Paul Mescal in STREETCAR, Whitney White's MACBETH IN STRIDE & More to Play BAM in 2025

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) 2025 Winter/Spring season will feature Rebecca Frecknall’s revival of Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire starring Oscar nominee Paul Mescal (Gladiator II, Aftersun, All of Us Strangers) from February 28 through April 6; Barrie Kosky’s Berliner Ensemble staging of The Threepenny Opera from April 3 through 6; and Macbeth in Stride, and Whitney White’s R&B-soaked recasting of Lady Macbeth as an indomitable Black female icon from April 15 through 27.

Additionally, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Batsheva Dance Company will return with fresh creations. British composer and pianist Max Richter pairs a beloved album with his newest work in an exclusive local engagement. DanceAfrica's annual celebration will focus on Mozambique. Gmme Please!, a new family performance suited for children ages 0 to 5, will join BAMkids Celebrates MLK: If You Can't Be the Sun, Be a Star! and BAMkids Film Festival in nurturing budding creativity.

"We hope that all who join us this season will experience promise through performance, lifted spirits, challenged perceptions, and art's transformative power through the lens of bold, colorful artistry,” said BAM Artistic Director, Amy Cassello. “All of these fresh, agile works poignantly reflect our present time. BAM is proud to amplify the voices of artists who navigate risky terrain everyday.”

“BAM thanks Bloomberg Philanthropies, our donors, and our dedicated civic leaders for their support of the upcoming season,” said BAM President, Gina Duncan. “We would not be able to deliver on our mission to present audacious work for our entire community without their generosity.”

2025 WINTER/SPRING SEASON

Theater

Feb 28—Apr 6 - A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Rebecca Frecknall, featuring   Patsy Ferren, Paul Mescal, and Anjana Vasan

Apr 15—27 - Macbeth in Stride, created and performed by Whitney White

Opera

Apr 3—6  - The Threepenny Opera with Berliner Ensemble directed by Barrie Kosky

Music

Jan 9—Jun 5  - BAM Free Music

May 3 - Max Richter

May 7—17 - Sō Percussion

Dance

Mar 6—8  - Momo by Batsheva 

May 23— 26 - DanceAfrica featuring dance from Mozambique 

Jun  5—8 - Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, featuring a world premiere by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar 

Poetry

Apr 25—26 - Word. Sound. Power 2025—Power to the Poets

Kids

Jan 20 - BAMkids Celebrates MLK: If You Can't Be the Sun, Be a Star!

Feb 1—2 - BAMkids Film Festival

Mar 28—30 - Gimme Please!

May 3 - BAMkids SpringFest

Community             

Jan 20 - The 39th Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Presented by BAM and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso

Feb—Jun - Fisher Takeovers curated by a single artist or organization from BAM’s extended cultural community  

BAM Free Music

Jan 8—Jun 5

The Adam Space

30 Lafayette Ave.

Brooklyn, NY

FREE (Entrance is on a first-come, first-served)

This year BAM’s spring music series will feature seven free music engagements open to the public, kicking off on January 9 with progressive-soul legend Bilal. BAM Free Music series embraces a wide range of genres and traditions including charismatic percussionist Pedrito Martinez, Roots/Dap Kings trumpeter Dave Guy, and Congolese dance band Loboko are interspersed with emerging talent like Angelica Garcia, Blk Odyssy, and Riccie Oriach. Curiosity seekers and tastemakers will rub elbows on the dance floor, and DJs will keep the music flowing before and after each performance. 

Bilal

With DJ Miss Hap Selam 

Thu, Jan 9

Philadelphia-born R&B revolutionary Bilal needs no introduction to BAM audiences—This neo-soul revolutionary has rocked our stages before. He returns now to open our newest live-music experience, granting up-close, personal access to his signature mix of emotional directness, spontaneity, and exuberant groove, as heard on his newest album, Adjust Brightness.

