany Schmidt, Jennifer E. Smith, and Stephanie Kate Strohm, moderated by Kieran Scott, New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Ave. at Forty-Second St., South Court, 4:40

Barnes & Noble Reader’s Theater/Signing with Tara Altebrando, Gina Damico, Lauren Gibaldi, Emily X. R. Pan, Kim Purcell, Randy Ribay, and Maggie Stiefvater, Upper West Side B&N, Eighty-Second St. & Broadway, 7:00

Saturday, March 24
Debuts, with Kheryn Callender, Lindsay Champion, Kim Chance, Kit Frick, Amy Giles, and Anna Hecker, New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Ave. at Forty-Second St., Celeste Bartos Forum, 1:00

What a Difference a Decade Makes, with Molly Booth, Sharon Cameron, Sara Holland, Laurent Linn, Andy Marino, Amy McNamara, Michelle Schusterman, Peternelle van Arsdale, Marit Weisenberg, Martin Wilson, and Jeff Zentner, New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Ave. at Forty-Second St., Celeste Bartos Forum, 1:50

Writing the Perils of Real Life, with Heather Demetrios, Kevin Emerson, Maxine Kaplan, Emily X. R. Pan, Bonnie Pipkin, and Gae Polisner, moderated by Brendan Kiely, New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Ave. at Forty-Second St., Celeste Bartos Forum, 2:30

Evolution of a Writer, with Patty Blount, Donna Cooner, Heidi Heilig, JJ Howard, Dana Mele, Nisha Sharma, Abby Sher, and Suzanne Weyn, moderated by Kass Morgan, New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Ave. at Forty-Second St., Celeste Bartos Forum, 3:25

Debuts, with Alisa Kwitney, Derek Milman, Mark Oshiro, A. M. Rose, Julia Rubin, Nisha Sharma, and Ashley Woodfolk, moderated by Leila Sales, New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Ave. at Forty-Second St., Celeste Bartos Forum, 4:10

Into the Wilds, with Cathleen Bell, Rhoda Belleza, Alison Cherry, Lindsay Ribar, Michelle Schusterman, Alexandra Monir, Melissa Ostrom, Sarah Nicole Smetana, and Kaitlin Ward, moderated by Kass Morgan, McNally Jackson, 52 Prince St., 7:00

Sunday, March 25
Our No-Foolin’ Mega-Signing, with Arvin Ahmadi, Katie Bayerl, Cathleen Bell, Patty Blount, Kheryn Callender, Sharon Cameron, Kim Chance, Shani Petroff, and Randy Ribay, Books of Wonder, 18 West Eighteenth St., 1:00

Our No-Foolin’ Mega-Signing, with Alison Cherry, Lindsay Ribar, Michelle Schusterman, Susane Colasanti, Donna Cooner, Gina Damico, Heather Demetrios, Lauren Gibaldi, and Amy Giles, Books of Wonder, 18 West Eighteenth St., 1:30

Our No-Foolin’ Mega-Signing, with Lexa Hillyer, Michelle Hodkin, Sara Holland, Amalie Howard, Kody Keplinger, Richard Lawson, and Emmy Layborne, Books of Wonder, 18 West Eighteenth St., 2:00

Our No-Foolin’ Mega-Signing, with Barry Lyga, Dana Mele, Billy Merrell, Sam J. Miller, Sarah Moon, Melissa Ostrom, Emily X. R. Pan, and Bonnie Pipkin, Books of Wonder, 18 West Eighteenth St., 2:30

Our No-Foolin’ Mega-Signing, with Gae Polisner, Kim Purcell, A. M. Rose, Julia Lynn Rubin, Kieran Scott, Alyssa Sheinmel, Abby Sher, Sarah Nicole Smetana, and Jennifer E. Smith, Books of Wonder, 18 West Eighteenth St., 3:00

Our No-Foolin’ Mega-Signing, with Stephanie Kate Strohm, Amy Trueblood, Peternelle van Arsdale, KM Walton, Kaitlin Ward, Marit Weisenberg, Scott Westerfeld, Ashley Woodfolk, Jeff Zentner, and David Neilsen, Books of Wonder, 18 West Eighteenth St., 3:30

