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

LAMBERT WILSON AT FIAF

French star Lambert Wilson will make two appearances at FIAF this week

Who: Lambert Wilson
What: Film intro and screening, staged concert
Where: French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves., 212-355-6160
When: Monday, November 6, $14, 7:30, and Tuesday, November 7, $50, 7:30
Why: Six-time César nominee Lambert Wilson will be at FIAF this week for a pair of special events. On November 6 at 7:30, the French star of such films as Rendez-vous, Of Gods and Men, and Private Fears in Public Places will introduce the New York premiere of his latest movie, Nicolas Silhol’s Corporate, about human resources, redundancy, and resignation. On November 7 at 7:30, Wilson will pay tribute to his idol with the staged concert “Lambert Wilson Sings Yves Montand,” using songs performed from Montand’s repertoire to tell the life story of the elegant French-Italian actor and crooner. In addition, Wilson has curated the CinéSalon series “Actor’s Choice: Lambert Wilson & Yves Montand,” which runs Tuesdays from November 14 to December 19 and includes such films as Henri-Georges Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear, Philippe Le Guay’s Bicycling with Molière, Costa Gavras’s Z, and Jérôme Salle’s The Odyssey.

STRANDED IN THE JUNGLE: JERRY NOLAN’S WILD RIDE

stranded in the jungle

Tuesday, November 7, Rough Trade, 64 North Ninth St., free, 8:00
Thursday, November 9, the Delancey, 168 Delancey St., free, 7:00
www.halleonardbooks.com
curtweiss.com

In his new book Stranded in the Jungle: Jerry Nolan’s Wild Ride (Backbeat, October, $24.99), Curt Weiss, a former member of the Rockats and Beat Rodeo (under the pseudonym Lewis King) and author of the blog “I am the coolest man on earth,” goes deep inside the rock-and-roll tale of Jerry Nolan, an underrated drummer with such bands as the New York Dolls, the Heartbreakers, and the Idols. Nolan, who died in 1992 at the age of forty-five, played with such punk icons as Sid Vicious, Richard Hell, Johnny Thunders, Arthur Kane, Glen Matlock, and many more. On November 7, Weiss will be celebrating the release of the book — which boasts the subtitle A Tale of Drugs, Fashion, the New York Dolls, and Punk Rock — at Rough Trade in Nolan’s native Williamsburg with a reading and Q&A. On November 9, Weiss heads to the Delancey on the Lower East Side for a meet-and-greet cocktail party, live performances by the Pipptones, Greg Allen’s Fringe Religion, and special guests, a book reading and signing, and Q&A sessions with Weiss, reporter Roger Clark, and photographer Roberta Bayley. Both events are free.

ALONG FOR THE RIDE

Satya de la Manitou has one wild and crazy story to tell in Along for the Ride

ALONG FOR THE RIDE (Nick Ebeling, 2017)
Metrograph
7 Ludlow St. between Canal & Hester Sts.
Opens Friday, November 3
212-660-0312
metrograph.com

Just about everyone who has ever seen Easy Rider has imagined themselves on a bike, rumbling across the country with Captain America (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper), experiencing whatever comes their way. Newark native Satya de la Manitou did more than that, becoming Hopper’s friend and right-hand man for more than forty years. Their intimate and crazy friendship is told in Nick Ebeling’s debut feature documentary, Along for the Ride, which opens today at Metrograph. It would take quite a character to have spent that much time with Hopper — and live to tell about it — and Satya is just that kind of human being, a tough but sensitive, direct, bold man who leads a wild journey into Hopper’s creative process and personal demons. Ebeling follows Satya as he visits with Hopper’s brother, David; actors Russ Tamblyn, Dean Stockwell, and Michael Madsen (who reads a poem he wrote about Dennis); producers Danny Selznick, Lawrence Schiller, and Fred Caruso; directors Philippe Mora, Wim Wenders, and David Lynch; artists Ed Ruscha and Julian Schnabel and gallerist Tony Shafrazi; musicians and composers Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett (of GORILLAZ) and Mark Mothersbaugh (of DEVO); and architect Frank Gehry, who sheds a tear when talking about Dennis. Together, they provide a fascinating look into the depth of Hopper’s abilities as an actor, director, photographer, art lover, drug user, and center of attention. “He did everything well, like most geniuses do,” Satya explains.

