Musical mixes queer poet and fascist future
TBy Bill Roundy his musical takes the crown for
oddest premise!
A new “immersive nightclub
musical” opening in Bushwick this
weekend will blend the future and the
past with pop culture obsessions and
hot dance moves. “Oscar at the Crown,”
opening at 3 Dollar Bill on Jan. 18,
also details the rise and fall of the ultimate
queer pop figure — Oscar Wilde,
according to the show’s creator.
“Oscar was as much a star as Britney
Spears and Lady Gaga,” said Mark
Mauriello, who lives in Bushwick. “He
would have been the best at twitter.”
The story of the witty Victorian
writer, who was sentenced to prison for
his homosexuality, is part of a melange
of pop culture in the show, the creator
explained.
“It is a dance party, with great original
hot music and incredible dancing,
that folds together parts of real pop
culture with more literary and historic
story of Oscar Wilde,” said Mauriello.
The show is set in a fascist future
society, where anyone who is not a
heterosexual, cisgender, white conservative
has been exiled. These outcasts
— the cast members and audience —
gather in a bunker where they have
formed a religion from the cast-off pop
culture remnants of the past, including
“The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde”
and episodes of reality shows “The
Real Housewives” and teen soap opera
“The O.C.”
Mauriello, who co-founded the Neon
Coven theater company, also plays the
exile portraying Oscar Wilde.
“They’re big shoes to fill,” he said.
“It’s very interesting, because he was
someone who was a true master of
performance, so he and his story lend
themselves so well to this show.”
The play has been a long time coming.
Mauriello presented a version of it
as his senior thesis at Harvard in 2015,
and it had other incarnations before
that. But when Mauriello and other
members of the Neon Coven stepped
into the 3 Dollar Bill, a nightclub that
opened last summer in Bushwick, it
was a magical moment for the show.
“We peered into this Narnia behind
the curtain, and knew that we had to do
it here,” he said.
The show will happen not only on
the club’s stage, but will have dancers
riding moving platforms into the audience
and dancing alongside them.
“It’s a 360-degree experience,” he
COURIER L 58 IFE, JAN. 18-24, 2019 24-7
said. “It really explodes all over the
entire space.”
Mauriello thinks that the scattershot
nature of the play will help it to appeal
to a wide variety of people, including
club kids, reality television fans, and
scholars of Victorian lit.
“If you just want to have a drink and
hear some great, original pop vocalists,
if you are an Oscar Wilde fan or a ‘Real
Housewives’ fan — I think you will
find a lot to chew on,” he said. “I think
fans of Oscar Wilde will be surprised
that they’re at a fun dance party.”
“Oscar at the Crown” at 3 Dollar
Bill in Bushwick (260 Meserole
St. between Bushwick Place and
Waterbury Street in Bushwick, www.
theneoncoven.com). Jan. 18–Feb. 2,
Fridays at 10:30 pm and Saturdays at
8 pm. $25.
By Bill Roundy Call it a non-work perk!
The Brooklyn Academy of
Music’s movie theater is offering
a free workday pass to federal
employees who find themselves at
loose ends while the government is in
stasis. Staffers at the Fort Greene arts
institution hope the free films will
give the workers a temporary diversion
from the uncertainty that they
face while waiting for Washington
officials to agree on a budget, said the
man behind the offer.
“After getting the sense that this
may take weeks or longer to get
resolved, I asked myself, ‘Is there
anything BAM can do to make things
better?’ ” said John Lanasa, vicepresident
of communications for the
Academy. “A free ticket to a film
at BAM won’t pay the rent or cover
child care but if we can provide them
with a two-hour respite, we’ve done
our job.”
Any government worker who is
currently on furlough just needs to
show a Federal Employee ID at the
box office to get a free ticket. The
offer applies to the day’s first screening
(usually between 4 pm and 5 pm)
of any of the four films playing at
the BAM Rose Cinema, on Mondays
through Thursdays while the shutdown
lasts.
