(Queens, NY) Variety is the spice of life. It is also the best description for upcoming Queens events, which include everything from a discussion led by Alan Alda to a presentation on the history of cider to a live sing-along. Here’s the rundown.
Oct. 11, NEA Jazz Masters, 8 pm. Join jazz legends Jimmy Heath, Barry Harris, Jimmy Owens, Christian McBride and others for an evening of blazing melodies and rhythmic vibes. $40/$32 members/$20 students. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., Flushing, www.flushingtownhall.org.
Oct. 11, Brazilian Jazz Ensemble, 10 am. Acclaimed guitarist-vocalist-composer Richard Boukas leads Quarteto Moderno, an ensemble known for its samba, choro, bossa nova, baiao and other Brazilian musical genres. Free. Kupferberg Center for The Arts, LeFrak Concert Hall, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, www.kupferbergcenter.org.
Oct. 11, Red River, 7 pm. The Museum of the Moving Image is hosting a 39-feature retrospective on quintessential Hollywood director Howard Hawks. Red River is a fictional account of the first cattle drive from Texas to Kansas. Tom Dunson (John Wayne) builds a cattle empire with his adopted son Matthew Garth (Montgomery Clift). They begin a massive cattle drive, but on the way, Garth turns against Dunson. MMI, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, www.movingimage.us.
Oct. 12, The King and I: Karaoke at the Movies, 7:30 pm. This movie musical will be shown as part of a one-of-a-kind, interactive, family-oriented film series. The crowd sings (and dances) along with their favorite characters without an ounce of apprehension. The movies are captioned. The most enthusiastic participant wins a $100 cash prize. $5. Queensborough Performing Arts Center, 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside, www.visitQPAC.org.
Oct. 12, Cross Island YMCA Family Fitness 5K, 7 am. An organized road race to benefit the YMCA. Registration/more information at www.queensdistancerunners.com.
Oct. 12, Launch of LIC Gallery Art Show (runs through Nov. 17). From soaring bridges to private moments in a storefront, artist Eric March finds the epic and the intimate in Long Island City. Free. Greater Astoria Historical Society, 35-20 Broadway, Astoria, www.astorialic.org.
Oct. 12, Ball of Fire, 2 pm; Sergeant York, 4:30 pm. The Museum of the Moving Image is hosting a 39-feature retrospective on quintessential Hollywood director Howard Hawks. Ball of Fire tells the story of a group of ivory-tower lexicographers who realize they need to hear how real people talk as they begin working on a slang dictionary. They wind up helping a beautiful nightclub singer avoid police and escape from the mob. Released just months before Pearl Harbor, Sergeant York recounts the life story of a pacifist farmer (Gary Cooper) who gets drafted in World War I and becomes a celebrated war hero. MMI, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, www.movingimage.us.
Oct. 12 & 13, Open House NY & Historic House Trust Festival Weekend, 1 pm to 5 pm. Tour the Kingsland Homestead and visit the Queens Historical Society gift shop, where book prices will be discounted 20 percent. The exhibition Practicing Equality: Quakers in Queens is on view. KH, 37th Avenue and Parsons Boulevard, Flushing, www.queenshistoricalsociety.org.
Oct. 13, The History of Cider-Making in New York, 3 pm. Cider was a popular beverage from colonial days to the mid-19th century. Safer than water, and easier and cheaper to produce than beer or wine, it was typically the first drink of the day. Rufus King’s apple orchard once produced 535 gallons of cider in a season. Free. King Manor Museum, 150-03 Jamaica Ave., Jamaica, www.kingmanor.org.
Oct. 13, Their Brother’s Keepers: American Liberators of the Nazi Death Camps, 1 pm. The unveiling of a new exhibit with a discussion on the role of liberators during World War II. Free. The Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and Archives, Queensborough Community College, 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside, www.qcc.cuny.edu/khrca/
Oct. 13, Michele Lee and The Broadway Boys!, 3 pm. Michele Lee, who has starred on Broadway and in film, will share the stage with the hottest male voices currently on the Great White Way. $40. Queensborough Performing Arts Center, 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside, www.visitqpac.org.
Oct. 13, His Girl Friday, 2 pm; A Song is Born, 4:30 pm. The Museum of the Moving Image is hosting a 39-feature retrospective on quintessential Hollywood director Howard Hawks. In His Girl Friday, Walter Burns (Cary Grant) is a cynical editor who learns his ex-wife and former star reporter is about to marry bland insurance man Bruce Baldwin and settle down to a quiet life as a wife and mother. He determines to sabotage these plans and a battle of wits ensues. In A Song is Born, a gangster moll runs away when her boyfriend is under police investigation, seeking refuge in a musical research institute staffed entirely by lonely bachelors. MMI, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, www.movingimage.us.
Oct. 13, Stillness & Light, 2:30 pm. Painter Liz DiGiorgio will discuss her work’s connection to American landscape painting and its ties to Quaker values and beliefs. Her work is currently on view at the Kingsland Homestead. Queens Historical Society, Weeping Beech Park, 143-35 37th Ave., Flushing, www.queenshistoricalsociety.org.
Oct. 14, Professor Speaks on Influential Yiddish Author, 1:30 pm. Jeremy Dauber will speak about his new biography of Sholem Aleichem, a founding giant of modern Yiddish literature. $7 suggested donation. Central Queens Y, 67-09 108th St., Forest Hills, www.cqy.org.
Oct. 15, Louis Armstrong House Museum’s 10-Year Anniversary Bash, 6 pm. Fun includes a special performance by The Hot Sardines, Satchmo’s own recipes prepared by the Cooking Channel’s Tamara Reynolds and an unveiling of the restored Louis Armstrong’s Life Mask. $30-$100. Louis Armstrong House Museum, 34-56 107th St., Corona, www.satchmo.net.
Oct. 15, The Rationalist: Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H, 7 pm. As Captain Hawkeye Pierce on M*A*S*H, Alan Alda created one of the most important and influential characters in TV history. Alda will examine the story and the legacy of his creation and how it transformed the audience’s experience of the Korean War. $25. Museum of the Moving Image, 35-01 36th Ave., Astoria, www.movingimage.us.
The “It’s In Queens” column is produced by the Queens Tourism Council with the hope that readers will enjoy the borough’s wonderful attractions.
