ART

REFLECTION SELECTIONS Jeffrey Aaronson takes color photographs of reflections he spots on the streets of New York. The exhibit “Transparencity” includes photos of the windows at Bergdorfs, the entire Chrysler Building reflected in an office tower across the street, and Rockefeller Center shimmering on a Superman figurine. Though some of the juxtapositions seem too elegant to be real, none of the photographs are digitally manipulated. Through Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, 531 W. 25th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-366-5757, free.

SOUTH AFRICAN SCENES Artist Stuart O’Sullivan photographed friends and family in his native South Africa for the exhibit “How Beautiful This Place Can Be,” which closes this weekend Most of the pictures, taken after the end of apartheid, focus on wealthy whites. He trains his camera on domestic interiors – capturing mosquito netting, ornamental bars protecting windows, and bowls of fresh fruit – and on young women sunbathing, friends chatting in a garden, and an old man feeding a pet crow. Through Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Daniel Cooney Fine Art, 511 W. 25th St. at Tenth Avenue, no. 506, 212-255-8158, free.

GRAVE MATTERS A collection of Chinese tomb objects from Shandong province is on display for the first time in America, at the China Institute Gallery. Through June 4, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., China Institute Gallery, 125 E. 65th St., between Park and Lexington avenues, 212-744-8181, $5 general, $3 seniors and students.

BENEFITS

EARLY ART The Art Show opens with a gala preview benefiting the Henry Street Settlement. Agnes Gund, Daniel Shapiro, Kitty Carlisle Hart, and Richard Schwartz serve as honorary chairmen. Tomorrow, 5:30-9:30 p.m., Seventh Regiment Armory, Park Avenue at 67th Street, 212-766-9200 ext. 248, $150-$2000.

GOLDEN GLAMOUR Lauren Bush, Tinsley Mortimer, and Emilia Fanjul Pfeifler are among the chairwomen of the black-tie winter ball for the Young Fellows of the Frick Collection. The 17th-centurythemed “Dance in the Golden Age” uses the collection as inspiration. Thursday, 8:30 p.m.-midnight, the Frick Collection, 1 E. 70th St. at Fifth Avenue, 212-547-0706, $250.

HELP FOR TONIC The experimental music club Tonic is facing extinction due to rising rents, a robbery, and the expense of a recent plumbing repair. It is holding a series of benefit concerts with the goal of raising $100,000. This week, downtown royals Sean Lennon and Vincent Gallo perform. (They follow an 8 p.m. non-benefit concert by indie favorite Ben Lee.) Thursday, 10:30 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk St., between Delancey and Rivington streets, 212-358-7501, $20. Please visit www.tonicnyc.com for a list of benefit shows.

BOOKS

PUBLISHING PARTY The publishing im print Picador celebrates its 10th anniversary with a reading including authors Michael Cunningham (“The Hours”), Shirley Hazzard (“The Great Fire”), and Andrew Sean Greer (“The Confessions of Max Tivoli”). Tonight, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble Union Square, 33 E. 17th St. at Broadway, 212-253-0810, free.

COLLEGE TALK Juan Williams and Duane Ashley discuss and sign their book, “I’ll Find a Way or Make One: A Tribute to Historically Black Colleges and Universities” (Amistad). Tomorrow, 6 p.m., Hue-Man Bookstore, 2319 Frederick Douglass Boulevard at 125th Street, 212-665-7400, free.

COLLECTING

STATE OF THE ART New York artists, critics, and collectors gather for a daylong symposium that explores the current state of art collecting. Panelists include artists Chuck Close and Kiki Smith; collectors Agnes Gund and Werner Kramarsky; the former art critic for Newsweek, Peter Plagens; the chief cu rator of drawings at MoMA, Gary Garrels, and the deputy director for exhibitions and programs at the Studio Museum in Harlem, Thelma Golden. “An Eye Toward Collecting” celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art. Saturday, Midtown location disclosed at registration, 212-399-5030, $150 includes lunch, reservations required.

DANCE

BALLET AND BROADWAY Choreographer Susan Stroman’s first full-length ballet returns to the New York State Theater. “Double Feature” is set to music by Irving Berlin and Walter Donaldson. Tonight, 7:30 p.m., tomorrow and Thursday, 8 p.m., NewYork State Theater, 63rd Street and Columbus Avenue, 212-870-5570, $20-$83.

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-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.

FAMILY

UNDER THE SEA “The SpongeBob Square-Pants Movie” finds the popular Nickelodeon character embarking on a big screen adventure to rescue his boss, King Neptune. Though the film’s goofy protagonist has recently become a target in some quarters, parents can rest assured: the film is rated squarely PG. Through Friday, 1:30 p.m., Saturday, noon, Museum of the Moving Image, 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, 718-784-0077, $10 general, $7.50 seniors and students, free for members.

FILM

DENIS DAYS French director Claire Denis appears in person to introduce “Nenette et Boni” (1996), her movie about a runaway who shows up on her estranged brother’s doorstep. She discusses her career with Film Comment magazine’s Kent Jones. The event is the final installment in a screening series presented by the French Institute/Alliance Francaise in honor of Ms. Denis. Tonight, 7 p.m., Florence Gould Hall, 55 E. 59th St., between Park & Madison avenues, 212-355-6160, $15 general, $10 members.