Fab doc looks at life and times of Dennis Hopper from point of view of longtime friend and assistant

Ebeling, who wrote the film with A. P. Menzies and photographed it with Randy Wedick and editor Danny Reams, weaves between stunning archival footage that goes behind the scenes of such Hopper directorial efforts as the controversial The Last Movie, Out of the Blue, Colors, and Easy Rider and his roles in Apocalypse Now, and Blue Velvet and new, starkly shot black-and-white interviews with Satya as he speaks right into the camera, digs through boxes and boxes of unlabeled paraphernalia, and gets comfortable with Hopper’s friends, family, and colleagues. The killer soundtrack is by Gemma Thompson of Savages, making you feel you’re right there in the middle of all this wonderful strangeness. Satya himself is a larger-than-life figure, with a dynamic presence, distinctive voice, and inner peace and joy that make it simple to understand why the eccentric Hopper was drawn to him, and why Satya was drawn to Hopper. “Dennis was like a precious gem, and a gem needs to be polished to attain its true brilliance,” Satya says. Hopper died in 2010 at the age of seventy-four; Satya has given his friend quite a fond farewell with this sweet film. Ebeling, Satya, and producer Sheri Timmons will participate in a Q&A after the 7:00 show on November 3. In conjunction with the theatrical release of Along for the Ride, Metrograph is presenting “Directed by Hopper,” consisting of The Last Movie, Out of the Blue, Colors, The Hot Spot, and Easy Rider.

WAIT FOR YOUR LAUGH

Rose Marie’s career encapsulates the last century of American entertainment

WAIT FOR YOUR LAUGH (Jason Wise, 2017)
Angelika Film Center, 18 West Houston St. at Mercer St., 212-995-2570
Landmark at 57 West, 657 West 57th St. at 12th Ave.
Opens Friday, November 3
www.rosemariemovie.com

To follow up his two Somm documentaries and Uncorked reality series, director Jason Wise decided his next film would be about how entertainment has changed over the last hundred years. But then he found “the kindest, toughest, hardest working, and most inspiring person I’ve ever met in my life” and was able to tell that same story from the point of view of one extraordinary figure. Wait for Your Laugh is the captivating, bittersweet tale of Rose Marie, who began her career at the age of three in 1926 and is still as feisty as ever at ninety-four. “Believe me when I tell you, she’s the history of show business,” longtime friend Peter Marshall, who is ninety-one himself, says of the actress, comedian, and singer, who was born Rose Marie Mazetta in New York City in 1923. She started out as Baby Rose Marie, having with her own radio show at the age of four; she went into vaudeville and performed on the cabaret circuit, appeared on Broadway, and was the first woman to host a TV game show. She fell in love with Bobby Guy, a trumpeter for Kay Kyser and Bing Crosby; was beloved and supported by Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel; opened the Flamingo in Vegas with Jimmy Durante; costarred in such television series as The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Doris Day Show and was a long-running favorite on The Hollywood Squares; and developed the successful touring show 4 Girls 4 with Margaret Whiting, Helen O’Connell, and Rosemary Clooney. All along the way, she fought fiercely for her independence, constantly expanding her repertoire, determined to always be working, preferably her way.

Baby Rose Marie stands in front of her poster in the late 1920s

“She had great respect for an audience, which is something that you don’t see anymore,” her childhood friend Ruthie Shapiro explains. “Because I loved to work for an audience, and I loved to hold them in the palm of my hand, which I do. That’s a secret,” Rose Marie adds with a sly look at the camera, and she does indeed have us in the palm of her hand. Wise and cinematographer Jackson Myers shoot Rose Marie close-up, her bright face shining over a dark interior, her enthusiasm for life and all it brings, the good and the bad, pouring through the screen. Wise, who edited the film with Bryan Rodner Carr and produced and wrote it with his wife, Christina Wise, also speaks with Carl Reiner, who is ninety-five, Dick Van Dyke, ninety-one, Tim Conway, eighty-three, and Community creator Dan Harmon, the kid at forty-four. The archival and behind-the-scenes footage of Rose Marie through the years, from singing as a little girl to traveling with her husband to appearing on television shows to doing voice-overs for animated films, is sensational; however, the reenactments of various moments from her life, particularly involving her connections with the mob, detract from what is otherwise a life-affirming film about one tough, talented lady. “I loved every bit of it. In fact, I still love it today,” she says. Wait for Your Laugh is now playing at the Angelika, where there will be Q&As all weekend long with such participants as Peter Marshall, Bebe Neuwirth, Jason & Christina Wise, Dick Van Dyke Show writer-producer Bill Persky, Dick Van Dyke Show expert David Van Deusen, Joe and Sal Scognamillo of Patsy’s, Georgiana “Noopy” Rodrigues (Rose Marie’s daughter), and Debbi Whiting (Margaret Whiting’s daughter).

