DRAMA DESK AWARDS
NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
566 La Guardia Pl.
Monday, June 10, $105-$205, 6:15 nyuskirball.org dramadeskaward.com
Balcony tickets are still available for the sixty-ninth annual Drama Desk Awards, honoring the best of theater June 10 at the Skirball Center. Founded in 1949, the Drama Desk (of which I am a voting member) does not differentiate between Broadway, off Broadway, and off off Broadway; all shows that meet the minimum requirements are eligible. Thus, splashy, celebrity-driven productions can find themselves nominated against experimental shows that took place in an East Village elevator or Chelsea loft. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of star power at the awards presentation.
Sutton Foster and Aaron Tveit will cohost the event; among the nominees this year are Jessica Lange for Mother Play, Patrick Page for All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain, Rachel McAdams for Mary Jane, Leslie Odom Jr. for Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch, Sarah Paulson for Appropriate, Brian d’Arcy James and Kelli O’Hara for Days of Wine and Roses, Bebe Neuwirth for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Dorian Harewood for The Notebook, and Michael Stuhlbarg for Patriots. The Drama Desk also does not distinguish between male and female; the acting categories have ten nominees each, regardless of gender, with two winners. Thus, d’Arcy James is competing against his costar, O’Hara, for the same prize, although they both could take home the award.
Brian d’Arcy James and Kelli O’Hara are both nominated for Days of Wine and Roses and will participate in the 2024 Drama Desk Awards (photo by Joan Marcus)
Among this year’s presenters are Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick, Montego Glover, Lena Hall, James Lapine, Debra Messing, Ruthie Ann Miles, Andrew Rannells, Brooke Shields, Seth Rudetsky, Shoshana Bean, Corbin Bleu, James Monroe Iglehart, and Steven Pasquale. O’Hara will perform a special tribute to William Wolf Award honoree André Bishop, Foster and Nikki M. James will both sing, and Nathan Lane will receive the Harold S. Prince Award for Lifetime Achievement. Others being honored are the How to Dance in Ohio Authentic Autistic Representation Team, lighting designer Isabella Byrd, and press agent Lady Irene Gandy.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]
Thursday, May 30
through
Sunday, June 23
Hudson Classical Theater Company: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, Riverside Park
Wednesday, June 5
through
Sunday, June 23
Smith Street Stage: Love’s Labor’s Lost, Carroll Park, Brooklyn
Friday, June 7
Contemporary Dance: David Dorfman, Soles of Duende, and Joffrey Concert Group, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Friday, June 7
and
Saturday, June 8
Interventions: You Look Like a Fun Guy, by Dance Heginbotham, Fort Jay Moat, Governors Island, 6:30
Saturday, June 8
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!: Family Day, with the Halluci Nation, Xiuhtezcatl, Asase Yaa Youth Ensemble, Lena Horne Bandshell, 3:00
Sunday, June 9
Summer on the Hudson: Face the Music, with students from the Kaufman Music Center and members of the Metropolis Ensemble, 125th & Marginal Sts., Hudson River Park, 1:00
Lazy Daze: The Soul of Yacht Rock, with Scott Barkham, Gary Katz, and Greg Caz, Pier 6 Liberty Lawn, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 4:00
Tuesday, June 11
through
Sunday, June 30
New York Classical Theatre: Henry IV, Central Park
Wednesday June 12
Jazz at Pier 84: Antoine Roney, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Soundcake: Aural Confections by Sapphira Cristál & Monét X Change, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with Sissy Elliott, 8:00
Thursday, June 13
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Young People’s Chorus of New York City — Red Light, Green Light, Damrosch Park, 11:00 am
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Sound Bites: Salsa Music with DJ Sabrosura, Outdoor Reading Room Terrace, 5:00 pm
Kim Gordon / Sun Ra Arekstra / Slauson Malone 1, SummerStage, Central Park, Rumsey Playfield, 6:00
Blues by the Boardwalk: Jonathan Kalb, Pier 97, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with the Tony Succar Orchestra Featuring Mimy Succar, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Sofar Summer Music Series, Pier 3 Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 8:00
Thursday, June 13
through
Sunday, June 23
Shakespeare Downtown: Macbeth, Castle Clinton, Battery Park
Friday, June 14
Porch Stomp, Nolan Park, Governors Island, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Eyal Vilner Big Band’s Swingin’ Uptown: Album Release Dance Party, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Sunset on the Hudson: Viva Deconcini & People’s Champs, Pier 45, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Contemporary Dance: Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, Robin Dunn’s ‘SHOUT,’ and Kevin Wynn Tribute, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Summer on the Hudson — Jazz Foundation Presents: Sunset Sounds, Pier at 125th & Marginal Sts., Riverside Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Visions of Ubuntu, with Young People’s Chorus of New York City, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Funny Puppet, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco — the Brooklyn Cumbia Festival Presents Noche Romantica with DJ Tenosh, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Saturday, June 15
SummerStage: The Aussie BBQ, with Jebediah, Last Dinosaurs, Northeast Party House, Sheppard, Sycco, Thelma Plum, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 4:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazztopad Presents Hand to Earth, Hearst Plaza, 4:30
SummerStage: Andy Montañez, Charlie Cruz, People of Earth, DJ García, Coney Island Amphitheater, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Kumbia Queers Live: Paraíso Tropical, the Dance Floor, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Cultura Profética, with Por Más, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with JFUSE & Dada Cozmic, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Sunday, June 16
SummerStage: Corinne Bailey Rae, Dixson, DJ Rellyrell & Dj Ooochild, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
Tuesday, June 18
SummerStage: The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Featuring Leah Hawkins, Mario Chang, Michael Sumuel, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 8:00
Wednesday, June 19
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!: Juneteenth UNITYFEST, Lena Horne Bandshell, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Some Sing: A Juneteenth Celebration, curated by Carl Hancock Rux, Hearst Plaza, 6:00
Opera in the Garden: Juneteenth Celebration, curated by Kenneth Overton, West Side Community Garden, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Toshi Reagon’s Songs of the Living: Freedom Songs, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Thursday, June 20
Summer Solstice, Socrates Sculpture Park, 4:30
Blues by the Boardwalk: Jimmy Hill and the Allstarz, Pier 97, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance | Silent Disco, with Joe McGinty & the Loser’s Lounge and DJ Bill Coleman, the Dance Floor, 6:30
The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Featuring Leah Hawkins, Mario Chang, Michael Sumuel, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 7:00
Sofar Summer Music Series, Pier 3 Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with DJ Bill Coleman, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Friday, June 21
Kyo Shin An Shakuhachi Ensemble, Granite Prospect, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 4:00
Sounds at Sunset: Steely Dan Happy Hour, Pier 3 Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 6:00
Summer on the Hudson: Harlem Moves with Jose Limón Dance Company, 125th & Marginal Sts., Riverside Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance, with Abaddón Tango, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Sunset on the Hudson: Resistance Revival Chorus, Pier 45, Hudson River Park, 6:30
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! with Ana Tijoux, Ambar Lucid, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 7:00
Jazzmobile: Sarah Vaughan Centennial, with Charenée Wade, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with Bembona, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Saturday, June 22
SummerStage: The Yussef Dayes Experience, Aneesa Strings, Dana and Alden, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! meets NPR Tiny Desk Contest on the Road — Thee Sacred Souls, Adi Oasis, the Philharmonik, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:00
Summer on the Hudson — Jazz Foundation Presents: Sunset Sounds, Pier at 125th & Marginal Sts., Riverside Park, 7:00
Summer on the Hudson: RCTA Summer Sunset Concert Series 2024, with Ron McClure & Friends, 96th St. Tennis Courts, Riverside Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Electric Fields & DEM MOB: Celebrating South Australian First Nations, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Saturday, June 22
through
Sunday, July 14
Boomerang Theatre Company: Romeo and Juliet, Central Park
Sunday, June 23
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: San Juan Procession, the Garden at Damrosch Park, 1:00
Lazy Daze: Friends & Lovers, Liberty Lawn, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 4:00
Riverside Opera Company: Black Voices, Conference House Park, Staten Island, 4:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazz Underground, with Charenée Wade, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with Papi Juice, the Dance Floor, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Rosanne Cash, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Monday, June 24
