#WeeklyColumn | May 4 – May 10 | It’s In Queens!
BY QEDC It's In Queens
Pollen is everywhere. Queens cleans the air with a dog whisperer, sheep shearing, a food blowout, a few street festivals, a musical, various walking tours, and klezmer.
May 4, Raisin, May 27. The Astoria Performing Arts Center presents this musical adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun, a book about an African-American mother and her son who struggle with change in segregated Chicago in the 1950s. Shows are Thursdays and Fridays at 8 pm and Saturdays at 2 pm and 8 pm. $18/$12 for students and senior citizens. Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 30-44 Crescent St., Astoria.
May 5, China meets Jamaica, 8 pm. Saxophonist, singer, and composer Stephanie Chou combines Classical and Chinese influences with jazz, while Jamaican artist Owen Romeo and his group Tribal Legacy present an array of Caribbean music. Each band plays a set, then the two meet and jam. $16/free for teens ages 13-19. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd.
May 6, Cesar Millan Live, 8 pm. The star of Nat Geo WILD’s Cesar 911 and original host of the Dog Whisperer series reveals the secrets of happier, healthier relationships between humans and their canines. Kupferberg Center for the Arts, Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing.
May 6, A Taste of Rockaway Beach, noon to 6 pm. Thirty-one eateries are participating in this food crawl. Try them all for the same price. $15 in advance/$20 day of the event.
May 6, LIC Springs, noon to 5 pm. Celebrate Long Island City at this gigantic block party with live music, dance, and theater plus art, sculpture-making, fitness classes, outdoor dining, pop-up activities, and sports. Free. Vernon Boulevard between 50th and 46th avenues, LIC.
May 6, Shanghai Memories: Golden Songs from the 1930s and 1940s, 7:30 pm. Narrated and hosted by Zhou Yi, this performance by Ba Ban Chinese Music Society demonstrates the cultural melting pot that existed in Shanghai during World War II. Expect traditional Shanghai music infused with western influences from jazz and popular music. $16/free for teens ages 13-19. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd.
May 6, Genealogy 101, 1 pm. Genealogist Leslie Wickham teaches the basic techniques to research family heritage using free and subscription-based websites. Also, learn tricks to search for ancestors in old books or newspapers. Free. Greater Astoria Historical Society, 35-20 Broadway, LIC.
May 6, Walking Tour of Jamaica, 3 pm. King Manor’s caretaker and longtime Jamaica resident Roy Fox leads the tour. Learn about the area’s history from Colonial times to the present and how the sites connect to Rufus King and his family. Free. King Manor Museum, 150-03 Jamaica Ave.
May 6, Sheep Shearing, 11 am to 4 pm. Sheep haircuts along with wool-spinning demos, live music, crafts, hayrides, and local food. $5. Queens County Farm Museum, 73-50 Little Neck Pkwy, Floral Park.
May 6, Old Astoria Village Walk, 11 am. Greater Astoria Historical Society Executive Director Bob Singleton leads a tour through Astoria, the Welling Court Art Project, and Socrates Sculpture Park. Meet at Astoria Park South and Shore Boulevard.
May 6, Projection Mapping Workshop with Thomas Israel, 1 pm. Participants learn how to give volume, texture, and new meanings to moving images through projection mapping. This technique allows a video to be projected on common 3D objects, bodies, and architecture. Queens Museum, NYC Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
May 6, Two Bridges Walk, 11 am. Greater Astoria Historical Society Trustee Richard Melnick leads a three-mile tour that starts in Harlem, crosses Randalls and Wards islands and the Hell Gate waterway, and ends at Astoria’s Bohemian Hall. Free. Meet at the southeast corner of 125th Street and Second Avenue in Harlem.
May 6, First Spring Community Festival, 10 am to 5 pm. Demonstrations, educational programming, and hands-on activities. Learn and experience Flushing’s unique heritage. Free. Weeping Beech Park at Bowne Street and 37th Avenue, Flushing, 718-359-0528.
May 6, American Music, 8 pm. Cameron Johnson sings musical theater, opera, and art song. Amanda Johnson accompanies. Free. Kew Gardens Community Center, 80-02 Kew Gardens Rd., Ste. 202.
May 7, Klezmer Sunday, 5 pm. The Klez Dispensers play a savvy mix of Eastern European melodies and the bustling jazz of the 2nd Avenue Yiddish Theatre tradition. $20/$10 students (ages 13-30)/free for those under 12. The Community House at the Church-in-the-Gardens, 15 Ascan Ave., Forest Hills.
May 7, Legislative Theatre Festival, 1 pm. Theatre of the Oppressed NYC presents this fifth annual event, which features a performance by the AIDS Center of Queens County Troupe that addresses immigration, homelessness, policing, and labor rights. Queens Museum, NYC Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
May 7, Book Signing, 2:30 pm. Elizabeth Uhlig discusses and signs her children’s book, Lovely Toys of Long Ago, An ABC Book, a collection of poems about old toys. Free. Queens Historical Society, 143-35 37th Ave., Flushing.
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Top image: Queens County Farm Museum
Bottom image: Flushing Town Hall