What they’re saying: live arts in Brooklyn this week, April 25

A roundup of Brooklyn’s cultural offerings this week, from comedy to theater to music to art, and what critics are saying about them.

April 25, 2024 Evan Rosen

The renovated and reopened stage at The Billie, May 9, 2017. Photo: Wikimedia Commons via user @letwaroo, CC-BY-SA

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“The Gatekeeper Live!” and “Boldly, The Show” @ BCC
Comedy, Sketch, Variety
Brooklyn Comedy Collective, Eris, 167 Graham Ave, East Williamsburg
Tuesday April 30, Ages 21+

The Gatekeeper Live! is the brainchild of David Colton & Mo Macsai-Goren, two of the funniest young comedians in residence at the BCC, as they bring their satirical newspaper “The Gatekeeper” to life on the stage. Nowhere else can you get the week’s news in such incredible fashion.

Their upcoming show on April 30, features a star-studded lineup including viral comedian Sahib Singh, “Hot & Single” host Stef Dag, and the comedy team of Guys & Doll.

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Boldly, The Show is a monthly show that encourages both audience members and performers to be bold, taking real stories from audience members and improvising around these anecdotes. Comedians Lily Blumkin and Lauren Arnett host the show, accompanied by special guests Kristina DeGiovanni, Matt Kutz and Jack Homseley.

“Improv comedy is by its nature going to be less funny and consistent than scripted work, but its appeal is also different. You suspend your disbelief in a great play, but in engaging improv, you find yourself imagining the mind of the performer, thinking along with them. How will they raise the stakes? How will they make sense of this?” – Jason Zinoman, New York Times on BCC and Improv.

Lynn Nottage’s Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine
Theatre
The Billie Holiday Theatre, 1368 Fulton Street, Bedford Stuyvesant
Shows through May 19

“Fabulation,” a play by Lynn Nottage, first debuted at Playwright’s Horizons in 2004. It centers around the story of Undine, a successful African-American publicist living in Manhattan, who is forced to return to her former working-class life in Brooklyn after her husband takes her money. Now this acclaimed play is coming to Bed-Stuy.

The Billie Holiday Theatre is a premier creative campus in Bed-Stuy which elevates the voices of Black artists in the community. The theatre has an education program led by and for Black artists, which has been running for over 22 years.

“Directed by Martavius Parrish, The Billie’s production of Fabulation or, the Re-Education of Undine features award-winning actress Felicia Curry in the lead role bringing the character of Undine to life for the majority of the play’s run through May 6th. Kedren A Spencer will assume the role for the remaining two weeks of the production.” – Nina Flowers, Patch.com

“This is not the comedy of deracination it at first seems; it’s a comedy of re-racination, of discovering one’s authentic self by stripping away the disfigurements of ambition.” – Jesse Green, New York Times

“Fabulation is set in Brooklyn, and I’m beyond thrilled to be sharing the play with my hometown audience,” says Nottage in a statement. “The very first theatre I ever experienced was at the Billie Holiday, and so this is definitely a full circle moment for me.” – Logan Culwell-Block, Playbill

Spring Arts & Craft Fair and more @ Nook
Arts & Crafts
Nook, 45 Irving Ave, Unit 1, Bushwick
April 27 to 28

One of Bushwick’s most popular cafés is hosting an Arts & Crafts fair this weekend, offering patrons an interactive afternoon of creation and giving local creatives a chance to set up their own display tables.

The event space is also hosting several other events this week and weekend, with “Backgammon BYOB” on Thursday, a Photography Course and Songwriter’s Showcase on Friday, and Live Jazz followed by a Comedy Show on Saturday.

