Bryant Park Fall Festival: Peter Sellars in Conversation with Rubin Museum of Art
Bryant Park
Wed, Sept 21
Famed opera and theater director Peter Sellars talks with the Rubin Museum of Art about the dramatization of the irreverent and profound Vimalakirti Sutra, which will be performed at the museum on September 30 and October 1

BAM’s 2011 Next Wave Festival
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
Wed, Sept 21–Sun, Dec 18

The Next Wave festival brings top international names in the performing arts—theater, dance, music and opera—to BAM’s two venues in Fort Greene. The season includes the BAMcinématek series, BAMcafé Live weekend music performances, artist talks, Next Wave Art exhibitions, and the Between the Lines storytelling series.

DCTV Presents: Fall 2011 Open House
Downtown Community Television Center
Thurs, Sept 22

For the past 39 years, DCTV has worked to provide affordable and accessible resources to artists. But once every year, a special night comes along when the organization lets its hair down and invites everyone over for a big, free party. On this night, the indie filmmaking and media arts communities can share in and get a taste of what DCTV does, including sampling workshops, handling production equipment, touring facilities, and more.

Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett in the new production The Mountaintop. Photo by Mary Ellen Mark

The Mountaintop
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
Starts Thurs, Sept 22

Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett star in this new Broadway play that re-imagines Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s last night in his Memphis motel, before being assassinated in the morning. Written by Katori Hall, the work won a 2010 Olivier Award (the Tony equivalent) for Best New Play in London.

DUMBO Arts Festival
Dumbo Arts Center (DAC)
Fri, Sept 23–Sun, Sept 25

This free festival consists of many exhibits, performances and happenings that occur neighborhood-wide within the formerly industrial waterfront neighborhood of DUMBO. Local artists open their studios and there is a nonstop screening of contemporary video art.

Living as Form
Historic Essex Street Market
Sat, Sept 24–Sun, Oct 16

Creative Time presents Living as Form, an unprecedented, international project featuring over 20 years of socially engaged projects in a large-scale archival survey exhibition. The exhibition is open daily at the historic Essex Street Market, opposite the operating food market. Related events include a participatory fitness routine in Sara D. Roosevelt park and the Creative Time Summit: Living as Form, which is sold out but can be seen on Livestream.