Féile Bród (Pride Fest) / Sunset on the Hudson Pride Edition / The Stonewall Jukebox: A Documentary Concert / Michael Musto: Iconic / Pride Live Stonewall Day Concert / The Queer Liberation March / NYC Pride March to Disperse in Chelsea / Chelsea Community Church PRIDE-Themed Sunday Service / Pride Mural Invites Public Participation / Lady Bunny: Hot Troll Summer

—PRIDE Event Roundup by Scott Stiffler—

Féile Bród (Pride Fest) at 7pm on Thursday, June 27 & Friday, June 28 in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre at the Irish Repertory Theatre (132 W. 22nd St. btw. 6th & 7th Aves.) | Inspired by the success of LGBTQIA+ playwrights at last year’s New Works Summer Festival, the Irish Rep is “thrilled to honor LGBTQIA+ Irish and Irish American artists with Féile Bród (Pride Fest).” Curated by Nicola Murphy Dubey, it features two successive nights of programming. On June 27, it’s The Folktale That Made Me: A Night of Storytelling and Dance with Nick Eibler of Queer to Tell (a NYC-born national series featuring LGBTQIA+ storytellers ) and Irish dance and drag performer Héruma Hazit as well as Irish dancers Kaitlyn Sardin and KJ Campbell. Friday features the cabaret show There Will Be Rainbows. Written and performed by Stefan Fae (Stephen Quinn), it’s an account of his defining time spent in NYC. Featured music includes the work of Rufus Wainwright, Coco Rosie, LCD Soundsystem, Lou Reed, and Cole Porter, alongside original compositions by Fae, accompanied by Matthew Ricketts. Tickets are $25 for each evening. For June 27 tix, click here. For June 28 tix, click here.

Sunset on the Hudson, Special Pride Edition: Friday, June 28, 6:30pm at Pier 45 (W. 45th St.) | Hudson River Park’s picture-perfect summertime music series pours on the Pride, by presenting The Bad Judies (“New York’s only drag queen band”) and Randy Jones (the original Cowboy of The Village People). Jones, whose career has spanned four decades, will be celebrating a homecoming, of sorts. “We’re especially thrilled to welcome Randy back to the waterfront,” say event organizers, “where he and his bandmates filmed the iconic YMCA music video.” As for the band of mates sharing the bill with Jones, three distinct drag queens comprise The Bad Judies: Wesley, Worshiper, and Lyra Vega. Together, their special blend of live music and vocals, dance, and lip synching delivers a tight little package of “camp, color, comedy, fashion, music, and fun.” Explore more ways to honor Pride in the Park this June and beyond by clicking here.

The Stonewall Jukebox: A Documentary Concert | Friday, June 28, 7:30pm at City Winery NYC (25 11th Ave., Pier 57) | Part jubilant musical performance, part little-known oral history, David Driver’s The Stonewall Jukebox: A Documentary Concert tells the unknown and profoundly uplifting story of how The Stonewall Uprising came to be, and how it resonates with those who are creating contemporary LGBTQ+ culture. Performances of iconic works first made famous by the likes of Judy Garland, Petula Clark, Frank Sinatra, and Sly & the Family Stone appear alongside texts culled from magazines, books, and interviews to create a live, vibrant homage to the people who lived, fought, and survived The Stonewall Riots (or, if you prefer, “Stonewall Uprising”). Joining Driver on stage are guest singers and narrators including Michael Musto, Stew, queer burlesque legend Tigger!, beloved downtown NYC icon Machine Dazzle (Taylor Mac), and Broadway’s Aisha de Haas. This event benefits the Stonewall Community Foundation. For tickets ($55 to $125), click here.

