DANDY DARKLY’S “TRIGGER HAPPY”
If Aesop and Rod Serling locked lips after hopping into a malfunctioning transporter pod filled with confetti bearing Rip Taylor’s DNA, the creature coming out on the other end might resemble something like Dandy Darkly. But then again no, because there is nothing in all of creation quite like this swishy storyteller with a taste for blood, a sick sense of justice and an affinity for alliteration.
Part of Dixon Place’s queer-themed Hot! Festival, the contagiously dangerous Mr. Darkly’s “Trigger Happy” offers a batch of all-new tongue-twisting morality tales dispensed with macabre glee — performed in anticipation of a summertime stint at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and a late October run here in NYC (at UNDER St. Marks, site of past Darkly atrocities). Sex and death with an all-American focus is the theme this time around, featuring tales of guns, PTSD, hypersensitivity “and good ole American sodomy.”
Free. Sat., July 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Dixon Place (161A Chrystie St. btw. Rivington & Delancey Sts.). Artist info at dandydarkly.com and venue info at dixonplace.org.
LATE WITH LANCE!
Born with a superhuman belief in his capacity to enthrall — but gifted with very few skills other than the ability to access a bottomless well of optimism — “wannabe cruise ship entertainer, celebrity stalker and pathological musical theater fanatic” Lance is making what he honestly believes will be a triumphant return, after a 15-year absence from the cabaret stage. But when invited guests Liza Minnelli, Hugh Jackman and Miami Sound Machine don’t show (they’re just running late, right?), Lance forges ahead with an escalating series of ridiculous and increasingly desperate solo performances — including a five-minute version of “The Sound of Music” and a bittersweet homage to the film “Fame” (depicting kids from NYC’s High School of Performing Arts, which once rejected his application).
This brief run of “Late With Lance,” a warm-up for its appearance in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, is written and performed by Peter Michael Marino. A winning talent with a knack for playing losers, Marino earned MAC and Bistro award recognition in the mid-90s for “All About Me!,” then saw his musical based on “Desperately Seeking Susan” tank. Tapping his inner Lance, Marino toured the world for two years with a well-received solo show based on the debacle, then created NYC’s SOLOCOM Festival to nurture NextGen one-person-show talent. Now the circle of life comes full circle, as Lance sails into our harbor (from his current gig on the cruise ship circuit) for one more shot at success in the Big Apple.
Thurs., July 23 at 7 p.m. and Thurs., July 30 at 8 p.m. at Triple Crown Underground (330 Seventh Ave. near 28th St.). Admission is pay-what-you-can. Visit lanceshow.com and petermmarino.com
WELCOME TO PARADISE
The fictional Caribbean island of St. Sebastian — whose tourist industry caters to “bland suburban honeymooners and sedate folks whose wild party days are well behind them” gets an unexpected jolt, in “Welcome to Paradise.” Presented by Theater Now New York as part of the 2015 Thespis Theater Festival, playwright Julie Mario puts the character of Evelyn onto the tranquil, titular vacation spot — then presents her with a series of encounters that throw meddlesome family members for a loop while challenging Evelyn’s own notions of encroaching old age.
Tues., July 28 at 9 p.m., Wed., July 29 at 6:15 p.m. & Sat., Aug. 1 at 6 p.m. At the Hudson Guild Theater (441 W. 26th St. btw. 9th & 10th Aves.). Tickets ($18) available at brownpapertickets.com. For artist info, visit tnny.org.
–BY SCOTT STIFFLER
