DON’T MISS!: BIRTHDAY BOY!
Washington not only slept here, he partied here! The Father of Our Country stayed in the Morris-Jumel Mansion during the Battle of Harlem in 1776. And as president, he returned for a dinner party with his Cabinet, including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.
Have your own party for George Washington tomorrow at the mansion’s annual birthday celebration. (He would have been 281 today.) The family event will feature a scavenger hunt and Colonial costumes you can try on. New this year is an 18th-century kitchen, where a chef will be making a spice cake using Martha Washington’s recipe.
“Considering it’s his birthday, we thought it would be a good cake to have,” says Carol Ward, deputy director of the museum. “We try to create events that honor the history of the house but also get the local community involved.”
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 65 Jumel Terrace; 212-923-8008, morrisjumel.org. Admission is free.
— Tim Donnelly
Getty Images
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GET SHOPPING!: HOP ON POP-UP
Designer Stacey Bendet has just set up shop, with her very own pop-up store, in SoHo. In bringing her signature Alice + Olivia whimsy amidst a row of luxury boutiques — her new neighbors include Louis Vuitton and Stella McCartney — equally whimsical fangirls can expect colorful racks filled with lip-printed frocks, itty-bitty short-shorts and polka-dotted pumps. We asked Bendet what’s good for gals on the hunt for exclusives in the SoHo setup. Her recommendation: “Our new handbags! We have the full collection there. And our gowns!” The temporary spot opened yesterday at 72 Greene St. (646-224-7712, aliceandolivia.com) Open through the summer, Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sundays, noon to 6 p.m.
— Anahita Moussavian
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CHECK IT OUT!: THANK YOU
Idea: Strip out all the Oscars for best sound-effects editing for animated foreign-language films and boil the ceremony down to its essence. Ego unchained. Then you’d have “You Like Me: An Evening of Classic Acceptance Speeches,” a wacky wingding inspired by co-creators Michael Schulman and Rachel Shukert’s habit of quoting the most glorious moments in podium antics from the Oscars and other awards shows. “There are all sorts of things that make them funny,” says Schulman, a staffer at The New Yorker who writes for Talk of the Town. “Some are just self-aggrandizing, some are completely delusional, some are just weird.” Schulman, Shukert and other writers and performers will re-create Roberto Benigni’s mania, Vanessa Redgrave’s rant about “Zionist hoodlums” and such new classics as Jodie Foster’s Golden Globes speech — “like a gift from the awards-show gods,” says Schulman. $15, tomorrow night at 8. Ars Nova Theater, 511 W. 54 St.; arsnovanyc.com.
— Kyle Smith
AP
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NOIR GANG
Hugely influential critic Andrew Sarris, who died last year, popularized the auteur theory of film criticism in the United States, dividing movie directors into categories like “less than meets the eye’’ and “strained seriousness.’’ Anthology Film Archives is paying tribute to Sarris by showing a series of films by directors he labeled as purveyors of “expressive esoterica’’ — or interesting films in then-disreputable genres like film noir. One such director is André de Toth, whose “Dark Waters” (1944) is showing tonight at 7 and tomorrow night at 8:30. It stars Merle Oberon as the survivor of a steamship disaster who encounters an assortment of shady characters when she goes to a Louisiana plantation to recover with relatives. Second Avenue and Second Street. Info: anthologyfilmarchives.org.
— Lou Lumenick
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LISTEN UP!: SOUL PLAYING
If you could imagine a mash-up of, say, Wilson Pickett and Elvis Costello — with two saxophones in the band — you’d have an idea of the fine soul music Brit singer James Hunter’s been cranking out for a while now.
In support of his third album, “Minute by Minute,” out next week, he’s bringing his group the James Hunter Six to the Bell House Wednesday.
“I don’t usually blow me own trumpet, but this one’s better,” says Hunter of the new work, in a heavy British accent that disappears when he sings. “We’ve given it a bit more attitude, and the sound reflects it.” (It’s also his first album recorded in America.)
Hunter’s music isn’t the only old-school art he makes new. While he’s in New York, he plans to stock up on 16mm film at B&H for his vintage Bell & Howell movie camera. “I usually just grab bits of whatever interesting footage I can grab,” he says. “And there’s quite a lot going on in New York.”
$20, 149 Seventh St., Gowanus; 718-643-6510, thebellhouseny.com.
— Billy Heller
