By Kevin Duggan Brooklyn is going green!
Saint Patrick’s Day will
fall on a Sunday this year,
which means a full weekend of
Celtic celebrations! We have found
some of Brooklyn’s finest shindigs
honoring the Emerald Isle, in order
to help you plan your holiday!
Erin go bros
Start your St. Paddy’s celebration
a week early with five-piece
band the Cogan Brothers and Mark
Farley, who will perform traditional
Irish ballads at an afternoon
bash supported by Coney Island
Brewery.
The Cogan Brothers and Mark
Farley at Hamilton’s 2826 Fort
Hamilton Pkwy. at E. Fourth Street
in Windsor Terrace, (718) 438–
0488, www.hamiltonsbrooklyn.
com. March 10 at 4 pm. Free.
Rhythm nation
The National Dance Company
of Ireland will roll out a two-hour
extravaganza of song and step dancing
in “Rhythm of the Dance.” The
show uses 22 step dancers, three
tenors, and a live band to bring the
audience on a journey through Irish
history, from ancient mythology in
the Old Country to the mass emigration
to New York City’s glistening
skyscrapers.
“Rhythm of the Dance” at
On Stage at Kingsborough 2001
Oriental Boulevard at Quentin
Street in Manhattan Beach, (718)
368–5596, www.onstageatkingsborough.
org. March 15 at 8 pm.
$32–$34.
Red hot
The annual all-redheads burlesque
spectacular known as
“Nasty Canasta’s St. Patrick’s Day
for Sinners” returns to Gowanus on
March 16, and the night promises
to be a classy alternative to drunken
douchebaggery. The evening
will star Nasty Canasta, assisted
by Rita N Wink, and feature performances
by burlesque beauties
Clara Coquette, Dandy Dillinger,
Francine the Lucid Dream, Gal
Friday, Gin Minsky, Pearls Daily,
and Tigger.
“Nasty Canasta’s St. Patrick’s
Day for Sinners” at Littlefield (635
Sackett St. between Third and
Fourth avenues in Gowanus, www.
littlefieldnyc.com). March 16 at 8
pm. $15–$30.
Gaelic grub
Start your St. Patrick’s Day off
right at Fort Hamilton’s Community
Club, which will host an Irishthemed
brunch. Don’t forget to wear
green (and to bring photo identification
so you can get on the base)!
St. Patrick’s Day Brunch at Fort
Hamilton 207 Sterling Dr. at Grimes
Road in Bay Ridge, (718) 765–7368,
hamilton.armymwr.com. March 17;
11 am–2 pm. Free.
Young talent
Singer and songwriter Ryan
O’Shaughnessy was Ireland’s entry
to the Eurovision Song Contest in
2018, an annual competition that
has produced notable acts including
ABBA and Celine Dion. You
can discover Ryan’s pop catalog and
sing along to Irish classics at this
music-filled afternoon, presented by
Eurovision and New York City Gay
Craft Beer Lovers.
Ryan O’Shaugnessy at C’mon
Everybody (325 Franklin Ave. at
Clifton Place in Bedford-Stuyvesant,
www.cmoneverybody.com). March
16; 3–7 pm. Free.
A Wicked time
If you want to hear some classic
Irish anthems while you sip a
perfect pint of Guinness, head to the
Wicked Monk in Bay Ridge, where
local act the Canny Brothers Band
will play Irish rebel and freedom
songs, along with Celtic and bluegrass
COURIER L 52 IFE, MAR, 8-14, 2019 24-7
tunes. There will also be an
earlier Irish session at the pub that
anyone can join, starting around
2:30 pm.
The Canny Brothers Band at
the Wicked Monk 9510 Third Ave.
at 95th Street in Bay Ridge, (347)
497–5152, www.wickedmonk.com.
March 17 at 5 pm. Free.
Shamrock out!
Come on out to see Too-Rye-Ay,
a tribute band for the Brit outfit
Dexys Midnight Runners, who
mixed Irish influences with soul.
The cover band, fronted by vocalist
Ted Leo, will delve into the
Dexys catalog tonight, including
the smash hit “Come on Eileen” as
well as deep cuts from the 1970s
and 1980s.
