Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts

Bill Hader Has A Funny Idea For The Stefon Movie. Bill Hader Has A Funny Idea For The Stefon Movie. SNL Bids Farewell to Bill Hader With a Stefon Wedding - Video. Bill Hader. Well said.	BREAKING BAD: Season 5, Episode 16 ��� ���Felina��� Series. BREAKING BAD: Season 5, Episode 16 ��� ���Felina��� Series. And I know its only natural to be sad, but not because of the words He dies.. I m only.	U.N Armored Vehicles In America, Civil Unrest. U.N Armored Vehicles In America, Civil Unrest. They asked all of them why is this all happening at one time?. The insurge at the border and.	African American Homeland (How can black. African American Homeland (How can black. I claim North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Ar.. a fraction, of that.
Desiree Hartsock, ABCs Bachelorette. Desiree Hartsock, ABCs Bachelorette. A HuffPost Live viewer grilled Hartsock why there wasnt a gay or. Season 9 of The.	NBC News Glorifies Walmarts Alice Walton. NBC News Glorifies Walmarts Alice Walton. Led by Sam Waltons only daughter, Alice, the family spent $3.2 million on. told Wall Street.	YOOOThatsGay: The New Dance Called #NaeNae. YOOOThatsGay: The New Dance Called #NaeNae. Its sad because do to my business, Im in various clubs all the time from city. all guys on.	Democrats saying stupid things.mp4 - YouTube Democrats saying stupid things.mp4 - YouTube Gay marriage, abortion and stem cell research.. Alabama survives because of New York.
Deadliest Catch: Jake Could Lose His Job After. Deadliest Catch: Jake Could Lose His Job After. Some other guys broke up the fight, but Jake was still fired up.. This isnt the first time Jake.	Crazy Guy Dancing in Church - YouTube Crazy Guy Dancing in Church - YouTube I know that tart and he spends much of his time in the mens toilets. Dancing just like he did.	MLP vs MineCraft song battle - YouTube MLP vs MineCraft song battle - YouTube Minecraft: Its all about creativity, fun, and awesomeness, but its also makes you. i wouldve.	New MOA Terrorist Training Camps Revealed. New MOA Terrorist Training Camps Revealed. They also confirmed the existence of an additional New York. include not only the Islamberg.
Kendall And Kylie Jenner Talk Parents Separation. Kendall And Kylie Jenner Talk Parents Separation. After 22 years of marriage, Bruce and Kris Jenner announced they were. It sucks not having.	CAUGHT ON TAPE: Democrat Congressional. CAUGHT ON TAPE: Democrat Congressional. In the world of politics, trackers have become a part of campaign life.. McLane Kuster, running.	Disneys Maleficent - Official Trailer 3 - YouTube Disneys Maleficent - Official Trailer 3 - YouTube Watch the new #Maleficent trailer now.. CONGRATS TO HER AND BRAD ON THEIR.	When Did You Choose to Be Straight? - YouTube When Did You Choose to Be Straight? - YouTube 38 States out of 50 have approved gay marriage here in the USA.. So wait, you people are.

U.S. Supreme Court wont stop same-sex marriages in Alabama - NY. U.S. Supreme Court wont stop same-sex marriages in Alabama - NY. Alabama Supreme Court Chief	THE DANGEROUS INROADS OF ISLAM CONTINUED IN 2013 THE DANGEROUS INROADS OF ISLAM CONTINUED IN 2013 Courtesy: https://www.flickr.com/people/42107447@N00/	Jon Stewart gets biblical on Mike Huckabees anti���gay marriage musings Jon Stewart gets biblical on Mike Huckabees anti���gay marriage musings same-sex marriage to begin	09alabama-facebookJumbo.jpg 09alabama-facebookJumbo.jpg 09alabama-facebookJumbo.jpg
Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts ��� New York Times. Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts ��� New York Times. Half of Alabama Counties Defy Feds by Blocking Gay Marriage ��� ABC News	U.S. Supreme Court wont stop same-sex marriages in Alabama - NY. U.S. Supreme Court wont stop same-sex marriages in Alabama - NY. Brynn Anderson/AP Wolfe and	Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts - NYTimes. Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts - NYTimes. Beliefs: Same-Sex Interfaith Couples Face Roadblock to Marriage in Judaism	Alabama gay marriages allowed after Supreme Court order - CNN. Alabama gay marriages allowed after Supreme Court order - CNN. Same-sex marriage in the U.S.
US and World News | NBC New York US and World News | NBC New York No Same-Sex Marriages	Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts - NYTimes.com Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts - NYTimes.com Alabama Judge Defies Gay Marriage Law FEB. 8, 2015	Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts - NYTimes. Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts - NYTimes. Scenes of Same-Sex Marriage, and Rejection, Across Alabama. New York Times	Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts - NYTimes. Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts - NYTimes. Play Video|1:00. Gay Weddings Held in Parts of Alabama
Same-sex marriage begins in parts of Alabama, thwarted in others. Same-sex marriage begins in parts of Alabama, thwarted in others. Donna and Tina get married in	Patsy Cline Patsy Cline Courtesy: https://www.flickr.com/people/56693401@N04/	Same-Sex Marriage News - The New York Times Same-Sex Marriage News - The New York Times Same-Sex Marriage, Civil	Same-sex marriage begins in parts of Alabama, thwarted in others. Same-sex marriage begins in parts of Alabama, thwarted in others. marriage ceremony outside
U.S. Supreme Court wont stop same-sex marriages in Alabama - NY. U.S. Supreme Court wont stop same-sex marriages in Alabama - NY. same-sex couple to marry	US and World News | NBC New York US and World News | NBC New York Same-Sex Marriage Ban Dies

Alabamas LGBT couples say WE DO - Weld for Birmingham

Part of the WE DO goal ���is to directly resist and draw public awareness to the reality of the discriminatory marriage laws that are on the books currently and in that, be advocating for federal equality in terms of federal law.��� To date, 38. Like Searcy and McKeand, Cliff Simon and Julian Hazlett were married elsewhere, in New York, but choose to live in Alabama. Simon, 61, and Hazlett, 70, have been together for 27 years. They married last October. The couple is��.

The Listings: Nov. 11 -- Nov. 17

Selective listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the New York metropolitan region this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings HAMLET Opens Sunday. Another angst-ridden, spoiled kid with mommy issues moves to the East Village. Michael Cumpsty plays him (2:30). Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 279-4200. THE ARK Opens Monday. Find out what Noahs family thought of his seemingly crazy idea in this musical about the back story of the biblical flood and the animals and people who survived. Annie Golden and Adrian Zmed star in this show, with music by the songwriter Michael McLean (2:30). 37 Arts-Theater B, 450 West 37th Street, (212) 307-4100. BACH AT LEIPZIG Opens Monday. A historical comedy about the fierce competition for an organ master position in 1722, sort of like American Idol set in 18th-century Germany (2:15). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 239-6200. HILDA Previews start today. Opens Tuesday. A Pinter-esque drama by the French-Senegalese playwright Marie Ndiaye about the relationship between an upper-class woman and her servant (1:20). Part of the Act French Festival. 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200. THE RUBY SUNRISE Opens Wednesday. The new artistic director of the Public Theater, Oskar Eustis, stages Rinne Groffs time-traveling play about, among other things, the invention and development of the boob tube (2:15). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200. WAITING FOR GODOT Opens Wednesday. Developed at the Actors Studio, this new production of Samuel Becketts landmark play stars Sam Coppola and Joseph Ragno as Vladimir and Estragon (2:30). Theater at St. Clements, 423 West 46th Street, Clinton,(212) 239-6200. THE WOMAN IN WHITE Opens Thursday. After a West End run, this Victorian thriller by Andrew Lloyd Webber comes to Broadway with the British musical theater stars Maria Friedman and Michael Ball. Trevor Nunn (Cats) directs (3:00). Marquis Theater, 211 West 45th Street, (212) 307-4100. ABIGAILS PARTY Previews start Monday. Opens Dec. 1. The New Groups production of Mike Leighs comedy about a dinner party gone horribly wrong stars Jennifer Jason Leigh (2:15). Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. CELEBRATION and THE ROOM Previews start Wednesday. Opens Dec. 5. Two short plays from opposite ends of Harold Pinters distinguished career (1:45). Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 239-6200. THE COLOR PURPLE Opens Dec. 1. Alice Walkers Pulitzer Prizewinning book has become the basis for the first musical co-produced by Oprah Winfrey (2:30). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200. THE GENTLEMAN DANCING-MASTER Opens Nov. 20. William Wycherleys Restoration satire receives a rare production, courtesy of the Pearl Theater Company (2:20). Pearl Theater, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212) 598-9802. MR. MARMALADE Opens Nov. 20. See the world through the eyes of precocious children in Noah Haidles comedy about a wished-for family (1:50). Roundabout Theater Company, Laura Pels Theater, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 719-1300. MISS WITHERSPOON Previews start today. Opens Nov. 29. Veronica commits suicide and refuses to be reincarnated in Christopher Durangs new comedy (1:20). Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. THE OTHER SIDE Opens Dec. 6. A new work by Ariel Dorfman (Death and the Maiden) about a couple living in a war-torn country waiting for their 15-year-old son to return home. Rosemary Harris and John Cullum star (2:00). Manhattan Theater Club, City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. SEASCAPE Opens Nov. 21. George Grizzard, Frances Sternhagen, Elizabeth Marvel and Frederick Weller star in the revival of Edward Albees interspecies drama about a couple who meet two talking lizards on the beach (1:45). Lincoln Center Theater, at the Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. A TOUCH OF THE POET Previews start today. Opens Dec. 8. Gabriel Byrne, last on Broadway in A Moon for the Misbegotten, stars as an Irish tavern owner whose daughter falls in love with a wealthy American in one of Eugene ONeills last plays. Doug Hughes directs (2:30). Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street, (212) 719-1300. THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL Previews start Tuesday. Opens Dec. 4. A revival of Horton Footes drama about a woman longing to return to her childhood home. Directed by the veteran actor Harris Yulin (2:15). Signature Theater, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 244-7529. Broadway ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR An uninspired revival of Alan Ayckbourns classic farce of marital misery and Christmas cheerlessness, directed by John Tillinger. The largely merely serviceable cast includes Paxton Whithead, Mireille Enos and the wonderful Deborah Rush, who sidesteps the usual clichés of playing drunk in splendid comic style (2:30). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley). CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG The playthings are the thing in this lavish windup music box of a show: windmills, Rube Goldberg-esque machines and the shows title character, a flying car. Its like spending two and a half hours in the Times Square branch of Toys R Us (2:30). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS On paper this musical tale of two mismatched scam artists has an awful lot in common with The Producers. But if you are going to court comparison with giants, you had better be prepared to stand tall. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz, never straightens out of a slouch (2:35). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * DOUBT, A PARABLE (Pulitzer Prize, Best Play 2005, and Tony Award, Best Play 2005) Set in the Bronx in 1964, this play by John Patrick Shanley is structured as a clash of wills and generations between Sister Aloysius (Cherry Jones), the head of a parochial school, and Father Flynn (Brian F. OByrne), the young priest who may or may not be too fond of the boys in his charge. The plays elements bring to mind those tidy topical melodramas that were once so popular. But Mr. Shanley makes subversive use of musty conventions (1:30). Walter Kerr, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) IN MY LIFE Joseph Brookss whimsical musical about heaven and earth works grotesquely hard to disguise its conventional heart. Mostly, its like drowning in a singing sea of syrup (1:45). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) JERSEY BOYS From grit to glamour with the Four Seasons, directed by pop repackager Des McAnuff (The Whos Tommy). The real thrill of this shrink-wrapped bio-musical, for those who want something more than recycled chart toppers and a storyline poured from a can, is watching the wonderful John Lloyd Young (as Frankie Valli) cross the line from exact impersonation into something far more compelling (2:30). The August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) LATINOLOGUES Created and written by Rick Najera and directed by Cheech Marin, long since de-Chonged, this is a series of loosely linked monologues delivered in character by Mr. Najera and three other talented Latino performers. Mr. Najera and his compadres can be skillful slingers of one-liners, but the characters cooked up to transmit them are neither fresh nor fully realized. In contrast to the colorfully individualized portraits in John Leguizamos solo shows, the men and women of Latinologues are composites of worn, easy stereotypes (1:30). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200.(Charles Isherwood) THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Love is a many-flavored thing, from sugary to sour, in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucass encouragingly ambitious and discouragingly unfulfilled new musical. The show soars only in the sweetly bitter songs performed by the wonderful Victoria Clark, as an American abroad (2:15). Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) A NAKED GIRL ON THE APPIAN WAY Could it be that the exhaustingly prolific Richard Greenberg has been even busier than anyone suspected? This clunky farce about the limits of liberalism, directed by Doug Hughes and starring a miscast Richard Thomas and Jill Clayburgh, suggests that Mr. Greenberg has been moonlighting as a gag writer for sitcoms and is now recycling his discarded one-liners (1:45). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300. (Brantley) THE ODD COUPLE Odd is not the word for this couple. How could an adjective suggesting strangeness or surprise apply to a production so calculatedly devoted to the known, the cozy, the conventional? As the title characters in Neil Simons 1965 comedy, directed as if to a metronome by Joe Mantello, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprise their star performances from The Producers, and its not a natural fit. Dont even consider killing yourself because the show is already sold out (2:10). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley). SPAMALOT (Tony Award, Best Musical 2005) This staged re-creation of the mock-medieval movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail is basically a singing scrapbook for Python fans. Such a good time is being had by so many people that this fitful, eager celebration of inanity and irreverence has found a large and lucrative audience (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * SWEENEY TODD Sweet dreams, New York. The thrilling new revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheelers musical, with Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone leading a cast of ten who double as their own musicians, burrows into your thoughts like a campfire storyteller who knows what really scares you. The inventive director John Doyle aims his pared-down interpretation at the squirming child in everyone, who wants to have his worst fears both confirmed and dispelled (2:30). Eugene ONeill Theater, 230 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) SWEET CHARITY This revival of the 1966 musical never achieves more than a low-grade fever when whats wanted is that old steam heat. In the title role of the hopeful dance-hall hostess, the appealing but underequipped Christina Applegate is less a shopworn angel than a merry cherub (2:30). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE The happy news for this happy-making little musical is that the move to larger quarters has dissipated none of its quirky charm. William Finns score sounds plumper and more rewarding than it did Off Broadway, providing a sprinkling of sugar to complement the sass in Rachel Sheinkins zinger-filled book. The performances are flawless. Gold stars all around. (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) Off Broadway * ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). Dodger Stages, Stage 4, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200.(Isherwood) BEOWULF Bob Flanagans luminous puppets of lizards and fish are wonderful, but they are relatively tangential to a so-called rock opera that is not sure whether it wants to be a childrens show or Jesus Christ Superstar, and fails at both. Humans who are less animate than the puppets try to sing their way through an uninspired enactment of this great epic (1:15). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 727-2737. (Anne Midgette) BINGO Play bingo, munch on popcorn and watch accomplished actors freshen up a stale musical about game night (1:20). St. Lukes Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200.(Jason Zinoman) CAMBODIA AGONISTES A musical about the Khmer Rouge? It works better than you might think in this revival of a 1992 play: Cambodias recent history is painted in broad strokes of parody intermingled with a tragic story line. But the most vivid performer on stage is a real-life Cambodian dancer, Sam-Ouen Tes, who doesnt have a speaking role but communicates more than this slightly pale though well-meaning piece (1:30). West End Theater, 263 West 86th Street, (212) 279-4200. Pan Asian Repertory Theater, at the West End Theater, in the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, 263 West 86th Street, Manhattan, (212) 279-4200.( Midgette). DRUMSTRUCK This noisy novelty is a mixed blessing. Providing a two-foot drum on every seat, it offers an opportunity to exorcise aggressions by delivering a good beating, and, on a slightly more elevated level, it presents a superficial introduction to African culture, lessons in drumming and 90 minutes of nonstop music, song and dancing by a good-natured cast (1:30). Dodger Stages, Stage 2, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Lawrence Van Gelder) FIVE COURSE LOVE This musical is merely pleasantly fluffy, and sometimes offensive, but Heather Ayers may make a star vehicle out of it, thanks to an energetic, versatile performance in five roles. She, John Bolton and Jeff Gurner search for love in five restaurants, with a too-generous portion of bad accents and phallic jokes along the way (1:30). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village, (212) 307-4100.(Neil Genzlinger) * FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT This production features the expected caricatures of ego-driven singing stars. But even more than usual, the show offers an acute list of grievances about the sickly state of the Broadway musical, where, as the lyrics have it, everything old is old again (1:45). 47th Street Theater, 304 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL A terrific cast keeps the generator running in this bright but flimsy contraption. A few of David Nehlss dozen ditties raise a hearty chuckle, like the valedictory anthem in which the shows heroines collectively vow to make like a nail and press on. But Betsy Kelsos book all but dispenses with plot, and substitutes crude cartoons for characters (2:00). Dodger Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212 239-6200. (Isherwood) IN THE AIR Historical melodrama about the 1918 flu epidemic is like a soft-focus film on the Lifetime channel (2:15). Theater 315, 315 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444. (Zinoman) INFERTILITY A harmless, insubstantial and highly amplified musical about the struggles of five people hoping to become parents (1:20). Dillons, 245 West 54th Street, (212) 868-4444. (Zinoman) MANIC FLIGHT REACTION Sarah Schulmans intermittently zingy play is an awkward mixture of cultural satire and earnest psychodrama about love and responsibility. Deirdre OConnell gives a warm, engaging performance as a reformed rebel with a colorful past that bleeds into the present in sensational ways (2:00). Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) MARION BRIDGE The Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor takes a quiet, honest look at three sisters as they face their mothers death. It is well acted and well directed, if too predictable in spots (2:20). Urban Stages, 259 West 30th Street, (212) 868-4444. (Margo Jefferson) MEDEA The Jean Cocteau Repertorys cliché-ridden modern translation strains to be relevant (1:30). Bouwerie Lane Theater, 330 Bowery, near East Second Street, (212) 279-4200. (Zinoman) ONE-MAN STAR WARS TRILOGY With a storm trooper roaming the aisles and a woman in an Obi-Wan Kenobi get-up telling theatergoers to turn off their cellphones or they will be turned into cosmic dust, Charles Rosss sprint through Episodes IV through VI strives for the atmosphere of a Star Wars convention, but ends up achieving something like a religious revival (which is sort of the same thing). True believers will love how Mr. Ross, a self-confessed geek who plays every major role in under an hour, simulates R2D2, but everyone else will scratch their heads (1:00). Lambs Theater, 130 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Zinoman) ON SECOND AVENUE This genial show by the Folksbiene Yiddish Theater, celebrating Second Avenues theatrical heyday, somehow manages to be both a perfect ensemble production and a star vehicle, for Mike Burstyn. The production, first seen last March and April, is in its second go-round (2:00). J.C.C. in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Avenue, at 76th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Genzlinger) * ORSONS SHADOW Austin Pendletons play, about a 1960 production of Ionescos Rhinoceros, which was directed by Orson Welles and starred Laurence Olivier, is a sharp-witted but tenderhearted backstage comedy about the thin skins, inflamed nerves and rampaging egos that are the customary side effects when sensitivity meets success (2:00). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) Radio City Christmas Spectacular Diminished though it may be by the absence of its orchestra in its 73rd season, it remains prime entertainment (1:30). 50th Street and the Avenue of the Americas, (212) 307-1000. (Van Gelder) SEE WHAT I WANNA TO SEE A hot-and-cold chamber musical by Michael John LaChiusa, based on stories by Ryuonsoke Akutagawa, that considers the nature of truth and belief. The shows film-noir-style first half is more chilly than chilling. But its second act, set in the shadow of 9/11, throbs affectingly with a hunger for faith. With Idina Menzel and Marc Kudisch (2:00). The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * A SOLDIERS PLAY This movingly acted revival of Charles Fullers Pulitzer Prizewinning drama from 1981, directed by Jo Bonney and featuring Taye Diggs, uses the clean-lined conventions of murder mysteries to elicit unsettlingly blurred shades of racism, resentment and self-hatred (1:55). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 246-4422. (Brantley) THIRD Heidi is having hot flashes. In this thoughtful, seriously imbalanced comedy, Wendy Wasserstein takes her archetypal heroine (most famously embodied in 1988 in The Heidi Chronicles) into the fog of menopausal, existential uncertainty. The wonderful but miscast Dianne Weist plays a feminist college professor forced to reconsider everything she stands for. Though Daniel Sullivans staging is too easygoing to build tension, the play exhales a poignant air of autumnal rue (2:00). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) Off Off Broadway ASHLEY MONTANA GOES ASHORE IN THE CAICOS, OR: WHAT AM I DOING HERE? A revue of satiric songs and sketches by Roger Rosenblatt that seeks to comment on the state of the national psyche. Its not good, apparently, but whats new? A bright cast keeps things lively, but Mr. Rosenblatts targets are mostly moldy (1:15). Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101 (Isherwood) BELLY OF A DRUNKEN PIANO In this splendidly imperfect cabaret, Stewart DArrietta howls and growls convincingly through Tom Waitss three-decade song catalog, backed by a snappy trio. His patter and his piano playing are variable, but Mr. DArrietta makes a genial tour guide through Mr. Waitss wee-hours world (1:45). Huron Club at SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, between Avenue of the Americas and Varick Street, (212) 691-1555. (Rob Kendt) BIG APPLE CIRCUS -- GRANDMA GOES TO HOLLYWOOD Long on sweetness, rich in color and highly tuneful, but short on eye-popping, cheer-igniting wows (2:10). Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center, Broadway and 63rd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Van Gelder) THE SALVAGE SHOP Jim Nolans moving, old fashioned drama, about a fraught father-and-son relationship in a small coastland town in Ireland, delivers an emotional punch (2:30). The Storm Theater, 145 West 46th Street, (212) 868-4444. (Zinoman) Long-Running Shows AVENUE Q R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:10). Golden, 252 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh, sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200.(Brantley) FIDDLER ON THE ROOF The Shtetl Land pavilion in the theme park called Broadway. With Rosie ODonnell and Harvey Fierstein. (2:55). The Minskoff Theater, 200 West 45th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) MOVIN OUT The miracle dance musical that makes Billy Joel cool (2:00). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * SLAVAS SNOWSHOW Clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin are stirring up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart as well as tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 307-4100.(Van Gelder) * THOM PAIN (BASED ON NOTHING) Is there such a thing as stand-up existentialism? If not, Will Eno has just invented it. Stand-up-style comic riffs and deadpan hipster banter keep interrupting the corrosively bleak narrative. Mr. Eno is a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation (1:10). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance CAPTAIN LOUIE This one-hour childrens musical by composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) has such terrific music and singing you almost dont mind the clumsy dialogue and dime-store sets (1:00). Little Shubert Theater, 422 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, closing Sunday. (Miriam Horn) CATHAY: THREE TALES OF CHINA Joins puppetry, film and animation. The director-writer Ping Chong and the Shaanxi Folk Theater of China have created enchanting and moving theater (1:40). New Victory, 209 West 42nd Street, (212) 239-6200, closing Sunday. (Jefferson) KARLA The decks are stacked in Steve Earles play about the death row inmate Karla Faye Tucker. It is strong on heartfelt narrative, but equally strong on preachy sentiment and wishfulness (1:30). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101, closing Sunday.(Phoebe Hoban) THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS! The musical is the happy narcissist of theater; parody is the best form of narcissism. All it needs are smart writers and winning performers. Thats what we get in this case (1:30). Dodger Stages, Stage 5, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, closing Sunday. (Jefferson) NORMAL A misguided musical about a youngsters battle with anorexia and the stress it puts on her family. Gag (1:40). Connelly Theater, 220 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101, closing tomorrow. (Isherwood) . SHE SAID Inspired by Marguerite Durass coldly erotic, deeply ambiguous novel Destroy, She Said, this multi-media production directed by Ivan Talijancic is a visual gem whose luster is unfortunately dulled by a needlessly frustrating textual overlay (45 minutes). Part of the Act French Festival. The Brooklyn Lyceum, 227 Fourth Avenue, Park Slope, (212) 780-3372, closing on Sunday.(Jonathan Kalb) SLUT This overamplified musical comedy about love and promiscuity among East Village friends leans heavily on obscenities to lend it a daring edge. Instead, it swamps even its brightest moments in tawdriness (2:00). American Theater of Actors, 314 West 54th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, closing Sunday. ( Horn) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. * AFTER INNOCENCE (No rating, 95 minutes) Calm, deliberate and devastating, Jessica Sanderss documentary After Innocence examines the cases of seven men wrongly convicted of murder and rape and exonerated years later by DNA evidence. It confirms many of your worst fears about the weaknesses of the American criminal justice system. (Stephen Holden) BROOKLYN LOBSTER (No rating, 90 minutes) Kitchen-sink neorealism set in Sheepshead Bay: although well acted by Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin, too much of the film plays like a tedious case history from a business school textbook. (Holden) * CAPOTE (R, 114 minutes) Philip Seymour Hoffmans portrayal of Truman Capote is a tour de force of psychological insight. Following the novelist as he works on the magazine assignment that will become In Cold Blood, the film raises intriguing questions about the ethics of writing. (A. O. Scott) CHICKEN LITTLE (G, 80 minutes) The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Well, its not as bad as that. Almost, though. (Scott) * THE DYING GAUL (R, 105 minutes) Craig Lucass screen adaptation of his bitter off-Broadway revenge tragedy, is a sublimely acted film and a high point in the careers of its three stars, Campbell Scott, Patricia Clarkson, and Peter Sarsgaard, who play a bisexual Hollywood studio executive, his wife, and a young screenwriter. (Holden) G (R, 97 minutes) The decadent world of Hamptonite hip-hop moguls is the backdrop for this somewhat faithful but not very graceful retelling of F. Scott Fitzgeralds Great Gatsby. Soapy but well acted. (Laura Kern) GAY SEX IN THE 70s (No rating, 72 minutes) Joseph Lovetts nostalgic paean to the erotic utopia of his youth might be more accurately titled Anonymous Gay Male Sex in the 70s in Manhattan. Within that narrow framework, the film is quite successful. (Dana Stevens) * GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK (PG, 90 minutes) George Clooney, with impressive rigor and intelligence, examines the confrontation between the CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow (a superb David Strathairn) and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (himself). Plunging you into a smoky, black-and-white world of political paranoia and commercial pressure, the film is both a history lesson and a passionate essay on power, responsibility and the ethics of journalism (Scott) JARHEAD (R, 123 minutes) Sam Mendess film about Marines in the first Gulf War, waiting for action is often vivid and profane, like the Anthony Swofford memoir on which it is based, and some of the performances crackle with energy. But the film as a whole feels strangely detached and -- -even more strangely given its topical resonance -- irrelevant. (Scott) KISS KISS, BANG BANG (R, 103 minutes) Clever and dumb at the same time, this hectic pastiche of L.A. noir conventions offers opportunities for Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan to have a good time with hard-boiled dialogue, and the audience to have a few laughs watching them. The pictures self-conscious manipulations of tone and chronology might have seemed fresh and witty 10 years ago, but probably not even then. (Scott) LA SIERRA (No rating, 84 minutes, in Spanish) In their courageous documentary, La Sierra, the filmmakers Scott Dalton and Margarita Martinez take us to a small community in Medellín where an illegal right-wing paramilitary group holds power. When not fighting leftist guerrillas or settling local disputes, the young men -- kids with guns, grumbles one elderly resident -- strut their stuff for local girls whose astonishing fecundity seems like a desperate bid to replace the dead. (Jeannette Catsoulis) THE LEGEND OF ZORRO (PG, 126 minutes) Like most sequels, this successor to The Mask of Zorro feels obliged to outperform its forerunner by being bigger, faster and more spectacular. That translates into busier, sloppier, less coherent and more frantic. (Holden) * NINE LIVES (R, 115 minutes) The director Rodrigo Garcias suite of fleeting but intense moments in the lives of nine women is an extraordinarily rich and satisfying film, the cinematic equivalent of a collection of Chekhov short stories. The brilliant cast includes Sissy Spacek, Robin Wright Penn, Holly Hunter and Amy Brenneman. (Holden) NORTH COUNTRY (R, 123 minutes) A wobbly fiction about a real pioneering sex-discrimination case, North Country is an unabashed vehicle for its modestly de-glammed star, Charlize Theron, but its also a star vehicle with heart -- an old-fashioned liberal weepie about truth and justice. (Manohla Dargis) * PARADISE NOW (PG-13, 90 minutes, in Arabic and Hebrew) This melodrama about two Palestinians, best friends from childhood, chosen to carry out a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv is a superior thriller whose shrewdly inserted plot twists and emotional wrinkles are calculated to put your heart in your throat and keep it there. (Holden) PRIME (PG-13, 105 minutes) Actually, pretty mediocre. A thin romantic comedy that nonetheless has its charms, most of them provided by Uma Thurman as a divorced 37-year-old who falls for a 23-year old who happens to be her therapists son. (Scott) SAW II (R, 91 minutes) Jigsaw, the sicko known for masterminding twisted life-or-death games, returns for a sequel that doesnt really compare to its fine predecessor, though it still manages to be eye-opening (and sometimes positively nauseating) in itself. (Kern) * SHOPGIRL (R, 107 minutes) This delicate, deceptively simple film, taken from Steve Martins novella, spins perfect romance out of loneliness, compromise and the possibility of heartbreak. As a young retail clerk adrift in Los Angeles, Claire Danes gives a flawless performance, and Mr. Martin and Jason Schwartzman, as the very different men competing for her affection, bring gallantry, farce and sweetness to this funny, sad, insightful movie. (Scott) * THE SQUID AND THE WHALE (R, 88 minutes) Mining his own childhood, Noah Baumbach has put together an unsparing, funny portrait of a family in crisis and a young man trying to figure out his parents and himself. Superbly written and acted, especially by Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels as a pair of divorcing writers. (Scott) THE SWENKAS (No rating, 72 minutes, in English and Zulu) Every Saturday night in downtown Johannesburg, a group of poor, black, South African men engage in a ritualistic fashion show known as swanking. Dressed in hats and designer suits, they compete for prizes and promote an ethic of cleanliness and self-respect. And what working stiff doesnt itch to become a peacock on a Saturday night? (Catsoulis) USHPIZIN (PG-13, 91 minutes, in Hebrew) In this groundbreaking collaboration between secular and Orthodox Israelis, two roustabouts barge into the home of a Hasid and his wife and make comic trouble. (Holden) WAL-MART: THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE (No rating, 97 minutes) Robert Greenwalds documentary makes a devastating case against the largest retailer on the planet. This documentary gives Wal-Mart low marks for wages, overtime, employee benefits, anti-union activity, sexism, racism, parking lot safety and general sensitivity. (Anita Gates) * WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT (G, 85 minutes) The stop-motion pooch and his cheese-loving master, back again at feature length. Silly and sublime. (Scott) THE WEATHER MAN (R, 102 minutes) Yet another movie about a middle-age man gazing into the void of his life; this one was directed by Gore Verbinski and features a fine Nicolas Cage. (Dargis) Film Series CHILDREN IN THE 20TH CENTURY (Through Nov. 22) Symphony Space Thalia Films international program of films focusing on problems that affect children continues with two dramas. Kolya (1996) is the Oscar-winning story of a middle-aged single Czech cellist who finds himself the guardian of a 5-year-old boy. Come and See (1997) is about a World War II Soviet teenager who has lost his hearing on the battlefield. Both films will be shown on Sunday and Tuesday. Leonard Nimoy Thalia, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $10. (Gates) GENA ROWLANDS: AN INDEPENDENT SPIRIT (Through Nov. 20) This series from BAMcinématek continues this weekend with three films directed by John Cassavetes, Ms. Rowlandss husband. Gloria (1980) is a crime drama about a woman traveling with a little boy who witnessed his parents murder; Opening Night (1977) is about a Broadway star who witnesses a fans death; and Minnie and Moskowitz (1971) is a love story about a museum curator and a parking lot attendant. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; $10. (Gates) HIROSHI SUGIMOTO: THE MOVING IMAGE OF MODERN ART (Through Dec. 11) Japan Society presents seven films selected by Mr. Sugimoto, the visual artist, for their emphasis on artifice and their influence on Japanese modernism. The series begins with Tokyo Kid (1950), Torajiro Saitos musical tragedy about an orphan and her tenement neighbors in occupied Japan, and The Face of Another (1966), Hiroshi Teshigaharas surreal film about an unstable plastic surgeon and a man disfigured in an accident. 333 East 47th Street, (212) 752-3015; $10. (Gates) A LUMINOUS CENTURY: CELEBRATING NORWEGIAN CINEMA (Through Nov. 29) The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Norwegian Film Institute have organized this 29-film program representing Norways century-old movie industry. This weekends films include Edith Carlmars final film, The Wayward Girl (1959), a love story that was also Liv Ullmanns film debut; Arne Skouens Nine Lives (1957), about the World War II hero Jan Baalsrud; The Growth of the Soil (1921), Gunnar Sommerfeldts silent adaptation of Knut Hamsuns tribute to self-reliance; and Next Door (2005), Pal Sletaunes dark comedy about a young mans very strange neighbors. Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, (212) 875-5600, $10. (Gates) A MOVING CAMERA: KENJI MIZOGUCHI (Through Nov. 22) BAMcinématek is screening seven films by Mizoguchi (1898-1956), renowned for his painterly filmmaking and his brilliant direction of women. Mondays feature is Sisters of the Gion (1936), a feminist drama about two geishas. Tuesdays is Sansho the Bailiff (1954), an epic about an exiled 11th-century nobleman. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; $10. (Gates) NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL (Through Thursday) This series of more than 300 feature films and shorts begins today with 17 Mayis, Umur Turagays sports documentary; and Dark Side of the Light, Matt Walkers horror film about a haunted lighthouse. Closing night features include Jose Landivars Stray Cat in Brooklyn, about a lonely young man who goes to extremes to win his dream girl, and Youxin Yangs Silent Fire, about a man who pursues his college dream girl 20 years later. Village East Cinema, 181 Second Avenue, at 12th Street, (866) 468-7619; $11. (Gates) NO VISA REQUIRED: FILMS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST (Through Nov. 19) The TriBeCa Film Institute and ArteEasts program continues tomorrow with Oussama Fawzis I Love Cinema, a 2004 Egyptian film about a movie-mad boy, his repressed mother and his religious, politically disillusioned father. Cantor Film Center, New York University, 36 East Eighth Street, (212) 941-3890; $10. (Gates) SOME LIKE IT WILDER: THE COMPLETE BILLY WILDER (Through Sunday) The Museum of the Moving Images 26-film Wilder retrospective ends with one of William Holdens greatest performances and a variation on it. In Sunset Boulevard (1950), Holden is a young writer involved with an aging, reclusive, washed-up silent film star (Gloria Swanson). In Fedora (1978), Wilders penultimate film, Holden plays a producer trying to bring back a reclusive movie star who never seems to age. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, (718) 784-0077; $10. (Gates) UNDISCOVERED GEMS (Through Tuesday) The Web site IndieWire, Emerging Pictures and The New York Times are sponsoring a series of notable undistributed independent films. This weekends features are Jesse Mosss Speedo, about a demolition-derby star with a bad marriage; Bryan Poysers Dear Pillow, the story of a teenage boys friendship with a pornography writer; and Jonathan Stacks documentary Liberia: An Uncivil War. The festival ends on Tuesday, with Jessica Hausners Hotel, an Austrian-German thriller about a receptionist convinced her life is in danger. IFC Center, 323 Avenue of the Americas, (212) 924-7771, $10.75. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS, ROONEY (Tomorrow) With their most recent songs leaving screaming emo behind for pure pop, the energetic All-American Rejects deliver hooks with instinctive sweetness. Rooney, led by the actor Jason Schwartzmans brother Robert Carmine, makes pop inspired by ELO and the Beach Boys. The Academy Is also play. 6:45 p.m., Roseland Ballroom, 239 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $22 in advance, $25 at the door (sold out). (Laura Sinagra) ALL-STAR ZULU THROWDOWN (Tonight through Sunday) This anniversary gathering includes some of hip-hops founding artists, including Afrika Bambaataa and Roxanne Shante, as well as keepers of the old-school flame like Q-Tip. Check out zulunation.com for performers. Tonight and tomorrow at 9 p.m., the Kennedy Center, 34 West 134th Street, Harlem; $10 with flier (available online) before 11 p.m., $25 without flier; Sundays Meeting of the Minds discussion from 2 to 7 p.m., Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse, at 165th Street, Morrisania; free. (Sinagra) ANDREW BIRD, HEAD OF FEMUR (Sunday) The violinist Andrew Bird finds new uses for his instrument to suit the needs of his expressive, questing songs. With distorted and stuttered guitar and falsetto vocals, Head of Femur blurts impressions and confessions, urged on by horns that seem to have strayed from the football field to the hangout under the bleachers. 7:30 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $16 (sold out).(Sinagra) ART BRUT (Tonight) This London art-rock quartet satirizes the safe rock milieu with its petulant stomp Formed a Band. With a talk-sing delivery more empathetic than that of Johnny Rotten, but testier than that of Fred Schneider of the B-52s, Eddie Argos captures the excitement and absurdity of pop. Tonight at 9, Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103; $12. (Sinagra) BAUHAUS (Tonight and tomorrow) At the Coachella Valley Music Festival in California in April, this moody 80s goth band opened its well-received reunion gig with its signature 1979 single, Bela Lugosis Dead, with the singer Peter Murphy performing the nine-minute song suspended upside down like a bat. 9 p.m., Nokia Theater Times Square, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street; ticketmaster.com or (212) 307-7171;$40 (sold out). (Sinagra) BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA, CAT POWER (Monday) The soulful, bluesy gospel quartet Blind Boys of Alabama is still praising after 60-plus years. Over spare piano or guitar, Cat Powers Chan Marshall gives haunting voice to subconscious plagues and intermittent flickers of hope. 8:30 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street, (212) 220-1460; free with ticket (details at www.musicdowntown.org).(Sinagra) BRAZILIAN GIRLS (Tonight) With no members from Brazil and only one girl (the multilingual surrealist jazz singer Sabina Sciubba), this downtown quartet plays its erotic, electronica-inflected reggae and bossa novas on keyboards, computers, bass, and drums. Beans, Xavier and Globesonic also play. 9 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236; $20 in advance, $23 at the door. (Sinagra) JOHN CALE (Tomorrow) This former Velvet Underground member, Patti Smith collaborator and avant-garde experimenter has been exploring electronics on his latest work, his most recent of which is more muscular than meditative. 8 p.m., St. Anns Warehouse, 38 Water Street, at Dock Street, Brooklyn, (718) 254-8779, $27.50. (Sinagra) NEKO CASE (Thursday) The clarion voice thats best known now to many as the punchy, transcendent secret weapon of the Canadian pop group New Pornographers belongs to this alt-country chanteuse, who performs her own songs here. 7:30 and 9 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8770; $20. (Sinagra) COHEED & CAMBRIA, BLOOD BROTHERS (Wednesday and Thursday) Coheed and Cambria play a rough brand of metallic rock that veers into a preoccupation with supernatural lore and legend. With lyrics like Were scrapped valentines/ Were tangerine rinds unleashed as demonic shrieks over chaotic guitars, the Seattle quintet Blood Brothers find the place where noise-punk sprays emo rock shrapnel. Dredg and Me Without You also play. 7 p.m., Nokia Theater Times Square, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street; ticketmaster.com or (212) 307-7171; $25. (Sinagra) WASIFUDDIN DAGAR (Thursday) Continuing a family tradition, the vocalist Wasifuddin Dagar sings contemplative dhrupad music, said to be the oldest North Indian musical form. He is accompanied by Mohan Shyam Sharma on the pakhawaj, a double-headed drum. 8 p.m., Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $25. (Sinagra) DEAD KENNEDYS (Thursday) This Bay Area agit-punk outfit fell out with its charismatic frontman Jello Biafra. It still boasts East Bay Rays jagged surf guitar and sarcastic screeds like Kill the Poor and When Ya Get Drafted. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, Union Square, (212) 777-6800; $18.50 in advance, $20 at the door. (Sinagra) JUAN GABRIEL (Wednesday) Juan Gabriel, one of Mexicos most flamboyant and crowd-pleasing singers, writes extravagantly romantic ballads along with trenchant thoughts on immigration and globalization. He works with slick pop bands, mariachi groups and brass bands, sometimes all in the same marathon concert. 8 p.m., Theater at Madison Square Garden, 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue, Manhattan; (212) 465-6741; $69.50 to $139.50. ( Jon Pareles) GALACTIC (Tonight and tomorrow) Galactic carries on the second-line groove tradition of its hometown, New Orleans, which is now more precious than ever. Its easy-rolling funk tunes that add a horn section to the syncopated subtleties of the Meters. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, Union Square, (212) 777-6800; $25. (Pareles) BUDDY GUY, SHEMEKIA COPELAND (Tuesday) The Chicago blues guitarist Buddy Guy found a potent outlet when he recently joined forces with the spunky Delta preservationists at Fat Possum Records. The flirty Shemekia Copelands gravel and sass sends neo-soul stars back to diva school. 8 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street, (212) 509-0300; free with ticket (only a few remaining; details at www.musicdowntown.org). (Sinagra) KONONO NO. 1 (Wednesday and Thursday) On its album Congotronics (Crammed), Konono No. 1 has yanked thumb piano traditionals into the hip-hop age. Three electric likembés and three singers chanting politically conscious lyrics weave over a raucous rhythm section that combines street-gritty drum machines with traditional and found percussion. Wednesday at 7 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 539-8770, $20 (sold out); Thursday at 8 and 10:30 p.m., S.O.B.s, 204 Varick Street, at Houston Street, South Village, (212) 243-4940; $18 in advance, $22 at the door. (Sinagra) THOMAS MAPFUMO (Tomorrow) A musical pioneer with a rebels courage, Thomas Mapfumo made music for the revolutionaries who unseated the white-ruled government from what was Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe. The music transferred the brisk patterns of traditional thumb-piano music to guitar; the words sometimes sent coded messages. 10 p.m. and 12 a.m., Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-1155; $20 in advance, $25 at the door. (Pareles) WILLIE NELSON, RYAN ADAMS (Wednesday and Thursday) The grizzled and braided Willie Nelson brings his sharp voice and easy-rolling band to town for the Country Music Association awards, sharing the bill here with another hard-to-categorize, prolific pop-country upstart, Ryan Adams. 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, Upper West Side, (212) 496-7070; $38.50 to $78.50. (Sinagra) OKKERVIL RIVER (Tomorrow) Now that this Austin-based band has come up with it, you wonder why no one thought of it before: alt-country emo. The group combines countrys sad, lived-in guitar textures with emos tightly wound frustration. Man Man also plays. 9 p.m., Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103; $10 in advance, $12 at the door. (Sinagra) MATT POND PA (Thursday) Though this indie-pop bands latest album is full of nicely formed songs, none are very memorable. Live however, the band, which features a cello, executes with a forceful, chimey crispness. With Nicole Atkins and the Sea. 8:30 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $10. (Sinagra) QUINTRON AND MISS PUSSYCAT (Tomorrow and Sunday) The kooky avant-pop New Orleans organist Quintron plays kitschy funk with drum machines and experimental devices like his drum buddy, a light-activated percussion synthesizer. Miss Pussycat plays percussion too, as well as singing and puppeteering. Tomorrow at 9 p.m., High Five Space, 538 Johnson Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn, www.toddpnyc.com, $10; Sunday at 10 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $12. (Sinagra) BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (Wednesday and Thursday) This is an active year for the Boss, who is promoting his gravelly, woodshed-intimate musings Devils & Dust and the Born to Run 30th-anniversary album that is soon to be released, containing a rare 1975 concert and making-of documentary. 7:30 p.m., Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, N.J., (201) 935-3900; $55 to $85. (Sinagra) THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND (Tomorrow) Derek Trucks, the nephew of the Allman Brothers Bands drummer Butch Trucks, became a full-time member of his uncles band, and he leads his own blues-rocking band between Allman gigs. 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 840-2824; $32.50. (Pareles) JEFF TWEEDY (Wednesday and Thursday) The mercurial, pent-up guitarist and songwriter Jeff Tweedy, was once pegged as the more pop-inclined member in his former group, Uncle Tupelo. His band Wilco has morphed over the last decade from alt-country to alt-pop, but now indulges in more live and recorded experimentalism. Tonight Mr. Tweedy plays with the guitarist Nels Cline, and Thursday with Glenn Kotche. 8 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street, (212) 509-0300; free with ticket (details at www.musicdowntown.org). (Sinagra) Cabaret Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. ANNIE ROSS (Tomorrow) Cool, funny, swinging and indestructible, this 75-year-old singer and sometime actress exemplifies old-time hip in its most generous incarnation. 7 p.m., Dannys Skylight Room, 346 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 265-8133; $25, with a $12 minimum. (Stephen Holden) SINGING ASTAIRE (Tomorrow and Sunday) This smart, airy revue, which pays tribute to Fred Astaire, has returned, featuring Eric Comstock, Hilary Kole and Christopher Gines. 5:30 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; $30, with a $10 minimum. (Holden) STEVE TYRELL (Tonight and tomorrow, and Tuesday through Thursday) Mr. Tyrell has one of those where-have-I-heard-it-before growls that sounds great on a movie soundtrack but loses its charm in a club as he rolls standards off the assembly line as though they were all the same song. 8:45 p.m., with additional shows at 10:45 tonight and tomorrow night, Cafe Carlyle, Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 744-1600; $95 tonight and tomorrow; $85 Tuesday through Thursday. (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. WES (WARMDADDY) ANDERSON / KENGO NAKAMURA quintet (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Anderson, an alto saxophonist, and Mr. Nakamura, a bassist, have each worked in the nexus of Jazz at Lincoln Center, as have two other members of their quintet, the trumpeter Marcus Printup and the pianist Dan Nimmer. 8 and 9:45 p.m., Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue at 38th Street, Manhattan, (212) 885-7119; $20 cover, $10 minimum.(Nate Chinen) STEVEN BERNSTEINS MILLENNIAL TERRITORY ORCHESTRA (Monday) Led by the slide trumpeter Steven Bernstein, this little big band dusts off an obscure swing-era repertory with showmanship and irreverence. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $12. (Chinen) LOU DONALDSON QUARTET (Tuesday through Nov. 20) Bebop, blues and boogaloo are all fair game for the veteran alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson, who receives strong support here from Dr. Lonnie Smith on Hammond B-3 organ and Randy Johnston on guitar. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $20 to $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MARTY EHRLICH TRIO (Wednesday) Mr. Ehrlich, a versatile alto saxophonist and virtuoso clarinetist, seeks out a supple sparseness in this group with the acoustic bass guitarist Jerome Harris and the percussionist Susie Ibarra. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $10. (Chinen) JAMES FINN TRIO (Thursday) On his recent album, Plaza de Toros (Clean Feed), the tenor saxophonist James Finn teased out a connection between bullfighting and free jazz, with appropriate doses of bravado and humor; he steps back into the ring with Jaribu Shahid on bass and Warren Smith on drums. 10 p.m., Jimmys Restaurant, 43 East Seventh Street, East Village, (212) 982-3006; cover, $10. (Chinen) GROUNDTRUTHER (Tuesday and Wednesday) The eight-string guitarist Charlie Hunter and the drummer Bobby Previte comprise Groundtruther, a project geared toward stylish and groovy abstraction. 8 and 10 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $15 at the door, $12 in advance or $20 for both sets. (Chinen) LOUIS HAYES, JOHN HICKS, BUSTER WILLIAMS (Tuesday and Wednesday) Streamlined hard-bop is the common language of this all-star trio, featuring Mr. Hicks on piano, Mr. Williams on bass and Mr. Hayes on drums. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20.(Chinen) BOBBY HUTCHERSON QUARTET (Through Sunday) In the late 1960s, Mr. Hutcherson defined a commanding, harmonically exploratory postbop vibraphone style; here he leads a propulsive rhythm section composed of Renee Rosnes on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass and Willie Jones III on drums. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow, Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center, (212) 258-9595; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) * THE JAZZ MASTERS (Tonight) A summit of some of jazzs most distinguished gentlemen, whose roots stretch back to the 1940s and 50s: Clark Terry, flugelhorn; Benny Powell, trombone; Jimmy Heath, saxophone; Barry Harris, piano; Earl May, bass; and Tootie Heath, drums. 8 p.m., Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Boulevard, Queens, (718) 463-7700, Extension 222, www.flushingtownhall.org; tickets, $35, members, $25. (Chinen) SHEILA JORDAN (Thursday) Ms. Jordan is an accomplished jazz singer with a history of working with top-shelf musicians, like the pianist Steve Kuhn, who appears here; the engagement is a day-early celebration of Ms. Jordans 77th birthday. 8 and 10 p.m., Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 255-3626; cover, $15, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) FRANK LACYS VIBE TRIBE (Thursday and Nov. 18) Mr. Lacy is a trombonist with a free spirit, but a taste for tonality; this midsize ensemble, not quite a big band, features such team players as the saxophonists Abraham Burton and Salim Washington and the pianist Dave Kikoski. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063; cover, $15, members, $10. (Chinen) ANDREW LAMB TRIO (Wednesday) The tenor saxophonist Andrew Lamb pursues a corkscrewing inside-out experimentalism descended from AACM, the musicians cooperative in Chicago; his rhythm section consists of Shanir Blumenkranz, bassist, and Chad Taylor, drummer. 10 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 218-6934; no cover. (Chinen) LIONEL LOUEKE TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Loueke, a distinctive guitarist and vocalist, favors a form of global jazz deeply informed by Benin, his West African homeland; his bandmates are the bassist Massimo Biolcati and the drummer Ferenc Nemeth. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063; cover, $15, members, $10. (Chinen) KEIKO MATSUI (Through Sunday) Sometimes billowing and ethereal, sometimes crisp and gently funky, the music of Keiko Matsui has been celebrated in smooth jazz and New Age circles; at times, it can also suggest the worldly fusion of Weather Report, which isnt such a bad thing. 8 and 10 p.m., with an additional 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121; cover, $30 to $32.50, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * FRANK MORGAN QUARTET (Through Sunday) Mr. Morgan plays a cool variation on the bebop alto-saxophone argot invented by his tragic idol, Charlie Parker; here he returns to the scene of a recent live recording, backed by Ronnie Mathews on piano, Essiet Essiet on bass and Billy Hart on drums. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., and an additional 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20 to $25. (Chinen) GREG OSBY FOUR (Thursday and Nov. 18) Mr. Osby is an alto saxophonist with a predilection for jagged edges, and yet he is squarely within the jazz tradition; his rhythm section consists of the pianist Cory Smythe, the bassist Matt Brewer and the dynamic drummer Rodney Green. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20, $25 on Nov. 18. (Chinen) RASHANIM (Thursday) The guitarist Jon Madof leads this mischievous trio, with the bassist Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz and the drummer Mathias Künzli; they come touting a new album that supports John Zorns banner ideal of Radical Jewish Music. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $10. (Chinen) DJANGO REINHARDT FESTIVAL (Through Sunday) What began as a salute to the immortal French Gypsy guitarist has evolved into a smorgasbord of buoyant swing. This seasons stars include the guitarists Dorado Schmitt and Angelo Debarre and the accordionist Ludovic Beier; the pianist Roger Kellaway (tonight); the tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm (tomorrow); and the trumpeter Dominick Farinacci (Sunday). 8 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212).581-3080; cover, $35, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MARCUS ROBERTS TRIO (Tuesday through Nov. 20) Mr. Roberts has been an exemplar of blues-based jazz piano since his 1980s tenure with Wynton Marsalis; the bassist Roland Guerin and the drummer Jason Marsalis round out his excellent working trio. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set Fridays and Saturdays, Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center, (212) 258-9595; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) HILTON RUIZ QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Ruiz, a pianist with credentials in jazz and Latin music, presents a casual tribute to Tito Puente, with a band including Joe Locke on vibraphone. 9 and 11 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, Manhattan, (212) 864-6662; cover, $30. (Chinen) DAVID SANBORN (Through Sunday) Mr. Sanborn, an alto saxophonist known for tart crossover fare, plays material from Closer (Verve), a smooth but sturdy recent album; notwithstanding the sterling percussionist Don Alias, his rhythm section includes members of the Geoffrey Keezer Trio. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592; cover, $47.50 at tables and a $5 minimum or $30 at the bar, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) * LUCIANA SOUZAS BRAZILIAN DUOS (Wednesday) The São Paulo-raised vocalist Luciana Souza has made some of her most beguiling music in this format, joined by a lone acoustic guitar. Romero Lubambo, the guitarist, is more than an accompanist; providing intricate counterpoint and rhythmic undertow, he is Ms. Souzas equal. 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 539-8778; cover, $20, with a two-drink minimum. (Chinen) * TOOTS THIELEMANS AND KENNY WERNER (Tuesday through Nov. 20) The Dutch harmonica master Toots Thielemans and the American pianist Kenny Werner have recorded fruitfully together in recent years; here they focus on Brazilian music, an area of specialty for Mr. Thielemans, in an all-star ensemble featuring the guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves and the percussionist Airto Moreira. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592; cover, $35 at tables and a $5 minimum or $20 at the bar with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) * BEBO VALDÉS (Through Sunday) Mr. Valdés, a pianist, composer and legend of Cuban music, won a Latin Grammy last week for his superlative album Bebo de Cuba (Calle 54); he is making a rare club appearance with the Spanish bassist Javier Colina, who played on another recent album, Lágrimas Negras (Calle 54). 9 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $35, with a $10 minimum (sold out). (Chinen) BEN WALTZER QUARTET (Tomorrow) Mr. Waltzer, the pianist, manages a thoughtful modernism that coexists more than peaceably with an unself-conscious swing; his colleagues here include the expansive tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby and the incisive drummer Eric McPherson. 9 p.m., Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera AIDA (Tomorrow) The casting of the major roles in the Metropolitan Operas revival of Verdis ever-popular Aida has changed completely since Sonja Frisells production returned to the house last month. The Armenian soprano Hasmik Papian, who made her 1999 Met debut as Aida, portrays the Ethiopian princess, with the earthy Swiss mezzo-soprano Yvonne Naef as Amneris and the sturdy American tenor Franco Farina as Radames. Fans of the imposing baritone Mark Delavan, a longtime star of the New York City Opera, will be happy to see him back at the Met as Amonasro. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $42 to $220.(Anthony Tommasini) LA BOHÈME (Tomorrow and Tuesday) The Metropolitan Operas perennial holiday favorite is back, fitted out with a cast that includes a couple of veterans -- Ruth Ann Swenson as Mimi and Frank Lopardo as Rodolfo -- and a couple of able younger singers on their way to becoming Met fixtures, Emily Pulley as Musetta and Earle Patriarco as Schaunard. Tomorrow afternoon at 1:30, Tuesday night at 7:30, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $220 remaining tomorrow, $26 to $175 on Tuesday. (Anne Midgette) GIOVANNA DARCO (Wednesday) Vincent La Selva is a far better conductor than the size and stature of his company, the New York Grand Opera, might lead one to infer. Verdi is his specialty: he staged all of that composers operas in chronological order over eight summers in Central Park, recorded a fine disc of Verdi overtures and is now bringing Verdis early Joan of Arc opera for his annual presentation in Carnegie Hall. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $20 to $65. (Midgette) THE LITTLE PRINCE (Tomorrow, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday) Rachel Portmans modest and charming operatic setting gets a Francesca Zambello production at the New York City Opera. Tomorrow at 1:30 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $16 to $120. (Bernard Holland) A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM (Wednesday) Brittens adaptation of A Midsummer Nights Dream may be his most overlooked masterpiece. This extraordinary opera, with some of Brittens most intricate, subtle and wondrous music, taps right into the dark and ominous underside of Shakespeares deceptively fanciful play. The Juilliard Opera Center presents a fully-staged production with the British conductor David Atherton, an insightful and experienced Britten interpreter, leading the Juilliard Theater Orchestra. 8 p.m., Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 155 West 65th Street, (212) 769-7406; $20; $10 for students and 65+. (Tommasini) le NOZZE DI FIGARO (Tonight and Wednesday) Jonathan Millers airy, uncluttered production affords Mozarts music ample room to breathe. The cast is solid though not exceptional and includes Luca Pisaroni, Lisa Milne, Peter Mattei, Hei-Kyung Hong and Joyce DiDonato. Mark Wigglesworth conducts. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $205. (Jeremy Eichler) ROMÉO ET JULIETTE (Monday and Thursday) The news of this new production of Gounods sweet Shakespeare setting is the return to the Metropolitan Opera of the French soprano Natalie Dessay, hailed here for excellent Olympias and Zerbinettas, but occasionally sidelined with vocal woes. Partnering her is Ramón Vargas in a production mounted by a team of Met first-timers led by the director Guy Joosten. Betrand de Billy conducts. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $250. (Midgette) TURANDOT (Wednesday) If your idea of a stimulating evening is watching a beefy and clearly none too intelligent prince devoting himself singlemindedly to winning the heart of a creepy harridan -- and, O.K., singing Nessun Dorma along the way -- the companys venerable Beni Montresor staging (now directed by Beth Greenberg) is back on the boards, with a strong cast that includes Lori Phillips in the title role, Philip Webb as Calaf and Guylaine Girard as Liù. 7:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $16 to $120.(Allan Kozinn) WILLIAM TELL (Sunday) Rossinis last opera, a swashbuckling epic about the Swiss patriot William Tell, is known almost exclusively for one perky section of its four-part overture, immortalized as the theme song for The Lone Ranger. That this rich and sweeping opera is seldom performed is probably due to the difficulty of the leading roles, especially Arnold, Tells co-conspirator, a tenor part strewn through high Cs and even a high D flat. Marcello Giordani takes it on in a concert performance with the Opera Orchestra on New York, Eve Queler conducting. The baritone Marco Chingari sings the title role, and the soprano Angela Maria Blasi is Princess Mathilde. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $25 to $125. (Tommasini) ZAZÀ (Tomorrow) Leoncavallos turn-of-the-century opera was a big hit at the Met in the 1920s and Teatro Grattacielo returns it to New York, featuring the soprano Aprile Millo. 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $40 to $85. (Holland) Classical Music MARIE-CLAIRE ALAIN (Thursday) This French organist surveys music by Bach, Campion, Franck and others. 8 p.m., Church of the Holy Trinity, 316 East 88th Street, Manhattan, (212) 289-4100; $20, students and 65+, $15. (Eichler) AMERICAN COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA (Tonight) In the first concert of its season, this enterprising new-music orchestra and its music director, Steven Sloane, explore different kinds of musical motion, from the hyperactive writing, originally for player piano, in Conlon Nancarrows Study No. 7, to Michael Torkes deconstruction and reassembly of biblical lines in Proverbs. 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $27 to $35. (Kozinn) THE ENGLISH CONCERT (Monday) This once pioneering period-instrument group has been re-energized by the firebrand violinist Andrew Manze. Here Mr. Manze sandwiches works by Heinrich Biber between his own reconstructions of putative original versions of two of Bachs orchestral suites. 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $42 to $55. (James R. Oestreich) HILARY HAHN (Thursday) This noted young violinist plays Mozart and Beethoven sonatas with the pianist Natalie Zhu, along with flashy works by Ysae, Milstein and Enescu. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $20 to $69. (Eichler) CHU-FANG HUANG (Wednesday) This young pianist, a finalist at the Cliburn Competition in June, went on to win the Cleveland Competition in August. Here she plays works by Haydn, Chopin, Liszt and Huang Ruo. 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $15. (Oestreich) JUILLIARD ORCHESTRA (Monday) James Conlon leads this student orchestra in a pleasingly symmetrical program: Stravinskys Violin Concerto and Scherzo Fantastique opposite Brittens Piano Concerto and Four Sea Interludes. 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406; free, but tickets are required. (Eichler) JOEL KROSNICK AND GILBERT KALISH (Thursday) The cellist Joel Krosnick and the pianist Gilbert Kalish have won deserved acclaim for their riveting accounts of contemporary music. But this respected duo has long played a wide repertory of works. They present an all-Beethoven program, with three sets of variations for cello and piano, and the two early cello sonatas, No. 1 in F and No. 2 in G minor. 8 p.m., Paul Hall, Juilliard School, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, at 65th Street, (212) 769-7406; free, but tickets are required. (Tommasini) GYORGY LIGETI (Tomorrow) Picking the greatest living composer may be a pointless critical speculation. But my choice would be Gyorgy Ligeti, the Hungarian-born master, now 82, who is being celebrated by the Miller Theater this fall in a Ligeti Festival of films and concerts. In the final concert, Jennifer Koh performs Mr. Ligetis restless and stunningly original Violin Concerto with a new cadenza by, of all people, that iconoclastic composer with a pop music following, John Zorn. 8 p.m., Miller Theater, Columbia University, Broadway and 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799; $20. (Tommasini) MOZART -- SOUL OF GENIUS: BARBARA BONNEY SINGS MOZART (Tonight and Sunday) The title of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Centers yearlong celebration of Mozart tells only part of the story of this concert: Wolfgang Amadeus is the draw, but not the sole focus of a concert devoted to music by him, his father and his son; and Barbara Bonney is not the only singer in a recital she shares with talented young artists. (Watch for the mezzo Isabel Leonard.) Tonight at 8, Sunday at 5 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5788; $28 to $49. (Midgette) NEWBERRY CONSORT (Sunday) This fine ensemble of medieval and Renaissance specialists has assembled a program for the Frick Collection of works from the time of Hans Memling, the 15th-century Flemish artist whose portraits are being exhibited there. 5 p.m., the Frick Collection, 1 East 70th Street, Manhattan, (212) 288-0700; sold out, but returned tickets may be available at the box office. (Kozinn) NEW YORK COLLEGIUM (Tonight) This well-established period ensemble plays Bachs Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6. Ingrid Matthews is guest director and violin soloist. 8 p.m., Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, Lexington Avenue at 66th Street, Manhattan, (212) 717-9246; $30 to $50. (Eichler) MIAH PERSSON (Tonight) The young Swedish soprano recently had her debut in Salzburg, Austria, and at the Vienna State Opera; tonight she comes to Weill Hall with a pretty and fairly conventional program extending from Mozart, Schumann and Strauss to Grieg and two songs by the Swedish composer Gosta Nystroem. 7:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $32.(Midgette) PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) Christoph Eschenbach, the orchestras music director, has on occasion conducted Dvorak symphonies as if they were by Mahler. Here he offers an actual Mahler symphony: one of the noisiest, the portentous Sixth. So perhaps the shoe will fit. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $25 to $99. (Oestreich) THE RINGS: MYTH AND MUSIC (Sunday) Wagner meets the movies in the Collegiate Chorales excerpts from The Ring and The Flying Dutchman played next to parts of Howard Shores Lord of the Rings Symphony. 3 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $20 to $85. (Holland) SHELTER (Wednesday and Thursday) A collaborative work by the founders of Bang on a Can -- Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon and David Lang -- this new score looks at forms of shelter, as well as the things we take shelter from. First performed in Cologne, Germany, in March, the work includes a libretto by Deborah Artman, film by Bill Morrison and projections by Laurie Olander, and will be performed by MusicFabrik and the Trio Mediaeval. 7:30 p.m., Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; $20 to $45. (Kozinn) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. ANEMONE DANCE THEATER/SLOW SIX (Tonight and tomorrow) Tearing of the Night Sky, this companys ambitious-sounding new collaboration with the electro-acoustic ensemble Slow Six, blends Butoh-inspired choreography by Sara Baird and Erin Dudley. 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479 or www.joyce.org; $15.(Jennifer Dunning) BALLET FLAMENCO: JOSE PORCEL (Sunday) Spanish flamenco dance casts its timeless spell. 3 p.m., Queensborough Performing Arts Center, Queensborough Community College, 222-05 56th Avenue, Bayside, Queens, (718) 631-6311; $35 to $42. (Jack Anderson) BALLET MESTIZO (Tonight through Sunday) Opening tonight for a one-month engagement, the company performs Colombian folk dance and music. Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 4 p.m. (weekends through Dec. 11),Thalia Spanish Theater, 41-17 Greenpoint Avenue, Sunnyside, Queens, (718) 729-3880 or www.thaliatheatre.org; $25 (tonight); $30; $27 for students and 65+. (Dunning) * BATSHEVA DANCE COMPANY (Tuesday through Nov. 27) Israels leading modern-dance company with a new work by Israels leading choreographer, Ohad Naharin, presented by the Next Wave festival in an extremely intimate space. Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (and next Friday through Nov. 27), James and Martha Duffy Performance Space, Mark Morris Dance Center, 3 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100 or www.bam.org; $40. (John Rockwell) BHARATA NATYAM DANCE OF INDIA: MALAVIKA SARUKKAI (Tomorrow) Presented by the World Music Institute, Ms. Sarukkai is considered one of the foremost interpreters of this South Indian classical dance form. At 8 p.m. , Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway and 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $32; $27, children; $15, students. (Dunning) BLUEPRINT OF A LADY: THE ONCE AND FUTURE LIFE OF BILLIE HOLIDAY (Tomorrow and Sunday) A collaboration between Ronald K. Brown and his Evidence company with the jazz singer Nnenna Freelon, seen incomplete this summer at the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival. Tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888) 466-5722 or www.njpac.org; $37. (Rockwell) BODYVOX (Tuesday through Nov. 20) In Civilization Unplugged the choreographers Jamey Hampton and Ashley Roland whimsically visit technological evolution. Tuesday through next Friday at 8 p.m., Nov. 19 at 2 and 8 p.m., Nov. 20 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800 or www.Joyce.org; $36. (Anderson) CHAMBER DANCE PROJECT (Tonight and tomorrow) An elegant evening of contemporary chamber ballets choreographed by Adam Hougland, Ann Carlson, Victor Quijada and the artistic director Diane Coburn Bruning, with live music. 8 p.m., Ailey Studios at Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street, (212) 868-4444 or www.chamberdance.org; $25. (Erika Kinetz) COMPAGNIA ATERBALLETTO (Tonight and tomorrow) The Italian choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti makes his Brooklyn Academy of Music debut with reimaginings of two Stravinsky masterpieces first created for Diaghilevs Ballets Russes: Les Noces and Petrushka. 7:30 p.m., 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100 or www.bam.org; $20 to $50. (Kinetz) COMPANHIA PORTUGUESA DE BAILADO CONTEMPORANEO (Today) Mixing dance with poetry and music, Vasco Wellenkamp choreographically evokes the spirit of the fado, a poignant traditional form of Portuguese folk song. 8 p.m., Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, Brooklyn College, Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues, (718) 951-4500 or www.BrooklynCenterOnline.org; $15 to $35. (Anderson) CREACH/COMPANY (Opens Thursday) An all-male group directed by Terry Creach offers a theatrical collage of choreographic portraits of men featuring dramatic interactions among dancers, readings from performers diaries and the depiction of what Mr. Creach calls a broken-hearts club of guys. Thursday through Nov. 20, Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479; $15; $12 students and 65+. (Anderson) DANCE MAGAZINE AWARDS (Monday) For the first time, this presentation and performance event will be open to the public. Awards go to Clive Barnes, Alessandra Ferri, Donald McKayle, Jimmy Slyde and Christopher Wheeldon. 7:30 p.m., Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212) 752-4001, Extension 21 or (212) 307-4100 or www.ticketmaster.org; $50. (Rockwell) GARTH FAGAN DANCE (Tonight through Sunday) The choreographer celebrates his 35th-anniversary season. On the bill is Mr. Fagans world premiere Life: Dark/Light, a meditation on war with live music by the jazz violinist Billy Bang. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., the Rose Theater in Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, 33 West 60th Street, at Broadway, (212) 721-6500 or www.jalc.org; $45 to $65. (Kinetz) HEATHER HARRINGTON DANCE COMPANY (Thursday) Ms. Harrington fills the sanctuary stage-space with toys and childrens songs, incorporated by the composer Quentin Chiappetta in her new Devils Playground. Through Nov. 20. 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194 or www.danspaceproject.org; $15 or TDF vouchers. (Dunning) SARA JULI AND TIFFANY MILLS COMPANY (Tomorrow) Ms. Julis Money Conversation focuses on the value of money. Ms. Millss Godard tells an urban fairy tale involving an albatross dressed in plaid, a shag rug and a deluge of hats. Tomorrow at 3 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194 or www.danspaceproject.org; free, but reservations required. (Anderson) ANNE TERESA DE KEERSMAEKER (Tonight through Sunday) This Belgian choreographer makes a rare solo appearance in Once, set to music by Joan Baez. Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800 or www.joyce.org; $36. (Kinetz) LAR LUBOVITCH DANCE COMPANY (Tonight and tomorrow) Now in his 37th season, Mr. Lubovitch will present the United States premiere of Elemental Brubeck, set to music by Dave Brubeck. He is also working with a company of 14 dancers that includes many of the most gifted, seasoned performers in New York dance today. 8 p.m., Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, (212) 279-4200; $35 and $45; students, $12. (Dunning) SEOUL PERFORMING ARTS COMPANY (Tonight) A South Korean troupe offers traditional folk dances and new interpretations of ancient court and shamanic dances. 8 p.m., Peter Norton Symphony Space, Broadway at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $30; students $15.(Anderson) SALLY SILVERS & DANCERS (Thursday) One of the most original New York choreographers for 25 years, Ms. Silvers is presenting an anniversary program full of provocative-sounding new work performed by dancers who are pretty original, too, with a guest choreographer making work on the spot every night. Through Nov. 20. 8 p.m., Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 477-5288 or www.ps122.org; $20; $15 for students and 65+. (Dunning) REBECCA STENN (Tonight through Sunday) Another offshoot of the Pilobolus empire, the dependably thoughtful and gutsy Ms. Stenn will explore the archetypal Homeric journey in her new Blue Print, set to music composed and performed live by the Flux Quartet and inspired partly by the displacement caused by Hurricane Katrina. 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194 or www.danspaceproject.org; $15 or TDF voucher. (Dunning) SUNDAYS @ THREE (Sunday) This informal series focuses on new and restaged work by choreographers of all levels, here the Israeli artists Saar Harari, Deganit Shemy and Netta Yerushalmy. 3 p.m., 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center, 1365 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan, (212) 415-5500 or www.92ndsty.org; $10. (Dunning) JOHANNES WIELAND (Opens Thursday) A program of new works includes choreographic commentaries on the nature-versus-nurture debate, the forming and breaking of relationships and the power of images as presented in the media. Thursday through Nov. 19, Ailey Studios at the Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street, at Ninth Avenue, Manhattan, (347) 329-5526 or reservations@johanneswieland.org; $20; students, $15. (Anderson) NAMI YAMAMOTO (Tonight through Sunday) Small details, subtle emotional shifts and sudden movements with an absence of transitions in the last word was PAPIREPOSE emphasize the absurdity of the world. Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m., Sunday at 6 p.m., BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange, 421 Fifth Avenue, at Eighth Street, Park Slope, (718) 832-0018 or www.bax.org; $15. (Anderson) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: OBSESSIVE DRAWING, through March 19. In the museums first emerging talent show, one of the five artists selected is 83, lives in a home for the elderly in Pennsylvania and stopped painting two years ago because of failing eyesight. Overall, the work in the exhibition is abstract and spare, giving the problematic outsider category a new spin. 45 West 53rd Street, (212) 265-1040. (Holland Cotter) Asia society: Vietnam: Destination for the New Millennium -- The Art of Dinh Q. LE, through Jan. 15. Born in Vietnam, Mr. Le moved to the United States at 11 and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York. This small exhibition presents high-concept photographic and sculptural works about the Vietnam War and its effects, as well as a pair of sculptures representing communications satellites that satirize Vietnams plans to enter the space age. 725 Park Avenue, at 70th Street, (212) 288-6400.(Ken Johnson) Brooklyn Museum: Edward Burtynsky: Manufactured Landscapes, through Jan. 15. Large, expertly made color images by a Canadian photographer show industrial subjects like marble quarries in India, a tire dump in California and modern development in China. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, Brooklyn, (718) 638-5000. (Johnson) * THE FRICK COLLECTION: MEMLINGS PORTRAITS, through Dec. 31. Just over 30 portrait paintings by Hans Memling survive from the 15th century. Of those, about 20 are now on view at the Frick Collection. Thats a whale of a lot of paintings by any major early northern European artist to be in any one place at one time, and there is little question that this show will figure on any short list of outstanding events of the year. 1 East 70th Street, (212) 288-0700. (Cotter) GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: RUSSIA!, through Jan. 11. This survey of nine centuries of Russian art ranges from 13th-century religious icons to a smattering of 21st-century works, achieving its astounding effect without resorting to a single egg, or anything else, by Fabergé. It immerses us in two enormous, endlessly fascinating narratives: the history of painting and the history of Russia, forming a remarkable tribute to the endurance of the medium and the country, and the inescapable interconnectedness of art and life. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3600. (Roberta Smith) * JAPAN SOCIETY: HIROSHI SUGIMOTO: HISTORY OF HISTORY, through Feb. 19. A very personal, whimsical exhibition by this well-known Japanese photographer, who incorporates into his work artifacts that he has collected, particularly from East Asia and Japan. Mr. Sugimotos reach is long, and his range is broad, from fossils to textiles to undersea dioramas to Japanese calligraphy to the Trylon and Perisphere (a minisculpture) that symbolized the New York Worlds Fair of 1939. It may not be all that enlightening, but as an artists personal survey, it comes off. 333 East 47th Street, (212) 832-1155. (Grace Glueck). * JEWISH MUSEUM: THE JEWISH IDENTITY PROJECT: NEW AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY, through Jan. 29. Whos Jewish, who isnt, and, by the way, what is a Jew, anyway? They are not easy questions, as this intense who-are-we exploration makes clear. Ten projects by 13 artists try to help break the stereotype of American Jews as uniformly white, middle-class and of European descent. Using photography and video, they have interpreted their missions broadly, from the Korean-born Nikki S. Lees meticulous staging of a Jewish wedding with herself as the bride, to Andrea Robbins and Max Bechers look at the thriving shtetl established by Lubavitcher Hasidic Jews in the rural community of Postville, Iowa. 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, (212) 423-3200. (Glueck) * Metropolitan Museum of Art: FRA ANGELICO, through Jan. 29. An exhibition as rare as it is sublime brings the divine Angelico down to earth, showing how he had the best of both worlds, using the innovations of the Renaissance to parlay the radiant colors, gilded surfaces and doll-like figures of Gothic Art into a final flowering. Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212) 535-7710. (Smith) * Met: VINCENT VAN GOGH: THE DRAWINGS, through Dec. 31. Think again before deciding youve got a case of van Gogh fatigue and skipping this exhibition -- not just because the focus is on drawings, which on the whole are less well-known than the paintings and were so important to the early spread of his reputation, but also because in the flesh, great art, no matter how often it has been dully reproduced or mistaken for a price tag or overrun by crowds, retains its dignity and originality and utter strangeness. Frankly, the whole show, even including the bad drawings, is unforgettable. (See above.) (Michael Kimmelman) neue galerie: Egon Schiele: The Ronald S. Lauder and Serge Sabarsky Collections, through Feb. 20. This extensive exhibition mostly of works on paper gives an informative account of the regrettably brief career of one of the 20th centurys great draftsmen and romantic rebels. Schieles self-portraits and drawings and watercolors of sexy young women still burn with fires of narcissistic yearning, erotic desire and bohemian dissent. 1048 Fifth Avenue, (212) 628-6200. (Johnson) SMITHSONIANS COOPER HEWITT NATIONAL DESIGN MUSEUM: YINKA SHONIBARE SELECTS: WORKS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION, through May 7. A British sculptor of Nigerian descent organizes an absorbing small exhibition of objects related to travel from the Cooper Hewitt collection, and adds his own oblique comment on 19th-century imperialism in the form of two headless female mannequins in Victorian-style dresses cut from African-patterned fabrics, poised on six-foot stilts strapped to their feet. 2 East 91st Street, (212) 849-8300. (Johnson) * WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: OSCAR BLUEMNER: A PASSION FOR COLOR, through Feb. 12. Not exactly a well-known name today, except to devotees of American Modernism, this German-born architect-turned-painter (1867-1938) was, in fact, one of the major American artists of the early 20th century. Most of his compositions are unpeopled landscapes depicting houses and building fragments in brilliantly stylized settings in which trees, clouds, smokestacks, telephone poles, water and snow are rendered as rhythmic and dramatic shapes that play off one another almost musically. 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (212) 570-3676. (Glueck) Galleries: Chelsea Kim Simonsson Under the influence of Japanese manga cartoons, this Finnish ceramicist makes large, monochromatic sculptures of wide-eyed, otherworldly girls and deer. Nancy Margolis, 523 West 25th Street, (212) 242-3013, through Nov. 26. (Johnson) Luc Tuymans: Proper In Mr. Tuymanss most accessible show to date, dry, washed-out paintings based on seemingly random photographs add up to a jaundiced, rebuslike portrait of America. David Zwirner, 525 West 19th Street, (212) 727-2070, through Nov. 19. (Johnson) Other Galleries Eighth Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition The old-fashioned art of botanical illustration lives on, as evinced by this selection of finely made drawings and watercolors by more than 40 artists. Many are routinely competent, but some, like a small, intense picture of a gnarly root ball by Jean Emmons, are remarkable for both what and how they represent. The Horticultural Society of New York, 128 West 58th Street, (212) 757-0915, through Nov. 18. (Johnson) * André KertEsz From tiny, wonderfully intense pictures made in the teens in Budapest, where Kertesz was born in 1894, to formally acute views of Paris in the 20s and 30s, to emotionally and metaphorically resonant images of New York, where he lived from 1936 to his death in 1985, this beautiful exhibition covers the career of a giant of 20th-century photography. International Center of Photography, 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, (212) 857-0000, through Nov. 27. (Johnson) Landscape: Myth and Memory Miniature ruins built of tiny bricks on rocky landscapes made of clay by Charles Simmonds; large, faux-antique photographs of Egyptian pyramids by Lynn Davis; an enormous, crusty book by Anselm Kiefer open to the photographic image of ancient architectural remains; and archetypal circles painted and photographed by Richard Long all add up to a nicely choreographed collective fantasy about primordial civilizations. Senior & Shopmaker, 21 East 26th Street, (212) 213-6767, through Nov. 23. (Johnson) Ray Mortenson: Cedars/Sea and Sky Alternating between the land and sea of Rhode Island, this quietly gripping show of mostly small black-and-white photographs presents soft and misty images of bushy cedars and extraordinarily clear and luminous pictures of ocean waves. Janet Borden, 560 Broadway, (212) 431-0166, through Dec. 4. (Johnson) * NINE CONTEMPORARY SCULPTORS: FELLOWS OF THE SAINT-GAUDENS MEMORIAL A lively link between past and present is the Fellowship of the Saint-Gaudens Memorial, a foundation set up in 1977 to honor the great 19th-century American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Each year the foundation has chosen a contemporary American sculptor to receive a cash award ($10,000) and the opportunity for an eight-week summer show at the Saint-Gaudens estate in Cornish, N.H. This smartly selected exhibition presents representative work by nine award winners, ranging from a huge cube by Tara Donovan, made entirely of toothpicks (2003), to a mini-city sprawled on a vast tabletop, whose buildings of solid graphite were wrought by Alex McFarlane (1983). UBS Art Gallery, 1285 Avenue of the Americas, at 51st Street, (212) 713-2885, through Dec. 2. (Glueck) PLAIN OF HEAVEN Organized by Creative Time, this show of mostly site-specific installations insinuates a reverberating, poetic Minimalism into the darkened spaces of a former meatpacking plant. The efforts of Corey McCorkle, O. Winston Link, Leandro Erlich, Helen Mirra, Gordon Matta-Clark, William Forsythe and Sakia Olde Wolbers are noteworthy. A sound piece by Trisha Donnelly will engulf the building for the last 20 minutes of the shows run. 832 Washington Street, at Gansevoort Street, West Village, (212) 206-6674, through Nov. 20. (Smith) * THE SPLENDOR OF THE WORD: MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS AT THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY Few objects encapsulate their times like the exquisite full-service concentrations of text, image and decoration that are illuminated manuscripts, and few institutions in North America have as many great ones as New York Citys favorite library. New York Public Library, Fifth Avenue, at 42nd Street, (212) 869-8069, through Feb. 12. (Smith). System in Chaos: New Art Brut From the Czech Republic Four fascinating Czech outsiders: Zdenek Koseks small, congested bubble diagrams chart unfathomable verbal associations; Lubos Plnys expansive, finely detailed drawings offer delirious lessons in human anatomy; Zbynek Semeraks small, delicately busy works on paper convey what seems a medieval iconography of religion and architecture; and Leos Wertheimers large drawings portray locomotives with mechanical precision. Cavin-Morris, 560 Broadway, (212) 226-3768, through Nov. 26. (Johnson) Robert Therrien, Table and Six Chairs In a vast corporate atrium stand a table and six chairs that are wholly ordinary looking except for their gigantic size -- the chair backs rise to almost nine feet, and the top of the table is over six feet. Mr. Therrien transformed his own kitchen furniture into painted metal monuments that make the viewer feel like the protagonist of Jack and the Beanstalk. The Atrium of 590 Madison Avenue, at 56th Street, (212) 980-4575, through Nov. 28. (Johnson) Last Chance TIM BAVINGTON Modes of the 1960s, like spray-painted stripes and geometrically shaped canvases, are revived in attractive, multipaneled abstractions, but with a contemporary conceptual twist. Mr. Bavington bases his compositional decisions on an obscure system by which he translates passages of old rock music from the aural to the visual. Jack Shainman, 513 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 645-1701, closing tomorrow(Johnson) BARKELY HENDRICKS: BEAUTIFUL LIKE A WOMAN, A REAL WOMAN An exhibition tracing the artists transition from still-life paintings to found-object assemblages gets a little too hung up on the female anatomy. Mitchell Algus Gallery, 511 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-6242, closing tomorrow. (Smith) EVA & ADELE These husband-and-wife German artists have frequented the art world for nearly two decades, always in identical dresses, bald heads, make-up and heels. It turns out they also collaborate on capable if generic paintings 1980s period pieces with bright, layered images. Claire Oliver, 513 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 929-5949, closing tomorrow. (Smith) FRANKLIN EVANS: FREAKOUT If you like Mr. Evanss densely worked neo-psychedelic mural in the Drawing Centers current emerging artists show, you will appreciate the ink-and-watercolor drawings on view here. Crammed with richly colored geometric patterns, abstracted landscapes and figures, they are both trippy and intimately sensuous. Jeff Bailey, 511 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212) 989-0156, closing tomorrow.(Johnson) Shirley Jaffe Born in New Jersey in 1923 and a resident of Paris since 1949, Ms. Jaffe is still making lively, brightly colored abstract paintings that recall the jazzy Cubism of Stuart Davis. Her combination of formal rigor, playful sensuousness and allusions to pastoral landscapes will gladden your day. Tibor de Nagy, 724 Fifth Avenue at 56th Street, (212) 262-5050, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) SERGEJ JENSEN The stylishly reticent, cerebral paintings in this young, Berlin-based Danes memorably beautiful solo debut involve humble materials, homey techniques and a surprising amount of formalist backbone. Anton Kern Gallery, 523 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 367-9663, closing tomorrow. (Smith) * Jasper Johns: Flag Drawings This small, well-selected show of works on paper from private collections -- including Robert Rauschenbergs -- focuses on Mr. Johnss signature motif, the United States flag. Stars and Stripes dating from 1955 to 2000 are finely outlined, densely hatched and sensuously painted. A tiny example from 1957 is made in oil on a birth announcement with the white satin ribbon still attached. Craig F. Starr, 5 East 73rd Street, (212) 570-1739, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) AARON JOHNSON: FIEND CLUB LOUNGE The semi-abstract intestinal forms of this artists previous paintings have mutated into full-fledged, rainbow-colored ghouls that teem with decorative malevolence. Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, 547 West 27th Street, Chelsea, (212) 244-4320, closing tomorrow. (Smith) ALEX KATZ: FIRST SIGHT, WORKING DRAWINGS FROM 1965 TO 2002 Over 400 notebook drawings show the starting points of Mr. Katzs portraits, landscapes and still lifes, conveying a ceaseless, omnivorous attention to the world. Peter Blum, 99 Wooster Street, SoHo (212) 343-0441, closing tomorrow. (Smith) ROY LICHTENSTEIN: CONVERSATIONS WITH SURREALISM In its swank, newly opened downtown outpost, a blue-chip uptown gallery is showing eight examples of this famous Pop artists indelibly cartoonized, also swank borrowings from Surrealism. Mitchell Innes & Nash, 534 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 744-7400, closing tomorrow (Smith) DONALD MOFFETT A deliberately antiseptic installation of seemingly sharp-edged silver monochrome paintings conflates visual pleasure, monetary value and physical pain. Marianne Boesky Gallery, 535 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 680-9889, closing tomorrow. (Smith) Lynn Talbot, Daniel Zeller In small, lovingly made oil paintings, Ms. Talbot juxtaposes emblematic abstractions and Magic Realist still-lifes to sweetly mystical. Mr. Zeller continues to draw with maniacally exacting industry small and large abstractions resembling topographical maps by a cartographer from another, possibly microscopic, universe. Pierogi, 177 North Ninth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-2144, through Monday. (Johnson) Zhou Xiaohu The best works in an unfocused presentation of efforts in various media by this versatile Chinese artist are the haunting, darkly comical Claymation videos depicting scenes like the trial of Saddam Hussein, a political assassination and the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. Ethan Cohen, 18 Jay Street, near Hudson Street, TriBeCa, (212) 625-1250, closing tomorrow. (Johnson)

A guide to Biblical dating and marriage in the 21st century

Amy is 15 weeks pregnant with the couples first child, and after their wedding in Montgomery on October 5, 2013 (they later went to New York to get a marriage license for legal respect on a federal level), they know that at last, theyll be recognized.

Gay Marriage in Alabama Begins, but Only in Parts

Despite a federal judges ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, most probate judges in Alabama on Monday refused to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, escalating a legal showdown that echoed the battles over desegregation here in the.

Sunburn ��� The morning read of whats hot in Florida politics ��� February 6

. night before his wedding. The secretive Leedskalnin spent more than two decades, using only hand tools, to carve the 1,110 tons of rock, but he always refused to say how he moved all the stone by himself... The four statewide elected officials.

