Earlier this week we became huge fans of New York Philharmonic music director Alan Gilbert when he stopped a performance of Mahler's Ninth Symphony just before the end to shame an audience member whose iPhone wouldn't stop marimba-ing. And we weren't the only ones—the internet quickly filled with praise for Gilbert's agressive actions. But what of the offending iPhone owner? How's he doing? Well, now we have his side of the story. And the answer is not well! more ›

Don't forget to turn off your phone when you go to the New York Philharmonic...because if it starts ringing they will stop the show. No, really! At last night's performance of Mahler's Ninth, a not-so-gentleman's iPhone (using the "marimba" ringtone) went off multiple times during the piece's final movement. Finally—just 13 bars before the end of the score—Music Director Alan Gilbert lost it and cut the orchestra: more ›

If you're like us, then you probably already feel like you've seen at least half of the 2012 summer blockbuster, The Dark Knight Rises. Between the Wall Street battles, the 59th Street Bridge filming, and the Newark Catwoman sightings, we've pieced together that the movie will focus around the dark underbelly of street closings. The final chapter of the acclaimed Christopher Nolan-helmed Batman films is due in theaters next July, but you'll have a chance to see the first six minutes of the film in theaters in just a few weeks! more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] The coolest man in rock and roll used the uncoolest form of communication—the maddeningly annoying call-and-response "People's Mic"—at an Occupy Wall Street protest at Lincoln Center last night. Reed told the protesters, "I was born in Brooklyn, and I've never been more ashamed than to see the barricades tonight. The police are our army. I want to be friends with them. And I wanna occupy Wall Street. I support it." You can listen to the full audio below, courtesy @NewYorkist: more ›

Alan Cumming, Scottish native and Shakespeare aficionado, is going back to his roots next year in a big way, announcing that he's undertaking a one-man production of Macbeth in which he will play all the parts. Double, double toil and trouble for the original "Scottish play," indeed! more ›

During their acclaimed production of As You Like It two years ago, the Royal Shakespeare Company had an actor skin and behead a dead rabbit on stage, reportedly getting big laughs and applause from Brits who were thrilled to watch him tossing rabbit pieces into a bucket. Show biz! But while those kinds of gross-out theatrics may tickle the punters across the pond, in America rabbit advocates are up in arms about the production, which opens tonight in a full-size replica of their theater in Stratford-upon-Avon, assembled in the Park Avenue Armory's massive Drill Hall. more ›

New York City Opera announced yesterday that it will move out of Lincoln Center and plan a smaller season of new operas this fall. According to the NY Times, the City Opera will stage five operas and three concerts at various (though not-yet named) venues, "just two years after a $107 million renovation at its Lincoln Center home." more ›

Last week at Lincoln Center the phones rang, the doors chimed and in came a star-studded Company staged reading whose cast was headlined by Neil Patrick Harris as the bachelor Bobby, whose examinations of marriage center the Stephen Sondheim classic. And it wasn't just Harris up there, stage and screen bold-faced names like Patti LuPone, Stephen Colbert, Christina Hendricks, Martha Plimpton, Anika Noni Rose and Jon Cryer were hoofing it too. The show ran for only four sold-out (and not cheap!) performances, but fret not poor theater fans. If you still desperately want to see Hendricks in her skivvies deciding to go to Barcelona or not (or a topless NPH trying to keep her in town), LuPone toasting the "Ladies Who Lunch," or Colbert and Plimpton as a mock-karate-fighting couple, you've got nothing to worry about. All four productions of the show were filmed and will now be combined into one concert film coming to theaters June 15. more ›

Five days after ending, Fashion Week is still pissing people off. A few Upper West Side residents are complaining that generators have been spewing smoke and fumes into their air, and that a few are still going even after the Fashion Week tents have gone. Amsterdam Avenue resident Ruth James said, "They have these big machines on the side of the street blowing out gas and all of that. And my windows are here and I'm breathing this stuff." And neighbors10023 wrote on Youtube, that video (below) of the generators shows "a stark contrast to what Fashion Week's marketing effort on its supposed commitment to going green." more ›

[UPDATED BELOW] Things got all Rite of Spring over at Lincoln Center last night, which went a little lo-brow for the evening hosting a Rock n' Roll Circus featuring Brooklyn band Japanther. According to the NY Post, at 11:30 p.m. around 100 fans—of the 1,000 in attendance—rushed the stage during the show in Damrosch Park (you call that a riot? This is a riot!). The co-producer of the event told them, "People were crowd-surfing and jumping on each other. It was like, what the hell just happened?" more ›

In the wake of this week's highbrow bedbug attack on Lincoln Center, the Wall Street Journal freaked out over the bedbug epidemic. They started asking questions like: "Level with me. Can a bedbug crawl from a theater seat into my coat?" So they sat down with entomologist Jeff White of BedBug Central to ease their nerves. He told them that yes, bedbugs can crawl into your coat, but "there’s a little bit of a hysteria associated with these types of situations." They forgot to ask the most imporant question: Can I be infected if I share my espresso with a Puccini-lover? more ›

