ARCHITECTURE

WRIGHT TO THE SKY The Skyscraper Museum’s exhibit “Frank Lloyd Wright: The Vertical Dimension” explores Wright’s high-rise designs. Though the architect is better known for his work on horizontal planes, he translated his theories to the vertical in designs such as his 1956 Mile-High Skyscraper Project, an 8-foot-tall section of which is on view at the museum. He drew up plans for 12 skyscrapers but only two were built: Johnson Research Tower in Racine, Wis., and Price Tower in Bartlesville, Okla. Through January 9, Wednesday-Sunday, noon-6 p.m., Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place at Little West Street, 212-968-1961, $5 general, $2.50 seniors and students.

CIVIC PRIDE The exhibit “Civic Spirit: Changing the Course of Federal Design” celebrates the 10th anniversary of the U.S. General Services Administration program for design. The exhibit features 20 federal projects from around America and explores how the GSA program has improved the architecture of office buildings, border stations, and other government structures. Through January 8, Mon day-Friday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, between Bleecker and West 3rd streets, 212-358-6111, free.

ART

SPANISH VIEWS Opening today is an exhibit of 21 Spanish drawings by 19 artists, including Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, and Juan Gris. Through February 5, Tuesday-Friday, 12:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Instituto Cervantes, 211 E. 49th St., between Second and Third avenues, 212-308-7720, free.

THREE CONTINENTS A three-artist show is on view at Nabi Gallery, which opened in Chelsea in January after a move from Sag Harbor. The exhibit is the first in New York for Korean painter Dae-Woong Nam. New paintings by Long Island artist Giglio Dante are also on display. Born in Rome, Mr. Dante was trained in mural painting by his father in Italy before moving to Boston as a teenager. Colombian artist Nohra Barros, who now lives on Long Island, shows small etchings and lithographs that illustrate scenes from stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges, and Patricia Highsmith. Through Saturday, January 29, Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Nabi Gallery, 137 W. 25th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-929-6063, free.

RIDING HIGH The UBS Art Gallery displays classic carousel animals created between 1890 and 1920.The animals on view boast ornate saddles, carved flowers, mirrors, and jewels. Highlights include a horse clad in medieval armor, a growling tiger, and a greyhound standing at attention. The pieces come from the Charlotte Dinger Collection, and the exhibit was organized by the Morris Museum in Morristown, N.J. Through Monday, January 3, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., UBS Art Gallery, 1285 Sixth Ave., between 51st and 52nd streets, 212-713-2885, free.

PICTURE PERFECT Minneapolis artist Andrea Shaker has her first solo show in New York at Daniel Cooney Fine Art. The large-scale black-and-white photographs on display were taken in Ms. Shaker’s home. She captures ragged dining room chairs, a clump of hair lying on a bathroom windowsill, and a woman’s shadow cast on a white wall. In 696 1238 798 1248some photos, pieces of string dangle from unexpected places: a woman’s raised heel, and a mysterious hole in the wall. Through Thursday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Daniel Cooney Fine Art, 511 W. 25th St. at Tenth Avenue, #506, 212-255-8158, free.

COMEDY

PAJAMA PARTY Jon Benjamin and Jon Glaser host the Midnight Pajama Jam, a quirky collection of video tributes to obscure Web sites, interviews with fake experts, and goofy songs. The show is presented by PSNBC, NBC’s performance and development lab. Tomorrow, 7:30 p.m. doors open, 8 p.m. show, the Marquee Theater, 356 Bowery, between 3rd and 4th streets,www.nbc.com/psnbc,$5.

GLICKMAN GUFFAWS He has opened for Ray Romano, Jackie Mason, and Engelbert Humperdinck, and now he comes to Brooklyn in his own show exploring Jewish life in America. David Glickman presents “Laughing from Right to Left,” as part of the L’Chaim series at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts (next up is the stand-up rabbi Robert Alper, who performs in January). Sunday, 2 p.m., Walt Whitman Theatre, Brooklyn College, one block from the junction of Flatbush and Nostrand avenues, 718-951-4500, $25.

COMMUNITY

WEST CHELSEA REZONING Manhattan Community Board No. 4 is hosting a public hearing on the New York City Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone the West Chelsea neighborhood that surrounds the High Line. The proposed rezoning would facilitate the retention of the High Line for future re-use as a public space. It would also allow greater densities and a greater mix of uses than what is now allowed in areas of Chelsea west of and along Tenth Avenue, below 30th Street. Thursday, January 6, 2005, 6-10 p.m., Hudson Guild Fulton Center, 119 Ninth Ave., between 17th and 18th streets, 212-736-4536.

DANCE

MOVES FROM JAPAN The Japan Society presents cutting-edge Japanese dancers and choreographers in its 8th annual Japanese Contemporary Dance Showcase. Performers include the all-female Sennichimae Blue Sky Dance Club and Jo Kanamori’s new company Noism05. (Friday and Saturday, January 7 and 8, 7:30 p.m., $25). In conjunction with the festival, the Legend Lin Dance Theatre of Taiwan performs “Anthen to the Fading Flowers” (Sunday, January 9, 7 p.m., free with reservation, 212-697-6188 ext. 105). All events at the Japan Society, 33 E. 47th St., between First and Second avenues, 212-752-3015.