Pedrito Martinez 

With Discoslocas 

Thu, Feb 13

Since arriving in New York City in 1998, Cuban percussionist Pedrito Martinez has collaborated on records and onstage with superstars like Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Wynton Marsalis, and Camila Cabello. Martinez, a consummate master of the batá drum, has played, sung, and danced with dozens of Cuban rumba groups. A founding member of the successful crossover band Yerba Buena, he formed his own group in 2005, winning hearts and topping polls worldwide with concerts and recordings. His vitality, charisma, and megawatt smile onstage never fail to make an impression.

Dave Guy

With L3ni 

Thu, Feb 27

Trumpeter Dave Guy is well known to music lovers for his soulful, fiery work with hot bands like The Roots, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, and the Menahan Street Band, as well as guest shots with such icons as Al Green, Amy Winehouse, and Pharell. For this BAM outing, the East Village native will lean into charts from Ruby, a sophisticated debut solo album that shows how he brings together his disparate influences and experiences in classic R&B, hip hop, and jazz into a Signature Sound all his own.

Angélica Garcia

With Laura Se Fue 

Thu, Mar 20

Raised in a musical household, Angeleno singer-songwriter Angélica Garcia embraces identity and heritage on her third album, Gemelo, vocalizing in Spanish and English over electronic backing, lush vocal loops, and urgent drums in a style she developed while living in Brooklyn for a year and a half. Earthy, ethereal, and soaked in spirit, Garcia’s music is intoxicating and instantly persuasive.

Blk Odyssy

With Niara Sterling

Thu, Apr 24

Formerly active as an Americana artist under his given name, Juwan Elcock turned his keen eye for detail and storytelling prowess toward a new Signature Sound as Blk Odyssy—a style informed by D'Angelo, Kendrick Lamar, Funkadelic, and swinging jazz. Born in Plainfield, NJ, and now based in Austin, TX, Blk Odyssy reached nearly 290,000 listeners with a January 2024 appearance on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts series, fronting an 11-piece band as he brought to life the urgent messages and relaxed grooves from his 2021 LP, BLK VINTAGE.

Lollise x Loboko

Thu, May 8 

Botswana-born Brooklynite singer, artist, and fashion designer Lollise sprinkles transfigured play-songs from her childhood with boldly contemporary statements of identity and purpose on her recent debut LP, I hit the water. She teams up here with Loboko, an infectious Brooklyn dance band anchored by Congolese guitar virtuoso and vocalist Yohni Djungu Sungu, for a powerful fusion of trans-African pop styles, featuring original music from both acts.

Riccie Oriach

Thu, Jun 5 (Doors open at 8:30pm)

Dominican singer, guitarist, percussionist, and sound engineer Riccie Oriach has forged a distinctive musical style that fuses punk and hard rock with traditional Caribbean rhythms like merengue, bachata, and samba. Collaborating with eminent artists including the illustrious producer Eduardo Cabra, formerly of Calle 13, Oriach has created a Signature Sound deeply rooted in tradition, but always looking to the future—and guaranteed to make listeners move on the dance floor

A Streetcar Named Desire

Almeida Theatre Production

By Tennessee Williams

Directed by Rebecca Frecknall

Scenic design by Madeleine Girling

Lighting design by Lee Curran

Sound design by Peter Rice

Costume design by Merle Hensel

Composition by Angus MacRae

Feb 28—Apr 6 

Harvey Theater at the BAM Strong 

651 Fulton St. 

Brooklyn, NY 

Tickets start at $35 

Following sold-out runs in London’s West End, this staggering revival of Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire stars Oscar nominee Paul Mescal (Gladiator II, Aftersun, All of Us Strangers) alongside Patsy Ferran (Living, God’s Own Country) and Anjana Vasan (Killing Eve, Black Mirror), and opens at London’s Noel Coward Theatre on February 3, 2025, before transferring to BAM for a limited run. Olivier Award-winning director Rebecca Frecknall (Cabaret, Summer and Smoke) helms an empathetic and powerful vision of one of the greatest American plays ever written.

