Events on Saturday, May 16

New York Dance Parade 2009

Dance

New York Dance Parade

Saturday 5/16 @ Broadway to Tompkins Square Park

There's nothing quite like dancing to put a smile on your face. YouTube holds ample proof of this. But today, step... 

Peelander Z

Music

Peelander Z

Saturday 5/16 @ The Studio at Webster Hall

Bad guys beware: Japan's Peelander-Z really do have superhuman strength. This past summer at the Yard (which is opening soon! hooray!),... 

The Radio Dept.

Music

The Radio Dept.

Saturday 5/16 @ The Bell House-

The Radio Dept. are Sweden's most underrated export  — and yet, the underdog role suits their low-key, shoegaze modulations and personal... 

Ongoing Events

Art

Jonathan Horowitz

Saturday 5/16 @ P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center

The connection between Paris Hilton and America's ill-fated military interventions might seem tenuous, but after viewing Jonathan Horowitz's sculptures and video... 

<em>Performance 1</em>: Tehching Hsieh

Art

Tehching Hsieh

Saturday 5/16 @ MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

Art and life are inseparable for Tehching Hsieh. The Taiwan-born artist, who literally jumped ship into the US in 1974, created... 

Paragraph

City Gems

Paragraph

Saturday 5/16 @ Paragraph

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

Theatre

True West

Saturday 5/16 @ 181 Ave B

"I wanted to write a play about double nature, one that wouldn't be symbolic or metaphorical or any of that stuff,"... 

<em>Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist Paintings from Paris to the Sea</em>

Art

Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist Paintings from Paris to the Sea

Saturday 5/16 @ Brooklyn Museum of Art

Thirty-odd years after reintroducing Gustave Caillebotte to American audiences, the Brooklyn Museum offers another marvelous paean to a figure whose posthumous... 

<em>Surrendering the Absolutes, New Works by Robert Longo</em>

Art

Surrendering the Absolutes

Saturday 5/16 @ Metro Pictures

In Robert Longo's Surrendering the Absolutes, his signature large-scale charcoal drawings explore the atmospheric effects of light, and the ways in... 

<em>Hair</em>

Theatre: Broadway

Hair

Saturday 5/16 @ The Al Hirschfeld Theatre

Although Hair was written over 40 years ago, capturing the spirit of a certain movement and period in our history, its... 

Art

Klaus Moje

Saturday 5/16 @ Museum of Art and Design

As a German Down Under, glass-art virtuoso Klaus Moje has single-handedly made Australia a hub for that fine art's evolution. Artist... 

Jessica Stockholder: <em>Swiss Cheese Field</em>

Art

Jessica Stockholder

Saturday 5/16 @ Senior & Shopmaker Gallery

Jessica Stockholder gets wild with layered compositions of paint blobs, handmade paper, laser-cut textiles (some furry, some shiny), and other collaged... 

Dance

Ballet Academy East Spring Performance

Saturday 5/16 @ Gerald W. Lynch Theater, John Jay College

Ballet Academy East has been a prestigious mainstay of the New York dance community for 30 years. This year's BAE's Student... 

Gregory Crane: <em>Thirty Years of Drawings 1979-2009</em>

Art

Gregory Crane

Saturday 5/16 @ Cheryl Pelavin Fine Arts

A champion of the good old-fashioned methods of observation and draughtsmanship, Gregory Crane populates urban and rural landscapes with spirited sets... 

<em>Sleepwalk With Me</em>

Comedy

Sleepwalk With Me

Saturday 5/16 @ The Culture Project @ 45 Bleecker

Comedian Mike Birbiglia walks a fine line between standup and theatre in his one-man off-Broadway debut Sleepwalk With Me. He tells... 

charity: water at Chelsea Market

Special Event

charity: water at Chelsea Market

Saturday 5/16 @ Chelsea Market

Flavorpill is a longtime fan of charity: water, a non-profit org dedicated to building sustainable, clean, freshwater wells in some of... 

<em>In the Heights</em>

Theatre

In the Heights

Saturday 5/16 @ 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... 

Music: Classical

Mahler: The Symphonies in Sequence

Saturday 5/16 @ Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin (one of the world's oldest orchestras) for nearly two weeks to play the complete symphonies... 

Dance

Go-Go Killers!

Saturday 5/16 @ The Sage Theatre

In the year 2019, the economy is in permanent economic downturn; the rich are richier and bitchier; New Jersey  becomes "Old"... 

<em>Never Late Than Better</em>

Art

Never Late Than Better

Saturday 5/16 @ EFA Project Space

On the Futurist Manifesto's centennial anniversary, Never Late Than Better aesthetically evaluates our notion of time. Rethinking, defying, or just palling... 

