Events on Friday, September 26

Tropfest NY 2008

Festival: Performing Arts

Tropfest NY 2008

Friday 9/26 @ World Financial Center

Last year, Australia's premier short-film festival — and the world's largest gathering in the name of abbreviated cinema — occurred stateside... 

Jad Fair w/ Lumberob and R. Stevie Moore

Music: Experimental

Jad Fair w/ Lumberob

Friday 9/26 @ Cake Shop

The avant-garde's ultimate outsider, Half Japanese guru Jad Fair remains pretty much the the most misunderstood artist in existence. Some 20... 

Slovene Poetry: Čučnik, Pepelnik, Podlogar, Šalamun, Skrjanec

Books: Poetry

Slovene Poetry

Friday 9/26 @ St. Mark's Church

In a five-page diary entry, Franz Kafka ruminated on the virtues and pitfalls of authorship in undersized and overshadowed writing communities.... 

Books: Poetry

Carmen Valle

Friday 9/26 @ McNally Jackson Booksellers

The haiku poetry form has had its share of ups and downs since its origins in 17th-century Japan. At various times,... 

An Albatross

Music

An Albatross

Friday 9/26 @ Death by Audio

More than any other band, Pennsylvania's An Albatross epitomize turn-of-the-century grind punk. Anchored by prog chops and pinched-throat screamo vocals, the... 

Art Battles w/ AMIT and DJ Teen Wolf

Special Event

Art Battles w/ AMIT and DJ Teen Wolf

Friday 9/26 @ (Le) Poisson Rouge

If white-walled museums and galleries make you sleepy, tonight's live-art party is a welcome relief. Hosted by new West Village venue... 

<em>Man with a Movie Camera</em> (1929)

Film

Man with a Movie Camera

Friday 9/26 @ Anthology Film Archives

Dziga Vertov, the wizard of agitprop, once proclaimed, "I decipher in a new way the world unknown to you." The director's... 

Trouble & Bass Two-Year Anniversary feat. DJ Craze

Music: DJ

Trouble & Bass Two-Year Anniversary

Friday 9/26 @ Love

Combining their powers, party rockers Drop the Lime, the Captain, Star Eyes, and Math Head formed Trouble & Bass just two... 

Ongoing Events

Sol LeWitt at Storm King

Getaways

Sol LeWitt

Friday 9/26 @ Storm King Art Center

In the laboratory of conceptual art, Sol LeWitt is the mad scientist. Engineered from instructions, his hard-lined geometric sculptures are austere,... 

Film

Burn After Reading

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

After winning all kinds of accolades for last year's sweeping, somber No Country for Old Men, those slippery Coen Brothers shift... 

<em>Other Options</em>

Art

Other Options

Friday 9/26 @ Eyebeam

Artists have always fretted over the tension between creativity and commerce. Eyebeam's latest exhibition, Other Options, explores the triumphs and travails... 

<em>Fuerza Bruta: Look Up </em>

Theatre

Fuerza Bruta: Look Up

Friday 9/26 @ Daryl Roth Theatre

Avid fans of spectacular spectacle De La Guarda are rejoicing with the arrival of Fuerza Bruta: Look Up, a sort of... 

<em>Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now</em>

Art

Signs of Change

Friday 9/26 @ Exit Art

The Signs of Change exhibit at Exit Art features an array of mass-mobilizing posters, photographs, movies, and recordings that chronicle social-justice... 

Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival

Comedy

Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

Russian-born comedian Eugene Mirman is kind of like baby-faced prankster Andy Milonakis — except he probably doesn't still get carded. Over... 

Lola Staar's Dreamland Roller Rink

City Gems

Dreamland Roller Rink

Friday 9/26 @ Dreamland Roller Rink

Lace up your skates and hop the train: Coney Island skate queen Lola Staar proudly opens her Dreamland Roller Rink this... 

Mario Merz

Art

Mario Merz

Friday 9/26 @ Gladstone Gallery

In 1967, Italian critic Germano Celant organized an exhibition of young artists with diverse working practices that he termed Arte Povera... 

<em>Battle in Seattle</em>

Film

Battle in Seattle

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

In Battle in Seattle, first-time director Stuart Townsend presents a curiously inspirational cocktail of big Hollywood names and an overtly political... 

