Events: Polly’s Editor’s Picks in August 2014

Senior Editor Polly Sparling lists her top event picks for August 2014

The Carriage House on the Lyndhurst estate hosts a pair of theater comedies performed by the M&M Productions Acting Company. Paul Weitz’s Show People is a comedy-thriller about a software millionaire who hires two flamboyant actors to portray his parents in order to impress his fiancé. Based on Graham Greene’s novel of the same name, Travels with My Aunt (above) concerns the relationship between a strait-laced British bank manager and his septuagenarian aunt — whose anything-but-boring lifestyle involves espionage, art smuggling, and other shady dealings. The plays are performed in repertory Fri.-Sun. through Aug. 3. Fri.-Sat. 7 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 2 p.m. $35. • Rte. 9, Tarrytown, 914-631-4481. www.lyndhurst.org

boscobel

For Valleyites, a visit to Boscobel is a popular summertime activity — not just to marvel at the Federal-style house museum and its lush gardens, but also to see great art. “Current 2014,” an outdoor sculpture exhibit organized in conjunction with the Garrison Art Center, showcases the work of two prominent local artists, Grace Knowlton and Gil Hawkins. Constructed of wire mesh, ceramic, and concrete, Knowlton’s solid spherical structures act as a counterpoint to Hawkin’s dynamic totems. Wed.-Mon. 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. through Oct. 17. $17, $14 seniors, $8 children 6-14 (house and grounds); $11, $5 seniors, children free (grounds only). • Rte. 9D, Garrison, 845-265-3638. www.boscobel.org

sunset music series

Can you think of a better way to enjoy a sultry August evening than by sitting outdoors listening to a live music concert, with the Hudson River in the background? We sure can’t. The Summer Sunset Music Series in Cold Spring, held on Sundays at the village’s Riverfront Bandstand, offers four such opportunities, with local bands playing everything from folk and Americana (Aug. 3) to jazz (Aug. 10), blues (Aug. 17), even indie rock (Aug. 24). 6:30-8:30 p.m. • Red Flynn Dr., Cold Spring, 845-265-3200. www.coldspringareachamber.org

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duck soup

Looking for something fun to do with the kids? How about taking in a movie released more than 80 years ago? Duck Soup, the Marx Brothers’s wacky but masterful send-up of WWII-era politics and über-nationalism, has a convoluted plot involving dictatorial rulers, wealthy widows, and incompetent spies — but that’s beside the point. The famous “mirror scene,” in which Harpo pretends to be Groucho’s reflection in a missing mirror, matching his every gesture and grimace, is a cinematic classic and alone worth the price of admission. Aug. 30 & 31 at 2:30 p.m. $12. • Jacob Burns Film Center. 364 Manville Rd., Pleasantville, 914-747-5555. www.burnsfilmcenter.org

made in the shade

Albanians can take a midweek break from the daily grind at Made in the Shade, the Egg’s summer-long series of free entertainment presented at noon on Wednesdays on the Empire State Plaza. Catch classical ballet — with a twist — from Ajkun Ballet Theatre (Aug. 6); jazz-infused Latin dance music from the sextet Sensemaya (Aug. 13); ragtime, pop, and other standards from the Signature Brass Quintet (Aug. 20); and modern dance moves from the ever-popular Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company (right, Aug. 27). 12 p.m. • The Egg. Empire State Plaza, Albany, 518-473-1845. www.theegg.org

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