Tag Archives: american museum of natural history

SPACEFEST AT HOME

The American Museum of Natural History’s SpaceFest includes the live launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon

Who: Ruth Angus, Carter Emmart, Jackie Faherty, Neil deGrasse Tyson
What: Online celebration marking the first U.S. human mission to space in almost a decade
Where: American Museum of Natural History
When: Wednesday, May 27, free, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Why: On May 27, the SpaceX Crew Dragon will blast off from the Kennedy Space Center and head to the International Space Station. The American Museum of Natural History will celebrate the first U.S. human mission to space since the Atlantis in 2011 with SpaceFest, a trio of live family-friendly watch parties featuring special guests. Below is the schedule; attendance is free.

Wednesday, May 27
Scientists at Home: Imagining Space Exploration, with museum curator Ruth Angus and introducing the OLogy Challenge, 11:00 am

Field Trip: Spaceflight, virtual spaceflight with museum director of astrovisualization Carter Emmart and astrophysicist Jackie Faherty, 1:00

The Future of Space Exploration with Neil deGrasse Tyson, live launch with commentary from Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson and astrophysicist Jackie Faherty, 4:05

COLIN DAVEY: THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND HOW IT GOT THAT WAY

Colin Davey will launch his new book about the American Museum of Natural History on May 20 at Shakespeare & Co.

Who: Colin Davey
What: Author talk and book launch
Where: Shakespeare & Co., 2020 Broadway at 70th St., 212-738-0001
When: Monday, May 20, free with advance registration, 7:00
Why: Scientist, martial artist, and software engineer Colin Davey celebrates the 150th anniversary of the American Museum of Natural History with the extensively researched, fully illustrated new book The American Museum of Natural History and How It Got That Way (Fordham University Press/Empire State Editions, $34.95, May 2019), written with Thomas A. Lesser. Davey (Learn Boogie Woogie Piano) will be at Shakespeare & Co. on May 20 to launch the book, which details the history of the museum in such chapters as “The Jesup Years (1881–1908) and the Seventy-Seventh Street Facade,” “The Akeley African Hall: From the Elephant in the Room to the Seven-Hundred-Pound Gorilla,” “The Golden Age of Spaceflight and the Hayden Planetarium,” “The Evolution of the Dinosaur Exhibits,” and “Robert Moses and the Norman Bel Geddes Report.” In the foreword, Kermit Roosevelt III, the great-great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, whose statue resides in front of the institution, writes, “What the museum has done, in different ways, through the different stages of its life, is to feed the human sense of wonder at the universe.” Among the figures who appear in the tome are “Boss” Tweed, Clyde Fisher, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Morris K. Jesup, Carl Akeley, Robert Moses, and many others as Davey, a regular visitor to the museum since he was a child, shares fascinating historical details about the museum from its beginnings on Manhattan Square through the Hayden Planetarium, the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and the future Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation.

BIRDS: A FESTIVAL INSPIRED BY ARISTOPHANES

American premiere of Nikos Karathanos’s The Birds is a highlight of Greek arts festival in New York (photo by Kiki Papadopoulou)

St. Anns Warehouse, Metrograph, New-York Historical Society, Brooklyn Museum
Through June 16
onassisusa.org

In a classic Odd Couple episode, Oscar and Felix finally get on the same wavelength while on the game show Password when Oscar gives the clue “Aristophanes” and Felix responds, “Ridiculous!” However, there’s nothing particularly ridiculous about “Birds: A Festival Inspired by Aristophanes,” more than a month of film screenings, art exhibitions, panel discussions, a theatrical adaptation of Aristophanes’s The Birds, and more, produced by the Onassis Cultural Center New York and taking place at numerous locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. “Democracy was under threat when Aristophanes presented his comedy The Birds as part of the Dionysia festival in Athens in the fifth century BC,” explains festival curator Violaine Huisman in a program note, continuing, “Oligarchy was jeopardizing Athenian democracy, while war and constant legal battles raised havoc among citizens. The festival itself offered a chance for the people of Athens to congregate and revel in equal parts, to address state affairs and be entertained — all together.” Sound familiar? The timing is certainly impeccable. The centerpiece of this third annual Onassis Festival begins tonight with the American premiere of Nikos Karathanos’s inventive adaptation of The Birds, presented by St. Ann’s Warehouse and the Onassis Cultural Centre–Athens. The play runs May 2-13 and is accompanied by the free audio and visual lobby and garden exhibit “Nature of Justice: On the Birds.” There will also be events at the Brooklyn Museum, Metrograph on the Lower East Side, and the New-York Historical Society. Actually, looking at some of the photos from the production of The Birds, it does have a “ridiculous” quality to it, but in a good way. απολαμβάνω!

