Pencil This In

THEATER: Eugene O’Neill’s early one-act plays get a rare blast of daylight in The Pioneer, a new production that stages four of his nascent gems plus a whimsical monologue O’Neill wrote from the point of view of his dog. The plays boast O’Neill’s signature assortment of furious, flailing characters that would come to dominate his full-length work. Writing for the Times, Rachel Saltz notes that the plays range from “interesting” to “wonderful” and concludes that “what comes through strongest is [O’Neill’s] sympathy for down-and-outers and his instinctive understanding of what makes a play tick.” – John Del Signore

Friday // 8pm // Metropolitan Playhouse [220 E Fourth St] // Call 212.995.5302 for tickets, which cost $20

MUSIC: Marnie Stern's technical finger-tappin' style on guitar has garnered the New Yorker a lot of attention. Come see her shred tonight at Bowery, where she plays between ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead and Pterodactyl.

Listen: Absorb Those Numbers.mp3

Friday // 8:30pm // Bowery Ballroom [6 Delancey St] // $18

SKATE: Bryant Park will officially start becoming a winter wonderland starting tomorrow, asThe Pond opens (encompassed by a ton of shops). The 170' x 100' rink is free to skate on, and rentals are available if you don't have your own blades of glory.

Saturday // 8am to midnight // Bryant Park // Free

EVENT: The Lower Eastside Girls Club is back with another installment of their Saturday Performance Series. The weekly event features a whole lot of female musicians, singer-songwriters, MC’s and poets. Come support local women in the arts.

Saturday // 3:30pm // Art+Community Gallery [56 E 1st St] // Free

MUSIC: Remember Wheatus? Their hit Teenage Dirtbag (video) catapulted them to an almost-famous status until they dropped off the radar. Well, they're back -- presumably with some new songs, and they're playing Luna Lounge this weekend.

Saturday // 7pm // Luna Lounge [ 361 Metropolitan Ave, Williamsburg] // $8

THEATER: There was a big stink back in the ‘90s when producers of the hit London musical Miss Saigon first tried to bring their show to Broadway; Actor’s Equity protested the show because one of the lead actors, Jonathan Pryce, was cast as a French-Vietnamese character. Instead of using an Asian actor in the role, make-up artists had gussied Pryce up with eye prostheses and bronzing cream so lines like “Greasy chinks make life so sleazy” might sound more convincing. Asian-American writer David Henry Hwang, who won a Tony for M. Butterfly, helped lead the protests against production; he has now crafted a humorous “backstage” history of the scandal called Yellow Face. (In previews.) – John Del Signore

Saturday // 8pm // The Public Theater [425 Lafayette St] // Tickets cost $50

CRAFTY: FreeNYC points us to a cute little event on Sunday that'll have you time traveling back to a long-gone era. "Get ready for winter as they did in the 19th century farming village of Flatbush. Kids learn how to make candles, start a patchwork quilt, and prepare old-fashioned food. There's even a special appearance by St. Nicholas on horseback"

Sunday // 1 to 4pm // Lefferts Historic House [Flatbush and Ocean Ave, Brooklyn] // Free

Photo via Mc-Q's Flickr.