Happy Pride fellow gays and allies!
This month’s highlights included learning that my coworker Ben’s friend won a rent-free year of the “Skittles Apartment” in Kips Bay (just after graduating!), that Tig Notaro’s twins didn’t realize their moms were gay and about the most creative protest by my country folks to date.
Performance
Stereophonic- I took Charlie to see Stereophonic for his birthday, the new Broadway show with music by Arcade Fire's Will Butler, the Saturday night before the Tony’s- which cost me less than half the price of tickets post-Tony’s. The show follows a band recording a new album over the course of a year, with personal conflicts and professional roadblocks- entirely within the confines of the recording studio. Band members actually play as a band throughout the show and the music is so good that you find yourself wanting to sing along, even as you hear the music for the first time. It’s more quiet in many ways than a traditional Broadway show- no dancing or fluff- but really beautiful and Sarah Pigeon’s performance (who was on the amazing TV show The Wilds) is striking.
Surrogate by Ash R.T. Yergens- Around 5 or 6 years ago, Ash’s work was everywhere all the time and I, along with everyone else in dance, had to catch all of it- his last and most memorable work at the time was a studio showing of a funeral of his body- it was beautiful and really tongue-in-cheek funny. Ash was transitioning at the time and very open about that experience in a way that kept him the driver of his own story. Social Media got very toxic so he disappeared and stopped showing work for a while, along with Covid shutting everything down. Surrogate is Ash’s first work “back” and the first one I’ve witnessed of his in which he is not dancing. Though the work is about his experience as a trans masc person with surrogacy- it is also a surrogate dance, in which he, the choreographer is transferring his ideas and movement onto other bodies. Once again- he finds humor in some of the darkest corners of the human experience with massive showman ship.
Las Muñecas Finna Putear: A Drag + Comedy Show Extravaganza- my coworker Taylor briefly mentioned that she was producing a live drag show at 2PM at The Bell House during Pride and really didn’t need to sell me on much else other than the fact that she was producing the show + that it was at 2PM on a Saturday + in Brooklyn. I did not anticipate the caliber of production (including video sketches), dancing, stand up comedians (they were ALL to die for- especially Sydney Washington and Riylan Mills), hosts/QUEENS Papirossa and Michelladonna AND unbelievable dancing- I feel like my friend Bethel and I kept looking at each other with a silent (damn that was good?) over and over.
Sound
Bloodshed Baby by Fightmaster- Sarah introduced me to Fightmaster (E.R. Fightmaster- also a character in Grey’s Anatomy!) and took me to their show at Mercury Lounge last Wednesday and I am now like a teenager, playing the album over and over again, still thinking about the show- where they passed us on their way on stage, and we kneeled up on a leather chair to the side with our heads above the crowd. It was amazing and I can’t stop listening to them.
(I also still recommend listening to the Stereophonic album on Spotify- I love “Masquerade”).
A Field Guide to Gay Animals- Is a delightful look into what we refuse to acknowledge- that some animals are gay! Looking at scientific reporting dating back to the 19th century, this show explores the diversity of gay animals in the animal queendom including- my personal favorite and oldest gay animal to date- 192 year old tortoise Jonathan.
Movies
Sick of Myself- I have to give Ingrid credit for this incredible recommendation of a Norwegian body horror satirical film that follows a couple of two narcissists that will go to the depts of misery (giving themselves a skin disease) to get attention. Not to be watched by the faint of heart (but streamable).
Series
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders- America’s Sweetheart- Tara knows that I am a sucker for DANCE content- particularly of the commercial variety- and maybe because it gives us the opportunity to both laugh and cry about things somewhat close to home (but also not at all). I am grateful that she texted me out of nowhere and made me watch this because I have not stopped for the last 5 days and am grateful I finally can have my life back now that I have completed this series. In this documentary about the 2024 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleading season, the Sports styled footage is gripping/ESPN docs like- and the stakes extremely high for nearly no pay. Religion is sprinkled in everything everywhere, as are old tropes of womanhood, but if you have ever had a passion that broke your body down you cannot help but feel completely sucked in and empathy for the DCC sisterhood. Wondering over and over if this is really the content to watch during pride month. Anyway it’s that good.
Fantasmas- Julio Torres is one of the greatest experimental performers, comedians, designers, geniuses of our time. We are lucky that he never stops working because we don’t have to grieve already having seen Problemista with this and it is somehow even better. Highlights include a Hamster version of a Chelsea type Berghain turned into a CVS with gentrification and cameos by Alexa Demie, Julia Fox, Aidy Bryant, Ziwe, River, Kim Petras, Bowen Yang and so many more.
Visual Art
Marlene Yu Museum- Sarah and I meet our neighbors for drinks every Wednesday and every time we embrace new stragglers to the crew. Two weeks ago, one of our friends brought his old co-worker, visiting from Michigan, who was in town for his mother’s museum opening. He proceeded to tell us her story and show us her art (and also invited us to the opening but I had pottery lol) and I was amazed at the scale of her work, that she still makes to this day on her own. Her museum just opened in Queens!
Xingzi Giu at Lubov- After a long day at work I had some time to kill before a class so I walked to Chinatown and caught Xingzi’s paintings that I found to be so poetic and beautiful- they helped me reset and feel things.
Hang in there/hope you’re doing good!
Allie