Letters: Lee's legacy

Lee Kuan Yew - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lee Kuan Yew - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lee Kuan Yew.jpg	Lee Kuan Yew dead: Bulldozer who built Singapore leaves legacy. Lee Kuan Yew dead: Bulldozer who built Singapore leaves legacy. Lee Kuan Yew dead: Bulldozer	Opinions, Editorials, Letters and Columns from The Plain Dealer. Opinions, Editorials, Letters and Columns from The Plain Dealer. Plain Dealer Opinion	The Bruce Lee Legacy Collection Is a Kick - NYTimes. The Bruce Lee Legacy Collection Is a Kick - NYTimes. 04KEHR3-master675.jpg
Lees authoritarian legacy may fall short for new Singapore - San. Lees authoritarian legacy may fall short for new Singapore - San. FILE - In this June 25, 2008,	Mario Cuomos legacy, criticism for Star-Ledger editorial: Letters. Mario Cuomos legacy, criticism for Star-Ledger editorial: Letters. Mario Cuomos legacy	Arthur I. Cyr: The legacy of Singapores leader Lee Kwan Yew. Arthur I. Cyr: The legacy of Singapores leader Lee Kwan Yew. Posted Mar.	Lees authoritarian legacy may fall short for new Singapore - San. Lees authoritarian legacy may fall short for new Singapore - San. FILE - In this May 17, 2007,
Lees authoritarian legacy may fall short for new Singapore - San. Lees authoritarian legacy may fall short for new Singapore - San. FILE - In this June 25, 2008,	Singapores Lee Kuan Yew -- his legacy: Francis Schortgen (Opinion. Singapores Lee Kuan Yew -- his legacy: Francis Schortgen (Opinion. Dr. Francis Schortgen, Ph.D.	Lees authoritarian legacy may fall short for new Singapore - San. Lees authoritarian legacy may fall short for new Singapore - San. FILE - In this Feb.	An open letter to Stuart Gulliver: HSBC is now paying the price. An open letter to Stuart Gulliver: HSBC is now paying the price. An open letter to Stuart
Lee Kuan Yews Mixed Legacy in Singapore - NYTimes. Lee Kuan Yews Mixed Legacy in Singapore - NYTimes. Lee Kuan Yew in 1955.	Dear boy, Im the worlds biggest fraud: CRAIG BROWN reveals how. Dear boy, Im the worlds biggest fraud: CRAIG BROWN reveals how. The letters of Noel Coward	Lee Kuan Yew, founder of modern Singapore, dies at 91. Lee Kuan Yew, founder of modern Singapore, dies at 91. Lee Kuan Yew, at Singapore	Singapores Lee Kuan Yew -- his legacy: Francis Schortgen (Opinion. Singapores Lee Kuan Yew -- his legacy: Francis Schortgen (Opinion. Lee Kuan Yew

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What Is LinkedIn - YouTube What Is LinkedIn - YouTube http://22s.com/yestomoney/linkedinunl. What Is LinkedIn Review Welcome to what is linkedin.	[#170 | HD Unsubbed] Ansem the Wises Legacy. [#170 | HD Unsubbed] Ansem the Wises Legacy. [#170 | HD Unsubbed] Ansem the Wises Legacy - Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance.	Who Is Stan Lee? Book Review (VLOG 218. Who Is Stan Lee? Book Review (VLOG 218. For BUSINESS ENQUIRIES only:. big thumbs up for Stan Lee.. pre-addressed stamped.	Rejected high school senior: Colleges lied to me. Rejected high school senior: Colleges lied to me. So you have to qualify and meet their standards, before they can even consider you.. their.
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Young Female Entrepreneurs with Lisa Nicole Bell. Young Female Entrepreneurs with Lisa Nicole Bell. Her anthology, The Legacy Letters, features letters written by 30. Lisa holds a degree with.	Living with the Oswalds: JFK Assassination Interview. Living with the Oswalds: JFK Assassination Interview. When the Oswalds resettled in the Dallas area, Marina and Lees child,. Ruth wrote to.	Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter. - YouTube Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter. - YouTube TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as.	Lost Generation - YouTube Lost Generation - YouTube I guess I should finally get around to putting something here. I am surprised that it has received.

Musician shares lifes lessons

That comes amid Cole and Youngers steady climb up the Nashville chart on ReverbNation, a worldwide social networking site for musicians, record labels and others in the business; Thursday, they hit No. 25. ���Is it as good as being in the Billboard chart.

Wealthy too powerful

. the ACT government was more transparent and sensible in planning whats best for the entire community, not just powerful sections of it. Singapores former prime minister, Lee Kwan Yew, has just died: I suggest being inspired by his philosophy and.

The Listings: March 17 - March 23

Selective listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the New York metropolitan region this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings A NIGHT IN NOVEMBER Opens today. A revival of the comedy by Marie Jones (Stones in His Pockets) about a Protestant clerk in a Belfast, Ireland, welfare office who for the first time in his life does something really crazy (1:30). Irish Arts Center, 553 West 51st Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444. WALK THE MOUNTAIN Opens Sunday. Jude Narita performs monologues by Vietnamese and Cambodian women in this solo show, created from interviews with real people (1:00). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200. FARENHEIT 451 Opens Tuesday. Ray Bradburys cult vision of the future is adapted for the stage (1:30). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200. THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS GARLAND Opens Thursday. Another year, another Judy. This time, the 1970s sexpot Adrienne Barbeau -- Rizzo from the original Grease -- plays Judy Garland backstage at her final concert (1:30). The Actors Playhouse, 100 Seventh Avenue South, at Fourth Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 239-6200. BASED ON A TOTALLY TRUE STORY Previews start Thursday. Opens April 11. A Hollywood deal makes a comic-book writer re-evaluate his relationships in this new play by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (2:00). Manhattan Theater Club at City Center Stage II, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. THE CATARACT Opens April 2. Two upstanding Midwesterners welcome a transient Southern couple into their home in Lisa DAmours sensual new play (2:15). Womans Project/Julia Miles Theater, 424 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. FESTEN Previews start Thursday. Opens April 9. Based on the film The Celebration, this London transfer, starring Julianna Margulies, Larry Bryggman and Michael Hayden, is about a Danish man who confronts some old secrets at a family reunion (1:45). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. FRAGMENT Previews start Wednesday. Opens March 26. Classic Stage Company presents a new play based on bits and pieces of Euripides and Sophocles. Pavol Liska directs (1:15). Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 677-4210. JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS Opens March 27. Something of a phenomenon in the late 1960s, this French singers romantic music returns to New York in this musical, which features tangos, ballads, boleros and rock n roll (2:00). Zipper Theater, 336 West 37th Street, (212) 239-6200. PEN Previews start Thursday. Opens April 2. A college-bound student struggles with his dysfunctional parents in this new play by David Marshall Grant (Snakebit). J. Smith-Cameron stars (2:15). Playwrights Horizons, Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. SHOW PEOPLE Opens April 6. A new comedy by Paul Weitz (Privilege) about two actors who are hired by a banker to impersonate his parents. Debra Monk stars (2:00). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 246-4422. TRIAL BY WATER Opens March 26. The Ma-Yi Theater Companys allegorical work by Qui Nguyen is about two Vietnamese brothers who set off for America. John Gould Rubin directs (1:30). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. TRYST Previews start Tuesday. Opens April 6. A womanizing con man tries to seduce a love-starved shop girl in Karoline Leachs new drama set in Edwardian England (2:00). Promenade Theater, 2162 Broadway, at 76th Street, (212) 239-6200. WELL Opens March 30. After a successful run at the Public Theater, Lisa Kron and her mom, played by Jayne Houdyshell, come to Broadway in this metadrama about theater, sickness and family (1:40). Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. Broadway BAREFOOT IN THE PARK For a work that celebrates the liberating force of spontaneity, this revival of Neil Simons 1963 comedy doesnt have one scene that feels organic, let alone impromptu. Directed by Scott Elliott, and starring Patrick Wilson and a miscast Amanda Peet as newlyweds in Greenwich Village, this Barefoot has the robotic gait of Frankensteins monster (2:20). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley) * BRIDGE & TUNNEL This delightful solo show, written and performed by Sarah Jones, is a sweet-spirited valentine to New York City, its polyglot citizens and the larger notion of an all-inclusive America. In 90 minutes of acutely observed portraiture gently tinted with humor, Ms. Jones plays more than a dozen men and women participating in an open-mike evening of poetry for immigrants (1:30). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Charles Isherwood) THE COLOR PURPLE So much plot, so many years, so many characters to cram into less than three hours. This beat-the-clock musical adaptation of Alice Walkers Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about Southern black women finding their inner warriors never slows down long enough for you to embrace it. LaChanze leads the vibrant, hard-working cast (2:40). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS The arrival of Jonathan Pryce and his eloquent eyebrows automatically makes this the seasons most improved musical. With Mr. Pryce (who replaces the admirable but uneasy John Lithgow) playing the silken swindler to Norbert Leo Butzs vulgar grifter, its as if a mismatched entry in a three-legged race had become an Olympic figure-skating pair (2:35). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) DOUBT, A PARABLE (Pulitzer Prize, Best Play 2005, and Tony Award, Best Play 2005) Set in the Bronx in 1964, this drama by John Patrick Shanley is structured as a clash of wills and generations between Sister Aloysius (Eileen Atkins), the head of a parochial school, and Father Flynn (Ron Eldard), the young priest who may or may not be too fond of the boys in his charge. The plays elements bring to mind those tidy topical melodramas that were once so popular. But Mr. Shanley makes subversive use of musty conventions (1:30). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) JERSEY BOYS From grit to glamour with the Four Seasons, directed by the pop repackager Des McAnuff (The Whos Tommy). The real thrill of this shrink-wrapped bio-musical, for those who want something more than recycled chart toppers and a story line poured from a can, is watching the wonderful John Lloyd Young (as Frankie Valli) cross the line from exact impersonation into something far more compelling (2:30). August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Love is a many-flavored thing, from sugary to sour, in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucass encouragingly ambitious and discouragingly unfulfilled new musical. The show soars only in the sweetly bitter songs performed by the wonderful Victoria Clark, as an American abroad (2:15). Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE ODD COUPLE Odd is not the word for this couple. How could an adjective suggesting strangeness or surprise apply to a production so calculatedly devoted to the known, the cozy, the conventional? As the title characters in Neil Simons 1965 comedy, directed as if to a metronome by Joe Mantello, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprise their star performances from The Producers, and its not a natural fit. Dont even consider killing yourself because the show is already sold out (2:10). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * THE PAJAMA GAME Sexual chemistry in a Broadway musical? Isnt that illegal now? If it were, then Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli OHara -- the white-hot stars of Kathleen Marshalls delicious revival of this 1954 musical -- would be looking at long jail terms. This intoxicating production, which features a charming supporting cast led by Michael McKean, allows grown-up audiences the rare chance to witness a bona fide adult love affair translated into hummable songs and sprightly dance (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300. (Brantley) * RABBIT HOLE Thanks to a certain former American president, it has become almost impossible to say that you feel someone elses pain without its sounding like a punch line. Yet the sad, sweet release of David Lindsay-Abaires wrenching play, about the impact of the death of a small child, lies precisely in the access it allows to the pain of others, in its meticulously mapped empathy. With an emotionally transparent five-member cast led by Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly, directed by Daniel Sullivan, this anatomy of grief doesnt so much jerk tears as tap them (2:10). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RING OF FIRE The man in black turns sunshine yellow in a show that strings songs associated with Johnny Cash into a big, bright candy necklace of a musical revue, created and directed by Richard Maltby Jr. In the current bio-flick Walk the Line, Cash wrestles demons; Ring of Fire wrestles with a really bad case of the cutes (2:00). Ethel Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. Ethel Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) SPAMALOT (Tony Award, Best Musical 2005) This staged re-creation of the mock-medieval movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail is basically a singing scrapbook for Python fans. Such a good time is being had by so many people that this fitful, eager celebration of inanity and irreverence has found a large and lucrative audience (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * SWEENEY TODD Sweet dreams, New York. This thrilling new revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheelers musical, with Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone leading a cast of 10 who double as their own musicians, burrows into your thoughts like a campfire storyteller who knows what really scares you. The inventive director John Doyle aims his pared-down interpretation at the squirming child in everyone who wants to have his worst fears both confirmed and dispelled (2:30). Eugene ONeill Theater, 230 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE The happy news for this happy-making little musical is that the move to larger quarters has dissipated none of its quirky charm. William Finns score sounds plumper and more rewarding than it did on Off Broadway, providing a sprinkling of sugar to complement the sass in Rachel Sheinkins zinger-filled book. The performances are flawless. Gold stars all around (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) Off Broadway * ABIGAILS PARTY Scott Elliotts thoroughly delectable production of Mike Leighs 1977 comedy about domestic discord among the British middle classes. Jennifer Jason Leigh leads a superb ensemble cast as a party hostess who wields the gin bottle like a deadly weapon, resulting in an evening of savagely funny chaos (2:15). Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) BERNARDA ALBA Michael John LaChiusas musical adaptation of Federico García Lorcas tragedy of sexual repression often feels wan and weary, though not for want of erotic imagery. The ominous, oppressive atmosphere that makes Lorcas play so much more than a potboiler is mostly missing in inaction. Graciela Daniele directs a game ensemble led by a miscast Phylicia Rashad (1:30). Mitzi Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) CHRISTINE JORGENSON REVEALS Bradford Louryk meticulously lip-syncs a fascinating hourlong interview about gender and sexuality with Ms. Jorgenson, whose sex change operation in the 1950s was big news (1:00). The Studio Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Jason Zinoman) CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY Steven Fales, a sixth-generation Mormon, describes leaving his family and becoming a gay escort in this fairly conventional, although admittedly compelling, piece of confessional theater (1:30). SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, between Avenue of the Americas and Varick Street, (212) 691-1555. (Zinoman) DEFIANCE The second play in John Patrick Shanleys cycle of morality dramas that began with Doubt, this ambitious tale of racial relations and the military mindset on a North Carolina marine base feels both overcrowded and oddly diffuse. If Doubt has an elegant and energy-efficient sprinters gait, Defiance progresses with a flustered air of distraction. The excellent Margaret Colin, as an officers wife, provides a welcome shot of credibility (1:30). Manhattan Theater Club, Theater 1, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. (Brantley) DRUMSTRUCK This noisy novelty is a mixed blessing. Providing a two-foot drum on every seat, it offers an opportunity to exorcise aggressions by delivering a good beating, and, on a slightly more elevated level, it presents a superficial introduction to African culture, lessons in drumming and 90 minutes of nonstop music, song and dancing by a good-natured cast. So, while literally and figuratively giving off many good vibes, it adds up to lightweight entertainment that stops just short of pulverizing the eardrums (1:30). Dodger Stages, Stage 2, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Lawrence Van Gelder) FAMILY SECRETS Performing old jokes with meticulous detail, Sherry Glaser in her solo show brings to life three generations of a Jewish family (1:30). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Zinoman) * FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT This production features the expected caricatures of ego-driven singing stars. But even more than usual, the show offers an acute list of grievances about the sickly state of the Broadway musical, where, as the lyrics have it, everything old is old again (1:45). 47th Street Theater, 304 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) GEORGE M. COHAN TONIGHT! The all-singing, all-dancing Jon Peterson summons the spirit of this legendary Broadway entertainer in this engaging one-man musical, devised and directed by Chip Deffaa (1:30). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 727-2737.(George Hunka) GREY GARDENS As the socialite in limbo called Little Edie Beale, Christine Ebersole gives one of the most gorgeous performances ever to grace a musical. Unfortunately, shes a pearl of incalculable price in a show that is mostly costume jewelry. Adapted from the Maysles brothers 1975 cult documentary movie, a camp favorite, and directed by Michael Greif, with the excellent Mary Louise Wilson as Edies bedridden mother (2:40). Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Brantley) HEDDA GABLER In the title role of Ibsens destructively dissatisfied heroine, Cate Blanchett is giving roughly a dozen of the liveliest performances to be seen this year, all at the same time, in the Sydney Theater Companys visiting production. A mere one or two at this level of intensity would have been enough. But she remains compellingly watchable in Robyn Nevins hyped-up, spasmodic production (2:25). Brooklyn Academy of Musics Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100. (Brantley) * I LOVE YOU BECAUSE The plot line -- single New Yorkers in search of love -- couldnt be more familiar, but somehow this fluffy, funny musical makes it refreshing, helped along by an engaging six-member cast, with David A. Austin making a particularly hilarious impression. An impressive start for Ryan Cunningham (book and lyrics) and Joshua Salzman (music), both still in their 20s (2:00). Village Theater, 158 Bleecker Street, near Sullivan Street, East Village, (212) 307-4100. (Neil Genzlinger) * THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE Please turn off your political correctness monitor along with your cellphone for Martin McDonaghs gleeful, gory and appallingly entertaining play. This blood farce about terrorism in rural Ireland, acutely directed by Wilson Milam, has a carnage factor to rival Quentin Tarantinos. But it is also wildly, absurdly funny and, even more improbably, severely moral (1:45). Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) MEASURE FOR MEASURE A solid revival of one of Shakespeares problem plays in which the director Beatrice Terry has opted to emphasize the humor, especially in the scenes of comic relief. A staging with handsome costumes and that for the most part boasts a fine cast, whose members have made some smart choices (2:30). Theater 80, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212) 598-9802. (Wilborn Hampton) MEASURE FOR PLEASURE A mock-Restoration comedy by David Grimm. Seeking to do a little restoration work of his own, he inserts great chunks of fresh dirt into every nook, cranny and convention of an old form. Acted to the hilt by a first-rate company under the direction of Peter DuBois, this tirelessly ribald comedy will tickle, offend or simply bore in measures that will vary according to your taste for blatantly vulgar sexual comedy (2:30). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) THE MUSIC TEACHER, A PLAY/OPERA A pair of interlocking monologues surrounding a little parody of an opera, with text by Wallace Shawn and music by his brother Allen. Written two decades ago and shelved when the authors failed to find a producer, this is a minor-key, underrealized work that hits a few elegiac notes but steps too gingerly around the psychosexual trauma at its core (1:45). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village, (212) 307-4100. (Isherwood) RED LIGHT WINTER A frank, occasionally graphic story of erotic fixation and the havoc it can wreak on sensitive types. Written and directed by Adam Rapp, this play is both a doomy romantic drama and a morbid comedy about the anxieties of male friendship. Although somewhat contrived, it features a lovely performance by Christopher Denham as a lonely soul starved for intimacy (2:25). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) SOLDIERS WIFE When this play first opened on Broadway, World War II was shuddering to a close, and those on the home front wanted to feel good. Despite flaws in the work, the Mint Theater Companys revival of Rose Frankens 1944 comedy is highly entertaining (2:00). Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 315-0231. (Honor Moore) * [TITLE OF SHOW] Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell are the authors, stars and subject matter of this delectable new musical about its own making. The self-consciousness is tempered by a wonderful cast performing with the innocence of kids cavorting in a sandbox. Its a worthy postmodern homage to the classic backstage musicals, and an absolute must for show queens (1:30). Vineyard Theater, 108 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 353-0303. (Isherwood) * TRANSATLANTIC LIAISON A play fashioned from Simone de Beauvoirs love letters to the American novelist Nelson Algren and scenes from her novel The Mandarins (which tells the story of their affair). Wonderful performances by Elizabeth Rothan as de Beauvoir in love, and Matthew S. Tompkins as the emotional Algren (1:30). Harold Clurman Theater on Theater Row, 412 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Moore) Off Off Broadway BACK OF THE THROAT An Arab-American playwright (Yussef El Guindi) addressing the harassment of Arab-Americans after 9/11? Interesting. But the play would have been even more interesting if the harassers were something other than cardboard characters out of the J. Edgar Hoover closet (1:15). Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101. (Genzlinger) BLUFF Jeffrey Sweets mostly comic tale of a young New York couple whose tentative romance is disrupted by a boorish stepfather has great fun playing with the audience through direct address and such, but it is executed with too much smirking (1:25). 78th Street Theater Lab, 236 West 78th Street, (212) 868-4444. (Genzlinger) EL QUIJOTE Sancho Panza is the real star of this often rollicking but uneven adaptation of Cervantess Don Quijote. Caution: no windmills. In Spanish with simultaneous English translation (1:40). Repertorio Español, at the Gramercy Arts Theater, 138 East 27th Street, (212) 225-9920. ( Hunka) * FAT BOY John Clancys knockabout satire is blessed by a roaring performance by Del Pentecost as the round, murdering title character (1:30). Ohio Theater, 66 Wooster Street, between Spring and Broome Streets, SoHo, (212) 868-4444. ( Zinoman). SAVAGES Lurking somewhere in this stiff new play by Anne Nelson is a compelling op-ed piece yearning to be set free. Examining a little-known episode from the Philippines-American war at the turn of the last century, the author of the popular play The Guys argues that the United States involvement in Iraq echoes that previous mess. Unfortunately, the play has too much information to impart to allow time for nuanced drama to emerge (1:30). Lion Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) 33 TO NOTHING A band break up while playing break-up music in Grant James Varjass comic, sometimes poignant play. Music performed by the actors. Argo Theater Company, at the Bottle Factory Theater, 195 East Third Street, East Village, (212) 868-4444. (Gwen Orel) WE USED TO GO OUT Jason Mantzoukas and Jessica St. Clair revive the tradition of male-female comedy team in this appealing sketch about a disintegrating romance (1:00). UCB Theater, 306 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 366-9176). ( Zinoman) * ZOMBOID! (FILM/PERFORMANCe PROJECT #1) O, the heresy of it! Richard Foreman has introduced film into the realm of exquisitely artificial, abstract theater in which he has specialized for four decades. As it turns out, juxtaposing two art forms allows Mr. Foreman to underscore in resonant new ways what he has been saying for years: reality is, well, relative. And he continues to work in a style guaranteed to infect your perceptions for hours after (1:15). Ontological-Hysteric Theater, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. (Brantley) Long-Running Shows * ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200.(Isherwood) AVENUE Q R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:10). Golden, 252 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh, sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200.(Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) SLAVAS SNOWSHOW Clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin are stirring up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart as well as tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 307-4100.(Van Gelder) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance * ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL This Theater for a New Audience production inspires a quiet prayer of thanks to the theater gods. Here is that rare Shakespeare production in which there is nary an incompetent, misjudged or ineffective performance in a significant role. Darko Tresnjak and his cast find a way to make the plays troubled romance, between the adoring Helena and the disdaining Bertram, psychologically credible and even touching (2:30). The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, (212) 239-6200; closing Sunday. (Isherwood) INDOOR/OUTDOOR A comedy by Kenny Finkle about a housecat torn between affection for her human companion and a sexy tomcat promising a tour of the great outdoors. Directed by Darren Goldstein and energetically performed by a cast of four, its essentially just another dysfunctional relationship tale, with little kitty whiskers drawn on (1:50). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 239-6200; closing Sunday. (Isherwood) THE LAST NIGHT OF SALOME More an acting exercise than a play, this Italian import is a showcase for the body language and physical comedy of a teacher of movement theater, Lydia Biondi, who portrays an unhappy middle-aged bar owner in 1950s Rome who meets and briefly bonds with a famous actress played by Carla Cassola. In Italian with English supertitles (1:05). LaMaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710; closing Sunday.(Andrea Stevens) OFFSPRING Jimmy Bardens play about a rich white woman consorting with a young black radical recalls Tom Wolfes cynical take on Leonard Bernsteins 1970 party for the Black Panthers. The comic moments dont, alas, redeem the characters tired and tiresome politics (2:00). Presented by the Negro Ensemble Company, at the 45th Street Theater, 354 West 45th Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200; closing Sunday.(Miriam Horn) PARADISE LOST, THE MUSICAL This earnest -- probably too earnest -- musical take on Miltons epic shows off some good voices in the young cast of 20, but theres something purgatorial about it (2:00). The Producers Club II, 616 Ninth Avenue, between 43rd and 44th Streets, Clinton, (212) 868-4444; closing tomorrow. ( Genzlinger) THE TRAVELING LADY A small but affecting production of Horton Footes 1954 play, produced by Ensemble Studio Theater in association with Baylor University, where Marion Castleberrys staging originated. Like The Trip to Bountiful, of roughly the same vintage, this is a delicately drawn portrait of an anxious spirit in search of home, in this case a young wife looking to reunite with her neer-do-well husband (1:30). Ensemble Studio Theater, 549 West 52nd Street, Clinton, (212) 352-3101; closing Sunday. (Isherwood) 25 QUESTIONS FOR A JEWISH MOTHER This is the comedian Judy Golds fiercely funny monologue, based on her own life as a single Jewish lesbian mother and interviews with more than 50 other Jewish mothers (1:10). Ars Nova, 511 West 54th Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444; closing Sunday. (Phoebe Hoban) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. AQUAMARINE (PG, 109 minutes) In this sweet comedy for the crowd that has outgrown The Little Mermaid, two likable pals (Emma Roberts and Joanna Levesque, a k a the singer JoJo) try to help a mermaid (Sara Paxton) find love and learn how to use her feet properly.(Neil Genzlinger) * BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (R, 134 minutes) Annie Proulxs heartbreaking story of two ranch hands who fall in love while herding sheep in 1963 has been faithfully translated onto the screen in Ang Lees landmark film. (Mr. Lee won the Academy Award for best director.) Heath Ledger (in a great performance worthy of Brando at his peak) and Jake Gyllenhaal bring them fully alive. (Stephen Holden) * CAPOTE (R, 114 minutes) Philip Seymour Hoffmans portrayal of Truman Capote is a tour de force of psychological insight. (Mr. Hoffman won the Academy Award for best actor.) Following the novelist as he works on the magazine assignment that will become In Cold Blood, the film raises intriguing questions about the ethics of writing. (A. O. Scott) CRASH (Academy Award, Best Picture) (R, 107 minutes) A gaggle of Los Angeles residents from various economic and ethnic backgrounds collide, sometimes literally, within an extremely hectic 36 hours. Well-intentioned, impressively acted, but ultimately a speechy, ponderous melodrama of liberal superstition masquerading as realism. (Scott) DAVE CHAPPELLES BLOCK PARTY (R, 103 minutes) The setup is blissfully simple: a free block party on a dead-end street in Bed-Stuy, with a lineup of musicians, some of whom, like Kanye West and Mos Def, have put in appearances on Chappelles Show. The nominal idea, Mr. Chappelle explains on camera, was the concert Ive always wanted to see. The result, which ping-pongs between Brooklyn and Mr. Chappelles hometown in Ohio, is a tantalizing sketch-portrait of the artist amid an outpouring of hard beats and soul. (Manohla Dargis) * GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. (PG, 90 minutes) George Clooney, with impressive rigor and intelligence, examines the confrontation between the CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow (a superb David Strathairn) and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (himself). Plunging you into a smoky, black-and-white world of political paranoia and commercial pressure, the film is a history lesson and a passionate essay on power, responsibility and the ethics of journalism. (Scott) * MUNICH (R, 164 minutes) With his latest, Steven Spielberg forgoes the emotional bullying and pop thrills that come so easily to him to tell the story of a campaign of vengeance that Israel purportedly brought against Palestinian terrorists in the wake of the 1972 Olympics. An unsparingly brutal look at two peoples all but drowning in a sea of their own blood, Munich is by far the toughest film of the directors career, and the most anguished. (Dargis) * PRIDE & PREJUDICE (PG, 128 minutes) In this sumptuous, extravagantly romantic adaptation of Jane Austens 1813 novel, Keira Knightleys Elizabeth Bennet exudes a radiance that suffuses the movie. This is a banquet of high-end comfort food perfectly cooked and seasoned to Anglophilic tastes. (Holden) THE SHAGGY DOG (PG, 98 minutes) Tim Allen is a prosecutor who is going, as it were, to the dogs in this revisiting of the old Disney film, which is far livelier than its namesake. Scenes in which Mr. Allen tries to fight off his inner canine while a no-nonsense judge played by Jane Curtin is holding a trial are comic gems.(Genzlinger) 16 BLOCKS (PG-13, 105 minutes) If Richard Donners presence suggests that his new action flick, 16 Blocks, is a throwback to the 1980s, so does one of the names holding pride of place above the title, Bruce Willis. Mr. Willis has always been an acquired taste, but for those who did acquire that taste, its a pleasure to see him doing what comes naturally. Which means holding a gun and fending off bad guys with as few words as possible. (Dargis) * SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS (No rating, 117 minutes, in German) The gripping true story of Sophie Scholl, an anti-Nazi student activist in the 1940s, arrested and executed for distributing leaflets at Munich University, challenges you to gauge your own courage and strength of character should you find yourself in similar circumstances. (Holden) * SYRIANA (R, 122 minutes) Ambitious, angry and complicated, Stephen Gaghans second film tackles terrorism, American foreign policy, global trade and the oil business through four interwoven stories. There are at least a half-dozen first-rate performances, and Mr. Gaghan, who wrote and directed, reinvents the political thriller as a vehicle for serious engagement with the state of the world. (Scott) TRANSAMERICA (R, 103 minutes) Felicity Huffmans performance as a preoperative transsexual on a cross-country journey with her long-lost son is sensitive and convincing, and helps the movie rise above its indie road-picture clichés. (Scott) * TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY (R, 91 minutes) Michael Winterbottom both confirms and refutes the assumption that Laurence Sternes 18th-century masterpiece of digression could never be made into a movie by making a movie about the making of such a movie. Steve Coogan is wonderful as Tristram, Tristrams father and himself, though Rob Brydon steals more than a few of Mr. Coogans scenes. (Scott) Tsotsi (R, 94 minutes) (Academy Award winner for best foreign film.) Written and directed by Gavin Hood, from a novel by Athol Fugard, this South African film centers on a 19-year-old thug who steals a baby and finds redemption. You dont have to read crystal balls to see into Tsotsis future; you just need to have watched a couple of Hollywood chestnuts. (Dargis) ULTRAVIOLET (PG-13, 80 minutes) The latest in movies structured around eyewear and abdominals, Ultraviolet stars Milla Jovovich as a genetically modified human -- part vampire, part chameleon, all model -- and one of the many victims of a government experiment to improve on nature. Directed by Kurt Wimmer with a fine eye for the preferences of 12-year-old boys, Ultraviolet cleaves faithfully to its comic-book genealogy with a plot unobstructed by big words and images that rarely breach two dimensions. Ultrasilly. (Jeannette Catsoulis) WALK THE LINE (PG-13, 138 minutes) Johnny Cash gets the musical biopic treatment in this moderately entertaining, never quite convincing chronicle of his early years. Joaquin Phoenix, sweaty, inarticulate and intense as Cash, is upstaged by Reese Witherspoon (winner of the Academy Award for best actress), who tears into the role of June Carter (Cashs creative partner long before she became his second wife) with her usual charm, pluck and intelligence. (Scott) * NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD (PG, 103 minutes) Filled with country memories, bluesy regret and familiar and piercing sentiment, Jonathan Demmes concert film sounds like quintessential Neil Young, which, depending on your home catalog, will be either an enormous turn-on or turnoff. (Dargis) Film Series ANNA MAY WONG (Through April 16) Wong, the first Chinese-American movie star, would have turned 100 last year. (She died in 1961.) The Museum of the Moving Images extensive seven-week retrospective of her work continues this weekend with The Thief of Bagdad (1924), the movie that made her career (she plays a double-crossing slave opposite Douglas Fairbanks Sr.); Chu Chin Chow (1934), a retelling of the story of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves; and A Study in Scarlet (1933), a Sherlock Holmes mystery in which Wong plays a very suspicious widow. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077; $10. (Anita Gates) CANADIAN FRONT 2006 (Through Monday) The Museum of Modern Arts annual exhibition of recent films from Canada includes Amnon Buchbinders Whole New Thing (2005), a coming-of-age story about an adolescent writer who develops an attachment to his gay English teacher; Carl Bessais Unnatural and Accidental (2006), a drama about a serial killer of aboriginal women; and Allan Kings Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company (2005), a documentary set at a Jewish home for the elderly in Toronto. Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, 11 West 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400; $10. (Gates) DON SIEGEL (Through April 13) Siegel, who died in 1991, was a master of several genres, including science fiction, westerns and police thrillers. Film Forums four-week, 25-movie retrospective of his work begins today with Charley Varrick (1973), starring Walter Matthau as a small-time crook whose bank heist appears to be too successful. Other films in the program will include Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), the alien-pod sci-fi classic; The Verdict (1946), a Scotland Yard mystery starring Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet; Baby Face Nelson (1957), with Mickey Rooney as the title criminal; and Dirty Harry (1971), in which Clint Eastwood first asks a punk whether he feels lucky. 209 West Houston Street, west of Avenue of the Americas, South Village, (212) 727-8110; $10. (Gates) MAN IN THE DUNES: DISCOVERING HIROSHI TESHIGAHARA (Through Sunday) BAMcinémateks tribute to Teshigahara (1927-2001), the artist, filmmaker and flower arranger, concludes this weekend with Woman in the Dunes (1964), his masterpiece drama about an entomologist trapped in the desert. 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; $10. (Gates) RECENT FILMS FROM FINLAND (Through Wednesday) Scandinavia House continues its four-month program of Scandinavian films with a series of Finnish features. The last -- Gourmet Club (2004), Juha Wuolijokis comedy about a cash-strapped doctor who needs a mystery ingredient for a special dinner -- will be shown on Wednesday. 58 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 879-9779; $8. (Gates) RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA (Through Sunday) The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Unifrance USAs annual series concludes this weekend. Films include Cold Showers (2005), Antony Cordiers debut feature about two teenage judo enthusiasts and a beautiful girl; Danis Tanovics Hell (2005), starring Emmanuelle Béart and Carole Bouquet and written by Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Krzysztof Kieslowskis longtime collaborator; and Yves Angelos Grey Souls (2005), based on Philippe Claudels novel set during World War I. Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5600; and IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue, at West Third Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 924-7771; $12. (Gates) SOME KIND OF HORROR SHOW (Through March 30) BAMcinémateks annual festival of horror movies continues next week with three films. Two early Hollywood greats, Lionel Barrymore and Bela Lugosi, star in Tod Brownings Mark of the Vampire (1935). Nicholas Roegs film The Witches (1990), with Anjelica Huston, is about a coven having a convention. Roy Boultings Twisted Nerve (1968) is a British splatter movie with a Bernard Hermann score. 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE (Thursday) These moody junkyard folk-poppers find a kind of romance in wails and clatter. Their cracked progressive-rock jams and urban pastoral chant-alongs map a landscape where fantastical beasts gather for ritual rocking around trashcan campfires. 8 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600; $20 in advance, $22 at the door. (Sold out.) (Laura Sinagra) ANNIE (Monday) This Norwegian singers happy dance pop takes on darker aspects as a result of her associations with the minimalist techno club scene and work with bands like the glitchy Royksopp and the art-poppy St. Etienne. 7 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $10. (Sinagra) THE ARK, PRINCESS SUPERSTAR (Thursday) The Swedish band the Ark plays fast and loose with glam regalia, trafficking in party music with titles like Let Your Body Decide. The cheeky trash-rapper Princess Superstars raps about the joys of juvenile delinquency, like Bad Babysitter, have gained her a reputation as the female Eminem. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $13. (Sinagra) BLACK 47 (Tonight) Black 47 represents Irish rock, New York style, where memories of jigs and reels and Irish history run into immigrant tales, politics and hip-hop. 6:30 and 10, Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $17 in advance, $20 at the door. (Jon Pareles) SIR RICHARD BISHOP (Wednesday) As part of the long-running trio of Bay Area jazz, folk and rock collagists Sun City Girls, the guitarist Sir Richard Bishop has had a sympathetic outlet for his brand of sonic expression -- which can veer from Middle Eastern modes to jazzy vamps to John Fahey-like rambles. He plays solo here. 8 p.m., Union Pool, 484 Union Avenue, at Meeker Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 609-0484; $8. (Sinagra) CHRIS BROWN (Tonight) Riding rough beats with a childlike sweetness on the single Run It, the teenage R & B singer Chris Brown snags both the adult hip-hop crowd and younger fans who liked Ushers Yeah. 8, Bergen Performing Arts Center, 30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, N.J., (201) 816-8160; $35 to $55. (Sinagra) EXENE CERVENKA AND THE ORIGINAL SINNERS (Wednesday) The doyenne of Los Angeles punk rock and co-lead singer of the seminal rock group X does her own thing with this band. 7 p.m., Avalon, 662 Avenue of the Americas, at 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 807-7780 or ticketmaster.com or (212) 307-7171; $18 in advance, $20 at the door. (Sinagra) CHIEFTAINS (Tonight) The Chieftains spearheaded a revival of Irish traditional music, playing only the oldest instruments: fiddle, harp, wooden flute, uileann pipes, bodhran, tin whistle. Then they decided that Irish tradition wasnt enough and started to look further afield: to Spain, to China, to rock. Their concerts started to rely more on personality and gimmicks than on music. But they have been returning to their Irish core, and theres a great ensemble behind the shtick. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $25 to $75. (Pareles) JOHN DOE (Tonight) The singer-songwriter John Doe has followed his years fronting the seminal punkers X with albums that are more low-key yet just as intimate. 9, Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 798-0406; $12. (Sinagra) THE GO! TEAM (Monday) This British group brilliantly merges the wistful nostalgic wing of sample-based post-rock with live junkyard bash, the sassy girl rap of MC Ninja, and cheerleader chants. Themes, hooks and digressions overlap. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $15 in advance, $18 at the door. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) JOSE GONZALEZ (Wednesday) This singer-songwriter, a Swede of Argentinean descent, is one of those many devotees of Elliot Smith (who died at 34 in 2003) who do the intimate acoustic guitar and lulling vocal thing, but dont quite find the pathos. 7 p.m., Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778; $15. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) JOE HURLEYS ALL STAR IRISH ROCK REVUE (Tonight) For the seventh year, Joe Hurley and his band spend St. Patricks night backing up an assortment of singers, including Michael Cerveris, James Chance, John S. Hall, Mary Lee Kortes, Joe McGinty, Andy Shernoff and Tammy Faye Starlite, who will perform Irish gems by the likes of Thin Lizzy, U2, Van Morrison, Sinead OConnor, Morrisey and the Pogues. The music starts at 7:15 with the Itinerants, followed by Joe Hurley & the Gents at 8. The Irish Review starts at 9. Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $20. (Sinagra) JENNY LEWIS & THE WATSON TWINS (Tomorrow and Sunday) Jenny Lewis is the frontwoman of Rilo Kiley, and her solo material is inspired by Laura Nyro-style 1970s white soul. Her combination of school-recital fussiness and barely-caught cry is in fine form, but its her vocal tone and phrasing that make her special. Especially here, where her pointy songbird desperation is augmented by the gospel-tinged Watson Twins. 8:30 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $19. (Sold out) (Sinagra) TEJENDRA NARAYAN MAJUMDAR (Thursday) The lutist Tejendra Narayan Majumdar learned his craft from Ustad Bahadur Khan and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and focuses on the Senia gharana style. 8 p.m., Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $25. (Sinagra) MUSIC AND VOICES OF CENTRAL ASIA (Tuesday) The Agha Khan Music Initiative put together this bill featuring Tengir-Too from Kyrgystan, the Academy of Shashmaqam from Tajikistan and the Homayun Sakhi & Taryalai Hashimi from Afghanistan. 8 p.m., Columbia University Miller Theater, 116th Street and Broadway, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799, www. akdn.org ; $25. (Sinagra) THE POGUES, THE WALKMEN (Tonight through Sunday) Before every beer-brewing ethnicity spawned a punk band modernizing its traditionals with distorted guitar and aggressive, often hilarious howls, there was Irelands Pogues. Its leader, Shane MacGowan, a man of tossed-off wit, ubiquitous slur and few teeth, has picked up where he left off before the band went on hiatus in the 1990s. Mr. McGowan is also DJ-ing a special St. Patricks Day show at Southpaw thats sure to be wild. (See www.spssounds.com for details.) The Walkmen were part of the rock is back scene of a few years ago and are back to say its still back. 8 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, ticketmaster.com, (212) 307-7171; $50. (All shows sold out.) (Sinagra) THE PRODIGY (Wednesday) The hard-edged techno of pulverizing songs like Firestarter were given theatrical flair by the groups leader, Liam Howlett, whose mercurial antics have made him a standout in the impersonal world of dance music. 9 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, ticketmaster.com, (212) 307-7171; $35. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) MATT POND PA(Tuesday) This band has lots of nicely formed indie-pop songs, none very memorable. Live, however, the band, which features a cello, delivers with a forceful crispness. Doors open at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m., Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103; $12. (Sinagra) SAM PREKOP (Sunday) Part of the Chicago group of musicians that pioneered mid-1990s jazz and electronic post-rock music, the singer and guitarist Prekop is a smooth, if overly genteel, singer and a fluid player. His group the Sea and Cake benefited from his light touch and wistful vocals. 7:30 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, between Sterling Place and St. Johns Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236; $15. (Sinagra) THE RAKES, TOWERS OF LONDON (Tuesday) The Rakes jagged riffs and tempos suggest the Strokes, though these London boys also recall their hometowns snarkier 1970s punkers. Towers of London play dedicated glam-rock à la the Darkness. 7:30 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $13 (sold out). (Sinagra) SILVER JEWS (Tonight and tomorrow night) Few songwriters express their misery as poetically as the Silver Jews David Berman. You really cant argue with lines like Sometimes a pony gets depressed and I wanna be like water if I can/ Cause water doesnt give a damn. His recent album, Tanglewood Numbers (Drag City), is his best. 6, Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600, (212) 353-1600; $20. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) STEREOLAB (Tonight and tomorrow night) The blip-blip movement of the 1990s never had such soothing purveyors of machine love, cooing socialist come-ons and retro-futurist airport lounge reveries. 8, Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 840-2824; $25 and $35. (Sinagra) LEROY THOMAS AND THE ZYDECO ROADRUNNERS (Tomorrow) Straight from the bayou comes Leroy Thomas, whos part of zydecos youth movement: singing in English and playing piano accordion, as well as the older-style single-row accordion while the rub board clatters merrily. 9 p.m., Connollys on 45th, 121 West 45th Street, second floor, Manhattan, (212) 597-5126 or (212) 685-7597; $20. (Pareles) FARID AYAZ QAWWAL (Tomorrow) The son of Grand Master Munshi Raziuddin, Farid Ayaz Qawwal sings traditional qawwali, the Sufi devotional music. 8 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 220-1460 or (212) 477-5329; $35 to $100. (Sinagra) Cabaret Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. BARBARA CARROLL (Sunday) Even when swinging out, this Lady of a Thousand Songs remains an impressionist with special affinities for Thelonious Monk and bossa nova. 2 p.m., Algonquin Hotel, Oak Room, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331; $55, including brunch at noon. (Stephen Holden) * Barbara Cook (Tonight and tomorrow, and Tuesday through Thursday) This Broadway legend is loose, down-home and, as always, magnificent, singing a 25-year retrospective of songs she has performed at the Café Carlyle. 8:45 p.m., with additional shows tomorrow night at 10:45, Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 744-1600; $85; dinner required at the 8:45 shows.(Holden) ANNIE ROSS (Wednesday) Cool, funny, swinging and indestructible, this 75-year-old singer and sometime actress exemplifies old-time hip in its most generous incarnation. 9:15 p.m., Dannys Skylight Room, 346 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 265-8133; $25, with a $12 minimum. (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. ALL THAT JAZZ: NOW THATS HIP! (Tuesday) This annual concert, sponsored by the HIP Health Plan of New York, traditionally features the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis with his bluesy septet; this edition also benefits from the inclusion of Curtis Stigers, a charismatic singer and saxophonist with a broadminded approach to repertory and a retro-stylized stage persona. 8 p.m., Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 721-6500, www.jalc.org; $105.50 and $135.50. (Nate Chinen) BILLY BANG GROUP (Tonight and tomorrow night) As a violinist and composer, Mr. Bang favors the astringency and formal tension of the 1970s loft scene; his frontline partner here is the equally adventurous saxophonist and flutist James Spaulding. 8, 10 and midnight, Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 255-3626; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) PATRICIA BARBER (Wednesday) Ms. Barbers lyrical verbosity and arch intellectualism are uncommon traits for a jazz singer; she also plays piano in her working band, which features the often-impressive guitarist Neal Alger. 8:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, at Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $42. (Chinen) KENNY BARRON TRIO (Tuesday through March 26) Mr. Barron is the leading practitioner of an elegant, economical and rhythmically surefooted piano style that thrives in any mainstream setting; hell most likely explore at least a few different styles here, with Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass and Francisco Mela on drums. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $20 to $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) PAUL BOLLENBACK QUINTET (Wednesday) As on his self-assured new album, Brightness of Being (Elefant Dreams), the guitarist Paul Bollenback brings a sleek post-bop ethos to material ranging from Ray Charles to Puccini, with a strong ensemble including Gary Thomas on tenor and soprano saxophone, Chris McNulty on vocals and Jeff (Tain) Watts on drums. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20. (Chinen) * ANTHONY BRAXTON 12+1(TET) (Tonight through Sunday night) Mr. Braxton, the saxophonist and composer, is a monumental but often puzzling figure in the avant-garde; yet his influence has resonated clearly with a bright new generation of players, a dozen of whom will perform his music here. 8 and 10, with an 11:30 show tonight and tomorrow night, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) IGOR BUTMAN QUARTET (Wednesday through March 25) Mr. Butman is a powerfully proficient tenor and soprano saxophonist and Russias most accomplished jazz musician; he teams up with one of his countrymen (the pianist Andrei Kondakov) and a pair of top-flight Americans (the bassist Eddie Gomez and the drummer Lenny White). 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) ELLERY ESKELIN TRIO (Tonight) Mr. Eskelin is a tenor saxophonist known for gruff abandon; his longtime band with the accordionist Andrea Parkins and the drummer Jim Black handles abstraction as well as groove. 8:30, Roulette at Location One, 20 Greene Street, below Grand Street, SoHo, (212) 219-8242; cover, $15. (Chinen) GREAT AMERICAN SONGWRITERS (Tonight and tomorrow night) Few musicians are better equipped to luxuriate in songbook standards than the pianist Bill Charlap; here he takes a look at the music of Vernon Duke (April in Paris, Autumn in New York) with the vocalist Ethel Ennis and the tenor saxophonist Houston Person. 7:30, Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 721-6500, www.lincolncenter.org; $105.50 to $135.50. (Chinen) * ICP ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) The acronym stands for Instant Composers Pool, which conveys both the immediacy and the structural integrity of this 10-piece ensembles creations; the group also happens to contain Amsterdams finest improvisers, like the pianist Misha Mengelberg, the drummer Han Bennink and the saxophonist and clarinetist Michael Moore. 8 and 10 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $12, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) JASON KAO HWANG/EDGE (Tuesday) Mr. Hwang, a probing violinist and composer, marks the release of his new album on the Asian Improv label; as on the album, he enlists Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet, Ken Filiano on bass and Andrew Drury on drums. 8 and 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10.(Chinen) CHRIS LIGHTCAP QUINTET (Tonight and Sunday night) A bassist with credentials in both straight-ahead and experimental circles, Mr. Lightcap fronts a group well suited to split the difference: Mark Turner and Tony Malaby on tenor saxophones, Craig Taborn on Fender Rhodes and Gerald Cleaver on drums. Tonight at 9 , Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, near Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. Sunday at 10 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 218-6934; no cover. (Chinen) DOM MINASI TRIO +1 (Thursday) Minasi is an estimable guitarist in experimental circles; as on his jangly new album, Vampires Revenge (CDM), he augments his working trio with special guests -- in this case, the gutsy trombonist Steve Swell. 8 p.m., Jimmys Restaurant, 43 East Seventh Street, East Village, (212) 982-3006; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) TED NASH AND ODEON (Tuesday) Mr. Nash is an expansively gifted saxophonist, equally at home finessing standards or chasing progressive forms of his own design. His Odeon band -- a flea-market assemblage of violin, accordion, woodwinds, brass and drums -- exposes the underlying affinities between many strains of low- and high-minded music. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20. (Chinen) THE PARK AVENUE WHIRL (Tuesday through March 25) This exuberant swing-minded confab pairs Daryl Sherman, the irrepressible standards singer, with Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, New Yorks most transporting little big band. 8:30 p.m., Feinsteins at the Regency, 540 Park Avenue, at 61st Street, (212) 339-4095; cover, $71, with a $40 minimum. (Chinen) EDWARD SIMON TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow night) As a pianist and composer, Mr. Simon is both harmonically resourceful and rhythmically advanced, traits that should serve him well as he leads a trio with the bassist John Patitucci and the drummer Nasheet Waits. 7:30, 9:30 and 11:30, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $25. (Chinen) BOBO STENSON TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow night) With Goodbye (ECM), the Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson offered one of last years most beautifully somber piano trio recordings. Here he plays the only live performances with the same personnel from the album: his fellow Swede and longtime bassist Anders Jormin, and the august and inscrutable New York drummer Paul Motian. 9 and 11, Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MARCUS STRICKLANDS TWI-LIFE (Wednesday) Mr. Strickland, a thoughtful young tenor saxophonist, leads an ensemble of fellow up-and-comers: Lage Lund on guitar, Matt Brewer on bass, and E. J. Strickland, his twin brother, on drums. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, at Seventh Avenue, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $10. (Chinen) TRIBUTE TO LUCKY THOMPSON (Wednesday through March 25) Thompson, who died last year at 81, was a bebop enigma, and his music has yet to be absorbed into jazz culture; next week the tenor and soprano saxophonist Chris Byars investigates that legacy in four ensembles, including a quartet (on Wednesday, with the former Thompson sideman John Hicks on piano) and a trio (on Thursday). 8 and 10 p.m. and 1:30 a.m., Smalls, 183 West 10th Street, West Village, (212) 675-7369; cover, $15. (Chinen) MANUEL VALERA QUARTET (Thursday) On his new album, Melancolía (Mavo), the Cuban pianist Manuel Valera pursues a sophisticated strain of Latin jazz, occasionally tempered by classical romanticism; his message is in good hands with the tenor saxophonist Yosvany Terry, the bassist Hans Glawischnig and the drummer Ernesto Simpson. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063; cover, $12 (members, $10).(Chinen) ABBY WHITESIDE FOUNDATION JAZZ TRIBUTE (Tuesday) This recital, under the auspices of a venerable school of piano pedagogy, will feature the radiant solo playing of Barry Harris and Fred Hersch (two of the foundations current teachers), as well as that of Gregg Kallor, Michael Kanan and Pete Malinverni. 8 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, at Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $35. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera AIDA (Tonight through Sunday) The Amato Operas reputation is that it conveys the spirit and love of Italian opera, though the full impact is impossible to achieve in a 102-seat theater with a cast that changes at every performance. And against the odds, the principals at a recent performance of Aida managed to make it through to the end, demonstrating a true love of the piece if not always of the pitch. Tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30, Sunday at 2:30 p.m., Amato Opera, 319 Bowery, at Second Street, East Village, (212) 228-8200; $30; $25 for 65+, students with ID, and children. (Anne Midgette) DARKLING (Tonight and tomorrow night) In an adventurous move, America Opera Projects is presenting the premiere production of Darkling, a brave and sensitive, if at times frustrating, multimedia music theater work. With a score by the composer Stefan Weisman, Darkling is an operatic fantasia on themes of emotional fragmentation, in the words of the director, Michael Comlish, who conceived the idea of adapting for the stage the poet Anna Rabinowitzs book-length poem about a restless Polish couple who marry hastily before the invasion of the Nazis and who independently flee to the United States. 8, East 13th Street Theater, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 279-4200; $30 to $45. (Anthony Tommasini) * FIDELIO (Monday) The director Jürgen Flimms grippingly updated production of Beethovens Fidelio was a deserved popular success when it was first presented in 2000. It returns with the radiant soprano Karita Mattila again singing the role of Leonora, and Richard Margison as Florestan. (Paul Nadler will replace the conductor James Levine, who has withdrawn from the rest of the Mets season because of a shoulder injury.) 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $320. (Tommasini) LA FORZA DEL DESTINO (Tomorrow and Thursday) Its tempting to say that Forza has the most numbingly witless libretto and the dippiest score of any Verdi opera, but with such stiff competition, who can truly say? Giancarlo del Monacos drab staging, first seen in 1996 and hidden away in storage since then, offers little help, but the Met has a vocally solid cast, with Deborah Voigt as Leonora, and Salvatore Licitra as Don Alvaro. Mark Rucker sings Don Carlo tomorrow, and Mark Delavan returns to the role on Wednesday. Gianandrea Noseda conducts. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $42 to $320 tomorrow; $26 to $320 on Wednesday. (Allan Kozinn) LUISA MILLER (Tonight and Tuesday) Barbara Frittoli canceled, and Neil Shicoff was sick on opening night, so the Metropolitan Opera was left with the journeymen Veronica Villarroel and Eduardo Villa carrying Verdis opera on their reliable if not very exciting shoulders. Mr. Shicoff is supposed to take over again when he recovers, joining Carlos Alvarez, who pumps out sound in a warm, unvaried baritone, and James Morris, who takes stentorian off the pitch chart altogether. (Karen Slack replaces Ms. Villarroel tonight.) 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $320. (Midgette) MAZEPPA (Tomorrow and Wednesday) Tchaikovskys epic 1884 opera Mazeppa, about the ruthless 17th-century Ukrainian separatist Ivan Mazeppa, is an anguished, probing and noble work. The Metropolitan Opera deserves thanks for presenting its first production of this inexplicably neglected masterpiece, inspiringly conducted by Valery Gergiev. A cast of mostly Russian singers brings conviction and palpable authority to the work, especially the baritone Nikolai Putilin as the wizened Mazeppa, and the soprano Olga Guryakova as his adolescent and impressionable wife. The musical performance is so compelling that you can almost ignore Yuri Alexandrovs jumbled and trashy projection, which clutters the opera with symbolism. (On Wednesday night the soprano Elena Evseeva sings the role of Maria.) Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday at 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $320. (Tommasini) THE MOST HAPPY FELLA (Tonight through Sunday, and Wednesday and Thursday) Frank Loesser thought of his 1956 masterpiece The Most Happy Fella as a musical with a lot of music, not as an opera. Still, this musically sophisticated and disarming musical is a good fit for the New York City Opera, which has opened its spring season with a vibrant and charming production directed by Philip Wm. McKinley. The actor Paul Sorvino, making his City Opera debut, inhabits the title role of Tony Esposito, the paunchy and insecure but good-hearted Italian immigrant vineyard owner in the Napa Valley of the late 1920s. Mr. Sorvinos voice, though, is pretty raw and shaky. Hes at his best when he doesnt care about how he sounds and just lets go. The rest of the cast, mostly from the musical theater world, is wonderful. Tonight at 8, tomorrow and Sunday at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 (final performance on March 25), New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 870-5570; $25 to $120. (Tommasini) OTELLO (Thursday) Vincent La Selva is one of the best Verdi conductors around, but his arena these days is his own New York Grand Opera, playing free in Central Park or churches with variable (sometimes decent) singers, rather than standard opera houses. But it tends to be the tenor, not the conductor, that makes or breaks Verdis Otello, and Edward Perretti may not be quite up to it. 7:30 p.m., Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, corner of West End Avenue and West 86th Street, (212) 245-8837; free. (Midgette) Classical Music * AMERICAN COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA (Tonight) Steven Sloane leads this new-music orchestra in a concert that explores the recent influence of pop technology -- including electronica, D.J.s and turntablists, along with computer programming -- on classical composers. Included are premieres of works by Justin Messina, Edmund Campion, Neil Rolnick, Mason Bates and Daniel Bernard Roumain. 7:30, Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $27 to $35. (Kozinn) BARGEMUSIC (Tonight, tomorrow, Sunday and Thursday) A weekly presenter of chamber music concerts, this floating concert hall also offers great views of Lower Manhattan. Tonight, the versatile fiddler Mark OConnor takes aboard his Edgeffect Ensemble (a piano trio) for a night of his own compositions. Tomorrow and Sunday, Mark Peskanov and colleagues play Mozart, Dohnanyi and Brahms. Thursday, Racha Arodaky, piano, performs Scarlatti, Schumann, Grieg and others. Tonight and tomorrow and Thursday nights at 7:30, Sunday at 4 p.m., Bargemusic, Fulton Ferry Landing next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083; $35. (Jeremy Eichler) BASICALLY BACH (Tuesday and Wednesday) This four-concert festival gets under way on Tuesday -- the 321st anniversary of Bachs birth -- with a concert of organ and brass works by Bach, Pezel and Gabrieli. Kent Tritle is the organ soloist. On Wednesday, the show moves to Carnegie Hall, where Richard Westenburg leads Musica Sacra and the Boys Choir of Harlem in the St. Matthew Passion. Tuesday at 8 p.m., Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, at 73rd Street, (212) 734-7688; $15 to $75. Wednesday at 7 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $20 to $120. (Kozinn) DUOS AND TRIOS (Tonight and Sunday) The real title should be Unusual String Combos, exploring the permutations of violin, cello and bass. The program features Ida Kavafian and Gary Hoffman, along with Edgar Meyer, known for his abilities in bluegrass as well as in classical music, and himself composer of two of the works on a recital that also includes a Rossini duet for cello and bass, Kodalys Op. 7 duet for violin and cello, and a transcription of Bachs BWV 1027 for all three instruments. Tonight at 8, Sunday at 5 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5788; $28 to $49. (Midgette) EARLY MUSIC NEW YORK (Tomorrow) This period-instrument band expands to orchestral proportions for Bachs Progeny, a program of late Baroque and Rococo works by J. S. Bachs sons, Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Phillip Emmanuel, John Christian and Johann Friedrich. 8 p.m.., St. Jamess Church, Madison Avenue at 71st Street, (212) 280-0330; $40. (Kozinn) ESTONIAN PHILHARMONIC CHAMBER CHOIR (Sunday) Two of Estonias best-known musical exports, Arvo Pärt and this choir, join in this weekends concert. Mr. Pärts music, accessible, meditative, bell-like, forms the centerpiece of a choral and organ concert that includes a New York premiere (Anthem of St. John the Baptist). Its juxtaposed with excerpts from Rachmaninoffs All-Night Vigil and a set of songs by an Estonian composer and ethnomusicologist of an older generation, with the euphonious name of Cyrillus Kreek. 4 p.m., Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, 980 Park Avenue, at 84th Street, (212) 721-6500; $48. (Midgette) RICHARD GOODE (Sunday) What was to have been the sixth event in the pianist Richard Goodes Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall, originally scheduled for Jan. 14 but postponed because of the withdrawal of one of the participants, will take place on Sunday afternoon, bringing this engrossing series to a close. The mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford will sing a selection of Schubert lieder with Mr. Goode at the piano, setting up his performance of Schuberts late Sonata in B flat. Then the tenor Matthew Polenzani joins the pianist for Janaceks haunting dramatic song cycle The Diary of One Who Disappeared. 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $44 to $52. (Tommasini) ALEXEI GRYNYUK (Thursday) This young Ukrainian pianist returns to the Met Museum with a recital of works by Chopin and Rachmaninoff. 8 p.m., Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949; $40. (Eichler) MATT HAIMOVITZ (Sunday) This itinerant power-cellist has made headlines for bringing classical music into clubs like CBGBs. This weekend, he performs the first of three shows at the Knitting Factory, with guests D.J. Olive, a cello band called Uccello and Constantinople, a period-instrument ensemble that specializes in early music from Europe and the Middle East. The program draws from Mr. Haimovitzs new Bartok-themed album called Goulash 7:30 p.m., the Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3132; $20 to $25. (Eichler) LONDON PHILHARMONIC (Sunday and Monday) The ailing Kurt Masur has dropped out of these programs. Neemi Jarvi is the replacement in New Jersey, and Roberto Minczuk conducts at Lincoln Center. Sunday at 3 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888) 466-5722; $22 to $76. Monday at 8 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $35 to $69. (Holland) MET CHAMBER ENSEMBLE (Sunday) The distinguished series of concerts by players from the Metropolitan Opera concentrates on the Second Viennese School, with pieces by Berg, Webern and Schoenberg. 5 p.m., Weill Reicital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $92. (Bernard Holland) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Today and tomorrow) Xian Zhang, the bright young assistant at the New York Philharmonic, conducts a morning concert of Rossini, Tchaikovsky and Paganini. Today at 11 a.m., tomorrow at 8 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $23 to $76. (Holland) ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKES (Sunday) Ian Bostridge joins this fine orchestra and its music director, Donald Runnicles, for Lutoslawskis Paroles Tissées and arias from Handels Ariodante. Mr. Runnicles also leads his players in Stravinskys Dumbarton Oaks Concerto and Beethovens Symphony No. 7. 2 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $21 to $74. (Kozinn) PRISM QUARTET (Tonight) This fine veteran saxophone ensemble plays music by the much respected yet seldom heard Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino. 8:30, Thalia Theater, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $21; students and 65+, $18. (Eichler) * THOMAS QUASTHOFF (Tonight and tomorrow) The great German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff performs Schuberts Schöne Müllerin tomorrow night at Carnegie Hall with his frequent accompanist, the elegant pianist Justus Zeyen. Tonight a Young Artists Concert at Weill Hall presents four selected singers with their pianist partners, emerging musicians who were coached by Mr. Quasthoff this past week in two public master classes. In an indirect way, this concert should also provide insights into Mr. Quasthoffs probing artistry. Tonight at 7:30, Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $15. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall; $23 to $79. (Tommasini) PAULA ROBISON (Tomorrow) This series by the flutist Paula Robison looks at Vivaldis concertos and has so far offered some rarely heard ones in graceful, shapely performances in the cavernous Temple of Dendur. 7 p.m., Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949; $60. (Kozinn) * CHARLES ROSEN (Sunday) Charles Rosen is as renowned for his insightful books and essays as for his probing performances. He is celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozarts birth by looking at composers who influenced him and composers who felt his influence. The current installment looks at Beethovens fascination with Mozart by way of his Piano Sonata No. 32 (Op. 111) and his Variations on Bei Männern, Welche Liebe Fühlen from The Magic Flute, for which Fred Sherry joins him on the cello. Also, Mozarts Fantasia (K. 475) and Sonata in C minor (K. 457). 1:30 p.m. (a lecture) and 3 p.m. (the recital), 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500; $35. (Kozinn) TOKYO STRING QUARTET (Tomorrow) The Tokyo continues its close ties to the 92d Street Y and its celebration of the Mozart year with two string quartets and the E flat Piano Quartet with Alexander Lonquich. 8 p.m., 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500; $40. (Holland) * WALL TO WALL STRAVINSKY (Tomorrow) What better way to celebrate a prodigious musical life than with acornucopia of music? This years installment of Symphony Spaces Wall to Wall series of free 12-hour marathons focusing on one composer spotlights Igor Stravinsky, who aroused reactions from shock to adoration in his lifetime. His work ranges from the very early (like the 1904 song The Mushrooms Go to War) to the greatest hits (like Symphonies of Wind Instruments). Participating artists include the pianist Jeremy Denk, the singers Lucy Shelton and Marni Nixon, the Ying Quartet and, yes, Richard Thomas and Leonard Nimoy playing, in Story of a Soldier, the Soldier and the Devil. 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-1414, ext. 286; free. (A limited number of reserved seats will be available for donors of $125 or more.) (Midgette) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. LES BALLETS AFRICAINS (Tonight and tomorrow night) Also known as the National Ensemble of the Republic of Guinea, the company will celebrate its half-century of existence with Jubilee, a selection of its golden oldies in music and dance. 8, Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, (212) 545-7536 or worldmusicinstitute.org; $35 and $45; students, $15. (Jennifer Dunning) JANE COMFORT AND COMPANY (Tonight through Sunday) Ms. Comforts new Fleeting Thoughts: Mr. Hendersons 3 a.m. is set to vocal music by Joan La Barbara. The work explores extremes of timing, spatial relationships and language. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8:30, Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194, www.danspaceproject.org; $15. (Dunning) COMPLEXIONS (Tonight through Sunday and Thursday) This exuberant modern-dance company will perform a program that includes a tribute to Nina Simone and a piece set to music by Earth, Wind and Fire. (Through March 26.) Tonight and Thursday night at 7; tomorrow at 2 and 7 p.m.; Sunday at noon and 5 p.m. New Victory Theater, 209 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 563-2266, www.newvictory.org; $10 to $30. (Dunning) * SALLY GROSS AND COMPANY (Tonight through Sunday) Ms. Gross calls her program Seeing Winter Out, and the poetic title says a lot about this most eloquent minimalist. Among the new works is With Words #2, a solo Ms. Gross dances to a rehearsal tape by Joseph Chaikin. 8, Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479; $15. (Dunning) KINETIC ARCHITECTURE (Tonight through Sunday) Shannon and Rob Davidson describe their new Grios, an investigation of Celtic culture and mythology, as a cross between Buster Keaton and Butoh. 8 p.m., Center for Remembering and Sharing, 123 Fourth Avenue, near 12th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101, www.theatermania.com; $12; students and 65+, $10. (Dunning) * SUSAN MARSHALL AND COMPANY (Tonight and tomorrow night) Ms. Marshall celebrates her companys 20th anniversary with Cloudless, an impressive new piece that addresses human relationships and the surreal edge of everyday life with psychological, theatrical and visual complexity. 7:30, Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077; $25. (Dunning) * YVONNE MEIER (Tonight and tomorrow night) Ms. Meier is returning after eight years to her enjoyably anarchic improvisational choreography. For her new pieces this is not a pink pony and Gogolorez, she has enlisted the aid of downtown-dance stars like Miguel Gutierrez, Jennifer Monson, Nami Yamamoto and Jeremy Wade. 8, the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, www.thekitchen.org; $12. (Dunning) BENJAMIN MILLEPIED (Tonight through Sunday) One of the smartest and liveliest of New York City Ballet dancers, Mr. Millepied will lead his company, whose roster includes several bright young City Ballet performers and the American Ballet Theater star Gillian Murphy, in a new work of his own, set to a score by Philip Glass, played by Pedja Muzijevic, as well as in new works by the choreographers Aszure Barton, Andonis Foniadakis and Luca Veggetti. The last piece has an accompaniment cued by dancers motions. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, www.joyce.org; $42. (Dunning) TERE OCONNOR DANCE (Wednesday and Thursday) Audiences and reviewers tend to feel passionately about Mr. OConnors choreography, loving or hating it with equal intensity. Somehow Mr. OConnor has lived through it all and continued to produce dances. This one is called Baby, which he describes as exploding the metaphor of time passing. You decide. (Through April 1.) 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077; $25. (Dunning) SUMMERFEST 06: CHRISTINE JOWERS/MOVING ARTS PROJECTS (Wednesday) Ms. Jowers will present her Isadora and the Dancing Goddesses of NYC in a free performance by the Projects, which she describes as a sisterhood that includes such dance luminaries as Ann Carlson and Margie Gillis. 12:30 and 8 p.m., Winter Garden, World Financial Center, West Street, south of Vesey Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 945-0505. (Dunning) * PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY (Tonight through Sunday) The companys annual City Center season concludes with four final repertory programs. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, tomorrow at 2 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., City Center, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan, (212) 581-1212, www.nycitycenter.org; $15 to $80. (John Rockwell) * TCHAIKOVSKY PERM BALLET AND ORCHESTRA (Tonight) These exquisite dancers from the Perm Ballet, which has a direct lineage to the Maryinsky, know how to tell a vivid story in the purest classical dance. Here they are in a traditional staging of Swan Lake by Natalia Makarova that includes Sir Frederick Ashtons haunting fourth act. 7:30, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888) 466-5722, www.njpac.org; $20 to $56. (Dunning) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums * AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: SURFACE ATTRACTION: PAINTED FURNITURE FROM THE COLLECTION, through March 26. The remarkable images, abstract patterns and floral motifs that flutter across the 30 or so tables, chairs, cabinets and blanket chests in this beautiful, convention-stretching show confirm that from the late 1600s to the late 1800s, quite a bit of American painting talent and ambition was channeled into the decoration of everyday wood objects. The combination of imagination and utility, of economic means and lush effects, defines the human desire for beauty as hard wired. 45 West 53rd Street, (212) 265-1040. (Roberta Smith) * BROOKLYN MUSEUM: SYMPHONIC POEM: THE ART OF AMINAH BRENDA LYNN ROBINSON, through Aug. 14. This prodigious show, by an artist born and still living in Columbus, Ohio, celebrates her heritage in paintings, drawings, sculpture, stitchery, leather work and less classifiable forms of expression. Besides its sheer visual wizardry, using materials like leaves, twigs, bark, buttons and cast-off clothes, her art is compelling in that it ruminates on the history of black migration to, and settlement in, the United States, from early times to the present, in a garrulous, very personal way. Her works do not lend themselves to easy deciphering, but her magic with materials and her daring compositional imagination draw you in. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, Brooklyn (718) 638-5000. (Grace Glueck) * Brooklyn Museum: WILLIAM WEGMAN: FUNNEY/STRANGE, through May 28. Descended from Marcel Duchamp and Buster Keaton, Mr. Wegman has straddled high and low for more than three decades, using his signature Weimaraners to make the art worlds funniest videos, as well as television commercials, calendars and childrens books. His popular success has tended to obscure his originality and influence, along with a multifarious production that includes wittily captioned drawings, wonderfully irreverent paintings and a host of nondog photographic work. This thorough and thoroughly entertaining retrospective highlights not only the accessibility of his richly human art, but also its dedication to the 1970s notion that art should not look like art. (See above.) (Smith) * Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum: FASHION IN COLORS, through March 26. Drawn from the collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute in Japan, this sumptuous show arranges 68 often lavish Western gowns and ensembles according to the colors of the spectrum and reinforces their progress with a posh, color-coordinated installation design. For an experience of color as color, it is hard to beat, but it also says a great deal about clothing, visual perception and beauty. 2 East 91st Street, (212) 849-8400. (Smith) * Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: David Smith: A Centennial, through May 14. David Smith is best known for his worst work, bulky sculptures of the important kind that museums and banks like to buy. Much (though not all) of that material has been excised from this survey in favor of smaller, earlier, nonmonumental pieces that the curator, Carmen Gimenez, presents with plenty of air and light. The result is exemplary as a David Smith experience, an American Modernism experience and a Guggenheim Museum experience. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3500. (Holland Cotter) Metropolitan Museum of Art: Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt, through May 7. Egypt was no picnic 5,000 years ago. The average life span was about 40 years. Wild animals were ever-present. Childbirth was perilous. Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness were shots in the dark. Doctors were priests. Medicine was a blend of science, religion and art. The 65 or so objects in this beautiful show functioned as all three. Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212) 535-7710. (Cotter) * MET: Robert Rauschenberg: Combines, through April 2. Big and handsome almost to a fault. Theres something weird about seeing once joyfully rude and over-the-top contraptions from the 1950s and 60s lined up like choirboys in church, with their ties askew and shirttails out. But even enshrined, the combines still manage to seem incredibly fresh and odd, almost otherworldly. I thought of a medieval treasury -- all the rich colors and lights and intricate details. The most beautiful tend to be the early ones: large but delicate, with a subtle, fugitive emotional pitch. (See above.) (Michael Kimmelman) THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: EDVARD MUNCH: THE MODERN LIFE OF THE SOUL, through May 8. This affecting, full-scale retrospective is the first survey of this Norwegian painter in an American museum in almost 30 years. Its more than 130 oils and works on paper cover Munchs entire career, from 1880 to 1944. It also includes a large selection of prints -- many ingeniously adapted from his oils -- that played an important role in his art. 11 West 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400. (Glueck) THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: ON SITE: NEW ARCHITECTURE IN SPAIN, through May 1. Since the early 1970s, when Spain began to awaken from the isolation of a four-decade dictatorship, Spanish architects have produced designs of unusual depth, often with a firm connection to the land, a sense of humility and a way of conveying continuity with the past while embracing the present. Packed with pretty images and elegant models, this exhibition lacks the scholarly depth you might have hoped for on such a mesmerizing subject. (See above.) (Nicolai Ouroussoff) NEUE GALERIE: KLEE AND AMERICA, through May 22. For a long time, the Swiss-born artist Paul Klee (1879-1940), regarded as a leading Modernist figure in Europe, didnt believe his delicate, chimerical work had much of a future in the United States. Yet, thanks to artists, collectors and dealers with close contacts in Germany who had begun to discover his work, by the early 1920s Klees impact began to be felt in the United States. This show of more than 60 paintings and drawings assembled exclusively from American holdings covers the wide spectrum of Klees work, from his dense, Cubist-style oil, When God Considered the Creation of the Plants (1913), to a beautifully stylized rendering of the jazz singer and dancer Josephine Baker (1927) to labyrinthine compositions like Or the Mocked Mocker (1930). 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th Street, (212) 628-6200. (Glueck) P.S. 1: Jessica Stockholder: Of Standing Float Roots in Thin Air, through May 1. A soaring, cannily designed installation -- made of airborne plastic bins, electric lights, orange extension cords and an old armchair topping a wooden tower -- by a sculptor known for orchestrating productive collisions of formalism and consumerism. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 784-2084. (Ken Johnson) Whitney Museum of American Art: WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2006: DAY FOR NIGHT, through May 28. This biennial will provoke much head-scratching by uninitiated visitors. A hermetic take on what has been making waves, its packaged -- branded might be the better word -- as a show long on collaboration and open-endedness: several shows under one roof, including a revival of the 1960s Peace Tower, which rises like a Tinker Toy construction from the Whitney courtyard, with contributions by dozens of artists. As a counter to the image of the art world as rich, youth-besotted and obsessed with crafty little nothings, the ethos here is provisional, messy, half-baked, cantankerous, insular -- radical qualities art used to have when it could still call itself radical and wasnt like a barnacle clinging to the cruise ship of pop culture. That was back in the 1970s. And much of whats here (including works by bohemians and other senior eccentrics around then) harks back to that moment. Beauty is hard to come by. Check out, among other things, Paul Chans digital animation of shadowy objects like cellphones and bicycles, floating upward, Wizard of Oz-like, while bodies tumble down, the work cast as if it were light from a tall window slanting onto the floor of a dark room. And also Pierre Huyghes film, shot in Antarctica and Central Park. Its really gorgeous: crosscut between day and night, fiction and reality, it encapsulates the shows operative but ultimately airy metaphor about the slippery state of art now. (Day for Night is the biennials first-ever title, after the François Truffaut film.) 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (800) 944-8639 or www.whitney.org. (Kimmelman) Galleries: Uptown Tony Cragg: Five Bottles In the early 1980s, this eminent English sculptor made flat, mosaiclike works out of found colored plastic objects and fragments. This show presents a set of five wall-works, each representing a different giant colored bottle composed of toys, combs, cigarette lighters and other pieces of ordinary commercial detritus. Vivian Horan, 35 East 67th Street, (212) 517-9410, through April 21. (Johnson) Jim Shaw: My Mirage 1986- 91 This amazingly inventive California-based artist first became widely known for a series of about 170 works, all measuring 17 by 14 inches, that chronicles the life of a white suburban boy named Billy, from innocent youth to druggy degradation to born-again salvation. The 30 pieces from the series in this show variously imitate comic strips, acid-rock posters, thrift store paintings, comic greeting cards and many other pop culture forms. Skarstedt, 1018 Madison Avenue, near 78th Street, (212) 737-2060, through April 1. (Johnson) Galleries: 57th Street Darren Almond /Janice Kerbel: The Impossible Landscape Nothing is obvious in this handsome show of works by two London-based Conceptualists. The connection is that both make visible things that are in different ways impossible. Ms. Kerbels elegantly abstracted designs for gardens in an office, a Laundromat and other unlikely places are meant to be imagined but never actually built. Mr. Almonds sumptuous, subtly eerie landscape photographs were shot at night using long exposures, making visible what would be invisible to the naked eye. The Horticultural Society of New York, 128 West 58th Street, (212) 757-0915, through May 5. (Johnson) Galleries: Chelsea Tjorg Douglas Beer: Hirnwaschanlage BrainWashing Plant Something resembling a large-scale, Cubist puppet theater that looks as if it were designed and built by elementary school students is the main attraction of this German artists first United States solo exhibition. Populated by robotic figures of cardboard and aluminum foil, with glowing light bulbs for eyes, which wield medieval weapons, it is supposed to be based on the Donkey Kong video game and to represent the interior of a brain under the influence of social brainwashing. Mitchell-Innes & Nash, 534 West 26th Street, (212) 744-7400, through March 25. (Johnson) Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao: Habitat 7 The winner of the second annual Capture the Times photography contest of The New York Times Magazine presents a series of vividly clear and colorful, wide-angle pictures of outdoor scenes shot along the No. 7 subway line, which runs through Queens. Julie Saul, 535 West 22nd Street, (212) 627-2410, through March 25. (Johnson) * MARK LECKY: DRUNKEN BAKERS This cinematically gifted British artist raises his game with a stop-action animation made by simply shooting a raunchy, well-drawn comic strip for adults in close-up, turning its speech balloons into spoken dialogue and adding realistic sound effects. Shown in an increasingly grubby white-on-white cube, the work is elegantly efficient, funny and dark, and adds another twist to the convoluted history of appropriation art. GBE@Passerby, 436 West 15th Street, (212) 627-5258, through April 22. (Smith) * William Nicholson Though less well known than his son, the British abstract painter Ben Nicholson, Sir William Nicholson was a successful artist in his day. The mostly small landscapes, portraits and Chardinesque still lifes in this beautiful show offer transporting fusions of paint and imagery. Paul Kasmin, 293 10th Avenue, at 27th Street, (212) 563-4474, through March 25. (Johnson) Barbara Probst Ms. Probst displays pairs and groups of photographs made using electronically connected cameras able to shoot scenes from different angles at exactly the same time. Seeing a family crossing the street in black and white from the top of a building and close-up in color from street level creates a philosophically intriguing collapse of the normal space-time continuum. Murray Guy, 453 West 17th Street, (212) 463-7372, through March 25. (Johnson) Rachel Whiteread: Bibliography Cardboard boxes cast in plaster are displayed in monotonous profusion singly and in groups by the British sculptor who once made a concrete cast of the inside of a whole house. Luhring Augustine, 531 West 24th Street, (212) 206-9100, through April 1. (Johnson) Other Galleries * THE DOWNTOWN SHOW: THE NEW YORK ART SCENE, 1974-1984 The real down-and-dirty downtown art scene, when the East Village bloomed; punk and new wave rock assailed the ears; graffiti spread like kudzu; and heroin, along with extreme style, raged, is the subject of this wild and woolly show. Its a humongous time warp of more than 450 paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, videos, posters, ephemera and things in between by artists, writers, performers, musicians and maestros of mixed media, from a photograph of the transvestite Candy Darling as she posed on her deathbed to a small, painted sculpture made of elephant dung by David Hammons. With so many clashing ideologies, points of view and attitudes toward art-making, this no-holds-barred hodgepodge generates the buzz and stridency of, say, Canal Street on payday. New York University, Grey Art Gallery, 100 Washington Square East, (212) 998-6780; and Fales Library, 70 Washington Square South, (212) 988-2596, Greenwich Village; through April 1. (Glueck) * Anya Gallaccio: One Art The viscerally poetic single work occupying Sculpture Centers spacious main gallery is a 50-foot weeping cherry tree that was cut up and reassembled in the gallery, where it is held in place by steel cables and bolts. Sculpture Center, 44-19 Purves Street, at Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 361-1750, through April 3. (Johnson) THE STUDIO VISIT The studio visit, a time-honored ritual that everyone in the art world has both endured and learned from, is taken to its limit in Exit Arts latest exhibition marathon. Each of the 160 mostly short videos represents one artists idea of, play on, or substitute for, a studio visit. It is a show that often cries out for a fast-forward button, but there are some notable gems -- for example, by Joyce Pensato, Cynthia von Buhler, Ida Applebroog, Bruce Pearson, Lance Wakeling, Taylor McKimens, Paul Wirhun, Elisabeth Kley, Christy Gast and Kim Jones. Exit Art, 475 10th Avenue, at 36th Street, Manhattan, (212) 966-7745, through March 25. (Smith) Last Chance * Do You Think Im Disco Theres a big story to be told about disco culture of the 1970s, which had roots in rhythm and blues, African-American church music, 1960s drug culture, gay liberation and all manner of anti-establishment politics. This modest group show touches on all of these elements, however glancingly and unsystematically, by considering the trickle-down effect of discomania on some new art today. Longwood Art Gallery@Hostos, 450 Grand Concourse, at 149th Street, Mott Haven, the Bronx, (718) 518-6728; closes tomorrow. (Cotter) * EXQUISITE CORPSE-CADAVRE EXQUIS The Surrealist drawing game provided this shows organizers -- the gallerys owner and the independent curator Robert Nickas -- with their call-and-response selection process, as well as their theme. The three dozen small works tend to focus on the body, mostly beautiful and often sexual, which only increases the fascination of the almost always illuminating aesthetic couplings they have devised. Mitchell Algus Gallery, 511 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-6242; closes tomorrow. (Smith) Birdie Lusch: Collages The self-taught Lusch (1903-1988) worked in a ball-bearing factory in Columbus, Ohio, and began making art as a teenager. This show presents 24 delightful pages from a 1983 album of collages representing flowers in vases. KS Art, 73 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-9918; closes tomorrow. (Johnson) P.S. 1: Ricky Swallow, Extraordinarily realistic and symbolically portentous sculptures carved from wood by Australias representative to last summers Venice Biennale, in which three of the five works on view here were included. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 784-2084; closes Monday. (Johnson)

