Lit, Clit, Sikhs, and Surprises! NYC Autumn 2010!

 

Angela McCluskey performs at the Cell, a homecoming,  last week in NYC; Kraig Jarret Johnson on guitar, with Jen Turner

(**All text, videos, photos by Susan M. Kirschbaum)

There are homecomings of  all sorts, like the long distance ex who pops up to play peek-a-boo power games on Skype to let you know he’s still there.  Or the fashion pr friend  whom you surprise when you finally write up the boots she gifted you. (TO NOTE: Doc Martens black shoe boots with the wooden wedges are the most comfortable clog boots I have EVER worn, WITH a bad ass edge.) There’s the lovely lass who once worked for Playboy in NYC, packed up for London and LA, then shows up at “The Half King” (Sebastian Junger’s bar) with a completely different set of your mutual pals, whom you weren’t aware you both knew. (“Hello, Lorna!” ) There’s the Playboy literary salon on a grass covered lot in Chelsea  where actress Paz de la Huerta reads Madame Bovary before men in dark suits trying to see up her short Marchesa dress. The salon, hosted in part by sikh jewelry designer Waris (with the encouragement of Brooke Geahan in a glittery frock) also featured a show of  nifty illustrations by Eric Anderson, director Wes Anderson’s bow tied brother. Eric displayed his work in another  tent on the grounds. The drawings once served as bases for “The Royal Tenenbaums,” a movie remembered, especially around Halloween for its fine visual cues.

But, the best homecoming of the week, for me personally, belonged to Scottish singer Angela McCluskey. The fiery redhead hosted an autobiographical show, “Catch a Falling Star,” at the Cell  with Ian Buchanan (“Twin Peaks”) who played both her mother and Nina Simone — casting shadows of larger than life females — behind a scrim.  McCluskey  just returned to Manhattan after a stint in LA with composer husband Paul Cantelon. She is probably best known to the masses for her song “Breathe” featured on a Mitsubishi commercial some years back. I like her for her straight talk and the love she pours into her voice and into each performance.

On the back of the program bill, she wrote: “Dedicated to my parents, Mary and Gerry and Paul Newman because my mother fell in love and married my father, because he had Paul Newman’s eyes.”

In that spirit, I’ll dedicate this web entry to all the familiar faces who came back to the city this week, even for a little while , and to those who have moved on yet still haunt us from other dimensions and realities.

We know you’re watching, listening.

Illustration by Eric Anderson…. Colorful “Royal Tenenbaum” inspiration, like “Alice” seeking wonderland, without the joy

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