BY CHARLES BATTERSBY | As Halloween approaches, the mystical becomes a mere entertainment for the month of October. Arcane secrets are explored as a seasonal craze, then abandoned as thoughts of turkeys, Black Friday deals, and New Year’s debauchery swoop in. A ubiquitous appearance at Halloween events are tarot card readers. While noticeably more […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER with PHOTOS COURTESY OF ABRACADABRA | Some work in a world where illusions are created with the skilled use of misdirection—while others work in a world where they work with someone named “Miss Direction.” Now, the seemingly disparate worlds of magic and drag have found common ground in an online form that, […]
Scarlet Envy—the Louisville, KY native, favorite daughter of NYC, and RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars Season 6 contestant (whose exit left us feeling very “uncomfortable” with the show’s host)—offers Gothamites an intimate performance made accessible to worldwide audiences, when she brings her solo show ALLSTAR to the comfy confines of Lower East Side venue Caveat. Last seen […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | A quarter century ago—a little more than 12 years before a contestant nicknamed “Porkchop” became the first of her kind to “sashay away”—Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood was dotted with well over a dozen gay watering holes. Long gone bars with names like Splash, Rawhide, Champs, and G Lounge were the immobile mobile […]
BY MICHAEL MUSTO | In May, when a lot of venues in post-vaccination New York City were reopening, I noticed a burst of renewed glee in socializing. After such a long lockdown, people were understandably thrilled to be face to face again and they got right back into it as if it had never been […]
BY MICHAEL MUSTO | With more entertainment venues than ever, you’d think there’d be record-breaking amounts of originality for our viewing pleasure, but instead, we’re facing an avalanche of cultural recycling. To fill all those channels, services, and theaters, producers have resorted to exorbitant volumes of pre-sold, surefire topics in order to get a rise […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Iconic drag sensation Sherry Vine gathers no moss. While many of us spent the better part of the pandemic swilling alcohol and pigging out, Sherry spent her time doing… well, pretty much the same thing. But betting she’d soon see the days of brick and mortar showbiz again, she snapped out of it and got […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER When onetime triumphant Shark Tank contestant Brandon Fay chose a decidedly compact Seventh Ave./W. 21st St. storefront as the downtown dispensary for his exceptionally good pizza and pasta, it was another gutsy move that paid off big-time… in due time, that is. Pasta by Hudson’s Chelsea location opened in November 2020—a […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Seemingly airborne when seen from a distance, the 23-strong Pride Puppets contingant was greeted with cheers and applause as it snaked its way down Seventh Ave. and into the heart of Chelsea. That sort of thing happens when you’re 10 feet tall and wear a sash bearing names like Harvey Milk, […]
BY TRAV S.D. | In honor of Pride Month, we featured a classic performer for each of the five calendar weeks of June, sequentially matched with L, G, B, T, and Q. Check back with us next year, as our series picks up with “+” I, A, and beyond. Following up on previous posts […]