Theater For The New City's 33rd ANNUAL VILLAGE HALLOWEEN COSTUME BALL 10/31

Nonstop theater, a costume competition and ballroom dancing will bewitch the East Village in Theater for the New City's 33rd annual Village Halloween Costume Ball on Friday, October 31 at TNC, 155 First Avenue. This unique festival continues as a grand coming-together for everyday New Yorkers and artists alike. A carefree fall tradition, it celebrates the creativity that comes with the season.

The one-night fiesta takes over all four of TNC's theater spaces, plus its lobby and the block of East Tenth Street between First and Second Avenues. Customarily over 1,400 wildly-clad celebrants gather for dancing, dining, showing off costumes and viewing acts from the cutting-edge of Cabaret and Theater. Admission is $20; costume or formal wear is required.

Big-Band Dance orchestras take over the large Johnson Theater. These will inclue La Cumbiamba; Hot Lavendar Swing Band, an all-Gay and Lesbian 18-piece orchestra; and New York Flaggers.

With its Witches' Cauldron, the event can justifiably claim to have downtown's most sensationAl Halloween cafe. The Community Theater of TNC becomes an atmospheric grande buffet for the event, with a variety of American and international delicacies available at peoples' prices. Holiday dishes are contributed by neighboring East Village restaurants, some with celebrity chefs. You can gobble couscous from a coffin lid beginning at 7:30 pm while enjoying spine-tingling performances by performance artists, songwriters, poets and variety artists.

Outside, there are bluegrass and jazz bands, fire eaters, jugglers, storyweavers and stilt dancers, all free to the public and a gift from TNC to its neighborhood. Inside, there is theater all evening.

Since its beginning in 1977, TNC's Halloween extravaganza has been a point of origin for many of the City's most original entertainers. Six full-length plays have grown out of playlets written for the fest and it is probable that the theatrical movement in Performance Art began there. It has been a launching pad for such formative artists as Paul Zaloom, Alice Farley, Bloolips, The Red Mole, Penny Arcade, Basil Twist and Alien Comic Tom Murrin. It is also interesting to note TNC originated the Village Halloween Parade as part of its annuAl Halloween Ball. The procession wound its way through the Village from TNC's second home at the corner of Jane and West Streets to Washington Square Park. Now the event takes up every available inch (both floors) of TNC's multi-theater complex at 155 First Avenue (the former First Avenue Retail Market building) and adjoining outdoor spaces.

Doors open at 7:30 pm and indoor entertainment begins at 8:00 pm. There will be two continuously-running cabarets. Outdoor entertainment, free to the public, will start at 4:30 pm. Outdoor entertainment is capped by "The Red and Black Masque," an annual Medieval ritual show written by Arthur Sainer, scored by David Tice and directed by Crystal Field which is performed by torchlight.

Scattered through the event will be stilt dancers, jugglers, fire-eaters, Vaudeville playlets and Burlesque. Lobby attractions will include a Wiccan Psychic Reader, Astrology/Numerology, Astral Portraits, an Aura Reader, throwing of the I Ching and Hellsouls.

The entire facility will be elaborately rendered for Halloween, featuring intricate and massive environments by leading theatrical scenarists, sculptors, and artists including Donald L. Brooks, Susan Gittins, Alexander Bartenieff, Mark Marcante, Richard Reta, Zen Mansley, Candice Burridge, Pamela Mayo, Desiree Conston, Evan Laurence, Viviane La Corte and Terry Ferrari.

The annual costume judging begins at midnight with the "Monsters and Miracles Costume Parade," as all revelers are invited to march past a panel of celebrity judges. Winners in twelve individual categories will receive one-year passes to TNC and a bottle of Moet and Chandon champagne. Attendees will be judged in such categories as "Most Magickal," "Most Roman Polansky," "Most Botoxed," "Most Economically Recovered," "Most Michael Jackson," "Most Socially Networked," "Most Solar-Powered," "Most Yes We Can," "Most Capitalist," "Most Socialist," "Most Corrupt," "Most Tweeted," "Most Bernie Madoffed," "Most Unchanged Conservative," "Most Deregulated," "Most Stuffed Shirt," and "Most Bailed-Out." Celebrity judges will include George Ferencz, Eduardo Machado, Misha Shulman, Mario Fratti, Miguel Maldonado, John Gilman, Sabura Rashid, Travis S.D., Bob Heide, Romero Sandoval, Rudolfo Quebleen, Rome Neal, Garland Lee Thompson and David Willinger.

The performers' list, in formation as of this writing, includes: Penny Arcade, Len Alevante, Cobu Dance and Drum, Bina Sharif, Andre Brown (tap), Arthur Abrams, Liat Ron, Bingo Gazingo, Bob Dahdah, Chris Merwyn, Donald L. Brooks, Epstein and Hassan, Eve Packer, Gary Heidt and Friends, Travis S.D., George Bellici, Inma Heredia (Flamenco), Iration Squad, Joe Bendik, John Grimaldi (NY Lyric Circus), Kevin Martin, Jezebel, Andre Brown, Zero Boy, Laraine Goodman and friends (tap), Lavinia Co-Op, Lei Zhou, Levanah (Belly Dance), Lissa Moira, the band Liv I Culture, New York Flaggers, Margo Lee Sherman, Michael Vazquez, Norman Savitt with Susan Mitchell, Paganini Apparition, Nikki Jenkins, Richard West, Robert Fitzsimmons, Samurai Sword Soul, Sabor Cubano, Star 69, steve ben israel, The Love Show, The Wycherly Sisters, Vangeline Theater and Witches in Bikinis. Puppet theater artists include Candice Burridge and Evan Lawrence .

Theater for the New City is located at 155 First Avenue, at the corner of East Tenth Street. Reservations are strongly recommended. The TNC box office number is (212) 254-1109.