DISTANT OBSERVER: TOKYO/NEW YORK CORRESPONDENCE

Takeshi Kawamura and John Jesurun have teamed up for Distant Observer at La MaMa

Ellen Stewart Theatre, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
66 East Fourth St. between Second & Third Aves.
Thursday to Monday, March 16 – April 1, $21-$26
212-475-7710
lamama.org

Japanese playwright and director Takeshi Kawamura and Michigan-born Obie and Bessie–winning multimedia artist John Jesurun have collaborated on Distant Observer: Tokyo/New York Correspondence, making its world premiere March 16 to April 1 at La MaMa. In a cross-cultural theatrical conversation, Kawamura (Japan Wars, A Man Called Macbeth) and Jesurun (Chang in a Void Moon, Deep Sleep) alternated writing chapters involving a murderer seeking to reinvent himself in Japan’s Suicide Forest; they will share both writing and directing credit for the piece, which features Anastasia Olowin, Kotoba Dan, Claire Buckingham, Kyle Griffiths, and Samuel Im. The March 18 performance will be followed by a talkback with Kawamura, Jesurun, and Japanese theater scholar and journalist Kyoko Iwaki, moderated by CUNY’s Dr. Frank Hentschker.

ERWIN REDL: WHITEOUT

Erwin Redl’s “Whiteout” lights up the night in Madison Square Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Mad. Sq. Art
Madison Square Park Oval Lawn
Through March 25, free
www.madisonsquarepark.org
www.paramedia.net

Austrian native and SVA grad Erwin Redl writes in his artist statement, “Since 1997, I have investigated the process of ‘reverse engineering’ by (re-)translating the abstract aesthetic language of virtual reality and 3‑D computer modeling back into architectural environments by means of large-scale light installations. In this body of work, space is experienced as a second skin, our social skin, which is transformed through my artistic intervention. Due to the very nature of its architectural dimension, participating by simply being ‘present’ is an integral part of the installations. Visual perception works in conjunction with corporeal motion, and the subsequent passage of time.” Which is a rather complex way of saying he makes really cool things with light. Redl, who lives and works in New York City and Bowling Green, Ohio, is responsible for “Whiteout,” a dazzling kinetic light display continuing in Madison Square Park through March 25.

The site-specific commissioned piece features nine hundred programmed white LED spheres that dangle in long rows from a grid of steel poles. Redl, whose other public art projects include “Seeing Spartanburg in a New Light” in South Carolina and “Saw Mill River Suspension” under the Van der Donck Park Bridge in Yonkers, is inspired by such artists as Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Doug Wheeler, and Fred Sandback. “I am intrigued by the park’s option of a large-scale installation that blurs the border between the virtual and the real,” he said in a statement. “The physicality of the swaying orbs in conjunction with the abstract animations of their embedded white lights allows the public to explore a new, hybrid reality in this urban setting.” The transparent white orbs hover just above the grass of the Oval Lawn, turning on and off in complex algorithms, moving with the wind like a silent dance in ever-shifting wave patterns. Redl has documented the development and installation of “Whiteout” and followed it through the fall and winter; you can see photos and videos here.

ZOE LEONARD IN CONVERSATION WITH REBECCA SOLNIT

Zoe Leonard (b. 1961), detail of You see I am here after all, 2008. 3,851 vintage postcards, 11 × 10 1/2 × 147 ft. (3.35 × 3.2 × 44.8 m) overall. Installation view, Dia: Beacon, Beacon, New York, 2008. Collection of the artist; courtesy Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne. Photograph by Bill Jacobson, New York

Zoe Leonard, detail, You see I am here after all, 3,851 vintage postcards, 2008 (installation view, Dia: Beacon, Beacon, New York, 2008. Collection of the artist; courtesy Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne. Photograph by Bill Jacobson, New York)

Who: Zoe Leonard, Rebecca Solnit
What: Zoe Leonard in Conversation with Rebecca Solnit
Where: Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort St., 212-570-3600
When: Friday, March 16, 6:30
Why: In conjunction with the large-scale retrospective “Zoe Leonard: Survey,” which opened March 2 and continues at the Whitney through June 10, New York native Zoe Leonard will sit down with writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit to talk about art, feminism, politics, photography, and landscapes. Don’t worry if the event is already sold out; the Whitney will be live-streaming it on Facebook.

