Nothing screams spring like flowers and ice cream. Our roving photographer has the “scoop.” Hunger knows no season, and our friends at St. Francis Food Pantries & Shelters are doing a soup drive. The Van Gogh Immersive Experience is heading our way. Valerie Smaldone has the scoop on a new virtual theater company. Head to Peter Luger in Brooklyn and dine with Audrey Hepburn and have drinks with Jon Hamm. Don’t miss Shakespeare on the “radio,” and actor Jim Brochu who will co-host TMC’s 100^th birthday celebration to Zero Mostel. And join us for our March 3T events (see below.)

Hunger Knows No Season

St. Francis Food Pantries & Shelters serves over 1.2 million meals each year in the tri-state area. Right now, they are looking for donations for their soup drive. A little trivia: many historians believe that the origins of modern restaurants began with places that served soup. In the 16th Century in Paris, public restaurants started opening and served different varieties of soup including broths, stews, and bouillon. These soup restaurants were named “restoratifs,” meaning a place to restore. The word restoratif is where we got the modern word restaurant.

During their Soup Drive, St. Francis offers the means to restore at home and, with your help, with a warming bowl of soup.

It’s easy to donate any amount to their drive.

You can use regular mail, you can donate by phone or fax…you can even donate online using Paypal!

$25 buys 1 case of soup

$50 – 2 cases

$75 – 3 cases

$100 – 4 cases

…or donate any amount, or as many cases of soup as you’d like!

Flower Flash

Our roving photographer, Nicole Freezer Rubens is the author of “The Long P:ause and the Short Breath,” photos and poetry from NYC’s pandemic.

With Spring so close and summer after that, I want to share the most amazing recent flower flash courtesy of Lewis Miller Designs. He reuses flowers from events, and creatively and whimsically sets them up on our city streets for people to take and reuse the beautiful stems. Along with spreading some love here at Rockefeller Center, he also gave out free ice cream!

Opens June 10. Experience Van Gogh

Tickets are now on sale for Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, a 20,000 square foot light and sound spectacular featuring two-story projections of the artist’s most compelling works. Encounter the brilliance of one of history’s greatest artists in 360 degrees. And it’s COVID-safe and family-friendly. Hurry, it’s already selling out. Adult tickets are $36.00

The event is all digital, hands free, and perfect for our socially distant world. Its rich content is suitable for a wide audience, including families, school groups, couples, and seniors. In addition to a spacious central area where Van Gogh’s works stretch floor-to-ceiling, the experience includes separate galleries that chronicle his life, technique, and influence thru informative panels, larger than life re-creations and engaging interactives. Get the details.

Dinner with Audrey Hepburn and Drinks with Jon Hamm

What a fun idea. Peter Luger Steakhouse in Brooklyn (the original) has teamed with Madame Tussauds who has provided several wax figures including Audrey Hepburn, Jon Ham and other celebrities to fill the empty seats to keep tables separated. But hurry, they’re only there this weekend. Make reservations here.

March 1. SHAKESPEARE@HOME Presents Julius Caesar

What a great idea to listen to Shakespeare. On Monday March 1st Shakespeare@ Home will present Episode Two of the ALL FREE radio play adaptation of Julius Caesar, starring Patrick Page, Tony Nominee for Hadestown, in the title role. Both episodes One and Two can be listened to and downloaded indefinitely at NO COST and are approximately 30 minutes long. The distinguished cast features acclaimed talent from Broadway, London’s West End and the New York stage. 

To listen to Julius Caesar online, visit www.shakespeare-at.org. The production will also be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, and Stitcher. As each episode launches, it will available to listeners on all platforms at no cost.  Previous all free productions of the season (Richard II and The Tempest) are also available indefinitely.