The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Featuring Brittany Olivia Logan, Hannah Jones, Matthew Cairns, Jackie Robinson Park, 7:00
Wednesday, June 26
The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Featuring Brittany Olivia Logan, Hannah Jones, Matthew Cairns, Williamsbridge Oval, Bronx, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Emily King and Louis Cato, Damrosch Park, 7:00
Jazz at Pier 84: George Braith, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: ABT Silent Disco with DJ Remeice and Connor Holloway, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Thursday, June 27
Opera in the Garden: La Traviata excerpts, West Side Community Garden, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Double Dutch Fusion Freestyle & Open Jump, with the National Double Dutch League, the Dance Floor, 6:00
Blues by the Boardwalk: Seydurah Avecmoi, Pier 97, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Le Jazz Est Mort, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Central Astoria LDC 40th Annual Independence Day Celebration, with Fleur Seule and fireworks, Astoria Park Great Lawn, 7:30
Sofar Summer Music Series, Pier 3 Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 8:00
Thursday, June 27
through
Sunday, July 21
Hudson Classical Theater Company: Coriolanus, Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, Riverside Park
Friday, June 28
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance, with NYC Ska Orchestra, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Sunset on the Hudson: the Bad Judies and Randy Jones, Pier 45, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Summer on the Hudson: Bridge Matter/The Reach: An evening of performance and River views, Little Red Lighthouse, Fort Washington Park, 6:30
The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Featuring Brittany Olivia Logan, Hannah Jones, Matthew Cairns, Socrates Sculpture Garden, 7:00
Sounds at Sunset: Igmar Thomas & Musical Guests, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 7:00
Summer on the Hudson: Friday Freshen Up, with Granite Garden, 125th & Marginal Sts., Riverside Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Silent Disco: The People Power Disco Hour Is Back! with DJ CherishTheLuv, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Emerging Music Festival Day One, with Chanel Beads, Mei Semones, and Los Esplifs, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Saturday, June 29
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — The Art of Wellbeing: Movement Session With New York City Ballet, LeFrak Lobby, David Geffen Hall, 11:00 am
Emerging Music Festival Day Two, with Horsegirl, Hannah Jadagu, Bloomsday, and Greg Mendez, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 5:00
Shakespeare at Sunset: Theater 2020 presents The Tempest, Granite Prospect, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 5:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco | The Dream Machine Experience, with DJ Ultra Naté, the Dance Floor, 10:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! with Fishbone, Son Rompe Pera, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:30
Sunday, June 30
Summer on the Hudson: Bridge Matter/The Reach: An evening of performance and River views, Little Red Lighthouse, Fort Washington Park, 4:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Voices of a People’s History Pop-Up Performance, Hearst Plaza, 5:00
Shakespeare at Sunset: Theater 2020 presents The Tempest, Granite Prospect, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 5:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazz Underground, with Dezron Douglas, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance, with ARS NOVA NAPOLI and E SENZA L’ACQUA LA TERRA MORE, the Dance Floor, 6:00 pm
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with RARA TECH and Gardy Girault, the Dance Floor, 8:00 pm
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — 20th Annual NYC in C: Terry Riley’s in C, Damrosch Park, 8:00 pm
Monday, July 1
Madison Cunningham / La Lom / John-Robert / Corrente: Beatriz Mira & Tiago Barreiros, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Tuesday, July 2
through
Sunday, July 7
New York Classical Theatre: Henry IV, Carl Schurz Park
Wednesday, July 3
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Pharoahe Monch & Friends: Internal Affairs 25th Anniversary, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with Mr. Life of Your Party fka DJ FLY TY, the Dance Floor, 10:00 pm
Friday, July 5
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance, with the Steven Oquendo Latin Jazz Orchestra, and Silent Disco, with Silent Disco With Cruz, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Carnegie Hall Citywide: Tania León and the Harlem Chamber Players, with Terrance McKnight, Josh Henderson, Leyland Simmons, and the Harlem School of the Arts, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Brasil Summerfest with Rogê, David Rubenstein Atrium, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with Cruz, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Saturday, July 6
Queens Night Market, with Renaissance Youth, DJ Top Notch, Studio B Band, and the Werners, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 5:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Silent Disco: Big Umbrella Day Silent Disco, the Dance Floor, 6:00
Summer on the Hudson: Silent Disco, Pier I, Riverside Park, 6:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Film Night: Do the Right Thing, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:30
Summer on the Hudson: RCTA Summer Sunset Concert Series 2024, with Steve Sandberg Quartet, 96th St. Tennis Courts, Riverside Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Anthem to US Concert, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with Khalil, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Saturday, July 6
through
Sunday, July 28
The Classical Theatre of Harlem: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Marcus Garvey Park
Sunday, July 7
Domingo World at Edgemere Farm, with Tomoki Sanders Trio, @b.oon.e, Drone Daddies, and WIFE, Queens, 1:00
Staten Island Philharmonic, Conference House Park, Staten Island, 4:00
SummerStage: Ezra Collective, Celeste, Da Chick DJ, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazz Underground, with Melanie Scholtz, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Summer on the Hudson: Amplified Sundays feat. La Banda Chuska, Pier I, Riverside Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Silent Disco: The Brooklyn Cumbia Festival Presents La Colocha, the Dance Floor, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Passing the Crown: Celebrating the Queens of Hip-Hop, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Seen, Sound, Scribe, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:30
Federation Sound 25th Anniversary Featuring Sister Nancy / Tanto Metro & Devonte and Friends, Coney Island Amphitheater, 5:00
Tuesday, July 9
Live at the Gantries: Cheo, Gantry Plaza State Park, 7:00
Naumburg Orchestral Concerts: A Far Cry, with works by Kareem Roustom, Kinan Azmeh, Dinuk Wijeratne, and Leoš Janáček, hosted by Terrance McKnight, Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, 7:30
Tuesday, July 9
through
Sunday, July 14
New York Classical Theatre: Henry IV, Castle Clinton, Battery Park
Wednesday, July 10
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music with Eyeglasses, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Opera in the Garden: Opera Fairy Tales, including songs from Hansel and Gretel,Cinderella, and Rusalka, West Side Community Garden, 6:00
Carnegie Hall Citywide: Alisa Amador, Oval Lawn, Madison Square Park, 6:00
LAMC and Latin Grammy 25th Anniversary, with Fonseca, Israel Fernandez, Bruses, DJ Gia Fu, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
Jazz at Pier 84: Santi Debriano’s Arkestra Bembe, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Blues & Greens: A Performance by Ruthie Foster and a Conversation with Suzan-Lori Parks and Majora Carter, Little Island, the Glade, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City India Week — Avimukta: Where the Seeker Meets the Sacred, by Aparna and Ranee Ramaswamy for Ragamala Dance Company, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City India Week: Silent Disco, with Rajuju, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Wednesday, July 10
through
Sunday, July 14
Suzan-Lori Parks hosts and curates music and conversations, the Glade, Little Island
Thursday, July 11
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Inclusive Dance Class with Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dance for PD, the Garden at Damrosch Park, 5:00
TSQ Live 2024: Jazz with Ivan Llanes & Friends, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Works & Process: It’s Showtime NYC!, Maimouna Keita African Dance Company, Kash Gaines’s Caged Birds, Von King Park, 6:00
Live at the Archway: Brasil Summerfest, with art wall by Noah Lyon, Manhattan Bridge Archway, Brooklyn, 6:00
Summer Evenings in the Garden, with Cheryl Pyle, Merchant’s House Museum, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City India Week: Social Dance, with Garba360 Featuring Ujjval Vyas Musicals, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Central Astoria Summer Concert Series, with Emerald City Underground, Astoria Park Great Lawn, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City India Week: Sonny Singh, David Rubenstein Atrium, 7:30
