Observer » The Eight-Day Week

Singing for le Dîner

Drew Grant — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:00:24 -0400

Karine Deshayes (Getty Images)

If you like a little French and Italian opera with your philanthropy, you’re in luck. Tonight, the French Consulate co-hosts a benefit featuring mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes. Other patrons include the French Heritage Society and the Honorable Bertrand Lortholary. Ticket sales go toward the training of young professional musicians at the Fondation Royaumont and the French Heritage Society’s campaign supporting historic restorations of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Mi mi mi mi ...

The Consulate General of France, 934 Fifth Avenue at 75th Street. Tickets $350. Cocktails begin at 6. Performance is at 6:30 sharp! For more information visit frenchheritagesociety.org or call (212) 759-6846.

To Do Tuesday: India’s Finest

Drew Grant — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 09:08:52 -0400

Nomi Networks

Join NY1 news anchor Cheryl Wills as she hosts Nomi Network’s Third Annual Cocktail Reception and Awards Ceremony. The nonprofit, created to raise awareness of human trafficking and put a stop to it, celebrates two honorees this year: ExxonMobil’s Jean Baderschneider and Ambassador Swanee Hunt of Hunt Alternative Funds. The evening will also include a silent auction, photo exhibits, special guests and, of course, cocktails. And who knows, maybe chairwoman Ashley Judd will make an appearance.

BakerHostetler, 45 Rockefeller Plaza. VIP reception at 6pm, general entry and cocktails at 7. General admission $50, VIP $100. For more information, contact events@nominetwork.org.

To Do Monday: Songs for MLK

Drew Grant — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:01:25 -0400

Martin Luther King Jr. (Wikipedia)

Martin Luther King Jr. Day isn’t just a national holiday; it’s a time for celebrating the life and accomplishments of the civil rights leader. This evening, take a respite from the daily grind and go relax to some tunes at the Upper West Side’s Symphony Space, where performers like Grammy Award-winning Catherine Russell & Her Band, Liberty City’s April Yvette Thompson, pianist/composer Anthony Coleman, Anthony Russell and klezmer clarinetist Michael Winograd will be honoring Martin Luther King Jr. with a night full of music. We can’t wait to see how that klezmer clarinet fits into the program.

Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 2537 Broadway. Event begins at 6:30 pm. For more information, visit SymphonySpace.org or call (212) 864-5400.

To Do Sunday: Feeling Spicy?

Drew Grant — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 09:00:42 -0400

Come get chili!

If the cold weather has got you feeling chilly, here’s something to warm you up. Today the Greenwich Village Country Club hosts iAdventure.com’s Chili Cook Off in two courses: one event from noon to 3 p.m. and another starting at 5. Beans not your thing? Don’t worry, there’s also a selection of delicious craft brews on tap. Just remember: it’s actually milk that will counteract that burning sensation on your tongue. Entrance fee is $33, but if you want a full five-tasting chili course, you had better shell out some extra dough for the $43 “Spicy Ticket.” Just warn your taste buds in advance.

Greenwich Village Country Club, 110 University Place between 12th and 13th Streets. Events run 12-3pm and 5-8pm. Must be 21 to enter. For more information, visit www.iadventure.com

To Do Friday: Post-Punk Parade

Drew Grant — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:00:54 -0400

Mission of Burma (Flickr, NeonWar)

Mission of Burma might be one of Boston’s greatest standing punk legacies, but with bands like New Direction popping up every day like weeds, the band has had to fight even harder to compete for social relevance. Or maybe that’s not the point ... maybe these guys, Roger Miller, Peter Prescott and Clint Conley, just want to rock. Tonight’s the night to see if the band’s still got it; mosey down to the Bowery Ballroom to listen to listen to some loud licks. Just don’t forget to bring your earplugs.

Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street at Bowery. Tickets $20-$22. Doors open at 8, concert starts at 9. Show is 18+.

To Do Thursday: An Evening for the Boids

Drew Grant — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:00:24 -0400

Louis Moore Bacon (right), honoree of The Audubon Society (PMc)

Tom Brokaw emcees the National Audubon Society Gala Dinner tonight, during which high-flying socialites flock to the Plaza Hotel for a night of dining, dancing and not a little peacocking.

