Big news. A major international cultural institution is opening this fall in the heart of lower Manhattan. And the incredible artist Yayoi Kusama is unveiling new works in NYC on May 12. A fascinating exhibit are on display at the Rubin Museum of Art and the Jewish Museum. Valerie Smaldone has the scoop on $20 off-Broadway tickets. And our Broadway Babe has unearthed some amazing streaming finds. Make sure to check out the latest updates to our May 19^th Renewal Summit.

I’m excited to kick off the Renewal Summit with the first panel of the day with three very smart and funny ladies who are using comedy to change the perceptions of age. Join us.

Now-August 13. The Sassoons

There’s a fascinating exhibition at The Jewish Museum, “The Sassoons,” that reveals the story of a remarkable Jewish family, highlighting their pioneering role in trade, art collecting, architectural patronage, and civic engagement from the early 19th century through World War II. The exhibition follows four generations from Iraq to India, China, and England, featuring a rich selection of works collected by family members over time.

Over 120 works—paintings, Chinese art, illuminated manuscripts, and Judaica—amassed by Sassoon family members and borrowed from numerous private and public collections are on view. Highlights include Hebrew manuscripts from as early as the 12th century, many lavishly decorated; Chinese art and ivory carvings; rare Jewish ceremonial art; and Western masterpieces including paintings by Thomas Gainsborough and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, and magnificent portraits by John Singer Sargent of various Sassoon family members. The Sassoons explores themes such as discrimination, diaspora, colonialism, global trade, and war that not only shaped the history of the family but continue to define our world today. GET THE DETAILS.

Look What’s Coming to Downtown Manhattan

Night time view.

The Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) is opening this September at the World Trade Center. It will showcase films, operas, music, and more. Long envisioned as a major international cultural institution in the heart of a revived Lower Manhattan, the Perelman Performing Arts Center is the final element and cultural keystone of the 2003 Master Plan developed during Mike Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor for re-building the World Trade Center site.

Day time view.

It’s 129,000 square feet on multiple levels and features three theaters, restaurants, outdoor space and so much more. GET THE DETAILS.

May 12. Yayoi Kusama Returns to NYC

One of the most celebrated contemporary artists of our time, Yayoi Kusama will unveil her latest works on May 12 in her largest gallery exhibition to date, at the David Zwirner art galleries in Chelsea. The exhibition will feature new paintings, new sculptures elaborating on her signature motifs of pumpkins and flowers, and a new Infinity Mirrored Room.

At age 94, Yayoi Kusama’s work has transcended two of the most important art movements of the second half of the twentieth century: Pop art and Minimalism. Her highly influential career spans paintings, performances, room-size presentations, outdoor sculptural installations, literary works, films, fashion, design, and interventions within existing architectural structures, which allude at once to microscopic and macroscopic universes. Learn more.

“Death is Not the End” at the Ruben

A fascinating exhibition just opened at the Rubin Museum of Art—Death Is Not the End.  is a cross-cultural exhibition that explores notions of death and afterlife through the art of Tibetan Buddhism and Christianity. During a time of great global turmoil, loss, and uncertainty, the exhibition invites contemplation of the universal human condition of impermanence and the desire to continue to exist.

The exhibition features prints, oil paintings, bone ornaments, thangka paintings, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, and ritual items, and brings together 58 objects spanning 12 centuries from the Rubin Museum’s collection alongside artworks on loan from private collections and major institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Morgan Library and Museum, Museum aan de Stroom in Antwerp, Wellcome Collection in London, Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, San Antonio Museum of Art, and more. GET THE DETAILS.

Broadway Babe: Carole Burnett; Lena Horne; Angie & Burt, The Music Man

Our Broadway Babe, Randie Levine-Miller has some great nostalgic finds to share this week, including Carol Burnett, starring as “Calamity Jane” sixty years ago; an excellent documentary about Lena Horne; Angie Dickinson and Burt Bacharach, hosting the “Hollywood Palace” variety show; and a recently produced documentary about Composer/Lyricist, Meredith Willson, who gave us “The Music Man” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” WATCH NOW.