News From The Queens Tourism Council
The written word is alive and well in Queens this week with a poetry reading featuring a “Genius Grant” recipient, a presentation by the author of a new book on Steve Martin, the opportunity to recreate a historical figure, and a discussion with a prolific feminist author.
The week also sizzles with an art exhibit in the newly renovated SculptureCenter, Jewish theater, a drumming circle, a nighttime maize maze, and even some sheep shearing.
Here’s the rundown.
– Today (Thursday) Oct. 2, Puddle, Pothole, Portal, runs through Jan. 5, 2015. SculptureCenter celebrates its newly expanded building with a group exhibition exploring the coexistence of disparate elements within shared spaces. For example, Camille Blatrix displays a singing mailbox that waits for an important letter to arrive. Once it does, the viewer has to find the key to read it. Gallery hours are Thursday to Monday, 11 a.m to 6 p.m. (Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.) $5 suggested donation. Opening reception on Oct. 5 from 2 p.m to 5pm. SculptureCenter, 44-19 Purves St., LIC, www.sculpturecenter.org.
– Friday, Oct. 3, A Time to Live and a Time to Die, 7 p.m. The Museum of the Moving Image (MMI) presents a series on Hou Hsiao-hsien, the leading figure of the Taiwanese New Cinema movement. A Time to Live depicts Hou’s on-screen alter-ego Ah- Hsiao from 1947 to 1965, including an early immersion in street gang culture. The film depicts the toll of time and Taiwan’s gradual changing of the generational guards. MMI, 36-01 35th Ave., Kaufman Arts District, www.movingimage.us.
– Friday, Oct. 3, Roarin’ 20s, 9 p.m. The Children of Love Foundation hosts a Roaring Twenties party to benefit children’s wellness, fitness and nutrition programs. Music, costumes, beverages from the era. $50/$60 at the door. Central Lounge, 20-30 Steinway St., Astoria, www.carnivaloflove.org.
– Saturday, Oct. 4, Walk For Your Health Walkathon & Concert, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Grameen PrimaCare hosts a walk through Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to build community and promote a group healthy activity. Afterward, Jazz at Lincoln Center organizes a concert featuring the Camille Thurman Quartet at Queens Museum. Plus, Panera Bread gives 300 sandwiches to the first 300 registrants. Free. Queens Museum, NYC Building, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, www.queensmuseum.org.
– Saturday, Oct 4, Amazing Maize Maze by Moonlight, until 9 p.m. Visitors use the starry sky (or flashlights) to find their way around this three-acre corn labyrinth. $5 child/$9 adult. Queens County FarmMuseum, 73- 50 Little Neck Pkwy., Oakdale Gardens, www.queensfarm.org.
– Saturday, Oct. 4, MAKU SoundSystem Dance Party, 8 p.m. With hints of Colombian folklore, psychedelic rock, jazz and Caribbean grooves, MAKU’s lyrics talk about love, hardships, culture, and the immigrant experience. A participatory class with hands-on use of the three, main traditional Colombian drums, Llamador, Alegre and Tambora, is at 4 p.m. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., www.flushingtownhall.org.
– Saturday, Oct. 4, En Plein Air Art Workshop, 2 p.m. An introductory class appropriate for all ages during which participants hone their skills at charcoal and pencil drawing. Materials provided. $5. Queens Botanical Gardens, 43- 50 Main St., Flushing, www.queensbotanical.org.
– Saturday, Oct. 4, Daughter of the Nile, 2:30 p.m. TheMuseum of theMoving Image presents a series on Hou Hsiao-hsien, the leading figure of the Taiwanese New Cinema movement. In Daughter of the Nile, Taiwanese pop star Lin Yang plays a disaffected KFC server looking after her wannabe gangster brother; her only escape is manga comic books. MMI, 36-01 35th Ave., Kaufman Arts District, www.movingimage.us.
– Sunday, Oct. 5, Shalom Broadway, 3 p.m. Celebrate Broadway’s Jewish musical legacy and explore how synagogue melodies set the foundation for music written for the Yiddish Theater, Tin Pan Alley, Hollywood and today’s Broadway hit shows. Four Broadway veterans, along with a live band, perform the works of Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Marvin Hamlisch and others. Performers include Mandy Gonzalez (Wicked, In The Heights, Aida), Netanel Bellaishe (A Chorus Line, Guys and Dolls, The Music Man), and Tamara Tsoutsouris (La Bohéme, Madame Butterfly). $35. Queensborough Performing Arts Center, 222-05 56thAve., Bayside, www.visitqpac.org.
