ART

BIG IDEAS Before viewing Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s monumental project for Central Park, “The Gates,” New Yorkers can revisit some of the artists’ past works. The Chelsea Art Museum is exhibiting photographs by Wolfgang Volz of the artists’ previous projects in Asia, Europe, and America. “Man-Made Planet” is the first retrospective of Mr. Volz’s work in America and it includes 30 largescale color photographs and 80 blackand-white pictures. Through Tuesday, March 1, Tuesday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m., open until 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Chelsea Art Museum, 556 W. 22nd St., between 10th and 11th avenues, 212-255-0719, free with admission, $5 general, $2 seniors and students, free for children under 12.

INDIA INK Indian artist Nataraj Sharma displays new large-scale paintings and works on paper in his first North American solo show at Bose Pacia Gallery. Mr. Sharma paints skeletal skyscrapers, outof-place humans, and landscapes that seem not quite right. Through Saturday, February 19, Tuesday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m., Bose Pacia Gallery, 508 W. 26th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 11th floor, 212-989-7074, free.

BENEFITS

CHARITY ON STAGE Guests at the 20th anniversary benefit for Lincoln Center Theater will have dinner on the stage of the Vivian Beaumont Theater. Dinner is followed by a cabaret show including Audra McDonald performing “Marie Christine,” Michael Hayden and Sally Murphy with music from “Carousel,”and numbers from “Anything Goes” and “A Man of No Importance.” Donald and Susan Newhouse serve as honorary chairmen. Tonight, 7 p.m. cocktails, 8 p.m. dinner, 9 p.m. performance, Vivian Beaumont Theater,150 W.65th St., between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, 212-501-3251, $1,000 and $2,500.

HELPING HANDS Todd Oldham organized the “Open Your Heart” auction, which features photography by people who are usually on the other side of the camera. Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Missy Elliott, Chloe Sevigny, and Amy Sedaris are among the photographers whose work will be auctioned. Broadway star Billy Porter and singer Ari Gold will perform at the benefit for Bailey House, an AIDS housing provider. Thursday, 6:30 p.m. V.I.P. reception, 7:30 p.m. auction, Puck Building, 295 Lafayette St. at Houston Street, 212-219-2953, $135-$2,500.

CATHOLIC CHARITY The Catholic Youth Organization hosts a benefit for its athletic, recreational, and cultural programs for young adults of all religions throughout the Archdiocese of New York. Edward Cardinal Egan will present awards to former professional baseball player Daniel Staub, among others. Thursday, 6:30 p.m., Cipriani 42, 110 E. 42nd Street, between Park and Lexington avenues, 212-371-1011 ext. 3655, $500.

BOOKS

KAYAK KING Adventurer Pasquale Scaturro traveled down the Nile River in 114 days, traveling 3,250 miles by kayak. He talks about his journey with Richard Bangs, with whom he wrote “The Mystery of the Nile” (Putnam) about his Ethiopia-to-Alexandria trip. Monday, 7:30 p.m., Barnes & Noble Upper West Side, 2289 Broadway at 82nd Street, 212-362-8835, free.

DANCE

IT’S LIKE BUTTAH “Butter Melts Away My Letters” is a dark dance theater work about a group of young friends who share a two-floor loft space and try to make it in New York City. In this “anti-‘Rent'” version of the familiar story, they end up hustling. Gian Marco Lo Forte directs and Stephanie Rafferty is the choreographer. Thursday through February 27, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 2:30 and 8 p.m., La MaMa E.T.C., 74A E. 4th St., between Second and Third avenues, 212-475-7110, $15.

DESIGN

CERAMIC SCENE The exhibit “Ruth Duckworth, Modernist Sculptor” includes work from the ceramic artist’s private collection, including stone carvings and maquettes that have never before been exhibited. Through Sunday, April 3, daily 10 a.m.-6 p.m.,Thursdays until 8 p.m., Museum of Arts & Design, 40 W. 53rd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-956-3535, $9 general, $6 seniors and students, free for members and children under 12.

