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!
Last week I got the chance to reconnect with someone who I worked with at a (now closed 😞) New York restaurant in what feels both about ten thousand years and also ten seconds ago. Reliving our glory days — from surviving New York Brunch in the 2010s (we may be entitled to compensation) to late-night crew bar crawls around town, I was reminded that not only did I basically live out of the plot of Sweetbitter (sorry, Mom) but I was also lucky enough to have the truly New York experience of working an in-the-trenches service job where your coworkers, the customers and your day-to-day existence are their own cinematic universe. I was terrible at opening wine, I wrote novel-long stories about our customers in the OpenTable system, I had a few torrid affairs, I ate nearly endless baskets of fries and croissants, and I still think of it as grad school. Long live the memory of MARKT and every other gone-too-soon, true New York joint.
🎭 it’s corn
What is Shucked about?! Is it a Music Man-style fable about a con — excuse me, corn man taking over a small town’s farming resources? Is it a spoof on the sometimes corny plot devices of classics like Oklahoma?! Is it the story of a spunky red-headed orphan who wins the chance to spend a week — wait, never mind. The brand new Broadway musical from Tony Award winning book writer Robert Horn, theatrical directing legend Jack O’Brien and country music mainstays Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally that begins previews this week has cultivated an endearing aura of mystery around its plot — and I, for one, am determined to see it and find out. Let’s go!!!!!!
🧑🚀lift off
We’ve already covered my love of the show For All Mankind, where womankind makes it to space (and the Presidency) way sooner than they actually have out here in the world. Learn about the real-life Women Astronauts of the Space Shuttle Era, open now at the Intrepid Museum!
🎭 puppets large and small
Bring your young theatergoers to Baobab, playing Saturday March 11 through Sunday March 19 at the New Victory Theater, for a lively folktale fable of a boy’s heroic quest to save his village from a drought — featuring music and puppet artistry from Mali and Senegal and a very kid-friendly 55-minute runtime.
🎶a star is born
An original cast member of Broadway’s A Strange Loop, L Morgan Lee gave a breakout, Tony-nominated performance that instantly cemented her as one of the greats. Join the multi-talented actor and songstress at An Evening with L Morgan Lee playing Friday March 24 at the MCC Theater in Hell’s Kitchen, where Lee will perform everything from theatrical standards to new works with still-to-be-announced special guests.
🎶 a storm approaches
Just in time for St Patrick’s Day, step it over to see the High Kings and Gaelic Storm perform at the New York Society for Ethical Culture Thursday March 16 in what’s promised to be “two mighty bands, one epic show” from the Irish folk and Celtic-themed groups!
🍷cool school
Want to support your local public school and Hell’s Kitchen’s favorite businesses at the same time? Head to PS 212’s Live Auction Fundraiser party this Friday March 10 at the Ellington Room, where you can enjoy drinks, dinner, dancing and the chance to bid on prizes from local go-tos like Kashkaval Garden, Amy’s Bread and The Marshal, plus show tickets! Can’t make it in person? You can also bid online through March 12.
🎭 hey siri
Ever since my first smartphone mysteriously dialed an ex on its own, I’ve been convinced that the machines are out to get us (Chat GPT, please don’t take my job lol). Mary Elizabeth Hamilton’s new play SMART, opening Thursday March 30 at the Ensemble Studio Theatre explores the unsettling ways in which our tech assistants might have a little too much access to our lives.
🎶 winds of change
Head over to Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center this weekend for an evening with Billy Childs Quartet featuring Sean Jones as they present Winds of Change, a showcase for Childs’ third album and his singular skill as a composer and pianist.
🎭 revenge is mad hard
I deeply regret that I didn’t snag tickets to James Ijame’s Fat Ham — the critically-acclaimed modern-day Hamlet set at a Black family’s summer BBQ — before it completely sold out at The Public Theater. But unlike Claudius, I’m getting a second chance and am definitely going to book a ticket to the show’s Broadway transfer that’s playing now!!
🥃take your shot
Prepare your soul and your liver for St Patrick’s Day by stopping by the New York Irish Whiskey Festival, happening in Battery Park Saturday March 11. Join whiskey experts Jack McGarry of The Dead Rabbit and Sean Muldoon of Hazel and Apple as they guide you through a menu of over 25 Irish whiskeys, along with prolific food offerings and live music. As they say: “come for the whiskey, stay for the craic!”
📣 many voices
Listen to some of New York’s endangered dialects at Anchorage | Babel in Reverse, a site-specific audio installation in downtown Brooklyn open now through May where you can hear a layered quilt of stories, poems and fables from hundreds of multilingual locals.
🍿there might be crying at this baseball game
If you enjoy reciting deeply quotable movies from memory, join other fans as they cheer on a merry group of thespians who attempt to recreate A League of their Own at A Drinking Game: Drunk Reenactment of A League of Their Own at the Bell House this Saturday March 11. Remember to hydrate or Tom Hanks will yell at you.
🎶 ¿tú tienes?
Enjoy an evening with New Jersey-born Indie rock back Yo La Tengo at Brooklyn Steel Saturday March 18 for a concert featuring some of their over 35 years of cult hits!
🍿 get her, jade
We all know the Oscars are… prone to mishap. Why not watch them in good company and call out the cringe at DRAG The Oscars, a watch party this Sunday March 12 at The Roxy in Tribeca and hosted by Ruby Fox and Xunami Muse. Head over early for dinner and live movie-themed music from pianist Michael Garin before you join in on the pageantry!
🍿 robbed!
And if you’re boycotting the show altogether, the Museum of the Moving Image is hosting their First Look Festival, a showcase for new filmmakers beginning March 15 as well as the final round of their Snubbed:Great Movies, No Nominations series this weekend, where you can watch good old “UNCLE JAHMZ” (IYKYK).
🔥 Hot tip
Love vintage shopping but overwhelmed by the insanity of influencer-invaded Soho? There’s a brand-new vintage corner forming on W49th Street between 9th and 10th Avenue, where Patrick Loughlin’s passion project PDL Vintage opened last weekend right next to beloved Fine and Dandy. Cap it off with a visit to Vintage on 46th and you’ll be saying, Prince Street who?
⚠️ Omg I forgot to tell you
Food in New York: Bigger than the Plate is now open at the Museum of the City of New York
The Wardrobe.nyc sample sale opens March 14
Eva Noblezada: Let’s Go to the Movies plays Green Room 42 Sunday March 12
There’s also an Oscars watch party at Caveat this Sunday March 12
That’s it for now! Call me beep me if you want to reach me! (sarah@w42st.com)
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