Living

A three-day model train show headlines this week of activities, followed closely by Brazilian, Irish, and Japanese cinema, plus a documentary on the New York State Pavilion. There’s also a “color run” and Greek, Mexican, classical, and doo-wop concerts. Here’s the rundown.

May 20, North Beach, 7 pm. The Greater Astoria Historical Society hosts a lecture/slide presentation on North Beach, a summer resort where LaGuardia Airport is now. $10. QED Astoria, 27-16 23rd Ave., Astoria.

May 20-23, Rebecca Patek, 8 pm. This NYC-based choreographer and performance artist synthesizes dance, theater, and comedy. This performance is loosely based on “The Crime of the Century” — the 1924 murder of Bobby Franks by Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. $15. The Chocolate Factory, 5-49 49th Ave., Long Island City.

May 21, A Southern Queens Salon Series Concert, 7 pm. The Queens Symphony Orchestra presents a salute to the troops and patriots. Free. Colony Theatre, 202-30 Rockaway Point Boulevard, Breezy Point.

May 22, Modern Ruin: A World’s Fair Pavilion, 7 pm (and May 23 at 3 pm). This is the world premiere screening of a documentary about the New York State Pavilion. By AquaRela Pictures, the film details the 1964 World’s Fair structure’s post-fair usage as a concert venue and roller rink, followed by years of neglect and the recent efforts to save and repurpose it. The directors and producers will attend. On first night, cocktail hour at 7 pm; screening at 8 pm. $15. Queens Theatre, 14 United Nations Avenue South, Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

May 22, Global Mashup 4: Mexico Meets Greece, 8 pm. Mariachi Flor de Toloache, NYC’s first and only all-female mariachi band, joins Yianni Papastefanou, a traditional Greek singer and recording artist, for a mash-up of two cultures on one stage with an open dance floor. Each group performs a set, and then both bands jam together for the final act. Dance lessons at 7 pm. $15/$10 for students. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Boulevard, Flushing.

May 22, O Brazil: She Comes Back on Thursday, 7 pm. This is the second installment of a series of contemporary Brazilian films. In this movie, the director’s brother and aging parents play themselves as they plumb their day-to-day lives, trying to shed light on the imperceptible shift in order that caused the director’s parents to separate after 35 years of marriage. $12/$9 for seniors and students/$6 for children (ages 3-12). Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Kaufman Arts District.

May 22, Good Vibrations, 7:30 pm. This cheerful film reconstructs the violent, deeply divided Belfast of the late 1970s and early 1980s through the career of the idealistic Terri Hooley, who opens a record store called “Good Vibrations” to sell rock, folk, and country music. He discovers punk and publicizes it as the sound that can unite rebellious, non-sectarian youth in Ulster. $11 suggested donation/$8 for students, seniors and the unemployed. New York Irish Center, 10-40 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City.

May 23, The Color Run, 9 am. This is a five-kilometer, untimed race in which thousands of participants are doused from head to toe in different colors at each kilometer. The fun continues after the race with a party featuring music, dancing, and massive color throws. Citi Field, 123-01 Roosevelt Avenue, Flushing.

May 23-25, World’s Fair Train Show, 10 am to 5 pm. Watch working G-scale model trains make their way through an outdoor display that includes a miniature version of the Unisphere, presented by the Long Island Garden Railway Society. Plus, the whole family can grab the “express” for a motorized train ride through select parts of the garden ($5 per ride). Event parking is $10; discount parking vouchers are not applicable on event days. Free with admission. Queens Botanical Garden, 43-50 Main Street, Flushing.

May 23, The Inheritance, 2 pm; Strike a Life for Nothing, 5:30 pm. These films are shown as part of the series Portraying the Human Condition: The Films of Masaki Kobayashi and Tatsuya Nakadai. In The Inheritance, a rich businessman is dying, and his three illegitimate children must be located to receive their share of his fortune. Strike a Life for Nothing is a feudal story about a thug enforcer of a gang running a smuggling operation out of a tavern. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Kaufman Arts District.

May 23, Music in the Garden, 3 pm. The doo-wop band New York Exceptions gets the crowd singing and dancing to popular music from the 1950-1970s. Free with admission. Queens Botanical Garden, 43-50 Main Street, Flushing.

May 24, Harakiri, 2 pm; Kwaidan, 6 pm. These films are shown as part of the series Portraying the Human Condition: The Films of Masaki Kobayashi and Tatsuya and Nakadai. Harakiri repudiates the tradition of unthinking obeisance to established power structures in Japanese society. An aging man sets out to avenge the death of his son-in-law through a ritual suicide. Kwaidan consists of four supernatural tales. $15. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Kaufman Arts District.

Photo by Socrates Sculpture Park


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