FILM

ALL THE WAY DOWN As part of the Brainwave Festival organized by six local cultural institutions, the Rubin Museum of Art presents a screening of Otto Preminger’s “Whirlpool” (1949). The aim of the festival is to host public events that explore how art, meditation, and music affect the brain. In Preminger’s film noir, Ann (Gene Tierney, right), the wife of a successful psychotherapist, is caught shoplifting at a department store. While the police angle to send her to prison, Ann employs a quack hypnotist to get her out of trouble. Soon enough, though, the hypnotist turns on Ann, framing her for the murder of his lover. Friday, 9:30 p.m., Rubin Museum, 150 W. 17th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-620-5000, free with $7 bar minimum.

DANCE

TAP FUSION A jack-of-all-trades and master of tap, Tamango, brings his self-titled “Tamango’s Urban Tap” to Town Hall. An artist and musician born in Cayenne, French Guiana, Tamango is most famous for adding a high-energy, global twist to the world of tap. His current show mixes styles such as hiphop and jazz, and performers use techniques from capoeira to stilt walking. Friday, 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd St., between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, 212-997-6661, $35–$40.

FAMILY

FELINE FIDDLER ON A ROOF The Little Orchestra Society presents “The Cat and the Fiddles,” about the adventures of an orchestral string section. The production is part of the company’s ongoing “Lolli-Pops” series of performances that are meant to introduce children between ages 3 and 5 to classical music. In “The Cat and the Fiddle,” Bang the Lion and Bow the Panda vacation at a resort in the town of “Stringfield,” where they are immersed in the works of classical masters such as Vivaldi, Bach, Strauss, Paganini, and Marcel Grandjany. The society’s music director, Dino Anagnost, leads the orchestra. Saturday, 10:30 a.m. and noon, Sunday, 1 and 2:30 p.m., Hunter College, Kaye Playhouse, East 68th Street, between Park and Lexington avenues, 212-971-9500, $10–$40.

TASTY TREATS The New York Botanical Garden invites children to explore the flavorful side of its orchid show in “Sweet Discoveries: Adventures in Vanilla and Chocolate.” With lenses and microscopes, children examine live vanilla orchids, their seedpods, and vanilla beans to learn about the flavor’s origins. They also embark on a vanilla jelly bean taste test and an expedition into the “rainforest corner,” before grinding their own ingredients to make an ancient Mayan dessert drink.

Through Sunday, April 6, Monday–Friday, 1:30–5:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m., New York Botanical Garden, Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, Bronx River Parkway at Fordham Road, the Bronx, 718-817-8716, $20 general, $18 students and seniors, $7 children, free for members.

MUSEUMS

HARLEM IN VOGUE This weekend, the Studio Museum of Harlem concludes a retrospective by multidisciplinary, Bronx-born artist Kori Newkirk, who transforms modest materials into works that question traditional notions of cultural and aesthetic beauty. His art for the last 10 years has incorporated materials such as photographs, hair pomade, beads, and neon lights, to create sculptural installations that comment on the politics of identity. Through Sunday, Friday, noon–6 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m, Sunday, noon–6 p.m., Studio Museum, 144 W. 125th St. at Lenox Avenue, 212-864-4500, $7.

THE CARTOONIST The Jewish Museum presents “From The New Yorker to Shrek: The Art of William Steig.” Steig worked for 73 years at the New Yorker, where his work appeared on more than 120 covers and more than 1,600 of his drawings were published. He is credited with transforming the way cartoons were created at the weekly magazine. He also wrote and illustrated children’s books; his picture book “Shrek!” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) inspired the “Shrek” series of films by Dream-Works. This is the first major exhibition of the artist’s work. Featured are 190 original drawings, several of the artist’s notebooks, sketchbooks, and letters, as well as Steig’s preparatory mock-ups for his books for young readers.

Through Sunday, March 16, Saturday–Wednesday, 11 a.m.–5:45 p.m., Thursday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m., the Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave. at 92nd Street, 212-423-3200, $12 adults, $10 seniors, $7.50 students, free for members and children under 12.

