44 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • OCTOBER 7, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
Off -Broadway in the Boros Fest brings community together
BY KAYLA WONG
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
More than 100 people sat in folding
chairs and on blankets to watch local performers
on a pop-up stage as part of the
city’s Off -Broadway in the Boros Fest
at Travers Park in Jackson Heights on
Th ursday, Sept. 30.
Th e event featured off - and off -off -
Broadway theatrical performances, spotlighting
local performing artists and off ering
free entertainment to New Yorkers
hardest hit by the pandemic.
Just before the performances, Mayor’s
Offi ce of Media and Entertainment
Commissioner Anne del Castillo,
Councilman Daniel Dromm and Queens
Borough President Chief of Staff Franck
Joseph kicked off the event with short
speeches.
During his speech, Dromm talked about
how important it was to bring Broadway
and off -Broadway to Jackson Heights.
“We have been through a rough two
years where we have not been able to go
to Broadway or to off -Broadway,” Dromm
said. “Finally now, Broadway is opening,
off -Broadway is opening, but I have to
say there is no real recovery in New York
City unless we recover and have the arts
and the performing arts back in the city
and open again. So today represents that
reopening. Long live New York City and
long live Jackson Heights.”
Up front and center, young children
fi lled in the space closest to the stage,
dancing along to the acts and mimicking
performers. Some lucky ones got chosen
to go on stage and be a part of the act.
“Who knows, we might have our next
performers watching these shows being
inspired to be the next incredible New
York City talent,” Castillo said. “I think
that’s what’s really important. One, it
brings people together for a communal
experience … and then they may be
inspired to become our next talent.”
According to Castillo, the program
started in 2015 with Broadway in the
Boros, and the off -Broadway program followed.
Last year, it was done as un-advertised
pop-ups so as not to attract large
crowds during the pandemic.
“To be able to come back and do this with
this size crowd, you can just feel people have
been craving this kind of connection with
New York City entertainment,” Castillo said.
“You can have Zoom performances, but you
just don’t get the same connection.”
While there were varying ages in the
audience, the lineup had something for
everyone. Gazillion Bubble Show and
the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus were crowd
favorites for the kids, while the Hell’s
Kitchen Happiness Krewe had some
adults singing and dancing along.
Pregones put on a short test run of
their new show, “TORCHED!,” a musical
examining for-profi t arson in the South
Bronx of the 1970s.
Deni Yang, who has been doing the
Gazillion Bubble Show for about 15 years
in New York, is happy to be back performing
with the entertainment community,
especially aft er performing virtually during
the pandemic. Yang’s parents started
off traveling with a circus, doing a martial
arts and juggling act, but they eventually
gravitated toward bubbles, which is
how the Gazillion Bubble Show was born.
“It’s like we’re starting fresh again, and
it feels nice, especially now that we see all
these other performers and entertainers,
people with diff erent talents and skills, all
in one area,” Yang said.
As “the borough of culture,” it is entertainment
and culture that will bring the
Queens community together, said Queens
Borough President Chief of Staff Joseph.
“Th ere’s so much to celebrate right here
where we live, where our community is,
and that way there’s access. And that’s
what Broadway in the Boros is all about,”
Joseph said. “It’s about access, ensuring
that all New Yorkers, no matter who you
are, where you live, are able to partake in
the fun and in the joy when we are celebrating
our culture and when we are able
to celebrate entertainment.”
Additional reporting by Paul Frangipane.
Queens Farm brings ‘FaBOOlous Fall’ season back
BY BENEDETTA TOMMASELLI
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e month of October has arrived, and
Queens County Farm Museum is bringing
back the fun of its “FaBOOlous Fall”
season for family and friends to enjoy.
Th e Queens County Farm Museum, a
New York City landmark dating back to
1697, occupies the city’s largest remaining
tract of undisturbed farmland. Th e farm
covers 47 acres of land, which includes
historic farm buildings, a greenhouse
complex, livestock, farm vehicles and
implements, planting fi elds, an orchard
and an herb garden.
Th is month, from Fridays to Sundays
now through Oct. 30, the farm is hosting
diff erent activities and events to enjoy the
spirit of Halloween.
Check out a list of their upcoming
events:
The Amazing Maize Maze
sponsored by Con Edison
Th e Amazing Maize Maze is a special
maze meant to celebrate the amazing art
by Andy Warhol.Th e experience begins
with a Stalk Talk and a cow–themed game
board, and it proceeds with the visitors
trying to fi nd their way to Victory Bridge,
through diff erent clues and puzzles.
New York City’s only corn maze is
open Friday, Saturday and Sunday beginning
Monday, Oct. 11, through Saturday,
Oct. 30. It’s open Saturdays, Sundays and
Columbus Day from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
and on Fridays from noon to 4:30 p.m.
Maze tickets are $12 general admission
and $8 for ages 4 through 11.
Maze by Moonlight
Queens Farm’s Maze by Moonlight
is an interactive experience where visitors
are challenged in fi nding clues, solving
puzzles and making their way out.
Maze by Moonlight is open exclusively on
Saturday, Oct. 2; Saturday, Oct. 23; and
Th ursday, Oct. 28. Maze by Moonlight
tickets are $15 general admission and $10
for ages 4 through 11.
Harvest Weekends
Harvest Weekends is when the
admission to the farm is free daily so
that visitors can enjoy the fall atmosphere
and enjoy the other activities,
like the Pumpkin Patch. The farm
includes hayrides and its seasonal
farmstand with a variety of Hudson
Valley apples, doughnuts, fresh cider
and apple pies for a proper taste of New
York, as well as seasonal mums, locally
made jams and honey from the Farm
Store. Activities are priced separately,
all in order to support the care and
operations of the historic farm.
Harvest Weekends run Saturday and
Sunday, Oct. 2 through Oct. 30 and
Monday, Oct. 11 from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Pumpkin Patch
Visitors can enjoy the October tradition
of picking up their pumpkins through the
farm grounds, and be exposed to New
York History at the same time – as Queens
Farm is one of the longest continually
farmed sites in New York state. Pumpkins
are priced by size and there is no fee to
enter the patch.
Pumpkin Patch is open daily, Oct. 1
through Oct. 30. Hours are from noon
to 4:30 p.m. on Monday through Friday,
and 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays and
Sundays.
Halloween on the Farm
Queens Farm will be hosting their
annual Halloween party, for both young
community members and grown-ups. It
will include the Amazing Maize Maze,
hayrides, haunted farmhouse and trickor
treating plus bewitching sounds of live
music. Costumes are encouraged.
Halloween on the Farm is on Sunday,
Oct. 31, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets
are $20.
Th e Queens County Farm Museum is
located at 73-50 Little Neck Pkwy. in
Floral Park. Neighborhood parking and
bicycle racks are available on site, and
strollers are permitted.
For more information, visit queensfarm.
org.
Photo courtesy of Queens County Farm
Picking some pumpkins at Queens County Farm.
Photo by Paul Frangipane
Deni Yang of the Gazillion Bubble Show performs at the Off -Broadway in the Boros Fest in Jackson
Heights on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021.
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