Tag Archives: Burlesque

Trapeze Artists, Hobbits and much more!

I’ve already mentioned that you can judge the new Met for yourself this weekend, and be part of history at the 10 year anniversary party of NonsenseNYC; and of course you can peek behind closed doors at all sorts of venues during Open House New York. In addition to all that madness there are many more events to consider.

This weekend you have two opportunities to see The Lord of the Rings as you’ve never seen it before:

Howard Shore’s Original Academy Award®-winning score performed live to the epic motion picture by the 21st Century Orchestra, The Collegiate Chorale and Brooklyn Youth Chorus conducted by Ludwig Wicki.

Can you imagine that incredible score performed live while the movie is screened on an enormous screen? If not buy your tickets now and experience it in person.

Lord of the Rings at Radio City Music Hall

For those of you who read my review of The Golden Pasties and have been lusting for burlesque ever since, the show to go to this weekend is Killer Queen Burlesque at Joe’s Pub.

Burlesque stars Anita Cookie and Clams Casino and emcee Neil O’Fortune, the minds behind The Costello Show: A Burlesque Tribute to the Other Elvis, KISS THIS: Burlesque Rock City and more, return to the Joe’s Pub stage with Killer Queen Burlesque! A burlesque tribute to the music of Queen, Killer Queen Burlesque made it’s debut in early 2008 and has been their most-requested show ever since. Now it returns with an all new, all-star cast: a night of funny, campy, sexy performances combining striptease with live music and comedy, all unified by Queen’s unstoppable lineup of beloved hits.

I’ve already mentioned the crazy vertical 3-ring circus happening at The Trapeze School of New York this weekend; here’s a trailer to give you a taste:

At the Brooklyn Skillshare this weekend you can learn such useful skills as butter making and how to infuse your own vodka. There is also a free lunch involved; I can only imagine the water-cooler talk potential (so, what did you do this weekend? I learned to make butter!).

The Mile High Dance Party is back for a second week at Pianos; I had a blast last week and I would highly recommend swinging by after other goings on Saturday night. Check out their awesome flyer for this week:

mile high

Get into the Halloween spirit early this October with a trip to Greenwood Cemetery, for extra spookiness check out Angels and Accordions– a very ummm… unique site specific work you have to see to believe.

Finally, quick heads up for next week, in celebration of the release of Where the Wild Things Are, there are a range of events happening in the city; it’s billed as Wild Things Week and it’s going to be (ahem) wild!

That’s all for the moment; have a great weekend and be sure to follow The Big Red Apple on Twitter for the latest news!

The Tonys of Burlesque- The Golden Pasties

The burlesque community gathered in all their splendor at the 7th Annual Golden Pasties Awards; the audience was decked out in glitter and sequins and giant fake eyelashes and more hair spray than I have ever before seen in use at one time (and I’ve been to the south). If the Oscars were half as entertaining as The Golden Pasties they would have more viewers than the Superbowl.

Highlights included Miss Astrid as the most caustic announcer you can imagine, especially when interacting with timid Scott Rayow.

Miss Astrid and Scott Rayow

Dulce de Leche’s performance, set to the song Tainted Love, was positively delicious. The presenting of awards seemed a bit secondary, though that may have had more to do with Miss Astrid’s intense scorn (all part of the act I’m sure). Some of the awards were more, ahem, colorful than those distributed at your average award show. I was particularly a fan of “Most likely to end up in Bangkok missing their liver.” Now that is one hell of a distinction.

One of the most beautiful acts was a truly ethereal piece performed by Miss Orchid Mei.

Miss Orchid Mei

Legs Malone had one of the most creative acts; she danced to Smoke Gets in Your Eyes… with a giant match. Props for props!

Speaking of props, The Love Show put on an adorable show with paper umbrellas set to It’s Raining Men. It was particularly fun to have Miss Astrid glowering from the back of the stage during the large ensemble pieces.

The Love Show

Finally, Chata must be given credit for making limbo sexy in a way it has never been before! Look for these performers and all the others from The New York Burlesque Festival at their regular gigs around the city! I’ll send you more info on my favorite shows soon or you can search the site to read about shows I’ve seen in the past.

Brand New Week!

Good morning everyone! I don’t know about you but I had one hell of a weekend! I can’t wait to post my full review of The Golden Pasties, not to mention Brooklyn Boulder, Girl in a Coma and the Mile High Dance Party (Abstract: They were all incredible!). First I want to send out a couple of announcements for today so we can all get the week off to an excellent start!

First off, it may be a bit chilly but it’s not too cold for an outdoor dance performance! The Joyce Theater is presenting a preview of its fall season on the Upper Terrace of Bryant Park this evening. My friend JS is one of the dancers opening the performance so there’s sure to be lots of elegance and beauty in the park!

The Joyce presents six companies performing selections from their upcoming season: Ballet Hispanico, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Complexions, Keigwin + Company, Parsons Dance, and Rioult. For more information on The Joyce Theater, please visit: www.joyce.org.

joyce

Also this evening Edmund White will be discussing the bad old days of NYC at The Half King:

In the New York of the 1970s, in the wake of Stonewall and in the midst of economic collapse, you might find the likes of Jasper Johns and William Burroughs at the next cocktail party, and you were as likely to be caught arguing Marx at the New York City Ballet as cruising for sex in the warehouses and parked trucks along the Hudson. This is the New York that Edmund White portrays in City Boy: a place of enormous intrigue and artistic tumult. Combining the no-holds-barred confession and yearning of A Boy’s Own Story with the easy erudition and sense of place of The Flaneur, this is the story of White’s years in 1970s New York, bouncing from intellectual encounters with Susan Sontag and Harold Brodkey to erotic entanglements downtown to the burgeoning gay scene of artists and writers. It’s a moving, candid, brilliant portrait of a time and place, full of encounters with famous names and cultural icons.

