What I saw in October + what I’m looking forward to in November

 

Welcome to November. The clocks have turned back and the streets are darker than a playhouse on a Monday. In honor of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), I’ll be writing every day — not a novel — but catching up on the things I’ve seen but not reviewed, which is pretty much everything in September and October. 

 

In fact, things have been so non-stop I didn’t get a chance to share some excellent news that’s been burning a hole in my drafts. 

 

First, I was paparazzi’d at a Fashion Week Event and I’m now searchable (Anastazia Neely) on BFA. I’m wearing the same red dress that appears twice in the October collage, so it’s clear I need to give that garment a break. Even though I wasn’t at the event for very long, my quick pop-in will live in infamy on the BFA photo archive. Weird to know that I’m searchable on the same site where you can find pro photos of the Met Gala Red Carpet just because I was in the right place at the right time. As the saying goes, New York is not a real place.

 

 

Second, and even better, I was blurbed! When you see a subway ad for a show there’s usually an attributed quote splashed across the front. It will say something like “FANTASTIC! THE BEST SHOW I’VE SEEN ALL YEAR” in big block letters and underneath it will say The New York Times, Broadway World, or some other publication that’s much bigger than BSR. That’s a blurb! Theatre teams use them on posters, flyers, and even social media to convince you that EVERYONE IS LOVING THEIR SHOW and at the very end of September, I was blurbed! There it was, a quote from my review of “we come to collect” on The Flea’s Instagram page right next to a quote from Helen Shaw, The New Yorker’s storied theatre critic and my imaginary mentor. Even as I write this, I keep looking at the screenshot in disbelief and it’s more than a month old. It’s an indescribable feeling to know somebody was moved by what I wrote and that I might’ve persuaded someone to see something truly special.

 

 

Third, my TikTok review of Saturday Church exceeded 13,000 views. (I’m not using a K because I earned all 3 of those zeros and I want to see them!) This is my most viewed theatre-review video and my second most viewed TikTok overall. Unfortunately, my most popular video is a one-off about a back-of-the-van crab boil around the block from me. It’s at 21,000 views but it has nothing to do with art at all. People in the comments are still asking for prices and hours, one woman even DM’d me to see if she could place an order. (Ma’am, I am not affiliated with that crab stand!) One day soon I hope I can gin up this much interest and “engagement” for Black art and artists. But in the meantime, a win is a win. If even one person who saw that TikTok bought a ticket to Saturday Church, then my job is done. 13,000 is the equivalent of selling out Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, which I learned when I went to the Zohran Mamdani rally there last week. I voted already but if you’re reading this in NYC, please make time to do the same.

 

 

Things are shaking and moving and I’m so grateful you’re here to share in this journey with me. I’ll be riding high on the blurb from now until forever. If you’ve seen anything good lately, I’d love to hear about it. Just send me an email!     

 

🖤 

 

If this is your first time on the website, welcome! Share your email in the gray box below if you’d like to get notified of these posts in real time. If you’ve been here before, welcome back! I hope you’ll join the email list soon. If you’re already on the list, I’m so happy to have you!

 

Here’s a list of all of the posts from this month (sorted by the date I attended), click the links to check out the ones you may have missed!

 

October

 

Oct 4 — Isaiah Tate “Flowers” 🎨 

Oct 4 — “We The Music” Exhibition 🎨 

Oct 11— Derek Fordjour’s “Night Song” [LA] 🎨

Oct 18 — Heaux Church at Ars Nova 🎭 [open until November 18; blurb below]

Oct 28 — An Evening With Lorna Simpson at The Met 🏛️ 

 

November

Here’s what I’m looking forward to in November! Grab a ticket so you can tell me what you think and check back for the reviews.