Plaza Theatrical presents A Grand Night for Singing, featuring Rodgers & Hammerstein classics, George Seuffert Sr. Bandshell, Forest Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City India Week: Silent Disco, with DJ Offering Rain, the Dance Floor, 10:00
The Runway & the Street: A conversation with fashion designer Daisy Wang, with a performance by MC Corey James Gray & Freestyle Monday, the Glade, Little Island, 10:00
Friday, July 12
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Travels over Feeling: Celebrating Arthur Russell, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:00
Sounds of Detroit: Celebrating 50 Years of J Dilla Feat. the Pharcyde, Slum Village, Breakbeat Lou, Rich Medina, Von King Park, 6:00
TSQ Live 2024: Summer Friday Concerts with Retrograded, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 6:00
Carnegie Hall Citywide: Thandiswa Mazwai, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Sounds at Sunset: Yacouba Sissoko, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City India Week: Parampara and SAZ ft. Sumitra Das Goswami, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Living Music Underground: Ringdown, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with Ashu Rai, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Outer Space & Inner Space: A conversation with Columbia Astronomy Professor Jane Huang, with a performance by the Psychedelic Soap Box, the Glade, Little Island, 10:00
Saturday, July 13
La Dee Streeter, Pavillion in Silver Lake Park, Staten Island, 2:00
The Big Busk with Citizen Cope and special guest Clarence Greenwood and Friends, Granite Prospect, Brooklyn Bridge Park 3:30
Mike’s Young World IV: Earl Sweatshirt, Myaap, Sideshow, Stahhr, Stacy Epps, Von King Park, 4:00
Festival Minokan 2024: Ann Tounnen Nan Matris, featuring history, talks, workshops, live music and dance, a ceremony, and more, Wyckoff House Museum, 4:00
SummerStage: LAMC, with Bresh, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Work & Play: Watch Me Work with Suzan-Lori Parks & Hansol Jung, with Suzan-Lori Parks’ Sula & the Joyful Noise, the Glade, Little Island, 6:30
Summer on the Hudson: RCTA Summer Sunset Concert Series 2024, with Debbie Deane, 96th St. Tennis Courts, Riverside Park, 7:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! with Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Lollise, Rich Medina, IAM LOVE, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Comedy Night, with Aasif Mandvi, Hari Kondabolu, Nimesh Patel, Aparna Nancherla, and Kiran Deol, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with. DJ Rekha, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Sunday, July 14
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: India Week with SAZ Sunrise Concert, Hearst Plaza, 5:00 am
Bastille Day 2024 Celebration, with “Les visages de la Francophonie,” Anne Collod’s Blank Placard Dance, replay reimagining of Anna Halprin’s 1967 performance, music by DJ Julien, and more, Madison Ave. between Fifty-Ninth & Sixty-Third Sts., noon – 5:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! at Highland Park, 3:00
Common & Pete Rock, Von King Park, 5:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: India Week with RHEOLOGY in concert, Hearst Plaza, 5:00
Golden Oldies on the Boardwalk: Oldies Is Back in Brooklyn Feat. Frank Pizarro from the Platters, Charlie Thomas’ Drifters with Jeff Hall, the Marvelettes, Bill Haley Jr’s Comets, Johnny Farina, the Excellents, the Chiclettes, and Vinnie Medugno, hosted by Joe Causi and Sal Abbatiello, music by the Coda Band, Coney Island Amphitheater, 5:00
SummerStage: Bastille Day, with IAM, Magic System, the Avener, Laurie Darmon, Femi the Scorpion, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 5:30
Lineup TBA, Von King Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: India Week Jazz Underground with Priya Darshini, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: India Week Silent Disco with Roshni Samlal (aka DJ Raat Ki Rani), the Dance Floor, 6:00
Summer on the Hudson: Amplified Sundays feat. Falsa, Pier I, Riverside Park, 7:00
Past & Future: A conversation with Suzan-Lori Parks and Eric Foner, and a performance by Brandee Younger, the Glade, Little Island, 7:00
Monday, July 15
Broadway by the Boardwalk, with Eden Espinosa, Clinton Cove, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Tuesday, July 16
TSQ Live 2024: DJ sets with Soul Summit, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Live at the Gantries: Calvin Johnson & Native Son, Gantry Plaza State Park, 7:00
Wednesday, July 17
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music, with Salieu Suso, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Carnegie Hall Citywide: JACK Quartet with Tania León, Oval Lawn, Madison Square Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Silent Disco: Keep on Dancin’, a Dance Party Celebrating the Spirit of the Paradise Garage, with DJ Joey Llanos and DJ David DePino, the Dance Floor, 6:00
Jazz at Pier 84: Dick Griffin Big Band, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Brasil Summerfest with Gilsons, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Thursday, July 18
Live at the Archway: Sonóra Nuyorkina, with art wall by 20×200 in collaboration with Joan LeMay, Manhattan Bridge Archway, Brooklyn, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Jeremy Bosch & His Orchestra, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Claudia Acuña, David Rubenstein Atrium, 7:30
Friday, July 19
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Juilliard Summer Programs Showcase, Hearst Plaza, 1:30
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, with Richie Ray, Meridian Brothers, and Madame Vacile, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:00
Sounds at Sunset: Yacouba Sissoko, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 7:00
Carnegie Hall Citywide: Louis Cato, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Dance Performances: Solo & Ensemble — Suchitra Mattai: We are nomads, we are dreamers, Socrates Sculpture Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Living Music Underground, with Claire Chase, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, Damrosch Park, 8:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with Haza, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Rena Anakwe will deliver a free sonic intervention underneath Liggett Hall archway on Governors Island on July 20
Saturday, July 20
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: The Art of Wellbeing, with Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, Griffin Sidewalk Studio, David Geffen Hall, 10:00 & 11:30 am
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: 79rs Gang, LeFrak Lobby, David Geffen Hall, noon
SummerStage: DJ Rekha’s Basement Bhangra Beyond, with Priya Ragu, Ami Dang, Lady Pista, and special guests, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 5:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Civic Saturdays: WNYC’s Public Song Project — The People’s Concert, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Habibi Festival at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with Gorgeous Gorgeous and DJ Louie XIV, the Dance Floor, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center — Symphony of Choice: A Crowd-Composed Concert, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Interventions: Rena Anakwe, Liggett Hall archway, Governors Island, 7:30
Sunday, July 21
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: La Casita, Hearst Plaza, 4:30
SummerStage: DMC & Friends, Jadakiss, the Hoodies, and Statik Selektah, hosted by Ralph McDaniels, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 5:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazz Underground with Jalen Baker Quartet, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Yerin Baek, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with mdnghtdiningclub, the Dance Floor, 8:00
Summerstage: Proyecto Uno, Milly y Quezada, DJ Miguelito, and Excarlet Molina, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
Monday, July 22
Broadway by the Boardwalk, with Ramin Karimloo, Clinton Cove, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Tuesday, July 23
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center — Relaxed Open Rehearsal: Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 10:30 am
Live at the Gantries: Super Yamba Band, Gantry Plaza State Park, 7:00
Tuesday, July 23
and
Wednesday, July 24
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center — Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and a Huang Ruo Premiere, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Wednesday, July 24
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music, with Scott Stenten, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
SummerStage: Arooj Aftab, Sid Sriram, Emel, and DJ Rekha, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Carnegie Hall Citywide: Ekep Nkwelle, Oval Lawn, Madison Square Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Danny Lipsitz and the Brass Tacks Ballroom Orchestra, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Jazz at Pier 84: Joaquin Pozo y la Clave Suena, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Wednesday, July 24
through
Sunday, July 28
Justin Vivian Bond: A Week of Cabaret, the Glade, Little Island, 6:30 or 10:00
Thursday, July 25
Live at the Archway: Jerron Paxton and Dennis Lichtman, with art wall by Emily Nam, Manhattan Bridge Archway, Brooklyn, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Stud Country, the Dance Floor, 6:30
The Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series: Salcedo’s Latin Soul, Travers Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Shallow Alcove, David Rubenstein Atrium, 7:30
Thursday, July 25
through
Saturday, August 3
The Drilling Company presents Shakespeare in the Parking Lot: Twelfth Night, 145 Stanton St.
