ARCMANORO NILES: FORGOTTEN WORDS I NEVER GOT TO SAY
Arcmanoro Niles, 3AM My Mind Won’t Rest Again (From a Distance I Look Organized and Brave), 2024. Oil, acrylic, and glitter on canvas, 23 x 35 inches. Collection of Jonathan Travis. Courtesy of the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Seoul, and London.
The popular series kicks off its 15th year with Padma Lakshmi, the Emmy-nominated producer, television creator/host of CBS’s America’s Culinary Cup, food expert, New York Times best-selling author, and one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. Padma will sit down with Florence to discuss her 2025 book, Padma’s All American—Tales, Travels, and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond: A Cookbook. This very personal book is the result of seven years of traveling, tasting, listening, and observing.
Doors will open at 10 AM for a pre-show continental breakfast courtesy of Citarella. A book signing will follow in the lobby.
Rush Tickets: A limited number of $25 rush tickets will be on sale for this performance, starting 20 minutes before the program begins, in person only, subject to availability. Customers will be instructed to line up outside no earlier than 45 minutes before the start of the show in order to access rush tickets, which are max 2 per customer.
Join Sonia De Los Santos for a joyful, high-energy family concert filled with music, storytelling, and audience participation.
Born in Monterrey, Mexico and now based in New York, Sonia creates vibrant, bilingual performances that get audiences singing, clapping, and dancing along. Blending Latin American rhythms with North American folk, her songs celebrate friendship, nature, and her experiences growing up in Mexico and making a home in the United States. Sung in both English and Spanish, her music invites children and adults alike to connect across cultures in a fun, welcoming environment.
A former member of the Grammy Award–winning group Dan Zanes and Friends, Sonia brings warmth, humor, and heart to every performance—creating an unforgettable shared experience for the whole family.
Join us out-front at the Phanstiel Plaza for an arts & crafts workshop with our friends at CMEE before the show!
THIS PROGRAM IS SOLD OUT. CLICK THE “SOLD OUT” BUTTON TO ADD YOURSELF TO THE WAITING LIST.
Fran Lebowitz—author, satirist, and one of today’s most distinctive cultural voices—comes to Guild Hall for an evening of unfiltered conversation. Rising to prominence with her bestselling essay collections Metropolitan Life and Social Studies, Lebowitz has become a singular figure in American letters and pop culture, known for her sharp intellect, dry humor, and unmistakable style. She is widely recognized for her longstanding commentary on New York City life and her recent appearance in Martin Scorsese’s documentary series Pretend It’s a City.
In this unscripted exchange, Lebowitz offers biting insights on culture, politics, media, and the peculiarities of modern living. Blending comedy with keen social critique, she delivers an evening that is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining—driven by her signature wit and the force of her personality.
No matter what your pubic-politics are these days, you have to admit it’s time for everybody to go to extremes.
John Waters is back on the road with a whole new fast-moving crackpot comedy show that will beg the authorities to drop a net on both him and his rabidly insane audience. He knows his deviously demented fans will fight back with a limp-wrist fist.
He’s dressed to thrill and ready to rant about pro-punk conversion therapy, right-wing female-female impersonators, extreme amusement parks, even prank guerrilla placement of phony incendiary book titles in libraries that recently banned gay children’s classics. Yessir, the Duke of Dirt has reckless eyeballs and he’s lookin’ for you, lunatics!
Let’s all drill a hole in our heads so we’re high forever and crash the Kennedy Center! His filth followers don’t get off, they get on you and scream, “Go! Go! Go to the John Waters show!”
Co-Presented by The Matthiessen Center & Guild Hall
Renowned marine biologist, undersea explorer, and founder of Mission Blue, Dr. Sylvia Earle explores the power of writing to illuminate what we know—and don’t know—about the ocean, where the vast majority of life remains unseen. She highlights collaborative restoration efforts with the Shinnecock Bay Hope Spot, including Dr. Ellen Pikitch and the Indigenous Advisory Council. The bay’s designation as a Mission Blue Hope Spot signifies much more than scientific research and restoration; Hope Spots recognize a water body’s cultural, recreational, and traditional importance. Shinnecock Bay is integral to the local Indigenous community and holds great cultural, ecological, and spiritual value.
Joined by Dr. Carl Safina, marine ecologist, author, and founder of The Safina Center, she reflects on this pivotal moment for understanding our place in the ocean’s intricate web of life.
Presented by The Peter Matthiessen Center & Guild Hall
We live in a culture that rarely questions growth. Expansion—of markets, wealth, productivity, even the self—is often treated not only as an economic goal, but as a moral good. But what happens when growth begins to function as a belief system? What, in this framework, do we worship—and what do we lose?
