THU.NOV.10
Dance in A Jazz Idiom
The U.S. premiere of “Elemental Brubeck” will be performed by members of the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. The work, which the San Francisco Ballet premiered in Paris to acclaim this summer, appropriates three pieces from the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s 1963 album “Time Changes.” The choreography combines aspects of bebop and early 20th century American film with a modern, athletic sensibility. The program for the company’s New York performances includes Lubovitch’s sexy, critically lauded “Men’s Stories,” which features an all-male cast of nine dancers. With an audio collage and original score by composer Scott Marshall, based on Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, the work conveys the individual and shared stories of these men without words, relying solely on movement and music. The choreography unfolds as a series of scenarios that ranges from pensive and melancholy to virtuosic and acrobatic, replete with fistfights, duets, and breathtaking solos. Skirball Center, 566 LaGuardia Pl. at Washington Sq. So; $35/$45 at 212-279-4200 or skirballcenter.nyu.edu. Through Nov. 12 at 8 p.m.
Tearing of the Night Sky
Anemone Dance Theater and electro-acoustic ensemble Slow Six collaborate with video artist Lee Whitier to find religion in the signals from above. Picture elegant androids and mythic beings, the yang to Videodrome’s yin. Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer St. btwn. Houston and Prince. $15 at 212-334-7479. Through Nov. 12 at 8 p.m.
FRI.NOV.11
Sodom: The Musical
Handwritten Theatre Company presents the world premiere of a new musical comedy about the last days of Sodom and Gomorrah, with book & lyrics by Kevin Laub and music by Adam David Cohen. The piece recounts the last days of the original Sin City. When God is hell-bent on destroying Sodom, optimistic Abraham sets off to prove the Big Guy wrong by finding ten honest Sodomites. But will he find them in time? The cast includes Randy Jones—best known as the cowboy from The Village People—as God and Tony Award nominee Jonathan Kaplan as Lot. Through Dec. 3, Tue. 8 p.m., Fri. & Sat.10:30 p.m. No performance Nov. 29. The Kraine Theater, 85 E. Fourth St. btwn. Second Ave. & Bowery. $15, $10 for students and seniors at 212-868-4444 or horseTRADE.info.
A Very Pure Confection
What was Paris without Coco Chanel? What’s New York without Coco Bliss? The one-woman musical comedy “Chocolate Confessions” stars Joan Freed as Coco Bliss, one of a mixed assortment of amusing characters she plays in the setting of a chocolate shop where dark secrets and uproarious anecdotes are shared. Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W. 46th St. 11 p.m. $10 cover, plus 2-drink minimum (cash only). Reservations at 212-757-0788 or chocolateconfessions.com
Yoga for Modern Men
Derek Newman’s bendyboys classes incorporate breath-based flow sequences, correct alignment in each pose, meditation, yoga philosophy, breathing exercises, chanting, yogic sleep (hypnosis), restorative poses, and deep relaxation. Visit bendyboys.net or write to info@bendyboys.net. Every Fri. 6:15-8 p.m., doors open at 6 p.m. Hope Martin Studio, 39 W. 14th St., Rm. 508. $17. BYO yoga mat, though a few will be available for rental at $1.
SAT.NOV.12
Qwik Dates: 40+
At this speed-dating event, meet guys 40 and older one-on-one for a series of three-minute dates, then get a free mingling period to meet anyone else in the room. Tell which men you want a second date with, and minutes later, meet your matches. 8 p.m. at the LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St. $20 at 212-714-3944 or qwikdates.com.
Artist Talks
Artists from The Painted World, Greater New York 2005, and previous P.S.1 exhibitions lead gallery talks on the current shows at P.S.1 every Sat. and Sun., 3 p.m., through Dec. 18. P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center 22-25 Jackson Ave. at 46th Ave., Long Island City. 718-784-2084 or ps1.org.
SUN.NOV.13
Ballet Flamenco
Jose Porcel leads this energetic dance troupe in a flamenco performance overwhelming the audience with sensations of happiness and sensuality. Queensboro Performing Arts Center 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside, Queens. $42, $39 & $35 at theatermania.com. For more info, 718-631-6311 or qcc.cuny.edu.
Uptown On Pointe
Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Open House premieres with all-dance programs featuring the company’s Dancing Through Barriers Ensemble, American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, Ballet Hispanico Ensemble, Martha Graham Ensemble, and Pierre Dulaine Dance Center ballroom champions. W. 152nd St. btwn. Amsterdam & St. Nicholas Aves. 1 p.m. performance $8; 3:30 p.m. performance & reception $18 at 212-690-2800.
MON.NOV.14
Center Voices
Join Oscar award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, along with Tony-nominated actress Veanne Cox, and Tony-winning actor George S. Irving, in a conversation with Food Network host Bobby Rivers about their upcoming production of “A Mother, a Daughter, and a Gun.” 7 p.m. at The LGBT Center, 208 W. 13th St. $15 at 212-620-7310.
C’mon A My House!
Downtown meets uptown as Broadway, rock, folk, performance art, and cabaret artists come together for one night only in a benefit for Miracle House, which is celebrating 15 years of continued service. Founded in 1990 in response to the AIDS crisis, it is New York’s hospitality house, providing affordable housing, meals, and advocacy to caregivers and patients living with serious illnesses. Ticket prices range from $5,000 for a table for eight with ringside seating, cocktail reception, and champagne table service, to $75 single tickets for performance only. The Supper Club, 240 W. 47th St., 6:30 cocktails and hors d’ouvres; 8 p.m. performance. 212-989-7790 x12 or miraclehouse.org.
TUE.NOV.15
This Is Not the New Minstrel Show
Queer readings and performance. 7:30 p.m. at Galapagos Art Space, 70 N. Sixth St. btwn. Kent & Wythe Sts. in Williamsburg. 718-782-5188. Free.