 

Special Events 🎉

 

 

“Wall to Wall Stevie Wonder” at Symphony Space (Upper West Side)

“Symphony Space’s beloved annual marathon returns with a joyful, all-day tribute to the iconic Stevie Wonder. From chart-topping hits to hidden gems, this celebration features a wide range of artists reimagining Stevie Wonder’s songbook through soul, R&B, hip-hop, world music, and beyond. Dive deep into classic albums, discover fresh interpretations, and experience the grand finale with a powerhouse ensemble performing some of his most unforgettable songs.” Visit the event website to see the run of show for this 8 hour event. (Admission is free; November 8, 2025 from 2pm-10pm)

 

Theatre 🎭

 

 

Hang Time at The Apollo (Harlem)

This production by The Flea Theater (Chiaroscuro, we come to collect) is ending its four-city tour at home, uptown. In this play written and directed by Zora Howard, “Three men chew the fat under an old, wide tree. In HANG TIME, we peek into the interiority – the great loves and bitter blues – of Black men in America. Setting the romantic and the macabre in sharp relief, HANG TIME invites the viewer to envisage the living Black body triumphant over the legacy of violence that it holds.” (Tickets $57; November 7—16, 2025)

 

Heaux Church at Ars Nova (Hell’s Kitchen)

“An unabashed celebration of self-love, HEAUX CHURCH combines spirited storytelling, divine music, and all things heaux-ly to heal the parts of ourselves that shame tries to erase. Each night, former pastor’s kid Brandon Kyle Goodman leads the congregation in a rousing service on the birds, the bees and the booty, inviting us to connect and to unleash our inner heaux. It’s the sex talk you never got, but always deserved.” (Tickets $25 and up; October 8 — November 18, 2025)

 

Practice at Playwrights Horizons (Hell’s Kitchen)

The latest from playwright Nazareth Hassan (BOWL EP) and director Keenen Tyler Oliphant. In Practice, “Asa Leon is the charismatic avant-garde auteur of the moment. For their next highly-anticipated performance piece, they assemble a company of actors to live together in an old Brooklyn church and make a play about themselves. A shapeshifting psycho-comedy, Practice charts the gradual seduction of power, and what we each sacrifice to belong to a group.” (Tickets $53.50 and up; October 30 — December 7, 2025)

 

Still On Broadway…

• Ragtime at Lincoln Center Theater (Lincoln Square) Tickets $114 and up; September 26—January 2, 2025
• Liberation on Broadway (Theater District) Tickets $138 and up; until January 11, 2026

 

Art Fairs & Galleries 🎨

 

 

King Saladeen ‘Faces of Suce$$’ at Tanya Weddemire Gallery (Sunset Park, BK)

A solo show for West Philly-native King Saladeen features vibrant mixed media works on canvas. The faces, geometric, colorful and asymmetrical, are rich in texture and incorporate paint, collage, scraps of fabric, and raised dots. “FACES OF SUCCE$$ is a testament to family legacy, perseverance, and the refusal to settle for ordinary. It affirms that Saladeen was not only prepared for SUCCESS he was destined for it.” (Admission to the gallery is free; Wed-Sun 11am-6pm, Sun 12pm-5pm; November 1—December 28, 2025)

 

Reminder: The Children Are Our Future at Bishop Gallery (Bushwick, BK)

“This timely and heartfelt exhibition gathers a powerful roster of artists whose works reflect a universal truth: the well-being of our children determines the destiny of our world. Whether addressing the devastation of war, the impact of displacement, or the emotional toll of societal neglect, the exhibition insists that hope and innocence must remain sacred — and that by centering children in our choices today, we shape a brighter, more compassionate tomorrow.” Featuring works by Serron Green, Guy Stanley Philoche, Sophia Victor, Jules BE KUTI, and more. (Admission to the gallery is free; Sat 12pm-6pm and Mon-Fri by appt.; November 1—December 31, 2025)

 

Body Vessel Clay at Ford Foundation Gallery (Midtown East)

