Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – After recent turn of events, an evening with JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND turned out to be just the right antidote

• By drediman
• November 14, 2024
• No Comments

It’s safe to say that many of us were deeply affected by the turn of events earlier this month. That being said, it turned out that all I needed to nudge me a little bit out of my funk was an evening with Mx Viv — also known as Justin Vivian Bond — at Joe’s Pub. As a longtime fixture in New York’s downtown nightlife scene and a ubiquitous transgender artist, Mx Viv has become a legendary icon of the city’s queer culture. It’s no surprise, therefore, that they have been recently named one of 2024’s MacArthur Fellows — often referred to as the “Genius Grant”, the award bestows Bond $800,000 over the course of five years, furthering their ability to impact and influence the LBGT+ community in New York and beyond.

Although Bond has famously collaborated with fellow artists over the years — namely Kenny Mellman as one half of the beloved Kiki & Herb outfit earlier in v’s career, and more recently with the likes of star countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo with the New York Philharmonic — they’ve also steadily honed their own cabaret craft to become a more reliable and confident solo artist, turning out shows with impressive frequency, often holding court at their unofficial home base at Joe’s Pub. In their solo cabaret pursuit, Viv has formed a tight knit family around them, namely their hugely talented music director Matt Ray — an important artist in his own right — and their accomplished band (Bernice “Boom Boom” Brooks on drums, Nathann Carrera on guitar, Claudia Chopek on violin, and Mike Jackson on bass). There’s a symbiosis between them that makes making music seem as easy as breathing. As such, few things are as therapeutic as a night awash in their musical musings.

And then there’s Bond’s indelible personality and voice. Indeed, Viv’s banter is second to none in the current cabaret circuit. A sort of modern day sophisticate in the vein of Noël Coward — in terms of wit, fashion, and flamboyance — the sassy but matronly Bond organically spools out sets that have a way of casting a spell and getting under your skin, and the same can be said of their latest cabaret act. Prophetically entitled Oh Well, the show takes its cue from Radclyffe Hall’s classic lesbian novel The Well of Loneliness, presenting a relatively low key evening of songs by lesbian, trans, and queer singer/songwriters (the opener, “The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum” by Fun Boy Three, was priceless), around which Viv seductively wrapped their distinctly gravelly voice. Overall, it was a night of solidarity and healing in a room of like-minded people — it was exactly what the doctor ordered, the perfect antidote for rough times.

RECOMMENDED

JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND: OH WELL
Cabaret
Joe’s Pub
1 hour, 15 minutes (without an intermission)
Closed