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!
How was your week? I went to Rockaway Beach and did NOT get eaten by a shark so as whole I am pretty good. It looks like we may even get a reprieve from this week’s severe thunderstorm alerts and be in for a few more beach-worthy days (wear ur sunscreen and keep an eye out for JAWS).
Have a wonderful weekend <3
…when you can only think as far ahead as Monday!
🎭 grab the clicker
“A one-man comedy show inside of a manic 2,000 slide PowerPoint,” Josh Sharp’s ta-da! now through August 23 at the Greenwich House Theater not only stars Sharp (of many, many NY comedy shows and the high-camp movie Dicks: The Musical) but is directed by Sam Pinkleton (fresh off his Oh, Mary victory lap), and seems destined to be an evening of Chaotic Good. This seems like a great show for anyone who enjoys watching people give those PowerPoint presentations to their friends on TikTok.
🇫🇷 bastille day
Francophiles and those looking to revive their high school French — faites votre chemin (is this right??? I didn’t take French other than ballet lmao) to Madison Avenue for L’Alliance’s annual Bastille Day street fair July 13 (which includes plenty of French fare and wine at sub-events like A Taste of the Riviera), or passez à Industry City for the “La Brooklynaise” Petanque Tournament and Bastille Day Celebration July 13 for friendly competition and merguez sandwiches!
🎞️ celebrating japanese cinema
The Japan Society hosts the Japan Cuts film festival now through July 20 where you can see a range of features and shorts from major award-winners, indie darlings, up-and-coming filmmakers, restorations of classics, new documentaries, experimental cinema and signature anime!
🎭 a hard act to follow
OK so for as much as people complain that one acts exist because no one has a good attention span anymore, I’d like to argue that sometimes a well-penned, tightly-wound one-act is WHAT’S UP (also, you can get dinner afterward). If you want to see a whole slew of new and exciting one-acts, pop over to The Chain Theatre’s One-Act Festival tonight through August 2 for an evening of exciting new works that are shorter than Hamlet ya know.
🎭 one night only
Head to the Irish Repertory Theatre for a one-night-only benefit performance of American Son July 13, a “timely drama ripped from the headlines, exploring big issues about race, class, criminal justice and the continuing challenges of raising a Black son in America” and starring Trisha Jeffrey (Motown, Three Mothers, The Color Purple); Jennifer Fouche (Mama Morton in Broadway’s Chicago, Chicken and Biscuits, POTUS), Michael Simon Hall (Warner Brothers’ Bruce Wayne Experience in NYC, HBO’s I Know This Much Is True) and James M Reilly (Law and Order SVU).
🖼️ send it to print
Make a stop at Long Island City’s The Factory LIC for the closing reception and artist walkthrough of their latest exhibit, Contemporary Prints: Traditional-Digital, a wide-spanning collection of print work across hand-drawn/painted and digital style — July 12 at 5pm!
🎤 poems al fresco
Do you sometimes find yourself locked inside doomscrolling and refreshing breaking news alerts??? (I do!!). Have a very offline weekend and take the ferry to Governors Island for The New York City Poetry Festival July 12-13 to hear Elaine K., Kate Millar, María Elisa Schmidt, and Selena Spier read pieces in a bucolic setting.
🎤 laughing it up in wburg
“Before the BQE sliced through in the 1950s, Williamsburg was one of Brooklyn’s premier entertainment districts — home to vaudeville theaters, jazz clubs and vibrant music halls. Though the expressway disrupted this cultural corridor, Williamsburg’s creative spirit never died.” Revisit the glory days at the Grand Street Comedy Festival July 10-13 and you’ll almost forget that there’s a Sweetgreen in the neighborhood lol.
🎭 story over a beer
It’s never too early for Halloween-adjacent content, and if you’ve been looking for a good ghost story, why not head to the latest staging of Irish Repertory’s The Weir now through August 31. “In a remote country pub in Ireland, newcomer Valerie finds herself drawn into an evening of ghost stories shared by the local bachelors who gather there to drink. With the wind howling outside and a hint of tension in the air, what begins as playful blarney soon drifts into the supernatural realm when Valerie shares her own haunting tale.” GHOSTS!
🖼️ fountain house fun
Stop by Fountain House for Stand Up for Mental Health July 12, an evening of comedy helmed by award-winning counsellor and stand-up comic David Granirer, who himself lives with bipolar, with a showcase of performers trained by Granirer sharing stories about their mental health journeys; as well as a Pinch Pot workshop July 17 where you can make your own decorative clay pot under the guidance of workshop leader Artie!