SOMEWHERE OUT THERE Photographer Jaishri Abichandani immigrated to Queens from India when she was 14 years old. Her latest work, featured in the exhibit “Reconciliations,” speaks directly to her migration experience. Ms. Abichandani creates collages from photographs of cities, employing Photoshop software to build scenes that address social and political issues. Through Sunday, March 23, Wednesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, noon–5 p.m., Queens Museum of Art, New York City Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Grand Central Parkway and Roosevelt Avenue, 718-592-9700, $5 general, $2.50 seniors, free for children.

RENAISSANCE MEN Before the Italian masters painted the ceilings of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, there were sketches and planning to be done. “Michelangelo, Vasari, and Their Contemporaries: Drawings from the Uffizi” gathers drawings by Ponteromo, Andrea del Sarto, and Bronzino. They were involved in creating the artworks that decorated the various apartments at the Florentine palace, which served as the home of the Medici dukes in the 16th century. Cosimo I de’ Medici commissioned artist Georgio Vasari to create and preside over the artistic expansion. The show comprises nearly 80 sketches — including four by Vasari. “[N]ot since the Met’s Leonardo drawing show have so many remarkable and illuminating Florentine drawings been available in New York under one roof,” Lance Esplund wrote in the January 24 New York Sun. Through Sunday, April 20, Tuesday–Thursday, 10:30 a.m.–5 p.m., Friday, 10:30 a.m.–9 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave. at 36th Street, 212-685-0008, $12.

MUSIC

CLASS ACT A Portland-based 12-piece mini-orchestra, Pink Martini, performs its multilingual repertoire, with nods to cities such as Paris, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo. The band’s sound hints at nostalgia for the 1940s and ’50s, but also employs contemporary elements and classical notes as well. Sunday, 8 p.m., Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza at 68th Street, 212-721-6500, $33.50–$73.50.

BROKEN VOICE Bronx-born singer-guitarist Ari Hest kicks off the 55UnderGround concert series at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, playing selections from his latest album, “The Break-In.” Mr. Hest’s sound is a blend of soft folk and acoustic pop-rock. The new concert series aims to showcase contemporary music by emerging artists of all genres. Friday, 8 p.m., Baruch College, Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Ave. at 25th Street, 212-325-3101, $25. For complete information, go to 55underground.com.

OPERA

A HAT FOR A WIFE The Boston University College of Fine Arts presents “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” at the Helen Mills Theater, as part of the InCite Arts Festival. The chamber opera by British composer Michael Nyman is based on a case study of the same name by neurologist Oliver Sacks. The opera tells the story of a singer who suffers from “visual agnosia,” a condition that makes it difficult for the brain to recognize objects and faces. Dr. Sacks appears in person to discuss the condition and the opera following the March 10 performance. The festival is designed to showcase works by Boston University students of all artistic disciplines. Monday, March 10, and Wednesday, March 12, 7 p.m., Helen Mills Theater, 137-139 W. 26th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-243-6200, $25 general, $20 for Boston University alumni, $15 for groups of 10 or more $10 for students.

PAINTINGS

GERMAN FANTASY Tim Berresheim’s latest exhibit, “Scheuche (Mild),” features paintings and prints on wood. The artist’s works are populated by a series of abstract plants and one-legged or one-armed figures. In some works, Mr. Berresheim’s subjects dance in a way that recalls episodes of “Monty Python.” In others, a protruding green arm, draped in a letterman’s jacket, appears to sprout shrubbery, twigs, and other plant life where limbs should be. Selections from the exhibit include “Scheuche (Wood) VI” (2007), a detail of which is above. His solo show notwithstanding, Mr. Berresheim, who lives in Cologne, Germany, is also an electronic music producer and musician; his album was recently released. Through Saturday, March 29, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Marc Jancou Contemporary, 680 Broadway at Great Jones Alley (near West 3rd Street), entrance on Great Jones, 212-473-2100, 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.