#WeeklyColumn | October 27 – October 31, 2016
BY Michael Gillen
This year’s Halloween celebrations in Queens are downright spooky: Irish ghost stories, Mexican muertos, a haunted walk, scary films, not-so-scary youth activities, cockroaches, and car trunks. Great music, art, and chemistry as well. Here’s the rundown.
Oct. 27, Irish Ghost Stories, 8 pm. An evening of spooky and entertaining stories from Ireland enhanced by the Golden Footprints Drama Group and a few surprise guests. New York Irish Center 10-40 Vernon Blvd., LIC.
Oct. 28, Kings from Queens, 11 am. Popular Broadway personalities perform songs by such borough legends as Louis Armstrong, Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Tony Bennett, and Fats Waller. $49. LaGuardia Plaza Hotel, 104-04 Ditmars Blvd, East Elmhurst.
Oct. 28, Ensemble 1816, 6:30 pm. Ensemble 1816 (baritone, forte piano, violin) does songs and sonatas written 200 years ago by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and others. $25. King Manor Museum, 153rd Street and Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica.
Oct. 28, Spooktacular Celebration, 1 pm. Come in costume to play games, make not-so-spooky crafts, and pick a pumpkin. Stop by Cockroach Corral to touch and observe live roaches or hunt for wiggly worms at the Exploration Station. $16, pre-registration required. Alley Pond Environmental Center, 228-06 Northern Blvd., Douglaston.
Oct. 28, Oíche Shamhna, 4 pm. The origins of Halloween (Oíche Shamhna in Gaelic) can be traced to Ireland’s Celtic festival of Samhain. Explore the true origins of Oíche Shamhn with age-old games. New York Irish Center 10-40 Vernon Blvd., LIC.
Oct. 29, Día de los Muertos, 8 pm (and Oct. 30 at 3 pm). The Calpulli Mexican Dance Company presents a captivating work about the unending relationship between the living and the departed featuring live music, larger-than-life characters, and breathtaking choreography. $25. Queens Theatre, 14 United Nations Ave. S., Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Oct. 29, The Haunted Waters of Hell Gate, noon. Greater Astoria Historical Society board member Richard Melnick leads a murder-and-mayhem tour along the East River waterfront. While strolling, he points out sites of mysterious deaths, tragic fires, devastating natural disasters, mass hysteria, chilling whirlpools, pirates, and even electric eels. $15, but $5 for those in costume. Meet under Hell Gate Bridge at Shore and Ditmars boulevards.
Oct. 29, Flushing Meadows Corona Park Tour, 1 pm. Respected architect Bill Gati explores World’s Fair sites, including the Unisphere, NYS Pavilion, Queens Museum, Queens Theater and newly renovated USTA center. Meet at the entrance to Queens Museum.
Oct. 29, st, nd, rd, th, th, th…, 5 pm. Madeline Hollander presents a site-specific performance that draws inspiration from government-mandated public signage for safety protocols and “life-saving” techniques, such as the Heimlich maneuver posters, TSA pat-down, CPR, and airplane safety cards. Free. Socrates Sculpture Park, 32-01 Vernon Blvd., LIC.
Oct. 29, Photography Workshop with Artist Leah Raintree, 2 pm. In 2015, Raintree began photographing Noguchi’s sculptures. Her resulting exhibition, Another Land: After Noguchi, brings attention to the sculptures’ material and surface quality. Workshop participants join Raintree in investigating ways to frame Noguchi’s sculptures through photography, paying close attention to interactions between light, form, and composition. $20. Noguchi Museum, 9-01 33rd Rd., LIC.
Oct. 29, Trunk or Treat, 2 pm to 5 pm. Safe trick-or-treating event with vehicles where canned goods can be donated to local food pantries. Contest for best decorated trunk. Maple Grove Cemetery, 83-15 Kew Gardens Rd., Kew Gardens.
Oct. 30, Haunted Hollywood, 5 pm. Watch three ghostly silent films — Buster Keaton’s The Haunted House, Charlie Chaplin’s The Adventurer, and Harold Lloyd’s Haunted Spooks — as the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra plays the original orchestra scores and makes sound effects from 1910s and 1920s. The Church-in-the-Gardens Community House, 15 Borage Pl., Forest Hills.
Oct. 30, The Jacket From Dachau, 1 pm. Opening for an exhibition that tells the story of Holocaust survival, chance encounters, and how a single artifact can weave a narrative of justice and identity. Cary Lane, the curator-in-residence and an assistant English professor, discusses the show’s research and discovery. Free, but RSVP is mandatory. Kupferberg Holocaust Center, Queensborough Community College, 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside.
Oct. 30, Shocktoberfest 2016, noon to 3 pm. Pick a free pumpkin from the patch and enjoy arts, crafts, tricks, treats, and a costume parade. Playground for All Children, 111-01 Corona Ave., Corona.
Oct. 30, Hello Taiwan Concert, 5 pm. Performances by Treya, Late Cambrian, and r.O.T.i. (Resilience of the intelligent). Taiwanese food bazaar. Proceeds go to Hurricane Matthew relief in Haiti. Taiwan Center NY, 137-44 Northern Blvd., Flushing.
Oct. 30, Chemistry Day, 11 am to 4 pm. Celebrate chemistry with the New York Section of the American Chemical Society and demonstrations by local college students and industries. Free with admission. New York Hall of Science, 47-01 111th St., Corona.
Oct. 30, Halloween at the Garden, noon to 4 pm. Botanical crafts, magic, carnavale mask-making with guest artist Manuel Macarrulla, bouncy house, hula hoops, and spooky story time. Free with admission. Queens Botanical Garden, 43-50 Main St., Flushing.
Oct. 31, Grease Sing a Long, 4 pm and 8 pm. Dress as your favorite character and sing along to the movie Grease. The evening begins with a vocal warm-up and a refresher on the hand-jive. $13. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd.
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