BlackBook Magazine

It would seem that this is the year of the musical. With In The Heights, Altar Boyz, and Sweeney Todd getting major accolades, the gaping hole Rent is soon to leave once it takes off from the theater circuit in June surely won't have any problems being filled with new musicals trying to establish themselves as not lame.

It's hard to decline an invitation to ogle sexy dancers and their nipple tassels. So hard, in fact, that we couldn't. As such, we recently checked out This Is Burlesque, an old timey Vaudevillian show with '20s flair. The performance stars funny man Murray Hill and neo-burlesque star Angie Pontani. Dancers were gussied in elaborate costumes—not to mention perfectly sculpted when said costumes came off. Murray, a crowd favorite, got away with lecherous jokes without seeming creepy, and his interjections throughout the show added to the enjoyment of watching two boobs cycling in opposite directions.

Music took center stage at Joyce Theater as The Stephen Petronio Company gyrated and twisted their way through two world premiers and a five-part encore. Petronio, the first male dancer of the Trisha Brown Dance Company, is known for choreographing unique “movement language,” and for his interplay between chaos and organization. Referencing Warhol as an artistic idol, Petronio said he’s heavily influenced by visual art and film. Much of the movement in the show was inspired by photos of female icons who have used their bodies as canvases—Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and burlesque star Dita Von Teese.

By GABO.

We didn’t really understand the title of the LUMAS gallery’s latest show, “Boudoir—A Hint of Sensuality,” so we looked it up. Webster’s Dictionary defines “Boudoir” as “a room where a lady may retire to be alone; a pouting room.” And, appropriately, it’s the perfect theme to tie together the sixteen photographs in the exhibit, running March 27 through June 10. Each picture features a woman or couple in a general state of melancholy and uninhibited sexuality.

Though it’s billed as a love story, Rainbow Kiss, written by Scotland’s Simon Farquhar and directed by Will Frears, is actually about its unrequited corollary. Set in Aberdeen, Scotland’s “Granite City,” Kiss follows Keith (played by Peter Scanavino), a sad fellow who spends his days hating a dead-end job, and his nights tending to his infant son alone. All work and no play, Keith despises his life, until he meets a captivating woman at a bar and takes her home with him.

Ever wonder what you look like to a complete stranger? Wish you had your own personal paparazzo? For about $500, Brooklyn photographer Izaz Rony will follow clients for two hours, snapping candids like a creepy stalker. On the online registration form, guests are asked to provide their daily schedules and a physical description. It also asks for a list of emotions clients would like captured—something like “contemplative irreverence” or “complete despondency” seems appropriate.

Bedell Cellars, owned by Co-CEO of New Line Cinema, Michael Lynne, recently released a new red wine. Called Musée, it’s sort of a Merlot, kind of a Cabernet, and a bit Petit Verdot. It’s this unexpected combination that makes the potable so unique—that, and the fact that all the grapes were harvested from the winery’s vineyards on Long Island. Bedell Cellars is known for collaborating with contemporary artists to design their artful labels—Eric Fischl, Barbara Kruger, and Ross Bleckner have all contributed. Musée’s label was designed by Chuck Close and features a bunch of grapes in Close’s photorealist style.

We didn’t know what to expect as we headed up to the fourth floor of Union Square’s Barnes & Noble to hear Tom Wolfe talk about his new book, and read from some of his classics as part of the chain’s “Meet the Writers” series. Octogenarians? Birkenstocks? White linen? But the crowd was relatively conventional—not to mention crowded. From bespectacled dads to fratty twentysomethings, people were here because of their ability and desire to read. (Blogs don’t count.)