Troy Frisby - Page 4

Mx Justin Vivian Bond is a force of nature with more than a quarter century onstage under v's (Bond's preferred pronoun) belt. A singular performer with an endless supply of bon mots, Bond has been celebrated with an Obie Award, a Bessie, a Tony nod, and the Ethyl Eichelberger Award, among other accolades. Fresh off a year-long career retrospective culminating in September's THE GOLDEN AGE OF JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND, v returns to Joe's Pub on December 12 at 9:30pm with a new holiday show, THE BIPOLAR EXPRESS. Ahead of the first show, we spoke over the phone about the show, v's enduring career, and the holidays themselves.

Sitting in my seat watching Lance Horne and his many friends perform at NEW WORK NEW WORK I: EXTRAORDINARY DAYS at Joe's Pub, I couldn't help but feel like I was at a really great dinner party (if I were invited to dinner parties with some of the most talented artists in the city). The seats---and, in this case, the songs---were assigned, but the host didn't try and force conversation, and the whole affair was better for it. The purpose of the November 21 show, the first in a year-long residency, was for the successful composer and musical director to showcase his recent work, and, for new material, Horne's songs were quite polished.

Because Britney Spears grew up in the spotlight, we've seen her as a singer, an actress, a girl, a woman, and everything in between. One thing we haven't seen is Britney the Broadway star, but since that seems about as likely as the second coming of Britney and Justin, it's a damn good thing BROADWAY LOVES BRITNEY exists. On November 16, a group of Broadway performers came together at Feinstein's/54 Below for exactly what the name suggests---a deep dive into Britney's oeuvre---and, as far as Britney homages go, the show hit all quadrants, running the gamut from playful impersonations to cleverly reworked gems.

Early on in Tori Scott's SEEING DOUBLE, the woman of the hour deadpanned, 'I've been in a rut since birth.' If that's the case, we should all be so lucky. But on the subject of things that could be going better, throughout Scott's performance at Joe's Pub on November 13, the unofficial theme of the night was, 'Could this year get any worse?' With the election still looming large, Scott took the stage, explaining she'd been looking forward to the show because she was in need of some attention, before adding, 'Then Tuesday happened and I needed group therapy.'

There's no easy way to talk about a performance ostensibly thrown in honor of a presidential candidate who didn't end up winning. Let's be clear: Randy Rainbow's ELECTION EVE PARTY held on Monday, night at Birdland wasn't exactly a non-partisan event. The performers dropped more 'I'm With Her' references than at an actual Clinton rally, and the party likely could've sustained itself on Rainbow's viral parodies alone.

With the wide-eyed innocence of a cold-blooded killer and a smile so broad the Cheshire Cat would be envious, Kim David Smith will have you in his clutches before you even realize.

Like a juicy apple before it's riddled with poison or an unexpected feast hosted by a talking candelabra, THE BROADWAY PRINCE PARTY couldn't have been more delicious.

Joey Arias would like your attention, and he's not afraid to ask for it. In fact, on a dozen or so occasions during his performance of JOEY ARIAS IS WITH YOU NOW at Joe's Pub on October 9---the second in his three-show residency---he straight-up demanded the crowd's attention, shouting, 'Look at me!'

Invoking Barbra, Judy and a host of other mononymous musical divas, Anneliese van der Pol came to play during her solo show at Feinstein's/54 Below on September 29. Winningly self-deprecating, van der Pol (VANITIES) kept the show moving and refreshingly loose, joking after the first number, 'So I'm Laura Benanti...'

A good drag queen is ready for anything, and with a dash of Southern charm and a whole lot of hairspray, RuPaul's Drag Race alum Ginger Minj gave a performance at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on September 25 that was as gleefully unpolished as it was raucously funny. Above all else, despite it being labeled an album release party, Ginger's debut album, Sweet T, actually got pushed to late October. But she didn't just roll with the punches, she seemed to delight in them, stopping at nothing to give audience members a taste of the real Ginger Minj.

At one point during WASTE OF SPACE, Chris Dwan began singing the lyric 'We're connected in our own sort of universe' again and again. That line came from an original track, 'All I Know,' co-written with Ross Baum. Making his New York City solo concert debut at Feinstein's/54 Below on September 6, Dwan did create his own sort of the universe, but the connections remained a bit unclear.

If this is what the end of the GOLDEN AGE OF JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND looks like, here's hoping for an extension. Before capping off a yearlong celebration of Bond's 25th anniversary of being a performer with a VIVification benefit, v's---Bond's preferred pronoun---GOLDEN AGE was a fever dream, full of charming anecdotes about shared psychoanalysts, spirit guides and Blythe Danner. On the second evening of the show's four-night run earlier this month, Bond's control over the melodic rasp of v's voice was impeccable. More importantly, v displayed an unmatched talent for controlling the space v's in, owning the entire stage with little more than a gentle sway and the tap of a heel, making Bond's all-out performance look effortless.

Arriving on stage in a tear-away USA tracksuit to wow the crowd with 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' Kevin Smith Kirkwood looked every bit the part of Whitney Houston in the return of CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! at Joe's Pub on August 31. But as everyone knows, a diva is more than just clothes (although the jumpsuit underneath was admittedly stunning as well). In less adept hands, the show's concept--- that Houston came down on a cloud for a repeat performance--- might have felt awkward or, worse, exploitative. Fortunately, Kirkwood, who is no stranger to glam and larger-than-life performers following his run in KINKY BOOTS, truly embodied the late icon on every level. Opening the show, he addressed the audience with a coy, 'Ladies and gentlemen, it's so good to be back.'

'I hope you're not here to be entertained.' Norbert Leo Butz was all about managing expectations as he kicked off his week-long stint at Feinstein's/54 Below on August 5, though he had no reason to be worried. The two-time Tony Award winner (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Catch Me If You Can) has already done the hard part: The first incarnation of his show Girls, Girls, Girls was such a success, three years later he's back for more, coinciding with the release of an album of the same name via Broadway Records. Motley Crue reference aside, the title actually stems from the fact that Butz is constantly surrounded by women in his life, from his wife and three daughters, to his manager, to his 17 nieces.