Price of a Movie: 11.04.09

You'll be able to get a new sweater with all the money you save on fun with this week's Price of a Movie, which starts off the month with a little bit of everything—for next to nothing.
 

The After Party at the Laurie Beechman Theater

If you're inclined towards spontaneously bursting into song for weeks after seeing a show, or maybe "Original Cast Recordings" dominate your iPod, then The After Party at the Laurie Beechman Theater at the West Bank Cafe is for you. Every Friday at 10:30 pm you can join MAC and Bistro award-winning host Brandon Cutrell for a musical theater "schmoozefest." And forget canned back-up instrumentals—the talented Ray Fellman plays piano accompaniment, making this event more concert than karaoke.

Where: The Laurie Beechman Theater at West Bank Cafe, 407 West 42nd Street at Ninth Avenue
When: Friday, November 6 at 10:30 pm
Price: Free!



Target First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum of Art

It's an art party! A free art party called "Rock Out!" There will be live music by Brooklyn buzz bands (Todd Patrick, Grass Window, The Beets and Crystal Stilts), a screening of the Prince opus Purple Rain, curator talks (including one on rock 'n' roll photography), a book discussion with author Bill German (Under Their Thumb: How a Nice Boy From Brooklyn Got Mixed Up with The Rolling Stones), performance art, and a dance party to top it all off. Spend Saturday night at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and you'll rack up enough culture points to last you the whole month. 

Where: The Brooklyn Museum of Art, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn (directions)
When: Saturday, November 7 from 5:00 to 11:00 pm (schedule of events)
Price: Free!




Paul Taylor Dance Company at The Abrons

Here's what Laura Shapiro, a writer for Newsweek, once wrote about Paul Taylor: "Short course in modern dance: In the beginning there was Martha Graham, who changed the face of an art form and discovered a new world. Then there was Merce Cunningham, who stripped away the externals and showed us the heart of the movement. And then there was Paul Taylor, who let the sun shine in." Taylor 2, the Paul Taylor Dance Company six member touring troupe, is smaller in numbers but not in heart. They will be dancing up a storm this Sunday at the Abrons Art Center with music from Bach to the Andrews Sisters.

Where: The Abrons Art Center at the Henry Street Settlement, 466 Grand Street at Pitt Street
When: Sunday, November 8 at 2:00 pm
Price: Free!



A Celebration of Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams once said, "When I stop working, the rest of the day is posthumous. I'm only really alive when I'm writing." Well, the man certainly lived his life to the fullest. With plays like A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Williams has become a centerpiece in both American theater and cinema. Join theater luminaries Vanessa Redgrave, Olympia Dukakis, John Patrick Shanley and others in a celebration of his life and work as he is inducted into the American Poets Corner at St. John's Cathedral.

Where: The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, between 111th and 112th Streets
When: Sunday, November 8 at 4:00 pm
Price: Free!



Strand Band Night at Webster Hall

The Strand has a history of employing book-worms that turn into rock stars—Patti Smith, for example, started out there (the sometimes excellent newbie Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson also had a Strand stint). On Tuesday night, the bookstore will be hosting a concert at Webster Hall for their current talented employees. The gig will feature performances by Beards, Video Daughters, Industries of the Blind and more. Check them out, and when they all become rich and famous you can say, "I knew them when..."

Where: The Studio at Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street between 3rd and 4th Avenues
When: Tuesday, November 10; doors open at 7:00 pm
Price: $8.00 online, $10.00 at the door. Tickets available through Webster Hall.

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