The Tank Announces Initial Programming in Honor of Pride Month 2020
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jun. 16, 2020
The Tank has announced a full slate of programming for its annual PrideFest. Every year in June, The Tank opens its stages to a wide variety of performances and discussions surrounding the topics of sexuality, gender, equality, old battles and new ways of fighting them. In its 6th year, PrideFest is moving to CyberTank.
From June 20-July 19, 2020, PrideFest 2020 will highlight work that celebrates the queer community; addresses challenges that are faced as we strive for rights, representation and justice; and presents new ideas and perceptions on how we define ourselves individually, within our own community and in the global community at large. Whether through unity or discordance, these pieces aim to shed light on the dynamic individuals and groups who make up the vibrant LGBTQIA+ community and help us understand where we've come from, where we are now, and where we can go.
For the month of June, The Tank will be raising funds for Fair Fight. All Tank box office proceeds-with the exception of those for "Distant Bodies" and Harsh Cacophonies Cycle: A Mary's Mixology-will be donated to this organization to ensure fair elections in 2020 and to end voter suppression, especially for voters of color. More information about PrideFest programming is below and available by visiting TheTankNYC.org.
CYBERTANK WEEKLY VARIETY SHOW
Tuesdays at 4pm
Free on The Tank's YouTube Channel
Advance RSVPS encouraged via The Tank website
The CyberTank Weekly Variety Show is a remote, multidisciplinary variety arts gathering open to everyone. The arts community has been presented with a challenge to re-examine theatricality, and The Tank has reframed this as the gift of an opportunity to grow and choose community over despair. Each weekly installment is centered around a specific question and features guest artists who will perform and facilitate conversation.
The June 30 edition of the CyberTank Weekly Variety Show will be hosted by Dey Phoenix (@polepho3nix); the July 7 edition will be hosted by Sammie James (host of We Are Trans) and Lynae Depriest. Hosts for June 30 & July 14 will be announced at a later date.
"DISTANT BODIES"
By Gabriel G Torres
Presented by CyberTank in collaboration with The LBGT Community Center
The Center's Virtual Open House: June 27, 2pm - 5pm
Season One on demand: June 28 - July 20
Season Two on demand: July 13 - July 20
CyberTank On Demand
$8 per season
"Distant Bodies" is a double season project inspired by the concept of an exquisite corpse. Through an open call, Gabriel G Torres, The Tank NYC and The LBGT Community Center curated a list of artists to create collective poems and generate individual content from those poems. 73 artists were involved. The content was then given to four filmmakers to create episodes incorporating the art generated through the open call. The final result is a double season web series, with a total of twelve 5-10-minute episodes.
The first season of "Distant Bodies" will be screened during The LGBT Community Center's Open House on Saturday June 27 from 2pm-5pm. More details about attending the Open House can be found at gaycenter.org/virtual-open-house. Seasons One & Two will then be available for pay-per-view download for $8 each via CyberTank. Season One, which focuses on intimacy during isolation, will be available beginning Sunday June 28; Season Two, which focuses on imagining the world after economic collapse, will be available beginning Monday July 13. More information can be found at www.Distantbodies.com.
All proceeds from "Distant Bodies" will be donated directly to The LGBT Community Center. The LGBT Community Center fosters a welcoming environment where everyone is celebrated for who they are, offering the LGBTQ communities of NYC advocacy, health and wellness programs; arts, entertainment and cultural events; and recovery, parenthood and family support services.
Artists involved in the creation of Season One include: Melissa Alegria, Allison Brzezinski & Patrick Scorese, Celeste Cahn, Donna Carnow, Jesse Carrey, Emma Colton, Natalia Cortes, Nora Daly, Isabel de Dios, Lynae DePriest, Latefy Dolley, Sasha Élom, Courtney Frances Fallon, HJ Farr, Claire Glubiak, Elizabeth Haag, Hana, Lizzie Hessek, Ryan Hunt, Joe Klaus, Danielle Kogan, Katherine Kopajtic, Paula Leon, Catalina Lopez, Patrick Mahony, Margaret Mayer, Paolo Mendoza, Christopher Murray, Marija Nova, Brennan O'Rourke, Derick Edgren Otero, Jasia Ries, Jack Rosman, Christopher M. Rzigalinski, Margaret Stolte, Parade Stone, Monica Torres, Ricky Tucker, Thomas Wilson, Bimini Wright, Yiru Chen and Abigail Zealey Bess.
Artists involved in the creation of Season Two include Kara Addington, Travis Amiel, L3AH ANGEL, Luna Beller-Tadiar, Kev Berry, Makayla Binter, Chris Burton, Julia Cavagna, Emmy Award nominee Ellen Cherry, Gabriel Coleman, Susannah Crowell, Janine Renee Cunningham, Renée Darline, Joe Doyle, Natalia Flores, Bekah Fly, Megan Furniss, Teresa Mae Lafferty, TyWuane Lewis, Steven T. Licardi, Lorne Svarc, Leila Mire, Joaquín de Jesús Moratillo Palacios, Han Murphy, Laura Ornella, Brennan O'Rourke, Amalia Olivia Rojas, Hannah Roodman, Charly Santagado, Maria Serena, Marisa Lark Wallin and Hamza Zaman.
OUT THERE
By Princess
June 22 - July 20
CyberTank On Demand
Tickets are $12 and include the entire download of full album
Out There is a concept video album and animated performance piece by the band Princess. It explores toxic masculinity and the role men ought to be playing during the current cultural reckoning of misogyny. The video's science fiction narrative explores the power of the Divine Feminine through collaborations with JD Samson, visual artist Jennifer Myers and the band TEEN.
