A theater group called the Dark Lady Players is putting on a performance of Shakespeare parodies (above) at the West-Park Presbyterian Church starting this week that allows the audience to walk around the theater. You have to see it to believe it. So go see it. It’s free, you have no excuse not to.
Also, the Barilla pasta company is taking over part of Central Park this week, offering cooking classes and other events at Rumsey Playfield throughout the week. Of course, if you don’t know how to cook pasta, maybe you shouldn’t be cooking in the first place.
Check out these and three dozen other events, this week on the Upper West Side:
Monday
7 p.m.
Shakespeare’s Gospel Parodies: A Medieval Mystery Tour The Dark Lady Players present a selection of Shakespeare’s religious parodies, taken from various plays, and arranged in a Medieval Mystery Tour around a 17,000 sq foot nineteenth century church building. This production puts a modern twist on the Medieval Mystery Play Cycle with a “Living Museum” performance. Shakespeare’s plays contain 14 resurrections, 12 Apocalypses, 5 Virgin Mary Allegories, 3,000 additional religious references, a variety of Christ figures and were written using 14 different translations of the Bible. Come and find out why. The audience walks around the building following the story. There are stairs. The Tour may be joined at any time within the first 45 minutes. At West-Park Presbyterian Church, 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. FREE.
7 p.m.
Wayne Hoffman with Alana Newhouse: Sweet Like Sugar Wayne Hoffman’s novel Sweet Like Sugar explores issues of sexual identity, friendship and faith. After his reading, Hoffman will discuss his book’s themes with Alana Newhouse, editor-in-chief of Tablet, an online magazine of Jewish life and culture. At the 82nd Street Barnes & Noble. FREE.
8 p.m.
D’Ambrose Boyd & David Pearl Present Singers Space Come to Singers Space at Thalia Café, hosted by D’Ambrose Boyd with David Pearl at the piano. Where New York’s finest professional and aspiring singers go to sing their favorites and hear their peers perform before an intimate audience. The café offers cocktails, wine & beer, soups, salads, wraps and desserts. There’s no cover and no minimum. At Symphony Space. FREE.
Tuesday
10 a.m. (until 8 p.m.)
Casa Barilla A festival of pasta and Italian culture – and marketing, clearly. Interactive cooking classes, food and culture workshops, children’s activities and more. At Rumsey Playfield, off of 5th Avenue and 69th Street. $5 admission (goes to Food Bank for NYC).
7 p.m.
Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years of Funny Stuff Journalist, novelist and humorist Calvin Trillin joins us to read from and sign copies of a collection of his classic work, Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin.At the 82nd Street Barnes & Noble. FREE.
7 p.m.
Shakespeare’s Gospel Parodies: A Medieval Mystery Tour The Dark Lady Players present a selection of Shakespeare’s religious parodies, taken from various plays, and arranged in a Medieval Mystery Tour around a 17,000 sq foot nineteenth century church building. This production puts a modern twist on the Medieval Mystery Play Cycle with a “Living Museum” performance. Shakespeare’s plays contain 14 resurrections, 12 Apocalypses, 5 Virgin Mary Allegories, 3,000 additional religious references, a variety of Christ figures and were written using 14 different translations of the Bible. Come and find out why. The audience walks around the building following the story. There are stairs. The Tour may be joined at any time within the first 45 minutes. At West-Park Presbyterian Church, 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. FREE.
9 p.m.
Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble Enjoy $10 off all bottles of wine at Bar Thalia as the Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble featuring cellist Jody Redhage (Esperanza Spaulding), violinist Zach Brock (Stanley Clarke, Jack DeJohnette), percussionist Martin Urbach (Ellis Marsalis, Lee Konitz), and composer/pianist Steve Hudson (Claire Daly, Steven Bernstein) perform original music that draws its inspiration from jazz, classical, folk, tango, and pop traditions. At Symphony Space. FREE.
Wednesday
9 a.m.
Walk NYC Walk NYC is a program that encourages New Yorkers of all ages to get fit while enjoying the outdoors. Parks will staff locations throughout the city with trained walking instructors to lead one-hour walks. Meet at 83rd Street & Riverside Drive. FREE.
9:30 a.m. (until 3:30 p.m.)
Casa Barilla A festival of pasta and Italian culture – and marketing, clearly. Interactive cooking classes, food and culture workshops, children’s activities and more. At Rumsey Playfield, off of 5th Avenue and 69th Street. $5 admission (goes to Food Bank for NYC).
2 p.m.
Guitar Afternoon Enjoy free live music performed by jazz guitarist Bill Wurtzel and guest musicians each Wednesday from 2 to 3 pm. Folk Art Museum. FREE.
6:30 p.m.
