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 easy to turn into a cynic in this city. A few parking tickets, missed trains, manuscript rejections, people who hold up the line at the coffee shop by being rude to the baristas and you can very quickly assume a perma-frown. Then again — the other morning I woke up to the sound of two school-aged children chanting “We’re against vegetables! No more vegetables! We refuse veeeeeeeegeeeetaaaaaablesssss!” on the sidewalk outside my apartment and I started cackling. Long live this weird-ass place!!!!!!!
…when you can only think as far ahead as Monday!
🌍 planet captains
Join the Litter Legion for an Earth Day Eco-themed Costume Cleanup Saturday April 22 — wear your best eco-friendly lewk and be sure to afterparty at Hell’s Kitchen Park for a costume contest with a $100 local gift card prize!
🌍 a bit of earth
Another week, another chance to reveal one of my many parasocial relationships. This one goes out to Seth Rudetsky, who I hang out with via the Broadway Sirius XM radio channel every time I make a midnight drive to my parents’ house. “Oh Seth, you’re right that Betty Buckley is a national treasure!” I’ll exclaim, launching into a loud and sometimes borderline pitchy version of Memory (some unlucky passengers have witnessed this in real time). ANYWAY Seth is hosting the star-studded Broadway Celebrates Earth Day concert in Times Square Saturday April 22 and is sure to bring his usual charm and panache! And I will not be performing Memory!
🌍 all day earth fest
Head over for a full day of family-friendly interactive activities at the American Museum of Natural History’s EarthFest Saturday April 22. Join everyone from climate scientists and researchers to urban farmers and the Billion Oyster Project for immersive opportunities to learn and take part in keeping New York City (and the world!) green.
💐 in bloom
1-800 Flowers pricing got you down??? Learn how to make eco-conscious arrangements using local wild flowers at the Hanato Floral Design Workshop, Saturday April 22 at the William Vale Hotel!
🍻 brews you can use
October may be long over, but Oktoberfest vibes are here now at the New York City Craft Beer Festival at Chelsea Industrial Saturday April 22. Enjoy unlimited samples (OK, bang for your buck!! but be safe!!) of over 150 craft beers as well as food, games and live music!
🎭 to the lighthouse
Catch some of the city’s most exciting new plays at The Lighthouse Series at Soho Playhouse, now through April 29. We’re particularly intrigued by Waiting for Wicked, which appears to be a Waiting for Godot-like take on the Stephen Schwartz blockbuster musical!
👯 i like to move it move it
Enjoy a series of deeply-felt contemporary dance pieces centered around “research, resilience, perseverance and testimony” at the La MaMa Moves Festival now through April 30!
🎭 go estelle go
Continuing its 75th anniversary celebration, The Actors Studio honors co-artistic director (and Academy Award winner!) Estelle Parsons with a free three-day festival of plays directed by the Actors Studio member. You can see Danube tonight as well as tomorrow Friday April 21 at 7pm, Uncle Vanya April 21 and 22 and Reentry Saturday April 22.
🎭 bonfire of the vanities
I’ll always love The York Theatre for producing hidden musical treasures like Lucky Stiff (IYKYK!!! It’s so good y’all!!). Check out another lost gem at Vanities the musical, which closes Saturday April 22!
🪴 on the left hand side
Find gifts for the friendly stoner in your life at the 4/20 Marketplace at Bar Moxy tonight (duh) where you can find CBD-themed products and accessories to THC products lol.
🎭 clowning around
You have to wonder what sort of horrors and hilarity befall the average party clown — find out at The Tank’s Welcome to Clown Town playing Friday April 21 through May 7, where real-life former clown Tanya Perez takes the audience on a “rock ‘n’ roll ride through outlandish personal stories of working as a party clown in NYC and Hollywood.”
…what’s happening before and just after I hit your inbox next!
🎤 make a joyful noise
Broadway alum Anthony Murphy (of Aladdin and Diana) has been described as having “more personality than a Peter Pan bus transporting drag queens to a gig, more personal fashion style than a FIT freshman, and more voice than an entire church choir” and for that alone, we’d go see his cabaret A Joyful Noise at The Green Room on Monday April 24!
🎬 judy blume!!!!
Like so many others, I loved Judy Blume’s seminal ode to growing up Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret — and like so many others I too may or may not have spent my tween years chanting one of the book’s most famous lines (it didn’t work lolol). Catch a screening and talkback with Judy Blume herself at the 92nd Street Y Monday April 24!
🎶 willkommen to the uws
Ummmmmmm. How is this Symphony Space benefit Songs from Cabaret not more on our radars?! It’s hosted by Danny Burstein?! It’s starring Adrianna Hicks, Jeff Kready Heath Saunders and Carolee Carmello?!! It’s songs from (IMO!!) one of the best musicals of all time???! Why not go to the Peter Jay Sharp Theater on Monday April 24 — because in there, life is beautiful!!!!!
🌸 cherry blossom szn!!
Take a Zyretc and take full advantage of spring’s blooms at Hanami Nights at Brooklyn Botanic Garden Tuesday April 25 and Wednesday April 26. Enjoy a tribute to Tokyo’s Cherry Blossom festival with an evening of beautiful bonsai gardens, Japanese beer and snacks, and of course, the picturesque Cherry Esplanade.
🎭 d&d!!
Did watching Stranger Things inspire you to become a Dungeon Master? Try your luck at the immersive D&D-meets-theater hybrid gaming experience Given Circumstances, playing April 27, 28, 29 at Twenty Sided in Brooklyn!
…for when you need to secure those hot tickets before they sell out!!!
🎶 if i had a nickel
Listen, at times I am embarrassingly WASPY with zero bluegrass street cred — but I love Nickel Creek and recommend you go see them play Pier 17 on Thursday May 4!
🎶 we love a theme
In what I sort of assume is going to be an amped-up take on the absolutely glorious chaos of a 16-bar open call (write back to me if you know about the dark days of 2011-era Prather lol), go see 54 performers perform 54 seconds of 54 songs at 54/54/54 Thursday May 4 — where else but at 54 Below!!
🎤 shonda in the neighborhood!!
Celebrate the premiere of Bridgerton spinoff Queen Charlotte with Shonda Rhimes and the series’ stars at A Night of Elegance and Intrigue at The Paley Center Thursday May 4!
🎶 at the copa!! again!!
After all the Copacabana talk last week, I would be remiss not to mention the man, the myth, the legend Barry Manilow plays Madison Square Garden May 31-June 4!
🔥 Hot tip
Thank you to my friend Kari for recommending the delightful chill coworking vibes of The Chai Spot in Chinatown, where you can grab a cup of their signature beverage in a community-oriented space created by Khalida Brohi and David Barron.
⚠️ Omg I forgot to tell you
Volunteer in Hudson River Park on Earth Day Saturday April 22
There’s a 3.1 Phillip Lim sample sale happening now
Check out a tribute to the Italian fashion magazine Attenzione at Made in Italy, Sold in America, showing now through May 5 at NYU
That’s it for now! Call me beep me if you want to reach me! (sarah@w42st.com)
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