FAMILY

SPINNING TALES, DREIDELS Storytellers Aliza Shevrin and Suzanne Toren present Sholom Aleichem’s “Chanukah Gelt” in English, with Yiddish excerpts. Harold Seletsky helps set the mood with clarinet accompaniment. Sunday, 2 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 917-606-8200, $8 general, $4 seniors and students.

UNDER THE CHUPPA An audience-enacted shtetl wedding, klezmer music, and intergenerational dancing are highlights of the Eldridge Street Project’s annual event, Klez for Kids! Greg Wall’s Klezfest band leads the festivities. Sunday, 12:30 p.m., Eldridge Street Synagogue, 12 Eldridge St., between Canal and Division streets, 212-219-0888 ext. 302, $12 adults; $10 seniors and children under 12.

SONGS AND STORIES More than 80 children participate in the family musical “Song in the Night.” The play tells the traditional Christmas story of Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem, as seen by the farm and desert animals who were in the stable. Audience members will meet an innkeeper’s angry cat, a depressed donkey, and the royal camels. Thursday and Friday, 7 p.m., doors open one hour early, Mark Hellinger Theatre, Times Square Church, 51st Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, 212-541-6300 ext. 270, free.

CRACKED TEAM David Parker’s “Nut/ cracked” is an interpretation of the holiday favorite “The Nutcracker” that features traditional pointe work, singing, and “booty shaking.” Mr. Parker uses pop versions of Tchaikovsky’s melodies by composers including Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller. Eleven teenaged dancers join professional performers, including Mr. Parker himself. Through Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 W. 19th St., between Seventh and Eighth avenues, 212-924-0077, $25.

MUSIC

PA RUM PUM PUM PUM Move over drummer boy. The Hungry March Band presents its novel interpretation of the traditional marching band, in which the audience becomes part of the spectacle. The band features 16 brass and horn players, seven percussionists, and seven-person color guard. Thursday, December 30, 10 p.m., Galapagos, 70 N. 6th St., between Wythe and Kent, 718-782-5188, free.

NATURE

PINING AWAY The Benenson Ornamental Conifers are back on view at the New York Botanical Garden after an extensive five-year restoration. The 15-acre site includes more than 400 conifers from all over the world, including 200 new trees that were added during the renovation. A concurrent exhibit at the garden’s library, “Cultured Conifers,” features botanical illustrations and rare books. Garden: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., New York Botanical Garden, Bronx River Parkway and Fordham Road, Bronx, 718-817-8700, $13 general, $11 seniors, $5 children ages 2 through 12, free for younger children. Exhibit: Through January 30, Tuesday-Thursday, noon-6 p.m., Friday and Saturday, noon-5 p.m., NYBG Library, Rondina and LoFaro Gallery, 718-817-8604, free with garden admission.

SHOPPING

METRO SAVINGS As part of its centennial celebration, the MTA lets passengers use their MetroCards as a discount pass in a variety of Chinatown businesses. Participants include Lucky 11 restaurant, Pearl of the Orient Gallery, Cathay Jewelry, and Green Tea Cafe. Through Friday, December 31, various locations. See www.explorechinatown.com for full list of participants.

TALKS

BUDDHA CAVES Robert Polidori, a staff photographer for The New Yorker and winner of two Alfred Eisenstaedt Awards, discusses his photographs of the Buddha caves of Sri Lanka. Tonight, 7 p.m., Rubin Museum of Art, 150 W. 17th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-620-5000, $15.

DOWNTOWN ARCHITECTURE The Alliance for Downtown New York is hosting a lecture series. Each event takes place at a landmark downtown building. The first talk is at the Collector’s Office of the U.S. Customs House, which is rarely open to the public. Paul Goldberger speaks on the struggle to create and build on the 16 acres where the World Trade Center stood. Mr. Goldberger is the author of “Up From Zero: Architecture, Politics and the Rebuilding of New York,” as well as the architecture critic for The New Yorker. Thursday, January 20, 6 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. talk, U.S. Customs House Rotunda, One Bowling Green, 212-835-2789 (reservations required), free.

THEATER

UNABASHED Judy Kaye stars in “Souvenir” as the wealthy society eccentric Florence Foster Jenkins, who gave recitals in New York ballrooms, thinking she was a talented soprano. Audiences came anyway, laughing and clapping. The play is a production of the York Theatre Company. Through January 16, Monday-Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., Saint Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Ave. at 54h Street. 212-868-4444, $55.

SECRETS Escape your own holiday family traumas with Robert Mitchell’s new musical “They All Knew.” The lead character faces an identity crisis when he uncovers a family secret. Through January 22, Thursday-Saturday and Monday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 3:30 p.m., Wings Theatre, 154 Christopher St., 212-627-2961, $19.

TOURS

CHRISTMAS IN ALES A walking tour visits historic New York taverns that are decked out for the holidays. Stops include the White Horse Tavern, a favorite haunt of Dylan Thomas, who wrote “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” The tour is sponsored by NYC Discovery Walking Tours. Sunday, December 26, 5:15 p.m., 212-465-3331 for reservations and meeting place, $13. Note: Ticket price does not include drinks.

To submit an event for consideration for the Calendar, please wire the particulars to calendar@nysun.com, placing the date of the event in the subject line.