Review: Everything Is on the Menu at Lea DeLaria's BRUNCH IS GAY at 54 Below

Every second Sunday at 1 pm, singer/actor/comedian triple threat Lea DeLaria invites you to celebrate the “Gay high holiday” of brunch at 54 Below with her new show, Brunch Is Gay. DeLaria is a wonderful host: brash, laugh-out-loud funny and wickedly charming. She kicked off the September 8th edition with a rousing swing version of “Welcome to My Party” from The Wild Party. She was backed a masterful three-piece band, which she introduced one by one during the next song: Joe Strasser on drums, “big bear f**” Marco Panascia on bass, and Arcolris Sandoval on piano.

DeLaria is carving out a delightfully queer space with the show, an intimate brunch where everyone is gay (“and if you’re not, shut the f*** up,” she playfully added). Every show features a different theme and a different guest. The loose theme this month was songs by and/or about women. DeLaria kicked it off with an upbeat, high-energy swing version of a Cole Porter classic, “Miss Otis Regrets,” a song you never would have thought of swinging. DeLaria is a truly great jazz singer, slinging gorgeous songs between hilarious stories about whatever's on her mind, including on inspired by the recent Jellicle Ball about her friend Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Cats in the 90s.

This month’s guest, Lilli Cooper, isn’t gay, but she did note that she’s made out with a lot of women. (“You’re such a millennial,” DeLaria snarked). The banter between the pair was delightful. The POTUS co-stars had a lovely rapport. They'd both been woken up early, DeLaria by her kitten and Cooper by her five-month-old. Cooper said “the only difference is the kitten doesn’t feed from your nipple.” “How do you know?” DeLaria quipped back without missing a beat. The laughs throughout the show were as free flowing as the mimosas. (Brunch is for day-drinking, as DeLaria said.)

Between the banter, of course, were plenty of songs. Cooper is a magnetic performer, and her duets with DeLaria were mesmerizing. According to DeLaria, everyone that night was doing songs they’d never done before, and the energy was fun, spontaneous, electric. They sang together on an acoustic Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” “Mambo No. 5,” and Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie,” and each and every song was fantastic. Cooper’s clear, traditional musical theater voice was an interesting contrast with DeLaria’s jazzy scatting.

You never know what will happen next when Lea DeLaria is on stage – will a swing cover of David Bowie’s “Suffragette City” turn into her leading the crowd in a chant of “vaginas rule”? (Yes.) Will she talk frankly about her recent hysterectomy? (Yes.) DeLaria and Cooper, who had recently given birth, bonded over, among other things, their recent gynecological events. “I’ve got stitches in my cooch,” DeLaria said. “So do I,” Cooper added, drawing laughs from the crowd.

Towards the end, DeLaria gave Cooper a goody bag of Brunch Is Gay merch, which she was also selling after the show. “This b***h has a wedding to pay for – buy the CDs!” Cooper quipped. (DeLaria had just announced her recent engagement earlier in the show.) She took the crowd out on an energetic, silky smooth “Take The A Train,” with everyone in the band blending together marvelously.

Come back next month on October 13th to sample 54 Below’s delicious brunch menu and catch the next edition of Brunch Is Gay, a Halloween-themed show featuring Jackie Hoffman.

Tickets are available on 54 Below's website.

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