HISTORY

SALON STORIES An exhibit at the Jewish Museum surveys Jewish women’s salons and their influence from the late 18th century through the 1940s. These private gatherings enabled Jews and women, rarely able to play official roles in public affairs, to take a prominent part in cultural life. “The Power of Conversation” focuses on 14 of the most powerful salon hostesses, women who boosted the careers of Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Greta Garbo, and others. At far left is an 1880s photograph of Berta and Sophie Szeps; Berta was a prominent Viennese art critic and journalist. At left is Wilhelm Hensel’s 1829 pencil drawing of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Felix Mendelssohn’s sister, who hosted a music salon in Berlin.The exhibit includes an audio guide with music, conversations, and performances by the hostesses and their salon guests. Through Sunday, July 10, Sunday-Wednesday, 11 a.m.-5:45 p.m., Thursday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave. at 92nd Street, 212-423-3200, $10 general, $7.50 students and seniors, free for children and members.

ARCHITECTURE

BUILDING THEORY Architectural theorists Robert Venturi and Denise Scott-Brown discuss their book “Architecture as Signs and Systems” (Belknap), an overview of their theories. The pair drew notice for their critical analysis of the Las Vegas Strip in 1972. Tonight, 6:30 p.m., Urban Center Books, 457 Madison Ave. at 51st Street, 212-935-3595, $10.

ART

REFLECTIVE ‘SURFACE’ Richard Hickam’s paintings are on display in “Beyond the Surface,” which closes this weekend at Allan Stone Gallery. The expressionistic portraits include “The Scholar,” bearded and bored; “The Tenor,” massaging his vocal chords, and “The Teacher,” grinning in a suit and tie. Through Saturday, Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Allan Stone Gallery, 113 E. 90th St., between Lexington and Park avenues, 212-987-4997, free.

MORE THAN WORDS “Words in Pictures” is a group exhibit of drawings, watercolors, and collages by 24 artists who mix text and images. Artists whose work is on view include Ed Ruscha, Saul Steinberg, Chris Ware, Jules Feif fer, Ruth Marten, Scott Teplin, Adam Dant, Anton Van Dalen, Julie Doucet, Marc Bell, and Matthew Thurber. Tomorrow through Saturday, April 2, Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Adam Baumgold Gallery, 74 E. 79th St., between Park and Madison avenues, 212-861-7338, free.

BOOKS

CHANGED PROSE Francine Prose reads from her new novel “A Changed Man” (HarperCollins), about a reformed white supremacist. Tonight, 7 p.m., 192 Books, 192 Tenth Ave. at 21st Street, 212-255-4022, free.

AISLE OF PARADISE? Ann Kingston discusses her new book “The Meaning of Wife” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), which traces how both the ideals of married life and its practicalities have changed for modern women. Tonight, 7 p.m., McNally-Robinson Booksellers, 50 Prince St. at Mulberry Street, 212-274-1160, free.

FILM

SOLDIERING ON An inspirational Finnish film about a disabled war veteran determined to contribute to the world is screened at Scandinavia House. Markku Polonen’s “Koirankynnen Leikkaaja” (The Dognail Clipper) is the first Finnish film to be screened in an ongoing series of recent Scandinavian movies. Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., Scandinavia House, 58 Park Ave., between 37th and 38th streets, 212-879-9779, $8 general, $6 members, in Finnish with English subtitles.

GO WEST, YOUNG MAN The Museum of Modern Art’s mammoth film series “112 Years of Cinema” screens “The Big Trail” (1930), in which a very young John Wayne leads a wagon train along the Oregon Trail. Saturday, 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, in French with English subtitles. 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

TASTE OF BROOKLYN An Easter weekend walking tour focuses on the historic and culinary treasures of Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill. Along the way, there are tastes of dishes from spinach pie to egg creams.Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m., 212-465-3331 for meeting place and reservations, $19 includes food.

MUSIC

CELEBRATING SONGS The New York Festival of Song presents a program of songs by opera composers including Verdi, Puccini, and Wagner. Performers include Carolyn Betty, Anna Christy, Joseph Kaiser, Jeffrey Picon, and Adriana Zabala. Tomorrow, 8 p.m., 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.

