Sure, Mariah MacCarthy’s new play, Magic Trick, is full of sexy goodness, what with its burlesque routines, girls kissin’ boys, girls kissin’ girls, full on nekkid scenes and all the steamy, flirty, hungry passion that can erupt between two (or three) people caught in a windstorm of lust and love and like and leaving. But scratch the surface of all the seduction and right below you’ll find a strong play filled with true emotion, hard choices, honest conversation, not-always-likable characters, and unanswered questions.

Magic Trick clocks in at over 2 hours but don’t let the run time fool you – the pacing of this show has it feeling much faster thanks to the solid direction of Christina Roussos who uses every opportunity to bring as much information to the audience at once so that each moment is filled to the brim with the identities of these individuals.

The story revolves around Bana (Diana Oh) the beautiful, sexual, confident, wheelchair-bound girlfriend of Eric (Nic Grelli) who, on the night we meet them, are in a club hooting and hollering their admiration for Clara (Kim Gainer) who is performing a sizzling burlesque number.  Talk turns to the couple taking the performer home, and while it doesn’t happen this first scene nicely sets up the parameters of Bana and Eric’s relationship, their views on their sexuality as a couple, and exactly where Bana’s paralysis falls on the spectrum of difficulty- for the couple, for Bana, and for the tone of the play. It also lets the audience in on the secret that Bana and Clara have already been involved for a while.   Additionally MacCarthy neatly informs the audience, with this first scene, that while Bana is paralysed this detail does not define her … it’s simply another one of her characteristics as much as her sense of humor; something to be taken into consideration, but nothing to be singled out.  Like setting up the chess pieces on a board, everything is now in place for the game to be played with a vengeance.

Hereafter MacCarthy plays hard and fast with the timeline mixing present day with flashback so vigorously that – even with the help of cue cards – it can be a bit of a task to sort out where you are in the story line.   If Magic Trick were a more linear story where “A” leading to “B” was the only thing you could rely upon in order for Sherlock Holmes to reveal the criminal in the end, all this jumping around would work against the plot. For Magic Trick, however,  it’s not necessary to follow the time-line as much as follow the need.  While cause and effect generally occurs in a linear way, our minds put the pieces together in an altogether different way, one which lines up events according to importance and flavor and color and texture and sight and sound … not time.  That’s something that McCarthy intuitively understands as she delivers her characters in snapshot moments of happiness, confusion, lust, honesty, despair and anger.

So while the relationship of Bana and Eric is a complicated one, so is the one between Bana and Clara – and the one between Eric and Clara.  Each coupling produces a different side to the individual and Gainer, Grelli and Oh are all fantastic at portraying not only the many different sides that one other individual brings out in them, but then the whole palate and range of different sides that another individual coaxes out.  We watch as Bana goes from loving Eric to experiencing feelings of emotional and physical betrayal.  She moves out  and on to a relationship with Clara – one which she does not label or define, even as Clara longs to define it.  In a powerful scene that highlights Gainer’s raw strength Clara – with Bana’s blessing – couples with Eric only to turn on him in a way that is unnerving to watch.