Wednesday, May 2
through
Sunday, May 13
The Birds, American premiere of Nikos Karathanos’s adaptation of the Aristophanes comedy, in Greek with English supertitles, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Brooklyn Bridge Park, $46-$66

Thursday, May 3
through
Sunday, May 13
“Nature of Justice: On the Birds,” multimedia exhibition, curated by Mari Spirito, with works by Machine Dazzle, Louise Lawler, Sofia Stevi, and Theo Triantafyllidis in conjunction with Nikos Karathanos’s adaptation of The Birds, St. Ann’s Warehouse garden and lobby, Brooklyn Bridge Park, free

Saturday, May 5
Pigeon Toes: Bird Walks, led by Paul Sweet of the American Museum of Natural History, Jane’s Carousel, Empire Fulton Ferry State Park, 1 Water St., free with advance registration, 8:00, 11:30, and 3:30 for adults, 10:00 and 2:00 for children six to twelve with adults

Alfred Hitchcock The Birds is part of Greek festival inspired by Aristophanes

Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds is part of Greek festival inspired by Aristophanes

Monday, May 7
“Nature of Justice: A Visual Arts Response to The Birds,” panel discussion and audience Q&A with artist Andreas Angelidakis, independent curator Reem Fadda, and Brooklyn Museum director Anne Pasternak, moderated by Onassis Foundation director of culture Afroditi Panagiotakou, free with advance RSVP, 7:00

Thursday, May 10
“Voices on: Post-Show Artist Talk,” with director Nikos Karathanos and members of the cast, moderated by St. Ann’s Warehouse artistic director Susan Feldman, St. Ann’s Warehouse, free with show ticket, 9:30

Saturday, May 12
Meet the Fledglings, family-friendly programs by the Wild Bird Fund in conjunction with the exhibition “Feathers: Fashion and the Fight for Wildlife,” for ages five and up, New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, museum admission plus $5 per child, 2:00 – 4:00

Friday, May 18
through
Sunday, May 20
“Birds,” screenings of films relating to birds, including Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jim Jarmusch, 1999), The King and the Mockingbird (Paul Grimault, 1980), Brewster McCloud (Robert Altman, 1970), and The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963), Metrograph, 7 Ludlow St., $15

Sunday, May 19
Birdheart, by Julian Crouch and Saskia Lane, family-friendly show with puppets, free with museum admission but advance RSVP required, 4:00

Wednesday, May 23
“Talk: David Levine,” performative lecture in conjunction with the opening of the exhibition “David Levine: Some of the People, All of the Time,” Brooklyn Museum, free with advance RSVP, 7:00

Saturday, June 16
Cool Culture Family Festival, with arts & crafts, storytelling, scavenger hunts, concert by Shine & the Moonbeams, and more, Brooklyn Museum, free with museum admission, 12 noon – 4:00 pm

MAKE MUSIC NEW YORK SUMMER 2017

make music ny

Make Music New York is back for its eleventh summer season, celebrating the longest day of the year with more than a thousand free concerts across the city on June 21. There are participatory events, live music in parks and plazas, unique gatherings in unusual places, and just about anything else you can think of. Below are only a handful of the highlights, arranged chronologically.

