Feinstein's/54 Below Launches Late Night Drag Series with Miss Vodka Stinger, Cacophany Daniels & More
By: Julie Musbach Mar. 27, 2017
After years of presenting some of New York's most beloved and fabulous drag performers, Feinstein's/54 Below launches an ongoing Late Night Drag Series. Curated by Garth Schilling (also known to the drag community as Miss Vodka Stinger), the new Late Night Drag Series features a rotating roster of up-and-coming and legendary New York City drag performers on select Thursday nights at 11:30PM with $20 tickets and a two-drink minimum.
WANNA BETTE? CACOPHONY DANIELS SINGS Bette Midler
MARCH 30 AT 11:30PM
"Perfection...Cacophony was stunning" - BistroAwards.com. Join Bistro Award-winning drag queen beltress Cacophony Daniels (aka Jersey Boys' Courter Simmons) as she pays tribute to everyone's favorite bathhouse beauty, the one and only Bette Midler! In a fun evening of songs sung in their original keys as only Cacophony can, relive all the Divine Miss M's best tunes, from the bathhouse to Broadway, film to flim-flam, and everything in between!
MISS VODKA STINGER AND THE Martha RayeS
APRIL 27 AT 11:30PM
If it's elegance you've been missing, boozy chanteuse and New York drag star, Miss Vodka Stinger is back with her rakish twosome, The Martha Rayes, to deliver the goods. They make their triumphant return to Feinstein's/54 Below with Sophisticated Ladies, a night that's guaranteed to be brimming with Brylcreem, spats, and diaphragm carrying cases. For their seventh engagement at "Broadway's Living Room," Vodka & The Martha Rayes have challenged themselves to stage a show comprised of only the most refined and upmarket numbers. In other words, an evening for the true sophisticate. Rooted in the swank, eclectic nightclub culture of 1950s/60s New York City, this act hearkens back to the nightlife of yesteryear when you could see a baby Barbra Streisand at The Bon Soir on West 8th Street, Kay Thompson in The Plaza's Persian Room, or Dorothy Loudon at the Blue Angel on East 55th. Musical director, Frank Spitznagel is at the keys for this 70-minute extravaganza that is equal parts American Songbook and esoteric special material. For those who want to bring back the bygone Manhattan, for those who can think chic, urbane, with just a touch of the profane: come catch wise. The Sophisticated Show is the well-bred drag act you didn't know you needed.
MAY 11 AT 11:30PM
International drag darlings Joey Arias (star of Zumanity and Arias With A Twist) and Sherry Vine (YouTube sensation and star of Here TV's She's Living for This) will perform their all live cabaret extravaganza at Feinstein's/54 Below for one night only on Thursday, May 11th. Although they have toured the world with their sold out, scandalous shows, Joey and Sherry have not presented a full length event together in NYC in over 4 years!! The creators of StarLust, SINsation, and Cherchez La Femme will feature new original material as well as Broadway, Rock, Joey's infamous Billy Holiday, Sherry's fabulous trashy parodies, and a few surprises! These sisters in crime have dazzled crowds in Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, all over the USA, and even Estonia! Sharing the stage at the legendary Bar d'O in NYC, Joey and Sherry have performed together for over 20 years! Come live the magic for one night only in NYC!
MAY 25 AT 11:30PM
After years and years and years of being NYC's most single human being, Marti Cummings is finally making his way to the altar. Going To The Chapel - Becoming an Honest Woman is an acoustic concert that will take you on a journey from Marti's high school crushes and first kiss to finding the man of his dreams. The eclectic music will showcase the different stages of Cummings' dating and romantic life. Featuring Eric Miranda on guitar with special surprise guests!
Late Night Drag Series curator Garth Schilling (aka Miss Vodka Stinger) started her career 10 years ago hosting game shows in various saloons and bars around NYC but quickly and smoothly made the transition from bars to nightclubs and then landed with a bang in the cabaret scene blowing the roof off of Feinstein's/54 Below two years ago with her nightclub debut Lower Your Expectations. Since then Miss Stinger has become a regular at Feinstein's/54 Below creating and selling out six new shows in two years.
For those who prefer their drag fix at an earlier hour, Feinstein's/54 Below offers the following previously announced 9:30PM engagements, as part of the club's regular programming with ticket prices beginning at $25-35, and a $25 food and beverage minimum.