NROTC Scholarship Fund celebrates legacy of service and.

The USC Price School of Public Policy has received a gift of approximately $2 million from the estate of David and Lee Hayutin to provide scholarships for Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) students at USC. Serving as a testament to the. David Hayutin served as a naval reserve officer at USC more than 60 years ago, graduating in 1952 with a degree in physics from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. He later completed his law��.

Huffington Post suspends writer, apologizes for over.

The Huffington Post has suspended Amy Lee, who wrote a summary of an Ad Age post that Simon Dumenco complained was unethical and brought just 57 page views to AdAge.com. Huffington Post Executive Business��.

Alice Lees Instagram Resume - Business Insider

Alice Lee, a 20-year-old UPenn* student from Cupertino, California, really wants to work for Instagram. Instagram is an iPhone app that lets you post pictures and follow peoples picture streams in real time. It has been��.

President condoles death of Lee Kuan Yew

He will long be remembered for laying the strong foundation of the excellent co-operation between India and Singapore and also Indias close engagement with the ASEAN and countries in the region, Rajamony said quoting the letter. The message said.

THE LISTINGS | OCT. 14-OCT. 20

Selective listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the New York metropolitan region this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings BEOWULF Opens Sunday. The medieval epic poem becomes a 21st-century rock opera in this Irish Repertory Theater production, with a score by Lenny Pickett, the musical director of Saturday Night Live (1:15). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212)727-2737. FIVE COURSE LOVE Opens Sunday. On the menu are five dates in five restaurants, put to music in five styles, including operetta and country-western (1:30). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village, (212)307-4100. A SOLDIERS PLAY Opens Monday. The first major New York revival of Charles Fullers play about the trial of a black soldier during World War II. With Taye Diggs and James McDaniel (1:55). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212)246-4422. ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR Opens Tuesday. The latest production of this comedy by the unstoppably prolific Alan Ayckbourn is about three couples and takes place over three holiday seasons (2:30). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212)239-6200. 4:48 PSYCHOSE Opens Wednesday. The great French actress Isabelle Huppert makes her American stage debut in the last play that the great English playwright Sarah Kane wrote before committing suiide (1:45). Part of the Next Wave Festival. Performed in French with abridged English titles. Brooklyn Academy of Music, Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, (718)636-4100. IN MY LIFE Opens Thursday. Love blossoms between a musician with Tourettes syndrome and an insecure journalist in this Broadway musical, directed and written by Joseph Brooks (1:45). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. THE ARK Previews start today. Opens November 14. Find out what Noahs family thought of his crazy-seeming idea in this musical about the back story of the biblical flood and the animals and people who survived. Annie Golden and Adrian Zmed star in this show with music by the songwriter Michael McLean (2:00). 37 Arts-Theater B, 450 West 37th Street, (212)307-4100. INDIA AWAITING Previews start tomorrow. Opens October 23. Anne Marie Cummingss new love story is about an Indian man, a Spanish-American woman and their respective families dealing with their cross-cultural romance (2:00). Samuel Beckett Theater on Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212)279-4200. JERSEY BOYS Opens Nov. 6. Straight from La Jolla Playhouse in California, this rags-to-riches musical tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, featuring hits that include Big Girls Dont Cry and Rag Doll. Des McAnuff directs (2:30). Beginning Sunday, the theater will be renamed the August Wilson Theater. Virginia Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212)239-6200. KARLA Previews start Thursday. Opens October 23. The Grammy-winning musician Steve Earle, who starred in the political docudrama The Exonerated, takes up the issue of the death penalty once again, but this time as a playwright in this drama about Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman in Texas since the Civil War to receive the death penalty and have it carried out (1:30). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, East Village, (212)352-3101. MANIC FLIGHT REACTION Previews start Thursday. Opens October 30. A middle-age professor faces the prospect of tabloid scrutiny and invasion of privacy when a past affair with the wife of a leading presidential candidate threatens to go public. Trip Cullman directs Sarah Schulmans comedy (2:00). Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212)279-4200. THE ODD COUPLE Opens Oct. 27. A little Neil Simon revival you might have heard of, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as Oscar and Felix. Joe Mantello directs (2:10). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212)307-4100. SEE WHAT I WANT TO SEE Opens Oct. 30. Michael John LaChiusas highly anticipated new musical stars Idina Menzel and Marc Kudisch and features three contemporary stories based on the work of the Japanese writer Ryonosuke Akutagawa (2:00). The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212)239-6200. SWEENEY TODD Opens Nov. 3. Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris star in this intimate revival of the Sondheim classic, featuring 10 actors who play their own instruments. It started at the Watermill Theater in England, before moving to the West End and Broadway (2:30). Eugene ONeill Theater, 230 West 49th Street, (212)239-6200. THIRD Opens Oct. 24. A professor played by Dianne Wiest accuses a student of plagiarism in Wendy Wassersteins latest. Daniel Sullivan directs (2:00). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212)239-6200. Broadway CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG The playthings are the thing in this lavish windup music box of a show: windmills, Rube Goldbergesque machines and the shows title character, a flying car. Its like spending two and a half hours in the Times Square branch of Toys R Us (2:30). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212)307-4100. (Ben Brantley) DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS On paper this musical tale of two mismatched scam artists has an awful lot in common with The Producers. But if you are going to court comparison with giants, you had better be prepared to stand tall. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz, never straightens out of a slouch (2:35). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) *DOUBT, A PARABLE (Pulitzer Prize, Best Play 2005, and Tony Award, Best Play 2005) Set in the Bronx in 1964, this play by John Patrick Shanley is structured as a clash of wills and generations between Sister Aloysius (Cherry Jones), the head of a parochial school, and Father Flynn (Brian F. OByrne), the young priest who may or may not be too fond of the boys in his charge. The plays elements bring to mind those tidy topical melodramas that were once so popular. But Mr. Shanley makes subversive use of musty conventions (1:30). Walter Kerr, 219 West 48th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Love is a many-flavored thing, from sugary to sour, in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucass encouragingly ambitious and discouragingly unfulfilled new musical. The show soars only in the sweetly bitter songs performed by the wonderful Victoria Clark, as an American abroad (2:15). Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) A NAKED GIRL ON THE APPIAN WAY Could it be that the exhaustingly prolific Richard Greenberg has been even busier than anyone suspected? This clunky farce about the limits of liberalism, directed by Doug Hughes and starring a miscast Richard Thomas and Jill Clayburgh, suggests Mr. Greenberg has been moonlighting as a gag writer for sitcoms and is now recycling his discarded one-liners (1:45). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212)719-1300. (Brantley) SPAMALOT (Tony Award, Best Musical 2005) This staged re-creation of the mock-medieval movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail is basically a singing scrapbook for Python fans. Still, it seems safe to say that such a good time is being had by so many people that this fitful, eager celebration of inanity and irreverence will find a large and lucrative audience (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) SWEET CHARITY This revival of the 1966 musical never achieves more than a low-grade fever when whats wanted is that old steam heat. In the title role of the hopeful dance-hall hostess, the appealing but underequipped Christina Applegate is less a shopworn angel than a merry cherub (2:30). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) *THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE The happy news for this happy-making little musical is that the move to larger quarters has dissipated none of its quirky charm. William Finns score sounds plumper and more rewarding than it did Off Broadway, providing a sprinkling of sugar to complement the sass in Rachel Sheinkins zinger-filled book. The performances are flawless. Gold stars all around. (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212)239-6200. (Charles Isherwood) Off Broadway *ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). Dodger Stages, Stage 4, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200.(Isherwood) * CRESTFALL Taking place in a town described by one character as this insidious vicinity, the savage quarter, this perpetual crestfall, the speeding train of a play, which features three interconnected monologues spoken by a sex addict, a frigid woman and a whore, reveals a writer who loves words almost as much as he does dirty jokes and bloody faces. Since he made his first American splash with Howie the Rookie in 2001, Mark ORowe, who writes likes a mix of Samuel Beckett and Martin McDonagh, has grown in confidence, if not in maturity (1:15). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues, (212)279-4200. (Jason Zinoman) CYCLING PAST THE MATTERHORN A grating comedy-drama by Deborah Grimberg about the fractious relationship between a mother and daughter. Shirley Knight plays Esther, a needy, needling woman who discovers shes going blind just as her daughter leaves the nest. Carrie Preston is her needy, self-absorbed daughter (1:35). Harold Clurman Theater on Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212)279-4200.(Isherwood) DRUMSTRUCK This noisy novelty is a mixed blessing. Providing a two-foot drum on every seat, it offers an opportunity to exorcise aggressions by delivering a good beating, and on a slightly more elevated level, it presents a superficial introduction to African culture, lessons in drumming and 90 minutes of nonstop music, song and dancing by a good-natured cast (1:30). Dodger Stages, Stage 2, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200.(Lawrence Van Gelder) EINSTEINS GIFT Vern Thiessens potentially moving play about two German-Jewish Nobel winners -- the physicist Albert Einstein and the chemist Fritz Haber -- their differing conceptions of sciences role and the martial use to which their work is put, is marred by unnecessary Odd Couple exchanges and a miscast Haber, but benefits from good performances by Shawn Elliott as Einstein and Melissa Friedman as Habers wife (2:00). Acorn Theater on Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212)279-4200. (Andrea Stevens) * FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT This production features the expected caricatures of ego-driven singing stars. But even more than usual, the show offers an acute list of grievances about the sickly state of the Broadway musical, where, as the lyrics have it, everything old is old again (1:45). 47th Street Theater, 304 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL A terrific cast keeps the generator running in this bright but flimsy contraption. A few of David Nehlss dozen ditties raise a hearty chuckle, like the valedictory anthem in which the shows heroines collectively vow to make like a nail and press on. But Betsy Kelsos book all but dispenses with plot, and substitutes crude cartoons for characters (2:00). Dodger Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212239-6200. (Isherwood) *IN THE CONTINUUM A spirited, smart and powerful portrait of two black women whose lives are suddenly upended by an H.I.V. diagnosis. Written by and starring Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter, who both possess the strong presence and confident technique to bring out the subtle force and the potent flavoring in their writing (1:30). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues, (212)279-4200. (Isherwood) THE LADIES OF THE CORRIDOR The Peccadillo Theater Company has revived this 1953 play by Dorothy Parker and Arnaud DUsseau. A comedy set in an East Side hotel populated by widows and divorcées, it is an unyielding and coruscating portrait of women before feminism, relieved by Parkers dead-on wit. East 13th Street Theater, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212)279-4200.(Honor Moore) LATE FRAGMENT Matthew, a World Trade Center employee who survived Sept. 11, and Marta are a desperate couple falling out of love in Francine Volpes often perceptive if muddled drama named after a Raymond Carver poem. Under the direction of Michael Imperioli (Christopher from The Sopranos) and Zetna Fuentes, the play has a wobbly style, building tension only to diffuse it with less-than-credible moments (1:30). Studio Dante, 257 West 29th Street, Chelsea, (212)279-4200. (Zinoman) MARION BRIDGE The Canadian playwright Daniel McIvor takes a quiet, honest look at three sisters as they face their mothers death. It is well acted and well directed, if too predictable in spots (2:20). Urban Stages, 259 West 30th Street, (212)868-4444. (Margo Jefferson) THE MASTER BUILDER A revival that succeeds mainly through a fine performance by Dan Daily as the superstar architect of the title. Mr. Daily brings the characters tangle of contradictions together in a credible performance that manages to find the hidden troll in the artistic genius (2:20). Pearl Theater, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212)598-9802.(Wilborn Hampton) THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS! The musical is the happy narcissist of theater; parody is the best form of narcissism. All it needs are smart writers and winning performers. Thats what we get in this case (1:30). Dodger Stages, Stage 5, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200. (Jefferson) ONE-MAN STAR WARS TRILOGY With a storm trooper roaming the aisles and a woman in an Obi-Wan Kenobi get-up telling theatergoers to turn off their cellphones or they will be turned into cosmic dust, Charles Rosss sprint through Episodes IV through VI strives for the atmosphere of a Star Wars convention, but ends up achieving something like a religious revival (which is sort of the same thing). True believers will love how Mr. Ross, a self-confessed geek who plays every major role in under an hour, simulates R2D2, but everyone else will scratch their heads (1:00). Lambs Theater, 130 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212)239-6200. (Zinoman) *ORSONS SHADOW Austin Pendletons play, about a 1960 production of Ionescos Rhinoceros, which was directed by Orson Welles and starred Laurence Olivier, is a sharp-witted but tenderhearted backstage comedy about the thin skins, inflamed nerves and rampaging egos that are the customary side effects when sensitivity meets success (2:00). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, Greenwich Village, (212)239-6200. (Isherwood) THE PAVILION Craig Wrights play about the speedy wheels of times winged chariot and the dreams it grinds into dust is set at a small-town high school reunion. Brian DArcy James aches with longing as the cad who wants a second chance. Gracefully directed by Lucie Tiberghien (2:00). Rattlestick Theater, 224 Waverly Place, at 11th Street, West Village, (212)868-4444. (Isherwood) *SIDES: THE FEAR IS REAL This hilarious collection of sketches may send up familiar targets -- the insecure thespian, the fraudulent acting teacher, the arrogant Juilliard grad -- but since its performed with such specificity and comic charm by actors firing on all cylinders, you wont care a whit. Written by and starring an entirely Asian-American cast, this slight but consistently entertaining satire is a primer on what not to do in an audition room (1:15). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (212)307-4100. (Zinoman) SLUT This overamplified musical comedy about love and promiscuity among East Village friends leans heavily on obscenities to lend it a daring edge. Instead, it swamps even its brightest moments in tawdriness (2:00). American Theater of Actors, 314 West 54th Street, Clinton, (212)239-6200. (Miriam Horn) WALKING DOWN BROADWAY Dawn Powells 1931 tale of young people looking for life and love in New York is packed with smart dialogue and honest emotions. It is also well directed, well acted and smartly designed (2:30). Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212)315-0231. (Jefferson) Off Off Broadway BELLY OF A DRUNKEN PIANO In this splendidly imperfect cabaret, Stewart DArrietta howls and growls convincingly through Tom Waitss three-decade song catalog, backed by a snappy trio. His patter and his piano playing are variable, but Mr. DArrietta makes a genial tour guide through Mr. Waitss wee-hours world (1:45). Huron Club at SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, between Avenue of the Americas and Varick Street, (212)691-1555. (Rob Kendt) Long-Running Shows AVENUE Q R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:10). Golden, 252 West 45th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh, sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212)307-4747. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, (212)239-6200.(Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) MOVIN OUT The miracle dance musical that makes Billy Joel cool (2:00). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212)239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) *SLAVAS SNOWSHOW Clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin are stirring up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart as well as tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, Flatiron district, (212)307-4100.(Van Gelder) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (212)307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance DEDICATION, OR THE STUFF OF DREAMS Portraying a terminally ill, rancidly rich misanthrope in Terrence McNallys play about a small-town childrens theater troupe, Marian Seldes is a snappy advertisement for the time-defying benefits of a religious devotion to theater. She is, in fact, what Dedication is all about, or intends to be, anyway. Burdened with soap-opera-ish plot turns and artificially bright dialogue, this comedy of mortality never seems able to convince itself that life and art trump death and doubt. (2:15). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212)279-4200, closing Sunday. (Brantley) THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT Garrett Ayers, who calls his latest company the TryTryAgain Theater, says this is his third attempt at staging this short play from 1961 by Joel Oppenheimer. Its fun. Its performed with spunk. Its got cowboys. Sure, its indecipherable, but hey, its less than an hour long (55 minutes). 78th Street Theater Lab, 236 West 78th Street, (800)838-3006, closing Sunday.( Genzlinger) *THE INTELLIGENT DESIGN OF JENNY CHOW In Rolin Joness fanciful comedy, playfully directed by Jackson Gay, a lonely young woman in California embarks on an ambitious science project to help conquer her agoraphobia and trace her origins in China. Brisk, funny and engaging, the play disappoints only in its emphasis on flights of fancy over a nuanced depiction of its heroines emotional dilemmas (2:10). Atlantic Theater Company, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212)239-6200, closing tomorrow.(Isherwood) ONCE AROUND THE SUN The sun of the title could be the talent and energy of the shows impressive cast: you can warm your hands on them and on the catchy music. Unfortunately, the book fails to capitalize on these strengths, instead presenting a trite fable about a young rock singer seduced by celebrity, with cardboard characters, despite the actors best efforts to give them dimension. Still, the performances are very entertaining (2:00). Zipper Theater, 336 West 37th Street, Manhattan, (212)239-6200, closing Sunday. (Anne Midgette) *POOR THEATER Part homage and part anatomy, the Wooster Groups warm, witty tribute to the director Jerzy Grotowski and the choreographer William Forsythe demonstrates how imitation can be not just sincere flattery but also a hopeful attempt to crawl into someone elses skin to see how it fits. As identities and their representations morph and blur, this is not always a comfortable activity, but it is often an exhilarating one (1:30). Performing Garage, 33 Wooster Street, between Broome and Grand Streets, SoHo, (212)868-4444, closing tomorrow. (Brantley) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. BEFORE THE FALL (No rating, 110 minutes, in German) Dennis Gansels intensely beautiful film brings us inside one of Hitlers elite schools used to indoctrinate future leaders to observe the fate of a young amateur boxer and his sensitive roommate. Though somewhat overdetermined, the film is a chilling testament to the seductiveness of groupthink and the allure of imagined superiority.(Jeannette Catsoulis) * BROKEN FLOWERS (R, 105 minutes) Sweet, funny, sad and meandering, Jim Jarmuschs new film sends Bill Murrays aging Don Juan out in search of a son he never knew he had. He finds four former lovers, including Sharon Stone and Jessica Lange, and reveals once again that he is the quietest and finest comic actor working in movies today. (A.O. Scott) * CAPOTE (R, 114 minutes) Philip Seymour Hoffmans portrayal of Truman Capote is a tour de force of psychological insight. Following the novelist as he works on the magazine assignment that will become In Cold Blood, the film raises intriguing questions about the ethics of writing. (Scott) *THE CONSTANT GARDENER (R, 129 minutes) A superior thriller with a conscience, from John le Carrés novel. (Scott) DANDELION (No rating, 93 minutes) Mark Milgards debut film is an affectedly glum slice of life about a depressed teenager in rural Washington State who takes the rap for his father after a hit-and-run accident. (Stephen Holden) EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED (PG-13, 104 minutes) From Jonathan Safran Foers novel, a sentimental Holocaust tale; tender and funny in places, but also thin and soft. (Scott) THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE (PG-13, 114 minutes) If you must see only one demonic-possession courtroom drama this year, wait for the next one. (Scott) FLIGHTPLAN (PG-13, 93 minutes) To watch Jodie Foster storm through a phony airplane as a mother in search of her missing child has its very minor pleasures, but there is nothing in this thrill-free thriller to feed the head or fray the nerves. (Manohla Dargis) *THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN (R, 111 minutes) A sex comedy turned romantic bliss-out, with Steve Carell, in which the sound of one prophylactic snapping is just a single sweet note in the glorious symphony of love. (Dargis) *GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK (PG, 90 minutes) George Clooney, with impressive rigor and intelligence, examines the confrontation between the CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow (a superb David Strathairn) and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (himself). Plunging you into a smoky, black-and-white world of political paranoia and commercial pressure, the film is both a history lesson and a passionate essay on power, responsibility and the ethics of journalism (Scott) GOING SHOPPING (PG-13, 106 minutes) As loquacious and scatterbrained as its female characters, this Henry Jaglom film explores womens shopping habits and fantasies. Its incomplete sketches revolve around an upscale dress shop on the verge of bankruptcy. (Holden) THE GOSPEL (PG, 105 minutes) Set against a lively, music-filled African-American church, The Gospel, written and directed by Rob Hardy, and with many talented real-life gospel superstars blended into the large and able cast, endeavors to be a powerful tale of faith and forgiveness, but in the end fails to capture even the slightest essence of spirituality and religious belief, or to provide any real insight into its characters conflicts, desires and motivations.(Laura Kern) THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED (PG, 115 minutes) A rousing, obvious re-creation of the 1913 United States Open, in which two sons of the working classes faced off in a game still dominated, on both sides of the Atlantic, by the well-born. Aims for par and makes it. (Scott) *GRIZZLY MAN (R, 103 minutes) Werner Herzogs bold, enthralling documentary about one mans journey into the heart of darkness (and the belly of the beast) traces the life and strange times of the self-anointed grizzly expert Timothy Treadwell. (Dargis) * A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (R, 97 minutes) A masterpiece of indirection and pure visceral thrills about a seemingly average American family almost undone by cataclysmic violence, David Cronenbergs latest mindblower is the feel-good, feel-bad movie of the year. With Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris and William Hurt, all excellent. (Dargis) * IN HER SHOES (PG-13, 130 yes, 130 minutes) In his newest film, Curtis Hanson (L. A. Confidential) wrests a richly textured story of love from a seemingly unlikely source, Jennifer Weiners breezy best-selling fiction about two sisters -- played by Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette -- engaged in an epic battle of the heart, a fight waged mostly against each other and their own best interests.(Dargis) JUST LIKE HEAVEN (PG-13, 95 minutes) Reese Witherspoons disembodied spirit haunts Mark Ruffalo in a real estate dispute that runs into a sweet romantic comedy. Surprisingly lighthearted and brisk, considering its fairly morbid premise.(Scott) LORD OF WAR (R, 122 minutes) A misfire of a political satire about the international gun market from Andrew Niccol, a filmmaker whose words say no, but whose overworked visual style says lock and load, baby. (Dargis) MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION: WALKING ON THE MOON 3D (No rating, 40 minutes) Tom Hanks narrates this Imax film that tries to give moviegoers the virtual experience of being on the lunar surface. At times it comes close. (Anita Gates) *MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (G, 80 minutes) This sentimental but riveting documentary follows the one-year mating cycle of emperor penguins in Antarctica when they leave the ocean and march inland to breed and lay eggs. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, the film has no qualms about playing on our emotions. (Holden) MIRRORMASK (PG, 101 minutes) This British film, directed by Dave McKean from a screenplay by Neil Gaiman, blends live action with computer-generated animation by the Jim Henson Company into a provocative, murky surrealism. The story follows the Freudian nightmare of a 15-year-old girl whose parents work in the circus; its strictly for cultists. (Holden) * OLIVER TWIST (PG-13, 130 minutes) Roman Polanskis take on Dickenss classic emphasizes the darkness and cruelty of Victorian society. Vigorous and precise, it is a vivid reminder of the novelists power as both a storyteller and a social critic. (Scott) * THE PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE, OHIO (PG-13, 99 minutes) Julianne Moore is radiant as Evelyn Ryan, the real-life 1950s Ohio housewife and mother of 10 who kept her family afloat on her winnings from television jingle contests. Jane Anderson wrote and directed this tribute in a wonderfully zany, off-center style. (Holden) ROLL BOUNCE (PG-13, 107 minutes) A drowsy comedy from Malcolm D. Lee about a handful of kids grooving and roller skating in the summer of 1978, Roll Bounce has heart and good vibes but little else to recommend it. (Dargis) SEPARATE LIES (R, 87 minutes) A hit-and-run accident near the country house of an imperious British lawyer (magnificently played by Tom Wilkinson) leads him into an ethical labyrinth that tests his moral mettle as well as that of his wife (Emily Watson) and her lover (Rupert Everett). (Holden) SERENITY (PG-13, 119 minutes) It probably isnt fair to Joss Whedons Serenity to say that this unassuming science-fiction adventure is superior in almost every respect to George Lucass aggressively more ambitious Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith. But who cares about fair when there is fun to be had? Scene for scene, Serenity is more engaging and certainly better written and acted than any of Mr. Lucass recent screen entertainments. (Dargis) * THE SQUID AND THE WHALE (R, 88 minutes) Mining his own childhood, Noah Baumbach has put together an unsparing, funny portrait of a family in crisis and a young man trying to figure out his parents and himself. Superbly written and acted, especially by Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels as a pair of divorcing writers. (Scott) TIM BURTONS CORPSE BRIDE (PG-13, 90 minutes) A necrophiliac animation for the whole family about a melancholic boy, the girl he hopes to marry and the bodacious cadaver that accidentally comes between them. (Dargis) * TOUCH THE SOUND (No rating, 99 minutes) As Thomas Riedelsheimers enlightening, mystical documentary follows the deaf Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie around the globe, it illustrates her understanding that sound is a physical sensation experienced throughout the body, as well as an auditory one. (Holden) TWO FOR THE MONEY (R, 122 minutes) A turgid male weepie in which Matthew McConaughey plays a former college quarterback turned sports-betting guru under the loud tutelage of Al Pacinos odds-making kingpin. (Dargis) * WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT (G, 85 minutes) The stop-motion pooch and his cheese-loving master, back again at feature length. Silly and sublime. (Scott) FILM SERIES AFTER WAR (Through Oct. 23) The Japan Society is commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II with this series of works about wartime and its aftermath. This Sundays feature is Japanese Devils (Riben Guizi), Minoru Matsuis 2001 documentary in which 14 elderly veterans talk about war crimes in China. At 333 East 47th Street, Manhattan, (212)832-1155; $10. (Gates) CHILDREN IN THE 20TH CENTURY (Through Nov. 22) Symphony Space Thalia Film presents an international program of films focusing on problems that affect children, beginning on Sunday with two dramas. Hector Babencos Pixote (Brazil, 1981), named best foreign-language film by the New York Film Critics Circle, is about homeless orphans. John Cassavetess Gloria (1980) stars Gena Rowlands as a gangsters moll on the run with a boy who witnessed a Mafia murder. Leonard Nimoy Thalia, Broadway and 95th Street, (212)864-5400; $10. (Gates) FOREVER GARBO: A RETROSPECTIVE (Through Dec. 17) The American-Scandinavian Foundations program honoring Greta Garbos centennial continues tomorrow with Love (1927), a silent version of Anna Karenina, with John Gilbert as Vronsky. On Wednesday the feature is A Woman of Affairs (1928), a silent version of The Green Hat, Michael Arlens novel about a reckless rich girl widowed on her wedding night. Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, between 37th and 38th Street, (212)879-9779; $8. (Gates) FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT (Through Nov. 27) The IFC Centers Weekend Classics program is presenting a dozen Truffaut features and two shorts. This weekends film, to be screened at noon today through Monday, is Bed and Board (1970), in which the filmmakers alter ego (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is a newlywed expectant father having an affair. At 323 Avenue of the Americas, at West Third Street, Greenwich Village, (212)924-7771; $10.75. (Gates) REPERTORY NIGHTS (Through Nov. 6) The Museum of the Moving Image continues its annual film series today, tomorrow and Sunday with Truffauts Jules et Jim (1961), in which Jeanne Moreau teaches moviegoers what a civilized ménage à trois is all about. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718)784-0077; $10. (Gates) UNSEEN CINEMA: EARLY AMERICAN AVANT-GARDE FILM 1894-1941 (Through Sunday) The Museum of the Moving Image, Anthology Film Archives and Deutsches Filmmuseum of Frankfurt are sponsoring a weekend of rarely screened films from the industrys earliest days. The program includes Blacksmithing Scene (1893), Interior N.Y. Subway, 14th St. to 42nd St. (1905), Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphys Ballet Mécanique (1923-24) and Ernst Lubitschs So This Is Paris (Artists Ball) (1926). 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718)784-0077; $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. ATMOSPHERE, BLUEPRINT, P.O.S. (Tonight) The charismatic Minneapolis underground rapper Slug, the anchor of Atmosphere, is famous for his quirky Midwestern narratives and intimate revelations. Blueprint and P.O.S. also perform. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212)777-6800; $20. (Laura Sinagra) THE BRAVERY, INTERNATIONAL NOISE CONSPIRACY (Thursday) A less downcast version of neo-new-wave, the Bravery is tougher than its contemporaries like the Killers, if not always as much fun. International Noise Conspiracy plays politically minded garage rock thats been getting less political lately. 6:30 p.m., Roseland Ballroom, 239 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, (212)247-0200; $23.50. (Sinagra) BLUES TRAVELER (Sunday) The jam-band Blues Traveler gives its fans an occasion to twirl in their tie-dyed T-shirts while the band stretches whiny songs into jams featuring John Poppers high-speed harmonica. 8 p.m., Nokia Theater Times Square, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, ticketmaster.com or (212)307-7171; $25. (Jon Pareles) JUNIOR BROWN, ABIGAIL WASHBURN (Tuesday) Junior Brown has his own instrument: the doublenecked guit-steel allows him to play biting electric guitar leads in one verse and suave steel guitar in the next. In most of his music hes a country traditionalist, true to honky-tonk tempos and the deadpan baritone vocal style of Ernest Tubb. Every so often he lets loose a Jimi Hendrix lick. Abigail Washburn opens. 8 p.m., B.B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212)997-4144; $18 in advance, $20 at the door. (Pareles) CARL COX (Tomorrow) The British D.J. Carl Cox, who has been playing the big clubs since disco, plays techno and house-based mixes more eclectic than standard trance. 10 p.m., Crobar, 530 West 28th Street, Chelsea, (212)629-9000; $30. (Sinagra) BLACKEST OF THE BLACK: DANZIG AND GUESTS (Monday) The stout, muscularly macabre rocker Glen Danzig and his eponymous heavy-metal band lead a lineup of similar acts: Himsa, Mortiis, Chimaira, Behemoth and the Agony Scene. 6:30 p.m., Nokia Theater Times Square, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street; ticketmaster.com or (212)307-7171; $28.50. (Sinagra) DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE (Wednesday and Thursday) This decorous diarist-rock bands sound gets added alternative-rock heft on its new album, Plans (Atlantic). The melodic Australian poppers Youth Group open both nights, with the dreamy but prickly Canadian pop band the Stars joining the bill on Thursday. 6:30 p.m., Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street, Manhattan, (212)279-7740; $25.50. (Sinagra) DEVENDRA BANHART (Thursday) Mr. Banharts eerie, wavery voice and stream-of-consciousness songs reach back to the childlike surrealism of some of psychedelias most beloved oddballs: Syd Barrett and the preglam rock of Marc Bolan. 7:30 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212)353-1600;$20 in advance, $25 at the door. (Pareles) DUNGEN (Tomorrow and Sunday) This Swedish bands biker-rock combines humongous riffing with whimsical jams, conjuring black-leather aggression and the pastoral wonder of the open road. 9 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212)533-2111; $15. (Sinagra) THE FIERY FURNACES (Tonight) This brother-and-sister art-rock duos music cuts melodies with carnivalesque keyboard vamps and digressive skronk. Their latest conceptual project sets to music some recorded interviews with their grandmother about her mid-20th-century travails. 9 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212)840-2824; $20. (Sinagra) FOO FIGHTERS, WEEZER, HOT HOT HEAT (Tonight) Dave Grohl, the former Nirvana drummer, has been leading the energetic alt-rock Foo Fighters for a decade, proving that cocky affability goes a long way. The nerd-pop masters Weezer continue to write textbook pop melodies, but their scruffiest album, 1996s Pinkerton (Geffen) is the favorite of a fanatical cult of emo kids. The peppy rockers Hot Hot Heat open. 7 p.m., Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, N.J., (201)935-3900; $30.50 to $42.50. (Sinagra) FRANZ FERDINAND, TV ON THE RADIO (Monday) At the vanguard of the post -- post-punk trend, the poker-faced Franz Ferdinand plays herky-jerky party music. TV on the Radio tops its jittery rhythms and paranoid guitars with the haunting vocal yelps of Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone. 7:30 p.m., Theater at Madison Square Garden, 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue, Manhattan; (212)465-6741; $40. (Sinagra) JIMMIE DALE GILMORE (Tuesday) The Texas troubadour Jimmie Dale Gilmore has been equating wistful Western expanse with the mysteries of existence for three decades. He has a new album, covering songs that were favorites of his father. 7 and 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212)239-6200; $25 in advance, $30 at the door. (Pareles) KRISTIN HERSH (Sunday) The singer-songwriter, who led the mid-90s band Throwing Muses and found underground fame giving punk rock a twist of Wiccan ethereality, continues to make unflinching music about the modern female condition, among other things. 7:30 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212)219-3132; $14. (Sinagra) ILL EASE (Tonight) The drummer and singer-songwriter Elizabeth Sharp, whose thin, insistent voice recalls the Velvet Undergrounds Mo Tucker, repeats inspired OCD chants matter-of-factly over her entrancing rattletrap grooves and her guitarists distorted, looping riffs. 8:30 p.m., Cake Shop, 152 Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212)253-0036; $7. (Sinagra) JUANA MOLINA (Thursday) The reveries of the Argentine songwriter Juana Molina are built from her acoustic guitar picking, her hushed voice, melodies with the simplicity of lullabies and rustling, rippling, melting synthesizer backdrops that fill the songs with mystery. 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212)539-8770; $15. (Pareles) JASON MRAZ, RAUL MIDON (Sunday and Monday) Jason Mraz plays countrified, roots pop in the coffeehouse vein. The vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Raul Midon has contributed his talents to the work of many Latin pop superstars. He plays his own material here. 8 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)875-5766; $35.50. (Sinagra) MY MORNING JACKET, KATHLEEN EDWARDS (Monday) With his atmospheric take on Southern rock, My Morning Jackets Jim James conjures a fantasy of Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd jamming together, stoned, in an echo chamber. The singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards opens. 8 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212)353-1600; $25. (Sinagra) LIZ PHAIR, MATT POND (Monday and Tuesday) One of the 90s most riveting indie-rock singer-songwriters, the smart, sexually candid Liz Phair has been angling for a radio hit for a few albums now. Her new Somebodys Miracle (Capitol) is again too quirky for MTV, but too slick-sounding for indie devotees. Opener Matt Pond writes pleasing, if forgettable, pop songs. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212)777-6800; $25. (Sinagra) SON VOLT, FRUIT BATS (Wednesday) Son Volts Jay Farrar, the gruff-voiced, country-rock half of the seminal alt-country band Uncle Tupelo, has gone in a different direction from his former bandmate, Wilcos Jeff Tweedy, preferring stolid reflection to stylistic adventurism. The ruminative folk-pop band the Fruit Bats opens. 8 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212)353-1600; $20 in advance, $25 at the door. (Sinagra) SUPERPITCHER, ADA (Wednesday) The German producer Aksel Schaufler, aka Superpitcher, can make pure electropop as well as create a mood of glitchy claustrophobia. The singer and producer Ada recorded a stripped-down Kraftwerk-style version of the neo-punk Yeah Yeah Yeahs gem Maps. 11 p.m., Canal Room, 285 West Broadway, at Canal Street, Chinatown, (212)941-8100; $10 in advance, $15 at the door. (Sinagra) ROB THOMAS (Tuesday and Wednesday) The singer for the popular rock group Matchbox 20 is remaking himself as a pinup boy and trying his hand at hip-hop-inflected pop songs. This incarnation has yet to be as compelling as the last, though his voice still carries a convincing mainstream angst and he rides grooves with ease. 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212)496-7070; $38.50 to $78.50. (Sinagra) U2, KEANE (Tonight) After 2000s thrilling All That You Cant Leave Behind (Interscope), U2s latest album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Interscope), and its Vertigo tour focus on what humans can live without: namely, intercontinental ballistic missiles and, evidently, some of U2s more shopworn live staples. Hence the resurrection of decades-old rarities like Electric Co. Keane is a piano-drums-vocals band that piles on hooky melodic flourishes. 8 p.m., Madison Square Garden, 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue, Manhattan, (212)465-6741; $54.00 to $169.50. (Sinagra) JOHN VANDERSLICE, PORTASTATIC (Tonight and tomorrow) A collaborator of the Mountain Goats clever songsmith John Darnielle, Mr. Vanderslice also writes his own less clever songs. Portastatic, the Superchunk leader Mac McCaughans longstanding home-studio side project, opens. Tonight at 11, Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212)219-3132; $12. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, near Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)230-0236; $12. (Sinagra) KELLER WILLIAMS (Tonight) The guitarist and singer Keller Williams has been working the jam-band circuit; using loop and echo effects he turns his 10-stringed guitar into a full band. His mild voice has more than a touch of James Taylor, but his fast fingers delight the kind of fan one of his songs describes as a Freaker by the Speaker. 9 p.m., Nokia Theater Times Square, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street; ticketmaster.com or (212)307-7171; $22.50. (Pareles) WACO BROTHERS BLOODSHOT REVUE (Tonight) Jon Langford of the Mekons indulges his country side even more strongly in the Waco Brothers, where he trades off lead vocals with Dean Schlabowske and ricochets between revolution and beer-soaked self-pity while letting his electric guitar blare. The Mekons Sally Timms joins the bill. 8 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, near Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)230-0236; $14. (Pareles) YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND (Thursday) Yonder Mountain String Band, from Colorado, carries a traditionalist bluegrass lineup -- banjo, guitar, mandolin and bass, with high vocal harmonies and no drums -- onto the jam-band circuit, picking its way through songs of wanderlust and thwarted love. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212)777-6800; $25. (Pareles) Cabaret Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. ANNIE ROSS (Tomorrow) Cool, funny, swinging and indestructible, this 75-year-old singer and sometime-actress exemplifies old-time hip in its most generous incarnation. 7 p.m., Dannys Skylight Room, 346 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212)265-8133; $25, with a $12 minimum. (Stephen Holden) SINGING ASTAIRE (Tomorrow and Sunday) The smart, airy revue that pays tribute to Fred Astaire, featuring Eric Comstock, Hilary Cole and Christopher Gines, has returned to Birdland. 5:30 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212)581-3080; $30, with a $10 minimum. (Holden) *ELAINE STRITCH (Tonight and tomorrow night, and Tuesday through Thursday) In a courageous and successful leap into the unknown, Ms. Stritch makes her cabaret debut at 80. Dispensing with her theatrical signature numbers, she weaves 16 songs new to her repertory into a funny running monologue of her adventures in and out of show business. 8:45 p.m., Cafe Carlyle, Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212)744-1600; $125 tonight and tomorrow, $105 Tuesday through Thursday, through Oct. 29 (all shows sold out). (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. CLAUDIA ACUÑA QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow) Ms. Acuña is a compelling vocalist equally attuned to lyricism and high drama; she performs with her longtime cohort Jason Lindner on piano, as well as Omer Avital and Tony Escapa on bass and drums. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, South Village, (212)242-1063; cover, $15. (Nate Chinen) GEORGE CABLES PROJECT (Tuesday through Oct. 23) Mr. Cables, a well-traveled pianist, goes for assertive extroversion in this group, which consists of Gary Bartz on alto saxophone, Eric Revis on bass and Jeff (Tain) Watts on drums. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set Fridays and Saturdays, Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center, (212)258-9595; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar.(Chinen) BILL CHARLAP TRIO (Through Sunday) Bright and breezy yet unfailingly precise, Mr. Charlap, the pianist, has come to exemplify jazzs modern mainstream. So has his working trio, which keeps a Tin Pan Alley repertory percolating in the present tense. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212)255-4037; cover, $20 to $25, with a $10 minimum.(Chinen) A DON CHERRY CELEBRATION (Through Oct. 23) Among the highlights of this tribute to the free-jazz trumpet icon Don Cherry are Moving Pictures, an octet led by the percussionist and series organizer Adam Rudolph (tomorrow); improvisations by the trumpeter Bill Dixon and the bassist Henry Grimes (Sunday); and an evening featuring the percussionist Susie Ibarra (Thursday). 8 and 10 p.m. nightly, the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) JIMMY COBBS MOBB (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Cobb, a masterful hard-bop drummer, has been a mentor to many young musicians via this crackling horn-studded band; among them are the tenor saxophonist Craig Handy and the pianist George Colligan, who appear here. 8 and 10 p.m., Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West Village, (212)255-3626; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) CLAIRE DALYS RAH, RAH! (Thursday) Ms. Daly is a smart and skillful baritone saxophonist; here she pays homage to the saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, with the pianist Sonelius Smith and the drummer Warren Smith, who both played in Kirks rollicking ensembles. 8 and 10 p.m., Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West Village, (212)255-3626; cover, $15, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) OLU DARA QUINTET (Tomorrow and Sunday) Before he was known as the father of the rapper Nas, Mr. Dara was a trumpeter, guitarist and singer who infused New York avant-gardism with Mississippi twang, territory he revisits in a group featuring the guitarist Kwatei Jones-Quartey. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212)475-8592; cover, $30 at tables, with a $5 minimum or $20 at the bar and a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) *TOBIAS DELIUS 4TET (Monday) Mr. Delius, a tenor saxophonist based in Amsterdam, exemplifies the playfully anarchic ideal of the Dutch avant-garde; he has superb coconspirators in the drummer Han Bennink, the cellist Tristan Honsinger and the bassist Valdi Kolli. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, (212)358-7501; cover, $10, plus one-drink minimum. (Chinen) BILL DIXON (Tomorrow) Mr. Dixon has devoted his career to an avant-gardism more cerebral than cathartic; here his solo trumpet improvisations work in tandem with a slide show of his pen-and-ink drawings. 8 p.m., Earl Hall, Columbia University, Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets, Morningside Heights; free. (Chinen) SHANE ENDSLEY GROUP (Monday) The trumpeter Shane Endsley is an up-and-comer with truly modern sensibilities; he softens the edge of this electro-acoustic ensemble with an instrumentation of guitar, vibraphone, Fender Rhodes piano, bass and drums. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212)929-9883; cover, $8. (Chinen) KEN FILIANO QUARTET (Wednesday) Mr. Filiano, a bassist best known in free-improvising circles, presents his original compositions in this group, which includes Michaël Attias and Tony Malaby on saxophones, and Michael T.A. Thompson on drums. 10 p.m., Barbes, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)965-9177; cover, $8.(Chinen) DON FRIEDMAN TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow) Mr. Friedmans stylistic history as a pianist runs from traditional to slightly left-of-center; his rhythm section includes the drummer Tony Jefferson and the bassist Martin Wind. 8 and 9:45 p.m., Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, Manhattan, (212)885-7119; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) *DIZZY GILLESPIE ALUMNI ALL-STARS (Tuesday through Oct. 23) Dizzy Gillespie, the trumpeter and bebop patriarch, was among the finest talent scouts in jazz; this band features some especially gifted veterans of his employ, including the saxophonists James Moody and Paquito DRivera, the trombonist Slide Hampton and the bassist John Lee. Roy Hargrove, a dazzling inheritor, will take the lead on trumpet and flugelhorn. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212)475-8592; cover, $35 at tables, with a $5 minimum or $20 at the bar and a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) *FRED HERSCH (Wednesday) Mr. Hersch, who has recently earned acclaim for his postbop trio playing and an ambitious original song cycle, refocuses on solo piano for a recital in celebration of his 50th birthday. 8:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Seventh Avenue between 56th Street and 57th Street, Manhattan, (212)247-7800; $42. (Chinen) DAVE LIEBMAN QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow) An incantatory saxophonist and flutist working in the post-Coltrane idiom, Mr. Liebman plays here with a group featuring his frequent foil, the guitarist Vic Juris. 10 tonight, 9 p.m. tomorrow, 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212)929-9883; cover, $10. (Chinen) TONY MALABYS PALOMA RECIO (Tomorrow) Mr. Malaby, a versatile and increasingly prominent tenor saxophonist, leads a progressive ensemble with a Spanish tinge; his fellow travelers are Michael Rodriguez, trumpeter; Ben Monder, guitarist; Eivind Opsvik, bassist; and Rodney Green, drummer. 9 p.m., Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212)989-9319; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) MANHATTAN TRINITY (Through Sunday) This piano trio deserves the high-minded handle; its members are the soulful pianist Cyrus Chestnut, the erudite bassist George Mraz and the clean, crisp drummer Lewis Nash. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow, Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center, (212)258-9595; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) WYNTON MARSALIS SEXTET (Tomorrow) Mr. Marsaliss strong new album, Live at the House of Tribes (Blue Note), finds the trumpeter pursuing a sanguine and purposeful looseness; hell seek the same here, in a group with the tenor saxophonist Walter Blanding Jr., the pianist Dan Nimmer, the bassist Carlos Enriquez, the drummer Ali Jackson and the guest singer Jennifer Sanon. 8 p.m., Prudential Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888)466-5722; $20 to $56.(Chinen) PAT MARTINO (Wednesday through Oct. 22) A dazzlingly proficient guitarist, Mr. Martino favors a brand of aggressive postbop that has more than a little in common with the blistering fusion of his youth. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212)581-3080; cover, $40, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MARY ANN McSWEENEY QUARTET (Monday) Smart and engaging postbop, delivered by Ms. McSweeney, a bassist, and a handful of frequent collaborators: the valve trombonist Mike Fahn, the guitarist John Hart and the drummer Tim Horner. 7 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212)929-9883; no cover. (Chinen) DAVID MURRAY QUARTET/OMAR SOSA QUARTET (Sunday) Two bands that favor an earthy kind of progressivism: one led by the impressionistic Cuban pianist Omar Sosa and the other led by the blustery tenor saxophonist David Murray. 3 p.m., Victoria Theater, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888)466-5722; $42. (Chinen) EIVIND OPSVIK OVERSEAS (Sunday) On his new album, Overseas II (Fresh Sound New Talent), the Norwegian bassist Eivind Opsvik plumbs a strikingly modern (and yes, vaguely Nordic) brand of fusion; his partners here are the tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, the keyboardist Jacob Sacks and the drummer Jeff Davis. 10 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, at Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718)218-6934; no cover. (Chinen) JEROME SABBAGH QUARTET (Tuesday) With North (Fresh Sound New Talent), Mr. Sabbagh proves himself a quietly commanding tenor saxophonist and composer in the postmodern mainstream; his sleek ensemble sound owes a lot to the guitar playing of Ben Monder. 9 and 10:30 p.m., Koze Lounge, 676 Fifth Avenue, at 20th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718)832-8282; cover, $7. (Chinen) SINGERS OVER MANHATTAN (Thursday through Oct. 22) The pianist Eric Reed leads a house rhythm section behind three varieties of modern jazz singer: the vivaciously cosmopolitan Carla Cooke, the debonair Sachal Vasandani and the precociously poised Jennifer Sanon. 7:30 p.m., Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 60th Street and Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center, (212)258-9595; $135. (Chinen) DR. LONNIE SMITH TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow) Under Dr. Smiths command, the Hammond B-3 organ can be subtly atmospheric or growlingly ecstatic; together with the guitarist Peter Bernstein and the drummer Alison Miller, Dr. Smith delivers a searching brand of soul-jazz. 9 and 11 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, Manhattan, (212)864-6662; cover, $25. (Chinen) CHARLES TOLLIVER BIG BAND (Wednesday through Oct. 23) Mr. Tolliver leads a new edition of his celebrated orchestra of the 1970s; among the top-shelf talent involved are the saxophonists Billy Harper and Craig Handy, the trombonist Clark Gayton and the drummer Ralph Peterson. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an additional 11:30 set Oct. 21 and 22, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212)576-2232; cover, $25 to $30. (Chinen) TRIO DA PAZ (Through Sunday) This long-running supergroup of transplanted Brazilians -- Romero Lubambo on guitar, Nilson Matta on bass and Duduka da Fonseca on drums -- combines the elements of jazz and samba with virtuosic panache; theyre introducing a breezy album, Somewhere (Blue Toucan). 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212)576-2232; cover, $20 to $25. (Chinen) BEN WALTZER TRIO (Thursday) Mr. Waltzer, the pianist, manages a thoughtful modernism that coexists more than peaceably with a buoyant, unselfconscious sense of swing; his trio, with Matt Penman and Gerald Cleaver on bass and drums, is first-rate. 8 and 9:45 p.m., Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, Manhattan, (212)885-7119; no cover, $10 minimum. (Chinen) DAVE WECKL BAND (Wednesday through Oct. 23) Energetic fusion, driven by the extravagant proficiency of Mr. Weckl, a drummer best known for his reign with the Chick Corea Elektric Band. 8 and 10 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Oct. 23; 8, 10, and 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 21; and 8:30, 10:30 and 11:30 on Oct. 22, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212)582-2121; cover, $27.50 and $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) WILL VINSON (Sunday) Mr. Vinson, a young alto saxophonist, favors the sort of progressive postbop that gained traction in the mid-1960s; he gets strong support from the guitarists Lage Lund and Jonathan Kreisberg, the bassist Orlando le Fleming and the drummer Rodney Green. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212)929-9883; cover, $7. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera AIDA (Tonight, Tuesday) The Aida of the rich-voiced soprano Michèle Crider and the Amneris of the formidable mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick are sure bets. What fans of Aida will be curious about when Sonja Frisells production returns to the Metropolitan Opera is the Radames of the tenor Salvatore Licitra, who has yet to live up to the promise of his dramatic Met debut in 2002 as a last-minute replacement for Luciano Pavarotti. James Conlon conducts. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212)362-6000, $26 to $205.(Anthony Tommasini) ARIANE ET BARBE-BLEUE (Tonight, Sunday) Paul Dukass mysterious 1907 opera tells the legend of the fearsome Duke Bluebeard and his strangely disappearing wives from a womans point of view. In its day the work was mentioned along with Debussys Pelléas et Mélisande as a prime achievement of the post-Wagnerian French school. That this rich work has become a rarity is inexplicable. Thanks go to the New York City Opera for this new production, which is suitably Symbolist in look. Its too bad that the musical performance under the conductor Leon Botstein is so heavy-handed. Renate Behle brings Wagnerian intensity to the role of Ariane. Tonight at 8 and Sunday at 1:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212)721-6500, $16 to $120. (Tommasini) IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA (Tomorrow, Thursday) Hugh Russell, by all accounts a sweet-voiced baritone, makes his debut with the New York City Opera in the title role of Rossinis perennial favorite, joining Jennifer Rivera (as Rosina) and John Tessier (as Almaviva). Joseph Rescigno conducts. Tomorrow night at 8, Thursday night at 7:30, New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212)721-6500, $16 to $120. (Anne Midgette) LA BOHÈME (Tomorrow, Sunday) Pity a small opera company: it receives critical attention only when it does something unusual, yet its audiences tend to like the same fare as everyone else. Which is to say that La Bohème at the 204-seat Dicapo Opera Theater will receive few reviews, but remains a crowd favorite. Tomorrow night at 8, Sunday afternoon at 4, Dicapo Opera, 184 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212)288-9438, $47.50.(Midgette) CARMEN (Tomorrow) Though she missed her scheduled company debut because of illness, Milena Kitic is set to sing the role as planned this weekend. Ruth Ann Swenson is singing her first Micaëlas, prettily; Marco Berti is loud but untender as Don José; and Philippe Jordan brings a crisp touch as he tries to hold it all together from the pit. 1:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212)362-6000. Remaining tickets: $220. (Midgette) LA CENERENTOLA (Monday, Thursday) Olga Borodinas mezzo-soprano is slightly dark for the title role in Rossinis Cinderella story, but she has the clarity and agility to bring this virtuosic, richly ornamental music to life. The rest of the cast -- including Barry Banks as the Prince, Simone Alberghini as Dandini and Simone Alaimo as Don Magnifico -- is well matched in this comic-book production by Cesare Lievi. Monday at 8 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212)362-6000, $26 to $220. (Allan Kozinn) FALSTAFF (Tomorrow, Wednesday) The attention to detail that characterizes this production is truly unusual: its well cast, well acted and well conducted by a masterly James Levine. It also features the reigning Falstaff of our day, Bryn Terfel, who is matched note for note by the fabulous Stephanie Blythe as Mistress Quickly -- she almost steals the show. Go see it. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212)362-6000, $42 to $220. (Midgette) TOSCA (Tomorrow) Mark Lamoss 1998 production of this Puccini favorite has returned with its crisp geometric elegance intact. Carla Thelen Hanson is a respectable Tosca, and Todd Thomas is a vocally assured, larger-than-life Scarpia. But at the opening performance last week, Jorge Antonio Pita came up short as Cavaradossi, sounding underpowered and intermittently strained. John Demain conducts. 1:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212)721-6500, $16 to $120. (Jeremy Eichler) Classical Music PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD (Thursday) Solo recitals by this exceptional French pianist are not to be missed. Here he plays Pierre Boulezs First Piano Sonata, Ravels Gaspard de la Nuit, Schumanns Carnaval and a handful of Debussy preludes. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $23 to $79. (Eichler) CECILIA BARTOLI (Wednesday) This great Italian mezzo-soprano promotes her new recording, Opera Proibita (Decca), with a recital of opera and oratorio arias by Scarlatti, Caldara and Handel. Orchestra La Scintilla of the Zurich Opera supports here, and will have its moment in the sun by way of Caldara and Handel overtures and a Corelli Concerto Grosso. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $37 to $127. (Kozinn) BEAUX-ARTS TRIO (Tonight) This group, which -- at least in the person of its venerable founding pianist, Menahem Pressler -- has just turned 50, is in its second of three seasons surveying all the piano trios, violin sonatas and cello sonatas of Beethoven. In addition, it gives the American premiere of Jan Müller-Wielands Schlaflied, or Lullaby. 8 p.m., Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212)570-3949; $50. (James R. Oestreich) CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER (Sunday, Tuesday) The society once again is mixing and matching its pool of players into ensembles small and large, here a Brahms piano quartet, a Poulenc trio and the Franck duo Sonata in its cello version. Sunday at 5 p.m., Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)875-5788, $28 to $49. (Bernard Holland) CHOIR OF ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA (Thursday) The choirs director, Kent Tritle, who founded the churchs invaluable program Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, conducts a performance of Haydns glorious and underperformed oratorio The Creation. 8 p.m., Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, Park Avenue at 84th Street, (212)288-2520; $35 and $45; $25 for students and 65+. (Oestreich) CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA (Monday) Clevelands conductor, Franz Welser-Möst, has been getting mixed reviews at home, but the orchestras last stint in New York showed little reason for alarm and even included some of the loveliest Schubert heard in many moons. Composers of Mr. Welser-Mösts native Austria seem to draw from him a special affection and fluency, so its good that he arrives next week bearing Brahms (the First Symphony and the Academic Festival Overture) as well as the New York premiere of a work by Chen Yi. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $33 to $116. (Eichler) JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET (Thursday) The premiere of Ezequiel Viñaos String Quartet No. 2 is the centerpiece of this recital by one of this countrys most venerable chamber ensembles. Included as well are Mozarts Quartet in G (K. 387) and Beethovens Quartet in C sharp minor (Op. 131). 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)769-7406; free, but tickets are required. (Kozinn) BLAIR McMILLEN and STEPHEN GOSLING (Tomorrow) Powerhouse Pianists is the title that the sponsoring American Modern Ensemble has given to this joint recital. Few people who have heard these formidable young pianists, champions of contemporary music, would quibble with the billing. Their inventive program includes works by, among others, Lee Hyla, Annie Gosfield, Conlon Nancarrow and David Rakowski. 8 p.m., Tenri Cultural Institute, 43A West 13th Street, Manhattan, (212)645-2800, $15; $10 for students and 65+. (Tommasini) CHRISTOPHER MALTMAN (Thursday) A stylish young baritone who has a particular warmth and affinity for song, Mr. Maltman appears with the accompanist Malcolm Martineau in a program of Schumann, Mahler and French song. 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $35 to $42. (Midgette) NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG (Wednesday) This survey features the singable (Festivals term) songs of the last quarter of the 20th century, including the work of John Musto, John Corigliano, Richard Thomas and Ricky Ian Gordon. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212)501-3330, $45; $35 for 65+. (Holland) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Tonight, tomorrow, Tuesday, Thursday). Marin Alsop has gotten attention lately for becoming the first woman appointed music director of a major American orchestra, receiving a MacArthur Foundation grant and working on a recorded Brahms symphony cycle. She comes to the Philharmonic with the Brahms First and Midori, who joins her in Prokofievs first violin concerto. Beginning Thursday, Gianandrea Noseda and the pianist Simon Trpceski take on Rachmaninoffs Third. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Tuesday and Thursday nights at 7:30, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212)721-6500, $26 to $94. (Midgette) PAULINE OLIVEROS and IONE (Wednesday) The Mercantile Library, which boasts a second-floor reading room of an ideally intimate size for chamber music, has joined the essential Meet the Composer organization for the concert series MTC at the Merc. These 60-minute programs also offer a chance to meet the composers and performers. Here the iconoclastic and inventive composer Pauline Oliveros, who also plays the accordion, will be joined by the playwright, poet and author Ione for a performance of Cross Overs, a musical work that explores, in the phrase of the creators, the sound of words and the making of words out of sound. 6:30 p.m., Mercantile Library, 17 East 47th Street, Manhattan, (212)755-6710, $15. (Tommasini) ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) Richard Goodes pianism is always thoughtful and deeply felt, so hearing him in two concertos -- Mozarts Jeunehomme in E flat and Beethovens Third -- is a rare treat. The program also includes overtures by J.C. Bach and Cherubini. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $30 to $88. (Kozinn) FREDERIC RZEWSKI (Thursday) In this installment of the Miller Theaters important Composer Portraits series, the pianists Ursula Oppens and Marilyn Nonken, and the percussionists Tom Kolor and Dominic Donato explore some of Mr. Rzewskis powerful, politically charged works, including his magnificent set of piano variations on The People United Will Never Be Defeated. Included as well is the New York premiere of Bring Them Home, an antiwar piece. 8 p.m., Miller Theater, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212)854-7799, $20. (Kozinn) SEQUENTIA (Sunday) Benjamin Bagbys superb group looks into the mists of musical history to a time long before popular and art song parted ways. The program on the Music Before 1800 series is called Lost Songs of a Rhineland Harper, and examines music of the 10th and 11th centuries. 4 p.m., Corpus Christi Church, 529 West 121st Street, Morningside Heights, (212)666-9266, $25 to $40; $20 to $35 for students and 62+. (Kozinn) WONNY SONG (Tuesday) The group Young Concerts Artists can be counted on to discover and present some of the fine new talents of classical music. On Tuesday the organization presents the gifted Korean-Canadian pianist Wonny Song, winner of the 2003 Prix dEurope in Quebec. Mr. Song plays works by Beethoven, Ravel and Stephen Paulus, and Mussorgskys formidable and popular Pictures at an Exhibition. 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $25 and $35. (Tommasini) TAKACS QUARTET (Tonight) Having recently made its way through all the Beethoven string quartets, this ensemble is in superb shape. It now turns its attention to Debussys lustrous quartet and two works by Mozart, the Dissonance Quartet and, with the violist James Dunham as its guest, the G minor Quintet. 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $44 to $52. (Kozinn) WDR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA COLOGNE (Tonight, tomorrow) The conductor Semyon Bychkov, who has been associated with orchestras from St. Petersburg to Buffalo, brings his West German Radio Orchestra, where he has been chief conductor since 1997, to the New York area for two contrasting concerts: an all-Brahms evening in Newark tonight, and a concert performance of Richard Strausss opera Daphne at Carnegie Hall tomorrow (A related article is on Page 1). Tonight at 8, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, (888)466-5722, $20 to $66; tomorrow night at 8, Carnegie Hall, (212)247-7800, $27 to $95. (Midgette) NATALIE ZHU (Tomorrow) This Chinese-born pianist, who can be heard on a new Deutsche Grammophon recording of Mozart violin sonatas with the violinist Hilary Hahn, will also appear with Ms. Hahn in recital next month at Carnegie Hall. But tomorrow night Ms. Zhu, who won an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2003, has her own chance to shine in a solo recital. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212)501-3330, $25; $15 for students and 65+. (Tommasini) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. AILEY II (Sunday) The high-energy young dancers of the second company of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater offer works by Igal Perry, Robert Battle and Ailey. 3 p.m., Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, the Bronx, (718)960-8833; $20 to $30, discounts available for 65+ and students (Jack Anderson) AMDaT/ANDREA HAENGGI (Thursday) An organization fostering international collaborations in the arts holds a gala to raise money for dance projects in New York, Moscow and Switzerland. 7 to 11 p.m., On View Studio, 338 Berry Street, between South Fourth and South Fifth Streets, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718)218-8236, Ext. 3 or www.amdat.org/benefit; $85; artists $45. (Anderson) *AMERICAN BALLET THEATER (Through Nov. 6) The companys three-week City Center season begins Wednesday with a gala that includes the company premiere of Jerome Robbinss Afternoon of a Faun, the premiere of a revival of Agnes de Milles Rodeo, plus Mark Morriss Gong, the pas de deux from Petipas Paquita and excerpts from Kirk Petersons Howling Cat. The first regular program on Thursday has Faun and Paquita with Les Sylphides and the premiere of Kaleidoscope, choreographed by Peter Quanz. 7:30 p.m., New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan, (212)581-1212 or www.abt.org or www.nycitycenter.org, $25 to $90. (John Rockwell) IVY BALDWIN AND TAMI STRONACH (Thursday) Ivy Baldwin choreographically travels through a Russian forest in winter. Tami Stronach presents glimpses of worlds gone slightly askew. 8 p.m., Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, SoHo, (212) 219-0736 or www.dixonplace.org; $12; students $10. (Anderson) BARNARD COLLEGE: ON DANCE (Monday) In the latest installment of this free series of conversations, films and lectures, Nancy Dalva will interview John Rockwell, senior dance critic of The New York Times , on his work as a music and dance reviewer and founding director of the Lincoln Center Festival. 7:30 p.m., Julius S. Held Lecture Hall, 304 Barnard Hall, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212)854-2995 or www.barnard.edu/dance. (Jennifer Dunning) CLARE BYRNE DANCE (Opens Thursday) Sweet Chariots is a cycle of five soulful dances expressing thanksgiving, vulnerability and surrender. 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212)334-7479; $15. (Anderson) CROSSING BOUNDARIES (Tuesday) Marcia Monroe is the curator of this program offering works by Amy Cane, Yves Musard, Moeno Wakamatsu and Nina Winthrop. 8 p.m., Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, SoHo, (212)219-0736 or www.dixonplace.org; $12; students and 65+ $10. (Anderson) DRAFT WORK: DEBORAH HAY (Tomorrow) Ms. Hay sets the dancers Maryanne Chaney, Layard Thompson and Arturo Vidich loose in the luminous field of her choreography to adapt the dances in an informal free program. 3 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212)674-8194 or www.danspaceproject.org. (Dunning) EQUUS PROJECTS (Tomorrow and Sunday) JoAnna Mendl Shaw, who likes to pair dancers with horses and riders, choreographically gallops into a riding academy with Rules of Engagement, a multidisciplinary collaboration with Janet Biggs, an artist and video creator, and Steve White, a composer. The production includes dancing, a horse and rider and site-specific videos. 8 p.m., Claremont Riding Academy, 175 West 89th Street, Upper West Side, (212)595-4849 or www.dancingwithhorses.org; $30, $35; students $20 and 65+$25. (Anderson) FORMOSA ABORIGINAL SONG AND DANCE TROUPE AND ULALI (Tomorrow) A 30-member ensemble devoted to the ritual songs and dances of the indigenous people of Taiwan shares a program with Ulali, an American Indian womens a cappella group. 7:30 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888)466-5722 or www.njpac.org; $32. (Anderson) GINA GIBNEY DANCE (Tonight through Sunday) A seasoned, subtle modern-dance choreographer who gives equal opportunity to her brain and heart, Ms. Gibney will present a new multimedia work, unbounded, that explores the tensions between clinging to the known and reaching for the unknowable. 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212)674-8194; $15 or T.D.F. voucher. (Dunning) SAVION GLOVER (Tomorrow) This tap-dance star revels in musical variety in Classical Savion. 8 p.m., Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues, Flatbush, (718)951-4500 or www.brooklyncenteronline.org; $20 to $45. (Anderson) ICE THEATER OF NEW YORK (Tomorrow, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday) Dance Visions on Ice includes pieces by ice-dance choreographers including David Liu and Douglas Webster, with guest performers Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, World Ice Dance Champions and Yukina Ota, 2003 Junior World Champion. Tomorrow at 8 p.m. Staller Center, Stony Brook University, 2032 Staller Center, (631)632-7233 or www.stallercenter.com; $40. Monday (an abbreviated gala program) at 7 p.m.; Wednesday, Thursday and next Friday at 7 p.m., Sky Rink, Chelsea Piers, Pier 61, 23rd Street and the Hudson River, (212)929-5811 or www.icetheatre.org; $20 to $5,000 (gala); $20 and $15 for students, children and 65+. (Dunning) LEESAAR COMPANY (Opens Wednesday) Military movement inspires the choreographic vocabulary of Herd of Bulls. Wednesday through next Friday at 8 p.m.; Oct. 22 at 5 and 8 p.m.; Oct. 23 at 5 p.m., P.S. 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212)352-3101 or www.ps122.org; $20. (Anderson) PAVEL LISKAS POETICS (Wednesday and Thursday) Mr. Liska describes this new piece as a ballet brut. 8 p.m., Theater of the Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Avenue, between 120th and 122nd Streets, Morningside Heights, (212)870-6784 or www.ColumbiaStages.com; $10; $5 for students and 65+. (Dunning) LUIS LARA MALVACÍAS (Opens Thursday) Badman, for an all-male cast, creates an environment in which social codes regulating definitions of masculinity break down. Thursday through Oct. 23 at 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, Second Avenue at 10th Street, East Village, (212)674-8194; $15. (Anderson) BEBE MILLER COMPANY (Tonight and tomorrow) Ms. Miller, in her companys 20th anniversary, is the latest dance artist to take advantage of the theaters impressive technological facilities at Dance Theater Workshop. In her new Landing/Place, Ms. Miller will integrate digital motion-capture technology, animation and video projections into a dance about traveling in Eritrea. (A review is on Page 6.) 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212)924-0077; $25. (Dunning) NEW YORK BUTOH FESTIVAL: DAISUKE YOSHIMOTO AND YUMIKO YOSHIOKA (Wednesday and Thursday) Two dances celebrate metamorphosis. Eros and Thanatos makes the naked body a landscape in flux. In Before the Dawn, darkness melts into brightness. 8 p.m., Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, East Village, (212)561-9539; $20; students $17. (Anderson) NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL: NATIONAL BALLET OF CHINA (Tonight and tomorrow) The company will perform Raise the Red Lantern, about a young concubine in 1920s China and told through a fusion of ballet, modern dance and traditional Chinese dance, set to music performed on Western and Chinese instruments and directed by Zhang Yimou, the noted film director. 7:30 p.m., BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718)636-4100; $20 to $70. (Dunning) ODC/SAN FRANCISCO (Tonight through Sunday) This program by two of this San Francisco-based companys resident choreographers includes dances by Brenda Way, among them one inspired by global warming, and by KT Nelson. Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212)242-0800 or joyce.org; $38. (Dunning) THE PARSONS DANCE COMPANY (Tuesday through Thursday) David Parsons and his full-throttle dancers present his new DMB, to music by the Dave Matthews Band and repertory including Wolfgang, a tribute to Mozart; and Shining Star, to music by Earth, Wind and Fire. 8 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue , at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212)242-0800 or www.joyce.org; $40. (Dunning) SNAPPY DANCE THEATER (Today) We love them already. From Boston and performing for free, the troupe will mix modern dance, gymnastics, circus and martial arts, vocal work and theater in The Temperamental Wobble, based on the drawings of Edward Gorey, and Flip/Switch, a mix of repertory. Today at 12:30 and 8 p.m. World Financial Center Winter Garden, 220 Vesey Street, Lower Manhattan. The company will also present a free childrens program with hands-on improvisational training tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. at the Winter Garden. (212)945-0505 or www.worldfinancialcenter.com. (Dunning) THE STORY OF TAP (THE SEQUEL) (Opens tonight) Hank Smith hosts weekend programs in which some of the leading tap dancers in New York converse and dance. Its a dance party featuring Harold Cromer tonight and Mable Lee tomorrow. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, other programs through Oct. 29, Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, SoHo, (212)219-0736, Ext. 110 or www.dixonplace.org; $10 to 15; advance tickets $12 at theatermania.com. (Anderson) TANGO FLAMENCO (Sunday) Spanish flamenco and Argentine musical and dance traditions become partners. 2 p.m., Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues, Flatbush, (718)951-4500 or www.brooklyncenteronline.org; $15 to $35. (Anderson) ANN LIV YOUNG (Opens Wednesday) Dance joins forces with words, singing and narrative in Michael, an erotically charged dance set inside a 42-foot-long trailer decorated with Victorian floral wallpaper and prim furniture. The choreographer says her production is for mature audiences only. Wednesday through Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212)924-0077 or www.dtw.org; $20; students and seniors, $12. (Anderson) YUNNAN REVEALED: MUSIC AND DANCE FROM CHINAS LAND OF CLOUDS (Tonight) A touring troupe of 15 dancers and musicians representing four ethnic minorities from this province in southwestern China. 8 p.m. Peter Norton Symphony Space, Broadway at 95th Street, (212)864-5400 or (212)545-7536 or www.worldmusicinstitute.org; $32; students, $15. (Rockwell) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: OBSESSIVE DRAWING, through March 19. In the museums first emerging talent show, one of the five artists selected is 83, lives in a home for the elderly in Pennsylvania and stopped painting two years ago because of failing eyesight. Overall, the work in the exhibition is abstract and spare, giving the problematic outsider category a new spin. 45 West 53rd Street, (212)265-1040. (Holland Cotter) COOPER-HEWITT NATIONAL DESIGN MUSEUM: EXTREME TEXTILES, through Oct. 30. Dont look for aesthetic pizazz in this intensely techy show of industrial fibers and fabrics, but dont rule it out. The shows raison dêtre is solely use, but a lot of whats on view, in the first museum display of material made to function in extreme conditions, is visually exciting. 2 East 91st Street, (212)849-8400.(Grace Glueck) GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: RUSSIA!, through Jan. 11. This survey of nine centuries of Russian art ranges from 13th-century religious icons to a smattering of 21st-century works, achieving its astounding effect without resorting to a single egg, or anything else, by Fabergé. It immerses us in two enormous, endlessly fascinating narratives: the history of painting and the history of Russia, forming a remarkable tribute to the endurance of the medium and the country, and the inescapable interconnectedness of art and life. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212)423-3600. (Roberta Smith) *JAPAN SOCIETY: HIROSHI SUGIMOTO: HISTORY OF HISTORY, through Feb. 19. A very personal, whimsical exhibition by this well-known Japanese photographer, who incorporates into his work artifacts that he has collected, particularly from East Asia and Japan. Mr. Sugimotos reach is long, and his range is broad, from fossils to textiles to undersea dioramas to Japanese calligraphy to the Trylon and Perisphere (a minisculpture) that symbolized the New York Worlds Fair of 1939. It may not be all that enlightening, but as an artists personal survey, it comes off. 333 East 47th Street, (212)832-1155. (Glueck). *JEWISH MUSEUM: THE JEWISH IDENTITY PROJECT: NEW AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY, through Jan. 29. Whos Jewish, who isnt, and by the way, what is a Jew anyway? They are not easy questions, as this intense who-are-we exploration makes clear. Ten projects by 13 artists try to help break the stereotype of American Jews as uniformly white, middle-class and of European descent. Using photography and video, they have interpreted their missions broadly, from the Korean-born Nikki S. Lees meticulous staging of a Jewish wedding with herself as the bride to Andrea Robbins and Max Bechers look at the thriving shtetl established by Lubavitcher Hasidic Jews in the rural community of Postville, Iowa. Refugees from the Holocaust, Jews of color, those of various sexual orientations, an extended Iranian family, a convert to Judaism reared as a Roman Catholic and others are seen and heard in this lively show, which broadens the universe of Jews in this country. 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street (212)423-3200. (Glueck) METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: THE BISHOP JADES, through Feb. 12. Jade has been treasured since ancient times, though the almost preposterously exquisite objects on display in the Mets reinstalled galleries for Chinese decorative arts date from the 18th century, when the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) brought Chinese jade work to a peak of virtuosity. Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212)535-7710. (Cotter) EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO: THE (S) FILES/THE SELECTED FILES 05, through Jan. 29. The definition of what Latino art means is changing in a post-identity-politics time, and this modest biennial, drawn mostly from unsolicited proposals submitted by artists in the greater New York area, is an indicator of what that change looks like. 1230 Fifth Avenue, at 104th Street, (212)831-7272. (Cotter) MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK: NEW YORK CHANGING: DOUGLAS LEVERE REVISITS BERENICE ABBOTTS NEW YORK, through Nov. 13. During the 1930s, the Modernist photographer Berenice Abbott photographed the architectural fabric of New York with a keen eye for contrasts of new and old. Between 1997 and 2003, Douglas Levere returned to the scenes that she photographed and photographed them again. Seeing 50 of his paired with her originals is a fascinating education in how things change. 1220 Fifth Avenue, at 103rd Street, (212)534-1672. (Ken Johnson) * STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM: SCRATCH: 2004-2005 ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE: WILLIAM CORDOVA, MICHAEL QUEENLAND AND MARC ANDRE ROBINSON, through Oct. 23. Rap, religion, Minimalism and Malcolm X all figure in this intricate, multilayered show of work by the three young residents, organized by the museums associate curator, Christine Y. Kim. 144 West 125th Street, (212)864-4500. (Cotter) *WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: OSCAR BLUEMNER: A PASSION FOR COLOR, through Feb. 12. Not exactly a well-known name today, except to devotees of American Modernism, this German-born architect-turned-painter (1867-1938) was in fact one of the major American artists of the early 20th century, right up there with the likes of Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Arthur Dove and Charles Demuth, to name a few. Most of his compositions are unpeopled landscapes depicting houses and building fragments in brilliantly stylized settings in which trees, clouds, smokestacks, telephone poles, water and snow are rendered as rhythmic and dramatic shapes that play off one another almost musically. Too, he was a superb colorist, assigning psychological properties to each color, red in particular, which he considered symbolic of power and energy. Among the best works here are his last ones, landscapes that have the magic of Expressionist theater, with houses, trees and the like assuming almost human presences. 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (212)570-3676. (Glueck) *WHITNEY MUSEUM: ROBERT SMITHSON, through Oct. 23. Who knows whether Smithson is the most influential American postwar artist, as this show claims. Consisting mostly of drawings, photographs and films (he didnt make many sculptures, not ones that could fit into a museum, anyway), this is the first full-scale overview of him in the country. It is consequently dry but still compelling testimony to a great exuberance cut drastically short when Smithson died at 35 in a plane crash in 1973. (See above.)(Michael Kimmelman) Galleries: Uptown *ADAM DANT: STANDING UNDER An extraordinarily imaginative and skillful draftsman, Mr. Dant makes large pen-and-brush drawings of complex scenes populated by chunky little people, all viewed as if from below through a transparent ground or floor. Adam Baumgold, 74 East 79th Street, (212)861-7338, through Oct. 22. (Johnson) VIETNAM: DESTINATION FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM -THE ART OF DINH Q. LE Born in Vietnam, Mr. Le moved to the United States at age 11 and received a master of fine arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York. This small exhibition presents high-concept photographic and sculptural works about the Vietnam War and its effects, as well as a pair of sleek sculptures representing communications satellites that satirize Vietnams plans to enter the space age and the global consumerist economy. Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, at 70th Street, (212)288-6400, through Jan. 15. (Johnson) Galleries: 57th Street HENRY WOLF Organized by the photography critic Vince Aletti, this exhibition presents works by the suave art director, designer and photographer Henry Wolf (1925-2005). Examples of his designs for magazine covers and pictures by photographers that he commissioned are on view, but the most interesting part is the selection of Wolfs noncommercial photographs, which are compelling for their ultramodern ways with light, multiple spaces, speed and glamour. Howard Greenberg, 41 East 57th Street, (212)334-0010, through Oct. 22. (Johnson) Galleries: Chelsea *ROBERT BORDO A beautiful, quietistic show by a painter whose work always manages to be both grounded and ethereal, soundless and resonant, abstract and not. Mr. Bordo is at midcareer. The time for a retrospective view is at hand. Alexander and Bonin, 132 10th Avenue, near 18th Street, (212)367-7474, through Oct. 22. (Cotter) LANDSCAPE: MYTH AND MEMORY Miniature ruins built of tiny bricks on rocky landscapes made of clay by Charles Simmonds; large, faux antique photographs of Egyptian pyramids by Lynn Davis; an enormous, crusty book by Anselm Kiefer open to the photographic image of ancient architectural remains; and archetypal circles painted and photographed by Richard Long all add up to a nicely choreographed collective fantasy about primordial civilizations. Senior & Shopmaker, 21 East 26th Street, (212)213-6767, through Nov. 23. (Johnson) NICK MAUSS This fleet, stylish show has a muffled cries-and-whispers sense of mystery. The small paintings and drawings suggest hurried sketches and half-erased images from a suppressed larger narrative. The tites of two paintings, Urgent and Paraphrase, sum up the dynamic. Daniel Reich, 537 A West 23rd Street, (212)924-4949, through Oct. 22. (Cotter) SUE WILLIAMS Few artists have combined figurative abstract painting and existential disgust as variously and effectively as Sue Williams has, and the trajectory continues in this show of new work. Here the battered body parts and de Kooning-esque swipes of the past have been distilled into a tumorous universe of genitals, anuses and noxious emissions, as the biological becomes political. 303 Gallery, 525 West 22nd Street, (212)255-1121, through Oct. 29. (Cotter) Other Galleries CLAIRE FONTAINE Politically charged works by this French artist include a neon-light work that outlines the image of a hooded Iraqi prisoner and child; a neon sign in the gallerys front window that says in Arabic, Foreigners Everywhere; and a tiny sculpture called In God We Trust in the form of a 25-cent coin with a fold-out box cutter secreted inside. Reena Spaulings, 371 Grand Street, SoHo, (212)477-5006, through Oct. 21. (Johnson) VIOLA FREY: A LASTING LEGACY This show of the last ceramic sculptures of Viola Frey (1933-2004) is dominated by outsize figures, among them a standing man more than 10 feet tall and a goddesslike seated nude more than 6 feet high, both in white-glazed clay. Although they are untouched by color, a number of slightly earlier works blaze with her usual painterly panache, like the brilliant orange hands and tie, yellow shirt and multicolored face she gave to the large Seated Man, Foot Poised on World, who seems to kick away a globe in anger or frustration. Nancy Hoffman Gallery, 429 West Broadway, (212)431-3600, through Oct 25. (Glueck) *ANDRÉ KERTESZ From tiny, wonderfully intense pictures made in the teens in Budapest, where Kertesz was born in 1894, to formally acute views of Paris in the 20s and 30s to emotionally and metaphorically resonant images of New York, where he lived from 1936 to his death in 1985, this beautiful exhibition covers the career of a giant of 20th-century photography. International Center of Photography, 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, (212)857-0000, through Nov. 27. (Johnson) *MACCHINE NATURALI: ABSTRACT COLLAGES BY JOSEPH STELLA The largest New York show in some time of Stellas elegant, understated collages, made from dirt-stained scraps of paper, can thoroughly rearrange your grasp of his sensibility and the history of American Modernism. Peter Freeman Inc., 560 Broadway, at Prince Street, SoHo (212)966-5349, through Oct. 29. (Smith) Last Chance *Diane Arbus: Other Faces, Other Rooms If you think you are sufferingfrom Diane Arbus fatigue, this exhibition of 49 photographs that have not been widely published or exhibited will surely refresh your interest. Robert Miller, 524 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212)366-4774, closing tomorrow.(Johnson) *TOM BURCKHARDT: FULL STOP A painter of eclectically layered abstractions has produced a surprising environmental installation: a slightly old-fashioned, fully equipped painters studio made of brown corrugated cardboard and black paint. Caren Golden, 539 West 23rd Street, Chelsea, (212)727-8304, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) WOUTER DERUYTTER: CROW WARRIORS You could almost mistake Mr. Deruytters black-and-white, subtly erotic photographs of Crow Indian warriors in face paint, feathered headdresses and loin cloths, riding bareback horses, for 19th-century ethnographic documents. In fact, they depict contemporary American Indians gathered for an annual re-enactment of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Briggs Robinson, 527 West 29th Street, (212)560-9075, closing tomorrow. (Johnson) *OMER FAST: GODVILLE Video editing is virtuosic medium in Omer Fasts hands, and history a malleable, volatile subject composed of flickering bits and pieces, as seen in this two-channel installation shot in Colonial Williamsburg, a Revolution-era reconstruction where docents dressed in 18th-century clothes, play period roles. Postmasters, 459 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212)727-3323, closing tomorrow. (Cotter) *MONIQUE PRIETO AND LYNDA BENGLIS Ms. Prieto has, in effect, boarded over her abstract paintings with rough-hewn monolithic letters quoting Samuel Pepyss diary. Both the wordiness and the klunkiness are a bit familiar, but extracting Pepyss phrases, which are all deliberately disembodied in reference, can be strangely satisfying. In The Graces, Ms. Benglis continues to evoke figures by other means, in this case three shimmering stacks of vaselike forms made of heavily textured, lavender-tinted resin. The material is perfect for the process-oriented Ms. Benglis. Cheim & Read, 547 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212)242-7727, closing tomorrow. (Smith) RUSSIA REDUX NO.1 Organized by Elena Sorokina, this show of work by a dozen contemporary artists and artists collectives from the former Soviet Union is a supplement and critical rejoinder to the celebratory, Putin-power national portrait presented in Russia! at the Guggenheim Museum. Schroeder Romero, 173A N. Third Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718)486-8992, closing on Monday.. A second exhibition organized by Ms. Sorokina is at Momenta Art, 72 Berry St., Williamsburg, also closing on Monday. (Cotter)