FOOD & DRINK

TROPICAL TASTE Plantains are the dish of the day at a tasting hosted by a restaurant named for the tropical fruit. The menu includes plantain chips and dip, fried green plantains, and roast suckling pig with roasted plantains. Tomorrow, 6-9 p.m., Plantain, 20 W. 38th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-869-8601, $39.

MUSIC

TRIO TREAT Pianist Kazuko Hayami is accompanied by oboist Gerard Reuter and bassoonist Ethan Bauch for a program of works by Telemann, Haydn, Schumann, and Poulenc. A reception follows. Tonight, 8 p.m., Fabbri House, 7 E. 95th St., between Fifth and Madison avenues, 212-289-0399, $30 general, $15 students.

HARLEM HEIGHTS The New York Festival of Song presents a musical tribute to the Harlem Renaissance. The program features songs by Eubie Blake, Duke Ellington, and Billy Strayhorn, as well as poetry and prose by writers including Langston Hughes and W.B. DuBois. Tomorrow, 8 p.m., Kaufman Center at Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W. 67th St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, 212-501-3330, $45 general, $35 seniors, $22.50 for students a half-hour before ShowTime.

CROONER KING Donny Osmond performs at B.B. King. His latest release, “What I Meant to Say,” is his 54th studio album. Tomorrow and Thursday, 8 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 W. 42 St., between Seventh and Eighth avenues, 212-307-7171, $40.

AMERICAN MUSIC Lincoln Center’s “American Songbook” series presents Ann Hampton Callaway hosting “Café Society.” The cabaret show features Barbara Carroll, Steve Ross, and Julie Wilson. Friday, 8:30 p.m., Frederick P. Rose Hall, Allen Room, Time Warner Center, Broadway at 60th Street, 212-721-6500. $30-$60.

READING

OPEN MINDS The literary magazine Open City presents a reading by a doorman, “Mr. Murphy,” whose essay “The Doorman’s Double Life” was recently published by the online journal Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood. He is joined by fiction writers Maxine Swann and Hannah Tinti. Tomorrow, 7 p.m., KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St. at Second Avenue, 212-505-3360, free.

SPORTS

JOSE AT THE BAT Jose Canseco signs his timely memoir “Juiced: Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big” (ReganBooks/HarperCollins). Tomorrow, 1 p.m., Barnes & Noble Rockefeller Center, 600 Fifth Ave. at 48th Street, 212-765-0593, free.

STORIES

COCOA CHANNEL The hot chocolate will flow like water at the Moth’s next storytelling event. Author Jonathan Ames hosts the food-themed fun, which takes place at City Bakery as part of its season-long celebration of the joys of hot cocoa. Storytellers include Eve Ensler, Dan Barber, and Jessica Harris. Tonight, 7:30 p.m. doors open, 8 p.m. performance, City Bakery, 3 W. 18th St. at Fifth Avenue, 212-868-4444, $30.

STYLE

MOMMY AND ME Crafty mothers can make a personalized handbag, tote, or makeup bag at an event sponsored by Divalysscious Moms. Attendees should bring a 4×6 inch photograph that they’d like to grace the outside of their creations. They’ll receive a 10% discount on Anya Hindmarch bags. Tomorrow, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Dorian’s, 300 E. 84th St. at Second Avenue, rsvp@divalyssciousmoms.com, $35 general, free for children.

TALK

FOR THE BIRDS Historian Richard Rhodes, the author of “John James Audubon” (Knopf), lectures on the great birdlover’s life. The book chronicles Audubon’s 1803 arrival in America from France, his work on the seminal series “The Birds of America,” and a trip across the Atlantic to reunite with his wife. In his summary of biographies published in 2004, Carl Rollyson wrote in The New York Sun that it is “sensational biography” and the best of the three books about Audubon that were released last year. Mr. Rhodes’s lecture coincides with the New-York Historical Society exhibit “Audubon’s Aviary,” a selection of his watercolors accompanied by bird calls. Talk: Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., free with admission. Exhibit: Through Monday, March 27, Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West at 77th Street, 212-873-3400, $10 general, $5 seniors, students, and teachers, free for members and children under 12.

THEATER

MONSTER MASH Catherine Bush’s off-Broadway drama “The Frankenstein Summer” is about the meeting of Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley at Byron’s Swiss villa in the summer of 1816. The decadent summer inspired Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein.” Marc Geller directs and acts in the Red Light District production. Through Saturday, 8 p.m., Phil Bosakowski Theatre, 354 W. 45th St., between Eighth and Ninth avenues, 212-352-3101, $15.

FICKLE FELLOW Theatergoers can warm up for next month’s production of “Julius Caesar” at the Belasco Theatre, starring Denzel Washington, by taking in a production of another Shakespearean Roman tragedy. Karin Coonrod directs “Coriolanus,” produced by the Theatre for a New Audience and starring Christian Camargo as a war hero who turns on his beloved Rome when he is refused a political appointment. Through Saturday, March 5, days and times vary, John Jay College, Gerald W. Lynch Theater, 899 Tenth Ave., between 58th and 59th streets, 212-279-4200, $60.

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