DALLAS 1963
Walter Cronkite reported the news of John F. Kennedy’s assassination — but everyday Americans documented it. Fifty years after that terrible day in Dallas, the small exhibit “JFK November 22, 1963: A Bystander’s View of History,” at the International Center of Photography, includes stills from the famous Zapruder film, snapshots taken by witnesses on the street and news photos. Also included: pictures taken during the 1960 presidential campaign of the man who would become one of the most photographed people of his time. Some of the most frequently seen images of the president’s ill-fated motorcade have lost a bit of their power to shock, while other rarely shown photos manage to be both poignant and chilling.
Through Jan. 19 at 1133 Sixth Ave.; 212-857-0000, icp.org. Admission: $14, $10 for students and seniors. — Mackenzie Dawson
CAN-DO ATTITUDE
Anyone can build a house out of brick and wood; making one out of fish cans is a bit trickier.
“We hope people really like tuna fish, because that’s mainly what we’re using,” says Carly Filmanski, team leader for Ennead Architects.
The house is a replica of the one from Pixar’s “Up,” and the canned building materials are part of the annual Canstruction charity design/ build competition. Ennead is one of 25 firms who have created elaborate art pieces out of cans. The cans — which usually equal about 70,000 pounds of food — are then donated to New Yorkers in need.
“It really matches helping those in need with what is our passion,” says Filmanski, whose group used 6,000 cans for the house. “When you finally view your structure up there, the feeling is amazing.”
Visitors can see the sculptures daily at Brookfield Place, 220 Vesey St., 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday through Nov. 13. — Tim Donnelly
STRING IT ON
It’s not Walt Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty.”
The Carlo Colla & Sons Marionette Company production beginning Friday at the New Victory Theater — with 11 puppeteers and more than 150 handcrafted marionettes — frowns on that familiar version.
“I have to say that the Disney movies had a great influence on the Italian puppet theater, but a bad one,” says Piero Corbella, the general manager of the Milan-based company founded in 1835. “We don’t feel that simplifying these beautiful fables is the best way for young people to enjoy them.”
The puppeteers also created the marionettes, each one carved from a single block of wood and featuring wigs made from human hair.
Boasts the feisty Corbella, who joined the company four decades ago when he was 12, “We fight to keep this kind of tradition alive.”
Through Nov. 10 at 209 W. 42nd St.; 646-223- 3010, newvictory.org. — Frank Scheck
IN THE MOMENT
From albums combining jazz and South Asian Carnatic music, to collaborations with poets and Iraqi and Afghanistan war veterans of color, jazz pianist/composer Vijay Iyer’s discography makes the case for his recently won MacArthur Genius Grant. “We are always different versions of ourselves in different contexts,” Iyer says of working on so many different projects. “We just take the approach of creating work that eventually can’t be ignored, because it truly reflects the current moment.” Just back from a European tour to New York, where he also teaches, Iyer hits Jazz Standard Friday through Sunday. And he’s fronting his acclaimed trio, whose members “embody the new America a half-century after civil rights and immigration reform” in their diversity. Adventurous as his vision is, Iyer just wants those new to him to know: “Our music is for everybody!”
116 E. 27th St.; 212-576-2232, jazzstandard.com. Tickets, $25 and $30. — Charlie Heller
FARMER A CHARMER
Howard Hawks called Frances Farmer “the greatest actress I ever worked with,’’ but her screen career was cut short by alcoholism and mental illness, as depicted in a 1982 biopic starring Jessica Lange. Hawks directed Farmer’s finest film, “Come and Get It’’ (1936), in which she gives a tour de force as a saloon singer and, 20 years later, her grown daughter — who both bewitch a lumber tycoon (Edward Arnold). The director was replaced by William Wyler in this lusty adaptation of an Edna Ferber novel midway during shooting — after clashing with producer Samuel Goldwyn over changes Hawks wanted from Ferber’s book. The film, which also stars Walter Brennan and Joel McCrea, is showing Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Museum of the Moving Image, 35th Avenue and 36th Street, Astoria. Info: movingimage.us. — Lou Lumenick