7 Children From an Orthodox Jewish Family Die in Brooklyn Fire

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For Brooklyns District Attorney, Year One Is a Trial by Fire

���Im quite sure that Kens upbringing as a person of color in New York has helped to shape him and give him sensitivity to the plight of people of color,��� said the Rev. A. R. Bernard, pastor of the Christian Cultural Center in Canarsie, who says he has.

US evacuating remaining 100 special forces troops from Yemen

Seven children from the same family died Saturday when their New York home was engulfed in flames after a portable cooker malfunctioned, authorities said. The so-called hot plate, which is a small electrical heating element, may have been left on to.

DEVLIN FIGHTS WITH AN ATLANTA PLAYER; Giants Third Baseman Engages in Harmless Fisticuffs with Odell.

ATLANTA, Ga., March 31. -- A fist fight to-day again marred the game between the New York Nationals and the Atlanta Southern Leaguers with Odell of Atlanta and Devlin of New York, both third basemen, the participants. The trouble was checked before it reached the proportions of yesterdays fracas.

THE LISTINGS

A selective listing by critics of The Times: New or noteworthy Broadway and Off Broadway shows this weekend. Approximate running times are in parentheses. * denotes a highly recommended show. + means discounted tickets were available at the Theater Development Funds TKTS booth for performances last Friday and Saturday nights. ++ means discounted tickets were available at the TKTS booth for last Saturday night. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Broadway * DAME EDNA: BACK WITH A VENGEANCE! It was nearly half a century ago that Edna Everage (damehood still awaited her) was invented by a young Australian drama student named Barry Humphries, whose body the mauve-haired entertainer continues to take over for public appearances. Rather like the plant in The Little Shop of Horrors, the initially blowsy Edna kept becoming larger, glitzier and hungrier as she fed on the adulation of fans over the years. As her exhaustingly funny new show makes clear, that growth process hasnt stopped. When she last appeared on Broadway five years ago, she was merely a megastar, Dame Edna condescendingly tells her audience; now she is a glittering gigastar. In this singing, dancing shrine to herself, she proves it by brilliantly exploiting our cultures masochistic obsession with the rich and famous (2:30). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. Tuesdays at 7 p.m.; Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets: $67.50 to $87.50. BEN BRANTLEY * DEMOCRACY. Michael Frayns glorious study of the mutations of politics and the men who practice them, directed by Michael Blakemore, is one of those rare dramas that dont just dare to think big but that fully translate their high aspirations to the stage, with sharp style and thrilling clarity. For New York theatergoers who have endured the recent spate of dutiful revivals and misconceived star vehicles, watching this gripping study of the fraught glory years of Chancellor Willy Brandt of West Germany and the spy who loved him is like riding a wave after dog paddling in shallow waters (2:30). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212) 307-4100. Tonight at 8; tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m.; Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m.; Wednesdays at 2 p.m. Tickets: $60 to $95. BRANTLEY + GEM OF THE OCEAN Theatergoers who have followed the work of August Wilson will find in this grandly evangelical drama a touchstone for his great cycle of plays that chronicles the African-American experience in the 20th century. Set in 1904 in Pittsburgh, Gem is chronologically the first chapter in the cycle. As such, it is a swelling overture of things to come, a battle hymn for an inchoate republic of men and women just beginning to discover the price of freedom. It is also the least dramatically involving of Mr. Wilsons plays. Directed by Kenny Leon, with a strong cast led by Phylicia Rashad as a former slave who is over 280 years old, Gem has passages of transporting beauty. But the metaphorical resonance of events and relationships eclipses dramatic immediacy here (2:30). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets: $25 to $86. BRANTLEY + THE GOOD BODY In her tremendously popular Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler exposed the connections between taboos about the discussion of female sexuality and womens oppression. Ms. Ensler has now moved on -- to her belly button. Ms. Ensler wants to soften the ever-fraught relationship between American women and their bodies. In between reflections on her own uncertain journey toward finding the beauty in imperfection, Ms. Ensler offers the perspectives of women she turned to for enlightenment. But the stylish cant obscure the fact that Ms. Enslers new material is less compelling than the Vagina testimonials. Truly fresh insights are in short supply (1:30). Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets: $81.25; a limited number of $26.25 student rush tickets available at the box office one hour before the performance. CHARLES ISHERWOOD + NIGHT, MOTHER As your grandmother or therapist probably told you, there is something to be said for staying busy in a time of crisis. Playing a pair of women whose shared life is about to be torn asunder, Edie Falco and Brenda Blethyn have an ocean of household chores to swim through in the strangely uninvolving revival of Marsha Normans Night, Mother. Putting candy in jars, cleaning out the refrigerator, bagging garbage: such tasks are sometimes enough even to eclipse the harsh awareness of Thelma Cates (Ms. Blethyn) that her daughter, Jessie (Ms. Falco), has announced that she will be killing herself in a couple of hours. On the other hand, all that domestic industry only rarely disguises our suspicion that these two first-rate actresses are never quite at home in their roles. Or the uneasy realization that Ms. Normans Pulitzer Prize-winning drama is looking more artificial than it did 20 years ago (1:30). Royale Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets: $66.25 to $86.25. BRANTLEY + PACIFIC OVERTURES The director Amon Miyamoto dazzled New Yorkers at the Lincoln Center Festival two years ago with his visiting Japanese-language production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidmans 1976 musical about American gunboat diplomacy as visited on 19th-century Japan. Now Mr. Miyamoto has revisited the show with an English-speaking, predominantly Asian-American cast, including B. D. Wong as the wryly omniscient narrator. The shows scenic and conceptual elements are essentially the same. But something has definitely been lost in the retranslation. The production does give beguiling due to Mr. Sondheims silken, silvery score. But an uneasy tentativeness pervades the stage like a mist of perspiration (2:30). Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street, (212) 719-1300. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. Curtain at 7 p.m. from Dec. 14-23. Tickets: $36.25 to $91.25. BRANTLEY * RECKLESS The most dangerous smile on Broadway fills the opening moments of this animated revival of Craig Lucass comedy from 1988. The smile belongs to Mary-Louise Parker, playing an improbably ecstatic housewife on Christmas Eve, and its enough to make anyone grin back at her. In the course of the show, however, Ms. Parkers smile wavers, tightens and shrinks in ways that seem to age her at least a decade, so that by the end you may feel as if youve undergone high-speed Prozac withdrawal. Reckless milks the tension between a goofy surface intoxication and a core of cold sobriety. The story of a runaway waif-woman in a violent world, Reckless remains a beguiling, sneaky crash course in the loss of innocence. Granted, its as thick with whimsy as Pee-wee Hermans playhouse, and its ideal environment is not a big Broadway theater. But Ms. Parkers high incandescence and emotional fluidity go some distance in justifying this scaled-up production (1:45). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets: $51 to $79; $26 student rush tickets available the day of the show. BRANTLEY 700 SUNDAYS This one-man memoir of a play by Billy Crystal, the beloved comic actor and perennial Oscar host, has been carefully set up to suggest a night of home movies with a buddy from your high school days who is equal parts attention-grabbing show-off and soft-hearted sweetie pie. In resurrecting the boy he was and the parents who made him the man he is, Mr. Crystal does indeed show flickering faded films from his childhood, projected onto the windows of a replica of the house in Long Island where he spent his youth. You would be hard-pressed to find a Broadway show with a more artfully calculated comfort factor. 700 Sundays makes the characters in Neil Simons domestic comedies look as tortured as figures out of Eugene ONeill. And Mr. Crystal has a way of making even the ostensibly exotic feel as wholesome as apple blintzes (2:20). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. Tickets: $71.25 to $91.25. BRANTLEY + WHOOPI Whoopi Goldberg has been working in Hollywood for two decades now. Presumably shes met a lot of directors out there. But scan the program for Ms. Goldbergs solo show, which has returned to Broadway for a 20th-anniversary engagement, and youll find none listed. The movie star and television personality has chosen to dispense with one in remounting her collection of monologues, just as she did when this career-igniting show made its debut on Broadway. Twenty years ago, the omission could be forgiven as the boundless confidence of a bright young talent. At 49, Ms. Goldberg is now an established performer, and the oversight looks more like folly. Ms. Goldbergs most ardent fans may be happy to make the acquaintance of the half-dozen different characters she portrays here. But even the funniest monologues would benefit from judicious editing (1:30). Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 7 and 10 p.m.; Sundays at 3 and 7 p.m. Tickets: $26.25 to $76.25. ISHERWOOD Off Broadway ++ THE BALTIMORE WALTZ Paula Vogel is indisputably the author of The Baltimore Waltz, but a decade of collective grief, rage and confusion surely played a part in its authorship, too. Ms. Vogel began work on the play shortly after her brothers death from AIDS in 1988. It was a deeply personal, even idiosyncratic expression of sorrow and love. But in the dozen years since its premiere at Circle Repertory, emotion surrounding the AIDS epidemic has inevitably cooled, and the play now must stand up to less emotionally inflected scrutiny. Sadly, on the evidence of Mark Brokaws smart but dry production, the second in the Signature Theaters season devoted to Ms. Vogels work, it mostly sags. This is partly due to a crucial piece of miscasting. Kristen Johnston is a talented actress, but she doesnt do poignancy convincingly. She makes all the right noises, but the submerged emotional charge that should bind together the jumbled comic gambits of Ms. Vogels comedy never fully emerges (1:25). Signatures Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street, (212)244-7529. Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets: $55. ISHERWOOD BELLE ÉPOQUE The époque doesnt seem so very belle in Martha Clarke and Charles L. Mees ambitious attempt to distill onstage the seedy, absinthe-tinted glamour that Toulouse-Lautrec captured in oils and pastels in late 19th-century Paris. Mark Povinelli, an actor whose small stature belies a sizable force, plays Toulouse-Lautrec. He is surrounded by an eccentric array of performers who plied their trade in the clubs of Montmartre. With the aid of Jane Greenwoods plush, gorgeously detailed costumes and Christopher Akerlinds invigorating lighting, the production casts a seductive visual spell. But the musical and visual enticements of Belle Époque are encumbered by Mr. Mees text, which often strikes an arch, discordant note (1:25). Mitzi E. Newhouse, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m; Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m.; Wednesdays at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets: $70. ISHERWOOD * DOUBT, A PARABLE This tight, absorbing and expertly acted play by John Patrick Shanley is far more complex than surface descriptions might suggest. Set in the Bronx in 1964, it 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 balance of conflicting viewpoints, its austere institutional setting and its sensational front-page subject at first bring to mind those tidy topical melodramas of truth and falsehood that were once so popular. But Mr. Shanley makes subversive use of musty conventions. Doubt hews closely to its reassuringly sturdy, familiar form the better to explore aspects of thought and personality that are anything but solid. And under the eloquently reserved direction of Doug Hughes, Ms. Jones and Mr. OByrne, both superb, find startling precision in ambiguity (1:30). Manhattan Theater Club, at New York City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets: $60. BRANTLEY THE FOREIGNER Matthew Broderick brings his sad-sack slouch and adenoidal uneasiness to The Foreigner, Larry Shues deliberately doltish comedy of improbabilities from the mid-1980s. Theres no denying that Mr. Broderick, who plays a gray-souled British proofreader on vacation in rural Georgia, has this persona as securely nailed down as any performer since (he should pardon the comparison) Jerry Lewis. The production allows Mr. Broderick a few joyous interludes of precisely rendered, raging goofiness. But despite a top-drawer supporting cast, whats between the bright comic riffs brings to mind the sort of contrived television sitcom that you wind up watching, passively and masochistically, when youre too depressed to change the channel (2:45). Roundabout Theater Company at the Pels Theater, Steinberg Center, 111 West 46th Street, (212) 719-1300. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets: $61.25 to $71.25. BRANTLEY *+ GUANTÁNAMO: HONOR BOUND TO DEFEND FREEDOM On an anxious night, you have probably had a dream that goes something like this: you are arrested by uniformed officers for a crime that is never specified but that you know you did not commit, and there is no way for you to prove your innocence. Such a scenario is the real-life situation of Jamal al-Harith, Bisher al-Rawi, Mozzam Begg and Ruel Ahmed. Their stories are told with a bafflement that shades into gut-level despair in this deeply moving documentary play by Victoria Brittain and Gillian Slovo. This calmly condemning drama considers the plights of some of the British detainees in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. There is no question that it is a partisan work, but it exerts an icy visceral charge (1:45). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street Theater, Greenwich Village, (212) 307-4100. Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Wednesday, Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets: $25 to $60. BRANTLEY +MODERN ORTHODOX It is said that God works in mysterious ways. Daniel Goldfarbs new play suggests He is not above employing obnoxious ones, too. In this snappy if superficial romantic comedy with a glossy cast (Molly Ringwald, Jason Biggs and Craig Bierko), Hannah and Ben, a young Jewish couple comfortably ensconced on Manhattans Upper West Side, are provoked to question their commitment to each other -- and the depth of their religious feeling -- when Hershel Klein, an ill-mannered interloper from another borough and another sect arrives on their doorstep, demanding to be given harbor. Since the abrasive behavior of Hershel, played by Mr. Biggs, tends to indicate colossal bad manners more powerfully than spiritual enlightenment, the characters deployment as a catalyst is more than a little specious. But the soul-searching is primarily filler supplementing Mr. Goldfarbs bright comic swipes at intra-faith cultural clashes. The gags may be parceled out with the mechanical rhythms of a sitcom script, but they are often sharp and punchy (1:30). Dodger Stages, 340 West 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets: $46 to $66. ISHERWOOD * NINE PARTS OF DESIRE The voices are a study in contrasts: vivid and subdued, sophisticated and naïve, seductive and standoffish. But they cohere to form a powerful collective portrait of suffering and endurance in Heather Raffos impassioned theatrical documentary about the lives of contemporary Iraqi women. A solo piece written and performed by Ms. Raffo, an actress of Iraqi and American heritage, the play is a welcome reminder that the costs of tyranny and violent conflict are borne not by some amorphous, insentient collective population but by individuals, in this case women whose lives have been frayed and fractured, sometimes beyond repair, by the tortured history of their country (1:30). Manhattan Ensemble Theater, 55 Mercer Street, SoHo, (212) 925-1900. Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 3 and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 3 and 7 p.m. Tickets: $60. ISHERWOOD * RODNEYS WIFE Seemingly light conversation scrapes the skins of the characters in Richard Nelsons sharply etched study of dislocation, loneliness and sexual betrayal, directed by the playwright and and starring David Strathairn as a fading American movie star working in Rome. And you are always aware of the strain and snappishness that arises when people politely avoid saying what is on everyones mind. Long before the unspoken is brought out for airing, Mr. Nelson and his fine cast have created a full emotional geography of a family, replete with deserts and bogs and patches of quicksand. Though the play, which traces the conflicts among the women in the life of Mr. Strathairns alcoholic character, is centered on what movie ads used to call an illicit passion, there is nothing prurient about this production. What it offers instead is a deep and sorrowful understanding of how much loneliness there often is in lust (1:45). Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater, 416 West 42nd Street, (212) 279-4200. Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2:30 and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $55. BRANTLEY A SECOND HAND MEMORY Woody Allens unrelentingly glum new play at the Atlantic Theater Company is a drama about two generations of defeated dreamers in 1950s Brooklyn. As the play opens, Eddie Wolfe (Nicky Katt) has been called home from Hollywood to help turn around the family jewelry business, for which he never had much affection. Eddie has an unwanted new wife and a baby on the way, but his permanently darkened brow telegraphs despair and a burning desire to escape. Amid the pervasive aura of doom, Eddies moral quandary -- should he stay or should he go? -- generates little suspense. The actors, who include Dominic Chianese of The Sopranos and a particularly fine Beth Fowler, provide some leavening warmth, but its hard to escape the feeling that Mr. Allens characters are simply serving out their sentences before our eyes, railing against an unjust fate by incessantly flailing away at one another (2:15). Atlantic Theater Company, 336 West 20th Street, (212) 239-6200. Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $60. ISHERWOOD Last Chance PEOPLE ARE WRONG! A Manhattan couple seeking relief from city stress find country living more treacherous than expected in this good-natured but ragged rock musical at the Vineyard Theater, a co-production with the Target Margin Theater. A lively young cast infuses the proceedings with comic high spirits even when the musical begins to spin its wheels, or spin out of control. John Flansburgh, one-half of the popular rock duo They Might Be Giants, makes his Off-Broadway debut as one of the luckless country weekenders. Unfortunately, once the musical has established the simple story line (crazy gardener screws up wedding plans) and put across its sardonic tone, it begins to disintegrate, even as the song list stretches past the horizon (there are 30 tunes). A few songs stand out for their satiric content for instance, a giddy duet celebrating a much-coveted wedding planner but too many are devoted to embroidering the sillier aspects of the plot. Still, the performers hold your attention even when you give up on the musical (1:30). Vineyard Theater, 108 East 15th Street, (212) 353-0303. Tonight at 8; tomorrow at 5 and 9 p.m. Tickets: $55. ISHERWOOD Movies A selective listing by critics of The Times: New or noteworthy movies playing this weekend in the New York metropolitan region. * denotes a highly recommended film. Ratings and running times are in parentheses. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. Now Playing AFTER MIDNIGHT Starring Giorgio Pasotti and Francesca Inaudi. Directed by Davide Ferrario (not rated, 89 minutes; in Italian, with English subtitles). This whimsical romantic comedy served with a heaping tablespoon of sugar is drenched in even more esoteric movie lore than that sentimental Italian crowd-pleaser Cinema Paradiso. Its poker-faced protagonist, Martino (Mr. Pasotti), is a wistful sad-eyed hermit who works as the custodian of Italys National Museum of Cinema in Turin. Inside this solitary twilight world, he lives and works surrounded by old movie reels, vintage cameras and projectors. He is abruptly drawn out of his shell when a beautiful woman (Ms. Inaudi) on the run from the law seeks asylum in the museum. Depending on your tolerance for incessant movie references you may find After Midnight endearing or cloying. STEPHEN HOLDEN AFTER THE SUNSET Starring Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson. Directed by Brett Ratner (PG-13, 93 minutes). Youd have to search high and low to find screen lovers with less romantic chemistry than Mr. Brosnan and Ms. Hayek in After the Sunset, a jewel-heist frolic so stale it feels like a retread of a retread. Mr. Brosnan has finally reached the age of flab, and the sight of Ms. Hayeks extravagant cleavage spilling over his hairy paunch isnt especially pretty. Even by the fanciful rules of caper comedies, After the Sunset is a fraudulent entertainment. Except for the opening chase, its action sequences are strictly routine, and the overall tone strains after a wit and style that appear far beyond the directors grasp. HOLDEN ALEXANDER Starring Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie and Val Kilmer. Directed by Oliver Stone (R, 173 minutes). There comes the moment in the career of many directors when they are compelled to tell the story of a great man in whose life they seem to see a glimmer of their own image. Martin Scorsese and Mel Gibson each had Jesus. Now, Oliver Stone has Alexander the Great, the Macedonian tyrant who cut a bloody swath through the ancient world to no obvious end other than, if Mr. Stones big, blowsy movie is to believed, to get away from his kvetch of a mother. Olympias, played with nose-flaring gusto by Ms. Jolie, was the mother of all monstrous mothers, a literal snake charmer whose love for her only son had the stench of incestuous passion. For Alexander (Mr. Farrell, upstaged by an epically bad dye job), the oedipal plot would only thicken because he also loved Olympiass most loathed enemy, her husband and his father, Philip, the King of Macedon (Mr. Kilmer). The struggle between Olympias and Philip, these primordial warring female and male forces, would be reproduced in both Alexanders bisexual desires and his rapacious conquest of the feminized East. In other words, Alexander became his dad to waylay his mom. MANOHLA DARGIS * BAD EDUCATION Starring Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez and Javier Cámara. Directed by Pedro Almodóvar (NC-17; 110 minutes; in Spanish, with English subtitles). The great Spanish directors newest film is a delirious, headlong immersion and reinvention of film noir, a style that has lured countless film makers onto its treacherous shoals. Mr. Almodóvar, unlike other filmmakers who lose their bearings, fully understands the degree to which the genre is synonymous with fantasy and a primal longing for the forbidden. The coup de grace of Bad Education is that here the femme fatale is a predatory transsexual named Ignacio. Bad Education contemplates the wonder of storytelling itself and the human instinct to embroider reality to make the tales we tell more real and conclusive, if less strictly factual. HOLDEN BEING JULIA Starring Annette Bening. Directed by Istvan Szabo (R, 103 minutes). A flimsy frame surrounding a marvelous performance. As Julia Lambert, an aging star of the prewar London stage, Ms. Bening swoops from melodrama to farce with splendid hauteur and touching fragility. Julia, whose marriage to her longtime director (Jeremy Irons) has long been a primarily professional attachment, falls into an affair with Tom Fennel (Shaun Evans), a sweet-faced, penniless American who turns out to be a callow adventurer. In tracing the phases of her affair, the film is too busy and plodding to develop an emotional core. But she lifts the movie from the costume-drama doldrums by sheer dazzling force of will. A. O. SCOTT BIRTH Starring Nicole Kidman. Directed by Jonathan Glazer (R, 100 minutes). A metaphysical puzzle -- part ghost story, part melodrama -- in which Ms. Kidman plays Anna, a wealthy Manhattan widow, who meets a young boy claiming to be her dead husband. The premise is strange, almost preposterous, but Mr. Glazer presents it with a hushed, solemn intensity that keeps you in a state of pleasurable disorientation. The screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière wrote many scripts for Luis Buñuel, and there is an element of arch surrealism in this tale, which might be cold and mechanical were it not for Ms. Kidmans performance. SCOTT BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON Starring Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. Directed by Beeban Kidron (R, 108 minutes). What was Ms. Zellweger thinking? It cant have been fun to put on all that weight, especially for a film as ghastly as this, and it sure wont be fun taking it off again. And what is the appeal of Bridget Jones? More to the point, what is the appeal of laughing at her swishing thighs, her lack of both charm and obvious intelligence? Unlike Sharon Maguire, who directed Bridget Joness Diary, Ms. Kidron goes out of her way to make the character unattractive, sticking the camera under Bridgets chin and doing nothing nice with the lighting. Bridget is pleasantly plump in the first movie, but here shes a greasy, bumbling, waddling train wreck. DARGIS CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS Starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. Directed by Joe Roth (PG, 94 minutes). Lockstep suburban conformism enforced with a fascist rigor is the ugly (but admittedly sometimes funny) joke driving this family comedy. The movie is as slick and treacherous as the sheet of ice its Scrooge-like protagonist (Mr. Allen) freezes in the yard of his lawn to discourage holiday panhandlers. For all you fancy-schmancy snobs who jet off to St. Barts for the holidays, the movie has an important message, and youd better pay attention. If you shirkers refuse to stay home and celebrate Christmas like the rest of us, we dont want you in our community.HOLDEN CLOSER Starring Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. Directed by Mike Nichols (R, 110 minutes). Four characters in search of an objective correlative for their needy, angry, compulsive states of feelings. Mr. Nicholss smooth, nimble direction both improves Patrick Marbers verbose, pretentious play and exposes some of its flaws. Two American women (Ms. Portman and Ms. Roberts) are entangled with two Englishmen (Mr. Law and Mr. Owen) in a four-handed game of deception, self-delusion and betrayal that skips and leaps over a period of several years. The actors all work hard to give their schematic, overwritten roles some nuance and individuality, but only Mr. Owen, raw, brash and witty, succeeds. SCOTT FINDING NEVERLAND Starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. Directed by Marc Forster (PG, 108 minutes). Steeped in melancholy, the strange story of J. M. Barrie, the Victorian who wrote Peter Pan, has the makings of a marvelous tale and one doozy of a case history. Barrie was a playwright and novelist who, after meeting a family stuffed with young boys, created in 1904 a classic of childrens literature. In the years since, Peter Pan has been revisited numerous times. Mary Martin soared as Peter Pan; Michael Jackson crashed. As Barrie in Finding Neverland, a handsome-looking film about the writer and his unripe inspirations, Mr. Depp neither soars nor crashes, but moseys forward with vague purpose and actorly restraint. The film mainly concerns the period during which Barrie met and befriended the widowed Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Ms. Winslet) and her brood of boys. The filmmakers work hard to let us know that its the mother whos the more obvious focus of the writers attention than her children. Its all terribly polite, not a little dull and remote. DARGIS * HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS Starring Zhang Ziyi. Directed by Zhang Yimou (PG-13, 119 minutes; in Mandarin, with English subtitles). In the latest chapter of Mr. Zhangs triumphant reinvention as an action filmmaker, Ms. Zhang plays Mei, a blind courtesan who turns out to be a member of the Flying Daggers, a shadowy squad of assassins waging a guerrilla insurgency against the corrupt and decadent government. She is pursued by two government deputies, Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro), whose loyalties come into question as the chase turns into a love triangle. Everyone is engaged in several layers of deceit, and some of the third-act revelations are more likely to provoke laughter than gasps of amazement. But realism is as irrelevant a criterion here as it would be in an Italian opera. The movie is about color, kineticism and the kind of heavy-breathing, decorous sensuality that went out of American movies when sexual candor came in. Though it is in constant, breathtaking motion, the picture is not especially moving. Unlike the greatest operas (in whatever medium), it inspires you to gasp, but not to weep. SCOTT * THE INCREDIBLES With the voices of Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter. Written and directed by Brad Bird (PG, 118 minutes). A family of superheroes try to fit in in the suburbs after a public backlash against costumed crime fighters has forced them into dull, ordinary lives. Mom and especially Dad -- once known as Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible -- are stuck in a midlife, middle-class malaise until a supervillain named Syndrome emerges to call them back to their old identities. Mr. Bird uses the plight of the superheroes as a way to protest against the celebration of mediocrity in a world where everybody is special, so no one is. His fusion of Ayn Rands philosophy with classic comic-book aesthetics results in a film that is witty, elegant and heartfelt. It falls short of its potential, though, when it succumbs to the imperatives of blockbuster ideology and trades in its subtlety for noise and over-familiar thrills. SCOTT * KINSEY Starring Liam Neeson, Laura Linney and Peter Sarsgaard. Directed by Bill Condon (R, 118 minutes). Mr. Neeson is flawless as Alfred Kinsey, the zoologist whose research into human sexual behavior helped to transform American attitudes about matters of the flesh. Though it has its share of carnality, Mr. Condons wise and witty biography is, above all, an intellectual turn-on, its romance fueled by Kinseys scientific zeal and his ardent, almost naïve belief that knowledge is not only power, but freedom. While acknowledging his personal failings and misjudgment, the film regards its hero with affection and gratitude, and makes its case for his legacy with tact and care. Though it sometimes falls into biopic convention, explaining what it should dramatize and dramatizing what it should imply, the film is rich with humanity and insight. SCOTT NATIONAL TREASURE Starring Nicolas Cage. Directed by Jon Turteltaub (PG, 125 minutes). Maybe, just maybe, an 8-year-old could pick up an interest in American history from watching National Treasure, that is if the child can stay awake through this sluggish two-hour trudge through landmarks in Washington, Philadelphia and New York. Its far more likely, however, that a child who can stay awake through the movie will come away believing the bogus mythology that detonates this fanciful reality game show with a squishy thud. That mythology, derived from Freemasonry, holds that a map, drawn in invisible ink on the back of the Declaration of Independence, contains clues to the whereabouts of the Greatest Treasure Ever Told About. A more cynical (and witless, shoddy) chase for Hollywood gold is hard to imagine. HOLDEN THE POLAR EXPRESS With the voices of Tom Hanks, Michael Jeter, Peter Scolare, Nona Gaye, Eddie Deezen and Charles Fleischer. Directed by Robert Zemeckis (G, 97 minutes). Based on the 32-page childrens book by Chris Van Allsburg, this new animated feature has received attention for the advanced technology employed to make the film and the heart-skipping amount of money reportedly spent to transpose the story from page to screen. I suspect that most moviegoers care more about stories and characters than how much money it took for a digitally rendered strand of hair to flutter persuasively in the wind. Nor will they care that to make Polar Express Mr. Hanks wore a little cap that transmitted a record of his movements to a computer, creating templates for five different animated characters. Its likely, I imagine, that most moviegoers will be more concerned by the eerie listlessness of those characters faces and the grim vision of Santa Clauss North Pole compound. DARGIS PURPLE BUTTERFLY Starring Zhang Ziyi and Toru Nakamura. Directed by Lou Ye (R, 127 minutes; in Mandarin, Japanese, Vietnamese and Cantonese, with English subtitles). Like his first movie, Suzhou River, Mr. Lous new one takes place in Shanghai, and is redolent with that citys smoky, romantic atmosphere. This time, rather than updating film noir conventions, the director goes back in time, to the 1930s, when Shanghai was occupied by the Japanese. The film unfolds at the intersection of political intrigue and sighing romance. Ms. Zhang plays Cynthia, who is inolved with a clandestine militant group plotting against the Japanese. Her former lover Itami (Mr. Nakamura) is a Japanese intelligence officer intent on destroying her group. The storys many twists and coincidences are handled almost casually, and the movies atmosphere of melancholy elegance nearly overwhelms both its emotions and its political themes. It is nonetheless a haunting entertainment, and the work of a director with an impressive sense of style. SCOTT * SIDEWAYS Starring Paul Giamatti. Directed by Alexander Payne (R, 124 minutes). The specter of a disappointed life hangs over Mr. Paynes film Sideways, casting shadows so deep and so dark its a wonder that the storys nearly broken hero hasnt drowned in them. But Miles, beautifully played by Mr. Giamatti, hasnt yet been broken by his divorce, unpublished novels and the accumulation of everyday indignities that have helped make him the man he is. And therein lies the great cosmic joke of this heart-piercing film: without struggle and pain, Miles wouldnt be half the good and decent man he is, though he certainly might complain a little less, venture a little more. The film opens with Miles taking off with his longtime friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church) to the central California coast for an orchestrated week of wine, golf and camaraderie. Afterward, the two will motor back to reality where Jack, a B-list actor and pretty boy fast on the fade, will marry for the first time. For Miles, eagerly waiting word on the fate of yet another manuscript, the week promises a much-needed respite from his day-to-day; for Jack its an excuse to beat a quick if temporary retreat from the future. DARGIS THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE With the voices of Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown and Rodger Bumpass. Directed by Steven Hillenburg (PG, 88 minutes). If nautical nonsense be something you wish for, then this big-screen expansion of the popular Nickelodeon show will be just the ticket. SpongeBob and his best pal Patrick set off on a rambling quest to recover a stolen crown and prevent Plankton from taking over Bikini Bottom and driving poor Mr. Krabs out of business. If none of this makes sense to you, fear not; it wont necessarily make any more after the movie is done. In any case, the point of SpongeBob is not sense but nonsense, and the film, like the series, is a giddy celebration of pure childishness, which makes it a refreshing antidote to the glowering machismo that dominates so much pop culture. SCOTT A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT Starring Audrey Tatou. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (R, 133 minutes; in French, with English subtitles). If you like battleground carnage delivered with aesthetic brio, the kind that ensures that when a soldier explodes into confetti his flesh will dapple a trenchmate as decoratively as pink rosettes on a cake, this new French film will serve you nicely. Set during World War I and its immediate aftermath, the film follows the adventures of a young woman, Mathilde (Ms. Tautou), who holds fast to the hope that her young solider fiancé will return home from his apparent grave. Even when death seems to do them part, the cord of her love remains unbroken. Best known for Amélie, a modern fairy tale also starring Ms. Tautou, Mr. Jeunet is in the possession of a distinctive visual style thats part Rube Goldberg, part F.A.O. Schwarz, and generally enjoyable for about 15 minutes DARGIS Rock/Pop A selective listing by critics of The Times: New or noteworthy rock and pop concerts in the New York metropolitan region this weekend. * denotes a highly recommended concert. Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. * BLACK KAT VS. ONE LOVE HI PAWA, The Rock, 1219 Rockaway Avenue, at Foster Avenue, Canarsie, Brooklyn, (917) 312-2044; www.dancehallreggae.com.. A reggae soundclash, where teams of D.J.s compete to see who has the best and most obscure records -- they often rely on specially commissioned one-of-a-kind dubplates. Sounds pretty straightforward, but these nights often veer toward exhilarating chaos: records get played in five-second snippets, hypemen taunt their opponents, bloodthirsty fans search for any excuse to scream -- or, almost as often, to boo. Tomorrow night is an international grudge match: Black Kat, from Jamaica, takes on One Love Hi Pawa, an Italian crew that seeks to overcome its geographical disadvantage through clever selection (One Love began one recent clash by playing the theme from The Godfather) and sheer pluck. Tomorrow night after 10; admission, $25 in advance, $30 tomorrow. KELEFA SANNEH BOY GEORGE, Avalon, 662 Avenue of the Americas, at 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 807-7780. A dance party led by the new-wave veteran Boy George, who long ago reinvented himself as a celebrity D.J. Dont go expecting to hear golden oldies: his frenetic, slightly playful sets draw heavily from house music and gesture occasionally toward the synthetic sound of electro; you may be surprised to find out how serious he is about making people dance. Heres hoping the dancers are just as serious; on his Web site, he complained about one recent New York gig, writing, If an audience aint Up 4 it, theres not much I can do. Tomorrow night after 10; tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. SANNEH BOYZ II MEN, Westbury Music Fair, 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury, N.Y., (516) 334-0800. In the 1990s, back when boy bands were singers above all, close a capella harmonies and sinuous, Stevie Wonder-style lead vocals made million-sellers of Boyz II Men. Sunday night at 7, with Keyshia Cole opening; tickets are $40. JON PARELES * CANDIDO AND GRACIELA, Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 576-1155. Latin music revolutionized New York swing and jazz in the 1940s. Candido, an improvising powerhouse on conga drums, and Graciela, who sang with Machito and His Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, were on the scene then and recently made a new album together, Inolvidable (Chesky). Tomorrow night at 8 and 10; tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, with a one-drink minimum. PARELES CHER/VILLAGE PEOPLE, Nassau Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, Uniondale, N.Y., (631) 888-9000. Cher hung in on the pop charts from 1960s folk-rock to 1990s dance pop, and she has never stinted on spectacle. This is her latest farewell tour. The Village People were a disco pageant of gay male archetypes whose songwriters came up with durable anthems like Y.M.C.A. and Macho Man. Sunday night at 7; tickets are $35.25 to $128.25. PARELES DARK STAR ORCHESTRA, Starland Ballroom, 570 Jernee Mill Road, Sayreville, N.J., (732) 238-5500. The Dark Star Orchestra is a Dead Head jam band that takes its repertory seriously. It doesnt just play the songs; it recreates full-length Dead sets as played (and bootlegged) from long ago. Tonight at 8; tickets are $18. PARELES DIKKI DU AND THE ZYDECO CREW, Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 576-1155. Dikki Du is Troy Carriere, who comes from an accordion-playing Louisiana family that also includes his brother Chubby and his father Roy. Hes gone into the family business, leading a zydeco band that adds some funk to the two-steps. The group is presented by Lets Zydeco (www.letszydeco.com), which offers a dance workshop before the live music starts. Sunday night at 7:30; admission is $15, with a one-drink minimum. PARELES * RICHARD FEARLESS, the Music Gallery, 49 Ann Street, 2nd Floor, near Nassau Street, Lower Manhattan, www.enablernetwork.org. This producer, from the sometimes-rowdy, sometimes-bleary, sometimes-both electronica act Death in Vegas, is to play a DJ set at a party devoted to acid house, Detroit techno, Miami bass, Italo-space-disco and other dancefloor-friendly forms of machine music; it should be a long, raucous night. Tomorrow night at 10, with JDH, Cowboy Mark and Paradoxx; admission is $6. SANNEH HOWARD FISHMAN, Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 539-8778 or (212) 239-6200. Howard Fishman has been poking around Americas musical basements and attics., looking for droll insights. His group can riffle back through the decades, all the way back to the 1930s, without getting stuck in revivialism. Tomorrow night at 7:30; tickets are $12, with a two-drink minimum. PARELES DICK FOXS HOLIDAY ROOTS OF ROCK, Westbury Music Fair, 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury, N.Y., (516) 334-0800. Oldies and Christmas songs from the Del Vikings, the Original Chantels, the Mystics, the Passions, Vito Picone and the Elegants, Jay Siegel and the Tokens, the Classics and others. Tomorrow night at 8; tickets are $41.50. PARELES LARS FREDERIKSEN AND THE BASTARDS, Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800. Lars Frederiksen is a member of Rancid. With his other band, the Bastards, he plays straightforward, old-fashioned buzzsaw punk: fast, loud and fascinated by mayhem. Roger Miret and the Disasters share the bill. Tomorrow night at 8; admission is $15. PARELES LES GEORGES LENINGRAD, Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103. This willfully ridiculous Montreal band makes a clangy, often propulsive racket, drawing inspiration from the dissonant dance music that came clattering out of New Yorks no-wave scene a quarter-century ago. Tonight at 9, with COMA. and the Frequency; tickets are $10. SANNEH IAN HUNTER, the Stone Pony, 913 Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park, N.J., (732) 502-0600; the Downtown, 190 Main Street, Farmingdale, N.Y., (516) 293-7700; B. B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144. Ian Hunter led Mott the Hoople, an English band that deserves to be remembered for more than the bands hit, All the Young Dudes. In his own songs, he tinctured the yearning and posturing of glam with some of Bob Dylans earthiness. His latest band, the Rant, includes James Mastro from the Bongos on guitar and Graham Maby, from the Joe Jackson Band, on bass. At the Stone Pony in Asbury Park tonight at 8; tickets are $20. At the Downtown tomorrow night at 7:30, with Soozie Tyrell opening; tickets are $22 to $40, with a seated two-drink minimum and a one-drink minimum at the bar. At B.B. King Blues Bar Sunday night at 8, with Soozie Tyrell opening; tickets are $25.50 in advance, $27 on Sunday, with a $10 food or drink minimum. PARELES IVY QUEEN, Copacabana, 560 West 34th Street, Manhattan, (212) 239-2672. Reggaeton, the Puerto Rican hybrid of hip-hop and dancehall, is as much a male bastion as hip-hop, but one proud exception is Ivy Queen, whos as tough and articulate as her male counterparts. Tonight at 10; admission is $30 for men, $15 for women, $10 for members. PARELES * KHONNOR, the Tank, 432 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 563-6269. This young singer-songwriter and noise-collagist is responsible for one of the years most pleasant surprises, a hazy, homemade-sounding album called, Handwriting (Type), which places his half-whispered confessions (or, sometimes, jokes) over and under and alongside engrossing electronic textures. Khonnor is to headline the Transelectronic Winter Festival, a promising laptop-centric night co-starring RJ Valeo, Goldmund, Praveen and the D.J. Michael Venezia. (Visit www.transelectronic.org for more information.) Tomorrow night at 9; admission is $7. SANNEH MEMPHIS, Rothko, 116 Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street, Lower East Side, www.rothkonyc.com. Early next year, the lovely (but sometimes vicious) Canadian indie-pop group Stars is to release an American version of its enthralling new album, Set Yourself on Fire. Fans who cant wait can visit Rothko tomorrow night, where Stars playfully petulant frontman, Torquil Campbell, is to perform with Chris Dumont: they call themselves Memphis, and the duo recently released a casual and often charming debut album, I Dreamed We Fell Apart (Paper Bag). Theres only one Pet Shop Boys cover (Love Comes Quickly), but you might swear you hear more. Tomorrow night at 11, with Andrew Kenny, from the hypnotic indie-rock minimalists American Analog Set; tickets are $8. SANNEH * NEULANDER, Rothko, 116 Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street, Lower East Side, www.rothkonyc.com. Earlier this year, this appealing electro-pop duo released Smoke + Fire (Disko B), full of gleaming, precise pop songs built from the least possible number of electronic sounds; at its best, the music evokes both the monomaniacal meticulousness of minimal electronica and the slick nonchalance of mainstream new wave. Tonight at 10, with Snaz, from the self-consciously sleazy post-disco duo Captain Comatose, as well as DJ Unkown, Plexus, Dan Selzer, Lisa (Bubbles) Hsu, and others; tickets are $8 in advance, $12 at the door. SANNEH RADIO 4, Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, at Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236. Radio 4, part of New York Citys rock renaissaince, looks back to the early 1980s, when punk, funk and politics added up to potent dance music with a conscience. Tonight at 8, with the Occasion and French Toast opening; admission is $10. PARELES * JOSH RITTER/OLLABELLE, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111. The old folkie staples -- a guitar, a gruff voice, a good eye -- still work for John Ritter, a young songwriter who finds extravagant romance in the everyday. Ollabelle is a group that reaches back to rural gospel and blues for songs like John the Revelator and Elijah Rock, setting out to modernize them without losing the spirit. Tonight, Mr. Ritter at 10:30, Ollabelle at 9:30 and Willy Mason at 8:30; admission is $16. PARELES DUKE ROBILLARD, Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 576-1155. Duke Robillard is a guitarist and a suave singer whose blues lore goes back to the swing and jump-band blues he used to play with Roomful of Blues. Lately, he has backed Bob Dylan in the studio. Tonight at 7:30; admission is $22, with a one-drink minimum. PARELES ROMEIKO ENSEMBLE, St. Marys Times Square, 145 West 46th Street, Manhattan, (212) 545-7536. This 22-member ensemble of singers and musicians from Turkey, Greece and the United States performs ancient Byzantine chants, the stately court music of Constantinople and mystical Sufi music from the Ottoman Empire. Tomorrow night at 8; tickets are $30. PARELES * NICKY SIANO, APT, 419 West 13th Street, near Washington Street, the Meatpacking District, (212) 414-4245. Theres only one problem with The Gallery: The Original New York Disco 1973-77 (Soul Jazz), a new compilation by this pioneering D.J.: its a grab bag, not a nonstop mix. Still, the tracks are predictably excellent (prepare to be floored -- not for the first time, perhaps -- by the Pointer Sisters slow-motion strut, Yes We Can Can), and there probably wont be any complaints when Mr. Siano celebrates the CD at APT, the cramped nightclub (its more like a bar) that still books better dance D.J.s than any space in the city. Tomorrow night at 9, with Citizen Kane; admission is $8. SANNEH UMPHREYS MCGEE, Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800. Umphreys McGee has been moving up the jam-band circuit with its melding of the Dead and the Allman Brothers along with streaks of jazz and funk. Tonight at 8; tickets are $18.50. PARELES MAX WEINBERG 7, B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144. The house band from Late Night With Conan OBrien, led by the drummer from Bruce Springsteens E Street Band, is a tightly arranged jump band. Onstage, it proves it can play not just mid-show snippets but full-length songs. Tomorrow night at 8 and 10:30; tickets are $30, with a $10 food or drink minimum. PARELES KELLER WILLIAMS, Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600. The guitarist and singer Keller Williams has been working the jam-band circuit, using loop and echo effects he turns his 10-stringed guitar into a full band. His mild voice has more than a touch of James Taylor, but his fast fingers delight the kind of fan one of his songs describes as a Freaker by the Speaker. Tonight, doors open at 6:30; admission is $20. PARELES Z-100 JINGLE BALL, Madison Square Garden, 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue, Manhattan, (212) 465-6741. Pop 2004 is on display at this radio-station extravaganza, which tosses together rhythm-and-blues, pop and rock. Performers include Destinys Child, Ashlee Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Good Charlotte, Maroon 5, Ryan Cabrera, Vanessa Carlton and others. Tickets are $25 to $230. PARELES JOHN ZORNS MASADA, Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7503. John Zorn wrote Masada, a book of 100 klezmer-flavored tunes, back in 1994, and various ensembles have brought out their jazz and chamber-music sides. This September and October, he multipled his Masada repertory, adding a Book Two of 240 tunes. He will introduce them this weekend with musicians including Jamie Saft (keyboard), Ben Perowsky (drums), Erik Friedlander (cello), Ikue Mori (drum machine/power book), Dave Douglas (trumpet), Marc Ribot (guitar), Cyro Baptista (percussion), Sylvie Courvoisier (piano), Greg Cohen (bass), Trevor Dunn (bass), Shanir Blumenkranz (bass), Jon Madof (guitar) and Mathias Kunzli (drums). Tonight and tomorrow at 8 and 10 p.m., $20. PARELES Cabaret A selective listing by critics of The Times: New or noteworthy cabaret shows in Manhattan this weekend. * denotes a highly recommended show. Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. BARBARA CARROLL, Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, (212) 419-9331. The Lady of a Thousand Songs is back in the Oak Room for Sunday brunch and evening performances. This elegant, red-headed pianist and singer is a poised entertainer whose impeccable pianism belongs to the school of jazz that maintains a sense of classical decorum at the keyboard. Even when swinging out, she remains an impressionist with special affinities for Thelonious Monk and bossa nova. Vocally, she belongs to the conversational tradition of Mabel Mercer with a style thats blasé but never cold. Sunday at 2 and 8 p.m. Cover: $55 at 2, including brunch at noon; $80 at 8, with dinner served at 6:30. STEPHEN HOLDEN BABY JANE DEXTER, Helens, 169 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 206-0609. Ms. Dexter, a natural rock-blues belter who refrains from full-tilt shouting, roams all over the place, from Cole Porter to R.E.M. to Rod McKuen to the Rolling Stones, in her new show Bread and Gravy. If her bold re-evaluations of songs dont always work, they tear away the associations crusted on songs we think we know to reveal new avenues of interpretation. Tonight and tomorrow night at 9:15. Cover: $25 and a $15 minimum. HOLDEN * ANDREA MARCOVICCI, Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, (212) 419-9331. Authentic glamour may be an oxymoron. But Ms. Marcovicci becomes its embodiment when she performs. In her new show, Andrea Sings Astaire, she suggests a latter-day hybrid of Audrey Hepburn, the most gracious, elegant and beautifully spoken of Hollywood princesses, and Mabel Mercer, that ruefully witty, all-wise, healing muse of a thousand romantic sorrows. Like Mercers, her singing is really speech-song executed with an elocutionary flourish and stylized acting. The show weaves music, biography and analysis of Astaire iconography into a definitive career summary. It focuses, in particular, on his relationships with the composers who wrote for him. Tonight and tomorrow night at 9 and 11:30. Cover: $60, with a $55 dinner required at the early shows and a $20 minimum at the late shows. HOLDEN * SINGING ASTAIRE, Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, (212) 581-3080. With Eric Comstock, Hilary Kole and Christopher Gines. The vocal trio that created the smart revue Our Sinatra has outdone itself with this lightly swinging, 70-minute compendium of songs and lore associated with Fred Astaire. Suave and dry, and fleet on the piano, Mr. Comstock is a close stylistic relative of his idol, while Ms. Koles pop-jazz singing has a Ginger Rogersesque edge. Mr. Gines fills in the difference with creamy vocal custard: witty, informative, and fast-paced. Tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. Cover: $40. HOLDEN BOBBY SHORT, Cafe Carlyle, Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, (212) 570-7189. After announcing his semi-retirement last year from performing at the Cafe Carlyle, this legendary singer and pianist changed his mind and is back in action for another season. Mr. Short never fails to conjure ebullient party spirits and has impeccable taste in songs. Expect to hear at least one of his three signature songs, Guess Whos in Town?, Just One of Those Things and Romance in the Dark, along with something by one of the two Dukes (Ellington and Vernon). Tonight and tomorrow night at 8:45 and 10:45. Cover: $95. HOLDEN Jazz A selective listing by critics of The Times: New or noteworthy jazz concerts in the New York metropolitan region this weekend. * denotes a highly recommended concert. Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. WILLIAM ASH TRIO, Fat Cat, 75 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 675-6056. On The Phoenix, his new album on Smalls Jazz, the young guitarist William Ash is a hard-core classicist with a hard, biting, slightly reverby sound; its a satisfying record, and Mr. Ash has been a comfortable fixture at Smalls and, later, at Fat Cat, for quite a while. Sets are tonight and tomorrow at 10:30, midnight, 1:30 and 2:30; cover charge is $15. BEN RATLIFF BILL BRUFORD/TIM GARLAND EARTHWORKS UNDERGROUND, Iridium, 1650 Broadway at 51st Street, Midtown, (212) 582-2121. Since the late 80s, Bill Bruford, a technique-heavy drummer who used to play with King Crimson, has set progressive rock aside and explored jazz in looser and looser contexts; here he and the British saxophonist Tim Garland perform with a group of Americans including the saxophonists Chris Karlick and Steve Wilson, the trumpeters Alex Spiagin and Tony Kadleck, the trombonist Rock Cicarone, the pianist Henry Hey and the bassist Mike Pope. Sets through Sunday night are at 8 and 10, with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow; cover charge is $32.50 plus a $10 minimum. RATLIFF * DON BYRON QUARTET, Whitney Museum, 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, Upper East Side, 1-800-WHITNEY. Its not one of Mr. Byrons high-concept working bands, and not tied to a new record; its just a one-off gig by the resourceful clarinetist with some of his longest-running colleagues since he came to New York in the early 80s. The band includes the guitarist Bill Frisell, the bassist Kermit Driscoll and the drummer Pheeroan AkLaff. Tonight at 7; admission is free or pay what you wish. RATLIFF ORRIN EVANS QUARTET, Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063. From Philadelphia, where so many good young jazz players seem to originate these days, the pianist Orrin Evans is a ball of energy, determined to outdo the Miles Davis quintet of the 1960s in terms of a concept of controlled freedom on the bandstand. His band members can seem as if they are just following their instincts, but at a subtle cue they snap into a piece of composed material. Hes always bringing new people into his sphere, and the shows can get happily raucous; the band this weekend includes the saxophonist Sam Newsome, the bassist Madison Rast, the drummer Donald Edwards and the vocalist JD Walter. Sets are tomorrow night at 9 and 10:30; admission is $15 per set. RATLIFF * BILL FRISELL QUINTET, Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 255-4037. You have to give it to Bill Frisell for the long haul: having come out of the fairly fragmentary downtown music scene of the 1980s, he is still building an audience and working on his own ideal music, sometimes gentle or earthy Americana, sometimes harmonically complex, and unarguably jazz. He can also, on occasion, make your jaw drop with his guitar playing. This group augments his regular trio (including the bassist Tony Scherr and the drummer Kenny Wolleson) with new textures: the soft-toned trumpeter Ron Miles and the tenor saxophonist Greg Tardy. Sets through Sunday night are at 9 and 11, with a 12:30 set tomorrow; cover charge is $20 with a $10 minimum. RATLIFF LOUIS HAYES-BUSTER WILLIAMS QUARTET, Smoke, 2751 Broadway at 106th Street, Manhattan, (212) 864-6662. Louis Hayes, the drummer, has a hard, straightforward groove with an inimitable cymbal beat; he played on all sorts of important hard-bop records in the 1960s, and keeps an especially strong rhythmic connection with the bassist Buster Williams. Sets are tonight and tomorrow at 9, 11 and 12:30; cover charge is $20 with a $10 minimum. RATLIFF BRIAN LYNCHS SPHERES OF INFLUENCE, Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 255-3626. With a recent Doris Duke Foundation grant, Brian. Lynch wrote new music for his band Spheres of Influence, expanding the group in the process; its now a nonet, with some of the most exciting musicians in the new Latin-jazz scene including the saxophonist Miguel Zenon, the pianist Luis Perdomo and the percussionist Pedro Martinez. Sets are tonight and tomorrow at 8, 10 and midnight; cover charge is $20 with a $10 minimum. RATLIFF BILL MAYS TRIO, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232. A gifted and under-recognized pianist who has been making records since the 1970s, Bill Mays makes attractive, witty and highly jazz-literate trio music with his band, including Martin Wind on bass and Matt Wilson on drums. Sets through Sunday night are at 8 and 10, with an 11:45 set tonight and tomorrow; cover charge is $25 and $20 on Sunday with a $10 minimum both days. RATLIFF JOHN McNEILS INSOMNIA BAND, Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319. A composer of humor and intelligence, the trumpeter John McNeil has played a secondary role as a longtime sideman and educator. But hes stepping out more as a bandleader: Omnitone records recently released Sleep Wont Come, and this gig will present some of the music on the record. Tonight at 8:30; admission is $10 with a one-drink minimum. RATLIFF * ARTURO OFARRILL AND RIZA NEGRA, Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, midtown, (212) 581-3080. Mr. OFarrill, son of the composer and arranger Chico OFarrill, came into his fathers band through the piano chair and now, since the fathers death, has become its boss; more recently he became leader of Lincoln Centers impressive new Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. This band includes some of the best musicians in town: the saxophonist Joe Lovano, the clarinetist and saxophonist Paquito DRivera, the vibraphonist Dave Samuels, the trumpeter Tom Harrell, the bassist John Benitez and the drummer Dafnis Prieto. Tonight at 9 and 11; cover charge is $30 with a $10 minimum. RATLIFF CECIL PAYNE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION, Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, Manhattan, (212) 885-7119. Cecil Payne, a venerable jazz musician who was in Dizzy Gillespies big band in the 1940s, hasnt stopped playing gigs; hes still a man of extremes, playing the baritone saxophone and the flute. With him to celebrate his 82nd birthday are the bassist David Williams, the trombonist Steve Davis, the drummer Joe Farnsworth and (tonight only) the great pianist Barry Harris. Sets are tonight and tomorrow at 9 and 10:45; cover charge is $15 with a $10 minimum. RATLIFF * GONZALO RUBALCABA QUARTET, Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th Street, 5th Floor, Manhattan, (212) 258-9595. The Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba used to make cold, fast and technical fusion music, but by the late 1990s, he had begun to make warmer, fascinatingly slow jazz. Paseo, his new album on Blue Note, with a new Cuban quartet, lands somewhere in between. The music is by turns fussy and elegant -- in both tortoise and hare tempos -- but Mr. Rubalcabas improvised single-note lines, with lots of built-in space, are like commands from a great height. Sets through Sunday night are at 7:30 and 9:30; cover charge is $30 with a $10 minimum at a table and a $5 minimum at the bar. RATLIFF McCOY TYNER TRIO, Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592. The pianist McCoy Tyner is one of the living mainlines of jazz, the definer of modern jazz harmony, the course that developing players must pass. Hes worth hearing in performance; he is still the musics deepest colorist and gets a great, thunderous ring from his instrument. This week he takes a break from his regular working trio to play with two of the flashier musicians to come along in jazzs last 40 years: the bassist Stanley Clarke and the drummer Billy Cobham. Sets through Sunday night are at 8 and 10:30; cover charge is $45 with a $5 minimum. RATLIFF Classical A selective listing by critics of The Times: New or noteworthy opera and classical music events this weekend in the New York metropolitan region. * denotes a highly recommended event. Full reviews of recent classical music and opera performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera LES CONTES DHOFFMANN Offenbachs final opera, and his masterpiece, Les Contes dHoffmann, is often performed with one soprano singing the three leading soprano roles in the three flashback tales the opera tells, and one bass taking all four villain roles. For the Metropolitan Operas revival of Otto Schenks striking production from 1982, the Met is dividing the female leads among three sopranos: Aleksandra Kurzak as Olympia, Hei-Kyung Hong as Antonia and Béatrice Uria-Monzon as Giulietta. The veteran bass James Morris, however, will take on all four villains. But attention will very likely be focused on the tenor Ramón Vargas, who sings the daunting title role. Frédéric Chaslin, so impressive in the recent revival of Verdis Vespri Siciliani, conducts. Tonight at 8, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000. Tickets: $35 to $215. ANTHONY TOMMASINI I VESPRI SICILIANI The convoluted story and clunky libretto to Verdis Vespri Siciliani has probably kept this mature and stirring opera from gaining repertory status. So its good to have this work back at the Met after 22 years, a revival of John Dexters grimly abstract 1974 production. In the impassioned and stylish performance by the conductor Frédéric Chaslin, I Vespri Siciliani emerges as a musically distinguished opera that, with its French inflections, anticipates Verdis noble masterpiece Don Carlos. Dont fret if the story, based on the 1282 uprising and massacre by the people of Palermo, Sicily, against their hated French occupiers, seems implausible. Just let yourself get swept away by the music. The cast includes the husky-voiced (and husky-framed) tenor Francisco Casanova, the elegant baritone Leo Nucci and the stentorian bass Samuel Ramey and, best of all, the compelling soprano Sondra Radvanovsky as Elena, one of Verdis great heroines. Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000. Remaining tickets: $215. TOMMASINI * RODELINDA Most of Handels operas were introduced at the Kings Theater in London, a house of 850 seats. But for its premiere production of Rodelinda, a musically rich and psychologically complex masterpiece, the Met proves that with the right approach and the right cast Handel can be presented effectively in a grand-size house. Renée Fleming brings a radiant voice and courageous vulnerability to her performance of the title character, the despairing queen of the Lombard king of Milan, who has been usurped and is thought dead, portrayed by the entrancing countertenor David Daniels, who gives a vocally poignant, virile and virtuosic portrayal. The refined tenor Kobie van Rensburg, the powerhouse mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, the sweet-voiced countertenor Bejun Mehta and the strapping bass-baritone John Relyea are also excellent. The handsome production, which sets the 7th-century story in 18th-century Milan, is directed imaginatively by Stephen Wadsworth in his overdue debut with the company. Tomorrow night at 8, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000. Sold out, but returns may be available. TOMMASINI Classical Music BARGEMUSIC Moored in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, this intimate floating concert hall is a charming place to hear solo recitals and chamber music while rocking gently on the waves of the East River. Tonight Inna Faliks, a young Ukrainian-born pianist, offers music by Chopin, Schumann and Brahms. Tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon will be family concerts -- not for the audience per se but onstage as the Juilliard Quartets violist, Samuel Rhodes, is joined by his wife, Hiroko Yajima (violin), and his daughter, Harumi Rhodes (violin). Marcy Rosen, the cellist of the Mendelssohn Quartet, rounds out the ensemble for works by Mozart, Schumann and Schoenberg. Tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30 and Sunday afternoon at 4, Fulton Ferry Landing, under the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083. Tickets: $35; students, $25. JEREMY EICHLER BEAUX-ARTS TRIO This piano trio celebrates its 50th anniversary this season, and while the string players have come and gone through the years, the groups founding pianist, Menahem Pressler, has stayed in one place. His current youthful colleagues are the violinist Daniel Hope and the cellist Antonio Meneses, both stylish and capable players, and the ensemble mix is a happy one. Tonight, the groups all-Beethoven series continues with the Seven Variations (for cello) on Mozarts Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen, from Die Zauberflöte; the Violin Sonata in C minor (Op. 30, No. 2); and the Trio in E flat (Op. 1, No. 1). Tonight at 8, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212) 570-3949. Tickets: $45. EICHLER * COUNTER)INDUCTION This ensembles inventive programs and virtuosic performances have made it an important force in the new music world in recent seasons. For its concert at Scandinavia House, the group is offering works by Finnish composers. Two are well-known here: Magnus Lindberg, who is represented by Tre Stycken Till Esa-Pekka Salonen (Three Pieces for Esa-Pekka Salonen), is known for his rugged and imaginative scoring, and Kaija Saariaho, whose Oi Kuu will be heard, is renowned for her fresh use of color and structure. Also on the program are works by Jukka Tiensuu, Fridrich Bruk, Osmo Tapio Raihala, Tomi Raisanen and Sampo Haapamaki. Tonight at 8, Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, near 37th Street, (212) 847-9740. Tickets: $15. ALLAN KOZINN DAEDALUS QUARTET Formed four years ago at the Marlboro festival, this young string quartet has already made considerable progress, including its selection to participate in Rising Stars, a series in which Carnegie Hall and several European halls jointly present debuts by promising soloists and chamber groups. Daedalus makes its Weill Recital Hall debut as part of the series tonight, with a program that includes Haydns Quartet in E flat (Op. 20, No. 1), Beethovens Harp Quartet in E flat (Op. 74) and Elliott Carters Quartet No. 5, the last as a tribute to Mr. Carter on the eve of his 96th birthday. Tonight at 7:30, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800. Tickets: $24. KOZINN EARLY MUSIC NEW YORK Frederick Renzs period instrument ensemble usually looks back to Medieval dramas or Renaissance carols for its annual Christmas programs. This year, the group is offering a more new-fangled program, Colonial Christmas, which looks at 18th-century music that was played or sung in the decades surrounding the American Revolution. Included are choral anthems and dance pieces for flute, violin and bass, a popular chamber combination in colonial times. Sunday at 3 p.m., the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, at 112th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 280-0330. Sold out, but returned tickets may be available at the box office, for $35. The program is also repeated weekends through Dec. 26. KOZINN EMERSON STRING QUARTET WORKSHOP ENSEMBLES Intensive chamber music seminars can often push a young ensemble to the next level, and this week, four such groups have been given extensive coaching by the veteran members of the Emerson String Quartet. The focus has been quintets by Brahms and Dvorak, and this Sunday afternoon, the participants will show off what theyve learned. First up (at 1 p.m.) will be the Stony Brook String Quartet playing Brahmss G-major Viola Quintet (Op. 111) followed by the Setla Quartet performing Dvoraks A-major Piano Quintet (Op. 81). At 4, the Fountain Ensemble plays Brahmss Clarinet Quintet followed by the Salinger String Quartet with Dvoraks E-flat Viola Quintet (Op. 97). Various guest artists join at each performance. Sunday at 1 and 4 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800. Tickets: $15 for each concert. EICHLER LENFANCE DU CHRIST An envelope-pusher in every respect, Hector Berlioz developed a form of dramatic oratorio with an almost novelistic movement of scenes and focuses that makes staging extremely difficult. LEnfance du Christ, a glowing, monumental, three-part recounting of the birth of Christ, will get royal treatment in a one-off presentation by Dicapo Opera, emerging from underground into the church that shelters it, with Johannes Somary leading his Amor Artis ensemble and the excellent mezzo-soprano Maria Zifchak. Tomorrow night at 8, St. Jean Baptiste Church, 184 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 288-9438. Tickets: $47.50. ANNE MIDGETTE GUARNERI STRING QUARTET All four of the Guarneris founding members will perform together this weekend as the original cellist, David Soyer, returns to the group as a guest artist in Dvoraks String Sextet. (Ida Kavafian will also be joining on viola.) Besides the Dvorak and Mozarts Adagio and Fugue in C minor, the program also includes Viktor Ullmanns seldom-heard String Quartet No. 3. The Guarneris energy seemed to flag when I heard them earlier this season, but perhaps the reunion of old colleagues as well as the unusual repertory will give this concert a boost. Tomorrow night at 8, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949. Tickets: $45. EICHLER HANDELS MESSIAH The venerable Masterwork Chorus was the first I heard perform Messiah in New York, in the early 1970s. David Randolph conducted, trying, if memory serves, to miniaturize huge forces in a wan nod to the early-music movement, which was then gathering steam. (Mr. Randolph is conducting the St. Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra in Bachs Christmas Oratorio at Carnegie Hall tonight at 8.) In 1999 Mr. Randolphs successor, David Briskin, bade the Masterwork Chorus farewell with a tighter, more coherent effort: one of the better Messiah performances of that season. The group is now directed by Andrew Megill, whom I have not heard in the work, but there is every reason to believe that he is tending well to the legacy. Tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m. and Dec. 23 at 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800. Tickets: afternoon, $20 to $75; evenings, $20 to $100. JAMES R. OESTREICH MONTEVERDI VESPERS Nicholas White, the director of music at St. Michaels Church, has been beefing up the program in recent years, and here he sets his forces a real test: Monteverdis grand and sonorous sacred work of 1610. Mr. White conducts the St. Michaels Choir, the Tiffany Consort and the Spiritus Collective. For anyone Messiah-ed out, this is a powerfully attractive alternative. Sunday at 7 p.m., St. Michaels Church, Amsterdam Avenue at 99th Street, (212) 222-2700, ext. 24. Tickets: $30 and $50; $20 and $40 for students and 62+. OESTREICH NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC Sibelius and Elgar have long been high on the list of Sir Colin Daviss specialities, and works of theirs -- Sibeliuss En Saga and the Elgar Violin Concerto -- will open and close his program when he takes the New York Philharmonic on a short trip to the Tilles Center tonight. He is joined in the Elgar by Hilary Hahn, a young soloist who recently released a thoughtful, energetic recording of the work on the Deutsche Grammophon label. Between the Sibelius and the Elgar, Sir Colin leads Janaceks Taras Bulba. Tonight at 8, the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University, Brookville, N.Y., (516) 299-3100. Tickets: $50 to $100. Tomorrow night at 8, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500. Tickets: $25 to $90. KOZINN BARBARA QUINTILIANI AND KERI ALKEMA The Marilyn Horne Foundation makes a specialty of presenting promising young singers, and Sunday afternoons duo are particularly worth watching. Ms. Quintiliani, who won the Metropolitan Opera auditions in 1999, has a round, lovely soprano; Ms. Alkema, a darkish mezzo, has made a good impression in past Horne Foundation concerts. The two join in songs and duets with Craig Terry at the piano. Sunday afternoon at 3, St. Bartholemews Church, Park Avenue at 51st Street, (212) 378-0248. Tickets: $20, $15 for 65+, free for students. MIDGETTE SIREN SONGS The title track of this concert of the new-music collective Ensemble 21 is by Eric Moe, one of two featured composers on a program devoted to piano and voice. The pianist is the excellent Marilyn Nonken, who will play Mr. Moes Pulaski Skyway Waltz, Jason Eckardts Echoes White Veil, which shes recorded, and other works; the mezzo-soprano Mary Nessinger will join her for Siren Songs and George Crumbs luminous night-evoking cycle Apparitions. Tonight at 8, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, at 34th Street, (212) 817-8215. Tickets: $15, $10 for students. MIDGETTE TALLIS SCHOLARS Renaissance vocal music wasnt a particularly big deal in 1973, and if it is now its partly because the Tallis Scholars, founded in that year, have helped to make it so. Tonight the group, conducted by its founder, Peter Phillips, presents a holiday program centered around Palestrinas Christmas mass O magnum mysterium, with other music by de Lassus, Isaac de Rore, Appenzeller and Zielinski. Tonight at 8, Low Library Rotunda, Columbia University, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799. Sold out, but tickets may be available at the box office. MIDGETTE Dance A selective listing by critics of The Times: New or noteworthy dance events this weekend in the New York metropolitan region. * denotes a highly recommended event. Full reviews of recent dance performances: nytimes.com/dance. * ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER Smart, passionate and technically impressive, these Ailey dancers perform as if they believe in the importance of communication with their audiences. Highlights of this weekends programs include Aileys sly and shimmering Night Creature, which perfectly captures the Ellington scores wistful insouciance (tonight); Ronald K. Browns impassioned Grace (tomorrow afternoon); Aileys tender-hearted Memoria, whose surge of Ailey student dancers toward the end is a guaranteed eye-moistener, and Billy Wilsons sunny and saucy Winter in Lisbon (both Sunday night). In addition to other Ailey works, the programs include dances by Elisa Monte and David Parsons (tonight, in a program accompanied by live music), and Donald Byrd and Judith Jamison with Rennie Harris and Robert Battle (tomorrow night). Aileys Revelations will end the program tonight and at the matinees. Tonight at 8; tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 3 and 7:30 p.m., City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Manhattan, (212) 581-1212 or www.alvinailey.org. Tickets: $25 to $110; $10 (cash only, at the box office) for Ailey DanceChance tickets on the day of performances Tuesday through Thursday night and Sunday nights for students with identification. JENNIFER DUNNING CONTEMPORARY BALLET THEATER This troupe, directed by Pepper and based in the burgeoning South Bronx art-center known as BAAD!, will present its own version of The Nutcracker. Tonights performance is a gala benefit honoring Louis Johnson, Arthur Mitchell, Bill T. Jones and Bill Aguado, with Virginia Johnson as host. Tonight at 7:30; tomorrow at 3 and 7:30 p.m., Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture, 450 Grand Concourse near East 149th Street, Mott Haven, Bronx, (718) 518-4455. Tickets: $12 for adults; $7 for children; $100 for gala benefit and reception tonight. DUNNING DANCES PATRELLE Francis Patrelles Yorkville Nutcracker moves the familiar scenario to late 19th-century New York City. Adult and student dancers from Mr. Patrelles company will be joined at various performances by guest artists Jenifer Ringer and James Fayette from the New York City Ballet, Sandra Brown of American Ballet Theater, Donald Williams of Dance Theater of Harlem and Jonathan Porretta, a whizkid from Pacific Northwest Ballet. Tonight at 6; tomorrow at 2 and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 6 p.m., Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, East 68th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues, Manhattan, (212) 772-4448. Tickets: $40; $30 for 65+. DUNNING * DE FACTO DANCE This weekends wild-card program is by an improvisational modern-dance troupe that describes its repertory as anti dances that search for new choreographic structures predicated on creative rules of the pioneering Doris Humphrey, which include dont just do something, stand there! The program includes a reworking of Richard Bulls Radio Dances. Tonight through Sunday night at 8, Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, near Houston Street, (212) 334-7479. Tickets: $15; $10 for students and 65+. DUNNING FLAMENCO FIESTA Andrea del Conte Danza España and the guest artists Oscar Valero and José Junco celebrate the companys 25th anniversary in a theater whose intimacy approximates a prime condition for viewing this age-old dance form. Today at 2 and 8 p.m.; tomorrow at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m., Thalia Spanish Theater, 41-17 Greenpoint Avenue, Sunnyside, Queens, (718) 729-3880. Tickets: $30; $27 for students and 65+. DUNNING MARIA HASSABI Dead Is Dead is filled with references to pop culture. Yet this work for six dancers with music by Spencer Sweeney also tries to discover the quietness that may be embedded in the chaos and randomness of our lives. Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30, Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077. Tickets: $20. JACK ANDERSON GUTA HEDEWIG In Menagerie, this German-born choreographer casts an observant and irreverent human gaze on the quirky behavior of birds and beasts. Original music by Edward Ratliff will be performed live by the Sirius String Quartet. Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday nights at 8:30, Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, Second Avenue at 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194. Tickets: $15. ANDERSON THE KITCHEN: DANCE IN PROGRESS In this project, choreographers create together, sharing feedback, in a two-month workshop. This seasons artists are Erin Cornell, Morgan Thorson and the Kepple-Osorio My Name & Company multimedia group. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, between 10th and 11th Streets, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, Ext. 11. Tickets: $12. DUNNING MARYMOUNT MANHATTAN DANCE This program by student dancers includes new pieces by Bahiyah Sayyed-Gaines and Denise Vale, two powerful performers whose take on choreography might be interesting. The program also includes works by Francisca Martinez, Elizabeth Higgins and Pat Dougherty. Tonight at 8; tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., Theresa Lang Theater, 221 East 71st Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues, Manhattan, (212) 517-0610. Tickets: $12; $8 for students and 65+. DUNNING ALONA MOR DANCE COLLECTIVE Ms. Mor, from Israel but now based in New York City, will present her new Return, Unchanged, which tells the story in modern dance of a young woman who returns home after a self-imposed exile and finds that everything and nothing have changed. The cast will include teen-age performers from two city community centers. Tonight and tomorrow night at 7 and 9; Sunday at 3 and 8 p.m, Blue Heron Arts Center, 123 East 24th Street, Manhattan, (917) 756-3847. Tickets: $15. DUNNING * MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP The company, beloved for its mix of traditional dance forms and everydaydance moves and for a repertory of musically sensitive dance, will perform Mr. Morriss Gloria and the New York premiere of All Fours. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, Route 25A, Brookville, N.Y., (518) 299-3100. Tickets: $42 to $65; $39 to $62. DUNNING NEW YORK CITY BALLET The Nutcracker is here. What more needs to be said? The company is performing George Balanchines magical production of Tchaikovskys fairy-tale ballet, complete with lovely snowflakes and sugarplums and malicious marauding mice. Theres lots of sumptuous spectacle and delicious dancing. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 1 and 5 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 307-4100. Tickets: $26 to $96. ANDERSON NEW YORK THEATER FESTIVAL Less is not necessarily more, but this venerable troupe has acquired a reputation for presenting one-hour versions of classics. This months ballet of choice is a version of The Nutcracker by Keith Michael. Tomorrow and Sunday (and next Saturday and Sunday) at 11 a.m. and 1 and 3:30 p.m., Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, between Madison and Park Avenues, Manhattan, (212) 355-6160. Tickets: $30 for adults; $25 for children 12 and under. DUNNING * NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL: JOHN JASPERSE Known for his brainy exploration of space and expectation, Mr. Jasperse will present his new full-evening California, danced to music by Jonathan Bepler, performed live. The piece, which reflects on the state itself, probes what should be done when things dont turn out as hoped. Sounds decidedly timely, at least for resolutely blue staters. Tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100. Tickets: $20 to $45. DUNNING NUDANCENOW A showcase for new choreography presents works by Alpha Omega Dance Theater, Earl Mosleys Diversity of Dance, La Manga, Erica Essner Performance Co-op, Balance Dance Theater and DecaDance. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Theater of the Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Avenue, Morningside Heights, (212) 870-6784. Tickets: $15. ANDERSON TERE OCONNOR DANCE Mr. OConnors new Frozen Mommy juxtaposes disparate types of movement to take viewers on an enigmatic journey through the terrors of the world. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8. No matinee tomorrow. The Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793. Tickets: $20. ANDERSON JEANETTE STONER DANCE AND THEATER Ms. Stoner, a former Alwin Nikolais dancer, is known for her blending of movement and the spoken word. She will present two new pieces, Mary and Parkay, an absurdist dance drama, and Dark Dances, a piece about hidden fears that was inspired by images by artists who include Blake and Goya. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8; Sunday at 5 p.m., Loft at 83 Leonard Street, five blocks south of Canal Street between Broadway and Church Street, TriBeCa, (212) 228-1576. Tickets: $12. DUNNING * SUNDAYS @ THREE: CHRIS ELAM This series offers a chance to see new work and talk with the choreographer afterward. The intriguingly gnomic Mr. Elam, one of the most individualistic of modern-dance voices today, will present Dedos de Caracol (Toes of a Snail). Sunday at 3 p.m., 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center, Lexington Avenue and 92nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 415-5500. Tickets: $10. DUNNING VINCENT VERBURG Mr. Verburg, a Dutch choreographer who lived in New York shortly before and after the September 11 attacks, will present In Between Spaces, a multimedia dance piece that explores facets of the event. Tonight and tomorrow night at 10; Sunday at 5:30 p.m., La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street west of Second Avenue, East Village, (212) 475-7710. Tickets: $15. DUNNING Art A selective listing by critics of The Times: New or noteworthy art, design and photography exhibitions at New York museums and art galleries this weekend. At many museums, children under 12 and members are admitted free. Addresses, unless otherwise noted, are in Manhattan. Most galleries are closed on Sundays and Mondays, but hours vary and should be checked by telephone. Gallery admission is free unless noted. * denotes a highly recommended show. Full reviews of recent museum and gallery shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums * THE ART OF ROMARE BEARDEN, Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (212) 570-3600, through Jan. 9. Its a pity only that this retrospective is so big. Art like Beardens -- mostly small, intense and intricate -- deserves close scrutiny. His genius, aside from his poetic knack for piecing scraps of photographs and other tiny tidbits together, was to see collage as an inherent social metaphor: that its essence was to turn nothings into something, making disparate elements cohere, a positivist enterprise. His collages celebrated black culture and personal history, combined African masks with ancient Greek art, Matisse with patchwork quilts. There are roads out of secret places within us along which we all must move as we go to touch others, Bearden said. And thats exactly where he takes us. Hours: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays, 1 to 9 p.m. Admission: $12; $9.50, students and 62+. MICHAEL KIMMELMAN * THE AZTEC EMPIRE, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3500, through Feb. 13. When a big survey of Aztec art opened in London in 2002, everybody flipped out. It was one of the hottest ancient-art events since Tutankhamen. Now an expanded version of the London show is at the Guggenheim, and its a stunner. Objects from pre-Aztec Mexico set the stage, but it is material from the bloody-minded, deity-besotted Aztec culture that fills the museums darkened ramps. Set on jutting platforms and dark recesses are a skull-headed earth goddess in a skirt of writhing snakes, a warrior metamorphizing into a bird and a god of spring and fertility shedding his skin. The show may be a little too heavy on theater and too light on information, but its totally mesmerizing. Hours: Saturdays through Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.; Fridays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission: $18; $15, students and 65+. HOLLAND COTTER * MARK DION: RESCUE ARCHECOLOGY, A PROJECT FOR THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400, through March 14. Mark Dions installation piece, commissioned by the museum four years ago, is a site-specific faux-archeological roots tour that resonates well with the Moderns historic reopening. Displaying detritus unearthed and salvaged during the renovation , it work mixes together bits and pieces of the Rockefeller brownstone that originally housed the museum on West 53rd Street with scraps of wallpaper from the recently demised Dorset Hotel. The presents continual erasure of the past is poignantly illustrated, as is the rather startling contrast the museums modest beginnings with its current mega-corporate dominance of the block. Hours: Saturdays through Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Fridays, 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; closed Tuesdays. Admission: $20; $16 for 65+; $12 for students. Free on Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m. ROBERTA SMITH * FORM FOLLOWS FASHION, Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Seventh Avenue at 27th Street (212) 217-7999, through Dec. 31. This ravishing show stresses fashion as a formal, abstract art, implicitly geometric, architectural, even in moments of excess. So its not surprising in this context formal also means evening wear, the genre in which garments are freed most decisively from function, or that couture gowns by designers from Charles James to Ralph Rucci enhanced by the invisible mannequins make this show a garden of unearthly capricious, silken delights. The art of the times is also startlingly palpable, notably in the pyramidal black and white gown that Michel Goma designed for Patou in the early 60s, which is a near knockoff of a motif used by Myron Stout and Ellsworth Kelly. Hours: Tuesdays through Fridays noon to 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free. SMITH MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: PERMANENT COLLECTION, 11 West 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400. There are problems with the new Museum of Modern Art, starting with its egregious $20 ticket price. The fairly inchoate assemblage of paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs and films from the last 30 years in the suite of double-height galleries for contemporary art on the second floor spells trouble, too. The Modern clearly still has to deal with the conflict between its historic authority when it comes to art of the first 60 or so years of the 20th century and the indeterminacy of its taste in recent art. But the building is exquisite, a great gift to the city, and you would have to be either comatose or completely immune to the pleasures of modernism not to be moved by its fifth floor, the start of the rooms for painting and sculpture. Here is the familiar, early story of modernism that the Modern virtually invented under its founding director and genius, Alfred H. Barr Jr., now retold in an installation that is about as ravishing as any sequence of galleries in any new museum in recent memory. Hours and admission: see above. KIMMELMAN JENNIFER PASTOR: THE PERFECT RIDE, Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (877) 944-8639, through Jan. 16. The Perfect Ride is a trio of works displayed in the Whitneys small, first-floor gallery: a three-minute, slow-motion animated cartoon of a cowboy riding a bucking bull; a model of the human ear; and a large, semi-abstract sculpture of aluminum and clear plastic that represents Hoover Dam. All three involved the flow and circulation of energy, but beyond that it is hard to say what Ms. Pastor has in mind with this exceedingly cool and cerebral exhibition. Hours and admission: see above. KEN JOHNSON * PRINCELY SPLENDOR: THE DRESDEN COURT, 1580-1620, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, (212) 535-7710, through Jan. 30. A densely baubled selection of some of the tools, armor, sculpture and bejeweled gewgaws that the princes of Dresden accumulated in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Ignore the hackneyed and pompous exhibition title and consider this a constructive reminder of the artistic roots of wonderment. Besides ivory handled hammers, there is a portable hunting and writing desk. It is neatly stocked with gardening tools, writing and painting implements, cupping glasses, an oil cruet, soap boxes, scales, strainers, funnels, vintners tools, barbers instruments, farriers tools, locksmith tools -- in sum, the world, as a mirror of divine reason, a cabinet of wonders, for princes who had everything. Hours: Sundays, Tuesdays through Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays until 9 p.m. Admission: $12; students and 65+, $7. KIMMELMAN * RETRATOS: 2,000 YEARS OF LATIN AMERICAN PORTRAITS, El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue, at 104th Street, (212) 831-7272, through March 20. Two milleniums is a lot of terrain for even a survey cover, and this one moves from preColumbian sculpture to contemporary painting. But whats in between is so interesting, and so unfamiliar, that the trip is a pleasure. Art from the Spanish and Portuguese colonial era makes up the bulk of the work. It starts with a 16th-century portrait of three dark-skinned men, descendants of Indians and African slaves, wearing European ruffed collars silks and distinctly un-European gold lip-rings and nose plugs, and continues with images of bewigged colonial officials, flower-crowned nuns, and everyday people. The artists, whether trained in Europe or in the New World, are as amazing as the faces they paint. Hours: Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission: $8; $5, students and 65+; free for members; Thursdays free from 4 t 8 p.m.; 65+ free all day Thursdays. COTTER Galleries: Uptown ART IN A MIRROR: COUNTERPROOFS OF MARY CASSATT, Adelson Galleries, 25 East 77th Street, (212) 439-6870, through Jan. 14. These recently discovered counterproofs would seem to be of more interest to Cassatt scholars than to the general public. Like some of her Impressionist colleagues, Cassatt (1844-1926) made them by the simple method of pressing a damp sheet of paper on the face of existing work -- here, pastels -- transferring a mirror image of the original but faded and softened. The 48 shown, sweet portraits of mothers with infants, children alone or posing with pets, pale by comparison with the sharp chromatics of Cassatts wonderful prints. GRACE GLUECK CAST AND CARVED: AMERICAN SCULPTURE 1850-1950, Gerald Peters Gallery, 24 East 78th Street, (212) 628-9760, through Dec. 17. A centurys worth of American sculpture, five tons of it, has been shoehorned into this town-house gallery, forming a wonderful mix of styles and movements whose examples range from first- to third-rate. Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Elie Nadelman, Alexander Calder and Isamu Noguchi are some of the starrier names. A browsers joy, the show offers a fine range of contrasts and comparisons as well as pure appreciations and a few surprises. For Western buffs, theres even a roomful of dashing bronzes by Frederic Remington, Charles Schreyvogel and James Earl Fraser. GLUECK CHASE INSIDE AND OUT: THE AESTHETIC INTERIORS OF WILLIAM MERRITT CHASE, Berry-Hill Galleries, 11 East 70th Street, (212) 744-2300, through Jan 29. When the spirit moved him, William Merritt Chase (1849-1916), a fluent painter perhaps best appreciated for his outdoor scenes, could easily switch to interiors. His indoor subjects were most apt to be studio glimpses, still lifes and figure compositions involving his large and exuberant family. This show of more than 30 paintings, a robust salute to his bravura brushmanship, claims to be the first devoted to the artists indoor compositions, although several very appealing outdoor scenes are also displayed. Delighting in rich materials and polished surfaces, he used as props for his paintings the exotic stuff that packed his studio: textiles, carpets, pots, costumes, musical instruments and such. This show confirms his own dictum, that to bring about a successful work of art, the subject must have been well-seen by the painter. GLUECK 3 ATTEMPTS AT LONGEVITY, Triple Candie, 461 West 126th Street, (212) 865-0783, through Dec. 19. Longevity here means extension not in time but in space. Each of three sculptors has created a work that is, like the gallery itself, 80-feet long. Karyn Olivier has piled all her winter clothes in the middle of a steel cable strung from one wall to the other; George Raggett has erected an orange plastic and metal construction fencing with sandbags, candles and little American flags near the middle commenting on contemporary desert warfare; and Isabel Riley has installed a series of colorful suspended yarn works and wooden structures resembling looms. JOHNSON Galleries: SoHo EMOTICONS, Guild & Greyshkul, 22 Wooster Street, (212) 625-9224, through Dec. 18. Referring to the to shorthand symbols of feelings used by e-mail- and text-messaging adepts, the title is somehow appropriate for this coolly elegant exhibition of two- and three-dimensional works by Dike Blaire, Jay Heikes, Jon Kessler, Julian Opie, Danica Phelps and seven others selected by Kevin Zucker. Carol Boves record of a reading of The Future of Ecstasy, an essay by Allan Watts, is worth a listen for its fascinating recollection of 60s-style utopian psychology. JOHNSON Galleries: Chelsea LINDA BESEMER, Cohan and Leslie, 138 Tenth Avenue at 18th Street, (212) 206-8710, through Dec. 24. Ms. Besemers colorfully striped and gridded paintings consist of nothing but acrylic paint. Typically she has draped her smooth, rubbery sheets of paint over custom-made metal dowels, displaying them like bath mats at Ikea, but only one of Ms. Besemers new works is on a rack. The others are attached flat to the wall, the better to show off visually ravishing layered grids distorted by illusionistic bulges. JOHNSON GILBERT & GEORGE: PERVERSIVE PICTURES, Sonnabend Gallery, 536 West 22nd Street, (212) 627-1018 and Lehmann Maupin, 540 West 26th Street, (212) 255-2923., through Dec. 18. These British artists Gilbert and George have been such bad boys for such a long time that you figure theyll eventually run out of steam. But they havent yet on the evidence of a gratifyingly high-pitched two-gallery show that is set at just the right eye-splitting volume for a suddenly becalmed political atmosphere. The three dozen new pieces spread over two galleries are digitally souped-up versions of the artists customary multi-panel photographic format, with a Babel of grafitti-style phrases in English, Hebrew and Arabic the artists themselves semaphorically gestulating and primally screaming, their figures distorted as if in a funhouse mirror. COTTER ODILI DONALD ODITA: NOTES FROM PARADISE, Florence Lynch, 531-539 West 25th Street, (212) 924-3290, through Dec. 31. The Nigerian-born, Tallahassee-based Mr. Odita paints hard-edged, gridded, beautifully color-coordinated abstractions with intimations of landscape and African textile design. They are a pleasure to look at, and the wedding of Modernism and traditionalism is something to ponder. JOHNSON LORI TASCHLER, JG Contemporary, 505 West 28th Street, (212) 564-7662, through Dec. 18. Ms. Taschlers mysterious, sweetly melancholic paintings and pastels feature singular, emblematic objects or scenes: a simple house flanked by bare trees; an oven with its door invitingly open; a suspension bridge; a person sleeping with a cat on a sofa. Painted with faux-naïve simplicity and soft edges in shades of one or two muted colors, the images seem to emerge from dreams or transcendentalist reveries. JOHNSON JOEL-PETER WITKIN: HEART BEATS DUST, Ricco-Maresca, 529 West 20th Street, (212) 627-4819, through Dec. 31. The pioneer of high-art, gross-out, Postmodernist photography continues to produce faux-antique pictures of amputees, hermaphrodites, severed body parts and absurdly overwrought erotic tableaus. He has also ventured, unconvincingly, into surrealistic collage and he has applied paint by hand to some of his prints. A good title for this exhibition would be Lost in Transition. JOHNSON Other Galleries JULIAN OPIE: ANIMALS, BUILDINGS, CARS AND PEOPLE, City Hall Park, (212) 980-4575, through Oct. 14. Outdoor sculptures in a coolly understated Neo-Pop style by this English artist include cartoon fashion models painted on freestanding sheets of glass; life-size, enamel on steel representations of new cars; a half-dozen blocky, multicolored domestic animals that would made good furniture for a childrens playground; a quartet of playhouse-scale, 19th-century-style buildings of painted plywood entitled Village?; and a group of white skyscrapers with grids of black windows. JOHNSON SHI CHONG: RADICAL REALISM, Ethan Cohen, 37 Walker Street, TriBeCa, (212) 625-1250, through Dec. 18. Said to be one of Chinas leading realist painters, Mr. Shi here presents two approaches to the female nude. Photorealist paintings of models who have been slathered in paste and have objects attached to them look so much like big photographs it is hard to believe they are hand-made. Other paintings, apparently done from direct observation and made with a tender, slightly brushy touch read as empathic meditations on the mortality of the flesh. JOHNSON Last Chance BRYAN HUNT: AIRSHIPS, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, 1018 Madison Avenue, near 78th Street, (212) 744-7400, closes tomorrow. Mr. Hunt became known in the mid 70s for beautiful sculptures in the form of miniature dirigibles made with balsa wood interior framing and paper skins covered with metal leaf or paint. Eight of these works, ranging in length from 40 to 64 inches, are on view here. Attached to the wall at one end, they hover mysteriously overhead. JOHNSON ELECTRIFYING ART: ATSUKO TANAKA, 1954-1968, Grey Art Gallery, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, Greenwich Village, (212) 998-6780, closes tomorrow. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Ms. Tanaka was a member of the avant-garde Japanese art group called Gutai, and the Grey Gallery survey covers the years of that association. Its a visually low-key show, but one with lots of ideas from an artist who was doing proto-Conceptualist and proto-Minimalist work and very early versions of sound and performance art. Spend time with the short films in the galleries; they bring everything else to life. COTTER RICHARD KERN/LILY VAN DER STOKKER, Feature, 530 West 25th Street, (212) 675-7772, through tomorrow. These separate solo shows could be presented under the single title Innocence and Experience. Mr. Kerns voyeuristic, snapshot-style pictures of women -- staged using attractive models -- are uncommonly visceral instances of the so-called male gaze. Ms. van der Stokkers aggressively charming pastel-colored wall paintings of abstract blobs, cartoon flowers, plaid patterns and quirky texts project a childlike sweetness, wholesome family values and mischievous ironies. JOHNSON

