GenderFluid, a Weeklong NYC Festival of Performance, Film, and Art

Laverne Cox, Holly Woodlawn, Kate Bornstein & more headline

GENDERFLUID

September 9 – 13 at Baruch Performing Arts Center 

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PRESS RELEASE

Baruch Performing Arts Center presents GenderFluid, a weeklong festival of performance, film, and art by transgender and genderfluid artists, Sept. 9-14. Featured performers include Emmy-nominated Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox, performance artist and Gender Outlaw author Kate Bornstein, Andy Warhol superstar Holly Woodlawn, stand-up comedian Ian Harvie, and more. Baruch Performing Arts Center is located at 55 Lexington Avenue (entrance on 25th Street).

Tickets are available at the box office, online at www.baruch.cuny.edu/bpacor by phone at 212-352-3101.

Tuesday, September 9 – Laverne Cox and M. Lamar

Actor and activist Laverne Cox is one of the most well-known transgender women in the country, with a Time Magazine cover, an Emmy nomination, and numerous national television interviews to her credit. She is joined by her twin brother, artist M. Lamar, as they discuss growing up in Alabama, their growing realization of the paths their lives would take, their family, and their careers today. M. Lamar's solo art exhibition Negrogothic is at Participant Sept. 7-October 12; he also played Cox's character pre-transition on Orange is the New Black. This is the first speaking engagement Cox and Lamar have done together. 8PM; Mason Hall, 17 Lexington Avenue. $20; $100 VIP tickets include preferred seating and a backstage photo op with Cox and Lamar. Tickets: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/938829

Wednesday, September 10 – Gabrielle LeRoux and Victor Mukasa

South African artist Gabrielle LeRoux travels throughout Africa photographing transgender individuals. She will show short films she has created about them, as well as many of her photographs, and is joined by Ugandan gender activist Victor Mukasa to discuss the state of transgender issues in Africa. 7:30 PM; Engelman Hall, Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue (enter on 25th Street). Free.

Wednesday, September 10 – Andy Warhol: Celebrating the Famous and the Unknown

Baruch's Sidney Mishkin Gallery opens this exhibition of photographs and silkscreen prints by Warhol — including many of his genderfluid friends. 5 PM; Sidney Mishkin Gallery, 135 East 22nd Street at Lexington, 646-660-6652.  Free.

Thursday, September 11 – Passing Ellenville

A screening of the short documentary Passing Ellenville, which looks at the lives of James and Ashlee, two transgender teens living in a small, impoverished town in the Hudson Valley. Followed by a talkback with the filmmaker Gene Fischer. 7 PM; Engelman Hall, Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue (enter on 25th Street). Free.

Thursday, September 11 – Busted! The Musical

Bianca Leigh stars in this funny and moving autobiographical one-woman show about her decision to fund her gender reassignment surgery by working as a dominatrix – a decision that led her to Riker's Island. Original songs by Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q), Taylor Mac, and other theatre notables. Directed by Tim Cusack and presented by Theatre Askew. 8 PM; Engelman Hall, Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue (enter on 25th Street). $20 ($15 students and seniors) Tickets: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/938455

Friday, September 12 – Kate Bornstein: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us

Kate Bornstein is the original gender outlaw, and this is an evening of her favorite autobiographical spoken word pieces—her most personal stories, her favorite comic and dramatic monologues from over a quarter of a century on the stage with this material. With great love and tenderness, Kate gently guides audiences through a moving, rollicking, and ultimately uplifting journey through sex and gender beyond the binary of men-and-women-only. 8 PM; Nagelberg Theatre, Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue (enter on 25th Street). $30 ($20 students and seniors); $60 VIP tickets include preferred seating and a backstage photo op. Tickets: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/938556

Saturday, September 13 – Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Hedwig was willing to undergo a sex change to marry the soldier she loves and escape Communist East Germany – but things didn't quite go as planned. A screening of the rock musical film starring John Cameron Mitchell (the play is currently running on Broadway). 6 PM; Engelman Hall, Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue (enter on 25th Street). Free.

Saturday, September 13 – An Evening with Holly Woodlawn

Film Director Paul Morrissey will introduce Warhol superstar Holly Woodlawn. Holly will be interviewed onstage by Michael Musto about her life and career, and share rare clips from her own collection of her films, TV appearances, and live stage appearances. She'll also perform a few songs live, including the classic "Walk on the Wild Side" – which Lou Reed wrote about HER. A rare evening with a legend.
8 PM; Nagelberg Theatre, Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue (enter on 25th Street). $25. ($20 students and seniors); $50 VIP tickets include preferred seating and a backstage photo op. Tickets: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/938557

Saturday, September 13 – Ian Harvie: Superhero

You may know Ian Harvie as Margaret Cho’s opening act, a cross-country headliner or a groundbreaking trans comedian unafraid to joke about subjects no other comedian has ever touched. Harvie is hilarious, poking fun at topics from top surgery, to his fear of public restrooms, to his active sex life. Harvie’s unique act queers the traditionally macho, sex-obsessed world of stand up in ways you won't believe, proving that laughter cuts across all gender identities and ultimately unites us all. You can see him co-starring on the new TV series Transparent on Amazon, out at the end of September. 9:30 PM; Nagelberg Theatre, Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue (enter on 25th Street). $20. ($15 students and seniors). Tickets: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/938464

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Baruch Performing Arts Center is celebrating its tenth anniversary this fall. With four separate theatres, BPAC presents a full slate of theatre, music, dance, lectures, films, and panels throughout the year. Located on the Baruch College Campus, BPAC is under the aegis of the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences. The Weissman School celebrates its fifteenth anniversary this fall.

 

A Tribute to Mx Justin ViVian Bond

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 Last night—Monday, April 25th, 2011, I was honored to present Mx Justin ViVian Bond with an award of recognition and appreciation from Performance Space 122 in New York City. 

PS 122 is celebrating it's 30th anniversary, and last night they were honoring three performing artists: Carmelita Tropicana, Danny Hoch, and Justin ViVian Bond.

I've known Mx (Justin ViVian's salutation of choice) Bond… well, it's coming up on twenty years. V (Justin ViVian's pronoun of choice) is simply one of the dearest people I know. But I had to be brief. The evening's coordinator, Lucy Sexton, was quite clear that I had only two minutes to speak, and no more. I stretched it to three, maybe four. Afterwards, she laughed and told me that she'd only said two minutes so I wouldn't go on for ten or fifteen! I could have done that easily. But here's more or less the text of what I had to say before presenting Mx Bond with v's award.

 

Justin ViVian, I love you. Always have, always will.

kiss kiss

Auntie Kate