Naked Beauty and the Beast

Very cool sounding!



Buy tickets here. I totally want to go! Even though it's trivia night. When I was writing for The Village Voice and she was working as a mermaid, I gave her a Best Of, the exact title of which I forget but it had something to do with Darryl Hannah. I haven't seen her perform in a long time, which says more about my lack of going to burlesque type events than anything else, so I'm looking forward to it.

by Mat Fraser and Julie Atlas Muz
Beauty and the Beast

Monday, April 19 at 8:00PM

at Abrons Arts Center
466 Grand Street (at Pitt)
New York, NY 10002
Lower East Side
F or J/M/Z to Delancey/Essex; B/D to Grand Street

No children under the age of 18 permitted.

After receiving standing ovations in Zagreb, Liverpool, Zurich, Berlin, and Amsterdam, Beauty and the Beast finally comes to New York City for one night only. This innovative collaboration between British TV actor and Disability Arts celebrity Mat Fraser and New York Downtown Art Queen Julie Atlas Muz has inspired audiences to laugh, cry and question who is truly beastly and who is beautiful.

$20 tickets; $50 VIP tickets for reserved seating, signed poster, gift bag, plus a rose to throw.

Exploding any notion of Disney schmaltz, this version of Beauty and the Beast is meant exclusively for adults, no children under the age of 18 are permitted.

As the Beast, Fraser uses his physicality to demonize the desires of humankind, & performs the majority of the show nude culminating in a tender and eye-opening bath in a golden tub. Muz plays Beauty revealing the unconscious obstinacy with which girls are brainwashed by the old fairy tales and yes, by the end of the show is also nude.

Both Fraser and Muz are touted for their theatrical irreverence and have performed internationally as independent artists in theaters clubs and Art Festivals for over a decade. Fraser’s social activism & anti-PC humor coupled with Muz’s feminist glamour & sexuality create the apex of inclusive (meaning disabled and non-disabled artists) performance art theatre, where the message of accessibility is integrated in a engaging, funny, charged and truly joyful play.

Be prepared to feel outrageous love in this funny, moving, sexy, wanton, playful, intelligent and thought provoking show as Fraser and Muz reveal their fantasy world, and perform beastly & beautiful acts of love for you.

Beautiful, bloody, boxing burlesque star Julie Atlas Muz

JD Weiner was kind enough to let me post this Julie Atlas Muz photo (via Flickr). She is so amazingly talented, creative, and sexy, I urge you to go see her when you can. What I really love about her is that she is blonde, conventionally hot/attractive, and she plays with that, but she also plays against that. She doesn't go for what's easy or simple and isn't there to just turn her audience on (though she does that too). She fucks with their heads, twists beauty into something not ugly, but dangerous almost. She wants you to think for your arousal, and to my eye, would rather have you walk away confused or shaken up or slack-jawed than simply turned on.

Cool NYC goings on this week

I'll post a full trip report sometime this week, including photos. 3 days in the woods of Silverton, Washington, with my guy and his family and doggies and children. And food, but of course! For now I will say that though they are not Jewish, the feasts reminded me of my family (in a good way). It was super relaxing, in no small part because I did not speak on the phone or go on the Internet for 3 days!

So, without further ado, some cool happenings this week:

Monday, July 28th

Wasp Cove!!! It is one of the funniest things going on in NYC imo. Also, in October episode 104 is called "The Abortion." This show is beyond campy, hilarious 80's soap opera drama insanity. Bigger version of poster here.



WASP COVE
Episode 103: Eenie, Meeny, Miny...MADNESS

In This Month's Episode:
Donna is admitted into the sanitarium under the care of Dr. Salvatore
Verrazano, a tempestuous Sicilian psychiatrist. Daryl tries to seduce
Rip anew, and Daryl's son Wes finally has his way with Sloane. Sexually.