Thursday, July 25
through
Sunday, August 18
Hudson Classical Theater Company: Twelfth Night, Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, Riverside Park
Friday, July 26
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center: Festival Orchestra Pre-Show Panel Discussion, Griffin Sidewalk Studio, David Geffen Hall, 6:00
Sounds at Sunset: Brooklyn Americana Music, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 7:00
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Carnegie Hall Citywide, with Michael Olatuja & Lagos Pepper Soup, Bryant Park, 7:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, with Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Fefita La Grande, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Living Music Underground, with Rafiq Bhatia, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Friday, July 26
and
Saturday, July 27
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center: Kazem Abdullah Conducts Brahms and Stravinsky, geaturing Benjamin Beilman in the Avery Fisher Legacy Concert, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Friday, July 26
through
Sunday, July 28
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Urban Bush Women’s 40th Anniversary, multiple locations and times
Saturday, July 27
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Choreograph the Future, with the NYC Hustle Dance Machine, the Dance Floor, 6:00
Rhapsody for This Land: The American Odyssey in Music, with Lara Downes, Time for Three, Christian McBride, Rosanne Cash & John Leventhal, Arturo O’Farrill, Orchestra Elena & Aram Demirjian, Emily Warren Roebling Plaza under the Brooklyn Bridge, 6:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, with Watchhouse and Black Belt Eagle Scout, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Patrice Roberts, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, Astro Disco with The Illustrious Blacks, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Sunday, July 28
Ballet Folklórico Mexicano de Nueva York’s Annual Guelaguetza Festival, Socrates Sculpture Park, noon
Sounds at Sunset: Steely Dan Happy Hour, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 4:00
SummerStage: Catalan Sounds on Tour, with Sidonie, Balkan Paradise Orchestra, Lau Noah, and DJ Turmix, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazz Underground with Jerome Jennings, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Los Van Van, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with S.N.O.B., the Dance Floor, 8:00
Monday, July 29
Broadway by the Boardwalk, with Bradley Gibson, Clinton Cove, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Tuesday, July 30
Live at the Gantries: Fabio Rojas Quintet, Gantry Plaza State Park, 7:00
Tuesday, July 30
and
Wednesday, July 31
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center — Carlos Miguel Prieto Conducts Haydn and Ginastera, featuring J’Nai Bridges singing Lieberson’s Neruda Songs, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Tuesday, July 30
through
Saturday, August 3
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: BAAND Together Dance Festival, with Ballet Hispánico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem, workshops at LeFrak Lobby in David Geffen Hall, live performances in David H. Koch Theater
Wednesday, July 31
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music, with G Wyll, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Jaime Lozano & the Familia: ¿Bailamos?, the Dance Floor, 6:00
Jazz at Pier 84: Axel Tosca Trio featuring Xiomara Laugart, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Once on This Island, in American Sign Language by Deaf Broadway, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Thursday, August 1
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Inclusive Dance Class with Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dance for PD, the Garden at Damrosch Park, 5:00
SummerStage: Chuck Chillout 40th Radio Anniversary Party, with Ice T, Mop, Schoolly D, Peter Gunz & Lord Tariq, Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud, CL Smooth, Joeski Love, D.J. Breakout, Funky Four + 1 More, Ultramagnetic MCs, DJ Chuck Chillout & Kool Chip, Nine, Al B. Sure!, music by Funk Flex, hosted by Ralph McDaniels & Bugsy Buggs, Crotona Park, 6:00
Live at the Archway: Gentleman Brawlers, with art wall by Annick Martin, Manhattan Bridge Archway, Brooklyn, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Gordon Webster, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with Madame Vacile, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Friday, August 2
SummerStage: The Tedsmooth Freestyle Jam Feat. Coro, C-Bank, DJ Serg, Anthony Mangini, Tedsmooth, JayboogieNYC, and Strafe, Crotona Park, 6:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, with Meshell Ndegeocello — No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, Talibah Safiya, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Luis Perico Ortiz & His Orchestra / Silent Disco with Gia Fu, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Carnegie Hall Citywide, with La Excelencia, Bryant Park, 7:00
Sounds at Sunset: PAAK Appreciation, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Living Music Underground with Josh Johnson, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:00
Friday, August 2
and
Saturday, August 3
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center — Jeannette Sorrell Conducts Bologne and Mozart: An evening of Classical revolutionaries, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Saturday, August 3
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Yacouba Sissoko & SIYA, LeFrak Lobby, David Geffen Hall, noon
Mark Morris Dance Group, Pier 1Harbor View Lawn, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 2:00
Ginetta’s Vendetta, Faber Park Recreation Center, Staten Island, 2:00
Public Pop Up: Queens Night Market, with the Gentleman Brawlers, a screening of Shakespeare in the Park’s Much Ado About Nothing, and more, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 4:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: globalFEST, 4:30
SummerStage: The Originals Featuring Stretch Armstrong, Clark Kent, Rich Medina, and Tony Touch, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
SummerStage: King Promise, Dan Price the Artist, and DJ Faddah Faddah, Crotona Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: globalFEST Silent Disco, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Saturday, August 3
through
Sunday, September 15
Theater for the New City: The Socialization of a Social Worker, or The Fight for Social Justice, parks across all five boroughs, 2:00 or 5:00
Sunday, August 4
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazz Underground with Caroline Davis’ Alula, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
SummerStage: Galactic Featuring Irma Thomas, the Rumble Featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr., anf DJ Greg Caz, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
SummerStage: Nems Presents: Gorillafest Featuring Ghostface Killah, DJ Drewski & Friends, Statik Selektah, Scram Jonesn Tony Touch, and more, Coney Island Amphitheater, 5:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Steel Pulse, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Monday, August 5
Broadway by the Boardwalk, with Adam Jacobs and Arielle Jacobs, Clinton Cove, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Tuesday, August 6
Live at the Gantries: Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East, Gantry Plaza State Park, 7:00
Tuesday, August 6
and
Wednesday, August 7
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center — Jonathon Heyward Conducts Mendelssohn, featuring Ryan Roberts playing Vaughan Williams’s Oboe Concerto, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Wednesday, August 7
SummerStage: Ballet Hispánico, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
Jazz at Pier 84: Whitney Marchelle, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Wednesday, August 7
through
Saturday, August 24
Hip to Hip Theatre Company: The Winter’s Tale and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, nine parks in Queens, Jersey City, and Southampton
Thursday, August 8
Live at the Archway: Tracy Bonham, with art wall by Joshua Reynolds, Manhattan Bridge Archway, Brooklyn, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Louie Vega & the Elements of Life, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City Spotlight: House of Noire Presents Legends, Divas & Icons, David Rubenstein Atrium, 7:30
’70s Disco Party, George Seuffert Sr. Bandshell, Forest Park, 7:30
Friday, August 9
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Pan on the Plaza Featuring Elite Pan Consortium, Hearst Plaza, 6:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, with Jesse Royal, Anant Pradhan & Larry McDonald, and Ayanna Heaven, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:30
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Joe’s Pub — Broadway en Spanglish, with Jaime Lozano and Florencia Cuenca, Bryant Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Living Music Underground with JACK Quartet, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with Mr. Life of Your Party fka DJ FLY TY, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Friday, August 9
and
Saturday, August 10
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center: Jonathon Heyward Conducts Schumann / Conrad Tao Plays Bach, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Friday, August 9
and
Saturday, August 10
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: MVP, a multimedia stage play inspired by the music of Melvin Van Peebles, with Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber, Alice Tully Hall, 7:30
Saturday, August 10
Celebrate World SteelPan Day, Brooklyn Bridge Park, noon
Blues BBQ Festival, with Alexis P. Suter, Blackcat Zydeco featuring Dwight Carrier, Sheryl Youngblood, Joe Louis Walker, and Altered Five Blues Band, Pier 76, 1:00 – 9:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Ruidosa Fest, 4:30
