Good afternoon, this is W42ST Lifestyle Editor Sarah Beling with “Make Way For The Weekend” — your curated guide to the best of New York events in one convenient newsletter!
It’s not our fault that we’re always in a rush. New York City has a pace and a pulse that intrinsically pushes us forward — a near never-ending stream of alarms and alerts and reminders and meetings and coffee dates and dentist appointments across town and free ticket offers that leave us constantly sprinting to get where we need to be or to find the next great thing to do. But after a frenetic July (who else glanced at their calendar and thought, “Maybe I’ll have time to do laundry next month…”?), we’ve made it to the languid, lazy days of August — and it’s time to relax.
And yes, this is a weekend newsletter suggesting that you go out and do things but we hope (!) that whatever you do decide to try can be a source of relaxation and departure — a necessary respite from thumbing through the to-do list in your mind and the chance to lean fully into the present moment (however hot and humid it may be 👀). No skip tracks, all singles. We’re here, pressing play on the dog days of summer.
❓Quick Question
We promise we’ll be back to you soon with rooftop suggestions, but in the meantime — where do you go to get away from the hustle and bustle? Share your hidden relaxation picks plz!!
👜 make it work
Always dreamed of your own Project Runway moment? Looking to stay sustainable and upcycle your wardrobe? Take a stitching workshop with artist in residence Enoch Cheng this Sunday at the Museum of Arts and Design and learn the basic principles of sewing and design while embellishing a (provided!) tote bag. We think Tim Gunn would approve!
🍿 cool riders
Something of a cult classic, Grease 2 (originally titled More Grease!!!!!!lol!!!!!!) features even more fully-grown adults masquerading as high-school age children and some VERY suspect plot points (kids, if anyone tries to get you to hook up with them to save the US from nuclear fallout…don’t do it?). Anyway this movie is insane and playing in a free showing at Bryant Park this Monday.
👯♀️ river dance
A part of the inaugural Festival of New York, check out the free Joyce Theater pop-up performance from New Zealand-based dance company Black Grace at Pier 64 in Hudson River Park this Saturday, featuring critically acclaimed selections of Samoan dance pieces from their Joyce Theater season!
🎶 we love a showmance
A romance born on Broadway, theatrical greats Orfeh and Andy Karl met doing the Broadway adaptation of Saturday Night Fever and — both separately and together — have been delighting audiences ever since. Now, the two real-life co-stars serve up a night of song and powerhouse duets in An Evening with Orfeh and Andy Karl at Chelsea Table and Stage (also live streamed!) tonight! We can only hope for some Legally Blonde references.
🎭 into the realm
A play about the “mysterious ‘between’ full of spirits”, Never Realm’s Interlude and storyteller Cynthia Chinyere Okorafor “weaves life, loss, death and hope” through theater, music, contemporary and African dance at Playwrights Horizons this weekend!
🍿 dear friend
I (unsurprisingly) love Nora Ephron movies. Whatever!!! I’m basic and I’ll never fit in with the Dimes Square crowd!! Anyway!! You’ve Got Mail — a movie described either as a jaunty, New York-centric rom-com take on the classic Shop Around the Corner (by me), or, as “Tom Hanks stalks Meg Ryan and then puts her out of business” (by my husband 🙄) — is playing at the Rooftop Cinema Club in Midtown this Sunday.
🎨 celebrating the weusi artist collective
Harlem-based collective Weusi, a cohort of artists of the African diaspora established in 1965, show their latest collection of paintings and photographs Imposing Blackness: Weusi Artist Collective Members,1965-1975 curated by Dr Myrah Brown Green at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts this month!
🎶 ‘and the world goes round
Broadway stalwart Karen Mason celebrates 30 years of collaboration with her music director Christopher Denny in 30…and Counting playing at Birdland this Monday. The performer, who originated the role of Tanya in Mamma Mia! and has played countless other iconic characters (Norma Desmond and Madame Giry to name but two!) promises a night of old favorites and soon-to-be new cabaret standards as a celebration of three decades from her first show with Denny at the Russian Tea Room in 1992!
🍿 ‘cause she’s still preoccupied, with 1985
Great Scott! The original Back to the Future is showing tonight in Bella Abzug Park. Be sure to leave extra time to park your Delorean!
👯♀️ the sound of silence
Another offering from the Festival of New York, get your groove on (quietly!!) at the Silent DJ Party, held at the historic United Palace Theater in Washington Heights this Saturday. Everyone looks cooler dancing with headphones on!! Can’t make it uptown? There’s another Silent Disco on Saturday at Pier I in Hudson River Park!
🎶 on the radio
It is a very good day for early-aughts music fans when folk-jazz-pop legends Norah Jones and Regina Spektor take to the stage at Forest Hills Stadium tonight!! Wave your iPod shuffles in the air!!
🎶 life on mars
While no one will ever fully, replace the eclectic, electric magic of the late David Bowie, it’s worth checking out Starman (A Tribute To David Bowie), playing this Saturday at City Winery, as seven talented performers recreate the star’s catalogue (in a constantly changing set list!) “with care, humorous reverence and impeccable attention to detail.”
👯♀️ dance dance read-volution
Our last entry from the Festival of New York, the New York Public Library is hosting a series of dance parties across multiple locations citywide this Sunday! On the local front, the flagship Stephen A Schwarzman library will host a K-pop themed party!
🔥 Hot Tip
I owe Uniqlo so much — they’ve not only provided me with chic, affordable basics so that I can pretend to dress like a Nora Ephron character, but they’ve also provided free admittance for all New Yorkers this Friday at MoMa. Kick back with cocktails, music, and late gallery hours in a joyful happy hour treat!!
⚠️ Omg I forgot to tell you
There’s a 25-year celebration of the Backstreet Boys at The Bell House this Saturday
Attention, valued shoppers! Swiss luxury brand Bally has a sample sale this week
Eagerly waiting for the next season of “The Gilded Age”? There are a few tickets left for a historic real estate tour of Riverside Drive’s “Mansion Row” this Sunday!
That’s it for now! Call me beep me if you want to reach me! (sarah@w42st.com)
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