The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) presents a new film series, in collaboration with award-winning producer and filmmaker Meryl Poster. Each film screening at NOMA will be accompanied by a conversation with Poster and other leading figures. Discussions will draw connections to art more broadly and celebrate cinema as an essential art form.

The museum kicks off the series on Wednesday, May 21, with a screening of director Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) followed by a conversation with actor Jude Law and producer Meryl Poster.

Full schedule:

• Wednesday, May 21, 6 pm, in NOMA’s Lapis Center for the Arts
  The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
  Followed by a Conversation with Actor Jude Law and Producer Meryl Poster
• Wednesday, May 28, 7 pm, in NOMA’s Besthoff Sculpture Garden (outdoors)
  Cinema Paradiso (1989)
  Preceded by a Conversation with Producer Meryl Poster
• Wednesday, June 4, 6 pm, in NOMA’s Lapis Center for the Arts
  The Wings of the Dove (1997)
  Followed by a Conversation with Susan M. Taylor, The Montine McDaniel Freeman Director of NOMA, and Producer Meryl Poster
• Wednesday, June 11, 6 pm, in NOMA’s Lapis Center for the Arts
  Chocolat (2000)
  Followed by a Conversation with Screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs and Producer Meryl Poster

​A limited number of tickets are available for each screening. Tickets are $10 for NOMA members and $15 for the general public. More information is available at noma.org/producerschoice.

​Doubt: A Parable @ Le Petit Theater 
Review by David Lewis

When Doubt: A Parable debuted on Broadway in 2005 it immediately won four Tonys and the Pulitzer, which seems like a striking feat for a four-character one-act play about suspected sexual abuse by a Catholic priest.

John Patrick Shanley’s examination of a New York catholic school navigating the possible misdeeds of an affable young priest chose for setting and environment an incredibly loaded situation, but the play isn’t entirely “about” the high-stakes situation it tees up, but rather the dire processes behind the internal decisions faced by its four characters.

When principal Sister Aloysius, deeply mistrustful of both the secular and the overly informal, fences with Father Brendan Flynn over her suspicions about his conduct, we wonder whether her struggle is actually more with her own faith.

Actor Leslie Nipkow finds humor in the character, delivering some of the nun’s most acerbic lines with wicked timing, but also seems to establish herself with the eager and optimistic younger nun Sister James such as to remind you that “grooming” isn’t limited to sinister priests or male abusers. Elizabeth McCoy’s Sister James slowly unravels under the constant accusations and cynicism of her superior, until the shell that’s left is almost identifiable as a younger Aloysius.
 
If there’s a close but reluctant alliance between the two nuns, the distant alliance of actors David Lind and Queen Shereen Macklin is more haunting and complex. Lind plays Father Flynn, the priest accused of abusing the school’s only African American student; Macklin portrays the boy’s mother, Mrs. Muller.

Although the two won’t share a scene, they together explore complicity and deniability, two actors giving strangely corresponding performances, both characters with shockingly parallel agency. Macklin’s Mrs. Muller reminds me of the Greek chorus: it’s the most passive role of the four. These things are happening to her and her family, but we’re still never given the option to acquit her. Like the chorus, she in this way provides the most direct bridge to the audience.
 
The dialogue is tense, but director Ashley Santos senses the play’s real tension stems from the unsaid implications in a narrative that coldly withholds resolution. We are forced to assess disparate themes as though they are truly natural contrasts: The tension between redemption and safety; “cancel culture” social reactions and the very real threat of child abuse by trusted adults in ostensibly safe places; the injurious certitude of the blindly faithful and the crippling risk-avoidance of those waiting for someone else to solve the problems.

Shanley’s masterpiece is well positioned in our current social moment – and in the theater, you’ll find that the distance between yourself and the players is insufficient insulation from the invariable weakness of your own convictions. 

Doubt, A Parable plays at Le Petit Théâtre through May 18th. Click here for information and ticketing.

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The New Orleans Wine & Food Experience announces its 2025 Labs & Experiences as part of its 33rd annual event, scheduled for June 11 - 15.  NOWFE will present fifteen unique wine and food labs and hands-on experiences throughout the five-day event. Additionally, NOWFE will host its Wine Dinners, Vinola, Tournament of Rosés, The Grand Tasting, and Burlesque, Bubbly, and Brunch. 2025's Labs & Experiences (all LABS will take place at the New Orleans Marriott Warehouse Arts District Hotel)
 
Wednesday, June 11, 10 am – 1 pm, Gonzo’s Smokehouse & BBQ, 12325 River Rd, Luling, LA
EXPERIENCE: Masterclass: Smoking Secrets with Award-Winning BBQ Master Jason Gonzales
 
Friday, June 13, 10 am – 11 am 
LAB: Farming for Flavor: Oregon Wines
 
Friday, June 13, 10 am – 12 pm, The Exchange Club, 2120 Rousseau St., New Orleans
EXPERIENCE: Pickleball & Prosecco

Friday, June 13, 11:15 am – 12:15 pm
LAB: Passport Lab: Around the World in One Hour: 8 Countries/8 Wines with Sommelier Marika Vida
 
Friday, June 13, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
LAB: Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars: Iconic Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
 
Friday, June 13, 1 pm – 3 pm, The Tchoup Yard, 405 Third St., New Orleans
EXPERIENCE: Food Truck Funk
 
Friday, June 13, 1:45 – 2:45 pm
LAB: Natural Wine Decode with RedThumb Natural Wines
 