The Listings: Nov. 17 - Nov. 23

Selective listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the New York metropolitan region this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings THE AMERICAN PILOT In previews; opens on Tuesday. After a production at the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, David Greigs play, about an American whose plane crashes in a war-torn country, moves to New York. Lynne Meadow directs (2:00). Manhattan Theater Clubs City Center Stage II, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. THE COAST OF UTOPIA: VOYAGE In previews; opens on Nov. 27. Tom Stoppards three-play epic about the forebears of the Russian Revolution begins with Voyage, set in 1833 in the Russian countryside. The all-star cast includes Billy Crudup, Ethan Hawke, Jennifer Ehle and Richard Easton and many, many more (2:45). Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. COMPANY In previews; opens on Nov. 29. Liked last seasons Sweeney Todd? Actors will pick up instruments again for another Stephen Sondheim revival. Raúl Esparza stars (2:20). Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. DURANGO In previews; opens on Monday. A Korean single father takes his two children on a revelatory road trip in Julia Chos new play (1:30). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555. REGRETS ONLY In previews; opens on Sunday. The Manhattan Theater Club presents the world premiere of Paul Rudnicks new zinger-filled comedy of manners, set in high society (2:00). City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. TWO TRAINS RUNNING In previews; opens on Dec. 3. Set in 1969, August Wilsons play includes his typically wonderful talk from a bunch of regulars at a local Pittsburgh diner that is about to be destroyed (3:30). Signature Theater at Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 352-3101. THE VERTICAL HOUR In previews; opens on Nov. 30. Julianne Moore plays an American war correspondent turned academic in David Hares much-buzzed-about new play. Sam Mendes directs (2:00). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE In previews; opens on Dec. 6. Fritz Weaver stars as the patriarch of a wealthy family in crisis in David Mamets new adaptation of what may be Harley Granville Barkers finest drama (1:50). Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 239-6200. Broadway BUTLEY In this uneasy revival of Simon Grays portrait of a toxic English professor, directed by Nicholas Martin, Nathan Lane fires off witticisms as if they were silver bullets with Made in Britain engraved on them. A less-than-perfect marriage of a first-rate actor with a first-rate play (2:30). Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley) A CHORUS LINE If you want to know why this show was such a big deal when it opened 31 years ago, you need only experience the thrilling first five minutes of this revival. Otherwise, this archivally exact production, directed by Bob Avian, feels like a vintage car that has been taken out of the garage, polished up and sent on the road once again (2:00). Schoenfeld Theater, 236 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE COLOR PURPLE So much plot, so many years, so many characters to cram into less than three hours. This beat-the-clock musical adaptation of Alice Walkers Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about Southern black women finding their inner warriors never slows down long enough for you to embrace it(2:40). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) DR. SEUSS HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS: THE MUSICAL The beloved holiday classic in a new musical version that honors the spirit and the letter of the original. (The two immortal Albert Hague-Dr. Seuss songs from the television special are included). Bloated at 90 minutes, but the kids didnt seem to mind (1:30). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Charles Isherwood) THE DROWSY CHAPERONE (Tony Awards, best book of a musical and best original score, 2006) This small and ingratiating spoof of 1920s stage frolics, as imagined by an obsessive show queen, may not be a masterpiece. But in a dry season for musicals, it has theatergoers responding as if they were withering houseplants finally being watered after long neglect (1:40). Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * GREY GARDENS Christine Ebersole is absolutely glorious as the middle-aged, time-warped debutante called Little Edie Beale in this uneven musical adaptation of the notorious 1975 documentary of the same title. She and the wonderful Mary-Louise Wilson (as her bed-ridden mother), in the performances of their careers, make Grey Gardens an experience no passionate theatergoer should miss (2:40). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * HEARTBREAK HOUSE A ripping revival of Shaws comedy about the English gentry waltzing toward the abyss as the shadow of World War I looms. Philip Bosco, as the admirably sane madman Captain Shotover, and Swoosie Kurtz, as his swaggeringly romantic daughter, lead the superb cast, under the sharp direction of Robin Lefevre. Nearly a century after its composition, the play still sparkles with wit and sends a shiver down the spine too (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300. (Isherwood) JAY JOHNSON: THE TWO AND ONLY A genial entertainment giving Broadway audiences a chance to get reacquainted with the (almost) lost art of ventriloquism. Jay Johnson, the onetime star of the television comedy Soap, gives a pocket history of the profession, in addition to a demonstration, with partners including a vulture who sings My Way, a foul-mouthed wooden tyke, a talking tennis ball and a monkey purveying some of the corniest shtick this side of a Friars roast (1:30). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) LES MISÉRABLES This premature revival, a slightly scaled-down version of the well-groomed behemoth that closed only three years ago, appears to be functioning in a state of mild sedation. Appealingly sung and freshly orchestrated, this fast-moving adaptation of Victor Hugos novel isnt sloppy or blurry. But its pulse rate stays well below normal (2:55). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED The comedy of manners, a form widely believed to be extinct in the American theater, has actually resurfaced on Broadway with all its vital signs intact in Douglas Carter Beanes breezy but trenchant satire about truth and illusion, Hollywood-style. With the wonderful Julie White as the movie agent you hate to love (but just cant help it) (2:00). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) LOSING LOUIE This second-rate English import depicts the impact of an adulterous liaison on two generations of a family in Pound Ridge. Directed by Jerry Zaks, its a queasy mixture of coarse comedy and soap opera contrivances (2:10). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) MARTIN SHORT: FAME BECOMES ME This eager and amiably scattershot satire of celebrity memoirs and Broadway musicals, starring the immodestly modest Mr. Short, arrives a little late to the table for such parody to taste fresh. With serviceably tuneful songs by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman (of Hairspray fame) (1:45). Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) TARZAN This writhing green blob with music, adapted by Disney Theatrical Productions from the 1999 animated film, has the feeling of a superdeluxe day care center, equipped with lots of bungee cords and karaoke synthesizers, where children can swing when they get tired of singing, and vice versa. The soda-pop score is by Phil Collins (2:30). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) THE WEDDING SINGER An assembly-kit musical that might as well be called That 80s Show, this stage version of the 1998 film is all winks and nods and quotations from the era of big hair and junk bonds. The cast members, who include Stephen Lynch and Constantine Maroulis, , are personable enough, which is not the same as saying they have personalities (2:20). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) Off Broadway ALL THE WAY HOME The play won a Pulitzer Prize, but in this revival by the Transport Group it is Sandra Goldmarks simple, striking set that first gets your attention, and then keeps refocusing it during a show that runs almost three hours. Amid her doll-size houses, the human actors seem like giants, but as the play progresses, it becomes apparent that the characters they play are anything but. The acting is excellent, though the play, centered on a small domestic tragedy, doesnt have the punch it once did (1:35). Connelly Theater, 220 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. (Neil Genzlinger) ALL TOO HUMAN Henry Millers one-man show about Clarence Darrow is far from scintillating theater, but its relevant. (1:35) 45th Street Theater, 354 West 45th Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444. (Anita Gates) ARMS AND THE MAN Shaws story of a mercenary who breaks into a young Bulgarian womans bedroom while fleeing a battle seems not to have much social bite in this rendition, but the humor still works nicely, particularly when in the hands of Robin Leslie Brown and Dominic Cuskern as the invaded households matriarch and patriarch. Bradford Cover has an appealing, offhand delivery as the soldier (2:15). The Pearl Theater Company, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212) 598-9802. (Genzlinger) BHUTAN Daisy Footes drama may not be working the freshest territory -- dead-end lives in a small town -- but it sure is well told and well acted. A widow and her two teenagers are struggling financially and feeling dislocated by their towns changing social alignments; Sarah Lord is especially good as the daughter whose fascination with a neighbors trip to Bhutan gives the play its title and overarching metaphor (1:20). Cherry Lane Theater, 38 Commerce Street, between Barrow and Bedford Streets, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Genzlinger) *THE CLEAN HOUSE Sarah Ruhls comedy about the painful but beautiful disorder of life has arrived in New York at last in a gorgeous production directed by Bill Rauch. Blair Brown and Jill Clayburgh delight as sisters with different views on the meaning of cleaning, and Vanessa Aspillaga is equally good as the depressed maid with little affection for her work but a deep conviction that a good joke can be a matter of life and death (2:15). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) esoterica Eric Waltons very entertaining one-man show is a mix of magic, mentalism and intelligent chat. He does all three impressively (1:30). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL This likable horror comedy based on Sam Raimis gory movies wants to be the next Rocky Horror Show. To that end, it offers deadpan lyrics, self-referential humor and geysers of stage blood (2:00) New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) THE FANTASTICKS A revival -- well, more like a resuscitation -- of the Little Musical That Wouldnt Die. This sweet-as-ever production of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidts commedia-dellarte-style confection is most notable for Mr. Joness touching performance (under the pseudonym Thomas Bruce) as the Old Actor, a role he created when the show opened in 1960. Mr. Jones also directs (2:05). Snapple Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT This production features the expected caricatures of ego-driven singing stars. But even more than usual, the show offers an acute list of grievances about the sickly state of the Broadway musical, where, as the lyrics have it, everything old is old again (1:45). 47th Street Theater, 304 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE HAIRY APE The Irish Repertory Theater has put together a startling production of Eugene ONeills tale of a galoot called Yank who goes looking for his place in the world, one that vividly conveys what a gut-punch this work must have been when it was first seen in 1922. Eugene Lees set is something to see, and the soundscape, by Zachary Williamson and Gabe Wood, is something to hear (2:00). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 727-2737. (Genzlinger) JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS A powerfully sung revival of the 1968 revue, presented with affectionate nostalgia by the director Gordon Greenberg. As in the original, two men and two women perform a wide selection of Brels plaintive ballads and stirring anthems (2:00). Zipper Theater, 336 West 37th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) A JEW GROWS IN BROOKLYN You dont have to be Jewish or Brooklynish to empathize with Jake Ehrenreich, but in terms of fully appreciating his essentially one-man show, it probably helps. Especially the Catskills jokes (2:05). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, (212) 560-8912. (Gates) LIVE GIRLS Victoria Stewarts drama sends up the docudrama and an Anna Deavere Smith-like performance artist (1:30). Urban Stages, 259 West 30th Street, Manhattan, (212) 868-4444. (Jason Zinoman) THE MILLINER Suzanne Glasss delicate play tells of a Jewish hat-maker who, after fleeing Germany and his beloved mother and business just before World War II, longs to return to Berlin. A vixenish cabaret singer is among the things beckoning him back. The lovely hats, both worn and used as scenery, will make the bare heads of 2006 long for the old days (2:30). East 13th Street Theater, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. (Genzlinger) MIMI LE DUCK This musical, seen in 2004 at the New York International Fringe Festival, has morphed into a campy celebration of Eartha Kitt, who, just short of her 80th birthday, milks a minor role gleefully. The main order of business, though, is a middle-aged, middle-American housewife (Annie Golden), who, at the urging of Hemingways ghost, goes to Paris in search of her true self. Diana Hansen-Young, who wrote the book and lyrics, seems to get most of her not-very-revolutionary ideas from mainstream womens magazines (2:05). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Genzlinger) MY DEAH The mind of a beauty queen is a thing to fear! John Epperson, a k a Lypsinka, brings his love of cultural deconstruction and reconstruction to this lovably trashy spoof of a certain exalted Greek tragedy, in which a scorned woman sets about chicken-frying her own children to get even with the no-account man who done her wrong. Nancy Opel and Maxwell Caulfield lead the cast in offering big servings of honey-baked ham (1:30). Abingdon Theater, 312 West 36th Street, (212) 868-4444. (Isherwood) MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE A small, intense and loudly heralded one-woman drama that tells the true story of its title character, a pro-Palestinian activist killed in the Gaza strip by an Israeli Army bulldozer. Yet for all the political and emotional baggage carried by this production, adapted from Ms. Corries writings and starring Megan Dodds, it often feels dramatically flat, even listless (1:30). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) NO CHILD Teachers will love Nilaja Suns one-woman show about the challenges of teaching drama at Malcolm X High School (1:10). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) AN OAK TREE Tim Crouch plays a hypnotist in this elusive puzzle of a play about grief and the power of suggestion (1:05). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Zinoman) POST MORTEM A grievance list of a comedy by the indefatigable A. R. Gurney, set in the near future, about the unearthing of a world-shaking play called Post Mortem by A. R. Gurney. Jim Simpson directs this likable grab bag of insider jokes, polemical satire and cosmic lamentation (1:30). The Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101. (Brantley) THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE A slow, airless revival of Jay Presson Allens 1966 play (adapted from Muriel Sparks novel) about a dangerous Scottish schoolteacher, directed by Scott Elliott and starring the wonderful (but miscast) Cynthia Nixon, who seems much too sane and centered as the deluded Miss Brody. (2:40). The Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Brantley) SHOUT! A miniskirted, go-go-booted zombie of a musical about women searching for love in London in the 1960s. You wont see anything this groovy, this far-out, this with-it outside of, oh, maybe the showroom of a Carnival cruise ship (1:30). Julia Miles Theater, 424 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) * STRIKING 12 A minimalist musical about an odd but rewarding New Years Eve in the life of a guy who hates New Years Eve. Performed by the indie pop band Groovelily, its fresh and funny, and features a standout pop score (1:30). Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) 25 QUESTIONS FOR A JEWISH MOTHER This is the comedian Judy Golds fiercely funny monologue, based on her own life as a single Jewish lesbian mother and interviews with more than 50 other Jewish mothers (1:10). St. Lukes Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Phoebe Hoban) Spectacles BIG APPLE CIRCUS One terrific show (2:15). Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500 or (212) 307-4100. (Lawrence Van Gelder) RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR Mingles tradition and novelty to a festive fare-thee-well (1:30). Radio City Music Hall, (212) 307-1000, (Van Gelder) Long-Running Shows ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) AVENUE Q R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:10). Golden Theater, 252 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh, sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) JERSEY BOYS The biomusical that walks like a man (2:30). August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). Minskoff Theater, 200 West 45th Street at Broadway, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) SLAVAS SNOWSHOW Clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin stir up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart and tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Van Gelder) SPAMALOT A singing scrapbook for Monty Python fans. (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE A Chorus Line with pimples (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance THE BLUEST EYE Toni Morrisons first novel is adapted by Lydia Diamond in a production aimed at young adults and teenagers. Sensitively acted, but it still feels like a book talking to us from the stage (1:30). Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, (212) 239-6200; closes on Sunday. (Isherwood) BUENOS AIRES IN TRANSLATION (BAiT) Featuring four plays, this cross-cultural festival combines Argentinian writers and American directors, with mixed results. Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101; closes on Sunday. (Zinoman) EMERGENCE-SEE! Daniel Beatys solo show takes stock of the urban African-American mind in the new century, as dozens of men and women flock to Liberty Island when a slave ship mysteriously appears in New York Harbor. The performance captivates; the material doesnt (1:15). The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200; closes on Sunday. (Isherwood) THE FLOOD This eager, accomplished show about a devastating deluge in an Illinois town has a majestic score by Peter Mills and Cara Reichel and an able, ingratiating cast. Unfortunately, theyre playing uninvolving, cookie-cutter characters (2:00). The American Theater of Actors, 314 West 54th Street, Clinton, (212) 352-3101; closes on Sunday. (Rob Kendt) LOVE, DEATH AND INTERIOR DECORATING Theatergoers might want to arrive at intermission for this pair of one-acts by Keith Boynton. Though the first play is shallow and clumsy, the second, about a condemned revolutionary and his bourgeois lover, is fresh, literate and morally compelling (2:00). Altered Stages, 212 West 29th Street, Chelsea, (212) 352-3101; closes tomorrow. (Miriam Horn) THE MAIL-ORDER BRIDE and THE IMAGINARY INVALID Charles L. Mee has taken Molières well-traveled hypochondriac, Argan, and given him a modern twist: the fellow thinks an Asian bride he has purchased will cure what ails him and give him back his youth. The Resonance Ensemble presents both the new work and the Molière classic in repertory, but its the Molière (with an all-female cast) that works the best, thanks to Virginia Baetas Argan. The actors in the Mee version never quite seem comfortable, which is too bad, because Mr. Mee packs the play with what should be good stuff. (Running time for each: 1:30.) The Beckett Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200; closes on Sunday. (Genzlinger) PORT AUTHORITY THROW DOWN Mike Batisticks intercultural tale of an angry Pakistani cabdriver, a white Christian missionary from Ohio, a black homeless alcoholic and the drivers activist brother is far from profound, but it has some solid laughs, and its battered heart is in the right place (2:00). Culture Project at 45 Below, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101; closes on Sunday. (Gates) STANLEY 2006 Todd DAmours performance art piece rethinks Stanley Kowalskis feelings about Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. The work is striking and original but at times frustrating and heavy on the angst (1:15). Here Arts Center, 145 Avenue of the Americas, at Dominick Street, South Village, (212) 352-3101; closes tomorrow. (Gates) THE SUNSET LIMITED Cormac McCarthys elegiac two-man play distills his previous work into a debate about suicide (2:00). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200; closes on Sunday. (Zinoman) THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN The brilliant Twyla Tharp interprets the Bob Dylan songbook less than brilliantly. When a genius goes down in flames, everybody feels the burn (1:30). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212) 307-4100; closes on Sunday. (Brantley) WRECKS The tail wags the scorpion in the latest play by Neil LaBute to be propelled by a poisoned punch line. This slender, prickly tease of a monologue -- whose whole raison dêtre is its last-minute revelation -- is given substance by an expert performance by Ed Harris as a newly bereaved widower (1:15). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555; closes on Sunday. (Brantley) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. BABEL (R, 143 minutes, in English, Spanish, Japanese, Berber, Arabic and sign language) This hugely ambitious movie tells four loosely linked, not quite simultaneous stories set on three different continents, with dialogue in several languages. The themes, to the extent they are decipherable, include loss, fate and the terrible consequences of miscommunication. Written by Guillermo Arriaga and directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, the movie is an intellectual muddle but a visceral tour de force, and the power of the filmmaking almost overcomes the fuzziness of the ideas. Almost. (A. O. Scott) * BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN, (R, 89 minutes) In this brainy, merciless comedy, a Kazakh journalist named Borat Sagdiyev, a k a the British comic Sacha Baron Cohen, invades America. America laughs, cries, surrenders. (Manohla Dargis) CAUTIVA (No rating, 108 minutes, in Spanish) This sober melodrama explores the aftereffects of Argentinas dirty war, which have a devastating impact on a teenage girl who discovers terrible secrets in her past. (Scott) THE CAVE OF THE YELLOW DOG (No rating, 90 minutes, in Mongolian) The dog is cute, the children are adorable, and the sky seems to stretch on without limit, as does, unfortunately, the slight story from the Mongolian-born filmmaker Byambasuren Davaa. (Dargis) * CLIMATES (No rating, 97 minutes, in Turkish) The story of a man and a woman, one of whom murders the others love, and a haunting portrait of existential solitude. The Turkish writer and director Nuri Bilge Ceylan also stars. (Dargis) COME EARLY MORNING (R, 97 minutes) Ashley Judd returns to the Southern, working-class milieu of her first screen triumph, Ruby in Paradise, to deliver her most natural screen performance since that film pushed her toward stardom in 1993. Aside from pungent local color, theres not much surrounding this portrait of an embittered barfly floundering through a succession of one-night stands. (Stephen Holden) COPYING BEETHOVEN (PG-13, 104 minutes) The director Agnieszka Holland and her star Ed Harris bring intelligence and passion to a fictional account about the creation of the Ninth Symphony. Diane Kruger also stars. (Dargis) DANCE PARTY, USA (No rating, 66 minutes) During a Fourth of July weekend in Portland, Oregon, a pair of disaffected 17-year-olds are nudged toward adulthood in a movie that favors natural drift over artificial drama. When Gus (Cole Pensinger) meets the more mature Jessica (Anna Kavan), his journey from crass ladykiller to sensitive boyfriend begins. Directed with extraordinary empathy by Aaron Katz (who also wrote the story), this admittedly slight movie is given heft by a plaintive tone and a camera fascinated by emotional shifts and shadows. (Jeannette Catsoulis) * FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (R, 132 minutes) Clint Eastwood raises the flag over Iwo Jima once more in a powerful if imperfect film about the uses of war and of the men who fight. The fine cast includes Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford and Adam Beach, who delivers heartbreak by the payload. (Dargis) * FLUSHED AWAY (PG, 85 minutes) Sewer rats, singing leeches and whimsical British anarchy -- this computer-animated feature from Aardman Animations (Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run) is completely delightful. (Scott) FUR: AN IMAGINARY PORTRAIT OF DIANE ARBUS (R, 122 minutes) Nicole Kidman stars as the famous photographer, and Robert Downey Jr. plays her imaginary furry friend. Steven Shainberg directs from a screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson. (Dargis) A GOOD YEAR (PG-13, 117 minutes) This sun-dappled romantic diversion is a major departure for its director, Ridley Scott, and for its star, Russell Crowe. Mr. Crowe is miscast as a ferocious London bond trader who mellows after inheriting a French vineyard. Its a three-P movie, for pleasant, pretty and predictable. Add a fourth P, for piddling. (Holden) HARSH TIMES (R, 119 minutes) Christian Bale turns in a spectacular technical performance as a war veteran running amok on the streets of South Central Los Angeles and dragging along his best friend (Freddy Rodriguez) on the road to hell. The losers in the directorial debut of David Ayer (who wrote Training Day) are too repellent for you to waste time feeling sorry for. (Holden) THE MAGIC GLOVES (No rating, 90 minutes, in Spanish) Depression, drugs and professional stasis commingle in this limp Argentine comedy whose characters remain trapped several rungs below their aspirations. In the foreground of a featureless Buenos Aires, paths cross and lock without import, and lives inch sideways (a cab driver becomes a bus driver), in reflection of the countrys larger economic blight. Yet the fleeting moments of deadpan humor are pungent enough to suggest that the writer and director, Martín Rejtman, is saving himself for greater things. (Catsoulis) * MARIE ANTOINETTE (PG-13, 123 minutes) In this elaborate, bittersweet confection, Sofia Coppola imagines the last pre-revolutionary queen of France (played with wit and charm by Kirsten Dunst) as a bored, pleasure-seeking teenager trapped in a world of artifice and rigid protocol. Dreamy and decadent, the film is also touching, funny and bracingly modern. (Scott) * THE PRESTIGE (PG-13, 128 minutes) Entertaining, spirited and shamelessly gimmicky, Christopher Nolans new film tells the intricate tale of two rival magicians (Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman) practicing their art in late-Victorian London. Scarlett Johansson is the lovely assistant. (Scott) THE SANTA CLAUSe 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE (G, 98 minutes) Ho, ho, ho? No, no, no. (Dargis) * SHUT UP & SING (R, 93 minutes) Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Pecks revealing documentary follows the Dixie Chicks around for three years as the group deals with the consequences of a remark by its lead singer, Natalie Maines, who said from a London stage that they were ashamed that the president of the United States was from Texas. The movie is a fascinating study of the relationship between the media, politics and the music industry in an era in which pop musicians are marketed like politicians. (Holden) STRANGER THAN FICTION (PG-13, 105 minutes) Will Ferrell restrains his clownish impulses in this metaphysical comedy, directed with equal restraint by Marc Forster. Mr. Ferrell plays an I.R.S. agent who almost simultaneously falls in love with a baker (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and discovers that he is a character in an unfinished novel whose author (Emma Thompson) is planning to kill him. He seeks the help of a professor of literature played by Dustin Hoffman, who proves that scholarly criticism might not be a useless pursuit after all. (Scott) UMRAO JAAN (No rating, 145 minutes, in Hindi and Urdu) Weak dubbing and melodramatic overkill hamper this retelling of a historical Indian story, about the travails of a performing courtesan. But its star, Aishwarya Rai, a potent presence, appears destined for international success. (Andy Webster) * VOLVER (R, 121 minutes, in Spanish) Another keeper from Pedro Almódovar, with Penélope Cruz -- as a resilient widow -- in her best role to date. (Scott) * THE WILD BLUE YONDER (No rating, 81 minutes) An artful mixture of carefully culled and originally produced material, Werner Herzogs self-described science fiction fantasy purports to tell the story of an alien species beset by misfortune. Brad Dourif stars alongside some floating astronauts and a few exquisitely beautiful underwater drifters. (Dargis) Film Series BLACK MARIA FILM FESTIVAL: THE LEGACY OF THE SHORT FILM (Through Wednesday) The Museum of Modern Art is presenting eight programs of short films, all from the traveling New Jersey-based Black Maria festival. This weekends programs include more than three dozen shorts, including Ken Koblands Ideas of Order in Cinque Terre (2005), a paean to those Italian cliff towns; Vanessa Schwartzs Janitor (1993), a reinterpretation of the Bible; and Sam Greens Lot 63, Grave C (2005),which revisits the Rolling Stones tragic concert at Altamont, Calif. Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, (212) 708-9400, moma.org; $10. (Anita Gates) DZIGA AND HIS BROTHERS: A FILM FAMILY ON THE CUTTING EDGE (Through Nov. 26) The Film Society of Lincoln Centers 10-day tribute to the Kaufman brothers, Polish-born film giants who made their marks in the Soviet Union, France and the United States, begins today. This weekends screenings include Elia Kazans On the Waterfront (1954) and Jean Vigos À Propos de Nice (1930), both with cinematography by Boris Kaufman; Man With the Movie Camera (1929), the brilliant portrait of Soviet Russian life directed by Dziga Vertov (né Denis Kaufman); and Mikhail Kaufmans In Spring (1929), which looks at small-town Russia. Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Manhattan, (212) 875-5600, filmlinc.com; $10. (Gates) GIVE THANKS FOR JOHN FORD (Through Nov. 29) BAMcinématek is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Fords western classic The Searchers with a four-film Thanksgiving-week tribute. It begins on Wednesday with The Searchers (1956), in which John Wayne retrieves his niece (Natalie Wood) years after she was kidnapped by the Comanches. The series will also include Two Rode Together (1961) and Destry Rides Again (1962), both starring James Stewart; and The Sun Shines Bright (1953), said to have been Fords personal favorite. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100, bam.org; $10. (Gates) ROBERTO ROSSELLINI (Through Dec. 22) The Museum of Modern Arts retrospective of the work of Rossellini (1906-77), the grand old man of postwar Italys neo-realist movement, continues. This weekends films include Stromboli (1949), starring Ingrid Bergman as an Eastern European refugee in a bad marriage; The Messiah (1975), a biblical biography never released in the United States; and the classic Open City (1945), set in Rome during the final months of the German occupation. Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, and Celeste Bartos Theater, 5 West 54th Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400, moma.org; $10. (Gates) THREE BY JIM McKAY (Through Tuesday) BAMcinématek is screening three films by Mr. McKay, who made his directorial debut with Girls Town in 1996. The series begins tomorrow with Angel Rodriguez (2006), a drama about a white counselor (Rachel Griffiths) who takes in a troubled black teenage client (Jonan Everett). Everyday People (2004), filmed in and around Fort Greene, will be shown on Monday night, and Our Song (2002), a coming-of-age story about three girls in Crown Heights, on Tuesday. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100, bam.org; free. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. * BARBARA COOK (Tomorrow) This lyric sopranos new show, No One Is Alone, with the pianist Eric Stern, celebrates the songs of Stephen Sondheim and his closest friends and collaborators, including Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Oscar Hammerstein, Richard Rodgers and Jules Styne. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $30 to $98. (Stephen Holden) ANI DiFRANCO (Tomorrow) Ms. DiFrancos articulate, uninhibited songs and poems are about staying true to her complicated self: feisty and vulnerable, polysexual, uncompromising and politically engaged, but never humorless. She can strum a guitar and sling words at hyperspeed, or swerve toward jazz and funk. In business (she runs her own label, Righteous Babe Records), as in her music, shes as independent as they come. With Hamell on Trial. At 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 307-7171; $47. (Jon Pareles) * BOB DYLAN (Monday) On his 32nd studio album, Modern Times (Columbia), Mr. Dylan is obsessed with the mythic past, serving up a sleek, bluesy time warp that dips into Muddy Waters, Bing Crosby and the obscure 19th-century poet laureate of the Confederacy, Henry Timrod. Even when studying contemporary popular culture, he is reminded of his own back pages: I was thinkin bout Alicia Keys, couldnt keep from crying, he sings. When she was born in Hells Kitchen, I was living down the line. At 8 p.m., City Center, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan, (212) 581-1212, nycitycenter.org; sold out. (Ben Sisario) BEN FOLDS (Tonight, Sunday and Monday) Though his most intriguing work since the demise of his band Ben Folds Five has been his direction two years ago on William Shatners surprisingly strong album (really!) Has Been, in his solo work Mr. Folds has continued to skillfully and entertainingly walk a line between the snarky and the sincere. (His breathy piano-ballad version of a particularly vulgar Dr. Dre song crossed that line by miles.) Tonight at 8, Warsaw, 261 Driggs Avenue, at Eckford Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 387-0505, warsawconcerts.com; sold out. Sunday at 8 p.m., Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-7171, mcstudios.com; $37 in advance, $42 at the door. Monday at 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 307-7171; $37 and $50. (Sisario) GREY DOES MATTER (Tomorrow) Jason Crawford, the polymath who records as Grey Does Matter, used to take a reprogrammed Nintendo Gameboy along with him to help perform his spare, guitar-synthesizer songs of disconnection and boyish obsession. (The wind gets in and burns the skin like a battleground super ninja.) But now he has a full band and is celebrating the release of his new album, Your Job Will Kill You (Pop Rally!). At 8 p.m., Glasshouse Gallery, 289 Kent Avenue, at South First Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, toddpnyc.com; $7. (Sisario) HOLD STEADY, CONSTANTINES (Wednesday) Like a meeting of AC/DC and the E Street Band fronted by Shane MacGowan of the Pogues, the Hold Steady -- from Brooklyn, but with Minneapolis origins -- plays bare-knuckled guitar-rock, while its singer, Craig Finn, free-associates about religion and sex in a boozy snarl. I guess Ive heard about original sin, he sings. I heard the dude blamed the chick. With the Constantines, a feedback-worshiping Canadian band. At 9 p.m., Warsaw, 261 Driggs Avenue, at Eckford Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 387-0505, warsawconcerts.com; $17. (Sisario) JAGUARES (Tuesday and Wednesday) The Jaguares include former members of a leading Mexican rock band, Caifanes, and they add some alternative-rock touches to Caifaness moody, dynamic songs. At 8 p.m., B. B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144, bbkingblues.com; $35 in advance, $38 at the door. (Pareles) KID KOALA (Tonight) A superstar on the DJ circuit, Kid Koala, a k a Eric San, from Montreal, has the rare talent of imbuing scattered samples with humor and narrative, allowing him to capture the attention of audiences from clubs to stadiums. (He has opened for the Beastie Boys and Radiohead.) At 9, Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103, northsix.com; $15. (Sisario) * MODEST MOUSE (Tonight and tomorrow night) A band so emblematic of 21st-century indie rock that it was mentioned by name in the Supreme Courts decision on MGM v. Grokster last year, Modest Mouse links antsy, catchy guitar lines to vocals that are always just a few shrieks away from a destructive tantrum. These shows complete a five-concert New York series showing off songs from the bands long-delayed new album as well as its newest member, Johnny Marr, the innovative guitarist of the Smiths. With Marcellus Hall. At 8, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; sold out. (Sisario) MUDHONEY (Tonight and tomorrow night) When Mudhoney released its first record, Touch Me Im Sick, in 1988, the band did not look built to last. But it has persisted with its mixture of sneering blues and boozy, decelerated punk, the ingredients that gave birth to grunge. With Birds of Avalon and Hank IV tonight, and Dan Melchior and Hulda tomorrow. At 8, Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006, knittingfactory.com; $18 in advance, $22 at the door. (Sisario) NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE (Tomorrow) There might not have been deafening cries for a reunion of the New Riders of the Purple Sage, the colorless country-rock spinoff of the Grateful Dead. But here it is, with an original member, David Nelson, and Buddy Cage, who took the place of Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar. At 8 p.m., the Concert Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-7171, concertstonight.com; $35. (Sisario) NEW YORK DOLLS (Wednesday) Never say die. With its two surviving original members well into their 50s, this proto-punk, proto-glam band, which made trashy cross-dressing a rock n roll virtue, this summer released its first new album in 32 years, One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This (Roadrunner), and its appetite for sleazy vamps and hilarious wickedness is undiminished. Youre designed so intelligent/ Aint no way that was an accident, David Johansen sings in Dance Like a Monkey. Come on shake your monkey hips, my pretty little creationist. Presented by Little Stevens Underground Garage, with the Supersuckers, the Chesterfield Kings and the Charms. At 9 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800, irvingplaza.com; $25. (Sisario) OK GO (Tomorrow) With all the focus on this Chicago bands dancing skills -- its ingenious treadmill skit was so popular online that MTV had the group perform it at the Video Music Awards this summer, despite the lack of a nomination -- not much attention has been paid to its jaunty, Cars-like and thoroughly adequate power-pop. So expect more dancing. At 9 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800, irvingplaza.com; sold out. (Sisario) * PERE UBU, BUSH TETRAS (Wednesday) Punk rock had an unassimilable avant-garde right from the start: in the mid-70s, while bands like the Dead Boys and the Ramones were perfecting the narrow sonic attack that came to be known as punk, Pere Ubu, from Cleveland, was playing a dissonant, urgent and deeply idiosyncratic variation centered on the sung-spoken vocals of David Thomas. The Bush Tetras, of early 80s New York vintage, have a squirmy funk take on experimental rock. At 7:30 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006, knittingfactory.com; $15. (Sisario) PLIMSOULS (Tonight) One of the sharpest bands of the early 80s power-pop scene, the Plimsouls, from Los Angeles, reached back to the Beatles, as well as Elvis Costello, and cemented its place in pop culture with an appearance in the 1983 film Valley Girl. The band, led by Peter Case, has good luck with reunions: when it got back together in the mid-90s, it made one of its best albums, Kool Trash. At 8, with Parallax Project, Magnetic Field, 97 Atlantic Avenue, between Henry and Hicks Streets, Brooklyn Heights, (718) 834-0069, magneticbrooklyn.com; $15. (Sisario) +44 (Tonight) Its not often that the rival former members of a multiplatinum band pass through town with their new groups, giving curious fans a controlled experiment to judge who has made out better. Last year the boys-will-be-boys pop-punk band Blink-182 went on acrimonious hiatus, and one of its two singers, Tom DeLonge, started a new group, Angels and Airwaves; it played the Bowery Ballroom in May. Now come the two other alumni, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker, whose group, +44, plays Webster Hall tonight. Both bands are darker and more emo-influenced than Blink-182, but unfortunately for fans scrambling for a way into this show, neither has much of its fire. At 7, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 533-2111, bowerypresents.com; sold out. (Sisario) ROBERT RANDOLPH AND THE FAMILY BAND (Tonight) Robert Randolph used to play gospel songs on his pedal steel guitar at the House of God Church in Orange, N.J. But he and his band have emerged into the secular realm of jam bands, which have embraced both his rip-roaring virtuosity and his gift for making his instrument sing without a word. With Rocco DeLuca and the Burden. At 7:30, Roseland, 239 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $30. (Pareles) LAS RUBIAS DEL NORTE (Tomorrow) Las Rubias del Norte, long in residence at Barbès, a cozy bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn, play boleros, cumbias and other Latin styles, elegantly arranged for a small band and two songbird sopranos. 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; $8. (Sisario) GILBERTO SANTA ROSA (Wednesday) This salsa singer, or sonero, has held on to the fundamentals of the music, with a voice like a trumpet and a flair for improvisation. Salsa is getting squeezed on one side by reggaetón and on the other by sappy Latin pop, but Mr. Santa Rosa has persevered; at this concert, he celebrates 30 years of hits. At 8 p.m., the Theater at Madison Square Garden, (212) 465-6741, thegarden.com; $65 to $125. (Pareles) REGINA SPEKTOR (Monday) Rhapsodic and sweet, Ms. Spektors fantasies veer from the childlike to the erotic, in endearingly idiosyncratic piano and vocal parts that can resemble P J Harvey, Billie Holiday or Chopin. At 9 p.m., Warsaw, 261 Driggs Avenue, at Eckford Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 387-0505, warsawconcerts.com; sold out. (Sisario) TRALALA, ANTIETAM (Tonight) The bohemian Brooklyn version of a girl group, Tralala (formerly Tight Fit) features four women singing in animated if inexact harmony, and three men bashing away at the kind of nursery-rhyme-Ramones groove perfected by Shonen Knife. Antietams slashing guitars, shambling beat and defiant vocals defined indie rock before that label became a vague cliché. (Tralala also opens for Robyn Hitchcock tomorrow.) At 9, Cake Shop, 152 Ludlow Street, between Stanton and Rivington Streets, Lower East Side, (212) 253-0036, cake-shop.com; $7. (Sisario) Steve Tyrell (Tonight and tomorrow, and Tuesday through Thursday) Mr. Tyrell belongs to a latter-day breed of rock singer who has belatedly embraced popular standards. The breed includes Rod Stewart (whose records Mr. Tyrell co-produces), Michael Bolton and Dr. John (for whom he sometimes sounds like vocal double). At 8:45 p.m., with additional shows tonight, tomorrow and Thursday night at 10:45, Café Carlyle, Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 744-1600, thecarlyle.com; $90 cover, dinner required. (Holden) FRANKIE VALLI (Wednesday) Newly re-enshrined by Jersey Boys, a success on Broadway even as most other shows based on pop stars have failed -- does anyone remember Lennon? -- Mr. Valli begins four nights of concerts at the Rose Theater, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, joined as always by his Four Seasons. At 8 p.m., Broadway at 60th Street, (212) 721-6500, jalc.org; $75 to $125. (Sisario) * DOC WATSON (Tomorrow) One of the great repositories of American folk music, the guitarist and singer Doc Watson, from Deep Gap, N.C., plays bluegrass, country and blues in an elegant but understated style. He performs as part of a tribute to the Friends of Old Time Music, an organization that played an important role in the early 1960s folk revival in New York City by putting on concerts by rural musicians (it first presented Mr. Watson in 1962); that group is also commemorated on an outstanding new boxed set, Friends of Old Time Music: The Folk Revival 1961-1965 (Smithsonian Folkways). Also on the bill tomorrow are the New Lost City Ramblers, John Sebastian of the Lovin Spoonful, and Jean Ritchie. At 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-7171, heartheworld.org; $30 and $40; $15 for students. (Sisario) BRIAN WILSON (Tuesday and Wednesday) A full performance of the Beach Boys enduring album Pet Sounds on its 40th anniversary, with a cast of attentive backup singers and Al Jardine, who sang part of the lead on I Know Theres an Answer. At 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 307-7171; sold out on Tuesday; $58.50 to $128.50 on Wednesday. (Sisario) WOLFMOTHER (Wednesday) The retro-rock wayback machine makes two stops in the music of this Australian band: to the screamy abandon of mid-1960s garage rock, and then forward just a few years to the amp-throbbing, proto-metal bacchanals of Blue Cheer and Black Sabbath. With Dead Meadow and Silversun Pickups. At 8 p.m., Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-7171, mcstudios.com; $27 in advance, $30 at the door. (Sisario) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. RASHIED ALI QUINTET (Tomorrow) Rashied Ali has had a substantial career in the jazz avant-garde over the past 40 years, beginning with his percussive role in the late-period work of John Coltrane. Mr. Alis drumming, still insistent and undulant, drives this ensemble, with the trumpeter Jumaane Smith, the tenor saxophonist Lawrence Clark, the pianist Greg Murphy and the bassist Ivan Taylor. At 8 and 10 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501, tonicnyc.com; cover, $12. (Nate Chinen) ANDY BISKIN AND TRIO TRAGICO (Tomorrow) Andy Biskin presents a group consisting of himself on clarinet, Dave Ballou on trumpet and Drew Gress on bass; as on the recent album Trio Tragico (Strudelmedia), their repertory will range from melodic miniatures to collective open-form improvisation. At 9 p.m., BAMcafé, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100, bam.org; no cover, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JOHNATHAN BLAKE QUARTET (Tomorrow) The drummer Johnathan Blake propels a band with two strong saxophonists -- Jaleel Shaw, alto, and Mark Turner, tenor -- and an unflappable bassist, Ben Street. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $15; $10 for members. (Chinen) JOANNE BRACKEEN QUARTET (Tonight through Sunday night) A deeply experienced pianist and composer, JoAnne Brackeen produces a whimsical but sophisticated species of post-bop. For this engagement she has enlisted Javon Jackson on tenor saxophone, Richie Goods on bass and Tony Reedus on drums. At 7:30 and 9:30, with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $25. (Chinen) JIMMY COBB AND COBBS MOBB (Tonight and tomorrow night) The masterful hard-bop drummer Jimmy Cobb has served as a mentor to many young musicians via this band; one, the guitarist Peter Bernstein, takes the melodic lead here. At 8, 10 and 11:30, Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662, smokejazz.com; cover, $25. (Chinen) DUDUKA DA FONSECA SAMBA JAZZ (Tonight and tomorrow night) Drawing from his recent album Samba Jazz in Black & White (Zoho), the percussionist Duduka Da Fonseca leads a cosmopolitan Brazilian-jazz ensemble that includes the singer Maucha Adnet, the guitarist Vic Juris, the pianist Helio Alves and the clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen. At 8, 10 and midnight, Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, (212) 255-3626, sweetrhythmny.com; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MATT DARRIAUS YO LATEEF (Wednesday) The texturally and spiritually intense music of Yusef Lateef provides a loose framework for the latest project by the impish clarinetist and saxophonist Matt Darriau; among his fellow interpreters is Peck Allmond, on trumpet and other horns. At 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $8. (Chinen) PAQUITO DRIVERA (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. DRivera, the clarinetist, alto saxophonist and longtime Cuban exile, explores the intersection of jazz and classical music in this program, with a cast of collaborators including the violinist Nicolas Danielson, the pianist Alon Yavnai, the bassist Massimo Biolcati and the drummer Vince Cherico. At 7:30 and 9:30, Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; $67.50. (Chinen) JORRIT DIJKSTRA AND JOHN HOLLENBECK (Tuesday) Mr. Dijkstra, an alto saxophonist from Amsterdam, and Mr. Hollenbeck, a percussionist from upstate New York, have been working as a duo for years, with an emphasis on extraordinary textures and extended techniques. They perform material from a recent album, Sequence (Trytone). At 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501, tonicnyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) BILL FRISELLS UNSPEAKABLE ORCHESTRA (Tomorrow) Revisiting music from Unspeakable (Nonesuch), which won a Grammy in 2004 for best contemporary jazz record, the guitarist Bill Frisell leads a cadre of co-conspirators, like the multireedist Greg Tardy and the trumpeter Ron Miles. At 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500, 92y.org, $40. (Chinen) MUSIC OF BENNY GOODMAN (Tuesday through Thursday) This appropriately high-spirited tribute to the King of Swing will feature Ken Peplowski on clarinet and Bucky Pizzarelli on guitar. (Through Nov. 26.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) TIGRAN HAMASYAN (Monday) The winner of this years Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition was Mr. Hamasyan, an Armenian pianist in his early 20s with a probing approach to rhythm. He performs on Monday under the aegis of the Thelonious Monk Institute, with the experienced rhythm team of François Moutin on bass and Ari Hoenig on drums; later in the evening, he will play at Smalls with a quintet led by Mr. Hoenig. At 7 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, near West Street, (212) 220-1460, tribecapac.org; $25; students, $15. At 10 p.m., Smalls, 183 West 10th Street, West Village, (212) 675-7369; cover, $20. (Chinen) JOEL HARRISON (Tomorrow and Sunday) Mr. Harrison, a guitarist and composer, joins forces with another guitarist, Nguyen Le, and performs new music with influences ranging from Olivier Messiaen to Jeff Beck; their supporting ensemble will include the alto saxophonist David Binney, the bassist Gildas Boclé and the drummer Jamey Haddad. Tomorrow at 10 p.m. and Sunday at 9:30 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 929-9883, 55bar.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) MARK HELIAS, TIM BERNE, TOM RAINEY (Tomorrow) Mr. Helias is a bassist of adventurous temperament and great rhythmic assurance; a perfect fit, in other words, for the exploratory team of Mr. Berne, an alto saxophonist, and Mr. Rainey, a drummer. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) FRED HERSCH AND RALPH ALESSI (Tomorrow) Mr. Hersch is a pianist associated with either solo or trio settings, but he has lately delivered solid work with various duet partners. His counterpart here, Mr. Alessi, is a trumpeter of pristine technique and rigorous thought, and founder of the School for Improvisation, the concerts presenter. At 8:30 p.m., Center for Improvisational Music, 295 Douglass Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (212) 631-5882, schoolforimprov.org; cover, $12; students, $8. (Chinen) LEE KONITZ QUARTET (Wednesday and Thursday) Lee Konitz lends his venerable reputation and dry-martini alto saxophone sound to a quartet featuring the resourceful bop-leaning guitarist Peter Bernstein. (Through Nov. 25.) At 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JOE LOVANO NONET (Tuesday through Thursday) Joe Lovano, a tenor saxophonist with much experience in large ensembles, has led an excellent bop-flavored nonet intermittently for a number of years. Next week he brings that group to its natural home, to interpret music from his most recent Blue Note album, Streams of Expression. (Through Nov. 26). At 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * MAYBE MONDAY (Tonight through Sunday) The guitarist Fred Frith, the koto player Miya Masaoka and the tenor and soprano saxophonist Larry Ochs make up this expansive, free-improvising trio, which has apparently never performed in New York before. They will perform two sets each night this weekend, with sporadic guests, like the violinist Carla Kihlstedt (tomorrow at 8) or the drummer Gerry Hemingway (Sunday at 8). At 8 and 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) DONNY McCASLIN (Tomorrow night) Mr. McCaslin, a tenor and soprano saxophonist known for calisthenic exertions, convenes a groove-minded quartet with George Colligan on piano, Hans Glawischnig on bass and Gene Jackson on drums. At 12:30, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $10, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) * NEA JAZZ MASTERS (Tonight) Every year the National Endowment for the Arts bestows the encomium of Jazz Master to a handful of distinguished veterans, like the trumpeter Clark Terry, the saxophonist Jimmy Heath, the trombonist Benny Powell, the pianist Dr. Billy Taylor, the bassist Earl May and the drummer Tootie Heath. If that sounds like the roll call for a combo, thats because it is, at least for a couple of hours. At 8, Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Boulevard, at Linden Place, Queens, (718) 463-7700, Ext. 222, flushingtownhall.org; $40; members, $28. (Chinen) NEW LANGUAGES FESTIVAL (Tomorrow) Advancing an ideal of cross-fertilization, this Williamsburg series is organized partly by the alto saxophonist Aaron Ali Shaikh, who performs a late set tomorrow with the bassist John Hebert and the drummer Randy Peterson. An earlier set will feature a group called Dual Identity, jointly led by the alto saxophonists Rudresh Mahanthappa and Steve Lehman. At 8:30 and 10 p.m., Rose Live Music, 345 Grand Street, between Havemeyer and Marcy Streets, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-0069, newlanguages.org; $10. (Chinen) NICHOLAS PAYTON QUINTET (Tomorrow) Nicholas Payton, an abundantly gifted trumpeter, has recently oscillated between hard bop and electric fusion, producing good results in both areas. The group he leads here, which includes Mike Moreno on guitar, Vicente Archer on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums, could move in any direction he chooses. At 8 p.m., Miller Theater, Columbia University, 116th Street and Broadway, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799, millertheatre.com; $25. (Chinen) DAVID SANBORN (Tuesday through Thursday) Mr. Sanborn, an alto saxophonist known for tart and well-played crossover fare, leads a band of Nicky Moroch on guitar, Deron Johnson on keyboards, Richard Patterson on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums. (Through Nov. 26.) At 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592; bluenote.net; cover, $50 at tables, $35 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) JENNY SCHEINMAN ORCHESTRA (Sunday) Reprising a successful gambit staged in the same space last year, this large ensemble, led by the violinist Jenny Scheinman, creates a vague and dreamlike impression while maintaining an elevated level of musicianship. The assembled talent includes Ron Miles on cornet and Doug Wieselman on clarinet, as well as a formidable string section conducted by the violinist Eyvind Kang. At 8 and 10 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $15; $12 in advance. (Chinen) LEW TABACKIN TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow night) An expansive tenor saxophonist and lyrical flutist, Lew Tabackin never sounds freer than in a trio, backed by a bassist (Boris Kozlov) and a drummer (Mark Taylor). At 7:30 and 9:15, Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 885-7119, kitano.com; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) VISION CLUB SERIES (Tomorrow) This off-season outreach of the Vision Festival presents two groups led by aggressive drummers: Tyshawn Soreys 3-0+1, with Ben Gerstein on trombone, Terry McManus on guitar and Christopher Tordini on bass (at 7:30), and Gerry Hemingway in a trio with the trombonist Ray Anderson and a guest (at 9). At 7:30 and 9 p.m., Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 696-6681, visionfestival.org; cover, $10 a set; students, $7. (Chinen) STÉPHANE WREMBEL (Sunday and Wednesday) Mr. Wrembel is a French guitarist proficient in the effervescent style of Django Reinhardt. On Sunday he plays his usual engagement in Park Slope, with his regular consort of Jared Engel on bass, David Langlois on washboard and percussion, and Olivier Manchon on violin; on Wednesday the same group plays Joes Pub in celebration of a new album, Barbès Brooklyn. Sunday at 9 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $8. Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778, joespub.com; cover, $12. (Chinen) TIM ZIESMERS AMPERSAND (Tonight) The guitarist Tim Ziesmer features his own rock-influenced compositions in this band featuring Chris Speed on clarinet and tenor saxophone, Curtis Hasselbring on trombone and guitar, Dave Ambrosio on bass and Take Toriyama on drums. At 7, Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $8. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera * IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA (Monday) This breezy new production conveys the comic confusions of the story through its fluid staging and a wonderfully abstract set -- a matrix of movable doors, staircases and potted orange trees, behind which characters spy on one another. The heated sexuality of the characters also comes through, thanks to subtle directing by Bartlett Sher. Peter Mattei is a robust and agile Figaro. Diana Damrau is a vocally brilliant and feisty Rosina. Juan Diego Flórez could not be more adorable as Count Almaviva, though his voice sounds pinched and shaky at times. Maurizio Benini conducts. At 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; sold out. (Anthony Tommasini) LA BOHÈME (Tomorrow and Tuesday) Its usually Mimis show, but the tenors are a draw in this run: Rolando Villazón, the hot tenor of the moment, on the stage, and Plácido Domingo in the role of mentor, that is, conductor, in the pit. Angela Marambio, the Chilean soprano who makes her company debut tomorrow, has already shown her credible Mimi across the plaza at the New York City Opera. Susannah Glanville and Peter Coleman-Wright are Musetta and Marcello; for some, Zeffirellis production will always be the star. Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $150 tickets remaining for tomorrow, $110 for Tuesday. (Anne Midgette) CARMEN (Tomorrow) Seville is tired in Jonathan Eatons Carmen: battered Venetian blinds and jagged Corinthian columns create a mellow air of decrepitude without saying anything particularly original. Its a serviceable enough production, winding up its run tomorrow. Vanessa Cariddi plays the Gypsy; Kerri Marcinko and Daesan No are Micaëla and Escamillo; Scott Piper, who has a promising voice he can sometimes use well, is Don José; and Gary Thor Wedow conducts. At 8 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nycopera.com; sold out. (Midgette) COSÌ FAN TUTTE (Tonight) The City Operas intelligently conceived and well-sung production of Mozarts masterpiece closes tonight. The cast is anchored by Julianna Di Giacomo and James Maddalena. Julius Rudel conducts. At 8, the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nycopera.com; $25 to $125. (Bernard Holland) HANSEL AND GRETEL (Tomorrow and Sunday) Opera is big and loud, childrens theater is light and fun, and Engelbert Humperdincks classic represents an uneasy juxtaposition of the two. City Opera deserves kudos for a production that, by setting the action in 1890s New York, moves the story into a more adult or believable realm -- with Hansel and Gretel as immigrant children lapsing into German ditties in a singing English translation -- without losing some of the important elements, like the witch going into the oven at the end. The singers trade off between performances; Jennifer Aylmer and Jennifer Rivera are one pair of leads who do a fine job. They sing tomorrow; Julianne Borg and Jennifer Tiller sing on Sunday. At 1:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nycopera.com; $25 to $125. (Midgette) * MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Tomorrow) The Met inaugurated its season, and the tenure of the ambitious general manager Peter Gelb, with the Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghellas visually beautiful production of Puccinis Madama Butterfly. There is one more chance to see it. The abstract staging deftly employs movable screens, billowing fabrics, stylized costumes and, most daringly, a life-sized puppet manipulated by three black-clad puppeteers to portray Butterflys 3-year-old son. Vocally, neither of the leads, the earthy-voiced soprano Cristina Gallardo-Domâs as Butterfly, and the robustly Italianate tenor Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, is ideal. But they do honorable work. James Levine conducts. At 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; sold out. (Tommasini) TOSCA (Tonight and Wednesday) Andrea Gruber is a soprano who flings herself into roles; accordingly, she takes on her first Tosca with a certain violence. The character becomes tough yet vulnerable in her reading, yet the vulnerability is perhaps too pronounced in her uneven, patchy singing. Vincenzo La Scola sings Cavaradossi tonight; Walter Fraccaro takes over on Wednesday. James Morris is a known and growly quantity as Scarpia. The real news is the company debut of Nicola Luisotti, who conducts the piece as if it mattered. Tonight at 8, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $110 to $205 tickets remaining for tonight; $15 to $175 for Wednesday. (Midgette) Classical Music AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Tonight) Leon Botstein and his orchestra continue their theme-based exploration of the repertory with Symphonic Mexico, a program that looks at three of Mexicos best-known composers. Silvestre Revueltas is represented by Redes (1943) and one of his most popular scores, La Noche de los Mayas (1939). From Carlos Chávezs catalog, Mr. Botstein leads the Sinfonía di Antigona (1933). And Anne-Akiko Myers will be the soloist in Manuel Ponces Violin Concerto (1943). At 8, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, americansymphony.org; $27 to $55. (Allan Kozinn) ARTEK AND PARTHENIA (Tonight) Artek, an ensemble of period-instrument players and vocalists, and Parthenia, a viol consort, join for Il Diletto Moderno, a concert devoted to Venetian music of the nascent Baroque era. The programs centerpiece is Il Festino, a comedy by Banchieri. Also included are instrumental and vocal works by Corradini, Vitali, Vecchi and Peri. At 8, Corpus Christi Church, 529 West 121st Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 967-9157, artekearlymusic.org; $25 and $35; $25 and $15 for students and 65+. (Kozinn) BARGEMUSIC (Tonight through Sunday, and Thursday) The business of this converted coffee barge is mostly chamber music, but tonight it offers something bigger: the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, led by Misha Rachlevsky, in a program that includes Tchaikovsky, Vainberg, Galynin and Schnittke. Then its back to chamber scale tomorrow and Sunday, when Rupert Boyd, a guitarist; Mark Peskanov and Aaron Boyd, violinists; Arman Alpyspaev, a violist; and Adrian Daurov, a cellist, play Mauro Giulianis Guitar Concerto and works by Arriaga and Boccherini. And Thursday is a night of piano trios (by Haydn and Schubert) and Ravels Sonata for Violin and Cello. The players are Peter Winograd, a violinist; Wolfram Koessel, a cellist; and Steven Beck, a pianist. Tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night at 7:30; Sunday at 4 p.m., Fulton Ferry Landing, next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083, bargemusic.org; $50 tonight; $40 tomorrow and Sunday; $35 on Thursday. (Kozinn) * CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER (Tonight and Sunday) Late in life, when he was already ill, Debussy began composing a group of six sonatas for diverse instruments. But he died after writing only three of them. The Chamber Music Society has had the creative idea to invite three composers -- Steven Stucky, Kaija Saariaho and Marc-André Dalbavie -- to write three sonatas to take the places of Debussys intended works. These recent pieces will be performed along with Debussys sonatas, which were his final works. Tonight at 8 and Sunday at 5 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5778, chambermusicsociety.org; $28 to $58. (Tommasini) SIMONE DINNERSTEIN (Sunday) This pianist plays Coplands Piano Variations, set against older repertory by Bach, Schumann and Beethoven. At 3 p.m., Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949, metmuseum.org; $20. (Holland) ROBERTO IARUSSI AND APRILE MILLO (Tomorrow) The National Italian American Foundation presents Mr. Iarussi, a tenor, in his Lincoln Center concert debut, accompanied by the Orchestra of St. Lukes, conducted by Mark Giuliani. He will sing favorite arias, duets and classic Neapolitan and Italian songs. The popular diva Aprile Millo will make an appearance as an honoree of the foundation; the two will sing excerpts from Madama Butterfly. Orchestral works to be performed include the Overture to La Forza del Destino. At 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5050, lincolncenter.org; $90 to $250; $35 for students and 65+. (Vivien Schweitzer) MARY JANE johnson AND JAMES GARDNER (Sunday) Ms. Johnson, a dramatic soprano, and Mr. Gardner, a pianist, play a stylistically eclectic program of arias and songs that includes excerpts from Puccinis Madama Butterfly and Bohème; Lusinghe più care from Handels Alessandro; Strausss Breit Über Mein Haupt; La Maja y el Ruiseñor from Granadoss Goyescas; Libby Larsens Cowboy Songs; and a selection of spirituals. At 8:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $35; $15 for students and 65+. (Schweitzer) RALPH KIRSHBAUM AND PETER JABLONSKI (Sunday) Mr. Kirshbaum, a cellist, and Mr. Jablonski, a pianist, give a recital in the Frick Collections acoustically lush music room. The program includes Debussys Sonata for Cello and Piano, Prokofievs Sonata for Cello and Piano and Rachmaninoffs Vocalise. At 5 p.m., 1 East 70th Street, (212) 547-0715, frick.org; $25. (Schweitzer) MAGDALENA KOZENA (Sunday) The Czech soprano Magdalena Kozena, who brings an alluringly rich voice and refined musical instincts to her work, presents a recital of songs by Schumann, Fauré and Dvorak (the composers seldom-heard Gypsy Songs). The elegant pianist Malcolm Martineau is her accompanist. At 2 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, lincolncenter.org; $48. (Tommasini) GEORGE-EMMANUEL LAZARIDIS (Tonight) This 26-year-old Greek pianist makes his New York debut in Carnegie Halls Distinctive Debuts series, playing Janaceks Sonata; Chopins Fantasy in F minor (Op. 49); Schuberts Wanderer Fantasy; and Schumanns Carnaval. At 7:30, Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $28. (Schweitzer) MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC OPERA THEATER (Tonight and Sunday) Figaro reigns at the Manhattan School of Music, where students in the opera program are presenting scenes from his two best-known operas: Mozarts Marriage of Figaro and Rossinis prequel, The Barber of Seville. Tonight at 8, Sunday at 2:30 p.m., Broadway at 122nd Street, Morningside Heights, (917) 493-4428, www.msmnyc.edu; free. (Midgette) PAUL ODETTE (Tomorrow) This eloquent lutenist offers a program devoted mostly to Italian dances, airs and fantasies, with occasional glances at lute composers of other countries who were inspired by the Italian style. Included are pieces by Milano, Borrono, Capirola and Paladino. At 7:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $40. (Kozinn) PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) Twentieth-century Vienna in moods both dark and light is conveyed by the orchestra and Christoph Eschenbach. Leonidas Kavakos is soloist in the Berg Violin Concerto. Marisol Montalvo is the soprano in Mahlers Fourth Symphony. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $31 to $100. (Holland) RIAS KAMMERCHOR BERLIN (Tomorrow) This well-regarded group from Berlin sings a cappella music from Schubert to Wagner to Ligeti in the Metropolitan Museums cavernous Temple of Dendur. At 8 p.m., (212) 570-3949, metmuseum.org; $50. (Holland) TRIO MEDIAEVAL (Sunday) This Norwegian ensemble of three women who produce a finely blended sound is devoted mostly to early music, as its name suggests, but also commissions new works. For its current United States tour, which ends with this concert in the Music Before 1800 series, the singers are including Norwegian folk ballads within their program of medieval works. At 4 p.m., Corpus Christi Church, 529 West 121st Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 666-9266, mb1800.org; $25 to $40; $5 off for students and 62+. (Kozinn) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. BALLET MESTIZO (Tonight through Sunday) This music and dance company will present Viva Colombia! (Through Dec. 10.) Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 4 p.m., Thalia Spanish Theater, 41-17 Greenpoint Avenue, Sunnyside, Queens, (718) 729-3880, thaliatheatre.org; $25 for all tickets tonight; $30 tomorrow; $27 for students and 65+. (Jennifer Dunning) CHEZ BUSHWICK: LADIES WHO LAUNCH (Tomorrow) The ladies in this movable feast include the choreographers Maria Hassabi and the Chamecki/Lerner duo. At 8 p.m., Brooklyn Fire Proof @ the Nut Roaster, 120 Ingraham Street, at Porter Street, Bushwick, (718) 715-4961; $5. (Dunning) DADA VON BZDULOW THEATER (Tonight through Sunday) In its American debut, this Polish dance-theater company presents Several Witty Observations (à la Gombrowicz), which explores themes in the writings of Witold Gombrowicz. (Through Nov. 26.) Tonight through Sunday night at 7:30, La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710, lamama.org; $20; $15 for students. (Dunning) DIXON PLACE: MOVING MEN (Tuesday) Dances by Apollonia Cruz, David Padilla and Jesus Canelario, Javier Cardona and Stanley Love, all chosen by Arthur Aviles, the seriess curator. At 8 p.m., Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, between Houston and Prince Streets, Lower East Side, (212) 219-0736, dixonplace.org; $12; , $10 for students and 65+. (Dunning) DIXON PLACE: UNDEREXPOSED (Tonight through Sunday) The 14 choreographers in this showcase were chosen by Monica Bill Barnes and Shannon Hummel, themselves choreographers of vivid intelligence and perspective. Tonight through Sunday night at 8, Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, between Houston and Prince Streets, Lower East Side, (212) 219-0736, dixonplace.org; $12; $10 for students and 65+. (Dunning) FAMILY MATTERS (Tomorrow) Magnificent Meltdowns and Marvelous Mood Swings, a program for family audiences, features works by Kyle Abraham, Caron Eule, Mark Gindick, Zach Morris and others. At 2 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 691-0077, dtw.org; $20 for adults; $10 for children. (Jack Anderson) FIVE CENTURIES OF ITALIAN DANCE: TREASURES FROM THE CIA FORNAROLI COLLECTION (Today, tomorrow, and Monday through Thursday) This exhibition includes images from Italian dance of the Renaissance and Baroque periods through the 20th century, among them a 17th-century etching of a horse ballet and a lithograph of the original cast of Pas de Quatre. (Through Jan. 20.) Vincent Astor Gallery, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 111 Amsterdam Avenue, at 65th Street, Lincoln Center, Manhattan, (212) 870-1630, nypl.org; free. (Dunning) ALAN GOOD (Tonight through Sunday) Mr. Good, a former Merce Cunningham dancer, describes his new dances as pushing into the nooks and tagging the peaks of the music, in genres that include Bollywood, trip-hop and 19th-century German piano. Tonight through Sunday night at 8, the Construction Company, 10 East 18th Street, Manhattan, (212) 924-7882, theconstructioncompany.org; $15; $10 for students and 65+. (Dunning) ALONZO KINGS LINES BALLET (Tomorrow) The company, based in San Francisco and rooted in ballet, will perform two New York premieres, one set to music performed live by Rita Sahai, a Hindustani vocalist. At 8 p.m. Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, Brooklyn College, Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues, Flatbush, (718) 951-4500, brooklyncenteronline.org; $15 to $25. (Dunning) * LIMÓN DANCE COMPANY (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) This company is celebrating its 60th anniversary and remains a valued repository of American modern-dance history. Its two-week Joyce season includes revivals of works by José Limón and Doris Humphrey and a Lar Lubovitch premiere. (Through Nov. 26.) Tonight and tomorrow and Thursday nights at 8; tomorrow and Sunday at 2 p.m.; Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, joyce.org; $40. (John Rockwell) MOVEMENT RESEARCH (Monday) This installment of a series featuring choreographic experiments and works-in-progress includes dances by Renee Archibald, Arturo Vidich, Leah Kreutzer Barber and Eve Chalom. At 8 p.m., Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, South Village, (212) 539-2611, movementresearch.org; free. (Anderson) JENNIFER MULLER/THE WORKS (Monday) Ms. Mullers Noche de Pasión features music by Daniel Binelli. At 8 p.m., Dicapo Opera Theater, 184 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 691-3803; $45, $35 and $25; patrons: $75 and $125. (Anderson) * NEW YORK CITY BALLET (Tuesday) Before its real winter season, which begins Jan. 3, and before its endless Nutcracker run, which begins next Friday night, the company offers its annual Opening Night Benefit. The newsiest item is a youthful effort by Alexei Ratmansky, now artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet. His Middle Duet was first made for the Kirov Ballet eight years ago. Otherwise, there will be ballets and ballet excerpts from works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, Christopher Wheeldon and Jorma Elo. At 7:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 870-5570, nycballet.com; $20 to $100. Information on gala tickets for the pre-performance reception and post-performance black tie supper ball is at (212) 870-5585. (Rockwell) PMT FALL SHOWCASE 2006 (Tomorrow and Sunday) The hip-hop dancer Pavan Thimmaiah directs this showcase work by young dancers and choreographers in styles from contemporary modern to hip-hop. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Sunday at 5 p.m., Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium, 122 Amsterdam Avenue, at 65th Street, Manhattan, (212) 924-5694; $16; $13 for students. (Dunning) LIONEL POPKIN (Tonight through Sunday night) Mr. Popkin, who is from Los Angeles, will present Miniature Fantasies, a dance drawn from the detail and richly textured colors of 17th-century Italian miniature paintings. At 8:30, Danspace Project, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194, danspaceproject.org; $15. (Dunning) 2006 NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL: DAVID DORFMAN DANCE (Tonight and tomorrow night) In underground, which takes Weathermen as a starting point, Mr. Dorfman explores the tipping point between activism and terrorism and whether endorsed killing, or war, is ever justified. At 7:30, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100, bam.org; $20 to $45. (Dunning) VIA DANCE COLLECTIVE (Tonight through Sunday night) Work by brainy, funny modern-dance choreographers, including Janice Lancaster, Gudbjorg Arnald and Daniel Charon, with a film by Kathleen Hahn and Adam Larsen. At 8, Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479, viadance.org; $15. (Dunning) CLAUDE WAMPLER (Tonight and tomorrow night) Is it dance? Performance art? Or something else? Ms. Wampler has made a career of blending performing and visual art styles in category-defying ways. At 7 and 9:30, the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, Ext. 11, thekitchen.org; $12. (Dunning) CALVIN WILEY DANCE THEATER (Tomorrow and Sunday) This new troupe will present Mr. Wileys calvinography, as he puts it, in a program called Tapas: A Melange for the Soul. At 8 p.m., Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444, calvinwileydancetheatre.org; $25. (Dunning) WORKS & PROCESS: AMERICAN BALLET THEATER -- FROM THE SCHOOL TO THE STAGE (Sunday and Monday) ABT Studio Company dancers and students from the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School perform the works, and Kirk Peterson and Franco De Vita, directors of the troupe and school, respectively, talk about the process. At 7:30 p.m., Guggenheim Museum, (212) 423-3587, worksandprocess.com; sold out. (Dunning) KOTO YAMAZAKI/FLUID HUG-HUG (Tonight and tomorrow night) Versed in Butoh, modern dance and ballet, Mr. Yamazaki has dabbled in forms from traditional African dance to vernacular American street dancing. Expect to see a little of everything in Rise:Rose. At 7:30, Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077, dtw.org; $12 and $20. (Claudia La Rocco) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums * Bronx Museum of the Arts, Tropicalia: A Revolution in Brazilian Culture, through Jan. 28. Tropicalia, or Tropicalism, wasnt a style or a movement as much as an atmosphere, a rush of youthful, cosmopolitan, liberating optimism that broke over Brazil in the late 1960s like a sun shower, and soaked into everything -- art, music, film, theater and architecture -- until a military government clamped down. This show is an attempt to recapture the moments fugitive spirit, and with the presence of artists like Helio Oiticica and Lygia Clark, the architect Lina Bo Bardi, and musicians like Gilberto Gil, it comes close. 1040 Grand Concourse, at 165th Street, Morrisania, (718) 681-6000, bronxmuseum.org. (Holland Cotter) Brooklyn Museum: ANNIE LEIBOVITZ: A PHOTOGRAPHERS LIFE, 1990-2005, through Jan. 21. With photographs of her close-knit family and her companion, Susan Sontag; bits of photojournalism; and a pretentious foray into landscape photography, this large exhibition tells you more about Ms. Leibovitz than you probably want to know. The first-person text labels dont help. Not surprisingly, her well-known celebrity portraits are strongest, and at their best in a re-creation of the large pin-up boards on which she plotted the lavish book that accompanies the show. Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, Brooklyn, (718) 638-5000. (Roberta Smith) BROOKLYN MUSEUM: RON MUECK, through Feb. 4. So intensely lifelike are the fiberglass and silicone human figures made by the Australian sculptor Ron Mueck that you might almost converse with them. Ranging in size from an infant that is 10 and a quarter inches high to a woman in bed more than 21 feet long, they seem to embody, in one way or another, the perils and challenges of the human condition. The most affecting are Dead Dad, a 40-inch rendering of the artists father as a nude corpse, and Man in a Boat, in which a man a little more than two feet high sits naked and hapless toward the prow of a life-size rowboat. But Mr. Mueck stumbles when he gets into really exaggerated scale in several pieces, like the tableau of the woman in bed, giant hand to apprehensive face. The subject has not earned its monumentality, and its size distracts from its emotional intensity. Still, there are moments when you almost believe his subjects have lives. (See above.) (Grace Glueck) * Frick Collection: Domenico Tiepolo (1727-1804): A New Testament, through Jan. 7. The 60 ink drawings by Domenico Tiepolo, son of the Italian master painter Giambattist, have a funny kind of jitter. They look as if they were maybe woven from hair-fine brambles, or done on a ride over rough ground, or in a state of agitated elation. Illustrations of episodes from the four Gospels, they are among some 300 drawings the artist did in a project that seems to have been an extended exercise in personal piety. In them the Christian story of salvation becomes an operatic epic, gravely serious, but with notes of homely sweetness: Jesus in Gethsemane delivers his aria of mortal doubt and pain high up on a bare stage, all alone; the Virgin Marys mother, Anna, aged and stooped, is cosseted by angel-nurses, who guide her every step. 1 East 70th Street, (212) 288-0700. (Cotter) * Frick Collection: MASTERPIECES OF EUROPEAN PAINTING FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART, through Jan. 28. This exhibition transcends the usual traveling masterpieces-from genre, with room to spare. The 14 paintings include almost always outstanding works by household names like Velázquez, Caravaggio, El Greco, Turner and Poussin, as well as Annibale Carracci, Francisco de Zurbáran and Andrea del Sarto. But the astute installation makes the most of all this star power, letting the works talk among themselves to a remarkable degree, illuminating their likenesses, differences and collective progress. Extending John Bergers famous title, the show might be called Ways of Seeing Paintings. (See above.) (Smith) * SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: LUCIO FONTANA: VENICE/NEW YORK, through Jan. 21. If the Italian artist Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) was dazzled by Venice, he was positively awestruck by New York, which he first visited in 1961. For each city he created a group of works that he felt expressed its individual spirit. For Venice, a group of richly sensual oil paintings, with his signature slashes and punctures, evoked his personal experience of the lagoon city in glowing colors during the passage of a day. For New York he chose shiny metal surfaces, slashed and pierced to give a semblance of the wired energy and architectural vivacity he saw as the essence of the futuristic metropolis. The two groups are united for the first time, and well attended by works and photographs of works that trace from 1949 the career of an artist seeking to transcend the boundaries of his era. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3500, guggenheim.org. (Glueck) Metropolitan Museum of Art: Americans in Paris: 1860-1900, through Jan. 28. The Americanization of the world may be a done deal now, but not so long ago the United States was a buyer rather than a seller of cultural information, and France was a major source between the Civil War and World War I. Thats the story told in this exhibition. The basic ideas, though undeveloped, are inherently interesting, and the art, with some notable exceptions, is conservative and staid, especially when compared with work in the Mets Vollard show, done at the same time. (212) 535-7719, metmuseum.org. (Cotter) The Met: Coaxing the Spirits to Dance, through Sept. 3, 2007. How the Papuans practiced their beliefs on the island of New Guinea in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when they still had little contact with the West, is the complex and fascinating story told in this exhibition of some 60 objects and 30 rare photographs of the works on site or in actual use. The carved and painted spirit boards made throughout the gulf region, on the south coast of present-day Papua New Guinea, are probably the most easily recognized of the areas traditional artworks. Their central designs typically represent a bush or river spirit, with a heavily stylized face and perhaps a small body, surrounded by various totemic symbols. More daring in concept are the masks used in ritual dances. Papuan art may not be as varied or exciting as that of many African or Amerind peoples, but it records a vibrant community. (See above.) (Glueck) MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM: FRAGONARD AND THE FRENCH TRADITION AND MOZART AT 250: A CELEBRATION, through Jan. 7. Memorializing Mozarts 250th birthday and the 200th anniversary of the death of the French painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard, these small, paired shows reflect the elegance and brio of 18th-century culture. The Fragonard display consists only of his drawings and those of some compatriots, among them François Boucher, Hubert Robert and Jean-Baptiste Greuze; 40 works in all, drawn almost entirely from the Morgans collection. The show effectively displays the virtuosity and variety of Fragonards many styles, from his skills at depicting foliage-filled landscapes and the play of water in fountains and streams, to his keenness at capturing people, mythological scenes and ephemeral creatures. Although the works in the Mozart display -- letters and musical scores -- are in quite a different visual language, they go very happily with the Fragonard group. And you can hear excerpts from the manuscripts at two different listening stations in the show. 255 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 685-0008, morganlibrary.org. (Glueck) * Museum of Modern Art: Manet and the Execution of Maximilian, through Jan. 29. This small, gripping, focused show remind us of Modernisms mutinous, myth-scouring origins. And it does so by bringing one of arts great path-cutters, Edouard Manet, onto the scene, wry, politically infuriated and painting like Lucifer. Theres not a lot of him here: eight paintings, three on a single theme: the death by firing squad of the Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian in Mexico in 1867. But its enough. Manets images, surrounded here by a selection of prints and photographs, are electrifying, a new kind of history painting, that turned an art of pre-set ideals into one of mutable and unpredictable realities. (212) 708-9400. (Cotter) * Moma: BRICE MARDEN: A RETROSPECTIVE OF PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS, through Jan. 15. This quietly magnificent 40-year retrospective pays tribute to an artist who helped rebuild painting in the 1970s, working back from the brink of single-panel monochromes to elegant tangles of thick line on vibrant monochrome grounds that encompass a tremendous emotional range and sense of physical energy, and give the lie to the idea that any art can be purely formal or completely abstract. Mr. Marden converted the rule-ridden zone of Minimalist abstraction into a capacious yet disciplined place, pushing it toward landscape, the figure and its roots in Abstract Expressionism and beyond, in non-Western art. And he may have saved the best for last. (See above.) (Smith) * UKRAINIAN MUSEUM: CROSSROADS: MODERNISM IN UKRAINE, 1910-1930, through March 11. Some of the great names in Modernist Russian art -- Malevich, El Lissitsky, Rodchenko, Archipenko and Exter -- were actually born, or identified themselves as, Ukrainian. And this show of more than 70 works by 21 artists , including many interesting lesser-knowns, informs us that their Ukrainian-ness made an impact on their contributions to the Modernist movements of the 20th century. Discoveries in the show include Vsevolod Maksymovych, a painter drawing on Symbolist sources, heavily influenced by classical themes and the campy erotica of the British graphic artist Aubrey Beardsley; and Anatol Petrytsky, a painter and creator of lighthearted, collagelike sketches for classical and avant-garde opera and ballet. Stressing as it does the importance of Ukrainian participation in Modernist art, the show is equally significant in its exposure to Americans of lively talents, largely unknown. 222 East Sixth Street, East Village, (212) 228-0110, ukrainianmuseum.org. (Glueck) * The Whitney Museum of American Art: ALBERS AND MOHOLY-NAGY: FROM THE BAUHAUS TO THE NEW WORLD, through Jan. 21. This vigorously multimedia show traces the trajectories of two Modernist pioneers who overlapped as teachers at the Bauhaus in the 1920s and went on, separately, to influence postwar art and design in the United States. Ranging through painting, sculpture, film, design, prints and commercial art, it clarifies the Bauhaus debt to Russian Constructivism and includes works that presage the specific objects of the 1960s. Given the peregrinations of young artists among multiple art media, the show could not be more pertinent. The less-known Moholy-Nagy looks especially adventuresome. (212) 570-3600, whitney.org. (Smith) Galleries: Chelsea ERNESTO NETO: FROM WHAT WE ARE MADE Mr. Neto presents his version of the miracle of human conception with a luminous white tent the shape of a rainbow, with a thick foam floor, filled with a pile of small, colorful soft sculptures made in pantyhose fabric and stuffed with buckwheat shells. As the viewer enters the enclosed space, the floor shifts and subsides, tossing the sculptures about the tent and making it hard to stay upright. It is like traversing a marshmallow or wading through a pool of jelly, though with the phantasmagoria of a funhouse in which we can climb and play. Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, 521 West 21st Street, (212) 414-4144, tanyabonakdargallery.com, through Nov. 25th. (Benjamin Genocchio) Last Chance * JENNIFER BORNSTEIN You are an anthropologist studying your own tribe without benefit of camera. What to do? Try etching. In her first New York exhibition since her 1998 debut, the neo-Conceptualist Jennifer Bornstein does exactly this, creating small, meticulous, slightly naïve etched portraits of her subjects, starting with her teenage roommate. Friends, colleagues and students are tenderly rendered, as are female performance artists from the 1970s; ideas for sculptures and installations, and, finally, Margaret Mead. The meditation on things anthropological turns in a sly yet genuine self-portrait. Gavin Browns enterprise, 620 Greenwich Street, at Leroy Street, South Village, (212) 627-5258; closes tomorrow. (Smith) * FERNANDO BOTERO: ABU GHRAIB It is moving to encounter these large, unnerving images and austere compositions on American soil. Based on images and written accounts that came to light at the time of the Iraq prison abuse scandal, they do something the harrowing photographs of the naked, blindfolded and tormented prisoners do not: they restore their dignity and humanity without diminishing their agony or the absolute injustice of their situation. Mr. Botero manages this as painters always have, through manipulations of scale, color and form and majestic isolation and by making surprisingly astute readjustments of his own daffy style. Marlborough Gallery, 40 West 57th Street, (212) 541-4900; closes tomorrow. (Smith) Anant Joshi Cities in Asia are changing fast. Theyre going up and coming down at about equal speed. Urban culture, flooded with global goods and media, is changing too. Inevitably, such transformations have a big impact on art, and they are the subjects of new work by Anant Joshi, who lives and works in Mumbai. Paintings show a vision of the city modeled on commercial packing materials. Small sculptures, monuments to consumerist chaos, are assembled from hundreds of miniature toys, all made in China. Talwar Gallery, 108 East 16th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 673-3096, talwargallery.com; closes tomorrow. (Cotter) Lisa Yuskavage Featuring nearly 30 pieces, two shows star the dreamily rendered, improbably cantilevered women with whom Ms. Yuskavage has made her reputation. At first glance, these new works seem as dominated as ever by their subjects cartoonish physical attributes: wistful, pneumatic nudes set in sumptuous, jewel-toned environments, their louche fecundity echoed in sexualized scatterings of globular fruit and bursting floral arrangements. Yet these paintings hold clues to the evolution of Ms. Yuskavages program. Her transgressive tightrope act between feeding and interrogating the male gaze is more rewarding because she has endowed her characters not simply with dramatic curves, but also with an increasingly vivid inner life. David Zwirner Gallery, 525 West 19th Street, Chelsea, and Zwirner & Wirth, 32 East 69th Street; closes tomorrow. (Jeffrey Kastner)

World leaders remember visionary statesman Lee

Hong Kong Chief Executive C Y Leung, in a condolence letter to Lees son and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, His legacy of how to build a thriving, proud, diverse and dynamic country will live on for generations, not just in Singapore.