FILM

MCKELLEN’S MACBETH The Shakespeare Society pays tribute to Ian McKellen’s work in films of the Bard’s plays. Actor and director Roger Rees and theater critic John Simon will provide commentary for a selection of clips from “Macbeth,” “Richard III,” and “Othello.” Tonight, 6:30-8 p.m., Hunter College, Kaye Playhouse, 68th Street between Park and Lexington avenues, 212-327-2253, $25-$40.

DENIS DAYS The French Institute/Alliance Francaise honors French director Claire Denis with a screening series. She contributed to “Contre l’oubli” (“Against Oblivion”), a collection of short films by prominent directors created on behalf of political prisoners (tomorrow, 12:30, 3:30, 6:30 and 9 p.m., $9 general, $7 students, free for members). Ms. Denis will appear in person to introduce “Nenette et Boni” (1996), about a runaway who shows up on her estranged brother’s doorstep. She will discuss her career with Film Comment’s Kent Jones (Tuesday, February 22 at 7 p.m., $15 general, $10 members). Series: Tuesdays through February 22, Florence Gould Hall, 55 E. 59th St., between Park & Madison avenues, 212-355-6160. Note: All films are in French with English subtitles, except a French-only short that opens the February 15 program.

FOOD & DRINK

MEATY MENU Beacon hosts a decadent beefsteak dinner, a New York tradition that’s a dream for meat lovers (and their cardiologists). Waldy Malouf and David Emil prepare pounds of aged steak, kidneys wrapped in bacon, crabmeat cocktail, and lamb chops. Adventurous gastronomes can wash it down with unlimited quantities of beer. Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., Beacon, 25 W. 56th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-332-0500, $95.

VIETNAMESE VALENTINE A pre-Valentine’s Day cooking class for couples concludes with an afternoon brunch. Chef Lan Tran Cao leads the lesson, from which couples will be able to take home Vietnamese pastry hearts. Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m., Gallery Vietnam, 345 Greenwich St., between Jay and Harrison streets, 212-431-5888, $100 each person, reservations required.

MUSIC

PROGRESSIVE PIANO Brahms’s dramatic “Piano Quintet” is performed as part of a series focusing on “Brahms the Progressive.” Pianist Christopher Taylor joins the Ying Quartet for the performance. The program also includes two piano quintets influenced by the Brahms piece, one by Anton Webern and another by American Peter Lieberson. Thursday, 8 p.m., Columbia University, Miller Theatre, 2960 Broadway at 116th Street, 212-854-7799, $25.

PLASTIC PUNK The art punk band Tracy + the Plastics presents its first full-length performance and video installation, ROOM. During the day, the space is a “utopian living room” art project cocreated by sculptor Fawn Krieger. By night, Wynne Greenwood uses it as a stage for her music performances as Tracy + the Plas tics, which include “conversations” via video projection with her two disaffected bandmates, Nikki and Cola. Ms. Greenwood plays all three members of the band. It’s all very complicated and arty, but it’s also suffused with cheeky humor. Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m., the Kitchen, 512 W. 19th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-255-5793 ext. 11, $12 general, $10 seniors and students.

DA-DA-DA-DUM The Orchestra of St. Luke’s performs a concert that ends with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. The program also includes Vaughan Williams’s “The Lark Ascending” with violin soloist Kyoko Takezawa, the New York premiere of James MacMillan’s Symphony No. 2, and Beethoven’s Romance for Violin and Orchestra in F Major, Op. 50. Thursday, 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, Isaac Stern Auditorium, 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, 212-247-7800, $23-$74.

POLITICS

LIBERTE, FRATERNITE The Manhattan Libertarian Party holds its monthly meeting next week in an Episcopal church – so much for the separation of politics and religion. Wednesday, 6:30-8:30 p.m., First Reformed Episcopal Church, 317 E. 50th St., between First and Second avenues, 212-779-1873, free.

