Penny Arcade Present 'Greatest Hits' Concert at Laurie Beechman Theatre, 5/1-5/22

Legendary performance artist Penny Arcade will present her first "Greatest Hits" show ever, THE VERY BEST OF Penny Arcade for a 4-week limited engagement beginning May 1st at The Laurie Beechman Theatre -- a rare "uptown" appearance for a performer who has become synonymous with "downtown art".

 

THE VERY BEST OF Penny Arcade is a veritable sampler of the landmark, expansive and genre pushing work of the Queen of Downtown Underground Performance. Penny Arcade has never wavered or relaxed in her quest to entertain and expand both herself and her audience. This funny and insightful new evening of seamlessly integrated selections from her most acclaimed works proves it. Celebrates 25 years of take-no-prisoner performance including Bitch!Dyke!Faghag!Whore!, Old Queen, Bad Reputation and New York Values.

Born Susana Carmen Ventura to an immigrant Italian family in New Britain, Connecticut, she became Penny Arcade at age 17. She made her performance debut at The Playhouse of the Ridiculous in Kenneth Bernard's THE MOKE EATER, directed by John Vaccaro.

Soon after, Arcade became a teenage superstar for Andy Warhol's Factory with a featured role in the Morrissey/Warhol film "Women In Revolt." In the early 1980's, she appeared alongside many of the greats of American experimental theatre including Jack Smith, Jackie Curtis and Charles Ludlam.
In 1985 Arcade began creating her own improvisational and unscripted solo work. In 1990 that she created her infamous sex and censorship show, "Bitch!Dyke!Faghag!Whore!," which toured the world twice and was a commercial hit in 20 cities around the world. Her shows include the autobiographical trilogy "Based on A True Story," "Invitation to The Beginning Of The End Of The World" and "La Miseria;" "Working My Way Down;" "Old Queen, the all girl (and a few gay boys) show" "Bad Reputation;" and "New York Values, an autopsy on the death of Bohemia."

Since 1999 Penny has spearheaded the award winning documentary series "Stemming The Tide of Cultural Amnesia, The Lower Eastside Biography Project," an oral history and downtown performance project cum training program sponsored in part by Manhattan Neighborhood Network. She is a member of Feminists for Free Expression, The National Coalition Against Censorship, Visual Aids, and the artist/art professional caucus that produces Day Without Art each December 1st. In addition, she is a founding member of FEVA (Federation of East Village Artists) the producer of The Howl! Festival of the Arts. Her new hard cover book "Bad Reputation" was recently published by Semiotext(e).

THE VERY BEST OF Penny Arcade runs May 1 - 22, Saturdays at 7:30pm. The Laurie Beechman Theater is located inside West Bank Cafe at 407 West 42nd Street -- at Ninth Avenue, accessible from the A,C,E,N,R,V,F,1,2,3 trains at 42nd Street. Tickets are $20, plus $15 food/drink minimum, available at 212-352-3101.

For more information, visit online at www.SpinCycleNYC.com.