Today’s “Fab Five” / Selected NYCity Events – THURSDAY, July 18, 2013

Broadway in Bryant Park  (Thursdays through Aug. 15)
A series of music from Broadway and Off Broadway shows performed by the shows’ cast members. Today’s performances includes excerpts from “Chicago,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Sistas: The Musical.” Presented by 106.7 Lite FM, the series also features a guest D.J. from the radio station as well as cast members from other shows – this Thursday the D.J. is Delilah, and the show is “Old Jews Telling Jokes.
Bryant Park, Avenue of the Americas, at 40th St.
At 12:30 p.m. / FREE
(212) 768-4242 / bryantpark.org.

‘The Woolworth Building @ 100’ (through Sept 8, 2013)
An exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of this Cass Gilbert-designed building — when completed in 1913 it was considered the tallest office building in the world — features blueprints, photographs, contracts and other items.

“Eighty thousand incandescent bulbs illuminated the New York night on April 24, 1913, when the Woolworth Building opened with a ceremony attended by 800 dignitaries. Witnessed by multitudes and wired to press around the world, …

The great Gothic tower-the Cathedral of Commerce-became the preeminent silhouette on the New York skyline and took the title of world’s tallest office building.”
Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place, Lower Manhattan
The exhibition can be viewed Wednesdays through Sundays from noon to 6 p.m.
$5, $2.50 for students and 65+
(212) 968-1961 / skyscraper.org

River & Blues with the Grammy-Winning John Hammond Band
Enjoy sunsets and live blues along the Hudson River.
John Hammond Band – Grammy award winner and Blues Hall of Fame musician John Hammond, and his powerful band, play traditional Delta Blues with passion and force.
At 7:00PM / FREE
Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park – Battery Park City (access: Battery Place)
1-212-267-9700

Sound It Out 1st Anniversary Hot House Festival *(through July 21)
“For the last year, the Sound It Out concert series, founded by the music journalist Bradley Bambarger, has been a beacon of adventurous programming in Greenwich Village.

To celebrate its first anniversary, the series will run four consecutive nights, beginning on Thursday with three brief performances: a duo by the drummer David King and the saxophonist Chris Speed (at 7 p.m.); another duo, with the pianist Russ Lossing and the bassist John Hébert (at 8 p.m.); and a set by Futuredrone, led by the drummer Joe Hertenstein and featuring the violist Mat Maneri, the pianist Anthony Coleman and the bassist Ken Filiano (at 9 p.m.)” (Chinen-NYT)
Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow Street, West Village,
At 8 p.m./ $20 per night.
(212) 242-4770/greenwichhouse.org

Billy Childs Quartet (through July 20)
An extravagantly polished pianist out of Los Angeles, lately consumed with hybridizing jazz and classical chamber music, Billy Childs surrounds himself with adaptable talent: the alto and soprano saxophonist Steve Wilson, the bassist Scott Colley and the drummer Johnathan Blake.” (Chinen-NYT)
Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton,
At 8:30 and 11 p.m./$30 and $40, with a $10 minimum.
(212) 581-3080/birdlandjazz.com

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Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm dates and check times, as schedules are subject to change ================================================================================

Chelsea is the heart of the NYCity contemporary art scene. Home to more than 300 art galleries, the Rubin Museum, the Joyce Theater and The Kitchen performance spaces,   there is no place like it anywhere in the world.

Come here to browse free exhibitions by world-renowned artists and those unknowns waiting to be discovered in an art district that is concentrated between West 18th and West 27th Streets, and 10th and 11th Avenues. Afterwards stop in the Chelsea Market, stroll on the High Line, or rest up at one of the many cafes and bars and discuss the fine art – my fave is Ovest on W 27th St., where the aperitivo is like Happy Hour on steroids.

Here are a few Special Exhibitions in Chelsea Galleries that you shouldn’t miss:

“Paul McCarthy and Damon McCarthy: Rebel Dabble Babble” (through July 26)
Paul McCarthy has a large scale exhibition at the Park Avenue Armory, decidedly not on the WestSide. “At Hauser & Wirth, a second extravaganza by the artist, working in collaboration with his son Damon, is in the same politically incorrect, punch-drunk vein on a slightly less epic scale. Here the reference point is the 1955 film “Rebel Without a Cause.” (Cotter-NYT)
Hauser & Wirth, 511 West 18th Street, Chelsea,
Mon – Fri, 10am-6pm / FREE
(212) 790-3900 / hauserwirth.com

Laddie John Dill: ‘Elementary’ (through July 26)
At the end of the 1960s the West Coast Light and Space artist Laddie John Dill began producing electric light works out of blown glass tubes in a lush palette of jewel-bright colors. Here nine of these works, all from 1971, are installed in one room at regular intervals creating a trippy visual chamber music. Elsewhere, glowing constructions of glass panes in geometric arrangements could be models for updates of Stonehenge, monuments for a new cosmic paganism.” (Johnson-NYT)
Nyehaus, 358 West 20th St.
Tue-Sat, 11am-6pm / FREE
366-4493 / nyehaus.com

“Under My Skin: Nudes in Contemporary Photography” (Until Sat Jul 27)
Skin, and lots of it, is indeed the focus of this group exhibition, curated by Mona Kuhn, a photographer whose own work often involves nude models. Justine Kurland, Spencer Tunick and Collier Schorr are among the artists contributing work to the show.        (TONY mag)
Flowers, 520 W 20th St., (btw 10th/11th ave.)
Tue–Sat 10am–6pm / FREE
212-439-1700 / flowersgallery.com
==========================================================For a listing of 25 essential galleries in the Chelsea Art Gallery District, organized by street, which enables you to create your own Chelsea Art Gallery crawl, see the Chelsea Gallery Guide (nycgo.com)
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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : Manhattan’s WestSide” dated (07/03) and (07/01).