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: New Victory Theater, with Ephrat Asherie + Barkin/Selissen Project, Bryant Park, 5:00
SummerStage: Gotta Have House: Aly-Us, Lady Alma, Keith Thompson, Strafe, Entouch, and D-Train, Stapleton Waterfront Park, 6:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, with Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul and Sinkane | Ushka, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:30
SummerStage: VP Records 45th Anniversary, with Morgan Heritage Homecoming, “A Tribute to Peetah Morgan” Featuring Morgan Heritage and Friends, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Ruidosa Fest Silent Disco, the Dance Floor, 8:00
Sunday, August 11
Open Studios: Fogo Azul, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 2:00
Hip to Hip Theatre Company: The Winter’s Tale and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Socrates Sculpture Park, 4:30
SummerStage: Tito Nieves, Cynthia, DJ Lucy Euclid, and Vinnie Medugno, Stapleton Waterfront Park, 5:00
SummerStage: WBLS 50th Anniversary Celebration, with Jon B, Vivian Green, Meli’sa Morgan, Horace Brown, Jeff Redd, and music by Funk Flex, Coney Island Amphitheater, 7:00
Monday, August 12
Public Pop Up: Public Works presents Let’s Hear It for New York!, with a participatory community-led dance piece to Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind,” a screening of Shakespeare in the Park’s Much Ado About Nothing, and more, Central Park Frisbee Hill, 6:00
Tuesday, August 13
Live at the Gantries: Lulada Club, Gantry Plaza State Park, 7:00
Wednesday, August 14
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music, with Samoa Wilson, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Jazz at Pier 84: Debbie Knapper and the Knappertime Band, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Wednesday, August 14
through
Sunday, August 18
Language City: Five Nights, Five Boroughs, poetry, music, and movement, the Glade, Little Island, 6:30 or 10:00
Thursday, August 15
Live at the Archway: Queerchella, with art wall by Melanie Hope Greenberg, Manhattan Bridge Archway, Brooklyn, 6:00
The Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series: Sam Martinelli & the Brazilian Jazz Collective, Rockaway Beach Park, 7:00
Queensboro Dance Festival, George Seuffert Sr. Bandshell, Forest Park, 7:00
Friday, August 16
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: World Music Institute, with Gyedu-Blay Ambolley + Natu Camara, Bryant Park, 7:00
Jazzmobile & Summerstage Present A Max Roach 100th Tribute, with M’boom, Featuring Warren Smith and Joe Chambers, the Kojo Melché Roney Experience, Marcus Garvey Park, 7:00
Friday, August 16
through
Monday, August 19
House Fest 2024, Nolan Park and Colonels Row, Governors Island
Saturday, August 17
Queens Borough Dance Festival, Fort Totten Park Lawn, Queens, 5:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! with Lila Iké and screening of Bob Marley: One Love, the Lawn at Brower Park, 5:00
SummerStage: Palmwine Festival NYC, with Show Dem Camp Feat. the Cavemen and Friends, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Big Summer Chop & Vibes, Pier 3 Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 6:00
SummerStage: The Soapbox Presents The Life of the Party, Marcus Garvey Park, 6:00
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Jalopy Theatre, with Cristina Vane, Slavic Soul Party!, and Guachinangos, Bryant Park, 7:00
Sunday, August 18
SummerStage: Funk Flex Birthday Party with Slick Rick, Dana Dane, Doug E. Fresh, DJ Maseo, and more, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
SummerStage: Special Uptown Edition Celebrating 40 Years of Red Alert & Ralph McDaniels Video Music Box, Marcus Garvey Park, 5:00
Wednesday, August 21
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music, with Hasta La Zeta, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Curated by Cécile McLorin Salvant: Vanisha Gould, the Glade, Little Island, 8:30
Thursday, August 22
SummerStage: Brazilian Day, with Alcione, Larissa Luz, DJ Malfeitona, and screening of Gerson King Combo, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Curated by Cécile McLorin Salvant: June McDoom, the Glade, Little Island, 8:30
Friday, August 23
SummerStage: Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, with Christian McBride Big Band and Wallace Roney Jr., Marcus Garvey Park, 7:00
Curated by Cécile McLorin Salvant: Lau Noah, the Glade, Little Island, 10:00
Friday, August 23
and
Saturday, August 24
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: New York City Opera presents Tosca, Bryant Park, 7:00
Saturday, August 24
SummerStage: Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, with Carmen Lundy, Helen Sung, Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few, Tyreek McDole, and DJ Kulturedchild aka Angelika Beener, Marcus Garvey Park, 3:00
Unrehearsed: R&J, Needs More Work Productions vs. Barefoot Shakespeare Company, Summit Rock, Central Park, 4:00
Curated by Cécile McLorin Salvant: Sullivan Fortner, the Glade, Little Island, 8:30
Sunday, August 25
SummerStage: Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, with Louis Hayes, Superblue: Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter Ft. Huntertones, Ekep Nkwelle, Alexis Lombre, and DJ Kulturedchild aka Angelika Beener, Tompkins Square Park, 3:00
Curated by Cécile McLorin Salvant: Arooj, the Glade, Little Island, 8:30
Tuesday, August 27
SummerStage: Snail Mail, Tim Heidecker and Fenne Lily, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Wednesday, August 28
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music, with Gabriel Aldort, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Wednesday, August 28
through
Sunday, September 1
Curated by Standing on the Corner: a week of music and performance art, the Glade, Little Island, 7:00 or 10:00
Friday, August 30
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Asian American Arts Alliance, with Vijay Iyer Trio, Bryant Park, 7:00
Saturday, August 31
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Contemporary Dance, with Mark Morris Dance Group, Blacks in Ballet, and Reed Luplau, Bryant Park, 7:00
Sunday, September 1
Staten Island Philharmonic, Conference House Park, Staten Island, 4:00
Thursday, September 5
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Accordions Around the World, with Dwayne Dopsie, Afro Dominicano, and Lakou Mizik, Bryant Park, 7:00
Friday, September 6
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: American Symphony Orchestra presents Beyond the Hall, led by music director Leon Botstein, Bryant Park, 7:00
Monday, September 9
SummerStage: WNYC and Friends Centennial Celebration, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
Thursday, September 12
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Harlem Stage, with Eddie Palmieri, Bryant Park, 7:00
Friday, September 13
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: The Town Hall and Belongó presents The Man with the Golden Horn, featuring James Bond songs, Bryant Park, 7:00
Tory Kittles is flanked by Brittany Inge and Stori Ayers, who play forty characters in Samm-Art Williams’s Home (photo by Joan Marcus)
HOME
Todd Haimes Theatre
227 West Forty-Second St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
Tuesday – Sunday through July 21, $49-$149
212-539-8500 www.roundabouttheatre.org
Tony-winning director Kenny Leon describes his Broadway revival of Samm-Art Williams’s rhythmic, poetic Home as a two-hundred-yard dash. It’s more like an Olympic relay, and his team wins the gold.
In December 1979, the Negro Ensemble Company debuted Home at St. Marks Playhouse, with Charlie Brown, Michele Shay, and L. Scott Caldwell, directed by Douglas Turner Ward; the show transferred to the Cort Theatre on Broadway in May, earning Tony nominations for Best Actor and Best Play. A 1982 DC version featured Samuel L. Jackson, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Elain Graham. Sadly, Williams, who was also an actor and television writer and producer, working on such series as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,Martin, and Frank’s Place, passed away in his hometown of Burgaw, North Carolina, on May 13 at the age of seventy-eight, just a few days before the first preview of Leon’s throughly engaging Roundabout production at the Todd Haimes Theatre.
Home takes place on Arnulfo Maldonado’s low-tech, cozy set, centered by a rocking chair on a wooden platform in front of a tall row of vegetables and a backdrop of vast green fields under a cloudy sky in the town of Cross Roads, North Carolina, a storm sometimes visible in the distance. Occasionally, a black cutout of a silhouetted house narrows the stage. The show begins with Cephus Miles (Tory Kittles) taking a deep breath — as if getting ready for the race — and two unnamed women who serve as a Greek chorus (Brittany Inge and Stori Ayers) singing, “In the great gitt’n up morning fare you well. Fare you well.” The second woman adds, “If there was ever a woman or man, who has everlasting grace in the eyes of God. It’s the farmer woman . . . and man.”
Cephus Miles (Tory Kittles) searches for home in fast-paced Roundabout revival (photo by Joan Marcus)
However, everlasting grace does not necessarily mean success and happiness. A moment later, after the first woman agrees that Cephus is blessed, the second woman says, “Shit. Big deal. He can think about grace while he’s chopping wood this winter to go in that ‘pop belly’ stove that he cooks on. Or when he has to pack mud in the cracks of his house to keep the wind out, or when he has to use newspaper to wipe his ‘behind’ because toilet paper is just not in his budget.”
Cephus is a simple man with simple desires. He cultivates the fields with his uncle Lewis and granddaddy and appears destined to marry the young and innocent Pattie Mae Wells (Inge). Though not a religious man, he agrees to be baptized by Rev. Doris (Ayers), who warns Pattie Mae, “Keep your eyes on this one, honey. He ain’t a whole Christian yet.”