Thiefth
Musician David Grubbs and poet Susan Howe collaborate on a new performance work based on two of Howe’s poems titled “Thorow” and “Melville’s Marginalia.” Drawing from the journals and letters of Sir William Johnson and Henry David Thoreau, “Thorow” evokes the winter landscape around Lake George in upstate New York as well as the historical violence of our national identity. Grubbs and Howe engage the lake’s icy surface as well as the voices that haunt the unseen world beneath. “Melville’s Marginalia” explores Herman Melville’s notations in books he owned and loved. Grubbs brings together a diverse collection of sound sources, referencing Ives’ “Concord Sonata,” Howe’s splitting of words, melting snow, and flight patterns overhead. 8 p.m. at The Kitchen, 512 W. 19th St. $8 at 212-255-5793 or thekitchen.org.
Get Out There!
Mintyfresh returns to the Tank at Chashama after the smash debut of the group’s new comedy series, “Coming Out: The Lighter and More Amusing Side of Coming Out of the Closet.” This comedy show highlights true stories about stepping out of the confines of straightdom. The stories range from fleeing the convent to date chicks to a mom screaming “you’re a fag!” on Christmas Eve. The lineup includes Kirson from NBC’s “Last Comic Standing”, Adolpho Blair, Cedric, Kelli Dunham, Jen Dziura, and Fernando Yepez, and is hosted by comics and co-producers Shawn Hollenbach and Allen Warnock. The evening features an improvised scene fueled by a coming out story shared by an audience member. 8 p.m. at The Tank at Chashama, 208 W. 37th St. $5 at thetanknyc.com
WED.NOV.16
Queer Book Club: Lesbian Pulp Fiction
In 1950, Fawcett founded its Gold Medal imprint, inaugurating the reign of lesbian pulp fiction, books that small town lesbians and prurient men bought by the millions. These books were cheap, easy to find in drugstores, and immediately recognizable by their lurid covers—often a hard-looking brunette standing over a scantily-clad blonde or a man gazing in tormented lust at lovely unobtainable lesbian. Some—especially those written by lesbians—offered sympathetic and realistic depictions of “life in the shadows,” while others were smutty, sensational tales of innocent girls led astray. Grande dame of lesbian literature Katherine V. Forrest presents a rich survey of best of the pulps. Join Carol Rosenthal in conversation with contributing authors Vin Packer, Joan Ellis, and March Hastings. 6:30 p.m. at the LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St. 212-620-7310.
THU.NOV.17
Male Representations
The all-male Creach/Company will premiere “A Likeness” a collage of men’s portraits inspired by the four company dancers, at Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer St., btwn. Prince & Houston Sts. The program will also include a new dance for four men who are visual artists. Through Nov.20, 8 p.m. $15/$12 students & seniors at 212-334-7479.
Listen up!
Since the artist Filippo Tomaso Marinetti created his Futurist “serate” in 1909, in which he ‘declaimed’ the Futurist manifesto, many artists have used the lecture format as a staging device to communicate radical ideas about art and politics directly to audiences. In addition to recreating a live conceptual art performance by Bernar Venet from 1968, and presenting a new work by Coco Fusco from 2005, the evening presents documentation of art historical precedents to the use of the lecture as performance by artists including Joseph Beuys, FT Marinetti, and Kurt Schwitters. Venet’s “Neutron emission from muon capture in Ca40,” first presented at the Judson Church Theater in New York in 1968, will be re-worked as “Astrophysics with High Energy Light.” Coco Fusco’s “A Room of One’s Own” (2005) is a remarkable window onto the process of special training sessions for women to learn interrogation techniques from former U.S. military officers in the thrall of George W. Bush’s War on Terror. The Kitchen, 512 W. 19th St. 7 p.m. $8 at 212-255-5793 or thekitchen.org.
A Very Bette Christmas
A new holiday play with music, written by Elizabeth Fuller (“Me and Jezebel”) imagines the star in the setting of a 1962 Christmas television special. Tommy Femia, who is best known for his award-winning Judy Garland impersonation, plays the intimidating, explosive actress. Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W. 46th St.. $20 cover plus two drink minimum at 212-757-0788. Weekends, various times, through Jan. 8.
FRI.NOV.18
Benefiting Women
The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and Newfest present an evening of electrifying spoken word performances with Staceyann Chin and Alix Olson, including Q&A with the artists plus an after-party with light hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. The evening benefits Astraea’s 18th Annual Lynn Campbell Memorial Fund. Chin was co-writer and performer in “Def Poetry Jam” on Broadway, and this past summer performed a critically praised one-woman show. Olson is an award-winning folk poet and progressive queer artist-activist who recently released a documentary chronicling her life on the road. Lighthouse International, 111 E. 59th St. 7 p.m. $60 at 212-529-8021 x14 or astraeafoundation.org
The Ultimate DragOff!
A new musical variety show with Miss Sweetie hosting a four-round lip-synching, improvisational competition. With different talent every week. Dillon’s Lounge, 245 W. 54th St. $25 at the door, $20 at theatermania.com plus $15 food/drink minimum.212-352-3101. 9:30 p.m.
Politics On and Off the Wall
Raymond Pettibon’s obsessive drawings pull freely from a range of sources including music, politics, religion, art history, sex, sports, movies, and comic books. Frequently employing lyrically ambiguous texts, and rendered with a loose virtuosity of line, Pettibon’s style has become more fluid and expansive of late, resulting in room-size wall drawings and installations. His thematic range is increasingly topical, addressing current political concerns, and his work continues to explore a human need for belief. Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison at 75th St. 800-Whitney or whitney.org. Pay what you wish, Fri. 6 – 9 p.m.
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