HIROSHI SUGIMOTO: RIKYU-ENOURA

Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Rikyu-Enoura makes its world premiere this weekend at Japan Society (photo © Odawara Art Foundation)

Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
November 3-5, $95
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org
www.odawara-af.com/en

In 2011 and 2014, Japan Society awarded grants to Japanese multidisciplinary artist Hiroshi Sugimoto for his ambitious Odawara Art Foundation, which is now open to the public and features indoor and outdoor stages for noh and bunraku productions, a large gallery, a tearoom, astronomical observation spaces, and more. Sugimoto, who is based in Tokyo and New York City, will now be presenting the first fruits of that collaboration with several special programs at Japan Society, beginning with the exhibition “Gates of Paradise” (through January 7), the noh play Rikyu-Enoura (November 3-5), and the lecture and book signing “Architecture of Time: Enoura Observatory, Where Consciousness & Memory Originate” (December 15). For more than forty years, photographer, sculptor, architect, and historian Sugimoto has explored history and science, the past and the future, time and memory while blurring the lines between fiction and reality. He has photographed dioramas at natural history museums (“Still Life”), captured electrical discharges on photographic dry plates (“Lightning Fields”), focused on the horizon line across the ocean (“Seascapes”), shot wax figures to look like paintings (“Portraits”), used long exposures to reveal the blinding soul of movie palaces (“Theaters”), and turned one thousand gilded wooden Buddha statues at Sanjῡsangen-dō (Hall of Thirty-Three Bays) in Kyoto into a dizzying film (Sea of Buddha). He also curated the expansive and wide-ranging “History of History” in 2005-6 at Japan Society and designed the set and costumes for Sanbaso, divine dance, an ancient celebratory ritual dance with noh performers in the Guggenheim Rotunda in 2013. So Sugimoto was a logical go-to choice when Japan Society was putting together its “NOH NOW” series as part of its 110th anniversary. Sugimoto will be staging the world premiere of Rikyu-Enoura, about sixteenth-century tea master Sen-no-Rikyu, featuring a libretto by traditional-style poet Akiko Baba; a tea ceremony by Sen So’oku (a direct descendant of Sen-no-Rikyu); noh actors Kanze Tetsunojo and Katayama Kurouemon; noh musician Kamei Hirotada; and more. Each show will be preceded by a lecture by Wesleyan University assistant professor Dr. Takeshi Watanabe one hour before curtain.

BROOKLYN MUSEUM: BEST OF THE BOROUGH

Sergei Eisenstein’s classic Strike will be screened at the Brooklyn Museum with a live score conducted by Hisham Akira Bharoocha

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, November 4, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum celebrates the world’s preeminent borough in its monthly free First Saturday program in November with “Best of the Borough.” There will be live music by Alsarah & the Nubatones, Phony Ppl, and DJ Ian Friday; a curator tour of “Arts of Korea” with Joan Cummins; a hands-on art workshop inspired by Mickalene Thomas’s extraordinary “A Little Taste Outside of Love”; a scholar talk and book signing with Chip Colwell, author of Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits: Inside the Fight to Reclaim Native America’s Culture; a Brooklyn Dance Festival showcase with by the D.R.E.A.M. Ring, FLEXN, Kristin Sudeikis Dance, SynthesisDANCE, Concepts in Choreography, and the Francesca Harper Project; a pop-up gallery talk on Ancient Egyptian art; a book club reading with poet Tommy Pico from his latest book, Nature Poem; and a special screening of Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 classic, Strike! with a live score conducted by Hisham Akira Bharoocha and featuring Angel Deradoorian, Jeremy Hyman, Nicos Kennedy, and Joe Williams. In addition, the galleries will be open late so you can check out “Roots of ‘The Dinner Party’: History in the Making,” “Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt,” “Robert Longo: Untitled (Raft at Sea),” “Proof: Francisco Goya, Sergei Eisenstein, Robert Longo,” “Arts of Asia and the Middle East, “Infinite Blue,” “A Woman’s Afterlife: Gender Transformation in Ancient Egypt,” and more.

BAM NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL: STATE OF SIEGE

Théâtre de la Ville returns to BAM with a timely take on Albert Camus’s State of Siege (photo by Jean Louis Fernandez)

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
November 2-4, $35-$110
718-636-4100
www.bam.org
www.theatredelaville-paris.com

“When State of Siege first opened in Paris, there was no dissenting voice among the critics. Truly, few plays have ever enjoyed such a unanimous slashing,” Albert Camus wrote in a 1958 preface to a collection of four of his plays, including State of Siege. “This is the more deplorable since I have never given up thinking that State of Siege, with all is shortcomings, is, of all my writings, the one that most resembles me.” He also insisted that the 1948 allegorical drama about the search for liberty amid a spreading plague was not an adaptation of his 1947 novel, The Plague. Regardless of what has come before, State of Siege is now in good hands with Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, which returns to BAM November 2-4 with a timely take on the play. The company was previously at BAM with its unique and inventive versions of Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author in 2014 and Ionesco’s Rhinoceros in 2012. Serge Maggiani stars as the Plague, with Hugues Quester as the Man, Alain Libolt as the Judge, Valérie Dashwood as the Secretary, Jauris Casanova as the Alcade, Matthieu Dessertine as Diego, and Philippe Demarle as Nada. The inimitable Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota directs, with sets by Yves Collet, lighting by Collet and Christophe Lemaire, sound by David Lesser, costumes by Fanny Brouste, and video by Mike Guermyet. On November 3 at 6:00 in Wendy’s Subway Reading Room at the BAM Fisher, Demarcy-Mota will give a free lecture on the work and its relevance to what is going on in the world today.