NYC Life: Free Opera, Tennis, Garden Play, Fall Events and More
As we wind down summer, here are a few fun things to do this weekend. There’s FREE opera at the MET, and a tennis court at Rockefeller Center. Catch a play at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. Looking ahead to fall, don’t miss our favorite singing mother/daughter duo. Our Tomatoes Got Talent show is back, and tickets are going fast. Valerie Smaldone has the scoop on Lin-Manuel Miranda and composer John Kander who are teaming up to create a musical based on a film. Our roving photo shares a few more cottage vacation snaps, like the one above. And our Broadway Babe has some entertaining finds.
Tickets Now on Sale
This is our 8th show and we have 12 amazing contestants vying for this year’s “crown.” (Watch the video clips of their auditions.) This show is inspirational, fun, and entertaining. It sells out quickly, so don’t delay. GET THE DETAILS.
The Met’s 13th Summer HD Opera Festival
The Met’s 13th Summer HD Festival series of cinema opera kicked off yesterday and will run to Sept. 5. Just head to Lincoln Center and across the plaza and around the fountain there are 2,500 seats set up in front of the opera house each night. The operas are projected on the façade of the opera house. GET MORE DETAILS. Here’s the schedule.
— Saturday, August 27, at 7:30pm: The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
— Sunday, August 28, at 8pm: Philip Glass’s Akhnaten
— Monday, August 29, at 8pm: Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov
— Tuesday, August 30, at 8pm: Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos
— Wednesday, August 31, at 8pm: Massenet’s Manon
— Thursday, September 1, at 8pm: Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment
— Friday, September 2, at 8pm: Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
— Saturday, September 3, at 8pm: Massenet’s Cinderella
— Sunday, September 4, at 8pm: Puccini’s Turandot
— Monday, September 5, at 7:30pm: Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Aug 26—Aug. 28. Tennis at Rockefeller Center
If you don’t have tickets to the U.S. Open you can still watch pros and even play yourself at Racquet House at Rockefeller Center, a fun event to celebrate the US Open Tennis Championship. You can view pro hitting sessions or sign up for your own singles hit on a custom tennis court at The Plaza. Free and open to the public. Get more details.
Aug. 27& 28. Mother Lear at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Head to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden this weekend and take in a performance of Mother Lear, written and performed by Ava Roy and Courtney Walsh. Originally produced by We Players, the play is about an irascible middle-aged scholar with dementia who communicates with her caretaker daughter using only the text of King Lear, as the two struggle with aging, love, and their own balance of power. Each 50-minute performance is followed by a facilitated discussion with the audience. GET DETAILS AND TICKES.
Nostalgic Treasures
Our Broadway Babe has unearthed some true nostalgic treasures, including a star-studded tribute to Marvin Hamlisch (4 months after his death in 2012) with the New York Philharmonic; a German produced 70th birthday salute to Stephen Sondheim with some of the best orchestral interpretations of his work; a tribute to Kander and Ebb at the 1984 Tony Awards; and Sinatra getting the Kennedy Center Award in 1983. GET THE DETAILS.
Summer Vacation Vibes
Our roving photographer, Nicole Freezer Rubens, shares a few more photos from her back-to-basics cottage vacation as summer winds down and we gear up for the fall.
This Fall. Don’t Tell Mama Welcomes Back VANGARI!
NYC’s favorite mother/daughter cabaret duo: Evangeline and Ariana Johns, with Musical Director Darryl Curry. Their new show, FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK, features some of their most requested songs, along with a sprinkling of new tunes & an original from the songwriting team of Ariana & Darryl. From Broadway to the Blues, tales of voodoo and enchanted earrings, lost love and cautionary tales. Direction by Christopher G Carver, Choreography by Max McGuire and Mark Mindek. Nominated for two 2021 Broadway World awards
When: Sat, September 17th @ 4pm; Sunday, September 18th & Thursday, October 13th @ 7pm
Where: Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036
Reservations: donttellmamanyc.com
The tomato behind The Three Tomatoes.
Cheryl Benton, aka the “head tomato” is founder and publisher of The Three Tomatoes, a digital lifestyle magazine for “women who aren’t kids”. Having lived and worked for many years in New York City, the land of size zero twenty-somethings, she was truly starting to feel like an invisible woman. She created The Three Tomatoes just for the fun of it as the antidote for invisibility and sent it to 60 friends. Today she has thousands of friends and is chief cheerleader for smart, savvy women who want to live their lives fully at every age and every stage. She is the author of the novel, "Can You See Us Now?" and co-author of a humorous books of quips, "Martini Wisdom." Because she's lived a long time, her full bio won't fit here. If you want the "blah, blah, blah", read more. www.thethreetomatoes.com/about-the-head-tomato
