Brooklyn Bridge Park and Bryant Park Offer Free Arts Programs

By ANDREW R. CHOW

APRIL 6, 2016

As the weather turns nicer, New York City parks are rolling out an array of free performances to be enjoyed in the sunshine. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy and Bryant Park Presents announced their spring and summer programming on Wednesday, including movies, concerts, dance and theater.

The newly refurbished Brooklyn Bridge Park will host the Dumbo Family Festival on April 23, with arts and crafts, games, and a wooden model of the Brooklyn Bridge. The Metropolitan Opera will present a recital on June 24 with Angel Blue, Ben Bliss and Alexey Lavrov. Later in the summer a series of outdoor movie screenings will be held at Pier 1, including “Singin’ in the Rain” (July 7), “American Graffiti” (Aug. 4) and “Selma” (Aug. 11). The rest of the season includes Shakespeare, jazz and children’s activities. More information is at brooklynbridgepark.org.

Across the East River in Midtown Manhattan, Bryant Park will celebrate Shakespeare all summer long: the Drilling Company will perform a runthrough famous death scenes (April 22), “Much Ado About Nothing” (May 19-June 4), “As You Like It” (July 21-23), and “Measure for Measure” (Sept. 1-17). The In/ter\sect concert series, which puts jazz and classical musicians into unique ensembles, will feature Jonathan Finlayson, Ethan Iverson, Inbal Segev and many more on June 10, July 15 and Aug. 26. And modern dance companies, including the Amy Marshall Dance Company and Black Boys Dance Too, will perform Fridays from June 17-July 8. More information can be found at bryantpark.org.