Arts & Entertainment

By Andrew LaVallee

Marjorie Tesser had always wanted to be a writer. But raising a family and 10 years of practicing law got in the way.

By William Launder

All eyes inside Manhattan’s Slipper Room are glued on Jen McClelland, aka “Clams Casino,” who is spilling out of a lipstick-print bra and garter belt and jiggling to the dance hall baritone voice pulsing through the speakers.

Some of New York's Trendiest Clubs Pay To Get You To Party

By Benjamin Parsons

You stood half the night in the rain begging to be noticed, and felt fleeced by the double-digit cover charge when you finally did get in. But that's the price of clubbing with the red velvet rope crowd, right?

Lou Reed
Coney Island Baby (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
RCA/Legacy 

A revamped and reissued release of Reed’s 1976 album, this edition features six new cuts and liner notes penned by Reed himself. Among the previously unreleased B-side tracks that will drive Reed devotees wild are “Crazy Feeling,” “She’s My Best Friend” and “Coney Island Baby” recorded over 30 years ago with Reed’s former Velvet Underground collaborator Doug Yule. As emotionally compelling as the original release, this sonically upgraded version allows us a fascinating insight into a work, though widely respected, never given full appreciation for its groundbreaking value. Reflecting real emotions about real people, this is an earnest work that not only defies the passage of time, but transcends it.—Aly Wilansky

By Angus Loten

For her 27th birthday, Ofelia Virtucio and a dozen friends reserved a private corner of red velvet couches at the Karma Club, a popular hookah bar in the East Village. It was the first time any of them had smoked a hookah, a centuries-old Middle Eastern water pipe filled with fruit-flavored tobacco.

Adored: Diary of a Porn Star
Corsaro Productions/Wolfe Video
 
Adored: Diary of a Porn Star is the tragic-comedy recounting of the life of fictional Italian gay porn star, Riki Kandinsky (Marco Filiberti). With his curly flaxen locks and perfectly shaped eyebrows, Riki seems to be the porn star embodiment of Cupid/Eros from classical Greek mythos, complete with the soul of a Romantic-era literary hero. Much of Riki's story is centered on his evolving relationship with his brother, Fredericko (Urbano Barberini), whom he reconnects with when their semi-estranged aristocratic father suddenly dies. Riki confesses his career to his brother, who although initially horrified, quickly comes around to loving and respecting his brother (and his brother's work). Riki represents an optimism and love of life that Federicko, crushed by his bourgeois life, does not possess. Riki's saintly status is sealed when there is the young boy that Riki rescues after the boy's mother is suddenly killed in a car crash. The boy awakens genuine, and previously unexpected, paternal feelings in the famed porn star. Alas, that's not how the boy's relatives see it, and an ugly custody battle ensues. The message of this film is the achievement of redemption, and with it, a sense of immortality. One of the final scenes of the movie is Riki receiving a standing ovation at the Gay Olympics while his loved ones watch from TV screens with pride, representing recognition and social acceptance.

TONY Winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson Directs August Wilson's "Seven "Guitars"

By Leslie (Hoban) Blake
The legacy of the late August Wilson is so much more than merely the sum of his ten-play cycle dating from 1900 to 2000. Just ask Ruben Santiago-Hudson, currently directing the Signature Theatre (555 W. 42nd St., (212) 244-7529) revival of Seven Guitars through September 23rd. In 1996, Hudson won a TONY for his portrayal of Canewell in the Broadway premiere of “Seven Guitars,” directed by famed Wilson collaborator, Lloyd Richards, who passed away on June 29 of this year.

CD REVIEWS

PATRICIA BARBER
Mythologies
Blue Note
9/10
Singer-pianist-songwriter Patricia Barber’s latest CD, Mythologies, is an 11-song cycle based on Ovid’s “Metamorphoses.” The musical accompaniment is supplied by Barber’s piano plus her usual quartet members: guitarist Neal Alger, bassist Michael Arnopol and drummer Eric Montzka, supplemented by a guest saxophonist, vocal soloists, a gospel chorus and a children’s hip-hop choir. Barber takes liberties with the Greek myths. For example, Icarus doesn’t crash in this version. In fact, the song is dedicated to Nina Simone and refers to her appearance at a nightclub outside of Philadelphia. “Hunger” glamorizes anorexia (“I’m gorgeous and grateful it’s ‘in’ to be thin”) and “Narcissus” is a sort of gay wedding song. "Whiteworld/Oedipus" has a contemporary political message. Playful, poetic, and profound, Mythologies belongs on jazz’s Mount Olympus.—Barry Bassis

By Susan Lee

Eli Lagarreta, 20, felt a little territorial about the music he had been listening to for 10 years, music no one around him had ever heard.
After all, he started listening to reggaeton—the genre that fuses dancehall, techno and hip-hop—when he visited his extended family in Puerto Rico, where the music first emerged. Starting at age 10, Lagarreta had to convince his grandmother, who lived on the island, to send him the latest reggaeton CDs.

I Get Morningwood Daily
Capitol Records
10/10

As though they've crammed all of the Big Apple's energy into their pants, Morningwood may be one of the only real bands of new rock stars on the planet. Where the Yeah Yeah Yeahs wore down, Morningwood picks up with their self-titled debut album. Their lead singer, the lusty Chantal, doesn't just rock on vocals, but percolates to the beat. With songs like "Jetsetter," “Take Off Your Clothes,” and “Nu Rock,” Chantal gives hope to wild women across the globe that the Jessica Simpson porn-star-thing is nothing compared to a willful, balls-out rock goddess. The best thing about Morningwood – who's accurately self-described as "a monster truck having sex with a Bond girl" – is that their blow-to-the-soul energy is portable with the power to make its listener throw off doldrums and dance like a maniac anytime, anyplace.—Angela Lovell