🎶 throwback saturday
As Gothamist puts it: “Part of Staten Island is effectively transforming into late-2000s Brooklyn this weekend with a two-day indie revival ripped from the Pandora stations of yesteryear” at the Maker Park Radio’s Art & Music Fest July 12. Remember Pandora?? Remember Napster??? Remember all of those songs you used to download illegally that would have some weird audio watermark within them (a disembodied voice shouting “AOL MUSIC” in the middle of Beyoncé’s Baby Boy)?? I hope that those are the vibes!!!
🐊 shining a light
Despite my mother’s arguments to the contrary, I am not one of the nocturnal creatures featured in the Bronx Zoo’s World of Darkness opening July 12, a new exhibit highlighting the “mysteries, adaptations, and surprises of animals that thrive in darkness.” Fine, I will go to bed!!!!!!
🎶 tunes by the river
Enjoy songs by the water at the Central Astoria Waterfront Concert Series on Thursdays through July 30 in Astoria Park starting tonight, where you can listen to a Jon Bon Jovi and 80s rock cover band called Bon Journey!! Iconic name!!
🎶 jazz around town
For even more smooth grooves, try to catch the Jazzmobile now through July 30 at venues all across the city, and/or the Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series now through August 28 in parks across the borough!!
…what’s happening before and just after I hit your inbox next!
🎭 a true matinee
Want to revisit your favorite show (or snag a freebie preview of a show you haven’t seen yet)?? Take a lunchtime stroll to W42nd Street for Broadway in Bryant Park Thursdays through July featuring selections from currently running productions!
🎵 music at manhattan west
And if you’re looking for a post-work happy hour concert, head to Summer Sounds at Manhattan West Wednesdays through July 30 for a series of retro-soul sounds from artists like Rogê with DJ Binky Griptite; Thee Heart Tones and Flor de Toloache with DJ Victor Axelrod!
🎭 gotta catch ’em ALL
Attention, Pokémon! fans and general 90s enthusiasts: you can see Balls: the Monster Catchin’ Musical Comedy July 18-19 and August 5 at Caveat — a zany show starring Stuart Zagnit (the original voice of Professor Oak from Pokémon!) where “MONSTERS WERE SCARY. AND THE PROFESSOR WAS SCARED. So he squished ’em down into little balls, and created a safer world: where monsters are pets — and pets do what they’re told. But when these Collectabuddies begin to BITE BACK, the Professor and his piece-of-sh*t grandson are forced to battle their past conceptions of right and wrong to save the game they helped create.” Sounds like a Back-to-the-Future-Pokémon mashup we’ve been waiting for.
…for when you need to secure those hot tickets before they sell out!!!
🎭 um the title alone lol
Well, A Play About David Mamet Writing a Play About Harvey Weinstein “is exactly what it sounds like and not at all: it’s about Mamet (who has, in real life, written a play about Weinstein); it’s about way too many dudes named David; but, first and foremost, it’s about three women — each with her own reasons to be pretty… angry.” You can see the one-night-only performance benefitting the New York civil Liberties Union and starring Billy Eichner, Abbi Jacobson, Heléne Yorke and Kara Young (!!!what a CAST) July 21 at Playwrights Horizons!
👯♂️ let me entertain you
Tony-nominated Broadway director and choreographer Camille A Brown leads a masterclass July 21 at Ailey Extension where you can learn repertory from her work on Broadway, in opera and with her company, Camille A Brown & Dancers! Sounds excellent!!
🎤 what they did for love
When I recommend “non-touristy” places to out-of-town theater folk, I often begin with the Library for the Performing Arts (the archives!!!) — so I was super excited to hear about their Living Library Week programming July 23-27 which includes everything from readings of new musicals to social dances to silent discos to a panel with Kelly Bishop, Baayork Lee, Priscilla Lopez, and Donna McKechnie (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! y’all) on A Chorus Line’s 50th. Sick!!!
🔥 Hot tip
I love those moments where New York feels at least a little bit like a small town — for example, did you know that Magnolia Bakery hosted a Bake Sale contest and is now showcasing winner Mia Balzano’s lemon glazed ricotta cookies July 11-13 at their original Bleecker Street location? Let’s go Mia!!
🕵️ special end-of-the-newsletter song lyric reveal
This week’s subject-line lyric comes from Talking Heads’ Burning Down the House. What can I say, my parents played it for me as a baby and now I forever love New Wave!!!
⚠️ Omg I forgot to tell you
Upstate for the weekend? Check out Catskill Mountain Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet now through July 27
PAC NYC is having a Family Day July 12
You can donate your gently-used books to the Brooklyn Book Bodega Book Drive July 13
Ariana and the Rose brings her Breakup Variety Hour to Club Cumming July 16
Bryant Park is showing Interstellar July 14
You can watch the Wimbledon finals on the big screen at Hudson Yards this weekend
Did you know Stacey Abrams writes thrillers, too?! She discusses her latest July 16 at Brooklyn Public Library
That’s it for now! Call me beep me if you want to reach me! (sarah@w42st.com)
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