<em>Absinthe</em>

Performing Arts

Absinthe

Friday 9/26 @ Spiegelworld

This is your last week to catch the nouveau vaudevillians of Absinthe. Jammed in between the East River and uh, a... 

Mel Kadel and Suzanne Sattler: <em>Swirl of Swarm</em>

Art

Swirl of Swarm

Friday 9/26 @ Cinders Gallery

Cinders group-show alums Suzanne Sattler and Mel Kadel collaborate on their first two-person show in New York, Swirl of Swarm, which... 

<em>Invasion 68: Prague</em>

Art: Photography

Invasion 68: Prague

Friday 9/26 @ Aperture Gallery

For Czechoslovakians in 1968, the Prague Spring was a half-year repose from Soviet vassalage. Then, on August 20, the Soviets and... 

<em>Bottle Shock</em>

Film

Bottle Shock

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

In 1976, British oenophile Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) hosted a much-ballyhooed blind tasting between France's finest wine and California's — including... 

<em>Sa Ka La </em>

Theatre

Sa Ka La

Friday 9/26 @ The Green Room at 45 Bleecker Street

Norwegian writer Jon Fosse has been hailed as one of the world's greatest playwrights, yet few Americans had seen his work... 

<em>Street Art, Street Life: From the 1950s to Now</em>

Art

Street Art, Street Life

Friday 9/26 @ The Bronx Museum of the Arts

Given our current love of all things wheatpaste or graffiti, the street has become an outdoor, urban gallery of sorts. Curator... 

<em>The Godfather </em>(1972) and <em>The Godfather Part II</em> (1974)

Film

The Godfather and The Godfather Part II

Friday 9/26 @ Film Forum

Paramount has done cinephiles a favor by restoring the one-two punch that is Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather I and II. Coppola... 

<em>Vicky Cristina Barcelona</em>

Film

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

Some die-hard Woody Allen fans may insist the poster-child for neurotic, narcissistic New Yorkers has still got it in him, but... 

Theatre

Quickening

Friday 9/26 @ Center Stage

Quickening uncovers the struggles of four women who make the choice to have abortions. Set in a Portland abortion clinic, the... 

<em>Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling</em>

Art

Home Delivery

Friday 9/26 @ MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

Prefab living typically calls to mind nightmarish suburban communities with impossibly pastoral names like "Autumnal Spring." But MoMA's Chief Curator of... 

<em>A Secret</em>

Film

A Secret

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

This epic about a 15-year-old boy alienated from his parents in post-WWII France is, refreshingly, a Holocaust movie that is not... 

<em>1965UU</em>

Theatre

1965UU

Friday 9/26 @ The Chocolate Factory

On the planetoid 1965UU, memory is forbidden and words mutate in meaning (i.e., you never know when a vine might become... 

Sue Williams: <em>Project for the New American Century</em>

Art

Sue Williams

Friday 9/26 @ David Zwirner

From the all-over-patterened, cock-and-balls expressionism of her early career, Sue Williams has — in the last two decades — developed a... 

Paragraph

City Gems

Paragraph

Friday 9/26 @ Paragraph

Joy Parisi and Lila Cecil understand the importance of having a room of one's own. At Paragraph, their Union Square writing... 

Tere O'Connor Dance: <em>Rammed Earth</em>

Dance

Tere O'Connor Dance

Friday 9/26 @ Baryshnikov Arts Center

Tere O'Connor Dance is not only inspired by contemporary architecture, but uses dance movements as shifting layers of architectural evidence —... 

<em>New York, N. Why?: Photographs by Rudy Burckhardt, 1937&ndash;1940</em>

Art: Photography

Rudy Burckhardt

Friday 9/26 @ The Metropolitan Museum of Art

While Weegee always set his aperture for shocking front-page shots, fellow émigré photographer Rudy Burckhardt captured Gotham's more quotidian spectacles. Equipped... 

Olafur Eliasson: <em>The New York City Waterfalls</em>

City Gems

Olafur Eliasson: Waterfalls

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations in the East River

Known for his stunning meteorological installations at the Tate Modern and, more recently, MoMA and P.S.1, Danish-born artist Olafur Eliasson returns... 

