Today’s “Fab Five” / Selected NYCity Events – THURSDAY, AUG 08, 2013
For other useful and curated NYCity event info for Manhattan’s WestSide be sure to check out:
“Notable Events-August”, “on Broadway”, and “Top10 Free” in the header above.
For NYCity trip planning see links in “Resources” and “Smart Stuff” in the header above.
MAP OF THE ECCENTRIC /
The Alpine Rooster (Dannielle Tegeder & Pablo Helguera)
New York City is a place for overachievers, for individuals with strong beliefs in themselves, of entrepreneurs with absolute determination to pursue their lives in a particular way. Many of these individuals’ seal for pursuing their own lifestyle has often appeared off-putting to some; some of them have been labeled eccentrics. Writer Edith Sitwell in 1880 described eccentricity as a kind of “innocent pride.”
“Map of the Eccentric” focuses on the lives of individuals who at some point may have been deemed eccentric by their contemporaries: a theosophist Russian artist, the worst singer in history who would rent Carnegie Hall for her lavish solo performances, the first woman leader of an American religion, a psychoanalyst in the Upper West Side of Manhattan who started one of the most scandalous radical left-wing cults in US history. The walk with take the group to places connected to past and present individuals (and with the addition of some special guests) who have merited the label of eccentrics, and will pry open our own relationships between eccentricity and creativity, and what, in fact, should actually be considered “normal” in our day and age.
This walk holds 12 people and will be held in English, though The Alpine Rooster also speaks Spanish.
The walk will meet outside the Nicholas Roerich Museum. Elastic City (starting point) at 319 West 107th St.
There will be a break for lunch. Please be prepared to pay for your own lunch, a few trips on the subway and (optional) drinks/dinner.
From 11:00am, duration approximately 6 hours / $20
Broadway in Bryant Park (Thursdays through Aug. 15)
A series of music from the most popular Broadway and Off Broadway shows performed by the shows’ cast members. Today’s performances includes excerpts from: “Annie, The Musical”, “Wicked”, “Cougar, the Musical”, and “The Fantasticks”.
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 “I Forgive You Ronald Reagan”.
Bryant Park, the Lawn, 6th Ave., (btw 40th/42nd St.)
At 12:30 p.m. / FREE
(212) 768-4242 / bryantpark.org.
Titus Andronicus with Ducktails
New Jersey’s Titus Andronicus, are a punk-inflected indie rock group whose bawling, thrashing sound reflects a wide range of influences ranging from the Pixies to Bright Eyes to Bruce Springsteen.
Ducktails (featuring Matt Mondanile of Real Estate) released their 4th album The Flower Lane in early 2013. The songs on The Flower Lane move across a range of expressive pop songs that are bright and expansive.
2013 marks Hudson River Park’s RiverRocks 15th Season. RiverRocks is among New York City’s quintessential free outdoor summer concert series and features established and breaking artists performing at the beautifulPier 84.
HUDSON RIVER PARK, Pier 84, West 44th St. and 12th Ave.
At 6:00pm / FREE
Dance Heginbotham with the Raymond Scott Orchestrette /
Butler, Bernstein & The Hot 9
Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival
A premier exponent of New Orleans piano, the adventurous virtuoso Henry Butler teams up with crack arranger Steven Bernstein (Sex Mob, Millennial Territory Orchestra) to dive into the roots of jazz. Butler’s elegant vocals and driving improvisations and Bernstein’s inventive trumpet power a fresh, forward-looking sound. With master drummer Herlin Riley, bassist Brad Jones, and members of the MTO, the newly formed The Hot 9 reframes the deep regional pedigree of classics by Bessie Smith and Fats Waller alongside Butler’s gleefully exploratory originals.
Dance Heginbotham creates highly structured, technically rigorous, and theatrical choreography with the trademark athleticism, vigor, and humor of choreographer John Heginbotham, until recently of the Mark Morris Dance Group. Along with Twin (to music by Aphex Twin) and throwaway (set to Daft Punk), Dance Heginbotham will premiere Manhattan Research, set to the idiosyncratic catalog of mid-century maverick composer, bandleader, and electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott, made famous in classic Looney Tunes cartoons—and brought to new life through the live accompaniment of the Raymond Scott Orchestrette.