The chorus lets us know early on that Cephus, like many local men before him, headed off to the big city but didn’t find what he was looking for. “Maybe they’ll all leave,” the first woman says. The second woman responds, “Most of them have. He left. But he came back. Fool.” Cephus also runs afoul of the draft board when his number comes up to go to Vietnam, as he was taught to love thy neighbor and thou shalt not kill. And to make matters more complicated, Pattie Mae decides to go to college, promising to write him every day.
Cephus undertakes a personal Great Migration in an attempt to find a new home, but amid all that befalls him, he sticks to his roots, explaining, “I have no regrets. No bitterness. I’m thankful. And I pray from time to time.”
Stori Ayers, Tory Kittles, and Brittany Inge make the Todd Haimes Theatre feel like home (photo by Joan Marcus)
Serving as the offstage anchor for this wise and very funny and intimate play that never stops once Cephus draws that first deep breath, Leon further establishes himself as contemporary theater’s most consistently successful Broadway revivalist; in the last ten years, he has directed memorable productions of A Raisin in the Sun,A Soldier’s Play,Topdog/Underdog,Ohio State Murders, and Purlie Victorious (among several off-Broadway shows and Shakespeare in the Park). Next up for Leon is Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the fall, with Jim Parsons, Zoey Deutch, Katie Holmes, Billy Eugene Jones, Ephraim Sykes, Richard Thomas, Michelle Wilson, and Julie Halston.
Williams (The Montford Point Marine,The Dance on Widows’ Row) wrote Home while taking a bus back to where he was born and raised, Burgaw, North Carolina, influenced by the many characters he met on his journey. The play introduces us to such fanciful figures as Joe-Boy Smith, One Arm Ike, Old Chief, Hard Headed Herbert, Lottie Bell McKoy, Aunt Hannah, Pearlene Costin, Sydney Joe Murphy, Mr. Hezekiah Simmons, Miss Lizzie, and Dingles the invisible dog, each worthy of their own individual story as they tend to the fields, go to church, throw craps in the graveyard, or enjoy the fish fry.
Inge (Father Comes Home from the Wars,The Ballad of Klook and Vinette), and Ayers (Blood at the Root,Travisville) are phenomenal, taking on some forty roles between them, metaphorically passing the baton as they swiftly move from one part to the next with only small changes to their voice and demeanor and to Dede Ayite’s naturalistic southern costumes. Allen Lee Hughes’s tender lighting sharpens the focus on the character-driven narrative, while Justin Ellington’s sound maintains the sense of place even as the basic set stays the same as Cephus experiences life outside of Cross Roads, traveling miles away from his family farm (hence his last name).
Kittles (8 Hotels,Richard II) gives a career-defining performance as Cephus, a kind of southern Odysseus wondering what awaits him when he returns to a land he left years before. Kittles fully embodies the unpredictable Cephus, whether sitting in a rocking chair contemplating his fate, relaxing on the wooden platform sharing sweet memories, standing firm for his principles, or, perhaps, becoming a ghost, his right hand shaking.
The ninety-minute play concludes with a glorious finale that crosses the finish line with pure genius, reminding us all that there’s no place like home.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]
Richard Move / MoveOpolis!’s Devrai (Sacred Grove) is part of “Prelude in the Parks” festival (photo by Ben Parker / courtesy of the Segal Theatre Center of the Graduate Center CUNY)
PRELUDE IN THE PARKS: PERFORMANCES FOR THE PLANET
Multiple locations in all five boroughs
June 7-9, free www.thesegalcenter.org
Musicians, poets, dancers, storytellers, actors, and other creators and performers will spread across all five boroughs June 7-9 for “Prelude in the Parks: Performances for the Planet.” Curated by Mov!ngCulture Projects founding director and creative producer Robin Schatell and Segal Center executive director Dr. Frank Hentschker, the special event, an initiative of CUNY’s Segal Theatre Center, features free site-specific shows in parks and gardens exploring climate change, environmental issues, and the future of the Earth, with presentations by Richard Move / MoveOpolis!, Kinesis Project Dance Theatre, Dennis RedMoon Darkeem, Keith Josef Adkins, Anh Vo, and others.
The pieces, which will use no electricity, run between twenty-five and sixty minutes each, in such locations as Barretto Point Park, Fort Greene Park, the Eastside Outside Community Garden, Tappen Park, and Inwood Hill Park; several are interactive, including nature walks. Below is the full schedule.
Friday, June 7, 6:00
Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble: Pliable Futures, Fort Greene Park, Fort Greene
Richard Move / MoveOpolis!: Devrai (Sacred Grove), with Aristotle Luna, Riverside Park, Manhattan, 6:00 & 6:30
Kinesis Project Dance Theatre: Bridge Matter/The Reach (excerpt), with live music by Johnny Butler, Inwood Hill Park, Gaelic Field, Manhattan
Sidiki Conde and His Tokounou Ensemble: Guinean Environmental Stewardship Traditions, Hunters Point South Park, Long Island City
Anh Vo will perform Weather in Brower Park on June 9 (photo by Evelyn Efreja / courtesy of the Segal Theatre Center of the Graduate Center CUNY)
Saturday, June 8, 3:00
Community Poetry and Tea, with tea ceremony, arts, and culture, Eastside Outside Community Garden, Manhattan, 2:00 – 4:00
Artichoke Dance Company: Water Rises, Newtown Creek Nature Walk, Kingsland Ave., Greenpoint
Dennis RedMoon Darkeem: Land Connections: Reflections with Dennis, Bronx River Community Garden
Pajarillo Pinta’o: Dance in Connection, Barretto Point Park, Bronx
Keith Josef Adkins: The Heat Will Kill Everything (excerpts), with Francois Battiste, directed by Russell G. Jones, Riverside Park, Manhattan
Manners and Respect, Thomas Fucaloro, and Cynthia Rodriguez: Mixed Use, Tappen Park, Staten Island
Sunday June 9, 3:00
Monica Dudárov Hunken and Leah Bachar: Brooklyn Is Not a Sacrifice Zone, Newtown Creek Nature Walk, Greenpoint
Anh Vo: Weather, Brower Park, Brooklyn
Rafael de Balanzo Joue and Daniel Pravit Fethke: Resilience Thinking Walkscape, Prospect Park, Brooklyn
HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES
New York Theatre Workshop
79 East Fourth St. between Second & Third Aves.
Tuesday – Sunday through June 30, $105-$125 www.nytw.org
When you enter New York Theatre Workshop to see Here There Are Blueberries, there’s a projection of the Leica logo on a translucent curtain behind an actual camera on a stand on the stage. “In the 1930s, the development of compact, portable cameras like this one changed everything,” an actor says in a prologue, explaining that as Germany emerged from a national depression, citizens started taking photos as an affordable hobby in the pursuit of happiness. “Each pose, each press of a button, each frozen moment tells the world: This is our shared history, and this is what it means to us. Viewed in this way, the apparent ordinariness of these images does not detract from their political relevance. On the contrary: Asserting ordinariness in the face of the extraordinary is, in itself, an immensely political act.”
According to the September 2020 U.S. Millennial Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey, the first national poll ever taken of millennials and Gen Z about the Holocaust, sixty-three percent of respondents did not know that six million Jews were killed by the Nazis, forty-eight percent could not name a single concentration camp or European ghetto, and twenty percent believed that the Jews caused the Holocaust. As more survivors and witnesses pass away and antisemitism grows around the world, those numbers are only likely to increase, which is why a play such as the exquisitely rendered Here There Are Blueberries is so timely and necessary.
Running at New York Theatre Workshop through June 30, the gripping hundred-minute drama from the Tectonic Theater Project pores over the contents of a book of photos delivered to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by an eighty-seven-year-old retired U.S. lieutenant colonel (Grant James Varjas); he had been holding on to them since he discovered them in an abandoned Frankfurt apartment in 1946. There was something unique and unexpected — and terrifying — about the pictures: They did not contain a single image of a victim or prisoner.
