Whether you’re craving a futuristic folk-rock-et-cetera musical, some cartoonish comedy, or an entire three-day performance festival, there is something here for you.
WEDNESDAY
Prelude Festival
October 7-9 at the Martin E. Segal Center, The CUNY Graduate Center, Murray Hill. Various times; all events free. Full schedule here.
Downtown-style performance art saunters uptown a bit for the 12th annual Prelude Festival. Spanning three days, Prelude celebrates exciting and zany performance and multidisciplinary artists who are making work today. Come get immersed in the world of the theatrical with installations, panel discussions, and performances from notable artists like high-belting queerdo Erin Markey, site-specific pioneers En Garde Arts, and Obie-winning experimental playwright Mac Wellman. Attendees will be transported via party buses to the closing party Friday night at PioneerWorks in Red Hook. Best of all, it’s free.
Prelude 2015 is curated by Antje Oegel and Tom Sellar.
THURSDAY
Futurity
Continues through November 15 at the Connelly Theater, 220 E 4th Street, East Village. 8pm, some shows at 3pm; tickets are $35-55 and can be purchased here.
Two theatrical powerhouses from different worlds—composer and musician César Alvarez of The Lisps and Soho Rep’s artistic director Sarah Benson—come together for the New York premiere of this “avant-americana” musical (co-produced by Soho Rep and Ars Nova) centering around a Civil War soldier and a math genius who seek to invent an electrifying machine. Alvarez leads a diverse cast of musicians and performers who will surely bring this unique musical to life in interesting ways. Tickets are going fast and it’s just been extended, so the phrase “sold out” may be appearing in this show’s futur(ity). Might be a good idea to get those tickets now.
Futurity is written by César Alvarez with music by Alvarez and The Lisps, and directed by Sarah Benson. With choreography by David Neumann, set design by Emily Orling and Matt Saunders, percussion and contraption design by Eric Farber, lighting design by Yi Zhao, costume design by Emily Orling, sound design by Matt Tierney, props design by Noah Mease, fight choreography by J. David Brimmer, music direction by César Alvarez, and dramaturgy by Jackie Sibblies Drury. Featuring César Alvarez, Andrew R. Butler, Fred Epstein, Eric Farber, Eamon Goodman, Karen Kandel, Kristine Haruna Lee, Mia Pixley, Jessie Shelton, Kamala Sankaram, Darius Smith, Storm Thomas, and Sammy Tunis.
FRIDAY
(photo: Michael de Angelis)
Chase: What Matters Most?
Continues Fridays and Saturdays through October 31 at Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie Street, Lower East Side. 7:30pm; tickets are $15 ($12 for students and seniors) and can be purchased here.
Animals Performance Group’s latest endeavor commissioned by LES staple Dixon Place follows six employees of an “unnamed bank” in the midst of the apocalypse. As the corporate crumbles, these employees will navigate the rubble through songs, dances, stories, and everyone’s favorite: conflict resolution seminars.
Chase: What Matters Most? is created by Animals Performance Group (Mike Mikos, Michael de Angelis, Nikki Calonge), with lighting design by Michael McGee, set design by Blake Palmer, costume design by Bobby Andres, model designs by Janet Kim, props by Ben Gullard, songs by Eva Peskin, and stage management by Eh-den Perlove. Featuring Nikki Calonge, Akira Fukui, Zoë Geltman, Brighid Greene, Eva Peskin, and Nikaury Rodriguez.
SATURDAY
Cartoon Monsoon
Continues monthly at The Annoyance Theatre, 367 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg. More info here.
During this colorful evening of oddities inspired by cartoons, puppets and the whimsical kitsch of live-action shows like Pee Wee’s Playhouse, comedians Joe Rumrill and Mary Houlihan (who’s also an artist and animator) invite the audience every month to experience their own characters, sketches, songs, and even some real-life puppets.
Featuring Mary Houlihan, Joe Rumrill, Steve DeSiena, Tim Platt, Kati Skelton, Wes Haney, Sebastian DiNatale, Andrew Tisher, Zach Broussard, and “Puppet.”
SUNDAY
cheap&easy OCTOBER
Continues through October 18 at the Club @ La Mama, 74A E 4th Street, East Village. 6pm, 7:30pm and 10pm, tickets are $18 ($13 for students/seniors) and can be purchased here.
Brooklyn-based group Object Collection helmed by writer/director Kara Freely and composer Travis Just promises a “live shredding of art world criticism” in this experimental chamber opera celebrating the written word through the exploration of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Sergei Eisenstein’s 1928 film October and art journal October. It is rumored there will also be zombies and séances. Conveniently (or spookily) occurring in the very month it delves into.
cheap&easy OCTOBER is written and directed by Kara Freely and composed by Travis Just, with installation by Hannah Dougherty, lighting design by Jeanette Yew, and stage management by Liz Nielsen. Featuring Avi Glickstein, Taylor Levine, Aaron Meicht, Tavish Miller, Daniel Allen Nelson, Fulya Peker, Andie Springer, Deborah Wallace, and Owen Weaver.