News From The Queens Tourism Council
It’s “Drama Queens,” as two plays and a theater festival are set to launch in the borough this week. Plus, Gladys Knight comes to town, painters target Citi Field, foragers taste edible plants, walkers learn about Willets Point, and early bird shoppers buy homemade holiday gifts.
Here’s the rundown.
– Tonight (Thursday), Nov. 6, Paint Nite, 6:30 p.m. Each participant takes an art class and paints a picture of Citi Field on a 16″x 20″ canvas to take home. $55, free parking. Citi Field, 123-01 Roosevelt Ave., Flushing, www.mets.com/paintnite.
– Thursday, Nov. 6, through Saturday, Nov. 22, In The Bones, Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m, Saturday at 2 p.m. This Astoria Performing Arts Center play explores grief, permanence, and family after a soldier returns from Afghanistan and ends his life. $18/$12 for seniors and students. Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 30-44 Crescent St., Astoria, www.apacny.org.
– Thursday, Nov. 6, Author Event, 7 p.m. Adrienne Onofri talks about her new book, Walking Queens, and some of the 30 tours it describes. Free. Astoria Bookshop, 31-29 31st St., www.astoriabookshop.com.
– Thursday, Nov. 6, through Sunday, Nov. 23, Fifth Annual Harvest Festival, times vary. This year features 28 showings of three full-length plays in rotation. $15. Chain Theatre, 21-28 45th Rd., LIC, www.variationstheatregroup.com.
– Friday, Nov. 7, An Evening with Gladys Knight, 8 p.m. The Empress of Soul has won seven Grammy Awards and has enjoyed #1 hits in Pop, Gospel, R&B and Adult Contemporary. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. $35-$109. Colden Auditorium, Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, www.kupferbergcenter.org.
– Friday, Nov. 7, Juri’s Kuns: Passage, 8 p.m. Korean music with acoustic guitar, bass guitar, percussion and Janggu (Korean drum). Free with mandatory RSVP at 1-718-463-770, ext. 222. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., www.flushingtownhall.org.
– Friday, Nov. 7, through Sunday, Nov. 16, The Cottage, Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m, Nov. 14 matinee at 2 p.m. A mischievous play set in a cozy love nest in the English countryside in the early 1920s. Through stinging barbs and longing looks, a surprising web of secrets is unraveled. $25-$42. Queens Theatre, 14 United NationsAve. S., Flushing Meadows Corona Park, www.queenstheatre.org.
– Friday, Nov. 7, Move With Us Video Premier, 6 to 9 p.m. The premiere of a public art project highlighting collective cultural movements by immigrants. Food, music, wine. Free, but RSVP at 1- 347-505-3010. Queens Council on the Arts, 37-11 35th Ave., Astoria, www.queenscouncilarts.org.
– Friday, Nov. 7, Christmas Open House, 3 to 7 p.m. (also Saturday, Nov. 8, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m). Annual shopping extravaganza with homemade jewelry, accessories, home décor gifts, a new selection of freshwater pearls, and wine/snacks. Heart of the Party, 247-69 Jericho Tpke., Bellerose, 1-718-347-0295.
– Saturday, Nov. 8, Dafnis Prieto Si o Si Quartet, 7:30 p.m. Two-time Grammy nominee Prieto, recipient of a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship, transposes elements from his Afro-Cuban musical heritage onto a jazz drum kit, with congas, timbales, and the layered patterns of rumba & son. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., www.flushingtownhall.org.
– Saturday, Nov. 8, The Amigos Band with David Amram, 7 p.m. Amram, 82, is a living legend who has played with every jazz great over a career that began in the 1950s. The Amigos are young musicians making music that defies categorization. Free, but donations welcome. Sunnyside Reformed Church, 48-03 Skillman Ave.
– Saturday, Nov. 8, Willets Point Walking Tour, 11 a.m. Take a guided walk with official Queens historian Jack Eichenbaum. East of Citi Field is a sewer-less, hardscrabble area of auto junkyards and related businesses that has twice beaten back attempts at redevelopment. But as it is located between the baseball stadium and a booming Flushing, public and private interests are again trying to transform Willets Point and build a shopping mall there. $20. Preregister at jaconet@aol.com.