The Scene @ Tavern: Live Music Join the Central Park Conservancy for live outdoor acoustic music at Tavern on the Green. Featuring Carras Paton – Progressive instrumental Jazz with some Groovy Funk. At Tavern on the Green (67th Street off Central Park West). FREE.
6:30 p.m.
Yoga-Evening Salute to the Sun End your day with relaxing Hatha yoga in a beautiful sunset setting. Suitable for all fitness levels. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing and bring your own mat. In Riverside Park at the plaza around 66th Street. FREE.
7 p.m.
Helen Schulman: This Beautiful Life In her provocative new novel, This Beautiful Life, professor and writer Helen Schulman tells the compelling story of a family at a breaking point within the context of a society in crisis and nightmares gone viral. At the 82nd Street Barnes & Noble. FREE.
8:30 p.m.
Bar Trivia TriviaTryst was founded in NYC in 2009 by Bryce Galen after realizing that pub quizzes were fun, but there was potential for a new type of trivia night with music, energy and popular appeal! At Symphony Space’s BAR Thalia. FREE.
Thursday
9:30 a.m. (until 3:30 p.m.)
Casa Barilla A festival of pasta and Italian culture – and marketing, clearly. Interactive cooking classes, food and culture workshops, children’s activities and more. At Rumsey Playfield, off of 5th Avenue and 69th Street. $5 admission (goes to Food Bank for NYC).
3 p.m.
Human Chess Be your favorite game piece as you navigate the chess board from inside at our Human chess games, where chess becomes a team sport. All levels welcome! West 89th Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. FREE.
6 p.m.
Andrea Bocelli Concert The famed tenor holds a free concert in Central Park. On the Great Lawn. FREE (You must have a ticket. All free tickets are accounted for).
8:30 p.m.
Ikebe Shakedown Ikebe Shakedown plays with elements of cinematic soul, Afro-funk, deep disco, and boogaloo in all the right ways. Named after a favorite Nigerian boogie record (and pronounced “ee-KAY-bay”) the band delivers a driving set of tunes featuring a mighty horn section anchored by tight, deep-pocketed grooves. The 7-piece strong afro-funk juggernaut from Brooklyn will get you out of your seat and onto the dance floor. At the David Rubenstein Atrium. FREE.
9:30 p.m.
Deconstructions: Spanish Music and Thought Eneko Vadillo, Rafael Lamas, Novatrio New Media Ensemble and members of the Manhattan School of Music are thrilled to present Deconstructions. This revolutionary program features an assortment of multidisciplinary works, including the innovative video-ballet “Lysergic Worlds” by Javier Cardenete and coreographed by Chevi Muraday with music by Fulbright awarded and IRCAM graduated Eneko Vadillo, US premieres by Spanish and Spanish-related American composers, such as Octavio Vázquez, Drake Andersen, and Anne Goldberg, and 20th-century masterpiece Manuel De Falla’s “Concerto” featuring pianist Maxim Anikushin. At Symphony Space. $15.
Friday
8 a.m.
Walk NYC Walk NYC is a program that encourages New Yorkers of all ages to get fit while enjoying the outdoors. Parks will staff locations throughout the city with trained walking instructors to lead one-hour walks. Meet at 83rd Street & Riverside Drive. FREE.
8 a.m. (until 1 p.m.)
Green Market Choose from fresh produce & dairy, artisanal breads, baked goods, meats & poultry, honey, eggs. Clothing/textile recycling bin on-site. 97th Street and Columbus.
9:30 a.m. (until 5 p.m.)
Casa Barilla A festival of pasta and Italian culture – and marketing, clearly. Interactive cooking classes, food and culture workshops, children’s activities and more. At Rumsey Playfield, off of 5th Avenue and 69th Street. $5 admission (goes to Food Bank for NYC).
12 p.m.
Tavern on the Green Tour Discover the sheepfold that became a world famous restaurant, a parade ground that became the Sheep Meadow, the Children’s District, The Mall including its statues and American Elm Trees, and much more. Tavern on the Green (67th Street off Central Park West). FREE.
5 p.m.
Jazz Legend Fall Series Musicians play at Whole Foods. This week: The Bill Saxton Soul Organ Trio. At the Columbus Square Whole Foods (at 97th Street). FREE.
7 p.m.
Ethics and the Theater: Susan Sandler’s play, Crossing Delancey In her late 20s, Izzie is still single, and her yiddishe Bubbie worries that she won’t live to see great-grandchildren. So she hires a matchmaker, who finds a man whom both older women consider the perfect husband. Sam is young, Jewish, single, and has a good business, a pickle store in Bubbie’s Lower East Side neighborhood. But Izzie, who works in a small independent bookstore, has her eye on Tyler, an author of acclaimed, if small-market, novels. Which will prove stronger—the pull of tradition or the lure of the literati? At the Society for Ethical Culture. Suggested donation: $5.
8 p.m.
