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With the coming of November, twilight descends earlier, not to mention the dropping temperatures—yet locations all over the metropolis will radiate illumination and warmth this winter. For those feeling amorous, the snug season presents various enticements, such as Bradley Cooper’s picture “Is This Thing On?,” unfolding in the realm of comedic performance; the opulent ballads of alternative country artist Brandi Carlile; television’s best-loved personalities, the genuine housewives of Salt Lake City; and, toward the more sinister, Tracy Letts’s provocative suspense story “Bug,” on the Great White Way, showcasing his spouse, Carrie Coon, as a solitary waitress. Alvin Ailey introduces multiple fresh creations to its established City Center tenure, alongside a recovery by the esteemed Judith Jamison; the Met Opera assures grand theatrics in “Porgy and Bess” (situated in nineteen-twenties Charleston) and “Andrea Chénier” (Paris during the French Revolution); and, in artistic circles, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, and Louise Bourgeois, with sculptor Carol Bove and painter Ceija Stojka, will all receive recognition.
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Navigate to: Television | Art | The Theatre | Movies | Dance | Contemporary Music | Classical Music
Television
“Game of Thrones” Origin Story, Female Domains
For the last half-dozen years, wintry television has been ruled by “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” which has breathed new life into the enduring unscripted series via inventive slurs, examinations of spiritual suffering, and the magnificently deranged clothes of ladies determined to sport stilettos in the snow. (The sixth season is currently unfolding; John Oliver, the anchor of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” remarked of “R.H.O.S.L.C.,” “I’m not sure there’s a funnier show on TV, and I’m affiliated with a humorous show.”) Thus, it’s no shock that “Salt Lake” has spurred copiers. The likewise conceived—though noticeably less satisfying—“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” revisits Hulu for its third set of episodes on Nov. 13, and a more focused study of religious exploitation will be conducted by Bravo’s “Surviving Mormonism with Heather Gay” (Nov. 11), to be presented by the “R.H.O.S.L.C.” standout.
Regarding scripted fare, formidable mothers will be plentiful this season. Claire Danes stars in “The Beast in Me” (Netflix; Nov. 13), portraying a woman who tragically lost her only child in a car crash and finds herself drawn to a predatory businessman (Matthew Rhys), who detects the sinister inclinations that she harbors toward the young man whom she faults for her son’s demise. Danes’s persona is akin to Sarah Snook’s distraught mother in Peacock’s “All Her Fault” (Nov. 6), a thriller where a young boy’s vanishing casts suspicion on the different females in his world. Motherhood grows still more intricate in Kurt Sutter’s Western drama “The Abandons” (Dec. 4), where a woman (Lena Headey) in eighteen-fifties Oregon forges a makeshift family with four orphans and averts attempts by a mining heiress (Gillian Anderson) to usurp their land.
Solidarity is a continuous motif. In BritBox’s “Riot Women” (Oct. 22), by Sally Wainwright, the mind behind “Happy Valley,” a cohort of women in menopause contend against the invisibility typical of their age group by founding a rock ensemble. A flashier kind of camaraderie arises in “All’s Fair” (Nov. 4), Ryan Murphy’s campy legal drama on Hulu—featuring Glenn Close, Naomi Watts, and, strangely, Kim Kardashian—about despondent wives and the female divorce lawyers committed to getting them everything they merit.
Notably, the male-centered programming in the approaching months leans toward the historical. Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen clash, as President James Garfield and his pompous murderer, Charles Guiteau, respectively, in Netflix’s “Death by Lightning” (Nov. 6). The Revolutionary War is given the Ken Burns touch with PBS’s “The American Revolution,” a six-part, twelve-hour documentary slated to premiere on Nov. 16. And the new year will usher in another “Game of Thrones” origin story: the modestly titled “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (Jan. 18). Peter Claffey stars in the HBO drama as the plebeian Ser Duncan the Tall, who gains a squire in a Targaryen prince. A preview for the series suggests a more jovial tale, but, in Westeros, it’s all lighthearted times until someone is maimed in some gruesome manner.—Inkoo Kang
Art
Mozart’s Relics, Native Painting
This season, multiple famed establishments are glancing toward attire for a wintry boost. The Hispanic Society commences with “Spanish Style: Fashion Illuminated, 1550-1700” (opens Nov. 6), employing articles of dress, lavishly decorated texts, burial sculptures, and the like, to dissect the correlation between clothing and authority in early modern Spain. The Frick Collection presents a counterpart with “Gainsborough: The Fashion of Portraiture” (Feb. 12), transporting viewers to eighteenth-century England to contemplate Thomas Gainsborough’s delicate likenesses from a social, materialist viewpoint. And the Metropolitan Museum of Art scrutinizes a collection cornerstone—nineteenth-century Western Europe—for evidence of “Fanmania” (Dec. 11), an obsession for handheld fans that artists of the epoch embraced.
