Highlights this weekend include Tony Award nominee Norm Lewis in a renowned play that hasn’t been produced in over four decades; a floral show inspired by “Downton Abbey” fashions at Hudson Yards; and Kyle Abraham’s return to The Joyce.
Plus, a free Earth Day celebration featuring Broadway stars in Times Square.
Theater
“Ceremonies In Dark Old Men”
Theatre at St. Clement’s — 423 West 46th St., Manhattan (Hell’s Kitchen)
Through May 18. Various showtimes.
Broadway star Norm Lewis is taking center stage in a revival of Lonne Elder III‘s “Ceremonies in Dark Old Men,” nearly 40 years after its most recent off-Broadway run.
Best known for Broadway musicals like “Dreamgirls in Concert,” “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” and “Phantom of the Opera” Lewis’ performance in the taut drama set in Harlem during the 1960s is only his third time starring in a straight-play.
“This is a whole new experience for me,” Lewis told The Daily News. “It’s definitely a different muscle. It’s the same sort of muscles, but just a little different because I don’t have to worry about if my singing voice is there today or not.”
He added: “I just basically just have to make sure I have enough stamina to be able to take people up and down emotionally, and make sure I say the words and just have the right intention behind it.”
In the production, Lewis plays a widowed father of three adult children who is also a former vaudeville showman past his prime and a current-day barber desperately down on his luck.
A 1969 Pulitzer Prize finalist, “Ceremonies in Dark Old Men” is regarded as an American theater classic. Previous productions have served as breeding grounds for greats like Denzel Washington, Billy Dee Williams, Keith David and Laurence Fishburne.
The Clinton Turner Davis-helmed play also features James Foster Jr., Jeremiah Packer, Calvin M. Thompson and Bryce Michael Wood.
Tickets start at $39.
Film
“L.A. Rebellion: Then and Now”
Film at Lincoln Center Walter Reade Theater — 165 West 65th St., Manhattan (Upper West Side)
Through May 4. Various showtimes.
The Black community-focused film movement that sprang out of UCLA in the late 1960s is spotlit in this retrospective film series with a look at the movement’s impact through the decades.
Works by Black independent filmmakers Jamaa Fanaka (“Welcome Home, Brother Charles“), Larry Clark (“Passing Through”), Billy Woodberry (“Bless Their Little Hearts” and Julie Dash (“Daughters of the Dust”) are featured, alongside Charles Burnett’s acclaimed 1990 comedy thriller “To Sleep with Anger” starring Danny Glover, Paul Butler, Mary Alice, Richard Brooks and Sheryl Lee Ralph about a middle-class Black family in South Central Los Angeles visited by a devilish friend.
Newer works include Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk” and international fare like Cape “Hanami” from Cape Verdean filmmaker Denise Fernandes, who will be present for a Q&A. The festival also features a free talk titled “Reframing Black Stories on Screen” on Saturday at 4 p.m., with programmer Claire Diao and a panel of filmmakers, scholars and journalists.
Tickets are $17, discounts available.
Art
“Amy Sherald: American Sublime”
The Whitney Museum of American Art — 99 Gansevoort St., Manhattan (Meatpacking District)
Through Aug. 10. Various times.
There’s a good reason why artist Amy Sherald was commissioned to paint First Lady Michelle Obama for the National Portrait Gallery. Now everyone can see there’s plenty more talent where that comes from with the Sherald’s first-ever career survey.
The Georgia native considers herself an American realist — telling stories of the American experience through her larger-than-life paintings, much like artists Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth, but from a Black woman’s perspective.
Other notable works among the 50 featured paintings include a posthumous portrait of Breonna Taylor and 2024’s non-binary Statue of Liberty (“Trans Forming Liberty“)..
“’American Sublime’ is a salve, a call to remember our shared humanity and an insistence on being seen,” Sherald said.
Tickets are $30, discounts available.
Experience
Fleurs de Villes Downton Abbey
Hudson Yards — 20 Hudson Yards, Level 1, Manhattan
Through May 4. Various times.
Hudson Yards will be flanked by flowers served up by world-renowned bespoke floral show company Fleurs de Villes’ returning for the fifth year with its newest exhibition — inspired by the beloved TV and film series “Downton Abbey.”
Ahead of the third film installment hitting theaters on Sept. 12, Fleurs de Villes has curated a collection of one-of-a-kind fresh floral mannequins modeled after the show’s characters and period fashion designs with beaded gowns, statement hats and tailored uniforms.
Free.
Dance
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham
Joyce Theater — 175 Eighth Ave., Manhattan (Chelsea)
Through April 27. Various times
Celebrated choreographer Kyle Abraham’s AIM company is presenting a mixed bill, including new works in collaboration with Princess Grace Award recipients Andrea Miller (“YEAR”) and Rena Butler (“Shell of A Shell of The Shell”), alongside Paul Singh’s “Just Your Two Wrists.”
The Ailey alum’s latest work, “2 X 4,” is described as “a swift, kinetic piece looking at shape and structure” — accompanied by live music composed by Shelley Washington.
Tickets start at $12.
Family
“In The Works”
Brooklyn Children’s Museum — 145 Brooklyn Ave, Brooklyn (Crown Heights)
Through May 11. Various times.
Curious kids will get a kick out of the innovative (and safe!) immersive play exhibit inspired by urban construction sites.
The two-story play structure designed by New Yorkers Yeju Choi and Chat Travieso is intended for children ages 2-10 to climb, slide and explore in an installation that blends evolving scaffolding components and other common construction materials.
“This is a reminder that much of our surroundings and communities are constant works in progress and we each can play a role in shaping our environments,” Brooklyn Children’s Museum chief Atiba T. Edwards said.
Tickets are $15, discounts available.
Free
“Broadway Celebrates Earth Day”
Times Square’s Pedestrian Plaza — 45th and 46th Streets, Manhattan (Times Square)
Sat. April 26. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
The Broadway Green Alliance, SUMMIT One Vanderbilt and Times Square Alliance presents the outdoor concert hosted by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, featuring live performances from Broadway stars including Tony Award winner Shaina Taub (“Suffs”), Tony Award nominees Andrew Rannells (“Book of Mormon”), Stark Sands (“Kinky Boots”), Grammy Award nominee Merle Dandridge (“Hadestown“).
More than 75 talented students from the tri-state area will also take the stage, alongside cast members from “SIX: The Musical,” “Chicago,” “Wicked” and “Redwood,” for the marquee event highlighting the theatre community’s ongoing efforts to combat the climate crisis with actionable steps.
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 details. Consideration does not guarantee inclusion.