THE LISTINGS | MAY 4 - MAY 10

Selective Listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the New York metropolitan region this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings DIXIES TUPPERWARE PARTY In previews; opens on Thursday. Dixie Longate has left her Alabama trailer park to sell Tupperware in New York in this irreverent comedy (1:15). Ars Nova, 511 West 54th Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444. DEUCE In previews; opens on Sunday. The grandes dames Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes play retired tennis players in this new Terrence McNally comedy. Michael Blakemore directs (1:45). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. GASLIGHT Previews start on Wednesday. Opens on May 17. The always fascinating Brian Murray stars in Patrick Hamiltons thriller about a man who drives his wife insane (2:00). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 727-2737. MEMORY Previews start tomorrow. Opens on Thursday. Part of the increasingly essential Brits Off Broadway festival, a new play by Jonathan Lichtenstein (The Pull of Negative Gravity), about the way people choose to remember events, reveals how the Holocaust still haunts the present. Terry Hands directs (1:30). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200. 110 IN THE SHADE In previews; opens on Wednesday. Audra McDonald stars in the Roundabouts revival of the musical version of N. Richard Nashs Rainmaker. Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street, (212) 719-1300. PASSING STRANGE In previews; opens on May 14. The Joes Pub veteran and pop singer Stew tries his hand at musical theater, with a rock-theme score and a story about the journey of a black bohemian (2:30). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555. RADIO GOLF In previews; opens on Tuesday. The last play in August Wilsons cycle is set in 1997 and centers on the vital question of what will be done with the fabled Aunt Esthers house. Tonya Pinkins (Caroline, or Change) stars (2:30). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. Broadway A CHORUS LINE If you want to know why this show was such a big deal when it opened 31 years ago, you need only experience the thrilling first five minutes of this revival. Otherwise, this archivally exact production, directed by Bob Avian, feels like a vintage car that has been taken out of the garage, polished up and sent on the road once again (2:00). Schoenfeld Theater, 236 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley) * THE COAST OF UTOPIA Lincoln Center Theaters brave, gorgeous, sprawling and ultimately exhilarating production of Tom Stoppards trilogy about intellectuals errant in 19th-century Russia. A testament to the seductive powers of narrative theater, directed with hot and cool canniness by Jack OBrien and featuring a starry cast (Brian F. OByrne, Jennifer Ehle, Martha Plimpton, Josh Hamilton and Ethan Hawke, among others) in a tasty assortment of roles. Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * COMPANY Fire, beckoning and dangerous, flickers beneath the frost of John Doyles elegant, unexpectedly stirring revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furths era-defining musical from 1970, starring a compellingly understated Raúl Esparza. Like Mr. Doyles Sweeney Todd, this production finds new clarity of feeling in Sondheim by melding the roles of performers and musicians (2:20). Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) CORAM BOY Set in 18th-century England, this rollicking melodrama about imperiled orphans is big and broad but not particularly deep. With a cast of 40, an orchestra in the pit and bursts of choral music (Handel, mostly) decorating the proceedings, it is tastefully splashy and certainly impressive, but less emotionally engaging than you might hope (2:30). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Charles Isherwood) CURTAINS This musical comedy about a musical-comedy murder -- featuring songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb and a book by Rupert Holmes -- lies on the stage like a promisingly gaudy string of firecrackers, waiting in vain for a match. The good news is that David Hyde Pierce, playing a diffident Boston detective, steps into full-fledged Broadway stardom. Scott Ellis directs a talent-packed cast that includes Debra Monk and Karen Ziemba. (2:30). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * FROST/NIXON Frank Langella turns in a truly titanic performance as Richard M. Nixon in Peter Morgans briskly entertaining, if all-too-tidy, play about the former presidents annihilating television interviews with the British talk show host David Frost (the excellent Michael Sheen). Michael Grandage directs with the momentum of a ticking-bomb thriller and the zing of a boulevard comedy (1:40). Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * GREY GARDENS Christine Ebersole is absolutely glorious as the middle-aged, time-warped debutante called Little Edie Beale in this uneven musical adaptation of the notorious 1975 documentary of the same title. She and the wonderful Mary Louise Wilson (as her bedridden mother), in the performances of their careers, make Grey Gardens an experience no passionate theatergoer should miss (2:40). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) INHERIT THE WIND Doug Hughess wooden revival of this worthy war horse, based on the Scopes monkey trial of 1925, never musters much more velocity than a drugstore fan. Be grateful that the cast includes Christopher Plummer, in savory form as a Will Rogers of jurisprudence. An oddly subdued Brian Dennehy plays his pompous adversary (2:00). Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * JOURNEYS END A splendid revival of R. C. Sherriffs 1928 drama of life in the trenches during World War I. Acutely staged (by David Grindley) and acted by a fine ensemble led by Hugh Dancy and Boyd Gaines, this production offers an exemplary presentation of that theatrical rarity, an uncompromising, clear-eyed play about war and the experience of day-to-day combat. An essential ticket (2:40). Belasco Theater, 111 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) LEGALLY BLONDE This nonstop sugar rush of a musical about a powder puff who finds her inner power-broker, based on the 2001 film, approximates the experience of eating a jumbo bag of Gummi Bears in one sitting. Flossing between songs is recommended (2:20). Palace Theater, 1564 Broadway, at 47th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) MARY POPPINS This handsome, homily-packed, mechanically ingenious and rather tedious musical, adapted from the P. L. Travers stories and the 1964 film, is ultimately less concerned with inexplicable magic than with practical psychology. Ashley Brown, who sings prettily as the family-mending nanny, looks like Joan Crawford trying to be nice and sounds like Dr. Phil. Directed by Richard Eyre and Matthew Bourne (2:30). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) LES MISÉRABLES This premature revival, a slightly scaled-down version of the well-groomed behemoth that closed only three years ago, appears to be functioning in a state of mild sedation. Appealingly sung and freshly orchestrated, this fast-moving adaptation of Victor Hugos novel isnt sloppy or blurry. But its pulse rate stays well below normal (2:55). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN Kevin Spacey gives a bizarre, beat-the-clock performance, as lively as a frog on a hot plate, as James Tyrone in this off-kilter revival of Eugene ONeills last play. Mercifully, he does not block the view of Eve Best, who maps the contradictory levels of Tyrones strapping love interest with clarity and intelligence (2:50). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) THE PIRATE QUEEN How to river-dance your way to the bottom of the ocean, courtesy of the songwriters of Les Misérables (2:30). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * SPRING AWAKENING Duncan Sheik and Steven Saters bold adaptation of the Frank Wedekind play is the freshest and most exciting new musical Broadway has seen in some time. Set in 19th-century Germany but with a ravishing rock score, it exposes the splintered emotional lives of adolescents just discovering the joys and sorrows of sex. Performed with brio by a great cast, with supple direction by Michael Mayer and inventive choreography by Bill T. Jones (2:00). Eugene ONeill Theater, 230 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) * TALK RADIO The most lacerating portrait of a human meltdown this side of a Francis Bacon painting. Playing an abrasive radio talk show host with a God complex, the astounding Liev Schreiber seems to fill the air as inescapably as weather in Robert Fallss gut-grabbing revival of Eric Bogosians 1987 play (1:40). Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) TARZAN This writhing green blob with music, adapted by Disney Theatrical Productions from the 1999 animated film, has the feeling of a superdeluxe day care center, equipped with lots of bungee cords and karaoke synthesizers, where children can swing when they get tired of singing, and vice versa. The soda-pop score is by Phil Collins (2:30). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING Joan Didions arresting but ultimately frustrating adaptation of her best-selling memoir about being blindsided by grief, starring Vanessa Redgrave. The tension between style and emotional content that made the book such a stunner does not translate to the stage. The substance here is in the silences, when the focus shifts from words to Ms. Redgraves wry, wounded face (1:40). Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) Off Broadway ALL THE WRONG REASONS: A TRUE STORY OF NEO-NAZIS, DRUG SMUGGLING AND UNDYING LOVE John Fugelsangs amiable solo show mixes memoir and stand-up comedy in a tale of family, faith and Roman Catholic guilt. Slight but engaging (1:30). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 460-5475. (Isherwood) AMERICAN FIESTA The economist, consultant, preacher and playwright Steven Tomlinson makes his New York stage debut with a one-man show about how it was that he came to collect Fiestaware, the colorful china of the Depression years, which he deploys as a metaphor for just about everything. An astute observer of consumer obsession, Mr. Tomlinson ultimately subordinates much of his clever writing to a tepid and trite political message: that American civic life is a fractured bowl that needs to be put back together right now. American Fiesta is also about gay marriage, eBay and neuroscience, which is to say that it is about much too much (1:30). Vineyard Theater, 108 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 353-0303. (Ginia Bellafante) BE A high-energy, low-content Israeli show that blends music, dance and sex appeal in the latest attempt to tap into the Stomp market (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 307-4100. (Jason Zinoman) THE BIG VOICE: GOD OR MERMAN? Think of two gifted and smart gay men with years of life together deploying their considerable talents from the two pianos you happen to have in your living room. The result is a hilarious and very touching memoir of two decades of love and the funky glories of show business life (2:00). Actors Temple Theater, 339 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Honor Moore) BILL W. AND DR. BOB This insightful new play about the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous subtly makes the claim that the recovery movement was born as a series of accidents. Patrick Husted is excellent as Bob Smith, Bill Wilsons partner in combating addictions (2:15). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Bellafante) BIOGRAPHY A revival of S. N. Behrmans hoary 1932 comedy about a society portraitist and the men who keep trying to reign her in feels slight as a needlepoint pillow. As the plays supposedly beguiling heroine, Marion Froude, Carolyn McCormick never beguiles (2:15). The Pearl Theater, 80 St. Marks Place, at First Avenue, East Village, (212) 598-9802. (Bellafante) * BLACKBIRD David Harrowers stunning new drama looks back at a sexual relationship -- between a 40-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl -- that transforms, cripples and paralyzes. Jeff Daniels and Alison Pill, both extraordinary, peel their characters down to their barest souls. Joe Mantello is the masterly director (1:30). Manhattan Theater Club at City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. (Brantley) THE FANTASTICKS A revival -- well, more like a resuscitation -- of the Little Musical That Wouldnt Die. This sweet-as-ever production of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidts commedia-dellarte-style confection is most notable for Mr. Joness touching performance (under the pseudonym Thomas Bruce) as the Old Actor, a role he created when the show opened in 1960. Mr. Jones also directs (2:05). Snapple Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * IN THE HEIGHTS Lin-Manuel Mirandas joyous songs paint a vibrant portrait of daily life in Washington Heights in this flawed but enjoyable show. Essentially a valentine to the barrio -- conflict of a violent or desperate kind is banished from the picture -- the musical contains a host of funny performances and brings the zesty sound of Latin pop to the stage. (2:10). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Isherwood) THE J.A.P. SHOW: JEWISH AMERICAN PRINCESSES OF COMEDY Laughs along with longueurs (1:30). Actors Temple Theater, 339 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Lawrence Van Gelder) A JEW GROWS IN BROOKLYN You dont have to be Jewish or Brooklynish to empathize with Jake Ehrenreich, but in terms of fully appreciating his essentially one-man show, it probably helps. Especially the Catskills jokes (2:05). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, (212) 560-8912. (Anita Gates) MY MOTHERS ITALIAN, MY FATHERS JEWISH AND IM IN THERAPY Steve Solomon does skillful impersonations in his one-man show, but some of his jokes are as old as the hills (1:30).Westside Theater Downstairs, 407 West 43rd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) NO CHILD Teachers will love Nilaja Suns one-woman show about the challenges of teaching drama at Malcolm X High School (1:10). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) * SPALDING GRAY: STORIES LEFT TO TELL A disarming collage of selections from the monologues and journals of Mr. Gray, the ultimate stand-up solipsist, who died in 2004. Directed by Lucy Sexton, and read by five performers, none of whom resemble Mr. Gray, with an affection that shrewdly stops short of hero worship (1:30). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Off Off Broadway DENIAL An engrossing and timely legal drama about a Holocaust denier being defended by a Jewish lawyer, this play examines the moral and ethical dilemma inherent in the First Amendment and asks how much sufferance can a free society give its crackpots and maintain its individual liberties (2:30). Metropolitan Playhouse, 220 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 995-5302. (Wilborn Hampton) REALISM and JUMP! The stately Jean Cocteau Repertory (now known as the Exchange) gets a hipster makeover with two foul-mouthed and aggressive new provocations from Britain (1:30 each). Kirk Theater, 420 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Zinoman) T J AND DAVE The comics T. J. Jagodowski and Dave Pasquesi miraculously improvise a one-hour play at every performance. This is an impressive feat of mental athletics, but the results are also observant, complex and frequently enormously funny (1:00). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) Long-Running Shows ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh, sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE COLOR PURPLE Singing CliffsNotes for Alice Walkers Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (2:40). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE DROWSY CHAPERONE A pasteboard pastiche of 1920s musicals, as remembered by a witty show queen(1:40). Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT Often more entertaining than the real thing (1:45). 47th Street Theater, 304 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). Minskoff Theater, 200 West 45th Street at Broadway, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) SPAMALOT A singing scrapbook for Monty Python fans (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE A Chorus Line with pimples (1:45). Circle in the Square, 254 West 50th Street, Manhattan, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance THE ACCOMPLICES Bernard Weinraub, a former reporter for The New York Times, has chosen a worthy subject for his first play: In 1940, the young Zionist Peter Bergson was determined to persuade the United States government to open its arms to Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis. Unfortunately, this production takes a hagiographic approach to its protagonist, emphasizing his heroism at the expense of more complex characterization. (2:00). Acorn Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200; closes tomorrow. (David Ng) ANNE OF GREEN GABLES The trick to refashioning beloved childrens books for the stage is to keep both the spirit and the story largely intact. In this, Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford -- a musical-theater partnership of five decades standing, who have moved from their hit Im Getting My Act Together to the American Girl demographic -- have largely succeeded. This breezy, upbeat musical avoids slickness and gets the job done, and is nicely cast into the bargain (1:30). The Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 279-4200; closes tomorrow. (Anne Midgette) * APOSTASY Gino Dilorios fearless play about a dying white Jewish woman who falls under the spell of a black televangelist is pretty good; the acting that delivers it is terrific, especially Susan Greenhill as the woman, and Susan Louise OConnor as her daughter (2:00). Urban Stages, 259 West 30th Street, (212) 868-4444; closes on Sunday. (Neil Genzlinger) GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL A very funny if not terribly original satire of musical theater features what must be the worst backers audition of all time (2:05). Actors Playhouse, 100 Seventh Avenue South, at Fourth Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 239-6200; closes on Sunday. (Zinoman) JANE EYRE Staged as a psychological drama, this new version of an oft-adapted classic is a shadowy, fluid, engaging production (2:45). Baruch Performing Arts Centers Nagelberg Theater, 55 Lexington Avenue, at 25th Street, (212) 279-4200; closes tomorrow. (Zinoman) HOWARD KATZ The subject of Patrick Marbers comedy of unhappiness about a rabid talent agent, starring a baleful Alfred Molina and directed by Doug Hughes, is nothing more nor less than your standard-issue midlife crisis. This familiar topic gets the better of all the talented people here trying to make it seem fresh (1:30). Laura Pels Theater, 111 West 46th Street, (212) 719-1300; closes on Sunday. (Brantley) THE VIEW FROM K STREET STEAK An attempt at political satire that misses with just about every shot, this play ends up being simply confusing and boring, neither funny nor timely (1:50). Altered Stages, 212 West 29th Street, Chelsea, (212) 352-3101; closes tomorrow. (Hampton) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE COLON MOVIE FILM FOR THEATERS (R, 87 minutes) Not as funny as the title or the Cartoon Network series on which its based. (A. O. Scott) BLADES OF GLORY (PG-13, 93 minutes) In this fast, light, frequently funny comedy about a male figure-skating team, Will Ferrell and Jon Heder stake an early claim to being the comedy couple of the year. (Stephen Holden) THE CONDEMNED (R, 100 minutes) This simple-minded vehicle for the wrestling star Steve Austin follows a bunch of muscle-bound lowlifes as they fight to the death for the benefit of an Internet reality show. Leaden and inept, the movie fails to deliver even the action goods, presenting every fight scene in such quaking, extreme close-up that its difficult to tell whos pummeling whom. Fortunately, the language of pain is universal. (Jeannette Catsoulis) * DIGGERS (R, 90 minutes) This minutely observed period piece, set in 1976, about clam diggers on the south shore of Long Island has the brave, mournful tone of a Springsteen song (My Hometown, say) set in Billy Joel territory. (Holden) DISTURBIA (PG-13, 104 minutes) A pleasant, scary, well-directed variation on the killer-next-door theme, with the engaging Shia LeBeouf as Kale, a young man who turns house arrest into an occasion for voyeurism and crime-fighting. (Scott) FRACTURE (R, 111 minutes) A glib entertainment that offers up the spectacle of that crafty scene-stealer Anthony Hopkins mixing it up with that equally cunning screen-nibbler Ryan Gosling. (Manohla Dargis) GRINDHOUSE (R, 180 minutes) A double feature, complete with fake previews for schlocky exploitation pictures, that pays nostalgic tribute to disreputable traditions of moviemaking and moviegoing. Robert Rodriguez contributes Planet Terror, a purposely incoherent zombie gross-out flick that flaunts is own badness the way Rose McGowan (as a go-go dancer named Cherry Darling) shows off her weaponized prosthetic leg. For his part, Quentin Tarantino, more of a connoisseur than his collaborator (and a much better filmmaker), turns out a brutal, talky and satisfying car-chase revenge movie in Death Proof, starring Kurt Russell. (Scott) * THE HOAX (R, 115 minutes) A first-rate performance by Richard Gere drives this true story of Clifford Irving (Mr. Gere), who claimed to be the authorized biographer of Howard Hughes. Shadowed by the paranoia of its period (the early 70s), this movie, crisply directed by Lasse Hallstrom from an excellent script by William Weaver, is less a morality play than an entertaining portrait of a literary gambler. (Scott) * HOT FUZZ (R, 121 minutes) A British parody of Hollywood-style action flicks from the wits behind Shaun of the Dead. Think of it as The Full Monty blown to smithereens. (Dargis) IN THE LAND OF WOMEN (PG-13, 98 minutes) This meek, mopey comedy is the film equivalent of a sensitive emo band with one foot in alternative rock and the other in the squishy pop mainstream. The movie would like to think of itself as a softer, fuzzier Garden State. (Holden) THE INVISIBLE (PG-13, 102 minutes) This supremely silly retread of the 2002 Swedish film Den Osynlige proves its tough to be in love and in limbo at one and the same time. When a rich-yet-troubled teenager (Justin Chatwin) crosses paths with a violently disturbed classmate (Margarita Levieva), we learn theres nothing quite like a near-death experience to repair those stubborn emotional wounds. (Catsoulis) KICKIN IT OLD SKOOL (PG-13, 107 minutes) Jamie Kennedy tries to lead a break-dancing revival, playing a man who was left in a coma by a break-dancing accident in 1986 and has only just now come out of it. Funny early, but grows less so, and the dancing sequences arent as exciting as they ought to be. (Neil Genzlinger) * KILLER OF SHEEP (No rating, 83 minutes) Largely hidden from view for three decades, Charles Burnetts lyrical film about a working-class family living in a broken-down home in a bombed-out stretch of Los Angeles is an American masterpiece, independent to the bone. (Dargis) LONELY HEARTS (No rating, 100 minutes) This beautifully photographed remake of Leonard Kastles 1970 cult B movie The Honeymoon Killers succeeds better than many modern crime dramas in balancing the philosophical with the visceral, although its villains dirty deeds still trump its deeper strain of melancholy. (Holden) NEXT (PG-13, 96 minutes) Nicolas Cage plays a guy who can see into the future in this crummy adaptation of a nifty Philip K. Dick story. Too bad Mr. Cage couldnt tap into those same powers to save himself from another bad role. (Dargis) PERFECT STRANGER (R, 109 minutes) There is enough of a grain of truth in this noirish, paranoid thriller set in the New York media world that even after it lurches from the farfetched into the preposterous, the movie leaves a clammy residue of unease. (Holden) * PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES (No rating, 120 minutes, in French) A film from the venerable French auteur Alain Resnais about love and cinematic spaces, elegant camera moves and six heavenly bodies as seen through a mighty telescope. (Dargis) * RED ROAD (No rating, 113 minutes) Andrea Arnolds first feature falls into melodrama and implausibility at the end, but along the way it is a remarkably assured and complex piece of work, anchored by the directors formal control and by Jackie Dicks quietly heartbreaking performance as a Glasgow video-surveillance officer with an unhappy past. (Scott) SING NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE (No rating, 94 minutes) A would-be Big Chill for 30-somethings, Sing Now concerns the 15-year reunion of a college a cappella group for a classmates wedding in the Hamptons, and its attendant midlife crises. But the ensemble cast is too unwieldy, and interesting characters are given short shrift. Only Molly Shannon, in a selfless, robust performance, registers amid the suds. (Andy Webster) SNOW CAKE (No rating, 112 minutes) Sigourney Weaver peels off layers of urbane sophistication to play a high-functioning autistic woman living in a rural Ontario town who intersects with an embittered Briton (Alan Rickman). Their technically accomplished performances partly camouflage the suds. (Holden) SOMETHING TO CHEER ABOUT (No rating, 64 minutes) Betsy Blankenbakers plodding but heartfelt documentary celebrates the career of Indianas Crispus Attucks Tigers, who, in 1955, became the first all-black high school basketball team to win a state championship. Interspersing grainy game film and interviews with original team members, like the N.B.A. legend Oscar Robertson and the former Harlem Globetrotter Hallie Bryant, the movie pays tribute to a time when basketball scholarships and N.B.A. opportunities were unknown. Back then, a players only opportunity was to make history. (Catsoulis) * SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY (No rating, 105 minutes, in Thai) Apichatpong Weerasethakul, a Thai director who has become a star of the international festival circuit, makes films that are difficult, abstract and mysterious in the best art-cinema tradition, but at the same time characterized by unusual warmth and generosity of spirit. Syndromes, suggested by the lives of the filmmakers parents and the music of Mozart, is a two-part invention on the themes of chance and longing, shot with an intoxicating mix of suavity and sensuality. (Scott) TA RA RUM PUM (No rating, 156 minutes, in English and Hindi) This Bollywood movie about a race car driver (the versatile Saif Ali Khan) takes place in New York, but that doesnt stop it from being a classic example of Bollywood family values. Here, all the citys a stage set, perfect for Fame meets West Side Story production numbers. (Rachel Saltz) * TRIAD ELECTION (No rating, 93 minutes, in Cantonese) The surfaces gleam as luxuriously in Johnnie Tos exemplary gangster thriller Triad Election as those in a similarly slicked-up Hollywood film, but the blood on the floor here seems stickier, more liable to stain. A brutal look at the shadows darkening the Hong Kong triads, the film picks up the narrative line first coiled and kinked in Mr. Tos companion thriller, Election. (Dargis) VACANCY (R, 80 minutes) This banal horror retread involves a couple of critters (Luke Wilson, Kate Beckinsale) flailing inside a sticky trap for what is, in effect, the big-screen equivalent of a roach motel. (Dargis) * THE VALET (PG-13, 85 minutes, in French) If you love to hate the superrich, this delectable comedy, in which the great French actor Daniel Auteuil portrays a piggy billionaire industrialist facing his comeuppance, is a sinfully delicious bonbon, a classic French farce with modern touches. (Holden) * YEAR OF THE DOG (PG-13, 97 minutes) Mike Whites touching comedy about a woman who loses a dog and finds herself is funny ha-ha but firmly in touch with its downer side, which means that its also funny in a kind of existential way. Molly Shannon stars alongside a menagerie of howling scene-stealers. (Dargis) ZOO (No rating, 76 minutes) Robinson Devors heavily reconstructed documentary is, to a large extent, about the rhetorical uses of beauty. It is, rather more coyly, also about a man who died after having sex with a stallion. (Dargis) Film Series and Revivals AN EVENING WITH ANDREAS HYKADE AND MARIUSZ WILCZYNSKI (Monday) This evening includes works by two leading contemporary animators, Andreas Hykade from Germany and Mariusz Wilczynski from Poland. The Runt, the concluding episode of Mr. Hykades trilogy of country films, will have its United States premiere; Mr. Wilczynskis latest work, Kizi Mizi -- which the director describes as a tough love story between a cat and a mouse -- will have its world premiere. Both animators will be on hand to discuss the works. Museum of Modern Art Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, (212) 708-9400, moma.org; $10. (Dave Kehr) RADICAL SCAVENGER: THE FILMS OF EMILE DE ANTONIO (Today through Thursday) The director Emile de Antonio reinvented the art of the collage film in the documentaries he made from 1963 to 1989, the year of his death. He raided network news footage and archival sources to select sounds and images that he would then recombine into radical political statements. This series at the Anthology Film Archives begins tonight with a new print of Mr. de Antonios most celebrated and influential film, In the Year of the Pig (1968). A pointed assemblage of television reports about the Vietnam War, both abroad and at home, In the Year of the Pig was among the most widely seen protest films in the United States. Among the other titles: Rush to Judgment (1966), di Antonios critical analysis of the Warren Report (made with the conspiracy theorist Mark Lane); America Is Hard to See (1970), about the presidential campaign of Eugene McCarthy; and Millhouse: A White Comedy (1971), a comic portrait of Richard M. Nixon. Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue, at Second Street, East Village, (212) 505-5181, anthologyfilmarchives.org; $8. (Kehr) WILD AT HEART: BARRY GIFFORD (Tuesday) The novelist and screenwriter Barry Gifford will attend a screening of Wild at Heart, David Lynchs 1990 film adapted from Mr. Giffords novel about a pair of extremely star-crossed young lovers (Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern). This will be the rarely screened European version, which includes, if memory serves, a little extra gore than Americans were allowed to see in the R-rated film released in theaters here. BAMcinématek, BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100, bam.org; $10. (Kehr) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. AIR (Thursday) This French duo, whose every electronic note seems to drip with breathy, limply funky pop nostalgia, plays as part of David Bowies High Line Festival. At 8 p.m., Theater at Madison Square Garden, (212) 465-6741, thegarden.com or highlinefestival.com; $36 and $46. (Ben Sisario) * KAREN AKERS (Tonight and tomorrow night, and Tuesday through Thursday) The songs in Simply Styne, Ms. Akerss beautiful tribute to the composer Jule Styne, have been arranged into a touching, tongue-in-cheek cabaret answer to Scenes From a Marriage. The pianist Don Rebic is her witty partner in deconstruction. (Through May 12.) At 9, with additional shows tonight and tomorrow night at 11:30, Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331, algonquinhotel.com; $60 cover; $65 dinner charge at 9; $25 minimum at 11:30. (Stephen Holden) ANTIBALAS (Tomorrow) This Brooklyn collective worships the musky Afro-funk of Fela Kuti, and can produce a credible facsimile of it, thickly textured with reverb-heavy guitars and brawny horns. Its latest, Security (Anti-), also follows Felas other big legacy: no-holds-barred denunciations of political oppression and corruption. At 9 p.m., Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $20. (Sisario) * ARCADE FIRE, THE NATIONAL (Monday through Wednesday) Arcade Fire became king of the indie-rock mountain with a lovable, artsy eccentricity and a disarming emotional clarity. Its new album, Neon Bible (Merge), is dark and preoccupied but satisfyingly cathartic. The National, from Brooklyn, plays flawless, wilting ballads threaded with subtly brilliant guitar playing by Bryce Dessner and the dry, cynical baritone of Matt Berninger. Monday and Tuesday at 7 p.m., United Palace Theater, 4140 Broadway, at 175th Street, Washington Heights, (212) 307-7171, bowerypresents.com; Wednesday at 8 p.m., Radio City Music Hall, (212) 307-7171, radiocity.com or highlinefestival.com; sold out. (Sisario) THE BAMBOOZLE (Tomorrow and Sunday) The Web site for this lollapalooza in the Giants Stadium parking lot has a faux radio station, complete with obnoxious promo spots crackling with pyrotechnic sound effects. Its unfortunately appropriate for the Bamboozle, a roll call of more than 100 young hard-rock bands that, once you get past the headliners, sound utterly interchangeable and predictable -- the kind that make you want to change the station. My Chemical Romance and Muse headline tomorrow, and Linkin Park on Sunday. A few highlights are Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Killswitch Engage, Weird Al Yankovic, Captured by Robots, Lordi, Andrew W. K., and Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock (It Takes Two). At noon, Meadowlands Sports Complex, Routes 3 and 120, East Rutherford, N.J., (201) 935-3900, thebamboozle.com; $35 each day. (Sisario) * BEIRUT, FINAL FANTASY (Sunday through Tuesday) A year ago Zach Condon, a 19-year-old from Albuquerque who records as Beirut, released Gulag Orkestar (Ba Da Bing), an album of somber, sepia-toned marches with touches of Balkan brass. He quickly became a celebrity among music bloggers, which means that by now Beirut has become a kind of blog classic rock. As Final Fantasy, Owen Pallett creates nervous universes in miniature, looping ribbons of violin around his quavering voice. At 7:30 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; sold out. (Sisario) * BJORK (Tomorrow and Tuesday) Its been a long time since Bjorks combination of wailing indie-rock, eroticized electronica and use of random musical props -- Inuit choirs, beatboxers, African kora players -- has been truly avant-garde, or even surprising. But her latest album, Volta (Elektra), still sounds fresh and energized, with every sound becoming her exotic plaything. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., with Konono No. 1, a Congolese band whose polyrhythmic bubblings are made with amplified thumb pianos, at the United Palace Theater, 4140 Broadway, at 175th Street, Washington Heights, (212) 307-7171; Tuesday at 8 p.m., Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street, Harlem, (212) 307-7171, apollotheater.com; both sold out. Konono No. 1 also plays tomorrow night at the Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $23. The doors open at 8, and Magik Markers opens. (Sisario) * BLONDE REDHEAD (Tuesday) Its days of spindly, atonal guitar webs apparently behind it, Blonde Redhead has for the last few years been making lusher, more cottony music, as if finally realizing that its amplifiers have reverb buttons. Its latest, 23 (4AD), is a gorgeous trip through clouds of overdriven guitar and heavenly vocals, recalling those kings of overdriven guitar and heavenly vocals, My Bloody Valentine. With Fields. At 8 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 533-2111, bowerypresents.com; sold out. (Sisario) BOWLING FOR SOUP (Wednesday) When the venerable British singer and guitarist Richard Thompson put together his album 1,000 Years of Popular Music, his choices included Sumer Is Icumen In, Renaissance ballads and Cole Porters Night and Day, as well as 1985, a gag catalog of 80s nostalgia by this otherwise undistinguished Texas rock band. (When did Motley Crue become classic rock?/And when did Ozzy become an actor?) Its a fun karaoke number, though Mr. Thompson may have been making another point: if you were really going to preserve the most representative songs of our culture, youd have to include some 1985s, right? At 8 p.m., Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $17.50 in advance, $20 at the door. (Sisario) BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT (Tomorrow and Sunday) Though nominally part of the current psych-folk revival, Brightblack Morning Light has a sound that is harder to place, and therefore more intriguing: an electric hum; warbling keyboards that evoke damp funk; and ecstatic, breathy chants, like the rituals of a secret forest cult. The songs on its most recent album were written, the band has said, while living in tents in Northern California. Also on the bill: Daniel A.I.U. Belteshazzar-Higgs with Chiara Giovando. Tomorrow at 10 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700, mercuryloungenyc.com; Sunday at 9 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, near Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236, spsounds.com; $13 in advance; $15 at the door. (Sisario) JIM CAMPILONGO, MIKE VIOLA (Monday) Just another night at the Living Room, a plain Lower East Side cabaret that puts on one guitar-cradling singer-songwriter after another, some of them world-class. Mr. Campilongo is a well-traveled guitar whiz who plays with Norah Jones in her country band, the Little Willies; his Electric Trio has had a Monday-night residency forever. Mr. Viola, jumping from piano to guitar, sings strident power-pop with some jagged wit. Also on the bill are Kelly Jones and Phillip La Rue. At 8 p.m., 154 Ludlow Street, near Stanton Street, (212) 533-7235, livingroomny.com; no cover. (Sisario) CORNELIUS (Thursday) Keigo Oyamada, a Japanese musician who records as Cornelius (he took his name after Roddy McDowalls character in Planet of the Apes), is a witty if cold conceptualist, toying with minimal electronics and off-kilter rhythms that sound like the stimuli of some psychological lab experiment. At 7 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 533-2111, bowerypresents.com; $25. (Sisario) BEN GIBBARD (Tuesday) The singer of Death Cab for Cutie, the indie-rock giants whose spectrum of mood runs from lovelorn and aloof to wistful and aloof, is on a rare solo tour. With David Bazan and Johnathan Rice. At 7:30 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 840-2824, the-townhall-nyc.org or bowerypresents.com; sold out. (Sisario) KIKI AND HERB (Sunday) A few years ago this brilliantly perverse cabaret duo played their farewell show at Carnegie Hall. Then came a run on Broadway. And some late-night gigs at Joes Pub. And the inimitable Christmas show. (Highlight: a medley of Smells Like Teen Spirit and Frosty the Snowman.) Kiki and Herb cant stay away from the stage, and New York is the better for it. At 11:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, joespub.com; $20. (Sisario) * TED LEO AND THE PHARMACISTS (Tomorrow) As stalwart as you can be in indie rock, Mr. Leo has made a long and admirable career matching the musical fury of Clash-like punk with impassioned, highly personal social commentary. His new album, Life Among the Living (Touch and Go), is a reminder that he is one of the best and most uncompromising songwriters in the game. With Love of Diagrams. At 6:30 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 533-2111, bowerypresents.com; $19. (Sisario) MAGIC NUMBERS (Wednesday) Perfectly jangly bubblegum harmonies of mid-60s vintage get a slight melancholy twist with this British foursome, made up of brother-and-sister pairs. With All Smiles. At 7 p.m., Hiro Ballroom, 371 West 16th Street, Chelsea, (212) 533-2111, bowerypresents.com; $25. (Sisario) * MARTIRIO (Tuesday and Wednesday) This Spanish singer, long a curious mingler of pop, jazz and flamenco, recorded her new album, Primavera en Nueva York (Calle 54), in New York with a jazz band, its boleros reinterpreted as a languorous, savory jazz suite. She makes her New York debut at Joes Pub. At 7 and 9:30 p.m., 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, joespub.com; $30. (Sisario) MOE (Tonight through Sunday) One chord is all Moe needs to start one of its nimble, quick-fingered jams. Its music starts with the Grateful Dead-Allman Brothers hybrids that most jam bands use, and from there it takes off toward Southern rock, spacey interludes or the borderline of funk. At 9, Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th Street, Chelsea, (212) 414-5994, highlineballroom.com; sold out. (Jon Pareles) NEKROMANTIX (Sunday) Is it Halloween already? This Copenhagen trio follows the Munsters-as-punk lead of the Misfits and the Cramps with a full sideshow of warped rockabilly, B movie titles (new album: Life Is a Grave & I Dig It!) and, most important, ghoulish stacked hairdos. With Heart Attacks, Westbound Train and Orange. At 8 p.m., Blender Theater at Gramercy, 127 East 23rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-7171; $12.50. (Sisario) JENNIFER OCONNOR (Wednesday) Ms. OConnors portraits of the lovelorn and depressed, sung over light strums of guitar and with the guileless vulnerability of a 2 a.m. phone confession, are dry but not unsympathetic: Maybe shes on her lunch break thinking of you. She has a Wednesday residency this month at the Living Room. At 11 p.m., 154 Ludlow Street, near Stanton Street, Lower East Side, (212) 533-7235, livingroomny.com; $8. (Sisario) * JOHN PIZZARELLI AND JESSICA MOLASKEY (Tonight and tomorrow night, and Tuesday through Thursday) These married musicians have been called the Nick and Nora of cabaret, a sobriquet that only begins to describe their upbeat sophistication. They fuse two distantly related musical worlds into a larger whole in which Stephen Sondheim, Dave Frishberg, Paul Simon, and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross join hands. (Through May 26.) At 8:45, with additional shows tonight and tomorrow night at 10:45, Café Carlyle, at the Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 744-1600, thecarlyle.com; $75 and $125 Tuesday through Thursday; $85 tonight and tomorrow. (Holden) DULCE PONTES (Thursday) This Portuguese singers champions (or at least her publicists) call her the successor to the fado queen Amália Rodrigues. Not quite: Ms. Pontess style has leaned pretty far toward the soapy and homogenized glitz you can hear every year at the Eurovision festival. (Ms. Pontes was a competitor in 1991.) But she has a strong, fleshy alto, and for this Carnegie Hall appearance will sing traditional songs from her lovely new album, O Coração Tem Três Portas, with a small acoustic ensemble. At 8 p.m., (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $23 to $72. (Sisario) ANNIE ROSS (Tuesday) When this jazz legend barks out I Got Rhythm, she turns this great Gershwin standard into a hipsters credo. If youve got as much rhythm in your body and music in your head as Ms. Ross does at 76, who indeed could ask for anything more? At 7 p.m., Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, Flatiron district, (212) 206-0440, metropolitanroom.com; $25 cover, two-drink minimum. (Holden) * SHIVKUMAR SHARMA AND ZAKIR HUSSAIN (Tomorrow) Shivkumar Sharma plays the santur, Indias hammered dulcimer, and has transformed it from an accompanying instrument into a solo instrument that brings shimmering resonances to the classical Indian raga repertory. He will be accompanied by Zakir Hussain on tabla, who can supply subtle propulsion and percussive fireworks over the course of a raga. At 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 545-7536, the-townhall-nyc.org or worldmusicinstitute.org; $25 to $45; $15 for students. (Pareles) SIX PARTS SEVEN (Tonight) The Six Parts Seven, from Kent, Ohio, play instrumental rock that unfolds with deliberation and inexorable grace, working through minimalistic guitar-picking patterns and gradual buildups that quickly become mesmerizing. With Trouble Books, Ghosts of Pasha and Yellow Fever. At 8, Union Hall, 702 Union Street, at Fifth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 638-4400, unionhallny.com; $8. (Pareles) SLOAN (Thursday) Like modern metafictions, Sloans pop-rock songs twist inward on themselves. With their winsome tunes and neo-Beatles intricacies, Sloans songs are not just about unrequited yearnings, but also about the process of writing pop songs about unrequited yearnings. Theyre rarely so clever that their heart doesnt come through. With Small Sins. At 9 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 653-1703, maxwellsnj.com; $20. (Pareles) SUNSET RUBDOWN (Tonight) A solo enterprise of the prolific Spencer Krug, who sings and plays keyboards in the Montreal indie-arty band Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown is one of those weirdly fascinating bedroom noise projects characterized by stompy lo-fi backing tracks and evocative stream-of-consciousness lyrics (Shut up, I am dreaming of places where lovers have wings). With Katie Eastburn and Get Him Eat Him. At 8:30, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; sold out. (Sisario) * AMY WINEHOUSE (Tuesday and Wednesday) The British R&B revivalist of the moment, Ms. Winehouse growls defiant epigrams of debauchery (They tried to make me go to rehab/I said no, no, no) over tasty arrangements that, were it not for the whiff of hip-hop in the rhythms, could pass for lost 1960s soul tracks. With Patrick Wolf on Tuesday. At 8 p.m., Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th Street, Chelsea, (212) 414-5994, highlineballroom.com; sold out. Mr. Wolf also plays on Wednesday at 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $15. (Sisario) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. KARRIN ALLYSON (Wednesday and Thursday) Ms. Allyson is an effervescent jazz singer whose recent album Footprints (Concord) convincingly delves into Jon Hendricks-style vocalese. (Through May 12.) At 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com; cover, $40, with a $10 minimum. (Nate Chinen) SAM BARDFELDS STUFF SMITH PROJECT (Thursday) Sam Bardfeld, a violinist with a wide-ranging résumé, pays tribute to a swing-era hero of his instrument with help from the pianist Anthony Coleman, the bassist Sean Conly and the guitarist and singer Doug Wamble. At 8 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) TIM BERNES LITTLE SATAN (Wednesday) The alto saxophonist Tim Berne presents a coy riff on his established skronk-improv trio Big Satan: the drummer Tom Rainey remains, but Kieran Daly on electric mandolin fills in for the guitarist Marc Ducret. At 8 and 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) MICHEL CAMILO (Tuesday through Thursday) A percussive, often cathartic pianist, Mr. Camilo has a new album, Spirit of the Moment (Telarc), that captures the crisp interplay of his Latin-jazz trio with the bassist Charles Flores and the drummer Dafnis Prieto. (Through May 13.) At 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592, bluenote.net; cover, $35 at tables, $20 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) * RON CARTER NONET/AARON GOLDBERG TRIO (Monday) At 70, the bassist Ron Carter has come to assume a professorial stature in addition to his celebrated virtuosity; here he leads an ensemble that includes four cellos. Also on the program is the sharp young pianist Aaron Goldberg, with a superb rhythm section: Omer Avital on bass and Ali Jackson on drums. At 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, (212) 501-3330, kaufman-center.org; $40; $35 in advance. (Chinen) CREOLE JAZZ SERENADERS (Tomorrow) The New Orleans jazz banjoist Don Vappie has been leading this repertory ensemble for the past dozen years, with typically high-spirited results. At 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555 or (212) 539-8778, joespub.com; cover, $20, with a two-drink minimum. (Chinen) DEATH AMBIENT (Tonight and tomorrow night) A descriptively titled experimental collective, consisting of Fred Frith on guitar, Ikue Mori on electronics and Kato Hideki on bass. At 8 and 10, the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) ELI DEGIBRI TRIO (Tuesday) An Israeli saxophonist with a taste for burnished sonorities, Eli Degibri explores his own music with help from Gary Versace on organ and Obed Calvaire on drums. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Louis 649, 649 East Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 673-1190, louis649.com; no cover. (Chinen) SCOTT DUBOIS QUARTET (Sunday) Scott DuBois, a guitarist equally devoted to knotty compositions and free improvisation, leads a band with the saxophonist Hakon Kornstad, the bassist Eivind Opsvik and the drummer Jeff Davis. At 9:30 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 929-9883, 55bar.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) JOHN ELLIS GROUP (Tomorrow) John Ellis is a tenor and soprano saxophonist drawn to loose-limbed funk, but he also has an interest in spacious modern jazz, as he illustrates on his most recent album, By a Thread (Hyena). He works here with similarly inclined players, like the guitarist Mike Moreno, the pianist Aaron Parks and the drummer Kendrick Scott. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $15. (Chinen) * ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON (Sunday) Jazz at Lincoln Centers nationwide Duke Ellington repertory competition concludes this weekend, as 15 high school jazz orchestras come out swinging. Sundays concert and ceremony feature the finalists, alongside Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. At 7:30 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5030, jalc.org; $20. (Chinen) ALAN FERBER NONET (Tonight) Here, as on his new album, The Compass (Fresh Sound New Talent), the trombonist Alan Ferber features his own elastic compositions for nonet. In the second set the group will be augmented with a four-piece string section. At 9 and 10, Tea Lounge, 837 Union Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 789-2762, tealoungeny.com; $5 donation. (Chinen) 4 GENERATIONS OF MILES (Thursday) The rapid permutation of Miles Daviss working bands makes it theoretically possible for four former sidemen to claim connection to four separate phases of his career. Here those musicians are the drummer Jimmy Cobb, the tenor saxophonist George Coleman, the bassist Buster Williams and the guitarist Mike Stern. (Through May 13.) At 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $32.50 to $35, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JOEL FRAHM (Tuesday) Mr. Frahms tenor saxophone playing has rarely sounded roomier or more relaxed than it does on his new album, We Used to Dance (Anzic). He holds down a regular trio engagement at the Bar Next Door. At 8 and 10 p.m., 129 MacDougal Street, West Village, (212) 529-5945, lalanternacaffe.com; cover, $8, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) * KENNY GARRETT (Tonight through Sunday night) The best moments on Beyond the Wall, Mr. Garretts most recent album, showcase his alto saxophone in dialogue with the robust tenor of Pharoah Sanders, who resurfaces as a guest at this engagement. At 8:30 and 10:30, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $35 and $40, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * GRAND REUNION (Tuesday through Thursday) The saxophonist Todd Williams, the pianist Marcus Roberts, the bassist Reginald Veal and the drummer Herlin Riley reconvene as a collective, each bringing a sophisticated understanding of the blues. Given that they once worked together in the employ of Wynton Marsalis, there just might be a special guest. (Through May 13.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) TOM HARRELL QUINTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) An introverted but assertive trumpeter, Tom Harrell leads a disciplined hard-bop band with Wayne Escoffery on tenor saxophone, Danny Grissett on piano, Ugonna Okegwo on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums. At 8, 10 and 11:30, Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662, smokejazz.com; cover, $28. (Chinen) * FRED HERSCH TRIO (Tuesday through Thursday) Together with the bassist Drew Gress and the drummer Nasheet Waits, the pianist Fred Hersch applies a rigorous elasticity to originals and standards alike. The trio has a sparkling new album, Night and the Music (Palmetto), featuring a little of both. (Through May 13.) At 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) BILL HORVITZ EXPANDED BAND (Sunday) The guitarist Bill Horvitz presents a suite of new compositions dedicated to the memory of his brother Philip, a writer and performer; some 20 musicians will be involved, including the clarinetist Marty Ehrlich, the bassist Ken Filiano and the pianist and vocalist Robin Holcomb. At 8:30 p.m., Roulette, 20 Greene Street, at Grand Street, SoHo, (212) 219-8242, roulette.org; $15, $10 for students. VIJAY IYER (Thursday) A pianist and composer given to restive energies and rhythmic conundrums, Mr. Iyer leads an exceptionally intuitive band, with the alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, the drummer Marcus Gilmore and the bassist Matt Brewer. (Through May 12.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $15; $10 for members. (Chinen) OMER KLEIN TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow night) The pianist Omer Klein explores a melodic modernism partly informed by his Israeli roots; his trio includes Massimo Biolcati on bass and Eric McPherson on drums. At 9 and 10:30, Smalls, 183 West 10th Street, West Village, (212) 675-7369, smallsjazzclub.com; cover, $20. (Chinen) * KATE McGARRY SEXTET (Thursday) On her fine new album, The Target (Palmetto), Ms. McGarry applies a vision of pop pluralism to the craft of jazz singing, without slighting either side of the equation. She appears with some of the same musicians here, including the guitarist Keith Ganz, the organist Gary Versace and the saxophonist Donny McCaslin. (Through May 13.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $20. (Chinen) JOHN McNEIL/BILL McHENRY QUARTET (Sunday) Mr. McNeil, a trumpeter, and Mr. McHenry, a tenor saxophonist, mostly play obscurities from the 1950s West Coast jazz canon in this solid and often delightful quartet. At 8 and 10 p.m., Biscuit BBQ, 230 Fifth Avenue, at President Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 399-2161, biscuitbbq.com; cover, $10; $5 for musicians, students and children, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) JEREMY PELT QUARTET (Tonight through Sunday night) Jeremy Pelt, a trumpeter with a big tone and bracing technique, leads a locomotive band with Danny Grissett on piano, Derek Nievergelt on bass and Willie Jones III on drums. At 9 and 11, Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MICHELE ROSEWOMAN (Today) Ms. Rosewoman is a pianist with a sharp and searching style, as she confirms on her recent album, The In Side Out (Advance Dance). Here she leads her band Quintessence: Mark Shim and Loren Stillman on saxophones, Matt Brewer on bass and Gene Jackson on drums. At 6 and 7:30 p.m., Rose Center for Earth and Space, Central Park West at 81st Street, (212) 313-7278, amnh.org/rose/specials/jazz; suggested admission, $14. (Chinen) GRANT STEWART (Tuesday) Mr. Stewart is an uncommonly proficient tenor saxophonist, as he confirms on a bebop-steeped new album, In the Still of the Night (Sharp Nine). At 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., Smalls, 183 West Tenth Street, West Village, smallsjazzclub.com; cover, $20. (Chinen) TRAVIS SULLIVANS CASUAL SEXTET (Thursday) The alto saxophonist Travis Sullivan, probably best known as the leader of a self-explanatory band called the Bjorkestra, leads a smaller and freer group with colleagues like the guitarist Rez Abbasi and the vocalist Jen Shyu. At 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778, joespub.com; cover, $12, with a two-drink minimum. (Chinen) LEW TABACKIN TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow night) Lew Tabackin is an expansive tenor saxophonist and lyrical flutist who never sounds freer than in this setting, backed only by a bassist (Boris Kozlov) and a drummer (Mark Taylor). At 8 and 9:45, Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 885-7119, kitano.com; cover, $25, with a $15 minimum. (Chinen) OHAD TALMORS NEWSREEL (Sunday) The multireedist Ohad Talmor features his own music in this ensemble featuring the trumpeter Shane Endsley, the keyboardist Jacob Sacks, the bassist Matt Pavolka and the drummer Dan Weiss. (Mr. Endsley plays an early set at 7 p.m., with his own group.) At 9 p.m., Bar 4, 444 Seventh Avenue, at 15th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 832-9800, myspace.com/conceptionsatbar4; suggested cover for each show, $5. (Chinen) * CECIL TAYLOR: NEW AHA 3 WITH ANDY BEY (Sunday) On the surface, the fiery pianist Cecil Taylor and the mellifluous singer Andy Bey have little in common. But their interaction here is not a first, and it holds some cooperative possibilities, partly because of the audacious support of the bassist Henry Grimes and the drummer Pheeroan akLaff. At 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592, bluenote.net; cover, $35 at tables, $20 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) TURTLE ISLAND QUARTET (Tonight through Sunday night) This string ensemble, which won a 2005 Grammy for best classical crossover album, marks the release of a more recent effort, A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane (Telarc). At 7:30 and 9:30, with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $35; $30 on Sunday. (Chinen) * VISION TONIC (Tuesday) In response to the recent closure of Tonic, the Vision Festival absorbed a few off-season bookings, including two next Tuesday. The first, at 7:30, is a promising trio consisting of the guitarist Marc Ribot, the bassist Henry Grimes and the drummer Chad Taylor; the second, at 9:30, includes the drummer Andrew Barker and the multireedists Daniel Carter and Sabir Mateen. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Clemente Soto Vélez, 107 Suffolk Street, Lower East Side, (212) 696-6681, visionfestival.org; cover, $10 per set, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) JOHN ZORNS BOOK OF ANGELS (Tonight and tomorrow night) The Book of Angels is a body of 300 works composed by John Zorn during an apparently feverish three-month span. Tonight the cellist Erik Friedlander and the keyboardist Jamie Saft, among others, perform some of those pieces; tomorrow the interpretation falls to the bassist Shanir Blumenkranz and the Masada String Trio. At 8, Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street, at Pitt Street, Lower East Side, (212) 352-3101, abronsartscenter.org; $20. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera * IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA (Tomorrow) Bartlett Shers breezy production of Rossinis Barbiere di Siviglia, which was introduced in November, conveys the comic confusions of the story through its fluid staging and a wonderfully abstract set: a matrix of movable doors, staircases and potted orange trees, behind which the characters spy on one another. The heated sexuality in this tale of romantic intrigue also comes through strongly, thanks to Mr. Shers subtle directing of a handsome cast, notably the captivating young mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, a vocally agile and feisty Rosina. Some major changes are coming to the cast, though, for the final performances. The accomplished American tenor Lawrence Brownlee, in his Met debut role, makes a sweet-toned, technically agile and appealing Count Almaviva. The baritone Russell Braun is a hardy and clever Figaro. Maurizio Benini conducts. At 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $220 tickets available. (Anthony Tommasini) LA GRAN SCENA OPERA COMPANY (Tonight and tomorrow night) In the tradition of every great diva who just cant say goodbye to the stage, Mme. Vera Galupe- Borszkh is following last years 20th annual and absolute last farewell with a return engagement, Back by Personal Whim (and Popular Demand). Mme. Vera, for the two or three opera lovers in New York still unfamiliar with her name, is a creation of the brilliant Ira Siff, who skewers opera and its mores as only one steeped in it can. Madames recitals are a combination of stand-up comedy and Vissi darte, and have been shown to be suitable even for nonopera fans -- if they can get tickets. At 8, Thalia at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400, granscena.org; $33. (Anne Midgette) * IL TRITTICO (Tonight, Monday and Thursday) The Mets new Trittico, Puccinis triptych of one-act operas, is now the most elaborate production in the companys repertory. The director Jack OBrien has created grandly old-fashioned yet insightful and effective stagings of these three very different operas: Il Tabarro, a grim love triangle aboard a barge in Paris; Suor Angelica, a tender, mystical and ultimately devastating story of a young nuns yearning to be with her dead child; and Gianni Schicchi, an irreverent comedy about the avaricious relatives of a miserly old man who has just died. The earthy soprano Maria Guleghina as the beleaguered barge-owners wife, the impassioned soprano Barbara Frittoli as Sister Angelica and the stylish baritone Alessandro Corbelli as the shrewd Schicchi are standouts, though the powerhouse mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe almost steals each show playing three supporting roles. James Levine conducts vibrant and beautifully refined performances. Tonight at 8, Monday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $205 tickets available tonight; $175 for Monday and Thursday. (Tommasini) TURANDOT (Tuesday) Franco Zeffirellis extravagant take on a Puccini fantasy of Far Eastern bloodthirstiness and lust helps wind down the Mets season. Erika Sunnegardh continues in the title role. At 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $175 tickets remaining. (Bernard Holland) Classical Music * PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD (Thursday) During his Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall this season, this astounding French pianist has revealed himself to be a fascinating concert programmer and astute music historian. The next-to-last of his Perspectives concerts, called Programming Games, offers an eclectic evening of 20th-century works for piano and percussion by Ligeti, Peter Eotvos and Gyorgy Kurtag, culminating in Bartoks exciting Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion. You can be sure that Mr. Aimard will have an intriguing explanation for having included Steve Reichs Clapping Music in the mix. At 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; sold out. (Tommasini) AMERICAN COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA (Tuesday and Wednesday) Composers, especially young ones, have too few chances to hear their new orchestral works performed. Part concert, part service, part competition, this orchestras annual new-music readings address the gap, selecting nine composers (from 150 submissions this year) to receive feedback from mentor composers and conductors. One of the nine will win a $15,000 prize and an official premiere at an American Composers Orchestra concert; all will hear their music performed by a professional orchestra -- a prize in itself. At 10 a.m., Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, (212) 977-8495, americancomposers.org; free. (Midgette) AMERICAN MODERN ENSEMBLE (Tonight and tomorrow) This ensemble of experienced new-music performers, conducted by Robert Paterson, offers works by Chen Yi and Zhou Long, both from China, who draw on Chinese and Western sounds and structures in their music. (They are also married.) The first half of the program includes Ms. Chens Sparkle, Chinese Ancient Dances, Near Distance and Blue Dragon Sword Dance. The second part is devoted to Mr. Zhous Dhyana and Metal, Stone, Silk, Bamboo. The composers will be interviewed during the intermission. At 8 p.m., Tenri Cultural Institute, 43A West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 645-2000, americanmodernensemble.org; $20; $15 for students and 65+. (Allan Kozinn) CONCERTANTE (Sunday) This vibrant string sextet will play Mozarts String Quintet in G minor (K. 516) and Strausss Metamorphosen (the version for string sextet). The ensemble, which champions new music, also offers a new piece by Jonathan Leshnoff. At 3 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330, kaufman-center.org; $20. (Vivien Schweitzer) MATTHIAS GOERNE AND CHRISTOPH ESCHENBACH (Monday) Call it the Fischer-Dieskau effect: Germany has produced a whole crop of fine baritones, and one of the finest is Matthias Goerne, with a dark, full voice; a slightly distracting penchant for onstage gesticulation; and a constant search for artistic stimulation that will push him to extend his artistic horizons. Christoph Eschenbach, moving off the podium and taking his place as accompanist, joins him for a concert of Schumann (including the Op. 24 Liederkreis) and Brahms (including Vier Ernste Gesänge, a wrenching set to which Mr. Goerne should do full justice). At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $23 to $72. (Midgette) INTERPRETATIONS (Thursday) To celebrate the composer Chinary Ungs 65th birthday, several ensembles and soloists -- Antares, the Brentano String Quartet, the cellist Maya Beiser, the percussionist Steven Schick and the baritone Thomas Buckner -- are joining forces to play some of his music. The program also includes works by Koji Nakano, Hi Kyung Kim, Kee-Young Chong and Chou Wen-Chung. At 8 p.m., Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, at 70th Street, (212) 517-2742 or (212) 545-7536, asiasociety.org; $20. (Kozinn) ALEXANDER LONQUICH (Thursday) This German pianist returns to the 92nd Street Y, where he made his New York debut in March 2006, with Schumanns Fantasiestücke, and selections from Album for the Young. He will be joined by Cristina Barbuti for Schumanns 12 Pieces for Piano Four Hands for Children Small and Large, and Brahmss Variations on a Theme by Schumann for Piano Four Hands. At 8 p.m., 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500, 92y.org; $40. (Schweitzer) * ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (Tomorrow) The young Dutch violinist Janine Jansen made her New York debut at an Orpheus concert at the start of this season, and gave high-energy performances of Vivaldis Four Seasons, which was also the subject of her first recording. Now she has released a second CD with the Mendelssohn Concerto as its centerpiece, and is returning to play that work with Orpheus as well. The program also includes Poul Ruderss Credo and Trapeze, and Schumanns Symphony No. 2. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $30 to $98. (Kozinn) * JORDI SAVALL (Wednesday and Thursday) This Spanish master of the viola da gamba has become a favorite of New York early-music audiences, both as a soloist and as the leader of his three period-instrument ensembles. This time he is playing two gamba recitals, with Pierre Hantaï, a harpsichordist; and Xavier Díaz, a lutenist. The first program, Folias and Romanescas, includes works by Ortiz, Murcia, Sanz and Hume. The second is devoted to music of the French court, with works by Marais, Couperin and others. At 8 p.m., Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949, metmuseum.org; $55; $100 for both concerts. (Kozinn) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. * ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER (Tonight through Sunday) Yes, these terrific dancers will be performing Aileys soul-lifting Revelations. Any other questions? Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 3 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888) 466-5722, njpac.org; $22 to $78. (Jennifer Dunning) AMERICAN REPERTORY BALLET (Tonight and tomorrow night) This New Jersey-based classical ballet troupe will perform Twyla Tharps Octet, and choreography by Val Caniparoli; Harrison McEldowney; Susan Shields; the company director, Graham Lustig; and the always intriguing Melissa Barak. At 8, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400, symphonyspace.org; $18 to $38; $12 to $32 for students and 65+. (Dunning) BROOKLYN ARTS EXCHANGE: FIRST WEEKENDS (Tonight and tomorrow night) The choreographers participating in this installment of a series for new and lesser-known artists are KC Chun-Manning, Alethea Adsitt and Jessica Morgan. At 8, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, 421 Fifth Avenue, at Eighth Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 832-0018, bax.org; $8 to $15. (Dunning) CHAMECKILERNER (Tonight and tomorrow night) Rosane Chamecki and Andrea Lerner, both originally from Brazil, are known for their dark, exaggerated and often raw depictions of human behavior. In their new multimedia EXIT, they create a funeral rite for themselves in which they watch from the afterlife while colleagues offer eulogies and flashbacks. At 8:30, the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, Ext. 11, thekitchen.org; $10. (Dunning) NORA CHIPAUMIRE (Tonight) This is the second and last performance of push/pull theories by Ms. Chipaumire, a Zimbabwean dancer, and the choreographer and writer/director Linnet Taylor. Ms Chipaumire is a powerful performer whose work explores her experience as an immigrant and her relationship to her history and country. At 7:30, Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077, dtw.org; free. (Roslyn Sulcas) DANCE CONVERSATIONS @ THE FLEA (Tuesday) This performance and discussion series ends its season with dances by Kristen Hollinsworth, Valerie Green, Julia Ritter and Pascal Rekoert, and talk moderated by Jonah Bokaer. At 7 p.m., Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 226-2407, theflea.org; free. (Dunning) ANDRé GINGRAS/KORZO PRODUCTIES (Tonight and tomorrow night) From the Netherlands, Mr. Gingras and his company will present CYP17, a mixed-media piece that aims to present the freak show that is our future, as its publicity puts it. Rock on. At 8:30, Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194, danspaceproject.org; $15. (Dunning) IN THE COMPANY OF MEN (Tonight through Sunday, and Thursday) Six individuals and companies will celebrate choreography by men. They are Aaron Drapers AnD Dance, nathantrice/RITUALS, Jeffrey Peterson Dance, Cosmo Scharf (in collaboration with Larry Keigwin and Young Dance Collective), Brian Brooks and dre.dance, directed by Taye Diggs (yes, the actor) and Andrew Palermo. (Through May 13.) Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 3 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., Dance New Amsterdam, 280 Broadway, at Chambers Street, TriBeCa, (212) 279-4200, dnadance.org; $25. (Dunning) JOYCE SOHO PRESENTS (Tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night) This is the first of a three-part series offering four emerging groups each week. This weekend features Sidra Bell Dance New York, Oni Dance, Gallim Dance Group/Andrea Miller and Dorian Nuskind-Oder. Week 2 performances begin on Thursday, with fivefour/Cortney McGuire and Leah Nelson, Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance, Katie Martin and Katy Orthwein. At 8, Joyce Soho, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 352-3101, or (866) 811-4111; $15; $12 for students and 65+; $35 for a three-weekend pass. (Sulcas) ALONZO KINGS LINES BALLET (Tonight through Sunday) This San Francisco company dances ballet with an unusually streamlined and extra-active body line and attack. Mr. Kings new Moroccan Project is set to African drumming and oud and violin music. His Migration, also new, will be danced to music by Pharoah Sanders, Miguel Frasconi and Leslie Stuck. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, joyce.org; $40. (Dunning) LA MAMA MOVES! (Tonight through Sunday night) This modern-dance version of a three-ring circus spills out into three theater spaces at La MaMa, with nine programs featuring more than 50 companies and soloists. (Through May 13.) At 7:30 p.m., La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710, lamama.org; $15. (Dunning) MONEY OF THE MONTH CLUB (Tonight and tomorrow night) Were not quite sure what this is all about, but it sounds as if it lives up to the Dixon Place standard of the cozily bizarre. At 8, Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, between Houston and Prince Streets, Lower East Side, (212) 219-0736, dixonplace.org; $12; $10 students and 65+. (Dunning) * NEW YORK CITY BALLET (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) The new production of Romeo and Juliet by the company director, Peter Martins, continues. The doomed young lovers will be danced by Sterling Hyltin and Robert Fairchild (tonight, tomorrow night and Tuesday); Tiler Peck and Sean Suozzi (tomorrow afternoon and Thursday); Erica Pereira and Allen Peiffer (Sunday); and Kathryn Morgan and Seth Orza (Wednesday). (Through May 13.) Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 870-5570, nycballet.com; $15 to $86. (Dunning) DAVID PARKER AND THE BANG GROUP (Tuesday through Thursday) The members of Mr. Parkers troupe use their bodies as instruments -- literally -- creating a percussive score as they dance. His new Hour Upon the Stage is likely to offer the eccentric comedy that Mr. Parker specializes in, or as press materials put it, a ribald approach to gender and sexuality. On Tuesday there will be a preshow talk at 6.30 p.m. (Through May 12.) At 7.30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077, dtw.org; $25; $15 for students, 65+ and artists. (Sulcas) RAGAMALA MUSIC AND DANCE THEATER (Tonight through Sunday, and Thursday) From Minneapolis, the company mixes Indian Bharatanatyam dance with contemporary movement, Japanese taiko drums and a capella singing. (Through May 13.) Tonight at 7, tomorrow at 2 and 7 p.m., Sunday at noon and 5 p.m., Thursday at 7 p.m., New Victory Theater, 209 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 239-6200, newvictory.org; $12.50 to $35. (Dunning) SKOVE WORKS (Thursday) Lily Skove and her modern-dance company will present SPLIT, a collaboration with the lighting designer T J Hellmuth that plays with hidden and obstructed perspectives in shadowy spaces that might be rooms in a house. And this mustily idiosyncratic performing space would seem the ideal setting. (Through May 12.) At 8 p.m., the Chocolate Factory, 5-49 49th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (212) 352-3101, chocolatefactorytheater.org; $15. (Dunning) * URBAN BUSH WOMEN (Tuesday through Thursday) Jawole Willa Jo Zollars Walking With Pearl: Africa Diaries and Walking With Pearl: Southern Diaries, works based on the travel diaries of the modern-dance pioneer Pear Primus, are the linchpins of the two programs at the Joyce offered by this dynamic company. There are other draws, however: a new work by Camille A. Brown, one of the most promising young choreographers around, and a restaging of Blondell Cummingss Chicken Soup. (Through May 13.) Tuesday and Wednesday at 7.30 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, joyce.org; $36. (Sulcas) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums * AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: MARTíN RAMíREZ, through May 13. Ramírez, a Mexican peasant who immigrated to Northern California and died there at 68 in 1963, spent the last 32 years of his life in a mental hospital, making some of the greatest art of the last century. He had his own way with materials and color, and an unforgettable cast of characters. But most of all, Ramírez had his own brand of pictorial space, established by rhythmic systems of parallel lines, both curved and straight, whose mesmerizing expansions and contractions simultaneously cosset and isolate his figures. In addition to being one of the seasons best exhibitions and the first of his work in a New York museum, this show should render null and void the distinction between insider and outsider art. 45 West 53rd Street, (212) 265-1040, folkartmuseum.org. (Roberta Smith) BROOKLYN MUSEUM: KINDRED SPIRITS: ASHER B. DURAND AND THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE, through July 29. This show of about 60 works by one of the greats of 19th-century American landscape painting has as its centerpiece Kindred Spirits (1849), a tribute to the landscapist Thomas Cole and his friend the poet-journalist William Cullen Bryant. A founder of the Hudson River School, Durand (1796-1886) favored the realistic approach to landscape advocated by the English critic John Ruskin. Durand explored forest interiors with close attention to the ways of trees, foliage and rocks and ground cover in smaller works, while his larger and more elaborate exhibition pictures, influenced by European masters, are Arcadian visions suffused with light, color and atmospheric perspective. The show reveals Durands strong sense of artistic mission and his potent role in shaping the aesthetic of 19th-century America. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, Brooklyn, (718) 638-5000, brooklynmuseum.org. (Grace Glueck) GREY ART GALLERY: BEYOND THE WHITE CUBE: A RETROSPECTIVE OF BRIAN ODOHERTY/PATRICK IRELAND, through July 14. Starting in the mid-1960s and in concert with the most influential thinkers of the period (Roland Barthes, Marcel Duchamp and Susan Sontag), Brian ODoherty made Conceptual art in a Minimalist vein. This show displays his sculptures, drawings, performance videos, paintings and rope drawings, which could easily be called installations. Its a must-see show for anyone who wants to understand the conceptual frameworks that underpin so much of todays most significant installation and performance art. 100 Washington Square East, Greenwich Village, (212) 998-6780, nyu.edu/greyart/. (Bridget L. Goodbody) GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: DIVISIONISM/NEO-IMPRESSIONISM: ARCADIA AND ANARCHY, through Aug. 6. Ultimately this rare, compressed, mercurial exhibition of work by the Italian Divisionists of the 1890s is long on history and short on truly convincing paintings. The inclusion of works by Seurat and his French, Dutch and Belgian followers clarifies how the Italians pushed Pointillism, Seurats invention, in all directions: toward realism, academic classicism, Symbolism, class consciousness and even Impressionism. The show opens a new, albeit small, window on the genesis of Modernism beyond the French canon. If many of the works are period pieces, they are also immensely appealing, big-hearted and physically robust period pieces. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 88th Street, (212) 423-3500. (Smith) * JAPAN SOCIETY: AWAKENINGS: ZEN FIGURE PAINTING IN MEDIEVAL JAPAN, through June 17. Japan Society has a history of producing exquisite shows of Buddhist art. And this one, with four dozen paintings of Buddhists gods and saints hung in shrinelike alcoves, is transporting. It covers a broad swath of geography, bringing together 13th- to 16th-century hanging scrolls, not only from Japan but also from China, where Zen Buddhism, called Chan in Chinese, originated. 333 East 47th Street, (212) 832-1155, japansociety.org. (Holland Cotter) THE JEWISH MUSEUM: DATELINE: ISRAEL: NEW PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO ART, through Aug. 5. Roughly every decade, the Jewish Museum offers a survey of contemporary art from and about Israel. This year non-Israeli artists from Europe and the United States -- and a single artist from Palestine -- have been added to the mix. Theres some very good work here, though, on the whole, the show grapples with crucial political issues in an indirect way. 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, (212) 423-3200, jewishmuseum.org. (Cotter) * THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: JOURNEYS: MAPPING THE EARTH AND MIND IN CHINESE ART, through Aug. 26. Every six months or so, the Met rotates all the work in its Chinese painting galleries to preserve the delicate silks and papers, and each time, the curator in charge, Maxwell K. Hearn, produces a new and illuminating thematic exhibition, as is the case with Journeys. Outward-bound and inward-bound are the directions taken by Chinese landscape painting, and it carries us on some fascinating voyages in a show that mixes classical and contemporary art. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Cotter) * THE MET: VENICE AND THE ISLAMIC WORLD, 828-1797, through July 8. At its peak in the Renaissance, Venice was a giant, clamorous Costco-on-the-Rialto. All the necessities, and most of the luxuries, of life flowed into and through it, with many items arriving from Islamic Africa and the Near East. With classic Met largesse, this exhibition suggests the spectacle of two different cultures meeting in one fantastic city, in which commerce and love of beauty, those great levelers, unite them in a fruitful bond. (See above.) (Cotter) MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM: APOCALYPSE THEN: MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATIONS FROM THE MORGAN, through June 17. Even in the contemporary art world the symbolism of the Book of Revelation has a subversive appeal. This new exhibition at the Morgan Library celebrates a facsimile of Las Huelgas Apocalypse (1220), the largest surviving Spanish illuminated commentary on the Apocalypse. The show, which includes 50 leaves from the original text, unbound and installed around the gallerys perimeter, offers a walking tour of the medieval imagination. 225 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 685-0008, morganlibrary.org. (Andrea K. Scott) * THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: JEFF WALL, through May 14. This majestic show makes a great case for Mr. Wall as the most complete, if traditional, of the untraditional artists who emerged from the turmoil of Conceptual Art. His often immense color transparencies mounted on light boxes are enthralling visual vehicles, intent on giving pleasure while making a point or two about society, art, history, visual perception, the human animal or all of the above. An imposing blend of painting, street photography and movies, they blur reality and artifice, narrative and form, detail and the big statement. You cant stop looking at them. (212) 708-9400, moma.org. (Smith) * NEUE GALERIE: VAN GOGH AND EXPRESSIONISM, through July 2. The Neue has, as usual, gathered a stellar roundup of Expressionist art. In one of the shows most exciting rooms, a third-floor gallery devoted mostly to self-portraits, two extraordinary van Goghs hang at opposite ends: Self-Portrait With Straw Hat (1887-88), from the Metropolitan Museums collection, filled with energetic, radiating brushstrokes, and the National Gallerys vibrant self-portrait of the artist holding a palette and brushes, painted about a year later. The most compelling pairing in this room, though, is van Goghs Bedroom from 1889, the second of three versions he painted of his room in Arles, with Egon Schieles obvious homage, The Artists Bedroom in Neulengbach, painted in 1911, in a darker palette and with a perspective tipped precariously toward the viewer. 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th Street, (212) 628-6200, neuegalerie.org. (Martha Schwendener) THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM: PHILOSOPHY OF TIME TRAVEL, through July 1. This flawed show, which was created by a group of artists who studied together at the California Institute of the Arts, is nonetheless an interesting example of one of the art worlds latest trends: the art collective. It takes Brancusis Endless Column as its point of departure and reimagines this Modernist icon from the point of view of art school grads, who are versed in the language of artspeak and wed to the righteous cause of freedom of expression. 144 West 125th Street, (212) 864-4500, studiomuseum.org. (Goodbody) WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: GORDON MATTA-CLARK RETROSPECTIVE, through June 3. I have no doubt that Matta-Clark is now being turned into a hot commercial commodity, but at least at the Whitney you can see what he aspired to be. He came up with various wonderfully harebrained ideas. Literally, in one case: after letting his hair grow for a year, he cut it off as a kind of performance and phrenological gag. The preserved hair, dutifully tagged piece by piece, opens the show like a holy relic. At the center of the exhibition is Splitting. To a plain single-family suburban frame house in Englewood, N.J., he made a cut straight down the middle, bisecting the building, then severing the four corners of the roof. The retrospective consists of films, drawings, photographs and some of the architectural pieces he cut out of buildings. The drawings are casual and not too interesting, but the luxurious black-and-white photographs from Paris speak more to Matta-Clarks formal elegance. The big message was: Life as art, and art as life, a philosophy dependent on our being properly attuned and keen to the moment. (212) 570-3676, whitney.org. (Michael Kimmelman) WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: TARYN SIMON, through June 24. Ms. Simon couches the show in the intellectual, power-to-the-people oratory of leftist politics, yet she clearly delights in exposing, in a quasi-tabloid fashion, Americas underbelly. Though she has also worked in war-torn areas, Ms. Simon is best known for The Innocents, a series of portraits of men and women who were wrongly convicted but later cleared by DNA test results. Ms. Simon can work as long as a year to gain permission to photograph high-security zones like the government-regulated quarantine sites, nuclear waste storage facilities, prison death rows and C.I.A. offices on view in the show. There are also pictures with lighter themes: the sandpit where the Grucci family tests fireworks, ski slopes being dynamited for avalanche control and the second Death Star, from Return of the Jedi, at George Lucass Skywalker Ranch. Ms. Simon is at her artistic best when her delight in the strangeness of American culture shines. (See above.) (Goodbody) Galleries: Uptown * RICHARD OELZE: PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS FROM THE 1950s & 1960s Nearly two dozen paintings in the first United States show of this little-known German Surrealist introduce an introvert with a penchant for grisaille grottolike structures that seem built on air, and for soft, fleshy forms that sometimes have eyes or reveal hidden faces or figures. Max Ernst is a big influence, and Pavel Tchelitchew an obvious analogy, but the exquisite rendering and pervasive unquiet are Oelzes alone. Ubu Gallery, 416 East 59th Street, (212) 753-4444, through May 12. (Smith) Galleries: 57th Street * KATHY BUTTERLY: BETWEEN A ROCK AND A SOFT PLACE Although she is a little off her game here, this extraordinarily talented ceramic sculptor continues to impress with exquisitely detailed, radiantly colored, art historically aware, discreetly lascivious little pieces, especially if you have never seen her work before. Still, the question of whether it isnt time for a change hangs over the proceedings. Tibor deNagy Gallery, 724 Fifth Avenue, (212) 262-5050, through May 19. (Smith) Galleries: SoHo * GEGO, BETWEEN TRANSPARENCY AND THE INVISIBLE The artist named Gego was born Gertrud Goldschmidt in Germany in 1912, but lived most of her life in Venezuela, where she produced netlike drawings in ink and watercolor and what she called drawings without paper: semi-geometric, see-through, two- and three-dimensional pieces of twisted and knotted wires, suspended in space. Whether you think of them as grids gone haywire or as rational forms charged with emotion, theyre out of this world, and this survey gives a sense of what is distinctive and radical about Gegos art. The Drawing Center, 35 Wooster Street, Soho, (212) 219-2166, drawingcenter.org, through July 21. (Cotter) Galleries: Chelsea * PRIME TIME: MICKALENE THOMAS AND SHINIQUE SMITH A sparkling double-header by two very different artists with much in common. In paintings encrusted with rhinestones, Ms. Thomas gives 1970s pin-up portraits of African-American women the shimmer of Byzantine mosaics. Ms. Smith turns bundles of cast-off clothes into floral bouquets of exotic patterning. Caren Golden Fine Art, 539 West 23rd Street, (212) 727-8304, carengoldenfineart.com, through May 12. (Cotter) Galleries: Other * SOL LEWITT: DRAWING SERIES If the greatness of Sol LeWitt, the Minimal-Conceptual artist who died in April at 78, has so far escaped you, this show of 14 of his mind-teasing, eye-filling wall drawings from the late 1960s and early 70s may do the trick. Selected and arranged by the artist, they proceed in carefully sequenced contrasts and echoes that are both insightful and idiosyncratic. Since their generating instructions are part of their titles, they reduce the creative process to a short, highly visible straight line. But their crisp geometries, accumulating marks and radiating patterns force us to mind the gap between artistic thought and artistic action, to experience the inability of language to account fully for visual outcome. Dia:Beacon, 3 Beekman Street, Beacon, N.Y., (845) 440-0100, through Sept. 10. (Smith) * LILY LUDLOW Best known as a designer for Imitation of Christ and Somnus, Ms. Ludlow offers a handful of draftsmanly paintings for this solo show. Done on faint dark lines on a white ground, each group picture presents nude, semi-classical figures entangled in what appear to be ethereal, sadistic ballets. Canada, 55 Chrystie Street, Chinatown, (212) 925-4631, canadanewyork. com, through May 13. (Cotter) Last Chance DELPHINE COURTILLOT From O. Winston Link to Anna Gaskell and The Blair Witch Project, there are far too many borrowed bits in these large watercolors based on staged photographs of people in dark, desolate landscapes. But the larger question is why the images wouldnt do just as well in their original photographic form. Tilton Gallery, 8 East 76th Street, (212) 731-2221, jacktiltongallery.com; closes tomorrow.(Smith) * WALTER DE MARIA Counting and space -- important to both Minimal and Conceptual Art -- come together with unusual clarity, if a bit too much in the way of gleaming metal, in two large installations by the creator of The Lightning Field earthwork. Both pieces consist of several dozen shiny, meter-long stainless-steel rods presented in spaces that couldnt be much more pristine. Experience the spatial levitation and note the number of sides on the rods; in both cases, they increase row by row. Gagosian Gallery, 522 West 21st Street, Chelsea, (212) 741-1717, and 555 West 24th Street, Chelsea, (212) 741-1111, gagosian.com; closes tomorrow. (Smith) * JONATHAN LASKER One of the tortoises of 80s painting, this artist has cultivated his narrow abstract vocabulary without painting himself into a corner, and this latest show is one of his best. The usual asides to the history of abstract painting continue, as does the almost garish postmodern style, but there is more coherence in both single works and the group. Perhaps this is because Mr. Laskers hand and brush have always stayed in the picture, subverting yet partaking of traditional touch and surface. Cheim & Read, 547 West 25th Street, (212) 242-7737; closes tomorrow. (Smith) ORLY GENGER: MASSSPEAK More than three tons of nylon climbing rope knotted into mats and arranged in mounds that sometimes touch the ceiling add to the tradition of filling gallery space with unusual quantities of just one thing for an effect that is at once dour and hilarious, like a playground designed by a Welsh miner. Larissa Goldston, 530 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212) 206-7887, larissagoldston.com; closes tomorrow. (Smith) * JONATHAN MONK: SOME KIND OF GAME BETWEEN THIS AND THAT As usual, this Conceptually inclined Scottish artist concentrates on sly tributes to, or plays on, works by other artists, among them Bruce Nauman, Chris Burden, John Baldessari and René Magritte. The slightest pieces are best, including drawings done on old books and The Cheat, in which this and that consist of an early silent film accompanied by a boom box tuned to a classical music station. Casey Kaplan, 525 West 21st Street, Chelsea, (212) 645-7335, caseykaplangallery.com; closes tomorrow. (Smith * MAY STEVENS: ASHES ROCK SNOW WATER The outstanding piece in this beautiful show of recent work is a mural-size painting of eddying water, the surface flecked with glinting bits of mica and amber, as if spirits were moving beneath the turbulence. Mary Ryan Gallery, 527 West 56th Street, (212) 397-0669; closes tomorrow. (Cotter) * TEMPORARY SERVICES: GROUP WORK Temporary Services, an inventive Chicago-based artists collective, was given the run of Printed Matters archives and came up with a fascinating selection of collectively published materials covering several decades. In addition, the group has installed a photographic installation that touches on the many things that group may mean, from Apostles, to Immigrants, to Upper Class. Printed Matter Inc., 195 10th Avenue, at 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 925-0325; closes tomorrow. (Cotter) * WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: LORNA SIMPSON This tight, refined and impassioned survey covers more than 20 years of Lorna Simpsons career, from her photo-and-text meditations on race and sexism in the 1980s, to her more recent short films, which unite American history and personal history in forceful and lyrical ways. It would be easy to put some of this work on a shelf as identity art, but with an African-American woman holding one of the highest offices in the United States government, an African-American man running for president, and the nation embroiled in what some people view as an ethnic war, this art is entirely of the moment. (212) 570-3676, whitney.org; closes tomorrow. (Cotter)

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READ IN: Expansion Shrinking Edition

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The Listings: June 3 -- June 9

