94 new york | september 16–29, 2019POP MUSIC1.See Madonna
The Queen of Pop goes to Brooklyn.
BAM, through October 12.
Madonna first made her name in New York City,
singing and dancing at the bygone Garment Dis-
trict nightclub Danceteria in the early ’80s, so it
makes sense that she would celebrate her latest
album,Madame X, which looks back on her his-
tory as a pop royal and provocateur, in the city
where it all began. Her Madame X tour kicks off
with a monthlong residency at Brooklyn Academy
of Music; it’ll be the longest you can count on the
restless legend staying put. craig jenkins
TV2.Wat ch American
Horror Story: 1984
There’s a killer on the loose, obviously.
FX, September 18.
The ninth (!) season of American Horror Story
takes on the slasher flicks of the ’80s as it follows a
group of aerobics instructors who start working at
a summer camp famous for its massacres. The
Friday the 13th homage stars several Ryan
Murphy Universe regulars, including Emma Rob-
erts and Billie Lourd. jen chaney
BOOKS- & 4.Read The Wat er
Dancer and See
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Conversations on race.
One World, September 24; Kings Theatre,
1027 Flatbush Avenue, Flatbush, September 24.
Ta-Nehisi Coates transformed how we talk about
racial justice with his call for reparations; NikoleHannah-Jones masterminded the New York Times
Magazine’s “1619 Project,” which reframes the his-
tory of our country. They celebrate the publication
of Coates’s first novel, the magic-realist slave-
escape narrative The Water Dancer, with a likely
mind-blowing conversation. boris kachka
THEATER5.See Antigone
Of gods and women.
Park Avenue Armory, September 25 to October 6.
Japanese director Satoshi Miyagi fills the cavern-
ous dream box of the Armory with a literal river—
the symbolic heart of a new version of the ancient
Greek story about a woman who defies the laws of
man and honors the laws of heaven by burying her
brother. Miyagi’s sweeping production refracts the
myth through the prisms of Buddhist philosophy,
Noh theater, and Indonesian shadow puppetry.
sara holdren
TV6.Wat ch The Good Place
It’s the last season? Are you forkin’ kidding me?
NBC, September 26.
The existential comedy returns for its fourth and
final season, which will involve one last attempt to
prove humans are capable of changing for the bet-
ter and, presumably, one more opportunity for
Kristen Bell’s Eleanor to say “shrampy.” j.c.
CLASSICAL MUSIC/FESTIVALS7.Go to Ecstatic Music
An opera about loss.
Kaufman Music Center,
129 West 67th Street, September 19.
The annual new-music festival’s tenth edition
kicks off a bit lugubriously with The Hunger, Don-
nacha Dennehy’s 2016 opera about Ireland’sGreat Famine, performed by the crack ensemble
Alarm Will Sound. Music by the electroacoustic
performer-composer Eartheater, remixed for the
occasion, follows. justin davidson
MOVIES8.See Say Amen,
Somebody
Roger Ebert called it “joyful.”
In theaters; Film Society of Lincoln Center,
through September 26.
Many of the pioneers of black gospel music were
still holding on—and shouting—when George T.
Nierenberg shot the interviews for his smashing
1982 documentary, now restored and primed for
a national theatrical rerelease at a time when we
need our minds and souls both soothed and
buoyed. Thomas A. Dorsey (who’s said to have
merged the sacred and the profane—i.e., jazz—to
create the gospel gene), Mother Willie Mae Ford
Smith, and the Barrett Sisters (who are still two-
thirds around) are natural talkers but supernatu-
ral performers. david edelstein
TV9.Wat ch mixed-ish
There is now, officially, an “-ish” universe.
ABC, September 24.
Young Bow (Arica Himmel) is the central focus of
this new ABC sitcom, which flashes back to follow
Tracee Ellis Ross’s black-ish character during her
coming-of-age years in the ’80s as the daughter of
an interracial marriage who must adjust to sub-
urbia after living on a commune. j.c.
ART10.See Sarah Sze
“In the age of the image,
a painting is a sculpture,” she says.
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery,
521 West 21st Street, through October 19.
A MacArthur fellow and the 2013 Venice Biennale
artist of the U.S. Pavilion, Sarah Sze is one of this
country’s most eccentrically intriguing sculptors.
Here, she brings her massive mind and busy
hands to bear. Prepare for all manner of images,
digital technologies, and probably thousands of
other squirrelly materials. jerry saltz
TV11.Wat ch
Savage x Fenty Show
Rihanna’s lingerie fashion show.
Amazon Prime Video, September 20.
Rihanna is coming for Victoria’s Secret’s turf. Her
second annual Savage x Fenty lingerie runway
show took place during Fashion Week, but you can
see it here a week later. Last season was so exciting
one pregnant model went into labor. This year, it’s
a concert with Migos performing and artists like
Normani walking the show.
BOOKS12.See Dan Kois
All in the family.
Books Are Magic, 225 Smith Street,
Cobble Hill, September 18.
Slate editor, parenting podcaster, and New YorkSEPTEMBER18-OCTOBER 2To
Twenty-five
things to see,
hear,watch,
andread.TheCULTUREPAGESPHOTOGRAPHS: NBC (THE GOOD PLACE); CHRISWEGER/WIKIMEDIA (MADONNA); CBS (EVIL); KELSEY MCNEAL/ABC (MIXED-ISH)For more culture
coverage and event
recommendations,
seevulture.com.9.6.1.15.20.