Whether it’s with a brooding strip routine that coincides with a scene of despair, dancing as metaphor, stripping in anger or baring one’s body because it’s easier than baring one’s soul, all forms of display are evident in Magic Trick - there to illuminate the person as a whole, not simply to titillate.  And while Diana Oh, Kim Gainer and Nic Grelli all strip seductively, with expert wickedness and nuanced allure there’s no mistaking that this play is not about baring skin but about baring emotions.  Which, once revealed to another, can’t be hidden again behind a feather boa.

~~~

Magic Trick
Caps Lock Theatre
Writer: Mariah MacCarthy
Director: Christina Roussos
Bana: Beautiful, paraplegic, missing. Eric: her (ex?) boyfriend, looking for her. Clara: That burlesque dancer they almost took home. Bana’s donning pasties, Eric’s losing his sh*t, and Clara gets naked and won’t leave. A love story with burlesque.
2h 40m   Local   Manhattan, New York
Drama   Vaudeville/Sideshow/Magic/Burlesque
Staycation: Ride the Rollercoaster of Love   My NYC Story
www.capslocktheatre.com/
VENUE #18: HERE Mainstage Theater
Sat 18 @ 12  Sun 19 @ 3  Tue 21 @ 4  Thu 23 @ 8  Sat 25 @ 7

Related Posts:

• The Foreplay Play – What Comes Before
• Mariah MacCarthy’s New Play Looks For Laughs In All The Dark Places: Lysistrata Rape Play
• Songs Of Love: A Theatrical Mixtape (Fringe Festival 2012)
• GRIMM: A New Musical – Two Sisters, One Necklace (Fringe Festival 2012)
• The Connected: Bundle #1 (Fringe Festival 2012)

Additional reporting by Stephen Tortora-Lee

Mini Fridge was a qualified success this year, with seven shows and seven ways to beat the heat, be dazzled by a variety of entertainers and cross your fingers in the hopes that some of these great shows will be returning bigger, better and badder.  Hopefully you read the Elevenses so you had your pre-show snack  … and even more hopefully you caught some of the ‘fridge.  But if you didn’t, here’s what was in that tiny box (besides beer of course!) —

Bare.  Stripped down and honest, in your face and not making any excuses, Bare. was a riviting collaboration between paired teams of burlesque performers and seriously stimulating storytellers.  The idea was to deliver stories which were uncomfortable for everyone –  audience and performer alike.  But sometimes what gets revealed in the uncomfortable moments is actually more familiar than we’d like to admit, and Bare. offered the unique opportunity to experience something difficult in the universally safe environment of theatre.

It was the juxtaposition of unveiling while weaving – taking away while creating – salty and sweet: the best use of your senses. The result was unconventional and groundbreaking.  Issues included having sex for the first time, initial attraction to girls and one memorable performance which was the reenactment having a hymen broken. This was sensuality and strangeness … all living up to the straightforward title and leaving nothing hiding undercover.

The intention is for Bare. to go on from here; three more performances are in the works: September, November and capping off with a final show in December. For those interested in a REALLY different set of circumstances, the September show will feature a switch up: the burlesque performers will write the stories and the writers will strip down.

Curated and hosted by Peter Aguero this special Mini Fridge volume starred Adam Wade, Sarah Jenness, Diana Spechler, Magdalena Fox, Francine, Amelia Bareparts, and Mary Cyn as The Kraken.

Written by Alexis Roblan and Rachel Kerry, Bible Burlesque is what happens when your FRIGID show, Daughters of Lot, needs to raise money to get to the Edinburgh Fringe.  Whereas Daughters of Lot was the story of the two bible gals told through the eyes of feminist burlesque performers, Bible Burlesque goes behind the scenes to tap into the funnier side of what goes into creating a show  - especially one with a premise that tries to marry Bible with Burlesque.

“The events depicted in this show are real … at least the parts about fundraising” states the program … and so, without pulling any punches, begins the meta telling of this journey.  Equal parts storytelling and burlesque (with maybe a little more storytelling) Roblan and Kerry are portrayed by Marelena Kalm and Victoria Longwell who re-enact the process of how one (or in this case, two) exactly go about creating a unique burlesque show built on biblical themes.    Everything from a Noah’s Arc theme to “What if God F*cked one of us?” crossed thier minds and crossed the stage with often hilarious results.

The good news is that as of the time of the show they raised enough money for Daughters of Lot to get to Edinburgh … just not enough money for any of them to eat during their overseas stay.  Let’s hope when they’re abroad they meet a dude who can work a miracle or two around some loaves and fishes.  Hey, it worked once, right?

Bye Bye Bombay was full of the sights, sounds and personalities of India, all channeled through Gauri – a young woman who makes the trip to follow in her mother’s footsteps.  Cara Yeates – who wrote and performed – channeled many different characters convincingly and used screen projections and a driving soundrack to bring the world of Bombay – and Bollywood – alive.

Most impressive among talents such as puppetry, mimicry and storytelling was the way Yeates  performed a showstopping dance as she lip-synched to a dazzling Bollywood production number, bringing the lavish world of Bollywood to UNDER St. Marks.  Yeates also notably embodied an arguing couple who fought with each other in one of the many languages spoken in India.  When Ms. Yeates says she lived in India for a year, there’s no doubt about it.

By turns both forceful and delicate, Bye Bye Bombay was a true delight.   As a New Yorker I thrilled to the fact that, through this one-woman-show, I was given confirmation that a place exists which appears to be crazier, more crowded, and more chaotic than New York.  However, what India also appears to have is a plethora of spirituality and a means to find your center if only you can break away from the hypnotic Bollywood beat … something else which Ms. Yeates was able to capture and manifest beautifully.  Bye Bye Bombay may be bye bye for now, but I’m hoping we have another chance to meet again soon.