Kerry: We Dont Want Just Any Deal

Seven children were killed in a house fire apparently sparked by a hot plate early Saturday in Brooklyn, New York, in one of the deadliest blazes in the city in recent years, fire officials said. The victims, all siblings between 5 and 15 years old.

7 Children Die in Brooklyn Fire ��� New York Times | Sports.

New York Times �� 7 Children Die in Brooklyn Fire New York Times Seven children from an Orthodox Jewish family died early Saturday when a fire ripped through their home in Brooklyn, trapping the children ��� ages 5 to 15��.

Seven children ��� believed to be from same family ��� die in.

Breaking overnight, 7 children were killed in a house fire in Brooklyn, NY. -- @VinitaCBS pic.twitter.com/F5rjJphsdm. ��� CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 21, 2015. Source: CBS This Morning/Twitter. Firefighters received a call at 12:23am local time about the blaze at the single-family home in Midwood, a leafy section of Brooklyn known for its low crime and large Orthodox Jewish population. Fire department spokesman Jim Long said more than 100��.

Q and A With Times Reporters About Abuse in Ultra-Orthodox.

James Estrin/The New York TimesIn confronting Jewish laws that forbid airing allegations against fellow Jews or turning them in to the police, families of ultra-Orthodox victims who have been molested face intimidation by their. Shortly after I started on the religion beat last November, I read a fascinating article in The Jewish Daily Forward that reported that the Brooklyn district attorneys office said a new program had led to more than 80 arrests of ultra-Orthodox child��.

Fire In Brooklyn Home Kills 7 Children | WNIJ and WNIU

A fire that swept through a home in New Yorks Brooklyn borough overnight just after midnight has killed seven children and left the mother of at.. According to The Associated Press: Firefighters received a call at 12:23 a.m. about the blaze at a single-family home in Midwood, a leafy section of Brooklyn known for its low crime and large Orthodox Jewish population. Long said more than 100 firefighters responded and brought the blaze under control at around 1:30��.

7 children from the same family die in Brooklyn, New York fire

Credit Mary Altaffer/Associated Press. Seven children from the same family ��� ages 5 to 15 ��� died early Saturday in a fire in Brooklyn that the authorities said was caused by a malfunctioning hot plate. The blaze was reported��.

Dog Stranded on Icy Lake Erie Rescued

Seven children were killed in a house fire in Brooklyn, New York, early Saturday in one of the deadliest blazes in the city in recent years, fire officials said. The victims, all siblings. Midwood is an ethnically diverse community with a large.

7 Orthodox Jewish Children Perish in Shabbat Hotplate Fire.

Seven children, ages 5 to 15, from an Orthodox Jewish family in Midwood, Brooklyn, were killed early on Saturday when a fire that spread through their home trapped them in their second-floor bedrooms, the NY Times��.

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.