Jean Ferreira: Iconic (Official Music Video) Featuring Michael Musto | Out recently on Apple Music, iTunes, and elsewhere, Iconic—from artist, producer, and City Life Records founder Jean Ferreira—is a musical testament to the point of view you accrue not just by surviving over time, but doing so with integrity, panache, and a pinch or more of stubborn defiance. A perfect soundtrack to June’s Pride Month, Iconic is poised for staying power at parties, clubs, and bars as summer breezes by. Why? Well, in no small part, it just so happens the official music video has featured artist Michael Musto dressed to the nines in cool cat pastels and surrounded by a funky contingent of fellow New Yorkers as they stroll, pose, goof off, and get real in front of and around The Stonewall Inn. FYI, our appreciation for Ferreira’s Musto-featured project demands a little context: Michael Musto has a regular presence on this website as a theater critic, memoirist, humorist, and originator of hundreds of drag queen/drag king stage names he’ll let you abscond with for no fee, and no questions asked. Add to that his presence as a go-to glam, gossip, and pop culture pundit on national news programs plus years spent with The Village Voice spreading the word about artists and clubs now considered to be “iconic,” and it’s case closed as to why we like @mikeymusto. I mean, the man is clearly—yes, we’re going there—Iconic. Check out the official music video by clicking here. Join the #IconicChallenge on Social Media. Share snippets of your life in one video with “ICONIC (feat. Michael Musto)” by adding the official sound. ►Subscribe to Jean Ferreira on YouTube: @jeanferreirajf ►Shop Merch: https://www.jeanferreira.com/  Website: https://www.jeanferreira.com/ Music, Lyrics, Vocals: Michael Musto Music, Producer: Jean Ferreira Director, Editor: Eric SPADE Rivas #ICONIC #MichaelMusto #JeanFerreira.

Pride Live Stonewall Day Concert: Friday, June 28, 5pm-8pm at Hudson Yards’ Public Square & Gardens |  Emmy, Grammy and Tony award-winner and two-time Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo headlines a formidable roster of talent including Conchita Wurst, Betty, Lina Bradford, and Loren Allred. E! News’ Justin Sylvester hosts this free concert created to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion and celebrate the grand opening of The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center. For more info, click here. For tickets, click here.

NYC Pride March to Disperse in Chelsea: Sunday, June 30 | The route of June 30’s 2024 NYC Pride March will see participants and spectators along portions of Fifth and Sixth Avenues, as well as a section of Christopher Street that has it passing Stonewall Inn and Stonewall National Monument. But when it comes to crossing the finish line and dispersing, the place to be is once again Chelsea. According to a 2024 Pride March map appearing on the nyc.gov website (click here to view—or see it directly above), the area dedicated to Pride March dispersal will be on 16th Street, from Sixth Ave. to Ninth Ave.; on 17th Street from Sixth Ave. to Eighth Ave.; on 18th Street from Sixth Ave. to Eighth Ave.; and on 19th Street from Sixth Ave. to Ninth Ave. The 2024 NYC Pride March, according to the MTA as noted here, “will begin at 11am on June 30th from 25th Street and 5th Avenue. Marchers will proceed south on 5th Avenue before heading west on 8th Street. After crossing over 6th Avenue, the March will continue on Christopher Street passing the Stonewall National Monument. It will then turn north on 7th Avenue, passing the New York City AIDS Memorial, before dispersing in Chelsea at 16th Street and 7th Avenue.”  That’s two blocks into West Chelsea—at least for the vast majority of armchair cartographers, who’ll tell you Chelsea begins at West 14th Street and proceeds Uptown until you reach… Hudson Yards? Hell’s Kitchen? Clinton? Well, let’s save nailing down the nabe’s end point for another time. Happy Pride!

Chelsea Community Church PRIDE-Themed 1pm June Sunday Services at St. Peter’s Chelsea (346 W. 20th St. btw. 8th & 9th Aves.) | For a half-century, the non-denominational Christian Chelsea Community Church (CCC) has, they note, welcomed “people of all faiths and those who are uncertain about their faith” by providing a safe and inclusive space. That space—physical and spiritual—devotes its weekly 1pm Sunday services in June to the theme of “Pride.” The series concludes on June 30 with the nondenominational Revd Diane Trinkaus and vocalist Jeanne MacDonald. Then, from 2:30pm-6:30pm, all are invited to stop by, as the church is adorned with “images from the AIDS Memorial Quilt and other important parts of LGBTQ+ history.” At 1pm, at St. Peter’s Chelsea (346 W. 20th St. btw. 8th & 9th Aves.). To visit the Chelsea Community Church website, click here. To send an email, click here. To leave a voicemail, call 212-886-5463.

