NYC Life: Tick Tock, Theater, Tributes, Art, Books
The countdown is on–only 6 days to our Renewal Summit. We have two plays to recommend today: the 5 Tony-nominated play, The Balusters, and American Italian, which Valerie Smaldone says is a fierce, funny, and heartbreaking look at identity, family, and the cost of belonging. Our Long Island reporter shares a heartfelt tribute to the women who raised us. Our roving photographer is in an exhibit called “Furniture.” And tune in Monday for the Ask Beatty radio show—she will be interviewing author Susan Meyer about her book, “Champagne Ladies.”
Don’t Miss Out…Get your Tickets Now
Here’s another interview highlight of this year’s tenth Renewal Summit. When Valerie Smaldone left her award‑winning run as host of the nation’s top midday radio show, it ultimately led her in a new direction —co‑founding a media company devoted to spotlighting heroes and creating tangible good. She shares insights from producing The Thursday Night Club, Divine Renovation, Finding Kindness, and a children’s book inspiring compassion. GET THE DETAILS.
5 Tony Award Nominee. The Balusters is a Must See
The Balusters, now playing at the Manhattan Theatre Club, features one of our favorite actors, Margaret Colin (who judged our Tomatoes Got Talent show several times), in the fabulous ensemble cast, in this raucous, wild ride through a small community with big feelings. The Vernon Point Neighborhood Association is a passionate bunch, whether squabbling over historically inaccurate porch railings or debating trash can protocol. Still, no one is prepared for the neighbor-versus-neighbor battle royale that ensues when a newcomer to the board suggests the unthinkable: installing a stop sign on the corner of the enclave’s prettiest block.
Written by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay and directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon, The Balusters was commissioned by MTC through the Bank of America New Play Program. HURRY AND GET YOUR TICKETS NOW.
On What Side of the Hyphen Do You Stand?
American, Italian, a new play at the Chain Theater, digs into the complicated terrain of identity, inheritance, and the wounds families pass down. Through two cousins shaped by radically different fathers, the play exposes how love, cruelty, and longing collide. Valerie Smaldone says it’s a raw, humorous, and deeply human story about who we become—and who we break—along the way. READ MORE.
Roving in Salon 94
Our roving photographer, Nicole Freezer Ruebens, writes:
Salon 94, the gallery at 3 East 89th Street, has opened another show not to be missed. Tom Sachs “Furniture” explores the artist’s many talents continuing to create groundbreaking and amusing paintings, ceramics, light fixtures, sculpture, and furniture. It is quite evident that Sachs has absorbed all the greats who preceded him in his field, and run with what he has gleaned from them.
Designer Tom Dixon taught Sachs about the practice of bricolage, making art from found objects, as joyfully demonstrated in his use of a small Hello Kitty doll for a lamp pull. Sachs also spent two years working in architect Frank Gehry’s furniture shop, as the master invented the bent plywood chair, clearly impacting Sachs’s future and his continuation in the footsteps of his many forbears. The artist’s roots run deep into the past while also dreaming up his iconic Shop Chair of the future.
Showcasing comprehensive contemporary work spanning his long career in the beautiful and historic vintage mansion steeped in cultural history, the exhibit is the perfect demonstration of how Sachs seamlessly blends past and present, all while making it look like so much fun! Join this meeting of art and design before it closes on June 20, 2026.
~Nicolo Freezer Rubens is the author of the “Long Pause and the Short Breath.”
A Mother’s Day Reflection
Mother’s Day on Long Island carries a tenderness all its own — a blend of memory, gratitude, and the quiet strength passed from one generation of women to the next. This week our Long Island reporter, Andrea Peponakis, honors the mothers, grandmothers, and matriarchs whose love shapes our families, our communities, and the stories we carry forward. Read More.
Tune in Monday 11 to the Ask Beatty Show
Listen live at: https://prn.live/show/ask-beatty/
The tomato behind The Three Tomatoes.
Cheryl Benton, aka the “head tomato” is founder and publisher of The Three Tomatoes, a digital lifestyle magazine for “women who aren’t kids”. Having lived and worked for many years in New York City, the land of size zero twenty-somethings, she was truly starting to feel like an invisible woman. She created The Three Tomatoes just for the fun of it as the antidote for invisibility and sent it to 60 friends. Today she has thousands of friends and is chief cheerleader for smart, savvy women who want to live their lives fully at every age and every stage. She is the author of the novel, "Can You See Us Now?" and co-author of a humorous books of quips, "Martini Wisdom." Because she's lived a long time, her full bio won't fit here. If you want the "blah, blah, blah", read more. www.thethreetomatoes.com/about-the-head-tomato
