(718) 260–2500 Brooklyn Paper’s essential guide to the Borough of Kings March 8–14, 2019
BEER
Sweet & stout
What could possibly go wrong?
A popular Carroll Gardens brew house will
host a festival that pairs professional wrestling
with highly potent pours of beer! The Pastrytown
fest at Industry City on March 16 will feature
pastry stouts and fruited Berliners flavored
with unlikely “adjunct” ingredients, at an event
that promises to be simply magical, according
to an organizer.
“Basically it’s an adjunct fantasy land,” said Matt
Monahan, co-owner of Other Half Brewery.
The bonanza of unusual brews will showcase 35
top-notch brewers from across the country, each
pouring beers flavored with adjuncts — a term
referring to anything added to beer aside from the
main ingredients of hops, yeast, malt, and water
— including bananas, vanilla, almonds, pretzels,
and lots of other zany additions that sound more
at home in a dessert dish than a stout beer.
Other Half plans to pour Cookie Kooks, an imperial
stout brewed in collaboration with Swedish
beer-maker Omnipollo. Cookie Kooks boasts
an intoxicating 15.4-percent alcohol by volume,
which is three times more potent than a Budweiser,
but is typical of the type of beers that
ticket holders can expect at Pastrytown.
That big buzz is the big reason that Monahan
and his crew worked hard to ensure there will
be plenty of food options — including Four and
Twenty Blackbirds, Milk Bar, and Supermoon
Bakehouse — to help fortify stomachs against
the effects of too much sugar-laden alcohol.
“Because of the high ABV, we want to make
sure people aren’t completely annihilated,” Monahan
said. “There’s a lot of food and a lot of
water available at this thing.”
And because Other Half just happens to employ
several professional wrestlers, the warriors
of the New York Wrestling Connection will be
on hand to duke it out in a series of catastrophic,
blood-soaked free-for-alls.
“It’s so much fun,” said Monahan. “At some
point there’s 10 or 15 of these guys in the ring
at the same time, they have all sorts of props
out, they’re high flying.”
Drink dessert and watch pro wrestling at Industry
City 220 36th St. Suite 2A, between Second
and Third Avenue in Sunset Park, pastrytown.
otherhalfbrewing.com. March 16; noon–4
pm. $100. — Colin Mixson
By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
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 to help you plan
your holiday!
Erin go bros
Start your St. Paddy’s celebration a week
early with the 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, 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 Irish-themed 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.
Brogue brunch
Bushwick’s prime cider spot will host
an all-day brunch with Irish-themed additions
to its menu, including “Luck of the
Irish” — a shot of Jameson and a glass of
house cider — along with green eggs and
ham, corned beef and cabbage, and streams
of green cider!
St. Patrick’s Day Bash at Brooklyn Cider
House 1100 Flushing Ave. at Varick Avenue
in Bushwick, (347) 295–0308, www.
brooklynciderhouse.com. March 17; 11
am–11 pm. Free.
Young talent
Singer and songwriter Ryan O’Shaughnessy
was Ireland’s entry to the Eurovision
Song Contest in 2018, an annual European
competition that has produced notables acts
including ABBA and Celine Dion. You can
discover Ryan’s pop catalog and sing along
to Irish classics at this music-filled afternoon,
sponsored 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
tunes.
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.
BOOKS
Reading picks
Greenlight
Bookstore’s pick:
“Confessions of
the Fox,” by Jordy
Rosenberg
This is the ideal novel
for an ambitious reader
with a soft spot for period
dramas. It has everything:
metatext, queer
erotica, the prison system,
and the whitewashing
of European history, all couched in the close
reading of an 18th-century manuscript found by
a down-on-his-luck scholar. Rosenberg paints
an Escher-like, sex-positive, picaresque dreamworld
without losing its connections to our current
one.
— Nora Tjossem, Greenlight Bookstore 686
Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland
Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 246–0200,
www.greenlightbookstore.com .
Community
Bookstore’s pick:
“The Age Of
Surveillance
Capitalism,”
by Shoshana Zuboff
In the late 1950s a new
wave of slick ad men on
Madison Avenue combined
Freudian theory
and modernist graphic
design to usher in an age
of brand-based, turbo-charged capitalism. More
than half a century later, we are the brands and
the product, with tech behemoths facilitating,
and monetizing, much of our daily experience.
No longer content to harvest data, Zuboff argues,
tech giants are now employing strategies
borrowed from behaviorist psychology to ensure
we stay logged in. Where do we go from
here? Read on and find out.
— Samuel Partal, Community Bookstore 43
Seventh Ave. between Carroll Street and Garfield
Place in Park Slope, (718) 783–3075, www.
commu nityb ookst ore.net .
Word’s picks:
“Good Talk,”
by Mira Jacob
In this memoir, Mira
Jacob tells poignant stories
through illustrations
superimposed on photographs.
Through effervescent
dialogue, she
interlaces recollections
from her childhood as the
“other kind of Indian” in New Mexico with the
wrenching pain of raising a curious, thoughtful,
biracial child in the Trump era. From the mouths
of these babes (Jacob-as-a-child and her child),
Jacob draws difficult questions about whether
America is living up to its promise to immigrants
and people of color.
— Jeff Waxman, Word 126 Franklin St. at
Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383–0096,
www.wordbookstores.com .
Your lucky days!
The borough’s best events for celebrating the Emerald Isle
Wim Lanser
Stepping up: (Clockwise from top) The National Dance Company of Ireland will perform a two-hour extravaganza
of song and dance on March 15 at On Stage at Kingsborough. The members of the Canny Brothers Band will
perform at the Wicked Monk on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. A proper pipe and drum band marches in last year’s
Brooklyn Saint Patrick’s Day parade in Park Slope.
Photo by Jason Speakman
Adrion Ramos
By Julianne McShane
Brooklyn Paper
Friends, Romans, Brooklynites —
lend us your ears!
A new production of Shakespeare’s
“The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”
offers the ever-timely 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
THEATER
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 role of the citizens in the play
is just as important as that of Caesar,
said the director, because their actions
inadvertently cause his downfall, said
the director, and the story shows the
power of the people.
The show runner also added some
literally haunting appearances from
Elena Olivo
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.
A history of violence
A bare-bones ‘Julius Caesar’ looks at brutality
Getting to the point: Actors Stephen Michael Spencer and Jordan
Barbour rehearse their moves for “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.”
“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.
Photo by Trey Pentecost
/www.wordbookstores.com
/www.onstageatkingsborough
/www.littlefieldnyc.com
/www.brooklynciderhouse.com
/www.brooklynciderhouse.com
/www.cmonevery-body.com
/www.cmonevery-body.com
/www.cmonevery-body.com
/www.wickedmonk
/www.thebellhouseny.com
/www.brooklynstpatricksparade
/www.bayridgestpatricksday
/www.greenlightbookstore.com
/www.commu
/www.commu
/www.hamiltonsbrooklyn.com
/www.tfana.org
/otherhalfbrewing.com
/www.hamiltonsbrooklyn.com
/www.onstageatkingsborough
/www.littlefieldnyc.com)
/brooklynciderhouse.com
/www.wickedmonk
/www.thebellhouseny.com
/www.brooklynstpatricksparade
/www.bayridgestpatricksday
/www.greenlightbookstore.com
/ore.net
/www.wordbookstores.com
/www.tfana.org)