Highlights this week include Angela Yee Day in Brooklyn and Manhattan’s 2025 Charlie Parker Festival — both free.
Also, Oscar winners Spike Lee and Denzel Washington reunite for a hip-hop adaptation of a Kurosawa classic and “Downton Abbey” star Elizabeth McGovern becomes Ava Gardner at City Center.
Outdoors
“Angela Yee Day 2025”
Barclays Center Ticketmaster Plaza — 620 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn (Downtown)
Sat. Aug. 23, 12 – 5 p.m.
The Brooklyn broadcaster and entrepreneur is ready to turn-up this weekend to commemorate the seventh annual Angela Yee Day with a community giveback at one of the city’s busiest hubs.
On Aug. 28, 2018, former Mayor Bill de Blasio designated a special day for “The Breakfast Club” star because of her ongoing community contributions.
“When I got my own day in 2018, I knew right away I wanted to do something in the community that would add to the West Indian Day parade festivities and culture,” she told The Daily News on Wednesday. “I’m from Flatbush, and my mom is West Indian so it has been ingrained in me my whole life. I want the day to be a celebration of family and Brooklyn pride, and it has grown tremendously from when we started at Restoration Plaza in 2019.”
This year’s family-friendly event will include live performances from Gyptian, Chronic Law, Maino, Cheem, Th3rd, Tifa, Stephanie Saint-Côme, plus Power 105.1’s DJ Norie.
There will also be food, hair braiding and face painting, plus free back-to-school supplies and surprise giveaways for all ages.
“I love still residing in my borough and spreading togetherness because that is what Brooklyn is known for,” Yee added.
Free.
Theater
“AVA: The Secret Conversations”
New York City Center Stage I — 131 West 55th St., Manhattan (Midtown)
Through Sept. 14. Various showtimes.
“Downton Abbey” star Elizabeth McGovern is back on the New York stage in the off-Broadway production of “Ava: The Secret Conversations,” a play she wrote based on the 2013 book about the late Hollywood screen siren Ava Gardner.
Brooklyn-born character actor Aaron Costa Ganis delivers the goods in multiple roles, but mainly as Peter Evans — the British celebrity journalist the Academy Award-nominated beauty tapped to co-author her memoirs in the late 1980s following her stroke in London.
During the Golden Age of Cinema, the “Mogambo” star became just as known for her off-camera drama with marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra, and her turbulent relationships with Howard Hughes and George C. Scott.
Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, the play explores the tension between Gardner and Evans while trying to bring the more challenging parts of her life story to the page. On stage, the 90-minute production cleverly infuses flashback scenes, phone conversations and even a live rendition of an “Old Blue Eyes” classic to transport audiences to a different place and time.
Tickets start at $64, $40 rush tickets available.
Comedy
“Nori Reed: Cheeky Summer Tour”
Union Hall — 702 Union St., Brooklyn (Park Slope)
Fri. Aug. 22, 7:30 p.m.
Nori Reed‘s “Cheeky Summer Tour” hits Brooklyn this weekend, which she promises will bring “some much needed joy during a really dark time.”
The funnywoman, named “Oakland’s Next Great Comedian,” created Disney Channel’s first live-action trans character in 2022. Her other credits include Audible’s scripted series “Hot White Heist,” HBO Max’s “Queer Comedy Showcase,” the Netflix Is A Joke Festival, and her live show “Trans-It Girls”
Tickets are $25.69 (fees included)
Music
2025 Charlie Parker Festival
Marcus Garvey Park—18 Mt. Morris Park West, Manhattan (Harlem)
Through Sun. Aug. 24, various times.
The city’s annual salute to Charlie Parker includes three days of concerts taking place in the neighborhoods where the late jazz great (also known as “Bird”) lived and worked.
The first night includes Ron Carter’s Great Big Band and “#Blackgirlmagic” singer April May Webb — winner of the 2024 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition.
Saturday night’s show will feature the Grammy-winning Branford Marsalis Quartet and Nicholas Payton, alongside The Bertha Hope Quintet and others. DJ and WBGO host DJ KulturedChild aka Angelika Beener will spin on the ones and twos throughout the night.
Grammy winner Dee Dee Bridgewater and acclaimed pianist Bill Charlap will headline the finale on Sunday afternoon in Tompkins Square Park (E. 10th Street & Avenue A). Gary Bartz’s NTU Troop and The Jazz Gallery All-Stars (featuring Miguel Zenon, Joel Ross, Kendrick Scott, Renee Neufville, Melissa Aldana, Dabin Ryu, Ryoma Takenaga and Charles Altura) will also play to the masses.
Free.
Dance
Warehouse Dance Party
BK. Warehouse—21 Gardner Ave,. Brooklyn (Bushwick)
Sat. Aug. 23, 8 p.m. – 1 a.m.
Just a week after releasing his latest single — the Afrobeat earworm “Higher” (with Nigerian artist Sunkanmi), Wenzl is commandeering a special one-night-only warehouse dance party in Bushwick.
The multi‑instrumentalist, producer and DJ (known as “Traffic Cone Sax Man” to millions of social media followers) is branching out on a solo journey with an event he promises will bring his signature mix of “hypnotic sax, electronic textures, and high-energy” to the dancefloor with a full line-up of turntablists in an immersive setting.
Tickets are $21.
Film
“Highest 2 Lowest“
LOOK Dine-In Cinemas W57 — 657 West 57th St, Manhattan (Midtown)
Now playing. Various showtimes.
Denzel Washington and Spike Lee are reunited for their fifth film together — a kidnapping drama inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film “High and Low,” which itself is based on Ed McBain’s 1959 novel “King’s Ransom.”
A nod to New York City-based hip hop music moguls like Def Jam’s Russell Simmons and Uptown Records’ Andre Harrell, two-time Oscar winner Washington portrays David King and stars opposite rapper A$AP Rocky, Emmy winner Jeffrey Wright, “Godfather of Harlem” star Ilfenesh Hadera and “Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger” star Aubrey Joseph.
Set mostly in Brooklyn and The Bronx, the movie is Lee’s latest love letter to his hometown featuring notable roles and appearances from LaChanze, John Douglas Thompson, Michael Potts, Wendell Pierce, Don Lemon, Ice Spice and Dean Winters (of “Oz” and Allstate commercials fame). The Eddie Palmieri performance is a stand out, alongside cameos from other stars from 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks classics: Rosie Perez, Rick Fox, Anthony Ramos and Nicholas Turturro. And even the print edition of The New York Daily News shows up.
As an added bonus, the cinema is participating in national “Date Night @ The Movies” promotions with two-for-one deals on concessions this Friday.
Tickets start at $15 (plus fees).
Free
“The Flavor Blast Challenge”
Roosevelt Field Mall —630 Old Country Road, Long Island (Garden City)
Sat. Aug. 23, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Foodies and mallrats can get a chance to see how it truly feels to feel like an Auntie Anne’s pretzel nugget with this one-day-only activation.
The Atlanta-headquartered chain has built out a larger-than-life Flavor Blast pod, to coincide with the launch of its revived Sour Cream & Onion pretzel “seasoning.” People who go inside can experience a “burst” of confection while grabbing exclusive prizes, also known as “Pretzel Tokens. There’s even a chance to win a Gold Card, which is good for free pretzels for an entire year.
Free.
If you have an upcoming weekend event you’d like to submit for consideration in an upcoming roundup, please email: nycevents@nydailynews.com with the full listing details. Consideration does not guarantee inclusion.
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