BASED ON BACH French pianist Alexandre Tharaud makes his American recital debut. The program includes Bach’s solo keyboard transcriptions of Baroque concertos by his contemporaries.Tomorrow,8 p.m., Columbia University, Miller Theatre, 2960 Broadway at 116th Street, 212-854-7799, $35 general, $21 students.

STRING SECTION The Section Quartet performs string arrangements of pop and rock music. The band plays two sets at a downtown rock club: An instrumental version of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” (7:30 p.m.) and a program titled “From Zeppelin to Radiohead” with guest vocalist Angela McClusky (11:30 p.m.). Both shows: Saturday, Mercury Lounge, 217 E. Houston St., between Essex and Ludlow streets, 212-260-4700, $12.

PUPPETRY

WAR STORY Theodora Skipitares’s “Iphigenia,” adapted from the play by Euripides, features 5-foot puppets strapped to actors’ bodies. The story follows King Agamemnon during the period before the Trojan War. Through Sunday, April 3, Thursday-Sunday, 7:30 p.m., La MaMa E.T.C., 74A E. 4th St., between Second and Third avenues, 212-475-7710, $15.

TALKS

CULTURE PEARLS Adam Gopnik lectures on “Culture and the New Yorker.” Tonight, 6 p.m., Small Press Center, General Society building, 20 W. 44th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-840-1840, $15 general, $10 members, $5 students, reservations recommended. 773 2562 891 2575

RADIO DAYS The host of “This American Life,” Ira Glass, moderates a discussion on radio storytelling and producing. He is joined by the creator of “Morning Edition,” Jay Kernis, and the host of “On the Media,” Brooke Gladstone. Proceeds go to 826, a Brooklyn nonprofit tutoring center. Tonight, 7:30-9:30 p.m., NYU Kimmel Center, Eisner and Lubin Auditorium, 60 Washington Square South, between LaGuardia Place and Thompson Street, 212-998-4941, $36. Please go to www.826nyc.org for ticket information.

BOTOX BEAUTIES The weekly Jewish discussion group “Ideas Cafe” addresses the effects of “extreme makeovers” on American society. Have the popularity of Botox-perfect skin and artificially whitened teeth altered expectations for everyday life? Tonight, 8 p.m., Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning, 10 E. 66th St., between Madison and Fifth avenues, 212-507-9580, $10.

BEHIND EVERY FOUNDING FATHER … Journalist Cokie Roberts discusses her book “Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation” (William Morrow), which tells the stories of the wives, mothers,and daughters of America’s first leaders (tonight, 6:30 p.m., New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West at 77th St. 212-817-8215, $10 general, $5 seniors, students, and members). Ms. Roberts will talk about the book across town the next evening (tomorrow, 5:30 p.m., New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 122 E. 58th St., between Lexington and Park avenues, 212-755-8532 ext. 36, free).

THEATER

ALL THAT CAZ The theater company Happy Accidents begins work on its plays by creating characters based on people its members know personally. Actors develop the characters, who then “meet” in a series of improvisations that become the basis for the scripted play. The new production “Caz Dies Alone” is about a poet, a cameraman, and a dancer who are roommates that don’t get along. Through Saturday, tomorrow-Friday, 8 p.m., Saturday, 3 and 8 p.m., Sunday, 3 p.m., Abington Theatre Complex, Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, 312 W. 36th St. at Eighth Avenue, 212-561-0508, $15.

BASEBALL TROUBLE “The Information She Carried” tells the story of a possibly cursed baseball. In 1920, Ray Chapman became the only Major League Baseball player to be killed by a baseball during a game. In a twist that appealed to believers in the supernatural, the same ball was later accidentally used during a high-school baseball game and seriously injured the third baseman. David Williams’s play tells the story of a conspiracy theorist who attempts to steal the “Chapman Death Ball,” convinced that it holds otherworldly powers. Carolyn Malone directs the W and W production. Opens: Friday, 8 p.m. Runs: Through Saturday, April 16, Wednesday-Saturday, 8 p.m., Access Theater, 380 Broadway at White Street, fourth floor, 212-714-5363, $15. Note: Additional performance Sunday, April 10, 7 p.m.

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