<em>Calling: An Opera of Forgiveness</em>

Performing Arts: Opera

Calling: An Opera of Forgiveness

Friday 9/26 @ La MaMa E.T.C.

Wickham Boyle's Calling: An Opera of Forgiveness uses the specificity of personal experience to try to better understand a pivotal moment... 

Kevin Bewersdorf: <em>Monuments to the INFOspirit</em>

Art

Kevin Bewersdorf

Friday 9/26 @ V&A

Artist/musician/CEO Kevin Bewersdorf is all pitch and no product. Bewersdorf, who some might recognize from a handful of mumblecore films, sells... 

New York Clown Theatre Festival

Performing Arts: Acrobatics

New York Clown Theatre Festival

Friday 9/26 @ The Brick Theater

The Brick Theater Inc.'s third annual New York Clown Theatre Festival descends upon Williamsburg this September, proving that there's more to... 

<em>I Served the King of England</em>

Film

I Served the King of England

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

How this novel about a Czech waiter working through both the Nazi and communist regimes translates into an engaging, balletic comedy... 

<em>An American Rendition</em>

Theatre

An American Rendition

Friday 9/26 @ The Duke Theater

Jane Comfort seamlessly blends scenes of torture and reality television in her new work, An American Rendition. Her talented company members... 

<em>The Outsiders</em>

Art

The Outsiders

Friday 9/26 @ Lazarides Gallery NYC

Love children of the UK's infamous YBA, a host of British artists swarm New York for a two-week show of guerrilla... 

Circus Amok presents <em>Sub-Prime Sublime</em>

Special Event

Circus Amok

Friday 9/26 @ Various NYC parks

After nearly two decades of daring, New York's own Circus Amok still overwhelms the senses with its boisterous take on traditional... 

<em>American Teen</em>

Film: Documentary

American Teen

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

The tired teen-movie genre is re-envisioned by Nanette Burstein in her documentary American Teen, which depicts the experiences of five high-school... 

<em>In the Heights</em>

Theatre

In the Heights

Friday 9/26 @ Richard Rodgers Theatre

There's a lot more color and zing on the Great White Way with the addition of In the Heights, an ebullient... 

Doug Aitken: <em>Migration</em> & <em>Empire</em>

Art

Doug Aitken

Friday 9/26 @ 303 Gallery

Known for last year's nighttime projection of Sleepwalkers onto the exterior of MoMA, Doug Aitken returns with an exhibition at 303... 

Prelude '08

Festival: Performing Arts

Prelude '08

Friday 9/26 @ Martin E. Segal Theatre, CUNY

The annual Prelude festival is a free sneak peek of the upcoming experimental-theatre season. Under the auspices of the CUNY Graduate... 

<em>A Great Place to be From</em>

Theatre

A Great Place to be From

Friday 9/26 @ Kraine Theater

In A Great Place To Be From, a heatwave in Milwaukee has driven some of the town's citizens to extremes. Against... 

William Pope.L: <em>October Projects</em>

Art

William Pope.L

Friday 9/26 @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash

In 2002, at NYC's Battery Park, William Pope.L donned his Superman costume and set out on a 22-mile belly crawl through... 

<em>The Wackness </em>

Film

The Wackness

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

The Wackness is the sort of movie whose most redeeming qualities are least likely to be advertised in its trailers. About... 

The Bad Plus

Music

The Bad Plus

Friday 9/26 @ Village Vanguard

Three distinct musical personalities make up the Bad Plus. Drummer David King drives syncopated, rough-around-the-edges rhythms, while Ethan Iverson's piano provides... 

The Science Barge

Special Event

The Science Barge

Friday 9/26 @ Riverside Park South

Take a 45-minute guided tour of the city's only functioning, large-scale sustainable farm: the Science Barge boasts a vegetable garden grown... 

<em>Jeff Koons on the Roof</em>

Art

Jeff Koons on the Roof

Friday 9/26 @ The Metropolitan Museum of Art

It's difficult to reconcile the Jeff Koons of topiary puppies, pool floaties, ornamental hearts, and oversized choo-choo trains with the man... 

Theatre

Lady

Friday 9/26 @ Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

Theatrical parables about our nation's state of affairs aren't uncommon, but few draw as many subtle parallels as Lady. In the... 