When a desperate Blanche unexpectedly visits Stella and Stanley, her estranged sister and brother-in-law, she brings with her a complicated past that ignites a smoldering tension within the walls of the stifling New Orleans apartment. Stanley stalks the truths that Blanche so desperately wants to keep buried and soon, Blanche’s meticulously constructed facade begins to crack, offering an intimate and compelling picture of darker currents pulsating underneath. As reality and illusion collide, a violent conflict rises to the surface that changes their lives forever.

The Streetcar cast won multiple awards for their roles, including Olivier Awards for Best Actor and Supporting Actress for Paul Mescal and Anjana Vasan respectively, and a Best Actress Critics Circle Award for Patsy Ferran. The production also won the Olivier Award for Best Revival.

ATG Productions is the award-winning producing and general management arm of the world’s largest live theater company, ATG Entertainment—dedicated to producing critically acclaimed, commercially successful, and creatively ambitious work for the West End, Broadway and beyond. Led by Adam Speers, Richard Darbourne and Zareen Walker, we place partnerships and creative excellence at our core.

Current and upcoming productions: the seven-time Olivier Award-winning Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club (Playhouse Theatre/ August Wilson Theatre, Broadway); The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Ambassadors Theatre); Sunset Boulevard starring Nicole Scherzinger (St. James Theatre, Broadway); Dear Evan Hansen (UK Tour); Barcelona starring Lily Collins and Álvaro Morte (Duke of York’s Theatre); Dolly the new Dolly Parton musical (Broadway) and Waiting for Godot starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter (Broadway).

Since 2013, the Almeida has been led by Artistic Director Rupert Goold and Executive Director Denise Wood. During their tenure, notable productions have included American Psycho: a new musical thriller (transferred to Broadway); Chimerica (transferred to the West End and won five Olivier Awards); 1984 (transferred to the West End, Broadway, and Australia); King Charles III (transferred to the West End, won the Olivier Award for Best New Play, transferred to Broadway, toured the UK and Sydney, and was adapted for BBC television); Oresteia and Hamlet (both transferred to Park Avenue Armory after successful West End runs); Mary Stuart (transferred to the West End and toured the UK); Summer and Smoke (transferred to the West End and won two Olivier Awards including Best Revival), and The Hunt (transferred to St Ann’s Warehouse). Recent highlights include A Streetcar Named Desire (transferred to the West End and won three Olivier Awards including Best Revival); Patriots (transferred to the West End and Broadway) and The Doctor (transferred to the West End and Park Avenue Armory), as well as critically acclaimed productions of Spring Awakening (screened in cinemas UK wide), The Tragedy of Macbeth (screened on BBC Four and available on BBC iPlayer) and Tammy Faye (transferred to Broadway in October 2024).  

Produced by ATG Productions and Almeida Theatre, Gavin Kalin Productions, Wessex Grove, GGRS and LAMedia Fund with Rupert Gavin/Mallory Factor, Francesca Moody Productions and Oliver Roth

MOMO

Batsheva Dance Company
Choreography by Ohad Naharin

Mar 6—8

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House  

30 Lafayette Ave 

Brooklyn, NY 

Tickets start at $35 

The critically acclaimed Batsheva Dance Company presents the newest evening-length
work from master choreographer Ohad Naharin. MOMO has two souls; one pulsates with primal energy; the other fractures into a constellation of elements, eternally orbiting an elusive center.

Batsheva Dance Company is a home for dancemakers collectively committed to ongoing research, passionate practice, and generous sharing. With Ohad Naharin as the Company’s House Choreographer, Batsheva and its dancers are dedicated to the
adventurous exploration of new forms and ideas of our time.

The twenty dancers of Batsheva’s senior company are cast globally and are trained by
Naharin in his original movement language he has coined “Gaga”. A signature of
Batsheva’s dancers is their visceral physicality combined with the depth and consistency of their training— a quality that is at once raw and virtuosic.

