IMAGE COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.
IMAGE COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.
HUDSON PARK LIBRARY’S ERROL FLYNN BLAST
He wasn’t all swashbuckling and Sherwood Forest. Although his icon status comes from physically demanding roles in popcorn pleasers like 1940’s “The Sea Hawk” and 1938’s “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” the final phase of Hudson Park Library’s “Errol Flynn Blast” plunges the moral high road occupant into the murky, violent realm of World Wars I & II. Not to worry. This is Hollywood, after all — so fisticuffs and grit end up saving the day, no matter what genre or era our hero is navigating.
On Nov. 7, 1943’s “Northern Pursuit” casts Flynn as a Mountie whose bad guy act is just that — a clever ruse meant to snare his Nazi quarry. On Nov. 21, 1945’s “Objective Burma” has Flynn as an Army paratrooper who must lead his decimated ranks through the Burmese jungle. The series’ final film, 1938’s “Dawn Patrol,” teams Flynn with David Niven and Basil Rathbone — as a trio of British World War I flying aces. That one unspools on Dec. 5.
Free. All screenings are at 2pm. At the Hudson Park Library (66 Leroy St., btw. 7th Ave. South & Hudson St.). For more info, call 212-243-6876 or visit nypl.org.
BOOK SIGNING: “TOUCHED BY GRACE”
In his new memoir “Touched by Grace,” singer and Grammy-nominated songwriter Gary Lucas delves into his complicated working relationship with Jeff Buckley. In addition to the usual meet-and-greet signing opportunity, this bookbook event features Lucas performing an acoustic set, with vocalist Alexander Bishop.
Free. Mon., Nov. 4 at 7pm. At bookbook (266 Bleecker St., btw. Cornelia & Morton Sts.). Call 212-807-8655 or visit bookbooknyc.com. Also visit garylucas.com.
EXHIBIT: “DYMAX REDUX”
Some 70 years after Buckminster Fuller literally redrew the map of mapmaking, Cooper Union and the Buckminster Fuller Institute bring together a group of contemporary designers, artists and cartographers for an exhibit featuring often liberal, sometimes lyrical interpretations of Fuller’s Dymaxion Map. Also known as The Fuller Projection Map, its at-the-time radical notion of viewing the world as a flat surface caused a game-changing shift in perspective by, exhibit organizers note, “revealing our planet as one island in one ocean, without any visually obvious distortion of the relative shapes and sizes of the land areas, and without splitting any continents.”
The participants in “Dymax Redux” use Fuller’s original as a canvas onto which they project their own perspectives on deforestation, climate and atmospheric conditions, water use, urbanization, time zones and lunar topography. A selection of Fuller’s own maps, displayed alongside their contemporary versions, provide background and context for the project.
Free. On view through Nov. 27. At The Cooper Union — Foundation Building (2nd floor of 7 E. 7th St., btw. 3rd & 4th Aves). Exhibit Hours: Mon.-Fri., 12-7pm and Sat., 12-5pm. For more info, visit cooper.edu. Follow Cooper Union at twitter.com/cooperunion and facebook.com/cooperunion.
IMAGE COURTESY OF THE BUCKMINSTER FULLER INSTITUTE
CHEN DANCE CENTER: “HIP HOP & HOOPS: AN INDIGENOUS EXPERIENCE”
Raised on South Dakota’s Rosebud Reservation, 24-year-old Chicago-based performer/producer Frank Waln grew up immersed in the surprisingly complimentary worlds Native American, electronica and hip-hop music. The resulting performance style is a deft mix of traditional beats, dense rapping and looping mixes used to address the negative portrayal of Native Americans and overcome “the self-oppression that exists in many Lakota communities.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
He’s currently teaching a workshop at Chen Dance Center, which culminates in two public performances. Dance Center associate director Dian Dong, who notes that “Hip-hop is not a long-standing tradition in our largely immigrant community,” calls Waln’s visit “a very special gift” meant to further the Center’s efforts to blend cultures and artistic styles. It seems to be working, according to Waln — who says that from the outset, his “happy connection” with the Chinatown dance institute felt “like I found a lost Tribe of mine!”
“Hip Hop & Hoops” is performed on Fri., Nov. 8 & Sat., Nov. 9, at 7:30pm. At Chen Dance Center (70 Mulberry St., corner of Mulberry & Bayard Sts.). For tickets ($12, $10 for students/seniors), call 212-349-0126. Visit chendancecenter.org, and follow Waln at twitter.com/FrankWaln.
KELLY KINSELLA’S “WHEN THOUGHTS ATTACK”
Swirling around the deeply conflicted head of Kelly Kinsella, there’s a still small voice telling her she has the moxie to “move upstate and get a farm house with a garden and have all of my artist friends over for dinner and a drum circle. ” There’s another voice that keeps her from accomplishing the monumental task of deciding between the chicken or the steak. But wait, she’s in a seafood restaurant. It’s all so clear now. Her only two choices are “the salmon or a complete nervous breakdown.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
In “When Thoughts Attack,” the simple task of perusing a menu triggers an epic (albeit typical) case of high anxiety. It’s no wonder the closest Kinsella’s ever come to that idyllic farm house is the time she was booked to do stand-up at a Renaissance Fair. But there’s a bright light at the end of the tunnel — and this time, it might not be an approaching train. Clinging to her sense of humor and an emergency Xanax, Kinsella sits at a table for one, navigating the restaurant’s menu while tracing the “whirlpool of anxiety over every life choice” that has led her to this meal — which will either culminate in a victorious order of intestinal fortitude or a doggy bag of indecisive shame. Either way, it’s a raw tale that’s ripe for laughs.
Sun. at 7pm, through Dec. 22. At the cell: A Twenty First Century Salon (338 W. 23rd St., btw. 8th & 9th Aves.). For tickets ($20), call 800-838-3006 or visit brownpapertickets.com. For venue info: thecelltheatre.org. For more info on the artist, visit kellykinsella.com.
