Ten curated Scope NYC picks for Tuesday, May 19.
Frank Lacy leading an early set at Smalls is a proper Tuesday jazz start, intimate enough to feel like a choice rather than background dinner music.
In Scena closing out at the Italian Cultural Institute gives the theater lane a festival-night shape, with new writing instead of another long-run default.
Roulette's gala is the experimental-music institution in full community mode, which makes it more interesting than a standard benefit calendar item.
Creeley and Brakhage at Anthology is the one film slot that clearly earns its place: compact, serious, and tied to a venue that knows this material.
Helen Sung bringing a big band with Ron Carter to Dizzy's is a rare enough configuration to cut through a crowded Tuesday music board.
Frankie Cosmos and Gabby's World at Union Pool keeps the night grounded in local-feeling indie-pop rather than another larger-room headline.
Ada Ferrer in conversation with Rich Benjamin at McNally Seaport is the strongest books-and-ideas pick, with real historical weight behind the talk.
National Sawdust hosting new work from the New York Youth Symphony is a better bet than another repertory safe choice, especially for a Tuesday.
NYCB's contemporary choreography program adds a cleaner dance option to the night without asking the list to lean on a wellness-class misfire.
MUNA's album-release night at Music Hall of Williamsburg should have the charge of a new-record crowd, not just a routine tour stop.