Today’s “Fab 5″+1/ Selected NYCity Events – WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2014.

Sud de France Festival 2014 (June 9-30)
A getaway to France without leaving New York

“Escape to France this month without eating into your vacation time with the Sud de France Festival. For the next three weeks, this annual affair allows you to explore the culture and culinary joys of the Languedoc-Roussillon region at events throughout the city. Kicking off with a launch party on board Harbor Lights where you can dine on a cassoulet prepared by celebrity chef Paul Liebrandt and take in the tunes of Slavic Soul Party and DJ Nancy Whang (DFA).

Other fest highlights include a wine crawl aboard a double decker bus, a cabaret-inspired block party, a cocktail-style wine tasting at Le Dû’s Wines, and special dinners at Contra, Reynard in the Wythe Hotel, and Chef Camille Becerra’s Navy.” (Mindy Bond, Editor-FlavorPill)

Alvin Ailey – Learn Revelations Outdoors at Lincoln Center
Learn choreography from Alvin Ailey’s masterpiece,Revelations, outdoors on the Josie Robertson Plaza at 5:30pm*. This free public event will be led by two beloved former Ailey company members—Nasha Thomas-Schmitt and Renee Robinson—and feature live music with a drummer and choir.
*Rain date Thursday, June 12 at 6:00pm
Jose Robertson Plaza, Lincoln Center
At 5:30PM / FREE

David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band
Inspired by the noble jazz pioneers Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton and their colleagues, David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band breathes life and passion into America’s own great art form.

Legendary record producer George Avakian describes the band in this way:
“There has never been a band quite like this one. Most groups, past and present, stick to one style. Some current groups attempt to recreate early recordings in their entirety. These guys do neither. Inspired by divergent bands of the 1920s and 30s, you’ll hear them swing a variety of styles in music by a wide range of composers, always true to the joy and heart of the music.”

Now in its 14th year of residency at Birdland, the weekly post-workday engagement is the city’s best musical bargain! Tuba player David Ostwald leads a rotating lineup that features talents such as clarinetist Anat Cohen, trombonist/vocalist Wycliffe Gordon, pianist Ehud Asherie, drummer Marion Felder and more!
Birdland, 315 W 44th St, (btw 8th/9th ave)
At 5:30PM / $25
birdlandjazz.com

Steve Ross & Karen Oberlin
“Ginger Rogers didn’t like it when her Stage Door co-star Katharine Hepburn repeated her line about Fred Astaire giving Rogers class, while she gave him sex appeal. But Hepburn was astute on the subject of moviedom’s most famous dancing couple. The songs they sang in the 10 flicks they made together should get the velvet glove treatment when these two dip and sway in ‘Astaire and Rogers: Cheek to Cheek with Steve Ross & Karen Oberlin.’ Look and listen for this classy, sexy duo to radiate the attributes the great Kate mentioned and then even more.” (David Finkle-VillageVoice)
54 Below, 254 W 54th St., btw Broadway and Eighth Ave
at 7pm / $30–$55, plus $25 food or drink minimum
(646) 476-3551 / 866-468-7619 / 54below.com

Real Characters Storytelling & Comedy Series
Host Andy Ross and his crew of NY’s funniest and best storytellers bring it uptown to a special performance with Dave Hill (Tasteful Nudes), Courtney Maum (I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You) and Rosie Schaap (Drinking with Men).

This monthly storytelling/reading series combines some of New York’s best storytellers, humor writers, memoirists, and character performers. Some of it’s true; some of it feels more than true; and, most of it is funny. Past performers have appeared on The Moth, This American Life, 30 Rock, and Saturday Night Live. Past writers have contributed to The New Yorker, The Onion, The Simpsons, and The Colbert Report.

In case of rain, events are held under a tent at the Reading Room. In case of severe weather, please check bryantpark.org for the indoor location.
The Bryant Park Reading Room
1065 Avenue of the Americas, 42nd St. Side of the Park (btw 5^th/6th Ave)
212-768-4242
at 12:30pm / FREE

PlusOne
My Old Neighborhood: A Memoir
Avery Corman, acclaimed author of Kramer vs. Kramer, casts a nostalgic glance at the Bronx of his childhood in his latest book My Old Neighborhood Remembered: A Memoir. He will be joined by popular WOR Radio host Joan Hamburg.

Any memoir about the Bronx has to be worth your time.
Barnes & Noble, 1972 Broadway
At 7PM / FREE
212-595-6859

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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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What’s on View:
Special Exhibitions @ 4 Museum Mile / Fifth Ave. Museums:

‘Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century’ (through July 27)
The Flowering of Edo Period Painting: Japanese Masterworks from the Feinberg Collection’ (through Sept. 7)
‘Early American Guitars: The Instruments of C.F. Martin’ (through Dec. 7)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave, at 82nd St.
(212) 535-7710 / metmuseum.org
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‘Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes From the Hill Collection’ (through June 15)
“This sensational, beautifully presented show of 33 late-15th- to early-18th-century bronzes reflects a taste for historically important, big-statement examples in exceptional condition. They vividly reflect the Renaissance’s new interest in antiquity and the human form while encouraging concentration on emotional expression, refined details (great hair!), struggling or relaxed figures and varied patinas. Works by the reigning geniuses Giambologna, Susini and the lesser-known Piamontini dominate, further enlivened by a handful of old master and late-20th-century paintings from the Hill collection.”
(Roberta Smith-NYT)
Frick Collection: 1 East 70th St.
212-288-0700 / frick.org.
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Guggenheim Museum: ‘Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe’ (through Sept. 1)
“This epic, beautifully designed exhibition may be one of the more thorough examinations of modernism’s most obnoxious and conflicted art movement that you are likely to see. Awash in the manifestoes that its members regularly fired off, it follows Futurism through to its end with the death of its founder, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, in 1944. It covers the Futurist obsessions with speed, war, machines and, finally, flight and the aerial views it made possible. And the show highlights relatively unknown figures like the delightful Fortunato Depero and Benedetta Cappa, Marinetti’s wife. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, 212-423-3500, guggenheim.org.“ (Smith-NYT)
Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th St.
(212) 423-3500 / guggenheim.org.
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‘Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937’ (through June 30)
Neue Galerie, 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th St.
212-628-6200 / neuegalerie.org.

========================================================== Museum Mile is a section of Fifth Avenue which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world. Ten museums can be found along this section of Fifth Avenue:

• 110th Street – Museum for African Art

• 105th Street – El Museo del Barrio

• 103rd Street – Museum of the City of New York

• 92nd Street – The Jewish Museum

• 91st Street – Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

• 89th Street – National Academy Museum

• 88th Street – Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

• 86th Street – Neue Galerie New York

• 83rd Street – Goethe-Institut

Last, but certainly not least, America’s premier museum
• 82nd Street – The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Additionally, though technically not part of the Museum Mile, the Frick Collection on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 70th St. and the The Morgan Library & Museum on Madison Ave and 37th St are also located near Fifth Ave. Now plan your own museum crawl. ==========================================================

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar: “NYCity Events: Manhattan’s WestSide” dated 06/09 and 06/07.