Over the weekend, hundreds rallied for Pier 40's next transformation to be a park. This Thursday, the Hudson River Park Trust is meeting to discuss two existing bids for the pier located off Houston Street, but a more recent plan, from a group of local parents who hope their $120,000 study, has been gaining some recent momentum. Previously, the Related Companies had proposed an elaborate plan with a Cirque du Soleil theater and restaurants, while......

Coachella Lineup Announced Sure, with the All Points West Fest announced, Coachella may not have the same appeal for east coasters this year, but the lineup announcement is still an exciting annual event. Over the last few years, it has established itself as the granddaddy and standard bearer of the American festival circuit. Unfortunately, most people are finding this year's lineup is a bit of a dud. Coachella's been operating at such a high level......

The fate of Pier 40, located at West Houston Street on the Hudson, was much discussed and debated last year, and 2008 seems to be a year of further reflection. At one point, there was a $625 million idea for it to become an elaborate entertainment venue with a Cirque du Soleil theater, restaurants, and more, while opposing forces wanted there simply to be more green space. In the waning weeks of December, another......

If you’re the type of parent who wears a Ramones T-shirt to a P.T.A. meeting, the idea of taking your kids to some sappy Christmas show is probably abhorrent; you wouldn’t be caught dead at Radio City’s spectacular and schlepping into Times Square to spend a fortune on “Grinch” is unthinkable. But if you’d still like to catch a holiday show with the whole family, there’s a limited-time-only alternative in the heart of the......

The New York theater world’s obsession with the almighty Times, which was once astutely likened to kremlinology, has often erupted in strong words about reviewer Charles Isherwood, whose opinion was recently derided as “antique snobbery” by TONY critic David Cote. So it was amusing to discover today that not only had the Times assigned the more mainstreamish Ish to review Fuerzabruta, the latest wet and wild spectacle from the people behind De La Guarda,......

I’ve seen some memorable entrances in my time as a theatergoer, but Patrick Leonard’s appearance at the start of La Vie is going to be hard to top. I’m reluctant to spoil the surprise, so let’s just say you’ll never know what hit you. Most of what follows in La Vie, the erotic existential circus currently running at the opulent Spiegeltent, is as surprising as Leonard’s entrance; it may not be a show to take......

MUSIC: There's no better way to end the week by heading over to the Seaport Music Festival on a Friday evening. Sit on the pier with a glass of wine and watch some bands as the sun goes down. The water and ships provide the perfect summer backdrop. Tonight Fujiya & Miyagi will get you moving with some dance beats and Black Moth Super Rainbow will stick to the synth-rock. Friday // 7pm // South......

Knocked Up (directed by Judd Apatow) Judd Apatow's movies are a bit schizophrenic; one minute they're making you laugh hysterically over a poop or pot joke, and the next your heart is melting from some adorable sentiment about relationships. An "eww" and then an "aww" reaction, then another "eww"? It can be awfully confusing for the average moviegoer. But, it's difficult to fault Apatow for making movies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin or his newest, Knocked......

Tonight, there's a public meeting and hearing to discuss what will happen with Pier 40 on the Hudson River. The plan on the table is a $626 million proposal called "Pier 40 Performing Arts Center," which includes a Cirque du Soleil performance space, a 12-screen movie theater, a banquet hall and much more. Detractors call it "Las Vegas on the Hudson," and this has set up what the Times calls a "potential showdown between......

When I think of the word clown, I think of Krusty, not a small theater in West Chelsea, but that's exactly where one of the premiere clowns of our time, Eric Davis , works as a teacher at The PIT . Davis, who was recently hired by Cirque Du Soleil, discussed what clowning means to him, how he became the clown he is today, and what he expects of clowning in the future. What does......

It's a new step in outdoor advertising: Have a big billboard, then wire dancers to get all Microsofty over it! We heard that there would be a special billboard today outside the Terminal Building on 11th Ave between 27th and 28th Streets, but we didn't know it was going to be this...well, Cirque du Soleil. The sixteen dancers were charged to "move across the exterior walls...to form the images of the Windows Vista and......

Development along the Hudson isn't letting up anytime soon. Now that Hudson River Park construction is well underway (and completed in some parts), proposals are being floated for refurbishing the hulking 14-acre Pier 40 terminal. The Villager has a thorough, if skewed, examination of the dualing Pier 40 visions. One, a joint venture of The Related Companies, Cirque du Soleil and the Tribeca Film Festival, calls for a Lincoln Center-style performing arts center. The......

In a victory for the city's theater industry and possibly good ol' fashioned American kitsch, the city's Planning Department has ruled Cirque du Soleil doesn't qualify as "legitimate theater." Therefore, the developer Related Companies won't get a special bonus for building at a lot on the far western part of West 42nd Street. Take that, Canada - you may have better healthcare and be the home of Degrassi and some Americans may go there to......

So you are the Related Companies. You have a nice plot o' land over on 42nd and 10th, the former sites of the 286-seat Houseman and 199-seat Fairbanks theaters. Thanks to some goverment tricks, if you build some nice theaters on the site you can also build an extra-tall tower to boot. So, What do you do? Well, if you're anything like the real Related Companies, first you'd make a deal to build a classical......

-Some NYU kids, angry about unfair DRM on their music, took to the streets, er, the Virgin Megastore. -The troubles at Brooklyn Tech continue. -After a very long time the FDNY reached a ">tentative contract with the city this week. -The mother in that gruesome family suicide wrote a note warning her own mother. -Cirque du Soleil may be getting a theater in New York. -Star Wars origami. Why not? [via Coudal Partners] -The prestigious......

- Aaron at Out of Focus reminds us that there's going to be a Spalding Gray Tribute on WNYC today at noon. Leonard Lopate will include an interview with Gray from 1990. You can listen to WNYC via the website. - We're enjoying Central Valley Large Animal Clinic, which covers various NY art goings-on, like the Armory Show, which started yesterday, and upcoming film programs. No mention of large animals, though. Yet. - whatisee has......