3 free LI Philharmonic concerts outdoors
WHAT The Long Island Philharmonic winds up a successful summer season -- drawing tens of thousands of concertgoers to the parks -- with three more concerts this weekend. Maestro David Stewart Wiley's program includes pieces from some of the usual suspects -- Beethoven, Mozart, Wagner, Strauss, Sibelius, Rimsky-Korsakov -- as well as selections from Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story." But there's also Holst's "The Planets," specifically, "Mars: The Bringer of War" and "Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity." You probably can't see either without a telescope. But on a clear night, you can gaze up at the stars.
WHEN | WHERE Friday night at 7:30, Eisenhower Park, East Meadow; 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Heckscher Park, Huntington; 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Brookhaven Amphitheater at Bald Hill, Farmingville
INFO Free; liphilharmonic.org, 631-293-2222
Art: Richard Prince 'covers' Jackson Pollock
WHAT The book on Richard Prince: He appropriates iconic images and turns them into a visual commentary, compiling them into art books. In his latest project, Prince, awarded Guild Hall's 2009 lifetime achievement award in visual arts, has appropriated a trove of Jackson Pollock photographs and created "Covering Pollock." That's the title and wordplay theme of Prince's first-ever museum exhibition on Long Island.
"I'm imagining what he would do today if he were still alive," Prince, who lives in Wainscott, says of Pollock, a leader of the Abstract Expressionist movement when he lived in Springs. Pollock died in a car accident near his home in 1956.
"This is the first time anywhere this work will be shown," says Guild Hall curator Christina Mossaides Strassfield. "We liked the synergy -- Jackson Pollock so closely linked to the East End and Richard, our neighbor and lifetime achievement recipient." The photographs Prince uses in the show are of Pollock at work in his Springs studio. In each, he obliterates Pollock's image by superimposing text or other material, creating a collage effect. Prince will attend tonight's Guild Hall gala and tomorrow's opening reception.
WHEN | WHERE Gala hosted by Alec Baldwin, honoring Martha Stewart and previewing "Covering Pollock," 6-11 Friday night; opening reception 5 p.m. Saturday, Guild Hall, 158 Main St., East Hampton, through Oct. 17. Museum hours: noon-5 p.m. Sundays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays-Saturdays through Labor Day, Fridays-Sundays thereafter.
INFO Gala: ages 21-40, $100 for cocktails, $300 dinner; over 40, $500 cocktails, dinner, and $1,200 and up. Museum admission: $7 suggested donation; guildhall.org, 631-324-4050
Theater: From 'Murder' to 'Laughter'
WHAT A whodunit audience favorite returns to Arena Players for another round of triple-cross intrigue. In Bob Barry's "Murder Among Friends," Angela is marrired to Palmer, a pompous has-been actor. She and her lover Ted, Palmer's agent, are plotting to murder him on New Year's Eve. But what Angela doesn't know could kill her. Ted and Palmer also are lovers. They've got a plot of their own. Murder conspiracies proliferate involving both witting and unwitting accomplices. (Note: Arena's Second Stage shows are canceled this summer, according to management, to concentrate on "other projects," including the Shakespeare Festival running through Aug. 28 at the Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport.)
WHEN | WHERE Friday and Saturday nights at 8, Sunday at 3 p.m., through Sept. 4, Arena Players main stage, 296 Rte. 109, East Farmingdale
INFO $20-$25, $2 senior/student discount Fridays and Sundays; arenaplayers.org, 516-293-0674
WHAT "Enter Laughing," the musical based on Carl Reiner's semi-autobiographical novel of the same name.
WHEN | |WHERE Friday, Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday nights at 8, Sunday at 7 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 8 p.m., through Sept. 4, Bay Street Theatre, Long Wharf, Sag Harbor
INFO $55-$65; baystreet.org, 631-725-9500