The Drug Lord With a Social Mission

Matt Bowden with his wife, Kristi. (Photo: Dana Lee). Bowden was devastated by these events, and he could see his own life spinning out of control, too. Unique among his friends, however, Bowden thought he might know a way out of the downward spiral.

The Listings: March 10 - March 16

Selective listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the New York metropolitan region this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings RING OF FIRE Opens Sunday. Johnny Cash hits are the backbone of this musical about three couples. So far, it has received surprisingly good buzz. Richard Maltby Jr. directs (2:00). Ethel Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. HARD RIGHT Opens Sunday. In David Barths dark comedy, a slacker college student takes his girlfriend home to meet his parents, and a family trauma interrupts everything (1:30). Players Theater, 115 Macdougal Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 352-3101. SIDD Opens Wednesday. Herman Hesses novel Siddhartha, the musical version (2:15). Dodger Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE Opens Thursday. Alec Baldwin stars in Joe Ortons jet-black comedy about a handsome stranger who seduces everyone onstage (2:00). Laura Pels Theater at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street, (212) 719-1300. FARENHEIT 451 Previews start Thursday. Opens March 21. Ray Bradbury cult vision of the future is adapted for the stage (1:30). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200. JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS Opens March 27. Something of a phenomenon in the late 1960s, the French singers romantic music returns to New York in this musical, which features tangos, ballads, boleros and rock n roll (2:00). Zipper Theater, 336 West 37th Street, (212) 239-6200. A NIGHT IN NOVEMBER Previews start Tuesday. Opens March 17. A revival of the comedy by Marie Jones (Stones in His Pockets) about a Protestant clerk in a Belfast, Ireland, welfare office who for the first time in his life does something really crazy (1:30). Irish Arts Center, 553 West 51st Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444. THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS GARLAND Previews start Monday. Opens March 23. Another year, another Judy. This time, the 1970s sexpot Adrienne Barbeau -- Rizzo from the original Grease -- plays Judy Garland backstage at her final concert (1:30). The Actors Playhouse, 100 Seventh Avenue South, at Fourth Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 239-6200. SHOW PEOPLE Previews start Thursday. Opens April 6. A new comedy by Paul Weitz (Privilege) about two actors who are hired by a banker to impersonate his parents. Debra Monk stars (2:00). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 246-4422. TRIAL BY WATER Previews start Tuesday. Opens March 26. The Ma-Yi Theater Companys allegorical work by Qui Nguyen about two Vietnamese brothers who set off for America. John Gould Rubin directs (1:30). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. WALK THE MOUNTAIN Previews start Wednesday. Opens March 19. Jude Narita performs monologues by Vietnamese and Cambodian women in this solo show, which was created from interviews with real people (1:00). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200. WELL Previews start tonight. Opens March 30. After a successful run at the Public Theater, Lisa Kron and her mom, played by Jayne Houdyshell, come to Broadway in this metadrama about theater, sickness and family (1:40). Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. Broadway BAREFOOT IN THE PARK For a work that celebrates the liberating force of spontaneity, this revival of Neil Simons 1963 comedy doesnt have one scene that feels organic, let alone impromptu. Directed by Scott Elliott, and starring Patrick Wilson and a miscast Amanda Peet as newlyweds in Greenwich Village, this Barefoot has the robotic gait of Frankensteins monster (2:20). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley) * BRIDGE & TUNNEL This delightful solo show, written and performed by Sarah Jones, is a sweet-spirited valentine to New York City, its polyglot citizens and the larger notion of an all-inclusive America. In 90 minutes of acutely observed portraiture gently tinted with humor, Ms. Jones plays more than a dozen men and women participating in an open-mike evening of poetry for immigrants (1:30). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Charles Isherwood) THE COLOR PURPLE So much plot, so many years, so many characters to cram into less than three hours. This beat-the-clock musical adaptation of Alice Walkers Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about Southern black women finding their inner warriors never slows down long enough for you to embrace it. LaChanze leads the vibrant, hard-working cast (2:40). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) DOUBT, A PARABLE (Pulitzer Prize, Best Play 2005, and Tony Award, Best Play 2005) Set in the Bronx in 1964, this play by John Patrick Shanley is structured as a clash of wills and generations between Sister Aloysius (Eileen Atkins), the head of a parochial school, and Father Flynn (Ron Eldard), the young priest who may or may not be too fond of the boys in his charge. The plays elements bring to mind those tidy topical melodramas that were once so popular. But Mr. Shanley makes subversive use of musty conventions (1:30). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) JERSEY BOYS From grit to glamour with the Four Seasons, directed by the pop repackager Des McAnuff (The Whos Tommy). The real thrill of this shrink-wrapped bio-musical, for those who want something more than recycled chart toppers and a story line poured from a can, is watching the wonderful John Lloyd Young (as Frankie Valli) cross the line from exact impersonation into something far more compelling (2:30). August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Love is a many-flavored thing, from sugary to sour, in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucass encouragingly ambitious and discouragingly unfulfilled new musical. The show soars only in the sweetly bitter songs performed by the wonderful Victoria Clark, as an American abroad (2:15). Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE ODD COUPLE Odd is not the word for this couple. How could an adjective suggesting strangeness or surprise apply to a production so calculatedly devoted to the known, the cozy, the conventional? As the title characters in Neil Simons 1965 comedy, directed as if to a metronome by Joe Mantello, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprise their star performances from The Producers, and its not a natural fit. Dont even consider killing yourself because the show is already sold out (2:10). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * THE PAJAMA GAME Sexual chemistry in a Broadway musical? Isnt that illegal now? If it were, then Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli OHara -- the white-hot stars of Kathleen Marshalls delicious revival of this 1954 musical -- would be looking at long jail terms. This intoxicating production, which features a charming supporting cast led by Michael McKean, allows grown-up audiences the rare chance to witness a bona fide adult love affair translated into hummable songs and sprightly dance (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300. (Brantley) * RABBIT HOLE Thanks to a certain former American president, it has become almost impossible to say that you feel someone elses pain without its sounding like a punch line. Yet the sad, sweet release of David Lindsay-Abaires wrenching play, about the impact of the death of a small child, lies precisely in the access it allows to the pain of others, in its meticulously mapped empathy. With an emotionally transparent five-member cast led by Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly, directed by Daniel Sullivan, this anatomy of grief doesnt so much jerk tears as tap them (2:10). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) SPAMALOT (Tony Award, Best Musical 2005) This staged re-creation of the mock-medieval movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail is basically a singing scrapbook for Python fans. Such a good time is being had by so many people that this fitful, eager celebration of inanity and irreverence has found a large and lucrative audience (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * SWEENEY TODD Sweet dreams, New York. This thrilling new revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheelers musical, with Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone leading a cast of 10 who double as their own musicians, burrows into your thoughts like a campfire storyteller who knows what really scares you. The inventive director John Doyle aims his pared-down interpretation at the squirming child in everyone who wants to have his worst fears both confirmed and dispelled (2:30). Eugene ONeill Theater, 230 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE The happy news for this happy-making little musical is that the move to larger quarters has dissipated none of its quirky charm. William Finns score sounds plumper and more rewarding than it did on Off Broadway, providing a sprinkling of sugar to complement the sass in Rachel Sheinkins zinger-filled book. The performances are flawless. Gold stars all around (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) Off Broadway * ABIGAILS PARTY Scott Elliotts thoroughly delectable production of Mike Leighs 1977 comedy about domestic discord among the British middle classes. Jennifer Jason Leigh leads a superb ensemble cast as a party hostess who wields the gin bottle like a deadly weapon, resulting in an evening of savagely funny chaos (2:15). Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) * ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL This Theater for a New Audience production inspires a quiet prayer of thanks to the theater gods. Here is that rare Shakespeare production in which there is nary an incompetent, misjudged or ineffective performance in a significant role. Darko Tresnjak and his cast find a way to make the plays troubled romance, between the adoring Helena and the disdaining Bertram, psychologically credible and even touching (2:30). The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) BERNARDA ALBA Michael John LaChiusas musical adaptation of Federico García Lorcas tragedy of sexual repression often feels wan and weary, though not for want of erotic imagery. The ominous, oppressive atmosphere that makes Lorcas play so much more than a potboiler is mostly missing in inaction. Graciela Daniele directs a game ensemble led by a miscast Phylicia Rashad (1:30). Mitzi Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY Steven Fales, a sixth-generation Mormon, describes leaving his family and becoming a gay escort in this fairly conventional, although admittedly compelling, piece of confessional theater (1:30). SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, between Avenue of the Americas and Varick Street, (212) 691-1555. (Zinoman) DEFIANCE The second play in John Patrick Shanleys cycle of morality dramas that began with Doubt, this ambitious tale of racial relations and the military mindset on a North Carolina marine base feels both overcrowded and oddly diffuse. If Doubt has an elegant and energy-efficient sprinters gait, Defiance progresses with a flustered air of distraction. The excellent Margaret Colin, as an officers wife, provides a welcome shot of credibility (1:30). Manhattan Theater Club, Theater 1, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. (Brantley) GREY GARDENS As the socialite in limbo called Little Edie Beale, Christine Ebersole gives one of the most gorgeous performances ever to grace a musical. Unfortunately, shes a pearl of incalculable price in a show that is mostly costume jewelry. Adapted from the Maysles brothers 1975 cult documentary movie, a camp favorite, and directed by Michael Greif, with the excellent Mary Louise Wilson as Edies bedridden mother (2:40). Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Brantley) HEDDA GABLER In the title role of Ibsens destructively dissatisfied heroine, Cate Blanchett is giving roughly a dozen of the liveliest performances to be seen this year, all at the same time, in the Sydney Theater Companys visiting production. A mere one or two at this level of intensity would have been enough. But she remains compellingly watchable in Robyn Nevins hyped-up, spasmodic production (2:25). Brooklyn Academy of Musics Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100. (Brantley) * I LOVE YOU BECAUSE The plot line -- single New Yorkers in search of love -- couldnt be more familiar, but somehow this fluffy, funny musical makes it refreshing, helped along by an engaging six-member cast, with David A. Austin making a particularly hilarious impression. An impressive start for Ryan Cunningham (book and lyrics) and Joshua Salzman (music), both still in their 20s (2:00). Village Theater, 158 Bleecker Street, near Sullivan Street, East Village, (212) 307-4100. (Neil Genzlinger) INDOOR/OUTDOOR A comedy by Kenny Finkle about a housecat torn between affection for her human companion and a sexy tomcat promising a tour of the great outdoors. Directed by Darren Goldstein and energetically performed by a cast of four, its essentially just another dysfunctional relationship tale, with little kitty whiskers drawn on (1:50). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) THE MUSIC TEACHER, A PLAY/OPERA A pair of interlocking monologues surrounding a little parody of an opera, with text by Wallace Shawn and music by his brother Allen. Written two decades ago and shelved when the authors failed to find a producer, this is a minor-key, underrealized work that hits a few elegiac notes but steps too gingerly around the psychosexual trauma at its core (1:45). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village, (212) 307-4100. (Isherwood) RED LIGHT WINTER A frank, occasionally graphic story of erotic fixation and the havoc it can wreak on sensitive types. Written and directed by Adam Rapp, the play is both a doomy romantic drama and a morbid comedy about the anxieties of male friendship. Although somewhat contrived, it features a lovely performance by Christopher Denham as a lonely soul starved for intimacy (2:25). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) SOLDIERS WIFE When this play first opened on Broadway, World War II was shuddering to a close, and those on the home front wanted to feel good. Despite flaws in the work, the Mint Theater Companys revival of Rose Frankens 1944 comedy is highly entertaining (2:00). Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 315-0231. (Honor Moore) * [TITLE OF SHOW] Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell are the authors, stars and subject matter of this delectable new musical about its own making. The self-consciousness is tempered by a wonderful cast performing with the innocence of kids cavorting in a sandbox. Its a worthy postmodern homage to the classic backstage musicals, and an absolute must for show queens (1:30). Vineyard Theater, 108 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 353-0303. (Isherwood) * TRANSATLANTIC LIAISON A play fashioned from Simone de Beauvoirs love letters to the American novelist Nelson Algren and scenes from her novel The Mandarins (which tells the story of their affair). Wonderful performances by Elizabeth Rothan as de Beauvoir in love, and Matthew S. Tompkins as the emotional Algren (1:30). Harold Clurman Theater on Theater Row, 412 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Moore) Off Off Broadway EL QUIJOTE Sancho Panza is the real star of this often rollicking but uneven adaptation of Cervantess Don Quijote. Caution: no windmills. In Spanish with simultaneous English translation (1:40). Repertorio Español, at the Gramercy Arts Theater, 138 East 27th Street, (212) 225-9920. (George Hunka) THE TRAVELING LADY A small but affecting production of Horton Footes 1954 play, produced by Ensemble Studio Theater in association with Baylor University, where Marion Castleberrys staging originated. Like The Trip to Bountiful, of roughly the same vintage, this is a delicately drawn portrait of an anxious spirit in search of home, in this case a young wife looking to reunite with her neer-do-well husband (1:30). Ensemble Studio Theater, 549 West 52nd Street, Clinton, (212) 352-3101. (Isherwood) 25 QUESTIONS FOR A JEWISH MOTHER This is the comedian Judy Golds fiercely funny monologue, based on her own life as a single Jewish lesbian mother and interviews with more than 50 other Jewish mothers (1:10). Ars Nova, 511 West 54th Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444. (Phoebe Hoban) * ZOMBOID! (FILM/PERFORMANCe PROJECT #1) O, the heresy of it! Richard Foreman has introduced film into the realm of exquisitely artificial, abstract theater in which he has specialized for four decades. As it turns out, juxtaposing two art forms allows Mr. Foreman to underscore in resonant new ways what he has been saying for years: reality is, well, relative. And he continues to work in a style guaranteed to infect your perceptions for hours after (1:15). Ontological-Hysteric Theater, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. (Brantley) Long-Running Shows AVENUE Q R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:10). Golden, 252 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh, sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200.(Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance ACTS OF MERCY: PASSION-PLAY If there is a coherent story to Michael John Garcés Acts of Mercy: passion-play, it is resolutely kept from the audience. As the efforts of two brothers to reconcile with a dying father progress, it seems possible that viewers are meant to discern the consequences of family trauma from punchy monosyllabic combat and repeated expletives, but their efforts to connect are continually frustrated (2:15). Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place, west of Seventh Avenue, West Village, (212) 868-4444; closing Sunday. (Moore) CLEAN ALTERNATIVES Brian Dykstras improbable comedy details the good fight fought by a businesswoman turned environmental activist taking on a toxin-spreading megacorporation. The play also depicts the moral transformation of a rapacious lawyer into a love-smitten puppy dog. Call it a fairy tale for our time (2:00). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street; closing Sunday. (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) * THE SEVEN The wild ride of luckless ol Oedipus -- accidentally offing Dad, marrying Mom, being dissed by the kids -- gets pimped to the nines in this frisky and funny new riff on the classic story. Written by Will Power and directed by Jo Bonney, the show is a freewheeling adaptation of one of the more static, less revered Greek tragedies, Aeschylus Seven Against Thebes: a hip-hop musical comedy-tragedy (2:00). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 239-6200; closing Sunday. (Isherwood) * THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL Led by Lois Smith in a heart-wrenching performance, the cast never strikes a false note in Harris Yulins beautifully mounted revival of Horton Footes drama, finding an emotional authenticity in a work largely remembered as a tear-jerking chestnut. This is not to say you should neglect to bring handkerchiefs (1:50). Signature Theater, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 244-7529; closing tomorrow. (Brantley) THE WOODEN BREEKS The line dividing inspired whimsy from tedious nonsense can be a fine one, and much of this new play by Glen Berger falls on the wrong side of it. An elaborately conceived comedy seeking to celebrate the consolations of storytelling, it unfolds the tale of a Scottish tinker who dreams up imaginary worlds to keep despair at bay (2:00). MCC Theater, at the Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 279-4200; closing Sunday. (Isherwood) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. AQUAMARINE (PG, 109 minutes) In this sweet comedy for the crowd that has outgrown The Little Mermaid, two likable pals (Emma Roberts and Joanna Levesque, a k a the singer JoJo) try to help a mermaid (Sara Paxton) find love and learn how to use her feet properly.(Neil Genzlinger) * BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (R, 134 minutes) Annie Proulxs heartbreaking story of two ranch hands who fall in love while herding sheep in 1963 has been faithfully translated onto the screen in Ang Lees landmark film. (Mr. Lee won the Academy Award for best director.) Heath Ledger (in a great performance worthy of Brando at his peak) and Jake Gyllenhaal bring them fully alive. (Stephen Holden) * CAPOTE (R, 114 minutes) Philip Seymour Hoffmans portrayal of Truman Capote is a tour de force of psychological insight. (Mr. Hoffman won the Academy Award for best actor.) Following the novelist as he works on the magazine assignment that will become In Cold Blood, the film raises intriguing questions about the ethics of writing. (A. O. Scott) CRASH (Academy Award, Best Picture) (R, 107 minutes) A gaggle of Los Angeles residents from various economic and ethnic backgrounds collide, sometimes literally, within an extremely hectic 36 hours. Well-intentioned, impressively acted, but ultimately a speechy, ponderous melodrama of liberal superstition masquerading as realism. (Scott) DAVE CHAPPELLES BLOCK PARTY (R, 103 minutes) The setup is blissfully simple: a free block party on a dead-end street in Bed-Stuy, with a lineup of musicians, some of whom, like Kanye West and Mos Def, have put in appearances on Chappelles Show. The nominal idea, Mr. Chappelle explains on camera, was the concert Ive always wanted to see. The result, which ping-pongs between Brooklyn and Mr. Chappelles hometown in Ohio, is a tantalizing sketch-portrait of the artist amid an outpouring of hard beats and soul. (Manohla Dargis) * GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. (PG, 90 minutes) George Clooney, with impressive rigor and intelligence, examines the confrontation between the CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow (a superb David Strathairn) and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (himself). Plunging you into a smoky, black-and-white world of political paranoia and commercial pressure, the film is a history lesson and a passionate essay on power, responsibility and the ethics of journalism. (Scott) * LITTLE FISH (R, 114 minutes) In this tough, savvy Australian film, Cate Blanchett sinks deeply into the role of a 32-year-old recovering heroin addict trying to rebuild her life and fighting the temptation to relapse. (Holden) MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (PG-13, 144 minutes) Think As the Geisha Turns, with devious rivals, swoon-worthy swains, a jaw-dropping dance number recycled from Madonnas Drowned World Tour and much clinching, panting and scheming. Directed by Rob Marshall from the Arthur Golden book, and starring Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh. (Dargis) * MUNICH (R, 164 minutes) With his latest, Steven Spielberg forgoes the emotional bullying and pop thrills that come so easily to him to tell the story of a campaign of vengeance that Israel purportedly brought against Palestinian terrorists in the wake of the 1972 Olympics. An unsparingly brutal look at two peoples all but drowning in a sea of their own blood, Munich is by far the toughest film of the directors career, and the most anguished. (Dargis) * PRIDE & PREJUDICE (PG, 128 minutes) In this sumptuous, extravagantly romantic adaptation of Jane Austens 1813 novel, Keira Knightleys Elizabeth Bennet exudes a radiance that suffuses the movie. This is a banquet of high-end comfort food perfectly cooked and seasoned to Anglophilic tastes. (Holden) THE SHAGGY DOG (PG, 98 minutes) Tim Allen is a prosecutor who is going, as it were, to the dogs in this revisiting of the old Disney film, which is far livelier than its namesake. Scenes in which Mr. Allen tries to fight off his inner canine while a no-nonsense judge played by Jane Curtin is holding a trial are comic gems.(Genzlinger) 16 BLOCKS (PG-13, 105 minutes) If Richard Donners presence suggests that his new action flick, 16 Blocks, is a throwback to the 1980s, so does one of the names holding pride of place above the title, Bruce Willis. Mr. Willis has always been an acquired taste, but for those who did acquire that taste, its a pleasure to see him doing what comes naturally. Which means holding a gun and fending off bad guys with as few words as possible. (Dargis) * SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS (No rating, 117 minutes, in German) The gripping true story of Sophie Scholl, an anti-Nazi student activist in the 1940s, arrested and executed for distributing leaflets at Munich University, challenges you to gauge your own courage and strength of character should you find yourself in similar circumstances. (Holden) * SYRIANA (R, 122 minutes) Ambitious, angry and complicated, Stephen Gaghans second film tackles terrorism, American foreign policy, global trade and the oil business through four interwoven stories. There are at least a half-dozen first-rate performances, and Mr. Gaghan, who wrote and directed, reinvents the political thriller as a vehicle for serious engagement with the state of the world. (Scott) TRANSAMERICA (R, 103 minutes) Felicity Huffmans performance as a preoperative transsexual on a cross-country journey with her long-lost son is sensitive and convincing, and helps the movie rise above its indie road-picture clichés. (Scott) * TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY (R, 91 minutes) Michael Winterbottom both confirms and refutes the assumption that Laurence Sternes 18th-century masterpiece of digression could never be made into a movie by making a movie about the making of such a movie. Steve Coogan is wonderful as Tristram, Tristrams father and himself, though Rob Brydon steals more than a few of Mr. Coogans scenes. (Scott) Tsotsi (R, 94 minutes) (Academy Award winner for best foreign film.) Written and directed by Gavin Hood, from a novel by Athol Fugard, this South African film centers on a 19-year-old thug who steals a baby and finds redemption. You dont have to read crystal balls to see into Tsotsis future; you just need to have watched a couple of Hollywood chestnuts. (Dargis) ULTRAVIOLET (PG-13, 80 minutes) The latest in movies structured around eyewear and abdominals, Ultraviolet stars Milla Jovovich as a genetically modified human -- part vampire, part chameleon, all model -- and one of the many victims of a government experiment to improve on nature. Directed by Kurt Wimmer with a fine eye for the preferences of 12-year-old boys, Ultraviolet cleaves faithfully to its comic-book genealogy with a plot unobstructed by big words and images that rarely breach two dimensions. Ultrasilly.(Jeannette Catsoulis) Unknown White Male (PG-13, 88 minutes) The British filmmaker Rupert Murray tells the bizarre story of his old friend Doug Bruce, who in 2003 walked into a Coney Island hospital claiming not to know who he was, thereupon becoming either a heart-wrenching casualty of a medical anomaly or the prime suspect in a mystery yet to be solved. (Dargis) UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION (R, 106 minutes) In this sequel to Underworld (2003), the writer and director Len Wiseman and the writer Danny McBride pick up the story of the vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and the vampire/werewolf hybrid Michael (Scott Speedman) as they race to prevent the release of an imprisoned über-werewolf. With leads who strain to manage one facial expression between them, and a cinematographer who shoots everything through the same steel-blue filter, Underworld: Evolution is little more than a monotonous barrage of computer-generated fur and fangs. (Catsoulis) WALK THE LINE (PG-13, 138 minutes) Johnny Cash gets the musical biopic treatment in this moderately entertaining, never quite convincing chronicle of his early years. Joaquin Phoenix, sweaty, inarticulate and intense as Cash, is upstaged by Reese Witherspoon (winner of the Academy Award for best actress), who tears into the role of June Carter (Cashs creative partner long before she became his second wife) with her usual charm, pluck and intelligence. (Scott) * NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD (PG, 103 minutes) Filled with country memories, bluesy regret and familiar and piercing sentiment, Jonathan Demmes concert film sounds like quintessential Neil Young, which, depending on your home catalog, will be either an enormous turn-on or turnoff. (Dargis) Film Series ANNA MAY WONG (Through April 16) Wong, the first Chinese-American movie star, would have turned 100 last year. (She died in 1961.) The Museum of the Moving Images extensive seven-week retrospective of her work continues this weekend with two silents directed by Richard Eichberg: Song (1928), in which Wong plays a dancer in love with a knife thrower, and The Pavement Butterfly, about a woman who runs away to the French Riviera after she is framed for murder. Both films will be accompanied by live music. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077; $10. (Anita Gates) DOCUMENTARY FORTNIGHT EXPANDED (Through Monday) The Museum of Modern Arts exhibition of contemporary nonfiction films, which has run five weeks this year, concludes on Monday with A Model for Matisse: The Story of the Vence Chapel (2005), about Henri Matisses friendship and special project with a French Dominican nun. This weekends films include The Tenth Planet: A Single Life in Baghdad (2004), about an Iraqi secretarys everyday life; Bachelor Farmer (2005), about gay men in small-town Idaho; and Les Petits Soldats (2004), about children who fought during civil unrest in Liberia. 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400; $10. (Gates) MAN IN THE DUNES: DISCOVERING HIROSHI TESHIGAHARA (Through March 19) BAMcinémateks tribute to Teshigahara (1927-2001), the artist, filmmaker and flower arranger, continues this weekend with Summer Soldiers (1972), a drama about two American soldiers who go AWOL while on leave in Tokyo, and The Face of Another (1966), a psychological thriller starring Tatsuya Nakadai as an accident victim who is given an artificial face. 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; $10. (Gates) PRIX JEAN VIGO (Through Dec. 30) The Museum of Modern Art is honoring Vigo (1905-34), the French filmmaker, with a series of 41 films from directors who have won the prize that bears his name. This weekends feature is Qui Êtes-Vous, Polly Maggoo? (1965), William Kleins satire about the French fashion world, shown with Des Filles et des Chiens (1991), Sophie Fillièress short about adolescent friendship. 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400; $10. (Gates) RECENT FILMS FROM FINLAND (Through March 22) Scandinavia House continues its four-month program of Scandinavian films with a series of Finnish features. Anastasia Lapsui and Markku Lehmuskallios Fata Morgana (2004), a documentary about the indigenous people of the Chukchi Peninsula, will be shown on Wednesday. 58 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 879-9779; $8. (Gates) SOME KIND OF HORROR SHOW (Through March 30) BAMcinémateks annual festival of horror movies continues on Monday and Tuesday with Kaneto Shindos Kuroneko (1968), about the murderous spirits of two women killed by samurai in feudal Japan. On Thursday, Innocent Blood (1992), the adventures of a modern-day vampire who bites only bad people, will be shown, along with Michael Jacksons 13-minute Thriller video (1983). John Landis, who directed both, will hold a question-and-answer session afterward. 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; $10. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. ALASH ENSEMBLE WITH KONGAR-OOL ONDAR (Monday) These Tuvan musicians stretch the definition of throat singing, the traditional, polyphonic technique, by adding some Western music elements. 9:30 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; $12. (Laura Sinagra) THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND (Tonight, tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday) The archetypal Southern rock band is still on the road. Gregg Allman, the bands keyboardist and main singer, is more than ever its center, since its co-founder Dickey Betts is estranged from the group. His replacement, Warren Haynes, shares the twin-guitar passages with Derek Trucks, the drummer Butch Truckss nephew and a jam-band leader in his own right. 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 496-7070; $49.99 to $84.99. (Jon Pareles) THE BATS (Sunday and Wednesday) Having just released its first album in a decade, this pastoral New Zealand guitar pop band continues to make the loose yet ornately pretty music that defined Kiwi-pops 1980s heyday. 9 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 653-1703; $10. (Sinagra) JAMES BLUNT (Tuesday and Wednesday) With a Rod Stewart vocal tone that can also flip into transporting falsetto, this British artist writes songs in the ethereal but angsty Elliott Smith vein, only with more forceful alt-pop production. His song No Bravery is an antiwar lament that clings. 8 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 533-2111; $25 in advance, $30 at the door. (Both shows sold out.) (Sinagra) CRISTINA BRANCO (Tomorrow) The Portuguese songs called fado (fate) balance sorrowful melodies and lyrics about tragic destiny in a gleaming cats cradle of finger-picked Portuguese guitars. Its music that frames a singers voice while it mercilessly exposes every nuance of sorrow and determination. Cristina Branco is one of Portugals most celebrated young fadistas. 8 p.m., Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, (212) 992-8484; $32. (Pareles) ISOBEL CAMPBELL (Monday) This feather-voiced former member of Belle and Sebastian has made her own music as the Gentle Waves but also does so under her own name; she recently collaborated on some atmospheric music with Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees. 7:30 p.m., Joes Pub at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 539-8778; $15. (Sinagra) THE CLOUD ROOM, FILM SCHOOL (Tomorrow) The new-wave-influenced naïf rockers the Cloud Room garnered wild, though deeply underground, buzz when their best song, Hey Hey Now, written during the frontmans grave illness, was given lots of wish-you-wells but never broke into larger indie-pop consciousness. The wistful rock band Film School also plays. 9 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $12. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) DILATED PEOPLES, LITTLE BROTHER (Wednesday and Thursday) The straightforward rap of the Los Angeles group Dilated Peoples tries to offer a tough-guy corrective to gangsta bullying and shallow pop hip-hop. The result is short on fun. Little Brothers soul-grounded Carolina rap forgoes Southern crunk in favor of blending the free-form experimentation of Outkast with the kind of jazzy tracks that characterized East Coast hip-hop of the mid-1990s. 8 p.m., S.O.B.s, 204 Varick Street, at Houston Street, South Village, (212) 243-4940; $25. (Sinagra) TOM DUNNE AND FRIENDS: A TRIBUTE TO PADDY CRONIN (Tonight) The Irish music traditionalist and multi-instrumentalist Tom Dunne pays tribute to the County Kerry fiddle legend Paddy Cronin. He is joined by the guitarist John Dillon and other musicians. 9, Glucksman Ireland House at New York University, 1 Washington Mews, Greenwich Village, (212) 998-3950; $15; free to Ireland House members and N.Y.U. students. (Sinagra) EARLY MAN, PRIESTESS, THE SWORD (Tomorrow) The Ohio band Early Man is a heavy-metal duo that harks back to genre polestars like Judas Priest. Likewise, the Texans in the Sword do a great approximation of Black Sabbaths slow menace, at points also revealing hard-core punk underpinnings with intermittent thrash bravura. 9 p.m., Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, (201) 653-1703; $10 in advance, $12 at the door. (Sinagra) DEBORAH GIBSON (Tomorrow) Back in the 1980s she was Debbie Gibson, a teenage pop star correlate to Molly Ringwald, charming her way up the charts with hits like Shake Your Love and Lost in Your Eyes. Now shes a grown-up who does Broadway and hosts VH1 shows about, what else, teenage stars. 8 p.m., Canal Room, 285 West Broadway, at Canal Street, SoHo, (212) 941-8100; $30. (Sinagra) HOT CHIP (Tomorrow) Londons literate electro-poppers Hot Chip find room in their techno-savvy spectrum for wiseacre hat-tips to rap, R&B, indie rock and hip, wispy folk. 8:30 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $15. (Sinagra) JANIS IAN (Tuesday) The singer-songwriter Janis Ian is still most famous for the folkie lament Societys Child and the ugly-duckling anthem At Seventeen, but the work of this rich-voiced musician is more varied than these, never shying away from the painful nuances of aging and loss, but always seeking redemption. Tuesday, she celebrates the release of her 20th major-label album, Folk Is the New Black. 7 and 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200; $20 in advance, $22 at the door. (Sinagra) NISHAT KHAN (Tonight) The sitar player Nishat Khan comes from a long line of Indian virtuosos, including his father, Ustad Imrat Khan. The tabla player Abhijit Banerjee will join him in his performance of various ragas tonight. 8:30, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, (212) 501-1390, (212) 247-7800; $30 and $42. (Sinagra) BETTYE LaVETTE, MARCIA BALL (Thursday) Bettye LaVette of Detroit released her first recording when she was 16, and soldiered on through a career that carried her through 15 labels, minor rhythm-and-blues hits like He Made a Woman Out of Me and years in Europe. But her tough, knowing voice and sense of drama could rival Tina Turners. Marcia Ball plays two-fisted New Orleans barrelhouse piano and sings in a husky, knowing voice about all the trouble men and women can get into on the way to a good time. 8 p.m., B. B. Kings Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144; $26.50 in advance, $30 at the door. (Pareles) SONDRE LERCHE, PAUL BRILL (Tonight) Since making an indie cabaret-rock splash in 2002, the music of the Norwegian guitarist-crooner Sondre Lerche has suggested life experience beyond its confident purveyors tender years. Lately he has taken a break from the baroque, applying his breathy yet urgent voice to a batch of lighthearted, stripped-down jazzy tunes. The local songwriter Paul Brill opens. 7:30, Housing Works Bookstore Café, 126 Crosby Street, between Houston and Prince Streets, SoHo, (212) 334-3324; $25. (Sinagra) LES SAVY FAV (Tonight) The rockers Les Savvy Fav play revved-up punk with coiffed and stylish contours. 8, Warsaw at the Polish National Home, 261 Driggs Avenue, at Eckford Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (212) 645-5156; $16.50. (Sinagra) LILYS (Tomorrow) This Philadelphia indie rock band is rendered consistently fascinating by the mercurial nature of its frontman (and only constant member), Kurt Heasley, who has exuded recalcitrant charisma as both an early-1990s shoe gazer and, later, an Anglophilic retro-rocker. 8 p.m., Magnetic Field, 97 Atlantic Avenue, near Henry Street, Brooklyn Heights, (718) 834-0069; $10. (Sinagra) SAMARA LUBELSKI, MI & LAU (Tonight) Samara Lubelski, best known for her collaborations with the psychedelic outfits Hall of Fame and Tower Recordings, goes solo here. The Finnish singer Mi and the French musician Lau, after becoming a couple in Paris, moved to the woods in Finland to record what they will showcase here, a cache of austere, wintery bedroom folk. 8, Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7503; $10. (Sinagra) MARAH (Tonight) This Philly-bred band has, in its decade-plus existence, pushed beyond scruffy alt-country into the realms of quirky bar rock and lo-fi 70s folk. 9, Maxwells, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, N.J., (201) 653-1703; $12. (Sinagra) METRIC (Tonight) Led by the vibrant, articulate singer Emily Hanes, this band finds fresh uses for new-wave brio. Ms. Haness shuddering alto functions alternately as a weapon and a whip-cracking come-on. 6 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600; $20. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) THE POGUES (Thursday) Before every beer-brewing ethnicity spawned a punk band modernizing its traditionals with lashing, distorted guitar and aggressive, often hilarious howls, there was Irelands Pogues. Its leader, Shane MacGowan, a man of tossed-off wit, ubiquitous slurring and few teeth, picked up in the 00s where he left off before the bands 90s hiatus. 8 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, ticketmaster.com or (212) 307-7171; $50. (Sinagra) QUEEN WITH PAUL ROdGERS (Sunday) Paul Rodgers, the swaggering lead singer of Free, Bad Company and the Firm, cant scale the falsetto highs of Queens histrionic legend, Freddie Mercury, so he doesnt try. What results is a more democratized and meaty take on the bands worthy hits. 8 p.m., Nassau Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, Uniondale, N.Y., (631) 888-9000; $35 to $125. (Sinagra) Jane Siberry (Tomorrow) Jane Siberry is always trying another collaboration or another musical strategy. Her sweetly tousled voice, her sly intelligence, her determination to explore and her playful fascination with family, archetype and myth can all lead to intimate epiphanies. 8:30 p.m., Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, (212) 501-1390; $32 to $38. (Pareles) ALLEN TOUSSAINT: NEW ORLEANS BENEFIT BRUNCH (Sunday) The legendary New Orleans songwriter, producer and pianist Allen Toussaint, at one point rumored missing after Hurricane Katrina, performs for the benefit of continuing hurricane relief efforts in the Crescent City. Noon, Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Avenue, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200; $30 for adults; $15 for children under 12. (Sinagra) JERRY JEFF WALKER (Tonight and tomorrow night) Jerry Jeff Walker wrote the hit Mr. Bojangles, but around his home-stomping grounds of Texas, hes the easygoing, gruffly avuncular icon of the cosmic cowboy mentality, all about spacing out in the wide-open spaces. 8, B. B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144; $35 in advance, $40 at the door. (Pareles) WALTER (WOLFMAN) WASHINGTON (Wednesday) Mr. Washington, a New Orleans guitarist, has been a trusty funky collaborator for the likes of Bobby (Blue) Bland and Irma Thomas. His shows are usually rump-shaking affairs. 9 p.m., Coda, 34 East 34th Street, Manhattan, (212) 685-3434; $17.50 in advance, $20 at the door. (Sinagra) Cabaret Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. BARBARA CARROLL (Sunday) Even when swinging out, this Lady of a Thousand Songs remains an impressionist with special affinities for Thelonious Monk and bossa nova. 2 p.m., Algonquin Hotel, Oak Room, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331; $55, including brunch at noon. (Stephen Holden) * Barbara Cook (Tonight and tomorrow, and Tuesday through Thursday) This Broadway legend is loose and down-home and, as always, magnificent singing a 25-year retrospective of songs she has performed at the Café Carlyle. 8:45 p.m., with additional shows tonight and tomorrow night at 10:45, Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 744-1600; $100; dinner required at the 8:45 shows. (Holden) ANNIE ROSS (Tomorrow) Cool, funny, swinging and indestructible, this 75-year-old singer and sometime actress exemplifies old-time hip in its most generous incarnation. 7 p.m., Dannys Skylight Room, 346 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 265-8133; $25, with a $12 minimum. (Holden) Samantha Sidley (Tonight and tomorrow night) This budding 20-year-old winner of the Oak Rooms young artist competition, accompanied by fellow students from the Berklee College of Music, is a charmingly sunny but still half-formed jazz interpreter. 9 and 11:30, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331; $50, with a $50 prix fixe dinner at the early shows, or $20 minimum at the late shows. (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. J. D. ALLEN (Wednesday) Mr. Allen is a probing tenor saxophonist, but hes not averse to digging into a groove; his rhythm section here includes the bassists Meshell Ndegeocello and Neal Caine and the drummer Gerald Cleaver. 10 p.m., Fat Cat, 75 Christopher Street, at Seventh Avenue, West Village, (212) 675-7369; cover, $20. (Nate Chinen) RAN BLAKE/CHARLES GAYLE (Tonight) Mr. Blake is a pianist with an attraction to cinematic imagery and spooky silence; Mr. Gayle, better known as a fiery saxophonist, has his own rumbling touch at the keys. Each has a new solo piano album on Tompkins Square Records, and each plays in that format here. 8 (Mr. Blake and Mr. Gayle) and 10 (Mr. Gayle alone), the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) * CELEBRATING THE MAGIC OF TOOTS THIELEMANS (Thursday) Early in his 60-year career, the Belgian harmonica virtuoso Toots Thielemans invented an improvisational voice for his instrument. This tribute concert emphasizes the flexibility of his lyrical style, with a roster of special guests, including the saxophonists Joe Lovano and Paquito DRivera, the singers Al Jarreau and Ivan Lins, the guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves and the pianists Herbie Hancock, Eliane Elias and Kenny Werner. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $18 to $66. (Chinen) GERALD CLEAVERS UNCLE JUNE (Wednesday) Dealing less in rhythm than in pulse, Mr. Cleavers drumming perfectly suits the fluid requirements of jazzs post-everything avant-garde; this ruminative project features the tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, the violinist Mat Maneri, the keyboardist Craig Taborn and the bassist Drew Gress. 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover, $8. (Chinen) SHANE ENDSLEY GROUP (Thursday) Mr. Endsley, a progressive-minded but lyrical trumpeter, pursues a floating pop sensibility in this ensemble, with Matt Moran on vibraphone, Erik Deutsch on keyboards and Todd Sickafoose on bass, among others. 8 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover, $8. (Chinen) LIBERTY ELLMAN, VIJAY IYER, STEVE LEHMAN (Tomorrow) Texture and tonality are malleable properties in this collective trio, with Mr. Ellman on guitar, Mr. Iyer on piano and Mr. Lehman on saxophones. 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) BEN GERSTEIN COLLECTIVE (Monday) The trombonist Ben Gerstein has led this free-improvising ensemble since 2000, enlisting some of the brightest young inside-outside players in the city; here the group consists of seven pieces, including the saxophonist David Binney, the trombonist Jacob Garchik and the keyboardist Jacob Sacks. 7 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 929-9883; no cover. (Chinen) ROY HARGROVE QUINTET + 1 (Tuesday through March 19) Mr. Hargrove, a sharp and energetic trumpeter, has led this hard-bop combo for years; as on a forthcoming album, Nothing Serious (Verve), its ranks are augmented here by the veteran trombonist Slide Hampton. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592; cover, $30 at tables and a $5 minimum, or $20 at the bar with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) * ROY HAYNES QUARTET (Tuesday through March 19) Now in his 80s, Mr. Haynes is irrefutably an elder statesman, but his drumming, like his sartorial sense, evinces a boldly contemporary swagger. He has lost nothing, it seems, to the years; what he has gained is unmatched experience and a legend commensurate with his talent. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY (Tonight and tomorrow) This groove-minded piano trio put out a spacey but solid album, The Sameness of Difference (Hyena), last year; they boost their considerable jam-band appeal here with a pair of guests, the percussionist Mike Dillon and the saxophonist known as Skerik. 12:30 a.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592; cover, $15, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen) JUILLIARD JAZZ QUINTET (Tuesday through March 19) Commemorating a century of music education at Juilliard, this ensemble is led by the tenor saxophonist Victor Goines and the trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, conductors of the five-year-old Juilliard Jazz Orchestra; the pianist Ted Rosenthal, the bassist Ben Wolfe and the drummer Carl Allen make up the rhythm section. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set Fridays and Saturdays, Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) DAVE LIEBMANS DIFFERENT BUT THE SAME (Tonight) An incantatory saxophonist working in the post-Coltrane idiom, Mr. Liebman digs in with several fellow adventurers: the saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, the bassist Tony Marino and the drummer Nasheet Waits. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $15, including two drinks. (Chinen) JOE LOVANO QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Lovano has become one of the stalwart saxophonists in modern jazz, equally inspired by John Coltranes harmonic inquiry, Ornette Colemans off-kilter lyricism and Ben Websters heart-rending croon; this band, his newest, includes James Weidman on piano, Esperanza Spalding on bass and Francisco Mela on drums. 9 and 11, Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) ORCHESTRA SLANG (Monday through March 18) This ensemble has as many pieces as a conventional big band, but looks well beyond big-band conventions (or any others). Its chief architects are the drummer Kenny Wollesen, the trumpeter Jonathan Haffner and, in the role of philosophical guide, the conductor and cornetist Lawrence (Butch) Morris. 7 and 9 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, near North Third Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 218-6934; no cover. (Chinen) MARIO PAVONES ORANGE BAND (Thursday) Mr. Pavone, a bassist-composer with an expansive worldview, leads a cadre of fellow colorists: Ron Horton on trumpet, Tony Malaby on saxophones, David Berkman on piano and Gerald Cleaver on drums. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $10. (Chinen) PHILADELPHIA: CITY OF BROTHERLY JAZZ (Tonight and tomorrow night) Continuing its salute to American jazz cities, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra looks to the vibrant legacy of Philadelphia. Special guests include the saxophonist Jimmy Heath and his brother, the drummer Albert (Tootie) Heath; the post-bop guitar hero Pat Martino; the Hammond B-3 organ whiz Joey DeFrancesco; and the trumpeter Duane Eubanks. 8, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 721-6500, www.jalc.org; $105.50 and $135.50.(Chinen) CHRIS POTTERS UNDERGROUND (Through Sunday) The saxophonist Chris Potter has an improvisational approach that is intellectual and athletic in equal measure; his band Underground dives headlong into edgy fusion, with Adam Rogers on guitar, Craig Taborn on Fender Rhodes piano and Nate Smith on drums. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20 and $25. (Chinen) TO PREZ WITH LOVE, 2006 (Sunday) The Lester Young Memorial Celebration, an annual benefit for the Jazz Ministry at St. Peters Church, is a sprawling affair by design; this edition, the 22nd, boasts a lineup of several dozen musicians and advocates, like the pianists Billy Taylor and Hank Jones, the clarinetist Don Byron and the historian and radio personality Phil Schaap. 7 p.m., St. Peters Church, Lexington Avenue at 54th Street, (212) 935-2200; suggested donation, $15. (Chinen) MARCUS PRINTUP (Tonight) Mr. Printups trumpet style has more than a little in common with that of Wynton Marsalis, his bandleader in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra; out on his own, he goes for flashier, more avowedly modern exertions. 7 p.m., Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th Street, Chelsea, (212) 620-5000, ext. 344, www.rmanyc.org; $15. (Chinen) MARC RIBOT AND HENRY GRIMES (Thursday) Mr. Ribot is a vagabond poet on solo electric guitar, as he proved with the album Saints (Atlantic) five years ago. Here he plays both solo and in a duo with Mr. Grimes, a bassist and long-lost titan of the avant-garde; theres no knowing which setting will sound better. 8 p.m., Issue Project Room, 400 Carroll Street, between Bond and Nevins Streets, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, (718) 330-0313, issueprojectroom.org; cover, $10. (Chinen) EDWARD SIMONS VENEZUELAN PROJECT (Wednesday and Thursday) Mr. Simon, a pianist whose most recent credits include work with the Brazilian singer Luciana Souza, turns his focus here toward the country of his birth. His serious sextet consists of the saxophonist Mark Turner, the flutist Marco Granados, the cuatro and guitar player Aquiles Báez, the bassist John Patitucci and the drummer Adam Cruz. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $25.(Chinen) * BOBO STENSON TRIO (Wednesday through March 18) With Goodbye (ECM), the Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson offered one of last years most beautifully somber piano trio recordings. Here he plays his only live performances with the same personnel from the album: his longtime bassist Anders Jormin, a fellow Swede, and the august and inscrutable New York drummer Paul Motian. 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) YOSVANY TERRY GROUP (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Terry, a saxophonist and percussionist, chases contemporary post-bop ideals without fighting the rhythmic pull of his native Cuba; this seven-piece ensemble is only slightly smaller than the one on his excellent new album, Metamorphosis (Kindred Rhythm), and no less fierce. 9 and 10:30, Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063; cover, $15. (Chinen) THE TUBA PROJECT (Tomorrow) Though the name may suggest otherwise, theres only one tuba player in this ensemble; given that its Bob Stewart, the instruments greatest improviser, one should be enough. As on the new album The Tuba Project (CIMP), hes joined by the pianist Lucian Ban, the baritone saxophonist Alex Harding, the tenor saxophonist J. D. Allen and the drummer Derrek Phillips. 9 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) DAVID WEISS (Tonight and tomorrow; Wednesday) This weekend, Mr. Weiss, a literate and industrious trumpeter, leads his post-bop quintet; on Wednesday, he assembles Endangered Species, a 12-piece ensemble stocked with serious talent and dedicated to the music of Wayne Shorter. Tonight and tomorrow at 12:30 a.m. , Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595; cover, $10, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. Wednesday at 8 and 10 p.m., Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera AIDA (Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday) The Amato Operas reputation is that it conveys the spirit and love of Italian opera, though the full impact is impossible to achieve in a 102-seat theater with a cast that changes at every performance. And against the odds, all the principals at a recent performance of Aida managed to make it through to the end, demonstrating a true love of the piece, if not always of the pitch. Tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30, Sunday afternoon at 2:30, 319 Bowery, at Second Street, East Village, (212) 228-8200; $30; $25 for students and 65+. (Anne Midgette) LA BOHÈME (Sunday and Thursday) City Opera has a refreshing take on Puccinis perennial classic, updating it to the eve of World War I and presenting some of its regulars, including Kelly Kaduce and Shannah Timms. Sunday at 1:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $45 tickets remaining on Sunday; $16 to $120 on Thursday. (Midgette) DARKLING (Tonight, tomorrow, Tuesday and Thursday) In an adventurous move, American Opera Projects is presenting a brave and sensitive, if at times frustrating, multimedia work. With a score by Stefan Weisman, Darkling is an operatic fantasia on themes of emotional fragmentation, in the words of the director Michael Comlish, who conceived the idea of adapting for the stage Anna Rabinowitzs book-length poem about a restless Polish couple who marry hastily before the invasion of the Nazis. 8 p.m., East 13th Street Theater, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 279-4200; $30 to $45. (Anthony Tommasini) LA FORZA DEL DESTINO (Tomorrow and Wednesday) Its tempting to say that Forza has the most numbingly witless libretto of any Verdi opera, but with such stiff competition, who can say? Giancarlo del Monacos drab staging, first seen in 1996, offers little help, but the Met has a solid first cast, with Deborah Voigt as Leonora, Salvatore Licitra as Don Alvaro and Mark Delavan as Don Carlo. On Wednesday, Elena Zelenskaya replaces Ms. Voigt, and Mark Rucker takes over for Mr. Delavan. Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday at 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; sold out tomorrow, $26 to $175 on Wednesday. (Allan Kozinn) LUISA MILLER (Monday) None of Verdis Schiller operas are very Schiller-like; this one becomes melodrama in the silent-movie sense, with the millers beautiful daughter, an evil henchman and thwarted love. The Mets casting doesnt preserve much of the fresh-faced innocence of the story, but offers established singers: Veronica Villarroel as Luisa, and Neil Shicoff as Rodolfo. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $175. (Midgette) MAZEPPA (Tonight and Tuesday) Tchaikovskys epic 1884 opera, about the ruthless 17th-century Ukrainian separatist Ivan Mazeppa, is an anguished, probing and noble work. The Met deserves thanks for presenting its first production of this inexplicably neglected masterpiece, inspiringly conducted by Valery Gergiev. A cast of mostly Russian singers brings conviction and palpable authority, especially the baritone Nikolai Putilin as the wizened Mazeppa, and the soprano Olga Guryakova as his adolescent and impressionable wife. The musical performance is so compelling that you can almost ignore Yuri Alexandrovs jumbled and trashy production, which clutters the opera with symbolism. Tonight at 8, Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $205. (Tommasini) THE MOST HAPPY FELLA (Tonight and tomorrow) Frank Loesser thought of his 1956 masterpiece as a musical with a lot of music, not as an opera. Still, this sophisticated and disarming musical is a good fit for the New York City Opera, which has opened its spring season with a vibrant and charming production by Philip Wm. McKinley. Paul Sorvino, making his City Opera debut, inhabits the title role of Tony Esposito, the paunchy, insecure but good-hearted Italian immigrant vineyard owner in the Napa Valley of the 1920s. His voice, though, is pretty raw and shaky. Hes at his best when he doesnt care about how he sounds and just lets go. The rest of the cast, mostly from the musical theater world, is wonderful. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 1:30 and 8 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $45 to $120. (Tommasini) Classical Music KATE ALDRICH (Monday) Tapping exciting young singers is a tradition the Opera Orchestra of New York hopes to continue. This one is a strong young mezzo-soprano who has already appeared with the group, offering a recital of Berlioz, Britten, Chausson, Dvorak, Mozart and Strauss. 8 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $35. (Midgette) ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Tomorrow) Between Lincoln Centers Golijov festival and his recent appearances leading the New York Philharmonic, Robert Spano seems to be spending nearly as much time in New York as with his own orchestra in Atlanta. He gets to have it both ways tomorrow, when he leads the Atlanta Symphony and its chorus in the Verdi Requiem. The vocal soloists are Andrea Gruber, Stephanie Blythe, Frank Lopardo and Greer Grimsley. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $23 to $79. (Kozinn) BARGEMUSIC (Tonight, tomorrow, Sunday and Thursday) Tonight, the Waterville Trio plays music by Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Lachert. Tomorrow and Sunday, the veteran cellist Colin Carr is joined by the pianist Thomas Sauer for a recital of works by Prokofiev, Beethoven and Chopin. Thursday, the versatile folk-jazz-classical fiddler Mark OConnor brings his Edgeffect Ensemble (a piano trio) for its first New York performance, featuring his own compositions. Tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night at 7:30; Sunday at 4 p.m.; Fulton Ferry Landing next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083; $35. (Eichler) JONATHAN BISS AND THE MENDELSSOHN STRING QUARTET (Tonight) The Mendelssohn Quartet opens with the Andante and Scherzo (Op. 81) by its namesake and also plays Beethovens Harp in E flat. The superb pianist Jonathan Biss -- whose mother, Miriam Fried, is one of the Mendelssohn players -- joins for the Dvorak A major Piano Quintet. 8, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949; $40. (Kozinn) JESSE BLUMBERG (Sunday) The Marilyn Horne Foundation, in its continuing effort to keep the tradition of the song recital flourishing, presents young singers in a monthly series of informal recitals. Mr. Blumberg, a New Jersey-born baritone who recently appeared as Papageno with the Milwaukee Opera Theater, will sing a varied program with the pianist Martin Katz. 3 p.m., St. Bartholomews Church, Park Avenue and 50th Street, (212) 378-0248; $20; $15 for 65+; free to students. (Tommasini) CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER (Wednesday) The Orion String Quartet performs Mendelssohns Quartet No. 6 and Ellen Taaffe Zwilichs Quartet No. 2. But the most ear-opening score on the program may be the String Sextet of Erwin Schulhoff, a German-speaking Czech Jew and victim of Nazism, whose fantastically eclectic body of work includes a Dadaist Sonata Erotica and a cantata setting of The Communist Manifesto. 7:30 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5788; $30 to $52. (Eichler) VLADIMIR FELTSMAN (Tomorrow) The Peoples Symphony Concerts are a great deal if youre looking to hear big-name performers without breaking the bank. This weekend, the formidable pianist Vladimir Feltsman plays works by Haydn, Beethoven and Schumann. 8 p.m., Washington Irving High School, 16th Street and Irving Place, Manhattan, (212) 586-4680; $9 (Eichler). JERUSALEM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Sunday) Leon Botstein brings his new out-of-town orchestra to Carnegie Hall. Martinus Memorial to Lidice will be the item of interest, along with music by Prokofiev and Strauss. 8 p.m., (212) 247-7800; $20 to $80. (Bernard Holland) OLGA KERN (Thursday) This dynamic young Russian pianist, who shared a gold at the Van Cliburn Competition in 2001, plays Mendelssohn, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Liszt. 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $20 to $50. (Eichler) KIROV ORCHESTRA (Sunday and Monday) To mark the Shostakovich centenary, Lincoln Center has invited Valery Gergiev to lead all 15 symphonies -- no, not in one stretch, though you wouldnt put it past Mr. Gergiev to try. The conductor will split his survey between his two ensembles: the Kirov Orchestra, here this week, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, arriving next month. Sundays program features the Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 and 10; Monday brings Nos. 7 and 9. Sunday at 3 p.m., Monday at 8 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $35 to $69. (Eichler) MARGARET LATTIMORE, STEPHANIE NOVACEK, MARY PHILLIPS, JAKE HEGGIE, RICKY IAN GORDON and EUGENIA ZUCKERMAN (Tuesday) The idea is simpler than the long roster of names would suggest: music by Mr. Gordon and Mr. Heggie, accompanied by the composers on the piano and by a flute, sung by three mezzo-sopranos, with just a soupçon of Ned Rorem and Stephen Sondheim. 7:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $32. (Midgette) ALEXANDER LONQUICH (Wednesday) Though widely respected in Europe, this 45-year-old German-born pianist, now living in Italy, is not well known in the United States. For this, his American recital debut, he plays the New York premiere of Wolfgang Rihms Tombeau and works by Mozart, Schumann, Chopin and C. P. E. Bach. 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500; $35. (Tommasini) JEANNE MALLOW (Tomorrow) Though this violist comes from a distinguished family of string players (including her grandmother, the violist Lillian Fuchs, and her great-uncle, the violinist Joseph Fuchs), she has built her career on her own, with notable performances and recordings. For this program she will play works by Vivaldi, Schumann, Rachmaninoff and William Keith Rogers, with the pianist Vladimir Valjarevic. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330; $20; $15 for students and 65+. (Tommasini) SOHEIL NASSERI (Tomorrow) This young Californian pianist has both a magnificent technique and an inventive interpretive spirit, qualities that served him well in the early installments of his two-season Beethoven cycle. Mr. Nasseri has chosen not to present the sonatas in chronological order, so his concluding program actually leaves him among relatively early works: Nos. 8 (the Pathétique) through 11, and 16. 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $33 and $45. (Kozinn) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Tonight and tomorrow night) After canceling last week because of bad health, Christoph von Dohnanyi plans to return to conduct a program that includes Bartoks Bluebeards Castle with Anne Sofie von Otter and Matthias Goerne. 8, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $26 to $94. (Holland) ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (Monday) Bach has been a good venture for this conductorless group, which has been joined this year by the conductorless Bach Choir and started a series of Bach cantatas with members of the choir in the appropriate setting of the Metropolitan Museums Medieval Sculpture Hall. On the program: Cantatas 18, 157, and 193. 8 p.m., the Metropolitan Museum, (212) 570-3949; $60. (Midgette) CHARLES ROSEN (Sunday) Mr. Rosen is as renowned for his insightful books and essays as for his probing piano performances, but his playing is by no means bookish: as concerned as he is with the details of style and structure, he is also intent on showing composers as animated by passions and desires, and working within a historical context that includes influences and competitors. Mr. Rosen will explore the influence of Bach and Haydn on Mozart in a program that includes selections from Bachs Art of Fugue and Musical Offering, as well as Haydns Sonata No. 43 and Divertimento in F, and Mozarts Gigue in G and Sonata in A minor. 1:30 p.m. (lecture) and 3 p.m. (recital), 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500; $35. (Kozinn) NADJA SALERNO-SONNENBERG (Tuesday) It is the season of Brahms violin sonatas: Less than a month after Christian Tetzlaff played all three in Alice Tully Hall, Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg tackles the same program on the same stage. Given their radically different performance styles, the overlaps should end there. The pianist Anne-Marie McDermott joins. 8 p.m., Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $20; $10 for students and 65+. (Eichler) JORDI SAVALL AND HESPÈRION XXI (Wednesday and Thursday) A fantastic performer on the viola da gamba and also one of the early-music worlds most inventive ensemble leaders, Mr. Savall presides over what promises to be an illuminating master class on Wednesday. The next night, he leads in his flagship ensemble, Hespèrion XXI, in variations by Diego Ortiz, Lucas Ruiz de Ribayaz, José Marín, Juan Hidalgo, Gaspar Sanz and Antonio Martín. 8 p.m., Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949; $25 on Wednesday, in Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium; $60 on Thursday, in the Medieval Sculpture Hall (sold out); $25 for a preconcert discussion on Thursday at 6 p.m. with Mr. Savall and David DArcy, in the Rogers Auditorium. (Kozinn) JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET (Wednesday) In the hearts of the French, Ravel and Schumann are kindred spirits. Mr. Thibaudet here plays piano music by both. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $21 to $72. (Holland) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. ATLANTA BALLET (Sunday) One of the oldest indigenous American ballet troupes, Atlanta Ballet will present two dances by John McFall, the company director, and one by Christopher Hampson. 2 p.m., Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, Brooklyn College, Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues, Flatbush, (718) 951-4500, www.brooklyncenteronline.org; $15 to $30. (Jennifer Dunning) DANCEBRAZIL (Tonight through Sunday) Two programs explore the rich cultures of Bahia, Brazil, in choreography that merges Afro-Brazilian dance, live music and the martial arts form of capoeira, including a new dance by the company director Jelon Vieira to music by Tuzé de Abreu. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, www.joyce.org; $42. (Dunning) GENE POOL AT DNA (Tonight through Sunday) A clever new name for that old favorite, the dance showcase. This one will feature four different programs of dance by seven artists, who include Isabel Gotkowsky, Earl Mosely and Laurie DeVito. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Dance New Amsterdam, 280 Broadway, between Reade and Chambers Streets, Lower Manhattan, (212) 279-4200; $17. (Dunning) DONNA SCRO GENTILE/FREESPACE DANCE (Tonight and tomorrow night) Ms. Gentile, who has danced with Sean Curran and Murray Louis, will present choreography set to music by Daniel Bernard Roumain, Glen Fittin, Tigger Benford and Peter Jones, performed by the resident company at Montclair State University. 8:30, St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194; $15. (Dunning) REBECCA KELLY BALLET (Tonight and tomorrow night) The company celebrates its 25th anniversary with performances featuring two guest artists: Jared Matthews of American Ballet Theater and Duncan Cooper of Dance Theater of Harlem. 8, John Jay Theater, 899 10th Avenue, at 58th Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200, www.ticketcentral.com; $40. (Jack Anderson) ASHLEIGH LEITE (Tonight and tomorrow night) Autopsy, an emotionally charged evening of dance, light and sound, follows the interior journeys of five women. 8, Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-9907; $15. (Anderson) SUSAN MARSHALL & COMPANY (Tonight and tomorrow night) A skilled choreographic storyteller offers Cloudless, a collection of danced short stories, some explosive, others quietly intimate. 7:30, Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077, www.dtw.org; $15 and $25. (Anderson) * YVONNE MEIER (Thursday) Ms. Meier is returning after eight years to her enjoyably anarchic improvisational choreography. For her new pieces this is not a pink pony and Gogolorez, she has enlisted the aid of downtown-dance stars like Miguel Gutierrez, Jennifer Monson, Nami Yamamoto and Jeremy Wade. (Through March 18.) 8 p.m., the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, ext. 14, www.thekitchen.org; $12. (Dunning) * BENJAMIN MILLEPIED & COMPANY (Tuesday through Thursday) One of the smartest and liveliest of New York City Ballet dancers, Mr. Millepied will lead his company, whose roster includes several bright young City Ballet performers and the American Ballet Theater star Gillian Murphy, in a new work by Aszure Barton and in three new dances of his own. They are set to scores that include piano music by Philip Glass, played by Pedja Muzijevic, and accompaniment cued by the dancers motions. (Through March 19.) The Joyce Theater Gala Celebration on Wednesday will pay tribute to Jerome Robbins and Yourgos Loukos, artistic director of the Ballet lOpéra de Lyon. Tuesday and Thursday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 7 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, www.joyce.org or, for gala tickets, (212) 691-9740; $42 (non-gala); $500 to $1,250 (gala). (Dunning) * MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP (Tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday) Mr. Morriss 25th-anniversary season is in full swing. Program A, with Mr. Morris conducting Vivaldis Gloria, plays tonight and tomorrow, and Program B, with his stagings of the operas Four Saints in Three Acts and Dido and Aeneas, starts on Wednesday. There is also the first of three programs of small pieces at the Mark Morris Dance Center tomorrow afternoon. And there are all manner of ancillary events, a schedule for which can be found at www.mmdg.org. Tonight, tomorrow night and Wednesday night at 7:30, Howard Gilman Opera House, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100, www.bam.org; $20 to $70. The Solos, Duets and Trios program is tomorrow at 5 p.m., Mark Morris Dance Center, 3 Lafayette Avenue, near Flatbush Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn. (Sold out.) (John Rockwell) 92ND STREET Y HARKNESS DANCE FESTIVAL (Tomorrow and Sunday) An annual event concludes with the Francesca Harper Project in Modo Fusion, a multimedia work that Ms. Harper, a dancer, singer and choreographer, conceived in collaboration with Brian Reeder, a former dancer with American Ballet Theater. Tomorrow night at 8 (followed by a discussion with the writer Margo Jefferson, a former critic for The New York Times), Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m., Ailey Theater, 405 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212) 415-5500, www.92Y.org/harknessfestival; $20; $15 for students and 65+. (Dunning) THE NETA DANCE COMPANYS A.W.A.R.D. Show! (Sunday) Another show in a free monthly series featuring dance and talks between artists and audiences. The show features the choreographers Keely Garfield, Deganit Shemy, Ann Liv Young and the duo Ella Ben Aharon and Sahar Javedani, with Neta Pulvermacher moderating. 7 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, (212) 334-7479. (Dunning) * STAN WONT DANCE (Wednesday and Thursday) The United States debut of this promising-looking troupe, led by two former dancers of the DV8 Physical Theater in London. Their piece Sinner is, according to a news release, designed to shatter the limits of physical and emotional endurance. (Through March 18.) 8 p.m., Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 477-5288, www.ps122.org; $20; members, $10. (Rockwell) SUMMERFEST 06: ANDREA HAENGGI/AMDAT (Tonight and tomorrow night) With the aid of dance and video, Andrea Haenggis escalator transforms lobbies and moving stairways into four magical theaters, each evoking a mood of its own. 7 and 8:30, World Financial Center, 220 Vesey Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 945-0505 or www.worldfinancialcenter.com; free. (Anderson) * PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY (Tonight through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) The companys annual City Center season continues with repertory programs all week. Of the seasons two New York premieres, the angelic Spring Rounds can be seen tonight and Wednesday night, and the diabolical Banquet of Vultures is scheduled for tomorrow night, Sunday afternoon and Tuesday night. Tonight, tomorrow night and Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8; tomorrow at 2 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m.; and Tuesday at 7 p.m.; City Center, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan, (212) 581-1212, www.nycitycenter.org; $15 to $80. (Rockwell) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums * AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: SURFACE ATTRACTION: PAINTED FURNITURE FROM THE COLLECTION, through March 26. The remarkable images, abstract patterns and floral motifs that flutter across the 30 or so tables, chairs, cabinets and blanket chests in this beautiful, convention-stretching show confirm that from the late 1600s to the late 1800s, quite a bit of American painting talent and ambition was channeled into the decoration of everyday wood objects. The combination of imagination and utility, of economic means and lush effects, defines the human desire for beauty as hard-wired. 45 West 53rd Street, (212) 265-1040. (Roberta Smith) * BROOKLYN MUSEUM: SYMPHONIC POEM: THE ART OF AMINAH BRENDA LYNN ROBINSON, through Aug. 14. This prodigious show, by an artist born and still living in Columbus, Ohio, celebrates her heritage in paintings, drawings, sculpture, stitchery, leather work and less classifiable forms of expression. Besides its sheer visual wizardry, using materials like leaves, twigs, bark, buttons and cast-off clothes, her art is compelling in that it ruminates on the history of black migration to, and settlement in, the United States, from early times to the present, in a garrulous, very personal way. Her works do not lend themselves to easy deciphering, but her magic with materials and her daring compositional imagination draw you in. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, Brooklyn (718) 638-5000. (Grace Glueck) * Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum: FASHION IN COLORS, through March 26. Drawn from the collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute in Japan, this sumptuous show arranges 68 often lavish Western gowns and ensembles according to the colors of the spectrum and reinforces their progress with a posh, color-coordinated installation design. For an experience of color as color, it is hard to beat, but it also says a great deal about clothing, visual perception and beauty. 2 East 91st Street, (212) 849-8400.(Smith) * Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: David Smith: A Centennial, through May 14. David Smith is best known for his worst work, bulky sculptures of the important kind that museums and banks like to buy. Much (though not all) of that material has been excised from this survey in favor of smaller, earlier, nonmonumental pieces that the curator, Carmen Gimenez, presents with plenty of air and light. The result is exemplary as a David Smith experience, an American Modernism experience and a Guggenheim Museum experience. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3500. (Holland Cotter) JEWISH MUSEUM: SARAH BERNHARDT: THE ART OF HIGH DRAMA, through April 2. This exhibition is devoted to the flamboyant 19th-century actress whose name was once invoked by mothers as a warning to melodramatic daughters: Who do you think you are, Sarah Bernhardt? Its almost overstuffed roster of items includes original Félix Nadar photos of Bernhardt at 20 and the human skull presented to her by Victor Hugo, the costumes she wore as Cleopatra and Joan of Arc, her own accomplished sculptures and relics of lovers and American tours. 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, (212) 423-3200. (Edward Rothstein) Metropolitan Museum of Art: Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt, through May 7. Egypt was no picnic 5,000 years ago. The average life span was about 40 years. Wild animals were ever-present. Childbirth was perilous. Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness were shots in the dark. Doctors were priests. Medicine was a blend of science, religion and art. The 65 or so objects in this beautiful show functioned as all three. Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212) 535-7710. (Cotter) * MET: Robert Rauschenberg: Combines, through April 2. Big and handsome almost to a fault. Theres something weird about seeing once joyfully rude and over-the-top contraptions from the 1950s and 60s lined up like choirboys in church, with their ties askew and shirttails out. But even enshrined, the combines still manage to seem incredibly fresh and odd, almost otherworldly. I thought of a medieval treasury -- all the rich colors and lights and intricate details. The most beautiful tend to be the early ones: large but delicate, with a subtle, fugitive emotional pitch. (See above.) (Michael Kimmelman) THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: EDVARD MUNCH: THE MODERN LIFE OF THE SOUL, through May 8. This affecting, full-scale retrospective is the first survey of this Norwegian painter in an American museum in almost 30 years. Its more than 130 oils and works on paper cover Munchs entire career, from 1880 to 1944. It also includes a large selection of prints -- many ingeniously adapted from his oils -- that played an important role in his art. 11 West 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400. (Glueck) THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: ON SITE: NEW ARCHITECTURE IN SPAIN, through May 1. Since the early 1970s, when Spain began to awaken from the isolation of a four-decade dictatorship, Spanish architects have produced designs of unusual depth, often with a firm connection to the land, a sense of humility and a way of conveying continuity with the past while embracing the present. Packed with pretty images and elegant models, this exhibition lacks the scholarly depth you might have hoped for on such a mesmerizing subject. (See above.)(Nicolai Ouroussoff) The Museum of Modern Art: JOHN SZARKOWSKI: PHOTOGRAPHS, through May 15. A kind of homecoming, this beautiful show surveys the pictures taken by Mr. Szarkowski before and after his influential 29-year term at the helm of the Moderns photography department. The best show him combining the styles of the photographers he has long admired with his native ground -- the architecture and landscape of the upper Midwest. (See above.) (Smith) P.S. 1: Jessica Stockholder: Of Standing Float Roots in Thin Air, through May 1. A soaring, cannily designed installation -- made of airborne plastic bins, electric lights, orange extension cords and an old armchair topping a wooden tower -- by a sculptor known for orchestrating productive collisions of formalism and consumerism. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 784-2084. (Ken Johnson) P.S. 1: Ricky Swallow, through March 20. Extraordinarily realistic and symbolically portentous sculptures carved from wood by Australias representative to last summers Venice Biennale, in which three of the five works on view here were included. (See above.) (Johnson) Whitney Museum of American Art: LANDSCAPE, through Sept. 18. With only 20 works dispersed throughout the Whitneys second floor, this startlingly fresh installation of recent art from the museums collection uses space in an extravagant, exhilarating way, while weaving a cats cradle of intersecting meanings, emotions, forms and processes through the landscapes of American art and history. It turns out that the less you look at, the more you can see, especially in an arrangement orchestrated by someone who believes that the best tool for coaxing out an artworks polymorphous content is another piece of art. This someone is Donna De Salvo, the museums new associate director for programs and curator of collections; her Whitney debut should be seen by anyone interested in the craft and art of a curator. 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (212) 570-3600. (Smith) Whitney Museum of American Art: WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2006: DAY FOR NIGHT, through May 28. This biennial will provoke much head-scratching by uninitiated visitors. A hermetic take on what has been making waves, its packaged -- branded might be the better word -- as a show long on collaboration and open-endedness: several shows under one roof, including a revival of the 1960s Peace Tower, which rises like a Tinker Toy construction from the Whitney courtyard, with contributions by dozens of artists. As a counter to the image of the art world as rich, youth-besotted and obsessed with crafty little nothings, the ethos here is provisional, messy, half-baked, cantankerous, insular -- radical qualities art used to have when it could still call itself radical and wasnt like a barnacle clinging to the cruise ship of pop culture. That was back in the 1970s. And much of whats here (including works by bohemians and other senior eccentrics around then) harks back to that moment. Beauty is hard to come by. Check out, among other things, Paul Chans digital animation of shadowy objects like cellphones and bicycles, floating upward, Wizard of Oz-like, while bodies tumble down, the work cast as if it were light from a tall window slanting onto the floor of a dark room. And also Pierre Huyghes film, shot in Antarctica and Central Park. Its really gorgeous: crosscut between day and night, fiction and reality, it encapsulates the shows operative but ultimately airy metaphor about the slippery state of art now. (Day for Night is the biennials first-ever title, after the François Truffaut film.) 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (800) 944-8639 or www.whitney.org. (Kimmelman) Galleries: Uptown Tony Cragg: Five Bottles In the early 1980s, this eminent English sculptor made flat, mosaiclike works out of found colored plastic objects and fragments. This show presents a set of five wall-works, each representing a different giant colored bottle composed of toys, combs, cigarette lighters and other pieces of ordinary commercial detritus. Vivian Horan, 35 East 67th Street, (212) 517-9410, through April 21. (Johnson) Jim Shaw: My Mirage 1986- 91 This amazingly inventive California-based artist first became widely known for a series of about 170 works, all measuring 17 by 14 inches, that chronicles the life of a white suburban boy named Billy, from innocent youth to druggy degradation to born-again salvation. The 30 pieces from the series in this show variously imitate comic strips, acid-rock posters, thrift store paintings, comic greeting cards and many other pop culture forms. Skarstedt, 1018 Madison Avenue, near 78th Street, (212) 737-2060, through April 1. (Johnson) Galleries: Chelsea MetLife The curator and publisher Geoffrey Young has organized an enthralling show of small works by 12 artists who favor exacting craftsmanship and surrealistic imagination. Some, like Oona Ratcliffe, Cary Smith and Patricia Fabricant, tend toward abstraction; others, like Chris Zitelli and Morgan Bulkeley, create dreamlike narrative and symbolic images. Morgan Lehman, 317 10th Avenue, near 28th Street, (212) 268-6699, through April 1. (Johnson) * William Nicholson Though less well-known than his son, the British abstract painter Ben Nicholson, Sir William Nicholson was a successful artist in his day. The mostly small landscapes, portraits and Chardinesque still lifes in this beautiful show offer transporting fusions of paint and imagery. Paul Kasmin, 293 10th Avenue, at 27th Street, (212) 563-4474, through March 25. (Johnson) Other Galleries * Do You Think Im Disco Theres a big story to be told about disco culture of the 1970s, which had roots in rhythm and blues, African-American church music, 1960s drug culture, gay liberation and all manner of anti-establishment politics. This modest group show touches on all of these elements, however glancingly and unsystematically, by considering the trickle-down effect of discomania on some new art today. Longwood Art Gallery@Hostos, 450 Grand Concourse, at 149th Street, Mott Haven, the Bronx, (718) 518-6728, through March 18. (Cotter) * THE DOWNTOWN SHOW: THE NEW YORK ART SCENE, 1974-1984 The real down-and-dirty downtown art scene, when the East Village bloomed, punk and new wave rock assailed the ears, graffiti spread like kudzu and heroin, along with extreme style, raged, is the subject of this wild and woolly show. Its a humongous time warp of more than 450 paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, videos, posters, ephemera and things in between by artists, writers, performers, musicians and maestros of mixed media, from a photograph of the transvestite Candy Darling as she posed on her deathbed to a small, painted sculpture made of elephant dung by David Hammons. With so many clashing ideologies, points of view and attitudes toward art-making, this no-holds-barred hodgepodge generates the buzz and stridency of, say, Canal Street on payday. New York University, Grey Art Gallery, 100 Washington Square East, (212) 998-6780; and Fales Library, 70 Washington Square South, (212) 988-2596, Greenwich Village; through April 1. (Glueck) * Anya Gallaccio: One Art The viscerally poetic single work occupying Sculpture Centers spacious main gallery is a 50-foot weeping cherry tree that was cut up and reassembled in the gallery, where it is held in place by steel cables and bolts. Sculpture Center, 44-19 Purves Street, at Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 361-1750, through April 3. (Johnson) THE STUDIO VISIT The studio visit, a time-honored ritual that everyone in the art world has both endured and learned from, is taken to its limit in Exit Arts latest exhibition marathon. Each of the 160 mostly short videos represents one artists idea of, play on, or substitute for, a studio visit. It is a show that often cries out for a fast-forward button, but there are some notable gems -- for example, by Joyce Pensato, Cynthia von Buhler, Ida Applebroog, Bruce Pearson, Lance Wakeling, Taylor McKimens, Paul Wirhun, Elisabeth Kley, Christy Gast and Kim Jones. Exit Art, 475 10th Avenue, at 36th Street, Manhattan, (212) 966-7745, through March 25. (Smith) Zoo Story A clay gorilla by Daisy Youngblood, a bronze she-wolf by Kiki Smith, a flock of concrete sheep by Françoise-Xavier Lalanne and works about animals by more than 20 other artists, including John Baldessari, Katharina Fritsch, Ross Bleckner and Rebecca Horn, turn the first floor of this sleek, three-story private museum into a diverting menagerie. Fisher Landau Center for Art, 38-27 30th Street, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 937-0727, through June 12. (Johnson) Last Chance Stan Brodsky Evidence of Things At 80, this painter, based in Huntington, N.Y., is making abstractions of uncommon liveliness and material richness. With their craggy, calligraphic forms glowing and flickering against fields of lush, generously applied color, Mr. Brodskys paintings evoke the idea of an Abstract Expressionist who traded in his angst for hedonistic jouissance. June Kelly, 591 Broadway, between Houston and Prince Streets, SoHo, (212) 226-1660; closes Tuesday. (Johnson) * DAVID DUPUIS/JESSICA JACKSON HUTCHINS In complementary shows, Mr. Dupuis cultivates his Surrealist-Symbolist penchant for small, visionary landscapes, while branching out into grotesquely detailed self-portraits, and Ms. Hutchins offers macabre spoofs of ceramics, social rituals and craftsmanship, with crudely made tea bowls and serving platters perched on topographically suggestive pedestals. Derek Eller Gallery, 615 West 27th Street, Chelsea, (212) 206-6411; through tomorrow. (Smith) * RICHARD GREAVES: ANARCHITECTURE; MARIO DEL CURTO: PHOTOGRAPHS Mr. del Curtos sympathetic black-and-white photographs introduce Mr. Greavess bristling huts and environments, built during the last decade in the wilds of Canada. Materials include parts of salvaged barns and farm houses joined with baling wire into sagging, swaying, psychologically potent forms that qualify as outsider architecture, site-specific installation art and settings for fairy tales -- especially those about witches. Andrew Edlin Gallery, 529 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 206-9723; closes tomorrow. (Smith) * DAINA HIGGINS In an art world knee-deep in feats of realism, these small paintings of urban scenes stand out. They are made with spray paint and stencils, based on photographs taken by the artist, a technique that gives the gritty subjects a transcendental immateriality, as if the world were made of varying tones of light. Elizabeth Harris Gallery, 529 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 463-9666; closes tomorrow. (Smith) Jerry Kearns: Forever More For many years Mr. Kearns has been making illustrative paintings combining Pop-Surrealist style, leftist politics and anti-consumerist social commentary, with humor and obviousness often battling to a draw. His new paintings feature muscle-bound Jesus figures, hysterical hermaphrodites, creepy children, magical birds, fast-food products and heavenly blue skies. Michael Steinberg, 526 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-5770; closes tomorrow. (Johnson) * Studio Museum in Harlem: FREQUENCY, Despite some marked unevenness, this display of new and recently emerged talent confirms the current vitality of black art, contemporary art and midsize New York museums. Names to look out for include Kalup Linzy, Leslie Hewitt, Shinique Smith, Demetrius Oliver, Nick Cave, Mickalene Thomas and Michael Queenland, but dont stop there. 144 West 125th Street, (212) 864-4500; closes Sunday. (Smith)