Batsheva was founded in 1964 by the Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild, who enlisted the seminal choreographer Martha Graham as the company’s first Artistic Advisor. Dr. Lior Avizoor is the Company’s current Artistic Director, and Dina Aldor has been the Executive Director since 2009. Batsheva Dance Company made its BAM debut during the 2002 Spring Season with Naharin’s Virus, followed by Mamootot (2005 Next Wave), Three (2007 Next Wave), Max (Spring 2009), Hora (Spring 2012), Sadeh21 (2014 Next Wave), Last Work (Spring 2017), and Venezuela (Spring 2019).

BAM and St. Ann's Warehouse

Present

The Threepenny Opera

Berliner Ensemble

Based on John Gay’s Beggar’s Opera

Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht and Music by Kurt Weill

in collaboration with Elisabeth Hauptmann

Directed by Barrie Kosky

Apr 3—6

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House  

30 Lafayette Ave 

Brooklyn, NY 

Tickets start at $35

Murderous antihero Mackie Messer (a.k.a. Mack the Knife) slashes through Victorian London in The Threepenny Opera, Bertolt Brecht’s scandalous satire that electrified Weimar-era German audiences 400 times in just two years after its 1928 debut.

A century later, Brecht’s razor-sharp critique of unbridled capitalism still cuts deep—an eerily prophetic vision of a well-fed society teetering on the brink, propelled by Kurt Weill’s infectious, jazz-infused score.

Barrie Kosky’s Berliner Ensemble production is sly and perversely sexy, embracing seediness and cynicism with glitzy disillusion and more than a hint of danger. A master showman, Kosky manages to beguile us through the familiar rise and fall of Brecht’s sociopathic leading man, adding a knowing creepiness to his unrepentant antics. As Mack the Knife’s indelible melody lingers, this sleek, elemental staging amplifies the play’s knife-edge allure, proving its savage indictment of greed remains as urgent and seductive as ever.

Barrie Kosky, born in Melbourne in 1967, was artistic director and head director of the Komische Oper Berlin for 10 years from the 2012/13 season onwards. Kosky is one of the most sought-after opera directors in the world; his work has taken him to stages and festivals such as the Bavarian State Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Frankfurt Opera, the Zurich Opera House, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the Bayreuth Festival. At the Berliner Ensemble, his interpretation of The Threepenny Opera is the fourth new production of the play at the theater where it premiered almost one hundred years ago. 

Berliner Ensemble is one of the most renowned and long-standing theaters in Germany. Named after Bertolt Brecht’s world-famous company, Berliner Ensemble has written theater history. Throughout its 125-year history, the theater on Schiffbauerdamm has always addressed issues of current social relevance, and from the 2017—18 season, the beginning of Oliver Reese’s tenure as Artistic Director, Berliner Ensemble once again places a stronger focus on contemporary texts and topics.

In the tradition of its former Artistic Directors, Bertolt Brecht and Heiner Müller, and under its new director Oliver Reese, Berliner Ensemble directs its attention on theater that reflects upon our present times. Beside works by Bertolt Brecht, the repertoire features current topics and contemporary plays by living authors examining the urgent issues of our times on stage. 

BAM in association with Philadelphia Theatre Company, Shakespeare Theatre Company and Yale Repertory Theatre

Presents

Macbeth in Stride

Written and performed by Whitney White

Directed by Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar

Choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly

Apr 15—27

Harvey Theater at the BAM Strong 

651 Fulton St. 

Brooklyn, NY 

Tickets start at $35 

A dazzling theatrical event created by Obie Award-winning artist Whitney White and performed by White with an ensemble and a live band, Macbeth In Stride examines what it means to be an ambitious Black woman through the lens of one of Shakespeare’s most iconic characters. The sensational production uses pop, rock, gospel, and R&B to trace the fatalistic arc of Lady Macbeth while lifting up contemporary Black female power, femininity, and desire. Directors Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar (Underground Railroad Game, Is God Is) co-stage this groundbreaking world premiere with choreography by Raja Feather Kelly (A Strange Loop).

