Things to do in New York this Saturday

This free weekly getdown from Carolyn Busa, Julia Shiplett, Ben Wasserman and Emily Winter is a reliable night for solid laughs and surprise stars in Crown Heights. 

Dating in New York isn't always as darling as it seems in the movies. Fortunately, the ferocious duo of Vanessa Valerio and Anita Flores have arrived to reclaim justice for survivors of grim Grindr encounters, pitiful Tinder dates and merciless ghostings. The February edition packs a killer lineup, with Calvin Cato, Chanel Ali, Arti Gollapudi, Gianmarco Soresi and Philip Markle sharing stories. 

Though Larry Owens intends to musically break down some of your favorite ballads and bangers, it's likely he'll lose his mind giving you life at this totally lit stage bonanza. Along with guests Liza Treyger, Marie Faustin, Pooja Reddy, Marcia Belsky, Kiko and Tuna, and the band Heroine, the high-drama, unstoppable stage presence serves diva worship, dancing and wicked arrangements for his own entertainment. Owens could wake the dead with his god-given talent; he's certain to make a lifelong fan of you within seconds.

Dating in New York isn't always as darling as it seems in the movies. Fortunately, the ferocious duo of Vanessa Valerio and Anita Flores have arrived to reclaim justice for survivors of grim Grindr encounters, pitiful Tinder dates and merciless ghostings. The February edition packs a killer lineup, with Calvin Cato, Chanel Ali, Arti Gollapudi, Gianmarco Soresi and Philip Markle sharing stories. 

Michele Wiles and her classical-fusion troupe return with two works by Wiles and two by Mauro Bigonzetti, performed by a company that includes dancers from the University of Utah School of Dance. All four pieces are performed to live music, including the premiere of a commissioned score by jazz trumpeter Tom Harrell.

Though Larry Owens intends to musically break down some of your favorite ballads and bangers, it's likely he'll lose his mind giving you life at this totally lit stage bonanza. Along with guests Liza Treyger, Marie Faustin, Pooja Reddy, Marcia Belsky, Kiko and Tuna, and the band Heroine, the high-drama, unstoppable stage presence serves diva worship, dancing and wicked arrangements for his own entertainment. Owens could wake the dead with his god-given talent; he's certain to make a lifelong fan of you within seconds.

Theater review by Regina Robbins  Government actions have led to the suffering and death of innocent people, both at home and abroad, but no one in Washington seems willing to take responsibility: It’s déjà vu all over again in the Transport Group’s revival of The Trial of the Catonsville Nine. In 1968, nine Catholic peace activists, led by priests (and brothers) Daniel and Philip Berrigan, were tried and convicted of destroying government records at a draft office in Catonsville, Maryland. Three years later, with the Vietnam War still raging and the group's members still serving their sentences, Daniel Berrigan’s play about the trial ran briefly on Broadway. This remarkable moment in political and theatrical history now comes roaring back to life with the fervor its subjects deserve. Berrigan’s text, based on trial transcripts, gets a postmodern retooling from director Jack Cummings III; cuts are balanced with new material providing 21st-century updates on the trial’s participants. But plenty of parallels to current events come straight from the original script. “Of course, even the President must obey the law,” says the presiding judge, before admitting that, if he doesn’t, there’s not much to be done about it. (Or is there? Ask the ghost of Richard Nixon.) It’s hard to know how to feel about these echoes from the past. Angry? Sad? Fired up? Yes, and then some. A coproduction with the National Asian American Theatre Company, Catonsville Nine is performed by three Asian-A

On weeknights at the McKittrick, Scott Silven presides over the dinner-magic show At the Illusionist's Table; on Friday and Saturday nights he now performs a second show—sans dinner, but more affordable—that blends mentalism with storytelling.

A funeral home in upstate New York becomes a sanctuary for two refugees on the run from ICE in a dark comedy by the Talking Band, one of NYC's oldest downtown theater troupes. Written and directed by Paul Zimet, the show features original music by his fellow company cofounder Ellen Maddow.

In this new dark comedy by Jack Neary, Gordon Clapp (an Emmy winner for NYPD Blue) plays a retired janitor who takes matters into his own hands when his wife slips into Alzheimer's disease. Carol Dunne repeats her staging of the play's 2017 premiere at Vermont's Northern Stage.

At this intimate immersive dance-theater experience, set in a Chinatown basement, spectators play the roles of family members investigating the deaths of their loved ones in a shady 2014 medical experiment. The piece is a collaboration between writer Ryan Hart, designer Tommy Honton and choreographer Lara Mancin.

This free weekly getdown from Carolyn Busa, Julia Shiplett, Ben Wasserman and Emily Winter is a reliable night for solid laughs and surprise stars in Crown Heights. 

Though Larry Owens intends to musically break down some of your favorite ballads and bangers, it's likely he'll lose his mind giving you life at this totally lit stage bonanza. Along with guests Liza Treyger, Marie Faustin, Pooja Reddy, Marcia Belsky, Kiko and Tuna, and the band Heroine, the high-drama, unstoppable stage presence serves diva worship, dancing and wicked arrangements for his own entertainment. Owens could wake the dead with his god-given talent; he's certain to make a lifelong fan of you within seconds.