Thetres and Museums

It is that wonderful time of year when the brisk winter air makes you feel alive and the New York City theatre and art scenes promise to excite, amaze and amuse you, not to mention keep you warm. It is our pleasure to recommend the following and if you would like a more comprehensive winter 2003 listing please go to our owners’ web site www.tmcny.com.

THEATER

The Roundabout Theater Company presents a Broadway production of Moliere’s quintessential French farce, “Tartuffe.” This amusing comedy starring Brian Bedford, Henry Goodman and J. Smith-Cameron opened at the American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street on January 6, 2003. The play tells the story of a credulous family man hoodwinked by Tartuffe, a visiting “holy man” who is stealing whatever he can from the family as well as seducing all the women in the house hold. “Tartuffe” is scheduled to run through February 16, 2003.

“Tuesdays with Morrie” opened Off-Broadway on November 19, 2002 for an open run at the Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane. The play is based on the New York Times best selling book of the same title, is the autobiographical story of Mitch Albron, an accomplished journalist driven solely by his career until he discovers that his college professor is battling Lou Gehrig’s disease. Mitch’s weekly visits to his ailing professor provide a lesson in the meaning of life.

“The Exonerated” opened Off-Broadway at the Culture Project Theatre, 45 Bleeker Street in October 2002. The play by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen is about people who were sentenced to death and spent anywhere from two to twenty-two years on death row before being found innocent and freed. The play is based on interviews with 40 people conducted by the authors throughout the United States during the summer of 2000. The cast continually changes. In the past months, actors have included Richard Dreyfuss, Jill Clayburgh, Sara Gilbert Jeff Goldblum, Bebe Neuwirth, Marlo Thomas, Peter Gallagher and Kyra Sedgwick.

“Take Me Out” is a new Broadway play by Richard Greenberg and tells the story of Darren Lemming, a young baseball star who is at the top of his game, professionally and personally until he announces, at a press conference, that he is gay. The play chronicles the fallout as the ripples of his actions spread through the team, the media, and across the nation. “Take Me Out” will open in previews at the Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street on February 4, 2003 with an official opening date of February 27.

We also recommend two wonderful web sites, www.playbill.com and www.theatermania.com for a myriad of information on Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Broadway shows as well as discounts.

MUSEUMS
February 13 – May 19, 2003 – The Museum of Modern Art Queens presents “Matisse Picasso,” the first exhibition dedicated to the lifelong dialogue between two of the most important artists of the twentieth century. It brings together masterpieces from major public and private collections. These works have never before been seen together. Extraordinary in its scope, Matisse Picasso offers previously unexplored insights into the complex personal and artistic relationship that defined the standards for painting in the twentieth century. The exhibit requires a $20.00 admission ticket, purchased in advance in Manhattan at either of the two MoMA Design Stores. The midtown store is located at 44 West 53rd Street and is open Saturday - Thursday 10:00am – 6:30pm. The SoHo store is located 81 Spring Street and open Monday – Saturday 11:00am – 8:00pm and Sunday 11:00am - 6:00pm. You can also purchase tickets by phone from Ticketmaster (866) 879-MOMA. The Museum of Modern Art has temporarily moved to 33rd Street and Queens Blvd., Long Island City, Queens while their Midtown location undergoes an elaborate expansion. The Queens location is easily reached by the “N” or “W” subway to Queensboro Plaza. There you can transfer to the “7” local train to the 33rd Street stop. You can also take the Q32 bus from Madison Avenue at stops between 32nd and 59th Streets to the Queens Blvd/33 Street stop. A Queens Artlink shuttle is also available on Saturday and Sunday, 10:00am – 5:00pm. Catch the shuttle on West 53rd Street (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.) For more information on Transportation to MoMa Queens call (212) 708-9400 or go to their web site, www.moma.org.

Now – April 20, 2003 – The National Museum of the American Indian presents “The New Old World – Antilles: Living Beyond the Myth” a photographic retrospective of the Native people and communities of the Antilles. For centuries before 1492, the islands of the Caribbean were populated by several indigenous cultures, among which the most extended was the Taino. Yucayeques (villages) of Tainos occupied all the Greater Antilles: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hispaneola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Jamaica. Within decades after Columbus landed at Guanahaní (San Salvador), the indigenous population of the Antilles nearly vanished. A great interest in the origins of the indigenous Antillean populations and communities and their revitalization is now emerging. Marisol Villanueva’s camera and the testimonies she and Dr. José Barreiro gathered in the Cuban communities have capture many traces of these living indigenous cultures, coexisting with African and European cultures. The National Museum of the American Indian, housed in the original US Customs House presided over by Alexander Hamilton, is located at One Bowling Green between Whitehall and State Streets. The museum is open Friday through Wednesday 10:00am – 5:00pm and Thursday 10:00am – 8:00pm and is FREE to the public. For information, please call the museum at (212) 514-3700 or go to their web site, www.conexus.si.edu.

February 12 – May 4 - The Morgan Library presents “Flora and Fauna in Drawing, Manuscripts, and Printed Books” an exhibition devoted to botanical and zoological illustration tracing the development of this art form from the tenth through nineteenth centuries. It documents the significant changes in the style, iconography, and purpose of natural history illustration over the course of nine hundred years and records how these changes parallel the early and later voyages of exploration as well as the emergence and development of science. Approximately 120 works, comprising drawings, medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and printed books make up the exhibit. The Morgan Library is located at 29 Eat 36th Street at Madison Avenue and is open Tuesday – Thursday 10:30am – 5:00pm, Friday 10:30am – 8:00pm, Saturday