The Listings: April 22-April 28

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 prentheses. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings PRIVILEGE Opens Monday. The lives of two Upper East Side teens are turned upside down when their dad is accused of insider trading in Paul Weitzs drama set in the 1980s (2:00). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, (212)246-4422. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE Opens Tuesday. Natasha Richardson and John C. Reilly try to escape the shadow of Marlon Brando and Jessica Tandy (2:45). Roundabout Theater Company, at Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street, (212)719-1300. BEAST ON THE MOON Opens Wednesday. Drama about survivors of Armenian genocide (2:00). Century Center for the Performing Arts, 111 East 15th Street, (212) 239-6200. CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG Opens Thursday. A flying car headed straight for the Disney demographic (2.30). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. THEATER OF THE NEW EAR Opens Thursday. For three performances, starry casts perform original sound plays by the Coen brothers and Charlie Kaufman (1:30) St Anns Warehouse, 38 Water Street, Brooklyn, (718) 254-8779. GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS Opens May 1. The Death of a Salesman for our time receives its first Broadway revival (1:45). Royale Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE Opens May 2. Spellbound set to music -- with more jokes. (1:45). Circle In the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. SWEET CHARITY Opens May 4. Christina Applegate stars (for now) in a revival of the musical by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields (2:30). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR Starts previews Wednesday. Opens April 30. Stoner dude goes undercover to bust terrorist cells. Hilarity ensues. (1:30) 59E59Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212)279-4200. MEMORY HOUSE Starts previews today. Opens May 17. Dianne Wiest stars as mother of girl looking for answers about her adoption. (1:30) Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, (212) 279-4200. 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) BROOKLYN THE MUSICAL An urban fairy tale told by street singers, Brooklyn is a throwback to the simple and whimsy-laden little musicals that blossomed off Broadway several decades ago. 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). Plymouth, 236 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) LA CAGE AUX FOLLES Jerry Zakss revival of the 1983 musical often gives the impression of merely going through the motions, amiably but robotically, of its gag-laden, sentimental plot. What makes La Cage worth visiting for people whose diet does not include packaged sugar is the plumed and spangled all-male ensemble of dancers(2:30). Marquis, 1535 Broadway, between 45th and 46th Streets, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) JULIUS CAESAR Those cruel forces of history known as the dogs of war are on a rampage in Daniel Sullivans carnage-happy interpretation of Shakespeares tragedy. Dripping blood and breathing smoke, these specters are chewing up everything in their path: 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 Theater, 111 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) * DAME EDNA: BACK WITH A VENGEANCE! When she last appeared on Broadway five years ago, she was merely a megastar, Dame Edna condescendingly tells her audience; now she is a glittering gigastar. In this singing, dancing shrine to herself, she proves it by exploiting our cultures masochistic obsession with the rich and famous (2:30). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (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 Nobert 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, the 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 of truth and falsehood 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 David Leveauxs 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 little 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 Staged by David Leveaux, this revival suggests that to recollect the past is to see life as if it had occurred underwater, in some viscous sea through which people swim slowly and blindly. 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) JACKIE MASON: FRESHLY SQUEEZED Jackie Mason has so cunningly manufactured and marketed his dyspeptic comic persona -- the herky-jerky movements, 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). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Charles Isherwood) LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Love is a many-flavored thing, from sugary to sour, in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucass encouragingly ambitous and discouragingly unfulfilled new musical. But the show soars only in the sweetly bitter songs performed by Victoria Clark, as a middle-aged American abroad (2:15). Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) LITTLE WOMEN Watching the production is rather like speed-reading Alcotts novel. And the cast members, who include the mellow-voiced Maureen McGovern, mostly bring to mind 1860s-themed editions of American Girl dolls (2:20). Virginia Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) MONTY PYTHONS 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) * 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 supsected 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, the beloved comic actor and longtime Oscar host, has been carefully 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 Theater, 235 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) STEEL MAGNOLIAS In Robert Harlings freeze-dried comedy, people speak in the kinds of sentences that wind up embroidered on decorative pillows. But 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) * TWELVE ANGRY MEN This stage adaptation of Reginald Roses celebrated television drama from 1954 (made into a film in 1957) suggests that sometimes the best way to present a fossil is just to polish it up and put it on display without disguise, annotation or apology. Even those who like their theater hip and cerebral might want to lower their eyebrows for this 90-minute production. (1:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212)719-1300. (Brantley) * 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, directed by Anthony Page and 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 ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING Cheers to the British cabaret trio that calls itself Fascinating Aida. These women revel in the here and now. They are bawdy and political; loopy (in that crisp English way) and whimsical (2:00). Kirk Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, (212)279-4200. (Margo Jefferson) * 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) A PICASSO Jeffrey Hatchers play is a formulaic two-hander set in occupied Paris in 1941. Pablo Picasso (Dennis Boutsikaris) is brought in for interrogation by the severe Miss Fischer (Jill Eikenberry), who works for the German cultural ministry. She needs to verify the authenticity of a few confiscated works, for a public bonfire of degenerate art (1:10). City Center Stage II, 131 West 55th Street, (212)581-1212. (Isherwood) DESSA ROSE Its easy to admire Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime) for their belief in the humanist potential in musical theater. But their new show isnt likely to win many converts to the cause (2:30). Newhouse, Lincoln Center, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) THE FALSE SERVANT Decked out in a smart black tailcoat and shiny leather boots, her hair styled in a sleek blond cap, Martha Plimpton cuts a debonair figure in this revival of this unusually chilly Marivaux comedy. Ms. Plimptons dashing performance imbues the proceedings with a bright, puckish spirit, but the but mechanical staging emphasizes the nip that never leaves the air (2:00). Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212)279-4200. (Isherwood) FAUST IN LOVE The Target Margin Theaters take on Goethes metaphysical epic of a professor selling his soul to the devil for knowledge comes off with all the sophistication of an over-long Saturday Night Live skit (1:15). Ohio Theater, 66 Wooster Street, SoHo, (212)358-3657. (Phoebe Hoban) HOT N THROBBING Im not sure if Paula Vogels play is a comedy about domestic abuse or a tragedy about the effects of pornography, but the fact that a good argument could be made for either (or both) says something about the ambitions of this curious, clever and often frustrating jumble of a play about a mother of two who pays the bills by writing adult-film screenplays (1:30). Signature Theater Company, 555 West 42nd Street, (212)244-7529. (Jason Zinoman) * HURLYBURLY If you are going to inhabit a wasteland, you might as well be thoroughly wasted. That would appear to be the first rule of survival for the characters who have been brought so vibrantly and unforgivingly to life in the New Groups smashing revival of David Rabes 1984 play. But thanks to a terrific, uncompromising cast, theatergoers are likely to experience a heady buzz of excitement and clarity that any of the desperate characters on stage would kill for (3:15). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) LAZER VAUDEVILLE If this isnt an ancient showbiz rule, it ought to be: things will look a lot more impressive than they actually are if they are done in the dark with a heavy dose of fluorescence. That seems to be the guiding principle behind Lazer Vaudeville, a hodgepodge of juggling, rope twirling and such, delivered wordlessly by the cast (1:30). Houseman, 450 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200. (Neil Genzlinger) MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS Hollywood ghosts squabble like starving chickens in Ron Hutchinsons shrill, obstreperously silly comedy about the making of Gone With the Wind. Taking her cue from Mr. Hutchinsons antic approach, Lynne Meadow directs the proceedings with riding crop in hand (1:50). City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, (212)581-1212. (Isherwood) MONK Rome Neal eases his way through this solo play about the jazz musician Thelonious Monk, taking his time to tell the story of an artist he clearly loves. But this is not the show for jazz fans that want to delve deep into Monks psychology or learn something new about his process (1:30). Havoc, 312 West 36th Street, (718)288-8048. (Zinoman) ORANGE FLOWER WATER Craig Wrights play is about two marriages coming apart. The hurt that people cause one another is communicated only through words in this play -- sometimes too many of them (1:30). Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, (212)868-4444. (Andrea Stevens) * 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 tender-hearted 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) BONNIE PARKER There is probably a lot of rich material in the psyche of Parker, who made her name as the bank-robbing partner of Clyde Barrow, but in her deadly one-woman show, Dixie Lee Sedgwick gives her audience only a one-dimensional character, a young Texas woman who is bored before she meets Barrow and dissatisfied afterward (2:00). John Houseman Studio Theater, 450 West 42nd Street, (212)868-4444. (Anita Gates) ROMANCE In the latest work from this most imitated and parodied of living American playwrights, David Mamet knocks the four-letter stuffing out of his own staccato style. He then proceeds to beat up on the courtoom drama, the classic farce, ethnic and sexual stereotypes and his audience. Its a take-no-prisoners approach that, unfortunately, doesnt take any laughs either (1:35). Atlantic Theater Company, 336 West 20th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) * SHOCKHEADED PETER A gorgeous nasty picture book of a musical, in which badly behaved Victorian tots come to ghastly ends. Inspired by Heinrich Hoffmanns droll collection of grisly bedtime stories from the mid-19th century, Shockheaded Peter is both the silliest and most sinister show in town. It is also one of the smartest (1:40). Little Shubert Theater, 422 West 42nd Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) 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 funnybone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, (212)307-4100. (Lawrence Van Gelder) SOULS OF NAPLES As a lovable dupe who is happier tangling with a family of phantoms than facing the cold truths of his marriage, John Turturro exudes a winsome sincerity that pleasantly perfumes Roman Paskas otherwise flaccid production of this 1946 comedy by Eduardo De Filippo (2:00). The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) * 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, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) WIDOWERS HOUSES A surprisingly mischievous rendering of George Bernard Shaws first play, an 1892 bit of social criticism masquerading as a love story (2:15). 80 St. Marks Place, at First Avenue, (212)598-9802. (Genzlinger) 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 THE AUDIENCE Conceived and directed by Jack Cummings III, the show has been assembled from contributions by a few dozen writers, composers and lyricists. While there are moments both sentimental and funny here, most of the contributors seem to have obeyed an official mandate to stick strictly to stereotype (1:40). Connelly Theater, 220 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212)352-3101 (Isherwood). FINNEGANS WAKE The idea of basing a musical on James Joyces epic and near-impenetrable feast of language sounds perilously close to material for a skit on Saturday Night Live. But to the credit of Barbara Vann, who adapted the piece for the stage, her Medicine Show Theater Ensemble presents pure Joyce (2:30). Medicine Show Theater, 549 West 52nd Street, (212) 868-4444. (Anne Midgette). FIT TO KILL It takes a certain type of actor to pull off comic noir, but someone forgot to tell whoever cast Fit to Kill, a whos-going-to-murder-whom thriller (2:00). Clurman, 410 West 42nd Street, (212)279-4200. (Genzlinger) 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. (Genzlinger) 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 transvestite (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). 47th Street, 304 West 47th 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, (212)477-2477. (Brantley) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin, 222 West 51st Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance BELFAST BLUES Geraldine Hughess solo show is a heartfelt and funny if unexceptional stage memoir (1:25). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, (212)307-4100, closing on Sunday. (Isherwood) CALIGULA. Playing the famously vainglorious Roman ruler Caligula reinvented as a postmodern actor-cum-director, gasbag moralist and irreverent critic of biographies about himself, Andre De Shields is phenomenal (1:25). Classical Theater of Harlem, 645 St. Nicholas Avenue, near 141st Street, (212)868-4444, closing on Sunday. (Jonathan Kalb) DECO DIVA Kara Wilson plays the Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka, living in Paris in 1939. In the course of the play, Ms. Wilson paints a copy of Lempickas Beautiful Rafaela, which feels like a parlor trick but adds needed texture to this stylish but lightweight work (1:05). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212)279-4200, closing on Sunday. (Gates) * THE GODS ARE POUNDING MY HEAD! (AKA LUMBERJACK MESSIAH) This show is a typical Richard Foreman extravaganza: tightly orchestrated hallucinogenic visual effects, bruising slapstick and cryptic, fragmented dialogue. But it also has a sadness appropriate to what appears to be a farewell note of sorts, since Mr. Foreman has said he is giving up the kind of plays he has been creating since 1968 to focus on film (1:10). Ontological-Hysteric at St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, (212)533-4650, closing on Sunday. (Brantley). GOING TO ST. IVES Questions of life and death are probed and settled over pots of tea in Lee Blessings thoughtful, tidy two-hander. But if the plays structural and thematic niceties are intellectually pleasing, they also imbue it with a hollow, manufactured quality (2:00). 59E59Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212)279-4200, closing on Sunday. (Isherwood) GOOD VIBRATIONS Audience members strong enough to sit through this jukebox show will discover that the production does have a reason to be. Good Vibrations sacrifices itself to make all other musicals on Broadway look good (2:15). ONeill, 230 West 49th Street, (212)239-6200, closing on Sunday. (Brantley) LUNA At the New Victory, no vaudevillians are juggling fire; rather, greater daring is on display by the Belgian troupe Pantalone: original chamber music for kindergartners. Accompanied only by a narrator, this is more multi-media concert than theater, with narrative music that dances wildly when devils fight (1:30). 209 West 42nd Street, (212)239-6200, closing Sunday. (Miriam Horn) PLAY IN A PUB As a wry young Frenchwoman, Kelli Holsopple persuades you that you are not in a bar in the East Village watching Romulus Linneys one-act play Can Can, but in France, with her. The evening opens with A Perfect Analysis Given by a Parrot, a burlesque by Tennessee Williams about two lonely women of a certain age (1:30). Bacchus Room, Bona Fides Restaurant, 60 Second Avenue, at Third Street, (212)352-3101, closing on Thursday. (Andrea Stevens) THIS IS HOW IT GOES Ben Stiller, famous in movies as an everyklutz, is the ideal guide for escorting audiences through the slippery maze of Neil LaButes extended ploy of a play. In this story of an interracial romantic triangle, Mr. Stiller gives an artfully layered, deceptive performance that leaves you thinking its a pity he had to portray a moral construct instead of a character (1:30). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, (212)239-6200, closing on Sunday. (Brantley) WHAT OF THE NIGHT A solo show starring Jane Alexander as Djuna Barnes, the literary adventurer best known for her spooky modernist novel Nightwood, this curio combines some of the standard facets of dead-celebrity stage plays with the more rarefied and often inscrutable behaviors endemic in the world of performance art (1:15). Lortel, 121 Christopher Street, (212)279-4200, closing tomorrow. (Isherwood) WHEN THE BULBUL STOPPED SINGING This s a one-man, one-note chronicle of the events beginning on March 29, 2002, when Israeli troops invaded Ramallah and surrounded Yasir Arafats headquarters. The Scottish playwright David Greigs simplistic account of this enormously complex situation does a disservice to both sides (1:30). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212)279-4200, closing tomorrow. (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. ALIENS OF THE DEEP (G, 48 minutes). A hybrid of undersea documentary and outer-space fantasy. Filmed in Imax 3-D, it is a visual adventure worthy of that much-degraded adjective, awesome. (Stephen Holden) THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (R, 89 minutes). Low-key creepy rather than outright scary, this remake of the soporific 1979 horror flick marks a modest improvement on the original. But this time dont get attached to the family dog. (Manohla Dargis) BEAUTY SHOP (PG-13, 105 minutes). Less a sequel than an old-fashioned sitcom spinoff, this loose and genial comedy moves the Barbershop franchise to Atlanta, and gives the ladies a turn at the warm, salty banter that made the first two installments so popular (A.O. Scott) THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE (R, 112 minutes). A proud survivor of the 1960s and its utopian promise, Jack (Daniel Day-Lewis) lives alone on an island with his only daughter. A story about the limits of love, Ballad is also about the limits of idealism as well as, rather unfortunately, those of its restlessly ambitious writer and director, Rebecca Miller. (Dargis) BORN INTO BROTHELS (not rated, 85 minutes, in Bengali), A lovely documentary about children of prostitutes in Calcutta (Scott). BE COOL (PG-13, 112 minutes). John Travolta returns as Chili Palmer, the reformed mobster he first played in Get Shorty, which arrived hot on the heels of Pulp Fiction. But while Get Shorty rode the Pulp Fiction craze with finesse, Be Cool is running on empty (Dargis) * THE BEST OF YOUTH (not rated, six hours and 23 minutes, shown in two parts; in Italian). Marco Tullio Giordanas six-hour journey through recent Italian history is nothing less than a masterpiece, combining epic sweep with precise, heart-rending intimacy. (Scott) BRIDE AND PREJUDICE (PG-13, 111 minutes). This Bollywood-style musical -- which transposes Jane Austens 1813 novel to 21st-century India -- is as high concept and rife with cliché as anything churned out by Hollywood, but with worse production values and a load of sanctimony. (Dargis) CONSTANTINE (R, 122 minutes). Hells bells! Sprung from the Matrix, Keanu Reeves glowers his way through another effect-heavy, convoluted journey between worlds, in this case defined by theology rather than technology. (Scott) DEAD AND BREAKFAST (not rated, 88 minutes). Matthew Leutwylers horror movie about six young people trapped in a creepy small town goes for parody and fails. There is no suspense or real fun but tons of gore. (Anita Gates) DOWNFALL (not rated, 155 minutes; in German). Bruno Ganz plays Hitler, palsied and furious, as his Reich collapses. The films most daring gambit -- to treat Germanys monsters as human -- is also the source of its greatest failure, which is that it uses the conventions of wartime melodrama to elicit sympathy for people who hardly deserve it. (Scott) EATING OUT (not rated, 85 minutes). A dreary erotic roundelay: a modern-day variant on a Shakespeare comedy, only without the verbal felicity or sense of dramatic structure. (Dana Stevens) * FEVER PITCH (PG-13, 98 minutes). To watch this new, thoroughly winning if not especially good romantic comedy is to appreciate, yet again, that the great loves of our lives are rarely perfect. (Dargis) 15 (not rated, 90 minutes, in Hokkien and Mandarin). A Singaporean film about the desultory adventures of a gang of disaffected youth starring young non professional actors who arent any good. (Stevens) * GUNNER PALACE (PG-13, 86 minutes). Raw, powerful and confusing -- less a polished documentary about American soldiers in Iraq than a living, unfinished document of a complicated war and the complicated young men who are fighting it. (Scott) GUESS WHO (PG-13, 103 minutes). A loose, pointless remake of Guess Whos Coming to Dinner. (Scott) HAPPILY EVER AFTER (not rated, 100 minutes; in French). A likable skin-deep sex comedy, which tries half-heartedly to present itself as a treatise on marriage. (Holden) * HEAD-ON (not rated, 118 minutes; in German and Turkish). This film about two strangers with suicidal tendencies and a deep commitment to self-aggrandizing drama is the first very good movie of 2005. (Dargis) HITCH (PG-13, 115 minutes). As soft and sweet as a marshmallow, and about as interesting, this genial romantic comedy features the ever-charming Will Smith as a dating coach. (Scott) HOSTAGE (R, 113 minutes). More than sad, its slightly sickening to consider the technology, talent and know-how squandered on this pile of blood-soaked toxic waste dumped onto the screen in an attempt to salvage Bruce Williss fading career as an action hero. (Holden) HOUSE OF D (PG-13, 97 minutes). Robin Williams plays a wise and kindly mentally retarded janitor. Enough said. (Scott) IN MY COUNTRY (R, 104 minutes). Juliette Binoche, playing a South African poet and reporter, is the weepy hand-wringing conscience of this high-minded but hopelessly wooden film. (Holden) INSIDE DEEP THROAT (NC-17, 90 minutes). A lively, if maddeningly reductive documentary about Linda Lovelace, star of the notorious hard-core movie Deep Throat. (Dargis) ITS ALL GONE PETE TONG (R, 88 minutes). A dance club D.J. loses his hearing and then his grip in this surprisingly sweet faux documentary, while Paul Kaye keeps us interested in a character who doesnt merit our affection but earns it nonetheless. (Dargis) THE JACKET (R, 102 minutes). Adrien Brody plays Jack Starks, who is sent to a spooky psychiatric hospital for a murder he did not commit. The movie, full of red herrings, visual gimmicks and instances of egregious over-acting, is awfully silly, but not completely awful. (Scott) KONTROLL (R, 106 minutes; in Hungarian). Shot entirely in the Budapest subway system, Nimrod Antals debut film is a grungy, shaggy-dog allegory -- a stylish, meandering trip to nowhere in particular. (Scott) 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) * 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) MELINDA AND MELINDA (PG-13, 99 minutes). The same story, more or less, told two different ways -- as serious drama and as comedy. Though Woody Allens drama lacks emotional intensity and the comedy lacks funny jokes, the director interweaves them deftly enough. (Scott) * MILLION DOLLAR BABY (PG-13, 135 minutes). Clint Eastwood takes what appears to be a conventional boxing-melodrama plot about a crusty old trainer whose heart is melted by a spirited young fighter and turns it into a glowing, somber meditation on friendship, ambition and death. (Scott) * MILLIONS (PG, 97 minutes). Given the gaudy violence that frequently moves Danny Boyles stories forward and keeps them jumping, it may come as something of a surprise that he has directed a heartfelt, emotionally delicate childrens movie about life and death and all the parts in between. (Dargis) MISS CONGENIALITY 2: ARMED AND FABULOUS (PG-13, 100 minutes). Wading through this junky sequel to her genial goofball hit Miss Congeniality, Sandra Bullock looks as if she would rather be shoveling pig waste, though of course in some respects that is exactly what shes doing. (Dargis) MONDOVINO (Not rated, 131 minutes). This documentary about the effects of globalization on the making and consumption of wine is full of beautiful landscapes and challenging ideas, but it is also repetitious, tendentious and much too long. (Scott) ODESSA. ODESSA! (not rated, 96 minutes). Most of the people who gather to reminisce and sing the old songs in this mournful, slowly paced cinematic poem are Jewish exiles from the decrepit Ukrainian city, which they remember as paradise. (Holden) OLD BOY (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). THE PACIFIER (PG, 97 minutes). Despite the specter of boogeymen, this new family flick remains chipper and occasionally clever, as it sends up the high-tech know-how required in 21st-century parenting. (Ned Martel) PALINDROMES (not rated, 100 minutes). The same backward and forward: dud. (Scott) PERLASCA (not rated, 104 minutes; in Italian). In Hungary in 1944, Giorgio Perlasca saved the lives of thousands of Jews, and his memory deserves better than this inept Italian television film. (Gates) THE RING TWO (PG-13, 111 minutes). In The Ring, Rachel (Naomi Watts), a journalist and single mom, escaped the marauding ghost in the machine, and she now thinks she has entered a new chapter. No such luck; she is actually mucking about on a slag heap of recycled scares, dumb lines and predictable entanglements. (Dargis) RAGING DOVE (not rated, 70 minutes). A bruising but illuminating documentary considers how nationalism flattened one young, sure-footed boxer, who was born in Nazareth to a Palestinian family. (Martel) 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) SAVE THE GREEN PLANET (not rated, 118 minutes; in Korean). A dog named Earth and aliens both domestic and imported rotate around one another in this self-consciously freaky, rambunctiously goofy genre hybrid from South Korea. Just dont ask what it all means. (Dargis) * SCHIZO (not rated, 86 minutes, in Russian). This modest neo-realist film from Kazhakstan is both tough and tender. As the movie follows the conventions of a crime-tinged coming-of-age story, it achieves a rough, convincing poetry. (Scott) SHORT CUT TO NIRVANA: KUMBH MELA (not rated, 85 minutes, in Hindi). Seventy million pilgrims gather in India to seek enlightenment; this engaging documentary travelogue, as the title suggests, will save you the trip. (Scott) 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 the movie is kind of a bore. (Dargis) STATE PROPERTY II (R, 94 minutes). Better than the first one, which isnt saying much, but this brutal celebration of the spirit of capitalism has some moments of energy and wit. (Scott) * TORREMOLINOS 73 (not rated, 91 minutes, in Spanish). This movies gentle, humanist vision of pornographic filmmaking as a sexual and aesthetic act of emancipation is a far cry from the graphic social realism of recent films like A Hole in My Heart. (Stevens) THE UPSIDE OF ANGER (R, 116 minutes). The upside of this deeply flawed attempt to marry midlife romantic comedy with domestic farce is that it provides a platform for Kevin Costner and Joan Allen to do some marvelous work. (Scott) WINNING GIRLS THROUGH PSYCHIC MIND CONTROL (not rated, 93 minutes). Sam (Ruben Santiago-Hudson) suddenly develops psychic powers in this likable but only sporadically funny comedy. (Gates) WINTER SOLSTICE (R, 93 minutes). This is the kind of ambling, event-free family drama that will either draw audiences in with its understated power, or quietly bore them out of their skulls. (Stevens) Film Series DAVID CROSS SELECTS (through Sunday). In a break from its usual highbrow lineup, the Anthology Film Archives offers a weeks worth of films guest-curated by the comedian David Cross. One seldom-seen gem from his wildly eclectic list is Chilly Scenes of Winter, Joan Micklin Silvers 1979 adaptation of an Ann Beattie novel. 32 Second Avenue, at Second Street, East Village, (212)505-5181; $8. (Stevens) JUST KIDDING CHILDRENS FILM SERIES (tomorrow at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.). Symphony Space revisits classic Russian animation with The Magic Horse, a 1941 film that was the first full-length animated feature made in the Soviet Union. Leonard Nimoy Thalia, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, Manhattan, (212)864-5400; $10. (Stevens) PRE-CODE DOUBLE FEATURE (Tuesday at 2, 6 and 9:20 p.m.). By popular demand, Film Forum has rescheduled a one-day-only screening of the uncut version of Baby Face, the notorious 1933 film in which a young Barbara Stanwyck climbs the corporate ladder, one man at a time. This slightly longer (and much tawdrier) version will be followed by a screening of clips from the censored version, for comparisons sake. Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, South Village, (212)727-8112; $10 (Stevens). THE 12TH NEW YORK AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL (Wednesday through April 28). Along with a screening of last years breakout hit Moolaade, this years festival features AlLeessi An African Actress, a documentary about the Nigerian actress Zalika Souley, who made her name in the 1960s playing bad-girl desperadoes in an atmosphere of strict Muslim repression. Walter Reade, Lincoln Center, (212)875-5600; $10. (Stevens) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. ADULT (Thursday and next Friday). Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus of Adult reach back to the electropunk moment when out-of-tune synthesizers met dissonant guitars and insolent, astringent vocals. 8:30 p.m., Thursday; 9:30 p.m., next Friday. Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212)260-4700, $12 in advance, $14 at the door. (Jon Pareles) JON BRION (Wednesday) As producer, songwriter and soundtrack composer, Jon Brion is fond of finding just the unlikely instrument for any occasion, and as a performer he plays plenty of them. 8 and 11 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212)358-7501, $15. (Pareles) BONGA (Thursday) The Haitian drummer Gaston Jean-Baptiste, or Bonga, brought the foundation of voodoo rhythms to the band Boukman Eksperyans; now he leads his own Vodou Drums ensemble. 8 p.m., S.O.B.s (Sounds of Brazil), 204 Varick Street, at Houston, South Village, (212)243-4940, $12 in advance, $15 at the door. (Pareles) THE. CHAMPS (Tonight and tomorrow) This three-man instrumental band has a fuller name that wont be appearing in these pages anytime soon and a deadpan devotion to hard rock at its riffiest: the bands mini-epics turn exuberance into a science. 11 p.m. tonight, Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212)219-3006, $12. 9 p.m. tomorrow night, Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718)599-5103, $10. (Kelefa Sanneh) * CHERISH THE LADIES (Tonight) Started by daughters of Irish traditional musicians, Cherish the Ladieshas become an all-star team of Celtic musicians who happen to be women. 8 p.m., Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212)840-2824, $30 to $35. (Pareles) CHOCOLATE GENIUS (Tomorrow) Marc Anthony Thompsons songs can be wrenching or deeply melancholy; his patter can have an audience roaring with laughter. 10 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212)358-7503, $12. (Pareles) KELLY CLARKSON (Wednesday) This American Idol winner has emerged as one of the shows most lovable veterans, thanks in large part to a fierce, emo-tinged hit, Since U Been Gone. 8 p.m., Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street, Manhattan, (212) 279-7740, $45. (Sanneh) COWBOY JACK CLEMENT (Tuesday) A revered Nashville producer and songwriter makes his New York City performing debut for the release of a documentary about him. 7 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212)539-8778 or (212)239-6200, $20. (Pareles) * ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE IMPOSTERS (Tonight) For all his collaborating and genre-splicing, Elvis Costello burns brightest with his tautly ferocious rock band. 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway at 74th Street, Upper West Side, (212)496-7070, $53.50 to $88.50. (Pareles) * PHIL CUNNINGHAM AND ALY BAIN (Sunday). A duo of Scottish traditional-music virtuosos: Phil Cunningham on accordion and Aly Bain on fiddle. 7 p.m., Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, (212)576-1155. $20 in advance, $25 at the door. (Pareles) * DIA NACIONAL DE LA SALSA (Tomorrow) Heres a bill of hard-charging salsa with the combustible pianist Eddie Palmieri, the Venezuelan bandleader Oscar DLeon, the pan-Caribbean Colombian songwriter Joe Arroyo, the singer Brenda K. Starr and more. 8 p.m., United Palace Theater, 4140 Broadway at 175th Street, (212)568-0915, $35 to $85. (Pareles) * SIMON DIAZ (Tonight) Simon Diaz, 76, is a household name in Venezuela. His earnest, briskly strummed tunes find romance in the lives of cowboys and other country people, and his Caballo Viejo became an international hit as Bamboleo. Zankel Hall, 881 Seventh Avenue, Manhattan, (212)247-7800 or (212)545-7536, sold out. (Pareles) * DIZZEE RASCAL (Tomorrow) This great British rapper is a riveting live performer, chewing up his syllables before he spits them out. 9 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Union Square, (212)777-6800, $22.50 in advance, $25 at the door. (Sanneh) * DR. DOG (Tomorrow) This emerging Philadelphia bands East Beat is full of breezy vocal harmonies but the live show is much louder and more exuberant, especially when Scott McMicken unleashes one of his wailing, shape-shifting guitar solos. 8:30 p.m., Pianos, 158 Ludlow Street, near Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212)505-3733, $8 in advance, $10 at the door. (Sanneh) EL-P (Wednesday) The producer behind a wave of New York underground hip-hop. 9 p.m., Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103, $12. (Pareles) HOWARD FISHMAN (Tonight) Howard Fishman is fond of 1930s jazz, but he refuses to get stuck in revivalism, strirring in funk, ska and whatever else catches his ear. 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212)539-8778 or (212)239-6200, $15. (Pareles) FLOOK (Wednesday) Flutes, wooden and metal, are the front line for the Celtic band Flook. 7:30 p.m. Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Chelsea (212)576-1155, $15 in advance, $20 at the door. (Pareles) ADAM GREEN (Thursday). When hes not making low-fi pop with the Moldy Peaches, Adam Green spiffs up the production and deadpans his way through free-associative lyrics in blithe, 1960s-flavored pop. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, $13 in advance, $15 at the door. (Pareles) GROOVE COLLECTIVE (Tomorrow) Brooklyns long-runnning party band looks back to the smoothly percolating funk-jazz of the 1970s and adds touches of hip-hop and salsa. Midnight, Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212)358-7503, $10. (Pareles) ED HARCOURT (Tuesday) Ed Harcourts songs are as close to cabaret tunes and 1960s pop as they are to current rock. 9 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201)653-1703. $12. (Pareles) MICKEY HART, PARTICLE, KAKI KING (Tonight) Jamming the night away with the Grateful Deads drummer Mickey Hart, the funk-rooted Particle and the solo-guitar virtuoso Kaki King. 7 p.m., Roseland Ballroom, 239 West 52nd Street, (212)777-6800, $27. (Pareles) HEROINE SHEIKS/GORCH FOCK (Tomorrow) Rude lyrics and rowdy but structured post-punk noise, with thrashing guitars and horns, from two sides of the world. The Heroine Sheiks are from New York City; Gorch Fock is from Australia. 8 p.m., Sin-e, 150 Attorney Street below Houston Street, Lower East Side (212)388-0077, $10. (Pareles) * JAMMY AWARDS (Tuesday) Forget the trophies; at the fifth-annual jam band gathering, its all about the mix-and-match of performers including Ryan Adams, Buddy Guy, Sinead OConnor, Mavis Staples, Burning Spear, the North Mississippi Allstars and the host, Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead. 8 p.m., Theater at Madison Square Garden, Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street, Manhattan, (212)465-6741, $39.50 to $54.50. (Pareles) ALICIA KEYS, JOHN LEGEND (Through tomorrow) This concert pairs a couple of earnest R&B singer-pianists, one a wildly successful star and the other an emerging one. 8 p.m., Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Avenue of the Americas, at 50th Street, Manhattan, (212)247-4777, $39.50 to 79.50. (Sanneh) * MALOUMA (Tomorrow) Born into a family of griots in Mauritania, Malouma soaked up the tradition and then revolutionized it with her own songs about love and injustice. 8 p.m., Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212)864-5400 or (212)545-7536, $30, or $26 for World Music Institute members, $15 for students. (Pareles) KATIE MELUA (Tuesday). Born in Soviet Georgia and raised in Northern Ireland, Katie Melua has become Great Britains answer to Norah Jones. 8 p.m. Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212)840-2824, $25 and $30. (Pareles) MISS KITTIN (Thursday) This French D.J. and singer is known for her affectless vocals and neo-electro beats. 9 p.m., Rothko, 116 Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street, Lower East Side, www.rothkonyc.com, $18 in advance, $25 at the door. (Sanneh) * NEW YORK DOLLS (Thursday-next Saturday) David Johansen is just as campy, boisterous and secretly kindhearted as he was in the 1970s with the revived version of his glam-rock, proto-punk band. 8 p.m. Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place at 15th Street, Union Square (212)777-6800, $35. (Pareles) OUT HUD (Tomorrow) A minimalistic love of patterns leads Out Hud to dance music from the 1970s and 1980s, when punk, art and disco intertwined. 9 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, $13 in advance, $15 at the door. (Pareles) RAVEONETTES (Tuesday and Wednesday) The Raveonettes have broadened their old formula of reverb-drenched three-chord rockers; now they do some slow ones, too. 10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday with an additional 7 p.m. show Wednesday, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, Lower East Side (212)260-4700, $15. (Pareles) JOHN RENBOURN AND JACQUI MCSHEE (Thursday). Two-fifths of the innovative folk group Pentangle: John Renbourn, who mingles Celtic fingerpicking with an ear for jazz, and the crystalline singer Jackqui McShee. 7:30 p.m., Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, (212)576-1155, $20 in advance, $23 at the door. (Pareles) KYLE RIABKO (Monday) A breathy-voiced, syncopated guitar-strumming songwriter ready to pick up where John Mayer leaves off. 7 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212)539-8778 or (212)239-6200, $12. (Pareles) SUSIE SUH (Wednesday) With a rich, husky voice and a gift for melodies that rise with her emotions, Susie Suh sings persuasively about the search for love. 8 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212)219-3006, $10 in advance, $12 at the door. (Pareles) * STARS (Wednesday) A Canadian indie-pop band with a delicious new album, Set Yourself on Fire (Arts & Crafts), has 13 astringent love songs, sweetened with gentle arrangements and spiked with cruel jokes. Doors open 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212), 533-2111, $15 in advance, $17 at the door. (Sanneh) ROB THOMAS (Wednesday) Is Matchbox Twentys leader less smarmy as a solo act? 8 p.m. Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place at 15th Street, Union Square (212)777-6800, $35. (Pareles) TRASHCAN SINATRAS (Tonight through Sunday). Record-company travails didnt change the wistful, tuneful, 1960s-flavored approach of the Trashcan Sinatras. Tonight at 8 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, at Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn (718)230-0236, $15. Tomorrow, 8:30 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212)260-4700, $17. Sunday, 9 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201)653-1703, (Pareles) TRAVIS TRITT (Tuesday) Travis Tritt does his share of Nashville power ballads, but he still sounds like a honky-tonker at heart. 8 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212)997-4144, $50 in advance, $54 at the door. (Pareles) PAUL WESTERBERG (Tuesday and Wednesday) As the songwriter and singer for the Replacements, Paul Westerberg gave post-punk a heart. His songs and concerts are cozier now, but the ache still comes through. 7 p.m., Supper Club, 240 West 47th Street, (212)921-1940, $37.50; Ticketmaster, (212) 307-7171. (Pareles) THE WOGGLES (Tonight) A happy throwback to fuzz-toned, organ-pumped mid-1960s garage-rock, the Woggles arent happy until everyone is doing the jerk and shouting along. 8:30 p.m. Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201)653-1703, $8. (Pareles) * VYBZ KARTEL (Tomorrow) Over the last few years, before roots-reggae took over, this witty, motor-mouthed dancehall star became one of Jamaicas biggest names. Expect the revelers who pack this party to treat him like a star. After 10 p.m., Club A, 147-95 Farmers Boulevard, at Rockaway Boulevard, Queens, (718)995-0500, $25. (Sanneh) Cabaret Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. KAREN AKERS (Tuesdays through Saturdays) Classic romantic ballads gracefully rendered by a statue come to life. Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, (212)419-9331, through May 28. Tuesdays through Thursdays at 9 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 9 and 11:30 p.m. Cover is $50; a $50 prixe fixe dinner is required Thursdays through Saturdays at at 9; otherwise, a $20 minimum. (Stephen Holden) BARBARA CARROLL (Sunday 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 (see above). Cover: $55 at 2, including brunch at noon; $42 at 8, plus a $15 minimum; an $80 dinner-and-show package is available. (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) DONNA McKECHNIE (Wednesdays through Saturdays) Ms. McKechnies breezy new show, Gypsy in My Soul, is a happy-to-be-here celebration of an itinerant professional life that has seen her shuttle from Broadway to London, to the sticks and back. Au Bar, 41 East 58th Street, (212)308-9455, through May 1. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 8 p.m. (cover: $35); Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. (cover: $50). Two-drink minimum at all shows. (Holden) * SINGING ASTAIRE (Tomorrow and Sunday) With Eric Comstock, Hilary Kole and Christopher Gines. The vocal trio that created the smart revue Our Sinatra has outdone itself with this lightly swinging 70-minute compendium of songs and lore associated with Fred Astaire. Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212)581-3080, through May 15. At 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. Cover: $30, with a $10 minimum at a table. (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. KENNY BARRON CLASSIC TRIO (Through Sunday) Mr. Barron, the pianist, who has been a presence in jazz over the last three decades, seeks out collaborators of various generations and styles. This is the last week of a three-week run. 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, Manhattan, (212)258-9595; www.jalc.org; cover, $30. (Ben Ratliff) BASSDRUMBONE (Tomorrow) A sly and wide-ranging cooperative jazz group with the bassist Mark Helias, the drummer Gerry Hemingway and trombonist Ray Anderson. 8 p.m., The Stone, Avenue C at Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com, $10. (Ratliff) ARTHUR BLYTHE-RAVI COLTRANE-DR. LONNIE SMITH-JAMES BLOOD ULMER-JEFF TAIN WATTS (Through Sunday) A strange one-off ark of a band, an amalgam of blues and avant-gardism and hard mainstream jazz. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212)475-8592; cover, $15 to $25. (Ratliff) CANDIDO CAMERO 84th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WITH THE CONGA KINGS (Through Sunday) A mainstay of the Latin jazz scene in New York since the 1950s, he will be feted by guests including the timbales player Nicky Marrero (tonight), the percussionist and flutist Dave Valentin (tomorrow) and the vibraphonist Dave Samuels with the saxophonist Paquito DRivera (Sunday). 8 and 10 p.m., with an 11:30 tomorrow, Iridium, 1650 Broadway at 51st Street, midtown, (212)582-2121; cover, $35. (Ratliff) CHARLES GAYLE (Tomorrow) This hard-blowing tenor saxophonist was notorious in the early 1990s as the living redux of the first free-jazz era; more recently he has pulled back from the precipice a bit. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium Festival, Sistas Place, 456 Nostrand Avenue at Jefferson Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, (718) 398-1766; cover, $20. (Ratliff) ROBERT GLASPER TRIO (Tonight) Mr. Glasper is a young pianist from Houston with an excellent trio thats been gathering strength in New York clubs over the last five years. 6:30 p.m., Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium Festival, New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, 333 Adams Street, Downtown Brooklyn, (718)222-6543; no cover charge. (Ratliff) JOE AND MAT MANERI WITH GUESTS (Tonight) Father and son, saxophonist and violinist, the Maneris play freely improvised music that creates an atmosphere of wicked calm and unpredictability. 8 p.m.; Barbès, 376 9th Street at 6th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)965-9177; cover, $8. (Ratliff) JIMMY McGRIFF BAND (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. McGriff came from the golden period of Hammond B-3 organ playing; he helped create the durable American archetype of soul-jazz. 9 and 11 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., Smoke, 2751 Broadway at 106th Street, (212)864-6662; cover, $25. (Ratliff) COOPER-MOORE (Tonight) The multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore plays as if he is trying to grab the attention of pedestrians on a busy street. 10 p.m., The Stone, Avenue C at Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; $10. (Ratliff) * JASON MORAN BANDWAGON/MARCUS ROBERTS TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow) Two of the most satisfying and directly enjoyable piano trios in jazz, with very different styles. Mr. Moran uses warping tempos and far-flung repertory choices; Mr. Roberts salts his set lists with Monk, Morton and Ellington. 8 p.m., Rose Theater, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, Manhattan, (212)721-6500; $10 to $150. (Ratliff) TATSUYA NAKATANI-BILLY BANG DUO/ANDREW BEMKEY-ANDREW BARKER (Tomorrow) A violin-percussion duet, and then a piano-percussion duet; Mr. Bang is part of the 70s generation of New York experimental jazz musicians, while the younger Mr. Bemkey came along in the 90s. 10 p.m., Vision Club, Gallery Clemente Soto Velez, 107 Suffolk Street at Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212)696-6681; cover, $10. (Ratliff) DAFNIS PRIETO ABSOLUTE QUINTET, (Tonight and tomorrow) This drummers music is some of the best within New Yorks new Latin-jazz movement, distinguished by complex, jaggedly modern writing, but also by a deep cultural literacy of Cuban folklore; this new group includes the saxophonist Yosvany Terry, the pianist Jason Lindner, the violinist Alan Grubner and the cellist Catherine Bent. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, South Village, (212)242-1063; cover, $15 per set. (Ratliff) CAROL SLOANE, (Through Sunday) Carol Sloane is a veteran jazz singer and a shrewd one, with restraint and serenity among her virtues. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212)255-4037; $30. (Ratliff) SUN RA ARKESTRA LED BY MARSHALL ALLEN, (Sunday) The saxophonist Marshall Allen has led the Sun Ra Arkestra since Sun Ras death, and he can be a great player, sly and nuanced. 8 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212)219-3006; $15 in advance, $20 at the door. (Ratliff) * CLARK TERRY QUINTET, (Tonight and tomorrow) Its possible that no other jazz musician has as much amusing old-guy charm as Mr. Terry, and when you think hes all sweetness, hell rattle you profoundly with a cool, beautifully executed piece of fluegelhorn playing. 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., Lenox Lounge, 288 Lenox Avenue at 125th Street, Harlem, (212)427-0253; cover, $40. (Ratliff) * CEDAR WALTON TRIO, (Tonight and tomorrow) With strong hands and tidy arranging impulses, Mr. Walton long ago established himself as one of the finest mainstream jazz players in New York, if not in the world. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Midtown, (212)581-3080; cover, $30. (Ratliff) BEN WALTZER TRIO WITH TONY MALABY, (Tomorrow) A no-nonsense young jazz pianist in the Ellington and Monk vein, Mr. Waltzer gets a big, ringing sound out of the extreme registers of the instrument. The saxophonist Tony Malaby joins his trio of Chris Lightcap on bass and Eric McPherson on drums. 10 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212)989-9319; cover, $10. (Ratliff) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera UN BALLO IN MASCHERA (Tonight, Monday, Thursday) There is less of Deborah Voigt than there has been for a long time, but the voice is as big and imposing as ever. 8 p.m. tonight, 7:30 Monday and Thursday, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212)362-6000, $26 to $200. (Bernard Holland) THE BARTERED BRIDE (Wednesday) Students at the Juilliard School hope to have a good time with Smetanas wonderful evocation of rural Central European life and music. 8 p.m., Juilliard Theater, Lincoln Center, (212)721-6500, $20, $10 for students and 65+. (Holland) CARMEN (Sunday) Gary Thor Wedow conducts, John Bellemer is Don José and Katharine Goeldner sings the title role in Jonathan Eatons handsome production of the Bizet favorite. (This is the final performance of the season.) 1:30, New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212)870-5570, sold out but returns may be available. (Jeremy Eichler) LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST (Tomorrow) Conventional wisdom has it that Puccinis Wild West opera doesnt have enough hit tunes; but the human awkwardness of its characters could be another reason its not as popular as Tosca. But for this music, its worth overlooking the singing Indians. 1:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212)870-5570, $32 to $115. (Anne Midgette) FAUST (Tuesday) The Metropolitan Opera has the starriest of casts for its new Faust, though Roberto Alagna sings opposite Soile Isokoski, the fine but rather cool Finnish soprano, rather than his wife and usual singing partner, Angela Gheorghiu. The role of Valentin may lie a bit high for the voice of Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and surely there are better uses for René Papes velvety bass, but these high-octane singers may blow away all doubts, especially with James Levine in the pit to help them. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212)362-6000, sold out, but returns may be available at the box office. (Midgette) MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Tomorrow) The essentials of Puccinis opera -- the tragedy of a geisha who took her marriage to an American naval officer seriously when he didnt -- are well served by Mark Lamoss spare production at City Opera. The cast includes Marc Heller as Pinkerton and Jee Hyun Lim as Butterfly. Atsushi Yamada conducts. 8 p.m., New York State Theater, (212)870-5570, $32 to $115. (Allan Kozinn) LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES (Tonight) Zandra Rhodess brightly colored sets in this new City Opera production evoke the opening ceremonies at an Olympic Games. The singing is O.K. but for all its beautiful music, this is an opera in which not much happens but takes a long time to do it. 8 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212)870-5570, sold out. (Midgette) TURANDOT (Wednesday) Franco Zeffirellis everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to stage direction reaches its apotheosis with this opulent production, which by this point in the year has become somewhat routine. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212)362-6000, $26 to $170. (Midgette) DIE WALKÜRE (Tomorrow) For Met fans accustomed to James Levines probing performances of Wagner, Valery Gergievs approach to Die Walküre will seem a notable change: more rhapsodic, less structural, fleeter over all, though less sublime than Mr. Levines at its best. The cast includes several fine singers from Mr. Gergievs home company, the Kirov Opera in St. Petersburg. The tireless Plácido Domingo sings Siegmund. 12:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212)362-6000, $40 to $215. (Anthony Tommasini) DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (Tomorrow) Julie Taymors new production of Mozarts fairy-tale opera Die Zauberflöte has proven a crowd pleaser. But the production is so packed with nonstop stage effects, so overly busy, and so peopled with dancers, gargantuan puppets and kite-like animals of every sort that the fine musical performances take a back seat to the stage show. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212)362-6000, sold out, but returns may be available at the box office. (Tommasini) Classical Music AUGUSTUS ARNONE (Thursday) An obviously brave young pianist tackles music to perk up the ears, by Debussy, Elliott Carter, David Rakowski and Roberto Sierra. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212)501-3330, $12. (James R. Oestreich) ARTEMIS STRING QUARTET (Sunday) The essential Peoples Symphony Concerts presents another top-notch ensemble on Sunday afternoon, the Berlin-based Artemis Quartet, one of the most accomplished and exciting of the new generation. There are works by Mendelssohn, Bartok and Beethoven. 2 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212)586-4680, $9. (Tommasini) BARGEMUSIC (Tonight, tomorrow, Sunday and Thursday) One of the citys finest chamber-music settings, often with performances to match. The afternoon concerts here, surveying the 10 Beethoven violin sonatas, resume in the evening. Tonight and Thursday night at 7:30, tomorrow and Sunday at 3 p.m., Bargemusic, Fulton Ferry Landing next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718)624-2083, $35 to $40. (Oestreich) PIERRE BOULEZ AND IRCAM (Tonight) Besides being a formidable composer and conductor, Pierre Boulez has been one of the most influential teachers of our time. His weeklong residency with colleagues from Ircam, the experimental contemporary and electronic music laboratory he founded in Paris, ends tonight with an all-Boulez program. 8 p.m., Manhattan School of Music, Broadway at 122nd Street, Morningside Heights, (917)493-4428, free, but tickets are required. (Tommasini) CHANTICLEER (Tonight) This remarkable all-male, 12-voice a cappella choir turns its attention to the opposite sex tonight at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Titled Women, Saintly and Otherwise, the program of works from the Renaissance (Josquin and Victoria) to the 20th century (Poulenc) is described as a tribute to woman as ruler, composer, muse and creator. 8 p.m., Temple of Dendur, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212)570-3949, sold out, but returns may be available at the box office. (Tommasini) CHIARA STRING QUARTET (Tuesday) This young and dynamic ensemble gives the premiere of Jefferson Friedmans Quartet No. 3 along with works by Mozart and Brahms. 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)769-7406, free, but tickets are required. (Eichler) CURTIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) Basically, the elite Curtis Institute in Philadelphia takes in just enough instrumentalists to keep an orchestra stocked, and here they all are, conducted by Michael Stern. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212)247-4800, $15 to $50. (Oestreich) EMPIRE VIOLS (Tonight) Its a groaner of a pun, Senfl Pleasures, but if thats what it takes to get music of Ludwig Senfl (not to mention Andreas Hammerschmidt and David Funck) on the boards, so be it. 8 p.m., Second Presbyterian Church, 6 West 96th Street, (917)363-2646, $10. (Oestreich) BRIAN FERNEYHOUGH (Tonight) This British composer applies his spiky, intensely focused style to Piranesis eerie Carceri dInvenzione engravings in a chamber work of the same name that may be a quirkily twisted Pictures at an Exhibition for our time. 8 p.m., Miller Theater, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212)854-7799, $20. (Kozinn) JOSE FRANCH-BALLESTER (Tuesday) This Spanish clarinetist, born in 1980, has already won more awards and competitions than any young artist could hope for, including the First Prize in the 2004 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. That invaluable organization presents this promising new artist in an adventurous recital of works by Messager, Chausson, Brahms, Bassi and Kenji Bunch. 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, at Lexington Avenue, (212)307-6656, $20 and $30. (Tommasini) HILLIARD ENSEMBLE (Wednesday) Bach and Arvo Pärt may prove congenial partners in prayer in this fine vocal ensembles program of sacred works, split between these Baroque and post-Minimalist masters. 8 p.m., Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, 980 Park Avenue, at 84th Street, (212)721-6500, $45. (Kozinn) JENNIFER KOH (Thursday) Shes a fiery young violinist with a special flare for contemporary music. For this recital, she plays works by Esa-Pekka Salonen and John Adams contrasted with music by Schumann, Schubert and Ravel. 8 p.m., Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212)570-3949, $20, $10 for students. (Eichler) ROBERT LEVIN (Thursday) The pianist and musicologist wears both hats at once in his Mozart Explained series of concerts with commentary. Malcolm Bilson joins him here for two-piano as well as four-hand works, including Mr. Levins own completion of a Mozart fragment for two pianos. 7:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $25. (Eichler) BRUCE LEVINGSTON (Monday) Chuck Closes portrait of Philip Glass has become one of the best-known images of the composer; now Mr. Glass repays the favor with A Musical Portrait of Chuck Close, the opener of Bruce Levingstons piano recital, which it shares with music by Brahms, Schumann, Debussy, Liszt and Messiaen. 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)721-6500, $25 to $150. (Related article, Page 1 of Weekend.) (Kozinn) YUNDI LI (Thursday) A brilliant player who doesnt waste energy on surface flash, this young Chinese pianist offers works by Mozart, Chopin, Liszt and Schumann. 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)721-6500, sold out but returns may be available. (Kozinn) MOVING PATTERNS: ELECTRONIC MUSIC AND BEYOND (Tuesday through next Saturday) It has been a long way from the 1960s, when electronic works were collections of pings, bops and buzzes. This festival of recent Austrian works takes in pieces that draw on everything from the eerie sound of the theremin to up-to-date computer scores and film soundtracks. Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.; Wednesday, Friday and next Saturday at 7 p.m.; Thursday at 8 p.m., Austrian Cultural Forum, 11 East 52nd Street, Manhattan, (212)319 5300, free. (Kozinn) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Wednesday and Thursday) With Mstislav Rostropovich conducting and Martha Argerich as piano soloist in works by Shostakovich and Prokofiev, two big temperaments collide. Expect sparks, maybe lightning. 7:30 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, (212)721-6500, $25 to $90. (Oestreich) NEW YORK VIRTUOSI CHAMBER SYMPHONY (Tuesday) Kenneth Klein conducts an attractive program of Russian music, from Glinkas Kamarinskaya to Prokofievs Classical Symphony. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212)501-3330, $25 and 30. (Oestreich) NEW YORK YOUTH SYMPHONY (Monday) The orchestra consists of wonderfully talented youngsters. Presumably here, in a chamber program, are the brightest of the bright. 7:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $15 to $25. (Oestreich) ORION STRING QUARTET (Thursday) In a free concert, this hardworking quartet surrounds Brittens too-rarely heard Phantasy (with Rita Mitsel playing oboe) with two Beethoven quartets. 8 p.m., Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th Street, (212)580-0210, free. (Kozinn) HIROKO SASAKI (Tuesday) The young pianist plays music by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Debussy. 8 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $25, $15 for students and 65+. (Eichler) MITSUKO UCHIDA (Wednesday) One of musics more thoughtful pianists in a program of backbreaking seriousness: Boulez, Schubert and Beethoven. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $27 to $97. (Holland) DAWN UPSHAW AND RICHARD GOODE (Thursday) A soprano and a pianist of great quality perform Schumanns Liederkreis and surrounding it with music of Haydn, Debussy and Mussorgsky. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $25 to $84. (Holland) VOICES OF ASCENSION (Tuesday) An evening of spirituality and mysticism is whats promised, so a logical place to start is with John Tavener, who has developed a New Age-y take on Orthodox religion. And for this choruss 15th anniverary season, James Bassi has written a new work. 8 p.m., Church of the Ascension, Fifth Avenue at 10th Street, Greenwich Village, (212)358-1469. Tickets: $15 to $45, half-price for students. (Midgette) WROCLAW PHILHARMONIC (Tomorrow and Sunday) A free Mass at St. Patricks Cathedral tomorrow in memory of Pope John Paul II by one of Polands leading composers, Wojciech Kilar (who wrote the score for the film The Pianist), is a highlight of this orchestras 50th anniversary tour. The next day it offers Lutoslawski, Chopin and Tchaikovsky. Tomorrow night at 7, St. Patricks Cathedral, Fifth Avenue at 50th Street; Sunday at 3 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)721-6500, $30 to $50. (Midgette) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. * ARTHUR AVILES TYPICAL THEATER (Tonight through May 5) The irrepressible Mr. Aviles salutes Tito Puente and Celia Cruz. Tonight and tomorrow, next Friday and May 5 at 8 p.m. BAAD!, 841 Barretto Street, Hunts Point, the Bronx, (718)842-5223 or www.BronxAcademyofArtsandDance.org, $15. (Jennifer Dunning) AUSTRALIAN DANCE THEATER (Tuesday through May 1). Dancers twist and leap through Garry Stewarts Held and their movements are held in projected images by Lois Greenfield. Tuesday, Wednesday through next Saturday at 8 p.m., next Sunday at 3 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212)242-0800 or www.joyce.org, $42. (Jack Anderson) CHAMECKILERNER (Wednesday through April 30). Eroticism, impulsiveness and chaos cavort in Costumes by God, inspired by Brazils Carnival. Wednesday through next Saturday at 7:30, Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, (212)924-0077, $20. (Anderson) CLINE & DANIEL DANCE (Tonight through Sunday) Sarah Daniel and Sarah Cline take a look at the disorder beyond the masks at a royal court in Just Desserts. Tonight at 8; tomorrow at 3 and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 7 p.m. Sande Shurin Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, , (212)352-3101, $20; $15 for students. (Dunning) DANCE AT DIXON PLACE (Wednesday at 8 p.m.) There is always a series going on here, this one mixed-media dance by Julie Alexander, Nancy Forshaw-Clapp, Erika Hand and the Everything Smaller group, all chosen by Isabel Lewis. Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, between Houston and Prince Streets, SoHo, (212)219-0736 or www.dixonplace.org, $12 or TDF; $10 for students and 65+. (Dunning) DANCERS AND MUSICIANS OF CAMBODIAS ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF FINE ARTS (Tonight through Sunday) Traditional and new work by Sophiline Cheam-Shapiro. Tonight at 8; tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m. Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street, (212)242-0800, $42. (Dunning) E-MOVES 6 (Tonight through May 1) Two programs of dance, one by e-merging and e-volving choreographers and the other by e-stablished types who include Nicholas Leichter. Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m. Aaron Davis Hall, West 135th Street and Convent Avenue, (212)650-7100 or www.aarondavishall.org, $18. (Dunning) ANNABELLA GONZALEZ DANCETHEATER (Tonight through Saturday) Modern and Latino dances are spiced with theatricality and comedy. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 3 and 8 p.m., Harry De Jur Playhouse, 466 Grand Street, Lower East Side, (212) 722-4128, $18. (Anderson) JUILLIARD DANCE DIVISION (Through Sunday) Choreography by smart young senior dancers, performed by their peers and free. Tonight at 8; tomorrow and Sunday at 2 and 8 p.m. Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building, Lincoln Center, (212)799-5000 x7139 or www.juilliard.edu, sold out. (Dunning) LUIS LARA MALVACÍAS (Through May 1) Channel Sur is Mr. Malvacíass latest addition to a continuing suite of Latin modern-dance suite. Tonight through Sunday at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday through next Sunday at 8 p.m. Clemente Soto Velez, 107 Suffolk Street, Lower East Side, (212)674-8194, $15. (Dunning) MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP (Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30). Works from the 90s return in revival along with the New York premiere of Rock of Ages, to a Schubert nocturne. BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718)636-4100 or www.bam.org, $70 to $20. (Anderson) ADELE MYERS AND DANCERS (Through Sunday) Ms. Myers promises dances that expose power dynamics among women. You go, girl. Tonight at 9 p.m.; tomorrow at 8 p.m. Merce Cunningham Studio, 55 Bethune Street at Washington Street, West Village, (212)561-6705, $15; $12 for students and dancers. (Dunning) NEW YORK CITY BALLET (Opens Tuesday) With springy steps, the company is dancing its way into spring with, as always, a large repertory. Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 870-5570 or www.nycballet.com. $30 to $83. (Anderson) WENDY OSSERMAN DANCE COMPANY (Through Sunday) Split is the name of Ms. Ossermans new piece about our divided country, world and selves. Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 5 p.m. Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, between Ninth and 10th Streets, East Village, (212)254-1109, $15. (Dunning) * SALLY SILVERS Work by our favorite queen of eloquent and intelligent quirk, on a program that also includes work by antic friends like Iris Dement, Pat Catterson, Bryan Hayes and Marlies Yearby. Tomorrow and Sunday at 8 p.m. Construction Company, 10 East 18th Street, Flatiron, (212)924-7882, $15; $12 for students and 65+. (Dunning) MURRAY SPALDING MANDALAS (Thursday through May 1) Dancers weave and swirl their way through kaleidoscopic patterns inspired by modern dance and Eastern philosophy. Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday at 8:30, St. Marks Church, Second Avenue at 10th Street, East Village, (212)674-8194, $20; $15 for dancers and 65+. (Anderson) STREB SLAM 5 (Through May 8) Ms. Streb and her Frequent Flyer dancers have extended their season of high-impact athletic dance. Tonight at 7; tomorrow and Sunday at 3 p.m. S.L.A.M., 51 North First Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718)384-6491 or www.strebusa.org, $15; $10 for children; free for children under 4. (Dunning) KARA TATELBAUM INDEPENDENTDANCEMAKER (Tonight and tomorrow). A fire that devastated the choreographers apartment last year has inspired the choreographic fire of her new Inferno. Tonight and tomorrow at 8, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, Manhattan, (212)864-5400, $21; $18 for college students and 65+. (Anderson) THREE AT BARUCH (Tonight through Sunday). Three lively companies -- and some outrageous special guests -- share performances. Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday at 7: Chris Elams Misnomer Dance Theater ($20). Tonight and tomorrow at 10:30: Late Night Variety Hour, organized by the weekends choreographers and featuring dancers, comedians and rockers ($15; $12 students and 65+). Tomorrow at 9 and Sunday at 5 p.m.: Laura Peterson Choreography ($15; $12 for students and 65+). Tonight at 9, Sunday at 3 p.m., Nicole Berger Performance Group ($15; $12 for students and 65+), Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue at 25th Street, Gramercy. For Elam: (212)352-3101. For other attractions: (646)312-5073. (Anderson) URBAN BALLET THEATER (Tomorrow) Tango and mambo on point and a salute to the Chicano poet Levi Romero, choreographed by Daniel Catanach. Tomorrow at 8 p.m. Queens Theater in the Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, (718)760-0064 or www.QueensTheatre.org, $24; $22 for 65+. (Dunning) AYNSLEY VANDENBROUCKE MOVEMENT GROUP (Thursday through May 1st) They call their program Seven Times Fall Down, Eight Times Get Up. Such is life. Thursday through next Sunday at 8 p.m Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building, Lincoln Center, (212)868-4444, $12 (advance); $15 (at the door). (Dunning) CHANTAL YZERMANS/RADICAL LOW (Thursday through May 1) The brainy Ms. Yzermans is likely to give the notion of cloud nine an unexpected spin in her new multimedia piece of the same name.Thursday through next Sunday at 8 p.m. Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212)334-7479, $18; $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: TOTEMS TO TURQUOISE: NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN JEWELRY ARTS OF THE NORTHWEST AND SOUTHWEST, through July 10. Jewelry dating to prehistoric times are used here to lend credence to contemporary works that are sometimes little more than glitzy knockoffs. The show is a valuable essay on the very notion of traditions: how they are formed, perpetuated, renewed, exploited or exhausted. Central Park West at 79th Street, (212)769-5100. (Grace Glueck) * ASIA SOCIETY AND QUEENS MUSEUM OF ART: EDGE OF DESIRE: RECENT ART IN INDIA, through June 5. 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, New York City Building, Flushing Meadows, Corona Park, (718)592-9700. Also at Queens: Fatal Love. (Holland Cotter) BARD GRADUATE CENTER FOR STUDIES IN THE DECORATIVE ARTS, DESIGN AND CULTURE: CHERISHED POSSESSIONS: A NEW ENGLAND LEGACY, through June 5. 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. (Glueck) BROOKLYN MUSEUM: BASQUIAT, through June 5. 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. (Roberta Smith) * BROOKLYN MUSEUM: LUCE VISIBLE STORAGE/STUDY CENTER Sleek vitrines house 1,500 objects from four departments and represents 15 centuries of art and design of the Americas. (See above.) (Smith). COOPER-HEWITT NATIONAL DESIGN MUSEUM: EXTREME TEXTILES: DESIGNING FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE, 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) DAHESH MUSEUM OF ART: FIRST SEEN: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE WORLDS PEOPLES, 1840-1880, through May 1. About 250 pictures from the vast archives of the Wilson Center for Photography in London depict first glimpses of people, rather than the more usual landscapes, mountains or relics that were easier subjects for the pioneer cameras. The profusion can cause the viewers mind to boggle, but it gives a good idea of the worldwide sweep of the earliest camera lens. 580 Madison Avenue, at 56th Street, (212)759-0606. (Glueck) * SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: HUGO BOSS PRIZE 2004: RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA, through May 11. For his solo show, Mr. Tiravanija built a low-power television station from inexpensive materials and papered the gallerys walls with instructions on how anyone and everyone can do the same, raising issues of government control and First Amendment rights. 1071 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street, (212)423-3500. (Cotter) SOLOMON R. 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.) (Michael Kimmelman) INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY: LARRY CLARK, through June 5. 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. (Ken Johnson) * JAPAN SOCIETY: LITTLE BOY: THE ARTS OF JAPANS EXPLODING SUBCULTURE, 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: DIANE ARBUS REVELATIONS, through May 30. Arbus could be cruel, but tenderness and melancholy were her finest modes of expression as she captured a moment, the anxious 1950s and 60s, and captured New York. Appropriately, she is given the royal treatment at the Met, including some absurdly theatrical galleries, where her work reveals that in the end we are all drawn together by our different flaws. Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, (212)535-7710. (Kimmelman) METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: THE BISHOP JADES, through January 2006. Jade has been treasured since ancient time, though the almost preposterously exquisite objects on display in the Mets reinstalled galleries for Chinese decorative arts date from the 18th century, when the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) brought Chinese jade work to a peak of virtuosity. (See above.) (Cotter) METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: DEFINING YONGLE: IMPERIAL ART IN EARLY 15TH-CENTURY CHINA, through July 10. Sequestered in the exquisite Chinese decorative arts galleries, this show 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. (See above.) (Smith) METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: MAX ERNST: A RETROSPECTIVE, 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) (Cotter) * METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: FROM FILIPPO LIPPI TO PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA: FRA CARNEVALE AND THE MAKING OF A RENAISSANCE MASTER, through May 1. Fra Carnevale is known primarily for two extraordinary paintings of tiny figures in fantastic architectural settings. Both are in this intricate show, which shows his paintings with some by figures like Filippo Lippi and Piero della Francesca to explore ideas about professional identity in a diverse cultural epoch. (See above.) (Cotter). * MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: THOMAS DEMAND, through May 30: A generally stellar midcareer survey of the 40-year-old German artist, who makes life-size reconstructions of scenes, often ones he has come across in photographs, taking his own cinematic works. 11 West 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400. (Kimmelman). * MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: PERMANENT COLLECTION Despite a fairly inchoate assemblage of contemporary art on the second floor, the early story of modernism is now retold in an installation about as ravishing as any sequence of galleries in any new museum in recent memory. (See above.) (Kimmelman). NATIONAL ACADEMY MUSEUM: SURREALISM USA, through May 8. Surrealism shook American arts, and this high-spirited exhibition examines the fallout with a wide-angle lens. It presents 120 works by more than 60 artists, from Europeans in exile to Abstract Expressionists to the often forgotten. 1083 Fifth Avenue near 89th Street, (212)369-4880. (Smith). NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN: FIRST AMERICAN ART: THE CHARLES AND VALERIE DIKER COLLECTION OF AMERICAN INDIAN 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 Diker Collection, and it affirms American Indian arts worthy aesthetic place in world culture. 1 Bowling Green, Lower Manhattan, (212)514-3700. (Glueck). NEUE GALERIE: PORTRAITS OF AN AGE: PHOTOGRAPHY IN GERMANY AND AUSTRIA, 1900-1938, through June 6. More than 100 faces shot by 35 photographers, among them Lotte Jacobi, Josef Albers, Gisele Freund, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and August Sander. Its a savvy show that homes in on the changing ways people presented themselves in an era of rapidly turning social values. 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th Street, (212)628-6200. (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) THE UKRAINIAN MUSEUM: ALEXANDER ARCHIPENKO: VISION AND CONTINUITY, through Sept. 4. This rare retrospective of work by the Ukrainian-born sculptor opens the handsome, much-expanded new quarters of a community museum begun in 1976. 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, (212)228-0110. (Glueck) * WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: CY TWOMBLY: FIFTY YEARS OF WORKS ON PAPER, through May 8. Despite the title, this is basically a show of paintings. It starts in the 1950s, with a personal anti-aesthetic in which scribbling was draftsmanship, and gouging and scratching were gestural painting. After a move to Italy, words appeared. Later the work turns lush, into a kind of horticultural expressionism that is appetizing and uningratiating. 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (800)944-8639. (Cotter) * WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: TIM HAWKINSON, through May 29. On the gee-whiz meter, Mr. Hawkinson skews high. His midcareer retrospective, like a mad scientists fair of screwball contraptions, hopscotches from one dexterous tour de force to the next. (See above.) (Kimmelman). WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART AT ALTRIA: SUE DE BEER: BLACK SUN, through June 24. In a walk-in pink castle, 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)663-24538639. (Johnson) Galleries: Uptown PETER HOWSON, CHRISTOS ANESTE Working with a sharp pencil on small square panels in a profusely detailed, expressionistic and sometimes hallucinatory style that harks back to the Northern Renaissance, this British artist brings impressive skill and tragicomic verve to subjects like the trials of Jesus, the temptation of St. Anthony and the delusions of Don Quixote. Flowers, 1000 Madison Avenue at 77th Street, (212)439-1700, through May 7. (Johnson) * WAYNE THIEBAUD SINCE 1962: A SURVEY In the early 60s, Mr. Thiebaud arrived at the buttery thick still-life paintings of commercial food products that perfectly combined formalism, realism and Pop. This excellent small retrospective shows how he got there and some of the places he has been since. Allan Stone, 113 East 90th Street, (212)987-4997, through May 27. (Johnson) Galleries: 57th Street IN BLACK AND WHITE This ecumenical group show follows its color scheme across the party lines separating generations, mediums, styles and cliques. Among the standouts is an unusually de Kooning-like 1950s oil-on-board by Ad Reinhardt and an assertive bust of a woman by Louisa Matthiasdottir. Lori Bookstein Fine Art, 37 West 57th Street, (212)750-0949, through April 29. (Smith) LARRY BURROWS War and Peace, Before he was lost in a helicopter over Laos in 1971, Burrows produced images in Vietnam that are among the most beautiful and moving war photographs made. This selection of 27 pictures includes a number of those, as well as more conventional news photographs. Laurence Miller, 20 West 57th Street, (212)397-3930, through April 30. (Johnson) SERIOUS NONSENSE: THE IMAGERY OF BRUCE McCALL If Fred Astaire had made paintings in his spare time, perhaps they would have looked like the smooth and witty, 1940s-style gouaches of Mr. McCall, a contributor to The New Yorker and other magazines. James Goodman, 41 East 57th Street, (212)593-3737, through April 30. (Johnson) Galleries: SoHo * 3 X ABSTRACTION: NEW METHODS OF DRAWING BY HILMA AF KLIMT, EMMA KUNZ AND AGNES MARTIN, This fascinating and beautiful show presents mostly abstract, geometric drawings by three women thought to have been motivated largely by spiritual purposes. Drawing Center, 35 Wooster Street, (212)219-2166, through May 21. (Johnson) Galleries: Chelsea HAVING DIFFERENCES A lively selection of seven young Los Angeles artists, includes Jacob Melchis hilarious, hand-printed stories about art world people; Eduardo Sarabias fake stolen vases; and Marie Jagers zany android movie. I-20, 529 West 20th Street, (212)645-1100, through April 30. (Johnson) IAN KIAER: THE GREY CLOTH Five installation pieces work as a neurasthenic environment whose pale monochromes and found objects abjectly elegize the building blocks of modernism. Tanya Bonakdar Gallery 521 West 21st Street, (212)414-4144, through April 30. (Smith) MARTIN KIPPENBERGER: SELF-PORTRAITS A bracing display of ambitious, self-deprecating and in some ways tragic self-portraits rarely seen in the United States, by the German bad-boy artist whose reputation and influence have been expanding since his death in 1997. Luhring Augustine, 531 West 24th Street, (212)206-9100, through April 30. (Smith) JUTTA KOETHER A small survey of a German-born New York painter whose graffiti-inspired brushwork, fluorescent palette, fragmented images and heavy-duty quotations define her medium as defiantly multipurpose. It provides pleasure, incites thought and questions assumptions about taste and technique. Thomas Erben, 516 West 20th Street, (212)645-8701, through May 7. (Smith) JONAS MEKAS: FRAGMENTS OF PARADISE This retrospective sampler of a revered member of the New York avant-garde film community presents short and long, typically low-production, diaristic films from the last five decades on video screens. Also, a cacophonous, 12-monitor installation shows 24 hours in the life of the artist and his family. Maya Stendhal, 545 West 20th Street, (212)366-1549, through May 14. (Johnson) DAVID RATCLIFF Digitally processed montages of mass-media imagery are converted into hand-cut stencils, to create hallucinatory, two-tone spray paintings, finessing the gap between Pop and Surrealism. Team, 527 West 26th Street, (212)279-9219, through May 7. (Johnson) ANGELA STRASSHEIM: LEFT BEHIND The large, extraordinarily vivid color photographs in this New York solo debut have a subtly gripping archetypal magic. Marvelli, 526 West 26th Street, (212)627-3363, through April 30. (Johnson) Other Galleries ALEXANDER THE GREAT: TREASURES FROM AN EPIC ERA OF HELLENISM, Alexander (356-323 B.C.) and his age are evoked in this concentrated show of art and artifacts displaying portrait busts of the legendary Macedonian emperor, ancient coins, advanced Macedonian weaponry and pottery. Onassis Cultural Center, 645 Fifth Avenue, at 52nd Street, (212)486-4448, through May 28. (Glueck) MICHAEL ELMGREEN AND INGAR DRAGSET: END STATION The Fur-Lined Teacup Award goes to this art duo, which has 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) JEFF HAND, THE SHADOW OF DOUBT This Nashville conceptualists comic art-about-art includes a de Kooning Woman remade from carpet scraps; a Motherwell bathmat; and a revolving, fur-lined teacup. Plus Ultra, 235 South First Street, Williamsburg, (718)387-3844, through April 25. (Johnson) MARTIN KIPPENBERGER: THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE, SYROS, PARIS BAR, AND DAWSON CITY Concentrating on far-flung earthworks commissioned by the owners of a Berlin art bar named for the French capital, this exhibition corrals many of the German artists so-called side lines, including drawings and watercolors. They capture quite a bit of his raucous, free-range sensibility. Nyehaus, 15 Gramercy Park South, 8D, (212)473-4447, through April 30. (Smith) JOSHUA SMITH: MAKE IT PLAIN Smart yet homey, subversive yet beautiful, Mr. Smiths second solo show combines formerly busy canvases revised into busily bordered gray monochromes and a sea of bar stools arted-up with similarly nonchalant flair. Reena Spaulings, 371 Grand Street, Lower East Side, (212)477-5006, through April 29. (Smith) JULIAN OPIE: ANIMALS, BUILDINGS, CARS AND PEOPLE Outdoor sculptures in a coolly understated neo-Pop style. City Hall Park, (212)980-4575, through October. (Johnson) Last Chance NORMAN BLUHM A second-generation Abstract Expressionist who tended to dismiss the designation, Bluhm (1921-99) still held on to the sweeping gestural painting. He was a painter to reckon with: unfazed by styles or trends, he did it his way. James Graham, 1014 Madison Avenue, at 78th Street, (212)535-5767, closing tomorrow. (Glueck) SYDNEY BLUM, Undoing. File these elegant, ethereal wall pieces, made of tangles of thin wire variously colored, bent, crinkled and coiled, under the heading of art that looks easy but isnt. Kim Foster, 529 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212)229-0044, closing tomorrow. (Smith) ERIC FISCHL Paintings based on his own photographs of hired models behaving like jaded sophisticates. They are suavely made with wide brushes in muted colors, but a frustrating vagueness limits the psychological intrigue. Mary Boone, 541 West 24th Street, Chelsea, (212)752-2929, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) THE FRICK COLLECTION: RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE BRONZES FROM THE FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM, CAMBRIDGE The Fricks third show devoted to small bronze sculptures continues to enhance the notion that mini-bronzes are as rewarding as large-scale sculpture. Though small, they have the charge of life-size works. 1 East 70th Street, (212)288-0700, closing on Sunday. (Glueck) JOE FYFE, Paintings From Vietnam. Mr. Fyfe, an art critic and painter, made the almost purely abstract paintings in this small show in Vietnam last year. They are rough and reticent yet somehow delicately poetic, too. JG Contemporary, 505 West 28th Street, Chelsea, (212)564-7662, closing tomorrow (Johnson). ROBERT GOBER Mr. Gober turns the Matthew Marks space into a kind of church, with a suspended crucifix, inaccessible side chapels and intimations of a priest. Facsimiles of The New York Times add the Clinton years and 9/11 to his perennial themes of life and death, sin and redemption. Its iconography with an old-fashioned moral vehemence, combining the hermetic with the familiar in mind-twisting ways. 522 West 22nd Street, (212)243-0200, closing tomorrow. (Smith) MARK HEYER Mr. Heyers small, folksy narrative paintings of subjects like a tornado approaching a Midwestern farm look as if they were made by a simple-minded colleague of Edward Hopper and Charles Burchfield. That they are actually clever Postmodernist simulations does not prevent them from being nostalgically enchanting. Lohin Geduld, 531 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212)675-2656, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) ELLSWORTH KELLY: SMALL PAINTINGS, 1955- 63, A gem of an exhibition presents seven small paintings from a formative period in the career of one of our most celebrated abstractionists. Mr. Kellys subtly witty, formally acute play with simple shapes, the picture plane and primary colors gives these works a punchy vitality. Freeman, 560 Broadway, at Prince Street, SoHo, (212)966-5154, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) MARTIN KIPPENBERGER: DEAR PAINTER, PAINT FOR ME After John Baldessari, but before Damien Hirst, Kippenberger hired a commercial artist to make photorealist paintings, which are personalized by their quirky compositions and his frequent presence. They have never been shown together in New York. Gagosian Gallery, 980 Madison Avenue, near 76th Street, (212)744-2313, closing tomorrow. (Smith) MODEL MODERNISMS This smart show of wry and oblique takes on Modernism includes driftwood sculptures by Carol Bove and a haunting video by Florian Pumhosl whose climax is a close-up of a Cyclops quietly peeling an apple. Artists Space, 38 Greene Street, SoHo, (212)226-3970, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: CONTEMPORARY VOICES: WORKS FROM THE UBS ART COLLECTION The most visionary museum of the 20th century inaugurates its temporary-exhibition galleries in its 21st-century home with gifts from a corporate collection. It is an ambitious, carefully selected corporate collection, but that doesnt keep it from feeling corporate, monotonous and by the book. (See above.) Closing on Monday. (Smith) GONZALO PUCH: INCIDENTES Five metaphysical C-print photographs seem to comment ironically on science, art, their ambitions and intersections. The punchiest shows the artist on the floor, his mouth affixed to a tube. Julie Saul, 535 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212)627-2410, closing tomorrow (Glueck). HERVÉ DI ROSA: THE SOLO GROUP SHOW A French Neo-Popster presents more than 500 small paintings and drawings in four clusters. The gleeful irreverence and love of absurdity holds it all together that wins you over. Haim Chanin, 210 11th Avenue, at 24th Street, (646)230-7200, closing tomorrow (Johnson). ALEXANDER ROSS Mr. Rosss funny, weird, Pop-Surrealist paintings look like the work of a nerdy teenager steeped in science fiction and cannabis. Feature, 530 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212)675-7772, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) ZULMA STEELE AND ARTHUR WESLEY DOW Theres a mismatch of talents here. In this show of their landscapes, she is far outclassed by him. Spanierman Gallery, 45 East 58th Street, (212)832-0208, closing tomorrow. (Glueck) MAGNUS VON PLESSEN In his eagerness to suggest fluctuating moods and rapid shifting of perceptions, he puts down fugitive images done in by paint or the lack of it. Paint, or its strategic omission, the artist seems to say, trumps imagery. In more talented hands, this is often true, but not here. Gladstone Gallery, 515 West 24th Street, Chelsea, (212)206-9300, closing tomorrow. (Glueck)

