Photo courtesy of Bardavon
Seeing John Malkovich
As one of contemporary drama’s wildest actors, John Malkovich’s performances on stage and screen range from mania to despair to outright camp, from the autofictional turn in Being John Malkovich to his portrayal of a megalomaniacal former CIA operative in the Coen Brothers classic Burn After Reading. In Just Call Me God, Malkovich gets a showcase for all his scene-chewing prowess, playing a dictator over the last hour of his life.
Nov 2, UPAC, Kingston, 845.339.6088, www.bardavon.org
Photo by Elise McMahon
Stop By and Shop
The annual Basilica Farm & Flea returns for its holiday edition. Local food, craft, and vintage vendors congregate for an environmentally friendly – and, no plastic, no barcodes, and no Black Friday brawls – way to get ahead on your holiday shopping. $5 admission for the full weekend; kids under 12 get in free.
Nov 29-Dec 1, Basilica Hudson, Hudson, 518.822.1050, www.basilicahudson.org
photo by shervin lainez
Folk Songs for the Fans
Aly Spaltro, who goes by Lady Lamb onstage, has more than a knack for a well-placed line or vocal flight. She will take a break from opening for power-pop sensations (and Woodstock locals) The New Pornographers to perform this intimate set of songs from 2019’s Even in the Tremor, as well as her two previous albums.
Nov 20, BSP, Kingston, 845.481.5158, www.bspkingston.com
Imagining a World Without Borders
For its 2019 Live Arts Biennial, Bard College is thinking globally. Where No Wall Remains, co-curated by the Lebanese artist Tania El Khoury, is an exploration through performance, art, and discussion of the role and influence of borders in our lives and in the world – and how they might be transcended. It will be paired with events at Bard’s campuses in Berlin, Germany and East Jerusalem, Palestine.
Nov 21-24, The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, 845.758.7900, www.fishercenter.bard.edu
Pictures of the Floating World
Both Japanese art enthusiasts and novices will find something fascinating at the Samuel Dorsky’s Ukiyo-e Moment exhibition. Works from this 17th-19th century art movement, which used painting and printmaking to portray, with increasing abstraction, scenes from history, entertainment, and geisha society, will be displayed in conjunction with the 2019 meeting of the New York Conference on Asian Studies.
Through Dec 8, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, SUNY New Paltz, 845.257.3844, www.newpaltz.edu/dorskymuseum
Photo courtesy of Bardavon
Folk Fusion
The Hudson Valley Philharmonic will perform a special Tales of Appalachia & Hemingway concert, with Americana-inspired orchestral pieces by Aaron Copland and folk duo Jay Ungar and Molly Mason. There will also be a special performance of Michael Daugherty’s award-winning “Tales of Hemingway” concerto with cellist Zuill Bailey.
Nov 16, Bardavon, Poughkeepsie, 845.473.2072, www.bardavon.org
photo by lois greenfield
Dedicated to Dance
Parsons Dance was founded in 1985 by David Parsons and Howell Binkley. It focuses on an athletic, high-energy strain of contemporary dance, aiming to excite audiences as much as it impresses them. They perform works by Parsons, as well as all-new works commissioned via its GenerationNOW Fellowship to bring new voices and talent into the world of contemporary dance.
Nov 8, The Egg, Albany, 518.473.1845, www.theegg.org
photo courtesy of james mcelhinney
Pocket-Sized Panoramas
James McElhinney is a remarkable watercolorist, traveling the world with a tin of paints and small notebook to document a vast variety of landscapes. The special Discover the Hudson Anew exhibition collects many of his notebook paintings of the river valley, providing the viewer access to a perspective at once intimate and grand. The Hudson River Museum will pair his works with others by painters like William Guy Wall and Samuel Colman from its collection.
Through Feb 16, Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, 914.963.4550, www.hrm.org
Dancing Through Olana
A-Y/Dancers leads a unique tour of Fredric Church’s estate. The repertory dance company interprets the grounds with their Inner and Outer Landscapes performance, choreographing their movements to particular views and perspectives, encouraging visitors to reconsider what might seem static and unchanging landscapes.
Nov 9, Olana Historic Site, Hudson, 518.828.1872, www.olana.org