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What hes researching: When Alan tells nonacademics that he studies the relationship between a companys inventory performance and its finances, he quietly braces for the inevitable question: Isnt that obvious? If a company is selling. Lee says shareholder letters often drop key hints about the future direction of large public companies. One example she. ���Normally, a company either submits comments to FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) or they dont. With the 2004��.

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Shop �� Memberships for Individuals �� Business Patrons �� Endowment Fund and Planned Giving. This latest controversy appears to be yet another example of the double standard and prejudice against anything ���Confederate.��� Why, for instance, is. I would like to right the multitude of wrongs which have been perpetrated against Lees legacy in particular and Confederate history in general... One Christmas Day, Lee reflected on the evil of war in a letter to his wife.

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The Listings: Oct. 27 - Nov. 2

Selective listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the New York metropolitan region this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings BHUTAN In previews; opens on Sunday. Witness the ups and downs of a New England family in Daisy Footes new play (1:20). Cherry Lane Theater, 38 Commerce Street, between Barrow and Bedford Streets, West Village, (212) 239-6200. THE CLEAN HOUSE In previews; opens on Monday. The MacArthur grant winner Sarah Ruhls fantastical romantic comedy is about a well-heeled Connecticut family that hires a maid who would rather compose the perfect joke than clean (2:15). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. THE COAST OF UTOPIA: VOYAGE In previews; opens on Nov. 5. Tom Stoppards three-play epic about the forebears of the Russian Revolution begins with Voyage, set in 1833 in the Russian countryside. The all-star cast includes Billy Crudup, Ethan Hawke, Jennifer Ehle, Richard Easton and many, many more (2:45). Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. DR. SEUSSS HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS: THE MUSICAL In previews; opens on Nov. 8. You loved the book. You hated the movie. Now see the musical (1:30). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. GREY GARDENS In previews; opens on Thursday. The Playwrights Horizons musical adaptation of the Maysles documentary moves to Broadway (2:40). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. MARY POPPINS In previews; opens on Nov. 16. Disney looks to find its old magic touch with this new blockbuster, which transfers from London with good buzz. Richard Eyre and Matthew Bourne direct (2:30). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. MIMI LE DUCK In previews; opens on Tuesday. A Mormon housewife leaves her husband, Idaho and a QVC Network job for a new life in Paris in this comic musical (2:05). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. LES MISÉRABLES In previews; opens on Nov. 9. And you thought the romance was over. Three years later, the famous revolve returns to Broadway (2:55). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 34th Street, (212) 239-6200. AN OAK TREE Previews start today. Opens on Nov. 4. Tim Crouchs new play about the father of a daughter who was killed in a car accident and the driver of the car (1:05). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue, Greenwich Village, (212) 239-6200. POST MORTEM In previews; opens on Nov. 2. A. R. Gurney goes meta in this new play about political repression set in the not-too-distant future, when a new work by an obscure writer named A. R. Gurney is discovered. Jim Simpson directs (1:30). The Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101. SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER In previews; opens on Nov. 15. The always lovely Blythe Danner stars in a revival of Tennessee Williamss brutal psychological drama. Mark Brokaw directs (1:30). Laura Pels Theatre, 111 West 46th Street, (212) 719-1300. THE SUNSET LIMITED In previews; opens on Sunday. The novelist Cormac McCarthys new play is about an ex-con and an intellectual atheist who meet on a subway platform. Austin Pendleton stars (2:00). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200. Broadway A CHORUS LINE If you want to know why this show was such a big deal when it opened 31 years ago, you need only experience the thrilling first five minutes of this revival. Otherwise, this archivally exact production, directed by Bob Avian, feels like a vintage car that has been taken out of the garage, polished up and sent on the road once again (2:00). Schoenfeld Theater, 236 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley) THE COLOR PURPLE So much plot, so many years, so many characters to cram into less than three hours. This beat-the-clock musical adaptation of Alice Walkers Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about Southern black women finding their inner warriors never slows down long enough for you to embrace it (2:40). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE DROWSY CHAPERONE (Tony Awards, best book of a musical and best original score, 2006) This small and ingratiating spoof of 1920s stage frolics, as imagined by an obsessive show queen, may not be a masterpiece. But in a dry season for musicals, it has theatergoers responding as if they were withering houseplants finally being watered after long neglect (1:40). Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * HEARTBREAK HOUSE A ripping revival of Shaws comedy about the English gentry waltzing toward the abyss as the shadow of World War I looms. Philip Bosco, as the admirably sane madman Captain Shotover, and Swoosie Kurtz, as his swaggeringly romantic daughter, lead the superb cast, under the sharp direction of Robin Lefevre (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300. (Charles Isherwood) JAY JOHNSON: THE TWO AND ONLY A genial 90-minute entertainment giving Broadway audiences a chance to get reacquainted with the (almost) lost art of ventriloquism. Jay Johnson, the onetime star of the television comedy Soap, gives a pocket history of the profession, in addition to an ample demonstration, with partners including a vulture who sings My Way a monkey purveying some of the corniest shtick this side of a Friars roast (1:30). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) JERSEY BOYS (Tony Award, best musical, 2006) From grit to glamour with the Four Seasons, directed by the pop repackager Des McAnuff (The Whos Tommy). The real thrill of this shrink-wrapped biomusical, for those who want something more than recycled chart toppers and a story line poured from a can, is watching the wonderful John Lloyd Young (as Frankie Valli) cross the line from exact impersonation into something far more compelling (2:30). August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) LOSING LOUIE This second-rate English import depicts the impact of an adulterous liaison on two generations of a family in Pound Ridge. Indifferently directed by Jerry Zaks, its a queasy mixture of coarse comedy and soap operatic contrivances (2:10). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) MARTIN SHORT: FAME BECOMES ME This eager and amiably scattershot satire of celebrity memoirs and Broadway musicals, starring the immodestly modest Mr. Short, arrives a little late to the table for such parody to taste fresh. With serviceably tuneful songs by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman (of Hairspray fame) (1:45). Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) TARZAN This writhing green blob with music, adapted by Disney Theatrical Productions from the 1999 animated film, has the feeling of a superdeluxe day care center, equipped with lots of bungee cords and karaoke synthesizers, where children can swing when they get tired of singing, and vice versa. The soda-pop score is by Phil Collins (2:30). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) THE WEDDING SINGER An assembly-kit musical that might as well be called That 80s Show, this stage version of the 1998 film is all winks and nods and quotations from the era of big hair and junk bonds. The cast members, who include Stephen Lynch and Constantine Maroulis, are personable enough, which is not the same as saying they have personalities (2:20). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) Off Broadway ARMS AND THE MAN Shaws story of a mercenary who breaks into a young Bulgarian womans bedroom while fleeing a battle seems not to have much social bite in this rendition, but the humor still works nicely, particularly when in the hands of Robin Leslie Brown and Dominic Cuskern as the invaded households matriarch and patriarch. Bradford Cover has an appealing offhand delivery as the soldier (2:15). The Pearl Theater Company, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212) 598-9802. (Neil Genzlinger) ASCENSION Brandon Ruckdashel makes a stunning debut in Edmund De Santiss clever comic mystery about a priest, a beautiful young man and a mothers accusation of sexual abuse (1:30). The Lion Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Anita Gates) BUSH IS BAD: IMPEACHMENT EDITION A musical revue of silly, heavy-handed sketches aimed at Bush-haters (1:30). Triad Theater, 158 West 72nd Street, (212) 279-4200. (Jason Zinoman) esoterica Eric Waltons very entertaining one-man show is a mix of magic, mentalism and intelligent chat. He does all three impressively (1:30). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) THE FANTASTICKS A revival -- well, more like a resuscitation -- of the Little Musical That Wouldnt Die. This sweet-as-ever production of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidts commedia-dellarte-style confection is most notable for Mr. Joness touching performance (under the pseudonym Thomas Bruce) as the Old Actor, a role he created when the show opened in 1960. Mr. Jones also directs (2:05). Snapple Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT This production features the expected caricatures of ego-driven singing stars. But even more than usual, the show offers an acute list of grievances about the sickly state of the Broadway musical, where, as the lyrics have it, everything old is old again (1:45). 47th Street Theater, 304 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE HAIRY APE The Irish Repertory Theater has put together a startling production of Eugene ONeills tale of a galoot called Yank who goes looking for his place in the world, one that vividly conveys what a gut-punch this work must have been when it was first seen in 1922. Eugene Lees set is something to see, and the soundscape, by Zachary Williamson and Gabe Wood, is something to hear (2:00). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 727-2737. (Genzlinger) JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS A powerfully sung revival of the 1968 revue, presented with affectionate nostalgia by the director Gordon Greenberg. As in the original, two men (Robert Cuccioli and Drew Sarich) and two women (Natascia Diaz and Gay Marshall) perform a wide selection of Brels plaintive ballads and stirring anthems. Ms. Marshalls captivating performance of Ne Me Quitte Pas, sung in the original French and with heart-stirring transparency, represents Brel at his best (2:00). Zipper Theater, 336 West 37th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) KING LEAR The promised end comes with disarming swiftness in this Classical Theater of Harlem production, starring André De Shields, which clocks in at just over two hours, not including an intermission. Theres nothing distilled about Mr. De Shieldss vigorous performance in the title role, but his impressive energy is not always productively channeled, and the supporting cast is uneven (2:10). The Harlem School of the Arts Theater, 645 St. Nicholas Avenue, near 141st Street, (212) 868-4444. (Isherwood) MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE A small, intense and loudly heralded one-woman drama that tells the true story of its title character, a pro-Palestinian activist killed in the Gaza strip by an Israeli Army bulldozer. Yet for all the political and emotional baggage carried by this production, adapted from Ms. Corries writings and starring Megan Dodds, it often feels dramatically flat, even listless (1:30). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) NO CHILD Teachers will love Nilaja Suns one-woman show about the challenges of teaching drama at Malcolm X High School (1:10). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE A slow, airless revival of Jay Presson Allens 1966 play (adapted from Muriel Sparks novel) about a dangerous Scottish schoolteacher, directed by Scott Elliott and starring the wonderful (but miscast) Cynthia Nixon, who seems much too sane and centered as the deluded Miss Brody. (2:40). The Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Brantley) SHAY DUFFIN AS BRENDAN BEHAN: CONFESSIONS OF AN IRISH REBEL Mr. Duffins uneven, often charming one-man show offers Behans thoughts on drinking, great men, drinking, politics and drinking (1:15). The Irish Arts Center, 553 West 51st Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444. (Gates) SHOUT! A miniskirted, go-go-booted zombie of a musical about women searching for love in London in the 1960s. You wont see anything this groovy, this far-out, this with-it outside of, oh, maybe the showroom of a Carnival cruise ship (1:30). Julia Miles Theater, 424 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) TEMPEST TOSSED FOOLS This musical audience-participation childrens version of The Tempest is rowdy, colorful and not all that Shakespearean. Manhattan Ensemble Theater, 55 Mercer Street, SoHo, (212) 239-6200. (Gates) 25 QUESTIONS FOR A JEWISH MOTHER This is the comedian Judy Golds fiercely funny monologue, based on her own life as a single Jewish lesbian mother and interviews with more than 50 other Jewish mothers (1:10). St. Lukes Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Phoebe Hoban) THE VOYAGE OF THE CARCASS The playwright Dan OBrien succeeds admirably at evoking an atmosphere of tedium and claustrophobia. His play-within-a-play -- a vehicle for Dan Fogler -- is about a failed expedition of Arctic explorers frozen up together for seven years, who turn out to be a trio of sophomoric actors bickering in embarrassing dialogue about their lives, their relationships and their gas pains as they work together on a play about a failed expedition of Arctic explorers frozen up together for seven years. If this seems repetitive, it gives only a hint of the tedium in store for audiences (2:30). SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, South Village, (212) 691-1515. (Anne Midgette) Off Off Broadway THE CARTELLS Douglas Carter Beane is giving some of his actor friends something constructive to do on Monday nights with this ridiculous staged soap opera about a dysfunctional oil family. Each week brings a different episode, rehearsal time is minimal, and the actors -- Brian dArcy James, Joanna Gleason and Elizabeth Berkley among them -- are having a great time (50 minutes). Comix, 353 West 14th Street, West Village, (212) 524-2500. (Genzlinger) KRANKENHAUS BLUES Sam Formans bizarre tale of an actress, a playwright and a clown in a Nazi camp goes off the deep end fast, but theres a great monologue about cheese (1:15). Abingdon Theater Arts Complex, 312 West 36th Street, (212) 868-4444. (Gates) THE THUGS Rumors of death at a law firm make Adam Bocks new play a chilling little nightmare (1:15). SoHo Rep, 46 Walker Street, between Church Street and Broadway, TriBeCa, (212) 868-4444. (Zinoman) TRUTH $(the heart is a million little pieces above all things$) The virtuoso storyteller Mike Daiseys new monologue, which addresses issues about lying, memoir and the James Frey scandal, is less funny than his previous work but just as engaging and intellectually curious (1:40). Ars Nova, 511 West 54th Street, Clinton, (212) 868-4444. (Zinoman) Long-Running Shows ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) AVENUE Q R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:10). Golden Theater, 252 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh, sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) DRUMSTRUCK Lightweight entertainment that stops just short of pulverizing the eardrums (1:30). New World Stages, Stage 2, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Lawrence Van Gelder) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). Minskoff Theater, 200 West 45th Street at Broadway, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) SLAVAS SNOWSHOW Clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin stir up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart as well as tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Van Gelder) SPAMALOT A singing scrapbook for Monty Python fans. (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE A Chorus Line, with pimples (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance BIRTH AND AFTER BIRTH Baby is a bruiser in Tina Howes self-conscious foray into the jungles of absurdism. Written in 1972, this explosion of the nuclear family appears to be stepping, with cautious exactitude, in the footprints of early Edward Albee. Christian Parker directed the rather stilted cast (1:45). Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 239-6200; closes on Sunday. (Brantley) BLUE DOOR An African-American math professor struggles to reconnect to his cultural past in this small but densely packed new play by Tanya Barfield. Reg E. Cathey is the professor, abandoned by his wife and visited by the ghosts of his ancestors, all played by the vibrant young actor Andre Holland (1:35). Playwrights Horizons, Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200; closes on Sunday. (Isherwood) HEART OF MY MYSTERY: THE HAMLET PROJECT What could be a way to learn more about Shakespeares longest play -- to interrupt an abridged version periodically with commentary from nearly 30 sources -- doesnt come off well on a stage. Still, because of their dramatic power, several scenes of this Wordplay production work in spite of the kibitzers (1:45). The Michael Weller Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, sixth floor, Clinton; (212) 352-3101; closes on Sunday. (Andrea Stevens) HELL HOUSE Les Freres Corbusier recreate evangelical Christian entertainments in this typically deadpan show (45 minutes). St. Anns Warehouse, 38 Water Street, at Dock Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn, (718) 254-8779; closes on Sunday. (Brantley) JOHN FERGUSON This 1919 tragedy about a poor Irish family and how far its members will go not to lose their farm is a compelling, fully realized drama with a cast that doesnt miss a beat (2:20). Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 315-0231; closes on Sunday. (Gates) ME, MY GUITAR AND DON HENLEY Krista Vernoffs saucy, satisfying black comedy is about six very different women in one dying mans complicated family tree (1:40). the 14th Street Y, 344 East 14th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101; closes tonight. (Gates) NICKEL AND DIMED Joan Holdens play, based on Barbara Ehrenreichs book about the no-win jobs of the working poor, veers into cliché and propaganda. The 3Graces Theater Company production isnt helped by the somewhat confused direction, though several performers who portray service workers are quite winning (1:40). The Bank Street Theater, 155 Bank Street, between Washington and West Streets, West Village, (212) 279-4200; closes tomorrow. (Stevens) * NIXONS NIXON Russell Leess savory political satire takes place on the night before the president announced his resignation. Gerry Bamman and Steve Mellor created the roles of Nixon and Kissinger, respectively, in the original production from 1995, also directed by Jim Simpson, and they return to them with the ease of veteran vaudevillians slipping back into a comfortable partnership (1:30). Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 279-4200; closes tomorrow. (Isherwood) SUBURBIA This black-hole revival of Eric Bogosians 1994 group portrait of losers in Angstville, U.S.A., directed by Jo Bonney, features lively performances from Gaby Hoffman, Kieran Culkin and Jessica Capshaw. But youre likely to find yourself identifying with these characters in the wrong way: Theyre beyond caring what happens to them, and so are you (2:00). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 246-4422; closes on Sunday. (Brantley) TALE OF 2CITIES Heather Woodburys five-hour play about the ripple effect of the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn is a timely and well-acted epic (6:00). Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101; closes on Sunday. (Zinoman) WRECKS The tail wags the scorpion in the latest play by Neil LaBute to be propelled by a poisoned punch line. This slender, prickly tease of a monologue -- whose whole raison dêtre is its last-minute revelation -- is given substance by an expert performance by Ed Harris as a newly bereaved widower (1:15). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555; closes on Sunday. (Brantley) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. ALEX RIDER: OPERATION STORMBREAKER (PG, 93 minutes) Based on the first in a series of best-selling kid lit adventure novels, the movie debut of Alex Rider, teenage super spy, is a James Bond flick for kids who have never heard of James Bond. (Nathan Lee) THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (No rating, 76 minutes) David Lee Fisher has used cinematic magic to superimpose living, speaking actors onto the original sets of the silent-film classic. Its discombobulating, but interesting. (Neil Genzlinger) * THE DEPARTED (R, 150 minutes) Martin Scorseses cubistic entertainment about men divided by power, loyalty and their own selves is at once a success and a relief. Based on the crackling Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, it features fine twinned performances from Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, and a showboating Jack Nicholson. (Manohla Dargis) DRIVING LESSONS (PG-13, 98 minutes) Driving Lessons belongs to that hardy niche of British comedies designed as star vehicles for distinguished actresses (preferably dames) of a certain age whose assignment is to win awards by devouring the scenery. If Julie Walters isnt yet a dame, her hammy portrayal of a retired actress who hires as her assistant a shy 17-year-old boy (Rupert Grint) from a strict Christian background is a step in that direction. (Stephen Holden) EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH (PG, 103 minutes) A minimum-wage comedy chronicling the romance between a slacker box boy (Dane Cook) and a bodacious cashier (Jessica Simpson) working at a Costco-like megastore. Directed by Greg Coolidge with the creative flair of an entry-level training video, the movie is more tired than a Wal-Mart greeter at the end of a Saturday shift. (Jeannette Catsoulis) * 51 BIRCH STREET (No rating, 88 minutes) The mysteries of ordinary life drive this moving, engrossing documentary, in which the director, Doug Block, tries to figure out his parents 54-year marriage. (A. O. Scott) * FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (R, 132 minutes) Clint Eastwood raises the flag over Iwo Jima once more in a powerful if imperfect film about the uses of war and of the men who fight. The fine cast includes Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford and Adam Beach, who delivers heartbreak by the payload. (Dargis) FLICKA (PG, 110 minutes) A ridiculous redo of Mary OHaras 1941 childrens novel that confirms that nothing should ever come between a girl and her horse, especially a saddle. (Dargis) THE GRUDGE 2 (PG-13, 95 minutes) Puberty sets off an exponential increase in evil -- and incoherence -- in Takashi Shimizus continuing saga about a Japanese wraith with a fondness for neck-snapping and Goth makeup. Whats new is an Altmanesque cast of victims, vaporized according to stupidity and/or sluttiness. Whats old are the defective light bulbs, scummy bath water and camerawork that makes even teenage flesh look mottled. Whats sad is that The Grudge 3 is already in the works. (Catsoulis) * A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS (R, 98 minutes) Rough, ragged and full of life, this autobiographical movie, written and directed by Dito Montiel, about his youth on the streets of Astoria, Queens, is a remarkable debut, stuffed almost to bursting with bold performances and operatic emotions. (Scott) INFAMOUS (R, 118 minutes) Truman Capote -- again! -- on the trail of In Cold Blood. It is warmer and more stylish than last years Capote -- with fine performances by Toby Jones as Truman and Sandra Bullock as his pal Harper Lee -- but also thinner. (Scott) JAAN-E-MANN (No rating, 165 minutes, in Hindi) This good-natured Bollywood musical is a romantic triangle set in New York. Personable stars partly make up for the excesses of the genre. (Anita Gates) * JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEOPLES TEMPLE (No rating, 85 minutes) The scariest aspect of this powerful, meticulously chronicled history of Jim Jones and his flock, who committed mass suicide in Guyana on Nov. 18, 1978, is that so many of the followers of this demented demagogue appear to have been intelligent, idealistic, life-loving people. Watch this documentary and shudder. (Holden) * LITTLE CHILDREN (R, 130 minutes) Todd Fields adaptation of Tom Perrottas novel of suburban adultery is unfailingly intelligent and faultlessly acted. Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson are superb as the parents of young children who meet at the playground and enact a two-handed variation on Madame Bovary against a backdrop of social paranoia and middle-class malaise. (Scott) MAN OF THE YEAR (PG-13, 115 minutes) Robin Williams plays a comedian and talk show host who plunges into the presidential campaign, telling truths the timid politicians dare not utter. Not really. This would-be satire, written and directed by Barry Levinson, is hectic and tired, with too many plots and too few sharp insights. (Scott) * MARIE ANTOINETTE (PG-13, 123 minutes) In this elaborate, bittersweet confection, Sofia Coppola imagines the last pre-revolutionary queen of France (played with wit and charm by Kirsten Dunst) as a bored, pleasure-seeking teenager trapped in a world of artifice and rigid protocol. Dreamy and decadent, the film is also touching, funny and bracingly modern. (Scott) THE MARINE (PG-13, 93 minutes) Discharged from the Marine corps, John Triton returns home to find obnoxious yuppies, psychotic diamond thieves, a kidnapped wife and exploding gas stations. (Lee) * THE PRESTIGE (PG-13, 128 minutes) Entertaining, spirited and shamelessly gimmicky, Christopher Nolans new film tells the intricate tale of two rival magicians (Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman) practicing their art in late-Victorian London. Scarlett Johansson is the lovely assistant. (Scott) * THE QUEEN (PG-13, 103 minutes) Directed by Stephen Frears from a very smart script by Peter Morgan, and starring a magnificent Helen Mirren in the title role, The Queen pries open a window in the House of Windsor around the time of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, blending fact with fiction. (Dargis) * REQUIEM (No rating, 89 minutes, in German) Loosely based on the real-life story of a West German woman who died in 1976 after a series of failed exorcism attempts, Requiem traces the mental decline of a devout college freshman (a devastating Sandra Hüller) suffering from seizures and hallucinations. Directed in an intimate, naturalistic style by Hans-Christian Schmid, Requiem is a moving study of a tortured girl more at peace with medieval ritual than with modern medicine. (Jeannette Catsoulis) RUNNING WITH SCISSORS (R, 116 minutes) From Augusten Burroughss best-selling memoir, this movie is a showcase of high-quality acting (especially from Annette Bening) without much in the way of dramatic coherence or emotional power. (Scott) * SHORTBUS (No rating, 102 minutes) John Cameron Mitchells ode to the joy and sweet release of sex also manages to be a sincere, modest political venture that finds humor where you might least expect it. (Dargis) SLEEPING DOGS LIE (R, 93 minutes) The uncomfortable message sent by Bobcat Goldthwaits lean, subversive comedy is how easy it is to gross out people who think theyre so swinging and cool by confiding indiscretions from the past. The movie has the look and tone of a blunt, provocative sketch on the HBO series Lucky Louie. (Holden) SWEET LAND (PG, 110 minutes) Theres a tartness at the center of Ali Selims sentimental tale of the prejudice faced by a German mail-order bride (Elizabeth Reaser) who arrives in 1920 Minnesota to marry a Norwegian farmer (Tim Guinee). The films guileless, heartfelt style veers perilously close to corny at times, but the superb cast dares you to mock. Lovingly filmed in glorious 35-millimeter, the movie celebrates an old-fashioned love born of backbreaking work and shared difficulties, while the endless fields and magnificent skyline seem reason enough to endure. (Catsoulis) THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING (R, 84 minutes) A prequel to a remake of a 1974 movie that spawned several sequels and numberless copycats, this hateful trash begs the question: how many chainsaw massacres can one state possibly contain? (Lee) TIDELAND (R, 120 minutes) Terry Gilliam, usually bold in his explorations of the boundary between fantasy and reality, here stumbles into a different frontier, the one that separates the merely bad from the utterly inexcusable. (Scott) Film Series THE JAPANESE FILM: A TRIBUTE TO DONALD RICHIE (Through tomorrow) The Museum of the Moving image honors Mr. Richie, the American-born screenwriter and film historian, with a two-weekend program of his selections and his own short films. This final weekends features are Masaki Kobayashis Samurai Rebellion (1967), a drama about a feudal kidnapping, and Hiroshi Teshigaharas Woman in the Dunes (1964), the story of an insect collector and a very strange woman. 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077; $10. (Gates) KINO! 2006: NEW FILMS FROM GERMANY (Through Nov. 3) The Museum of Modern Arts 27th annual survey of contemporary German film began yesterday. This weekends features include The Unknown Soldier (2006), Michael Verhoevens documentary about a controversial photography exhibition, and Andreas Dresens Summer in Berlin (2005), a comedy about a single mother, her roommate and the men in her life. Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, (212) 708-9400; $10. (Gates) OTTO PREMINGER: NOTORIOUS (Through Sunday) The Museum of Modern Arts nine-film retrospective of Premingers work (he would have turned 100 this year) concludes Sunday. The closing-day feature is Exodus (1960), the story of the founding of the state of Israel, starring Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint. Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, (212) 708-9400; $10. (Gates) RESISTANCE AND REBIRTH: HUNGARIAN CINEMA, 50 YEARS AFTER 56 (Through Nov. 15) On the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution, the Film Society of Lincoln Center is screening more than two dozen films that reflect on that event. It begins today with Robert Vass 1959 short Refuge England; Mark Kidels Hungary 1956: Our Revolution (2006), then Istvan Szabos Apa (1966), a drama about a man searching for information about his dead father. Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, (212) 875-5600; $10. (Gates) SOROS/SUNDANCE DOCUMENTARY FUND: A 10th-ANNIVERSARY FILM SERIES (Through Sunday) This program of 19 international documentaries that deal with human rights and social injustice is sponsored by the Open Society Institute and the Sundance Institute, with all screenings at Film Forum. The closing weekends 15 films include Raanan Alexandrowiczs Inner Tour (2001), about Palestinians traveling throughout Israel, and Lindsay Fauntleroys Still Standing (2006), about a survivor of Hurricane Katrina. 209 West Houston Street, west of Avenue of the Americas, South Village, (212) 727-8110; $5.50. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. ALICE IN CHAINS (Wednesday and Thursday) In the late 1980s and early 90s, Alice in Chains helped create the Seattle grunge sound by slowing bluesy metal riffs into a lavalike sludge. Now, four years after the death of its singer, Layne Staley -- whose mastery of the nasal snarl remains unmatched -- the surviving members are touring with William Duvall in Mr. Staleys place. Hurt opens these shows. At 8 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, (212) 307-7171, nokiatheatrenyc.com; sold out. (Ben Sisario) SUSANA BACA (Wednesday) Ms. Baca has made musicological studies of Afro-Peruvian songs, but she has also followed her clear, knowing voice in less purist directions, fusing the modal delicacy of her Peruvian band with musicians versed in jazz and rock. At 8 p.m., S.O.B.s, 204 Varick Street, at Houston Street, South Village, (212) 243-4940, sobs.com; $28 in advance, $32 at the door. (Jon Pareles) BENEVENTO-RUSSO DUO (Tonight) The keyboardist Marco Benevento and the drummer Joe Russo have made a gradual rise on the jam-band circuit with kinetic meanderings that usually begin in peaceful soul-funk and end up in poundingly insistent climaxes that might as well be punk rock. With Tom Hamilton and American Babies. At 9, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $22. (Sisario) JAY BENNETT, DEATH SHIPS (Monday and Tuesday) Mr. Bennett exited Wilco shortly before the release in 2002 of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the big eureka moment when that band invented experimental alt-country. Hes kept busy, going in the opposite direction: The Magnificent Defeat (Rykodisc), the newest of his four solo albums since leaving Wilco, has 13 clean, toe-tapping nuggets of countryish folk-rock. His backup band, Death Ships, also plays a set as the opening act. Monday at 8 p.m., Union Hall, 702 Union Street, at Fifth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 638-4400, unionhallny.com; $15. Tuesday at 7 p.m., Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, joespub.com; $20 in advance, $25 at the door. (Sisario) PETE BEST (Sunday) Yes, its that Pete Best -- the drummer who was replaced by Ringo Starr in the Beatles. At 9 p.m., Rodeo Bar, 375 Third Avenue, at 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 683-6500, rodeobar.com; no cover. (Pareles) DR. JOHN (Tonight) Malcolm John Rebennack Jr., a k a Dr. John, is steeped in New Orleans barrelhouse piano, swampy bayou funk and the gris-gris mysticism that surrounds it. He has applied his cagey growl of a voice and florid piano playing to jazz standards and songs with a conscience. At 8 and 10:30, B. B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 997-4144, bbkingblues.com; $35. (Pareles) FORRÓ IN THE DARK (Tomorrow) For about three years now, this group has been leading one of New Yorks best and lowest-tech dance parties at the East Village bar Nublu. The groove is a humble and sexy two-beat dance from northeastern Brazil called forró, made with accordion, hand-held percussion and, since this is New York, whiffs of distorted electric guitar. It travels well, and tomorrow the band comes to Tonic for a midnight show. 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501, tonicnyc.com; $5. (Sisario) * Dave Frishberg and Jessica MolaskeY (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Frishberg, a great jazz songwriter and gruff interpreter of his own work, and Ms. Molaskey, a theatrical pop-jazz singer of tremendous range and depth, have teamed to deliver the years smartest cabaret act. At 8:30 and 11, Feinsteins at the Regency, 540 Park Avenue, at 61st Street, (212) 339-4095, feinsteinsattheregency.com; $60 cover and $40 minimum. (Stephen Holden) LISA GERMANO (Tonight) Ms. Germano, who emerged as John Mellencamps fiddler in the 80s and has had an active solo career, writes ghostly waltzes and whispery ballads that probe intimate fears and memories. At 8 and 10, Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Pareles) HAZMAT MODINE (Tomorrow) Scruffy old blues and swing become the vehicle in which this kitchen-sink New York band -- two harmonicas, guitars and a jungle gym of brass -- wanders the world in a kind of musical travelogue: now visiting Eastern European Gypsy sounds, now Jamaican rocksteady, now some Tuvan throat singing. Unlike a lot of high-concept globalists, Hazmat Modine makes it all work by maintaining a strong sense of home. At 7:30 p.m., Joes Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, joespub.com; $15. (Sisario) * GEORGE JONES, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON (Tuesday) Frank Sinatra once called Mr. Jones the second-best white male singer, and among the many standards Mr. Kristofferson has written is the indelible Help Me Make It Through the Night. These titans of country music make extremely rare appearances at Carnegie Hall: Mr. Jones, who does not play New York very often at all, has not been there in 44 years, and it has been 36 years for Mr. Kristofferson. At 7:30 p.m., (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $55 to $75. (Sisario) AMJAD ALI KHAN (Tomorrow) One of Indias great instrumentalists, Mr. Khan comes from a long line of virtuosos on the sarod (a fretless lute) -- in fact, he is a great-great-grandson of the man said to have invented it. With a delicate, weightless technique in even the most rapid-fire passages, he can make the sarod sound (to Western ears, anyway) almost bluesy. For his latest Carnegie Hall concert, Mr. Khan appears with his sons Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan, also on sarod, and the tabla players Sukhvinder Singh and Samir Chatterjee. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $25 to $90. (Sisario) ANGÉLIQUE KIDJO, YUNGCHEN LHAMO, SUSAN McKEOWN (Wednesday) Theres not much to connect these three women besides their being pigeonholed in the catchall world music category, but with talents this strong -- and presented free, no less -- there is nothing to complain about here. Ms. Kidjo, a Benin-born New Yorker, brings a raw, powerful voice to sleek Afro-pop; Ms. Lhamo, long exiled from Tibet and an infrequent visitor here, sings tender and mournful prayers about struggle and forgiveness, set to soothing New Age sounds; Ms. McKeown, a regular in the New York Celtic scene, performs both traditional music and songs about the Irish immigrant experience in a confident, forthright voice. At 7 p.m., the Winter Garden, World Financial Center, West Street, south of Vesey Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 945-0505, worldfinancialcenter.com. (Sisario) LADY SOVEREIGN (Sunday and Monday) Knowing that the odds might be against her a bit as a petite English woman trying to break into American hip-hop, Lady Sovereign -- born Louise Harman not quite 21 years ago -- embraces the fish-out-of-water role on her new album, Public Warning (Def Jam), rhyming about shepherds pie cravings as well as her small bust and nonexistent bum. With the Epochs on Sunday, Kovas on Monday, and Young Love both nights. At 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111, boweryballroom.com; $17 in advance, $20 at the door. (Sisario) JOHN LEGEND (Monday) This year he won three Grammy Awards, including best new artist, so John Legend has a right to be a little cocky. But on his follow-up album, Once Again (Sony), released this week, he still plays the gentleman -- for the most part, anyway. While graciously asking for his ladys affection on Save Room, the first single, channeling the most tasteful of 70s R&B, he permits himself the slightest racy double entendre, telling her that love hurts sometimes when you do it right. With Robin Thicke. At 8 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, (212) 307-7171, nokiatheatrenyc.com; sold out. (Sisario) Amanda McBroom (Tonight and tomorrow night) The singer-songwriter who is best known as the composer of The Rose is also a theatrical pop voice who conveys strong currents of empathy and humor. At 8, the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 206-0440, metropolitanroom.com; $35 cover, two-drink minimum. (Holden) MANILAL NAG AND MITA NAG (Tomorrow) Manilal Nag, a master sitarist with a particular renown for rich, poignant improvisations, plays duets with his daughter and sitar disciple. At 8 p.m., Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400, symphonyspace.org or heartheworld.org; $32; $15 for students. (Sisario) * MILTON NASCIMENTO (Tonight) A somewhat rare club appearance by Mr. Nascimento, one of Brazils greatest songwriters as well as a singer of gentle and entrancing purity. His band includes Gastão Villeroy on bass, Wilson Lopes on guitar, Kiko Continentino at the piano and Lincoln Cheib on the drums. At 8 and 10:30, Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592, bluenote.net; cover, $55 at tables, $35 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Sisario) ROLLING STONES (Sunday and Tuesday) Nothing says forget about it like a Rolling Stones concert in a theater that seats about a tenth of their usual stadium audience. And if the tickets to these two shows at the Beacon Theater (capacity: 2,800), which are being filmed by Martin Scorsese, were not scarce enough already, the pool was further depleted when the Stones gave a block of tickets for Sundays show to the Clinton Foundation, which is using them for fund-raising. (Presumably a lot of tickets here will be used for more private, and less accountable, forms of fund-raising -- caveat emptor.) At 8 p.m., 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 496-7070; sold out. (Sisario) SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA (Tonight) Anyone whos heard a salsa band in New York City has probably seen some of the members of this group: theyre the virtuosic journeymen who are one of New Yorks great musical resources. As the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, they reclaim salsa classics under the direction of the keyboardist Oscar Hernandez, who has worked with Ruben Blades and Paul Simon. At 8 and 10, with a dance lesson at 7, S.O.B.s, 204 Varick Street, at Houston Street, South Village, (212) 243-4940, sobs.com; $15. (Pareles) ELAINE STRITCH (Tonight and tomorrow, and Tuesday through Thursday) The third autobiographical go-round by this feisty 81-year-old legend features 10 astutely chosen new songs (including the theme from The Sopranos) performed with verve and humor. But her between-song patter finds her at a loss to come up with amusing or enlightening new stories from her glittering show business life. (Through Nov. 4.) At 8:45 p.m., Café Carlyle, Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 744-1600, thecarlyle.com; $125; dinner required. (Holden) * TIGER LILLIES (Tuesday and Wednesday) Nothing inspires like horror and degeneracy. For Halloween, this ingenious Brecht-meets-Alice-Cooper cabaret-theater group from Britain, whose best known piece, Shockheaded Peter, was based on Struwwelpeter, the 19th-century collection of spectacularly gory bedtime stories, offers a new cycle partly based on the proto-sci-fi writings of H. P. Lovecraft. It might be a challenge -- Lovecrafts power to frighten comes through not in blood and guts but in ominous, mysterious suggestion -- though if anybody is up to it, its the Tiger Lillies. At 8 p.m., St. Anns Warehouse, 38 Water Street, at Dock Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn, (718) 254-8779, stannswarehouse.org; $30. (Sisario) DEREK TRUCKS BAND, SUSAN TEDESCHI BAND (Tomorrow) After years of juggling a family and two busy careers, these two guitarists, who happen to be married -- Mr. Trucks, who plays with the Allman Brothers, is one of the most graceful blues-rock players since Eric Clapton, and Ms. Tedeschi has had a strong if less remarkable career as a Bonnie Raitt-like woman-of-the-blues -- are finally on tour together. At 8 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, (212) 307-7171, nokiatheatrenyc.com; $35 and $45. (Sisario) ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA (Tuesday) More than a decade after Frank Zappas death, his transformation from rock composer to composer, period, seems about as complete as it can be. His vast output -- more than 60 albums -- is a repertory to be engaged and interpreted again and again, and for this tour, now on its second leg, his son, Dweezil, is playing his music with a roster that includes the former Zappa employees Steve Vai, Napoleon Murphy Brock and Terry Bozzio. At 8 p.m., the Theater at Madison Square Garden, (212) 465-6741, thegarden.com; $42 and $90. (Sisario) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. ERIC ALEXANDER (Tuesday through Thursday) Mr. Alexander, a tenor saxophonist with a yen for smart, surging hard bop, augments his working quartet -- the veteran pianist Harold Mabern, with the rhythm team of John Webber on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums -- with a flexible frontline partner, the trumpeter-saxophonist-flutist Ira Sullivan. (Through Nov. 5.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Nate Chinen) MICHAËL ATTIAS TWINES OF COLESION (Wednesday) A saxophonist and composer with a taste for inquisitive frictions, Michaël Attias presents a group featuring his fellow saxophonist Tony Malaby, along with Russ Lossing on Wurlitzer piano, John Hebert on bass and Satoshi Takeishi on drums. At 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $8. (Chinen) GEORGE CABLES PROJECT (Thursday) George Cables, a well-traveled pianist, goes for assertive extroversion in this group comprising Gary Bartz on alto saxophone, Eric Revis on bass and Jeff (Tain) Watts on drums. (Through Nov. 5.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $20. (Chinen) JOE CHAMBERS (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Chambers, a veteran drummer and vibraphonist, pays a visit to the recently reopened Mintons Playhouse, with Javon Jackson on tenor saxophone, Misha Tsiganov on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass and Steve Berrios on percussion. At 9 and 10:30, and 12:30 a.m., Mintons Playhouse, 208 West 118th Street, Harlem, (212) 864-8346; cover, $10, with a two-drink minimum. (Chinen) RAVI COLTRANE QUARTET (Tomorrow and Sunday) As on his album In Flux (Savoy), Ravi Coltrane positions his tenor and soprano saxophone playing against the cohesive stirrings of a good working band: the pianist Luis Perdomo, the bassist Drew Gress and the drummer E. J. Strickland. At 8:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m. and midnight, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) CURHA-CHESTRA (Tonight) Curtis Hasselbring, a mischievous trombonist, leads an experimental quintet with the trumpeter Shane Endsley, the saxophonist and bass clarinetist Andrew DAngelo, the guitarist Hilmar Jenssen and the drummer Take Toriyama. At 9 and 10:30, Tea Lounge, 837 Union Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 789-2762, tealoungeny.com; no cover. (Chinen) LOU DONALDSON QUARTET (Tuesday through Thursday) Bebop, blues and boogaloo are all fair game for Lou Donaldson, a veteran alto saxophonist who receives strong support here from Mike LeDonne on piano, Randy Johnston on guitar and Fukushi Tainaka on drums. (Through Nov. 5.) At 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JOHN ELLIS (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Ellis is a tenor and soprano saxophonist drawn to loose-limbed funk, but he also has an interest in spacious modern jazz, as he illustrates on his most recent album, By a Thread (Hyena). He works here with similarly inclined players, like the guitarist Mike Moreno and the drummer Derreck Phillips. At 9 and 10:30, Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $15; members, $10. (Chinen) ERGO (Tonight) The trombonist Brett Sroka, the keyboardist Carl Maguire and the drummer Damion Reid comprise this atmospheric collective, which takes full advantage of electronic programming and cross-genre appropriation. At 8, Knitting Factory Old Office, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3132, knittingfactory.com; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) LAFAYETTE GILCHRIST/AHMED ABDULLAH (Tomorrow) On his recent album Towards the Shining Path (Hyena), Mr. Gilchrist reconciles avant-garde pianism with the swagger of hip-hop, creating a compellingly funky amalgam; he performs a solo set at 7:30 p.m.. Mr. Abdullah, a trumpeter, has a recent album of his own, Taras Song (Tum), which explores themes by Thelonious Monk and Ornette Coleman, among others; he plays a 9 p.m. set with the drummer Brandon Lewis. Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street, Lower East Side, (212) 696-6681, visionfestival.org; cover, $10 a set; $7 for students. (Chinen) * DAVE HOLLAND QUINTET (Wednesday and Thursday) Characterized by rhythmic assertiveness, tight counterpoint and an unconventional blend of timbres, this ensemble has a history at Birdland, having recorded an excellent live album there a few years ago. The bassist Dave Holland is unequivocally the leader, but each of the bands other members -- the trombonist Robin Eubanks, the saxophonist Chris Potter, the vibraphonist Steve Nelson and the drummer Nate Smith -- has been contributing compositions. (Through Nov. 4.) At 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) ADAM KOLKER QUARTET (Wednesday) Adam Kolker plays saxophone, bass clarinet and alto flute in this energetic post-bop group, with Jacob Sacks on piano, John Hebert on bass and Anthony Pinciotti on drums. At 8 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $8. (Chinen) * OLIVER LAKE (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Lake is an alto saxophonist with a robust and piercing sound, as well as an expansive palette of ideas. Tonight he performs three noticeably different sets: one at 8, featuring Trio 3, his all-star group with the bassist Reggie Workman and the drummer Andrew Cyrille; one at 10, featuring the Oliver Lake Organ Trio and a singer, Dee Alexander; and another Organ Trio set at midnight, this time with a tap dancer, Maurice Chestnut. Tomorrow there will be three sets devoted to Mr. Lakes big band, with Ms. Alexander as an intermittent guest. At 8, 10 and midnight, Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 255-3626, sweetrhythmny.com; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) LAGE LUND (Monday) Mr. Lund, the winner of last years Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, is an introspective guitarist and a thoughtful composer; his effortlessly modern ensemble includes another past winner, the tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; cover, $10, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) TONY MALABY MYTHOS QUARTET (Tonight) Tony Malaby, a versatile and increasingly prominent tenor saxophonist, leads a new group featuring the trumpeter Ron Horton, the bassist Mario Pavone and the drummer Mike Sarin. At 9 and 10:30, Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) BEN RILEYS MONK LEGACY SEPTET (Tuesday) Ben Riley, one of the most buoyant drummers ever to serve in Thelonious Monks employ, honors that pianist and composers memory with this rock-solid septet, with players like the trumpeter Don Sickler and the saxophonist Wayne Escoffery. At 9 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) SKERIKS SYNCOPATED TAINT SEPTET (Tomorrow) On his recent album, Husky (Hyena), the saxophonist known as Skerik introduced a group with five horns, a rhythm section and a decidedly groovy sound. The band has honed its act on the road; tomorrow night it is scheduled to play two sets, each in a different club. At 10 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $12; advance, $10. At 12:30 a.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592, bluenote.net; cover, $15. (Chinen) JAMES SPAULDINGS EXPRESSIONS (Tomorrow) James Spaulding is a flutist and alto saxophonist with a bright tone and a driving sense of rhythm; he is equally comfortable straining against tonality or settling into a hard-bop groove. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Sistas Place, 456 Nostrand Avenue, at Jefferson Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, (718) 756-7600; cover, $25 in advance, $30 tomorrow. (Chinen) * TOMASZ STANKO QUARTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) The Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko is one of Europes most heralded jazz musicians, and he has earned his accolades. Lontano (ECM) is his third album, with a gifted younger rhythm section made up of the pianist Marcin Wasilewski, the bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and the drummer Michal Miskiewicz; its a shimmering, gently abstract and warmly luminescent work, likely to sound even better in the flesh. At 9 and 11, Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) JEREMY STEIG (Tomorrow) Mr. Steig is an accomplished flutist with a heavy jazz-rock pedigree; his quartet features the electric guitarist Vic Juris, with whom he has recently and fruitfully recorded. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319; cover, $12, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) CECIL TAYLOR TRIO (Tonight) Cecil Taylor, the leonine father figure of free-jazz piano, has lost none of his percussive fire, and he still takes satisfaction in a churning trio. His partners offer cause for enthusiasm: they are Henry Grimes, the bassist on a couple of Mr. Taylors best 1960s albums, and Pheeroan akLaff, the sort of dynamic drummer who has always challenged him best. At 8:30, 10:30 and midnight, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) YOSVANY TERRY (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Terry, a saxophonist and percussionist, chases post-bop ideals without abandoning the rhythmic pull of his native Cuba. He is also a savvy composer-arranger, and his bands are usually top-notch. At 9 and 10:30, Rose Live Music, 345 Grand Street, between Havemeyer and Marcy Streets, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-0069, www.liveatrose.com; $5. (Chinen) BENNIE WALLACE (Tonight through Sunday night) Mr. Wallace, a tenor saxophonist, offers a preliminary taste of Disorder at the Border, a tribute to the original tenor hero Coleman Hawkins. His nine-piece band includes such fellow veterans as the alto saxophonist Jerry Dodgion and the drummer Alvin Queen. At 7:30 and 9:30, with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $30; $25 on Sunday. (Chinen) MICHAEL WEISS QUINTET (Tonight through Sunday night) Michael Weiss has ample experience with the Village Vanguard piano, though he usually plays it as a sideman. Next week he showcases some of his own thoughtful compositions with a good post-bop group featuring the alto and soprano saxophonist Steve Wilson. At 9 and 11, Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) GERALD WILSON AND THE JUILLIARD JAZZ ORCHESTRA (Tonight through Sunday night) Gerald Wilson, the venerable composer and arranger, last appeared in New York as a guest conductor of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. This engagement, though less of an occasion, places Mr. Wilsons gift as an educator in clearer focus. At 7:30 and 9:30, with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night, Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) * JOE ZAWINUL SYNDICATE (Tonight and tomorrow night) Joe Zawinul is an original architect of fusion, both through his tenure with Miles Davis and his stewardship of the influential band Weather Report. His working group presents a complex and propulsive whorl, deeply rooted in world rhythm; its personnel includes the bassist Linley Marthe, the guitarist Clovis Nunes Correa and the percussionists Paco Sery, Jorge Bezerra Junior and Aziz Samaoui. At 8, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 721-6500, jalc.org; $30 to $130. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera CARMEN (Wednesday) A new cast has taken over for the remainder of the run. In her first season at City Opera, Vanes sa Cariddi plays the Gypsy; Kerri Marcinko and Daesan No, two other newcomers, are Micaëla and Escamillo. Scott Piper, who has a promising voice, is Don José, and Gary Thor Wedow conducts. At 7:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nycopera.com; $25 to $125. (Anne Midgette) CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA AND PAGLIACCI (Monday) The Metropolitan Opera dredges up its longstanding Franco Zeffirelli production of two devastating and sure-fire operatic hits. With Maria Guleghina, Franco Farina, Ambrogio Maestri, Patricia Racette, Salvatore Licitra and Mark Rucker. At 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $15 to $375. (Bernard Holland) COSÌ FAN TUTTE (Tonight and Sunday) The New York City Operas new production of what may be the closest Mozart came to operatic perfection continues its run, with Julianna Di Giacomo and Sandra Piques Eddy. The venerable, indeed historic, Julius Rudel conducts. Tonight at 8, Sunday at 1:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nycopera.com; $25 t0 $125. (Holland) The Elixir of Love (Tomorrow and Thursday) The director Jonathan Miller has created an all-American version of Donizettis Elisir dAmore, transposing the action to a vintage roadside diner to create something thats dramatically consistent but also dramatically slight. Yet Elisir is a delightful opera, and its decently sung by Anna Skibinsky, an Adina with a little ribbon of a voice; John Tessier, an honest, solid, if North American Nemorino; and especially Jan Opalach, who has a lot of fun and sounds good as Dulcamara. George Manahans conducting is not exactly Italianate. Tomorrow afternoon at 1:30, Thursday night at 7:30, New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nycopera.com; $25 to $125. (Midgette) * IMPERMANENCE (Wednesday and Thursday) The work of Meredith Monk, the pioneering composer-vocalist-choreographer, may be difficult to categorize, but its always characterized by a kind of radiant honesty. This latest multimedia piece for her ensemble, which begins a five-performance run this week, deals with life and death, no less; parts of it were developed in collaboration with some terminally ill patients. At 7:30 p.m., BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100, bam.org; $20 to $50. (Midgette) * MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Tonight and Tuesday) In this visually beautiful production by the Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella, the abstract staging deftly employs moveable screens, stylized costumes and, most daringly, a life-sized puppet manipulated by three black-clad puppeteers to portray Butterflys 3-year-old son. Vocally, neither of the leads, the earthy-voiced soprano Cristina Gallardo-Domâs as Butterfly and the robustly Italianate tenor Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, is ideal. But they do honorable work. Asher Fisch conducts. At 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; sold out. (Anthony Tommasini) TOSCA (Tomorrow and Wednesday) Franco Zeffirellis crowd-pleasing production returns to the Met, this time starring the earthy and visceral soprano Andrea Gruber in the title role and the vocally and bodily muscular tenor José Cura as Cavaradossi. Do not expect subtle vocalism. The conductor Nicola Luisotti makes his Met debut. At 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metopera.org; $15 to $295. (Tommasini) Classical Music BARGEMUSIC (Tonight through Sunday) This weekend Bargemusic is offering a Beethoven bonanza. Peter Bruns, the cellist, and Annegret Kuttner, the pianist, will play the composers complete works for cello and piano, starting tonight with the Sonata in F (Op. 5, No. 1) and the Sonata in A (Op. 69). Tomorrows program, repeated on Sunday, includes the Sonata in G minor (Op. 5, No. 2) and the Sonata in C (Op. 102, No. 1). Both concerts include the variations on Ein Mädchen Oder Weibchen (Op. 66) from Mozarts Magic Flute. Tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30, Sunday afternoon at 4, Fulton Ferry Landing, next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083, bargemusic.org; $35; $20 for students. (Vivien Schweitzer) BENJAMIN HOCHMAN (Sunday) This young Israeli pianist introduced himself to New Yorkers in chamber music programs last season and also as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic last summer in Saint-Saënss Carnival of the Animals. On Sunday he makes his New York recital debut at the Metropolitan Museum as part of its Accolades series, which features young pianists. He will play Bach, Berg, Schubert and a world premiere by Menachem Wiesenberg. At 3 p.m., (212) 570-3949, metmuseum.org; $20. (Tommasini) * JOHN HOLLOWAY (Tomorrow) This violinist has made some brilliant recordings of the Baroque repertory on an 18th-century violin, including a fine set of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas, released by ECM this month. Mr. Holloway plays half that set -- the Partitas Nos. 2 and 3 and the Sonata No. 2 -- in a recital as part of the Miller Theaters Bach in Context series. At 8 p.m., Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799, millertheater.com; $35. (Allan Kozinn) STEPHEN HOUGH (Monday) The Walter W. Naumburg Foundation is holding a series celebrating some of its past winners. Mr. Hough, a pianist, won the prize in 1983, and offers works by Mozart, Schumann and Liszt, as well as music of his own. At 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, lincolncenter.org; $20. (Kozinn) EVAN HUGHES (Sunday) The Marilyn Horne Foundations recital season kicks off with a performance by this bass-baritone, whose program will include songs by Ibert, Schubert and the American composer Eric Ewazen. Tamara Sanikidze is the pianist. At 3 p.m., St. Bartholomews Church, Park Avenue at 51st Street, (212) 378-0248, marilynhornefdn.org ; $20; $15 for 65+; free for students. (Midgette) JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET/FLORESTAN PIANO TRIO (Tomorrow and Sunday) The Peoples Symphony Concerts series was conceived to make high-quality live music available at prices lower than those of New Yorks leading concert halls. This weekend the series offers two concerts: the classic Juilliard Quartet plays Mozart, Bartok, and Schuberts Death and the Maiden tomorrow, while on Sunday the acclaimed Florestan Trio offers Mozart, Saint-Saëns and Schubert. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Washington Irving High School, Irving Place at 16th Street, Manhattan; Sunday at 2 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 586-4680, pscny.org; $9 tomorrow, $9 and $11 on Sunday. (Midgette) KALICHSTEIN-LAREDO-ROBINSON TRIO (Tuesday and Wednesday) This trio -- with the pianist Joseph Kalichstein, the violinist Jaime Laredo and the cellist Sharon Robinson -- is celebrating its 30th anniversary at the 92nd Street Y, where it made its debut. The members will play the same program for good measure: Brahmss Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor (Op. 101), Piano Trio No. 2 in C (Op. 87) and Piano Trio No. 1 in B (Op. 8.) At 8, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500, 92y.org; $40. (Schweitzer) * KIROV ORCHESTRA OF THE MARYINSKY THEATER (Tonight and Sunday) Valery Gergiev began a revelatory Shostakovich cycle at Lincoln Center last season, and concludes it on Sunday. The closing program brings together the Symphony No. 8, the best of the composers wartime symphonies, and the Symphony No. 13, a choral work built around Yevgeny Yevtushenkos 1961 poem, Babi Yar, about the Nazi massacre of nearly 34,000 Jews in Kiev, in 1941. Nikolai Putilin, the bass soloist, and the Riverside Choral Society, with two choirs from Rutgers University, join Mr. Gergiev and the orchestra. Tonight the orchestra performs in Newark, offering Shostakovichs Symphony No. 8 and the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 (with Alexandre Toradze). Tonight at 8, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888) 466-5722, njpac.org; $24 to $88. Sunday at 3 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, lincolncenter.org; $69. (Kozinn) GIDON KREMER AND KRISTIAN ZIMERMAN (Wednesday) Mr. Kremer is perhaps musics most original violinist, and Mr. Zimerman one of its more elegant old-fashioned virtuoso pianists. This all-Brahms program looks odd-couple-ish on the surface but promises great interest. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $27 to $86. (Holland) LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE (Tomorrow) Its a pity that its not Steve Reichs birthday more often. New Yorkers were treated to stellar performances of that composers seminal works at Carnegie Hall last weekend, and fans can now decamp to Alice Tully Hall for another exciting night in the celebrations. The Los Angeles Master Chorale, led by Grant Gershon, will perform Tehillim, Clapping Music and the New York premiere of You Are (Variations). At 8 p.m., Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, lincolncenter.org; $35. (Schweitzer) * MUSICA ANTIQUA KÖLN (Thursday) This is New Yorkers last chance to hear this superb period instrument ensemble perform live: the group is planning to disband in November. Alas, its founder and director, the violinist Reinhard Goebel, wont be performing; Ilia Korol will lead the group in his place, and Marijana Mijanovic is the contralto soloist. The ensemble will play music by not only Johann Sebastian Bach, but also his great uncle, Heinrich Bach, and Heinrichs son, Johann Christoph Bach -- as well as Telemann, Heinchen and Zelenka. At 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $50 to $60. (Kozinn) * NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Today and tomorrow) The British-born conductor Jonathan Nott, a champion of contemporary music, has an intriguing program that juxtaposes two works by Beethoven -- the seldom-heard King Stephen Overture and his war horse Fifth Symphony -- with two 20th-century scores, Gyorgy Ligetis atmospheric Lontano and Bartoks rhapsodic Piano Concerto No. 1. The probing pianist Peter Serkin is the soloist. Today at 2 p.m. and tomorrow at 8 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, nyphil.org; $24 to $96. (Tommasini) NEW YORK VIRTUOSO SINGERS (Sunday) Be Glad Then, America! is the title of this concert choirs performance. What there is to celebrate are nine world and New York premieres on a program that includes new pieces by Milton Babbitt and John Harbison, as well as the winners of the choruss own choral composition competition. At 3 p.m., Miller Theater, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799, nyvirtuoso.org; $14; $7 for students and 65+. (Midgette) PRAGUE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (Sunday) The pianist Menahem Pressler joins the Prague players to perform Mozart, Barber and Schubert. At 7 p.m., Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 570-3949, metmuseum.org; $50. (Holland) ST. LAWRENCE STRING QUARTET (Tonight) This energetic Canadian quartet offers a wide-ranging program that includes Haydns Quartet in G (Op. 77, No. 1); Ravels Quartet; and the Quartet No. 3, by the groups countryman, R. Murray Schafer. At 7:30, Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $44. (Kozinn) AKI TAKAHASHI (Tomorrow) Morton Feldman, the New York composer who died in 1987, would have turned 80 this year. Ms. Takahashi, the Japanese pianist noted for her interpretations of Mr. Feldmans music, will celebrate by performing Piano (1977) and For Bunita Marcus (1985). At 7:30 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330, kaufman-center.org; $25; $15 for students and 65+. (Schweitzer) TOKYO STRING QUARTET WITH ALON GOLDSTEIN (Tomorrow) The Tokyo begins a Schumann series and includes the wonderful E-Flat Quartet for Piano and Strings. At 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500, 92y.org; $40. (Holland) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. * AMERICAN BALLET THEATER (Tonight and tomorrow, and Tuesday though Thursday) The companys more venturesome fall season ends on Nov. 5 with a variety of interesting mixed-repertory programs by choreographers like Jorma Elo, Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Kurt Jooss, Mark Morris and Antony Tudor. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8, tomorrow at 2 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., City Center, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan, (212) 581-1212, abt.org; $26 to $93. (John Rockwell) ANEMONE DANCE THEATER (Tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday) In Mikros Kosmos, the choreographers Sara Baird and Erin Dudley blend Butoh-inspired dance with video projections and sculptural costumes and music by Kenneth Kirschner to journey through treetops and icy Arctic and monsoon-drenched landscapes. (Through Nov. 4.) Tonight, tomorrow night and Wednesday night at 8, Center for Remembering & Sharing (C.R.S.), 123 Fourth Avenue, near 12th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101; $18; $15 for students and 65+. (Jennifer Dunning) BALLET HISPANICO (Tuesday through Thursday) A Tuesday night gala honoring the Latin Grammy Awards opens a season with a diverse repertory and a world premiere by Ramón Oller based on Washington Irvings Tales of the Alhambra. (Through Nov. 12.) Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, joyce.org; $44. (Jack Anderson) BAYANIHAN PHILIPPINE NATIONAL DANCE COMPANY (Tomorrow, Sunday and Wednesday) Philippine folk traditions are woven into a spectacle of sound, color and movement. The company will present three performances in the New York City area. The first is tomorrow at 8 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (888) 466-5722, www.njpac.org; $58, $51, $43, $35 and $20. On Sunday the company will dance at 3 p.m. at the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, at Goulden Avenue, Bedford Park, the Bronx, (718) 960-8833, lehmancenter.org; $20 to $35. And Bayanihan will perform on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the McCarter Theater Center, 91 University Place, Princeton, N.J., (609) 258-2787, mccarter.org; $37 to $44. (Anderson) DALIA CARELLA DANCE COLLECTIVE (Tonight through Sunday) A Middle Eastern dancer, choreographer and teacher, Ms. Carella will present Cabaret Macabre, dances drawn from French and German cabaret of the 1920s and 30s and filled with Halloween images. Tonight and tomorrow night at 7, Sunday at 5 p.m., New Lafayette, 54 Franklin Street, near Lafayette Street, TriBeCa, (212) 714-4600 or daliacarella.com; $40, including dinner. (Dunning) * BORIS CHARMATZ AND DIMITRI CHAMBLAS (Tonight and tomorrow night) Mr. Charmatz is a clever French conceptualist, here joining forces with another dancer-choreographer, Mr. Chamblas, for a piece set inside a boxing ring. At 8:30, Danspace Project at St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194, danspaceproject.org; $15. (Rockwell) DZUL DANCE (Thursday) Javier Dzul, who grew up on the Yucatan Peninsula, explores his Mayan heritage in Maya, which retells the legend of a kings journey from the heavens to the underworld. (Through Nov. 5.) Thursday at 8 p.m., Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue, at 23rd Street, (212) 279-4200, ticketcentral.com; $25; $20 for students and 65+. (Anderson) FRIDAYS @ NOON (Today) A childrens program offers works by Treehouse Shakers and Guta Hedewig. At noon, 92nd Street Harkness Dance Center, 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500, 92y.org. Free. (Anderson) MAIJA GARCIA AND STEPHANIE NUGENT (Thursday) Two choreographers share a program as part of a series celebrating choreographic diversity. (Through Nov. 4.) At 8 p.m., Dance New Amsterdam, 280 Broadway, at Chambers Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 279-4200, ticketcentral.com; $17. (Anderson) RANDY JAMES DANCE WORKS (Thursday) Dances about relationships include a depiction of two mens struggles to relate to each other and a comedy about a dinner party at which guests arrive embarrassingly early and fashionably late. (Through Nov. 5.) Thursday at 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, SoHo, (212) 334-7479, joyce.org; $20; $15 for students and 65+. (Anderson) MOVEMENT COLLECTIVE DANCE COMPANY (Sunday) From Brooklyn, this modern-dance company will present Crash of Tides, a program of 10 pieces by the company directors Alaine Handa, Andrea Walden-Morden and Molly Campbell. At 6 p.m., Empire Dance, 127 West 25th Street, Chelsea, (212) 430-5793; $5. (Dunning) MOVEMENT RESEARCH AT JUDSON CHURCH (Monday) Melanie Maar heads this program in a workshop series that has returned to its original historic, and now newly renovated, headquarters. At 8 p.m., Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, (212) 539-2611, movementresearch.org; free. (Anderson) NATIONAL DANCE INSTITUTE (Tomorrow) This performance for children ranges from An African Village to A Midsummer Nights Dream. At 2 p.m., Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400, symphonyspace.org; $23, $18 and $13. (Anderson) REDWALL DANCE THEATER (Tonight and tomorrow night) A troupe that takes its name from the surname and the hair color of its founder, Mary Ann Wall, offers Cabaret Macabre, an evening of quirky works with humorous insights into daily life. At 8 p.m., BRICstudio, 57 Rockwell Place, near Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 781-1785; $15; $12 for students. (Anderson) * SANKAI JUKU (Tonight through Sunday) Japans best-known butoh troupe returns with a piece called Kagemi: Beyond the Metaphors of Mirrors, with seven near-naked, chalk-covered men enacting one of their slow-motion visionary dreamscapes. Tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30 and Sunday at 3 p.m., Howard Gilman Opera House, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100, bam.org; $20 to $60. (Rockwell) MERÍAN SOTO DANCE AND PERFORMANCE (Thursday) The weeks prize for the most evocative dance titles goes to Ms. Sotos Three Branch Songs and States of Gravity, pieces developed partly through improvisation. (Through Nov. 3.) Thursday at 7 p.m., Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture, 450 Grand Concourse, at 149th Street, Mott Haven, the Bronx, (718) 518-4455, www.hostos.cuny.edu/culturearts; $12; $8 for students. (Dunning) LISA TOWNSEND COMPANY (Tomorrow and Sunday) Virile Streak contemplates how partnership can be a form of bondage, and vulnerability can be a gift. At 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, SoHo, (212) 334-7479; joyce.org; $15; $12 for students and 65+. (Anderson) DOUG VARONE AND DANCERS (Tonight through Sunday) This celebration of the companys 20th anniversary includes two new pieces from Mr. Varone, a prolific modern-dance humanist, set to music by Philip Glass and Arvo Pärt. The veteran Varone dancers Larry Hahn, Gwen Welliver and Peggy Baker will return, along with Mr. Varone himself, who looks like a football player but moves like the most agile young dancer. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, joyce.org; $42. (Dunning) WAVE RISING SERIES (Tonight through Sunday, and Wednesday and Thursday) Clearly a workaholic, Young Soon Kim, director of the White Wave studios in Brooklyn and presenter of the Dumbo Dance Festival, moves on to another ambitious event. Fourteen emerging and established choreographers, chosen by Ms. Kim and other panelists, will present 17 pieces in 8 programs over 2 weeks in Wave Rising. (Through Nov. 5.) Tonight and Wednesday and Thursday nights at 7:30; tomorrow and Sunday at 4 and 7:30 p.m., John Ryan Theater, 25 Jay Street, Dumbo section of Brooklyn, (718) 855-8822 or whitewavedance.com; $20 in advance, $25 at the door. (Dunning) WITNESS RELOCATION (Tonight through Sunday, and Thursday) This dance theater group will present Dan Safers Dancing vs. the Rat Experiment, which sees scientific experiments with rats as an analogy for the everyday world. (Through Nov. 12.) Tonight and tomorrow and Thursday nights at 7:30; Sunday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710 or lamama.org; $20. (Dunning) WORKS & PROCESS: PAUL TAYLOR -- A CLOSER LOOK (Sunday and Monday) Dont count on getting too close to this famously elusive yet lovable genius except through the dances on this performance-and-discussion program, which include Troilus and Cressida (reduced), Profiles, Company B, Promethean Fire, Hand Dance and Airs, some excerpted. At 7:30 p.m., Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3587, worksandprocess.org; sold out. (Dunning) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums American Folk Art Museum: A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr., through Jan. 7. Few Early American artists painted more incisive and empathetic likenesses than John Brewster Jr. (1766-1854), the subject of a fine traveling show at the American Folk Art Museum. And few worked under such potentially limiting circumstances: Brewster was born deaf before remedial help or a common sign language existed. The case the show makes for Brewsters physical conditions being reflected in his art is inconclusive, but the paintings are wonderful. 45 West 53rd Street, (212) 265-1040. (Holland Cotter) * Asia Society: Gilded Splendor: Treasures of Chinas Liao Empire (907-1125), through Dec. 31. For a thousand years the Khitan, who established the Liao Empire, were dismissed by Chinese historians, but they have been redeemed by late-20th-century archaeological discoveries. The evidence is laid out in this show of more than 200 objects excavated from tombs, temples and walled cities in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China..Ceramics, wood carvings, painted screens and belts; bronze mirrors that studded the outside of the White Pagoda; writing instruments; and even an ancient spittoon add to the bite and flavor of this show. 725 Park Avenue, at 70th Street, (212) 517-2742, asiasociety.org. (Grace Glueck) Brooklyn Museum: ANNIE LEIBOVITZ: A PHOTOGRAPHERS LIFE,1990-2005, through Jan. 21. With photographs of her close-knit family and her companion, Susan Sontag; bits of photojournalism; and a pretentious foray into landscape photography, this large exhibition tells you more about Ms. Leibovitz than you probably want to know. The first-person text labels dont help. Not surprisingly, her well-known celebrity portraits are strongest, and at their best in a re-creation of the large pin-up boards on which she plotted the lavish book that accompanies the show. Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, (718) 638-5000. (Roberta Smith) * Bronx Museum of the Arts, Tropicalia: A Revolution in Brazilian Culture, through Jan. 28. Tropicalia, or Tropicalism, wasnt a style or a movement as much as an atmosphere, a rush of youthful, cosmopolitan, liberating optimism that broke over Brazil in the late 1960s like a sunshower, and soaked into everything -- art, music, film, theater and architecture -- until a military government clamped down. The Bronx Museums absorbing, inevitably diffuse show is an attempt to recapture the moments fugitive spirit, and with the presence of artists like Helio Oiticica and Lygia Clark, the architect Lina Bo Bardi, and musicians like Gilberto Gil, it comes close. 1040 Grand Concourse, at 165th Street, Morrisania, the Bronx, (718) 681-6000, bronxmuseum.org. (Cotter) * Frick Collection: CIMABUE AND EARLY ITALIAN DEVOTIONAL PAINTING, through Dec. 31. Weighing in at six works of art, with about 20 images among them, this is one of the most stupendous very small exhibitions most of us are likely to see. It reunites two small, beautiful, newly attributed panels by the Italian master Cimabue, whose turn toward naturalism increased the sense of space, gesture and feeling in Florentine painting, and helped set the Renaissance in motion. The panels, which depict a Virgin and Child Enthroned and a Flagellation and may be from the same altarpiece, are flanked by related works. 1 East 70th Street, (212) 288-0700. (Smith) * SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: LUCIO FONTANA: VENICE/NEW YORK, through Jan. 21. If the Italian artist Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) was dazzled by Venice, he was positively awestruck by New York, which he first visited in 1961. For each city he created a group of works that he felt expressed its individual spirit. For Venice, a group of richly sensual oil paintings, with his signature slashes and punctures, evoked his personal experience of the lagoon city in glowing colors during the passage of a day. For New York he chose shiny metal surfaces, slashed and pierced to give a semblance of the wired energy and architectural vivacity he saw as the essence of the futuristic metropolis. The two groups are united for the first time, and well attended by works and photographs of works that trace from 1949 the career of an artist seeking to transcend the boundaries of his era. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3500, guggenheim.org. (Glueck) Metropolitan Museum of Art: Americans in Paris: 1860-1900, through Jan. 28. The Americanization of the world may be a done deal now, but not so long ago the United States was a buyer rather than a seller of cultural information, and France was a major source between the Civil War and World War I. Thats the story told in an exhibition that goes a little way toward reversing the fall seasons trend of big, surveyish shows made up of splashy objects and bland ideas. In this case, the basic ideas, though undeveloped, are inherently interesting, and the art, with some notable exceptions, is conservative and staid, especially when compared with work in the Mets Vollard show, done at the same time. (212) 535-7719, metmuseum.org. (Cotter) * the MET: SEAN SCULLY: WALL OF LIGHT, through Jan. 15. The capacious, day-lighted mezzanine galleries at the Met are the perfect setting for Sean Scullys bold and energizing Wall of Light paintings from the series he started in 1998. These large-scale oils on canvas wow the viewer with their scale, intensity of color and sheer dominance of space. All have this in common: They are richly painted surfaces of close-laid vertical and horizontal bars (he calls them bricks) whose arrangement suggests constructed walls of stone. Although they appear totally abstract, with their all-over arrangements of bars that superficially vary only in color, size and juxtaposition, they evoke landscapes, people, events, the work of other artists. Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Glueck) Museum of Modern Art: Eye on Europe: Prints, Books & Multiples, 1960 to Now, through Jan. 1. This is a woolly, at times idiosyncratic assemblage of more than 350 prints and multiple editions by 118 European artists. Although they are still often considered secondary mediums, the show charts how prints and multiple editions rose to prominence in the 1960s as an essentially democratic strategy, having largely to do with accessibility and affordability, as artists explored alternatives to conventional painting and sculpture. Following this are displays of artwork by contemporary artists working in these mediums. 11 West 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400, www.moma.org. (Benjamin Genocchio) RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART: I SEE NO STRANGER: EARLY SIKH ART AND DEVOTION, through Jan. 29. Sikhism is the worlds fifth-largest organized religion, but how many Westerners know that it was conceived as universalist in scope and radically egalitarian socially? Or that its holy book, far from being a catalog of sectarian dos and donts, is a bouquet of poetic songs blending the fragrances of Hindu ragas, Muslim hymns, and Punjabi folk tunes? This is precisely the information delivered by this small and beautiful show. Vivid and concentrated, it presents, mostly through miniature paintings, a kind of Sikh self-portrait, the image of a history shaped by hard work, pluralism and mystical transport, as well as by militancy. 150 West 17th Street, Chelsea, (212) 620-5000, rmanyc.org. (Cotter) * The Whitney Museum of American Art: Mark Grotjahn, through Jan. 7. Mining the early Modernist cusp where the figurative, the geometric, the spatial and the visionary still remain tangled, this Los-Angeles-based painter deploys his abstract pinwheel motifs on paper in eight brash, door-sized drawings. Multiple vanishing points destabilize radiating compositions that are variously Op and buzzy, darkly monochrome (and a little too pretentiously moody) or candy-color bright. In some works the motif is doubled and angled, decreasing the shieldlike frontality and opening up new optical and spatial possibilities. 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (212) 570-3600, whitney.org. (Smith) The Whitney Museum of American Art: Picasso and american art, through Jan. 28. Despite the glamorous pictures in it, this is one of those dull affairs incubated in the world of academe: a walk-through slide show that states the obvious. Picassos Woman in White, a picture of heavenly arrogance, hangs between Arshile Gorkys Artist and His Mother and de Koonings Standing Man, terrific paintings too. We are meant to register the plain insinuation of Picassos neo-Classicism, then move on. Next slide, please. The show ends with a virtual retrospective of Picasso-inspired works by Jasper Johns. In picture after picture, Johns buries allusions to the great Spaniard, aspiring presumably to Picassos own late meditations on Velázquez. Except that even when he was old and running out of steam, Picasso still had joie de vivre. Johns doesnt so much enthrone Picasso as repeatedly entomb him. See above. (Michael Kimmelman) Galleries: Chelsea * Karen Kilimnik Ms. Kilimniks sharp, witty, low-key show is spun around a Napoleonic theme, with a full-scale battle tent sitting in the gallery and paintings of Géricaultian steeds and soldiers inside and out. But any incipient Romanticism is cut with impurities -- walk-ons from Hollywood, refugees from Allure magazine -- as if to keep everything off balance and confused. Although Ms. Kilimnik has a reputation as a celebrity fantasist, shes a conceptual artist with a cool, watchful, resistant eye. Everyone agrees that full recognition of her accomplishment and influence is long overdue. May it begin here. 303 Gallery, 525 West 22nd Street, (212) 255-1121, through Nov. 4. (Cotter) KEN PRICE: SCULPTURE AND DRAWINGS, 1962-2006, through Nov. 4. The largest New York exhibition yet devoted to Mr. Prices polymorphous ceramic sculptures reviews four decades of progress, offers an array of powerful new small pieces and introduces his first attempt at something bigger. It invites us to contemplate his transubstantiation of Los Angeles finish fetish and the relationship of his jewel-like surfaces to the random vastness of Jackson Pollocks drip paintings. When will a New York museum give this amazing artist the retrospective he deserves? Matthew Marks Gallery, 522 West 22nd Street, (212) 243-0200. (Smith) Last Chance * Break Even This little firecracker of a show, organized by the artists Nicholas Guagnini and Gareth James, is a shrewd exercise in institutional critique. Highly conceptual and materially intense, it started with an advertisement in Artforum and incorporates original pieces by seven excellent artists to ask questions about the ties between art journalism, marketing, curatorial work and art-making. A result is an exhibition that is also an essay, that takes place in a gallery and in a magazine, that is a single work of art incorporating seven other works. And those other works are terrific. Andrew Roth, 160A East 70th Street, (212) 717-9067; closes tomorrow. (Cotter) * Sheela Gowda This Indian-based artist began as a painter but has gone in many directions since, some of them evident in a show that includes drawings made with burning incense; a walk-in building made of flattened tar drums; a plumbing pipe sculpture that speaks; and a photo-based painting of a Bollywood pietà. The dual effects of harshness and lyricism, real life and fantasy, menace and tenderness, run through it all. Bose Pacia, 508 West 26th Street, 11th floor, Chelsea, (212) 989-7074; closes tomorrow. (Cotter) Anish Kapoor: Sky Mirror This immense, stainless steel dish by the British sculptor Anish Kapoor on view at Rockefeller Center is beautiful in design and is certainly one of the more successful artistic interventions in this narrow fissure of a space, a popular city stage for public art. The circular mirror weighs 23 tons, is 35 feet in diameter and tilts over on a 45-degree angle. Its concave side, angled upward, captures an inversion of the uppermost levels of the Rockefeller Center skyline; the other side, facing Fifth Avenue, reflects the busy street and adds a mood of wonder. (Genocchio) Matthew Ritchie: The Universal Adversary Mr. Ritchie presents his version of a prophecy of world destruction precipitated by a shadowy entity referred to only as the Universal Adversary. On view is a theatrical display of kaleidoscopic paintings, a hanging folded black aluminum latticework sky, a video piece and a 40-foot-long light box of illuminated images. Brave souls can ascend to the top of the latticework sky courtesy of a rickety spiral staircase, where there is a suspended viewing platform leading out to an oculus onto which is a projection of a parallel world. The precise meaning of all of this is not easy to grasp, but somehow, together, it feels agonizingly pertinent. Andrea Rosen Gallery, 525 West 24th Street, Chelsea, (212) 627-6000, andrearosengallery.com; closes tomorrow. (Genocchio) DARIO ROBLETO: FEAR AND TENDERNESS IN MEN Minus the checklist, these works come across as mawkish facsimiles of conventional 20th-century assemblage, 19th-century funeral wreaths, homemade reliquaries or folk art. Their impact expands as you read the lists of materials involved: all kinds of artifacts of American wars, from shrapnel and battlefield dirt to soldiers letters used to make pulp. But it all remains too visually inaccessible, in addition to being a bit presumptuous about the keepsakes of people no longer alive. In the end the visual results are too familiarly antique to seem worth the either the hidden effort, indirectness or destruction. DAmelio Terras, 525 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 352-9460; closes tomorrow. (Smith)

