Pangea artists take bold steps to revive performances during show business shutdown
A popular artist in the alt-cabaret scene, Tammy Faye Starlight has made the downtown club Pangea her home away from home. The cozy restaurant that boasts excellent cuisine has been a go-to for the artists of alt-cabaret, and fans of club acts of all natures. With her new show TAMMY FAYE STARLIT: STANDING BY, the artist inaugurates the establishment's new livestream GHOST LIGHT SERIES in what is being called a "values-rich concert celebrating who we are at this most promising time in histroy." The far-right Southern evangelical country singer will perform on Friday October 23rd at 8 pm ET - information and tickets can be obtained on the Pangea website HERE
One week later fellow alt-cabaret performer Penny Arcade will present her new mixed media work-in-progress NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND - October 30th at 8 pm ET. These two staples of the community are only the first in an exciting lineup of performers bringing their shows to fans of the club and the art form in the new series. Other artists slated to make future appearances include David Cale, Steve Hayes, and Karl Saint Lucy, a new member of the Pangea family - all are preparing inspiring new shows born out of hardship, isolation, and utter despair (sounds fun, doesn't it?) Speaking personally, this writer has seen enough shows at Pangea to know that owner Stephen Shanahan has a terrific eye for talent and for innovation, so any shows the Ghost Light Series seeks to present are evenings worth checking out, no matter the verbal description of the event.
The Ghost Light Series will feature the artists performing in the Pangea showroom, one of the city's most intimate performance spaces, only without an audience. The restaurant recently resumed indoor dining at a capacity of twenty-five percent, and the outdoor cafe, which has been operating at a popular pace for weeks now, continues to serve the neighborhood for as long as weather will allow. Outdoor dining patrons have been treated to more than the great meals for which Pangea is well reputed, for there are occasional surprise concerts from some of the Pangea artists who have come to view the eatery as their artistic home base.
Tammy Faye Starlite is one of those artists, and in her new Michael Schiralli helmed show, STANDING BY, the alt-right princess will sing songs made famous by the likes of Patti Smith, Jim Morrison, Pete Townsend, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and she will even present some of her own original tunes, backed up by Keith Hartel (bass) and Richard Feridun (guitars).
"My new show dissects the current state of our beloved nation, which is clearly so much better than it was four years ago, but there's still work to be done, and we need President Donald J. Trump to continue his supreme and excellent leadership to bring us to our fullest Godly glory. Evil will be brought to justice before the last trumpet is blown!"
For the October 30th show, avant-garde legend Penny Arcade's NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND investigates where we are right now and offers an antidote to the rise of authoritarianism, virtue signaling, the pc highjacking of language, and the erasure of history. With an extraordinary soundscape of rock 'n roll culled from the past 60 years and live-mixed by Arcade's long-time collaborator Steve Zehentner, Arcade sings and riffs her fearless, often prescient critique of our reality while personifying the values that once made downtown NYC a gritty, authentic and creative mecca.
"God bless Tammy and Penny!" says music director Stephen Shanaghan of the two downtown icons. Shanaghan and fellow Pangea owner Arnoldo Caballero y Cespedes have made Pangea a major hub of the burgeoning alt-cabaret movement since introducing music and performance in January 2015. Artists like Arcade, and Starlite, whom The New York Times has called "jaw-dropping" and "revelatory," set the hospitable establishment apart (that and an affordably priced Italian-Mediterranean menu). Pangea has been called "a bohemian oasis not unlike the fabled Max's Kansas City from days gone by" by The NY Times.
Patrons of the club can expect the Ghost Light Series to present these artists in dates yet to be announced:
Karl Saint Lucy's "Different Stars: A Reckoning with Time, Trauma and Circumstance." Raquel Cion directs this new queer song cycle that's being developed into a musical.
The playwright monologist and songwriter David Cale brings an as-yet-unnamed show produced by Kevin Malony and TWEED TheaterWorks.
Steve Hayes c-sections his currently-running YouTube series "Tired Old Queen Series" for a rebirth on stage... also produced by TWEED.
After the well-documented struggles of eateries and live performance venues during the last several months, the Pangea family continues to hold on by focusing on quality service , the neighborhood, a family of staff and patrons, and a return to live performing, in any way that is possible.
"We can't give up the ghost," Shanaghan says.
For information on all the shows in the GHOST LIGHT SERIES visit the Pangea website HERE
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