Selective listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the New York metropolitan region this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings SCREEN PLAY Opens tomorrow. Liberal paranoia runs wild in A.R. Gurneys political satire set in the future after religious conservatives have driven the United States into more war, cultural decay and economic ruin. Jim Simpson directs. (1:10) Flea Theater, 41 White Street (212) 352-3101. MARK TWAIN TONIGHT! Previews start Monday. Opens Thursday. Hal Holbrook breaks out the old white suit and bushy moustache for this popular chestnut (2:30). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street (212) 307-4100. BIRDIE BLUE Opens June 23. S. Epatha Merkerson stars as the title character in this memory play about a woman whose life changed tragically on the day that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed (1:30). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212)246-4422. BORDER/CLASH: A LITANY OF DESIRES Previews begin today. Opens June 16. Staceyann Chin, an original cast member of Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam, tells her story in this autobiographical solo show (1:30). The Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street (212) 307-4100. THE CHERRY ORCHARD Opens June 15. Is it a comic tragedy or a tragic comedy? Renew that old debate at Tom Donaghys new adaptation of Chekhovs last play (2:00). Atlantic Theater Company, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212)239-6200. THE CONSTANT WIFE Opens June 16. When a wife discovers that her husband is cheating with her best friend, she takes unusual measures. Roundabouts revival of Somerset Maughams comedy of manners stars Kate Burton and Lynn Redgrave (2:15). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212)719-1300. DRUMSTRUCK Opens June 16.. The gimmick of this new spin on Stomp, which includes 11 percussionists from West and South Africa, is that every audience member plays his or her own drum during the show. David Warren directs (1:25). Dodgers Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200. FASTER Previews start Tuesday. Opens June 12. Inspired by James Gleicks bestselling book, this lightning fast production follows three young people speeding through life (1:15). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street (212) 279-4200. MANUSCRIPT Opens June 12. A manuscript holds the key to success and fame in Paul Grellongs comedy, directed by Bob Balaban (2:00). Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212)239-6200. THE PARIS LETTER Opens June 12. A repressed Wall Street investment banker (is there any other kind?) has a long, hard fall in Jon Robin Baitzs new drama, which spans four decades (2:00). Roundabout Theater Company, at the Laura Pels Theater, 111 West 46th Street, (212)719-1300. PEOPLE ARE LIVING THERE Previews start Wednesday. Opens June 16. Millies lover runs off with a younger woman on her 50th birthday in this 1969 drama, a rare early Athol Fugard play not about apartheid. The setting has been moved from South Africa to New Jersey (1:30). Signature Theaters Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street (212) 279-4200. PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES Previews start Thursday. Opens June 14. Procrastinators around the world despise Alan Acykbourn, the English writer whose 67th play receives its New York premiere. A bittersweet comedy about six lonely Londoners trying to connect (1:50). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street (212) 279-4200. Broadway AFTER THE NIGHT AND THE MUSIC Though its opening odd-couple-on-a-dance-floor skit shows promising charm, this evening of three sketches from the first lady of neurotic comedy mostly feels terminally torpid in the way that overworked and familiar material often does, even from comic geniuses. Daniel Sullivan directs an ensemble that notably features Jeannie Berlin (Ms. Mays daughter and on-stage alterego) and the invaluable J. Smith-Cameron. (2:00). Manhattan Theater Club, at the Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212)239-6200. (Ben Brantley) ALL SHOOK UP In a pint-size theater with a campy young cast, All Shook Up might be a moderate hoot. Inflated to Broadway proportions, its a mind-numbing holler (2:10). Palace Theater, 1564 Broadway, at 47th Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) BROOKLYN THE MUSICAL Try to imagine a sanitized Hair or a secular Godspell, with a helping of funky 70s disco, all filtered through the vocal pyrotechnics of American Idol (1:45). Gerald Schoenfeld Theater, 236 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) LA CAGE AUX FOLLES Robert Goulet is now striding gallantly through this garish revival of the Jerry Herman-Harvey Fierstein musical. Although he is not too agile, Mr. Goulet brings a subdued professionalism to the role of Georges, the owner of a transvestite nightclub on the Riviera who is facing a rising soufflé of domestic conflict (2:30). Marquis, 1535 Broadway, between 45th and 46th Streets, (212)307-4100. (Charles Isherwood) CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG The playthings are the thing in this lavish windup music box of a show: windmills, Rube Goldberg-like machines and the shows title character, a flying car. Its like spending two and a half hours in the Times Square branch of Toys R Us (2.30). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS On paper, this tale of two mismatched scam artists has an awful lot in common with The Producers. But if you are going to court comparison with giants, you had better be prepared to stand tall. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz, never straightens out of a slouch (2:35). Imperial, 249 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) * DOUBT, A PARABLE (Pulitzer Prize, Best Play 2005). Set in the Bronx in 1964, this play by John Patrick Shanley is structured as a clash of wills and generations between Sister Aloysius (Cherry Jones), the head of a parochial school, and Father Flynn (Brian F. OByrne), the young priest who may or may not be too fond of the boys in his charge. The plays elements bring to mind those tidy topical melodramas that were once so popular. But Mr. Shanley makes subversive use of musty conventions (1:30). Walter Kerr, 219 West 48th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) FIDDLER ON THE ROOF From the moment it sounds its first word in this placid revival, the voice of Harvey Fierstein (who has replaced Alfred Molina in the central role of Tevye) makes the audience prick up its ears. Whether it fits comfortably into the Russian village of Anatevka is another issue. But at least it brings a bit of zest to this abidingly bland production (2:55). Minskoff, 200 West 45th Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) THE GLASS MENAGERIE This revival suggests that to recollect the past is to see life as if it had occurred underwater, in some viscous sea. Folks drown in this treacherous element. Unfortunately, that includes the shows luminous but misdirected and miscast stars: Jessica Lange and Christian Slater (2:30). Barrymore, 243 West 47th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) * GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS Highly caffeinated bliss. Watching Joe Mantellos hopping revival of David Mamets play about a dog-eat-dog real estate office is like having espresso pumped directly into your bloodstream. But whats a little lost sleep when youve had the chance to see a dream-team ensemble, including Liev Schrieber and Alan Alda, pitching fast-ball Mamet dialogue with such pure love for the athletics of acting (1:45)? Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) JACKIE MASON: FRESHLY SQUEEZED Jackie Mason has so cunningly manufactured and marketed his dyspeptic comic persona -- the herky-jerky movements used to embellish the routines, the voice thats like a sinus infection with a bad back -- that he may soon be able to refine all actual jokes out of his act, and still slay em. Thats chutzpah. And quite a talent, too (2:05). Hayes, 240 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) JULIUS CAESAR Those cruel forces of history known as the dogs of war are chewing up everything in their path in this tragedy: friends, Romans, countrymen, blank verse and even the noblest movie star of them all. Thats Denzel Washington, who plays the conflicted Brutus (2:40). Belasco, 111 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Love is a many-flavored thing, from sugary to sour, in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucass encouragingly ambitious and discouragingly unfulfilled new musical. The show soars only in the sweetly bitter songs performed by the wonderful Victoria Clark, as an American abroad (2:15). Beaumont, Lincoln Center, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) * ON GOLDEN POND Placing a powerhouse like James Earl Jones in Ernest Thompsons teary, sentimental comedy about an elderly couples summer of healing suggests a German shepherd in a poodle-sized dog house. Yet rather than make his surroundings feel small and artificial in this surprisingly fresh revival, Mr. Joness natural grandeur forces the play to find room for his sweeping emotional breadth (2:15). Cort, 138 West 48th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) * THE PILLOWMAN For all its darkness of plot and imagery, Martin McDonaghs tale of a suspected child murderer in a totalitarian state dazzles with a brightness now largely absent from Broadway. Exquisitely directed and designed, The Pillowman features top-of-the-line performances from Billy Crudup, Jeff Goldblum, Zeljko Ivanek and Michael Stuhlbarg (2:40). Booth, 222 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) 700 SUNDAYS This one-man memoir of a play by Billy Crystal has been set up to suggest a night of home movies with a buddy from your high school days who is equal parts attention-grabbing showoff and softhearted sweetie pie. You would be hard-pressed to find a Broadway show with a more artfully calculated comfort factor (2:20). Broadhurst, 235 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) SPAMALOT This staged re-creation of the mock-medieval movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail is basically a singing scrapbook for Python fans. Still, it seems safe to say that such a good time is being had by so many people that this fitful, eager celebration of inanity and irreverence will find a large and lucrative audience (2:20). Shubert, 225 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) STEEL MAGNOLIAS Despite an ensemble featuring high-profile veterans of stage, film and television, sitting through this portrait of friendship among Southern women, set in a beauty parlor in small-town Louisiana, is like watching nail polish dry (2:20). Lyceum, 149 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE The capricious gods of casting have not been kind to Tennessee Williams of late. This staging, starring an erratic Natasha Richardson as Blanche, is not the hazy mess that the current Glass Menagerie is. But it, too, suffers from fundamental mismatches of parts, especially John C. Reillys sexually unmagnetic Stanley (2:45). Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street, (212)719-1300. (Brantley) SWEET CHARITY This revival of the 1966 musical, directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Wayne Cilento, never achieves more than a low-grade fever when whats wanted is that old steam heat. In the title role of the hopeful dance-hall hostess, the appealing but underequipped Christina Applegate is less a shopworn angel than a merry cherub (2:30). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) * THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE The happy news for this happy-making little musical is that the move to larger quarters has dissipated none of its quirky charm. William Finns score sounds plumper and more rewarding than it did Off Broadway, providing a sprinkling of sugar to complement the sass in Rachel Sheinkins zinger-filled book. The performances are flawless. Gold stars all around. (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) * WHOS AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Everybody ultimately loses in Edward Albees great marital wrestling match of a play from 1962. But theatergoers who attend this revealingly acted new production, starring a superb Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin, are destined to leave the Longacre feeling like winners (2:50). Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) Off Broadway * ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). Dodger Stages Stage 4, 340 West 50th Street, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) THE ARGUMENT Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros, co-author of the post-9/11 play Omnium Gatherum, aims to personalize another hot-button issue here, but its not likely that any serious thought, old or new, is going to be provoked by this whiny debate between two uninteresting types about the ever-sensitive topic of abortion. He wants the baby; she doesnt. It is hard to care (1:30). The Vineyard Theater, 108 East 15th Street, (212)353-0303. (Isherwood) BEAST ON THE MOON Richard Kalinoskis musty romantic drama depicts the fractious marriage of two survivors of the mass killings of Armenians during World War I. Larry Mosss production is respectable and effective, but the performances by Omar Metwally and Lena Georgas are exhaustingly busy (2:00). Century Center for the Performing Arts, 111 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) BFE Julia Chos insightful drama about the agonies and comforts of isolation centers around a 14-year-old Asian-American girl (Olivia Oguma) who feels she isnt beautiful. The main characters force themselves to reach out to others, but all fail in some essential way (1:45). Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212)279-4200. (Anita Gates) CAPTAIN LOUIE The York Theater is serving a charming, child-size slice of Broadway with Captain Louie, a one-hour musical based on the 1978 picture book The Trip by Ezra Jack Keats. A talented young cast performs music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, an Oscar and Grammy winner whose credits include Pocahontas, The Prince of Egypt and the current Broadway hit Wicked (1:00). The York Theater Company at the Theater at Saint Peters, 619 Lexington Avenue, at 54th Street, (212)868-4444. (Miriam Horn) FLIGHT: THE RISE AND FALL OF CHARLES LINDBERGH Garth Wingfields droning bio-play transforms Charles Lindberghs journey from tickertape hero to disgraced Nazi sympathizer into a sort of talking newspaper, minus op-ed pages, lively writing and the weather report. With Gregg Edelman playing the everyman pilot turned celebrity, and Brian DArcy James on hand to personify a series of slimy reporters (2:00). Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, West Village, (212)279-4200. (Isherwood) * HOWIE THE ROOKIE Mark ORowes blood-and-guts-filled comic yarn, which features two baroque monologues climaxing in sudden, irresistible bursts of mayhem, tells a gangland story set in working-class Dublin. Despite being overproduced, the play packs a wallop (1:50). Irish Arts Center, 553 West 51st Street, Clinton, (212)868-4444.(Jason Zinoman) * HURLYBURLY If you are going to inhabit a wasteland, you might as well be thoroughly wasted. That seems to be the first rule of survival for the characters who have been brought so vibrantly and unforgivingly to life in this smashing revival of David Rabes 1984 play. But thanks to a terrific cast, theatergoers are likely to experience a heady buzz of excitement and clarity, which any of the desperate characters onstage would kill for (3:15). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) LAZER VAUDEVILLE If this isnt an ancient showbiz rule, it ought to be: things will look a lot more impressive if they are done in the dark with a heavy dose of fluorescence. That seems to be the guiding principle behind this hodgepodge of juggling, rope twirling and such, delivered wordlessly by the cast (1:30). Reopening Thursday at the Lambs Theater, 130 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200.(Neil Genzlinger) MISS JULIE Anders Cato directs a new adaptation by Craig Lucas. Marin Hinkle, as Miss Julie, and Reg Rogers, as her fathers uppity valet Jean, spar and flirt, humiliate each other and humble themselves as expected, in the traditional kitchen, with the designated disastrous results. Chances are you wont believe a word of it (1:35). Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place, Greenwich Village, (212)868-4444. (Isherwood) THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS! The musical is the happy narcissist of theater; parody is the best form of narcissism. All it needs are smart writers and winning performers. Thats what we get in this case (1:30). Dodger Stages, Stage 5, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200. (Margo Jefferson) * ORSONS SHADOW Austin Pendletons play, about a 1960 production of Ionescos Rhinoceros directed by Orson Welles and starring Laurence Olivier, is a sharp-witted but tenderhearted backstage comedy about the thin skins, inflamed nerves and rampaging egos that are the customary side effects when sensitivity meets success (2:00). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, Greenwich Village, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER This comedy, written more than two centuries ago by Oliver Goldsmith, doesnt have much to say today, and Charlotte Moore, the director of the Irish Repertory Theaters production, wisely doesnt try to pretend otherwise. Instead she lets the actors play with the audience, a restrained glee that is hard to peg at first but ultimately pays off with some great laughs. Oliver Goldsmiths 1773 comedy mocks the snobbery of the London upper class, while piling on the slapstick, mistaken identities and farce Irish (2:30). Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, (212) 727-2737. (Genzlinger) SLAVAS SNOWSHOW A giggle of clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin is stirring up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart as well as tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square, 100 East 17th Street, (212)307-4100. (Lawrence Van Gelder) SONGS FROM AN UNMADE BED Slight but pithy, this humorous revue of 18 songs with lyrics by Mark Campbell and music by 18 different composers takes a sardonic and explicit look at gay life in New York: Sex with an actor. What was I thinking? (1:10). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212)239-6200. In repertory with Score. (Anne Midgette) TABLOID CALIGULA Three excellent performances set off Darren Murphys dark comedy, about a London thug hooked on Alexander the Great, in which the author has a lot of fun with language and the art of storytelling (1:30). Part of the Brits Off Broadway festival at 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212)279-4200.(Andrea Stevens) TERRORISM Every element of everyday existence participates in the title activity of this smart, snarling shaggy dog of a play by the Siberian-born Preyskyakov brothers. But while Will Frearss production makes its thematic points clearly, it is still searching for a style that convincingly blends Slavic urgency and ennui (1:20). The Clurman Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, (212)279-4200. (Brantley) * THOM PAIN (BASED ON NOTHING) Is there such a thing as stand-up existentialism? If not, Will Eno has just invented it. Stand-up-style comic riffs and deadpan hipster banter keep interrupting the corrosively bleak narrative. Mr. Eno is a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation (1:10). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) THRILL ME: THE LEOPOLD & LOEB STORY The story is familiar, the script and lyrics are not especially innovative, but somehow Stephen Dolginoffs pocket musical about the Leopold and Loeb murder case lands like a well-placed punch. Every time Doug Kreeger, as Loeb, and Matt Bauer, as Leopold, blend their voices in close harmony, its a reminder that evil often looks and sounds beautiful (1:20). York Theater Company, at St. Peters Citigroup Center, 619 Lexington Avenue, at 54th Street, (212)868-4444.(Genzlinger) TROLLS Dick DeBenedictis and Bill Dyers semi-terrific musical is about gay men who arent as young as they used to be. With a glorious opening, likable characters, affecting but derivative music, the show is worth seeing but needs some work (1:35). Actors Playhouse, 100 Seventh Avenue South, at Fourth Street, (212)239-6200. (Gates) WOMAN BEFORE A GLASS Peggy Guggenheim, doyenne of the 20th-century art world, becomes the latest public figure to be exhumed onstage in this one-woman show starring the formidable Mercedes Ruehl. Written by Lanie Robertson, the play is gaudy and moderately fun (1:40). Promenade, Broadway at 76th Street, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) Off Off Broadway DAY IN THE LIFE OF ORDINARY PEOPLE Talent and passion are overcome by banality in the first musical by the Broadway actor Josh Walden, who wrote the music, book and lyrics, choreographed the show, and directed. While the music and dance show occasional flair, the same cannot be said of the lyrics or book, a clichéd exhuming of the secrets behind 1950s facades (1:00). Flamboyan Theater, 107 Suffolk Street, Lower East Side, (212)260-4080. (Horn) KNOCK ON WOOD Thanks to Steven Spielberg and Bob Dole, the bar is fairly high these days for war stories, and Samuel Calderon comes nowhere near clearing it with Knock on Wood, a monologue about his perfectly ordinary service in the Israeli military during the Yom Kippur War. He sees a few moderately distressing sights, his friend is injured, and thats about it (1:30). 13th Street Repertory, 50 West 13th Street, (212)352-3101. (Genzlinger) MARATHON 2005, SERIES A A long, too often dreary evening of plays by a pair of Tony winners, John Guare and Warren Leight, and a pair of actress-playwrights, Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros and Leslie Lyles. Ms. Gersten-Vassilaros contribution, The Airport Play, is the briefest and, perhaps not coincidentally, the best of the bunch (2:15). Ensemble Studio Theater, 549 West 52nd Street, (212)352-3101 (Isherwood) Long-Running Shows AVENUE Q R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:10). Golden, 252 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh -- sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street , (212)307-4747. (Brantley) BLUE MAN GROUP Conceptual art as family entertainment (1:45). Astor Place Theater, 434 Lafayette Street, (212)254-4370. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador, 219 West 49th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) MOVIN OUT The miracle dance musical that makes Billy Joel cool (2:00). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) NAKED BOYS SINGING Thats who they are. Thats what they do (1:05). Julia Miles Theater, 414 West 55th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) STOMP And the beat goes on (and on), with percussion unlimited (1:30). Orpheum Theater, Second Avenue at Eighth Street, East Village, (212)477-2477. (Brantley) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin, 222 West 51st Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance HENRY FLAMETHROWA John Bellusos timely drama about a girl in a coma who may or may not heal the sick engages the issues raised during the Terri Schiavo media circus. Its a thought-provoking play (starring Tim Daly), but unfortunately, there are no characters in it you can believe in. Loosely based on a true story, this timely drama is about a girl who has been in a coma for several years and her brother who plans to disconnect her breathing ventilator and allow her to die (1:30). Studio Dante, 257 West 29th Street, Chelsea, (212)279-4200, closing tomorrow. (Zinoman) IVANOV Jonathan Banks staging of the Chekhov classic Ivanov with the National Asian-American Theater Company has an impressively consistent tone, notwithstanding some needless mood music. Not all the acting rises to the level of Joel de la Fuente, who is marvelous in the lead role, but enough does to make the show well worth seeing (2:30). Baruch Performing Arts Center, 17 Lexington Avenue, at 23rd street, (646)312-4085, closing tomorrow. (Jonathan Kalb) THE MAIDS It is no small feat to find the chill in Jean Genets 1947 play about two maids who fantasize about killing their boss, but Jean Cocteau Repertory manages it. Credit an eye-opening performance by Amanda Jones as Solange, the dominant of the pair (2:00). Bouwerie Lane Theater, 330 Bowery, at Bond Street, (212)279-4200, closing on Sunday. (Genzlinger) MORTAL LADIES POSSESSED Linda Marlowes admirable but difficult one-woman show is based on a 1974 collection of Tennessee Williamss short stories. The adaptation is sometimes awkward and the transitions hard to follow, but she captures the characters pathos and fragility nicely (1:20). 59E59Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212)279-4200, closing on Sunday. (Gates) * THE PASSION OF THE CRAWFORD For his slight but still tasty new show, John Epperson has decided to allow his voiceless alter ego, Lypsinka, to commune intimately and at length with one of her spiritual forebears, Joan Crawford. The centerpiece is a pointed but never vicious re-creation, or rather an interpretation, of a live interview Crawford gave at Town Hall in 1973 (1:30). Zipper, 336 West 37th Street, (212)239-6200, closing on Sunday. (Isherwood) PLANET BANANA If you think womens gymnastics would be more interesting if performed in outfits from the Victorias Secret catalog, then Planet Banana is the place for you. Featuring incongruous stunts, moderately difficult circus routines and a sketchy searching-for-love story, the show is as enjoyable as it is raucous (1:25). Ars Nova, 511 West 54th Street, (212)868-4444, closing tomorrow. (Genzlinger) THE PULL OF NEGATIVE GRAVITY A Welsh man with no seeming interest in politics is badly injured in the Iraq war and discovers that returning home will not be so easy. In this bruising, intimate and overly familiar play, which is part of the Brits Off Broadway festival, Jonathan Lichtenstein beautifully portrays how the war destroyed one rural family (1:30). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212)279-4200, closing on Sunday. (Zinoman) SCORE The subject of this one-man show is Leonard Bernstein and music, and the performer, Tom Nelis, and the director, Anne Bogart, get Lenny -- now brilliant, now flamboyant, now superficial, now physically responding to recorded music (1:30). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212)239-6200, closing on Thursday. The show is in repertory with Songs From an Unmade Bed. (Midgette) UNCLE JIMMYS DIRTY BASEMENT This strange brew of Catskills humor, heavy metal and filthy-minded puppets has developed a cult following downtown, and its bizarre band rocks out to some of the most bombastically silly songs since Spinal Taps Big Bottom. But when the music stops, the show meanders without an involving story (1:15). Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, (212)477-5288, closing tomorrow. (Zinoman) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. BORN INTO BROTHELS (Not rated, 85 minutes, in Bengali) A lovely documentary about children of prostitutes in Calcutta. (A.O. Scott) BROTHERS (R, 113 minutes, in Danish) This gripping psychological drama is Susanne Biers second film to examine events worthy of Greek tragedy through a contemporary therapeutic lens; wartime trauma and sibling rivalry collide. (Stephen Holden) CRASH (R, 107 minutes) A gaggle of Los Angeles residents from various economic and ethnic backgrounds collide, sometimes literally, in the course of a hectic 36-hour period. Well-intentioned, impressively acted, but ultimately a speechy, ponderous melodrama of liberal superstition masquerading as realism. (Scott) DOMINION PREQUEL TO THE EXORCIST (R, 115 minutes) The solemn, high-minded attempt to redeem The Exorcist franchise is the movie equivalent of retrieving the eggshells, coffee grounds and banana peels from the trash and presenting them as art; the ingredients still stink. (Holden) * ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM (Not rated, 110 minutes) This sober, informative chronicle of the biggest business scandal of the decade is almost indecently entertaining, partly because it offers some of the most satisfying movie villains in quite some time. Recommended for everyone except those likely to be in the Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling jury pools. (Scott) * THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (PG, 103 minutes) In this hugely likable, long-awaited film of Douglas Adamss beloved book, the world comes to an end not just with a bang, but also with something of a shrug. Nicely directed with heart and sincerity by the newcomer Garth Jennings, the film features Martin Freeman, a sensational Sam Rockwell and some gloriously singing dolphins. (Manohla Dargis) * THE HOLY GIRL (Not rated, 106 minutes; in Spanish) The Argentine director Lucrecia Martels second feature is an oblique, feverish exploration of religious ecstasy and adolescent sexuality. Hard to classify, other than as a miraculous piece of filmmaking. (Scott) HOUSE OF WAX (R, 105 minutes) Not the depilatory sequel to Beauty Shop, but rather a remake of the 1953 Vincent Price creep show, with Paris Hilton, Elisha Cuthbert and a bunch of guys menaced by maniacs in the Louisiana backwoods. Grisly and slow. (Scott) THE INTERPRETER (PG-13, 123 minutes) A political thriller, both apolitical and unthrilling, notable for two accomplishments: turning the United Nations into a movie set, and, even more remarkably, giving Nicole Kidman the opportunity to embody the suffering of Africans everywhere. (Scott) KICKING AND SCREAMING (PG, 90 minutes) A so-so family sports comedy with Will Ferrell acting goofy, and Robert Duvall (as the father of Mr. Ferrells character and a rival youth soccer coach) parodying his performance in The Great Santini. The story follows a venerable Hollywood formula: its lesson is that winning isnt everything, but of course once you learn this lesson, youll win big, anyway. (Scott) KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (R, 145 minutes) A plaintive period epic from Ridley Scott, starring Orlando Bloom, about the bloody orgies of piety known as the Crusades. The film proves yet again that it takes an actor as self-serious as Russell Crowe to carry the weight of Mr. Scotts ambitions; it also takes a story Mr. Scott himself can really believe in. (Dargis) * KINGS AND QUEEN (No rating, 150 minutes, in French) A film about a hapless man and a woman who is alternately, perhaps even simultaneously, a mistress, monster, mother, murderer, object of lust and subject of loathing, this latest work from the wildly talented French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin is essential viewing. (Dargis) KUNG FU HUSTLE (R, 95 minutes, in Mandarin and Cantonese) This kinetic, exhausting, relentlessly entertaining film throws scraps of a half-century of international pop culture into a fast-whirling blender. (Scott) LADIES IN LAVENDER (PG-13, 104 minutes) Two dames of the British empire (Judi Dench and Maggie Smith) inhabit spinster sisters in Cornwall who nurse a handsome Polish violinist back to health in 1936. Amiably bogus. (Holden) LAYER CAKE (R, 104 minutes) Directed by Matthew Vaughn, making a smoothly assured debut, and written by J.J. Connolly, this is the newest in British gangland entertainment and the tastiest in years. The star of this show is the very good British actor Daniel Craig, who slices through Layer Cake like a knife. (Dargis) THE LONGEST YARD (PG-13, 97 minutes) In this crummy remake of the 1974 film of the same title, Adam Sandler stars as the former N.F.L. quarterback Paul Crewe, who years earlier was booted out of the league for shaving points and is now charged with leading a team of prisoners against a team of guards. In the original film, directed with seriocomic facility by Robert Aldrich, Crewe was played by Burt Reynolds with effortless charm and the tightest pants this side of Tony Orlando. The Aldrich version was recently released on DVD and makes for a nice evening in. (Dargis) * LOOK AT ME (PG-13, 110 minutes; in French) A delicious comedy, as tart as it is sweet, of ambition, miscommunication and egoism. Set in a Paris that seems to be populated entirely by artists and writers, the film affectionately tweaks the bad manners and complacency of Frances intellectual elite. (Scott) MADAGASCAR (PG, 86 minutes) Like many computer-animated features, this one, about four celebrity-voiced animals exiled from the Central Park Zoo -- expends most of its imaginative resources on clever visuals. These, in the end, are not enough to compensate for the lack of interesting narrative, real characters or jokes on subjects other than flatulence, excrement and contemporary pop culture. (Scott) MAD HOT BALLROOM (PG, 105 minutes) This documentary follows fifth graders from three very different New York City public schools as they prepare to compete in a ballroom dancing tournament. The sight of 10-year-olds trying to master the graceful, grown-up motions of the fox trot and the tango is charming, and the glimpses of their lives in and outside of school are fascinating, though unfortunately the film offers not much more than glimpses. (Scott) MONSTER-IN-LAW (PG-13, 102 minutes) Jane Fonda finds a zany, good-natured verve in a dragon-lady caricature that mirrors a comedy so desperate to avoid offending that it runs in panic from every issue it brings up but refuses to address. (Holden) * MYSTERIOUS SKIN (Not rated, 99 minutes) Gregg Araki, one-time bad boy of the New Queer Cinema, has made a heartbreaking and surpassingly beautiful film out of Scott Heims clear-eyed novel about two Kansas boys dealing with the consequences of their sexual abuse by a Little League coach. Superb performances, especially by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (Scott) THE NINTH DAY (No rating, 90 minutes, in German) A somber, thought-provoking moral thriller, in which a Roman Catholic priest from Luxembourg, temporarily released from Dachau, finds his conscience tested when the Nazis try to co-opt him. Interesting ideas, insufficiently dramatized. (Scott) OLDBOY (R, 118 minutes; in Korean) The latest in dubious pulp-fiction cool, Oldboy centers on a seemingly ordinary businessman, Dae-su (the terrific Choi Min-sik), who, after being mysteriously imprisoned, goes on an exhausting rampage, seeking answers and all manner of bloody revenge. (Dargis) PALINDROMES (Not rated, 100 minutes) The same backward and forward: dud. (Scott) ROBOTS (PG, 89 minutes) This computer-animated films setting, a world made entirely for and by clanky mechanical gizmos, is rendered with impressive skill and imagination. Otherwise, its the usual junkyard assemblage of celebrity voices, lame pop-cultural allusions and heartwarming lessons. (Scott) SAHARA (PG-13, 130 minutes) It may not be Raiders of the Lost Ark, but this screen adaptation of Clive Cusslers sprawling African adventure yarn is a movie that keeps half a brain in its head while adopting the amused, cocky smirk of the Indiana Jones romps. (Holden) SAVING FACE (R, 91 minutes) The amiable romantic comedy examines the lives of three generations of Chinese-Americans living in New York exudes a palpable love for its characters but ends up betraying its hard-headedness with instant, feel-good solutions to their problems. (Holden) SEQUINS (No rating, 88 minutes, in French) In this decorous trifle from France, the young actress Lola Naymark stares into space with moist, empty eyes, tossing her red hair like a pony fretfully swishing away late-summer flies. Ms. Naymarks enviable hair, with its springy curls and poetically inflamed color, accounts for much of this films visual enchantment and interest. (Dargis) SIN CITY (R, 126 minutes) Based on the comic book series of the same name by Frank Miller, this slavishly faithful screen adaptation tracks the ups and downs of tough guys and dolls. Sin City has been made with such scrupulous care and obvious love for its genre influences that its a shame that the movie is kind of a bore. (Dargis) * STAR WARS III: REVENGE OF THE SITH (PG-13, 142 minutes) George Lucas saved the best -- or at least one of the best -- for the end. Or for the middle. In any case, the saga is now complete, and has regained much of its original glory. (Scott) WALK ON WATER (Not rated, 104 minutes) The director Eytan Fox takes on the controversial subject of Israeli nationalism in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Despite an implausible climax, this movies quiet intelligence sneaks up on you. (Dana Stevens) WILD SAFARI 3-D: A SOUTH AFRICAN ADVENTURE (Not rated, 45 minutes) A choppy tour of South African flora and fauna. Kids will love the romping lion cubs and elephant calves, while adults will be grateful by this travelogues vibrancy and brevity. (Ned Martel) Film Series AWARD-WINNING ART/FOREIGN FILMS+ FESTIVAL (Through June 30) Or (My Treasure), an Israeli drama that won the Camera dOr at the Cannes Film Festival, plays tonight through Tuesday at Makor/92nd Street Y. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys makes a personal appearance on Wednesday for a screening of and post-screening discussion of Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile, David Leafs documentary about the groups lost album. 35 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212)601-1000; $9; $45 for movie and panel discussion. (Anita Gates) EYE AND EAR CONTROLLED (Through tomorrowJune 11) The Anthology Film Archives three-week series of rare music films continues with a weekend dedicated to the German-Argentine composer Mauricio Kagel. A selection of Mr. Kagels short films, including Hallelujah (1968) and Blues Blues (1981), will be screened today through Sunday. On Sunday, Ludwig Van (1969), his major film work, will also be shown. At 32 Second Avenue, East Village, (212)505-5181; $8; students and 65+, $6; members, $5. (Gates) MOMA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF FILM PRESERVATION (Through June 26) The Museum of Modern Art will be screening, among other films, Bernardo Bertoluccis autobiographical second film, Before the Revolution (1964), a reconstruction of the Russian-release version of Sergei Eisensteins classic Battleship Potemkin (1925) and a recently rediscovered English-language version of Jacques Tatis comedy Mon Oncle (1958). At 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212)708-9400; $10; 65+, $8; students, $6. (Gates) OPINION 8: BROOKLYN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Tomorrow through June 13) The eighth annual festival, at the Brooklyn Museum, includes some 160 independent films chosen for cultural diversity and alternative thinking. They include A Brief Peace (2004), from Iran; The Revenge of the Teenage Zombies (2004), Germany; and You Are Alone (2005), United States. 200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Park, (718)388-4306, $10. (Gates) NICHOLAS RAY TRIBUTE (Through June 15) The Two Boots Pioneer Theater is showing Rays Bitter Victory (1957), starring Richard Burton as an unfit military commander, tomorrow; In a Lonely Place (1950), with Humphrey Bogart as a screenwriter with a violent streak, on June 15; and Hot Blood (1956), a musical melodrama with Jane Russell, on June 18. The theater is also screening Konstantin Bojanovs documentary Invisible -- This Is Your Life on Heroin, through Tuesday. 155 East Third Street, East Village, (212)591-0434, $9. (Gates) THE TWO OF US (Through Thursday) Film Forum is showing Claude Berris 1967 classic about a Jewish boy in occupied France. Alain Cohen plays the boy, and Michel Simon the elderly man with whom he is sent to the country to live. This is a new 35-millimeter print with new subtitles, to be shown with Mr. Berris Oscar-winning 1962 short, Le Poulet, about a boy and his rooster. At 209 West Houston Street, South Village, (212)727-8110, $10; members, $5. (Gates) VILLAGE VOICE BEST OF 2004 (Through June 29) BAMcinématek presents this festival of critics selections, a combination of talked-about films from last year and new, undistributed works. Features include Hou Hsiao-Hsiens Café LumiEre (2004), about a young pregnant Japanese woman, tomorrow; Jonathan Demmes remake of The Manchurian Candidate (2004), with Meryl Streep and Liev Schreiber, on Monday; and Lars von Triers Dogville (2003), with Nicole Kidman, on Thursday. As a sidebar, a retrospective, Eugène Green: A Baroque World, including the United States premiere of Night After Night (Toutes les Nuits) (2001), runs Sunday through June 10, with an opening-night appearance by Mr. Green. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, (718)777-FILM or (718) 636-4100, $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. RYAN ADAMS (Tomorrow) Ryan Adams keeps changing his mind about whom hes emulating; hes gone from Van Morrison to the Replacements. With his new band, the Cardinals, his songs are kindly and lovelorn and hes in a Grateful Dead mood, ready to jam. 7:30; Starland Ballroom, 570 Jernee Mill Road, Sayreville, N.J., (732)238-5500, $25. (Jon Pareles) BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA (Monday) After more than 60 years as a group, the Blind Boys of Alabama are no longer boys, but gray-haired eminences of gospel quartet singing. Led by Clarence Fountain, they proclaim their reverence in close harmonies and gutsy improvisations that leap heavenward. They perform Monday as part of Jazz at Lincoln Centers Thats Entertainment spring benefit gala also featuring Lyle Lovett and Wynton Marsalis. 7:30 p.m., Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street, Harlem, 212258-9961, $1,000. (Pareles) B.B. KING (Monday) The great bluesman B.B. King and his latest guitar called Lucille can, on a good night, summon all the tribulation and joy and resilience of the blues. This show was moved from May 31; all tickets will be honored. 7 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 237 West 42nd Street, (212)997-4144, $70, $75 at the door. (Pareles) BLANCHE (Thursday) This Detroit bands debut single featured the White Stripes frontman Jack White (who also covered a Blanche song as a B-side to his single I Dont Know What To Do With Myself). Both bands share an idealization of a pre-modern sound. Blanches acoustic goth Americana meanders the foothills of an imagined Appalachia. 10 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, Lower East Side, (212)260-4700, $12. (Laura Sinagra) BLUE MERLE (Wednesday) This Nashville groups folk-rock is best when it opens into jam-band expanse. 10 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700, $12, $14 at the door. (Sinagra) THE CORAL (Thursday) This British bands psychedelic pop has yet to find the glorious meeting of newfound structure and early chaos it would need to take listeners by storm. Still, the amiable lads seem to be gesturing toward trendy punk-disco these days, which isnt a bad move. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212)533-2111, $16, $18 at the door. (Sinagra) COWBOY JUNKIES (Tomorrow) Nearing the 20-year mark, this soporific alt-country group nurtures a base of vaguely alienatied yuppy fans still intrigued by the bands relatively safe journey to countrys dark side, and the sibling tension between its singer, Margo Timmins, and her guitarist and songwriter brother, Michael. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, (212)777-6800, $35. (Sinagra) ROBERT CRAY BAND AND MARCIA BALL AND JEREMIAH LOCKWOOD ((Tonight) Robert Cray, who brings convincing passion to songs about a tortured conscience, meshes blues with Memphis soul. Marcia Ball plays two-fisted New Orleans barrelhouse piano and sings in a husky, knowing voice about all the trouble men and women can get into on the way to a good time. 8:30 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, (212) 777-6800, $32.50. (Pareles) DICK DALE (Tomorrow) Dick Dale, king of the surf guitar, provides no polite nostalgia trip to the mid-1960s. Hes out to summon elemental forces with the stomping beat of his band and his heavily reverbed, brusquely attacked guitar lines, along with the dive-bombing, tremolo glissandos that literally melt his guitar picks from the heat of their friction on the strings. 7 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 237 West 42nd Street, (212) 997-4144, $20.50, $25.50 at the door. (Pareles) DAVES TRUE STORY (Tonight) Easy-swinging jazz, bossa nova, Steely Dan pop and touches of country are wrapped around existential ruminations in the songs of Daves True Story. 7:30 p.m., Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212)576-1155, $15. (Pareles) ELECTRELANE (Tonight) The spacey European art-pop favored by this British band, played on vintage analog equipment and influenced by 1970s German electronic rock, hasnt been in vogue since the late 90s, but the group plays it with verve, often subverting its musics sheen with messy garage-rock heft. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, $15. (Sinagra) JOHN FOGERTY (Wednesday) The Creedence Clearwater Revivals songwriter, guitarist and singers wild-eyed wail and the distilled twang of his guitar remain undiminished, the sound of a mythic backwoods Southland where barefoot girls dance in the moonlight. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, (212)777-6800, $75. (Pareles) THE FUTUREHEADS, HIGH SPEED SCENE, PITTY SING (Monday) Vying with Bloc Party for the mantle of least derivative dance-punk revival band, the Futureheads reverence for the music of polestars like XTC and Wire extends beyond sonic mimicry, adding nuance to pro forma punk panic. 6:30 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212)353-1600, $20. (Sinagra) THE FUNKY METERS (Tonight and Thursday) The Funky Meters include Art Neville on keyboards and George Porter Jr. on bass from the Meters, the band that was the cornerstone of New Orleans funk. With Russell Batiste Jr. on drums, they still set up grooves and syncopations that carry every hip into irresistible motion. Thursdays free outdoor concert is part of the BAM R&B Festival. Tonight at 8 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 237 West 42nd Street, (212)997-4144, $30, $35 at the door. Thursday at noon, MetroTech Commons Plaza, Flatbush Avenue and Myrtle Street, Downtown Brooklyn. (Pareles) HOT 97S SUMMER JAM 2005 (Sunday) The annual meeting of hip-hop stars has a stunningly strong line-up this year with the ubiquitous Snoop Dogg; the mega-producer Kanye West; The Game, Ludacris; Lil Jon; the Ying Yang Twins and Miamis Cuban sensation Ciara, Harlems multitalented Camron, and hard-as-nails Jadakiss. And MC battle in parking lot 15 at 3 p.m., doors open at 5:30 p.m., Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, N. J., (201)935-3900 and ticketmaster.com, $27 to $162. (Sinagra) GRÁDA (Wednesday) Though they play their guitars, fiddles, flutes and bodhrans in the traditional Celtic style, this young Dublin group has set itself apart by composing original music, innovating on Irish, Breton and Eastern Eurpoean styes while staying recognizably within the forms. 7:30 p.m., Satalla, 37 West 26 Street,Chelsea, (212)576-1155, $15, $18 at the door. (Sinagra) JUCIFER (Thursday) For a two-member group -- Amber Valentine on guitar and vocals, Edgar Livengood on drums -- Jucifer makes a mighty noise with its songs about death and desolation. Its blasts its way through power-chorded mayhem, slow or at punk speeds, topped by Ms. Valentines airy voice. 9 p.m., with Shellshag and Godsgun opening. Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamburg, Brooklyn, (718)599-5103, $10. (Pareles) JURASSIC 5 (Tuesday) Reaching back to raps old school era of simple funky beats and sing-along choruses, this nostalgic California group was popular in the late-90s when hip-hop fans tired of Puff Daddys sampling of whole songs and mainstream raps increasingly money-grubbing aesthetic. 11 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 237 West 42nd Street, (212)997-4144, $25.50, $27 at the door. (Sinagra) KEANE AND REGINA SPEKTOR (Tuesday) Keane is a piano-drums-vocals band that piles on one hooky melodic flourish after another as if to distance ifself from the artiness of its main influence, Radiohead. The music of the bills opener, The Russian-born singer-pianist Regina Spektor, goes down less smoothly, bringing punk immediacy into a caberet setting, reveling in knotty rhymes and unhinged melodrama. 7:30 p.m., Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Avenue of the Americas, (212)465-6741, $39.50 and $29.50. (Sinagra) KEREN ANN (Thursday) This Dutch-Javanese, Russian-Israeli chanteuse Keren Ann applies her velvety voice to jazz-inflected, rainy day urban valentines. Her lolling shows that the strongest memory of a visited place is often the homesickness endured there. 8 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, at Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)230-0236, $13, $15 at the door. (Sinagra) THE KILLERS, LOUIS XIV (Tomorrow) Maybe its their Las Vegas roots, maybe its the singer Brendan Flowers glam charisma or maybe its their simple nostalgic perference for the MTV version of the 80s over their peers more complicated recollections. Whatever the reason, the Killers are the pop smash of the neo-New Wave boomlet. 5:30 p.m., Central Park Summerstage, $32.50, $35. Sold out.(Sinagra) AMOS LEE (Tomorrow) After touring extensively with the like-minded Norah Jones, this Philadelphia singer-songwriter now headlines in support of his new album of soothing acoustic folk-soul ruminations. 7 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212)533-2111, $15, $20 at the door. (Sinagra) LOSERS LOUNGE: THE CURE VS THE SMITHS (Tonight and Tomorrow) A true treasure, the citys tireless pop tribute outfit takes advantage of the current post-punk revival and ongoing adoration of the mope-rock heros Morrissey and Robert Smith, both of whom offer endless options for loving parody and stylistic license. 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212)219-3132, $17, $20 at the door. (Sinagra) LUCERO (Tuesday) The Arkansan Jim Nicholss convincingly weathered singing, an earthy growl that fits nicely in the groove of his bands wistful, ragged road rock. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, $13, $15 at the door. (Sinagra) STEPHEN MALKMUS (Tuesday) The abstract poetic songwriting and quirky, blazing guitar work of the former Pavement frontman are still worth checking out. Recent work has increasingly seemed geared for cultists, while moving closer to universal topics like family, aging and commitment. 9 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, East Village, (212)777-6800, $22.50, $25 at the door. Sold out. (Sinagra) MARAH WITH NICK HORNBY (Sunday) Marahs articulate songs are doused in greasy, sweaty, exuberant rock. Before Marahs 90-minute set, Nick Hornby, the author and sometime rock critic, will read new stories and essays inspired by rock music, and Marah will play songs by the bands in the readings. 8- p.m. Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212)533-2111. $20 (Pareles) M.I.A., DIPLO (Tuesday) With her remix-friendly slogans and readymade radical chic, the British Sri Lankan Maya Arulpragasam has become an emblem of global beat matching and post-colonial shakedowns. The clever Philadelphia hip-hop producer Diplo is responsible for her popular underground mix Piracy Funds Terrorism (Hollertronix), which lays her vocals on music as diverse as 80s new wave and Brazillian baille funk. 8 p.m., S.O.B.s, 204 Varick Street, South Village, (212)243-4940, $20. Sold out. (Sinagra) RAUL MIDÓN (Tuesday) Raul Midóns percussive guitar syncopations and supple, high-flying tenor, both akin to Jose Felicianos style, have wowed audiences in his regular Joes Pub appearances. His debut album, State of Mind (Manhattan), shifts the focus to his thoroughly earnest, positive-thinking songs, 7:30; Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212)539-8777 or (212)239-6200, $15. (Pareles) JUANA MOLINA (Thursday) The reveries of this Argentinean songwriter stem from her acoustic guitar picking, her hushed voice, melodies with the simplicity of lullabies and rustling synthesizer backdrops that fill the songs with mystery. 9:30 Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212)539-8777, $15. (Pareles) TRAVIS MORRISON (Sunday) This singer-guitarists former band, the Dismemberment Plan, played virtuoso fusion-rock. Its transcendent quality was the anguished, cutesy break-up lyrics, written and sung, by Mr. Morrison. Though artier and more pretentious on his own, he manages to remain winsome. 9 p.m., Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718)599-5103, $10. (Sinagra) STEVIE NICKS AND DON HENLEY (Tomorrow) Most will come out to this show to see the Fleetwood Mac star Stevie Nicks, who continues to fascinate though her vocal range has narrowed, edging those rich lows into raspier territory. One assumes that she and Don Henley of Eagles fame will perform their hit 80s duet Leather and Lace. 8 p.m., PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, N.J., Garden State Parkway Exit 116, (732)335-0400, $26 to $126. (Sinagra) OLD 97S, BOBBY BARE JR. (Thursday) Having grown out of their smart-aleck phase long ago, the Old 97s were swerving toward slickness before to their latest release. The songwriter Rhett Miller is still writing near-genius tunes though he often resorts to mere craft. The Nashville songwriter Bobby Bare Jr. shares the bill. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, East Village, (212) 777-6800, $25.(Sinagra) KELLY OSBOURNE (Monday) As Kelly Osbourne charts her route from reality television to the Broadway stage , she stops off to release another pop album, this time working with the popular song-doctor Linda Perry, who has worked with everyone from Pink to Fischerspooner. She performs here at Chelsea Marquees weekly Charm School party. 10 p.m., Marquee, 289 10th Avenue near 26th Street, Chelsea, (646)473-0202, $20. (Sinagra) GRAHAM PARKER & THE FIGGS (Tonight) Emerging from England just before the arrival of punk-rock, Graham Parker used the sturdy structures of soul and 1960s rock as he spat out angry, articulate songs that chafed against dishonesties large and small. These days, hes less furious and more cranky, but hes still holding the world around him to high standards. 9 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201)653-1703, $20. (Pareles) SAM PREKOP (Tonight) One of the Chicago musicians who pioneered mid-90s jazz and electroinc post-rock music, the singer and guitarist Prekop is a smooth, if overly genteel singer, and fluid player. His group The Sea and Cake benefited from his light touch, and wistful vocals. 8 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, Lower East Side, (212)260-4700, $15. (Sinagra) IKE REILLY (Sunday) This St. Paul rockers visceral, outlandishly catchy 2001 album, Salesman and Racists (Universal), captured a certain kind of in-the-cups cockiness and bar-clown wit that almost made the listener overlook its macho nudges and winks. Mr. Reilly and his band tear it up live. 9 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, Lower East Side, (212)260-4700, $10. (Sinagra) DUKE ROBILLARD (Tomorrow) Duke Robillard, a guitarist and singer, founded Roomful of Blues in 1967, and in his solo career since leaving the band he hasnt forgotten the suave swing of vintage jump blues; he also played lead guitar on Bob Dylans album Time Out of Mind. 7:30; Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 576-1155, $18, $22 tomorrow. (Pareles) * URSULA RUCKER (Tonight) Ursula Rucker has been the poet on call for Philadelphians like the Roots. With a band, she applies her shelectricity to replacing bad myths with good ones, mixing righteousness and seduction with fast-talking ease. 7:30 p.m. Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212)539-8778 or (212)239-6200, $15. (Pareles) XAVIER RUDD (Monday) An Australian songwriter who has been working the jam-band circuit, Xavier Rudd plays jazzy, syncopated guitar as he broods, something like Dave Matthews with an occasional toot of a didjeridu. 8:00 p.m., with Kyle Riabko opening. Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212)533-2111. $15, $17 Monday. (Pareles) SPOON, THE CLIENTELE (Wednesday and Thursday) The Austin indie standout Brit Danielss latest album, Gimme Fiction (Merge), is a tougher nut to crack than 2002s nearly flawless jitter-rock Kill the Moonlight (Merge), but live his tight group listens to each other, as the vibe swings from slacker angst to caffeinated bravado. 7 p.m., Webster Hall,125 East 11th Street, East Village, (917)577-2499, $18, $20 at the door. Sold out. (Sinagra) WOLF PARADE, RICK MOODY VS. BROTHER DANIELSON (Tomorrow) Part of Montreals wave of It art-pop bands that includes the Arcade Fire and Unicorns, Wolf Parade has a Northern noir take on keyboard-heavy epics. Rick Moody and the Christian art rocker Brother Danielson debate the finer points of religion beforehand. 7:30 p.m., Pianos, 158 Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212)420-1466. $12, $15 at the door. Sold out (Sinagra) LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III (Sunday and Monday) Mr. Wainwright has had topical songs commissioned by NPR in the past, but he saves his sharpest barbs for himself, confronting middle age and mortality without letting himself off the hook. He was recently seen in Martin Scorseses Aviator, performing with his children Rufus and Martha. Here, he will perform recent songs, which deal with, among other things, the Iraq war. 7 and 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 539-8777, $30. (Pareles) ZLATNE USTE (Sunday) Zlatne Uste (Golden Lips) is an American brass band that plays raucous high-speed, zig-zagging Balkan dance tunes. 7:30; Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212)576-1155, $12 (Pareles) Cabaret Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. BARBARA CARROLL (Sundays at 2 and 8 p.m.) Even when swinging out, this Lady of a Thousand Songs remains an impressionist with special affinities for Thelonious Monk and bossa nova. Oak Room, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212)419-9331. Cover: $55 at 2, including brunch at noon; $42 at 8, plus a $15 minimum; an $80 dinner-and-show package is available. (Stephen Holden) * BLOSSOM DEARIE (Tomorrow and Sunday) To watch this singer and pianist is to appreciate the power of a carefully deployed pop-jazz minimalism combined with a highly discriminating taste in songs. Dannys Skylight Room, 346 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212)265-8133. Tomorrow night at 7; Sunday night at 6:15. Cover: $25, with a $15 minimum; a $54.50 dinner-and-show package is available. (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. * PETER APFELBAUMS NEW YORK HIEROGLYPHICS (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Apfelbaum, a saxophonist, keyboardist and percussionist, formed his Hieroglyphics Ensemble more than 20 years ago in the Bay Area; this concert, featuring a handful of transplanted charter members, will continue the groups tradition of subsuming African and Middle Eastern folk influences in an avant-garde jazz idiom. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, South Village, (212)242-1063, cover, $15, members, $10. (Nate Chinen) GATO BARBIERI (Tuesday through June 12) Now in his 70s, this Argentinean saxophonist relies more than ever on atmosphere; his set lists will surely feature Last Tango in Paris, a signature hit. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212)475-8592, cover, $35 at tables, $20 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) BILL CHARLAP TRIO (Tuesday through June 12) Bright and breezy yet unfailingly precise, Mr. Charlap, the pianist, has come to exemplify jazzs modern mainstream. So has his working trio, which keeps a Tin Pan Alley repertory percolating in the present tense. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an additional set at 11:30 on Friday and Saturday; Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, (212)258-9595, cover, $30, minimum, $10 at the tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) GERALD CLEAVERS UNCLE JUNE (Wednesday) Dealing less in rhythm than pulse, Mr. Cleavers drumming perfectly suits the fluid requirements of jazzs post-everything avant-garde. His ensemble consists of musicians hes supported elsewhere: the tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, the violinist Mat Maneri, the keyboardist Craig Taborn and the bassist Drew Gress. 10 p.m., Barbes, 376 Ninth Street at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)965-9177, $8. (Chinen) ANAT COHEN QUARTET (Thursday) Ms. Cohen, a saxophonist and clarinetist, has delivered an auspicious debut with Place and Time (Anzic), which underscores her burnished lyricism with rhythmic nuance. As on the album, her band features the simpatico pianist Jason Lindner. 8 and 10 p.m., Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West Village, (212)255-3626, cover, $15, plus a $10 minimum. (Chinen) FREDDY COLE (Through June 12) A charismatic and offhandedly urbane vocalist, Mr. Cole takes a broad approach to repertory that nearly disarms comparisons to his older brother Nat. 8 p.m., Au Bar, 41 East 58th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues, (212)308-9455, cover, $35, $50 on Fridays and Saturdays. (Chinen) MARC COPLAND /DAVE LIEBMAN DUO (Sunday) Mr. Copland, a pianist, and Mr. Liebman, a saxophonist, share a penchant for dark harmonic colors and rhythmic undulation. 8 and 10 p.m., Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West Village, (212)255-3626, cover, $15, plus a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * JIM HALL WITH GEOFFREY KEEZER (Wednesday through June 11) With his intimate, conversational approach to jazz guitar, Jim Hall has always found particular beauty in duets. Here hell engage with a pianist and fellow chameleon who happens to be 40 years his junior. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, (212)581-3080, cover, $30, $40 June 10 and 11, plus a $10 minimum all nights. (Chinen) THE HEATH BROTHERS (Through Sunday) Just over a month after losing their brother Percy, saxophonist-composer Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert (Tootie) Heath honor his memory by soldiering on. This leg of their run features a vivacious guest guitarist, Russell Malone. 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., with an additional set at 11:30 tonight and tomorrow night; Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, (212)258-9595; cover, $30, minimum, $10 at the tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) FRED HERSCH DUO SERIES (Tuesday through June 12) Each night of this engagement matches Mr. Hersch, a sharp and sophisticated pianist, with a different melodic counterpart. Next weeks lineup includes the multi-reedists Chris Potter (on Tuesday) and Ted Nash (Wednesday) and the trombonist Bob Brookmeyer (Thursday). 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set tonight and Saturday, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212)576-2232, cover, $20, $25 June 10 and 11. (Chinen) HIROMI (Through Sunday) A Japanese keyboard virtuoso with deliriously eclectic sensibilities and a crack fusion band. 8 and 10 p.m., with an 11:30 p.m. set tonight and tomorrow. Iridium Jazz Club, 1650 Broadway at 51st Street, (212)582-2121, cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) A TRIBUTE TO MILT JACKSON (Tonight and tomorrow) Milt Jackson, who died in 1999, was one of the top two or three vibraphonists in the history of jazz; this salute puts his inheritor, Joe Locke, in the hot seat, fronting one of Mr. Jacksons final bands. 9 and 11 p.m., and 12:30 a.m., Smoke, 2751 Broadway at 106th Street, Manhattan, (212)864-6662, cover, $25. (Chinen) DANA LEONGS WORLD TRIBE (Thursday) Jazz cellists are a rare breed; Mr. Leong may be the only one who also plays trombone and electric bass. This aptly named quintet features his far-reaching music for cello, koto, harp, percussion and voice. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, South Village, (212)242-1063, cover, $12, members, $10. (Chinen) PAT MARTINO QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow) A dazzlingly proficient guitarist, Mr. Martino favors a brand of aggressive post-bop that has more than a little in common with the blistering fusion of his youth. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, (212)581-3080, cover, $40, plus a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MULGREW MILLER TRIO (Tuesday through June 12) Mr. Miller is a pianist firmly rooted in jazz tradition, especially the blues; his more modern tendencies are never more pronounced than in this smart working trio, with Derrick Hodge and Karriem Riggins on bass and drums. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212)255-4037, cover, $30. (Chinen) BEN MONDER TRIO (Thursday) In the hands of Mr. Monder, the electric guitar is a coloristic instrument first and foremost; it becomes even more so alongside the shape-shifting vocals of Theo Bleckmann and the textural percussion of Satoshi Takeishi. 9 p.m., Barbes, 376 Ninth Street at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)965-9177, $5. (Chinen) PAUL MOTIAN TRIO 2000 +1 (Through Sunday) The lean, suggestive drumming of Paul Motian has been a common thread on several fine recent albums, along with his dreamlike compositions. Both the playing and the pen have a chance to shine in this acoustic ensemble, with Chris Potter, saxophonist; Masabumi Kikuchi, pianist; and Larry Grenadier, bassist. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village; (212)255-4037; $30. (Review, Page 21.) (Chinen) JENNY SCHEINMAN (Tuesday) Ms. Scheinman, a cosmopolitan yet rootsy violinist, maintains a handful of projects for different purposes; here shell provide the soundtrack to a slide show of haunting images from Secret Language, the graphic novel by Molly Barker. 7 p.m., Barbes, 376 Ninth Street at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)965-9177, no cover (Chinen) KENDRA SHANK (Monday) A superbly skilled vocalist, Ms. Shank interprets jazz and pop liberally, but with an abiding respect for melody; in this regard, her aesthetic jibes perfectly with pianist Frank Kimbrough and saxophonist Billy Drewes, members of her backing band. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212)576-2232, cover, $20. (Chinen) LUCIANA SOUZA: BRAZILIAN DUOS (Through Sunday) The São Paolo-raised vocalist Luciana Souza has made some of her most beguiling music in this format, joined by a lone acoustic guitar. Romero Lubambo, the guitarist, is more than an accompanist; providing intricate counterpoint and rhythmic undertow, he is Souzas equal. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212)576-2232, cover, $20, $25 tonight and tomorrow night. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera LELISIR DAMORE (Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday) Run on enthusiasm and a shoestring, the tiny Amato opera company mounts a modest production of the Donizetti classic. Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2:30, Amato Opera, 319 Bowery, at Second Street, East Village, (212)228-8200, $30, $25 for students and 65+. (Jeremy Eichler) Classical Music CHIARA STRING QUARTET (Sunday) The composer George Rochberg, who died on Sunday at age 86, had planned on attending this performance of his Piano Quintet, played by the Chiara Quartet with Simone Dinnerstein. It is being dedicated to his memory, and will be paired with Beethovens String Quartet Op. 59, No. 3. 8:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $35. (Eichler) COUNTER)INDUCTION (Tonight) Over the last few seasons this energetic young new-music band has offered some inventive and beautifully played programs. Its concert tonight, called Big Science, explores the interaction between performers and computers, and includes Mario Davidovskys Synchronisms No. 2, for electronic tape and chamber ensemble, as well as works by Tristan Murail, Eric Moe, Bernhard Gander and the groups two resident composers, Douglas Boyce and Kyle Bartlett. 8 p.m., Tenri Cultural Institute, 43A West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, (212)645-2800, $12 suggested donation. (Allan Kozinn) PHILIP GLASS (Tonight and tomorrow) Godfrey Reggios three polemics about modern life are available on DVD, but there is much to be said for seeing them on the big screen, with the Philip Glass Ensemble accompanying them with some of Mr. Glasss best work. Koyaanisqatsi (Life Out of Balance) was performed yesterday, but Naqoyqatsi (Life as War) is to be shown tonight and Powaqqatsi (Life in Transformation) concludes the cycle (albeit out of order) tomorrow. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Rose Theater, Broadway at 60th Street, (212)721-6500, $40 tonight, $35 tomorrow. Also a pre-concert discussion with Mr. Glass and Mr. Reggio today at 5:45 p.m. at the Rose Theater, $10. (Kozinn) TAKA KIGAWA (Tonight) Mr. Kigawa is an enterprising and interesting young pianist as his program of Ligeti and Chopin Études at the Greenwich House Music School demonstrates. 8 p.m., Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow Street, Greenwich Village, (212)242-4770, $10. (Bernard Holland) LITTLE ORCHESTRA SOCIETY (Wednesday) This group, conducted by Dino Anagnost, has been exploring the music of Vivaldi for 15 years. Here are their latest thoughts. 7:30 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)971-9500, $25 and $40. (James R. Oestreich) LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC (Tonight and Sunday) Avery Fisher Hall may seem a bit of a comedown for the proud residents of the acclaimed Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, but Esa-Pekka Salonen and the orchestra will presumably cope gamely in two programs of works by Ravel, Mussorgsky, Ives, Shostakovich and John Adams. Tonight at 8 and Sunday at 2 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)721-6500, $35 to $68. (Oestreich) MANNES BEETHOVEN INSTITUTE (Sunday and Wednesday) Once again, the Mannes College of Music offers its annual weeklong series of concerts, workshops and master classes. This time the faculty, distinguished guests and students will focus its attention on Beethovens piano sonatas, piano trios and string quartets. The first faculty concert on Sunday offers the Brentano String Quartet and the brilliant pianist Randall Hodgkinson, among other artists. Call the college for details about lectures, master classes and other concerts. Sunday at 5 p.m., Wednesday at 8 p.m., Mannes Concert Hall, 150 West 85th Street, Manhattan, (212)580-0210, $15. (Anthony Tommasini) MUSICA SACRA (Monday) Richard Westenburgs fine chorus sings a program of works mostly associated with the funerals of the famous and powerful, including Stephen Pauluss Pilgrims Hymn (sung at Ronald Reagans funeral), John Taveners Song of Athene (performed at Princess Dianas) and Purcells Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary. 7 p.m., Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, at 73rd Street, (212)734-7688, $15 to $75. (Kozinn) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Today through Thursday) Carter Brey, the Philharmonics superb principal cellist, plays Barbers supremely lyrical concerto as part of a program, conducted by Alan Gilbert, that also includes works by Dvorak, Haydn and Henri Dutilleux. Lorin Maazel returns on Thursday to lead the Bruckner Third Symphony, as well as Wagners Siegfried Idyll and Bergs Seven Early Songs, with Deborah Voigt, newly slimmed, as the soloist. Today at 2 p.m., tomorrow at 8 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30. p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)721-6500, $22 to $90. (Kozinn) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ENSEMBLES (Sunday) In this series of concerts, players from the orchestra explore chamber music terrain both familiar and less so. This weekend, its Schuberts much-admired Trout Quintet and a Sextet by Krzysztof Penderecki. 3 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212)501-3330, $28. (Eichler) GEORGE PERLES 90TH BIRTHDAY CONCERT (Tuesday) Those who assume that music steeped in 12-tone technique is by definition complex and forbidding should listen to the bracing and witty works of George Perle, whose 90th birthday will be celebrated in a concert by a stellar group of musicians, including the pianist Horacio Gutiérrez, the violinist Curtis Macomber and the soprano Lucy Shelton. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212)501-3330, $25; $10 for students. (Tommasini) RIVERSIDE SYMPHONY (Thursday) You can usually count on the Riverside Symphony to present involving performances of adventurous programs, and this program looks to be no exception. Haydns ebullient Piano Concerto No. 4 in G is paired with a Neo-Classical contemporary work that looks back to Haydn: Honeggers Concertino for Piano and Orchestra. Shai Wosner is the soloist. The New York premiere of David Crumbs Vestiges of a Distant Time and Mendelssohns Italian Symphony frame the program. George Rothman conducts. 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)751-6200, $25 and $45; half-price for students. (Tommasini) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. * AMERICAN BALLET THEATER (Tonight though July 16) Tonight will be the American premiere of the revised, two-act version of Frederick Ashtons 1950s setting of Sylvia, with reconstructed settings and his last thoughts about what to cut and what to include. This revival was first seen, configured into three acts, at the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, earlier this spring. Sylvia continues with alternating casts through Monday, followed by a seven-performance run of the companys production, new last year, of Petipas Raymonda as staged by Anna-Marie Holmes and Kevin McKenzie. Tonight, tomorrow and Monday through Thursday at 8 p.m., Wednesday and tomorrow at 2 p.m., Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, (212)362-6000 or www.abt.org, $22 to $130. (John Rockwell) CHUNKY MOVE (Through June 11) Tense Dave makes dancers spin and emotions whirl on a revolving stage. Tonight and tomorrow, Tuesday through next Saturday at 7:30, Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212)924-0077 or www.dtw.org, $23, $14 students and 65+. (Jack Anderson) * SEAN CURRAN COMPANY (Tuesday through June 12) A sunny optimist who is familiar with the souls dark corners, Mr. Curran will present recent and new dances, the latter including a solo that pays tribute to his Russian grandfather, a group work set to music by Ricky Ian Gordon, and a duet,which he and Heather Waldon-Arnold choreographed and performed about their long friendship. Tuesday through June 11 at 8 p.m.; June 12 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212)242-0800 or www.joyce.org, $40 (Jennifer Dunning) DANCE AT DIXON PLACE: STILL DANCING IN A NYC LIVING ROOM (Wednesday) This weekly series, in the theaters comfy living-room setting, opens with Moving Men, a program of dance by three men and one company chosen by Arthur Aviles. 8 p.m., Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, between Houston and Prince Streets, SoHo, (212)219-0736 or www.dixonplace.org, $12 or TDF vouchers; $10 for students and 65+. (Dunning) DANCEMOPOLITAN 05 (Tonight and tomorrow) This series of intimate presentations demonstrates that dance, like life, can be a cabaret. Aszure Barton and Robert Battle bring varied dancers together along with a surprise guest artist. Tonight and tomorrow at 9:30, Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212)239-6200, $15 tickets plus $12 minimum food charge (or two drinks). (Anderson) DANCEWAVES KIDS COMPANY (Thursday) This company of child performers will dance works by Mark Morris, Doug Varone, Trisha Brown, Sara Pearson + Patrik Widrig and the performers themselves. 8 p.m., University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street, Lower East Side, (718) 522-4696 or www.dancewave.org, (reservations required) $25 and $30 (adults); $15 (children 12 and under). (Dunning) DAVID DORFMAN DANCE (Through Sunday) This clever, comic and poignant company offers Older Testaments, a new work to live music by Frank London of the Klezmatics. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212)242-0800 or www.joyce.org, $38. (Anderson) * AN EVENING WITH JAWOLE WILLA JO ZOLLAR (Monday) My Soul to Keep, a performance and discussion series moderated by Katti Gray, focuses this week on Ms. Zollar and her career as a master modern-dance choreographer, performer and trainer of a new generation of choreographers and performers at Florida State University. 7:30 p.m. at BRIC Studio, 57 Rockwell Place around the corner from the BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (212)868-4444, $15. (Dunning) FIRST ANNUAL BRONX ARTS FESTIVAL (Tonight) Dance by the Bronxs own Arthur Aviles, Christal Brown, Peter Kalivas, Alethea Pace and others. 8 p.m., Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, 842 Barretto Street, Hunts Point, free. (Dunning) MARTHA GRAHAM ENSEMBLE (Ends Sunday) Students from the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance perform historically important Graham works. Tonight and tomorrow at 8, Sunday at 2 p.m., Marymount Manhattan College, 221 East 71st Street, (212)838-5886, $10 to $20. (Anderson) JOFFREY SCHOOL DANCERS (Tomorrow and Sunday) Formerly known as the Joffrey Ensemble Dancers, this junior troupe will perform choreography by Igal Perry, Daniel Baudendiestel and the companys director, Elie Lazar. Tomorrow at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m., John Jay College Theater, 899 10th Avenue, at 58th Street, Manhattan, (212)254-8520, $30 and $35; $15 for 65+; $10 for students. (Dunning) LIGHT CURVE DANCE AND MIXED MEDIA (Saturdays in June) Science fiction and social commentary, by Byron Carr. 8 p.m., Michael Carson Studios, 250 West 54th Street, Manhattan, (800)405-3484, $15; $12 for students. (Dunning) * BARBARA MAHLER (Tonight and tomorrow) Ms. Mahler will present new and old dances in a style that she describes perfectly as sparse and dense. 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479, $15; $10 for students and 65+. (Dunning) ADAM MILLER DANCE PROJECT (Thursday through June 12) From Hartford, this modern-dance choreographer will present his own work and pieces by Stuart Loungway, Sara Sweet Rabidoux and James Graber. 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212)334-7479, $20; $10 for students and 65+. (Dunning) NEW DANCE WORKS (Tomorrow and Sunday) Presented by Dharma Road and CRS (the Center for Remembering and Sharing), this program features dance by Celine Bacque, Cassie Terman and Friends, and Rosario Ordonez Fuentes and Aya Shibahara. 8 p.m. CRS, 123 Fourth Avenue, East Village, (212) 352-3101, $12; $7 for student standby.(Dunning) * NEW YORK CITY BALLET (Tonight through June 26). Highlights for the week include an all-Robbins bill tomorrow afternoon (Goldberg Variations and West Side Story Suite), a program saying farewell to the veteran dancer Peter Boal on Sunday afternoon, and a five-performance run starting Thursday of Susan Stromans amusing Double Feature. Tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m.; Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.; tomorrow at 2 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212)870-5570 or www.nycballet.com, $30 to $83. (Rockwell) * NOCHE FLAMENCA (Tonight through Sunday) Flamenco dance and music, understated, intimate and beautifully staged. Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 and 10 p.m.; Sunday at 5 p.m., Theater 80, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212)352 -3101, $45. (Dunning) REBUDAL DANCE (Tonight and tomorrow) Jeff Michael Rebudal explores the relationship between Filipino folk and contemporary modern dance. 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212)674-8194, $15. (Dunning) * RINDFLEISCH (Wednesday through June 12) Elke Rindfleischs eloquent-sounding new Overhead takes place in the kinds of living and roof spaces she finds herself staring at out her studio window. 8:15 p.m., Wallabout Studio (and surrounding rooftops), 50 Taaffe Place, between Flushing and Park Avenues, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (917)251-4561 or companyrindfleisch@yahoo.com, $15. (Dunning) RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL: SITES UNSEEN: ART ON THE BEACH REVISITED (Tonight) This free 90-minute walking tour pays tribute to Creative Times vital outdoor series from 1978 to 1988 at the Battery Park City landfill, with new work at several sites by Yoshiko Chuma, Jane Comfort and Marta Renzi, with music by Butch Morris and David Van Tieghem. 7:30 p.m.. The event begins at Rockefeller Park just west of Chambers Street at West Street, Battery Park,, www.RivertoRiverNYC.com. (Dunning) * ANN ROBIDEAUX AND ALEXANDRA SHILLING (Tomorrow and Sunday) The Sun is Over the Yardarm, which they choreographed, summons the ghosts of a once-sunk 1929 war ship. Tomorrow and Sunday (and June and 12) at 1, 2 and 3 p.m., the Frying Pan, Pier 63, 23rd Street and the West Side Highway, Chelsea, (646)321-9383 and www.fryingpan.com, $20 (with reservation); $25 (day of show), $35 (for 3 p.m. performance on Sunday. (Dunning) SCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET 2005 WORKSHOP PERFORMANCES (Tomorrow and Monday) Do-or-die ballet performing by eager young pre-professionals, this year in new choreography by Christopher dAmboise and Benjamin Millepied and in a staging of George Balanchines Western Symphony that includes the ballets rarely performed third movement. Tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m.; Monday at 7 p.m., Juilliard Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-6600, $35 (both performances tomorrow); $65 (Monday benefit). (Dunning) SITELINES: MARY SEIDMAN (Today) In Bridges dancers build human bridges with their bodies in city streets. Continuous noon to 2 p.m, from Stone and Mill Streets to South Street Seaport and Beekman Street to Peck Slip, Lower Manhattan, (212)219-9401, free. (Anderson) CANCELLED. *TAKÈ DANCE COMPANY (Tomorrow and Sunday) Work by a strong new choreographic talent, the former Paul Taylor dancer Takehiro Ueyama, in a bucolic setting. Tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 2:30 p.m., Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, 120 Broadway, Tivoli, N.Y., (845)757-5107, $20. (Dunning) TEA (Sunday) The company title stands for Trans-Personal Education & Art -- you had to ask -- and the dances are by Ella Ben-Aharon and Sahar Javedani. 3 and 7 p.m., the Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212)352-3101, $10 (matinee), $15 (evening). (Dunning) * DONNA UCHIZONO COMPANY (Thursday through June 12) A piece about aging, called Approaching Green, that was inspired by the Bessie Award-winning Ms. Uchizonos witnessing an Indian spiritual guide hug more than 5,000 people in 15 hours. (Dont say we didnt warn you.) 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212)674-8112, $15 or TDF voucher. (Dunning) * ZENDORA DANCE COMPANY (Tonight and tomorrow) As much a mystic as a modern-dance choreographer, Nancy Zendora will present pieces inspired by images and myths evoking the deserts of the Middle East and Mexico. 8 p.m., the Connelly Theater, 220 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212)431-5155, $15.(Dunning) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums * AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: ANCESTRY AND INNOVATION, through Sept. 4. This selection of quilts, paintings, sculptures and drawings by several generations of self-taught artists jumps with color and talent and reflects a sharp curatorial eye. 45 West 53rd Street, (212)265-1040. (Roberta Smith) AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: SELF AND SUBJECT, through Sept. 11. From Grandma Moses view of herself beguiled by infant descendants to A.G. Rizzolis rendition of his mother as a Gothic cathedral, this refreshingly offbeat show of 20th-century self-taught artists covers a vivid range of portraits. (See above.) (Grace Glueck) AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: TOTEMS TO TURQUOISE, through July 10. Jewelry dating to prehistoric times is used here to lend credence to contemporary works that are sometimes little more than glitzy knockoffs. Central Park West and 79th Street, (212)769-5100. (Smith) COOPER-HEWITT NATIONAL DESIGN MUSEUM: EXTREME TEXTILES, through Oct. 30. Dont look for aesthetic pizzazz in this intensely tech-y show of industrial fibers and fabrics, but dont rule it out. The shows raison dêtre is solely use, but a lot of whats on view, in the first museum display of material made to function in extreme conditions, is visually exciting. 2 East 91st Street, (212)849-8400. (Glueck) COOPER-HEWITT: HELLA JONGERIUS SELECTS, through Sept. 4. Shifting through the museums outstanding holdings in embroidered samplers, this innovative Dutch designer has selected a wonderfully reverberant show and also based a series of new wall hangings on sampler motifs. Their combined display diagrams the fraught but essential symbiosis of old and new. (See above.) (Smith) * GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: ART OF TOMORROW, through Aug. 10. Appreciated more for her role as a founder of the Guggenheims forerunner, the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, Hilla Rebay (1890-1967) is finally given her due as a painter in a full-dress display of her work over six decades. This first chance to see it en bloc reveals a painter whose spirit, energy and invention, especially in collage, come as a revelation. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212)423-3500. (Glueck) * JAPAN SOCIETY: LITTLE BOY, through July 24. Masterminded by the artist-writer-entrepreneur Takashi Murakami, this eye-boggling show traces the unexamined legacy of World War II as played out in Japans popular culture. With Godzilla and Hello Kitty presiding, it reveals how this culture was twisted and darkened by the otaku, or geek, subculture, which has in turn influenced younger artists. 333 East 47th Street, (212)832-1155. (Smith) METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: ALL THE MIGHTY WORLD, through Aug. 21. In one of the mediums shortest great careers, Roger Fenton helped establish photography as both an art and a profession in masterfully composed landscapes, portraits and still lifes that, for all their prescience, also express a profound ambivalence about the very notion of progress Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212)535-7710. (Smith) MET: MAX ERNST, through July 10. Despite and because of Ernsts being one of modernisms mystery men, he remains of interest, and there are intriguing things in this survey: from early Surrealist paintings, to near-abstract images generated by chance techniques, to the collage-style books some consider his masterworks. But only when he responds to specific events, like war, does his art snap into focus. (See above.) (Holland Cotter) MUSEUM OF BIBLICAL ART: COMING HOME!, through July 24. A new small museum devoted to art related to the Bible gets off to a lively start with a big show of artworks by 73 untrained Southern Christian evangelicals. Many names familiar to followers of 20th-century folk and outsider art are on hand, including William Edmondson, the Rev. Howard Finster and Sister Gertrude Morgan. 1865 Broadway, at 61st Street, (212)408-1500. (Ken Johnson) * MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK: EL BARRIO, through June 12. A snapshot of El Barrio -- East Harlem, or Spanish Harlem -- as seen through archival images and pictures by the contemporary photographer Hiram S. Maristany taken at a revolutionary political moment in the 1960s and early 70s. 1220 Fifth Avenue, at 103rd Street, (212)534-1672. (Cotter) MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: CHRIS MARKER, through June 13. Made entirely on the computer, Owls at Noon Prelude: The Hollow Men -- a two-channel, eight-screen DVD with which this French underground film legend makes his New York debut as an installation artist -- gives the horrors of World War I an eroded beauty and haunting pertinence. 11 West 53rd Street, (212)708-9400. (Smith) NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN: FIRST AMERICAN ART, through April 2006. That American Indian art can provide the same aesthetic and emotional pleasure as European and American Modernism is the premise of this show, made up of 200 objects from the Charles and Valerie Diker Collection, and it affirms American Indian arts worthy aesthetic place in world culture. 1 Bowling Green, Lower Manhattan, (212)514-3700. (Glueck) NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN: GEORGE CATLIN AND HIS INDIAN GALLERY, through Sept. 5. The portraits and landscapes here give an account of Plains Indian life in the 1830s in wonderful and sometimes harrowing detail. Viewing it is a remarkable experience. (See above.) (Glueck) P.S. 1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER: GREATER NEW YORK 2005, through Sept. 26. A youth-besotted, cheerful, immodestly ingratiating, finally disappointing survey of contemporary art, perusing a scene whose wide stylistic range, emphasis on drawing, persistent teenage infatuations and overall dexterousness are firmly entrenched characteristics of the marketplace. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718)784-2084. (Michael Kimmelman) * QUEEN SOFíA SPANISH INSTITUTE: FROM GOYA TO SOROLLA, through July 30. More than 75 pictures from the Hispanic Society, celebrating its centenary; starting with Goyas grave portrait of Pedro Mocarte, they track an arc to figures like Francisco Núñez Losada and salon virtuosi like Ignacio Zuloaga and Joaquín Sorolla. 684 Park Avenue, at 68th Street, (212)628-0420. (Kimmelman) STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM: CHRIS OFILI: AFRO-MUSES, through July 3. More than 100 delirious watercolors by this familiar British artist, warm-up exercises for his daily routine. They depict imaginary men and women, head on or in silhouette, in African garb, and in deep, swimmy colors -- portraits as modest and charming as the work that made Mr. Ofili famous is outsize and occasionally over the top. 144 West 125th Street, (212)864-4500. (Kimmelman) * STUDIO MUSEUM: BILL TRAYLOR AND WILLIAM EDMONDSON AND THE MODERNIST IMPULSE, through July 3. The work of two self-taught proto-modern artists whose beautifully complementary achievements argue against the usual dualities, but offer further evidence that African-American folk art is as great as any art or music that this country has produced. (See above.) (Smith) UKRAINIAN MUSEUM: ALEXANDER ARCHIPENKO, through Sept. 4. This rare retrospective of work by the Ukrainian-born sculptor opens the handsome, much-expanded new quarters of this museum. The most exciting part is a beautifully illuminated room of Archipenkos most radical pieces that inspired later artists like Henry Moore. 222 East Sixth Street, East Village, (212)228-0110. (Glueck) WHITNEY AT ALTRIA: SUE DE BEER, through June 24. In a walk-in pink castle, the artists Black Sun is a two-screen video about teenage girlhood, which alternates passages of lyrical visual beauty and emotional poignancy with periods of aimless tedium. 120 Park Avenue, at 42nd Street, (917)663-2453. (Johnson) Galleries: Uptown ANTHONY CARO Four tabletop pieces from the 1970s and 80s, masterly exercises in balletic form and balance in rusting steel, by this reigning British standard-bearer of modernist abstract sculpture. They are elegant and a serious pleasure. Mitchell-Inness & Nash, 1018 Madison Avenue, near 78th Street, (212)744-7400, through June 11. (Kimmelman) GEORGE CONDO His latest sculptures are gnarly heads and busts, vehemently modeled in clay and cast in gaudy gold bronze, that bring the droll nastiness and lush physicality of his more satirical paintings fully into three dimensions. Skarstedt Fine Art, 980 Madison near 78th Street, (212)737-2060, through June 10. (Smith) HUBERTUS GOJOWCZYK: THE BOOK AS OBJECT If Joseph Cornell had been a librarian, he might have produced sculptures like the fantastically altered books that this Polish artist creates. Glass eyes stare out from the pages of one old tome; the corner of another morphs into a waxy brain. Achim Moeller, 167 East 73rd Street, (212)988-4500, through June 24. (Johnson) * RICHARD WATHEN A young British artist plugs some 21st-century energy into 18th-century portraiture, painting with a matte, flat delicacy that gives familiar poses a new-born freshness, and not only when clothing is subtracted. Salon 94, 12 East 94th Street, (646)672-9212, through June 16. (Smith) Galleries: 57th Street DON COLLEY: FALL GUYS & ZEITGEISTS Whether or not you like his images of thuggish clowns and romantic skies, you have to admit that Mr. Colleys new pieces are technically remarkable. They appear to be small, beautifully worked encaustic paintings, but they are, in fact, kiln-fired glazed ceramic tiles. George Adams, 41 West 57th Street, (212)644-5665, through June. (Johnson) EMILY NELLIGAN AND MARVIN BILECK: CRANBERRY ISLAND, DRAWINGS AND PRINTS Using only charcoal and eraser on ordinary letter paper, Emily Nelligan has for more than 50 years focused on a tiny part of Maine called Great Cranberry Island, one of several specks off the coast near Mount Desert. Restricting her palette to reticent blacks, whites and grays, she conveys the spirit, changes and constancies of a pure, unsullied wilderness. Marvin Bileck, her husband, has concentrated on the islands factual here-and-nowness, rendering piled-up rocks, tangles of trees, deep woods and their tweakings by nature in meticulous drawings and etchings. Shes a wizard at mood, hes a master of specifics. Alexandre Gallery, 41 East 57th Street, (212)755-2828, through June 17. (Glueck) Galleries: Chelsea DEAN BYINGTON Skillfully blending the handmade and the mechanical, the paintings of this San Francisco artist use patterns suggestive of lacy wallpaper and images from 19th-century engravings to evoke landscapes and their not always peaceful inhabitants. Leslie Tonkonow, 535 West 22nd Street, (212)255-8450, through June 18. (Smith) SOPHIE CALLE: EXQUISITE PAIN Ms. Calles complicated, two-part installation telling the story of the painful end of a love affair in words and pictures is absorbing but her programmatic intellectualism muffles the emotional dimension. Paula Cooper, 534 West 21st Street, (212)255-1105, through June 25. (Johnson) ROBBERT FLICK: TRAJECTORIES With the cinematic idea that successive views give a dynamic sense of place, Mr. Flick mounted a video camera in his car window. He packs the results in grid formation on big sheets that give off the vibes of a country road, a city street, a desertscape. The whole is more than the sum of its tiny parts. Robert Mann, 210 11th Avenue, near 24th Street, (212)989-7600, through June 18. (Glueck) NEETA MADAHAR Large, handsome, eerily unreal color photographs of real birds attracted to a free-form grid of tree branches by a shifting cast of birdfeeders. Julie Saul, 535 West 22nd Street, (212)627-2410, through June 11. (Smith) RICHARD PRINCE A well-chosen assortment of works from the past 25 years by the influential Neo-Pop semiotician includes joke paintings, car hood sculptures and photographs of scruffy upstate New York landscapes. Gladstone, 515 West 24th Street, (212)206-9300, through June 18. (Johnson) SCULPTURE This judicious small selection of three-dimensional works includes a rustic dream house by Vito Acconci; videos showing through an antique Asian iron gate by Nam June Paik; big, smooth white birds by Hiraki Sawa; and an amazing, life-size stainless steel tree by Roxy Paine. James Cohan, 533 West 26th Street, (212)714-9500, through June 25. (Johnson) JEFF SONHOUSE: THE PANOPTIC CON As sharp visually as they are politically, Mr. Sonhouses compact, finely painted Pop-Surrealist portraits depict masked African American men in colorful tuxedos with hair made of real matches, steel wool and other materials. In some, subjects are shown twice, mug shot style: face-forward and in profile. These slyly incendiary works probe the mystique of the mythic scary-sexy black dude. Kustera Tilton, 520 West 21st Street, (212) 989-0082, through June 18. (Johnson) STURTEVANT: PUSH AND SHOVE The artist known for copying works by Warhol, Johns and other contemporary artists presents a darkly elegant installation of fake Duchamps, including a ceiling of 1,200 scrotum-like coal bags, a urinal, two bottle racks and a snow shovel. Perry Rubenstein, 527 West 23rd Street and 526 West 24th Street, (212)627-8000, through June 18. (Johnson) KARIN WEINER: FRONTIERA A camp site of cardboard logs, stuffed fabric stones and a rag rug around a television set; suspended stuffed clouds like ornate patchwork mattresses; a mound of stuffed antlers; and collages of countless flowers comprise this industriously zany artists second solo. ZieherSmith, 531 West 25th Street, (212) 229-1088, through July 29. (Johnson) JEAN CLAUDE WOUTERS: PORTRAITS & NUDES -- SPIRIT Through a process of re-photographing his prints, this French artist creates large, black and white photographs that are so pale it may take a second to see the ghostly image of a nude torso or, more hauntingly, the larger than life face that seems to gaze at us from an ethereal realm. Meyerowitz, 120 Eleventh Avenue, at 20th Street, (212)414-2770, through June 18. (Johnson) Other Galleries * MIKE BOUCHET The main piece in this show is a recreation of Walter De Marias gallery-filling 1977 New York Earth Room, in this case made of topsoil from Home Depot and compost from Rikers Island. To fill the craftsy requirements of the present art market, there are Tom Cruise sculptures and paintings of soft drink labels upstairs. Maccarone Inc., 45 Canal Street, Lower East Side, (212)431-4977, through Aug. 28. (Cotter) * ALBERT0 CASADO: TODO CLANDESTINO, TODO POPULAR, This young artist uses a technique involving painting on glass and aluminum foil to create shimmering, faux-kitsch works about politics, religion and ordinary life in Cuba. Art in General, 79 Walker Street, TriBeCa, (212)219-0473, through June 25. (Johnson) MICHAEL ELMGREEN AND INGAR DRAGSET: END STATION The Fur-Lined Teacup Award goes to this art duo, who have meticulously transformed the basement here into a nearly full-scale subway station. Torn posters and graffiti evoke the 1980s. A metaphor for how the political protests of that decade were stopped in their tracks? Bohen Foundation, 415 West 13th Street, meatpacking district, (212)414-4575, through July 1. (Smith) GLASS, SERIOUSLY This fine selection of artworks in glass, picked by the independent curator Lilly Wei, includes teardrops by Kiki Smith; hand grenades by Kristin Oppenheim; vessels that spell invisible by Rob Wynne; a kind of stained-glass window made of stacked found wine bottles, by Jean Shin and Brian Ripel; and an elegant bowed panel of frosted sea-green glass by Christopher Wilmarth. Dorsky, 11-03 45th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718)937-6317, through June 27. (Johnson) * JULIO GONZÁLEZ This small but illuminating, 43-piece exhibition surveys the career of a sculptor who, late in life, taught Picasso how to work with metal and then went on in the 1930s to create playful, Cubist-style, welded iron assemblages that transformed modern sculpture. Instituto Cervantes, 211 East 49th Street, (212)308-7720, through June 18. (Johnson) JUDY LEDGERWOOD: SPRING FEVER With a boldly insouciant touch and vibrantly dissonant colors, this Chicago-based artist makes grid-based pattern paintings using heraldic overtones and punchy mandala compositions of squished balloonlike shapes. Tracy Williams, 313 West Fourth Street, West Village, (212)229-2757, through June 24. (Johnson) MAKE IT NOW: NEW SCULPTURE IN NEW YORK This survey of work by nearly 30 young and youngish artists is overly cautious but nonetheless gives an interesting account of the diffuse field of sculpture (which includes photography, video, ceramics and painting in this case); tracks the current cross-fertilization between assemblage and appropriation art and offers enough glimmers of new talent to be worth a visit. Sculpture Center, 41-19 Purves Street, Long Island City, Queens, (718)361-1750, through July 31. (Smith) MALCOM MORLEY: THE ART OF PAINTING After 30 years, Malcolm Morley returns to the Photo Realist painting style he helped found in the mid 1960s, further exploring the tensions between reality, the art of painting and the act of looking and demonstrating that fidelity, taken far enough, turns into something else. Sperone Westwater, 415 West 13th Street, Meatpacking District, (212)999-7337, through June 25. (Smith) * AURIE RAMIREZ A remarkable self-taught artist creates a candy-colored but complex universe (in watercolor) of androgynous, dark-haired beauties who usually wear frock coats and pinstriped pants. Her first show anywhere dovetails nicely with smaller debuts of the bristling cannibalizations of texts, images and found materials by Peter Gallo and the collage drawings of an artist known only as Carter. White Columns, 320 West 13th Street, West Village, (212)924-4212, through June 11. (Smith) Last Chance * ASIA SOCIETY AND QUEENS MUSEUM OF ART: EDGE OF DESIRE. A highly selective, multigenerational survey of different kinds of contemporary art being made in India; embracing craft, folk and tribal traditions as well as popular culture and academic modernism. The smaller portion is at the Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, at 70th Street, (212)288-6400; the more expansive and varied section at the Queens Museum of Art, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, (718)592-9700, closing on Sunday. (Cotter) BARD GRADUATE CENTER: CHERISHED POSSESSIONS. More than 100 choice objects from that vast attic of family relics, historic New England, from a box with two worm-eaten pieces of 17th-century bread to a grand Copley portrait. Thanks to bright captioning, this show conveys a sense of family connection with the objects. 18 West 86th Street, (212)501-3000, closing on Sunday. (Glueck) TINA BARNEY The photographer known for her large, sumptuous color photographs of rich people often caught in situations of subtle psychological tension presents portraits shot in Spain and Germany that are included in her book The Europeans. Janet Borden, 560 Broadway, at Prince Street, (212)431-0166, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) * BROOKLYN MUSEUM: BASQUIAT Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-88) wrote, painted and drew his way to fame (usually on the same surface) with a loquacious style that mixed mediums and gave visual voice to the glories, history and pain of blackness. Despite a few glitches, this generous retrospective provides an exhilarating account of his short, innovative career. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, (718)638-5000, closing on Sunday. (Smith) IAN COOPER With a series of works that focus on the child star of the Poltergeist movies, this young artist adds his distinctive preoccupation with popular culture and the spirit world to the black-on-black, Goth-leaning current in new art. Cue Art Foundation, 511 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212)206-3583, closing tomorrow. through June 4. (Smith) * WYNNE GREENWOOD AND K8 HARDY Wynne Greenwood is best known as the one-person rock trio called Tracy and the Plastics. K8 Hardy is a founder of the gay feminist art collective LTTR. For this show, they collaborated on a video called New Report in which they play anchorwomen for an alternative television news channel. Reena Spaulings Fine Art, 371 Grand Street, Lower East Side, (212) 477-5006, closing on Sunday. (Cotter) GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: DANIEL BUREN: THE EYE OF THE STORM, through June 8. Mr. Buren has devised a lumbering, 81-foot-tall construction, mirrored floor to ceiling. Imagine a glass office tower slammed through the front of the building. The spiraling ramps and circular roof complete themselves in the mirrored reflections; there is not much to the work beyond that. (See above.) (Kimmelman) INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY: LARRY CLARK The controversial creator of two influential photography books -- Tulsa (1971) and Teenage Lust (1983) -- and director of the brilliant movie Kids (1995) has his first retrospective. The provocative Mr. Clark specializes in the dark and seamy side of American youth culture, and his best works are unnervingly intimate, morally disturbing and beautiful. 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, (212)857-0000, closing on Sunday. (Johnson) REUBEN NAKIAN: TERRA COTTAS, 1955-1983 The large semi-figurative bronze sculptures of Nakian (1897-1983) often figure in the history of Abstract Expressionism, but this well-selected exhibition suggests that he should be best remembered for his small terra cottas -- fraught with Classical themes, sexual energy and fast-working bravura. Zabriskie Gallery, 41 East 57th Street, (212)752-1223, closing tonight. (Smith) * PROVIDING FOR THE AFTERLIFE: BRILLIANT ARTIFACTS FROM SHANDONG The archaeology boom in China continues, and the 50 objects from Han dynasty tombs in this show are being exhibited in the United States for the first time. China Institute Gallery, 125 East 65th Street, (212)744-8181, closing tomorrow. (Cotter) LARRY RIVERS Boldly setting up as a figural painter in the holy days of Abstract Expressionism, Rivers (1923-2002) early on produced portraits, nudes and takeoffs on historical events. This bulging retrospective covers work from the early 1950s to his death, ending with the rather forgettable fashion images of his last years. At his best, he was a painter to reckon with. Marlborough Gallery, 40 West 57th Street, (212)541-4900; Marlborough Chelsea, 211 West 19th Street, (212)463-8634, closing tomorrow. (Glueck) AIDA RUILOVA: LETS GO A participant in the last Whitney Biennial and P.S. 1s current Greater New York, Ms. Ruilova makes short and briefly gripping multi-screen video works in a style you might call Neo-Goth Surrealistic Cubism. Greenberg Van Doren, 730 Fifth Avenue, at 57th Street, (212)445-0444, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) JULIAN SCHNABEL This excellent selection of 21 large and mostly early paintings includes some of the very works that made Mr. Schnabel the most hotly talked-about artist of the Neo-Expressionist era. C & M Arts, 45 East 78th Street, (212)861-0020, closing tomorrow. (Johnson)

Standoff on Same-Sex Marriage ��� New York TimesBreaking.

