Bay Ridge Festival Of The Arts Skipping 2013, Will Return Next Year

By on April 2, 2013  Arts & Entertainment
Apr 022013
 

Bay Ridge Festival of the Arts logoThe Bay Ridge Festival of the Arts released a statement through their Facebook page today that the organization will be taking a short break.

We will not be having a 2013 Spring Art Festival, but hope to have some smaller events later in the year. We’re taking this year off to regroup and reorganize and are planning to bring you a Festival in 2014 and will keep you posted. We’d like to thank our patrons, artist, craftspeople, performers, and the public for their continuing support.

The festival traditionally starts a few days after Easter. This year’s edition would have been the 45th annual festival – this is the first time that it will be taking a year off.

On one hand, we’ve been saddened my the recent spate of annual events that have need to skip a year – including the 2012 NYC Marathon and Sheepshead Bay’s 2013 Grillin’ By The Bay, both cancelled because of complications from Hurricane Sandy.

But in each case, it is encouraging to see a sense of commitment from organizers to come back strong the following year. So Bay Ridge Festival of the Arts, we look forward to seeing you this time next year.

Regina Opera Company 43rd Anniversary Concert On April 7

By on March 22, 2013  Arts & Entertainment
Mar 222013
 
Regina Opera Company soloists Michael Boley (left, tenor) and Jessica Sandidge (soprano). Photos courtesy of Regina Opera Company.

Regina Opera Company soloists Michael Boley (left, tenor) and Jessica Sandidge (soprano). Photos courtesy of Regina Opera Company.

The Regina Opera Company will present its 43rd Anniversary Concert on Sunday, April 7 in the Our Lady of Perpetual Help auditorium (5902 6th Avenue). Regina Opera will present an afternoon of opera, Broadway, and classical selections, featuring soloists such as Jessica Sandidge (soprano) and Michael Boley (tenor). The concert will be accompanied by Victoria Ulanovskaya.

Tickets are $12 for general admission, $5 for teens, and free for children. The show begins at 3pm.

Yes, We DO Have That Here: Bay Ridge Poets Society

By on March 20, 2013  Arts & Entertainment, Featured story
Mar 202013
 
The Bay Ridge Poets Society at The Owl's Head wine bar in January. (Photo: Matt Shelly, courtesy Bay Ridge Poets Society)

The Bay Ridge Poets Society at The Owl’s Head wine bar in January. (Photo credit: Matt Shelly, courtesy Bay Ridge Poets Society)

“I didn’t even know we had cultural things like that here.”

That’s what a friend of mine told me a few years ago at the former Mooney’s Pub. I was explaining that before coming out for drinks, I had been at the Alpine to see a screening of “Ajami,” one of the movies in the 2010 Other Israel film festival.

The news that such a thing had a footprint in Bay Ridge was met with surprise.

Fun fact: we totally have such things. Here’s another cultural/artistic program that might surprise you, but will make you glad that it’s here – the Bay Ridge Poets Society, now prepping for its third monthly open mic night this Sunday evening (March 24, 6pm) at The Owl’s Head wine bar (479 74th Street). Continue reading »

Correction: Event Details For Regina Opera Company

By on February 28, 2013  Arts & Entertainment
Feb 282013
 

Regina Opera - La Serva Padrona and Suor AngelicaFor the past few days, we’ve been listing inconsistent – and often incorrect – information on the Regina Opera Company’s operatic double-bill this past Tuesday, this coming weekend, and the weekend after.

The performance this past Tuesday, February 26, featured the Company’s understudies and was accompanied by piano. This performance was the only performance that was free.

The performances on Saturday 3/2, Sunday 3/3, Saturday 3/9, and Sunday 3/10 is accompanied by the Company’s 35-piece orchestra. This is $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and students under 25, $5 for teens, and free for children. The listings in the events calendar and the February 20 event newsletter mistakenly had the details for the understudy performance. The February 27 newsletter and the short article on February 25 listed the correct makeup of “the talent,” though the prices for young viewers was incomplete.

We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience.

Regina Opera Company Produces Two Weekend Double-Bill, Starting March 2

By on February 25, 2013  Arts & Entertainment
Feb 252013
 

Regina Opera - La Serva Padrona and Suor AngelicaThe Regina Opera – a small company that moved to the auditorium at Our Lady of Perpetual Help last year – will produce a double-bill for two weekends, begining March 2. La Serva Padrona (2 acts) and Suor Angelica (1 act) are both short operas sung in Italian with English supertitles. Show dates are Saturdays and Sundays, March 2, 3, 9, and 10. All show times are at 3pm.

All four performances are accompanied by a 35-piece orchestra.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and students under 25, $5 for teens, and free for children. Our Lady Of Perpetual Help is at 5902 6th Avenue.

VIDEO: Welcome To The Eastside

By on February 19, 2013  Arts & Entertainment
Feb 192013
 

Here’s a music video that was shot on location in a familiar place. In it, Hip Hop pioneer DMC joins the Lordz of Brooklyn for a musical collaboration at Brooklyn Made Tattoo on 93rd Street. Produced by Darryl Jenifer of the Bad Brains and directed by LOB front man Kaves – who also owns and operates Brooklyn Made, this simple and to the point nostalgia-laden rock song with rapped lyrics manages to get the job done.

Noises Off Tonight! Two Weekend Engagement Of Narrows Community Theater’s Latest Begins At St. Patrick’s

By on February 15, 2013  Arts & Entertainment
Feb 152013
 
The cast of Noises Off (Photo by director Christian Fleming)

The cast of Noises Off (Photo by director Christian Fleming)

Noises Off? They certainly aren’t talking about by upstairs neighbors! (Seriously, people – when its 1am on a school night, it’s time for the noises to be off.)

Starting tonight (February 15), the Narrows Community Theater will put on a 1982 play by British playwright Michael Frayn. A play-within-a-play, Frayn credited a production of one of his earlier plays as the inspiration – “it was funnier from behind than in front and I thought that one day I must write a farce from behind.”

As the NCT describes it:

Called the funniest farce ever written, Noises Off presents a manic menagerie as a cast of itinerant actors rehearsing a flop called Nothing’s On. Doors slamming, on and backstage intrigue, and an errant herring all figure in the plot of this hilarious and classically comic play. Noises Off is a play within a play. It is about an ambitious director and his troupe of mediocre actors. The cast and crew are putting together a silly sex comedy titled, Nothing On – a single-set farce in which lovers frollic, doors slam, clothes are tossed away, and embarrassing hi-jinks ensue…

If you have never experienced theater as an actor or a crew member, then perhaps Noises Off is simply an entertaining show with a lot of laughs. However, for those of us who “tread the boards,” Michael Frayn’s Noises Off might very well be the funniest play ever written.

Noises Off opens tonight at 8pm at St. Patrick’s Auditorium (9511 4th Ave). It plays five more dates (this Saturday Feb 16 / Sunday Feb 17, next Friday Feb 22 / Saturday Feb 23 / Sunday Feb 24), with the Friday and Saturday showtimes starting at 8pm, and the Sunday matinees begining at 2pm.

Tickets are $15 for adults, and $12 for seniors, children, and students under 21.

Bay Ridge’s Victor Gurbo To Represent Brooklyn in WNYC Battle Of The Boroughs

By on February 12, 2013  Arts & Entertainment
Feb 122013
 
(Photo source: cuny.edu / Victor V. Gurbo blog)

(Photo source: cuny.edu / Victor V. Gurbo blog)

When public radio station WNYC holds its annual Battle Of The Boroughs competition concert this June, a Bay Ridge musician will take the stage for Brooklyn.

Victor V. Gurbo & Co. was one of 14 Brooklyn bands that played at the Jerome Green Performance Space on February 1, and WNYC announced yesterday that Gurbo’s six-piece band finished 1st in online voting.

The playoffs for the other four boroughs will be held throughout the spring. Gurbo and the other finalists will face each other at the Ultimate Battle on June 21.

Check out Burnin’ The Manor Down, the song that put Victor V. Gurbo & Co. in the Ultimate Battle of the Boroughs:

 

Festival Rescheduled Because Of Nor’easter, Third Ave To Embrace Slightly Less Winter

By on February 12, 2013  Arts & Entertainment
Feb 122013
 

embrace_winter_new4A Third Avenue festival intended to break the February blues with a celebration of arts and culture alongside our favorite local business had been scheduled to take place this past Saturday. But the arrival of the nor’easter that buried our neighbors in Long Island and Connecticut in over a foot of snow, even the Embrace Winter Festival had to call a snow day – the event will now be held this coming Saturday, February 16.

Running from noon to 5pm between 69th Street and 75th Street, the Embrace Winter Festival will have music, dance, art, crafts, and more both inside and outside the commercial district’s businesses. Pick up a passport and get it stamped at participating businesses and activities – pick up a prize at The Salty Dog if you fill up your passport. Details on all of the festival’s activities are below.

The Embrace Winter Festival is organized by the Bay Ridge Arts and Cultural Alliance (BRACA) and the Merchants of Third Avenue. A donation of $5 is suggested to help raise funds for BRACA. Continue reading »

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