Sophie Calle: <em>Take Care of Yourself</em>

Art

Sophie Calle

Saturday 5/16 @ Paula Cooper Gallery

Displaying a unique approach to what might otherwise inflict emotional trauma, artist Sophie Calle rose to challenge an ex's breakup email... 

<em>Our Town</em>

Theatre

Our Town

Saturday 5/16 @ Barrow Street Theater

David Comer's justly praised production (he took home the '09 Obie for Outstanding Director, the play won the Lucille Lortel Award... 

Art

\'flō\: art, text, new media

Saturday 5/16 @ Center for Book Arts

A motley collection of works by 30 artists makes up the \'flō\: art, text, new media exhibition, which examines the use... 

Theatre

West Side Story

Saturday 5/16 @ The Palace Theatre

Argentine opera singer Josephine Scaglione's magnetically angelic presence contrasts beautifully with the unforgiving world around her in Arthur Laurents' gritty revival... 

Art

Claes Oldenburg

Saturday 5/16 @ Whitney Museum of American Art

With public-art dandy Claes Oldenburg, Pound's dictum seems especially true: all great art is born of the metropolis. The Whitney's Oldenburg... 

Art

The Pictures Generation, 1974-84

Saturday 5/16 @ The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Pictures Generation pulls the curtain on the young laboratory of the New York art scene in the '70s and '80s.... 

Human Group presents Gertrude Stein's <em>The Geographical History of America</em>

Theatre

The Geographical History of America

Saturday 5/16 @ The Red Room

"Geography does not look like it does in relation to the human mind" wrote Gertrude Stein. Like her portrait by Picasso... 

Martha Graham Dance Company

Dance

Martha Graham Dance Company

Saturday 5/16 @ Skirball Center NYU

The Company's two programs at Skirball are excellent ways to either become acquainted with or rediscover Martha Graham's genius. Told from... 

Marc Ribot Birthday Week

Music: Experimental

Marc Ribot

Saturday 5/16 @ Various locations

It's a good week indeed, with a handful of shows celebrating the 55th birthday of singular avant-garde guitarist Marc Ribot. While... 

Theatre

Christmas Is Miles Away

Saturday 5/16 @ Connelly Theatre

British playwright Chloe Moss has received a number of awards and commissions, but her work hasn't been produced in the US... 

Artists and Fleas

City Gems

Artists and Fleas

Saturday 5/16 @ Artists and Fleas

The independent vendors at Artists and Fleas supply the essentials — jewelry, vintage clothing, fashion, crafts, books, and vinyl — to... 

<em>Tangled Alphabets</em>: Le&oacute;n Ferrari and Mira Schendel

Art

Tangled Alphabets: León Ferrari and Mira Schendel

Saturday 5/16 @ MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

For all its fundamental utility, language can also warp into an abstract whatsit — at least in the artful hands of... 

<em>Il Divo</em>

Film

Il Divo

Saturday 5/16 @ Landmark Sunshine

Il Divo is a searing political biopic of three-time Italian Prime Minister and Senator-for-life Giulio Andreotti, which focuses on his unparalleled... 

Theatre

The Merchant of Venice

Saturday 5/16 @ BAM Harvey Theater

All-male British troupe Propeller stages Shakespeare with an eye towards how the work was done during playwright's day: their version of... 

Hernan Bas: <em>Works from the Rubell Family Collection</em>

Art

Hernan Bas

Saturday 5/16 @ Brooklyn Museum of Art

Hernan Bas is Miami's biggest home-grown art star, known for darkly poetic, romanticized works that read as chapters in an epic,... 

Nam June Paik: <em>Live Feed, 1972-1994</em>

Art

Nam June Paik

Saturday 5/16 @ James Cohan Gallery

With his passing in 2006, Nam June Paik left a legacy as one of the ancestors of early video art. Paik's... 

Theatre

The Dishwashers

Saturday 5/16 @ 59E59 Theaters

Morris Panych's dark comedy The Dishwashers is reminiscent of a Samuel Beckett work, complete with existential philosophizing and dialogue that prompts... 

Art

KRAZY!

Saturday 5/16 @ Japan Society

For all the otaku and hikikomori out there, this exhibition needs no further explanation — but for anyone curious about how... 

Huang Yong Ping

Art

Huang Yong Ping

Saturday 5/16 @ Gladstone Gallery

Viewers walk in spirals from a snake's tail to its head, and back again through the arches of this massive installation... 

<em>Exit the King</em>

Theatre

Exit the King

Saturday 5/16 @ Ethel Barrymore Theatre

400-year-old King Berenger (Geoffrey Rush) doesn't know he has only 90 minutes left to live at the beginning of Ionesco's rarely... 

