Why Ted Cruz is running for president now and 6 other things to know

o-TED-CRUZ-facebook.jpg o-TED-CRUZ-facebook.jpg o-TED-CRUZ-facebook.jpg	Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz to launch presidential bid | The. Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz to launch presidential bid | The. Ted Cruz, R-Texas,	The Slatest The Slatest Ted Cruz Set to Become First	U.S. Political News, Opinion and Analysis - HuffPost Politics U.S. Political News, Opinion and Analysis - HuffPost Politics Ted Cruz
The Harvard Law Review Just Gave a Boost to Ted Cruzs Potential. The Harvard Law Review Just Gave a Boost to Ted Cruzs Potential. What Ted Cruz Told Glenn Beck	Senator Ted Cruz is running for president - Business Insider Senator Ted Cruz is running for president - Business Insider Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX)	Reason. Reason. Ted Cruz Just Announced That	Sen. Ted Cruz announces on Twitter he is running for president Sen. Ted Cruz announces on Twitter he is running for president Ted Cruz announces on Twitter
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Dirty Tricks in American Politics: Vote Stealing, Ads. Dirty Tricks in American Politics: Vote Stealing, Ads. You need Adobe Flash Player to watch this video.. Wade.[10] This view is echoed in a 2004.	Senator Ted Cruzs birther issue - YouTube Senator Ted Cruzs birther issue - YouTube You need Adobe Flash Player to watch this video.. This by some brings into question his.	PLANET OF THE APES (1968) ORIGINAL ENDING. PLANET OF THE APES (1968) ORIGINAL ENDING. Just in time for the RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES DVD release, its the. Justin Bieber.	NBC News Glorifies Walmarts Alice Walton. NBC News Glorifies Walmarts Alice Walton. After all, the $20 billion Alice Walton isnt just one of the six Walmart heirs. Shed say, You.
Hillary Clintons Latest Drama - OReilly Talking. Hillary Clintons Latest Drama - OReilly Talking. You need Adobe Flash Player to watch this video.. All comments (6). honestly arent.	Why Ted Cruz is NOT Eligible to be President. Why Ted Cruz is NOT Eligible to be President. You need Adobe Flash Player to watch this video.. HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE IN A CULT.	1:34 Play next Play now Obama Accuses. 1:34 Play next Play now Obama Accuses. WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama accused Republicans of extortion. The.	Rachel Maddow - GOP debt ceiling deniers imperil. Rachel Maddow - GOP debt ceiling deniers imperil. You need Adobe Flash Player to watch this video.. of President Obamas Council of.
Jeb Bush discusses immigration on Uncommon. Jeb Bush discusses immigration on Uncommon. You need Adobe Flash Player to watch this video.. Jeb Bush would make a fine running mate.	Keynote Speaker: David Corn ��� Presented by SpeakInc. Keynote Speaker: David Corn ��� Presented by SpeakInc. You need Adobe Flash Player to watch this video... The Los Angeles Times called it a.	Sen. Ted Cruz Discusses ISIS Strategy on the. Sen. Ted Cruz Discusses ISIS Strategy on the. You need Adobe Flash Player to watch this video... and worked them up into a frenzy about.	Rand Paul Exaggerates Filibuster Victory. Rand Paul Exaggerates Filibuster Victory. Ted Cruz told Holder at a morning hearing before the filibuster began.. But the fact is that.
Rare 15m blue whale spotted off Sydney coastline for. Rare 15m blue whale spotted off Sydney coastline for. Its official: Ted Cruz confirms bid for President with midnight Tweet and. Feeding time: The.	Sen. John McCain attacks Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. Sen. John McCain attacks Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) or their filibusters and he says it is ���wrong��� to not. The former.	Senator Obama calls Bush unpatriotic for adding. Senator Obama calls Bush unpatriotic for adding. You need Adobe Flash Player to watch this video.. more debt on this country than all the.	prophecy club ted gunderson chronicles 1 full. prophecy club ted gunderson chronicles 1 full. ted gunderson worked for the fbi for many years and speaks about. We have to organize now.

From young cancer patients parents, a special plea to vaccinate

They have appeared on local news stations, plus CNN, two different MSNBC shows and Al Jazeera. We know this 15 minutes is going to end real fast, Jodi Krawitt said. But its such an important story and message, how could we say no? For now, Rhetts .

Scary��� Dangerous��� Slimy��� Ignorant Ted Cruz - Western.

MSNBC contributor Donny Deutsch joined Morning Joe on Monday and proceeded to voice his opinion for newly-announced presidential candidate Ted Cruz, R-Texas. He wasted no time throwing Cruz under the bus,��.

Ted Cruzs Top 5 Presidential Moments ��� Why Hes Ready.

Senator Ted Cruz announced his bid for the Presidency Monday at Liberty University. The right is divided on his candidacy ��� some love him, some hate him. Breathe, you guys. Here at LouderWithCrowder.com and��.

Students at Ted Cruzs presidential campaign.

Student attendance at Cruzs presidential campaign announcement was mandatory, according to The New York Times. A group of students. Others took to Yik Yak, an anonymous social app, to talk about what was happening in front of them.. They dont know we have to be here.. NOW WATCH: This 40-year-old Indonesian is Obamas doppelg��nger.. Take a tour of the Winklevoss twins stunning Los Angeles mansion, which you can rent for $150,000 a month.

Energy News for March 23, 2015 - Bay Planning Coalition

CRUZ: FIRST OFFICIAL 2016ER: Doing away with the ���exploratory��� phase of his 2016 presidential run, Sen.. A roll call vote is slated for 5:30 p.m. The House will hold a vote series at 6:30 p.m. tonight.. ���And I think we all would be better served if he and others spent less time trying to lecture states about what they should be doing ��� and more time trying to actually get some constructive things done in Congress.���. The Los Angeles Times: http://lat.ms/1CK2E1o.

Mike Huckabee ends Fox show to seek support for 2016 campaign

Rick Perry and his home-state senator, Ted Cruz, have criss-crossed the early presidential states, including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Others pondering whether to run include Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and a handful of governors, including .

Ted Cruz and the Real War on Women - Steve Deace.

And thats just what Cruz did recently at a womens forum in South Carolina, one of the most important states on the GOP presidential primary calendar (Im sure thats not a coincidence, by the way). Cruz accused.. His radio program has been featured in major media such as Fox News, CBS News, ABC News, CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Politico, The Weekly Standard, and Real Clear Politics among others.

Why Ted Cruz Is Such a Long Shot

Ted Cruz, the Texas senator and Tea Party favorite, who on Monday became the first major candidate to formally enter the race, has seemingly been on track for this role since he first ran for the Senate in 2012. He is the darling of conservatives in a .

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Ted Cruz forced a rare Saturday session, defying party leaders efforts for smooth passage.. As an unintended consequence of the Saturday session, Democrats used the extra time to begin the process of confirming a slew of Obamas nominees next week.

Sure sounds like Ted Cruz is running for president

Rubio is no sure thing to get reelected in a purple state like Florida so it might be now or never for him; Cruz, on the other hand, will keep his Senate seat in the red state of Texas for as long as he wants it. Hes a phenomenon on the right but the.

Biggest news you missed this weekend

March Madness is underway. March Madness didnt fail to deliver in the NCAA tournaments opening weekend. There were upsets ��� Georgia State stunning Baylor and UAB shocking Iowa State ��� and now were suddenly down to 16 teams. Some of them .

Ted Cruz: Im Running for President | FOX40

Cruz, 44, is the first candidate to formally throw his hat in the ring for whats expected to be a crowded GOP primary, with more than a dozen high-profile Republicans expressing serious interest in a White House run.. Along with two other first-term senators who are expected to run for president (Rand Paul and Marco Rubio), Cruz will likely face questions over experience, an issue that Republicans brought up in 2008 against Barack Obama, who was also a first-term��.

5 Things to Know About Ted Cruzs Run for President - Hit.

Ted Cruz (R-Texas) just announced that hes running for president at a speech at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Hes the first. Here are five things to know about Cruz and his candidacy. 1. He wanted to be the first. Hes now the only one running for president, instead of engaging in this Kabuki dance that the others are.��� Of course theres always a danger to being first, too, which is that by the time the big scrum gets going, youre old news. 2. Hes targeting��.

Christies vaccination wobble: Predictable, cynical and unacceptable

Chris Christie equivocated about the urgency of vaccinating children against measles, mumps and rubella on a trip to England, where he is attempting to burnish his foreign policy credentials in advance of his anticipated presidential campaign.

READ IN: Stockpiling For Snow Edition

All you need to know about the case from Robert Barnes. -- The New York Times. The House voted 257 to 167 to fund the Department of Homeland Security through the end of September as Republicans caved to Democratic demands for a clean bill without.

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Ted Cruz Running For President, 3 Year Old Scared - Ted Cruz Running For President, 3 Year Old Scared - Video Ted Cruz is running for President, scarring 3 year olds everywhere. Today, Texas Senator Ted. 6 hours ago.