“Body Vessel Clay: Black Women, Ceramics & Contemporary Art brings together three generations of groundbreaking Black women artists whose work with clay explores the medium’s multilayered cultural and political significance. Featuring over fifty works across ceramics, film, photography, and archives, the exhibition draws connections between the legacy of renowned Nigerian potter Ladi Dosei Kwali (1925-1984) and contemporary artistic practice.” (Admission is free, pre-registration is required; Mon-Fri 11am-6pm until December 6, 2025) 

 

Museums 🏛️

 

 

Wifredo Lam: When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream at MoMA (Midtown)

“Wifredo Lam’s paintings expanded the horizons of modernism by creating a meaningful space for the beauty and depth of Black diasporic culture. For Lam, who was of African and Chinese descent, crafting his vivid new imaginary was more than a means of self-reflection. He famously declared that his art was an ‘act of decolonization.’ [This show] is the first retrospective in the United States to feature the full trajectory of Lam’s remarkable vision, inviting us to see the world anew.”  While you’re there, check out the exhibition curated by artist Arthur Jafa that opens on November 19. (Admission to MoMA is free from 5:30pm to 8:30pm on Fridays with pre-registration; November 10, 2025–April 11, 2026)

 

The Gay Harlem Renaissance at New York Historical Society (Upper West Side)

“To mark the centennial of The New Negro—the groundbreaking 1925 anthology of poetry, essays, and art edited by Alain Locke—The Gay Harlem Renaissance invites visitors to immerse themselves in the richness of Black LGBTQ+ life in the 1920s and 1930s. Uniting painting, sculpture, artifacts, documents, photographs, and music from collections across the country, The Gay Harlem Renaissance celebrates the creativity, innovation, and resilience of Black LGBTQ+ Harlemites in the face of racist pressures and homophobic laws.” (Admission to New York Historical Society is pay-as-you-wish from 5pm to 8pm on Fridays; October 10, 2025–March 8, 2026)

 

Seydou Keita: A Tactile Lens at Brooklyn Museum (Crown Heights)

“Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens is the most expansive North American exhibition of the legendary Malian photographer’s work to date. More than 280 works include iconic prints, never-before-seen portraits, textiles, and Keïta’s personal artifacts, all brought to life with unique insights from his family. These bold yet sensitive photographs began to circulate in West Africa nearly 80 years ago. In the early 1990s, they reached Western viewers, rocking the art world and cementing Keïta as the premier studio photographer of 20th-century Africa—a peer of August Sander, Irving Penn, and Richard Avedon.” (Admission to Brooklyn Museum is “pay what you can”; October 10, 2025–March 8, 2026)

 

Dance 🩰 

 

 

Evidence Dance Company Anniversary Celebration at the Billie Holiday Theatre (BedStuy, BK)

“Ronald K. Brown, a “son of Brooklyn” founded his company, EVIDENCE in 1985 and it has become synonymous with deeply spiritual storytelling that connects audiences to the histories, traditions, and evolving expressions of the African Diaspora. The Billie honors 40 years of Ronald K. Brown’s groundbreaking choreography with a curated evening of excerpts from the company’s celebrated works, performed by EVIDENCE dancers and special guest artists, including: One Shot, Open Door, Grace, and Max Roach “Tender Warriors”.” Grace was featured in this year’s line-up for Fall For Dance. (Tickets $25 + fees; November 14—15, 2025)

 

Paul Taylor Dance Company at Lincoln Center (Lincoln Center)

The Paul Taylor Dance Company has returned to Lincoln Center for the month of November. The dancers will be accompanied by the Orchestra at St. Luke’s and both Hope Boykin and Robert Battle have contributed choreography for the 3-week residency. I have fond memories of seeing PTDC perform Amy Hall Garner’s “Somewhere In The Middle” back in 2023 and look forward to seeing what’s new this year. Ten dollar night is November 4. (Tickets $22 and up; November 4—23, 2025)  

 

blacklove 🖤 and starlight 🌟