Theater; Dance Film Music Arts and Leisure Guide Art Photography Miscellany

. Steven J Goldsmith and Arnold Forster lrs dispute Nov 27 ed

The Listings: Jan. 20 - Jan. 26

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 (I AM) NOBODYS LUNCH Preview today. Opens tomorrow. The Civilians docu-play investigates how and why we know what we know in a post-Sept. 11 world (1:30). 59E59, 59 East 59th Street; (212) 279-4200. APARTMENT 3A Previews start today. Opens Monday. A comedy about a woman having a terrible day -- that is, before she moves into a new apartment -- by Jeff Daniels, who personified Park Slope pretentiousness in The Squid and the Whale (1:30). Arclight Theater, 152 West 71st Street; (212) 352-0255. ZOMBOID! Opens Wednesday. Richard Foreman, a downtown institution, tries multimedia in his latest experimental event, which features large projections shot in Australia (1:15). Ontological-Hysteric Theater, 131 East 10th Street, East Village; (212) 352-3101. BRIDGE & TUNNEL Opens Thursday. The Surface Transit star Sarah Jones takes her comic solo show about a diverse poetry slam to Broadway (1:30). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street; (212) 239-6200. BAREFOOT IN THE PARK Previews start Tuesday. Opens Feb. 16. Patrick Wilson and Amanda Peet star in Neil Simons classic romantic comedy about New York newlyweds (2:20). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street; (212) 239-6200. I LOVE YOU BECAUSE Opens Feb. 14. Mr. Darcy becomes Marcy in this gender-switching musical retelling of Pride and Prejudice, which stars Stephane DAbruzzo from Avenue Q (2:00). Village Theater, 158 Bleecker Street, near Sullivan Street, East Village; (212) 307-4100. THE PAJAMA GAME Opens Feb. 23. Labor unrest leads to romance in this classic musical about a manager and a union representative at a pajama factory. Harry Connick Jr. stars, and Kathleen Marshall directs (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street; (212) 719-1300. RABBIT HOLE Opens Feb. 2. A husband and wife drift apart in the wake of a terrible accident in David Lindsay-Abaires new family drama. Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly star (2:10). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street; (212) 239-6200. RED LIGHT WINTER Previews start today. Opens Feb. 9. Throw two men, a prostitute and one Amsterdam evening into an Adam Rapp drama and you may well have some trouble. Variety calls it Mr. Rapps most commercial outing (2:25). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, West Village; (212) 239-6200. THE RIGHT KIND OF PEOPLE Previews start Tuesday. Opens Feb. 9. A grumpy Charles Grodin delves into the dark, mysterious world of Manhattan co-op boards in this Primary Stages comedy (1:30). 59E59, 59 East 59th Street; (212) 279-4200. THE SEVEN Opens Feb. 12. The hip-hop theater pioneer Will Powers large-cast adaptation of Aeschylus Seven Against Thebes. Jo Bonney directs (2:00). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 239-6200. Broadway CHITA RIVERA: THE DANCERS LIFE At 72, Ms. Rivera still has the voice, the attitude and -- oh, yes -- the legs to magnetize all eyes in an audience. If the singing scrapbook of a show that surrounds her is less than electric, there is no denying the electricity of the woman at its center (2:00). Schoenfeld Theater, 236 West 45th Street; (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley) 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 Prizewinning 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. (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 Jonathan Pryce and Norbert Leo Butz, never straightens out of a slouch (2:35). (On Tuesday, Jonathan Pryce will assume Mr. Lithgows role.) 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 (Eileen Atkins), the head of a parochial school, and Father Flynn (Ron Eldard), 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 Theater; 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) 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 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 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. 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) A TOUCH OF THE POET It takes Gabriel Byrne, playing a self-dramatizing monster father, roughly an hour to find his feet in Doug Hughess lukewarm revival of Eugene ONeills drama. But when he does, in the shows second half, audiences are allowed a rare glimpse of a thrilling process: an actors taking hold of the reins of a runaway role and riding it for all its worth. Unfortunately, nothing else in this underdirected, undercast production begins to match his pace (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. (Charles Isherwood) THE WOMAN IN WHITE Bravely flouting centuries of accepted scientific theory, the creators of this adaptation of Wilkie Collinss spine tingler have set out to prove that the world is flat, after all. This latest offering from Andrew Lloyd Webber, directed by Trevor Nunn, seems to exist entirely in two dimensions, from its computer-generated backdrops to its decorative chess-piece-like characters (2:50). Marquis Theater, 211 West 45th Street; (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Off Broadway * ABIGAILS PARTY Scott Elliotts thoroughly delectable production of Mike Leighs 1977 comedy about domestic discord among the British middle classes. Jennifer Jason Leigh leads a superb ensemble cast as a party hostess who wields the gin bottle like a deadly weapon, resulting in an evening of savagely funny chaos (2:15). Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton; (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) * 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) ALMOST, MAINE John Carianis comedy comprises almost a dozen two-character vignettes exploring the sudden thunderclap of love and the scorched earth that sometimes follows. It will evoke either awwws or icks, depending on your affection for its whimsical approach to the joys and perils of romance (2:00). Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, Flatiron district; (212) 239-6200.(Isherwood) BEAUTY OF THE FATHER A crisp outline of the Pulitzer Prizewinner Nilo Cruzs new play suggests the crazy-quilt melodramas of early Almodóvar: Father and daughter are attracted to the same sexy bad boy, igniting all manner of emotional fireworks. But Mr. Cruzs reflective, unhurried pace and his meandering, lyrical dialogue allow his fuses to burn a little too long, resulting in more fizzle than flash (2:10). Manhattan Theater Club, at City Center, Stage II, 131 West 55th Street; (212) 581-1212. (Isherwood) 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) CANDIDA The two men -- David Tillistrand as Candidas husband, and Danaher Dempsey as the sniveling poet who falls under her spell -- arent strong enough to make this a great Candida, but Shaws insights still shine a century after he wrote the play, and the director, Michael Halberstam, manages to draw some good laughs in the third act (1:55). Jean Cocteau Repertory, at the Bouwerie Lane Theater, 330 Bowery Lane, at Bond Street, East Village; (212) 279-4200. (Neil Genzlinger) DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD The Peanuts characters grow up, do drugs and have sex in this dark, disposable parody. Good grief (1:30). Century Center for the Performing Arts, 111 East 15th Street, Flatiron district; (212) 239-6200. (Zinoman) * 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) * IN THE CONTINUUM Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter are both the authors and the performers of this smart, spirited and disarmingly funny show about two women: one a middle-class mother in Zimbabwe, the other a 19-year-old at loose ends in Los Angeles whose lives are upended by HIV diagnoses. Emphatically not a downer (1:30). Perry Street Theater, 31 Perry Street, Greenwich Village; (212) 868-4444. (Isherwood) * THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED Lean, mean and about as deep as a shot glass, Diane the Hollywood agent is just the tonic New York theatergoers need in the depths of an urban winter. Played by Julie White in an irresistible adrenaline rush of a performance, Diane is the arch-manipulator in Douglas Carter Beanes tangy fable of fame and its discontents, directed by Scott Ellis. With Neal Huff as a closeted Hollywood star, and Johnny Galecki as the rent boy who loves him (2:10). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton; (212) 246-4422. (Brantley) MR. MARMALADE A zany comedy by Noah Haidle about emotionally disturbed children. Yes, you read that right. Michael C. Hall of Six Feet Under plays the now-cuddly, now-abusive imaginary friend of a neglected 4 year old. Unfortunately, Mr. Haidle never truly capitalizes on his provocative conceit, choosing instead to draw us a scary but ultimately hollow cartoon (1:50). Roundabout Theater Company, Laura Pels Theater, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street; (212) 719-1300. (Isherwood) *MRS. WARRENS PROFESSION An absolutely splendid Dana Ivey takes the title role in Charlotte Moores sensitively acted production of Bernard Shaws famously provocative play, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary on the New York stage this year (2:20). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea; (212) 727-2737. (Isherwood) RFK This solo show written and starring Jack Holmes is a reasonably accurate historical portrait, but the performance, unfortunately, lacks the charisma and charm that made the real Bobby Kennedy a star (1:35). Culture Project @ 45 Bleecker, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village; (212) 253-9983. (Jonathan Kalb) * THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL Led by Lois Smith in a heart-wrenching performance, the cast never strikes a false note in Harris Yulins beautifully mounted revival of Horton Footes drama, finding an emotional authenticity in a work largely remembered as a tear-jerking chestnut. This is not to say you should neglect to bring handkerchiefs (1:50). Signature Theater, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton; (212) 244-7529. (Brantley) Off Off Broadway ANTON It is one thing to write a play about Anton Chekhovs last four years, quite another to attempt the masters style, then produce and direct it and portray the title character. Though Pierre van der Spuys reach far exceeds his grasp, he deserves some credit for trying (2:15). Greenwich Street Theater, 547 Greenwich Street, between Charlton and Vandam Streets, South Village; (212) 352-3101.(Andrea Stevens) *THE END OF REALITY Violence isnt pretty in the listless but eventful world of Richard Maxwells hypnotic new play. Its not ugly, either. In this latest work from the king of affecting disaffection, violence doesnt so much explode as drip, like water from a leaky faucet, into the lives of lonely, hapless security guards. Mr. Maxwells most eloquent statement to date about the blurring of despair and apathy in American lives (1:40). The Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea; (212) 255-5793. (Brantley) GONER The president is shot, and the worlds worst doctors get the job of trying to save him in this very funny bit of sketch comedy disguised as a play. Bad taste seems not to be an issue for the author, Brian Parks, but most of the lunacy is inspired enough that you can forgive the insensitivity (1:15). Kraine Theater, 85 East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 868-4444. (Genzlinger) HOUSE OF DESIRE This 300-year-old farce, written by a nun, mostly proves that Baroque women were just as capable as Baroque men of producing forgettable plays. Its sometimes fun watching the energetic young actors trying to breathe life into it, though, especially during a smashing sword fight conducted in semi-darkness (2:10). Storm Theater, 145 West 46th Street; (212) 868-4444. (Genzlinger) MAJOR BARBARA George Bernard Shaws polemic against the military-industrial complex and organized religion is still timely 100 years later, and though the director Brooke OHarras Kabuki-tinged version lands on the mark and misses it about equally, there is something true and real about the production that is worth seeing (2:35). La MaMa Annex Theater, 74A East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 475-7710. (Stevens) WHAT THEN Even if Rinne Groffs playful play about environmental disaster is occasionally labored, theres never any doubt that theres an active, lively intelligence at work (1:30). Ohio Theater, 66 Wooster Street, between Spring and Broome Streets, SoHo; (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) 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) 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) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street; (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance * CELEBRATION and THE ROOM The Atlantic Theater Companys production of the first and most recent plays by Harold Pinter gets only the later work right. (Thats Celebration, an unexpectedly boisterous comedy from 2000.) But if the italicized acting scales down dramatic effectiveness, it heightens thematic clarity. Essential viewing for anyone wondering why Mr. Pinter won the Nobel Prize this year (1:45). Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea; (212) 239-6200; closing tomorrow. (Brantley) THE REVENGERS TRAGEDY Sounds like Shakespeare, bleeds like a Friday the 13th movie. Authorship of this 400-year-old play is uncertain, but the Red Bull Theaters interpretation, adapted and directed by Jesse Berger, is definitive, anchored by a dynamite performance by Matthew Rauch as a fellow bent on avenging his loves death in a dukedom full of degenerates (2:05). Culture Project @ 45 Bleecker, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village; (212) 352-0255; closing Sunday. (Genzlinger) 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. * BREAKFAST ON PLUTO (R, 129 minutes) Candide meets Tom Jones in drag heaven might describe Neil Jordans picaresque fairy tale about a foundling who becomes a transvestite in 1970s and 80s London, against the backdrop of the Irish troubles. (Stephen Holden) * BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (R, 134 minutes) Annie Proulxs heartbreaking story of two ranch hands who fall in love while herding sheep in 1963 has been faithfully translated onto the screen in Ang Lees landmark film. Heath Ledger (in a great performance worthy of Brando at his peak) and Jake Gyllenhaal bring them fully alive. (Holden) * CACHÉ (HIDDEN) (R, 121 minutes, in French) Michael Haneke, one of the most elegantly sadistic European directors working today, deposits his audience at the intersection of voyeurism and paranoia in this tense, politically tinged psychological thriller about vengeance and injustice. Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil are in top form as an affluent Parisian couple menaced by mysterious drawings and videotapes. (A. O. Scott) * CASANOVA (R, 110 minutes) Heath Ledger affirms his status as the pansexual art-house heartthrob of the moment in this high-spirited farce suggested by the career of 18th-century Venices most notorious seducer. Silly, sly and delightful. (Scott) THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (PG, 135 minutes) This honorable adaptation of C. S. Lewiss novel has much of the power and charm of the source. The fusing of live action and computer-generated imagery is adequate, if rarely inspiring. Adult viewers are likely to imbibe the films wonders indirectly, through the eyes of accompanying children, who are likely to be delighted and sometimes awed. (Scott) THE FAMILY STONE (PG-13, 102 minutes) A home-for-the-holidays movie about a tribe of ravenous cannibals that bares its excellent teeth at anyone who doesnt accommodate its preening self-regard, most recently a big-city executive played by a very good Sarah Jessica Parker. (Manohla Dargis) GLORY ROAD (PG, 109 minutes) The true-story, more or less, of the 1966 Texas Western college bastkeball team -- the first all-black starting five to play in an N.C.A.A. final. By the numbers, but inspiring all the same. (Scott) * 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 a history lesson and a passionate essay on power, responsibility and the ethics of journalism. (Scott) * HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (PG-13, 150 minutes) Childhood ends for the young wizard with the zigzag scar in the latest addition to the Potter saga, even as the director Mike Newell keeps its British eccentricity, fatalism and steady-on pluck irresistibly intact. (Dargis) HOODWINKED (PG, 81 minutes) Little Red Riding Hood is deconstructed in this sub-Shrek bummer, the latest collaboration between computers and cynicism. (Nathan Lee) HOSTEL (R, 95 minutes) Two ugly Americans rampage through Europe before finding themselves ensnared in an underground Slovakian snuff club. The calculated outrages of this brutal exploitation film prove less shocking than its relentless bigotry. (Lee) * KING KONG (PG-13, 180 minutes) Peter Jacksons remake is, almost by definition, too much -- too long, too big, too stuffed with characters and effects-driven set pieces -- but it is also remarkably nimble and sweet. Going back to the Depression-era setting of the 1933 original, Mr. Jacksons film is as much a tribute to the old seat-of-the-pants spirit of early motion pictures as it is an exercise in technological bravura. Naomi Watts as the would-be movie star Ann Darrow and Andy Serkis as the big monkey who loves her have a rapport that gives the spectacle the pathos and sweetness it needs, and help to turn a brute spectacle into a pop tragedy. (Scott) THE LAST HOLIDAY (PG-13, 112 minutes) Based on a 1950 British film, Wayne Wangs comedy about a gentle soul who learns to live only after learning of her imminent death is one of those generic wish-fulfillment flicks in which the soul in question actualizes her goals through perseverance and pluck. The star Queen Latifah charms, but even she cant gold-plate junk. (Dargis) * MATCH POINT (R, 124 minutes) Woody Allens best in years, and one of his best ever. Beneath the dazzling, sexy surface, this tale of social climbing in London (brilliantly acted by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Scarlett Johansson and Emily Mortimer) is ice cold and pitch black, which curiously enough makes it a superior diversion. (Scott) THE MATADOR (R, 96 minutes) Pithy remarks put into the mouth of a star (Pierce Brosnan) playing against type impart a greasy sheen of sophistication to this weightless, amoral romp about a professional hit man facing a midlife crisis. (Holden) MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (PG-13, 144 minutes) Think As the Geisha Turns, with devious rivals, swoonworthy swains, a jaw-dropping dance number recycled from Madonnas Drowned World tour and much clinching, panting and scheming. Directed by Rob Marshall from the Arthur Golden book, and starring Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh. (Dargis) * MUNICH (R, 164 minutes) With his latest, Steven Spielberg forgoes the emotional bullying and pop thrills that come so easily to him to tell the story of a campaign of vengeance that Israel purportedly brought against Palestinian terrorists in the wake of the 1972 Olympics. An unsparingly brutal look at two peoples all but drowning in a sea of their own blood, Munich is by far the toughest film of the directors career, and the most anguished. (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) * PRIDE & PREJUDICE (PG, 128 minutes) In this sumptuous, extravagantly romantic adaptation of Jane Austens 1813 novel, Keira Knightleys Elizabeth Bennet exudes a radiance that suffuses the movie. This is a banquet of high-end comfort food perfectly cooked and seasoned to Anglophilic tastes. (Holden) THE PRODUCERS (PG-13, 127 minutes) At a fraction of the Broadway ticket price, its no bargain. (Scott) * SYRIANA (R, 122 minutes) Ambitious, angry and complicated, Stephen Gaghans second film tackles terrorism, American foreign policy, global trade and the oil business through four interwoven stories. There are at least a half-dozen first-rate performances, and Mr. Gaghan, who wrote and directed, reinvents the political thriller as a vehicle for serious engagement with the state of the world. (Scott) TRANSAMERICA (R, 103 minutes) Felicity Huffmans performance as a preoperative transsexual on a cross-country journey with her long-lost son is sensitive and convincing, and helps the picture rise above its indie road-picture clichés. (Scott) TRISTAN & ISOLDE (PG-13, 125 minutes) The lovers of Celtic mythology, Arthurian legend and Wagnerian libretto fall for each other far from the violent, Dark Ages machinations plaguing their two warring peoples. A pleasant entertainment from the director Kevin Reynolds that delivers exactly what it promises, no less, no more. (Dargis) WALK THE LINE (PG-13, 138 minutes) Johnny Cash gets the musical biopic treatment in this moderately entertaining, never quite convincing chronicle of his early years. Joaquin Phoenix, sweaty, inarticulate and intense as Cash, is upstaged by Reese Witherspoon, who tears into the role of June Carter (Cashs creative partner long before she became his second wife) with her usual charm, pluck and intelligence. (Scott) * WHEN THE SEA RISES (No rating, 89 minutes, in French) Graced with a magnetic lead performance by Yolande Moreau, this French-Belgian movie is a serious romantic comedy with surreal touches that follows the road tour of a middle-aged solo comedian through the small towns of northern France.(Holden) YOURS, MINE AND OURS (PG, 90 minutes) Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo inhabit roles originated by Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball in this snug, airtight remake of the 1968 comedy about the combining of two antagonistic families with 18 children between them. Cutesy unreality prevails. (Holden) Film Series FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Through Feb. 12) This year the theme of the Museum of the Moving Image and the New York Film Critics Circles series is the experience of being a stranger in a strange land. This weekends films are Kundun (1997), Martin Scorseses biography of the 14th Dalai Lama, selected by Nathan Lee, who reviews movies for The New York Times, and Foreign Correspondent (1940), Hitchcocks espionage thriller starring Joel McCrea and Laraine Day, selected by Andrew Sarris. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077; $10. (Anita Gates) LABOR GOES TO THE MOVIES (Tomorrow) The Professional Staff Congress, the faculty and staff union at the City University of New York, is screening Peter Watkinss six-hour documentary La Commune (Paris 1871) tomorrow. The film, done in a You Are There newscast style, will be followed by commentary from Joan Wallach Scott of Princeton University. Center for Worker Education, 99 Hudson Street, between Harrison and Franklin Streets, TriBeCa, (646) 459-6882; $2 suggested donation. (Gates) NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL (Through Jan. 26) The 15th annual program, sponsored by the Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, continues this weekend. The films include La Petite Jérusalem (2005), Karin Albous story of a young Sephardic Orthodox woman in a Parisian suburb, also to be shown at Makors Steinhardt Building, 35 West 67th Street, Manhattan, on Wednesday; the Israeli director Yahaly Gats Treasure in Auschwitz (2005), a drama about an archaeological dig near the death camp; and the world premiere of Love Iranian-American Style (2005), Tanaz Eshaghians documentary about a series of blind dates arranged by her family. Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5600; $10. (Gates) NORDIC OSCAR CONTENDERS (Through Jan. 20) Scandinavia Houses screening of films from Nordic countries selected for 2005 Oscar consideration concludes tonight with Josef Faress Zozo, about a boy from Beirut whose grandparents have moved to Sweden. 58 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 879-9779; $8. (Gates) PIXAR: 20 YEARS OF ANIMATION (Through Feb. 6) A complete retrospective of Pixar animated films continues at the Museum of Modern Art. This weekends film is Monsters Inc. (2001), to be shown with two shorts, Mikes New Car (2002), featuring the Monsters Inc. characters Mike and Sully, and Boundin (2003), about a depressed sheep and a helpful jackalope. 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400; $10. (Gates) WELL-MEANING PEOPLE ARE DANGEROUS: THE FILMS OF LARS VON TRIER (Through Thursday) The IFC Centers one-week retrospective of Mr. von Triers films begins this weekend. Films include Dancer in the Dark (2000), the Palme dOr-winning Dogma-style musical starring Bjork; Breaking the Waves (1996), starring Emily Watson as a young wife whose husband is paralyzed in an accident; and Zentropa (1991), set in postwar Germany. 323 Avenue of the Americas, at West Third Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 924-7771; $10.75. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. CYRO BAPTISTA & BEAT THE DONKEY, LUMINESCENT ORCHESTRII (Tomorrow) Led by the percussionist Cyro Baptista, who has collaborated on some of the world-beat forays of Paul Simon and Sting, the ensemble Beat the Donkey plays ecumenical music with a Brazilian flavor, integrating samba, forró and maracatu as well as jazz, rock and funk. Luminescent Orchestrii makes similar cultural mash-ups with a Balkan base. 8 p.m., Steinhardt Building, Makor, 35 West 67th Street, (212) 415-5500; $15. (Laura Sinagra) BELL ORCHESTRE, CLOGS (Sunday) The Montreal band the Bell Orchestre mixes traditional orchestral sounds with machine atmospherics. In contemplative moments, its music recalls the Tindersticks work for film, although it is sometimes more stately. Like-minded associates Clogs also play. 9 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $13 in advance, $15 at the door. (Sinagra) BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE (Thursday) This Canadian collective makes heartbreak music that sounds like a fuzzy, drunken party. Some prefer its diffuse anthemic feints to the straight-up anthems of its countrymen Arcade Fire. Members have included the Stars Evan Cranley, Metrics Emily Haines and the multitalented singer-songwriter Leslie Feist. 7:30 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600; $25. (Sinagra) CAKE, TEGAN AND SARA, GOGOL BORDELLO, EUGENE MIRMAN (Tonight) The Sacramento-based alt-rock band Cake uses its Unlimited Sunshine Tour as a chance to perform with musicians its members admire. This time out they asked the Canadian folk-pop twins Tegan and Sara, as well as the manic Gypsy punkers Gogol Bordello. The music-loving hipster comedian Eugene Mirman will tie it all together. 7:30 p.m., Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street, (212) 485-1534; $34. (Sinagra) CALEXICO (Tuesday) Calexico plays desert rock bathed in pedal-steel mystery and orchestral ambience. Lately the group has collaborated with the quiescent folk-rocker Iron and Wine (a k a Sam Beam), striking a balance that made it sound more intimate and him more expansive. The group plays without him this weekend but is joined by the multi-instrumentalist Rob Burger. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200; $20. (Sinagra) EDITORS (Tonight and Tomorrow) Another in the line of British post-punk bands joining the dark, danceable Joy Division parade, the Editors have strong singles, like the propulsive Munich, but none that top the best from its closest sonic cousin, Interpol. Tonight at 8, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $10 in advance, $12 at the door (sold out). Tomorrow at 11 p.m., the Annex, 152 Orchard Street, near Rivington Street, Lower East Side; $10 (sold out). (Sinagra) ELEPHANT MAN (Tonight) Nicknamed Energy God, the Jamaican D.J. Elephant Man has been one of the dancehall artists most successful in terms of crossing over to the hip-hop scene, lending his gruff, kinetic voice to so many rap and R&B tracks that at times it has felt like overkill. He appears here at a party put on by Hot 97s Angie Martinez and DJ Enuff. 9 p.m., Exit, 610 West 56th Street; free to all on guest list before midnight, $25 after. Call (212) 582-8282 for details. (Sinagra) FLAMENCO IN THE CITY (Sunday) Part of the New York Guitar Festival, presented in partnership with the New York City Classical Guitar Society, this night of flamenco music and dance features the guitarists Dennis Koster, Jose Ramos, and Ivan and Juan Gomez. 3 p.m., American Youth Hostel Concert Chapel, 891 Amsterdam Avenue, at 103rd Street, newyorkguitarfestival.com: $20 to $25. (Sinagra) SOPHIE B. HAWKINS (Tomorrow) Most famous for the radio hit Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover, the intriguingly gutsy Ms. Hawkins now plays the singer-songwriter circuit. 8 p.m., Canal Room, 285 West Broadway, at Canal Street, TriBeCa, (212) 941-8100; $23 in advance, $25 at the door. (Sinagra) HOGAKU: NEW SOUNDS OF JAPAN (Sunday) Hogaku, a Japanese traditional music, is experiencing a revival of sorts, propelled by musicians who bring pop, rock and jazz into the mix. Performers include the lutenist Shinichi Kinoshita, along with the taiko percussionist Hiroshi Motofuji and the flutist Sayuri Ono; the guitar and zither duo Aki & Kuniko, with Sachio Suginuma on shakuhachi (bamboo flute); and the shakuhachi trio Hannya Teikoku. 8 p.m., Asia Society and Museum, 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street, (212) 517-2742; $25, $20 for society members. (At 7 p.m., there will be a lecture on hogaku and its instrumentation.) (Sinagra) BILLY JOEL (Monday and Thursday) The iconic piano man recently released a boxed set celebrating four decades of his music. From Just the Way You Are to Allentown, its the trademark mix of real confidence and false bravado in both his playing and his delivery that keeps him compelling. 8 p.m., Madison Square Garden, (212) 465-6741; $54 to $89.50. (Sinagra) HOWARD JONES (Monday) The 80s synth-pop hitmaker behind the giddily uplifting New Song and the vaguely spooky rouser Things Can Only Get Better scored big by being more human than Thomas Dolby and more optimistic than the Fixx. 7 p.m., Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, Manhattan, ticketmaster.com or (212) 307-7171; $25. (Sinagra) KARSH KALE & REALIZE LIVE FEATURING VISHAL VAID, GLOBESONIC SOUND SYSTEM (Tonight) The tabla player Karsh Kale has branched out into production, exploring East-meets-West beat culture. The vocalist and harmonium player Vishal Vaid draws his inspiration from South Asian ghazal, modally sung improvisatory love poetry. Globesonic Sound System spins a dance party at 12:30. 9, Coda, 34 East 34th Street, Manhattan, (212) 685-3434; $18. (Sinagra) CURT KIRKWOOD (Tonight) In the Meat Puppets, the 80s band he led with his brother Cris, Curt Kirkwood proved himself a punk guitar mystic, integrating punk and classic rock with a lolling profundity revered by Kurt Cobain. 11 p.m., the Living Room, 154 Ludlow Street, near Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 533-7235; $10. (Sinagra) LANGHORNE SLIM (Tonight) With an old-timey shtick and indie-rock influences, this urban-folk songwriter helps young scenesters cleanse the sonic palette after too many nights of beeps and blare. 11:30, Rothko, 116 Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 475-7088; $10. (Sinagra) COLIN MELOY AND LAURA VEIRS (Thursday) The sharp-voiced frontman of the Decemberists, Colin Meloy will soon release some of his college band Tarkios material, the strength of which proves hes always been a master tunesmith inclined toward earnest literary name-checking. He plays solo this time, sharing the bill with another evocative songwriter, the ethereal but edgy Laura Veirs. 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 840-2824 or (212) 545-7536; $23.50. (Sinagra) MF DOOM, LITTLE BROTHER (Thursday) MF Doom is a purveyor of imaginative raps that glower and shimmer, creating a sense of poetic pain. Little Brother is a soul-grounded rap group from Durham, N.C., that forgoes Southern crunk in favor of blending the free-form experimentation of OutKast with the kind of jazzy tracks that characterized the East Coast hip-hop of the mid-90s. 9 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, (212) 307-7171, ticketmaster.com; $33. (Sinagra) THE MOONEY SUZUKI, ABERDEEN CITY (Wednesday) The bluesy garage-rockers the Mooney Suzuki play this open-bar party on a bill that also includes the art-pop hopefuls Aberdeen City. 9 p.m., Shindig Party, 60 Gansevoort Street, near Washington Street, Meatpacking District, shindignyc.com; $15. (Sinagra) R. STEVIE MOORE, ODAWAS (Tonight) The rarely seen R. Stevie Moore plays denatured California-flavored pop. Odawas makes arty folk-rock that sounds as if its being strummed at a campfire on a desert moon, against the baying of mechanical wolves. 8, Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7503; $10. (Sinagra) THE ROLLING STONES, METRIC (Tonight) The Stones newest album is their most stripped-down in 20 years. And as the 62-year-old sexpot Mick Jagger shouts Sweet Neo Con from stadium stages, the Stones even seem politically relevant. Led by the vibrant, articulate singer Emily Haines, Metric finds fresh uses for new-wave brio. Ms. Hainess shuddering alto functions as both a weapon and a come-on. 8 p.m., Madison Square Garden, (212) 465-6741; $64.50 to $454.50. (Sinagra) LAS RUBIAS DEL NORTE (Tonight) Led by the singers Allyssa Lamb and Emily Hurst, this band mixes musicians from the United States, France and Colombia, who mine their Latin heritage in the performance of boleros, cha-chas, cumbias, huaynos and cowboy songs. 11, Mo Pitkins, 34 Avenue A, near Third Street, East Village, (212) 777-5660; $10. (Sinagra) SISE (Thursday) SiSe is a multiple-identity New York band, formed by a singer, Carol C, and a keyboardist-disc jockey-programmer, Cliff Cristofaro, as well as a pair of viola players and a rhythm section. Its songs touch down variously in down-tempo Sade territory, pop-flamenco, reggae, trance, drum-and-bass and various Latin hybrids. 9 p.m., S.O.B.s, 204 Varick Street, at Houston Street, South Village, (212) 243-4940; $18 Advance, $20 at the door. (Jon Pareles) RICKY SKAGGS & KENTUCKY THUNDER (Sunday) Ricky Skaggss fingers fly over just about anything with frets, especially the mandolin; hes no slouch on the fiddle, either, and he has the high tenor voice of a singer steeped in bluegrass. He did well in the Nashville mainstream in the 1980s, working as a producer and making a hit on his own with Country Boy in 1984. He has recently returned to more traditional Southern gospel and bluegrass. 8 p.m., B. B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 237 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144; $35. (Pareles) LUCIANA SOUZA (Monday) The jazzy singer Luciana Souza performs her new, poetry-inspired, Brazilian-inflected songs as a duo with Romero Lubambo, and with a quartet featuring guitar, bass and drums. 7 p.m., Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778 or (212) 239-6200; $20. (Sinagra) LEWIS TAYLOR (Thursday) To call the British songwriter Lewis Taylor neo-soul is to shortchange an arduous history. He has been recording throwback psych-soul odes to love and pain since the 80s, with far less recognition than he is entitled to. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $15. (Sinagra) THREE FLOORS OF SKA (Tonight) Tonight the Knitting Factory is filled with ska bands of many persuasions, from the Toasters, the New York Ska Jazz Ensemble, Go Jimmy Go and Eastern Standard Time to the Rotterdam Ska Jazz Foundation, the Bluebeats, the Rudie Crew, Hub City, Bigger Thomas, Bombtown and the Vicars. 7 , 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $17 in advance, $20 at the door. (Sinagra) THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND (Sunday) Derek Trucks, the nephew of the Allman Brothers Bands drummer Butch Trucks, is now a full-time member of his uncles band and leads his own blues-rocking band between Allman gigs. 7 p.m., Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-7171, ticketmaster.com; $35. (Pareles) WE ARE SCIENTISTS, OXFORD COLLAPSE (Tonight) The pointy guitars and firecracker drums of this local band propel the tremulous pleas of Keith Murray into a full-on lust panic. Where similar bands can sound too studied, We Are Scientists makes its precision seem inspired. The trio Oxford Collapses shaggy art-rock recalls that of acerbic forebears like the Embarrassment. 9, Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 653-1703; $10 in advance, $12 at the door (sold out). (Sinagra) JAH WOBBLE (Thursday) Once the bassist for Public Image Ltd., he has built a solo career on imaginative collaborations and solo work that mines global rhythms and traditions for answers to spiritual questions. 7 p.m., Avalon, 662 Avenue of the Americas, at 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 807-7780; $19.50. (Sinagra) Cabaret Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. BABY JANE DEXTER (Tonight and tomorrow night) This booming pop-blues contralto may not be demure, but she is tasteful in a smart, regal, big-mama way, and she is astute in her choices of often obscure soul, blues and jazz songs that play to her contradictory mixture of the lusty and the philosophical. 7, Helens, 169 Eighth Avenue, near 18th Street, Chelsea, (212) 206-0609; $20 cover, $15 minimum. (Stephen 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. 9:15 p.m., Dannys Skylight Room, 346 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 265-8133; $25, with a $12 minimum. (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) * ELAINE STRITCH (Tonight and tomorrow, Tuesday through Thursday) Dispensing with her theatrical signature numbers, Ms. Stritch weaves 16 songs new to her repertory into a funny running monologue about her adventures in and out of show business. 8:45 p.m., Cafe Carlyle, Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 744-1600; $125; dinner, required, is served at 6:30. (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. MICHAËL ATTIAS AND RENKU + 2 (Monday) As on the recent album Renku (Playscape), the saxophonist Michaël Attias embellishes compositional miniatures with help from the bassist John Hebert and the drummer Satoshi Takeishi. For this engagement, theyre joined by Tony Malaby on saxophone, and Russ Lossing on Fender Rhodes piano. 10 p.m. and midnight, 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, at Seventh Avenue, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $8. (Nate Chinen) MATT BREWER QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) The bassist Matt Brewer has lately distinguished himself in a handful of sideman settings; leading his own group here, he features the tenor saxophonist Chris Cheek, the pianist Frank LoCrasto and the drummer Rodney Green. 10, Fat Cat, 75 Christopher Street, at Seventh Avenue, West Village, (212) 675-7369; cover, $15. (Chinen) HENRY BUTLER (Tonight) New Orleans has turned out more than a few great jazz pianists, Mr. Butler among them; this solo concert should be a good showcase for his style, powerfully and persuasively rooted in the blues. 8, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949; $45. (Chinen) DON BYRONS IVEY-DIVEY (Monday) This trio -- Mr. Byron on clarinet and tenor saxophone, Jason Moran on piano, and Billy Hart on drums -- pays homage, directly and obliquely, to a 1946 recording session featuring Lester Young, Nat King Cole and Buddy Rich. Results range from the sparsely poetic to the blusteringly emphatic, but the groups imaginative energies never ebb. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3303; $25. (Chinen) ROY CAMPBELLS PYRAMID TRIO (Thursday) Mr. Campbell, a trumpeter ensconced in free-jazz circles, uses this group to engage in improvisation from the perspective of global folk culture; he has the ideal collaborators in William Parker, on bass and assorted wind instruments, and Hamid Drake, on drums and percussion. 8 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) BILL CHARLAP TRIO (Wednesday through Jan. 29) 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. 8 and 10 p.m. with an 11:30 set Fridays and Saturdays, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121; cover, $27.50 and $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) ANDREW DANGELOS I WILL SURVIVE (Tonight) Mr. DAngelo, an expressive and often entertainingly frenetic multi-reedist, joins forces with the Norwegian tenor saxophonist Kjetil Moster, the bassist Eivind Opsvik and the drummer Jim Black. 9 and 10:30, Tea Lounge, 837 Union Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 789-2762; no cover. (Chinen) E.S.T. (Through Sunday) The initials stand for Esbjörn Svensson Trio, a popular acoustic jazz-crossover group from Sweden; taking its lead from Mr. Svenssons piano, the ensemble favors somber harmonies and skittering electronic textures. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. with an 11:30 p.m. set tonight and tomorrow night, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $25. (Chinen) * HENRY GRIMES AND ROSWELL RUDD (Tomorrow) The bassist Henry Grimes and the trombonist Roswell Rudd were fellow travelers in jazzs 1960s avant-garde, though they followed separate career paths in the ensuing years, Mr. Rudd plunging into obscurity (in the Catskills) and Mr. Grimes into oblivion (in California). Both have been back on the scene and making up for lost time; this duo engagement should evoke some historical echoes but resist the tug of nostalgia. 8 and 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $20 each set; $35 for both sets. (Chinen) CURTIS HASSELBRINGS BTH (Wednesday) Mr. Hasselbring, a trombonist and guitarist with a mischievous sense of humor, introduces a promising ensemble with a typically inscrutable title; his bandmates are Shane Endsley on trumpet, Andrew DAngelo on alto saxophone, Trevor Dunn on bass and Ches Smith on drums. 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover, $8. (Chinen) * DAVE HOLLAND FESTIVAL (Through Sunday) Closing out a weeklong club engagement, Mr. Holland introduces a new sextet, with the trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, the alto saxophonist Antonio Hart, the trombonist Robin Eubanks, the pianist Mulgrew Miller and the drummer Eric Harland (tonight and tomorrow) and a standards-oriented duo with the vibraphonist Steve Nelson (Sunday). 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $40, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * THE JABANE ENSEMBLE (Tuesday and Wednesday) Like the Robert Glasper Experiment, which features the piano playing of Mr. Glasper and the drumming of Chris Dave, this young ensemble, presented by the producer Jill Newman, draws from rhythm and blues, gospel and hip-hop; along with Mr. Glasper and Mr. Dave, its members are the guitarist Lionel Loueke, the harmonica player Gregoire Maret and the bassist Derrick Hodge. The silk-toned singer Bilal and the trumpeter Roy Hargrove will alternate as special guests. 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. The Robert Glasper Experiment plays on Thursday at 10 p.m. at 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, at Seventh Avenue, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $8. (Chinen) * STEVE LEHMAN (Wednesday and Thursday) Celebrating the release of Demian as Posthuman (Pi), his bracing and fiercely imagined new album, the saxophonist Steve Lehman performs in three overlapping ensembles: his Blueprint Trio, with the bassist Matt Brewer and the drummer Eric McPherson; a duo with the drummer Tyshawn Sorey; and a quintet featuring Mr. Brewer and Mr. Sorey alongside Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet and Mike Moreno on guitar. 9 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063; cover, $15, members, $10. (Chinen) MULGREW MILLER AND WINGSPAN (Tuesday through January 29) Mr. Miller is a pianist with roots firmly planted in jazz tradition, especially the blues; but his ensemble Wingspan pursues a distinctly airy sensibility, with help from the saxophonist Steve Wilson, the trumpeter Duane Eubanks and the vibraphonist Steve Nelson. 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) * NYC WINTER JAZZFEST (Sunday) This six-hour smorgasbord, produced by Brice Rosenbloom, purposefully coincides with this weeks Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference. Occupying all three floors of the Knitting Factory, it showcases almost 20 groups; highlights include Meshell Ndegeocellos Spirit Music Jamia, Marc Ribots Spiritual Unity, the Dave Burrell Trio, Rez Abbasis Snake Charmer and Terence Blanchards Flow. 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3132; cover, $25.(Chinen) WILLIAM PARKER (Tuesday through next Saturday) Mr. Parker is a pillar, musically and morally, of modern avant-garde jazz culture; he leads three different ensembles in three days next week, beginning with a quartet with the alto saxophonist Rob Brown, the trumpeter Lewis Barnes and the drummer Hamid Drake (on Tuesday), moving on to a trio with Mr. Drake and the multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter (Wednesday) on Thursday and Friday with the quintet from his recent album Raining on the Moon (Thirsty Ear) and concluding next Saturday with a program including poetry and dance. Tuesday and next Saturday at 8 and 10 p.m., Wednesday through next Friday at 10 p.m. , the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) DAFNIS PRIETO QUARTET (Tomorrow) The Cuban drummer Dafnis Prieto, an essential fixture on New Yorks Latin-jazz scene, has gradually been establishing his reputation as a composer; his cohesive band includes Manuel Valera on piano, Yosvany Terry on saxophone and his brother Junior Terry on bass. This concert, presented by the Williamsburg Jazz Festival, also features a prelude (the guitarist Gerry Eastman, at 9 p.m.) and a postscript (a late-night jam session, led by Mr. Eastman). 10:30 p.m., Williamsburg Music Center, 367 Bedford Avenue, at South Fifth Street, Brooklyn, (718) 384-1654, www.wjazzfestival.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) LUCIANA SOUZA QUARTET AND BRAZILIAN DUOS (Monday) Ms. Souza, an exceptional singer originally from São Paolo, divides her attention between these two ensemble settings, rarely presenting them in tandem. Her quartet interprets jazz standards as well as poems by Pablo Neruda, Elizabeth Bishop and others (with music composed by Ms. Souza); her Brazilian Duos project showcases an intimate and highly intelligent dialogue with Romero Lubambo, another transplanted Brazilian, on acoustic guitar. 7 p.m., Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778; cover, $20, with a two-drink minimum. (Chinen) CHARLES TOLLIVER BIG BAND (Wednesday through Jan. 28) Mr. Tolliver leads an upgraded edition of his acclaimed orchestra of the 1970s; among the top-shelf talent involved are the saxophonists Billy Harper and Craig Handy, the trombonist Clark Gayton, the drummer Victor Lewis and the pianist John Hicks. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) TONE COLLECTOR (Sunday) The tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, the bassist Eivind Opsvik and the drummer Jeff Davis make up this experimental acoustic threesome, which released a bristling debut last year on Norways Jazzaway label; theyre joined here by a fellow traveler, Ben Gerstein, on trombone. 8 and 9:30 p.m., BAR4, 444 Seventh Avenue, at 15th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 832-9800, www.bar4.net; cover, $5.(Chinen) JEFF (TAIN) WATTS SHOW (Through Sunday) Mr. Watts, a drummer whose locomotive drive is matched only by his attunement to the dynamics of a group, leads one consisting of the tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland, the pianist Lawrence Fields and the bassist Eric Revis. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $20 to $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MIGUEL ZENÓN QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) Jíbaro (Marsalis Music), Mr. Zenóns last album, affirmed this alto saxophonists credentials as a young composer with vision; his quartet includes Luis Perdomo on piano, Hans Glawischnig on bass and Henry Cole on drums. 9 and 10:30, Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063; cover, $15, members, $10. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera AINADAMAR (Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday) The exuberant, genre-bending music of the Argentinean-born composer Osvaldo Golijov is the focus of a monthlong festival at Lincoln Center. It starts this week with the New York premiere of his lushly scored flamenco opera Ainadamar (Fountain of Tears), loosely based on the life and legacy of the Spanish writer Federico García Lorca. Peter Sellars directs the production, with Dawn Upshaw, Kelley OConnor and Jessica Rivera in the principal roles. Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducts. Sunday at 3 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday at 8 p.m., Rose Theater, Broadway at 60th Street, (212) 721-6500; $30 to $65. (Jeremy Eichler) UN BALLO IN MASCHERA (Thursday) Vincent La Selva can either break your heart or make you want to wring his neck: why on earth is a conductor this good, of a certain age, conducting a free performance at an Upper West Side church rather than at the Met? Well, whatever the reason (and there are reasons), lovers of Verdi can go hear him and his cast of little-knowns -- often surprisingly good -- with relish. 7:30 p.m., Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, West End Avenue at 86th Street, (212) 245-8837. (Anne Midgette) Bronx Opera (Tomorrow, Sunday) There are some -- O.K., maybe its just me -- who consider Purcells Dido and Aeneas the perfect opera: a wrenching story, spectacular vocal and ensemble music, and it all clocks in at about 50 minutes. The enterprising Bronx Opera has paired this story of royal passion and supernatural mischief with Chabriers Incomplete Education, a light piece about a young newlyweds search for information on how to proceed. 2 p.m., Heckscher Theater, El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue, at 104th Street, East Harlem, (718) 960-8833; $20 to $35. (Allan Kozinn) COSÌ FAN TUTTE (Wednesday) This is the ultimate ensemble opera, and the Mets revival of its sunny and simple 1996 production this fall was an impressive effort from a young, attractive and gifted cast. Così returns with that cast almost intact. The bright-voiced soprano Alexandra Deshorties takes the place of Barbara Frittoli as Fiordiligi. The engaging mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena again sings her sister Dorabella. The lyric tenor Paul Groves (taking the place of Matthew Polenzani) and the robust baritone Mariusz Kwiecien portray the young men who cruelly test the fidelity of the two sisters. The veteran baritone Thomas Allen sings the jaded bachelor Don Alfonso. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $175. (Anthony Tommasini) CYRANO DE BERGERAC (Thursday) Franco Alfanos almost-forgotten Cyrano is musically not much of an opera. But this 1936 work does provide a meaty role for the ageless tenor Plácido Domingo, who gave a vocally fervent and poignant portrayal of Cyrano, the fearless and noble guardsman cursed with an absurdly huge nose, when the production was introduced last season. It returns for six performances, with Mr. Domingo and a strong cast starting Thursday night. Francesca Zambellos production is stylish, handsome and effective. 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $175. (Tommasini) DESPERATELY SEEKING THAÏS (Thursday) This conceptual take on Massenets Thaïs is worth a look if only to check out the silent film, with the golden-age soprano Mary Garden, that will run along with the live musical excerpts provided by the latest incarnation of LOpéra Français de New York. 8 p.m., French Institute/Alliance Française, 55 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212) 355-6160; $25. (Midgette) DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (Tomorrrow and Tuesday) The Met seems to have a big hit on its hands with Julie Taymors production of Mozarts fairy-tale opera, which opened last season. But the production is so packed with nonstop stage effects and so peopled with dancers, extras, gargantuan puppets and kitelike animals of every sort that during last seasons presentations, the fine musical performances by the conductor James Levine, the Met orchestra and the strong cast took a back seat to the stage show. Maybe the new conductor, Paul Daniel, and the promising new cast that takes over when the production returns tomorrow afternoon (including Mary Dunleavy as Pamina, Eric Cutler as Tamino and Nathan Gunn as Papageno) will fare better. Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. and Tuesday at 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; sold out tomorrow; $21 to $80 on Tuesday, with limited tickets. (Tommasini) Classical Music BARGEMUSIC (Tonight, tomorrow, Sunday and Thursday) This floating concert hall on the Brooklyn side of the East River offers the intimacy that chamber music needs, as well as a wonderful view of Lower Manhattan through the bay windows behind stage. This weekend the Fine Arts Quartet offers installments of a Shostakovich string quartet cycle -- Nos. 4, 11 and 14 tonight, Nos. 1, 5 and 8 tomorrow and Sunday. Patrycja Piekutowska, a violinist, and Jonahan Yates, a pianist, take over on Thursday with a program of contemporary Polish music, including works by Krzysztof Penderecki, Grazyna Bacewicz, Szymanowski and Lutoslawski. Tonight, tomorrow and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m., Bargemusic, Fulton Ferry Landing next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083; $35. (Kozinn) BERLIN PHILHARMONIC (Wednesday, Thursday) Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliners return to New York with a four-concert series that runs through Jan. 28. Typically one of the highlights of the Carnegie Hall season, this outstanding orchestra gets rolling on Wednesday with Haydn (Symphony No. 86), Schoenberg (Variations for Orchestra) and Strauss (Ein Heldenleben). Thursdays program features Mahlers Fourth, with the mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena and the New York premiere of Hanspeter Kyburzs Noesis. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $58 to $195. (Eichler) BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA (Tonight) Conductors looking for a leg up in their careers have founded orchestras before, but even Ivan Fischer could hardly have imagined that both he and the Budapest Festival Orchestra would have risen so well together. This years Carnegie Hall appearance for the orchestra is part of the pianist Richard Goodes Perspectives series, and Mr. Goode will join the orchestra for Bartoks Third Concerto. 8, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $21 to $74. (Midgette) CASSATT STRING QUARTET (Sunday) A striking Eastern European program includes the nocturne from Borodins second quartet, Dvoraks Quartet in A flat and a piano quintet by the 19th-century Polish composer and pianist Juliusz Zarebski, for which they will be joined by Roman Markowicz. 3 p.m., Kosciuszko Foundation, 15 East 65th Street, Manhattan, (212) 734-2130; $25; $20 for students and 65+. (Midgette) CHAMBERFEST (Tonight and tomorrow night) You might think that the Juilliard School has enough to handle with its ambitious continuing musical celebration of its 100th anniversary, not to mention the annual Focus festival, coming up at the end of the month. But this week the school has also been presenting Chamberfest, a series of free concerts of diverse works performed by accomplished student musicians. The series ends with concerts tonight (works by Bartok, Schoenberg and Brahmss stormy Piano Quintet in F minor) and tomorrow night (Coplands Appalachian Spring, Bergs String Quartet and Messiaens mystical Quartet for the End of Time.) 8, Paul Hall, Juilliard School, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, at 65th Street, (212) 769-7406. (Tommasini) COMPOSER PORTRAIT: BONGANI NDODANA (Tonight) The adventurous Miller Theater begins a three-day Focus on Africa series with a concert featuring works by Bongani Ndodana. Born in Queenstown in 1975, Mr. Ndodana is considered the most prominent young South African composer working today. His works draw both from traditional African and contemporary classical heritages. The soprano Dawn Padmore and the African Exchanges Ensemble will perform, conducted by the composer. 8, Miller Theater, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799; $20. (Tommasini) GUARNERI STRING QUARTET (Tomorrow) The Guarneri soldiers through another season as the de facto quartet-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum. Each of the groups six concerts features a Mozart quartet, along with other works. This time around, its Mozarts Flute Quartet (K. 285), with Carol Wincenc, as well as Schumanns String Quartet No. 3 and Richard Danielpours String Quartet No. 5. 8 p.m., Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949; $50. (Eichler) HOUSTON SYMPHONY (Tuesday) The noted soprano Barbara Bonney joins the Houston Symphony under Hans Graf for a program of Mozart, Shostakovich and the Houston composer Pierre Jalbert. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $25 to $87. (Eichler) DMITRI HVOROSTOVSKY (Wednesday) The great silver-maned Russian baritone offers a program of works from his homeland, with opera arias by Borodin, Rachmaninoff and Rubinstein alongside 20th-century popular songs. Supporting him are the Philharmonia of Russia, conducted by Constantine Orbelian; the Cathedral Choral Society; and Style of Five, a Russian folk ensemble. For the perplexed, a preconcert lecture by Maya Pritsker should sort it all out. 8 p.m. (lecture at 6:45), Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $30 to $60. (Kozinn) JUILLIARD ORCHESTRA (Monday) Now that Leonard Slatkin has stepped aside for medical reasons, James DePreist will conduct the student orchestra in Shostakovichs Leningrad Symphony, as well as in music by two former Juilliard presidents: William Schuman and Peter Mennin. 8 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $10 to $20; free tickets for students and 65+. (Eichler) NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Tonight through Sunday) This years winter festival is devoted to Mozart -- not surprisingly, given that this year marks the 250th anniversary of his birth and is glutted with Mozart concerts. The second program of the three-week Many Faces of Mozart event is called Mozart and the Voice, and includes excerpts from The Magic Flute and the Requiem. Bernard Labadie conducts. Tonight at 8 and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark; tomorrow night at 8, War Memorial, Memorial Drive, Trenton, (800) 255-3476; $20 to $75. (Midgette) NEW YORK VIRTUOSO SINGERS (Tomorrow) Harold Rosenbaums finely polished chorus specializes in contemporary music, and turns its attention this time to composers who either worked in or were influenced by Minimalism. Included are choral scores by John Adams, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon, Jeffrey Schanzer and Steve Martland. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330; $25. (Kozinn) ORCHESTRE RÉVOLUTIONNAIRE ET ROMANTIQUE (Sunday and Monday) Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his fine period-instrument orchestra contribute two concerts to this years Mozart celebration. On Sunday, the Monteverdi Choir joins the ensemble for two great liturgical works that Mozart left unfinished: the Mass in C minor (performed here in the Alois Schmitt edition, touched up by Sir John), and the Requiem. On Monday, the orchestra plays Mozarts three final symphonies, Nos. 39, 40 and 41. Sunday at 3 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center; $35 to $69. Monday at 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center; $56; (212) 721-6500. (Kozinn) RIVERSIDE SYMPHONY (Tomorrow) The composer Anthony Korf and the conductor George Rothman, who founded this innovative orchestra, have championed several inexplicably overlooked 20th-century composers. One is the Romanian-born Frenchman Marius Constant, who died in 2004. Constant is probably fated to be remembered best as the composer of the theme for The Twilight Zone. But he has a large catalog of strong symphonic works, ballet scores and chamber music. The Riverside will perform his 103 Regards Dans lEau on an all-French program with works by Rameau, Ravel and Poulenc. 7:30 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $25 and $45. (Tommasini) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. * ARISTOPHANES IN BIRDONIA (Tonight though Sunday night) David Gordon, Valda Setterfield and their Pick Up Performance Company made a big splash two years ago with Dancing Henry V (reprised last March), and now they are back at St. Marks Church with another dance-theater piece inspired by a classic drama, in this case The Birds. Ms. Setterfield plays the playwright, and expect pointed references to contemporary events. 8:30, Danspace Project at St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194 or www.danspaceproject.org; $20. (John Rockwell) CHINESE NEW YEAR GLOBAL GALA (Tonight and tomorrow) Produced by New Tang Dynasty Television, a United States-based station for the Chinese diaspora, the New York installment of this flashy multicity, multimedia event will include some dance. The entire gala heralds the Year of the Dog and is clearly geared toward Chinese-Americans. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, tomorrow at 2 p.m., Radio City Music Hall, (888) 260-6221, (888) 260-6223, (212) 307-7171 or www.gala.ntdtv.com or www.radiocity.com; $49 to $200. (Rockwell) COIL: A WINTER DANCE FESTIVAL (Today through Tuesday) Bravo to Performance Space 122, which (in association with the Joyce Foundation) has quietly come up with an intriguing mix of troupes for this six-day festival. Today at 5 p.m. (BalletLab), 7:30 p.m. (Adrienne Truscott) and 10 p.m. (Saar Harari); tomorrow at 5 p.m. (Helen Herbertson), 7:30 p.m. (BalletLab) and 10 p.m. (Truscott); Sunday at 5 p.m. (Ms. Herbertson), 7:30 p.m. (Mr. Harari) and 10 p.m. (BalletLab); Monday at 5 p.m. (BalletLab), 7:30 p.m. (Mr. Harari) and 10 p.m. (Ms. Truscott); and Tuesday at 5 p.m. (Ms. Truscott) and 7:30 p.m. (BalletLab), P.S. 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 477-5288; $20; $15 for students; $10 for 65+. Call for performance schedule. (Roslyn Sulcas) COMPANIA.ARROYO.ARDIENTE (Tonight and Sunday) This first performance by Julio Arroyos company reflects his interest in the common threads in just about every form of dance and his inspiration from other choreographers, among them Jessica Kondrath and five other guest artists on the program. (Through Jan. 22.) Tonight at 9:30, Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Soundance at the Stable, 281 North Seventh Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 413-8196; $12; students and 65+, $5. (Jennifer Dunning) COOL NEW YORK 2006 DANCE FESTIVAL (Wednesday and Thursday) Dance by 60 companies, at last count, will be presented in this ambitious 10-program festival, opening with a gala featuring groups including Momix, Jennifer Muller/The Works and the host troupe White Wave Young Soon Kim Dance Company. (Through Feb. 5.) Wednesday at 7 p.m., Thursday at 7 and 9 p.m., White Waves John Ryan Theater, 25 Jay Street, at John Street, Brooklyn Heights, (718) 855-8822 or www.whitewavedance.com. Tickets for the opening night gala are $50; all other performances are free, though donations are requested. (Dunning) DEBORAH HAY (Thursday through Jan. 29) The seminal Judson choreographer Deborah Hay has recruited five all-star downtown performers for her new dance, O, O. Dont miss it. 8:30 p.m.; 7:30 p.m. on Sunday; Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194; $15.(Claudia La Rocco) * NEW YORK CITY BALLET (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) The big events in a week of mixed-repertory programs come next week. Tuesday night is the New Combinations Evening with the premiere of another new ballet by the gifted Christopher Wheeldon. Wednesday offers the return of the Balanchine-Robbins version of Stravinskys Firebird, and Thursday sees a revival of Robbinss Mother Goose, to Ravel. Tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night at 8; 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 www.nycballet.com; $30 to $86. (Rockwell) NEW YORK THEATER BALLET: DANCE ON A SHOESTRING (Tonight and tomorrow night) This series of informal in-studio programs will include Antony Tudors Fandango, a childrens piece by Margaret Craske and ballets by Danielle Genest and Keith Michael. 7, New York Theater Ballet Dance Gallery, 30 East 31st Street, Manhattan, (212) 679-0401; $20; $15 for students and 65+. (Dunning) 18TH IABD CONFERENCE SHOWCASE (Tonight and tomorrow night) In connection with the yearly meeting of the International Association for Blacks in Dance, this year in New York City, two showcase programs will present an ambitious overview of works by black artists today. Among the 19 company and individual participants are the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Evidence, the Rod Rodgers Dance Company and Urban Bush Women (tonight), and Dallas Black Dance, the Lula Washington Dance Theater, Philadanco and the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Company (tomorrow night). 8, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400 and www.howard.edu/collegefinearts/iabdassociation; $35. (Dunning) EMIO GRECO/PC (Tonight through Sunday) This Netherlands-based company is run by the Italian choreographer Emio Greco and the Dutch theater director Pieter C. Scholten. Their Conjunto di Nero is a full-evening work for six dancers who are, according to the publicity materials, dressed in woolly black garments. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., the Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800; $38.(Sulcas) SARA EAST JOHNSON AND LAVA (Tonight through Sunday, and Thursday) Ms. Johnsons award-winning, all-women company, LAVA, presents (w)HOLE (short for The Whole History of Life on Earth), its first new work since 2003. Using trapeze, Chinese acrobatics and swing dancing, among other things, the company tackles rock formation, punctuated equilibrium theory and magnetic polarity reversal with its usual strength and verve. (Through Feb. 19.) Tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night at 7; Sunday at 5 p.m.; Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101, www.TheaterMania.com; $20 to $25. (Erika Kinetz) GABRIELLE LANSNER & COMPANY (Tonight through Feb. 4) Those legs, that voice -- the legendary diva Tina Turner is celebrated in River Deep, a new production combining dance, live music and spoken word. 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. weekend matinees, the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200; $22 to $34. (La Rocco) MOVING MEN (Tuesday) It will be raining men at Dixon Place when the Bronx sensation Arthur Aviles organizes an evening of dance featuring Tom Pearson, Carlo Quispe, Raymond, and Pavel Zustiak. 8 p.m., 258 Bowery, second floor, between Houston and Prince Streets, Lower East Side, (212) 219-0736; $10 to $12. (La Rocco) BEN MUNISTERI DANCE PROJECTS (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Munisteri was one of the most compelling of Doug Elkinss performers many years ago; now he makes dances that match his unpredictable, frisky stage presence. You also have to appreciate the range of his musical tastes: A new work, Tuesday, 4 a.m. and other dances, is set to Stravinskys Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, while the older Turbine Mines is set to the Blade Runner soundtrack. 10 tonight and 7:30 tomorrow night, Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 9224-0077; $25; $15 for students, 65+ or artists. (Sulcas) KT NIEHOFF AND LINGO DANCETHEATER (Tonight through Sunday) Ms. Niehoff and her modern-dance company, from Seattle, will present Relatively Real: who do you think you are?, a piece that explores the relatedness of identity and perception. Tonight at 7, tomorrow at 9 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479; $15; $12 for students and 65+. (Dunning) PERIDANCE ENSEMBLE (Thursday) Celebrating its 21st anniversary -- well, why not? -- this studio group will present new and signature dances by Igal Perry, with casts led by guest artists José Manuel Carreño (Thursday and next Friday) and Elizabeth Parkinson (all performances). (Through Jan. 28.) 8 p.m., Gerald Lynch Theater, John Jay College, 899 10th Avenue, at 58th Street, Manhattan, (212) 505-0886 or www.ticketcentral.com; $50 and $100 (includes opening gala reception). (Dunning) SHAPIRO & SMITH (Tuesday through Sunday) Taking a page from Twyla Tharps Movin Out, Shapiro & Smith mixes contemporary dance with Bruce Springsteens music to tell the story of three families in Anytown. Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., the Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800; $38. (La Rocco) VISION FESTIVAL: YOSHIKO CHUMA AND JOE MC PHEE (Sunday) Ms. Chuma, a gorgeously unpredictable avant-garde choreographer and performer, hooks up with Mr. McPhee, a musician whose instruments include reeds and brass. 1:30 p.m., Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 696-6681 or www.visionfestival.org; $10; $7 for students; free for children 14 and under. (Dunning) WAX IN MANHATTAN (Tuesday) In this latest program in its Bridge series, which explores the definitions of dance-theater, the Williamsburg Art neXus (WAX) will present work by Alethea Adsitt, Stefanie Nelson, Jenny Rocha and their modern-dance companies, chosen by the curators Sara Juli and Jake Hooker. 8 p.m., University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street, at Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (718) 599-7997 or www.wax205.com; $12. (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: SURFACE ATTRACTION: PAINTED FURNITURE FROM THE COLLECTION, through March 26. The remarkable images, abstract patterns and floral motifs that flutter across the 30 or so tables, chairs, cabinets and blanket chests in this beautiful, convention-stretching show confirm that from the late 1600s to the late 1800s, quite a bit of American painting talent and ambition was channeled into the decoration of everyday wood objects. The combination of imagination and utility, of economic means and lush effects, defines the human desire for beauty as hardwired. 45 West 53rd Street, (212) 265-1040. (Roberta Smith) * Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum: FASHION IN COLORS, through March 26. Drawn from the collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute in Japan, this sumptuous show arranges 68 often lavish Western gowns and ensembles according to the colors of the spectrum and reinforces their progress with a posh color-coordinated installation design. For an experience of color as color, it is hard to beat, but it also says a great deal about clothing, visual perception and beauty. 2 East 91st Street, (212) 849-8400.(Smith) International Center of Photography: Che!: Revolution and Icon, through Feb. 26. This is, in a sense, a one-image show, the image being Alberto Kordas famous 1960 head shot of Che (Ernesto Guevara), taken in Cuba. But the theme is the transformation that the portrait has undergone in the passage of 46 years, as Ches soulful likeness has migrated from political posters to album covers, T-shirts, paper currency, vodka ads and gallery art. 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, (212) 857-0045. (Holland Cotter) JEWISH MUSEUM: SARAH BERNHARDT: THE ART OF HIGH DRAMA, through April 2. This exhibition is devoted to the flamboyant 19th-century actress whose name was once invoked by mothers as a warning to melodramatic daughters: Who do you think you are, Sarah Bernhardt? Its almost overstuffed roster of items includes original Félix Nadar photos of Bernhardt at 20 and the human skull presented to her by Victor Hugo, the costumes she wore as Cleopatra and Joan of Arc., her own accomplished sculptures and relics of lovers and American tours. 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, (212) 423-3200. (Edward Rothstein) Metropolitan Museum of Art: Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt, through May 7. Egypt was no picnic 5,000 years ago. The average lifespan was about 40 years. Wild animals were ever present. Childbirth was perilous. Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness was a shot in the dark. Doctors were priests. Medicine was a blend of science, religion and art. The 65 objects in this beautiful show functioned as all three. Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212) 535-7710 (Cotter) * MET: ANTONELLO DA MESSINA, through March 5. This small, focused show presents the work of a Sicilian master (about 1430-1479) regarded as the greatest painter to emerge from southern Italy in the 15th century. His signature work, shown here, is The Virgin Annunciate (about 1475-76), depicting Mary as a young Sicilian girl at the moment of the Annunciation, when she is told by the angel Gabriel that she will bear Jesus. The genius of the work lies in the way a traditional icon has been imbued with the life force of a flesh-and-blood human being. (See above.) (Grace Glueck) MET: DAVID MILNE: PAINTING TOWARD THE LIGHT, through Jan 29. Watercolors by a Canadian painter little known in the United States although he spent some 25 years in New York City and other parts of the state. In his quiet, spare renditions of urban vignettes, country landscapes, trees and domestic life, David Milne (1882-1953) focused mainly on aesthetic matters, like color, line and light, while skirting the avant-garde. (See above.) (Glueck) * MET: Robert Rauschenberg: Combines, through April 2. Big and handsome almost to a fault. Theres something weird about seeing once joyfully rude and over-the-top contraptions from the 1950s and 60s lined up like choirboys in church, with their ties askew and shirttails out. But even enshrined, the combines still manage to seem incredibly fresh and odd, almost otherworldly. I thought of a medieval treasury -- all the rich colors and lights and intricate details. The most beautiful tend to be the early ones: large but delicate, with a subtle, fugitive emotional pitch. (See above.) (Michael Kimmelman) Museum of Modern Art: PIXAR: 20 YEARS OF ANIMATION, through Feb. 6. With more than 500 drawings, collages, storyboards and sculptured models by 80 artists; numerous projections; and a mesmerizing three-dimensional zoetrope, this exhibition offers a detailed glimpse of the creative and technological processes behind such computer-animation wonders as Toy Story, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. In the end, nothing has as much art or magic as these films themselves, but the concentrated effort and expertise that go into them is nonetheless something of a wonder, too. 11 West 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400. (Smith) ONASSIS CULTURAL CENTER: FROM BYZANTIUM TO MODERN GREECE: HELLENIC ART IN ADVERSITY, 1453-1830, through May 6. This show is a busy, ambitious hodgepodge that sets out to present all aspects of the visual art in Greece during this period. The range spans wonderful early paintings and icons, like a panel by the youthful El Greco; examples of domestic crafts practiced by Greek women; jewelry and church ornaments; and maps and charts. 645 Fifth Avenue, at 52nd Street, (212) 486-4448. (Glueck) Whitney Museum of American Art: Raymond Pettibon, through Feb. 19. If you are unfamiliar with the influential Mr. Pettibons emotionally resonant mix of noirish cartooning and enigmatic literary verbiage, this show of works on paper and, for the first time, a low-tech animated video, serves as a good introduction. 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (800) 944-8639. (Johnson) * Whitney Museum of American Art: THE ART OF RICHARD TUTTLE, through Feb. 5. For 40 years Richard Tuttle has murmured the ecstasies of paying close attention to the worlds infinitude of tender incidents, making oddball assemblages of prosaic ephemera, which, at first glance, belie their intense deliberation and rather monumental ambition. Out of cord, tin, Styrofoam, florists wire and bubble wrap he has devised objects whose status is not quite sculpture or drawing or painting but some combination of the three, and whose exquisiteness is akin to that of jewelry. His outstanding retrospective is a cross between a kindergarten playroom and a medieval treasury. (See above). (Kimmelman) Galleries: Uptown OSCAR BLUEMNER Known for his soulful, jewel-colored, Cubist pictures of houses in semirural locales, Bluemner remains one of the most appealing of American Modernists who were active between World Wars I and II. Barbara Mathes, 22 East 80th Street, (212) 570-4190, through Jan. 28. (Johnson) The Hudson River School at the New-York Historical Society: Nature and the American Vision By the mid-19th century, the United States was a trans-Atlantic political power in search of a cultural profile. Hudson River School landscape painting was the answer: it presented America as the un-Europe. Europe had its Romantic ruins; America had its ultra-Romantic wilderness. Europe had antique; America had primeval. Europe told time in centuries; America told time in eons. Its all here to see in this display of a venerable local institutions permanent collection. New-York Historical Society, 2 West 77th Street, (212) 873-3400, through Feb. 19. (Cotter) School Zone Martinez Gallery isnt a place; its a collaborative network of several graffiti artists, two architect-designers, a curator and a dealer. The gallery has taken its graffiti star artists into a public high school for this show, for which, with the help of students, theyve covered the walls and ceilings of a classroom with art, alternately brash and delicate, exclamatory and introspective. Martinez Gallery at Julia Richman High School, 317 East 67th Street, Room 222, (212) 619-2149, through Jan. 28 (Cotter) * THE THIRD EYE: FANTASIES, DREAMS AND VISIONS The ostensible theme for this dizzying, diverting assortment of 89 very high-end drawings and prints is the fantastical, visionary strain of Romanticism that persists through Symbolism right up to now. It rambles around two floors in no particular order: a connoisseurs heaven. Richard L. Feigen & Company, 34 East 69th Street, (212) 628-0700, through Jan. 28. (Kimmelman) Galleries: 57th Street * Katy Grannan: Mystic Lake Ms. Grannan continues to make exceptionally intimate photographs of nonprofessional models posing outdoors partly or fully unclothed. Greenberg Van Doren, 730 Fifth Avenue, (212) 445-0444, through Feb. 4. (Johnson) Galleries: Chelsea Douglas Anderson: New Old Robots Painted in grayed colors and a brushy, cartoonish style that recalls the Ash Can School and 1930s-era Social Realism, Mr. Andersons comical and mournful small paintings depict old shoes, plumbing, brick walls, junk cars and outmoded industrial machinery in states of dreamlike animation. Blue Mountain, 530 West 25th Street, (646) 486-4730, through Jan. 28. (Johnson) DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD Ms. Butterfield continues to make horses out of weathered branches and scrap steel that are, at best, magically lifelike. In the big one lying down in the gallery, the metal seems just as alive as the illusory animal. Three horses on the Park Avenue median, however, are out of their element -- too delicate to compete with the traffic and the giant buildings, but perhaps because of that, poetically poignant. Edward Thorp, 210 Eleventh Avenue, between 24th and 25th Streets; and on the Park Avenue median between 52nd and 54th Streets; (212) 691-6565, through Jan. 28. (Johnson) Gene Davis: Three Decades A key member of the Washington Color School, which included Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland, Davis was known for expansive canvases filled by narrow, vertical colored stripes. The best examples in this show are radiant. Charles Cowles, 537 West 24th Street, (212) 741-8999, through Jan. 28. (Johnson) * ROY DE FOREST: NEW PAINTINGS At 75, this underappreciated West Coast artist, a sort of Neo-Expressionist before the fact, brings a new vehemence of color and texture, amplified by clearer compositions, to his comic-sinister universe of bright-eyed, zoned-out men and animals. George Adams, 525 West 26th Street, (212) 564-8480, through Jan. 28. (Smith) Head Over Hand: Pushing the Limits of Paint This well-selected and cohesive 15-artist show presents finely wrought abstract paintings that mix, in most cases, a hedonistic materialism and a spacey, illusory dimension. Denise Bibro, 529 West 20th Street, (212) 647-7030, through Jan. 28. (Johnson) Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock: Dialogue It may be that Pollock could not have done what he did without the support of his wife, Lee Krasner, but he was nevertheless the better artist by far, as this revealing show of works from all phases of both their careers proves. Robert Miller, 524 West 26th Street, (212) 366-4774, through Jan. 28. (Johnson) * Guillaume Pinard: expresso Surrealistic, darkly comical black ball-point pen drawings evoke a childlike mind under the influence of Gumby, the Muppets and Japanese anime, and an animated video follows the adventures of two eyeballs with arms and legs through shape-shifting landscapes. Team, 527 West 26th Street, (212) 279-9219, through Jan. 28. (Johnson) Stuart Rome This landscape photographer points his camera into the woods and comes up with subtly pantheistic pictures of extraordinary lucidity and absorbing complexity. Sepia, 148 West 24th Street, (212) 645-9444, through Jan. 28. (Johnson) * JAMES SIENA: NEW PAINTINGS AND GOUACHES Mr. Siena continues to push at paintings envelope by turning inward and working small, creating enamel-on-aluminum fields of synaptic, thin-skinned circuitry not much larger than the viewers face, or Mr. Sienas own fevered brain. His latest efforts both diversify and perfect his slightly crazed, usually colorful linear patterns, forging links to traditions, disciplines and cultures far beyond Western painting. PaceWildenstein, 534 West 25th Street, Chelsea (212) 929-7000, through Jan. 28. (Smith) Kyle Staver Influences of Matisse, Bonnard, Marsden Hartley and Milton Avery are conspicuous in Ms. Stavers playful, lushly painterly pictures of people enjoying holiday or domestic pleasures. Her hedonistic verve, humor and feeling for human relationships keep academic stuffiness at bay. Lohin Geduld, 531 West 25th Street, (212) 675-2656, through Feb. 4. (Johnson) ROBERT STONE Made with a loose, watercolorlike touch, this young British artists oil-on-canvas paintings depict enigmatic and vaguely comical scenes, like tiny Canadian Mounties having a secret funeral in the woods, or a pair of travelers in oddly mixed costumes posing with a coffin. They are just sweet and peculiar enough to give you pause. James Nicholson, 547 West 27th Street, (212) 967-5700, through Jan. 28. (Johnson) Galleries: SoHo MARTIN BEAUREGARD, SOMNAMBULIC Old videos of absurdist performances and a new one about meditating and dreaming are eclipsed by two large stuffed-animal sculptures: a sumptuously furry teddy bear the size of a real cub made from a real bearskin, fearsome big claws and all; and a real moose head with majestic, silver-leafed antlers. Location One, 26 Greene Street, (212) 334-3347, through Feb. 4. (Johnson) Richard Tuttle: Constructed Relief Paintings Among the most appealing works in Mr. Tuttles current retrospective at the Whitney are the eccentrically shaped, single-color paintings from the 1960s. This show presents more of those playfully Minimalist pieces, which, with their wavering outlines and thick sides, look as if they were cut from slabs of colored rubber. Peter Freeman, 560 Broadway, at Prince Street, SoHo, (212) 966-5154, through Jan. 28. (Johnson) Other Galleries * THE DOWNTOWN SHOW: THE NEW YORK ART SCENE, 1974-1984 The real down-and-dirty Downtown art scene, when the East Village bloomed, punk and new wave rock assailed the ears, graffiti spread like kudzu, and heroin, along with extreme style, raged, is the subject of this wild and woolly show. Its a humongous time warp of more than 450 paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, videos, posters, ephemera and things in between by artists, writers, performers, musicians and maestros of mixed media, from a photograph of the transvestite Candy Darling as she posed on her death bed to a small, painted sculpture made of elephant dung by David Hammons. With so many clashing ideologies, points of view and attitudes toward art-making, this no-holds-barred hodgepodge generates the buzz and stridency of, say, Canal Street on payday. New York University, Grey Art Gallery, 100 Washington Square East, (212) 998-6780; and Fales Library, 70 Washington Square South, (212) 988-2596, Greenwich Village; through April 1. (Glueck) Tom Folland: Death-defying Dervish Gangbuster Rebel This follower of Paul McCarthy appears in his own ridiculous, hyperactive videos wearing an athletic outfit and a gold, hairless head mask as he manically operates machines designed for destroying paintings. The machines are also on display, including a catapult for throwing a midget dummy version of the artist at paintings. Jack the Pelican, 487 Driggs Avenue, between North 9th and 10th Streets, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 782-0183, through Feb. 5. (Johnson) * Anya Gallaccio: One Art The viscerally poetic single work occupying Sculpture Centers spacious main gallery is a 50-foot-tall weeping cherry tree that was cut up and reassembled in the gallery, where it is held in place by steel cables and bolts. Sculpture Center, 44-19 Purves Street, at Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 361-1750, through April 3. (Johnson) Zoo Story A clay gorilla by Daisy Youngblood, a bronze she-wolf by Kiki Smith, a flock of concrete sheep by Françoise-Xavier Lalanne and works about animals by more than 20 other artists, including John Baldessari, Katharina Fritsch, Ross Bleckner and Rebecca Horn, turn the first floor of this sleek, three-story private museum into a diverting menagerie. Fisher Landau Center for Art, 38-27 30th Street, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 937-0727, through June 12. (Johnson) Last Chance * SAUL LEITER: EARLY COLOR In their painterly concentration on shadows, reflections, light and color, the distinctive color photographs that the fashion photographer Saul Leiter took in New York in the 1950s reform street photography by concentrating less on pedestrians than on what they might see. Howard Greenberg Gallery, 41 East 57th Street, (212) 334-0010, closes tomorrow. (Smith) * LAMAR PETERSON In a show that is transitional in a good way, this promising young artist expands his reach, taking his bright, dystopic portrayals of the American dream onto canvas and into distinctive collages that pit the hand against the camera with succinct bluntness. Fredericks & Freiser, 536 West 24th Street, Chelsea, (212) 633-6555, closes tomorrow. (Smith)

7 Orthodox Jewish Children Perish in Shabbat Hotplate Fire.

Seven children, ages 5 to 15, from an Orthodox Jewish family in Midwood, Brooklyn, were killed early on Saturday when a fire that spread through their home trapped them in their second-floor bedrooms, the NY Times��.

Television This Week

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New York Fire Department: Seven Children Die in Brooklyn.

UPDATE (AP): A fire that tore through a home in a heavily Jewish Brooklyn neighborhood, leaving seven children dead and two other people in critical condition, may have been caused by a malfunctioning hot plate left on for the Sabbath, the. Coming Soon: Buck Sexton. Date: 1/31/2015. Time: 00:00:20.. The dead are children ranging in age from 5 to 15 years old, and they are believed to be family members, New York Fire Department spokesman Jim Long said.

Petraeus: Iran, not ISIS, is main threat to Iraq

Seven children from the same family died Saturday when their New York home was engulfed in flames after a portable cooker malfunctioned, authorities said. The so-called hot plate, which is a small electrical heating element, may have been left on to.

Fire In Brooklyn Home Kills 7 Children | WNIJ and WNIU

A fire that swept through a home in New Yorks Brooklyn borough overnight just after midnight has killed seven children and left the mother of at.. According to The Associated Press: Firefighters received a call at 12:23 a.m. about the blaze at a single-family home in Midwood, a leafy section of Brooklyn known for its low crime and large Orthodox Jewish population. Long said more than 100 firefighters responded and brought the blaze under control at around 1:30��.

Searing memories turn Tunisia survivors fearful, defiant

he told The Associated Press on Saturday, after returning to Spain. Some scattered, others couldnt and were killed right there. It was truly a massacre. Cusido kept a bitter sense of humor about the ordeal as he described his attackers, who at one.

US air defense troops train fast deployment in Poland

Speaking in fluent Polish, U.S. Ambassador Stephen Mull said Saturday that the U.S. is always ready to support Poland in times of need. Meanwhile in Szczecin, on the Baltic coast, the NATO Multinational Corps Northeast held a ceremony to mark the .

7 Children From an Orthodox Jewish Family Die in Brooklyn Fire

Seven children from an Orthodox Jewish family died early Saturday when a fire ripped through their home in Brooklyn, trapping the children ��� ages 5 to 16 ��� in their second-floor bedrooms as their mother and a teenage sister clambered outside through.

Dazzling supertide envelops Frances Mont Saint-Michel

Among those at the abbey on Saturday was Wilfred James, who drove six hours from central France in time for the morning tide. Its been a long time since weve seen Mont Saint-Michel surrounded by the sea. I was born in this region and I never saw it.

7 Children Die in Brooklyn Fire ��� New York TimesBreaking.

7 Children Die in Brooklyn Fire ��� New York Times. Seven children from the same family �������� ages 5 to 15 �������� died early Saturday in a fire in Brooklyn that the authorities said was caused by a malfunctioning hot plate. The blaze was reported just before 12:30 a.m. at a. While he did not elaborate, many Orthodox Jewish families, forbidden from lighting fires during the Sabbath, keep food warm by lighting a burner on a stove before the Sabbath. The mother was taken��.