A striking combination of futuristic noir, multimedia and music ranging from lounge to complex ambient initium/finis  is a gripping story that pulls you through many layers of a world that represents – as the title implies – the beginning and the end, melding past with future.

Metropolis fans will find an echo of that world here.  Ellery Royston embodies two clones who are experiencing two sides of a story which involves murder, intrigue and a journey toward self discovery in an alien future.

initium/finis was mezmerizing, with deep themes  that were well executed with a stunning multimedia component which alone was worth the price of admission.   It depicted an overlay of lush city scenes as well as short movies.  These shorts captured Royston’s stunning range —  for while she’s expressive on stage she’s even moreso in the filmed sequences.
Possibly most compelling were scenes executed in shadow play where much of the “real” action happened at times – the intrigue of this heightened version of the characters offered an extra note of theatricality and dimension.

Back after a successful FRIGID run, initium/finis shows that there seems to be no end in the near future for this deeply affecting story.

As usual Killy Mockstar Dwyer and her talented band delivered an inside-out performance  – crowds who know and love KTB should know better than to expect run of the mill when it comes to this bunch!  Kill the Band: Mock Bottom  started off with a dark theatre – extremely so – as we’re all trapped in the darkness with Killy who gropes about and tries to figure out where she is.

Of course it’s a relief when she comes to find she was simply lost in a closet after a night of drunken debauchery right after recording Kill The Band’s new album, Mock Bottom.

Killy then launches into a strong opening performance which got the crowd pumping.  What followed was 60 minutes of pure energy and frenetic joy delivered in typical Kill The Band style as Killy and her loyal (and seriously talented) musicians- Joe Yoga, Mike Milazzo, Blair Frowner and The Human Drum Machie- delivered one song after another that was both funny, thoughtful and catchy.

No simple concert, though, the songs were couched in the centeral theme of Killy at her shrink’s office with each of her band members representing one or more of the stages of grief.   A monologue of the creative process would then seque into a Mock Bottom song.

And if you found yourself loving these catchy songs (which include favorites Ben Kingsley, Girl Balls, Clone U, See Something Say Something and Famous Baby) an album was included with the price of admission.

If you weren’t able make the show that doesn’t mean you have to be empty handed with no Kill The Band songs to sing – never that.

• To order the hard copy CD (with 12 page art/lyrics/liner notes booklet!)  visit www.KILLYTHEKID.com.
• To buy the album on ITunes click here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mock-bottom/id530564603.
• To buy on Amazon http://amzn.com/B0086JZTHQ

Legendary: A Man-tasia was first described to me as a drag show without the drag, but Legendary: A Man-tasia wound up being much, much more.  Sure, there was superb lip-synching with so much sass, attitude and choreography that at times it was impossible to sit still in your seat.  But the story was expertly woven through the showstopping numbers – finely crafted to tug at your heartstrings.  Not simply a backed-into plot to accomodate the songs, this story of two men: Larry (Michael Awusie) and his love Stev (Mark O’Connell) trying to define their relationship as they try to define themselves was heartwarming, bittersweet, loving, sexy, and a triumph.  But oh, let’s talk about those lip-synch numbers!

Larry’s rendition of Sheree Whitfield’s – “Who Gon Check Me Boo?” was absolutely inspired (and I can’t stop YouTubing it.  Not for the original, but in memory of  Michael’s version). The show was filled with moments of pure, joyful production numbers like this. To watch O’Connell and Christopher Burris as Bishop Eddie Long (who has a naughty, nasty hold over Larry) duke it out in a battle with musical fireworks worthy of those spewed forth by Harry Potter and Voldermort as they channeled superdivas Whitney Houston & Aretha Franklin for “It Isn’t, It Wasn’t, It Ain’t Never Gonna Be” to underline the point that “he aint never, ever, never never, never gonna be your man” gave me goosebumps.  In fact,  it made me wanna go out and steal someone’s man just so I could re-enact this scene on my own.  I mean … seriously boo.

Cap this all off with a stupendous Jennifer Holiday channeled by Kimberlee Walker who had me shaking and, well – could you want more? Oh … wait … a fantastic story. All this lucious lip-synching is draped over the terrific bones of a strong story of one man who is trying to shake off the past (Bishop Eddie Long – who is actually there in spirit, but what a spirit it is) and embrace his present: Stev, a tall drink of water who loves him like Islands In The Stream (aww! Sweet!) but can’t quite come out of the closet far enough to shout it from the mountains. Well, not yet.

And, I did mention Jennifer Holiday, right? This was A Man-tasia in the truest sense of the word -and while I actually don’t KNOW what the truest sense of the word ‘Man-tasia” actually is I will say it’s a  fantasy, told from the heart, set to a driving soundtrack of amazing songs (and a little Babs in there too of course). This was no show – this was an experience. I want it back again, ASAP. Weekly if possible – with surprise guests! Pleeeez???

 

Xmas in July?  You bet your buttons!  Or, in the case of Lord Gregory & Mademoiselle Godin’s miniXMAS Spectacular - you bet your bouton!