Friday, June 13, 3 – 4 pm
LAB: New Mexico: The Unexpected Wine Country
 
Saturday, June 14, 10 am – 11 am
LAB: EHRET Winery & Nonna Randazzo’s Bakery: The Art of Wine & Pastry Pairing
 
Saturday, June 14, 11 am – 1 pm, Brennan’s Restaurant, 417 Royal St., New Orleans
EXPERIENCE: Sabering Experience at Brennan's
 
Saturday, June 14, 11:15 am – 12:15 pm
LAB: Contemporary Rioja with Master Sommelier Evan Goldstein
 
Saturday, June 14, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
LAB: Southern Hemisphere: Old World Viticulture, New World Wines with Marika Vida
 
Saturday, June 14, 2 pm - 4 pm, Cure, 4905 Freret St., New Orleans
EXPERIENCE: Cure Presents Cocktails of the World
 
Saturday, June 14, 3 pm - 5 pm, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, 925 Camp St., New Orleans
EXPERIENCE: Art & Wine: An Inspirational Afternoon at Ogden Museum
 
Saturday, June 14, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm, Paradigm Gardens, 1131 S. Rampart St., New Orleans
EXPERIENCE: Shuck n’ Jive: Drink, Eat, Dance

For more info and ticketing, go to NOWFE's website

At James Beard nominated GW Fins, Executive Chef Michael Nelson’s relationship with local fishermen secures some of the Gulf's freshest fish. The restaurant is now offering a new Catch & Cook program, in which fishing enthusiasts can bring their own catch to GW Fins, where Chef Michael will prepare the fish caught earlier that day.
 
GW Fins can recommend charter companies that will take guests out for a day of fishing, and some will even clean your catch and drop them off at the restaurant. Simply make a reservation for dinner later that evening, note that you will be bringing in your own fish, and show up to enjoy your meal (Chef Michael requests that all fish be dropped off at GW Fins by 3pm on the day that guests would like to dine).
 
The cost is $35, plus tax and gratuity, per person for Chef Michael to create an entrée from the catch. The way he prepares the fish depends on the variety of the fish and which local ingredients are at their seasonal peak.
 
Recent dishes include Drum with a Redfish cracklin' crust, Crawfish maque choux, sweet corn spoonbread and roasted corn butter; pan seared Red Snapper served with Louisiana Shrimp Creole, long grain rice and crispy okra; and Sheepshead with a parmesan crust along with jumbo lump crab, asparagus, truffled potatoes, crispy capers and a Meyer lemon beurre blanc (pictured).
 
GW Fins, located at 808 Bienville Street, is open for dinner seven nights a week.  For reservations, visit the restaurant's website or call 504 581 3467 to secure reservations.

After a successful regional premiere of Adam Szymkowicz’s CLOWN BAR ten years ago, the itinerant theatre company is returning to their clown roots with a sequel – this time trading a saloon for a twilight room.

​In this follow up to Szymkowicz's long-running comedy, two years have passed since the events of
CLOWN BAR, and Happy Mahoney – the new clown-crime boss – is missing. Foul play is suspected, so two cops from the “beige life” are enlisted to go deep undercover and solve the mystery.

The NOLA Project’s Khiry Armstead directs ensemble members Natalie Boyd, Keith Claverie, Matthew Thompson, Alex Martinez Wallace, Megan Whittle and Kristin Witt with Benjamin Dougherty, Jessica Lozano, David Sellers and Joe Signorelli completing the cast.

Please note that CLOWN BAR 2 is intended for mature audiences – must be 21+ to attend. For schedule, tickets and more, visit NOLAProject.com.

​Nicolas Floc’h: Fleuves-Océan, Mississippi Watershed @ The New Orleans Museum of Art
Review by Jamie Chiarello

Upon walking up to the stairs of the NOMA, there is no missing the new work by Nicolas Floc'h. Without any further explanation, I would have assumed I was looking at a gigantic value study stretched from floor to ceiling. In some respects that is exactly what it is.

Of course, aesthetics are very a personal thing, and I'm sure that many people will find this piece charming and spirited. Personally, it struck me as simple and confusingly large. In an increasingly desensitized and overwhelmed world, large scale works hope to snatch our eyes for a moment.

The paragraph on the wall informs us that each color swatch is actually a photo taken at various locations and depths along the Mississippi. The array of colors are influenced by sediment, plant life and various chemical contents. There is implied a sense of revelation here, that water can be red, green, yellow or blue. It encourages us to look beyond our initial assumptions about the world around us, provoking curiosity before leading us further along the journey of the watershed.

Moving through the rooms we follow Nicolas on his venture along the river. The color swatches from various locations are interspersed among black and white photos. The photos really had an effect on me that was somewhat the opposite of the color swatches. Vast landscapes with peaks of tired industry give the feeling of aging Americana, of infrastructure quietly fading in the sun. The photos are powerful and beautiful in their own right. It made me wonder what it would have been like to simply witness the photos and feel the sensations stirred without the geography lesson.

I imagine if I had encountered this show in a science museum I would have absolutely loved it. The stress on reiterating the importance of water in our lives (particularly in relation to climate change) feels a bit redundant for a place like New Orleans. Between losing homes to hurricanes, clearing catch basins of beads and debris by hand and facing $6000 bills from sewage and water, locals know too well what intense effects water can have on our lives.

Overall, though, this show does offer educational insights into how water is optically perceived and the effects of humanity trying to simply exist amongst natural resources. I hope the questions raised by the exhibit are being addressed by engineers, politicians and those with the power to affect how much water affects our lives in coming years.

Nicolas Floc’h: Fleuves-Océan, Mississippi Watershed runs at NOMA through ​February 22nd, 2026. Click here for more information.