6
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, NOV. 25, 2018
The pizza my heart!
Finding the best dollar-slice joint in Downtown Bklyn
Continued on page 13
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BEER
which boiled over in her
native California.
Actress Mia Barron
will recite the essay onstage,
bringing Didion’s
lucid writing voice to life,
according to Jan.
“Essential to the essay
is that Didion herself
is the central character,”
Jan said. “Mia translates
the electricity of Didion’s
language into somebody
refl ecting on her own inner
life and physiology, in
a way that’s very human.”
While most of the audience
will watch Barron
and a small group of
actors perform Didion’s
text, an additional selection
of about 20 audience
members will join them
onstage. Before each
show, Jan and his Early
Morning Opera company
will recruit this “inner
audience” from among
local students, activists,
and artists between the
ages of 21 and 30.
Members of this group
will watch the beginning
of the play from the stage,
and then shift into the
background, moving into
a glass structure that resembles
a mid-century
Californian house. Instead
of hearing the rest
of the play, they will don
headphones and listen
to recordings of seminal
events from the 1960s, including
concert footage
and fi lms of police crackdowns
on protests.
To most of the audience,
the scene onstage
will look like a quiet gathering
that fi nally breaks
into a dance party that is
fully 2018, said Jan.
After the show, the
two audiences will have a
chance to come together
for an open discussion
of the themes of the play.
Jan hopes these talks
will help to create connections
across generations.
“The average age of
theatergoers is such that
they will likely have lived
through the 1960s, and
they look at history from
a very different perspective
than young people of
today,” he said.
Didion’s account of a
confusing era speaks to
people from any era, said
Jan.
“Joan Didion has
this gorgeous brain and
writes this piece very incisively
about the confusion
and violence around
her and the profound desire
to create meaning
around this. And I think
that that’s something everybody
can relate to,” he
said.
“The White Album”
at BAM Harvey Theater
651 Fulton St. at Ashland
Place, (718) 636–4100,
www.bam.org. Nov. 28–
Dec. 1 at 7:30 pm. $25–$70.
To join the “inner audience”
write to madeline@
earlymorningopera.com.
PLAY
Continued from page 1
BY BILL ROUNDY
The buck stops here!
In my time at this newspaper,
I have become an
afi cionado of inexpensive
cuisine, scouring the city
blocks around our Downtown
offi ce for a dish that
will fi ll my stomach without
emptying my wallet. So
it felt like a visit from the
gustatory gods when two
99-cent slice joints opened
over the last few weeks,
each within 60 feet of my favored
Jay Street-Metrotech
subway entrance.
With these upstart onebuck
cheese slingers added
to an already existing dollar
slice spot on the same
block, I was faced with a
cornucopia of triangular
dining options. But which
pizza purveyor truly deserved
my Washingtons? I
launched a lunching taste
test to be sure.
My fi rst visit was the
newest, Jay Street Fresh
99¢ Pizza, which opened
two weeks ago at 408 Jay
St., between Fulton and
Willoughby streets. In exchange
for a single Sacagawea,
I received a single
cheese slice, and settled
in at one of its handful of
square aluminum tables.
The slice lacked char, but
was stiff enough to hold in
a classic pinch maneuver.
It had the proper balance
of cheese and sauce, and
puffed up at the crust, giving
it a light and airy texture.
Overall, the slice was
a defi nite contender.
The second stop on
my journey was 99¢ Supreme
Pizza, at the corner
of Jay Street and Willoughby,
open for three
weeks. Housed in a former
“Cricket” phone sales
shop, the oven occupies
most of the space, leaving
just enough room for customers
to lean against the
glass counter running. The
mid-point of the trip was
also its nadir of flavor: the
slice had a too-sweet sauce,
and the dough was flat as a
sheet of cardboard.
Finally, I visited my old
stand-by for penny-pinching
pizza: 99¢ Fresh Hot
Pizza, at 51 Willoughby St.,
between Jay and Lawrence
streets. This was the only
place where I encountered
a line, which snaked past a
series of classic red booths.
But one minute and one
buck later, I had my final
piece of the pie.
This slice had the most
grease, but also the most
THE LIFE OF PIE: (Above) Deputy
Editor Bill Roundy prepares
to dig into his fi rst slice of the
day, in the name of journalism!
(Right) A pizza slice with decent
bubbling and a proper cheeseto
sauce ratio.
Photos by Brianna Kudisch
unique and incredible experience
that gets people
excited about beer! The ski
theme is part of that.”
Gould is the founder
of Hop Culture , the beerfocused
news site that organized
the festival. The
group’s last event, a combination
Halloween party and
craft beer tasting in Boston,
brought about 1,000 costumed
drinkers to the event,
and Gould hopes that Brooklynites
will throw on their
best 1980s outfi ts and come
out to enjoy some brews.
“I’m super excited to see
how New York turns up for
the event, and thrilled to
host some amazing breweries
from all across the country,”
he said. “If you’re on
the fence about beer, come
say hi to me at the event and
I guarantee I’ll help you fi nd
something you like.”
The event will feature a
handful of local breweries,
including Threes Brewing
from Gowanus and
Mikkeller Brewing from
Queens, along with beer
makers from across the
country. Each visitor will
get a souvenir tasting glass
for unlimited samples,
with “designated driver”
visitors getting a consolation
T-shirt instead.
Juicy Brews Winter Invitational
Craft Beer Festival
at Five Boroughs Brewing
(215 47th St. between Second
and Third avenues in
Sunset Park, www.hopculture.
com). Dec. 8; Noon–3
pm; 4–7 pm. $69 ($104 VIP,
$20 designated driver tickets).
Readers can use the
code THEBROOKLYNPAPER
for $10 off.
Continued from page 1
ROOM WITH A VIEW: “The White Album” recasts journalist
Joan Didion’s 1978 essay of the same name as an interactive
play. Lars Jan
/www.hopcul-ture.com
/www.hopcul-ture.com
/www.bam.org
/www.hopcul-ture.com