Today’s Sweet 6 > MONDAY / APR. 11, 2016

“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.
(click on links for more complete event info.)

Have time for only one event today? Do This:
Ute Lemper & Jasper Quartet: Music of Kurt Weill
Advent Lutheran Church/Broadway United Church of Christ
2504 Broadway @ 93rd St./ 7:30PM, FREE
“While his songs from The Threepenny Opera are justly famous, versatile composer Kurt Weill also composed brilliant but little-known instrumental music — hear it amidst an array of songs in a program featuring famed Weill interpreter Ute Lemper (“mesmerizing”, New York Times). The Jasper Quartet (“powerful,” New York Times) takes on Weill’s pungent yet lyrical String Quartet, op. 8, and joins Ms. Lemper, Grammy-winning clarinetist Todd Palmer, (“compelling,” New York Times) and Artistic Director Aaron Wunsch (“masterful,” Hartford Courant) for new arrangements of Weill’s songs.

Music Mondays – Now in its 13th season, Music Mondays brings you free monthly concerts by today’s most exciting ensembles. Meet the performers and visit with other audience members after every concert at a casual wine reception.
All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:45 pm.”

Music, Dance, Performing Arts
Project B-Way/95 (Apr.07-20)
Symphony Space, Broadway @ 95th St./
“Two weeks of reveling in The Great White Way as only Symphony Space can. See, hear, and meet leading singers, composers, writers, and directors with concerts, panel discussions, film screenings, workshops, literary events, and more! You’ve never been this close to Broadway before.”
Tonight: All in the Family
Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space / 8PM, $35-$65
“Siblings, couples, parents and children perform musical-theater favorites together in this Project B-way/95 concert. Kelli O’Hara, Sierra Bogess, Chuck Cooper, Michael Arden, Andy Mientus, Greg Naughton and Nikki Renée Daniels are among the vocalists.” (TONY)

Gabrielle Stravelli in “On the Road Again”
Birdland, 315 W44th St./ 7PM, $30
“Stravelli has a groovy ’70s-chick vibe and a supple, versatile voice that can navigate multiple genres with ease; think Joyce DeWitt with bona fide pop-jazz chops. After many years as one of New York’s best-kept secrets, she is finally riding a well-deserved tide of acclaim.” (TONY)

“The show will showcase Stravelli’s signature mix of eclectic influences including international folk songs, jazz standards, fresh arrangements of pop and musical theater, original compositions from her forthcoming CD release and a preview of her new Willie Nelson tribute “City Girl, Country Boy.”

Jozef van Wissem
Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St., near Thompson St./ 10PM, $18
“As both an avant-garde composer and a lutenist playing Baroque music, this Dutch artist is no stranger to dichotomy. He worked with his frequent collaborator, the filmmaker and guitarist Jim Jarmusch, to score Mr. Jarmusch’s film “Only Lovers Left Alive” in 2013. In January, Mr. van Wissem released the experimental record “When Shall This Bright Day Begin,” which featured a stirring guest appearance from Zola Jesus. With Holy Sons” (Anderson-NYT)

Smart Stuff / Other
(Lectures, Discussions, Book Talks, Literary Readings, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)
An Evening with Julie Taymor
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza / 6PM, FREE
“This holiday season, in movie theaters across the country, audiences marveled as The Magic Flute’s three spirits soared upon the back of a glistening, feathered bird puppet. At Theater for a New Audience last season, Shakespeare’s dream world came to life, as Puck and other sprites slid across gravity defying, giant silken sheets.

In countless other brilliant projects, with puppetry, mime, light and shadows, Julie Taymor, award-winning director of theater and film, has made magic and myth seem real. As the Library celebrates both Shakespeare and Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Taymor sits down with SITI Artistic Director Anne Bogart for a fascinating conversation about designing and directing theater, opera, and film.”

