Fun times in the city, are coming up. If you read our LA newsletter, you know how hysterically funny “Sonnets from Suburbia” is, and now Lady Penelope is bringing her laugh out loud one woman show from LA to NYC.  The best block party in town happens Tuesday. There are Juneteenth celebrations everywhere, including the Buy Black Marketplace at Pier 57. Summer for the City returns to Lincoln Center. Our roving photographer takes us to an intriguing art exhibit. Fast forward (slowly) to fall: Cabaret icon Marilyn Maye returns to 54 Below. And save the date for our annual fall wine trip.

Save the Date

Last year our wine trip sold out in 48 hours. So save the date and stay tuned for early August ticket sales. Here’s a peek at last year’s trip (#15).

Lady Penelope Brings Her Show to NYC

After a sold out run at the Hollywood Fringe Festival (Winner of the ENCORE! award) Lady Penelope, the Los Angeles laureate of iambic pentameter and rhyme, brings her songs, sonnets and personal issues to 59E59! In Sonnets From Suburbia Lady Penelope, played by actress Penny Peyser, (The In-Laws, All the President’s Men, Rich Man, Poor Man, Knots Landing) reflects on modern life through her wry, beautifully crafted sonnets, while stubbornly clinging to the world’s longest Covid quarantine. An infectious hour of theater, in the best sense of infectious!

Written and performed by Penny Peyser. Directed by Matthew Leavitt and Liza Seneca. Two performances, July 13 at 6:30 PM and July 14 at 2:30 PM. 59E59 Theaters, at 59 E. 59th Street. Tickets are $20. GET YOUR TICKETS.

June 18. Museum Mile Festival

This free annual event takes place this Tuesday. It’s a vibrant block party that takes place along Fifth Avenue spanning from 82nd Street to 109th Street. The streets are closed to traffic. The museums throw open their doors, so you can explore the exhibitions for free, plus enjoy family-friendly activities.  Immerse yourself in the rich cultural tapestry of NYC.

Participating Museums Include:

• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Neue Galerie
• Guggenheim Museum
• Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
• Jewish Museum
• Museum of the City of New York
• El Museo del Barrio
• Africa Center

Tuesday, June 18, 2024, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.  Rain or shine, it’s a celebration you won’t want to miss!

June 15. Blacklist Juneteenth Marketplace at Pier 57

To celebrate Juneteenth, Blacklist NYC will be hosting a second Buy Black Marketplace at the beautiful Pier 57. Featuring a variety of artists, vendors, and makers, the goal of the Buy Black Marketplace is to feature, support, and otherwise elevate artists and makers of color here in New York.  Pier 57, 25 11th Ave, from 1 to 6 PM.

It is Blacklist’s philosophy that we are nothing without community — that we are better together — and that is through elevated social experiences that we will continue to evolve into elevated versions of ourselves. Read more about Blacklist at weareblacklist.com.

June 12-Aug. 10. Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City Returns

Lincoln Center’s campus transforms to an outdoor oasis when its vibrant performing arts festival returns to Lincoln Center for its third year. Taking place from June 12 to August 10, 2024. You can enjoy 200+ FREE or Choose-What-You-Pay Events and multicultural performances celebrating “Life, Liberty, and Happiness.” It’s a welcoming space for neighbors and New Yorkers. Explore performances, food options, art, and games.

Featured Highlights:

• RuPaul’s Drag Race Extravaganza: Classical training meets drag and opera!
• The Dream Machine Experience: Nona Hendryx blends art and technology.
• Sam Green’s Live Cinema Documentary: A unique film experience.

Join the celebration at Lincoln Center and immerse yourself in the arts! GET THE DETAILS AND CALENDAR OF EVENTS.

Kitchens Are Good Rooms To Cry In

Our roving photographer Nicole Freezer Rubins says, “Not only is this a catchy title for an art exhibit but also a great description of this artist’s work. Joel Mesler’s new show is at the Lévy Gorvy Dayan Gallery at 19 East 64th Street through July 26th. To me he is an artist who expresses how things are not always as they seem. He uses hard materials such as bronze and aluminum to depict soft things like beach balls and Mylar balloons. He utilizes colorful and happy images, themes and words, to tell sad stories from his life so far, that on some level the viewer can relate to.

This show is housed in a beautiful limestone mansion built in 1932. Mesler welcomes us into it through transforming the austere marble foyer into a pool party that harkens back to his childhood in Los Angeles and his parents’ troubled relationship, another great visual contrast.

In conjunction with this solo exhibition, Rockefeller Center will welcome a Mesler sculpture at the skating rink. To me this is another example of the contradiction of summer and winter, and public art telling private stories. It will be unveiled on July 2nd and I cannot wait to see it.

`Nicole Freezer Rubens is the author of “The Long Pause and the Short Breath”

Marilyn Maye Returns to 54 Below

Back by popular demand! Marilyn Maye makes a shining return to Broadway’s Living Room in October. A theatrical legend with the power to “melt the heart of the most hardened cynics” (The New York Times), Maye will show audiences why she’s been crowned Manhattan’s Queen of Cabaret. Tickets are on sale now (and her shows always sell out.) GET THE DETAILS.