If you can’t satiate your interest in European history at the dawn of modernity, the Morgan Library & Museum hosts “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Treasures from the Mozarteum Foundation of Salzburg” (March 13). The presentation, a partnership with the group that manages Mozart’s legacy, positions the composer in his era through his own instruments, epistles, and belongings—all of which are arriving in New York for the first time. If you favour musical sensations over meticulous examination, explore Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s “Art of Noise” (Dec. 12; though, at the time of this writing, the museum is shut due to the federal-government impasse). The display is a jumble of sonic design, spanning Haight-Ashbury concert posters to vintage jukeboxes to tailor-made listening chambers.
In the sphere of contemporary art, a pair of museums carry on with giving a long-awaited spotlight to Indigenous artists. “Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass,” at the National Museum of the American Indian (Nov. 15, but as of this writing, this museum is also impacted by the federal-government impasse), investigates how Native artists have personalized the medium—a narrative that commences, unexpectedly, with the showy populist Dale Chihuly. Grey Art Museum sets up “Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu: Contemporary Aboriginal Painting from the Australian Desert” (Jan. 22), uniting a hundred and thirty-four celestial and meditative works by the members of Papunya Tula Artists, Australia’s foremost Aboriginal art alliance, inaugurated in 1971.
Elsewhere, solo presentations are in store for four of contemporary art’s grandes dames, most notably “Helen Frankenthaler: A Grand Sweep,” at the Museum of Modern Art (Nov. 18). Interestingly, this mini-retrospective is unfolding in the museum’s expansive atrium, where it might be challenging to truly appreciate the subtleties of Frankenthaler’s intense abstractions. David Zwirner commemorates one of her Abstract Expressionist peers with “To Define a Feeling: Joan Mitchell, 1960-1965” (Nov. 6), which emphasizes a period when Mitchell began to concentrate color more centrally in her canvases, influenced by her time on the Mediterranean coast. In adjoining Chelsea galleries, Hauser & Wirth unveils recent, psychologically resonant abstract creations by Louise Bourgeois in “Gathering Wool” (Nov. 6), and Pace features a recent, whimsical Agnes Martin series, with “Innocent Love” (Nov. 7).
After sustaining its current Rashid Johnson exhibition for an extensive run, the Guggenheim brings in Carol Bove (March 5), whose scrap-metal sculptures ought to highlight the rotunda playfully. However, the recognition for most timely exhibition of the season goes to the Drawing Center’s “Ceija Stojka: Making Visible” (Feb. 20). The untrained Stojka started producing art near the age of sixty, channelling her Roma background and her ordeal surviving the Holocaust. The showcase compiles her paintings and sketches accompanied by archival material to convey a story that’s simultaneously sobering and uplifting.—Jillian Steinhauer
The Theatre
British Romance, Carrie Coon in “Bug”
Winter arrives calmly on Broadway; therefore only a handful of shows are lightly making their way in after the autumn swell. The two-actor British musical “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” (Longacre; previews commencing Nov. 1), penned by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, crosses the ocean desiring to fashion a romantic impression; the exceptional June Squibb stars in Jordan Harrison’s 2014 poignant sci-fi drama “Marjorie Prime” (Hayes; Nov. 20); Simon Rich’s, the brief narrative writer, anthology show “All Out: Comedy About Ambition” presents a pivoting array of prominent comedians (Nederlander; Dec. 12); and the revival of “Bug,” Tracy Letts’s 1996 thriller, showcases Namir Smallwood and the compelling Carrie Coon, who is revisiting her theatrical interest after too long an absence (Friedman; Dec. 17).
Off Broadway, admired actors appear in well-known stories: Michael Urie plays the ousted “Richard II” (Astor Place Theatre; in previews, opens Nov. 10), in Craig Baldwin’s Shakespeare variation, and the playwright Alex Lin modernizes an unrelated Shakespeare tragedy for “Laowang: A Chinatown King Lear” (59E59; Nov. 1), showcasing the tremendous Cindy Cheung as a restaurant owner in a leadership predicament. Nicholas Braun and Kara Young, a two-time Tony Award recipient, star in Rajiv Joseph’s 2012 poisonous-relationship drama, “Gruesome Playground Injuries” (Lucille Lortel; Nov. 7); Lucas Hnath’s rendering of Molière’s “Tartuffe” features abundant Tony awardees, including Matthew Broderick and Francis Jue (New York Theatre Workshop; Nov. 14); and the five-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams sails into Eugene O’Neill’s most arduous romance, the 1921 “Anna Christie” (St. Ann’s Warehouse; Nov. 25).