But by Sunday night, the chief justice, faced with the prospect of many judges allowing same-sex marriages to move forward, acted, in part, �������to ensure the orderly administration of justice within the State of Alabama.�����. in support of marriage����� in which he said he would �������only issue marriage licenses and solemnize ceremonies consistent with Alabama law and the U.S. Constitution; namely, between one man and one woman only, so help me God.�����. Several��.

Common Core���The Elites Did It | Minding The Campus

Alabama was one of only a few states I had never set foot in. When I mentioned. We were too slow on interracial marriage, and we are still too slow for the equality for the LGBT community.��� The speech. It surprised few but the New York Times treated it as major news and ran a follow-up front-page story weighing its cultural significance. Be that as it. Once you begin to reflect on the breadth of the idea, it makes no real sense to ask, ���Are you in favor of standards?

Same-sex marriage in Louisiana

But on Jan. 16, the high court announced it would take up four other pending same-sex marriage cases in April and issue a ruling by summer ��� deciding once and for all whether states can write same-sex marriage bans into their constitutions by a vote.

Louisiana: Democrats in Registration Only - NYTimes.com

Catholic voters once made up a large part of the ���swing��� vote in Louisiana, before social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage became part of the political conversation. In 1992, 41 percent of all voters in the state��.

Same-Sex Marriage Fast Facts

June 6, 2006 - Alabama voters pass a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. July 6, 2006 - The New York Court of Appeals rules that a state law banning same-sex marriage is legal, and the Georgia Supreme Court upholds the states .

Rep. Aaron Downton Abbey Schocks aide resigns over racist Facebook posts

Yet Lees lawyer pushed back against that suggestion in an interview with The New York Times, saying Lee was extremely hurt and humiliated by the claim. She is a very strong, independent and wise woman who should be enjoying the discovery of her .

Same-Sex Marriages Proceed in Parts of Alabama, Amid.

Play Video|1:00. Gay Weddings Held in Parts of Alabama. But in at least 50 of Alabama��������s 67 counties, the county Probate Courts, which issue the licenses, were not giving them to gay and lesbian couples, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group. Many probate court. New York Times reporters have fanned out across Alabama to explore and explain how the same-sex marriage process is playing out in a handful of locations. In his order to��.

CURRENT LITERATURE; Selected Extracts in Prose and Verse from Periodicals.

CURRENT LITERATURE; Selected Extracts in Prose and Verse from Periodicals.

Alabamas gay-marriage ban struck down by federal judge.

A federal judge has struck down Alabama laws banning gay marriage.. Same-sex marriage to begin in Alabama Monday. Cari Searcy, left, and Kim.. Were not talking about a constitutional right to marriage but a nonexistent fiat to allow some two-consenting-adult marriages and not others, ptree. Alabama tried.. Although I believe they are regressive and regrettable, I respect decisions approving same-sex marriage made legislatively, such as made in New York.

Alabama Judge Defies Gay Marriage Law

But by Sunday night, the chief justice, faced with the prospect of many judges allowing same-sex marriages to move forward, acted, in part, ���to ensure the orderly administration of justice within the State of Alabama.��� Reached by telephone late Sunday.

Alabama Headed for Constitutional Crisis As Gay.

But Liberty Counsel, an anti-marriage equality litigation and policy organization, said it was already representing five Alabama judges who would not be issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Monday, and that more judges could soon be seeking the groups representation... Southern Alabama was once part of Spanish Florida and the Cross of Burgundy (Cruz de Borgo��a, Cruz de San Andr��s) was the Spanish battle flag used in its American colonies.

Z��calo Public Square :: The Next Big Question For Marriage

As Adam Liptak of The New York Times pointed out, Justice Scalia, in his dissent to the Windsor decision invalidating part of the Defense of Marriage Act, argued that the interstate recognition (or non-recognition) question will be a vexing one.. Marriage Amendment,��� which defined civil marriage as ���a sacred covenant, solemnized between a man and a woman��� and declared as ���having no legal force or effect��� any same-sex marriages performed in Alabama ���or in any��.

Ms. Merkel Goes to Washington Amid High-Stakes Ukraine Debate

But the answer to what kind of candidate she will be rests squarely on her shoulders ��� and remains to be answered, Balz writes. And if Sundays New York Times piece -- on the more than 200 policy experts giving her advice on an economic message -- is .

UA in the News: Feb. 5, 2015 | University of Alabama News.

���We were impressed by St. Johns professionalism and productivity, both in his newspaper life at The New York Times and in his books,��� said Rick Bragg, Cason Award selection committee member and previous recipient of the. In Alabama, which is set to begin allowing same-sex marriages on Monday, two old foes are facing off over the future of gay rights in the state.. Parts of a historic building are coming down as the University of Alabama expands its campus.

The Listings: Dec. 1 - Dec. 7

Selective listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the New York metropolitan region this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings ANNIE Opens on Wednesday. Kathie Lee Gifford stars as Miss Hannigan in this touring version of the popular musical about the little orphan who dreams of tomorrow (2:30). The Theater at Madison Square Garden, (212) 307-4100. THE APPLE TREE In previews; opens on Dec. 14. The Roundabout revives this 1966 Bock-Harnick musical, based on its City Center production. Kristin Chenoweth, Brian DArcy James and Marc Kudisch star (2:30). Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street, (212) 719-1300. CARRIE Previews start tomorrow; opens on Dec. 9. The irreverent Theater Couture (Doll) takes you back to the bloody prom in Erik Jacksons spin on the Stephen King novel. Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. FLOYD AND CLEA UNDER THE WESTERN SKY In previews; opens on Tuesday. David Cale and Jonathan Kreisbergs musical tracks the friendship between a former country star and a 20-year-old free spirit in a trip across the country (2:10). Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. HIGH FIDELITY In previews; opens on Thursday. Nick Hornbys romantic profile of a music hipster made a successful movie, but will it work as a Broadway musical? (2:00). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. KAOS In previews; opens on Monday. A new fusion of text, dance and music by Martha Clarke that tells four Pirandello stories set in turn-of-the-20th-century Sicily (1:30). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 239-6200. MURDER MYSTERY BLUES In previews; opens on Thursday. In this film noir sendup with an original jazz score -- based on short stories by Woody Allen -- the gumshoe Kaiser Lupowitz is hired to find Mr. Big (2:10). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200. SPRING AWAKENING In previews; opens on Dec. 10. The Atlantic Theaters acclaimed rock musical, based on an angst-ridden teenage drama from the 19th century, moves to Broadway (2:00). Eugene ONeill Theater, 230 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. TWO SEPTEMBER In previews; opens on Tuesday. Mac Wellmans new play looks at the prelude to the Vietnam War (1:10). Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101. TWO TRAINS RUNNING In previews; opens on Sunday. Set in 1969, August Wilsons play includes his typically wonderful talk from a bunch of regulars at a local Pittsburgh diner that is about to be destroyed (3:00). Signature Theater at Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 352-3101. THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE In previews; opens on Wednesday. Fritz Weaver stars as the patriarch of a wealthy family in crisis in David Mamets new adaptation of what may be Harley Granville Barkers finest drama (1:50). Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 239-6200. Broadway A CHORUS LINE If you want to know why this show was such a big deal when it opened 31 years ago, you need only experience the thrilling first five minutes of this revival. Otherwise, this archivally exact production, directed by Bob Avian, feels like a vintage car that has been taken out of the garage, polished up and sent on the road once again (2:00). Schoenfeld Theater, 236 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley) * THE COAST OF UTOPIA: VOYAGE The exhilarating first installment of Tom Stoppards trilogy about 19th-century Russian intellectuals dreaming of revolution, this production pulses with the dizzy, spring-green arrogance and anxiety of a new generation moving as fast as it can toward the future. Jack OBrien directs a fresh, vigorous and immense cast, led by Billy Crudup and Ethan Hawke (2:45). Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * COMPANY Fire, beckoning and dangerous, flickers beneath the frost of John Doyles elegant, unexpectedly stirring revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furths era-defining musical from 1970, starring a compellingly understated Raul Esparza. Like Mr. Doyles Sweeney Todd, this production finds new clarity of feeling in Sondheim by melding the roles of performers and musicians (2:20). Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) DR. SEUSS HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS: THE MUSICAL The beloved holiday classic in a new musical version that honors the spirit and the letter of the original. (The two immortal Albert Hague-Dr. Seuss songs from the television special are included). Bloated at 90 minutes, but the kids didnt seem to mind (1:30). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Charles Isherwood) THE DROWSY CHAPERONE (Tony Awards, best book of a musical and best original score, 2006) This small and ingratiating spoof of 1920s stage frolics, as imagined by an obsessive show queen, may not be a masterpiece. But in a dry season for musicals, it has theatergoers responding as if they were withering houseplants finally being watered after long neglect (1:40). Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * GREY GARDENS Christine Ebersole is absolutely glorious as the middle-aged, time-warped debutante called Little Edie Beale in this uneven musical adaptation of the notorious 1975 documentary of the same title. She and the wonderful Mary-Louise Wilson (as her bed-ridden mother), in the performances of their careers, make Grey Gardens an experience no passionate theatergoer should miss (2:40). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * HEARTBREAK HOUSE A ripping revival of Shaws comedy about the English gentry waltzing toward the abyss as the shadow of World War I looms. Philip Bosco, as the admirably sane madman Captain Shotover, and Swoosie Kurtz, as his swaggeringly romantic daughter, lead the superb cast, under the sharp direction of Robin Lefevre. Nearly a century after its composition, the play still sparkles with wit and sends a shiver down the spine too (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300. (Isherwood) LES MISÉRABLES This premature revival, a slightly scaled-down version of the well-groomed behemoth that closed only three years ago, appears to be functioning in a state of mild sedation. Appealingly sung and freshly orchestrated, this fast-moving adaptation of Victor Hugos novel isnt sloppy or blurry. But its pulse rate stays well below normal (2:55). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED The comedy of manners, a form widely believed to be extinct in the American theater, has actually resurfaced on Broadway with all its vital signs intact in Douglas Carter Beanes breezy but trenchant satire about truth and illusion, Hollywood-style. With the wonderful Julie White as the movie agent you hate to love (but just cant help it) (2:00). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) MARY POPPINS This handsome, homily-packed, mechanically ingenious and rather tedious musical, adapted from the P. L. Travers stories and the 1964 Disney film, is ultimately less concerned with inexplicable magic than with practical psychology. Ashley Brown, who sings prettily as the family-mending nanny, looks like Joan Crawford trying to be nice and sounds like Dr. Phil. Directed by Richard Eyre and Matthew Bourne (2:30). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) TARZAN This writhing green blob with music, adapted by Disney Theatrical Productions from the 1999 animated film, has the feeling of a superdeluxe day care center, equipped with lots of bungee cords and karaoke synthesizers, where children can swing when they get tired of singing, and vice versa. The soda-pop score is by Phil Collins (2:30). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) Off Broadway ALL THE WAY HOME The play won a Pulitzer Prize, but in this revival by the Transport Group it is Sandra Goldmarks simple, striking set that first gets your attention, and then keeps refocusing it during a show that runs almost three hours. Amid her doll-size houses, the human actors seem like giants, but as the play progresses, it becomes apparent that the characters they play are anything but. The acting is excellent, though the play, centered on a small domestic tragedy, doesnt have the punch it once did (1:35). Connelly Theater, 220 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. (Neil Genzlinger) ALL TOO HUMAN Henry Millers one-man show about Clarence Darrow is far from scintillating theater, but its relevant. (1:35) 45th Street Theater, 354 West 45th Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444. (Anita Gates) THE AMERICAN PILOT The fate of an injured American soldier hangs in the balance when his plane crashes in territory held by rebels fighting a regime backed by the United States. David Greigs play strives for the topical and the universal, but mostly gets hold of the generic (2:00). Manhattan Theater Clubs City Center Stage II, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. (Isherwood) ARMS AND THE MAN Shaws story of a mercenary who breaks into a young Bulgarian womans bedroom while fleeing a battle seems not to have much social bite in this rendition, but the humor still works nicely, particularly when in the hands of Robin Leslie Brown and Dominic Cuskern as the invaded households matriarch and patriarch. Bradford Cover has an appealing, offhand delivery as the soldier (2:15). The Pearl Theater Company, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212) 598-9802. (Genzlinger) BHUTAN Daisy Footes drama may not be working the freshest territory -- dead-end lives in a small town -- but it sure is well told and well acted. A widow and her two teenagers are struggling financially and feeling dislocated by their towns changing social alignments; Sarah Lord is especially good as the daughter whose fascination with a neighbors trip to Bhutan gives the play its title and overarching metaphor (1:20). Cherry Lane Theater, 38 Commerce Street, between Barrow and Bedford Streets, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Genzlinger) *THE CLEAN HOUSE Sarah Ruhls comedy about the painful but beautiful disorder of life has arrived in New York at last in a gorgeous production directed by Bill Rauch. Blair Brown and Jill Clayburgh delight as sisters with different views on the meaning of cleaning, and Vanessa Aspillaga is equally good as the depressed maid with little affection for her work but a deep conviction that a good joke can be a matter of life and death (2:15). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) DAI (ENOUGH) Iris Bahrs unnerving one-woman show doesnt have much to add to the Middle East debate, but it sure leaves a lasting impression. Ms. Bahr plays an assortment of characters who have the misfortune of being in a Tel Aviv cafe that is about to be visited by the havoc common to such establishments. The attack is rendered in jarring fashion, repeatedly; you watch the play on pins and needles, waiting for the next burst. Gimmicky? Sure. But viscerally effective. Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 307-4100. (Genzlinger) DURANGO In Julia Chos tender-hearted comedy-drama, a Korean-American family takes to the road with a trunk full of emotional baggage in tow. The narrative mostly runs in familiar grooves, but Ms. Cho has a clear, honest voice, and Chay Yews production sets it off elegantly (1:30). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555. (Isherwood) ESOTERICA Eric Waltons very entertaining one-man show is a mix of magic, mentalism and intelligent chat. He does all three impressively (1:30). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL This likable horror comedy based on Sam Raimis gory movies wants to be the next Rocky Horror Show. To that end, it offers deadpan lyrics, self-referential humor and geysers of stage blood (2:00) New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD AND FIND TRUE LOVE IN 90 MINUTES This refreshing musical, born of the Fringe Festival, about a bookstore clerk, a slacker, a diplomat and a terrorist has witty songs, wacky performances and an untethered sense of fun (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) A JEW GROWS IN BROOKLYN You dont have to be Jewish or Brooklynish to empathize with Jake Ehrenreich, but in terms of fully appreciating his essentially one-man show, it probably helps. Especially the Catskills jokes (2:05). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, (212) 560-8912. (Gates) THE MILLINER Suzanne Glasss delicate play tells of a Jewish hat-maker who, after fleeing Germany and his beloved mother and business just before World War II, longs to return to Berlin. A vixenish cabaret singer is among the things beckoning him back. The lovely hats, both worn and used as scenery, will make the bare heads of 2006 long for the old days (2:30). East 13th Street Theater, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. (Genzlinger) MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE A small, intense and loudly heralded one-woman drama that tells the true story of its title character, a pro-Palestinian activist killed in the Gaza strip by an Israeli Army bulldozer. Yet for all the political and emotional baggage carried by this production, adapted from Ms. Corries writings and starring Megan Dodds, it often feels dramatically flat, even listless (1:30). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) POST MORTEM A grievance list of a comedy by the indefatigable A. R. Gurney, set in the near future, about the unearthing of a world-shaking play called Post Mortem by A. R. Gurney. Jim Simpson directs this likable grab bag of insider jokes, polemical satire and cosmic lamentation (1:30). The Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101. (Brantley) THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE A slow, airless revival of Jay Presson Allens 1966 play (adapted from Muriel Sparks novel) about a dangerous Scottish schoolteacher, directed by Scott Elliott and starring the wonderful (but miscast) Cynthia Nixon, who seems much too sane and centered as the deluded Miss Brody. (2:40). The Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Brantley) REGRETS ONLY Old acquaintance comes under siege in Paul Rudnicks chiffon-thin comedy about the varieties of love and marriage. But no one who sees this latest offering from one of the funniest quip-meisters alive is going to doubt that Christine Baranski is a one-liners best friend (2:00). City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. (Brantley) ROOM SERVICE The Peccadillo Theater Company puts a charge into this old comedy from the 1930s, thanks to a brisk pace by the director, Dan Wackerman, and a dozen dandy performances. David Edwards is the would-be producer whose bills threaten to swamp his efforts to put a show on Broadway, and Fred Berman is particularly fine as his director (2:00). The SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, South Village, (212) 691-1555. (Genzlinger) SCHOOL FOR WIVES The Pearl Theater Companys production of Molières satire about one misguided mans expectations of women is pleasant, occasionally quite funny and definitely on the side of common sense (1:55). The Pearl Theater Company, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212) 598-9802. (Gates) * STRIKING 12 A minimalist musical about an odd but rewarding New Years Eve in the life of a guy who hates New Years Eve. Performed by the indie pop band Groovelily, its fresh and funny, and features a standout pop score (1:30). Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER As the luscious (and lobotomy-threatened) damsel in distress in Tennessee Williamss famously lurid melodrama, Carla Gugino gives a gutsy assurance to a production that otherwise lacks compelling confidence. Mark Brokaw directs a cast that includes Blythe Danner, in a fascinating but misconceived performance as a smothering mother from hell (1:30). Laura Pels Theater, 111 West 46th Street, (212) 719-1300. (Brantley) THE TIMEKEEPERS Dan Clancys play, which throws a Jewish artisan and a gay hustler together in a concentration camp, transcends standard Holocaust psychodrama on the strength of its characterizations and definitive performances by Seth Barrish and Eric Paeper (1:35). Barrow Group Theater, 312 West 36th Street, third floor, (212) 760-2615. (Rob Kendt) 25 QUESTIONS FOR A JEWISH MOTHER This is the comedian Judy Golds fiercely funny monologue, based on her own life as a single Jewish lesbian mother and interviews with more than 50 other Jewish mothers (1:10). St. Lukes Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Phoebe Hoban) Off Off Broadway THE FORTUNE TELLER This morality tale for grown-ups is told through marvelously grotesque puppets and a cast, evoking Edward Gorey and Tim Burton. Written by Erik Sanko, it is an allegory of the Seven Deadly Sins, a lovely thing to look upon and listen to (the dark, brooding music is by Mr. Sanko and Danny Elfman), but for all its macabre grisliness, it needs more drama. (1:00). Here Arts Center, 145 Sixth Avenue, at Dominick Street, South Village, (212) 352-3101. (Anne Midgette) Spectacles BIG APPLE CIRCUS One terrific show (2:15). Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500 or (212) 307-4100. (Lawrence Van Gelder) RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR Mingles tradition and novelty to a festive fare-thee-well (1:30). Radio City Music Hall, (212) 307-1000. (Van Gelder) Long-Running Shows ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) AVENUE Q R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:10). Golden Theater, 252 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh, sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE COLOR PURPLE Singing Cliffs Notes for Alice Walkers Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (2:40). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200.(Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) JERSEY BOYS The biomusical that walks like a man (2:30). August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). Minskoff Theater, 200 West 45th Street at Broadway, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) SLAVAS SNOWSHOW Clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin stir up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart and tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Van Gelder) SPAMALOT A singing scrapbook for Monty Python fans. (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE A Chorus Line with pimples (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance GREAT EXPECTATIONS Its hard to improve on Dickens, and the playwright Bathsheba Doran doesnt manage to in the Theatreworks/USA production of her version for families and children. Directed by Will Pomerantz, scenes fly by too fast, and Kathleen Chalfants Miss Havisham should be frightening rather than eccentric. But as her icy protégée, Estella, Kristen Bush is near perfect (1:20). Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 279-4200; closing on Sunday. (Andrea Stevens) JOBS PASSION The Israeli playwright Hanoch Levins blending of two biblical characters, Job and Jesus, sometimes flaunts irreverence for irreverences sake but finds both dizzying humor and rich meaning in human misery (2:00). Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 254-1109; closing on Sunday. (Gates) MIMI LE DUCK This musical, seen in 2004 at the New York International Fringe Festival, has morphed into a campy celebration of Eartha Kitt, who, just short of her 80th birthday, milks a minor role gleefully. The main order of business, though, is a middle-aged, middle-American housewife (Annie Golden), who, at the urging of Hemingways ghost, goes to Paris in search of her true self. Diana Hansen-Young, who wrote the book and lyrics, seems to get most of her not-very-revolutionary ideas from mainstream womens magazines (2:05). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200; closing on Sunday. (Genzlinger) ROMANIA. KISS ME! A worthwhile collection of six short plays by young Romanian playwrights who grew up after the fall of Ceausescus regime (2:10). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200; closing on Sunday. (Jason Zinoman) WOYZECK This improbably vivacious London-born production of Buchners great, prophetic drama of existential emptiness finds the bleak rhythm of life in, of all things, the music of Elvis Presley. While Daniel Kramers production is more flash than feeling, it features a first-rate, gymnastically stylized performance from Edward Hogg in the title role (2:20). St. Anns Warehouse, 38 Water Street, at Dock Street, Brooklyn, (718) 254-8779; closing on Sunday. (Brantley) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. * THE AURA (No rating, 138 minutes, in Spanish) A heist, a case of mistaken identity and a lonely, epileptic taxidermist are at the heart of this melancholy, deeply satisfying noir exercise, the second and last feature directed by the Argentine filmmaker Fabián Bielinsky, who died in June. (A. O. Scott) BACKSTAGE (No rating, 112 minutes, in French) Beautifully acted and uncomfortably believable much of the time, this close-up study of the toxic relationship of a narcissistic French pop star and a besotted teenage fan produces a feeling of emotional claustrophobia. (Stephen Holden) BOBBY (R, 111 minutes) Emilio Estevezs picture, which follows a score of characters through the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 4, 1968, is full of noble ambition. The day in question ended with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, an event that hovers over the movie, even though Kennedy himself is visible only in archival clips. A huge cast (including Anthony Hopkins, Sharon Stone, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Lindsay Lohan and Mr. Estevez) labors to inject a collection of melodramatic anecdotes with portent and significance, but the individual parts of the film tend to be either overdone or vague and slight. (Scott) * BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN, (R, 89 minutes) In this brainy, merciless comedy, a Kazakh journalist named Borat Sagdiyev, a k a the British comic Sacha Baron Cohen, invades America. America laughs, cries, surrenders. (Manohla Dargis) CASINO ROYALE (PG-13, 144 minutes) The latest James Bond vehicle finds the British spy leaner, meaner and now played by an attractive piece of blond rough named Daniel Craig. Zap, pow, ka-ching! (Dargis) DECK THE HALLS (PG, 95 minutes) In the holiday tradition of stale fruitcake, ugly snowflake sweaters and food poisoning comes this piece of junk, in which Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito compete to see who can annoy the audience more. (Scott) DÉJÀ VU (PG-13, 125 minutes) In Tony Scotts preposterous action flick, with Denzel Washington, the gaudy pyrotechnics are nowhere near as jaw-dropping as the screenplay that name-checks not one, not two, but three national tragedies. ( Dargis) DHOOM 2 (No rating, 151 minutes, in Hindi) A slick and satisfying example of the new, thoroughly modern Bollywood, this cops-and-robbers tale is animated by old-fashioned star power. Hrithik Roshan plays the smartest and coolest thief alive, and Aishwarya Rai is the small-time crook who loves him. (Rachel Saltz) EATING OUT 2: SLOPPY SECONDS (No rating, 85 minutes) A Rubiks Cube of shifting sexual orientation and elaborate fantasies, this film follows a young gay man who joins an ex-gay group in his quest to bed a hot male model. Gathering all the accouterments of soft pornography -- cheesy music, low-rent acting and attractively framed genitals -- into a plot of stunning imbecility, the director, Phillip J. Bartel, is most amusing in his zeal to demonstrate the fruitlessness of right-wing efforts to reorient gay men. (Jeannette Catsoulis) * FAST FOOD NATION (R, 106 minutes) Richard Linklater has turned Eric Schlossers journalistic exposé of the American industrial food system into a thoughtful, occasionally rambling inquiry into the contradictions of contemporary American life. Three stories examine different parts of the capitalist food chain: illegal immigrants from Mexico work in terrible conditions in a meat-processing plant; a restaurant chain executive undergoes a crisis of conscience; and a teenage burger-slinger is drawn into political activism. Mr. Linklater covers a lot of ground, and the result is an unusually funny, moving and intellectually demanding movie. (Scott) * FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (R, 132 minutes) Clint Eastwood raises the flag over Iwo Jima once more in a powerful if imperfect film about the uses of war and of the men who fight. The fine cast includes Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford and Adam Beach, who delivers heartbreak by the payload. (Dargis) FLANNEL PAJAMAS (No rating, 124 minutes) The twin specters of Ingmar Bergman and Woody Allen hover over this film, which might have been more accurately titled Scenes From a Mixed Marriage or Annie Hall Without Laughs. This smart, talky history of a relationship between two New Yorkers follows a Jewish theatrical promoter and an aspiring caterer from a Roman Catholic background from courtship to marriage to separation. (Holden) * FLUSHED AWAY (PG, 85 minutes) Sewer rats, singing leeches and whimsical British anarchy -- this computer-animated feature from Aardman Animations (Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run) is completely delightful. (Scott) THE FOUNTAIN (PG-13, 96 minutes) Darren Aronovskys new film spans a thousand years, as Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman pursue undying love and eternal life in the 16th, 21st and 26th centuries. There is some lovely visual poetry, but the ideas are pure doggerel, an ungainly mixture of sci-fi overreach and earnest sentimentality. (Scott) FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION (PG-13, 86 minutes) This satire of pre-Oscar nomination buzz in Hollywood is far and away the broadest comedy Christopher Guest and his improvisatory company have made. It is also the flimsiest, and unlike Mr. Guests earlier films, it has no airs of being a fake documentary. As farce trumps satire, the humors subversive edge is lost, along with meaningful character development, except for the brilliant exception of Catherine OHara. (Holden) HAPPY FEET (PG, 100 minutes) The director George Miller gets happy and snappy, then goes dark and deep, in a musical about an animated penguin who was born to dance. Take hankies. (Dargis) THE HISTORY BOYS (R, 104 minutes) The current of intellectual energy snapping through this engaging screen adaptation of Alan Bennetts Tony Award-winning play, set in a north England boys school in 1983, feels like electrical brain stimulation. As two teachers jockey for the hearts and minds of eight teenage schoolboys preparing to apply to Oxford and Cambridge, their epigrams send up small jolts of pleasure and excitement. How to teach and interpret history is the question. (Holden) INVISIBLE (No rating, 86 minutes) Absent parents cause no end of bother in this moody thriller about an unhappily married couple, a remote cabin and a pair of homicidal crazies. Unfortunately, the director, Adam Watstein, is so invested in his theme of nature as emotional healer that the movies abrupt transition from lush travelogue to murky violence feels jarring and unearned. As both victims and attackers trade abandonment issues Invisible suggests that weekend getaways are best approached, if not with a pistol, then at least with a firm grasp of psychobabble. (Catsoulis) LETS GO TO PRISON (R, 84 minutes) Sure, it has shower scenes, but theyre sly and restrained rather than frat house obvious, and all the funnier for it. Dax Shepard is hilariously deadpan as a petty criminal who retaliates against a judge by contriving for the mans son (Will Arnett) to be arrested and then purposely being arrested himself so he can harass the prissy fellow. Chi McBride is perfect as a fellow inmate with a taste for prison lovin and a voice like Barry Whites. (Neil Genzlinger) * OUR DAILY BREAD (No rating, 92 minutes) In this superb documentary the Austrian filmmaker Nikolaus Geyrhalter takes an unblinking, often disturbing look at industrial food production from field to factory. You are what you eat; as it happens, you are also what you dare to watch. (Dargis) TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY (R, 87 minutes) As it wobbles from one episode to the next, this rock n roll comedy starring Jack Black is a garish mess, and some of it feels padded. But it has enough jokes to keep you smiling, and Mr. Black brings to it a fervent affection for the music he spoofs but obviously adores. (Holden) * VOLVER (R, 121 minutes, in Spanish) Another keeper from Pedro Almódovar, with Penélope Cruz -- as a resilient widow -- in her best role to date. (Scott) Film Series JACQUES AUDIARD RETROSPECTIVE (Tuesday) Cinéma Tuesdays at the French Institute Alliance Française concludes its five-week tribute to Mr. Audiard, a contemporary master of the French thriller, next week. The final film is Venus Beauty Institute (1999), about beauty salon workers looking for love in their own ways during the holiday season. The stars include Audrey Tautou and Nathalie Baye. Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212) 355-6100, fiaf.org; $10. (Anita Gates) ALEJANDRO GONZÁLEZ IÑÁRRITU RETROSPECTIVE (Through Dec. 15) The Museum of the Moving Image begins a three-film salute to Mr. González Iñárritu, the 43-year-old Mexican-born filmmaker, tonight with his new film, Babel, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett as an American couple traveling in Morocco. The filmmaker will appear after tonights screening for a discussion. The retrospective continues next Friday with Amores Perros (2000) and on Dec. 15 with 21 Grams (2003). 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077, movingimage.us; $18 on Dec. 1, $10 all other dates. (Gates) HEROIC GRACE II: SHAW BROTHERS RETURN (Through Wednesday) BAMcinématek and the U.C.L.A. Film & Television Archive Shaw Brothers series, honoring the Chinese movie studio that spread the gospel of martial arts films, winds up next week. Tuesdays feature is Chor Yuens Clans of Intrigue (1977), about a swordsman framed for murder. Wednesdays is Chang Cheh and Bao Zuelis Boxer From Shantung (1972), about a young fighter who succumbs to bad influences in the big city. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100, bam.org; $10. (Gates) WALTER MIRISCH (Through Dec. 31) To honor Mr. Mirisch, 85, the New York-born producer, the Museum of Modern Art is sponsoring a retrospective of 12 films from the Mirisch Corporation, beginning tonight. This weekends films include In the Heat of the Night (1967), Norman Jewisons Oscar-winning crime drama about racial tensions in the Deep South; West Side Story (1961), Robert Wise and Jerome Robbinss Oscar-winning adaptation of the Broadway musical; and Some Like It Hot (1959), Billy Wilders comedy classic in which Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon all wear dresses. Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, (212) 708-9400, moma.org; $10. (Gates) MONDOVINO: THE SERIES (Through Dec. 10) Technically, Mondovino, Jonathan Nossiters 10-hour documentary about winemaking, is one film. But the Museum of Modern Art is presenting its theatrical world premiere as five two-hour programs, beginning tomorrow. The story begins in Southern France, travels to Tuscany and the New World, and includes a portrait of the wine critic Robert Parker. An all-weekend marathon of the 10 parts is also scheduled. Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, (212) 708-9400, moma.org; $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. RYAN ADAMS AND THE CARDINALS (Monday through Wednesday) No one exemplifies the frustrations of alt-country better: so much talent, so much rich history to draw on, so much arrogance. But at least Mr. Adams can deliver the goods. Within his unnecessarily voluminous output -- he released three full-length albums last year and posts new songs to his Web site by the dozen -- is some astonishingly beautiful work. At 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-7171, the-townhall-nyc.org; sold out. (Ben Sisario) BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA (Tomorrow) After more than 60 years as a group, the Blind Boys of Alabama are no longer boys, but gray-haired pillars of gospel quartet singing. Led by Clarence Fountain, they proclaim their reverence in close harmonies and gutsy improvisations that leap heavenward. At 8 p.m., B. B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144, bbkingblues.com; $42.50 in advance, $45 at the door. (Jon Pareles) BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE (Sunday) This tuneless headache of a band, modeled on the jangly psychedelic rock of mid-1960s Britain and Los Angeles, was well on its way into obscurity when, two years ago, it was featured in a hit documentary, Dig!, and a legend was created. Since then the band has toured widely, to audiences who wait for its leader, Anton Newcombe, to lash out in paranoia and kick a fan in the head, as he did in the film. With A Place to Bury Strangers. At 7 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 533-2111, bowerypresents.com; $20. (Sisario) CONVERGE (Tonight) The guitar riffs of this Boston band come like a spray of machine gun bullets, rapid and unrelenting. The violent rasp of Jacob Bannon, the singer, is just as deadly. With Some Girls, Modern Life Is War, and Blacklisted. At 6, Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006, knittingfactory.com; $15. (Sisario) COPELAND (Sunday) Rueful piano ballads that lead to teary, guitar-drenched, not-quite-cathartic peaks: the songs of this Florida band strongly resemble those of Coldplay and Keane. But while its passion is sincere, Copeland lacks something in the sophistication department. (Im in love with my doubt/Its freaking me out.) With Appleseed Cast, Owen and Acute. At 6:45 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800, irvingplaza.com; $15 in advance, $17 at the door. (Sisario) GENO DELAFOSE AND FRENCH ROCKIN BOOGIE (Monday) Geno Delafose, the son of the zydeco accordionist John Delafose, holds on to the traditions of an older generation, pumping waltzes and two-steps and blues on his button accordion, keeping the old bayou flavor. At 7:30 p.m., with a free dance lesson at 6; Connollys, 121 West 45th Street, Manhattan, (212) 685-7597, letszydeco.com; $22. (Pareles) DINOSAUR JR. (Tonight and tomorrow night) One of the greatest and most influential original grunge bands, Dinosaur Jr. joined mopey lyrics to furious guitar sludge, a juxtaposition that prefigured Nirvana. Long estranged, the original lineup of J Mascis on guitar, Lou Barlow on bass and Murph on drums reunited last year, sounding brawny and vigorous; their first album together in 18 years is to be released in the spring. At 9, Rebel, 251 West 30th Street, Manhattan, (212) 695-2747, rebelnyc.com; $25. (Sisario) EL VEZ (Tomorrow) Most Elvis imitators are corny; El Vez is conceptual, merging Presleyana, Mexican-American in-jokes and bad puns to honor and simultaneously twist the Presley legacy. At 9:30 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700, mercuryloungenyc.com; $15. (Pareles) JEREMY ENIGK (Thursday) In the 1990s Mr. Enigk was the leader of Sunny Day Real Estate, a Seattle group that did as much as anybody to transform emo from a relatively obscure offshoot of hardcore punk into the populist form of yearning and tantrum-throwing that it is today. This fall he released his first solo album in a decade, World Waits (Lewis Hollow). At 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $16 in advance, $18 at the door. (Sisario) MELISSA FERRICK (Monday) Somewhere between Ani DiFranco and Melissa Etheridge, Ms. Ferrick slings an acoustic guitar and belts songs filled with bravado. At 7 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $18 in advance, $20 at the door. (Pareles) * THE GRATES (Wednesday) Playful and capricious, this guitar-drums-vocals trio from Brisbane, Australia, led by the frequently airborne Patience Hodgson, reaches back to classic 1990s riot grrrl for its passionate amateurism. But on its ambitious debut album, Gravity Wont Get You High (Cherrytree/Interscope), the band is unburdened by any legacy, going from hip-swaying sassy to defiant and tough, all with a sense that nothing in life is worth getting too upset about (No Ill never believe the truth in you/Lies are much more fun). With the White Rabbits, Tigercity and Cassettes Wont Listen. At 7:30 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700, mercuryloungenyc.com; $10. (Sisario) JOAN JETT AND the blackhearts (Tomorrow) With a never-changing arsenal of meaty riffs, sneering looks and defiant declarations of sexual independence, Joan Jett, now in her late 40s, has been expertly playing the tough-chick-with-a-guitar role longer than many of her younger imitators have been alive. At 9 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800, irvingplaza.com; sold out. (Sisario) JUNIOR BOYS (Thursday) When dance music goes sad: squiggly, awkward beats and droopy keyboards surround the forlorn vocals of this Canadian electronic group, who sing about missed birthdays and phones that dont ring. Also on the bill is a D.J. set by Morgan Geist. At 9 p.m., Studio B, 259 Banker Street, between Meserole Avenue and Calyer Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 389-1880, clubstudiob.com; $15. (Sisario) KLEZMATICS (Monday) This veteran New York band has had a major influence on the bohemian rediscovery and reinvention of klezmer music, the somewhat jazzy dance music of Eastern European Jews. So it made perfect sense when Nora Guthrie, the daughter and archivist of Woody Guthrie, approached the members a few years ago to write music for lyrics that Guthrie wrote in the 1940s and 50s, when he lived on Coney Island with his second wife, Marjorie Mazia, and her Jewish family. There the Dust Bowl troubadour ate blintzes, lighted the menorah and wrote about Hanukkah in the plainspoken, unmistakably Guthrie style: Its honeyky Hanukkah, shaky my hand/My candles are burning all over this land. The Klezmatics play these songs, as collected on a new album, Woody Guthries Happy Joyous Hanukkah (Jewish Music Group). At 7:30 p.m., Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street, at Pitt Street, Lower East Side, (212) 352-3101, henrystreet.org/arts; $20. (Sisario) DAVID KRAKAUERS KLEZMER MADNESS (Tomorrow) Well into an illustrious career as a classical clarinetist, Mr. Krakauer stumbled onto klezmer, and his endless curiosity in adapting it to avant-garde jazz, rock and even Latin styles has brought him a wide new audience. For this concert he collaborates with Fred Wesley, the funk trombonist who was a key member of James Browns band in the 1960s and 70s; and with SoCalled, a k a Josh Dolgin, a Canadian D.J. and keyboardist whose efforts at infusing hip-hop with Jewish identity -- or perhaps the other way around -- include an album, The SoCalled Seder (JDub). At 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $25 to $35. (Sisario) LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES (Tonight) Los Amigos Invisibles, from Venezuela, latch on to dance grooves from the last three decades: James Brown funk, the stolid thump of house music, mid-1960s boogaloo, 70s Miami disco, Santanas mambo-rock, even some rap, while the lyrics (in Spanish) are come-ons somewhere between charm and smarm. At midnight, S.O.B.s, 204 Varick Street, at Houston Street, South Village, (212) 243-4940, sobs.com; $23. (Pareles) * LOW (Wednesday) With exquisite care, this band from Duluth, Minn., featuring the husband-and-wife team of Alan Sparhawk on guitar and Mimi Parker on vocals, and Matt Livingston on bass, creates hushed, stark songs on a vast sonic scale. This concert is advertised as a special performance with a variety of unnamed musical friends. At 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $18 in advance, $20 at the door. (Sisario) MARITIME (Sunday) Founded by former members of the Promise Ring and the Dismemberment Plan, two foundational emo bands of the mid-90s, Maritime plays understated and effortlessly catchy songs with minimal touches of acoustic guitar and new-wave keyboards. With Tall Hands. At 9 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, near Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236, spsounds.com; $10. (Sisario) * LE MYSTÈRE DES VOIX BULGARES (Sunday) Formed in 1952 as the Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Vocal Choir (but known since the 80s by this considerably sexier name, originally an album title), this group performs complex modern arrangements of traditional Bulgarian folk and Byzantine liturgical styles. The concept is high, but the effect of the pungently close harmonies and intense percussive yips is immediate and transcendent. At 7:30 p.m., Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400, symphonyspace.org; $30 in advance, $35 at the door. (Sisario) NEW MODEL ARMY (Wednesday and Thursday) New Model Army, an English band founded in the early 1980s by the songwriter Justin Sullivan, has held onto the vehement idealism and revved-up guitars of the British punk-rock pioneered by the Clash. With Echoes and Shadows. Wednesday at 9 p.m., Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103, northsix.com; $12. Thursday at 8 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700, mercuryloungenyc.com; $15. (Pareles) OTEP (Monday) These Ozzfest vets play brutal noise-metal but are notable mainly for their leader, Otep Shamaya, a smallish woman with the voice of a roaring bear who wears T-shirts with slogans like strong aggressive female and sings about sexual abuse. With Ground to Machine. At 9 p.m., Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103, northsix.com; $10. (Sisario) * RED HOT + RIOT LIVE (Tonight and tomorrow night) A tribute to the inimitable Fela Kuti, the Nigerian master of Afrobeat who, on dozens of albums from the early 1970s until his death from AIDS nine years ago, merged James Browns funk with the chants and polyrhythms of Africa, and used his music as a populist political cudgel against corrupt authority. The lineup for this concert, a benefit for the African Services Committee, an AIDS and H.I.V. support group, includes Tony Allen, Felas longtime drummer; the eclectic Nigerian duo Amadou and Mariam; Cheikh Lo, from Senegal; Meshell Ndegeocello, the American bassist and funk ambassador; Dead Prez, a politically minded rap duo from Brooklyn; Keziah Jones, a Nigerian singer-songwriter; and Yerba Buena, a New York Latin band, playing with the jazz-funk keyboardist John Medeski. At 7:30, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100, bam.org; $25 to $65. (Sisario) THE STILLS (Tonight and tomorrow night) On its debut album three years ago, this Montreal band took the sulking guitar minimalism of New York groups like Interpol and the Strokes and sublimated it into a shimmering, majestic gloom that recalled the glories of U2 and Echo and the Bunnymen. Its most recent album, Without Feathers (Vice), perplexingly slows things down to a bored crawl. With Au Revoir Simone and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin tonight, and Favourite Sons and A Brief Smile tomorrow night. At 9, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $16 in advance, $18 at the door. (Sisario) UMPHREYS McGEE (Tonight and tomorrow night) One of the few jam bands to gain critical respect in the rock world, Umphreys McGee, from South Bend, Ind., seamlessly incorporates the irregular meters and gnarled guitar patterns of classic progressive rock into the smoother, more spoonful-of-sugar textures more common in its milieu, a feat of reconciliation that impresses the connoisseurs and keeps everybody else on their feet. At 9, Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, (212) 307-7171, nokiatheatrenyc.com; $26.50 in advance, $30 at the door. (Sisario) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. BEN ALLISON (Monday and Wednesday) On Monday Mr. Allison, a resourceful bassist and composer, leads the band featured on his recent album, Cowboy Justice (Palmetto): Ron Horton on trumpet, Steve Cardenas on guitar and Jeff Ballard on drums. On Wednesday he does the same with a good substitute drummer, Gerald Cleaver. Monday at 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, near Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $10. Wednesday at 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $8. (Nate Chinen) HELIO ALVES (Tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday) Mr. Alves, the Brazilian jazz pianist, has a light touch but a firm sense of purpose, as he demonstrates on his recent album, Portrait in Black and White (Reservoir Music). He performs tonight and tomorrow in a group called the Brazilian Voyage Trio, with Nilson Matta on bass and Marcello Pellitteri on percussion, and on Wednesday with his own trio, which includes Santi Debriano, the bassist from his album. Tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30 and 9:15, Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 885-7119, kitano.com; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) SAM BARDFELDS STUFF SMITH PROJECT (Thursday) Sam Bardfeld, a violinist with a wide-ranging résumé, pays tribute to a swing-era hero of his instrument with help from the pianist Anthony Coleman, the bassist Brad Jones and the guitarist and vocalist Doug Wamble. At 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $8. (Chinen) DAVID BINNEY (Tomorrow) Mr. Binney, a graceful yet gutsy alto saxophonist, enlists a handful of regular collaborators -- the guitarist Adam Rogers, the bassist Tim Lefebvre and the drummer Dan Weiss -- in an exploration of his broadly dynamic tunes. At midnight, Iridium 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $10, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) IGOR BUTMAN (Tuesday through Thursday) Mr. Butman, a powerfully proficient tenor and soprano saxophonist, is Russias most accomplished jazz musician. He teams up with one of his countrymen (the pianist Andrei Kondakov) and two top-flight Americans (the bassist Eddie Gomez and the drummer Lenny White). (Through Dec. 10.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) * CACHAO (Tonight through Sunday) In the 1940s Israel Lopez, known as Cachao, helped define modern Cuban music, especially with respect to the bass. Now in his 80s, he has wisdom to match his panache, as hell demonstrate here with a well-stocked 10-piece band. At 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592, bluenote.net; cover, $47.50 at tables, $35 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) GAL COSTA (Tuesday through Thursday) A founding member of Brazils Tropicália movement, Ms. Costa has continued to lend her warmly appealing vocals to a kaleidoscopic array of grooves. She returns to the scene of her fine recent recording, Live at the Blue Note (DRG), with a proficient quartet. (Through Dec. 10.) At 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592, bluenote.net; cover, $55 at tables, $35 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) * DAVE DOUGLAS QUINTET (Tuesday through Thursday) The trumpeter Dave Douglas has lately had an uncommonly cohesive working ensemble in this post-bop quintet, with Donny McCaslin on tenor saxophone, Uri Caine on piano and Fender Rhodes, James Genus on bass and Clarence Penn on drums. (Through Dec. 10) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $25. (Chinen) PAUL DUNMALL, PAUL ROGERS, TONY LEVIN (Tonight through Sunday) The saxophonist Paul Dunmall, the bassist Paul Rogers and the drummer Tony Levin make up three-fourths of the longstanding British ensemble Mujician, a pillar of the European free-jazz scene. They perform as a trio tonight; tomorrow they welcome the tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin and the trombonist Ray Anderson. On Sunday their guests will include the tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby and the percussionist Kevin Norton. At 8 and 10, the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; cover, $10 ($15 tomorrow). (Chinen) BEN GOLDBERG (Thursday) Mr. Goldberg, a clarinetist best known for his work in the eclectic improv-chamber group Tin Hat, has an engaging recent album called The Door, the Hat, the Chair, the Fact (Cryptogramophone). Drawing from the album, he leads a group consisting of Carla Kihlstedt on violin, Rob Sudduth on tenor saxophone, Trevor Dunn on bass and Ches Smith on drums. At 8:30 p.m., Roulette at Location One, 20 Greene Street, at Grand Street, SoHo, (212) 219-8242, roulette.org; $15. (Chinen) RON HORTON (Wednesday) Mr. Horton, a bright and surefooted trumpeter, revisits the material from his recent album, Everything in a Dream (Fresh Sound New Talent), with the tenor and soprano saxophonist Michael Blake, the bassist Ben Allison, the vibraphonist Tom Beckham and the drummer Gerald Cleaver. At 8 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $8. (Chinen) ETHAN IVERSON AND BILL McHENRY (Tomorrow) A venturesome and harmonically advanced duologue of kindred spirits: Mr. Iverson, a smartly prickly pianist, and Mr. McHenry, an introspective yet surefooted tenor saxophonist. At 8:30 p.m., Center for Improvisational Music, 295 Douglass Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (212) 631-5882, schoolforimprov.org; cover, $12; students, $8. (Chinen) DAVID KRAKAUERS KLEZMER MADNESS (Tomorrow) The clarinetist David Krakauer celebrates his 50th birthday with a concert featuring his acclaimed and supercharged klezmer band, augmented by the legendary funk trombonist Fred Wesley and the D.J. known as SoCalled. At 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $25 and $35. (Chinen) JASON LINDNER (Tonight) Mr. Lindner, a rhythmically assertive pianist and composer-arranger, previews material from his forthcoming album Ab Aeterno (Fresh Sound Records), with Omer Avital on bass and oud and Luisito Quintiero on percussion. At 9 and 10:30, Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $15; members, $10. (Chinen) TONY MALABY TUBA TRIO + ONE (Tonight) Tony Malaby, a versatile and intrepid tenor saxophonist, leads a trio with Marcus Rojas on tuba and John Hollenbeck on drums; their added guest is Ben Gerstein, on trombone. At 9 and 10:30, Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) JIMMY McGRIFF (Tonight and tomorrow night) A powerfully bluesy presence on the Hammond B-3 organ since the early 1960s, Mr. McGriff rolls into a welcoming setting with his working band. At 8, 10 and 11:30, Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662, smokejazz.com; cover, $25. (Chinen) * MICROSCOPIC SEPTET (Tonight and tomorrow) This rambunctious but soundly ensemble has put together a pair of retrospective releases on Cuneiform Records, and a tour to support them. The saxophonist Phillip Johnston and the pianist Joel Forrester are still steering the ship, and the groups ranks still include the charter members Dave Sewelson (baritone saxophonist) and Dave Hofstra (bassist), as well as the longtime compatriots Don Davis and Paul Shapiro (both saxophonists). Tonight at 11:30, tomorrow night at 9:30, Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778, joespub.com; cover, $20, with a two-drink minimum. (Chinen) * PAUL MOTIAN TRIO 2000 + 2 (Tuesday through Thursday) Show tunes and other standards receive loving and slyly imaginative interpretations on Paul Motian on Broadway Vol. 4 (Winter & Winter), a handsome album featuring the drummer Paul Motian along with the pianist Masabumi Kikuchi, the vocalist Rebecca Martin, the tenor saxophonist Chris Potter and the bassist Larry Grenadier. Replacing Ms. Martin on this engagement is the alto saxophonist Greg Osby, whose presence may nudge the music further into flinty abstraction. (Through Dec. 10.) At 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MILES OKAZAKI (Sunday) Mr. Okazaki, a confident guitarist and composer, celebrates Mirror, his ambitious self-released debut, with a group consisting of the alto saxophonists Miguel Zenon and David Binney, the multireedist Christof Knoche, the bassist Jon Flaugher and the drummer Dan Weiss. At 9:30 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, near Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 929-9883, 55bar.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) DAFNIS PRIETO QUARTET (Tomorrow) The Cuban drummer Dafnis Prieto, an essential fixture on New Yorks Latin jazz scene, convenes some regular cohorts: Peter Apfelbaum on saxophones, Manuel Valera on piano and Yunior Terry on bass. At 9:30 p.m., Rose Live Music, 345 Grand Street, between Havemeyer and Marcy Streets, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-0069, liveatrose.com; cover, $5. (Chinen) MATANA ROBERTS MISSISSIPPI MOONCHILE (Tuesday) A bracing alto saxophonist and a junior member of Chicagos AACM, Matana Roberts is at her best responding to ensemble actions. In this blues-abstracted working band, she interacts with the pianist Shoko Nagai, the trumpeter Jason Palmer, the vocalist Beatrice Anderson, the bassist Hill Green and the drummer Tomas Fujiwara. At 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $10. (Chinen) WALLACE RONEY AND THE NEW JAZZ COMPOSERS OCTET (Monday) This post-bop ensemble owes much of its coherent drive to the trumpeter and arranger David Weiss. But the spotlight here will fall on Mr. Roney, a plangent trumpet soloist. At 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592, bluenote.net; cover, $30 at tables, $20 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) TED ROSENTHAL (Wednesday) There arent many modern jazz pianists more dexterous than Mr. Rosenthal, who performs here with the experienced rhythm team of Martin Wind, bassist, and Matt Wilson, drummer. At 7:30 and 9:15 p.m., Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 885-7119, kitano.com; no cover, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) RUDDER (Tuesday) The direction of this funk-fusion vessel is collectively determined by its crew: Chris Cheek on saxophones, Henry Hey on Fender Rhodes piano, Tim LeFebvre on bass and Keith Carlock on drums. At 10 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, near Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 218-6934, zebuloncafeconcert.com; no cover. (Chinen) ADAM RUDOLPH AND GO: ORGANIC ORCHESTRA (Sunday) This sprawling, meditative ensemble draws inspiration from earthy and elemental sources; in addition to the percussionist and composer Adam Rudolph, its ranks here will include the cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, the multireedist Ned Rothenberg and the guitarist Leni Stern. At 8:30 p.m., Roulette at Location One, 20 Greene Street, at Grand Street, SoHo, (212) 219-8242, roulette.org; $15. (Chinen) STATESMEN OF JAZZ (Thursday) The latest installment in Jack Kleinsingers long-running Highlights in Jazz series shines a spotlight on a handful of highly versatile musicians: the clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, the trumpeter Randy Sandke, the guitarist Howard Alden, the pianist Derek Smith, the bassist Rufus Reid and the drummer Ed Metz Jr. At 8 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, (212) 220-1460, tribecapac.org; $30; students, $27.50. (Chinen) TANGO MEETS JAZZ FESTIVAL (Tonight through Sunday night) The overlap between American jazz and Argentine tango provides a premise for this quartet engagement featuring the pianist Pablo Ziegler, a protégé of the peerless tango composer Astor Piazzolla. Tonight he enlists the tenor saxophonist David Sanchez; tomorrow and Sunday he welcomes the flutist Nestor Torres. At 7:30 and 9:30, with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $30. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera LA BOHÈME (Tonight and Tuesday) Franco Zeffirellis overblown Bohème returns to the Met for its regular airing. Rolando Villazón, the charismatic Mexican tenor, is a convincing Rodolfo, although he seems somewhat dwarfed by the massive sets. But sparks should fly on Tuesday when Anna Netrebko, the gorgeous Russian soprano, sings Mimi. Tonight Angela Marambio, the Chilean soprano, offers a warm-voiced, robust Mimi. Mr. Villazóns mentor and idol, Plácido Domingo, leads the orchestra in a fine, lively performance. Anna Samuil replaces Susannah Glanville as Musetta both nights, and Peter Coleman-Wright is her jealous lover, Marcello. At 8, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $110 and $140 tickets remain for tonight; Tuesday is sold out. (Vivien Schweitzer) * DON CARLO (Monday and Thursday) James Levine will be in the pit when Verdis noble masterpiece returns to the Met in John Dexters production. The Met has assembled what looks to be a top-tier cast, with the powerhouse tenor Johan Botha singing the title role for the first time with the company; Patricia Racette as Elisabeth; Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Rodrigo; René Pape as Philip II; Olga Borodina as Eboli; and Samuel Ramey as the Grand Inquisitor. At 7 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $15 to $175. (Anthony Tommasini) IDOMENEO (Tomorrow and Wednesday) In place of the dramatic tenor Ben Heppner, the clarion-voiced tenor Kobie van Rensburg takes over the title role in Mozarts noble opera seria Idomeneo, which has returned to the companys roster in Jean-Pierre Ponnelles highly stylized and effective 1982 production. There are two other cast changes: the elegant mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena sings Idamante, and the bright-voiced soprano Alexandra Deshorties sings the volatile Elettra. Best of all, Dorothea Röschmann, a superb soprano, returns as Ilia. James Levine conducts. Tomorrow at 1 p.m. and Wednesday at 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $42 to $220 tomorrow, $15 to $175 on Wednesday. (Tommasini) LORD BYRONS LOVE LETTER/THE VILLAGE SINGER (Wednesday) The operatization of A Streetcar Named Desire by André Previn might have obscured the fact that Tennessee Williams did write a single opera libretto of his own. Its Lord Byrons Love Letter, set by the composer Raffaello de Banfield, first performed in 1955 and nearly forgotten since. Now the Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater continues its cultivation of neglected American opera by bringing the work (which is about, what else, dotty old Southern ladies) back for its New York premiere, on a double bill with Stephen Pauluss Village Singer. Ari Pelto conducts. At 8 p.m., Broadway at 122nd Street, Morningside Heights, (917) 493-4428, msmnyc.edu; $20; $10 for students and 65+. (Anne Midgette) SUOR ANGELICA/GIANNI SCHICCHI (Tomorrow and Sunday). Two-thirds of Puccinis Il Trittico, fully staged with orchestra, form a showcase for this years crop of young artists in the Dicapo Operas program. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m., Dicapo Opera Theater, 184 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 288-9438, dicapo.com; $30. (Midgette) TOSCA (Tomorrow) Andrea Gruber is a soprano who flings herself into roles; accordingly, she takes on her first Tosca with a certain violence. The character becomes tough yet vulnerable in her reading, yet the vulnerability is perhaps too pronounced in her uneven, patchy singing. She resumes the role for the seasons final performance tomorrow, paired with the Cavaradossi of Walter Fraccaro and the Mets perennial Scarpia these days, James Morris. The real news is the conductor Nicola Luisotti in his first Met season, who conducts the piece as if it mattered. At 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $42 to $220. (Midgette) Classical Music * AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA (Thursday) Ton Koopman leads his period instrument orchestra and choir, along with a slate of vocal soloists (Lisa Larsson, soprano; Bogna Bartosz, alto; Jörg Dürmüller, tenor; and Klaus Mertens, bass) in a program that includes Magnificat settings by Bach and Buxtehude; Bachs Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf preiset die Tage, from the Christmas Oratorio; and Corellis Christmas Concerto Grosso in G minor. At 8 p.m. (preconcert discussion at 7), Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $28 to $89. (Allan Kozinn) ANONYMOUS 4 (Thursday) This excellent female vocal quartet, whose recordings of medieval music captivated a broad audience, took a break in 2004. Now, with their new CD, Gloryland, they are continuing the exploration of traditional American folk music they began with American Angels. On Thursday the women will be joined by Darol Anger, a violinist and mandolinist, and Scott Nygaard, a guitarist, for a program titled Long Time Traveling, featuring folk songs, shape-note tunes and gospel hymns. At 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330, kaufman-center.org; $35 in advance, $40 at the door. (Schweitzer) * BANG ON A CAN ALL-STARS (Tuesday) The freewheeling performing arm of the Bang on a Can new-music empire -- well, small empire, anyway -- offers a program that moves through the increasingly porous boundaries between contemporary classical music, rock and jazz. Included are works by Fred Frith, Martin Bresnick, Julia Wolfe, Conlon Nancarrow, Thurston Moore and Don Byron. At 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $25 to $35. (Kozinn) STEPHANIE BLYTHE (Thursday) This American mezzo-soprano sings lots of Brahms, some delicious Duparc and a little Falla too. Warren Jones is the pianist. At 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $40 to $48. (Bernard Holland) CHANTICLEER (Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday) The annual Christmas concerts by this San Francisco mens choir have become seasonal highlights. The performances are presented in the Metropolitan Museums spacious and acoustically vibrant Medieval Sculpture Hall, which is decked out with a huge Christmas tree and a Neopolitan Baroque crèche, surroundings that perfectly suit the choirs program of medieval and Renaissance sacred works and carols. At 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., (212) 570-3949, metmuseum.org; $60. (Kozinn) * ELIOT FISK AND THE MIRÓ QUARTET (Tonight) Mr. Fisk plays guitar with energy, intensity and precision, qualities that the Miró players are likely to match in this program of Spanish music. Included are Arriagas String Quartet No. 3, Leonardo Baladas Caprichos No. 2 and Boccherinis Quintet No. 4 for guitar and strings, best known for its zesty fandango. Mr. Fisk will also play some solo guitar music. At 7, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949, metmuseum.org; $45. (Kozinn) JUAN DIEGO FLÓREZ (Tonight) The darling of the Metropolitan Opera these days, this Peruvian tenor is making a Carnegie Hall recital debut that Carnegie Hall, interestingly, is not presenting. Mr. Flórezs voice can be a little bleaty for some tastes, but its always thoughtfully, carefully produced, with clean coloratura and excellent musicianship. His program includes Mozart, Fauré, Massenet, Bizet, Rosa Mercedes Ayala de Morales, Donizetti and, of course, Rossini, his signature composer. At 8, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $25 to $95. (Midgette) JUILLIARD ORCHESTRA (Monday) James DePreist conducts his Juilliard hotshots in Berlioz, Mozart and Ravel. Isabel Leonard sings; Benedicte Jourdois is the pianist. At 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free, but tickets are required. (Holland) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Tonight and tomorrow night) The Philharmonic makes one of its run-outs to Long Island as Leon Fleisher takes on one of Mozarts more enticing early piano concertos (No. 12) and Hindemiths nearly unknown and long forgotten Piano Music With Orchestra, for left hand alone. Lorin Maazel conducts Roussels Bacchus et Ariane Suite No. 2, and accompanies Nancy Gustafson in a scene from Strausss Salome. The program repeats tomorrow night at Avery Fisher Hall. Tonight at 8, Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, at the C. W. Post Campus of Long Island University, Brookville, N.Y., (516) 299-3100, tillescenter.org; $50 t0 $110; $3 off for 65+. Tomorrow at 8, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nyphil.org; $28 to $96. (Holland) NEW YORK YOUTH SYMPHONY (Sunday) This always impressive orchestra begins its season at Carnegie Hall with a typically ambitious program that features Prokofievs mighty Symphony No. 5 as the major work. Also on tap is Brittens Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra, featuring Peter Schickele as narrator. And, as is customary at these concerts, there will be the premiere of a work by a young composer: Snow by Mark Dancigers. Paul Haas conducts. At 2 p.m., (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $7 to $55. (Tommasini) * ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (Tomorrow) The conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra kicks off its just announced New Brandenburgs commissioning project at Carnegie Hall. Six composers have been invited to write orchestra concertos inspired by Bachs Brandenburgs. Stephen Hartke, the arresting California-based composer, starts things off with A Brandenburg Autumn, which will receive its premiere on this program, alongside, naturally, three Bach concertos: the Brandenburgs Nos. 1 and 2, and the Keyboard Concerto in D minor with the pianist Jeremy Denk. At 8 p.m., (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $30 to $98. (Tommasini) PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) This orchestra, which has been pulling itself together after a bad financial patch, appears here with one of its multiple principal conductors, Andrew Davis. It will play Sofia Gubaidulinas Feast During a Plague and other works. Joshua Bell is the soloist in the Brahms Violin Concerto. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $27 to $90. (Holland) VASSILY PRIMAKOV (Sunday) The latest alternative space for the classical arts is Arium, in the center of the meatpacking district. The next musical event takes place on Sunday, when Vassily Primakov, a Russian pianist, plays an all-Beethoven program. A ticket includes complimentary wine and hors doeuvres. At 4 p.m., Arium for the Arts, 31 Little West 12th Street, West Village, (212) 463-8630, ariumnyc.com; $40; $20 for members; $15 for student members. (Tommasini) RUSSIAN CHAMBER CHORUS OF NEW YORK (Tomorrow and Wednesday) This chorus, led by Nikolai Kachanov, its founder and artistic director, often presents works written for the Russian Orthodox Church. Here it offers a program called Jewels of Russian Liturgical Music, which includes selections from Tchaikovsky, as well as Rachmaninoffs Vespers, Kastalskys Christmas Hymns and works by anonymous composers of the 17th and 18th centuries. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., St. James Chapel, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, at 112th Street, Morningside Heights, (866) 468-7619; $25; $20 for students and 65+. Wednesday at 8 p.m., Church of the Holy Trinity, 213 West 82nd Street, Manhattan, (718) 445-5799; $25; $15 for students and 65+. Information: rccny.org. (Schweitzer) YEVGENY SUDBIN (Sunday) This Russian pianists program is perhaps most interesting at the beginning and end: it starts with Scarlatti sonatas and ends with a Scriabin collection, including the Second and Fifth Sonatas. At 5 p.m., Frick Collection, 1 East 70th Street, Manhattan, (212) 547-0715, frick.org; $25. (Holland) TALLIS SCHOLARS (Tuesday) Tudor polyphony is the constant running through this program by this outstanding early-music vocal group, which focuses on Tye, Tallis and Taverner, with a couple of pieces by de Monte and one by Palestrina for good measure. At 8 p.m., St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at 53rd Street, (212) 854-7799, millertheater.com; $35; $21 for students. (Midgette) VIENNA CHOIR BOYS (Sunday) This choir, founded in 1498, counts Schubert and the conductor Hans Richter among its illustrious graduates. Its still going strong. Here the talented young musicians, with pure, treble voices, offer a program of classics and holiday favorites. At 3 p.m., Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, at the C. W. Post Campus of Long Island University, Brookville, N.Y., (516) 299-3100, tillescenter.org; $30 to $55; $3 off for 65+. (Schweitzer) WORKS AND PROCESS (Sunday and Monday) This installment of the Guggenheims series looks at Don Juan in Prague, the collaboration between the electronic-music composer Matthew Suttor and the director David Chambers on a version of Mozarts Don Giovanni that uses digital media, film and still photographs; it will be staged at the Brooklyn Academy of Musics Harvey Theater from Dec. 13 to 16. Mr. Chambers, Mr. Suttor and the singer Iva Bittova, who sings Donna Elvira in the production, will be on hand. At 7:30 p.m., Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3587, guggenheim.org; $24; $15 for students. (Kozinn) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. * ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) This vibrant companys annual season, five weeks long, leads off this week with the premiere tonight of Karole Armitages Gamelan Gardens. Tomorrow nights performance of Revelations will be done with live music, and both the Armitage and Twyla Tharps Golden Section can be seen this weekend. The first night of a revival of Mr. Aileys River is on the Tuesday schedule. Tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8; tomorrow and Wednesday at 2 p.m.; Sunday at 3 and 7:30 p.m.; Tuesday at 7 p.m. City Center, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan, (212) 581-1212, alvinailey.org or nycitycenter.org; $25 to $150. (John Rockwell) * ARIANE ANTHONY & COMPANY (Tomorrow and Sunday) In a shared program with Dance Cedric Neugebauer and the SHUA Group, the ever imaginative Ariane Anthony will present , a work-in-progress with an HTML-inspired name. At 8 p.m., Construction Company, 10 East 18th Street, Manhattan, (212) 924-7882; $15; $10 for students and 65+. (Jennifer Dunning) LEONIDES ARPON AND DAVID KIEFFER (Tonight through Sunday) Mr. Arpon, who dances with Armitage Gone! Dance, will present three pieces, set to music by Zbigniew Preisner, Les Tambours du Bronx and Annie Gosfield. Mr. Kieffer, who has performed with Pascal Rioult, will present works set to Mozart, Vivaldi and Muslimgauze. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 5 p.m., Dance New Amsterdam, 280 Broadway, at Chambers Street, TriBeCa, (212) 279-4200, ticketcentral.com; $18; $12 for students. (Dunning) ARTHUR AVILES TYPICAL THEATER (Tonight) Mr. Aviles celebrates the 10th anniversary of his vibrant, category-defying company with a new piece, Ear to the Ground. It is drawn from what was heard and felt by the choreographer and his dancers in the ground rumblings emanating from the concrete of the South Bronx, the floor of the dance studio, the common ground of social realities and other terrains, as Mr. Aviles puts it. At 8 p.m., Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, 841 Barretto Street, near Garrison Avenue, Hunts Point, (718) 842-5223, or bronxacademyofartsanddance.org; $15 and $20. (Dunning) BALLET PRELJOCAJ (Tonight through Sunday) The well-known French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj concludes a return weeklong run. The program consists of an oldie -- his 1989 version of Les Noces -- and a newie called Empty Moves (Part 1), from 2004. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, joyce.org; $40. (Rockwell) * The Barnard Project (Thursday) Any time you get a chance to see Reggie Wilsons enchanting blend of dance and singing, go, whether the dancers are college students or retirees. Mr. Wilson is among the choreographers in this fine lineup of works in progress stemming from residencies at Barnard College. Others include Gabri Christa, Jeanine Durning and David Neumann. (Through Dec. 9.) At 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077, dtw.org; $12 and $20. (Claudia La Rocco) ANITA CHENG DANCE WITH RONALDO KIEL (Thursday) In their new Journey, inspired by the ancient Chinese tale Journey to the West, Ms. Cheng and Mr. Kiel juxtapose dancers and four fixed cameras. (Through Dec. 10.) Thursday at 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, between Houston and Prince Streets, (212) 334-7479; $20; $15 for students and 65+. (Dunning) * SAVION GLOVER AND MCCOY TYNER (Tomorrow) In an inspired partnering of artists, the tap master Savion Glover will perform with the jazz pianist and composer McCoy Tyner. At 8 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888) 466-5722, www.njpac.org; $22 to $68. (Dunning) YASS HAKOSHIMA MOVEMENT THEATER (Tomorrow) Mr. Hakoshima joins forces with the Da Capo Chamber Players for a program of mime that includes a new work set to music by Su Lian Tan. At 8 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, (212) 220-1460, tribecapac.org; $25; $15 for students and 65+. (Dunning) PATRICIA HOFFBAUER AND GEORGE EMILIO SANCHEZ (Tonight through Sunday) These provocateurs describe their new performance piece, The Architecture of Seeing--Remix, as a fierce crash course in the politics of identity in the new millennium. Go for it. (Through Dec. 10.) Tonight and tomorrow night at 10, Sunday at 5:30 p.m., La MaMa E.T.C., 74a East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710, lamama.org; $15. (Dunning) KOOSIL-JA HWANG (Wednesday and Thursday) There are actually two live dancers in Ms. Hwangs new multimedia Dance Without Bodies, and not only do they perform but they also create solos each night in response to randomly combined action depicted in three different videos. (Through Dec. 9.) Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m., the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, Ext. 11, or thekitchen.org. Tickets: $12. (Dunning) RISA JAROSLOW & DANCERS (Tonight through Sunday night) Risa Jaroslow has often focused on the idea of community in her work, and in Resist/Surrender she explores ideas about masculinity by bringing in a diverse group of nondancers (gay teenagers, New York City firefighters and corporate lawyers) to work with her troupe. Scott Johnson has composed an original score. At 8:30, Danspace Project at St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194, danspaceproject.org; $15; members, $10. (Roslyn Sulcas) * BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE DANCE COMPANY (Tuesday through Thursday) That raggedly handsome old structure you pass on the way to Aaron Davis Hall is now a handsome new theater called the Gatehouse, and Bill T. Jones has created Chapel/Chapter for it. Daniel Bernard Roumain has contributed the score, drawn from sacred and secular Renaissance music and gospel and folk. It includes video by Janet Wong and scenic design by Bjorn Amelan. (Through Dec. 9.) Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., the Gatehouse, 150 Convent Avenue, at 135th Street, Harlem, (212) 650-7100, aarondavishall.org; $150 for the opening gala; $25 for all other performances. (Dunning) KNUA DANCE COMPANY (Tuesday) This South Korean dance company, whose name is the acronym for the Korean National University of the Arts, will make its New York City debut in a program that includes choreography by Hyun Ja Kim, Mina Yoo, Balanchine (Allegro Brillante) and Petipa (the pas de deux from Diana and Acteon). At 7 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, (212) 220-1460, tribecapac.org; $25; $15 for students and 65+. (Dunning) * LUIS LARA MALVACÍAS (Tonight and tomorrow night) Twenty-one short sections make up There Is No Such Thing, a new work from this talented Venezuelan choreographer, who tends to approach dance as visual art, and whose work can sometimes seem as much installation as performance. At 7:30, Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 691-6500, dtw.org; $20; $12 for students, artists and 65+. (Sulcas) Movement Research at the Judson Church (Monday) Nothing goes with exorbitant holiday spending like free experimental dance. This week, check out works in progress by Jennifer Monson, Kathy Westwater and Regina Rocke. At 8 p.m., 55 Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, (212) 598-0551, movementresearch.org. (La Rocco) * MOVEMENT RESEARCH IMPROVISATION FESTIVAL (Friday) This is less a showcase than a freewheeling exploration of the art of physical improvisation, with a roster of strongly individual performers and curators. (Through Dec. 10.) At 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project at St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194, danspaceproject.org; $12. (Dunning) * NEW YORK CITY BALLET (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) George Balanchines prototypical Nutcracker continues until Dec. 30, with eight performances this week alone. It may be hard on its rotating casts of dancers, not to speak of the orchestra and the stagehands, but its magic for the audience. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, tomorrow at 2 p.m., Sunday at 1 and 5 p.m., Tuesday though Thursday at 6 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 870-5570 or (212) 721-6500, nycballet.com; $15 to $110. (Rockwell) The Parsons Dance Company (Tuesday through Thursday) David Parsons brings his high-energy company to the Joyce with two programs performed over a two-week period. Highlights include The Nascimento Project, a new collaboration with the Brazilian musician Milton Nascimento; a revival of Ring Around the Rosie, last seen in New York more than a decade ago; and In the End, set to music by the Dave Matthews Band. (Through Dec. 17.) Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., the Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, joyce.org; $42. (La Rocco) * STREB S.L.A.M. (Tonight through Sunday) Ms. Streb and her fearless (we hope) high-flying, hard-crashing performers will present a new show, Streb SLAM 8: Extreme Action, complete with popcorn and cotton candy. (Through Dec. 17.) Tonight at 7, tomorrow at 3 and 7 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., S.L.A.M., 51 North First Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (212) 352-3101, strebusa.org; $15; $10 for children 12 and under. (Dunning) TRIBUTE TO BUTOH II (Tonight and tomorrow night) This series, a homage to the Butoh artist Kazuo Ohno on his 100th birthday, continues with dances by Tanya Calamoneri, Leigh Evans, Mana Hashimoto and Akiko Bo Nishijima. At 8, CRS Center, 123 Fourth Avenue, at 12th Street, East Village, (212) 677-8621; $15; $10 for students. (Dunning) JOHANNES WIELAND (Tonight through Sunday) Mr. Wieland, known for his stylish, sleekly hard-charging modern-dance choreography, will present Progressive Coma, a new multimedia piece about the power of images in the media. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 7 p.m., Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444, smarttix.com; $20. (Dunning) ZENDORA DANCE COMPANY (Tonight through Sunday night) Nancy Zendora celebrates 45 years in dance with a program of solos and duets that includes two signature pieces, Shadows and Other Ancestors and The Descent. At 8, Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, between Houston and Prince Streets, (212) 334-7479; $15; $12 for students and 65+. (Dunning) PAVEL ZUSTIAK (Thursday) Hold the holiday cheer. Mr. Zustiak and his dance company, Palissimo, will present Le Petit Mort/Now Its Time to Say Goodbye, which he describes as a postmortem ecstasy somewhere between a dream and a memory. Tal Yarden has contributed the video component of this multimedia work. (Through Dec. 10.) At 8 p.m., Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101, ps122.org; $20; $15 for students and 65+. (Dunning) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums * American Museum of Natural History: GOLD, through Aug. 19. Having delved into pearls, diamonds and amber, the museum applies its time-tested show-and-tell formula to gold. An astounding array of art, artifacts and natural samples, larded with fascinating facts and tales, ranges from prehistoric times to the present. Stops along the way include pre-Columbian empires, sunken treasure, Bangladesh dowry rituals and the moon landing. It turns out that gold comes from the earth in forms as beautiful as anything man has thought to do with it. You are certain to emerge with mind boggled and eyes dazzled. Central Park West and 79th Street, (212) 769-5100. (Roberta Smith) BROOKLYN MUSEUM: RON MUECK, through Feb. 4. So intensely lifelike are the fiberglass and silicone human figures made by the Australian sculptor Ron Mueck that you might almost converse with them. Ranging in size from an infant that is 10 and a quarter inches high to a woman in bed more than 21 feet long, they seem to embody, in one way or another, the perils and challenges of the human condition. The most affecting are Dead Dad, a 40-inch rendering of the artists father as a nude corpse, and Man in a Boat, in which a man a little more than two feet high sits naked and hapless toward the prow of a life-size rowboat. But Mr. Mueck stumbles when he gets into really exaggerated scale. The subject has not earned its monumentality, and its size distracts from its emotional intensity. Still, there are moments when you almost believe his subjects have lives. 200 Eastern Parkway at Prospect Park, Brooklyn (718) 638-5000. (Grace Glueck) BROOKLYN MUSEUM: Watercolors by Walton Ford, through Jan. 28. This show assembles more than 50 of Mr. Fords large-scale watercolors of birds, animals, snakes and lushly exotic flora, all produced since the early 1990s. They frequently depict moments in which a wild animal encounters human culture, often to its detriment. Sometimes the threat is overt, as in pictures of animals and birds roped or wounded; in other images you merely sense that some horrible violence has occurred, or is about to happen. Though wonderfully lucid and dramatic, the moralizing of these images can become a little tedious. But this popular artist imparts an environmental message, couched in a lament for the irreversible loss that occurs when a sense of ethics does not govern the treatment of animals. (See above.) (Benjamin Genocchio) * Frick Collection: MASTERPIECES OF EUROPEAN PAINTING FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART, through Jan. 28. This exhibition transcends the usual traveling masterpieces-from genre, with room to spare. The 14 paintings include almost always outstanding works by household names like Velázquez, Caravaggio, El Greco, Turner and Poussin, as well as Annibale Carracci, Francisco de Zurbarán and Andrea del Sarto. But the astute installation makes the most of all this star power, letting the works talk among themselves to a remarkable degree, illuminating their likenesses, differences and collective progress. 1 East 70th Street, (212) 288-0700. (Smith) * SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso, through March 28. This show is spectacularly grand and avoids the familiar piety of the standard masterpiece potpourri by virtue of its eloquent installation in the museums loopy ramp. Its carried along on its sheer star power and optical finesse. There are dozens of Goyas and Velázquezes and Zurbaráns and El Grecos and Riberas and Dalís and Picassos, many famous, many not. The shows big point, which has the simple virtue of being self-evident, is that Spanish art did not constantly reinvent itself over time. It was a bubble culture, sustained for centuries by its political and religious isolation and its national loner mindset. Velázquezs painting of a dwarf is alone worth crossing a continent to see. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3500, guggenheim.org. (Michael Kimmelman) * THE METropolitan museum of art: GLITTER AND DOOM: GERMAN PORTRAITS FROM THE 1920s, through Feb. 19. This shows 100 paintings and drawings are by 10 artists, among them George Grosz, Christian Schad, Rudolf Schlichter and Karl Hubbuch, and most conspicuously the unrelentingly savage Otto Dix and his magnificent other, Max Beckmann. In their works the Weimar Republics porous worlds reassemble. We look into the faces of forward-looking museum directors and cabaret performers, society matrons and scarred war veterans, prostitutes and jaded aristocrats who were watching their world slide from one cataclysm to the next. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Smith) * THE MET: LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY AND LAURELTON HALL -- AN ARTISTS COUNTRY ESTATE, through May 20. Laurelton Hall may have burned to the ground in 1957, but this exhibition does an excellent job of reassembling what remains of this extraordinary house-museum and its gardens, which Tiffany created for himself in the early 1900s. The Gilded Age opulence of the place, which occupied 580 acres overlooking Long Island Sound -- and of the Tiffany residences preceding it -- is conveyed most blatantly by the Temple-of-Dendur-size Daffodil Terrace, in wood, marble and glass. The main events are the glass windows, vases and lamps, where Tiffanys genius for color, love of the exotic and reverence for nature coalesce into an unforgettable mystical materialism. (See above.) (Smith) * Museum of Modern Art: Manet and the Execution of Maximilian, through Jan. 29. This small, gripping, focused show remind us of Modernisms mutinous, myth-scouring origins. And it does so by bringing one of arts great path-cutters, Edouard Manet, onto the scene, wry, politically infuriated and painting like Lucifer. Theres not a lot of him here -- eight paintings, three on a single theme: the death by firing squad of the Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian in Mexico in 1867. But its enough. Manets images, surrounded by a prints and photographs, are electrifying, a new kind of history painting, that turned an art of pre-set ideals into one of mutable and unpredictable realities. (212) 708-9400. (Holland Cotter) * NEUE GALLERY: JOSEF HOFFMANN: INTERIORS, 1902-1913, through Feb. 26. An architect-designer who became an impresario of high taste in turn-of-the-century Vienna, Hoffmann was a believer in the Gesamkunstwerk, or total work of art, orchestrating useful objects with paintings, sculptures and architecture in a composition greater than its parts. His early, intensely 20th-century design program, based on the grid and the square, is evident here in the installation of four interiors he designed for wealthy Viennese patrons, replete with furniture, wall and floor coverings, textiles, lighting, ceramics, glass and metal work. Most impressive here is the dining room he designed in 1913 for the Geneva apartment of the Swiss Symbolist painter Ferdinand Hodler, a large, calm space with furniture that has a pre-postmodern look. Neue Gallery, 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th Street, (212) 628-6200. (Glueck) New-York Historical Society: New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War, through Sept. 3. This powerful exhibition, focused on the years between Emancipation and Reconstruction and featuring documents, videos, audio dramatizations, books, cartoons and historic objects, shows how divided the city was, even during the years of the Civil War. But it also draws attention to the importance of black abolitionists and to the forces that countered slaverys horrific heritage. It brings to a close the Historical Societys multi-year exploration of slavery in New York. 170 Central Park West, (212) 873-3400. (Edward Rothstein) P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center: John Latham: Time Base and the Universe, through Jan. 8. This retrospective of John Latham, who died this year at 84, suggests a series of nesting time capsules. It spans nearly 50 years of Mr. Lathams work, which is concerned with time, preservation and decay. Among the more idiosyncratic and interesting pieces are a series of Cluster sculptures from the early 1990s, orbs of plaster embedded with books and suspended from the ceiling, which suggest cultural detritus preserved in celestial rock or geological magma. The N-U Niddrie Heart (around 1990), in which The Pregnancy Survival Manual and Vanished Species are cut up and fitted into glass armatures, with sand scattered around their bases, explores human production (and reproduction) and the passage of time. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Street, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 784-2084, ps1.org. (Martha Schwendener) Studio Museum in Harlem: Africa Comics, through March 18. Intense is the word for the stealth-potency of this modest-size, first-time United States survey of original designs by 35 African artists who specialize in comic art. The work is intense,the way urban Africa can be intense: intensely zany, intensely harsh, intensely warm, intensely political. The entertainment value is high. We are on familiar Marvel Comics ground with the adventures of the charismatic Princess Wella, a Superwoman with a ceremonial staff and braids, and the schlumpy but wily character named Goorgoolou from Senegal. But more often than not, humor is sugar-coating for varying degrees of disquiet, including images of jabbing violence. 144 West 125th Street, (212) 864-4500. (Cotter) * UKRAINIAN MUSEUM: CROSSROADS: MODERNISM IN UKRAINE, 1910-1930, through March 11. Some of the great names in Modernist Russian art -- Malevich, El Lissitsky, Rodchenko, Archipenko and Exter -- were actually born, or identified themselves as, Ukrainian. And this show of more than 70 works by 21 artists, including many interesting lesser-knowns, informs us that their Ukrainian-ness made an impact on their contributions to the Modernist movements of the 20th century. Discoveries in the show include Vsevolod Maksymovych, a painter drawing on Symbolist sources, heavily influenced by classical themes and the campy erotica of the British graphic artist Aubrey Beardsley; and Anatol Petrytsky, a painter and creator of lighthearted, collagelike sketches for classical and avant-garde opera and ballet. 222 East Sixth Street, East Village, (212) 228-0110, ukrainianmuseum.org. (Glueck) * The Whitney Museum of American Art: ALBERS AND MOHOLY-NAGY: FROM THE BAUHAUS TO THE NEW WORLD, through Jan. 21. This vigorously multimedia show traces the trajectories of two Modernist pioneers who overlapped as teachers at the Bauhaus in the 1920s and went on, separately, to influence postwar art and design in the United States. Ranging through painting, sculpture, film, design, prints and commercial art, it clarifies the Bauhaus debt to Russian Constructivism and includes works that presage the specific objects of the 1960s. Given the peregrinations of young artists among multiple art media, the show could not be more pertinent. The less-known Moholy-Nagy looks especially adventuresome. (212) 570-3676, whitney.org. (Smith) Whitney Museum of American Art: Kiki Smith: A Gathering, 1980-2005, through Feb. 11. Many things fly and float in Kiki Smith: men and women, harpies and angels, birds and beasts, toadstools and stars. And some things fall to earth, or rather to the museums black stone floors, maybe to rise again, maybe not. The whole show, a midcareer retrospective, suggests a Victorian fairy tale, its tone at once light, grievous and dreamlike. But fanciful as it is, Ms. Smiths art is also deeply, corporeally realistic. It wears moral and mortal seriousness on its sleeve, if not tattooed to its wrist. It is about life and death, the essential things. (See above.) (Cotter) Galleries: Chelsea Fred W. McDarrah: Artists and Writers of the 60s and 70s This show of more than 100 photographs by the former Village Voice photographer and picture editor Fred W. McDarrah opens with a shot of Jack Kerouac and some frolicsome women at a 1958 New Years Eve bash. It is hastily grabbed and opportunistic, like much of Mr. McDarrahs work, for he operated independently, rarely working on assignment. There are groupings of artists in their studios (Alice Neel, Philip Guston, Jasper Johns); actors (Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro on the set of Taxi Driver); and musicians (Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan). Mr. McDarrahs best-known image may be his 1965 close-up of Bob Dylan, dressed all in black and saluting, his countenance as earnest as that of a battle-hardened marine. It is an enduring symbol of the eras antiwar protests, rebellion and counterculture. Steven Kasher Gallery521 West 23rd Street, (212) 966-3978, stevenkasher.com, through Jan. 5. (Genocchio) Other Galleries * Political Cartoons from Nigeria Most of the drawn and painted images here are single-panel lampoons of past and present social inequity and corruption in Nigeria. Nearly all are by Ghariokwu Lemi, famous for his 26 superb, incident-filled album covers for Fela Kuti. For the occasion, the artist introduces two younger colleagues, Comfort Jacobs and Lordwealth Ololade, to New York. Without at all resembling him in style, they follow his sharp commentarial lead. Southfirst, 60 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-4884, through Dec. 17. (Cotter) Last Chance STEVE MUMFORD: THE WAR IN IRAQ This exhibition of paintings is based on Mr. Mumfords field drawings and sketches done in four trips to Iraq from April 2003 to October 2004. His paintings function differently from news photographs and television images -- they are not so mediated, which is one reason, perhaps, that they are so arresting. Postmasters Gallery, 459 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 727 3323 or www.postmastersart.com; closes tomorrow. (Genocchio)

TWO DAYS LATER FROM EUROPE.; Progress of the French Disarmament. ONSOLS 95 a 95 1-8. Cotton Steady--Breadstuffs Dull--Provisions Firm. The Great Strike of English Laborers. THE GREAT EASTERN COMPLETED. ARRIVAL OF THE ASIA. STATE OF ITALY. Naval Armament of Great Britain. PEACE CONFERENCE AT ZURICH.

