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Longtime patrons of the Duplex were gutted two years ago when a roof fire destroyed the venue’s upstairs Cabaret Theatre. The Duplex is no ordinary West Village club, after all, but a local institution. From the 1950s through the 1970s, when it was on Grove Street, it was an incubator for such performers as Woody Allen, Barbra Streisand, Joan Rivers, Hal Holbrook and Barry Manilow; in its newer incarnation on Christopher Street, it has helped launch alt-cabaret stars like Cole Escola, Justin Elizabeth Sayre, Molly Pope, Ben Rimalower and Amy Jo Jackson. It was at the Duplex that Sean Hayes’s Jack McFarland performed his cabaret show, Just Jack, on Will & Grace; Bowen Yang and Cecily Strong spoofed it on Saturday Night Live.

When this beloved hole in the wall was forced to close in July 2022, it left a hole in the hearts of local arts fans. But now, the venue is finally getting ready to return. Time Out has learned that the Duplex Cabaret Theatre will reopen in mid-October with an ambitious slate of programming. In a gesture of audacious irony, the venue is fighting fire with Fire Island: The restored second-floor complex will be re-envisioned by designer Shawn Lewis as Ferry’s Landing NYC, a Fire Island–themed immersive space that aims to give queer New Yorkers a place to visit when vacation season is through. (The first-floor piano bar, which stayed open after the fire, will continue as usual.)

The centerpiece of Ferry’s Landing NYC will be Rob Gould’s original musical Little House on the Ferry, which depicts a group of friends on a trip to the isle on the eve of the New York Senate’s marriage-equality vote in 2011. “I’ve been working on this production for over a decade,” says Gould. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams to be bringing it to the West Village, the place where it all began.” The musical’s story is one that needs to be told, says director Victoria Rae Sook: “This show is a chance to teach everyone what it was like to be queer before gay marriage was legal. And what it is still like now, fighting the war for equal rights, even though that battle was won.”

Little House on the Ferry will run six nights a week at 7:30pm, preceded at 6pm by a Fire Island–style “tea” party. It will be followed each night at 9:30pm by Fire Island Follies, a risqué cabaret variety show that incorporates elements of music, comedy, drag and circus arts. On Thursdays through Saturdays, this double bill will lead into a dance party called Farandole, which will feature a DJ and go-go performers. Performances will happen in and around the audience in a space that nods to F.I. destinations including the Pavilion, the Ice Palace and the infamous Meat Rack.  

“I’ve wanted this kind of entertainment in our space for the past 30 years,” says Duplex owner Tony DeCicco. “We are so excited to be restoring our cabaret space after such a long and tragic absence.” 

Ferry’s Landing NYC is currently scheduled to last from October 15 through January 5 at the Duplex (61 Christopher St at Seventh Ave South). For more information, and to buy tickets or VIP packages, visit the brand-new Ferry’s Island website. 

* This article was originally published here

Drake is currently all over pop culture for all the wrong reasons, but a brand new exhibit at Madame Tussauds New York will finally give fans of the Canadian superstar one reason to celebrate.

The wax museum just unveiled a brand-new figure of Drake in a new Music area, which simulates a New Year’s Eve concert in Times Square and includes “Drake” standing in the midst of wax figures of all your fave celebrities.

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This is definitely the type of experience you’ll appreciate if you’ve ever thought about going to Times Square for New Year’s Eve but don’t want to endure the crowds and hours of not having access to toilets. The new music area is part of a multimillion-dollar investment into Madame Tussauds that will give visitors an immersive experience that feels as close to the most famous event in the city without actually having to be there.

The music area includes “performances” by the wax icons, countdown clocks, full-blown confetti, and more. Besides Drake, the other celebrities at the New Year’s simulation include Beyoncé, Elvis, Anitta, Dua Lipa, J Balvin, Megan Thee Stallion and Harry Styles. “Our new Music experience is one of those magical spaces within the museum that guests are immediately drawn to, so we’re confident the reimagined area, which is more immersive than ever, will bring a new level of excitement to the experience,” Marketing Manager for Madame Tussauds, Eliza Rose, said in a statement.