This french brother and sister act have it all.  Charm, style, talent … and what friends they have!  Greg Levin and Michelle Leona Godin don the outfits of a bygone french era and the personalities of french twins to create a salon in which their charming circle could congregate to celebrate  miniXMAS for our enjoyment.

One after another their talented friends came to the stage to kick up their heels with the crowd.  So many! Joe Yoga was there and you know what a fan I am of his!  Leslie Goshko did the most inspired version of Frosty The Snowman I ever heard … If Frosty was actually that guy whom Alanis Morrisette wrote about in You Oughta Know.  (WHY did no one ever do that mashup before?  No matter … Leslie did – and it’s brilliant).  AND imagining FROSTY is a lot better than imagining that guy from Full House putting it to Alanis, non?

Michael Birch reminded everyone that We Need A Little Christmas … and also reminded us that the whipping sound in Sleigh Ride (1:07 in this beloved Boston Pop version) is actually … you know ... a horse being whipped.  Still, it didn’t keep us from merrily participating whip and all.  After-all, miniXMAS is all about tradition!  Then Beezy Douglas weighed in with an anti-christmas song because it is JULY after all.

But there were skits too!  Lord Gregory himself wound up playing the Santa who got caught in a sting set up for a pedophile … though he digs himself deeper and deeper (But Becky wrote me a letter!  I brought this bag of toys!  Children write their fantasies to me!!!)  Later after Chromatic Stampede sang about wanting nothing more for christmas than consumer debt forgiveness Peter DeGiglio flipped the script on Twas The Night Before Christmas and pulled out an aresenal of voices from his bag of tricks as he told a Mook miniXMAS story — in verse.  C’est Manifique

With a Krampus making an appearance via shadow puppet master Ceili Clemens the whole evening was pretty much complete.

Like any good miniXMAS there were a few other little surprises under the tree, but the real present was the great feeling of joy and good will toward men and … oh forget it.  It’s JULY.

Thanks Lord Gregory and Mademoiselle Godin for sharing your love of miniXMAS – and your love of each other  … and sharing your friends with us!  See you next miniXMAS!  Whenever that may be!

And that’s it for Mini Fridge this year.  Good job everyone.  See you next year, starting with Elevenses.

Related Posts:

• Grab A Snack From The Mini-Fridge
• It’s Time For Mini-Fridge Elevenses With Kill The Band – Mock Bottom Mockumental CD Release Experience!
• Last Looks At The Happiest Medium In 3-D – Pull Your Glasses Out
• It’s Time For Mini-Fridge Elevenses With Bible Burlesque!
• Daughters Of Lot – A Lot Going On (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

 The Mini-Fridge Elevenses*

11 Questions, 11 Answers … ZERO calories, and 100% YUMMY!

 *Elevenses is a snack that is similar to afternoon tea, but eaten in the morning and might consist of some cake or biscuits with a cup of coffee or tea. The name refers to the time of day that it is taken: around 11 am. 

Bare.

Produced by: Your Mom Presents

Raw stories paired with raw burlesque. Bare. will rip the heart out of your chest, place it lovingly back in, and proceed to do it all over again.

 Show Times:

• Sunday July 1st @ 9PM

Answers by: Peter Aguero
(creator, curator, host )

 1. Your tag line is featured above, so we know the PR version of what this play is about. But when you talk to your family and friends, how do you explain the show to them?
Peter:  My favorite stories are the hardest to tell. My favorite burlesque acts are usually the most emotionally complicated. With this show, I’ve combined the two. Each story is paired with a burlesque act that comments on the shared theme.

2. Here’s a scenario: After the show some audience members go have a drink. What’s the part of the show you hope they’re discussing?
Peter:  I hope that they are too emotionally worn out to discuss anything.

3. What drives your show – character, theme or plot?
Peter:  Theme.

4. What’s the one thing someone said about the show so far that made you the most proud?
Peter: I’ve had more than one person tell me that they hated me for making them confront their own demons while watching the show.

5. Let’s fantasize for a moment. Let’s take the “off-off” off. Imagine this show is on Broadway. Would that change the production itself?
Peter: Nope. Simple is best. Though I’d probably blow the cash on fireworks and pyro for no reason.

6. Taking that one step further – after paying everyone what they’re worth of course, what is the most lavish, luxurious, frivolous thing you would spend money on if there was no constraints? (Think of the helicopter in Miss Saigon).
Peter: I’d buy myself a robotic mech suit with rocket launchers and a whiskey dispenser.

7. Is there a scene, a moment, anything that gets a completely different reaction depending on the audience that night?
Peter:   Each production has different story/burlesque pairings so every time we do it, there’s a different reaction.

8. What’s your favorite line from the show?
Peter:   ”Thank you for coming” – that means that we made it through alive.

9. Is the world of this play sustainable outside a theatre? In other words … do you think people live the way the characters do? Would you want a world where they do?
Peter:  I tell the truth (or as close to it as possible) in my stories. I also spend most of my time with burlesque performers. Whether or not my lifestyle is sustainable is still under review.

10. You scan the audience and you see a face that stops you dead in your tracks – who is it? And why are you shocked?
Peter:  My dad. I tell a lot of stories about him and he wouldn’t be pleased about any of them.

11. Time for Elevenses! Go to the mini-fridge of your fantasy hotel. What’s your dream 11:00am snack?
Peter:  Coconut Macaroons and a cup of coffee.

Thanks, Peter, for having your Elevenses with us here at THM!  We can’t wait to see Bare.!

If you’d like to catch Bare. at The Mini-Fridge Festival find out more by clicking this link.