PACINO’S WAY

Al Pacino is wondering what amazing line he will utter next in classic film

Quad Cinema
34 West 13th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
March 14-30
212-255-2243
quadcinema.com

“In a sense this is a homecoming for me,” stage and screen legend Al Pacino says of the extensive Quad series “Pacino’s Way,” running March 14-30 and consisting of more than thirty films starring and/or directed by the East Harlem–born, Bronx-raised Oscar, Tony, and Grammy winner. The seventy-seven-year-old Method actor will be at the Quad for the New York City premiere of the double feature Wilde Salomé and Salomé, both directed by the longtime Greenwich Village resident and based on the Oscar Wilde play. Pacino is one of the most quotable actors in the history of cinema, delivering memorable lines, as only he can, in films both great and, well, not so great. “The more naturalistic, photogenic qualities of film complement the language-driven essence of classical theater,” he notes. Below are some of his best movie quotes, followed by when the films they’re from will play at the Quad, but you’re gonna have to figure out which movie is which yourselves.

Al Pacino is looking for his next Bard quote in Looking for Richard

Al Pacino is looking for his next William Shakespeare quote

“I want to kill myself sometimes when I think that I’m the only person in the world and that part of me that feels that way is trapped inside this body, that only bumps into other bodies, without ever connecting to the only other person in the world trapped inside of them. We have to connect. We just have to.”
Wednesday, March 14, 1:45, and Wednesday, March 21, 4:25

“Are you listening to me, son? I’m giving you pearls here.”
Wednesday, March 14, 4:05, and Monday, March 19, 7:40

“You think you’re big time, you gonna fuckin’ die big time. You ready? Here comes the pain.”
Wednesday, March 14, 9:00, and Thursday, March 22, 6:00

“Four seconds is a lifetime!”
Thursday, March 15, 8.45, and Sunday, March 25, 4:10

“You’re out of order. You’re out of order. The whole trial is out of order.”
Friday, March 16, 5:10, and Tuesday, March 20, 6:40

“I’m a germ. You should split.”
Friday, March 16, 3:00, and Saturday, March 24, 3:25

“I always tell the truth. Even when I lie.”
Friday, March 16, 7:30, and Sunday, March 25, 1:00

“Max, you should be more careful where you drop your drawers. Some scorpion will put a lip-lock on your big ass.”
Saturday, March 17, 1:00, and Thursday, March 22, 3:50

Al Pacino has plenty to say to Gene Hackman

Al Pacino isn’t scared of having plenty to say to Gene Hackman in indie drama

“The reality is, we do not wash our own laundry!”
Saturday, March 17, 5:30, and Wednesday, March 28, 4:00

“It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.”
Saturday, March 17, 8:00, and Monday, March 26, 7:00

“Wait a minute! Wait. I’m having a thought. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I’m gonna have a thought. It’s coming . . . It’s gone.”
Sunday, March 18, 1:00, and Sunday, March 25, 11:00 am

“I’m Donald Duck.”
Sunday, March 18, 3:05, and Thursday, March 22, 8:45

“There are many things my father taught me here in this room. He taught me: Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”
Sunday, March 18, 6:20, and Tuesday, March 27, 7:00

No need to worry; Al Pacino is only temporarily speechless in courtroom fave

“I subscribe to the law of contrary public opinion: If everyone thinks one thing, then I say bet the other way.”
Tuesday, March 20, 2:30, Friday, March 23, 7:00, and Thursday, March 29, 4:30

“Look at me. Underestimated from day one. You’d never think I was master of the universe, now would you?”
Tuesday, March 20, 9:00, and Friday, March 23, 1:45

“What’s she gonna do, shoot me? We’re in a restaurant!”
Wednesday, March 21, 2:05, and Thursday, March 29, 6:30

“Wyoming, that’s not a country.”
Wednesday, March 21, 6:45, and Friday, March 30, 3:30

“A wise guy’s always right; even when he’s wrong, he’s right.”
Friday, March 23, 4:30, Saturday, March 24, 5:40, and Wednesday, March 28, 1:30