Through July 5, Pride Mural Invites Public Participation | Pride Month goes out in epic fashion on June 30th, as the annual NYC Pride March makes its way down Fifth Ave., into the Village, and up Seventh Ave. to its Chelsea dispersal point. All along the route, a righful sense of belonging is felt every time spectators cheer on a passing contingent, or snap an adoring selfie alongside a roller skating drag queen with magic wand in one hand, identically dressed lap dog in the other. Through July 5, Chelsea Market and Pier 57 keep that spirit of Pride Month going strong with two interactive celebrations of LGBTQIA+ identity. Developed by Glorianna Restrepo and Militza Schwartz—partners in art and in life—the Pride-themed murals were inspired by their passion for creative expression and the queer community. And—in the spirit of inclusion—Restrepo and Schwartz are presenting their artwork as “paint by numbers” projects. Through public participation, the murals will take shape—literally—while in the hands of locals and visitors. The scenes are simple, matter-of-fact scenaros set in a park during Pride: Picnics take place, kites take flight, and friends skate down a rainbow path that seems to go on forever. The snapshot scenes of lives lived in a manner of carefree joy and casual equality strip Pride of its aspirational context and celebrate the fun to be had when we’re one for all, and all for one. This interactive art opportunity is on display through July 5 and available for participation daily, between 11am and 6pm in the Living Room space at Pier 57 (25 11th Ave. at W. 15th St.) and Chelsea Market (W. 15th St. btw. 9th & 10th Aves.). To access the mural’s Pier 57 event page, click here. To access the mural’s Chelsea Market event page, click here. Check out more work by Restrepo and Schwartz on Instagram via @itsmilitzamila  & @gloriannadoes, and @shopthanksdad.

Lady Bunny: Hot Troll Summer | July 2, 5, 6 at 7pm at The Green Room 42 (570 10th Ave. at W. 42nd St., 4th Floor of Yotel) | Legendary, leggy, lewd drag queen Lady Bunny has returned to her NYC home base, after being a sell-out at Australia’s Sydney Comedy Festival. No, wait, we mean selling out—as in, every available ticket was gobbled up. Now that she’s back in town, word on the street (or perhaps more accurately, the back alley) says that Bunny is bringing her uncompromisingly profane brand of solo comedy to The Green Room 42. With new and classic material in tow, Hot Troll Summer sees the lady in raunch (and sometimes red) offering a “scorching set list of her trademark one-liners and filthy song parodies,” including her take on the La Cage Aux Folles song I Am What I Am (renamed I Am Such a Ham) and a reimagined version of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way that calls out often-overlooked members of the LGBTQ+ community. “It’s my honorarium to lesbians, size queens, and scat freaks,” says Bunny, adding it’s “high time they are recognized and celebrated, too!” Elsewhere on the roster of Bunny’s full-frontal assault on good taste is her new single, Is It Ozempic…Or AIDS? (possibly a musical explainer of what’s behind her weight loss); a lewd love letter to Fire Island’s notorious Meat Rack; and a takeoff on the RuPaul hit Sissy That Walk, recontextualized as a deeply offensive examination of all things monkeypox. With so much to say about pee, poop, and penises as well as sex, sex, and sex, it’s a wonder Lady Bunny has so few mid-performance walkouts. Maybe after all these years of making sure reservations come with a boilerplate “This Show is Really Dirty” disclaimer, the teeming masses seem to have gotten the message. Or perhaps we’re just as jazzedabout jizz as she is. Either way, it’s shaping up to be one hot summer–and seeking shelter with a troll seems like the thing to do. For tickets ($32.75 to $57.75 plus purchase fee), click here. To visit Lady Bunny online, click here.

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