The Royal Mail steamship Asia, Capt. LOTT, which sailed from Liverpool at 1 oclock P. M. on the 6th inst., arrived here yesterday at 12 oclock M. The steamships Arago and Wiser, from New-York, arrived at Southampton on the morning of the 4th inst., within an hour or so of each other. The Vigo reached Queenstown about midnight on the 3d, and Liverpool about 24 hours later.

Article 13 -- No Title

Among the few new theatrical incidents of last week, there was nothing that lingers agreeably in the memory. Wherefore it is well to look ahead. This week will be overcrowded with new plays, some of which promise well. Of them all none is likely to prove of greater interest than the new Comedy by Arthur Wing Pinero, to be acted at the Lyceum Theatre.. Arrival at New-York; Portrait; Interview

Federal judge strikes down Alabama marriage protection laws; ruling stayed.

Alabama law permits spouses to adopt their partners children, but since the state does not recognize homosexual ���marriage,��� the plaintiff was prevented from doing so. The state immediately asked for a stay of Granades ruling pending appeal in order.

Same-Sex Wedding Planning in Savannah and Georgia

If you are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender in Savannah or elsewhere in Georgia, the Supreme Court has opened wedding options for you.. In the United States, the legal shifts you experience as part of marriage are almost all positive... to get married in my home state (Massachusetts) and a town (Provincetown) that would be a good destination for guests, but also because we lived in a state that did not yet have marriage equality at the time (New York).

Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: Deflategate and more

Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, said she was elated and in shock when the judge issued the order overturning Alabamas same-sex marriage ban. But after seeing. It snowed in New York, but only 9.8 inches fell in Central Park after predictions of a foot and a half or more. What went wrong?.. [new] Not making sense is a big part of fandom (2+ / 0-). I inflated and adjusted the pressure on my kids soccer balls any number of times when they were growing up.

Gov. Snyder: Michigan will recognize about 300 gay.

On Wednesday, DeJong said the governors decision was a long time coming. DeJong said she and her spouse are part of an exclusive club of same-sex married couples, but we aim to be members of an inclusive club that everyone can��.

The Listings: July 8 -- July 14

Selective listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the Northeast this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings THE BLONDE IN THE THUNDERBIRD Previews start today. Opens July 17. Suzanne Somers, star of Threes Company, bares her soul in this one-woman show about her life. Be nice. (1:35). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212)307-4100. FATAL ATTRACTION: A GREEK TRAGEDY Opens Sunday. Former Goony Corey Feldman has bunny problems in this adaptation of the 80s thriller (1:10) East 13th Street Theater, 136 East 13th Street (212)279-4200. LENNON Opens Aug. 4. Latest jukebox musical (with a Yoko approved biographical story of the beloved singer) boasts three rare and unpublished tunes to go with all your old favorites (2:10). Broadhurst Theater, 235 44th Street, (212)239-6200. LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL 2005 The chic-est festival of the summer puts a premium on cultural crosspollination. Among its offerings are the New York artist Robert Wilsons version of an Indonesian creation myth, I La Galigo; a show about the life and work of the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, created by Stephin Merritt, an American musician, and Chen Shi-Zheng, a Chinese director (and, incidentally, starring an Irish actress, Fiona Shaw); and the French master Ariane Mnouchkines epic spectacle about Iranian and Kurdish refugees. July 12-July 31. Venues in and around Lincoln Center (212)721-6500. PHILADELPHIA, HERE I COME Previews start Thursday. Opens July 21. Brian Friels first play to receive major attention is a bittersweet comedy about a down-on-his-luck Irishman (is there any other kind in the theater?) reflecting on his life before he moves to the States (2:00) Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, (212)727-2737. Broadway ALL SHOOK UP In a pint-size theater with a campy young cast, All Shook Up might be a moderate hoot. Inflated to Broadway proportions, its a mind-numbing holler (2:10). Palace Theater, 1564 Broadway, at 47th Street, (212)307-4100.(Ben Brantley) CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG The playthings are the thing in this lavish windup music box of a show: windmills, Rube Goldberg-like machines and the shows title character, a flying car. Its like spending two and a half hours in the Times Square branch of Toys R Us (2:30). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) THE CONSTANT WIFE A stylish production of a creaky 1926 comedy by W. Somerset Maugham. Kate Burton stars as a well-heeled English wife who scarcely raises an eyebrow at her husbands philandering, scandalizing her friends. Maughams dialogue isnt quite as witty as the brisk Ms. Burton and Lynn Redgrave, who plays her imperious mother, manage to make it sound (2:15). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212)719-1300. (Charles Isherwood) DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS On paper, this tale of two mismatched scam artists has an awful lot in common with The Producers. But if you are going to court comparison with giants, you had better be prepared to stand tall. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz, never straightens out of a slouch (2:35). Imperial, 249 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) *DOUBT, A PARABLE (Pulitzer Prize, Best Play 2005 and Tony Award, Best Play 2005) Set in the Bronx in 1964, this play by John Patrick Shanley is structured as a clash of wills and generations between Sister Aloysius (Cherry Jones), the head of a parochial school, and Father Flynn (Brian F. OByrne), the young priest who may or may not be too fond of the boys in his charge. The plays elements bring to mind those tidy topical melodramas that were once so popular. But Mr. Shanley makes subversive use of musty conventions (1:30). Walter Kerr, 219 West 48th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) FIDDLER ON THE ROOF From the moment it sounds its first word in this placid revival, the voice of Harvey Fierstein (who has replaced Alfred Molina in the central role of Tevye) makes the audience prick up its ears. Whether that voice fits comfortably into the Russian village of Anatevka is another issue. But at least it brings a bit of zest to this abidingly bland production (2:55). Minskoff, 200 West 45th Street, (212)307-4100.(Brantley) * GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (Tony Award, Best Play Revival 2005) Highly caffeinated bliss. Watching Joe Mantellos hopping revival of David Mamets play about a dog-eat-dog real estate office is like having espresso pumped directly into your bloodstream. But whats a little lost sleep when youve had the chance to see a dream-team ensemble, including Liev Schrieber and Alan Alda, pitching fast-ball Mamet dialogue with such pure love for the athletics of acting (1:50) Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200.(Brantley) JACKIE MASON: FRESHLY SQUEEZED Jackie Mason has so cunningly manufactured and marketed his dyspeptic comic persona -- the herky-jerky movements used to embellish the routines, the voice thats like a sinus infection with a bad back -- that he may soon be able to refine all actual jokes out of his act, and still slay em. Thats chutzpah. And quite a talent, too (2:05). Hayes, 240 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Love is a many-flavored thing, from sugary to sour, in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucass encouragingly ambitious and discouragingly unfulfilled new musical. The show soars only in the sweetly bitter songs performed by the wonderful Victoria Clark, as an American abroad (2:15). Beaumont, Lincoln Center, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) *THE PILLOWMAN For all its darkness of plot and imagery, Martin McDonaghs tale of a suspected child murderer in a totalitarian state dazzles with a brightness now largely absent from Broadway. Exquisitely directed and designed, The Pillowman features top-of-the-line performances from Billy Crudup, Jeff Goldblum, Zeljko Ivanek and Michael Stuhlbarg (2:40). Booth, 222 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) SPAMALOT (Tony Award, Best Musical 2005) This staged re-creation of the mock-medieval movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail is basically a singing scrapbook for Python fans. Still, it seems safe to say that such a good time is being had by so many people that this fitful, eager celebration of inanity and irreverence will find a large and lucrative audience (2:20). Shubert, 225 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) STEEL MAGNOLIAS Despite an ensemble featuring high-profile veterans of stage, film and television, sitting through this portrait of friendship among Southern women, set in a beauty parlor in small-town Louisiana, is like watching nail polish dry (2:20). Lyceum, 149 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) SWEET CHARITY This revival of the 1966 musical, directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Wayne Cilento, never achieves more than a low-grade fever when whats wanted is that old steam heat. In the title role of the hopeful dance-hall hostess, the appealing but underequipped Christina Applegate is less a shopworn angel than a merry cherub (2:30). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) *THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE The happy news for this happy-making little musical is that the move to larger quarters has dissipated none of its quirky charm. William Finns score sounds plumper and more rewarding than it did Off Broadway, providing a sprinkling of sugar to complement the sass in Rachel Sheinkins zinger-filled book. The performances are flawless. Gold stars all around. (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) *WHOS AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Everybody ultimately loses in Edward Albees great marital wrestling match of a play from 1962. But theatergoers who attend this revealingly acted new production, starring a superb Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin, are destined to leave the Longacre feeling like winners (2:50). Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) Off Broadway *ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). Dodger Stages Stage 4, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200.(Isherwood) BEAST ON THE MOON Richard Kalinoskis musty romantic drama depicts the fractious marriage of two survivors of the genocide of Armenians during World War I. Larry Mosss production is respectable and effective, but the performances by Omar Metwally and Lena Georgas are exhaustingly busy (2:00). Century Center for the Performing Arts, 111 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) BIG TIMES Did you hear the one about the three actresses who wrote themselves a play? The punchline is this sweet, slender homage to the glory days of vaudeville, complete with goofy jokes, gags and good music by the Moonlighters: kids are as likely to enjoy it as adults. Walkerspace, 46 Walker Street, TriBeCa, (212)868-4444. (Anne Midgette) BOOCOCKS HOUSE OF BASEBALL Paul Boocock finds beauty in great moments from New York Yankee history, and he hates President Bush, but his attempt to merge these two preoccupations into a one-man show is as lame and listless as the 2005 Yankee pitching staff. (1:00). Flea Theater, 41 White Street, Lower Manhattan, (212)352-3101.(Neil Genzlinger). * BORDER/CLASH: A LITANY OF DESIRES With razor-sharp cheekbones and two voluminous puffs of hair resting on top of a delicate wisp of a body, Staceyann Chin, the author and star of this new autobiographical solo show, is a caricaturists dream. Her appealing if not terribly original show follows her from a tumultuous childhood in Jamaica to New York City, where she starred on Broadway in Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam. (1:30). The Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, (212)307-4100. (Jason Zinoman) DRIVING ON THE LEFT SIDE Its called a reggae play, and the band Reggaelution is one of the best things about this story of an American womans fling with a Jamaican musician (watched by her father and his mother). Unfortunately, an actor plays the lead musician, which blunts the impact both of the band and of this too-pat play, which goes for laugh lines at the expense of credibility. (2:30). TBG Theater, 312 West 36th Street, garment district, (212)868-4444. (Midgette) DRUMSTRUCK The noisy novelty at Dodger Stages, is a mixed blessing. Providing theatergoers a two-foot drum on every seat, it offers an opportunity to exorcise aggressions by delivering a good beating; and on a slightly more elevated level, it presents a superficial introduction to African culture, lessons in drumming and 90 minutes of nonstop music, song and dancing by a good-natured cast. So, while literally and figuratively giving off many good vibes, it adds up to lightweight entertainment that stops just short of pulverizing the eardrums (1:30). Dodgers Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200.(Lawrence Van Gelder) BIRDIE BLUE The stern competence of Lieutenant Van Buren, the formidable figure played by S. Epatha Merkerson on Law & Order, is a long way from the warm but addled Birdie Blue, the title character in the new play by Cheryl L. West at the Second Stage Theater. The gifted Ms. Merkerson has no trouble bridging that emotional distance, but theres little she can do to patch the dramatic holes in Ms. Wests fragmentary, seriously unsatisfactory play (1:30). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212)246-4422. (Isherwood) * FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT This production features the expected caricatures of ego-driven singing stars. But even more than usual, the show offers an acute list of grievances about the sickly state of the Broadway musical, where, as the lyrics have it, everything old is old again (1:45). 47th Street Theater, 304 West 47th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) LAZER VAUDEVILLE If this isnt an ancient showbiz rule, it ought to be: things will look a lot more impressive if they are done in the dark with a heavy dose of fluorescence. That seems to be the guiding principle behind this hodgepodge of juggling, rope twirling and such, delivered wordlessly by the cast (1:30). Lambs Theater, 130 West 44th Street, Midtown, (212)239-6200. (Genzlinger) MANUSCRIPT Three talented, attractive young actors and some skillfully shaggy dialogue are the only reasons to see Paul Grellongs inconsequential play, a revenge tale centering on the theft of an unpublished manuscript expected to be of great literary merit. Implausibility is a big problem: there are plot holes here you could easily drive a hardback copy of Infinite Jest through (1:30). Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS! The musical is the happy narcissist of theater; parody is the best form of narcissism. All it needs are smart writers and winning performers. Thats what we get in this case (1:30). Dodger Stages, Stage 5, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200. (Margo Jefferson) *ORSONS SHADOW Austin Pendletons play, about a 1960 production of Ionescos Rhinoceros directed by Orson Welles and starring Laurence Olivier, is a sharp-witted but tenderhearted backstage comedy about the thin skins, inflamed nerves and rampaging egos that are the customary side effects when sensitivity meets success (2:00). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, Greenwich Village, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) THE PARIS LETTER Jon Robin Baitzs ambitious but schematic play is a morality tale about a misspent life and the dangers of sexual repression. Cleanly directed by Doug Hughes, it features a pair of excellent performances by the superb actors John Glover and Ron Rifkin. But Mr. Baitz gets himself trapped in the mechanical working of an overcomplicated plot (2:00). Roundabout Theater Company, at the Laura Pels Theater, 111 West 46th Street, Midtown, (212)719-1300.(Isherwood) *SWIMMING IN THE SHALLOWS Can man-shark love survive in the post- Jaws era? Adam Bocks screwy, perfectly cast play poses this and other questions you didnt know needed asking, in hilarious fashion (1:20). McGinn/Cazale Theater, 2162 Broadway, at 76th Street, fourth floor, (212)246-4422. (Genzlinger) SLAVAS SNOWSHOW Clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin are stirring up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart as well as tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, (212)307-4100. (Van Gelder) * THOM PAIN (BASED ON NOTHING) Is there such a thing as stand-up existentialism? If not, Will Eno has just invented it. Stand-up-style comic riffs and deadpan hipster banter keep interrupting the corrosively bleak narrative. Mr. Eno is a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation (1:10). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) TROLLS Dick DeBenedictis and Bill Dyers semi-terrific musical is about gay men who arent as young as they used to be. With a glorious opening, likable characters and affecting but derivative music, the show is worth seeing but needs some work (1:35). Actors Playhouse, 100 Seventh Avenue South, at Fourth Street, Greenwich Village, (212)239-6200.(Anita Gates) TWELFTH NIGHT Just because the Aquila Theaters broad, crowd-pleasing interpretation lacks subtlety doesnt mean that its not effective, in its way. Even if the costumes are a bit too cute -- are the oversize codpieces really necessary? -- the design is crisp and nicely realized, and the performances have more verve and clarity than most summer Shakespeare productions (2:15). Baruch Performing Arts Center, 25th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, (212)279-4200. (Zinoman) Off Off Broadway THE HOLLOW MEN The four-member British comedy troupe Hollow Men is generous to a fault. At the Village Theater, the generosity is manifest in the high number of brief skits flowing through the roughly 90-minute, two-act show. The fault is that while the performers are expressive, their comedy routines are short on high humor, and as food for thought, their bleak slices of life dont provide enough of a Munch. (1:45) Village Theater, 158 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village; (212)253-2164. (Van Gelder) SCREEN PLAY A.R. Gurneys gleefully partisan retooling of the film Casablanca sets one tough saloon owners battle between idealism and cynicism in Buffalo in the 21st century. Staged by Jim Simpson as a deftly orchestrated reading, Screen Play turns out to be more than a quick collegiate caper; its a morally indignant work that fights frivolity with frivolity (1:10). Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212)352-3101.(Brantley) Long-Running Shows AVENUE Q R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:10). Golden, 252 West 45th Street, Manhattan, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh -- sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4747. (Brantley) BLUE MAN GROUP Conceptual art as family entertainment (1:45). Astor Place Theater, 434 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212)254-4370. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador, 219 West 49th Street, Manhattan, (212)239-6200.(Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) MOVIN OUT The miracle dance musical that makes Billy Joel cool (2:00). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4100.(Brantley) NAKED BOYS SINGING Thats who they are. Thats what they do (1:05). Julia Miles Theater, 414 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200. (Gates) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) STOMP And the beat goes on (and on), with percussion unlimited (1:30). Orpheum Theater, Second Avenue at Eighth Street, East Village, (212)477-2477. (Brantley) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin, 222 West 51st Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4100.(Brantley) Last Chance THRILL ME: THE LEOPOLD & LOEB STORY The story is familiar, and the script and lyrics are not especially innovative, but somehow Stephen Dolginoffs pocket musical about the Leopold and Loeb murder case lands like a well-placed punch. Every time Doug Kreeger, as Loeb, and Matt Bauer, as Leopold, blend their voices in close harmony, its a reminder that evil often looks and sounds beautiful (1:20). York Theater Company, at St. Peters Lutheran Church, Lexington Avenue, at 54th Street, (212)868-4444, closing Sunday. (Genzlinger) MY SWEETHEARTS THE MAN IN THE MOON When the eccentric millionaire Harry Thaw shot and killed the famed architect Stanford White on the roof of Madison Square Garden almost a century ago, the subsequent trial of the century -- the first of many in the 20th -- was a perfect storm of celebrity scandal. Don Nigros My Sweethearts the Man in the Moon, recounts the sensational events with nuance and admirable research, but the passionless production unfortunately has the whiff of the whiff of Masterpiece Theater (2:00). 14th Street Y, 344 East 14th Street, East Village, (212)868-4444, closing Sunday. (Zinoman) PINEAPPLE & HENRY Linda Segal Crawleys says if only walls could speak. What they have to say is that people dont always get what they want. That perception lacks novelty, and so does the play, directed by Scott C. Sickles. Though never less than watchable, it is mostly unremarkable in characters, situations and language (1:50). Workshop Theater Company, 312 West 36th Street, (212)695-4173, ext. 5, closing tomorrow. (Van Gelder) RAIN Wild, witty, wet and altogether winning. Those words sum up Rain, the new Cirque Éloize show that is ending the season at the New Victory Theater with a figurative and literal splash. This Quebec-based troupe, which opened the New Victory in December 1995, combines high circus arts and ingratiating self-mockery with nostalgic costumes, eclectic music and song, evocative lighting and creative choreography in two hours of fun calculated to please children and adults alike (2:00). New Victory Theater, 209 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212)239-6200, closing Sunday. (Van Gelder) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. THE ADVENTURES OF SHARKBOY AND LAVAGIRL IN 3-D (PG, 94 minutes) Theres a reason that children arent allowed to vote, drive or make movies with multimillion-dollar budgets. Lively and imaginative as their inner worlds may be, the very young still lack the discipline and maturity to shape their dream worlds into coherent and compelling stories -- a task the director Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi, Sin City) also fails to accomplish in this muddled quest narrative based on characters and themes created by his 7-year-old son, Racer Max. (Dana Stevens) ALMOST BROTHERS (No rating, 103 minutes, in Portuguese) Recent Brazilian history and class warfare are the interwoven themes of this powerful but confusingly edited story of the embattled friendship between a white middle-class political activist and a black slum dweller who becomes a drug lord.(Stephen Holden) *BATMAN BEGINS (PG-13, 137 minutes) Conceived in the shadow of American pop rather than in its bright light, this tense, effective iteration of Bob Kanes original comic book owes its power and pleasures to a director (Christopher Nolan) who takes his material seriously and to a star (a terrific Christian Bale) who shoulders that seriousness with ease. Batman Begins is the seventh live-action film to take on the comic-book legend and the first to usher it into the kingdom of movie myth. (Manohla Dargis) *THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED (No rating, 107 minutes) This electrifying French film is the story of an enforcer and would-be concert pianist that hinges on the struggle between the two sides of the male animal, the beauty and the beast. For the adult moviegoer, the film is a well-timed gift; its also essential viewing. (Dargis) BEWITCHED (PG-13, 90 minutes) Nicole Kidman stars as a real nose-twitching witch cast in a sitcom redo of Bewitched. The movie is agreeably watchable for an hour, so its too bad that the director Nora Ephron forgot that a gimmick is no substitute for a screenplay, never mind a real movie. (Dargis) * CATERINA IN THE BIG CITY (No rating, 106 minutes, in Italian) In this contemporary political allegory from Italy, a disgruntled teacher and his family move from the country to Rome, where his 12-year-old daughter finds herself the object of a furious tug of war between two cliques, one left wing and bohemian, the other right wing and materialist. Bold, richly textured and entertaining.(Holden) CINDERELLA MAN (PG-13, 144 minutes) The best parts of Ron Howards ingratiating, Depression-era weepie about the boxing underdog-turned-topdog James J. Braddock are, unsurprisingly, Russell Crowe and Paul Giamatti, actors who could steal a movie from a basket of mewling kittens and an army of rosy-cheeked orphans. Renée Zellweger also stars. (Dargis) CRASH (R, 107 minutes) A gaggle of Los Angeles residents from various economic and ethnic backgrounds collide, sometimes literally, within an extremely hectic 36 hours. Well-intentioned, impressively acted, but ultimately a speechy, ponderous melodrama of liberal superstition masquerading as realism.(A.O. Scott) DALLAS 362 (R, 100 minutes) The directorial debut of Scott Caan, the 28-year-old son of the actor James Caan, Dallas 362 tracks the troubled friendship between Rusty (Shawn Hatosy) and Dallas (Mr. Caan), two boys just out of their teens whose lives have become stalled in an endless cycle of drinking, bar brawls and minor arrests. Its a whole thing is this films catchphrase, a line the two boys use to gesture inarticulately toward the complexity of any subject they cant understand. Scott Caans debut film is not quite yet a whole thing, but it offers up enough interesting fragments to make his sophomore effort worth watching for. (Stevens) A DECENT FACTORY (No rating, 79 minutes, in English, Finnish and Chinese) A cursory, irritatingly facile look at the human cost of globalization, this documentary film was shot and directed by a Frenchman, Thomas Balmès, who tagged along with representatives of the Finnish cellphone giant Nokia on a trip to one of the companys suppliers in China. (Dargis) *ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM (Not rated, 110 minutes) This sober, informative chronicle of the biggest business scandal of the decade is almost indecently entertaining, partly because it offers some of the most satisfying movie villains in quite some time. Recommended for everyone except those likely to be in the Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling jury pools. (Scott) 5x2 (R, 90 minutes, in French) A couples relationship unravels backward, from divorce through the birth of their child to their first meeting. Interesting, but chilly. (Scott) *GEORGE A. ROMEROS LAND OF THE DEAD (R, 94 minutes) An excellent freakout of a movie in which the living and the zombies alternate between their roles as hunters and hunted. The twist here is that as the walking dead have grown progressively more human, the living have slowly lost touch with their humanity. You wont go home hungry.(Dargis) HEIGHTS (R, 93 minutes) In its aspirations, design and worldview, Heights resembles a number of other films about cozily connected souls, a soap-operatic subgenre that might be called We Are the World. Everybody hurts, as Michael Stipe likes to sing, but people in Heights seem to hurt more or at least spend a lot of time nursing that hurt in brooding silence and noisy confrontation. (Dargis) HERBIE: FULLY LOADED (G, 95 minutes) Herbie: Fully Loaded is a perfectly silly movie for a silly season that in recent years has forgotten how to be THIS silly. Lindsay Lohan, who combines a tomboyish spunk with a sexy, head-turning strut gives it a charismatic star boost. (Holden) * THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (PG, 103 minutes) In this hugely likable, long-awaited film of Douglas Adamss beloved book, the world comes to an end not just with a bang, but also with something of a shrug. Nicely directed with heart and sincerity by the newcomer Garth Jennings, the film features Martin Freeman, a sensational Sam Rockwell and some gloriously singing dolphins. (Dargis) THE HONEYMOONERS (PG-13, 90 minutes) Not the greatest, baby, but not as bad as it might have been. (Scott) *HOWLS MOVING CASTLE (PG, 118 minutes) The latest animated enchantment from Hayao Miyazaki. Lovely to look at, full of heart and mystery. ( Scott) THE INTERPRETER (PG-13, 123 minutes) A political thriller, both apolitical and unthrilling, notable for two accomplishments: turning the United Nations into a movie set and, even more remarkably, giving Nicole Kidman the opportunity to embody the suffering of Africans everywhere. (Scott) KICKING AND SCREAMING (PG, 90 minutes) A so-so family sports comedy with Will Ferrell acting goofy, and Robert Duvall (as the father of Mr. Ferrells character and a rival youth soccer coach) parodying his performance in The Great Santini. The story follows a venerable Hollywood formula: its lesson is that winning isnt everything, but of course once you learn this lesson, youll win big, anyway. (Scott) LADIES IN LAVENDER (PG-13, 104 minutes) Two dames of the British empire (Judi Dench and Maggie Smith) inhabit spinster sisters in Cornwall who nurse a handsome Polish violinist back to health in 1936. Amiably bogus. (Holden) LAYER CAKE (R, 104 minutes) Directed by Matthew Vaughn, making a smoothly assured debut, and written by J.J. Connolly, this is the newest in British gangland entertainment and the tastiest in years. The star of this show is the very good British actor Daniel Craig, who slices through Layer Cake like a knife. (Dargis) LILA SAYS (No rating, 89 minutes, in French) Ziad Douieris film, about a 16-year-old French girls provocative verbal seduction of a 19-year-old Arab boy takes the raw material of social realist melodrama and turns it into a sad and sexy pop song. (Scott) MADAGASCAR (PG, 86 minutes) Like many computer-animated features, this one, about four celebrity-voiced animals exiled from the Central Park Zoo, expends most of its imaginative resources on clever visuals. These, in the end, are not enough to compensate for the lack of interesting narrative, real characters or jokes on subjects other than flatulence, excrement and contemporary pop culture. (Scott) MAD HOT BALLROOM (PG, 105 minutes) This documentary follows fifth graders from three very different New York City public schools as they prepare to compete in a ballroom dancing tournament. The sight of 10-year-olds trying to master the graceful, grown-up motions of the fox trot and the tango is charming, and the glimpses of their lives in and outside of school are fascinating, though unfortunately the film offers little more than glimpses. (Scott) *MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (G, 80 minutes) This sentimental but riveting documentary follows the one-year mating cycle of emperor penguins in Antarctica when they leave the ocean and march inland to breed and lay eggs. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, the film has no qualms about playing on our emotions. (Holden) MR. AND MRS. SMITH (PG-13, 112 minutes) What counts in a movie like this are stars so dazzling that we wont really notice or at least mind the cut-rate writing (from Simon Kinberg) and occasionally incoherent action (from the director Doug Liman). Sometimes Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie succeed in their mutual role as sucker bait, sometimes they dont, which is why their new joint venture is alternately a goof and a drag. (Dargis) MODIGLIANI (R, 128 minutes) In every particular, the screen biography of the Italian painter and sculptor offers a case study of how not to film the life of a famous artist. Andy Garcias wooden lead performance leads its list of the movies sins against art history. (Holden) MONSTER-IN-LAW (PG-13, 102 minutes) Jane Fonda finds a zany, good-natured verve in a dragon-lady caricature that mirrors a comedy so desperate to avoid offending that it runs in panic from every issue it brings up but refuses to address. (Holden) *MYSTERIOUS SKIN (Not rated, 99 minutes) Gregg Araki, onetime bad boy of the New Queer Cinema, has made a heartbreaking and surpassingly beautiful film out of Scott Heims clear-eyed novel about two Kansas boys dealing with the consequences of their sexual abuse by a Little League coach. Superb performances, especially by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (Scott) REBOUND (PG, 97 minutes) In the tepid family comedy, Martin Lawrence is a disgraced college basketball coach who finds humility and community values while coaching a team of junior high school geeks. Ick is the word. (Holden) *RIZE (PG-13, 85 minutes) A documentary about clowners and krumpers -- that is, fiercely athletic hip-hop dancers battling in (and with) the streets of Los Angeles. Kinetic and inspiring (Scott) SEX, POLITICS AND COCKTAILS (No rating, 90 minutes) In this debut feature written, directed and edited by Julien Hernandez , Sebastian Cortez (played by Mr. Hernandez) is a 31-year-old Cuban-American filmmaker who finds work making a series of documentaries about gay culture, Sebastian asks his friend Daria (Marisa Petroro), a soap-opera actress, to introduce him to her circle of gay friends, a raucous group given to margarita-swilling and trading raunchy stories. The common theme of these scattered vignettes seems to be that, straight or gay, its tough to find love and commitment in a world filled with venal, grasping nitwits. (Stevens) THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS (PG, 119 minutes) On a shopping trip, four teenage girls find a pair of thrift-store jeans that mysteriously flatters all four of them, despite their differing shapes and sizes. Deciding the jeans must be magic, they make a pact to share them for the summer, wearing them for a week apiece and then mailing them to the next friend. Like the four girls at its center, this fresh-scrubbed, eager-to-please film makes up in charm for what it lacks in sophistication. (Stevens) *STAR WARS: EPISODE III -- REVENGE OF THE SITH (PG-13, 142 minutes) George Lucas saved the best -- or at least one of the best -- for the end. Or for the middle. In any case, the saga is now complete, and has regained much of its original glory. (Scott) *TROPICAL MALADY (No rating, 118 minutes, in Thai) Perched between two worlds, two consciousnesses and two radically different storytelling traditions, this Thai feature shows the young filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul pushing at the limits of cinematic narrative with grace and a certain amount of puckish willfulness. (Dargis) TWIST OF FAITH (No rating, 87 minutes) Another demoralizing documentary about sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church (it was broadcast on HBO last week). As in so many cases in which priests have been accused of abuse, the details of the alleged crimes are maddeningly elusive. The documentary is an unhappy one, with no satisfying resolution. (Virginia Heffernan) UNDEAD (R, 100 minutes) Undead, the debut feature from Australian twins Peter and Michael Spierig, is a broad, preposterous mishmash of zombie horror, old-fashioned sci-fi, spaghetti western, slapstick comedy, and high-tech Matrix-style action. After small meteorites shower the quaint fishing village of Berkeley, Australia, infected inhabitants are transformed into brain-munching maniacs; then extraterrestrials inexplicably appear to save humankind. A stale, derivative mess that borrows heavily from every zombie and alien movie worthy of imitation. (Laura Kern) WAR OF THE WORLDS (PG-13, 117 minutes) The aliens invade (again). Effectively scary and visually impressive. (Scott) *THE WHITE DIAMOND (No rating, 90 minutes) Werner Herzog, in the jungles of Guyana, observes a small airship and its crew. This documentary is a record of his impressions and discoveries, and an essay on the complexities of nature in its wild and human varieties. It is an unassuming film, but nonetheless full of scenes and images that can only be described as sublime. (Scott) * THE WORLD (No rating, 133 minutes, in Mandarin) Globalization and its discontents form the molten core of The World, Jia Zhangkes fictionalized look at life inside a Disney-like entertainment park in China. This quietly despairing vision comes equipped with an ethnographic attention to detail, glints of surreal comedy and a scaled-down replica of the twin towers. (Dargis) Film Series AFTER VIGO (Through July 28) When Jean Vigo died (in 1934 at age 29), he had made only one full-length feature film. This festival pays tribute to Vigos work (Zero for Conduct, his 1933 short about a boarding school revolt, on Monday) and to directors and films directly influenced by him, including Lindsay Andersons If (1968), to be shown on Tuesday. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718)777-FILM or (718)636-4100, $10.(Anita Gates) THE BECK MOVIES (Through July 27) The American-Scandinavian Foundation is screening five more of these made-for-Swedish-television movies on consecutive Wednesdays. Peter Haber plays Detective Martin Beck and Mikael Persbrandt is his police-department partner, Gunvald Larsson, who has on-the-job problems relating to women. In Beck: The Cartel, they investigate the murders of a restaurant owner and a social welfare inspector. Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, between 37th and 38th Streets, (212)879-9779, $8. (Gates) ERNST LUBITSCH FILM FESTIVAL (Through Aug. 6) Makor, a program of the 92nd Street Y, is screening five films by Lubitsch (1892-1947) on consecutive Saturdays, beginning tomorrow with Trouble in Paradise (1932), his romantic comedy about a European thief (Herbert Marshall), the pickpocket (Miriam Hopkins) he loves and the wealthy woman (Kay Francis) he works for. Other films in the series include The Shop Around the Corner and Ninotchka. 35 West 67th Street, (212)601-1000, $9. (Gates) HISTORIC HARLEM PARKS FILM FESTIVAL (Through July 28) This festival of free outdoor screenings continues on Wednesday night with TGV (1997), a Senegalese feature about a dangerous bus trip. On Thursday night, the film is Flag Wars (2003), a documentary about white gays moving into a black working-class Ohio neighborhood. Marcus Garvey Park West at 122nd Street, (212)360-3326. (Gates) IN DEPPTH (Through July 31) BAM Cinematek honors Johnny Depp with an 11-film, three-week retrospective, beginning tonight with Mr. Depps first feature, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). The weekends other features are Tim Burtons Edward Scissorhands, about a sensitive young man with pruning shears instead of hands, and John Waterss Cry-Baby (both 1990), about a sensitive 1950s juvenile delinquent. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718)777-FILM or (718)636-4100, $10. (Gates) PARAMOUNT BEFORE THE CODE (Through July 21) Film Forums four-week series, focusing on the era before Production Code censorship was imposed, continues with six films this weekend, including Josef Von Sternbergs Blue Angel (1932), starring Marlene Dietrich and Emil Jannings, and Cecil B. DeMilles Cleopatra, with Claudette Colbert in the title role. 209 West Houston Street, South Village, (212)727-8110, $10. (Two movies for one admission.) (Gates) RISKS AND REINVENTION: THE CINEMA OF LOUIS MALLE (Through July 19) The Film Society of Lincoln Centers retrospective of Louis Malles (1932-95) work continues this weekend with Atlantic City (1980), starring Susan Sarandon and Burt Lancaster; Lacombe, Lucien (1974); Human, Too Human (1974); Black Moon (1974); and the multipart documentary Phantom India (1968-69). Walter Reade Theater, Lincoln Center, (212)875-5600, $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. JOEY BELTRAM (Tomorrow) Mr. Beltram, a techno pioneer, is the headliner at this party; expect a night of dance music both hard and squelchy. With the veteran German D.J. Chris Liebing, as well as Misstress Barbara, known for her tough but meticulous techno sets. 10 p.m., Avalon, 662 Avenue of the Americas, at 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 807-7780, $20 in advance, more at the door. (Kelefa Sanneh) BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA, CITIZEN COPE (Sunday) After more than 60 years as a group, the Blind Boys of Alabama are no longer boys but gray-haired pillars of gospel quartet singing. Led by Clarence Fountain, they proclaim their reverence in close harmonies and gutsy improvisations that leap heavenward. The latter-day beatnik Citizen Cope wallows in after-hours laments. 3 p.m., Central Park Summerstage, Rumsey Field, 72nd Street at Fifth Avenue, (212)360-2777, free. (Jon Pareles) THE BRAVERY, THE DEAD 60S, NIC ARMSTRONG (Wednesday) The Bravery was supposed to be New Yorks Next Big Post-Strokes thing, but rumored ego issues have provoked skepticism. Liverpools Dead 60s play derivative, serviceable ska and dub punk. Hailing from Nottingham, England, the energetic and versatile player-singer Nic Armstrong pays homage to 60s British rock from the Kinks to the Yardbirds. His purist take on the garage-rock revival has little use for the winking irony of other such acts. 7:30 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212)353-1600, $20, $23 at the door, sold out. (Laura Sinagra) BRAZILIAN ART & FILM FESTIVAL OF NYC (Tonight and Tomorrow) This multi-format celebration of all things Brazilian kicks off with Rio de Janeiros controversial social activist rapper Gabriel the Thinker, who takes on issues from gated-community wealth to police brutality. Tomorrow, Nação Zumbi carries on the mangue beat music pioneered by the late bandleader Chico Science, a mix of maracatu drums, funk rock guitar and rap. 7 p.m., Central Park Summerstage, Rumsey Field, 72nd Street at Fifth Avenue, (212) 360-2777, free. (Sinagra) CONSTANTINES, OXFORD COLLAPSE (Tonight) The lead singer Bry Webbs baritone may rumble like that of other currently popular post-punk revivalists, but the Constantines acute sense of drone and sting sets their darkly pulsing indie rock apart. The Oxford Collapse offers shaggy art-rock that recalls acerbic mid-American forbears like the Embarassment. Tonight at 9:30, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston, (212)260-4700. $10. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, (718) 230-0236, $10. (Sinagra) CONTRAMANO (Tonight) This Argentine, Spanish and Texan transplant trio happily go dumpster diving for new wave leftovers just like lots of other Williamsburg bands, but they also hang on to their Latin roots and come up with something quirkier. 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212)539-8778 or (212)239-6200, $12. (Sinagra) MARIA DE BARROS (Tonight) Born in Senegal but raised in Mauritania and Rhode Island, Ms. De Barros is a Cape Verdean singer in the Cesaria Evora style. She sings in Spanish and the Portuguese-African dialect kriolu, mining her inherited island traditions, from the upbeat coladeira a salsalike style, to soulful mornas and tricky funanas. 10 p.m., Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212)576-1155, $20. (Sinagra) DINOSAUR JR, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, RADIO 4, MAGIK MARKERS (Thursday) Dinosaur Jr, the seminal band that melded the apathetic cool of American punk with the guitar blare of stoned classic rock reunites its contentious original lineup. The Magik Markers opens, its noise-rock builds from buzzes to maelstroms of feedback. Broken Social Scene and Radio 4 also play. 6 p.m., Central Park Summerstage, Rumsey Field, 72nd Street at Fifth Avenue, (212)360-2777, $37.25, $40 day of show. (Sinagra) DO MAKE SAY THINK (Tomorrow) Bearing a passing resemblance to the work of the Canadian dirge merchants Godspeed You Black Emperor, Do Make Say Think builds songs in similar ominous waves. But this band has much jazzier prog rock tendencies. 9 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212)533-2111, $13, $15 at the door.(Sinagra) DUNGEN (Thursday) This Swedish bands biker-rock combines humongous riffing with whimsical jams, conjuring both black-leather aggression and the pastoral wonder of the open road. 9 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201)653-1703, sold out. (Sinagra) THE FAB FAUX: THE LET IT BE ROOFTOP SESSIONS (Tuesday) The note-perfect Beatles tribute band isnt trying to win a costume contest. Its here to channel the original Fab Fours music, tone for tone, interval for interval, attack for attack. Here it tries to harness the acrimonious frisson of the Let It Be rooftop sessions. 7 p.m., Hudson River Festival at the World Financial Center Plaza, West Street and Vesey Street, (212)528-2733, Free. (Sinagra) ERIK FRIEDLANDER (Tuesday) This popular avant-garde cellist is bent on showing his instruments range and applicability to diverse musical missions, veering easily from familiar deep, resonant tones to underworld shrieks and brutally sawed scrapes. 8 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212)219-3006, $10. (Sinagra) HOP FU: PRODIGAL SON SOUNDTRACKED BY ILLSTYLE (Tonight) The local arts and D.J. collective Illstyle makes hip-hops fascination with martial arts remarkably manifest, creating a new soundtrack for the chop-socky flick Prodigal Son. 7:30 p.m., Prospect Park Bandshell, Ninth Street and Prospect Park West, Park Slope, Brooklyn, free ($3 suggested donation). (Sinagra) ALLAN HOLDSWORTH (Tonight) The jazz fusion guitarist Mr. Holdsworth has for the last few years been exploring more stripped down forms than his signature synthesizer work. Hes been playing with acoustic rhythm sections and recording spare jazz standards while preparing for the release of his recent career retrospective. 8 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 237 West 42nd Street, (212)997-4144, $26 to $30. (Sinagra) WYCLEF JEAN (Thursday) If his head seems too big sometimes, the former Fugee Wyclef Jeans heart is in the right place. His wistful strummers and Caribbean-tinged hip-hop continues to incorporate global elements for purposes beyond dancefloor incitement. His soundtrack to the award-winning documentary The Agronomist furthered his advocacy of Haitian causes. 8 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, 66th Street and Columbus Avenue, (212)721-6500. $25 to $40. (Sinagra) CAROLE KING (Wednesday) The story of this Brill building songwriter who emerged from behind the scenes to declare her independence and vulnerability on the lite-rock classic Tapestry remains compelling decades later. 8 p.m., Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Avenue of the Americas, (212)247-4777, $44.50 to $99.50. (Sinagra) KENN KWEDER (Tuesday) The Philadelphia songwriter and guitarist Kenn Kweder has been writing prickly tunes about the arty urban subculture for three decades now. His onstage volatility used to rile the folkies, but when the punks came along and dug him, he rebuffed record label offers, preferring to do things his own way. 8:30 p.m., Canal Room, 285 West Broadway, (212)941-8100, $15-$20. (Sinagra) LADY SOVEREIGN, DJ A-TRAK, CATCHDUBS (Wednesday) Few MCs ride the jerky rhythms of grime, a British mix of hip-hop and techno, quite like this adorably brash 17 -year-old. Her appearance on this years Run the Road compilation (Vice) was one of that excellent albums highlights and her first American show is hotly anticipated. 10 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212)219-3006, $12. (Sinagra) ERIN MCKEOWN, IDA (Wednesday) This folk singer-songwriter has evolved since her days of spare, collegiate confessionals in the Ani DiFranco vein. Her new material is more lushly produced, and her musing more universal. Her Brooklyn bands harmonies mimic the binding sinews of for-better-or-worse relationships. 8 p.m., Canal Room, 285 West Broadway, TriBeCa, (212)941-8100, $15, $18 at the door. (Sinagra) JOHN MELLENCAMP, JOHN FOGERTY (Tomorrow) Grown up and still pugnacious, John Mellencamp packs his three-chord heartland rock with anti-authority taunts and tough-minded comments on racism, family farms and woman trouble. John Fogertys wild-eyed wail and distilled guitar twang are utterly undiminished, the sound of a mythic backwoods Southland where barefoot girls dance in the moonlight. 7 p.m., Jones Beach Theater, 1000 Ocean Parkway, Wantagh, N.Y, (516)221-1000, $35 to $79. (Pareles) NAPPY ROOTS (Tonight) Though theyve worked with the impresario Lil Jon, their preference for shimmy over crunk, and their insistence on talking about the poor instead of the super-rich keeps them on margins of the mainstream. 11:30 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 237 West 42nd Street, (212)997-4144, $20, $22 at the door. (Sinagra) POLYGRAPH LOUNGE (Tomorrow) Rob Schwimmer and Mark Stewart, two busy studio musicians fresh from touring with Simon and Garfunkel, indulge their more lighthearted side in Polygraph Lounge, which deploys a Spike Jones sensibility and a lot of low-tech and toy instruments. 5 p.m., Prospect Park Bandshell, 9th Street and Prospect Park West, Park Slope, Brooklyn, free (suggested donation $3). (Pareles) *REGGAE CARIFEST (Sunday) In years past, this annual summer concert brought dancehall reggaes leading lights to New York City, giving a charged-up crowd a chance to cheer for their favorite performers -- and boo their least favorites offstage. This years installment pairs shouters (the ferocious Bounty Killer, the manic Elephant Man, the manic and ferocious Capleton) with their sweeter counterparts, including the protest singer Luciano, the impassioned crooner I Wayne (the man behind the hit Satisfy Her) and the Hasidic upstart Matisyahu, who is likely to have either a very good day or a very bad one. 2 p.m., Randalls Island, (718) 856-5946 or (718)856-3336, $35 to $60. (Sanneh) ROYKSOPP (Wednesday) This Norwegian duo made late 90s chill-room music for ravers exhausted by years of uptempto adventuring. Their warm buzzes and loops served to remind dancers of dancefloor fun while giving tired bodies an occasion to loll. Recently, theyve worked with the electro-pop singer Annie. 9 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212)777-6800, $20, $25 at the door. (Sinagra) SAOSIN, ANBERLIN (Sunday) These two emo bands specialize in rousing songs that embrace melancholy while nodding at chaos: Anberlins songs strain toward grandeur but Saosins twitch a little more and kick a little harder. With code: Seven and Terminal. 5 p.m., the Downtown, 190 Main Street, Farmingdale, N.Y., (516)293-7700, sold out. (Sanneh) SUGAR WATER FESTIVAL: ERYKAH BADU, JILL SCOTT, QUEEN LATIFAH, FLOETRY (Tuesday) Popular purveyors of soulful female self-determination gather for a mini-tour of neo-soul stylings: Ms. Badus slinky, cheeky afrocentric scrape, Ms. Scotts warm Philly funk, Queen Latifahs gutsy approach to her own hip-hop juvenilia and more recently, jazz standards, and Floetrys groovy uplift. 7 p.m., Jones Beach Theater, 1000 Ocean Parkway, Wantagh, NY, (516)221-1000, $21-76. (Sinagra) DONNA SUMMER (Tomorrow) The disco diva who teamed up with the producer Giorgio Moroder to steam up the dancefloors with 70s and 80s hits like Love to Love You Baby and pop radio with burners like Bad Girls has long since left the sexpot thing behind for Jesus, but she still revisits her old hits with gusto. 8 p.m., Jones Beach Theater, 1000 Ocean Parkway, Wantagh, N.Y., (516)221-1000, $20 to $68. (Sinagra) SON VOLT (Tuesday) Back when he played country punk with Jeff Tweedy in the seminal band Uncle Tupelo, the singer and guitarist Jay Farrar gained adherents as the gruff, prematurely grizzled half of the duo, writing rueful songs about working class defeat in deadend towns, and some grudging prayers to the open road, too. A decade of solo work has reaffirmed that posture. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, (212)533-2111, $25, sold out. (Sinagra) TEGAN AND SARA (Thursday) These Canadian twins lyrics about love and loss are underground girl anthems. As of late, their acoustic folk has given way to power pop, a rich mix of shining guitar and pumping keyboards topped with their tart vocals. 6 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212)353-1600, $17, $20 at the door. (Sinagra) TODD TERRY (Thursday) In the 1980s and early 1990s, this New York house-music D.J. helped define the sound of the citys dance clubs: his version of house music is tough and raucous, connecting dots between disco and hip-hop. With Pete Moss and Mark Whitmore. 11 p.m., Canal Room, 285 West Broadway, at Canal Street, TriBeCa, (212)941-8100, $7-$20. (Sanneh) TURIN BREAKS, WEST INDIAN GIRL (Thursday) The duo Turin Breaks plays meditative folk pop. Named after a kind of LSD, the West Indian Girl makes trippy shoegazing pop. 9 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212)533-2111, $18, $20 at the door. (Sinagra) VISHAL VAID (Tomorrow) The vocalist and harmonium player Vishal Vaid draws his inspiration from South Asian ghazal, modally sung improvisatory love poetry. He plays two different sets here with Rahis Khan on tabla and Bashir Khan on Indian banjo. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212)539-8778 or (212)239-6200, $15. (Discounted tickets available for those who purchase tickets for both concerts.) (Sinagra) THE WAILERS (Wednesday and Thursday) Three members of the band that backed Bob Marley, Al Anderson on guitar, Earl Wya Lindo on keyboards and Aston Barrett on bass, are still the core of the Wailers, whose rhythms transformed reggae and rock forever. Wednesday at 7 p.m., Hudson River Festival, Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City, (212)528-2733, free; Thursday at noon, BAM R&B Festival, MetroTech Commons Plaza, Flatbush and Myrtle Avenues, Downtown Brooklyn, (718)636-4100, free. (Pareles) LUCINDA WILLIAMS (Thursday) With homely details and the names of southern cities, Lucinda Williams maps geography of loss and longing in her songs. The twang and determination in her voice, along with her rock-ribbed, country-rooted melodies, insist that she wont crumble even in the toughest romantic circumstance. 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway at 74th Street, Manhattan, (212)496-7070, $40 to $70. (Pareles) Cabaret Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. *BLOSSOM DEARIE (Tomorrow and Sunday) To watch this singer and pianist is to appreciate the power of a carefully deployed pop-jazz minimalism combined with a highly discriminating taste in songs. Dannys Skylight Room, 346 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212)265-8133. Tomorrow night at 7; Sunday night at 6:15. Cover: $25, with a $15 minimum; a $54.50 dinner-and-show package is available. (Stephen Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. RASHIED ALI QUINTET (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Ali has led a substantial career in the jazz avant-garde over the last 35 years; his insistent, undulant drumming propels this working band. 8 and 10 p.m. and midnight, Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West Village, (212)255-3626; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum.(Nate Chinen) ANDY BISKINS TRIO TRAGICO (Tonight) The repertory of this chamber group ranges from melodic miniatures to nearly open-form improvisation. Its the work of Mr. Biskin, composer and clarinetist; Dave Ballou, trumpeter; and Dress Gress, bassist. 8 p.m., Barbes, 376 Ninth Street at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)965-9177; cover, $8.(Chinen) NEAL CAINE QUARTET (Thursday) Backstabbers Ball, Mr. Caines debut on Smalls Records, assigns the bassists appealingly laid-back melodies to two tenor saxophonists, Stephen Riley and Ned Goold; they appear here with the drummer Ali Jackson. Smalls, 183 West 10th Street, West Village, (212)675-7369; cover, $10. (Chinen) JOEY CALDERAZZO TRIO (Wednesday and Thursday) Mr. Calderazzo, an energetic and probing pianist, enjoys more than a passing rapport with the bassist Eric Revis and the drummer Jeff (Tain) Watts; together they make up three-fourths of the powerfully cohesive Branford Marsalis Quartet. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212)576-2232; cover, $20.(Chinen) CARIBBEAN JAZZ PROJECT (Tonight and tomorrow) Led by the vibraphone and marimba specialist Dave Samuels, this Latin-jazz outfit also features such talent as the Argentine trumpeter Diego Urcola. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, (212)581-3080; cover, $30, plus a $10 minimum. (Chinen) ELLERY ESKELIN /SYLVIE COURVOISIER DUO (Tonight) Mr. Eskelin is a tenor saxophonist known for gruff abandon; Ms. Courvoisier is a pianist given to jagged yet meticulous compositions. 8 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) ORRIN EVANS AND LUVPARK (Monday) Jazz commingles with ambient strains of hip-hop and soul in this Philadelphia-based ensemble, led by the pianist Orrin Evans and featuring the tenor saxophonist Ralph Bowen and the poet Sonia Sanchez. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212)475-8592; cover, $15 at tables, $10 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) MAYNARD FERGUSON & HIS BIG BOP NOUVEAU BAND (Tuesday through July 17) His signature high notes have inevitably lost some luster, but Mr. Ferguson is still a bravura trumpeter and charismatic bandleader, and this ensemble suits both sets of skills. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212)475-8592; cover, $25 at tables, $15 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) ERIK FRIEDLANDER AND THE BROKEN ARM (Tuesday) This new project, a tribute to Oscar Pettiford and Herbie Nichols, features Mr. Friedlanders pizzicato cello playing against a backdrop of vibraphone, bass and drums. A preceding set, at 8 p.m., will consist of his brilliantly expansive solo cello playing. 9 p.m., Knitting Factory Old Office, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212)219-3132; cover, $10 (Chinen) THE GIFT (Tuesday) The violinist Jason Hwang, the trumpeter Roy Campbell Jr. and the drummer William Hooker comprise this adventurous improvising trio. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212)358-7501; cover, $10. (Chinen) ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT (Wednesday) There isnt a young musician with more buzz at the moment than Mr. Glasper, a bright and well-rounded pianist recently signed to Blue Note Records. The experiment in the title is a license to go beyond jazz-trio territory, and possibly indulge serious affinities for hip-hop, house and soul. 11 p.m., Knitting Factory Tap Bar, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212)219-3132; no cover. (Chinen) JOHN HICKS TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow) Notes bunch up in Mr. Hickss piano chords, filling his fists; he keeps a few fingers agitatedly moving around within the chords, keeping a bop pulsation constant through the wall of sound. He wears time loosely, letting himself fall behind the beat, and he makes thick, heavyweight brocades of music. 9 and 11 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., Smoke, 2751 Broadway at 106th Street, Manhattan, (212)864-6662; cover, $25 (Ben Ratliff) VIC JURIS QUINTET (Tuesday) Mr. Juris is a cool-toned guitarist with an advanced harmonic palette; his partners here are the alto saxophonist Loren Stillman, the pianist Xavier Davis, the bassist Harvie S. and the drummer Tim Horner. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212)576-2232; cover, $20. (Chinen) *STEVE LEHMAN QUINTET (Wednesday) The saxophonist and composer Steve Lehman pursues an abstract lyricism informed by myriad traditions; he has sympathetic peers in the trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, the vibraphonist Chris Dingman, the bassist Matt Brewer and the drummer Tyshawn Sorey. A preceding set, at 8 p.m., will feature Mr. Lehman and the fellow alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa in a serpentine dialogue they call Dual Identity. 10 p.m., Barbes, 376 9th Street at 6th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)965-9177; cover, $8.(Chinen) ERIC LEWIS TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow) Until recently a pianist for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, getting the musics repertory history under his fingers and bringing a thrilling unpredictability to his performances, Mr. Lewis is going it alone now. Music starts at 10 p.m., Fat Cat, 75 Christopher Street, West Village, (212)675-7369; cover, $10.(Ratliff) DAVE LIEBMAN TRIO (Wednesday) An incantatory saxophonist and flutist working in the post-Coltrane idiom, Dave Liebman plays here with the acoustic bass guitarist Ronan Guilfoyle and the always intriguing drummer Nasheet Waits. 6 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212)929-9883; cover, $10.(Chinen) MIKE MCGINNIS AND MUSIC FOR 13 IMPROVISERS (Monday) A big band of sorts, led by the saxophonist-composer-arranger and featuring players like the trumpeter Shane Endsley and the pianist Jacob Sacks. 10 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg, (718)218-6934; no cover. (Chinen) ROY NATHANSON QUARTET (Sunday) The saxophonist and Jazz Passengers cofounder leans here on his skills as a raconteur; his whimsical narratives take the form of sung choruses, spoken interludes and other vocal asides. 7 p.m., Barbes, 376 Ninth Street at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)965-9177; cover, suggested donation. (Chinen) *JEREMY PELT QUARTET (Through Sunday) The clarion tone and preternatural poise of Mr. Pelts trumpet playing have earmarked him as a rising star in the jazz mainstream; this engagement immediately precedes the release of Identity, his second MaxJazz album. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212)576-2232; cover, $20-$25. (Chinen) STEPPIN WITH TITO PUENTE (Tuesday through July 17) The late King of Salsa receives an appropriately high-spirited tribute from a group that includes the pianist Hilton Ruiz, the trumpeter Lew Soloff, the tenor saxophonist Lew Tabackin and the drummer Sylvia Cuenca. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center, (212) 258-9595; cover, $30. (Chinen) ERIC REED TRIO (Through Sunday) Sharp sophistication is a hallmark of this trio, which matches Mr. Reeds fluid pianism with the rhythm team of Buster Williams and Al Foster, on bass and drums. 9 and 11 p.m., with a 12:30 a.m. set tomorrow, Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212)255-4037; cover, $20, plus a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MATANA ROBERTS QUARTET (Wednesday) A husky-toned alto saxophonist and junior member of Chicagos AACM, Matana Roberts is at her best when responding to ensemble actions; she has a good sparring partner here in cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum. 10 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718)218-6934; no cover. (Chinen) NED ROTHENBERG TRIO (Thursday) Extended techniques and broad textural range are both assured in this ensemble, which consists of Mr. Rothenberg, saxophones, clarinets and shakuhachi; Alex Waterman, cello; and Gerry Hemingway, drums and percussion. 8 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) HILTON RUIZ SEPTET (Tuesday through July 17) The Latin-jazz pianist Mr. Ruiz starts the clubs Latin in Manhattan Festival, running through the end of the month; his band, playing music associated with Tito Puente includes the vibraphonist Jay Hoggard and the trumpeter Lew Soloff. 7:30 and 9:30, Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, 60th Street at Broadway, Manhattan, (212)258-9595; cover, $30 (Ratliff) *BUD SHANK QUARTET (Through Sunday) The venerable West Coast alto saxophonist has a winsomely boppish new album, Bouncin With Bud and Phil (Capri); hes joined here by expert accompanists, including the pianists Mike LeDonne (tonight) and Bill Mays (tomorrow and Sunday). 8 and 10 p.m., with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night, Iridium, 1650 Broadway at 51st Street, (212)582-2121; cover, $28, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JEFFREY SHURDUTS THIS IS THE MUSIC OF LIFE (Sunday) Mr. Shurdut, a guitarist rooted in free-jazz, leads a sextet featuring the alto saxophonist Sonny Simmons, a legend of the genre. 10 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718)218-6934; no cover.(Chinen) TYSHAWN SOREYSOBLIQUITY (Tonight and Sunday) Mr. Soreys explosive drumming has been a welcome new force in the contemporary avant-garde; his original compositions provide fodder for this band, with the saxophonist Jacam Manricks, the guitarist Liberty Ellman and the bassist Carlo DeRosa. Tonight at 10 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718)218-6934; no cover. Sunday at 9 and 10 p.m., CBGB Lounge, 313 Bowery, between First and Second Streets, (212)677-0455; cover, $10. (Chinen) LEW TABACKIN QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow) As a tenor saxophonist, Mr. Tabackin combines gut instincts with encyclopedic command of jazz styles; as a flutist he favors Far Eastern timbres and scales. His band features the versatile pianist Benny Green. 8 and 9:45 p.m., Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue at 38th Street, (212)885-7119;cover, $20, $10 minimum.(Chinen) BUSTER WILLIAMS AND SOMETHING MORE (Tuesday through July 17) Mr. Williamss bass playing is the anchor but not the focal point of this dynamic chamber-jazz quartet, with Steve Nelson, vibraphonist; Patrice Rushen, pianist; and Lenny White, drummer. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212)255-4037; cover, $30. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera LAKE GEORGE OPERA (Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday) It doesnt get much lighter than this: The Mikado and Rossinis Italian Girl in Algiers are the summers two offerings from the Lake George Opera, featuring able young singers, including Georgia Jarman as Yum-Yum and Jennifer Dudley as Rossinis Isabella. Mikado tomorrow afternoon at 2; Italian Girl tonight at 7:30 and Sunday afternoon at 2, Spa Little Theater, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., (518)587-3330, $41 to $67. (Anne Midgette) RINALDO (Tomorrow, Monday and Wednesday) The Berkshire Opera Company has offered solid performances of both standard and offbeat works over the years and has ensured that Tanglewood isnt the areas only musical attraction. In past years, the company has been hampered by theaters that didnt quite match its ambitions, but this season it is presenting some of its performances at the newly renovated Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Mass. Its season opener is a semistaged production of Handels Rinaldo, with a cast that has Christine Abraham in the title role, as well as Maureen OFlynn, David Walker and John Cheek. Gary Thor Wedow conducts. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Monday at 2 p.m. at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Greet Barrington, Mass.; Wednesday at 8 p.m., Chapin Hall, at Williams College, Williamstown, Mass., (413)442-0099, $25 to $75. (Allan Kozinn) Classical Music BANG ON A CAN SUMMER MUSIC INSTITUTE (Starting Thursday) New music tends to find more sympathetic ears in the art public than many concert halls. Bang on a Cans summer learning program accordingly goes into the museum -- specifically, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Starting Thursday, daily concerts in the late afternoon showcase the institutes faculty, including the groups three original founders and, this year, Steve Reich. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, Mass., (413)662-2111. Concerts are free with gallery admission: $10, $8 for students, $4 for children. (Midgette) CARAMOOR (Tonight, tomorrow, Sunday, Thursday) Celebrating its 60th anniversary this season, Caramoor presents concerts on a vast scenic estate in northern Westchester County. Tonight, musicians from the Moab Music Festival in Utah take on Stravinskys Rite of Spring and Milhauds jazz-infused Creation du Monde, but the weekends main event is a rare staging of Bellinis opera La Sonnambula tomorrow with Will Crutchfield conducting the Orchestra of St. Lukes and the coloratura soprano Sumi Jo in the title role. Sunday, its a family concert led by Michael Barrett, and Thursday, the Jupiter Trio plays works by Beethoven, Dvorak and Schnittke. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 2:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Katonah, N.Y., (914)232-1252, $15 to $85. (Jeremy Eichler) BARGEMUSIC (Tonight, tomorrow, Sunday and Thursday) Great views and typically fresh performances help make this floating concert hall one of the citys more inviting settings for chamber music. Tonight, Adam Golka offers a program of mostly 19th-century piano transcriptions. Tomorrow and Sunday, its music by Schubert, Beethoven, Fauré and a new work by Adolphus Hailstork with Mark Peskanov, violinist; Jeanne Mallow, violist; Sophie Shao, cellist; and Doris Stevenson, pianist. Thursday brings piano trios by Beethoven and Schubert. Tonight, tomorrow and Thursday at 7:30; Sunday at 4 p.m., Fulton Ferry Landing next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718)624-2083, $35; $25 for students. (Eichler) MAVERICK CONCERTS (Tomorrow and Sunday) This concert series near Woodstock, N.Y., now in its 90th season, offers its performances in an open-backed barn that allows the sounds of nature to mingle with the music. Tomorrow, the pianist Frederic Chiu performs works by Debussy, Ravel, Griffes and two works by Prokofiev (the Piano Sonata No. 2 and Visions Fugitives), a composer Mr. Chiu has recorded with distinction. On Sunday, the flutist Carol Wincenc and the pianist Gina Raps play a hefty program with works by Bach, Fauré, Debussy, Varèse, Enescu, Griffes and Hindemith. Tomorrow night at 6, Sunday at 3 p.m., Maverick Concert Hall, Maverick Road, between Routes 28 and 375, West Hurley, N.Y., (845)679-8217, $20, $5 for students. (Kozinn) MUSIC MOUNTAIN (Tonight and Sunday) Offering a mix of choral music, jazz, chamber concerts and a few other things as well, this venerable festival, now air-conditioned for the first time, presents medieval and Renaissance music sung by a costumed choir called the Everyman Guild tonight, and the Avalon String Quartet playing Haydn, Beethoven and the Brahms clarinet quintet (with Alexander Fiterstein) on Sunday afternoon, with the Salisbury Band as an anachronistic warmup. Tonight at 8, Sunday afternoon at 3 (band concert at 2), Music Mountain, Falls Village, Conn., (860)824-7126, $25, $12 for students under 24. (Midgette) NAUMBURG ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) Sure, the New York Philharmonic gets most of the attention, but Central Park has never been a one-orchestra green space. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, and on Tuesday, Carlos Miguel Prieto leads music by Barber, Bernstein, Copland, Ginastera and others. 7:30 p.m., Naumburg Band Shell, Central Park, midpark at 72nd Street, (718)340-3018, free. (Eichler) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday) To fill out the calendar in the weeks between the end of the official season in June and the beginning of the popular free concerts in the parks in July, the orchestra is presenting its Summertime Classics series. If these programs, for the most part lighter works, dont go as far in the pops direction as the mighty Boston Pops, they should have some popular appeal. And the concerts are presented at budget prices. Tonights program, Young at Heart, has chestnuts like The Nutcracker Suite and Brittens Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra. Tomorrow and Sunday the series ends with Soirée Française, featuring arias and songs from French opera and operetta. Both programs are conducted by Bramwell Tovey, who has a gift for introducing each work with wry British humor. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8; Sunday at 5 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)721-6500, $19 to $49; half-price for children 12 and under tonight.(Anthony Tommasini) TANGLEWOOD (Tonight through Thursday) James Levine inaugurated his tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra last fall with, you could say, a cosmic bang: Mahlers Eighth Symphony, the Symphony of a Thousand. A few days later he repeated that work at Carnegie Hall for his first official visit to New York as the head of the orchestra. Tonight, yet again, he begins his first summer at Tanglewood with the piece, though this team of vocal soloists includes some newcomers, among them the soprano Deborah Voigt and the tenor Johan Botha. Kurt Masur takes charge of the Boston Symphony for two programs tomorrow (the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Joshua Bell and Bruckners Fourth) and Sunday (Beethovens Third Piano Concerto with Emanuel Ax and the Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings). Ms. Voigt sings a recital on Tuesday and the Beaux-Arts Trio commemorates the 50th anniversary of its debut on Thursday. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8:30, Sunday at 2:30 p.m., in the Music Shed; Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30 p.m., in Ozawa Hall; Tanglewood, Lenox, Mass., (888)266-1200, $19 to $85; lawn seats for $16 and $17. (Tommasini) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. *AMERICAN BALLET THEATER (Tonight through July 16) This weekend has the companys last three performances of Swan Lake, then on Monday comes the first in an eight-performance run of Giselle, which will close out its Metropolitan Opera House season. As usual, the casts are starry: Paloma Herrera, Carlos Acosta, Diana Vishneva, Maxim Beloserkovsky, Gillian Murphy and Angel Corella are to be in the Swan Lakes. Although Alessandra Ferri, scheduled for the first Giselle, is out for the season with an ankle injury, there will still be strong casts for all the Giselles. Particularly noteworthy nights include Tuesday, with Ms. Vishneva, Vladimir Malakhov and Veronika Part, and Thursday, when Amanda McKerrow is to give her final performance with the company. Tonight, tomorrow and Monday through Thursday at 8 p.m., tomorrow and Wednesday at 2 p.m. Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212)362-6000 or www.abt.org, $22 to $130. (John Rockwell) ARTICHOKE DANCE COMPANY (Thursday through July 17) Lynn Neumans Look at Me (when I talk to you), a new work about moments that precipitate action or change, shares a program with the circuslike Origins. Thursday through July 17 at 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212)334-7479 $20, $10 students, 65+ and dancers. (Jack Anderson) BARD SUMMERSCAPE: MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY (Through Sunday) As part of this summer seasons theme of Copland and His World, the troupe dances Appalachian Spring, which Graham created to a luminous score by Aaron Copland, as well as Herodiade, to Hindemith, and Cave of the Heart, to Samuel Barber. Tonight and tomorrow at 8, Sunday at 3 p.m., Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., (845)758-7900, $25 to $55. (Anderson) DANCING IN THE STREETS: PAUL TAYLORS TAYLOR 2 (Through Sunday) The Taylor ensembles young second company offers samples of Mr. Taylors always diverse and often surprising choreography. Tomorrow and Sunday at 2 p.m., Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, East 47th Street between First and Second Avenues, Manhattan, free. (Anderson) ITS A DANCE THING, TWO! (Tonight through Sunday) Fifteen young choreographers present works in a summer showcase. Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., the Annex at La MaMa, 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212)475-7710 or www.lamama.org, $10. (Anderson) *MERCE CUNNINGHAMS OCEAN (Tuesday through July 16) Those who have reservations about Mr. Cunninghams choreography find it all pretty much the same: anonymous, small-scaled, determinedly abstract dancing with grating electronic music. Ocean is very different, a grand spectacle. In 1996 I presented its American premiere at the first Lincoln Center Festival. Now, for its 10th installment, the festival is bringing it back for an encore, this time not in Damrosch Park but in the new Rose Theater. Mr. Cunninghams last collaboration with his longtime partner John Cage, Ocean uses a musical score (realized after Cages death by Andrew Culver) for 112 droning musicians placed around the audience, with the dancers in the middle. Mr. Cunningham, true to his aesthetic, denies that he intended anything aquatic, but with blue-green costumes and lighting and David Tudors outboard-motor-like electronic sounds, it certainly seems that way. Tuesday through July 16, 8 p.m. Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212)271-6500, www.lincolncenter.org, $35 to $70. (Rockwell) NOCHE FLAMENCA (Wednesdays through Sundays) A fiery company headed by the passionate Soledad Barrio returns for an extended engagement, through July 31. Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 7:30 and 10 p.m., Sunday at 5 p.m., Theater 80, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212)352-3101, $40 Wednesdays and Thursdays, $45 Fridays through Sundays. (Anderson) TERE OCONNOR (Opens Wednesday) Dont be fooled by the title. Everythings fluid in Frozen Mommy, a study in evocative shifts of situation and characterization. Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212)924-0077 or www.dtw.org $20, $12, students, 65+ and D.T.W. members (Anderson). *JACOBS PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL (Tonight through Aug. 3) This venerable, idyllic rural festival is now in full swing. Tonight through Sunday Ronald K. Brown and his Evidence company, with jazz and Billie Holiday, will alternate with Rennie Harriss Puremovement hip-hop troupe from Philadelphia. Mr. Brown at the Ted Shawn Theater, tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m., tomorrow and Sunday at 2 p.m. $45; $40.50 for students, seniors 65+ and children. Mr. Harris at the Doris Duke Studio Theater, tonight and tomorrow at 8:15 p.m., tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. $20; $18 for students, 65+ and children. Wednesday (through July 17) Alonzo Kings Lines Ballet from San Francisco opens a run, alternating starting Thursday with Ben Munisteri and his six-member modern-dance troupe, in a program that includes a world premiere. Lines at the Shawn Theater, Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. $50; $45 for students, 65+ and children. Mr. Munisteri at the Duke Studio Theater, Thursday at 8:15. $20; $18 for students, seniors and children. Details of the weeks free performances and exhibitions can be found on www.jacobspillow.org. Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, 358 George Carter Road, Becket, Mass.; (413)243-0745. (Rockwell) PILOBOLUS (Opens Monday) Dancers bend like pretzels and tie themselves into knots in acrobatic choreography that stretches the performers bodies and viewers minds. Monday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212)242-0800 or www.joyce.org $42, $32 Joyce members. (Anderson) SITELINES: TOM PEARSON (Through July 16) Reel choreographically uses the rotunda of a former United States Customs House to comment on themes of dominance and reconciliation. Today, tomorrow at 2 p.m., Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, 1 Bowling Green, Lower Manhattan, (212)514-3888. free. (Anderson) VON USSAR DANCEWORKS (Through Sunday) A choreographer from Slovenia explores themes of personal perseverance. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7 p.m., Citigroup Theater, Joan Weill Center for Dance, 405 West 55th Street, Midtown, (917) 363-4229 $30, performance with reception, $15 performance only, $25 students and 65+, tomorrow; $15, $12 students and 65+, Sunday (Anderson) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums *AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: ANCESTRY AND INNOVATION, through Sept. 4. This selection of quilts, paintings, sculptures and drawings by several generations of self-taught artists jumps with color and talent and reflects a sharp curatorial eye. 45 West 53rd Street, (212)265-1040. (Roberta Smith) AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: SELF AND SUBJECT, through Sept. 11. From Grandma Mosess view of herself beguiled by infant descendants to A.G. Rizzolis rendition of his mother as a Gothic cathedral, this refreshingly offbeat show of 20th-century self-taught artists covers a vivid range of portraits. (See above.) (Grace Glueck) *BROOKLYN MUSEUM: LUCE VISIBLE STORAGE/STUDY CENTER Sleek vitrines house 1,500 objects from four departments, representing 15 centuries of art and design of the Americas. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, (718)638-5000. (Smith) BROOKLYN MUSEUM: MONETS LONDON: ARTISTS REFLECTIONS ON THE THAMES, 1859-1914, through Sept. 4. This polished and studiously dry show has a dozen of Monets wildly, paradisaically pretty paintings at its center, surrounded by images of London, many of them prints and photographs, by other artists, including James McNeill Whistler and figures now known primarily to art historians. (See above.)(Holland Cotter) COOPER-HEWITT NATIONAL DESIGN MUSEUM: EXTREME TEXTILES, through Oct. 30. Dont look for aesthetic pizazz in this intensely tech-y show of industrial fibers and fabrics, but dont rule it out. The shows raison dêtre is solely use, but a lot of whats on view, in the first museum display of material made to function in extreme conditions, is visually exciting. 2 East 91st Street, (212)849-8400. (Glueck) COOPER-HEWITT: HELLA JONGERIUS SELECTS, through Sept. 4. Shifting through the museums outstanding holdings in embroidered samplers, this innovative Dutch designer has selected a wonderfully reverberant show and also based a series of new wall hangings on sampler motifs. Their combined display diagrams the fraught but essential symbiosis of old and new. (See above.) (Smith) *EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO: MEXICO, THE REVOLUTION AND BEYOND, PHOTOGRAPHS BY CASASOLA 1900-1940, through July 31. This extraordinary show of work from a photo agency established by Agustín Victor Casasola in Mexico City has the span of a Greek epic and the nested themes and subplots of a picaresque novel, with revolutionary heroes and a vivid cast of everyday people. 1230 Fifth Avenue, at 104th Street, East Harlem, (212)831-7272. (Cotter) THE FRICK COLLECTION: FROM CALLOT TO GREUZE: FRENCH DRAWINGS FROM WEIMAR, through Aug. 7. This show sprints through French art of the 17th and 18th centuries and reveals it to be a phenomenon of varying moods and accomplishments. The 70 drawings, including some by Claude Lorrain, Watteau and Boucher, from the municipal holdings of the German city of Weimar. And many were acquired by that collections first curator, the great writer, philosopher and lover of all things French, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; 1 East 70th Street, (212)288-0700. (Cotter) *GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: ART OF TOMORROW, through Aug. 10. Appreciated more for her role as a founder of the Guggenheims forerunner, the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, Hilla Rebay (1890-1967) is finally given her due as a painter in a full-dress display of her work over six decades. This first chance to see it en bloc reveals a painter whose spirit, energy and invention, especially in collage, come as a revelation. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212)423-3500. (Glueck) *GUGGENHEIM: ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE AND THE CLASSICAL TRADITION: PHOTOGRAPHS AND MANNERIST PRINTS, through Aug. 24. This exhibition juxtaposes obsessively styled, drunkenly body-oriented art from the late 18th and late 20th centuries, achieving a fairly even rate of exchange in an unusually elegant installation. But the prints, having more to begin with, come out ahead and look remarkably fresh. (See above.) (Smith) *INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY: YOUNG AMERICA, through Sept. 4. The Dauguerreotype, an early version of photography, though invented in Europe, was a huge hit in the United States, and you can see why in these extraordinary pictures of a countrys political and intellectual elite and its well-heeled citizens. Taken by two members of a well-known Boston studio, each picture glows on the wall like a stone in a mood ring, or a computer screen floating in space. At 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, (212)857-0000. (Cotter) *JAPAN SOCIETY: LITTLE BOY, through July 24. Masterminded by the artist-writer-entrepreneur Takashi Murakami, this eye-boggling show traces the unexamined legacy of World War II as played out in Japans popular culture. With Godzilla and Hello Kitty presiding, it reveals how this culture was twisted and darkened by the otaku, or geek, subculture, which has in turn influenced younger artists. 333 East 47th Street, (212)832-1155. (Smith) METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: ALL THE MIGHTY WORLD, through Aug. 21. In one of the mediums shortest great careers, Roger Fenton helped establish photography as both an art and a profession in masterfully composed landscapes, portraits and still lifes that, for all their prescience, also express a profound ambivalence about the very notion of progress. Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212)535-7710. (Smith) *MET: MATISSE: THE FABRIC OF DREAMS -- HIS ART AND HIS TEXTILES, through Sept. 25. This somewhat scattered yet astounding exhibition demonstrates that as African sculptures were to the Cubists, so textiles were to Matisse, and revolutionizes the understanding of both his life and his work. (See above.) (Smith) MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN: DUAL VISION: THE SIMONA AND JEROME CHAZEN COLLECTION, through Sept. 11. A selection of fair-to-good paintings by artists like Hans Hofmann, Richard Pousette-Dart, John McLaughlin and Roy Lichtenstein and a collection of mostly mediocre ceramics and art glass create a disjunctive hybrid of an exhibition. 40 West 53rd Street, (212) 956-3535. (Ken Johnson) MUSEUM OF BIBLICAL ART: COMING HOME!, through July 24. A new small museum devoted to art related to the Bible gets off to a lively start with a big show of artworks by 73 untrained Southern Christian evangelicals. Many names familiar to followers of 20th-century folk and outsider art are on hand, including William Edmondson, the Rev. Howard Finster and Sister Gertrude Morgan. 1865 Broadway, at 61st Street, (212)408-1500. (Johnson) *MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: LEE FRIEDLANDER, through Aug. 29. A gigantic retrospective of this great photographer of the American vernacular scene, whose sly and haunting works (grungy cityscapes, wild landscapes, portraits and nudes) can put you in mind of Audens remark that every original genius has something a bit shady about him. In Mr. Friedlanders case, its a compliment. 11 West 53rd Street, (212)708-9400. (Michael Kimmelman) *MUSEUM OF MODERN ART:PIONEERING MODERN PAINTING: CÉZANNE AND PISSARRO, through Sept. 12. The marriage of minds, sensibilities and influences that Cézanne and Pissarro shared is the subject of this rigorous, beautiful show. Unlike its predecessor, Matisse Picasso, it is less a grand opera than a lieder recital of deep-running, summer-green Schubertian pleasures. (See above.) (Cotter) NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN: GEORGE CATLIN AND HIS INDIAN GALLERY, through Sept. 5. The portraits and landscapes here give an account of Plains Indian life in the 1830s in wonderful and sometimes harrowing detail. Viewing it is a remarkable experience. 1 Bowling Green, Lower Manhattan, (212)514-3700. (Glueck) P.S. 1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER: GREATER NEW YORK 2005, through Sept. 26. A youth-besotted, cheerful, immodestly ingratiating, finally disappointing survey of contemporary art, perusing a scene whose wide stylistic range, emphasis on drawing, persistent teenage infatuations and overall dexterousness are firmly entrenched characteristics of the marketplace. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718)784-2084. (Kimmelman) UKRAINIAN MUSEUM: ALEXANDER ARCHIPENKO, through Sept. 4. This rare retrospective of work by the Ukrainian-born sculptor opens the handsome, much-expanded new quarters of this museum. The most exciting part is a beautifully illuminated room of Archipenkos most radical pieces that inspired later artists like Henry Moore. 222 East Sixth Street, East Village, (212)228-0110. (Glueck) WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: REMOTE VIEWING, through Oct. 9. The vast information overload the world struggles with, scientific theory, technological data, geopolitical facts, historical material and on and on is whipped into visual cosmologies by eight painters of widely different approach and sensibility. If the premise is fuzzy, the show has some sharp art, including Carroll Dunhams witty Solar Eruption, a giant battered yellow sun that suggests a cell invaded by virus particles, its perimeter bursting with splatlike -- and sometimes unseemly -- extrusions. 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (212)570-3600. (Glueck) *WHITNEY MUSEUM: ROBERT SMITHSON, through Oct. 23. Who knows whether Robert Smithson is the most influential American postwar artist, as this show claims. Consisting mostly of drawings, photographs and films (Smithson didnt make that many sculptures, not ones that could fit into a museum, anyway), this is the first full-scale overview of him in the country. It is consequently dry but still compelling testimony to a great exuberance cut drastically short when Smithson died at 35 in a plane crash in 1973. Self-appointed spokesman for earth art, and scavanger of dirt, shells, slag and other materials from the industrial landscape, he helped to shove Minimalism, Conceptualism and Pop in various messy new directions during the 60s and early 70s. Today, in an era of crabbed imagination and short-term profiteering, the sheer chutzpah of an artist like him is instructive. (See above.) (Kimmelman) WHITNEY MUSEUM: BANKS VIOLETTE, through Oct. 2. In this labor-intensive installation, Romanticism, tragic violence and rock n roll are evoked as much by the detailed wall label as by the ghostly beams of a burned-out church made of gleaming salt. (See above.) (Smith) Galleries: Uptown JOAN MITCHELL SKETCHBOOK: 1949-51 The 60 pages from a single notebook document an eventful period in this American painters life, years that saw her moving between New York and Paris, and changing from a figurative to an abstract painter, consolidating a connection to French modernism, particularly to Cézanne and early Mondrian; and absorbing the spirit of the New York painters she felt closest to, Willem De Kooning, Arshile Gorky. Francis M. Naumann, 22 East 80th Street, Upper East Side, (212)472-6800, through July 15. (Cotter) Galleries: 57th Street RALPH BACERRA: OPULENT FIRE Beautiful and technically awe-inspiring new teapots by this Los Angeles-based ceramicist have organically shaped, multi-part bodies cast from tree branches and surfaces richly glazed in fine geometric patterns. Garth Clark, 25 West 56th Street, (due to renovations of the main lobby), (212)246-2205, through Aug. 12.(Johnson) ELIZABETH HEYERT: THE TRAVELERS A touching show of 31 nearly life-size portraits of black people, dressed to the nines but with their eyes closed. They are dead, it turns out, and lying in their coffins. The set and costume designer for their opulent repose is a Harlem mortician named Isaiah Owens, who upholds a fading custom still observed by some blacks, of paying respect to the dead by seeing them off in sartorial splendor. Photographing them, Ms. Heyert came to believe that the portraits were not about death but about peoples lives and their sharing of family, faith, traditions. Once you get over the startle factor, you can appreciate the elegance and restraint of her response to Mr. Owenss vision. Edwynn Houk Gallery, 745 Fifth Avenue at 57th Street, (212)750-7070, through July 23. (Glueck) OK/OKAY This entertaining two-gallery exhibition introduces 14 European artists whose works in nontraditional media tend to read like overproduced one-liners. Swiss Institute, 495 Broadway, (212)925-2035; and Grey Art Gallery, 100 Washington Square East, (212)998-6780, through July 16. (Johnson) Galleries: Chelsea SOPHIE CALLE: EXQUISITE PAIN Ms. Calles complicated, two-part installation telling the story of the painful end of a love affair in words and pictures is absorbing, but her programmatic intellectualism muffles the emotional dimension. Paula Cooper, 534 West 21st Street, (212)255-1105, through July 22. (Johnson) ELEVEN NGUYENS AND THE THIRTY YEAR LOSS The independent curator Trong G. Nguyen has conceived a novel and bittersweet way to celebrate the recent anniversary of the surrender of South Vietnam to the communist North on April 30, 1975. He has gathered together works by 11 contemporary artists who all share the name Nguyen, which is pronounced win. He contributes a cake with thick frosting of yellow paint and lettering that reads Happy Birthday War. Gallery, 547 West 27th Street, (212)564-4480, through July 30. (Johnson) EVERLAND This enchanting, 11-person show of fantasy landscapes assembled by independent curator David Gibson includes the watercolorist Russell Nachmans contemporary fairy painting; Ruth Waldmans delicately drawn web of mutant organs; confectionery table-top sculptures by Linda Ganjian, Kim Keevers constructed photograph of a scary, murky yellow mountainscape; and Sandra Bermudezs photograph of orchids whose petals turn out to be tiny Vegas showgirls. Annina Nosei, 530 West 22nd Street, (212)741-8695, through July 23. (Johnson) HOMOMUSEUM: HEROES AND MONUMENTS With multiculturalist monuments to all kinds of minorities in place, how about a National Gay Hall of Fame, celebrating gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered culture? This group show of 27 artists could have been sharper and more exploratory than it is, but has good work and packs a lot of history. Exit Art, 475 10th Avenue at 36th Street, (212) 966-7745, through July 30. (Cotter) *MOMUS AND MAI UEDA: ILL SPEAK, YOU SING From 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, Momus, the Scottish-born alternative-music legend, makes up stories, while Ms. Ueda, a Japanese performance artist, sings, comments and moves about. Zach Feuer Gallery (LFL), 530 West 24th Street, Chelsea, (212)989-7700, through July 15. (Smith) MONOCHROME IMAGE This show of single-color works in two and three dimensions include a mans suit, hat and shoes cast in pink rubber by David Baskin; a life-size giant squid of yellow crocheted yarn by Mary Carlson; an orange sculpture resembling a big clowns smile by John Monti; and a yellow wooden relief like a section of wainscoting by Francis Cape. Elizabeth Harris, 529 West 20th Street, (212)463-9666, through July 22. (Johnson) RICHARD STIPL: BLOC SABBATH A dark minded humanist and skillful sculptor, Mr. Stipl creates small, creepy, extremely realistic, painted heads of grimacing men with secret society emblems or images of famous women tattooed on their shaved skulls. An ensemble of 10 one-fourth-life-size nude men on a shelf represents a Boschian satanic ritual. Claire Oliver, 513 West 26th Street, (212)929-5949, through July 23. (Johnson) Other Galleries ANIMAL TALES This entertaining show presents paintings of all kinds of animals in all kinds of styles: fantasy creatures painted naturalistically, real animals painted surrealistically, cartoon hybrids and old-fashioned allegorical beasts. Participating artists include Catherine Howe, David Humphrey, Elizabeth Huey, James Esber, Anton van Dalen and many more. DFN, 176 Franklin Street, TriBeCa, (212)334-3400, through Sept. 2.(Johnson) JOHN BEECH Mr. Beechs elegant, subtly humorous sculptures conjoin Minimalism and utilitarianism; a tall, aqua-blue box, for example, looks like a container for parts in a factory that Donald Judd might have built. Peter Blum, 99 Wooster Street, SoHo, (212)343-0441, through Sept. 10. (Johnson) *MIKE BOUCHET The main piece in this show is a re-creation of Walter De Marias gallery-filling 1977 New York Earth Room, in this case made of topsoil from Home Depot and compost from Rikers Island. To fill the craftsy requirements of the present art market, there are Tom Cruise sculptures and paintings of soft drink labels upstairs. Maccarone Inc., 45 Canal Street, Lower East Side, (212)431-4977, through Aug. 28. (Cotter) ALLAN DESOUZA: THE LOST PICTURES New pictures by this conceptualist photographer meditate on the photograph as a memorial object. Mr. deSouza placed prints made from old family slides around his home, allowing them to become faded and abraded and to accumulate hair, dust and other debris. He then turned them into large, glossy digital prints in which the ghosts of the original images haunt the new, busily textured, semi-abstract surfaces. Talwar, 108 East 16th Street, Union Square, (212) 673-3096, through July 29. (Johnson) EXCEEDING PAINT/EXPANDING PAINTING In conceptual or formal ways, 14 artists subvert traditional painting. Approaches range from mildly rebellious -- as in Arturo Herreras fusion of Abstract Expressionism and Disneyesque cartooning painted on the wall -- to mildly offensive, as in Philippe Mestes semen-splattered mirror. Pratt Manhattan Gallery, 144 West 14th Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 647-7778, through July 16. (Johnson) VITALY KOMAR: THREE-DAY WEEKEND The work in Mr. Komars first solo show is more personal and less zanily satirical than the art he produced with his long-time collaborator Alex Melamid, but it does involve ingenious play with political and cultural signifiers. Ronald Feldman, 31 Mercer Street, SoHo, (212)226-3232, through July 29. (Johnson) JULIAN OPIE: ANIMALS, BUILDINGS, CARS AND PEOPLE Outdoor sculptures in a coolly understated neo-Pop style, including cars, animals and a group of white skyscrapers with grids of black windows. City Hall Park, Lower Manhattan, (212)980-4575, through Oct. 14. (Johnson) SYLVIA SLEIGH Ms. Sleigh is best known for the male odalisques she painted in the 1970s. The ones in this seven-decade retrospective are comical and embarrassing but still wonderful documents of first-wave feminism, and so is the large 1977 group portrait of members of the all-female cooperative gallery A.I.R. Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, (718)448-2500, through Oct. 2. (Johnson) *VISUAL GLOSSOLALIA LUISE This unusual show of mediumistic writing -- often imaginary and usually embellished -- includes works by eight mostly American self-taught artists and one extraordinary Burmese yantra book from around 1900. Ross Gallery, 568 Broadway at Prince Street, SoHo, (212)343-2161, through July 15. (Smith) Last Chance AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: TOTEMS TO TURQUOISE Jewelry dating to prehistoric times is used here to lend credence to contemporary works that are sometimes little more than glitzy knockoffs. Central Park West and 79th Street, (212)769-5100, closing on Sunday. (Smith) DANA FRANKFORT: WHATS SO FUNNY In her debut exhibition, this young painter tries to add her own twist to the long tradition of language-based painting by inserting familiar words and phrases into fields of bright, shiny monochrome color. Yes, Now and Halleluiah, spelled in blocky letters that fill the canvases, glide in and out of view. Brooklyn Fire Proof, 101 Richardson Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718)302-4702, closing on Sunday. (Smith) MET: DEFINING YONGLE through July 10. This show of imperial art in early-15th-century China is both perfect and messy. Its porcelain, metalwork, embroidery and ivory highlight the astounding craftsmanship of the imperial workshops under the Ming emperor Yongle, and reflect the miscegenation of Asian cultures at a time when most roads led to China, closing on Sunday. (See above.) (Smith) MET: MAX ERNST Despite and because of Ernsts being one of modernisms mystery men, he remains of interest, and there are intriguing things in this survey: from early Surrealist paintings, to near-abstract images generated by chance techniques, to the collage-style books some consider his masterworks. But only when he responds to specific events, like war, does his art snap into focus, closing on Sunday. (See above.) (Cotter) WOODS Works made of and about wood and trees include miniature firs in Styrofoam planters by Carin Mincemoyer; conflations of Minimalist form and furniture-making craft by Richard Bottwin; a walk-in spiral maze by Leo Berk; Caitlin Berminghams oddly creepy fake plants; Eric Kidharts faux-populist illustrations made using woodburning tools; and Justin Wittes white-on-white cartoon visions of bizarre woodland activities. Dumbo Art Center, 30 Washington Street, Brooklyn, (718)694-0831, closing on Monday. (Johnson)

NOTABLE BOOKS

This list has been selected from books reviewed since the Holiday Books issue of December 1999. It is meant to suggest some of the high points in this years fiction and poetry, nonfiction, childrens books, mysteries and science fiction. The books are arranged alphabetically under genre headings. The complete reviews of these books may be found at The New York Times on the Web: www.nytimes.com/books. FICTION & POETRY ABE. By Richard Slotkin. (Holt, $27.50.) A nervy historical novel about the first 23 years of Abraham Lincolns life; it concentrates on the riverboat voyaging that gave Lincoln his first real contact with slavery and conveys the hardships of frontier life in early-19th-century America.. List of notable books of 2000; drawings (L)

One Hundred Best Books; Chosen from the Publications of This Year in All Departments of Literature -- The Lists Classified. One Hundred Best Books One Hundred Best Books One:.HUndred Best Books One Hundred Best Books One Hundred Best Books One Hundred Best Books One Hundred Best Books :Pelect!qn even/alt:hpugh [tlie may One Hundred Best Books

The rapidly approaching Christmas season, with its gifts to be selected for so many varying tastes, brings with it the difficulty of deciding upon what articles will give the most pleasure to their recipients. This is, of course, a matter for personal consideration and decision; the chief qualification being that the gifts selected shall in some way express the individuality of the giver and also of the friends to whom they are to be presented.. Calendars for 1900; Literary and Artistic

US Supreme Court refuses to stop same-sex marriage in Alabama

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 9, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- The United States Supreme Court has refused to stop a federal court ruling requiring Alabama state officials to recognize homosexual ���marriage.��� The court announced early. Arguments are.