49 Flutes, fortieth anniversary of John Cage’s “49 Waltzes for the Five Boroughs,” 147 locations, dawn and dusk

Inside the Bird Chorus, with composer David Rothenberg on clarinet and Derek Gripper on guitar at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 5:30 am; Jordan McLean on trumpet at Cherry Hill in Central Park, 5:30 am; Dave Kadden on oboe at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Preserve, 9:00 am; Michael Pestel on woodwinds at Wave Hill, 9:00 am; Volker Goetz on trumpet at Fresh Kills Park, 7:00 pm; Bobby Sanabria & Project X featuring Jeff Lederer at Crotona Park, 7:00 pm

The Ella Fitzgerald Piano Bar, Harlem and East Harlem, Apollo Theater, 11:00; Red Rooster, 12:30; Sister’s Cuisine, 2:15; Uptown Grand Central Community Plaza, 3:45; and National Jazz Museum in Harlem, 5:15

Street Studios, with Miles Francis, Harman Audio 527 Madison Ave., 11:00 am – 3:00 pm; with Kid Koi, Gotham Market at the Ashland, 590 Fulton St., Brooklyn, 12:30-3:30; with Aaron Lazansky, Tomasia Kastner, and students from NYC Parks’ Computer Resource Centers, Andrew Freedman Home, 1125 Grand Concourse, Bronx, 4:00-7:00; with Angus Tarnawsky, Skill Mill NYC, 949 Amsterdam Ave., 5:00-8:00; with Manhattan Producers Alliance, La Plaza de Las Americas, West 175th St. & Broadway 5:15-7:00

Fourth annual Porch Stomp, Nolan Park, Governors Island, 12 noon – 5:00 pm

Joe’s Pub Block Party, with Jose Conde, 12 noon; Fumi Tanakadate & the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center Ensemble, 1:00; Hervé, 2:00; Svetlana & the Delancey Five, 3:00; Vuyo Sotashe, 4:00; Batalá, 5:00, Astor Place Plaza

South Shore Lawn Party, the Kreischer Mansion, Charleston, Staten Island, 12 noon – 9:00 pm

Gérard Grisey’s Le Noir de l’Étoile, American Museum of Natural History, Hall of the Universe, 12:30

Mass Appeals: Electronic Instruments, NYU, 35 West Fourth St., Room 303, 3:00; Djembes, Mullaly Park, 5:00 pm; Harmonicas, Central Park’s Pond Lawn, 5:30; Ukuleles, Pilgrim Hill, Central Park, 5:30; Guitars, Union Square Park, 6:00; Mandolins, Theodore Roosevelt Park, 6:00; French Horns, Madison Square Park, 6:30; Accordions, Bryant Park, 7:00; Cellos, Bushwick Inlet Park, 7:00; Recorders, Straus Park, 7:00

Concerto for Buildings, works by Daniel Goode (“Concerto for Buildings”), Lainie Fefferman (“Cloud Noodles”), Miguel Bolivar (“Going Up”), Devon Cupo (“Quit While You Exist”), and Christian Rivera (“When I See You Again”), with Mantra Youth Percussion and Rahway High School Wind Ensemble, performed on eight buildings on Greene St. between Grand & Broome, 5:00

On the Waterfront, with duo pianists Karl Larsson and Hitomi Honda, 4:30, and Mannes Prep students, Pier I, Hudson River Gateway off West Seventieth St., 5:00

Offerings and Songs to the Solstice Sun, with Irka Mateo, Anne Loftus Playground, Fort Tryon Park, 5:00

WTC @ WTC, The Well-Tempered Clavier, with Athena Adamopoulos, Kathy Chen, Larry Edoff, Melody Fader, Joan Forsyth, Leslie Dobrenski Frost, Alfredo Garcia, Jr., Vadim Ghin, Liam Kaplan, Kingsley Matthew, Blair McMillen, Barbara Podgurski. Lara Saldanha, Eleanor Sandresky, Qian Shen, Irene Tse, Jenny Undercofler. Anna Vinnitsky, and the students of Joan Forsyth, Eugenia Glivinski, Adrienne Kim, Nathaniel LaNasa, Elena Leonova, Tatjana Rankovich, Gena Raps, and Emily White, 9/11 Memorial plaza, 5:00 – 8:00

The Mp3 Experiment Number Fourteen, Battery Park, 7:00

Sxip Shirley’s The Gauntlet, with Choral Chameleon, West Dalehead Arch, Central Park, 7:00

HOLIDAY MUSIC, COMEDY, AND THEATER

Ronnie Spector will celebrate the best Christmas ever at City Winery

New York City has tons of special programs during the holiday season, some well known and annual traditions, others more cutting edge and unique. Below is only a handful of seasonal recommendations, several of which are likely not to be on most people’s radar. Keep checking this space as more Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations are added.

