WOTBA New York Events Calendar: Howdy, Sailor! Edition Monday, May 18 - Monday, May 25, 2009

Hard to believe that next Monday, May 25, is Memorial Day. On Wednesday, Fleet Week begins and with it a multitude of events to welcome service members to New York. See the link for Fleet Week below for more information.

• Monday, May 18. American Ballet Theater Opening Night and Gala. 6:30 p.m. The Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center. Standing room tickets ($30) available today by phone and at the box office. The First Lady, Michelle Obama, will be in attendance.

• Tuesday, May 19. Joey Ramone's Birthday Party. 8 p.m. Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza. 17 Irving Place. Tickets: $25, $30.

• Tuesday, May 19. Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi Band at the Village Vanguard, 178 7th Avenue South, through May 24.

• Tuesday, May 19. The New American Wing opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

* Wednesday, May 20. FLEET WEEK May 20-26, 2009 Parade of Ships 10:30 a.m. See schedule of events at the Intrepid Museum website.

Also related: South Pacific, a revival of the 1949 musical, is still playing at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. The exhibit, Treasures of a President: FDR and the Sea, is on view at the South Street Seaport Museum. (museum website)

• Wednesday, May 20. Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For a comprehensive list of summer art openings, see this recent post on WOTBA.

• Wednesday, May 20. A new exhibit titled Négritude opens at Exit Art. 475 Tenth Ave. From the press release: "an experimental multi-disciplinary exhibition at Exit Art, explores the visionary 20th century political and artistic movement of the same name — coined by the Martinican poet, playwright, and politician Aimé Césaire in the 1930s — which flourished among Black intellectuals in post-World War I Paris and later spread to Africa, the United States and the Caribbean." Opening: Wednesday May 20, 7-10pm. Through July 25, 2009.

• Thursday, May 21. Hector Del Curto and Eternal Tango Orchestra. 6:00–9:00 pm. (6:00–7:00 pm DJ Set & Lesson; 7:00–9:00 pm Live Music). WFC Winter Garden.

• Thursday, May 21. ANAGLYPH TOM (TOM WITH PUFFY CHEEKS), a film by Ken Jacobs. 2008, 118 minutes, video, 3D. Anthology Film Archives. NY Theatrical Premiere Run. Ken Jacobs will be present for a Q&A after the 6:45 pm show Thurs May 21.

• Friday, May 22. Night at the Museum. Flashlight adventure tours of the American Museum of Natural History. 5:45 p.m. - 9 a.m. Cost: $129 per person, includes snacks, light breakfast, IMAX film and more (Members: $119 per person)The catch is that you have to be between the ages of 8 and 12.

• Saturday, May 23. Steve McQueen Festival (May 20-26) at Film Society Lincoln Center screens Love With a Proper Stranger at 6:30 p.m. Following is a Q&A w/ Neile McQueen Toffel. 1963 film with on location shots in New York.

• Sunday, May 24. The Bangles. 8 p.m. B.B. Kings Blues Club, 237 W. 42nd St. Tickets: $28

• Monday, May 25. Memorial Day.

Image: Sailors on leave on Bleecker Street during Fleet Week, 2008, by Walking Off the Big Apple.