With limited information, the archival team, led by Dr. Rebecca Erbelding (Elizabeth Stahlmann) and Judy Cohen (Kathleen Chalfant), begin a detailed forensic investigation that yields a surprising result: The photos are of Nazi officers and Helferinnen, a communication corps of young women, enjoying themselves at Auschwitz, exploring the facilities, laughing and singing, and relaxing at the previously unknown chalet known as Solahütte, where weekends were awarded to hard workers, a bonus for a job well done — asserting ordinariness in the face of the extraordinary, examples of what Jewish historian and philosopher Hannah Arendt, who fled Germany with her family in 1933, referred to as “the banality of evil.”
As the museum archive team starts identifying the men in the photos — among those seen in large projections on the back wall are Dr. Josef Mengele, Commandant SS Major Richard Baer, chief SS doctor Eduard Wirths, Auschwitz builder Rudolph Höss, and his right-hand man, former bank clerk SS Obersturmführer Karl Höcker (Scott Barrow), who owned the album — it reaches out to descendants of the subjects, some of whom are shocked to find out what their fathers and grandfathers were up to. One, Tilman Taube (Jonathan Raviv), decides to help the museum track down more relatives in order to gather further information. “Those who say nothing . . . they transfer this trauma to the next generation,” he bravely argues.
Meanwhile, Dr. Erbelding, Cohen, and museum director Sara Bloomfield (Erika Rose) debate whether the photographs should be put on display. “Here we find our first obstacle. There’s a sense at our museum that we should focus on the victims, not on the perpetrators,” Cohen says. Bloomfield replies, “In the creation of the permanent exhibition of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, special effort has been made to avoid undue attention to the perpetrators and to humanize and honor the victims.” Shortly after a survivor declares that the museum should let the public see the pictures for themselves, Bloomfield says, “We don’t want to elevate Nazis, to give them any kind of platform.”
The photographs that give the play its name are a series of shots of Höcker with a group of Helferinnen in skirts sitting on a fence on the Solahütte deck, eating blueberries, all smiles as they pose for the camera; one of the young women pretends to cry because her bowl is empty. “People called us and said — these people look normal, the girls look like teenage girls. Because they were. And that was surprising, that they look like us!” Dr. Erbelding explains. The caller continued, “‘I know I never could’ve been a Mengele. I know I never could’ve been a Höcker. But could I have been a Helferin?’”
And therein lies the dilemma at the heart of the play: What would any of us have done in that situation — and what would we do today?
Using their Moment Work method of collaboration, Tectonic Theater Project and founding artistic director Moisés Kaufman have created such fact-based narrative plays as The Laramie Project,33 Variations,I Am My Own Wife, and Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. Conceived and directed by Tony and Emmy nominee Kaufman — inspired by the 2007 New York Times article “In the Shadow of Horror, SS Guardians Frolic” — and cowritten by Kaufman and Emmy nominee Amanda Gronich, Here There Are Blueberries takes the audience inside the tense research and analysis as the museum realizes how important the evidence is.
The album served as visual reference for the Oscar-nominated film The Zone of Interest, a fictionalized version of the everyday life of Höss and his family, who lived next door to Auschwitz. It also has much in common with Bianca Stigter’s astounding 2021 documentary, Three Minutes — A Lengthening, which follows the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum as it tries to uncover the details about a mysterious 180-second home-movie clip from Poland in 1938, searching for the exact location, who is in the footage, and what happened to the citizens of this community.
Derek McLane’s set is a research room containing several standing desks where characters in Dede Ayite’s everyday costumes conduct their analyses; David Lander’s clear-cut lighting includes overhead industrial fluorescents and illuminates individual speakers, while Bobby McElver’s sound ranges from the accordion and a storm to chirping birds, a flowing river, and marching feet. David Bengali’s bold projections of the photos, news reports, related documents, and maps makes the audience feel like they are part of the research team, especially with close-ups and when a particular figure in a photo is lit up or silhouetted. A few instances of live video are distracting and unnecessary, but they are kept to a minimum.
Stahlmann (Slave Play,Pushkin “Eugene Onegin” in our own words) and Tony nominee Chalfant (Angels in America,Novenas for a Lost Hospital) lead a strong ensemble cast (which also includes Noah Keyishian, Anna Shafer, and Charlie Thurston) that smoothly handles multiple roles. The material is treated with a gentle sensitivity that makes the various revelations all the more powerful.
Early on, Dr. Erbelding concludes, “This album is something [Höcker] treasured. There are no ink blots, he doesn’t misspell anything, he made sure the lettering was right. Everything is glued perfectly. This was meant to last.” After the show, as the audience exits, facsimiles of many of the photos are on display in the lobby, a potent reminder that the story that has just been told is true and that the snapshots are real.
I know that for me, one thing that is going to last from this play: I will never be able to look at blueberries the same way again.
[The June 4 and 12 performances will be followed by discussions with the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics. Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]
PUBLIC THEATER MOBILE UNIT: THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
Multiple locations in all five boroughs
May 28 – June 30, free (no RSVP necessary) publictheater.org
Last year the Public Theater’s Mobile Unit presented Rebecca Martínez and Julián Mesri’s terrific bilingual adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. The production is back for the 2024 summer season, on the road May 28 through June 30, making stops in all five boroughs: the New York Public Library/Bryant Park, Wolfe’s Pond, J. Hood Wright Park, Hudson Yards, Roy Wilkins Park, A.R.R.O.W. Field House, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Sunset Park, Travers Park, Maria Hernandez Park, Astor Place, St. Mary’s Park, and the Peninsula at Prospect Park.
No advance reservations are necessary, but you should get there early if you want to get up close and personal with the show; last year I caught it in the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park, where some audience members sat on the stage, surrounding the action. If you’re not familiar with the Mobile Unit, you need to be; the program is now in its thirteenth year of bringing free Shakespeare to all five boroughs, presenting works in prisons, shelters, and underserved community centers as well as city parks.
With the Delacorte undergoing renovation, the Mobile Unit is part of “Go Public!,” a festival of free Shakespeare events that includes The Comedy of Errors, outdoor screenings of Kenny Leon’s 2019 Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado about Nothing starring Danielle Brooks, Chuck Cooper, Margaret Odette, and Billy Eugene Jones, online streaming of that show as well as 2021’s Merry Wives, 2022’s Richard III, and 2023’s Hamlet, and a block party on July 28.
Below is my review of The Comedy of Errors from last year; I cannot recommend it highly enough.
A fab cast sings and dances its way through exuberant production of The Comedy of Errors (photo by Peter Cooper)
PUBLIC THEATER MOBILE UNIT: THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
Multiple locations in all five boroughs
Through May 21, free (no RSVP necessary)
Shiva Theater, May 25 – June 11, free with RSVP publictheater.org
The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit touring production of The Comedy of Errors is the most fun I’ve ever had at a Shakespeare play.
The Mobile Unit is now in its twelfth year of bringing free Shakespeare to all five boroughs, presenting works in prisons, shelters, and underserved community centers as well as city parks. On May 13, it pulled into the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park, where part of the audience sat on the stage, on all four sides of a small, intimate square area where the action takes place; attendees could also sit in the regular seats, long concrete benches under the open sky.
Emmie Finckel’s spare set features a wooden platform and a bright yellow stepladder that serves several purposes. Lux Haac’s attractive, colorful costumes hang on racks at the back, where the actors perform quick changes. Music director and musician Jacinta Clusellas and guitarist Sara Ornelas sit on folding chairs, performing Julián Mesri’s Latin American–inspired score; Ornelas is fabulous as a troubadour and musical narrator, often wandering around the space and leading the cast in song. The lyrics, by Mesri and director and choreographer Rebecca Martínez, who collaborated on the adaptation, are in English and Spanish and are not necessarily translated word for word, but you will understand what is going on regardless of your primary tongue. As the troubadour explains, “I should mention that most of / this show will be performed in English / though it’s supposed to / take place in two states in Ancient Greece. / But don’t be surprised / if these actors switch their language.”
Trimmed down to a smooth-flowing ninety minutes, the show tells the story of a pair of twins, Dromio (Gían Pérez) and Antipholus (Joel Perez), who were separated at birth. In Ephesus, Dromio serves Antipholus, a wealthy man married to the devoted Adriana (Danaya Esperanza) but cheating on her with a lusty, demanding courtesan (Desireé Rodriguez). The other Dromio and Antipholus arrive in Ephesus and soon have everyone running around in circles as the mistaken identity slapstick ramps up.
