Confidence Games

The akshunist aspect of our New York CHEAP and 80 WSE Gallery adventure of The Magic Flute is over.  From Dec 1-5  we did three performances a night that began at the site specific location of the Lindsey Lohan Museum Project Space on Prince Street where I held court ala Madame DeFarge in the overture room.  The audience then was led by pretty Miss Rebecca who also did my hair and make-up to the 80WSE Gallery to experience the 5 other tableaux vivant.  After the last three shows I would quickly change from my costume and join the invited guests as it was such a pleasure to behold the splendour of our talking Greek chorus in the Totalitarian Structure, The singing choir of the New York Choral Society led by David Hayes and the Horkheimer Arkestra aka:  The Julliard Orchestra.  I loved the reveal when the audience discovers that all the music and singing is coming from a conducted live body. Jamie Stewart is a maestro beyond maestros whose original music score was utterly sublime.  The New York Choral Society members were a sheer delight and extremely talented whose boundless energy and charisma was godhead.  The crème de la cream of New York society and distinguished guests came to the performances which we renamed open rehearsals.  Amoung the dignitaries:  Deidrich Diederichsen, Stuart Comer & Thomas Lax  of MoMa, Uzi Parnes, Ela Troyano, Carmelita Tropicana, Glenn Belverio, Douglas Crimp, Leo Bersoni, Nancy Brooks Brody of Fierce Pussy, Ulrich Baer, Peter Russo of Triple Canopy, Heather Love, Anthony Tommasini the New York Times opera critic, Thatcher Keats, Dr. Jennifer Doyle, Barbara London MoMa’s video curator, Erich Deidrich,Noel Anderson, Lynn Gumpert, Ann Pelligrini, Lyle Ashton Harris, Ben Hatcher and Damien Davis of NYU, Karen Shimakawa Grey Art Gallery, Janine Tang &Ann Butler of Bard College, Alex Jovanovich of Art Forum Magazine who did a lovely  video interview with Susanne and I, artist Neil Goldberg, scholar Jonathan Flatley and wife Danielle, Lisa Darmes of the Fales Library, Marc Arthur of Performa, Elizabeth Beer of Project 8 who designed Roger Grants costume in the 4^th tableaux, Hunter O Harian and Cynthia “Social Lies” Powell of Lindsey Lohan Museum, Scott Cameron Weaver the independent curator, Dustin Foster, Michael Stickrod who is assisting Michel Auder with the Magic Flute film, Rona Yefman, the glamorous Lynn Cooke, Pam Grossman, Wenzel Bilger and Hannah of Goethe Institut, Malik Gaines and Alex Segrade of My Barbarian, Will Heinrich of Hyper Allergenic Magazine, famous art fotog Zoe Leonard, Bob Nichas,Mark Morgan Perez,Lauren “Nurse Pain” Pine, Michelle Handelman, Bruce Benderson, J. Hoberman, Slava Mogutin, Billy Miller, the dapper  and wonderful Pulitzer Prize winning art critic Holland Cotter who came up to me after the performance, introduced himself and said some very sweet and encouraging things about the piece and Amy Taubin who gave an honest and heartfelt critique that I thought was divoon that our version of The Magic Flute was better then being held hostage by terrorists in the subway.  I love Amy she is the best!!!!
During the Michel Auder filming one of my cute and cuddly Totalitarian Greek Chorus members Zach told me the sad news of Holly Woodlawns death.  My first time of meeting the great gorgeous legend was when she worked with Gorilla Rose on Melrose Avenue in the 1980s at Wacho and Soap Plant.  I worked across the street at Retail Slut.  She was always sweet and deliriously funny and was still the true star when she sang so poignantly with my CHEAP kollectiv colleagues kJohnny Blue and Daniel Hendrickson the Scandinavian Muzlim back in 2010 at Camp/Anti-Camp-The Queer Guide to Everyday Life which was curated by Marcuse Siegelstein and CHEAP fearless leader Susanne Sachsse.  This sometime evil world has experienced a colossal loss of magic and whimsy with the great lady healers death.