spanking the lower east side @ nurse bettie

After the galleries and falafel, Diana and I jumped in a taxi and headed over to Nurse Bettie, a bar located at 106 Norfolk in the Lower East Side.  I had never been to it before due to my work schedule, so I was excited to finally experience this weekly show!

Diana and I were able to quickly saddle up to the bar and due to having several small glasses of wine at the galleries, we ordered some non-alcoholic drinks and settled in for a night of entertainment.

The line up for that night was pretty great: Bettina May, Kita St. Cyr, Tansy (Tan Dora),  Ruby Valentine, Broadway Brassy and the host for the evening, Calamity Chang! This show was also another chance for me to see Calamity perform while Broadway Brassy belts out the soundtrack. This evening both Brassy’s indivddual performance and Calamity’s act ended up being songs by the band Heart which Brassy covered wonderfully.

Diana, myself and Kita St. Cyr goof around before the show.

I could write a great  deal about the performers, but since I am nodding off and my cat is getting bitey for dinner, I’ll just mention that they were all great and did a great job working such a small stage.

Right, because Nurse Bettie is a bar with very little space when crowded, so it was interesting to see the performers confine themselves to a small square of stage. The venue is fun, with pin-up paintings and posters decorating the walls, but the performance space is small. But Calamity works it and on Wednesdays when Honi Harlow hosts, I’m sure she does the same.

The overall experience was great, and I am saddened I didn’t get to see these free weekly shows earlier, but I know where I can now go if I have wednesday or thursday night free, and you should go too! Just make sure to get there early to secure a good seat for the show and then take your time and enjoy the pre-show go-go!

fashionista night!

In my last post I talked about visiting and networking during gallery opening in Chelsea.   Well, a past visit she made to Agora Gallery went so well that they have agreed to host a Fasionista Night. See the details below:

“Join us @ Agora Gallery for “Fashionista Night” Thursday March 31st, 6pm-8pm. Complimentary refreshments served (yes, free wine!) and 3 gallery exhibit openings! Dress up as creatively outrageous as you want (this is NYC after all!), make the scene, meet interesting people and enjoy great new art!”

AGORA GALLERY
530 West 25th Street
bet. 10th & 11th Avenues

 

Mark your calendars and start preparing those outfits now!

gallery gazing

One of the unfortunate aspects of my last job was that I couldn’t do much on the weekdays because of ever changing work hours. Now that I am no longer employed there I have the ability to go to shows and such on weeknights, which included an activity I’ve been wanting to do for months now: Thursday night open galleries with Diana Mattos.

I met Diana, a super snazzy lady with a fantastic flair for fashion, at a Rhinestone Follies show awhile ago and she had invited me to the gallery openings, but I never had the time to make it.  Let me explain a bit more; minaly on Thursday nights, assorted art galleries in Chelsea open their doors, and offer drinks, to entice people to come in and see their works.  On these days, Diana gets dressed to the nines and hits the galleries in vintage glory, often attracting photographers to snap pictures.

Last Thursday I was finally able to join her, and in honor I took an old vintage hat I had bought from Unwired Vintage and spruced it up with my own rendition of pheasant feathers by using a red sparkly decorations I snatched off a floral bouquet awhile ago. Although it doesn’t really look like pheasant feathers, I was very pleased with the overall effect, and judging by the amount of photos, I think many gallery guests were as well!

Catt playing with the 'feathers' later that night.

Most of the galleries close around 8pm, so Diana and I decided to get some dinner and then she’s be my escort to Calamity Chang‘s show Spanking the Lower East Side at Nurse Bettie, another thing I never got to attend due to my work schedule. We headed down to the Pita Pan Cafe, a small little counter service restaurant that served up a delicious variety of veg friendly dishes.  I ended up getting falafel, grape leaves, couscous and then the owner brought over some complimentary hummus and pita chips for us!