Moderated by writer and editor Nina Channing, this conversation brings together three acclaimed thinkers whose work examines the values shaping contemporary life. Journalist and author Audrea Lim, whose writing explores climate change, labor, migration, and movements for social and environmental justice, considers how communities imagine more equitable and sustainable futures. Novelist and cultural critic Tara Isabella Burton, author of Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World, investigates the new forms of belief, identity, ritual, and belonging that emerge in an increasingly secular and consumer-driven culture. Psychoanalyst and author Jamieson Webster brings a psychoanalytic lens to questions of desire, freedom, anxiety, and the psychological underpinnings of modern life.
Drawing on the work of writer, social justice advocate, and Zen priest Peter Matthiessen, the discussion explores alternatives to a culture organized around accumulation and endless expansion, asking how literature, environmental thought, and psychoanalysis might help us imagine different ways of living.
Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award–winning composer and lyricist Marc Shaiman comes to Guild Hall to celebrate his New York Times bestselling memoir, Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner. Known for his acclaimed work across Broadway, film, and television—including Hairspray, Mary Poppins Returns, and numerous other beloved productions—Shaiman reflects on a remarkable five-decade career defined by collaboration, creativity, and resilience.
In conversation with Tony Award–winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman, Shaiman offers an intimate look at the artists, influences, and experiences that have shaped his singular voice. By turns candid, humorous, and deeply personal, the evening draws from the memoir while exploring the triumphs, challenges, and unforgettable moments behind a life in show business.
The event also features a special performance by Tony Award nominee Robyn Hurder. Hurder, Stroman, and Shaiman most recently collaborated on Broadway’s SMASH, bringing together three of musical theater’s most celebrated talents. Together, they create an evening of conversation, storytelling, and song that celebrates the enduring power of collaboration and the art of making great entertainment.
The evening concludes with a surprise musical finale featuring students from South Fork Performing Arts, joining Shaiman and guests onstage for a joyful celebration of the next generation of performers and the enduring magic of musical theater.
A book signing with Marc Shaiman will follow the program in the lobby, and copies of Never Mind the Happy will be available for purchase on site.
Rush Tickets: A limited number of $25 rush tickets will be on sale for this performance, starting 20 minutes before the program begins, in person only, subject to availability. Customers will be instructed to line up outside no earlier than 45 minutes before the start of the show in order to access rush tickets, which are max 2 per customer. Seating assignments are at the discretion of the box office.
Listen to Marc’s interview with Gianna Volpe on NPR’s Heart of the East End.
Celebrate the20th anniversary of the musicalGrey Gardenswith a special evening featuring two-timeTony Award–winner Christine Ebersoleandcomposer Scott Frankel, hosted byEmmy Award–winning journalist Frank DiLella.
For this anniversary program, Ebersole revisits her Tony Award -winning performance alongside the musical’s composer, Scott Frankel. Together they will share stories and musical selections from the acclaimed score that helped define one of the most distinctive musicals of the 21st century.
Hosted by NY1’sFrank DiLella and directed byMarc Tumminelli, the evening combines performance, conversation, and film screenings in celebration ofGrey Gardens and the artists whose work continues to resonate with audiences today.
MARIAN, OR THE TRUE TALE OF ROBIN HOOD: TEEN EDITION By Adam Szymkowicz
A gender-bending, patriarchy-smashing, hilarious new take on the classic tale, adapted for performance by teen actors for family audiences. Robin Hood is (and has always been) Maid Marian in disguise and leads a motley group of Merry Men (few of whom are actually men) against the greedy Prince John. As the poor get poorer and the rich get richer, who will stand for the vulnerable if not Robin? What is the cost of revealing your true self in a time of trouble? Modern concerns and romantic entanglements clash on the battlefield and on the ramparts of Nottingham Castle in this play about selfishness, selflessness, love deferred and the fight. Always the fight. The fight must go on.
Tim Kubart and the Space Cadets bring their new show, Really Real You, to Guild Hall. This full-band, highly interactive concert blends live music, sing-alongs, tap dancing, and playful audience participation into a shared experience that fills the room with energy and connection.
Known for creating performances that are both exuberant and sincere, Tim invites children and families into a space where feelings are welcomed and expressed openly. Without ever feeling like a lesson, the show offers young audiences a way to engage with their emotional lives through music, movement, and collective joy.
A GRAMMY Award-winning artist for his album HOME, Tim has become one of the most celebrated voices in children’s music. He is also Emmy-nominated as the longtime host of Sprout’s Sunny Side Up, where he spent years connecting with young audiences each morning through music and play. His work has been featured on major stages including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Lollapalooza, and Austin City Limits, and he has written music for Sesame Street.
Really Real You is the newest chapter in his work with families, bringing together high-level musicianship, humor, and heart.
Join us out-front at the Phanstiel Plaza for an arts & crafts workshop with our friends at CMEE before the show!