Adriana (Danaya Esperanza) and Dromio (Gían Pérez) are all mixed up in The Comedy of Errors (photo by Peter Cooper)
Meanwhile, the merchant Egeon (Varín Ayala) is facing execution because he is from Syracuse, whose citizens are barred from Ephesus, per a decree from the Duchess Solina (Rodriguez); the goldsmith Angelo (Ayala, to be played in 2024 by Glendaliris Torres-Greaux) has made a fancy gold rope necklace for Antipholus but gives it to the wrong one; the Syracuse Dromio is confounded when Adriana’s kitchen maid claims to be his wife; the Syracuse Antipholus falls madly in love with Luciana (Keren Lugo), Adriana’s sister; and an abbess (Rodriguez) is determined to protect anyone who seeks sanctuary.
In case any or all of that is confusing, the troubadour clears things up in a series of songs that explain some, but not all, of the details, and the Public also provides everyone with a cheat sheet. Again, the troubadour: “In case you missed it / or took a little nap / Here’s what’s been happening / since we last had a chat / We’ll do our best / but we confess / this plot is really putting our skills to the test.”
It all comes together sensationally at the conclusion, as true identities are revealed, conflicts are resolved, and love wins out.
Martínez (Sancocho,Living and Breathing) fills the amphitheater with an infectious and supremely delightful exuberance. The terrific cast interacts with the audience, as if we are the townspeople of Ephesus. Gían Pérez (Sing Street) and Joel Perez (Sweet Charity,Fun Home) are hilarious as the two sets of twins, who switch hat colors to identify which brother they are at any given time. Esperanza (Mary Jane,for colored girls . . .) shines as the ever-confused, ultradramatic Adriana, Lugo (Privacy,At the Wedding) is lovely as Luciana and the duchess, Rodriguez is engaging as Emilia and the courtesan, and Ayala (The Merchant of Venice,The Taming of the Shrew) excels as Angelo, Egeon, and Dr. Pinch.
But Ornelas (A Ribbon About a Bomb,American Mariachi) all but steals the show, switching between leather and denim jackets as she portrays minor characters and plays her guitar with a huge smile on her face, words and music lifting into the air. Charles Coes’s sound design melds with the wind blowing through the trees and other people enjoying themselves in the park on a Saturday afternoon. There are no errors in this comedy.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]
Rufus Collins, Sarah Street, and John Keating star in Irish Rep revival (photo by Carol Rosegg)
MOLLY SWEENEY
Irish Repertory Theatre, Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage
132 West Twenty-Second St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Wednesday – Sunday through June 30, $60-$95
212-727-2737 irishrep.org
Early on in Irish Rep’s riveting revival of Brian Friel’s 1994 three-character play Molly Sweeney, Mr. Rice (Rufus Collins), an ophthalmologist, recounts his first meeting with Molly Sweeney (Sarah Street), who has been blind since she was ten months old, and her husband of two years, Frank Sweeney (John Keating). “I liked her. I liked her calm and her independence; the confident way she shook my hand and found a seat for herself with her white cane. And when she spoke of her disability, there was no self-pity, no hint of resignation. Yes, I liked her,” he tells the audience. “She had a full life and never felt at all deprived.”
He then describes the irrepressible Frank’s constant interruptions, insisting that there was some hope to restore her eyesight because she could detect shadows when Frank passed his hand in front of her face. Mr. Rice recalls agreeing with Frank, saying, “If there is a chance, any chance, that she might be able to see, we must take it, mustn’t we? How can we not take it? She has nothing to lose, has she? What has she to lose? — nothing! — nothing!” But they come to this conclusion without Molly’s input, two males deciding what is best for a woman.
At a party the night before her surgery, Molly realizes that she is not doing it for herself. “With sudden anger I thought: Why am I going for this operation? None of this is my choosing. Then why is this happening to me? I am being used,” she says. “Of course, I trust Frank. Of course, I trust Mr. Rice. But how can they know what they are taking away from me? How do they know what they are offering me? They don’t. They can’t. And have I anything to gain? — anything? — anything?”
In her 2019 Missouri Medicine article “Hear Me Out,” Amelia Cooper explores the controversy over cochlear implant devices; while some members of the deaf community and their families celebrate, in online videos, people being able to hear for the first time, others find them “oppressive and offensive. For these critics, deafness is not defined by the lack of ability to hear, but, rather, by a distinct cultural identity of which they are proud.” Much like deaf people who get implants and regain at least some of their ability to hear, Molly realizes that if she were to regain at least some of her sight, she may have plenty to lose, something that Mr. Rice and Frank could never understand.
John Keating again proves himself to be one of New York’s finest actors in conclusion of the Friel Project at Irish Rep (photo by Carol Rosegg)
In fact, the play was inspired by a real-life case that British neurologist Oliver Sacks documented in his May 2, 1993, New Yorker article “To See and Not See,” later included in his 1995 book An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales. He writes, “The rest of us, born sighted, can scarcely imagine such confusion. For we, born with a full complement of senses, and correlating these, one with the other, create a sight world from the start, a world of visual objects and concepts and meanings. When we open our eyes each morning, it is upon a world we have spent a lifetime learning to see. We are not given the world: we make our world through incessant experience, categorization, memory, reconnection.”
Molly’s father had taught her how to experience a world they thought she would never see. He encouraged her to touch and smell objects, especially the plant species Nemophila, better known as Baby Blue Eyes. “I know you can’t see them but they have beautiful blue eyes, just like you. You’re my nemophila,” he told her. She remembers the smell of whiskey on his breath, which made her giddy; she does not feel the same when she smells whiskey on Mr. Rice’s breath.
In the second act, the bandages are taken off Molly, and she, her husband, and her doctor each has a different reaction to what happens next.
Molly Sweeney concludes Irish Rep’s four-part Friel Project, preceded by lovely productions of Translations,Aristocrats, and Philadelphia, Here I Come! The company previously staged Molly Sweeney in person in 2011 with Jonathan Hogan, Geraldine Hughes, and Ciaran O’Reilly and virtually in May 2020. Like those versions, this revival is intricately directed by founding artistic director Charlotte Moore (Aristocrats,The Streets of New York). (A 1996 Roundabout production starred Catherine Byrne, Alfred Molina, and Jason Robards.)
Molly (Sarah Street) dreams of a better life in Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney (photo by Carol Rosegg)
Charlie Corcoran’s set consists of three chairs on a fake stone-paved floor, each with a slightly different rectangular wall and window behind it; Mr. Rice’s has a chest with folders and a bottle of whiskey, Molly’s has a vase of flowers on the windowsill, and Frank’s has a shelf with books and random objects. Linda Fisher’s costumes are in a muted Irish palette. Michael Gottlieb’s lighting is razor sharp; while focusing on one character, the others are bathed in shadow. In addition, abstract projections in blue, red, and purple morph on the rear horizontal wall, evoking what might be going on inside Molly’s head. Hidenori Nakajo’s sound envelops the audience in Molly’s auditory realm.
The actors are exceptional. Collins (Translations,The Quare Land) brings a cool serenity to Mr. Rice, who has not had an easy life; his wife left him for another ophthalmologist, and he eventually found himself working at a small hospital in Ballybeg in County Donegal, the fictional town where many of Friel’s plays take place. When Mr. Rice speaks, he stands up, sometimes holding a book or folder, and talks succinctly.
New York City treasure Keating (Translations,Autumn Royal) gives the unemployed Frank a harried demeanor, his tall, wiry frame flitting about as he relates his fondness for getting involved in charity cases — he’s been asked to supervise a food convoy in Ethiopia — but he has no conception of how he can help his wife.
Sitting in between them is Street (Aristocrats,Belfast Girls), who gazes into the audience, making eye contact when she or the others speak, as opposed to Collins and Keating, whose characters appear to rest their eyes or doze off, not listening to what Molly is saying; they choose, essentially, not to see or hear her and concentrate on their own future. Molly shares her story matter-of-factly, not getting wrapped up in emotion but not cold and distant either.
She could be any woman, fighting for personal freedom of any kind in a country that was still struggling with women’s rights in the late twentieth century. It’s a complex performance in a complex play that will make you think twice before offering certain types of medical advice to friends and loved ones.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]