W/R: Would-be judges asked to tell all

Beyond requests for standard employment and educational background, applicants are asked to identify any former spouses, detail their business and real estate holdings, list creditors, describe their ���physical condition and stamina,��� and recount any.

Singapore and the world mourns passing of Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew, who helped transform Singapore from a colonial trading center into one of Asias most prosperous nations has died.. Singapore is the only country in Asia with triple-A ratings from Moodys Investors Service, Standard and Poors and Fitch Ratings. Lee retreated from politics after the. It was also the easiest place to do business based on the World Banks 2015 ranking. Lees... Belvedere scandal: Legacy of 1920 fraudster Charles Ponzi. Today Ponzi��.

13 insurance/financial services companies make list of ���Worlds Most Ethical.

But you can choose to partner with companies that are proven to place a strong emphasis on ethical business practices ��� with more than just lip service. A bakers dozen of insurance and financial services companies are among the 132 honorees of the.

Women in Business: Lee Easley, SVP Brand Development.

I have high standards and expectations of myself, and this also means I expect the same from others.. Upon reaching a maximum workload straddling real estate between multiple companies, I gave Sam my resignation letter as Broker-in-Charge for the property management company in order to pursue working with East Coast Wings and Grill full time and helping to build the franchise.. Now it has morphed into a legacy of awareness that is saving lives every day.

Women in Business: Lee Easley, SVP Brand Development, East Coast Wings.

I have high standards and expectations of myself, and this also means I expect the same from others. It is important to. Upon reaching a maximum workload straddling real estate between multiple companies, I gave Sam my resignation letter as Broker.

Singapores Lee Kuan Yew, a true giant of history, dies.

Speaking in 2011, Singapores founding father and former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew talks about his legacy.. In a letter of condolence to Lees son, Singapores president, Tony Tan, said: ���Mr Lee dedicated his entire life to Singapore from his first position as a legal advisor to the labour unions in the 1950s after his graduation from Cambridge University to his.. This comment was removed by a moderator because it didnt abide by our community standards.

