July 2025 Roundup and Reviews
A monthly newsletter about creatively inspiring NYC activities like: Pedro Pascal, botanical dyeing, and a competitive-eating competition for goats
Dear Butterbabes™,
A few days before the 4th of July, my sister and I watched Hadestown. We had the best seats I’ve ever had — front row mezzanine for $60 bucks, courtesy of TDF via Kerrygold King Daniel Seth (which if you haven’t read his guest post on these exact kind of hacks, you are missing out!!!) Lin-Manuel Miranda has said that he cries every time he sees it, so I went in assuming it would be totally fine (high expectations lend themselves to meh results).
I’m happy to report that it was exceptional. I could dedicate a whole newsletter to the light design, which involved maneuvering lights over the audience to integrate them into the scenes (a blinding display for descending into hell, a heavenly opening for spring’s arrival, etc.), as well as to the performances themselves, but I want to focus on the thematic undercurrent of the lyrics (go off queen/creator Anaïs Mitchell).
The tldr; premise, inspired by Greek mythology, is that Hades is an evil capitalist bo$$ who wants to control everything because he is #fragile and Orpheus is a young idealist fighting for “how the world could be… in spite of the way that it is.”
I know I’m not alone in feeling that these days, any sort of idealism is impossible. In fact, I found it disturbingly amusing how a musical written ~20 years could have a solo from the big bad patriarch that goes:
“Why do we build the wall?
We build the wall to keep us free…How does the wall keep us free?
The wall keeps out the enemy….Who do we call the enemy?
The enemy is poverty….That's why we build the wall
We build the wall to keep us freeBecause we have and they have not!
My children, my children
Because they want what we have got!”
Sound familiar?! *screams.* Anyways, I won’t ruin too much of the plot, as I do hope you watch it one day, but suffice it to say that the ending does not sugarcoat how things tend to go in the battle between the weak and the powerful. However, the narrator Hermes concludes it in a way that feels hopeful:
“It’s a sad song. It's a sad tale. It's a tragedy…. But we sing it anyway. 'Cause here’s the thing. To know how it ends. And still begin to sing it again. As if it might turn out this time. I learned that from a friend of mine.”
And then, the entire crew begins the performance again.
Recently, I’ve found myself stuck in a similar discussion. I wonder why we sing the same sad song when we know how it will end — why we keep fighting for change just to watch it crumble. And I suppose the above is the answer: we keep singing the same sad song because we harbor hope that it will end differently one day — and sometimes, it does. Sometimes we see the way the world could be, in spite of the way that it is, and make it happen. And I suppose that is enough to keep us singing.
Manola
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Culture
Where we decide if it’s the real deal or just margarine
Soho Playhouse’s Whose Face is it Anyway? (Ventriloquist): Funnel cake fun. I’d never seen a ventriloquist live and it was absolutely remarkable (and hilarious) — I’m officially down for anything Soho Playhouse puts on. Details in May’s newsletter.
Hadestown (Musical): The platonic ideal of butter. See above and in January’s newsletter.
House of Life (Interactive Performance): Just as buttery as I remember her. A big pile of fun, involving a chicken and hopes for a brighter future. Details in June’s newsletter.
Queens Night Market (Activity): Broke the butter-o-meter. I’ve been pumped to go to this for years and it far exceeded my expectations — some of the best food I’ve ever had for very cheap. Plus, tacked on a visit to the Goodwill Outlet with Butter Behemoth Eva, which probably needs its own newsletter lol. Details in June’s newsletter.
The Cultured Butter Club’s July 2025 Roundup
Things to watch
The Classical Theatre of Harlem: MEMNON (Play)
Location: Harlem
Context: An outdoor epic performance following Memnon, the Ethiopian king and demigod who defends the city of Troy, with Will Power’s “pulse-quickening choreography and music.”
Dates: July 5 - 27, Tuesday – Sunday at 8:30 P.M., Fridays at 9 P.M.
Price: Free!
Little Island: The Tune Up (Mixed-Genre)
Location: Hudson Yards
Context: Pulitzer-winner Suzan-Lori Parks and her nine-piece band, SLP & The Joyful Noise, blend short plays, music, and general joie-de-vivre. The vibe: “[throwing] a party in [a] kitchen, alongside starry guests and exceptional newcomers.”
Dates: July 30 - August 3
Price: $10-$25
AMAZE magic (Magic)
Location: Midtown
Context: Visiting from London’s West End, Allan combines “cutting-edge technology “and “timeless illusion” with audience participation.