The Listings: Feb. 16 - Feb. 22

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 BILL W. AND DR. BOB Previews start today. Opens on March 5. This history play portrays the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous -- and their wives (2:15). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. BFF Previews start tomorrow. Opens on Feb. 24. In Anna Zieglers memory play, a woman, haunted by her past, has a sexual awakening (1:30). DR2, 103 East 15th Street, (212) 239-6200. THE COAST OF UTOPIA: SALVAGE In previews; opens on Sunday. Tom Stoppards epic trilogy about 19th-century Russian intelligentsia comes to an end with this final installment, which once again stars a vigorous and immense cast, including Brian F. OByrne, Jennifer Ehle, Martha Plimpton and Ethan Hawke. Jack OBrien directs (2:30). Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. DYING CITY In previews; opens on March 4. Lincoln Center presents a new play by Christopher Shinn (Four) about a therapist who receives a visit from her deceased husbands twin brother (1:30). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-7600. HOWARD KATZ In previews; opens on March 2. Roundabout Theater presents a new play by Patrick Marber (Closer) about a down-on-his-luck talent agent. Doug Hughes directs (1:30). Laura Pels Theater, 111 West 46th Street, (212) 719-1300. JOURNEYS END In previews; opens on Thursday. This English transfer of R. C. Sherriffs early-20th-century antiwar play stars the Tony winners Boyd Gaines and Jefferson Mays (2:40). Belasco Theater, 111 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. KING HEDLEY II Previews start on Tuesday. Opens on March 11. Signature Theater revives August Wilsons operatic drama, set in Reagen-era Pittsburgh, about a man who just returned from prison (2:45). Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 244-7529. KING LEAR In previews; opens on March 7. He played Hamlet. He played Falstaff. It was only a matter of time before Kevin Kline took on this proud, misguided patriarch. James Lapine directs (3:00). The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555. MARY ROSE In previews; opens on Tuesday. Although it can sometimes seem otherwise, J. M. Barrie wrote stories besides Peter Pan, including this one about a girl who might be a ghost. Tina Landau directs (1:45). Vineyard Theater, 108 East 15th Street, (212) 353-0303. OUR LEADING LADY Previews start on Thursday. Opens on March 20. A new comedy by Charles Busch (The Tale of the Allergists Wife), about the actress who was to perform at Fords Theater on the night Lincoln was shot (2:00). Manhattan Theater Club at City Center Stage II, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. PRELUDE TO A KISS Previews start today. Opens on March 8. The Roundabout revives Craig Lucass fantastical play about a young romance that takes a very bizarre turn (2:00). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300. SEALED FOR FRESHNESS In previews; opens on Feb. 24. Set in the 60s, Doug Stones new play features a group of Midwestern housewives at a Tupperware party. Comedy ensues (2:00). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. SPALDING GRAY: STORIES LEFT TO TELL Previews start on Tuesday. Opens on March 6. Kathleen Russo, Spalding Grays widow, and Lucy Sexton assembled this collection of his monologues, letters and stories. Kathleen Chalfant and Frank Wood star (1:30). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village, (212) 307-4100. TALK RADIO In previews; opens on March 11. Eric Bogosians darkly funny portrait of a late-night talk show host returns for a Broadway revival starring Liev Schreiber. Robert Falls directs. Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. Broadway THE APPLE TREE The amazing Kristin Chenoweth gives Imax-screen-size life to three curvaceous doodles who by rights shouldnt be any larger than figures in the Sunday funnies. Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnicks 1966 musical, directed by Gary Griffin, shows its age but is given theatrical verve by Ms. Chenoweth, Brian dArcy James and Marc Kudisch (2:30). Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street, (212) 719-1300. (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 The exhilarating first two installments of Tom Stoppards trilogy about 19th-century Russian intellectuals dreaming of revolution, these productions pulse 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 that includes Brian F. OByrne, Jennifer Ehle, Billy Crudup and Ethan Hawke (2:45). Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * COMPANY Fire, beckoning and dangerous, flickers beneath the frost of John Doyles elegant, unexpectedly stirring revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furths era-defining musical from 1970, starring a compellingly understated Raul Esparza. Like Mr. Doyles Sweeney Todd, this production finds new clarity of feeling in Sondheim by melding the roles of performers and musicians (2:20). Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE DROWSY CHAPERONE (Tony Awards, best book of a musical and best original score, 2006) This small and ingratiating spoof of 1920s stage frolics, as imagined by an obsessive show queen, may not be a masterpiece. But in a dry season for musicals, it has theatergoers responding as if they were withering houseplants finally being watered after long neglect. Bob Martin and Sutton Foster are the standouts in the avid, energetic cast (1:40). Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * GREY GARDENS Christine Ebersole is absolutely glorious as the middle-aged, time-warped debutante called Little Edie Beale in this uneven musical adaptation of the notorious 1975 documentary of the same title. She and the wonderful Mary Louise Wilson (as her 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) 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) TARZAN This writhing green blob with music, adapted by Disney Theatrical Productions from the 1999 animated film, has the feeling of a superdeluxe day care center, equipped with lots of bungee cords and karaoke synthesizers, where children can swing when they get tired of singing, and vice versa. The soda-pop score is by Phil Collins (2:30). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) * TRANSLATIONS The estimable Irish director Garry Hynes (a Tony winner for Martin McDonaghs Beauty Queen of Leenane) has assembled an ensemble of an extraordinarily high caliber and consistency for the third major New York production of Brian Friels 1980 play. Set in rural Ireland in 1833, as the local tongue is being supplanted by the language of the English occupying forces, the play explores the seriocomic truth that language can divide as easily as it unites, and can never hope to translate the rich music in our souls with the delicacy we yearn for. A top-flight Broadway revival (2:15). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (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 (2:20). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) Off Broadway ALL THAT I WILL EVER BE In this false-feeling comedy-drama by Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet Under, a gay hustler undergoes an identity crisis when he finds himself falling for one of his clients. Slick but mostly stale in its analysis of a society afraid of emotional engagement (2:15). The New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) 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) THE CRYING WOMAN An imaginative play that manages to transform what begins as a tired culture-clash comedy involving a Mexican and United States couple sharing a house in Mexico City into a sinister tale involving strange superstitions and a ghost from the 16th century (2:30). The Beckett Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Wilborn Hampton) DAI (ENOUGH) Iris Bahrs unnerving one-woman show doesnt have much to add to the Middle East debate, but it sure leaves a lasting impression. Ms. Bahr plays an assortment of characters who have the misfortune of being in a Tel Aviv cafe that is about to be visited by the havoc common to such establishments. The attack is rendered in jarring fashion, repeatedly; you watch the play on pins and needles, waiting for the next burst. Gimmicky? Sure. But viscerally effective (1:40). Culture Project, 55 Mercer Street, at Broome Street, SoHo, (212) 253-9983. (Neil Genzlinger) DUTCHMAN A revival of the poet Amiri Barakas screed on race and American values, 43 years after its Greenwich Village debut, aims for all the fire and might of a Malcolm X speech but none of the rhetorical elegance. It shouts so loudly that you cant hear a thing (1:00). Cherry Lane Theater, 38 Commerce Street, between Barrow and Bedford Streets, West Village (212) 239-6200. (Ginia Bellafante) 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) THE FEVER Wallace Shawn performs his provocative monologue about a guilt-riddled bourgeois everyman sweating his way through a moral crisis. The rich, often hypnotic writing draws us into his tortured mindscape, as he shifts between shame over his sense of entitlement and reasoned arguments that sacrifice is unnecessary and pointless. Meanwhile, in the third world, the violence and poverty continue unabated (1:30). Acorn Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) THE FRUGAL REPAST This sweet, compact story by Ron Hirsen dabbles in the high concepts of art, but not too deeply, which makes it just right. Two circus performers see Picassos Frugal Repast in a dealers window and realize they were the models for it; when they steal the print, their lowbrow world and Picassos highbrow one amusingly collide (1:20). The June Havoc Theater, Abingdon Theater Arts Complex, 312 West 36th Street, (212) 868-4444. (Genzlinger) GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL A very funny if not terribly original satire of musical theater features what must be the worst backers audition of all time. The excellent duo Jeremy Shamos and Christopher Fitzgerald make the pitch (2:05). The Actors Playhouse, 100 Seventh Avenue South, at Fourth Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 239-6200. (Jason Zinoman) * IN THE HEIGHTS Lin-Manuel Mirandas joyous songs paint a vibrant portrait of daily life in Washington Heights in this flawed but enjoyable show. Essentially a valentine to the barrio -- conflict of a violent or desperate kind is banished from the picture -- the musical contains a host of vibrant, funny performances, and brings the zesty sound of Latin pop to the stage. (2:10). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Isherwood) JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS A powerfully sung revival of the 1968 revue, presented with affectionate nostalgia by the director Gordon Greenberg. As in the original, two men and two women perform a wide selection of Brels plaintive ballads and stirring anthems (2:00). Zipper Theater, 336 West 37th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) THE JADED ASSASSIN Imagine mediocre professional wrestling mixed with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and you get the idea (1:15). The Ohio Theater, 66 Wooster Street, SoHo, (212) 868-4444. (Zinoman) A JEW GROWS IN BROOKLYN You dont have to be Jewish or Brooklynish to empathize with Jake Ehrenreich, but in terms of fully appreciating his essentially one-man show, it probably helps. Especially the Catskills jokes (2:05). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, (212) 560-8912. (Anita Gates) THE LAST WORD Oren Safdies comedy about cultural generation gaps amuses as it goes along but lands at a predictable nowhere. Daniel J. Travanti stars as a Viennese Jew and aspiring playwright who does battle with a young student angling to become his writing assistant and find his voice (1:30). Theater at St. Clements, 423 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Bellafante) THE MERCHANT OF VENICE and THE JEW OF MALTA F. Murray Abraham plays two Elizabethan villains in repertory for the Theater for a New Audience. Mr. Abrahams sinister but still moving Shylock is the dark heart of Darko Tresnjaks chilly, powerful staging of one of Shakespeares unfunniest comedies. As Barabas in David Herskovitss goofy, postmodern Jew of Malta, hes the lively center of a carnival that doesnt do justice to Christopher Marlowes harsh satire on Christian hypocrisy and venality (each 2:30). The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM Shakespeares comedy, so dependent on things that arent what they appear to be, makes an inspired choice for Theater by the Blind, a group that mixes blind, vision-impaired and fully sighted actors. The most intriguing thing, though, is how the company stages the play with just six actors (1:50). The Barrow Group Theater, 312 West 36th Street, (212) 868-4444. (Genzlinger) MY MOTHERS ITALIAN, MY FATHERS JEWISH AND IM IN THERAPY Steve Solomon does skillful impersonations in his one-man show, but some of his jokes are as old as the hills (1:30). Little Shubert Theater, 422 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) NO CHILD Teachers will love Nilaja Suns one-woman show about the challenges of teaching drama at Malcolm X High School (1:10). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) ROOM SERVICE The Peccadillo Theater Company puts a charge into this 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). SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, South Village, (212) 691-1555. (Genzlinger) A SPANISH PLAY The great Zoe Caldwell returns to the New York stage after an absence of a decade, in the fine company of Linda Emond, Denis OHare and Larry Pine. Thats the good news. The bad? The play. Yasmina Rezas pseudo-philosophical and metatheatrical trifle is utterly forgettable (1:50). Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. (Isherwood) 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 (1:20). St. Lukes Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Phoebe Hoban) VICTORIA MARTIN: MATH TEAM QUEEN Must all stage teenagers speak in that exaggerated surfer-dude style in which awesome and totally make up about 50 percent of any conversation? Yes, apparently they must, from the evidence presented in this thin comedy, which is about a high school girl who finds herself on the all-male math team. The playwright, Kathryn Walat, seems to have been trying to grab the coattails of a certain spelling-bee-related show. She missed (2:00). The Julia Miles Theater, 424 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Genzlinger) * 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) * WAKE UP MR. SLEEPY! YOUR UNCONSCIOUS MIND IS DEAD! Richard Foremans latest film-theater hybrid is a memorial service, of sorts, for the intuitive self, killed by a surface-worshiping world. It is also a dazzling exercise in reality shifting that is as invigorating as it is mournful (1:05). Ontological Theater at St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. (Brantley) Off Off Broadway AT LEAST ITS PINK Bridget Everett and her big, bad attitude co-star in this mini-musical about sex and unsatisfying jobs in the city. Directed by Michael Patrick King (of Sex and the City, as it happens), who is also the co-author, and with songs written by Ms. Everett and Kenny Mellman, the piano-playing half of Kiki & Herb. Raucous and rude, its a bit like a one-woman episode of Jerry Springer (1:20). Ars Nova, 511 West 54th Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444. (Isherwood) T J AND DAVE The comics T. J. Jagodowski and Dave Pasquesi miraculously improvise a one-hour play at every performance. This is an impressive feat of mental athletics, but the results are also observant, complex and frequently enormously funny (1:00). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) Long-Running Shows ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) 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) 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) FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT Often more entertaining than the real thing (1:45). 47th Street Theater, 304 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) 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) SPAMALOT A singing scrapbook for Monty Python fans (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE A Chorus Line with pimples (1:45). Circle in the Square, 254 West 50th Street, Manhattan, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance ANON. Kate Robins savvy, dark romantic comedy about sexual addiction doesnt live up to its potential (2:10). Atlantic Theater Company, Stage 2, 330 West 16th Street, Chelsea, (212) 239-6200; closes on Sunday. (Zinoman) 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; closes tomorrow. (Gates) FRANKS HOME Peter Weller plays Frank Lloyd Wright in Richard Nelsons dreary bio-drama, which lingers lovingly on its subjects feet of clay while paying arid lip service to his genius (1:45). Playwrights Horizons Mainstage, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 719-4200; closes on Sunday. (Isherwood) * 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; closes on Sunday. (Brantley) MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS This musical is too big for its stage, but the young turn-of-the-last-century sweethearts have great chemistry, and there are four terrific songs (2:00). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 727-2737; closes on Sunday. (Gates) * TOYS IN THE ATTIC Austin Pendletons fine revival of Lillian Hellmans last play faithfully attacks the corrosive attachments of family. What good is a family, and thus a society, the play implicitly asks, that can only look in the mirror? (2:30) Pearl Theater, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212) 598-9802; closes on Sunday. (Bellafante) 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. ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES (PG, 94 minutes) Luc Besson serves up a hybrid of live actors and computer-generated figures to tell a not-endearing-enough story about a boy (Freddie Highmore) who shrinks to microscopic size to find some gems and his missing grandfather. Lots of famous names (Madonna, Robert De Niro, David Bowie, Snoop Dogg) lend their voices to the computerized part of the movie, but only briefly near the end does everything click. (Neil Genzlinger) BABEL (R, 143 minutes, in English, Spanish, Japanese, Berber, Arabic and sign language) This hugely ambitious movie tells four loosely linked, not quite simultaneous stories set on three different continents, with dialogue in several languages. The themes, to the extent they are decipherable, include loss, fate and the terrible consequences of miscommunication. Written by Guillermo Arriaga and directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, the movie is an intellectual muddle but a visceral tour de force, and the power of the filmmaking almost overcomes the fuzziness of the ideas. Almost. (A. O. Scott) BECAUSE I SAID SO (PG-13, 102 minutes) Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore as mother and daughter. What did she say, exactly? Whatever it was, it wasnt as funny as it should have been. (Scott) * BLACK FRIDAY (No rating, 143 minutes, in Hindi) Set in 1993, this is an exploration of how religious hatred between Indias Hindu majority and Muslim minority manifested itself in institutionalized discrimination, race rioting and, ultimately, a series of terrorist bombings by Muslim guerrillas that killed 257 people in Mumbai. The upshot is an exhaustive, exhausting, often moving thriller that spreads both empathy and condemnation around democratically. (Matt Zoller Seitz) 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 misery into entertainment. (Manohla Dargis) BREAKING AND ENTERING (R, 119 minutes) This high-toned, feel-bad exercise in liberal guilt comes from Anthony Minghella, who brings the same earnest humorlessness to present-day London that he has brought to the historical past. Jude Law is an architect; Juliette Binoche is a Bosnian seamstress; and Vera Farmiga provides a glimmer of wit and liveliness as a Russian prostitute who shows up to drink coffee, show her underwear and discuss the themes of the movie. (Scott) * CHILDREN OF MEN (R, 100 minutes) The end is nigh in this superb thriller directed by Alfonso Cuarón about a nervously plausible future. Based on the P. D. James book, the film stars an excellent Clive Owen and features equally sterling support from Michael Caine, Danny Huston and Chiwetel Ejiofior, among others. (Dargis) * DAYS OF GLORY (R, 120 minutes, in French) Rachid Boucharebs tale of North African soldiers fighting to free their French colonial masters from German Occupation during World War II is a potent combat picture, and also a searching and complex political drama. (Scott) * THE DEPARTED (R, 150 minutes) Martin Scorseses cubistic entertainment about men divided by power, loyalty and their own selves is at once a success and a relief. Based on the crackling Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, it features fine twinned performances from Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, and a showboating Jack Nicholson. (Dargis) DREAMGIRLS (PG-13, 131 minutes) The Broadway musical arrives on the screen, capably directed by Bill Condon, ardently acted and sung by Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Beyoncé Knowles and (especially) Jennifer Hudson, but undone by mediocre and anachronistic songs. (Scott) EPIC MOVIE (PG-13, 86 minutes) A cheap, dumb parody of expensive, dumb movies. (Scott) FACTORY GIRL (R, 91 minutes) Its not entirely inappropriate that this film, George Hickenloopers biography of Edie Sedgwick, the most glamorous of Andy Warhols so-called superstars, should suggest a magazine layout masquerading as a film. The world through which Ms. Sedgwick (Sienna Miller) blazed and burned out was one that lived and died by the camera. It existed to be seen and drooled over. But God help you if you actually lived in it. (Stephen Holden) HANNIBAL RISING (R, 121 minutes) Marked by too much respect and too little energy, this primer on the early years of Hannibal Lecter reduces one of our most mythic villains to a callow, dysfunctional chef. Orphaned in World War II, our psychopathic hero hunts down his familys killers and snacks on their remains. But burrowing into the id of pop cultures most repulsive gourmet demands a sanguinary glee that the director, Peter Webber, may not possess; for all the movies spurting gore, theres no accompanying rush of blood to the head. (Jeannette Catsoulis) THE ITALIAN (PG-13, 99 minutes, in Russian) This dark fairy tale from Russia pulls you into a richly atmospheric, persuasively inhabited world teeming with young foundlings and pathos, and upended by one remarkable little boy. (Dargis) THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND (R, 121 minutes) Kevin Macdonald paints a queasily enjoyable portrait of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin from inside the palace walls. Forest Whitaker plays the mad king, while James McAvoy plays the fool. (Dargis) * LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (R, 141 minutes, in Japanese) Another masterwork from Clint Eastwoods astonishing late period, and one of the best war movies ever. Ken Watanabe is especially fine as the general commanding Japanese troops in the doomed defense of the island of Iwo Jima. (Scott) * LITTLE CHILDREN (R, 130 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) * Little Miss Sunshine (R, 101 minutes) A bittersweet comedy of dysfunction that takes place at the terminus of the American dream. The excellent cast includes Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano and that national treasure, Alan Arkin. (Dargis) THE LIVES OF OTHERS (R, 137 minutes, in German) Florian Henckel von Donnersmarcks debut feature takes place in East Berlin in 1984, and it is a smart, moving inquiry into the moral predicament facing good people in a bad system. Ulrich Mühes performance as a conscience-stricken Stasi officer is a tightly wound tour de force, and Sebastian Koch and Martina Gedeck are both superb as a playwright and his actress lover who are drawn into the cruel, absurd clutches of the Communist secret police. (Scott) * MAFIOSO (No rating, 99 minutes, in Italian) This 1962 film, revived by Rialto Pictures, is a rambunctious, astonishing blend of farce, thriller and social satire. The director, Alberto Lattuada, follows an up-and-coming Fiat manager (Alberto Sordi) on a visit from Milan to his native village in Sicily. His homecoming is full of surprises -- painful for him, altogether delightful for the audience. (Scott) NORBIT (PG-13, 97 minutes) Eddie Murphy plays a nebbish, a fat woman and a Chinese restaurant owner in this crude, sometimes mean, but often funny farce. (Scott) NOTES ON A SCANDAL (R, 92 minutes) Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett play a misogynistic game of cat and mouse from which no one emerges unscathed, including the audience. Adapted by Patrick Marber from a novel by Zoë Heller and directed by Richard Eyre. (Dargis) NOTES ON MARIE MENKEN (No rating, 97 minutes) Martina Kudlaceks documentary shines a quavering if welcome ray of light on a largely forgotten figure in the American avant-garde film scene, whose sphere of influence included Edward Albee, Stan Brakhage and Kenneth Anger. (Dargis) * PANS LABYRINTH (R, 119 minutes, in Spanish) Guillermo del Toros tale of a young girls ordeal in post-Civil-War fascist Spain is either a fairy tale in the guise of a political allegory or vice versa. In either case it is a moving, enchanting, strange and humane example of popular art at its very best. (Scott) THE PAINTED VEIL (PG-13, 125 minutes) Nicely directed by John Curran, this version of the W. Somerset Maugham novel draws you in by turning a distaff bildungsroman into a fine romance with Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. (Dargis) THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS (PG-13, 117 minutes) How you respond to this fairy tale in realist drag may depend on whether you find Will Smiths performances so overwhelmingly winning that you buy the idea that poverty is a function of bad luck and bad choices, and success the result of heroic toil and dreams. (Dargis) PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS (No rating, 81 minutes) Snappy repartee with the ring of real conversation among people who are never at a loss for a remark is something every self-respecting Manhattan sophisticate imagines can be channeled into a screenplay with the crackle of vintage Woody Allen. That elusive tone is sustained through enough of Maria Maggentis film Puccini For Beginners to make this screwball comedy of sexual confusion with lesbian inclinations a rarity. (Holden) * THE QUEEN (PG-13, 103 minutes) Directed by Stephen Frears from a very smart script by Peter Morgan, and starring a magnificent Helen Mirren in the title role, The Queen pries open a window in the House of Windsor around the time of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, blending fact with fiction. (Dargis) * REGULAR LOVERS (No rating, 175 minutes, in French) Philippe Garrels tender portrait of late-1960s French youth stars the filmmakers son, Louis Garrel, as a 20-year-old Parisian struggling through the fires of revolutionary promise and its smoldering remains. Magnificent. (Dargis) THE SITUATION (No rating, 106 minutes, in English and Arabic) Connie Nielsen stars as a correspondent sniffing around wartime Iraq in a narcoleptic thriller directed by Philip Haas from a screenplay by the journalist Wendell Steavenson. (Dargis) SMOKIN ACES (R, 107 minutes) Absolute garbage. (Scott) STOMP THE YARD (PG-13, 109 minutes) Brotherhood is powerful in this sometimes compelling, sometimes complacent movie about stepping and African-American fraternity life at an Atlanta institution called Truth University. D J (Columbus Short), a street-style dancer, needs to find his place in a university ruled by Gammas and Thetas and stepping. (Rachel Saltz) AN UNREASONABLE MAN (No rating, 122 minutes) A very reasonable documentary about the long career of Ralph Nader as a consumer advocate and, more recently and vexingly to some of his former admirers, a perennial presidential candidate. (Scott) VENUS (R, 91 minutes) A modest, diverting, touching tale of a young woman who attracts the interest -- avuncular and also erotic -- of an aging actor, played with effortless aplomb by the great Peter OToole. (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 FILM COMMENT SELECTS (Tonight through Thursday) A series of critically acclaimed films that were not released commercially, chosen by the editors of Film Comment, continues tonight with Pedro Costas Colossal Youth, one of the most divisive titles of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. A slow-moving study of the immigrants from Cape Verde who live in a run-down corner of Lisbon, the film evoked both the standard comparisons to paint drying and high praise comparing Mr. Costas work to that of the avant garde masters Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet (whose final film will be shown in this series next weekend). Also this week: Bardo (2005), by the Taiwanese director Lin Tay-jou; the controversial Chinese film Summer Palace (2006), by Lou Ye; and a new, arty thriller, Retribution, (2006), by the Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa. (Through Feb. 27.) Walter Reade Theater 165 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5600, filmlinc.org; $10. (Dave Kehr) FIST AND SWORD: AN AFTERNOON WITH RON VAN CLIEF (Sunday) This African-American martial arts star appears with a program of clips from the many films and television programs he has worked on since 1974, including Way of the Black Dragon (1978) and Touch of Death (1980). Museum of the Moving Image, 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077, movingimage.us; $10. (Kehr) GRAHAM GREENE NOIR (Thursday) A series of four weekly screenings of films based on thrillers by Graham Greene begins with a rarely seen 1944 film by Fritz Lang, Ministry of Fear, a spy tale loosely based on Greenes novel of the same title, filled out with haunting, surrealist imagery. Ray Milland and Marjorie Reynolds star. (Through March 30.) Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Street, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100, www.bam.org; $10. (Kehr) MORRICONE (Tonight through Thursday) The third and final week of a tribute to the Italian film composer Ennio Morricone features some very rare titles, including Giuliano Montaldos 1968 Machine Gun McCain, starring John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk, on Sunday and Monday, and Samuel Fullers fatally misunderstood fable on race relations, White Dog (1982), on Tuesday. Film Forum 209 West Houston Street, west of Avenue of the Americas, South Village, (212) 727-8110, filmforum.org; $10.50. (Kehr) A VIEW FROM THE VAULTS: WARNER BROs., RKO PICTURES AND FIRST NATIONAL PICTURES (Tonight through Thursday) Ten features from the aforementioned studios, shown in prints recently acquired by the Museum of Modern Art. This weeks screenings include Irving Rappers 1945 The Corn Is Green, with Bette Davis; Michael Curtizs lurid 1949 carnival melodrama, Flamingo Road, with Joan Crawford; Raoul Walshs 1940 tale of high-speed truck drivers, They Drive by Night; and Gunga Din, George Stevenss rousing colonialist adventure of 1939. (Through Feb. 24.) Museum of Modern Art Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, (212) 708-9400, moma.org; $10. (Kehr) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. JON ANDERSON AND THE SCHOOL OF ROCK ALL-STARS (Sunday and Monday) As seen in the documentary Rock School, Paul Green offers an extensive curriculum at his Philadelphia school, teaching youngsters the rock n roll canon, as well as the fundamentals of power chords and budda-budda bass lines. Here his students get the equivalent of a dissertation defense: backing up Jon Anderson, the helium-voiced former singer of Yes, in that bands hair-pullingly complex, neoclassical prog-rock songs. At 8 p.m., B. B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144, bbkingblues.com; $35 in advance, $40 at the door (sold out on Sunday). (Ben Sisario) * ARCADE FIRE (Tonight and tomorrow night) Three years ago, with its jubilantly clamorous album Funeral, this Montreal group performed a kind of musical miracle: making navel-gazing indie-rock seem not only fresh and sincere but also deeply meaningful. Its brilliant second record, Neon Bible (Merge), to be released next month, is darker and more preoccupied but nearly as cathartic. At 7:30, Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, (212) 260-4700, bowerypresents.com; sold out. (Sisario) BARR (Tonight and tomorrow night) Over bare stutters of piano and drums, Brendan Fowler of Barr lets loose an endlessly self-regarding logorrhea, questioning his every thought and instinct in a naked, paratactic melancholy. What is the saddest thing I can say? he asks on Barrs new album, Summary (5RC). Words arent sad enough. Music isnt sad enough. How could it bear to be? It doesnt need to be cause life is there to do it for real. With Lucky Dragons. At 8, the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, thekitchen.org; $10. (Sisario) RICHARD BUCKNER (Tomorrow and Sunday) With a dry baritone and a creaky acoustic guitar, Richard Buckner broods about women, booze and death. And hes serious about all this American Gothic stuff: his 2000 album The Hill was an appropriately bleak setting of 18 poems from Edgar Lee Masterss Spoon River Anthology. With Six Parts Seven. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Sunday at 9:30 p.m., Union Hall, 702 Union Street, at Fifth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 638-4400, unionhallny.com; $10. (Sisario) JUDY COLLINS (Tonight and tomorrow night, and Tuesday through Thursday) A folk songbird for seemingly longer than anybody else has been a folk songbird, Ms. Collins is at the Café Carlyle for her debut cabaret engagement. At 8:45 p.m., Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 744-1600, thecarlyle.com; $100 cover at tables, $65 at the bar. (Sisario) BOBBY CONN (Thursday) Bobby Conn is a wiseguy iconoclast from Chicago who never skips his daily dose of irony as he turns pop songs into excursions all over the musical landscape. He wanders amid retro-funk, jazz and noise as he proclaims his romantic intentions in sardonically overwrought vocals. With Detholz and the Victoria Lucas. At 9 p.m., Trash Bar, 256 Grand Street, at Roebling Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718) 599-100, thetrashbar.com; $10. (Sisario) KEVIN DEVINE, JENNIFER OCONNOR (Tomorrow) Mr. Devine, once of the band Miracle of 86, has carved out a niche as a sharp and unassuming singer-songwriter in the Elliott Smith mold. Ms. OConnors portraits of the lovelorn, in poker-faced, half-sung, half-spoken vocals, are dry but not unsympathetic: Maybe shes on her lunch break thinking of you. With Pablo and Koufax. At 8 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3132, knittingfactory.com; $10 in advance, $12 at the door. (Sisario) DUB TRIO (Monday and Tuesday) Made up of well-traveled session players for the likes of the Fugees and Mos Def, Dub Trio plays spacious reggae grooves spiked with high-adrenaline punk, affectionately recalling Bad Brains. At 8 p.m., Union Pool, 484 Union Avenue, at Meeker Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 609-0484; $5. (Sisario) EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY (Monday and Tuesday) The epic instrumentals by this band from Austin, Tex., begin in peace, with single notes twinkling amid darkness, and gradually build to turbulent vortexes of noise. Borrowing a few tricks from Pink Floyd, Explosions in the Sky keeps the pace majestic and the vistas cinematic, and takes its time. Monday at 9 p.m., with Mountains, at Warsaw, 261 Driggs Avenue, at Eckford Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 387-0505, warsawconcerts.com; Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., the Concert Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street, Manhattan, wordlessmusic.org; both shows sold out. (Sisario) MELISSA FERRICK, TIM FITE (Tonight) Somewhere between Ani DiFranco and Melissa Etheridge, Ms. Ferrick slings an acoustic guitar and belts songs filled with bravado. Tim Fites songs about kicking every can in New York City are booby-trapped with quick changes, from clean country-pop to corrosive punk. At 9, Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, near Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236, spsounds.com; $18. (Sisario) GANG GANG DANCE (Tomorrow) Like radio waves converging somewhere in outer space, this New York groups music -- made from tribal rhythms, pulsating electronic noises and Bollywoodesque vocals -- is a tangle of disparate sounds that seem slightly out of sync but in time develop their own hypnotic patterns. At 9 p.m., Studio B, 259 Banker Street, between Meserole Avenue and Calyer Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 389-1880, clubstudiob.com; $12.50. (Sisario) GYM CLASS HEROES (Thursday) It was inevitable: emo rap. Gym Class Heroes, from Geneva, N.Y., were as obscure a hip-hop act as could be when they made Taxi Driver, which winkingly name-checks a Warped Tours worth of emo bands. (I took a cutie for a ride in my death cab. Before she left she made a dashboard confessional.) By last summer, when they released New Friend Request, about MySpace etiquette, they were rubbing shoulders with all those groups -- on the Warped Tour, of course. With RX Bandits, P.O.S. and k-os. At 5:30 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 533-2111, bowerypresents.com; sold out. (Sisario) IN THE ATTIC (Tuesday) Its good to be connected. Rachel Fuller, a British songwriter, presents this informal musical salon with her companion, a little-known guitarist named Pete Townshend. In the Attic is usually a live Web cast from Mr. Townshends studio, but lately Ms. Fuller has been taking it on the road, and on Tuesday she and Mr. Townshend preside over a jam session with surprise guests. At 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, joespub.com; sold out. (Sisario) RICKIE LEE JONES (Tonight) With a new album, The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard (New West), that sets sayings by Jesus to raw, droney rock songs, Rickie Lee Jones, the beret-wearing neo-Beat with the girlish slur, offers yet another twist in a career full of odd turns. At 8, the Concert Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-7171, concertstonight.com; $49.50. (Sisario) KIKI AND HERB (Sunday) A few years ago this brilliantly perverse cabaret duo played their farewell show at Carnegie Hall. Then came a run on Broadway. And some late-night gigs at Joes Pub. And the annual, inimitable Christmas show. (Highlight: a medley of Smells Like Teen Spirit and Frosty the Snowman.) Kiki and Herb cant stay away from the stage, and New York is the better for it. At 11:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, joespub.com; $20. (Sisario) B. B. KING (Thursday) With his latest guitar called Lucille, B. B. King can, on a good night, summon all the tribulation and joy and resilience of the blues. At 8 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888) 466-5722, njpac.org; $35 to $95. (Jon Pareles) LINCOLN CENTERS AMERICAN SONGBOOK (Wednesday and Thursday) Now in its ninth season, this series has expanded greatly from its origins as a home for the midcentury pantheon of Harold Arlen, Richard Rodgers and the like. On Wednesday Ute Lemper, one of the few performers who can make cabaret seem dangerous, sings songs by Kurt Weill, Tom Waits and Van Morrison, as well as some of her own. Thursday is a triple bill of young New York songwriters who have long shared (small) stages together: Sasha Dobson, whose songs float on a breeze of bossa nova; Jesse Harris, who wrote Dont Know Why for his friend Norah Jones; and Richard Julian, who is endlessly enamored of, and frustrated by, his most frequent subject, New York. At 8:30 p.m., Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, (212) 721-6500, lincolncenter.org; $30 to $60 (sold out on Wednesday). (Sisario) MALAJUBE, SNOWDEN (Tomorrow through Monday) Trading places as the headliner in three shows: Malajube, a Montreal band whose seductively surreal songs (sung in French) riffle through decades of influence, from happy Beatles pop to rap and stomping grunge-pop; and Snowden, whose members are from Atlanta but play stylishly depressive postpunk riffs like true Brooklynites. Tomorrow and Sunday at 8:30 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700, mercuryloungenyc.com; sold out. Monday at 8:30 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, near Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236, spsounds.com; $10. (Sisario) PELA, HIGH STRUNG (Tonight) All Friday nights at the Mercury Lounge should be like this, and many are: two excellent, underhyped bands and a cover charge that doesnt necessitate a trip to the A.T.M. Pela, from Brooklyn, calls its style pastoral punk, which means wide-open skies of bouncy, Pixiesesque basslines and sharp, sparkling guitars that recall the Strokes and U2. The High Strung, whose members are based in Detroit but did time in New York, live up to their name with antsy, accelerated songs that draw from both the raggedness of garage rock and the bright, clear lines of New Wave. The band gets extra points for touring dozens of public libraries. With XYZ Affair and the Teeth. At 8:30, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700, mercuryloungenyc.com; $10. (Sisario) * SAVAGE REPUBLIC (Tomorrow) Between 1980 and 1989, this Los Angeles band released four albums of droning, pounding, brawling postpunk that could be assaultive or hypnotic -- a West Coast counterpart to early Public Image Ltd., Swans and Sonic Youth. Touring sporadically since the reissue of its complete catalog in 2002, the group comes to Club Midway in the East Village. Tomorrows Friend, Va Va China and Oliver North open the show. At 8 p.m., 25 Avenue B, at Second Street, (212) 253-2595, clubmidway.com; $15 in advance, $18 at the door. (Pareles) * SONIC YOUTH (Tonight) Conventional wisdom would say it should have burned out years ago: Sonic Youth has been treading the same shaggy avant-indie path since the early 1980s, and each of its members has had plenty of other interests to pursue. But since its 2002 album Murray Street, partly about life after 9/11, the band has hit a wonderful new stride, and on its latest album, Rather Ripped (Geffen), sounds as comfortable, focused and invigorated as ever. With Wooden Wand. At 6:30, Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 533-2111, bowerypresents.com; sold out. (Sisario) ROD STEWART (Wednesday) His four Great American Songbook albums may not represent the most distinguished readings of those songs -- ditto his Bob Seger and Creedence Clearwater Revival covers on the recent Still the Same Great Rock Classics of Our Time (J) -- but when Rod Stewart lets go of his smugness, that whisky tenor of his can be a powerful interpretive instrument. Doesnt happen often, though. At 8 p.m., Madison Square Garden, (212) 307-7171, thegarden.com; $55 to $129.50. (Sisario) SUPER DIAMOND (Tonight and tomorrow night) A tribute to the songs of Neil Diamond, particularly his triumphal 1970s material. Smirking is optional. At 9, Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800, irvingplaza.com; $25 in advance, $30 at the door. (Pareles) * LOS TIGRES DEL NORTE (Tomorrow) One of the most popular and longest-running bands in the Americas, Los Tigres del Norte, from the western Mexican state of Sinaloa, have for 35 years been setting gritty stories of drug smugglers, immigrants and other hardscrabble characters to the bopping, accordion-driven polkas of norteño (a sound better known on this side of the border as Tex-Mex). The group regularly draws thousands to its shows in New York, and tomorrow it plays the 60,000-square-foot Bedford Avenue Armory in Brooklyn. At 8 p.m., 1579 Bedford Avenue, at President Street, Crown Heights, (646) 261-1588; $40. (Sisario) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. ALL-STAR ORGAN SUMMIT (Tonight and tomorrow night) This descriptively titled engagement features no fewer than three Hammond B-3 organists -- Jimmy McGriff, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Reuben Wilson -- together with the tenor saxophonist Jerry Weldon and the guitarist Peter Bernstein, among others. At 8, 10 and 11:30, Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662, smokejazz.com; cover, $30. (Nate Chinen) SAM BARSH BAND (Tonight) The sharp young keyboardist Sam Barsh leads a groove-minded working band with Tim Collins on vibraphone, Ari Folman-Cohen on bass and Jaimeo Brown on drums. At 10, 11 and 12:30, Rose Live Music, 345 Grand Street, between Havemeyer and Marcy Streets, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-0069, liveatrose.com; cover, $7. (Chinen) * BRIAN BLADE FELLOWSHIP (Tuesday through Thursday) Brian Blade is an unusually sensitive drummer, as he has proven not only with Wayne Shorter but also with Joni Mitchell. He turns the spotlight to his own painterly compositions in this influential ensemble with the saxophonists Myron Walden and Melvin Butler, the guitarist Peter Bernstein, the pianist Jon Cowherd and the bassist Christopher Thomas. (Through Feb. 25.) At 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JOHNATHAN BLAKE QUARTET (Tomorrow) The drummer Johnathan Blake propels a band with two sure-footed saxophonists -- Jaleel Shaw, on alto, and Joel Frahm, on tenor -- as well as the pianist Orrin Evans and the bassist Joe Martin. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $15; $10 for members. (Chinen) BROOKLYN QAWWALI PARTY (Tomorrow) The Sufi devotional music of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan provides a repertory mandate for this ensemble, led by the trumpeter Jesse Neuman. Faithful to its source mainly in terms of exuberance, the group creates a roiling polyphony of percussion, saxophones, brass, bass, harmonium and guitar. At 9 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) CYRUS CHESTNUT QUARTET WITH CARLA COOK (Tuesday through Thursday) Cyrus Chestnut is a pianist with a penchant for gospel harmonies, as he will demonstrate here with a rhythm section and Ms. Cook, a powerful singer. (Through Feb. 25.) 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) KURT ELLING (Tonight through Sunday night) Mr. Ellings deep musicality and literary sensibility have made him the leading male jazz vocalist of our time, though perhaps not the most consistent. He comes with a rhythm section, led by the pianist Laurence Hobgood, and a handful of special guests. At 8 and 10:30, Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592, bluenote.net; cover, $35 at tables, $20 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) EXPLODING HEART/EXPLORATIONS (Tomorrow) Explosion and exploration are sure to be closely related processes in both these ad hoc ensembles. Exploding Heart consists of Tony Malaby on saxophones, William Parker on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums; Explorations features the alto saxophonist Matana Roberts and the drummer Tyshawn Sorey. At 8 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) FIVE OF A KIND (Tuesday) This collaborative quintet, which makes its debut here, features ambitious musician-composers with a shared interest in world music: the trumpeter Avishai Cohen, the saxophonist Joel Frahm, the pianist Jason Lindner, the bassist Omer Avital and the drummer Johnathan Blake. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $20. (Chinen) DON FRIEDMAN (Tonight) Mr. Friedmans stylistic history as a pianist runs from traditional to slightly left of center; hes likely to range freely in this recital at Fazioli Salon, a solo piano series at the Klavierhaus workshop. At 8, Klavierhaus, 211 West 58th Street, Manhattan, (212) 245-4535, pianoculture.com; $25. (Chinen) AARON GOLDBERG 3 PLUS STEFON HARRIS (Wednesday and Thursday) On his last album, Worlds (Sunnyside), the pianist Aaron Goldberg showcased the strong rapport of his working trio, with the bassist Reuben Rogers and the drummer Eric Harland. Here he has a substitute drummer, Greg Hutchinson, and a dynamic guest soloist, the vibraphonist Stefon Harris. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $20. (Chinen) MARY HALVORSON AND JESSICA PAVONE (Wednesday) Ms. Halvorson plays acoustic guitar in this duo, and Ms. Pavone plays viola. Their experimental instincts, honed by an affiliation with the composer Anthony Braxton, commingle with folksy lyricism; they even sing, without a shred of protective irony. At 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) * AHMAD JAMAL TRIO (Tuesday through Thursday) A touchstone of jazz piano since the 1950s, Mr. Jamal still has his broad, dynamic range and signature touch, as he proved on a recent live album, After Fajr (Dreyfus). He also has a no-nonsense rhythm team: the bassist James Cammack and the drummer Idris Muhammad. (Through Feb. 25.) At 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592, bluenote.net; cover, $40 at tables, $30 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA QUARTET (Tonight) Codebook (Pi), the latest album by the alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, investigates the topic of cryptography, not the most promising theme for an improviser. What lifts the project off the ground is the brazen imaginative exertion of his band, with Vijay Iyer on piano, Carlo DeRosa on bass and Dan Weiss on drums. At midnight, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $10; $5 for students; with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JOE MARTIN QUARTET (Thursday) Joe Martin, a reliably supportive bassist, turns the spotlight on his own compositions and on the interplay of a promising quartet, with John Ellis on saxophones, Aaron Parks on piano and Marcus Gilmore on drums. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $12; $10 for members. (Chinen) T. S. MONK (Wednesday and Thursday) Thelonious Sphere Monk Jr., a loquacious drummer whose taste skews less idiosyncratic than his fathers, leads a polished hard-bop band. (Through Feb. 24.) At 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com; cover, $40, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * MY BAND FOOT FOOT (Tomorrow) The Shaggs, a trio of sisters from New Hampshire -- and by common consensus one of the very best truly awful rock bands of all time -- receive a jazz makeover from a sextet led by the wry trumpeter John McNeil. This is the projects first performance; results could be bad, which might be all the better. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) OREGON (Tonight through Sunday night) This influential and worldly ensemble, formed more than 35 years ago, has continued making its distinctive light fusion over the years, sometimes in orchestral settings. Its lineup features the guitarist Ralph Towner, the bassist Glen Moore and the woodwind player Paul McCandless -- all founding members -- along with the drummer Mark Walker. At 8:30 and 10:30, with a midnight set tonight and tomorrow, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JEAN-MICHEL PILC TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow night) Jean-Michel Pilcs piano playing has a joyous bounce, no matter how dark or furious the extemporization. Hes at his best in the company of assertive partners like the bassist Boris Kozlov and the drummer Ari Hoenig, who join him here. At 8 and 9:45, Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 885-7119, kitano.com; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) ODEAN POPE TRIO (Tomorrow) Odean Pope is best recognized for his Saxophone Choir, a powerful and vivid post-Coltrane assembly based in his hometown, Philadelphia. Here the only saxophonist on hand is Mr. Pope himself, though his full-blown style might make it seem otherwise. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Sistas Place, 456 Nostrand Avenue, at Jefferson Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, (718) 756-7600, sistasplace.org; cover, $25 in advance, $30 at the door. (Chinen) * DAFNIS PRIETO AND THE ABSOLUTE QUINTET (Tonight) The drummer Dafnis Prietos Absolute Quintet (Zoho) might not have won the Grammy for best Latin jazz album, but that doesnt diminish its power. Dramatic and serious, it makes references to the avant-garde and early fusion, but always with a lifeline to Latin rhythm; its cast includes Yosvany Terry on saxophones, Christian Howes on violin, Dana Leong on cello and Jason Lindner on piano and organ. At 7:30, Harlem Stage at the Gatehouse, 150 Convent Avenue, at West 135th Street, (212) 650-7100, harlemstage.org; $25. (Chinen) * RECONNECTED: THE FREDDIE REDD QUARTET (Monday) In the late 1950s, the pianist Freddie Redd wrote music for The Connection, a landmark Off Broadway play in which he also appeared onstage. Released on Blue Note, the subsequent album became a hard-bop classic, though that didnt prevent Mr. Redd from slipping into obscurity. He resurfaces here with the bassist Mickey Bass and the drummer Louis Hayes; Donald Harrison inherits the alto saxophone part memorably played by Jackie McLean, who died last year. Another alto saxophone veteran, Lou Donaldson, appears in the concerts first half. At 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, (212) 501-3330, kaufman-center.org; $30 in advance, $35 on Monday. (Chinen) KENDRICK SCOTT ORACLE (Tomorrow) Kendrick Scott, the drummer of choice for the trumpeter Terence Blanchard, previews some of the ambient neo-fusion material from The Source, the debut album by his band Oracle, due this spring. At midnight, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $10; $5 for students, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * SCULPTURED SOUNDS MUSIC FESTIVAL (Sunday) This avant-garde concert series, organized by the bassist Reggie Workman, continues with performances by three powerful ensembles: a trio led by the intense alto saxophonist and pianist Charles Gayle; Billy Harper and Friends, a project of Mr. Harper, a searching tenor saxophonist; and Ashantis Message, led by Mr. Workman and featuring the multireedist J. D. Parran, the pianist Yayoi Ikawa and the percussionists Tyshawn Sorey and Kevin Jones. At 7 p.m., St. Peters Lutheran Church, 619 Lexington Avenue, at 54th Street, (212) 642-5277, sculpturedsounds.com; suggested donation, $20. (Chinen) SEX MOB (Tonight) Fresh off a Grammy nomination for its album Sexotica (Thirsty Ear), this scrappy downtown band returns to its home turf. The slide trumpeter Steven Bernstein leads the charge, but equal weight is pulled by Briggan Krauss on alto saxophone, Tony Scherr on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums. At 8, Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501, tonicnyc.com; cover, $12. (Chinen) LOREN STILLMAN ORGAN PROJECT (Wednesday) Loren Stillman, an alto saxophonist with an inquisitive relationship to jazz conventions, introduces a quartet with Gary Versace on Hammond B-3 organ; the guitarist Nate Radley and the drummer Ted Poor round out the band. At 8 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) MARK TAYLOR QUARTET (Wednesday) Mr. Taylors French horn playing has been heard in avant-garde ensembles led by the august composers Henry Threadgill and Muhal Richard Abrams. His own material is fodder for this group, which features two strong reed players, Marty Ehrlich and Michaël Attias. At 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) DAN WILLIS (Tomorrow) Mr. Willis, a saxophonist, recently released an album, Velvet Gentlemen (OmniTone), inspired by the classical composer Erik Satie but suffused with post-bop sonorities. Here he regroups most of its cast: Chuck MacKinnon on trumpet, Ron Oswanski on Fender Rhodes piano and accordion, Kermit Driscoll on bass and John Hollenbeck on drums. At 8 p.m., Nightingale Lounge, 213 Second Avenue, at 13th Street, East Village, (212) 473-9398, nightingalelounge.com; cover, $8. (Chinen) TIM ZIESMERS AMPERSAND (Wednesday) The guitarist Tim Ziesmer features his own rock-influenced compositions in this mutable band, featuring Chris Speed on tenor saxophone, Drew Gress on bass and Take Toriyama on drums. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Tea Lounge, 837 Union Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 789-2762, tealoungeny.com; $5 donation. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera * EUGENE ONEGIN (Tomorrow and Tuesday) The dynamic conductor Valery Gergiev and the baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky bring stylistic authority to the Metropolitan Operas affecting revival of its 1997 production of Tchaikovskys Eugene Onegin. In his first Met performances of the title role, Mr. Hvorostovsky is riveting, singing with earthy richness and fully conveying this worldly, entitled and dashing young mans aloofness until the final tragic scene. The surprises come from the soprano Renée Fleming, in her first Russian role at the Met, who gives a vocally exquisite and vulnerable portrayal of Tatiana, and the tenor Ramón Vargas, a Bel Canto specialist, who makes an ardent and endearing Lenski, Onegins well-meaning but fatally impulsive friend. You will seldom see better acting in opera than from this excellent cast. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; sold out. (Anthony Tommasini) IPHIGÉNIE EN AULIDE (Monday and Wednesday) The opera productions at the Juilliard School have generally been thoughtfully staged and vocally polished, with casts of student singers who may be heard from on grander stages. The school is also judicious in its repertory choices, presenting works not normally offered at the Met or the New York City Opera. Iphigénie en Aulide has much to recommend it, as Glucks dramatically focused and supremely lyrical operas invariably do. The cast for Robin Guarinos production includes Tharanga Goonetilleke in the title role; Paul LaRosa and Sidney Outlaw sharing the role of Agamemnon; Faith Sherman as Clytemnestra; and Paul Appleby as Achille, with Ari Pelto conducting. At 8 p.m., Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 155 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free. (Allan Kozinn) * JENUFA (Tomorrow) The charismatic Finnish soprano Karita Mattila is riveting in the title role of Leos Janaceks grim, insightful and, by the end, consoling Czech opera Jenufa, in the Mets revival of its 2003 production by Olivier Tambosi. Ms. Mattilas gleaming voice, with its cool, Nordic colorings and vibrant sensuality, are ideal for this character, a foolishly trusting young woman in a Moravian village who has become pregnant by her cousin, the town rake who owns the local mill. The ageless German soprano Anja Silja is at once terrifying and pitiable as Jenufas stern stepmother, Kostelnicka. Jiri Belohlavek conducts a sensitive and sweeping account of Janaceks teeming score, presented in its 1908 version. Tomorrows matinee is the final performance of the season. At 1:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $42 to $220. (Tommasini) * THE Maid of Orleans (Thursday) The Collegiate Chorales annual opera-in-concert presentations focus on infrequently performed works. This year Daniele Callegari conducts Tchaikovskys Maid of Orleans, which the composer based on Friedrich Schillers play Die Jungfrau von Orleans. According to the company, the work has never been fully staged by the Metropolitan Opera or the New York City Opera. The mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick sings the title role; Carol Vaness is Agnes; Oleg Kulko is Charles VII; Igor Tarasov is Lionel; and Andrei Antonov is Thibaut. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $25 to $155. (Vivien Schweitzer) * SIMON BOCCANEGRA (Monday) Boccanegra is the kind of opera that gives opera plots a bad name: the action begins with a prologue and then scoots ahead 25 years (requiring some prodigious feats from the makeup artist), after which half the characters seem to be appearing under assumed names. Verdi himself took nearly 25 years off from it before going back and revising large chunks, creating some magnificent music but uneven dramaturgy. Yet there is much to love in Boccanegra, and the Mets cast -- Thomas Hampson, who has done it in Vienna; Angela Gheorghiu; Marcello Giordani; and Ferruccio Furlanetto -- should be able to do it credit. At 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $175 tickets remaining. (Anne Midgette) THÉRÈSE RAQUIN (Tonight through Sunday) Admirers of Tobias Pickers opera An American Tragedy, which had its premiere at the Met last season, will want to attend the New York premiere of his 2001 opera, Thérèse Raquin, with a libretto by Gene Scheer. Mr. Pickers adaptation of Zolas piercing and, at the time, scandalous novel of adultery and murder (an oppressed young woman, married to a weak mothers boy, falls for a hunky and boisterous office worker, with fatal consequences) had its premiere at the Dallas Opera, where it received a mixed critical reception. The composer has recently revised the score and thinned down the orchestration. Steven Osgood conducts; Michael Capasso directs. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 4 p.m., Dicapo Opera Theater, at St. Jean Baptiste Church, 184 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 288-9438, dicapo.com; $47.50. (Tommasini) LA TRAVIATA (Tonight and Thursday night) For its revival of Verdis Traviata, in Franco Zeffirellis extravagant 1998 production, the Met is rotating casts, with three sopranos sharing the role of Violetta this season. Mary Dunleavy, who made her company debut in 1993, is currently singing the role. Wookyung Kim, a promising young Korean tenor with a robust, lyrical voice, sings Alfredo, the role of his Met debut this season, and the baritone Charles Taylor sings Germont. Carlo Rizzi conducts. At 8, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $220 tickets remaining tonight; $80 and $175 on Thursday. (Tommasini) DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (Wednesday) The revival of Julie Taymors production of Mozarts Zauberflöte continues at the Met, complete with the magical puppets and stage effects that made it an audience hit when it opened in 2004. James Levine conducts a cast that includes Lisa Milne as Pamina, Cornelia Götz as Queen of the Night, Michael Schade as Pamino, Rodion Pogossov as Papageno and Eike Wilm Schulte as the Speaker. At 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $80 and $175 tickets remaining. (Schweitzer) Classical Music ACADEMY OF ST. MARTIN IN THE FIELDS (Sunday and Monday) The venerable and ever-prolific conductor Neville Marriner returns to the area with his orchestra of choice, performing Stravinsky and Beethoven. The talented and not at all venerable Jonathan Biss is pianist in Mozarts C minor Concerto. Sunday at 3 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888) 466-5722, njpac.org; $24 to $88. Monday at 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $28 to $96. (Bernard Holland) AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) Steven Mercurio conducts Beethoven, Debussy and Delius, but the evening is perhaps more about the soprano Sumi Jo, who will do a collection of operatic numbers. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $25 to $85. (Holland) BORROMEO STRING QUARTET (Tonight) This formidable and, with more than 100 concerts a year, very busy quartet plays a demanding if fairly familiar program, with Stravinskys Concertino, Bartoks Fifth Quartet and Beethovens Quartet in E minor, the second of the three astounding Razumovsky Quartets. At 7:30, Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $44. (Tommasini) * RENAUD CAPUÇON (Sunday) The violinist Renaud Capuçon is fast making a name for himself as a soloist and chamber musician, often performing with Gautier Capuçon, his talented cellist brother. Here he makes his New York recital debut with the pianist Nicholas Angelich in a program featuring the three Brahms Sonatas for Violin and Piano, as part of the affordably priced Peoples Symphony Concerts lineup. At 2 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 586-4680, pscny.org; sold out. (Schweitzer) CHAMBER MUSIC AT THE Y (Tuesday and Wednesday) The pianist Peter Serkin and the violist Peter Tenenbom join the 92nd Street Y perennials Jaime Laredo, a violinist, and Sharon Robinson, a cellist, to perform music by Dallapiccola, Reger and Mozart. At 8 p.m., 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500, 92y.org; $40. (Holland) JUILLIARD ORCHESTRA (Tonight and Tuesday night) The conductor Andreas Delfs led the premiere last April of Lowell Liebermanns opera Miss Lonelyhearts. He returns tonight to conduct the talented young musicians of the Juilliard Orchestra in Mr. Liebermanns Piano Concerto No. 2, with the pianist Vasileios Varvaresos. The program also includes Prokofievs Symphony No. 5 and Heiner Goebbelss D&C (the third movement from his 1994 work Surrogate Cities). On Tuesday James DePreist leads the Julliard Orchestra in Haydns Symphony No. 88 in G, Strausss Oboe Concerto and Elgars Violin Concerto. Tonight at 8, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center; $10 and $20; free for students and 65+. Tuesday at 8, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center; free, but tickets are required. Information: (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu. (Schweitzer) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Tomorrow, Tuesday and Thursday) Lorin Maazel and his orchestra continue their exploration of Brahms tomorrow and Tuesday, with performances of the Serenade No. 2 -- which isnt heard nearly enough -- and the Piano Concerto No. 2. Emanuel Ax, a superb Brahmsian, is the soloist in the concerto. On Thursday Mr. Maazel offers a varied program intended to show off soloists within the orchestra. Included are Mozarts Concerto for Flute and Harp, with Robert Langevin, the flutist, and Nancy Allen, the harpist; Schumanns taxing Konzertstück for Four Horns, in which the soloists are Philip Myers, Erik Ralske, R. Allen Spanjer and Howard Wall; and a Trombone Concerto by Melinda Wagner, with Joseph Alessi as the soloist. Also on the program is Gershwins American in Paris. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nyphil.org; $35 to $101 tomorrow; $33 to $99 on Tuesday; $28 to $94 on Thursday. (Kozinn) ORLANDO CONSORT (Sunday) This remarkable English vocal quartet builds its programs of medieval and Renaissance works around literary or historical themes and has released recordings of several on the Harmonia Mundi label, packaged as CD-size hardcover books, with artwork and text translations. The groups 2005 disc, The Rose, the Lily and the Whortleberry explores works inspired by medieval gardens and flora (and their metaphorical imagery), including works by Machaut, Power, Agricola, de Rore and other composers from England, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. Those works will make up the heart of the ensembles program in its two performances at the Cloisters. At 1 and 3 p.m., Fort Tryon Park, Washington Heights, (212) 650-2290, metmuseum.org; $35. (Kozinn) JOHN SCOTT (Tomorrow) Mr. Scott, the organist and music director at St. Thomas Church, plays the fourth concert in his 10-part series exploring the organ works of Buxtehude, in honor of the 300th anniversary of the composers death. Built in a style similar to that of north Germany and the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries, St. Thomass Taylor & Boody organ is ideal for this venture. At 4 p.m., Fifth Avenue at 53rd Street, (212) 757-7013, saintthomaschurch.org; free. (Schweitzer) * TONDALS VISION (Sunday) Early-music fans, take note. Dialogos, the acclaimed ensemble that took part in Chant Wars here in 2005, is returning to New York (thanks to Music Before 1800) with a production that has won awards throughout Europe: a 12th-century story of a knight who leaves his body, told through medieval Croatian vocal music. The six-woman piece was conceived by Dialogoss director, Katarina Livljanic, and staged in collaboration with Yoshi Oida, an actor who has worked frequently with Peter Brook. 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 62+. (Midgette) VENICE BAROQUE ORCHESTRA (Thursday) This Italian ensemble, led by Andrea Marcon, with Giuliano Carmignola as its violin soloist, sounds vital and energetic on the handful of Vivaldi recordings it has made for the Sony Classical and Archiv labels. There is plenty of Vivaldi -- seven concertos -- on its Thursday evening program, with one by Tartini for at least minimal variety. At 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $60, with limited availability. (Kozinn) VOICES OF ASCENSION (Thursday) Verdis Requiem gets a church performance on lower Fifth Avenue. At 8 p.m., Church of the Ascension, Fifth Avenue at 10th Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 358-1469, voicesofascension.org; $15 to $45. (Holland) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. * ASSOCIATION NOA/COMPANY VINCENT MANTSOE (Tuesday and Wednesday) Vincent Mantsoe, one of South Africas leading choreographers, joins forces with Anthony Kaplan and the African Music Workshop Ensemble in Men-Jaro, which explores the relationships between African contemporary dance, ritual and music. At 8 p.m., Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts, Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus, Flatbush and DeKalb Avenues, downtown Brooklyn, (718) 488-1624, brooklyn.liu.edu/kumbletheater; $20; $13 for students and 65+. (Jack Anderson) BODY BLEND (Tuesday) This showcase series will feature Malika Green and Beth Maderal, Lisa Parra and Maré Hieronimus, and April Biggs, all chosen by Isabel Lewis. At 8 p.m., Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, near Houston Street, Lower East Side, (212) 219-0736, dixonplace.org; $12; $10 for students and 65+; T.D.F. accepted. (Jennifer Dunning) CHINESE NEW YEAR SPECTACULAR (Today and tomorrow) Well, it certainly does sound spectacular, celebrating the Year of the Pig with dance and music presentations that include a multimedia depiction of heaven, complete with angels, fairies and gods drifting by on clouds. Today at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.; tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., Radio City Music Hall, (212) 307-7171, radiocity.com; $42.50 to $184.50. (Dunning) * COMPAÑÍA METROS (Wednesday and Thursday) Ramón Ollers new choreographic adaptation of Carmen for a company from Barcelona condenses the action to a single act and lets it unfold on a rooftop in contemporary Spain. (Through March 8.) Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, joyce.org; $44. (Anderson) DANCEBRAZIL (Tonight through Sunday) Jelon Vieira, the artistic director of this vibrant company from Bahía, has been particularly successful at fusing the techniques of capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art, with modern dance forms. To celebrate the companys 30th anniversary, he has created a new work, The Ritual of the Roda, that traces the history of capoeira; the kickboxing fireworks artfully transformed into dance should be well worth seeing. 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, joyce.org; $42; Joyce members, $32. (Roslyn Sulcas) THE 4 TANGO SEASONS (Tonight through Sunday, and Thursday) The show promises to explore the cycles of nature as seen in a man and a woman in love. (Through April 1.) Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 3 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m., Thursday at 8. Thalia Spanish Theater, 41-17 Greenpoint Avenue, Sunnyside, Queens (718) 729-3880, thaliatheatre.org; $30; $27 for students and 65; $25 for all tonight and Thursday. (Dunning) FRIDAYS@NOON (Today) Chris Ferris, Anthony Ferro and Eva Dean will show new and unfinished works in this free dance and talk series. At noon, 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500, 92Y.org. (Dunning) EUN JUNG GONZALEZ AND CATEY OTT (Tonight through Sunday night) Choreographers who are both collaborators and friends offer Corridors, a program of dances on themes like confinement, compassion and freedom. At 8:30, Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194, danspaceproject.org; $15. (Anderson) GUTA HEDEWIG DANCE (Thursday) Guta Hedewigs Dog Days: Or 19 Ways of Looking at a Shrub expresses the choreographers disquiet over the Bush administration and satirizes the presidents rhetoric. (Through Feb. 25.) At 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194 or danspaceproject.org; $15 (Anderson) KO-RYO DANCE THEATER (Thursday) Sunwha Chungs Bi-Sang: Ascending Timeless is a suite of seven dances expressing a womans changes in her way of life as she makes a transition between her original culture and a new one. (Through Feb. 25.) At 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479, joyce.org; $20; $15 for students and 65+; $10 for children in fifth grade and younger. (Anderson) MOVEMENT COLLECTIVE (Sunday) This Brooklyn-based modern-dance company will perform works by Alaine Handa, Jenny Schworm, Renee Gonzalez and Molly Campbell. At 2:30 p.m., La Tea Theater, 107 Suffolk Street, between Delancey and Rivington Streets, Lower East Side; $10. (Dunning) NAI-NI CHEN DANCE COMPANY (Tomorrow and Sunday) Year of the Boar celebrates the Chinese New Year with Chinese dragons, twirling ribbons, martial arts and traditional and contemporary music and dance. At 2, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888) 466-5722, njpac.org; $19; $10 for children. (Anderson) REGINA NEJMAN & Company (Tonight through Sunday night) Ms. Nejmans new Frozen Baby is described as a dance installation, which might indicate that there wont be too much dancing. But Ms. Nejman is a choreographer who revels in sheer physicality, and there should be plenty of high-energy movement to watch. The work is set to commissioned music by Mio Morales, whose last score for Ms. Nejman was a compelling mix of Brazilian pop and sharp electronic rhythyms. At 8, Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479; $20; $17 for students. (Sulcas) NEW YORK CITY BALLET (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) Just one more week to see the company in its winter season. This weeks programs are A Banquet of Dance (Raymonda Variations, Afternoon of a Faun, Antique Epigraphs and Evenfall (tonight and Tuesday); For the Fun of It (Circus Polka, Walpurgisnacht Ballet, Jeu de Cartes and Firebird) (tomorrow afternoon); Visionary Voices (Klavier, Russian Seasons and The Four Temperaments) (tomorrow night, Sunday afternoon and Thursday); and Contemporary Quartet (Carousel (A Dance), Intermezzo No. 1, Slice to Sharp and Friandises) (Wednesday). New and interesting casting includes Craig Halls role debut in Jerome Robbinss Afternoon of a Faun tonight, dancing with Janie Taylor. Tonight and Thursday at 8; tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 870-5570, nycballet.com; $20 to $95. (Dunning) NEW YORK FLAMENCO FESTIVAL (Tonight through Sunday, and Thursday) Two of the great contemporary Spanish flamenco divas promise to get the weekend off to a fiery start, beginning with Rafaela Carrasco and her company tonight, and Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras tomorrow and Sunday. Ms. Carrasco threatens to explore new concepts in flamenco. Perhaps she will go easy on that august art. Ms. Baras, known particularly for her fast feet, is air to Ms. Carrascos earth. And Carmen Cortés, fast approaching divadom, will offer examples of Gypsy flamenco puro in a program on Thursday with the flamenco guitarist Gerardo Núñez and his quintet. (Through Feb. 24.) Tonight, tomorrow and Thursday night at 8; Sunday at 7 p.m., City Center (Carrasco and Baras), 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan; and Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (Cortés), 566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, (212) 545-7536, worldmusicinstitute.org; $30 and $70 (Carrasco/Baras); $42 and $50 (Cortés). (Dunning) 92ND STREET Y HARKNESS DANCE FESTIVAL (Tomorrow, Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday) LeeSaar the Company, a gutsy, brainy modern-dance troupe founded seven years ago in Tel Aviv, is performing this weekend in this five-week festival with new and repertory dances. On Wednesday through Feb. 24, Claire Porter/Portables mixes dance, storytelling and blithe and nutty humor in her work, which here includes her new Words Away From Home. LeeSaar tomorrow at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m.; Claire Porter/Portables Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m. Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212) 415-5500, 92Y.org/HarknessFestival; $20; $10 for students and 65+. (Dunning) OYU ORO (Tonight through Sunday) This company of Afro-Cuban performers will present Palenque, which incorporates popular and traditional dances from both cultures. (Through Feb. 25.) Tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30, Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710, lamama.org; $20; $15 for students. (Dunning) THUNDERBIRD AMERICAN INDIAN DANCERS (Tonight through Sunday) A pow-wow and performing of dances from the Iroquois and other American Indian tribes. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 3 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101, theaterforthenewcity.net; $10; $1 for children under 12 accompanied by an adult. (Dunning) VISION DANCE/MUSIC: DRUMMING DANCE AND SOUNDING STRINGS (Wednesday and Thursday) This focus of this festival is collaborations between dancers and jazz musicians. The eight pairs include Carmen de Lavallade and Todd Nicholson, and Treva Offutt and Jean-Baptiste Bocle. (Through Feb. 24.) At 7:30 p.m., Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 696-6681, visionfestival.org; $25. (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: MARTíN RAMíREZ, through April 29. Ramírez, a Mexican peasant who immigrated to Northern California and died there at 68 in 1963, spent the last 32 years of his life in a mental hospital, making some of the greatest art of the last century. He had his own way with materials and color and an unforgettable cast of characters (most notably, a mounted caballero and a levitating Madonna crowned like the Statue of Liberty.) But most of all, Ramírez had his own brand of pictorial space, established by rhythmic systems of parallel lines, both curved and straight, whose mesmerizing expansions and contractions simultaneously cosset and isolate his figures. This show should render null and void the distinction between insider and outsider art. 45 West 53rd Street, (212) 265-1040. (Roberta Smith) * American Museum of Natural History: GOLD, through Aug. 19. This astounding array of art, artifacts and natural samples -- larded with fascinating facts and tales -- ranges from prehistoric times to the present. Stops along the way include pre-Columbian empires, sunken treasure, Bangladesh dowry rituals and the moon landing. It turns out that gold comes from the earth in forms as beautiful as anything man has thought to do with it. You are certain to emerge with mind boggled and eyes dazzled. Central Park West and 79th Street, (212) 769-5100, amnh.org. (Smith) * Grey Art Gallery: Semina Culture: Wallace Berman & His Circle, through March 31. The artist Wallace Berman (1926-76) may ring only a faint bell to many New Yorkers, but he was a central, charismatic figure in an underground of West Coast artists and poets in the 1950s and 60s. A collagist, poet, photographer and the publisher of an influential journal, Semina, he inspired others to make art too, sparking hidden aptitude in startling places. After meeting him, drifters, movie stars, ex-marines and petty criminals found themselves starting to paint and write. And a traveling love company of them has come to Grey Art Gallery, trailing dreams, delusions and marijuana clouds. New York University, 100 Washington Square East, Greenwich Village, (212) 998-6780. (Holland Cotter) * GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso, TIME, TRUTH, AND HISTORY 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. I cant tell you how often I was stopped by a picture so good or unexpected that it made me do a double take. 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) International Center of Photography: Henri Cartier-Bressons Scrapbook: Photographs, 1932-46, through April 29. Arrived by way of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris, this show has more than 300 of the prints the photographer glued into an album and toted to New York for curators at the Museum of Modern Art to cull. Captured by the Nazis, he had been presumed dead when the Modern planned his retrospective. Then he turned up alive -- the posthumous exhibition opened, with him in attendance, in 1947. The current exhibition reconstructs as best as possible the original layout of the scrapbook. Its an eye-straining affair, but it surveys the revolutionary work he shot in Spain, Italy, Mexico, Britain and France. His taste for uncanny detail linked him to Surrealism and Surrealist wit, but unlike many Surrealists, he remained committed to human values. Boys mug at his camera. Prostitutes swan. Their gazes equalize them with us. 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, (212) 857-0000, icp.org. (Kimmelman) International Center of Photography: Martin Munkacsi: Think While You Shoot! through April 29. Munkacsi, who inspired Cartier-Bresson, was, by contrast, self-taught, a creature of his own devising. This is the most complete retrospective, with a thick catalog (not too well researched) and dozens of vintage prints from the 1920s through the early 60s. He favored scenes of daily life, absorbing avant-garde ideas about odd angles and abstract compositions. In 1928 he moved to Berlin and traveled the world on assignment to Brazil, Algeria and Egypt. Munkacsi was a stylist, and he made catchy images the only way he knew how, in a modernist mode, which, being an opportunistic form, could serve any master. He became a celebrity in America. He photographed Fred Astaire dancing and Joan Crawford poolside. In the breezy layouts of Harpers Bazaar, the work looked brilliant. (See above.) (Kimmelman) * The MET: ONE OF A KIND: THE STUDIO CRAFT MOVEMENT, through Sept. 3. Focusing on the postwar development of artist-craftsmen, this display of furniture, glass, ceramics, metalwork, jewelry and fiber includes funny, quirky, provocative and sometimes gorgeous things. Among its stars are a witty bust by the California funk ceramicist Robert Arneson (1920-92), portraying the mother of the 16th-century painter and printmaker Albrecht Durer, and Bonnie Seemans fetching ceramic coffeepot and tray, whose mock cabbage leaves and rhubarb stalks evoke the genteel tradition of 18th-century British and continental china, but can also be read as human rather than vegetative tissue. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Grace Glueck) Morgan Library & Museum: Private Treasures: Four Centuries of European Master Drawings, through April 8. This show is drawn entirely from an anonymous private collection. Despite the veil of secrecy, a couple of things are obvious: the collector had significant capital for investing in old masters and either an exceptional eye or a good adviser (or both). The works span more than 400 years, from the 16th to the early 20th century, and include drawings in ink and pencil, watercolor, chalk and gouache. The earliest works come from a period when drawing wasnt an autonomous practice but was used as a form of exercise, to apply ones craft, to experiment and to make preliminary sketches for larger works. The best example -- and the most historically significant work here -- is a black chalk drawing, The Dead Christ (1529-35), by Agnolo Bronzino. With more than 90 drawings in the show, being a diligent observer quickly becomes exhausting. In which case, put down the guide, find a few drawings you like, and enjoy them while you can. After all, you dont know where they came from, where theyre going, or when youll see them again. 225 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 685-0008, morganlibrary.org. (Martha Schwendener) * Museum of Modern Art: Armando ReverÓn, through April 16. Unless you spotted his single smoke-puff of a painting at MoMA months ago, Armando Reverón probably means nothing to you. Why should he? The artist, who died in 1954, spent most of his life in a shack by the sea in his native Venezuela. Many of his contemporaries dismissed him as nuts. His white-on-white pictures are practically unphotographable. But chances are that if you visit this retrospective, youll find yourself thinking about him a lot. His art and his story are like few others, and so is the museums inspired installation: a single, long corridor with cabinetlike rooms of paintings on either side and, at the very end, against a sea-green wall, a life-size doll with giant bat wings floating overhead. (212) 708-9400. (Cotter) Neuberger Museum of Art: FUGITIVE ARTIST: THE EARLY WORK OF RICHARD PRINCE, 1974-77, through June 24. This artist is one of the most elusive, perverse and sardonic of all of the important appropriation artists to emerge in the early 1980s, so perhaps it is not surprising that he has boycotted this exhibition of little-known early work, all from public and private collections. But that doesnt stop the 50 pieces on view from revealing his roots in 1970s Conceptual Art; his progress from generic to original and radical; or the depth and duration of his fascination with language, photography, print-making, the more banal forms of urban postwar Americana and a disconnected, decidedly male blankness. If anything, it increases his stature. Purchase College, State University of New York, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, N.Y., (914) 251-6100. (Smith) Last Chance * Tony Conrad In 1973 the conceptual artist, composer and filmmaker Tony Conrad decided to make a movie that would last a lifetime, so he painted white squares on big, scroll-like sheets of paper and hung the results on the wall for a one-night screening. In fact, those Yellow Movies have been playing ever since, the action being physical change through the effects of time and light. Displayed in a gallery more than 30 years later, they are an exhilarating sight: Zen thankas that are also abstract paintings that are also existential projection screens. The film of a lifetime is still in progress. Greene Naftali, 526 West 26th Street, eighth floor, Chelsea, (212) 463-7770, greenenaftaligallery.com; closes tomorrow. (Cotter). * Let Everything Be Temporary, Or When Is the Exhibition? Some of the best art ever made was meant to fade away, and in these days of serious object-glut, a little ephemerality comes as a relief. Thats the point of this barely-there show organized by Elena Filipovic. To a Felix Gonzalez-Torres pile of freebie candy, she adds Gabriel Kuris display of ripening avocadoes; Joëlle Tuerlinckxs site-specific confetti floor piece; Oksana Pasaikos disappearing soap; and Michel Blazys mashed-potato mural. A wall text by Tomo Savic-Gecan speculates on giving market value to art that is in a constant state of change. The artist Boris Belay is filming the whole disappearing show through tomorrow. Apexart, 291 Church Street, TriBeCa, (212) 431-5270, apexart.org; closes tomorrow. (Cotter) * THE METropolitan museum of art: GLITTER AND DOOM: GERMAN PORTRAITS FROM THE 1920s, The 100 paintings and drawings on display here are by 10 artists, including George Grosz, Christian Schad 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 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; closes on Monday. (Smith) * The MET: SET IN STONE: THE FACE IN MEDIEVAL SCULPTURE One of those revelatory close-ups at which the Metropolitan Museum of Art excels, This show brings together nearly 80 carved, mostly limestone heads, mostly from the 12th and 13th centuries, mostly torn during bouts of iconoclasm from the sculptures and reliefs that turned Gothic cathedrals and abbey churches into Bibles in stone. There are excellent side trips, into the grotesque, the influence of the antique, the glimmers of the Renaissance and a new isotope-matching technique that helping to divine which heads come from where. The treatments of hair and beard with which medieval sculptors were more at ease than they were with, say, eyes or smiles, are almost a show within a show, as, in their own way, are the haunting, seemingly modernist works that look like nothing else here. (212) 535-7710; closes on Monday. (Smith) * Vera Iliatova For her New York solo debut, the Russian-born artist Vera Iliatova delivers a group of small, detailed, atmospheric paintings in which groups of young women -- all self-portraits of the artist -- gather in bucolic settings that make Eden a place of exile. In one painting we are simultaneously in a Poussinian glade, a Brooklyn tenement and a ruined resort. Autumn trees blaze; fighter planes pass overhead. Two women appear in the poses of Masaccios Adam and Eve after the Fall; others talk, wrestle and wail. Monya Rowe Gallery, 526 West 26th Street, Room 605, Chelsea, (212) 255-5065, monyarowegallery.com; closes tomorrow. (Cotter) * Networked Nature This cool little show, organized by Marisa Olson for Rhizome, a new-media organization associated with the New Museum of Contemporary Art, filters that old Romantic standby, Nature, through the new-fangled technology. Philip Ross powers hydroponic plant environments with LED lighting; Shih-Chieh Huang creates an inflatable flower through concepts from robotics. A California collective, C5, evokes sublime locales through global positioning systems. Stephen Vitiello has the voices George W. Bush whispering in an ivy bush; Gail Wight, in a video called Creep, makes slime mold look sort of beautiful. Foxy Production, 617 West 27th Street, Chelsea, (212) 239-2758; closes on Sunday. (Cotter) MARIO SCHIFANO: PAINTINGS 1960-1966 All but indivisible in New York for 40 years, the work of this Italian artist, who died in 1998 at the age of 64, receives a stirring welcome back in this exhibition of 20 drawings and paintings. In monochromes on brown paper and in canvases involving the Coca-Cola logo and pieces of Plexiglas, Pop and Minimalism are joined almost before they were invented. The more homegrown influence of Arte Povera is visible in the startling nonchalance and even roughness of some works. Sperone Westwater, 415 West 13th Street, Chelsea, (212) 999-7337; closes tomorrow. (Smith)