To combat the wintry cold, test out fervent-fervent-fervent innovation amid the experimental pioneers: Else Went’s “Initiative,” a five-hour ordeal regarding teenage life, plays starting Nov. 4 at the Public; Hannah Kallenbach’s “Mikey Maus in Fantasmich” lampoons a specific squeaky icon at the Brick commencing Nov. 7; Philip Venables and Ted Huffman’s musical adaptation of Larry Kramer’s 1977 novel “The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions” (Park Avenue Armory; Dec. 2) reaches New York; and the gonzo troupe Das Besties premiers their dance-theatre interpretation of addiction, “Das Rauschgift” (Box of Moonlight; Dec. 4). Festivals along the lines of Under the Radar (Jan. 7-25), Prototype (Jan. 7-18), and the Exponential Festival (Jan. 5-Feb. 8) likewise illuminate the new year—all three are incredibly rich.
In 2026, our theatre-makers consider politics, if subtly: Shakespeare’s coup-linked drama “The Tragedy of Coriolanus” may ring disturbingly true (Polonsky Shakespeare Center; Feb. 1); Lauren Yee premiers “Mother Russia” (Signature; Feb. 3), a spy dramedy regarding post-Soviet intra-Russian oversight; Wallace Shawn reunites with his “My Dinner with André” cohort, André Gregory, who helms Shawn’s play “What We Did Before Our Moth Days,” concerning love and middle-class ethics, starring Hope Davis and John Early (Greenwich House; Feb. 4); and the playwright Anna Ziegler tackles Sophocles’ classic with “Antigone (This play I read in high school),” starring Tony Shalhoub as Creon and Celia Keenan-Bolger as the titular revolutionary (Public; Feb. 26).
Early March observes a pair of star vehicles glide onto Broadway: John Lithgow plays a beleaguered Roald Dahl in the West End import “Giant,” by Mark Rosenblatt (Music Box; March 11), and two of the tough-talking sweethearts from “The Bear,” Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, unite for “Dog Day Afternoon,” a Stephen Adly Guirgis transformation of the Sidney Lumet film regarding a 1972 bank robbery (August Wilson; March 10). Then, the Broadway calendar proceeds chaotically, since countless plays must debut prior to the Tony deadline in late April—in this and more, Guirgis’s suspense story will stand as the spring season’s inaugural gun.—Helen Shaw
Movies
A Shakespeare Story, a Ping-Pong Ace
The frosty atmosphere will be alive with melody, starting with songs by Stephen Schwartz in “Wicked: For Good” (Nov. 24), the follow-up to the preceding year’s “Wicked: Part One,” both helmed by Jon M. Chu. Cynthia Erivo comes back as Elphaba—now dubbed the Wicked Witch of the West—and Ariana Grande takes up her role as Glinda once more, now Glinda the Good. “Merrily We Roll Along” (Dec. 5), supervised by Maria Friedman, a recording of the Tony-receiving 2023 Broadway rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s 1981 musical, regarding three friends’ interconnected lives—displayed backward across two decades—stars Daniel Radcliffe, Lindsay Mendez, and Jonathan Groff. In Óliver Laxe’s “Sirāt” (Nov. 17), a Spanish man (Sergi López), in the company of his young son (Bruno Núñez Arjona), scours the Moroccan desert for his daughter, who went amiss while attending a rave there; the picture showcases a techno musical score by Kangding Ray. Mona Fastvold’s bio-pic “The Testament of Ann Lee” (Dec. 25), which she co-authored with Brady Corbet, stars Amanda Seyfried as the titular Shaker evangelist, who, in 1774, left Manchester, England, for New York; the drama features choreography by Celia Rowlson-Hall and music by Daniel Blumberg, drawing upon Shaker hymns.
Actual artists and their renowned work receive their moment in the spotlight. The leading personage of “Hamnet” (Nov. 27), Chloé Zhao’s rendering of a novel by Maggie O’Farrell, is the offspring of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his spouse, Agnes (Jessie Buckley); the drama tackles the boy’s passing and Shakespeare’s writing of “Hamlet,” in response. Craig Brewer’s “Song Sung Blue” (Dec. 25) is a bio-pic, inspired by a 2008 documentary with an identical title, concerning Mike and Claire Sardina (Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson), who played as a Neil Diamond tribute act known as Lightning & Thunder.
