Highlights this weekend include the return of Sunset Circus, a star-studded birthday tribute to Judy Collins and Ts Madison’s no-holds-barred humor.
Plus, there’s a psychodrama starring Amanda Seyfried and Laurence Fishburne‘s reading of “Riff Raff.”
Family
“Sunset Circus”
Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan — 334 Amsterdam Avenue, Manhattan (Upper West Side)
Sun. March 9. 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Produced by Tony Award winner Fran Kirmser, Joel Jeske’s work with the family-friendly circus company Parallel Exit is back by popular demand with never-seen-before juggling and aerial acts.
The featured aerialists, jugglers, acrobats, and comedians have Cirque du Soleil, Big Apple Circus and the legendary Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus in their pedigree.
“[We] offer a delicate balance between narrative storytelling, hilarious comedy, and world-class circus acts,” Jeske told the Daily News this week.”It’s our heartwarming story about the onstage and backstage lives of this traveling circus family.”
Tickets start at $40.
Music
“Judy Collins and Friends: 85 Years of Music and Protest”
The Town Hall — 123 West 43rd St., Manhattan (Midtown)
Sat. March 8, 8 p.m.
The prolific singer-songwriter is celebrating her 85th year on earth this weekend with a special concert taking place on International Women’s Day.
Sophie B. Hawkins will host the star-studded tribute featuring appearances by Justin Vivian Bond, Paul Cole, Ari Hest, Rickie Lee Jones, Oakland Rain, Stephen Stills, Richard Thompson, Stephen Schwartz and Beth Nielsen Chapman.
Judy Collins first performed at the historic Times Square-area venue back in 1964, which spawned her first live recording.
Though mostly known for folk music, Collins has sung it all: country, pop, rock and classic standards. Her 1975 hit cover of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send In The Clowns” was a career breakthrough. She also scored a Grammy for her early recording of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.”
Tickets start at $55, plus fees.
Theater
“Riff Raff “
The Center at West Park — 165 West 86th St., Manhattan (Upper West Side)
Fri. March 7 and Sat. March 8, 7:30 p.m.
Laurence Fishburne returns to the stage with readings of his playwriting debut, “Riff Raff,” a gritty drama about a drug deal gone murderously wrong that premiered Off-Broadway in 1995.
The Brooklyn-raised Tony and Emmy winner, known for “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” and the blockbuster “Matrix” franchise, broke through with the theatrical production, which he also directed.
Thirty years later, he revisits the work with original Off-Broadway cast member Titus Welliver as well as Yul Vazquez and actor-turned-playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis.
The full cast will participate in a talkback following each performance.
Tickets start at $50.
Art
“Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Gates and Unrealized Projects for New York City”
The Shed — 545 West 30th St., Manhattan (Hudson Yards)
Through March 23. Various hours.
As the fantastical fairground of art and amusement “Luna Luna” finally winds down (extended through March 16), a new exhibit is bringing in crowds — this time celebrating the 20th anniversary of a monumental work of temporary public art that wowed New Yorkers.
The stunning masterpiece sculpted by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, renowned for their massive, site-specific installations, consisted of over 7,500 saffron-colored gates wrapped with free-flowing fabric that spanned 23 miles of pathways of Central Park for two weeks in February 2005.
The reboot of “The Gates” includes an augmented reality component, and offers visitors an unprecedented opportunity to explore the late couple’s artistic journey through drawings, models and videos of their proposals for New York City, designed between 1964 and 1969.
Tickets are Pay What You Wish with a suggested price of $10.
Comedy
“Ts Madison: Maddie in The Morning Live”
City Winery — 25 11th Avenue, Manhattan (Pier 57)
Sun. March 9. 7:30 p.m.
The former adult film star-turned-transgender social media phenom, who has taken the internet by storm with her sharp wit and unbridled candor, is back this weekend.
A bonafide scene-stealer in films such as “Zola” and “Bros” and on the Emmy Award-winning “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Ts Madison will be joined by friends and guests for a live presentation of her viral “Maddie In The Morning” show — bringing to life some of its no-holds-barred segments.
Tickets start at $45.
Film
“Seven Veils“
Quad Cinema — 34 W. 13th St., Manhattan (Greenwich Village)
Opens March 7. Various showtimes.
Art imitates life for Amanda Seyfried‘s character in this psychodrama from “The Sweet Hereafter” filmmaker Atom Egoyan. In the 107-minute, unrated film, Seyfried plays an opera director haunted by dark and disturbing memories as she is staging her late mentor’s most acclaimed work.
Toronto New Wave auteur Egoyan incorporates footage from his 2023 production of “Salome” for the Canadian Opera Company in the story of how the protagonist allows repressed trauma to impact her personal and professional life in the present day.
Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Mark O’Brien, Vinessa Antoine, Ambur Braid, and opera singer Michael Kupfer-Radecky also star.
A Q&A moderated by film journalist Anne-Katrin Titze with the director will take place after the 6:45 screening on Saturday.
Tickets are $20.19 (including fees)
Music
“Grand Performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion”
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine — 1047 Amsterdam Ave., Manhattan (Upper West Side)
Sat. March 8. 7 p.m.
What is regarded as one of the greatest pieces of classical sacred music and Johann Sebastian Bach’s most ambitious work will be performed by three choirs, two orchestras, two conductors, and six soloists in one of the world’s largest Gothic cathedrals.
Experiencing a live version of Bach’s largest choral composition recounting of Jesus’ last days leading up to his crucifixion — also known as the Passion — is quite a way to kick off the Lenten season.
A rep for the venue said the performance will create “a sense of vocal surround sound for the exquisite chorales” with the creative placement of the Cathedral’s choirs throughout its stunning architecture.
Tickets start at $40.
If you have an upcoming weekend event you’d like to submit for consideration in an upcoming roundup, please email: [email protected] with the details. Consideration does not guarantee inclusion.