Kayte Grace Only two years after first picking up a guitar, Kayte Grace has been featured not only by The Washington Post, but also by YouTube, The Augusta Chronicle, NBC and ABC in Georgia, Columbia Spectator, Ivy League Christian Observer and Washingtonian Magazine. At Symphony Space. FREE.
8 p.m.
Michael Ross: Sidewalks Raised by Broadway parents, Michael Ross grew up in song-crazy New York, instilling a desire to reach the biggest, most intimate musical moments possible. In SIDEWALKS, Michael Ross’ bittersweet moments come from his sincere lyricism with a resonating ukulele and Edgar Castellan’s percussion. At El Taller Latino. $15.
Saturday
10 a.m. (until 5)
Kayaking on the Hudson Join the Downtown Boathouse for 20-minute instructional paddles, and explore the Hudson River first hand. Please wear a bathing suit or shorts and a t-shirt, and know how to swim. 72nd St. & the Hudson River. FREE.
10 a.m.
West Side Stories Tour Walk through a scenic area on the western edge of the Park, much of which is off the beaten track for most visitors. See rolling meadows, Lake views, bridges of different styles, and a garden with flowers and plants mentioned by Shakespeare. Inside the Park at West 81st Street and Central Park West. FREE.
11 a.m.
Storytelling at Hans Christian Andersen Each Saturday at 11 am, from June through September, storytellers tell folk and fairy tales from many countries and especially the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. The majority of the audience is adults who know that a good story sustains one throughout the week and often throughout a lifetime. Children over five years old are welcome. 72nd Street and 5th Avenue inside Central Park. FREE.
2 p.m.
Free Concert: Very Young Composers Co-hosted by the New York Philharmonic’s Director of Education Theodore Wiprud and the Young Composers’ Advocate at the New York Philharmonic Jon Deak (former Associate Principal Bass of the New York Philharmonic), this free concert is performed by musicians from the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera. The program presents the extraordinary talent of very young composers. Come hear our future Mozarts! It’s free! At Symphony Space. FREE.
7 p.m.
Andrew Munsey Drummer, composer and sound designer Andrew Munsey is among the emergence of musicians finding inspiration not in any single format or medium but in the new aggregation of musics and aesthetics. Though certainly originating in the language and forms of jazz, his own music departs from the traditional sound and arrives somewhere else, though still sonically familiar. His melodies are deceptively simple and his desire for provocative but intuitive harmony come from a place of intrigue. His drumming is sensitive and thoughtful and is the improvised counterpart to his compositions. You won’t hear some grab for the most-est, first-est, best-est-you’ll hear a true expression. And hopefully a common expression. At Symphony Space. FREE.
8 p.m.
Ballet Folklorico Nuevo Amanecer Casa Mexico and El Taller come together to celebrate Mexican Independence Day with a special presentation by Nuevo Amanecer. The group will present the regional dances of the Mexican states of Zacatecas and Veracruz. At El Taller Latino. $15.
Sunday
All Day
Columbus Avenue Street Fair From 66th Street to 86th Street.
10 a.m. (until 5)
Kayaking on the Hudson Join the Downtown Boathouse for 20-minute instructional paddles, and explore the Hudson River first hand. Please wear a bathing suit or shorts and a t-shirt, and know how to swim. 72nd St. & the Hudson River. FREE.
11 a.m.
The Scene @ Tavern: Puppet Show WonderSpark Puppets returns to Central Park for a special show entitled “Little Red in Central Park.” No advance registration. Free. All ages welcome. Weather permitting. Co-presented by the Central Park Conservancy and NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. At Tavern on the Green (67th Street off Central Park West). FREE.
1 p.m.
Free Outdoor Concert on Verdi Square Opera – Artists of the Manhattan School of Music, New York. In the plaza at 72nd Street and Broadway. FREE.
4 p.m.
Shakespeare’s Gospel Parodies: A Medieval Mystery Tour The Dark Lady Players present a selection of Shakespeare’s religious parodies, taken from various plays, and arranged in a Medieval Mystery Tour around a 17,000 sq foot nineteenth century church building. This production puts a modern twist on the Medieval Mystery Play Cycle with a “Living Museum” performance. Shakespeare’s plays contain 14 resurrections, 12 Apocalypses, 5 Virgin Mary Allegories, 3,000 additional religious references, a variety of Christ figures and were written using 14 different translations of the Bible. Come and find out why. The audience walks around the building following the story. There are stairs. The Tour may be joined at any time within the first 45 minutes. At West-Park Presbyterian Church, 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. FREE.
Ongoing Events
Lincoln Center: American Ballet Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Society, NYC Ballet, War Horse
NYPL for the Performing Arts: Residue: Installation by Eiko & Koma, Marlboro Music at 60
American Museum of Natural History: Ongoing Exhibits
Image via Dark Lady Players.