The Listings | Nov. 25 - Dec. 1

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 MISS WITHERSPOON Opens Tuesday. 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. (212) 279-4200. SUPER VISION Opens Tuesday. Closes Saturday. The Builders Associations high-tech exploration of identity theft and data bodies blurs the lines between film and theater (1:10). Brooklyn Academy of Musics Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100. PETER PAN Opens Wednesday. Closes December 30. Eternally young Cathy Rigby, who has played Captain Hooks nemesis off and on since 1989, flies again in the New York leg of her farewell tour (2:00). The Theater at Madison Square Garden, 4 Penn Plaza, (212) 307-7171. THE COLOR PURPLE Opens Thursday. 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. ABIGAILS PARTY Opens Thursday. 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. IN THE CONTINUUM Opens Thursday. After receiving positive reviews, this two-person, many character show about HIV/AIDS among African and African-American women moves to a new theater (1:30). Perry Street Theater, 31 Perry Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 868-4444. APPARITION Previews start Monday. Opens Dec. 4. Anne Washburns creepy new mystery-drama features five ghost stories with hints of murder, demons and other things that go bump in the night (1:20). Connelly Theater, 220 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. CHITA RIVERA: THE DANCERS LIFE Opens Dec. 11. The star of Chicago and West Side Story relives many of her (and Broadways) greatest moments, with the help of a book by Terrence McNally (2:00). Schoenfeld Theater, 236 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. CELEBRATION and THE ROOM 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. DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD Previews start Thursday. Opens Dec. 15. The Peanuts gang finally grows up in this parody of Charles Schulzs comic strip. Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie) plays the hapless Charlie Brown (1:30). Century Center for the Performing Arts, 111 East 15th Street, Flatiron District, Manhattan (212) 239-6200. KLONSKY & SCHWARTZ Previews start Monday. Opens Dec. 5. A new play by Romulus Linney about the final years in the life of the mercurial New York poet Delmore Schwartz (1:30). Ensemble Studio Theater, 549 West 52nd Street, Clinton, (212) 352-3101. THE OTHER SIDE Opens Dec. 13. 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, Manhattan, (212) 581-1212. ROPE Opens Dec. 4. The Drama Dept. and the Zipper Theater present a revival of Patrick Hamiltons drama inspired by the Leopold and Loeb murder case. David Warren directs (2:05). The Zipper Theater, 336 West 37th Street, Manhattan, (212) 239-6200. TIGHT EMBRACE Opens Dec. 6. Two kidnapped women struggle to survive in this new play about political violence by Jorge Ignacio Cortinas (2:00). Intar Theater at the Kirk on Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. A TOUCH OF THE POET 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, Manhattan, (212) 719-1300. THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL 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) * 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 the pop repackager Des McAnuff (The Whos Tommy). The real thrill of this shrink-wrapped biomusical, 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) SEASCAPE While George Grizzard sounds affecting depths in this audience-friendly revival of Edward Albees 1975 Pulitzer Prize winner, Mark Lamoss production is most notable for being likable and forgettable, traits seldom associated with Albee plays. The ever-vital Frances Sternhagen plays life-affirming wife to Mr. Grizzards curmudgeonly husband, while Frederick Weller and the wonderful Elizabeth Marvel are the sea creatures who confront the old couple one afternoon at the beach (1:45). Lincoln Center Theater, at the Booth Theater, 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. 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. 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) 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) SOUVENIR Stephen Temperleys sweet, long love letter of a play celebrates the unlikely career of Florence Foster Jenkins, a notoriously tone-deaf soprano socialite. Its a show that could easily have been pure camp and at over two hours, it still wears thin. But with Vivian Matalon directing the redoubtable Judy Kaye as Mrs. Jenkins, and Donald Corren as her accompanist, the plays investigative empathy turns the first act into unexpectedly gentle, affecting comedy (2:15). Lyceum Theater, 149 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 ALMOST HEAVEN: SONGS OF JOHN DENVER Almost 30 of John Denvers songs are rediscovered and reinvented, as the shows publicity material says, but not generally improved upon. But Nicholas Rodriguez hits the high notes of Calypso spectacularly (2:00). Promenade Theater, 2162 Broadway, at 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 239-6200.(Neil Genzlinger) * 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) 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) 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.(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) HAMLET Michael Cumpsty gives a forceful, intelligent reading of the title role in the Classic Stage Companys likably intimate production of Shakespeares tale of doom-struck Danes. Brian Kulicks production is heavy on the directorial gimmickry (smell the spray paint! watch the set be shredded!), leaving psychology and philosophy to fend for themselves (2:30). Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) HILDA Marie Ndiayes play is a psychodrama from which most of the psychology seems to have mysteriously evaporated, taking a lot of the drama with it. Ellen Karas stars as a bourgeois housewife whose obsession with her maid eventually unhinges her (1:20). Part of the Act French Festival. 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200. (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, Manhattan, (212) 868-4444. (Zinoman) JUNIE B. JONES A spirited entertainment (1:30). Theaterworks/NYC, at the Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 279-4200. (Van Gelder) MEDEA The Jean Cocteau Repertorys cliché-ridden modern translation strains to be relevant (1:30). Bouwerie Lane Theater, 330 the Bowery, near East Second Street, East Village, (212) 279-4200. (Zinoman) MR. MARMALADE A zany comedy by Noah Haidle about emotionally disturbed children. Yes, you read that right. Michael C. Hall of Six Feet Under plays the now-cuddly, now-abusive imaginary friend of a neglected 4-year-old. Unfortunately Mr. Haidle never truly capitalizes on his provocative conceit, choosing instead to draw us a scary but ultimately hollow cartoon (1:50). Roundabout Theater Company, Laura Pels Theater, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street, (212) 719-1300. (Isherwood) 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 It remains prime entertainment (1:30). Radio City Music Hall, 50th Street and Avenue of the Americas, Manhattan, (212) 307-1000. (Van Gelder) RFK This solo show written and starring Jack Holmes is a reasonably accurate historical portrait, but the performance, unfortunately, lacks the charisma and charm that made the real Bobby Kennedy a star (1:35). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 253-9983. (Jonathan Kalb) THE RUBY SUNRISE Rinne Groffs period drama explores the countrys growing pains during the early years of television. Directed by the new Public Theater chief Oskar Eustis, the play casts glancing looks at a large subject, namely the countrys failure to harness advances in technology to socially progressive ends. But it is essentially a deftly structured but heavy-treading drama about the dashed dreams and tarnished ideals of two generations of spirited Midwestern women (2:15). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) 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). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200. (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) WAITING FOR GODOT (2:30). In this solid production, it is Sam Coppola (Vladimir) and Joseph Ragno (Estragon) who are waiting for the worlds most famous no-show. Its been 50 years since Samuel Becketts play was first staged on Broadway, and the changes in the world since then give the never-changing world of Didi and Gogo some interesting new resonance. Theater at St. Clements, 423 West 46th Street, Clinton,(212) 239-6200. (Genzlinger) Off Off Broadway 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) BROKEN JOURNEY A gripping production of a modern-day rendering of Rashomon by a British poet and playwright who employs clever wordplay to define the characters and delve into their psyche. A solid cast manages to hold the tension taut for most of the 110 minutes. Theater Three, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 352-3101. (Wilborn Hampton) PAUL ROBESON Paul Robesons voice remains his most enduring legacy, so it makes sense to cast Phillip Hayes Deans play about him with an opera singer. Kevin Maynor, a resonant bass, gets some of the impact of Robesons singing voice, but his monologue tends to blur together the many vignettes that Mr. Dean tried to cram into this rather simplistic reduction of a major figure. (The play originally ran on Broadway with James Earl Jones.) Robeson deserves better, but this is better than nothing (2:00). Henry Street Settlements Abrons Arts Center/Recital Hall, 466 Grand Street, Lower East Side, (212) 279-4200.(Anne Midgette) 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, Manhattan, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance 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, closing Sunday. ( Midgette) 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, Manhattan, (212) 868-4444, closing Sunday. ( Jefferson) * 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, closing Sunday.(Brantley) 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. * BEE SEASON (PG-13, 104 minutes) A genuinely felt, finely made adaptation of the Myla Goldberg novel about an 11-year-old girl with an ineffable gift for summoning up perfectly strung-together words. With Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche, Max Minghella and the wonderful newcomer Flora Cross as the family nearly undone by that gift. (Manohla Dargis) BLACKMAIL BOY (No rating, 100 minutes, in Greek) A doctor is sleeping with a younger man, who is having an affair with an older woman, and another character is having sex with her son-in-law. At times, Michalis Reppas and Thanassis Papathanasious film has the welcome feeling of farce, but mostly it just seems determined to shock. And to turn violent. (Anita Gates) * BREAKFAST ON PLUTO (R, 129 minutes) Candide meets Tom Jones in drag heaven might describe Neil Jordans picaresque fairy tale about a foundling who becomes a transvestite in 1970s and 80s London against the backdrop of the Irish troubles. (Stephen 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) CLASSE TOUS RISQUES (No rating, 103 minutes, in French and Italian) Claude Sautets 1960 gangster melodrama was lost in the shuffle of the new wave; now it is back, in a restored print, with soulful, vivid performances by Lino Ventura and Jean-Paul Belmondo as a pair of honorable thieves on the run. (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) GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN (R, 134 minutes) This lumbering vehicle for the rap star 50 Cent blends gangster intrigue with follow-your-dream striving. The story is a mess, and the star is no actor, but a fine supporting cast and Jim Sheridans warm-hearted direction make it watchable. (Scott) * 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) * HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (PG-13, 150 minutes) Childhood ends for the young wizard with the zigzag scar in the latest addition to the Potter saga, even as the director Mike Newell keeps its British eccentricity, fatalism and steady-on pluck irresistibly intact. (Dargis) JARHEAD (R, 123 minutes) Sam Mendess film about marines waiting for action in the first gulf war 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 Los Angeles. 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) NAKED IN ASHES (No rating, 108 minutes) This documentary provides an intimate, yet ultimately unsatisfying glimpse into the everyday lives of several Indian yogis, the Hindu mystics who smear their bodies with ash, live in improvised dwellings on the margins of society, and subject their bodies to extreme ascetic. Paula Fouce has gained unprecedented access to her subjects, but her own admiration for them makes this documentary more heartfelt than it is rigorous. (Dana Stevens) * 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) * PRIDE & PREJUDICE (PG, 128 minutes) In this sumptuous, extravagantly romantic adaptation of Jane Austens 1813 novel, Keira Knightleys Elizabeth Bennet exudes a radiance that suffuses the movie. This is a banquet of high-end comfort food perfectly cooked and seasoned to Anglophilic tastes. (Holden) PRIVATE (No rating, 90 minutes, in English, Hebrew and Arabic) This movie distills the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a nightmarish microcosm when a midnight raid by Israeli soldiers on the house of a peaceful, well-educated Palestinian family turns their home into an occupied territory. (Holden) * 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) 39 POUNDS OF LOVE (No rating, 74 minutes, in English and Hebrew) Afflicted by a rare disease that keeps his weight at 39 pounds and allows him to move only one finger, the 34-year-old animator Ami Ankilewitz nevertheless dreams of riding a Harley-Davidson. In his lighthearted yet forthright documentary, 39 Pounds of Love, the director Dani Menkin presents a bracingly honest portrait of a man refusing to be defined by the limitations of his body. (Jeannette Catsoulis) UNVEILED (No rating, 97 minutes, in German and Farsi) Angelina Maccarones film occasionally suffers from a self-conscious artiness, but at its center is an extraordinary performance by Jasmine Tabatabai as a young woman whose expectations from life have been lowered by a lifetime of systematic mistreatment, but who still holds out hope for the possibility of both justice and love. (Stevens) 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) WALK THE LINE (PG-13, 138 minutes) Johnny Cash gets the musical biopic treatment in this moderately entertaining, never quite convincing chronicle of his early years. Joaquin Phoenix, sweaty, inarticulate and intense as Cash, is upstaged by Reese Witherspoon, who tears into the role of June Carter (Cashs creative partner long before she became his second wife) with her usual charm, pluck and intelligence. (Scott) * 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) ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE (PG, 113 minutes) In this extraterrestrial fantasy, adapted from a Chris Van Allsburg story, a magical board game sends two squabbling young brothers into space to fend off invaders and learn the meaning of brotherhood. The movie is sweeter, gentler and more family-friendly than Jumanji, to which it is the unofficial sequel. (Holden) Film Series FOREVER GARBO: A RETROSPECTIVE (Through Dec. 17) The American-Scandinavian Foundations program honoring Greta Garbos centennial continues on Wednesday with Mata Hari (1931), in which Garbo plays the World War I spy. The film, which also stars Lionel Barrymore and Ramon Navarro, is best known for a famous dance sequence and Adrians glamorous costumes. Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, between 37th and 38th Streets, (212) 879-9779; $8. (Gates) FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT (Through Sunday) The IFC Centers Weekend Classics program concludes its Truffaut program this weekend with Confidentially Yours, the 1983 thriller, today and Sunday, and a marathon of the five Antoine Doinel films tomorrow. Jean-Pierre Léaud stars as Doinel, considered Truffauts alter ego, in The 400 Blows (1959), Stolen Kisses (1968), Antoine and Colette (a 1962 short), Bed and Board (1970) and Love on the Run (1979). 323 Avenue of the Americas, at West Third Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 924-7771; $10.75 ($25 for all five Doinel films). (Gates) HARD QUESTIONS: THE FILMS OF AMOS GITAI. (Through Dec. 8) The Film Society of Lincoln Centers program of work by Mr. Gitai, the Israeli filmmaker, begins on Wednesday with four features. Kadosh (1999) is about two couples in an ultra-orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood. Yom Yom (1998) is a dark comedy about a Haifa man who is half-Arab and half-Jewish. Kippur (2000) is set during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. And Mr. Gitai will introduce his newest film, Free Zone (2005), a drama starring Natalie Portman and Hanna Laslo. Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, (212) 875-5600; $10. (Gates) POETRY AND RIGOR: THE FILMS OF GIANNI AMELIO (Through Wednesday) The Museum of Modern Art and Cinecittà Holdings exhibition concludes with a variety of Amelio films including Blow to the Heart (1982), about a college professor whose son is spying on him; The End of the Game (1970), about a reform-school boy and a television reporter; and Open Doors (1990), about an old-guard judge versus a fascist regime. 11 West 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400; $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. ASHLEE SIMPSON (Sunday) With her engaging demeanor and rock-star pluck, Ashlee Simpson is, despite her early lip-synching woes, fast leaving her sister Jessica behind in the tabloids. As a vocalist, Ashlee can pout, howl and sass it up, which allows her a dimension beyond the spun sugar of teenage pop. 7 p.m., North Fork Theater, 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury, N.Y., (516) 334-0800; $39.50. (Laura Sinagra) BON JOVI (Monday and Tuesday) Jon Bon Jovis band conquered the airwaves in the 1980s and 90s by sticking together everything catchy about 70s rock: Bruce Springsteens earnestness, Led Zeppelins crunch, Bostons harmonies and lyrics that paint romance as nothing less than a titanic adventure. 7:30 p.m., Madison Square Garden, 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue, Manhattan, (212) 465-6741; $49.50 to $99.50. (Jon Pareles) BRIGHT EYES, FEIST, MAGIC NUMBERS (Tonight and tomorrow) The singer-songwriter Conor Oberst is still perhaps too jittery to resonate as a New Dylan to Old Dylan fans. But his emphatic wisdom, candid political indignance and nuanced wine-soaked laments make him one of the best songwriters of his generation. The warm-voiced Feist is a collaborator of the electroclash queen Peaches and the indie collective Broken Social Scene. Her best songs are quirky, plucked jazz numbers that make her sound like a hipper Norah Jones. Londons Magic Numbers, with their diffuse take on 60s harmonies, round out the bill. 8 p.m., Landmark Loews Theater, 54 Journal Square, Jersey City,(866) 468-7619; $25. (Sinagra) MARSHALL CRENSHAW (Sunday) Marshall 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. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Avenue, East Village, (212) 239-6200; $20. (Pareles) RAY DAVIES (Monday) The Kinks singer Ray Davies performs here in connection with a couple of minireleases, one a benefit five-song EP pegged to Thanksgiving Day, reportedly inspired by recent attempts to better understand the United States. One assumes he will also play classics from his bands catalog and tell some stories, too. 8 p.m., Supper Club, 240 West 47th Street, Manhattan, (212) 921-1940; $65. (Sinagra) ROBERTA FLACK (Tomorrow) Behind the gentle, tremulous voice that confided hits like The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face is long knowledge of the continuum of blues, gospel, soul and jazz. Ms. Flack can use just a touch of rawness to make her songs hit home. 8 p.m., B. B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144; $65. (Pareles) ARLO GUTHRIE (Tomorrow) Forty years after releasing Alices Restaurant, this folk-music scion is still revising his songs to tweak the powers that be. He performs his populist story-album, which begins with Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, over this holiday weekend. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 501-1390; $38 to $55. (Sinagra) HOT 97 PRESENTS DIP SET (Tonight) Hot 97 D.J.s Funkmaster Flex and Angie Martinez celebrate the refurbishment of the Bronxs opulent Paradise Theater with a show featuring members of the Harlem rap crew Dip Set: Juelz Santana (There It Go (The Whistle Song) ) and the rappers Jim Jones and Camron. 10 p.m., Paradise Theater, 2403 Grand Concourse, Bronx, ticketmaster.com; $30. (Sinagra) HOT TUNA (Tomorrow) The guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and the bassist Jack Casady started Hot Tuna as a side project from Jefferson Airplane, but it has now long outlasted the original band. Mr. Kaukonen plays spiky, fingerpicked blues that calmly contemplate death and loss, still harking back to the Rev. Gary Davis, with Mr. Casadys bass shadowing him from below. 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 496-7070; $38.50 to $48.50. (Pareles) B. B. KING (Sunday through Tuesday) 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. 8 p.m., B. B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144; $80 in advance (sold out), $85 at the door. (Pareles) KORN (Tuesday) This band helped popularize a brand of late-90s rock that featured chunky chords and angry raps about childhood mistreatment and the adult fallout. Korns latest video humorously features rappers Lil Jon, Snoop Dog, Xzibit and David Banner pretending to be the band. 8 p.m., Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street, Manhattan, (212) 564-4882; $37 in advance, $42 at the door. (Sinagra) THE MENDOZA LINE (Tomorrow) This local band has a knack for deceptively lilting songs with cutting lyrics about betrayal, jealousy and disappointment. Its best choruses turn on phrases like It will be the same without you. 4 p.m., Sound Fix Records, 110 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 388-8090; free. (Sinagra) METERS (Tonight) Hurricane Katrina could not drown New Orleans syncopation. It lives on with the reunion of the Meters, the definitive New Orleans funk band since 1967. It has backed others, but saved its snappiest, trickiest grooves for its own tracks. With Art Neville on keyboards, George Porter Jr. on bass, Leo Nocentelli on guitar and Joseph Zigaboo Modeliste on drums, they open up nooks and crannies of the beat to carry every hip into irresistible motion. 8 p.m., Nokia Theater Times Square, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, ticketmaster.com, (212) 307-7171; $50. (Pareles) MIGHTY SPARROW (Sunday) The songwriter and singer who revolutionized calypso after World War II still has sly rhymes and ebullient dance moves, and he is still coming up with up-to-the-minute topical songs. 7 p.m., Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street, Harlem, (212) 531-5305; $35 to $75. (Pareles) AARON NEVILLE (Tomorrow) Aaron Neville of New Orleanss Neville Brothers brings a resolute, pure high vocal quaver to funky R & B, jazz-pop and gospel music, swinging confidently while still conveying heartache. He plays here with a quintet featuring Charles Neville. 8 p.m., Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street, Manhattan, www.concertstonight.com, (212) 307-7171; $39.50 to $49.50. (Sinagra) BONNIE RAITT, MARC BROUSSARD (Wednesday and Thursday) Since her days following in the footsteps of blues performers like Sippie Wallace and Son House, Ms. Raitt has been comfortable playing with both rolling funk blues and blues-pop that relies on her clear, wearily emotive voice. Her latest work features stripped down songs about loss and resilience. The rootsy singer Marc Broussard opens. 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 496-7070; $40 to $75. (Sinagra) PATTI SMITH (Wednesday and Thursday) As resolutely pretentious as ever, the punk-poet rocker Patti Smith still has the sinewy swagger to trump young imitators. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of her classic album Horses, Ms. Smith and her band -- the guitarist Lenny Kaye, the drummer Jay Dee Daugherty, the bassist Tony Shanahan and the guitarist Tom Verlaine, with a special guest, the bassist Flea -- will perform the album in its entirety. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to hurricane-relief organizations. 7:30 p.m., Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100; $20 to $45. (Sinagra) WADADA LEO SMITH AND ALAN KUSHAN (Thursday) The trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith and the santur player and composer Alan Kushan integrate American improvisational music, Persian classical music and Sufi devotional practice in a performance featuring Mr. Smiths Golden Quartet and Mr. Kushans group, Rumis Disciple. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 362-8060; $10. (Sinagra) LADY SOVEREIGN (Wednesday) Few M.C.s 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. 9 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $15. (Sinagra) BILLY SQUIER (Wednesday) Who knew how important the singer-guitarist behind Zeppelin-lite 80s hits like Everybody Wants You and My Kinda Lover would be to hip-hop? B. B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144; $35.(Sinagra) TOOTS & THE MAYTALS (Sunday) Toots Hibbert was the first Jamaican singer to put the term reggae in a song title; his Do the Reggay came out in 1968, when the rhythm was brand new. He is reggaes long-running soul man, applying the gruff, gospel exuberance of Otis Redding to tales of prison, love, dancing and redemption. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $25 in advance, $30 at the door. (Pareles) WE ARE WOLVES (Tomorrow) Among the current wave of Montreal bands, the trio We Are Wolves is less drama clubby than Arcade Fire, fitting more easily into the dance-punk category. 11 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $8. (Sinagra) 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. 2 p.m., Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331; $55, including brunch at noon. (Stephen Holden) 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. (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 night, 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 if they were all the same song. 8:45, 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 and Wednesday; $90 Thursday. (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. ERIC ALEXANDER QUARTET WITH VON FREEMAN (Through Sunday) Mr. Alexander is one of the leading inheritors of a muscular tenor-saxophone style associated with the 1950s; the octogenarian Mr. Freeman, dropping in from his native Chicago, is one of that styles largely unsung but widely influential heroes. 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. (Nate Chinen) DON BYRON PLAYS JUNIOR WALKER (Thursday) Jazz has many card-carrying eclectics these days, but none more self-assured than Don Byron, wholl favor the tenor saxophone rather than his usual clarinet in this tribute to the R & B hero Junior Walker. 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 539-8778; cover: $20, with a two-drink minimum. (Chinen) JAMES CARTER, CYRUS CHESTNUT, REGINALD VEAL, ALI JACKSON (Wednesday through Dec. 4) Pavement, the 1990s indie-rock band, gets a jazz makeover from the saxophonist James Carter, the pianist Cyrus Chestnut, the bassist Reginald Veal and the drummer Ali Jackson; the band comes touting Gold Sounds (Brown Brothers), a puckish new album. 8 and 10 p.m., Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121; cover: $30, $27.50 on Wednesday, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) BILL CHARLAP AND BILL MAYS (Wednesday through Dec. 3) These fine pianists have more than a first name in common; harmonic savvy and an articulate sense of swing are also traits they share. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover: $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) ALAN FERBER NONET (Tuesday) As on his recent album, Scenes From an Exit Row (Fresh Sound), the trombonist Alan Ferber presents his elastic compositions for nonet. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Koze Lounge, 676 Fifth Avenue, at 20th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 832-8282; cover: $7. (Chinen) BENNY GOLSON QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Golson is a brusquely charismatic tenor saxophonist and one of jazzs most tuneful composers. 9 and 11 p.m., Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, Manhattan, (212) 864-6662; cover: $25 or $30. (Chinen) MATS GUSTAFSSON AND JOE MCPHEE (Tuesday) Mr. Gustafsson and Mr. McPhee are highly regarded saxophonists in the avant-garde, a generation and a continent removed from each other; they play here with Mr. Gustafssons Norwegian rhythm section, featuring Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums. 8 and 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover: $10. (Chinen) * JIM HALL TRIO (Tuesday through Dec. 4) Mr. Halls economical style and deep harmonic command have made him a subtly powerful hero of jazz 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) ARTHUR KELL QUARTET (Tuesday) On Traveller (Fresh Sound New Talent), the bassist and composer Arthur Kell delivers a searching strain of modern jazz; he has worthy partners here in the saxophonist Donny McCaslin, the guitarist Steve Cardenas and the drummer Gerald Cleaver. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover: $20. (Chinen) KNEEBODY (Thursday) Rock, funk and electronic music commingle convincingly with jazz on this quintets recent self-titled studio debut; here the group shares a slot with Jerseyband, a young and hyperactive postmodern fusion group. 10 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover: $12. (Chinen) LEE KONITZ QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Konitz lends his venerable reputation and dry-martini alto saxophone to this ensemble, which features the resourceful bop-leaning guitarist Peter Bernstein. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover: $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JASON LINDNER BIG BAND (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Lindner, a pianist and composer, is best known for this 10-year-old ensemble, which offers big band traditions with contemporary contours; its ranks include the trumpeter Duane Eubanks, the saxophonist Miguel Zenón and the trombonist-cellist Dana Leong. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063; cover: $15. (Chinen) * BRAD MEHLDAU TRIO (Through Sunday) With Day Is Done (Nonesuch), the pianist Brad Mehldau has renovated the sound of his longstanding trio, with considerable help from the powerfully expressive drummer Jeff Ballard; the groups luminous brand of lyricism has survived, but its repertory is more pop-inflected and its rhythmic push more pronounced. 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) CARLI MUÑOZ QUARTET (Wednesday) Mr. Muñoz, a pianist active on the 1970s Los Angeles music scene, has kept a low profile since returning to his native Puerto Rico some 20 years ago; as on his new album, Maverick (Pelosenel Q Lo), he appears here with the bassist Eddie Gomez and the tenor saxophonist David Sánchez, among others. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover: $20. (Chinen) DAVID (FATHEAD) NEWMAN (Tuesday through Dec. 4) Mr. Newmans tenor saxophone often provided a bluesy counterpoint to the vocals of Ray Charles; in this small-group tribute, vocal duties fall to Cynthia Scott. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 p.m. 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 $10 minimum at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) JOHNNY ONEAL TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. ONeal is a pianist born and bred in Detroit and a veteran of more than a few celebrated bands; his trio will be joined, for tonights two sets, by the imaginative and bluesy trombonist Wycliffe Gordan. 8 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. (Chinen) EIVIND OPSVIKS OVERSEAS (Wednesday) On his recent album Overseas II (Fresh Sound New Talent), the Norwegian bassist Eivind Opsvik plumbs a strikingly modern (and yes, vaguely Nordic) brand of fusion. 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover: $8. (Chinen) ARTURO SANDOVAL (Tuesday through Dec. 4) Mr. Sandoval is a trumpeter best known for stratospheric bravado, although he occasionally reaches for a subtler aesthetic; his Latin-jazz sextet features Ed Calle on saxophone. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592; cover: $30 at tables, $20 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) * MARIA SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA (Through Sunday) Last years Concert in the Garden (ArtistShare) was a success not only for its Internet-only distribution and subsequent Grammy win; the album bespoke this ensembles rare cohesive precision, along with the sophistication of Ms. Schneiders compositional language. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover: $25 to $30. (Chinen) TODD SICKAFOOSE GROUP (Tuesday) Mr. Sickafoose is a bassist and composer equally fond of rough edges and rounded forms; he showcases his atmospheric compositions in an improvising chamber ensemble that includes Shane Endsley on trumpet, Alan Ferber on trombone, Mike Gamble on guitar and Erik Deutsch on drums. 7 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover: $8. (Chinen) * WADADA LEO SMITH AND ALAN KUSHAN (Thursday) Mr. Smith, a trumpeter of high stature in experimental circles, brings the latest edition of his Golden Quartet to this collaboration with the hammered-dulcimer player Alan Kushan; Tabligh, composed by Mr. Smith and Mr. Kushan, seeks common ground between Sufi devotional music and the jazz avant-garde. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 545-7536; cover: $10, $7 for students. (Chinen) LOREN STILLMAN QUARTET (Wednesday) With his new album, It Could Be Anything (Fresh Sound New Talent), Mr. Stillman reinforces his reputation as an alto saxophonist with an inquisitive relationship to jazz tradition; he performs here with Jacob Sacks on piano, Scott Lee on bass and Jeff Hirshfield on drums. 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319; cover: $5, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) TILT BRASS BAND (Wednesday) A raucous assembly of creative horn players -- like the trumpeter Shane Endsley and the trombonist Jacob Garchik -- joined by the pianist Anthony Coleman, who presents the premiere of a piece loosely based on Eonta, by the classical avant-gardist Iannas Xenakis. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover: $10. (Chinen) DOUG WAMBLES FAITH-BASED INITIATIVES (Wednesday) Mr. Wamble, a folksy but adventurous acoustic guitarist, banjoist and vocalist, rounds up a small stable of frequent co-conspirators, including Steven Bernstein on slide trumpet and Charles Burnham on violin. 10 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover: $10. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera LA BOHÈME (Tomorrow and Wednesday) A new cast at the Met has taken the reins of the Puccini favorite: Ruth Ann Swenson is Mimì, Frank Lopardo is Rodolfo, Emily Pulley is Musetta and Vassily Gerello is Marcello. Philippe Auguin conducts. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 7:30. Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $42 to $320. (Jeremy Eichler) CARMEN (Tomorrow and Tuesday) Carmen will sell tickets no matter who is in it. Nancy Fabiola Herrera, who got to open the run at the Metropolitan Opera this season, is singing it tomorrow opposite the tenor Marcello Giordani, who should excel as Don José; on Tuesday, Denyce Graves is back in one of her signature roles opposite the tenor Eduardo Villa. Ana Maria Martinez, a young soprano with a burgeoning international career, made her company debut as Micaëla; Erwin Schrott is Escamillo; and Philippe Jordan remains the crisp and able conductor. Tomorrow afternoon at 1:30, Tuesday night at 8, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; remaining tickets: $150 to $320 tomorrow, $26 to $320 Tuesday (Anne Midgette). ROMÉO ET JULIETTE (Tonight, Monday and Thursday) The big news from the Metropolitan Operas new production of Gounods Roméo et Juliette, is the French coloratura soprano Natalie Dessays remarkable portrayal of Juliette. She sings with uncanny agility and lyrical elegance; her light, rich lyric voice shimmers throughout the house; and she affectingly embodies this tragically impulsive young woman. The tenor Ramón Vargas, though a stiff actor, delivers a vocally impassioned portrayal of Roméo. The Belgian director Guy Joostens production gives the opera an appropriate Italian Renaissance look, though with surreal touches and some heavy-handed imagery of eternal love amid the starry cosmos. Bertrand de Billys incisive yet refined conducting of Gounods most sophisticated score is in every way admirable. At 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $320. (Anthony Tommasini) Classical Music ABSOLUTE ENSEMBLE (Thursday) The conductor Kristjan Jarvi and his free-spirited band invariably present innovative programs, played zestily. The groups current offering is an operatic double bill that includes Mozarts youthful Zaide and Daniel Schnyders Casanova. At 8 p.m., Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University, 566 La Guardia Place, Greenwich Village, (212) 279-4200; $30. (Allan Kozinn) BARGEMUSIC (Tonight through Sunday, and Thursday) Sonatas and Piano Trios by Brahms and Haydn hold the spotlight through the weekend, when Mark Peskanov, the violinist, Peter Bruns, the cellist, and Vladimir Stoupel, the pianist, hold court in this floating concert hall on the East River. On Thursday, Roy Eaton, a pianist, takes over with a program of Bach, Chopin, Gershwin and Joplin. Tonight, tomorrow and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m., Bargemusic, Fulton Ferry Landing next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083; $35, $30 for 65+ (Thursday only), $25 for students. (Kozinn) BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Monday) The big event at this much-anticipated concert is the return of the fantastic mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who has cancelled much of her schedule this year because of a back injury, singing the first New York performance of Neruda Songs by her husband, the composer Peter Lieberson. Taking the measure of James Levines ongoing renaissance in Boston is the other draw, and Mr. Levine will have plenty of chance to show his stuff in Till Eulenspiegel and the Mahler Fourth. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $33 to $116 (Midgette). BRENTANO STRING QUARTET (Wednesday) This dynamic ensemble opens a new salon series of free one-hour concerts with Schuberts fiery Death and the Maiden Quartet. At 7 p.m., Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 West 37th Street, Manhattan, (212) 218-7540; free, but reservations are required. (Eichler) SIMONE DINNERSTEIN (Monday) The young American pianist looks back to Bach, in a big way: to be precise, with the Goldberg Variations, a feat of endurance as well as artistry. Shes been touring other cities with it and won considerable acclaim, and her unreleased recording is already attracting buzz. Her big, sure, confident playing has been praised in a range of more recent works, from Rochberg to, at this years Bard Festival, Copland. Check it out. At 7:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $15 to $25 (sold out). (Midgette) WOLFGANG HOLZMAIR (Monday and Tuesday) This superb baritone, with Russel Ryan at the piano, performs music by the Austrian composers Eric Zeisl and Franz Mittler. At 8, the Austrian Cultural Forum, 11 East 52nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 319-5300, extension 222; free, but reservations are required. (Kozinn) CHRISTIAN IMMLER (Sunday) This young German baritone makes his New York debut, with Silvia Fraser at the piano, in a program that includes Schumanns Dichterliebe (Op. 48) and works by Eisler, Ravel, Rankl and Wolf. At 5 p.m., the Frick Collection, 1 East 70th Street, Manhattan, (212) 288-0700; $20. (Kozinn) ROBERT LEVIN (Thursday) Equally nimble as a pianist and musicologist, Robert Levin hosts another installment of his Mozart Explored series of concerts with commentary. This time, its music for wind instruments. At 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $35 to $40. (Eichler) NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Tonight) Lawrence Foster leads the orchestra in works by Enesco and Mendelssohn (the Scottish Symphony) as well as Beethovens Second Piano Concerto with the elegant young pianist Jonathan Biss. At 8 p.m., Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., (800) 255-3476; $50 to $62. Program repeats tomorrow, Sunday and Tuesday in different locations. (Eichler) THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Tonight and tomorrow) Dresdens cathedral, the Frauenkirche, was bombed in the war and only restored after German reunification, and the New York Philharmonic has just played in Dresden as part of the reopening celebrations. For the occasion, the British composer Colin Matthews wrote a new piece, Berceuse for Dresden, for the Philharmonic and a Dresden-based cellist, Jan Vogler, who makes his subscription debut this weekend with this piece and the Schumann cello concerto. Dvoraks New World Symphony rounds out the concert; Lorin Maazel conducts. At 8 p.m. (a matinee of the Dvorak and Dohnanyis piano quintet, is tomorrow at 2 p.m.), Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $26 to $92 ($23 to $64 for the matinee). (Midgette) NEW YORK YOUTH SYMPHONY (Sunday) The concerts by this dynamic orchestra of aspiring young musicians, mostly of high-school age, are never disappointing. The orchestra had a good record of enticing major musicians as soloists, and Sunday afternoons concert offers Carter Brey, the brilliant principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic, in Dvoraks Cello Concerto. Each concert also presents a premiere by a young composer, and this time its Ryan Anthony Franciss Axiom. The conductor Paul Haas ends the program with Beethovens Fifth. There is nothing like hearing a repertory staple played by thrilled young musicians, many of whom may be playing it for the first time. At 2 p.m., Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $7 to $45. (Tommasini) PIANO TRIOS PLUS (Tomorrow) Prism Projects presents Piano Trios Plus, a concert of new and recent chamber works on Saturday night. Lots of cutting-edge contemporary concerts seem to take place in churches, especially open-minded parishes like St. Peters in Chelsea, which has long fostered music of all kinds. On this intriguing program, with Robert Frankenberry piano; Roger Zahab, violin; David Russell, cello; and Tanya Maggi, viola, there will be trios by two of my favorite living composers, Lee Hyla and Judith Weir, more trios by David Keberle and Mr. Zahab, with a piano quartet by Ms. Weir to round out the program. At 7:30 p.m., St. Peters Church in Chelsea, 346 West 20th Street, (212) 741-0011; $10 at the door. (Tommasini) QUEENS CHAMBER TRIO (Sunday) Marin Marais was the early music flavor of the month for a while in the late 1980s, after his life was explored in the film Tous les Matins du Monde (All the Mornings of the World). His music still turns up regularly in concerts by Jordi Savall and other gambists, but on Sunday it will be played by this slightly updated ensemble, which uses a cello rather than a gamba. In addition to Marais, the group will perform music by Mozart. At 2 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $30. (Kozinn) EARL WILD (Tuesday) Three days after his 90th birthday, the American pianist Earl Wild will celebrate by giving a substantial recital at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Wild, long acclaimed for his nonchalant brand of virtuosity, has lost a little power and precision in recent years. But this summer at the Mannes College of Music he played a difficult program with fluidity, grace, beautiful colorings and lots of panache. For this occasion he offers works by Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin and himself, as well as his own delightful transcriptions of works by Rachmaninoff and Marcello. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $15 to $90. (Tommasini) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. * ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER (Wednesday and Thursday) The companys annual City Center season opens Wednesday (and runs through Jan. 1) with a gala that includes Reminiscin, a new work by Judith Jamison, the Ailey artistic director, plus the companys signature Revelations, its Messiah and Nutcracker rolled into one, with live music. (Repertory performances begin Thursday.) Wednesday at 7 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m. (sold out), New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212 or www.alvinailey.org or www.nycitycenter.org; nongala, $25 to $75. (John Rockwell) ARMITAGE GONE! DANCE (Wednesday and Thursday) Back in New York City after a European career, Karole Armitage presents her new In this dream that dogs me, which draws from sources as various as calligraphy and the South Central Los Angeles street dance known as krumping. (Through Dec. 18.) 8 p.m., the Duke, 229 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 239-6200 or www.telecharge.com; $35. (Jennifer Dunning) BALLET MESTIZO (Tonight through Sunday) The company performs Colombian folk dance and music. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, 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 (other nights); students and 65+, $27. (Dunning) BALLETTO STILETTO (Thursday through Dec. 18) Based on Grimms Twelve Dancing Princesses, the director Mary Fulhams holiday spectacular offers an alternative for anyone liable to go nuts if forced to sit through another Nutcracker or other cherished Christmas tradition. 7:30 p.m., with 2:30 matinee on Sundays. La MaMa, 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101, theatermania.com ; $15 to $25.(Claudia La Rocco) * BATSHEVA DANCE COMPANY (Through Sunday) Israels leading modern-dance company with Mamootot, a compelling hourlong work by Israels leading choreographer, Ohad Naharin, presented by the Next Wave Festival in a studio that seats only 100. Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., tomorrow at 9:30 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., James and Martha Duffy Performance Space, Mark Morris Dance Center, 3 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100 or www.bam.org; $40 (sold out). (Rockwell) CHASHAMA: TRANSIT (Today through Sunday) Eleanor Dubinsky explores travel in a free dance piece with simultaneous video projections from five cities throughout the world, in a storefront and gallery space. Noon to 5 p.m. (open rehearsals) and 5 to 9 p.m. (performances), Chashama Window Gallery, 266 West 37th Street, Manhattan., www.chashama.org (Dunning) FRESH TRACKS (Tonight and tomorrow) Chase Granoff, Isabel Lewis, John Wyszniewski and others -- catch them before they are stars as the coveted series for emerging choreographers returns. 7 :30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street , Chelsea, (212) 924-0077, dtw.org ; $12 to $20. (La Rocco) JANE GOLDBERG: BELLY TAP FOR WORLD PEACE (Tonight and tomorrow) Known as the originator of the tap and schmooze school of dance, Ms. Goldberg is also a performer who embodies a good deal of recent tap history. 8, Blue Mountain Gallery, 530 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212) 393-1182; suggested donation, $15 to $25. (Dunning) GOLDEN DRAGON ACROBATS (Today through Sunday) Direct from China, with cables to twirl on, hoops to spin and bodies to twist to pretzel shapes. (Through Jan. 1.) Today and tomorrow at 2 and 7 p.m., Sunday at noon and 5 p.m., New Victory Theater, 209 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 239-6200 or www.newvictory.org; $10 to $50. (Dunning) MIGUEL GUTIERREZ AND THE POWERFUL PEOPLE (Wednesday and Thursday) This irrepressible, inquisitive modern-dance performer, choreographer and program curator will present two new pieces inspired by performers psyches and how they got that way. (Through Dec. 3.) 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077 or www.dtworg; $20; $12 for artists and students. (Dunning) MARTHA HILL AWARD (Monday) This years award for lifetime achievement in dance will go to Ruth E. Grauert, a lighting designer and witness to dance history who is as redoubtable as the educator whom the prize memorializes. Performances by Beverly Blossom, Betsy Fisher and the winner of a young professional award, Christopher Vo. 6 p.m. (reception) and 8 p.m. (awards and performance), Thomas Hunter Hall, Sixth Floor Dance Studio, Lexington Avenue between 68th and 69th Street, (212) 717-6148; $75 (for performers); $150 to $750.(Dunning) JAZZ TAP ENSEMBLE (Tonight through Sunday) Lynn Dally, director of this troupe of young tappers, offers a slew of new works -- two accompanied live by the jazz vocalist Kate McGarry. Tonight and 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; $40. (Roslyn Sulcas) A KLEZMER NUTCRACKER (Sunday) Shirim meets Tchaikovsky when the Amy Marshall Dance Company performs this child-friendly twist on the classic ballet. 2 p.m., Queensborough Community College Performing Arts Center, 222-05 56th Avenue, Bayside, Queens, (718) 631-6311, visitqpac.org; $10 (La Rocco) MOVEMENT RESEARCH IMPROV FESTIVAL (Thursday) Performances, workshops, studio visits and discussions will explore this tool in postmodernist choreography, with performers chosen by curators who include DD Dorvillier and koosil-ja hwang. (Through Dec. 4.) 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194 or www.danspaceproject.org; $15. (Dunning) ANAHID SOFIAN DANCE COMPANY (Wednesday and Thursday) Ms. Sofian, a specialist in dances of the Middle East, has drawn on the culture of Morocco for her new Marrakech: Inside the Magic Circle. (Through Dec. 4.) 7:30 p.m., Baruch College Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue at 24th Street, Manhattan, (646) 312-4085; $45.00; $23, Baruch students. (Dunning) URBAN BALLET THEATER (Tomorrow, Sunday and Thursday) Daniel Catanachs Nutcracker in the Lower is inspired by the landscapes and denizens of the Lower East Side, including housing projects and hip-hop rats and toy soldiers. Tomorrow and Thursday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., Henry Street Settlement, 466 Grand Street, Lower East Side, (212) 352-3101 or www.henrystreet.org/abronsartscenter; $15; $10 for students with IDs and 65+.(Dunning) ZERO VISIBILITY CORP. (Wednesday and Thursday) Performance Space 122s lively looking Norway in New York festival offers this innovative dance company in a piece called Its Only a Rehearsal. 8 p.m., P.S. 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101 or www.ps122.org; $20, $15 students and 65+. (Rockwell) 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. Over all, 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 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 shortlist 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 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 1939 New York Worlds Fair. 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? These 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, the artists 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 rural 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: THE PERFECT MEDIUM: PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE OCCULT, through Dec. 31. Hands down, the most hilarious, not to mention the most charming, exhibition the Met has done in years: an assemblage of 19th-century and early-20th-century spirit photographs, séance reportage and other examples of transparent tomfoolery. Like all examples of great humor, it is, at heart, also a sneakily serious affair. Its subjects include the depths of human gullibility and the conjuring power of photography, whose technology, we may forget in the cynical day of digital manipulation and Photoshop, seemed unfathomable to so many people a century and more ago. The exhibitions deeper subject is the dreamer in all of us. (See above.) (Michael Kimmelman) * 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.) (Kimmelman) * MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: BEYOND THE VISIBLE: THE ART OF ODILON REDON, through Jan. 23. The timing was off for the big Odilon Redon retrospective in Chicago in 1994. The art worlds mind was on identity politics and neo-conceptualism. Fin-de-siècle drawings of moony monsters and lamp-bright flowers existed on some other planet. Now theres another Redon survey, smaller, very beautiful, culminating in his lush, pixilated late paintings. And the timing for it is just right. 11 West 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400. (Cotter) * MUSEUM OF MODERN ART : ELIZABETH MURRAY, through Jan. 9. Here is the complete range of shape-shifting, dizzily colored pictures that Elizabeth Murray has produced over four decades. The colors are noisy, the harmonies pungent, the scale big and bold. While art-world fashion has drifted here and there, Ms. Murray has stuck to her craft, with all its difficulties and at the occasional cost of failure and neglect. Her show is a meaty, openhearted, eye-popping event. (See above.) (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, 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) * P.S. 1: PETER HUJAR, through Jan. 16. When Peter Hujar died in 1987, he was a figure of acute interest to a small group of fans and unknown to practically everyone else. His photographs of desiccated corpses in Sicilian catacombs and studio portraits of New Yorks downtown demimonde were a gorgeous shock, and their cocktail of Nadar, Weegee and Vogue shaped the work of many younger artists. This surveyish sampling includes several of his recurrent themes: portraits of people and animals, landscapes, still lifes and erotica. Sensuality and mortality are the binders throughout, inseparable. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Street, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 784-2084.(Cotter) * P.S. 1: THE PAINTED WORLD, through Jan. 30. Though this 23-artist exhibition of mostly contemporary abstractionists lacks bite as a whole, every individual painter in it is worthy of attention. In addition to ancestral figures like Myron Stout and Moira Dryer, the show includes Philip Taaffe, Mary Heilmann and Chris Martin. (See above.) (Johnson) * STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM: FREQUENCY, through March 12. Despite some marked unevenness, this display of new and recently emerged talent confirms the current vitality of black art, contemporary art and mid-size New York museums. Names to look out for include Kalup Linzy, Leslie Hewitt, Jeff Sonhouse, Shinique Amie Smith, Demetrius Oliver, Michael Paul Britto, Nick Cave, Mickalene Thomas and Michael Queenland, but dont stop there. 144 West 125th Street, Harlem, (212) 864-4500. (Smith) * 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 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) * WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: THE ART OF RICHARD TUTTLE, through Feb. 5. For 40 years Richard Tuttle has murmured the ecstasies of paying close attention to the worlds infinitude of tender incidents, making oddball assemblages of prosaic ephemera, which, at first glance, belie their intense deliberation and rather monumental ambition. Out of cord, tin, Styrofoam, florists wire and bubble wrap he has devised objects whose status is not quite sculpture or drawing or painting but some combination of the three, and whose exquisiteness is akin to that of jewelry. His outstanding retrospective is a cross between a kindergarten playroom and a medieval treasury. (See above) (Kimmelman) Galleries: 57th Street EDWARD MAYER: DRAWING OUT A single work designed for and occupying the entire front exhibition space of this gallery, Drawing Out looks both sturdy and fragile, a skeletal open-work modular passageway 18-feet-long, put together as if from a giant Erector set. At once disciplined architecture and intuitive sculptural drawing, the piece invites you to enter and explore it, while conveying a disturbing sense of matter out of place. How often do you get to view a drawing from the inside out? Zabriskie Gallery, 41 East 57th Street (212) 752-1223, through Dec. 3. (Glueck) TOM WESSELMANN: WORKS ON PAPER, RETROSPECTIVE Typed as a Pop artist early on for his portrayals of commercial foodstuffs as well as of stylized womens bodies (or parts thereof) that mingled classic odalisque and sexy pinup, Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) had other strings to his bow, among them an interest in landscape and, later in his career, large abstract cutouts in metal. His provocative nude icons are here in abundance, but also evident is his interest in Matisse, Picasso and Mondrian. This lively show of 44 works on paper, arranged by his daughter, Kate, also reveals that Wesselmann was a compulsive draftsman, producing and revising many color and compositional studies for his finished works. Maxwell Davidson Gallery, 724 Fifth Avenue, (212) 759-7555, through Dec. 23. (Glueck) * THE WOMEN OF GIACOMETTI A museum-quality show of paintings and sculptures focuses on Alberto Giacomettis curiously asexual representations of his mother, sister, wife and other women in his life. PaceWildenstein, 32 East 57th Street, (212) 421-3292, through Dec. 17. (Johnson) Galleries: Chelsea POLLY APFELBAUM: CARTOON GARDEN Give Ms. Apfelbaum credit for trying one of her signature fabric floors without color. Still, though the wide rectangular plot of cartoon blossoms drawn with black markers on pieces of white velvet is graphically lively, the aesthetic payoff as a whole is not worth the sacrifice of color. DAmelio Terras, 525 West 22nd Street, (212) 352-9460, through Dec. 23.(Johnson) THE ART OF CHESS Updating a historical show of chess sets by mid-20th-century artists on view at the Noguchi Museum, this entertaining exhibition presents fantastic, funky and elegant chess sets designed by, among others, Damien Hirst, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tom Friedman, Paul McCarthy and Yayoi Kusama -- whose optically ravishing set of dotted gourdlike pieces enclosed within a big, leather-clad pumpkin-shaped container steals the show. Luhring Augustine, 531 West 24th Street, (212) 206-9100, through Dec. 23.(Johnson) * JEREMY BLAKE: SODIUM FOX The best animated video of this innovative artists career is a dense, briskly based fusion of formalism and underbelly, both indubitably American, propelled by the words and voice of the poet David Berman. Feigen Contemporary, 535 West 20th Street, (212) 929-0500, through Dec. 3. (Smith) * JEREMY COMINS While neither especially original nor current, Mr. Cominss small carved wood sculptures evoke the history of the medium with assured sophistication, impeccable craft and that unmarketable commodity called integrity. Denise Bibro, 529 West 20th Street, (212) 647-7030, through Dec. 10. (Smith) TRACEY EMIN: I CAN FEEL YOUR SMILE This British artist presents embroideredand stitched works about unrequited love that look as if they were made by a distracted teenage girl and also include an internally lighted tower of sticks that alludes to witch burning. Lehmann Maupin, 540 West 26th Street, (212) 255-2923, through Dec. 17. (Johnson) BRIAN FINKE: MOST MUSCULAR Whether bodybuilding is a sport, an art form or a neurosis, the physiques of people who have devoted themselves to growing their muscles are always fascinating to see. Mr. Finkes photographs of scantily clad, extraordinarily pumped-up men and women on stage and behind the scenes at competitions are riveting. ClampArt, 531 West 25th Street, (646) 230-0020, through Dec. 17.(Johnson) MONA HATOUM: MOBILE HOME The playful side of this often politically motivated sculptor prevails. The centerpiece, Mobile Home, is an arrangement of domestic objects strung on fine cables between metal traffic barriers; it takes a moment to realize that the toys, chairs, suitcases and other items are slowly rolling back and forth on tiny wheels. An installation upstairs consists of a circle of slowly pulsing light bulbs plugged into intricately interwoven cables. Alexander and Bonin, 132 10th Avenue, between 18th and 19th Streets, (212) 367-7474, through Dec. 22. (Johnson) JAMES HAYWARD A veteran Los Angeles-based abstract painter selected for this show by Mike Kelley, Mr. Hayward presents a recent series of single-color paintings made of extremely thick, crisscrossing brush strokes. The optical and tactile combine to exceptionally satisfying effect. Cue, 511 West 25th Street, (212) 206-3583, through Dec. 3. (Johnson) GARY KUEHN Since the 1960s, Mr. Kuehn has been inventively exploring material dimensions of sculpture while swerving back and forth between pure abstraction and semiabstract representation. This show features paintings that juxtapose gridded colored dots and skittery black lines made by whipping surfaces with ink-soaked lengths of rope. Esso, 531 West 26th Street, (212) 560-9728, through Dec. 3. (Johnson) MEL LEIPZIG A Trenton-based realist who began exhibiting in the mid-1960s, Mr. Leipzig paints affectionate, exhaustively detailed portraits of people in their homes or workplaces with a deliberately unpolished touch. One subject is a man with a shaved head and a goatee relaxing on his living room sofa in the midst of an amazingly extensive collection of sports memorabilia. Henoch, 555 West 25th Street, (917) 305-0003, through Dec. 3. (Johnson) * ANN LISLEGAARD: BELLONA (AFTER SAMUEL R. DELANY) An entrancing animated video based on a famous science-fiction novel tours a mazelike series of empty rooms. Murray Guy, 453 West 17th Street, (212) 463-7372, through Dec. 3. (Johnson) * JULIA OSCHATZ: PARALYZED PARADISE III A talented artist who is rare for being simultaneously German and female paints, dances and hikes (in video) her way through an impressive multimedia debut in a slyly personalized version of Northern Romanticism. Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, 535 West 22nd Street, (212) 255-8450, through Dec. 30. (Smith) Other Galleries HANS HOFMANN: THE LEGACY Hofmann was one of the few who made it into the art history hall of fame as both teacher and painter. Along with three works by the master himself, this exhibition presents abstract and semiabstract paintings by disciples who were either directly taught or deeply influenced by him, including Ludwig Sander, Robert De Niro, Louisa Matthiasdottir and Laurie Fendrich. Painting Center, 52 Greene Street, SoHo, (212) 343-1060, through Dec. 24. (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, at Prince Street, SoHo, (212) 431-0166, through Dec. 4. (Johnson) * 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) Last Chance * IF ITS TOO BAD TO BE TRUE, IT COULD BE DISINFORMATION Old-style political art said yes or no, told you what to do. New-style political art, as often as not, obscures its intentions, makes you wonder what its up to and goes for confusion, as in this shrewd, dematerialized group exhibition on the subject of disinformation, a passive form of political deceit that tells lies through the omission of facts. The idea is that the less people know about what their government is doing, the less likely they are to raise a fuss. Apexart, 291 Church Street, TriBeCa, (212) 431-5270, closing Saturday. (Cotter) * 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, closing Sunday. (Johnson) 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, closing Saturday. (Johnson) 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 to be a medieval iconography of religion and architecture; and Leos Wertheimers large drawings portray locomotives with mechanical precision. Cavin-Morris, 560 Broadway, at Prince Street, SoHo, (212) 226-3768, closing Saturday. (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, closing Monday. (Johnson)

NOTABLE BOOKS

This list has been selected from books reviewed since the Holiday Books issue of December 2002. 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 nytimes.com/books. FICTION & POETRY ABANDON: A Romance. By Pico Iyer. (Knopf, $24.) A graceful novel whose hero, an English graduate student of Sufi mystical poetry who hopes to uncover that within himself which passeth show, heads first for California and later for Iran, where he and the woman he is traveling with improve their understanding of mystical poetry and of themselves.. List of notable books of 2003; drawings (L)

Q and A With Times Reporters About Abuse in Ultra-Orthodox.

James Estrin/The New York TimesIn confronting Jewish laws that forbid airing allegations against fellow Jews or turning them in to the police, families of ultra-Orthodox victims who have been molested face intimidation by their. Shortly after I started on the religion beat last November, I read a fascinating article in The Jewish Daily Forward that reported that the Brooklyn district attorneys office said a new program had led to more than 80 arrests of ultra-Orthodox child��.