The Listings: March 24 - March 30

Selective listings by critics of The New York Times of new and noteworthy cultural events in the New York metropolitan region this week. * denotes a highly recommended film, concert, show or exhibition. Theater Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/theater. Previews and Openings TARZAN Previews start today. Opens May 10. Phil Collins lends his invisible touch to the score of the latest Disney musical. David Henry Hwang wrote the book (2:30). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4100. THE THREEPENNY OPERA Previews start today. Opens April 20. If any Broadway theater was made for a revival of Brechts classic, its the cabaret-style Studio 54, which will be host to an intriguing cast that includes Alan Cumming and Cyndi Lauper (2:40). Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street, (212) 719-1300. TRIAL BY WATER Opens Sunday. The Ma-Yi Theater Companys allegorical work by Qui Nguyen is about two Vietnamese brothers who set off for the United States. John Gould Rubin directs (1:30). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. FRAGMENT Opens Sunday. Classic Stage Company presents a new play based on bits and pieces of Euripides and Sophocles. Pavol Liska directs (1:15). Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 677-4210. JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS Opens Monday. Something of a phenomenon in the late 1960s, this Belgian singers romantic music returns to New York in this musical, which features tangos, ballads, boleros and rock n roll (2:00). Zipper Theater, 336 West 37th Street, (212) 239-6200. STUFF HAPPENS Previews start Tuesday. The words of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and company make up the script of David Hares docudrama about the run-up to war (2:50). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200. THREE DAYS OF RAIN Previews start Tuesday. Opens April 19. Julia Roberts stars in this years most closely watched star vehicle, a revival of the Richard Greenberg time-traveling drama about how we divide the legacy of our parents. Paul Rudd also stars. Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. SANDRA BERNHARD: EVERYTHING BAD AND BEAUTIFUL Previews start Wednesday. Opens April 5. Miss Bernhard bares her soul, sings a few tunes and dishes some gossip in her latest solo (you know, the usual). (2:00). Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, at Union Square, East Village, (212) 239-6200. 70 GIRLS 70 Opens Thursday. New York City Center Encores! revives this little-known Kander and Ebb musical about elderly Upper West Side residents who go on a crime spree (2:20). New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. THE CATARACT Opens April 2. Two upstanding Midwesterners welcome a transient Southern couple into their home in Lisa DAmours sensual new play (2:15). Womans Project/Julia Miles Theater, 424 West 55th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. PEN Opens April 2. A college-bound student struggles with his dysfunctional parents in this new play by David Marshall Grant (Snakebit). J. Smith-Cameron stars (2:15). Playwrights Horizons, Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. SHOW PEOPLE Opens April 6. A new comedy by Paul Weitz (Privilege) about two actors who are hired by a banker to impersonate his parents. Debra Monk stars (2:00). Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 246-4422. TRYST Opens April 6. A womanizing con man tries to seduce a love-starved shop girl in Karoline Leachs new drama set in Edwardian England (2:00). Promenade Theater, 2162 Broadway, at 76th Street, (212) 239-6200. FESTEN Opens April 9. Based on the film The Celebration, this London transfer, starring Julianna Margulies, Larry Bryggman and Michael Hayden, is about a Danish man who confronts some old secrets at a family reunion (1:45). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. BASED ON A TOTALLY TRUE STORY Opens April 11. A Hollywood deal makes a comic-book writer re-evaluate his relationships in this new play by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (2:00). Manhattan Theater Club at City Center Stage II, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. LANDSCAPE OF THE BODY Previews start Tuesday. Opens April 16. John Guare, never satisfied with an overly tidy play, throws comedy, tragedy, satire and mystery into this cult drama, which opened almost three decades ago. Lili Taylor and Sherie Rene Scott star. Signature Theaters Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 244-7529. AWAKE AND SING! Previews start today. Opens April 17. Lincoln Center revives Clifford Odetss classic fist-shaking drama about a Jewish family struggling to survive during the Depression. The impressive cast includes Mark Ruffalo, Ben Gazzara and Zoë Wanamaker (2:30). Belasco Theater, 111 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. LESTAT Previews start tomorrow. Opens April 25. Elton John and Bernie Taupin have a good track record making pop hits, but can they find success in the cursed genre of the vampire musical? Hugh Panaro stars (2:30). Palace Theater, 1564 Broadway, (212) 307-4100. Broadway BAREFOOT IN THE PARK For a work that celebrates the liberating force of spontaneity, this revival of Neil Simons 1963 comedy doesnt have one scene that feels organic, let alone impromptu. Directed by Scott Elliott, and starring Patrick Wilson and a miscast Amanda Peet as newlyweds in Greenwich Village, this Barefoot has the robotic gait of Frankensteins monster (2:20). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley) * BRIDGE & TUNNEL This delightful solo show, written and performed by Sarah Jones, is a sweet-spirited valentine to New York City, its polyglot citizens and the larger notion of an all-inclusive America. In 90 minutes of acutely observed portraiture gently tinted with humor, Ms. Jones plays more than a dozen men and women participating in an open-mike evening of poetry for immigrants (1:30). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Charles Isherwood) THE COLOR PURPLE So much plot, so many years, so many characters to cram into less than three hours. This beat-the-clock musical adaptation of Alice Walkers Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about Southern black women finding their inner warriors never slows down long enough for you to embrace it. LaChanze leads the vibrant, hard-working cast (2:40). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS The arrival of Jonathan Pryce and his eloquent eyebrows automatically makes this the seasons most improved musical. With Mr. Pryce (who replaces the admirable but uneasy John Lithgow) playing the silken swindler to Norbert Leo Butzs vulgar grifter, its as if a mismatched entry in a three-legged race had become an Olympic figure-skating pair (2:35). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) DOUBT, A PARABLE (Pulitzer Prize, Best Play 2005, and Tony Award, Best Play 2005) Set in the Bronx in 1964, this drama by John Patrick Shanley is structured as a clash of wills and generations between Sister Aloysius (Eileen Atkins), the head of a parochial school, and Father Flynn (Ron Eldard), the young priest who may or may not be too fond of the boys in his charge. The plays elements bring to mind those tidy topical melodramas that were once so popular. But Mr. Shanley makes subversive use of musty conventions (1:30). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) JERSEY BOYS From grit to glamour with the Four Seasons, directed by the pop repackager Des McAnuff (The Whos Tommy). The real thrill of this shrink-wrapped bio-musical, for those who want something more than recycled chart toppers and a story line poured from a can, is watching the wonderful John Lloyd Young (as Frankie Valli) cross the line from exact impersonation into something far more compelling (2:30). August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Love is a many-flavored thing, from sugary to sour, in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucass encouragingly ambitious and discouragingly unfulfilled new musical. The show soars only in the sweetly bitter songs performed by the wonderful Victoria Clark, as an American abroad (2:15). Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE ODD COUPLE Odd is not the word for this couple. How could an adjective suggesting strangeness or surprise apply to a production so calculatedly devoted to the known, the cozy, the conventional? As the title characters in Neil Simons 1965 comedy, directed as if to a metronome by Joe Mantello, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprise their star performances from The Producers, and its not a natural fit. Dont even consider killing yourself because the show is already sold out (2:10). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) * THE PAJAMA GAME Sexual chemistry in a Broadway musical? Isnt that illegal now? If it were, then Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli OHara -- the white-hot stars of Kathleen Marshalls delicious revival of this 1954 musical -- would be looking at long jail terms. This intoxicating production, which features a charming supporting cast led by Michael McKean, allows grown-up audiences the rare chance to witness a bona fide adult love affair translated into hummable songs and sprightly dance (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300. (Brantley) * RABBIT HOLE Thanks to a certain former American president, it has become almost impossible to say that you feel someone elses pain without its sounding like a punch line. Yet the sad, sweet release of David Lindsay-Abaires wrenching play, about the impact of the death of a small child, lies precisely in the access it allows to the pain of others, in its meticulously mapped empathy. With an emotionally transparent five-member cast led by Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly, directed by Daniel Sullivan, this anatomy of grief doesnt so much jerk tears as tap them (2:10). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RING OF FIRE The man in black turns sunshine yellow in a show that strings songs associated with Johnny Cash into a big, bright candy necklace of a musical revue, created and directed by Richard Maltby Jr. In the current bio-flick Walk the Line, Cash wrestles demons; Ring of Fire wrestles with a really bad case of the cutes (2:00). Ethel Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) SPAMALOT (Tony Award, Best Musical 2005) This staged re-creation of the mock-medieval movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail is basically a singing scrapbook for Python fans. Such a good time is being had by so many people that this fitful, eager celebration of inanity and irreverence has found a large and lucrative audience (2:20). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * SWEENEY TODD Sweet dreams, New York. This thrilling new revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheelers musical, with Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone leading a cast of 10 who double as their own musicians, burrows into your thoughts like a campfire storyteller who knows what really scares you. The inventive director John Doyle aims his pared-down interpretation at the squirming child in everyone who wants to have his worst fears both confirmed and dispelled (2:30). Eugene ONeill Theater, 230 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) * THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE The happy news for this happy-making little musical is that the move to larger quarters has dissipated none of its quirky charm. William Finns score sounds plumper and more rewarding than it did on Off Broadway, providing a sprinkling of sugar to complement the sass in Rachel Sheinkins zinger-filled book. The performances are flawless. Gold stars all around (1:45). Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) Off Broadway * ABIGAILS PARTY Scott Elliotts thoroughly delectable production of Mike Leighs 1977 comedy about domestic discord among the British middle classes. Jennifer Jason Leigh leads a superb ensemble cast as a party hostess who wields the gin bottle like a deadly weapon, resulting in an evening of savagely funny chaos (2:15). Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) BERNARDA ALBA Michael John LaChiusas musical adaptation of Federico García Lorcas tragedy of sexual repression often feels wan and weary, though not for want of erotic imagery. The ominous, oppressive atmosphere that makes Lorcas play so much more than a potboiler is mostly missing in inaction. Graciela Daniele directs a game ensemble led by a miscast Phylicia Rashad (1:30). Mitzi Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) CHRISTINE JORGENSON REVEALS Bradford Louryk meticulously lip-syncs a fascinating hourlong interview about gender and sexuality with Ms. Jorgenson, whose sex-change operation in the 1950s was big news (1:00). The Studio Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Jason Zinoman) CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY Steven Fales, a sixth-generation Mormon, describes leaving his family and becoming a gay escort in this fairly conventional, although admittedly compelling, piece of confessional theater (1:30). SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, between Avenue of the Americas and Varick Street, (212) 691-1555. (Zinoman) DEFIANCE The second play in John Patrick Shanleys cycle of morality dramas that began with Doubt, this ambitious tale of racial relations and the military mindset on a North Carolina marine base feels both overcrowded and oddly diffuse. If Doubt has an elegant and energy-efficient sprinters gait, Defiance progresses with a flustered air of distraction. The excellent Margaret Colin, as an officers wife, provides a welcome shot of credibility (1:30). Manhattan Theater Club, Theater 1, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212. (Brantley) ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE Miscasting is the mother of invention. Or so it proves to be for Jan Maxwell, who retailors an ill-fitting part and makes it as snug as a glove in this underpowered revival of Joe Ortons scandalous 1964 comedy. Scott Elliss production of Ortons great farce of sexual hypocrisy, which also stars Alec Baldwin, is breezy, often funny and rarely convincing. (2:00). Laura Pels Theater at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street, (212) 719-1300. (Brantley) FAMILY SECRETS Performing old jokes with meticulous detail, Sherry Glaser in her solo show brings to life three generations of a Jewish family (1:30). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Zinoman) GEORGE M. COHAN TONIGHT! The all-singing, all-dancing Jon Peterson summons the spirit of this legendary Broadway entertainer in this engaging one-man musical, devised and directed by Chip Deffaa (1:30). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 727-2737. (George Hunka) GREY GARDENS As the socialite in limbo called Little Edie Beale, Christine Ebersole gives one of the most gorgeous performances ever to grace a musical. Unfortunately, shes a pearl of incalculable price in a show that is mostly costume jewelry. Adapted from the Maysles brothers 1975 cult documentary movie, a camp favorite, and directed by Michael Greif, with the excellent Mary Louise Wilson as Edies bedridden mother (2:40). Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Brantley) * I LOVE YOU BECAUSE The plot line -- single New Yorkers in search of love -- couldnt be more familiar, but somehow this fluffy, funny musical makes it refreshing, helped along by an engaging six-member cast, with David A. Austin making a particularly hilarious impression. An impressive start for Ryan Cunningham (book and lyrics) and Joshua Salzman (music), both still in their 20s (2:00). Village Theater, 158 Bleecker Street, near Sullivan Street, East Village, (212) 307-4100. (Neil Genzlinger) * THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE Please turn off your political correctness monitor along with your cellphone for Martin McDonaghs gleeful, gory and appallingly entertaining play. This blood farce about terrorism in rural Ireland, acutely directed by Wilson Milam, has a carnage factor to rival Quentin Tarantinos. But it is also wildly, absurdly funny and, even more improbably, severely moral (1:45). Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) MEASURE FOR MEASURE A solid revival of one of Shakespeares problem plays in which the director Beatrice Terry has opted to emphasize the humor, especially in the scenes of comic relief. A staging with handsome costumes and that for the most part boasts a fine cast, whose members have made some smart choices (2:30). Theater 80, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212) 598-9802. (Wilborn Hampton) RED LIGHT WINTER A frank, occasionally graphic story of erotic fixation and the havoc it can wreak on sensitive types. Written and directed by Adam Rapp, this play is both a doomy romantic drama and a morbid comedy about the anxieties of male friendship. Although somewhat contrived, it features a lovely performance by Christopher Denham as a lonely soul starved for intimacy (2:25). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, West Village, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood) SOLDIERS WIFE When this play first opened on Broadway, World War II was shuddering to a close, and those on the home front wanted to feel good. Despite flaws in the work, the Mint Theater Companys revival of Rose Frankens 1944 comedy is highly entertaining (2:00). Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 315-0231. (Honor Moore) * [TITLE OF SHOW] Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell are the authors, stars and subject matter of this delectable new musical about its own making. The self-consciousness is tempered by a wonderful cast performing with the innocence of kids cavorting in a sandbox. Its a worthy postmodern homage to the classic backstage musicals, and an absolute must for show queens (1:30). Vineyard Theater, 108 East 15th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 353-0303. (Isherwood) * TRANSATLANTIC LIAISON A play fashioned from Simone de Beauvoirs love letters to the American novelist Nelson Algren and scenes from her novel The Mandarins (which tells the story of their affair). Wonderful performances by Elizabeth Rothan as de Beauvoir in love, and Matthew S. Tompkins as the emotional Algren (1:30). Harold Clurman Theater on Theater Row, 412 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Moore) WALK THE MOUNTAIN Jude Naritas one-woman show Walk the Mountain, about the hellish effects of the Vietnam War, offers nuanced accounts rather than a mere litany of horrors. (1:00). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200. (Laura Weinert) Off Off Broadway BACK OF THE THROAT An Arab-American playwright (Yussef El Guindi) addressing the harassment of Arab-Americans after 9/11? Interesting. But the play would have been even more interesting if the harassers were something other than cardboard characters out of the J. Edgar Hoover closet (1:15). Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101. (Genzlinger) SAVAGES Lurking somewhere in this stiff new play by Anne Nelson is a compelling op-ed piece yearning to be set free. Examining a little-known episode from the Philippines-American war at the turn of the last century, the author of the popular play The Guys argues that the United States involvement in Iraq echoes that previous mess. Unfortunately, the play has too much information to impart to allow time for nuanced drama to emerge (1:30). Lion Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200. (Isherwood) 33 TO NOTHING A band break up while playing break-up music in Grant James Varjass comic, sometimes poignant play. Music performed by the actors. Argo Theater Company, at the Bottle Factory Theater, 195 East Third Street, East Village, (212) 868-4444. (Gwen Orel) WE USED TO GO OUT Jason Mantzoukas and Jessica St. Clair revive the tradition of male-female comedy team in this appealing sketch about a disintegrating romance (1:00). UCB Theater, 306 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 366-9176. ( Zinoman) * ZOMBOID! (FILM/PERFORMANCe PROJECT #1) O, the heresy of it! Richard Foreman has introduced film into the realm of exquisitely artificial, abstract theater in which he has specialized for four decades. As it turns out, juxtaposing two art forms allows Mr. Foreman to underscore in resonant new ways what he has been saying for years: reality is, well, relative. And he continues to work in a style guaranteed to infect your perceptions for hours after (1:15). Ontological-Hysteric Theater, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101. (Brantley) Long-Running Shows * ALTAR BOYZ This sweetly satirical show about a Christian pop group made up of five potential Teen People cover boys is an enjoyable, silly diversion (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200.(Isherwood) AVENUE Q R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:10). Golden, 252 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Cartoon made flesh, sort of (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley) CHICAGO Irrefutable proof that crime pays (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200.(Brantley) HAIRSPRAY Fizzy pop, cute kids, large man in a housedress (2:30). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) THE LION KING Disney on safari, where the big bucks roam (2:45). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) MAMMA MIA! The jukebox that devoured Broadway (2:20). Cadillac Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Who was that masked man, anyway? (2:30). Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) THE PRODUCERS The ne plus ultra of showbiz scams (2:45). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley) RENT East Village angst and love songs to die for (2:45). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) SLAVAS SNOWSHOW Clowns chosen by the Russian master Slava Polunin are stirring up laughter and enjoyment. A show that touches the heart as well as tickles the funny bone (1:30). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 307-4100.(Lawrence Van Gelder) WICKED Oz revisited, with political corrections (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley) Last Chance BLUFF Jeffrey Sweets mostly comic tale of a young New York couple whose tentative romance is disrupted by a boorish stepfather has great fun playing with the audience through direct address and such, but it is executed with too much smirking (1:25). 78th Street Theater Lab, 236 West 78th Street, (212) 868-4444; closing Sunday. (Genzlinger) * FAT BOY John Clancys knockabout satire is blessed by a roaring performance by Del Pentecost as the round, murdering title character (1:30). Ohio Theater, 66 Wooster Street, between Spring and Broome Streets, SoHo, (212) 868-4444; closing tomorrow. ( Zinoman) HEDDA GABLER In the title role of Ibsens destructively dissatisfied heroine, Cate Blanchett is giving roughly a dozen of the liveliest performances to be seen this year, all at the same time, in the Sydney Theater Companys visiting production. A mere one or two at this level of intensity would have been enough. But she remains compellingly watchable in Robyn Nevins hyped-up, spasmodic production (2:25). Brooklyn Academy of Musics Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100; closing Sunday. (Brantley) MEASURE FOR PLEASURE A mock-Restoration comedy by David Grimm. Seeking to do a little restoration work of his own, he inserts great chunks of fresh dirt into every nook, cranny and convention of an old form. Acted to the hilt by a first-rate company under the direction of Peter DuBois, this tirelessly ribald comedy will tickle, offend or simply bore in measures that will vary according to your taste for blatantly vulgar sexual comedy (2:30). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200; closing Sunday.(Isherwood) Movies Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases, movie trailers, show times and tickets: nytimes.com/movies. AQUAMARINE (PG, 109 minutes) In this sweet comedy for the crowd that has outgrown The Little Mermaid, two likable pals (Emma Roberts and Joanna Levesque, a k a the singer JoJo) try to help a mermaid (Sara Paxton) find love and learn how to use her feet properly.(Neil Genzlinger) Ask the Dust (R, 117 minutes) A story about being young and hungry -- for fame, for women, for food -- in Los Angeles during the 1930s. Robert Towne wrote and directed this adaptation of the John Fante novel, and Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek star. (Manohla Dargis) * BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (R, 134 minutes) Annie Proulxs heartbreaking story of two ranch hands who fall in love while herding sheep in 1963 has been faithfully translated onto the screen in Ang Lees landmark film. (Mr. Lee won the Academy Award for best director.) Heath Ledger (in a great performance worthy of Brando at his peak) and Jake Gyllenhaal bring them fully alive. (Stephen Holden) * CAPOTE (R, 114 minutes) Philip Seymour Hoffmans portrayal of Truman Capote is a tour de force of psychological insight. (Mr. Hoffman won the Academy Award for best actor.) Following the novelist as he works on the magazine assignment that will become In Cold Blood, the film raises intriguing questions about the ethics of writing. (A. O. Scott) CRASH (Academy Award, Best Picture) (R, 107 minutes) A gaggle of Los Angeles residents from various economic and ethnic backgrounds collide, sometimes literally, within an extremely hectic 36 hours. Well-intentioned, impressively acted but ultimately a speechy, ponderous melodrama of liberal superstition masquerading as realism. (Scott) DAVE CHAPPELLES BLOCK PARTY (R, 103 minutes) The setup is blissfully simple: a free block party on a dead-end street in Bed-Stuy, with a lineup of musicians, some of whom, like Kanye West and Mos Def, have put in appearances on Chappelles Show. The nominal idea, Mr. Chappelle explains on camera, was the concert Ive always wanted to see. The result, which ping-pongs between Brooklyn and Mr. Chappelles hometown in Ohio, is a tantalizing sketch-portrait of the artist amid an outpouring of hard beats and soul. (Dargis) * DONT COME KNOCKING (R, 122 minutes) The visually majestic but dramatically inert reunion of Sam Shepard (who stars) and the director Wim Wenders, 22 years after their auspicious collaboration Paris, Texas, might be described as a magnificent ruin. (Holden) * Duck Season (R, 87 minutes) Two boys, one girl, a pizza-delivery man and a pan of pot brownies equals one charmingly low-key film about friendship and the ecstasy of communion. The Mexican filmmaker Fernando Eimbcke is a talent to watch. (Dargis) * FIND ME GUILTY (R, 124 minutes) This gripping courtroom drama, directed by Sidney Lumet, now 81 and near the top of his game, is based on the 1987-88 trial of 20 members of the New Jersey-based Lucchese crime family on multiple counts. Vin Diesel turns in a sensational performance as Giacomo DiNorscio, better known as Jackie Dee, who broke from the ranks of his fellow defendants to be his own defense lawyer. (Holden) * GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. (PG, 90 minutes) George Clooney, with impressive rigor and intelligence, examines the confrontation between the CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow (a superb David Strathairn) and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (himself). Plunging you into a smoky, black-and-white world of political paranoia and commercial pressure, the film is a history lesson and a passionate essay on power, responsibility and the ethics of journalism. (Scott) * MUNICH (R, 164 minutes) With his latest, Steven Spielberg forgoes the emotional bullying and pop thrills that come so easily to him to tell the story of a campaign of vengeance that Israel purportedly brought against Palestinian terrorists in the wake of the 1972 Olympics. An unsparingly brutal look at two peoples all but drowning in a sea of their own blood, Munich is by far the toughest film of the directors career, and the most anguished. (Dargis) * PRIDE & PREJUDICE (PG, 128 minutes) In this sumptuous, extravagantly romantic adaptation of Jane Austens 1813 novel, Keira Knightleys Elizabeth Bennet exudes a radiance that suffuses the movie. This is a banquet of high-end comfort food perfectly cooked and seasoned to Anglophilic tastes. (Holden) * PUZZLEHEAD (No rating, 81 minutes) In a bleak and barren future, a lonely scientist builds a robot companion called Puzzlehead and trains him to spy on the pale, jittery salesgirl whom the scientist has been secretly coveting. Mining the Frankenstein myth and finding psychosexual gold, the writer and director James Bai creates a doomed love triangle around cannibalistic themes, Freudian passions and the understanding that even a tin man can have a heart. (Jeannette Catsoulis) * SHADOW: DEAD RIOT (No rating, 90 minutes) An experimental womens prison is overrun by zombies in this berserk little B movie, the low-budget love child of The Evil Dead and Reform School Girls. (Nathan Lee) SHES THE MAN (PG-13, 105 minutes) Twelfth Night is recast as a hysterically peppy romantic comedy about a she-jock penetrating the boys soccer team. Because girls can do anything boys can do, although their ultimate ambition is to put on a nice dress and go steady with a stupid jock. (Lee) 16 BLOCKS (PG-13, 105 minutes) If Richard Donners presence suggests that his new action flick, 16 Blocks, is a throwback to the 1980s, so does one of the names holding pride of place above the title, Bruce Willis. Mr. Willis has always been an acquired taste, but for those who did acquire that taste, its a pleasure to see him doing what comes naturally. Which means holding a gun and fending off bad guys with as few words as possible. (Dargis) * SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS (No rating, 117 minutes, in German) The gripping true story of Sophie Scholl, an anti-Nazi student activist in the 1940s, arrested and executed for distributing leaflets at Munich University, challenges you to gauge your own courage and strength of character should you find yourself in similar circumstances. (Holden) * SYRIANA (R, 122 minutes) Ambitious, angry and complicated, Stephen Gaghans second film tackles terrorism, American foreign policy, global trade and the oil business through four interwoven stories. There are at least a half-dozen first-rate performances, and Mr. Gaghan, who wrote and directed, reinvents the political thriller as a vehicle for serious engagement with the state of the world. (Scott) Thank You for Smoking (R, 92 minutes) The director Jason Reitman has made a glib and funny movie from Christopher Buckleys glib and funny novel about a Big Tobacco lobbyist, but the real attraction here is the hard-working star, Aaron Eckhart. (Dargis) * TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY (R, 91 minutes) Michael Winterbottom both confirms and refutes the assumption that Laurence Sternes 18th-century masterpiece of digression could never be made into a movie by making a movie about the making of such a movie. Steve Coogan is wonderful as Tristram, Tristrams father and himself, though Rob Brydon steals more than a few of Mr. Coogans scenes. (Scott) Tsotsi (R, 94 minutes) (Academy Award winner for best foreign film.) Written and directed by Gavin Hood, from a novel by Athol Fugard, this South African film centers on a 19-year-old thug who steals a baby and finds redemption. You dont have to read crystal balls to see into Tsotsis future; you just need to have watched a couple of Hollywood chestnuts. (Dargis) ULTRAVIOLET (PG-13, 80 minutes) The latest in movies structured around eyewear and abdominals, Ultraviolet stars Milla Jovovich as a genetically modified human -- part vampire, part chameleon, all model -- and one of the many victims of a government experiment to improve on nature. Directed by Kurt Wimmer with a fine eye for the preferences of 12-year-old boys, Ultraviolet cleaves faithfully to its comic-book genealogy with a plot unobstructed by big words and images that rarely breach two dimensions. Ultrasilly. (Catsoulis) V for Vendetta (R, 131 minutes) James McTeigue directs this D-for-dumb future-shock story about a masked avenger (Hugo Weaving) and his pipsqueak sidekick (Natalie Portman) at war against a totalitarian British regime. (Dargis) WALK THE LINE (PG-13, 138 minutes) Johnny Cash gets the musical biopic treatment in this moderately entertaining, never quite convincing chronicle of his early years. Joaquin Phoenix, sweaty, inarticulate and intense as Cash, is upstaged by Reese Witherspoon (winner of the Academy Award for best actress), who tears into the role of June Carter (Cashs creative partner long before she became his second wife) with her usual charm, pluck and intelligence. (Scott) * NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD (PG, 103 minutes) Filled with country memories, bluesy regret and familiar and piercing sentiment, Jonathan Demmes concert film sounds like quintessential Neil Young, which, depending on your home catalog, will be either an enormous turn-on or turnoff. (Dargis) Film Series ANNA MAY WONG (Through April 16) Wong, the first Chinese-American movie star, would have turned 100 last year. (She died in 1961.) The Museum of the Moving Images extensive seven-week retrospective of her work continues this weekend with Joseph von Sternbergs Shanghai Express (1932), in which Wong and Marlene Dietrich play ladies of the evening whose train is hijacked; The Flame of Love (1930), about a dancer in pre-Revolutionary Russia; and Daughter of the Dragon (1931), about the avenging daughter of Fu Manchu. 35th Avenue, at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077; $10. (Anita Gates) DON SIEGEL (Through April 13) Siegel, who died in 1991, was a master of several genres, including science fiction, westerns and police thrillers. Film Forums four-week, 25-movie retrospective of his work continues this weekend with Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), the sci-fi classic about alien pods that replicate and replace humans. Next weeks films include Flaming Star (1960), with Elvis Presley as Dolores Del Rios son; Private Hell 36 (1954), about two policemen (Steve Cochran and Howard Duff) in desperate need of money; and Baby Face Nelson (1957), a crime drama starring Mickey Rooney in the title role. 209 West Houston Street, west of Avenue of the Americas, South Village, (212) 727-8110; $10. (Gates) SOME KIND OF HORROR SHOW (Through Thursday) BAMcinémateks annual festival of horror movies concludes next week with four films. My Bloody Valentine (1981) is a low-budget movie about a miners revenge against teenagers, and The Witch (1952) is a Finnish thriller about a corpse who turns into a beautiful woman. George A. Romeros Martin (1977), also part of the Morris & Movies series, is described above. 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; $10. (Gates) VAUDEVILLE ON FILM (Through Wednesday) The New York Public Librarys Donnell Library Centers program of restored movie shorts featuring vaudeville performers concludes on Wednesday with a 10-film program. The shorts include Insurance (1930), with Eddie Cantor; Vitaphone Hippodrome (1936), with Molly Picon; and Frances Williams & the Yacht Club Boys (1929). 20 West 53rd Street, (212) 621-0619; free. (Gates) Pop Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. The Allman Brothers Band (Tonight through Sunday) The archetypal Southern rock band is still on the road. Gregg Allman, the bands keyboardist and main singer, is more than ever its center, since its co-founder Dickey Betts is estranged from the band. His replacement, Warren Haynes, shares the twin-guitar passages with Derek Trucks, the nephew of the bands drummer, Butch Trucks, and a jam-band leader in his own right. 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 496-7070; $49.99 to $84.99. (Jon Pareles) ANIMAL COLLECTIVE (Tomorrow) These moody folk-poppers find a kind of romance in wails and clatter. Their cracked progressive-rock jams and urban pastoral chant-alongs map a landscape where fantastical beasts gather for ritual rocking around trashcan campfires. 8:30 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $20 in advance, $22 at the door. (Sold out.) (Laura Sinagra) ARTIC MONKEYS (Tomorrow) The It band of the moment is this very young British rock outfit, which combines hormonal post-punk mania with good-natured grousing and conspiratorial giddiness. 7 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600; $15. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) AUKTYON (Tomorrow through Monday) These veterans of the Leningrad rock club scene known for their Dadaist lyrics and riotous stage show fuse traditional folk with frenetic punk and jazz. Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Knitting Factory, Main Space, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $25. Sunday and Monday at 9:30 p.m., Joes Pub at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 239-6200; $25. (Sinagra) Susana Baca (Tuesday) Susana Baca has made musicological studies of Afro-Peruvian songs, but she has also followed her clear, knowing voice in less purist directions, fusing the modal delicacy of her Peruvian band with musicians versed in jazz and rock. 7.30 p.m., Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture, 450 Grand Concourse, at 149th Street, Mott Haven, the Bronx, (718) 518-4455; $20 and $25. (Pareles) The Balkan Brothers (Thursday) The Balkan Brothers, Ismail Butera and Seido Salifoski, dont limit themselves to Balkan music. They use it as a starting point for experimentation with a wide range of traditional instruments, including accordion, longneck lutes, Uzbek dotar, flutes, dumbek, tabla, frame drums and tapan. 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; $8.(Sinagra) Sir Richard Bishop (Tonight) As part of the long-running trio of Bay Area jazz, folk and rock collagists Sun City Girls, the guitarist Sir Richard Bishop has had a sympathetic outlet for his brand of sonic expression -- which can veer from Middle Eastern modes to jazzy vamps to John Fahey-like rambles. 8, Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; $10 in advance, $12 at the door. (Sinagra) Billy Bragg (Tonight) This British folk-punk fixture brings as much wit and gusto to love-struck and lovelorn pop as he does to protest music and righteous political screeds. 8, Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street, Manhattan, www.ticketmaster.com, (212) 307-7171; $33.50 to $38.50. (Sinagra) COLDPLAY (Tomorrow through Monday) The piano-playing arena rock melodist Chris Martin brings themes of fatherhood to bear on his bands most recent songs, which pick up the tempo a bit but do not rival the bands timeless misfit cri de coeur, Yellow. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Continental Airlines Arena, the Meadowlands, Route 120, East Rutherford, N.J., (201) 935-3900; $38.50 to $78.50. (Sold out.) Sunday and Monday at 8 p.m., Nassau Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, Uniondale, N.Y., (631) 888-9000; $37.50 to $77.50. (Sinagra) Cordero (Tomorrow) Mixing the open atmospherics of the Southwest with the gritty feel of the Brooklyn art scene, the bilingual Ani Cordero, who has worked with Calexico and Giant Sand, and her band make guitar rock that gives urban brashness some borderland mystery. 10 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side; (212) 358-7501; $10 in advance, $12 at the door. (Sinagra) THE CULT (Sunday) This Led Zeppelin- and-Doors-influenced 80s band presaged the mix of hard rock and hip-swiveling goth posturing that is popular in todays modern rock. 8 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, ticketmaster.com or (212) 307-7171; $38. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) RAY DAVIES (Tonight through Sunday) The Kinks singer Ray Davies performs old favorites and selections from his new songs inspired by his efforts to better understand the United States. One assumes he will tell some stories, too. 8 p.m., Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $65. (Sold out tonight and tomorrow.) (Sinagra) DESTROYER (Tuesday) The Vancouver malcontent and Destroyer mastermind Dan Bejars pointy vocal delivery and disjointed tantrums are not mitigated by his recent move toward indie-pop lushness, but theyre so self-possesed, you wouldnt want them to be. 7 p.m., Avalon, 662 Avenue of the Americas, at 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 807-7780 or ticketmaster.com or (212) 307-7171; $14. (Sinagra) DR. DOG (Tomorrow) This lo-fi Philly garage-rock quintet brings shaggy verve to their Beatles and Beach Boys homages. 8 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, near Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236; $10 in advance, $12 at the door. (Sinagra) Editors (Tuesday and Thursday) Another in the line of British post-punk bands joining the dark, danceable Joy Division parade, the Editors have strong singles, like the propulsive Munich, but none that top the best from its sonic cousin, Interpol. Tuesday at 8 p.m., Warsaw, 261 Driggs Avenue, at Eckford Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 387-0505; $17.50. Thursday at 7 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600; $16 in advance, $19 at the door. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) EISLEY (Wednesday) Four of the waifs in this pop quartet are siblings, home-schooled in a small town in Texas by Christian parents who supported their Radiohead obsession. If they seem slight now, just wait. The youngest writes the best stuff, and her round, imploring voice sounds spookily like Christine McVies. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $13 in advance, $15 at the door. (Sinagra) Cesaria Evora, Seu Jorge (Thursday) The Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora is famous for her mornas, songs of mourning sung in Portuguese. The Brazilian Seu Jorge may be best known here for his lilting samba covers of David Bowie songs in Wes Andersons movie The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. His music avoids the traditional Brazilian styles, favoring crowd-pleasing funk-pop and loverman rhythm and blues. 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 496-7070; $45 to $78.50. (Sinagra) TH FAITH HEALERS, ORANGES BAND (Monday and Wednesday) The churning psychedelic guitar storms of this English band are sweetened by the vocals of Roxanne Stephen. Also on the bill are the pleasantly droney pop rockers the Oranges Band. Monday at 8 p.m., Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103; $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Wednesday at 9 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $12 in advance, $14 at the door. (Sinagra) FLUTE MUSIC OF INDIA: STEVE GORN WITH SAMIR CHATTERJEE (Wednesday) Anyone who saw the moving documentary Born Into Brothels will recognize the bamboo flute music of Steve Gorn, who performs a repertory of meditative North Indian classical music. The tabla player Samir Chatterjee will accompany him here. 8 p.m., Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400; $25; $21 for members; $15 for students with college ID. (Sinagra) Teddy Geiger (Tonight) This wholesome teenage heartthrob writes energetic pop songs that draw as much from Vanessa Carlton as from Elton John. 7:30, Coda, 34 East 34th Street, Manhattan, (212) 685-3434; $10 in advance, $12 at the door. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) The Gossip (Tomorrow) Fronted by the charismatic Arkansas native Beth Ditto, the Gossip play riot-grrrl punk with a bluesy swagger. 10:30 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $12. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) CHAKA KHAN (Tonight) In the 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, R & B luminaries reverentially jammed with the still rocking house band, but Khan pushed well past safe with her explosive rendition of Whats Goin On. Recently, shes been roughing up jazz standards and funking it up with Prince, with energy to spare. 8, Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, at Goulden Avenue, Bedford Park, the Bronx, (718) 960-8833, $30 to $40. (Sinagra) TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS (Sunday) The Irish-American indie rocker Ted Leo plays soulful punk, nearly popping a neck vein for political justice. But his melodic sensibility and falsetto also recall the 1970s arena rock of bands like Thin Lizzy. 8 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $12. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES (Tonight) Los Amigos Invisibles, from Venezuela, latch on to dance grooves from the last three decades: James Brown funk, the stolid thump of house music, mid-1960s boogaloo, 70s Miami disco, Santanas mambo-rock, even some rapping, while the lyrics (in Spanish) are come-ons somewhere between charm and smarm. Midnight, S.O.B.s, 204 Varick Street, at Houston Street, South Village, (212) 243-4940; $20. (Pareles) LOVE IS ALL (Tonight and tomorrow) One of the most exciting discoveries of the year, this Swedish band evokes the angular spunk of 1970s feminist post-punk bands like Liliput. Tonight at 11:30, Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $12. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Warsaw, 261 Driggs Avenue, at Eckford Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 387-0505; $13. (Sinagra) Magic Numbers, The Elected (Tuesday) The London band Magic Numberss diffuse take on 1960s rock gets points for its decent vocal harmonies. The Elected is a countrified indie-rock band with the Rilo Kiley co-leader Blake Sennett at the helm. 7:30 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600; $22 in advance, $25 at the door. (Sinagra) JESSE MALIN (Tonight) Jesse Malin led D Generation, the glam-rock kings of St. Marks Place, and has gone on to a solo career thats considerably more earnest. 8 p.m., Warsaw, 261 Driggs Avenue, at Eckford Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 387-0505; $17. (Sinagra) THE MINUS 5 (Sunday and Tuesday) Scott McCaughey of Seattles underground pop stalwarts the Young Fresh Fellows and his regular collaborator, Peter Buck, the R.E.M. guitarist, play songs that hark back to that 60s moment when exuberant backbeat rock n-roll was being influenced by acid. Sundays bill includes Richard Buckner. On Tuesday it features the Silos and Mendoza Line. Sunday at 8 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, near Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236; $13. Tuesday at 8 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $15. (Sinagra) REGGETON XPLOSION 3 (Wednesday) This reggaetón concert features luminaries of the form, Don Omar and Pitbull, among others. 8 p.m., Spirit, 530 West 27th Street, Chelsea, (866) 468-7619; $25 in advance, $35 at the door. (Sinagra) SNOW PATROL (Tuesday) Making lush, introspective pop music about the mundane acrimonies of close romantic relationships, the British band Snow Patrol appeals to fans of Coldplay and the Shins. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $20 in advance, $25 at the door. (Sold out.) (Sinagra) ROB ZOMBIE (Tuesday and Wednesday) The overwrought industrial metal of Rob Zombie is only part of his appeal now that he has gotten into the horror filmmaking game. His Devils Rejects flick was a sleeper slasher favorite last year. 7:30 p.m., Nokia Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street; ticketmaster.com or (212) 307-7171; $40. (Sold out on Tuesday.) (Sinagra) Cabaret Full reviews of recent cabaret shows: nytimes.com/music. BARBARA CARROLL (Sunday) Even when swinging out, this Lady of a Thousand Songs remains an impressionist with special affinities for Thelonious Monk and bossa nova. 2 p.m., Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331; $55, including brunch at noon. (Stephen Holden) * Barbara Cook (Tonight and tomorrow, and Tuesday through Thursday) This Broadway legend is loose, down-home and, as always, magnificent, singing a 25-year retrospective of songs she has performed at the Café Carlyle. 8:45 p.m., with an additional show tomorrow night at 10:45, Carlyle Hotel, 35 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 744-1600; $85; dinner required at the 8:45 shows.(Holden) ANNIE ROSS (Wednesday) Cool, funny, swinging and indestructible, this 75-year-old singer and sometime actress exemplifies old-time hip in its most generous incarnation. 