1. From Thursday to Saturday, those looking to come face to face (or at least face to wax) with their favorite celebrities can take advantage of the special admission discount at Madame Tussauds. Tickets are slashed to $10 for adults and $8 for children if you insert the code V297 when purchasing from the museum’s Web site.
2. Cue Kool & the Gang’s “Ladies Night” and head to Midtown Loft on Thursday, which offers women half-price drafts, bottled beer, and rail drinks from 5 until midnight.
3. Start the weekend by warming yourself at Black Ankle Vineyards’ (14463 Black Ankle Rd., Mount Airy) Fireside Friday from 6 to 8:30. You can sample four Syrahs ($5 tasting fee) while listening to live jazz by a crackling fire. Guests are allowed to bring their own picnic food to eat outdoors, or you can buy a cheese plate on-site. For reservations and more information, visit the vineyard’s Web site.
4. Friday marks the start of the Freer and Sackler Galleries’ free seven-week Iranian Film Festival. The opening film, A Man Who Ate His Cherries, chronicles a factory worker suffering from sexual impotence who’s forced to divorce his wife.
5. Join the Rza, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, and the other occasional members of Staten Island’s finest when Lounge of Three hosts a free First Fridays Wu-Tang Clan edition from 5 PM to 3 AM. The lounge’s monthly party will feature the music (including the solo projects) of the Wu’s catalog courtesy of DJ Nick the 1da, and partygoers can enjoy $1 rail drinks and margaritas until 8.
6. It may be blustery outside, but you can still cozy up with a partner and admire the heavens at the National Air and Space Museum’s free “The Stars Tonight” planetarium show. Spot constellations, planets, and celestial wonders with explanations courtesy of the museum’s staff. For showtimes and to reserve tickets, click here.
7. Dust off your dancing shoes and come thirsty to Cafe Citron’s no-cover Saturday Fiesta Rumbera Night. From 7 PM to 2 AM, patrons can catch Spanish flamenco dancer Sarah Jerez moving to the melody of guitarist Miguelito, followed by a DJ spinning Latin beats. Enjoy $5 sangria, $3 Sagres beer, and a variety of appetizers for less than $5.
8. Bohemian Caverns puts away its saxophones, basses, and drum kits on Saturday night for its CommonGround world-beat dance party starting at 10. For $5, groovers can sweat to acts Wah the BeatPriest, Brown Rice Collective, and DJ Don-X at the venue’s upstairs space. Put those calories back on with two-for-one rail drinks ($3 to $8) until 11.
9. Sunday is your last chance to catch Robert Bergman’s free “Portraits” exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. The 30 photographs focus on the expressive body language of American subjects—a pressing finger, a downcast gaze, or a blurry face. Each image was shot on city streets between 1986 and 1995.
10. Still have some room for yuletide cheer? After marveling at Robert Bergman’s photos (see above), art lovers should take Metro to catch the final day of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s free holiday-cards exhibit. The display features a variety of handmade seasonal greeting cards by artists such as Philip Guston, Charles Burchfield, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
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