Wednesday, December 14
Ingrid Michaelson’s 10th Annual Holiday Hop, with Sugar and the Hi Lows, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St., $40, 9:00

Kevin Geeks Out About Holiday Specials, with Kevin Maher, Erin Farrell, Wendy Mays, Paul Murphy, and Steve Flack, Nitehawk Cinema, 136 Metropolitan Ave. between Berry St. & Wythe Ave.$16, 9:30

Thursday, December 15
The Menorah: From the Bible to Modern Israel, with Steven Fine, Met Fifth Ave., Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall, Uris Center for Education, 1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St., free with museum admission, 3:00

The Oh Hellos Present: The Oh Hellos Christmas Extravaganza, with Tyler and Maggie Heath, Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 North Sixth St., $20-$22, 9:00

Thursday, December 15
through
Saturday, December 17
The 37th Annual Winter Solstice Celebration, with the Paul Winter Consort (soprano saxophonist Paul Winter, cellist Eugene Friesen, double-reed player Paul McCandless, keyboardist Paul Sullivan, bassist Eliot Wadopian, drummer Jamey Haddad, organist Tim Brumfield, Procol Harum singer Gary Brooker, and Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Ave. at 112th St., $35-$95

Friday, December 16, 23
Holiday Music in Gilbert Court, A Renaissance Christmas with My Lord Chamberlain’s Consort, Morgan Library, 225 Madison Ave. at 36th St., free with museum admission, 6:30

Saturday, December 17
Brandenburgers Holiday Concert, with the Brooklyn Brandenburgers performing music by Bach, Corelli, Dvorak, Glickman, Ostyn, and Piazzolla, Old Stone House, 336 Third St. in Washington Park, $10, 2:00 & 7:00

Karen Luschar Sings “Mistletoe and Holly,” New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Bruno Walter Auditorium, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, free, 2:30

Saturday, December 17
Friday, December 23
Monday, December 26
A Darlene Love Christmas: Love for the Holidays, B. B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 West 42nd St., $45-$82.50

Sunday, December 18
Latkepalooza!, with food, music, and family-friendly activities, Museum of Jewish Heritage, Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Pl., $10, 10:00 am

Hanukkah Family Day, Jewish Museum, Scheuer Auditorium, 1109 Fifth Ave. at 92nd St., free with museum admission, 12 noon – 4:00 pm

Karina Posborg is one of many filmmakers screening their Yule Log shorts at BRIC

Monday, December 19
Yule Log 2.016, fifty short films, the Stoop at BRIC Arts | Media House, 647 Fulton St., free, 1:00 – 6:00

Harmony for Peace Holiday Peace Concert, Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, 881 Seventh Ave. between 56th & 57th Sts., $21-$100, 8:00

Tuesday, December 20
MetLiveArts: The Little Match Girl Passion, directed by Rachel Chavkin and starring Ekmeles, Met Breuer lobby, 945 Madison Ave. at 75th St., $65, 7:00

Tuesday, December 20
and
Wednesday, December 21
Ronnie Spector’s Best Christmas Party Ever!, City Winery, 155 Varick St. between Spring & Vandam Sts., $55-$75, 8:00

Thursday, December 22
and
Friday, December 23
Yule Shul vs. Nutcracker: Rated R — A Love Show Holiday Extravaganza, (le) poisson rouge, 158 Bleecker St. between Thompson & Sullivan Sts., $15-$35, 8:00

christmas-for-the-jews

Thursday, December 22
through
Saturday, December 24
Merry Hanukkah with Judy Gold, Carolines on Broadway, 1626 Broadway between 49th & 50th Sts., $32.75

Saturday, December 24
A Very Jewish Christmas, with Modi, Gotham Comedy Club, 208 West 23rd St. between Seventh & 8th Aves., $25, 7:00 & 9:00

