FAMILY

IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME! The Children’s Museum of Manhattan hosts a festival that takes youngsters on a virtual journey to ancient Greece, as part of the ongoing exhibit “Gods, Myths and Mortals.” Budding archaeologists ages 5 and older build a Greek temple using cardboard and other materials. In another workshop, children of all ages make victory wreaths using pipe cleaners, beads, and foil. Tuesday–Sunday, times vary, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, 212 W. 83rd St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, 212-721-1234, $9 children and adults, $6 seniors, free for members and children under 1. For complete information, go to cmom.org.

DANCE

KISS THE GIRLS, MAKE THEM CRY The Brooklyn Philharmonic, in collaboration with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, performs Igor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Stravinsky once described the ballet as “the epiphany through which the whole of my late work became possible.” “Pulcinella” tells the story of the mischievous titular character, who devises an elaborate scheme to win back his girlfriend, Pimpinella, after she catches him kissing another woman. The production features new choreography by the artistic director of Complexions, Dwight Roden. A former conductor for the San Francisco Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, Emil de Cou, leads the orchestra. Friday, 7:30 p.m., Brooklyn Academy of Music, Howard Gillman Opera House, 30 Lafayette Ave., between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, 718-636-4100, $20–$60.

DESIGN

COVER TO COVER In the 1960s and ’70s, gentlemen’s magazines such as Esquire and GQ frequently eschewed the Hollywood actors whom contemporary readers have come to expect as cover subjects, in favor of more provocative imagery. Few graphic designers pushed the envelope more than Esquire’s George Lois. Between 1962 and 1972, Mr. Lois created 92 covers that provoked debate about topics such as the Vietnam War and feminism, and changed the face of magazine design. The Museum of Modern Art has mounted an exhibit, “George Lois: The Esquire Covers,” highlighting memorable wrappers such as “Kennedy Without Tears” (June 1964), which ran months after the president’s assassination. Through Tuesday, March 31, 2009, Monday, Wednesday–Thursday, Saturday–Sunday, 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., Friday, 10:30 a.m.–8 p.m., MoMA, 11 W. 53rd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-708-9400, $20 general, $16 seniors, $12 students, free for members and children under 16.

ROCKWELL AT THE PARK As part of its “Meet a Museum” series, the Gallery at the Park Avenue Bank presents “Norman Rockwell in Black and White: Drawings for Classic Saturday Evening Post Covers” from the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. The museum holds the world’s largest and most significant collection of Rockwell’s works. The current exhibit features a selection of full-scale charcoal drawings Rockwell created as studies for Post covers such as “The Art Critic” (April 16, 1955), and “The Gossips” (March 6, 1948), for which Rockwell’s neighbors in Vermont, his wife, and the artist himself served as models. Through Friday, June 6, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 8 a.m.–4 p.m., Thursday, 8 a.m.–6 p.m., Gallery at the Park Avenue Bank, 350 Park Ave., between 51st and 52nd streets, 212-755-4600, free.

FAMILY

CLOSE CROP With summer approaching, Prospect Park Zoo’s Lefferts Historic House hosts “Flax and Fleece Festival,” where children can watch as the wooly sheep and alpacas get their annual haircuts. Youngsters then make their way to the Lefferts Historic House to help wash, hang, card, and spin wool, learning firsthand how the animals’ fleece coats become yarn. Children have the option of planting flax for the next harvest or joining a weaving workshop. Saturday, 1–4 p.m., Prospect Park Zoo, Lefferts Historic House, 450 Flatbush Ave., between Empire Boulevard, inside park’s Willink entrance, Brooklyn, 718-789-2822, free.

GREEN THUMBS The Brooklyn Botanic Garden hosts a discovery garden, where children can explore animal and plant life, from following butterflies and birds in a wildlife meadow to pumping water down a bamboo waterfall to a stream. Today, 2–4 p.m., Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Ave. at Eastern Parkway, 718-735-4400, free with museum admission.

FOOD & DRINK

HAMBURGER HELPER A self-proclaimed hamburger expert, George Motz, discusses his new book, “Hamburger America: One Man’s Cross-Country Odyssey to Find the Best Burgers in the Nation” (Running Press). Mr. Motz, who embarked on a journey to find the 100 best patties in America, became engrossed in the hamburger world while filming his documentary, “Hamburger America,” which was nominated in 2006 for a James Beard Foundation Award. The director later taught a course about hamburgers at New York University, and is the co-founder of the New York City Food Film Festival, which bows in June. Thursday, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 267 Seventh Ave., between 6th and 7th streets, Park Slope, 718-832-9066, free.

MUSEUMS

FLOATING WORLD Geishas and courtesans who lived and worked in Japan’s Yoshiwara district during the Edo period were complex figures who tended to carnal desires but also spiritual needs. The samurai, governing shogunate, and elite men of Edo (present-day Tokyo) enjoyed unfettered access to beautiful courtesans. Their exploits are captured in “Designed for Pleasure: The World of Edo Japan in Prints and Paintings, 1680–1860” at the Asia Society.