<em>Towelhead</em>

Film

Towelhead

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

It's hard to imagine how director/writer Alan Ball managed to pitch Towelhead. Jasira (Summer Bishil) is a 13-year-old Arab-American girl stranded... 

Kehinde Wiley: <em>The World Stage: Africa, Lagos ~ Dakar</em>

Art

Kehinde Wiley

Friday 9/26 @ Studio Museum in Harlem

Borrowing the poise and posture once reserved for 18th-century royalty, Kehinde Wiley's portraits feature young, African-American men — from anonymous neighborhood... 

<em>Democracy in America</em>: Convergence Center at Park Avenue Armory

Festival: Performing Arts

Democracy in America

Friday 9/26 @ Park Avenue Armory

Creative Time and Park Avenue Armory celebrate the election year (and their first-amendment rights) with Democracy in America: The National Campaign.... 

<em>Traitor</em>

Film

Traitor

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

Traitor is really two films in one. The first, a spinning, white-knuckled thriller about an FBI investigator (Guy Pearce) pursuing terrorist... 

<em>A Man for All Seasons</em>

Theatre

A Man for All Seasons

Friday 9/26 @ American Airlines Theater

A Man for All Seasons shows what happens when a government starts cannibalizing its own founding laws to suit the whims... 

<em>Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night</em>

Art

Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night

Friday 9/26 @ MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

With Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night tacked up in 98% of dorm rooms nationwide, it's hard to imagine a time... 

<em>Humboldt County</em>

Film

Humboldt County

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

Acid guru Timothy Leary would have loved this film — to a point. Following one of those off-the-grid, Northern California forest... 

<em>[title of show]</em>

Theatre

[title of show]

Friday 9/26 @ Lyceum Theatre

This meta-musical about four friends trying to write a musical about four friends trying to write a musical is at once... 

Jennifer Steinkamp: <em>Daisy Bell</em>

Art

Daisy Bell

Friday 9/26 @ Lehmann Maupin

In her first exhibition at Lehmann Maupin, Los Angeles-based artist Jennifer Steinkamp explores the shadowy relationship between nature, technology, and God.... 

<em>Choke</em>

Film

Choke

Friday 9/26 @ Landmark Sunshine

Colonial theme-park worker Victor Mancini (an especially disheveled Sam Rockwell) barely survived childhood with his erratic mother (Anjelica Huston, bearing all... 

<em>Break Out</em>

Dance

Break Out

Friday 9/26 @ Union Square Theatre

The creators of Jump are debuting an extreme new dance production, Break Out, in Union Square Theatre, the former home of... 

Phoebe Washburn: <em>Tickle the Shitstem</em>

Art

Tickle the Shitstem

Friday 9/26 @ Zach Feuer Gallery

Phoebe Washburn's installation for the 2008 Whitney Biennial was a Gatorade-fueled nursery of raw two-by-fours. Its title — While Enhancing a... 

<em>Brideshead Revisited</em>

Film

Brideshead Revisited

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

For fans of the book and miniseries, it's hard to imagine how Brideshead Revisited could conform to a two-hour feature-film format.... 

<em>Anger/Nation</em>

Theatre

Anger/Nation

Friday 9/26 @ The Kitchen

A divisive female figure appears on the American political scene, promising to push the nation toward her own right-wing agenda —... 

James & Karla Murray: <em>Counter/Culture: The Disappearing Face of Brooklyn's Storefronts</em>

Art: Photography

Counter/Culture: The Disappearing Face of Brooklyn's Storefronts

Friday 9/26 @ Brooklyn Historical Society

From its sprawling industrial dead zones and rusty shipyards to its rolling parks and sought-after blocks of brownstones, Brooklyn wears many... 

Art Under the Bridge Festival

Festival: Performing Arts

Art Under the Bridge

Friday 9/26 @ Various DUMBO locations

For the twelfth year in a row, the galleries and artists of DUMBO open their doors for a three-day festival that... 

<em>Fela!</em>

Theatre

Fela!

Friday 9/26 @ 37 Arts

Choreographer Bill T. Jones' directorial foray into the life of Afrobeat legend and political activist Fela Kuti hits all the right... 

