Weekend Art Events: April 5-8 (Opera, King Lear, Roller Skating & More)

There’s lots to see and do this weekend, including the return of three monthly art events—DUMBO’s First Thursday Gallery Walk, Target First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum, and Second Sundays at Pioneer Works.

Prospect Park kicks off its annual Opening Weekend with special events, activities, and food, including a parade, an 1860s-style exhibition baseball game, a fair, a Greenmarket Grillout, a scavenger hunt, history tours, Campfire Conversations, and the return of Smorgasburg.

Don’t forget to check the BKLYNER Calendar for more events happening around town or to list one of your own.

Art in DUMBO First Thursday Gallery Walk
When: Thursday, April 5, 6pm to 8pm
Where: Various venues in DUMBO
What: The first Thursday of every month‚ galleries in DUMBO stay open late to host special events and receptions while neighborhood restaurants and bars offer specials to First Thursday visitors. Highlights this month include an opening reception for Amy Vogel’s fear of nature of fear at Asphodel, a series of short films projected onto the Manhattan Bridge (at Anchorage Place & Pearl Street) by Light Year, and a fundraiser for the 2018 Artist Interactive season hosted by Superfine.

Brooklyn Bridge Park Roller Skating Grand Re-Opening
When: Friday, April 6, 3:30pm to 6pm
Where: Brooklyn Bridge Park Roller Skating, 150 Furman Street, Pier 2, Brooklyn Bridge Park
What: In honor of Brooklyn Bridge Park Roller Skating’s grand re-opening there will be FREE admission from 3:30pm to 6pm (weather permitting). The skating session is fiirst come, first served
How Much: Free, skate rentals available for $6

Brooklyn Folk Festival
When: Friday, April 6—Sunday, April 8
Where: Saint Ann’s Church, 157 Montague Street, Brooklyn Heights
What: More than three dozens bands will perform at the tenth annual fest which will also feature workshops, film screenings, jam sessions, and contests—including the signature banjo toss competition. Read more about the Brooklyn Folk Festival here.
How Much: Tickets $25 individual events, $40 day passes, and $85 three-day festival passes

Brooklyn Flea
When: Saturday, April 7 and Sunday, April 8, 10am to 5pm
Where: Industry City, 241 37th Street, Sunset Park and Manhattan Bridge Archway (at 80 Pearl Street), DUMBO
What: Brooklyn Flea’s outdoor markets return for the Spring with the Saturday edition debuting a new year-round indoor/outdoor space at Industry City and the Sunday edition returning to DUMBO for a third season.

King Lear
When: Saturday, April 7 through Sunday, April 29
Where: BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene
What: BAM presents the U.S. premiere of this Royal Shakespeare Production of King Lear, featuring Sir Anthony Sher in his final Shakespearean role, tackling the king’s tragic fall against stark, modern sets. When King Lear decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, he discovers he’s misjudged their loyalty, finding himself stripped of all power and descending into madness.
How Much: Tickets start at $35

Pay No Attention To The Girl
When: Performances through Saturday, April 21
Where: The Doxsee at Target Margin Theater, 232 52nd Street, Sunset Park
What: Target Margin Theater produced this series of stories about the “deceptions of the sexes” and “tales within tales” that “lead into the labyrinth of The One Thousand and One Nights. Who should we pay attention to?”
How Much: Tickets $25

Target First Saturdays at Brooklyn Museum
When: Saturday, April 7, 5pm to 10pm
Where: Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights
What: This edition of Target First Saturdays celebrates David Bowie with Simon Critchley discussing his 2014 book, Bowie; a hands-on workshop to create Bowie-inspired watercolors; a photo booth with props for various Bowie personae; a screening of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars; and Bowie-themed musical performances by Mike Garson, Bushwig’s Horrorchata and Tyler Ashley, and Tamar-kali.
How Much: Free

Regina Opera Company’s 48th Anniversary Gala Concert
When: Sunday, April 8 at 3pm to 5:30pm
Where: Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy of Brooklyn, 5902 6th Avenue (at 60th Street), Sunset Park
What: This 48th anniversary gala concert will feature operatic arias and duets, Italian and Broadway songs, and the world premiere of three compositions by 12-year-old Park Slope piano prodigy, Julian Raheb.
How Much: Tickets $15 at door, $13 in advance

Experiments in Opera Family Reunion Benefit
When: Sunday, April 8, 4pm to 11pm
Where: The Bell House, 149 7th Street, Gowanus
What: For seven years Experiments in Opera has worked with more than 300 artists—many who work “outside the operasphere.” The Family Reunion Benefit celebrates this “extra-opera work” by bringing together some performers from the collective’s “extended family,” including Glasser, Roddy Bottum, Brian Chase, Shelley Hirsch, Katiee, Nick Hallett, Daisy Press, Dan Friel, and Jessica Pavone.
How Much: Tickets $25

Second Sundays at Pioneer Works
When: Sunday, April 8, 4pm to 9pm
Where: Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer Street, Red Hook
What: This edition of the free event series features Shuta Hasunuma’s exhibition Compositions; open studios with the current artists in residence; Ethnocomputing Experiments; a pop-up genetics workshop; solar and star gazing with Amateur Astronomers Association of New York; and a musical performance by Tredici Bacci.

Foam Talent | New York
When: Exhibition on view from Thursday, March 22 through Sunday, April 8
Where: Red Hook Labs, 133 Imlay Street (at Verona Street), Red Hook
What: Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam and Foam Magazine present this group exhibition featuring 20 photographers from around the world whose work explores a variety of subjects and techniques. The showcased artists were selected from the annual Foam Talent Call in which 1,790 submissions were received from 75 different countries.
How Much: Free

Composites
When: Exhibition on view from Thursday, March 22 through Sunday, April 22
Where: 440 Gallery, 440 6th Avenue (between 9th & 10th Street), Park Slope
What: 440 Gallery presents a group exhibition in its Project Space featuring the work of Leigh Blanchard, Gail Flanery, and David Stock. In Blanchard’s Study #5 (Dried Leaves) series, the artist uses scanography—scanner photography, to create modern digital works that reference early photographic techniques. Read more about Blanchard here.