Photo Courtesy of Nicholas Ballasy

I have to be honest and say — while admittedly a bit out of the pop culture loop at times — I lost track of R. Kelly’s “Trapped in the Closet” about six years ago.

Apparently, what “Rolling Stone” calls the singer’s “epic opus” has not fizzled out alongside my interest. On the contrary, it’s going big places, perhaps even the biggest of places.

Yes, “Trapped in the Closet” is going to Broadway.

At a recent screening of the latest installment of his “hip-hopera” at New York City’s Landmark Sunshine Cinemas, Kelly said “Trapped in the Closet” began as a “silly” idea without much possibility for traction. During the Q&A session, he reportedly smoked a lit cigar. Now, as “Rolling Stone” notes, Kelly says: “‘Trapped in the Closet’ is pretty much forever.”

According to Kelly, there are currently 85 chapters to the “silly idea” saga in total. “I don’t have a job, so I sit in the studio all the time and think of stupid stuff to do,” said Kelly, providing hope to unemployed cultural phenoms everywhere.

Reserving overall judgment, I must concede some of the plot lines sound, frankly, inspirational, as does Kelly’s assessment of the endeavor.

“It’s not hard somehow,” said Kelly. “When you commit to something and have fun with it, it appreciates you, the gift, and it starts to help you out.”

As Steven J. Horowitz of “Rolling Stone” put it: “[R. Kelly]’s laughing all the way to Broadway.”

—Alissa Fleck 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15

Operatic Masterpiece—The Amore Opera presents Pucini’s Tosca, sung in Italian with English supertitles. Connelly Theatre, 220 E. 4th St., 866-811-4111; times vary, $30.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16

Hip Hop Theater Festival—The 10th annual HHTF celebrates hip-hop culture with theater, dance, public art and more. Various locations, 718-497-4282; www.hhtf.org.

Art in the Park—Friends of Straus Park will host their annual Art in the Park. Artists will exhibit their work and there will be food and books for sale. Music and dance groups will entertain on West End Avenue. Strauss Park, 106th and 107th streets at Broadway; 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Free.

Classical Sounds—The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony kicks off its new season with a program that evokes nature. Beethoven’s 6th Symphony, the Pastorale, is paired with Copland’s sublime Appalachian Spring and Cimarosa’s hauntingly beautiful Oboe Concerto, performed by Pedro Diaz, solo English horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. All Saints Church, 230 E. 60th St., 212-868-4444; 8 p.m., $10-20.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17

Broadway Great in Recital—Roosevelt André Credit, bass-baritone with pianist Thomas Schmidt, will perform a recital of spirituals, Broadway classics, opera and contemporary songs on Roosevelt Island. Credit has performed on and off Broadway, playing several roles in the Tony Award-winning and national touring companies of Harold Prince’s Show Boat. His extensive repertoire includes opera, oratorio, jazz, spirituals, pop and musicals. Church of the Good Shepard, 543 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, www.goodshepherdchapel.net; 2:30 p.m., Free (donation to food program suggested).

La Bete—David Hyde Pierce, Joanna Lumley and Mark Rylance bring this revival of David Hirson’s 1991 comedy (set in the 17th century and written in iambic pentameter) back to Broadway. Comedic golden boy Matthew Warchus (God of Carnage) directs. Music Box Theater, 239 W. 45th St., 212-239-6200; 3 p.m., $76-$126.

Sankai Juku—Ushio Amagatsu directs the troupe in his most recent work, Tobari—As if in an Inexhaustible Flux. The Joyce, 175 8th Ave., 212-242-0800; 2 p.m., $10.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19

Seventeenth Annual Family Party—Over 2,500 children and parents are expected to participate in an evening of adventure throughout the American Museum of Natural History. The Family Party, one of the museum’s best-loved annual traditions, is a very special opportunity for children and adults of all ages to experience the wonders and magic of the museum. Taking full advantage of the magnificent halls, guests are treated to an evening full of fun. They interact with live animals, dig for dinosaur fossils, conduct fascinating experiments, experience simulated space travel, meet with scientists and much more. American Museum of Natural History, 79th Street and Central Park West, 212-313-7161; 5-7:30 p.m., $85-$175.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20

Poems from the Women’s Movement—Barnard College welcomes a group of outstanding women writers and thinkers for an evening celebrating the work of poets whose writing helped shape, and was shaped by, the women’s movement. Participants include Jorie Graham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author; physician and poet Elizabeth Lorde-Rollins; Anne Waldman, author of more than 40 books of poetry including On the Wing and Manatee/Humanity; and Eileen Myles, whom BUST magazine called “the rock star of modern poetry.” Barnard Hall, West P117th Street and Broadway, Sulzberger Parlor, 3rd floor, 212-854-2116,www.barnard.edu; 7 p.m., Free.