Furloughed Feds might relate
to the political maneuvering of the
Victorian court in “The Favourite,”
or check out the Washington intrigue
of “Vice,” about former vice-president
and supervillain Dick Cheney.
Other offerings this week include the
drama “If Beale Street Could Talk”
and the Polish-language love story
“Cold War.”
The government shutdown has
left about 800,000 federal employees
either off work, or working without
pay. So far it has lasted four weeks,
and it shows no sign of ending soon.
Feds get free movies at BAM Rose
Cinema 30 Lafayette Ave. between
Ashland Place and St. Felix Street in
Fort Greene, (718) 636–4100, www.
bam.org. Mon–Thu during the government
shutdown. Free.
Number one with a Bulleit: Whiskey distiller Bulleit will pour its
B.L.T cocktail — made with Bourbon, Lemons, and Tonic water —
at the Dime Best of Brooklyn festival on Jan. 26.
TBy Bill Roundy his beer festival
is a whiskey business!
The Dime Best of
Brooklyn beer and food
festival, coming to
Industry City on Jan. 26,
has added bourbon, rye,
and Scotch to the menu.
Visitors to the festival
will be able to sample
refreshing mixed drinks
from Bulleit whiskey and
from Johnnie Walker —
adding out-of-state tastes
to the celebration of the
borough’s best.
Bulleit plans to pour
its “B.L.T.” cocktail,
made with Bulleit bourbon,
lemon juice, and
tonic water, along with
tastings of its straight
bourbon, rye, and 10-year
barrel-aged varieties.
Scottish whiskey producer
Johnnie Walker plans
to offer Scotch and sodas
made with both its Red
and Black brands.
The two spirit sponsors
will join eight
Brooklyn brewers pouring
unlimited samples,
including Williamsburg’s
Brooklyn Brewery,
Bushwick’s Braven
Brewing, Caribbeaninspired
Island To Island
in Prospect Lefferts
Gardens, Red Hook’s
Sixpoint, Coney Island
Brewing, Sunset Park’s
Five Boroughs Brewing
Company, Greenpoint’s
War Flag Brewing, and
Kombrewcha, which
makes an alcoholic version
of the fermented tea
drink kombucha.
To soak up the boozy
beverages, the festival
will feature more than
two dozen local restaurants
and chefs, each
nominated in one of the
Best of Brooklyn food
categories. Barbecue restaurants
will be well-represented,
with reps from
Dinosaur BBQ Brooklyn,
Barbecue on a Stick, and
Memphis Seoul BBQ
dishing up their tender
meat, along with pretzel
purveyor Knot of
This World, Gowanus
pizza spot Table 87, and
Haitian catering company
Taste Buds Required,
among many other food
vendors.
The festival will feature
three two-hour sessions,
starting at 12:30
pm, 3:30 pm, and 6:30 pm
— but those who spring
for the “early admission”
ticket can get an extra
30-minute head start
on the hoi polloi. Wellheeled
patrons with livers
of steel can also go for
$99 all-day pass, which
will allow them to skip
the lines and go in and out
of the festival any time
between noon and 9 pm.
Dime Best of Brooklyn
Food and Beer Festival
Industry City, 220 36th
St. between Second and
Third avenues in Sunset
Park, (718) 224–5863
www.bestofbrooklynfestival.
com. Jan. 26 at 12:30
pm, 3:30 pm, and 6:30 pm.
Tickets $39 ($49 early
admission, $99 all-day
access, $19 designated
drivers).
Fashion-forward: “Oscar at the Crown” creator Mark Mauriello, center (with glasses),
leads the futuristic company in telling the story of Oscar Wilde. Ted Alcorn
Free spirits
WILDE ’N’ OUT
Furlough prices
Best of Brooklyn festival
adds whiskey samples
Vice President: Furloughed federal workers
can catch the film “Vice,” and think fondly
of a time when this cuddly fellow was in
the White House.
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/www.bam.org
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/bam.org