Whitney White is a Brooklyn-based Obie Award and Lilly Award-winning director, actor, and musician. She previously directed What to Send Up When It Goes Down at BAM and productions at A.R.T., Playwrights Horizons, and The Movement (The New York Times Critic's Pick). She is a Rolex Arts protégé, an Artistic Artist at Roundabout, and a Susan Stroman Directing Award recipient. Her original musical Definition was part of the 2019 Sundance Theatre Lab, and her five-part musical series, Reach for it, exploring Shakespeare’s women and ambition, is currently under commission with the American Repertory Theater in Boston. Her musical discipline is rooted in indie soul and rock. Past fellowships include New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellowship, Ars Nova’s Makers Lab, Colt Coeur, and the Drama League. MFA Acting: Brown University/Trinity Rep, BA Political Science, Certificate in Musical Theatre: Northwestern University.

Word. Sound. Power 2025—Power to the Poets

Directed and hosted by Baba Israel

Apr 25 & 26

BAM Fisher (Fishman Space)

321 Ashland Pl.

Brooklyn, NY

Tickets are $25

In 2025, BAM honors the power of poets in an unapologetic celebration of those who amplify the voices of the unheard through hip-hop and spoken word. Channeling the spirit of the conscious rap movement of the late 80s and mid-90s, artist-activists and musical disruptors unite on the BAM stage to highlight the art form’s potent political impact. Join us as we raise our voices and microphones, challenging the status quo with awe-inspiring, invincible flow.

Hailing from New York City, Baba Israel is a multitalented emcee whose parents were core members of the Living Theatre. He's shared stages with musical heavyweights, including OutKast, The Roots, Ron Carter, and Arturo O'Farrill, and is a core member of the hip-hop/soul project Soul Inscribed. He has toured as an emcee, beatboxer, and theater artist across North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Baba Israel has served as the host and director of Word. Sound. Power for more than 10 years.

Max Richter 

with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble 

The Blue Notebooks and In A Landscape

May 3

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House  

30 Lafayette Ave 

Brooklyn, NY 

Tickets start at $35

Max Richter reunites with the New York-based American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), his longtime collaborators, to perform two landmark albums: The Blue Notebooks, his stunning 2004 concept album based on writings by Franz Kafka, and In A Landscape, his ninth and newest release, which he describes as  “reconciling polarities”: the electronic and the acoustic, the human and the natural world, the big questions of life and the quiet pleasures of living.

One of the most prodigious figures on the contemporary music scene, Richter has captivated listeners around the world with his groundbreaking work as a composer, pianist, producer, and collaborator. His creative output encompasses solo performances, ballet and theater work, film and TV scores, orchestral collaborations, and much more.

Sō Percussion

Week 1, May 7—10

Who Turns Out the Light

Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion

Featuring Ringdown

Directed by Mark DeChiazza 

With video by Jason Treuting

Week 2, May 14—17

Sō Percussion with Helado Negro and Kate Stables (This Is the Kit)

Original songs and new arrangements

BAM Fisher (Fishman Space)

321 Ashland Pl.

Brooklyn, NY

Tickets are $35

Globally celebrated for peerless virtuosity and unbounded curiosity, new-music powerhouse quartet Sō Percussion has thrilled BAM audiences throughout the 21st century,  in their own genre-mashing triumphs Where (we) Live, Imaginary City, and A Gun Show, and in classics of new music alongside composer David Lang and others. And now, in this intimate eight-concert residency, these hometown heroes weave together classical and pop music styles into something new, original, and inviting.

Week one brings Sō together with Ringdown, the irresistible new art-pop duo of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw and her partner, Danni Lee, for Who Turns Out the Light, a theatrical creation staged by visionary director Mark DeChiazza. Then during week two, Sō welcomes genre-bursting innovators Kate Stables (This Is the Kit) and Helado Negro for four evenings of unpredictable musical fusion.

