Downtown FALL PREVIEW
Arts
Our top picks for arts and cultural events in your neighborhood
From film to food to family affairs, Our Town Downtown's fall preview delivers a sampling of upcoming arts and cultural events the neighborhood has to offer this season.
Part of Anthology Film Archives' Essential Cinema Repertory collection, a selection of 330 films pulled together between 1970-1975, Buster Keaton's 1927 silent classic The General screens at the theater. One of Keaton's best-loved films, the comedy is based on true events of a Civil War train robbery.
September 14
Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Ave.
8 p.m.
Tickets $8
David Bowie Is
The traveling art exhibition David Bowie Is lands at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art on September 23, and though Chicago is the only stateside host on this exhibition's international tour, New Yorkers can still behold the more than 300 objects from the exhibition, including the glam rocker's most famous stage costumes. The Paris Theatre will screen, for one night only, a documentary about the wildly successful exhibition. The film was shot by Hamish Hamilton (the director of the Academy Awards) on the last night of the show's 2013 run at Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the institution that produced the exhibit.
September 23
Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston St., at Mercer Street
7 p.m.
September 26 through October 6
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
Assorted show times
Tickets $13
In 2008, chef Amanda Cohen opened vegetarian restaurant Dirt Candy in a cozy space on Avenue A, serving imaginative vegetarian cuisine and turning her little Alphabet City eatery into a hotspot for both vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. Now she's expanding her enterprise, with a larger location (about 60 seats) on Allen Street, an expanded menu, full bar and plenty of vegetables.
Dirt Candy
Expected opening in November 2014
86 Allen Street
MUSEUMS
Times Square, 1984: The Postmodern Moment
Many New Yorkers may think of Times Square as a crowded tourist destination packed with large retail shops and out-of-towners, and a new exhibit at the Skyscraper Museum examines how present-day 42nd Street came to be during the 1990s, thanks to a period of urban renewal a decade earlier. The exhibition includes 20 drawings of architectural proposals for Times Square, submitted to the Municipal Arts Society during a 1984 call for alternative ideas to a four-skyscraper building proposal and a city-proposed demolition of the 1904 Times Tower.
Through January 18, 2015
The Skyscraper Museum
39 Battery Place
Museum hours: Wednesday through Sunday, noon-6 p.m.
Admission $5
MUSIC
Pianofest at SubCulture
New NoHo music venue and art space SubCulture culminates its inaugural year with a genre-crossing celebration of the piano. Spanning 17 days and featuring more than a dozen artists, Pianofest embraces the versatility of the instrument, with performances by a range of musicians, including Edwin McCain, Mary Lambert and the Ted Rosenthal Trio.
September 10 through September 27
SubCulture
45 Bleecker St.
Assorted times and ticket prices
CMJ Music Marathon
The annual music festival, now in its 34th year, once again descends on lower Manhattan, with over 1,000 live performances in more than 80 of the city's music venues-in only five days. With such a mass of music to choose from, experiencing CMJ as a festival can be a bit daunting, but embracing a few of this years headliners, such as rock duo the Kills at Bowery Ballroom on October 23, is a safe and digestible bet.
October 21-October 25
Assorted venues, show times and ticket prices
For more information, visit http://www.cmj.com/marathon/
THEATER: GUEST PICKS
Kathryn Hamilton, artistic director for Sister Sylvester, picks a few must-see theater events for us this fall. Sister Sylvester are currently performing "Dead Behind These Eyes" at Sing Sing Karaoke, and will be presenting "The Maids' The Maids," a new piece that invites professional housekeepers into the rehearsal room to re-interpret Jean Genet's "The Maids," at Abrons Art Center in October 2014.
Ivo Van Hove's "Scenes from a Marriage"
Through October 26
New York Theatre Workshop
79 East 4th St.
Assorted show times
Martinson Hall
Assorted show times
Tickets $35-$45
"Both of these are artists that I've been able to follow over the course of the last few years, and I love being able to watch an artist's work progress and change - new pieces become part of an ongoing conversation, rather than just a performance seen in isolation," Hamilton said. "The last Ivo Van Hove piece I saw was 'View from the Bridge' at the Young Vic in London, and it was astonishing, totally mesmerizing. This next piece is based on a Bergman film that I love, so I'm interested to see what he does with it."
"I missed Young Jean Lee's last piece, Untitled Feminist Show, but I've seen most of her previous work, and I find it inspiring and challenging. I've been hearing a lot about this next show and am excited to see it."
French artist Prune Nourry explores gender preference in China with Terracotta Daughters, 108 life-size sculptures of young girls, modeled after eight Chinese orphan girls, in reference to the Terracotta Warrior sculptures discovered in Xi'an. This installation is the Terracotta Daughters' U.S. premiere.
September 11-October 4
China Institute
104 Washington St.
Viewing hours: Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday noon - 6 p.m. and Wednesday noon - 8 p.m.
FREE
Florence Montmare's Illuminations
Swedish photographer Florence Montmare makes her New York City gallery debut with Illuminations, a photography exhibit comprised of images she captured in 2002 of her and her then-lover, during the last days of their relationship. At the end of the show's one-month run, Montmare will wait for her former partner in the gallery, hoping to capture one last moment together.
September 18-October 18
Ivy Brown Gallery
675 Hudson St., 4th floor
Opening reception: September 18, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
FREE