DECEMBER 31–FEBRUARY 12
Manhattan Children’s Theatre presents Giggle, Giggle, Quack!: “Farmer Brown is going on vacation. He asks his brother, Bob, to take care of the animals. ‘But,’ he warns, ‘keep an eye on Duck. She’s trouble.’ Bob follows the instructions in Farmer Brown’s notes exactly…. But is that giggling he hears? Who’s really running this farm?”

JANUARY 5–FEBRUARY 18
“Steven Katzman: Human Abstract” is at Masters & Pelavin: “This will be the artist’s first exhibition at the gallery and in NYC. Steven Katzman is a self-taught photographer who has combined, over the years, his long-time interest in political science with his professional photographic journey. His work combines the conceptual ‘straight’ photographic style of Andres Serrano; the grotesque, yet, beautiful ‘staged’ photographic style of Joel-Peter Witken and the intimate ‘street’ photographic style of Diane Arbus.” That’s his photo above.

JANUARY 10
“At the Pen Parentis Literary Salon’s Robert Burns Celebration, join poets Marie Howe, Evan and Joanna Smith Rakoff, Martin MacKinnon, and Tina Chang at the Libertine at Gild Hall (a Thompson Hotel at 15 Gold Street) as they read some of Burns’ poems and some of their own and discuss the means of balancing a literary life with an active family. We hear there may be whiskey in addition to the usual wine bar. […] Admission is free. 7pm start. […] Only 21+ please.”

JANUARY 19–FEBRUARY 12
These Seven Sicknesses is at the Flea: “In These Seven Sicknesses, Sophocles’ seven surviving plays—Oedipus, In Trachis, Philoktetes, In Colonus, Ajax, Elektra & Antigone—combine to create a stunning portrait of the human condition, where the intermingling of chance & fate yields disquieting results. Standout Tribeca dining destination Macao Trading Co. will provide a complimentary Asian fusion feast at all performances”

FEBRUARY 18–MARCH 25
Adapted from the book by Mo Willems, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical is at Manhattan Children’s Theatre: “Trixie, Daddy, and Knuffle Bunny take a trip to the neighborhood Laundromat. But the exciting adventure takes a dramatic turn when Trixie realizes somebunny was left behind…. This hilariously brilliant and moving musical tells a true-to-life tale about what happens when Daddy’s in charge and things go terribly, hilariously wrong.”

MARCH 29–30
Mason Jennings plays City Winery.

MARCH 31–APRIL 28
The Lonely Phone Booth, adapted from the book by Peter Ackerman, has its world premiere at Manhattan Children’s Theatre: “The story of one of the last remaining phone booths in New York City, on the corner of West End Avenue and 100th Street. Everyone used it from ballerinas and Girl Scouts, zookeepers and birthday clowns, to cellists and even secret agents! The Phone Booth was so beloved that people would sometimes wait in line to use it—until the day a businessman strode by talking into a shiny silver object.”