Staff Picks No. 40
You’re Not Allowed to Ask Me That: Jake Alexander, Hayley Moir
The Tank
April 7th - April 9th 2024
Ah, a life in the theater: steadiness, stardom, serenity. Yes? Woof no. Why do we work in this godforsaken, underfunded art form? For anyone who's contemplated breaking up with it, you're not alone: Jake Alexander unearths the agony and...agony he's had with the field in his personal solo show, returning after last year's run. BYO headshot to set aflame!
Staffer: Billy McEntee
make it happen (let's)!: Alex Schmidt, Amra Causevic, Calvin Burton, Craig Jun Li, Fang Yu Liu, Hsiao-Chu (Julia) Hsia, Jamie Chan, Johanna Strobel, Johannah Herr, Kate Sherman, Kathleen Granados, Maja-Lisa Flodin-Ali, Michael Craig Tracy, Miguel Martinez, Miguel Alejandro Castillo, Nick Fusaro, Noah Pica, Patrick Costello, Patrick Carlin Mohundro, Paz Mallea, Pol Morton, Rebecca Shippee, Romina Chuls, Rufus Tureen, Sarah Stern, Sara Murphy, Sarah Lammer, Sidian Liu, Simon Benjamin, Weihui Lu, Xinan Ran, Xingzi, Yi Hsuan Lai (Shan)
Living Skin (61 Wyckoff)
Friday, April 5th 2024
Xinan Helen Ran has curated and organized an amazing evening featuring the work of over 30 artists to fundraise for the safe passage of her friend Karam’s family who are trapped in Gaza. The night will feature art auctions for pieces and live performances.
🍉 100% of the proceeds from the evening and subsequent art sales will go directly to Karam’s GoFundMe. The people that Xinan knows are all insane incredible artists and you will be sure to have a very very special time helping people very much in need. Get over there babies.
Staffer: Lena Engesltein
Symphony of Rats: Richard Foreman
The Performing Garage
Closes May 4th, 2024
Last time I meant to rush Symphony of Rats and didn't because ...well, I have no excuse. But this time, I will be there (30 minutes early to rush tickets). I've been reading a lot of Richard Foreman recently and need to see it in the flesh.
Staffer: hillary gao
Trans Excellence: T4T Edition: Chiquitita, Daniella J Darling, Mthr Trsa, Macy Rodman
C’Mon Everybody
Friday, April 5th 2024
This month’s edition of the mixed bill Trans Excellence features stalwart Macy Rodman on the decks, with performers Daniella J Darling, the chaotic Mthr Trsa, and one of C’Mon’s resident divas, the irreverent and glamorous Chiquitita.
Staffer: Eric Shethar
An Adaptation of That King of the Hill Episode Where Peggy Falls Out of a Plane: James LaBella
!?: New Works @ The Brick Theater
April 9th & April 19th 2024
One time I had a shindig, and we played King of the Hill on the tv with the sound off as a stupid vibe thing. Everyone sat and watched the silent TV with no subtitles enraptured.
King of the Hill is our new mythology. Attend this or be sacrificed at the altar.
Staffer: kanishk pandey
BATHHOUSE.PPTX: written by Jesús I. Valles and directed by Chay Yew
The Flea
Closes April 22nd 2024
Jesús' writing is always so sharp and poetic that richly dense, and I'm so excited for them with this production. This time, we're talking the history of bathhouses and cleanliness and the queerness that is very much a part of that legacy, past present, and future. Also taking this as a moment to celebrate that this play is the winner of the 2023 Yale Drama Series Prize. See you there!
