'Gifts of the Magi' — and Chesney the camel! — at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery

Thursday afternoon saw a production of "Gifts of the Magi" at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery in 10th Street at Second Avenue ... sponsored by the Henry Street Settlement and Trinity Church Wall Street... 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the church before the performance was underway (the festivities began with a parade here from Haven Plaza on 11th Street and Avenue C) ...

Cast member Chesney, a 5-year-old camel from Pennsylvania (here with his trainer Jason Martin of Home School Camels), attracted the most attention... as Stacie said: "Everybody loved Chesney."

David Duchovny's childhood room with a graveyard view on 2nd Avenue

On the occasion of his new novel, The New Yorker has a short interview in this week's issue (meant to note this in the links wrap on Thursday!) with David Duchovny. For the article, the star of "The X-Files" and "Californication" revisits the East Village of his youth. He grew up across the way from St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue and 10th Street. (His mother still lives nearby.)

Excerpt!

"See the lights on the corner there? On the third floor? Two windows down. That was my bedroom, and this was my view." He gestured toward the churchyard. "It’s a weird view. It's a graveyard. We used to play baseball there. The headstones were flat, and we used them as bases." Just then, the bells began to chime. "Wow," he said. "I'm gonna dissolve."

Read the piece here.  

Photo via @davidduchovny

The Poetry Project's 47th annual New Year's Day Marathon will be a livestream extravaganza

A different vibe for this year's annual New Year's Day reading at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue at 10th Street. 

Here's what to expect via there EVG inbox...

Join 250 poets, artists and performers at The Poetry Project's 47th Annual New Year's Day Marathon. 11 p.m. (ET) New Year's Eve – 11 p.m. (ET) New Year's Day.

This year's gathering combines poetry readings with hypnosis, DJ sets and music videos, ritual offerings, celebrations of place and history, cooking segments, short films, archival media and more.

The Marathon begins New Year's Eve (Dec. 31) with an 11 pm-to-midnight countdown, a broadcast of live performances, and a special feature from the clocktower of St. Mark's. And continues all through New Year's Day (Jan. 1) up until 11 p.m. with an continuous assemblage of performances recorded for this year's Marathon.

The event will be be available online FREE via The Poetry Project's Facebook Live and The Poetry Project YouTube live accounts.

RSVP here.

Naming the Lost at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery

Given the pandemic, the Annual Day of Dead festival is not happening over at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery on 10th Street and Second Avenue this year.

Instead, Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders and Naming The Lost created a memorial to remember local residents who died of COVID-19...

The memorial is now on the church fence... and will be here through Monday...

The church's website has more information about the project at this link.

Thanks to Lola Sáenz for the information...