Tag Archives: New York

Art & Culture Preview. What to see, Where to Go.

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Of course, we can provide the best seats to all events.

New York

Just opened after a sold out run in London, I loved it!
Tom Hiddleston in the powerful Pinter play: Betrayal at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre.
Tom Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton and Charlie Cox reprise their roles from the London production, a riveting drama. Closes December 8.

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Porgy & Bess. Back for the first time in 30 years. Following a stunning reception in London in 2018, James Robinson’s new production of the landmark American classic is set to open the 2019/20 season, marking the first time the Gershwin masterpiece has appeared at the Met in 30 years. Starring Eric Owens and Angel Blue as the titular couple, this folk-inspired epic takes us into the heart of 1930’s Charleston, where the residents of Catfish Row tell a story of fraught tensions, love, grief, and the search for redemption.

London
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical – my clients have loved it! The Tina Turner Musical is a jukebox musical featuring the music of Tina Turner, and depicting her life from her youth in Nutbush, Tennessee, through her tumultuous relationship with Ike Turner, and comeback as a rock ‘n roll star in her 40s. Put on your dancing shoes!

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Oh, insanely popular and sold out, Sir Ian McKellen one man show – we reserved seats for our Number One client in November- so close to stage, he will see Sir Ian’s wrinkles! Celebrating his 80th Birthday Shakespeare, Tolkien, Others and You. At The West End’s intimate Harold Pinter Theatre.

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The British Museum Inspired by the East: How the Islamic World Influenced Western Art. Charting the fascinating history of cultural and artistic interactions between East and West, this exhibition explores the impact the Islamic world has had on Western art for centuries. Artistic exchange between East and West has a long and intertwined history, and the exhibition picks these stories up from the 15th century, following cultural interactions that can still be felt today. Objects from Europe, North America, the Middle East and North Africa highlight a centuries-old tradition of influence and exchange from East to West. The diverse selection of objects includes ceramics, photography, glass, jewelry and clothing, as well as contemporary art, showcasing how artistic exchange influenced a variety of visual and decorative arts charts this relationship and exchange from the 15th century to the present day. October 10, 2019-January 26, 2020

Paris

Rave reviews for the Van Gogh Starry Night exhibition, an immersion into Van Gogh ‘s masterpiece – Atelier Des Lumieres. The new digital exhibition in the Atelier des Lumières immerses visitors in the paintings of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), a genius who was not recognized during his lifetime and who transformed painting. Projected on all the surface of the Atelier, this new visual and musical production retraces the intense life of the artist, who, during the last ten years of his life, painted more than 2,000 pictures, which are now in collections around the world. We can reserve a private visit.

El Greco at the Grand Palais. The painter Domenico Theotokopoulos, also known as El Greco, is the subject of this large-scale show, that surprisingly, is the first retrospective of the artist in France. visitors to the Grand Palais can see a major retrospective of El Greco’s work. This is a unique opportunity to discover the incredible works of an artist, who though not well known, helped define the Spanish Renaissance and influenced various art movements that followed. Inspired by Titian, Tintoretto and the works of Michelangelo, El Greco’s innovative and daring compositions cement his place in the history of painting, and many of his most important works are on show at the Grand Palais On display: the recently restored Assumption of the Virgin from the Chicago Art Institute and masterworks including St. Martin and the Beggar as well as an intimate portrait of the artist’s son. October 16-February 10, 2020

Los Angeles

Manet and Modern Beauty Édouard Manet was a provocateur and a dandy, the Impressionist generation’s great painter of modern Paris. This first-ever exhibition to explore the last years of Manet’s short life and career reveals a fresh and surprisingly intimate aspect of this celebrated artist’s work. Stylish portraits, luscious still lifes, delicate pastels and watercolors, and vivid café and garden scenes convey Manet’s elegant social world and reveal his growing fascination with fashion, flowers, and his view of the parisienne—a feminine embodiment of modern life in all its particular, fleeting beauty. The Getty Los Angeles October 8, 2019-January 12, 2020 

The Monkey Bar – Local Food Dining New York

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Hopped across the globe to Europe, and enjoyed a quick overnight in New York, it does cut down the air time and I never say no to a visit to the Big Apple.

Monkey Bar New York

Happily, this stop also included dinner at the iconic Monkey Bar restaurant, where my friend, David Tanis, has been brought in to revamp and refine. One NY restaurant that’s endured decades of the city’s ups and down, is the Monkey Bar. Few surviving restaurants have as celebrated history—even fewer in the ever changing midtown Manhattan dining scene. You may remember I followed David to Sicily a few summers ago to indulge in his cooking class.

Several months ago, the New York Times announced that David Tanis, a longtime contributor to the newspaper’s weekly food section with his “Hungry City” column, had been brought in as the new chef. Co-owner Jeff Klein expects “refinement and subtle changes,” under Tanis, who says his food “will be straightforward and simply presented.” Keeping up with the times, the chef will swap steakhouse staples for more salads, seafood and seasonal dishes made with sustainable ingredients—or, how people want to eat these days.

Monkey Bar has long been on my little NY walking map of historic stops to quench a thirst as a girl never knows when one may be in need of a glass of bubbly and a little bite – parched and peckish is never an acceptable condition anywhere! One must always know where to stop and linger.

History
With the repeal of Prohibition close at hand, a humble new establishment opened its doors on the ground floor of the still-new, luxurious Hotel Elysée in the Midtown: The Monkey Bar. Known as a comfortable locale to while away an afternoon with an impromptu companion, the new bar at the Elysee – known to some customers, between drinks, as the “easy lay” –would become the New York home of Tallulah Bankhead and the site of a number of historically significant events during its lifetime, such as the untimely death of Tennessee Williams, when the playwright mysteriously chocked on an eye-dropper. For decades, the Monkey Bar provided a cozy outpost for ad men in bespoke suits, after-hours politicians, and media barons looking for a little fun. After a few years in disrepair, the Monkey Bar was purchased, in 2009, and returned to its former glory by Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, his wife, Anna, and hotelier Jeff Klein. Renowned illustrator Ed Sorel was commissioned to paint a three-paneled mural paying homage to the great Jazz Age figures who once sailed through the saloon doors. The dining room’s lush red leather banquettes and dim, attractive lighting have restored the fizzy thrill of both glamorous and cozy-and harken back to a bygone era when a gentleman never left the house without a tie and a lady always had a pair of white gloves in her purse.

Monkey Bar is one of those Classic NYC Establishments that “has history.”

Highly Recommend Monkey Bar Manhattan!