The world debut of Out There took place at the Andy Warhol Museum in March 2019, followed by 60 performances at multiple institutions including The Bass, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, MCA San Diego, MIT List Visual Arts Center, MOCA Cleveland, New Museum, Wexner Center for the Arts and more. The final performance of Out There took place at The Tank on November 2, 2019.
"THE SOCIAL DISTANCE"
With Julian Shapiro-Barnum
June 22 - July 20
CyberTank On Demand
$2 per episode; $12 to rent the full series
What if "Broad City" were made in a bunker? You'd get what may be the first ever coronavirus quarantine sitcom and talk show. "The Social Distance" is a web series that finds humor in the darkness that was New York City in March-May 2020. Julian was sent home from study-abroad in Spain, Quentin got stuck in New York, and Julian's dads Michael and Lorin welcomed them into their home. Some call what follows a comedy...others call it a coping mechanism. Either way, this 7-episode web series full of puppets, original songs and espionage offers high intensity, low-stakes drama and too many jokes about Governor Cuomo.
In addition to The Tank's commitment to donate proceeds to Fair Fight, a portion of proceeds from "The Social Distance" will be donated to TGI Justice Project on Julian's behalf. TGI Justice Project is a group of transgender, gender variant and intersex people-inside and outside of prisons, jails and detention centers-creating a united family in the struggle for survival and freedom. More information can be found at www.tgijp.org.
HOW TO SURVIVE THE END OF THE WORLD
Watch Party with the Cast & Creative Team-June 26 at 8pm
The Tank's YouTube Channel
$5 Suggested Donation
How to Survive the End of the World is a short web-musical that has been written, rehearsed, produced and shot in its entirety since quarantine began in March 2020. How to Survive the End of the World tells the story of Al, a woman who has preserved years of video messages from her older brother who passed away prior to the quarantine lockdown. She now lives in a world where all of her human interactions happen on screens, which blurs the line between alive and dead, what is real and what is only in the cloud.
Creators EllaRose Chary and Brandon James Gwinn were inspired to remotely write a musical that deals with loss when so much of our lives must move online. The cast rehearsed via Zoom and recorded all the material independently at home on their own phones and devices.
How to Survive the End of the World stars Hannah Cruz, Dylan Hartwell, Greg Sullivan and Ellen Winter, with a script and lyrics by EllaRose Chary; music, lyrics and audio/video production by Brandon James Gwinn; and production management by Adrianna Lombardi.
Following the watch party, there will be a conversation with the creative team and members of the cast, hosted by Tank Artistic Director Meghan Finn.
HARSH CACOPHONIES CYCLE: A MARY'S MIXOLOGY
Written and performed by Kev Berry
July 1 at 8pm
The Tank's YouTube Channel
Free with suggested donation benefitting Housing Works
Advance RSVPS encouraged via The Tank website
Tank Associate Artist Kev Berry returns to PrideFest for his fifth year to present A Mary's Mixology, the third installment of his Harsh Cacophonies Cycle, a quartet of full-length monologues about the intersections between queerness and the things that hold us back.
Presented on the first anniversary of Berry's sobriety from alcohol, A Mary's Mixology is a document of a brave little homo's first year on the wagon. What does it mean for a gay man to give up liquid courage? How does he stay valiant in gay environments that often feel insidious after a certain point of the night? How does he not become a party pooper? Will he ever stop wanting a f-ing margarita? This brutally honest Night at the Club knocks back a seltzer with a splash of grapefruit juice with ease and tries to define a potential future as the drunken fog lifts to reveal a clear-eyed morning.
THE 5th ANNUAL BIG GAY DANCE SHOW
Date and Time to Be Announced
Gotham Dance Theater (GDT; Marc Nuñez, Founder) and The Tank NYC present The 5th Annual Big Gay Dance Show featuring works created by members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Curated by Marc Andrew Nuñez, this year the BGDS will be virtual featuring the work of 8 choreographers.
RULE OF 7x7: PRIDEFEST EDITION
June 20th & 21st at 8pm
Viewable via private Zoom link
Free
Rule of 7x7 is an ongoing series at The Tank that premieres 7 brand-new 10-minute plays by 7 different writers. For each show, every playwright comes up with one rule, then the 7 playwrights create new plays using all 7 rules. Now they've taken it online through Zoom, every other week during quarantine. In honor of Pride Month, the next round of Rule of 7x7 on June 20th & 21st at 8PM will feature 7 LGBTQIA+ writers, and all 7 plays will feature LGBTQIA+ casts. Playwrights and audience members can email RuleOfShow@gmail.com to sign up and receive the Zoom link.
FAST & FURIOUS - PRIDEFEST EDITION
July 7 at 7pm
Free on The Tank's YouTube Channel
Advance RSVPS encouraged via The Tank website
Live performance exists to serve as America's cultural conscience. It is the artist's responsibility to make work that shines a light on things when they're wrong, celebrate them when they're right and model alternative possibilities. This kind of work can change hearts and minds. The artist's ability to act fast and create work quickly in response to events, policies and general dumpster fires has never been more crucial, as they participate in building the language of resistance.
Hosted by Tank Associate Artist Kev Berry, the 40th installment of Fast & Furious will celebrate all things queer. Each month, a group of artists comes together to create performance pieces in the 7 days leading up to the event in response to the headlines of the week. The work tends to be made very quickly and, in many cases, very furiously! Artists interested in presenting work can e-mail Kev Berry at kev@thetanknyc.org for more information.
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