Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)

Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Review

America's oldest performing arts center, BAM presented its first show in 1861. Today it has a much-deserved reputation for the unusual and the unexpected, presented in grand-scale stagings. Contemporary dance, music, opera, and cross-media productions mingle here with an array of classics. BAM has three primary performance spaces: the 2,090-seat Howard Gilman Opera House, a restored Renaissance Revival palace built in 1908; the 865-seat Harvey Theater, an updated 1904 theater a block away at 651 Fulton Street; and the newest addition, the BAM Fisher at at 321 Ashland Place, which includes the 250-seat maximum Fishman Space and the Hillman Studio. Every fall the Next Wave Festival fills the house with crackling energy and events that highlight a global mix of remarkable artists. The holidays bring a run of American Ballet Theatre's Nutcracker, and with springtime comes a top-notch roster of international theater companies (such as England's renowned Royal Shakespeare Company) in repertory. Year-round you can catch a movie at the four-screen BAM Rose Cinemas, which offers BAMcinématek, an eclectic repertory series (A Pryor Engagement to Rendez-Vous with French Cinema), as well as first-run indies, documentaries, and foreign-language films. Or, hit the industrial-glam BAMcafé (718/623-7811 reservations) for the Eat, Drink & Be Literary series on select Wednesday nights, and free music on Friday and Saturday nights. BAM gets kudos for its down-to-earth range of ticket prices; $20 to $60 is typical.