– Saturday, Nov. 8, Foraging Tour with Wildman Steve Brill, 10 a.m. Brill teaches about the environment and gets back in touch with nature. Participants also explore the open space on the eastern end of the Rockaways and learn about the area’s edible plants. Meet at Firehouse 59, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Blvd., Rockaway, www.rwalliance.org.
– Saturday, Nov. 8, Deborah Goldberg Talks, 1 p.m. Goldberg, an art historian, writer, and instructor at the School of Visual Arts, is also the author of an unpublished dissertation on Noguchi’s early design work. Free with admission. Noguchi Museum, 9-01 33rd Rd., LIC, www.noguchi.org.
– Saturday, Nov. 8, Alley Pond Environmental Center Cries Wolf, 11 a.m. The Wolf Conservation Center and its ambassador wolf, Atka, educate visitors about these predators and their misunderstood lives. Children must be at least 7 years old. $12 with RSVP required at 1-718-229-4000. APEC, 228-06 Northern Blvd., Douglaston, www.alleypond.com.
– Saturday, Nov. 8, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, 1 p.m. The Greater Astoria Historical Society (GAHS) is presenting a series of movies from 1939. Mr. Smith is a political comedy about one man’s effect on American politics. Directed by Frank Capra, it was nominated for 11 Academy Awards. Free. GAHS, Quinn Building, 35-20 Broadway, Fourth Floor, LIC, www.astorialic.org.
– Sunday, Nov. 9, Kristallnacht Remembrance, 7:30 p.m. An event to recall Kristallnacht or Night of Broken Glass, a series of coordinated attacks on Jews and their property in Germany and Austria in 1938. Keynote speaker Frannie Sheridan shares her moving and inspiring story “Never Tell Anyone.” Free. Congregation Machane Chodosh, 67-29 108th St., Forest Hills, www.machanechodosh.org.
– Sunday, Nov. 9, History and Highlights of a World’s Fair, Part 2, 2:30 p.m. World’s Fair historian Pierre Montiel talks about the people of the 1964-1965 World’s Fair. He visited the fair on a weekly basis and fondly remembers the Belgium waffles. $8. Queens Historical Society, Weeping Beech Park, 143-35 37th Ave., Flushing, www.queenshistoricalsociety.org.
– Sunday, Nov. 9, CrossCurrent, 1 p.m. Luxembourg International Composition prize-winner Huang Ruo and the New Asia Chamber Music Society join the beautiful and diverse dancers of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company for dance and music exploration. $15/$10 for students. Flushing Town Hall, 137- 35 Northern Blvd., www.flushingtownhall.org.
– Sunday, Nov. 9, Dotti Anita Taylor Duo: From Bach to Bacharach, 2 p.m. Flautist Taylor performs jazz and classical music with Lois Tepfer on piano. $12/$10 for students. Voelker Orth Museum, 149-19 38th Ave., Flushing, www.vomuseum.org.
– Monday, Nov. 10, Kristallnacht Event Recalls Two Men’s Courage, 1:30 p.m. Former Columbia University provost Fritz Stern and co-author Elisabeth Sifton discuss their new book, No Ordinary Men: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hans von Dohnanyi, Resisters Against Hitler in Church and State. $8 suggested donation. Central Queens Y, 67-09 108 St., Forest Hills, www.cqy.org.
– Monday, Nov. 10, Reading Across Cultures: Poetry and Conversation, 6:30 p.m. Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Willie Perdomo. Q&A facilitated by John Murillo. Godwin-Ternbach Museum, 405 Klapper Hall at Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, www.qc.cuny.edu.
– Tuesday, Nov. 11, Veterans History Collecting Workshop, 7 p.m. Celebrate Veteran’s Day with a workshop on how to preserve veterans stories. Participants learn how to conduct interviews, collect stories, and transfer stories to the Library of Congress. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., www.flushingtownhall.org.
– Wednesday, Nov. 12, Understanding Artist Visas, 6 p.m. Immigration lawyer George S. Akst answers questions about immigration and artists at this workshop. $10 with RSVP required. Queens Council on the Arts, 37-11 35th Ave., Kaufman Arts District, www.queenscouncilarts.org.
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.