READ IN: Alcoholic Russian Bears Edition

8. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used private email account for official State Department business. 7. DHS funding standoff ends as House approves funding bill without restrictions on President Obamas executive actions. 6. White House.

The Listings: Jan. 13 - Jan. 19

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 BRIDGE & TUNNEL Opens Jan. 26. 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. I LOVE YOU BECAUSE Previews start Thursday. 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 Previews start Thursday. 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. THE SEVEN Previews start Wednesday. 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. ZOMBOID! Opens Jan. 25. 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. 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 John Lithgow 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) 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) * 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. (Brantley) 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 (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) 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) 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) 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. (Genzlinger) 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) 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 * JACKIE HOFFMAN: CHANUKAH AT JOES PUB The return of a beloved ritual for those wanting a reprieve from enforced benevolence and good cheer. The fearless, explosively funny Ms. Hoffman radiates anything but love and charity as she reviews the year in outrage, both global and personal (1:10). Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village; (212) 239-6200; closing Sunday. (Isherwood) THE OTHER SIDE In Ariel Dorfmans ponderous comedy-drama, an old couple standing in for all of Suffering Humanity endure the trials of warfare and the bureaucratic absurdities that come with peace. Even the redoubtable Rosemary Harris and John Cullum can do little to enliven the proceedings (1:30). Manhattan Theater Club, City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street; (212) 581-1212; closing Sunday. (Isherwood) WALKING IN MEMPHIS: THE LIFE OF A SOUTHERN JEW Part memoir, part stand-up routine, this autobiographical piece is endearing, but not quite as colorful as it thinks it is. Jonathan Ross, the pieces creator, grew up Jewish in Memphis: anecdotes about his life may make for good theater, but will probably be better when he gets a little older (1:20). Abingdon Theater Arts Complex, 312 West 36th Street; (212) 868-4444; closing Sunday. (Anne Midgette) 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. APRILS SHOWER (No rating, 98 minutes) A lighthearted comedy about the outing of a bride-to-be and her five-year relationship with her maid of honor. Though filled with sitcom-ready stereotypes, Aprils Shower presents a refreshingly volatile view of sexual orientation. As faces are slapped and partners are switched, the movie leaves you with the feeling that gay is good, but bi can be even better. (Jeannette Catsoulis) * 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) EL CARRO (No rating, 93 minutes, in Spanish) Pleasant but slight, this sociological farce from Colombia tells the story of a vintage convertible that changes the lives of the middle-class Velez family to mildly humorous effect. (Nathan Lee) * 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) CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2 (PG, 100 minutes) In this unnecessary sequel to a mediocre remake, Tom Baker (Steve Martin) and his clan visit Lake Winnetka, also the regular summer dwelling of Toms longtime archrival (Eugene Levy). A tiresome film, full of repetitive, misfired jokes, false emotions and caricatures. Even the pairing of Mr. Martin and Mr. Levy fails to inspire anything more than the occasional smile.(Laura Kern) CHICKEN LITTLE (G, 80 minutes) The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Well, its not as bad as that. Almost, though. (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) * 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. (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) * 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) RENT (PG-13, 135 minutes) Jonathan Larsons beloved musical is as loud, earnest and sentimental as ever. But somehow, as it has made the transition to the screen almost a decade after its theatrical debut (with much of the original stage cast), the show has dated less than the objections to it. Yes, the East Village was never really like this, but in Chris Columbuss hands, the hectic updating of La Bohème to the age of AIDS and gentrification feels surprisingly sweet and fresh. (Scott) THE RINGER (PG-13, 94 minutes) A hilarious and resourceful cast of intellectually challenged actors smartens up an otherwise brain-dead comedy produced by the Farrelly brothers. Johnny Knoxville stars, dimly, as a cash-strapped office clerk who tries to rig the Special Olympics. (Lee) RUMOR HAS IT (PG-13, 96 minutes) Jennifer Aniston, trying her best, traipses through this pointless updating of The Graduate, in which we learn that Ann Bancroft was really Shirley MacLaine all along, and that Dustin Hoffman grew up to be Kevin Costner. Actually, that makes the movie sound much more interesting than it is. (Scott) * STATE OF FEAR: THE TRUTH ABOUT TERRORISM (No rating, 94 minutes, in English and Spanish) Based on more than 16,000 testimonies to the Peruvian Truth & Reconciliation Commission, Pamela Yatess harrowing documentary chronicles the 20 years of terror between the rise of the Maoist leader Abimael Guzmán and his Shining Path guerrillas, and the November 2000 overthrow of President Alberto Fujimoris corrupt dictatorship. Together with The Montesinos Media Buy, seven minutes of surveillance video depicting the Fujimori regimes media bribery, State of Fear is a timely lesson on the hazards of choosing security over democracy. (Catsoulis) * 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) 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) THE WHITE COUNTESS (PG-13, 135 minutes) Set in Shanghai in 1936 and starring Ralph Fiennes and three Redgraves, the final collaboration between James Ivory and Ismail Merchant (who died during post-production) wants to be a pulse-racing cross between Casablanca and The English Patient. But this fussy, pieced-together epic manqué never develops any stamina. (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 FASSBINDER (Through Feb. 26) IFC Centers Weekend Classics Program is presenting a series of 11 feature films and 2 shorts by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1946-82). This weekends film is The Merchant of Four Seasons (1972), about a depressed fruit peddler in a loveless marriage. 323 Avenue of the Americas, at West Third Street, (212) 924-7771; $10.75. (Anita 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 Hamsun (1996), selected by Peter Rainer, starring Max Von Sydow as the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun; Naked Lunch (1991), selected by Stuart Klawans, David Cronenbergs interpretation of William S. Burroughss novel; and The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), selected by Stephen Whitty, in which David Bowie plays a visitor from another planet. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, (718) 784-0077; $10. (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 with half a dozen films. They include Mari Cantus Rosehill (2004), set during the 1956 Hungarian revolution; The Living Orphan (1939), Joseph Seidens melodrama about a theater couple on the Lower East Side; and the world premiere of Ira Wohls Best Sister (2005), a portrait of the directors 80-year-old sister. Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5600; $10. (Gates) NORDIC OSCAR CONTENDERS (Through next Friday) Scandinavia House is screening three of the five 2005 films from Nordic countries selected for Oscar consideration. The program begins on Wednesday night with Finlands Mother of Mine, Klaus Haros story of a little boy during World War II, and continues on Thursday night with Icelands Ahead of Time, a comedy sequel about a band making a comeback, directed by Agust Gudmundsson. 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. Tonights films are Toy Story 2 (1999) and two Oscar-winning shorts, Geris Game (1997), about an old man playing chess, and For the Birds (2000), about a group of snobbish feathered friends. Monsters Inc. (2001) will be shown on Monday and Thursday. 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400; $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. ACT LOCAL HURRICANE BENEFIT (Sunday) The charity group Act Local presents an all-day benefit show for the Southern Arts Federation Emergency Relief Fund, which aids musicians affected by last years hurricanes. More than 30 local musical acts are scheduled to perform, including the Wrens, Nada Surf, Estevez and Langhorne Slim. All Ages. 1 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $15. (Laura Sinagra) AKRON/FAMILY, MI AND LAU, WOODEN WAND (Tomorrow) This bill sandwiches the whispery Finland-based folk duo Mi and Lau between two weirder acts: the layered and deceptively melodic Akron/Family, a quiescent lo-fi quartet that explores the dark crannies and latent explosiveness of Americana, and Wooden Wand (a k a James Toth), who mixes modal guitars with mutters and yawps that suggest a Pentecostal drunk. 10 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $10. (Sinagra) BURNSIDE PROJECT (Tonight) The Burnside Project plays its guitars in the intermittently splashing indie-rock style of the slacker 90s but uses electronic burbles beneath. 8, Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103; $10. (Sinagra) CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN, TRAMPLED BY TURTLES (Tomorrow) The 80s college-rock jokesters Camper van Beethoven recently reunited to release a concept album about a dystopian California. The electric bluegrass band Trampled by Turtles opens. 10 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $20 in advance, $22 at the door. (Sinagra) LAURA CANTRELL (Tonight) This singer, guitarist and songwriter has a deep alt-country résumé that includes an old-timey country radio show on WFMU (91.1 FM) and real Southern roots. She writes clever ditties about the urban romantic experience. 8 and 10, Mo Pitkins, 34 Avenue A, between Second and Third Streets, East Village, (212) 777-5660; $15. (Sinagra) OLU DARA, RICHIE HAVENS (Monday) The cornetist Olu Dara leads a group that takes an amiable approach to a stream of good-time American music that runs from old jazz and blues to funk; he keeps audiences happy. An unswerving 60s holdout, Richie Havens is still strumming his guitar with untrammeled momentum, still singing in his grainy baritone and still bringing earnest drama out of protests and stubborn optimism. 7:30 p.m., B. B. King Blues Club and Grill, 237 West 42nd Street, (212) 997-4144; $27.50 in advance, $30 at the door. (Jon Pareles) THE ENGLISH BEAT (Tonight and tomorrow night) Dave Wakeling still performs under the name of his old Birmingham band, which in the 80s mastered a soulful version of British ska and had hits with songs like the jittery Mirror in the Bathroom. 8, Canal Room, 285 West Broadway, at Canal Street, Chinatown, (212) 941-8100; $25 in advance, $30 at the door (sold out). (Sinagra) MARK EITZEL (Tonight) The American Music Clubs Mark Eitzel continues his conspiratorial wallowing and baritone complaints, with increasingly electronic beats of late. The sad-folk outfit Last Town Chorus also plays. 8:30, Pianos, 158 Ludlow Street, near Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 420-1466; $12 in advance, $14 at the door. (Sinagra) GOLDEN FESTIVAL (Tonight and Tomorrow) Featuring the energetic Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band, which plays dance music in the Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian and Romany traditions, this two-day festival of regional Balkan dance and music begins with a program that will include John Parish, the Greek-Macedonian Kavala Band and the Scandinavian Loretta Kelley before a midnight Zlatne Uste show. Some of the more than 50 performers filling tomorrows three performance spaces hail from places like Bulgaria, Slovakia and Macedonia, but the bill also includes admirers from Norway, Iran and Louisiana. Tonight at 7:30, Jan Hus Church, 351 East 74th Street, Manhattan, (718) 859-4759; $16, students $12; children, $5. Tomorrow at 6 p.m., Good Shepherd School, 620 Isham, near 207th Street, Inwood, (718) 859-4759; $30; students, $20; children, $8. (Sinagra) HARD-FI (Tuesday) Using dub tactics like ominous echoes and faraway sirens to add dimension to its paranoid but melodic arena punk sound, this British band creates a more cavernous and even cinematic space than most. 7 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $13 in advance, $15 at the door (sold out). (Sinagra) HUUN-HUUR-TU (Tomorrow) Cowboys from Tuva, where Siberia meets Mongolia, cultivate the technique of throat singing: producing a deep bass note and two or three harmonics above it, all at the same time. Tibetan monks use a similar technique for Buddhist chants. Huun-Huur-Tu uses the style for ancient herding songs and newer material. It is an eerie, riveting sound, like a growl linked to whistling winds, and it seems both raw and timeless. 8 p.m., Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $26. (Pareles) JAZZANOVA (Sunday) Alexander Barck performs as an ambassador of Berlins Jazzanova, an electronic music collective that has always placed an emphasis on groove over glitch. 10 p.m., Cielo, 18 Little West 12th Street, meatpacking district, (212) 645-5700; $10 in advance, $15 at the door. (Sinagra) FREEDY JOHNSTON (Tomorrow) Freedy Johnstons finely turned country-rock songs have carefully balanced melodies that he sings in a winsome tenor. But for all their classic symmetry, theyre the confessions of desperate, unsavory and unbalanced characters. 7:30 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 653-1703; $12 in advance, $14 at the door. (Pareles) B. B. KING: TRIBUTE TO MARTIN LUTHER KING (Sunday) The bluesman B. B. Kings falsetto vocal flips and vibrato guitar licks have been an indelible influence on the blues and rock traditions. He made his musical reputation in Memphis, which is also where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died. This Sunday, on the eve of Martin Luther King Day, he plays a show in the civil rights leaders honor. 7 p.m., Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, at Goulden Avenue, Bedford Park, the Bronx, (718) 960-8833; $35 to $100. (Sinagra) THE JUAN MACLEAN (Tomorrow) These know-it-all hipster musicologists play electro disco ornamented by clang and Moog-like warps. Its the sound of postindustrial slackers having a party in a junk shop, dancing freely. 9 p.m., Supreme Trading, 213 North Eighth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-4224; free with R.S.V.P. at www.crashinin.com. (Sinagra) KOOL KEITH, SLUM VILLAGE (Tomorrow) The shape-shifting rapper Kool Keiths Ultramagnetic MCs were a critical hit in the late 80s, helping to nudge old school dozens-playing forward with imaginative grooves and space-is-the-place lyrics. Solo, he created personae like Dr. Octagon and Dr. Dooom, though his intricate, zany rhymes have grown less rewarding over time. Detroits Slum Village also plays. 11:30 p.m., B. B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144; $18 in advance, $20 at the door. (Sinagra) LYCAON PICTUS (Tomorrow) Aaron Diskin used to play with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs kinetic, stinging guitarist Nick Zinner, but Mr. Diskins music for the synthesizer-bass-drum trio Lycaon Pictus is darker, recalling the apocalypse imagined by forerunners like Pere Ubu. 8 p.m., Kingsland Tavern, 244 Nassau Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 383-9883; $5. (Sinagra) PABLO MAYOR AND FOLKLORE URBANO, FORRÓ FOR ALL (Thursday) Pablo Mayors Folklore Urbano gives Colombian folk some modern inflections. Rob Curtos Forró for All plays bouncy accordion-based party music from northeastern Brazil. 7:30 p.m., Makor Steinhardt Building, 35 West 67th Street, Manhattan; $12. (Sinagra) MI AND LAU (Tonight) The Finnish singer Mi and the French musician Lau, after becoming a couple in Paris, reportedly moved to the woods in Finland to record what they will showcase here, a cache of austere, wintery bedroom folk. 9 p.m., Cake Shop, 152 Ludlow Street, near Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 253-0036; $7. (Sinagra) ELIZABETH MITCHELL: YOU ARE MY FLOWER (Tomorrow) Like several indie-rockers, the soft-pop band Idas Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton have turned to making kids music lately. Their approach takes the form of reinterpreting classic folk songs. Here Ms. Mitchell plays and sings selections from that repertory. 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, (212) 864-5400; $14; members and children, $10; Just Kidding Club members, $5. (Sinagra) ALEC OUNSWORTH, PURE HORSEHAIR, MICHAEL LEVITON (Tomorrow) The frontman of the local rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah has a side project with members of Ida, Boss Tweed and Ill Ease. Also on the bill are Pure Horsehair (a k a Garrett Devoe), a fingerpicking folk-pop songwriter, and Michael Leviton, who plays sea shanties on the ukulele. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7503; $10. (Sinagra) MIGUEL POVEDA WITH GIOVANNI HIDALGO (Thursday through Jan. 21) Th0e raspy drama of traditional flamenco singing arrives in a new generation with Miguel Poveda, an award-winning flamenco vocalist. He plays here with Giovanni Hidalgo, a percussionist who can make his conga drums crackle, slide, sing melodies and just about talk. 7:30 p.m., Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, (212) 721-6500; $40 to $130. (Sinagra) THE ROLLING STONES, METRIC (Wednesday) 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) RYE COALITION (Tonight) Rye Coalition began as an angular rock band in the style of Fugazi but now mixes in more elements of 70s hard rock. Shelby also plays. 9:30 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 653-1703; $8. (Sinagra) SUFJAN STEVENS (Tomorrow) This singer-songwriter and banjoist is imbued with a Coplandesque musical vision and an expansive narcissism reminiscent of Walt Whitmans, though his lyrics can overreach and his compositions veer into the folksily baroque. 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, (212) 258-9800; $20 to $45 (sold out). (Sinagra) SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK (Sunday) Gospel, blues, African rhythms, protest songs and the joys of harmony are the enduring touchstones of this all-women a cappella group, which never forgets to leaven righteousness with pleasure. 2 p.m., Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $8. (Pareles) THE SYN (Tuesday) Back when the Who used to play the Marquee, the Syn used to open for them. One band member, Chris Squire, went on to become way more famous as the bassist with Yes. Forty years later, the Syn have re-formed to play their old proto-prog tunes and make new music as well. 7 p.m., B. B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144; $25. (Sinagra) KT TUNSTALL (Tuesday) A British singer nominated for a Mercury Prize, KT Tunstall takes breaks from her preferred 70s folk-pop to explore dance music and quieter, rootsier styles. 8:30 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $12 (sold out). (Sinagra) THE WRENS (Tonight) These noise-artist rockers write about life in their home state of New Jersey, but not with a Fountains of Wayne smirk. With their routinely understated, meditative albums and their intense, up-tempo live shows, they offer two different responses to suburban tensions. 9, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $20 (sold out).(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. (Barbara Fasano fills in for Ms. Kole tomorrow.) 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 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; dinner, required, is served at 6:30. (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. CLAUDIA ACUÑA (Tonight and Thursday) Ms. Acuña is a vocalist attracted to lyrical high drama and guided by the pulse and passion of her native Chile; she performs a solo show tonight, and shares a Thursday bill with Marta Topferova, another singer enamored of Latin music, but with origins in Eastern Europe. 7:30 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. (Nate Chinen) BEN ALLISON QUARTET (Monday) The bassist Ben Allison has a knack for assembling hardy and sophisticated ensembles; this one, his newest, includes Ron Horton on trumpet, Steve Cardenas on guitar and Mike Sarin on drums. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, near Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $10. (Chinen) PETER APFELBAUM AND NEW YORK HIEROGLYPHICS (Tonight) Mr. Apfelbaum, a saxophonist and pianist, formed his African-inspired Hieroglyphics Ensemble more than 20 years ago in the Bay Area; here he presents a rollicking East Coast edition of the group, with guest vocals by Abdoulaye Diabate. 9, BAMcafé, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; no cover, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) OMER AVITAL GROUP (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Avital, a rugged bassist and insistently creative composer, leads a sharp young band with the tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm, the trumpeter Avishai Cohen, the pianist Jason Lindner and the drummer Eric McPherson. 10 and midnight, Fat Cat, 75 Christopher Street, at Seventh Avenue, West Village, (212) 675-7369; cover, $15; $10 for students. (Chinen) THE BAD PLUS (Wednesday and Thursday) The pianist Ethan Iverson, the bassist Reid Anderson and the drummer David King piqued jazz purists a few years ago with a spate of irreverent cover tunes; Suspicious Activity? (Columbia), their most recent album, shifted the focus to epic-sounding originals. 8 and 10 p.m., Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121; cover, $27.50, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) SAM BARDFELD QUINTET (Wednesday) Mr. Bardfeld, a violinist with a wide-ranging résumé, regroups the core musicians from his coolly evocative recent album Periodic Trespasses (The Saul Cycle) (Fresh Sound New Talent): the trumpeter Ron Horton, the vibraphonist Tom Beckham, the bassist Sean Conly and the drummer Satoshi Takeishi. 8 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover, $8 per set. (Chinen) PETER BERNSTEIN QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Bernstein, a guitarist with a clean tone and a crisp technique, rounds up some estimable longtime compatriots: the pianist Brad Mehldau, the bassist Doug Weiss and the drummer Bill Stewart. 9 and 11 p.m., and 12:30 a.m., Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) ANDY BEY (Tonight) Intimacy is a hallmark of Mr. Beys vocal style, which alternates between a burnished falsetto and a rich baritone; he brings a quartet to the Allen Room as part of the American Songbook series presented by Lincoln Center. 8:30, Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 721-6500, www.lincolncenter.org; $30 to $55. (Chinen) JAMES CARNEY GROUP (Tomorrow) Mr. Carney, a smart keyboardist and a broadly imaginative conceptualist and composer, leads a cadre of adventurous and versatile players: the alto saxophonist David Binney, the trombonist Josh Roseman, the trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, the bassist Chris Lightcap and the drummer Ted Poor. 8:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) * DETROIT: MOTOR CITY JAZZ (Tonight and tomorrow night) The bassist Ron Carter leads this conceptual study of Detroits undervalued jazz legacy, touching on the music of Milt Jackson, Kenny Burrell, and Barry Harris; also on hand are the saxophonists Yusef Lateef and Charles McPherson, the trumpeter Marcus Belgrave and the trombonist Curtis Fuller. 8, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 721-6500, www.jalc.org; $105 and $135. (Chinen) MARTY EHRLICH QUARTET (Tomorrow) Mr. Ehrlich, a versatile alto saxophonist and virtuoso clarinetist, will tour Europe later this month with the pianist James Weidman, the bassist Brad Jones and the drummer Allison Miller; first he warms up the group with a hometown gig. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, near Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $10. (Chinen) KURT ELLING (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Ellings surefooted musicality and literary sensibility have made him one of the premier vocalists of our time; he comes with a flexible rhythm section, spearheaded by the pianist Laurence Hobgood. 9 and 11, Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $40, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) KENNY GARRETT QUARTET/HIROMI (Tuesday through Jan. 22) Mr. Garrett is a forceful and propulsive personality on the alto saxophone; Hiromi is a diminutive yet dynamic presence on electric keyboards and piano. Both artists favor tight ensembles, although that commonality doesnt quite explain this odd double bill. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 475-8592; cover, $30 at tables, $20 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT (Tonight) Mr. Glasper is a rising star with a fluid command of postwar jazz piano; here he weaves together strands of contemporary funk, drum n bass and hip-hop, in a group featuring the drummer Chris Dave, the alto saxophonist Casey Benjamin, the guitarist Lionel Loueke and the bassist Mark Kelly. 9:30, Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778; cover, $12, with a two-drink minimum. (Chinen) ROY HARGROVE AND MULGREW MILLER (Sunday) Mr. Hargrove, the trumpeter, and Mr. Miller, the pianist, share a postbop language especially rooted in the blues; their duo performance comes under the banner of chamber jazz, but the music they concoct should make the term seem quaint. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3303; $25. Mr. Miller also plays with his trio tomorrow at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $25. (Chinen) JOEL HARRISON GROUP (Sunday) Mr. Harrison, a modern yet rootsy guitarist, performs material from Harrison on Harrison: Jazz Explorations of George Harrison (High Note); as on the album, his ensemble features Uri Caine on piano and David Binney on alto saxophone. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20. (Chinen) ROBERT HURST GROUP (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Hurst, a bassist with a deep and earthy tone, has long been a resourceful small-group composer, as well as an underappreciated bandleader. This weekend he applies those talents to two distinct crews: a next-generation quartet with the pianist Robert Glasper, the guitarist Lionel Loueke and the drummer Karriem Riggins (tonight); and a quintet of somewhat more experienced peers, like the trumpeter Eddie Henderson, the alto saxophonist Donald Harrison and the vibraphonist Steve Nelson (tomorrow). 11:30 p.m. and 1 a.m., Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 255-3626; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JASON KAO HWANG/EDGE (Wednesday) Mr. Hwang, a violinist and composer, leads this probing quartet, with Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet, Ken Filiano on bass and Andrew Drury on drums. 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover, $8. (Chinen) INGRID JENSEN QUINTET (Thursday) A fiery postbop trumpeter with a book of smart original tunes, Ms. Jensen performs here with the same rhythm section featured on her new album, At Sea (ArtistShare): the guitarist Lage Lund, the keyboardist Geoffrey Keezer, the bassist Matt Clohesy and the drummer Jon Wikan. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, near Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $8. (Chinen) MARK OCONNOR AND HOT SWING (Tuesday through Jan. 22) Vintage guitar-and-fiddle swing, as rendered by the violinist Mark OConnor, the guitarists Howard Alden and Bryan Sutton, and a winsome guest singer, Roberta Gambarini. 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) GRETCHEN PARLATO (Tomorrow; Tuesday through Jan. 21) The lilting cadence and mellow sonority of Ms. Parlatos voice have earned her a good many casual admirers; a continuing deluge of critical acclaim has more to do with her musicianship, which is never more pronounced than when she performs with the guitarist Lionel Loueke. Tomorrow at 6 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, near Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 929-9883; no cover. Tuesday through Thursday at 11 p.m., Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595; cover, $10, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) RE:ARRANGED: THE MUSIC OF JACO PASTORIUS, GIL EVANS, LENNON & McCARTNEY (Through Sunday) The sweep of this project, which clearly runs the risk of incoherence, could be a perfect challenge for the pianist and accordionist Gil Goldstein, one of the most resourceful arrangers in jazz today. Just as promising is the lineup, featuring the trumpeter Randy Brecker, the saxophonist Chris Potter, the vibraphonist Mike Mainieri, the bassist Richard Bona, the percussionist Don Alias, and an improvising string trio led by the violinist Joyce Hammann. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592; cover, $35 at tables, with a $5 minimum, or $20 at the bar and a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) CHRIS POTTER TRIO (Tonight) Mr. Potter is among the small number of tenor saxophonists to have absorbed both Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane and emerged sounding like his own man; he appears here in the setting that both predecessors helped popularize, backed only by bass (Scott Colley) and drums (Jeff Ballard). 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, near Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $10. (Chinen) TIM RIES AND THE ROLLING STONES PROJECT (Thursday) Mr. Ries, a tenor and soprano saxophonist who has toured extensively with the rock n roll institution mentioned here, rearranges a handful of its signature hits, smoothing many of the rough edges but also uncovering ample opportunities for improvisation. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20. (Chinen) PETE ROBBINS AND CENTRIC (Tomorrow and Thursday) Mr. Robbins, an alto saxophonist and clarinetist with a cool tone and a thoughtfully off-kilter sensibility, leads an ensemble consisting of Sam Sadigursky on tenor and soprano saxophones, Eliot Cardinaux on keyboards, Mike Gamble on guitar, Thomas Morgan on bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. Tomorrow at 9:30 p.m., Detour, 349 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 533-6212; cover, $5. Thursday at 9 and 10:30 p.m., Tea Lounge, 837 Union Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 789-2762; no cover.(Chinen) WALLACE RONEY SEXTET (Through Sunday) On the recent album Mystikal (High Note), Mr. Roney advanced a variety of Afrocentric futurism inherited and adapted from his trumpet mentor Miles Davis; he explores similar territory in an ensemble with Robert Irving on piano, Clarence Seay on bass, Eric Allen on drums, Val Jeanty on turntables and his brother, Antoine Roney, on tenor and soprano saxophone. 8 and 10 p.m., Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121; cover, $25 to $27.50, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) KURT ROSENWINKEL GROUP (Through Sunday) Mr. Rosenwinkel is almost certainly the most widely hailed jazz guitarist under 40, especially among musicians; his deeply sympathetic rapport with the tenor saxophonist Mark Turner provides the focal point of this shadowy and slippery ensemble, which also includes Aaron Goldberg on piano, Joe Martin on bass and Eric Harland on drums. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) YOSVANY TERRY GROUP (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Terry, a saxophonist and percussionist, chases postbop ideals without abandoning the rhythmic pull of his native Cuba; in this ensemble, he plays alongside the trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, the guitarist Mike Moreno, the pianist Luis Perdomo, the bassist Yunior Terry, the drummer Jeff (Tain) Watts and the percussionist Pedro Martinez. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063; cover, $15.(Chinen) MICHAEL WEISS QUINTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Weiss, a pianist with extensive sideman credits in the jazz mainstream, turns the spotlight toward his own compositions, including a commissioned suite called Three Doors; his band includes Steve Wilson on alto and soprano saxophones, Ugonna Okegwo on bass, Daniel Sadownick on percussion and Adam Cruz on drums. 8 and 9:45, Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 885-7119; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * RANDY WESTON AND FRIENDS (Tomorrow) The pianism of Randy Weston can recall that of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, but as a composer he has long reached beyond strict jazz traditions; this concert, dubbed The Spirit of Afrika, will commemorate the year of his 80th birthday with an assortment of friends, including the saxophonists Billy Harper and Cecil Payne, the trombonist Benny Powell, the trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater and the conga virtuoso Candido. 8 p.m., Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts, Long Island University, 1 University Place, at DeKalb Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4181, ext. 2229, or www.651ARTS.org; $35, $45 and $80. (Chinen) REGGIE WORKMANS BREW (Tuesday) Mr. Workmans bass playing has always evinced a graceful athleticism and an attunement to texture; here he organizes a setting that should emphasize both traits, in a trio with Miya Masaoka on koto and Gerry Hemingway on percussion. 8 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $15. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. AVALON STRING QUARTET (Tomorrow) Since its founding in 1995 at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Connecticut, this dynamic ensemble has won several notable competitions and secured coveted residencies, most recently at Indiana University. Tomorrow it gives the second of two intriguing programs exploring the frontiers of Romanticism. Here two of Beethovens Razumovsky Quartets (Op. 59, Nos. 2 and 3) bracket Weberns Langsamer Satz. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330; $20; $10 for students and 65+. (Anthony Tommasini) BARGEMUSIC (Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday) Mark Peskanov, the president and executive director of Bargemusic, is a great bear of a man who plays a sweet violin. This weekend he and Gerald Robbins are tackling all 10 of Beethovens sonatas for violin and piano -- the first five tonight, Nos. 6-10 tomorrow and Sunday -- as part of a series called Concert and Conversations. Tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30, Sunday afternoon at 4, Fulton Ferry Landing, next to the Brooklyn Bridge, (718) 624-2083; $35; $25 for students. (Anne Midgette) RONALD BRAUTIGAM (Sunday) This able Dutch pianist and fortepianist, who appeared at the Mostly Mozart Festival last summer, is returning to New York to make his solo recital debut here in a program of Mozart, Mendelssohn and Beethovens Waldstein Sonata. 5 p.m., Frick Collection, 1 East 70th Street, Manhattan, (212) 547-0709; sold out, but returns may be available at the box office. (Midgette) BRONX OPERA (Tomorrow and 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. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., the Lovinger Theater at Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, at Goulden Avenue, Bedford Park, the Bronx, (718) 960-8833; $15 to $30. (Allan Kozinn) CHAMBERFEST (Tuesday through Thursday) You might think that the Juilliard School had enough to handle with its ambitious musical celebration of its centenary, not to mention the annual Focus festival, coming up at the end of the month. But this week the school is also presenting this series of free concerts of diverse chamber works performed by accomplished student musicians. There are piano trios by Ives and Shostakovich; works by Beethoven and Dvorak will jostle against works by Stravinsky and Morton Feldman. For those who like large-scale chamber pieces, there is Mendelssohns rousing Octet. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m. at Paul Hall at the Juilliard School, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, at 65th Street; Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406. (Tommasini) CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER (Tonight, Sunday and Tuesday) With substantial help from the conductor Reinbert de Leeuw and the pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, the society offers a Ligeti mini-festival with three programs that cover a broad range of this great Hungarian composers chamber and solo keyboard works. Among the highlights are Mysteries of the Macabre and Aventures/Nouvelles Aventures tonight; Mr. Aimards performance of a handful of the knucklebreaking Études on Sunday; and a program for strings and winds on Tuesday, with Imani Winds and the Brentano String Quartet, as well as solo works played by the cellist Clancy Newman and the violist Paul Neubauer. 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) COMPOSER=PERFORMER (Thursday) Adventurous programming has been part of Symphony Spaces calendar on and off over the years, but lately the hall seems intent on joining the Miller Theater as a new-music center on the Upper West Side. In Composer=Performer, it offers music written and performed by Todd Reynolds, one of the violinists in the quartet Ethel; Joan La Barbara, who is known for her range-stretching vocalizing; and John King, a guitarist and violinist who will offer a preview of a score he is writing for the Mannheim Ballet. 7:30 p.m., the Thalia at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $21; $16 for students and 65+. (Kozinn) GUARNERI STRING QUARTET (Sunday) This venerable quartet is celebrating its 40th-anniversary season, and the Peoples Symphony Concerts, which offers top-flight artists at affordable prices, is presenting the group in an all-Mozart program. 2 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 586-4680; sold out, but returned tickets, at $9 and $11, may be available at the box office. (Midgette) THOMAS HAMPSON (Thursday) This American baritone has long been acclaimed for his insightful singing of German lieder, but he is also a champion of American song. In collaboration with the Library of Congress, Mr. Hampson is embarking on an 11-city American tour with a program that covers American song from the 1700s to the present. There will be psalms, hymns, folk songs, cowboy songs, spirituals and art songs -- not just by familiar composers like Bernstein and Copland but also by influential (and overlooked) composers like Arthur Farwell and Elinor Remick Warren. Wolfram Rieger will be the pianist. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $21 to $72.(Tommasini) MANHATTAN STRING QUARTET (Tuesday) Thirty-five years old and going strong, this group is presenting a complete cycle of the Shostakovich quartets during its residency at St. Barts. This week: Nos. 9 through 12. 7:30 p.m., St. Bartholomews Church, Park Avenue at 51st Street, (212) 378-0248; $20; $15 for students and 65+. (Midgette) MEREDITH MONK YOUNG ARTISTS CONCERT (Sunday) Ms. Monk, the eclectic and soulful composer-singer-performance artist, has spent the last week working with a group of young singers with impressive backgrounds in contemporary music and performance, teaching them the rudiments of her own distinctive vocal technique. Sundays concluding concert presents those singers in an evening of Ms. Monks work, including excerpts from her opera Atlas. 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $15. (Midgette) MUSIC OFF THE WALLS (Sunday) Manufactured Landscapes, the Brooklyn Museums exhibition of Edward Burtynskys photographs, ends on Sunday, but just as these pictures of industrial sites are about to be packed up, musicians from the Brooklyn Philharmonic will offer a program of chamber works that also evoke landscapes, natural and industrial. The composers are Debussy, Varèse, Cage, John Luther Adams and Theodore Wiprud. 3 p.m., Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, (718) 488-5913; $15; $10 for students and 65+. (Kozinn) NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Tonight and Sunday) Neeme Jarvi leads his New Jersey players in the first installment of The Many Faces of Mozart, a festival -- among the first of roughly a gazillion scheduled around the world this year -- celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozarts birth. The concerts title, Mozarts Autumn Years, is a bit odd for a composer who died at 35, but you get the idea: included are late works, including the Symphony No. 41 and the incomparably beautiful Clarinet Concerto, with Karl Herman as the soloist. Tonight at 8, Sunday at 3 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (800) 255-3476; $20 to $75. (Kozinn) NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG (Tuesday) The Juilliard School continues its centennial celebrations with a free program organized by the New York Festival of Song, titled 100 Years of Juilliard Composers in Song. Some 24 works will be performed by students from the vocal arts program, exploring both faculty and student composers, among them Milton Babbitt, Luciano Berio, John Corigliano, Ned Rorem, Norman Dello Joio and even Richard Rodgers. The pianists will be Steven Blier and Michael Barrett, the founding directors of the New York Festival of Song. 8 p.m., Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Juilliard School, 155 West 65th Street, (212) 769-7406; free, but tickets are required. (Tommasini) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. * ARISTOPHANES IN BIRDONIA (Tonight though Sunday; Thursday though Jan. 22) David Gordon, Valda Setterfield and their Pick Up Performance Co. made a big splash two years ago with Dancing Henry V (reprised last March), and now theyre back at St. Marks Church with another dance-theater piece inspired by a classic drama, The Birds. Ms. Setterfield plays the playwright, and expect pointed references to contemporary events. Tonight through Sunday, and Thursday through Jan. 22, at 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project at St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194 or www.danspaceproject.org; $20. (John Rockwell) LORI BELILOVE & COMPANY (Tonight and tomorrow) From Russia With Love, a program inspired by the troupes recent tour of Russia, features dances choreographed by Isadora Duncan when that great modern-dance pioneer visited Russia early in the 20th century. 7:30 p.m., Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation Studios, 141 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 691-5040, www.isadoraduncan.org; $25 in advance, $30 at the door.(Jack Anderson) COIL: A WINTER DANCE FESTIVAL (Thursday through Jan. 24) 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. The Australian company BalletLab will make its American debut in Philip Adamss Amplification; another Australian performer, Helen Herbertson, will present Strike 1; and LeeSaar The Company and Adrienne Truscott bring back works first performed at this theater last year. P.S. 122, 150 First Avenue, at East Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 477-5288; $20; $15 for students; $10 for 65+. Call for performance schedule. (Roslyn Sulcas) COMPAÑÍA. ARROYO. ARDIENTE (Thursday) 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.) Thursday at 9 p.m.; next Friday at 9:30 p.m.; Jan. 22 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) * DANCE ON CAMERA (Today and tomorrow) New Yorks (and Americas) premier festival of dance films finishes up at the Walter Reade Theater with especially interesting programs tonight at 8:30 and tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. Today at 1, 3:30, 6:15 and 8:30 p.m.; tomorrow at 1 and 3:30 p.m., Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 496-3809 or www.filmlinc.com. Complete schedule at www.dancefilmsassn.org. (Rockwell) JESSE PHILLIPS-FEIN (Monday) In this free program, called Wilderness, Ms. Fein, who trained at places as various as the Brooklyn Arts Exchange and the Laban Center in London, explores the large forces that help to shape the small fabric of a life, as she puts it. Megan Metcalf will show dance video. 7 p.m., Swing Space, 15 Nassau Street, between Cedar and Pine Streets, Lower Manhattan, (347) 268-1012. (Dunning) FULL CIRCLE (Tonight and tomorrow night) Innaviews takes a look at the lives of hip-hop dancers. 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077; $20 and $12.(Anderson) SAVION GLOVER (Tonight and tomorrow) This Tony Award-winning tap stylist (Bring In da Noise, Bring In da Funk) is back again, doing what he does best. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800; $34 to $42. (Dunning) EMIO GRECO/PC (Tuesday through Jan. 22) 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 press materials, dressed in wooly black garments. Tuesday through Jan. 21 at 8 p.m., and Jan. 22 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., the Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800; $38. (Sulcas) SHANNON HUMMEL/CORA DANCE (Tonight and tomorrow) Ms. Hummels Elsewhere, a work in progress, addresses the aftermath of devastation and the emotional forces that push through, in dance known for its eloquent telling of small but consequential tales. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, 421 Fifth Avenue, at Eighth Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 832-0018 or www.bax.org; $8 to $15. (Dunning) THE JUILLIARD SCHOOL, 1905-2005: CELEBRATING 100 YEARS (Today and tomorrow) This is the closing weekend for this free multimedia exhibition on one of the nations most influential performing conservatories, whose history is depicted in photographs, playbills, correspondence, musical scores, and audiotapes and videos of classes and performances of music, theater and dance. Today and tomorrow from noon to 6 p.m., New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 111 Amsterdam Avenue, at 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 870-1630 or www.nyp.org. Six speakers, including Linda Kent and Lawrence Rhodes, will participate in a free panel discussion on the recent history of the schools dance division. Tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the librarys Bruno Walter Auditorium, (212) 642-0142. (Dunning) BRENDAN McCALL AND HENRY HILL (Thursday) Mr. Hill, a musician turned dancer, addresses life and love in new work on the program. Mr. McCall, a dancer, choreographer and director, looks partly to Homers Odyssey for his inspiration. 8 p.m., Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, between Houston and Prince Streets, Lower East Side, (212) 219-0736 or www.dixonplace.org; $12 or T.D.F.; students and 65+, $10. (Dunning) MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP (Sunday) Need we say more? Sunday at 3 p.m., Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, N.Y., (914) 251-6200; $40 to $60.(Dunning) MOVEMENT RESEARCH AT THE JUDSON CHURCH ABOUT TOWN (Sunday) This free weekly winter forum offers choreographers a low-pressure context to experiment with ideas rather than present a finished work. (At least thats the theory; no doubt they get nervous anyway.) This weeks lineup includes the wonderful former Merce Cunningham dancer Kimberly Bartosik, Sam Kim and Chris Yon. 8 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 598-0551.(Sulcas) BEN MUNISTERI (Wednesday through Jan. 21) 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 as accompaniment. 7:30 p.m. (next Friday, also at 10 p.m.), Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 9224-0077; $25; $15 for students, 65+ or artists. (Sulcas) * NEW YORK CITY BALLET (Today through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) Peter Martinss full-length Swan Lake continues through Wednesday, with the regular mixed-repertory bills picking up again on Thursday. Tonight and tomorrow and Thursday nights at 8; tomorrow afternoon at 2; 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) THE SEVEN (Wednesday and Thursday) The New York Theater Workshops hip-hop adaptation of Aeschylus Seven Against Thebes has choreography by Bill T. Jones as well as music and text by Will Powers and direction by Jo Bonney. (Opening night is scheduled for Feb. 12.) 8 p.m., New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 239-6200; $60; $15 for available student tickets. (Dunning) TROIKA RANCH (Wednesday through Saturday)) This high-technology dance and video company will perform its new 16 [R]evolutions. Come early and play with the technology. 8 p.m., Eyebeam Art & Technology Center, 540 West 21st Street, Chelsea, (718) 218-6775 or www.troikaranch.org; $16; $20 (Tuesday through Thursday). (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: African-American Vernacular Photography, through Feb. 26. These days, collectors and curators prize vernacular photographs -- commercial studio portraits, postcards, snapshots and other sorts of often anonymous photographic kitsch. Here that trend intersects with a commitment to photography as a form of social documentation in an exhibition of about 70 vernacular photographs depicting African-Americans from 1860 to 1940. 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, (212) 857-0000. (Ken Johnson) 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: 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. On the secular side but equally dazzling are two portraits of men from a long series of male visages done by Antonello in the 1460s and 70s. The intensely human play of expression on the subjects faces makes a connection with the viewer that few artists before or since have been able to achieve. Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, (212) 535-7710. (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) 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) 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) * Rubin Museum of Art : What is it? HimalAyan Art, For a basic guide to the art of Tibet and Nepal, you will do no better than to take a slow walk through this new show, which, using an array of gorgeous objects, distills knotty visual and spiritual systems to a soothing but stimulating entry-level form. 150 West 17th Street, Chelsea, (212) 620-5000. (Holland Cotter) * 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, (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. This substantial exhibition of works on paper extends the full-scale Bluemner retrospective now at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Barbara Mathes, 22 East 80th Street, (212) 570-4190, through Jan. 28. (Johnson) * 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. Goya gets things officially started. The show takes in contemporaries or near-contemporaries like Eva Hesse, Basquiat and Matthew Ritchie. 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 * 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, through Jan. 21. (Smith) Galleries: Chelsea Marina Abramovic: Balkan Erotic Epic This performance artists staged video tableaus illustrating beliefs about the magical efficacy of certain sexually charged acts are interesting and amusing but less arousing than you might have hoped. Sean Kelly, 528 West 29th Street, (212) 239-1181, through Jan. 21. (Johnson) ELLEN ALTFEST: STILL LIVES Painted from life in the studio and outside, these thoughtful images of plants, cactuses, logs and driftwood reflect old-fashioned painterly values but still manage a fresh intensity of surface, space, form and intention. Bellwether Gallery, 134 10th Avenue, near 18th Street, (212) 929-5959, through Jan. 21. (Smith) 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) * 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) PHILIPPE MAZAUD: STAGE LIGHT Roaming the countryside in rural Idaho and Nevada, Mr. Mazaud shoots provocative, sometimes spooky night scenes using only found light. Following a current tendency to make pictures that dont tell tales, but move viewers to create their own, he presents scenarios like a small house on a snowy street with two bright windows giving evidence of occupancy, illumined by a streetlight near an old-fashioned telephone pole strung with taut, crisscrossing wires. It could be the setting for domestic felicity or mayhem. Foley, 527 West 27th Street, (212) 244-9081, through Jan. 21. (Glueck) * 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, (212) 633-6555, through Jan. 21. (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 Jan. 28. (Johnson) Bryan Savitz The inventive Mr. Savitz presents a forest of fake tree trunks and objects, like a hammock and a pipe organ, made mainly of scratch-off lottery tickets. A wild group show in the rear gallery called Waiting for the Barbarians includes a Beaux-Arts-style pornographic vision of flying cowgirls painted by Nicola Verlato; a horribly abused anthropomorphic pig in a sculptural tableau by Fernando Mastrangelo; a large, Dalí-esque ballpoint pen drawing by Tim Maxwell; and a big, semi-abstract digital photograph by Chris Rodrigues, apparently illustrating an otherworldly epic. Rare, 521 West 26th Street, (212) 268-1520, through Jan. 21. (Johnson) PAULA SCHER: THE MAPS Big paintings in the form of maps of Europe, North America, Los Angeles and Long Island combine abstraction and eccentric cartography with invigorating, subtly comical verve. Maya Stendhal, 545 West 20th Street, (212) 366-1549, through Jan 21. (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) 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 I woke up in a strange place The Postmodern mindscape gets a good workout in a show that includes Samantha Simpsons finely drawn allegorical monkeys; Simon Keenleysides small paintings of gloomily magical birch forests; a puddle of vomit made of pearlescent pink sequins by Craig Fisher; Edward del Rosarios precise paintings of tiny, oddly dressed people; and a Neo- Pop installation representing an old world hunting-lodge interior by Ryan Humphrey. Moti Hasson, 330 West 38th Street, (212) 268-4444, through Jan. 21. (Johnson) Last Chance Nobuyoshi Araki, Painting Flower and Diaries Mr. Araki is one of Japans great photographers, but his installation of pictures of tied-up nude young women interspersed with pictures of exotic flowers garishly slathered with paint is too fashionably transgressive. Anton Kern, 532 West 20th Street, (212) 367-9663, closing tomorrow.(Johnson) Brooklyn Museum: Edward Burtynsky: Manufactured Landscapes, 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, closing Sunday. (718) 638-5000. (Johnson) Gerhard Richter This celebrated German master presents two sets of paintings. One set, made in his familiar manner of squeegeeing layers of wet paint, is enigmatically punctuated by a photograph of Mr. Richters own painting of flying fighter planes from the 1960s. The other, consisting of large canvases bearing blurry, all-gray patterns based on silicate molecules, casts a spell of visionary pessimism. Marian Goodman, 24 West 57th Street, (212) 977-7160, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) * TAMY BEN-TOR, EXPLORATION IN THE DOMAIN OF IDIOCY On video -- and live on Friday and Saturday afternoons -- a wonderfully talented comic performance artist creates hilariously self-absorbed characters. Zach Feuer, 530 West 24th Street, (212) 989-7700, closing tomorrow. (Johnson)

Ted Cruz: Federal charges against Sen. Menendez could be retaliation for.