Staffer: Marissa Joyce Stamps
!?: New Works
The Brick Theater
April 9th - April 27th 2024
Hosted by Peter Mills Weiss
Featuring James La Bella, Sleth. Mary Ann Odete, Rivers Duggan & Elijah Guo, Dalit Ahava, Eva Wolfson, Jasmine Sharma, Colin Heininger, Leah Plante-Wiener & Eulàlia Comas, Leonie Bell, Alex Beige & Sarah Doh & Khali Sykes & Karen Xia, Hillary Gao, PEPTALK, Annie White & Johnny Butler, Allyson Dwyer, Ring Yuqi Yang & Lynn Hodeib, NIK + NICKY, Catherine Weingarten, ankita, Devon Wade Granmo + Stephen Bron, Mack Lawrence, Camille Simone Thomas, Anabella Lenzu, Charlie Chauca & Kristen Hoffman & Sofiya Lopez, Mars Garcia, Mariam Dingilian, I Don't Want To See That, Brendan Drake, Gabriella Gonzalez, David Puck, Shan FaheyJueun Kang & Che'Li, Rawya El Chab, Ann Marie Dorr, Meaghan Robichaud, Ryan Howzell & Kara Hadden, Lianne Elsouki & Lynn Hodeib & Tracy Chahwan, Tiger and Marks
It is that time of year again! ?!:New Works is an evolving experiment that began in 2016 at The Silent Barn. Every night is a totally unique split bill, across mediums of dance/theater/comedy/drag/music/performance art. Each night is hosted by Peter Mills Weiss, with me in the booth doing the tech. Everyone comes together, discovers something new, wonders how the hell that happened, and, ideally, remembers a forgotten aspect of their connection to art.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
Can I recommend the WHOLE !?: New Works festival? If not, no prob you can ignore this pick, but if so. I recommend the whole festival!! Curated by people I trust with my life and featuring some of the coolest artists I know. Every single night is going to be awesome.
Staffer: hillary gao
Interrobang (!?) is back at The Brick! I'll be there on opening and am particularly excited to see 1) an adaptation of that king of the hill episode where peggy falls out of a plane that's titled "An Adaptation of That King of the Hill Episode Where Peggy Falls Out of a Plane," written and composed by James La Bella and directed by Emma Richmond and 2) Elijah Guo's "Birdigo" (directed by Logan Reed) which follow's Hitchcock's "The Birds" leading birdlady.
Staffer: Marissa Joyce Stamps
IT’S A SOLAR ECLIPSE!: The Sun and the Moon
Greenwood Cemetery & Pioneer Works
Monday, April 8th 2024
The colossal godforsaken flaming sphere of impossible heat and chaos at the center of our solar system is stepping out in its goth finest, alongside beloved Sweet Midnight Blue, in a one-time only Monday matinee performance of celestial dance. It will be beautiful and a little scary! Don’t look right at it! Starts at 2:10p, full coverage at 3:25p, and ends at 4:36p. Pioneer Works is hosting free eclipse programming at Green-Wood Cemetery. The Brooklyn Botanical Garden is free, and will provide eclipse glasses. And the American Museum of Natural History has a full day of family-friendly events. There will not be another total eclipse in the NYC region until 2079. I’ll be dead! Come through!
Staffer: Joshua Dumas
Eugene Onegin: dir. Dustin Wills
Heartbeat Opera at Baruch Performing Arts Center
April 2nd - April 14th 2024
Dustin Wills has become one of the go-to downtown directors for new plays with outsized theatrical imaginations, last season helming a remount of his Soho Rep production of Hansol Jung’s “Wolf Play” and the explosive John J. Caswell, Jr’s “Wet Brain” at Playwrights Horizons. But a facet of his signature scrappy spectacle that New York has yet to witness is his opera work, where we’re now afforded the rare chance by Heartbeat Opera. As part of their annual spring festival, he’ll bring a new one-act adaptation (arranged by the indispensable Daniel Schlosberg) of Tchaikovsky’s best known opera, “Eugene Onegin,” that promises to refract the composer’s tumultuous queerness through the swooning, yearning score.
Staffer: Eric Shethar
BERLINDIA!: written by Daniel Holzman and directed by Noah Latty
Houghton Hall, Presented by The Workshop Theater
Saturday, April 6th 2024
I've been following BERLINDIA! for years now, and I'm so glad it's back! Daniel is crazy, and Noah is also crazy and is entertaining Daniel's craziness. It's a sibling quest with Burger and Fuck to find their mother in Berlin? India? What? People and places can shapeshift into and in and out of each other and that's what Daniel so effortlessly explores.
Staffer: Marissa Joyce Stamps