~~~

HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP IN ASSOCIATION WITH FRIGID NEW YORK PRESENT THE 2012 MINI-FRIDGE

JUNE 28 – JULY 4 @ UNDER ST. MARKS The mini-festival will play at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A) June 28-July 4. Tickets ($15/$12 students & seniors) are available online  or by calling 212-868-4444. 

Related Posts:

• It’s Time For Mini-Fridge Elevenses With Bye Bye Bombay!
• Why So Much Shame?: 10 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2016 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• It’s Time For Mini-Fridge Elevenses With initium/finis!
• It’s Time For Mini-Fridge Elevenses With Kill The Band – Mock Bottom Mockumental CD Release Experience!
• It’s Time For Mini-Fridge Elevenses With Lord Gregory & Mademoiselle Godin’s miniXMAS Spectacular!

“This is not your father’s burlesque show,” intones host Atlanta Georgia (Marlena Kalm) to the assemblage who stare at the three preening women who are outfitted in sky-high heels, racy bodices and flirty skirts of the schoolgirl-gone-bad-kilt and tutu variety.  With glittery winks and flicking hips these three women ooze dangerous sex appeal and edgy one-liners (I’m like a happy meal … I come with toys).  They are daring and flirty and dirty and in control – demanding that the squeamish leave the building so that they can get on with the show. “We know how you like it …” they taunt, “And we know why you keep it a secret from Wifey.”

Welcome to Daughters of Lot (written by Alexis Roblan and directed by Rachel Kerry) where the Bible Belt meets the Garter Belt, where Feminism has as many meanings as Eskimos have words for snow and where women run the gamut from young and innocent to young and jaded.  If you’re looking for a man here you’ll find him only when he’s being channelled by one of the women, when he’s being serviced (unseen) by one of his daughters backstage, or when you look to your left at the guy sitting next to you.

