Events on Friday, May 8

Fischerspooner

Music: Electronic

Fischerspooner

Friday 5/ 8 @ Webster Hall

Backlash is a bitch, and Fischerspooner have certainly endured their share. Whatever your take on the colorful performance troupe that became... 

<em>Deli</em> Magazine & After the Jump present Crystal Stilts w/ Blank Dogs, Religious Knives, and Dinowalrus

Music

Crystal Stilts

Friday 5/ 8 @ The Bell House-

Though there are an endless number of lo-fi bands taking over the music world at the moment, Crystal Stilts are truly... 

JG Wilkes (Optimo) w/ Tanlines

Music: DJ

JG Wilkes

Friday 5/ 8 @ Studio B

Any record hound worth his earplugs knows about Optimo Espacio. That's the Glasgow club night where hundreds of crazed Scots cram... 

Ongoing Events

Theatre

The Merchant of Venice

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Paragraph

City Gems

Paragraph

Friday 5/ 8 @ Paragraph

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

Theatre

The Dishwashers

Friday 5/ 8 @ 59E59 Theaters

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

Spring Exhibitions

Art

Spring Exhibitions

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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,... 

Art

\'flō\: art, text, new media

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

<em>Exit the King</em>

Theatre

Exit the King

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

BKLYN Designs

Art

BKLYN Designs

Friday 5/ 8 @ Various DUMBO locations

BKLYN Designs is probably the finest jump-off to the design-heavy month of May, with loads of borough-centric offerings to keep us... 

Theatre

Desire Under the Elms

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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,... 

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

Art: Photography

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

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

charity: water at Chelsea Market

Special Event

charity: water at Chelsea Market

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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>Fuerza Bruta: Look Up </em>

Theatre

Fuerza Bruta: Look Up

Friday 5/ 8 @ Daryl Roth Theatre

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

Music: Classical

Mahler: The Symphonies in Sequence

Friday 5/ 8 @ Carnegie Hall

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

Art

Jenny Holzer

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

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

Art

Nam June Paik

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

<em>Hair</em>

Theatre: Broadway

Hair

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

<em>Kenneth Anger</em>

Film

Kenneth Anger

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Huang Yong Ping

Art

Huang Yong Ping

Friday 5/ 8 @ Gladstone Gallery

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

Theatre

Pretty Theft

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Art

KRAZY!

Friday 5/ 8 @ Japan Society

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

Art: Photography

Walker Evans and the Picture Postcard

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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,... 

Dance

Go-Go Killers!

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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>Performance 1</em>: Tehching Hsieh

Art

Tehching Hsieh

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

The Late Film

Film

The Late Film

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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>Our Town</em>

Theatre

Our Town

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

<em>Il Divo</em>

Film

Il Divo

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Open Tables

Workshop/Class

Open Tables

Friday 5/ 8 @ Sputnik

Sometimes it feels like NYC's got as many "DJ"s as it does "actors." But, if you're a budding turntablist serious about... 

<em>Never Late Than Better</em>

Art

Never Late Than Better

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Art

Surveillance from the Doll House

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Theatre

God of Carnage

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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

Friday 5/ 8 @ Wallspace

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

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

Art

Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist Paintings from Paris to the Sea

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Theatre

Christmas Is Miles Away

Friday 5/ 8 @ Connelly Theatre

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

<em>Billy Elliot</em>

Theatre: Broadway

Billy Elliot

Friday 5/ 8 @ Imperial Theatre

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

<em>In the Heights</em>

Theatre

In the Heights

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

<em>The Norman Conquests</em>

Theatre

The Norman Conquests

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

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

Art

C.H.U.D.Z.

Friday 5/ 8 @ Cinders Gallery

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

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

Art

Sophie Calle

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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>Sleepwalk With Me</em>

Comedy

Sleepwalk With Me

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Art

Jonathan Horowitz

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Art

Malcolm Morley

Friday 5/ 8 @ Sperone Westwater

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

<em>ROOMS a Rock Romance</em>

Theatre

ROOMS a Rock Romance

Friday 5/ 8 @ New World Stages

ROOMS a Rock Romance may well be the musical for this new economic era. Spare and briskly paced, Rooms has a... 

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

Art

Gregory Crane

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Special Event: Benefit

Design on a Dime

Friday 5/ 8 @ Metropolitan Pavilion

For the fifth anniversary of Housing Works' Design on a Dime charity exhibition and sale, the nonprof has gathered 50 of... 

<em>Waiting for Godot</em>

Theatre

Waiting for Godot

Friday 5/ 8 @ Studio 54

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

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

Art

Tangled Alphabets: León Ferrari and Mira Schendel

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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>Valentino: The Last Emperor</em>

Film: Documentary

Valentino: The Last Emperor

Friday 5/ 8 @ Film Forum

The titular allusion of Matt Tyrnauer's warts-and-all portrait of Italian couturier Valentino Garavani to Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 epic is an apt... 

<em> Distracted </em>

Theatre

Distracted

Friday 5/ 8 @ Laura Pels Theatre

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

<em>Anvil</em>

Film: Documentary

Anvil

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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.... 

Art

Claes Oldenburg

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

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

Art

Surrendering the Absolutes

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Theatre

West Side Story

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

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

Art

Ward Shelley

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

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

Art

Hernan Bas

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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,... 

<em>Coraline</em>

Theatre

Coraline

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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

Klaus Moje

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Art

The Pictures Generation, 1974-84

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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.... 

<em>South Pacific</em>

Theatre

South Pacific

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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>Polish Posters 1945-1989</em>

Art

Polish Posters 1945-1989

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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,... 

The Con Film Festival

Festival: Performing Arts

The Con Film Festival

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

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

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Rough Cut: Design Takes a Sharp Edge

Art

Rough Cut: Design Takes a Sharp Edge

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Yang Fudong: Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest

Film

Yang Fudong: Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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... 

Stage Pictures: Drawing for Performance

Special Event

Stage Pictures: Drawing for Performance

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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

Friday 5/ 8 @ 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...