When the entertainment website BroadwayWorld.com announced its 2015 New York Cabaret Award nominees for "Best Alt Cabaret Show," Raquel Cion-hailed by The New York Times as "half witch and half cabaret performer"-was named a finalist for her stunning performances in Me & Mr. Jones: My Intimate Relationship with David Bowie, a show that generated standing ovations from SRO crowds at The Slipper Room, 167 Orchard Street. After Bowie's death in January, Cion decided to bring back a revised version of Me & Mr. Jones . . . for a three-show run that concludes at the popular Lower East Side burlesque/variety club on May 15 at 8 pm.
Critics are raving about Raquel Cion's performance in her current run:
"The show is riveting and the writing at once poetic and ethereal . . . Cion's finely-tuned band is fantastic throughout . . . the show's true power lies in its conceptual nuance . . . For Cion, Bowie's greatest gift was vision itself-the ability to see herself and ultimately to be seen by others. Sharing that vision, or "soul love," is Me and Mr. Jones' gift to the audience." -Victoria Ordin, BroadwayWorld.com
"[Me & Mr. Jones] is a sacred rite of innate theatricality, artful sexuality and unapologetic emotion, Cion's show mourns a mythic cultural figure but celebrates the invention of who you really are." -Adam McGovern, hilobrow.com
"Possessing a visceral power that was moving and tragic at times, Ms. Cion charges through the pain of her lost idol, making us laugh, cry, sing, and stomp our feet along with the pulsing rhythms of Bowie's timeless art." -Jonathan Shade, NiteLifeExchange.com
"In the spirit of much of Bowie's output, Cion's show celebrates the structure of cabaret performance while moving past many of its conventions. Her deep rasp has the force of a rock star in many of the upbeat numbers and a more reserved elegance on slower tunes."
--Eric Grimm, TheaterPizzazz.com
"[Cion gives] a brilliant virtuoso performance. She channels Bowie for the evening and gives us all an abiding sense of how much his work meant to his old fans and still means to his generations of new admirers." --Simon Critchley, author of the highly praised philosophical critique Bowie (OR Books, 2014).
In this show-featuring additional songs and new material-the self-described "psycho-delicate girl" explores her "soul love" for David Bowie, arguably one of the most important contemporary artists of the past 50 years. Ms. Cion's personal stories and the deep cuts of some of her favorite David Bowie songs are the fuel this artist uses to rocket us through her inner space-coming of age as an outsider; navigating the celestial realms of love, mid-life crisis and loss; and ultimately finding acceptance and hope in the embrace of David Bowie's artistry. Raquel Cion's creative team for Me & Mr. Jones . . . includes Director Cynthia Cahill, Musical Director Karl Saint Lucy, also on piano, Lighting Design by Michael Zumbrun, and Costumes by David Quinn. Ms. Cion's band features Jeremy Bass, Guitar; Daniel Shulman, Bass; Michael Morales, Drums; Isai Centeno and DM Salsberg, Vocals.
Tickets for Raquel Cion's Me & Mr. Jones: My Intimate Relationship with David Bowie are $15 General Admission; $25 for Reserved. www.slipperroom.com/ For more information, contact Stephen Hanks, Cabaret Life Productions, stephenhanks41@gmail.com or 718-753-1323.
Photos by John Huntington
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