#WeeklyColumn | It’s In Queens! | May 10 to May 16
BY QEDC It's In Queens
The beat goes on…and on…and on! Sweet sounds are everywhere this week with the Queens New Music Festival’s return, a symphonic concert, an LGBTQ orchestra, bird song, and something described as “solar sound.” Greek cinema, Jewish comedy, modern dance, and Marionette puppets are also in town.
May 9, New York Greek Film Expo 2019, May 11. This series shares Greek films, promotes Greek filmmakers, and helps preserve the country’s film heritage. Here’s the Queens schedule: May 9, “Her Job,” 7 pm; May 11, “Refuge II: The Ice Path,” 2 pm; May 11, “Holy Boom,” 4:30 pm; May 11, “Last Song to Xenitia,” 7 pm. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria’s Kaufman Arts District.
May 10, Relic, or, I Was Bubbie’s Favorite by Joel Feinman (as told to Lojo Simon), May 19. Nine performances of a comedy that explores celebrity, religion, and idolatry. An out-of-work actor finds one of the world’s greatest relics in his grandmother’s attic, giving him fame and fortune. He quickly discovers it’s not all fun and games. Queens Theatre, 14 United Nations Ave. S., Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
May 11, Sheep Shearing Festival, 11 am to 4 pm. A day in the country with haircuts and wool spinning demos, live music, crafts, hayrides, and food. Queens County Farm Museum, 73-50 Little Neck Pkwy., Glen Oaks.
May 11, Beauty and the Beast, 1 pm (workshop) & 2:15 pm (performance). The award-winning National Marionette Theatre offers a close look at their exquisitely crafted marionettes and then shares its version of a classic play. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd.
May 11, Daniel Fishkin: Part I, 8 pm. EtM Con Edison’s 18-19 composer-in-residence is a sound artist and instrument builder. He presents music developed during his residency. Possibilities include solar sound, pre-synthesizer electronic music, radical lutherie, and wood that is attached or unattached to the ground. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd.
May 11, Istanbul to Katmandu, 7 pm. Ethnomusicologist Ozan Aksoy does traditional and modern music from the Middle East and Mediterranean with this new jazz fusion project. The Church-in-the-Gardens, 50 Ascan Ave., Forest Hills.
May 11, Noguchi Talks, 3 pm. Landscape architect Marc Keane and garden scholar Matthew Kirsch talk about Japanese Gardens. Noguchi Museum, 9-01 33rd Rd., LIC.
May 11, Double Billing of New Work: Everything & “Real Love, 8 pm. Dance Entropy and the Polish Zawirowania Dance Theatre present new works. Green Space, 37-24 24th St., LIC.
May 11, Kids Cultural Exchange, 4 pm. What does traditional Persian music sound like? Travel around the world to hear sounds made from instruments originating hundreds of years ago during this interactive workshop. The Church-in-the-Gardens, 50 Ascan Ave., Forest Hills.
May 11, LIC Springs!, noon to 5 pm. Celebrate LIC with music, dance, and theater as well as interactive lessons, art, sculpture-making, fitness classes, outdoor dining, pop-up activities, and more. A small sample of participants includes American Folk Art Museum, MoMA PS1, SculptureCenter, Flux Factory, and Martinez Dance Studios. Vernon Boulevard between 50th and 46th avenues, LIC.
May 12, Queer Urban Orchestra: New Season, Fresh Sounds, 3:30 pm. NYC’s premier LGBTQ orchestra plays everything from marimba music to Mendelssohn’s “Symphony No. 5.” Queens Museum, NYC Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
May 12, Queens Symphony Orchestra, 3 pm. A masterworks concert with Verdi, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky. LeFrak Concert Hall, vicinity of Kissena Boulevard and Horace Harding Expressway, Flushing.
May 13, Live Drawing with Models, 6 pm. Paint in a relaxed, encouraging environment. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd.
May 14, Queens New Music Festival, May 19. Organized by Random Access Music, this eighth annual series presents 12 concerts over six days. More than 50 composers and 40 performers play various genres. The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd St., LIC.
May 14, Queens College Evening Readings, 7 pm. Brad Gooch discusses his newest book, “Rumi’s Secret: The Life of the Sufi Poet of Love,” a biography of a 13th century Persian poet. Queens College’s Aaron Copland School of Music, Choral Room 264, vicinity of Kissena Boulevard at Horace Harding Expressway, Flushing.
May 15, The Women Who Saved the Birds, 8 pm. Social historian Tessa Boase discusses her new book, “Mrs Pankhurst’s Purple Feather: Fashion, Fury and Feminism – Women’s Fight for Change.” It’s the untold story of nature, hats, votes, and a fearsome British woman who was the driving force behind the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Alley Pond Environmental Center, 228-06 Northern Blvd., Douglaston.
Continued from the previous week
Cirque du Soleil: Luzia, until June 9. A surrealistic circus journey through an imaginary Mexico with grand visual surprises and breathtaking acrobatics. Tent near Citi Field, 123-01 Roosevelt Ave.
Catch Me If You Can, until May 11. Douglaston Community Theatre presents this comic-mystery about a bride who mysteriously disappears from a honeymoon cottage. Shows on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Zion Church Parish Hall, 243-01 Northern Blvd., Douglaston.
The First Transatlantic Flight, until June 2. The Queens Historical Society, the Rockaway Artists Alliance, and City Council Member Eric Ulrich celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. Navy Seaplane NC-4 was assembled and took off from the Rockaway Naval Air Station on May 8, 1919. This display features storyboards on the epic flight. Studio T-7 Gallery, Fort Tilden, Rockaway Point.
Caroline, or Change, until May 25. This musical combines spirituals, blues, Motown, classical music, klezmer and folk. Set in Louisiana in 1963, it explores social change via a friendship between a Jewish boy and his family’s African-American maid. Shows are Thursdays and Fridays at 8 pm and Saturdays at 2 pm and 8 pm. The Broccoli Theater at the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens, 21-12 30th Rd., Astoria.
Assassins, through May 12. This musical looks at nine individuals who succeeded or attempted to assassinate a United States President. A mix of history, fiction, music, and humor. A total of 10 shows with most at 7:30 pm, one at 2 pm, and another at 5 pm. The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd St., LIC.
Queens of the Night: Reinas de la Noche, until May 19. This LGBTQ musical is back by popular demand with the special collaboration of transgender artist Pamela Sue Martin directly from Colombia. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 4 pm. Thalía Spanish Theatre, 41-01 Greenpoint Ave., Sunnyside.
See It Big!, until July 7. This program screens 32 action films, many of them in 35mm prints. They include “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” “Anne of the Indies,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” and all six “Mission: Impossible” movies. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria’s Kaufman Arts District.
Images: Dance Entropy (top); Flushing Town Hall (bottom)