Ahmed Alsoudani

Art

Ahmed Alsoudani

Saturday 5/16 @ Goff + Rosenthal Gallery

Iraqi-born American painter Ahmed Alsoudani builds tumultuous compositions about violence, war, and human suffering, juxtaposing human and bestial figures whose violent... 

<em>Billy Elliot</em>

Theatre: Broadway

Billy Elliot

Saturday 5/16 @ Imperial Theatre

The dark economic times spurred by Wall Street and the new political landscape serve as the perfect backdrop for Billy Elliot,... 

Company XIV presents <em>Le Serpent Rouge: A Titillating Tragedy</em>

Dance

Le Serpent Rouge

Saturday 5/16 @ 303 Bond Street

The original "origin" story is another glittery triumph for choreographer/director Austin McCormick and XIV. With the assistance of a demonic Ringmistress... 

<em>South Pacific</em>

Theatre

South Pacific

Saturday 5/16 @ 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... 

<em>The Norman Conquests</em>

Theatre

The Norman Conquests

Saturday 5/16 @ Circle in the Square Theatre

Norman's plan for a "dirty weekend" with his sister-in-law Annie turns into a couple days of chaos with the whole family... 

Performing Arts: Spoken Word

Berlin/Wall

Saturday 5/16 @ The Public Theater

Following a premiere last month at London's Royal Court Theatre, playwright David Hare performs Wall, his latest monologue on the Middle... 

<em>Kenneth Anger</em>

Film

Kenneth Anger

Saturday 5/16 @ P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center

Kenneth Anger's supernaturally influential, six-decade-long career is not without its sighing what-ifs: several adaptations never went past maybe steps; famed shorts... 

<em>Polish Posters 1945-1989</em>

Art

Polish Posters 1945-1989

Saturday 5/16 @ MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

Bracketed by those historic "falls" in nearby Berlin (of the city itself and, later, its Wall), the Polish Poster School's expressionistic,... 

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

Theatre

Fuerza Bruta: Look Up

Saturday 5/16 @ Daryl Roth Theatre

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

Ward Shelley: <em>Who Invented the Avant Garde</em>

Art

Ward Shelley

Saturday 5/16 @ Pierogi

The Byzantine details of Ward Shelley's "timeline drawing" mind-maps bear a fuzzy likeness to American Splendor. Applying ultimate to-do list techniques... 

Art

Surveillance from the Doll House

Saturday 5/16 @ Mireille Mosler Ltd.

Laurie Simmons' 2006 mini-musical film in three acts, The Music of Regret, eloquently captures the tone of this bittersweet and poignant... 

<em> Distracted </em>

Theatre

Distracted

Saturday 5/16 @ Laura Pels Theatre

In Distracted, ADHD permeates the entire play, down to its structure: short, fast scenes shift focus on a dime. Even the... 

Art

Stuart Semple

Saturday 5/16 @ Anna Kustera Gallery

The toast of London's contemporary art world, Stuart Semple brings a warped progression on Pop Art to New York. Everlasting, Nothing... 

Art: Photography

Walker Evans and the Picture Postcard

Saturday 5/16 @ The Metropolitan Museum of Art

From setup to snap and on through to print, the picture postcard of the early 1900s aimed to be a simple,... 

Party

Make Love, Not War

Saturday 5/16 @ Black Betty

During the day, Black Betty serves up solid samosas, couscous, and other North African/Mediterranean tasties; around midnight, the back room of... 

<em>Coraline</em>

Theatre

Coraline

Saturday 5/16 @ Lucille Lortel Theatre

It's no fluke that beloved songwriter Stephin Merritt chose to set Neil Gaiman's book-turned-movie Coraline to music. The darkly droll circumstances... 

Art: Photography

Avedon Fashion 1944–2000

Saturday 5/16 @ International Center of Photography

For photographer Richard Avedon, the decisive moment came as a flash of mischief. Picture: two lovely femmes, their coated backs shielding... 

Theatre

Pretty Theft

Saturday 5/16 @ Access Theater

Allegra, the teenage heroine of Adam Syzymkowicz's play, Pretty Theft, is as pretty as her name. She's also had a great... 

<em>C.H.U.D.Z.</em>

Art

C.H.U.D.Z.

Saturday 5/16 @ Cinders Gallery

"Chudz," according to Urban Dictionary, is a term that can mean either sex or a "complete and utter" pimp (although said... 

<em>Into the Sunset: Photography's Image of the American West</em>

Art: Photography

Into the Sunset: Photography's Image of the American West

Saturday 5/16 @ MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

From Zane Grey's far-fetched dime novels to homespun images describing a seemingly limitless stretch of adventure, the American West — as... 

