Whether you practice the religious traditions of Easter or Passover, or celebrate Pop-culture icon Lady Bunny, there’s something for you to enjoy this holiday weekend in NYC, in person or online, in these three diverse selections.
With A Passion 2022, Dzieci Theatre, returning to public performances for the first time in three years, has refined the Christian liturgy according to Matthew from the earliest existing translations, relying heavily on the Aramaic Peshitta, incorporating Hebraic song and chant, and ritual elements of Judaism, and sets the revision in the shadow of the Warsaw Ghetto. Whether Christian or Jew or Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Zen, the dramatic choral liturgy unbound will appeal to the human spirit in everyone and our essential longing for communion.
Following live presentations in Brooklyn on Palm Sunday, and in Manhattan on Holy Tuesday, the company moves to The Church of the Redeemer, 30-14 Crescent Street, Astoria, Queens, on Maundy Thursday, April 14, beginning at 7:00 pm. It then goes upstate to the Old Dutch Church in Kingston, located at 272 Wall Street, starting at 7 pm, on Good Friday, April 15. Doors open 15 minutes prior to the performance; a donation of $10 is suggested.
Just in time for Easter, legendary drag icon, comedian, recording artist, DJ, and co-founder and emcee of the outdoor Wigstock festival, Lady Bunny, famous for her big blonde bouffant and her naughty foul-mouthed wit, hops into Times Square with the NYC premiere of her internationally acclaimed touring show Unmasked & Unfiltered, beginning on April 14, at The Laurie Beechman Theatre.
While Bunny was trapped in her apartment during lockdown, her thoughts had time to marinate. Now that she’s running wild and free, she’s ready to share those bawdy and bodacious ideas with you in her new parodies of Cardi B, Lizzo, Madge, Lady Gaga, and Ariana Grande, along with her twisted salute to Laugh-In and other brand-new material mixed in with some of the old. Just remember that Bunny’s act is often offensive and most definitely not PC, so don’t buy a ticket if you don’t like twisted humor!
Lady Bunny: Unmasked & Unfiltered plays April 14, 16-17, and 22-23, at The Laurie Beechman Theatre, inside the West Bank Café, 407 West 42nd Street, downstairs, NYC. For tickets (priced at $25 general admission, $35 VIP, which includes reserved seating and a pre-signed photo of Lady Bunny, plus a $25 food/drink minimum at all performances), go online. All attendees must present proof of full vaccination to enter.
On April 15, for the first night of Passover, Maya Jacobson, Jodi Snyder, and Raquel Nobile will release their concept video for Abi Gezunt, a beloved Yiddish song from the 1940s. The three young performers met doing the award-winning Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Joel Grey, at the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene.
According to Jacobson, daughter of Cantor Deborah Jacobson and granddaughter of Holocaust survivor Michael Frenkel, “When I heard the Barry Sisters’ version of ‘Abi Gezunt,’ I called Jodi and Raquel and said we have to cover this song. It perfectly describes how we’re feeling two years into a global pandemic. The chorus translates to ‘As long as you are healthy, you can be happy.’ To me, that meant being grateful for living and taking each day as it comes with joy.”
Snyder, who can be heard on the Fiddler cast album as Fruma Sarah, added, “Yiddish is something I knew about growing up because my grandparents spoke some phrases around the house, but it wasn’t until working at the Folksbiene that I truly developed an appreciation for the language, heritage, and richness of it.”
The filming features the juxtaposition of the swanky Mosaic Bar in Astoria, Queens, and historic Central Park, in a video conceptualized by director Jenny Lester (producer, writer, and star of What She Said), who wanted to capture the Vaudevillian essence of the ‘40s and pay homage to some of the greats, while incorporating the sexiness of groups like the Barry Sisters and Andrew Sisters. Prior to the video release, you can listen to the trio singing the song here:
