“The Art of Theater” & “With My Own Hands”
January 14-15, 22-23 at PS21
Celebrated French playwright and director Pascal Rambert was in residence at PS21 in Chatham from in December, adapting and rehearsing two plays: “The Art of Theater,” performed by Jim Fletcher; and “With My Own Hands,” featuring Ismail ibn Conner. Nicholas Elliott, who has translated numerous Rambert works as well as theater pieces by Olivier Py and others, assisted with the English versions. Following their residency at PS21, Rambert and the actors return to PS21’s Black Box Theater for four public performances of “The Art of Theater” and “With My Own Hands.” The plays will be performed at PS21’s Black Box Theater on January 14, 15, 22, and 23. This engagement is copresented with The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival.
“Colin Quinn: The Last Best Hope”
January 14 at The Egg
With a title taken from a speech by Abraham Lincoln on the eve of the Civil War, Quinn’s latest one-man show tracks the current state of affairs in the US—and he’s not optimistic. In the show, America’s “barstool philosopher” (New York Times) opines about what he sees as the two separate cults governing our politics; his remarkable ability to contract COVID (he caught it twice); why Dutchess County is funnier to say in a bit about Andrew Cuomo than Ulster County; and how Mario Cuomo shouldn’t be blamed for his son’s misdeeds: “Leave the bridge alone and get the former governor to change his name to Andrew Tappan Zee.” Quinn has become one of the most beloved voices in comedy since his stint as the sidekick/announcer on MTV’s “Remote Control” game show in the late 1980s.
Robbie Burns Dinner
January 21 at the Hudson House Distillery
The annual celebratory tribute to the life, works and spirit of the great Scottish poet, Robert Burns (1759-1796). Celebrated on, or about the Bard’s birthday, Burns Suppers range from formal gatherings of aesthetes and scholars to uproariously informal rave-ups of drunkards and louts. All feature the time-honored form which includes the eating of a traditional Scottish meal, the drinking of Scotch whisky, and the recitation of works by, about, and in the spirit of the Burns. Master piper Jeremy Freeman will play the bagpipes; storyteller Jonathan Kruk and other special guests will relate some incidents from the life of Burns; swordsman Neil Roberts will buckle some swash.
This event has been rescheduled to February 25.
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Paula Poundstone
January 21 at Tarrytown Music Hall
NPR listeners know Poundstone for her numerous appearances on the network’s top-rated program “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” The stand-up comedian is also a road dog, playing hundreds of gigs a year across the country showcasing her clever, observational humor and spontaneous wit. She also hosts the “Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone,” podcast, a comedy field guide to life complete with taste tests, cats of the weeks, and leading experts in everything from beekeeping to ping pong to prosopagnosia (aka face blindness).
January 29 at the Bardavon
The Metropolitan opera first production of the new year is a gala premiere of a bold new take on Verdi’s timeless tragedy from Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher. The opera’s setting has been shifted to 1920s Europe, with Art Deco sets by Michael Yeargan and elegant costumes by Catherine Zuber, themselves boasting a combined eight Tony Awards. Baritone Quinn Kelsey, a commanding artist at the height of his powers, brings his searing portrayal of the hunchbacked jester Rigoletto to the Met for the first time, starring alongside soprano Rosa Feola as Gilda and tenor Piotr Beczała as the Duke of Mantua, with leading maestro Daniele Rustioni on the podium.
This article appears in January 2022.