Mr. Menendez, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been at odds with the president over several foreign policy issues, including the administrations desire to relax the embargo of Cuba and negotiations with Iran over.

Heres How the Democratic Party Immediately Responded.

Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announcing that hes running for president in 2016, the official Democratic Party Twitter account took a swing at the conservative candidate. The Democrats immediately accused Cruz of costing the U.S.��.

Californias First US Hispanic Senator

Currently, there are three Hispanic U.S. Senators: Bob Menendez (D) of New Jersey (Currently in legal trouble), Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas a possible 2016 Presidential candidate and Floridas Marco Rubio who is also close to announcing for President.

Watch Ted Cruz Announce 2016 Presidential Run

R.L. Brewer was startled by the number of emergency vehicles whizzing by his home, just east of Arlington, on that Saturday afternoon but didnt know what had happened until his daughter told him there had been a mudslide near Oso, and the river was.

The Listings: Nov. 10 - Nov. 16

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 THE AMERICAN PILOT In previews; opens on Nov. 21. After a production at the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, David Greigs play, about an American whose plane crashes in a war-torn country, moves to New York. Lynne Meadow directs (2:00). Manhattan Theater Clubs City Center Stage II, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. DURANGO In previews; opens on Nov. 20. A Korean single father takes his two children on a revelatory road trip in Julia Chos new play (1:30). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555. HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD AND FIND TRUE LOVE IN 90 MINUTES In previews; opens on Sunday. A musical hit at the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival with equal doses of romance and political knowingness (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED In previews; opens on Monday. Douglas Carter Beanes play, about a rising Hollywood male star who falls in love with a gay hustler, transfers to Broadway (2:00). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. MARY POPPINS In previews; opens on Thursday. Disney looks to find its old magic touch with this new blockbuster, which transfers from London with good buzz. Richard Eyre and Matthew Bourne direct (2:30). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. REGRETS ONLY In previews; opens on Nov. 19. The Manhattan Theater Club presents the world premiere of Paul Rudnicks new zinger-filled comedy of manners, set in high society (2:00). City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. STRIKING 12 In previews; opens on Sunday. A holiday musical about a grumpy New Yorker who decides to spend New Years alone (1:30). Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, (212) 239-6200. SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER In previews; opens on Wednesday. The always lovely Blythe Danner stars in a revival of Tennessee Williamss brutal psychological drama. Mark Brokaw directs (1:30). Laura Pels Theater, 111 West 46th Street, (212) 719-1300. LA TEMPETE (THE TEMPEST) Performances start on Wednesday. Its high-tech Shakespeare in this Montreal production, which includes virtual and real actors (1:40). Brooklyn Academy of Musics Opera House, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100. THE VERTICAL HOUR In previews; opens on Nov. 30. Julianne Moore plays an American war correspondent turned academic in David Hares much-buzzed-about new play. Sam Mendes directs (2:00). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. 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 COLOR PURPLE So much plot, so many years, so many characters to cram into less than three hours. This beat-the-clock musical adaptation of Alice Walkers Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about Southern black women finding their inner warriors never slows down long enough for you to embrace it (2:40). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) DR. SEUSS HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS: THE MUSICAL The beloved holiday classic in a new musical version that honors the spirit and the letter of the original. (The two immortal Albert Hague-Dr. Seuss songs from the television special are included). Bloated at 90 minutes, but the kids didnt seem to mind (1:30). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Charles Isherwood) THE DROWSY CHAPERONE (Tony Awards, best book of a musical and best original score, 2006) This small and ingratiating spoof of 1920s stage frolics, as imagined by an obsessive show queen, may not be a masterpiece. But in a dry season for musicals, it has theatergoers responding as if they were withering houseplants finally being watered after long neglect (1:40). Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * GREY GARDENS Christine Ebersole is glorious as the middle-aged, time-warped debutante called Little Edie Beale in this uneven musical adaptation of the notorious 1975 documentary of the same title. She and the wonderful Mary-Louise Wilson (as her bed-ridden mother), in the performances of their careers, make Grey Gardens an experience no passionate theatergoer should miss (2:40). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * HEARTBREAK HOUSE A ripping revival of Shaws comedy about the English gentry waltzing toward the abyss as the shadow of World War I looms. Philip Bosco, as the admirably sane madman Captain Shotover, and Swoosie Kurtz, as his swaggeringly romantic daughter, lead the superb cast, under the sharp direction of Robin Lefevre. Nearly a century after its composition, the play still sparkles with wit and sends a shiver down the spine too (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300. (Isherwood) JAY JOHNSON: THE TWO AND ONLY A genial entertainment giving Broadway audiences a chance to get reacquainted with the (almost) lost art of ventriloquism. Jay Johnson, the onetime star of the television comedy Soap, gives a pocket history of the profession, in addition to a demonstration, with partners including a vulture who sings My Way, a foul-mouthed wooden tyke and a monkey purveying some of the corniest shtick this side of a Friars roast (1:30). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) LOSING LOUIE This second-rate English import depicts the impact of an adulterous liaison on two generations of a family in Pound Ridge. Directed by Jerry Zaks, its a queasy mixture of coarse comedy and soap operatic contrivances (2:10). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) MARTIN SHORT: FAME BECOMES ME This eager and amiably scattershot satire of celebrity memoirs and Broadway musicals, starring the immodestly modest Mr. Short, arrives a little late to the table for such parody to taste fresh. With serviceably tuneful songs by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman (of Hairspray fame) (1:45). Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) TARZAN This writhing green blob with music, adapted by Disney Theatrical Productions from the 1999 animated film, has the feeling of a superdeluxe day care center, equipped with lots of bungee cords and karaoke synthesizers, where children can swing when they get tired of singing, and vice versa. The soda-pop score is by Phil Collins (2:30). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN The brilliant Twyla Tharp interprets the Bob Dylan songbook less than brilliantly. When a genius goes down in flames, everybody feels the burn (1:30). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) THE WEDDING SINGER An assembly-kit musical that might as well be called That 80s Show, this stage version of the 1998 film is all winks and nods and quotations from the era of big hair and junk bonds. The cast members, who include Stephen Lynch and Constantine Maroulis, , are personable enough, which is not the same as saying they have personalities (2:20). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) Off Broadway ARMS AND THE MAN Shaws story of a mercenary who breaks into a young Bulgarian womans bedroom while fleeing a battle seems not to have much social bite in this rendition, but the humor still works nicely, particularly when in the hands of Robin Leslie Brown and Dominic Cuskern as the invaded households matriarch and patriarch. Bradford Cover has an appealing, offhand delivery as the soldier (2:15). The Pearl Theater Company, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212) 598-9802. (Neil Genzlinger) BHUTAN Daisy Footes drama may not be working the freshest territory -- dead-end lives in a small town -- but it sure is well told and well acted. A widow and her two teenagers are struggling financially and feeling dislocated by their towns changing social alignments; Sarah Lord is especially good as the daughter whose fascination with a neighbors trip to Bhutan gives the play its title and overarching metaphor (1:20). Cherry Lane Theater, 38 Commerce Street, between Barrow and Bedford Streets, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Genzlinger) *THE CLEAN HOUSE Sarah Ruhls comedy about the painful but beautiful disorder of life has arrived in New York at last in a gorgeous production directed by Bill Rauch. Blair Brown and Jill Clayburgh delight as sisters with different views on the meaning of cleaning, and Vanessa Aspillaga is equally good as the depressed maid with little affection for her work but a deep conviction that a good joke can be a matter of life and death (2:15). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) EMERGENCE-SEE! Daniel Beatys solo show takes stock of the urban African-American mind in the new century, as dozens of men and women flock to Liberty Island when a slave ship mysteriously appears in New York Harbor. The performance captivates; the material doesnt (1:15). The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) esoterica Eric Waltons very entertaining one-man show is a mix of magic, mentalism and intelligent chat. He does all three impressively (1:30). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Anita Gates) EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL This likable horror comedy based on Sam Raimis gory movies wants to be the next Rocky Horror Show. To that end, it offers deadpan lyrics, self-referential humor and geysers of stage blood (2:00) New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) 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) * THE HAIRY APE The Irish Repertory Theater has put together a startling production of Eugene ONeills tale of a galoot called Yank who goes looking for his place in the world, one that vividly conveys what a gut-punch this work must have been when it was first seen in 1922. Eugene Lees set is something to see, and the soundscape, by Zachary Williamson and Gabe Wood, is something to hear (2:00). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 727-2737. (Genzlinger) JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS A powerfully sung revival of the 1968 revue, presented with affectionate nostalgia by the director Gordon Greenberg. As in the original, two men and two women perform a wide selection of Brels plaintive ballads and stirring anthems. (2:00). Zipper Theater, 336 West 37th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) 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) LIVE GIRLS Victoria Stewarts drama sends up the docudrama and an Anna Deavere Smith-like performance artist (1:30). Urban Stages, 259 West 30th Street, Manhattan, (212) 868-4444. (Jason Zinoman) THE MILLINER Suzanne Glasss 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, (212) 352-3101. (Genzlinger) MY DEAH The mind of a beauty queen is a thing to fear! John Epperson, a k a Lypsinka, brings his love of cultural deconstruction and reconstruction to this lovably trashy spoof of a certain exalted Greek tragedy, in which a scorned woman sets about chicken-frying her own children to get even with the no-account man who done her wrong. Nancy Opel and Maxwell Caulfield lead the cast in offering big servings of honey-baked ham (1:30). Abingdon Theater, 312 West 36th Street, (212) 868-4444. (Isherwood) MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE A small, intense and loudly heralded one-woman drama that tells the true story of its title character, a pro-Palestinian activist killed in the Gaza strip by an Israeli Army bulldozer. Yet for all the political and emotional baggage carried by this production, adapted from Ms. Corries writings and starring Megan Dodds, it often feels dramatically flat, even listless (1:30). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) 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) PORT AUTHORITY THROW DOWN Mike Batisticks intercultural tale of an angry Pakistani cabdriver, a white Christian missionary from Ohio, a black homeless alcoholic and the drivers activist brother is far from profound, but it has some solid laughs, and its battered heart is in the right place (2:00). Culture Project at 45 Below, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. (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). The Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101. (Brantley) THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE A slow, airless revival of Jay Presson Allens 1966 play (adapted from Muriel Sparks novel) about a dangerous Scottish schoolteacher, directed by Scott Elliott and starring the wonderful (but miscast) Cynthia Nixon, who seems much too sane and centered as the deluded Miss Brody. (2:40). The Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Brantley) SHOUT! A miniskirted, go-go-booted zombie of a musical about women searching for love in London in the 1960s. You wont see anything this groovy, this far-out, this with-it outside of, oh, maybe the showroom of a Carnival cruise ship (1:30). Julia Miles Theater, 424 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) THE SUNSET LIMITED Cormac McCarthys elegiac two-man play distills his previous work into a debate about suicide (2:00). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200. (Jason Zinoman) TEMPEST TOSSED FOOLS This musical audience-participation childrens version of The Tempest is rowdy, colorful and not all that Shakespearean. Manhattan Ensemble Theater, 55 Mercer Street, SoHo, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) 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) WRECKS The tail wags the scorpion in the latest play by Neil LaBute to be propelled by a poisoned punch line. This slender, prickly tease of a monologue -- whose whole raison dêtre is its last-minute revelation -- is given substance by an expert performance by Ed Harris as a newly bereaved widower (1:15). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555. (Brantley) Off Off Broadway THE FLOOD This eager show about a deluge in an Illinois town has a majestic score by Peter Mills and Cara Reichel and an able, ingratiating cast. Unfortunately, theyre playing cookie-cutter characters (2:00). The American Theater of Actors, 314 West 54th Street, Clinton, (212) 352-3101. (Rob Kendt) STANLEY 2006 Todd DAmours performance-art piece rethinks Stanley Kowalskis feelings about Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. The work is striking and original but at times heavy on the angst (1:15). Here Arts Center, 145 Avenue of the Americas, at Dominick Street, South Village, (212) 352-3101. (Gates) Spectacles BIG APPLE CIRCUS One terrific show (2:15). Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500 or (212) 307-4100. (Lawrence Van Gelder) Long-Running Shows ALTAR BOYZ This 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) DRUMSTRUCK Lightweight entertainment that stops just short of pulverizing the eardrums (1:30). New World Stages, Stage 2, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Van Gelder) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) JERSEY BOYS The biomusical that walks like a man (2:30). August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). Minskoff Theater, 200 West 45th Street at Broadway, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) SLAVAS SNOWSHOW Clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin stir up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart and tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Van Gelder) SPAMALOT A singing scrapbook for Monty Python fans. (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE A Chorus Line, with pimples (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance ASCENSION Brandon Ruckdashel makes a stunning debut in Edmund De Santiss clever comic mystery about a priest, a beautiful young man and a mothers accusation of sexual abuse (1:30). The Lion Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200; closes on Sunday. (Gates) THE GIVEN Grim without being rewarding, Francine Volpes drama involves a stripper, a gay man with H.I.V., another gay man who wants to be infected with H.I.V., and a married man who becomes a bit more than a good customer at a strip club. The playwright seems to hope that the mixture is explosive, but its merely distasteful (2:20). Studio Dante, 257 West 29th Street, Chelsea, (212) 868-4444; closes tomorrow. (Genzlinger) THE THUGS Rumors of death at a law firm make Adam Bocks new play a chilling little nightmare (1:15). SoHo Rep, 46 Walker Street, between Church Street and Broadway, TriBeCa, (212) 868-4444; closes on Sunday. (Zinoman) THE TIMEKEEPERS Dan Clancys play, which throws a Jewish artisan and a gay hustler together in a concentration camp, transcends standard Holocaust psychodrama on the strength of its characterizations and definitive performances by Seth Barrish and Eric Paeper (1:35). Barrow Group Theater, 312 West 36th Street, third floor, (212) 760-2615; closes tomorrow. (Kendt) 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. ABSOLUTE WILSON (No rating, 105 minutes) This appreciative look at the life and work of the theater artist Robert Wilson includes a notably candid interview with the man himself, as well as mostly friendly testimony from friends and experts and glimpses of his strange, difficult and often thrillingly original work. (A. O. Scott) BABEL (R, 143 minutes, in English, Spanish, Japanese, Berber, Arabic and sign language) This hugely ambitious movie tells four loosely linked, not-quite-simultaneous stories set on three different continents, with dialogue in several languages. The themes, to the extent they are decipherable, include loss, fate and the terrible consequences of miscommunication. Written by Guillermo Arriaga and directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inñáritu, the movie is an intellectual muddle but a visceral tour de force, and the power of the filmmaking almost overcomes the fuzziness of the ideas. Almost. (Scott) * BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN, (R, 89 minutes) In this brainy, merciless comedy, a Kazakh journalist named Borat Sagdiyev, a k a the British comic Sacha Baron Cohen, invades America. America laughs, cries, surrenders. (Manohla Dargis) * CLIMATES (No rating, 97 minutes, in Turkish) The story of a man and a woman, one of whom murders the others love, and a haunting portrait of existential solitude. The Turkish writer and director Nuri Bilge Ceylan also stars. (Dargis) COMMUNE (No rating, 78 minutes) A breezy, informal history of the Black Bear Ranch, a long-running California commune begun in the summer of 1968 and still in existence, Commune offers the fascinating spectacle of observing people then and now. (Stephen Holden) * THE DEPARTED (R, 150 minutes) Martin Scorseses cubistic entertainment about men divided by power, loyalty and their own selves is at once a success and a relief. Based on the crackling Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, it features fine twinned performances from Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, and a showboating Jack Nicholson. (Dargis) * 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) * FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (R, 132 minutes) Clint Eastwood raises the flag over Iwo Jima once more in a powerful if imperfect film about the uses of war and of the men who fight. The fine cast includes Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford and Adam Beach, who delivers heartbreak by the payload. (Dargis) * 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) * A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS (R, 98 minutes) Rough, ragged and full of life, this autobiographical movie, written and directed by Dito Montiel, about his youth on the streets of Astoria, Queens, is a remarkable debut, stuffed almost to bursting with bold performances and operatic emotions. (Scott) * JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEOPLES TEMPLE (No rating, 85 minutes) The scariest aspect of this powerful, meticulously chronicled history of Jim Jones and his flock, who committed mass suicide in Guyana on Nov. 18, 1978, is that so many of the followers of this demented demagogue appear to have been intelligent, idealistic, life-loving people. Watch this documentary and shudder. (Holden) THE LAST ATOMIC BOMB (No rating, 92 minutes, in English, Japanese and French) This deeply affecting look at the bombing of Nagasaki and its aftermath is seen primarily through the eyes of a 70-year-old survivor named Sakue Shimohira, a tiny, tireless woman who now devotes herself to disseminating her harrowing story. Directed by the veteran documentarian Robert Richter, the film interweaves expert interviews with a remarkable collection of declassified films and photographs. The result is an unvarnished and blatantly emotional plea for nuclear disarmament whose images speak for themselves. (Jeannette Catsoulis) * LITTLE CHILDREN (R, 130 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) THE MAGIC GLOVES (No rating, 90 minutes, in Spanish) Depression, drugs and professional stasis commingle in this limp Argentine comedy whose characters remain trapped several rungs below their aspirations. In the foreground of a featureless Buenos Aires, paths cross and lock without import, and lives inch sideways (a cab driver becomes a bus driver), in reflection of the countrys larger economic blight. Yet the fleeting moments of deadpan humor are pungent enough to suggest that the writer and director, Martín Rejtman, is saving himself for greater things. (Catsoulis) * 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) * THE PRESTIGE (PG-13, 128 minutes) Entertaining, spirited and shamelessly gimmicky, Christopher Nolans new film tells the intricate tale of two rival magicians (Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman) practicing their art in late-Victorian London. Scarlett Johansson is the lovely assistant. (Scott) * THE QUEEN (PG-13, 103 minutes) Directed by Stephen Frears from a very smart script by Peter Morgan, and starring a magnificent Helen Mirren in the title role, The Queen pries open a window in the House of Windsor around the time of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, blending fact with fiction. (Dargis) ROMÁNTICO (No rating, 80 minutes, in Spanish and English) The sympathetic portrait of a mariachi musician and illegal immigrant who returns to his Mexican hometown feels more like a mosaic than a narrative film with a clearly defined continuity. (Holden) THE SANTA CLAUS 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE (G, 98 minutes) Ho, ho, ho? No, no, no. (Dargis) SAW III (R, 107 minutes) The franchise rasps on with Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), the masked sadist whose fondness for men in chains continues unabated, playing marriage counselor to a couple whose young son has been killed in a car accident. Having learned the (knotted) ropes on Saw II, the 27-year-old Darren Lynn Bousman returns to direct, while James Wan and Lee Whannell push their original story to ever new heights of monstrousness. In the end, the most depressing thing about this franchise is not the creativity of the bloodletting but the bleak view of human nature, specifically our talent for ruining the present to avenge the past. (Catsoulis) * 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 that 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) UMRAO JAAN (No rating, 145 minutes, in Hindi and Urdu) Weak dubbing and melodramatic overkill hamper this retelling of a historical Indian story, about the travails of a performing courtesan. But its star, Aishwarya Rai, a potent presence, appears destined for international success. (Andy Webster) UNKNOWN (No rating, 90 minutes) This twisty thriller, which locks five men inside a dingy warehouse, where they regain consciousness with no recollection of who they are or how they got there, features a whole lot of buildup and a real letdown of a payoff. (Kern) * VOLVER (R, 121 minutes, in Spanish) Another keeper from Pedro Almódovar, with Penélope Cruz -- as a resilient widow -- in her best role to date. (Scott) * THE WILD BLUE YONDER (No rating, 81 minutes) An artful mixture of carefully culled and originally produced material, Werner Herzogs self-described science fiction fantasy purports to tell the story of an alien species beset by misfortune. Brad Dourif stars alongside some floating astronauts and a few exquisitely beautiful underwater drifters. (Dargis) WONDROUS OBLIVION (No rating, 106 minutes) Form and content fight to the death in Paul Morrisons defiantly gauzy tale of racial friction in 1960s England. As a cricket-obsessed Jewish boy (Sam Smith) comes of age under the tutelage of his Jamaican neighbor (Delroy Lindo), the boys mother (Emily Woof) experiences an awakening of her own. Bathing everything in an inappropriately peachy glow, Mr. Morrison serves up prejudice lite, joining the ranks of too many filmmakers who suggest that sports and sexual flirtation can cure all social ills. (Catsoulis) Film Series THE COMPLETE JACQUES RIVETTE (Through Dec. 31) The Museum of the Moving Images 22-film retrospective of Mr. Rivette, the innovative French New Wave director, begins tonight. This weekends features are Paris Belongs to Us (1941), a mystery set on the Left Bank, and Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974), about a librarian and a magician on a Parisian adventure. Out 1, Mr. Rivettes 12 1/2-hour 1971 epic, will have its United States premiere on Dec. 9. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077, www.movingimage.us; $10. (Anita Gates) HEROIC GRACE II: SHAW BROTHERS RETURN (Through Dec. 6) BAMcinématek and the U.C.L.A. Film & Television Archive are sponsoring this sequel to its 2005 Shaw Brothers series, honoring the Chinese movie studio that spread the gospel of martial-arts films. Mondays feature is Liu Chia-Liangs comedy My Young Auntie (1980). Tuesdays is Chor Yuens Jade Tiger (1977), about a man out to avenge his fathers beheading. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100, www.bam.org; $10. (Gates) JACQUES AUDIARD RETROSPECTIVE (Through Dec. 5) Cinéma Tuesdays at the French Institute Alliance Française continues its five-week tribute to Mr. Audiard, a contemporary master of the French thriller. Tuesdays film is Read My Lips (2001), a crime drama about a deaf office worker (Emmanuelle Devos) and a small-time thief (Vincent Cassel) who join forces. Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212) 355-6160, www.fiaf.org; $10. (Gates) RESISTANCE AND REBIRTH: HUNGARIAN CINEMA, 50 YEARS AFTER 56 (Through Nov. 15) On the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution, the Film Society of Lincoln Center is screening more than two dozen films that reflect on that event. This weekends features include Pal Sandors Daniel Takes a Train (1984), about two teenagers who decide to escape to the West; Attila Janischs After the Day Before (2004), the story of a young girls murder; and Gyorgy Szomjass Vagabond, about a young drifter and Hungarian folk dancing. Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Manhattan, (212) 875-5600, www.filmlinc.com; $10. (Gates) ROBERTO ROSSELLINI (Through Dec. 22) The Museum of Modern Arts retrospective of the work of Rossellini (1906-77), the grand old man of postwar Italys neo-realist movement, begins on Wednesday. Opening-day films are his classic Roma Città Aperta (1945), set during the final months of the German occupation, and Scorsese on Rossellini, excerpted from Martin Scorseses 1999 documentary, My Voyage in Italy. Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, 11 West 53rd Street, and Celeste Bartos Theater, 5 West 54th Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400, www.moma.org; $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD, BLOOD BROTHERS (Tomorrow and Sunday) Proving once again rocks inexhaustible lesson that loudness equals liberation, these two bands work their way to chaotic, cathartic peaks. Trail of Dead (as impatient fans call them), from Austin, Tex., gets there slowly and somewhat patiently, while the Blood Brothers, from Seattle, are a nonstop weapon of frantic noise and surrealist poetry (Set fire to the face on fire). At 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800, irvingplaza.com; sold out. (Ben Sisario) * Broadway Unplugged (Monday) This third annual all-acoustic concert offers a rare opportunity to hear theatrically trained stars performing without microphones in an ideal setting. The many scheduled performers include John Lloyd Young, Beth Leavel, Marc Kudisch, Norm Lewis and Roosevelt Andre Credit (whose Ol Man River last month at the Jerome Kern tribute stopped the show). At 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-4100, the-townhall-nyc.org; $25 to $75. (Stephen Holden) CALIFONE (Tonight) A mainstay of the Chicago experimental scene, Califone plays wistful songs with a constant, thin hum. At 8, Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, near Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236, spsounds.com; $12. (Sisario) CHRISTINA COURTIN, BELL ORCHESTRE (Thursday) Continuing its series of concerts straddling classical music and experimental pop, Merkin Concert Hall presents Christina Courtin, a recent Juilliard graduate who writes tender, capricious songs in the Regina Spektor idiom, and Bell Orchestre, a Canadian quintet that likes slow, broad soundscapes and includes a French hornist -- what could be more classical than that? At 8 p.m., 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330, merkinconcerthall.org; $20 in advance, $25 at the door. (Sisario) THE CULT (Monday) On leave from his job as a stand-in for Jim Morrison in the touring band that features former members of the Doors (a court order prevents it from using that name), Ian Astbury returns to his first job: a stand-in for Jim Morrison in the Cult, a British band of 1980s vintage that hitched the brooding melodrama of the Doors to the bruising guitar power of AC/DC. At 9 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800, irvingplaza.com; $40. (Sisario) * BOB DYLAN (Monday and Thursday) On his 32nd studio album, Modern Times (Columbia), Mr. Dylan is obsessed with the mythic past, serving up a sleek, bluesy time warp that dips into Muddy Waters, Bing Crosby and the obscure 19th-century poet laureate of the Confederacy, Henry Timrod. Even when studying contemporary popular culture, he is reminded of his own back pages: I was thinkin bout Alicia Keys, couldnt keep from crying, he sings. When she was born in Hells Kitchen, I was living down the line. With Jack Whites roadhouse band, the Raconteurs. Monday at 7:30 p.m., Nassau Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, Uniondale, N.Y., (631) 888-9000, nassaucoliseum.com; $39.50 to $79.50. Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, N.J., (201) 935-3900, meadowlands.com; $39.50 to $89.50. (Sisario) ENCUENTRO (Sunday) An annual gathering of a diverse and inventive group of Colombian musicians in New York who mix traditional sounds with rock and jazz. Led by Pablo Mayor and his group Folklore Urbano, this fourth Encuentro (Encounter) also features Hector Martignon, Edmar Castaneda, Marta Gomez, Coba with Lucia Pulido, La Cumbiamba eNeYe and others. At 5 p.m., S.O.B.s, 204 Varick Street, at Houston Street, South Village, (212) 243-4940, sobs.com; $35. (Sisario) ARETHA FRANKLIN (Tuesday) Ms. Franklin has said she intends to stop extensive touring, but she keeps coming back, to grateful crowds. After a rare appearance at the Apollo Theater this summer, she returns to the Hammerstein Ballroom. At 7 p.m., 311 West 34th Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-7171, mcstudios.com; $75 to $500. (Sisario) * GUNS N ROSES (Tonight) Only Michael Jackson inspires more morbid curiosity than Axl Rose, who has spent 12 years recording the next Guns N Roses album with a steadily rotating cast of replacements, only occasionally coming up for air and paparazzi. But he has been a common sight lately -- showing up in public (which is unusual) and completing tours (even more unusual) -- fueling speculation that the album, Chinese Democracy, might be ready for release soon. Patient fans are not holding their breath. With Papa Roach and Sebastian Bach. At 8, Madison Square Garden, (212) 307-7171, thegarden.com; $49.50 to $89.50. (Sisario) BRUCE HORNSBY (Tonight) Mr. Hornsby spent much of the 1990s touring as the pianist with the Grateful Dead and its spinoffs, and the experience transformed his own music. Even in earnest songs, hes freer and more playful, letting loose his two-handed virtuosity so that songs dance through jazz, gospel, country, Latin music and rock. At 8, the Concert Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-7171, concertstonight.com; sold out. (Jon Pareles) BERT JANSCH (Tuesday) One of the prime movers of the 1960s British folk scene, Mr. Jansch played knotty and expressive acoustic guitar that influenced Jimmy Page and Neil Young, and in songs like Needle of Death sang in an invitingly guileless voice of a bohemian demimonde. He has remained productive, but two things have brought him a new audience: his appearance on the soundtrack to The Squid and the Whale last year, and his embrace by young folk stars like Beth Orton and Devendra Banhart, who both appear on his new album, The Black Swan (Drag City). At 8 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, near Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236, spsounds.com; $15. (Sisario) KIKI AND HERB (Wednesday and Thursday) Fresh from a run on Broadway, the worlds most brilliantly perverse cabaret duo -- theyve performed a medley of Smells Like Teen Spirit and Frosty the Snowman -- begins a series of late-night shows in the intimate Joes Pub. At 11:30 p.m., 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, joespub.com; $20. (Sisario) AMY MILLAN, ERIC BACHMANN (Thursday) When indie rockers dabble in country music, they tend to lose their sense of humor entirely. Ms. Millan, the guitarist of Stars, a band from Montreal that plays witty and sophisticated songs, cries a river of twang on her one-dimensional new solo album, Honey From the Tombs (Arts & Crafts), and Mr. Bachmann, under his own name or as Crooked Fingers, has long been obsessed with a grim Southern Gothic country-folk that has none of the sparkle of his former rock band, Archers of Loaf. At 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $15. (Sisario) * MODEST MOUSE (Monday through Wednesday) A band so emblematic of 21st-century indie rock that it was mentioned by name in the Supreme Courts decision on MGM v. Grokster last year, Modest Mouse links antsy, catchy guitar lines to vocals that are always just a few shrieks away from a destructive tantrum. These three shows begin a five-concert New York series that is likely to show off songs from the bands long-delayed new album. Monday at 9 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, (212) 307-7171, nokiatheatrenyc.com; $31. Tuesday and Wednesday at 8 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 533-2111, bowerypresents.com; sold out. (Sisario) MARISA MONTE (Tuesday) One of Brazils most sensual (and successful) singers, Ms. Monte took a break five years ago to have a child, and after a joint record with Carlinhos Brown and Arnaldo Antunes, has returned with two superb new solo albums: Universo ao Meu Redor, which won a Latin Grammy last week, is made up of traditional sambas, and Infinito Particular (both on Metro Blue/Blue Note) sets her own compositions to orchestral and electronic accompaniment. At 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 307-7171; $49.50 to $78.50. (Sisario) MOUSE ON MARS (Tomorrow) Since 1993, Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner, two German electronic musicians with a knack for surrealistic mischief, have been making some of the strangest and most compelling music on the planet out of slippery squiggles of sound that seem to dance around in space as if part of some wild sonic cartoon. At 8:30 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $15 in advance, $17 at the door. (Sisario) * JOANNA NEWSOM (Monday) The fairy queen of the freak-folk movement, Ms. Newsom uses a harp and her froggish little voice to spin elaborate, beguiling fantasies, always giving the sense that no matter how imaginative her music is, she is capable of much, much more. Her latest, Ys (Drag City), contains five dense orchestrated songs that are on average about 11 minutes long. With P. G. Six, also known as the guitarist Pat Gubler. At 5 and 9:30 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 533-2111, bowerypresents.com; $20. (Sisario) OAKLEY HALL, MICAH P. HINSON (Tonight) Patient country-folk mutates into powerful, throbbing drones in the songs of Oakley Hall, a Brooklyn band led by Pat Sullivan, a former member of Brooklyns other masters of psychedelic minimalism, Oneida. With a groaning, melancholic baritone and fractured guitar chords, Mr. Hinson, from Abilene, Tex., sings of regret, wasted lives and the sacrifice of rock n rolls worst leading guy. At 7:30, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700, mercuryloungenyc.com; $12. Mr. Hinson also plays tomorrow night at 7:30 at Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 653-1703, maxwellsnj.com; $8. (Sisario) PLASTIC PEOPLE OF THE UNIVERSE (Monday) In Prague in the 1960s, the Plastic People of the Universe transmuted the lessons of Frank Zappa and the Velvet Underground into dank, dissonant, precise songs that drew the wrath of Czechoslovakias Communist government. But the reconstituted bands songs are more than period pieces; by finding a rock language for Eastern European angst, they turn desperation inside out. The guitarist Gary Lucas opens the show with his band Gods and Monsters. At 7 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006, knittingfactory.com; $15. (Pareles) PLUS-44 (Tuesday) Its not often that the rivaling former members of a multiplatinum band pass through the same club, giving curious fans a controlled experiment to judge who has made out better. Last year the boys-will-be-boys pop-punk band Blink-182 went on acrimonious hiatus, and one of its two singers, Tom DeLonge, started a new group, Angels and Airwaves; it played the Bowery Ballroom in May. Now come the two other alumni, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker, with their own band, Plus-44. Both groups are darker and more emo-influenced than Blink-182, and unfortunately for fans scrambling for a way into this show, neither has much of the fire of their former band. At 8 p.m., with the Matches, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; sold out. (Sisario) ROBERT POLLARD (Monday) One of the most prolific and gifted songwriters in alternative rock -- or any kind of rock -- Mr. Pollard, now 49, dissolved his long-running band Guided by Voices two years ago but has persisted with the style and work ethic of that band, releasing a small stack of solo albums and EPs whose songs vary from indulgent lo-fi sketches to clean, crisp glories of guitar-rock that conjure the best of the Who and Big Star. At 7 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $23 in advance, $25 at the door. (Sisario) * SCRITTI POLITTI (Tonight) Green Gartside, the 51-year-old Welsh singer and songwriter who is the core of Scritti Politti, works slowly and deliberately. A bright light in the confrontationally arty post-punk scene in the late 70s, he turned in the 80s to sweet and almost classically elegant pop; Miles Davis performed one of his songs in admiration. His latest album, White Bread Black Beer (Nonesuch), is one of his strongest in years, and his band is only now on its first American tour. At 9, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $20. (Sisario) TWILIGHT SINGERS (Thursday) Greg Dulli led the Afghan Whigs before he started the more introspective Twilight Singers, who help him wallow in loneliness and romantic insecurity as he confesses all in his smoky voice. At 8:30 p.m., Warsaw, 261 Driggs Avenue, at Eckford Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 387-0505, warsawconcerts.com; $22. (Pareles) WITCHCRAFT (Tonight) No, thats not Black Sabbath playing some long-lost track from 1971. Its Witchcraft, a Swedish band that even in a deeply retro metal culture stands out for a remarkable simulacrum of its heroes knuckle-dragging fuzz-blues, even down to Magnus Pelanders helium-voiced Ozzy Osbourne. If Black Sabbath made it look easy, Witchcraft makes it look even easier. With Danava. At 9, Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103, northsix.com; $12. (Sisario) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. * MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS (Tonight) Mr. Abrams, the pianist and composer, is an architect of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, or A.A.C.M. He performs tonight in a solo piano setting, in duets with the vibraphonist Bryan Carrott and in a quintet whose other members are Aaron Stewart and Howard Johnson on reeds, Saadi Zain on bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. At 8, Community Church of New York, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan, aacm-newyork.com; $25. (Nate Chinen) PETER APFELBAUM AND NEW YORK HIEROGLYPHICS (Thursday) Peter Apfelbaum, a saxophonist and pianist, formed his African-inspired Hieroglyphics Ensemble more than 20 years ago in the Bay Area. His 11-piece East Coast edition of the group includes Peck Allmond on trumpet, tenor saxophone and flute; Charlie Burnham on violin; and Abdoulaye Diabate on vocals. (Through Nov. 17.) At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $15; members, $10. (Chinen) MARC CARY AND ABSTRAKT BLAK (Tonight) The keyboardist Marc Cary and the producer Shon (Chance) Miller make up Abstrakt Blak, an experimental electronic project inspired by sources from Langston Hughes to go-go funk. At midnight, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $10, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) BILL CHARLAP TRIO (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) Bright and breezy yet unfailingly precise, the pianist Bill Charlap keeps a standard repertory percolating in the present tense. (Through Nov. 19.) At 9 and 11, Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) THE COOKERS (Wednesday and Thursday) A dream team of powerhouse post-bop, with the trumpeters Charles Tolliver and David Weiss, the saxophonists Billy Harper and James Spaulding, and the pianist George Cables. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $25. (Chinen) CHICK COREA (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) This weekend Mr. Corea leads his Elektric Band, with Eric Marienthal on alto saxophone, Frank Gambale on guitar, Victor Wooten on bass and Dave Weckl on drums. On Tuesday he switches to an ensemble inspired by his 1976 album The Leprechaun (Verve): Mr. Gambale, the drummer Steve Gadd, the bassist Anthony Jackson and the saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. (Through Nov. 19.) 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) STEVE DAVIS QUINTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) Update (Criss Cross), the new album by the trombonist Steve Davis, earns its title by gently bringing 1950s hard bop into a modern sphere. Mr. Davis enacts a similar process with his quintet, which features the saxophonist Mike DiRubbo. 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) GERSHWIN (Thursday) The pianist Marcus Roberts interprets George Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue with help from the American Composers Orchestra (conducted by Steven Sloane) and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (led by Wynton Marsalis). Also on the program: Nelson Riddle arrangements of Gershwin standards, and the premiere of a commission by Derek Bermel. (Through Nov. 18.) At 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) RUSSELL GUNN (Tonight) Mr. Gunn, a trumpeter with an aggressive style, has a new album, Krunk Jazz, on his own Groid Music label. Here, though, he will focus on his acoustic side, with a working trio. At 7, Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th Street, Chelsea, (212) 620-5000, Ext. 344, rmanyc.org; $20. (Chinen) * ANDREW HILL OCTET (Tuesday) Three years ago Blue Note Records issued Passing Ships, recorded by the pianist Andrew Hill in 1969. It was a revelation: Mr. Hills compositions suggest a lyrically focused approach to avant-garde exploration. The album receives an unprecedented concert interpretation by Mr. Hill, 69, with an ensemble that includes the trumpeter Keyon Harrold and the trombonist Curtis Fowlkes; of note is the participation of Howard Johnson, who played tuba and bass clarinet on the album. At 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330, kaufman-center.org; $30 in advance, $35 on Tuesday. (Chinen) MIKE HOLOBER AND THE GOTHAM JAZZ ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) Mike Holober is a pianist, composer and arranger for the Gotham Jazz Orchestra, a big band stocked with the trumpeters Tony Kadleck and Joe Magnarelli, the trombonist Bruce Eidem and the drummer John Riley. Their lone album, Thought Trains (Sons of Sound), was released in 2004 but recorded back in 1996, and its a safe bet that the bands sound has evolved since then. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $20. (Chinen) BOBBY HUTCHERSON QUARTET (Tuesday through Thursday) Bobby Hutcherson has been the chief proponent of a harmonically restless post-bop vibraphone style for roughly 40 years. Still a searcher and a dynamo, he leads a propulsive rhythm section composed of Renee Rosnes on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass and Al Foster on drums. (Through Nov. 19.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center, (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) LAGE LUND (Tonight) Mr. Lund, the winner of last years Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, is an introspective guitarist and a thoughtful composer; his effortlessly modern ensemble includes another past winner, the tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake. 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) BRIAN LYNCH/EDDIE PALMIERI PROJECT (Thursday) The trumpeter Brian Lynch has a new album, Simpático (ArtistShare), that highlights his longstanding affiliation with the pianist Eddie Palmieri. To celebrate the albums release, Mr. Lynch leads a group featuring Conrad Herwig on trombone, Yosvany Terry on alto saxophone and Dafnis Prieto on drums, among others; filling in for Mr. Palmieri is a smart up-and-comer, Manuel Valera. At 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) RUSSELL MALONE QUARTET (Tonight through Sunday) Russell Malones new album, Live at Jazz Standard Volume One (MaxJazz), affirms his stature as one of the finest guitarists in the modern jazz mainstream. He returns to the club with the working band of Martin Bejerano on piano, Tassili Bond on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $30; $25 on Sunday. (Chinen) MARCIN MASECKI (Tomorrow) Mr. Masecki, a pianist based in Warsaw, performs a solo set presented in part by the Polish Cultural Institute. At 7:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778, joespub.com; cover, $15, with a two-drink minimum. (Chinen) CHARLES MCPHERSON QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) Charlie Parker serves as a clear model for the alto saxophonist Charles McPherson, one of bebops premier torchbearers. His well-pressed band includes his son, Chuck McPherson, on drums; Jeb Patton on piano; and Ray Drummond on bass. At 8, 10 and 11:30, Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662, smokejazz.com; cover, $30. (Chinen) BEN MONDER TRIO (Tomorrow) A sleekly proficient guitarist and deeply imaginative composer, Ben Monder focuses his ideas best in this nimble trio with the bassist Chris Lightcap and the drummer Ted Poor. At midnight, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $10, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) LUIS PERDOMO TRIO (Tomorrow) Awareness (RKM) is the second release by the pianist Luis Perdomo, and it marks a significant advance: he plays with exploratory urgency, and his compositions take unforced yet unexpected turns. Here he reunites with the albums primary bassist, Hans Glawischnig, and one of its two drummers, Nasheet Waits. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $15; members, $10. (Chinen) * DJANGO REINHARDT NY FESTIVAL (Tonight through Sunday) What began as a salute to the gypsy guitarist has evolved into a smorgasbord of buoyant swing. This seasons stars include the guitarists Dorado Schmitt, Samson Schmitt and Tchavolo Schmitt -- gypsy swing tends to be a family affair -- along with the accordionist Ludovic Beier. Among other guests: the clarinetist Ken Peplowski (tonight), the pianist Ray Kennedy (tomorrow) and the harpist Edmar Castaneda (Sunday). At 8 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com; cover, $40, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * MATTHEW SHIPP (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Shipps pianism is often prickly but rarely off-putting, because his even his free improvisations tend to follow a faintly linear path. Drawing from a new body of compositions called Sacred Geometry, he performs a solo set as well as a performance with the bassist Michael Bisio and the cellist Okkyung Lee. At 8, the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, Ext. 11, thekitchen.org; $10. (Chinen) TYSHAWN SOREYS OBLIQUE (Sunday) Tyshawn Sorey is often an explosive drummer, but he brings subtlety to this band, which includes the trombonist Ben Gerstein and the alto saxophonist Loren Stillman. At 8 and 10 p.m., Bar 4, 444 Seventh Avenue, at 15th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 832-9800, bar4.net; suggested cover, $5. (Chinen) VISION CLUB SERIES (Tomorrow) This off-season outreach of the Vision Festival presents two free-jazz ensembles: a trio consisting of the alto saxophonist Rob Brown, the cellist Daniel Levin and the drummer Satoshi Takeishi (at 7:30 p.m.); and Test, featuring the multi-reedists Daniel Carter and Sabir Mateen, with the drummer Tom Bruno (at 9 p.m.). Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 696-6681, visionfestival.org; cover, $10 a set; students, $7. (Chinen) YELLOWJACKETS (Tuesday through Thursday) After 25 years, this pace car of light-fusion bands has not slowed, thanks to the stewardship of two of its founding members -- the keyboardist Russell Ferrante and the bassist Jimmy Haslip -- and the strong contribution of Bob Mintzer on saxophones and Marcus Baylor on drums. (Through Nov. 18.) At 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com; cover, $40, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) PETE ZIMMER QUARTET (Thursday) On his new album, Judgment (Tippin Records), the drummer Pete Zimmer features the frontline contrast of two tenor saxophonists, George Garzone and Joel Frahm. They will rejoin him, along with the pianist Toru Dodo and the bassist John Sullivan. At 7:30 and 9:15 p.m., Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 885-7119, kitano.com; no cover. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera * IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA (Tonight, Monday and Thursday) There is tremendous buzz around this Barber, partly because it will be staged by Bartlett Sher (The Light in the Piazza), partly because it features Juan Diego Flórez, todays hottest (in more than one sense) Rossini tenor. And it will probably be good, because you have to work hard to mess up Barber. Diana Damrau, a much-praised soprano, is the Rosina; Peter Mattei is Figaro; and Maurizio Benini conducts. Tonight at 8, Monday and Thursday nights at 7:30, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $100 to $550 tickets remaining tonight, $175 to $375 for Monday, and $80 to $320 for Thursday. (Anne Midgette) CARMEN (Tomorrow) A new cast has taken over for the remainder of the run. In her first season at New York City Opera, Vanessa Cariddi plays the Gypsy; Kerri Marcinko and Daesan No, two other newcomers, are Micaëla and Escamillo. Scott Piper, who has a promising voice, is Don José, and Gary Thor Wedow conducts. At 8 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nycopera.com; sold out. (Midgette) COSÌ FAN TUTTE (Wednesday) City Operas intelligent, well-sung production of Mozarts masterpiece reappears. Julianna Di Giacomo and James Maddalena are still highlights of the cast, with Julius Rudel conducting. At 7:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nycopera.com; $25 to $125. (Bernard Holland) The Elixir of Love (Tonight, Tuesday and Thursday) Jonathan Miller has created an all-American version of Donizettis Elisir dAmore, transposing the action to a vintage roadside diner to create something that is dramatically consistent but also dramatically slight. Yet Elisir is a delightful opera, and that prevails whatever you think of the directors conceit (using the word advisedly). The second cast of the run includes the American tenor Leonardo Capalbo, making his company debut as Nemorino, and Georgia Jarman, a fine soprano, as his Adina. Gerald Steichen conducts. Tonight at 8, Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nycopera.com; $25 to $125. (Midgette) HANSEL AND GRETEL (Tomorrow and Sunday) Opera is big and loud, childrens theater is light and fun, and Engelbert Humperdincks classic represents an uneasy juxtaposition of the two. By setting the action in 1890s New York, City Opera moves the story into a more adult or believable realm, with Hansel and Gretel as immigrant children lapsing into German ditties in a singing English translation, but without losing some of the important elements, like the witch going into the oven at the end. The singers trade off between performances; Jennifer Aylmer and Jennifer Rivera are one pair of leads who do a fine job. Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., Sunday at 1:30 and 5:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nycopera.com; $25 to $115. (Midgette) * MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Tomorrow and Wednesday) The abstract staging of this visually beautiful production by the Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella deftly employs movable screens, billowing fabrics, stylized costumes and, most daringly, a life-sized puppet manipulated by three black-clad puppeteers to portray Butterflys 3-year-old son. Vocally, neither of the leads, the earthy-voiced soprano Cristina Gallardo-Domâs as Butterfly, and the robustly Italianate tenor Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, is ideal. But they do honorable work. Asher Fisch conducts tomorrow, and James Levine conducts on Wednesday. Tomorrow at 8 p.m. and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; sold out. (Anthony Tommasini) * ORPHÉE AUX ENFERS (Wednesday) This Offenbach sendup of the Orfeo and Euridice story (and specifically of Glucks operatic version of the tale) is one of this composers cleverest operettas. The Juilliard Opera Center is presenting an ambitious production of this work, directed by John Pascoe (who also designed the sets and costumes) and conducted by the admirable Anne Manson. The later, stronger 1874 version will be presented. At 8 p.m., Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Juilliard School, 155 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; $20. (Tommasini) * TEATRO GRATTACIELO (Tomorrow) With its boundless enthusiasm for Italian opera from the verismo school, which flourished in the early 20th century, Teatro Grattacielo has been drawing loyal audiences to its performances of some very obscure works. Tomorrow is the North American premiere of a Zandonai opera, La Farsa Amorosa. David Wroe conducts a full orchestra, chorus and cast. At 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, lincolncenter.org; $25 to $75. (Tommasini) TOSCA (Tomorrow and Tuesday) Andrea Gruber is a soprano who flings herself into roles; accordingly, she takes on her first Tosca with a certain violence. The character becomes tough yet vulnerable in her reading, yet the vulnerability is perhaps too pronounced in her uneven, patchy singing. José Cura is a bad-boy Cavaradossi who proves, when he sings out, also to be vocally uneven; he sings tomorrow, but Vincenzo La Scola will sing the role on Tuesday. James Morris is a known and growly quantity as Scarpia. The real news is the company debut of the conductor Nicola Luisotti, who conducts the piece as if it mattered. Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $220 to $375 tickets remaining for tomorrow, $15 to $375 on Tuesday. (Midgette) Classical Music * AMERICAN COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA (Thursday) The composer Derek Bermel has won acclaim for pulsating works that vividly draw from classical, jazz and rock idioms. He has begun a three-year stint as composer in residence with this orchestra, which is collaborating for the first time with Jazz at Lincoln Center to present the premiere of his new work, The Migration Series. The program includes music by Gershwin, Mingus and John Lewis. Steven Sloane conducts. At 8 p.m., Rose Theater, Broadway at 60th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, jalc.org; sold out. (Tommasini) SÉRGIO AND ODAIR ASSAD (Tonight) This superb fraternal guitar duo move easily between the classical repertory and Latin pop, and this concert -- although it includes works by Ginastera, Copland (an arrangement of Hoe Down from Rodeo) and Agustín Barrios -- edges more than usually toward the pop side. Paquito DRivera plays clarinet with the group in a program that includes music of his own, as well as pieces by Egberto Gismonti, Astor Piazzolla, Angel Villoldo, Rey Guerra, Eliseo Grenet and Pixinguinha. At 7:30, Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $40 to $48. (Allan Kozinn) KRISTIAN BEZUIDENHOUT (Tuesday) This South African harpsichordist and fortepiano player performs a program called J. S. Bach Sturm and Drang, with Le Nuove Musiche, a period-instrument ensemble. The concert includes the Ciaconna from Bachs Partita in D minor; Bendas Sonata in A minor; Hertels Piano Concerto in F minor; and Mozarts Rondo in A minor (K. 511) and Piano Concerto in A (K. 414). At 8 p.m., Miller Theater, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799, millertheater.com; $35; $21 for students. (Vivien Schweitzer) JONATHAN BISS AND BENJAMIN HOCHMAN (Wednesday) These talented pianists perform Mozarts Sonata in F for Piano Four Hands; Schuberts Fantasy in F minor for Piano Four Hands; and Schumann/Debussy: Six Pieces in Canonic Form for Two Pianos. They will be joined by James Deitz and Ayano Kataoka for Bartoks Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion. At 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500, 92y.org; $40. (Schweitzer) BORROMEO STRING QUARTET (Tomorrow) The Peoples Symphony Concerts organization has been offering a chance to hear first-rate artists at a wallet-friendly price since the conductor Franz X. Arens founded it in 1900. Tomorrow the Borromeo will play Osvaldo Golijovs Tenebrae, Shostakovichs Quartet No. 3 and Brahmss Clarinet Quintet, with Richard Stoltzman. At 8 p.m., Washington Irving High School, 16th Street and Irving Place, Manhattan, (212) 586-4680, pscny.org; $9. (Schweitzer) * BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Tomorrow) With the Boston Symphony, the music director James Levine is in the midst of a programming adventure in which works by two revolutionaries, Beethoven and Schoenberg, are paired. For this concert at Carnegie Hall, though, he pairs works by two other path-breakers: Brahmss Symphony No. 1 and Bartoks gripping one-act opera Bluebeards Castle. Albert Dohmen sings the role of the fearsome, secretive Duke Bluebeard, and Anne Sofie von Otter is Judith, his tragically innocent new wife. At 8 p.m., (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $39 to $127. (Tommasini) BRENTANO STRING QUARTET AND MITSUKO UCHIDA (Tomorrow) Prime musicians play a prime program that includes Mozarts Piano Quartet in G minor, the Bartok Second String Quartet and the Schumann Piano Quintet. At 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $50 and $68, with limited availability. (Holland) ECCE COR MEUM (Tuesday) Few composers of any stripe can touch Paul McCartneys melodies, and this choral work -- his third large-scale score -- has some lovely touches. It is also about as conservative as can be, and would have been fully at home a century ago. Recently issued on CD, it has its New York premiere with Kate Royal as the soprano soloist with the Concert Chorale of New York, the American Boychoir and the Orchestra of St. Lukes, conducted by Gavin Greenaway. At 7:30 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $35 to $125. (Kozinn) ENSEMBLE EUROPÉEN WILLIAM BYRD (Sunday) This Paris-based vocal quintet, directed by Graham OReilly, makes its New York debut with a program of motets by Charpentier, Du Mont, Moulinié and Brossard. At 4 p.m., Corpus Christi Church, 529 West 121st Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 666-9266, mb1800.org; $25 and $40; $20 and $35 for students and 62+. (Kozinn) JUiLLIARD ORCHESTRA (Monday) This first-rate young orchestra, conducted by George Manahan, will play Stravinskys Chant du Rossignol, Ravels orchestration of Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition and Prokofievs Sinfonia Concertante (Op. 125), with Anna Burden, a 22-year-old American cellist. At 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free, but tickets are required. (Schweitzer) JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET (Tonight) Now an American chamber music institution, this ensemble celebrates its 60th anniversary with a traversal of the Bartok string quartet cycle, the groups signature repertory since its earliest days. The first installment was on Wednesday, and it concludes the set tonight with Nos. 2, 4 and 6. At 8, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free, but tickets are required. (Kozinn) GIDON KREMER, ANDREI PUSHKAREV AND ANDRIUS ZLABYS (Sunday) The 60-minute Movado Hour series, inaugurated last fall after the completion of the Baryshnikov Arts Center, continues with a concert by Mr. Kremer, a violinist; Mr. Pushkarev, a percussionist; and Mr. Zlabys, a pianist. They will play works by Bach, Busoni, Tickmayer and Piazzolla. At 6 p.m., 450 West 37th Street, Manhattan, (212) 218-7540, baryshnikovdancefoundation.org; free, but reservations are required. (Schweitzer) MARYINSKY ACADEMY OF YOUNG SINGERS (Tonight through Sunday night) Shostakovich, the other birthday boy, would have been 100 this year, and some of the most interesting musical tributes have been to him. This weekend the Maryinsky offers a three-concert survey of his songs, presented by some recognized young singers from its training program. Daniil Shtoda, a tenor who made a bit of a splash a few years back, sings tonight, and the mezzo Ekaterina Semenchuk, who competed in the 2001 Cardiff Singer of the World, is on all three programs. The concerts are grouped roughly chronologically, with exceptions, from Opus 21 tonight (Six Romances on Texts of Japanese Poets) to Opus 145 on Sunday night (Five Songs from Michelangelo Suite). At 7:30, Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $26. (Midgette) MUSICIANS FROM MARLBORO (Tonight) This concert features chamber music by performers linked to the summer school and festival in Vermont. Seven players mix and match to play Beethoven, Brahms, Bartok and Mozart. At 8, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949, metmuseum.org; $40. (Holland) ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER (Wednesday) This German violinist and her longstanding collaborator at the piano, Lambert Orkis, give one of their regular Carnegie Hall recitals. The anniversary year (you know whose) is coming to an end, but the celebration isnt slowing down. So once again its all Mozart, with five violin and piano sonatas. At 8 p.m., (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $29 to $98. (Holland) NEW JUILLIARD ENSEMBLE (Thursday) Joel Sachs leads his young players in another foray into contemporary music. The composers come from Australia, Argentina, England, Brazil and right around the corner. The pieces are either brand-new or at most 10 years old. At 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free, but tickets are required. (Holland) NEW SOUNDS LIVE (Tonight) The composer Phil Klines best-known works use boomboxes and other street-level devices, but his latest score, John the Revelator -- commissioned by WNYC and influenced by everything from the Bible to the blues -- will be given its premiere by Lionheart, the early-music vocal ensemble, and Ethel, the new-music string quartet. At 7, Winter Garden at the World Financial Center, West Street, south of Vesey Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 945-0505, worldfinancialcenter.com; free. (Kozinn) NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG (Wednesday and Thursday) Fans of this series dont go to a concert for a particular program but for what is always an entertaining evening of unfamiliar music, wittily elucidated by Steven Blier. Brava Italia is the theme of this weeks (repeated) recital, with 20th-century Italian song, from Puccini and Mascagni onward, as its putative scope, and the definition of Italian stretched to include any composer with an Italian name: Dominick Argento, John Musto. Singers include Carolyn Betty, Sasha Cooke and Jeremy Little. At 8 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $45; $35 for 65+. (Midgette) ST. THOMAS CHOIR (Tuesday) The celebrations for the 250th anniversary of Mozarts birth arent over yet. The choir and Concert Royal, an early-music group, will perform a concert of sacred choral works, led by John Scott. The program includes Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, Exsultate, Jubilate, Ave Verum Corpus and the Coronation Mass in C. The soloists are Jolle Greenleaf, a soprano; Malin Fritz, an alto; Brian Register, a tenor; and Craig Phillips, a bass. At 7:30 p.m., St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at 53rd Street, (212) 664-9360, saintthomaschurch.org; $25 to $60. (Schweitzer) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. LUCIANA ACHUGAR (Tonight through Sunday night) Ms. Achugar, who is from Uruguay, explores the similarities between the theater and the church in her new Exhausting Love at Danspace Project. At 8:30; Sunday night at 7:30, Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194, danspaceproject.org; $15. (Jennifer Dunning) * RAE BALLARD (Sunday) Ms. Ballard, a distinctively thoughtful, measured modern-dance choreographer, honors veterans in a performance of her new Long Road Home, an exploration of how soldiers, both men and women, integrate memories of war with their present-day realities. At 2 p.m., Yonkers Riverfront Library Auditorium, 1 Larkin Center, Yonkers, (914) 337-1500, ypl.org; free. (Dunning) BATTERY DANCE COMPANY (Wednesday and Thursday) The program of dances by the company director, Jonathan Hollander, will include solos created for the alumni Tadej Brdnik, Virginie Mecene and Ariel Bonilla, current and former soloists with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Wednesday at 1 p.m., Thursday at 1 and 8 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, (212) 219-3910; $20; $10 for students and 65+. (Dunning) DADA VON BZDÜLÖW THEATER (Thursday) In its American debut, this Polish dance-theater company will present Several Witty Observations (à la Gombrowicz), which explores themes in the writings of Witold Gombrowicz. (Through Nov. 26.) Thursday at 7:30 p.m., La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710, lamama.org; $20; $15 for students. (Dunning) DEEPLY ROOTED DANCE THEATER (Tonight) Based in Chicago and directed by New Yorks own Kevin Jeff, the company will present Classical Roots: An Evening in Three Acts, a program that draws on the troupes African-American modern-dance aesthetic. The dances are set to music that ranges from gospel, blues and hip-hop to Bach and Dvorak. At 8, Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 899 10th Avenue, at 58th Street, Clinton, (866) 468-7619, ticketweb.com; $35, $45 and $100. (Dunning) LAWRENCE GOLDHUBER (Tonight through Sunday) O.K., O.K., we know this is billed as theater, that dull alternative art form. But Mr. Goldhuber has many dance fans, so we thought wed let you know hes performing SWELL(ing) Relatives, an excursion into the world of a man who must hold down his floating possessions with 1,000 potatoes. Valeria Vasilevski is the director. At 10, La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710, lamama.org; $15. (Dunning) * LARRY KEIGWIN/KEIGWIN & COMPANY (Tonight through Sunday) Mr. Keigwin is that rare blend of humanism and sly humor. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8; Sunday at 3 p.m., Dance New Amsterdam, 280 Broadway, at Chambers Street, TriBeCa, (212) 279-4200, ticketcentral.com; $20. (Dunning) PETER KYLE DANCE (Tonight through Sunday) In its New York City debut, this modern-dance company will pay tribute to Murray Louis, one of the grand old men of American modern dance and a mentor to Peter Kyle, who performed with the Nikolais/Louis troupe in the 1990s. Tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30; Sunday at 3 p.m., Henry Street Settlement, 466 Grand Street, at Pitt Street, Lower East Side, (212) 352-3101; $15. (Dunning) * LIMÓN DANCE COMPANY (Tuesday through Thursday) The Limón Dance Company is celebrating its 60th anniversary and remains a valued repository of American modern-dance history. Its two-week Joyce season will include revivals of works by José Limón and Doris Humphrey and a Lar Lubovitch premiere. (Through Nov. 26.) Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, joyce.org; $40. (John Rockwell) Movement Research at the Judson Church (Monday) Mariko Tanabe, Rie Fukuzawa and Rebecca and Lise Serrell present works in progress at this weekly adventure in experimental movement. Who knows what youll see? Thats exactly the point. At 8 p.m., Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, (212) 598-0551, movementresearch.org; free. (Claudia La Rocco) MALINA RAUSCHENFELS (Tomorrow and Sunday) Ms. Rauschenfels, who studied music at the Eastman School and Juilliard, promises an army of choreographers, which includes Sue Bernhard and Jody Oberfelder, in a program of dance set to cello and live chamber music. Tomorrow at 7 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m., City Center Studio 5, 130 West 56th Street, Manhattan, (917) 754-5549; $10 to $20 suggested donation. (Dunning) ROSEANNE SPRADLIN DANCE (Tonight and tomorrow) Ms. Spradlin is known for her distinctive and authoritative explorations of the psyche and its dark, raw, buried emotions, here in Survive Cycle. At 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077, dtw.org; $25; $15 for students and 65+. (Dunning) TANGO! (Tomorrow) Pablo Aslan, the Argentine-born bassist-composer who has worked with the filmmaker Carlos Saura and the singers Julio Iglesias and Shakira, aims here at the modernization of the tango in music and dance, performed by his Advantango troupe and presented by the World Music Institute and the Skirball Center. At 8 p.m., Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 La Guardia Place, at Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, (212) 279-4200, skirballcenter.nyu.edu; $40 and $45. (Dunning) Tango Company Estampas Porteñas (Sunday) Break out the bandoneóns and your sky-high heels: the Buenos Aires-export Tango Fire arrives just in time for the cold weather. At 2 and 7 pm., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 840-2824, ticketmaster.com; sold out. (La Rocco) VIA DANCE COLLABORATIVE (Thursday) Work by a group of brainy, funny modern-dance choreographers, who include Janice Lancaster, Gudbjorg Arnald and Daniel Charon, with a film by Kathleen Hahn and Adam Larsen. (Through Nov. 19.) At 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479, viadance.org; $50 for the Thursday benefit, $15 for other performances. (Dunning) CLAUDE WAMPLER (Thursday) Is it dance? Performance art? Or something else? Ms. Wampler has made a career of blending performing and visual arts in category-defying ways. Her work also questions the role of the audience, but dont all her projects? (Through Nov. 18.) At 7 and 9:30 p.m., the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, Ext. 11, thekitchen.org; $12. (Dunning) ELLIS WOOD DANCE (Tonight through Sunday) In August Ms. Wood offered 20 women cavorting in red fabric among the neo-Classical columns of Cipriani on Wall Street; her piece was short, feminist and a little forced. Now she is back with an evening-length indoor work about the relationship between women and the elements: air, fire, earth and water. At 8, Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479, joyce.org; $15; $10 for students and 65+. (Rockwell) * WORKS & PROCESS: DANCE THEATER OF HARLEM (Sunday and Monday) If we cant see full-stage performances by the company, on hiatus now after financial problems, this is the next-best thing. Excerpts from new ballets by Endalyn Taylor, Robert Garland and Keith Saunders will be performed on a program that also includes a panel discussion with Arthur Mitchell, the companys director, and the choreographers. At 7:30 p.m., Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3587; sold out. (Dunning) Kota Yamazaki (Thursday) Versed in Butoh, modern dance and ballet, Mr. Yamazaki has dabbled in a host of forms, from traditional African dance to vernacular American street dancing. Expect to see a little of everything in Rise:Rose. (Through Nov. 18.) At 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077, dtw.org; $12 and $20. (La Rocco) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums * Bronx Museum of the Arts, Tropicalia: A Revolution in Brazilian Culture, through Jan. 28. Tropicalia, or Tropicalism, wasnt a style or a movement as much as an atmosphere, a rush of youthful, cosmopolitan, liberating optimism that broke over Brazil in the late 1960s like a sunshower, and soaked into everything -- art, music, film, theater and architecture -- until a military government clamped down. This show is an attempt to recapture the moments fugitive spirit, and with the presence of artists like Helio Oiticica and Lygia Clark, the architect Lina Bo Bardi, and musicians like Gilberto Gil, it comes close. 1040 Grand Concourse, at 165th Street, Morrisania, (718) 681-6000, bronxmuseum.org. (Holland Cotter) Brooklyn Museum: ANNIE LEIBOVITZ: A PHOTOGRAPHERS LIFE, 1990-2005, through Jan. 21. With photographs of her close-knit family and her companion, Susan Sontag; bits of photojournalism; and a pretentious foray into landscape photography, this large exhibition tells you more about Ms. Leibovitz than you probably want to know. The first-person text labels dont help. Not surprisingly, her well-known celebrity portraits are strongest, and at their best in a re-creation of the large pin-up boards on which she plotted the lavish book that accompanies the show. Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, Brooklyn, (718) 638-5000. (Roberta Smith) * 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 Giambattist, 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 in a project that seems to have been an extended exercise in personal peity. 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) * SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: LUCIO FONTANA: VENICE/NEW YORK, through Jan. 21. If the Italian artist Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) was dazzled by Venice, he was positively awestruck by New York, which he first visited in 1961. For each city he created a group of works that he felt expressed its individual spirit. For Venice, a group of richly sensual oil paintings, with his signature slashes and punctures, evoked his personal experience of the lagoon city in glowing colors during the passage of a day. For New York he chose shiny metal surfaces, slashed and pierced to give a semblance of the wired energy and architectural vivacity he saw as the essence of the futuristic metropolis. The two groups are united for the first time, and well attended by works and photographs of works that trace from 1949 the career of an artist seeking to transcend the boundaries of his era. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3500, guggenheim.org. (Grace Glueck) Metropolitan Museum of Art: Americans in Paris: 1860-1900, through Jan. 28. The Americanization of the world may be a done deal now, but not so long ago the United States was a buyer rather than a seller of cultural information, and France was a major source between the Civil War and World War I. Thats the story told in this exhibition. The basic ideas, though undeveloped, are inherently interesting, and the art, with some notable exceptions, is conservative and staid, especially when compared with work in the Mets Vollard show, done at the same time. (212) 535-7719, metmuseum.org. (Cotter) The Met: Coaxing the Spirits to Dance, through Sept. 3, 2007. How the Papuans practiced their beliefs on the remote Pacific island of New Guinea in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when they still had little contact with the West, is the complex and fascinating story told in this exhibition of some 60 objects and 30 rare photographs of the works on site or in actual use. The carved and painted spirit boards made throughout the gulf region, on the south coast of present-day Papua New Guinea, are probably the most easily recognized of the areas traditional artworks. Their central designs typically represent a bush or river spirit, with a heavily stylized face and perhaps a small body, surrounded by various totemic symbols. More daring in concept are the masks used in ritual dances. Papuan art may not be as varied or exciting as that of many African or Amerind peoples, but it records a vibrant community. (See above.) (Glueck) MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM: FRAGONARD AND THE FRENCH TRADITION AND MOZART AT 250: A CELEBRATION, through Jan. 7. Memorializing Mozarts 250th birthday and the 200th anniversary of the death of the French painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard, these small, paired shows reflect the elegance and brio of 18th-century culture. The Fragonard display consists only of his drawings and those of some compatriots, among them François Boucher, Hubert Robert and Jean-Baptiste Greuze; 40 works in all, drawn almost entirely from the Morgans collection. The show effectively displays the virtuosity and variety of Fragonards many styles, from his skills at depicting foliage-filled landscapes and the play of water in fountains and streams, to his keenness at capturing people, mythological scenes and ephemeral creatures. Although the works in the Mozart display -- letters and musical scores -- are in quite a different visual language, they go very happily with the Fragonard group. And you can hear excerpts from the manuscripts at two different listening stations in the show. 255 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 685-0008, morganlibrary.org. (Glueck) * Museum of Modern Art: Manet and the Execution of Maximilian, through Jan. 29. This small, gripping, focused show remind us of Modernisms mutinous, myth-scouring origins. And it does so by bringing one of arts great path-cutters, Edouard Manet, onto the scene, wry, politically infuriated and painting like Lucifer. Theres not a lot of him here: eight paintings, three on a single theme: the death by firing squad of the Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian in Mexico in 1867. But its enough. Manets images, surrounded 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) * Moma: BRICE MARDEN: A RETROSPECTIVE OF PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS, through Jan. 15. This quietly magnificent 40-year retrospective pays tribute to an artist who helped rebuild painting in the 1970s, working back from the brink of single-panel monochromes to elegant tangles of thick line on vibrant monochrome grounds that encompass a tremendous emotional range and sense of physical energy, and give the lie to the idea that any art can be purely formal or completely abstract. Mr. Marden converted the rule-ridden zone of Minimalist abstraction into a capacious yet disciplined place, pushing it toward landscape, the figure and its roots in Abstract Expressionism and beyond, in non-Western art. And he may have saved the best for last. (See above.) (Smith) NEWARK MUSEUM, the Jewish Museum: Masters of American Comics, through Jan. 28. Organized by the Hammer Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, where it made a splash, this show has come east, cut in size and split between the far-flung Newark and Jewish museums, in which it looks cramped. Art Spiegelman, one of the masters who helped instigate the exhibition, felt so aggrieved by the circumstances that at nearly the 11th hour he pulled his work. Still, the show shouldnt be missed. It spotlights artists like Chris Ware and Gary Panter, amazing state-of-the-art talents and endearing in the tradition of all those shy, gifted kids who drew endlessly in their rooms when other kids wouldnt play with them, dreaming about someday telling the world, I told you so. Newark Museum, 49 Washington Street, (973) 596-6550, newarkmuseum.org; and the Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, (212) 423-3200, thejewishmuseum.org. (Michael Kimmelman) P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center: Katrin Sigurdardottir: High Plane, through May 7. Cut into a space between two levels of P.S. 1 is the Icelandic artist Katrin Sigurdardottirs High Plane V, a miniature artificial landscape of glacial mountains arranged in a naturalistic, faux-snow-covered setting against a painted white background. Visitors climb ladders and peer into one of two holes in the ceiling to view the work. The installation works best when two people mount the ladders and poke their heads in at the same time: then they can both see a disembodied head floating in the middle of the icy landscape. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Street, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 784-2084, ps1.org. (Benjamin Genocchio) * UKRAINIAN MUSEUM: CROSSROADS: MODERNISM IN UKRAINE, 1910-1930, through March 11. Some of the great names in Modernist Russian art -- Malevich, El Lissitsky, Rodchenko, Archipenko and Exter -- were actually born, or identified themselves as, Ukrainian. And this show of more than 70 works by 21 artists , including many interesting lesser-knowns, informs us that their Ukrainian-ness made an impact on their contributions to the Modernist movements of the 20th century. The entirely nonobjective Suprematist work of Kasimir Malevich, for instance, was based in part on Ukrainian folk motifs, and the exuberant Cubist-Futurist theater designs and paintings by Alexandra Exter relate to icons and patterns from village embroideries and weavings and bright peasant costumes. Discoveries in the show include Vsevolod Maksymovych, a painter drawing on Symbolist sources, heavily influenced by classical themes and the campy erotica of the British graphic artist Aubrey Beardsley; and Anatol Petrytsky, a painter and creator of lighthearted, collagelike sketches for classical and avant-garde opera and ballet. Stressing as it does the importance of Ukrainian participation in Modernist art, the show is equally significant in its exposure to Americans of lively talents, largely unknown. 222 East Sixth Street, East Village, (212) 228-0110, ukrainianmuseum.org. (Glueck). * The Whitney Museum of American Art: ALBERS AND MOHOLY-NAGY: FROM THE BAUHAUS TO THE NEW WORLD, through Jan. 21. This vigorously multimedia show traces the trajectories of two Modernist pioneers who overlapped as teachers at the Bauhaus in the 1920s and went on, separately, to influence postwar art and design in the United States. Ranging through painting, sculpture, film, design, prints and commercial art, it clarifies the Bauhaus debt to Russian Constructivism and includes works that presage the specific objects of the 1960s. Given the peregrinations of young artists among multiple art media, the show could not be more pertinent. The less-known Moholy-Nagy looks especially adventuresome. (212) 570-3600, whitney.org. (Smith) The Whitney Museum of American Art: Picasso and american art, through Jan. 28. Despite the glamorous pictures in it, this is one of those dull affairs incubated in the world of academe: a walk-through slide show that states the obvious. Picassos Woman in White, a picture of heavenly arrogance, hangs between Arshile Gorkys Artist and His Mother and de Koonings Standing Man, terrific paintings too. We are meant to register the plain insinuation of Picassos neo-Classicism, then move on. Next slide, please. The show ends with a virtual retrospective of Picasso-inspired works by Jasper Johns. In picture after picture, Johns buries allusions to the great Spaniard, aspiring presumably to Picassos own late meditations on Velázquez. Except that even when he was old and running out of steam, Picasso still had joie de vivre. Johns doesnt so much enthrone Picasso as repeatedly entomb him. See above. (Kimmelman) Galleries Anant Joshi Cities in Asia are changing fast. Theyre going up and coming down at about equal speed. Urban culture, flooded with global goods and media, is changing too. Inevitably, such transformations have a big impact on art, and they are the subjects of new work by Anant Joshi, who lives and works in Mumbai. Paintings show a vision of the city modeled on commercial packing materials. Small sculptures, monuments to consumerist chaos, are assembled from hundreds of miniature toys, all made in China. Talwar Gallery, 108 East 16th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 673-3096, talwargallery.com, through Nov. 18. (Cotter) Last Chance * NICK CAVE: SOUNDSUITS Whether the efforts of this Chicago designer/artist qualify as fashion, body art or sculpture, they fall squarely under the heading of Must Be Seen to Be Believed. Worn in performance and covering the artist from head to toe and beyond, they also suggest mysterious ritual costumes of possibly African origin or aliens from a galaxy of extravagantly fashion-conscious planets. Embroidery, beads and especially sequins join forces with Easter grass, found fabrics, old sweaters, twigs and dryer lint, to bedazzling effect. Jack Shainman Gallery, 513 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 654-1701; closes tomorrow. (Smith) Robert Colescott: A Survey of Paintings Its good to have Robert Colescott back in town for his first New York solo show here since 2000. Now 81, Mr. Colescott has been dealing in a slap-in-the-face way with race, class, sex and American life for nearly 40 years. His early pictures, like George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware (1975), were riffs on museum classics; the five paintings from the 1990s in this mini-survey are a lot harder to pin down. Theyre richly and expressively painted; they dont hinge on a joke or a clear-cut contrast between good and bad, though they tend to feel bad, in a bad-dream way, and sick-joke funny. Kravets/Wehby, 521 West 21st Street, Chelsea, (212) 352-2238, kravetswehbygallery.com; closes tomorrow. (Cotter) * DICE THROWN (WILL NEVER ANNUL CHANCE) This admirably focused exhibition reveals the ways that 12 emerging and recently emerged artists push at the boundaries of photography -- mixing found, appropriated and made (or even drawn) images in ways that expand the mediums technical means and make it resonate in time, space and memory. Bellwether, 134 10th Avenue, near 18th Street, Chelsea, (212) 929-5959; closes tomorrow. (Smith)

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