Lincoln Center, Josie Robertson Plaza, Damrosch Park
7:30/ FREE
Sofía Tosello and Yuri Juárez present Tangolandó
Target Free Thursdays
“The purity of Tosello’s voice is matched by the vibrancy of her emotional palette and inventiveness of her cross-cultural technique.” – Christopher Loudon, Jazz Times
Singing in Spanish, Sofía Tosello’s performance is always passionate, theatrical and heart-wrecking, in the style of icons like Edith Piaf or the traditional tango singers. Her music is rooted in the variety of Latin American cancion traditions, including tango, chacarera, bolero filin, son, zamba fused with jazz. Sofía’s latest project, TANGOLANDÓ, is a collaboration with Peruvian guitarist/producer Yuri Juárez, a fusion of tangos with Afro-Peruvian rhythms. From the bandoneon’s melancholic sounds to the rogue beat of the cajon, Tangolandó recreates in a perfect balance timeless tangos through the freshness of Peru’s coastal contemporary music.
David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Frieda and Roy Furman Stage
at 7:30pm / FREE
Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm dates and check times, as schedules are subject to change.
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A PremierPub + 3 Good Eating places / Midtown West
Russian Vodka Room / 265 W 52nd st (btw 7th/8th ave)
Sure, you could travel to Minsk or even Brighton Beach, for an authentic Russian experience, but why bother. On those days when you feel you must wash down your dish of kasha with a few glasses of icy, cold vodka, the Russian Vodka Room will definitely satisfy your urge.
From the outside this place looks a bit drab, and with no windows, a bit mysterious. Midtown tourists walk right by on their way to see “Jersey Boys”, just down the block.
Those in the know enter a secret hideaway, a dimly lit front room with soft jazz playing – a perfect spot for an illicit late-night rendezvous, or maybe a meet-up with your Russian spy handler, but that’s later in the evening. Early in the evening the large U-shaped bar fills with the after work happy hour crowd, a group made very happy by the much reduced prices.
Their website says: “Welcome Comrades”. Of course, this welcome focuses on dozens of different vodkas, including their own special infusions, which marinate in giant, clear glass jugs visible around the room. The large vodka martinis ensure that you won’t confuse this place with your mother’s Russian Tea Room.
But man does not live by vodka alone. Eat some food, especially the tapa like appetizers. Be decadent and try the cheese blintzes with chocolate, or try a main dish like beef stroganoff with kasha.
Your best bet is to go on a night when the piano man is playing. This guy, who looks like he has eaten a lot of those cheese blintzes, plays five nights a week from 7 to 12 (no Mondays and Thursdays). When the piano man is playing American pop tunes, and you are at the crowded, dimly lit bar testing the horseradish infused vodka, that’s when the RVR shines.
It’s the kind of place where the noise gets louder and the crowd gets happier as the happy hour goes on. I’m generally a beer guy, but I like to come here with a group of friends. We find a table in the back room; we eat, and we drink vodka ‘till it hurts (and it will hurt).
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Website: http://www.russianvodkaroom.com/
Phone #: 212-307-5835
Hours: 4pm-2am; Fri-Sun closes 4am (that could be trouble)
Happy Hour: 4-7pm every day
$4 shots infused vodka (2oz), $5 cosmos; $4 czech draft beer
Music: FR-SU; TU-WE / 7pm-12am
Subway: #1 to 50th St.
Walk 2 blk N. on B’way to 52nd St.; 1 blk W. to RVR
Confusingly, the Russian Samovar is right across the street, on the S. side of 52nd St.
The RVR, your destination, is on the N. side of 52nd St.
Update: music some nights includes a sax player with a younger, trimmer piano man.
NYCity 1-2-3 : What's Happening / Manhattan's WestSide 