Daughters of Lot (L-R: Naomi Bland, Rebecca Gray Davis, Marelena Kalm | Photo credit: Nicholas Grant)

As Atlanta plays ringmaster to One (Stav Meishar) and Two (Caitlin Mehner) the three women proudly bring forth a daring exhibit: the real daughters of Lot who arrive like relics, wrapped in artifacts, inside big dresses but they are nonetheless excited to be there once they get over the rift in the fabric of time.

There’s a lot going on here so let me boil it down to the most important take-aways.  Three narratives are presented and intertwined but they all deal with one theme and all weigh the same issues to see how the scales balance: is Woman a victim or is she the victor? (It should be noted that “Atlanta” means “balance”.)

Story one is the very constructs of the play: burlesque and all its forms – from the theatrical to the modest and reserved.  Regardless of attire a woman teases and beguiles — offers up her most private moves and rituals for an audience.  By doing so has she conquered them?  Or is she theirs to use up and toss aside?  Second story:  The actual story of Lot’s daughters.  There has always been some debate as to who did what to whom after they fled Sodom & Gomorrah.  Mother, turned to salt, could no longer service their father.  Did the daughters take it upon themselves to “know” their father … to save the human race?  Or did the father simply continue a practice he’d started long before they fled?  Then there’s the third story of Atalanta (or Atlanta – there are 2 versions which are told to the daughters of Lot).  The story is basically one of a young maiden who is not interested in marriage and plays at being a boy to get away from her suitors.  A race is held – the winner will get her hand.  She enters the race herself hoping to claim herself at the end, only to get distracted by some apples (maaaaagic apples).  Long story short, in the end she marries the guy who won the race.  Happy ending?  That’s a matter of perspective.  In fact – it’s all a matter of perspective.  Which is the one big theme: victim or victor?

Two (Caitlin Mehner) holds down Atlanta (Marelena Kalm) as One (Stav Meishar) jeers | Photo credit: Nicholas Grant

Throughout the hour Daughter 1 (Naomi Bland) and Daughter 2 (Rebecca Gray Davis) play the straight man, as it were, and allow Atlanta and crew to zip them (and us) through a cliff notes version of what it feels like for a girl, always driving home the point of balance.   Bland and Davis do a wonderful job at convincingly portraying newly-hatched women who are window shopping in the Mall of  Female Stereotypes where each conceivable brand of woman is, in turn, either celebrated or bashed.  However, no matter what lessons Atlanta and her One and Two can provide for the Daughters the story of Lot must play out as it should.  While the idea of who the aggressor is  - at least from this tale’s context – seems fixed,  the question of their perspective having been polluted becomes a weightier question thanks to the new stories that have been interwoven with theirs.

This play was originally longer and cut to fit FRIGID’s 1 hour time-frame, which I knew going in.  I’m not sure that Daughters of Lot works best as a one hour show; possibly making it even a bit shorter might have worked, though when taking out important moments it’s difficult to know which will resonate with the audience and which won’t – and ultimately you want to leave the audience with a thoughtful piece of theatre, not a hacked-up poetry reading, so it’s impossible for me to say what- other than the original format -would best serve this play.  I would very much enjoy seeing the full, uncut version in order to experience the original pacing and impact.

When these women announce at the top of the show that this is not your father’s burlesque show – and not for the squeamish – they’re correct.  I doubt there was a man in the audience who expected to be challenged so directly by women wearing so little.  I could tell it made some of them uncomfortable.  Frankly, this story should have made people uncomfortable starting a long time ago.  Go back and read the original if you need a refresher and then go see Daughters of Lot for a new perspective.

~~~

~~~

The 2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL will run February 22-March 4 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets to all shows may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

Related Posts:

• 2nd Season Mini Fridge – Tasty, Filling And Leaving Audience Wanting More! (Jun 28, 2012 – Jul 04, 2012 )
• Daughters Of Lot: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• It’s Time For Mini-Fridge Elevenses With Bible Burlesque!
• Scratch & Pitz Burlesque and Variety Hour – Seven Act Scratch (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Acute…Girl: 10 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2016 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

The Happiest Medium Review by Guest Contributor Linnea Covington

If you have ever had dreams of your dolls coming to life and doing a sexy strip tease, this show is for you. Produced by two-time FringeNYC winning performer and playwright Cyndi Freeman with storyteller Brad Lawrence, both whom are burlesque performers, Scratch & Pitz Burlesque and Variety Hour proved a comical hour of pretty girls, awkward men, song, and a tantalizing strip-off between our heroine and the Devil. That’s right, the Devil. Played by Lawrence, who goes by Handsome Brad in the burlesque world, the Devil comes on stage dressed to the nines with the intention of garnering a few souls for his collection. What he didn’t reckon was facing off against Cherry Pitz, played by Freeman, a pink puffy-wigged aspiring variety show host who is a combination of Lady Gaga and Fran Drescher with just a splash of Jersey Shore.

The show starts out with the basic rules of burlesque, helpful hints for those who haven’t ever seen this type of show and might not know what to do. Just remember, as Lawrence belted out, “If you see something, say something.” After that the hoots followed and for good reason—the show is chock full of fun, sexy acts and the performers obviously were having a good time. Which brings me to the only thing off about the show – most of them looked like they were about to bust out laughing. Of course we did a few times but especially in the ventriloquist scene with BTK Band dancer Amelia Bareparts and Moth GrandSlam champion Peter Aquero. Hands down this was the best act as Bareparts played the dummy, guided by a fat, socially inept man who is trying to blossom through the power of his wooden doll. The scene runs so smoothly that while you know Bareparts is a real live girl, at times you can’t help but wonder.  Things take a turn for the naughty after the Devil enters the scene and our poor ventriloquist gets more than he bargained for. Thank goodness.

