A Night of Victorian Entertainments at Green-Wood Cemetery

Editor’s note: We have renamed Closing Bell to better reflect what it is about. The new name of the column is Happenings. It will continue to feature events and art.

For 19th century musical-theater impresario William Niblo, a mausoleum wasn’t just a place to be buried. The one with his name on it at Green-Wood Cemetery was built years before he died, and Niblo liked to bring friends there for picnics and entertainment.

So it seems fitting enough that the cemetery now stages an annual party at Niblo’s mausoleum, featuring the kind of entertainments Niblo offered at his famed emporium Niblo’s Garden, a massive indoor-outdoor theater in what’s now SoHo.

For “A Night at Niblo’s Garden,” the Bindlestiff Family Circus will create an extravaganza of Victorian entertainments — jugglers, fire eaters, singers, contortionists and more — in front of Niblo’s final resting place. Having died in 1878, Niblo himself won’t be able to make it, but he’ll be channeled by author, historian and Niblo expert Ben Feldman.

The evening begins with a picnic around Crescent Water pond, followed by the show. You’re advised to bring a blanket, drinks and snacks.

Tickets are $37; to reserve and for more information, click here.

Photos by Marisa Gertz via Green-Wood Cemetery