[Mb-hair] Halloween, in the East Village

[Jim Burns]

I believe I may be previously engaged (Ann Darrow's having a hoe-down on
Skull Island, and Carl Denham's promised to bring the punch), but for
those of you in the vicintity, this block party, and all night event at
the Theatre for the New City, sounds like it could be grea fun!   JIm
Burns
__________

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY HOLDS ITS 29th ANNUAL VILLAGE HALLOWEEN COSTUME
BALL OCTOBER 31 Underground stars perform each year in TNC's Halloween
Cabarets. Guests will see, be seen and vie for costume prizes.
Celebrants will sink fangs into Halloween delicacies in The Witches'
Cauldron 
WHERE AND WHEN: 

Sunday, October 31, at 155 First Avenue (at E. 10th St.) and the block
of E. 10th St. between 1st and 2nd Avenues (presented by Theater for the
New City) 

Free outdoor entertainment begins 4:00 pm; doors open 7:30 pm $20;
costume or formal wear required, (212) 254-1109 
DESCRIPTION: 

                  Nonstop theater, a
costume competition and ballroom dancing will bewitch the East Village
in Theater for the New City's 28th annual Village Halloween Costume Ball
on Sunday, October 31 at TNC, 155 First Avenue. This unique festival
continues as a grand coming-together for everyday New Yorkers and
artists alike. A carefree fall tradition, it celebrates the creativity
that comes with the season. 

                The one-night fiesta
takes over all four of TNC's theater spaces, plus its lobby and the
block of East Tenth Street between First and Second Avenues. Customarily
over 1,400 wildly-clad celebrants gather for dancing, dining, showing
off costumes and viewing acts from the cutting-edge of Cabaret and
Theater. Admission is $20; costume or formal wear is required. 

                Dance orchestras will
include The Great Paprika Band, a noted Brazilian jazz pop orchestra,
and Hot Lavendar Swing Band, an all-Gay and Lesbian 18-piece orchestra. 

                With its Witches'
Cauldron, the event can justifiably claim to have downtown's most
sensational Halloween cafe. The Community Theater of TNC becomes an
atmospheric grande buffet for the event, with a variety of American and
international delicacies available at peoples' prices. Holiday dishes
are contributed by neighboring East Village restaurants and a variety of
private chefs. You can gobble couscous from a coffin lid beginning at
7:30 pm while enjoying spine-tingling performances by Arthur Abrams,
Norman Savitt with Susan Mitchell, Michelle DeAngeles, Soce the
Elemental Wizard, Salome James & Chuck Muscone, Melissa Shetler, Richard
West, GWAABO and more. 

                Outside, there are
bluegrass and jazz bands, fire eaters, jugglers, storyweavers and stilt
dancers, all free to the public and a gift from TNC to its neighborhood.
Inside, there is theater all evening. 

                Since its beginning in
1977, TNC's Halloween extravaganza has been a point of origin for many
of the City's most original entertainers. Six full-length plays have
grown out of playlets written for the fest and it is probable that the
theatrical movement in Performance Art began there. It has been a
launching pad for such formative artists as Paul Zaloom, Alice Farley,
Bloolips, The Red Mole, Penny Arcade, Basil Twist and Alien Comic Tom
Murrin. It is also interesting to note TNC originated the Village
Halloween Parade as part of its annual Halloween Ball. The procession
wound its way through the Village from TNC's second home at the corner
of Jane and West Streets to Washington Square Park. Now the event takes
up every available inch (both floors) of TNC's multi-theater complex at
155 First Avenue (the former First Avenue Retail Market building) and
adjoining outdoor spaces. 

                Doors open at 7:30 pm
and indoor entertainment begins at 8:00 pm. There will be two
continuously-running cabarets. Featured performers will include Penny
Arcade, The Bacher Boys, Zero Boy, Epstein & Hassan, steve ben israel,
Wise Guise, Lavinia Coop, Bina Sharif, The Wycherly Sisters, N.Y.
Ukulele Festival, Margo Lee Sherman, Imagination Explosion (puppet
theater), Levanah (Belly Dance), Billionaires for Bush, New York
Flaggers, Samurai Sword Soul, Jushi, Katherine Adamenko, NY Lyric
Circus, Ambivalent Skin, David Peel, Donald L. Brooks, George Bellici,
Andre Brown (tap), Lissa Moira, Eve Packer, Kevin Martin, Joe Bendik,
Jenn London, Stan Rifkin, Inma Heredia (Flamenco), Alex MacDonald,
Chovexani (gothic belly dance), Jimmy Camicia, Lei Zhou, Lauretta
Auditorium, Mykeo & Axis Danz, Hal Robins and the band Liv-I-Culture. 

                This year, Outdoor
entertainment, free to the public, will start at 4:00 pm with music by
Iration Squad, Gary Heidt and Friends, Angela Rostick (stilt walker),
Molly Allis (puppets), British Music Hall (Crystal Field, Mark Marcante
and company) and an assortment of jugglers and vaudeville acts including
fire breathers. Outdoor entertainment is capped by "The Red and Black
Masque," an annual Medieval ritual show written by Arthur Sainer, scored
by David Tice and directed by Crystal Field which is performed by
torchlight. 

                Scattered through the
event will be stilt dancers, jugglers, fire-eaters, Vaudeville playlets
and Burlesque. Lobby attractions will include a Wiccan Psychic Reader,
Astrology/Numerology, an Aura Reader, throwing of the I Ching, belly
dancers, Hellsouls, Laraine Goodman and Paganini Apparition. 

                The entire facility will
be elaborately rendered for Halloween, featuring intricate and massive
environments by leading theatrical scenarists, sculptors, and artists
including Donald L. Brooks, Walter Gurbo, Judy Sky, Ian Gordon,
Alexander Bartenieff, Jon D. Andreadakis, Pamela Mayo and Evan
Schlossberg. The Scary Room is by Susan Gittens and Friends. 

                The annual costume
judging begins at 11:30 pm with the "Monsters and Miracles Costume
Parade," as all revelers are invited to march past a panel of celebrity
judges. Winners in twelve individual categories will receive one-year
passes to TNC and a bottle of Moet and Chandon champagne. This year's
panel includes celebrity judges Jack Agueros, George Ferencz, H.M.
Koutoukas, Judith Malina, Hannon Reznikoff, Miguel Maldonado, John
Gilman, Bob Heide, Rome Neal, Maria Irene Fornes, Miguel Moldonado,
Sarah Provost, Jane Catherine Shaw, Abigail Ramsay, Garland Lee
Thompson, Roberta Wallach and David Willinger. Attendees will be judged
in such categories as "Most Magickal," "Most Psychic," "Most Bo-Toxic,"
"Most Pissed about Katrina," "Most Socially-Promoted," "Most Scared of
Bird Flu," "Most Bush-Whacked," "Most No-Bid Contract," "Most Delay-ed,"
"Most Hybrid," "Most Corporate Welfare," "Most Fraudulent Election,"
"Most Appointed Crony" and "Most Born-Again, and Again, and Again." 

                The performers' list
continues to grow as of this writing. Theater for the New City is
located at 155 First Avenue, at the corner of East Tenth Street.
Reservations are strongly recommended. The TNC box office number is
(212) 254-1109. 
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