State chief justice: Dont bend to feds on gay marriage

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is going to the wall to oppose a ruling from U.S. District Judge Callie Granade ordering the state to impose same-sex ���marriage��� on its residents, contending in a letter to state. Not only is the Mobile federal court acting without constitutional authority, but it is doing so in a manner inconsistent with the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution.���... There was much opportunity for fiction in Biblical times.

John Kerry pushes Russia to accept peaceful solution in Ukraine

Yet Lees lawyer pushed back against that suggestion in an interview with The New York Times, saying Lee was extremely hurt and humiliated by the claim. She is a very strong, independent and wise woman who should be enjoying the discovery of her .

The Listings: Dec. 15 - Dec. 21

Selective listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the New York metropolitan region this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings BECOMING ADELE Previews start today; opens on Wednesday. Eric Houstons solo comedy about the coming of age of a Brooklynite (1:40). Clurman Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, (212) 279-4200. EXTRAORDINARY DECEPTIONS: A MAGICAL HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA Starts performances on Tuesday. Get sawed in half at this holiday magic show (1:00). Lion Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, (212) 279-4100. THE SCENE In previews; opens on Jan. 11. A buzz-maker at the Humana Festival, Theresa Rebecks new play is about an out-of-work actor who doesnt solve his problems by having an affair. Tony Shalhoub (Monk) and Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond) star (2:00). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 246-4422. Broadway BUTLEY In this uneasy revival of Simon Grays portrait of a toxic English professor, directed by Nicholas Martin, Nathan Lane fires off witticisms as if they were silver bullets with Made in Britain engraved on them. A less-than-perfect marriage of a first-rate actor with a first-rate play (2:30). Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley) A CHORUS LINE If you want to know why this show was such a big deal when it opened 31 years ago, you need only experience the thrilling first five minutes of this revival. Otherwise, this archivally exact production, directed by Bob Avian, feels like a vintage car that has been taken out of the garage, polished up and sent on the road once again (2:00). Schoenfeld Theater, 236 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE COAST OF UTOPIA: VOYAGE The exhilarating first installment of Tom Stoppards trilogy about 19th-century Russian intellectuals dreaming of revolution, this production pulses with the dizzy, spring-green arrogance and anxiety of a new generation moving as fast as it can toward the future. Jack OBrien directs a fresh, vigorous and immense cast, led by Billy Crudup and Ethan Hawke (2:45). Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, 150 West 65th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * COMPANY Fire, beckoning and dangerous, flickers beneath the frost of John Doyles elegant, unexpectedly stirring revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furths era-defining musical from 1970, starring a compellingly understated Raul Esparza. Like Mr. Doyles Sweeney Todd, this production finds new clarity of feeling in Sondheim by melding the roles of performers and musicians (2:20). Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * GREY GARDENS Christine Ebersole is absolutely glorious as the middle-aged, time-warped debutante called Little Edie Beale in this uneven musical adaptation of the notorious 1975 documentary of the same title. She and the wonderful Mary Louise Wilson (as her bedridden mother), in the performances of their careers, make Grey Gardens an experience no passionate theatergoer should miss (2:40). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED The comedy of manners, a form widely believed to be extinct in the American theater, has actually resurfaced on Broadway with all its vital signs intact in Douglas Carter Beanes breezy but trenchant satire about truth and illusion, Hollywood style. With the wonderful Julie White as the movie agent you hate to love (but just cant help it) (2:00). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) MARY POPPINS This handsome, homily-packed, mechanically ingenious and rather tedious musical, adapted from the P. L. Travers stories and the 1964 Disney film, is ultimately less concerned with inexplicable magic than with practical psychology. Ashley Brown, who sings prettily as the family-mending nanny, looks like Joan Crawford trying to be nice and sounds like Dr. Phil. Directed by Richard Eyre and Matthew Bourne (2:30). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) LES MISÉRABLES This premature revival, a slightly scaled-down version of the well-groomed behemoth that closed only three years ago, appears to be functioning in a state of mild sedation. Appealingly sung and freshly orchestrated, this fast-moving adaptation of Victor Hugos novel isnt sloppy or blurry. But its pulse rate stays well below normal (2:55). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * SPRING AWAKENING Duncan Sheik and Steven Saters bold adaptation of the Frank Wedekind play is the freshest and most exciting new musical Broadway has seen in some time. Set in 19th-century Germany but with a ravishing rock score, it exposes the splintered emotional lives of adolescents just discovering the joys and sorrows of sex. Performed with brio by a great cast, with supple direction by Michael Mayer and inventive choreography by Bill T. Jones (2:00). Eugene ONeill Theater, 230 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Charles Isherwood) THE VERTICAL HOUR David Hares soggy consideration of the Anglo-American cultural divide stars Julianne Moore (representing the Americans) and Bill Nighy (leading the British), directed by Sam Mendes. The Yanks dont stand a chance. With his irresistibly mannered performance as a laconic doctor, Mr. Nighy mops the floor with Ms. Moore. Actually, he mops the floor with Mr. Hares play (2:20). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) Off Broadway THE AMERICAN PILOT The fate of an injured American soldier hangs in the balance when his plane crashes in territory held by rebels fighting a regime backed by the United States. David Greigs play strives for the topical and the universal, but mostly gets hold of the generic (2:00). Manhattan Theater Clubs City Center Stage II, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. (Isherwood) ANNIE Daddy Warbucks and some elating musical numbers are the real stars of this holiday-season extravaganza about the beauty, fashion and socioecomic makeover of an eternally optimistic little orphaned redhead (2:30). The Theater at Madison Square Garden, (212) 307-4100. (Anita Gates) THE BIG VOICE: GOD OR MERMAN? Think of two gifted and smart gay men with years of life together deploying their considerable talents from the two pianos you happen to have in your living room. The result is a hilarious and very touching memoir of two decades of love and the funky glories of show business life (2:00). Actors Temple Theater, 339 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Honor Moore) CARRIE This deliberately cheesy comedy version of Stephen Kings prom-night horror story has an absurdist attitude, on-target performances and puppets that bleed (1:40). Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. (Gates) *THE CLEAN HOUSE Sarah Ruhls comedy about the painful but beautiful disorder of life has arrived in New York at last in a gorgeous production directed by Bill Rauch. Blair Brown and Jill Clayburgh delight as sisters with different views on the meaning of cleaning, and Vanessa Aspillaga is equally good as the depressed maid with little affection for her work but a deep conviction that a good joke can be a matter of life and death (2:15). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center, 150 West 65th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL This likable horror comedy based on Sam Raimis gory movies wants to be the next Rocky Horror Show. To that end, it offers deadpan lyrics, self-referential humor and geysers of stage blood (2:00) New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) THE FANTASTICKS A revival -- well, more like a resuscitation -- of the Little Musical That Wouldnt Die. This sweet-as-ever production of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidts commedia-dellarte-style confection is most notable for Mr. Joness touching performance (under the pseudonym Thomas Bruce) as the Old Actor, a role he created when the show opened in 1960. Mr. Jones also directs (2:05). Snapple Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT This production features the expected caricatures of ego-driven singing stars. But even more than usual, the show offers an acute list of grievances about the sickly state of the Broadway musical, where, as the lyrics have it, everything old is old again (1:45). 47th Street Theater, 304 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL A very funny if not terribly original satire of musical theater features what must be the worst backers audition of all time. The excellent duo Jeremy Shamos and Christopher Fitzgerald make the pitch (2:05). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212) 279-4200. (Jason Zinoman) * HOME Almost nothing happens in David Storeys Home -- except to those lucky enough to be in the audience, who are likely to find themselves profoundly touched by this portrait of four lost souls in a home for the mentally challenged or disturbed. The play hasnt been seen much since it was on Broadway in 1970, but the Actors Company Theaters production makes you wonder why. The performances by the four leads, Simon Jones, Larry Keith, Cynthia Harris and Cynthia Darlow, are simply exquisite. Samuel Beckett Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton; (212) 279-4200. (Neil Genzlinger) HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD AND FIND TRUE LOVE IN 90 MINUTES This refreshing musical, born of the Fringe Festival, about a bookstore clerk, a slacker, a diplomat and a terrorist, has witty songs, wacky performances and an untethered sense of fun (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) A JEW GROWS IN BROOKLYN You dont have to be Jewish or Brooklynish to empathize with Jake Ehrenreich, but in terms of fully appreciating his essentially one-man show, it probably helps. Especially the Catskills jokes (2:05). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, (212) 560-8912. (Gates) * KAOS Martha Clarkes clever compaction of a lengthy 1984 film of the same title, by the Taviani brothers, is based on short stories by Luigi Pirandello, set at the turn of the last century in his native Sicily. A beguiling if deadly serious blend of text, dance and music, adeptly performed and made more flavorful, if more exotic, by Ms. Clarkes decision to have the entire text spoken in Italian (1:30). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 239-6200. (John Rockwell) MURDER MYSTERY BLUES This musical adaptation of classic Woody Allen short stories comes off like a collection of loose parts (2:10). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200. (Zinoman) NO CHILD Teachers will love Nilaja Suns one-woman show about the challenges of teaching drama at Malcolm X High School (1:10). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) AN OAK TREE Tim Crouch plays a hypnotist in this elusive puzzle of a play about grief and the power of suggestion (1:05). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Zinoman) REGRETS ONLY Old acquaintance comes under siege in Paul Rudnicks chiffon-thin comedy about the varieties of love and marriage. But no one who sees this latest offering from one of the funniest quipmeisters alive is going to doubt that Christine Baranski is a one-liners best friend (2:00). City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. (Brantley) ROOM SERVICE The Peccadillo Theater Company puts a charge into this old comedy from the 1930s, thanks to a brisk pace by the director, Dan Wackerman, and a dozen dandy performances. David Edwards is the would-be producer whose bills threaten to swamp his efforts to put a show on Broadway, and Fred Berman is particularly fine as his director (2:00). The SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, South Village, (212) 691-1555. (Genzlinger) * STRIKING 12 A minimalist musical about an odd but rewarding New Years Eve in the life of a guy who hates New Years Eve. Performed by the indie pop band Groovelily, its fresh and funny, and features a standout pop score (1:30). Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER As the luscious (and lobotomy-threatened) damsel in distress in Tennessee Williamss famously lurid melodrama, Carla Gugino gives a gutsy assurance to a production that otherwise lacks compelling confidence. Mark Brokaw directs a cast that includes Blythe Danner, in a fascinating but misconceived performance as a smothering mother from hell (1:30). Laura Pels Theater, 111 West 46th Street, (212) 719-1300. (Brantley) THAT TIME OF YEAR Who would have thought that fruitcake jokes could still be funny? But three singing fruitcakes are among the daffy high points of this original musical revue, which surprises repeatedly by getting laughs from standard-issue seasonal themes both Jewish and Christian. There are clunkers, but you leave feeling that the seasons a bit brighter (2:00). Theater at St. Peters, 619 Lexington Avenue, at 54th Street, (212) 935-5820. (Genzlinger) 25 QUESTIONS FOR A JEWISH MOTHER This is the comedian Judy Golds fiercely funny monologue, based on her own life as a single Jewish lesbian mother and interviews with more than 50 other Jewish mothers (1:10). St. Lukes Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Phoebe Hoban) TWO TRAINS RUNNING Directed by Lou Bellamy, a rough-edged revival of August Wilsons 1992 play about the stark economics of life and death for African-Americans, set in a dying diner in Pittsburgh in the late 1960s. The pace drags in this production, but it remains a bracing reminder of Mr. Wilsons singular talent for making cold, hard numbers sing hot, molten blues (3:40). Signature Theater at Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 352-3101. (Brantley) THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE David Mamet has cleanly and cannily adapted Harley Granville Barkers 1905 play about corruption in the genteel world of Victorian finance. An excellent cast and a sumptuous production bring extra immediacy to a tale of embezzlement and entitlement that feels as fresh as tomorrows stock options (1:50). Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) Off Off Broadway NEVER MISSED A DAY A well-observed and sometimes funny play about a group of co-workers who are giving their souls to the company, and one who has lived to regret it. A good cast brings the characters to life, but their common beef against an unseen boss offers little in the way of conflict (1:30). The WorkShop Theater, 312 West 36th Street, (212) 352-3101. (Wilborn Hampton) TRUE WEST This perfectly pleasant new version of Sam Shepards sibling rivalry drama tries something new: understatement (1:35). Big Little Theater, 141 Ridge Street, Lower East Side, (212) 868-4444. (Zinoman) Long-Running Shows ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) AVENUE Q R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:10). Golden Theater, 252 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh, sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE COLOR PURPLE Singing CliffsNotes for Alice Walkers Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (2:40). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) JERSEY BOYS The biomusical that walks like a man (2:30). August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). Minskoff Theater, 200 West 45th Street at Broadway, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) SLAVAS SNOWSHOW Clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin stir up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart as well as tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Lawrence Van Gelder) SPAMALOT A singing scrapbook for Monty Python fans. (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE A Chorus Line with pimples (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance ALL THE WAY HOME The play won a Pulitzer Prize, but in this revival by the Transport Group it is Sandra Goldmarks simple, striking set that first gets your attention, and then keeps refocusing it during a show that runs almost three hours. Amid her doll-size houses, the human actors seem like giants, but as the play progresses, it becomes apparent that the characters they play are anything but. The acting is excellent, though the play, centered on a small domestic tragedy, doesnt have the punch it once did (1:35). Connelly Theater, 220 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101; closing on Monday. (Genzlinger) FLOYD AND CLEA UNDER THE WESTERN SKY Floyd and Clea are two country-western singers who strike up an oddball friendship in this gentle but seriously sentimental two-person musical, written by and starring David Cale (1:40). Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200; closing on Sunday. (Isherwood) HEARTBREAK HOUSE A ripping revival of Shaws comedy about the English gentry waltzing toward the abyss as the shadow of World War I looms. Philip Bosco, as the admirably sane madman Captain Shotover, and Swoosie Kurtz, as his swaggeringly romantic daughter, lead the superb cast, under the sharp direction of Robin Lefevre. Nearly a century after its composition, the play still sparkles with wit and sends a shiver down the spine too (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300; closing on Sunday. (Isherwood) HIGH FIDELITY This bland musical adaptation of the popular book and movie of the same title erases itself from your memory even as you watch it. Walter Bobbie directs a cast led by the affable and smooth Will Chase (2:00). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200; closing on Sunday. (Brantley) THE MILLINER Suzanne Glasss delicate play tells of a Jewish hat-maker who, after fleeing Germany and his beloved mother and business just before World War II, longs to return to Berlin. A vixenish cabaret singer is among the things beckoning him back. The lovely hats, both worn and used as scenery, will make the bare heads of 2006 long for the old days (2:30). East 13th Street Theater, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101; closing on Sunday. (Genzlinger) MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE A small, intense and loudly heralded one-woman drama that tells the true story of its title character, a pro-Palestinian activist killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli Army bulldozer. Yet for all the political and emotional baggage carried by this production, adapted from Ms. Corries writings and starring Megan Dodds, it often feels dramatically flat, even listless (1:30). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village, (212) 307-4100; closing on Sunday. (Brantley) OPEN DOOR Federico Restrepo and Loco 7s dance puppet music odyssey about the joys of immigration is striking and evocative, even if some specific messages arent altogether clear (1:10). La MaMa E.T.C. (Annex Theater), 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710. (Gates) POST MORTEM A grievance list of a comedy by the indefatigable A. R. Gurney, set in the near future, about the unearthing of a world-shaking play called Post Mortem by A. R. Gurney. Jim Simpson directs this likable grab bag of insider jokes, polemical satire and cosmic lamentation (1:30). Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101; closing tomorrow. (Brantley) TWO SEPTEMBER Mac Wellman calls a halt to his usual brainy wordplay in this surprisingly sober (and rather dry) historical drama that tells two tangentially related stories. The journalist Josephine Herbst recalls her struggles duing the blacklist years, while Ho Chi Minh meets with United States officials in 1945 to seek their aid in forming a new country from the ruins of postwar Indochina (1:10). Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101; closing tomorrow. (Isherwood) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. APOCALYPTO (R, 138 minutes, in Maya) More blood from Mel Gibson, but more Braveheart than Passion of the Christ. Ultraviolent entertainment, well executed (so to speak) but not very surprising in the end. (A. O. Scott) * THE AURA (No rating, 138 minutes, in Spanish) A heist, a case of mistaken identity and a lonely, epileptic taxidermist are at the heart of this melancholy, deeply satisfying noir exercise, the second and last feature directed by the Argentine filmmaker Fabián Bielinsky, who died in June. (Scott) AUTOMATONS (No rating, 83 minutes) Shot in silvery black and white with old eight-millimeter cameras, this shameless ode to 60s sci-fi depicts a blasted future where the few remaining humans wage a remorseless war of competing beliefs. With its retro look, cautionary theme and endearingly unsophisticated effects, Automatons leaves us with the comforting notion that the end of the world will look a lot like the beginning of television. (Jeannette Catsoulis) * BERGMAN ISLAND (No rating, 101 minutes, in Swedish and English) This documentary portrait of the great Swedish director, now 88 and living on the desolate Baltic Island of Faro, is extraordinarily revealing. In this extended interview, interwoven with fragments from his pictures, he recalls his life and loves and discusses his fear of death. The film underscores the intensely autobiographical nature of his art. (Stephen Holden) BLOOD DIAMOND (R, 138 minutes) The makers of this foolish thriller about illegal diamond trafficking in Africa, starring an excellent Leonardo DiCaprio, want you to know there may be blood on your hands, specifically your wedding finger. Too bad they havent thought through what it means to turn human misery into entertainment. (Manohla Dargis) BOBBY (R, 111 minutes) Emilio Estevezs picture, which follows a score of characters through the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 4, 1968, is full of noble ambition. The day in question ended with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, an event that hovers over the movie, even though Kennedy himself is visible only in archival clips. A huge cast (including Anthony Hopkins, Sharon Stone, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Lindsay Lohan and Mr. Estevez) labors to inject a collection of melodramatic anecdotes with portent and significance, but the individual parts of the film tend to be either overdone or vague and slight. (Scott) * BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN (R, 89 minutes) In this brainy, merciless comedy, a Kazakh journalist named Borat Sagdiyev, a k a the British comic Sacha Baron Cohen, invades America. America laughs, cries, surrenders. (Dargis) CASINO ROYALE (PG-13, 144 minutes) The latest James Bond vehicle finds the British spy leaner, meaner and now played by an attractive piece of blond rough named Daniel Craig. Zap, pow, ka-ching! (Dargis) DECK THE HALLS (PG, 95 minutes) In the holiday tradition of stale fruitcake, ugly snowflake sweaters and food poisoning comes this piece of junk, in which Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito compete to see who can annoy the audience more. (Scott) DÉJÀ VU (PG-13, 125 minutes) In Tony Scotts preposterous action flick, with Denzel Washington, the gaudy pyrotechnics are nowhere near as jaw-dropping as the screenplay that name-checks not one, not two, but three national tragedies. (Dargis) DHOOM 2 (No rating, 151 minutes, in Hindi) A slick and satisfying example of the new, thoroughly modern Bollywood, this cops-and-robbers tale is animated by old-fashioned star power. Hrithik Roshan plays the smartest and coolest thief alive, and Aishwarya Rai is the small-time crook who loves him. (Rachel Saltz) FAMILY LAW (No rating, 102 minutes, in Spanish) Exploratory variations on that old saw, Like father, like son, are the thematic heart of this third installment of the Argentine filmmaker Daniel Burmans semiautobiographical trilogy of films about fatherhood. The delicate, bittersweet comedy about the relationship of father-and-son lawyers prepares you for an eruption of high drama that never arrives. (Holden) * FAST FOOD NATION (R, 106 minutes) Richard Linklater has turned Eric Schlossers journalistic exposé of the American industrial food system into a thoughtful, occasionally rambling inquiry into the contradictions of contemporary American life. Three stories examine different parts of the capitalist food chain: illegal immigrants from Mexico work in terrible conditions in a meat-processing plant; a restaurant chain executive undergoes a crisis of conscience; and a teenage burger-slinger is drawn into political activism. Mr. Linklater covers a lot of ground, and the result is an unusually funny, moving and intellectually demanding movie. (Scott) * 51 BIRCH STREET (No rating, 88 minutes) The mysteries of ordinary life drive this moving, engrossing documentary, in which the director, Doug Block, tries to figure out his parents 54-year marriage. (Scott) FLANNEL PAJAMAS (No rating, 124 minutes) The twin specters of Ingmar Bergman and Woody Allen hover over this film, which might have been more accurately titled Scenes From a Mixed Marriage or Annie Hall Without Laughs. This smart, talky history of a relationship between two New Yorkers follows a Jewish theatrical promoter and an aspiring caterer with a Roman Catholic background from courtship to marriage to separation. (Holden) * FLUSHED AWAY (PG, 85 minutes) Sewer rats, singing leeches and whimsical British anarchy -- this computer-animated feature from Aardman Animations (Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run) is completely delightful. (Scott) FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION (PG-13, 86 minutes) This satire of pre-Oscar-nomination buzz in Hollywood is far and away the broadest comedy Christopher Guest and his improvisatory company have made. It is also the flimsiest, and unlike Mr. Guests earlier films, it has no airs of being a fake documentary. As farce trumps satire, the humors subversive edge is lost, along with meaningful character development, with the brilliant exception of Catherine OHara. (Holden) THE FOUNTAIN (PG-13, 96 minutes) Darren Aronovskys new film spans a thousand years, as Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman pursue undying love and eternal life in the 16th, 21st and 26th centuries. There is some lovely visual poetry, but the ideas are pure doggerel, an ungainly mixture of sci-fi overreach and earnest sentimentality. (Scott) HAPPY FEET (PG, 100 minutes) The director George Miller gets happy and snappy, then goes dark and deep, in a musical about an animated penguin who was born to dance. Take hankies. (Dargis) HERMANAS (No rating, 100 minutes, in Spanish) The ghost of 1970s Argentina haunts 1980s Texas in this perceptive and beautifully acted drama from the Argentine director Julia Solomonoff. After eight years of exile in Spain, Natalia (Ingrid Rubio) travels to Texas to visit her sister, Elena (Valeria Bertuccelli), a suburban wife and mother. Extensive flashbacks to the sisters teenage years during the military dictatorship reveal a rich vein of familial guilt and long-suppressed resentment. But the movie is most successful in the rocky emotional spaces in which the women struggle to reconcile over a chasm of political discord and unanswered questions. (Catsoulis) THE HISTORY BOYS (R, 104 minutes) The current of intellectual energy snapping through this engaging screen adaptation of Alan Bennetts Tony Award-winning play, set in a north England boys school in 1983, feels like electrical brain stimulation. As two teachers jockey for the hearts and minds of eight teenage schoolboys preparing to apply to Oxford and Cambridge, their epigrams send up small jolts of pleasure and excitement. How to teach and interpret history is the question. (Holden) * INLAND EMPIRE (No rating, 179 minutes) David Lynchs extraordinary, savagely uncompromised new film stars a dazzling Laura Dern as an actress who tumbles down rabbit holes inside rabbit holes inside rabbit holes. As cracked as Mad magazine, though generally more difficult to parse, the film has the power of nightmares and is one of the few this year that deserve to be called art. (Dargis) * LITTLE CHILDREN (R, 130 2:10 minutes) Todd Fields adaptation of Tom Perrottas novel of suburban adultery is unfailingly intelligent and faultlessly acted. Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson are superb as the parents of young children who meet at the playground and enact a two-handed variation on Madame Bovary against a backdrop of social paranoia and middle-class malaise. (Scott) * MARIE ANTOINETTE (PG-13, 123 minutes) In this elaborate, bittersweet confection, Sofia Coppola imagines the last pre-revolutionary queen of France (played with wit and charm by Kirsten Dunst) as a bored, pleasure-seeking teenager trapped in a world of artifice and rigid protocol. Dreamy and decadent, the film is also touching, funny and bracingly modern. (Scott) NATIONAL LAMPOONS VAN WILDER 2: THE RISE OF TAJ (R, 98 minutes) Britain and India face off in this strained attempt to transplant the American campus comedy to more uptight shores. Now graduated from college -- and sidekick status -- Taj Mahal Badalandabad (Kal Penn) heads to Camford University in England to pursue a Ph.D. and a bad reputation. While the screenplay dives into British history, and the camera dives into every cleavage in sight, the director, Mort Nathan, harnesses smut and silliness to an oddly innocent tale of true love. (Catsoulis) THE NATIVITY STORY (PG, 100 minutes) Nothing earthshaking, but a fine performance by Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary offers a glimpse of an interesting movie tucked inside what is otherwise an unsurprising and tasteful Christmas pageant. (Scott) RUNNING WITH SCISSORS (R, 116 minutes) From Augusten Burroughss best-selling memoir, this movie is a showcase of high-quality acting (especially from Annette Bening) without much in the way of dramatic coherence or emotional power. (Scott) THE SANTA CLAUSe 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE (G, 98 minutes) Ho, ho, ho? No, no, no. (Dargis) * SHUT UP & SING (R, 93 minutes) Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Pecks revealing documentary follows the Dixie Chicks around for three years as the group deals with the consequences of a remark by its lead singer, Natalie Maines, who said from a London stage that they were ashamed the president of the United States was from Texas. The movie is a fascinating study of the relationship between the media, politics and the music industry in an era in which pop musicians are marketed like politicians. (Holden) TURISTAS (R, 89 minutes) If stupidity were a crime, the nitwits in this cheap horror flick would be doing time in Attica. (Dargis) UNACCOMPANIED MINORS (PG, 89 minutes) The title doubles as an advisory. Your kids may like it; pick them up when its over. (Scott) * VOLVER (R, 121 minutes, in Spanish) Another keeper from Pedro Almodóvar, with Penélope Cruz -- as a resilient widow -- in her best role to date. (Scott) Film Series THE COMPLETE JACQUES RIVETTE (Tomorrow through Dec. 31) The Museum of the Moving Images 22-film retrospective of the innovative French New Wave director continues this weekend with four features. They include Merry-Go-Round (1983), starring Joe Dallesandro as a New Yorker in Paris, searching for a missing woman; and Divertimento (1991), Mr. Rivettes shortened version of La Belle Noiseuse, his own four-hour study of the artistic process. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077, movingimage.us; $10. (Anita Gates) FOX BEFORE THE CODE (Tonight through Dec. 21) Film Forums three-week retrospective of Fox Studios films that predate Hollywoods family-values-driven Production Code continues this weekend with seven movies. They include Looking for Trouble (1934), starring Spencer Tracy as a telephone company employee mixed up with crooks, and Week Ends Only (1932), with Joan Bennett as a young woman in financial need who takes up some questionable part-time work. 209 West Houston Street, west of Avenue of the Americas, South Village, (212) 727-8110, filmforum.org; $10. (Gates) FRANZ WAXMAN: MUSIC FOR THE CINEMA (Tomorrow through Jan. 17) The Museum of Modern Art is honoring Mr. Waxman (1906-67), the German composer who wrote the scores for Sunset Boulevard and Rebecca, with a 21-film retrospective, beginning tomorrow. This weekends films include Fritz Langs Liliom (1934), starring Charles Boyer as a womanizer who has difficulties in the afterlife; Hans Steinhoffs Scampolo, ein Kind der Strasse (1932), starring Dolly Haas as a homeless waif in Berlin; and James Whales horror classic The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), which featured Mr. Waxmans first original Hollywood score. Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400, moma.org; $10. (Gates) LOOKING IN/LOOKING OUT: DOCUMENTARIES FROM SCANDINAVIA (Tomorrow) Scandinavia Houses festival of documentaries from five countries winds up tomorrow with Nahid Perssons Prostitution Behind the Veil (2005), a Danish film about two Iranian streetwalkers and their children. It will be screened with The Clown Children, a 2005 Norwegian documentary about young street performers. 58 Park Avenue, between 37th and 38th Streets, (212) 879-9779, scandinaviahouse.org; $8. (Gates) THE RETURN OF THOMAS H. INCE (Monday through Dec. 29) The Museum of Modern Arts two-week tribute to Mr. Ince (1880-1924), the silent-era director, producer, screenwriter and murder victim (aboard William Randolph Hearsts yacht), began yesterday. It continues on Monday with films including The Bargain (1914), a western starring William S. Hart as a bad guy in need of redemption; and Hail the Woman (1921), a melodrama about a young woman whose puritanical father throws her out of the house. Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400, moma.org; $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. CORINNE BAILEY RAE, KEVIN DEVINE (Tonight) Even when she is griping that love is a type of loan with no dividends, it is hard not to be seduced by Ms. Bailey Rae, a 27-year-old British singer and guitarist who is this years breakout soul star. In a sweet, tissue-thin voice that can recall Macy Gray or Sade, she sings of sisterly rituals, loves lost and her choux pastry heart. Mr. Devine, once of the band Miracle of 86, has carved out a niche as a singer-songwriter in the Elliott Smith mold. At 7:30, Housing Works Used Book Cafe, 126 Crosby Street, near Houston Street, SoHo, (212) 334-3324, housingworks.org; sold out. (Ben Sisario) BOGMEN (Thursday) The fence-mending reunion thing worked well for 90s alternative giants like the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr., so what about the littler guys? A decade ago, the Bogmen were one of the biggest local draws in New York, mingling cynical lyrics with propulsive guitar riffs and the occasional funk rhythm. It was textbook alt-rock, but the Bogmen struggled to find a national audience and disbanded in 1999. The bands three-day revival begins Thursday at Webster Hall. At 8 p.m., 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 533-2111, bowerypresents.com; $50. (Sisario) CHAVEZ (Tomorrow) Did somebody say 90s New York alt-rock reunion? A decade ago Chavezs hefty, dissonant guitars and shy vocals fit right in with the music of Pavement, Archers of Loaf and Sebadoh. Now, with a new double album, Better Days Will Haunt You (Matador), collecting the complete works of the band -- it lasted only three years -- Chavez returns for this concert at Warsaw. Also on the bill is the aptly named Endless Boogie. At 8 p.m., 261 Driggs Avenue, at Eckford Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 387-0505, warsawconcerts.com; $15. (Sisario) CHEETAH GIRLS (Thursday) Behold the new teenage pop: it is female, its reference points are sexed-up strutters like the Pussycat Dolls and Christina Aguilera, and it has the Disney seal of approval. The Cheetah Girls began as a Disney Channel movie, and the groups latest album (the soundtrack to the sequel) opened in the Top 5. With Everlife. At 7 p.m., Nassau Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, Uniondale, N.Y., (631) 888-9000, nassaucoliseum.com; $26.50 to $42. (Sisario) CHILDREN OF BODOM (Sunday) From Finland, an exemplar of the operatically dismal but technically dazzling black-metal school. With Amon Amarth, Sanctity and Gojira. At 7 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, (212) 307-7171, nokiatheatrenyc.com; $22.50 in advance, $25 at the door. (Sisario) MARSHALL CRENSHAW (Wednesday) Mr. Crenshaws songs seem to roll off the guitar in a casual blend of pre-1970s styles -- folk-rock, surf-rock, country and above all the Beatles -- that put melody first. With his winsome tenor, he delves into the ways love goes right and goes wrong, from distant yearning to the aftermath of infidelity, hiding turmoil within the chiming tunes. With Matt Keating. At 8 p.m., the Tap Bar at the Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006, knittingfactory.com; $12 in advance, $15 at the door. (Jon Pareles) * THE EX (Tonight) Visits from this long-running Dutch band are too rare. Devoted to leftist political ideals, the group chocks its lyrics full of topical allusions and has been known to include 140-page books about the Spanish Civil War with its albums. Admirable, sure. But in concert the Ex is blessedly all about the beat: a brawny, anxious punk-funk that never releases its tension. The effect is unforgettably visceral. With Arbouretum and DJ/rupture. At 10, Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 653-1703, maxwellsnj.com; $12. (Sisario) * MICHAEL FEINSTEIN (Tonight and tomorrow night, Tuesday through Thursday) The strongest incarnation so far of the singer and pianists annual holiday bash, Home for the Holidays, a live variety show featuring a six-member band and three backup vocalists, is a perfect showcase for Mr. Feinstein to balance his two sides: a gregarious stand-up entertainer and an intimate crooner dreaming out loud. At 8:30 p.m., with additional shows tonight and tomorrow night at 11, Feinsteins at the Regency, 540 Park Avenue, at 61st Street, (212) 339-4095, feinsteinsattheregency.com; $75 cover and $40 minimum. (Stephen Holden) GOGOL BORDELLO (Thursday) With an untamed stage persona a bit like Iggy Pop and a bit like a paranoid Kafka protagonist, the singer-contortionist Eugene Hutz leads a cultural mash-up of dirty punk, raucous Gypsy music and vaudevillian theatrics. The band has been playing like theres no tomorrow for years now and shows no signs of slowing down or even taking a breath. At 9 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800, irvingplaza.com; sold out. (Sisario) GOOD FOR THE JEWS (Tonight) The tree has been lighted in Rockefeller Center and the department-store window displays have gone up, which means that its time for the annual ritual of comedians and rockers musing on the true meaning of being Jewish at Christmas. Among the witty reindeer joining the band Good for the Jews for this Hanukkah concert are the singers Lisa Loeb, Tammy Faye Starlite and Julian Fleisher, and the comedians Todd Barry and Rachel Feinstein. At 8, Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006, knittingfactory.com; $17. (Sisario) * KIKI & HERB (Wednesday) Fresh from a run on Broadway, the worlds most brilliantly perverse cabaret duo does its Christmas show, a highlight of which some years ago was a raucous medley of Smells Like Teen Spirit and Frosty the Snowman. At 8, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $20 in advance, $25 at the door. (Sisario) JOE LALLY (Tomorrow) Mr. Lallys smooth, muscular bass lines steadied the sound of Fugazi, the alt-rock granddaddies from Washington. His first solo album, recorded while Fugazi is on hiatus, was released this fall. With the Shondes and Rude Mechanical Orchestra. At 8:30 p.m., Lit Lounge, 92 Second Avenue, at Fifth Street, East Village, (212) 777-7987, litloungenyc.com; $6. (Sisario) RAY LAMONTAGNE (Tomorrow) A master of the breathy, apologetic croon, Mr. LaMontagne, a former shoe factory worker in Maine, has risen fast in the world of hypersensitive young singer-songwriters. His songs about trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble have also begun to dent the pop world, with cover versions by the American Idol winners Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Hicks. Also on the bill is Tristan Prettyman. At 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 307-7171; sold out. (Sisario) LOSERS LOUNGE TRIBUTE TO ELTON JOHN (Tonight and tomorrow night) As Nick Lowe said, youve got to be cruel to be kind. Joe McGintys enduring Losers Lounge series, now 13 years old, both honors and skewers pop greats with clever but usually over-the-top performances, and turns its attention here to Mr. John. At 7 and 9, Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, joespub.com; $25. (Sisario) MATISYAHU (Tomorrow, Sunday and Tuesday) Both the best and worst Hasidic reggae singer in the world, Matisyahu -- who grew up as Matthew Miller in White Plains and followed Phish before discovering orthodox Judaism -- plays a three-night Festival of Light series of concerts for Hanukkah, a week before his new album, No Place to Be, is to be released by Epic Records. Opening the shows are Mr. Lif and the Coup tomorrow, Ben Kweller on Sunday and John Browns Body on Tuesday. At 8 p.m., Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-7171, mcstudios.com; $32 in advance, $35 at the door. (Sisario) THE NEW DEAL (Tonight) Jam bands and electronic dance music usually call for different beats and different wardrobes, but their goal is the same: to make dancers happy with open-ended grooves. The New Deal brings both camps together, using human muscle to approximate computerized breakbeats. With Benzos. At 9, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $28. (Pareles) POPA CHUBBY (Tonight) Popa Chubby hails from the Bronx, but his heart is in steamy, rambunctious Chicago blues and its 1960s-rock spinoffs. In a gruff voice, he sings about characters like a sweet goddess of love and beer; his guitar solos coil and bite. With Irving Louis Lattin. At 8, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400, symphonyspace.org; $30. (Pareles) * RAINER MARIA (Tomorrow and Sunday) For a decade, this earnest and literate trio, which began in Madison, Wis., and moved to Brooklyn, could be counted on for big, urgent cries that sounded just a bit louder than the players were comfortable with (and thats not always a bad thing). Last month it announced that it would be disbanding, and these are its last concerts in New York. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., with Pela and Daylights for the Birds, at the Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; sold out. Sunday at 9 p.m., with the Jealous Girlfriends and Balthrop, Alabama, at Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103, northsix.com; $15. (Sisario) * LOU REEDS BERLIN (Tonight through Sunday) Mr. Reed performs his bleak and beautiful 1973 cabaret-rock album in full for the first time, with friends including Antony and Sharon Jones on backup vocals, and with sets and projections by Julian Schnabel and his daughter Lola. At 8 p.m., St. Anns Warehouse, 38 Water Street, at Dock Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn, (718) 254-8779, stannswarehouse.org; sold out. (Sisario) SAM CHAMPION (Tonight) This local four-piece derives its shambolic jangle from Pavement, singing about being aggressively lazy; the aggression comes in tense jabs of guitar that recall Neil Young. With Brian Bonz. At 8, Union Hall, 702 Union Street, at Fifth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 638-4400, unionhallny.com; $8. (Sisario) OUMOU SANGARE (Tomorrow) Ms. Sangare comes from the Wassoulou section of Mali, where women have a tradition of singing to entertain and instruct. Her group plays circular, triple-time vamps -- griot music tinged with funk -- as her voice soars above them, smooth and impassioned; backup singers spur her onward and dance, tossing bowls in the air. At 7:30 p.m., Aaron Davis Hall, City College, Convent Avenue at West 135th Street, Hamilton Heights, (212) 650-7289, carnegiehall.org; free, but tickets are required. (Pareles) TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA (Wednesday and Thursday) Christmas songs on mid-1980s rock steroids, for those who like their holiday spirit as bombastic as possible. Wednesday at 8 p.m., Nassau Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, Uniondale, N.Y., (631) 888-9000, nassaucoliseum.com; $33 and $49 ; Thursday at 8 p.m., Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, N.J., (201) 935-3900, meadowlands.com; $45 and $60. (Pareles) Z100S JINGLE BALL (Tonight) In an annual act of fealty disguised as holiday cheer, pop stars sign up for this concert presented by one of the radio stations that has helped them become famous. (Many other stations around the country have similar shows.) Playing short sets for Z100 (WHTZ-FM) -- er, for fans, that is -- are Evanescence, the Killers, Nelly Furtado, the Fray, Nick Lachey, Rihanna, the Pussycat Dolls and RBD. At 7:30, Madison Square Garden, (212) 465-6741, thegarden.com; $25 to $204. (Sisario) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. MOSE ALLISON (Tonight through Sunday) Mr. Allison is best known for his songs, which combine cosmopolitan wit with a folksy worldview. He enacts a similar fusion as a pianist and singer, recasting Delta blues in bebops hipster argot. At 7:30 and 9:30, with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $30. (Nate Chinen) BASSDRUMBONE (Thursday) The bassist Mark Helias, the drummer Gerry Hemingway and the trombonist Ray Anderson first began knocking about together as BassDrumBone nearly 30 years ago. They have a taut new album, The Line Up (Clean Feed), that once again proves the haleness of their rapport. At 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) CHRIS BOTTI (Tuesday through Thursday) Mr. Botti is a trumpeter whose photogenic style and brooding sensuality suit current notions of the standard songbook as a lifestyle accessory. But his low-gloss polish is generally likable, and he tends to stretch out a bit with his first-rate band. (Through Dec. 24.) At 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592 bluenote.net; cover, $50 at tables, $35 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) GERALD CLAYTON (Monday) Mr. Clayton was the popular favorite at this years Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, though he finished second. His robust and eloquent style finds a good showcase in this concert, organized by the Monk Institute. At 7 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street, between Greenwich and West Street, (212) 220-1460, tribecapac.org; $25; students, $15 (Chinen) CARLA COOK (Tonight and tomorrow night) A vivacious jazz singer with a growing book of original tunes, Ms. Cook performs with top-shelf accompaniment: Jon Cowherd on piano, Kenny Davis on bass, Steve Kroon on percussion and Bruce Cox on drums. At 8, 10 and midnight, Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 255-3626, sweetrhythmny.com; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) SYLVIE COURVOISIER AND MARK FELDMAN (Tonight) As a pianist and composer Ms. Courvoisier pursues intricacy and rigor; Mr. Feldman, a violinist, favors plangent intensity. They have worked well as a duo, perhaps most notably on a recent album of John Zorn compositions. At 8:30 p.m., Roulette at Location One, 20 Greene Street, at Grand Street, SoHo, (212) 219-8242, roulette.org; $15; students, $10; members, free (Chinen) LIBERTY ELLMAN (Wednesday) Mr. Ellman, a guitarist and composer with a taste for rhythmic convolutions, leads a dynamic trio with Stephan Crump on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums. At 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 929-9883, 55bar.com; cover, $8. (Chinen) FATBLASTER (Tonight) A confab of adventurous trumpeters, representing three levels of experience: Ralph Alessi, an accomplished leader and educator; Shane Endsley, a prominent recent arrival; and Eric Biondo, who seems most likely to have been behind the prankish name. The saxophonist Loren Stillman and the guitarist Ryan Ferreira fill out the group, so to speak. At 8:30 p.m., Center for Improvisational Music, 295 Douglass Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (212) 631-5882, schoolforimprov.org; cover, $10. (Chinen) * FRITH, HODGKINSON AND CUTLER (Tonight through Sunday night) In the 1970s the guitarist Fred Frith, the saxophonist and keyboardist Tim Hodgkinson and the drummer Chris Cutler were all members of the experimental British rock band Henry Cow. They reconvene not in the name of that band, but in the spirit of free-form interplay, and in various combinations. At 8 and 10, the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) LASZLO GARDONY (Tonight) On his most recent album, Natural Instinct (Sunnyside), Mr. Gardony matches his fluid pianism with a rhythmic undercurrent created by John Lockwood on bass and Yoron Israel on drums. The same trio plays here, in a room that rewards acoustic music of intimate scale. At 7, Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th Street, Chelsea, (212) 620-5000, Ext. 344, rmanyc.org; $20. (Chinen) * ROBERT GLASPER TRIO (Tuesday through Thursday) Robert Glasper is a pianist given to silvery flourishes and gospel intimations, though his deepest commitment is to the swirl of his trio with the bassist Vicente Archer and the drummer Damion Reid. The tenor saxophonist Mark Turner will make a guest appearance, but only on Thursday night. (Through Dec. 23.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $25; (Chinen) JOEL HARRISON (Tomorrow) Mr. Harrison, a versatile guitarist and prolific composer, presents The Wheel, a suite of five movements for a nine-piece ensemble. In addition to an improvising string quartet spearheaded by the violinists Mark Feldman and Christian Howes, his aggregate will feature sharp improvisers like the trumpeter Ralph Alessi and the alto saxophonist David Binney. At 8:30 p.m., Roulette at Location One, 20 Greene Street, at Grand Street, SoHo, (212) 219-8242, roulette.org; $15; students, $10; members, free. (Chinen) MARK HELIAS QUARTET (Tonight) Mark Helias is a bassist of adventurous temperament and great rhythmic assurance, as he demonstrates in a band with two longtime associates, the trombonist Ray Anderson and the tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, and a dynamic younger colleague, the drummer Nasheet Waits. At 10, 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 929-9883, 55bar.com; cover, $8. (Chinen) TONY MALABY AND PALOMA RECIO (Sunday night) The fine tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby brings a Spanish tinge to this ensemble with the guitarist Ben Monder, the bassist Eivind Opsvik and the drummer Nasheet Waits. At 7 and 9, Jimmys 43 Restaurant, 43 East Seventh Street, East Village, (212) 982-3006, freestylejazz.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) RUSSELL MALONE QUARTET (Tonight) One of the most gifted guitarists in the modern jazz mainstream leads a sharp young band with Stantawn Kendrick on tenor saxophone, Ivan Taylor on bass and Rodney Green on drums. At 8, 10 and 11:30, Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662, smokejazz.com; cover, $30. (Chinen) JOHN McNEIL/BILL McHENRY QUARTET (Sunday) The trumpeter John McNeil and the tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry focus on jazz obscurities of 1950s vintage in this resourceful and often delightful band, which holds a standing Sunday-night engagement at Biscuit BBQ (formerly Night and Day). This week their rhythm section consists of Chris Lightcap on bass and Jochen Rueckert on drums. At 8:30 and 10 p.m., Biscuit BBQ, 230 Fifth Avenue, at President Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 399-2161, biscuitbbq.com; cover, $5, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) * MICHAEL MOORE (Tuesday and Wednesday) A versatile clarinetist and saxophonist, Mr. Moore pays a visit from his perch in the Netherlands to perform with a handful of broadminded improvisers. On Tuesday that circle includes the saxophonist Rob Brown, the bassist William Parker and the drummer Gerald Cleaver; on Wednesday it features the keyboardist Jamie Saft, the drummer Kenny Wollesen and the bassist Trevor Dunn. At 8 and 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) IKUE MORI (Tonight) Ms. Mori employs electronic sounds with the agility of an improviser. Here she adds live video and explores Phantom Orchard, a collaboration with the experimental harpist Zeena Parkins. The Norwegian avant-garde vocalist Maja Ratkje performs a separate solo set. At 8, the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, thekitchen.org; $10. (Chinen) NEW LANGUAGES FESTIVAL (Tomorrow) Advancing an aesthetic ideal of cross-fertilization, this avant-garde Williamsburg series offers two compelling bands: a sextet led by the cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, featuring the multi-reedist Matt Bauder, the violist Jessica Pavone, the guitarists Evan OReilly and Mary Halvorson and the drummer Tomas Fujiwara; and John Heberts Byzantine Monkey, with Mr. Hebert on bass, Tony Malaby and Michaël Attias on saxophones and Nasheet Waits on drums. At 8:30 and 10 p.m., Rose Live Music, 345 Grand Street, between Havemeyer and Marcy Streets, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-0069, newlanguages.org; cover, $10. (Chinen) DAVID (FATHEAD) NEWMAN AND DR. LONNIE SMITH (Tuesday through Thursday) David Newman, the soulful tenor saxophonist long associated with Ray Charles, joins Dr. Lonnie Smith, whose unaccredited honorific has always been justified by his authority on the Hammond organ. Adding crisply to the conversation is the guitarist Peter Bernstein, a regular member of Dr. Smiths trio. (Through Dec. 24.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) IVO PERELMAN (Thursday) Mr. Perelman, a coloristic yet often fearsome Brazilian avant-garde saxophonist, joins forces with the bassist Dominic Duval and the drummer Newman Taylor Baker; in their later set theyll be joined by Rosie Hertlein on violin. At 8 and 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) POING (Tonight) This jittery new-music ensemble -- made up of the saxophonist Rolf-Erik Nystrom, the accordionist Frode Haltli and the bassist Hakon Thelin -- has recently been winning converts well beyond their Scandinavian base. They have a recent album, Planet Poing (Jazzaway), but this rare stateside appearance should be even more representative of their powers. At midnight, Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501, tonicnyc.com; cover, $12. (Chinen) RED HOT HOLIDAY STOMP (Tonight and tomorrow) In what has become a Jazz at Lincoln Center tradition, Wynton Marsalis heads up a Crescent City-style holiday celebration, with help from the trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, the banjoist Don Vappie and the drummer Herlin Riley, among others. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 721-6500, jalc.org; $37.50 to $127.50. (Chinen) ERIC REED TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow night) Sharp sophistication is a hallmark of Eric Reeds piano playing, the focal point of this trio with Gerald Cannon on bass and Willie Jones III on drums. At 7:30 and 9:15, Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 885-7119, kitano.com; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) SEX MOB AND ROSWELL RUDD (Thursday) Sex Mob, the rugged and irreverent quartet led by the slide trumpeter Steven Bernstein, has worked fruitfully with the beatific free-jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd; their self-described Holiday Spectacular should live up to promise of its name. At 8 and 10 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501, tonicnyc.com; cover, $15. (Chinen) TODD SICKAFOOSE (Tonight) Mr. Sickafoose is a bassist and composer equally fond of rough edges and rounded forms. Drawing from his atmospheric recent album, Blood Orange (Secret Hatch), he leads a seven-piece group that includes Russ Johnson on trumpet, Alan Ferber on trombone and Mike Gamble on guitar. At 9 and 10:30, Tea Lounge, 837 Union Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 789-2762, tealoungeny.com; donation, $5. (Chinen) JIM STALEY, IKUE MORI AND JOHN ZORN (Sunday) Raucous but rigorous free improvisation serves as a common language among Mr. Staley, on trombone, Mr. Zorn, on saxophone, and Ms. Mori, on electronics and percussion. At 8:30 p.m., Roulette at Location One, 20 Greene Street, at Grand Street, SoHo, (212) 219-8242, roulette.org; $15; students, $10; members, free. (Chinen) MARCUS STRICKLAND AND TWI-LIFE (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Strickland, a thoughtful young tenor saxophonist, issued a double album this year called Twi-Life (Strick Muzic), with each disc featuring a separate band. The one he leads here is the more ethereal, though it has a foundation in groove; its ranks include Lage Lund on guitar, Keyon Harrold on trumpet and Mr. Stricklands brother, E. J., on drums. At 9 and 10:30, Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $15; members, $10. (Chinen) TRIO M (Tonight) A three-part collective with one initial and many improvisational stratagems in common: Myra Melford on piano, Mark Dresser on bass and Matt Wilson on drums. At 9 and 10:30, Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $12, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) * CEDAR WALTON (Tonight through Sunday; Tuesday through Thursday) As a pianist and composer Mr. Walton pursues an articulate, almost courtly variety of hard bop. This weekend he leads his superb trio, with David Williams on bass and Lewis Nash on drums; next week they become a quartet with the addition of Vincent Herring, a fluent force on alto saxophone. (Through Dec. 24.) At 9 and 11, Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $20, $25 tonight and tomorrow, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JAMES WEIDMAN (Wednesday) Mr. Weidman, a pianist with a broad résumé and a graceful style, leads a trio with Cameron Brown on bass and Tony Jefferson on drums. At 7:30 and 9:15, Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 885-7119, kitano.com; no cover, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera LA BOHÈME (Tomorrow) Franco Zeffirellis overblown Bohème returns to the Metropolitan Opera for its regular airing. Rolando Villazón, the talented Mexican tenor, is a convincing Rodolfo, although his voice and charisma are somewhat dwarfed by the massive sets. Tomorrow his Mimì is Maija Kovalevska, the Latvian soprano who was one of the first-prize winners in the 2006 Operalia Competition, which Plácido Domingo runs for young singers. Anna Samuil is Musetta, and Peter Coleman-Wright ably sings her jealous lover, Marcello. Steven Crawford conducts. At 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $150 to $220 tickets remaining. (Vivien Schweitzer) * DON CARLO (Monday) The powerhouse tenor Johan Botha is a hefty man and a stiff actor. But he certainly brings the vocal goods to the title role of Verdis noble masterpiece Don Carlo, in John Dexters production. The winning cast includes Patricia Racette as Elisabeth, Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Rodrigo, Olga Borodina as Eboli and the astounding German bass René Pape as Philip II. James Levine conducts a magnificent performance. At 7 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $15 to $175. (Anthony Tommasini) THE FIRST EMPEROR (Thursday) A rare sighting: new opera at the Met. Tan Duns East-West fusion promises all the bells and whistles of a grand opera spectacle. Lets hope for the music too. At 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; sold out. (Bernard Holland) MÉDÉE (Tonight, Sunday and Wednesday) Call it garage opera. The Vertical Player Repertory performs in a small Brooklyn factory-turned-studio but has developed a following for its intense performances of unusual works. Darius Milhauds Médée, the last opera performed in Paris before the Nazi occupation, was so successful in November the company has brought it back for three more performances. At 8, Vertical Player Repertory, 219 Court Street, at Warren Street, Brooklyn Heights, (212) 539-2696, vpropera.org; $25. (Anne Midgette) RIGOLETTO (Tomorrow and Tuesday) The strong Spanish baritone Carlos Álvarez has taken over the title role of Verdis Rigoletto in the Mets revival of Otto Schenks grimly realistic 1989 production. Of special interest is the emerging Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja as the rakish Duke. Tuesday brings the Met debut in that role of a young Polish tenor, Piotr Beczala. Friedrich Haider conducts. Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $220 tickets remaining tomorrow, $15 to $175 on Tuesday. (Tommasini) DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (Tonight and Wednesday) The revival of Julie Taymors whimsical production of Mozarts Magic Flute continues tonight. Isabel Bayrakdarian uses her clear, expressive voice in a radiant portrayal of Pamina, while Nathan Gunn is a winningly animated Papageno. The rest of the cast, conducted by James Levine, includes Cornelia Götz as Queen of the Night, Robert Lloyd as the Speaker, Stephen Milling as Sarastro and Christoph Strehl as Tamino. Fanciful puppets provide plenty of visual stimulation. At 8, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $205 to $375 tickets remaining tonight, Wednesday $80 to $175. (Schweitzer) Classical Music AXIOM (Thursday) New and recent music at Juilliard is no longer a one-party system: last year, the New Juilliard Ensemble was joined by Axiom, a student-run ensemble devoted to 20th-century repertory. This week the group offers an orthodox, appealing concert of several titans: Xenakis, Stockhausen and Boulez, along with Milhauds jazz ballet La Création du Monde and Frederic Rzewskis Moutons de Panurge, which starts with the whole ensemble playing a single tune and degenerates like a game of Operator. Jeffrey Milarsky conducts. At 8 p.m., Studio 309, Juilliard School, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free. (Midgette) BARGEMUSIC (Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday) Tonight at this intimate floating chamber music hall, Olga Vinokur, a pianist, offers a robustly Romantic program, with Beethovens Sonata No. 10, Chopins Sonata No. 2, Medtners Canzona Matinata and Rachmaninoffs Études-Tableaux (Op. 39). Prokofievs Sarcasms add a touch of early contemporary spice. Tomorrow and Sunday a clarinet trio -- Julian Bliss, clarinetist; Julien Quentin, pianist; and Eric Jacobsen, cellist -- play the Brahms Trio in A minor and works by Prokofiev, Bernstein, Berg and Bloch. Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30; Sunday at 4, Fulton Ferry Landing next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083, bargemusic.org; $35, $20 for students, $30 for 65+ tonight only. (Allan Kozinn) BALTIMORE CONSORT (Sunday) This superb medieval and Renaissance quintet offers a Christmas program as part of the Music Before 1800 series. Included are carols and dances from England, France, Germany and Spain. For the vocal works, the ensemble is joined by José Lemos, a countertenor, and Danielle Svonavec, a soprano. At 4 p.m., Corpus Christi Church, 529 West 121st Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 666-9266, mb1800.org; $25 to $40, $5 off for students and 65+. (Kozinn) CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday) The Baroque Festival, planned by David Finckel and Wu Han, the husband-and-wife team serving as artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society, continues this week. Tonight, the violinist Ani Kavafian performs Bachs violin sonatas accompanied by Kenneth Cooper on harpsichord and fortepiano. Tomorrow, Colin Carr plays Bachs cello suites. On Sunday and Tuesday, the Society stays true to its annual holiday tradition with a concert of Bachs Brandenburg Concertos. Tonight at 7 and tomorrow at 4:30 p.m., Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church, 152 West 66th Street, Manhattan. Sunday at 5 p.m. and Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5788, chambermusicsociety.org; sold out. (Schweitzer) * ETHEL (Sunday and Thursday) The indie, rock-infused, postclassical string band Ethel, which has been drawing audiences to its gigs at Joes Pub, has another date there on Sunday evening, a collaboration with the self-described pixie songstress Jill Sobule. On Thursday, Ethel invites one and all to celebrate the winter solstice at the World Financial Centers Winter Garden with a performance of its site-specific, multimedia, semi-installation, quasi-theatrical concert piece In the House of Ethel. Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, joespub.com; $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Thursday at 7 p.m., Winter Garden, World Financial Center, West Street, south of Vesey Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 945-0505, worldfinancialcenter.com; free. (Tommasini) * RENÉE FLEMING, orchestra of st. lukes (Thursday) Rejoice Greatly: Christmas With Renée Fleming is the title of a holiday program with the Orchestra of St. Lukes at Carnegie Hall. High-minded concertgoers tempted to roll their eyes at this event should remember that great divas past like Anna Moffo, Eileen Farrell and Joan Sutherland gave Christmas concerts and made Christmas recordings. Moreover, this program has some musically rich and substantive offerings, including arias from oratorios and cantatas by Handel, Mozart and Bach, songs by Bernstein and Reger, instrumental works by Berlioz and Korngold, and the requisite Christmas carols, not to mention Leroy Andersons jaunty orchestral piece Sleigh Ride, which, admit it, everyone loves. At 8 p.m., (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $45 to $125. (Tommasini) MUSICA SACRA CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA (Wednesday) The venerable Musica Sacra under Richard Westenburg continues its long-lived tradition of Handels Messiah at Carnegie Hall. At 8 p.m., (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $20 to $120. (Holland) * NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Tonight and tomorrow night) David Robertson, the intellectually curious and technically adept conductor of the St. Louis Symphony, visits the Philharmonic with a compelling program built around the United States premiere of the Adriana Songs by the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, a cycle based on her new opera, Adriana Mater. The mezzo-soprano Patricia Bardon is the soloist. Also on the program are two Debussy works, La Mer and excerpts from Le Martyre de St. Sébastien, and Sibeliuss Night Ride and Sunrise. At 8, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nyphil.org; $28 to $96. (Kozinn) ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK (Monday) Early-music specialists may slim down their Messiahs, but the Victorians liked their Handel large and loud, and this venerable amateur chorus keeps that particular flame alive: it has sung Messiah at Carnegie Hall every year but one since the hall opened in 1891. Kent Tritle, a widely respected organist and choral conductor who is almost as ubiquitous as Messiah itself on New York stages, took over the groups leadership last year, and will conduct. At 8 p.m., (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $17 to $75. (Midgette) TRINITY CHOIR (Sunday and Tuesday) Messiahs in the New York holiday season are as ubiquitous as Salvation Army Santas. But Trinity Church offers one of the citys best. It features the relatively lean forces of its own choir, suitable to the smallish church, and the Rebel Baroque Orchestra, all conducted by the choirs director, Owen Burdick. Sunday at 3 p.m., Tuesday at 6 p.m., Trinity Church, Broadway at Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, (866) 468-7619, trinitywallstreet.org; $30 to $50. (Midgette) VIENNA CHOIR BOYS (Sunday) Founded in 1498 and counting Haydn, Schubert and the conductor Hans Richter among their illustrious graduates, the Vienna Choir Boys are still going strong. Here the talented young musicians, with pure, treble voices, offer a program of spiritual music from around the world, including a 13th-century Gregorian chorale, Mozarts Ave Verum Corpus, Charles Hubert Hastings Parrys Jerusalem, an Uzbek folk tune, a Peruvian/Quechuan hymn and Andy Icochea Icocheas Psalm 61. At 7 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $19 to $70. (Schweitzer) WEST-EASTERN DIVAN ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) Daniel Barenboims mixed youth orchestra from Israel, Middle Eastern Arab countries and Spain practices its musical metaphor for peace and cooperation with music by Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $18 to $48. (Holland) OXANA YABLONSKAYA (Tonight) The Chopin Society of New York presents an all-Chopin evening with this pianist. She will be joined by the cellist Dmitry Yablonsky, the soprano Inna Dukach and the flutist Sarah Brady. The program includes the Grand Duo on themes from Meyerbeers Robert le Diable for flute and piano, four songs, five mazurkas, the Cello Sonata (Op. 65) and the Polonaise Brillante. At 7:30, Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $35, $15 for students and 65+. (Schweitzer) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. * ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER (Tonight through Sunday, Tuesday through Thursday) This vibrant companys annual season has two highlights this week, along with the revolving programs of mostly stellar repertory, most of which include Revelations. On Sunday night the program will celebrate Renee Robinsons 25th anniversary as an Ailey dancer, with two items -- Grace and an excerpt from Sweet Bitter Love -- that can be seen only that night. And Tuesday will mark the first performance of the revival of Pas de Duke in its original duet form, after the one-shot version with three couples seen at the season-opening gala. Tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m., tomorrow and Wednesday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Tuesday at 7 p.m., City Center, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212, alvinailey.org; $25 to $150. (John Rockwell) Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (Tuesday through Thursday) The Trocks, as fans call this long-established group, are men in tights -- and tutus and pointe shoes. They can be very funny, but they have also won a reputation for real technical ability and knowledgeable restagings of ballet classics. Highlights of the two programs on offer this year are Léonide Massines Gaîté Parisienne, created for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1938, and Jerome Robbinss Cage, a chilling portrait of a female devouring its male prey that should be perfect fodder for this company. Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30, Thursday at 8 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, joyce.org; $44, $33 for Joyce members. (Roslyn Sulcas) CAMILLA BROWN AND DANCERS (Tonight and tomorrow) Ms. Brown, who aims at spiritual flight in dance grounded in modern, ballet and West African forms, will present her own work and dances by Darrell Moultrie and Roger C. Jeffrey. Tonight and tomorrow at 8, Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street between Houston and Spring Streets, (212) 334-7479, joyce.org; $20, $15 for students. (Dunning) DANCE AND PROCESS: DANIEL LINEHAN, MELANIE MAAR AND JILLIAN PEÑA (Wednesday and Thursday) The three choreographers, chosen by Miguel Gutierrez, show work developed over a seven-week group process of shared creation. Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m., the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, thekitchen.org; $10. (Dunning) DANCE AT DIXON PLACE (Tomorrow and Tuesday) Jody Oberfelder will offer a preview of new work (tomorrow), and Marcia Monroes Crossing Boundaries series will feature dance by Marija Krtolica, Sally Hess, the Roosters, Moeno Wakamutsu and Amos Pinhasi (Tuesday). At 8 p.m., Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, between Houston and Prince Streets, Lower East Side, (212) 219-0736, dixonplace.org; $12, $10 for students (tomorrow) and $12 or TDF (free) (Tuesday). (Dunning) LIZ GERRING DANCE (Tonight through Sunday) A spare movement vocabulary drawn from natural gesture forms the basis of when you lose something you cant replace, a collaboration with the artist Burt Barr. At 8:30, Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194, danspaceproject.org; $15. (Anderson) SCOTTY HERON AND HIJACK (Tonight through Sunday) Mr. Heron is a performer of irresistible, fearless and eloquent illogic. Hijack is a dance duo (Kristin Van Loon and Arwen Wilder) from Minneapolis. The three will perform in Stacked, Double Cow, which shares the bill with a piece called 3 Minutes of Pork and Shoving. At 8 p.m., Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101, ps122.org; $20; $10 for members. (Dunning) JUILLIARD DANCE DIVISION (Tonight through Sunday) The entire division will perform in a program of new works created for them by David Parker, Matthew Neenan, Doug Varone and Aszure Barton. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 3 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., Juilliard Theater, 155 West 65th Street, Manhattan, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free. (Dunning) * MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP (Tonight through Sunday) The Hard Nut, Mr. Morriss affectionate, off-kilter, 1970s disco-style version of this classic, still set to Tchaikovskys wonderful score, will return to this area for four performances at the flashy Frank Gehry-designed Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College. Today and tomorrow at 8 p.m., tomorrow at 2 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., Sosnoff Theater in the Fisher Center, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., (845) 758-7900, bard.edu/fishercenter; $25 to $65. (Rockwell) Richard Move/MoveOpolis! (Tuesday through Thursday) Richard Move is best known for channeling Martha Graham, but he also makes more serious dance-theater pieces. This program is a chance to see some of his older works in this vein, as well as Toward the Delights of the Exquisite Corpse, first shown at the Jacobs Pillow festival this summer. It combines several famous talents -- the visual artist Charles Atlas, the writer Hilton Als, the designer Patricia Fields -- and a bunch of talented dancers. At 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 691-6500, dtw.org; $25; $15 for artists, members, students and 65+. (Sulcas) * NEW YORK CITY BALLET (Tonight through Sunday, Tuesday through Thursday) George Balanchines prototypical Nutcracker continues until Dec. 30, with nine performances this week alone. It may be hard on its rotating casts of dancers, not to speak of the orchestra and the stagehands, but its magic for the audience. Sunday afternoon will offer a cast full of younger dancers in their roles for the first time, including Ana Sophia Scheller as the Sugarplum Fairy, Tyler Angle as her Cavalier and Sara Mearns as Dewdrop. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, tomorrow and Wednesday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 1 and 5 p.m., Tuesday though Thursday at 6 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 870-5570, nycballet.com; $15 to $110. (Rockwell) NEW YORK THEATER BALLET (Tomorrow and Sunday) The companys production of The Nutcracker, choreographed by Keith Michael, is childlike and just an hour long. Tomorrow and Sunday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212) 355-6160, fiaf.org; $30; $25 for children 12 and under. (Dunning) PARSONS DANCE COMPANY (Tonight through Sunday) David Parsons brings his high-energy company to the Joyce with two programs performed over two weeks. Highlights include The Nascimento Project, a new collaboration with the Brazilian musician Milton Nascimento; a revival of Ring Around the Rosie, last seen in New York more than a decade ago; and In the End, set to music by the Dave Matthews Band. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, joyce.org; $42. (La Rocco) * SARAH SAVELLI (Tonight) There is only one night to see Ms. Savelli, an Ohio dancer whom the tap diva Jane Goldberg describes as the Barbra Streisand of tap, in a program with guests including Ayodele Casel. Tonight at 7:30, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400, symphonyspace.org; $25. (Dunning) STREB SLAM (Tonight through Sunday) Elizabeth Streb and her fearless (we hope) high-flying, hard-crashing performers will present a new show, Streb SLAM 8: Extreme Action, complete with popcorn and cotton candy. Tonight at 7, tomorrow at 3 and 7 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., SLAM, 51 North First Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (212) 352-3101, strebusa.org; $15; $10 for children 12 and under. (Dunning) TRIBUTE TO BUTOH CELESTE HASTINGS AND MOENO WAKAMATSU (Tonight and tomorrow) Ms. Hastings, whose work blends dance, theater and Butoh, takes four womens dreams of the Amazon jungles as her metaphor in Amazonas. And Ms. Wakamatsu, who began her professional career in architecture, draws from Ovids Metamorphoses in this program honoring Butoh on the 100th birthday of Kazuo Ohno, a pioneer of the Japanese dance and theater form. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, CRS Center, 123 Fourth Avenue, at 12th Street, East Village, (212) 677-8621, crsny.org; $15, $10 for students. (Dunning) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums American Folk Art Museum: A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr., through Jan. 7. Few Early American artists painted more incisive and empathetic likenesses than John Brewster Jr. (1766-1854), the subject of a fine traveling show at the American Folk Art Museum. And few worked under such potentially limiting circumstances: Mr. Brewster was born deaf in an era before remedial help or a common sign language existed. The case the show makes for Mr. Brewsters physical conditions being reflected in his art is inconclusive, but the paintings are wonderful. 45 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 265-1040. (Holland Cotter) * American Museum of Natural History: GOLD, through Aug. 19. Having delved into pearls, diamonds and amber, the museum applies its time-tested show-and-tell formula to gold. An astounding array of art, artifacts and natural samples, larded with fascinating facts and tales, ranges from prehistoric times to the present. Stops along the way include pre-Columbian empires, sunken treasure, Bangladesh dowry rituals and the moon landing. It turns out that gold comes from the earth in forms as beautiful as anything man has thought to do with it. Central Park West and 79th Street, (212) 769-5100. (Roberta Smith) BROOKLYN MUSEUM: Watercolors by Walton Ford, through Jan. 28. This show assembles more than 50 of Mr. Fords large-scale watercolors of birds, animals, snakes and lushly exotic flora, produced since the early 90s. They frequently depict moments in which a wild animal encounters human culture, often to its detriment. Sometimes the threat is overt, as in pictures of animals and birds roped or wounded; in other images the sense is that some horrible violence has occurred or is about to happen. This artist imparts an environmental message, couched in a lament for the irreversible loss that occurs when a sense of ethics does not govern the treatment of animals. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, Brooklyn (718) 638-5000. (Benjamin Genocchio) * Frick Collection: Domenico Tiepolo (1727-1804): A New Testament, through Jan. 7. The 60 ink drawings by Domenico Tiepolo, son of the Italian master painter Giambattista, have a funny kind of jitter. They look as if they were maybe woven from hair-fine brambles, or done on a ride over rough ground, or in a state of agitated elation. Illustrations of episodes from the four Gospels, they are among some 300 drawings the artist did on subject in a project that seems to have been an extended exercise in personal piety. In them the Christian story of salvation becomes an operatic epic, gravely serious but with notes of homely sweetness: Jesus in Gethsemane delivers his aria of mortal doubt and pain high up on a bare stage, all alone; the Virgin Marys mother, Anna, aged and stooped, is cosseted by angel-nurses who guide her every step. 1 East 70th Street, (212) 288-0700. (Cotter) * GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso, through March 28. This show is carried along on its sheer star power and optical finesse. There are dozens of Goyas and Velázquezes and Zurbaráns and El Grecos and Riberas and Dalís and Picassos, many famous, many not. The big point is that Spanish art did not constantly reinvent itself over time. It was a bubble culture, sustained for centuries by its political and religious isolation and its national loner mindset. Velázquezs painting of a dwarf is alone worth crossing a continent to see. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3500, guggenheim.org. (Michael Kimmelman) * THE METropolitan museum of art: GLITTER AND DOOM: GERMAN PORTRAITS FROM THE 1920s, through Feb. 19. This shows 100 paintings and drawings are by 10 artists, among them George Grosz, Christian Schad, Rudolf Schlichter and Karl Hubbuch, and most conspicuously the unrelentingly savage Otto Dix and his magnificent other, Max Beckmann. In their works the Weimar Republics porous worlds reassemble. We look into the faces of forward-looking museum directors and cabaret performers, society matrons and scarred war veterans, prostitutes and jaded aristocrats who were watching their world slide from one cataclysm to the next. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Smith) * THE MET: LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY AND LAURELTON HALL -- AN ARTISTS COUNTRY ESTATE, through May 20. Laurelton Hall may have burned to the ground in 1957, but this exhibition does an excellent job of reassembling what remains of this extraordinary house-museum and its gardens, which Tiffany created for himself in the early 1900s. The Gilded Age opulence of the place, which occupied 580 acres overlooking Long Island Sound -- and of the Tiffany residences preceding it -- is conveyed most blatantly by the Temple-of-Dendur-size Daffodil Terrace, in wood, marble and glass. The main events are the glass windows, vases and lamps, where Tiffanys genius for color, love of the exotic and reverence for nature coalesce into an unforgettable mystical materialism. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Smith) * MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM: SAUL STEINBERG: ILLUMINATIONS, through March 4. Saul Steinbergs famous New Yorker cover positioning Manhattan at the center of the world may be his best-known drawing, but he took on everything -- Floridians, linguistic concepts, erotica, cowboys, Cubism, nature, architecture and women -- with visual puns, manic doodles, grandiloquent calligraphy and other inspired artifice. As this show of more than 100 drawings, collages and constructions, arranged in chronological order, goes on, Steinbergs progress is evident: from relatively simple cartoons like Feet on Chair (1946), in which a fellow reading a newspaper parks his feet on the seat of an ornate Victorian monstrosity, to complex comments on the state of the world, like Street War (Cadavre Exquisis) (about 1972-74), derived from news clips of postcolonial troubles in the Middle East and Africa. The flow of his work amazes. 225 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 685-0008. (Grace Glueck) * Museum of Modern Art: Manet and the Execution of Maximilian, through Jan. 29. This small, gripping, focused show reminds us of Modernisms mutinous, myth-scouring origins. And it does so by bringing one of arts great path-cutters, Edouard Manet, onto the scene, wry, politically infuriated and painting like Lucifer. Theres not a lot of him here -- eight paintings, three on a single theme: the death by firing squad of the Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian in Mexico in 1867. But its enough. Manets images, surrounded here by a riveting selection of prints and photographs, are electrifying, a new kind of history painting that turned an art of pre-set ideals into one of mutable and unpredictable realities. (212) 708-9400. (Cotter) * MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK: A CITY ON PAPER: SAUL STEINBERGS NEW YORK, through March 25. A very lively adjunct to the Morgan show, this smaller display of some 40 drawings focuses on New York. An architect, Steinberg was particularly attracted to edifices like the Chrysler Building, which appears here looming majestically over humble brownstones and in another incarnation, from a perspective directly below it, looking positively squat. New York people, in Steinbergs eyes, could be monuments, too. And no one ever fully appreciated the impact of upscale New York women until Steinberg the misogynist came along. Fur Coats (1951), portrays four expensive baroque pelts wearing four women, and its dead on. You may think you know Steinbergs work, but these shows make it new. 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, (212) 534-1672. (Glueck) * NEUE GALLERY: JOSEF HOFFMANN: INTERIORS, 1902-1913, through Feb. 26. An architect-designer who became an impresario of high taste in turn-of-the-century Vienna, Mr. Hoffmann was a believer in the Gesamkunstwerk, or total work of art, orchestrating useful objects with paintings, sculptures and architecture in a composition greater than its parts. His early, intensely 20th-century design program, based on the grid and the square, is evident here in the installation of four interiors he designed for wealthy Viennese patrons, replete with furniture, wall and floor coverings, textiles, lighting, ceramics, glass and metal work. Most impressive here is the dining room he designed in 1913 for the Geneva apartment of the Swiss Symbolist painter Ferdinand Hodler, a large, calm space with furniture that has a pre-postmodern look. Neue Gallery, 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th Street, (212) 628-6200. (Glueck) * New-York Historical Society: Legacies: Contemporary Artists Reflect on Slavery, through Jan. 7. Slavery, some would say, didnt really end in the United States until the civil rights legislation of the 60s, a century after the Emancipation Proclamation. Or the Emancipation Approximation, as the artist Kara Walker calls it in a series of hallucinatory silkscreen prints. They are among the high points of this large, powerful, subtle group show. 2 West 77th Street, Manhattan, (212) 873-3400, nyhistory.org. (Cotter) Studio Museum in Harlem: Africa Comics, through March 18. Intense is the word for this modest-size, first-time United States survey of designs by 35 African artists who specialize in comic art. The work is intense, the way urban Africa can be intense: intensely zany, intensely harsh, intensely warm, intensely political. The entertainment value is high. We are on familiar Marvel Comics ground with the adventures of the charismatic Princess Wella, a Superwoman with a ceremonial staff and braids, and the schlumpy but wily character named Goorgoolou from Senegal. But more often than not, humor is sugarcoating for varying degrees of disquiet, including images of jabbing violence. 144 West 125th Street, (212) 864-4500. (Cotter) Whitney Museum of American Art: Kiki Smith: A Gathering, 1980-2005, through Feb. 11. Many things fly and float in Kiki Smith: men and women, harpies and angels, birds and beasts, toadstools and stars. And some things fall to earth, or rather to the museums black stone floors, maybe to rise again, maybe not. The whole show, a midcareer retrospective, suggests a Victorian fairy tale, its tone at once light, grievous and dreamlike. But fanciful as it is, Ms. Smiths art is also deeply, corporeally realistic. It wears moral and mortal seriousness on its sleeve, if not tattooed on its wrist. It is about life and death, the essential things. 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (212) 570-3676. (Cotter) Galleries: Uptown * AMERICAN MASTERWORKS FROM THE MUNSON-WILLIAMS-PROCTOR ARTS INSTITUTE This Utica, N.Y., institution, celebrating its educational alliance with New York Citys Pratt Institute, is showing more than 75 paintings, drawings, sculptures and furniture pieces, from the 18th to the 20th centuries. A highlight is the original version of Thomas Coles moving allegory The Voyage of Life (1839-40), which in four monumental canvases compares the journey from childhood to old age with the winding course of a river. A smashing portrait of the Revolutionary War general Peter Gansevoort (about 1794) by Gilbert Stuart and a luscious still life of a steak and with a cabbage and a carrot by Raphaelle Peale (1816-17) are distinguished entries from the earlier part of the show. Post-World War II paintings by Pollock and Rothko add to the buzz. Hirschl & Adler, 21 East 70th Street, (212) 535-8810, through Dec. 29. (Glueck) * JOHN CURRIN The leading bad boy of figurative painting is trying his best to be even more provocative. While he usually paints in series, here he has many options under consideration: pornography, romance, still life, portraits of all kinds. The result is a Currin medley that functions as a kind of installation brought off with a new, somewhat vacuous facility. But the paintings with the most Currinesque goofiness and distortions are still the best. Gagosian Gallery, 980 Madison Avenue at 76th Street, (212) 744-2313, through Dec. 22. (Smith) * THE ODYSSEY CONTINUES: MASTERWORKS FROM THE NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART AND FROM PRIVATE NEW ORLEANS COLLECTIONS Nearly 100 European and American objects covering six centuries, from the New Orleans Museum of Art but also from private lenders, are displayed, ranging from the Venetian-born Lorenzo Lotto whose forceful study of an authoritative figure, Portrait of a Bearded Man (1530-35) is a highlight, to works by contemporary Americans. A showstopper is a full-length portrait of Marie Antoinette (about 1788), by Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun, in which the doomed French queen wears an enormous feathered concoction on the head she was eventually to lose. Sculptures by Rodin, Brancusi, Louise Bourgeois and Louise Nevelson are also part of the treasures on view. The show is a benefit for the New Orleans Museum, whose building -- though not its art -- was battered by Hurricane Katrina. Wildenstein, 19 East 64th Street, (212) 879-0500, through Feb. 9. (Glueck) Sigmar Polke Painting is mans oldest conjuring trick, and Sigmar Polke is one of its reigning magicians. In this show, new paintings and those from the 1980s, all two-sided and painted with resin, surround a small selection of German Baroque amber (Bernstein is German for amber) jewelry and exquisite tchotchkes. The paintings, made translucent by the resin, nearly defy deciphering. Doodles and abstract splashes of white paint overlay murky washes of glowing resin on both sides of their membranous support, then cast dim shadows on the wall behind, so that the pictures seem suspended in midair, floating. Michael Werner Gallery, 4 East 77th Street, (212) 988-1623, through Jan. 13. (Kimmelman) Galleries: SoHo SLATER BRADLEY: THE ABANDONMENTS This show features six new, contemplative video works by this 31-year old artist. In Dark Night of the Soul (2005-6), which invokes Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey, a figure in a space suit is shown wandering through the exotic scenery of the American Museum of Natural History after hours, to the poetic sound of a flute. The chic, odd camera angles suggest detachment, making the suited figure seem as if he were visiting some strange, remote world. Team Gallery, 83 Grand Street, (212) 279-9219, teamgallery.com, through Dec. 23. (Genocchio) Galleries: Chelsea Nathan Carter On the surface, Mr. Carters work is all about communication, transportation and networks. Big, sprawling sculptures and rough collages recreate the hectic spaghetti of subway lines and the intricate wiring of radio circuitry. The work itself cultivates the look of the amateur, the hobbyist with a ham radio or a backyard workshop and a jigsaw churning out crudely built constructions that look as if they might topple over at any second. At the same time, theres an offhanded vapidity to these references that suggests that they are little more than visual candy for the graphically attuned eye. Casey Kaplan, 525 West 21st Street, (212) 645-7335; caseykaplangallery.com, through Dec. 22. (Martha Schwendener) CHRIS DUNCAN: THE CONTINUED EXPLORATION OF PINK AND BROWN In his New York debut, this young artist from Oakland, Calif., continues the tradition of men who draw (and glue) by sewing that dates back at least to Alan Shields. His richly colored, semi-abstract works on paper, sometimes sewn together into expansive surfaces, combine geometric structures with scattered drips, accrue into playful but quietly magnetic mélanges of decorative and mystical, and East and West. Jeff Bailey Gallery, 511 West 25th Street, (212) 989-0156, through Dec. 22. (Smith) * GEORGE ORTMAN: EARLY CONSTRUCTIONS, NEW SCULPTURE In the late 1950s and early 60s, Mr. Ortman combined paint, canvas, plaster and wood into geometric reliefs whose every element was physically discrete. Hailed as exemplary specific objects by Donald Judd, they took some tips from Jasper Johnss flag and target paintings and gave others to Judds own work. Mitchell Algus Gallery, 511 West 25th Street, (212) 242-6242, through Dec. 23. (Smith) * TL SOLEIN: INSULATUS In these large, ingeniously-made works on paper, which combine stenciling, bright cutout collage and washy fields of color, Mr. Solein brings his considerable pictorial sense to bear on Moby-Dick. He borrows from 19th-century illustration and folk art as well as personal memory, creating intimate stage-set-like scenes that can evoke anything from puppet shows to Cubism. The results frequently dazzle and sustain comparison with equally well-sourced but better-known paper wizards, from Donald Baechler to Jockum Nordstrom. Luise Ross Gallery, 511 West 25th Street, (212) 343-2161, through Dec. 23. (Smith) Last Chance LUCIAN FREUD The latest efforts of this British painter conform to a certain Freudian formula. Whether nudes or portraits, most paintings make palpable the claustrophobia of the studio and its harsh light, the dead weight of the people posing and the continuous effort on the painters part to get things right. As usual there are occasional forays into the outside world and a rather startling self-portrait. The Painter Surprised by a Naked Admirer shows the artist with a naked female model clinging to his leg as he stands (clothed) poised to work on the very painting we are looking at. Acquavella Galleries, 18 East 79th Street, Manhattan, (212) 734-6300, closes Wednesday. (Smith) * Richard Hamilton This British artist, born in 1922, is famous for having coined the term Pop Art and for pioneering the aesthetic it defined. Yet he remains little known here. The Dickinson and Roundell show is his first New York career survey since 1973. Given its small scale, it cant help but be a scrappy affair, but it is a piece of history. Dickinson Roundell, 19 East 66th Street, Manhattan, (212) 772-8083, closes today. (Cotter) Paul Lee Queer coding has long been a protective necessity, a cultural binder and a source of pleasure, in art no less than in life. Paul Lee, born in London and in his early 30s, explores it in his fragile sculptures and gently prods its mechanisms without fully exposing or demythologizing them. He gives us the props associated with erotically charged environments -- back rooms, baths, parks -- but also preserves a quality of hiddenness, mystery. Massimo Audiello, 526 West 26th Street, No. 519, Chelsea, (212) 675-9082 , massimoaudiello.com, closes tomorrow. (Cotter) * THE MUSEUM AT F.I.T.: LOVE AND WAR: THE WEAPONIZED WOMAN. From a museum known for elucidating both the erotic and architectural nature of clothing design, this characteristically handsome exhibition examines the influence of garments of love and seduction (lingerie) and of war (armor and military uniforms) on modern and contemporary couturiers. The Museum at F.I.T., Fashion Institute of Technology, Seventh Avenue at 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 217-5800, fitnyc.edu/museum, closes tomorrow. (Smith) ARIC OBROSEY In these fastidious graphite drawings of woven and knotted threads, all the strands behave according to strict spatial and structural rules, even as they coalesce at the center into mandala-like circles or a wildly knotted disco ball. As they twist and turn they also evoke different cultures, materials and crafts. Care in making encourages care in looking. McKenzie Fine Art Inc., 511 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212) 989-5467, closes Wednesday. (Smith) Jeff Perrone Mr. Perrone was a charter member of Pattern and Decoration, the 1970s movement that officially turned craft into art and elevated visual extravagance to a high place. Compared to the ornamental painting and fabric pieces he is best known for, though, the work in this show is Minimalist plain: 46 small earthenware plaques hung edge-to-edge in a row, each painted flat turquoise blue with modest yellow border designs and hand-printed texts, manyof them bitingly topical. Silo, 1 Freeman Alley, off Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 505-9156, closes tomorrow. (Cotter) * Political Cartoons from Nigeria Most of the drawn and painted images in this show are single-panel lampoons of past and present social inequity and governmental corruption in Nigeria. Nearly all are by Ghariokwu Lemi, who is famous for having painted 26 superb, incident-filled album covers for the Afrobeat idol and political rebel Fela Kuti. For the occasion, Mr. Ghariokwu also introduces two of his younger colleagues, Comfort Jacobs and Lordwealth Ololade, to New York. Without resembling him in style, they follow his sharp commentarial lead. Southfirst, 60 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-4884, closes Sunday. (Cotter)