APRIL 5 - 6 AT 9:30PM
Clear the Hudson River ladies and gentlemen, there's a great white beaching herself in Midtown! International chanteuse Varla Jean Merman is opening her jaws wide to take a bite out of the American Songbook. With A Little White Music, this salty songbird strikes up a honky hit parade of the whitest material to hit your ears since the invention of the Q-Tip. Featuring unforgettable takes on forgettable favorites, Varla Jean will drag you down to the depths of your AM radio dial. Featuring Gerald Goode on piano. Written by Jeffery Roberson with Jacques Lamarre. Directed by Michael Schiralli. Varla Jean Merman is the purported love child of Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine. Returning to Feinstein's/54 Below, Varla Jean, aka Jeffery Roberson, unveils this new show that will leave audiences delighted. Jeffery starred in the musical Lucky Guy opposite Leslie Jordan in New York in 2011 at the Little Shubert Theatre, prompting The New York Times to rave, "If Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman had stood in front of the right pair of funhouse mirrors, they might have resembled Ms. Merman and Mr. Jordan in stature as well as comedic talent." This past year, Jeffery completed shooting the sequel to the camp classic film Girls Will Be Girls, and Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads is now available on www.SethTV.com. Off-Broadway audiences embraced Jeffrey when he played the title role in Giancarlo Menotti's opera The Medium.
MARCH 28, APRIL 7, MAY 16 and JUNE 13 AT 9:30PM
A current contestant on Season 9 of "RuPaul's Drag Race" Alexis Michelle is all powdered, pink, and ready for her Feinstein's/54 Below Solo Debut! Join us for It Takes A Woman... An Evening with Alexis Michelle, a humorous and poignant memoir detailing how Alex Michaels, a boy from SoHo emerged as Alexis Michelle, New York's premiere theatrical drag queen! With songs ranging from standards like "Bill" to classic character numbers like "A Call from the Vatican" and new interpretations of contemporary pop hits, Alexis is certain to bring you the sweet things in life with this one-of-a-kind cabaret experience! With Music Direction by Brandon James Gwinn and Produced by James Will McBride.
THE Doris Dear MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL WITH RAY DEFOREST
MAY 12 AT 9:30PM
2016 MAC award winner, Doris Dear, the inner Housewife of Ray DeForest, returns to the Rumpus Room at Feinstein's/54 Below for a one night only event! "The Doris Dear Mother's Day Special" celebrates her mother Taffy and mothers everywhere with her special guests ... multiple award winner and recording artist Stacy Sullivan, Hansen Award winner and MAC award winner Meg Flather, award winning vocalist Shaynee Rainbolt and award winning singer extraordinaire, Lina Koutrakos. The Rumpus Room will be full of rousing numbers from Broadway and the radio ... as well as original stories of how our mothers influence our inner "housewife". So come join us in the Rumpus Room for a good old fashioned variety "special" that leaves you smiling and humming your whole way home. Doris Dear has been featured in movies (Men in Black 3, The Normal Heart), TV shows (The Carrie Diaries), and heard around the world. The show was written by Dramatist Guild and SAG/AFTRA National LGBT Board Member Ray DeForest, directed by the award-winning director Lina Koutrakos and musical directed by the award-winning Rick Jensen.
MORE ABOUT FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW:
Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, is a performance venue in the grand tradition of New York City nightlife. A few blocks from the heart of Times Square and just below the legendary Studio 54, Feinstein's/54 Below is a classically designed state-of-the art nightclub in the theatre district that hosts audiences with warmth and style. Feinstein's/54 Below presents iconic and rising stars from the worlds of Broadway and popular music and has set a new standard for culinary excellence worthy of the world-class entertainment on the stage.
In their description of the venue, The New York Times writes, "Feinstein's/54 Below has the intimacy of a large living room with unimpeded views and impeccable sound; there is not a bad seat in the house. Its sultry after-hours ambience is enhanced by brocade-patterned wall panels planted with orange-shaded lanterns. And the atmosphere is warmer and sexier than in Manhattan's other major supper clubs."
Located at 254 West 54th Street, Feinstein's/54 Below features up to three shows nightly with cover charges ranging from $5-$105. 54Below.com/Feinsteins
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