Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Pride Performances, Roundup 2: Fabulous queer cabaret at La MaMa, Feinstein’s/54 Below, and the Guggenheim

• By drediman
• June 24, 2021
• No Comments

It’s Pride Week, which means that LGBTQ-focused performances are in full swing. In recent days, I had the particular opportunity to sample some fabulous queer cabaret performances, namely at La Mama, Feinstein’s/54 Below, and the Guggenheim.

THE LA MAMA LOVE CABARET
La MaMa Experimental Theater Club

This past Tuesday at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, I attended The La MaMa Love Cabaret (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), a benefit for the renowned downtown incubator of experimental theater and longtime champion of queer performers. Hosted by the always stunningly fashionable RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Sasha Velour, the evening featured performances by some of New York’s most distinctive drag queens, including Jasmine Rice LaBeija, The Illustrious Pearl, Sweaty Eddie, Pixel the Drag Jester, and Untitled Queen. What struck me most was the astonishing variety of drag that was represented – live singing, high camp, clowning, performance art, political theater, and of course lip-syncing were all on glorious display. The evening was anchored by a somber performance from nightlife icon Justin Vivian Bond at the piano and concluded by honoring drag pioneers Charles Busch, John Kelly Darcelle, Agosto Machado, Michael Arian, and Alexis Del Lago. Luckily, the show has been made available for streaming for the rest of June for those of you who missed this special occasion.

SHAKINA NAYFACK / BETH MALONE
Feinstein’s/54 Below

Last Thursday marked the long-awaited re-opening of Feinstein’s/54 Below, perhaps New York’s premiere cabaret club. Featured in the initial lineup of shows were a couple of queer performers, namely Shakina Nayfack (best known for a recurring role in the television series Difficult People) and Beth Malone (star of the musical Fun Home on Broadway). Shakina’s act (RECOMMENDED) – the late night offering on the club’s opening night – showcased a more vulnerable and sensitive side to the usually sassy transgendered performer. Particularly moving was her encore to Jewel’s aching ballad “Foolish Games”, a full circle moment in the performance that brought me close to tears. Ms. Malone’s sold out show (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), in contrast, was spunky and invigorating. Indeed, it seemed that the lesbian actress – looking and sounding absolutely gorgeous after spending the pandemic in Colorado – could do no wrong. Throughout the evening, she flaunted her spectacular versatility, seeming equally at home across the Broadway songbook (from The Unsinkable Molly Brown to Fun Home), contemporary popular fare, and everything in between.

ROSE: YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
Works & Process at the Guggenheim

Lastly, the Guggenheim’s Works & Process series closed out its extraordinarily diverse season last Sunday with excerpts from John Jarboe’s cabaret act Rose: You Are What You Eat (RECOMMENDED). A cross between a lounge act and performance art, the show tells the artfully autobiographical story of Rose, Mr. Jarboe’s twin who was “absorbed” or “consumed” by the cabaret performer in the womb. Thematically, the show is a meditation on gender fluidity, as well as the notion of nature versus nurture. In terms of performance style, Mr. Jarboe channeled both Taylor Mac in his outrageous costuming, as well as Rufus Wainwright with his smokey, soulful voice and song delivery. To conjure his long lost sister Rose, he tapped into both his feminine and masculine sides and saturated the show’s design elements with the overarching image of roses. Although the echoey acoustics in the museum’s famous rotunda conspired against the performance, Mr. Jarboe bravely trudged on to deliver the show’s collection of moody art songs with aplomb.