READINGS

ADVANCE PEEK Junno’s reading series, which invites writers to read their works in progress, welcomes authors Sabina Murray and Amy Brill, who both read from novels they are working on. Monday, 7:30 p.m.,Junno’s,64 Downing St.,between Bedford and Varick streets, 212-627-7995, free.

BAWDY BROADWAY LindaAnn Loschiavo’s play “Courting Mae West” is about the blond bombshell’s arrest for obscenity in a Broadway theater on February 9, 1927. A staged reading on the anniversary of the event is preceded by a discussion led by Ms.Loschiavo about censorship on Broadway during the late 1920s. Wednesday, 8 p.m., CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave. at 34th Street, 212- 817-8215, $15.

TALKS

GRANT CHAT Two biographers of President Grant, Michael Korda and Josiah Bunting III,discuss why he is revered as a general but not considered a great pres ident. Mr. Korda, the editor in chief of Simon & Schuster, is the author of “Ulysses S. Grant: The Unlikely Hero” (Eminent Lives), and Mr. Bunting wrote “Ulysses S. Grant” for the “American Presidents” series (Times Books). Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West at 77th Street, 212-817-8215, $10 general, $5 members.

GIVING IT AWAY The president of the Oram Group, Hank Goldstein,gives a talk about current trends in philanthropy.The Nonprofit Group of the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College hosts the event. Wednesday, 5 p.m., Baruch College, 135 E. 22nd St. at Lexington Avenue, third floor, room 301, 212-802-2988, free, reservations required.

WHAT’S ON TOP The director of the International Center for Migration, Ethnicity, and Citizenship at the New School, Aristide Zolberg, discusses the French law forbidding Muslim schoolgirls to wear their headscarves to class. Wednesday, 6:30-8:30 p.m., CUNY Graduate Center,365 Fifth Ave. at 34th Street, 212-817-8215, free.

THEATER

STAR TALK Actors in “Verbatim Verboten” read word-for-word transcripts of taped conversations of the rich and famous. The lineup changes, but covertly recorded chats involving Britney Spears, Mayor Giuliani, Michael Alig,Orson Welles, Madonna and her daughter Lourdes,and Enron executives are in regular rotation. The show made headlines when Tom Cruise threatened to sue after a performance included a phone conversation he had with Nicole Kidman as their marriage was on the verge of collapse. It arrives in New York tonight after successful runs in New Orleans and Chicago. Mondays through February 28, 6:30 p.m. doors open, 7:30 p.m. show, Fez Under Time Cafe, 380 Lafayette St. at Great Jones Street, 212-533-2680, $10.

ALL FOR LOVE In the Elizabethan play “The Shoemaker’s Holiday,” a young aristocrat is tapped to join Henry V in invading France. Instead, he stays in London to disguise himself as a shoemaker in order to woo a middle-class girl for whom he has fallen. Peter Dobbins,the artistic director of the Storm Theatre, directs the production. Through Sunday, February 27, Friday, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m., Sunday, 3 p.m., Storm Theatre, 145 W. 46th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-868-4444, $19.

SHYLOCK RECONSIDERED The Perry Street Theatre will reopen after nine years with a production of Gareth Armstrong’s “Shylock,” currently in previews. The story is told from the perspective of the best friend of Shylock, the villain of “The Merchant of Venice.”Tubal has just eight lines in Shakespeare’s play, but in “Shylock,” he takes center stage to confront the play’s anti-Semitic stereotypes. Frank Barrie directs the show, which stars Mr. Armstrong. Through Sunday, March 13, Wednesday-Friday, 8 p.m., Saturday, 3 and 8 p.m., Sunday, 3 and 7 p.m., Perry Street Theatre, 31 Perry St. at Seventh Avenue, 212-868-4444, $55 general, $20 senior and student rush tickets.

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