TEN-FOOT RAT Cabaret to Play UNDER St. Marks on Today

THE LAST WALTZ? Nay! But it is the last Ten-Foot Rat Cabaret of the summer, on Wednesday, August 2 at 9:30pm. Closing out its 4th year, The Rat features an inspired, curated monthly roster of smart comedy, thrilling music, clever storytelling, sexy burlesque, and theatrical vaudeville spectacle. That's why it's been called the show that "forever and irrevocably altered the soul of variety in Old Gotham." You'll see an amazing lineup of new talent and the best of our returning nightlife superstars.

Escape the brutal heat with physical comedy, old world decadence, sexuality, costumes, blues/rock/jazz, sketch comedy, theatrical characters, and stories.
Hosted by comedian/storyteller Jillian Thomas (MTV Live, The Toronto Show, The Buzz, Listen Missy, Much Music's Love Court), Ten-Foot Rat Cabaret presents the greatest music, best dancers, smartest comedians, funniest storytellers and just plain unique acts for one thrilling evening of entertainment. Talent from New York City and around the world takes the stage at the legendary UNDER St. Marks in the heart of the East Village for this monthly event.

The show on Wednesday, August 2 features returning fave Asuza (aka SheShe Dance). This bold beautiful blues belter conquered the famously tough Showtime at The Apollo -- twice! The Rat is delighted to have Azusa back, with all her amazing talent, energy and love.

Then, of course, is our Artist-in-Residence, the funny, brilliant, and strange Bill Chambers. Expect the unexpected, as he might tell a morbidly funny tale of Gotham apartment hunting, animate a dead Teddy Ruxpin a la Mary Shelly, arrange a special appearance by Neil Diamond, or shock you with his live murderbag (seen in the FRIGID Festival, Canuck Cabaret, and punk rock shows all across the Former Communist Bloc).

Galatea Stone is back, perpetrating her artful dance and burlesque for the Rat! Galatea is an NYC based producer, performer and living statue. When she isn't plotting world domination, she's on stage, sharing the joys of absurdist whimsy and gleeful snark with her audiences. Her monthly show, WE ARE LEGION, has been called "deliciously strange" and a "much needed [and] necessary slap in the face for creative ideas." It is currently the only burlesque show in Williamsburg. Described as a "beautiful oddity" and "striking polymath," Galatea is a true Renaissance woman, equally at home with the glittering queens of burlesque, the sad clowns of side show, and the wild children of the playa.

Standup comic Kevin Michael Smith will be making his Rat debut, but we don't think he'll be too nervous: besides co-producing and performing in the weekly Friday show "Polished Comedy" at Beauty Bar in Manhattan, Smith played in places as far-flung as stages in Barcelona... and, oh, yeah, he served in the military in Afghanistan. Come honor his service by laughing at his material!

Master of dark "German" nightclub humor and Continental kitsch, Gregory Levine as "Gregor of Berlin" will regale the audience with horrid tales of Teutonic childhood, decadence, morphine, prostitution, and of course, life in European show biz (seen in the Capital Fringe, FRIGID Festival, Travel Channel, Guilty Pleasures Cabaret and Guinness Book of World Records for Longest Continuous Variety Show).

Ten-Foot Rat Cabaret plays at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A) every month. NOTE: Starting September 9 at 10:30pm, the Rat will move to every second Saturday. Visit www.tenfootrat.com for the latest show information. Tickets ($10) are available for advance purchase at www.horseTRADE.info or at the box office before the show. In-theater bar serves craft beers, wine, Japanese sake, and hard cider. Admission is 21+ with ID to drink / 17+ or accompanied by guardian to attend the show.

FRIGID NEW YORK @ HORSE TRADE is a theater development group with a focus on new work that produces a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater every season. FRIGID's Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. FRIGID New York grew out of the annual FRIGID Festival, the first and only festival of its kind in New York City to offer artists 100% of their box office proceeds, and Horse Trade Theater Group, a self-sustaining theater development and management group. www.horseTRADE.info.