Top 10 things to do this week in Jerusalem

1. RED, WHITE AND TRUE BLUE Tom Cruise stars in Doug Liman’s biographical crime film American Made. Cruise plays Barry Seal, a TWA pilot who ran drugs, money and guns between Latin America and the US in the 1980s with backing from the CIA. With Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright.

2. FLYING HIGH Haifa’s Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art presents a new exhibition, “Battle Kites from Japan.” Created by artists Endo Hiromi and Kazama Masao, the exhibition features 40 spectacular kites decorated with mythical fighters, historical and mythological figures, Kabuki theater actors and more. They range from small kites of 40 centimeters to huge ones measuring three meters high.

Ongoing until 2018. For more info: www.tmja.org.il

3. RIFFING WITH RUSSELL New York jazz and blues singer Catherine Russell is performing at the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Eilat. With her rich and colorful voice, she has released six albums and won critical acclaim and awards, including a Grammy for her performance of the 1920s song “Crazy Blues” on the soundtrack of the TV series Boardwalk Empire. The Wall Street Journal described her as “the best blues and jazz singer going today.”

Monday, 8 p.m. For tickets: https://redseajazz.co.il

4. FRIGHT NIGHT This Wednesday, the secret doors of the ancient fortress will open, and the ghosts and skeletons of the past will rule once more as Jerusalem’s most haunted house, “Crazy Mary,” comes to the Old City’s Tower of David. Inside the maze are machines, holograms, dolls and actors – all the horrors one can imagine. Visitors can choose from two different scare levels at two different times (the later, the scarier): 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.-11:30 p.m. Boo! For tickets and info: www.tod.org.il 5. CARVING A NAME FOR THEMSELVES Canadian indie rock favorites Timber Timbre led by Taylor Kirk once again bring their soundscapes to Israel. The quartet, which has released five albums since 2009, plays understated blues and folk-based music that has been called everything from “swampy” and “ragged” to “cinematic” and “spooky.” Their songs have featured on episodes of hit TV shows such as Breaking Bad and The Good Wife.

Wednesday, 8:30 p.m., Barby Club, Tel Aviv. For tickets: www.barby.co.il

6. NATURAL SOUNDS Part of the annual Mekudeshet Festival, Echoes features international sound artists and invites audiences to experience a different side of Jerusalem – its nature – by venturing deep into the Valley of the Cross in the dark of night.

Participants will create their own experiences, sit and listen to music, and forge their own route as they unearth experimental sounds, acoustic performances, site-specific frequencies and experimental machinery.

Thursday, 8 p.m. For more info: http://en.mekudeshet.com

7. RISE OF THE PHOENIX The Vertigo dance company will perform its renowned The Birth of the Phoenix in front of Jerusalem’s Old City walls. Choreographed by Noa Wertheim, the piece is performed inside a bamboo geodesic dome. At the center is a circle of red brown earth. The audience sits around the perimeter, close to the earth, close to the dance.

September 2 to 6 in the Bonei Ha’ir garden, between Jaffa Gate and Zion Gate. Admission is free.

For more info: http://vertigo.org.il

8. ALL-STAR BALLET A number of the world’s leading ballet dancers will perform a special gala evening in Jerusalem in honor of Nina Timofeyeva, the legendary ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater and founder of the Jerusalem Ballet School. Performers include Lucia Lacarra and Marlon Dino (pictured) of the Dortmund Ballet and Roman Lazik of the Vienna State Opera.

September 4 at 8 p.m., International Convention Center, Jerusalem. For tickets: www.bimot.co.il

9. ‘TWOSOME’ AT TAMA For the first time in Israel, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art presents a comprehensive exhibition dedicated to groundbreaking French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010). The exhibition “Twosome” will feature more than 50 works — monumental as well as small sculptures, textile works and drawings — from all the major phases and periods in Bourgeois’s career, including some of her best-known pieces.

Opens September 8. For more info: www.tamuseum.org.il

10. THE SOUNDS OF S&G Direct from its success in London’s West End, The Simon and Garfunkel Story comes to various venues throughout Israel from September 13 to 18. The stage show tells the fascinating tale of how two young boys from Queens, New York – Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel – went on to become one the world’s most successful music duos. Featuring all their hits, such as “Mrs. Robinson,” “Bridge over Troubled Water” and “The Sound of Silence.”

Tickets are NIS 204. For more info and tickets, call *2207.

Top 10 things to do this week:AUGUST 23, 2017

AUGUST 23, 2017 : This week's top 10 attractions.