By sarah norris – sarah@thevillager.com
Volume 77 / Number 44 – April 02 – 08, 2008
West and East Village, Chelsea, Soho, Noho, Little Italy, Chinatown and Lower East Side, Since 1933
FILM
THE UNFORESEEN
The dream of owning the perfect home clashes with environmental sustainability in Laura Dunn’s 2007 documentary, “The Unforeseen,” produced by Terrence Malick and Robert Redford. Dunn tracks the career of Gary Bradley, a Texas real estate developer whose massive subdivision jeopardized its surroundings. The Sierra Club hosts the screening in the hopes of drawing attention to a similar battle unfolding today in the Catskills between the proposed Belleayre Resort and environmentalists wishing to preserve the rural character of the area and the NYC watershed, which provides 90% of New York’s drinking water. A post-film discussion features local Catskill environmentalists. April 14 at 7 p.m. Free. Judson Hall Church. Washington Sq. South (Entrance 239 Thompson St.). newyork.sierraclub.org.
Photo by Tom Taylor, Courtesy of The Cinema Guild.
Kids swimming in Barton Springs, a naturally spring-fed swimming hole in Texas
CONCERT
SONGS OF THE SOUL
Dozens of virtuoso musicians and composers pay tribuite to the legacy of the late composer, artist, athlete, and peace visionary Sri Chinmoy. The 90-minute concert features Philip Glass, six-time Grammy Award-winning singer Roberta Flack, bansuri flute master Steve Gorn, tabla maestro Samir Chatterjee, and a host of world, classical and jazz performers. The late Sri Chinmoy, a NY resident since immigrating from India in 1964, wrote more than 20,000 songs and played more than 700 free peace concerts around the globe. Calling himself Sri Chinmoy’s biggest fan, Quincy Jones said in 2004, “He understood what truly matters most in life, and that is love. His love could fill an ocean.” April 15 at 8 p.m. Free. Skirball Center at NYU. 566 LaGuardia Pl. 917-532-6935, songsofthesoulconcert.com.
© Adarini Inkei
Peace visionary Sri Chinmoy
MUSIC
CHINA FORBES
Described by The Villager as “perfectly alluring,” the vocalist for the intoxicating 12-piece mini-orchestra Pink Martini performs songs from her new album, “’78.” The Portland, Oregon-based Pink Martini has performed in English, French, Japanese, Portuguese and Arabic, garnering an international following. “We see ourselves as musical ambassadors,” Forbes said of the group. “We’re trying to portray a side of America that people don’t see.” Here, in her second solo album, she returns to her singer-songwriter roots, continuing her aim to “put romance back into music.” April 14 at 8 p.m. $18. Bowery Ballroom. 6 Delancey St. 212-260-4700, boweryballroom.com.
© China Forbes
BOOKS
POET MARIE HOWE
In the decade since the publication of her astonishing collection, “What the Living Do,” Marie Howe has crafted an outstanding group of new poems. “Each one a revelation,” says Eve Ensler, “These poems made me gasp.” The works capture vignettes from daily life—hurrying through errands, helping her young daughter down a playground slide—while posing larger questions about the difference between the soul and the self, the secular and sacred. In “Prayer,” the speaker describes the distractions that pull her away from what’s important: “Help me. Even as I write these words I am planning/ to rise from the chair as soon as I finish this sentence.” Howe reads with poets Mark Doty and Phillis Levine on April 17 at 7 p.m. Free. Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House. 58 W. 10th St. 212-998-8850, cwp.fas.nyu.edu.
Courtesy W.W. Norton
READINGS
© Ralph Gibson
Author Richard Price, a great American realist
RICHARD PRICE & JENNIFER 8. LEE
Price, author of “Clockers,” “The Color of Money,” and “The Wanderers,” was most recently a writer for “The Wire.” His new novel, “Lush Life,” set in the Lower East Side, explores what happens when gentrification collides with the neighborhood’s remaining rough-and-tumble grittiness. He reads and discusses both his work and his connection to the museum, where he spent so much time doing research, “They offered me a job as a tour guide.” The following week, NY Times writer Jennifer 8. Lee reads from her best-selling “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles,” a mix of culinary facts about Chinese-American cuisine and personal anecdotes. Price reads on April 15. Lee reads on April 22. Both at 6:30 p.m. Free. Tenement Museum. 108 Orchard St. 212-982-8420, tenement.org.
