THE NEW YORK TIMES: Sheen Center Announces Lineup for Opening Festival

By JENNIFER SCHUESSLER /

Sacred dance from several traditions, a Hollywood premiere, panels on religion and politics, and “an evening of music and chocolate” are among the events scheduled for the three-week grand opening festival of the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, a new arts center on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.

The festival kicks off on Sept. 14 with the New York premiere of the film “Captive,” starring Kate Mara and David Oyelowo. Other events include appearances by the comedian Jim Gaffigan, who will preview new episodes of his television series; the concert pianist Elaine Kwon, who will host an event of music and dessert; and a performance of “The Amish Project,” a one-person play about a school shooting in Pennsylvania. Tickets are available at sheencenter.org.

There will also be a number of free panels, including “His Eminence and Hizzoner,” a discussion about the relationship between Cardinal John O’Connor and Ed Koch, featuring Michael R. Bloomberg; and a discussion of Pope Francis’s visit next month to New York, featuring Cardinal Timothy Dolan. (The Sheen Center is a co-presenter of the pre-Mass event at Madison Square Garden during the papal visit, for which no tickets remain.)

The center’s executive director, William Spencer Reilly, said in a statement that the venue, which includes a 274-seat proscenium theater and an 80-seat black box space, aims to attract Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

“Exploring the good, the true and the beautiful is at the core of our mission,” he said, “and the time seems so right for a new space in New York dedicated to those ideals.”