Sunday, December 25
Christmas for the Jews, with Joel Chasnoff, Dan Naturman, Cory Kahaney, and more, City Winery, 155 Varick St. between Spring & Vandam Sts., $25, 8:00

Friday, December 30
Kwanzaa 2016: Songs for the Soul, with Ruben Studdard, Dr. Linda H. Humes, and students from the Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music, American Museum of Natural History, Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, Central Park West at 79th St., free with museum admission, 12 noon & 3:00

NOAH BAUMBACH IN PERSON: THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and Lili (Anna Paquin) take measure of their lives in THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

THE SQUID AND THE WHALE (Noah Baumbach, 2005)
Metrograph
7 Ludlow St. between Canal & Hester Sts.
Monday, December 5, $15, 7:00
212-660-0312
metrograph.com

After an eight-year break from directing, Noah Baumbach returned with the exceptional, unexpected drama The Squid and the Whale. You’ll think you’ll know just where this semiautobiographical 2005 Sundance Film Festival award winner (for writing and directing) and New York Film Festival hit is going — yet another painfully realistic look into the dissolution of a New York City family — but lo and behold, The Squid and the Whale will surprise you over and over again. And even when it does head toward the cliché route, it adds just the right twist to keep things fresh. Bernard (Jeff Daniels) and Joan Berkman (Laura Linney) are reaching the end of their marriage, and their two sons, Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and Frank (Owen Kline), aren’t handling it very well; Walt is taking credit for having written Pink Floyd’s “Hey You,” and Frank has developed the curious habit of pleasuring himself and then – well, you’ll have to see it to believe it. And while Joan hits the dating scene and has begun writing, Bernard is becoming a woolly has-been author who just might be getting the hots for one of his sexy students (Anna Paquin). Set in 1986 Park Slope (there are scenes shot in Prospect Park, the Santa Fe Grill, and other familiar Brooklyn locations) and at the American Museum of Natural History, The Squid and the Whale features sharp dialogue, well-developed characters, and outstanding acting from a terrific ensemble that includes several rising stars. The soundtrack includes Lou Reed’s great “Street Hassle” and a score, composed by Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips (of Luna), that borrows liberally from Risky Business, of all things. The Squid and the Whale is screening December 5 at 7:00 at Metrograph, with Baumbach (Frances Ha, Greenberg) on hand for a Q&A. As a bonus, the first 150 ticket holders will receive a Criterion tote bag and a copy of the director-approved Criterion Blu-Ray 4K digital transfer of the film, a package that includes new interviews with Baumbach, Daniels, Eisenberg, Kline, Linney, Wareham, and Phillips, a behind-the-scenes documentary, audition footage, a booklet essay by Kent Jones, and Jonathan Lethem’s 2005 interview of Baumbach. (A 9:15, $15 screening has been added as well, without the Q&A or goodie bag.)

STARTALK LIVE! WITH NEIL deGRASSE TYSON

The Town Hall
123 West 43rd St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Monday, November 4, $33-$38, 8:00
212-840-2824
www.thetownhall.org
www.startalkradio.net

Fresh off his November 1 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, genius astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson — the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, the future host of the Cosmos television series, and the bestselling author of such books as Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier, Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries, and the controversial The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet — will host a special live edition of his weekly StarTalk radio show on November 4 at Town Hall. In recent weeks, StarTalk has featured such guests as Dan Aykroyd, Buzz Aldrin, Questlove, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, rapper GZA, Joe Rogan, and Anthony Bourdain discussing such topics as storms, ghosts, the speed of light, asteroid mining, aliens, sex, human endurance in space, and the coming zombie apocalypse. At Town Hall he will be joined by comic cohost Eugene Mirman and special guests; attendees are invited to submit a question on Tyson’s blog in advance, and if yours is selected, you will get the chance to ask it live at the show, then go backstage afterward and meet the man himself. Among the cosmic queries so far? “Could it be that everything around us is simply an illusion?,” “How will the human race end?,” and “Other than yourself, who would you want as the human race’s first representative to an alien race?”