Pangea's INCUBATOR FESTIVAL Returns with New Shows

The East Village supper club Pangea is presenting the second edition of its cross-disciplinary “Incubator Festival,” with nine new shows in a three-week stretch from Sun July 20 to Sun Aug 10.  The pop-up festival, showcasing daring new projects in theater, music, comedy and storytelling (and combinations of the above), debuted in January

The latest crop of iconoclastic innovators includes Francis Garner in “Miss Otis Regrets,” a darkly comic one-man musical styled after both a 1950’s era radio broadcast and a modern-day podcast; the multi-media storyteller and composer Dane Terry brings us a new crop of cinematic vignettes for what he calls the “Summer Series” that will prove the roaches wrong; the angsty, queer, pop rock artist and filmmaker Emory Parker in “Emory Parker: Unplugged,” a show of original songs blending cinematic soundscapes and personal stories, presented by The Great Griffon. 

Other performers include currently in the cast of “Bueno Vista Social Club” Sophia Ramos joined by Sean Harkness on guitar, reprises her crowd-pleasing “No Parental Guidance” – in which we follow a perpetually irreverent Nuyorican rock ‘n roll singer on her Downtown escapades back in the ‘80s and ‘90s; Flash Rosenberg takes us on a surprise-filled journey in “Life in a New Dementian,” as she grapples with the cognitively complex challenges of a mother with dementia who loses her sense of time.  In this interactive solo show, the surrealist, photographer, performer and humorist uses perceptual games to heighten our sense of ourselves in time; the composer and soprano Dr. Stephanie Susberich performs an original song cycle, “Songs of Juana Borrero,” which sets to music the poetry of the mysterious and unsung 19th century Cuban poetess, Juana Borrero.  Scored for soprano voice, piano, cello, hand chimes, and select electronics, the cycle will be released this fall by Composers Condordance Records. (Wed Aug 6)

The comedian and host of “Lez Out Loud” Mina Hartong brings us her one-hour comedy special “Miss Personality”; the acclaimed Indian jazz pianist and composer Charu Suri makes her Pangea debut in a evening of “raga jazz” blending East and West, with guest singer Cassandra Kubinski; new shape-shifting band Roosta.Bon in an evening fo time travel and song with Tim Abou-Nasr, Jennifer McKenna, and Russell Daniels (Sun Aug 10)

FYI: Dane Terry’s show will be reprised Aug 21 and Sept 21.

“We want to shine a light on new work that’s hard to categorize sometimes, but that hits us in a deep place,” says Stephen Shanaghan, Pangea’s co-owner and entertainment director.  “We will produce these festivals each time we see a wave of new work at a high level that we can help bring to full fruition.”

Tickets for all the shows in the Festival, all of which take place in Pangea’s jewelbox Cabaret Room, are $25.  All are at 7pm.  There is a $20 food and drink minimum per person.

A hub for the burgeoning alt-cabaret movement, Pangea is known for introducing and nurturing an eclectic range of artists.  Its roster of notable resident artists has included Tammy Faye Starlite, David Cale, David Dean Bottrell, Salty Brine, Zachary Clause, David Mills, Steve Hayes, Ben Cassara, Claywoman, Rachelle Garniez, Penny Arcade, Jack Bartholet, and Carol Lipnik.