Other acts include a lion-taming bit (featuring Bareparts again) with Lucille Ti Amore. Mary Cyn got a turn as Cherry Pitz and the Devil’s daughter, which features a deviant dress change as daddy’s sweet little Chastity strips down to become mommy’s little Chaz ala the Bono family style. She might not look like a man in the end but Cyn sure looks hot in leather shorts, an outfit she sure didn’t sport in her ballerina days. The show is also peppered with acts by BTK Band’s Rory Scholl, a folk musician who belts out tunes about an abusive woman (or was that his guitar?) that treated him badly…hard to tell but either way hilarious.

As a producer and performer with Hotsy Totsy Burlesque, Freeman got into burlesque late in the game, about 10 years ago in fact when she was in her late 30s. Now 47, she displays the same pizzazz and energy as her younger counterparts but mixes in a sophisticated plot line. The narrative she and Lawrence  presented on stage not only proved whimsical and fun, but actually told a story. But don’t be fooled: it’s definitely a sweet, sassy, and sexy story.

~~~

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The 2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL will run February 22-March 4 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets to all shows may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

Related Posts:

• Scratch & Pitz Burlesque And Variety Hour: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• 2nd Season Mini Fridge – Tasty, Filling And Leaving Audience Wanting More! (Jun 28, 2012 – Jul 04, 2012 )
• Fear Factor: Canine Edition – Puppy Love (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Musical Pawns: Lost Music And Direction, Found Voices (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Missed Connections: An Exploration Into The Online Postings Of Desperate Romantics (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Five Questions. Five Answers. And One Big Decision: Rock, Paper, Or Scissors?

Daughters of Lot (Marlena Kalm, photo by Rachel Kerry)

Daughters Of Lot

Company: Brain Melt Consortium
Directed by: Rachel Kerry

The evening’s entertainment is a sexy and silly retelling of an ancient story, until the performers do a trick that requires more than flexibility. Arousing and agitating in Biblical proportions, this is not your daddy’s burlesque club… or maybe it is.

Show Times:

• Thu 2/23 @ 7:30 pm
• Sat 2/25 @ 5:30 pm
• Tue 2/28 @9:00 pm
• Fri 3/2 @ 5:30 pm
• Sun 3/4 @ 4:00 pm

Answers by Alexis Roblan

(Playwright, Producer)

Karen Tortora-Lee’s Question
That’s some title. How did you come up with it – and what does it mean?
Alexis: Daughters of Lot takes place in a burlesque club where the performers conjur up a couple Biblical characters to play with — Lot’s daughters. So in one sense, the title’s pretty literal. It’s also a reference to the fact that Lot, from the story of Sodom & Gomorrah, has a name, but none of the women in the story (including his daughters) are ever given names.

Diánna Martin’s Question
If you were going to invite five people, anyone from past and present, to see your FRIGID show – who would you invite and why?
Alexis:
Lot — to ask him how he feels about the portrayal.
Jean Genet — because the structure for this show was originally inspired by his The Blacks.
Susan Faludi — because Backlash is quoted on the title page.
Leigh Silverman — because I have a huge director crush.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck — to watch her squirm.

Antonio Minino’s Question
What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve ever made for your Art and was it worth it?
Alexis: In January 2010 I moved to New York with 2 friends here, no job prospects, and not much money, having spent a total of 10 days in the city prior to my move. It was pretty nerve-wracking, and I spent quite a bit of time missing friends and my car for that first year, but I also built a great community here and started a theatre company, Brain Melt Consortium. And now we’re in the Frigid Festival! Success story! Totally worth it.

Geoffrey Paddy Johnson’s Question
Was there any unexpected discovery made during the development of this production and, if so, can you share it?
Alexis: This used to be a full-length play, that we cut down to an hour for Frigid. Having worked on the script for a few years, it was tough to figure out exactly which moments could be sliced and diced and leave the show as something coherent and powerful. But some of those painful cuts resulted in moments that really made the play breathe in new ways.

Michelle Augello-Page’s Question
What do you hope the audience receives from the experience of seeing this show?
Alexis: I hope people are entertained in the moment, but also disconcerted. I hope they leave with a lot of questions, and that it inspires them to think a bit more than usual about gender and how sex is used in our society.

Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH

THM Bonus Question – We’re serious this year!
In the THM virtual Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH which FRIGID Show do you take on? And what do you throw?

Alexis: I would take on Stripper Lesbians, because their title makes me feel competitive with them. I would throw scissors. For obvious reasons.

Okay then!  Well, the Stripper Lesbians part I get.  The scissors, not so much “obvious” to me, but I’m not always the sharpest scissors in the drawer.  So I say – good choice!  Here’s how you’re doing so far … you’ve been challenged by Love in the Time of Chlamydia who threw ROCK (at everyone) … so that’s a loss.   But that’s just round one … there’s more to come!

Thanks Daughters of Lot for participating in The Happiest Medium’s FRIGID New York Festival 2012 Q&A. And for playing our game! You’re officially SCISSORS in any and all challenges. You may win, you may not – who knows! This is how it works in the crazy world of the Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH!

For the rest of you don’t forget to check out Daughters of Lot!

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Daughters of  Lot

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The 2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL will run February 22-March 4 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets to all shows may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

Related Posts:

• Daughters Of Lot – A Lot Going On (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• 2nd Season Mini Fridge – Tasty, Filling And Leaving Audience Wanting More! (Jun 28, 2012 – Jul 04, 2012 )
• It’s Time For Mini-Fridge Elevenses With Bible Burlesque!
• Scratch & Pitz Burlesque and Variety Hour – Seven Act Scratch (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Magic Trick – Baring It All (Fringe Festival 2012)

Burlesque is about fun and mischief, and Revealed Burlesque is as mischievous and revealing as it gets.

The producer, Doc Wasabassco and co-producer GiGi La Femme, who is also the star of the show, have the moxie and sexy to create a one-of-a-kind neo-burlesque, that combined everything from female allure to the beauty of a human body to a hearty laugh with some deliciously dirty thoughts thrown in. Hosted by the hilarious Bastard Keith along with his stage kitten sidekick, Madame Rosebud, this monthly striptease extravaganza makes your fantasies come true. Perhaps it can even teaches you a thing or two that you always wanted to know but you were embarrassed to ask.

Revealed Burlesque lives up to its name and exceeds your expectations. Consider yourself warned, ladies and gents, the unabashed and uninhibited nudity jumps at you even before the curtain flies up. Madame Rosebud, a female kitten impersonator, who somehow earned a mysteriously charming nickname of a “girl who fell to earth,” simply can’t help it: her stage costume consists of a French-esque hat, soft and comfy leg warmers, and a scarf that she stylishly wears tied behind her chiseled back. Well, if that doesn’t pull your lips up in a smile setting your mood for the evening, this burlesque scene may not be your cup of tea.

Unlike most traditional burlesque shows where every performer enters the stage in a classic striptease garb of glossy gloves, silk stockings and everything in between, predictably removing it piece by piece until all that’s left is a pair of pasties and a strip of lace smaller than a fig leaf, Revealed Burlesque takes the sassy art into a different dimension. Every number is different and not only in the color of pasties.

Marlo Marquise does the classic black-and-red number of high heels, black corset and stocking, ultimately leaving the stage in nothing left to lose. Darlinda Just Darlinda, enters the battlefield wrapped in a red cloth which reveals the crack of her plump buttocks, mounts a red chair and makes your wildest fantasies come true. Not only her earth moves, but so does the concrete foundation of the theater, and perhaps even the rocks of the underlying island of Manhattan scream and shudder in that climaxquake. Kobayashi Maru, the borg of the show, who does her Revealed number enveloped in the mysterious lights of her electrical costume makes you think of a nudist Christmas tree. Both Calamity Chang and Sapphire Jones tease and taunt their audience with their feather fans huge enough to conceal their entire bodies – but only when they want to. And Gigi LaFemme, the star and co-producer, wraps up the night with her lively dance she starts in a lavender bikini and ends in her birthday suit. Gigi is certainly one of New York’s sultriest striptease stars and she does it artfully and with flair, which may be why she won the title Miss Coney Island 2010 and a Golden Pastie Award for Best Booty Shaker 2009.

And of course, the evening just wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for our hilarious host. Bastard Keith whose talents as MC  encompass being a stand-up comedian and comic poet leaves audience laughing as he recites his fall poem Bitches Love the Falling Leaves. After all, stripping is well and good, but a shot of good ol’ slightly dirty humor is like your favorite topping on ice-cream.

Yet, with all its teasing and pleasing, Revealed Burlesque never goes overboard and never crosses that line of becoming just another place where la femme fatales take off their clothing. It never stops being fun- that special kind of enticing feeling when a couple can sit together holding hands while they watch yet another burlesque number without feeling odd or out of place in any way.

An excerpt from Bitches Love the Falling Leaves (with permission to quote from Bastard Keith)

Women like so many odd little things
It’s hard to remember the list
Like puppies and jewelry and donkeys that sing
Or babies or Florida Independent candidate Charlie Crist

But if it’s your aim to get into her pants
You Harrys and Davids and Steves
There’s only one way to be in with a chance
Bitches Love the Falling Leaves