The Listings: July 22 -- July 28

Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings AMERICAN LIVING ROOM FESTIVAL Through Aug. 21. One of the more unpredictable summer festivals presents new and multidisciplinary work. This years theme is Carousel of Progress. Here Arts Center, 145 Avenue of the Americas, at Dominick Street, South Village, (212)868-4444. DEDICATION, OR THE STUFF OF DREAMS Previews start Tuesday. Nathan Lane and Marian Seldes star in a new Terrence McNally play about a couple who want to buy a theater in upstate New York. (2:15). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212)279-4200. EAST TO EDINBURGH FESTIVAL Through July 31. A mix of Fringe-style shows that include A Clockwork Orange and The Booth Variations. 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212)279-4200. HOSPITAL Closes Aug. 27. Axis Companys annual serial examines the inner life of a person in a coma. Every two weeks, theres a new 30-minute installment, but each works on its own. Axis Theater, 1 Sheridan Square, off Seventh Avenue, West Village, (212)352-3101. LENNON Opens Aug. 4. Latest jukebox musical (with a Yoko-approved biographical story of the beloved singer) boasts three rare and unpublished tunes to go with all your old favorites (2:10). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212)239-6200. LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL 2005 The chic-est festival of the summer puts a premium on cultural crosspollination. Among its offerings are the New York artist Robert Wilsons version of an Indonesian creation myth, I La Galigo; a show about the life and work of the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, created by Stephin Merritt, an American musician, and Chen Shi-Zheng, a Chinese director (and, incidentally, starring an Irish actress, Fiona Shaw); and the French master Ariane Mnouchkines epic spectacle about Iranian and Kurdish refugees. Through July 31. Sites in and around Lincoln Center, (212)721-6500. OEDIPUS AT PALM SPRINGS Opens Aug. 3. What hath gay marriage wrought? Find out in the Five Lesbian Brothers comic spin on Greek tragedy, which they are calling the feel weird lesbian tragicomedy of the year. (1:30). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212)460-5475. ONCE AROUND THE SUN Previews start Wednesday. Opens Aug. 11. A musician/wedding singer gets an opportunity to sign on a major label, but that will mean leaving his bandmates behind. A musical about selling out. (2:00). Zipper Theater, 336 West 37th Street, Manhattan, (212)239-6200. Broadway ALL SHOOK UP In a pint-size theater with a campy young cast, All Shook Up might be a moderate hoot. Inflated to Broadway proportions, its a mind-numbing holler (2:10). Palace Theater, 1564 Broadway, at 47th Street, (212)307-4100.(Ben Brantley) THE BLONDE IN THE THUNDERBIRD With nary a sequin in sight, Suzanne Somers, the ex Threes Company star and perky Home Shopping Network pitchwoman, gives a guided tour of the highs and lows of her personal and professional lives. Devoted fans may savor this no-frills, quasi-intimate audience with a favorite celebrity. For all others, caveat emptor (1:35). Brooks Atkinson, 256 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212)307-4100. (Charles Isherwood) CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG The playthings are the thing in this lavish windup music box of a show: windmills, Rube Goldberg-esque machines and the shows title character, a flying car. Its like spending two and a half hours in the Times Square branch of Toys R Us (2:30). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) THE CONSTANT WIFE A stylish production of a creaky 1926 comedy by W. Somerset Maugham. Kate Burton stars as a well-heeled English wife who scarcely raises an eyebrow at her husbands philandering, scandalizing her friends. Maughams dialogue isnt quite as witty as the brisk Ms. Burton and Lynn Redgrave, who plays her imperious mother, manage to make it sound (2:15). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212)719-1300. (Isherwood) DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS On paper, this tale of two mismatched scam artists has an awful lot in common with The Producers. But if you are going to court comparison with giants, you had better be prepared to stand tall. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz, never straightens out of a slouch (2:35). Imperial, 249 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) *DOUBT, A PARABLE (Pulitzer Prize, Best Play 2005, and Tony Award, Best Play 2005) Set in the Bronx in 1964, this play by John Patrick Shanley is structured as a clash of wills and generations between Sister Aloysius (Cherry Jones), the head of a parochial school, and Father Flynn (Brian F. OByrne), the young priest who may or may not be too fond of the boys in his charge. The plays elements bring to mind those tidy topical melodramas that were once so popular. But Mr. Shanley makes subversive use of musty conventions (1:30). Walter Kerr, 219 West 48th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) FIDDLER ON THE ROOF From the moment it sounds its first word in this placid revival, the voice of Harvey Fierstein (who has replaced Alfred Molina in the central role of Tevye) makes the audience prick up its ears. Whether that voice fits comfortably into the Russian village of Anatevka is another issue. But at least it brings a bit of zest to this abidingly bland production (2:55). Minskoff, 200 West 45th Street, (212)307-4100.(Brantley) * GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (Tony Award, Best Play Revival 2005) Highly caffeinated bliss. Watching Joe Mantellos hopping revival of David Mamets play about a dog-eat-dog real estate office is like having espresso pumped directly into your bloodstream. But whats a little lost sleep when youve had the chance to see a dream-team ensemble, including Liev Schrieber and Alan Alda, pitching fast-ball Mamet dialogue with such pure love for the athletics of acting (1:50)? Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200.(Brantley) JACKIE MASON: FRESHLY SQUEEZED Jackie Mason has so cunningly manufactured and marketed his dyspeptic comic persona -- the herky-jerky movements used to embellish the routines, the voice thats like a sinus infection with a bad back -- that he may soon be able to refine all actual jokes out of his act, and still slay em. Thats chutzpah. And quite a talent, too (2:05). Hayes, 240 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Love is a many-flavored thing, from sugary to sour, in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucass encouragingly ambitious and discouragingly unfulfilled new musical. The show soars only in the sweetly bitter songs performed by the wonderful Victoria Clark, as an American abroad (2:15). Beaumont, Lincoln Center, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) *THE PILLOWMAN For all its darkness of plot and imagery, Martin McDonaghs tale of a suspected child murderer in a totalitarian state dazzles with a brightness now largely absent from Broadway. Exquisitely directed and designed, The Pillowman features top-of-the-line performances from Billy Crudup, Jeff Goldblum, Zeljko Ivanek and Michael Stuhlbarg (2:40). Booth, 222 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) *PRIMO In his crystalline adaptation of If This Is a Man, Primo Levis memoir of the Holocaust, Antony Sher creates a portrait in which brutal memory penetrates the very marrow of existence. His great accomplishment is in doing so in an expressly theatrical language that never sensationalizes, lectures or begs for pity (1:30). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) SPAMALOT (Tony Award, Best Musical 2005) This staged re-creation of the mock-medieval movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail is basically a singing scrapbook for Python fans. Still, it seems safe to say that such a good time is being had by so many people that this fitful, eager celebration of inanity and irreverence will find a large and lucrative audience (2:20). Shubert, 225 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) STEEL MAGNOLIAS Despite an ensemble featuring high-profile veterans of stage, film and television, sitting through this portrait of friendship among Southern women, set in a beauty parlor in small-town Louisiana, is like watching nail polish dry (2:20). Lyceum, 149 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) SWEET CHARITY This revival of the 1966 musical, directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Wayne Cilento, never achieves more than a low-grade fever when whats wanted is that old steam heat. In the title role of the hopeful dance hall hostess, the appealing but underequipped Christina Applegate is less a shopworn angel than a merry cherub (2:30). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) *THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE The happy news for this happy-making little musical is that the move to larger quarters has dissipated none of its quirky charm. William Finns score sounds plumper and more rewarding than it did Off Broadway, providing a sprinkling of sugar to complement the sass in Rachel Sheinkins zinger-filled book. The performances are flawless. Gold stars all around. (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) *WHOS AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Everybody ultimately loses in Edward Albees great marital wrestling match of a play from 1962. But theatergoers who attend this revealingly acted new production, starring a superb Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin, are destined to leave the Longacre feeling like winners (2:50). Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) Off Broadway *ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). Dodger Stages Stage 4, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200.(Isherwood) BEAST ON THE MOON Richard Kalinoskis musty romantic drama depicts the fractious marriage of two survivors of the genocide of Armenians during World War I. Larry Mosss production is respectable and effective, but the performances by Omar Metwally and Lena Georgas are exhaustingly busy (2:00). Century Center for the Performing Arts, 111 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) * BORDER/CLASH: A LITANY OF DESIRES With razor-sharp cheekbones and two voluminous puffs of hair resting on top of a delicate wisp of a body, Staceyann Chin, the author and star of this new autobiographical solo show, is a caricaturists dream. Her appealing if not terribly original show follows her from a tumultuous childhood in Jamaica to New York City, where she starred on Broadway in Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam. (1:30). The Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, (212)307-4100. (Jason Zinoman) DRIVING ON THE LEFT SIDE Its called a reggae play, and the band Reggaelution is one of the best things about this story of an American womans fling with a Jamaican musician (watched by her father and his mother). Unfortunately, an actor plays the lead musician, which blunts the impact both of the band and of this too-pat play, which goes for laugh lines at the expense of credibility. (2:30). TBG Theater, 312 West 36th Street, Manhattan, (212)868-4444.(Anne Midgette) DRUMSTRUCK This noisy novelty at Dodger Stages is a mixed blessing. Providing theatergoers a two-foot drum on every seat, it offers an opportunity to exorcise aggressions by delivering a good beating; and on a slightly more elevated level, it presents a superficial introduction to African culture, lessons in drumming and 90 minutes of nonstop music, song and dancing by a good-natured cast. So, while literally and figuratively giving off many good vibes, it adds up to lightweight entertainment that stops just short of pulverizing the eardrums (1:30). Dodgers Stages, Stage 2, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200.(Lawrence Van Gelder) * FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT This production features the expected caricatures of ego-driven singing stars. But even more than usual, the show offers an acute list of grievances about the sickly state of the Broadway musical, where, as the lyrics have it, everything old is old again (1:45). 47th Street Theater, 304 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) LAZER VAUDEVILLE If this isnt an ancient showbiz rule, it ought to be: things will look a lot more impressive if they are done in the dark with a heavy dose of fluorescence. That seems to be the guiding principle behind this hodgepodge of juggling, rope twirling and such, delivered wordlessly by the cast (1:30). Lambs Theater, 130 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212)239-6200. (Neil Genzlinger) MANUSCRIPT Three talented, attractive young actors and some skillfully shaggy dialogue are the only reasons to see Paul Grellongs inconsequential play, a revenge tale centering on the theft of an unpublished manuscript expected to be of great literary merit. Implausibility is a big problem: there are plot holes here you could easily drive a hardback copy of Infinite Jest through (1:30). Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS! The musical is the happy narcissist of theater; parody is the best form of narcissism. All it needs are smart writers and winning performers. Thats what we get in this case (1:30). Dodger Stages, Stage 5, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200. (Margo Jefferson) *ORSONS SHADOW Austin Pendletons play, about a 1960 production of Ionescos Rhinoceros directed by Orson Welles and starring Laurence Olivier, is a sharp-witted but tenderhearted backstage comedy about the thin skins, inflamed nerves and rampaging egos that are the customary side effects when sensitivity meets success (2:00). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, Greenwich Village, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) THE PARIS LETTER Jon Robin Baitzs ambitious but schematic play is a morality tale about a misspent life and the dangers of sexual repression. Cleanly directed by Doug Hughes, it features a pair of excellent performances by the superb actors John Glover and Ron Rifkin. But Mr. Baitz gets himself trapped in the mechanical working of an overcomplicated plot (2:00). Roundabout Theater Company, at the Laura Pels Theater, 111 West 46th Street, Manhattan, (212)719-1300.(Isherwood) THE SKIN GAME A powerful performance by James Gale propels the Mint Theaters revival of The Skin Game. The Nobel Prize laureate John Galsworthys drama about two English families whose differences escalate into destructive conflict provides provocative and entertaining theater. (2:20) Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212)315-0231. (Van Gelder) SLAVAS SNOWSHOW Clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin are stirring up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart as well as tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, Flatiron district, (212)307-4100. (Van Gelder) *THOM PAIN (BASED ON NOTHING) Is there such a thing as stand-up existentialism? If not, Will Eno has just invented it. Stand-up-style comic riffs and deadpan hipster banter keep interrupting the corrosively bleak narrative. Mr. Eno is a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation (1:10). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) TWELFTH NIGHT Just because the Aquila Theaters broad, crowd-pleasing interpretation lacks subtlety doesnt mean that its not effective, in its way. Even if the costumes are a bit too cute -- are the oversize codpieces really necessary? -- the design is crisp and nicely realized, and the performances have more verve and clarity than most summer Shakespeare productions (2:15). Baruch Performing Arts Center, 25th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, (212)279-4200. (Zinoman) Off Off Broadway * BUSTED JESUS COMIX Based on the story of the only cartoonist ever to be tried and convicted of obscenity, this nicely performed 65-minute satire belongs to a rich dramatic tradition of turning dirty-minded artists into First Amendment heroes. David Johnstons script touches on the trial and fills out an invented biography that gives the play a satisfying arc. Access Theater , 380 Broadway, at White Street, TriBeCa, (212)868-4444. (Zinoman) TOP TEN Peter Gil-Sheridans Top Ten is a paint-by-the-numbers series of stereotypes. The cardboard characters and predictable permutations are, in fact, actually numbered. Each vignette is presented as a sort of plot equation that never really adds up. This two-hours-plus theatrical lottery may soon make you feel in need of a remedial math course. Top Ten is even less than the sum of its parts. Sanford Meisner Theater, 164 11th Avenue, near 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212)868-4444. ( Phoebe Hoban) 15 SCREEN PLAY A.R. Gurneys gleefully partisan retooling of the film Casablanca sets one tough saloon owners battle between idealism and cynicism in Buffalo in the 21st century. Staged by Jim Simpson as a deftly orchestrated reading, Screen Play turns out to be more than a quick collegiate caper; its a morally indignant work that fights frivolity with frivolity (1:10). Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212)352-3101.(Brantley) Long-Running Shows BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh -- sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4747. (Brantley) BLUE MAN GROUP Conceptual art as family entertainment (1:45). Astor Place Theater, 434 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212)254-4370. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador, 219 West 49th Street, Manhattan, (212)239-6200.(Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) MOVIN OUT The miracle dance musical that makes Billy Joel cool (2:00). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4100.(Brantley) NAKED BOYS SINGING Thats who they are. Thats what they do (1:05). Julia Miles Theater, 414 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200. (Anita Gates) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) STOMP And the beat goes on (and on), with percussion unlimited (1:30). Orpheum Theater, Second Avenue at Eighth Street, East Village, (212)477-2477. (Brantley) Last Chance BOOCOCKS HOUSE OF BASEBALL Paul Boocock finds beauty in great moments from New York Yankee history, and he hates President Bush, but his attempt to merge these two preoccupations into a one-man show is as lame and listless as the 2005 Yankee pitching staff (1:00). Closes tomorrow. Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212)352-3101.(Genzlinger). THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND Tom Stoppard acts out nearly every playwrights occasional fantasy -- killing off a few obnoxious theater critics. Indeed, by the time this 80-minute farcical whodunit ends, the critics within the play-within-a-play have already hoisted themselves by their own verbal petards, but Mr. Stoppard -- himself a former critic -- isnt satisfied until hes totally shot them down. While the meta-twists embellishing this deliberately creaky mystery are somewhat stale after three decades, the Performers Access Studio, a troupe of professional actors with disabilities, gives a sprightly rendition of this early Stoppard confection (1:10). Closes Sunday. Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, at 10th Street, East Village, (212)254-1109. (Hoban) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. *BATMAN BEGINS (PG-13, 137 minutes) Conceived in the shadow of American pop rather than in its bright light, this tense, effective iteration of Bob Kanes original comic book owes its power and pleasures to a director (Christopher Nolan) who takes his material seriously and to a star (a terrific Christian Bale) who shoulders that seriousness with ease. Batman Begins is the seventh live-action film to take on the comic-book legend and the first to usher it into the kingdom of movie myth. (Manohla Dargis) *THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED (No rating, 107 minutes) This electrifying French film is the story of an enforcer and would-be concert pianist that hinges on the struggle between the two sides of the male animal, the beauty and the beast. For the adult moviegoer, the film is a well-timed gift; its also essential viewing. (Dargis) THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY (R, 125 minutes, in English and Vietnamese) A young man leaves Vietnam hoping to find his father, an American soldier. Earnest and sometimes clumsy, but also affecting. (A.O. Scott) BEWITCHED (PG-13, 90 minutes) Nicole Kidman stars as a real nose-twitching witch cast in a sitcom redo of Bewitched. The movie is agreeably watchable for an hour, so its too bad that the director Nora Ephron forgot that a gimmick is no substitute for a screenplay, never mind a real movie. (Dargis) * CATERINA IN THE BIG CITY (No rating, 106 minutes, in Italian) In this contemporary political allegory from Italy, a disgruntled teacher and his family move from the country to Rome, where his 12-year-old daughter finds herself the object of a furious tug of war between two cliques, one left wing and bohemian, the other right wing and materialist. Bold, richly textured and entertaining.(Stephen Holden) CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (PG, 116 minutes) Flawed but fascinating. Some of the departures from the book will make Roald Dahl fans roll their eyes, but some of the visuals will make their eyes (and everyone elses) pop. (Scott) CINDERELLA MAN (PG-13, 144 minutes) The best parts of Ron Howards ingratiating Depression-era weepie about the boxing underdog-turned-topdog James J. Braddock are, unsurprisingly, Russell Crowe and Paul Giamatti, actors who could steal a movie from a basket of mewling kittens and an army of rosy-cheeked orphans. Renée Zellweger also stars. (Dargis) CRÓNICAS (R, 98 minutes, in Spanish and English) John Leguizamo is an ambitious, unscrupulous Miami reporter for a tabloid television show on the track of a serial murderer of children in an Ecuadorian village. (Holden) DARK WATER (PG-13, 104 minutes) Make that dark, stagnant water.(Dargis) FANTASTIC FOUR (PG-13, 105 minutes) Mediocre at best. (Scott) *GEORGE A. ROMEROS LAND OF THE DEAD (R, 94 minutes) An excellent freakout of a movie in which the living and the zombies alternate between their roles as hunters and hunted. The twist here is that as the walking dead have grown progressively more human, the living have slowly lost touch with their humanity. You wont go home hungry.(Dargis) * HAPPY ENDINGS (R, 130 minutes) An ensemble piece about a miscellany of Angelenos bumping against one another with love and in anger, Don Rooss slyly subversive new movie is a drama disguised as a wisp of a comedy, and a road map to the way we live now. With Lisa Kudrow and the sublime Maggie Gyllenhaal. (Dargis) HERBIE: FULLY LOADED (G, 95 minutes) Herbie: Fully Loaded is a perfectly silly movie for a silly season that in recent years has forgotten how to be this silly. Lindsay Lohan, who combines a tomboyish spunk with a sexy, head-turning strut, gives it a charismatic star boost. (Holden) THE HONEYMOONERS (PG-13, 90 minutes) Not the greatest, baby, but not as bad as it might have been. (Scott) *HOWLS MOVING CASTLE (PG, 118 minutes) The latest animated enchantment from Hayao Miyazaki. Lovely to look at, full of heart and mystery. ( Scott) KICKING AND SCREAMING (PG, 90 minutes) A so-so family sports comedy with Will Ferrell acting goofy, and Robert Duvall (as the father of Mr. Ferrells character and a rival youth soccer coach) parodying his performance in The Great Santini. The story follows a venerable Hollywood formula: its lesson is that winning isnt everything, but of course once you learn this lesson, youll win big, anyway. (Scott) LADIES IN LAVENDER (PG-13, 104 minutes) Two dames of the British empire (Judi Dench and Maggie Smith) inhabit spinster sisters in Cornwall who nurse a handsome Polish violinist back to health in 1936. Amiably bogus. (Holden) MADAGASCAR (PG, 86 minutes) Like many computer-animated features, this one, about four celebrity-voiced animals exiled from the Central Park Zoo, expends most of its imaginative resources on clever visuals. These, in the end, are not enough to compensate for the lack of interesting narrative, real characters or jokes on subjects other than flatulence, excrement and contemporary pop culture. (Scott) MAD HOT BALLROOM (PG, 105 minutes) This documentary follows fifth graders from three very different New York City public schools as they prepare to compete in a ballroom dancing tournament. The sight of 10-year-olds trying to master the graceful, grown-up motions of the fox trot and the tango is charming, and the glimpses of their lives in and outside of school are fascinating, though unfortunately the film offers little more than glimpses. (Scott) *MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (G, 80 minutes) This sentimental but riveting documentary follows the one-year mating cycle of emperor penguins in Antarctica when they leave the ocean and march inland to breed and lay eggs. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, the film has no qualms about playing on our emotions. (Holden) MR. AND MRS. SMITH (PG-13, 112 minutes) What counts in a movie like this are stars so dazzling that we wont really notice or at least mind the cut-rate writing (from Simon Kinberg) and occasionally incoherent action (from the director Doug Liman). Sometimes Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie succeed in their mutual role as sucker bait, sometimes they dont, which is why their new joint venture is alternately a goof and a drag. (Dargis) MONSTER-IN-LAW (PG-13, 102 minutes) Jane Fonda finds a zany, good-natured verve in a dragon-lady caricature that mirrors a comedy so desperate to avoid offending that it runs in panic from every issue it brings up but refuses to address. (Holden) *MURDERBALL (R, 86 minutes) The brutal, highly competitive sport of wheelchair rugby is the subject of the exciting and uplifting (but never mawkish) documentary about the redemptive power of fierce athletic competition. (Holden) *MYSTERIOUS SKIN (Not rated, 99 minutes) Gregg Araki, onetime bad boy of the New Queer Cinema, has made a heartbreaking and surpassingly beautiful film out of Scott Heims clear-eyed novel about two Kansas boys dealing with the consequences of their sexual abuse by a Little League coach. Superb performances, especially by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (Scott) *RIZE (PG-13, 85 minutes) A documentary about clowners and krumpers -- that is, fiercely athletic hip-hop dancers battling in (and with) the streets of Los Angeles. Kinetic and inspiring. (Scott) * SARABAND (R, 107, in Swedish) Ingmar Bergman has called his bleak, unbendingly severe made-for-television epilogue to Scenes From a Marriage his final statement on film. As you watch his swan song, which stars Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson as the embattled ex-spouses, you feel the crushing weight of time pressing in around them. (Holden) *STAR WARS: EPISODE III -- REVENGE OF THE SITH (PG-13, 142 minutes) George Lucas saved the best -- or at least one of the best -- for the end. Or for the middle. In any case, the saga is now complete and has regained much of its original glory. (Scott) WAR OF THE WORLDS (PG-13, 117 minutes) The aliens invade (again). Effectively scary and visually impressive. (Scott) WEDDING CRASHERS (R, 113 minutes) A wink-wink, nudge-nudge Trojan horse of a story, this amiably raunchy sex comedy pivots on two Lotharios persuasively inhabited by Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, who love the ladies, but really and truly, cross their cheating hearts, just want a nice girl to call wife. Credited to the screenwriters Steve Faber and Bob Fisher, and directed by David Dobkin. (Dargis) Film Series AFTER VIGO (Through Thursday) When Jean Vigo died (in 1934 at age 29), he had made only one full-length feature film. This festival, which pays tribute to Vigos work and to films directly influenced by him, concludes with Michael Almereydas Another Girl, Another Planet (1992), which recalls Vigos Atalante and Zero for Conduct, on Monday; Léos Caraxs Lovers on the Bridge (1991) on Tuesday; and Ken Loachs Kes (1969) on Thursday. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718)777-3456 or (718)636-4100, $10. (Anita Gates) THE BECK MOVIES (Through Wednesday) The American-Scandinavian Foundation concludes its screenings of these made-for-Swedish-television movies with a double feature on Wednesday. Peter Haber plays Detective Martin Beck, and Mikael Persbrandt is his police-department partner, Gunvald Larsson, who has on-the-job problems relating to women. In Beck: The Ad Man, Detective Martin Beck (Peter Haber) and his partner investigate the death of a woman strangled with fishing line. In Beck: The Boy in the Glass Bowl, an autistic 11-year-old appears to have murdered his mother. Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, between 37th and 38th Streets, (212)879-9779, $8. (Gates) BROOKLYN INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY FILM FESTIVAL (Through Sunday) Features at this juried festival, with films and shorts by and about people with disabilities, include The Scary Lewis Yell-a-Thon (2004), Kiss My Wheels (2003), When Billy Broke His Head (1994) and, on Sunday afternoon, Christopher Reeves documentary The Brooke Ellison Story (2004). Long Island University, Brooklyn campus, corner of Flatbush Avenue Extension and DeKalb Avenue, downtown Brooklyn, (718)488-1406, $10; students and 62+, $5. The Brooke Ellison Story screening is free. (Gates) DIVAS! (Through Aug. 30) This summer festival, presented by Thalia Film Classics, honors great women in classical movies, with a double feature this weekend about ladies of slightly ill repute. Butterfield 8 (1960) stars Elizabeth Taylor in an Oscar-winning (if not Oscar-deserving) performance as a New York party girl who comes to a bad end. In Belle de Jour (1967), Catherine Deneuve plays a bored young newlywed who takes an afternoon job at a brothel. Both films play tomorrow and Tuesday. Leonard Nimoy Thalia, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212)864-5400, $10. (Gates) HISTORIC HARLEM PARKS FILM FESTIVAL (Through Thursday) This festival of free outdoor screenings continues on Wednesday night with Chicken Biznis (1998), a South African comedy about entrepreneurship. On Thursday night, the film is Mel Stuarts concert documentary Wattstax (1973). Jackie Robinson Park, the basketball courts, 150th Street and Bradhurst Avenue, Hamilton Heights, (212)360-3326, free. (Gates) IN DEPPTH (Through July 31) BAM Cinématek honors Johnny Depp with an 11-film, three-week retrospective, continuing today with Roman Polanskis Ninth Gate (1999), about a manuscript that can summon the Devil. The weekends other features are Terry Gilliams Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), based on Hunter S. Thompsons book, on Saturday, and Tim Burtons Sleepy Hollow (1999), in which Mr. Depp reinterprets the role of Ichabod Crane. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718)777-3456 or (718)636-4100, $10. (Gates) ERNST LUBITSCH FILM FESTIVAL (Through Aug. 6) Makor, a branch of the 92nd Street Y, is screening five films by Lubitsch (1892-1947) on consecutive Saturdays. Tomorrows feature is The Shop Around the Corner, the 1940 comedy about pen pals in love, starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. 35 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212)601-1000, $9. (Gates) ROUTE 05: SCION INDEPENDENT FILM SERIES (Through July 26) This four-week series of independent films in six cities concludes its New York run on Tuesday with Dig!, Ondi Timoners documentary about two underground musicians, Anton Newcombe, of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Courtney Taylor-Taylor, of the Dandy Warhols. A question-and-answer session with the director follows the screening. TriBeCa Grand Hotel Screening Room, 2 Avenue of the Americas, at White Street, (917)513-9867, free, but R.S.V.P. is required (at www.scion.com/route/dig-info.html). (Gates) RAOUL WALSH RETROSPECTIVE (Through Aug. 14) The Museum of the Moving Images 23-film tribute to Walsh (1887-1980) continues with They Drive by Night (1940), starring Humphrey Bogart, George Raft and Ida Lupino, tomorrow; The Strawberry Blonde (1941), in which James Cagney plays a dentist, on Sunday; and The Roaring Twenties (1939), a gangster film with Bogart and Cagney, on both days. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718)784-0077, $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. ANITA BAKER, BABYFACE (Tomorrow) When she sings about love, as she almost always does, Anita Baker pours her lavish voice into songs that dissolve into wordless raptures. Babyface -- Kenny Edmonds -- has built a dynasty of smooth R&B, with both his own deep confections and the songs hes written and produced for the likes of Boys II Men and Mariah Carey. 8 p.m., Jones Beach Theater, 1000 Ocean Parkway, Wantagh, N.Y., (516)221-1000, $20 to $85.(Jon Pareles) ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS (Thursday) The transvestite warbler and outré art fixture Antony first took up the chanteuse mantle in homage to Isabella Rossellinis tragic character in Blue Velvet. His falsetto is affecting, its imperfections heightening a sense of torchy anguish. Having scaled back his band to the barest elements, he makes the most of these quavering tones. 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212)307-4100, $22.50 to $26.50. (Laura Sinagra) BACKSTREET BOYS (Wednesday) This boy bands sugary yet muscular mid-90s ballads like I Want It That Way melded R&B and machine-tooled Swedish pop. They suffered some when the fresher NSync brought hip-hop into the mix. All grown up, theyve taken to crooning vaguely spiritual anthems. 8 p.m., Radio City Music Hall, (212)247-4777, $34.50 to $74.50. (Sinagra) BORICUA FESTIVAL: EDDIE PALMIERI Y LA PERFECTA II, WILLIAM CEPEDAS BOMBASHE, AND OTHERS (Tomorrow) The Spanish-Harlem-born pianist Eddie Palmieris full-tilt blend of Latin rhythms and jazz dissonance has fueled a half-century-long career. The Puerto Rican trombonist Mr. Cepedas Bombashe group mines Carribbean styles. Bimbo El Oso Manoso rides hip-hops reggaetón wave. Other performers include the Boys Harbor Conservatory Youth Ensemble. 2 p.m., Celebrate Brooklyn, Prospect Park Bandshell, Prospect Park West and Ninth Street, Park Slope, $3 suggested donation. (Sinagra) COHEED AND CAMBRIA (Tonight) In a departure from the more self-referential bands in their emo cohort, Coheed and Cambria play a rough brand of metallic rock that veers into the prog preoccupation with supernatural lore and legend. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212)777-6800, $18 (sold out). (Sinagra) HOWIE DAY (Tuesday and Wednesday) Mr. Day is a stalwart of Bostons folksy coffeehouse scene, but now at the ripe old age of 23, his tastes have drifted closer to alt-rock, trading confessional acoustic outpourings for Radiohead-style refinement. 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212)840-2824, $25. (Sinagra) THE DIRTBOMBS (Thursday) The Detroit garage rocker Mick Collinss raw outfit tears through its live sets, unafraid of dissonance and rough edges. Mr. Collins has a more resonant voice than some of his shouty contemporaries. 9 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201)653-1703, $12. (Sinagra) BUDDY GUY, SHEMEKIA COPELAND (Sunday) The Chicago blues guitarist Buddy Guy found a potent outlet when he recently joined forces with the spunky Delta preservationists at Fat Possum Records. His amused and incendiary licks at Radio Citys 2003 blues summit stole the show. And at that same event, the flirty Shemakia Copelands gravel and sass sent the concerts neo-soul stars back to diva school. 7 p.m., North Fork Theater at Westbury Music Fair, 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury, N.Y., (516)334-0800, $42.50. (Sinagra) BEN HARPER AND THE INNOCENT CRIMINALS (Wednesday) In the 10 years since his debut, the bluesy rock guitarist Ben Harper has evolved from lone spiritual singer-songwriter to groovy globetrotting collaborator. His work last year with the Blind Boys of Alabama showcased an easy, inspired give and take. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212)777-6800, $37.50, $40 at the door (sold out). (Sinagra) GARY HIGGINS (Tomorrow) Mr. Higginss lone album, Red Hash, from 1973, is a meandering set of dewy psychedelic folk-rock incantations. After recording it, he fell into obscurity but retained a following among free-form rockers. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212)358-7501, $12. (Sinagra) JAGUARES (Tonight) The Jaguares include former members of a leading Mexican rock band, Caifanes, and they add some alternative-rock touches to Caifaness moody, dynamic songs. 8 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212)997-4144, $35 to $38. (Pareles) TOBY KEITH, LEE ANN WOMACK, SHOOTER JENNINGS (Sunday) With his wholesomely dirty ditties, the country superstar Mr. Keith gets the most patriotic church ladies and their bar-lovin hubbies singing about illicit sex in Mexico while still towing the family-values line. His plainspoken cleverness complicates the bombast of his star-making post 9/11 hit, Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue. Ms. Womack is enshrined for the motherhood anthem I Hope You Dance. Shooter Jennings is the son of Waylon. 7:30 p.m., PNC Bank Arts Center, Exit 116, Garden State Parkway, Holmdel, N.J., (732)335-0400, $33 to $68. (Sinagra) DANIEL LANOIS (Wednesday) Mr. Lanois, the producer (U2, Bob Dylan) whose own songs have a spacious, yearning quality that hovers in his slide-guitar lines. 7 p.m., Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan, free. (Pareles) LIGHTNING BOLT (Tonight) Holding the microphone in his mouth, Brian Chippendale, the drummer of this Providence, R.I., noise band, hollers through electronic processors while the bassist Brian Gibson hammers on his strings till overtone squalls splice and recombine into new sonic arrangements. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212)358-7501, $10. (Sinagra) LOGGINS & MESSINA (Tomorrow and Sunday) After this seminal West Coast folk-rock duo split up in 1977, Kenny Loggins went on to fame as a footloose 80s radio hitmaker. The two now revive their songs about hazy love, watery peace and Winnie the Pooh, reprising their enduring hippie-family idyll Dannys Song. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., PNC Bank Arts Center, Exit 116, Garden State Parkway, Holmdel, N.J., (732)335-0400, $20 to $75. Sunday at 8 p.m., Jones Beach Theater, 1000 Ocean Parkway, Wantagh, N.Y., (516)221-1000, $20 to $75. (Sinagra) JOHNNY MATHIS (Tonight and tomorrow) The smoothy of smoothies, Johnny Mathis has been crooning for romantic moments ever since the late 1950s, setting a standard for effortless seduction that many pop Romeos still envy. 8 p.m., North Fork Theater at Westbury Music Fair, 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury, N.Y., (516)334-0800, $56.50. (Pareles) THE JUAN MACLEAN (Tomorrow) These know-it-all hipster musicologists play electro disco ornamented by clang and moogy warps. Its the sound of post-indistrial slackers partying in a junk shop, dancing freely. 10 p.m., TriBeCa Grand Hotel, 2 Avenue of the Americas, at White Street, (877)519-6600, free. (Sinagra) THOMAS MAPFUMO (Tomorrow) A musical pioneer with a rebels courage, Thomas Mapfumo made music for the revolutionaries who unseated the white-ruled government from what was Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe. The music transferred the brisk patterns of traditional thumb-piano music to guitar; the words sometimes sent coded messages. 10 p.m. and midnight, Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Manhattan, (212)576-1155, $20 to $25. (Pareles) OZZFEST FEATURING BLACK SABBATH, IRON MAIDEN, ROB ZOMBIE, MASTADON, ETC. (Tuesday) The heavy-metal rocker (and reality TV patriarch) Ozzy Osbourne still projects a weird menace onstage with convincingly dire pronouncements over Black Sabbaths guitar sludge. This lineup also features the 1970s crypt rockers Iron Maiden, the overweaning industrial metal of Rob Zombie and the drum-heavy monster rock of Mastadon, as well as several others. 9 a.m., PNC Bank Arts Center, Exit 116, Garden State Parkway, (732)335-0400, $50 to $125. (Sinagra) PORTION CONTROL, CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH (Wednesday) Portion Control was fashioning scary industrial music before Skinny Puppy or Nine Inch Nails came on the scene. The Brooklyn quintet Clap Your Hands Say Yeah recalls the shamanic whine and thrum of mid-1990s lo-fi rockers Neutral Milk Hotel, and sometimes the slippery paranoid quirk of the Talking Heads. 8:30 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212)260-4700, $15 (sold out). (Sinagra) THE RASPBERRIES (Tomorrow and Sunday) The Raspberries were beloved for playing music that recalled the innocent harmonies of the British invasion, and they remain a touchstone for power-pop acts. This is the first time their original lineup has toured since 1975. 8 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212)997-4144, $50. (Tomorrows show is sold out.) (Sinagra) TOSHI REAGON (Sunday) Singing about both love and politics with the same sense of independence, Toshi Reagon applies her gutsy voice and syncopated guitar playing to songs steeped in blues and funk. 7 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212)539-8778 or (212)239-6200, $20. (Pareles) PETE ROCK (Tomorrow) This hip-hop D.J. and producers multilayered tracks for 1990s rappers and the records he released as a duo with CL Smooth exemplified the meditatively deep, jazz-inflected early-90s New York style. Tomorrow he spins a mix of hip-hop soul and funk. 10:30 p.m., Soul Sonic Sunday: Table 50, 643 Broadway, at Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, (212)253-2560, $5 to $10. (Sinagra) REGINA SPEKTOR (Wednesday) The music of this Russian-born singer and pianist (and Strokes collaborator) is of the jaggedly quirky cabaret variety. It brings punk immediacy into a chamber setting, reveling in knotty rhymes and slightly unhinged melodrama. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212)358-7503, $25. (Sinagra) TEENAGE FANCLUB (Tonight and tomorrow) Spin magazine spent the 1990s regretting that it chose this Scottish bands album Bandwagonesque (DGC) as 1991s best over Nirvanas debut. But these days, Teenage Fanclubs sludgy melodicism, realized through sad, dreamy guitar sprawl; spare, clever drums; and pained everyman vocals holds up just as well. Lately the band has been working with Chicago post-rock producers, incorporating electronic beeps and buzzes into its wistful power pop. 9 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212)533-2111, $22 to $25. (Sinagra) TSAR (Thursday) Energized but relatively charmless ambition fuels this Los Angeles groups belated follow-up to its 2001 glam-pop debut. That record failed to make the members stars, and naming their latest Band, Girls, Money only calls attention to its pop-punk overreach. 8:30 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212)260-4700, $10. (Sinagra) THE WAIFS, JIMMIE DALE GILMORE (Tuesday) The Waifs are a young, frisky Australian band in love with older American music like folk-rock and the blues, fronted by two women who sing about trains and city life and huff up a storm on harmonica. The guitar-slung Texas troubadour Jimmie Dale Gilmore has been equating wistful Western expanse with the mysteries of existence for three decades. 7 p.m., Hudson River Festival, World Financial Center, 200 Liberty Street, Lower Manhattan, (212)945-2600, free. (Pareles) M. WARD (Tonight) The echoing guitar folk-pop songs of this singer-songwriter combine heartfelt campfire zeal with the ruminative sadness of mid-tempo 1970s AM radio hits. His delicate ascents can also lilt upward into a cabaret falsetto reminiscent of Jeff Buckleys. 10 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201)653-1703, $15. (Sinagra) DIONNE WARWICK (Monday) With a velvety voice that holds gospel fervor in reserve, Dionne Warwick makes songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David sound easy, even with melody lines that hop all over the place and words that have to be articulated just so. 8 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212)997-4144, $68 to $75. (Pareles) YELLOWMAN(Tuesday) More proof that Jamaican music is stranger than fiction. Yellowman is a great dance-hall reggae vocalist who also happens to be an albino. He has built his career on tongue-in-cheek sexual boasts, and although his popularity peaked about 20 years ago, he still puts on a good show, mixing wicked wit with sentimental old favorites. 11 p.m., S.O.B.s, 204 Varick Street, South Village, (212)243-4940, $18 to $22. (Kelefa Sanneh) Cabaret Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. *BLOSSOM DEARIE (Sunday) To watch this singer and pianist is to appreciate the power of a carefully deployed pop-jazz minimalism combined with a highly discriminating taste in songs. Dannys Skylight Room, 346 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212)265-8133. Sunday night at 6:15. Cover: $25, with a $15 minimum; a $54.50 dinner-and-show package is available. (Stephen Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. CANNONBALL ADDERLEY LEGACY BAND (Through Sunday) Cannonball Adderley was an alto saxophonist who balanced the harmonic precision of bebop with the homegrown grit of soul; this tribute, led by Adderleys former drummer Louis Hayes, features Vincent Herring, a worthy inheritor, on saxophone. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212)576-2232; cover, $20, $25 Fridays and Saturdays.(Nate Chinen) J.D. ALLENS VISION FUGITIVE (Monday) Rhythmic aggression and harmonic exploration cohabit in this trio, featuring the saxophonist J.D. Allen, the bassist Matt Brewer and the drummer Rodney Green. 8:30 p.m. to midnight, Charley Os, 218 West 45th Street, Manhattan, (212)977-0025; no cover. (Chinen) PECK ALLMOND KALIMBA COLLECTIVE (Tomorrow ) This unusual ensemble finds Mr. Allmond augmenting his usual arsenal of horns with a handful of kalimbas, or African thumb pianos; the groups other timbres include violin (Jenny Scheinman), marimba (Kenny Wollesen) and Haitian hand drums (Bonga Jean-Baptiste). 10 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, at Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718)218-6934; no cover. (Chinen) LEIF ARNTZEN QUARTET (Monday) The romantic, slightly wounded style of Chet Baker has provided ample fodder for Mr. Arntzen, both as a trumpeter and a singer; his band includes Will Woodard and Vito Lesczak on bass and drums. 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212)989-9319; cover, $8, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) RONI BEN-HUR (Tonight and tomorrow) On Signature (Reservoir Music), Mr. Ben-Hur applies his hollow-body guitar skills to songbook standards and Heitor Villa-Lobos pieces, with equal charm and aplomb. He appears here with the excellent rhythm section from the album: the pianist John Hicks, the bassist Rufus Reid and the drummer Leroy Williams. 9 p.m., 10:30 p.m. and midnight, Lenox Lounge, 288 Lenox Avenue, between 124th and 125th Streets, Harlem, (212)427-0253; cover, $20, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) CHRIS BOTTI (Through Sunday) The smooth-jazz circuit has a small handful of consistently winsome stylists; among them is Mr. Botti, a trumpeter whose understated melodic instinct has landed him steady work with Paul Simon and Sting, as well as a durable solo career. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212)475-8592; cover, $25 at tables, with a $5 minimum or $15 at the bar and a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) BRAZILIAN NIGHTS: THE MUSIC OF ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM, STAN GETZ AND CAL TJADER (Through Sunday) An over-the-shoulder glance at the popular heyday of bossa nova, featuring the expatriate Brazilian group Trio da Paz, along with the singer Maucha Adnet, the tenor saxophonist Harry Allen and the vibraphonist Joe Locke. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11 p.m. set tonight and tomorrow night, Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212)258-9595; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) RAVI COLTRANE QUARTET (Wednesday through July 30) In Flux (Savoy), Mr. Coltranes fourth album, is a significant milestone; his tenor and soprano saxophone playing have never sounded more confident, and his compositions have a sleek, modernistic hue. As on the record, he fronts a stellar band: the pianist Luis Perdomo, the bassist Drew Gress and the drummer E.J. Strickland. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212)581-3080; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) DUAL IDENTITY (Thursday) The alto saxophonists Rudresh Mahanthappa and Steve Lehman travel roughly the same orbit in jazzs progressive solar system; as the name implies, this duo project underscores their aesthetic kinship. 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT (Wednesday) There isnt a young musician with more buzz at the moment than Mr. Glasper, a bright and well-rounded pianist recently signed to Blue Note Records. The experiment in the title is a license to go beyond jazz-trio territory and possibly indulge serious affinities for hip-hop, house and soul. 11 p.m., Knitting Factory Tap Bar, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212)219-3132; no cover. (Chinen) NED GOOLD TRIO (Tomorrow) Ned Goold may be best known as a tenor saxophonist in the Harry Connick Jr. Orchestra, but hes best heard in trio, with bass and drums behind him. 8 p.m., Smalls, 183 West 10th Street, West Village, (212)675-7369; cover, $20. (Chinen) BUDDY GRECO (Through Sunday) A true show business survivor, Mr. Greco showcases his natural singing and piano playing in this jazz-cabaret engagement, backed by rhythm section pros. 8 and 10 p.m., with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow, Iridium, 1650 Broadway at 51st Street, (212)582-2121; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) *JAZZ IN JULY FESTIVAL (Tuesday through Thursday) The 92nd Street Ys venerable concert series concludes this week with three more concerts reflecting the laudable taste of its new artistic director, Bill Charlap. Hoagys Children, on Tuesday, pays homage to Hoagy Carmichael, whom Mr. Charlap feted with a 2002 songbook album; among this partys celebrants are the singers Dave Frishberg and Barbara Lea, the guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and the clarinetist Ken Peplowski. Wednesdays concert will recall the midcentury small-group jazz of Horace Silver and Kenny Dorham, with ace contributors from several jazz generations. On Thursday, the festival culminates in a Nat King Cole tribute, featuring that icons younger brother Freddy Cole, with backing by the Manhattan Symphony Jazz Orchestra. 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212)415-5500 or 92y.org, $45. (Chinen) JIMMY GREENE QUINTET (Through Sunday) Mr. Greene brings an athletic self-assurance to his saxophone playing; his top-shelf post-bop band includes the vibraphonist Stefon Harris, the pianist Xavier Davis, the bassist Vicente Archer and the drummer Eric Harland. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212)255-4037; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) CHARLIE HADENS LAND OF THE SUN (Thursday through July 31) Charlie Haden won a Grammy this year for Land of the Sun (Verve), a stately homage to the Mexican composer José Sabre Marroquin. In performance, the music ranges from luminous to lugubrious; its strongest assets are the contributions of the alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon, the tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby and the pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, who also wrote most of the arrangements. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212)475-8592; cover, $35 at tables, with a $5 minimum or $20 at the bar, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) STEFON HARRIS AND BLACKOUT (Wednesday) Mr. Harris, a mallet percussion whiz, brings megawatt showmanship to this dance-floor hybrid; hes ably abetted by the alto saxophonist Casey Benjamin, the keyboardist Marc Cary, the drummer Terreon Gully and the bassist Darryl Hall. 7 p.m., Madison Square Park, 23rd to 26th Streets, between Fifth and Madison Avenues, (212)538-5058; no cover. (Chinen) J.C. HOPKINS BIGGISH BAND (Tomorrow) Although conceived by the pianist-composer J.C. Hopkins, this ensemble borrows much of its power from the commanding presence of the singer Queen Esther; joined by a handful of accomplished jazz sidemen, the two will perform original material from a soon-to-be-released CD. (Howard Fishman, a guitarist-singer with a knack for well-worn Americana, shares the bill.) 9:30 p.m., Makor, 35 West 67th Street, at Central Park West, (212)601-1000; cover, $15. (Chinen) JAVON JACKSON BAND (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Jackson is an accomplished tenor saxophonist with a laid-back rhythmic approach; here, as on the new CD Have You Heard (Palmetto), he applies his talents to straightforward funk. 9 p.m., 11 p.m., and 12:30 a.m., Smoke, 2751 Broadway at 106th Street, (212)864-6662; cover, $25. (Chinen) AHMAD JAMAL TRIO (Tuesday and Wednesday) A touchstone of jazz piano since the 50s, Mr. Jamal still has his broad dynamic range and signature touch; his highly sympathetic rhythm section consists of the bassist James Cammack and the drummer Idris Muhammed. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212)475-8592; cover, $35 at tables, with a $5 minimum or $20 at the bar, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) SEAN JONES QUINTET (Monday) Mr. Jones, a surefooted and well-schooled trumpeter now in his mid-20s, recently assumed first chair in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra; his own band, with the spirited pianist Orrin Evans, spikes the punch with contemporary flavors. He shares a record label, and part of his stage time, with the worldly vocalist Ilona Knopfler. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212)475-8592; cover, $10 at tables, with a $5 minimum or $5 at the bar, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) JASON LINDNERS PROGRESS REPORT (Tonight and tomorrow) A pianist and composer best known for his vamp-oriented big band, Mr. Lindner leads a smaller but no less polyphonic outfit here; in addition to his keyboards, the group features Jacques Schwartz-Bart on saxophones, Tony Escapa on bass, Baba Israel on vocals (spoken) and Claudia Acuña on vocals (sung). 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, South Village, (212)242-1063; cover, $15. (Chinen) DONNY McCASLIN GROUP (Monday) Mr. McCaslin has earned recent accolades for his sinewy, upward surging saxophone solos in the Maria Schneider Orchestra; his own ensemble, which features the guitarist Ben Monder, more directly harnesses the rhythmic thrust of rock. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212)929-9883; cover, $8. (Chinen) BEN MONDER (Thursday) In the hands of Mr. Monder, the electric guitar is a coloristic instrument first and foremost; here he rides an undulant rhythmic foundation shaped by Chris Lightcap, bassist, and Jeff Hirschfield, drummer. 9 p.m., Barbes, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)965-9177; cover, $5. (Chinen) ROY NATHANSON QUARTET (Sunday) The saxophonist and Jazz Passengers co-founder leans here on his skills as a raconteur; his whimsical narratives take the form of sung choruses, spoken interludes and other vocal asides. 7 p.m., Barbes, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)965-9177; cover, $8. (Chinen) JOHN STETCH TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow) A proficient and resourceful pianist who has recently focused strictly on solo settings, Mr. Stetch returns here to the trio format, with Sean Smith on bass and Rodney Green on drums; their repertory will consist entirely of Mr. Stetchs compositions. 8 and 9:45 p.m., Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212)885-7119; cover, $15, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) CRAIG TABORN (Tomorrow) Solo piano variations from an exceedingly gifted player with a taste for angular flourishes and unexpected moves. 8 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) VINNY VALENTINO AND JD WALTER (Thursday) Mr. Walters voice is a flexible instrument, given to soaring scat solos and growling burrs; he has a good partner here in Mr. Valentino, the guitarist. 6 p.m., West Bank Café, 407 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212)695-6909; cover, $5. (Chinen) LARRY WILLIS QUINTET (Thursday through July 31) Mr. Willis, a bassist with a long and distinguished sideman career, steps out front to lead an ensemble with one foot in hard-bop and the other in groove; his illustrious bandmates are the alto saxophonist Gary Bartz, the trombonist Steve Davis, the bassist Buster Williams and the drummer Al Foster. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. with an 11:30 set Fridays and Saturdays, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212)576-2232; cover, $20, $25 Fridays and Saturdays. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera GLIMMERGLASS (Tonight through Thursday) To be counted among the countrys leading summer opera festivals, it helps to have imagination and unusual repertory, and Glimmerglass offers both in spades. A highlight of the season is a new production of Benjamin Brittens wonderful and too-seldom-performed Death in Venice, directed by Tazewell Thompson and featuring William Burden. Among the other offerings are Mozarts Così Fan Tutte and an unusual double bill of Portrait de Manon, Jules Massenets one-act sequel to his most famous opera, paired with Poulencs Voix Humaine, another one-acter that presents a one-sided dialogue: a woman on the phone. Così, tonight at 8, Tuesday afternoon at 2; Death in Venice, tomorrow night at 8, Monday afternoon at 2; Portrait and Voix, Sunday afternoon at 2, Thursday night at 8. Alice Busch Theater, Route 80, eight miles north of Cooperstown, N.Y., (607)547-2255, $17.50 to $97. (Anne Midgette) SHADOWTIME (Tonight) Brian Ferneyhough, the British dean of high-modernist complexity, has written his first opera, and the second of two performances will take place tonight as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. Its a challenging thought opera about the life and work of the philosopher Walter Benjamin, with a libretto by the poet Charles Bernstein. Jurjen Hempel leads the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart and the Nieuw Ensemble Amsterdam. 8 p.m., Rose Theater, Broadway at 60th Street, (212)271-6500, $25 to $55. (Jeremy Eichler) Classical Music ALARM WILL SOUND (Sunday) Its hard to know exactly what to expect from this Lincoln Center Festival concert by this wildly adventurous contemporary music ensemble of voices, strings, winds and percussion. In this program, Unremixed, the ensemble takes on twisted techno-master Aphex Twin, its directors promise. Aphex Twins electronic music will be mixed with live acoustic music for an evening of electronica, to quote the performers. This ensemble is incapable of routine. 9 p.m., the Allen Room, Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, (212)721-6500, $28. (Anthony Tommasini) ASTON MAGNA (Tomorrow) The early-music scene in the Northeast has long shuttled between New York and Boston, and what better middle ground is there in the summer than the Berkshire foothills? The quaintly titled program here, All Ye Whom Love or Fortune Hath Betrayd, presents music of William Byrd, John Dowland, John Jenkins and Henry Purcell, performed by Deborah Rentz-Moore, soprano; Daniel Stepner, violinist; John Gibbons, harpsichordist; and others. 5 p.m., Daniels Arts Center, Simons Rock College, Great Barrington, Mass., (413)528-3595 or (800) 875-7156, $35, $30 in advance, $25 for students and 65+. The program will also be presented tonight at 8 in Olin Hall, Bard College, Route 9G, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., (845)758-7425; $25; students and 62+, $20. (James R. Oestreich) BANG ON A CAN SUMMER MUSIC INSTITUTE (Tomorrow and Monday through Thursday) Music for Airports may be an appropriate piece for the summer travel season. Tomorrow the Bang on a Can All-Stars offer what they say is the first-ever live performance of that seminal Brian Eno work. Since new music tends to find more sympathetic ears in the art world than in many concert halls, Bang on a Can takes its concerts into a museum, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, where two informal concerts a day showcase the institutes faculty -- including Evan Ziporyn, who offers a clarinet recital this afternoon -- and participants. Theres even a childrens program tomorrow morning, with hands-on participation, called Kids Can Too. Mr. Ziporyn, today at 4:30 p.m.; childrens concert, tomorrow at 11 a.m.; Music for Airports, tomorrow night at 8; recitals Monday through Thursday at 1:30 and 4:30 p.m.; Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, 87 Marshall Street, North Adams, Mass., (413)662-2111. Music for Airports, $22; other concerts are free with gallery admission, which is $10; students, $8; ages 6 to 16, $4. (Midgette) BARGEMUSIC (Tonight through Thursday) There are few cozier places to hear chamber music in New York than this floating concert hall (a former coffee barge) on the Brooklyn side of the East River. Tonight, Hamish Milne offers a piano recital, with works by Bach, Chopin and Schubert, and tomorrow and Sunday, he is joined by Mark Peskanov, the violinist, and Jiri Barta, a cellist, for the Beethoven Archduke Trio and sonatas by Mozart and Hummel. On Thursday, its back to solo piano: Steven Beck plays Bach, Beethoven and Mussorgsky. Tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night at 7:30, Sunday at 4 p.m., Bargemusic, Fulton Ferry Landing next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718)624-2083, $35; $30 for 65+ on Thursday only; students, $25. (Allan Kozinn) BERKSHIRE CHORAL FESTIVAL (Tomorrow) For listeners who love choral music, this festival is an ideal refuge, combining the charms of the Berkshires and some of the highlights of the choral repertory, performed by a large choir of enthusiastic singers, led by renowned choral conductors. This week, Frank Nemhauser leads the choir and soloists in a hefty program that includes Dvoraks Mass in D, Stravinskys Symphony of Psalms and John Rutters Gloria. 8 p.m., the Berkshire School, Route 41, Sheffield, Mass., (413)229-1999, $25 to $40. (Kozinn) BRIDGEHAMPTON CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL (Wednesday) The flutist Marya Martin did not want to spend summers schlepping to far-flung festivals, so she and her husband, Ken Davidson, founded a festival of their own, now in its 22nd season. Most of the concerts take place in the local Presbyterian Church, but this opening performance is a free outdoor program of works by Bach, Telemann and Torelli, performed by Ms. Martin and a group of festival regulars. 6:30 p.m., Bridgehampton Historical Society, 2368 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton, N.Y., (631)537-3507. (Eichler) CARAMOOR (Tonight, tomorrow, Sunday and Thursday) The event of note this weekend at this inviting festival is a production of La Traviata tomorrow, as part of the Bel Canto at Caramoor series, conducted by Will Crutchfield and starring the soprano Georgia Jarman. Mr. Crutchfield will present a version of Verdis beloved score that restores music usually cut in performances. La Traviata, though composed after the heyday of the Bel Canto era, is still a work beholden to that tradition, a quality Mr. Crutchfield promises to bring out in his performance. Tonight the steely-toned, formidable pianist Anton Kuerti plays works by Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms. Sunday afternoon the Emerson String Quartet offers two Mendelssohn string quartets and Brahmss stormy Piano Quintet in F minor (with Wu Han). And if you like a Romantic strain even in your contemporary music, then a program with Music From Copland House on Thursday called The New Romantics is for you. Richard Danielpour, Lowell Lieberman, John Musto and Paul Moravec, among others, have all been called, for better or worse, Neo-Romantics. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 4:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Katonah, N.Y., (914)232-1252, $15 to $75. (Tommasini) COOPERSTOWN CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL (Sunday through Thursday) If you miss them at Tannery Pond (see below), you can see them in Cooperstown: a highlight of the week at this energetic small festival is a performance on Sunday by the St. Lawrence String Quartet of works by Haydn, Beethoven and Christos Hatzis. There is also a Summer Winds concert on Wednesday with the festivals founder, the flutist Linda Chesis, and four colleagues; and on Thursday Hopkinson Smith, a lutenist, will play 17th-century music in the drawing room of a 19th-century home. Sunday night at 7:30 at the Farmers Museum; Wednesday night at 7:30 at Christ Episcopal Church; Thursday night at 7:30 at Hyde Hall, Cooperstown, N.Y., (877)666-7421, $25; ages 6 to 12, $12.50; lute concert, $18; ages 6 to 12, $9. (Midgette) ICEBREAKER (Tomorrow) This British new-music group covers a lot of contemporary ground, including pieces by David Lang, Louis Andriessen, Conlon Nancarrow and Frank Zappa, as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. 9 p.m., Allen Room, Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, (212)721-6500, $28. (Bernard Holland) MAVERICK CONCERTS (Tomorrow and Sunday) This concert series near Woodstock, N.Y., now in its 90th season, offers its performances in an open-backed barn that allows the sounds of nature to mingle with the music. Jason Vieaux, a young guitarist who has made some impressive recordings, is playing a rich program tomorrow, with works that range from Bachs Prelude, Fugue and Allegro and favorites by Tárrega and Albéniz to more contemporary scores, like Robert Starers Six Preludes; he also plays a concert for young people tomorrow morning. On Sunday, the Pacifica String Quartet nestles Elliott Carters String Quartet No. 5 between works by Schubert and Beethoven. Tomorrow at 6 p.m. (young peoples concert at 11 a.m.); Sunday at 3 p.m., the Maverick Concert Hall, Maverick Road, between Routes 28 and 375, West Hurley, N.Y., (845)679-8217, $20; students, $5. (Kozinn) MUSIC MOUNTAIN (Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday) Offering a smattering of choral music and jazz, but focusing on string quartets, this venerable festival offers the Tang String Quartet of Singapore this weekend playing Mozart and Dvorak, then joining forces with the pianist Pamela Mia Paul for Shostakovichs Piano Quintet. Also on the weekends program are a chorus called Dumka that performs traditional Ukrainian music in costume (tonight) and the New Black Eagle Jazz Band (tomorrow). Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday afternoon at 3, Gordon Hall at Music Mountain, Falls Village, Conn., (860)824-7126, $25; students under 24, $12. (Midgette) MUSIC FESTIVAL OF THE HAMPTONS (Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday) Lukas Fosss small yet ambitious festival concludes its 10th season with a weekend of events ranging from chamber music (tonight, with the Daedalus String Quartet joined by Alexander Fiterstein, a clarinetist) to a violin recital by Joshua Bell (tomorrow night) and an anniversary concert dedicated to the pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch (Sunday). Wölffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack, N.Y., and Festival Tent, Morriss Center School, 739 Butter Lane, Bridgehampton, N.Y., (800)644-4418, $35 to $75; more for reserved seating. (Eichler) NAUMBURG ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) Sure, the New York Philharmonic gets most of the attention, but Central Park has never been a one-orchestra green space. This year is the 100th anniversary of the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, and Gregory Vajda conducts music by Stravinsky, Hindemith and Bartok, with the violist Hsin-Yun Huang joining as soloist. 7:30 p.m., Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, midpark at 70th Street, (718)340-3018, free. (Eichler) NORFOLK CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL (Tonight and tomorrow) Each summer the Yale Summer School of Music retreats north to this lovely spot, and the public reaps much of the benefit at concerts in the rustic Music Shed. This weekend the veteran pianist Claude Frank and the flutist and conductor Ransom Wilson anchor the programs, with works from the New World (Beach, Copland, Ginastera) and Old (Haydn, Beethoven, Schumann, Shostakovich). 8 p.m., Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate, Routes 44 and 272, Norfolk, Conn., (860)542-3000, $15 to $45; ages 18 to 25, $10; under 18, free with a paying adult. (Oestreich) PIANO SUMMER AT NEW PALTZ (Tomorrow) Currently in its 10th season, this festival features lectures, master classes and a competition for rising young pianists, as well as recitals by the festival faculty. Tomorrow night, Vladimir Feltsman, the artistic director, performs Bachs English Suite No. 2, Beethovens Pathétique Sonata and Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition. 8 p.m., McKenna Theater, State University of New York at New Paltz, (845)257-3880, $22 to $27. (Eichler) ST. LAWRENCE STRING QUARTET (Tomorrow) This excellent young quartet comes to Christian Steiners Tannery Pond Concerts with a program of Haydn, Shostakovich and Beethoven. 8 p.m., Mt. Lebanon Shaker Village, New Lebanon, N.Y., (888)820-9441, $23 to $28. (Midgette) TANGLEWOOD (Tonight through Wednesday) When James Levine opened his first Tanglewood season with a Mahler Eighth a couple of weeks ago, the orchestra played stunningly for him. In two programs tonight and tomorrow night, he leads his players through all four of the Brahms Symphonies. Tuesday, he returns to take part in Tanglewood on Parade, an annual shindig that features not only the Boston Symphony but also the Boston Pops and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, in works by Berlioz, Bernstein, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven. For the occasion, Mr. Levine shares the podium with his predecessor, Seiji Ozawa, as well as John Williams, Hans Graf and Bruce Hangen. Also on the schedule, Pinchas Zukerman plays the Beethoven Violin Concerto on Sunday, with Jens Georg Bachmann conducting, and on Wednesday he leads the Zukerman Chamber Players in works by Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms. Tonight, tomorrow night, and Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 8:30; Sunday at 2:30 p.m., Tanglewood, Lenox, Mass, (888)266-1200, $19 to $96 Sunday through Tuesday, with lawn seats from $17 to $20; $29 to $46 on Wednesday, with $16 lawn seats. (Kozinn) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. ALL FOR LOVE (Through tomorrow) Andrew J. Nemrs choreographic love is tap, and he expresses it in a grandly scaled tap-dance event with the aid of a troupe called Cats Paying Dues. Tonight and tomorrow at 8, Main Stage Theater, Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212)279-4200, $30 tonight, $38 tomorrow. (Jack Anderson) *BOLSHOI BALLET (Tonight through July 30) The Bolshoi Ballet and its opera company have been challenged of late by Valery Gergievs Kirov operation of St. Petersburg, but they remain the big (bolshoi means big) Russian brand name in the popular imagination, and recently the ballet in particular has shown signs of rejuvenation. The Bolshois two-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House continues tonight and tomorrow afternoon and evening with Spartacus, the ultimate showcase for muscle-flexing Soviet strongmen as righteous revolting slaves; well see if the current crop of Bolshoi men is as macho-athletic as their forebears. Monday through Wednesday comes The Bright Stream, a new version of a suppressed 1935 ballet about lighthearted frolics on a collective farm, with music by Shostakovich (by 1935, collective-farm ballets were supposed to be noble, not fun). Finally, on Thursday, is the beginning of four-performance, season-ending run of The Pharaohs Daughter, a reconstruction of an early Petipa extravaganza. Tonight and tomorrow and Monday through Thursday at 8 p.m.; tomorrow at 2 p.m. Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000 or www.metopera.org, $45 to $150.(John Rockwell) EVA DEAN DANCE (Wednesday through July 31) Bounce blithely combines bouncing balls and bounding bodies. Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., an abridged version for children will be danced Saturdays and Sundays and on Thursday at 2 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077, $13 to $25. (Anderson) DODGE DANCE COMPANY (Opens Thursday) Susan Dodge choreographically combines explosive energy with humor and musicality. Thursday through July 31, Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212)334-7479, $15, $12 students. (Anderson) FLAMENCO OLÉ! (Tomorrow) A flamenco revue features Melinda Marquez, Liliana Morales and guest artists. 8:30 and 11 p.m., Alegrías en la Nacional Flamenco Theater, 239 West 14th Street, West Village, (917)667-2695 or www.alegrias.com, $45 with dinner, $15 performance only. (Anderson) IMAGO DANCE THEATER (Tonight through Sunday) Stress Addicted Nation romps through the overscheduled lives of stressaholics. 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479, $20, $15 students, 65+ and dancers. (Anderson) *JACOBS PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL (Tonight through Aug. 3) Tonight through Sunday Garth Fagans company will perform along with A Poc A Poc, a Barcelona-born, Mexico City-based modern-dance troupe in its United States debut. Tuesday through next Sunday the Mark Morris Dance Group will be here, celebrating its 25th anniversary, joined Thursday through next Sunday by Aszure and Artists, a troupe led by Aszure Barton. Garth Fagan at the Ted Shawn Theater, tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m., tomorrow and Sunday at 2 p.m., $45; $40.50 for students, seniors 65+ and children. A Poc A Poc at the Doris Duke Studio Theater, tonight and tomorrow at 8:15 p.m., tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m., $20; $18 for students, seniors and children. Mark Morris at the Shawn Theater Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m., $55; $49.50 for students, seniors and children. Aszure Barton at the Duke Theater, Thursday at 8:15., $20; $18 for students, seniors and children. Details of the weeks free performances and exhibitions can be found on www.jacobspillow.org. Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, 358 George Carter Road, Becket, Mass., (413)243-0745. (Rockwell) JAXDANCE (Tonight and tomorrow) The title of Jaclyn Moynahans Whats Holding You Up? has a deliberate double meaning, for the work concerns both the limitations that impede us and the devices that help us cope with lifes challenges. 8:30 p.m., Studio 111, 111 Conselyea Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718)387-2630, $12, $10 students and 65+. (Anderson) *LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL (Tonight through July 31) Random Dance and Shen Wei, on different nights, are sharing the New York State Theater this week, and closing out the festivals dance offerings for the summer. Tonight its Random Dance, another of the endless flood of edgy British modern-dance troupes. Their AtaXia is billed as a techno-multimedia dance. Tomorrow and Sunday are the last two performances of the much-hailed Shen Wei Dance Arts, which has sprung onto the international dance circuit seemingly from nowhere. Random Dance tonight at 8 p.m., New York State Theater. Shen Wei tomorrow at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m., State Theater. Lincoln Center, $45, (212) 271-6500, www.lincolncenter.org. (Rockwell) MOVEMENT WORKS (Tomorrow and Sunday) A choreographic showcase features new works by Labyrinth Dance Theater, Kinetic Architecture, Alona Mor Dance Collective and Israeli choreographers Gali Wexler and Jenny Logan. 8:30 p.m., Center for Remembering and Sharing, 123 Fourth Avenue, East Village, (646) 479-7563, $12, $7 center members and student standby. (Anderson) NOCHE FLAMENCA (Wednesdays through Sundays) A fiery company headed by the passionate Soledad Barrio returns for an extended engagement, through July 31. Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 7:30 and 10 p.m., Sunday at 5 p.m., Theater 80, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212)352-3101, $40 Wednesdays and Thursdays, $45 Fridays through Sundays. (Anderson) PILOBOLUS (Through Aug. 6) Dancers bend like pretzels and tie themselves into knots in acrobatic choreography that stretches the performers bodies and viewers minds. Monday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212)242-0800 or www.joyce.org $42, $32 Joyce members. (Anderson) SOUTH PLEASANT COMPANY (Tonight through Sunday and Thursday) Cristina Septiens To One I Saw Small tells the story of a disenchanted spelling-bee champion with the aid of movement, dialogue and video. 9 p.m., Merce Cunningham Studio, 55 Bethune Street, West Village, (212)352-7112, $15, $12 students.(Anderson) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums *AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: ANCESTRY AND INNOVATION, through Sept. 4. This selection of quilts, paintings, sculptures and drawings by several generations of self-taught artists jumps with color and talent and reflects a sharp curatorial eye. 45 West 53rd Street, (212)265-1040. (Roberta Smith) BROOKLYN MUSEUM: MONETS LONDON: ARTISTS REFLECTIONS ON THE THAMES, 1859-1914, through Sept. 4. This polished and studiously dry show has a dozen of Monets wildly, paradisaically pretty paintings at its center, surrounded by images of London, many of them prints and photographs by other artists, including James McNeill Whistler and figures now known primarily to art historians. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, (718)638-5000. (Holland Cotter) COOPER-HEWITT NATIONAL DESIGN MUSEUM: EXTREME TEXTILES, through Oct. 30. Dont look for aesthetic pizazz in this intensely tech-y show of industrial fibers and fabrics, but dont rule it out. The shows raison dêtre is solely use, but a lot of whats on view, in the first museum display of material made to function in extreme conditions, is visually exciting. 2 East 91st Street, (212)849-8400.(Grace Glueck) *EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO: MEXICO, THE REVOLUTION AND BEYOND, PHOTOGRAPHS BY CASASOLA 1900-1940, through July 31. This extraordinary show of work from a photo agency established by Agustín Victor Casasola in Mexico City has the span of a Greek epic and the nested themes and subplots of a picaresque novel, with revolutionary heroes and a vivid cast of everyday people. 1230 Fifth Avenue, at 104th Street, East Harlem, (212)831-7272. (Cotter) THE FRICK COLLECTION: FROM CALLOT TO GREUZE: FRENCH DRAWINGS FROM WEIMAR, through Aug. 7. This show sprints through French art of the 17th and 18th centuries and reveals it to be a phenomenon of varying moods and accomplishments. The 70 drawings, including some by Claude Lorrain, Watteau and Boucher, are from the municipal holdings of the German city of Weimar. And many were acquired by that collections first curator, the great writer, philosopher and lover of all things French, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; 1 East 70th Street, (212)288-0700. (Cotter) *GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE AND THE CLASSICAL TRADITION: PHOTOGRAPHS AND MANNERIST PRINTS, through Aug. 24. This exhibition juxtaposes obsessively styled, drunkenly body-oriented art from the late 18th and late 20th centuries, achieving a fairly even rate of exchange in an unusually elegant installation. But the prints, having more to begin with, come out ahead and look remarkably fresh. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212)423-3500. (Smith) GUGGENHEIM: OTEIZA: MYTH AND MODERNISM, through Aug. 24. With the goal of paring down sculpture to an emptied (not empty) space that he saw as filled with spiritual energy, the Basque sculptor Jorge Oteiza (1908-2003) worked intensively during the 1950s, creating the right containers. Experimenting with a number of different mathematical models, he undertook processes like opening polyhedrons and emptying spheres and cubes, to arrive at a series called Metaphysical Boxes, made from the opposition of two trihedrons. The dark, nearly inaccessible spaces he created here seem to take on a religious character. When, at the end of the 1950s, he felt he had met his goal, Oteiza turned to Basque political and social causes. But his work, mostly small in scale, smacks too much of theory to be of exciting visual interest. (See above.) (Glueck) *INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY: YOUNG AMERICA, through Sept. 4. The daguerreotype, an early version of photography, though invented in Europe, was a huge hit in the United States, and you can see why in these extraordinary pictures of a countrys political and intellectual elite and its well-heeled citizens. Taken by two members of a well-known Boston studio, each picture glows on the wall like a stone in a mood ring, or a computer screen floating in space. At 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, (212)857-0000. (Cotter) METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: ALL THE MIGHTY WORLD, through Aug. 21. In one of the mediums shortest great careers, Roger Fenton helped establish photography as both an art and a profession in masterly landscapes, portraits and still lifes that, for all their prescience, also express a profound ambivalence about the very notion of progress. Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212)535-7710. (Smith) *MET: MATISSE: THE FABRIC OF DREAMS -- HIS ART AND HIS TEXTILES, through Sept. 25. This somewhat scattered yet astounding exhibition demonstrates that as African sculptures were to the Cubists, so textiles were to Matisse, and revolutionizes the understanding of both his life and his work. (See above.) (Smith) MUSEUM AT FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: FABULOUS! FASHIONS OF THE 1940S, through July 30. Constructed around a selection of dresses from the institutes collection, this thought-provoking exhibition briefly tells what happened when the Germans invaded Paris, forcing that city to surrender its role as leader of world fashion to New York City -- at least until the end of the war. Seventh Avenue at 27th Street, (212)217-7999.(Ken Johnson) *MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: LEE FRIEDLANDER, through Aug. 29. A gigantic retrospective of this great photographer of the American vernacular scene, whose sly and haunting works (grungy cityscapes, wild landscapes, portraits and nudes) can put you in mind of Audens remark that every original genius has something a bit shady about him. In Mr. Friedlanders case, its a compliment. 11 West 53rd Street, (212)708-9400. (Michael Kimmelman) *MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: PIONEERING MODERN PAINTING: CÉZANNE AND PISSARRO, through Sept. 12. The marriage of minds, sensibilities and influences that Cézanne and Pissarro shared is the subject of this rigorous, beautiful show. Unlike its predecessor, Matisse Picasso, it is less a grand opera than a lieder recital of deep-running, summer-green Schubertian pleasures. (See above.) (Cotter) NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN: GEORGE CATLIN AND HIS INDIAN GALLERY, through Sept. 5. The portraits and landscapes here give an account of Plains Indian life in the 1830s in wonderful and sometimes harrowing detail. Viewing it is a remarkable experience. 1 Bowling Green, Lower Manhattan, (212)514-3700. (Glueck) P.S. 1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER: GREATER NEW YORK 2005, through Sept. 26. A youth-besotted, cheerful, immodestly ingratiating, finally disappointing survey of contemporary art, perusing a scene whose wide stylistic range, emphasis on drawing, persistent teenage infatuations and overall dexterousness are firmly entrenched characteristics of the marketplace. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718)784-2084. (Kimmelman) *WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: ROBERT SMITHSON, through Oct. 23. Who knows whether Robert Smithson is the most influential American postwar artist, as this show claims. Consisting mostly of drawings, photographs and films (Smithson didnt make that many sculptures, not ones that could fit into a museum, anyway), this is the first full-scale overview of him in the country. It is consequently dry but still compelling testimony to a great exuberance cut drastically short when Smithson died at 35 in a plane crash in 1973. Self-appointed spokesman for earth art, and scavenger of dirt, shells, slag and other materials from the industrial landscape, he helped to shove Minimalism, Conceptualism and Pop in various messy new directions during the 1960s and early 70s. Today, in an era of crabbed imagination and short-term profiteering, the sheer chutzpah of an artist like him is instructive. 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (212)570-3600. (Kimmelman) WHITNEY MUSEUM: BANKS VIOLETTE, through Oct. 2. In this labor-intensive installation, Romanticism, tragic violence and rock n roll are evoked as much by the detailed wall label as by the ghostly beams of a burned-out church made of gleaming salt. (See above.) (Smith) Galleries: 57th Street RALPH BACERRA: OPULENT FIRE Beautiful and technically awe-inspiring new teapots by this Los Angeles-based ceramicist have organically shaped, multipart bodies cast from tree branches and surfaces richly glazed in fine geometric patterns. Garth Clark, 25 West 56th Street, (because of renovations of the main lobby), (212)246-2205, through Aug. 12.(Johnson) Galleries: Chelsea ALLES. IN EINER NACHT The works on or of paper by 10 young artists from Hamburg doesnt live up to the appetite of the title (which translates as All. In One Night), but it is almost invariably appealing, focused and promising. Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, 521 West 21st Street, (212)414-4144, through July 29. (Smith) *ATOMICA: MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE This carefully orchestrated international group show marks the 60th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945. Shiva Ahmadi, Ellen Levy, Nancy Spero and Hiroshi Sunairi contribute subtle work. Esso Gallery (212)560-9728, 531 West 26th Street, second floor, and Lombard-Freid Fine Arts, (212)967-8040, 531 West 26th Street, fourth floor, through July 30. (Cotter) *BEBE LE STRANGE This tense, lively group show devoted to images of the figure includes strong work by a bunch of strong young artists, including Benjamin Degen, William Jones and Eileen Quinlan, and fascinating photographic work of documentary fiction by Zoe Crosher and Leslie Grant. DAmelio Terras, 525 West 22nd Street, (212) 352-9460, through Aug. 12. (Cotter) *BRIDGE FREEZES BEFORE ROAD The big, hot group show of the summer pays homage to Robert Smithson, and casually retools countercultural languages of yesteryear for the 21st century. Barbara Gladstone Gallery, 515 West 24th Street, (212)206-9300, through Aug. 19. (Cotter) ELEVEN NGUYENS AND THE THIRTY YEAR LOSS The independent curator Trong G. Nguyen has conceived a novel and bittersweet way to celebrate the recent anniversary of the surrender of South Vietnam to the Communist North on April 30, 1975. He has gathered together works by 11 contemporary artists who all share the name Nguyen, which is pronounced win. He contributes a cake with thick frosting of yellow paint and lettering that reads Happy Birthday War. PH Gallery, 547 West 27th Street, (212)564-4480, through July 29.(Johnson) GOOD VIBRATIONS Op Art lives on in works by 16 artists in this groovy show. It includes eye-buzzing paintings by Julian Stanczak; cosmic dot paintings by Barbara Takenaga; sumptuously blurry stripes by Chris Gallagher; a luminous blue grid by Susie Rosmarin, a psychedelic painting of the word Substance by Bruce Pearson and much more. McKenzie, 511 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212)989-5467, through July 30.(Johnson) *GREY FLAGS Organized by the artist Seth Price, this coolest of summer group shows puts New York art on an interesting track and looks to the future. Friedrich Petzel Gallery, 535 West 22nd Street, (212)680-9467, through Aug. 12. (Cotter) IDOLS OF PERVERSITY Inspired by a 1980s book with the subtitle Fantasies of Feminine Evil in Fin de Siècle Culture, this show substitutes Surrealism for Symbolism for its prevailing mode, academic painting as its preferred style, and the contemporary art star John Currin as its patron saint. Bellwether, 134 10th Avenue, near 18th Street, (212) 929-5959, through Aug. 6. (Cotter) ITLL COST YOU In observance of the curious fact that Colonial American painters charged according to the number of human limbs visible in a picture, the collector Beth Rudin DeWoody has assembled a wildly pluralistic, often funny and kinky show of works that feature arms or legs by more than 40 artists. It ranges from a frieze of womans legs in high heels crisply painted by John Wesley to the hacked-off arm of an ape sculpted by Tony Matelli. Dont miss the tiny, finely made and well-shod wooden legs by Holly Laws in the back room. Kathleen Cullen, 526 West 26th Street, (212) 463-8500, through July 30.(Johnson). THE JEWELEIGHA SET The works in this sharply focused yet ecumenical show of six artists inspired by fractal geometry fits together like a kind of rebus about the joy of numbers and numerousness in art, mathematics and nature. Greene Naftali Gallery, 526 West 26th Street, (212) 463-7770, through July 29. (Smith) LIVING FOR THE CITY Organized by an institution-in-formation, the Brooklyn Institute of Contemporary Art, this group show has artists from Africa, Asia and Latin America, some making New York debuts. Jack Shainman Gallery, 513 West 20th Street, (212)645-1701, through Aug. 5. (Cotter) AERNOT MIK: REFRACTION In a plotless, silent 30-minute film, the camera slowly surveys the elaborately constructed aftermath of a bus accident on a rural highway. Though the show is well produced and absorbing to watch, you may find yourself wondering more about what it cost than what it means. New Museum, 556 West 22nd Street, (212)219-1222, through Sept. 10. (Johnson) MIRAGE The desert and hallucination are the intertwined images here, in fine work by Jennifer Bolande, Robert Bordo, Moyra Davey, Robert Kinmont, Mary Lum, Stephan Pascher and Florian Pumhösl. Alexander and Bonin, 132 10th Avenue, near 18th Street, (212)367-7474, through July 29. (Cotter) *MATTHEW MONAHAN This labyrinthean cabinet of inventively recycled sculptures and drawings rifles through the combined dustbins of history, art and the artists previous efforts to create a knockout first impression that ultimately wears a bit thin. Anton Kern Gallery, 532 West 20th Street, (212)367-9663, through July 29. (Smith) *SOMETHING IS SOMEWHERE With art by 20 young artists, all women, this show makes an implicit feminist statement and offers art of formal variety and narrative intensity. Monya Rowe, 526 West 26th Street, Suite 504, (646)234-8645, through July 30. (Cotter) STICKS & STONES Images of skulls dominate this group show of mostly drawings by John White Cerasulo, Santiago Cucullu and Andrew Guenther, with an ambitious, multipart marker-on-photocopy piece by Jay Heikes. Perry Rubenstein Gallery, 527 West 23rd Street, (212)627-8000, through Aug. 12. (Cotter) THE SUBJECTIVE FIGURE The infinitely malleable human body gets a workout. Highlights include Francesca Woodmans intimate photographic self-portraits; Judy Foxs life-size, extraordinarily realistic naked ceramic girl in beatific ecstasy; Nancy Davidsons sexually suggestive, aqua blue minimalist sculpture with a bra; Robert Greenes painting of two young men in a tree full of birds; and a sideshow of richly colored and blurred paintings of young girls by Leiko Ikemura. Robert Miller, 524 West 26th Street, (212)366-4774, through July 29. (Johnson) SUMMER SUSTENANCE: A GOURMANDS DELIGHT This visual feast of artworks representing food includes Will Cottons painting of a forest made of chocolate; Katherine Bradfords cartoon painting of a stack of pancakes; Mary Jo Vaths realistic watermelon; and Steve Gianakoss painting of Bad Mom putting a child into an oven. Edward Thorp, 210 11th Avenue, (212)691-6565, through July 29. (Johnson) *THIS SIDE TOWARD SCREEN With the arrival of digital imaging, slide projection became archaic technology, but as an artists medium, it has a long and continuing history, which is touched on in new work here. Murray Guy, 453 West 17th Street, (212)463-7372, through July 29. (Cotter) *WALLS N THINGS This show about illusion and ambiguity includes a big, tough graffiti piece lifted from Barbie packaging; wall braces that support nothing; and a wall painting that isnt there until you suddenly see it, after which it is really, really there. Nicole Klagsbrun, 526 West 26th Street, Suite 213, (212)243-3335, through Aug. 5.(Cotter) *WE COULD HAVE INVITED EVERYONE Depending on your interest, this excellent, sprawling show about the micronations and fictive states founded by artists, eccentrics, political malcontents and other subversives will either feel like the tip of the iceberg or overload. Andrew Kreps Gallery, 516A West 20th Street, (212) 741-8849, through July 29. (Smith) KARIN WEINER: FRONTIERA A camp site of cardboard logs, stuffed fabric stones and a rag rug around a television set; suspended stuffed clouds, like ornate patchwork mattresses; a mound of stuffed antlers; and collages of countless flowers comprise this industriously zany artists second solo. ZieherSmith, 531 West 25th Street, (212)229-1088, through July 29. (Johnson) Other Galleries ANIMAL TALES This entertaining show presents paintings of all kinds of animals in all kinds of styles: fantasy creatures painted naturalistically, real animals painted surrealistically, cartoon hybrids and old-fashioned allegorical beasts. Participating artists include Catherine Howe, David Humphrey, Elizabeth Huey, James Esber, Anton van Dalen and many more. DFN, 176 Franklin Street, TriBeCa, (212)334-3400, through Sept. 2.(Johnson) JOHN BEECH Mr. Beechs elegant, subtly humorous sculptures conjoin Minimalism and utilitarianism; a tall, aqua-blue box, for example, looks like a container for parts in a factory that Donald Judd might have built. Peter Blum, 99 Wooster Street, SoHo, (212)343-0441, through Sept. 10. (Johnson) *MIKE BOUCHET The main piece in this show is a re-creation of Walter De Marias gallery-filling 1977 New York Earth Room, in this case made of topsoil from Home Depot and compost from Rikers Island. To fill the craftsy requirements of the present art market, there are Tom Cruise sculptures and paintings of soft drink labels upstairs. Maccarone Inc., 45 Canal Street, Lower East Side, (212)431-4977, through Aug. 28. (Cotter) ALLAN DESOUZA: THE LOST PICTURES New pictures by this conceptualist photographer meditate on the photograph as a memorial object. Mr. deSouza placed prints made from old family slides around his home, allowing them to become faded and abraded and to accumulate hair, dust and other debris. He then turned them into large, glossy digital prints in which the ghosts of the original images haunt the new, busily textured, semi-abstract surfaces. Talwar, 108 East 16th Street, at Union Square, Flatiron district, (212) 673-3096, through July 29. (Johnson) *THE GENERALS JAMBOREE: SECOND ANNUAL WATERCOLOR EXHIBITION Watercolor is a chronically underestimated art medium -- paintings poorer, implicitly feminine cousin. This may be one reason so many young artists have embraced it, armed with all kinds of intentions and techniques, including a few pointed at three dimensions, and also why this exhibition is, indeed, an exuberant jamboree. With the vogue for multimedia, it is also clarifying to see more than three score artists concentrating on just one. Guild & Greyshkul, 28 Wooster Street, at Grand Street, SoHo, (212)625-9224, through July 30. (Smith) *I THROW HERRING TO THE DOG Lillian Ludlow and Marcella Mullins, the curators of this odd and charming group show, are both clothes-designers and artists, which may help explain the aesthetic of precision and improvisation that reigns here in work by Rita Ackerman, Kenneth Boyer Kloster, Sadie Laska and Patrick OLeary, among others. Canada, 55-59 Chrystie Street, between Canal and Hester Streets, Lower East Side, (212)925-4631, through July 31. (Cotter) VITALY KOMAR: THREE-DAY WEEKEND The work in Mr. Komars first solo show is more personal and less zanily satirical than the art he produced with his long-time collaborator Alex Melamid, but it does involve ingenious play with political and cultural signifiers. Ronald Feldman, 31 Mercer Street, SoHo, (212)226-3232, through July 29. (Johnson) SYLVIA SLEIGH Ms. Sleigh is best known for the male odalisques she painted in the 1970s. The ones in this seven-decade retrospective are comical and embarrassing but still wonderful documents of first-wave feminism, and so is the large 1977 group portrait of members of the all-female cooperative gallery A.I.R. Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Livingston, Staten Island, (718)448-2500, through Oct. 2. (Johnson) Last Chance EVERLAND This enchanting 11-person show of fantasy landscapes assembled by the independent curator David Gibson includes the watercolorist Russell Nachmans contemporary fairy painting; Kim Keevers constructed photograph of a scary, murky yellow mountainscape; and Sandra Bermudezs photograph of orchids whose petals turn out to be tiny Vegas showgirls. Annina Nosei, 530 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212)741-8695, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) GEES BEND QUILTS Quilts made by women of the tiny hamlet of Gees Bend, Ala., have been making the rounds of United States museums since 2002. For those who are still unacquainted with those extraordinary works of folk art, which resonate strikingly with Modernist abstraction, this small show is a good introduction. Ameringer Yohe, 20 West 57th Street, Manhattan, (212)445-0051, closing today. (Johnson) GREATER BROOKLYN This survey of small works by 30 emerging artists selected from 400 submissions by two members of the gallerys staff presents a veritable lexicon of current trends, vigorously pursued. CRG Gallery, 535 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212)229-2766, closing today. (Smith) MONOCHROME IMAGE This show of single-color works in two and three dimensions includes a mans suit, hat and shoes cast in pink rubber by David Baskin; a life-size giant squid of yellow crocheted yarn by Mary Carlson; an orange sculpture resembling a big clowns smile by John Monti; and a yellow wooden relief like a section of wainscoting by Francis Cape. Elizabeth Harris, 529 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212)463-9666, closing today.(Johnson) NEW TAPESTRIES Tapestry is a loosely used term for the fabric works in this show, which include a three-dimensional guitar sewn together by Margarita Cabrera; inflated columns sprouting leaves by Lee Boroson; a politically motivated chain-link fence made of woven strips by Andrea Bowers; a comically vulgar insult in needlepoint by Type A; an expansive landscape of stitched-together pieces by Rowena Dring; and much more. Sara Meltzer, 516 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212)727-9330, closing on Wednesday. (Johnson) CHARLES SANDISON: HELLO WORLD Animated by Mr. Sandisons computer programs, projected words interact in a kind of digital ecosystem, and clouds of illuminated dots coalesce repeatedly into pairs of words that will eventually reiterate the entire text of Darwins Origin of Species. Yvon Lambert, 564 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212)242-3611, closing tomorrow. (Johnson)

Guys, Dolls, Nazis and a Fellow Named Shrek

Selective listings of new shows in New York and around the country this fall.