“I found a home at the Nook’s chess club, which runs on Tuesday nights. Populated by a community of diverse thinkers, from casual chess enjoyers to expert analysts of the world’s oldest game, Bushwick Chess is a hub for conversation on and off the board’s 64 squares.” – Micah Jameson, Bushwick Daily

“Bushwick is arguably an epicenter of remote work in New York (if “work” is what you all are doing in cafes all day). That means there is a lot of competition for coffee shops that may fit your needs. No one holds a candle to Nook. This place is consistently filled with laptops on its large communal table, bar and several, well, nooks filled with couches and comfortable chairs.” – Andy Hirschfeld, Brooklyn Magazine

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L Train Brass Band Anniversary Blowout Concert
Live Music, Concerts
The Bell House, 149 Seventh Street, Gowanus
Sunday April 28 @ 5pm

The Bell House’s upcoming concert is going to serve up a whole lot of brass, as it celebrates the L Train Brass Band, an NYC-based nonprofit and modular collective of over 100 musicians who will play anywhere and everywhere.

Sunday night will feature additional performances from Off Beat Jazz, Brass Meets World, Nice Brass and Dark Tide, with L Train Brass Band playing last to close out the night. Doors open at 5pm and L Train is expected to perform around 9pm. Guests are encouraged to wear purple, semi-formal attire!

“Brass music is fun, it’s party music. It’s uplifting, it’s loud, it’s in the street, it gets people together. It pulls them from across the street and down the block,” Chapel says. “It’s a very visual thing on the street; so the more you see, the more that idea gets passed around, the more people want to do it.” – Saxophonist Ally Chapel, Brooklyn Magazine

“LTBB embodies a music for life ethos by empowering busy adults to pick up an instrument and make music within a safe, structured environment that promotes creative self-expression and welcomes individuals from all musical backgrounds and walks of life.” – City Guide New York

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Macbeth (an undoing) @ Theatre for a New Audience
Theatre
TFANA, 262 Ashland Pl, Fort Greene
Shows through May 4
New Deal tickets available for $20 for those under 30. Use code: NEWDEALER at checkout

Playwright Zinnie Harris has adapted Shakespeare’s legendary play in a production that focuses on the perspective of Lady Macbeth and undoes the classic story we’ve come to know. After making its world premiere at The Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh last year, the same team, featuring Nicole Cooper as Lady Macbeth and Adam Best as Macbeth, is bringing the acclaimed production to Brooklyn.

“It is not so much a revival as an exhumation, one in which [Harris] dares to speculate what the playwright might have done had he been true to his own instincts.” – Mark Fisher, The Guardian

“Cooper conveys all this with a ferocious intelligence that brims with barely restrained rage amongst the everyday madness in a thrilling reimagining that lays bare the real power behind the blood- spattered throne.” – Neil Cooper, The Herald Scotland

“Zinnie Harris reinvents Lady Macbeth as a flawed feminist icon in this respectful but powerfully reimagined adaptation.” – David Pollock, The Stage

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Kings County Comedy and Saturday Standup Live! @ Eastville Comedy Club
Comedy
Eastville Comedy Club, 487 Atlantic Ave, Boerum Hill
April 27 and 28 and every Saturday and Sunday

“Saturday Standup Live!” takes place every, you guessed it, Saturday night at 6pm and features a curated lineup of the borough’s best comedians, with an open mic from 2 to 4pm beforehand. And on Sunday nights, Comedian Mike Toohey’s stand-up shows at Eastville and “Kings County Comedy” are supposed to be one of the best shows in town. There are open mics at Eastville all week.

“Eastville was established in Manhattan in 2008, and after 10 wonderful years… it was time to upgrade their location and move to the artistically creative borough of Brooklyn. They’re an intimate 120 seat comedy club located right by the Barclays Center, and downtown Brooklyn’s nightlife district.” – New York Theatre Guide

“Mike Toohey’s comedy combines the wry sarcasm of a Native New Yorker with the empathetic lens of an absurdist. A child of divorce from a half Colombian, half Irish family, Toohey’s stand-up reflects a quick-witted take on life, culture and relationships.” – BestComedyTickets.com