~~~

Related Posts:

• Burlesque Blitz – The Strip Down Before The Count Down
• Wasabassco Extravaganza: Better Than Promised … Night One
• Wasabassco Burlesque – Celebrating Seven Years And Still Going Strong
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On GiGi La Femme
• Early Risers / Night Owls … Come With Me – Help Save UNDER St. Marks

Costume ensembles are just about the only thing that carries Dream of Marionettes as a show. Perhaps the idea of adding a burlesque spirit to a marionettes’ rebellion against an abusive puppeteer who exploited his dolls and threatened to throw them in the furnace seemed like a new twist on the old Pinocchio tale, but the script is simply too flat.

When the dolls get a hold of their Stromboli’s magic wand, they turn the old, bald and goateed owner into a marionette himself, force him to obey their orders and make fun of him in every way imaginable. Nothing wrong with some healthy femme fatale domination, especially when it comes to burlesque, but it’s just never gets funny. In fact, every joke is a cliché, every song sounds like something we’ve heard before and the story comes out lame. Even the promised burlesque part doesn’t seem to really “take” – barely anyone takes any clothes off during the show.

The Bottom Line? The Marionette’s cast, which actually does know how to sing and dance, and the truly great costume designer were the highlights of the show.

————–

Dream of the Marionettes / Le Reve des Marionettes
Les Marionettes Productions

Written by Johanna Divine and Christy Leichty; Music by Johanna Divine and Daniel Coolik
Directed by Steven Cooper and Christy Leichty
Choreography by John Vincent

Final performance: Sunday, August 29th at 2:30pm

www.DreamOfTheMarionettes.com

Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa (66 E 4th St)

Related Posts:

• Magic Trick – Baring It All (Fringe Festival 2012)
• 2nd Season Mini Fridge – Tasty, Filling And Leaving Audience Wanting More! (Jun 28, 2012 – Jul 04, 2012 )
• It’s Time For Mini-Fridge Elevenses With Bare.!
• Daughters Of Lot – A Lot Going On (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Scratch & Pitz Burlesque and Variety Hour – Seven Act Scratch (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

When I was a child there were a few things you could count on, and one of them was that (in the days before VCRs – and yes, honey, I AM that old) if you waited long enough The Wizard of Oz was going to be on TV at some point that year.  Back in the day, TV had that kind of power . . . it could make you wait expectantly for something and then give you the big reveal – making your heart beat faster for that one joyful night.

Seeing Friends Of Dorothy – An Oz Cabaret was a little bit like that and . . . I have a feeling that – just like the hallowed movie – we haven’t seen the last of it.  Dorothy is a Fringe Encore if I ever saw one.  So, while the show has packed up its rigging and its pasties, sit tight.  Here’s a little breakdown of what will certainly come around again:

“Toto,” Dorothy (Rita MenWeep a.k.a Jessica Silver) says to her iPod – crammed with play lists of the band famous for songs like “Africa” . . . “I don’t think we’re in Starbucks anymore!” Poor Dorothy, she got swept away, not in a huge Twister big enough to carry away a house, but rather in a tiny, tidy-bowl sized twister that swirled her through the toilet that she was doomed to clean, had it not, instead, transported her to this magical Land Of Bras.  But Poof!  Just like that the tiny twister took this sister away from her minimum wage job and into the glittery world of burlesque.

First on the scene to welcome her is Glinda (Miss Mary Cyn)  who is swathed in a puff of stuff  . . . but not for long.  Seems clothes just don’t stay on a gal in this Cool New Land.  Glinda sticks around just long enough to strip off the candy pink confection she arrived in, and to give Dorothy some good advice.  Seems the Wicked Bitch of the West (Bianca Del Rio) is looking for the Ruby Pasties (which somehow made their way onto Dorothy’s  . . . dainties) and if Dorothy knows what’s good for her she’ll  . . .well, you know the story.

Soon Dorothy is carried off to dreamland courtesy of a Munchkin (Veruca Honeyscotch) who then dances on the Aerial Silks to a driving Annie Lennox tune.  Sweet Dreams indeed!  Ending with a death defying drop that had the audience gasping in unison as if on cue, this is one Munchkin who knows how to represent – more than just The Lollipop Guild.

So, as Dorothy moves through this strange but exciting land it’s the usual gang of suspects – Scarecrow (Jenny C’est Quoi) does a fun striptease from atop her perch amid the corn, Tin Man (Schäffer The Darklord) entertains with a foul mouth and a nasty attitude (“I am the Tinman . . . who the hell are you?”) by breaking it down for us via a 100mph rap that – if you can follow it – does a great job of  telling the Tale of Dorothy Gale.  And of course there’s The Cowardly Lion (Sizzle Dizzle) who removes her clothes to the A-Team Theme Song.  Cute.  It’s right about at this point in the show that Gypsy’s “You Gotta Get A Gimmick” popped into my head (Once I was a Schleppa, Now I’m Miss Mazzeppa . . .) and I thought “Wow, this is SOME gimmick!”

The Wicked Bitch does her best to strut and sneer and vamp delightfully, when she’s not introducing the next act.  I mean, summoning her minions.  Flying monkeys (Harvest Moon and Mr.  Fantastic) doing a beautiful routine on the static trapeze and more stripping – courtesy of The Wizard -but not really the Wizard (Ambrose) himself round out much of the middle.

When the gang manages to thwart The Wicked Bitch – not with a pail of water but with something much more frightening to a carefully made-up drag queen – there is rejoicing all over the land, including the joyful Gate Keeper (Go-Go Harder) who does a neat little strip of his own.

In the end, Dorothy realizes that she never wanted to go home anyway, The Land of Bras is where she wants to be . . . and as she strips down to her magical Ruby Red Pasties it’s clear that she’s where she belongs.

Fun from start to finish, with just the right mix of kitch, drag, burlesque, circus, and glam this is one wild ride over the rainbow that doesn’t disappoint.  Keep an eye out, this one will be twisting its way back into town again soon – count on it.

~~~

Friends of Dorothy: An Oz Cabaret
Conatus Productions
Writer: Rita MenWeep, Scot Marshall
Director: Megan Doss

www.conatusproductions.com
VENUE #7: The Ellen Stewart Theatre @ LA MAMA

Related Posts:

• Wasabassco Extravaganza: Better Than Promised … Night One
• Wasabassco Burlesque – Celebrating Seven Years And Still Going Strong
• Burlesque Blitz – The Strip Down Before The Count Down
• “It’s A Wonderful Day To Be A Woman!” In Jurassic Parq (Fringe Festival 2010)
• A Broad Abroad!: 10 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2016 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)