17th Havana Film Festival New York (Apr 07-15)
various locations & times – see festival calendar
Shows 40 full-length feature films, documentaries, shorts, animation, and classics from Latin America with English subtitles.

“The festival celebrates the diversity of voices found today in Cuban and Latin American cinema and the inspirational stories they tell. Festival highlights include a tribute to the highly acclaimed and well-loved Cuban actors Isabel Santos (Vestido de novia, Cuba Libre) and Enrique Molina (La cosa humana); a retrospective commemorating the 20th anniversary of the late Tomás Gutierrez Alea, one of the most influential filmmakers of the last century; panels about filming and acting in Cuba; a special presentation of short documentaries about Cuban music; and premieres of award-winning features from all over Latin America.”

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Bonus – Music Venues:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are my favorite music venues on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who’s playing tonight:
City Winery – 155 Varick St., citywinery.com, 212-608-0555
Feinstein’s/54 Below – 254 W54th St., 54below.com, 646-476-3551
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St., joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Metropolitan Room – 34W22ndSt., metropolitan room.com, 212-206-0440
Beacon Theatre – 2124 Broadway @ 74th St., beacontheatre.com, 212-465-6500
B.B. King’s Blues Bar – 237W42nd St., bbkingblues.com, 212-997-2144
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St., lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
Special Mention:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. caffevivaldi.com, 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

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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, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 58 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2016.  Quality shows draw crowds.
Try to reserve seats in advance, even if it’s  just on the day of performance.
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Chelsea Art Gallery District*

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.

Two exhibitions the NewYorkTimes likes:

‘Ellsworth Kelly Photographs’ (through April 30)
“This first exhibition of photographs by Mr. Kelly, who died in December, includes more than 30 gelatin silver prints made over four decades. His straightforward pictures of houses, barns, brick walls and winter branches yield the same distinctive observation of perceptual phenomena so characteristic of his hard-edge paintings, sculpture and prints: Rectangles float; shadows fall into hard-edge shapes; surfaces reveal evenly mottled patterns and unlikely grids. Matthew Marks Gallery, 523 West 24th Street, Chelsea, 212-243-0200, matthewmarks.com.” (Philip Gefter)

 Robert Ryman (through July 29)
“For nearly 60s years, the Minimalist painter Robert Ryman has had few equals when it comes to doing more with less. White has been his primary, if not quite his only, color, the square his typical format. And yet within these seeming limitations a remarkably fecund and resonant body of work has evolved as demonstrated with unusual clarity (and in natural light) by this small but comprehensive exhibition. Dia: Chelsea, 535 West 22nd Street, 212-989-5566, diaart.org.” (Smith)

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) Or check out TONY magazine’s list of the “Best Chelsea Galleries” and click through to see what’s on view.

*Now plan your own gallery crawl, but plan your visits for Tuesday through Saturday; most galleries are closed Sunday and Monday.

TIP: After your gallery tour, stop in Ovest at 513W27th St. for Aperitivo Italiano (Happy Hour on steroids). Discuss all the great art you have viewed over a drink and a very tasty selection of FREE appetizers (M-F, 5-8pm).

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see recent posts in right sidebar dated 04/09 and 04/07.
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This week’s fave and FREE NYCity AppS: 
Trip Advisor
An enormous base of NYCity user reviews (2.1 million) provides the widest coverage of hotels (468), restaurants (12,645) and things to do (yes, 3,246). Have a specific question? Then try one of Trip Advisor’s forums. Just remember that with all those reviews you have to try to find the consistency among the comments, and ignore the outliers.

OpenTable
Instantly locate restaurants near you with open reservations and then place a reservation right from your iOS device. A great interface and the ability to see a menu from the restaurant you’re interested in makes this my go to restaurant reservation app.

Subway Time 
Need to catch your #1,2,3 subway to attend an event? Use the Subway Time app from the MTA to find out when the next train arrives at your station. The MTA also has Bus Time info available on their mobile website.
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