9:15 p.m., Dannys Skylight Room, 346 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 265-8133; $25, with a $12 minimum. (Holden) * KT Sullivan and Mark Nadler (Tonight and tomorrow, and Tuesday through April 1) In the words of Cole Porter, whose songs are performed here by a ripened Botticelli Venus and a reincarnation of Danny Kaye, ooh-la-la-la, cest magnifique. 9 p.m., with late shows tonight and tomorrow night at 11:30, Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (212) 419-9331; $50 cover, with a $50 prix fixe dinner required at the early shows tonight and tomorrow, or a $20 minimum. (Holden) Jazz Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music. CLAUDIA ACUÑA QUINTET (Tonight and tomorrow night) Ms. Acuña is a vocalist attracted to lyrical high drama and guided by the pulse and passion of her native Chile; she sounds best when supported and stretched by sympathetic musicians, like the pianist Jason Lindner, who joins her here. 9 and 11, Sweet Rhythm, 88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West Village, (212) 255-3626; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Nate Chinen) MOSE ALLISON (Through Sunday) Mr. Allison is best known for his songs, which combine cosmopolitan wit with a folksy worldview. As a singer and pianist he enacts a similar fusion, recasting Delta blues in bebops hipster argot. 8 and 10 p.m., with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night, Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121; cover, $30, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) SAM BARDFELDS STUFF SMITH PROJECT (Sunday) Mr. Bardfeld, a violinist with a wide-ranging résumé, pays tribute to a swing-era hero of his instrument, with help from the pianist Anthony Coleman and the bassist Brad Jones. 7 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 965-9177; cover, $8. (Chinen) KENNY BARRON TRIO (Through Sunday) Mr. Barron is the leading practitioner of an elegant, economical and rhythmically sure-footed piano style that thrives in any mainstream setting; hes likely to explore at least a few different styles here, with Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass and Francisco Mela on drums. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $25 tonight and tomorrow, $20 on Sunday, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) FREE ZONE MUSIC SERIES FUND-RAISER (Tuesday) The downtown avatars John Zorn and Lukas Ligeti headline this benefit for a new-music series in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; also on hand are the Refuseniks, a texture-minded collective, and a six-piece group led by the percussionist Andrew Barker. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $10. (Chinen) CURTIS FULLER/LOUIS HAYES RISING STARS (Through Sunday) Mr. Fuller, the trombonist, and Mr. Hayes, the drummer, were both prominent participants in the golden era of hard bop. Here they join with the pianist John Hicks and the bassist Nat Reeves in spotlighting a couple of young trumpeters on the rise, Maurice Brown and Sean Jones. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 set tonight and tomorrow night, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $25 and $30. (Chinen) BILLY HARPER QUINTET (Wednesday) Mr. Harper, an inexhaustible tenor saxophonist with a robust modern style, leads a group including the vocalist Judy Bady; the event kicks off the Seventh Annual Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival, taking place at various locations through April. 7 p.m., Sugar Hill Restaurant and Supper Club, 609 DeKalb Avenue, at Nostrand Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant, (718) 797-1727, www.centralbrooklynjazz.org; cover, $20. (Chinen) TOM HARRELL QUINTET (Tuesday through April 2) An introverted but assertive trumpeter, Mr. Harrell leads a modern jazz ensemble with Wayne Escoffery on tenor saxophone, Danny Grissett on piano, Ugonna Okegwo on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums. 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037; cover, $20, $25 next Friday and April 1, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) ROBIN HOLCOMB QUINTET (Tomorrow) Ms. Holcomb seeks meditative spaces as a pianist and as a singer. Under the banner Larks, They Crazy, she performs in a pliable ensemble with a pair of clarinetists, Marty Ehrlich and Doug Wieselman. 8 and 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) WAYNE HORVITZ (Tonight and Tuesday) A pianist attuned to contrast and texture, Mr. Horvitz has kept the spirit of the downtown scene percolating in Seattle since moving there in the late 1980s. He returns with three different groups: a chamber quartet featuring the accordionist Guy Klucevsek, the cellist Erik Friedlander and the clarinetist Doug Wieselman (tonight at 8); a duo with the multireedist Marty Ehrlich (tonight at 10); and an electro-acoustic trio with the saxophonist Briggan Krauss and the drummer Kenny Wollesen (on Tuesday). Tonight at 8 and 10, Tuesday at 10 p.m., the Stone, Avenue C and Second Street, East Village, www.thestonenyc.com; cover, $10. (Chinen) FREDDIE HUBBARD AND THE NEW COMPOSERS OCTET (Tonight) The sleek and fiery hard bop of Mr. Hubbards prime is the source material for this midsize ensemble, which owes much of its coherent drive to the trumpeter and arranger David Weiss; but the center spotlight belongs to Mr. Hubbard, as both a soloist (mainly on fluegelhorn) and as an outsized personality. 8 p.m., Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, Queens, (718) 463-7700, ext. 222; $35; members, $25. (Chinen) JAZZ MUSEUM ALL-STARS (Tonight) Loren Schoenberg -- the saxophonist, pianist, historian and executive director of the Jazz Museum in Harlem -- leads a promising swing band as part of a weekly series at another museum, the Rubin in Chelsea. 7 p.m., Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th Street, Flatiron district, (212) 620-5000, ext. 344, www.rmanyc.org; $15. (Chinen) LCJO IN SMALL DOSES (Tonight and tomorrow) Members of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra step outside their usual big-band setting. Featured soloists include the trumpeters Marcus Printup and Ryan Kisor; the saxophonists Victor Goines, Joe Temperley and Sherman Irby; and the trombonist Vincent Gardner. 8 p.m., Rose Theater, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 721-6500; $105.50 and $135.50. (Chinen) HAROLD MABERN TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow night) Hard bop and Memphis soul are inextricable in the music of Mr. Mabern, whose piano provides the focal point of this trio, with the drummer Joe Farnsworth and the bassist Nat Reeves. This engagement serves as Mr. Maberns 70th-birthday celebration. 8 and 9:45, Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, (212) 885-7119; cover, $20, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) MANHATTAN TRANSFER (Through Sunday) For the last 30 years, this four-piece vocal group has been an adult-pop confection, but one seasoned thoroughly by jazz; nestled within its collective sound there are still particular pleasures, like the alto of Janis Siegel. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592; cover, $60 at tables, with a $5 minimum, or $45 at the bar, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) JOHN McNEILS EAST COAST COOL (Tonight and tomorrow night) As on East Coast Cool, his sharp new OmniTone album, the trumpeter John McNeil presents a group inspired by Gerry Mulligans pianoless 1950s quartets. Allan Chase fills the baritone saxophone chair, while John Hebert and John Hollenbeck handle bass and drums. 9 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) VICTOR PRIETO TRIO (Tuesday through April 1) The Astor Piazzolla warhorse Libertango is a too obvious inclusion on Persistencia (Foxhaven), the new album by the dynamic jazz accordionist Victor Prieto, but there are also numerous originals, on which Mr. Prieto engages winningly with the bassist Carlo DeRosa and the drummer Allison Miller. 11 p.m., Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595; cover, $10, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) FLORA PURIM AND AIRTO (Tuesday through April 3) Ms. Purim, a lilting singer, and Airto Moreira, an incantatory percussionist, are the first couple of Brazilian jazz; here they lead a cosmopolitan ensemble consisting of Helio Alves on piano, Nilson Matta on bass and Eric Alexander on tenor saxophone. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., , Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen) * SFJAZZ COLLECTIVE (Tuesday through Thursday) The tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman leads this all-star confab, which recently released an excellent second album. Here the eight-piece group, buoyed by the likes of Nicholas Payton on trumpet and Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone, performs a mix of original material and new arrangements of songs by Ornette Coleman (on Tuesday), John Coltrane (Wednesday) and Herbie Hancock (Thursday). 8:30 p.m., Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $32 to $38. (Chinen) TODD SICKAFOOSE GROUP (Tuesday) Mr. Sickafoose is a bassist and composer equally fond of rough edges and rounded forms; he showcases his atmospheric compositions in an improvising chamber ensemble that includes Jenny Scheinman on violin, John Ellis on tenor saxophone and Alan Ferber on trombone. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $7. (Chinen) STEVE SWELLS UNIFIED THEORY OF SOUND (Thursday) A serious-minded trombonist, Mr. Swell assembles a team of players well suited to his experimental aims: Jemeel Moondoc on alto saxophone, Matt Lavelle on trumpet, Leena Conquest on vocals, Cooper-Moore on piano, William Parker on bass and Chad Taylor on drums. 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330; $10. (Chinen) * McCOY TYNER WITH SAVION GLOVER (Tonight) The rumbling sweep and pseudo-stride cadence of Mr. Tyners piano playing should provoke a strong response from Mr. Glover, the paragon of rhythmic tap dance. Opening the show is the groove-oriented Jabane Ensemble, augmented here by the tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. 7:30, Aaron Davis Hall, City College, West 135th Street and Convent Avenue, Hamilton Heights, (212) 650-7100; $25 to $45; members, $21 to $38. (Chinen) JAMES (BLOOD) ULMER (Tuesday through April 2) The electric guitarist and singer James (Blood) Ulmer fashions an oddly hypnotic combination of influences: Ornette Colemans polytonality crossed with the psychedelic swagger of Jimi Hendrix, as well as a dash of Memphis blues. He performs next week in several different iterations, including a solo format (on Tuesday) and his reunited three-piece Odyssey band (on Wednesday and Thursday). 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:30 p.m. set Fridays and Saturdays, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $25 to $30. (Chinen) CEDAR WALTON TRIO (Tonight and tomorrow night) As a pianist and composer, Mr. Walton heeds an articulate, almost courtly hard bop; he appears here in a trio with the bassist David Williams and the drummer Joe Farnsworth. 9 and 11 p.m., and 12:30 a.m., Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen) Classical Full reviews of recent music performances: nytimes.com/music. Opera LA BOHÈME (Tonight) James Robinsons production punts the Puccini favorite forward by some 80 years, placing the action in the opening months of World War I and lending an extra tug of pathos. At the first performance, Kelly Kaduce made an appealing Mimi, pairing her characters physical weakness with focused vocal strength. Gerard Powers sang Rodolfo with a solid top but a thinner middle range. Grant Youngblood was a robust Marcello and Shannah Timms a suitably sassy Musetta. Steven White kept things on track in the pit. 8 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $25 to $110.(Jeremy Eichler) FIDELIO (Tonight and Tuesday) The director Jürgen Flimms strikingly contemporary and deeply humane production of Beethovens Fidelio, which opened at the Met in 2000, is back. So is the soprano Karita Mattila, who gives a courageous and vocally radiant portrayal of Leonore, operas most valiant and devoted wife. The conductor Paul Nadler has taken over for the injured James Levine, who has withdrawn for the rest of the season, and though Mr. Nadler is no Mr. Levine, he does honorable work. Tonight at 8, Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $320. (Anthony Tommasini) DON GIOVANNI (Sunday and Thursday) Neither objectionable nor particularly fresh or insightful, Harold Princes 1989 staging of this great Mozart opera is a good, basic presentation of the work. The New York City Operas opening cast includes Christopher Schaldenbrand in the title role; Robert Gierlach as Leporello; Hanan Alattar as Zerlina; Orla Boylan as Donna Anna. Sunday at 1:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $25 to $110. (Allan Kozinn) LYSISTRATA (Tomorrow) The composer Mark Adamos fantastical operatic adaptation of Aristophanes antiwar comedy had its premiere last year at the Houston Grand Opera. That production is now playing at the New York City Opera. Mr. Adamos score is bustling and hyper-rhythmic, but sometimes too dense. And the vocal writing is needlessly punishing. Still, he takes seriously the story of Athenian and Spartan women who join forces to refuse their husbands and lovers sex until the men stop waging a seemingly endless war. At its best the opera becomes a somber meditation on the intertwining of passion and aggression. The production is delightful and the youthful cast, despite the challenges of singing the music, wins you over. 1:30 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $45 to $110. (Tommasini) MAZEPPA (Tomorrow, Monday and Thursday) Tchaikovskys epic 1884 opera about the ruthless 17th-century Ukrainian separatist Ivan Mazeppa is an anguished, probing and noble work. The Metropolitan Opera deserves thanks for presenting its first production of this neglected masterpiece, inspiringly conducted by Valery Gergiev. A cast of mostly Russian singers bring conviction and palpable authority to their work, especially the baritone Nikolai Putilin as the wizened Mazeppa and the soprano Olga Guryakova as his impressionable wife. The musical performance is so compelling you can almost ignore Yuri Alexandrovs jumbled and trashy projection, which clutters the opera with symbolism. Tomorrow and Monday at 8 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $26 to $320. (Tommasini) METROPOLITAN OPERA GRAND FINALS CONCERT (Sunday) Opera professionals have descended on New York in their annual spring migration to hear (and judge) the latest round of talent gleaned from the nationwide Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions. Ben Heppner is the host of the concert of finalists (with a couple of ringers from past years thrown in), and the winners are announced at the end of the show. 3 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; remaining tickets, $25 to $100. (Anne Midgette) LUISA MILLER (Tomorrow and Wednesday) Barbara Frittoli canceled the run. Neil Shicoff was sick on opening night. Veronica Villarroel got sick for a subsequent performance. So who knows whom you can expect to hear in Verdis midperiod opera this week? Ms. Villarroel and Mr. Shicoff are supposed to sing tomorrow, and on Wednesday, the journeyman Eduardo Villa will join a soprano whom even the Met says is yet to be determined. What is sure: Carlos Alvarez, who pumps out sound in a warm unvaried baritone, and James Morris, who takes stentorian off the pitch chart altogether. Maurizio Benini adds what excitement he can in the pit. Tomorrow and Wednesday night at 8, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000; $36 to $320 tomorrow, $26 to $320 on Wednesday. (Midgette) THE MOST HAPPY FELLA (Tomorrow) Frank Loesser thought of his 1956 masterpiece The Most Happy Fella as a musical with a lot of music, not as an opera. Still, this musically sophisticated and disarming musical is a good fit for the New York City Opera, whose charming production directed by Philip Wm. McKinley ends tomorrow night. The actor Paul Sorvino, making his City Opera debut, inhabits the title role of Tony Esposito, the paunchy, insecure but good-hearted Italian immigrant vineyard owner in Napa Valley of the late 1920s. Mr. Sorvinos voice, though, is pretty raw and shaky. Hes at his best when he doesnt care about how he sounds and just lets go. The rest of the cast, mostly from the musical theater world, is wonderful. 8 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; remaining tickets, $45 to $110. (Tommasini) ORPHEUS DESCENDING (Tonight through Sunday) Bruce Saylors opera, based on the play by Tennessee Williams and with a libretto by J. D. McClatchy, opened in 1994 and hasnt been seen since. College conservatories are becoming a safe haven for the protection of new operatic work: Queens College, where Mr. Saylor is a professor, is now presenting the works first-ever revival. Tonight and tomorrow at 8, Sunday afternoon at 3, Goldstein Theater, Colden Center, Queens College, Kissena Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway, Flushing, (718) 793-8080; $20 on Friday and Sunday, $22 tomorrow, $2 discount for 65+. (Midgette) Classical Music * BACH COLLEGIUM JAPAN (Monday) This Japanese period-instrument ensemble, led by its founder, Masaaki Suzuki, gave an extraordinarily powerful account of its namesakes St. Matthew Passion at its Carnegie Hall debut in 2003. It returns without its chorus this time, for an all-Bach program that includes the Orchestral Suite No. 2, the Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, the Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra in D minor and the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. 7:30 p.m., (212) 247-7800; $42 to $55. (Kozinn) BASICALLY BACH (Tonight and Tuesday) This four-concert festival celebrating the 321st anniversary of Bachs birth got under way last week and concludes with two programs shared by Bach and Handel. Tonight, Richard Westenburg leads the Musica Sacra Orchestra and Elem Eley, a baritone, in selections from the Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook, as well as Bachs Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 and Handels Water Music Suite in G. On Tuesday, the program includes Handels Water Music Suite in F along with a motet, cantata and orchestral suite by Bach. 8 p.m., Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, at 73rd Street, (212) 868-4444; $15 to $75. (Kozinn) * KRONOS QUARTET (Tonight through Sunday) Probably the best things the Kronos Quartet brings to concert life are a breadth of interest in contemporary music and an inventive approach to presenting it. The first of its three concerts this weekend includes Alexandra Du Boiss Night Songs, a meditation on the early 1940s diaries of Etty Hillesum; Michael Gordons Sad Park, which includes recordings of children talking about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the String Quartet No. 3 by the Polish composer Henryk Gorecki. In the second concert, the Kronos is joined by David Barsamian and Howard Zinn, who will speak about the music that the Kronos is performing, with the group making its repertory choices based on the directions the conversation takes. Also among the guests are the composer-performers Walter Kitundu and Tanya Tagaq Gillis, whose music will be heard. And in the third program, the group explores recent music from Azerbaijan, including works by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh and Rahman Asadollahi, both of whom will perform with the quartet. 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $28 to $35. (Kozinn) JAIME LAREDO AND LEON FLEISHER (Wednesday) Two distinguished musicians, the violinist Jaime Laredo and the pianist Leon Fleisher, play all three of Brahmss violin sonatas, sublime and exciting works that complement each other on a program. 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500; $35. (Tommasini) * MAGNUS LINDBERG (Tonight) This fantastic Finnish eclectic is the subject of a Composer Portrait concert that includes his Clarinet Quintet (1992), Related Rocks (1997), Linea dOmbra (1981) and Duo Concertante. Timothy Weiss conducts the International Contemporary Ensemble. 8, Miller Theater at Columbia University, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799; $20. (Kozinn) SEYMOUR LIPKIN (Monday) A veteran Beethoven interpreter and an eminent pianist who teaches at the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music, Seymour Lipkin continues his exploration of Beethovens keyboard works with a recital presented by the American Beethoven Society. The program offers the wildly inventive Fantasy in G minor and the monumental Variations on a Theme of Diabelli. 7 p.m., Lang Recital Hall, Hunter College, North Building, 68th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues, (212) 772-4448; $15, $10 seniors/students, $8 members of the American Beethoven Society. (Tommasini) LONDON PHILHARMONIC (Sunday) Musical conductors is a popular game this spring season: lots of conductors are canceling, and Kurt Masur is the latest casualty. Replacing him in this weekends concert is Yan Pascal Tortelier, who will accompany the pianist Garrick Ohlsson in Schumanns Piano Concerto in A, then essay Mahlers First with this fine orchestra. 3 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $35 to $69. (Midgette) METROPOLITAN MUSEUM ARTISTS IN CONCERT (Tonight) This young chamber group takes on Central European music old and new: Brahms and Schumann, then Schoenberg and Webern. 8, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212) 570-3949; $30.(Bernard Holland) NEW YORK COLLEGIUM (Tonight) Andrew Parrott and his early music ensemble in a program that focuses on the relationship between Telemann and Handel, with Telemanns Donner-Ode and Part II from Handels Alexander Feast. 8 p.m., Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, Lexington Avenue at 66th Street, (212) 717-9246; $30 to $50, students $20, 65+ $27. Preconcert talk at 7 p.m. (Eichler) NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC (Tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday) This weekend Lorin Maazel leads Schuberts Symphony No. 5, Schoenbergs Variations for Orchestra, La Valse by Ravel and Rachmaninoffs Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the young Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero in her Philharmonic debut. Today at 2 p.m., tomorrow at 8 p.m. On Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30, its Verdis Requiem. Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5656; $23 to $94. (Eichler) ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (Tuesday) The percussionist Evelyn Glennie will provide the hits, big and little. 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800; $30 to $88. (Holland) SKAMPA STRING QUARTET (Tomorrow) This acclaimed ensemble of young musicians from Prague is being presented by the Peoples Symphony Concerts in a program of quartets by Beethoven and Mozart and, with the violist Scott St. John joined in, Mozart great String Quintet in C, K. 515. Washington Irving High School is a wonderful place to hear chamber music. 8 p.m., Irving Place at 16th Street, (212) 586-4680; $9. (Tommasini) Dance Full reviews of recent performances: nytimes.com/dance. AMERICAN REPERTORY BALLET (Tonight and tomorrow night) This august New Jersey ballet troupe will perform Twyla Tharps Bakers Dozen and dances by Lauri Stallings and the company director Graham Lustig in a program that features Carmen de Lavallade as guest artist. 8, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400, www.symphonyspace.org; $15 to $35. The company will also perform Mr. Lustigs Beauty and the Beast tomorrow at 4 p.m.; $10. (Jennifer Dunning) BARNARD DANCES AT MILLER (Thursday) Student dancers collaborated with the choreographers Sean Curran, Keely Garfield, Adam Hougland and Colleen Thomas on the programs four premieres. (Through April 1.) 7:30 p.m., Miller Theater, Columbia University, 2960 Broadway, at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799; $15; $6 for 65+. (Dunning) * ALAIN BUFFARD/PI:ES (Tonight) Mr. Buffard explores the fragility and vulnerability of the body in his new Mauvais Genre, whose cast includes such downtown-dance luminaries as Jennifer Lacey, DD Dorvillier, Neil Greenberg, John Jasperse, Ishmael Houston-Jones and Lucy Sexton. (Through April 2.) 8:30, Danspace Project at St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194; $20 or T.D.F. voucher. (Dunning) SELMA JEANNE COHEN: A TRIBUTE TO HER LIFE AND WORK (Tomorrow) This free series honoring the work of the dance critic and historian will include Pursuit of the Avant-Garde, a discussion with Charles Woodford, Nancy Dalva and Camille Hardy. 3 p.m., Bruno Walter Auditorium, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 111 Amsterdam Avenue, at 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 642-0142. (Dunning) COMPLEXIONS (Tonight through Sunday) This exuberant modern-dance company will perform a family program that includes a piece set to music by Earth, Wind and Fire. Tonight at 7, tomorrow at 2 and 7 p.m., Sunday at noon and 5 p.m. New Victory Theater, 209 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 563-2266, www.newvictory.org; $10 to $30. (Dunning) CROSSING BOUNDARIES (Tuesday) Dances by Suzanne Goldman, Tal Halevi, Mana Hashimoto and Adele Loux-Turner, chosen by Marcia Monroe, will be performed. 8 p.m., Dixon Place, 258 Bowery, between Houston and Prince Streets, SoHo, (212) 219-0736, www.dixonplace.org; $12 or T.D.F., $10 for students and 65+. (Dunning) CARY CURRAN (Thursday) Ms. Currans new solo dance theater piece discloses her life after a Roman Catholic upbringing, which has included frolicking naked on a train and having at least 15,000 gay friends. (Through April 8.) 8 p.m., the Chocolate Factory, 5-49 49th Avenue, between Fifth Street and Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, Queens, (212) 352-3101; $15. (Queens residents by donation on Thursdays.) (Dunning) EQUILATERAL THEATER COMPANY AND GUIDANCE PRODUCTIONS (Tonight and tomorrow night) The two organizations will present Illuminate, an evening of dance and comedy. 8, Mulberry Street Theater, 70 Mulberry Street, Chinatown, (212) 349-0126; $18; $15 for students and 65+. (Dunning) KIM IMA (Tonight through Sunday, and Thursday) Ms. Imas Travels, Tours and One-Night Stands is a movement theater piece that explores the experiences of those who explore the world. (Through April 9.) Tonight, tomorrow and Thursday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 and 8 p.m., La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710; $15, T.D.F. vouchers accepted. (Dunning) NILAS MARTINS DANCE COMPANY (Tomorrow and Sunday) Mr. Martins and the Dicapo Opera Theater will present Puccini Passion!, an evening of dances set to music by Puccini. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m., Dicapo Opera Theater, 184 East 76th Street, Manhattan, (212) 288-9438, ext. 10; $47.50. (Dunning) * MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP (Tomorrow) The celebration of Mr. Morriss 25th-anniversary season in and around the Brooklyn Academy of Music comes to a close this weekend. Program C, a mixed bill with two New York premieres, is tonight and tomorrow night. There is also the last of three different programs of small pieces at the Mark Morris Dance Center tomorrow afternoon. And all manner of ancillary events, a schedule for which can be found at www.mmdg.org. At 7:30 p.m., Howard Gilman Opera House, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100, www.bam.org; $20 to $70. The Solos, Duets and Trios program is tomorrow at 5 p.m., Mark Morris Dance Center, 3 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene. (Sold out.) (John Rockwell) MOVING AT THE SPEED OF SOUND (Tonight and tomorrow night) Dances by six female choreographers, chosen by Nicki Marshall, in postmodern, African and tap dance styles. 8, WOW Café Theater, 59-61 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 777-4280; $15; $12 for students and artists. (Dunning) MOVING THEATER (Tonight and tomorrow night) Brennan Gerard and Ryan Kelly explore the consequences of a first encounter between Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud in Without. 8, Dance New Amsterdam, 280 Broadway, between Reade and Chambers Streets, Lower Manhattan, (212) 279-4200, www.dnadance.org; $17; $12 for members. (Dunning) TOMMY NOONAN AND MARY ALICE WHITE (Tonight and tomorrow night) The two create dance and physical theater that explores themes of montage. 9, Merce Cunningham Studio, 55 Bethune Street, at Washington Street, West Village, (212) 696-6519; $12; $10 for students, artists and 65+. (Cash only.) (Dunning) TERE OCONNOR DANCE (Tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday) Audiences and reviewers tend to feel passionately about Mr. OConnors choreography, loving or hating it with equal intensity. Somehow Mr. OConnor has lived through it all and continued to produce dances. This one is called Baby, which he describes as exploding the metaphor of time passing. You decide. 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 924-0077; $25. (Dunning) OLLOM DANCE THEATER (Thursday) John Ollom celebrates Womens History Month with Anatomy of Woman, which tells three stories in dance about women. 8 p.m., Clark Studio Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 592-0103; $45. (Dunning) PERFORMANCE MIX FESTIVAL (Tuesday through Thursday) Karen Bernard, who directs the festival, has chosen dance, music and multidisciplinary works from Italy, Canada, France and the United States (New York City, Minneapolis and Philadelphia) for this 20th-anniversary program. The history of the event will be chronicled in a preperformance video documentary. (Through April 2.) 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, between Houston and Prince Streets, (212) 334-7479; $15 or T.D.F. voucher. (Dunning) * PHOENIX DANCE THEATER (Wednesday and Thursday) One of Britains leading modern-dance companies, this Leeds-based troupe is led by Darshan Singh Bhuller. It will offer two programs, the first an evening-length work by Mr. Bhuller on Wednesday and April 1, the other a mixed bill on Thursday and next Friday. Wednesday through April 1, 7:30 p.m., Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair State University, College Avenue and Red Hawk Road, Montclair, N.J., (973) 655-5112, www.montclair.edu/kasser; $35. (Rockwell) * TERO SAARINEN COMPANY (Tuesday through Thursday) Popular at home and increasingly successful throughout Europe, this Finnish choreographer will present a triple bill that ends with Hunt, a solo for himself danced to Stravinskys Sacre du Printemps. Tuesday through April 1 at 8 p.m., April 2 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 242-0800, www.joyce.org; $36. (Rockwell) SECOND AVENUE DANCE COMPANY (Thursday) Student dancers from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University will perform premieres by Karole Armitage, Dwight Rhoden and Bill Young, and choreography by Merce Cunningham and Cheryl Therrien. (Through April 3.) 8 p.m., Fifth Floor Theater, Tisch School, 111 Second Avenue, at Seventh Street, East Village, (212) 998-1982; $10; $5 for students and 65+. (Dunning) THREAD DANCE THEATER (Tomorrow and Sunday) The groups third annual Brooklyn Dance Sampler program includes dances by 14 companies, individuals, schools and groups, among them the choreographers Jennifer Nugent, Elke Rindfleisch and Tami Stronach (tomorrow). Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Sunday at 4:30 p.m., BRIC Studio, 57 Rockwell Place, near Fulton Street, , Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 633-5678; $15. (Dunning) WORK AND SHOW FESTIVAL (Tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday) The festival opens with two programs that include dance by three choreographers. The first program includes Ellis Woods new Pregnant Study No. 3, a solo for a pregnant Jennifer Phillips, and Pedro Ruizs Mediterranea -- Labyrinths of Arches and Passions (tonight and tomorrow). Christal Brown will present work inspired by the work of Beah Richards (Wednesday and Thursday). (Through April 10.) 7 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 220-1460. Tickets: $10. (Dunning) * WORKS AND PROCESS: DANCE BY BRIAN REEDER AND KAROLE ARMITAGE (Sunday and Monday) The choreographers created new pieces for this series, to be danced by members of the American Ballet Theater Studio Company and Armitage Gone! Dance, with a discussion moderated by the dance writer Gia Kourlas, who contributes to The New York Times. 8 p.m., Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 88th Street, (212) 423-3587, www.worksandprocess.com; $24; $18 for students and 65+. (Sold out.) (Dunning) * YASUKO YOKOSHI (Tonight through Sunday) Ms. Yokoshi will present her new what we when we, a collaboration with Masumi Seyama VI, a master teacher of Kanjyuro Fujima-style Japanese dance, that was inspired by a short story by Raymond Carver. 8:30 p.m., Danspace Project at St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 674-8194, www.danspaceproject.org; $15 or T.D.F. voucher. Also at Danspace, the choreographers Daria Fain and Francisco Rider Pereira da Silva will present a free program tomorrow at 3 p.m. (Dunning) Art Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. Museums * BROOKLYN MUSEUM: SYMPHONIC POEM: THE ART OF AMINAH BRENDA LYNN ROBINSON, through Aug. 14. This prodigious show, by an artist born and still living in Columbus, Ohio, celebrates her heritage in paintings, drawings, sculpture, stitchery, leather work and less classifiable forms of expression. Besides its sheer visual wizardry, using materials like leaves, twigs, bark, buttons and cast-off clothes, her art is compelling in that it ruminates on the history of black migration to, and settlement in, the United States, from early times to the present, in a garrulous, very personal way. Her works do not lend themselves to easy deciphering, but her magic with materials and her daring compositional imagination draw you in. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, Brooklyn (718) 638-5000. (Grace Glueck) * Brooklyn Museum: WILLIAM WEGMAN: FUNNEY/STRANGE, through May 28. Descended from Marcel Duchamp and Buster Keaton, Mr. Wegman has straddled high and low for more than three decades, using his signature Weimaraners to make the art worlds funniest videos, as well as television commercials, calendars and childrens books. His popular success has tended to obscure his originality and influence, along with a multifarious production that includes wittily captioned drawings, wonderfully irreverent paintings and a host of nondog photographic work. This thorough and thoroughly entertaining retrospective highlights not only the accessibility of his richly human art, but also its dedication to the 1970s notion that art should not look like art. (See above.) (Roberta Smith) * Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: David Smith: A Centennial, through May 14. David Smith is best known for his worst work, bulky sculptures of the important kind that museums and banks like to buy. Much (though not all) of that material has been excised from this survey in favor of smaller, earlier, nonmonumental pieces that the curator, Carmen Gimenez, presents with plenty of air and light. The result is exemplary as a David Smith experience, an American Modernism experience and a Guggenheim Museum experience. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3500. (Holland Cotter) * International Center of Photography: Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, through May 28. If Martians tuned into our television news broadcasts, theyd have a miserable impression of life on Earth. War, disease, poverty, heartbreak and nothing else. Thats exactly how most of the world sees Africa: filtered through images of calamity. The Nigerian-born curator Okwui Enwezor offers a bracing alternative view in this show of recent photography from Africa. He isnt interested in simply exchanging an upbeat Africa for a downbeat one, smiles for frowns, but in engineering a slow, complex, panoptical turn in perspective, one that takes in many moods and directions. The results are stimulating, astringent, brimming with life. 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, (212) 857-0000. (Cotter) Metropolitan Museum of Art: Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt, through May 7. Egypt was no picnic 5,000 years ago. The average life span was about 40 years. Wild animals were ever-present. Childbirth was perilous. Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness were shots in the dark. Doctors were priests. Medicine was a blend of science, religion and art. The 65 or so objects in this beautiful show functioned as all three. Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, (212) 535-7710. (Cotter) * MET: Robert Rauschenberg: Combines, through April 2. Big and handsome almost to a fault. Theres something weird about seeing once joyfully rude and over-the-top contraptions from the 1950s and 60s lined up like choirboys in church, with their ties askew and shirttails out. But even enshrined, the combines still manage to seem incredibly fresh and odd, almost otherworldly. I thought of a medieval treasury -- all the rich colors and lights and intricate details. The most beautiful tend to be the early ones: large but delicate, with a subtle, fugitive emotional pitch. (See above.) (Michael Kimmelman) THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: EDVARD MUNCH: THE MODERN LIFE OF THE SOUL, through May 8. This affecting, full-scale retrospective is the first survey of this Norwegian painter in an American museum in almost 30 years. Its more than 130 oils and works on paper cover Munchs entire career, from 1880 to 1944. It also includes a large selection of prints -- many ingeniously adapted from his oils -- that played an important role in his art. 11 West 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400. (Glueck) THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: ON SITE: NEW ARCHITECTURE IN SPAIN, through May 1. Since the early 1970s, when Spain began to awaken from the isolation of a four-decade dictatorship, Spanish architects have produced designs of unusual depth, often with a firm connection to the land, a sense of humility and a way of conveying continuity with the past while embracing the present. Packed with pretty images and elegant models, this exhibition lacks the scholarly depth you might have hoped for on such a mesmerizing subject. (See above.) (Nicolai Ouroussoff) NEUE GALERIE: KLEE AND AMERICA, through May 22. For a long time, the Swiss-born artist Paul Klee (1879-1940), regarded as a leading Modernist figure in Europe, didnt believe his delicate, chimerical work had much of a future in the United States. Yet, thanks to artists, collectors and dealers with close contacts in Germany who had begun to discover his work, by the early 1920s, Klees impact began to be felt here. This show of more than 60 paintings and drawings assembled exclusively from American holdings covers the wide spectrum of Klees work, from his dense, Cubist-style oil, When God Considered the Creation of the Plants (1913), to a beautifully stylized rendering of the jazz singer and dancer Josephine Baker (1927) to labyrinthine compositions like Or the Mocked Mocker (1930). 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th Street, (212) 628-6200. (Glueck) P.S. 1: Jessica Stockholder: Of Standing Float Roots in Thin Air, through May 1. A soaring, cannily designed installation -- made of airborne plastic bins, electric lights, orange extension cords and an old armchair topping a wooden tower -- by a sculptor known for orchestrating productive collisions of formalism and consumerism. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 784-2084. (Ken Johnson) Whitney Museum of American Art: WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2006: DAY FOR NIGHT, through May 28. This biennial will provoke much head-scratching by uninitiated visitors. A hermetic take on what has been making waves, its packaged -- branded might be the better word -- as a show long on collaboration and open-endedness: several shows under one roof, including a revival of the 1960s Peace Tower, which rises like a Tinker Toy construction from the Whitney courtyard, with contributions by dozens of artists. As a counter to the image of the art world as rich, youth-besotted and obsessed with crafty little nothings, the ethos here is provisional, messy, half-baked, cantankerous, insular -- radical qualities art used to have when it could still call itself radical and wasnt like a barnacle clinging to the cruise ship of pop culture. That was back in the 1970s. And much of whats here (including works by bohemians and other senior eccentrics around then) harks back to that moment. Beauty is hard to come by. Check out, among other things, Paul Chans digital animation of shadowy objects like cellphones and bicycles, floating upward, Wizard of Oz-like, while bodies tumble down, the work cast as if it were light from a tall window slanting onto the floor of a dark room. And also Pierre Huyghes film, shot in Antarctica and Central Park. Its really gorgeous: crosscut between day and night, fiction and reality, it encapsulates the shows operative but ultimately airy metaphor about the slippery state of art now. (Day for Night is the biennials first-ever title, after the François Truffaut film.) 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street, (800) 944-8639 or www.whitney.org. (Kimmelman) Galleries: Uptown Tony Cragg: Five Bottles In the early 1980s, this eminent English sculptor made flat, mosaiclike works out of found colored plastic objects and fragments. This show presents a set of five wall-works, each representing a different giant colored bottle composed of toys, combs, cigarette lighters and other pieces of ordinary commercial detritus. Vivian Horan, 35 East 67th Street, (212) 517-9410, through April 21. (Johnson) Jim Shaw: My Mirage 1986- 91 This amazingly inventive California-based artist first became widely known for a series of about 170 works, all measuring 17 by 14 inches, that chronicles the life of a white suburban boy named Billy, from innocent youth to druggy degradation to born-again salvation. The 30 pieces from the series in this show variously imitate comic strips, acid-rock posters, thrift store paintings, comic greeting cards and many other pop culture forms. Skarstedt, 1018 Madison Avenue, near 78th Street, (212) 737-2060, through April 1. (Johnson) Galleries: 57th Street Darren Almond /Janice Kerbel: The Impossible Landscape Nothing is obvious in this handsome show of works by two London-based Conceptualists. The connection is that both make visible things that are in different ways impossible. Ms. Kerbels elegantly abstracted designs for gardens in an office, a Laundromat and other unlikely places are meant to be imagined but never actually built. Mr. Almonds sumptuous, subtly eerie landscape photographs were shot at night using long exposures, making visible what would be invisible to the naked eye. The Horticultural Society of New York, 128 West 58th Street, (212) 757-0915, through May 5. (Johnson) Galleries: Chelsea * MARK LECKeY: DRUNKEN BAKERS This cinematically gifted British artist raises his game with a stop-action animation made by simply shooting a raunchy, well-drawn comic strip for adults in close-up, turning its speech balloons into spoken dialogue and adding realistic sound effects. Shown in an increasingly grubby white-on-white cube, the work is elegantly efficient, funny and dark, and adds another twist to the convoluted history of appropriation art. GBE@Passerby, 436 West 15th Street, (212) 627-5258, through April 22. (Smith) Rachel Whiteread: Bibliography Cardboard boxes cast in plaster are displayed in monotonous profusion singly and in groups by this British sculptor who once made a concrete cast of the inside of a whole house. Luhring Augustine, 531 West 24th Street, (212) 206-9100, through April 1. (Johnson) Other Galleries * THE DOWNTOWN SHOW: THE NEW YORK ART SCENE, 1974-1984 The real down-and-dirty downtown art scene, when the East Village bloomed; punk and new wave rock assailed the ears; graffiti spread like kudzu; and heroin, along with extreme style, raged, is the subject of this wild and woolly show. Its a humongous time warp of more than 450 paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, videos, posters, ephemera and things in between by artists, writers, performers, musicians and maestros of mixed media, from a photograph of the transvestite Candy Darling as she posed on her deathbed to a small, painted sculpture made of elephant dung by David Hammons. With so many clashing ideologies, points of view and attitudes toward art-making, this no-holds-barred hodgepodge generates the buzz and stridency of, say, Canal Street on payday. Granted that much of Downtown was throwaway stuff, too ephemeral and experimental to last, for better or for worse, it helped to change the definition of what art and artists might be. New York University, Grey Art Gallery, 100 Washington Square East, (212) 998-6780; and Fales Library, 70 Washington Square South, (212) 988-2596, Greenwich Village; through April 1. (Glueck) * Anya Gallaccio: One Art The viscerally poetic single work occupying Sculpture Centers spacious main gallery is a 50-foot weeping cherry tree that was cut up and reassembled in the gallery, where it is held in place by steel cables and bolts. Sculpture Center, 44-19 Purves Street, at Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 361-1750, through April 3. (Johnson) Last Chance * AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: SURFACE ATTRACTION: PAINTED FURNITURE FROM THE COLLECTION,. The remarkable images, abstract patterns and floral motifs that flutter across the 30 or so tables, chairs, cabinets and blanket chests in this beautiful, convention-stretching show confirm that from the late 1600s to the late 1800s, quite a bit of American painting talent and ambition was channeled into the decoration of everyday wood objects. The combination of imagination and utility, of economic means and lush effects, defines the human desire for beauty as hard wired. 45 West 53rd Street, (212) 265-1040; closes Sunday. (Smith) * Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum: FASHION IN COLORS Drawn from the collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute in Japan, this sumptuous show arranges 68 often lavish Western gowns and ensembles according to the colors of the spectrum and reinforces their progress with a posh, color-coordinated installation design. For an experience of color as color, it is hard to beat, but it also says a great deal about clothing, visual perception and beauty. 2 East 91st Street, (212) 849-8400; closes Sunday. (Smith) * William Nicholson Though less well known than his son, the British abstract painter Ben Nicholson, Sir William Nicholson was a successful artist in his day. The mostly small landscapes, portraits and Chardinesque still lifes in this beautiful show offer transporting fusions of paint and imagery. Paul Kasmin, 293 10th Avenue, at 27th Street, Chelsea, (212) 563-4474; closes tomorrow. (Johnson) Barbara Probst Ms. Probst displays pairs and groups of photographs made using electronically connected cameras able to shoot scenes from different angles at exactly the same time. Seeing a family crossing the street in black and white from the top of a building and close-up in color from street level creates a philosophically intriguing collapse of the normal space-time continuum. Murray Guy, 453 West 17th Street, Chelsea, (212) 463-7372; closes tomorrowthrough March 25. (Johnson) THE STUDIO VISIT The studio visit, a time-honored ritual that everyone in the art world has both endured and learned from, is taken to its limit in Exit Arts latest exhibition marathon. Each of the 160 mostly short videos represents one artists idea of, play on, or substitute for, a studio visit. It is a show that often cries out for a fast-forward button, but there are some notable gems -- for example, by Joyce Pensato, Cynthia von Buhler, Ida Applebroog, Bruce Pearson, Lance Wakeling, Taylor McKimens, Paul Wirhun, Elisabeth Kley, Christy Gast and Kim Jones. Exit Art, 475 10th Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 966-7745; closes tomorrow. (Smith)