ART

GREAT OUTDOORS Gerald Peters Gallery displays recent paintings by George Sorrels, including landscapes of the artist’s native Texas. Through Saturday, April 2, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Gerald Peters Gallery, 24 E. 78th St., between Madison and Fifth avenues, 212-628-9760, free.

EAST ENDERS The UBS Art Gallery displays work by artists who lived on, or were inspired by, Long Island’s East End during the past 120 years. Thomas Moran, Childe Hassam, Jackson Pollack, Lee Krasner,Willem and Elaine de Kooning,Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Chuck Close are among those represented. Through Friday, March 25, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., UBS Art Gallery, 1285 Sixth Ave., between 51st and 52nd streets, 212-713-2885, free.

TANGO ARGENTINE Adriana Groisman has spent more than 15 years photographing tango dancers who gather in milongas, smoky ballrooms in Buenos Aires. “Milongueros tend to speak very little,” she says. “Even if they have been dancing with each other for years, they never ask each other’s last names, addresses, or professions.” Her photographs are on view at Leica Gallery. Through Saturday, April 2, Tuesday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m., Leica Gallery, 670 Broadway at Bond Street, 212-777-3051, free.

MORE MADONNA Originally scheduled to close last weekend, Sienese painter Duccio di Buoninsegna’s “Madonna and Child” (ca. 1300) remains on view through May 15 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Through Sunday, May 15, Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd Street, 212-535-7710, $15 general, $10 seniors, $7 students, free for children under 12 and members.

BENEFITS

WORDPLAY The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s spring gala features a performance of Matthew Bourne’s “Play Without Words.” A post-performance dinner party takes place in a space nearby decorated in the “swinging sixties” style of the show. Scheduled guests include Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Harvey Keitel, Isaac Mizrahi, and Estelle Parsons. Tonight, 6 p.m. cocktails, 7 p.m. performance, BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St. at Ashland Place, Brooklyn, 8:45 p.m. dinner, 330 Jay St., between Tech Place and Myrtle Avenue, 28th floor, Brooklyn, 718-636-4182, $300 each couple for reception and performance, $1,500 includes entire evening and annual membership.

STYLE AND SAVVY Fashion designer Betsey Johnson is honored for her business acumen at a benefit for the New York City chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. Her daughter (and fellow designer), Lulu,presents the honor at the gala “Signature Awards” dinner. Tonight, 6-9:30 p.m., Tavern on the Green, Central Park West and 67th Street, 212-400-1170, $250 general, $165 members.

BOOKS

WILD TIMES Actor Gene Wilder signs his new memoir “Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art” (St. Martin’s). Today, 1 p.m., Barnes & Noble Rockefeller Center, 600 Fifth Ave. at 48th Street, 212-765-0593, free.

WORLD HISTORY Michael Riordan reads from “An Unauthorized Biography of the World” (Between the Lines), a collection of oral histories.The reading takes place at a new bookstore in SoHo opened by the daughter of the owners of Canada’s largest independent bookstore chain, McNally Robinson Booksellers. Tonight, 7 p.m., McNally Robinson Booksellers, 52 Prince St. at Lafayette Street, 212-274-1160, free.

PRETTY SHARP Author Lydia Millet drew on her experiences working at magazines including Busty Beauties and Fighting Knives (“America’s Most Incisive Cutlery Publication”) to write her novel “Everyone’s Pretty” (Soft Skull). She reads from the book tonight at a new series hosted by a Williamsburg bar. Tonight, 7 p.m., Stain, 766 Grand St. at Humboldt Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-387-7840, free.

FILM

IS VENICE SINKING? Filmmakers Richard and Carole Rifkind discuss their documentary “The Venetian Dilemma” after a screening at Film Forum. The film explores Venice’s future, asking if it will be “city or theme park.” Tonight, 7:15 p.m., Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St., between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street, 212-727-8110, $10 general, $5 members and children under 12.

ON THE ROAD The Museum of Modern Art’s mammoth film series “112 Years of Cinema,” which began in November and runs through the end of this year, will screen one film from each year of moving-image history – starting with an 1893 Thomas Edison creation and proceeding nonchronologically. Up next is “The Big Trail” (1930), in which a very young John Wayne leads a wagon train along the Oregon Trail. Thursday, 5:30 p.m., Saturday, March 26, 1 p.m., Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St. at Fifth Avenue, 212-708-9480, $10 general, $8 seniors, $6 students, free for children under 16. Note: Tickets do not include admission to the museum but the cost may be applied to a museum ticket within 30 days. Paying the full museum admission allows admission to same-day screenings.

FOOD & DRINK

PALATE PRECISION Chef Vikas Khanna presents a cooking workshop based on his research on taste and visually impaired people. Students at “Vision of Palate” will taste a single spice or herb, then move on to more complex flavors, defining flavors along the way. Yogurt sorbet with grapefruit soup cleanses the palate. Donations go to Save the Children’s work with South Asian children with visual disabilities. Today, 2-4 p.m., Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, 40 W. 20th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 866-543-2781, free, donations accepted.

MUSIC

LUTE SUITE Duo Marchand – soprano and harpist Marcia Young and lute player Andy Rutherford – performs “Songs of Fortune and Time’s Flight,” works by Thomas Campion, Henry Purcell, and other 17th-century composers.The afternoon recital is an installment of Midtown Concerts. Tomorrow, 1:15-1:35 790 2082 899 2092p.m., Church of St. Francis of Assisi, 135 W. 31st St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-967-9157, free.