Monday, July 28th @ 8 PM
(Tonight! Holy Cats!)
at Comix
353 West 14th Street
b/n 8th & 9th Avenues NYC
212-352 2716
http://comixny.com for tickets
Tickets $15 in advance $20 at the door
http://waspcove.tumblr.com/

Starring:
Chris Caniglia, Megan Stern, Rachel Shukert, Ryan Karels, Julie Klausner, Jodi Lennon, and David Rakoff

With Special Guests:
Anthony Atamanuik (30 Rock)
Gary Rudoren (Comedy By The Numbers)
Eli Newell (UCB)
Tammy Lang (Tammy Faye Starlite)

Written & Created by Rachel Shukert & Julie Klausner
Directed by Peter Cook

Tuesday, July 29th



Julie Atlas Muz is an amazing burlesque performer. She's been a mermaid at The Coral Room, and I've seen her do everything from a reverse striptease to a mock cocaine number while naked. She is gorgeous and intense and fierce and smart and packs all these qualities and more into her performances. Check out this hot photo of her as a boxer, and, be still my heart, her doing burlesque with cupcakes (see way more of Stacie Joy's Julie Atlas Muz photos here)

DOC & JAM Productions Bring You:
WANTED! Wild Bandits of Burlesque
Tuesday, July 29th (and Every Last Tuesday of the Month)
Show at 11pm; Live music with the Second Fiddles at 9 pm
Rodeo Bar
375 3rd Avenue at 27th Street
New York , NY
NEVER A COVER
(2 drink minimum)
Subway: 6 train to 28th Street

July's saloon/salon features Jennifer Miller, Trixie Little & The Evil Hate Monkey, Julie Atlas Muz, Dr. Lukki, and is hosted by Bradford Scobie as Cousin Rooster.

Wednesday, July 30th



Jennette Fulda, author of Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir and Pasta Queen blogger will be in town! (She'll be here cause she's going on CBS's The Early Show on Thursday, July 31st.) I loved her book so much (review TK) and you can listen to a podcast with her at Seal Press. I also highly highly recommend visiting her site for Half-Assed for insights into her publishing process. This was a weight loss memoir with more than just an "I lost weight and you can too!" angle. And she lost 192 pounds! Not only didn't she reveal which diet she was on, but she also took a broader cultural and political analysis and also stood up for fat people, even as she grappled with her own fat. I can't help but think that that's in part because it was published by feminist publisher Seal Press. I'm not saying there aren't other feminist-inspired weight loss memoirs out there, but I think she does a good job of looking at the culture around fat, food, exercise and body image around her and how that did and didn't influence her life, rather than just "and then I started running and the weight came off" or whatever. I've read, oh, a lot of weight loss memoirs and I think like any genre there can tend to be a sameness to them (read Maia Szalavitz's criticism of David Carr and addiction memoirs at Mother Jones), so anything that breaks out of that is quite welcome. Plus, Fulda's story lives on via her blogs. Here's what she says about Wednesday:

After much deliberation (aka a 9-minute phone call), we've decided to host a meet up at Swizz, a wine and fondue bar at 310 West 53rd St. between 8th and 9th Avenues. We'll be hanging around, dipping bread in cheese or chocolate, on Wednesday, July 30th from 7:30pm EST to probably 8:30 or 9:00ish. If you are around, feel free to drop in, say hi, have a drink, or snack on some cheese.

This is a "bring your own book" signing, meaning that if you want a copy of Half-Assed signed to you, you should buy a book at your retailer of choice and bring it yourself. I'll have a couple of copies available on hand to sell for $15.95, but I can't guarantee they'll last. If you want to reserve a copy, contact me at halfofme (at) pastaqueen [dot] com and I'll give you instructions on how to do so.

You can contact Swizz for directions at 212-810-4444 or visit their web site at 1291swizz.com. I hope to see you there! If you plan on coming, please RSVP in the comments so I can give the restaurant an idea of how many people will be attending.