Remember the vets in your life this Memorial Day WEEK AHEAD.
Saturday, May 24
LAST CHANCE→ It's your last chance to see Tony and Emmy winner Hal Linden up close and personal in his Café Carlyle show featuring a swinging seven-piece band (with Linden himself on the clarinet). Following Linden at the venerable uptown venue will be Broadway's "Smashing" star Megan Hilty, May 27-June 7. (8:45 PM, Café Carlyle, 35 E. 76th St., at Madison Ave. Info/tickets.)
PREVIEWS→ Two-time Tony winner Cherry Jones (up for a third statue for The Glass Menagerie) stars in When We Were Young and Unafraid, Sarah Treem's play about an underground women's shelter in the early 1970s, directed by Tony winner Pam MacKinnon. Officially opens June 17. (New York City Center, 131 W. 55th St., btwn. 6th & 7th Aves. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
Sunday, May 25
WATCH→ The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer's critical dramatic documentation of the beginning of the AIDS crisis in Manhattan, becomes an HBO film. Mark Ruffalo stars in the Ryan Murphy-helmed production as Ned Weeks, the fiery protagonist leading the charge to educate the gay population of 1980s New York City of the terror that has befallen their community. Academy Award winner Julia Roberts plays the dogged Dr. Emma Brookner, who is on the search to eradicate the bureaucracy that stands in the way of treatment for hundreds of patients in her care. Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons, Joe Mantello, Jonathan Groff and Alfred Molina comprise the starry supporting cast. (9 PM, HBO. Info.)
WATCH→ Dianne Wiest, "The Voice" winner Danielle Bradbery, Megan Hilty, classical vocalist Jackie Evancho and world-renowned tenor Anthony Kearns are on the lineup for the 25th National Memorial Day Concert, airing on PBS. Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise return to co-host the evening dedicated to remembering the honorable men and women who died in service to our country. (8 PM ET, PBS. Check local listings.) Monday, May 26
PREVIEWS→ Golden Globe nominee and indie darling Greta Gerwig makes her New York stage debut in The Village Bike, Penelope Skinner's play about a pregnant woman who sets out on an adventure when she can't get the attention of her husband. Directed by the ubiquitous Sam Gold, the production also features Jason Butler Harner and Max Baker. Officially opens June 10. (Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher St., btwn. Hudson and Bleecker Sts. Info/tickets.)
GO (FREE)→ The New York Philharmonic, under the baton of Alan Gilbert, performs its annual free Memorial Day concert — the first of several free summer concerts from the Phil. (8 PM, St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Ave., at 112th St., first-come first-serve, ticket distribution begins at 6 PM. Info.)
Tuesday, May 27
GO (FREE)→ Mothers and Sons scribe Terrence McNally sits down with biography scribe Tom Santopietro for a chat about McNally's half-century of shifting the stoking public zeitgeist through artistry. (7 PM, Barnes & Noble, 150 E. 86th St., at Lexington Ave. Info.)
GO→ Sarah Paulson, Garret Dillahunt, Elizabeth Reaser and Brian Hutchison lead the cast of the world premiere of Carey Crim's Conviction, a drama about a beloved schoolteacher's life turned upside down by a student's accusation. (Bay Street Theatre, 1 Bay St., Sag Harbor, NY. Info/tickets.)
Wednesday, May 28
GO→ Two-time Tony-winner Katie Finneran makes her cabaret debut with It Might Be You: A Funny Lady's Search for Home. Another of Broadway's belty and hilarious broads, Andrea Burns, directs Finneran in the show that promises touches of everything from Broadway standards from Stephen Sondheim to the pop stylings of singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson. (Through May 31, 54 Below, 254 W. 54th St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave. Info/tickets.)
GO (FREE)→ Tony winner LaChanze, currently playing perky pal Kate in If/Then, will join "Nothing Like a Dame" author Eddie Shapiro in a free outdoor reading event, as part of Bryant Park's Word for Word series. (12:30 PM, Bryant Park. Info.)
GO→ Tony winner Cynthia Nixon and Paul Rudd star in a one-night-only reading of Alan Alda's homage to Albert Einstein, Dear Albert. The reading, directed by Cinderella's Mark Brokaw, kicks off the World Science Festival, a celebration dedicated to the wonders of science! (8 PM, NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Pl, btwn. W. 3rd & 4th Sts. Info/tickets.)
Thursday, May 29
GO→ Watch one of Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman's last films, "God's Pocket," a thriller about a father's search to uncover the truth behind is stepson's death. John Turturro and Christina Hendricks co-star in John Slattery's directorial film debut. (Info.)
GO (FREE)→ George C. White, Wendy C. Goldberg, Lynne Meadow, John Guare, Samuel D. Hunter and Quiara Alegría Hudes join New York Times arts reporter Patrick Healy to discuss the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and its 50 years as one of today's premiere incubators for great American art. Beginning this June, Playbill.com will embed a reporter for exclusive coverage of a summer at the O'Neill. (6 PM, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, 65th and Amsterdam. Info.)
Friday, May 30
GO→ Tony nominee and The Book of Mormon star Rory O'Malley returns to Joe's Pub for an encore performance of his autobiographical solo show Pub Crawl. Tony winner Stephen Oremus acts as musical director for the evening of music and tales from O'Malley's upbringing in an Irish pub. (7 PM & 9:30 PM, Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette St. Info/tickets.)
