There is so much going on this month that it seems gratitude should be first on the agenda of the bohemians who exercise their God-given and Constitutional rights to express themselves through their chosen artistic discipline, or in other ways.
Here are some highlights as the holidaze season gets into gear:
Didi Campagne and her Blueberry High Heels band will be appearing at Otto’s Shrunken Head 538 East 14th Street near Avenue A on Sunday November 8th from 7 – 10 PM. Also on the bill are Gary Hood, Laurie Towers and John Pietaro, and the Ruminators. It’s bound to be a lively evening of music in the long-running Tiki-themed East Village joint.
ONGOING: November 5 through November 22, downtown acting ace Gary Ray Bugarcic is appearing in the Theater for the New City presentation of Astoria, a new play by Richard Ploetz, directed by Mark Finley. Ploetz has created a world where personal upheavals intersect with the everyday rhythms of life in Astoria, Queens. Don’t worry. It’s not Thanksgiving dinner with your extended family. There promises to be plenty of comic relief.
“This play explores the need to understand our past in order to move forward while deciding how much we carry with us and what we push aside,” says the playwright. The cast also includes David Leeper, Mary Ruth Baggott, ReW Starr and Steve Hauck. Reservations can be made through the theater’s website, theaterforthenewcity.net, or by calling (212) 254-1109.
On November 10th at 7 PM, Joe’s Pub, part of the Public Theater complex at 425 Lafayette Street just below Astor Place, will present another iteration of the monthly storytelling series Generation Women. My colleague and friend here at the Village Star-Revue, Michele Herman, is one of a multi-generational lineup of 6 women presenting a personal story based on the theme “Reckoning.” Each storyteller represents a different decade of life.
Given the theme, talents, and resumes of the participants, expect a polished, professional, and sometimes searing evening. The other storytellers are JoliAmour DuBose-Morris, Bailey Swilley, Anthoula Katsimatides, Christi Somers, and Marjorie Conn. If you’re a fan of the storytelling renascence that began with Moth, this one is for you. Tickets and reservations are available on the Public Theater website.
ONGOING: See who’s pulling the strings. November 11 through December 6, La MaMa ETC presents its annual puppet festival. Puppets have been part of the LaMaMa slate of theatrical offerings since the late Ellen Stewart founded the East 4th Street complex in 1962. This year’s festival is curated by Denise Greber and Federico Restrepo. The puppeteers are Monica Lerch, Tiresias, Fatima Sambo Schoenfelder, Gaby Febland & Sammy Zeisel, Amanda Glynn Card, Loco7 (Denise Greber & Federico Restrepo), Tom Lee, Matthew Duvall, Lisa Kaplan, William PK Carter, Marcella Murray, Deniz Khateri, and Michelle Beshaw. For a complete schedule and tickets, click https://lamama.org/la-mama-puppet-festival-2026/.
Bret Roberts, bohemian bard, filmmaker, musician, and painter, is blowing back into town from Los Angeles, where he was making a one-man movie written and directed by downtown theater stalwart Jason Trucco. The Polish Institute of Arts and Science of America is exhibiting Brothers in Art, a series of collaborative paintings made over 10 years by Roberts and the much-beloved, late great Janusz Gilewicz, who moved to the East Village in 1986 after escaping the communist oppression of his homeland.
He came here via Rome, where he worked with director Federico Fellini on the mockumentary Intervista. Gilewicz’s own cinematic masterpiece, which he wrote, art-directed, and starred in, is Daydream of the Sleepwalker (available on YouTube). It’s one of my all-time favorite short films. The Polish Institute is at 208 East 30th Street and the opening reception is from 6 – 8 PM on Friday November 13. There will be live music.
From the Department of Self-promotion: The New York Browning Society, the oldest literary society in the United States, has asked me to give a talk on Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her Sonnets from the Portuguese at their monthly meeting. It will take place in the Mae West Room of the Jefferson Market Library on Wednesday November 18th at 6 PM. James Browning Kepple, publisher of Underground Books, is the current president of the society and the Village Star-Revue’s very own Atanasio DiFelice is the veep.
Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe, the wife of Edgar Allan Poe, is being celebrated at the second 2026 Poe Room Event at NYU. This event is curated twice yearly by Poe Room Community Director Lois Rackoff. The Poe Room events are a mea culpa by NYU for tearing down the house where Poe lived in the Village to make way for the law school. Rackoff makes certain the university goes all out. In addition to stellar presentations – I’ve attended several – there is always a buffet after the show and an open wine and beer bar. If you don’t think reservations are necessary, you’ve got another think coming.
This year’s presentations are The Teeth of My Berenice based on Poe’s short story “Berenice”, Come, Whisper, inspired by Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” and Cousin Eddy, a new song inspired by Virginia Poe’s life, by the librettist-composer team Donna Sanders and Deena Zammam; as well as a theatrical retelling of Virginia’s final years at the Poe Cottage in the Bronx, performed by Ashlyn Prieto.
It’s all taking place in Room 216 of Furman Hall at 245 Sullivan Street, just below Washington Square Park. Queries and reservations: 212-998-2400 or community.engagement@nyu.edu with any questions.
Worth mentioning: Also at NYU, on November 3 at 7 PM, at the Catholic Center, 238 Thompson Street, Fireside Chat by New York City’s new-this-year Archbishop Ronald Hicks. This will be the archbishop’s first official foray into the Village, according to Father Cassian Derbes, the Catholic Center’s Dominican chaplain. The archbishop will be joined by Sally Blount, former dean of Stern Business School at NYU and current CEO of Catholic Charities. The discussion will revolve around ambition, leadership, faith and the importance of defining success beyond career achievements. NYU students and local community members are invited. Reservations are advised and can be made by clicking nyucatholic.org/events.
ONGOING: Two historical events for the parish of Our Lady of Pompeii on Carmine Street, cattycorner to Father Demo Square, are celebrated through the end of the year. The first is the 125th anniversary of the arrival of Saint John Baptist Scalabrini, founder of the Scalabrinian order of priests, brothers and nuns.
Originally founded to address the spiritual needs of millions of Italian emigrants, the Scalabrinians now serve migrants from around the planet. In late September, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, long-time Secretary of State for the Vatican, celebrated a solemn Mass to mark the anniversary of Saint Scalabrini, known as the “father of migrants,” visiting NYC.
At the same time, led by current pastor, Reverend Jefferson Orlando Bariviera, with the ongoing support of Reverend Márcio Toniazzo, Executive Director of the Scalabrini International Migration Network, Our Lady of Pompeii is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the opening of the church, under the direction of Father Demo, in its current location. (The original church was razed by the city to make way for Sixth Avenue.) Bishop Edmund Whalen celebrated Mass on October 3 to mark the actual anniversary of the inaugural opening.
The church is a magnificent shrine to the mother of Christ, with beautiful stained-glass windows, soaring architecture, and much more. It’s worth a visit regardless of what you believe. Beauty is always beauty, and always uplifting.
Happy Thanksgiving!
