Le Cirque, Nobu, Del Posto, Telepan, 21 Club, The Modern, The Oak Room at The Plaza, Perry Street, Esca, Red Cat, Tabla, Gallagher’s, Shun Lee, Central Park Boathouse, Fives at The Peninsula, Le Colonial, Lure, Morimoto, Petrossian, David Burke Townhouse, Water Club and The River Café have all signed on for Summer Restaurant Week and reservations are now open.
The summer deal will run from July 12-31, excluding weekends although some restaurants will participate on Sundays.
Restaurants will offer three-course lunches for $24.07 and/or dinners for $35. Tax, tip and drinks cost extra.
Technically, reservations don’t open until Tuesday, but sponsoring group NYC & Co, released the list early on its @nycgo Twitter account.
Wall Street Journal launches summer arts chat series
The New York Times has Times Talks, has New Yorker has its festival and now the Wall Street Journal is launching a series of arts-themed newsmaker public interviews at Lincoln Center called Summer Scoops.
The schedule is short on finance and long on arts, although technology columnist Walt Mossberg will go one-on-one with Moby, and artist Cai Guoqiang will talk about barrier-breaking in China.
Tickets, which are now on sale, are priced from $20 to $30.
The cast of “Twelfth Night” also features Stark Sands, Audra McDonald, Julie White, Raúl Esparza, David Pittu, Michael Cumpsty and others. Daniel Sullivan directs. Opening night is set for June 25, according to Playbill.
“Twelfth Night” wraps up July 12, making way for Euripides’ “The Bacchae,” which will feature Jonathan Groff and a choral score by Philip Glass. “The Bacchae” will play from Aug. 11 to 30.
The Virtual Line returns today, allowing anyone to enter the daily lottery between midnight and 1 p.m. You sign back in between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. to see if you have a pair of tickets. Tickets not picked up at least half an hour prior to curtain will be released to the stand-by line.
The Public Theater does not say how many seats are up for grabs this way: “It changes on a daily basis but the majority of Free tickets for Shakespeare in the Park are distributed via the Free line at the Delacorte Theater.”
There are big NY400 events planned this weekend as a flotilla of heritage ships will retrace Henry Hudson’s 1609 voyage up the river that now bears his name.
Events got started this evening — under very grey skies — with the Half Moon’s passing of the Statue of Liberty, a mustering of boats in front of Ellis Island and a blessing of the fleet.
Brighter skies Saturday will see the 9 a.m. start of flotilla at Statue of Liberty, and later parade past Harlem, the Cloisters, Yonkers and the Hudson River Museum.
Free French films on Fridays in city parks this summer
French films will be screened for free on Fridays in city parks this summer as part of the Films on the Green series presented by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
The series kicks off in Central Park this Friday with the U.S. premiere of “Home,” a environmental call-to-action documentary shot entirely from the air over 54 countries.
All the screenings are free, and will start at sunset, with the parks opening for seating at 8:15 p.m.
The schedule this far:
June 5 - “Home”
(Update: Postponed to Sun. June 7 due to rain.)
Central Park - Cedar Hill (79th St & 5th Ave)
June 12 - “March of the Penguins”
Washington Square Park
Performances in weird places: subways to bank vaults
New York still does weird well.
Within the next few weeks, you can see a plays performed in an East Village apartment, on a subway platform or dashing through a city park.
There’s also a concert in an empty bank vault below Wall Street and a site-specific dance performance in a post-Colonial-era fort.
Here are a few of the upcoming offerings:
Sam Shepard’s play “True West” is being staged “in an authentic American kitchen” on Avenue B through this Sunday. Tickets are $25.
Starting June 4, “A Mysterious Way” will be performed “on the uptown C train platform on 81st Street and the downtown J/M train platform at Chambers Street, subject to change due to the inconsistent environment of the MTA.” The price: free with the swipe of a MetroCard.
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Swing Space program allows artists to use vacant commercial space downtown, including a basement bank vault at 14 Wall Street. In the past, the vault has hosted theater performances, but this Saturday the space will feature a free, walk-in/out setup concert by the 12-member acoustic ensemble Eidolon. (An RSVP is required via mail@annadachi.org.)
NYC Ballet's $25 orchestra seats on sale every Monday
On Mondays at 10 a.m., the New York City Ballet will start selling a week’s worth of $25 orchestra-level tickets.
Normally those seats go for $90 each.
Through an arrangement with CIT, 50 of the discounted seats will be sold for every performance during the ballet’s 2009 Spring Season. Swan Lake, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Firebird, The Four Seasons, Romeo + Juliet, and Vienna Waltzes are among the offering’s on this season’s calendar.
The tickets must be purchased at the box office at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center or by phone with CenterCharge (212) 721-6500.
NYC Ballet also offers $12 student rush tickets to some performances. There’s also the Fourth Ring Society, where a $20 membership gets you access to $15 seats during the season.
If you fancy a visit to one of the city’s abandoned subway stations or a ride in a vintage train, check out the spring and summer schedule of the New York Transit Museum tours.
Saturday, May 30 - Noon to 1 p.m. and 2 to 3 p.m.
Members-only tour of the century-old, abandoned Old City Hall subway station
Adults $20; Children $10. (Museum membership is $40.)
Friday, June 5 - 4:30 to 7 p.m.
Queensboro Bridge Centennial tour, including former Strecker Memorial Lab, now an MTA substation
$5, Museum members $3
Wednesday, June 10 - 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Rerouting Rails in Western Queens, from from Sunnyside Yard to ironbound Woodside
$20, Museum members $15, Children $10
Thursdays, June 11 and July 30 - 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. LIRR’s Hillside Maintenance Complex, the largest facility for commuter trains in North America
$20, Museum members $15, Children $10
At the top of the list is the American Museum of Natural History’s A Night at the Museum Sleepover with upcoming dates tonight, June 19 and June 26.
Update: The natural history museum just announced additional sleepover dates: July 10, July 25, Aug. 7, Aug. 21, Sept. 11, Sept. 26.
The Himalayan-themed Rubin Museum of Art opens for an overnighter — Peak Experience IV — on June 13.
The Bronx Zoo has three upcoming Family Overnight Safaris, but they’ve all filled up and a wait-list is available for two nights.
Additionally, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum this year started offering Operation Slumber sleepovers for groups. And the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City offers overnight Camp-ins.
The park opens at 6 a.m. for first-come first-serve free seating. (However, the June 12 Jonas Brothers concert will require advance tickets.) Concert performances usually start around 8:30 a.m.
The GMA 2009 Summer Concert Series schedule: May 22 - Green Day
May 29 - Lionel Richie
June 5 - John Legend
June 12 - Jonas Brothers
June 19 - Jamie Foxx
June 26 - The cast of the musical “Hair”
July 3 - Brad Paisley
July 10 - Queen Latifah
July 17 - to be announced
July 24 - to be announced
July 31 - Kelly Clarkson
Aug. 7 - to be announced
Aug. 14 - Kenny Chesney
Aug. 21 - Reba McEntire
The schedule is subject to change.
Rumsey Playfield is located near the Fifth Avenue and E. 69th St. entrance to Central Park.
