Staff Picks No. 94
Plays “E” : Eliana Glass
Public Records (Upstairs)
Thursday April 24th 2025
A listening party and record release performance in celebration of brilliant NYC-based composer, pianist, vocalist Eliana Glass’ new album “E”. These are torch songs, like Ella, or Nina, or Tom Waits, or Cat Power; dusty ballads but fractured through experimental curiosities. Vocals layer and stack and slide between the ears unexpectedly, tremolos burn slow, and sometimes her piano seems two rooms away, but she is whispering beside you. The lyrics have a tender Frank O’Hara, “I-do-this-I-do-that” quality, and as is with O’Hara, the seemingly small details accumulate into moving depths. This is really gorgeous stuff. Come through!
Staffer: Joshua Dumas
BOWL EP : Nazareth Hassan
Vineyard Theater
May 1st-June 8th 2025
Sometimes I feel like American playwriting suffers from a sort of learned helplessness regarding imagination, scope, and possibility - not this though. Nazareth Hassan’s new play takes place in a skate park (and specially designed set to match!), where two friends need to figure out the name of their rap group. Live skating! Music! The end of the cosmos and back! (+ Shout-out for lighting design from the incomparable Kate McGee!)
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
Rheology : written and directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury in collaboration with Bulbul Chakraborty
The Bushwick Starr
April 15th-May 10th 2025
I’m fascinated by “mother” in its many cultural contexts and Rheology promises something so juicy, with playwright Misha’s actual mother joining them onstage.
Staffer: Matthew Antoci
?!;New Works Week 3! : Daphne Silbiger, Yiseul LeMieux, Opal Elwell/Naughty Little No, Emmanuelle Zagoria / The Department NYC, Brandon Rumaker, The Duchess Carpathia Bouffray, Valen-Marie Santos & Annabel Heacock, Company [REDACTED], Derek Smith & Brian Bock, Billy McEntee, Emma Callahan
The Brick Theater
April 23rd-26th 2025
The final few days of ?!:New Works 2025 is upon us! Get out there, experience something uniquely impossible and/or surprising and hang out after. It such a good time. For those of you that do not know about ?!:New Works, check out my Picks from the past two weeks and/or a little history of the festival on my website - www.theresabuchheister.com. For now, look at this line-up and you will likely know at least one person, have no idea about at least two people and wonder - what in the world will these people do?
Daphne, Yiseul and Emmanuelle are all people that do cool stuff with sounds, but also have visual aesthetic and performance stylings that are a treat to behold. Plus we have Derek Smith! Back onstage after tearing it up in Bailey Williams' EVENTS. And the second performance from Staff Picks' very own, Billy McEntee. I cannot imagine any way I would rather spend my Wednesday-Saturday. And I have a pretty good imagination.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
MOMENTA#016 : Crackhead Barney & Rabbi Stravinksy, Anh Vo, Buffy, and Lina Azalea Dahbour
Intercomm
Friday April 25th 2025
if you're in the mood for performance art, you can't go wrong with this lineup.
Staffer: Travis Amiel