SAFETY FIRST Les Sans Culottes headline a musical benefit for www.nyc-rapemap.org, aWeb site that uses online mapping technology and sexual-assault reports to chart “safe routes” for women walking home alone. The Brooklyn band croons 1960s “ye-ye”-style songs in mangled French. Country bluesman Langhorne Slim and the ukulele-centered band the Hazzards also perform. After midnight, a DJ takes over and dancing begins. Tomorrow, 8 p.m., Union Pool, 484 Union Ave. at Meeker Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-609-0484, $15.

WOMEN’S WORK Claudia Knafo performs a program of solo works, including Beata Moon’s “Submerged,” Julie Mandel’s “…And the Livin’ Is Easy,” and a collection of Alla Pavolova’s pieces based on fairy tales by Hans Christian Anderson. The performance is an installment in the “Women’s Work” series, which focuses on recent music by living women composers. Thursday, 8 p.m., Greenwich House Music School, Renee Weiler Concert Hall, 46 Barrow St., between Seventh Avenue South and Bedford Street, 212-242-4770, $15 general, $10 seniors and students.

POETRY

VALENTINE EVENING The winner of the 2004 National Book Award for poetry, Jean Valentine,reads from and discusses her work. She is joined by poets Sharon Dolin and Rachel Zucker. Tonight, 7 p.m., Labyrinth Books, 536 W. 112 St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, 212-865-1588, free.

TALKS

SCHOOL DAYS The author of “Morning by Morning: How We Home-Schooled Our African-American Sons To The Ivy League” (Villard), Paula Penn-Nabrit, discusses the advantages of home-schooling within the black community. Her decision to teach her children was difficult because of a family history entwined with public schooling: Ms. Penn-Nabrit’s husband, C. Madison Nabrit, is the nephew of an attorney who argued Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court. Tonight, 6-8 p.m., Metropolitan College of New York student lounge, 75 Varick St. at Grand Street, 212-343-1234 ext. 7025, free.

WOMEN IN SCIENCE A panel of women involved in the sciences discusses how educators and industry leaders can foster an environment in which more women succeed. Panelists at “The X-Chromosome Factor,” prompted by Harvard president Lawrence Summers’s recent remarks about possible differences between the sexes, talk about how they rose to the top of their field. Tomorrow, 5:30 p.m., Women’s City Club offices, 33 W. 60th St., between Broadway and Columbus Avenue, fifth floor, 212-353-8070 ext. 10, $10, free for members and students.

INDIA’S FUTURE A daylong symposium assesses India’s economic future and generates policy recommendations for the Indian government. Sponsors are the Confederation of Indian Industries and the India Brand Equity Foundation. Thursday, 8 a.m.-9 a.m. registration, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. program, Asia Society, 725 Park Ave., between 70th and 71st streets, 212-517-2742, $40 general, $30 members, fee includes breakfast and lunch.

THEATER

VIRAL MARKETING Matthew Paul Olmos’s new play “Seal Sings Its Song,” which closes this weekend, is set during the 1980s and follows a man infected with the still-unnamed HIV virus. He draws attention to the developing disease using unconventional methods. Eriko Ogawa directs the Woken’ Glacier production. Through Saturday, tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday, 8 p.m., Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St. at Lafayette Street, 646-654-6433, $15. Note: Additional performance takes place on Thursday.

IVES LEAGUE Lee Blessing’s “Going to St. Ives” is the final production in Primary Stages’ 20th anniversary season. The two-person drama follows the mother of a sub-Saharan African dictator. Maria Mileaf directs. Previews begin: Tonight, 7 p.m. Opens: Tuesday, March 29, 7 p.m. Runs: Through Sunday, April 24,Tuesday, 7 p.m., Wednesday-Friday, 8 p.m., Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday, 3 p.m., 59E59 Theaters, 59th Street between Madison and Park avenues, 212-840-9705 for information, 212-279-4200 for tickets, $55. Note: Additional 2 p.m. matinees take place Wednesdays, April 13 and April 20. The 8 p.m. performances are cancelled on those days.

LOVE AND THE DEVIL “Faust in Love” is the second installment in Target Margin Theater’s three-year attempt to adapt Goethe’s “Faust.” David Greenspan plays Mephisto and Eunice Wong is Gretchen, the object of Faust’s affection.The artistic director of Target Margin, David Herskovits, directs. Previews begin: Thursday, 8 p.m. Opens: Wednesday, March 23, 8 p.m. Runs: Through Saturday, April 30, Wednesday-Friday, 8 p.m., Saturday, 4 and 8 p.m., Ohio Theatre, 66 Wooster St., between Spring and Broome streets, 212-358-3657, $20. Note: Additional performances take place at 7 p.m. on Mondays, March 21 and April 11-25.

WORKSHOP

PEN TO PAPER The American journalist Shana Alexander once wrote, “Letters are expectation packaged in an envelope.” A cozy Brooklyn bookstore concurs, inviting visitors to break free from e-mail at a biweekly letter-writing session that kicks off tonight. They’ll provide the pens, paper, and envelopes. Stamps are available for purchase on site, so no more toting around that note for weeks until you happen by a post office. Tomorrow, and every first and third Wednesday of the month, 7-9 p.m., Freebird Books & Goods, 123 Columbia St. at Kane Street, Brooklyn, 718-643-8484, free.

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.