JUST DO ART continued from p. 18
nual multi-venue comedy festival at which 123 solo shows will have their world premieres. Presented by The Peoples Improv Theater and Chelsea-based producer Peter Michael Marino, this year’s fest offers up storytelling, stand-up, music, dance, drag, puppetry, magic, multi-media, improv, cabaret, and clowning — and that’s just for starters. Topics include gender dysphoria, dementia, sex shop work, plastic surgery, on-stage cooking demonstrations — and that, as well, is just for starters. Some shows that caught our eye, through title, concept, or the performer’s proven comedic chops: Matt Cox channels the late, beloved PBS painter Bob Ross, in “Happy Little Trees: A Bobyssy.” SOLOCOM stalwart and reliably randy boylesque entertainer/ sex educator Lucas Brooks is back once again, with “Exit Through the D*ck Shop,” a gadget-filled romp through one of his many former lives (specifically, as a “professional dildo peddler”). Lucy Shelby’s “Pretty Hurts” won’t judge you for showing up with a slight buzz — all the better to hear about her “addiction to validation and perfection.” Polly Esther beams in from Canada, with the Star Trek-themed “Dammit, Jim! I’m a Comedienne, Not a Doctor.” Further proving that America has yet to close its borders completely, “Harmon Leon’s Big Fat Racist Show” comes to us on the heels of its run at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe. Thurs., Nov. 17–Sun., Nov. 20, at The People’s Improv Theater (The PIT; 123 E. 24th St., btw. Park & Lexington Aves.) and The PIT LOFT (154 W. 29th St., btw. Sixth & Seventh Aves.). For tickets ($5-10), visit thepit-nyc.com/solocom.
“ORCHESTRAL TREASURES” CONCERT
This free night of music is presentd by the Washington Square Music Festival (which sponsors a standout summertime outdoor concert series) and REACH-NYC “Concerts for Peace.” Lutz Rath conducts the Festival Chamber Orchestra. Selections include Gioachino Rossini’s overture to “The Italian Girl in Algiers,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550,” and Carl Czerny’s “Piano Concerto in C major for four hands.” That work, which features virtuoso pianists David Oei and Hélène Jeanney, is described by composer Douglas Townsend as “an interesting example of the late classical piano concerto combined with the emerging bravura piano technique of the mid-19th century.” Free. Sat., Nov. 19, 8pm at the
.com
Courtesy ARChive of Contemporary Music
Secret Santas looking to score food for the soul, rejoice: ARChive of Contemporary Music’s holiday sale happens Dec. 3-18.
Manhattan Seventh-day Adventist Church (232 W. 11th St., just west of Seventh Ave.). For info, call 212-252-3621 or visit washingtonsquaremusicfestival.org. Also visit reach-nyc.com.
THE ARChive OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC HOLIDAY RECORD & CD SALE
The beginning of next month marks the start of the most wonderful time of the year — when lovers of LPs, groovy givers of global music, and Secret Santas of all stripes can sleigh (okay, slay) their appointed tasks at this one-stop shopping opportunity. Day in and day out, the busy elves at the ARChive of Contemporary Music nonprofit library and research center labor to collect and preserve information on the popular music of all cultures and races throughout the world from 1950 to the present. Having amassed 3 million sound recordings so far, ARC’s noble Noah’s Arc mission inevitably wracks up duplicate copies from record companies and collectors — hence this holiday sale, one of two annual events where the general public has the run of the place. Up for grabs this December are over 30,000 items for those on your “Nice” list, whose letters to the North Pole include any or all of the following: pop, rock, jazz, blues, classical, and world music recordings; videos and DVDs; music books and magazines; picture discs; original vintage ’60s psychedelic posters from the Grande Ballroom in Detroit; and rare Fillmore East programs. Formats? They’ve got 78s, LPs, 45s, and CDs (new and out-of-print CDs start at $3; classical LPs start at $1!). Become a member and score an invite to the Dec. 1 Cocktail Party — a merry and bright point on your social calendar that lets you schmooze with
Photo by Donna Mejia
L to R, the “Victoria Woodhull” cast: Juliette Monaco, Adam Reilly, Elena Kritter, Henrick Sawczak and Chaz McCormack.
fellow music lovers while chowing on donated slices from Two Boots Pizza and enjoying quality libations from City Winery. Dec. 3–18, daily, 11am–6pm. At the ARChive of Contemporary Music ground floor office at 54 White St. (3 blocks south of Canal St., btw. Broadway & Church St.). Call 212-2266967 or visit arcmusic.org.
“VICTORIA WOODHULL”
The glass ceiling hovering over women with the White House in sight was waiting to be shattered long before Hillary Clinton. “Victoria Woodhull” is Claude Solnik’s play about the first presidential bid by a woman, circa 1872 — nearly a half-century before the 19th Amendment granted American women the right to cast a vote. Donna Mejia directs Theater for the New City’s in-house group, the Textile Co., in a production whose chronicling of strength, determination and disappointment takes on an even greater poignancy, given the results of last week’s election. Although Woodhull (who ran on the Equal
Rights Party ticket) didn’t realize her ambition to reach the highest office in the land, history enshrines her as a crusading magazine publisher, the first woman to own a Wall Street brokerage, and one of the first women to testify before a congressional committee. “She was courageous,” says Solnik, whose nuanced biography covers Woodhull’s high-water marks along with some less distinguished chapters (insider trading, obscenity charges, an uneasy working relationship with other suffragettes). Still, Solnik reminds us, “When other leaders focused on the vote and the vote only,” the Homer, OH native who spent much of her life in New York City “also fought for better wages and education for women.” Through Dec. 4: Fri.–Sat. at 8pm & Sun. at 3pm (except for Nov. 24 & 25). At Theater for the New City (155 First. Ave., btw. E. Ninth & E. 10th Sts.). For tickets ($18, $15 for students/seniors), visit theaterforthenewcity.net or call 212-254-1109. Also visit textilecompanytheater.com.
Theater for the New City • 155 1st Avenue at E. 10th St. Reservations & Info (212) 254-1109 For more info, please visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net
Bread and Puppet Theater’s
Week 1: Watforward Circus December 3 - 11 @ 3PM (Sat. & Sun.) @ 8PM ( Wed. - Sat.) Week 2: Faust - 3 December 14 - 18 @ 3PM (Sat. & Sun.) @ 8PM ( Wed. - Sat.) $18.00 General Admission $13.00 Student/Senior/Child 2 and Under FREE!
Victoria Woodhull
From Silence
written by Claude Solnik Directed By: Donna Mejia “A story about the first woman
to run for president ”
Nov. 17 - Dec 4.
Thurs.- Sat. 8:00 P.M. Sun. at 3:00 P.M.
$18.00
written by Anne Marilyn Lucas Directed by Peter Zachari “A Holocaust Surviver breaks her silence” Nov 4. - Nov. 20 Thurs.- Sat. 8:00 P.M. Sunday 3:00 P.M.
$18.00
November 17 - 23, 2016
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