DanceAfrica 2025

Artistic Director Abdel R. Salaam

May 23—26

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House

30 Lafayette Ave

Brooklyn, NY

Tickets start at $25

BAM’s corner of Fort Greene transforms into a vibrant celebration of community, discovery, and collective joy at the beloved DanceAfrica festival. Hand in hand with our cultural partners—the visionary DanceAfrica Council of Elders, the cultural custodians at Weeksville Heritage Center, our forward-thinking friends at MoCADA, and Bed-Stuy stalwart The Billie Holiday Theatre—we’ve assembled an experience guaranteed to open minds and lift spirits. 

This Memorial Day weekend, the nation’s largest festival of African diasporic dance and music marks Brooklyn’s unofficial start of summer with the rich culture and artistry of Mozambique. Now in its 48th year, DanceAfrica features traditional dance and music, visual art, FilmAfrica’s cinematic lineup, the iconic outdoor bazaar, classes, workshops, and late-night dance parties. Join us for this unmissable celebration of African diasporic arts, history, and community connection. Visit BAM.org for more details.

Abdel R. Salaam is the Artistic Director of DanceAfrica, the Executive Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, founded in 1981, and a critically acclaimed choreographer. Born in Harlem, he has served as a dancer, teacher, and performing artist on five continents throughout his 57-year career in the dance and theater worlds. He has received numerous awards and fellowships for excellence in dance and dance-theater and continues to dedicate his life's work to the healing and empowerment of us all.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Jun 5—8

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House

30 Lafayette Ave.

Brooklyn, NY

Tickets start at $35

The company that shattered every boundary of American dance returns to Brooklyn with another unforgettable spring program that will include a world premiere from renowned choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. After 40 years at the helm of Urban Bush Women, Zollar will become the 2025 Ailey Artist in Residence.  

Ailey’s long-standing relationship with BAM began in 1969 when the trailblazing choreographer established The Ailey School in Brooklyn and presented his company’s first BAM performances. The company remains a vital force in New York City—and across the globe.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater grew from a now-fabled performance in March 1958 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Led by Alvin Ailey and a group of young African American modern dancers, that performance changed forever the perception of American dance.

The Ailey company has gone on to perform for an estimated 25 million people at theaters in 48 states and 71 countries on six continents – as well as millions more through television broadcasts, film screenings, and online platforms.

In 2008, a U.S. Congressional resolution designated the Company as “a vital American cultural ambassador to the world” that celebrates the uniqueness of the African American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance heritage. When Mr. Ailey began creating dances, he drew upon his "blood memories" of Texas, the blues, spirituals, and gospel as inspiration, which resulted in the creation of his most popular and critically acclaimed work, Revelations. Although he created 79 ballets over his lifetime, Mr. Ailey maintained that his company was not exclusively a repository for his own work.

Today, the Company continues Mr. Ailey's mission by presenting important works of the past and commissioning new ones. In all, more than 235 works by over 90 choreographers have been part of the Ailey company’s repertory. Before his untimely death in 1989, Alvin Ailey named Judith Jamison as his successor, and over the next 21 years, she brought the Company to unprecedented success before designating Robert Battle, who served as Artistic Director from 2011 to 2023. In 2024, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is being led by Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing.

BAMkids

BAMkids presents high-quality, globally diverse programming that sparks curiosity and ignites the imaginations of young minds. This season’s programming includes the return of the beloved BAMkids Film Festival, BAMkids SpringFest, and Gimme Please!

BAMkids Film Festival

In association with Melbourne International Animation Festival

Feb 1 & 2

BAM Rose Cinemas (Peter Jay Sharp Building)

30 Lafayette Ave.

Tickets are $14 for adults and $10 for children

Ages 3+

Ticket information will be announced in January 2025.

