#WeeklyColumn | March 22 to March 28 | It’s In Queens!
BY QEDC It's In Queens
If you are bored with Queens this week, you are bored with life. The borough hosts a Chinese circus, Broadway stars, Russian ballet, French film, a shopping crawl, a beer fest, and countless musical genres, including ditties from the Italian Sonnet Age.
March 23, The New Shanghai Circus, 8 pm. With acts that trace their origins to the harvest festivals of 2,000 years ago, these fearless performers defy gravity and execute breathtaking feats with boundless energy. $45-$38 (half is donated to benefit the venue). Queensborough Performing Arts Center, 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside.
March 23, Destination Italy with the Queens Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 pm. Take a musical journey through Italy’s cultural landscape. Repertoire includes Schubert’s Overture in the Italian Style D. 590, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Maestro Majkut, QSO’s music director and conductor, leads and plays harpsichord. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd.
March 23 Astoria Spring Retail Crawl, March 25. Get a “passport” to be signed when making purchases. Those who shop at five or more stores can win a $450 gift card. Those who shop at eight or more stores get a swag bag. Participating stores: Astoria Bookshop; Belief; The Brass Owl (15 percent off, 50 percent off clearance, free wine glass for first 50 customers); Broadway Silk (10 percent off); Chateau le Woof (free Easter candy with drink purchase); The Geekery; Hi-Fi.Records; Inside Astoria (buy two items, get 20 percent off the most expensive one); Lavender Label (15 percent off); Lockwood entities (double loyalty points); Loveday31; Petals & Roots; QED (various bargains); and The Stonework (10 percent off).
March 24, Piano Men: A Tribute to Elton John & Billy Joel, 8 pm. This interactive concert celebrates two music stars whose hits come alive when performed by Broadway veterans Craig A. Meyer and Donnie Kehr, accompanied by backup singers and The Rocket Band. Expect “Crocodile Rock,” “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting,” “Uptown Girl,” and “Movin’ Out.” $48-$40. Queensborough Performing Arts Center, 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside.
March 24, Music for a Sun King, 7 pm. The Queens Consort performs 17th century music on period instruments and in baroque style. Performers include Claire Smith Bermingham and Dan McCarthy (violins), Margret Hjaltested (viola), Anneke Schaul-Yoder (cello), and Aya Hamada (harpsichord). They have a particular fondness for the Venetian baroque period. The Church-in-the-Gardens, 50 Ascan Ave., Forest Hills.
March 24, Global Beer Fest, 6 pm. Five local breweries — Big aLICe, LIC Beer Project, Rockaway Brewing, Transmitter Brewing, and Singlecut — and several local bands. $25 for unlimited samples. The Local NY, 13-02 44th Ave., LIC.
March 24 & 25, Broadway Kids, 3 pm. Broadway stars offer toe-tapping tunes, side-splitting lyrics, and captivating characters from popular children’s musicals and animated films. Q&A session included. $20-$15. Queens Theatre, 14 United Nations Ave. S., Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
March 24, CineVardaUtopia: The Films of Agnès Varda, Part One, April 1. This French film director, who was born in Belgium, prefers documentary realism, feminist issues, and social commentary with a distinctive experimental style. Schedule: March 24 and 25, Vagabond, 3 pm; March 30, Cléo from 5 to 7, 7 pm; March 31, Cléo from 5 to 7, 4 pm; March 31, Le Bonheur, 6:30 pm; April 1, Le Bonheur, 4 pm; and April 1, Lion Love (…and Lies), 6 pm. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria’s Kaufman Arts District.
March 24, Classics in the Sanctuary, 7 pm. Modern and traditional selections with Nora Krohn and Nick Revel on viola and Derin Oge on piano. Free. Sunnyside Reformed Church, 48-03 Skillman Ave.
March 24, Elizabeth P. Korn, Provocative Woman Artist: Pop and Puckish Classicism, 2 pm. National Endowment of Humanities Distinguished Teaching Professor Sarah Lynn Henry talks about Korn (1900-1979) whose art is on view through April 15. Korn’s evocative assemblages and prints of the 1970s combine classical imagery with found objects and striking forms. The artist trained in Germany in the early 20th century, emigrated in the 1930s, taught, illustrated books, and created new work into her 70s. Voelker Orth Museum, 149-19 138th Ave., Flushing.
March 25, Moscow Festival Ballet: Giselle, 3 pm. A village girl dies of a broken heart after discovering her love’s deception. Transformed into a spirit, she battles to save him in the woods haunted by the ghosts of jilted women. $42-$39. Queensborough Performing Arts Center, 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside.
March 25, A Concert with Special Guest Vocalist Ryland Angel, 2 pm. Works for voice and viols by Italian Renaissance masters from the Sonnet Age, including Luca Marenzio, Philippe Verdelot, Jacques Arcadelt, and Cipriano de Rore. The centerpiece is the world premiere of Martin Kennedy’s Tomb Sonnets, three short works for viol consort and countertenor. $25. The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd St., LIC.
March 25, Story-Time and Crafts with Children’s Author, Rachael Cole, 11:30 am. Cole reads her celebrated picture book City Moon and teaches how to make collages. Free. Book Culture LIC, 26-09 Jackson Ave., LIC.
March 25, March for the Earth Volunteer Day, 10 am. Spend a few hours volunteering. Queens Botanical Garden, 43-50 Main St., Flushing.
Continues from the previous week
Queens World Film Festival, until March 25. Watch about 200 works from 36 distinct countries and all five boroughs. Plenty of post-screening discussions and opportunities to meet filmmakers, too. Movies are divided into 53 thematic blocks – including Family Friends, Nothing But Web, Culture Clash, Crimes Against Women, Emotional Punch, and Environmentally Speaking. Two locations in Astoria’s Kaufman Arts District: Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., and Zukor Screening Room, 34-12 36th St.
Encuentro Flamenco, until March 25. Danza España performs with guest artists. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm. Sundays at 4 pm. $40 in advance/$45 at the door. Thalía Spanish Theater, 41-17 Greenpoint Ave., Sunnyside.
Images: Queensborough Performing Arts Center
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