Books to Be Published During the Autumn Months; A Selected List of Volumes Which Are Scheduled to Appear Before Christmas Books That Are to Be Published During the Autumn Months Books for the Autumn Months Books for the Autumn Months Books to Be Published During Autumn Months Books for the Autumn Months BELLES LETTRES THE ARTS Books to Be Published During Autumn Months PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION SCIENCE SPORT MISCELLANEOUS Books for the Autumn Months

FICTION IM NOT COMPLAINING. By Ruth Adams. Liveright Publishing Corporation. A novel about a group of young teachers. SONG OF YEARS. By Bess Streeter Aldrich. D. Appleton-Century Company.. Issue planned to honor originator of stamps, Sir R Hill

Notable Books of the Year 1993

This list has been selected from books reviewed since the Christmas Books issue of December 1992. The list suggests only high points in the main fields of reader interest, and it does not include titles chosen by the editors of the Book Review as the Best Books of 1993. Books are arranged alphabetically under subject headings. Art, Music & Popular Culture THE ART OF CELEBRATION: Twentieth-Century Painting, Literature, Sculpture, Photography, and Jazz. By Alfred Appel Jr. (Knopf, $35.) Modern times arent all Eliot and Kafka, the author cheerfully argues; theres also Matisse, Astaire, Chaplin, Teddy Wilson and a whole raft of dedicated life affirmers.

AP News in Brief at 5:58 am EST

. for besieged Ukraine. At issue is not only Russian President Vladimir Putins support for the separatists but the revival of the Soviet Cold War strategy of trying to create a critical division between the United States and its NATO allies, Germany.

Massive data breach at health insurer Anthem could affect 80 million people

Yet Lees lawyer pushed back against that suggestion in an interview with The New York Times, saying Lee was extremely hurt and humiliated by the claim. She is a very strong, independent and wise woman who should be enjoying the discovery of her .

Marriage Equality Has Officially Come to Alabama | Feminist.

This action came only hours after Alabamas Chief Justice Roy Moore ordered the states probate judges to not give any marriage licences to same-sex couples. Last month, District Court Judge Callie. of same-sex marriage on a federal level. The Court will begin hearing arguments in late April, with a decision expected before the terms end, which is in June. Media Resources: Associated Press 2/9/15; Politico 2/9/15; The New York Times 2/8/15; Autostraddle 2/9/15.

The Listings: June 9 - June 15

Selective listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the New York metropolitan region this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings ARABIAN NIGHT In previews; opens on Monday. An erotic German drama about five urbanites on a summer night. Trip Cullman directs (1:05). The East 13th Street Theater, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 279-4200. BIG SHOOT In previews; opens on June 22. The Culture Project presents a French political drama about the confrontation between an interrogator and a suspect (1:10). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 307-4100. BURLEIGH GRIME$ In previews; opens on Tuesday. Roger Kirbys new comedy sends up Wall Street and features a Gordon Gekko-like financial titan. David Warren directs, and, interestingly, David Yazbek (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) has written music for the show (2:10). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. THE BUSY WORLD IS HUSHED In previews; opens on June 25. A minister played by Jill Clayburgh finds herself at odds with her estranged, wayward son in this new play by Keith Bunin (The Credeaux Canvas). Mark Brokaw directs (2:00). Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. CRAZY FOR THE DOG Opens today. Christopher Boals dark comedy chronicles a love-hate relationship between siblings (2:00). Bouwerie Lane Theater, 330 Bowery, at Bond Street, East Village, (212) 677-0060, Ext. 16. GETTING HOME In previews; opens Thursday. The Second Stage Theater Uptown presents this urban fairy tale about princes, a yellow chariot and a difficult romantic decision, set on the isle of Manhattan (1:20). McGinn/Cazale Theater, 2162 Broadway, at 76th Street, (212) 246-4422. THE HOUSE IN TOWN In previews; opens on June 19. Richard Greenbergs latest drama, about a troubled marriage, is set in early-20th-century New York society. Doug Hughes directs (1:30). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. MACBETH Previews start Tuesday. Opens June 28. First at the Public in the park this year will be Moisés Kaufmans production of the Scottish play, starring Liev Schreiber, who went unto the breach at the Delacorte Theater in 2003 in Henry V (2:15). Delacorte Theater, Central Park West and 81st Street, (212) 539-8750. PIG FARM Previews start today. Opens June 27. The Roundabout Theater reunites part of the artistic team from Urinetown -- the playwright Greg Kotis and the director John Rando -- for this play about a couple struggling to hold onto their herd of pigs. Denis OHare stars (2:15). Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street, (212) 719-1300. SATELLITES In previews; opens on June 18. This new play by Diana Son is about an interracial couple moving into a gentrifying neighborhood in Brooklyn. Sandra Oh stars; Michael Greif directs (1:45). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200. SPRING AWAKENING In previews; opens on Thursday. The Atlantic Theater presents a musical version of Frank Wedekinds 19th-century classic about teenagers growing up fast in a repressive society. Michael Mayer directs. Duncan Sheik wrote the music. Stephen Sater wrote the book and lyrics (2:10). Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 239-6200. TREASON In previews; opens on Thursday. Sallie Bingham has written a new play about the controversial life of Ezra Pound (2:10). Perry Street Theater, 31 Perry Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 868-4444. THE WATERS EDGE In previews; opens on Wednesday. Kate Burton and Tony Goldwyn star in Theresa Rebecks new play about a woman whose life is interrupted when her estranged husband shows up at her lakeside home (2:10). Second Stage, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 246-4422. Broadway * AWAKE AND SING! Dreams and disappointments, hopes and fears, encouraging words and bitter put-downs clash by day and night in Clifford Odetss turbulent comedy-drama about a Jewish family struggling to stay afloat in the 1930s. A gifted roster of performers -- including Mark Ruffalo, Lauren Ambrose, Zoë Wanamaker and Ben Gazzara -- manage to locate the dreaming centers of their characters, buried beneath layers of political sloganeering, everyday gripes or street slang. And even when the focus occasionally blurs in Bartlett Shers ultimately moving revival, Odetss zesty dialogue, in which jazzy period colloquialisms are slung around like punches at a prize fight, is a joy to hear (2:30). Belasco Theater, 111 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Charles Isherwood) * BRIDGE & TUNNEL This delightful solo show, written and performed by Sarah Jones, is a sweet-spirited valentine to New York City, its polyglot citizens and the larger notion of an all-inclusive America. In 90 minutes of acutely observed portraiture gently tinted with humor, Ms. Jones plays more than a dozen men and women participating in an open-mike evening of poetry for immigrants (1:30). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) THE COLOR PURPLE So much plot, so many years, so many characters to cram into less than three hours. This beat-the-clock musical adaptation of Alice Walkers Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about Southern black women finding their inner warriors never slows down long enough for you to embrace it. LaChanze leads the vibrant, hard-working cast (2:40). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200.(Ben Brantley) DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS The arrival of Jonathan Pryce and his eloquent eyebrows automatically makes this the seasons most improved musical. With Mr. Pryce (who replaces the admirable but uneasy John Lithgow) playing the silken swindler to Norbert Leo Butzs vulgar grifter, its as if a mismatched entry in a three-legged race had become an Olympic figure-skating pair (2:35). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE DROWSY CHAPERONE This small and ingratiating spoof of 1920s stage frolics, as imagined by an obsessive show queen, may not be a masterpiece. But in a dry season for musicals, The Drowsy Chaperone has theatergoers responding as if they were withering house plants, finally being watered after long neglect. Bob Martin and Sutton Foster are the stand-outs in the eager, energetic cast (1:40). Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) *FAITH HEALER In the title role of Brian Friels great play, Ralph Fiennes paints a portrait of the artist as dreamer and destroyer that feels both as old as folklore and so fresh that it might be painted in wet blood. Also starring Cherry Jones and the superb Ian McDiarmid, this mesmerizing series of monologues has been directed with poetic starkness by Jonathan Kent (2:35). Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE HISTORY BOYS Madly enjoyable. Alans Bennetts play about a battle for the hearts and minds of a group of university-bound students, imported with the original British cast from the National Theater, moves with a breezy narrative swagger that transcends cultural barriers. Directed by Nicholas Hytner, with a perfectly oiled ensemble led by the superb Richard Griffiths and Stephen Campbell Moore as schoolmasters with opposing views of history and education (2:40). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) HOT FEET A dancing encyclopedia of clichés set to the music of Earth, Wind and Fire. Numbing (2:30). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Isherwood) JERSEY BOYS From grit to glamour with the Four Seasons, directed by the pop repackager Des McAnuff (The Whos Tommy). The real thrill of this shrink-wrapped bio-musical, for those who want something more than recycled chart toppers and a story line poured from a can, is watching the wonderful John Lloyd Young (as Frankie Valli) cross the line from exact impersonation into something far more compelling (2:30). August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE Please turn off your political correctness monitor along with your cellphone for Martin McDonaghs gleeful, gory and appallingly entertaining play. This blood farce about terrorism in rural Ireland, acutely directed by Wilson Milam, has a carnage factor to rival Quentin Tarantinos. But it is also wildly, absurdly funny and, even more improbably, severely moral (1:45). Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Love is a many-flavored thing, from sugary to sour, in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucass encouragingly ambitious and discouragingly unfulfilled new musical. The show soars only in the sweetly bitter songs performed by the wonderful Victoria Clark, as an American abroad (2:15). Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE PAJAMA GAME Sexual chemistry in a Broadway musical? Isnt that illegal now? If it were, then Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli OHara -- the white-hot stars of Kathleen Marshalls delicious revival of this 1954 musical -- would be looking at long jail terms. This intoxicating production, which features a charming supporting cast led by Michael McKean, allows grown-up audiences the rare chance to witness a bona fide adult love affair translated into hummable songs and sprightly dance (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300. (Brantley) *SHINING CITY Quiet, haunting and absolutely glorious. Conor McPhersons impeccably assembled ghost story about being alone in the crowded city of Dublin has been brought to American shores with a first-rate cast (Brian F. OByrne, Oliver Platt, Martha Plimpton and Peter Scanavino), directed by Robert Falls (1:45). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * SWEENEY TODD Sweet dreams, New York. This thrilling new revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheelers musical, with Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone leading a cast of 10 who double as their own musicians, burrows into your thoughts like a campfire storyteller who knows what really scares you. The inventive director John Doyle aims his pared-down interpretation at the squirming child in everyone who wants to have his worst fears both confirmed and dispelled (2:30). Eugene ONeill Theater, 230 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) TARZAN This writhing green blob with music, adapted by Disney Theatrical Productions from the 1999 animated film, has the feeling of a super-deluxe day-care center, equipped with lots of bungee cords and karaoke synthesizers, where kids can swing when they get tired of singing, and vice versa. The soda-pop score is by Phil Collins (2:30). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) THREE DAYS OF RAIN In this revival of Richard Greenbergs slender, elegant drama of family disconnectedness, Julia Roberts is stiff with self-consciousness, glancingly acquainted with the two characters she plays and deeply, disturbingly beautiful. Otherwise, it is almost impossible to discern the virtues of the play itself in this wooden and splintered production, directed by Joe Mantello and also starring Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper, who have little chance of capturing the audiences attention (2:30). Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE THREEPENNY OPERA Presented as a long, pansexual orgy, Scott Elliots numbing revival of the Brecht-Weill classic feels like a party where the hangover begins almost as soon as the evening does. The starry cast includes Alan Cumming (as Mac the Knife) and a Dietrich-like Cyndi Lauper, though only Jim Dale and Nellie McKay appear to have a clue as to what the show is about (2:40). Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street, (212) 719-1300. (Brantley) * THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE The happy news for this happy-making little musical is that the move to larger quarters has dissipated none of its quirky charm. William Finns score sounds plumper and more rewarding than it did on Off Broadway, providing a sprinkling of sugar to complement the sass in Rachel Sheinkins zinger-filled book. The performances are flawless. Gold stars all around (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) THE WEDDING SINGER An assembly-kit musical that might as well be called That 80s Show, this stage version of the 1998 film is all winks and nods and quotations from the era of big hair and junk bonds. The cast members, who include Stephen Lynch and Laura Benanti, are personable enough, which is not the same as saying they have personalities (2:20). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) Off Broadway ASSISTED LOVING This warm and witty monologue by Bob Morris, who contributes the Age of Dissonance column to the Sunday Styles section of The New York Times, is performed by the author, who chronicles his widowed fathers and his own search for love in and around New York. Engaging, subtle and winning (1:10). Daryl Roth Theater, D-Lounge, 103 East 15th Street, at Union Square, (212) 239-6200. (George Hunka) * BILLY CONNOLLY LIVE! This popular comedian will remind you of a Scottish George Carlin, with a bit of Eddie Izzard mixed in (2:00). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Jason Zinoman) CAGE LOVE The new thriller by Christopher Denham -- star of Red Light Winter -- is a compulsively watchable, sometimes ridiculous drama about a man who becomes increasingly suspicious of his wife-to-be (1:30). Rattlestick Theater, 224 Waverly Place, Greenwich Village, (212) 868-4444. (Zinoman) CIRQUE DU SOLEIL -- CORTEO The Cirque du Soleils latest extravaganza, which upholds the ubiquitous Cirque standard, is a fantasy of a dead (though cheerful) clown imagining his own funeral. Unsurprisingly, his cortege is full of circus acts (2:30). Grand Chapiteau at Randalls Island, (800) 678-5440. (John Rockwell) DARK YELLOW Elias Koteas and Tina Benko star in this compelling one-act psychological thriller about a one-night stand that involves one shocking revelation after another (1:35). Studio Dante, 257 West 29th Street, Chelsea, (212) 868-4444. (Anita Gates) * FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT This production features the expected caricatures of ego-driven singing stars. But even more than usual, the show offers an acute list of grievances about the sickly state of the Broadway musical, where, as the lyrics have it, everything old is old again (1:45). Performances resume on Monday. 47th Street Theater, 304 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200.(Brantley) THE GOLD STANDARD A successful alumnus, his trophy girlfriend and an eccentric Korean professor form a romantic triangle at a campus bar in Daniel Robertss drama, which is occasionally original but often downright odd (2:30). The Irish Arts Center, 553 West 51st Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444. (Gates) JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS A powerfully sung revival of the 1968 revue, presented with affectionate nostalgia by the director Gordon Greenberg. As in the original, two men (Robert Cuccioli and Rodney Hicks) and two women (Natascia Diaz and Gay Marshall) perform a wide selection of Brels plaintive ballads and stirring anthems. Ms. Marshalls captivating performance of Ne Me Quitte Pas, sung in the original French and with heart-stirring transparency, represents Brel at his best (2:00). Zipper Theater, 336 West 37th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) NO CHILD Teachers will love Nilaja Suns one-woman show about the challenges of teaching drama at Malcolm X High School (1:10). Beckett Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Gates) NOT A GENUINE BLACK MAN Brian Copelands solo memoir about his African-American family moving into a white suburb in the early 1970s is an engaging, if stiltedly performed, show (1:30). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Zinoman) RED LIGHT WINTER A frank, occasionally graphic story of erotic fixation and the havoc it can wreak on sensitive types. Written and directed by Adam Rapp, this play is both a doomy romantic drama and a morbid comedy about the anxieties of male friendship. Although somewhat contrived, it features a lovely performance by Christopher Denham as a lonely soul starved for intimacy (2:25). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) SANDRA BERNHARD: EVERYTHING BAD AND BEAUTIFUL Sandra Bernhard was a proverbial rock star long before headline-making folks in even the most prosaic walks of life were being referred to as such. Her new show, a collection of songs interspersed with musings on her life and on public figures ranging from Britney Spears to Condoleezza Rice, is casual to the point of being offhand. That said, its invigorating to be in the presence of a true original (2:00). Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, at Union Square, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) * STUFF HAPPENS Daniel Sullivans sharp, invigorating production of David Hares journalistic drama about the road to war in Iraq is conducted on the modest scale of a town-hall meeting. The characters (who have names like Bush and Blair) seem less like destiny-shaping gods than the ego trippers in your office. If that means theyre too close for comfort, then Stuff Happens is doing its job (2:50). The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) TEMPEST TOSSED FOOLS This musical audience-participation childrens version of The Tempest is rowdy, colorful and not all that Shakespearean. Manhattan Ensemble Theater, 55 Mercer Street, SoHo, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) TRYST A suspense drama of a distinctly old-fashioned stamp about the romance between a handsome cad (Maxwell Caulfield) and a lonely spinster (Amelia Campbell). Will the wily predator seduce and abandon the mousy milliner? Karoline Leachs play springs a few twists that lack psychological credibility but keep the plot on the boil (2:00). Promenade Theater, 2162 Broadway, at 76th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) Off Off Broadway AINT SUPPOSED TO DIE A NATURAL DEATH Melvin Van Peebless 1971 Tony-nominated musical, Aint Supposed to Die a Natural Death, isnt so much performed at the club T New York, as erupted, like some sort of streetwise lava flow. This early precursor to hip-hop, rap and poetry slams is a get-down, roiling depiction of ghetto life, and were not talking urbane bling (1:30) T New York, 240 West 52nd Street, (212) 352-3101. (Phoebe Hoban) BACK OF THE THROAT An Arab-American playwright (Yussef El Guindi) addressing the harassment of Arab-Americans after 9/11? Interesting. But the play would have been even more interesting if the harassers were something other than cardboard characters out of the J. Edgar Hoover closet (1:15). Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101. (Neil Genzlinger) HAM LAKE A gregarious 20-something man reveals more than he intends to in this 80-minute seriocomic barroom monologue by Sam Rosen and Nat Bennett. Mr. Rosen is a wry and skilled earbender. Huron Club at the SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, South Village, (212) 691-1555. (Hunka) * WAITING FOR GODOT Vladimir (Wendell Pierce) and Estragon (J. Kyle Manzay) wait and wait, but in this version theyre soaking wet, their desolate plot being surrounded by water. A familiar play is injected with surprises (2:00). Harlem School for the Arts, 645 St. Nicholas Avenue, near 141st Street, Hamilton Heights, (212) 864-4444. (Genzlinger) Long-Running Shows * ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200.(Isherwood) AVENUE Q R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:10). Golden, 252 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh, sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200.(Brantley) DOUBT, A PARABLE (Pulitzer Prize, Best Play 2005, and Tony Award, Best Play 2005) John Patrick Shanley makes subversive use of musty conventions in the clash between the head of a parochial school and the young priest who may or may not be too fond of the boys in his charge (1:30). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). Resumes performances on Tuesday at the Minskoff Theater, 200 West 45th Street at Broadway, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) SLAVAS SNOWSHOW Clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin are stirring up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart as well as tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 307-4100.(Lawrence Van Gelder) SPAMALOT (Tony Award, Best Musical 2005) This staged re-creation of the mock-medieval movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail is basically a singing scrapbook for Python fans. Such a good time is being had by so many people that this fitful, eager celebration of inanity and irreverence has found a large and lucrative audience (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance BEAU BRUMMELL Ian Kelly is funny, engaging and intensely sympathetic as the early-19th-century British fashion plate who spent his last years in exile (1:30). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200; closing on Sunday. (Gates) COLUMBINUS The grim ecosphere of the average American high school is analyzed with sympathy and precision in this new play by Stephen Karam and P J Paparelli, which aims to expose the cultural and personal pathologies that gave rise to the horrific events in Littleton, Colo., in 1999, when two students went on a murderous rampage at Columbine High School, killing a dozen students and a teacher before killing themselves. Well acted and stylishly directed, the play exudes earnestness, and a measure of self-importance, too (2:00). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 239-6200; closing on Sunday. (Isherwood) HAMLET Theater by the Blinds modest, pared-down production offers an angry, sarcastic prince; an Ophelia who wont stop singing; and a Polonius who actually seems to know what hes saying (2:15). Theater Five, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444; closing on Sunday. (Gates) HERAKLES VIA PHAEDRA Making her annual excursion into Greek myth and history, Ellen Stewart presents the labors of Herakles and the tragedies of Theseus with an exhilarating, rough-hewn mix of flamenco, wildly beautiful puppets, acrobatic combat between men and magical beasts and a classical South Indian dance performed with a live snake (1:30). La MaMa E.T.C. Annex, 66 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710; closing on Sunday. (Miriam Horn) TROUT STANLEY Claudia Deys hysterically funny, deliciously lyrical piece of Canadian Gothic is about strange 30-year-old twin sisters and the mysterious man who arrives, D. H. Lawrence style, to upset the households delicate balance (1:50). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 868-4444; closing on Sunday. (Gates) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. AKEELAH AND THE BEE (PG, 112 minutes) Eleven-year-old Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is a bright but unmotivated girl who can outspell anyone at her South Los Angeles middle school. When Akeelah gets a taste of victory by winning the school bee, she throws herself into studying for the regional one, coached by a stern English professor named Joshua Larabee (Laurence Fishburne). But Akeelahs mother (Angela Bassett) objects to her daughters obsession with what she considers a game. The innate suspense and charm of the spelling bee, along with a trio of crack performances, turn what is, in essence, a formulaic picture into something more satisfying: an underdog tale that inspires without being sappy. (Dana Stevens) * AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (PG, 96 minutes) Al Gore gives a lecture on climate change. One of the most exciting and necessary movies of the year. Seriously. (A. O. Scott) * ARMY OF SHADOWS (No rating, 140 minutes, in French) Dark as pitch and without compromise, Jean-Pierre Melvilles 1969 masterpiece centers on the feats of a small band of Resistance fighters during the occupation. Brilliant, harrowing, essential viewing.(Manohla Dargis) ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL (R, 102 minutes) A lump of misanthropy from Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes, who made the sublime Ghost World. This time they plod through a grouchy attack on the pretense and hypocrisy of self-declared artists. John Malkovichs performance as a drawing instructor is sly and insightful, a glimpse at what the movie might have been. (Scott) THE BREAK-UP (PG-13, 105 minutes) Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn split up and share custody of a Chicago condominium. Dull and cheerless, notwithstanding a handful of funny supporting turns, notably from Judy Davis and Jason Bateman. (Scott) * CAVITE (No rating, 80 minutes, in English and Tagalog) Terrorism and cultural identity are only two of the themes wound into a tight knot of fear and bewilderment in this gripping, no-budget political thriller shot on the fly with hand-held cameras that scour the teeming streets and squatter shacks of Cavite, a city on the outskirts of Manila. (Stephen Holden) * CLEAN (R, 110 minutes) This fine French movie, written and directed by Olivier Assayas, is one of the few fictional films to evoke realistically the grubby texture of existence for second- and third-tier rock celebrities crumbling under a combination of fading renown and drug addiction. Maggie Cheung and Nick Nolte offer memorable portrayals as a recovering junkie and her compassionate father-in-law. (Holden) THE CULT OF THE SUICIDE BOMBER (No rating, 96 minutes) An engrossing if intellectually thin made-for-British-television documentary that purports to explain how suicide bombing -- which its narrator, Robert Baer, likens to a pathological virus -- evolved from a weapon of war into a weapon of terror and, finally in Iraq, a weapon of chaos. (Dargis) THE DA VINCI CODE (PG-13, 148 minutes) Theology aside, The Da Vinci Code is, above all, a murder mystery. And as such, once it gets going, Ron Howards movie has its pleasures. He and the screenwriter Akiva Goldsman have deftly rearranged some elements of the plot, unkinking a few overelaborate twists and introducing others that keep the action moving along. The movie does, however, take a while to accelerate, popping the clutch and leaving rubber on the road as it tries to establish who is who, what hes doing and why. So I certainly cant support any calls for boycotting or protesting this busy, trivial, inoffensive film. Which is not to say that Im recommending that you go see it. (Scott) * DOWN IN THE VALLEY (R, 114 minutes) This allegorical neo-western set in the San Fernando Valley has dreams as big as the fantasies that consume its protagonist, a Stetson-wearing suburban cowboy (Edward Norton) who is not what he appears to be. How much you like it will depend on your appetite for the kind of cultural metaphors that David Jacobson flings onto the screen with a reckless abandon. (Holden) * INSIDE MAN (R, 128 minutes) The latest from Spike Lee takes a familiar setup -- a Wall Street bank heist that mutates into a hostage crisis -- and twists it ever so slightly and nicely. Among the films most sustained pleasures are its holy trinity -- Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster -- and the best lineup of pusses and mugs outside The Sopranos. (Dargis) THE KING (R, 105 minutes) James Marsh uses clichés and some lived-in emotions and atmosphere for his fitfully engaging, exasperating film about a young Mexican-American (Gael García Bernal) whose search for his patrimony leads him into the bosom of a deeply religious Texas family (headed by a very fine William Hurt). (Dargis) * LA MOUSTACHE (No rating, 86 minutes, in French) Emmanuel Carrières psychological mystery prepares you to bask in one of those sexy, bittersweet marital comedies that are a hallmark of sophisticated French cinema. Then, by degrees, it subverts those expectations to spiral down a rabbit hole of ambiguity and doubt. (Holden) * LENFANT (THE CHILD) (R, 100 minutes, in French) The latest from the Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne involves a young thief (Jérémie Renier) who one day sells his newborn son for a fat envelope of cash. What interests the Dardennes is not only how a man would sell a child as casually as a slab of beef, but also whether a man like this, having committed such a repellent offense, can find redemption. (Dargis) MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III (PG-13, 126 minutes) Er, this time its personal, as Tom Cruise plays a dashing operative for a clandestine organization who sweeps a simpering brunette off her feet. Directed, without much flair, by J. J. Abrams, the small-screen auteur behind Lost and Alias. (Dargis) THE OMEN (R, 110 minutes) The supremely unnecessary remake of The Omen, the 1976 horror show that, along with Rosemarys Baby and The Exorcist, plunked everyones favorite baddie, Satan, into the Hollywood mainstream, wants to capitalize on the tabloid theology in the air. But for a few contemporary touches (the World Trade Center in flames as a portent of Armageddon) it slavishly recycles the original. (Holden) OVER THE HEDGE (PG, 83 minutes) This tale about some woodland critters threatened by their new human neighbors has the technical trappings of a worthwhile Saturday matinee, so its too bad no one paid commensurate attention to the script. The writers, including Karey Kirkpatrick, who directed with Tim Johnson, pad the story with the usual yuks and some glop about family, but there is no poetry here and little thought. (Dargis) POSEIDON (PG-13, 100 minutes) Wolfgang Petersens Poseidon is unlikely to replace the original in the hearts of action-hungry moviegoers, though it will probably expunge the memory of the earlier, made-for-TV remake (and also, perhaps, of the 1979 sequel, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure). The hard-working cast does a lot of screaming, climbing and death-defying in soaking-wet evening wear, but they can hardly hope to match the ripe absurdity of Shelley Winters, Red Buttons, Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine. (Scott) THE PROMISE (PG-13, 103 minutes, in Mandarin) A lavish spectacle -- somewhere between grand opera and cartoon -- from Chen Kaige, about a love triangle involving a general, a slave and a cursed princess. Sometimes breathtaking, sometimes out of breath. (Scott) SEE NO EVIL (R, 84 minutes) In See No Evil the professional wrestler Glen Jacobs (a k a Kane) plays a lumbering psychopath intent on butchering the juvenile delinquents on cleanup duty at the hotel where hes holed up. Propelled by an inebriated camera that careers off walls and, at one point, roots around in an empty eye socket, the movie soon devolves into a bloodily creative string of mutilations and impalings.(Jeannette Catsoulis) * STICK IT (PG-13, 103 minutes) Somersaulting through happy clichés and unexpected invention, this spry teenage comedy gets everything right. (Nathan Lee) * THREE TIMES (No rating, 135 minutes, in Mandarin and Taiwanese dialect) For this hypnotically beautiful cinematic trilogy, the Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien, one of the modern masters of the art, brings us love and loss in three different time periods. (Dargis) * 12 AND HOLDING (R, 94 minutes) This poignant, beautifully acted film, directed by Michael Cuesta (L.I.E.), flashes a laser beam on the moment between childhood and adolescence, when unguarded emotions and fantasies still rule, but adult experience beckons. (Holden) UNITED 93 (R, 115 minutes) A scrupulously tasteful Hollywood re-creation of the downing of the fourth plane hijacked by Muslim terrorists on Sept. 11 and easily the feel-bad American movie of the year. Written and directed by Paul Greengrass, whose earlier films include Bloody Sunday. (Dargis) * WATER (PG-13, 114 minutes, in Hindi) Set in India in 1938, Water focuses on a group of widows condemned by Hindu law to live in an institution on the banks of the River Ganges. The arrival of a high-spirited 8-year-old girl encourages one widow to question her faith and another to begin a love affair with a Gandhian idealist. Bobbing back and forth between romantic melodrama and spiritual inquiry, Water is an exquisitely beautiful film about the institutionalized oppression of an entire class of women. (Catsoulis) X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (PG-13, 104 minutes) As expected, the third and presumably last film about the powerful Marvel Comics mutants who walk and often fight among us pretty much looks and plays like the first two, though perhaps with more noise and babes, and a little less glum. The credited writers here are Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn, who, like the director, Brett Ratner, are not mutant enough to fly. (Dargis) Film Series B-NOIR (Through June 15) Film Forums six-week festival of 70 low-budget American thrillers from the 1940s and 50s continues this weekend with two double features. Today and Saturday, the films, both directed by Phil Karlson, are Kansas City Confidential (1952), about a man framed for an armored-car robbery, and The Phenix City Story (1955), a docudrama about a corrupt Alabama town. The double feature for Sunday and Monday is Man in the Dark (1953), about a criminal who loses his memory in experimental brain surgery, and D.O.A. (1950), in which a poisoned, dying man searches for his killer. Edmond OBrien stars in both. 209 West Houston Street, west of Avenue of the Americas, South Village, (212) 727-8110; $10.(Anita Gates) HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Through June 22) The Film Society of Lincoln Center sponsors this annual festival. This weekends features include the New York premieres of The Camden 28 (2006), about early-1970s anti-Vietnam War activists; Dreaming Lhasa (2005), the adventures of a Tibetan filmmaker from New York; and Source (2005), a documentary from the Czech Republic about the oil boom in Azerbaijan.. Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5600; $10. (Gates) STANLEY KUBRICK RETROSPECTIVE (Through July 9) The Museum of the Moving Images five-week series, which includes all 12 of Kubricks full-length features, continues with Killers Kiss (1955), an indie-style film about a boxer; The Killing (1956), his acclaimed racetrack heist film; and La Ronde (1950), Max Ophulss 1950 Vienna romance La Ronde, based on the same Arthur Schnitzler novel as Kubricks Eyes Wide Shut. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077; $10. (Gates) KUROSAWA (Through Sept. 18) The IFC Centers weekend series honoring Akira Kurosawa continues this weekend with Dersu Uzala (1975), his Oscar-winning Soviet-made drama about a hunters friendship with a Russian military explorer. 323 Avenue of the Americas, at West Third Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 924-7771; $10.75. (Gates) TO SAVE AND PROJECT: THE FOURTH MOMA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF FILM PRESERVATION (Through June 21) This monthlong program of preserved and restored films continues at the Museum of Modern Art. This weekends features include Le Coupable (1917), a recently rediscovered French silent about a magistrates illegitimate son, and two Satyajit Ray films, The Coward (1965), about a screenwriter and an old love, and The Holy Man, about a fake guru. Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400; $10. (Gates) THE VISION THAT CHANGED CINEMA: MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI (Through June 29) BAMcinémateks tribute to Antonioni continues with screenings of his biggest commercial success, Blow-Up (1966), starring Vanessa Redgrave and David Hemmings, through Tuesday. Two programs of Antonionis short films will be shown on Wednesday and Thursday. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. * ARCTIC MONKEYS (Wednesday) For nearly a year its been pretty much impossible to read or even hear anything about this young group from Sheffield, England, without some fervid opinion about whether it is or is not, in fact, the greatest band on the planet. The pros have a decent case: the bands catchy, high-strung songs, with terse, punchy guitar riffs and caustic lyrics about the nightclubbing life, are, at the very least, one of rocks biggest new thrills. Appearing with We Are Scientists, a Brooklyn band playing a similar if less memorable kind of spiky disco-punk. At 6:45 p.m.; Roseland, 239 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $25. (Ben Sisario) BABY GRAMPS (Tomorrow through Wednesday) With a gray beard the size of small shrubbery, a raspy Popeye voice and manic skills on the steel guitar, Baby Gramps plays a cartoonish variation on the role of hobo troubadour in old-timey songs like Big Rock Candy Mountain. But where he really shines is in his hilarious and ingenious wordplay, as in his palindrome song (Go hang a salami -- Im a lasagna hog). Tomorrow at 7 p.m.; Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; $10. Sunday at 9 p.m., Hanks Saloon, 46 Third Avenue, at Atlantic Avenue, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, (718) 625-8003; $8 donation. Monday at 7 p.m.; Living Room, 154 Ludlow Street, near Stanton Street, Lower East Side, (212) 533-7235; free. Wednesday at 9:45 p.m., Naked Lunch, 17 Thompson Street, SoHo, (212) 343-0828; $10. (Sisario) JAMES BROWN (Tonight) He is the godfather of much more than soul: as the chief architect of funk, James Brown is one of the most influential figures in popular music since Louis Armstrong. Hes a great dancer, too. At 8 p.m.; B. B. King Blues Club and Grill, 237 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144; $80 in advance, $85 at the door. (Sisario) * CAMILLE (Monday and Tuesday) On her album Le Fil (Narada), Camille creates an astonishing vocal soundworld in miniature, with playful, brassy parts -- some in French, some in scatlike percussive syllables -- cleverly multitracked over a constant hummed drone. There is an elaborate musical intelligence at work, though the overall effect is simply that of an alluring siren song. Monday at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday at 9:30 p.m.; Joes Pub at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200; sold out. (Sisario) * CAT POWER AND THE MEMPHIS RHYTHM BAND (Tonight and tomorrow night) For her most recent album, The Greatest (Matador), Chan Marshall, the burgundy-voiced figure of indie melancholy who performs as Cat Power, recorded in Memphis with a group of veteran soul players. The strutting rhythms, tender guitars and happy horns give her an expressive new vocabulary of sorrows, loves and joys; she hasnt sounded so inspired in years. With Dexter Romweber, who played rockabilly with passion and fury in the Flat Duo Jets. At 8; Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 840-2824; sold out. (Sisario) GOGOL BORDELLO (Tonight) With an untamed stage persona a bit like Iggy Pop and a bit like a paranoid Kafka protagonist, the singer-contortionist Eugene Hutz leads a cultural mashup of dirty punk, raucous Gypsy music and vaudevillian theatrics. The band has been playing like theres no tomorrow for seven or eight years and shows no signs of slowing down or even taking a breath. With Kultur Shock, Dub Trio and Outernational. At 7:30; Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; sold out. (Sisario) JAMES HUNTER (Wednesday) After years honing his style in London pubs, this dapper British singer has emerged with People Gonna Talk (Go/Rounder), recreating the smooth, slithery R & B of early-1960s American singers like Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and Little Willie John with care and affection. At 7:30 and 10 p.m.; Makor, 35 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 415-5500; sold out. (Sisario) McDONALDS GOSPELFEST (Thursday) This competition and performance series puts amateurs and gospels biggest stars on the same stage. This year those stars include Donnie McClurkin, the Rev. Hezekiah Walker and the Love Fellowship Tabernacle Choir, Vickie Winans, Cissy Houston and Tye Tribbett. The four-day event runs through June 18. At 7:30 p.m.; City Center, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan, (212) 581-1212; $35 to $100.(Sisario) * NELLIE McKAY (Sunday) On nights off from The Threepenny Opera on Broadway, Ms. McKay, a songwriting sprite whom it is impossible to get tired of, is playing a series of late-night shows at Joes Pub. These are rare chances to hear the songs from her excellent second album, Pretty Little Head, which has been in music purgatory since Ms. McKay was dropped by Columbia late last year. At 11:30 p.m.; Joes Pub at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200; $20. (Sisario) NEW CARS, BLONDIE (Tonight) The summer touring season sometimes creates strange allegiances. Todd Rundgren is fronting the New Cars, which features two original members of the Cars. (Another two, including the singer Ric Ocasek, declined to participate, and the bassist Benjamin Orr died six years ago.) Mr. Rundgren fills the role of lead singer pretty well, which, considering his versatility, isnt a surprise. With Blondie, whose 2006 highlights include induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a sexy new song by Debbie Harry in tribute to Lil Kim. At 7 p.m.; Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, N.Y., (516) 221-1000 or (212) 307-7171; $20 to $65.(Sisario) MACEO PARKER (Wednesday and Thursday) As the alto saxophonist for James Brown in his prime funk years and later for George Clintons Parliament-Funkadelic, Mr. Parker has an impeccable pedigree and the skills to match. Wednesday at 8 p.m.; Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $32 in advance, $25 at the door. Thursday at 8 p.m., Celebrate Brooklyn, Prospect Park Bandshell, Prospect Park West and Ninth Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 855-7882; $3 suggested donation. (Sisario) * RADIOHEAD (Tuesday and Wednesday) Its been three years since the last Radiohead album, and Thom Yorke, its singer, is releasing a solo record next month. Those are sometimes bad signs for a band, but theres nothing to worry about here: on this brief summer tour Radiohead is trying out material for a new album. At 8 p.m.; Theater at Madison Square Garden, (212) 465-6741; sold out. (Sisario) SUSHEELA RAMAN (Tuesday) Ms. Raman, born in India and living in London, wanders East and West in her songs, often placing Indian-tinged melodies atop pop-jazz vamps. With Brisa Roché. At 7 p.m.; Joes Pub at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200; $18.(Jon Pareles) SONIC YOUTH (Tuesday) Conventional wisdom would say that Sonic Youth should have burned out years ago: the band has been treading the same shaggy avant-indie path since the early 1980s, and each of its members has had plenty of other interests to pursue. But since its 2002 album Murray Street, partly about life after 9/11, Sonic Youth has hit a wonderful new stride, sounding comfortable, focused and invigorated. The band begins a tour for its strong new album, Rather Ripped (Geffen), at CBGB. At 8 p.m.; 315 Bowery, at Bleecker Street, East Village, (212) 982-4052; sold out. (Sisario) RALPH STANLEY (Wednesday) Ralph Stanleys stark, unflinching O Death leaped out of the soundtrack of O Brother, Where Are Thou? and introduced a few million new listeners to a gripping, venerable singer whose songs about sin, temptation and salvation are cornerstones of country music. Leading his own band, Mr. Stanley is more avuncular than apocalyptic, but his songs still have eerie moments. With Tres Chicas, featuring the singers Caitlin Cary, Lynn Blakey and Tonya Lamm. At 7 p.m.; Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City, (212) 835-2789; free. (Pareles) STEW (Tomorrow) When hes not leading his band, the Negro Problem, Stew plays quieter, melodic pop songs that free-associate their way through wry situations and extravagant metaphors. At 9:30 p.m.; Joes Pub at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200; $15 in advance, $20 at the door. (Pareles) STIFF LITTLE FINGERS (Sunday) Before Rancid revived the political fervor and punk and ska momentum of the Clash, Stiff Little Fingers was around to insist that the Clash had the right ideas all along. At 8 p.m.; Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $20. (Pareles) ROB THOMAS, JEWEL (Tomorrow) On his solo album Something to Be (Atlantic), Rob Thomas, the lead singer of Matchbox Twenty, has reinvented himself as a dance-pop wiggler in the George Michael mode. Jewel has already gone through her electronic phase (on her forgettable album 0304) and, on her new Goodbye Alice in Wonderland (Atlantic), returned to her specialty, cooing guitar folk. At 7 p.m.; Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, N.Y., (516) 221-1000 or (212) 307-7171; $20 to $65. (Sisario) TILLY AND THE WALL (Wednesday) This Omaha indie-rock band plays smart, tuneful anthems with some rough edges, like many indie-rock bands, but has one truly unusual (and effective) gimmick: its percussion comes from the manic tap-dancing of one of its members, Jamie Williams. With David Dondero. At 8 p.m.; Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $14. (Sisario) UNCLE MONK (Tomorrow) There is life after the Ramones, but who knew that its sound would be bluegrass? Tom Erdelyi, better known as Tommy Ramone, the bands first drummer (and only surviving original member), plays a mean mandolin in this new acoustic duo, singing tautly written songs -- much like Ramones songs, but with tenderness -- about the comforts and subtle politics of home life. At 8 p.m.; with Radio I-Ching (featuring Dee Pop of the Bush Tetras), Johnny Black and others. CBs 313 Gallery, 313 Bowery, at Bleecker Street, East Village, (212) 982-4052; $8. (Sisario) * RUFUS WAINWRIGHT (Wednesday and Thursday) He might well call it sacred music. With a 40-piece orchestra, Mr. Wainwright performs a track-by-track tribute to Judy Garlands 1961 live album Judy at Carnegie Hall, from The Trolley Song to Chicago. At 8 p.m.; Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; sold out. (Sisario) GRETCHEN WILSON (Thursday) Ms. Wilson arrived two years ago as an unapologetic honky-tonker, and though her second album, All Jacked Up (Epic), deals with some morning-after complications, her appetites are undiminished. On Skoal Ring she identifies her preferred flavor of man by his chewing tobacco: That berry blend on his lips still turns me on. At 8 p.m.; Radio City Music Hall, (212) 247-4777; $46.50 to $96.50. (Sisario) ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA (Monday) More than a decade after his death, Frank Zappas transformation from rock composer to composer, period, seems about as complete as it can be. His vast output -- more than 60 albums -- is a repertory to be engaged and interpreted again and again, and for this tour, his son Dweezil is playing his music with a roster that includes the former Zappa employees Steve Vai, Napoleon Murphy Brock and Terry Bozzio. At 8 p.m.; Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 496-7070 or (212) 307-7171; $39.50 to $85. (Sisario) Cabaret Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. BARBARA CARROLL (Sunday) Even when swinging out, this Lady of a Thousand Songs remains an impressionist with special affinities for Thelonious Monk and bossa nova. At 2 p.m., the Algonquin Hotel, Oak Room, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331; $58, including brunch at noon. (Stephen Holden) BLOSSOM DEARIE (Tomorrow and Sunday) To watch this singer and pianist is to appreciate the power of a carefully deployed pop-jazz minimalism combined with a highly discriminating taste in songs. The songs date from all periods of a career remarkable for its longevity and for Ms. Dearies stubborn independence and sly wit. Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Sunday at 6:15 p.m., Dannys Skylight Room, 346 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 265-8133; $25, with a $15 minimum, or $54.50 for a dinner-and-show package. (Holden) ANDREA MARCOVICCI (Tonight and tomorrow) Ms. Marcoviccis new show, Just Love by Request is a kind of living room musicale thats one-half pre-set and one-half determined by audience suggestions. The singers charm rules this unruly format. At 9 p.m., with additional shows tonight and tomorrow night at 11:30; Algonquin Hotel, Oak Room, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331; $60 cover Tuesday through Thursday, $65 tonight and tomorrow; $60 prix-fixe dinner required for 9 p.m. shows; otherwise, a $20 minimum. (Holden) James Naughton (Tonight and tomorrow) His show is a personal history of cool that connects the crooning of Billy Eckstine and Joe Williams with early doo-wop sounds and the worlds of Tom Waits and Randy Newman. At 8:30 and 11 p.m., Feinsteins at the Regency, 540 Park Avenue, at 61st Street, (212) 339-4095; $60, with a $40 minimum. (Holden) ANNIE ROSS (Wednesday) Cool, funny, swinging and indestructible, this 75-year-old singer and sometime actress exemplifies old-time hip in its most generous incarnation. At 9:15 p.m., Dannys Skylight Room, 346 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 265-8133; $25, with a $12 minimum. (Holden) Jazz Ben Ratliffs preview of the JVC Jazz Festival and the Vision Festival appears on Page 1. Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. TOSHIKO AKIYOSHI: A LADIES SALUTE TO A PIONEER (Thursday) Ms. Akiyoshi is an accomplished composer, arranger and pianist, though not originally in that order: it was her pianism that brought her first into the spotlight, and then into the United States, some 50 years ago. She plays on and presides over this concert, which features a pair of pianists now following in her footsteps, Hiromi Uehara (known as Hiromi) and Tomoko Ohno, as well as the venerable tenor saxophonist and flutist Frank Wess. At 8 p.m.; Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, 695 Park Avenue, at East 68th Street, (212) 772-4448; $45. JVC Jazz Festival.(Nate Chinen) GREGG AUGUST SEXTET (Thursday) With his album Late August (Iacuessa), Mr. August, a bassist, proves himself a sensible small-group composer in the Cedar Walton vein; his band includes the saxophonists Greg Tardy and Myron Walden, the trumpeter John Bailey, the pianist Luis Perdomo and the drummer E. J. Strickland. At 9 p.m., 11 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.; Smoke, 2751 Broadway at 106th Street, Manhattan, (212) 864-6662; no cover. (Chinen) GENE BERTONCINI (Tonight) As on Quiet Now (Ambient), an appropriately titled album released last year, Mr. Bertoncini demonstrates a solo acoustic-guitar style that is commanding, introspective and tastefully virtuosic. At 7 p.m.; Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th Street, Chelsea, (212) 620-5000, ext. 344, www.rmanyc.org; $20. (Chinen) URI CAINE TRIO (Through Sunday) Mr. Caine is a pianist with strong and often sophisticated ideas, and he tends toward hard-driving aggression in his working trio with the drummer Ben Perowsky and the bassist Drew Gress. At 9 and 11 p.m.; Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $20-$25, with a $10 minimum.(Chinen) STANLEY CLARKE-GEORGE DUKE PROJECT/MIKE STERN BAND (Tuesday) Mr. Clarke, a bassist, and Mr. Duke, a keyboardist, have both achieved popular success by amalgamating jazz, funk and soul, and their collaborative history stretches back more than 25 years. Mr. Stern, a guitarist leading his own group, explores a rhythmically aggressive strain of jazz-rock. At 9 p.m.; Avalon, 660 Avenue of the Americas, at 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 307-7171; $30. JVC Jazz Festival. (Chinen) JOHN HOLLENBECKS CLAUDIA QUINTET (Tomorrow) This ensemble mounts a texturally oriented and often contrapuntal exploration; Mr. Hollenbecks drumming is one color on a palette that also includes Chris Speeds clarinet and tenor saxophone, Ted Reichmans accordion and Matt Morans vibraphone. At 8 p.m.; Center for Improvisational Music, 295 Douglass Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (212) 631-5882, www.schoolforimprov.org; cover, $12. (Chinen) AVISHAI COHEN TRIO/GROOVE COLLECTIVE/JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY (Thursday) Three species of pulse are represented on this bill, none greater than the others. Mr. Cohen, the bassist, leads his regular trio, with the keyboardist Sam Barsh and the drummer Mark Guiliana; their new album, Continuo (Razdaz), confirms their gift for cohesive drama. Groove Collective and Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey seek more straightforward fusions, respectively streetwise and spacey. At 8 p.m.; Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at East 15th Street, (212) 307-7171; $25. JVC Jazz Festival. (Chinen) KURT ELLING (Tuesday through June 17) Mr. Ellings sure-footed musicality and literary sensibility have made him one of the premier vocalists on the scene. He comes with a rhythm section spearheaded by the pianist Laurence Hobgood, and a handful of surprise special guests. At 9 and 11 p.m.; Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $40, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * ANDREW HILL TRIO (Thursday) With Time Lines (Blue Note), Mr. Hill delivered what is likely to be regarded as one of this years best recordings, and perhaps one of the strongest of his distinguished career. Performing with the albums core personnel, John Hebert on bass and Eric McPherson on drums, he uses mysterious harmonies and an elliptical sense of time. At 7:30 p.m.; Studio Museum in Harlem, 144 West 125th Street, (212) 864-4500; $20 at the door, $15 advance, $12 for members. JVC Jazz Festival. (Chinen) LEE KONITZ NEW NONET (Tuesday through June 18) Mr. Konitz lends his august reputation and dry-martini alto-saxophone tone to this midsize ensemble, featuring arrangements by the tenor saxophonist Ohad Talmor. The group makes its return to the Jazz Standard on the heels of an album called New Nonet (OmniTone). At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set Friday and Saturday, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $25 and $30. (Chinen) DANIEL LEVIN QUARTET/FRED LONBERG-HOLM TRIO (Wednesday) Mr. Levin, a cellist, makes music full of pregnant pauses and gradual crescendos; celebrating the release of an album on Hat Hut Records, he works with his preferred instrumentation of trumpet (Nate Wooley), vibraphone (Matt Moran) and bass (Joe Morris). Mr. Lonberg-Holm, another cellist, plays a later set with a pair of veteran collaborators, the saxophonist Michaël Attias and the keyboardist Anthony Coleman. At 8 p.m.; Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover, $8. (Chinen) LOST JAZZ SHRINES: CAFÉ BOHEMIA (Tonight) This elegy for a bygone nightspot features the repertory of the bassist Oscar Pettiford, who died in 1960. Among the musicians enlisted for the task are the saxophonists Antonio Hart and Don Braden, the trombonist Robin Eubanks, the bassist Ron Carter and the pianist Eric Gould, who is musical director. At 7 p.m.; TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, (212) 220-1460; $25. (Chinen) MEPHISTA (Tonight) Texture and tonality are flexible elements in this exploratory trio, with Sylvie Courvoisier on piano, Susie Ibarra on drums and percussion, and Ikue Mori on electronics. At 8 and 10 p.m.; the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) DOM MINASI QUARTET (Sunday) Mr. Minasi, a guitarist, taps a boisterous vein with his recent album Vampires Revenge (CDM). He performs here with three adventurous string players heard on the album: the violinist Jason Kao Hwang, the cellist Tomas Ulrich and the bassist Ken Filiano. At 6 p.m.; Downtown Music Gallery, 342 Bowery, between East Second and East Third Streets, (212) 473-0043; no cover. (Chinen) JASON MORAN AND URI CAINE (Monday) Duets and solos by a pair of pianists who share affinities for emphatic articulation, tumbling rhythms, two-handed polyphony and conceptual experimentation. Each has a strong solo album, and a way of getting the most out of fresh collaborations. At 8 p.m.; Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3303; $35. (Chinen) GARY PEACOCK, PAUL MOTIAN, MARC COPLAND (Wednesday through June 10) Mr. Peacock, a bassist, and Mr. Motian, a drummer, have worked together in a handful of superb rhythm sections over the years, most famously with the pianist Keith Jarrett. Here they join another fine pianist, Mr. Copland, in a trio that promises to favor dark harmonic colors and rhythmic undulation. At 9 and 11 p.m.; Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (Tuesday through June 18) Hard bop is the predominant sound of jazz in Philadelphia, and it will most likely serve as a common language for this all-star band, featuring five of that citys highly regarded native sons: the trumpeter Randy Brecker, the tenor saxophonist and flutist Lew Tabackin, the pianist Eric Reed, the bassist Dwayne Burno and the drummer Byron Landham. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set Fridays and Saturdays; Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) CHRIS POTTER TRIO (Tonight) Mr. Potter is among the small number of tenor saxophonists to have absorbed both Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane and emerged sounding like his own man. He appears here in the setting that both predecessors helped popularize, backed only by bass (Scott Colley) and drums (Jeff Ballard). At 10 p.m.; 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $10. (Chinen) DAFNIS PRIETO AND ABSOLUTE QUINTET (Thursday through June 17) Absolute Quintet (Zoho), Mr. Prietos new album, features his driving percussion and his compositions for an unusual aggregation of instruments (saxophone, violin, cello, Hammond B-3 organ and drums). Dramatic and serious, the album occasionally references the avant-garde and early fusion, but always with a lifeline to Latin rhythm. At 9 and 10:30 p.m.; Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063; cover, $15. (Chinen) HELEN SUNG TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow) To celebrate the release of her album Helenistique (Fresh Sound New Talent), Ms. Sung, a pianist, leads a sharp trio featuring the bassist Derrick Hodge and the drummer Lewis Nash. At 8 and 9:45 p.m.; Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, www.kitano.com; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) TENORS GALORE (Wednesday) Houston Person, a tenor saxophonist who made his name in the 1960s, headlines this concert with Eric Alexander, a tenor saxophonist who hit the scene in the 1990s. Each leads a quartet featuring a well-seasoned pianist: Stan Hope plays with Mr. Person, Harold Mabern with Mr. Alexander. A third tenor, Harry Allen, joins the party as a special guest. At 8 p.m.; Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, 695 Park Avenue, at East 68th Street, (212) 772-4448; $45. JVC Jazz Festival. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera FAUST (Tonight through Sunday) The diminutive Amato Opera winds up its season with a brand-new production of this Gounod chestnut, with its usual rotating casts and exuberant conducting from its founder, Tony Amato. Tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30, Sunday at 2:30 p.m.; Amato Opera, 319 Bowery, at Second Street, East Village, (212) 228-8200; $30, $25 for 65+, students with ID and children. (Anne Midgette) Classical Music AMERICAN COMPOSERS ALLIANCE (Tonight and tomorrow) Founded in 1937, the American Composers Alliance protects the rights and promotes the music of composers. It is presenting a four-day festival of American music at Symphony Space. The final four programs are this weekend. Tonights concert explores theater music with works by Elliot Schwartz, Tom Johnson, John Eaton and Elizabeth R. Austin. Tomorrow at 2 p.m. there is a tribute to the composer Robert Helps, who was also a formidable pianist and championed works by other living composers. After this is a chamber music program with works by Eugene Viola, Mischa Zupko and others. The festival ends tomorrow night with Sax, Lies and Video. There will be saxophone quartets by Lukas Foss and Elias Tanenbaum, a work for soprano, piano and video by Beth Wiemann and other genre-crossing pieces. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., Leonard Nimoy Theater, Symphony Space, Broadway and 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $15, $10.(Anthony Tommasini) AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Sunday) The American Symphony Orchestra under Leon Botstein filters operatic Mozart through Russian sensibility, here with Rimsky-Korsakovs Mozart and Salieri and Dargomizhskys Stone Guest. At 3 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $25 to $53. (Bernard Holland) HAROLYN BLACKWELL (Wednesday) Landmark American Songs in a Great American Landmark, the epithet of a program officially titled Give My Regards, just about sums it up: this soprano offers tunes, classics of cabaret rather than de facto classics, by Gershwin, Cole Porter and their ilk. At 6:30 p.m., Morgan Library, 225 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 685-0008; $40, $30 for members. (Midgette) BARGEMUSIC (Tonight) Adrian Daurov plays Bach solo cello suites and Bach duo music with the pianist Katya Mihailova. Bargemusic provides the skyline view and the East River water. At 7:30 p.m., Fulton Ferry Landing next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083; $35, $20 for students. (Holland) CONNECTICUT EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL (Tonight and Sunday) Based in and around New London, this weekend festival begins tonight with an organ recital by Guy Whatley, called Four Fantasias From Three Centuries and a vocal program on Sunday titled Monteverdis Mantua. Tonight at 8, St. Johns Church, Niantic; Sunday night at 6, Harkness Chapel, Connecticut College, New London. (860) 444-2419; $26 for reserved seats; $20 general admission. (Midgette) FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF NEW MUSIC (Monday) New piano music by Steven Burke, David Del Tredici, John Harbison, Eric Moe and Yehudi Wyner comes from the hands of Jeanne Golan and Marc Peloquin. At 8 p.m., Leonard Nimoy Theater, Symphony Space, Broadway and 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $15.(Holland) MANNES BEETHOVEN INSTITUTE (Tonight and Tomorrow) The annual weeklong Beethoven Institute at the Mannes College of Music offers recitals, chamber music concerts, workshops and master classes. Selected students and noted teachers take part in the institute. All events are open to the public. Highlights of the institutes last two days include a faculty concert tonight, with two piano trios and solo piano works performed by the pianists Thomas Sauer and Robert McDonald, the violinists Mark Steinberg and Serena Canin, and the cellists Nina Lee and Michael Kannen. For those who just cannot get enough Beethoven, there will be an all-day concert tomorrow by participants in the festival. Attending this concert requires an act of trust because works and performers are not announced in advance. Tonight at 8 p.m. and tomorrow from 1 to 9 p.m., Concert Hall at the Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th Street, Manhattan, (212) 580-0210; $15. (Tommasini) MUSIC MOUNTAIN (Sunday) The summer festival of this venerable institution in northwestern Connecticut opens its 77th season this weekend with a benefit with Eugenia Zukerman and the Jacques Thibaud Trio playing two Mozart flute quartets and a divertimento, Beethoven and Tan Mi Ze. At 3 p.m., Falls Village, Conn., (860) 824-7126; $25 to $200 (the top price includes two tickets to any future Music Mountain performance). (Midgette) PETER ORTH (Tomorrow) Peter Orth takes a big bite out of the virtuoso piano repertory when he plays Brahmss Handel Variations and both books of Albenizs Iberia. At 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $20 to $45. (Holland) RIVERSIDE SYMPHONY (Thursday) Audiences have come to expect adventurous programs from the Riverside Symphony, like this one, which concludes the orchestras 25th-anniversary season. There will be the New York premiere of Andrew Imbries Symphony No. 2, composed in 1970. Mr. Imbrie, celebrating his 85th birthday this year, writes works that mostly hew to formal classical structures, but speak in a gritty, astringent and arresting modern language. The Riverside Symphony has long championed this original composers music. George Rothman, the music director, will also conduct the United States premiere of the Symphony No. 2 by the little-heard Danish composer Niels Gade, who worked under Mendelssohn at Leipzig in his youth and became an influential figure in Scandinavia in the late 19th century. Pairing this work with Griegs ever-popular piano concerto makes sense. The pianist Terrence Wilson is the soloist. At 7:30 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $25 and $45. (Tommasini) SERIAL UNDERGROUND (Monday) The group ComposersCollaborative presents this new-music series on the second Monday of each month. This week offers another episode of Jed Distler and Ed Schmidts opera in progress, The Gold Standard. At 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 663-1967; $15 in advance, $20 at the door, includes one drink.(Midgette) ARABELLA STEINBACHER (Sunday) The next concert in the essential Free for All at Town Hall series presents the emerging young violinist Arabella Steinbacher, born in Munich in 1981 to a German father and a Japanese mother. Ms. Steinbacher has come far since she entered the Munich Conservatory at 9, the youngest student in its history. She has played concertos in Europe with the conductors Neville Marriner, Valery Gergiev and Yuri Temirkanov, and this spring made her American debut in California on tour with Kurt Masur and the London Symphony. But this recital, with the pianist Robert Kulek, will be her New York debut. The program includes works by Grieg, Schnittke, Brahms and Ravel. At 5 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 707-8787; free, but tickets are required. (Tickets are distributed starting at noon on the day of concert.) (Tommasini) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. * AMERICAN BALLET THEATER (Tonight and tomorrow, Monday through Thursday) James Kudelkas visually dazzling, emotionally charged version of Cinderella, to Prokofievs music, has only three more performances, through tomorrow night. On Monday begins a week of Giselle, leading off with the pairing of Xiomara Reyes and Julio Bocca. Diana Vishneva returns to the title role, with Vladimir Malakhov, on Wednesday. The season continues until July 15. Tonight and tomorrow and Monday through Thursday at 8 p.m., tomorrow and Wednesday at 2 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000 or abt.org; $23 to $100. (John Rockwell) * BALLET TECH (Tonight through Sunday) You get two companies in this one season. The adult Mandance Project will perform nine dances (including the intriguingly titled Pursuing Odette), set to music by composers including Mahler, John Cage, Steve Reich, Sonny Treadway and Hank Williams. And the exuberant child performers from the Ballet Tech School, always a high point of any Feld season, will take over tomorrow afternoon. Mandance performs tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 p.m.; Kidsdance performs Sunday at 2 p.m.; Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800; $42 (Mandance); $30 for adults and $20 for children 12 and under (Kidsdance). (Jennifer Dunning) LORI BELILOVE (Tonight) Ms. Beliloves Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation will perform Revealing the Art of Isadora, which examines the dances and class work that may be found in them. At 8 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 691-5040 or isadoraduncan.org; $25. (Dunning) FRED BENJAMIN DANCE COMPANY (Tomorrow) This longtime New York choreographer, teacher and mentor will present new work and company classics, including a tribute to Talley Beatty. Tomorrow at 7 p.m. Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $21; students, $18. (Dunning) H. T. CHEN & DANCERS (Wednesday and Thursday) The aptly named Shift will travel all over the place, mixing choreography and video to traverse the past and the future and cultural boundaries. (Through June 10.) At 7:30 p.m. Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street , Chelsea, (212) 924-0077 or dtw.org ; $15 and $25. (Claudia La Rocco) The Merce Cunningham Studio Faculty Concert (Tonight and tomorrow) The faculty members Ellen Cornfield, Jean Freebury and Jeff Moen share a bill with excerpted choreography from the man himself, Merce Cunningham. Tonight at 9 and tomorrow at 8 p.m., 55 Bethune Street, 11th floor, West Village, (212) 255-8240, ext. 24; $15, $10 for students and 65+. (La Rocco) Douglas Dunn & Dancers (Monday through Thursday) If youre looking for a dance appetizer, students of the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University will be dancing Douglas Dunns 30-minute Brisas del Caribe at that choreographers studio. With a 6:30 p.m. curtain, you can easily make your dinner reservation. (Through June 16.) 541 Broadway, between Prince and Spring Streets, SoHo, (212) 966-6999; $10 suggested donation. (La Rocco) FLAMENCO VIVO CARLOTA SANTANA (Tuesday through Thursday) Will New York ever get its fill of flamenco? This Spanish company returns to the Joyce with a premiere, Rafaela Carrascos Burlador, and a traditional work, Imagenes Flamencas. (Through June 11.) At 8 p.m.; Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800; $40. (La Rocco) 4-ISH (Tonight through Sunday, and Thursday) This Dutch company presents 4-ISH, a show that might be called hip-hop but is really hip-hop-ish and involves many kinds of urban derring-do, including quarter pipes (as in skateboarding), kung fu, electrified skate wheels and a live D.J. With a postshow dance party for teenagers tomorrow. Tonight and Thursday at 7 p.m., tomorrow at 2 and 7 p.m., Sunday at noon and 5 p.m., New Victory Theater, 209 West 42nd Street, (212) 239-6200, newvictory.org; $10 to $30. (Erika Kinetz) MIGUEL GUTIERREZ AND THE POWERFUL PEOPLE (Tonight and tomorrow) A rare second chance in the world of downtown dance to catch a thoughtful and compelling work. If you miss Retrospective Exhibitionist and Difficult Bodies again, you have only yourself to blame. At 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077 or dtw.org; $12 to $25. (La Rocco) * BRYAN HAYES AND CAROLYN LORD (Tomorrow and Sunday) Mr. Hayes will perform three of his solos and Remy Charlips Airmail Dance, created from drawings by Mr. Charlip and performed with Ariane Anthony. Ms. Lord provides the music and a suite of songs from operatic works in progress by her, one inspired by a text by Anaïs Nin. At 8 p.m., Construction Company, 10 East 18th Street, between Union Square and Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, (212) 924-7882; $15, $12 for students and 65+. (Dunning) COLLEEN HOOPER (Tonight through Thursday) Outer space comes to the outer boroughs, as the writer and choreographer Colleen Hooper presents An Outer Space Project. Metric Mile presents original music while three performers challenge Newtons tired old notions of gravity. (Through June 11.) At 8 pm, BRIC Studio, 57 Rockwell Place, Brooklyn, (917) 622-4751; $15; students, $12. (La Rocco) MYUNG SOO KIM DANCE PROJECT (Wednesday and Thursday) Ms. Kim, who channels ancient Korean shamanistic rituals through modern dance, will perform six solos in costumes inspired by vivid Korean traditional dress. (Through June 18.) At 8 p.m., the Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, (212) 239-6200 or telecharge.com; $35, $25 for students and 65+. (Dunning) AMY MARSHALL DANCE COMPANY/DODGE DANCE COMPANY (Tonight and tomorrow) Dances by Ms. Marshall and Susan Dodge, who have danced with Paul Taylor. At 8 p.m., Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street, Manhattan, (212) 868-4444 or smarttix.com; $20, $15 for students and 65+. (Dunning) NEW CHAMBER BALLET (Tonight) The program includes new and recent dances by Miro Magloire, the company director, and Constantine Baecher, a guest choreographer who performs with the Royal Danish Ballet. The dances are set to music by the Baroque composer Giuseppe Tartini, Schubert and Mozart, and South American waltzes, all played live. At 8 p.m., City Center Studio 4, 130 West 56th Street, Manhattan, (212) 868-4444 or smarttix.com; $15, $10 for students and 65+. (Dunning) * NEW YORK CITY BALLET (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) A week of mixed programs. The new Diamond Project ballet by Alexei Ratmansky of the Bolshoi Ballet can be seen tomorrow and Sunday afternoons and Tuesday night. Vienna Waltzes returns to the repertory on Thursday night, part of an all-Balanchine program. The City Ballet spring season continues until June 25. Tonight, tomorrow and Thursday at 8 p.m., tomorrow at 2 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 870-5570 or nycballet.org; $30 to $86; student-rush tickets at $15. (Rockwell) * NOCHE FLAMENCA WITH SOLEDAD BARRIO (Tonight through Sunday; Wednesday and Thursday) Ms. Barrio is a remarkable dancer, serious and impassioned, and the hit of this winters Flamenco Gala at City Center. Her Spanish company, founded with her husband, Martin Santangelo, is settling into the intimate Theater 80 through July 30. Tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m., tomorrow and Sunday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 5 p.m., Theater 80, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212) 352-3101 or theatermania.com; $45.(Rockwell) Out Like That! Festival (Tonight and tomorrow) The Bronx Academy of Art and Dance continues its sixth annual summer festival for gay choreographers with Michael Leleux and Donnette Heath, the guest vocalist Nadia Ackerman and the visual artist Dan Price. Jule Ramirez and her troupe of young poets round out what will no doubt be a cozy, raucous performance. At 8 p.m., 841 Barretto Street, South Bronx, (718) 842-5223; $15. (LaRocco) MICHAEL PORTNOY (Tonight and tomorrow) In these politically correct times, weve apparently been reduced to making fun of mythical communities, as the choreographer Michael Portnoy and a diverse mix of performers do in The K Sound. The cast includes a diva-wizard who could be worth the price of admission all by her (his?) lonesome. At 8 p.m., the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, ext. 11; $12. (La Rocco) * ROD RODGERS DANCE COMPANY (Tonight through Sunday) The company will present four programs, beginning with dances by its director, Kim Grier, and a retrospective of dances by Rodgers (tonight and tomorrow night), a program of dances by Martha Tornay and Nicole Wolcott performed by the East Village Dance Project (tomorrow afternoon) and a concert by the Rodgers Youth Program (Sunday afternoon). Tonight at 7:30, tomorrow at 3 and 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., Harry DeJur Playhouse, Henry Street Settlement, 466 Grand Street, Lower East Side, (212) 674-9066 or rodrodgersdance.com; $20 for adults, $10 for children under 12 (tonight and tomorrow night), $15 (tomorrow afternoon), $10 (Sunday afternoon). (Dunning) URBAN KUTCHERIe (Tonight and tomorrow) This multimedia program by New York-based Indian classical dancers and musicians will feature work by Bharatanatyam dance by Sonali Skandan. At 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479 or sonaliskandan.com; $15, $10 for students and 65+. (Dunning) NINA WINTHROP AND DANCERS (Tonight through Sunday) Ms. Winthrop will present her multimedia Thats Me -- Im the One Lying Down Over There, set to music by Jon Gibson. She has described its inspiration as the tendency of the world to be marked by strange shades of joy and sharp fits of ecstasy. At 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project at St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, at Second Avenue, East Village (212)674-8194 or danspaceproject.org; $15; $12 for students and 65+. (Dunning) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums * American Folk Art Museum: WHITE ON WHITE (AND A LITTLE GRAY), through Sept. 17. The importance of neo-Classicism to early American architecture, silver and fine furniture is not exactly news. This small, beautiful show follows its spread into more personal corners of visual culture: often exquisite, strikingly dimensional white-work bedcovers; luminously grisaille, sometimes wacky marble-dust drawings; and print-work embroidery mourning pictures. 45 West 53rd Street, (212) 265-1040. (Roberta Smith) * BROOKLYN MUSEUM: SYMPHONIC POEM: THE ART OF AMINAH BRENDA LYNN ROBINSON, through Aug. 13. This prodigious show, by an artist born and still living in Columbus, Ohio, celebrates her heritage in paintings, drawings, sculpture, stitchery, leather work and less classifiable forms of expression. Besides its sheer visual wizardry, using materials like leaves, twigs, bark, buttons and cast-off clothes, her art is compelling in that it ruminates on the history of black migration to, and settlement in, the United States, from early times to the present, in a garrulous, very personal way. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, (718) 638-5000. (Grace Glueck) COOPER-HEWITT NATIONAL DESIGN MUSEUM: FREDERIC CHURCH, WINSLOW HOMER AND THOMAS MORAN: TOURISM AND THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE, through Oct. 22. It turns out that the Cooper-Hewitt owns thousands of rarely seen paintings, prints and sketches by Church, Homer and Moran. Studies of the countryside, mostly, they revere unspoiled nature and record tourism, a booming industry in 19th-century America. Here theyre combined with antique postcards, old Baedekers, stereoscopic photographs, playing cards with pictures of Yellowstone on them and souvenir platters, all to trace the nations transformation from primeval wilderness to Catskills resort. The show is extremely entertaining. 2 East 91st Street, at Fifth Avenue, (212) 849-8400. (Michael Kimmelman) * FRICK COLLECTION: VERONESES ALLEGORIES: VIRTUE, LOVE AND EXPLORATION IN RENAISSANCE VENICE, through July 16. Paolo Veronese (1528-88), a superb colorist and one of the most suavely sensuous of Renaissance Venetian painters, used the age-old device of allegory to make abstract concepts visual, often by means of human or mythological figures. In this five-painting show, the first to include all of his large-scale allegories from American collections, high ideals mingle with earthy and sometimes erotic physicality, as in the painting Venus and Mars United by Love. 1 East 70th Street, (212) 288-0700. (Glueck) SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: ZAHA HADID: THIRTY YEARS IN ARCHITECTURE, through Oct. 25. This exhibition, Ms. Hadids first major retrospective in the United States, gives New Yorkers a chance to see what theyve been missing. The show, in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museums rotunda, spirals through Ms. Hadids career, from her early enchantment with Soviet Constructivism to the sensuous and fluid cityscapes of her more recent commissions. It illuminates her capacity for bridging different worlds: traditional perspective drawing and slick computer-generated imagery, and the era of utopian manifestos and the ambiguous values of the information age. (212) 423-3500.(Nicolai Ouroussoff) JEWISH MUSEUM: EVA HESSE: SCULPTURE, through Sept. 17. Assembled by Elizabeth Sussman, curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Fred Wasserman, a curator at the Jewish Museum, this show focuses on a pivotal Hesse exhibition, Chain Polymers, at the Fischbach Gallery -- known for promoting Minimalist painters -- in 1968. Arguably a compilation of her best work, it was her first and only solo show of sculpture during her lifetime, and most of the objects in it -- along with some earlier and later pieces -- are here. (An exhibition of her drawings is on view at the Drawing Center.) 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, (212) 423-3200. (Glueck) * METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: ANGLOMANIA: TRADITION AND TRANSGRESSION IN BRITISH FASHION, through Sept. 4. Ranging from early-18th-century gowns to next seasons evening wear, this show crowds 65 extravagantly clad mannequins into the Mets normally serene English period rooms, trying to connect the sartorial innovations of the English dandy, the aggressive tribal attire of punk and the deconstructive impulses of todays British fashion stars. (212) 535-7710. (Smith) * MET: GIRODET: ROMANTIC REBEL, through Aug. 27. Hugely famous in the early 19th century, Girodet dropped down the memory chute. His Ossian Receiving the Ghosts of French Heroes, painted for Napoleon, is one of the most deranged pictures in art history. Its so unhinged that its almost lovable, which is otherwise the last word to come to mind for an artist who, in his uptight, smarty-pants mode, could be a bore. But give the show a shot. Its sometimes brilliant, and Girodets strangeness and fairly repellent character make him at least fascinating to contemplate and heroic in his immoderation. History is full of shifty characters, antique visionaries, cusp figures and half-crazy oddball innovators, later overlooked because theyre hard to pigeonhole. Their independent cast of mind is the truest expression of how civilization advances. (See above.) (Kimmelman) THE EAMES LOUNGE CHAIR: AN ICON OF MODERN DESIGN Celebrating the 50th anniversary of a chair whose combination of declarative modernist structure and sheer creature comfort was both innovative and a bit alien, this exhibition is a successful design object in its own right. It pays homage with drawings, advertising ephemera, precursors, vintage television clips, a wonderful documentary and three versions of the chair itself, enshrined, exploded and useable. Museum of Arts & Design, 40 West 53rd Street, (212) 956-3535, through Sept. 3. (Smith) Museum of Modern Art : AGAINST THE GRAIN: CONTEMPORARY ART FROM THE EDWARD R. BROIDA COLLECTION, through July 10. The latest collection assembled by the Museum of Modern Art bolsters its holdings of art world mavericks like Philip Guston, Jennifer Bartlett, Ken Price and Vija Celmins and includes first-timers like Robert Grosvenor, John Lees and Susana Solano. It also illuminates parts of the untold, or forgotten, stories of the art of the 1970s and 80s: the achievements of painters and sculptors who were not at the forefront of Post-Minimalism, photo appropriation or Neo-Expressionism. Some of their efforts may disappear into storage, but quite a few will shake up the Moderns conception of the complicated course of art since 1970. The Museum of Modern Art, (212) 708-9400. (Smith) National Academy: 181st Annual: an Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Art This years sprawling hodgepodge of an invitational presents works by 124 artists ranging from tightly focused realist painting to politically charged video installation. National Academy, 1083 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 369-4880. Through June 13. (Ken Johnson) New York Public Library: FRENCH BOOK ART/LIVRES DARTISTES: ARTISTS AND POETS IN DIALOGUE, through Aug. 18. Organized with the Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet in Paris, this lavish exhibition surveys some of the experimental ferment brought on by the combination of free verse, visionary publishers and the high rate of talent among French artists and poets, especially in the early years of the 20th century. New York Public Library, Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, (212) 869-8089. (Smith) NOGUCHI MUSEUM: BEST OF FRIENDS: BUCKMINSTER FULLER AND ISAMU NOGUCHI, through Oct. 15. Great, lasting friendships are rare, but friendships that enlarge the spirit through ideas, ideals and new insights are in a class by themselves. Over a stretch of more than 50 years, the sculptor Isamu Noguchi and the visionary designer R. Buckminster Fuller enjoyed such a friendship, which led to aesthetic and practical achievements that left their mark. The course of their varied collaborations is traced in this exhibition, which includes models, sculptures, drawings, photographs and films. 9-01 33rd Road, between Vernon Boulevard and 10th Street, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 204-7088. (Glueck) * The Studio Museum In harlem: Energy/Experimentation: Black Artists and Abstraction, 1964-1980, through July 2. During one of the most radical periods in 20th-century American politics, the Black Power era, a group of African-American artists was working in one of the most radical forms of 20th-century art: abstraction. This show is stylishly installed; the 15 artists are intensely individualistic and part of an important history. 144 West 125th Street, (212) 864-4500. (Holland Cotter) Galleries: Uptown Peter Dayton: Surfboards by Clement Greenberg For a witty spin on commodity-critique art, Mr. Dayton creates panel paintings combining the glossy surfaces, colorful banding and logos of surfboard design and the striped patterns of paintings by Kenneth Noland and Barnett Newman that were favored by the powerful formalist critic Clement Greenberg. Winston Wächter, 39 East 78th Street, (212) 327-2526, through June 24. (Johnson) Galleries: 57th Street Coup de Foudre Four works loosely related by the metaphor of lightning. Emilie Halpern offers a white plastic lightning bolt and walls papered by heat-sensitive film. Small cutouts by Tim Noble & Sue Webster cast pornographic shadows; stick-on letters applied to the floor, walls and ceiling by Tamara Sussman spell out an erotic fantasy written in Web-based slash fiction style; and a surprisingly affecting, grainy, rambling video created by Enid Baxter Blader with a homemade camera explores stormy natural and emotional weather. Tina Kim, 41 West 57th Street, (212) 716-1100, through June 23. (Johnson) Galleries: SoHo EVA HESSE: DRAWING This show deals in depth with Ms. Hesses works on paper, ranging from rough sketches or notes, to test pieces made from various materials that function as drawings, to finished projects that stand on their own. A zealous researcher, Ms. Hesse made all kinds of thumbnail notations and calculations to explore the properties of her malleable materials. Many of these sheets, perhaps too many, are shown, too. Drawing Center, 35 Wooster Street, (212) 219-2166, through July 15. (Glueck) * THOMAS ZIPP: URANLICHT An impressive solo debut pairs dark, nearly abstract landscapes and cursory botanical imagery with appropriated images of authoritarian bearded men, evoking a by-gone avant-garde and the reaction against it. A room-filling hand-built organ that Père Ubu might have loved completes the presentation. HarrisLieberman, 89 Vandam Street, South Village, (212) 206-1290, through June 17. (Smith) Galleries: Chelsea * An Ongoing Low-Grade Mystery Organized by the curator Bob Nickas, this excellent group show includes works in many different mediums and styles related in that they are all predominantly red. Donald Judd, Sherrie Levine, Jim Drain, Wolfgang Tillmans and Dan Walsh are among more than 30 artists included. Paula Cooper, 534 West 21st Street, (212) 255-1105, through June 23. (Johnson) * Mamma Andersson: Rooms Under the Influence In haunting paintings of rooms and landscapes, this Swedish painter combines the sensuousness of Edouard Vuillard and the moody angst of Edvard Munch. David Zwirner, 525 West 19th Street, (212) 727-2070, through June 17. (Johnson) Willem de Kooning: Sketchbook Twelve pages bearing spidery pencil drawings from a rare, intact sketchbook from the mid-1970s by this great Abstract Expressionist. Matthew Marks Gallery, 523 West 24th Street, (212) 243-0200, through June 17. (Johnson) * NICOLE EISENMAN: PROGRESS: REAL & IMAGINED This show is dominated by two mural-sized paintings of elaborately imagined, demonically energetic panoramas. One examines the artists dilemma; the other takes a distinctly ahistorical view of life. But both represent real progress in Ms. Eisenmans determined struggle to flesh out her narrative style with color and texture, and a room of small paintings shows even more promise. Leo Koenig, 545 West 23rd Street, (212) 334-9304, through June 17. (Smith) Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe If you know Mr. Gilbert-Rolfe only for his formidably cerebral art criticism (among other achievements, he is co-founder of the journal October), you may be surprised by his paintings. His four square canvases combining Color Field painting and vertical passages of grid painting appeal far more to sensory than to intellectual experience. Gray Kapernekas, 526 West 26th Street, (212) 462-4150, through June 17. (Johnson) Invisible Might: Works from 1965-1971 This luminous group show about the euphoric convergence of Minimalism and new technologies in the late 60s and early 70s includes a smoky glass cube by Larry Bell; a solid black plastic cube by John McCracken; a tall, clear acrylic prism by Robert Irwin; a beautiful aqua green light projection by James Turrell; a yellow molded plastic relief by Craig Kauffman; and a corner composition of elastic cords and bent metal rods by Fred Sandback. Nyehaus, 15 Gramercy Park South, (212) 995-1785, through June 24. (Johnson) RICHARD SERRA: ROLLED AND FORGED The centerpiece of the latest Serra spectacular, which favors mass, compression and rectangles over stretched-thin curves and spirals, is a low-lying maze in which the shifting heights and staggered placement of 16 thick, hedgelike plates create one of the most spatially complex yet straightforward works of his career. Gagosian Gallery, 555 West 24th Street, (212) 741-1111, through Aug. 11. (Smith) Last Chance * BARD GRADUATE CENTER: AMERICAN STREAMLINED DESIGN: THE WORLD OF TOMORROW, Streamlining, a particularly American design concept born of our love of speed and admiration for industrial production, peaked in the 1930s and 40s, and is now said to be undergoing a revival. This tribute to it includes more than 180 objects, from boring but useful items like a receipt printer designed by Walter Dorwin Teague in 1946 to a plastic bicycle helmet of flowing teardrop shapes designed by John Larkin in 2000. The show is perhaps too packed with repetitive examples -- do we need to see three similar electric drills? -- but dont let that stop you. Theres no shortage of wonderful things to look at here. 18 West 86th Street, (212) 501-3000; closes on Sunday. (Glueck) Museum of the City of New York: Sherril Schell: Unknown Modernist, Though little known today, the photographer Sherril Schell (1877-1964) was critically recognized in the 1930s for his severely formalist photographs of New York architecture. This small exhibition presents 15 examples in which closely cropped views of the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge and other monuments of Manhattan emphasize compositional order, structure, pattern, light and shadow. Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue, at 103rd Street, (212) 534-1672; closes on Tuesday. (Johnson)

Federal judge stays Alabama gay marriage ruling for 2 weeks

A federal judge on Sunday put a two-week hold on her decision that overturned Alabamas gay marriage ban, but said same-sex couples should not be kept in lengthy legal limbo.

The Daily Fix: Fight Over Gay Marriage Getting Ugly in Alabama

But same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses were turned away from courthouses in at least two Alabama counties, according to WBHM.. Patricia Todd, the only openly gay legislator in Alabama, fired back on Facebook, threatening to out gay marriage.