Through Sunday, Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Asia Society, 725 Park Ave. at 70th Street, 212-288-6400, $10 general, $7 seniors, $5 students, free for members, children under 16, and for all Friday 6–9 p.m.

MUSIC

A SOPRANO FOR ALL SEASONS Soprano Jessye Norman performs a program of music by composers such as Brahms and Mahler in “The Five Seasons: Summer, Winter, Spring, Fall, and the Eternal Season of Love!” at Carnegie Hall. Pianist Mark Markham accompanies Ms. Norman on such songs as “O Komme, holde Sommernacht” (Brahms), Gershwin’s “Love Walked In,” Vernon Duke’s “April in Paris,” and Richard Danielpour’s “I Envy Public Love.” Thursday, 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium, 54 W. 57th St. at Seventh Avenue, 212-247-7800, $32–$108.

THE ADAMS FAMILY OF SONGS The multiplatinum-selling Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams returns to New York for a concert promoting his new album, “11.” The release’s title is symbolic: The disc is his 11th album of entirely original music and features 11 songs recorded in hotel rooms and backstage concert venues throughout Europe during the past two years. Mr. Adams is known for such hits as “Summer of ’69” and “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You.”

Saturday, 8 p.m., New York Society for Ethical Culture, the Concert Hall, 2 W. 64th St. at Central Park West, 212-307-7171, $35.

PHOTOGRAPHY

FOUND AND SHOT Aperture Gallery presents a pair of exhibits that depict two very different approaches to photography. Erik Kessels’s “In Almost Every Picture” gathers found photographs that the artist had earlier bound into three volumes to make a book of the same name. The images in these volumes are of twins photographed across Europe during the 1940s, and shots of a couple in Spain during the 1950s and ’60s. In “Ten Series,” Matthew Sleeth captures on film details of daily life in Japan. Through Thursday, May 15, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Aperture Gallery, 547 W. 27 St., 4th floor, between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-505-5555, free.

DIGITAL WORLD Matthew Pillsbury is known for documenting the relationships between people and technology: His photographs have addressed such themes as laptop computers and people on cell phones. In “Elapsed,” his latest exhibit at Bonni Benrubi Gallery, he continues exploring these ideas, depicting visitors at a museum, gamers playing Nintendo in Las Vegas, and a rehearsal for a stage production of “Mary Poppins” in London. Through Saturday, May 31, Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Bonni Benrubi Gallery, 41 E. 57th St., 13th floor, at Madison Avenue, 212-888-6007, free.

BAND OF BROTHERS “The Family of Man,” a 1955 exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art curated by Edward Steichen, was an in-depth study and meditation on love, joy, illness, and death. “Humankind” is Hasted Hunt’s scaled-down response to the original MoMA show, in which more than 500 photos by almost 300 photographers were on view. In “Humankind,” 11 photographers are represented, all of whom are or were members of the VII Photo Agency, a collective of photojournalists best known for their groundbreaking work on environmental and political issues. Through Saturday, June 7, Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Hasted Hunt Gallery, 529 W. 20th St., between Tenth Avenue and the West Side Highway, 212-627-0006, free.

TALKS

GUIDING LIGHTS Artist Paul Chan discusses “The Spirit of Recession,” a conversation featured as part of the Public Art Fund’s Spring Talks program. Mr. Chan’s complex, digital animation works have earned him recognition. His first extensive exhibit in America, “The 7 Lights,” is currently on view at the New Museum of Contemporary Art. The series of large-scale digital projections, writings, drawings, and collages begins in the museum’s lobby and continues on the fourth floor. The Vera List Center for Art and Politics at the New School is a cosponsor of the talk. Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., the New School, John Tishman Auditorium, 66 W. 12th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-980-3942, $5 general, $3 seniors, free for students.

BUILDING BLOCKS The Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs hosts “Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World,” a discussion of what is needed to understand the problems of state-building. The finance minister during Afghanistan’s transitional administration, Ashraf Ghani, delivers the lecture. Mr. Ghani, an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, has written and researched extensively on how to mobilize capital, reform the foreign aid system, and provide infrastructure, among other solutions. A continental breakfast is served. Today, 8–9:15 a.m., Carnegie Council, Merrill House, 170 E. 64th St., between Lexington and Third avenues, 212-838-4120, $25 general, free for members.

THEATER

BRECHT IS BACK The Hipgnosis Theatre Company presents a revival of one of Bertolt Brecht’s most important plays, “The Caucasian Chalk Circle.” The broad comedy, which the German-born Brecht wrote while he was living in America in the 1940s, follows villagers in immediate, postwar Russia who are trying to decide how to divvy up the village land after the retreat of the Nazis. Brecht explores the complexities of wealth and ownership in a cross-cultural parable that uses the device of a play within a play. Margot Newkirk directs, with an original score by Demetri Bonaros. Through Sunday, May 11, Wednesday–Sunday, 7 p.m., the Theatres at 45 Bleecker Street, between Broadway and Lafayette streets, 917-591-7817, $18.

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.