– Sunday, Oct. 5, Huang Tiange Piano Recital, 3 p.m. In celebration of the Golden Season in Beijing, 10-year-old composer and pianist Huang Tiange performs three Mozart sonatas and his Xinjiang Suite. Reception follows the concert. Flushing Town Hall, 137- 35 Northern Blvd., www.flushingtownhall.org.
– Sunday, Oct. 5, Full Moon Drumming Workshop, 7 p.m. Celebrate the Harvest Moon with a drum circle with master drummers from Brazil. All skills are welcome. Space is limited to 20 participants. Call to reserve a drum. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., www.flushingtownhall.org.
– Sunday, Oct. 5, The Jerk: Screening and Live Event, 2:30 p.m. For his first starring role in this feature film, Steve Martin expanded one of his standup comedy routines about a nitwit who grows up as “a poor black child” and decides to become white. The screening begins with an introduction by Queens College professor Robert E. Kapsis, editor of the new book “Conversations with Steve Martin” (University Press of Mississippi, 2014), a collection of interviews and profiles that focus on Martin as a writer, comedian, actor, artist, and original thinker. Kapsis signs copies of his book after the screening. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Kaufman Arts District, www.movingimage.us.
– Sunday, Oct. 5, Sheep Shearing, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A kickoff for fall with shearing of Cotswold sheep, apples and fresh cider. Free. Queens County Farm Museum, 73-50 Little Neck Pkwy., Oakdale Gardens, www.queensfarm.org.
– Sunday, Oct. 5, Chautauqua in Astoria (second session), 2 p.m. Recreate a 19th Century New Yorker. Write a script and learn how to present a historical figure with Dr. Sally Ann Drucker, a Chautauquan (history expert). Free, but registration required at astorialic@gmail.com. Greater Astoria Historical Society, Quinn Building, 35-20 Broadway, Fourth Floor, LIC, www.astorialic.org.
– Sunday, Oct. 5, Dutch Kills Civic Association Street Fair, noon to 6 p.m. On 36th Avenue between 29th and 35th streets. Free, www.centralastoria.org.
– Sunday, Oct. 5, The Sandwich Man, 5 p.m.; Growing Up, 7:30 p.m. The Museum of the Moving Image presents a series on Hou Hsiao-hsien, the leading figure of the Taiwanese New Cinema movement. The Sandwich Man is comprised of three separate segments illustrating life in Cold War Taiwan, when American influence and money were ubiquitous. The film concerns an impoverished young man who feeds his family by working as a human signpost. Growing Up depicts the travails of an adolescent in 1950s Taiwan. MMI, 36-01 35th Ave., Kaufman Arts District, www.movingimage.us.
– Monday, Oct. 6, 19th Century Circus: Sex, Violence and Politics, 7 p.m. The circus used to present performers in skimpy clothes, while clowns told dirty and political jokes, bantering with raucous audiences. David Carlyon, a writer and independent scholar, explains the history and transformation. Carlyon has a Ph.D. in theater history and was a clown with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Free. Greater Astoria Historical Society, Quinn Building, 35-20 Broadway, Fourth Floor, LIC, www.astorialic.org.
– Tuesday, Oct. 7, Marlo Thomas-Gloria Steinem Discussion, 7 p.m. Before the words “women’s liberation” became a cultural catchphrase, Marlo Thomas embodied the term, creating, executive producing, and starring in the landmark television comedy series That Girl (1966- 1971). Her creation-single working girlAnn Marie, who lived on her own and was avoiding marriage, much to her father’s dismay-became a role model for a new generation of women searching for independence and their own careers. The Museum of theMoving Image and the Comedy Hall of Fame present a conversation with Thomas, moderated by best-selling author and feminist activist Gloria Steinem. $25. MMI, 36-01 35th Ave., Kaufman Arts District, www.movingimage.us.
– Wednesday, Oct. 8, Reading with Genius Grant Recipient and Award-Winning Poet, 6:30 p.m. Terrance Hayes, the 2010 winner of the National Book Award for Poetry and a University of Pittsburgh writing professor who recently became a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, reads poetry with Lynn Emanuel, who received two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and one from the Ranieri Foundation. Q&A and book signing follow. Godwin- Ternbach Museum, 405 Klapper Hall at Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, www.qc.cuny.edu/Creative_ Writin g.
The “It’s In Queens” column is produced by the Queens tourism Council with the hope that readers will enjoy the borough’s many attractions. More info available online at www.itsinqueens.com.