Too-Rye-Ay at the Bell House
149 Seventh Street, between
Second and Third avenues in
Gowanus, (718) 643–6510, www.
thebellhouseny.com. March 17 at
6 pm. $15.
Seeing double!
Unlike other boroughs, Brooklyn
is lucky to have two St. Patrick’s
parades a week apart, so Kings
Countians can go green twice! The
first is in Park Slope on March 17,
and it sets off at Prospect Park West
and 15th Street, traveling in a circle
back to its origin. The Bay Ridge
parade will kick off on March 24 at
Third Avenue and Marine Avenue.
Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Parade
(starts at Prospect Park West and
15th Street in Park Slope, www.
brooklynstpatricksparade.com).
March 17 at 1 pm. Free.
Bay Ridge St. Patrick’s Day
Parade (starts at Marine Avenue
and Third Avenue in Bay Ridge,
www.bayridgestpatricksday.com).
March 24 at 1 pm. Free.
FBy Julianne McShane r iends, Romans,
Brooklynites — lend us
your ears!
A new production of
Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of
Julius Caesar” offers the evertimely
advice that stabbing
your political opponents may
not be the best way to get what
you want. The modern-dress
staging of the more-than-400-
year-old play, opening at the
Polonsky Shakespeare Center in
Fort Greene on March 17 — just
after the ominous ides of March
— considers the social cost of
leaders who live by the sword,
according to its director.
“The act of violence, that
was an attempt to protect Rome
and their Republic and their
ideals, set in motion a civil war
that destroys everything they
were fighting for — that’s why
I really think about the play as
a meditation on the cost of governing
through violence” said
Shana Cooper.
The five-act play, likely
written in 1599, follows the
downfall of Roman ruler Julius
Caesar, whose victory in a
civil war wins him the love
of Rome’s citizens, who offer
him unlimited political power
for life. But before Casear can
accept that offer, a group of
conspirators — led by his close
friend, Brutus — assassinate
him, plunging Rome into yet
another civil war.
The director emphasizes the
effects of violence through the
play’s climactic battle scene,
where she adds martial arts and
dance moves to Shakespeare’s
intimate conversations between
soldiers. The movements allow
the performers to more fully
express the trauma and tragedy
of fighting in battle, Cooper
said.
“It felt useful to strip away
Shakespeare’s language that is
trying to conjure the civil war
and replace it with a visceral,
physical storytelling of war,”
she said.
The show runner also added
some literally haunting appearances
from Caesar after his
death, with his ghost looming
over multiple moments of the
production in order to emphasize
his absence, she said.
“We’ve created a couple
moments where he, I think in
quite a disturbing way, appears
out of nowhere and then disappears
really quickly — all
through simple theater magic,”
Cooper said.
The role of the citizens in the
play is just as important as that
of Caesar, because their actions
inadvertently spur his downfall,
said the director, and the story
demonstrates the power of the
people.
“I think the biggest lesson of
the story is the role we all play,
in not simply who we choose to
be our leader, but also how we
choose to run our country,” she
said. “Shakespeare very firmly
puts that choice in our hands —
not in the hands of one single
leader.”
“Julius Caesar” at the
Polonsky Shakespeare Center
(262 Ashland Pl. between
Fulton Street and Lafayette
Avenue in Fort Greene, (866)
811–4111, www.tfana.org).
Opening on March 17 at 7:30
pm. Through April 28, Tue–Sun
at 7:30 pm; Weekend matinees
at 2 pm starting on March 30.
$90–$115.
Stepping up: The National Dance Company of Ireland will perform a two-hour extravaganza
of song and dance on March 15 at On Stage at Kingsborough. Wim Lanser
Getting to the point: Actors Stephen Michael Spencer and Jordan Barbour
rehearse their fighting moves for the bloody upcoming production of “The
Tragedy of Julius Caesar,” opening on March 17. Elena Olivo
Gang green: The Cogan Brothers will
play traditional Irish tunes at Hamilton’s
in Windsor Terrace on March 10.
Photo by Bill Roundy
Violent ends
YOUR LUCKY DAYS!
The best places to celebrate St. Patrick’s
Physical ‘Julius Caesar’
focuses on brutal results
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