Highlighting the best shorts and features from around the globe, the 27th annual BAMkids Film Festival returns with US and New York premieres at BAM Rose Cinemas. This year's slate will be announced in January 2025.

Gimme Please!

Alliance Theatre
Created by Megan Alrutz and Samantha Provenzano

Directed by Samantha Provenzano
Scenic and lighting design by Michelle Habeck
Costume design by April Andrew
Original compositions by Okorie "OkCello" Johnson

Mar 28—30

BAM Fisher (Fishman Space)

321 Ashland Pl.

Brooklyn, NY

Tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for children

Ages 0–5

A play about the evolving nature of friendship, Gimme Please! follows the journey of two friends—from initial meeting to lasting connection. Audiences are invited to watch and explore as the two friends pretend, provoke, and persist in getting what they want and need from the world and each other. Through the use of live music, light, and magic, this story draws audiences in with its deep sense of play and honest exploration of growing up and finding your path.

Perfect for young adventurers, Gimme Please! begins with a 30-minute introduction, where families interact with props and prepare for the 35-minute main event in Fishman Space. Recommended for ages 0–5. Sensory-friendly performances are available.

Commissioned by The Alliance Theatre

Conceived and commissioned in partnership with The PaperBoats

BAMkids SpringFest

May 3

300 Ashland Place

Brooklyn, NY

FREE

Ages 2–11

Get ready for a burst of springtime joy as BAMkids SpringFest returns, painting Brooklyn with vibrant colors and lively sounds that capture the unique spirit of our borough. This fun-filled day celebrates diverse cultures through exciting performances and interactive experiences. Move to the rhythms of Brazil and explore diverse art forms from the global communities in Brooklyn—all while learning about caring for our planet. Join us to plant seeds of curiosity, nurture friendships, and welcome the season of growth with open arms and big smiles. Co-curated by the BAMkids Parent Advisory Circle.   

BAMcommunity

The 39th Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Presented by BAM and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso

Jan 20

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House

30 Lafayette Ave

Brooklyn, NY

FREE (Seating is on a first-come, first-seated)

Brooklyn’s annual celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy with music, performances, and an invigorating call to action. Experience unity and empowerment as artists, activists, civic leaders, and our Brooklyn community gather to celebrate the tenacious individuals who continue Dr. King’s relentless pursuit of equality and justice and to support one another as we carry on the fight for a better world. This free, family-friendly event offers a day of soul-stirring music, inspiring speeches, and community activities. Keynote speaker, musical guests, and additional program information including details on BAMkids Celebrates MLK: If You Can't Be the Sun, Be a Star! to be announced in the coming weeks; visit BAM.org for program updates.      

BAM Fisher Takeovers

Feb—Apr

BAM Fisher 

321 Ashland Pl.

Brooklyn, NY

BAM is excited to introduce Fisher Takeovers, a series of unbounded multi-disciplinary house parties at the BAM Fisher. Each takeover is curated by a single artist or organization from BAM’s extended cultural community, presenting works throughout the building’s four floors for an entire evening.

In Realismo Magico, Miami-born, Brooklyn-based artist José Parlá welcomes audiences into a multidimensional world where the mystical and sensual seamlessly merge with Latin American historical narratives, in February.

On the Shoulders of: Hold Up that which Holds You Up in April will be a day of intergenerational artistry co-curated by BAM Education participants, centering the legacy of community, collective creation, and care through visual art, dance, music, and poetry.

The eagerly anticipated return of Everybooty offers a multi-genre, multi-gender celebration of queer culture for Pride Month in June.

With four floors of provocative, celebratory experiences to see, hear, and participate in, these evening presentations extend well into the night.

BAM film programs 

BAM's spring film offerings will cover an exciting spectrum of repertory programs and new releases. The season will elevate compelling narratives and documentaries that shine a light on the rich, personal experiences of the Black working class, LGBTQ+ communities, indigenous diasporas, and more.