The Audubon Society will present its highest award, the Audubon Medal, to Louis Moore Bacon, founder and CEO of Moore Capital Management LP, who has been supporting the conservationist movement for two decades with his Moore Charitable Foundation. The Inaugural Dan W. Lufkin Prize for Environmental Leadership will be presented to George Archibald, the founder and leader of the International Crane Foundation (IFC). And then it’s time to ruffle some feathers!

Plaza Hotel, 768 Fifth Avenue at 59th Street, 6:30-9:30pm. For more information, call (212) 979-3197 or visit www.audubon.org.

To Do Wednesday: The New Marquee

Drew Grant — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:00:18 -0400

Marquee awaits! (Instagram)

Nightlife bro-friends Noah Tepperberg and Jason Strauss are at it again with tonight’s opening of Marquee. No, not that Marquee, a new one! Located at 289 Tenth Avenue, this club will have everything: a stage for musical acts, “light jockies,” Brooklyn-themed wallpaper designed by Mike D. of the Beastie Boys and 2,000 vintage books treated to look like a graphic equalizer.

There’s no night like opening night, so grab yourself an invite (or try to sneak in as a plus-one) and party till the morning.

Marquee, 289 Tenth Avenue at 26th Street, 10pm. Invitation only.

To Do Wednesday: A Puppy in a Pear Tree

Daniel D'Addario — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 08:00:58 -0400

While you’re out there trying to find your little hell-raiser a dress for her coming-out at the International Debutante Ball later in the month, we’re grateful that we only have to worry about taking care of our pup! And Rufus will absolutely adore tonight’s Toys for Dogs benefit party, a human-and-canine shindig where the humans open their wallets and donate toys for Sandy relief, and the dogs get a photo op with Santa Claus. For those not blessed with a four-legged plus-one, the Humane Society of New York is bringing rescue dogs for guests to check out—you know you say you’ll be leaving alone, but after one candy-cane martini, you might just find that cuddly friend you’d been hoping Santa might bring. (That’s the joy of Christmas as an adult: you’re old enough to buy yourself presents.)

Amnesia, 609 West 29th Street, 6:30pm, tickets and information can be found at animalfair.com.

To Do Tuesday: Miami North

Daniel D'Addario — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 18:21:48 -0400

Arden Wohl

Not all art-collecting this month is going on in Miami: tonight brings the opening reception for the Young Collectors Exhibition, a diverse set of works intended for young (read: a level below Sotheby’s on desired price point) patrons. The whole show, put on by Leila Heller Gallery and WASP bible Town & Country, raises money for the Pollock-Krasner Foundation’s Hurricane Sandy relief fund, to aid those artists whose livelihoods were affected by the lower-Manhattan floodwaters ... Meanwhile, Uma Thurman, Eric Ripert and the perpetually headband-wearing Arden Wohl stop by the Tibet House benefit auction at Christie’s, for which Martin Scorsese (on a break from shooting that new Leo flick) serves as one of the honorary chairs.

Leila Heller Gallery, 568 West 25th Street, opening reception tonight at 6:30pm, exhibition remains open through January 12, information can be found at leilahellergallery.com; Tibet House benefit auction, Christie’s Auction House, 20 Rockefeller Plaza, 6:30pm, tickets can be obtained by calling 845-658-4150.

To Do Monday: Phony Tonys

Daniel D'Addario — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:00:36 -0400

Katie Holmes

It’s been a typically weird season for Broadway, with little orphan Annie once again captivating audiences with her story of a little girl getting plucked from obscurity by a Romneyesque billionaire, Katie Holmes breaking free from Scientology’s clutches by starring in an intimate chamber-piece of a drama, and the expeditious closing of David Mamet’s latest play as a revival of his Glengarry Glen Ross extended its preview period for what felt like an eternity. And all of that will come up for mockery at tonight’s 2017 Tony Awardz, a midseason check-in taking on the year’s best, worst and most laughable in the form of an awards show in the not-too-distant future. Maybe by then, Ms. Holmes will be our generation’s Kristin Chenoweth.

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, 307 West 26th Street, 9:30pm, tickets and information can be found at newyork.ucbtheatre.com.