IRIS Covet Book | COMPANY XIV’S “NUTCRACKER ROUGE” – A BAROQUE BURLESQUE CONFECTION A HOLIDAY TREAT

COMPANY XIV’S “NUTCRACKER ROUGE” – A BAROQUE BURLESQUE CONFECTION A HOLIDAY TREAT

DIRECTED AND CHOREOGRAPHED BY AUSTIN MCCORMICK
OPENS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2018

New York, NY (October 24, 2018) – Company XIV, which recently presented their acclaimed production of Ferdinand: Boylesque Bullfight, will open a return engagement of their hit holiday spectacular Nutcracker Rouge at Theatre XIV (383 Troutman Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn) on Sunday, November 18th at 6 pm. Previews begin Friday, November 9. The engagement will run through January 13th.

Nutcracker Rouge received a Drama Desk nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience and has been hailed as “dazzling and genius” by the New York Times, “the greatest homage ever” by Huffington Post and “the perfect hot date for a cold night” by Time Out NY. Under the direction and choreography by Austin McCormick there is no better place to spend the holidays than with Company XIV and Nutcracker Rouge. This sparkling reimagining of the beloved Nutcracker Ballet is told with erotic, sensual and opulent flair.

The cast features Allison Ulrich as Marie Claire, Michael Cunio and Storm Marrero as Monsieur and Madame Drosselmeyer along with Marcy Richardson, Jourdan Epstein, Christine Flores, Melissa Anderson, Ashley Dragon, LEXXE, Laszlo Major, Nicholas Katen, Ross Katen, Nolan McKew, Ryan Redmond, Jacoby Pruitt and Nathaniel Hunt.

Creatives include costume and set design by Zane Pihlstrom; lighting design by Jeanette Yew and makeup design by Sarah Cimino.

Austin McCormick created Company XIV in 2006 wowing critics and audiences alike with a unique blend of circus, vaudeville, burlesque, dance, ballet, opera, live music and lavish design. The company’s productions of Ferdinand and Cinderella have become favorites. Austin’s other credits include choreography for the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Canadian Opera Company, The Juilliard School, Guggenheim Works in Progress, Gotham Chamber Opera and the Kennedy Center. He is currently represented as choreographer for Samson et Dalila at the Metropolitan Opera.

Performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 6 pm. Tickets are priced from $65.00 to $325.00 For information and tickets go to www.companyxiv.com.

A FLAWLESS NIGHT: LONG LIVE THE QUEEN

The Town Hall presents: A FLAWLESS NIGHT: LONG LIVE THE QUEEN
A Tribute to Flawless Mother Sabrina on Thursday May 10, 2018 at 8pm
Featuring A 50th Anniversary Screening of the Landmark Documentary The Queen, The Pioneering Producer’s Drag Show Beauty Pageant, Filmed at The Town Hall in 1968
For more information and to purchase tickets please go here

The Queen 1968 film poster

In 1967, Jack Doroshow, aka Flawless Sabrina, produced and hosted a legendary drag pageant at The Town Hall in New York. It was documented in the film, The Queen, and selected for the Cannes Film Festival. The film came to be regarded as a landmark of queer culture.

The Queen captures the groundbreaking (and law-breaking) spirit of Flawless Sabrina, who began producing drag shows in 1959 and continued on for a decade afterward. Crisscrossing the country, Flawless mounted dozens of local shows each year where many queens – including Divine – performed in drag for the first time. Andy Warhol saw a performance in Pittsburgh and helped locate a benefactor to fund a film of the “Miss All America Beauty Pageant” at the Town Hall, and The Queen was released in 1968.

Fifty years after the release of The Queen, the Town Hall and the children of Flawless Mother Sabrina celebrate their legacy. This special event, hosted by Linda Simpson, will feature a rare theatrical screening of The Queen plus performances by Taylor Mac, Justin Vivian Bond with Nath Ann Carrera, The House of LaBeija, Julie Atlas Muz, Tigger!, Brandon Olson, Poison Eve, DJ Sammy Jo, and more, joined for one special night to pay homage to a New York City icon, mentor and mother.

Flawless Sabrina circa 1968 (© Mary Ellen Mark)

Zackary Drucker, transgender artist and producer of the TV series Transparent will be on stage to introduce the film. Says Drucker: “The Queen is an invaluable relic of a bygone era that is sparsely documented.The history of drag queens and trans people is largely an oral history, but The Queen is a rare window into our community pre-Stonewall, when it was still illegal to cross dress.”

Over the years, Flawless Sabrina served as mother and mentor to hundreds of artists and musicians like Drucker, and as an inspiration to countless more people who visited her salon/home on the Upper East Side. Flawless Sabrina’s activism and compassion for others created reverberations that can be felt and observed to this day, from the continued tradition of drag performativity on RuPaul’s Drag Race, to having influenced the U.S. government to ensure trans people could change the gender marker on their passports.

On November 18, 2017, Flawless Sabrina, one of the loudest and proudest voices for the LGBTQ community, passed away at age 78. The Town Hall event honors Sabrina’s fearless commitment to art and individuality, reflected in the motto: “If it doesn’t make you nervous, it ain’t worth doing.”

Flawless Sabrina (© Zackary Drucker)

For more information and to purchase tickets please go here

A portion of the proceeds from A Flawless Night: Long Live The Queen benefits Ali Forney Center in its mission to protect LGBTQ youths from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently. Since AFC’s launch with just six beds in a church basement in New York City, the organization has grown to become the largest agency dedicated to LGBTQ homeless youths in the country – assisting nearly 1,400 youths per year through a 24-hour Drop-In Center which provides 70,000 meals annually, medical and mental health services through an on-site clinic, and a scattered site housing program.

THE WEBSTER OPENS ITS NEWEST LOCATION IN NYC

With the store originating from the tropics of South Beach and having expanded to Houston, Costa Mesa, and Bal Harbour—it was only natural for The Webster to house their new location in the heart of New York City’s, Soho. Laure Heriard Dubreuil, founder of the luxury retailer, has mirrored the same opulent brand formula with a new ingredient—Webster Home. The six story building will handle pieces by Italian artist Gaetano Pesce, Pierre Frey fabrics that are exclusive to The Webster, and Nada Debs brass candy colored pebble table. Throughout the renovation of their new location The Webster befriended Maxi Cohen, photographer, video artist, and neighbor whose piece is now featured on the third floor.

The store is thoughtfully filled with French 50’s sconce lights and wall papers from the 20’s and 30’s and does the historical 1878, 12,000-square-foot building proud. Turn of the century light wells guide you onto a vintage loading dock entrance, and step out into a room that’s a fusion of new and retrograded pieces mirroring the original Webster store, which was redeveloped with the help and design of Christopher Osvai.

Filling the six floored location are thirty male designers and 68 women designers, including but not limited to Isa Arfen, Julien David, and jewelry by Anita Ko, The Webster combines high end clothing interwoven amongst art deco and one of a kind installations. Sculptures such as Aaron Young’s “Below the Underdog, 2010” is set amongst thoughtfully chosen menswear on the fourth floor.

For more information about the founder, Laure Heriard Dubreuil, check out her Iris Woman feature!

All photos by Andrew Rowat courtesy of Karla Otto Public Relations