The Listings: Oct. 28 -- Nov. 3

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 MANIC FLIGHT REACTION Opens Sunday. A middle-aged professor faces the prospect of tabloid scrutiny and invasion of privacy when a past affair with the wife of a leading presidential candidate threatens to go public. Trip Cullman directs this comedy, by Sarah Schulman (2:00). Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. ON SECOND AVENUE Opens Sunday. A musical nostalgia tour back to when Second Avenue was the heart of a bustling Yiddish theater scene. Book in English and songs in Yiddish, with supertitles (2:00). JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Avenue, at 76th Street, (212) 239-6200. SEE WHAT I WANNA TO SEE Opens Sunday. Michael John LaChiusas highly anticipated new musical stars Idina Menzel and Marc Kudisch and features three contemporary stories based on the work of the Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa (2:00). The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200. CAPTAIN LOUIE Opens Monday. A family musical by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) about a lonely young boy whose overactive imagination sends him dreaming on Halloween night (1:00). Little Shubert Theater, 422 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. CAMBODIA AGONISTES Previews start tomorrow. Opens Wednesday. Dont expect Hairspray from this musical play about the civil war years under the Khmer Rouge (1:30). 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. THE WINTERS TALE Opens Wednesday. Closes Nov. 6. Edward Halls all-male version of Shakespeares late romance comes to the Brooklyn Academy of Music for a five-day run (2:52). At 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100. SWEENEY TODD Opens Thursday. Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris star in this intimate revival of the Sondheim classic, featuring 10 actors who play their own instruments. It started at the Watermill Theater in England, before moving to the West End and Broadway (2:30). Eugene ONeill Theater, 230 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. ALMOST HEAVEN: SONGS OF JOHN DENVER Previews start today. Opens Nov. 9. Using songs like Rocky Mountain High, the director Randal Myler stages a musical about the times (not the life) of John Denver (2:00). Promenade Theater, 2162 Broadway, at 76th Street, (212) 239-6200. THE ARK Opens Nov. 14. 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 Previews start today. Opens Nov. 14. 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. BINGO Opens Nov. 7. In the tradition of Tony n Tinas Wedding, this latest interactive musical takes you into the belly of the beast -- a bingo game in a church basement (1:20). St. Lukes Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. THE COLOR PURPLE Previews start Tuesday. 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. HAMLET Previews start Wednesday. Opens Nov. 13. 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, (212) 279-4200. JERSEY BOYS Opens Nov. 6. Straight from La Jolla Playhouse in California, this rags-to-riches musical tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, featuring hits that include Big Girls Dont Cry and Rag Doll. Des McAnuff directs (2:30). The August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212) 239-6200. MR. MARMALADE Previews start Tuesday. 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, at Laura Pels Theater, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 719-1300. THE RUBY SUNRISE Previews start Tuesday. Opens Nov. 16. 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. SEASCAPE Previews start today. 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 (2:00). Lincoln Center Theater, at the Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. SOUVENIR Previews start today. Opens Nov. 10. A comedy with pleasing music and off-key singing about the strange, deluded life of Florence Foster Jenkins, who may have been the worst singer in history. Judy Kaye stars (2:05). Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. THE WOMAN IN WHITE Previews start today. Opens Nov. 17. 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. 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 Goldbergesque 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) 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) 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) 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) CYCLING PAST THE MATTERHORN A grating comedy-drama by Deborah Grimberg about the fractious relationship between a mother and daughter. Shirley Knight plays Esther, a needy, needling woman who discovers that shes going blind just as her daughter leaves the nest. Carrie Preston is her needy, self-absorbed daughter (1:35). Harold Clurman Theater on Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200.(Isherwood) 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) EINSTEINS GIFT Vern Thiessens potentially moving play about two German-Jewish Nobel winners -- the physicist Albert Einstein and the chemist Fritz Haber -- their differing conceptions of sciences role and the martial use to which their work is put, is marred by unnecessary Odd Couple exchanges and a miscast Haber, but benefits from good performances by Shawn Elliott as Einstein and Melissa Friedman as Habers wife (2:00). Acorn Theater on Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Andrea Stevens) 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) INDIA AWAITING The charismatic Maulik Pancholy is an Indian-born Wall Street trader torn between his love for an American woman and his lingering ties to home (2:00). Samuel Beckett Theater on Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Miriam Horn) 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. (Jason Zinoman) 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) 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) * A SOLDIERS PLAY This movingly acted revival of Charles Fullers Pulitzer-Prize winning 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 easy--+going 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) * 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) 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) 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) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance 4.48 PSYCHOSE The French screen siren Isabelle Huppert gives an extraordinarily economical, admirably concentrated performance in Sarah Kanes dark, thrumming ode to negation. But Claude Régys clinical production doesnt manage to chase away the ghost in the machine: the texts resistance to taking effective theatrical shape (1:45). Part of the Next Wave Festival. Performed in French with abridged English titles. Brooklyn Academy of Music, Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100, closing Sunday. (Isherwood) * IN THE CONTINUUM A spirited, smart and powerful portrait of two black women whose lives are suddenly upended by an H.I.V. diagnosis. Written by and starring Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter, who both possess the strong presence and confident technique to bring out the subtle force and potent flavoring in their writing (1:30). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200, closing Sunday. (Isherwood) SAINT OEDIPUS Combines actors and puppets with Greek and Christian myth to create a fierce, virtuosic theater piece (1:10). The Wierszalin Theater of Poland at La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710, closing Sunday. (Jefferson) * SIDES: THE FEAR IS REAL This hilarious collection of sketches may send up familiar targets -- the insecure thespian, the fraudulent acting teacher, the arrogant Juilliard grad -- but since its performed with such specificity and comic charm by actors firing on all cylinders, you wont care a whit. Written by and starring an entirely Asian-American cast, this slight but consistently entertaining satire is a primer on what not to do in an audition room (1:15). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 307-4100, closing Sunday. (Zinoman) LA TEMPESTAD - Its an interesting experiment and a pretty interesting play, even without the experiment: the idea is to transplant the characters and some of the themes from The Tempest to a setting and story far removed from Shakespeares tale and see what happens. Larry Loebell, the author, chooses the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, and Prosperos main demon is the American military, which uses it for aerial target practice (2:15). Resonance Ensemble, at the Ohio Theater, 66 Wooster Street, SoHo, (212) 352-3101, closing Sunday. (Genzlinger) 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) * 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) * DOMINO (R, 113 minutes) A lollapalooza of delectable cheap thrills from Tony Scott about the real life and nasty-girl times of a privileged London brat turned South Central bounty hunter named Domino Harvey. (Manohla Dargis) DOOM (R, 95 minutes) In this formulaic, claustrophobic shoot-em-up, based on a video game, soldiers quell a mutant uprising on Mars. Dwayne Johnson, otherwise known as the Rock, is the trigger-happy troop leader, while Rosamund Pike is the forensic archaeologist, who, like the audience, is trapped in a loud, hellish enclosure. (Ned Martel) DREAMER: INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY (PG, 105 minutes) Pure, schmaltzy formula -- an injured racehorse, a down-on-his-luck trainer, his angelically cute daughter -- but just try to resist it.( Scott) ELIZABETHTOWN (PG-13, 121 minutes) A well-intentioned mess from Cameron Crowe, in which a young man (the weightless Orlando Bloom) loses his job and his father and finds true love (the hard-working Kirsten Dunst) -- all in the course of a very short week and a very long two hours. (Scott) EMMANUELS GIFT (G, 80 minutes) The inspirational story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, a disabled young man from Ghana, West Africa, whose mission is to improve the lives of others like himself. But beneath the weight of Oprah Winfreys pushy narration and a succession of overly posed images, Emmanuels Gift becomes a powerful story of political change that is almost smothered by contrivance. (Jeannette Catsoulis) THE FOG (PG-13, 100 minutes) This occasionally scary remake is about a dense, mysterious fog that hides vengeful spirits with a century-old grudge against an Oregon seaside town. At least theres a good-looking young cast, led by Tom Welling of Smallville and Maggie Grace of Lost. (Anita Gates) * 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) * GRIZZLY MAN (R, 103 minutes) Werner Herzogs bold, enthralling documentary about one mans journey into the heart of darkness (and the belly of the beast) traces the life and strange times of the self-anointed grizzly expert Timothy Treadwell. (Dargis) * A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (R, 97 minutes) A masterpiece of indirection and pure visceral thrills about a seemingly average American family almost undone by cataclysmic violence, David Cronenbergs latest mindblower is the feel-good, feel-bad movie of the year. With Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris and William Hurt, all excellent. (Dargis) * IN HER SHOES (PG-13, 130 minutes) In his newest film, Curtis Hanson wrests a richly textured story of love from a seemingly unlikely source, Jennifer Weiners breezy, best-selling fiction about two sisters -- played by Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette -- engaged in an epic battle of the heart, a fight waged mostly against each other and their own best interests. (Dargis) INNOCENT VOICES (R, 120 minutes, in Spanish) Alternately powerful and mawkish, Innocent Voices remembers the civil war in El Salvador in the 1980s through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy from a rural village who faces forcible conscription into the army. (Holden) 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) MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION: WALKING ON THE MOON 3D (No rating, 40 minutes) Tom Hanks narrates this Imax film that tries to give moviegoers the virtual experience of being on the lunar surface. At times it comes close. (Gates) MIRRORMASK (PG, 101 minutes) This British film, directed by Dave McKean from a screenplay by Neil Gaiman, blends live action with computer-generated animation by the Jim Henson Company into a provocative, murky surrealism. The story follows the Freudian nightmare of a 15-year-old girl whose parents work in the circus; its strictly for cultists. (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. (Dargis) * THE PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE, OHIO (PG-13, 99 minutes) Julianne Moore is radiant as Evelyn Ryan, the real-life 1950s Ohio housewife and mother of 10 who kept her family afloat on her winnings from television jingle contests. Jane Anderson wrote and directed this tribute in a wonderfully zany, off-center style. (Holden) THE PROTOCOLS OF ZION (No rating, 93 minutes) Marc Levins Protocols of Zion, a documentary about a century-old forgery purporting to reveal a Jewish master plan to rule the world, makes its case expertly and powerfully. The film even has laughs (which is no small feat), but the cumulative effect of its message is enormous sadness that hate is so strong and so resistant to reason.(Gates) ROLL BOUNCE (PG-13, 107 minutes) A drowsy comedy from Malcolm D. Lee about a handful of kids grooving and roller skating in the summer of 1978, Roll Bounce has heart and good vibes but little else to recommend it. (Dargis) ROOMS FOR TOURISTS (No rating, 93 minutes, in Spanish) Five young women, whove never met, find themselves stranded in the desolate outskirts of Buenos Aires for a night after missing their connecting train. They accept a local mans offer of room and board, and promptly find themselves hunted by masked psychos through the narrow hallways of his old, dark house. A creepy, no-budget film shot on black-and-white video and full of sinister atmosphere.(Laura Kern) THE ROOST (No rating, 80 minutes) A minimalist horror movie with more ambition than resources, The Roost treads a well-worn path as four friends (Karl Jacob, Sean Reid, and real-life siblings Will and Vanessa Horneff) are stranded at an isolated farmhouse filled with vampire bats and angry zombies. Though the premise is rough, and the acting rougher, the movie proceeds with such youthful enthusiasm that its rawness is more charming than annoying. (Catsoulis) SEPARATE LIES (R, 87 minutes) A hit-and-run accident near the country house of an imperious British lawyer (magnificently played by Tom Wilkinson) leads him into an ethical labyrinth that tests his moral mettle as well as that of his wife (Emily Watson) and her lover (Rupert Everett). (Holden) SERENITY (PG-13, 119 minutes) It probably isnt fair to Joss Whedons Serenity to say that this unassuming science-fiction adventure is superior in almost every respect to George Lucass aggressively more ambitious Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith. But who cares about fair when there is fun to be had? Scene for scene, Serenity is more engaging and certainly better written and acted than any of Mr. Lucass recent screen entertainments. (Dargis) * 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) STAY (R, 98 minutes) The director Marc Forster, whose previous films include Finding Neverland, takes a maximalist approach to this mysterioso story about a psychiatrist and a suicidal patient dislocated by time, space and lots of crazily raked angles. (Dargis) THREE EXTREMES (R, 125 minutes, in Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Cantonese) This trilogy provides a sampler of short horror films from high-profile Asian directors: Chinas Fruit Chan, South Koreas Park Chan-Wook, and Japans Takashi Miike. Three Extremes may seem tame to jaded fans of whats been termed New Asian Horror, but it serves as a fine introduction to the genre for those who are curious but squeamish. (Dana Stevens) THREE OF HEARTS: A POSTMODERN FAMILY (No rating, 98 minutes) Susan Kaplan and David Friedsons documentary about a ménage à trois in contemporary New York could have been inane and smirky. But thanks to a development 13 years into Sam, Samantha and Stevens relationship, it becomes thought-provoking. (Gates) TWO FOR THE MONEY (R, 122 minutes) A turgid male weepie in which Matthew McConaughey plays a former college quarterback turned sports-betting guru under the loud tutelage of Al Pacinos odds-making kingpin. (Dargis) 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) EL VACILÓN: THE MOVIE (R, 90 minutes, in Spanish) Luis Jimenez and Moonshadow, hosts of the wildly popular morning show on La Mega radio (WSKQ-FM), play themselves making a movie about their lives and their listeners sexual adventures. The result is 90 minutes of over-the-top gross-out humor. (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) WHERE the TRUTH LIES (No rating, 107 minutes) Atom Egoyans drama about a fictional comedy team from the 1950s features an overly knotty murder mystery, a mess of blondes and two fine performances from Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth. (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 films. Landscape in the Mist (1989) is Theo Angelopouloss award-winning film about two Greek children traveling alone to Germany to find their father. Nobody Knows (2004), directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, is a drama about four children being brought up by their struggling single mother. Both films will be shown on Sunday and Tuesday. Leonard Nimoy Thalia, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $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. The series begins Monday with Ugetsu Monogatari (1953), his landmark 16th-century ghost story. Other films in the program will include Osaka Elegy (1936) and The Life of Oharu (1952). BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; $10. (Gates) NEW FRENCH CONNECTION (Through Sunday) BAMcinémateks fourth annual program of contemporary French films concludes this weekend with Jérôme Bonnells Pale Eyes (2005), a bittersweet comedy about a mentally ill Frenchwoman who runs away to Germany; Claire Deniss Intruder (2004), a drama about a heart transplant; and Jean-Pierre Deniss Petite Chartreuse (2005), about a little girl in a coma. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; $10. (Gates) SOME LIKE IT WILDER: THE COMPLETE BILLY WILDER (Through Nov. 13) The Museum of the Moving Image is sponsoring a 26-film retrospective of Wilder, the Austrian-born director-writer who gave the world Sunset Boulevard and Double Indemnity. This weekends features are Ace in the Hole (1951), starring Kirk Douglas as a reporter involved in a media circus; The Fortune Cookie (1966), Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in their first film together, about an insurance scam; and Buddy, Buddy (1981), Wilders last film, which also starred Lemmon and Matthau. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077; $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. JOAN BAEZ, RICHARD THOMPSON (Tonight) The clips of Joan Baez in her folkie heyday, projecting a voice both haunting and hopeful, and her wistful but wised-up present-day interviews lent warmth to Martin Scorseses recent Bob Dylan documentary. Richard Thompsons gruff voice and angular rock guitar are still sardonically forceful, and his rueful folk forays remain moving, making him the perfect choice to compose the soundtrack to Werner Herzogs character study Grizzly Man. 8 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888) 466-5722; $17 to $60. (Laura Sinagra) BLACK DICE, THE DOUBLE (Tonight) The experimental band Black Dice expands its palette of sharp noise to include ominous glitch electronics, warped meta-blues and churning tribal bursts. The Double uses all the tools at its lo-fi disposal in service of arty pop undercut with burbles, dark surges and twinges. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, (212) 777-6800; $13 in advance, $15 at the door. (Sinagra) JAMES BLUNT (Wednesday and Thursday) With a Rod Stewart vocal tone that can also flip into transporting falsetto, this British artist writes songs in the ethereal but angsty Elliot Smith vein, only with more forceful alt-pop production. His song No Bravery is an antiwar lament that clings. 7:30 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $15 (both shows sold out). (Sinagra) THE COUP, LIFESAVAS (Tomorrow) The funky, political Coup took flak in 2001 for a pre-9/11 album cover featuring exploding twin towers. But the groups main man, Boots Riley, has lost none of the oppositional fervor. The Portland, Ore., hip-hop duo Lifesavas shares the righteous bent of others on the Bay Area label Quannum Records. 8 p.m., Canal Room, 285 West Broadway, Chinatown, (212) 941-8100; $15 in advance, $17 at the door. (Sinagra) SHERYL CROW (Sunday and Monday) Though her latest material goes heavy on the strings in an attempt to play up her romantic side, she still traffics in comforting clichés that are more gutsy classic rock than croon-pop. 8 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $50 to $100. (Sinagra) DIOS (MALOS) (Wednesday) This laid-back quintet from Hawthorne, Calif., plays shaggy indie-rock marked by questing vocals, dream-pop harmonies and a kind of acoustic-electronic psychedelia that conjures a couch daydream rather than a desert drive. 9 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 653-1703; $9 in advance, $10 at the door. (Sinagra) DRESDEN DOLLS (Tonight) Combining bash and chatter with Weimar-style cabaret, this Boston duo, the singer and pianist Amanda Palmer and the drummer Brian Viglione, plays feisty call-and-response punk. The Gypsy punkers Devotchka and the band Faun Fables are also on the bill. 7 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600; $20 in advance, $22 at the door. (Sinagra) AL GREEN (Thursday) Soul oldies meet gospel testifying in Al Greens highly unpredictable performances. He sings, he preaches, he dances, he tosses roses to the ladies. He jumps in and out of songs and teases the crowd with his timing and his whims. Sometimes he makes songs like Lets Stay Together sound like aching, immediate pleas; sometimes the audience ends up singing more than he does. 8 p.m., B. B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 237 West 42nd Street; (212) 997-4144, $175, SRO tickets $100.(Jon Pareles) NANCI GRIFFITH AND THE BLUE MOON ORCHESTRA/THE CRICKETS/ELIZABETh COOK (Wednesday) Nanci Griffith comes from the school of Texas songwriting that finds little epiphanies amid small-town lives and loves. She has a tendency to sugarcoat her character studies with her little-girl voice, but shell get some Texas rockabilly grit from the band sharing the bill: the Crickets, Buddy Hollys band. The concert also features Elizabeth Cook, a country singer with a full-fledged streak of honky-tonk. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, $35 to $65. (Pareles) HANSON (Wednesday) As theyve grown up, the squeaky-clean brothers responsible for the exuberant late-90s hit Mmm-bop have attempted blues-pop and songwriting without much pop success. The middle brother, Taylor, with his pop-star looks and breathy, urgently breaking tenor, remains the draw. 8 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street; ticketmaster.com or (212) 307-7171, $35. (Sinagra) SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS (Monday) Determined to bring back 1960s soul, the Daptone label put together a house band, the Dap-Kings, and found itself a church-rooted singer from Augusta, Ga., Sharon Jones, who finds the flirtation and heartache in songs by the Dap Kings bassist, Bosco Mann. 9 p.m., S.O.B.s, 204 Varick Street, South Village, (212) 243-4940; $14 in advance, $16 at the door. (Pareles) ROBERT EARL KEEN (Thursday) This gravel-voiced Texas songwriter, a contemporary of Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith, is a storyteller who can unfurl a sad-luck tale with genuine heart and a sardonic twinge. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, (212) 777-6800; $23.50 in advance, $30 at the door.(Sinagra) LEO KOTTKE AND Mike GORDON (Tomorrow) The fingerpicking guitarist Leo Kottke and the former Phish bassist Mike Gordon have collaborated on two albums. The most recent is a collection of covers and originals informed by Mr. Gordons affinity for calypso. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $30.(Sinagra) MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD (Monday) Medeski, Martin & Woods jams can take them in any direction, from old-fashioned organ funk to free jazz, but they know how to keep the dance floor happy. 6:30 p.m., Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street, Manhattan, (212) 485-1534, $32. (Pareles) THE MOUNTAIN GOATS (Tomorrow and Monday) John Darnielle, the singer-songwriter who records as the Mountain Goats, just released The Sunset Tree (4AD), one of the best albums of his career: a semi-autobiographical disc full of extraordinarily vivid little story-songs. Monday with Grizzly Bear. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $14 (sold out). Monday at 8 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $14. (Kelefa Sanneh) NEW YORK GYPSY FESTIVAL (Sunday though Nov. 6) The rage for Gypsy-rock dovetails nicely with this festival showcasing Romany music from Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia and the Balkans, ending in a show headlined by the Gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello. This weeks acts include Leningrad, VIA Romen, Kinos Hronos, Slavic Soul Party and the Bulgarian wedding musicians Ivo Papasov and Yuri Yunakov. Several locations; check www.nygypsyfest.com for schedule. Most shows are $10 to $15. (Sinagra) OPETH (Thursday) This Swedish death-metal band has moved though progressive and even acoustic phases. Its long songs can travel in many directions, but recent material is more a return to form. 7 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600; $20 in advance, $22 at the door. (Sinagra) VIRGINIA RODRIGUES (Tomorrow and Sunday) With her otherworldly voice, Virginia Rodrigues conjures a timeless, mystical Brazil, where nature meets spirit and the songs of Afro-Brazilian deities share the ethereality of Gregorian chants. 8 and 10 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592; $20 at the bar, $30 at the table. (Pareles) RASPUTINA (Monday) The cellist and singer Melora Creager leads this string trio of sawing goth rockers. Playing over heavy drum samples, they toggle between metallic distortion and clean-toned moodiness. Sarah Slean and Contramano also play. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $18 in advance, $20 at the door. (Sinagra) RAVI SHANKARS FESTIVAL OF INDIA IIi (Tonight) The four-part first half of Ravi Shankars Festival of India III, conducted and led by the sitarist-composers daughter Anoushka, includes a devotional prayer composed in 1974, as well as a tarana vocal piece composed of meaningless syllables, sung over a 16-beat tal. The second part of the program features father and daughter on sitar. Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $26 to $90. (Sinagra) SLIPKNOT (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) Lest anyone think life in the Midwest is all scrapbooking and apple pie, these self-styled Iowa miscreants put on a violent professional-wrestling-like show, spewing odes to teenage toxicity and violent boredom through holes in grotesque masks. 7:30 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, (212) 307-7171; $41. (Sinagra) GIANMARIA TESTA (Tuesday) Gianmaria Testa, a part-time train stationmaster in Italy, writes terse, cozy songs suffused with romance and mystery. Theyre European cabaret tunes tinged with swing jazz and Latin music, and his smoky voice is knowing and enigmatic. 7:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 539-8778 or (212) 239-6200; $20 with a two-drink or $12 minimum. (Pareles) THRICE (Tuesday) This quartet plays a brainy version of emo-rock that looks to the Cure and Fugazi as influences. Dustin Kensrue breaks into rote screams with regularity, but the band is capable of impressive mood shifts. 7:30 p.m., Roseland Ballroom, 239 West 52nd, (212) 247-0200; $21.50 in advance, $25 at the door.(Sinagra) VERUCA SALT (Tuesday) One of 90s alt-rocks most popular female-led bands, Veruca Salt had a huge hit with Seether, a melodic punk-pop chugger. Long separated from the groups co-founder, Nina Gordon, Louise Post is still slamming away at the power chords. 8 p.m., Canal Room, 285 West Broadway, at Canal Street, Chinatown, (212) 941-8100; $15 in advance, $17 at the door. (Sinagra) GWEN STEFANI, BLACK EYED PEAS (Tuesday) Ms. Stefani, the tomboy-Barbie-doll lead singer of the pop-ska band No Doubt, was always destined for savvier collaborators. Her girl-nextdoor-meets-plastic-fashionista vibe is enhanced with top producers hip-hop beats. With their saucy pop-hop, the Black Eyed Peas play cultural ambassadors to the hip-hop deprived. 8 p.m., Madison Square Garden, 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue, (212) 465-6741; $39.50 to $75. (Sinagra) RUFUS WAINWRIGHT AND BAND (Tuesday and Wednesday) Mr. Wainwrights piano-driven torch songs grapple with his musical birthright and cosmopolitan decadence. His brand of healing can be a scalding process, but he can be funny as well. In Gay Messiah he claims to reject any savior mantle, preferring instead to play a cheeky John the Baptist. Tuesday with the power-poppers OK GO, Wednesday with the smart singer-songwriter Regina Spektor, 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 496-7070; $35 to $40. (Sinagra) KANYE WEST, KEYSHIA COLE, FANTASIA (Wednesday and Thursday) Kanye West made his name as a producer of tracks marked by sped-up vocal-soul samples. As a rapper, he artfully balances his considerable arrogance, guilt and thoughtfulness. That Mr. Wests gift for the sad, slightly paranoid hook has only increased is evident in the current single, Gold Digger, which loops an arresting snip of Jamie Foxx shredding in Ray Charles mode. A protégée of Mr. West, Keyshia Cole wrings raw pathos from radio R & B fare. The American Idol darling Fantasia is also on the bill. 8 p.m., Theater at Madison Square Garden, Madison Square Garden, 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue, (212) 465-6741; $49.50 to $65. (Sinagra) 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. 2 p.m., Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331; $55, including brunch at noon. (Stephen Holden) 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. (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. Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., Sunday at 5 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; $30, with a $10 minimum. (Holden) * ELAINE STRITCH (Tonight through Sunday) In a courageous and successful leap into the unknown, Ms. Stritch makes her cabaret debut at 80. Dispensing with her theatrical signature numbers, she weaves 16 songs new to her repertory into a funny running monologue of her adventures in and out of show business. 8:45 p.m., Cafe Carlyle, Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 744-1600; $125 (sold out). (Holden) PAULA WEST (Tonight and tomorrow night, and Tuesday through Thursday) This pop-jazz singer explores the lives of underdogs in a show whose material ranges from Johnny Cash to Cole Porter, all of it done with an exploratory zest. Tonight and tomorrow night at 9 and 11:30; Tuesday through Thursday nights at 9, Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331; $50, with a $20 minimum, or $50 prix-fixe dinner required at the early shows tonight and tomorrow. (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. KARRIN ALLYSON (Wednesday through Nov. 5) On last years Wild for You (Concord), Ms. Allyson slipped into a bath of sudsy soft rock; but she still peppers her performances with sharply rendered ballads and blues. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $40, with a $10 minimum. (Nate Chinen) TIM BERNES PARAPHRASE (Thursday) This threesome, led by the alto saxophonist Tim Berne, engages in an interplay thats unscripted but hardly formless; as on the brand-new live album Pre-emptive Denial (Screwgun), Mr. Berne has restlessly creative partners in Drew Gress, a bassist, and Tom Rainey, a drummer. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Tea Lounge, 837 Union Street, at Seventh Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 789-2762; no cover. (Chinen) JAMES CARNEY GROUP (Tomorrow) Mr. Carney, an accomplished composer and sharp pianist, features his own material in this ensemble with the trombonist Josh Roseman, the tenor saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh, the bassist Chris Lightcap and the drummer Ted Poor. 9 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) STEVE COLEMAN AND THE FIVE ELEMENTS (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Colemans alto saxophone cuts cleanly through the angular free-funk of his signature ensemble; the other four elements are Jonathan Finlaysons trumpet, Thomas Morgans bass, Jen Shyus vocals and Tyshawn Soreys drums. 9 and 10:30, Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063; cover, $15. (Chinen) SONNY FORTUNE QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) Since the 1960s, countless saxophonists have adopted the methodology of John Coltrane, but few have captured his restless spirit; Mr. Fortune, the saxophonist of choice for the former Coltrane drummer Elvin Jones, is chief among them. 8, 10 and midnight, Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, above Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 255-3626; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) KENNY GARRETT QUARTET (Through Sunday) Mr. Garrett is a forceful and propulsive personality on the alto saxophone; his latest blazing band has Vernell Brown on piano, Vicente Archer on bass and Ronald Brunner on drums. 8 and 10 p.m., with an 11:30 show tonight and tomorrow night, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121; cover, $30 tonight, $32.50 tomorrow and Sunday, with a $10 minimum all nights. (Chinen) * ROBERT GLASPER TRIO (Tuesday through Nov. 6) A percussive and tuneful pianist, Mr. Glasper mines a trio tradition informed by gospel and seemingly every strain of R & B; his superb trio makes its first Village Vanguard appearance on the heels of Canvas, an auspicious Blue Note Records debut. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $20 to $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) TOM HARRELL QUINTET (Through Sunday) An introverted but assertive trumpeter, Mr. Harrell has a top-shelf modern jazz ensemble and an able frontline partner in the tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene. 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) JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY (Wednesday and Thursday) Part piano trio, part jam band, this threesome has a new album, The Sameness of Difference (Hyena), featuring reinterpretations of songs by Charles Mingus, Jimi Hendrix and Bjork, among others; on the second of their two nights here, theyll be joined by the groove-ready saxophonist John Ellis. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $12 ($10 in advance.) (Chinen) * HANK JONES AND BARRY HARRIS (Tomorrow) Mr. Jones and Mr. Harris are certifiable masters of modern jazz piano, both originally from the Detroit area; meeting onstage for the first time, theyll perform in duo and with the sterling rhythm team of Ray Drummond on bass and Lewis Nash on drums. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $50 and $75. (Chinen) JASON LINDNER BIG BAND (Wednesday and Thursday) Mr. Lindner, a pianist and composer, is best known for this 10-year-old ensemble, which outfits the big band tradition with contemporary contours; its ranks include the trumpeters Duane Eubanks and Avishai Cohen and the trombonist-cellist Dana Leong. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20. (Chinen) ARTURO OFARRILL Y RIZA NEGRA (Tuesday) The pianist and bandleader of Lincoln Centers Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra knows how to energize smaller settings; with Riza Negra he has six pieces at his disposal and uses them to full advantage. 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) ARUÁN ORTIZ GROUP (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Ortiz, a young Cuban pianist with a modern jazz pedigree, leads a promising ensemble that includes the singer Claudia Acuña, the tenor saxophonist Abraham Burton and the drummer Eric McPherson. 9 p.m., Smalls, 183 West 10th Street, West Village, (212) 675-7369; cover, $20. (Chinen) NICHOLAS PAYTON QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Payton, an abundantly gifted trumpeter, recently shelved his native hard bop in favor of postmillennial fusion; here he returns to form with a young rhythm section consisting of Danny Grissett on piano, Vicente Archer on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums. 9 and 11, Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $40, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JEROME SABBAGH QUARTET (Tuesday) Mr. Sabbagh is a quietly commanding tenor saxophonist and composer in the postmodern mainstream; his sleek ensemble sound owes a lot to the guitar playing of Ben Monder. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20. (Chinen) SLAVIC SOUL PARTY (Tomorrow and Tuesday) The percussionist Matt Moran leads this exuberantly funky Balkan brass band, which plays every Tuesday night in Park Slope; tomorrow, the band shares a bill at Joes Pub with Forró for All, a Brazilian dance-groove outfit. Tomorrow at 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778; cover, $14, with a two-drink minimum. Tuesday at 9 p.m., Barbes, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover, $8.(Chinen) * STEVE SWALLOW/OHAD TALMOR SEXTET (Through Sunday) Employing the sinewy compositions of Steve Swallow and the plush arrangements of Ohad Talmor, this ensemble edifies both artists equally; in addition to Mr. Swallows bass and Mr. Talmors tenor saxophone, the group includes Russ Johnsons trumpet, Greg Tardys clarinet, Meg Okuras violin and Jacob Garchiks trombone. 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; tonight and tomorrow night, $25. (Chinen) * TAPPIN INTO MONK (Tonight and tomorrow night) Savion Glover, the titan of modern tap dance, should make for a natural interpreter of Thelonious Monk, whose music is inherently percussive; Mr. Glover will be joined by a coterie of other dancers and a quartet composed of the tenor saxophonist Ted Nash, the pianist Cyrus Chestnut, the bassist Gerald Cannon and the drummer Herlin Riley. 8, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Rose Theater, 60th Street and Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $30 to $130. (Chinen) CLARK TERRY QUINTET (Tuesday through Nov. 6) Mr. Terrys buoyant trumpet style and comic vocalizing have long made him one of jazzs most beloved personalities; his five-piece band has a soulful guest in the singer Mary Stallings. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592; cover, $30 at tables, with a $5 minimum, or $20 at the bar and a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) TIN HAT AND AURORA SEPTET (Thursday) Tin Hat, founded by the guitarist Mark Orton and the violinist Carla Kihlstedt, pursues a rustling eclecticism informed by ethnic folk music; the added attraction here is Mr. Ortons Aurora Septet, a new project thats heavy on the clarinets and strings. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3303; $25. (Chinen) JULIUS TOLENTINOS FULL CIRCLE (Monday through Nov. 5) Mr. Tolentino, a surefooted young saxophonist, steers this quartet toward the gruffly ecstatic swing style associated with his former employer, the legendary Illinois Jacquet. 9:30 p.m. on Monday; $15 plus a $10 minimum at tables, $5 at the bar. Tuesday through Nov. 5 at 11 p.m., Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center, (212) 258-9595; cover, $10, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar.(Chinen) RANDY WESTON AND AFRICAN RHYTHMS (Through Sunday) Mr. Weston, the pianist, has been a South African jazz ambassador for many years; his signature ensemble features T. K. Blue on alto saxophone and flute, and Benny Powell on trombone. 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) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera AIDA (Tomorrow) The Metropolitan Operas big and satisfying Aida gets a new soprano in the title role, with Hasmik Papian joining Salvatore Licitra and Dolora Zajick. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $42 to $150. (Bernard Holland) IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA (Tonight and Sunday) The New York City Operas production of this Rossini classic is an efficient, attractive frame for the composers florid score, and the company has a generally strong cast, with Hugh Russell as Figaro, Jennifer Rivera as Rosina and John Tessier as the Count. Tonight at 8, Sunday at 1:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $16 to $120. (Allan Kozinn) * LA CENERENTOLA (Tonight) Olga Borodinas mezzo-soprano is slightly dark for the title role in Rossinis Cinderella story, but she has the clarity and agility to bring this virtuosic, richly ornamental music to life. Kenneth Tarver joins the cast as the Prince in this performance. The other singers in this comic-book production by Cesare Lievi include Simone Alberghini as Dandini and Simone Alaimo as Don Magnifico. 8, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $36 to $205. (Kozinn) COSÌ FAN TUTTE (Tomorrow and Tuesday) This is the ultimate ensemble opera, and the Mets revival of its sunny and simple 1996 production is an impressive ensemble effort from a young, attractive and gifted cast. The soprano Barbara Frittoli and the mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena are endearing as the sisters whose devotion to their fiancés proves so ephemeral. Also winning are the fine lyric tenor Matthew Polenzani and the robust baritone Mariusz Kwiecien. James Levine conducts. Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday at 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $220. (Anthony Tommasini) LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR (Monday and Thursday) Nicolas Joëls production of Donizettis most popular opera seemed pointlessly opulent, murky and confusing when it was first presented by the Metropolitan Opera in 1998. The company has cleared away some of the clutter since then, and the production returns with new stage direction from Zoe Pappas. The cast, which looks to be strong, stars Elizabeth Futral as the mentally fragile Lucia.. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $175. (Tommasini) * THE MINES OF SULPHUR (Wednesday) Contemporary opera has always been New York City Operas soul, if not necessarily its bread and butter. Its latest adventure is this gripping horror tale with an emotionally searing 12-tone score by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, in a suitably dark staging, directed by David Schweizer. The superb cast includes Jessie Raven, Mark Duffin, Caroline Worra and Timothy Nolen. 7:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $16 to $120. (Kozinn) LE NOZZE DI FIGARO (Wednesday) Jonathan Millers 1998 production, now directed by Robin Guarino, has the virtue of letting Mozarts music and Da Pontes libretto work their magic unhindered. The cast includes Lisa Milne as Susanna, Luca Pisaroni as Figaro, Hei-Kyung Hong as the Countess, and Joyce DiDonato as Cherubino and Peter Mattei as the Count. The conductor Mark Wigglesworth makes his house debut. 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $65 to $110. (Kozinn) THE ORPHAN SINGER (Today) Drawn from a book by Emily Arnold McCully and adapted for the stage by Barbara Zinn Krieger, this multimedia musical, aimed at young audiences, explores Vivaldis time as a music teacher at a girls orphanage in Venice. The production uses an all-female chamber ensemble and, as the promotional materials put it rather vaguely, a Broadway-quality cast. American Opera Projects is a co-sponsor. 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, 85 South Oxford Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 398-4024; $15; $12 for students and 65+. (Tommasini) TOSCA (Tomorrow) This Puccini favorite has its final performance of the City Opera season. Carla Thelen Hanson makes a fine, darkly shaded Tosca, and Todd Thomas is a bold, swaggering Scarpia. On opening night, Jorge Antonio Pita sounded underpowered and somewhat strained as Cavaradossi. John Demain conducts. 8 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $16 to $120. (Jeremy Eichler) TURANDOT (Tomorrow and Tuesday) New York City Opera brings back its old and oft-updated production, with the soprano Lori Phillips reprising the role of Puccinis Chinese princess. Philip Webb is her Calaf; George Manahan conducts. Tomorrow afternoon at 1:30, Tuesday night at 7:30, New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $16 to $120. (Anne Midgette) Classical Music BRUCKNER ORCHESTRA LINZ (Wednesday) The orchestra has left Bruckner at home for its American debut under Dennis Russell Davies. Instead, Mr. Davies, a longtime Philip Glass champion, will lead the premiere of Mr. Glasss Symphony No. 8, along with his Symphony No. 6, Plutonian Ode (based on the eponymous poem by Allen Ginsberg), with the soprano Lauren Flanigan. 7:30 p.m., Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, (718) 636-4100; $20 to $60. (Eichler) CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Thursday) Daniel Barenboim, in his final season as music director, starts the orchestras three-day New York visit with Mozarts Sinfonia Concertante in E flat and Bruckners Fifth. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $35 to $120. (Midgette) VLADIMIR FELTSMAN (Sunday) When he arrived from the Soviet Union in 1987, this pianist proclaimed that he was at least as interested in the European Classical repertory as in blockbusters from the Russian tradition. He bolsters his case here with two Beethoven sonatas, Nos. 8 (Pathétique) and 31, and Mussorgskys monumental Pictures at an Exhibition. 2 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $26 to $89. (James R. Oestreich) KALICHSTEIN-LAREDO-ROBINSON TRIO (Tuesday and Wednesday) Long the resident chamber ensemble at the 92nd Street Y, this warm-hued group offers Shostakovichs two piano trios, as well as Mozarts Trio in B flat (K. 502) and Pärts quirky Mozart-Adagio, based on the slow movement from Mozarts Piano Sonata in F (K. 280). 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500; $35. (Kozinn) ROBERT LEVIN (Thursday) Equally nimble as a pianist and as a musicologist, Robert Levin is the host of Mozart Explored, a series of concerts with commentary. He is joined by the Mendelssohn String Quartet and others. 7:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $35. (Eichler) GYORGY LIGETI: THE COMPLETE PIANO ÉTUDES (Tomorrow) Ligetis music and Christopher Taylors pianism are both major contributors to music of our time: a prime event. 8 p.m., Miller Theater, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799; $20. (Holland) MANDELRING QUARTET (Sunday) This young German string quartet has won several European chamber music prizes and runs its own festival but is not yet well-known here. The intimate concert room at the Frick is a great place to discover these worthy performers. They can be heard there playing works by Schubert, Shostakovich and Beethoven. 5 p.m., Frick Collection, 1 East 70th Street, (212) 288-0700; sold out, but returned tickets may be available. (Kozinn) MET CHAMBER ENSEMBLE (Sunday) Charles Wuorinens Dante Trilogy is accompanied by a New York premiere by Elliott Carter and Le Boeuf sur le Toit by Milhaud. 5 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $58 to $68. (Holland) MIRÓ QUARTET (Tonight) Targeting hipness on the one hand, demonstrating a high degree of classical polish on the other, this fine string quartet celebrates its 10th anniversary with a program of composers with hearing problems: Beethoven, Smetana and Brent Michael Davids (Tinnitus Quartet). 7:30, Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $42. (Midgette) IVAN MORAVEC (Monday) This venerable pianist plays Janacek and Debussy but mostly Chopin. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $23 to $79. (Holland) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Tonight, tomorrow and Thursday) Announce the beloved violinist Itzhak Perlman playing and conducting Mozart, Schubert and Tchaikovsky, and you quickly sell out your house. Beginning Thursday, Gidon Kremer offers arguably more for the head and less for the heart: he is featured in Schnittkes Concerto Grosso No. 5, with Mikko Franck conducting; the Shostakovich Fifth and Beethovens Leonore Overture No. 3 are also on the program. Today at 11 a.m., tomorrow and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500. This weekends concerts are sold out; $26 to $94 on Thursday. (Midgette) NEW YORK VIRTUOSO SINGERS (Sunday) This estimable chamber chorus champions contemporary music and, true to its name, performs it with virtuosity. The singers present works by winners of its first annual composition competition, among them Devlyn Case, Joelle Wallach, David McMullin and Stephen Miles. There will also be works by two well-established American composers, George Perle and Augusta Read Thomas. Harold Rosenbaum conducts. 3 p.m., Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, at 73rd Street, (914) 763-3453; $15 suggested donation. (Tommasini) ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (Monday) Having found a new conductorless playmate, the orchestra performs for the first time with chorus. The estimable Kent Tritle, the innovative and tireless music director at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on Park Avenue, is also the founding artistic and music director of the Bach Choir of New York, which joins the orchestra in Bachs Cantatas Nos. 48, 78 and 147 in the Mets Medieval Sculpture Hall. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212) 570-3949; $60. (Oestreich) * REBEL (Wednesday) Two natural horn players, Wilhelm Bruns and Sebastien Salm, join this ensemble of Baroque specialists for works by Bach and Telemann, including some that draw on, or at least obliquely refer to, hunting calls. Included are Bachs First and Fifth Brandenburg Concertos and the Sinfonia from Cantata No. 174, as well as a Concerto Grosso and an Overture by Telemann. 8 p.m., Miller Theater, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799; $35; $21 for students. (Kozinn) ANDRAS SCHIFF (Tuesday) This estimable musician of the keyboard will divide his evening between Haydn and Beethoven. 8 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $30 to $56. (Holland) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. ACFDANCE (Thursday) New dances by Adrienne Celeste Fadjo explore the dynamics of a group of women and relationships among members of a 1950s family, set to music by Philip Glass and Moby. 7:30 p.m., 14th Street Y Theater, 344 East 14th Street, at First Avenue, East Village, (718) 243-1110 or www.ACFDance.com; $15. (Jennifer Dunning) * American Ballet Theater (Through Nov. 6) The companys three-week City Center season continues with a series of mixed-repertory programs introduced earlier this month. Tonight and Sunday afternoon has Fokines Sylphides, Tudors Dark Elegies and Twyla Tharps In the Upper Room, a program repeated Tuesday and Thursday evenings with first Peter Quanzs new Kaleidoscope and then Mark Morriss Gong replacing Les Sylphides. Joosss Green Table can be seen tomorrow and Sunday afternoons and Wednesday night. Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. and Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., tomorrow and Sunday at 2 p.m., New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan, (212) 581-1212 or www.abt.org or www.nycitycenter.org; $25 to $90.(John Rockwell) AMERICAN BOLERO DANCE COMPANY (Tonight and tomorrow) Gabriela Granados and her company of singers, dancers and instrumentalists will perform with guest artists from Spain and Argentina in Spanish Gems, a program that includes flamenco and classical Spanish dance. 8 p.m. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, Queens, (718) 463-7700 Ext. 222 or www.flushingtownhall.org; $25.(Dunning) BAX Space Grant Showcase (Tonight and tomorrow) The Brooklyn Arts Exchange presents new work from the borough artists Jen Abrams, 16 Tons Theater Company and Judith M. String/Mile of String. A postperformance discussion focuses on the new dance-theater pieces, which were created with the help of free rehearsal space provided by BAX. 8 p.m. 421 Fifth Avenue, at Eighth Street, Park Slope, (718) 832-0018, www.bax.org; $15. (Claudia La Rocco) Book Dances (Weekends through Nov. 6) Melissa Briggs Dance offers site-specific performances portraying memorable scenes from classic novels. The novels, one scene from each, are Anna Karenina, The Fountainhead, East of Eden and Franny and Zooey. The audience will be split into small groups and guided to each site and scene within a 19th-century church. Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7 p.m., the First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn, 121 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights, (718) 832-0018 or www.bax.org, $15, $12 students and 62. (Rockwell) DONALD BYRD/SPECTRUM DANCE THEATER (Wednesday and Thursday) Mr. Byrd once again examines the cultural context of classical ballet, particularly through a black modern-dance choreographers eyes, this time in The Sleeping Beauty Notebook, danced by the Spectrum Dance Theater of Seattle, which he directs. 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077 or www.dtw.org; $25. (Dunning) The Budapest Ensemble (Sunday) Led by the fabulously named Zoltan Zsurafszki, 35 folk dancers and musicians will perform Csardas!, based on a lively folk dance that rose from early condemnation to become a beloved dance in Hungary. 3 p.m., Lehman Concert Hall, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard, West Bronx, (718) 960-8833; $20 to $30. (La Rocco) CISNE NEGRO DANCE COMPANY (Tuesday through Thursday) From São Paulo, Brazil, this high-energy, balletic modern-dance troupe will perform dances by Patrick Delcroix, Vasco Wellencamp and Dany Bittencourt. 8 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800; $36. (Dunning) DANCE AND PROCESS (Tonight and tomorrow) Its three-for-one night at the Kitchen, as choreographers Felicia Ballos, Pedro Jimenez and Isabel Lewis present the fruits of a seven-week group process, guided by the curator Miguel Gutierrez. 8 p.m. 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, thekitchen.org; $10. (La Rocco) DANCE AT THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (Tonight, tomorrow and Thursday) The first of two programs this week at the Factory features Ursula Eaglys new Nobody Try to Be a Hero, inspired by the Moscow theater hostage crisis, and Rebecca Daviss The Birds are here, I hear them , inspired by chemical compounds, classical Japanese poetry and concepts of time and memory. Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. In the second program, the Lower Lights Collective will present Drawn, a series of simultaneous pieces taking place through the space that revolves around household objects and old, thrown-away wooden furniture. Thursday at 8 p.m. The Chocolate Factory, 5-49 49th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 482-7069; $15; pay-what-you-will for Queens residents on Thursday. (Dunning) DANCE CHINA NY (Tonight and tomorrow) The company will perform traditional Chinese dances and choreography by its director, Qi Jiang. Tonight at 8:45; tomorrow at 8 p.m., Merce Cunningham Studio, 55 Bethune Street, at Washington Street, West Village, (212) 334-3764 or www.chinesedance.org; $20. (Dunning) Golden Dragon Acrobats (Sunday) Contortions, swordplay, balancing acts; if done well, Chinese acrobatics can mesmerize. The best Chinese troupes tour the world, and this award-winning troupe has performed its family-oriented feats in more than 65 countries. 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; $15 to $25. (La Rocco) Marie-Christine Giordano Dance Company (Thursday through Nov. 5) Nurtured or Neutered? Perhaps well find out when the Swiss dancer and choreographer Marie-Christine Giordano presents a premiere of this work for five dancers at the TriBeCa Performing Arts Center. Womanhood is a frequent subject for Ms. Giordano, who used the difficulties of finding ones own voice as a daughter as starting point. 8 p.m. Theater 2, 199 Chambers Street, (212) 220-1460, tribecapac.org; $20; $15 for students, 65+ and artists. (La Rocco) * Grupo Corpo (Through tomorrow) One of the foremost Brazilian dance troupes, mixing all manner of dance genres, with choreography by Rodrigo Pederneiras. The program offers Lecuona, set to mid-20th-century loves songs by Ernesto Lecuona, and Onqotô, the companys latest work, to a commissioned score by Caetano Veloso and José Miguel Wisnik. Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100 or www.bam.org; $20 to $60. (Rockwell) JOYCE S. LIM AND PAZ TANJUAQUIO/TOPAZ Arts (Tonight through Sunday) Ms. Lims new splitting the night sky was inspired by her travels and research throughout Southeast and East Asia. Ms. Tanjuaquios new Thunder Against 1.2.3. was inspired by a line from Tristan Tzaras 1918 Dada Manifesto. 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194 or www.danspaceproject.org; $15. (Dunning) Jodi Melnick and Scott Heron (Tonight and tomorrow) What do Ms. Melnicks Wanderlust, Kentucky and Mr. Herons Flossing and Other Dances have in common? Not much, it seems, but theyre both solos by Bessie-winning performers, so why not premiere them together? 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077, dtw.org; $20. (La Rocco) PARSONS DANCE COMPANY (Tonight through Sunday) David Parsons and his full-throttle dancers present his new DMB, to music by the Dave Matthews Band, and repertory including Wolfgang, a tribute to Mozart; and Shining Star, to music by Earth, Wind & Fire. 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; $40. (Dunning) SHAPIRO & SMITH (Tomorrow) Danial Shapiro and Joanie Smith celebrate the music of Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa and the E Street Band member Soozie Tyrell in the new Anytown: Stories of America, a modern-dance work that explores the intertwined lives of three families of regular folks. 8 p.m., Count Basie Theater, 99 Monmouth Street, Red Bank, N.J., (732) 842-9000 or www.shapiroandsmithdance.org; $20 to $50. (Dunning) STREB S.L.A.M. (Tonight through Sunday) Elizabeth Streb and her Frequent Flyers will career through dances whose sets include a giant hamster wheel and hanging cement blocks. Free popcorn. Tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m. S.L.A.M., 51 North First Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 384-6491 or www.strebusa.org; $15; $10 for children over 4; free for children under 4. (Dunning) VON HOWARD PROJECT (Tonight through Sunday) Christian von Howard combines intricate partnering with sinuous athleticism in a program that also includes dance by the guest choreographer Susan Douglas Roberts. Tonight through Sunday at 8 p.m. Joyce SoHo Theater, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 431-9233 or www.joyce.org; $20; $12 for students and 65+; $30 for Sunday benefit tickets. (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: 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) * 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 -- two compact rooms of compact pictures, each picture a main event -- 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. (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: 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. Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street. (212) 535-7710. (Michael Kimmelman) EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO: THE (S) FILES/THE SELECTED FILES 05, through Jan. 29. The definition of what Latino art means is changing in a post-identity-politics time, and this modest biennial, drawn mostly from unsolicited proposals submitted by artists in the greater New York area, is an indicator of what that change looks like. 1230 Fifth Avenue, at 104th Street, (212) 831-7272. (Cotter) MUSEUM OF BIBLICAL ART: THE NEXT GENERATION: CONTEMPORARY EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH, through Nov. 13. Works in this juried show of artists who belong to the organization Christians in the Visual Arts range from traditional paintings and sculptures to an interactive video-and-photo documentation of a shamanistic performance in the woods. Ambitious, optically captivating collages by Mary Fielding McCleary and Anita Breitenberg Naylor are among the few pieces that exceed familiar generic limitations. 1865 Broadway, at 61st Street, (212) 408-1500. (Ken Johnson) NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN: FIRST AMERICAN ART, through April 9. 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) * 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, right up there with the likes of Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Arthur Dove and Charles Demuth, to name a few. 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: Uptown Egon Schiele: The Ronald S. Lauder and Serge Sabarsky Collections 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. Neue Galerie, 1048 Fifth Avenue, (212) 628-6200, through Feb. 20. (Johnson) Yinka Shonibare Selects: Works from the Permanent Collection 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. Smithsonians Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, 2 East 91st Street, (212) 849-8300, through May 7. (Johnson) Vietnam: Destination for the New Millennium -- The Art of Dinh Q. LE 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 sleek sculptures representing communications satellites that satirize Vietnams plans to enter the space age and the global consumerist economy. Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, at 70th Street, (212) 288-6400, through Jan. 15. (Johnson) Galleries: 57th Street Harry Kramer The spirit of Abstract Expressionism lives on in the work of an artist who has been exhibiting in New York regularly since 1970. But Mr. Kramers lusciously colored compositions of slashing gestures and planes of thick paint are more seductive than confrontational. Ameringer Yohe, 20 West 57th Street, (212) 445-0051, through Nov. 5. (Johnson) Organic New York This rewarding exhibition recalls an American trend of the 1940s that was eclipsed by Abstract Expressionism but has been brought back to life by many younger painters of today: surrealistic, biomorphic abstraction. It is loaded with swirling, symbolically charged paintings and sculptures by William Baziotes, Lee Krasner, Richard Pousette Dart, Mark Rothko and 15 others. Michael Rosenfeld, 24 West 57th Street, (212) 247-0082, through Nov. 5. (Johnson) Galleries: Chelsea 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, (212) 645-1701, through Nov. 12. (Johnson) Stephen Bush, Penetrol This Australian painter presents partly abstract pictures of rustic cabins in alpine settings. Made in thick, viscous, partly brushed and partly poured enamel and oil paints in hallucinatory hues of hot pink, red and green, they suggest a kind of sentimental romance escalated into a gorgeous but frightening psychotic delusion. Goff + Rosenthal, 537B West 23rd Street, (212) 675-0461, through Nov. 12. (Johnson) Contemporary Obscurists Works by contemporary artists who use the camera obscura in variously inventive ways include Vera Lutters huge negative image of an abandoned factory interior; Shi Guoruis ghostly, panoramic view of Shanghai; and Abelardo Morells magical photographs of bedrooms with upside-down views of the city projected onto their interior walls. Alan Klotz, 511 West 25th Street, (212) 741-4764, through Nov. 12. (Johnson) Chris Doyle, Flight Power Love Tower A startling, semi-abstract sculpture of a giant, illuminated flying eagle made of slender lengths of wood and long fluorescent lights fills the front exhibition space. One of the amusing stop-action videos in the back shows the artist flying through his studio. Jessica Murray, 150 Eleventh Avenue, near 22nd Street, (212) 633-9606, through Nov. 12. (Johnson) 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, (212) 989-0156, through Nov. 12. (Johnson) 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, through Nov. 12. (Smith). Other Galleries * 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) * 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). Saint-Gaudenss own work appears in it, too; surprisingly, it doesnt seem all that far out of context. UBS Art Gallery, 1285 Avenue of the Americas, at 51st Street, (212) 713-2885, through Dec. 2. (Glueck) * 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). 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, through Nov. 12.(Johnson) Last Chance CANDICE BREITZ In four video pieces, the words of Hollywood actresses and actors are reconfigured into a conversation about parenting, and unknown fans of Madonna and Michael Jackson sing for the camera, alone yet together. Sonnabend Gallery, 536 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 627-1018, closing tomorrow. (Smith). ANTHONY BURDIN In his second solo show in New York, this idiosyncratic multimedia Los Angeles artist takes over all four levels of the gallerys funky space, showing his wildly improvised, distinctly lived-in music videos, a series of small exquisite drawings and an installation involving some of the byproducts of his nomadic life. Maccarone Inc., 45 Canal Street, near Orchard Street, Lower East Side, (212) 431-4977, closing on Monday. (Smith) COOPER-HEWITT NATIONAL DESIGN MUSEUM: EXTREME TEXTILES, Dont look for aesthetic pizazz in this intensely techy 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, closing on Sunday.. (Glueck) * MACCHINE NATURALI: ABSTRACT COLLAGES BY JOSEPH STELLA The largest New York show in some time of Stellas elegant, understated collages, made from dirt-stained scraps of paper, can thoroughly rearrange your grasp of his sensibility and the history of American Modernism. Peter Freeman Inc., 560 Broadway, at Prince Street, SoHo (212) 966-5154, closing tomorrow. (Smith) * MY HAND OUTSTRETCHED: FILMS BY ROBERT BEAVERS As if from the forehead of Zeus, this midcareer retrospective introduces the ravishing, impeccably structured art of an avant-garde filmmaker who ranks with the best of his generation. Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (212) 570-3600, closing Sunday. (Smith). * Evan Penny: No-One In Particular This Toronto-based sculptor creates astoundingly realistic and, in some cases, weirdly distorted bigger-than-life busts of people out of silicone, rubber, hair and other materials. Sperone Westwater, 415 West 13th Street, West Village, (212) 999-7337, closing tomorrow. (Johnson)

S. Korea, China, Japan revive talks after history disputes

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Meeting for the first time in three years, the foreign ministers of South Korea, China and Japan agreed Saturday to work together to improve ties strained by historical and territorial issues and restore trilateral summit.

AP PHOTOS: Russias Nenets celebrate Reindeer Herders Day - 12 News

This year, when the holiday was celebrated for the 20th time, dozens of reindeer-driven sleds took part in the race. The most coveted prize is a snowmobile - the best means of transportation in the frigid region. There are about 40,000 Nenets living in.

Fire officials: Hotplate left on for sabbath may have caused fire that killed.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - A fire that tore through a home in a heavily Jewish Brooklyn neighbourhood, leaving seven children dead and two other people in critical condition, may have been caused by a malfunctioning hotplate left on because of prohibitions.

Seven children ��� believed to be from same family ��� die in.

Breaking overnight, 7 children were killed in a house fire in Brooklyn, NY. -- @VinitaCBS pic.twitter.com/F5rjJphsdm. ��� CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 21, 2015. Source: CBS This Morning/Twitter. Firefighters received a call at 12:23am local time about the blaze at the single-family home in Midwood, a leafy section of Brooklyn known for its low crime and large Orthodox Jewish population. Fire department spokesman Jim Long said more than 100��.

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: 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)

New York Fire Department: Seven Children Die in Brooklyn.

UPDATE (AP): A fire that tore through a home in a heavily Jewish Brooklyn neighborhood, leaving seven children dead and two other people in critical condition, may have been caused by a malfunctioning hot plate left on for the Sabbath, the. Coming Soon: Buck Sexton. Date: 1/31/2015. Time: 00:00:20.. The dead are children ranging in age from 5 to 15 years old, and they are believed to be family members, New York Fire Department spokesman Jim Long said.

