By What's Going On

Thursday, December 20

(EXHIBITION)
What better way to get a grasp on the multitude of ethnicities, religions, generations, classes, nationalities and sexualities brought together in New York than to assemble artworks from all these groups and subcultures? The newest exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art, New York State of Mind, investigates the ways the city has changed over the years—both its physical everyday reality, and its part in the world’s collective imagination. With works ranging from the 1960s to today, the exhibition also offers a micro history of modern art’s evolution, with pioneers such as Marcel Duchamp presented alongside contemporary voices like Iona Rozeal Brown. Queens Museum of Art, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 718-592-9700; Wed.-Fri. 10am-5pm, Sat. & Sun. noon-5, $5 donation.

(STORYTELLING)
Already dreading the barrage of boring family stories you’ll be hearing over the holidays? How about some entertaining, unscripted, unrehearsed, tall but true tales from a talented set of writers and performers? Tonight’s edition of SpeakEasy: Stories from the Back Room should be just that kind of event, with stories courtesy of Nicole Beckwith, Martin Dockery, Gautum, Suzanne Guilete, Margot Leitman and Steve Zimmer. Biscuit BBQ, 230 5th Ave. (at President St.), B’klyn, 718-399-2161, speakeasystories.com; 8, $10 + food/drink min.

Friday, December 21

(ART & VIDEO GAMES)
Wait, an exhibition about video games? Well it’s about damn time… Digital Play at the Museum of the Moving Image looks at how video games have evolved over the last two decades, and how certain original formulas (think Pacman or Asteroids) still have an influence in today’s super-complex gaming world. Gaming is also moving ahead visually at an incredible pace, so Digital Play highlights the increasing intermingling of visual art and video games. Museum of the Moving Image, 35th Ave. at 36th St., Queens, 718-784-0077; free on Fridays from 4-8.

Saturday, December 22

(FILM)
Is getting a movie made solely thanks to star power the ultimate marker of pop music success? Michael Jackson did it, Madonna did it, Britney did it, Eminem did it and now Daft Punk has done it. The French house duo created the silent feature-length Daft Punk’s Electronica and premiered it at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. The narrative follows two robots as they trek across a beautifully surreal American landscape of deserts, highways and small towns in hopes of—what else?—becoming human. Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 N. 6th St. (betw. Kent & Wythe Aves.), B’klyn, 212-260-4700; 8, $10.

Sunday, December 23

(THEATRE)
If there were such thing as blockbuster avant-garde theater, it would look a lot like Beckett Shorts. The new show at New York Theatre Workshop features four of Samuel Beckett’s one-act plays (well, two are actually mime pieces, and one a TV script) directed by five-time Obie Award-winner JoAnne Akalaitis, scored by composer Philip Glass and featuring legendary ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. The show’s four pieces feature typically bleak and depressing situations inflected with Beckett’s dark sense of humor. The show continues through January 20, but tickets are only $20 on Sunday nights (otherwise $65). New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4th St. (betw. Bowery & 2nd Ave.), 212-460-5475, nytw.org.

(MUSIC & FILM)
Perhaps this year’s most inclusive holiday event is tonight’s Jewltide 5, JDub Records’ fifth installment of the Christmas Eve classic. The night features presents (free copies of Michael Showalter’s Sandwiches & Cats album for the first 100 people in the door), free food (Chinese, of course), a movie (the corny and exuberant Jewish summer camp classic Wet Hot American Summer) and music (DJ Rekha will be spinning out her hybrid style of hip-hop and Bhangra—with hints of dancehall and dub). Southpaw, 125 5th Ave. (betw. Sterling & St. John’s Pls.), B’klyn, 718-230-0236, spsounds.com; 8, $10/$15.

Monday, December 24

(PARTY)
There’s no better time to revel in one’s Jewish-ness than Christmas Eve. That’s exactly what the folks at Heeb magazine figured out three years when they started Heebonism, their annual Matzah Balls-to-the-wall bash. This year, the event takes over the Knitting Factory (with an open bar for the first hour!) and features live sets by Terry Diabolik, June D and DJ Krowd Pleezr. If the concert crowd gets too rowdy, why not try your hand at some of the other seasonal activities of the night, like Christmas Carol Karaoke or (get ready for it) Strip Dreidel! Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St. (betw. B’way & Church St.), 212-219-3132, heebmagazine.com; 9, $20/$25.
Tuesday, December 25

(OPEN MIC)
If the karaoke with the family gets a little out of hand after the eggnog, then head on down to Pennie’s Open Mike for a supportive crowd to urge you on to greater vocal heights. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Karma Lounge, 51 1st Ave. (betw. E. 3rd & 4th Sts.), every Tues. at 8:30, free.

(FILM)
Forget It’s a Wonderful Life, the new black-and-white Christmas classic is Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights! Well, OK, this eight-day long re-release at Film Forum might have more to do with Chaplin’s passing away 30 years ago today, but City Ligthts’ story of generosity and inclusiveness certainly soaks up nicely with the proverbial holiday spirit. Throw in some slapstick, romance and jokes about class difference and social mobility, and you’ve got something for the whole family to enjoy. For cinephiles of any rank, seeing City Lights on the big screen might in fact be the best Christmas present conceivable. Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. (betw. 6th Ave. & Varick St.), 212-727-8110, filmforum.org; 1:30, 3:25, 5:20, 7:15, 9:10 until January 1.

Wednesday, December 26

(MUSIC)
If you’ve never heard (or never heard of) somebody playing the Theremin—an entirely electronic instrument invented in 1919 that is played without being touched—head to the back space at Galapagos tonight for Theremin Night. Brooklyn-born sound designer, composer, professor and Theremin virtuoso, Anthony Jay Ptak, shows you how it’s done. Spaniard Javier Díez-Ena will also be on hand to give his rendering of the electronic instrument’s capacities, and to prove that even if you’ve never heard of it, the Theremin has made it at least as far as Spain. Galapagos Art Space, 70 N. 6th St. (betw. Kent & Wythe) W’Burg, 718-599-9411, galapagosartspace.com; 8, $5.

(FILM)
What do you get when you re-edit a four-part TV mini-series into a feature-length film? A very long film, like Ingmar Bergman’s three-hour-and-ten-minutes long Fanny and Alexander. Fortunately, the recently deceased director’s 1982 existential epic on religion, authority and love is held amongst the all-time greats. So great in fact that IFC has prepared a belated gift for New Yorkers: the original and uncut version of Fanny Alexander, opening today. So grab a coffee and go spend some of that much-needed post-holiday alone time with the late Bergman’s sprawling masterpiece. IFC Center, 323 6th Ave. (at W. 3rd St.), 212-924-7771, ifccenter.com; $8/$11.