News From The Queens Tourism Council
Queens bids farewell to the Holocenter with a major blow-out party this week. The borough also welcomes the New York Tenors, a few jazz legends and a duo that combines violin with hip hop. There are also various World’s Fair-related events on the horizon, including photo exhibits, lectures, a walking tour and an inspiring LEGO exhibit.
Here’s the rundown.
– Friday, Apr. 11, A Farewell Extravaganza for the Holocenter, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Celebrate with the Holocenter before it leaves the Clock Tower. Music, holograms, projections, performers, interactive installations, food, and drinks. Free. Must RSVP. Holocenter, 29-27 41st Ave., LIC, www.holocenter.org.
– Friday, Apr. 11, The Mark Wade Trio, 8 p.m. Bassist and composer Mark Wade leads his dynamic trio in an evening of original jazz compositions. $15/$10 students. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., Flushing, www.flushingtownhall.org.
– Friday, Apr. 11, Honeymoon, 7 p.m. Presented by the Czech Center, Honeymoon is about a country wedding that takes a dark turn when an uninvited stranger shows up with an urn full of ashes. $12. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, www.movingimage.us.
– Saturday, Apr. 12, The New York Tenors, 8 p.m. Enjoy three of NYC’s premier voices-Andy Cooney, Daniel Rodriguez and Michael Amante. $40. Queensborough Performing Arts Center, 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside, www.visitqpac.org.
– Saturday, Apr. 12, Live Jazz, 7 p.m. David Schnitter has been playing tenor sax for about three decades, including regular Manhattan gigs at Smalls Jazz Club and Fat Cat. His long-time partner Marti Mabin provides the vocals. Free with suggested donation. Sunnyside Reformed Church, 48th Street and Skillman Avenue, Sunnyside.
– Saturday, Apr. 12, through Tuesday, Apr. 22, Master Builder Lego Animation Workshops, 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. daily. In this 60- minute workshop, children work in production teams to plan and create a stop-motion animated movie using LEGOs. Ages 8+. $5 materials fee. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, www.movingimage.us.
– Saturday, Apr. 12, Black Violin, 2:15 p.m. Kev Marcus and Wil B are classically trained string instrumentalists who meld highbrow and pop culture into a single act blending classical, hip-hop, rock, R&B, and even bluegrass music. $12/$8 children. Buy two family shows and the third is free. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., Flushing, www.flushingtownhall.org.
– Saturday, Apr. 12, Just the Wind, 2 p.m.; Fish ‘n’ Chips, 5 p.m.; Miss Violence, 7:30 p.m. Presented by the Hungarian Cultural Center, Just the Wind is about a Gypsy community struggling to scrape by after a series of racially motivated murders. Presented by the Consulate General of Cyprus, Fish ‘n’ Chips is about two people who relocate to Cyprus and open a fish and chips shop. Presented by the Greek Consulate and the Onassis Foundation (USA), Miss Violence tells the story of an 11- year-old girl who jumps to her death from her family’s fourth-floor balcony on her birthday. The ensuing investigation reveals unspeakable horrors lurking beneath the family’s eerily placid surface. $12. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, www.movingimage.us.
– Saturday, Apr. 12, The NY World’s Fair Tour, noon. A walk through Flushing Meadows Corona Park led by the Greater Astoria Historical Society and Forgotten New York. $20. Meet at boardwalk leading to park, south of the 7 Train’s Willets Point Station, www.astorialic.org.
– Sunday, Apr. 13, The Monster Who Ate My Peas, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Based on the multi-award winning book written by Danny Schnitzlein, this musical tells the funny and poignant story of a young boy who doesn’t want to eat his peas. $14/$100 for Family Series Flex Pass (10 tickets to use however you want.) Queens Theatre, 14 United Nations Ave. S., Flushing Meadows Corona Park, www.queenstheatre.org.
