Archive for October, 2005

Improv Everywhere sounds at first like a type of Flash Mob, but really it’s so much more than that. It’s a group of actors and comedians commited to organized fun. Their mission is to create public scenes of confusion and joy, whether it be fake U2 concerts or just seeing the reaction of someone finding a bathroom attendent in McDonalds.
This Saturday they are gathering a group of people in Central Park. What will be happening? Well, that’s part of the fun, they won’t tell. Here’s the info they’ve given us so far:

1)Go to this webpage and download the Mp3.
2)Show up at Sheep Meadow, Central Park (West side, mid-Park from 66th to 69th Streets) in time for the 3pm start. (Don’t be late, it will be over by 4pm)
3)Sit down
4)Wait for the signal to start listening to the Mp3.

Based on their other events, I’m guessing this will be pretty fun.

October 11, 12 8:00 and 10:00pm $15($10 Members)

Buy Tickets online at TheaterMania

What if contemporary dance was fun? Terry Dean Bartlett and Katie Workum continue their highly-acclaimed around town DanceOff series tonight and tomorrow at PS122. The co-conspirators have a reputation for curating an evening both accessible and smart, from showy circusy acrobatics and cabaret to experimental movement and comic antics. Come see what the fuss is all about with this non-competitive “not really a contest” contest. If the roster of talent is any indication, it should be an evening well spent. The line-up includes David Neumann and Andrew Dinwiddie, Workum, Bartlett, Leigh Garrett, Tehreema Mitha Dance, and Julian Barnett. Also performing are the ever-energetic and often fabulously psychotic Nicholasleichterdance, the sublime Christopher Williams, and the incomparably imagistic and intelligent Pig Iron Theatre of Philadelphia. More info at PSS122.

In the spirit of October and Halloween, I spent the last couple of days checking out a few cemeteries.

The first one I went to was Greenwood, located on 25th St and 5th Ave in Brooklyn. Massive, peaceful and quiet would be the three adjectives I would use to describe this place. After spending three hours wandering, eventually becoming disoriented and lost, I think I only saw a small portion of the grounds, and never came across another person. The graves were all packed in tight, which made it beautifully macabre, and the headstones ranged from tiny slabs to beautiful cement statues to enormous crypts. I swear that some of these people are buried in places larger than my apartment.

The second cemeterie(s) I checked out was New York Marble Cemetary. It’s split into two parts, one on 2nd St between 1st and 2nd Ave, which you can see through the gate, and one on 2nd Ave between 2nd and 3rd St, which is completely hidden except for it’s entrance. It’s normally closed to the public, but I was able to go in as part of Open House New York. I have to admit I expected it to be a little more “secret garden”. It actually was pretty plain, most of the markers were just slabs on the ground, with a couple of larger tombstones thrown in. But then I learned it’s history and how it’s built, which I found fascinating. Apparently back in the early 1800’s there was a problem with cemeteries corrupting the water supply, so NYMC corrected the problem by building marble vaults the size of small rooms underground. Entire families would be buried in the vault, marked overhead with only a marble slab. So the entire area underground is pretty much hollow. Very interesting.

I apologize, all this talk of architecture takes away from the mood, so let me leave you with these photos to put you back in the spirit of the month:

Greenwood Cemetery:

New York Marble Cemetery: