BY SCOTT STIFFLER | There’s something satisfying about the fact that while self-aggrandizing lawmakers in Tennessee and other states were spending 2022/2023 trying to limit, license, discourage, and otherwise disavow drag, Sherry Vine and friends were creating six episodes of variety television that plays such pomposity for laughs, while putting the pursuit of cock where […]
UPDATE! Originally announced as a limited run ending May 28, performances will continue through June 25. See the end of this article for ticket purchase info. BY SCOTT STIFFLER | History hidden, faded, and somehow still here is just part of what awaits when a fact-spouting chatterbox with a direct if fleeting connection to fame […]
The enduringly entertaining Pandora Boxx has done much to distinguish herself besides having the distinction of competing on the sophomore season of a little show called RuPaul’s Drag Race. Since then, the Season 2 contestant has returned to RPDR as a Season 1 and 6 All Stars competitor—all the while, racking up credits as an […]
BY TRAV S.D. | For almost 40 years Epstein and Hassan (Steve Krantz and Naima Hassan) formed a romantic and artistic partnership which saw them through a series of two-person shows, bookings in variety settings like burlesque bills and launch parties, as well as their own podcasts and radio programs. Billing themselves as “The Black […]
Theirs is a friendship decades in the making–or faking? Best not to dive too deeply into the psychological underpinnings of the dynamics involved in a project from drag legends Jackie Beat and Lady Bunny. That said, it’s perfectly legit to wonder what caused the stars to align and create the upcoming December 16-18 performances of […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Like rocking out to the sweet riffs of a Bob Seeger song after years of irony-only listening, writer/performer Bruce McCulloch’s autumnal residency at Soho Playhouse reveals heretofore hidden depths to the stellar ensemble comedian, whose work with The Kids in the Hall is peppered with mission-focused loners and sweet searchers yearning […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Worlds collide, sending fiction crashing into fate and creating a new reality so meta, it makes the Marvel Cinematic Universe seem utterly unambitious. That’s the sense you get when reading the timeline that accounts for this weekend’s stage presentation of David and Kate Get Re-Married. Written and performed by David Carl […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Canadian writer, director, and, yes, rocker Bruce McCulloch’s enduring sketch comedy characters cut to the bone because they swim so close to the surface. Over the course of our nearly 30-minute phone interview in advance of his June solo run in NYC, a number of McCulloch’s darkly shaded oddball creations reveal […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | If you’re a gay man with access to a shower and a penchant for covering showy show tunes therewithin—a sizable demographic if ever there was one—you’ve likely found yourself belting out the work of Oscar, Golden Globe, and Grammy Award-winner Howard Ashman, lyricist of Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, […]
It’s a rare individual who can take the stage, bring the best of herself to songs that have been the calling cards of others for decades, and emerge a favorite daughter of their creator. As actual documented showbiz legend has it, that’s exactly what happened from the moment Broadway lyricist/composer Jerry Herman heard beyond-brassy, rafter-raising […]