qboro: Arts, Culture & Living

“It’s hard getting up in the morning,” said Debbie Thalblum, “but when I get here, I never regret it.”

“Here” is the weekly Zumba Gold class in Forest Park at the Seuffert Bandshell taught for the last three years by Maria Gonzalez.

It’s a tale almost as old as time, but “Beauty and the Beast,” a musical being performed by The JC Players through Aug. 11, remains an enchanting fairy tale, a story of how love can change people and overcome just about anything.

In this version, a stage adaptation of the Disney film of the same name, the music by Alan Menken adds immeasurably to the telling. The simple lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice help to reveal the characters’ innermost thoughts, while Linda Woolverton’s book is frequently touching.

Santiago Rizzo wrote “Quest — The Truth Always Rises” with his late teacher, Tim Moellering.

Rizzo was a troubled child with an abusive stepfather and a penchant for spraying graffiti everywhere.

A traveling exhibit at the Queens Museum challenged artists from South and Central America and the Caribbean to offer their alternative takes on the past, present and future, using any device that science fiction has given us to tell their stories.

“Mundos Alternos: Art and Science Fiction in the Americas” is a traveling exhibit from the University of California, Riverside. It also had an exhibit at the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and this past spring has been featured at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria and sites in Manhattan.

Outside, the temperature was stifling as Broadway Blockbuster Productions presented its opening night performance last Friday of the musical comedy, “Bye Bye Birdie,” at The Theatre at The Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston, where it runs through July 27.

Inside, more than three dozen young and highly-charged performers did some sizzling all their own.

Everything old is new again.

At least it seems that way under the guiding hand of area resident Johnny Culver, a theatrical director whose latest endeavor is “The Dover Road,” a 1921 comedy by A.A. Milne, which will be presented by The Gingerbread Players in Forest Hills for three performances only, beginning Aug. 2.

The American Princess Cruises captain unselfconsciously bellowed “There she blows” upon first sight of a humpback whale on an afternoon cruise last Saturday. After an hour or so of peaceful cruising, the call was more charming than cliche, and the passengers rallied to the rail.

In the distance, a carbon dioxide vapor spray flew up out of the flat, calm waters.

They’re creepy and they’re kooky, and, as evidenced in “The Addams Family,” the hit musical comedy now drawing large crowds to Maggie’s Little Theater in Middle Village, they’re a hell of a lot of fun to be around. The show runs through July 19, and it is well worth catching.

With a book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, the show is based on now-iconic characters created by cartoonist Charles Addams. Under the attentive direction of Amanda Montoni, the current production is fast-paced and sometimes quite funny, particularly in the longer and more diverting first half.

In an effort to create opportunities for connecting directly with the community and empowering healthy food choices along the way, Socrates Sculpture Park offers a new program called Back to Our Roots, which includes a wide array of workshops, demonstrations and other activities.

The park, located on the East River waterfront in Long Island City, is open 365 days a year from 9 a.m. until sunset. No reservations are required for a visit.

The ominous warnings should be enough to guarantee a crowd: “Some subject matter may be offensive or triggering. Some plays include physical violence and gun shots. Discretion is advised.”

This is the 2019 edition of the annual LIC One-Act Festival, a series of self-produced plays presented by The Secret Theatre in Long Island City from July 10 through Aug. 17.