<em>Fifty Words</em>

Theatre

Fifty Words

Friday 9/26 @ Lucille Lortel Theatre

In Michael Weller's Fifty Words, Jan and Adam send their son to his first sleepover, and what begins as a romantic... 

Martin Boyce and Ugo Rondinone: <em>We Burn, We Shiver</em>

Art

We Burn, We Shiver

Friday 9/26 @ SculptureCenter

In the main space of Long Island City's SculptureCenter, Ugo Rondinone — the artist who lent the New Museum its affirmative,... 

The Festival of New Trumpet Music

Festival: Performing Arts

The Festival of New Trumpet Music

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

In feudal times, the shrill sound of the trumpet heralded noteworthy arrivals — recently crowned royalty or new seasons, for instance.... 

Crossing the Line: FIAF Fall Festival 2008

Festival: Performing Arts

FIAF Fall Festival

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

Twenty people struggle to escape from a 280-pound pot of spaghetti; multiple Snow Whites descend upon Manhattan, washing windows and stocking... 

<em>South Pacific</em>

Theatre

South Pacific

Friday 9/26 @ Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center

Lincoln Center Theater's revival of Rogers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific is one of those rare, magical experiences that makes musical theater... 

Derek Buckner: <em>Marshmallows</em>

Art

Derek Buckner

Friday 9/26 @ George Billis Gallery

In an inspired mashup of childhood comfort, adult-onset ADHD, and modern-art history, Brooklyn-based painter Derek Buckner delivers luminous, refined oil paintings... 

Crossing the Line: Dance 2008

Festival: Performing Arts

Crossing the Line

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

A bunch of Snow Whites prancing around the Meatpacking District may not sound like the most appropriate centerpiece for a French... 

<em>Oh What War</em>

Theatre

Oh What War

Friday 9/26 @ HERE Arts Center

Juggernaut Theatre Company's Oh What War is unflinching political theatre. Inspired by Joan Littlewood's 1960s musical Oh! What a Lovely War,... 

<em>Louise Bourgeois</em>

Art

Louise Bourgeois

Friday 9/26 @ Guggenheim Museum

After persevering through relative obscurity during the first half of her career, artist Louise Bourgeois has been at the forefront of... 

<em>Mister Foe</em>

Film

Mister Foe

Friday 9/26 @ Angelika Film Center

Seventeen-year-old Hallam Foe (Jamie Bell) is a troubled lad. Clad in warpaint and animal furs, he prowls around his family's enormous... 

Shearwater Sailing Happy Hour Cruise

Special Event

Shearwater Sailing Happy Hour Cruise

Friday 9/26 @ North Cove Marina

With ever-increasing skyscrapers and gridlock traffic, it's easy to forget that we are surrounded by water. Get into the island-living mindset... 

<em>Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914&ndash;1939</em>

Art

Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914–1939

Friday 9/26 @ The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1914 marked the beginning of the long-running, deeply influential First World War, as well as the start of the short-lived —... 

<em>The Order of Myths </em>(2008)

Film: Documentary

The Order of Myths

Friday 9/26 @ IFC Center

Taking its title from the name of an actual Mobile, Alabama, secret society, The Order of Myths eyeballs that town's still-racially... 

<em>The Glass Cage</em>

Theatre

The Glass Cage

Friday 9/26 @ The Mint Theater

The Mint Theater Company's production of J.B. Priestley's The Glass Cage is a powerful reminder of the many good plays that... 

<em>Untethered: A Sculpture Garden of Readymades</em>

Art

Untethered

Friday 9/26 @ Eyebeam

Eyebeam continues to mix high art and high technology with Untethered: A Sculpture Garden of Readymades, which explores the ways in... 

<em>Hollywood on the Hudson: Filmmaking in New York, 1920-39</em>

Film

Filmmaking in New York, 1920-39

Friday 9/26 @ MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

As the House that Ruth Built (in 1923) hosts its final game this weekend, the MoMA transports spectators to New York's... 

<em>Hamlet 2</em>

Film

Hamlet 2

Friday 9/26 @ Various locations

With a name like Hamlet 2, a movie is bound to be either the worst piffle to be hurled down the... 

<em>A Number</em>

Theatre

A Number

Friday 9/26 @ The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row

In Caryl Churchill's play A Number, a father faces the consequences of cloning his only son. As the original and the...