The Listings: Jan. 27 - Feb. 2

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 DECEMBER FOOLS Previews start today. Opens Wednesday. Marie discovers some explosive secrets about her late Broadway composer father and her estranged mother in Sherman Yellens drama (2:15). Abington Theater Arts Complex, 312 West 36th Street; (212) 868-4444. LENNY BRUCE. IN HIS OWN WORDS Previews start Monday. Opens Wednesday. Since this legendary comic has been dead for years, this solo play, created from verbatim transcripts of his famous routines, might be the next best thing (1:10). Zipper Theater, 336 West 37th Street; (212)239-6200. RABBIT HOLE Opens Thursday. A husband and wife drift apart in the wake of a terrible accident in David Lindsay-Abaires new family drama. Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly star (2:10). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street; (212) 239-6200. BAREFOOT IN THE PARK Opens Feb. 16. Patrick Wilson and Amanda Peet star in Neil Simons classic romantic comedy about New York newlyweds (2:20). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street; (212) 239-6200. CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY Previews start today. Opens Feb. 5. Not many people can claim to be both a gay New York escort and a straight Utah Mormon in the same lifetime. Steven Fales tells his unusual life story (1:30). SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, between Avenue of the Americas and Varick Street; (212) 691-1555. FANNY HILL Previews start Wednesday. Opens Feb. 14. A musical based on the 18th-century novel about a country girl who moves to London to become a prostitute (2:00). York Theater, at St. Peters Lutheran Church, 619 Lexington Avenue, at East 54th Street; (212) 868-4444. I LOVE YOU BECAUSE Opens Feb. 14. Mr. Darcy becomes Marcy in this gender-switching musical retelling of Pride and Prejudice, which stars Stephane DAbruzzo from Avenue Q (2:00). Village Theater, 158 Bleecker Street, near Sullivan Street, East Village; (212) 307-4100. INDOOR/OUTDOOR Previews start Thursday. Opens Feb. 22. The playwright Kenny Finkle aims for the cat lover demographic in this relationship comedy about a computer programmer and his chatty feline (1:50). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, Flatiron district; (212) 239-6200. JUMP/CUT Previews start Wednesday. Opens Feb. 12. Neena Bebers cinematic, dry play about the love triangle of two aspiring filmmakers and a manic-depressive was a hit in Washington. Leigh Silverman directs (2:10). Julia Miles Theater, 424 West 55th Street, Clinton; (212) 239-6200. THE PAJAMA GAME Opens Feb. 23. Labor unrest leads to romance in this classic musical about a manager and a union representative at a pajama factory. Harry Connick Jr. stars, and Kathleen Marshall directs (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street; (212) 719-1300. RED LIGHT WINTER Opens Feb. 9. Throw two men, a prostitute and one Amsterdam evening into an Adam Rapp drama, and you may well have some trouble. Variety calls it Mr. Rapps most commercial outing (2:25). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, West Village; (212) 239-6200. THE RIGHT KIND OF PEOPLE Opens Feb. 9. A grumpy Charles Grodin delves into the dark, mysterious world of Manhattan co-op boards in this Primary Stages comedy (1:30). 59E59, 59 East 59th Street; (212) 279-4200. THE SEVEN Opens Feb. 12. The hip-hop theater pioneer Will Powers large-cast adaptation of Aeschylus Seven Against Thebes. Jo Bonney directs (2:00). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 239-6200. THE WOODEN BREEKS Previews start Thursday. Opens Feb. 15. MCC Theater presents Glen Bergers gothic fairy tale set in the fictitious Scottish town of Brood (2:00). Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, West Village; (212) 279-4200. Broadway CHITA RIVERA: THE DANCERS LIFE At 72, Ms. Rivera still has the voice, the attitude and -- oh, yes -- the legs to magnetize all eyes in an audience. If the singing scrapbook of a show that surrounds her is less than electric, there is no denying the electricity of the woman at its center (2:00). Schoenfeld Theater, 236 West 45th Street; (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley) 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 Prizewinning 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. (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 Jonathan Pryce 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 (Eileen Atkins), the head of a parochial school, and Father Flynn (Ron Eldard), 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 Theater, 219 West 48th Street; (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) 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 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 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. 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) * 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. (Charles Isherwood) THE WOMAN IN WHITE Bravely flouting centuries of accepted scientific theory, the creators of this adaptation of Wilkie Collinss spine tingler have set out to prove that the world is flat, after all. This latest offering from Andrew Lloyd Webber, directed by Trevor Nunn, seems to exist entirely in two dimensions, from its computer-generated backdrops to its decorative chess-piece-like characters (2:50). Judy Kuhn replaces Maria Friedman from Feb. 14 through March 26. Marquis Theater, 211 West 45th Street; (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Off Broadway * ABIGAILS PARTY Scott Elliotts thoroughly delectable production of Mike Leighs 1977 comedy about domestic discord among the British middle classes. Jennifer Jason Leigh leads a superb ensemble cast as a party hostess who wields the gin bottle like a deadly weapon, resulting in an evening of savagely funny chaos (2:15). Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton; (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) * 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) ALMOST, MAINE John Carianis comedy comprises almost a dozen two-character vignettes exploring the sudden thunderclap of love and the scorched earth that sometimes follows. It will evoke either awwws or icks, depending on your affection for its whimsical approach to the joys and perils of romance (2:00). Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, Flatiron district; (212) 239-6200.(Isherwood) BEAUTY OF THE FATHER A crisp outline of the Pulitzer Prizewinner Nilo Cruzs new play suggests the crazy-quilt melodramas of early Almodóvar: Father and daughter are attracted to the same sexy bad boy, igniting all manner of emotional fireworks. But Mr. Cruzs reflective, unhurried pace and his meandering, lyrical dialogue allow his fuses to burn a little too long, resulting in more fizzle than flash (2:10). Manhattan Theater Club, at City Center, Stage II, 131 West 55th Street; (212) 581-1212. (Isherwood) 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) CANDIDA The two men -- David Tillistrand as Candidas husband, and Danaher Dempsey as the sniveling poet who falls under her spell -- arent strong enough to make this a great Candida, but Shaws insights still shine a century after he wrote the play, and the director, Michael Halberstam, manages to draw some good laughs in the third act (1:55). Jean Cocteau Repertory, at the Bouwerie Lane Theater, 330 Bowery Lane, at Bond Street, East Village; (212) 279-4200. (Neil Genzlinger) DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD The Peanuts characters grow up, do drugs and have sex in this dark, disposable parody. Good grief (1:30). Century Center for the Performing Arts, 111 East 15th Street, Flatiron district; (212) 239-6200. (Zinoman) 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. 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). Dodger 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) FUNNYHOUSE OF A NEGRO Adrienne Kennedys one-act nightmare from 1964, about a young black woman obsessed with whiteness, is still innovative theater, but it also plays as a period piece, making it doubly interesting (50 minutes). Harlem School of the Arts, 645 St. Nicholas Avenue, near 141st Street, Hamilton Heights; (212) 868-4444. (Genzlinger) HECUBA At an intermissionless 90 minutes, this rendition of Euripides tragedy is fairly painless -- though thats not necessarily a good thing (1:30). Pearl Theater Company, at Theater 80, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village; (212) 598-9802. (Genzlinger) * (I AM) NOBODYS LUNCH The elusive nature of truth in a culture swamped with stuff that looks, sounds and smells like information -- but may be something a little more suspicious -- is the serious subject of this merrily unserious, vaudevillian romp through the anxious chatter of contemporary America. Snappy, scrappy and performed with a youthful blend of earnestness and deadpan razzmatazz by the buzzed-about downtown troupe the Civilians (1:30). 59E59, 59 East 59th Street; (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) 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) * IN THE CONTINUUM Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter are both the authors and the performers of this smart, spirited and disarmingly funny show about two women: one a middle-class mother in Zimbabwe, the other a 19-year-old at loose ends in Los Angeles whose lives are upended by HIV diagnoses. Emphatically not a downer (1:30). Perry Street Theater, 31 Perry Street, Greenwich Village; (212) 868-4444. (Isherwood) * THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED Lean, mean and about as deep as a shot glass, Diane the Hollywood agent is just the tonic New York theatergoers need in the depths of an urban winter. Played by Julie White in an irresistible adrenaline rush of a performance, Diane is the arch-manipulator in Douglas Carter Beanes tangy fable of fame and its discontents, directed by Scott Ellis. With Neal Huff as a closeted Hollywood star, and Johnny Galecki as the rent boy who loves him (2:10). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton; (212) 246-4422. (Brantley) LOVELY DAY Tiresome evening (1:15). Beckett Theater, Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton; (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) *MRS. WARRENS PROFESSION An absolutely splendid Dana Ivey takes the title role in Charlotte Moores sensitively acted production of Bernard Shaws famously provocative play, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary on the New York stage this year (2:20). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea; (212) 727-2737. (Isherwood) RFK This solo show written and starring Jack Holmes is a reasonably accurate historical portrait, but the performance, unfortunately, lacks the charisma and charm that made the real Bobby Kennedy a star (1:35). Culture Project @ 45 Bleecker, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village; (212) 253-9983. (Jonathan Kalb) * THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL Led by Lois Smith in a heart-wrenching performance, the cast never strikes a false note in Harris Yulins beautifully mounted revival of Horton Footes drama, finding an emotional authenticity in a work largely remembered as a tear-jerking chestnut. This is not to say you should neglect to bring handkerchiefs (1:50). Signature Theater, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton; (212) 244-7529. (Brantley) Off Off Broadway 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) HARVEST Manjula Padmanabhans sci-fi parable is a dark fantasy about a high-tech racket in body organs -- a cross between the 2002 thriller Dirty Pretty Things and an episode of The Twilight Zone. Based in Delhi, India, Ms. Padmanabhan wrote the play in 1996; this is its New York premiere (1:25). La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 475-7710. (Phoebe Hoban) * MAJOR BANG OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE DIRTY BOMB This disarming exercise in political cabaret demonstrates that laughter in the dark need not be desperate. Written by Kirk Lynn, this multilevel, multiform tale of nuclear anxiety resurrects the sane, inquisitive satiric spirit of the early 1960s, a time when irony was a strategic tool instead of a conditioned reflex. Paul Lazar directs Steve Cuiffo and Maggie Hoffman in a multitude of roles (1:10). St. Anns Warehouse, 38 Water Street, at Dock Street, Brooklyn; (718) 254-8779. (Brantley) * ZOMBOID! (FILM/PERFORMANCe PROJECT #1) O, the heresy of it! Richard Foreman has introduced film into the realm of exquisitely artificial, abstract theater in which he has specialized for four decades. As it turns out, juxtaposing two art forms allows Mr. Foreman to underscore in resonant new ways what he has been saying for years: reality is, well, relative. And he continues to work in a style guaranteed to infect your perceptions for hours after (1:15). Ontological-Hysteric Theater, 131 East 10th Street, East Village; (212) 352-3101. (Brantley) 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) 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) 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) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street; (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance ANTON It is one thing to write a play about Anton Chekhovs last four years, quite another to attempt the masters style, then produce and direct it and portray the title character. Though Pierre van der Spuys reach far exceeds his grasp, he deserves some credit for trying (2:15). Greenwich Street Theater, 547 Greenwich Street, between Charlton and Vandam Streets, South Village; (212) 352-3101; closing Sunday. (Andrea Stevens) *THE END OF REALITY Violence isnt pretty in the listless but eventful world of Richard Maxwells hypnotic new play. Its not ugly, either. In this latest work from the king of affecting disaffection, violence doesnt so much explode as drip, like water from a leaky faucet, into the lives of lonely, hapless security guards. Mr. Maxwells most eloquent statement to date about the blurring of despair and apathy in American lives (1:40). The Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea; (212) 255-5793; closing Sunday. (Brantley) GONER The president is shot, and the worlds worst doctors get the job of trying to save him in this very funny bit of sketch comedy disguised as a play. Bad taste seems not to be an issue for the author, Brian Parks, but most of the lunacy is inspired enough that you can forgive the insensitivity (1:15). Kraine Theater, 85 East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 868-4444; closing tomorrow. (Genzlinger) HOUSE OF DESIRE This 300-year-old farce, written by a nun, mostly proves that Baroque women were just as capable as Baroque men of producing forgettable plays. Its sometimes fun watching the energetic young actors trying to breathe life into it, though, especially during a smashing sword fight conducted in semi-darkness (2:10). Storm Theater, 145 West 46th Street; (212) 868-4444; closing tomorrow. (Genzlinger) MAJOR BARBARA George Bernard Shaws polemic against the military-industrial complex and organized religion is still timely 100 years later, and though the director Brooke OHarras Kabuki-tinged version lands on the mark and misses it about equally, there is something true and real about the production that is worth seeing (2:35). La MaMa Annex Theater, 74A East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 475-7710; closing Sunday. (Stevens) MR. MARMALADE A zany comedy by Noah Haidle about emotionally disturbed children. Yes, you read that right. Michael C. Hall of Six Feet Under plays the now-cuddly, now-abusive imaginary friend of a neglected 4-year-old. Unfortunately, Mr. Haidle never truly capitalizes on his provocative conceit, choosing instead to draw us a scary but ultimately hollow cartoon (1:50). Roundabout Theater Company, Laura Pels Theater, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street; (212) 719-1300; closing Sunday. (Isherwood) A TOUCH OF THE POET It takes Gabriel Byrne, playing a self-dramatizing monster father, roughly an hour to find his feet in Doug Hughess lukewarm revival of Eugene ONeills drama. But when he does, in the shows second half, audiences are allowed a rare glimpse of a thrilling process: an actors taking hold of the reins of a runaway role and riding it for all its worth. Unfortunately, nothing else in this underdirected, undercast production begins to match his pace (2:40). Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street; (212) 719-1300; closing Sunday. (Brantley) WHAT THEN Even if Rinne Groffs playful play about environmental disaster is occasionally labored, theres never any doubt that theres an active, lively intelligence at work (1:30). Ohio Theater, 66 Wooster Street, between Spring and Broome Streets, SoHo; (212) 868-4444; 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. * BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (R, 134 minutes) Annie Proulxs heartbreaking story of two ranch hands who fall in love while herding sheep in 1963 has been faithfully translated onto the screen in Ang Lees landmark film. Heath Ledger (in a great performance worthy of Brando at his peak) and Jake Gyllenhaal bring them fully alive. (Stephen Holden) * CACHÉ (HIDDEN) (R, 121 minutes, in French) Michael Haneke, one of the most elegantly sadistic European directors working today, deposits his audience at the intersection of voyeurism and paranoia in this tense, politically tinged psychological thriller about vengeance and injustice. Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil are in top form as an affluent Parisian couple menaced by mysterious drawings and videotapes. (A. O. Scott) * CASANOVA (R, 110 minutes) Heath Ledger affirms his status as the pansexual art-house heartthrob of the moment in this high-spirited farce suggested by the career of 18th-century Venices most notorious seducer. Silly, sly and delightful. (Scott) END OF THE SPEAR (PG-13, 112 minutes) This fact-based story of conflict and resolution between a primitive warrior tribe in Ecuador and North American missionaries in the mid-1950s is inspiring enough to make you wish that the sentimental excesses of this Kiplingesque tale had been reined in. (Holden) * THE FALL OF FUJIMORI (No rating, 83 minutes, in English and Spanish) Ellen Perrys examination of Alberto Fujimori, who ruled Peru from 1990 to 2000, is a complex study in the psychology of power and also an unsettling examination of the risks that fighting terrorism can pose to democratic institutions and values. (Scott) GLORY ROAD (PG, 109 minutes) The true story, more or less, of the 1966 Texas Western College basketball team -- the first all-black starting five to play in an N.C.A.A. final. By the numbers, but inspiring all the same. (Scott) GO FOR ZUCKER (No rating, 95 minutes, in German) In this German-Jewish comedy, factions of a divided family, half Orthodox Jewish and half secular, join forces to collect an inheritance. It might be described as a hybrid of the much funnier French farce La Cage aux Folles and the recent Israeli film Ushpizin. (Holden) * 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 a history lesson and a passionate essay on power, responsibility and the ethics of journalism. (Scott) * HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (PG-13, 150 minutes) Childhood ends for the young wizard with the zigzag scar in the latest addition to the Potter saga, even as the director Mike Newell keeps its British eccentricity, fatalism and steady-on pluck irresistibly intact. (Manohla Dargis) HOODWINKED (PG, 81 minutes) Little Red Riding Hood is deconstructed in this sub-Shrek bummer, the latest collaboration between computers and cynicism. (Nathan Lee) HOSTEL (R, 95 minutes) Two ugly Americans rampage through Europe before finding themselves ensnared in an underground Slovakian snuff club. The calculated outrages of this brutal exploitation film prove less shocking than its relentless bigotry. (Lee) * KING KONG (PG-13, 180 minutes) Peter Jacksons remake is, almost by definition, too much -- too long, too big, too stuffed with characters and effects-driven set pieces -- but it is also remarkably nimble and sweet. Going back to the Depression-era setting of the 1933 original, Mr. Jacksons film is as much a tribute to the old seat-of-the-pants spirit of early motion pictures as it is an exercise in technological bravura. Naomi Watts as the would-be movie star Ann Darrow and Andy Serkis as the big monkey who loves her have a rapport that gives the spectacle the pathos and sweetness it needs, and help to turn a brute spectacle into a pop tragedy. (Scott) THE LAST HOLIDAY (PG-13, 112 minutes) Based on a 1950 British film, Wayne Wangs comedy about a gentle soul who learns to live only after learning of her imminent death is one of those generic wish-fulfillment flicks in which the soul in question actualizes her goals through perseverance and pluck. The star Queen Latifah charms, but even she cant gold-plate junk. (Dargis) LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD (PG-13, 98 minutes) Albert Brooks takes his anxious, cerebral act on the road, to India and Pakistan. Great satiric potential, most of it squandered after a hilarious opening. (Scott) * MATCH POINT (R, 124 minutes) Woody Allens best in years, and one of his best ever. Beneath the dazzling, sexy surface, this tale of social climbing in London (brilliantly acted by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Scarlett Johansson and Emily Mortimer) is ice cold and pitch black, which curiously enough makes it a superior diversion. (Scott) THE MATADOR (R, 96 minutes) Pithy remarks put into the mouth of a star (Pierce Brosnan) playing against type impart a greasy sheen of sophistication to this weightless, amoral romp about a professional hit man facing a midlife crisis. (Holden) MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (PG-13, 144 minutes) Think As the Geisha Turns, with devious rivals, swoonworthy swains, a jaw-dropping dance number recycled from Madonnas Drowned World tour and much clinching, panting and scheming. Directed by Rob Marshall from the Arthur Golden book, and starring Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh. (Dargis) * MUNICH (R, 164 minutes) With his latest, Steven Spielberg forgoes the emotional bullying and pop thrills that come so easily to him to tell the story of a campaign of vengeance that Israel purportedly brought against Palestinian terrorists in the wake of the 1972 Olympics. An unsparingly brutal look at two peoples all but drowning in a sea of their own blood, Munich is by far the toughest film of the directors career, and the most anguished. (Dargis) * PRIDE & PREJUDICE (PG, 128 minutes) In this sumptuous, extravagantly romantic adaptation of Jane Austens 1813 novel, Keira Knightleys Elizabeth Bennet exudes a radiance that suffuses the movie. This is a banquet of high-end comfort food perfectly cooked and seasoned to Anglophilic tastes. (Holden) THE PRODUCERS (PG-13, 127 minutes) At a fraction of the Broadway ticket price, its no bargain. (Scott) * SYRIANA (R, 122 minutes) Ambitious, angry and complicated, Stephen Gaghans second film tackles terrorism, American foreign policy, global trade and the oil business through four interwoven stories. There are at least a half-dozen first-rate performances, and Mr. Gaghan, who wrote and directed, reinvents the political thriller as a vehicle for serious engagement with the state of the world. (Scott) TRANSAMERICA (R, 103 minutes) Felicity Huffmans performance as a preoperative transsexual on a cross-country journey with her long-lost son is sensitive and convincing, and helps the picture rise above its indie road-picture clichés. (Scott) TRISTAN & ISOLDE (PG-13, 125 minutes) The lovers of Celtic mythology, Arthurian legend and Wagnerian libretto fall for each other far from the violent, Dark Ages machinations plaguing their two warring peoples. A pleasant entertainment from the director Kevin Reynolds that delivers exactly what it promises, no less, no more. (Dargis) 24 HOURS ON CRAIGSLIST (No rating, 82 minutes) Directed (kind of) and produced by Michael Ferris Gibson, a disorganized if watchable stroll through human desire as manifested on the popular Web site (three billion page views each month). (Dargis) WALK THE LINE (PG-13, 138 minutes) Johnny Cash gets the musical biopic treatment in this moderately entertaining, never quite convincing chronicle of his early years. Joaquin Phoenix, sweaty, inarticulate and intense as Cash, is upstaged by Reese Witherspoon, who tears into the role of June Carter (Cashs creative partner long before she became his second wife) with her usual charm, pluck and intelligence. (Scott) UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION (R, 106 minutes) In this sequel to Underworld (2003), the writer and director Len Wiseman and the writer Danny McBride pick up the story of the vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and the vampire/werewolf hybrid Michael (Scott Speedman) as they race to prevent the release of an imprisoned über-werewolf. With leads who strain to manage one facial expression between them, and a cinematographer who shoots everything through the same steel-blue filter, Underworld: Evolution is little more than a monotonous barrage of computer-generated fur and fangs. (Jeannette Catsoulis) YOURS, MINE AND OURS (PG, 90 minutes) Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo inhabit roles originated by Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball in this snug, airtight remake of the 1968 comedy about the combining of two antagonistic families with 18 children between them. Cutesy unreality prevails. (Holden) Film Series ANOTHER SPANISH CINEMA: FILMS IN CATALUNYA 1906-2006 (Through Feb. 14) The Film Society of Lincoln Centers retrospective of Catalan film begins tonight with Isabel Coixets Secret Life of Words (2005), starring Sarah Polley, Julie Christie and Javier Cámara. Other features will include Antoni Ribass Burned City (1976), one of the first Catalan-language films released after the death of Franco; Agustí Villarongas In a Glass Cage (1987), a drama about depravity that the American director John Waters has said he found shocking; and Fausto 5.0 (2001), the Catalan theater group La Fura dels Bauss interpretation of Goethes Faust. Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5600; $10. (Anita Gates) BEARING THE UNBEARABLE: ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN FILMS ABOUT THE CONFLICT (Through Tuesday) This two-week festival, sponsored by Symphony Space Thalia Films and Labyrinth Books, concludes with three documentaries. Simone Bittons Wall, about the Israeli-Palestinian security/separation fence, won a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Tahani Racheds Soraida, Woman of Palestine is about the everyday life of a Ramallah resident. Another Road Home, by the Israeli filmmaker Danae Elon, looks at Ms. Elons relationship with the Muslim Palestinian man who was her caregiver. Leonard Nimoy Thalia, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $10. (Gates) FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Through Feb. 12) This year the theme of the Museum of the Moving Image and the New York Film Critics Circles series is the experience of being a stranger in a strange land. This weekends films are Zabriskie Point (1970), Michelangelo Antonionis portrait of alienated American youth in the late 1960s, selected by J. Hoberman, and Stroszek (1977), Werner Herzogs drama about Europeans in Wisconsin, selected by Michael Atkinson. (To the Europeans, the state seems practically extraterrestrial.) 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077; $10. (Gates) PIXAR: 20 YEARS OF ANIMATION (Through Feb. 6) A complete retrospective of Pixar animated films continues at the Museum of Modern Art. This weekends feature is Finding Nemo (2003), the story of an overprotective widowed clownfish searching for his son, to be shown with the short One Man Band (2005), about two street musicians competing for a little girls only coin. 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400; $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, M1 (Tonight) The Atlanta hip-hop group Arrested Developments decidedly preachy new-soul peaked too early to make it part of the rise of the Dirty South style, but it carried the kind of positive messages that characterized lots of early 1990s bohemian rap. M1 is half of the political rap group Dead Prez. 7:30, Howard Gilman Opera House, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100; $20 to $25. (Laura Sinagra) BABY DAYLINER (Tonight) Baby Dayliner is the stage name of Ethan Marunas, a keyboard-driven one-man band. He sets up percolating electropop patterns to back neo-cabaret songs that can be droll and cynical or stylishly heartsick. 7:30, Pianos, 158 Ludlow Street, between Rivington and Stanton Streets, Lower East Side, (212) 420-1466; $8. (Jon Pareles) BLACK DICE, GANG GANG DANCE (Tomorrow) The experimental band Black Dice expands its palette of sharp noise to include ominous electronic glitches, warped meta-blues and churning tribal bursts. The outré, art-folk quartet Gang Gang Dance also plays. 8 p.m., Syrup Room, 100 Ingraham Street, at Knickerbocker Avenue, East Williamsburg Industrial Park, Brooklyn, (917) 608-2467; $10. (Sinagra) BOBBY (BLUE) BLAND (Sunday) Bobby (Blue) Blands voice is a cornerstone of Memphis soul singing. In tones that are velvety, humble and long-suffering, he begs for affection with suave melancholy and smoldering fury. 8 p.m., B. B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144; $25. (Pareles) BLUE OYSTER CULT (Tonight) When science fiction met heavy metal and lighthearted fetishism in Blue Oyster Cult songs of the 70s like Cities on Flame With Rock n Roll, (Dont Fear) the Reaper, Godzilla and Dominance and Submission, it hardly mattered whether the bands original intentions were tongue-in-cheek. Its post-Zeppelin, pre-punk riffs and its wild-eyed lyrics still sound good. 6 p.m., B. B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144; $27.50 and $32. (Pareles) BLUES FALLIN DOWN LIKE RAIN: THE MUSIC OF CHARLEY PATTON (Wednesday) This New York Guitar Festival tribute to the music of the Delta country blues master Charley Patton features John Hammond, Rory Block, Dave Tronzo, Toshi Reagon and Harry Manx. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3303; $35. (Sinagra) BONGAS VODOU DRUMS OF HAITI (Tomorrow) This group of drummers and rhythmic dancers led by Bonga Jean-Baptiste, a former member of the Haitian voodoo-rock band Boukman Eksperyans, performs in a more ritualistic, spiritually inspired Afro-Haitian style. 10 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, at Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 218-6934; no cover. (Sinagra) BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE (Tonight and tomorrow night) This Canadian collective makes heartbreak music that sounds like a fuzzy, drunken party. Some prefer its diffuse anthemic feints to the straight-up anthems of its countrymen Arcade Fire. Members have included the Stars Evan Cranley, Metrics Emily Haines and the multitalented singer-songwriter Leslie Feist. 6, Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600; $25 (sold out). (Sinagra) EVAN DANDO (Tomorrow) After spending the late 1990s in exile, this alt-pop heartthrob has cleaned up his act and taken tentative steps back into the limelight with solo projects and some revisiting of old hits and matter-of-fact melodicism. 10 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 798-0406; $15. (Sinagra) DEERHOOF (Monday) This excitingly whimsical band harbors affection in equal parts for No Wave angularity, exuberant noise-pop and outsider naïf art like that of the Shaggs. Its latest material is more pacific than earlier work, which included an electronically augmented fractured fairy tale about a kidnapping milkman. 7:30 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $13 (sold out). (Sinagra) BO DIDDLEY (Thursday) When Bo Diddley plays his namesake beat and growls the metaphysical boasts of Who Do You Love?, its easy to hear the fire and syncopation that made him a rock pioneer. Behind them is a profound education in the blues. 8 p.m., B. B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144; $32.50 in advance, $35 at the door. (Pareles) DR. DOG, SAM CHAMPION (Tonight) The lo-fi Philly band Dr. Dog plays likably shaggy rock. The local indie rockers Sam Champion harken back to the slacker ennui of 90s bands like Pavement. 9:30, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $10. (Sinagra) DUB NOMADS VS DR. ISRAEL & DREADTONE (Tomorrow) The reggae singer Dr. Israel makes dark dubs that introduce elements of jungle and hard rock. The Dub Nomads layer deep dub sonics over hard beats. 10 p.m., BPM, 237 Kent Avenue, between Grand and North First Streets, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (no phone); $8. (Sinagra) FIELD MUSIC (Tomorrow) One of the new British bands, Field Music sounds like a poppier version of the neo-post-punk garage music in vogue of late. 11:30 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $10. (Sinagra) FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE (Tomorrow) Still underappreciated even after the 2002 fluke MTV smash hit Staceys Mom, these 30-something New York City songwriters continue to write some of the best pure pop ditties and smartest yuppie satires around. 8:30 p.m., Allen Room at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, (212) 258-9800;$30 to $55. (Sinagra) ELY GUERRA (Wednesday) Ely Guerra is one of the most intriguing songwriters in Mexican rock. Ms. Guerra sings about passion: gazing at it from a distance, then plunging into the turbulence. Her songs incorporate rock, funk, electronica and the torchy emotion of Mexican pop in a shifting balance of poise and obsession. 8 p.m., S.O.B.s, 204 Varick Street, at Houston Street, South Village, (212) 243-4940 or (718) 965-9177; $18 in advance, $22 at the door. (Pareles) ISAAC HAYES (Thursday) Isaac Hayes helped shape the Memphis sound at Stax in the 60s, capturing the churning urban agitation of the 70s with his funky Shaft soundtrack; he continues to contribute to current R & B projects. 7 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800, $37.50 in advance, $40 at the door. (Sinagra) BILLY JOEL (Thursday) The iconic piano man recently released a boxed set celebrating four decades of his music. From Just the Way You Are to Allentown, its the trademark mix of real confidence and false bravado, in both his playing and his delivery, that keeps him compelling. 8 p.m., Madison Square Garden, (212) 465-6741; $54 (sold out) to $89.50. (Sinagra) LEZ ZEPPELIN (Tonight) Strapping on the double-necked Gibson with attitude to burn, this all-girl quartet pays tribute to its swaggering namesake Led Zeppelin, ripping through the catalog with blazing accuracy. Of course, they also have their gender-bending way with macho metaphors about squeezed lemons and dripping honey. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $15. (Sinagra) JONI MITCHELL TRIBUTE (Wednesday) This tantalizingly diverse tribute to the folk-rock songwriter Joni Mitchell, a benefit for the Music for Youth Foundation, includes artists ranging from Bebel Gilberto and Bettye LaVette to the Eels and Joseph Arthur. 8 p.m., Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $30 to $225. (Sinagra) MORRIS DAY AND THE TIME, SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS (Tomorrow) Minneapoliss Jungle Love hit makers are still pumping their keyboard-based grooves, with the dapperly overdone Morris Day out front and his trusty valet Jerome Benton by his side. The stirring singer Sharon Jones coaxes joy and pain while the Dap Kings supply 60s soul grooves. 7:30 p.m., Howard Gilman Opera House, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100; $20 to $35. (Sinagra) THE NATIONAL, CAGE, CELEBRATION, BEANS (Thursday) The National is a group of New York-based Ohio natives who turn out a kind of pent-up, countrified indie rock that underplays its hand enough to seem modest. A longtime fixture on the indie rap scene, Cage often recalls his fractured childhood and rough upbringing. Celebrations noisy rock is a vehicle for the vocalist Katrina Fords guttural acrobatics. The rapid-fire rapper Beans is also on the bill. 7 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600; $20. (Sinagra) THE PLASTIC CONSTELLATIONS (Tuesday) The Minneapolis rockers the Plastic Constellations play exuberant, metal-infused emo with vocals that harken back to shouty bands like Fugazi and At the Drive In. 6:30 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $8 in advance, $10 at the door.(Sinagra) RAKIM (Monday) One of hip-hops most commading MCs, Rakim did his best work with DJ Eric B. in the late 80s and early 90s, but his cool, confident flow is still one to beat. 8 p.m., B.B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144, $30 in advance, $35 at the door. (Sinagra) TOSHI REAGON (Tonight and Tomorrow night) 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. 9, Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200; $20. (Pareles) WORLD/INFERNO FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY (Tonight) This cacophonous indie collective creates a kind of industrial mazurka fanfare. 11:30, Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $10. (Sinagra) Cabaret Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. BABY JANE DEXTER (Tonight and tomorrow night) This booming pop-blues contralto may not be demure, but she is tasteful in a smart, regal, big-mama way, and she is astute in her choices of often obscure soul, blues and jazz songs that play to her contradictory mixture of the lusty and the philosophical. 7, Helens, 169 Eighth Avenue, near 18th Street, Chelsea, (212) 206-0609; $20 cover, with a $15 minimum. (Stephen Holden) Andrea Marcovicci (Tonight and tomorrow night) In her spellbinding retrospective Ill Be Seeing You Love Songs of World War II, Ms. Marcovicci balances nostalgia for songs associated with the good war with acknowledgment of the real pain and sacrifice that inspired so many of them, providing a dusting of reality. 9 and 11:30, Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331; $65 cover, with a required $60 prix-fixe dinner at the early shows; $20 minimum required for the late shows. (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) * ELAINE STRITCH (Tonight and tomorrow, and Tuesday through Thursday) Dispensing with her theatrical signature numbers, Ms. Stritch weaves 16 songs new to her repertory into a funny running monologue about her adventures in and out of show business. 8:45 p.m., Cafe Carlyle, Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 744-1600; $125; dinner, required, is served at 6:30; sold out. (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. * AFRO-LATIN JAZZ ORCHESTRA (Tonight and tomorrow night) The rigorous and often thrilling Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra presents a concert called ¡Bajo! The Great Tradition of the Latin Bass, with Andy Gonzalez, John Benitez and Charnett Moffett as guest bassists; the evenings star will be Israel Cachao Lopez, who, at 87, is probably the most influential Latin bass player of all time. 8, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 721-6500; $105.50 and $135.50. (Nate Chinen) RASHIED ALI QUINTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) 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, 10 and midnight, Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 255-3626; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) BRUCE BARTH TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow night) As a pianist, Mr. Barth prefers subtlety and fluency over any kind of flash; his trio, with the bassist Doug Weiss and the drummer Montez Coleman, performs original compositions alongside music by Thelonious Monk and, less predictably, the Grateful Dead. 9 and 11 p.m., and 12:30 a.m., Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) RON BLAKE AND SONIC TONIC (Tomorrow) Sonic Tonic (Mack Avenue), the most recent album by the tenor saxophonist Ron Blake, runs deeper than most hybrids of jazz, funk and soul; this has to do with the company he keeps, which includes the keyboardist Michael Cain, the guitarist David Gilmore and the bassist Reuben Rogers. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063; cover, $15. (Chinen) WILL CALHOUNS NATIVE LANDS (Through Sunday) Mr. Calhoun is best known as the drummer for the hard-rock band Living Colour; his Native Lands project, recently heard on a self-titled Half Note album, strives toward groovy Afro-futurism, with Marcus Strickland on alto saxophone, Corey Wilkes on trumpet, Orrin Evans on piano and Mark Kelly on bass. 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) CARLO DeROSA QUARTET (Thursday) Mr. DeRosa, a bassist with extensive sideman credentials, showcases his original compositions in this ensemble, which harnesses the strong interpretive abilities of the tenor saxophonist Mark Shim, the pianist Luis Perdomo and the drummer Derrek Phillips. 9 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, near Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) ALAN FERBER NONET (Thursday) As on his most recent album, Scenes From an Exit Row (Fresh Sound), the trombonist Alan Ferber presents his own elastic compositions for nine players; the ensembles ranks include John Ellis on tenor saxophone, Douglas Yates on bass clarinet and Mr. Ferbers brother, Mark, on drums. 8 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover, $8. (Chinen) THE FRINGE (Tonight and tomorrow) This free-improvising trio has been a Boston institution since the early 1970s; the tenor saxophonist George Garzone and the drummer Bob Gulloti are founding members, and the bassist John Lockwood came aboard some 20 years ago. Tonight at 9 and 10:30, Tea Lounge, 837 Union Street, near Seventh Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 789-2762; no cover. Tomorrow at 9 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, near Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) BILL FRISELLS 858 QUARTET (Sunday) The guitarist Bill Frisell originally formed this experimental string quartet -- with Jenny Scheinman on violin, Eyvind Kang on viola and Hank Roberts on cello -- for a multimedia project involving a suite of Gerhard Richter paintings. Reconvening here, the group responds to projected cartoon illustrations by Jim Woodring; the trumpeter Ron Miles and the multireedist Greg Tardy join as special guests. 8:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, at Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $30 to $35. (Chinen) MASADA STRING TRIO (Wednesday) John Zorns Masada, a mash-up of Jewish klezmer and Ornette Coleman free-bop, has proven itself a durable and flexible concept; this string trio, with Mark Feldman on violin, Erik Friedlander on cello and Greg Cohen on bass, ranks among its starkest and most arresting iterations. 8 and 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $20, or $30 for both sets. (Chinen) MARC JOHNSONS SHADES OF JADE (Tuesday through Feb. 5) As he did on the recent album Shades of Jade (ECM), the bassist Marc Johnson works with the pianist Eliane Elias to produce a bated-breath luminescence; the effect is heightened by the sensitive contributions of Joe Lovano on tenor saxophone, and Joey Baron on drums. 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 $10 minimum at the tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) MODE FOR JOE: A TRIBUTE TO JOE HENDERSON (Through Sunday) There isnt a more faithful Joe Henderson inheritor than the tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson, who leads this promising tribute; also on hand are the trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, the pianist Anthony Wonsey and the bassist Dwayne Burno. Joe Chambers, a veteran of some of Hendersons signature recordings, rounds out the group on drums. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20 and $25. (Chinen) * PAUL MOTIAN BAND (Through Sunday) Marking the release of his new album, Garden of Eden (ECM), next week, the venerable and inscrutable drummer Paul Motian offers the premiere of a group that builds upon the legacy of his 15-year-old Electric Bebop Band. The new lineup features three saxophonists (Mark Turner, Tony Malaby and Chris Cheek), three guitarists (Steve Cardenas, Ben Monder and Jacob Bro) and a bassist (Jerome Harris). 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $20 to $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) FRANÇOIS MOUTIN QUARTET (Thursday) Mr. Moutin, a bassist reared in Paris, delivers kinetic post-bop with a consort of Joel Frahm on tenor saxophone, Jim Ridl on piano and Ari Hoenig on drums. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, near Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $10. (Chinen) SAM NEWSOMES BLACK GYPSY (Wednesday) Nonwestern folk music is more than a casual influence on the music of Mr. Newsome, a soprano saxophonist and composer; this group, with the bassist Carlo DeRosa and the drummer Bruce Cox, borrows North African modalities and rhythms. 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover, $8. (Chinen) TED POOR QUARTET (Sunday) Mr. Poor, a young drummer in high demand among the citys left-of-center ensembles, finds an outlet for his own compositions in a new group featuring the thoughtful saxophonists Bill McHenry (tenor) and Loren Stillman (alto), along with the bassist John Hebert. 8 and 10 p.m., Bar 4, 444 Seventh Avenue, at 15th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 832-9800, www.bar4.net; cover, $5. (Chinen) BOBBY PREVITE, ZEENA PARKINS AND JAMIE SAFT (Wednesday) Mr. Previte, an adventurous and often effervescent drummer, teams up with the harpist Zeena Parkins and the keyboardist Jamie Saft; all three musicians are as adept with electronics as they are with boisterous improvisation. 10 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $10. (Chinen) JEROME SABBAGH QUARTET (Tuesday) Mr. Sabbagh is a quietly commanding tenor saxophonist and composer in the postmodern mainstream; his sleek ensemble sound owes a lot to the guitar playing of Ben Monder. 9 p.m., Louis 649, 649 East Ninth Street, at Avenue C, East Village, (212) 673-1190; no cover. (Chinen) NEAL SMITH TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Smith, a drummer with a stout respect for jazz traditions, teams up with the stalwart bassist Ray Drummond and the soulful pianists Ronnie Matthews (tonight) and Cyrus Chestnut (tomorrow). 8 and 9:45, Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 885-7119; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) CHARLES TOLLIVER BIG BAND (Today and tomorrow) Mr. Tolliver leads an upgraded edition of his acclaimed orchestra of the 1970s; among the top-shelf talent involved are the saxophonists Billy Harper and Craig Handy, the trombonist Clark Gayton, the drummer Victor Lewis and the pianist John Hicks. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * VANDERMARK 5 (Tuesday) The saxophonist and bass clarinetist Ken Vandermark has led this rambunctious yet cohesive ensemble for nearly a decade; touring in support of an album called The Color of Memory (Atavistic), the group roams the wide terrain of free-bop, with Dave Rempis on saxophones, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Kent Kessler on bass and Tim Daisy on drums. 8 and 10 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $12 per set. (Chinen) KENNY WERNERS COSMOCENTRIC (Tuesday through Feb. 5) Mr. Werner is a well-seasoned pianist who tempers fearsome technique with a kind of questing spiritualism; this aptly named ensemble consists of musicians with similar temperaments, like the trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, the saxophonist David Sanchez and the drummer Brian Blade. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592; cover, $30 at tables and a $5 minimum, or $20 at the bar and a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) * JOE WILDER QUARTET (Tuesday through Feb. 5) The trumpeter Joe Wilder, still playing well in his mid-80s, has had a wealth of professional experience both in and out of jazz. But he has only rarely led his own group in a New York club residency, which makes this quartet engagement -- with the pianist Michael Weiss, the bassist John Webber and the drummer Lewis Nash -- a sort of landmark event. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $20 to $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera AIDA (Thursday) The Metropolitan Operas exuberant production keeps blasting away, here with Andrea Gruber, Olga Borodina and Johan Botha. James Conlon conducts. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $175. (Bernard Holland) COLLEGIATE CHORALE (Monday) This company is eager to put itself on the map and keeps coming up with new ways to do it. Heres one: offer a couple of fine sopranos who seem underappreciated at the Met these days, Hei-Kyung Hong and Aprile Millo, in a Puccini one-acter (Le Villi) and the last act of that composers final masterpiece (Turandot) with a new ending by Luciano Berio. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $25 to $155. (Anne Midgette) COSÌ FAN TUTTE (Tomorrow) This is the ultimate ensemble opera and the Mets revival of its sunny and simple 1996 production this fall was an impressive effort from a young, attractive and gifted cast. Così has returned this month, with all but two members of that cast. The bright-voiced soprano Alexandra Deshorties takes the place of Barbara Frittoli as Fiordiligi. The engaging mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena again sings her sister, Dorabella. The lyric tenor Paul Groves, taking the place of Matthew Polenzani, and the robust baritone Mariusz Kwiecien (a star in the making) portray the young men who cruelly test the fidelity of the two sisters. 1:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $220 tickets remaining. (Anthony Tommasini) DEAD MAN WALKING (Tuesday) Jake Heggies opera is based on a true story by Sister Helen Prejean. She is a featured guest at the Trinity Institutes National Theological Conference this year, and Trinity Church is taking the opportunity to present scenes from the opera with the renowned mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, along with discussions with Sister Helen, Ms. von Stade and the composer. Owen Burdick leads the Trinity Church Choir. 8 p.m., Trinity Church, Broadway at Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 279-4200; $30 to $100. (Midgette) THE MERRY NIBELUNGS (Tomorrow and Sunday) This Oscar Straus operetta spoofing Wagners Ring is a famous sendup. More power to the Dicapo Opera for giving people a rare chance to hear it, albeit in concert performances by members of its young artist program. Tomorrow night at 8, Sunday afternoon at 4, Dicapo Opera Theater, 184 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 288-9438; $20; $10 for children. (Midgette) RIGOLETTO (Tomorrow and Wednesday) The soprano Anna Netrebko and the tenor Rolando Villazón, operas hottest vocal couple of late, bring star appeal and impressive artistry to the Mets 1989 Otto Schenk production. With her dusky-toned and exciting voice, Ms. Netrebko gives an unusually emotional portrayal of Gilda. Mr. Villazón brings an ardent voice, Verdian style and virile energy to the Duke of Mantua. Plácido Domingo, who knows a thing or two about the lead tenor role, conducts. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; sold out tomorrow; $26 to $175 on Wednesday. (Tommasini) DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (Tonight and Monday) Back after its winter break, the Metropolitan Opera was still working out the vacation kinks at its first production of Julie Taymors pageant of a Die Zauberflöte, and its cast of young Americans was not uniformly up to speed. No matter, evidently: the spectacle is undeniable, the performances will only get smoother as the run continues, and the production is popular enough to sell the house out. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; sold out, though returns may be available at the box office. (Midgette) Classical Music AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Sunday) Leon Botstein and his orchestra do another of their historical excavations, this time Schumanns oratorio Das Paradies und die Peri. 3 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $25 to $53. (Holland) BARGEMUSIC (Tonight, tomorrow, Sunday and Thursday) This floating concert hall on the Brooklyn side of the East River offers the intimacy that chamber music needs, as well as a wonderful view of Lower Manhattan through the bay windows behind stage. Tonight Patrycja Piekutowska, a violinist, and Jonathan Yates, a pianist, offer a program of contemporary Polish music, including works by Krzysztof Penderecki, Grazyna Bacewicz, Szymanowski and Lutoslawski. Tomorrow and Sunday, an expanded ensemble plays chamber works by Mozart, Françaix and Poulenc, and an arrangement of Strausss Till Eulenspiegel. And on Thursday, Olga Vinokur, a pianist, plays a hefty program of Schumann, Liszt, Brahms and Chopin. Tonight and tomorrow and Thursday nights at 7:30; Sunday at 4 p.m., Fulton Ferry Landing next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083; $35; $40 tomorrow and Sunday. (Allan Kozinn) BERLIN PHILHARMONIC (Tonight and tomorrow night) Eminent pianists in Mozart concertos are part of these second two Berlin Philharmonic concerts at Carnegie Hall. Sir Simon Rattle conducts. Tonight the soloist will be Alfred Brendel, tomorrow Emanuel Ax. Listen, too, for Thomas Adèss Asyla tomorrow. 8, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $58 to $195. (Holland) CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER (Tonight, Sunday and Tuesday) Having just taken the bold step of presenting a Ligeti mini-festival, the Chamber Music Society is backtracking quickly, offering three concerts of music we hear almost constantly, but dressing them up as a contribution to the global Mozart celebration. Tonight is piano music, with the Concerto No. 14, the Sonata in D for Two Pianos and the G-minor Piano Quartet. Tomorrows program -- the most appealing of the three -- includes the extraordinary Divertimento in E flat for string trio, as well as the Kegelstatt Clarinet Trio and the Violin Sonata in D. On Tuesday, the Orion String Quartet, with Michael Tree, the violist of the Guarneri Quartet, perform the Viola Quintets (K. 515 and 516) and the String Quartet in E flat. Tonight at 8, Sunday at 5 p.m., Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5788; $28 to $49. (Kozinn) CLAREMONT TRIO (Tonight) Looking for a way to create a legacy, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio established a trio competition, and its first winners are being presented in a concert tour as part of their reward. Formed at Juilliard, the Claremont offers a program that includes Beethovens Ghost Trio and works by Mendelssohn and Paul Schoenfield. 7:30, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $42. (Midgette) CUARTETO CASALS (Tomorrow and Sunday) In a stunning performance at the Frick Collection last February, this Spanish string quartet produced an appealingly tactile, tangy and remarkably precise sound. It is back for two concerts this weekend. Tomorrow, as part of the Peoples Symphony series, the group will perform Mozarts Quartets in B flat (K. 159) and F (K. 168), Weberns Five Movements for String Quartet and the Debussy Quartet. On Sunday, in the Schneider Concerts series, its program includes Mozarts Quartet in B flat (K. 172), Ligetis Quartet No. 1 and the Brahms Quartet in B flat. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Washington Irving High School, Irving Place at 16th Street, Manhattan, (212) 586-4680; $9. Sunday at 2 p.m., the New School, 66 West 12th Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 243-9937; $15; $5 for students. (Kozinn) FOCUS FESTIVAL (Tonight) To celebrate its centennial, the Juilliard School presents its 22nd annual free Focus Festival, directed by Joel Sachs, a faculty member and tireless champion of contemporary music. This years festival, New and Now, features many pieces commissioned for the schools big birthday from composers around the world. For this opening program, Mr. Sachs conducts the New Juilliard Ensemble, a crack contemporary music chamber group, in works by Akira Nishimura, Guus Janssen, Jia Daqun and Roberto Sierra. The festival continues next week with additional programs every night, starting on Monday. 8, Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Juilliard School, 155 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406; free, though tickets are required. (Tommasini) NATALIA GUTMAN (Tomorrow) This great Russian cellist won several important competitions in the late 1960s and became known to American audiences mainly through recordings. Her appearance, a hybrid recital and chamber program, begins with Bachs Suite No. 3 for unaccompanied cello and also includes the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata, Brahmss Piano Trio No. 3 and Shostakovichs Trio No. 2. 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $45 to $65. (Kozinn) HILLIARD ENSEMBLE (Sunday) This excellent all-male choir brings motets by Dufay and Josquin to the Music Before 1800 series, but the centerpiece of this program will be the Missa Media Vita in Morte Sumus by Nicolas Gombert, which the group just recorded for the ECM label. 4 p.m., Corpus Christi Church, 529 West 121st Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 666-9266; $25 to $40; $20 to $35 for students and 62+.(Jeremy Eichler) MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC ORCHESTRA (Tonight) Kurt Masur returned to the Manhattan School this week to lead his annual conducting seminar, and tonight, after many hours of master-class instruction, the students will show what theyve learned by leading Mozarts Symphony No. 40, Tchaikovskys Pathétique Symphony and Beethovens Leonore Overture No. 3. Mr. Masur will also take a turn at the podium. 8, Manhattan School of Music, Broadway at 122nd Street, Morningside Heights, (917) 493-4428; free, but tickets are required. (Eichler) MET ORCHESTRA (Sunday) The indomitable Anja Silja sings Schoenbergs Erwartung with James Levine and the Met players. 3 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $46 to $155. (Holland) MOZART GALA (Tonight) The last of three programs celebrating Mozarts 250th birthday takes place at the City University of New York Graduate Center, part of the universitys free and admirable Great Music for a Great City series. The program offers duos, a string quartet and the sublime Clarinet Quintet. The dynamic Shanghai String Quartet, fresh from an arresting performance of Ligetis challenging String Quartet No. 1 at Lincoln Center, will perform, along with the clarinetist Anthony McGill and the pianist Caroline Stoessinger. 7 p.m., 365 Fifth Avenue, at 34th Street, (212) 817-8215. (Tommasini) NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday) Its annual winter festival celebrates this years birthday boy, Mozart. This final concert explores his piano works, comparing a concert grand with the smaller sound of a fortepiano, played by Vladimir Feltsman, who also conducts. Tonight at 8, Richardson Auditorium, Princeton, N.J.; tomorrow night at 8, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark; Sunday afternoon at 3, State Theater, New Brunswick, N.J., (800) 255-3476; $20 to $75. (Midgette) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday) For Mozarts 250th birthday, the Philharmonic rolls out a mini-festival of all-Mozart programs. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Lorin Maazel leads the Symphonies Nos. 28 and 35, the Violin Concerto No. 4 and the Coronation Mass. Wednesday at 6:45 p.m., Jeffrey Kahane lends his services as soloist and conductor for two piano concertos (K. 453 and 466), repeating those works on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., with the addition of the Sinfonia Concertante, with the violist Rebecca Young and the violinist Michelle Kim. Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $26 to $94. (Eichler) ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKES (Thursday) Roberto Abbado leads Peter Serkin and the ensemble in the premiere of Charles Wuorinens Flying to Kahani, which includes a thematic segue into the next work, Mozarts Piano Concerto No. 24. Beethovens Second Symphony completes the program. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $21 to $74. (Eichler) TOKYO STRING QUARTET (Tomorrow) The Tokyo players are in residence at the 92nd Street Y and invite Sabine Meyer, a clarinetist, and Alexei Ogrintchouk, an oboist, to an all-Mozart program. 8 p.m., 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500; $40. (Holland) VOX VOCAL ENSEMBLE (Tomorrow) This finely polished choir, directed by George Steel, sings liturgical works by the English Renaissance composers Tomkins and Weelkes. 8 p.m., Riverside Church, Riverside Drive at 122nd Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799; $35. (Kozinn) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. CHARLOTTE ADAMS AND DANCERS (Tonight through Sunday) Ms. Adams, a choreographer who teaches dance at the University of Iowa, will present Blind Dogs Sing of Love, a suite of dances that explore the mysteries and misunderstandings of the human heart, to music and sounds ranging from Bach and Mexican love songs to the mating calls of frogs and toads. 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, between Houston and Prince Streets, (212) 334-7479; $15; $10 for students and 65+. (Jennifer Dunning) BALLET BIARRITZ (Tuesday through Thursday) Direct from sunny France, the company will perform Création, which sees the story of the creation of the world as a metaphor for the history of dance. Or vice versa. The choreographer is the company director, Thierry Malandain, who trained and performed with the Paris Opera Ballet and has won numerous European awards for his work. (Through Feb. 5.) 8 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800 or www.joyce.org; $40. (Dunning) COOL NEW YORK 2006 DANCE FESTIVAL (Tonight through Sunday and Thursday) Dance by 60 companies, at last count, will be presented in this ambitious 10-program festival, opening with a gala featuring groups including Momix, Jennifer Muller/The Works and the host troupe, White Wave Young Soon Kim Dance Company. (Through Feb. 5.) Tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night at 7 and 9; Sunday at 4 and 6 p.m., White Waves John Ryan Theater, 25 Jay Street, at John Street, Brooklyn Heights, (718) 855-8822 or www.whitewavedance.com; free, though donations are requested. (Dunning) DEBORAH HAY (Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday) The seminal Judson choreographer Deborah Hay has recruited five all-star downtown performers for her new dance, O, O. Dont miss it. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8:30, Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194 or www.danspaceproject.org; $15. (Claudia La Rocco) SARA EAST JOHNSON AND LAVA (Tonight through Sunday and Thursday) Ms. Johnsons award-winning, all-female company, LAVA, presents (w)HOLE (short for The Whole History of Life on Earth), its first new work since 2003. Using trapeze, Chinese acrobatics and swing dancing, among other things, the company tackles rock formation, punctuated equilibrium theory and magnetic polarity reversal with its usual strength and verve. (Through Feb. 19.) Tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night at 7; Sunday at 5 p.m.; Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101, www.TheaterMania.com; $20 to $25.(Erika Kinetz) GABRIELLE LANSNER & CO. (Tonight through Sunday, and Wednesday and Thursday) Those legs, that voice -- the diva Tina Turner is celebrated in River Deep, a new production combining dance, live music and spoken word. Tonight and Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8; tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.; the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200; $22 to $34. (La Rocco) DANIEL LINEHAN AND MIRIAM WOLF (Tomorrow and Sunday) Mr. Linehan, who danced with Wil Swanson, and Ms. Wolf, who danced with Juliette Mapp, will present Squeeze Machine, a program of dances that explore the societal pressures that lead to careless decisions. 8 p.m., Triskelion Arts, 118 North 11th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 909-5322; $8 and $15. (Dunning) MEZCLADO MOVEMENT GROUP (Tonight through Sunday) Alysia Ramos blends dance and folkloric elements to evoke a collective human history in her new dance theater piece, Tales From the Crossroads, in a shared program with Biggs & Companys Awkward Sister. Tonight at 9, tomorrow and Sunday at 8 p.m., Merce Cunningham Studio, 55 Bethune Street, at Washington Street, West Village, (646) 942-8729 or www.mezclado.org; $12. (Dunning) * NEW YORK CITY BALLET (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) A week of conventional City Ballet mixed-repertory programs. The Balanchine-Robbins Firebird is scattered throughout the week, as is the revival of Robbinss Mother Goose. Christopher Wheeldons new Klavier can be seen tomorrow night. There are all-Balanchine programs tonight and Wednesday. Tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night at 8; tomorrow afternoon 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 www.nycballet.com; $30 to $86. (John Rockwell) JENNIFER NUGENT AND PAUL MATTESON (Thursday through Feb. 5) These two award-winning alumni of David Dorfman Dance continue their collaboration with an evening-length duet, Fare Well. 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194 or www.danspaceproject.org; $15. (Kinetz) PERIDANCE ENSEMBLE (Tonight through Sunday) Celebrating its 21st anniversary -- well, why not? -- this studio group will present new and signature dances by Igal Perry, with casts led by the guest artists José Manuel Carreño (tonight) and Elizabeth Parkinson (all performances). Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 3 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 5 p.m., Gerald Lynch Theater, John Jay College, 899 10th Avenue, at 58th Street, Clinton, (212) 505-0886 or www.ticketcentral.com; $35; students, $25; Sunday, $50 and $35 (a benefit for Dancers Responding to AIDS). (Dunning) SHAPIRO & SMITH (Tonight through Sunday) Taking a page from Twyla Tharps Movin Out, Shapiro & Smith mixes contemporary dance with Bruce Springsteens music to tell the story of three families in Anytown. Tonight at 8; tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.; Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800; $38. (La Rocco) SWEAT MODERN DANCE SERIES (Tonight and tomorrow) Six modern-dance companies, chosen by Chris Ferris, will participate, including Karl Anderson/Slamfest and Arthur Aviles Typical Theater. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Stevens Institute of Technology, DeBaun Auditorium, Fifth and Hudson Streets, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 216-8937 or www.debaun.org; $10; $7 for students and 65+. (Dunning) TANGO, HISTORIAS BREVES: GUILLERMINA QUIROGA (Tonight and tomorrow night) Ms. Quiroga, whose credits include Tango x2, Forever Tango and Tango Argentino, uses tango to explore mysteries both divine and human. 8, Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 La Guardia Place, at Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, (212) 992-8484 or www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu; $35 to $45. (Kinetz) TROIKA RANCH (Tonight and tomorrow night) This high-technology dance and video company will perform its new 16 [R]evolutions. Go early and play with the technology. 8, Eyebeam Art and Technology Center, 540 West 21st Street, Chelsea, (718) 218-6775 or www.troikaranch.org; $20. (Dunning) JEREMY WADE (Wednesday through Feb. 4) Mr. Wade presents Glory, a naked duet about prostration, and a new solo, Fiction. 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077 or www.dtw.org; $12 to $20. (Kinetz) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums * AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: SURFACE ATTRACTION: PAINTED FURNITURE FROM THE COLLECTION, through March 26. The remarkable images, abstract patterns and floral motifs that flutter across the 30 or so tables, chairs, cabinets and blanket chests in this beautiful, convention-stretching show confirm that from the late 1600s to the late 1800s, quite a bit of American painting talent and ambition was channeled into the decoration of everyday wood objects. The combination of imagination and utility, of economic means and lush effects, defines the human desire for beauty as hardwired. 45 West 53rd Street, (212) 265-1040. (Roberta Smith) * Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum: FASHION IN COLORS, through March 26. Drawn from the collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute in Japan, this sumptuous show arranges 68 often lavish Western gowns and ensembles according to the colors of the spectrum and reinforces their progress with a posh color-coordinated installation design. For an experience of color as color, it is hard to beat, but it also says a great deal about clothing, visual perception and beauty. 2 East 91st Street, (212) 849-8400.(Smith) International Center of Photography: Che!: Revolution and Icon, through Feb. 26. This is, in a sense, a one-image show, the image being Alberto Kordas famous 1960 head shot of Che (Ernesto Guevara), taken in Cuba. But the theme is the transformation that the portrait has undergone in the passage of 46 years, as Ches soulful likeness has migrated from political posters to album covers, T-shirts, paper currency, vodka ads and gallery art. 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, (212) 857-0045. (Holland Cotter) JEWISH MUSEUM: SARAH BERNHARDT: THE ART OF HIGH DRAMA, through April 2. This exhibition is devoted to the flamboyant 19th-century actress whose name was once invoked by mothers as a warning to melodramatic daughters: Who do you think you are, Sarah Bernhardt? Its almost overstuffed roster of items includes original Félix Nadar photos of Bernhardt at 20 and the human skull presented to her by Victor Hugo, the costumes she wore as Cleopatra and Joan of Arc., her own accomplished sculptures and relics of lovers and American tours. 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, (212) 423-3200. (Edward Rothstein) Metropolitan Museum of Art: Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt, through May 7. Egypt was no picnic 5,000 years ago. The average lifespan was about 40 years. Wild animals were ever present. Childbirth was perilous. Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness was a shot in the dark. Doctors were priests. Medicine was a blend of science, religion and art. The 65 objects in this beautiful show functioned as all three. Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212) 535-7710. (Cotter) * MET: ANTONELLO DA MESSINA, through March 5. This small, focused show presents the work of a Sicilian master (about 1430-1479) regarded as the greatest painter to emerge from southern Italy in the 15th century. His signature work, shown here, is The Virgin Annunciate (about 1475-76), depicting Mary as a young Sicilian girl at the moment of the Annunciation, when she is told by the angel Gabriel that she will bear Jesus. The genius of the work lies in the way a traditional icon has been imbued with the life force of a flesh-and-blood human being. (See above.) (Grace Glueck) * MET: Robert Rauschenberg: Combines, through April 2. Big and handsome almost to a fault. Theres something weird about seeing once joyfully rude and over-the-top contraptions from the 1950s and 60s lined up like choirboys in church, with their ties askew and shirttails out. But even enshrined, the combines still manage to seem incredibly fresh and odd, almost otherworldly. I thought of a medieval treasury -- all the rich colors and lights and intricate details. The most beautiful tend to be the early ones: large but delicate, with a subtle, fugitive emotional pitch. (See above.) (Michael Kimmelman) Museum of Modern Art: PIXAR: 20 YEARS OF ANIMATION, through Feb. 6. With more than 500 drawings, collages, storyboards and sculptured models by 80 artists; numerous projections; and a mesmerizing three-dimensional zoetrope, this exhibition offers a detailed glimpse of the creative and technological processes behind such computer-animation wonders as Toy Story, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. In the end, nothing has as much art or magic as these films themselves, but the concentrated effort and expertise that go into them is nonetheless something of a wonder, too. 11 West 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400. (Smith) EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO: THE (S) FILES/THE SELECTED FILES 05, through Jan. 29. The definition of what Latino art means is changing in a post-identity-politics time, and this modest biennial, drawn mostly from unsolicited proposals submitted by artists in the greater New York area, is an indicator of what that change looks like. 1230 Fifth Avenue, at 104th Street, (212) 831-7272. (Cotter) ONASSIS CULTURAL CENTER: FROM BYZANTIUM TO MODERN GREECE: HELLENIC ART IN ADVERSITY, 1453-1830, through May 6. This show is a busy, ambitious hodgepodge that sets out to present all aspects of the visual art in Greece during this period. The range spans wonderful early paintings and icons, like a panel by the youthful El Greco; examples of domestic crafts practiced by Greek women; jewelry and church ornaments; and maps and charts. 645 Fifth Avenue, at 52nd Street, (212) 486-4448. (Glueck) * P.S. 1: Peter Hujar, through March 6. When Peter Hujar died in 1987, he was a figure of acute interest to a small group of fans, and unknown to practically everyone else. His photographs of desiccated corpses in Sicilian catacombs and studio portraits of New Yorks downtown demimonde were a gorgeous shock, and their cocktail of Nadar, Weegee and Vogue shaped the work of many younger artists. This surveyish sampling includes several of his recurrent themes: portraits of people and animals, landscapes, still lifes and erotica. Sensuality and mortality are the binders throughout, inseparable. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Street, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 784-2084. (Cotter) The Noguchi Museum: The Imagery of Chess Revisited, through April 16. In 1944, the artists Max Ernst and Marcel Duchamp and the gallery director Julien Levy organized an attention-getting New York exhibition devoted to chess, once a chic pastime for members of the artistic intelligentsia. Organizers of this historically intriguing show managed to find most of the works that were in the original exhibition, including chess sets designed by the artists Isamu Noguchi, Alexander Calder and Man Ray, and artworks in various media relating to chess by Dorothea Tanning, Alberto Giacometti and John Cage, whose chessboard incorporates musical notation for a piano composition that you can hear on headphones. 9-01 33rd Road, at Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 204-7088. (Ken Johnson) * Studio Museum in Harlem: FREQUENCY, through March 12. Despite some marked unevenness, this display of new and recently emerged talent confirms the current vitality of black art, contemporary art and midsize New York museums. Names to look out for include Kalup Linzy, Leslie Hewitt, Jeff Sonhouse, Shinique Amie Smith, Demetrius Oliver, Michael Paul Britto, Nick Cave, Mickalene Thomas and Michael Queenland, but dont stop there. 144 West 125th Street, (212) 864-4500. (Smith) Whitney Museum of American Art: Raymond Pettibon, through Feb. 19. If you are unfamiliar with the influential Mr. Pettibons emotionally resonant mix of noirish cartooning and enigmatic literary verbiage, this show of works on paper and, for the first time, a low-tech animated video, serves as a good introduction. 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (800) 944-8639. through Feb. 19.(Johnson) * Whitney Museum of American Art: THE ART OF RICHARD TUTTLE, through Feb. 5. For 40 years Richard Tuttle has murmured the ecstasies of paying close attention to the worlds infinitude of tender incidents, making oddball assemblages of prosaic ephemera, which, at first glance, belie their intense deliberation and rather monumental ambition. Out of cord, tin, Styrofoam, florists wire and bubble wrap he has devised objects whose status is not quite sculpture or drawing or painting but some combination of the three, and whose exquisiteness is akin to that of jewelry. His outstanding retrospective is a cross between a kindergarten playroom and a medieval treasury. (See above). (Kimmelman) Galleries: Uptown The Hudson River School at the New-York Historical Society: Nature and the American Vision By the mid-19th century, the United States was a trans-Atlantic political power in search of a cultural profile. Hudson River School landscape painting was the answer: it presented America as the un-Europe. Europe had its Romantic ruins; America had its ultra-Romantic wilderness. Europe had antique; America had primeval. Europe told time in centuries; America told time in eons. Its all here to see in this display of a venerable local institutions permanent collection. New-York Historical Society, 2 West 77th Street, (212) 873-3400, through Feb. 19. (Cotter) Galleries: 57th Street * Constructing Realities See this conceptually ambitious exhibition for Andy Warhols amazing, rarely seen 1965 film of an 83-year-old performer named Paul Swan who dances and recites poetry in exotic, Middle Eastern-style costumes with wonderfully un-self-conscious verve. A one-act play on video by Mike Kelley; videos transmitted from cell-phones for a project by Robert Whitman; a multiscreen video portrait of a man by Gary Hill; Stan Douglass well-known film Der Sandemann; and a selection of classic Diane Arbus photographs round out the show. PaceWildenstein, 32 East 57th Street, (212) 421-3293, through Feb. 4. (Johnson) * Maria Elena González This excellent two-gallery show plays with the forms of Roman Catholic religious imagery and reliquaries that Ms. González encountered during a yearlong stay in Rome, but translates both into highly personal post-Minimalist forms. The symbols of martyrdom at the Project become emblems of power; the clouded architectural sculptures at Knoedler look like reliquaries within reliquaries, which is one way to speak of the relationship of memory to art. The Project, 37 West 57th Street, third floor, (212) 688-1585, through Feb. 17, and Knoedler & Company, 19 East 70th Street, (212) 794-0550, through March 4. (Cotter) Galleries: Chelsea Jóhannes Atli Hinriksson: Mutiny This young artist from Iceland makes intermittently funny, tedious, visually gripping and absurdly violent horror videos using small, clumsily cobbled-together puppets and sets. Featuring much spurting fake blood and other liquids, they could be the works of Napoleon Dynamites demented cousin. Haswellediger, 465 West 23rd Street, (212) 206-8955, through Feb. 4. (Johnson) * Warren Isensee Could this be Mr. Isensees breakout show? His glowing grid, striped and concentric rectangle paintings play adroitly with conventions of Modernist abstraction and are almost hallucinogenically beautiful. Danese, 535 West 24th Street, (212) 223-2227, through Feb. 11. (Johnson) Florian Maier-Aichen A German photographer who lives part of the time in Los Angeles and will appear in this years Whitney Biennial, Mr. Maier-Aichen makes large landscapes in which the convergence of natural imagery and photographic and digital technologies confounds the supposed transparency of photography. His ideas are not new, but the best pictures, including distant nighttime views of Los Angeles and a red-toned aerial picture of mountains, are sumptuous and subtly surrealistic. 303 Gallery, 525 West 22nd Street, (212) 255-1121, through Feb. 25. (Johnson) Tim Roda A Boschian madness seems to have descended upon the young family of three featured in grainy, low-tech black-and-white photographs staged by the father, 28 year-old Mr. Roda, in old barns and dank industrial spaces. Grotesque prosthetic limbs, Freudian visual puns, foolish ceremonies, cross-dressing and moods of dour absurdity and cosmic mystery recur in these comical and creepy, dreamlike tableaus. Gasser & Grunert, 524 West 19th Street, (212) 807-9494, through Feb. 4. (Johnson) Stuart Rome This landscape photographer points his camera into the woods and comes up with subtly pantheistic pictures of extraordinary lucidity and absorbing complexity. Sepia, 148 West 24th Street, (212) 645-9444, through Feb. 11. (Johnson) Galleries: SoHo Kim Levin: Notes and Itineraries, 1976 - 2004 The longtime art critic for The Village Voice is the subject of a fascinating retrospective that views her career, as well as the history of the New York art scene, through the lens of ephemera that she has accumulated over the past 25 years, including postcard announcements, news releases and handwritten exhibition lists. Ronald Feldman, 31 Mercer Street, (212) 226-3232, through Feb. 4. (Johnson) Other Galleries * THE DOWNTOWN SHOW: THE NEW YORK ART SCENE, 1974-1984 The real down-and-dirty Downtown art scene, when the East Village bloomed, punk and new wave rock assailed the ears, graffiti spread like kudzu, and heroin, along with extreme style, raged, is the subject of this wild and woolly show. Its a humongous time warp of more than 450 paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, videos, posters, ephemera and things in between by artists, writers, performers, musicians and maestros of mixed media, from a photograph of the transvestite Candy Darling as she posed on her death bed to a small, painted sculpture made of elephant dung by David Hammons. With so many clashing ideologies, points of view and attitudes toward art-making, this no-holds-barred hodgepodge generates the buzz and stridency of, say, Canal Street on payday. New York University, Grey Art Gallery, 100 Washington Square East, (212) 998-6780; and Fales Library, 70 Washington Square South, (212) 988-2596, Greenwich Village; through April 1. (Glueck) Brian DEwan and Leon DEwan: Dewanatron Electronic musicians, eccentric inventors, sculptors and cousins, the Dewans create electronic sound-making machines housed in wall-mounted wooden containers that look like props for old sci-fi movies, or creations of a domestic hobbyist. Pierogi, 177 North Ninth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-2144, through Jan 31. (Johnson) * Anya Gallaccio: One Art The viscerally poetic single work occupying Sculpture Centers spacious main gallery is a 50-foot-tall weeping cherry tree that was cut up and reassembled in the gallery, where it is held in place by steel cables and bolts. Sculpture Center, 44-19 Purves Street, at Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 361-1750, through April 3. (Johnson) Humanitarians Not Heroes (Five-Alive) This show presents offbeat promotional objects designed by various artists and issued by the exhibitions curator, the conceptualist Trong G. Nguyen, under the aegis of his own five-year-old organization called Humanitarians Not Heroes. They include Sound Capsule, a CD not to be played until a certain date in the future; T-shirts printed with birth and death dates of unspecified people; and fortune cookies containing sayings of George W. Bush. Tenri Cultural Institute, 43A West 13th Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 645-2800, through Thursday.(Johnson) Zoo Story A clay gorilla by Daisy Youngblood, a bronze she-wolf by Kiki Smith, a flock of concrete sheep by Françoise-Xavier Lalanne and works about animals by more than 20 other artists, including John Baldessari, Katharina Fritsch, Ross Bleckner and Rebecca Horn, turn the first floor of this sleek, three-story private museum into a diverting menagerie. Fisher Landau Center for Art, 38-27 30th Street, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 937-0727, through June 12. (Johnson) Last Chance OSCAR BLUEMNER Known for his soulful, jewel-colored Cubist pictures of houses in semirural locales, Bluemner remains one of the most appealing of the American Modernists active between World Wars I and II. Barbara Mathes, 22 East 80th Street, Manhattan, (212) 570-4190; closes tomorrow. (Johnson) * ROY DE FOREST: NEW PAINTINGS At 75, this underappreciated West Coast artist, a sort of Neo-Expressionist before the fact, brings a new vehemence of color and texture, amplified by clearer compositions, to his comic-sinister universe of bright-eyed, zoned-out men and animals. George Adams, 525 West 26th Street, (212) 564-8480, closes tomorrowthrough Jan. 28. (Smith) Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock: Dialogue It may be that Pollock could not have done what he did without the support of his wife, Lee Krasner, but he was nevertheless the better artist by far, as this revealing show of works from all phases of both their careers proves. Robert Miller, 524 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 366-4774; closes tomorrow. (Johnson) * Met: FRA ANGELICO, 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; closes Sunday. (Smith) * Guillaume Pinard: expresso Surrealistic, darkly comical black ball-point pen drawings evoke a childlike mind under the influence of Gumby, the Muppets and Japanese anime, and an animated video follows the adventures of two eyeballs with arms and legs through shape-shifting landscapes. Team, 527 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 279-9219; closes tomorrow. (Johnson) * JAMES SIENA: NEW PAINTINGS AND GOUACHES Mr. Siena continues to push at paintings envelope by turning inward and working small, creating enamel-on-aluminum fields of synaptic, thin-skinned circuitry not much larger than the viewers face, or Mr. Sienas own fevered brain. His latest efforts both diversify and perfect his slightly crazed, usually colorful linear patterns, forging links to traditions, disciplines and cultures far beyond Western painting. PaceWildenstein, 534 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212) 929-7000; closes tomorrow. (Smith)

Mommy, help me!: 7 kids dead after hot plate ignites NYC blaze

Nigro called it ���the largest tragedy by fire that this city has had in seven years,��� a reference to a 2007 Bronx house fire, in which there were no working smoke detectors, that left nine children from two families dead. Firefighters. ���To find a.

Books for Vacation Reading

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 EDT

New York Fire Department: 7 children die as fire rages through Brooklyn residence. NEW YORK (AP) ��� Fire tore through a Brooklyn residence early Saturday, killing seven children and leaving two other people in critical condition, authorities said. The.

7 Children Die in Brooklyn Fire ��� New York Times | Sports.

New York Times �� 7 Children Die in Brooklyn Fire New York Times Seven children from an Orthodox Jewish family died early Saturday when a fire ripped through their home in Brooklyn, trapping the children ��� ages 5 to 15��.