This season, political fantasy embraces a wide spectrum of feelings. In Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent” (Nov. 26), which is positioned in Brazil, largely in 1977, when the country was a dictatorship, Wagner Moura stars as a scientist who’s hunted by the regime’s paramilitaries and is aided by an underground rebellion network. Toni Servillo stars in Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Grazia” (Dec. 5), as an Italian President whose major choices just before leaving office encompass whether to endorse legislation permitting euthanasia. “Ella McCay” (Dec. 12), helmed by James L. Brooks, stars Emma Mackey as a lieutenant governor who ascends to the governorship while coping with domestic difficulties; Jamie Lee Curtis and Woody Harrelson co-star. In Park Chan-wook’s satirical comedy “No Other Choice” (Dec. 25), drawing upon a novel by Donald E. Westlake, an unemployed executive (Lee Byung-hun) whose job bids are denied chooses to eliminate his rivals.
As always, romance functions as a cinematic motivator, as in “Is This Thing On?” (Dec. 19), a comedic drama directed by Bradley Cooper, where Laura Dern and Will Arnett play a newly separated pair who stay emotionally interwoven; Cooper assumes the role of their friend in a supporting capacity. “Marty Supreme” (Dec. 25), Josh Safdie’s first picture since “Uncut Gems,” evokes that movie’s wild energy, in a historical drama, set in 1952, regarding a Ping-Pong hustler (Timothée Chalamet) who maintains relationships with two women (Odessa A’zion and Gwyneth Paltrow) while aiming for a world championship. Jodie Foster stars in Rebecca Zlotowski’s melodrama “A Private Life” (Jan. 16), as a psychologist in Paris who reengages with her ex-husband (Daniel Auteuil) hoping to demonstrate that a deceased client was murdered.—Richard Brody
Dance
Pam Tanowitz’s Pastoral, Ailey Does Joni Mitchell
In the dismal month of January, summertime renders a fleeting yet cherished arrival via Pam Tanowitz’s “Pastoral” (Rose Theatre; Jan. 11-13). It’s a rural composition, a harmonious domain of composed, at times unconventional dances, fixed inside a landscape of dynamically hued fabric panels by the artist Sarah Crowner. Dancers shift with invigorating lucidity as Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony echoes through Caroline Shaw’s musical synthesis, which also hints at the buzzing of insects, avian calls, rain.
Gentle breezes waft by way of Maija García’s new dance for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre (New York City Center; Dec. 3-Jan. 4) too. “Jazz Island” symbolizes the Cuban American choreographer’s initial teamwork with the Ailey dancers, after years of employment on Broadway (“FELA!”) and in pictures (“BlacKkKlansman”). Its drive stems from a folktale regarding the Haitian vodou divinity of love, Erzuli, compiled in a collection of narratives by the late dancer Geoffrey Holder, “Black Gods, Green Islands.” Alicia Graf Mack’s initial season as artistic director, flush with new creations, also encompasses the recovery of Judith Jamison’s meaningful duet “A Case of You.” This personal dance unfolds to the namesake Joni Mitchell composition, in a soulful performance by Diana Krall.
Phone sounds and birdsong contend for consideration in John Cage’s musical backdrop for Merce Cunningham’s playful “Travelogue,” dating back to 1977. The Trisha Brown Dance Company (BAM; Feb. 26-28) stages this witty, sometimes surreal dance—its initial foray into the Cunningham repertoire—alongside Brown’s “Set and Reset,” a composed, seductive work from 1983, rendered even more composed by the sonic scenery of Laurie Anderson’s gleaming vocal-and-electronic musical score “Longtime No See.” Both stagings incorporate memorable designs by Robert Rauschenberg: a video assemblage and scrims for “Set and Reset,” bicycle tires and chairs for “Travelogue.”
Both of New York City Ballet’s resident choreographers, Justin Peck and Alexei Ratmansky, will craft new works for the winter period (David H. Koch Theatre; Jan. 20-March 1). After focusing on contemporary music, Peck tackles Beethoven’s “Eroica”; and Ratmansky delves into satire in a new portrayal of the 1936 ballet “Le Roi Nu,” drawing upon the Hans Christian Andersen folktale “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” The season likewise witnesses the reappearance of beloved works along the lines of George Balanchine’s nostalgic “Diamonds” (keep watch for the dancer Mira Nadon). And, unusually: Jerome Robbins’s understated “Antique Epigraphs,” a dance for eight women arranged to cryptic Debussy, which was galvanized by a collection of Roman statues, bronze with enamel eyes, housed in the Archeological Museum in Naples.—Marina Harss