Dates: July 20 - November 2
Price: $60
Greenwich House Theater: ta-da! (Comedy)
Location: Greenwich Village
Context: Directed by Oh Mary!’s Sam Pinkleton, this one-man comedy show “offers a speedy, delirious, and insightful look into queer writer and comedian Josh Sharp’s life,” including a 2,000 slide “manic Powerpoint.”
Dates: July 7 - August 23
Price: ~$65
Out of the Box Theatrics’ Theatre 154: Beau (Musical)
Location: West Village
Context: I was influenced to add this by a TikToker who said he bawled the entire time: “eight actor-musicians telling the story of Ace Baker – a young queer man whose life is forever changed when he discovers his deceased grandfather is actually alive.”
Dates: June 6 - July 27
Price: $45
Needs More Work Productions: Back-Eye (Interactive Performance)
Location: Woodside and Battery Park
Context: “A daring adaptation of the classic Greek tragedy, this interactive play asks YOU to decide what makes a great leader by choosing a new ending for Euripides' The Bacchae, and a new fate for the performers telling its story.”
Dates:July 11th-13th (Queens), July 18-20th (Manhattan)
Price: Free!
East Village Basement: Out of Order (Interactive Performance)
Location: East Village
Context: “Writer-performer Carl Holder places himself at the mercy of a bowl of index cards—drawn at random to determine what truthful or daring thing he must do next.”
Dates: June 27 - July 22
Price: $44.52
Things to do
Attend the Great Goat Graze Off in Riverside Park, July 12
Context: Please someone attend the (alleged) “first-ever professional eating competition between goats” and take videos for me! My money, unsurprisingly, is on Butterball.
Visit one of the FAD Market pop-ups this summer
Context: An artisan market pop-up in/on Dumbo, Cobble Hill, and Governor’s Island. Dates throughout July and August.
Take a botanical dyeing and embroidery class through The Hoop
Context: Can’t recommend this workshop enough. Includes snacks and drinks, an embroidery crash course, a natural dyeing crash course (where you’ll dye a silk scarf), and flower pressing on canvas in Central Park. Plus, it’s Latina-owned! ~$85.
Listen to Pedro Pascal narrate your journey into space
Context: A genius at the American Natural History Museum earned themselves a promo by recruiting an intellectual hunk to voice over this new documentary. $30 includes this exhibition + museum entry.
Relive your club fair college days at Play Fair in McCarren Park, July 12
Context: One of the coolest events I’ve seen — a big festival “bringing together locals, passion-driven clubs, volunteer orgs, and small businesses.”
Go on a Bats! Night Walk, July 31
Context: Join the Gotham Bat Conservancy (hell yeah) in Brooklyn on a night walk to track bats.
Buy affordable art at the Brooklyn Pancakes and Booze Art Show, July 17
Context: $15 gets you all-you-can-eat pancakes and a night out for this Bushwick-based exhibition (with 100+ local artists). Includes live body painting, music, and, unsurprisingly, booze.
Celebrate arts ‘n’ culture with West Side Fest, July 11-13
Context: “Enjoy artmaking, workshops, dancing, crafts, and other special programming.”
Hitch a ride to Coney Island on a vintage subway, July 19
Context: Take a 1930s subway for this two-hour trip — also available August 10 for a trip to Rockaway.
Check out two fabulous Met exhibitions
Context: My sister and I adored both the Sargent (on through August 3) and d Superfine: Tailoring Black Style exhibition (on through October 26). Tack on a visit to The Tiny Doll House, a few consignment stores like Designer Rival, and Flex Mussels for their happy hour (oysters, lobster rolls, etc.), and you’ve got a perfect UES summer day.
Things to consume
The Great Ice Cream Fair in Prospect Park, July 20th
Context: 10+ ice cream vendors and a day in the park sounds like summa to me.
Things to support
Context: This organization is specifically designed for all of us yopros looking for volunteering opportunities outside of our 9-5, like Care Kit Assembly at Pier 57 or goods distributions for St. Luke’s in the West Village.
Context: Swing by on Sundays to learn about volunteering — they’re specifically in need of chicken-tending support (chicken tenders… if you will.)
Horizons (new category alert!!)
A new category designed to highlight things to book early/look forward to.
St. Anne Warehouse’s: Weather Girl (Play)
Context: A sold-out Fringe favorite about climate change that my sister and I couldn’t get tickets for — by the same production company as Fleabag and Baby Reindeer.
Rooftop Concerts at Pier 17 (Music), Summer Series
Context: Ghee-orgeous Gina introduced me to this concert series — I hate concert crowds but had an overwhelmingly positive experience listening to The Japanese House (plus the view is phenom).
