Marvin J. Taylor on Underneath the Skin
Mise-en-scene, Direction, Coreography, Video, Costume, and Set Design by John Kelly
Original Texts by Samuel Steward
NYU Skirball Theatre
October 12, 2019
Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.

Underneath the Skin was a smart, smart play.  It was a most novel dance-theatre piece based on the life of the classic star-****er and sexual maverick, Samuel Steward.  Yes, this was another gay play but the fascinating history that came with the play made it much more than that!  Here we have a living biography of Samuel Steward (1909-1993) who redefined himself often.  He succeeded as a novelist, poet, scholar, gay erotic fiction writer, and tattoo innovator.  And during all that he had time to sleep with Valentino, Lord Alfred Douglas (Boise), and Rock Hudson – while chumming up with good friends Gertrude Stein and Thornton Wilder.  Is there enough material here for a night in the theatre??  Hell, yes!! Continue reading Marvin J. Taylor on Underneath the Skin →

Company XIV: Queen of Hearts
Created by Austin McCormick and Company
Company XIV Theatre
October 10, 2019
Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.

Burlesque is alive and well and now living in Brooklyn.  Company XIV’s seductive spin on the story of Alice in Wonderland, Queen of Hearts is a quite the success and quite the sexcess.  From the minute you walk into the dim, highly incensed room of the theatre and are greeted by a most handsome collection of androgynous men in heels, you know that you are in store for an Alice in Wonderland that your mother never took you to.

Continue reading Company XIV: Queen of Hearts →