Jasper Johns, a South Carolina native currently residing in Connecticut, first came to New York City in 1949 when he (briefly) attended Parsons School of Design. In 1954 he painted his first flag picture, and by 1958 he had his first one-man exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery. Today, The Met's director Philippe de Montebello states fact as the artist's new exhibit at the museum opens, saying "Without question, Jasper Johns is one of the greatest artists of our era." more ›

THEATER: We saw Fiona Shaw in Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days on Saturday and highly recommend it. Shaw is mesmerizing in her performance as Winnie, crystallizing in her 90-minute virtuoso performance all the desperation, self-delusion and absurdity of an entire lifetime. (Her little-seen costar Tim Potter is also a hoot as Willie.) The production is as bitterly funny as it is affecting, and, as a metaphor, the blasted landscape that devours Winnie is as potent as it was in 1960, when the play was written. In our interview with Fiona Shaw she mentioned talk of a Broadway transfer, but don't take any chances; see it at BAM before it closes on February 2nd. – John Del Signore more ›

In Samuel Beckett’s 1961 play Happy Days, a decidedly upbeat woman named Winnie spends Act One striving valiantly to make the best of her sticky situation: she’s irrevocably buried up to her waist in a “low mound.” True, Winnie has her reticent companion Willie for company, but she cheerily defies the barren void by holding forth for a seemingly nonexistent gathering of spectators. And Act Two finds Winnie still determined to make a go of it, despite a marked deterioration of her condition: she is now buried up to the neck. 47 years after Beckett finished it, the brutally funny and moving Happy Days is now the hot ticket at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. more ›

The most exciting story in New York theater this year had nothing to do with the Broadway stagehands' strike, it was the vibrant growth of what used to be called “experimental theater”, a movement that can now really only loosely be defined by what it’s not: non-naturalistic and not made for TV, with an emphasis on bold physicality, collaboration and, sometimes, multimedia. more ›

In case you haven’t been counting down, today marks the beginning of the New York International Fringe Festival, the country’s largest theatre festival! Though ten years is typically the amount of time people say one needs to be in New York before being a “New Yorker,” the Fringe Festival has had such an impact on the downtown Broadway theatre scene that, were it a human, it probably would have attained resident status without anything near such a delay. But this year is its tenth anniversary, so it’s official, and there are tons of great-looking shows to see to celebrate. Not only are there the usual 200+ new plays and musicals showing at 21 different venues below 14th Street, they’ve also brought back a number of Fringe “alumni” – favorites from years past such as The Bicycle Men (a musical comedy from LA that was in the ’04 Fringe), The Complete Lost Works of Samuel Beckett… (a riff by Chicago’s Neo-Futurists that won raves in 2000), and Daniel MacIvor’s play Never Swim Alone, of ’99 vintage. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be bringing you brief reviews of as many shows as we can possibly see, as well as reports on various extra Fringe happenings (there are panels, free outdoor performances, and speed painting) and some glimpses behind the scenes, but you should definitely go to the festival’s website and check out the listings (programs are also available at Borders stores in the city). With shows like Corleone: The Shakespeare Godfather, The Fartiste, Muscle-Man vs. Skeletonman: A Love Story…The Musical, The Happiness of Schizophrenia and Walmartopia, we can’t imagine you’ll have any difficulty finding something to spark your interest, even if you’re not normally much of a “theatre person.” Lower Manhattan will be overrun by Fringe-goers for the duration of the festival, so give in and join the madness! more ›

Tomorrow is Bloomsday, the day chronicled in James Joyce's Ulysses. And for the 25th year, Symphony Space has a full Bloomsday on Broadway celebration, focusing on "on Mr. Leopold Bloom's spiritual son, Stephen Dedelus (aka James Joyce), with readings from Ulysses, Portrait of the Artist and Dubliners." The events start at noon tomorrow, and the final performance is the inimitable Fionnula Flanagan reading Molly Bloom's monologue (aka, "The Fully Molly") at 10PM till whenever she finishes. more ›

Grand Army Plaza Memorial Arch // Prospect Park, Brooklyn // through June 25, Sat. 2 & 7pm, Sun. 2 & 5pm // free, but you can pay for reserved seats at Smarttix more ›

Bill Irwin, Actor more ›

As part of their Playwrights & Performers series, the Drama Book Shop plays host to the happy couple behind Thom Pain (based on nothing), playwright Will Eno and actor James Urbaniak. more ›