For more of the same check out Abel Ferrara’s documentary on the Chelsea Hotel- “Chelsea on the Rocks.” The New York Times says, “The film is madly infatuated with the Chelsea’s notoriety as a nexus of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll.”

That’s all for the moment; stay tuned for more events happening this week, including a crazy dance party. Also be sure to look into some of the ongoing events I’ve mentioned, like the New York Musical Theater Festival! For the latest updates follow me on Twitter!

P.S. For your listening pleasure this fine Monday; check out this feature on burlesque artist Molly Crabapple!

Film Festivals, Ecofest, Atlantic Antic, NYMF, etc.

There is nothing, I mean nothing, more questionable than questionable musical theater. The New York Musical Theater Festival showcases new and still-in-development musicals; some will go on to be Broadway sensations (Avenue Q got its start at NYMF), others will be so terrible that they will become immortalized. In my mind the art of choosing which show to see is in finding the show that will be just bad enough to be good. My pick for this year is The Last Smoker in America– a musical about smoking. With lyrics like “the glowing tips of all those cigarettes looked like fireflies” this could be the best/worst musical I’ve ever seen. For help in picking your poison check out this article.

lastsmoker

After listening to this analysis of the New York Film Festival I have decided that I am simply not miserable enough to attend any of the films being shown this year. I am hoping to have more luck at the other two film festivals happening this weekend. The Coney Island Film Festival involves “a stunning array of high and low-brow fare, as diverse as the neighborhood it represents. Subjects range from the profound to the profane, showcasing the independent spirit and irreverent nature of the one and only Coney Island.” I am particularly drawn to the short films, such as “Mollye Asher’s Slim and Lena a modern film noir set in the grit and glamour of the neo-burlesque scene,” which I think will fit in very well with The New York Burlesque Festival (also happening this weekend). The Red Hook Film Festival is also focused on our fine city; the festival brings us 2 days of shorts filmed in NYC.

On Sunday you can help save the world, or at least learn about the people who are saving the world, at Ecofest! This massive event includes everything from a fashion show presenting sustainable clothing to live concerts and demonstrations of environmentally friendly cars.

If you’re more interested in fried dough than hemp you may want to spend your Sunday at Atlantic Antic- my favorite annual street festival. Last year K and I enjoyed lots of live music, tried on hats made by local artisans, and checked out the antique buses that the Transit Museum rolled out for show and tell!

Bus @ Atlantic Antic '08

Don’t forget to look at my last post for information on other great events happening this weekend, like NY Pickle Day, the Lamb Takedown and the Mile High Dance Party at Pianos! Plus, as always, you can follow me on Twitter for the latest updates!

Performance and Food and Food Performance

There are quite a range of performances taking place in the Big Apple this weekend. The aforementioned Burlesque Festival is one excellent example (I have my tickets to the Golden Pasties; do you have yours?) and Prelude is sure to be full of surprises as well.

Tomorrow night at The Knitting Factory Girl in a Coma will be putting on their usual high energy performance! Are they hot or what?

Girl in a Coma

Saturday night at Pianos you can join the Mile High club, well, sort of, you can check out the awesome VJ stylings by Valujet Visuals and dance the night away at the best new dance party in town.

mile high

It might not be exactly a performance act but NY Pickle Day is certain be entertaining (and delicious). Check out this video of last year’s festivities:

Wow. Now I’m hungry. Speaking of hungry, Bar Celona will be opening in Wburg this weekend; Daily Candy says

Former glue factory turned noir tapas lounge dishes braised oxtail, herb- and goat cheese-stuffed piquillo peppers, and crispy codfish bombas with orange garlic marmalade. Gazpacho- and paella-flavored artisanal cocktails from madmen mixologists The Tippling Bros. are worth the trek.

Of course if you’re REALLY hungry you simply must head out to the Lamb Takedown, brought to you by the creators of the Chili Takedown and certain to, umm… take you down.

lambtakedown

Sunday night if you feel up to a splurge get tickets to the best tasting event of the fall- The Manhattan Cocktail Classic Preview Gala at New York Public Library’s Astor Hall:

Some of the world’s greatest bartenders will be mixing New York’s most iconic hometown drinks, with jazz greats Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks providing the soundtrack for the appropriate activities (fancy attire and dancing–in addition to lots of drinking–will be encouraged).

One advance notice: I’m also excited about the first-ever Vertical Three Ring Circus at the Trapeze School of New York. You may recall my foray into the aerial arts last spring took place at TSNY. This performance will feature “the aerial performances of Suspended Cirque and Una Mimnaugh, the flying trapeze team from TSNY, and unicycle, juggling and trampoline acts.”

Stay tuned for additions and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter or keep track of the tweets in the sidebar for all the latest news (if you’ve been following you’ll know all about the Ultimate Pole Dancing Championships…)!