Egad, the infernal bloodsucking parasites have expanded their onslaught to include the city's cultural centers! One day after Sarah Jessica Parker, Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal attended a black-tie gala at the David H. Koch Theater theater in Lincoln Center, the theater's managing director sent an e-mail notifying employees that bedbugs had infested one of the dressing rooms. "Please understand that this is an epidemic," Heiser writes in the e-mail, which was obtained by the New York Observer. "Any signs of bedbug activity should not be considered a sign of an untidy house." more ›

Yesterday, angry dog owners living in an apartment building across from Lincoln Center took up verbal arms against their condo board's attempts at installing "Draconian rules," such as banning certain breeds and forcing dogs to use service elevators. Today, the embattled pet lovers stand victorious as the condo board scrapped the strict rules. But even among the conquering owners, there is debate as to whose victory this really belongs to: "It's a victory for dog lovers," said Nick Santino, who previously called the board "an autocratic, dictatorial-like decision process." Not so fast, said Coleen Weiss, the owner of a black Lab puppy named Bongo: "It's a great day for doggies!" more ›

On Friday, Lincoln Center's prestigious new restaurant, Lincoln, opens for the swells. This is kind of a big deal because the chef is Jonathan Benno, former chef de cuisine at Per Se, and because it's an enormous, ambitious fine dining restaurant that's opening without the financial backing of a hotel, which is not too common these days. But we just think Lincoln's cool because it's located underneath that new "Illumination Lawn" like a hobbit hole, and it bears the same name as our favorite They Might Be Giants album. more ›

An apartment building on the Upper West Side has turned into a battleground between dog lovers and haters over a set of new restrictive rules, the likes of which haven't been seen since the Reign of Terror. Dog owners at One Lincoln Center, a 43-story condo tower across from Lincoln Center, are appalled at their condo board's attempts to ban certain breeds, and fine them $250 for breaking any of their rules. "There's a rush to impose these Draconian rules. They haven't been thought out. This is a form of prejudice. These people do not like dogs," said resident and dog owner Kevan Cleary. more ›

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is ending its inaugural showing at Lincoln Center, its new home after leaving Bryant Park. Mercedes-Benz Director of Communications Geoff Day told us earlier this week that the move was almost a relief: As iconic as Bryant Park was, the show had become so larger and it was essentially a meat market, with pushing and shoving. Now, with 25% more space for designers, bloggers, attendees, and, yes, sponsors to spread around, Day said watching the shows was more of a "pleasure." more ›

Besides last night's citywide shopping spree for Fashion's Night Out, it turns out that New York City won't see a dime of the $17.2 million spent to secure space for the catwalk events of Fashion Week. Instead of the $2.6 million paid to the city to secure Bryant Park, IMG Fashion is paying Lincoln Center directly to use Damrosch Park for the next five years. Though it's a public park, Lincoln Center has a long-term contract to manage the park, and Bloomberg spokesman Andrew Brent said, "That includes the authority to manage and charge for events in those spaces." But not everyone is that laissez-faire. more ›

Fashion and nature, seems those two are always at odds. To keep the battle lines clear, the folks behind Fashion Week decided to "murder" dozens of gorgeous trees at Lincoln Center to make way for their giant white tents. But before you put on your sandwich board and protest the arborcide, according to the Daily News, 56 trees of those trees were deemed dead or declining—11 others were transplanted—so perhaps this time around fashion saved some lives? Not so fast... more ›

Fashion Week is upon once again, and this time around the bi-annual event has moved to its new digs at Lincoln Center. To celebrate the move, Mayor Bloomberg has temporarily dubbed the 1 Train: The Fashion Line. Click through for more on the kick-off, last night's Fashion's Night Out show, who Anna Wintour dumped her daughter for, Naomi Campbell on a city tour bus, the new look of Fashion Week, and so much more. more ›

Fashion Week is back, but this time it's not back at the Bryant Park tents. Nope, that place is so last season—this time around the event is getting a fresh new start at Lincoln Center. Kicking off this Thursday, the fashion set is getting excited about the big move. One stylist, 30-year-old Christian Allen, told the Daily News, "There's always a buzz around Fashion Week. There's never not a buzz. It's just different this year because no one knows what to expect out of Lincoln Center. It could be tragic, it could be epic. But they're doing it and it's gonna be amazing." Tragic! Epic! Amazing! Just like that quote. more ›

Yesterday, Barnes and Noble announced that it will be closing its Lincoln Center location in January. Company spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating said it was "economically impossible" to keep the location open after their lease ends this year because of rent hikes, but they'll "reassign as many booksellers as possible to our remaining New York City and neighboring stores." more ›