THE LISTINGS: FEB. 3-FEB. 9

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 CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY Opens Sunday. Not many people can claim to be both a gay New York escort and a straight Utah Mormon in the same lifetime. Steven Fales tells his unusual life story (1:30). SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, between Avenue of the Americas and Varick Street; (212) 691-1555. KISMET Performances start Thursday. Closes Feb. 12. Encores! 2006 season begins with this 1953 musical set in a mythical Baghdad and featuring a score adapted from the melodies of Alexander Borodin (2:00). City Center, 131 West 55th Street; (212) 581-1212. RED LIGHT WINTER Opens Thursday. Throw two men, a prostitute and one Amsterdam evening into an Adam Rapp drama, and you may well have some trouble. Variety calls it Mr. Rapps most commercial outing (2:25). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, West Village; (212) 239-6200. THE RIGHT KIND OF PEOPLE Opens Thursday. A grumpy Charles Grodin delves into the dark, mysterious world of Manhattan co-op boards in this Primary Stages comedy (1:30). 59E59, 59 East 59th Street; (212) 279-4200. BAREFOOT IN THE PARK Opens Feb. 16. Patrick Wilson and Amanda Peet star in Neil Simons classic romantic comedy about New York newlyweds (2:20). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street; (212) 239-6200. CLEAN ALTERNATIVES Previews start Thursday. Opens Feb. 15. A comedy by Brian Dykstra about a woman who must choose between taking a check or saving the environment. Or doing both (2:00). 59E59 Theaters , 59 East 59th Street; (212) 279-4200. DEFIANCE Previews start Thursday. Opens Feb. 28. Set on a Marine Corps base during the 1970s, John Patrick Shanleys new play, his first since Doubt, revolves around an explosive incident between an African-American marine and a white one. Doug Hughes directs (1:30). Manhattan Theater Club, Theater 1, 131 West 55th Street; (212) 581-1212. FANNY HILL Opens Feb. 14. A musical based on the 18th-century novel about a country girl who moves to London to become a prostitute (2:00). York Theater, at St. Peters Lutheran Church, 619 Lexington Avenue, at East 54th Street; (212) 868-4444. I LOVE YOU BECAUSE Opens Feb. 14. Mr. Darcy becomes Marcy in this gender-switching musical retelling of Pride and Prejudice, which stars Stephane DAbruzzo from Avenue Q (2:00). Village Theater, 158 Bleecker Street, near Sullivan Street, East Village; (212) 307-4100. INDOOR/OUTDOOR Opens Feb. 22. The playwright Kenny Finkle aims for the cat lover demographic in this relationship comedy about a computer programmer and his chatty feline companion (1:50). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, Flatiron district; (212) 239-6200. JUMP/CUT Opens Feb. 12. Neena Bebers cinematic, dry play about the love triangle of two aspiring filmmakers and a manic-depressive was a hit in Washington. Leigh Silverman directs (2:10). Julia Miles Theater, 424 West 55th Street, Clinton; (212) 239-6200. THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE Previews start Wednesday. Opens Feb. 27. Dead pets, severed limbs, black Irish humor -- Martin McDonagh (Pillowman) is up to his old tricks in this devilish comedy about terrorism and torture (1:45). Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea; (212) 239-6200. THE PAJAMA GAME Opens Feb. 23. Labor unrest leads to romance in this classic musical about a manager and a union representative at a pajama factory. Harry Connick Jr. stars, and Kathleen Marshall directs (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street; (212) 719-1300. RING OF FIRE Previews start Wednesday. Opens March 12. Johnny Cash hits form the backbone of this musical about three couples. So far, its received surprisingly good buzz. Richard Maltby Jr. directs (2:00). Ethel Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street; (212) 239-6200. THE SEVEN Opens Feb. 12. The hip-hop theater pioneer Will Powers large-cast adaptation of Aeschylus Seven Against Thebes. Jo Bonney directs (2:00). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 239-6200. SOLDIERS WIFE Previews start Tuesday. Opens Feb. 23. The Mint Theater revives another forgotten drama, Rose Frankens romantic comedy from the 1940s set against the backdrop of World War II (2:00). Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton; (212) 315-0231. THE WOODEN BREEKS Opens Feb. 15. MCC Theater presents Glen Bergers gothic fairy tale set in the fictitious Scottish town of Brood (2:00). Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, West Village; (212) 279-4200. Broadway * 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. (Charles Isherwood) CHITA RIVERA: THE DANCERS LIFE At 72, Ms. Rivera still has the voice, the attitude and -- oh, yes -- the legs to magnetize all eyes in an audience. If the singing scrapbook of a show that surrounds her is less than electric, there is no denying the electricity of the woman at its center (2:00). Schoenfeld Theater, 236 West 45th Street; (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley) 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 Prizewinning 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. (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 Jonathan Pryce 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 (Eileen Atkins), the head of a parochial school, and Father Flynn (Ron Eldard), 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 Theater, 219 West 48th Street; (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) 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 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 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. 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) * 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 WOMAN IN WHITE Bravely flouting centuries of accepted scientific theory, the creators of this adaptation of Wilkie Collinss spine tingler have set out to prove that the world is flat, after all. This latest offering from Andrew Lloyd Webber, directed by Trevor Nunn, seems to exist entirely in two dimensions, from its computer-generated backdrops to its decorative chess-piece-like characters (2:50). Judy Kuhn replaces Maria Friedman from Feb. 14 through March 26. Marquis Theater, 211 West 45th Street; (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Off Broadway * ABIGAILS PARTY Scott Elliotts thoroughly delectable production of Mike Leighs 1977 comedy about domestic discord among the British middle classes. Jennifer Jason Leigh leads a superb ensemble cast as a party hostess who wields the gin bottle like a deadly weapon, resulting in an evening of savagely funny chaos (2:15). Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton; (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) * 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) ALMOST, MAINE John Carianis comedy comprises almost a dozen two-character vignettes exploring the sudden thunderclap of love and the scorched earth that sometimes follows. It will evoke either awwws or icks, depending on your affection for its whimsical approach to the joys and perils of romance (2:00). Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, Flatiron district; (212) 239-6200.(Isherwood) BEAUTY OF THE FATHER A crisp outline of the Pulitzer Prizewinner Nilo Cruzs new play suggests the crazy-quilt melodramas of early Almodóvar: Father and daughter are attracted to the same sexy bad boy, igniting all manner of emotional fireworks. But Mr. Cruzs reflective, unhurried pace and his meandering, lyrical dialogue allow his fuses to burn a little too long, resulting in more fizzle than flash (2:10). Manhattan Theater Club, at City Center, Stage II, 131 West 55th Street; (212) 581-1212. (Isherwood) 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) CANDIDA The two men -- David Tillistrand as Candidas husband, and Danaher Dempsey as the sniveling poet who falls under her spell -- arent strong enough to make this a great Candida, but Shaws insights still shine a century after he wrote the play, and the director, Michael Halberstam, manages to draw some good laughs in the third act (1:55). Jean Cocteau Repertory, at the Bouwerie Lane Theater, 330 Bowery Lane, at Bond Street, East Village; (212) 279-4200. (Neil Genzlinger) DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD The Peanuts characters grow up, do drugs and have sex in this dark, disposable parody. Good grief (1:30). Century Center for the Performing Arts, 111 East 15th Street, Flatiron district; (212) 239-6200. (Zinoman) 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. 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). Dodger 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) FUNNYHOUSE OF A NEGRO Adrienne Kennedys one-act nightmare from 1964, about a young black woman obsessed with whiteness, is still innovative theater, but it also plays as a period piece, making it doubly interesting (50 minutes). Harlem School of the Arts, 645 St. Nicholas Avenue, near 141st Street, Hamilton Heights; (212) 868-4444. (Genzlinger) HECUBA At an intermissionless 90 minutes, this rendition of Euripides tragedy is fairly painless -- though thats not necessarily a good thing (1:30). Pearl Theater Company, at Theater 80, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village; (212) 598-9802. (Genzlinger) 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) * IN THE CONTINUUM Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter are both the authors and the performers of this smart, spirited and disarmingly funny show about two women: one a middle-class mother in Zimbabwe, the other a 19-year-old at loose ends in Los Angeles whose lives are upended by HIV diagnoses. Emphatically not a downer (1:30). Perry Street Theater, 31 Perry Street, Greenwich Village; (212) 868-4444. (Isherwood) * THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED Lean, mean and about as deep as a shot glass, Diane the Hollywood agent is just the tonic New York theatergoers need in the depths of an urban winter. Played by Julie White in an irresistible adrenaline rush of a performance, Diane is the arch-manipulator in Douglas Carter Beanes tangy fable of fame and its discontents, directed by Scott Ellis. With Neal Huff as a closeted Hollywood star, and Johnny Galecki as the rent boy who loves him (2:10). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton; (212) 246-4422. (Brantley) LOVELY DAY Tiresome evening (1:15). Beckett Theater, Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton; (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) * MRS. WARRENS PROFESSION An absolutely splendid Dana Ivey takes the title role in Charlotte Moores sensitively acted production of Bernard Shaws famously provocative play, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary on the New York stage this year (2:20). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea; (212) 727-2737. (Isherwood) RFK This solo show written and starring Jack Holmes is a reasonably accurate historical portrait, but the performance, unfortunately, lacks the charisma and charm that made the real Bobby Kennedy a star (1:35). Culture Project @ 45 Bleecker, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village; (212) 253-9983. (Jonathan Kalb) * THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL Led by Lois Smith in a heart-wrenching performance, the cast never strikes a false note in Harris Yulins beautifully mounted revival of Horton Footes drama, finding an emotional authenticity in a work largely remembered as a tear-jerking chestnut. This is not to say you should neglect to bring handkerchiefs (1:50). Signature Theater, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton; (212) 244-7529. (Brantley) Off Off Broadway * APARTMENT 3A Jeff Danielss romance about a woman who lost her faith is written with wit, conviction and a real affection for its characters (1:30). Arclight Theater, 152 West 71st Street; (212) 352-0255. (Zinoman) 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) * MAJOR BANG OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE DIRTY BOMB This disarming exercise in political cabaret demonstrates that laughter in the dark need not be desperate. Written by Kirk Lynn, this multilevel, multiform tale of nuclear anxiety resurrects the sane, inquisitive satiric spirit of the early 1960s, a time when irony was a strategic tool instead of a conditioned reflex. Paul Lazar directs Steve Cuiffo and Maggie Hoffman in a multitude of roles (1:10). St. Anns Warehouse, 38 Water Street, at Dock Street, Brooklyn; (718) 254-8779. (Brantley) SAFETY A cynical, contrived portrayal of the life of a war photographer that attacks its subject with a heavy hand (1:25). Urban Stages, 259 West 30th Street; (212) 868-4444. (Zinoman). * ZOMBOID! (FILM/PERFORMANCe PROJECT #1) O, the heresy of it! Richard Foreman has introduced film into the realm of exquisitely artificial, abstract theater in which he has specialized for four decades. As it turns out, juxtaposing two art forms allows Mr. Foreman to underscore in resonant new ways what he has been saying for years: reality is, well, relative. And he continues to work in a style guaranteed to infect your perceptions for hours after (1:15). Ontological-Hysteric Theater, 131 East 10th Street, East Village; (212) 352-3101. (Brantley) 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) 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) 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) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street; (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance HARVEST Manjula Padmanabhans sci-fi parable is a dark fantasy about a high-tech racket in body organs -- a cross between the 2002 thriller Dirty Pretty Things and an episode of The Twilight Zone. Based in Delhi, India, Ms. Padmanabhan wrote the play in 1996; this is its New York premiere (1:25). La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 475-7710; closing Sunday. (Phoebe Hoban) * (I AM) NOBODYS LUNCH The elusive nature of truth in a culture swamped with stuff that looks, sounds and smells like information -- but may be something a little more suspicious -- is the serious subject of this merrily unserious, vaudevillian romp through the anxious chatter of contemporary America. Snappy, scrappy and performed with a youthful blend of earnestness and deadpan razzmatazz by the buzzed-about downtown troupe the Civilians (1:30). 59E59, 59 East 59th Street; (212) 279-4200; closing Sunday. (Isherwood) 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. ANNAPOLIS (PG-13, 108 minutes) Annapolis is so gung-ho about the United States Naval Academys ability to turn boys into fighting men and rebels into scrappy team players that it could easily be confused with a military recruiting film. (Stephen Holden) BIG MOMMAS HOUSE 2 (PG-13, 98 minutes) Martin Lawrence is back in fat-lady drag in this inconsequential sequel for undemanding moviegoers. Mr. Lawrence makes the most of the incongruity of a manly F.B.I. agent posing as a nanny in floral-print dresses, but the humor doesnt go much beyond oversize underwear and a tequila-drinking dog. (Anita Gates) * BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (R, 134 minutes) Annie Proulxs heartbreaking story of two ranch hands who fall in love while herding sheep in 1963 has been faithfully translated onto the screen in Ang Lees landmark film. Heath Ledger (in a great performance worthy of Brando at his peak) and Jake Gyllenhaal bring them fully alive. (Holden) * BUBBLE (R, 72 minutes) A rigorously minimalist story about three factory workers, all played by nonprofessionals, whose placid existence is shattered after two in the little group become romantically linked. Violence liberates the three from the bubble of their existence, much as creative experimentation has periodically liberated the movies director, Steven Soderbergh, from the prison of commercial mainstream filmmaking. (Manohla Dargis) * CACHÉ (HIDDEN) (R, 121 minutes, in French) Michael Haneke, one of the most elegantly sadistic European directors working today, deposits his audience at the intersection of voyeurism and paranoia in this tense, politically tinged psychological thriller about vengeance and injustice. Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil are in top form as an affluent Parisian couple menaced by mysterious drawings and videotapes. (A. O. Scott) * CASANOVA (R, 110 minutes) Heath Ledger affirms his status as the pansexual art-house heartthrob of the moment in this high-spirited farce suggested by the career of 18th-century Venices most notorious seducer. Silly, sly and delightful. (Scott) END OF THE SPEAR (PG-13, 112 minutes) This fact-based story of conflict and resolution between a primitive warrior tribe in Ecuador and North American missionaries in the mid-1950s is inspiring enough to make you wish that the sentimental excesses of this Kiplingesque tale had been reined in. (Holden) GLORY ROAD (PG, 109 minutes) The true story, more or less, of the 1966 Texas Western College basketball team -- the first all-black starting five to play in an N.C.A.A. final. By the numbers, but inspiring all the same. (Scott) * 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 a history lesson and a passionate essay on power, responsibility and the ethics of journalism. (Scott) * HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (PG-13, 150 minutes) Childhood ends for the young wizard with the zigzag scar in the latest addition to the Potter saga, even as the director Mike Newell keeps its British eccentricity, fatalism and steady-on pluck irresistibly intact. (Dargis) HOODWINKED (PG, 81 minutes) Little Red Riding Hood is deconstructed in this sub-Shrek bummer, the latest collaboration between computers and cynicism. (Nathan Lee) HOSTEL (R, 95 minutes) Two ugly Americans rampage through Europe before finding themselves ensnared in an underground Slovakian snuff club. The calculated outrages of this brutal exploitation film prove less shocking than its relentless bigotry. (Lee) IMAGINE ME & YOU (R, 93 minutes) A bland romance from the British writer and director Ol Parker about a woman (Piper Perabo) whos fast-tracking down the straight and narrow when the florist-next-door (Lena Headey) throws up a roadblock. (Dargis) * KING KONG (PG-13, 180 minutes) Peter Jacksons remake is, almost by definition, too much -- too long, too big, too stuffed with characters and effects-driven set pieces -- but it is also remarkably nimble and sweet. Going back to the Depression-era setting of the 1933 original, Mr. Jacksons film is as much a tribute to the old seat-of-the-pants spirit of early motion pictures as it is an exercise in technological bravura. Naomi Watts as the would-be movie star Ann Darrow and Andy Serkis as the big monkey who loves her have a rapport that gives the spectacle the pathos and sweetness it needs, and help to turn a brute spectacle into a pop tragedy. (Scott) LA PETITE JERUSALEM (No rating, 96 minutes, in French and Hebrew) In her sensitive but overly schematic debut feature, the filmmaker Karin Albou reflects on the lives of two women living in an Orthodox Jewish enclave in a Parisian banlieue. (Lee) THE LAST HOLIDAY (PG-13, 112 minutes) Based on a 1950 British film, Wayne Wangs comedy about a gentle soul who learns to live only after learning of her imminent death is one of those generic wish-fulfillment flicks in which the soul in question actualizes her goals through perseverance and pluck. The star Queen Latifah charms, but even she cant gold-plate junk. (Dargis) * MANDERLAY (R, 138 minutes) To warm to Manderlay, the chilly second installment of the Danish filmmaker Lars von Triers yet-to-be-completed three-part Brechtian allegory examining American history, you must be willing to tolerate the derision and moral arrogance of a snide European intellectual thumbing his nose at American barbarism. Those willing to endure his scorn are in for a bracing satire of the legacy of slavery in the United States. (Holden) * MATCH POINT (R, 124 minutes) Woody Allens best in years, and one of his best ever. Beneath the dazzling, sexy surface, this tale of social climbing in London (brilliantly acted by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Scarlett Johansson and Emily Mortimer) is ice cold and pitch black, which curiously enough makes it a superior diversion. (Scott) THE MATADOR (R, 96 minutes) Pithy remarks put into the mouth of a star (Pierce Brosnan) playing against type impart a greasy sheen of sophistication to this weightless, amoral romp about a professional hit man facing a midlife crisis. (Holden) MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (PG-13, 144 minutes) Think As the Geisha Turns, with devious rivals, swoonworthy swains, a jaw-dropping dance number recycled from Madonnas Drowned World tour and much clinching, panting and scheming. Directed by Rob Marshall from the Arthur Golden book, and starring Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh. (Dargis) * MUNICH (R, 164 minutes) With his latest, Steven Spielberg forgoes the emotional bullying and pop thrills that come so easily to him to tell the story of a campaign of vengeance that Israel purportedly brought against Palestinian terrorists in the wake of the 1972 Olympics. An unsparingly brutal look at two peoples all but drowning in a sea of their own blood, Munich is by far the toughest film of the directors career, and the most anguished. (Dargis) NANNY McPHEE (PG, 99 minutes) In the endearing but somewhat scatterbrained British film Nanny McPhee, Emma Thompson creates an indelible character reminiscent of the pre-Disney Mary Poppins working benign magic to shape up an unruly brood of children. (Holden) * PRIDE & PREJUDICE (PG, 128 minutes) In this sumptuous, extravagantly romantic adaptation of Jane Austens 1813 novel, Keira Knightleys Elizabeth Bennet exudes a radiance that suffuses the movie. This is a banquet of high-end comfort food perfectly cooked and seasoned to Anglophilic tastes. (Holden) THE PRODUCERS (PG-13, 127 minutes) At a fraction of the Broadway ticket price, its no bargain. (Scott) ROVING MARS (G, 40 minutes) Mars. IMAX. If you want to grow up to be an astronaut, prepare to bliss out. (Lee) * SYRIANA (R, 122 minutes) Ambitious, angry and complicated, Stephen Gaghans second film tackles terrorism, American foreign policy, global trade and the oil business through four interwoven stories. There are at least a half-dozen first-rate performances, and Mr. Gaghan, who wrote and directed, reinvents the political thriller as a vehicle for serious engagement with the state of the world. (Scott) TAMARA (R, 98 minutes) Low in budget as well as ambition, this Carrie knockoff is a movie of few innovations but one genuine surprise: the inability of the title character, an evil sorceress, to manage in high heels. (Lee)THE TOLLBOOTH (No rating, 85 minutes) In The Tollbooth, 22-year-old Sarabeth Cohen (Marla Sokoloff) narrates the travails of her Jewish American family and her own coming of age. Written and directed with overwhelming earnestness by Debra Kirschner, the movie presents a sincere attempt to address the opposing tugs of tradition and modernity, but is undermined by dated dialogue and a reliance on stereotype. Would a modern Jewish mother really insist that a daughters lesbianism was a reaction to overwork? (Jeannette Catsoulis) TRANSAMERICA (R, 103 minutes) Felicity Huffmans performance as a preoperative transsexual on a cross-country journey with her long-lost son is sensitive and convincing, and helps the picture rise above its indie road-picture clichés. (Scott) * TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY (R, 91 minutes) Michael Winterbottom both confirms and refutes the assumption that Laurence Sternes 18th-century masterpiece of digression could never be made into a movie by making a movie about the making of such a movie. Steve Coogan is wonderful as Tristram, Tristrams father and himself, though Rob Brydon steals more than a few of Mr. Coogans scenes. (Scott) WALK THE LINE (PG-13, 138 minutes) Johnny Cash gets the musical biopic treatment in this moderately entertaining, never quite convincing chronicle of his early years. Joaquin Phoenix, sweaty, inarticulate and intense as Cash, is upstaged by Reese Witherspoon, who tears into the role of June Carter (Cashs creative partner long before she became his second wife) with her usual charm, pluck and intelligence. (Scott) UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION (R, 106 minutes) In this sequel to Underworld (2003), the writer and director Len Wiseman and the writer Danny McBride pick up the story of the vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and the vampire/werewolf hybrid Michael (Scott Speedman) as they race to prevent the release of an imprisoned über-werewolf. With leads who strain to manage one facial expression between them, and a cinematographer who shoots everything through the same steel-blue filter, Underworld: Evolution is little more than a monotonous barrage of computer-generated fur and fangs. (Catsoulis) YOURS, MINE AND OURS (PG, 90 minutes) Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo inhabit roles originated by Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball in this snug, airtight remake of the 1968 comedy about the combining of two antagonistic families with 18 children between them. Cutesy unreality prevails. (Holden) Film Series ANOTHER SPANISH CINEMA: FILMS IN CATALUNYA 1906-2006 (Through Feb. 14) The Film Society of Lincoln Centers retrospective of Catalan film continues this weekend with Antoni Ribass Burned City (1976), one of the first Catalan-language films released after the death of Franco; and Vicente Arandas Fata Morgana (1965-67), a Barcelona School collage that includes Pop Art, performance art and images from Richard Lesters Beatles movies. Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5600; $10. (Gates) DOCUMENTARY FORTNIGHT EXPANDED (Through March 13.) The Museum of Modern Arts exhibition of contemporary nonfiction films runs five weeks this year. It begins on Thursday with three films set in Iraq: The Tenth Planet, a Single Life in Baghdad (2004), Melis Birders portrait of a secretarys everyday life; Terror (2005), the Termite TV Collectives visual essays about the current war; and The Liberace of Baghdad (2004), Sean McAllisters portrait of Samir Peter, a concert pianist reduced to playing in a hotel bar. 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400; $10. (Gates) FASSBINDER (Through Feb. 26) IFC Centers Weekend Classics Program honoring Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1946-82) continues this weekend with The Bitter Tears of Petra van Kant (1972), his drama about an arrogant fashion designer (Margit Carstensen) who falls in love with a model (Hanna Schygulla). 323 Avenue of the Americas, at West Third Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 924-7771; $10.75. (Gates) FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Through Feb. 12) This year the theme of the Museum of the Moving Image and the New York Film Critics Circles series is the experience of being a stranger in a strange land. This weekends films include two stories set in Paris. The Last Flight (1931), selected by Lou Lumenick, is William Dieterles Lost Generation drama about American fliers in France just after World War I. Ernst Lubitschs Ninotchka (1939), selected by Leah Rozen, stars Greta Garbo as a stern Russian comrade seduced by everything Parisian. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077; $10. (Gates) KARLOFF (Through Thursday) Film Forums 14-movie festival honoring the great horror star Boris Karloff (1887-1969) begins this weekend with two double features. James Whales Frankenstein (1931), starring Karloff as the monster, and Charles Brabins Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), with Myrna Loy as co-star, will be shown today and tomorrow. Whales tongue-in-cheek sequel Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Karl Freunds tale of the return of Imhotep, The Mummy (1932), play on Sunday. 209 West Houston Street, South Village, (212) 727-8110; $10. (Gates) NEW YORK 10th SEPHARDIC JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL (Through Wednesday) The American Sephardi Federation, Sephardic House and the Yeshiva University Museum sponsor this event. Films include Radu Mihaileanus Live and Become (2004), about an Ethiopian boy adopted by a Moroccan Israeli family; Ademir Kenovics Secret Passage (2004), set in 16th-century Venice; Ed Askinazis documentary The Last Greeks on Broome Street (2004); and Vittorio De Sicas Oscar-winning World War II drama, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970). Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, Flatiron district, (917) 606-8200; $10; $8 for members. (Gates) RECENT FILMS FROM SWEDEN (Through Feb. 22) Scandinavia Houses program of Swedish features begins with Maria Bloms Dalecarlians (2004), about three sisters celebrating their fathers 70th birthday, and Lea Farmlohdes Completely Mad (2005), about married actors starring in Strindbergs Miss Julie. 58 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 879-9779; $8. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. THE ACADEMY IS , PANIC! AT THE DISCO, ACCEPTANCE, HELLOGOODBYE (Wednesday) Both the Chicago emo band the Academy Is and Panic! at the Disco were discovered by the pop-punk hitmakers Fall Out Boy. Both play a similar sort of anthemic, stop-start rock, the Academy Is boasting a histrionic front man, and Panic! at the Disco employing drum-machine mechanics. Acceptance and Hellogoodbye also play. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $16.50 (sold out). (Laura Sinagra) BABY LOVES DISCO, THE RUB (Tomorrow) Because its important to introduce your hipster child to good clubs and good music very early, the eclectic hip-hop, funk and global beat mavens DJ Ayres and Cosmo Baker spin a family-friendly afternoon play-date set. Later, they kick the kiddies out and proceed with their monthly dance party called the Rub. 2 to 5 p.m. (Baby Loves Disco), Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, near Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236; $10 ($40 family rate, limit of 5 people). The Rub begins at 10 p.m.; $5 for women; $10 for men. (Sinagra) GLENN BRANCAS HALLUCINATION CITY: SYMPHONY 13 FOR 100 GUITARS (Tomorrow) One way to hear music is as a convergence of physics and psychology, exploring the ways certain wave forms affect human perception. Since the 1980s, Glenn Branca has been investigating the subtleties of tunings and overtones, creating instruments and compositions that provide an eerie immersion in pure sound. A hundred guitars should make a mighty noise. 7:30 p.m., Montclair State University, Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair, N.J., (973) 655-5112; $25. (Jon Pareles) BURNSIDE PROJECT (Wednesday) The Burnside Project plays its guitars in the intermittently splashing indie-rock style of the slacker 90s but uses electronic burbles beneath them. 8 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $8 in advance, $10 at the door. (Sinagra) CALLA (Tomorrow) Burrowing into the dark corners of New Waves shiny, happy side, the band Calla offers something more than brooding and vintage black couture. 8:30 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 653-1703; $10. (Sinagra) BLUES FALLIN DOWN LIKE RAIN: THE MUSIC OF ELIZABETH COTTEN (Wednesday) The guitarist and composer Elizabeth Cotten (1895-1983) added a new dimension to finger-picking blues guitar with her upside-down, left-handed playing on songs like Freight Train. Her music is honored here by the guitarists Taj Mahal, Mike Seeger, Jolie Holland and Carla Kihlstedt and Mark Orton. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330; $35. (Sinagra) A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS (Thursday) The former hairdresser Michael Score is etched in the minds of 80s MTV watchers as much for his sculpturally ambitious hairstyles as for songs like I Ran and the hit Wishing. He has less hair and new bandmates now. 8 p.m., Crash Mansion, 199 the Bowery, at Spring Street, Lower East Side, (212) 982-0740; $20. (Sinagra) HACKENSAW BOYS (Tomorrow) The eight-member Virginia band Hackensaw Boys plays raw traditional bluegrass with lots of fast fiddling, banjoing, speedy stomps and ripe hollers. 8 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3132; $12 in advance, $15 at the door. (Sinagra) HEM (Thursday) Against an orchestral backdrop and acoustic guitars, Sally Ellyson whispers and coos Dan Messes songs in muslin tones. Its a style that recalls dreamy early 90s indie Americana pop. 8:30 p.m., Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th Street, (212) 258-9958; $20 to $45. (Sinagra) HIGH ON FIRE (Tonight) This dark metal bands recent work with the producer Steve Albini highlights its precision. 9 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $15 in advance, $17 at the door (sold out). (Sinagra) BILLY JOEL (Thursday) The piano man recently released a boxed set celebrating four decades of his music. From Just the Way You Are to Allentown, its the trademark mix of real confidence and false bravado in both his playing and his delivery that keeps him compelling. 8 p.m., Madison Square Garden, (212) 465-6741; $54 to $89.50 (sold out). (Sinagra) THE JUAN MACLEAN (Tomorrow) These know-it-all hipster musicologists play electro disco that sounds like post-industrial slackers having a party in a junk shop, dancing freely. 9 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111 ; $15. (Sinagra) DANIEL LANOIS (Tonight) The producer and atmospheric musician Daniel Lanois here showcases the soundtrack for his experimental film Silvio with a group that includes the vocalist Lori Anna Reid, the guitarist Jim Wilson and the drummer Brian Blade. 8:30, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $30 and $35. (Sinagra) JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS (Sunday) The Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewiss solo material is inspired by Laura Nyro-style 70s white soul. Her combination of school-recital fussiness and barely-caught cry is in fine form, but its her vocal tone and phrasing that make her special. Especially here, where her pointy songbird desperation is augmented by gospels Watson Twins. 7 p.m., Orensanz Center for the Arts, 172 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, ticketmaster.com or (212) 307-7171; $20. (Sinagra) LOW (Tonight and Monday) For more than a decade, this Duluth, Minn., trio has been writing storm-cloud songs that evoke expansive sadness and long, cold distance. Tonight at 8, Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, near Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236; $15 (sold out). Monday at 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212)533-2111; $15. (Sinagra) AIMEE MANN (Thursday) Ms. Manns recent concept album about two addicts in the 70s who meet at the Virginia fairgrounds features the astute, sad lyrics and low-key but enduring melodic hooks that this singer-songwriter is known for. Chuck Prophet also plays. 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 840-2824; $25 to $35. (Sinagra) RICKY MARTIN (Monday) This Puerto Rican pop superstar, who has been keeping a relatively low profile since his 90s heyday, returns to the spotlight. You wonder if he will incorporate any reggaéton into his act. 8 p.m., Radio City Music Hall, (212) 307-7171; $50.50 to $120.50.(Sinagra) MATT POND P.A., DIOS (MALOS) (Tuesday) The band Matt Pond P.A. has lots of nicely formed indie-pop songs, none very memorable. Live, however, the band, which features a cello, delivers with a forceful crispness. Dios (Malos), a laid-back California quintet, plays shaggy indie-rock marked by questing vocals, dream-pop harmonies and a kind of acoustic-electronic psychedelia that conjures a couch daydream rather than a desert drive. 7:30 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side; (212) 533-2111; $13 in advance, $15 at the door. (Sinagra) GEAROID OhALLMHURAIN AND PATRICK OURCEAU (Tonight) The University of Missouri professor and concertina player Gearoid OhAllmhurain specializes in the traditional songs of his native County Clare. He plays with a sometime collaborator, the French fiddler Patrick Ourceau. 9, Glucksman Ireland House at New York University, 1 Washington Mews, Greenwich Village, (212) 998-3950; $15 free to members and N.Y.U. students. (Sinagra) RAIN (Tonight) Bi (pronounced Bee), the Korean soap-opera heartthrob and pan-Asian pop star whose name translates as Rain, has soaked up English-speaking pop, from Michael Jackson to Usher. He croons ballads, steps through dance tunes and even raps a little, all in Korean, and this concert is part of his long-term plan to add the United States to his fan base. 8:30, Theater at Madison Square Garden, (212) 465-6741; $60 to $150. (Pareles) RACHEL SAGE (Thursday) This local singer-songwriter makes piano pop folk. 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778; $12 in advance, $15 at the door. (Sinagra) JULIA SARR AND PATRICE LAROSE (Tuesday) The New York Guitar Festival brings to town the West African vocalist Julia Sarr and the guitarist Patrice Larose, who together make introspective music combining the Senegalese and flamenco traditions. 7:30 p.m., Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778; $15. (Sinagra) SIGUR ROS, AMINA (Thursday) The Icelandic atmospherists Sigur Ros continue to pursue the hope and dread of open expanse and to conjure with their sung gibberish a kind of ur-poetry. Amina is an all-female string quartet that similarly muses on vastness. 8 p.m., Madison Square Garden, , (212) 465-6741; $38 to $58.50. (Sinagra) Supergrass (Thursday) This buoyant, hooky mid-90s Brit-pop band had a sound more glammy than Oasiss and heftier than Blurs. By late in the decade, it was tired out, but now seems to have found a new conduit to the old excitement. 8 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600; $25. (Sinagra) M. WARD (Tonight) The echoing guitar folk-pop songs of this singer-songwriter combine heartfelt campfire zeal with the ruminative sadness of midtempo 70s AM radio hits. His delicate ascents can also lilt upward into a cabaret falsetto reminiscent of Jeff Buckleys. 9 p.m., Warsaw, 261 Driggs Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 387-0505; $18.50. (Sinagra) 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. 2 p.m., Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331; $55, including brunch at noon. (Stephen Holden) 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. (Holden) * ELAINE STRITCH (Tonight and tomorrow night) Dispensing with her theatrical signature numbers, Ms. Stritch weaves 16 songs new to her repertory into a funny running monologue about her adventures in and out of show business. 8:45, Cafe Carlyle, Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 744-1600; $125; dinner, required, is served at 6:30; sold out. (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. LUCIAN BAN AND ASYMMETRY, ALEX HARDING AND BLUTOPIA (Wednesday) The Norwegian label Jazzaway, an increasingly potent outlet for experimentalism, showcases two ensembles with new releases: the pianist Lucian Ban, whose Asymmetry ensemble features the alto saxophonist Jorge Sylvester, the bassist Brad Jones and the drummer Derreck Phillips (in an early set); and the baritone saxophonist Alex Harding, whose Blutopia includes Mr. Ban, the drummer Nasheet Waits and Mr. Jones (in the late set). 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20.(Nate Chinen) SAM BARDFELD QUINTET (Wednesday) Mr. Bardfeld, a violinist with a wide-ranging résumé, regroups the core musicians from his coolly evocative new album, Periodic Trespasses (The Saul Cycle) (Fresh Sound): the trumpeter Ron Horton, the vibraphonist Tom Beckham, the bassist Sean Conly and the drummer Satoshi Takeishi. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $10. (Chinen) JAMES CARNEY GROUP (Sunday) Mr. Carney is a worldly pianist and composer who usually arranges his music for five pieces; here he pares down to a trio, enlisting the flexible rhythm team of Chris Lightcap on bass and Mark Ferber on drums. 8 and 10 p.m., BAR 4, 444 Seventh Avenue, at 15th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 832-9800, www.bar4.net; cover, $5. (Chinen) AVISHAI COHEN GROUP (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Cohen is an assertive and accomplished trumpeter with a taste for modernism; he performs here with the tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, the pianist Jason Lindner, the bassist Omer Avital and the drummer Greg Hutchinson. 9 and 10:30, Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063; cover, $15. (Chinen) MARK HELIASS OPEN LOOSE (Wednesday) Together with the tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby and the drummer Gerald Cleaver, the bassist-composer Mark Helias walks a line between form and freedom, confirming that there can be rigor in both. 8 and 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover, $10. (Chinen) BARRY HARRIS TRIO (Tuesday through Feb. 12) A crisp and courtly pianist firmly in the bebop idiom, Mr. Harris appears with his longtime rhythm section, the drummer Leroy Williams and the bassist Earl May. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $20 to $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * HIGHLIGHTS IN JAZZ (Thursday) This jazz series produced by Jack Kleinsinger celebrates its 33rd anniversary with some distinguished guests, including the trombonist Slide Hampton and the saxophonists Frank Wess and Jimmy Heath; the pianist Bill Charlap lends his superb trio as a rhythm section. 8 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street, between Greenwich and West Streets, (212) 220-1460; $30; $27.50 for students. (Chinen) MARC JOHNSONS SHADES OF JADE (Through Sunday) As he did on the recent album Shades of Jade (ECM), the bassist Marc Johnson works with the pianist Eliane Elias to produce a bated-breath luminescence; the effect is heightened by the sensitive contributions of Joe Lovano on tenor saxophone, and Joey Baron on drums. 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) LAGE LUND QUINTET (Thursday) Mr. Lund, the winner of last years Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, is an introspective guitarist and a thoughtful composer; his supple ensemble features Seamus Blake on tenor saxophone and Aaron Parks on piano. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212)242-1063; cover, $12. (Chinen) ADAM MAKOWICZ TRIO (Wednesday through Feb. 11) Mr. Makowicz has been a powerful if sometimes elusive presence in jazz since moving to the United States from Poland nearly 30 years ago; his crystalline piano technique is well supported here by the drummer Al Foster and the bassist George Mraz. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA, MARK DRESSER, GERRY HEMINGWAY (Tonight) This is strenuous experimentalism, but not without a point: Mr. Mahanthappas flinty alto saxophone tone should abrade effectively against Mr. Dressers probing bass playing and Mr. Hemingways textural percussion. 8 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover, $10. (Chinen) MAHAVISHNU PROJECT (Wednesday) This single-minded repertory project, led by the accomplished drummer Gregg Bendian, pursues the visionary fusion of the Mahavishnu Orchestra; this one-night stand will revisit, in its entirety, music from The Inner Mounting Flame (Columbia/Legacy), a landmark album. 8 and 10 p.m., Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MIYA MASAOKA TRIO (Sunday) Ms. Masaoka brings an avant-garde sensibility to the koto, a Japanese zither; she also works with a laptop and with the cellist Okkyung Lee and the pianist Sylvie Courvoisier. 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) COOPER-MOORE (Sunday) Cooper-Moore is an extreme polyglot, even by avant-garde standards, as he demonstrates in two afternoon sets: first singing, manipulating electronics and playing percussion with the cellist Nioka Workman and the keyboardist Matt Motel; then playing piano and a host of other instruments, alongside Assif Tsahar on reeds and Chad Taylor on drums. 1:30 and 3 p.m., Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 696-6681; cover, $10 per set; $7 for students; free for children 14 and under. (Chinen) NYNDK JAZZ COLLECTIVE (Wednesday) The New York-based trombonist Chris Washburne, the Norwegian saxophonist Ole Mathisen and the Danish pianist Soren Moller formed this pointedly cosmopolitan post-bop collective several years ago; its ranks have expanded to include the drummer Tony Moreno and the bassist François Moutin. 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319; cover, $7, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) MARTIN AND BUCKY PIZZARELLI (Monday) Warmth and wit are assured in this swing-centric family act, which stars Bucky Pizzarelli, the venerable jazz guitarist, and Martin, his bass-playing son. 7 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) RENEE ROSNES QUINTET (Tuesday through Feb. 12) Ms. Rosnes, a versatile and articulate pianist, pays homage to one of her early supporters, the saxophonist Joe Henderson; her quintet includes Jimmy Greene on tenor saxophone, Eddie Henderson on trumpet, Peter Washington on bass and Lewis Nash on drums. 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) JAKE SHIMABUKURO (Monday) Mr. Shimabukuro is an excitable fusion shredder whose instrument happens to be the ukulele; as on the recent album Dragon (Hitchhike), he performs with the bassist Dean Taba and the drummer Noel Okimoto, fellow natives of Hawaii. 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778; cover, $20, with a two-drink minimum. (Chinen) DR. LONNIE SMITH TRIO (Through Sunday) Under Dr. Lonnie Smiths command, the Hammond B-3 organ can be subtly atmospheric or growlingly ecstatic; he sounds best in this format, with guitar and drums behind him. 8 and 10 p.m. and an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121; cover, $25 and $27.50, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) CECIL TAYLOR + 2: AHA 3 (Tuesday and Wednesday) Mr. Taylor, the leonine father figure of free-jazz piano, has lost none of his percussive fire, and he still takes satisfaction in a churning trio; this one features Albey Balgochian on bass and Jackson Krall on drums. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 475-8592; cover, $35 at tables, and a $5 minimum or $20 at the bar, and a one-drink minimum.(Chinen) KENNY WERNERS COSMOCENTRIC (Through Sunday) Mr. Werner is a well-seasoned pianist who tempers fearsome technique with a kind of questing spiritualism; this aptly named ensemble consists of musicians with similar temperaments, like the trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, the saxophonist David Sanchez and the drummer Brian Blade. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 475-8592; cover, $30 at tables, and a $5 minimum or $20 at the bar, and a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) * JOE WILDER QUARTET (Through Sunday) The trumpeter Joe Wilder, still playing well in his mid-80s, has had a wealth of professional experience both in and out of jazz. But he has only rarely led his own group in a New York club residency, which makes this quartet engagement -- with the pianist Michael Weiss, the bassist John Webber and the drummer Lewis Nash -- a sort of landmark event. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $20 to $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MATT WILSONS ARTS AND CRAFTS (Wednesday) Mr. Wilson, a boyishly mischievous drummer, includes sturdy originals alongside well-chosen covers in this buoyant ensemble with the trumpeter Terell Stafford, the pianist and organist Larry Goldings and the bassist Dennis Irwin. 8:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, at Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $42. (Chinen) PETE ZIMMER QUINTET (Tuesday) Recording live for a future release on his own label, the drummer Pete Zimmer shines a spotlight on his working hard-bop quintet, which has a solid frontline of Michael Rodriguez on trumpet, and Joel Frahm on tenor saxophone. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera AIDA (Monday and Thursday) The Mets big production rumbles on with Andrea Gruber, Olga Borodina and Johan Botha. Monday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $175. (Bernard Holland) CYRANO DE BERGERAC (Tomorrow) Alfanos elegant, ambling Cyrano returns for a matinee, with Antonio Barasorda once again filling in for Plácido Domingo in the title role. 1:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6200; $220 tickets remain.(Holland) RIGOLETTO (Wednesday) The soprano Anna Netrebko and the tenor Rolando Villazón, operas hottest vocal couple of late, bring star appeal and impressive artistry to the Mets 1989 Otto Schenk production of Verdis Rigoletto. With her dusky-toned and exciting voice, Ms. Netrebko gives an unusually emotional portrayal of Gilda. Mr. Villazón infuses the role of the Duke of Mantua with an ardent voice, Verdian style and virile energy. The baritone Carlo Guelfi makes a stolid but finally sympathetic Rigoletto. Plácido Domingo, who knows a thing or two about the lead tenor role, conducts. 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $175. (Anthony Tommasini) LA TRAVIATA (Tomorrow and Tuesday) The soprano Angela Gheorghiu, who first gained international attention for her portrayal of Verdis Violetta in performances conducted by Georg Solti, sings the role at the Met. Like others before her, she will have to contend with Franco Zeffirellis overblown production. Still, she should be abetted by Jonas Kaufmann, a handsome and highly touted German tenor, who is making his Met debut. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; sold out tomorrow, $26 to $175 on Tuesday. (Tommasini) DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (Tonight) The Metropolitan Opera evidently thinks that Julie Taymors pageant of a Zauberflöte, with its wonderful puppets and game-show-style sets, is attraction enough that it can fill it with a less-known, largely homegrown cast. The spectacle is undeniable and sometimes beautiful, but ultimately seems empty without stronger musical values, though Mary Dunleavy does her best as a capable Pamina. Still, the Met is evidently right, because tonights performance will probably be sold out. 8, Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; returned tickets may be available. (Anne Midgette) Classical Music 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, the pianist Olga Vinokur performs music by Liszt, Chopin, Schumann and Brahms. Tomorrow and Sunday, Chris Pedro Trakas (baritone) and Gerald Robbins (piano) offer Schuberts much-loved Winterreise. And Thursday, the violinist Anna Rabinova plays two Bach sonatas and one Bach partita. Tonight, tomorrow and Thursday nights at 7:30, Sunday at 4 p.m., Fulton Ferry Landing next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083; $35.(Jeremy Eichler) FOCUS FESTIVAL (Tonight) Anne Manson leads the Juilliard Symphony in the final installment of this years festival of works from 2005, with premieres by Paul Schoenfield, Jukka Tiensuu and Zhou Long. 8, Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Juilliard School, 155 West 65th Street, Manhattan, (212) 769-7406; free, but tickets are required. (Eichler) MICHAEL GORDON (Tomorrow) This inventive composer has undertaken several collaborations in recent years with the filmmaker Bill Morrison, whose preferred medium at the moment is disintegrating silent film stock from around the 1920s. The poor condition of the film creates imagery of its own -- bubbles, blobs and amorphous shapes that recall those of the psychedelic light shows of the late 1960s. More to the point, it usually matches the impulses of Mr. Gordons eclectic music. The program includes the premiere of Who by Water, as well as two older works, Light Is Calling and Gotham. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330; $20. (Allan Kozinn) GUARNERI STRING QUARTET (Tomorrow) The Peoples Symphony Concerts are a great deal if want to hear big-name performers without breaking the bank. This weekend, the Guarneri plays works by Dvorak, Haydn and Richard Danielpour. 8 p.m., Washington Irving High School, Irving Place at 16th Street, Manhattan, (212) 586-4680; $9. (Eichler) STEVEN ISSERLIS (Tuesday) A distinctive and quirky artist, this cellist is joined by the pianist Ana-Maria Vera for his New York recital debut, a program with an intriguing twist: every composer on the program acted as a mentor to the one after him, from Mendelssohn and Schumann to Suk and Martinu. 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan, (212) 415-5500; $35. (Midgette) JUPITER SYMPHONY CHAMBER PLAYERS (Monday) In the spirit of its idiosyncratic founder, Jens Nygaard, this feisty ensemble offers programs that combine oddities and major works. This week the ensembles guests are Désirée Halac, a mezzo-soprano; Philippe Quint, a violinist; and Benjamin Hochman, a pianist, who will collaborate on a tasty program that includes songs by Brahms, the Schumann Piano Trio No. 2, a wind sextet by Reinecke and a string quintet by Zemlinsky. 2 and 7:30 p.m., Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, 152 West 66th Street, Manhattan, (212) 799-1259; $10 to $25. (Kozinn) STEVEN MACKEY (Thursday) At his best, this American composer writes pieces that draw from his training as a rigorous modernist and his experience as a dynamic rock guitarist. He will talk about this, while introducing and participating in a program of his works in one of Carnegie Halls Making Music programs. The Brentano String Quartet and the Prism saxophone quartet are among the performers. 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, (212) 247-7800; $20. (Tommasini) EKATERINA MECHETINA (Sunday) This 20-something Russian pianist, who studied in Moscow, won the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati in 2004, and this weekend claims a New York recital as her prize. Her advance billing advertises a strikingly full program, with works by eight composers, from Mozart to Shchedrin. 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $15 and $20. (Midgette) THOMAS MEGLIORANZA (Thursday) Working with a pianist and a violinist, this adventurous young baritone offers works by Aaron Jay Kernis, Jorge Martín, John Rommereim and others. This concert is part of an admirable series presented with the Concert Artists Guild. 7:30 p.m., the Thalia at Symphony Space, Broadway at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $21. (Tommasini) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Tonight, tomorrow, Tuesday and Thursday) Its all-Mozart. This weekend and Tuesday, Jeffrey Kahane conducts and is the soloist for two piano concertos, and also leads the E-flat Sinfonia Concertante. Beginning Thursday, Lorin Maazel conducts four performances of the last three symphonies. Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6000; $26 to $94. (Holland) ORLANDO CONSORT (Tuesday) This a cappella ensemble has made several beautifully sung thematic recordings for Harmonia Mundi, with texts so copious that the label has produced them as miniature hard-cover books. The latest, The Rose, the Lily and the Whortleberry, explores the use of floral imagery by medieval and Renaissance composers to describe both physical and heavenly love. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330; $25. (Kozinn) EMMANUEL PAHUD and YEFIM BRONFMAN (Tuesday) Mr. Pahud, the popular Swiss flutist, is joined by the accomplished pianist for sonatas by Reinecke, Brahms and Prokofiev. 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $44 to $52. (Eichler) THE PASSION OF OSVALDO GOLIJOV (Tomorrow and Wednesday) The exuberant, genre-bending music of this Argentinean-born composer is the focus of a monthlong festival at Lincoln Center. It continues tomorrow with Dawn Upshaw, the Kronos Quartet and the Andalucian Dogs on a program of arrangements and original music by Mr. Golijov including his Ayre, a heady song cycle that draws on the folk and pop traditions of the Mediterranean. On Wednesday, the St. Lawrence String Quartet is joined by the cellist David Finckel and the clarinetist Todd Palmer for more Golijov chamber music and Schuberts Cello Quintet. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Rose Theater, Broadway at 60th Street; Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $30 to $65 tomorrow, $45 on Wednesday. (Eichler) PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) Simon Rattle returns with the Philadelphia Orchestra in a program of Lutoslawski, Mussorgsky and Bruckner, with the Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $25 to $99. (Holland) ST. THOMAS CHOIR (Tuesday) John Scott leads his extraordinary choir of men and boys, with the support of Concert Royal, the period-instrument band, in Haydns Creation. The soloists are Ava Pine, soprano; Alan Bennett, tenor; and Christopheren Nomura, baritone. 7:30 p.m., St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at 53rd Street, (212) 664-9360; $25 to $60. (Kozinn) ROLANDO VILLAZÓN (Tonight) The tenor Rolando Villazón, who has been beguiling audiences at the Metropolitan Opera this season as the duke in Rigoletto, crosses town to sing a recital at the other Met, in the museums cavernous Temple of Dendur, which has startlingly reverberant acoustics. The program includes songs by Liszt, Beethoven, Falla, Schumann and others. 8 pm., Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212) 570-3949; sold out, but returned tickets may be available. (Tommasini) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. BALLET BIARRITZ (Tonight through Sunday) Direct from sunny France, the company will perform Création, which sees the story of the creation of the world as a metaphor for the history of dance. Or vice versa. The choreographer is the company director, Thierry Malandain, who trained and performed with the Paris Opera Ballet and has won numerous European awards for his work. (Through Sunday.) Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800 or www.joyce.org; $40. (Jennifer Dunning) BROOKLYN ARTS EXCHANGE (Tonight and tomorrow night) This months First Weekend program features dance and talk by Chase Granoff, Sujin Lee and Laura Meyers. 8, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, 421 Fifth Avenue, at Eighth Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 832-0018; $8 to $15. (Dunning) COOL NEW YORK 2006 DANCE FESTIVAL (Tonight through Sunday) Dance by 60 companies, at last count, will be presented in this ambitious 10-program festival. Tonight at 7 and 9; tomorrow at 2 (family matinee), 7 and 9 p.m.; Sunday at 4 and 6 p.m.; White Waves John Ryan Theater, 25 Jay Street, at John Street, Brooklyn Heights, (718) 855-8822 or www.whitewavedance.com; free, though donations are requested. (Dunning) DANCEBRAZIL (Tomorrow) Retratos da Bahia celebrates the rhythmically vibrant dances of Bahia, the northeastern Brazilian state where that countrys largest number of people of African descent reside. 8 p.m., Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, Brooklyn College, Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues, Flatbush, (718) 951-4500 or www.brooklyncenteronline.org; $15 to $35. (Jack Anderson) TAYE DIGGS/DRE.DANCE (Tonight through Sunday) The popular actor Taye Diggs has a secret passion, and its dance. Although not known as a dancer per se, he has formed his own modern-dance company, dre.dance, for which he is the principal choreographer with Andrew Palermo. Michael John La Chiusa is providing the music. Its pre.view program can be seen this weekend. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, tomorrow at 2 p.m., Sunday at 3 and 7:30 p.m., Citigroup Alvin Ailey Theater, 405 West 55th Street, at Ninth Avenue, Clinton, (212) 868-4444 or www.smarttix.com; $35. (John Rockwell) NILES FORD/URBAN DANCE COLLECTIVE (Tonight through Sunday) A dancer of compelling intensity and intelligence, Mr. Ford and his company will present In Search of the Invisible People, a dance he created with Nathan Trice that traces the path of house music and dance from the underground black club circuit to commercial success. 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, between Houston and Prince Streets, (212) 431-9233; $15.(Dunning) CURT HAWORTH (Thursday through Feb. 12) Descent presents a choreographic panorama of 24 hours in a city on the brink of war. 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194 or www.danspaceproject.org; $15. (Anderson) SARA EAST JOHNSON AND LAVA (Tonight through Sunday, and Thursday) Ms. Johnsons award-winning, all-female company, LAVA, presents (w)HOLE (short for The Whole History of Life on Earth), its first new work since 2003. Using trapeze, Chinese acrobatics and swing dancing, among other things, the company tackles rock formation, punctuated equilibrium theory and magnetic polarity reversal with its usual strength and verve. (Through Feb. 19.) Today, tomorrow and Thursday at 7 p.m.; Sunday at 5 p.m.; Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101, www.TheaterMania.com; $20 to $25.(Erika Kinetz) HEATHER KRAVIS AND ANTONIJA LIVINGSTONE, PO.V.S. TANZE (Wednesday through Saturday) What promises to be a lively, internationally flavored double bill, with a three-year, long-distance collaboration between Heather Kravis from New York and Antonija Livingstone from Montreal by way of Berlin, and a duet from PO.V.S., a dance collective from Moscow. 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077 or www.dtw.org; $12 and $20. (Rockwell) GABRIELLE LANSNER & COMPANY (Tonight and tomorrow night) Those legs, that voice -- the diva Tina Turner is celebrated in River Deep, a new production combining dance, live music and spoken word. Tonight at 8; tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200; $22 to $34. (Claudia La Rocco) NEW YORK BAROQUE DANCE THEATER (Thursday) Courting an English Lady shows how dancing could help a lover win the heart of a woman in the 18th century. 12:30 p.m., Winter Garden, World Financial Center, 220 Vesey Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 945-0505 or www.worldfinancialcenter.com; free.(Anderson) * NEW YORK CITY BALLET (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) Midseason, a flock of new ballets re-enter the repertory. This week will see Robbinss In the Night and Fancy Free (theres an all-Robbins program with those two, as well as Fanfare on Thursday), along with Balanchines Allegro Brillante and Union Jack, Christopher Wheeldons American in Paris, Peter Martinss Octet, Richard Tanners Sonatas and Interludes and Sean Laverys Romeo and Juliet. Today, tomorrow and Thursday at 8 p.m.; tomorrow afternoon 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 www.nycballet.com; $30 to $86. (Rockwell) NEW YORK THEATER BALLET (Tonight through Sunday) A group whose works for children also prove diverting for adults presents Keith Michaelss Mother Goose!, a day in the life of the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe and other nursery-rhyme characters. Today at 10 a.m.; tomorrow at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Sunday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-4100; $30; children 12 and under, $25. (Anderson) 92nd STREET Y HARKNESS DANCE FESTIVAL (Wednesday through Feb. 12) A 12-year old festival opens in a new location with WilliamsWorks, a new troupe directed by Todd Williams, a former New York City Ballet dancer. The program includes Value Intensity, based on the writings of the psychoanalyst C. J. Jung, and 108 Version 3, inspired by Tibetan religious sand paintings. Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m., Feb. 11 at 8 p.m., Feb. 12 at 2 and 7 p.m., Ailey Citigroup Theater, Joan Weill Center for Dance, 405 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212) 415-5500 or www.92Y.org/HarknessFestival; $20; students and 62+, $15. (Anderson) JENNIFER NUGENT AND PAUL MATTESON (Tonight through Sunday) These two award-winning alumni of David Dorfman Dance continue their collaboration with an evening-length duet, Fare Well. 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194 or www.danspaceproject.org; $15. (Kinetz). SPOKE THE HUB (Tonight and tomorrow night) This outpost for the performing arts opens The Gowanus Wildlife Preserve, its showcase series, with a program devoted to new dance and physical theater by five choreographers and groups. 7:30, Spoke the Hub Space in the Gowanus Arts Building, 295 Douglass Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 408-2324; $15; children, $5. (Dunning) JEREMY WADE (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Wade presents Glory, a naked duet about prostration, and a new solo, Fiction. 7:30, Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077 or www.dtw.org; $12 to $20. (Kinetz) REGGIE WILSON/FIST & HEEL PERFORMANCE GROUP (Thursday) Mr. Wilson and his dancers and musicians have their own distinctive, revealing approach to merging ethnic art forms. Their new piece, The Tale: Npinpee Nckutchie and the Tail of the Golden Dek, applies the black American folk tradition of stepping to traditional African mating rituals. 7 p.m., Main Theater, Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse, at 149th Street, Mott Haven, the Bronx, (718) 518-4455 or www.hostos.cuny.edu/culturearts; $10 and $15. (Dunning) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Art Fairs 10TH ANNIVERSARY BLACK FINE ART SHOW Most of the significant names in African-American art history will be represented in a fair that is unique in New York for its dedication to black artists. The general quality is usually uneven, but chances are you will find lots of interesting things, including works by 19th-century landscape painters like Edward Bannister and Henry Tanner; Harlem Renaissance artists like Aaron Douglas and Hale Woodruff; modernists like Romare Beardon and Norman Lewis; and postmodernists like Danny Simmons and Carrie Mae Weems. The Puck Building, 295 Lafayette Street, at Houston Street, SoHo, (212) 925-5257, through Sunday. Hours: Today, noon to 8 p.m.; tomorrow, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission: $15; students, $10. (Ken Johnson) Museums * AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: SURFACE ATTRACTION: PAINTED FURNITURE FROM THE COLLECTION, through March 26. The remarkable images, abstract patterns and floral motifs that flutter across the 30 or so tables, chairs, cabinets and blanket chests in this beautiful, convention-stretching show confirm that from the late 1600s to the late 1800s, quite a bit of American painting talent and ambition was channeled into the decoration of everyday wood objects. The combination of imagination and utility, of economic means and lush effects, defines the human desire for beauty as hardwired. 45 West 53rd Street, (212) 265-1040. (Roberta Smith) * Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum: FASHION IN COLORS, through March 26. Drawn from the collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute in Japan, this sumptuous show arranges 68 often lavish Western gowns and ensembles according to the colors of the spectrum and reinforces their progress with a posh color-coordinated installation design. For an experience of color as color, it is hard to beat, but it also says a great deal about clothing, visual perception and beauty. 2 East 91st Street, (212) 849-8400.(Smith) International Center of Photography: Che!: Revolution and Icon, through Feb. 26. This is, in a sense, a one-image show, the image being Alberto Kordas famous 1960 head shot of Che (Ernesto Guevara), taken in Cuba. But the theme is the transformation that the portrait has undergone in the passage of 46 years, as Ches soulful likeness has migrated from political posters to album covers, T-shirts, paper currency, vodka ads and gallery art. 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, (212) 857-0045. (Holland Cotter) Metropolitan Museum of Art: Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt, through May 7. Egypt was no picnic 5,000 years ago. The average lifespan was about 40 years. Wild animals were ever present. Childbirth was perilous. Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness was a shot in the dark. Doctors were priests. Medicine was a blend of science, religion and art. The 65 objects in this beautiful show functioned as all three. Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212) 535-7710. (Cotter) * MET: ANTONELLO DA MESSINA, through March 5. This small, focused show presents the work of a Sicilian master (about 1430-1479) regarded as the greatest painter to emerge from southern Italy in the 15th century. His signature work, shown here, is The Virgin Annunciate (about 1475-76), depicting Mary as a young Sicilian girl at the moment of the Annunciation, when she is told by the angel Gabriel that she will bear Jesus. The genius of the work lies in the way a traditional icon has been imbued with the life force of a flesh-and-blood human being. (See above.) (Grace Glueck) * MET: Robert Rauschenberg: Combines, through April 2. Big and handsome almost to a fault. Theres something weird about seeing once joyfully rude and over-the-top contraptions from the 1950s and 60s lined up like choirboys in church, with their ties askew and shirttails out. But even enshrined, the combines still manage to seem incredibly fresh and odd, almost otherworldly. I thought of a medieval treasury -- all the rich colors and lights and intricate details. The most beautiful tend to be the early ones: large but delicate, with a subtle, fugitive emotional pitch. (See above.) (Michael Kimmelman) * New York Public Library: THE SPLENDOR OF THE WORD: MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS, through Feb. 12. 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. Fifth Avenue, at 42nd Street, (212) 869-8069. (Smith) ONASSIS CULTURAL CENTER: FROM BYZANTIUM TO MODERN GREECE: HELLENIC ART IN ADVERSITY, 1453-1830, through May 6. This show is a busy, ambitious hodgepodge that sets out to present all aspects of the visual art in Greece during this period. The range spans wonderful early paintings and icons, like a panel by the youthful El Greco; examples of domestic crafts practiced by Greek women; jewelry and church ornaments; and maps and charts. 645 Fifth Avenue, at 52nd Street, (212) 486-4448. (Glueck) * P.S. 1: Peter Hujar, through March 6. When Peter Hujar died in 1987, he was a figure of acute interest to a small group of fans, and unknown to practically everyone else. His photographs of desiccated corpses in Sicilian catacombs and studio portraits of New Yorks downtown demimonde were a gorgeous shock, and their cocktail of Nadar, Weegee and Vogue shaped the work of many younger artists. This surveyish sampling includes several of his recurrent themes: portraits of people and animals, landscapes, still lifes and erotica. Sensuality and mortality are the binders throughout, inseparable. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Street, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 784-2084. (Cotter) * P.S. 1: The Painted World, through March 13. Though this 23-artist exhibition of mostly contemporary abstractionists lacks bite as a whole, every individual painter in it is worthy of attention. In addition to ancestral figures like Myron Stout and Moira Dryer, the show includes Philip Taaffe, Mary Heilmann and Chris Martin. (See above.) (Johnson) The Noguchi Museum: The Imagery of Chess Revisited, through April 16. In 1944, the artists Max Ernst and Marcel Duchamp and the gallery director Julien Levy organized an attention-getting New York exhibition devoted to chess, once a chic pastime for members of the artistic intelligentsia. Organizers of this historically intriguing show managed to find most of the works that were in the original exhibition, including chess sets designed by the artists Isamu Noguchi, Alexander Calder and Man Ray, and artworks in various media relating to chess by Dorothea Tanning, Alberto Giacometti and John Cage, whose chessboard incorporates musical notation for a piano composition that you can hear on headphones. 9-01 33rd Road, at Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 204-7088. (Johnson) * Studio Museum in Harlem: FREQUENCY, through March 12. Despite some marked unevenness, this display of new and recently emerged talent confirms the current vitality of black art, contemporary art and midsize New York museums. Names to look out for include Kalup Linzy, Leslie Hewitt, Jeff Sonhouse, Shinique Amie Smith, Demetrius Oliver, Michael Paul Britto, Nick Cave, Mickalene Thomas and Michael Queenland, but dont stop there. 144 West 125th Street, (212) 864-4500. (Smith) * 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 one of the major American artists of the early 20th century., right up there with the likes of Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Arthur Dove and Charles Demuth, to name a few. 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. Too, he was a superb colorist, assigning psychological properties to each color, red in particular, which he considered symbolic of power and energy. Among the best works here are his last ones, landscapes that have the magic of Expressionist theater, with houses, trees and the like assuming almost human presences. 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (212) 570-3676. (Glueck) Whitney Museum of American Art: Raymond Pettibon, through Feb. 19. If you are unfamiliar with the influential Mr. Pettibons emotionally resonant mix of noirish cartooning and enigmatic literary verbiage, this show of works on paper and, for the first time, a low-tech animated video, serves as a good introduction. (See above.) (Johnson) Galleries: Uptown The Hudson River School at the New-York Historical Society: Nature and the American Vision By the mid-19th century, the United States was a trans-Atlantic political power in search of a cultural profile. Hudson River School landscape painting was the answer: it presented America as the un-Europe. Europe had its Romantic ruins; America had its ultra-Romantic wilderness. Europe had antique; America had primeval. Europe told time in centuries; America told time in eons. Its all here to see in this display of a venerable local institutions permanent collection. New-York Historical Society, 2 West 77th Street, (212) 873-3400, through Feb. 19. (Cotter) Galleries: 57th Street * Maria Elena González This excellent two-gallery show plays with the forms of Roman Catholic religious imagery and reliquaries that Ms. González encountered during a yearlong stay in Rome, but translates both into highly personal post-Minimalist forms. The symbols of martyrdom at the Project become emblems of power; the clouded architectural sculptures at Knoedler look like reliquaries within reliquaries, which is one way to speak of the relationship of memory to art. The Project, 37 West 57th Street, third floor, (212) 688-1585, through Feb. 17, and Knoedler & Company, 19 East 70th Street, (212) 794-0550, through March 4. (Cotter) * RON NAGLE AND THE HOLY GRAIl Nominally, the 12 absurdly beautiful little ceramic objects that make up Mr. Nagels eighth New York solo show are teacups. But an exquisite combination of sculptural form, color, surface and craftsmanship elevates each to a transcendental realm of pure aesthetic contemplation. They are smart and slyly humorous, too. Garth Clark, 24 West 57th Street, (212) 246-2205, through Feb. 25. (Johnson) Galleries: Chelsea MIKE CLOUD Mike Cloud is a young artist of the moment, with a project exhibition at P.S. 1, photo-collages in Frequency at the Studio Museum in Harlem, and new paintings in a solo at Protetch. The work, and his Protetch show in particular, is a tough nut to crack. But rude, funny and meaty, its well worth the attempt. Max Protetch, 511 West 22nd Street, (212) 633-6999, through Feb. 11. (Cotter) ORI GERSHT: THE FOREST This briefly mesmerizing film consists of silent, panning shots of immense trees interrupted at intervals by the sight and sound of one of them falling violently and slowly to the ground. The mood is somber, even tragic, but in the end, too easily won. CRG Gallery, 535 West 22nd Street, (212) 229-2766; through Feb 11. (Smith) * Warren Isensee Could this be Mr. Isensees breakout show? His glowing grid, striped and concentric rectangle paintings play adroitly with conventions of Modernist abstraction and are almost hallucinogenically beautiful. Danese, 535 West 24th Street, (212) 223-2227, through Feb. 11. (Johnson) ERWIN OLAF The large, carefully staged photographs of people in midcentury American clothes and environments by this successful Dutch commercial photographer look like the dreams of a deeply depressed Norman Rockwell. Hasted Hunt, 529 West 20th Street, (212) 627-0006, through Feb. 18. (Johnson) ROXY PAINE The main attraction of this extraordinarily inventive sculptors show is a computer-controlled sandblaster that is slowly sculpturing a piece of sandstone into something resembling a topographical model of a Southwestern landscape. James Cohan, 533 West 26th Street, (212) 714-9500, through Feb. 25. (Johnson) AMY RATHBONE: UNBENT Operating somewhere between Richard Tuttle and Ree Morton, this artist embeds wires of different lengths and colors in the wall to create whiskery textures, clustered hoops or trailing lines. The resulting wall drawings are endearing, if a bit too close to abstract New Yorker cartoons. Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, 547 West 27th Street, (212) 244-4320; through Feb. 11. (Smith) Stuart Rome This landscape photographer points his camera into the woods and comes up with subtly pantheistic pictures of extraordinary lucidity and absorbing complexity. Sepia, 148 West 24th Street, (212) 645-9444, through Feb. 11. (Johnson) Other Galleries JOHN BRATTIN: THE TRIUMPH OF NIGHT John Brattins short film The Triumph of Night is like a basement-tapes version of Wuthering Heights. Written and directed by Mr. Brattin, its title lifted from a book of Edith Wharton ghost stories, it delivers a Hollywood-ready Victorian plot in an ingeniously homespun package. Participant Inc., 95 Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 254-4334, through Feb. 12. (Cotter) * THE DOWNTOWN SHOW: THE NEW YORK ART SCENE, 1974-1984 The real down-and-dirty Downtown art scene, when the East Village bloomed, punk and new wave rock assailed the ears, graffiti spread like kudzu, and heroin, along with extreme style, raged, is the subject of this wild and woolly show. Its a humongous time warp of more than 450 paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, videos, posters, ephemera and things in between by artists, writers, performers, musicians and maestros of mixed media, from a photograph of the transvestite Candy Darling as she posed on her death bed to a small, painted sculpture made of elephant dung by David Hammons. With so many clashing ideologies, points of view and attitudes toward art-making, this no-holds-barred hodgepodge generates the buzz and stridency of, say, Canal Street on payday. New York University, Grey Art Gallery, 100 Washington Square East, (212) 998-6780; and Fales Library, 70 Washington Square South, (212) 988-2596, Greenwich Village; through April 1. (Glueck) * Anya Gallaccio: One Art The viscerally poetic single work occupying Sculpture Centers spacious main gallery is a 50-foot-tall weeping cherry tree that was cut up and reassembled in the gallery, where it is held in place by steel cables and bolts. Sculpture Center, 44-19 Purves Street, at Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 361-1750, through April 3. (Johnson) *DAVID HAMMONS: THE AUTHORIZED RETROSPECTIVE How do you do a show if you dont have art? Use copies. How do you get copies? Find photographs of the original art. Thats what Triple Candie has done with David Hammonss work. The gallery photocopied illustrations of existing, or once existing, Hammons pieces from books and magazines and downloaded others from the Internet. They then taped the 8 1/2 -by-11 prints to the gallery wall. The result: an homage that is very much in this important artists maverick, dematerialized spirit. Triple Candie, 461 West 126th Street, Harlem, (212) 865-0783, through Feb. 12.(Cotter) Last Chance * Constructing Realities See this conceptually ambitious exhibition for Andy Warhols amazing, rarely seen 1965 film of an 83-year-old performer named Paul Swan who dances and recites poetry in exotic, Middle Eastern-style costumes with wonderfully un-self-conscious verve. A one-act play on video by Mike Kelley; videos transmitted from cellphones for a project by Robert Whitman; a multiscreen video portrait of a man by Gary Hill; Stan Douglass well-known film Der Sandemann; and a selection of classic Diane Arbus photographs round out the show. PaceWildenstein, 32 East 57th Street, Manhattan, (212) 421-3293; closes tomorrow. (Johnson) * Katy Grannan: Mystic Lake Ms. Grannan makes exceptionally intimate photographs of nonprofessional models posing outdoors partly or fully unclothed. Greenberg Van Doren, 730 Fifth Avenue, at 57th Street, (212) 445-0444; closes tomorrow. (Johnson) Kim Levin: Notes and Itineraries, 1976 - 2004 The longtime art critic for The Village Voice is the subject of a fascinating retrospective that views her career, as well as the history of the New York art scene, through the lens of ephemera that she has accumulated over the past 25 years, including postcard announcements, news releases and handwritten exhibition lists. Ronald Feldman, 31 Mercer Street, SoHo, (212) 226-3232; closes tomorrow. (Johnson) Museum of Modern Art: PIXAR: 20 YEARS OF ANIMATION With more than 500 drawings, collages, storyboards and sculptured models by 80 artists; numerous projections; and a mesmerizing three-dimensional zoetrope, this exhibition offers a detailed glimpse of the creative and technological processes behind such computer-animation wonders as Toy Story, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. (A complete retrospective of Pixar animated films concludes with The Incredibles (2004), the Oscar-winning story of the Parr family, superheroes trying not to be so super.) In the end, nothing has as much art or magic as those films themselves, but the concentrated effort and expertise that go into them is nonetheless something of a wonder, too. 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400; closes Monday. (Smith) * Whitney Museum of American Art: THE ART OF RICHARD TUTTLE For 40 years, Richard Tuttle has murmured the ecstasies of paying close attention to the worlds infinitude of tender incidents, making oddball assemblages of prosaic ephemera, which, at first glance, belie their intense deliberation and rather monumental ambition. Out of cord, tin, Styrofoam, florists wire and bubble wrap he has devised objects whose status is not quite sculpture or drawing or painting but some combination of the three, and whose exquisiteness is akin to that of jewelry. His outstanding retrospective is a cross between a kindergarten playroom and a medieval treasury. (See above); closes Sunday. (Kimmelman)

7 children from the same family die in Brooklyn, New York fire

Credit Mary Altaffer/Associated Press. Seven children from the same family ��� ages 5 to 15 ��� died early Saturday in a fire in Brooklyn that the authorities said was caused by a malfunctioning hot plate. The blaze was reported��.

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7 Children Die in Brooklyn Fire ��� New York TimesBreaking.

7 Children Die in Brooklyn Fire ��� New York Times. Seven children from the same family �������� ages 5 to 15 �������� died early Saturday in a fire in Brooklyn that the authorities said was caused by a malfunctioning hot plate. The blaze was reported just before 12:30 a.m. at a. While he did not elaborate, many Orthodox Jewish families, forbidden from lighting fires during the Sabbath, keep food warm by lighting a burner on a stove before the Sabbath. The mother was taken��.

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Seven children killed in New York house blaze. New York (AFP) - Seven children from the same family died Saturday when their New York home was engulfed in flames after a portable cooker malfunctioned, authorities said. The so-called hot plate, which is.