As for Drake himself? He’s wearing a khaki “shacket” (a crossover between a jacket and a shirt), jewelry, a grey shirt, and Air Force 1’s. Like the other wax figures in the museum, this one looks so realistic that it’ll take you a while to realize he’s not quite like us.

After the new music area, make sure to check out the museum’s new Behind-The-Scenes tour, where guests can actually learn how the world-famous wax figures are made, starting from the initial measurements and clothing selection all the way to the hair and makeup process. 

To learn more about the exhibition and plan your visit, check out the museum’s website. 

* This article was originally published here

The MTA just unveiled two new digital artworks at Grand Central Madison that pay homage to the frantic and electric energy of New York City.

The two works are “Ouranos, Above Us Only Sky” by Colombian-born and NYC-based artist Monika Bravo, and “Anyplace, Anytime, Anywhere” by Korean-born artist Yehwan Song.

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Each artwork will be displayed for two minutes at regular intervals across five LED screens near the 47th Street entrance to Grand Central Madison, which is located inside Grand Central Terminal. 

Bravo’s colorful collaged work depicts a vibrant cityscape that reflects the passage of time and the creation of modern civilization, all while borrowing images from futurist architecture. The surreal landscape depicted in the artwork is meant to prompt introspection around our role in shaping our lived environment.

“Inspired by my recent studies in Praxeology and open market economic principles, this animation explores how human action, purposeful behavior, and personal accountability shape civilization,” Monika Bravo said. “It highlights how individuals, through voluntary interactions, contribute to our collective journey.”

Song’s artwork, on the other hand, features digital icons that bounce like a pinball machine throughout the screen before creating a word at the center of each screen. She drew inspiration from the subway’s intricate network of tracks and the many people who move through them each day. The amalgamation of humans with machines takes center stage and the moving graphic references images from artificial intelligence, emojis, and browser windows that move around before the final configuration reveals a poem: “Any Place Time Where Any.”

“People move between places on their own paths in chaos. One moment, they would be going somewhere, and then they would come back to each other,” Yehwan Song said. “They move along their individual paths but still share a mutual story. These are events we can glimpse from each other and ones we can imagine, understand, and empathize with based on our own experiences on the train platform.”  

The two new works are part of the MTA Arts & Design Digital Art Program, which invited digital media artists to propose artwork to exhibit at Grand Central Madison as part of an effort to create a “cultural corridor” that includes permanent exhibits by artists like Yayoi Kusama and Kiki Smith. The latest exhibits are an addition to the cultural corridor that might be worth a brief moment of reflection for the next time you find yourself in the frantic train station in Manhattan. 

“These new projects by artists Monika Bravo and Yehwan Song take inspiration from our built environment for the delight of all who traverse above and below ground,” Sandra Bloodworth, Director, MTA Arts & Design, said. “This is the third set of Digital Art commissions for the Madison Concourse and MTA customers have come to expect a visual feast that will stay with them on their journeys and beyond.”

* This article was originally published here

The Union Square Greenmarket is already a sunny-day staple for New Yorkers and now the lively park and public plaza is going to be taking over your evenings, too, with a brand-new night market set to debut later this month. 

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As part of the Union Square Partnership’s annual Summer in the Square series—weekly outdoor programming that includes free movie screenings, dance performances, fitness classes, CityPickle courts, family-friendly activities and more—Union Square will host its first-ever Night Market during summer evenings this month. The open-air market will run for four Thursdays at the park’s South Plaza, starting July 11 and stretching through August 1. It will be presented by Urbanspace, the same folks who put on the square’s Holiday Market each year, so you already know that they know what they’re doing. 

The Union Square Night Market by Urbanspace will feature the tasty wares of 20 independent and local vendors: you can snack your way through Belgian-style fries from Home Frit, Mexican tamales from La Palapa, bánh mì sandwiches from Mama’s Cupboard, rice platters from TNT Pineapple Bowls, fried oysters from Paris Po’Boys, Treat Yourself Jerk’s award-winning chicken and more. And for something a little sweet, Chocolate on Tap will be on hand dousing fresh strawberries in rich, flowing chocolate. 

* This article was originally published here