Editor’s Note: To see the full list of events, please check the calendar. To let us know about the upcoming shows, exhibitions, concerts, movie screenings, festivals, and parties, please send an e-mail to [email protected].
‘Jumanji: The Next Level’
The sequel to a 2017 reboot of the adventure classic “Jumanji” is not only a comical blast for the holidays but also a good reason to try out the new Multiplex cinema in the TsUM shopping mall. “Jumanji: The Next Level” again tells the story of angsty teenagers who get sucked into a video game that assigns them avatars played by Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan. But there is a twist: this time, not all the teenagers make it in, replaced instead by a grumpy grandfather and his elderly friend. The movie has received favorable reviews, with critics praising the lively performances of the cast who “seem to be enjoying themselves so thoroughly.” Along with “Underwater,” the Jumanji sequel opens original-language screenings at Multiplex’s 12-seat cinema hall with “lux” recliner chairs in Tsum.
“Jumanji: The Next Level.” Multiplex (TsUM, 38 Khreshchatyk St.) Jan. 10-15. 11:55 p.m. Hr 395
(Concert.ua)
TNMK. Warm Acoustic Vertep
The founders of Ukrainian hip-hop Tanok Na Maidani Kongo, or TNMK, will transform into the characters of vertep, traditional Ukrainian costumed Christmas pageant, at an unplugged music show in Kyiv. The band, known for instrumental hip-hop mixed with jazz, rock and funk, will perform Christmas songs and some of their hits. In between the songs, they will act as traditional characters of vertep, such as Herod the Great, the Death, the Angel and the Devil. Besides the traditional Christmas themes, TNMK’s vertep will address contemporary issues. After the first performance in Kyiv, the band will tour with this show around Ukraine.
TNMK. Warm Acoustic Vertep. Caribbean Club (4 Petliury St.) Jan. 14. 7 p.m. Hr 390-2,550
(Courtesy of NSOU)
Christmas Symphonies: Skoryk, Nebesnyi
Marrying Ukraine’s Christmas traditions and classical music, the National Symphony Orchestra will perform Ukrainian carols arranged by the country’s leading contemporary composers Myroslav Skoryk and Ivan Nebesnyi. The organizers say that Skoryk arrangements give a “Beethoven-like” sound to Ukrainian carols, such as the famous “Shchedryk,” known in the West as “Carol of the Bells.” And Nebesnyi’s versions of carols such as “Nova Radist Stala” are “light and transparent,” in tune with the mood of American Christmas songs. These symphonic interpretations combine the melodics and expression of the Ukrainian musical traditions with the heritage of the European classical music, the organizers say.
Christmas Symphonies: Skoryk, Nebesnyi. National Opera (50 Volodymyrska St.) Jan. 19. 7 p.m. Hr 99-349
(Mystetskyi Arsenal)
Special Cargo
The short-term exhibition at the Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art Complex revolves around a single painting but also tells the stories of other artworks that were looted and then returned to Ukraine. The highlighted painting, “Secret Departure of Ivan the Terrible Before the Oprichnina,” has been repatriated to Ukraine from the U.S. with the help of the FBI, the Ukrainian embassy and its previous owners, who were unaware that Nazi invaders stole it during World War II. But what set the return in motion were the three exclamation marks by a museum worker in an email sent to an auction house in the U.S., the organizers of the exhibition say. “Please stop selling this painting at auction!!!,” the message said. The exhibition is dedicated to such individuals who help return stolen works of art. As for the 64-foot painting of Ivan the Terrible, it will be exhibited at Mystetskyi Arsenal until Jan. 19, after which it will be returned to its original museum in Dnipro.
Special Cargo. Mystetskyi Arsenal (10-12 Lavrska St.) Dec. 12 – Jan. 19. 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Hr 80, Hr 40 for students and retirees, Hr 160 for a family ticket. Free for children under 12, people with disabilities, Ukrainian war veterans
