Gotham City #3: Caught!
This subway car is getting a little more crowded. At Gotham City Worldwide Headquarters, our atomic-powered data servers have been spiking with new subscribers looking for a cure for BAD – Boring Adult Disease. You’ve come to the right place because we are the cure!
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Love, the Gotham City Rollers = Drew, Jan, and Joel
STELLA COLE
Birdland 315 West 44th Street
Thursday, February 27; Friday, February 28; Saturday, March 1
Two shows each night
Bar seats = $40 Table seats = $50
$20 food and drink minimum per person
The biggest musical success story to come out of the pandemic. Stella Cole grew up in Springfield, IL, and attended Northwestern when the pandemic hit. She posts videos singing the Great American Songbook, sounding remarkably like Judy Garland. Her social media explodes, followed by graduation, moving to Brooklyn, gigs in tiny restaurants and clubs around town. Fast forward to 2024: Stella releases her first album, posts more videos, tours around the world (including The Kennedy Center), and appears on morning national TV. So move fast, because these concerts are next weekend!!
WHY GO? That voice! And she is only 26 years old! See her now before she moves to bigger stages. Last time she played Birdland, she sold out 4 shows in two nights.
PARSONS DANCE
The Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Avenue
May 13 - May 24
7:30 pm on weekdays, 2 pm and 7:30 pm on weekends
Tickets = $52 -$72 (ages 6 - 16 = $17)
Throw out any pre-conceived notions about modern dance – Parsons Dance is accessible, highly creative and, well, incredible. The dance troupe is so popular that you should buy your tickets now because they will sell out. Among the pieces in the programs, one is set to The Dave Mathews Band, while another is to Mozart. This show is especially a not-miss because…
WHY GO: Every performance contains their iconic “Caught,” a piece of such jaw-dropping physical execution and stamina that you will stand up and applaud. Not kidding.
THE MOTH: MAINSTAGE
Friday, March 14th
NYU Skirball Center
566 LaGuardia Place
Doors open at 6:30 pm. Show begins at 7:30 pm.
Tickets are $56 or $66.
The Moth is America’s great local competition where virtually anybody can get their name picked out of a hat and compete for telling the best 5-minute story. (I should know – I did it in October 2018 - Drew). The Mainstage event is when 5 winners work with directors on longer true personal stories and perform them in front of a large audience without any notes or props. The stories are recorded for future podcast episodes.
WHY GO? The art of storytelling raised to a theatrical level, told by regular people, makes for a different and compelling evening.
TWO NOTABLE LIVE EVENTS AT STRAND BOOKS IN MARCH
838 Broadway
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 at 7 pm: 80s music fans, pay attention! Former J. Geils Band lead singer and solo artist Peter Wolf (who married actress Faye Dunaway in 1974!) spills it all to the great Dr. Warren Zanes, who wrote the book that the new Bruce Springsteen movie is based on (with Jeremy Allen White). Wolf, who started his career as a Boston DJ, has quite an in-person rap, so this promises to be very entertaining. (General admission + book = $36.83)
THURSDAY, MARCH 27 at 7 pm: Here comes the first NY Times reporters’ book on last year’s political mayhem. Annie Karni and Luke Broadwater will be interviewed by renowned Trump antagonist Maggie Haberman about their new book, Mad House. The book zeroes in on the 2024 antics of Congress, from George Santos to Matt Gaetz, so you may laugh, cry or both. There is no way this isn’t going to sell out. (General admission = $13.61, + book = $39.15)
THE TWO BEST LOCAL FOOD TOURS FOR NEW YORKERS
SCOTT’S PIZZA TOUR
5 walking tours a week (Greenwich Village, West Village, Brooklyn) $65
1 bus tour every Sunday (location changes every week) $89
Scott Wiener is New York’s City’s foremost pizza obsessive – he owns the Guinness World Record for his pizza box collection (which he turned into a book!). For pizza lovers, this is a must-go – you learn everything about the history of NYC pizza and how each kind of pie is made in the actual kitchens. On Sundays, Scott himself leads the 4-hour bus tour, which scoots around different boroughs (these sell out at least two weeks in advance). Follow Scott on his Instagram.
A MAN AND HIS SANDWICH
New York Sandwich Tour, The Sandwiches of Times Square, Brooklyn
Sandwich Tour Several 2-hour tours a week at $75 each
Ben Gollan moved from his native Australia to NYC and ditched his legal career to follow his passion for sandwiches. His tours are insanely entertaining, especially the loving way Ben describes the ingredients of each sandwich (let’s just say his former career as an attorney comes into play). One of Airbnb Experiences’ highest rated tours in the country! Ben gives out annual sandwich awards. Follow him on his Instagram.
ONE-WORD DINING REVIEWS
Le Monde, Andrew Bellucci’s Pizzeria (order the clam pie a day in advance), Mission Ceviche, Lakeside NYC. Nyona, and Cantiere Hambirreria = YES
Tsuru Ton Tan = MEH
Nom Wah Tea Parlor = TOURISTAS!
Recommended overpriced Whole Foods prepared soups to have on a winter day: Italian Wedding Soup with Meatballs, Red Lentil Dal with Spinach, and Mushroom Barley.
RUN, DON’T WALK
DREW’S SLEEPER PICK: The insanely talented musician David Nagler returns to Sid Gold’s Request Room for his “Oracle Show” on March 5th. Tonight’s theme: songs with the words “do” or “don’t” in the title. Special guests. Pay what you wish (cash only). Trust me on this one. I’ll be there.
The New York Public Library unveils its free year-long “A Century of The New Yorker” exhibition today. On February 28th at 7 pm, there will be an after-hours event featuring films, speakers, music, and curator tours.
Tickets just went on sale for “Songs In The Key Of Stevie: 75th Birthday Celebration — A Benefit For Theatre Within” at City Winery on May 29th at 7:30 pm.
Film at Lincoln Center’s 30th edition of “Rendez-Vous with French Cinema” runs from March 6 - 16.
The Shed’s “Luna Luna,” the showcase of carnival attractions designed by Keith Haring, Salvador Dali, David Hockney, and others, just added notable jazz performers on Wednesday nights, including Yankees great Bernie Williams.
Greenwich House Pottery Chelsea is having an open house on Sunday, March 2nd featuring live demos, studio tours, and hands-on activities.
Digital artist Taezoo Park’s “Digital Being” is an amazing little exhibit of “abandoned technology” tucked away in FiDi. The artist himself can meet you there for free by appointment only (DM the “Digital Being” Instagram).
Nick Cave, known for his wearable fabric sculptures called Soundsuits, is featured at Jack Shainman Gallery through March 29th. “Amalgams and Graphts” fuses casts from Cave’s own body with natural forms such as flowers, birds and trees, including one that is 26 feet tall.
Both Downtown Voices and chamber chorus Amor Artis will perform 90 minutes of Renaissance and Baroque classic choral work for free at historic Trinity Church on March 6th at 6:30 pm.
March is Eats In Queens Restaurant Month. At participating restaurants, when you buy a can of Queens Together Pilsner (made by local Alewife Brewing), $1 goes to food relief efforts.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
On SNL50, Eddie Murphy did a dead-on impression of Tracy Morgan in the “Black Jeopardy” sketch, but we wanted to see more of him. So here is his incredible take on The Godfather of Soul, James Brown. Come join us in the hot tub! Hit it!