– Sunday, Apr. 13, Visions of Tomorrow: Art and Commerce at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, 3 p.m. Noguchi created a fountain for the Ford Motor Company during the 1939 World’s Fair. He was also worked on a major sculpture for the facade of a proposed (but unexecuted) Model Community Center. Helen Harrison, director of the Pollack-Krasner House and Study Center and editor of Dawn of a New Day: The New York World’s Fair, 1939/40, discusses ways in which artists’ participation in the fair reflected the planners’ agenda, and what role art played in promoting the fair’s theme: Building the World of Tomorrow. Free with admission. Noguchi Museum, 9-01 33rd Rd., LIC, www.noguchi.org.
– Sunday, Apr. 13, Unveiling of 64 in 64, ongoing. Organized by the Queens Historical Society, sixty four photographs documenting the construction of the iconic New York State Pavilion, which consisted of Theaterama (today’s Queens Theatre), the Tent of Tomorrow and three Observation Towers. Runs through Nov. 2, open on Mondays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Tuesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free. Queens Theatre, 14 United Nations Ave. S., Flushing Meadows Corona Park, www.queenstheatre.org.
– Sunday, Apr. 13, Iconic Symbols of the 1964 World’s Fair Reimagined -in LEGOs, ongoing. Check out seven World’s Fair structures made out of LEGOs. Runs through Nov. 2. Queens Theatre, 14 United Nations Ave. S., Flushing Meadows Corona Park, www.queenstheatre.org.
– Sunday, Apr. 13, Bringing the World to the Fair: The Port Authority’s Role-Trade, Travel and Tourism in Queens, the Region and the World, ongoing. Exhibit including a pop up, display case and video, sponsored by The Port Authority of NY & NJ. Runs through July 31. Open on Mondays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, and Tuesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free. Queens Theatre, 14 United Nations Ave. S., Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
– Sunday, Apr. 13, Blood Type, noon; The Bucuresti Experiment, 2 p.m; My Dog Killer, 5 p.m; Sonja and the Bull, 7:30 p.m. Presented by the Consulate General of Estonia, Blood Type is a powerful documentary showing the personal struggles, daily dangers, and haunting fears of Estonian soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. Presented by the Romanian Film Initiative, The Bucuresti Experiment tells the real story of the 1989 revolution in Romania, exposing a disquieting alternative history of secret psychological engineering. Presented by the Consulate General of the Slovak Republic and Slovak Film Institute, My Dog Killer takes place in rural Slovakia, where a skinhead spends most of his time training his dog and hanging out with the local neo-Nazis. When he discovers he has a half-Gypsy brother-a serious taboo in this region-he is driven to drastic extremes. Presented by the Consulate General of the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Sonja and the Bull is about a big city animal-rights activist lobbying to end bullfighting. She is given a bizarre, put-up-or-shut-up wager she cannot ignore. $12. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, www.movingimage.us.
– Sunday, Apr. 13, Bronx- Whitestone Bridge Anniversary Lecture, 2:30 p.m. Mary Hedge, an archivist for MTA Bridges & Tunnels, and Aris Stathopoulos, deputy chief engineer at MTA Bridges & Tunnels, discuss the unique aspects of the bridge, its ultra sleek design and the many measures that have been taken to make it more wind resistant. Free. Queens Historical Society, Weeping Beech Park, 143-35 37th Ave., Flushing, www.queenshistoricalsociety.org.
– Monday through Friday, Apr. 14-18, The LEGO Movie, 1 p.m. daily. Presented in Dolby Digital 3- D, this is an eye-popping, witty, fast-paced, and inventive stop-motion animated feature about Emmet, a rules-following, perfectly average LEGO mini-figure who is mistakenly identified as the “most special, most interesting, most extraordinary person” and the key to saving the world. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, www.movingimage.us
“It’s In Queens” column is produced by the Queens Tourism Council with the hope that readers will enjoy the borough’s attractions.