<em>Anvil</em>

Film: Documentary

Anvil

Saturday 5/16 @ Angelika Film Center

Based on cultural stereotypes involving maple syrup, socialized health care, and general congeniality, heavy metal wouldn't seem to be Canada's forte.... 

Leonard Cohen

Music

Leonard Cohen

Saturday 5/16 @ Radio City Music Hall

"First We Take Manhattan" isn't the most innovative techno track. An ode to the disparate virtues of New York and Berlin,... 

Spring Exhibitions

Art

Spring Exhibitions

Saturday 5/16 @ Artists Space

Flowers that manage to exist in cement-road crevices: a timeless analogy for nature's resiliency in the face of man, and also,... 

<em>David Seidner: Paris Fashions, 1945</em>

Art

David Seidner: Paris Fashions, 1945

Saturday 5/16 @ International Center of Photography

By August 1944, France had been liberated from the clutch of the Vichy regime, but war had left its proud-as-a-peacock couture... 

Theatre

Our House

Saturday 5/16 @ Playwrights Horizons

Whip-smart playwright Theresa Rebeck's newest play, Our House, is a dark send-up of television and how the news and reality TV... 

Art

Jenny Holzer

Saturday 5/16 @ Whitney Museum of American Art

Jenny Holzer thrives outside the more traditional, brick-and-mortar art world of paint and photography, using LED and light projection as her... 

Art

Malcolm Morley

Saturday 5/16 @ Sperone Westwater

Careening motocross and NASCAR racers skid across Malcolm Morley's new paintings — one even leaps through a monumental sculpture in a... 

Theatre

God of Carnage

Saturday 5/16 @ Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre

A playground altercation between two preteen boys escalates to full-on war when their parents get involved in French playwright Yasmina Reza's... 

Martha Friedman: <em>The Organization of Batter</em>

Art

Martha Friedman

Saturday 5/16 @ Wallspace

Riffing on Rosalind Krauss' essay, "The Double Negative," in which the author considers the "organization of matter" through systems and repetition,... 

The Late Film

Film

The Late Film

Saturday 5/16 @ BAM Rose Cinemas

If an auteur's debut is their "Dear reader," then their last few films come into sight as postscripts: variations on a... 

<em>A Play on Words</em>

Theatre

A Play on Words

Saturday 5/16 @ 59E59 Theaters

True to its title, Brian Dykstra's A Play on Words is an English major's idea of non-stop fun. A Play on... 

Theatre

Desire Under the Elms

Saturday 5/16 @ St. James Theater

Robert Falls' strikingly visceral production breathes new life into Eugene O'Neill's problematic, oedipal love triangle of a play. In other hands,... 

The Con Film Festival

Festival: Performing Arts

The Con Film Festival

Saturday 5/16 @ Film Forum

A few albums back, Jay-Z flowed, "I'm living proof that crime do pay/Say hooray to the bad guy." Behold Film Forum's... 

<em>Waiting for Godot</em>

Theatre

Waiting for Godot

Saturday 5/16 @ Studio 54

Master comic actors Bill Irwin, Nathan Lane, and John Goodman infuse a bit of glee in the cosmic questions posed by... 

Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection

Art

Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection

Saturday 5/16 @ MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, acquired by the Museum in 2005, is an extraordinary collection of over 2,500 contemporary... 

Yang Fudong: Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest

Film

Yang Fudong: Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest

Saturday 5/16 @ Asia Society and Museum

Check out the premiere U.S. museum showing of Yang Fudong's Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest. The five-part cinematic masterpiece depicts... 

Rough Cut: Design Takes a Sharp Edge

Art

Rough Cut: Design Takes a Sharp Edge

Saturday 5/16 @ MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

Design is not always pretty. Sometimes it is blunt and aggressive, especially when it is meant to deliver a clear message... 

In Situ: Architecture and Landscape

Art

In Situ: Architecture and Landscape

Saturday 5/16 @ MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

In recent decades "landscape" has taken on an expanded definition in architecture. In the first half of the twentieth century, the... 

Stage Pictures: Drawing for Performance

Special Event

Stage Pictures: Drawing for Performance

Saturday 5/16 @ MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

Visual artists have long been interested in the stage as an arena for experimentation, and their interdisciplinary collaborations have immeasurably enriched... 

What Was Good Design? MoMA's Message 1944–56

Art

What Was Good Design? MoMA's Message 1944–56

Saturday 5/16 @ MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

At mid-century MoMA played a leading role in the definition and dissemination of so-called Good Design, a concept that took shape...